Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20071014.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Corinthians: Discipling Believers With Very Sinful Backgrounds
X. Overcoming Relationship Conflict Confusion In Christian Service
(1 Corinthians 16:5-24)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

As long as I have been your pastor these last twenty-five years, you and I have been aware that periodically, relationship trials arise in this ministry. They have often involved me and another party(s), or the Church Board or a Sunday School teacher and another party(s)!

Well, Romans 12:18 calls us to do our best to try to avoid such issues as the KJV there reads: "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." Thus, in light of this teaching in God's Word, the question has often risen not only in our body, but in my own mind as to whether the Board member, teacher or me as Pastor is doing something wrong to spark the relationship trial!

This matter is widely experienced by many believers in many Christian churches and institutions: while my family attended a barbecue at a private residence in Tolland, Connecticut some years ago, Dr. Wayne Hansen, Ph. D., a seminary professor at The Seminary of the East who had before pastored a single church for 18 years, asked me if I was facing any trials in my pastorate! I was right then trying to handle a sticky relationship issue that had risen in the ministry, so I replied that I was, and half expected him to admonish me on what I should do differently! His reply was a bit surprising, for he said quite dogmatically (as best I can recall), "You must be doing something right -- the devil is reacting to your ministry!"

Those may be comforting words to hear from a committed believer and leader, but we may wonder what GOD Himself has to say about our repeatedly facing relationship conflicts in serving Him!

The passage we are scheduled to study today in our exposition of 1 Corinthians is 1 Corinthians 16:5-24, and it answers this question in a remarkable way! Any connection between that passage and what you or I might be experiencing today is, from my vantage point, a connection that has been designed by the Lord alone!

So, in keeping with GOD'S will, we ask the question that God's Word is SET to answer TODAY as follows: "If I or another believer or group of Christians PERIODICALLY faces trouble in relationships while TRYING to OBEY God in SERVING Him, is the party who ministers the one with the SPIRITUAL PROBLEM, or NOT? WHY, and WHAT should be DONE about it?!"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section)

Need: "If believers who minister for the Lord and seek to obey Him PERIODICALLY face relationship conflicts, does the presence of such conflicts mean they ERR?! Why, and how must we respond?"
  1. Paul's [closing] 1 Corinthians 16:5-24 remarks contain FOUR parts on OVERCOMING RELATIONSHIP TRIAL issues in ministry:
    1. First, Paul saw OPPOSITION he faced in his BIBLICAL ministry as something to be withstood by FAITH, 1 Corinthians 16:5-9:
      1. In 1 Corinthians 16:5-8, Paul explained he intended to stay at Ephesus until Pentecost instead of making a brief trip to Corinth.
      2. He explained that God (1 Corinthians 16:7b) had opened up a great door for evangelism outreach for him there, 1 Corinthians 16:9a.
      3. Then, opposite how many believers today might conclude, Paul held he should STAY at Ephesus DUE in part to the presence of many ungodly opponents he faced in that ministry, 1 Cor. 16:9b!
      4. So, Paul viewed the presence of foes in a ministry God had opened up for him, and which he was serving God Biblically to mean his ministry was workable and is foes to be resisted as ungodly [cf. Acts 19:9-22 where he faced slander (Acts 19:9), hatred (19:28-34) ungodly competing exorcists (19:13-20), and all were countered by God's miracles through Paul, Acts 19:11-12, 13-15.]
    2. Paul viewed EFFORTS to DESPISE a BIBLICAL MINISTER as an EVIL that was to be RESISTED, 1 Corinthians 16:10-11:
      1. The combative Corinthians (1 Cor. 3:3) could easily dominate and so come to despise the easily intimidated (afobos) Timothy, 1 Cor. 16:10 with 2 Tim. 1:6-7; U. B. S. Grk. N. T. , 1963 ed., p. 619.
      2. Paul responded to this issue by urging that no one treat Timothy disrespectfully (exouthenasay), or "with contempt", cf. 1 Cor. 16:10-11! (Ibid.; Arndt & Ging., A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., p. 277); Abbott-Smith, A Man. Grk. Lex. of the N. T., 1968, p. 161)
    3. Paul viewed POLITICAL COMPETITION among BELIEVERS as an EVIL to be SHUNNED in his own ministry efforts, 1 Cor. 16:12:
      1. In 1 Corinthians 1:12, Paul had critiqued the politics of his readers that had led them to follow himself, Peter or Apollos!
      2. Realizing this as an evil, Paul countered it in his own practice in 1 Corinthians 16:12: he tried hard to send Apollos to Corinth to minister without fear of losing any of his "followers" to Apollos!
    4. Paul viewed dedicated BIBLICAL Christian workers as folk other believers should OBEY and RESPECT opposite being disobeyed and disrespected, 1 Corinthians 16:15-24:
      1. Paul reported that several believers had devoted themselves to meet the needs of other believers at Corinth, 1 Cor. 16:15, 17-18a.
      2. Accordingly, he urged his readers to submit to all such devout, godly laborers of the Lord, and to honor them, 1 Cor. 16:16, 18b.
      3. Since he had just urged his Corinthian readers not to disrespect Timothy (1 Cor. 16:10-11), this call to honor and heed other dedicated godly workers reveals Paul held such folk needed to be heeded and respected versus being disobeyed and disrespected.
  2. Significantly, these remarks on overcoming relationship trial issues in the ministry are set in the context at 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 as being RELATED to the ANGELIC CONFLICT (as follows):
    1. The verb "watch" (KJV) ["be on your guard" NIV; "be watchful" ESV] in 1 Corinthians 16:13a is from gragoreo, the word Jesus used in Matthew 26:40-41 to warn His disciples not to fall for Satan's lure to abandon Him, or, in Peter's case (cf. Luke 22:31-34), to deny Him, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 166.
    2. The verb "stand fast" (KJV) ["stand firm" NIV, ESV] in 16:13b is from stayko, a late form of the perfect tense form of the verb, histaymi that appears in Ephesians 6:13-14 where Paul commands believers to withstand the devil's wiles, Ibid., p. 775, 382-383.
    3. So, Paul urged his readers in a "fivefold" call (1) to watch [for Satan's wiles], (2) to stand firm in the faith (cf. Eph. 6:10-12), (3) to be courageous like men in [spiritual, cf. Eph. 6:12, 14-17] combat, (4) to be strong in God's power (cf. Eph. 6:10-12) and (5) to love in all efforts, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 547.
Application: To handle confusion about relationship conflicts in Christian service, may we (1) trust in Christ to be saved (John 3:16) and (2) heed His Word, 1 John 2:3-4. (3) As we serve God, let us view relationship trials involved as an expected trial to godly work, and apply Paul's 1 Corinthians 16:5-24 teaching and example!

Lesson: Relationship conflicts are to be EXPECTED in a godly ministry due to the SATANIC REACTION against it. Thus, those affected must FACE such conflicts with FAITH in God and His Word and LOVE for others, cf. 2 Timothy 3:10-12. This includes resisting foes of a godly ministry, resisting the intimidation of God's servants, resisting politicking and submitting to and honoring Biblical believers devoted to God's work!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

In our last Sunday evening service, God gave us opportunity to apply several points of this message even before it had been written!

As we began that meeting, due to a variety of crises that various people in the body were then facing, my wife and I were the only ones who had initially showed up at the building for the meeting.

However, a sensitive angelic conflict issue had risen in the ministries of my wife and me that had to be addressed by the Philemon 8-17 passage that the evening lesson covered. Accordingly, I took the opportunity our privacy supplied to teach the lesson to her for our mutual edification with the liberty to be candid with her in the absence of any other human being! That issue had to do with one of the points in this message, and, heeding Philemon 8-17, we were to create as edifying an atmosphere as possible in being gracious as Paul had been!

No sooner had I begun to finish this message than I noticed that a car was slowing down on the road outside our Church, preparing to enter our driveway. I told Nadine that another party was arriving!

It turned out to be Dan and Judy McLarty, and, as they entered, they expressed their deep apology for their tardiness, noting a guest had held them up in their home opposite their plans. I explained it was all in God's permissive will, that my wife and I alone needed to handle a sensitive issue the Philemon 8-17 passage addressed in our own lives!

However, in view of the honor I knew I should give to Dan and Judy for their extensive devotion to this body and ministry here at Nepaug Bible Church, another point in this message, I offered to teach the lesson again, the LEAST I could do for them!

The McLartys were apologetic for my feeling I had to give the message again, but I insisted! With joy for the privilege of being able to serve this worthy couple this way, I gave the message once again!

As you can see from the points in this sermon, preparing it beginning this past Tuesday was very thrilling in view of the issues and events of the previous Sunday night! Once again, the Lord had gone before us to show the direction to be taken for this message!

So, as this sermon reveals, GOD wants us to know that the godly SHALL suffer relationship trials in service -- that is an AXIOMATIC truth, cf. 2 Timothy 3:10-12. We must REALIZE this to be so, and adjust for victory in the angelic conflict as Paul taught and exemplified for us in 1 Corinthians 16:5-24!

. . . )