If you would please remain standing and open your Bibles to First Corinthians chapter 16. First Corinthians chapter 16, we'll continue on in our study of First Corinthians. We'll be reading the first 11 verses today. Here are the words of the Lord. Now concerning the collection for the saints. As I directed the churches of Galatia, so you are to do on the first day of every week. Each of you is to put something aside and stored up as he may prosper. So there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you credit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter. So that you may help me on my journey wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost. For a wide door for effective work has opened to me. And there are many adversaries. When Timothy comes, see that you put him to ease among you. For he is doing the work of the Lord as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers. Let us pray. Father, we are. So grateful. For a public reminder of the work of Jesus. That he has, in fact, gone to the grave. and defeated that and risen again. And that work has been granted to your people for those who believe. Oh, father, we are so, so grateful. We ask that that would always be on the forefront of our mind as we work through all parts of your word. So we would we would see this these scriptures as As that is your word to us and being built upon the fact that Christ has come. So, fathers, we approach today an end of a letter, a section that seems obscure to many of us. We ask that you would work among us, that you would send the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts. And this would not be a academic exercise or the thing that we do because it's Sunday. But that we would come and we would hear your word and we would be encouraged where we need it, rebuked where we need it, and that you would work in our lives. Oh, Father, we are so thankful for Jesus and his work. And we pray all these things in his name. Amen. Maybe see. Well, we are coming to the close of First Corinthians. And we've been walking our way through this epistle for a little over a year now, and we have one more sermon before we are done. Next week, that last sermon, we'll we'll look at the very last part of the letter, and it will also serve as a conclusion in a whole. I want to sum up everything that we've talked about and remind you of what God has said to us through the letter to the Corinthians, the first letter to the Corinthians. Now, when we come to the end of the New Testament letters, The correction of theology, the correction of actions, the encouragements and the rebukes come to an end. And what follows all of that and the closing of Paul's epistles, we have greetings, general instructions, preparation guidelines for visits and any other businesses that need to be handled at the very end. And I suspect that when we read this on our own, In our own time at home, in our devotions or with our family, we have quickly gone through it and continued on to the very next thing on our reading list. In fact, you probably have only come to this this piece of scripture and study to any depth, either through sermons or when you were trying to understand Paul's missionary journeys. And I'll be honest with you, the temptation for me is to skip right on over this. To do to read it and to do a summary and move right on into second Corinthians where we're moving on to next. However, if we believe that all scripture is God breathed and we should look at this passage as God's word to us. So we have to make sure that we examine this text in a fashion that shows that we believe that it is actually true and also beneficial for us here today. Now, the question is, how do we go about doing that? Or maybe that's the question I kept asking myself as I was preparing for this sermon. How do we go about looking at closings and introductions and travel plans and apply that for us? Because Paul's travel plans probably don't help you plan your vacation very well. And we have to find a way to look at this. And so what we're going to do today is we're going to look at this passage. We're going to see the truths that Paul is teaching and we're going to examine them. And then we're going to see how they are presented for not only the Corinthian church, but for us to follow. And when we do that, I think we're going to start seeing a theme appear. All right. A theme. And I want to call this, where I say a theme, also these expectations with a theme. And I want to call these expectations the overlooked expectations, because I think we far too often overlook the ends of these letters as we plow right on through our New Testament readings. It's really easy to look at first Corinthians chapter 13 or 14 or 15 and apply that directly to us and see the theological richness. So it's more difficult here. So we overlook them. But there are expectations. Paul is calling the church in court to be generous with what they have. He's got these expectations that he he expects of them, and it's to be generous with their money, with their time and with their hospitality. We're going to see that in this passage today. So let's let's dive right into it first. And I want to look at how Paul's expectation of the church is that they're going to be generous with their with their money. We pick up in verse one. Now, considering the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia. So you also are to do on the first day of every week. Each of you is to put something aside and store it up as you may prosper. So there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you credit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. This is a new section of the letter. We've seen this over and over. Paul's letter to the Corinthians, the first one he says now concerning. He's giving them instructions, and we have seen, if you remember back to when I introduced this book to us, this letter to us, they have already had some correspondences, Paul and this church. They corresponded back and forth, and it seems to be that the church has written and asked, what are we to do about this collection? And this collection is the collection for the saints in Jerusalem. If you do a study on Paul's missionary journeys, you'll find that on his third journey, among other things he was doing, he was concerned with taking up a collection for the Christians in Jerusalem. See, in the years 80, 46 through 48, during that time, there was a famine and that famine caused much difficulty financially for people in the Palestine region. This difficult situation apparently continues on for the Christians in Jerusalem during the time when this letter was written. So these these Christians in Jerusalem are from a Jewish background. They're in the city that's having very much economic hardship because of a drought. Now, it's important to remember what Corinth is like. If you remember back to the beginning, I said Corinth is something like a combination of Las Vegas and New York. All right. And not the good parts. All right. And think of all the lights, the money, the the trade going through a fairly wealthy place. This is not like what's going on in Jerusalem. All right. These people are struggling and they're poor. They're not getting help because they're outsiders and they're Christians. And so so Paul has taken it upon himself to take up this collection for these dear believers. Now, the reason for this collection. was more than just providing financial relief for them, but also for Paul to help everyone, all the other churches in the area, including the church in Jerusalem, to show their solidarity in the gospel, the solidarity between the Jews and the Gentiles. You see, when the Gentiles are willing to give, it symbolized their belief that they were part of God's family. They're giving to someone that's completely different from them in their culture. These Gentile Christians and the majority of them in Corinth most likely were Gentiles. These Gentile Christians would be giving money to Jewish Christians. They're not anything alike in their culture. And it symbolizes they are they're saying by giving you this money, we recognize that we are a part of the same family now. And likewise, the acceptance of this gift by the Jews is saying Gentiles, we believe that you are part of God's family, too. I heard a theologian recently say he said most Christians in the United States don't believe that they have more in common with their with their Christian brother in in in the Middle East than they do with their neighbor next door. We look at our neighbor next door, they drive cars like us. They live in a house that looks like us. Depending on where you live, it may be identical to your floor plan. They dress like you. They look like you, skin color. But they're not part of God's family unless you have a believing neighbor. But if you look at the Christian in the Middle East, they don't look like you. They don't live like you. They don't speak the same language as you. They come from a bit different background, but they're like you because they're your family. So this is Paul saying by wanting to take up this collection to show that there's a solidarity in the church, not the local congregations, but the church at large. And saying, although we're completely different, we recognize that you, too, have been saved by the gospel of Christ. Paul writes about this in the letter to the Romans in verse 15, starting in verse 25, he writes at present, however, I'm going to Jerusalem, bringing aid to the saints from Macedonia. I have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints of Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it. And indeed, they owed it to them for if the Gentiles had come to share in the spiritual blessings, they ought to be of service to them, the material blessings. When, therefore, I've completed this and I have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. So, Paul, we see in the letters of the Romans just taking this and showing the least they can do is provide money because from the Jewish people has come the Savior. These people are connected by the gospel. So Paul and his journey has made much effort. To get the churches out and about in the Gentile world to give money. To the Jerusalem church. So apparently the Corinthian church and Paul have already talked about this. Paul said concerning this thing that we've already talked about. How are you going to participate in this effort? In 2nd Corinthians 9, we read that the Corinthian church has showed their excitement about participating in this in this collection and that their eagerness, Paul has used their eagerness to take up this money. To stir up the churches in the other areas. So Paul says, well, this is how you are to actually go about doing it. First of all, you are to give the money, actually give it. So I want to outline some principles here that that Paul gives the Corinthian church that I think are apply outside of just this one collection for the saints in Jerusalem. The first one is they are to actually give the money each week, put some of the money away that you have prospered with. Give back in the physical prosperity that you have, that the Lord has given you and give it to those who do not have that. And I look back at everything that we've seen Paul say in this letter to the Corinthians over and over. He's come back to this unity in the gospel and this love for the fellow believer that comes from Christ's work being poured out. And it goes outside just the church, the local church walls, and this is where the rubber meets the road. Give the money, actually do the thing. It's OK to talk about. Christ, it's OK, we should talk about all these things, but Paul saying actually put the rubber to the road and give this money, take up this collection. You see, one way that a that a person can show the gospel change in their life is that they can can be and are willing to actually do give out of their financial resources. Now, the believers should not do this for show. The believers should not do this to build up oneself. It should not be done in an attempt to gain power in a church or an organization. We give because we've been changed. We give because we realize those that were in this case for Paul, the ones that you're giving to are actually your family, ones that maybe you've never met, but you should love because they, too, have been changed by the gospel. By giving you show that you trust in God's provision and that you are concerned with those in the family of God or that you are concerned with the advancement of the gospel forward. Now, the second thing that we see in this is that the giving is orderly and planned. Now, we don't normally think about that, right? I think a lot of times we talk about giving is you go places and and you hear we're taking up this love offering. None of you plan for dig deep down into your couches and pull out the change or your you know, the pockets that you didn't know you have money in. And but that's not bad, per se. But Paul's Paul saying you should give orderly. He tells the church at the start of each week, set some of your money aside, some of the money that you've earned from that week. Most of those people probably didn't have regular paychecks. They're working in commerce. But whatever you have, give part of that, set it aside. And upon receipt, I will take it from you, is what Paul's saying. Because he knows that waiting last minute will do several things. If you wait last minute, it will not allow everyone to participate. It will not net the amount that is actually needed. And it can or will strap the person who's giving. Those are practical things. He's telling the church, be thoughtful, be orderly, be planned in your giving. Think about the money that you've been given and plan through the ways that you can. You can be part of God's work in the world, if not just the Corinthian church that Paul said this to. He said, I've also instructed the church, the churches in Galatia to do the very same thing. So Paul is instructing the Corinthian church. He's instructing the Galatian churches. I think it's safe to say that this is a pattern that's good for us now to also follow. To be mindful in our giving, to plan for it, not to just shoot from the hip, but look for ways to take our budgets, to take the money the Lord has given us and to plan to participate in the work of the gospel. Now, this is going to look different from everyone. I will not give you an exact way that you are supposed to do that. I've heard a lot of pastors say everything you're supposed to do. First of all, we want you to just go ahead and let the church debit 10, 15, whatever percent out of your checking account every month. I'm not going to go through those steps. It's very clear in Scripture that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. It's going to look different from you. It's going to look different for me. The amount, the how we give, the way we do it. Everyone here is in different stages of life. Some of you have more expendable income. Some of you have less. Some of you kids and students here don't have probably have any. All right. It's going to look different. But. Paul was telling the church plan, find a way to participate, and it may mean at times that you are you are able in abundance to give much. And maybe other times when you give little, we read that passage today of the lady who gave very little amount, but it was all that she had. I've heard one pastor explain, someone asked him in a question one time how he goes about handling this giving. And he said the first thing he does is he goes ahead and sets a percentage to give to his church automatically every month. Like he gives a set percentage, that's what he wants to do. And then, on a monthly basis, he sits down with his wife, they look at their expenditures for the month, they look at the things that are going in and out, and they find ways that they can give extra money. They find ways that they plan it out to give extra to their church and other other things that they feel that is it's good to give to. That may not look the same for you, but let me encourage you to find a way to plan. I was very I was very humbled and but also encouraged that someone for me has set a pattern on how to do that. Now, say that I don't want anyone here to think that this is a sermon on tithing specifically. That's not what Paul's talking about. He's talking about a very specific need that has arisen. And in the context, it seems to be above and beyond what is normally given to the church. He doesn't tell the church leaders to pull money out of their reserves or their or their church budget or to dig out of their church savings account, but he's calling on the believers. This was read to the whole church. He's calling on them. Plan to give. Be part of this gospel work. Be intentional in what you're doing. Dear Christian here, we need to plan. We need to be willing and to plan on giving to gospel opportunities. Don't neglect what you're already doing. But out of your prosperity, Out of what the Lord has allotted to you, give it. Set it aside. Find ways to do this. This is not what you're going to hear in our culture. In conservative cultures, what we hear is save, save, save, keep, keep, keep, store up, invest, get rich, retire comfortably. We do need to plan for those type things. In the reality of our world, we need to plan for our families and our futures. But we can't do that to the neglect of healthy others and our prosperity. Don't let your greed override your generosity. Now, the other side of that that we hear in our culture is spend, spend, spend, buy, buy, buy. It doesn't matter if you have it or not. We'll give you a credit card. You can come and buy a mattress that cost a whole lot of money and you can finance it interest free for like eight years. I saw a commercial for that recently. I thought, wow, that's a long time. You can finance a mattress longer than a car now, I think. I was scared to find out that they didn't say the price. Probably good. So we hear these two things in our culture. Neither one of them is what Paul is saying. Paul is saying plan to give. To be part of the work of the gospel through what the Lord has given you. We don't do it for ourselves. We have been given so much in the gospel. Christ has gone to the cross and he has defeated death for us and he has earned an inheritance that is rich and he has given that to us. And if we are new creations, wouldn't we want to model that? Almost like typology, like give, give, do something that points to a bigger reality and show people that our inheritance is not our 401k. Our inheritance is Christ's riches that he has earned from us. Other people give, I know some of you are thinking, but Dirk, other people who aren't Christians give. And you're right, I know some people that are not believers and they give. They don't like a lot of times don't like to talk about it, but they give and they give richly sometimes. Some of them do it for tax breaks. Some of them just do it out of general kindness. I think they they bear the image of God and somewhere inside of them at some point they give because they they have empathy or concern for other people. But we we do it for some of those reasons that we do it for bigger reasons than that. We do it because much has been given for us and we want to model that. We want to use opportunities to tell people about this great inheritance that we have. So let me encourage you to do what Paul is instructing the church in Corinth to do, be generous with the prosperity that you have given. If you don't think you're prosperous, I read even this morning, so I was preparing and praying through this, I even read this morning, then one Africa, which exactly one African country, the average yearly wage is four hundred and twenty two dollars. We are prosperous. We don't always see it that way. The Lord has blessed us. So we are now like the Corinthians and that we have so we can give to those who don't. But it's more than just money. There's a there's a there's another forgotten expectation. The first one is that we should be generous with our money. The second one is that we should be generous with our time. Paul, starting to verse five, writes this and I will visit you after passing through Macedonia for I intend to pass through Macedonia and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter so that I may so that you may help me on my journey wherever I go. For I do not want to see you just in passing. I want to I hope to spend some time with you. The Lord permits, but I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost for a wide door of effective work has opened to me. And there are many adversaries. Paul is relating his travel plans. He points to something really interesting to me, very convicting to me. He points that he wants to spend time with the Corinthians. Does that surprise you? Have you been paying attention to this letter? I don't know if I was Paul. I want to spend much time with them. They seem, some of them at least, and we will see in 2 Corinthians, at least one of them in particular does not like him and is causing him problems. And he says, I don't want to see you in passing. I want to spend time with you. He's managing his time, he wants to be generous with that. But at the same time, he says, I will stay here in Ephesus. He doesn't want to cut his work short that he's doing. He's being purposeful in the way that he is using his time here. And I would bet that Paul probably had better things or things that he would much rather do than go to Corinth and try to fix problems. He would probably rather go to Spain or some other place and and start teaching people the gospel that have never heard it. But yet he is he is being generous and willing to take his time. To go to a church. To have problems so that he can help them in the gospel. For the sake of the gospel, he's willing to be generous with his time. And notice how, again, we see the second thing he is planning to use it the best way that he thinks he can. He's telling them the plan for their money generosity. He's telling them the plan for their time generosity. I think we also see that when he comes, he expects that they are going to spend time with him, that they're going to help him along, that they're going to be generous in their in their time with him. So how would we apply this example of being generous of our time in our own lives? I think we have to be thoughtful and we have to be intentional with our time. And we need to be willing to use our time for endeavors that are fruitful for the gospel. In our culture, the one we live in. I think the running theme is that time and you may not see this, but time is something that's very precious. I think our culture understands the value of time. But we were told to spend its currency on things that build up ourselves. We're told to to lavish ourselves, to do what we want to do, work really hard at your job, spend your time there. It's important to be rich so you can spend your time playing what little time you have left. And I think it's easy for us in this culture and it might look different if we were in other cultures, it's easy for us to get caught up in that and we never consider or we maybe rarely consider how we can give of our time generously in a way to advance the gospel message. Some ways that you may do that and encourage you to invest, invest more time with others here at this church. I know some of you are visiting today for the baptism. Invest time in the local congregation that you're a part of. Find someone to invest time with them, to encourage them in the gospel. Or spend time with your families. Some of you have demanding jobs and it requires much time of you. So spend your time investing back into your family, the gospel message. Block that time off if you don't do it, be intentional, even if that means that you have to give up other things that you maybe would rather do that seem more fun. Possibly investing in your neighbor. For me personally, this has been very convicting. Recently, I had a neighbor that had a massive heart attack. I didn't know about it for about four days. Spent two weeks in the hospital. I had no idea because, well, partly it's summer, no one comes outside, but also I was convicted. You know what I had not done? I had not actively and intentionally invested in the lives of my neighbors outside of just whenever I saw them. I invested out of convenience, not out of intentionality. Maybe you need to invest in ministries that can build upon your skills that help advance the gospel. I know folks in this church have been involved in other things outside here that are good and worthy works, that are good things to be doing. Be involved in those things. Use your time advancing the gospel. So let me encourage you to examine your own life and your own use of time. Let me encourage you to work, to make plans, to be generous with your time. Not neglecting your families, not neglecting the other duties that we are called to as as parents or Christians to find people that you can use your spare time on the focus of the gospel. Maybe that's evangelism. Maybe that's finding a younger or older person that you you can hook up with to disciple or be discipled with. Now, the third, I think, forgotten or overlooked expectation is being generous with our hospitality. We see Paul in verse 10 give instructions on how to handle Timothy, the young brother. Verse 10, we read, Now when Timothy comes, see that you put him to ease among you, for he's doing the work of the Lord as I am. I don't want to read too much into what Paul says, but it seems as if Timothy does not want to go to Corinth. And so Paul is instructing them, put him at ease, be kind and generous to him because he's not at ease about this right now. That's how I get. That's what I get out of that. This isn't a new teaching that we've seen this thread of love all the way through the letter. And now we're seeing Paul tell them to be to be hospitable towards Timothy, to be kind, to extend out to another Christian this kindness. Now, it seems obvious to me that those who did not like Paul and the church in Corinth would not like Timothy's stance on things either. There would be this conflict. And I think rightly, Timothy's a bit nervous about the welcome he might receive when he shows up. So Paul instructs them to be to be hospitable, to be kind, to be generous in that toward someone that they probably don't agree with. That they don't necessarily like Paul, what Paul has to say, and they're probably not going to like what Timothy has to say, but yet they are told to be generous towards him in this way. Brothers and sisters, I think we need to be generous towards other believers, even if we don't agree on every point of doctrine. And I think in this case, Timothy. Is is probably seen by at least some of the people in the Corinthian church as an enemy. Is one that is on the opposite side of them, and yet Paul is saying we're going to put those things away and you need to be generous. We need to agree on these first tier tenets of the Christian faith and we can work together on those and we can still care for one another, even if we don't agree on the five points of Calvinism or we don't agree on the mode of baptism or we don't agree on other things that we can come together and be hospitable to one another. How might this work out for us? There are always opportunities for us to care for other Christians, Maybe they're members of our church. Maybe they're neighbors you have in your community. Maybe they're folks, you know, from other things, homeschooling or your local school that your kids go to that, you know, other believers. And there's opportunities for us to be hospitable and kind towards them, even if we don't agree on all points of doctrine. I have friends that do not agree with me on all points of doctrine. I'm always encouraged with some of these people as hard life things come up. In groups of believers that don't all go to church together, we've seen it even recently with some of our friends. There's always people stepping forward to provide meals, to take in children, to do whatever is necessary to show hospitality towards them. This is the attitude that we need to have and we need to look for, I think, and plan and take those opportunities to be hospitable towards other Christians in our lives. We need to be generous for them, to them. And we need to show where our true allegiance is. You see, our allegiance should not, first and foremost, be to some theological subcamp. Those things are important. We divide on where we worship over those and other things. Our allegiance, first and foremost, should not be to our nation. It should not be to our race, to the school that we have gone to, football season started, I know that's popping up, to our city, to our state. To any anything else, we are God's people, first and foremost. And we need to be able to show that generosity and be be hospitable and kind to each other, even if we don't agree, even if we've had a hotly contested debate about the end times and we just won't agree on it, to still love our brothers and be hospitable towards them. So I was preparing for this, I have a dear friend. who, in my mind, lives and has lived this as long as I've known him. I've known him for 25 years or longer. And I remember every time that someone came to the hometown I grew up in and would speak at the church or would come in for an event or whatever, there's not a lot of options for hotels. The one that's in my hometown actually just burned down. There's no options for hotels. You have to drive almost an hour to get to a hotel. And it was just standing like the expectation was for him is when somebody came, he was going to be the one who opened his home up. He had a home that would allow that. He provided a private place for him to study and to be there. He invited people over, would host folks so we could get to know them, missionaries, other groups that would come in. And he found great joy in doing that. And it wasn't because he agreed with everything those people said when they spoke. He did it because he saw them as dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and he had been given much and he wanted to give much because he had been changed by the gospel. Well, brothers and sisters, we've come to the end of this somewhat overlooked and forgotten part of this letter. I call it these these expectations that we forget or we neglect, possibly or that probably more so we overlook. We see that Paul is told us to be generous in our in our money, in our time, in our hospitality. So as we close here today, I want to ask you, are you generous in these things? And if you are generous in these things, are you purposely generous in these things? Or maybe do these things pop up and surprise you? Let me encourage you to plan, to plan to give. To plan to save up for giving, even if you put it in a savings account, you just wait and look for an opportunity, however it works for you. Plan to be generous with your time, not to neglect your other duties, to be a bad parent or a bad whatever else the Lord has called you to, but with your extra time. I promise you that one day in heaven, you will never regret spending your TV time with someone else instead of watching your TV. or to reading about the news or to doing whatever else your free time takes up than doing and working in ministry events. And they look for ways to be hospitable. I will say I will encourage this here. Let me encourage you to in this church body. It was and I have heard this from multiple people, and it was an encouragement that the Jenkins have been here for people to outpour things, to give homes and to furnish homes and to provide things for them when they are traveling on a limited amount of luggage and a limited missionary budget and all the things that go on with that, to come here and to see people be not just give, but be excited. I saw people excited that they were able to participate in that. So I see that we this church in particular, I see us doing these things. You may not always see that, but I do. Let me encourage you. But let me encourage you, if you haven't participated, to continue to do that and to look for ways to to to be generous. And not because it's an expectation that I have or it's an expectation that this church has. There's an expectation of scripture. Because Christ has gone before us and he has been generous and far more than we could ever be generous in. So let me encourage you to be mindful and look for ways to participate in the work of the gospel. Let's pray. Father, we are so very thankful for Jesus and his work on our behalf. Father, we are thankful for the picture, the visual picture that you have given us today of what Christ has actually done for us, that he has treaded through the waters of punishment and he has defeated that death and that he has risen and he has provided new life and inheritance to all those who trust in him. Father, we ask that you would bring many, many more to know this truth. We ask that you would increase your church and that you would make many more worshipers of the Lord Jesus and that you're the praise of your great name and work would would ever be louder and louder and louder. And father, we ask that we would you would you would change us, we would look to that work in our lives and that we would be motivated to mimic that in our giving of other things. To be able to tell people that we give because of Jesus. Father, help us to see that as a way that we can model and live and be reminded to participate in the work of the Lord Jesus. Oh, Father, we thank you for this great work and all that you have done, and we pray these things in his name. Amen.