Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: 1 Corinthians 16

Theme: Exhortations on practical diligence.

Date: 04/03/21 File name: 1_Corinthians_30.wpd

ID Number: NT07-16

Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth has come to an end except for some final directions, and greetings.

Paul is oing to sum up his letter to the Corinthians with an exhortation on practical diligence.

I always find it interesting that we learn wonderful tidbits of information at the end of the Apostle’s letters.

At the end of the letter to the Church at Rome the Apostle lists over two-dozen fellow believers who have been a part of his ministry as he has planted churches from Caesarea to Corinth.

It reminds us of Paul’s deep love for his co-workers in Christ.

At the end of his letter to the Philippian Church he lays out a plethora of attributes that believers ought to strive to put into practice, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

(Philippians 4:4–8, ESV).

Each of us could spend the rest of our lives (and probably should) just trying to live these things out in our Christian walk.

He closes out his letter to the Ephesian Christians with, “Ya all pray for me, that whenever I open my mouth the gospel comes out.”

Here, at the end of his first letter to the believers at Corinth, Paul is going to give some final instructions on a variety of issues that give us some guidance in some practical concerns of the Christian life.

I. PRACTICAL CONCERNS ABOUT STEWARDSHIP TO THE CHURCH

“Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.” (1 Corinthians 16:1–4, ESV)

1. several times in the Book of Acts, and several times in his own letters it is mentioned that the Apostle Paul is encouraging a collection for the believers in Judea due to a famine that has hit the region

a. it is referred to simply as the “Jerusalem Donation”

b. this famine had actually been prophesied by an early believer in the Book of Acts

“Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).

29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.

30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.” (Acts 11:27–30, ESV)

1) sure enough, the famine begins in AD 44 and the Christian community in Judea is especially hard hit

c. the believers in the Corinthian Church had evidently heard about this offering, not from the Apostle Paul, but from other believers from the churches in Galatia, and have asked Paul for the privilege of giving

1) it’s always encouraging when believers want to be generous with their money

2. so Paul is going to give some instructions that, still to this day, are good solid financial principles for congregations to follow

a. the local church should always take its financial instructions from the Word, and not from the world

1) it is always sad when churches reject biblical methods of financing their ministry, and adopt worldly methods

b.

Paul’s advise is for all congregations

“Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.” (1 Corinthians 16:1, ESV)

A. PRINCIPLES OF GODLY GIVING

1. 1st, Giving Is to Be Church-centered

a. Paul writes, On the first day of every week

1) this is the customary Jewish way of referring to Sunday

b. this obviously coincides with the Christian day of worship

1) God’s people are to gather on the Lord’s Day, and one of the patterns of worship involves giving

c. financial sacrifice is taught throughout both Old and New Testaments

1) God is the One who blesses us, and in turn, God’s people are to bless others by helping supply their needs

“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”

(Ephesians 4:28, ESV)

2) well isn’t that interesting?

... one of the reasons a Christian ought to be gainfully employed, and a hard worker is so that he may have something to share with anyone in need

3) Christians ought to be a generous people — no one ought to out give us!

ILLUS.

The Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, had much to say about Christian stewardship.

Some of this teachings on money will make us all squirm.

One of the things he wrote is just blunt: “If you are rich and see your neighbor is poor, serve him with your possessions,” wrote Luther; “if you do not do this you are not now a Christian.”

d. the depth of our stewardship is not the only indicator of the depth of our love for Christ and the things of God, but it certainly is an indicator

1) our giving is to be church-centered

2) it is certainly not wrong to give to other philanthropic causes, including Christian philanthropic causes, but Paul makes clear that a believer owes it to the Lord and to his church to bring his or her tithes and offerings to the church

3) our giving is as much a part of our worship as is our singing or praying

2. 2nd, Giving Should Be Regular

a. Paul writes, On the first day of every week

1) Paul encouraged them to bring their offerings weekly, if possible

2) the point is that our giving should be regular and not sporadic

3. 3rd, Giving is for Everyone

a. Paul tells them, On the first day of every week, each one of you

1) Christian stewardship is not just for the rich, but rich and poor and all inbetween

ILLUS.

In 2 Corinthians 8:1-4 Paul tells us that the believers in the churches of Macedonia gave liberally to this offering even though Macedonia was the very poorest region in all of Greece.

2) Christian stewardship is not just for the adult, but for the young person

a) parents, are you teaching your children that they should tithe their allowance?

b) are you teaching your teenagers that they should tithe what they earn at McDonald’s, or at lawn mowing, or at Walmart’s?

ILLUS.

The biggest stink I ever caused in a church was with my previous congregation in Adrian.

I had been preaching a series of messages on biblical stewardship, and I had decided that during the coming Sunday’s children’s time, I was going to teach the kids about tithing.

I normally had about fifteen children each morning so I went and got $15 in dimes.

Come the next Lord’s Day I call all the children up, and asked “How many of you know what the world ‘tithe’ means?”

One of the older kids raised a hand and said, “It means ‘one tenth’ of something.”

I said, “Yes.

That’s correct.

Tithing is when a Christian gives 10% of their income to God, just because they love him.”

I then pulled out the dimes, and give each one of them a dollars worth of shiny new 10¢ pieces.

I asked, “You each have ten shiny new dimes.

If you were to give a tithe of them to God, how many dimes would you put in the offering plate?”

Well, they all responded, “One dime!”

I then told them that the dimes were their’s to keep, and that come the offering time, only God would be watching if you put a dime in the offering plate.

There were fifteen shiny new dimes in the offering plate that day.

c) the kids loved that morning’s children’s time with their pastor — not so much a fair number of the parents

b. the church member who is able to give, but who does not give faithfully is a thief — he or she is robbing God, and dishonoring fellow believers who pay the bills while the cheapskate-believer gets all the same blessings from their church, and they are robbing themselves of blessings

4. 4th, Giving Should be Proportionate

a. how much should the Corinthian believers give?

1) Paul does not use the word tithe, but he does tell them you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income

2) he implies proportional giving — that a believer should give in relation to the prosperity he or she receives from the Lord

b. the tithe was the minimum standard for giving in the Old Testament, and I see no reason why this standard should not apply also to the New Testament Church

c. some Christian will immediately respond, “But tithing is legalistic, and we’re under grace!” ... to which I would respond

1) tithing was practiced by God’s people long before God gave the Law to Moses (see Gen. 14:20; 28:22)

2) and yes, you’re correct, we are under grace and not the Law which means our stewardship ought to surpass what the Law requires!

ILLUS.

When I became a Christian, I was fortunate to have the influence of many fine adult Christian examples around me — including Linda’s parents.

I can remember going to Linda’s dad and asking, “How much should I be giving to the church?”

Linda’s dad explained tithing to me, and since that day there has never been a time in my life, our in Linda and mine’s marriage when we did not tithe and give over and above a tithe.

You need to know that, financially, I don’t ask you to do what I’m unwilling to do.