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[0:00] Well, I tried to walk up here kind of slow because I know my dad hates it. I'm just kidding. It's good to be with you guys this evening, and we're going to open our Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians.

[0:11] I want to tell you, Vision Baptist Church, that you are blessed beyond your wildest imagination. I was sitting here thinking today that if I was not pastoring a church, I know of no other church in the world that I can say this about, but you have four pastors, and I would not mind being a member of any of the churches where those men pastored.

[0:31] I had the privilege of pastoring Jimmy Sonkel when we were in Peru, and watching him grow, and man, just totally, totally, 100% respect the man of God that he is.

[0:42] And then you have Trent Cornwell. I still have, when he calls me, a beardless face still pops up on my phone, so I can remember how thankful he ought to be for that beard.

[0:53] My friend, there are few faces that need a beard. Yours is one. And I'm just kidding. Well, I'm not really kidding, but Trent, I would sit under you.

[1:04] I would listen to you preach. I would feel honored to be a member of a church that you pastored. Robert, I do not know of many friends like you, and I would be privileged to be under your pastorate as well.

[1:17] Totally respect the pastors of this church, but there's one, of course, that's a little bit more special than the rest of them. He's cared about me longer than any of the rest of you. He's been a friend to me for longer than the rest of you, and I'm thankful for my dad.

[1:29] I'm thankful to have the privilege of preaching the Word tonight as we come and talk about what the Scriptures say. Because, see, I believe that this church is known for making much of Jesus.

[1:40] I do. I thought that was beautifully put, that you've got to make much of Jesus. And I believe that you don't just say that. I believe that you live that. And I believe it is all about the preaching of the Word of God, because we cannot know the God of the Word without the Word of God.

[1:54] The Word of God truly does matter. And I thank you for letting me preach tonight. And so we're going to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 16. I've got six verses and about an hour per verse. But then after that, we're done.

[2:04] And I'm just kidding. I promise you, we'll be done before that. Because my wife baked a cake. And she said if something happens to her cake because it's been out of the refrigerator too long, I'm in trouble. So if there's one thing a man has learned after 23 years of marriage, it's this.

[2:17] You listen to the wife when she says something. So 1 Corinthians 16, I am thankful for your pastor. I thank you for honoring your pastor. I thank you for loving your pastor. And I thank you for loving my dad.

[2:29] And that means a lot to me as a son. I really appreciate that. 1 Corinthians chapter 16, six verses. I'm just going to look at it real quick. And I hope it can be a blessing to you, something that you can think through today as we talk about this.

[2:41] Look at verse 13. We'll start there. The Bible says, we're talking about Paul before we come in here. And Paul is writing this book. And Paul says, 1 Corinthians is a messed up church.

[2:52] Would you agree with that? The book of 1 Corinthians is a church that is full of messed up people. I'm glad to know that this is not the first messed up church in the world. For a matter of fact, the word of God is full of a messed up church here.

[3:04] And you get to 1 Corinthians. And Paul has laid the line about what needs to happen in the church. Because the church matters. The word of God matters. The scriptures matter. And so Paul has gone into deep, deep detail about what needs to happen inside the church.

[3:21] And then he starts in verse 13. And in verse 13, he starts with an exact summary of all that's happening. Because see, here's the deal. When somebody tells you something, the question is not what they told you.

[3:34] The question is, so what do I do with that now? And Paul's going to say, let me tell you what to do with that. Let me explain to you how what I've said in this book really, really matters.

[3:44] So you see his exactness in these first two verses. Verse 13 and verse 14, here's what the scriptures say. He says, watch ye. Pay attention. Look at what's going on. After everything that I've stated, keep your eyes open.

[3:58] Make these things matter. Don't sit down and pretend that life is just going to happen. Pay attention. Be vigilant. Be careful. Watch. Then he says, stand fast.

[4:10] Stand fast. And I want you to notice what he says to stand fast in. Because all of us choose to what we're going to stand fast in. But he says, stand fast in the faith.

[4:22] You're going to stand fast in the faith, in the gospel, in the scriptures, what the word of God says. You're going to make a stand. It's going to be your last stand if it takes it. But you're going to stand upon the truth of the word of God.

[4:35] In the faith there, it's saying this. The gospel really matters. The gospel really is not something we give lip service to on Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, Thursday night.

[4:46] In the Our Generation Training Center. That is not at all the only time that it matters. The scriptures truly do matter. And he says that. He says, in the faith.

[4:56] I want you to stand fast. I don't want you to stand fast. In somebody's reputation. I don't want you to stand fast. In what your church membership says. I don't want you to stand fast. In your thought process.

[5:07] I don't want you to stand fast. In anything. But you stand fast. In the faith. There is no moving. On your stand fast. In the faith. And he says, quit you like men.

[5:18] Be a man. There's going to be problems come your way. There's going to be contradictions come your way. There's going to be people that love anything and everything but scriptures. And what I want you to understand is your job is to stand up toe to toe.

[5:30] Look them in their God-given eyeballs. And tell them that is not what the Word of God teaches. The Word of God truly does matter. Stand ye. Quit you like men. Be strong.

[5:42] And when you hear that, it sounds aggressive. And it sounds militaristic almost. But look at the next verse here. And you see his exactness. Because here's what he says. He says, let all your things be done with what?

[5:58] Help me out. Now, there was about three people there. Let's try and do it a little bit more. He says, I want you to do all of this. Let all your things be done with? So you're supposed to watch. What you're supposed to watch with? Charity.

[6:09] You're supposed to stand fast. But you're supposed to stand fast with? Charity. You're supposed to quit you like men. You're supposed to stand like men. You're supposed to confront the errors. But you're supposed to do it full of? Charity.

[6:20] He says, everything you do, you're going to be strong. But you're not going to be strong only. You're going to be strong in charity. You're going to be known for dealing with these things. But dealing with these things in love.

[6:31] These next verses here. Verse 15 and verse 16. We'll start there and go over these. But here's what he says. He's closing up the book of 1 Corinthians. He says, I beseech you.

[6:42] I beg you. I plead with you, brethren. You members of the church body. I am going to beg you something right now. And if you want to skip down to the next verse. You're going to see what he's begging them to do.

[6:53] Verse 16 says, I beg you that you. That ye submit yourselves unto such. And to everyone that helpeth with us. And labeth. What he's going to say here is this.

[7:05] I am showing you with exactness. What I need you to do with the truth of the gospel. That has been preached in 1 Corinthians. That has been taught in 1 Corinthians. But the second thing I want to show you is this. There are some people that live their lives to the extreme.

[7:20] And I want you to submit to them. I want you to submit to them. He says, I'm begging you. I want you to submit to them. And then I want you to read the next part of that verse here. Because I love this verse.

[7:30] This is one of my favorite verses in the scriptures. He says, I beseech you, brethren. And I did not realize somebody was translating into Spanish. Whoever it is, I love you. And we're going to give you a raise in your salary today.

[7:42] If somebody's translating into Spanish. Okay. He says, I beseech you, brethren. What does he say? Ye know the house of Stephanas. That it is the first fruits of Achaia.

[7:53] And that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Now, that is a word that we have a hard time putting in a good light.

[8:06] The word addiction. Like when we think about the word addiction, we're like, how in the world? Now, let me just say that every single one of us in here have decided what to addict ourselves to.

[8:16] And you might not know what it is. But if you ask your kids, they will know. You know, for some people, it's football. For some people, it's their tools that they have out in their garage.

[8:27] For some people, it's their technology. For some people, it's the cars that they drive. For some people, no matter what it is, every single person decides in their life what they're addicted themselves to. I want you to see three things about the addiction that you see here.

[8:40] The first thing you see about his addiction is this. It was an intentional addiction. Look at what the verse says here. It says, they have addicted themselves.

[8:52] Now, can I just say that's a strange way to put it? Because anybody talking about addictions nowadays blames anybody and everybody except for themselves.

[9:03] You know, there's only one person in the world that is not guilty of making me be in the position I'm at. And that happens to be me, myself, and I. Everybody else is guilty. Nobody else is innocent. But this is what the verse says here.

[9:14] It teaches us about addiction. And here's what it says. Let me say this. I do not know of anybody that personifies this more than the pastor that God's given you. He is addicted to the ministry.

[9:29] He is addicted to ministry. And when he said addicted, look at what it says. He says, they have addicted themselves. This is not some baby that was born with a mother that was doing drugs that has become addicted because of somebody else.

[9:44] This is someone who sat down and said, we have got to decide what we're going to be addicted to. What are we going to be addicted to? It is an intentional addiction.

[9:57] Now, can I say that this is something that each and every one of us need to learn to do? Because if you ask your kids, they will know exactly what you're addicted to.

[10:08] If you ask your kids, they will know exactly what you are addicted to. But here's what he says. It was intentional. Not only was it intentional, it was a choice. It was a choice. And then not only was it a choice, but if you look farther in that verse, what you're going to find is this.

[10:23] Their choice became their identity. I have the privilege of working with some people who I promise you most churches would be scared to death if they walked in the room.

[10:36] This morning at church, we had two homeless dudes. And I promise you these two homeless dudes were not the prettiest guys you've ever seen in your life. And they did not smell in a way that church people are supposed to smell. They did not act in the way that church people are supposed to act.

[10:48] And you know what each and every one of them can tell you? One of the homeless guys came to me. He took my handout that we handed out. And he said, I'm going to take that back and I'm going to share it with my whole homeless community today. I was like, that'll work. Amen. I like it.

[10:59] But here's what I'm saying. Every one of them will tell you that somebody that is addicted has chosen to become addicted. And then all of a sudden, it's no longer Paul. It ended up being Paul. Then it became Paul, the drug addict.

[11:10] Then it became the druggie. Then it became that guy that's on meth. That became his identity. And see, each of us choose what our identity is. Each of us choose what our addiction is. And here's what happens in this passage.

[11:20] He says, they decided to addict themselves. They addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. I love this, by the way. They've addicted themselves.

[11:32] If you notice how many people he names, he names one person. But what you find out is there's a problem with addiction. When you get addicted, other people tend to get addicted. There's an addiction going on.

[11:42] And he says, but here's what he says. He says, I want you to submit yourself unto such and to everyone that helpeth with us and laboreth. And then I want you to notice the last two verses. And this is, I don't know if this is, I don't know of any other verse that better explains what vision is made up of.

[11:57] Look at this next verse, verse 17. He says, I'm glad of the coming of Stephanas. Now, who have we been talking about in the passage? Help me out. Who have we been talking about in the passage? Stephanas. And what is Stephanas?

[12:07] Stephanas is an addict, right? Stephanas is an? Okay, help me out again. Stephanas is an addict. Okay, so Stephanas is an addict. But all of a sudden, what happens with Stephanas, not only does his household become addicted to the ministry, what happens is this.

[12:20] I'm glad for the coming of Stephanas. And oh, guess what? Stephanas is no longer alone. All of a sudden, Stephanas, you have Fortunatus and you have Achaius. And for that, there's lacking on your part, they have supplied.

[12:32] You know what you find about these men? You find that he was an example. As an example, he reproduced of his own kind. Now, can I tell you that it's very dangerous that I'm going to create Georgia Bulldog fans in my house because I'm a Bulldog, even if they couldn't win against a non-ranked team?

[12:49] I'm still a Georgia Bulldog fan. But you know the biggest danger in my life is that I could create a Georgia Bulldog fan, but not someone that is passionate about Jesus. I might create somebody that knows everything that was ever meant to be known about how to hunt an animal.

[13:04] But my purpose in life is not hunting. And my purpose in life is not living a good life. And I might teach them to make money like no one has ever made money. And I might teach them technology to where they can dream and code.

[13:17] But my job is not that. What happens is this. Those that are addicted normally find other people and they help them become addicted to the same thing. And so many times I wonder if my addictions bleed through to my children and it's not the addictions that they need to be.

[13:34] He says, for they have refreshed my spirit. Now, I love it. See, I'm a weirdo and I'm kind of, I like drawing all over stuff. But here's what it says in verse 15. He said, I beseech you, brethren. You know the house of Stephanas?

[13:45] And then all of a sudden you go to verse 18 and he says, for they have refreshed my spirit. It wasn't one. It wasn't two. It wasn't three. Here's what happened. They have refreshed my spirit and yours.

[13:57] Therefore, look at what it says here. And you have done such a great job of this tonight. Acknowledge them. Acknowledge ye them that are such. What he says is this. Men who have addicted themselves to the ministry deserve to be acknowledged.

[14:13] You know why? Because we get what we honor. And your kids have seen plenty of American Idol on TV. Where they'll honor anything and everything that ought to embarrass us.

[14:25] Take some time to acknowledge people that truly do matter. And that's what he's saying here. And I'm thankful for a church that does that. Your church is amazing at that. And I got the call. Kyle Shreve called me up and said, would you be willing to preach?

[14:36] And I told him, I said, that's about like asking a hog if he's ready to eat some slop. Let me just tell you, I'm ready to preach. I love preaching. I love spending time in the word. I love spending time around people. Can I encourage you as you go home tonight to ask yourself this one simple question?

[14:49] What am I addicted to? Ask that question with me. I want you to repeat that with me. What am I addicted to? I want you to ask yourself that question tonight.

[15:00] I want you to lay in bed tonight and ask yourself, what am I addicted to? Did you know an addict will do the craziest stuff just to get his next hit?

[15:12] Because that's what really matters. One of my best friends in this world is a nurse. And he's preached here for you before. His name's Seth Austin. And this is his life verse. And he says, you know what?

[15:22] As I see people come in all the time and they're addicted to drugs. He says, what people don't understand is this. Everybody chooses their addiction. I have just chosen that my addiction is going to be Jesus.

[15:33] So the question for you tonight is this. What are you addicted to? Can I thank you for honoring your pastor? Can I thank you for acknowledging your pastor? But can I tell you the best way to acknowledge your pastor and the best way to do anything for your pastor tonight is this.

[15:48] Make it an addiction. I'm a diet Dr. Pepper drinker. I've got a drinking problem. And I'm a diet Dr. Pepper drinker. Now, when I say I'm a diet Dr. Pepper drinker, I'm not a normal diet Dr. Pepper drinker.

[16:00] I'm talking about like I drink 16 cans of diet Dr. Pepper every day. They say that aspartame will kill you and I'm trying to see if it will or not. That's what I'm trying to do. I average anywhere from 12 to 16.

[16:11] I wake up in the morning. You know what goes good with any breakfast? What goes good with any breakfast is a diet Dr. Pepper. You know what goes good with any lunch? A diet Dr. Pepper. You know what goes good with anything after you wake up in the middle of the night? You need to use the restroom? You need to refill the tank and get some more diet Dr. Pepper.

[16:22] I'm a diet Dr. Pepper, a holic. That's what I like. That's what I love. And that's a funny, funny, funny, funny thing. And I get it. But can I tell you that your people that surround you know what you're addicted to?

[16:36] And after you ask yourself the question, what am I addicted to? Can I encourage you to go to your closest friend and ask them the same question? Don't ask them what they're addicted to. Ask them, can you tell me what I'm addicted to?

[16:48] Because if you're addicted to that sport that you think is going to make you become famous, can I tell you that sport is going to drift away into nothingness? And it's going to do so quicker than you ever can even imagine. Can I tell you that your fame, can I tell you that your thoughts, can I tell you that your money, can I tell you that your success in life is going to all float away into nothingness?

[17:07]  But if you're addicted to the right thing, it'll change the entire world. Let's plot out. Let's start. Let's schneid. We're ready.