This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

This is day three together of our look at 1 Corinthians chapter 16, the last
chapter of 1 Corinthians. We're talking in this chapter about the kind of spirit
that God wants us to have, that He wants to give us through His Holy Spirit that
keeps us growing, that keeps us continuing in the faith. We've talked about a
generous spirit and an expectant spirit.

A third kind of spirit that Paul indicates in these verses is a humble spirit, a
humble spirit particularly in our relationship to one another in the church. You
can walk into any meeting, any class, any relationship, any work with one of two
attitudes, either humility or haughtiness, either submission or superiority.
Superiority is the attitude, you know it already, you got it wired, you've seen
it all before.

There's nothing new here for you. That attitude closes your heart and it
guarantees that you'll be right. There is nothing new there for you.

But submission is the attitude, "God has something to teach me. I need to grow.
The Lord's not finished with me yet and there's a person here who can help me to
grow.

" An attitude of submission, that kind of attitude of submission is vital to
continuing to grow as a Christian. The minute you think you've learned it all,
to think that you know it all, you're going to stop growing. You're going to
stop being a disciple.

The word "disciple" in the New Testament literally means "learner. " That's the
literal meaning of that Greek word. So as long as I'm learning from Jesus
Christ, I'm a learner, I'm a disciple.

The minute I stop learning, I think I know it all, I'm no longer a disciple. I
think I'm a professor or something, that's what I say to myself. Jesus doesn't
need any professors.

He needs disciples. Submission is one of the attitudes behind discipleship. Paul
here points to this need for submission, particularly towards Christian leaders.

We need the humility to recognize there's no such thing as do-it-yourself
Christian growth. It's just me and Jesus. I don't need those other people.

They're not perfect. They're human beings. Well, so are you.

And in growth, we need each other. And the ability to submit to other servants
of Jesus Christ as those whom he's supplied in your life to help you to grow,
it's one of the keys to healthy growth as a Christian. Listen to what Paul says
as he talks about these other leaders beginning in verse 10.

"If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you.
For he is carrying on the work of the Lord just as I am. No one then should
refuse to accept him.

Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me. I am expecting him
along with the brothers. " Now about our brother, Apollos, I strongly urged him
to go to you with the brothers.

He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity. Be
on your guard. Stand firm in the faith.

Be men of courage. Be strong. Do everything in love.

You know that the household of Stephanists were the first converts in Achaia,
and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. Now in these
verses, verses 10 to 15, Paul specifically speaks of three Christian leaders. He
talks about Timothy, who as you read through the New Testament, you might know
Timothy was Paul's son in the faith, and he became the pastor of the church that
he is probably in now in Ephesus.

So Timothy is one who is a Christian leader and is leading the church as a
pastor. Then he talks about Apollos. Apollos was a partner in teaching with
Paul, a teacher of the word, and Paul is saying I hope he is able to come to you
soon so he can continue to teach God's word to you.

And then he talks about Stephanists. Stephanists was likely one from among them,
one of the first converts in Achaia, he says here. Achaia is the southern part
of Greece, it's where Athens and Corinth are cities.

So it's the larger region, and Stephanists and his household were the first
converts in that region, and now he's a leader in the church. And as Paul talks
about them, he says these are leaders who are carrying on the work of the Lord.
These are leaders who are devoting themselves to the service of the saints.

Now what's my attitude to be towards leaders like these? Paul talks about it. In
the last part of verse 15 and into verse 16, here's what he says.

I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in
the work and labors in it. My attitude needs to be, Paul says, submission,
submission. We get confused about what that word means sometimes these days.

Submission means humility in my relationship towards other people, the ability
to learn from somebody else, to listen to somebody else, to follow the direction
of somebody else. Submission in the scripture is something you and I as
believers are to have towards everyone. Ephesians chapter 5 tells us that
husbands are to have a submissive attitude toward wives.

Wives are to have a submissive attitude towards husbands. Parents to children,
children to parents, believers to one another. And here, specifically, Paul
says, those of you who are in the church are to have a submissive attitude
toward the leaders of the church.

What does that mean? What does it mean to live with humility towards those who
are Christian leaders? Well, I could probably make a list of a dozen or maybe 20
things pretty quickly.

But let me just share with you six specific things. And as I talk about these
things, even as you're listening right now, you might even want to do some of
these. For instance, the first one you can do.

What does it mean to live with a sense of humility towards those who are leading
you in Christ, the pastor of your church, leader of your church, those who are
leaders of what God's doing in your life? Number one of the six things is you
need to pray for them. Pray for those who are your leaders.

The scripture says that again and again and again. And that's humility. You
don't just pray for yourself.

You pray for others. You don't just pray for your own family. You pray for those
who are leading you in the faith.

In fact, you might do that right now. Just call somebody's name to mind. One of
those who is leading you right now, the pastor of your church, and just say,
Lord, would you bless them today?

Would you give them wisdom today? That's living with humility towards that other
person. As we pray for one another, it's a sacrifice of service towards somebody
else.

It's a humble action to pray for somebody else. You pray for them. A second
thing that you do is you listen to them.

Paul is specifically talking about that here. He talks about Apollos, who is a
teacher. You need to listen to those who are teaching God's word.

You listen and you let God's word sink into your life. Now you think, well, I
can read God's word for myself. Of course you can.

But God wants us to grow through submission, through humility, through
relationships. So he has specifically designed the church so some have gifts of
teaching and encouragement, so they share God's word with others. Why?

Why? When I could just understand it myself? Because Christian growth isn't just
about me.

It's about unity. It's about fellowship. It's about the body of Christ.

So to have healthy growth, I've got to listen to other people. And the truth of
the matter is, I don't know it all myself. I don't have all the right
experiences or attitudes myself.

I need someone else to teach me. So you listen to others. If you find yourself
never able to listen to another teacher, there's something wrong right now with
your humility factor.

When I find myself, I hear other teachers and I feel irritated all the time when
I hear that person teach or anybody teach on a certain subject. It's a strong
indication that I probably need to make some changes in my own life. You pray
for them.

You listen to them. A third thing you do is you follow them. We're in a very
democratic nation in the US, and sometimes that can make its way to the church
in good ways in which we realize we all have the opportunity to serve.

We're all a part of Christ's body, but sometimes it makes its way into the
church in bad ways. It's a sense of, well, we all have an opinion, and if I
don't like what they're saying at this moment, it might be a godly thing to do,
but I just don't feel like doing it. I'm not going to contribute to that
offering.

I'm not going to be a part of that ministry. I'm not going to go that direction
that my pastor's saying we're all going to go together. Why not?

Is it not in the Bible? Is it against God's Word? You think, well, no, it's in
the Bible.

I just don't feel like doing it. I've got to admit, in my own life, sometimes
the reason I don't feel like doing something is my own stubborn pride. I want to
do what I want to do, and if the church is going to go in a direction together,
then Jesus, the shepherd of the church, is going to work through his
under-shepherd, the pastor, to say, hey, let's all go in this direction.

If we head off in 50 directions at once, we don't get much done. If we all go
together in the same direction, God can do some great things. So it's following
the leadership, the spiritual biblical leadership, of those who are in your
church.

That's part of submission. A fourth part of submission is Galatians chapter 6
talks about this. You share all good things with them.

Share all good things with him who teaches. When somebody has encouraged you
through their ministry, you let them know. You share with them, you know, when
you shared that Word of God with me, it made a difference in my life.

Even this next week, as you sit down on the weekend and you listen to your
pastor speak, maybe you have a card in front of you, I don't know, or maybe
there's an opportunity to write something of an encouragement to them. As God
says something to you through that message, write it down. Say thanks for this
verse.

It meant a lot to me. Or even deeper than that, thanks for this truth. It caused
me to make a decision to do this in my life.

There's something about that, that interchange between you and that leader that
strengthens the church. It's a submissive, humble thing to say to somebody else,
"You taught me," but it also strengthens the church when I have the willingness
to do that. You pray for them, you listen to them, you follow them, you share
all good things of teaching with them.

Number five, you trust them. If God has put that leader in your church, you
trust them as the leader of your church. If you've lost trust in your leader,
then either there's something wrong with you and you need to regain that trust.

Maybe it's pride, maybe it's sin, or maybe there's something wrong with that
leader. That does happen. And they need to regain the trust of that church.

They need to regain, and you need to pray for them that they would. Because
unless there is trust between leadership and those who are involved in following
that leadership, then nothing's going to happen. So what can you do?

As long as the person is acting biblically, directing in God's direction, then
you trust what God's doing. No, they're not perfect. That leader, he or she, is
not perfect.

But they are God's man, they are God's woman for that moment. God's put them in
that place. So you trust them.

Or you get in a different place where there's somebody that you can trust. And
then number six, pray, listen, follow, share, trust. Number six, encourage.

There's power to encouragement. And those who take the time to encourage leaders
have probably been leaders. Once you've been a leader, you realize how much
encouragement is really needed.

We all need encouragement. But there's something in us that thinks sometimes,
oh, because that person's a leader, they must have it all together. They don't
need encouragement any longer.

Well, the scripture says every one of us needs encouragement every day. So how
can you encourage them in what they're doing? One of the great ways you can
encourage them is by telling them you're doing the first thing we just talked
about, that you're praying for them.

Just want to let you know I'm praying for you. Sometimes I'll have somebody say
to me after church, I was praying for you this week. Sometimes even, you know, I
don't know why I prayed for you every day this week.

I cannot tell you how much that encourages me to know somebody else is praying.
So what Christian leader could you say that to? Even this weekend, even this
week?

Jesus, as we pray together, we thank you for the leaders that you've put over
us. And as human beings, sometimes we don't want to follow that leadership.
Sometimes we want to do what we want to do.

Sometimes instead of submitting, instead of being humble, we want to be prideful
or thank you for forgiving our pride and help us to set it aside. And instead,
instead to realize you put a leader in place for a reason. And as we follow that
leader, and as they follow you, Jesus, incredible things happen in this world.

So give us the privilege of doing that, we pray. Show us who we can pray for.
Show us who we can encourage even today.

We pray this in your name, amen. Don't miss tomorrow. We're going to talk
together about the power of a victorious spirit.