1 Coríntios 16

1 Coríntios 16

Piper - WILL WE LOVE CHRIST AT THE END OF THE YEAR? Meditation on 1 Corinthians 16:22 Will we love Christ at the end of the year? It is an absolutely crucial question because Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 16:22, “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.” If we do not love Christ we will be cursed and not saved. The same urgency of love is expressed in Matthew 24:12–13. “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” Some kinds of love can grow cold and die. That is not a love that “endures to the end” and is “saved.” So again we must love Christ in order to be saved. It is serious and essential. It is not a matter of options or icing on the cake of Christianity. Eternity is at stake. But how do you know you will love Christ to the end of this year, let alone to the end of your life? What is your hope and plan to sustain love to Christ? I found help with this in a 350-year-old book by Thomas Shepard, the founder of Harvard University and pastor in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who had been exiled from England as a Puritan. The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Morgan, Pa.: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1997) is 635 pages of rich biblical meditations on the difference between two kinds of Christians—the real and the false: the virgins with oil, who go in to the Bridegroom, and the virgins without oil, who are shut out of the marriage feast of eternity. One section is titled “True Saving Grace in the Hearts of Believers Can Never Fail.” The great thing about this book and this section is that it is so permeated with Scripture. Reading a book like this is like reading the Bible through the eyes of a great saint who has learned to fight unbelief with the weapon of the Bible and win a thousand battles. Here is a glimpse into how he answers our question. He addresses one fear after another that might take away our confidence in the perseverance of our love for Christ. Do you fear Satan? he asks. Then consider Matthew 16:18 (“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” [emphasis added]). He shall not prevail against thee, but thou shalt give the last blow and wound (357). Do you fear the world, the deceits of it? He counsels, consider Matthew 24:24 (“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect” [emphasis added]). It is not possible, take heart. Do you fear the evil or the good things of the world? Then consider John 17:15 (“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one”). Jesus has prayed for you that the Father will guard you from the evil in the world. How much more the dangerous good! Do you fear that your sin will separate you from God? Consider Romans 6:2 (“How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”). “It is a strong, but a wounded, but a dying enemy” (358). Do you fear the Lord, that you have walked unworthily of him? Consider Matthew 12:20 (“A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory” [KJV]). “Oh, therefore, be comforted against this in these times, which are declining evil days, and bless the Lord” (358). This is very serious business. “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.” Do you love the Lord? Not just believe things about him. But love him. Does your family love the Lord? Do your Christian friends love Christ? And just as crucial is the question: Will you keep on loving him? What Thomas Shepard teaches us is that knowing the Word of God is essential to fighting the fight to stay in love with Jesus. I beg of you all: Don’t assume that love for Christ is self-perpetuating. It isn’t. It must be nurtured by the Word again and again. Its enemies are countless in this world. But “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4, RSV). And the Word of God is greater than all the love-killing promises of sin. Let us read it often, study it deeply, memorize it wisely, and wield it decisively against every foe of love to Christ. Stir yourself up to this with warnings like 1 Corinthians 16:22, and with promises like 1 Corinthians 2:9, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived … God has prepared for those who love him” (RSV). Love him. Love him. 1 Corinthians 16:23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. Ro 16:20,24 1 Corinthians 16 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries CLOSING BENEDICTION A benediction is a blessing, usually at the end of a church service, but here at the end of the letter. The grace (charis) of the Lord (kurios) Jesus be with you - This is a benediction this church really needed not just to hear but to live out! Paul used grace like a "divine bookends," for in his introduction he wrote (1 Cor 1:3+) " Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." And this chapter began with discussion of their grace gift to the church at Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:3+). Note that the source of grace is the Lord Jesus as Paul explained to Timothy "You therefore, my son, be strong (endunamoo in the present imperative; divine passive) in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." (2 Ti 2:1+). This grace is dispensed (so to speak) by the Spirit of grace (Heb 10:29+). Peter ends his second epistle with a command that would be apropos for the Corinthians to "grow (present imperative) in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18+) Notice grace "trumps" knowledge. You may know a lot of theology, but if you are deficient in grace, you have missed the primary impetus of the Gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24+)! Robertson and Plummer - The Apostle will not end with a word of warning or severity, but adds the usual benediction. Like a true teacher, as Chrysostom says, he helps not only with counsels, but with prayers. (Critical and Exegetical Commentary) Vine - as “grace” is part of the greeting in all Paul’s epistles, so “grace” occurs in the final benediction in each. That the Lord Jesus should be presented as the source of grace (free, unmerited favor), either alone, as here, or in association with God the Father, as in 2 Thessalonians 1:12, is a significant testimony to His Deity. (Collected Writings) Jon Courson - I Corinthians 16:23–24 There could have been those in Corinth who said, ‘If you care so much about us, Paul, why did you point out our carnality and rebuke us for our immorality? Why were you so rough on us?’ Yet, under the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul simply says, ‘I do love you.’ Because open rebuke is better than secret love (Proverbs 27:5), the rebukes and exhortations which come our way should be embraced as friends. It’s much more comfortable for me to ignore a prickly situation or issue. But that’s not love. Love says, ‘I care more about your excelling and your succeeding than about what you think of me. If you think I’m not a nice guy, that’s OK if what I’m saying will provoke you to love and to good works, to think through what you’re doing and perhaps repent from the direction you’re heading.’ Faithful are the wounds of a friend (Proverbs 27:6). But make sure your correction is done in love... As the disciples sat at the Last Supper, under the table were 24 dirty, stinky feet. To remedy the situation, Jesus didn’t give a lecture on foot washing. No, He girded Himself with a towel and washed feet Himself (John 13:4–5). I have the right and responsibility to give admonition, exhortation, and correction; to openly rebuke and wound if necessary only if I am willing to wash the feet of the people with whom I deal. If I’m not willing to walk with them through their difficulty, stand by them in their trouble, kneel with them in prayer, it would be wiser for me to keep silent. Paul was one who had the right to correct, admonish, and rebuke the Corinthian Christians because he worked with his hands to support himself, put up with their insults and risked his life to be with them. Thus, it was truly from his heart that Paul said to the church at Corinth, ‘My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.’ 1 Corinthians 16:24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. love: 1Co 16:14 4:14,15 2Co 11:11 12:15 Php 1:8 Rev 3:19 Amen: 1Co 14:16 Mt 6:13 28:20 1 Corinthians 16 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries PAUL'S PATERNAL LOVE FOR THE SAINTS Robertson and Plummer - To make his farewell words still more tender, he adds to the Apostolic Benediction a message of personal affection. He sends his love in the form of a blessing, to help them to correct what he has blamed, and to prove to them that, as regards his attitude towards them....It embraces all of them, even the most faulty. (Critical and Exegetical Commentary) This tender ending is a beautiful example of the words he had penned in 1 Cor 13:8+ that "Love never fails!" My love (agape) be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen - This statement by Paul is unique and not recorded at the end of any of his other epistles. It is as if Paul wanted the saints at Corinth to fully comprehend his deep (agape) love for them, love that would not allow him to overlook their manifold spiritual problems, but one which spoke truth to correct, thus speaking the truth with love. Truth without love can be harsh. Love without truth is a lie. Once again Paul reminds us that he imitated Christ Jesus (1 Cor 11:1+) Who Himself declared "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous (present imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) and repent (aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey). (Rev 3:19+) Note also Paul used the adjective ALL, so that there were no exceptions regarding those who he intended to be recipients of his supernatural love. Given their many sins, individually and corporately, as a church, Paul's ALL is a manifestation of a man filled with God's amazing grace, indeed filled with the Spirit of grace! However notice the important qualifying preposition IN (locative of sphere), which refers only to those IN covenant with Christ Jesus by grace through faith. Vine - It would help them to take to heart his warnings and teachings concerning their evildoings and to amend their ways. His Christlike love embraced them all, even the most flagrant delinquents; and being “in Christ Jesus,” the risen and exalted Savior, the love would not be that of mere human emotion. (Collected Writings) Amen (281) amen [OT = Amen (0543) amen] is a transliteration from the Hebrew word amen which in turn is from the Hebrew verb aman = to be firm, to believe, this word conveying the idea of certainty) Amen is transliterated into Latin and English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. In fact amen has been called the best-known word in human speech. To say “Amen” confirms a statement by someone else. Renn notes that Amen "indicates the solemn affirmation of the divine will and purpose in about one-third of the nearly 150 occurrences of the term. The remaining uses of the term yield the adverbial meaning "truly." (Expository Dictionary of Bible Words)