Transcription
The Lord be with you. If you have a Bible, and I hope you or someone around you does, would you turn with me? We are going to be continuing our series in the book of First Corinthians. And we're going to be in chapter 9, covering verses 1 to 18 this morning.
And what Paul's been doing is he is writing a letter to a church in the city of Corenth. And he is addressing a variety of issues. And specifically the last few weeks, he's been answering specific questions that the Corinthians have been writing and asking him about. And so we spent some time looking at at the topic about calling and how Christians are to view their circumstances and find true contentment in their identity in Christ. And then last week, what we saw was Paul started to address a topic about uh meat sacrificed to idols and whether Christians had the freedom or the the liberty to partake in these things or would they be in sin to do so? Would they be embracing idolatry? And and how are we to handle this when we have brothers and sisters who disagree on this issue?
And what we saw was that Paul affirmed the fact that many of the Corinthians were saying is that they are free, that they tr they truly have rights and liberty in Christ. But he says, but there is a qualifier for that and that you are supposed to guide or inform your liberty, the way that you live your Christian freedom through the lens of love. Meaning you must always defer your rights to your brothers and sisters. that you need need to be careful and watch out for their consciences because it's important that the weaker brother or the weaker sister who may be conflicted on a topic that though it may not be sinful, if they embrace something that they think is sinful, they can start to wound or defile their conscience. And so it would be unloving to put your brother or your sister in a compromised position. And so he says that we as Christians, we have liberty, but at times we will limit our liberty for love. And that we don't just boast in our knowledge, but we need to make sure that when we have knowledge, we always have love side by side. And the perfect example of that is because Christ did that for us. Christ laid down his rights for us because he left heaven. He gave up the throne to go to a cross. He suffered and he died for us. He became a slave so that we could be free. So that was really the big emphasis that we saw last week how how we as a church are called to lay down our rights for the sake of love.
Well, now what we see in verse or chapter 9:es 1 to8 is now Paul not only does he call the church to lay down their rights for the sake of love, but now what we see is a practical example of how he is showing them how he does it. And so he's going to be showing how he through his ministry is laying down rights left and right and that he is not assuming certain things that he has. God has given him rights and privileges and freedoms as an apostle, but he has laid them aside for the sake of the gospel because he cares more about the gospel, the glory of God than these material benefits.
And so in verses 1 to4, what we actually see Paul do here is he argues that spiritual labor is worthy of material support. That is to say that those who labor in spiritual things, those who who preach, those who who are gospel workers, missionaries, different forms of ministry, people who put the time in and work for the gospel's sake. What he points out here is that it is real work and worthy of support. And so what he does in this section is he actually gives a variety of examples pulling from the the daily life, pulling from scripture and just overall common sense when we think about labor and support or a wage. And so I'll just go through some of these as you just see kind of how Paul is formulating his argument explaining that he as an apostle has a right to be paid has a right to make a profit on what he is is doing.
So in verse three to six he first points out and explains how God's apostles have a right to certain privileges. And so he says my defense to those who examine me is this. Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cphus? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? So what's going on probably here is the Corinthians who have already had some trouble with Paul, right? They some of them are not a a fan of Paul and his ministry. Some are questioning, is Paul even really like an authentic apostle? Because we know that there's like Peter and some of the others, but he's coming to us. And you know what? We notice that he doesn't even get money or support from a lot of Christians in our area. So maybe he's not even really an authentic apostle. And you know, maybe we shouldn't give him support because of these reasons. or or maybe we you know we shouldn't just put all of our our time and money even though Paul is the one who established this church maybe we shouldn't give him all of this support but what he does is he starts to explain that are you saying that whenever I come to you or I work or I labor and spend time that you wouldn't provide a meal or housing or shelter for me and then he uses the other apostles as examples here and he says or like when they come with their wives which is interesting by the way because some have always wondered like were any of the apostles married? Well, I know many are like well we know Peter was because it mentions that Peter's wife's mother had an illness that Jesus healed. But here it actually explains that there are many who had wives. It says that there were believing wives of the other apostles. So that probably be the 11 and maybe some more in that context. The brothers of the Lord. So that would be like James who became a bishop in Jerusalem or Jude who most likely wrote the letter of Jude and maybe even a couple of his other brothers who became believers. It says that they have believing wives. And then it also adds Cphus that is Peter who we already would have known had a wife based on the gospels. So what this is showing us is that there are three groups here. There is the general apostles, the brothers of the Lord and then there's Cphus. All of them, it says, have believing wives and they have come to places like Corenth and they have received support. They have been given housing and accommodations for not just themselves but their families because they, like I said, they had wives and potentially some of them even would have had children at one point. And so he says if they are coming here and getting support surely then me as an apostle who has established this church and has seen the Lord I have a right as well to these basic necessities.
He then goes on and argues in verse 7 for three different examples. He argues that a soldier, a vine dresser and a shepherd also likewise should get their support. It says, "Whoever goes to war at his own expense, who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit, or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock." See, what he's saying here is that if you go to war, you don't do it just for free. Now, it's honorable that people will go, but they are compensated when they sign up for the military. In fact, there's a lot of times um a a good signing bonus when you join the military and go to war. And likewise, a vine dresser um or a shepherd when they have their own produce that they have been sewing and working the fields for, they have the right to partake of the fruit of their labor or you can drink the milk of your animals. And so you don't have to pay someone or ask someone for that. And so there's just a general common sense principle that when you are putting in the work, you are able to get the benefit.
And then you see in verses 8 and N how he uses an ox as an example. And it says, "Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does he say it all together for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt this is written that he who plows should plow in hope and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of this hope. So now what he's saying is likewise there's a principle in Deuteronomy the Old Testament where Moses is writing about an ox. He says you don't muzzle an ox, right? You don't keep it from being able to eat as it's doing the work. Meaning that you don't keep someone from being fed or taking care of or or receiving support as they are putting in the work. Once again, another practical daily life example. And then he used in that in verse 10, a plowman and a thresher. And then if you just jump down a little in 13, another example he gives and he says this is regarding God's servants. It says, "Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?" So now he's talking about like the priests, those who minister in the temple, who have done sacrifices. Those people who are doing these spiritual works daytoday, they are also the ones who are able to eat of these sacrifices of the bread that is produced. They actually eat these things. And so all of these examples are just meant to show you how if you labor, if you do the work, you deserve a decent wage. That's the simple principle. And he just hopefully that that's plenty of good examples of why he's showing us why this principle stands.
And then there's another passage in 1 Timothy 5:17 to18 where Paul says something very similar and he says, "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. and the laborer is worthy of his wages." So Paul is pulling once again that that phrase from Deuteronomy, the that the ox uh you shall not muscle an ox while it treads out the grain. But then he also pulls a quote from the Lord from Jesus where he says that the laborer is worthy of his wages.
Now, I think that it's important that as we see this that we don't just let it just be kind of a theological out there point, but it gets very practical because I know that there are sometimes where pastors are not paid by their churches. There are sometimes where they're like, "Well, I just believe that if you really love the Lord, you should just serve and utilize your gift and we shouldn't have to pay you for it. or you should work a full-time job and you shouldn't be able to just come and just work at the church." And so I think Paul's argument here is also helpful for not just pastors but missionaries or or anybody that is maybe doing full-time ministry is that a a laborer is worthy of his wages. The Lord is saying that here. And I think not only for the church needs to hear this, that we need to make sure that we don't have pastors that aren't being supported or missionaries that aren't being supported, but also the world. Cuz that's another thing that I have heard so often is that whenever I um was moving from my my secular job to taking a a call full-time here at the church is they're like, "Well, wait, so what else are you going to be doing?" And I'm like, "Well, I'll be at the church. That's what I'll be doing full-time." And they're like, "Well, what what are you going to do other than on Sunday?" And their mindset was thinking that all a pastor does is just, I guess, come on the stage on a Sunday and speak off the cuff. And I know for many people, yeah, there might be some that do that sadly, but I know for those who have preached and take the word and teaching very seriously, you know that it doesn't just come out of just the blue or you know, you don't just speak off the cuff, but rather it takes hours of deep study, prayer. And that's one thing that, you know, that the church doesn't get to see for teachers is how much time in the background is placed in in studying God's word, reading commentaries, understanding the disagreements that maybe Christians may have on specific topics, laboring in prayer, getting counsel from others on the text, listening to debates, other sermons, lectures, all of these hours, and then not only having the information, but then trying to synthesize the information to where it's not only accessible for the congregation, but it's something that would seem relevant and that it would encourage and or convict or maybe both of these things while also trying to be evangelistic for those who may not know the Lord. See, that's just something that people don't always take into account. And then if you throw into the mix that there's other teachings more than just a Sunday service, maybe you have Sunday school, maybe you have a Wednesday night Bible study, maybe you have small groups, maybe you have other special activities like a church trip. There are so many different other groups. And the thing is every time who you're a teacher and you were doing this, you're basically giving like a a thesis. You're giving a a seminar to people every single time you get up and speak. And so just alone, that would be a lot. And so most people would not dare want to speak publicly twice a week, every single week, and prepare these sermons or or speeches or or teachings. But then you go beyond that. And I know so many pastors that that doesn't even, you know, scratch the surface when it comes to the phone calls, the text messages, the counseling sessions, the vision planning, the working in the church, whether it's fixing things, cleaning things, doing bulletins, doing media, um connecting and networking with other people in leadership, um going out into the community and meeting people and and trying to evangelize and just so many other ways networking within alliances or other churches, denominations. There's so many different areas in which we see pastors, ministers doing things that sometimes the church and the world don't always get to see or understand. But then when we think about okay if we recognize that they really are laborers that gospel work is real work and worthy of support then we really need to take this passage seriously and make sure that we are as the church giving support to those who are doing worthy work.
And in verses 11 to 12 I think he goes a step further and he says or shows us I think rather that spiritual things are more valuable than material things. So, not only is a laborer worthy of his wages, but those who labor spiritually, I think, actually are doing something more valuable generally speaking than just the day-to-day labor. Like, it's good if someone mows your lawn and you pay them for mowing your lawn. Like, that's not bad. That's not that's not a bad service. Someone comes and helps you with your plumbing issue, that's a good thing. But how much more so for those who are laboring for your soul, who are giving you things that will last for eternity. You won't need to get your lawn mowed again next week. You won't need to get your your plumbing fixed in maybe 10 years or maybe much less than that depending on on the issue or your roof getting, you know, uh, changed or or or fixed. There's so many different areas of our lives where we we we recognize that laborers are worthy of their wages, but then we don't really give the weight to those who are laboring in spiritual matters. So I just want to read 11 and 12 where it says, "If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?" So that's his argument there. And so in verse 14, those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. Those who have made it their effort to proclaim the gospel and make their life's mission for people to know Jesus, they should be able to live from that message. And so that's the big argument verses 1 to4 that Paul is wanting to make sure that it's that it's crystal clear. Spiritual labor is worthy of material support.
But there's a huge butt here. And that's this is that though spiritual labor is worthy of material support, money should never be the motivator for ministry. Ministry is not about fame or fortune, building a platform for yourself or for your church, but rather it is for God's glory. And if you ever mix up the the motivation and the goal of ministry, then you are going to be destroyed. You're going to cause a shipwreck of your faith and for your church family. In 1 Timothy 6:10, it says, "For the love of money, is a root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith and their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." See, I think this is reminding us that it's so easy to allow opportunities or our rights to consume us where though it is a right of those who are gospel workers, gospel laborers to earn a material support or or to earn a wage from their labor, their work. We should never make that the driving force of why we do what we do. If you are just doing it because you love money, because you're just thinking that this is going to give you power, status, influence, a platform, what this shows you is that this is the root of all kinds of evil. Not just one. By the way, money is not the root of all evil. It's the the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. If that is your your desire, not that you get money, that's not evil. it's that you desire it, that that you're trying to maybe you pick your position in a church or you do a certain ministry because it's going to pay you a lot more. That would be a sign that that you are being driven by money rather than the mission. Or maybe that you are, you know, you are just really trying to to force your hand to just always make more because you notice somebody else is making more than you in another church or in another ministry or maybe within the same church. Maybe someone's making more than you on the scale and you feel like you need to be making as much or maybe more than them. That that once again in the church of Corinth, we see that that competitive nature taking place. And so what we see here is that money should never be the motivator.
And Paul is a perfect example. And this is how he demonstrates how to lay down rights because he's made this huge case in verses 1 to 14 thinking, okay, so he's saying you need to support me, right? But that's not his argument. His argument is that though I have this right clearly identified through so many different means, I have given up that right. So Paul, he doesn't receive support. He refuses it because he wants to protect the integrity of the gospel. He doesn't want the Corinthians to think that that's why he really cares about them or that's why he is preaching or writing to them. He is saying I have come to give you the gospel for free. So if you look in verse 12b and verse 15 it says nevertheless we have not used this right but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. So he's made that huge argument and he says but we have we've forsaken that. We're not taking that right. We we are not interested in your money, in your wealth at all when it comes to our mission for this church. And then verse 15, but I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me, for it would be better for me to die than than that anyone should make my boy boasting void. So he is making it very clear here that he is not interested in making money because he wants the gospel to keep its integrity. He doesn't want anyone to think that he is trying to sell the gospel. Now that doesn't mean that Paul never received support because we know in certain churches that he did get support for his ministry, for his missions, but he understood that there could be a potential barrier here in Corinth. And so he was using wisdom and discernment that he says if there's going to be an issue here, if there's going to be a barrier that you giving me money may cause an offense for the gospel, I would rather just not be paid. I'll still preach. I'll still give you the gospel. I'm still going to labor for you. And that's what I love about Paul here. And I know that many ministers like Paul will sacrifice material gain for gospel advancement. There are many who are living paycheck to paycheck for gospel advancement that they will intentionally not move up in their dollar amount in their bank account in their the size of their house solely because they want to advance the gospel because they want to glorify God more than make a lot of money or move up in their social ladder. And so that's what Paul is saying here is that he would rather see the gospel move forward, people know Jesus, be saved, that the kingdom would get bigger. He would rather have that happen than his own personal kingdom get bigger. And I think that that's a humble thought for all of us. Are we motivated by our kingdom expanding or God's kingdom expanding? Which one are we focused on? Because the gospel is not for sale. A laborer is worthy of his wages, but the gospel is never for sale. And ministry will lose its power when it becomes a platform for profit rather than a platform for gospel proclamation. Ministry will lose its power if it if it fails to see it as a platform for gospel proclamation, which is the final thing that I want to camp out on.
And that's what I think Paul is really ultimately doing here is he's showing us how important the gospel is. And he shows us, I think, that gospel proclamation is not an option. It's an obligation. In verses 16 to 18, it says, "For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of. For necessity is laid upon me." Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will I have been entrusted with a stewardship, what is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. So what Paul is describing is his unique calling as an apostle who's been entrusted with the gospel to go to the nations. And so what we see here is Paul describing what he feels and Paul is compelled by the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ to go. He says, "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel." And that echoes some of those woe statements that you see in the Old Testament and that you see Jesus give to like the the the religious leaders. He says, "Woe to you." He's saying that this is a life or death issue for him. Woe to me, judgment to me if I do not take my divine calling seriously to go and preach the gospel. He understood Romans 1:16 that he is not to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation. He understood that if the gospel is not preached, people will not know Jesus. And if people do not know Jesus, they will not be forgiven of their sins and they will not receive eternal life. That's what's on Paul's mind all of the time. And once again, and he says that I will do this free of charge. Why? Because he understands that the gospel really is good news. Too good not to share. And I know sometimes when we use the term gospel, sometimes we we kind of filter it as like just a little theological term and we don't really know what we mean when we say the gospel. And so I just want to quickly read for you two passages that I think give us a very crystallized understanding of what we mean by the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:es 1 to8. So this is a little bit of foreshadowing of what we have to look ahead in this letter. He says, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved. If you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain, for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by Cphus, then by the 12, after that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom The greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all, he was seen by me also as by one born out of due time. So Paul gives this very short pathy explanation of the gospel and he says that this is what I brought to you first of all of first importance the most important thing that I can give you Paul speaking in myself giving to you as the congregation is preaching the gospel. What is it? It says that Jesus Christ, so the Messiah, the anointed one, he died for our sins according to what the scriptures had prophesied and said would happen and that he was buried, that he rose again the third day, and that he then appeared to multiple different people. And it gives all of these lists of examples including skeptics like James, Paul himself as well as Cphus that is uh Peter and many of the other um disciples and apostles. So that is the gospel in a nutshell is that Jesus is the Christ that he died for your sins. He rose from the dead and people saw him alive. or John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is a very simple verse that you can memorize to know what the gospel is. That God loves you. God loves the world. that he gave us Jesus and that Jesus came and that if you would trust in what he did, what we just described in 1 Corinthians 15, that he that he died and rose again, that he is the Christ, if you believe that that he is the son of God, then you have eternal life right now. That is amazing news. That is why we call it gospel. We as a church, we are evangelical. That term evangelical literally comes from the term gospel. We need to be gospel people. We need to be thinking about how good this message is. Once again, Paul cannot stop thinking and talking about the gospel.
And you might be thinking, okay, but he's an apostle. He has this unique calling that he is being compelled by. But you also have a calling. You might not be a pastor. You might not be the missionary that is going to always go to Mexico or one of our trips, but you are called to the great commission. If you are a a Christian, if you are a Christ follower, you are called to what we see in Mark 16:15 where it says, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." That is for us. that is for the church. It's called the great commission because it is a great commission. We have a great message from a great savior that has a great result. And so, we have a great responsibility to go and preach this message. See, there is not a plan B for the church. We are the movement. Do you understand that? You are the movement. the thing that sparked and started in Acts, you are now a part of that movement. What Paul is doing here, he was hoping that what he was sewing, we would reap and that we would continue to sew and to gain more and more for the harvest. Are we looking at our surroundings? I I shared this at Grant's farm on our trip that every person you walk by is an eternal soul. Every single person is made in the image of God and they will spend their eternity either in heaven or in hell. and your relationship to them could be the key ingredient that gets them the life-saving gospel message. You are not supposed to wait for the pastor to get everyone saved, to get everyone into the church building. We are all called to the great commission. Stop waiting for the smart theologian that you know in your family to share the gospel with somebody. Stop saying, "Well, hopefully that they're saved." And you're not really sure. Get them to church. Share the gospel. Have these conversations. Get in the word. Know that the spirit will be with you. He will help you speak the words that you need to speak. If you are not aware of what to share in the moment, the Holy Spirit is with you. We have a calling. We are to be the movement. We are to make heaven crowded. Some of you could care less how crowded heaven is right now. You got your ticket there and now all you care about is just being comfortable until you get there. You are on earth for a purpose and that is to share the gospel message. That doesn't mean every conversation you have to be a crazy person and every single time you have to have a conversation about Jesus, but you need to be looking for doors for opportunities to share Jesus. So, some of you need to be really convicted this morning. If you have not been talking about Jesus regularly in your conversations, in your relationships, if you are not hearing the gospel coming out of your mouth, if you didn't even know how to articulate the gospel before this Sunday morning, then that is a problem. Paul is showing us how to keep the gospel above all in our lives. If you were to describe your life, would you say that the gospel is above all? The good news of Jesus is how you live your life. It's how you look at everybody else. It's through the gospel. That's what Paul is doing us doing here for us. He's showing us how to lay down our rights because that is once again a perfect picture of the gospel. Jesus laid down his rights for us. So stop being so concerned with comfort or status or wealth or platforms and be focused on sharing the gospel with others because that's what will last. people going to heaven that will last but so many other things that we are prioritizing they will not last. So as we look to this text we see Paul held his rights loosely but he held his calling tightly and so must we. We need to respect gospel workers, give support where we can. We need to reject greed and other forms of pursuing. And we need to respond to the call to preach both with urgency and integrity.