Today, on Real Life Radio.
Practical, simple, Christian living is the heartbeat of this church. We’re not here for a show, we don’t need a show. We’ve got nothing to hype up.
Do we get excited about God’s word? Yes.
This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s word, the Bible.
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What you need to know about the rapture by Charles Reiry, it’s available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com/realradio. jackhibbs.com/realradio. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called First Corinthians with the message titled Behind The Scenes Ministry.
First Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul to the Church of God in Corinth, and he shares with us how he’s not ashamed to express his love and care for others in a practical way. You see, in these verses of chapter 16, Paul ends First Corinthians and is unapologetic about his emotions and burdens. Paul’s Christianity was a deeply personal thing.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that Paul is yielding himself to the Lord through his care for the saints. He stresses the fact that the more the Lord blesses us, the more we are to give, and the more we wisely invest in God’s kingdom, well, the more he’ll entrust with us. Now, with his message called Behind The Scenes Ministry, here’s Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
Turn in your Bibles to First Corinthians chapter 16. And this morning, by God’s grace, we will complete the book, we’ll complete the chapter and move on. First Corinthians chapter 16.
And rather than read all the way through it in one sitting, we will take chunks of it as we go through the book and end it right now, the 16th chapter. And while you’re turning there, I don’t know about you, but as we get into this, you’re gonna say, what? What’s he talking about this for?
Why is Paul speaking about this? That’s gonna be a good question to keep asking in this chapter, why is Paul talking about this stuff? And then the next thought you’re gonna have is, why didn’t we just end the book at 1 Corinthians 15 on the lofty heights of the rapture and the resurrection?
Why didn’t we leave off at the glorious news that in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, we all shall be changed? That’s where I want to end. I would have gone out on this book with a great Christendom.
If I was the author of this book, I would have ended at chapter 15. That’s because I’m dumb. Because chapter 16 so matters.
It makes all the difference in the world in light of all that Paul has been teaching about division, about cliques, about sexual immorality, about marriage, about divorce. He covered the topics of the power, the resurrection of Christ, false doctrine. He talked about those that were in the church, but not of the church.
He talked about love. He talked about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And he ended on such a great high note, to put in our hearts that the Lord is coming, the rapture could happen at any time.
When it does, we’ll be changed in a moment, in a twinkle of an eye. And if we do not see the rapture of the church and we wind up dying in this flesh, that we will immediately see the presence of God. When we die, we see him and we’re united with Christ, and our body will one day at his coming be resurrected.
Either way, we win. But now we come to the 16th chapter, and it is so practical. And I want you to write that down in your notes today.
It is absolutely practical, practical. So much so that the title of the message this morning is Behind The Scenes Ministry. Please write this down, Behind The Scenes Ministry.
And I don’t know how to deliver this message this morning. I have honestly struggled with the delivery. I normally, for comfort’s sake, would stand right here.
Now watch this. This is comfortable. This is even more comfortable.
This is challenging. This is really challenging. If I were to come down on the floor, that’s way out there, man.
Why? Because it’s very personal. And that’s a good thing.
If we’re real. It’s a good thing if it’s authentic Christianity. Listen, I would rather deliver this message today with you in some sort of a huge coffee table with our elbows on the table with our coffee cups, and we talk, because that’s how he ends the book.
He takes us from these lofty great hopes of what’s coming for the believer’s future, and then takes care of some household business and says goodbye. And isn’t that how life is? When you and I are getting ready to go somewhere, have you noticed?
We go through all the planning. We find the vacation online. We get the best deal possible.
We start getting excited about it. We start buying clothes for the trip, or flip flops for the trip, or in my case, if I have to pack anything more than a T-shirt and flip flops, I’m not going on the trip. And it’s all laid out.
It’s all prepared. And then comes the grand and glorious moment. We’ve got maybe the tickets, or we’ve got the car filled up and all this.
What’s the grand and glorious moment? How do you start your great journey? Did you turn off the oven?
Huh? Isn’t that how it goes? Did you lock the door?
I thought you locked the door. Back up, we have to go lock the door. Isn’t that how it all begins?
You got all the planning and all the theory, but then you got to leave. And it comes down to all the practical checking of the bases about, did we get this done before we go? And that’s what Paul is saying in chapter 16.
I want you guys, he is saying to know this. I want you to remember this. I want you to put this into practice.
I want you to be ready. And oh, by the way, this is ministry. I love it.
I love it because as we approach this, practical, simple, Christian living is the heartbeat of this church. We’re not here for a show. We don’t need a show.
We’ve got nothing to hype up. Do we get excited about God’s Word? Yes.
But we don’t have to hang things on it to make it somehow hip or acceptable. It is the Word of God, and it is practical, it is authentic, and that is why we have come to gather around God’s Word. The reality of ministry is that Jesus is always where we are.
And that’s a good thing. Here we go. Let’s take our notes together.
Let’s do this together. 1 Corinthians chapter 16, beginning at verse 1 to 8, right here we see that the Behind The Scenes Ministry is all about yielding to the Lord. Church, write it down.
It’s about yielding to the Lord. And Paul’s speaking here is very personal, because I believe, you believe, I’m sure that Paul is a man yielded to God. And verse 1 and 2.
Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. Stop right there.
In verses 1 to 8, he’s going to be speaking to us about a yielded spirit to the Lord. But look at verses 1 and 2. What does it mean?
Well, first of all, we recognize this. That we want to be yielded to the Lord for the needs of his people. Will you jot that down?
We are Christians. And to be a Christian is to be concerned about other people. And as Christians, we are mandated by God’s word to first of all, be concerned about fellow brothers and sisters.
Now, remember the lofty heights of chapter 15? Look how practical Paul goes in the very first opening verse of chapter 16. He says, we need to take up an offering.
Isn’t that funny? Now watch this, hear me out. Paul is going to ask for money.
Paul asked for money many times in the Bible. Make sure you write this down. He never asked for money for himself.
Beware of people who come in the name of ministry, asking money for themselves or for their ministry. Support us because this or that, and you know, do this because of you. Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Number one thing, Paul says, now concerning the collection for the saints, verse three is gonna tell us it’s the saints at Jerusalem. He says, when you guys come together on the first day of the week, each one of you should lay aside something. Store up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
Paul is saying, regarding this issue of money, it is essential. Number one, do it now before I arrive because I don’t want to be involved with money. Isn’t this refreshing, everybody?
Remember, our elbows are on the table. We’re just talking here right now. Paul is saying, by no means am I going to get myself near the money.
There’s a big need in Jerusalem. And as I’ve talked to the churches of Galatia, that’s a big region, by the way, we know from scripture he will or have already spoken to about four to five other churches. And he’s asked them to take up a collection for the believers in Jerusalem.
Now, you ought to ask the question, what’s wrong with the believers in Jerusalem? That’s a good question to ask. Why should a church take up an offering to help another church?
Why should other churches take up an offering to help another church? What’s going on here? Why not Jerusalem taking up an offering to help the churches of Galatia, right?
Are you guys with me? These are practical questions. You see, this is the behind the scenes stuff of ministry.
We get calls, we get emails all the time of churches asking us to loan money to them or to help them. And honestly, on an ongoing basis, some of the ministries we know, some of them we don’t know. What do you do about that?
This is the behind the scenes stuff. Happens every day. And what about needs?
We know two things about the church in Jerusalem. Number one, that there was a famine in that region that put a deep stress on that part of the Roman Empire. Lebanon, Israel, Jordan was affected.
Regions of Syria affected. This is a historical fact. But listen, scholars assume that that’s the reason why.
The Jerusalem church must need help because there was a famine at that time. And that’s certainly, no doubt, part of the truth. But church, mark this down.
The other issue is, and it seems as though they never recovered from this. Do you remember in the Book of Acts when the church, the Holy Spirit was poured out and the church began to explode, by the way, if you do your math, within one month’s time, in fact, much less, some say two to three weeks, after the church was born in Jerusalem, that the church had reached over 10,000 people in size in about three weeks. But what did Jesus say in Acts 1, 8, before he left?
He said, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, right? And you shall be witnesses unto me. And where were they supposed to start?
Anybody remember? Jerusalem. Judea, Samaria, and then what?
To the uttermost parts of the earth, until the gospel reached Chino Hills. That’s what it means. Truly.
Did they go? Do you know anything about church history? Do you know anything about the Book of Acts?
Did they go? They didn’t go. They did not go.
They stayed. They overstayed their calling in Jerusalem. In fact, you know how God got them to get out of Jerusalem?
Persecution. Do you remember when there was a change in emperors and persecution broke out? Remember how Stephen was killed?
That persecution arose and the church was then the Great Diaspora. The church was pushed out of Jerusalem. Listen, Satan brought persecution against the church, but God used the persecution to drive the church out.
It was comfortable in Jerusalem. But you know what they were doing? They had an aid.
Watch this. They continued steadfast in the Apostles’ doctrine. That’s good.
And in the breaking of bread. That’s good. And they fellowshiped from house to house.
That sounds good. And it says that they bought all that they had. They sold and they distributed among each other.
Everyone had everything equal, which by the way, Karl Marx read that in the Bible and said, I have an idea. Did you know that? Did God tell them to sell everything they had and make it a community money pot to pull out of?
He did not. Interesting. Do you remember Ananias and Sapphira and Acts 5 came and sold their stuff and lied about it so that they would get some glory and it wound up costing them their lives?
And it’s interesting that right there in the scripture, Peter says, why did you do this? This is not required of God. The church in Jerusalem, there was circumstantial problems with the famine, and there was an imposed problem that they put upon themselves by having all things common with very good intentions doing the wrong thing and they wound up going broke.
And because they were Christians and the persecution arose, they were not hired in jobs, they lost their businesses, they became poverty stricken, listen, and because of their good intentions, the churches of Europe became financially burdened to support them. So, when somebody comes along, and by the way, how many of you have been Christians? You’ve been a Christian since the 70s.
Raise your hands. Wow. You guys know this, that about every 20 to 30 years, it makes a cycle that poverty is godly.
It goes from riches or prosperity is godly, we’ve just lived that cycle, and there’s a knee-jerk reaction that then embraces poverty is godly. It goes from prosperity is godly to poverty is godly. And it just does this over and over again.
Do you want to know how old this is? Paul the Apostle said, hey, in whatever state I have found myself, even California, he said, I mean, he didn’t say California, but that’s a little joke. Whatever state I have found myself in, I have learned how to be abased, and I’ve learned how to abound.
Paul says, I know how to be poor and survive, and I know how to be rich and survive. What is he saying? Balance, balance, balance.
You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com.
And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.
Isn’t it interesting today, you can buy books off the shelf that’s now infiltrating young Christian minds saying poverty is godly. And have you noticed that people are giving up on stuff and I’m not going to work, I’m going to follow Jesus, and I’m not going to own anything. And isn’t it funny that they wind up living with their parents?
They wind up being on welfare. Have you noticed ministries that promote this? They promote it for a fee.
Poverty is the way to godliness. I’ll tell you how, by my book. Have you noticed this?
We’re going to come and speak to you guys about true godliness. It’s through poverty. And this is our speaking fee.
I kid you not. Do you hear what I’m saying? Beware.
Beware. There’s the right way to manage all that God has given you. And because someone says, well, I have sworn a vow of poverty.
Where’s that in the Bible? Why don’t you swear a vow of godly stewardship, which is in the Bible? So the Church of Jerusalem by its own good intentions did the wrong thing.
It became in great dire need of support. The needs of the people. Nonetheless, you don’t beat them up and scold them about it.
You bless them. You help them. And Paul is saying, take up an offering so we can get this help over to Jerusalem.
And that’s a beautiful thing. And let me add this because I don’t want to forget it. You guys are the most generous church.
I have personally ever known. And other ministries know this about you because the Word of God is coming out of you guys. The Word of God is coming out of you.
When GMO launched their internet global worldwide witnessing ministry, evangelism ministry, you guys stepped up in one announcement more than any other church in America to that time. Why? Because the Word of God is in you.
And it has to come out of you. And when it comes to this thing about money, oh, don’t talk about money. First of all, if you’ve been to this church for any period of time, we never talk about money.
By the way, when we went through the purchasing of this land and the building of these buildings, how many times did you see a thermometer on the stage or in the foyer or in the courtyard about we need this much more? Come on, tell me, tell me. Never.
In fact, some of you found out from other people, did we buy property? Yeah, God, God bought it.
Are we building a building?
Yeah, we never once had. If you want to do this, if you want to do this. Listen, we invite you possibly the East Wing building.
We said, hey, if you want to help us, that’s great. But listen, if we need you, if God needs you to keep his ministry afloat, send in money, take a hundred dollar bill and tear off the edge and mail us the big portion.
You keep that little portion and you plant it in faith. It’s gonna break forth into millions. But make sure you send us the bigger portion of the hundred dollar bill.
What are they saying?
We ain’t got no faith.
We’re counting on you to pull this thing off because God ain’t in it.
Come on, that’s what it’s all about.
If they had faith, they would say, Tear off that hundred dollar bill. You keep the big part and send us the little part and our great faith will grow that up into millions.
They don’t do that.
Was that pretty good? Was that OK? All right, all right.
Just checking. In Acts chapter 8 verse 1, here’s the proof text and many other verses as well. But this consequential trouble that came upon them, it says that at that time, great persecution arose against the church, which was at Jerusalem.
They overstayed their welcome in Jerusalem. Verse 2, he says, storing up as he may prosper. This is amazing.
Circle the word. It’s important. I don’t want to belabor it.
We’ll deal with it in some other book of the Bible. Simply this. In the Old Testament, tithing was required.
In fact, when you put all of the giving of the Old Testament upon the believer, it was about 30 to 33 percent of your income you were supposed to give to God. Listen, in the New Testament, that’s not the case. In fact, Pastor Lin said a moment ago, tithes and offerings.
That’s not exactly accurate, though we do that out of tradition. It makes sense to people, rather than have to explain it every Sunday. New Testament, we don’t do tithes.
We don’t do a tithe. You know what tithe means?
Tenth.
We don’t do a tenth percent. New Testament giving is everything.
That’s the difference.
See, what are you talking about everything? Everything. Pastor, you ought to talk on tithing.
No, biblically, I should talk on everything. It all belongs to him. Did you know that God is a Christian?
We, as Christians, in our relationship to God, whatever he gives us, it belongs to him, and we’re supposed to be stewards over it. It’s all his. Do you have a checkbook?
Do you have a savings account? Do you have whatever you have? Do you have a card?
Do you have clothes?
It’s all his.
It’s his to be used to his glory because we’re Christians. And that is godly, that is holy, that should be a beautiful representation. It shouldn’t be panic.
It shouldn’t be pressure. Well, if you don’t give, we’ll have to see if you’re going to be a member of this church or not. That’s wrong, man.
Everything belongs to God. And let me tell you right now, shockeroni, God’s not broke. He says, store up as God has prospered you.
Meaning, watch, as a believer, I’m to live a disciplined life. I’m to live within my means. What God, watch, what God blesses me with, I’m to pay my bills.
Okay, I’m to make sure that my family’s fed. This is our first ministry that our family is fed, the roof over their head. Okay, that our kids are not walking around naked.
All right, that is our first ministry. Take care of our home. Okay, then the next thing is this.
I’m to take some of that money that God has given me and put it this week in reserve. Now, back in those days, they were paid daily. And then we switched to weekly, and then twice a month.
Some people get paid now once a month. Daily, you take and you store because it belongs to God. God has given me what I need.
Watch this. Did God provide, for example, isn’t it great, the air conditioning today?
Hallelujah!
Yes, God provided the air conditioning. We praise the Lord for that. But listen, outside of that, what’s next?
Did God provide for my family and food? Yes, now outside of that, what’s next, Lord? What’s next, Lord?
Paul says, store up, be ready, have it ready, like bullets in a gun. You got it ready. You’re ready.
When we get away from that, listen, we run in debt. When we get away from that, we’re broke. When we get away from that, we take money that God has ordained for us to use for the kingdom, and we buy stupid stuff, and we get into trouble.
And then we lose that amount of income for whatever reason, maybe a famine, maybe persecution, and we can’t pay the bills. Why? Because we have gotten into things that God didn’t want us to get into.
Well, everybody’s got one.
Trust God, but be wise.
Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called Behind The Scenes Ministry. Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called First Corinthians.
It’s a series on the Corinthian Church and the Apostle Paul’s bold call for purity. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
Hey, everybody, this is just a reminder. We started out a little while ago praying for our students from preschool to university. And I just want to encourage you to keep that up and keep it going.
We want to lift them up before the throne. You know, listen, that is a very, very powerful, but yet rarely taken advantage of opportunity. God told us to bring all of our concerns to him.
And so I want to challenge you, I want to encourage you. Does it seem something that is off your radar? I understand that.
Is it sometimes hard to do? I get it. Listen, it’s of the spirit, that’s why, friend, it’s not of this world.
But as believers, we must intercede for our kids. And they’re in a system, they’re in a world where if we don’t pray for them, they could very well be on their own. So let’s once again renew our commitment.
Father God, bless our students. Lord cause their faith to be strong in you. Lord, when the world says Jesus is not real, God is dead and there is no hope.
Or if they’re preaching to our kids, some socialistic, atheistic belief system, that our kids would know the truth, and that truth would set them free right there in the classroom. So Father, bless our students. Keep them going.
Give them discernment. Make them wise. We pray in Jesus’ name.
And all God’s people said, Amen.
Did you know that along with the radio program, Pastor Jack also has a TV show with more of the Pastor Jack Hibbs content that you like. It’s called Real Life TV. If you enjoy Pastor Jack on the radio, you’re going to love them on TV.
So check out your local listings or visit jackhibbs.com and catch the latest episodes. That’s jackhibbs.com.
This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com.
Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
