The following recording is made available by Faith Community Bible Church. Information on how to obtain additional messages will be given at the end of the message. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I'm going to read just three verses. Go back to verse 14. 14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they who preach the gospel should live of the gospel. But I have used none of these things, neither have I written these things, that it should be done unto me, for it were better for me to die than any man should make my glorying void. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. For necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me, What is my reward then? Verily, that when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I not abuse, not the power in the gospel." When I finished my preparation for this sermon, I thought it was too short. A day later, I revised it, and now it's too long. But don't worry, I will not charge you for overtime this morning. We've been studying Corinthians. We know that in the city of Corinth, there were many traveling philosophers, people who actually made their living there. Many other speakers who frequented the city, and they loved to wax eloquent with words. And I was thinking, I wonder what Paul would have said to them on a personal level. I was reading Job, the other day, in chapter 32, in the words of Elihu, and they struck me. Maybe you would have said something like this. I am full of words too. The spirit within me compels me. Behold, my belly is as wine which is bottled up and it is ready to break out like new bottles. I will speak and then I will be refreshed. I will open my lips and answer you. Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person. I can see Paul saying that. I don't regard the face of men. Neither let me give flattering titles unto men. Now verse 15 begins the transition from Paul's argument that he was worthy of financial support, verses 1 through 14, a right he did not claim. It transitions from that to the broad principle that he was willing to relinquish any right and use every legitimate means to win the lost. He became all things to all men so that he might gain some. He was indeed Indebted to no man, and yet, ironically, a servant of all men. And the phrase, that I might gain, appears several times here in chapter 9 and verses 19 through 22, but we won't get to that this morning. In the course of his ministry of planting churches and discipling believers, we know that Paul sacrificed a great deal. That he worked extremely hard to make Jesus known wherever God led him. We know that he had at times by necessity work as a tent maker to support himself. We call that bi-vocational ministry, and it's sometimes necessary in reaching people. There are many countries in this world that are closed to the gospel. You can't get a visa stamped missionary and get in. but they will accept men and women with medical skills, language skills, teaching skills, technology skills, business skills, and things like that. And I really believe that the church should be doing more to encourage our young people to prepare themselves for such opportunities in addition to being equipped with the word of God. They must have skills that they can take into those countries where the barrier of the gospel has been erected. And when you think about the cost of sending Western missionaries out to foreign countries to keep them there, to bring them back on furlough, to send them back out again by vocational ministry, it makes a great deal of sense. I worked as a full-time job when I was assisting in planning a church back in Pennsylvania. That was in the late 70s up until 1985. And during those years, even though I really did not have any adequate preparation, it fell upon me to do a great deal of preaching. until we were able to call a pastor and to support him and his family. And let me tell you, it was a real blessing to have him. A great weight was lifted from my shoulders. And the church began to grow as he was able to devote his full time to the work. So think of it this way. A church does not pay a pastor. It provides him with the opportunity to serve freely. And what motivated Paul was not something the church could give to him, but the knowledge of his high calling from God. And we want to look at that, beginning with verse 15. And Paul says, I have used none of these things, and he's referring to his rights as an apostle, In the first 14 verses, the right in particular for financial support. Neither have I written these things that it should be so done unto me. When is the last time you thought about personal sacrifice? Probably been a while, right? Most people don't like to contemplate personal sacrifice, let alone voluntarily experience it. But for Paul, it was his way of life as a Christian. He sacrificed much for the gospel. And he says here that he wasn't writing to the Corinthians to gain their support. Although we saw from verse 12 that he was supporting others. Verse 15, the latter part, For it were better for me to die then that any man should make my glorying or my boasting void." Now this boasting or glorying is not a prideful boast about his not accepting patronage from the Corinthians. Why would he ever boast in that when prior to this he told the Corinthians not to boast in men, and he rebuked them for being puffed up? Paul's boasting was in what God delights to do with weak vessels who are yielded to Him and willing to sacrifice so that other people might come to Christ and be built up in the faith. And when you think about it, the course of Christian history is filled with amazing stories of what God has done with men and women who took the very little that they had and laid it on the altar and dedicated it to God. their few talents, their poor health, their meagerly earthly riches, their lack of education, and whatever else they lacked didn't matter. God worked through them to accomplish mighty things. You heard the saying, little is much when God is in it. Well, little is sufficiently more than is needed when God is in it. He can turn water into wine. He can put a coin in the mouth of a fish to pay taxes. He can feed thousands with a little boy's lunch. God delights in doing things like that. He did it with Paul, who gave the Lord all he had, because listen to me, nothing prior to his coming to Christ was worth holding on to. And nothing in your life, I'm certain, prior to your coming to Christ, in terms of earthly riches or acclamations, is worth holding on to. Philippians chapter 3, verse 7 and 8. The word excellency in that scripture means something that stands out. Something so superior it far exceeds any rival. In the pulpit commentary we find these words. The knowledge of Christ is a blessing so surpassing and transcendent that nothing else is worthy to be called good in comparison with that one highest good. Its glory, like the rising sun, overwhelms and hides all lesser lights. That's the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, the highest good. Let me ask you this morning, how about you? How about you? Do you place the knowledge of Christ and fellowship with Him above all other things? You know, brothers and sisters, that's one reason why we come to worship on the Lord's Day. To be reminded that only God and God alone can satisfy the deepest longing of our souls. Only the Lord can do that. No man can do that for you. No woman can do that for you. No child can do that for you. As much as you may love your family, they cannot meet that need. Nothing this world has to offer can meet that need. Listen to me. And that is why people who are striving for worldly attainments to make them happy, are on a relentless pursuit of disappointment. It's like chasing the wind. You can never get hold of it, can you? When I was a little boy, yes, I was a little boy one time, I thought that my life would be complete if only I had a lever-action Daisy BB gun. Then it was a Schwinn bicycle. Man, if I had a Schwinn bicycle, I'd be riding on Cloud 9. Then it was a .22 caliber rifle. Then it was a 1968 Pontiac Firebird. Then it was a customized Honda motorcycle. Guess what? I got all of those things and much more, but it never satisfied me. One by one He took them from me, all the things I valued most, until I was empty-handed. Every glittering toy was lost. Then I walked Earth's highway grieving in my rags and poverty, till I heard His voice inviting, lift your empty hands to me. So I held my hands toward heaven. and he filled them with a store of his own transcendent riches till they could contain no more. And then at last I comprehended, with my stupid mind in dole, that God could not pour out his riches into hands already full. Now when Paul says in verse 15, I would rather die, he is relating his conviction that the gospel he preached did not come with a price tag attached. He could not live with himself if he did that. 2 Corinthians 11.7, he wrote, Have I committed an offense in abasing myself, humbling myself, that you might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely, without price? To exploit the gospel for financial gain is to make money off of men's souls. That's what false prophets do. And Peter said that they are full of deceit, and through carefully crafted words, they make merchandise out of the souls of men. He says, but their judgment is coming. Payday, someday. Verses 16-18 highlight Paul's commission. It was a God-given commission. Now, I think there's a lot of confusion and misinformation that borders on the mystical about being called into the ministry. No man contemplating pastoral ministry or missionary work should be looking for a burning bush experience, or God speaking to him like he did with Samuel in the night, or what happened to Paul on the Damascus Road. I had an email article sent to me the other day. Friday it was. And the title was, The Preacher and His Call. It got my attention. I've been thinking about the call of Paul. And after making the case that there is simply no basis for some inner call to the ministry from the scripture, by taking historical incidents that don't apply to us, the author concluded by saying this, Let's rethink the call to the ministry. Let's demystify the call. Local churches should be on the lookout for young men in the congregation who have the faith, commitment, biblically sound doctrine, and the ability to serve as pastors, shepherds. Those churches should call those young men out. Encourage them to consider entering the ministry, and in time present them before the ordaining council, who will recommend they be ordained. In many cases, the local congregation should make sure that these young men are able to be trained in the ministry. through Bible colleges and seminaries that are closely associated with them. And after their time of preparation, these churches should be involved in helping to place the young men in ministry positions that fit their skills and experience level at that time in their life. Now I want you to notice that Paul mentions four things about this call, this commission he received from God. Number one, Paul's commission to preach left no ground for self-acclamation. Verse 16, for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about. You know, recently I heard an announcement on a local Christian station, you may have heard it too, which said about their lineup of speakers, the greatest Bible teachers on earth. teaching from the top Christian leaders and pastors in the world. Somehow I can't see Paul describing himself as the greatest Bible teacher on earth, or the top Christian pastor. He didn't see himself that way. He did not care one single bit about the praise of men. He called himself the least of all the apostles, the chief of sinners, unworthy to be called an apostle of Christ because he had committed high crimes against the Lord of the universe. He sought no praise from men, because He knew what He really was like apart from the grace of God. And let me ask you this morning, what are we all like apart from the grace of God? Take the grace of God out of my life and what will you see? Take the grace of God out of your life and what will you see? that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? You can't trust your own heart, except for the grace of God operating in your life through the power of the Holy Spirit to conform you to the image of His Son. The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement of the philosophical idea of the innate goodness of mankind. Paul knew full well what he was before Jesus came to him. And after that experience, he surrendered all to the cause of Christ. He had no other master. He surrendered all. He had no other master. We often sing about those things, and that's as far as it goes. The truth is, we don't surrender all. And we don't give everything to Jesus Christ as the Lord of our life. Spurgeon said of Paul, Paul's harp had only one string, but he brought such music out of it as never came from any other. He found such infinite variety in Christ that he never exhausted his theme. With him it was Christ first, Christ last, Christ in the middle, Christ everywhere. So he could never have his pen in hand without writing something in praise of his glorious Lord and Savior. And you know, Spurgeon himself copied Paul. He had an unparalleled focus on Christ in the pulpit. The second thing I notice about Paul's commission is that his preaching was not an option for Paul. He calls it mandatory in his life. Verse 16 again. 16. For necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. It's as though a divine law was imposed upon him. A duty which he could never forsake without putting himself under God's judgment. Woe is me. You know the word woe is found in the Old Testament, used by the prophets. Remember Isaiah, when he saw the thrice holy God, he said, woe is me. Woe is me for I am undone. I'm finished. That's what Paul is saying. God is finished with me if I don't preach the gospel. And the irony of Paul's preaching is that while it offered life to others, it put him under the constant threat of death. But it never stopped him. Woe is me if I don't preach the gospel he wrote to the church of Corinth. And the church of the 21st century needs to recapture that conviction and that passion. The young men who are preparing for ministry need to get a hold of the heart of Paul. Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel of Christ. Too many preachers are caught up in the fads of the day which come and go like the weather. or they ride their own personal hobby horses, or theological hobby horses, and they fail to keep the main thing, the main thing, which is preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen to me, I'm all for apologetics. Like the video series we're watching, Creation and Evolution, it points to God as Creator and the truth of the Scripture. But even that can fall short of the Gospel if those who are presenting that material are not careful. We can get inundated with facts of science to confirm the Scripture. All good and well. But listen to me. The Scripture does not need any man or information from men to help it out. It's self-authenticating. Let's never forget that. Bob Gonzales said this, When Paul and Peter preach the gospel in the book of Acts, they don't preface every message with a lengthy argument for the authority of the Scripture. They don't preface every evangelistic message by quoting Jewish tradition about scripture. They don't begin every sermon with a long list of historical and scientific facts that authenticate the Bible. They don't base the authority of their gospel on religious experience. Instead, the apostles sing, to preach the gospel with the assumption that the Bible is the self-authenticating Word of God, and they expect their audience to recognize it as such and to respond to it as such. Let's not get too far off track. Teaching on Christian living is necessary, but it is not the gospel. There is plenty of teaching that you can find out there, which tells people how to have a nice family life or build a good marriage that is void of any thought of God altogether. You can have a good family, you can be good with your finances, you can raise your little ones up to be good citizens and so forth without any knowledge at all of God, to a certain degree, you know what I'm saying. I'm not saying they're going to become morally righteous or anything like that. You can find all kind of teaching out there on practical living. But you won't find a lot of teaching that mention Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection. Listen, let me ask you, what do people really need? Think about all the ministries that are out there today. Parachurch ministries, and radio ministries, and ministries in churches. What do people really need? They need bread from heaven. That's what sinners need. They need the water of life. And so we find the invitation in Revelation 22, 17, Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. That's pretty simple, isn't it? Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely, without charge. It's hard to improve on the explanation that evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. One man dying of thirst telling another man dying of thirst about the well of living water. Tell them I must, Paul said. Woe is me if I don't. I know I've spoken to you in the past about the prophet Jeremiah. I like Jeremiah the prophet. I don't know why I like Jeremiah the prophet, but I like Jeremiah the prophet. He was called to be a prophet before he was born. While still in his mother's womb, God had set him apart to speak His Word to Judah in its darkest days. He didn't want the job in the first place. Tried to make excuses to get out of it. When he started preaching, nobody heeded his calls to repentance. He was not successful. The prophet's mantle was a burden upon his shoulders. His nation was crumbling around Him. He was called a traitor. Could you ever blame Him for wanting out? And He did. Jeremiah 29, Then I said, I will not make mention of Him nor speak any more in His name. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." Did you catch that? He had a fire in his bones. A message from God that he could not hold back. That was Paul, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. He could never hold back the message of eternal life from anyone. Amos was another prophet of God. Sheep herder from Tekoa. He was called to prophecy against the apostate Israel in 8th century BC. And he talks about the judgments that were coming upon the nations, and then he talks about the judgment coming upon Judah in chapter 3, and in verse 8 he says this of Amos 3, The lion has roared, Who will not fear? The LORD YAHWEH has spoken. Who can but prophesy? And that is one of a number of cause and effect statements in Amos chapter 3. A lion roars, and it causes fear. The LORD has spoken, and Amos must prophesy. Now the roar of a lion is terrifying to its prey. Did you know that a lion's roar can hit 114 decibels and under the right conditions be heard from five miles away? When God roars like a lion about to attack his enemies, they are terrified. When the prophet is given a message of judgment from the Lord, he becomes the roar of the lion, and he cannot keep silent. He must speak the word of the Lord. Where are the lions of the Lord God? Where are the lions of the Lord God? God does not need kitty cats in the pulpit. God does not need men trying to be cute with His Word to make people feel good. Paul was one of the lions of the Lord in his day. And I pray that the lions of the Lord will start roaring this day. Judgment is coming. Judgment on the house of God. Judgment on a wicked world. Prepare, prepare for the coming of the Lord. The third thing relative to Paul's commission is seen in verse 17. He did not volunteer for preaching. For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward, but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me." Now a man who signs up for a job is entitled to a paycheck, right? He chose to work for a certain sum. Paul never signed up to be a preacher. He was drafted by God. and he was given a stewardship responsibility which determined how he would conduct his ministry. His wages as a steward were never an issue with him. He never asked God, how much will I get paid? What are the benefits an apostle gets? A cross. What then was his reward? His wages. He gives us the answer in verse 18, which is number 4 in the declaration of Paul's call to preach. Paul's reward was the freedom to carry out his commission without restraints by men. He refused to be handcuffed by men when it came to preaching the Word of God. What is my reward then verily that when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel." And I think the last part of this verse is most telling, and I'm going to close with this. Whatever authority he had, or whatever right he had to claim something for himself, must never become an obstacle to prevent the Gospel from advancing. He would not allow that to happen. He would never abuse his divine calling to preach the Gospel of his blessed Lord and Savior. And I'll put it this way. The purity of his motives, matched the purity of his life. And you know why? You know why the purity of his motives matched the purity of his life? Because he had God-centered goals. I want you to stop and think right now, where you are right now. What are my goals in life? Especially you younger people. But it's never too late to have goals as a Christian. What are your goals in life? Take out your imaginary tablet now and write them down. Are they God-centered goals? Are they for the glory of God in Jesus Christ? Or is it about you? And the things that you will achieve. And the things that you will do. And the husband that you want to have. Or the wife that you want to have. Or the family that you want to have. And live in a nice big comfortable house. And get more and more and more and more. Until you find out that you're pursuing things that can never satisfy you. The purity of Paul's motives matched the purity of his life because he had God-centered goals. And here they are. To know Christ, to imitate Christ, and to preach Christ crucified, risen, and coming again. To know Christ, to imitate Christ, and to preach Christ crucified, risen, and coming again. Everything else was just secondary.