10 - HOW TO GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY AND LIKE ITJanuary 27, 1974
Pastor Henry F. Kulp
I Corinthians 16: 1 - 9 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me. Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia. And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.
Here Paul talks about giving to the Lord’s work, and many believers look upon giving as a burden rather than a blessing—but we can go back to I Corinthians 15: 58 where we are told to Be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS, IT COSTS TIME, EFFORT, ENERGY AND MONEY.
1/ I Corinthians 16: 2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
Actually the Greek here teaches, Sunday by Sunday, let each of you lay by him. Sunday was the day they set aside for public worship at Corinth. Literally, in the Greek it is ONE WITH SABBATH or ONE OF THE SABBATH.
Paul is counting the days according to the Jewish habit—they did not have names for the days of the week. They counted from the Sabbath—this is literally the first day after the Sabbath—so this would be the first day of the week. It is not the Sabbath day. There is not a responsible Greek scholar who would say this was the Sabbath.
2/ There are several important things to see in verse 2.
a/ FIRST OF ALL--SYSTEMATIC. The first day of the week and it was a real part of their worship program.
b/ SECONDLY, PERSONAL—LET EVERY ONE OF YOU. Not for some believers and omits others. No one is excluded, poor as well as the rich. Many believers were slaves in the assembly worship, and they were to give. There are three books necessary for the worship service—the hymn book, the Bible and the pocketbook. Many overlook the last.
3/ SACRIFICIAL—Proportionate. As God has prospered. The exact amount is not stated—that is between the believer and his Lord. NOT HAPHAZARD, OR SPASMODIC. Those who do not have children should be responsible for more than those who do—but this does not excuse those with children.
4/ When you get your pay, you should decide at that time what part is the Lord’s. You should spend some time alone with the Lord as soon as you get your pay cashed. First of all thanking Him that you have the ability to work—the health and strength—and the talent. Secondly, thank Him that He has provided work for you. Thirdly, that the one or the firm you work for has prospered so they can pay you. You should never take a paycheck without being thankful. Then, after you have been thankful, you must consider, how has the Lord prospered you. I will give in proportion to the way He has prospered me. DON’T TIP GOD—GIVE TO THE LORD. IF YOU ARE ON A PENSION you still have much to be thankful for.
Many come to a service, decided we will put a dollar bill in, or something at this point and they tip the Lord. If they miss a service, then they don’t give. This is not giving in proportion to how God has prospered you. This should be done as soon as you get your paycheck or any income.
5/ Notice what he says in this second verse. The giving to missions here, was through the local church. You see, there is always a collective effort. This way, the folks will get more money and there will be a check on how much is sent to these folks at Jerusalem.
6/ I Corinthians 16: 5 - 9 Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia. And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.
Here we have a very important principle brought out. As you study this passage, you will find that Paul was very careful that his service for the Lord was directed by the Holy Spirit. Because we have an old nature and it is constantly warring with our new nature, we must be careful in our service for the Lord that it is of the Lord and not of the flesh.
7/ He longed to visit the Corinthians, but he moved very cautiously.
Psalm 143: 8 Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
8/ Verse 5 Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia.
Here we are told why the Apostle Paul chose to pass through Macedonia—to go to Corinth, rather than going directly to Corinth. We must read between the lines, and we recognize there were those at Macedonia that Paul wanted to reach for the Lord.
9/ Verse 6 And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.
Notice the last phrase that Paul uses in this verse. “IF THE LORD PERMIT.” Here this phrase strongly emphasizes what I want you to see. He had made plans, but the plans were all dependent upon the Will of the Lord.
James 4: 13 - 16 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Here Paul gives us this same principle. God condemns the man who makes very careful plans and boasts of what he is going to accomplish and leaves the Lord out of his plans. It is not wrong to make plans, but we must always consider that the Lord can change them. So when we make plans, we must always say, “If the Lord wills.”
10/ Here he talks about those who plan to make a journey to a certain city, so they are very confident they will make the journey and get there and that they will stay there for a year, and sell and make gain. But the Lord can, in a moment’s time make all these plans valueless. Always be ready to have the Lord change your plans.
11/ I Corinthians 16: 8, 9 But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.
Here Paul says there is one thing he is sure about. He is abiding at Ephesus, and it is here that he wrote I Corinthians. He is sure for the moment he is in the will of the Lord. How did he know this was true? The 9th verse tells us. He has an open door, and there are many things we need to see about open doors.
12/ Let us get the background of this open door in Ephesus. In Acts 16: 6 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
Sometime earlier, the door was closed. Paul was forbidden to speak in Asia—he was sent to Macedonia. Later, on his way from Corinth to Jerusalem, he spent one day at Ephesus, and told them he would return if the Lord wills.
Acts 18: 19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
Many things happened before the door was opened at Ephesus to Paul. An eloquent preacher by the name of Apollos was sent to prepare the way. Before Paul got to Ephesus, he went to Philippi, where he was put in prison and beaten. Then there was an uproar in Thessalonica. And then, he had to deal with the scorn of the intellectuals at Athens. Paul needed all this before he came to Ephesus. But now, Paul is ready and Ephesus is ready. We have here a prepared man in a prepared place.
13/ Then he says, there are many adversaries. He did not say there are so many adversaries, I am going to quit, but the adversaries were part of the opportunity, and he did not say there are adversaries, but rather many adversaries. He was staying in Ephesus just as much for the adversaries as for the open door.
14/ When he was at Ephesus, he experienced a battle from the beginning to the end.
I Corinthians 15: 32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.
There were wild beasts at Ephesus, wild men that he had to contend with. Then there was idolatry. The Greeks believed that the image of Diana was dropped out of Heaven from the god, Jupiter, and was at the time of Paul, enshrined in a temple, and they cried, GREAT IS DIANA OF THE EPHESIANS. So, we don’t quit when the going gets hard—we just quit feeling sorry for ourselves.
15/ Some years ago when Japan was taking over Korea, and bitterly persecuting the leading Christians, carting them off to jail, there was one believing pastor who was a native, who went to the missionary nearby and said, There must be something wrong with us—we are not living for the Lord the way we should. No one in our assembly is in jail, for that matter, neither are we.
He felt it was necessary to be in jail in this situation if one was living for the Lord.
Always be ready to have the Lord change your plans and we don’t quit when the going gets hard—we just quit feeling sorry for ourselves.
AMEN
Ref: 01/27/1974 / 10 - HOW TO GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY AND LIKE IT / 11/15/2020
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