We turn this morning to 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and to this portion that I read to you a moment ago in verses 1 through the first part of verse 15. In chapter 8, Paul has argued that we should not abuse our freedom in Christ to the harm, even the destruction of others. Yes, there is freedom in Christ. There is a freedom to serve the Lord. There is a freedom to honour and glorify our God in our lives day by day. There is a freedom from the chains of sin. There is freedom from the rule of Satan. There is freedom from the darkness of this world. We have been brought into the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We have been brought under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ who is our great King and our Sovereign. We have been saved from ourselves and our own sinful tendencies that we might live for our God day by day. We have freedom in Christ. We have freedom to enjoy what God has provided for us in this world, for our happiness, for our good and for his glory. We have been brought into a relationship with him that is not dictated by the demands of the law but is been brought to us through the grace of our saviour Jesus Christ and has resulted in transformed hearts and renewed desires for our God so that we do not love this world or the things of this world but our affections are with Christ in heaven and there we are laying up treasures and so we have a freedom to to love God and to serve him day by day. But in the midst of that freedom, Paul has argued that there are some who are still bound, bound by the experiences of their past, bound by the influences that controlled them when they were outside of Christ and enslaved to sin and to Satan. And the fullness of the freedom that is theirs in the Lord Jesus Christ has not yet been realised by them. And they struggle with certain things. And Paul is saying that in our freedom we must not be a stumbling block to brothers and sisters who have not fully appreciated all of the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. And we must put them before ourselves for their good and for God's glory. And then we come to chapter 9 and it seems in chapter 9 as though Paul is going off on a completely different tangent. He turns away from talking about temples and idols and food that's been sacrificed to them. He's going to return to it in the next chapter but here in chapter 9 he seems to be on a completely different tack. Now we've observed that before, haven't we? In an earlier part of this letter where he was talking about sexual immorality. And then he talked about lawsuits. And then he came back to talking about sexual purity within marriage. and it seemed that in the midst of that focus upon marital relationships and the appropriate place for sexual activity he goes off on a tangent and yet we saw there that the material that he brought into that argument was part of the full picture of what he was seeking to convey concerning immorality and the right way of living before God in this world. And now when he seems to go off on a tangent and to deal with something completely unrelated to food sacrifice to idols and whether or not it's appropriate to eat it, in reality Paul is pursuing the same argument. He's continuing the same theme. He's illustrating for the Corinthian church from his own life, from his own example, that there is a time not to enjoy the fullness of the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus for the sake of our brethren. And we see in the first half of this chapter then, Firstly Paul's right asserted and then Paul's right established and finally Paul's right relinquished. That's the ground that we're going to cover this morning. So firstly I want to talk to you about Paul's right as he asserts it in this letter to the church in Corinth. His position in Christ's church is undisputed, at least as far as the Corinthian church is concerned. He's an apostle appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ for the good of Christ's church. And he expresses this by asking four rhetorical questions, four questions that he doesn't immediately expect and wait for an answer from the Corinthians, he just asks them one after another, he assumes a certain answer. And we perhaps don't have the clarity of the answer that Paul assumes in our English texts, but in the Greek, the way that the questions are formulated in rhetorical questions, the Greek tells us what the answer will be, is it a yes, is it a no? And Paul says to the church in Corinth, he says, am I not free? And he's waiting to hear. What's he waiting to hear? He's waiting to hear a yes. Yes, Paul, you're free. Am I not an apostle? Yes, of course, you're an apostle. Have I not seen Jesus, our Lord? Yes, you've seen Jesus. Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? Of course, we're your workmanship in the Lord. Paul is asserting that he is free. He is free. Paul of Tarsus is free just as any Christian in Christ is free. Just like these Christians in Corinth are free. They've been speaking about the freedoms that they have. concerning food offered to idols. They say we have knowledge of these things and we understand that an idol is nothing and therefore food that has been sacrificed to nothing cannot be contaminated. Because there's nothing to contaminate it. And therefore we can eat of this food. We have the freedom to go to the market and purchase food and not worry whether or not it's been sacrificed to idols because it doesn't matter. Idols are nothing. And Paul is saying you have your freedom. I acknowledge your freedom, now will you acknowledge my freedom? Of course you will acknowledge my freedom, he is saying. I am as free as any Christian is free. Furthermore he says, am I not an Apostle? Of course I'm an Apostle, you know I'm an Apostle. I've been appointed by our Saviour Jesus Christ himself. I've been appointed to be a teacher and a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ in the world among the first generation of followers of Jesus Christ. I've been appointed to be part of that foundation that Jesus Christ is laying for all the generations of the Church that are to follow, that the words that I proclaim are Christ's words to the church with all of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know I am an apostle and with the apostleship then comes both responsibility and all the privileges of being in Christ. Of course an apostle is going to have no less freedom than any other Christian And so he re-emphasizes the freedom that he has in Christ as a leader of the church. Furthermore he says, have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Now you have knowledge he says, you have knowledge that you have gained from the scriptures. and you have discerned within the scriptures certain principles and from those principles you have come to certain conclusions and those conclusions have given you certain freedoms that you are enjoying and are intent on enjoying. Now do I not have knowledge? Of course I have knowledge. I've seen Jesus. I've been in the very presence of Jesus. Jesus has spoken directly to me. Jesus has given me his word, his commandments. I have this illumination, this revelation from Jesus Christ himself. Certainly I must therefore have knowledge. Certainly I must have understanding. And you, he says, are not you my workmanship in the Lord? This knowledge that I have, this apostleship that I have been called to, and this freedom that I have in Christ, all of these have worked together to bring to birth this church in Corinth. You are the fruit of my labours, you are the fruit of my knowledge, you are the fruit of my freedom, he says to the church in Corinth. So they are the demonstration of his apostleship, he says, even though some others may dispute my apostleship, you don't. You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. You bear the stamp, the mark of God's authentic work that authenticates the ministry of the Apostle Paul as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking to them on God's behalf that they must be reconciled to God. And so they have this tick, this divine tick upon them that approves them and seals them as those who have been worked upon through Paul to the glory of God. This is his position, he is stating it up front, his credentials as he comes to them, as he writes to them and as he seeks to teach them concerning the freedoms that they have in Christ. And then he moves on to speak about one particular right that is his, it's not his exclusively, it's not an apostles right exclusively. But it is his right, it's his right as an apostle, it is his right as a fellow worker of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of Christ. And the right that he asserts is his right to be supported by the Church. And again he raises a series of questions as he presents to them. this right that he has. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Now, he's not simply saying, you know, I'm not going to be on a constant 24-7 fast, always fasting, never eating. He's speaking specifically about the right that he has to eat and drink out of what they provide. He says to them, do we not have the right to take along a believing wife? Now some would say that that's Paul saying he has a right to be married. But he's not actually saying that he's saying don't we have the right to have a traveling companion of our wife and and in our ministry. to take our wife along and to have our wife alongside us supported by those to whom we are ministering because that is the whole thrust of what Paul is talking about here. We have the right to eat and drink and if we brought our wives with us they would have the right to eat and drink as well. The other apostles take their wives, the brothers of the Lord they take their wives, Cephas takes his wife with him. Is it just Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Is it just them, he says, who must work, making tents, whatever it is, in order to be able to eat and drink, in order to be able to provide for their wives. Now Paul we know was single, he doesn't have a wife who is his travel companion but nevertheless this is his right and this is the point that he is making. He has the right to be supported by the church, to be provided for along with his wife if he had one, not to have to go out into secular employment to earn to be able to eat and drink. Now this isn't a grey area. Paul isn't talking about issues in which he has worked through some principles of God's word and has applied it to this particular circumstance of life and has come to this particular conclusion and that other people perhaps come to a different conclusion on this matter. It's not a grey area. in which different Christians may differ over the conclusions that they draw, because he says this is not simply drawn from biblical principles, this is clearly revealed by God in nature and in his word. And so going from asserting his right, Paul then continues in the second place to establish his right. and he does so initially by referencing everyday life, the life of men that people that he's writing to would have been familiar with, the everyday things that went on around them in the Roman world. They were soldiers. there were vintners and there were shepherds, there were those who went to war. Now those who go to war he asks does a soldier serve at his own expense and again the Greek tells us the answer is of course he doesn't. Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? No one does. A soldier is paid for and provided for by the army. Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? No one does. Everyone is expected that they will take of their labours in the vineyard. Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? No one does, is the expected answer. And so in these three illustrations from everyday life, Paul is saying to the Christians in Corinth, I have this right. just from nature, from natural law if you like, to receive something for my labours in the world. But then he goes on and he says, do I say these things though on human authority alone? Is it just by looking around me and observing, well shepherds have the milk from the flock, vintners have the grapes from the vine, soldiers receive a wage and provisions, therefore an apostle should expect to receive from the church. Now he goes further and again, the answer that is assumed in the way that the question is asked is that he is not saying these things on mere human authority. If we were to try and convey this in English, we would say something like, I'm not saying these things on merely human authority, am I? No, of course not. The law says the same thing, doesn't it? Yes, it does. And so Paul refers to the law. He moves from everyday life to biblical revelation. He turns to the word of God and he says, see in the word of God, God has provided within his word by illustration and by example what he expects. And so it is first illustrated as Paul refers to Moses. You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. From Deuteronomy chapter 25 and verse 4. A random verse that appears in the midst of passages that deal with the downtrodden and those who need to be cared for and dealt with justly. And you get this verse in the middle of that talking about the ox who treads out the grain. Paul says is it for oxen that is concerned? God is concerned and the answer that expected is no, not that he isn't concerned about oxen but that's not the point. As Luther with tongue in cheek said an oxen can't read. So it's for us who can read and who can reason It's for us that God has given that command in his law. If the oxen is not to be muzzled as it treads out the grain so that it can eat of that which it is laboring on, so too the minister of God's word. what to be provided for in the midst of that ministry that he is engaged in, this is Paul's argument. Paul uses this, an illustration from nature as it were, he goes from that which is of importance but not of significant importance, here is an ox, here is an animal and God has provided for an animal. Well, if God has provided for an animal, then God will provide for one of his children. That's his point. Jesus used the same idea, didn't he, when he talked about the sparrows? God gives the sparrows their food. He'll look after you, Jesus says. Paul is using the same principle, the same kind of argument here. And then he goes from the illustration to the example. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple? And those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? I read to you earlier from Deuteronomy chapter 18. in which God stipulated that the Levites who didn't receive a territorial inheritance in the land were to be provided for among the tribes and through the offerings and that they were to receive of the sacrifices that were to be brought to God, they were to receive a portion that was their food, that was what would sustain them. And so God was their inheritance and what God received was their provision. And Paul is saying that that example from the Old Testament Levitical priesthood continues to apply to the New Testament church. But the New Testament church doesn't bring sacrifices of lambs and goats and bulls. So there are no legs to roast for Sunday lunch. So it doesn't matter then, does it? You've got nothing to give. Paul is making a point, isn't he? That just as the Israelites provided for the Levites, who ministered on their behalf so the Church is to provide for its ministers who serve them in the Word. And this is what Paul says if we have sown spiritual things among you. Is it too much if we reap material things from you? Others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Here am I, an apostle, Here am I an apostle who has been sent to you by the Lord Jesus Christ. Here am I an apostle who has been sent to you by the Lord Jesus Christ who has ministered his word faithfully so that a church has been brought to birth in Corinth. Do I not have the right to expect support from you? Look what you have gained from me. Paul is saying. I brought the Word of Life to you. I proclaimed the Lord Jesus Christ to you. The light of the Gospel came into your sight and into your hearing so that you knew that you were bound in sin and condemned to eternal destruction. But I proclaimed to you a Saviour the Son of God incarnate who lived a righteous life for you and died upon the cross to take away your sins and if you will come to him. and acknowledge your sins and turn from your sins and cling to him and cry to him for mercy. Then he will save you and he will free you from the condemnation that you deserve and he will bring you into the family of God and he will provide for you an eternal inheritance. and a hope that will never be put to shame. These are the things that I have proclaimed to you. These are the things that I have brought to you. Now is it too much that I might not receive from you a little of the material blessings that God has given to you? Have I not given you so much more The things of this world sustain our lives in this world, but the things of God provide for eternal life. Which is greater? Who is the greater beneficiary in this transaction? The Corinthians or Paul? They have received so much from him. But Paul doesn't end there with these illustrations and examples. He comes to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his word. And he says to them in the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. This isn't just something that's going on in the world as people go about their daily lives, their daily employment and benefit from it. This isn't just something from the Old Testament, from the Levitical priesthood that is now null and void and past and gone. But this is something that the Lord Jesus Christ himself commanded and he's referring to Luke chapter 10 and verse 7 or Matthew chapter 10 and verses 9 and 10 where Jesus Christ sent his disciples out to proclaim the kingdom of God. And he told them when you go out you don't take any money with you. You go out and you proclaim the word of God and the labourer is worthy of his food or the labourer is worthy of his wage. And from that command of Christ Paul is saying that the ministry of the church is to be maintained. He uses the same arguments when he writes to Timothy in 1st Timothy chapter 5 and verse 18 and he says, the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain and the labourer deserves his wages. Now it's interesting because Paul says the scripture declares and he uses those two quotations from the scripture. One is from Deuteronomy 25 and verse 4 which we've just talked a little bit about. And the other one is from nowhere in the Old Testament, but it's from the words of Christ. The scriptures, Paul says, say, this is our authority. The word of God has come to us through the prophets and through his son. And Paul is saying to the Corinthian Christians, this is the command of Christ. that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. This is Paul's right established on Christ's authority as well as biblical revelation and everyday life. He isn't simply making an assertion because he likes the idea. He is making a claim. on the authority of his king. And then he says, but I have made no use of any of these rights. So I want us to think a little bit about Paul's right relinquished in the third place. He's asserted and he's established his right to be supported by the church and then Paul emphatically relinquishes that right, not once but twice he says in this passage, we have not made use of this right. For the sake of the gospel of Christ. We have not made this claim, though we could have done. And Paul is arguing from the greater to the lesser. Paul is calling upon the Corinthian Christians not to demand their rights. Here's a Corinthian Christian and he's come to understand that idols are nothing. and therefore the food that has been sacrificed to idols is untainted by them. There is nothing evil about them. There's nothing that this piece of meat can do to spoil the Christian's relationship to Christ, to undermine his position in the kingdom of God, to separate him from the love of his creator, He can sit down and he can enjoy this meal in the freedom that he has in Christ from all false idols. And he has a right to do so. But someone else in the same church says, I'm not so sure. I spent all of my childhood growing up believing in idols, believing that there was a God behind that graven image. I spent all of my life growing up thinking that when I brought these offerings to these idols that it would do me good, that they would work on my behalf, that it would settle any unkindness that they might have towards me because I'd done something wrong. that it would earn their favour for me, that I would be prosperous and successful if I did these things. And I just can't shake off all of that. I know that an idol is nothing but the association of these things with that which surrounds me in my place of work and in the society in which I live. I just can't have anything to do with that. and I will not eat of that food. And the one who has the freedom, Paul says, must give up the right to that freedom. It's not that big a deal, he says, to maintain your rights if it will lead to the undermining of your brother's faith. and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul is looking at an issue for which Christians will differ in their conclusions and their application of the truth of God's word. And he's saying, now here's a right I've given up and there's no different opinions about it. It is a right that everyone can see from God's word with clarity that I have. But I will not hold on to that right if by doing so in some way it's going to undermine the work of the Gospel of Christ in this community. And so I have relinquished this right, I have made no use of this right. I would rather endure anything than put an obstacle in the way of the Gospel. Now he doesn't say what this obstacle is. He doesn't say why it is that by claiming his right to be provided for within the Corinthian assembly would in some way undermine the offer of the gospel. We can speculate as to what it may have been, as though he was only doing it for the money and he wasn't convinced really in the power of the gospel. or in the truth of the gospel, it was a means to an end, to lie in his own pockets, to earn his own comfort. Perhaps that was it, we don't know. But Paul's point to the Corinthian Christians is, I have a real right and I'm prepared to give it up so that the gospel isn't hindered. You have a disputed right, you'd better be willing to give it up for the sake of the gospel and the kingdom of Christ. Paul has the right to that which Christ clearly declares is just, but he relinquishes it. How much more should believers relinquish their freedom in disputed issues for the good of the body? And this pattern isn't just a pattern that Paul is portraying. It isn't just an example that Paul is living out in his life and calling them to follow, though he does call them to follow his example. And he does so without any shame. But Paul patterns himself upon the Lord Jesus Christ. His own manner of living is drawn from the life of Christ, who didn't cling to his rights to sit on the throne of God in heaven and receive the worship of the angels, but humbled himself and came into this world as one of us. Why? Why did he do that? Why did he give up his right to the glory of heaven and the worship of the angels for a time to be made lower than them? Why did he do it? So that sinners might be saved. So that you and I might come to know that the power of sin that kept us imprisoned in wickedness might be broken, that we might be freed to serve our Creator and glorify him in our lives. Jesus came that through his own self-sacrifice many might be saved. And that saving work is at the heart of the Church's commission. It is the goal of the Church's commission that disciples should be made, that followers of the Lord Jesus Christ should be brought to birth by the power of the Spirit of God at work through the preached word. It is the goal of the commission given by Christ to his Church that those who follow him might be made like him. might be formed into his image and likeness as he is the perfect representation of the glory of God. And if the one who came into this world to save us did not cling to his rights so that sinners might be reconciled to God, We ought not demand our rights as sinners but willingly relinquish them in order to maintain the unity of the body of Christ in the church and to further the sanctification of our brothers and sisters as we grow together towards maturity. in Christ Jesus to the fullness of his likeness in which rights are not demanded but the service of God and the good of his people take the priority. It is our privilege to reflect Christ by not demanding our rights and doing good to others. Let's pray. Lord, we live in a culture in which everyone has their rights and everyone demands their rights. And even as we have seen, as we have traversed these chapters of 1 Corinthians, we have seen how the Corinthian world has come into the Corinthian church and has corrupted it and how easy it is for our world, the world of 21st century New Zealand to come into the New Zealand church and to corrupt it. With all the talk of rights of this group and that group and this person and that individual, how easy it is for us to think in similar terms. We pray almighty God that you would show us Christ. You would show us his great humility. though he was equal with you he did not cling to that but made himself nothing and he did it so that we might be saved so that we might be brought out of the the prison of sin that we were trapped in and freed to serve you We who were worthless rebels against you. He came to us and he reached out to us and he took hold of us. Almighty God, help us to be like him. Help us to humble ourselves. Help us not to cling to our rights as legitimate as they may be, but help us to let go of them, that we might share in Christ's glory, that we might share in Christ's work. that we might share in the redemption of sinners and their transformation into the likeness of Christ that together we may be sanctified and made ready as a perfect bride adorned for her husband that we may enter into that marriage union. and enjoy its riches and its glory forever and ever. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.