The Harmony of Believers for Christ

1Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise. 2On the first day of the week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come. 3When I arrive, I will send whoever you approve with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem. 4If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me. 5But I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia. 6But with you it may be that I will stay, or even winter, that you may send me on my journey wherever I go. 7For I do not wish to see you now in passing, but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits. 8But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost, 9for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 10Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do. 11Therefore let no one despise him. But set him forward on his journey in peace, that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brothers. 12Now concerning Apollos, the brother, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers; and it was not at all his desire to come now; but he will come when he has an opportunity. 13Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong! 14Let all that you do be done in love.

We have now reached chapter 16, the last chapter of 1 Corinthians.

Through this exposition of 1 Corinthians we have run hard, twenty-seven times over, to learn what the Apostle Paul wanted to say to believers.

What Paul wanted to say was that believers are one in Christ, that each has a role, and that all must fully carry out that role.

This is because God works through believers, and so souls can be saved only when God’s people make the unseen heaven into a heaven that can be seen.

So Paul, too, lived as one who died daily in order to carry out his mission, and he said that on the last day, when the world is judged, he would put on a spiritual body in Christ because of that faith.

Holy believers, whom angels will one day serve, look forward to that day, and until the day they shed the body they love the members of the one body, help one another and extend the kingdom of God. This is what true believers look like.

In Christ, just as believers are one body, church and church are also one body. The kingdom of Christ can be extended only when churches are healthy, so churches must pray for one another and help one another, so that every church on this earth can grow well.

But modern churches are so bent on increasing their numbers that they have no interest in the gospel, and so bent on putting up buildings that they have no interest in saving souls. As a result they are causing serious problems in society.

Because of the greed to grow their own church, disputes between churches never end.

Of course, so that even one more soul may hear the Word, we must evangelize and the church must grow. But this kind of human strife, far from lighting up the world, becomes Satan’s tool and uses worldly power to put out even the lamp another church is holding.

I hope you will not forget that the church is where people who have been set apart from the world by the grace of Christ gather.

Christ is at the center of the church, and the people who hope for heaven have become members of one body in Christ. And yet revival is being judged by the size of the church building and by whether its members are many or few.

Human beings who ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil make their own thoughts the standard of every judgment, so even after hearing the gospel they act just like the world.

Their hearts are captured by the world, which looks more powerful than Christ’s teaching. So a visible church building, rather than faith in Christ, becomes the standard of blessing, and how much of the world one owns comes before faith, and they are using God to gain the visible world.

Because believers hold these worldly views, sermons that have nothing to do with the gospel are being preached to make the church taller, grander and more of a showpiece than other churches. As a result, church members’ loyalty, their resolve to devote themselves to Christ and to the saving of souls, is disappearing, and a false zeal is settling in as faith.

Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that all large churches are wrong or that believers must live in poverty. I am saying that you must not chase the world’s riches and end up straying from the Word of truth.

My earnest wish is that the large churches would preach Christ alone.

If the pastors of large churches were to forsake the world and preach Christ alone, nothing could be more precious.

Perhaps, through the faithfulness of large churches that do not follow the ways of the world, many souls could be saved easily.

But because churches today are not set apart from the world at all, the world does not bother to persecute them. It may even be trying not to offend the churches that are corrupting themselves, or their countless members.

But look at Jesus’ words in the Bible and you will see that faith without persecution and tribulation is false faith.

When you proclaim the words of the Bible, the sins of those who hear are exposed, so you are bound to be attacked. And just as Satan persecuted Jesus to keep him from preaching the gospel, Satan will stir people up to persecute you.

God’s law is different from the world’s law, so believers cannot avoid being persecuted by Satan, the ruler of this world; and because the world’s view and God’s view differ, believers cannot avoid suffering tribulation in the world.

That is why the church must keep the Word of truth to the end, and believers must live out the Word of truth until the end of their lives.

When you look at modern churches, do they seem to you to be fighting the world for Christ?

Do believers seem to you to be doing their best to live, sacrificing themselves to keep the Word and to bear the cross of Christ?

Believers are tied to worldly thinking: that because they believe in God they must live better than the people of the world, that because God protects them they must never fall ill, and that because God blesses them their children must be more successful than other children. This is the result of the church not teaching the truth.

Can churches like these become members of the body that has Christ as its head?

People who live with no connection to the truth, who are ashamed of the cross and think it natural not to know the Bible, will not be able to become citizens of heaven.

When you meet the Lord, what will you confess? What kind of faith will you tell him you lived by for the Lord until then?

You should begin thinking about it now, because the Lord will certainly ask.

The Apostle Paul said with confidence that when the trumpet sounds on the last day, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and our mortal bodies will put on a spiritual body that will never die again.

And he asked the church in Corinth whether they believed this.

The believers in Corinth were being deceived by people who preached a false gospel and lied that there is no resurrection. That is why Paul asked them whether they believed this.

The church in Corinth, which Paul had founded by pouring out his life, had abandoned the truth, was worshiping idols, and was filling its heart with greed and lies. That is why Paul was angry.

Look at the way the world is going now and you will see that Satan never rests. As a result the world is growing more and more corrupt, and people are boldly displaying before the world the evil deeds they once did in hiding, in the shadows, and sinning openly.

As a result of Satan’s hard work, those who rule the world are changing the world’s laws one by one in order to persecute believers.

But because the church has already compromised with the world for the sake of revival and success, believers who do not know the truth are not even aware of this.

Of course, in the world until now evil has triumphed over good, and the wicked have held far more of the world’s power than the righteous.

But no matter how much evil the world does and how much it sins, if the churches that have Christ as their head become one and keep the Word of truth, the Lord will help them.

Churches today are not properly preaching the Word of truth.

Even pastors do not properly know the Bible, and they are not interested in it either.

They pour their hearts only into building churches, and strive to increase their numbers so that they have something to boast about.

They think that is revival, and that they have done God’s work.

But Jesus never once commended anyone who strayed from the truth.

Now the church, pastors and believers must fear.

For we do not know when the Lord’s judgment of wrath will come.

Put on white garments, get ready to meet the bridegroom, and live according to the Word.

Acts 11:28-30

28One of them named Agabus stood up, and indicated by the Spirit that there should be a great famine all over the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius. 29As any of the disciples had plenty, each determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea; 30which they also did, sending it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Just as Agabus had prophesied that a famine would come in the days of Claudius, a great famine struck Jerusalem, and the people of Jerusalem came to live in misery.

Paul encouraged the believers in Galatia to help the church in Jerusalem, and they did as Paul commanded and helped Jerusalem with one heart.

Because the church in Galatia knew that it had been able to receive salvation through the devoted faithfulness of the apostles of the church in Jerusalem, it did its utmost to help the church in Jerusalem.

That is why, in chapter 16, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that as he had commanded the churches of Galatia, they should do likewise.

The letter the Apostle Paul sent to Corinth shows that he planned to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, then pass through Macedonia and go on to the church in Corinth.

But things did not go as planned. Something happened that forced him to leave Ephesus in haste: the uproar Demetrius stirred up, recorded in Acts 19.

While he was in Ephesus, Paul first sent Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia, and he was pondering how he could preach the gospel more in Ephesus. Because God had opened the door of the gospel, and because there were also so many who opposed the gospel, he wanted to take more time to preach it.

Ephesus was a place whose great source of income was making models of the image of Artemis. So Paul told those who believed in Artemis that things made by human hands are no gods, and that only by believing in the living God who worked, and in Jesus, who bore the cross, could they be saved.

When Demetrius heard this, he gathered all those who made images of Artemis and told them that this man called Paul, by preaching that the Artemis images they made were no gods, was both despising the temple of the great goddess Artemis and threatening their comfortable living.

At that the people, enraged, said they could not forgive the man who had insulted their god, and they seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia and Paul’s fellow workers, and dragged them into the theater.

When a great commotion broke out, Paul tried to go into the theater, but the officials stopped him from going in, and the town clerk barely managed to dismiss the assembly.

The people who feared their income would fall were trying to kill Paul, so Paul hurriedly left Ephesus and headed for Macedonia.

Even Paul, a man of prayer, came under Satan’s attack when he preached the gospel. So you too should be sure to prepare in prayer before you preach the gospel.

1 Corinthians 16:10

10Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do.

Look at the people who slandered and opposed Paul, who had given his life for the salvation of their souls, and at the believers in the church in Corinth who knew the truth and yet did not properly stand against them. Then you can see how hard a ministry Paul carried out.

Paul sent Timothy, together with Erastus, through Macedonia to Corinth. The mission Timothy received was to bring the believers in Corinth to repentance through the Word.

Timothy was at that time a young pastor with little experience, so Paul always taught him to be an example in word, in his way of life, in love, in faith and in purity, so that no one would despise his youth. Timothy was a pastor, but because he had little experience, Paul was deeply worried about how the members of the church in Corinth, with all its problems, would treat Timothy.

People who had lived in a place full of philosophy and the world’s empty wisdom had come into the church and were distorting the truth, so Timothy’s mission was a heavy one.

Because Timothy followed the Apostle Paul’s faith and devoted himself to the truth alone, he carried out his ministry in the church in Corinth well.

Of course, it was not Timothy’s wisdom that fully resolved the problems. Because he governed by the truth, the Word of truth brought them to repentance.

When we preach the gospel, if we preach only the truth, no matter who the listener is, there is nothing to worry about, for the Holy Spirit works for their salvation.

1 Corinthians 16:14

14Let all that you do be done in love.

For the church in Corinth to stand upright, all its believers must embrace the love God has given and act in faith.

God’s love is a love that gave up its own glory and took the lowest of places, a love that forgives sinners who betrayed the Creator and listened to Satan, and a love that redeemed the sins of all humanity, who failed to recognize the Savior and killed him on the cross.

Only by embracing that love can we devote ourselves and be faithful.

The heavenly love that believers embrace is a love that transcends the world, so it does not act according to its own benefit.

Believers who embrace the love God has given do not throw away the new wineskin to satisfy their own greed, and so they have a heart that gives and sacrifices.

Stephanas, who displayed this love of God to the world, received Christ in Athens, then returned to Corinth and led his whole family to faith, and he helped the slaves who were like his own possessions to receive the gospel.

In those days, to preach the gospel to a slave who was one’s own property was a love that no one could ever show without being sure that there is an eternal world more beautiful than this one.

Paul told them to submit to believers like Stephanas, who lived for Christ alone, and to believers who serve for the gospel, and to supply what they lacked.

Unless believers recognize the hardships of those who work at the front, God’s work can never be carried out. That is why the Apostle Paul stresses in verse 18 that they must acknowledge such people, who refreshed his spirit and theirs.

If we do not help those who do their best like this to set an example of the Word, the believers who work for the gospel will face great hardship.

In every letter the Apostle Paul recorded the names of the fellow workers who worked with him. He did this to make it known that he had not worked alone, but had carried out the Lord’s work because he had fellow workers.

By mentioning their names he made sure that the faithful believers would be blessed by God, and by making their names known he had believers everywhere help these fellow workers.

David too, when he ended his years of running for his life and returned to the city, set the warriors who had been with him in key positions and helped them to live well.

Paul’s heart was the very same as David’s, and this conduct of Paul’s came from a humility that gave all the credit to his fellow workers.

1 Corinthians 16:2

2On the first day of the week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.

Paul is asking them not to take up the offering for the church in Jerusalem in a hurry when he arrives, but to give ahead of time and set it aside.

That is, he is telling them to pray enough to God for Jerusalem and give their offering, so that as members of one body believers would not have hardened hearts.

In the days of the early church, believers mostly gathered on the Sabbath, but after Jesus rose again they gathered on the first day after the Sabbath.

As the conflict between Judaism and Christianity deepened over gatherings on the Lord’s Day and on the Sabbath, from the early fourth century Christianity made the Lord’s Day the regular gathering of the church.

That is why Paul told them to give their offering on the first day of every week.

It is only right for the prosperous Gentile churches to help the church in Jerusalem, from which they had received spiritual help. That is why Paul stresses the offering to the believers in Corinth, saying they must help the church in Jerusalem.

Sharing material things with the church in Jerusalem, which had preached the gospel ready to die, was something they ought naturally to do as members of one body. But Paul was concerned that the believers in Corinth would stumble, so he told them about the faithfulness of the believers in Macedonia.

2 Corinthians 8:2-3

2how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their generosity. 3For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord,

The believers in Macedonia were attacked by the Jews after they received the gospel. And though they went through deep poverty and affliction under Roman rule, they were instead full of faith, thanking God, who had given them the hope of the eternal heaven.

They had nothing to spare because of persecution and poverty, but when they heard that the church in Jerusalem, which had brought them eternal life, was in difficulty, they helped beyond their power.

Paul told the church in Corinth about this abundant devotion of the Macedonian church, and so helped them to devote themselves too.

Paul had earlier asked the believers in Corinth to raise an offering for the church in Jerusalem, but they had not been eager to help.

So Paul made known the devotion of the Macedonian believers again through Titus, and through Timothy he helped them abandon their false gospel and faith.

The believers in Corinth who received Paul’s letter heard of the devotion of the Macedonian believers, repented and recovered their faith.

Once they had recovered their faith, they finally realized that helping brothers in the faith does not diminish what one owns or mean carrying a heavy burden, but is instead the blessing of receiving God’s abundant grace.

Afterward the offering the church in Corinth gathered to send to Jerusalem was so large that a great work took place: the Apostle Paul came to the church in Corinth in person and delivered that offering to the church in Jerusalem.

The church in Corinth took Paul’s letter as a chance to turn back, and fully carried out its role as a member of the body.

Anyone can love in words alone.

Saying you will pray for someone who is hungry, without giving them anything to eat, comes from a false heart that does not want to share what is yours. So God does not bless it.

If you are a believer, you should not merely know the love Jesus Christ showed in person; you should work for God, just as the Macedonian believers helped beyond their power.

Paul proclaims that just as Jesus’ sacrifice made sinners rich, the devotion of believers will extend the kingdom of God and save many souls who would otherwise fall into death.

We must not only rejoice that we have been saved; we must share the love the Lord has shown us.

Believers who have received God’s love should naturally look around to see whether the believers near them are struggling, spiritually or physically, and help them.

1 Corinthians 16:22

22If any man doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Come, Lord!

Our confession that we love the Lord also contains a confession that we will walk the way the Lord went.

But if I tell you that you must carry Jesus’ cross as well, on top of the cross of your own life, your heart will feel heavy.

But if you carry the Lord’s cross as the Apostle Paul and his fellow workers did, the cross of your life will become lighter by comparison.

Believers who carry the Lord’s cross faithfully will receive a reward from God in proportion to the weight of that cross, and they will not feel the weight of life.

Believers are the very people who know this secret.

Because Paul knew this wonderful secret, he gave thanks in all things, prayed without ceasing, and lived a life of always rejoicing.

Because the Apostle Paul lived faithfully for the Lord, he could say earnestly, ‘Come, Lord!’ The faith of believers who believe the Lord will come is a rock-like faith that the world cannot overcome, and the faith of children who have received God’s love.

Now I will bring this exposition of 1 Corinthians to a close.

You have learned all about how believers should live and what faith they should have.

The gospel is not knowledge; it is the believer’s purpose, something to be lived out in life.

Only faithful believers will be able to welcome the Lord who comes again with joy, as the Apostle Paul did, and enter the eternal kingdom with him.

Like Paul, who devoted himself at the cost of his own life, may you too fully carry out your role as a believer where you are, and receive God’s abundant grace. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.