1 Corinthians 16:13-24

Welcome back. This is Coach Brian, and today we are looking at First Corinthians 16:13 to 24.

When was the last time you wrote someone a real goodbye. Not just see you later. I mean a letter where you knew this might be the last thing they hear from you for a while, maybe ever. What would you make sure to say before you ran out of room.

That is basically where Paul is standing. He has spent sixteen chapters correcting one problem after another in the Corinthian church. Division. Lawsuits. Confusion over the Lord's Supper. Now he is closing the letter, and in his final lines he tells us exactly what mattered most to him.

The first thing he says is this. Be on your guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. Four short commands stacked right on top of each other. The reformer John Calvin read these as one military charge, like a soldier being told to keep watch and hold the line. Pastor John MacArthur, preaching through this same verse, pointed out that the Corinthians had let their guard down in almost every area that mattered. They were not watching for temptation. They were not watching for false teaching. They were not even watching for the Lord's return. Paul is telling them, and telling us, wake up. Stay alert. Stand on what is true.

But Paul does not stop there. In the very next breath he adds something that changes the whole tone. Let all that you do be done in love. Think about that. This is the same letter that gave us the great love chapter, chapter thirteen. MacArthur made the point that this entire letter opens with love and closes with love. Almost every conflict Paul dealt with along the way, the favoritism, the lawsuits, the pride over spiritual gifts, came down to one missing ingredient. Not a lack of knowledge. Not a lack of gifting. A lack of love.

So that is our first word today. Stand. Stand firm in what is true, and let love be the way you stand.

The second thing Paul does before he signs off is point to one quiet name. Stephanas. He was the very first person in the whole region of Achaia to come to faith through Paul's ministry. From that day on he gave his household to one thing. Serving other believers. No title attached to his name. No platform. Calvin observed that wherever God gives someone real gifts for serving others, the right response from the rest of us is honor, not jealousy.

Think about the church Paul is writing to. This was a congregation that loved to argue about whose teacher was better, whose spiritual gift was flashier. Right in the middle of that noise, there was a man who had simply chosen to serve. Quietly. Faithfully. Paul holds him up as the example worth following.

So our second word is serve. Not for recognition. Just because someone needs it.

Then Paul closes with greetings. The churches across the province send their love. Aquila and Priscilla, an old missionary couple who helped Paul plant the very church he is writing to, send their greetings too. And then Paul gives one more command. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

In that culture, this was not a small thing. Corinth was a city where the wealthy and the poor, the free and the enslaved, almost never touched each other in public as equals. Calvin described this kiss as a true and sincere sign of mutual love, not a performance, but something real. MacArthur counted this as the last on a list of seven marks of love running through this whole closing section. A church that had spent sixteen chapters arguing about status was told, in the end, embrace each other like family.

So our third word is salute. Greet each other. Reach across whatever divides you and treat one another like family, because in Christ, that is exactly what you are.

Right after that warm command, Paul's tone turns sharp for one verse. If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed. Calvin was careful to point out that Paul is not talking about people outside the church who never claimed Christ. He is talking about people inside the church wearing the name of Jesus without their heart ever belonging to him. It is a hard sentence. But it comes from a pastor who could not let his people settle for a false peace.

Then, almost in the same breath, Paul writes one word in Aramaic, even though the rest of the letter is in Greek. Maranatha. Our Lord, come. It is both a warning and a prayer. A warning to anyone faking their faith, and a prayer of hope for everyone who truly loves him.

Here is what I want you to walk away with today. Right after all of that, Paul writes this. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Notice the order. Grace and love come last, but they are not a reward for standing firm, serving well, and greeting each other warmly. They are the reason any of that is even possible. Paul is not telling the Corinthians to earn grace by doing these things. He is telling them, you have already been given grace, now let it show.

So today, ask yourself where your footing feels a little shaky, and let that be a place you watch and stand firm. Ask yourself who you could quietly serve today, without needing anyone to notice. And ask yourself who you could greet today, really greet, even someone you have kept at a distance.

This is Coach Brian. Thanks for joining us. Don't forget in Christ, we are freed to live. Now let us live to free others. Godspeed.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome back. This is Coach Brian, and today we're looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verses 13 through 24. Now, when was the last time you wrote someone a real goodbye? Not just see you later, but I mean a letter where you knew this might be the last thing they hear from you for a while. Maybe ever. Now what would you make sure to say before you ran out of room? That is basically where Apostle Paul is standing. He has spent sixteen chapters correcting one problem after another in the Corinthian church, such as division, lawsuits, confusion over the Lord's Supper, and now he is closing the letter, and in his final lines he tells us exactly what mattered most to him. The first thing he says is this Be on your guard, be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous and be strong. Now these are four short commands stacked right on top of each other. Be on your guard, stand firm, and be courageous and be strong. Now the reformer, uh one of the reformers, John Calvin, read these as one military charge, like a soldier being told to keep watch and hold a line. Pastor John MacArthur MacArthur Jr. preaching through the same verse, pointed out that the Corinthians had let their guards down in almost every area that mattered. Every area. And the apostle is telling them and telling us, wake up, stay alert, stand on what is true. But the apostle does not stop there. In the very next breath, he adds something that changes the whole tone. Let all that you do be done in love. In love. Think about that. Now this is the same letter that gave us the Great Love chapter, chapter 13. And Magadhar made the point that this entire letter opens with love and closes with love as well. So almost almost every conflict that Apostle De uh dealt with along the way, such as the favoritism, the lawsuits, the pride over spiritual gifts, came down to one missing ingredient, and that was love. It was not a lack of knowledge, it was not a lack of gifting, it was the lack of love. So that is our first word today. Stand and stand firm in what is true and let love be the way you stand. The second thing that the apostle does before he signs off is point to one quiet name, Stephanus. Now he was the very first person in the whole region of Achaea to come to faith through Paul's ministry. From that day from that day on, he gave his household to one thing, serving other believers. No title attached to his name, no platform, and so forth. Calvin observed that wherever God gives someone real gifts for serving others, the right response from the rest of us is to honor, not to be jealous of that person. Now think about the church that Apostle Paul is writing to. This was a congregation that loved to argue about whose teacher was better, whose spiritual gift was flashier, and so forth. Right in the middle of that noise, there was this man who had simply chosen to serve quietly and faithfully. And the apostle holds him up as the example worth following. So our second word is to serve, not for recognition, just but serve just because someone needs it. Then the apostle closes with greetings. The churches across the province sent their love, and Aquila and Priscilla, an old missionary couple who helped Paul plant the very church that he is writing to, send their greetings as well. And then the apostle gives one more command, greet one another with a holy kiss. Now, let's think about this, folks. The holy kiss, what's that all about? Well, in that culture, this was not a small thing. Corinth was a city where the wealthy and the poor, the free and the enslaved almost never, never touched each other in public as equals. Calvin described this kiss as a true and sincere sign of mutual love. Not a performance, but something real. So we should count this as the last on the list of seven marks of love running through this whole closing section. A church that had spent sixteen chapters arguing about status was told in the end, embrace each other like family. So our third word is salute, greet each other, reach across whatever divides you, and treat one another like family, because in Christ that is exactly what you are: a family, family of God. So right after the warm uh command, Paul's tone uh turns sharp for one verse. If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed. And Calvin was careful to point that out that Paul is not talking about people outside the church who never claim Christ, but he's talking about people inside the church wearing the name of Jesus without their heart ever uh ever belonging to Christ. So it is a hard, difficult sentence, I know, but it comes from a pastor who could not let his people settle for a false peace. Then almost in the same breath, the apostle writes one word in Aramaic, even though the rest of the letter is in Greek, and that word is Maranatha. Maranatha, our Lord come Maranatha. Now it is both a warning and a prayer, a warning to anyone faking their faith, and a prayer of hope for everyone who truly loves him. Here is what we should walk away with today. Right after all of that, the apostle writes this The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Notice the order. Grace and love come last, but they're not a reward for standing firm, serving well, and greeting each other warmly. They are the reason any of that is even possible. The apostle is not telling the Corinthians to earn grace by doing these things. No, he's telling them that you have already been given grace. Now let it show. So today ask yourself where your footing feels a little shaky, and let that be a place where you watch and stand firm. Ask yourself who you could quietly serve today without needing anyone to notice. And ask yourself who you could greet today, really greet even someone you have kept at a distance. Well, this that's it, and this is Coach Brian, and thanks for joining us. Don't forget, in Christ we are free to live. Now let us live to free others. Godspeed