Welcome to the defender bible study. A weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services, where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word. It's Monday, April 29, 2024, and I'm coming to you from Birmingham, Alabama. Well, this week we are continuing and actually finishing our study on the book of 1st Corinthians, and we will be looking specifically at 1st Corinthians chapter 16.

And in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, Paul ends this letter, a letter which has been difficult to write on a positive and encouraging note. You see, the church at Corinth was desiring generosity, and Paul encourages them on the journey ahead. And we know that in the church at Corinth, there were members at both ends of the economic spectrum. Some were very poor and some very wealthy. And the Bible says each of you should give.

The same grace of God has saved all of us, and so the cross compels each of us to give. And we see that this generosity in display at gospel proclamations in both Acts 2 and Acts 4, where the common refrain is, and all who believed were together had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And so we see there's radical generosity when it comes to the opportunity of of knowing the radical nature of the gospel. When the gospel is ours and we realize the riches that Christ forsook in order to give his life as a ransom for us. It brings in this generosity that is widespread and overflowing.

And so let's read, first Corinthians chapter 16. Now concerning the collection of the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do, on the 1st day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up as he may prosper. So that will there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter so that you may help me on my journey wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you if the lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me and there are many adversaries. When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you for he is doing the work of the lord as I am.

So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace so that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers. Now concerning your brother, Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity. Be watchful.

Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. Now I urge you brothers, you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints.

Be subject to such as these and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus Achaicus because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people. The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the lord.

All the brothers and sisters send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If anyone has no love for the lord, let him be accursed. Oh lord, come.

The grace of lord Jesus be with you. May my love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. So the first thing we see out of the gate in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 is three charges on giving. So even in his farewell, even in his, his his greetings at the end, Paul ends chapter 16 with more teaching and these charges on giving.

And the first charge he gives is give out of love, not compulsion. Again, he says, now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so also are you to do. Just like the church in Galatia, the church in Corinth was to give not to earn grace or out of compulsion, but out of love and a sincere heart. And Paul had told the church at Galatia, hey, don't give in order to earn something from God. Don't give in order to try to earn your salvation.

Give because of the overflow of your salvation. When you give, you should give with a sincere dedication to Jesus, his kingdom, and the needs of the gospel. We do not give for tax breaks or public recognition. We will either give from a blessed heart or a burdened heart. A Jew who claimed Jesus is Messiah could expect to be socially ostracized, economically compromised, and religiously disenfranchised.

They likely would have been excommunicated from the synagogue and considered outcasts in the community. Furthermore, the church in Jerusalem was in the middle of a great economic depression. Yet when these Jewish believers gave, they gave not out of an abundance, not out of popularity, but they gave out of their dependency. They gave out of their poverty. They gave out of joyful obedience and faith.

And this, beloved, should be our pattern of giving as well. We give of our time and our talent and our treasure, not because we just have more than we need, but we give what cost us something. Jesus didn't come to ransom us out of the overflow. He came and he gave his very life. 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 verses 7 through 8, each one of you must give as he decided in his heart, not or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. So we give out of love, not out of compulsion, but then second, we give as an act of worship. Verse 2 says on the 1st day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up. We notice on the 1st day of every week was when they were to give, specifically on Sunday, the day the church gathers to worship the risen king. Giving was an active part of worship.

Worship is not about getting, it is about giving. You can give without worshiping, but you cannot worship without giving. Worship is not primarily about getting something from God, but giving something to God. And the emphasis on 1st Corinthians has been on the gospel, the message that Christ gave his life to pay for the sins of the world. Therefore, our lives, as those he has redeemed, should be lived in gratitude for all that God has given to us and done for us.

You see, worship flows from gratitude. We give our time to the hurting brother or sister in Christ out of an overflow of worship for the gospel of grace. And we reach out to the vulnerable, caring for their needs in proportion to our ability, knowing that Christ Jesus gave lavishly to us. Paul tells the church at Rome in Romans 12 1 through 2, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, and that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We give as an act of worship, we give of ourselves, we give of our time, our talent, and our treasure. So we give out of love, we give as an act of worship. But then 3rd, we give relationally with accountability and responsibility. We see in verses 3 through 4, they were sending this gift through those who they trusted in it. Paul even said, hey, if it's advisable, I will even accompany those.

In other words, it's evident in the way the church at Corinth was not just sending money to the church at Jerusalem, it was sending people to deliver that monetary gift. The giving was being sent and being sent relationally and personally. Let personal attention, consistent accountability, and long term commitment accompany our giving. Giving to those in need is not just about sharing handouts, it's about sharing life. This is not about throwing our money at something, it's about throwing our life at someone.

And that's much, much harder to do. Paul could have requested this gift be sent by a courier or be placed on the regular delivery, but instead, the gift was coming with relationship. It's difficult to give personal attention to those to whom you're helping and to provide accountability in the context of personal relationship. We also give this with long term commitment when it's relational. You see, impersonal giving is haphazard or occasional or it's a temporary pet project.

We often give at an arm's distance and we think, I've checked off helping the needy or I've checked off helping my brother and sister. But true giving is a relational commitment and an investment of your life. And beloved, in a social media, Internet driven culture, we must be careful not to pay homage to people's hurt, pain, and need, but to lean in. We give relationally. It means wrestling in with another in need.

We need to be relational givers. James 2 15 through 17, if a brother or sister is poorly clothed or lacking in daily food, and one of you says to him, go in peace, be warmed, and fill filled without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Or John says in 1st John 316, by this we know love, that he being Christ Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and truth. You see, Jesus the Christ didn't just give at an arm's distance, but he came relationally, and we must do so as well. And then from here, after this part on giving, Paul transitions into his plans, his instructions, and his farewell greeting. Paul's example reminds us that parting words and instructions should always be encouraging and uplifting, particularly after having to speak tough truths in love. In what's possibly the the hardest and toughest letter Paul ever had to write to a church, you can almost hear the relief in his voice once the need for tough love is over.

The last section is written on a on a very upbeat note. Paul is anticipating a visit to these Corinthian Christians. He's exhorting them to be open and supportive to others who may want to come work alongside them, as well as reminding them to stand firm in their faith. Paul's desire, verse 5, is to come spend winter with the church at Corinth, if the Lord wills, after passing through Macedonia. And he wants to rebuild bonds and relationships, stating in verse 8 that he doesn't just want to pass through, but to spend some considerable time with the believers.

Furthermore, Timothy verse 10, Paul's protege in faith is coming to Corinth. He's to be treated well, and and Paul lets the church know I'm sending one of my best, and I need him to be taken care of so that he is ready for the work ahead. Paul loves this church. You see, beloved, many times we say tough things, but we don't say them in love. Truth not spoken in love is hurtful, but Paul is demonstrating here, I've spoken very tough truth.

I've I've spoken the truth, but I'm doing it in love. I am giving you my best. I love you, church. I'm coming for you, church. And then Paul leaves the church with 2 exhortations as he closes the letter, and these are for us as much as they were for the church at Corinth.

The first is he says to stand firm in the culture. You see, verse 9 says, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and yet there are many adversaries. A wide door of effective work had opened, and yet there were many adversaries. Beloved, when the lord opens a door for effective work, we can always expect a counter attack from the devil. First Peter 412 through 13 reminds us, do not be surprised, beloved, at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. You see amidst a rapidly shifting moral landscape, even amidst a rapidly shifting church landscape, may we stand firm in this culture. In all these ways, preaching the cross and trusting god's wisdom, we stand firm. We preach god's word with with boldness, with with conviction. We saw this in the opening chapters of the epistle.

May we preach the cross of Christ with power and with trust in the wisdom of God that confounds the supposed wisdom of this world. What we preach, what we believe is foolishness to the world around us, but is what saves us and unites us together and leads us in the body of Christ. May we stand firm preaching the cross and trusting God's wisdom. And this ties back to Paul's charges on giving. We lay down our preferences and our lives in order to see effective work of the kingdom completed.

Beloved, I think about with the overturning of Roe v Wade, an effective door for ministry has been opened to the church, and to Lifeline specifically. And we must walk through it with confidence and integrity knowing that many of the women we will help will need love, support, and grace, all while they are living in the shadows of the darkest places of culture. See, these women are abused, scared, manipulated, standing in the consequences of sin, or maybe even trafficked. And we take the gospel to the hard places where children are abandoned, orphaned, and displaced. These are dark places, and we must expect adversaries.

We must expect a counter attack. Though we do not shrink back, beloved, we stand firm in light of the goodness, glory, and gospel of King Jesus. Women, children, and vulnerable families need Jesus more than anything, and we cannot compromise that truth. See Hebrews 1034 through 39 says, for you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward, for you have need for endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised.

For yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay, but my righteous one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but are of those who have faith and preserve their souls. And so, beloved, we stand firm in culture. Even while this culture is corroding around us, we stand firm.

Do not give in. Stand firm. But the second closing exhortation harkens back to chapter 13, the love chapter, and that's may we boldly display the love of Christ. Verses 13 and 14 say, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, and let all that you do be done in love. Love is active.

1st John 316, we know this is love. He laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. Love is active and Paul gives these three closing actions in love. The first is be watchful in love. We are to be watchful, guarding our witness and protecting the most vulnerable in the world from predators.

But we do this clothed in selfless love. First Peter 5:8, be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Being watchful means constantly wrestling in prayer for others before the throne of God. Are we interceding for one another?

Are we truly owning the hurts of others and crying out on their behalf to an almighty god? You see, we need to be watchful in prayer against sin. We need to be watchful in prayer for restoration, and we need to be watchful in prayer for the redemption of our friends, of the women we serve, and on behalf of the fatherless. To be watchful in love means that we are wrestling in prayer. But then second, we see the the other closing action is to stand firm in love.

You see, we don't tower, but we stand firm in love. We can quit. We can be belligerent, or we can stand firm. And, beloved, we will stand firm in biblical truth. We will stand firm in preaching the gospel, and we will stand firm in showing love that is truthful and kind.

At Lifeline, we're given the option always to quit, to be belligerent, or to stand firm, and we choose to stand firm. But we can't stand firm on something we do not know. We must be consistently studying God's word and living it out. Ephesians 414 through 16, so that you may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ.

For whom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. The vulnerable woman and children we serve do not need the deceitfulness of the culture, but the loving kindness of God who tells them who they are in Christ. That's why we were yet sinners, Christ died. And so beloved, if we're gonna stand firm in love, it means that we're studying God's word. We're being watch strong in love.

You see, we can be strong by meditating continually on God's word. True strength comes from meditating and worshiping our God. The refrain over and over in Joshua chapter 1 as Joshua is taking the mantle from Moses and leading the people the the the people into the promised land, the Jews into the promised land, was to be strong and courageous. But listen to what Joshua 1 7 through 9 talks about. Where does that strength and courage come from?

Verse 7 of Joshua 1, only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according all that the law of Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn to your right or to your left so that you may have good success wherever you go. Verse 8, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall, what, meditate on it night and day so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous?

Do not be frightened. Do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God will go with you wherever you go. We cannot be strong in love if we are not meditating on God's word. So we pray, we study God's word, and we meditate on God's word, and we must boldly show the love of God to ever whoever we come in contact with. You see, love is willing self sacrifice for the good of another that does not require reciprocation or that the person being loved is deserving.

Love is being willing to have your life complicated by the needs and struggles of others without impatience or anger. Love is actively fighting the temptation to be critical and judgmental towards another while looking for ways to encourage and praise. Love is making a daily commitment to resist the needless moments of conflict that come from pointing out and responding to minor offenses. And love is being willing to daily ask for forgiveness and always being committed to grant forgiveness when it is requested. Love is the willingness to make regular and costly sacrifices for the sake of a relationship without asking for anything in return or using your sacrifices to place another person in your debt.

You see, beloved, may we boldly display the love of Christ. Thanks for joining us for the Defender Bible Study. This week, we are praying for our ministry in Eurasia, specifically for our countries, where we see both orphan care and our country adoption happening, as well, especially for the people of Ukraine. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the team that you have assembled here at Lifeline to work with and serve the children and the people of Eurasia.

We think specifically for Brianna and Timmy Ann and Sarah and Jordan and and Caroline. Lord god, that we just are so grateful that the work that they do, on behalf of children that need to be adopted, we just ask and pray that you would undergird this team with your power, your strength, and your love, but we also pray for our partners in Hungary and Bulgaria and North Macedonia and Kyrgyzstan and Poland and Romania and Ukraine. We pray that there will be good communication and that these on the ground will be advocates for families and the waiting children. But we also pray for Madison, who's on the ground in Romania. We pray for her family as she serves partners on the ground to encourage and equip them to do the work of orphan care in their sphere of influence.

We pray specifically for the countries of Hungary, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. We pray that these countries would would would be places where the people would would have healing. We pray where the church would flourish. And, lord, we pray where peace would reign. We pray for hearts and minds of all the churches that the church would stand firm in these countries.

We also pray for orphans in these countries. We pray for the caregivers that they would receive the care that they need. We pray that for those that need to come home through intercountry adoption that you would raise up more God fearing, mission driven Christian families that would have a desire and a longing for a child. We pray, of course, specifically for the country of Ukraine. We pray for peace.

We pray that you would make yourself known. We pray you would protect your people, that you would be with our partners that are in Ukraine, that they would rise up, be firm, stand firm in love, be watchful in prayer, and, Lord, that they would be ruminating over your word. We pray for families who have a heart and desire to help both through adoption, but also also through giving to vulnerable children and ministries in Ukraine who are caring for vulnerable children. Oh god, it's hard for us to imagine that you hold the whole world in your hands, and you love each and every person with an endless, aboundless love. And so, god, we ask and we pray that you would act on behalf of your people in Ukraine and around the world.

It's in your great name that we pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thanks again for joining us for the Defender Bible Study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the defender bible study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org. We look forward to seeing you again next week for the defender bible study.