Set Something Aside
First B Jackson
2015-03-15

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Good morning, church family. It is really good to see you guys. I I was just thinking this morning how I'm thankful to have a church family to share in this faith with. I really am and our hope in Christ, our hope in this resurrection, just hope in general. I'm I'm really grateful to be able to share that with you.

We're not alone in this this faith that we have and so, I just want to start by by standing up and and let's let's sing together. Let's kinda warm up a little bit to the Lord. He's he's ready to meet us here in worship and let's let's pray that we would be ready to meet him. God, I thank you that you are everywhere. You are all present and you're all knowing.

You know us. You've created us. You've created us for you and I pray God that you would tune our hearts to sing your praise that we would genuinely want to meet with you. You are ready to meet with us but would you God just ready us and tune our hearts to be with you, to enjoy you. Your God to be enjoyed.

Amen.

And in fear. You and I embrace surrender. You and I will see who we were meant to be. And all we are How firm a foundation we have. How firm a foundation saints of the Lord has laid for your faith in his excellent word.

What more can he say than than you may have said? Do you who for refuge to Jesus have prayed?

Fear not, he's with us. Let's sing it.

I'll show our salvation and we will not be shaken. Jesus firm foundation. The soul that's trusting, let's sing it. The soul that is trusting in Jesus is Lord will press on enduring in darkest of storm. And though we even hell should endeavor to shame, he'll never, no, never, no, never forsake.

I've heard, I've heard, I've I've I've I've heard, heard, will not be shaken Jesus firm foundation and h to h he stands, h to h he And you spoke Peter into motion, my soul now to stand. I'll walk upon so I'll walk upon salvation. Your spirit alight in me. So I'll stand with arms I'm not abandoned. Yeah.

And on the one who gave it all. I'll

God, we want to pause to to thank you again just for for loving us and and thank you God that it is your kindness that leads us to repentance. God, we know that we we sin and we fall short and we thank you God for this amazing sacrifice that you took on yourself and you carried the weight of our sin on your shoulders and through faith in your work, your work. We have eternal life and I I just want to we want to come before you thanking you for this wonderful work of yours that you you are who we boast in this morning. Amen.

How deep the father's. How deep the father's love for us. And I will not boast in anything. No gifts,

More voices than anything.

Why should I gain from this reward? I cannot give in answer, but this I know with all my heart his wounds have paid my

Oh Lord, we give you thanks. The the sacrifice that you endured for us is more than we can imagine. The weight of our sin upon your shoulders is just, it's beyond my But I'm still thankful for it and I still trust it. And I pray that that sacrifice of yours is what lead us into a loving relationship with you and it'd be what causes us to love you and love other people. Thank you God for every gift that comes from you.

You know that life comes from you, that everything that we have comes from you. And this way, and this worship of giving is a way to say, thank you. I love you and I trust you. And I want the gospel to spread not only here in Jackson but to the ends of the earth. And I pray that it truly would.

I don't just say it. I I really do ask God that people would come to know you and know that they're loved by you. In Jesus name, amen. You can be seated.

Before we get going, Florine, thank you for that. We asked a while back if y'all be praying about a Spanish service that we're hoping to start up and we've been trying that on Friday nights recently, and on Friday nights at seven, we're still getting together right now in the fellowship hall, and there are a few of us but fervent, and it's going pretty well, but it looks like the hour is not the best time. And so, I'd ask for you to keep on praying, and if you speak Spanish, or if you would like to learn, and you feel like it'd be a good time, we're talking about doing it on Sunday afternoons maybe at 01:00 or 02:00. Be praying about it. That's that's my request right there.

But Christian Florine will be doing, leading music just like Carl does for this service, and Christian and Lisette are over there. They're prayerful and praying and Paco and a few others of us will probably be bringing the messages but we're talking about it. It's still in the figuring out when stages maybe as soon as the Sunday after Easter. So, would you be praying that God would do a great work in the Spanish speaking community here through this church and that's it. That's the commercial.

Somebody just said when I gave Dave Kaufman's phone number, I sounded like an announcer like, hey, and there's more. Well, here here here's the there's more. First Corinthians sixteen one to four and this actually sounds a little bit like a commercial too. I I admit it. I'll say it right upfront.

It's a short passage but it's Paul's response to a question about giving. So, and we can see that verse chapter seven verse one says, now concerning the things of which you wrote me. Now, up to that point in this epistle, this long epistle that we've been in for so many months. Up until that point, he was talking about the things that either he had observed or others had visited him, the people from Chloe's household or another delegation that had been sent. He had heard about but these three guys will will meet who they are next week.

Three guys brought to him a letter from the Corinthian church and in chapter seven, he kind of turns and says, now, concerning the things of which he wrote me. Peride is the way it is in Greek. Peride, now concerning is what that means or about this, Seven one was about marriage. Seven twenty five was about the unmarried and widows and he starts all of these with peri day. Now, concerning this, now concerning this, there's a long list of things that they ask him about.

Marriage, the unmarried, and the widows. Eight one was meat offered to idols, twelve one was spiritual gifts which launched him into chapter 12 on spiritual gifts, 13 on love, regulating the spiritual gifts, and 14 following that up. Three whole chapters about spiritual gifts. Then sixteen one, it's about the collection for the poor, and then we'll meet it again next week. Sixteen twelve is talking about personal things at the very end of this letter, our brother, Apollos, who he had come from Corinth and was now with Paul.

So the peri day are now concerning statements right there. Now, I know this is ridiculous. It looks a little bit like a Harley Davidson ad for some reason. In Greece, I mentioned this because these four verses is really, really, really packed. It's it's rich.

No pun intended. It was rich with things that need to be brought out. So, that's what we're gonna go through today. We're gonna go just four verses. First Corinthians sixteen one through four.

Now, concerning the collection for the saints and if you look right here, it says, the collection the. That is really really emphatic. It screams out that this is something that you already know about but it's something that we need to talk about. So, now concerning the collection and he was talking specifically about a collection they were taken up among the Gentile churches that Paul had founded for the Christians in Jerusalem who were starving to death. They were poor.

There are various reasons as to why they might have been poor but everybody speculates on that but they were not doing well. So, now, concerning the collection for the saints, that's what he called them, Hagias. As I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. On the first day of the week, what's the first day of the week? Sunday.

First day of the week. In fact, the Katamiyan Sabbath too is every first of the Sabbath or every first of the seventh. So it's saying one day out of seven, the Jews always worshiped on the Sabbath, and when Jesus rose, we're going to celebrate it. We celebrate it all the time, I hope, but we're celebrating at Easter. When Jesus rose, that kind of moved the most important day for the Christian churches and that was a difference between Judaism and Christianity.

So, every first day of the week and that is Sunday. This is this I won't say it. Tanya says, never say it's gonna be a short sermon. Never because it never is. On the first day of the week, let each one Now we've talked about these third person commands a lot here because we don't normally do that in English.

They do it all the time in Greek, a third person command. The let each one To us it sounds like when we say, let us pray, or let us do so, let. It's really a command. It's a little stronger than let. Allow this to happen.

Let each one, it says, each one of you, or each and every one of you, Each one of y'all, actually it's plural, sorry. Each one of y'all, or each and every one of y'all, there's no doubt about this, the universality of this statement. From the least of you to the richest of you, let each one of you all, and actually the verb is let each one put, so be putting. On the first day of the week, let each one of you be putting or lay something aside. The lay something aside.

Present, active, indicative. This is one of those grammar sermons. Don't you all love them? There are like three of you that go, yay, quietly. Present active indicative.

That is a continual action verb. You remember this where it's continually habitual action. Every one of y'all be laying, and it's particularly money in this case, some money aside. Be doing it. Every Sunday, be doing it regularly, once a week, be doing this continually as just a matter of your course of life.

Now, you all know we've been going through this all the way through. We've hit 70 something sins that Paul has listed, and we've hit the long chapter on love, and we've hit everything else. This is the first mention that he's made, probably the first mention that he's made of giving. Now, he has made a mention earlier about himself and whether he chose to receive offerings or not, we'll get to that, but I'm plotting along and preaching through whatever we get to. If the sermon know, a lot of times when you speak to people outside the church say, I don't do that, man.

It's all hellfire and brimstone and asking for money. We're gonna go over hellfire when we get to it, and we're gonna go over money every time we get to it. Praise God. That's my commitment. Concerning the collection for the saints, as I've given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also, and the must emphasizes this, let each one it's a command.

On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper. Now the as he may prosper or as he may have been prospered grammatically there are two options for this. It can be one or the other. It's either a middle or a passive. It is present subjunctive, so that is as you may have, however, it might be for you, but the middle or passive is an interesting thing, and it's third person singular.

It's for every single one of y'all, it's how you may have been prospered. The first is middle, and that's as he himself, which emphasizes it. If you look at it that way, it just says, no, really, individually, all of you. I mean it. I don't think that that's the option.

Most people would not choose that option, I don't think. The second is passive, and in this format, it's the divine passive. So, storing up according to how God almighty has been prospering you or has prospered you. I think that's the better option here. I I don't think there's much doubt about it, but it's interesting anyway because it does talk about the individuality of it all.

If you're a husband and wife couple, God has made you one. Count yourselves as one. That's great but he's saying, if you're single, you still count as one. Everybody counts as one. Each and every one of y'all, Paul says.

Be storing up according to how God has prospered you and it's an interesting thing to to prosper. We hear a lot about the prosperity gospel now. The the word picture here or the the Greek on this is, as God may have led you along the good road. If you are recognizing that God is leading you along a good road, then take that as your cue for how you give. Okay?

So, and that's what Paul says. In fact, it really means consider a graduated scale and what I was waiting for, do you do any of y'all who know know who RG Leturno was? Do you know who that is? Any of y'all earth movers? Is there anybody out there that does excavation?

Yes. There's somebody back there that knows. So Robert Gilmore Laterno was born in Richford Vermont. I'm not gonna read his whole six page Wikipedia page, but I knew a guy when I was a missionary on the mission field. I knew a guy in Mexico that came down, he started working with us, and he was a welder.

He said that he went to LeTourneau University to learn to weld for missionary reasons. That's what he went to do. R. G. LeTourneau was the guy the school was named after.

I started studying up on him yesterday and the day before, and I I didn't have a whole lot of illustrations for this sermon. This guy started off when he was 14. He asked his Christian parents if he could move out and go somewhere, and they said yes. So he did, and he went halfway across the country, and then he went all the way. He went from Vermont to Oregon, and then he got a motorcycle.

He got a job, got a motorcycle. He took it all the way apart, put it all the way back together in a day, and he had a mechanical aptitude that was kind of off the charts. He made a commitment to God that he would give him back from everything that God prospered him. Now, I'm not prayer jabes in it right now. I promise you.

I'm just saying that God did prosper this guy, and as he did, he kept his commitment. The graduated scale thing, when he started off, he went in with another guy, paid $1,000 for a business you know, to build and rebuild and remake cars somewhere in Stockton, California. He kept moving around. He was rolling about like the apostle Paul, and as he would go somewhere, he would gain a skill. When he gained the skill, God would turn it into something bigger.

Everywhere he went, it kind of grew. Well, the he went away from the auto repair business that he was in and he started looking at equipment to move Earth. Now, I think this is fun because we've been talking about on Monday nights that if you have the faith, you will move mountains. Literally, 70% of the earth moving equipment that The US used in World War II was made by this guy. 70%.

You do a lot of earth moving in war. I don't know if you all know that, but 70% of the equipment was done. He had 300 and something patents on things, and everything that God gave to him, he continually upped the ante a little bit. And so by the time that he was an older man, he was making trips many many many times a week, so he was he was giving back his time to Christian organizations, particularly Billy Graham's evangelistic association and Intervarsity Fellowship and a bunch of others. He got to the point where the further you get in business, the bigger your business gets, the less they say you're needed.

So he tithed more and more of his time and more and more of his resources to the point that when he died, he was given 90% of his multi millions every year to the Lord's work. So I mentioned that only consider a graduated scale. This is what Paul says when he says according to how God may have prospered because basically, our needs, no matter who you are, rich or poor, our needs are kind of the same. And as God prospers you beyond that, just consider that graduated scale. And he gives the reason why.

That there be no special collections when I come. Have you all ever been a part of a meeting where you did not know there was going to be an offering? Oh my goodness. We've all been a part of that and then you're like, oh my goodness. Do they take debit cards?

Oh my God. I don't I don't know how to do that and it always catches people by surprise if you're not already regularly doing it. He was saying, set something aside. Actually, it doesn't even say to give it to the church. This is not a preacher statement right here, but it says, as lay something aside, it's as you lay something aside by yourself, you just lay this aside.

Separate it from your accessible income so that you don't spend it, and then when the time comes, then you give it. When you know what it is that you want to give to, you give to it. On the first day of the week, every week, regularly, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, That there will be no collections when I come. Now, one of the charges that was laid against Paul by some in the Corinthian church is that he did what he did for money. Every pastor gets this charge at some point.

Everybody gets it. Well, he does what he does for money. Prayerful weekly intentional giving alleviates the need for haphazards and sometimes awkward, ill given, and ill received special offerings. Do you all agree with that? Mean, a good special offering every once in while is fine.

I'm not preaching against it, but Paul was saying in this case, for sure, let's just be setting something aside. Let's think about it. Budget it out. Figure it out, and then stick to it. I have a pause there.

There's a dramatic pause. Oh, it's because I wanted to go back and talk about where Paul did mention money in this letter. Let's just read through it, let it wash over you. We're not going to study every single syllable of this one. Whoever goes to war at his own expense.

Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things as a mere man or does not the law say so also? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. Is it oxen that God is concerned about?

I will add a really? Or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt. This is written that he who plows should plow in hope. He who threshes in hope should be a partaker of his hope.

If we have sown spiritual things for you and Paul had, right? Paul had sown spiritual things among him and the Jerusalem church had sown among them but it was spiritual. It was not monetary. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?

Nevertheless, we have not used this right. He denied ever having used this right, but endure all things, lest we hinder the gospel. The gospel was the most important. Absolutely most important is the resurrection, which we've studied for six straight weeks. Do you know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?

Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me, For it would be better for me to die than to that anyone should make my boasting void. For if I preach the gospel, the good news of Jesus, dead, buried, resurrected, and offering eternal life to all. For if I preach the gospel and have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What is my reward? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. So that's Paul talking about money. He said, I never have taken it from you in the past, and you'll see in the next couple of verses, he's hedging against this because a lot of the powerful leaders were the ones who are controlling what was going on monetarily in the Corinthian church.

So, they had a bigger voice because they had a bigger wallet. So, next verse, chapter verse three says, and when I come, so he just said that there are no be no collections when I come. He's already told him he's coming. In chapter four, he mentioned he was coming. Now, he's mentioning it again and when I do come, whomever you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.

This is New King James version, and I think they missed it. In fact, right there, the italics for this word means that they supplied it by the translators to make it flow. It's usually for the sake of clarity and the target language, but in this case, I just think they missed it. What it says is this, whatever. It doesn't matter in Greek.

That's what it says, but this is what it says. This is the new new American Standard, which is probably a better translation. When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters. That actually says with letters, and it's between this, whomever you approve and them I will send. So, it can go with either.

Again, grammatically are two options but Paul is very, very, very in touch with having letters that prove your authority. Do you all remember this? Well, actually, first, the R McD version. I think this one, this is the Ray McDaniel version of this. Whenever it is that I shall have arrived, leaving it out there, they don't really know exactly when, whenever I shall have arrived, whoever y'all have scrutinized and y'all might have found to be worthy, these are the ones for whom by letters of endorsement, I will send to bear your gift of grace.

You see how he's putting it all on them? It's all on them. When it is that I get there, then I will write letters for these guys. I'm going to endorse them whoever you say. I trust you to make the decision.

Y'all are Christians. You're grown ups. You can make the decision, but I'm the one that will write the letters. Why? Because Paul's out of the Jerusalem church.

Paul knows them, and it matters. If you think back to poor, not Paul, but Saul. Look look at this. Then Saul who was still it's Acts nine one through two. Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked what?

He asked for letters, letters of authority to be given from him and asked letters from him to the synagogue of Damascus, so that if he found any who were on the way of the of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Paul knew the system in Jerusalem and so he was saying, it's gonna carry more weight if you have these letters. So, the y'all and the your gift of grace to Jerusalem and I I highlight this, unity between Gentile and Jewish Christians is incredibly important. When Paul says multiple times throughout all of his letters that there is no Jew, Greek, Scythian, slave, or free. It really matters that we're all in one body.

When he tells them in chapter 11 that when we come together for the Lord's supper, we look to his body and blood. That's what binds us together. It is not about your socioeconomic background. It's not about all of the other things that might have captivated you in your former lives. It is the blood and body of Christ and Christ crucified.

The underlying cause of Paul's instruction about sharing the wealth was one of the essential unity of the whole church, Jewish and Gentile. Gentile Christians graciously and he says that, graciously blessed and it's not something that is an obligation that they have to do but he says, the gracious blessing of the Jewish Christians out of the bounty that God had provided would build unity and trust and common concern for the whole body. When we were looking at those surveys this morning, we were talking about when you were talking about the surveys, It's not just polling the audience because we're going to go to whatever, but we want to know how this service is serving so well for y'all. If we know how that is, then the second service, it would be nice. If it's childcare, everybody wants childcare but they hate the time but they come anyway because childcare is so important, then maybe we'll add childcare.

And we want to bless and we want for the two services to really be one family. That's what we're working on, and we're thinking about it as we go. But it's just like this, it's unity in the body is important enough that some of us might do something uncomfortable for the benefit of others. Does that make sense? Yeah.

We just hit this, but to me that parallels. We're up to the fourth verse, and when I do come, whomever you approve by letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. But if it is fitting, and actually the fitting there, weighing or having weight, having the weight of another thing of like value, worth as much, befitting, congruous, corresponding to a thing. That Paul is saying that if you deem it weighty that I go with these guys, he said, whoever you pick, what whoever they are, it does not matter to me. If you find it fitting, then I will go with them.

Actually, it says they will go with me, but that's the way they spoke back then. They will go with me. I know where Jerusalem is. I'll show them the way. I'll show them around.

If it is fitting that I go also, Paul is still defending himself against the charge of wanting to be too involved or paid because he knows that this society, y'all remember me telling you, they're incredibly occupied with their money, with sports, with pleasure, and the pursuit of it. Paul knows all that and the charge that's going be laid against him is almost certainly going to be one of monetary stuff because there were other guys who were preaching for the game. So, the takeaways, the peri day, now concernings. The now concerning, if you want to know about how you should be giving and they did. They wrote him and asked, how should we be giving?

So, if you wanna know about how you should be given, it is each Sunday as Paul says, that is regularly. Pick a time and be doing it. Everyone in seven as he says. Each one should. Now, Paul actually says must.

It's a stronger thing than a should. It's a command. He says, let's do this. Let us all be doing this. Set aside a sum of money.

Now, it could be time, talent, resources, other stuff too, gifts in kind. That would be fine. But in this particular instance, he's talking about treasure, money. And it's apart from your accessible resources. It does not have to come to the church.

It does not have to but his next points, oh, consider the graduated scale according to the manner that God has blessed you. If God has led you along a good road, then, acknowledge that to him and then, entrust this grace gift. It is something that you're doing for others in the world, in this valley, in in this case, in this valley, in this state, in this world. It is a grace gift. It's not something that I'm twisting your arm about or that you have to do but it's something that God has said, you should do.

Paul has commanded that we do. Entrust this grace gift to those you deem to be responsible with God's resources. Whoever that is. If you believe somebody is getting after it with the gospel in hand trying their best to see the kingdom advance, he says, entrust that grace to whoever you deem fit. And then, to build up the unity of the whole church and to help those who are in need.

This was particularly about people who are starving in Jerusalem and there are people still, humanitarian aid is still something. We have several missionaries that that's what they do all the time. Melissa Landis is one of them. She's helping feed lots of kids, helping do things. Those people are in need and this church supports her and so, help to build up the unity of the whole church and help those who are in need.

Those are the takeaways that come straight out of the text.

Romans 12 has always been a favorite verse for me about giving our of ourselves to the Lord and so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God of all he's done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, this kind, the kind that will he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Let them grow and cease their spirit. Sing take our hands, take my hands, and let and beautiful for me. Saying take my will and take my

and I have a verse from Ephesians for you as the benediction and now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us. That's the power that raised Jesus from the dead by the way. To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.