1 Corinthians 15:58 & 16:1-24 | Episode #1003

August 13, 2025

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

1 Corinthians 15:58 & 16:1-24

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

If you would like to revisit today’s Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. 

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope.

Applying God's word to your daily life.

As we finish Faithful Finance, we want to produce our winter Bible study done at Lake Community Church on First Corinthians.

It'll be a fairly long Bible study.

We will break it up into different parts,

and so you will get a really good, really fast study through the Book of First Corinthians before we move on to the book of Joshua.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Notice what he said. Therefore, my beloved brethren.

He's talking to us.

Be steadfast,

immovable,

always abounding in the work of the Lord,

knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

He says. Now, concerning the collection of the saints,

as I've given to the churches in Galatia, so must I also do to you on the first day of the week. Let each one say, lay something aside, storing up that he may prosper,

that there be no collection when I come.

Now, what he's saying is, is first of all, when are they supposed to get together?

Which is what day?

Sunday. Okay. He said that in Galatians also, by the way. Okay, so we got a confirmation,

remember? God confirms things. That's why you have a tongue and an interpretation.

Okay. He confirms things in Scripture. He doesn't just always say it once. What does he do? He comes back and says it again. Right?

One says it, then the other says that he confirms it in his Scripture.

And you're supposed to do what?

Give.

So that the church has.

Now, I'm going to tell you, I don't preach about this much, do I?

But I want you to hear me as one who has the gift.

And I'm going to tell you, I got it.

I got it.

It's a gift.

I'm going to tell you. Whenever I get money in my pocket, the first thing I think of is where God wants it to go.

I'm going to tell you that's a gift because it doesn't come from me.

Okay?

You can ask Kathleen.

I ain't never worried about money. I don't worry about money now. All I worry about with money is how much money we spend for God.

It's a gift.

I want you to hear me.

Some people can operate in the gift, and some people don't operate in the gift. But I can tell you, everybody gets the opportunity to operate in the gift.

The best way to have more money is to understand that all of your life, all of your energy,

all of who you are, is His.

So therefore,

all of your money, which is just a medium of exchange for the energy that is your life.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back to our financial course in August and I'll explain that in the first 30 minutes,

it's all he is.

So your medium of exchange of your life, which is money,

the medium, exchange of the energy of your life,

which used to be seashells, and then they moved to copper coins, and then they found gold coins, and.

And then we just decided to make paper money that's backed by nothing.

However you exchange your life,

you need to give that to God.

And he honors that. And I'm just telling you he does.

I'm telling you he does. He said he does it in Malachi. He says it over and over again in the New Testament. He does.

Paul is telling them to do it on the first day of the week.

It's just honored.

Chad, how did you get where you're at financially? I tell you, I got where I at when I was 22 years old, 21 years old.

Kathleen and I were counting pennies we always gave to God.

And the more he gave us, the more we gave him.

And he just started just pouring out the bucket on us in the last 10 years.

And it don't seem like he's going to slow down.

And I'm going to just turn the bucket straight over again.

He fill it up. I'm just dumping it just as fast as I can dump it.

That's just a word of testimony. It's the truth, though.

He says, and when I come, whomever you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gifts to Jerusalem. Meaning we're going to take it. We're going to give it to the church that's being persecuted in Jerusalem.

But if it's fitting that I also, that I go also, then I'll go with. They'll go with me.

He says, now, I'll come to you when I pass through Macedonia. For I'm passing through Macedonia,

and it may be that I will remain or even spend the winter with you, that you may send me on my journey wherever I go.

What he's saying is, is this ministry's ongoing. We're just keeping on doing what God's calling us to do.

But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost,

for a great and effective door has opened to me. And there are many adversaries. And if Timothy Comes see love old Timothy. Now,

young man, young man called by God, he says, and if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do.

Meaning Timothy's operating in the same power I'm operating in.

Therefore, let no one despise him, but send him on his journey in peace that he may come to me, for I am waiting for him with the brethren.

Now, concerning our brother Apollos. And remember, this whole letter started with Apollos, right?

I want you to notice that Apollos wasn't in the middle of this fight.

In fact, Apollos didn't want to have nothing to do with them.

How'd I know that? Now, concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren,

but he was quite unwilling to come at that time.

However, he will come when it's convenient. A convenient time. What he's saying is Apollos didn't want to be around you crazy people,

and I urged him to come, and he was just quite certain he didn't want to go.

That's good old Southern ease, right?

So if you think that Paul and Apollos were against each other,

they were not.

Watch.

Stand fast in the faith. Be brave, be strong.

Let all that you do be done with charity.

I urge you, brethren,

you know the household of Stephanus, that it is the first fruit of Ikea,

that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of saints, that you also submit to such.

And to everyone who works and labors with us. He's telling them there's a group of people that y' all ought to listen to.

You ought to follow them.

I am glad about the coming of Stefanus and Fortunatus. Now, that's a good name right there. Fortunatus.

I mean, if you're looking for a name, that's a good one.

Achaicus, not so much for what was lacking on your part, they supplied meaning. These are. He's just naming folks, by the way. Don't get a whole lot about them.

But I'm going to tell you,

they in the book.

That's pretty cool, right?

They in the book before the Lamb's Book comes out. But when it comes out, it's going to be a best seller, okay?

For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men. Now, what is he saying there? He's saying to him. He's saying to him a couple of things here. He's saying, first of all, what Give of yourself to God.

Second of all,

acknowledge the people who have fit into Your life.

Give them honor.

Honor the people who've done for you.

The Church of Asia greets you.

Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord with the church that is in their house.

Well,

gonna be rest of that story.

All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

The salutations with my own hand. Pa.

This salutation with my own hand. Pause. What he's saying is I'm signing this myself.

Apparently this was written probably by Dr. Luke.

Penned by Dr. Luke.

He says, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.

O Lord, come.

What he's saying is, if you don't love my Jesus,

well, then I got nothing for you.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Y' all learn a lot from that, I hope you did. Especially about spiritual gifts, okay?

Because they're really, really, really important.

And. And they can be really, really done badly,

and they're really, really done badly by those who deny them.

Okay?

You need to hear that.

If you deny the spiritual gifts, you've cut off part of your. You've cut off your ability to do a lot of ministry,

okay? Which causes you to start having to do a lot of stuff in the flesh,

which causes all kinds of problems. You need to hear that.

Everybody needs to hear that. If you deny certain.

Certain gifts of the Spirit,

what happens is,

is that you become.

You become ineffective.

Are you following me?

And so what you have to do is you have to compensate for that.

And your compensation for that usually ends up with more trouble and more legalism.

All right?

Now,

those who did, like the Corinthian Church and got all focused on those gifts,

what they did was they got all focused on these gifts over here. You following me?

And then they didn't deal with the important gifts like somebody being able to cut the heater on,

right?

And so what happened is they got discombobulated and. And messed up.

And so all of a sudden, the important things that have to be done, which are not the miraculous gifts, aren't getting done.

What happens to that church?

They suffer.

Both churches end up having to do something. They have to end up compensating for the lack of those gifts being used.

They have to compensate with them by operating in the flesh.

And that's death.

That's death.

So we need to have them all,

and we need to operate in them rightly.

And if we do that,

well,

the kingdom is built.

Makes sense.

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today.

In Jesus name.