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1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse,
I don't know, 15 is where we're going to pick up. And I'm going
to read, actually, beginning in verse 11, just to help us
get back up to speed a little bit on this wonderful topic of
not self-indulgence, not the flaunting of rights and privileges
that are due to Paul, especially in terms of material blessings
that comes back to those who preach the gospel, and more particularly
him as an apostle. So verse 11 of 1 Corinthians
9 says, if we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much
if we reap material things from you? If others share this authority
over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use
this authority, but we endure all things so that we will cause
no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that
those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and
those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from
the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel
to get their living from the gospel. But I've used none of
these things. And I'm not writing these things
so that it will be done so in my case. For it would be better for me
to die than have anyone make my boast an empty one. For if
I proclaim the gospel, I have nothing to boast, for I'm under
compulsion. For what was me if I do not proclaim the gospel?
For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if against
my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me, what then is
my reward? That when I proclaim the gospel,
I may offer the gospel without charge so as not to make full
use of my authority in the gospel. He has been talking about these
material blessings, just daily living, as he's given examples
earlier in this text about the soldier. The soldier doesn't
provide his own kit as he goes out to battle. He's provided
for by his commanding officers and by the nation in which he
represents, a vineyard. Keeper does not forego, you know,
all the fruit is for selling, it's for other people. No, every
now and again that vineyard keeper is going to grab a cluster of
grapes and enjoy it and eat it. Same as one who shepherds the
flock. Yeah, I'm going to eat the milk from it. It's not a
sin to do that. And then he gives the example,
of course, of the ox. The ox, don't muzzle the ox while
it's threshing. Let the ox have grain while it's doing its work
there. And then he gives the example. God was concerned about
the ox, but he's more concerned about us, for our sake, verse
10. Because again, the plowmen, going
back to another analogy, the plowmen ought to plow and hope,
the thresher to thresh and hope, we're sharing the crops. And
then we get into verse 11, where he says, if we sowed spiritual
things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from
you? Paul, in this text, from the beginning of chapter 9 through
the end, really, is defending his apostolic right to receive
money, payment for his services. And not just him as an apostle,
but others who labor in the gospel, sowing spiritual things, preaching
the word of God, as he has described all throughout this text. And
he says, look. It's not extraordinary. It's
not unusual. It's not something that, oh,
you should be ashamed of yourself, taking money from the church.
No, that's quite to be expected. Absolutely, it is. And so he
is both vigorously throughout this opening verses defending
the right for preachers to receive their support from the gospel,
those who minister should should live from the gospel, but he's
also at the same moment vigorously defending his right not to exercise
his right, not to receive the money and the material blessings
from the churches that he serves, particularly the Corinthian church.
He, on the one hand, is establishing his right, and then says, I don't
do that. I don't use any of that right. I have nothing. In fact,
he makes a very bold statement as we look here. in this text.
He is both advancing the gospel, that's his primary concern. He
wants to do nothing that would somehow give an offense, a stumbling
block, a tripping hazard, a little barrier, barricade against the
advancement of the gospel in this world. And if he has to
do things that would would impinge or, you know, pinch on his exercise
of his rights, his privileges, his role as an apostle. I mean,
really, a talker or apostle. I mean, he's quite a fella, Mr. Paul is. And he says, ah, forget
about it. I am a slave. I am a steward.
I am a servant. Nothing that I do I want, excuse
me, I do not want to do anything that would somehow make the gospel
unattainable to those whom God is calling. He is exercising
self-sacrifice. I mean, he could just as well
demand a payment. He could demand tuition or a
fee or have patrons that would supply for him. He says, I'm
not going to do that. I'm going to exercise self-control
and all these things. I'm going to work hard for the
provision of my material goods, I need food, clothing, shelter,
all these things, and he's providing for those with him. It's not
just himself, he's providing for those other travelers that
are with him, ministering also alongside Paul. There is a need
for money. You know, money's kind of a handy
thing around, but you don't focus your whole life about money.
The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. So we don't
want to do anything like that because you get pierced with
all kind of pangs, 1 Timothy 6 discusses. So he is, again,
at one hand advancing the right of preachers to receive money.
He says, I'm not going to take any advantage of that. I'm not
going to misuse that authority. I'm not after that at all. He
says, I have used not just a few of these things. I've used none
of these things. None of these things that I have been emphasizing
in the first 14 verses of chapter 9, I don't do any of these things.
I have used. I have applied for. I have not accepted the payment
of churches for my services. Now, we've looked at some examples
where he did receive money from churches, but not in a this for
that, not in a, a quid pro quo basis, based on his teaching. Therefore, they paid him these
wonderful gifts. No, it was a love gift from the
Philippian church, even perhaps from the Thessalonian church.
He's mentioned that no one was active in the giving and receiving
except you alone. And even on multiple occasions,
I think the Philippian church provided or sent a love gift
to him, not because he was in their ministry, because he was
kind of in Philippi for a very short time. Remember how that
all went together in Acts 16? A very short time he was in Philippi,
but had such a devotion with Lydia and the jailkeeper, right?
Tremendous, tremendous ministry there in that church in Philippi
that was, well, believers anyway. And they just had this affinity
and love for Paul that he did receive money, did receive gifts
from them. And we looked at some examples of that even in Acts
18, how he gave himself to laboring and tent making, but then when
Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, he was able to give
himself fully to the gospel because he received money from that church.
But he does not go out and say, well, I'll teach you, you know,
I'm here for the whole day, but you've got to pay up first. Or
he just didn't receive donations, didn't receive the payment from
the churches that he served, and he took it as a mark, not
so much of boastful, negatively boastful. He's going to use that
word twice in this text, boasting. But it's not a negative, selfish,
arrogant, proud, condescending kind of thing. No, his boast
is the glory that he has to serve without pay or serve without
a fee. And he explains why that is such
a key thing to him. But he says, look, I have I'm
defending this right for preachers to live by the gospel, and I
have used none of that. I want nothing to do with that. I've
used none of these things, he says here in verse 15. And he
goes on, he says, I'm not writing these things so that it would
be done so in my case. I'm not somehow playing reverse psychology
and saying, oh, don't do this. Kind of like if you remember
the story about the Brer Rabbit, don't throw me into that briar
patch. Don't do that. Oh, that'd be horrible kind of
thing. Paul is not arguing in that. He's not arguing. All these
wonderful things that he's saying, which are true and just excellent
things for churches to know, don't do it for me. Just because
I'm arguing this, don't do it for me. Don't send me your money. I don't want this to be done
in my case or for me. He's writing these things. And
of course, he's most likely speaking these things to a scribe, an
amanuensis, it's called, one who wrote down Paul's dictation.
And so he says, I'm writing these things, but I'm not trying to
be a rascal and say, well, don't do this. He's saying no over
here, but then he says yes over here. No, it's nothing like that.
He is absolutely confident and convinced in his mind that he
should not personally receive fees and payment for his services.
Now, notice he emphasizes, I am not. I am not writing. And in
fact, that emphasis was back in the beginning of the verse.
I have used none of these things. He had been talking about we
before and earlier in these verses. We have authority. We have done
this. We've preached this. And earlier in the chapter, he
talked about I and the one who, in verse two, I am, if others,
I'm not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you're the seal
of my apostleship." So he's talking about his personal work in the
Corinthian church, but then he broadens his perspective and
talks about we as Christian preachers, but then he comes back and here
I am now through verse 18. He's saying this is my personal
commitment, my conviction before the Lord. I'm not going to use
any of these things, and I don't want it to be done so. Don't
think that I'm trying to trick you into giving me money. I don't
want it." And he makes this statement, which is really, really a strong
statement. In fact, he interrupts himself
and doesn't finish the thought even. It's kind of, a lot of
translations do fine. It's not like this is horrible
or anything, but a lot of translations kind of smooth over, if you don't
mind, the abrupt change of thought that Paul has in this verse.
This last phrase, it says, it would be better for me to die.
It would be better for me to die than, but he doesn't finish
the thought. He doesn't finish that statement. You'd expect
to have, okay, a little bit of grammar. This phrase, to die,
is an infinitive. You'd expect another infinitive,
in fact, a contrasting infinitive. It'd be better for me to die
than to live, the expected contrast. Well, live, how would you live?
Live by the gospel. live by means of me ministering
the gospel, that's how I live. He says, no, I don't want anything
in relation to that. It would be better for me. And
that's the contrast or the comparison that he's used at other times,
even back in chapter 7. It's not a moral argument, good
versus evil. It's a good, better, best kind
of a situation, more advantageous. It'd be better for me, good for
me, preferable to me. I would rather die." You think,
Paul, good grief. Can't you just accept a gift,
a salary from the church? Can't you just take, you know,
humble yourself and be able to receive gifts? He says, no, I'm
not going to. He's going to explain it in just
a moment. He is really animated, really convinced in
his mind, very much a convictional statement. No, nothing. Nothing
will I receive from churches. So he interrupts his thought.
He doesn't finish that idea. It's better for me to die than
to live by the gospel, I would say. And then he really brings
in this last phrase, which here is translated, have anyone make
my boast an empty one. He basically says, No one shall nullify my boast. No one is going to take this
boast from me. No one has the right or the prerogative
or the ability even. He's not going to be confused
or deceived into receiving some kind of a salary from the churches
that he serves, nothing like that. And you think, well wait
a minute, didn't he raise a lot of money? Wasn't he going to 1 Corinthians
16 mentions a collection and 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians
8 and 9 talk about this collection for the Well, not for him, right? It's a collection for the saints
in Jerusalem, and he's gathered churches in Macedonia and Achaia,
taking all this money and taking it back to the saints in Jerusalem,
as he's argued. Well, he doesn't argue here.
Similar to what he says in verse 11, if we sowed spiritual things
in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
uses that similar concept to relate to the Jews back in Jerusalem.
If you are sharing in their spiritual things, shouldn't you also bless
them with material things? And so he does raise money, but
it's not for him. He carries it and deposits it
to the church, with the church there in Jerusalem. He says,
I don't want anybody, nobody's gonna take my boast, nobody's
going to empty or nullify or cause catastrophe to my my glory,
my delight in serving the Lord without pay, without any kind
of fee, without any expectation, without a hand out for people
to fill. You know, he's preaching the
gospel, he's holding forth the word of truth, and yet, come
on, give some back to the old preacher guy. No, nothing like
that. He will allow no one Again, the emphasis is here, he's talking,
building this contrast to, better for me to die than to, and he
says, nobody's going to take my boast. Nobody's going to empty
that from me. Nobody can somehow make me serve for pay. He says
here in verse 16, what's this about? Paul, good grief. It's
just money. People want to show love to you. Is that a big deal?
Well, showing love is one thing. He's happily to receive a gift
from the Philippian church particularly. But he says, look, verse 16,
if I proclaim the gospel, by the way, I didn't mention this,
there are five fours, not five fours, like fifth, third. No,
it's five fours, F-O-R, like for this reason. He's explaining
himself. And he has five of these in these few verses here. Here's
maybe the first one or the second. I forget which one we're looking
at here. But five, you can underline them there. And he also has a
series. I think there are four total if-then conditional statements. The last two are in a set. And
so here's if I proclaim the gospel. And you could supply the word
then. then I have nothing to boast. I'm under compulsion.
If I proclaim the gospel, if I am here giving this gospel
out, if I'm the one who is preaching and sharing the word of God,
then look, there's nothing for me to boast in that because I'm
under compulsion. It is my duty. I am doing these
things because God has brought these things for me. If I proclaim
the gospel, it's not anything You know, oh, you're great. Good
job, Paul. Congratulate yourself. Pat yourself
on the back. That's really a good job. He says, no, there's nothing
to boast about that. I have, as it says here, I am
under compulsion, or there is a necessity that is placed upon
me. There is a compulsion, a commission
even, Paul would say, that has been placed upon me. Where he
says, you know, I'm not I'm not boasting in an arrogant kind
of selfish, you know, selfish pride kind of sense. No, this
is a glory, a gladness to serve Christ, to serve the Lord, and
having the purity, the cleanness of conscience that says no. I'm
doing this. I would do this regardless. People
pay me, don't pay me, and don't pay me, he's getting after. But
I'm doing this not because I want to congratulate myself. You have
to look back, by the way, at, well, even Nehemiah. Some of
the things that he did, and he has this phrase, it's repeated
several times in the last couple chapters there in Nehemiah, where
he's doing these wonderful things for God, you know, beating people
up and calling all people names and because of their violating
of God's law and violating God's holiness and different things.
And he has this line, Lord, remember me for good, or remember this
to me for good. Put this as a positive checkmark
to my account. And Paul says, I'm not after
that. I'm not, and it's not evil to say that. We do things, we
want to please our Lord, we want to bear fruit for him. He's the
one that gives the fruit, by the way. But Paul says, look,
I am not boasting. I have nothing to boast about
if I just do my job. I'm just doing my job. God has
called me. I'm under compulsion. I have this mandate from the
Lord to speak his word, to proclaim the gospel. He says, the process,
the practice of evangelizing. And by the way, this statement,
if I proclaim the gospel, proclaiming the gospel, it's a present tense.
It's an ongoing thing. It's not just a once, you know,
he comes into a city, he preaches the gospel once, and he looks,
where's the nearest restaurant? I want one of those five star, like,
what do they call them? A Michelin star rated, whatever.
Is that five star? I have no idea. But he says,
you know, I've done my work. Now I can relax for a week. Well,
no, he's there to plant a church. He's there to preach the gospel. He starts in the synagogue, then
when they kick him out, he preaches next door, which he did in Corinth,
right? The house of this guy, probably his full name, perhaps,
is Gaius Titius Justus Eustace, who hosted Paul after the synagogue
in Corinth, passed him out right next door. He picks up preaching
the gospel. So he's doing it, not on a once
and done kind of thing, but just continually preaching and house
to house and individually, all these. So he's given to this
whole thing. He says, there's nothing that I can boast about.
I'm just doing my work. I have a necessity. I have this
pressure upon me. I have a burden from the Lord.
Now, it could be, and we could relate to it this way, an inner
compulsion to preach the gospel. something that he has committed
himself to, that he has an inner drive and devotion to do it,
which is, that's wonderful. The subjective call to preach
could be in his mind here. I think probably more likely
he is talking about the external call that Jesus Christ himself
came down, Acts 9 and other times in Acts, recounts his salvation
testimony, and he describes the fact that I don't have a choice
in this. I didn't choose this life. I
didn't choose this whole situation. God is the one who chose me.
And he says on various occasions, even from my mother's womb. Galatians
1, God, when God, who had set me apart from my mother's womb
and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his son
in me, said I might proclaim him as good news among the Gentiles.
He talks about what he did after that. But it's a divine call
from him. Even before he was born, God had this necessity,
this compulsion, this direction for Paul's life. He says a tremendous
passage, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, beginning at verse 7, describing
his own burden, his necessity, his compulsion to preach, but
even the difficulties that he endured. 2 Corinthians 4 and
verse 7, he says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels so
that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and
not from ourselves. In every way, afflicted but not
crushed, perplexed but not despairing, persecuted but not forsaken,
struck down but not destroyed, always caring about in the body
the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested
in our body. For we who live are constantly
being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the
life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death
works in us, but life in you." He understands. This is a life
and death situation. Now, not in the same way he says,
it'd be better for me to die than to live by the gospel. But
he says, this is my life and life which I have embraced. God
has called me to it. I'm going to manifest or demonstrate
the crucified Christ in my life. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels, he said, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested
in our body. He is a dead man, a dead man
walking. Paul is a slave of Christ Jesus. It doesn't matter what
he does in life, what happens to him in life, he's going to
serve Christ to the end. You can give me money. I don't
want your money. I don't want your money. In fact, he says it elsewhere,
and we'll look at it here, where he says, I don't want what you
have to the Corinthians. I want you. I want your life.
I don't want your stuff. I want you. I want you to be
walking in truth. I want you to be manifesting,
demonstrating, proving the power of the Holy Spirit in your lives.
I want to see Christ formed in your lives. He says, this word
rather, came from the Lord to Ananias. Remember when Paul was
going up to Jamascus to persecute the church, he was stopped on
the road by the Lord, and Ananias afterward was told by the Lord,
go, this is the Lord talking to Ananias, go to him, for he
is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles
and kings and the sons of Israel, for I will show him how much
he must suffer for my name. Acts 9 and verse 15 and 16 says
that. So he has this, mandate, a divine
external commission or call to do this ministry. Last quotation
here, Romans 11 verse 13 says, That word there is my flesh,
my flesh and blood kind of thing, my fellow countrymen and save
some of them. So that's what he's after. He's preaching the
gospel of the Gentiles, but he wants the Jews, his fellow Jews,
his kin, his flesh and blood to be saved, come to the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this is the compulsion he
has. It's not for himself. Forget about me. I'm just a servant.
I'm a conduit. I'm a servant, a steward, one
of the menial kind of manual labors in God's harvest. God's
the one giving the increase. I'm going to do my part, he says.
I'm under compulsion. Look, I don't have a choice in
this. He's going to mention this here in just a moment. I don't
have a choice in this. Not that he's against this work of the
gospel. He's very much given, committed his life to it, but
it's not for personal gain. It's not for personal pleasure,
personal comfort, prestige, fame, honor, all these things. Forget
about that. I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I
who live, he says, Galatians 2.20, you can finish that thought.
So he says, look, there's nothing really for me to boast about
if I'm proclaiming the gospel. I'm under compulsion to do this.
I have a divine mandate to do it. And then he says, look, this,
woe is me, here's another four, for woe is me if I do not proclaim
the gospel. So we have another four and another
conditional statement. If I do not proclaim the gospel,
woe, then woe comes to me." And you think, well, that's not,
is that bad? You don't like woes? Well, no. Woe being a chastisement from
the Lord. If I don't fulfill my duty, if
I don't fulfill my commission, my Lord's going to have problems
with me. He's going to find fault with me, and I don't want anything
to do with that. If I do not proclaim the gospel, then I have
the expectation of divine judgment. Again, it's not so much an inner
conflict or turmoil that he has, something that he's distressed
if he doesn't have an opportunity. He does have that, but that's
not really what he's after here. He has this idea, I'm going to
displease God. God who has, again, chosen me
from my mother's womb and set me in this place, and I have
this mandate, I have this opportunity. Especially in Corinth, remember
the whole thing, the Lord appeared to him in a vision and said,
I have many people in the city. You're going to have a lot of
opposition too, but I have many in the city that need to hear the gospel,
that are going to come to faith. So what was me if I do not proclaim
the gospel? He goes on, another four here in verse 17, and another
if statement. Actually, a combination if, or
compound if statement. If I do this voluntarily, hey,
I have a reward. But if against my will, well,
I still have a stewardship entrusted to me. So again, the contrast,
explanation, Paul, why are you so animate about this? It's just
money. It's just stuff, food, basket of oranges or tomatoes
or something. What's the big deal? He says,
no. I want a reward in the fact that I do this without charge.
I do this not because I'm in it for the money, and that would
be not something that the Corinthians would fight fault with so much,
because they viewed philosophers, which in some regards they viewed
Paul as just another itinerant philosopher, as they had in that
Greco-Roman culture, that would charge fees or have patrons that
would support them. Or they'd be out on the street
corner asking for money, and then once they get enough to
buy food, then they'd go out and do their philosophizing and
preaching and stuff. So that was a customary thing.
Paul says, no, I don't want any reward like that. I am not doing
this for pay. If I were to do this, I'd like
to be a preacher of the gospel. I think I'll go ahead and do
this. That's the kind of voluntary situation he's talking about.
If I do it based on my own gumption, well, fine. I would expect a
reward in that. I would expect money. I would expect material
things if I were doing it according to my own will and decision. But that's not what happened.
That's not what happened at all. His decision, remember going
to Damascus, was to persecute the church, not to raise up the
church, not to preach this Jesus. When Jesus says, it's hard for
you, Paul, to kick against the goads. What are you doing that
for? Why would you fight against me? Well, who are you, Lord,
that I'm persecuting? Well, I'm Jesus of Nazareth.
Now, you get up and you do what I tell you to do. I'm paraphrasing,
but he says, look, if I were to do this, I'd like to serve
in this capacity. Well, you would expect payment.
But he says, if I do it against my will. And this phrase, or
the word here translated voluntarily, and then that phrase against
my will, those are opposites. If I were to do this something
out of my own heart, out of my own desire and affection, I value
this, and so I did the things to pursue it, versus the opposite,
not so much I'm doing it contrary or violating my will or somehow
just you know grin and bear it kind of thing just do it kind
of thing It's a negative connotation.
I think what he's getting at there, he's just saying, I didn't
have a choice in the matter. It wasn't something that was
put up to me. Hey, would you like to do this, Paul, or this over here?
And A or B, re-preacher of the gospel or persecutor of the church.
You know, if it were me, in his natural flesh, persecuting the
church, absolutely. Philippians 3. I'm zealous for
the law, pharisee of the faith. All these things. He was so much
about that. That was his will. His new will now is this, to
preach the gospel, and it is something that is so contrary
to what he was used to growing up. It is having this idea of
of having a force, again, a compulsion, a pressure upon him that he serves
not willingly. He's not chafing against God's
direction in his life, but he's saying, it's something that,
it's not my will. It's not something I chose to
do. God chose me. And he defends that in so many
different regards. Galatians 1 particularly says, I didn't
decide this, and I didn't get my teaching from other people.
I got it from the Lord himself, the mandate to preach. I'm a
slave. I'm a messenger of God. And he gave me the message to
preach, too. I didn't make it up. I didn't learn it from other
people. I learned it from him. And so far as our present age, and
really all ages, are so concerned about the will of man, do we
have free will or not? Really, it doesn't matter. We
want God's will. We want to do His will. We want
to be so committed to what God is doing, so that we want our
will, our volition, to be so lined up with Him. So do we have
free will? Doesn't matter. Do what God wants you to do.
Fulfill His thing, because that's the best thing for us. It's not
like, again, His word is burdensome. It's not something that, oh,
I have to love the Lord with all my... What's lovable about
God after all? How would I want to serve Him?
I want to enlighten God. He is the living God. He's the
only source of life and of joy and of happiness. So it's not
like, you know, I want what is horrible. That's what unbelievers
do. They chase after that which they
think is going to satisfy based on their own fleshly wants and
desires and will. And it is a destroyer. It is
death in a cup. death in a magazine, death in
a relationship, come to the Lord for life. And that's what Paul
is saying here. Look, if I were to do this based on my own volition,
I would expect a reward. But it's against my will. It's
contrary. Or just forget about my will.
I have a stewardship. I've got to do this. This is
a mandate from the Lord. And this idea of stewardship,
he's already introduced this idea back in chapter 4. Chapter 4,
first couple of verses, he talks about this reality of his identity,
his service to the Lord. And he says, this is what we
are. Anybody can come and evaluate me, and he's going to talk about
examination, but we won't get into that right now. We are servants
of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. So we're serving
Christ and a menial kind of slave labor for Christ, and we are
stewards of the mysteries of God. Serving is accomplishing
the will of the master. Stewarding is managing that master's
property. Managing that which belongs,
not to the steward, but to the master, to the owner of these
things. We're stewards of the mysteries of God. And what does
he say in verse 2? It is required, by the way, of stewards that
one be found faithful. Don't you go out there and manipulate
or misuse your stewardship. There was a situation back in
Isaiah 22 where Isaiah found fault. It was God's word come
through Isaiah against this steward. named Shebna, who was using all
these wonderful privileges and rights as a steward for his own
purposes, for his own selfish gain. He was in charge of the
royal household. Isaiah 22 and verse 15 says, and you go tell
that Shebna, that steward of the royal household, he's done.
He thought he was going to make big things for himself. No, no,
sir. I'm going to take what he had, I'm going to give it to
somebody else. And that false work of stewardship, he was not
found faithful. Do you remember the parable that
Jesus told in Luke 16 about the unfaithful steward manipulating,
mismanaging the owner's assets, squandering his possessions,
it's called, Luke 16. A rich man who had a steward, the steward
was reported to him as squandering his possessions. You don't do
that. You don't do it. You have a stewardship, a management
of God's property. It's been entrusted to me. This
idea of stewardship, Paul emphasizes several different times, or three
times at least, in his writings, Ephesians 3 and verse 2. You
have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given
to me for you. I'm responsible for the message.
preaching this message, but it's for your benefit. I don't get
any benefit out of this. If any benefit that Paul provides,
it is not material, it's not physical, it's not temporal,
it is the boasting that Paul has. They're walking with the
Lord. They are mature in Christ. They are complete in Christ.
I labor, Paul says, Colossians 128, I labor teaching every man,
admonishing every man with all wisdom so that I may present
every man complete in Christ. That's what I'm after, not for
the personal gain, not for the fame and prestige. I'm after
the advancement of the gospel and the conversion of souls,
particularly, Paul has a burden for Gentiles, yes, but particularly
his Jewish kinfolk. Colossians 1, 24 and 25 also
talks about this stewardship from God given to me for you
so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of
God. And then again, in 1 Corinthians 4, which we looked at, he talks
about this stewardship. It's not his own stuff. It's
a stewardship entrusted to me. And that idea of entrusted, having
been committed to him for Paul's care. Hey, Paul, I'm giving you
my treasured possession, that is the gospel, and my elect people,
those who are going to come to faith. I'm giving these to you,
Paul. You better be faithful in what
I've given to you. Don't change my message, and don't mess with
my people. And Paul is so concerned about
that. I mean, good grief. Galatians 1 again, he says, if
I or anybody else comes and preaches the gospel contrary to that which
I've already preached to you, Let him be anathema. Don't even
listen to him. That's not even, don't mess with the message. And then he's so concerned about
those who are in Christ, doesn't want to cause any stumbling,
anything that would violate the conscience or the faith of those
who are in Christ. He is not gonna do it. He's also
not gonna put a hindrance or a stumbling block in the path
of those who are coming to faith in Christ. Very concerned about
the message and the receivers of the message. The stewardship
which has been entrusted to him. This is what happened in the
past. This is the commission that he
received, the mandate to represent Christ, standing before kings,
the Lord said about Paul. And I'm going to show him how
much he's going to suffer for my namesake. But he's going to bring
my message even before Caesar. And you remember the whole thing
when he appealed to Caesar there in Caesarea. And I think he stood
before Caesar. in Rome and the whole court drama
that he had at the end of Acts, really the whole narrative from
Acts 21, goes on with this deal about the Jews in Jerusalem finding
fault with him. And he takes his case before
the court, standing before the governor, Felix, and then Festus,
and Agrippa, and then Caesar, finally, and whoever else heard
his message. And he has been entrusted with
this thing. He wants to be found faithful. This passage in 1 Thessalonians
2 speaks about this. And really, his idea, his concept
about his, he doesn't labor for money. He's not interested into
that at all, does not want to accept any money. He's there
to work hard. He is there to, fulfill the stewardship
that has been entrusted to him. 1 Thessalonians 2, beginning
at verse 3, he says, our exhortation does not come from error, or
impurity, or by way of deceit. But just as we have been approved
by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing
men, but God, who examines our hearts. For we never came with
a flattering word, as you know, nor with pretext for greed. God
is witness. Nor seeking glory from men, either
from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ
we could have been a burden to you. a burden in material things. You know, we could have expected
material stuff from you, but we proved to be gentle among
you as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. In
this way, having a fond affection for you, we were pleased to impart
to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives because
you had become beloved to us. For you remember, brothers, our
labor and our hardship, how working night and day so as not to be
a burden to anyone, any of you, we proclaim to you the gospel
of God. Paul's sense of being entrusted with this message motivated
and directed his whole attitude, his affection toward these people.
the manner of his ministry, not for, you know, as a with flattering
word, oh, you're just so wonderful, you're just so great, and I just
want to know you better, you're just the best people in God's
kingdom. Flattery, what's that about?
You're trying to manipulate things through your words. Or with a
pretext for greed as a way to, as again 1 Timothy 6 describes
those who view godliness as a means of great gain. There's money
to be had in the Word of God kind of thing. Boy, you can get
a lot of followers, which is what Acts 20, Paul warned about
that. There's going to be certain men of you, beloved Ephesian
elders, who are going to teach strange doctrines. Why? to take
away disciples after you, not just the disciples, but their
pocketbooks and their money. You want their money. No, Paul
says, we didn't come with a pretext for greed. We're not seeking
glory for men, even though we could have thrown our weight
around and kind of said, kiss the ring and where's the red
carpet and where's this fancy food and all. Paul says, I don't
want anything like that. I have a stewardship entrusted
to me, something that's committed to me, and I have the expectation
to be found faithful. So he says, verse 18. What do
I get out of this whole deal? If I'm not into the material
things, if I'm not in the glory from men, if I'm not into, if
I were a man pleaser, what would he do? Change his message. Because
his message is, it's a stumbling block to the Jews. What do you
mean? Circumcision doesn't mean anything. And we have to repent
and confess our sin, believe in Jesus, turn away from our
sins. What is that? We are Jews. So he's preaching the gospel,
which is offensive to the Jews. It's this foolishness, abject
foolishness to the Greeks. They say, what is this, crucified
and resurrected Jesus? It makes no sense. Paul, you
are crazy. And they dismissed him. Now,
you're pleasantly entertained by his words there in Acts 16.
So what does Paul get out of this? This here, what is his
reward? What is his payment? Verse 18
says, this is what I'm after. When I proclaim the gospel, I
may offer the gospel without charge so as not to make full
use of my authority in the gospel. He's after this reward. He his
reward that he serves without pay. He serves without encumbering
his heirs. Remember back in verse 12, he
says, I don't want to do anything that would somehow cause hindrance,
cause a stumbling block to the gospel of Christ, a tripping
hazard to those who are coming to faith. His reward is that
he does not encumber his heirs and he provides or offers this
gospel without fee, without tuition, without a charge. The way that
he says it here, this may offer the gospel, he doesn't say it
the same way as he does here anywhere else in his writings.
He uses another word, he uses the word evangelize or announce,
preach the gospel. Here it's the idea of placing
the gospel in front of people. And that's all he's doing, really.
He places, he teaches the gospel. He holds it out because that
word, right? Romans 116. The gospel is the
power of God unto salvation. It's not his manipulation, his
clever tactics, his PowerPoint presentations or keynote or whatever
the thing. He is putting that message before the people and
expecting God to fulfill his promises. Wow! God honors his
word. His word will not return unto
him void. It will accomplish the purpose
for which God sent it. So his work is just to offer, to present
that gospel. And he does it here without charge,
without any kind of fee, with any kind of tuition or expense,
it cost nothing to listen to Paul. He can come and it's very
helpful because again, as Paul, his labor, what he did with his
hands, he was not a blue-collar, or excuse me, a white-collar
worker. He was a blue-collar worker, tent maker, worked with
his hands, got his hands dirty, got calluses on his hands, had
to have tools, required other stuff. He was in the midst, I
mean he could be with those elite, kind of high society kind of
folks, which he was on occasion. These Corinthians at least thought
that they were all high society. But he was down there working in
the, Paul, you're working down with the tradesmen. He says,
yes, because they can't afford one of your famous philosophers
come down to the tradesmen's area and preach their message
of whatever. I'm here working, but also preaching. I'm able to have access to people
who would not be able to afford. I mean, if Paul charged what
he was worth, He would make a killing. He says, I'm not into it for
money. I'm here to serve. I'm here to put no stumbling
block in the eyes of other people. He mentions this again in 2nd
Corinthians chapter 12, this idea of working without charge. 2 Corinthians 12 beginning at
verse 13 says, In what respect were you, Corinthians, and the
rest of the churches except that I myself did not become a burden
to you? You know, financially obligated. Forgive me this wrong
here for this third time I did come to you and I will not be
a burden to you. Here's where he says, I do not
seek what is yours, but you. For children ought not to save
up for their parents, but parents for their children. So I will
most gladly spend and be fully spent for your souls. If I love
you more, am I to be loved less?" There in that last sentence,
he says, I will most gladly spend and be fully spent. Here's the
opposite of what he has here, this idea of without charge,
without spending. People don't have to spend to
hear my word, hear my gospel. Here he says, If anything is
going to be spent, it's going to be me. I will spend myself,
and he even compounds that statement. I'll spend myself, but I'm going
to be just poured out. There's going to be nothing left
for me. I'll be fully spent for your souls. Paul is so concerned. You give nothing to me. I'm going
to give everything I have for you. Why does he do that? Because
he is an apostle of Jesus Christ, because he is pouring out his
life just in the same manner as our Lord Jesus poured out
his life for us. He gladly spent himself. He fully spent himself, such
that he could say at the cross, finished, and he committed his
soul to the Heavenly Father. If I love you more, am I to be
loved less? Would you just accept me for who I am? Would you not
be embarrassed that I am an apostle, but also a tent maker, just a
poor lowly tradesman? You know, I could make full use
of my authority, as he says here back in verse 18 of chapter 9.
I could make full use of authority, but I'm not going to do it. I
could flaunt my apostolic credentials. I could flash my little congressional
medal or a pin and get access to all. If you have one of those
key cards that gets you into all the doors, Paul says, I'm
not going to do anything like that. I am going to spend and
be spent for you. And the contrast, though, we
have different examples of preachers, prophets, apostles, whatever,
that were not in it for the ministry, not in it for the advancement
of the message or for the conversion of the people. Give me some money. What do you got? What do you
got to give me? Balaam. Remember him? Paid. Well, hey, King, what do you
got to give me? Oh, I got this. OK, I'll work
for the Lord. Yeah. No, Balaam. Don't use Balaam
as an example. Peter, rather, in 1 Peter 5 says,
elders, you don't work for dishonest gain. You work eagerly. Whatever the pay is or is not,
you don't do it for the money. You're not motivated because
if you are motivated for the money, you're going to have a
message that attracts more people, that attracts more money. Or
you're going to hobnob or fraternize, excuse me, with those who are
the wealthy people in the church. Oh forget the poor people, they
don't have anything to give. But the wealthy people, I really
need to get them on my side. Don't do it. It's gonna affect
your message, it's gonna affect your ministry. Don't be in it
for the money. Again in 1 Timothy 6, there are men who suppose
that godliness is a means of gain. That somehow, boy, if they're
in the ministry, they can get a lot of, you know, fleecing
the flock as it were. Titus 1 and verse 11 talks about
those in Crete who are false teachers, and they are upsetting
whole households, whole families, teaching things they should not
teach. Why? For the sake of dishonest gain. That's what they're after.
That's their whole message or their method. And Paul says,
no, no, no, no, no. He is giving an example. And
again, there's a broader context. And that is, don't, you Corinthians,
exercise your rights to the detriment of those around you. Yeah, you
can eat everything. You can go to the temple, pagan
temples, and eat the food sacrificed there. Fine. But if that offends
a brother in Christ, a brother for whom Christ has died, don't
do it. I would never eat meat again, ever, right? So that I
would not somehow violate other people, causing my brother to
stumble there in verse 13 of chapter 8. That's the larger
picture. He says, don't be so self-indulgent. I'm not going to make full use
of my authority. I'm not going to flaunt my rights
as an apostle. And Corinthians, you don't do it either. Rights
are given for us by God, but they can also be set aside. Remember,
because Paul said this is a mandate from God, this is a directive,
a commandment from Christ that those who, there in verse 14,
the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living
from the gospel. That is a provision of the Lord for his people, for
his preachers, that is to say. It's not a commandment, well,
preachers, you make sure that you have a a clear statement
of, you know, if you go into this place, conference speaking
or church ministry, make sure you clarify your salary, make
sure you get your demands out there right front and center,
because the Lord directed you, no, this direction, this commandment
is for the church, or rather to the church, to the churches,
in response to or for the benefit of those who preach. It is not
a commandment, you know, make sure that you demand your rights
as a preacher. No. Churches, you make sure that
you pay those who preach the gospel to you. You show your
affection, your love, your devotion to the man, yes, but to the Lord
who sent him to this church. And so here he says, I'm not
going to use it as an apostle. I could flaunt my authority in
the gospel. I could flaunt this word authority
can be the presence, but also just the rights and privileges
that are inherent in the work of an apostle. There are different
preachers even nowadays that are just so admired and adored
by churches around the world, and they recognize, there's nothing
so great about me. All I'm doing is preaching the
Word to them, and they love me because I give them the Word
of God." Clearly unadulterated, not trying to flatter, not as
a pretext for greed. Paul says, look, I don't want
to do anything that would somehow violate my work of taking the
gospel of God and entrusting it to his people. He does not
do it himself, and he gives the example, following the example
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he gives that example to the
Corinthians. You use your rights, your privileges, for showing
love. Yeah, you can know all these
things, but love puffs up. Excuse me, knowledge puffs up.
Love edifies. Love seeks the benefit of the
other person. You do that. I mean, yeah, you could do all
these things for yourself. What are you going to get out
of it? Food, clothing, shelter, a little bit of gold, big pocketbook. Forget about that. You serve
for your eternal reward. And that is what Christ himself,
the master of all stewards, he will give in that day. And that's
much better. In the meanwhile, live to serve
other people. Love them. Our Father in heaven, we thank
you for your word. This profound message of Christ and the example
that Christ himself did laid down for us that he spent himself
and he fully spent himself on the cross for us and we have
a salvation rich and free and we should then lay down our lives
for the brethren. We should be so willing to think
of other people as more important than ourselves, to do our ministry
as a happy steward, as a slave, fully convinced that we are doing
your will and expecting your reward. We are grateful that
you have promised even your apostles a wonderful, what are we gonna
get out of this? And you promised there's gonna be good things,
crown of righteousness and all those wonderful things, but please
help us to be more. in this age, given to the work
of sharing your word and of honoring those who teach the word, but
having the expectation of eternal rewards. And the best thing about
it is to know you, have a true knowledge of you, and to be in
your presence. We pray that that day would come soon. Please help
us to finish well. There are a lot of failures in
our midst that just are shocking and shameful, but we look to
you. Please help us to finish, and to finish well. Help us to
have that expectation, that desire, when we stand before the Lord,
that He would say, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter
into the joy of your master. Please help us to finish well,
to love, serve, and meet needs as we are able. We thank you
and pray in Christ's name. Amen.
The Gospel Without Charge
Series 1 Corinthians
While preachers of the gospel should benefit materially from their work, the apostle Paul refused any material reward for his labor. He did this to fulfill his stewardship as mandated by the Lord Jesus.
| Sermon ID | 1014241845492405 |
| Duration | 46:49 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | 1 Corinthians 9:15-18 |
| Language | English |
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