Christian Stewards

Raul Ries: Spiritually speaking, you need to be sharpened, you need to be always listening, you need to be watching through the Holy Spirit as he speaks to your heart. But most importantly, you need to be sitting down or wherever you do reading God's word so you can develop spiritually and grow into that woman or man of God that God wants you to be in this present time.
Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Today's lesson picks up in our ongoing series in First Corinthians. We'll get encouragement from Raul to stay the course with God through all of life's ups and downs. As you follow along, you'll see that when you come to the Lord with an attitude of humble submission, he'll guide your steps and fulfill his perfect plans. Here's Raul Ries.
Raul Ries: What's amazing here in this last chapter, we're going to find three things that he's going to talk to us about: stewardship, which means money, opportunity, and people. This is real important. As Paul concludes his book speaking on the problems of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in chapter 16 now, the first thing that he will deal with is stewardship, that is, becoming a steward of what God has given to you, especially with your money. Look how he begins in verse one of chapter 16. He says, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so that you must do also." Now what was going on is the church in Jerusalem was going through a very, very stressful situation financially. They were very poor. And nobody was helping these Christians in the city of Jerusalem. So Paul the Apostle wanted to make sure that they would take up a collection for them and Paul said, "I don't even want to carry it, I want to be blameless, that you send somebody else to carry the collection to make sure nobody can steal it but they can get it because it's of the Lord." So here he's going to tell you a little about it. He says, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so that you must do also." And then he says this, "On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside." So the first day of the week to the Jew was Saturday, to the Christian it's Sunday. But as Christians, think about it, if you work on Sundays and you can't go to church on Sunday, then every day we don't treat it differently, every day is alike to us. It could be Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, it doesn't really matter what day it is. I worship God seven days a week. To me, it's Sunday every day and we really should not be caught up with that. We should just really be open to the Holy Spirit and the early church understanding they took Sunday to be the first day of the week even Paul writes it here, watch what he says. "And on the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come." Paul hated asking for money. He hated it. I hate asking for money too. Pastor Chuck Smith taught me where the Lord leads he provides and if God is not providing, shut the doors. But why should you get up and ask people for money? That should never be so. I mean, either God's in it or God's not in it. And think of all of these TV programs that are constantly fleecing the flock of God instead of feeding it. Radio programs that are constantly spending more time in asking for their physical and spiritual needs than teaching God's word and allowing the word of God to speak to the hearts of the people. That's real important. Paul the Apostle was one of the most awesome preachers, teachers of the word of God that was blameless to the point of everything that he did. You couldn't really point your finger in Paul's life in any way because he was so blameless. So Paul here is teaching us the way we should be giving when you're actually giving for a church or someone that is in need, this is the way you do it. Look what he says, verse three, "And when I come, whoever you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem." He says, "I don't want to carry it, but if you appoint somebody then they can carry the money and take it to those Christians that are hurting in Jerusalem and then they can be taken care of." Then he says, "But if it is fitting that I also go, they will go with me." I'm not going to go by myself carrying any money. In the 40 years that I've been in ministry, I've never ever had anything to do with money in the church. I have nothing to do with it. We have a board and we have those that take care of the moneys. And the reason for that, God didn't call me to take money in or to count money, God called me to study and to give God's word. That's what God called me to do so it's kind of neat how God works. Then secondly look what he says, verse four again. "But if it's fitting that I go also, they will go with me." So Paul says, "I'm willing to go with them to Jerusalem." He says, "But then we'll be blameless by somebody else carrying the money and then giving it to those guys that are poor in Jerusalem." Secondly the stewardship of our opportunities. Not only our money but our opportunities. What kind of opportunities is God giving to you individually? Are they good opportunities or are they bad opportunities? Do you pray about your opportunities, "is this of the Lord or is this something that somebody is trying to entrap me in?" Is this really of God? Is it something that is going to build up the body of Christ, is it something that is going to be glory to the Lord or is it something that the devil's using to build you up and to bring glory and honor to yourself? That's what you got to pray about. So Paul here begins in verse five by saying this, "And now I, Paul, will come to you when I pass through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia." So here he's talking about his personal plans, verse six. "And it may be that I will remain or even spend the winter with you that you may send me on my journey wherever I go." So Paul was always open to the Holy Spirit and always open to the saints, that is the Christian church. Wherever he would travel he would stay with believers with them, he would pray with them, he would feed them the word of God and they would pray together and it was always a blessing for Paul to see all of these people that he knew around the world as he would take his ministry all over the country and all over the world. So Paul's a good example to have in our lives, especially in the ministry, to see what Paul used to do with the money and what he'd do with his own time, verse seven. "For I do not wish to see you now on the way, but I hope to stay a while with you." Notice here, "if the Lord permits it." I love what Paul says here. It should always be if the Lord wills, if the Lord permits I'll be there and if it's not God's perfect will then I won't be there. This is an important thing for every one of us to understand, that we have to align ourselves and our lives with the perfect will of God just like Jesus being in the Garden of Gethsemane aligned himself with the purposes and the will of the Father. "Father, not my will but thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." And I think that's really important for every one of us individually. That it's good to know that God not only has his hand upon me, he's opening the doors and he's closing the doors. And when he closes the door, don't try to force yourself through that door. Wait on the Lord. You have to have peace in the Lord for whatever he desires to do in your life. Maybe the closing of the door is because he has another door that he's going to open which is better than this door and if you go through this door, it may cause you damage, it may cause you hurt, that's why he closed the door. So we have to be flexible. Chuck says blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken and that's true. We have to be flexible to the will of God. So Paul here wants us to understand the perfect will of God, verse eight. "But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost." So here he's telling them on the letter, "Hey you guys, I'm going to do it but I'm going to go until Pentecost." Verse nine, "For a great effective door has opened to me." Notice that. An opening door he says, "you can't believe this you guys, God has listened to my prayer and God has opened this tremendous door that I'm walking right through." And look what he says, "And there are many enemies." Did you notice what he's saying? Sometimes when God opens the door guess who's there waiting for you? Satan and his enemies. Trying to discourage you. But if God is for me then who can be against me? When I realize that if God is for me then not even Satan or his demons can keep me back from what God has called me to do. I'm going to do it even if it's going to cost my life because God has called you to do that, to trust him and to allow him to open the doors and allow him to close the doors fully and completely. And so Paul was always looking to the Lord for doors to be opened and doors to be closed. And then thirdly notice what he says here, stewardship with the people. A house manager with people's times too. He starts out with an exhortation here. "Now if Timothy comes see that he may be with you without fear for he does the work of the Lord as I do the work of the Lord." Timothy was an amazing young person that Paul had discipled. Timothy's grandmother Lois and his mother had taken under his wings Timothy and taught him the word of God. Then Paul came along and became a spiritual father to Timothy and Timothy fell in love with Paul the Apostle. I mean, he discipled him fully, completely to become the man that God wanted to have in the life of Timothy. And what's incredible here about Timothy is that Paul became his spiritual father and Timothy was following Paul's example. And so here again Paul says, "And now if Timothy comes see that he may be with you without fear for he does the work of the Lord even as I do." And then in verse 11, "Therefore because of this let no one despise Timothy." Notice that. He didn't want anybody to put down Timothy and the service that he was doing to the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, "Don't disappoint him, don't put him down, but send him on his journey in peace that he may come to me for I am waiting for him with the brethren." Notice if how beautiful this is. He wanted Timothy to bring the letter that Paul had written to the Ephesians, to the city of Ephesus. And Paul here is pleading with them about how Timothy has a faithful servant of the Lord and he is a faithful not only servant of the Lord but he has been faithful to Paul the Apostle fully and completely but most important to Jesus Christ himself.
Guest (Male): This is Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Visit SomebodyLovesYou.com for scripture-rich resources to shore up your faith and help you live a God-honoring life. Raul's series titled "Unity, Holiness, and Love" is available on CD and USB. We'll tell you how you can get your copy in just a few moments. Let's rejoin Raul now for more from First Corinthians.
Raul Ries: So here Paul again and then he says in verse 12, "Now concerning our brother Apollos." Now Apollos was another guy. He was an amazing, amazing expositor of the word of God. He was mighty in the scriptures. And Paul the Apostle fell in love with Apollos as a friend and as a teacher. And here he's saying, he says, "It's a privilege not only to be a servant but it's a privilege to know Apollos." He says, "I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren but he was quite unwilling to come at this present time." Apollos felt somehow that the Lord did not want him to go and meet with the brethren at this time. He says, "And he will come whenever he has a convenient time." So Paul the Apostle understands that somehow God the Holy Spirit told Apollos not to go at the present time but in the future he would open the door for him to meet with everybody else once again. And then in verse 13 he says, "Watch and stand fast in the faith and be brave and be strong." Paul here delivers not on exhortation, threefold exhortation that is very important for all of us. Number one, watch, which means in the Greek, "be alert." Why? Because of Satan and because of all the things that could happen to you if you're not aware about it. Spiritually speaking, you need to be sharpened, you need to be always listening, you need to be watching through the Holy Spirit as he speaks to your heart. But most importantly you need to be sitting down or wherever you do reading God's word and feeding upon God's word so you can develop spiritually and grow into that woman or man of God that God wants you to be in this present time. So that God can use you in the future to come. But if you don't spend time watching or being on the alert then the enemy will come in and he'll destroy you and he'll wound you. So that's why it's really important what Paul is saying here. Be on the alert. Secondly, stand fast. Stand fast where? In the faith. The faith that God has given to you. And how do we receive this faith? By believing not only that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of my life but by reading the word of God. And the word of God brings us strength that I need to have in my life, believing not only the stories of the word of God but believing that God has his hand upon my life and that God is not going to let me go but he's going to uphold me fully and completely until the day that I die. Because those are the promises that we find in the word of God as we give ourselves fully and completely to Jesus Christ. And then he says something interesting here, the second thing. Be brave. That's a kind of a bad translation. Literally in the Greek he says this, "Act like men." That is, be mature. Don't be a baby and infant. Be mature. How do we become mature? Paul told us in First Corinthians chapter three. He says not carnal but mature. That is by feeding upon God's word every day, praying, and then sharing our faith with other people, developing, growing spiritually in the Lord. Because there were so many in the Corinthian church that were not really spiritual, they were carnal. They did not know how to watch, they didn't know how to be on the alert, they didn't know how to defend themselves because they didn't know God's word. But we as we sit and study God's word and read and pray every single day imagine the power that God will give to us through the Holy Spirit and through his word as we use it against our enemy, against the enemy Satan and his demons. That we can stand not only be on the alert and watching for whatever it may happen in our lives but at the same time standing firm or standing fast in our faith and then being strong the third thing, being strong in the Lord. How do we become strong? By feeding upon God's word and being baptized with the Holy Spirit of God. I love that. Watch and stand fast in faith and be like men, as mature, and be strong in the Lord. And then he says this, "Let all that you do be done in agape love." Notice that. Everything that we do is not to build up ourselves and not to bring glory to ourselves. It is all to be done in agape love. If it's done in agape love then there's not going to be any striving, no jealousies. You see, no jealousies. All the glory, all the honor doesn't go to you or anybody else, it all goes to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because it was done in the motive of true love, agape love given to us. And then in verse 15, "I urge you." Notice great exhortation here. "Brethren, you know the household of Stephanas." Who was Stephanas? Stephanas in the Greek means crown. The crown. And Stephanas was one of those converts in Corinth that became a Christian through Paul the Apostle. He was the first convert of Achaia that Paul had in his ministry. And then he also visited Paul when Paul was away. And look what he says. He says to the household of Stephanas, that is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints. These people took the advantage of not only becoming Christians but here they became exhorters in the body of Christ in helping anybody in the body of Christ with their needs. They were very giving people. Stephanas, that is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they may have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints. The Christians. They truly practiced agape love in the body of Jesus Christ. So it's really cool how God works through every individual person in the body of Christ and Paul is so cool to share that with us. Then he says this in verse 16. He says, "that you also submit to such people." Notice how beautiful that is. "And everyone who works and labors with us." What he's talking about, he says be in submission to those kind of people that are in the church. Why? They're not proud, they're not building their own kingdom, they're part of the team. They want to be open to the Holy Spirit and be used as many times as God wants to use their lives no matter what it is, God is there for them and for you. And then he says in verse 17, "I am so glad about the coming of Stephanas again, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, for what was lacking in your part they supplied it." So here we have Fortunatus which means fortune in the Greek, a Christian at Corinth. And then Achaicus here means belonging to Achaia, a Christian in Corinth that visited Paul in First Corinthians chapter 16, 17, and 18 here. And these people were open to the Holy Spirit and they were assisting and helping people. Notice the kind of people that actually Paul assisted and the people that he hung out with, people that were just like him helping other people. Not building their own little kingdoms but being flexible to the Lord. And look what he says about them. "For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men." Notice what he's saying here. Respect those kind of people. Respect them, love them, honor them because they are people that are not building their own little kingdoms. They are people in your body that really love the body of Jesus Christ. They're not in it for themselves, they want to see other people get touched by the Lord and they love to help those kind of people. Verse 19, "The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord and with the church that is in their house." Remember Aquila and Priscilla? They were converts of Paul in Rome, they came to know the Lord. They were tent makers. Paul the Apostle instead of asking for money he got a job making tents with Aquila and Priscilla. That's where he met them. They were making tents. Four hours he would work and then the other four hours he would share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul never, never, never asked for money and never took money from anybody. He always wanted to make sure that he was providing for his needs because he really believed where God leads God provides. Verse 20, he says, "All the brethren, all the Christians greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss." And then he says this, "The salutation with my own hand—Paul's." Notice that. "If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ let him be accursed, let him be accursed." Notice what Paul says. Paul wants to make sure he puts that in there. His personal closing words is damning people. Damning those people that do not love the Lord Jesus Christ. Let them be accursed, let him be sent to the second and lowest part of Hell literally in the Greek, the hottest place in Hell. And then check this out what he says. He says "Our Lord come" in the Greek, "Maranatha." A word that we use in the Jesus people movement, Maranatha, the Lord comes. A word of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Paul the Apostle even though he's closing the letter he wants to make sure that he understands and that they understand that there are people that do not love the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet he says in order to do that, Maranatha, as the Lord comes again what do we do? We keep focusing and continue to seek and pursue the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior because right before he closes, verse 23, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you personally." Notice the grace of God, the unmerited favor of Jesus Christ to each one of us individually given to us. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. Did you notice what he said there? In Christ Jesus speaks of what? Our position in the Lord. Not outside of Christ, he's talking to believers. And right before Paul closes that great letter he says, "My love be with you all who are in Christ Jesus" and he says, "so let it be." Notice how Paul closes the conclusion of his letter.
Guest (Male): Well, the Apostle Paul serves as a great example to all of us of someone who faithfully walked with God, surrendering his will and honoring him with true obedience. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you'd like to review Raul's teaching titled "Christian Stewardship," we can send you an unedited version for a donation of five dollars or more. Give us a call at 800-634-9165 to make your request. And as you evaluate your own personal witness, we'd like to equip you with Raul's 11-part series "Unity, Holiness, and Love." It's available on CD and flash drive. From handling conflicts with grace to maximizing your spiritual gifts, you'll discover how to infuse your faith into your daily life and at the same time bless others with God's love. Connect with us at SomebodyLovesYou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's 11-message study "Unity, Holiness, and Love." We'll send you the CD set for 23 dollars or the thumb drive for 14. The number again is 800-634-9165. As always, you can order these resources by writing to us at Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. This ministry with Raul Ries is fully listener supported. We are continually blessed by your partnership and every contribution is tax deductible. Tune in again next time for a special straight talk program packed with Bible-centered conversation on how to live more fully for the Lord Jesus.