1  Peter 2:18-21r 2:18-21
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18 and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, ¹⁹ and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth. ²¹ You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal?

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When it comes to our responsibility as Christians, God expects us to be hard-working, responsible employees and employers.  There is no place for laziness in the life of a Christian. What we do on the job can have a drastic effect on our witness for Christ.  It is so important for us to show the world by our actions that Christ has indeed made a genuine difference in our lives. 

We can’t be as one Christian was quoted to have said,  “I like work.  It fascinates me.  I could sit and think about it for hours.”  That won’t cut it.

Instead we should be more like what Jack Gulledge, the editor of a Christian periodical relayed as he described the stately old home of Mrs. J. O. Williams in Nashville, TN. He says that the majestic old home has a large adjoining garden that is breathtakingly beautiful.  The flower-covered arbor and the ornate water fountain have been the setting for many weddings and other social gatherings in Nashville.

Mrs. Williams, in her eighties, takes care of the garden herself.  Gulledge wrote,  “As I strolled with her down the flower-lined walkways, I remarked, ‘Mrs. Williams, you must have a green thumb!’”

With a twinkle in her eyes, she instantly replied, “No, I have a dirty thumb and a purple knee.”  What a message for those of us who often want to pick the grapes without first working in the vineyard.

A dirty thumb and a purple knee is what it takes whether we are planting a garden or a church or making an impact for Christ in our workplace.  Our work ethic is one of the elements that will make a big difference in our impact upon our lost work associates. Peter says that if we want to win our neighbors and our co-workers and even our lost family members, and we want to silence the critics of Christianity, the way to do it is by living an exemplary life before them.

And the section of Scripture that we are dealing with again today is talking about how we relate to those we work with.  We started this last week but didn’t quite finish, so we’ll pick it up again this week.

In that day the context was that of slavery, but in our day the application has to do with the way we relate to the people we work with and for. Now, I we broke this down into three parts:  Our Mandate, Our Motive and Our Model:

1. OUR MANDATE  (v. 18)

Peter sums up our mandate in v. 18,  “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.” We are never more like the devil when we rebel against the authority that has been placed over us, and we are never more like Christ than when we are submissive to authority. And Peter is very concerned (all through this letter) with this issue of submission.  In v. 13 he said that we are to submit to the civil authorities.  And now he is saying that we are to be submissive to those over us in the workplace.

So the mandate here is very simple,  “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect…”  In our day, “employees, be submissive to your employers with all respect.” As Christians we should be the hardest-working, most respectful and most responsible people on the job.  And we should always remember that we are doing it “as to the Lord” and not for men.

That’s our mandate as believers.  But notice secondly:

1. OUR MOTIVE  (vs. 19-21a)

There are four primary issues here.  First of all, there is:

A.  The Issue of Commendability  (19a)

What’s the motive for submitting to authority in the workplace?  V. 19,  “For this finds favor…”  (stop right there)  Literally, the Greek says, “This is a grace…” What does that mean?  It means that this is an act which is intrinsically attractive to God.  This finds favor with God.  Look at the end of v. 20.  Again you see that same phrase,  “…this finds favor with God.”

You’re doing this for the Lord and not for men.  Remember back in Eph. 6:7-8Eph. 6:7-8
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7 with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men; ⁸ knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is bound or free.

WP-Bible plugin it says,  “With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, ⁸knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.”

Being a godly employee pays off in eternal dividends.  Your boss may not reward you for your godliness, but God will!

If you’re on the other side of the fence as an employer, just remember that you are working to please and honor God by the way you treat your employees.  God will reward your godliness, even if your employees do not.  Notice secondly:

1. The Issue of Consciousness  (19b)

Notice the second phrase of v. 19,  “…if for the sake of conscience toward God…”  Now, a better translation of this is,  “…if for the sake of consciousness of God…” So the full verse would read,  “For this finds favor, if for the sake of consciousness of God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.” The idea is that as you work for whatever employer, you have a constant awareness of the presence of God.  God is always observing your work.

And He tells us in His Word what pleases Him.  It please Him when we work hard and put in an honest day’s work.  It pleases Him when we are dependable and reliable.  It pleases Him when we are people of integrity.

But He tells us something else that pleases Him right here in this verse.  It pleases Him when we suffer unjustly and respond with grace.  It pleases Him when we bear up patiently under an oppressive or mean-spirited supervisor. Isn’t that what v. 19 is saying?  This is not talking about when you have a great boss and everything is going great.  This is talking about when you have an employer that is difficult to work for.

What are we to do when we have a boss that is tough to work for?  We are to bear up patiently under that suffering.  Why?  Because we know that God is always watching.  And we know that God is going to reward that longsuffering because this is something that finds favor with Him. I didn’t write that, the HS did.  Remember the verse in Eph. 6?  V. 6 says,  “…not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”

Remember what that means?  It means that you work just as hard and you are just as reliable when the boss is not watching as you are when he is.  It doesn’t matter whether your boss is watching or not because God is.  God is always observing your work and you attitudes and your conduct.

And notice that that verse talks about suffering unjustly.  This is not talking about suffering that comes from your being lazy or irresponsible.  You see, as Christians, when we suffer, we need to make sure that it is not because we deserve it.

I’ve heard people say that they were suffering for Jesus, but in reality they were suffering because they had been irresponsible or made some bad decisions.

This is not talking about that kind of suffering.  This is talking about when you are doing right and still suffering.  You are working hard and being responsible and being a person of integrity and still you are suffering under the oppression of a cruel boss. And when we suffer for doing right, how do we respond?  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,  “If you want to know how close to Jesus someone is, don’t watch how they act, but how they react.

Any pagan can suffer when he deserves it, but it takes a real man or woman of God to suffer silently when they are in the right.  But we must remember that when we do this, it finds favor with God.  God is well pleased when we respond this way.  Thirdly:

1. The Issue of Credit  (20)

Look at v. 20,  “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience?”  There is no credit if you deserve it.  If you are being punished in some way for something irresponsible you did, there is not virtue in that. But notice that last phrase,  “But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”  Here is that phrase again,  “This is a grace.  This is intrinsically attractive to God.”

Listen, God isn’t particularly pleased if you are patient when you deserve the pain.  But God is very pleased when you suffer and don’t deserve it.  And when God is pleased, what does He do?  He blesses. Now, if you want to short circuit the blessing of God in your life, then go ahead and react negatively and complain and lash out against your employer.  You can do that, but you will forfeit the blessing of God.

Oh, you may get what you want in the natural realm by doing so, but you will give up what God has for you in the supernatural realm.  Now, this taching isn’t anything new at all.  Where did Peter learn this?  He learned it from Jesus. Jesus said (in Mat. 5:11Mat. 5:11
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11 “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

WP-Bible plugin),  “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ¹²“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

The question for us is, “Can we have an eternal perspective or do we have to have it all right now?”  You say,  “I want that promotion, I want the wage increase, I want what It want and I want it now…”

But God says,  “Don’t forget what counts the most.  Don’t forget what is eternal and can never pass away.  Don’t forget that GREAT is your reward in heaven when you are willing to suffer unjustly with grace.”  God never forgets when you do that!

Listen my friend, if you are a child of God, no one will ever get away with abusing you!  In Mat. 18:6Mat. 18:6
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6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.

WP-Bible plugin Jesus is talking about those who are His spiritual children and He says,  “…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

When we suffer unjustly, we can have confidence knowing that God will someday set things right and that we can patiently endure knowing that our longsuffering is pleasing to Him. There is no credit for suffering if we deserve it, but there is a great reward awaiting us in heaven when we suffer for righteousness sake.  Notice fourthly:

1. The Issue of Calling  (21a)

Look at v. 21,  “For you have been called for this purpose…”  Wow!  Do you understand Christian that you and I have been called for this specific purpose of suffering and patiently enduring when we don’t deserve it?

There are a lot of people today who are interested in the blessing of God and the answers to prayer and the benefits of the gospel, but what we must learn is that the way to glory is through the cross. Jesus said that anyone who would follow after Him has to be willing to take up his cross and follow Him in suffering.  There are a lot of people who want to jump on the train of salvation, but want to jump off when the suffering comes.

Everybody is interested in the glory, but not too many are interested in the suffering.  But this is what God’s Word says we are called to.

2 Tim. 3:122 Tim. 3:12
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12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

WP-Bible plugin says,  “…all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  The moment you receive Christ, you become and enemy of the world and therefore you should be prepared to suffer for your faith. Be ready to be misunderstood.  Be ready to be unfairly criticized.  Be ready to be ridiculed.  It goes with the territory. Phil. 1:29Phil. 1:29
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29 Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf,

WP-Bible plugin says,  “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake…”  This is not the way of the world, but it is the way of the cross.

The world says the sure way to glory is to be the boss.  God says the sure way to glory is to be a servant.  The world says the sure way to glory is to be a success.  God says the sure way to glory is the way of salvation.  The world says the sure way to glory is the easy life.  God says the sure way to glory is the way of suffering.

And what will the end result be?  We will receive the blessings and rewards of God.  It will silence the critics around us when they observe our submissive spirit in the face of unjust suffering and some of them may even come to know Christ because of our godly example.

And before I move to the last point, there is one more compelling reason why we should be willing to exhibit a patient, submissive spirit in the workplace, and that is because we don’t want people thinking that the stuff of this world is all that important to us. We need to be living at such a level that we communicate by our lives that our joy does not come from the things of this world.  Our joy is eternal and our ultimate home is heaven and therefore we are not willing to “sell out” for the stuff that this world has to offer. Let’s send the signal to those we work with that we are willing to endure anything in this life for the joy of the life that is to come.  Let’s not lose our testimony by trying to fight for something that is going to go up in smoke anyway.

Well, there is one more thing that we need to see here and that is:

1. OUR MODEL  (21b)

Look at v. 21 again,  “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps…”  We have a model of this.  We have an example to follow and that example is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I don’t think we will get very far into this today, and I want to come back next week and look more closely at vs. 21-25 and the incredible example we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

But notice what it says about this model we are to follow.  V. 22,  “…who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; ²³and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously…” What did Jesus Christ do?  Did He suffer justly or unjustly?  There was never any deceit in his mouth and He never committed one single sin.  He was not derving of any kind of punishment.  His trial and execution was completely unjustified.

But how did He respond?  Did He retaliate?  Did He demand His rights?  Did He revile or slander in return.  NO!!!  He was the perfect, sinless Son of God.  “He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free, but He died alone for you and me.” He did not even answer with a single word at His trial.  He committed himself with perfect submission to the authorities over Him and put it all in the hands of His heavenly Father.  He was willing to go to that cross and shed His blood so that you and I could have eternal life.

But notice what Peter is saying here.  He is saying that not only did Jesus go to the cross and suffer for our redemption, but He also was doing this to leave us an example to follow. Beyond the redemptive work of the cross is the pattern of suffering unjustly with grace that we are to follow.  The word “example” there means “a copy.”  It is a pattern or a model and we are to walk in His steps.  We are to walk the same road He walked. In fact, the word for “steps” is the word “footprint.”  He left a set of footprints in the sand and we are to come along and walk in those footprints.  We are to do as he did.

When He was reviled, He didn’t revile back.  When He was slandered, He didn’t slander in return.  When He suffered unjustly, He did not offer up any threats…He simply committed Himself to God and left everything in His hands. Listen, you think you have rights, you and I cannot begin to touch the rights that Jesus Christ had.  He was fully man and fully God.  But He did not consider His rights as God something to be clung to, but instead He emptied Himself and became obedient even to death on the cross.

And we are to have the very same mind He had.  We are to think more highly of the needs of others than our own needs.  We’re not to do anything from selfishness of empty conceit.  We are to follow our model and respond with grace when we suffer unjustly.

1  Cor. 16:10-12, 15-18r. 16:10-12, 15-18
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10 Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet them of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. ¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved, who labored much in the Lord. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. The assemblies of Christ greet you. ¹⁷ Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them. ¹⁸ For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.

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Paul is dealing with some practical issues here in 1 Cor. 16.  He has talked about the issue of giving and the issue of planning, and now he is going to mention the subject of showing respect toward fellow workers in the faith. It is important for those of us in the church to show respect and appreciation to others who are serving alongside us in the Lord’s work.  That’s what Paul is doing in this last section of 1 Cor. 16.As is his custom, Paul addresses several co-workers by name at the end of this letter.  And again, since this is of a somewhat personal nature, many people just skip over this part, but we shouldn’t do that because there is some great truth here, and this is just as much a part of the inspired Word of God as any other part.

Now, we’re going to look at vs. 10-12, and then we are going to jump over vs. 13-14 because that is kind of a parenthetical thought, and then we will go on to examine vs. 15-18.  We’ll come back and pick up vs. 13-14 next time. But in this section we are focusing on tonight, we see that Paul understood the importance of team ministry.  He knew that he was dependent upon many others who worked alongside him in the work of the Lord.

None of us is an island and all of us are dependent upon one another.  There are no superstars in God’s work; only servants.  And we need to learn to respect each other’s contributions.  We even need to learn to express our appreciation for each other.  You can never go wrong in showing respect and appreciation for people.

Well, Paul gives us three people or groups of people that he wants the Corinthian Christians to respect and show respect for.  Some of these are well-known and other are not so well-known.  First of all, in vs. 10-11, he says that we should:

I. SHOW RESPECT FOR THE UNASSUMING  (vs. 10-11)

Here Paul mentions his son in the faith, Timothy.  Look with me at vs. 10-11, “Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without cause to be afraid, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am.

So let no one despise him. But send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brethren.”

Timothy was probably the most well-known of the people Paul mentions here at the end of this letter.  We know quite a bit about Timothy because he was a traveling companion of Paul.  He was a “son in the faith,” as Paul had led him to the Lord and then discipled him, and now he is ministering alongside Paul in the gospel.

Timothy was just a young boy, probably in his late teens, when Paul came to his home town of Lystra and he was converted and began his spiritual growth under Paul’s teaching and training. By the way, this says a lot about the importance of discipling those who are young in the faith.  It says something about the importance of training up those who will carry the baton of ministry when we are gone.

Thank God for older, more mature Christians who are willing to be patient with the immaturity of young Christians and to disciple them and help them along toward a more mature faith.

That’s what Paul did with Timothy.  But even though Timothy had grown rapidly and was now an effective minister of the gospel, the Bible tells us that he had two major problems.

First of all, he was still very young, and in that culture youth was despised, while age was respected.  That’s why Paul wrote in 1 Tim. 4:121 Tim. 4:12
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12 Let no man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.

WP-Bible plugin, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” In our day and time the young are often more highly respected than the aged, but it was not like that in those days and it is still not that way in many nations of the world still today.

Except for America, people seem to have a natural understanding that those who have been around longer have more experience with life and therefore should be honored for their wisdom. Well, we won’t get into that debate tonight, but Paul tells the Corinthians not to despise Timothy.  Perhaps this has to do with Timothy’s age.

But Timothy also had another problem that contributed to this lack of respect, and that was that he must have been somewhat shy and timid.  Or at least he was unassuming.

Ray Stedman writes, “There are some commentators who speak of Timothy as though he were a very timid young man, very much afraid to get involved, because of the exhortations of the apostle to him to be a little more aggressive in his labors. But I do not think it was timidity so much as it was really a temperament that was quiet and unassuming and did not force its way to the front.” Well, whether this is correct or not, we know that Timothy was encouraged by Paul on numerous occasions to be more bold, so he must have struggled with this issue, and therefore Paul is admonishing the Corinthians to show him respect and not to despise him.

He says, “…see that he is with you without cause to be afraid…”  That is another way of saying, “help to put him at ease.”  “Receive him with a warm, loving attitude.”  Why?  Because “he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am.”

Paul is saying “Respect him for the work he is doing.  It is the Lord’s work and therefore is worthy of respect.”  Listen, anyone who is doing the Lord’s work is worthy of respect and support regardless of their temperament or personality. And notice that not only does Paul say that they should respect him, but that they should support him.  He says, “…send him on his way…”

Now, that does not mean they were to say to Timothy, “Tim, get on down the road…”  No.  What that means is that they were to give him financial and material support that would allow him to continue in his missionary endeavors. And notice that they were to send him out “in peace.”  That simply means “don’t hassle him.”  You see, there was probably a tendency to perhaps give Timothy a hard time. People who would not have dared to confront or argue with Paul, maybe would grab hold of Timothy and take him to task for certain viewpoints.  Maybe they would argue with Timothy over doctrinal points where they never would have been brave enough to debate Paul on the same points.

This was especially a concern here in Corinth because there were some there who had even resisted Paul himself.  If they had trouble with Paul, how much more would they resist the teaching of Timothy?

So Paul is warning them against this natural tendency to be overbearing toward a young man, but to listen to him, help him, respect him and support him.  Show respect for the unassuming.  Secondly:

II. SHOW RESPECT FOR THE UNWILLING  (v. 12)

Look at v. 12, “But concerning Apollos our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brethren; and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.”

Now, this is a very interesting verse of Scripture.  Here is the Apostle Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, the founder of most of the NT churches, the author of a great portion of the NT, and he thinks that Apollos should go to Corinth. But Apollos doesn’t think he should.  So what does Paul do?  Does he pull rank on him?  Does he order him to go?  Does he bad-mouth him for not going?  No. He respects his decision.  He allows for Apollos to determine the Lord’s will for his own life and ministry.

This was not a matter of direct revelation from God that Apollos should go.  This is Paul’s opinion, based on his best wisdom and knowledge of the facts, that Apollos should go and be with them at this time.

But Apollos has a different assessment.  He believes that it is important for him to stay longer in Ephesus, in much the same way that Paul had concluded himself (we read about that in v. 8 of this same chapter).

But what I want you to see here is that Paul showed respect for his fellow worker in the faith and his right to make a decision that seemed wise to him. He didn’t try to make Apollos look bad for not wanting to come there at the time.  He simply said, “Apollos will get here as soon as he can…as soon as he deems best.” Now, let’s think about the application of this for us.  We can learn a lot here.  I know I can.  We need to be reminded here that when someone else does something that we do not agree with, we still need to respect them for their decision. We need to give them the benefit of the doubt that they also love the Lord and want to do what they believe is the best decision for His glory.

It may not be the same decision we would make, but that does not mean we can’t respect them for making it.  We need to allow each other the room to pursue the will of the Lord as best we can. And we need to understand that when it comes to a “preference issue” or a “strategy issue” there are going to be different conclusions reached by different Christians. Now, if it is a matter of being obedient to something that has been clearly revealed in God’s Word, that’s different.  In that case, there is only one correct response.

But when it comes to something that is not given in Scripture, then we have to allow for some differences in decisions and still respect each other for those decisions.  That’s what we see modeled here by the Apostle Paul.

You say, “Well, why did Paul want Apollos to come to Corinth at this time?”  We don’t know for sure, but remember, Apollos was one of the previous “pastors” there, and he was one of the ones around whom certain Corinthian Christians had fostered division.

Perhaps Paul thought that if Apollos came, he could help diffuse some of that.  On the other hand, it may have been that very reason why Apollos thought it would not be good for him to go at that time. Perhaps he thought that if he stayed away, those who were committed to following him would die down.  Apollos was kind of a “golden-tongued,” eloquent preacher, and maybe he thought it would only worsen things if he went back.

Well, whatever the case, Paul did not “lord it over” Apollos and order him to go there like some “general.”  He “urged” him to go, but when he decided otherwise, he respected that decision. Well, there is one more group of people we need to see here in this passage.  In vs. 15-18, Paul talks about the household of Stephanas (and a few others), and here we see that we should:

III. HOW RESPECT FOR THE UNTIRING  (vs. 15-18)

Let’s read this whole section and then we’ll go back and break it down a little bit.  Paul says, “Now I urge you, brethren (you know the household of Stephanas, that they were the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints), ¹⁶that you also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors. ¹⁷I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have supplied what was lacking on your part. ¹⁸For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men.”

Now, there are four things that we see in this passage.  First of all, we see:

1. The First-fruit of Salvation  (v. 15a)

Notice the first part of v. 15,  “Now I urge you, brethren (you know the household of Stephanas, that they were the first fruits of Achaia…” Achaia is a reference to the Peloponnesian peninsula, which is the lower part of ancient Greece.  You may remember that Paul had that vision from a man in Macedonia pleading with him to come into that part of the world.

Well, from there, he went into northern Greece and then on into southern Greece, where Athens was located, but also Corinth. Paul is saying here that Stephanas was the first convert in this region known as Achaia.  Now, this means that Stephanas was probably originally from Athens because that is where Paul went first, and Acts 17 tells us that after he preached that great sermon on Mars Hill there in Athens, there were some who believed.  He even tells us the names of some of them.

And if Stephanas was the first fruit, that means he was the first Christian convert in Achaia.  That means he would have to have been in Athens when Paul got there. At any rate, he is now in Corinth, and we are told in chp. 1 of this letter that Stephanas was one of the few individuals that Paul had personally baptized.

He must have been special to Paul for being the “first fruits” of this entire region, but the main thing we need to see here is that he was only the first of many more to come. We already know what the “first fruits” is all about…  (expound)  Although Stephanas was the first one to be saved in Achaia, many more would quickly follow, including that of his entire household, which would have included not only his family, but his servants as well.

The believers to which Paul is now writing in Corinth are also part of that harvest that would follow in like kind with the first-fruit. This should be a reminder to us of the importance of evangelism in the life of the church.  That is to be our “heart-beat.”  Everything we do should be in an effort to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see that Paul is reminiscing and is thanking God for this one who was the first to come to Christ in Achaia.  But there is something else Paul is thankful for in regard to Stephanas.  Secondly we see:

1. The Fervency of (His) Service  (v. 15b)

Notice the last half of v. 15, “…and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints)…”  Now, there is a very interesting word that tells us that Stephanas had a problem – he was an addict.  The word for “devoted” there is a word that can mean “addicted.” Get this:  Stephanas (and the others) were addicted to ministry!  (I can relate to that!)  He was literally addicted to serving the needs of the saints.  He was hooked on hospitality.  He was in bondage to the beloved.

And listen, that is as it should be!  Every single one of us who names the name of Christ should be addicted to ministry in the body of Christ.  Devoted is too mild a word.  Addicted is the one we should use. Someone who is addicted to something means that it is all that is on their minds.  It means that it is just the habit of their life.  It means that they thrive on it.  That it is the top priority for them.

You say, “How did Stephanas get this addiction?”  Well, he got it because he first got “hooked on the Lord Jesus Christ” and when he did that, this just kind of came naturally. You see, my friend, when you get hooked on Jesus, you’re going to get hooked on serving those whom He loves.  You’re going to naturally become “devoted” to serving the saints.  That should just be second-nature for us. 

You know, to many of us the church is the passion of life.  All our social relationships are here.  All our friendships are here.  All our priorities are here.  And that the way it should be.  This is more my family than my blood relatives.  Now, that’s not to say that we should not be relating to the lost and trying to win them to Christ, but our primary relationships are to be in the church.

And notice that it says “…they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints…”  That means they volunteered.  They weren’t coerced.  They weren’t recruited.  In fact, they didn’t even wait for someone to come to them and ask them to serve.They just jumped right in and began serving the needs of the saints wherever they saw them.  You know, sometimes it is necessary for the church to appoint certain people, like elders and deacons, but most of the time what is needed is for Christians to simply find a need and meet it.

You don’t have to have a title.  You don’t have to have a position.  Just get in there and roll up your sleeves and get to work serving the saints.  That’s what Stephanas and his household did.  And then we see:

1. The Fulfillment of Submission  (v. 16)

Paul says in v. 16, “that you also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors.”  We’re almost out of time, so I won’t say much about this one, except to say that God expects us to be submissive to those who lead in the things of the Lord. Anyone who is involved in doing the work of the Lord should be respected.  They should be submitted to in the sense that they are representing the Lord Himself.

Of course, the Bible has a lot to say about our mutual submission to one another and our submission to those who lead in the church. But Paul tells the Corinthians to submit to these who are such a godly example in their midst.  And then, lastly we see:

1. The Freshness of Support  (vs. 17-18)

Look at v. 17, “I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have supplied what was lacking on your part. ¹⁸For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men.” Here Paul adds a couple more names.  And he says that these men are such a blessing, not only to him personally, but to the Corinthians as well.

He says, “These men have just refreshed my spirit.”  Do you know Christians like that?  Do you know brothers and sisters in the Lord that are just such a joy to be around that they refresh you every time you are around them?

That’s the way it ought to be with all of us.  We ought to be a constant source of refreshment in how we encourage and support one another. Paul is speaking here specifically of those who support the saints and the church leaders.  We don’t really know in what way they “supplied what was lacking” on the part of the Corinthians.

Perhaps it was monetary support.  Perhaps it was the support of using their spiritual gifts to build them up in the faith.  Whatever it was, their support was a joy and a source of refreshment. As I read this account, my mind goes to people in this body who are like that to me.  They are so supportive that they are a constant source of encouragement to me.  I know you can think of people like that as well.

I praise God for them, but you know what?  It also motivates me to be more of that kind of person for others.  I need to be like that.  I need to be the kind of person that other Christians look forward to being around. And then notice what Paul says in that last sentence, “Therefore acknowledge such men.”  That means to appreciate them and let them know you appreciate them. Thank them for the way they encourage you.  Honor them as godly examples.  This doesn’t mean that we have to put up a plaque in their honor or erect a statue of them in the foyer.  It just means to express appreciation for them in any way we can. I think most of us need to do more of that.