Scripture of the Week

SCRIPTURE

1 Peter 4:9-10 KJV
⁹ Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

¹⁰ As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Amplified Bible

⁹ Be ^[a]hospitable to one another without complaint. ¹⁰ Just as each one of you has received a special gift [a spiritual talent, an ability graciously given by God], employ it in serving one another as [is appropriate for] good stewards of God’s multi-faceted grace [faithfully using the diverse, varied gifts and abilities granted to Christians by God’s unmerited favor].
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Hospitality: The friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. (ex. Restaurants, Hotels, Retail Stores, Walmart Greeters).

Biblical applications take hospitality to a whole new level of significance.

For Christians, the strongest motivation to show hospitality is not God’s commands (the Law) but His love for us in Christ (the gospel). This is not unique to hospitality—the gospel ought to be the driving motivation for all our good works. 

Any other motive fails to produce the same effect. When I obey a command out of a sense of obligation, I am far less likely to obey that command with joy and eagerness than when I obey a command out of a sense of gratitude. This is true of hospitality. 

And we have good reason to respond in gratitude. Jesus gave himself as living water to quench our spiritual thirst (John 7:37-38). He gives us his Church as our temporary spiritual lodging on earth (1 Peter 2:5), and Heaven as our eternal home (John 14:2-3). Those who were not God’s chosen people (Gentiles) have been welcomed into the family of God by Christ, and this is why we are called to welcome and live in harmony with one another (Romans 15:5-7). 

We have been graciously loved and received by God in Christ. So gratitude, not guilt, is the strongest motivation for us to love and receive others with joy and eagerness.

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James 2:15-16- KJV
¹⁵ If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Amplified Bible
¹⁵ If a brother or sister is without [adequate] clothing and lacks [enough] food for each day, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do?
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Mark 9:41- KJV
⁴¹ For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

Amplified Bible
⁴¹ For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will not lose his reward.
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Acts 20:35- KJV
³⁵ I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Amplified Bible
³⁵ In everything I showed you [by example] that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed [and brings greater joy] to give than to receive.’”
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1 John 3:17-19- KJV
¹⁷ But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? ¹⁸ My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹ And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

Amplified Bible
¹⁷ But whoever has the ^[a]world’s goods (adequate resources), and sees his brother in need, but has no compassion for him, how does the love of God live in him? ¹⁸ Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words]. ¹⁹ By this we will know [without any doubt] that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart and quiet our conscience before Him.
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2 Corinthians 8:13-14- KJV
¹³ For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:¹⁴ But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:

Amplified Bible
¹³ For it is not [intended] that others be relieved [of their responsibility] and that you be ^[a]burdened [unfairly], but ^[b]that there be equality [in sharing the burden]— ¹⁴ at this present time your surplus [over necessities] is going to supply their need, so that [at some other time] their surplus may be given to supply your need, that there may be equality;

Matthew 25:35-36- KJV
³⁵ For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

³⁶ Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Amplified Bible
³⁵ For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ³⁶ I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me [with help and ministering care]; I was in prison, and you came to Me [ignoring personal danger].’
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Matthew 25:40- KJV
⁴⁰ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Amplified Bible
40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.’
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Hebrews 13:2- KJV
² Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Amplified Bible
² Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
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Bulletin Notes

Question: "What are the unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8)?"

 

Answer: The phrase unsearchable riches of Christ comes from Ephesians 3:8–9: “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things” (ESV). The Greek for “unsearchable riches” is translated “boundless riches” in the NIV.

The Greek word translated “unsearchable” describes something that cannot be fully comprehended or explored. In other words, there is no limit to the riches of Christ; they are past finding out. Try as we might, we can never plumb the depths of Christ’s worth. Paul delineates some of these riches in Ephesians 1:7–14: redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, the knowledge of the mystery of His will, the message of truth, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, and the guarantee of our inheritance. These are spiritual riches with eternal benefits, and we cannot fully comprehend them.

Jesus taught two short parables that emphasize the value of eternal life and the kingdom of God: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:44–46). Like a hidden treasure or a pearl of great price, admission to the kingdom is of incalculable worth—and it is Jesus Christ who grants the admission. The unsearchable riches of Christ are on display in every believer’s heart.

The unsearchable riches of Christ cannot be fully traced out. “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9), so the riches of Christ include all that God is. The unsearchable riches of Christ are the Glory of God, the Truth of God, the Wisdom of God, the Life of God, and the Love of God. In Christ, God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). In Christ are hidden “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). In Christ, God “has given us everything we need for a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3).

In Ephesians 3:8 Paul refers to himself as “less than the least of all the Lord’s people.” This humble statement is then contrasted with “the boundless riches of Christ.” Paul describes himself as the lowest of believers while lifting Jesus up as the greatest of all. Every believer, in like humility, acknowledges the all-surpassing goodness and grace of God: “The LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (Psalm 84:11).

Christ’s riches that He makes available to us are not material but spiritual. The unsearchable riches of Christ provide salvation to everyone who believes (John 3:16; Romans 1:16). We may be the worst of sinners, yet Jesus can forgive us and transform our lives (Romans 12:1–2). It is the gift that truly keeps on giving, as we are changed, by God’s Spirit, into “loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled” people (Galatians 5:22–23, CEV).

King Solomon was a man of great riches and wisdom, and his fame spread throughout the known world. Dignitaries from other countries came to hear his wisdom and see his lavish display of wealth (1 Kings 10:24). Scripture says that Solomon had no equal in the earth at that time: “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth” (1 Kings 10:23). Yet, for all that, Solomon’s riches were not unsearchable. They could be quantified; the gold bars could be counted, and he had no inexhaustible supply of silver. Besides that, Solomon’s riches were only the temporal treasures of this world. Jesus is “greater than Solomon” (Luke 11:31). The treasures of Christ are inexhaustible, they are unsearchable, and they are forever.