If you have your Bibles, turn with me to first Corinthians chapter nine. So we continue our sermon series through first Corinthians. If you don't have your Bible with you, I'd encourage you to take one out from the chair in front of you and follow along as we have been walking through this important letter of the Apostle Paul. Last time we were together, we looked at chapter eight, where he addressed the situation of food offered to idols. And he spoke about the fact that as Christians living in Corinth, even though they had a right to eat food offered to idols. They were to surrender that right to love their weaker brethren who had scruples with eating food. that had been offered to idols. And at the end of chapter eight, the apostle Paul said, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble. And so the main point in chapter eight was that if we are to love our brothers, it means that we are to respect the conscience of our brother. and we are not to assert our rights, and we are not to express our even legitimate Christian freedom if it causes our brother to stumble in his conscience. Love is more important than being right. Love is more important than enjoying our Christian liberty. As we come into chapter nine, the apostle Paul proves to the Corinthians that he practices what he has preached to them. And he starts talking now about how he is going to surrender his rights as an apostle, not so much just for the sake of loving the brethren, but also for the sake of the advance of the gospel. And so in this chapter, the focus is on surrendering rights for the sake of the gospel because the gospel is more important than our Christian liberty. The gospel is more important than our rights. The gospel is more important than getting what we think we are entitled to because people need the gospel to be saved. The good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ to reconcile sinners to God, by Jesus's life and death and resurrection, that message brings salvation, it brings the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit and new life. And there's nothing more important than the gospel, and we'll see that this morning as we continue our study of 1 Corinthians by looking at chapter 9. Let's stand together as we share God's word, 1 Corinthians 9, verses 1 through 18. God's word says this. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 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? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. Thus far, the reading of God's word, the grass withers, the flower fades, but God's word endures forever and ever. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we thank you for the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is your power unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. We thank you that by this gospel, we are saved. And this is the gospel that we are to proclaim to the whole of creation. As the Lord Jesus said, whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And we are to make disciples of the nations with this gospel. And so, Lord, we pray that you would write these truths on our hearts. We pray that you would help us to prioritize the gospel and help us in our own lives and stations to be willing to surrender our rights for the sake of your gospel. Speak to us this morning, Lord, for your servants are listening. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Would you please be seated? If Paul sounds like he is on the defense in 1 Corinthians 9, it is because he is. Evidently, there were people in the church in Corinth who were criticizing and scrutinizing his apostolic ministry. He alludes to that in verse 3 when he says, this is my defense to those who would examine me. We don't know the precise identity of those members of the Corinthian church who were criticizing Paul, but we know that they existed because in various places in 1 Corinthians and especially in 2 Corinthians, he addresses his critics. Maybe some of them were criticizing Paul because he was not one of the original 12 apostles. Maybe some were criticizing him for some other reason. We don't really know why they were coming against Paul, but we do know that he felt the need to respond to the criticisms that were being leveled against him. If you've ever been criticized for serving the Lord, you can identify with Paul. Maybe as a parent, your children have criticized you and scrutinized you for the way that you have cared for your children. Or maybe you're a teacher, there's several teachers in this congregation, maybe your students have criticized you for the way that you've taught them. Or maybe you're an employer and you have cared for the employees where you work and yet they've criticized your leadership. If you've ever come under criticism for doing what God wants you to do, you know how difficult it can be. And yet in this passage, Paul is not primarily just concerned with his own reputation, but rather what becomes clear in 1 Corinthians 9 is that of utmost concern to him is the gospel of Jesus Christ. What Paul is doing, he is doing to advance the gospel. And he doesn't want any obstacle, he doesn't want any hindrance to that goal, that passion in his life to proclaim the gospel. He wants others to be saved through hearing the gospel, the good news of Jesus and his life and death and burial and resurrection and eternal life through him. He wants others to know that and he doesn't want anyone to get hung up on some secondary matter or even some right that Paul is asserting because he wants others to be saved. And so in this chapter, really the whole chapter, and we didn't read all of it, Paul is really talking about how he surrendered his rights, not just to love his brothers as they were to surrender their right to eat food offered to idols in chapter 8 to love their brothers, but here he's talking about surrendering his rights for the sake of the advance of the gospel. We are all called, even though we're not all called to be apostles, we're not all called to be ministers of the word, we are all called to seek to advance the gospel in whatever way we can. And so as we walk through this, we learn lessons about how we are supposed to advance the gospel and how we should remove obstacles for people. in hearing the gospel because there's nothing more important than the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are three things that Paul does in this passage that I want you to take note of. First of all, we see how Paul answers That's the first thing he's doing here. He's answering the criticisms that have been brought against his ministry. Secondly, we see how he is surrendering rights. He surrenders rights, especially the right to be paid as he had planted the church in Corinth. He did not take a salary. He didn't take any of the offerings, but rather he surrendered that right. He acknowledges the right existed, but how he surrendered that right. And then thirdly, we see how he prioritizes the gospel. He answers his critics, he surrenders rights, and he prioritizes the gospel. First of all, look with me here at how Paul answers his critics. It's kind of interesting just the syntax of how chapter 9 is written. It's mostly questions, isn't it? I think if you count them in the ESV, there's 16 question marks there in chapter 9 as he rhetorically is just asking question after question to get the Corinthians to consider the nature of his legitimate apostolic authority. And as he's giving his defense, as he says there in verse 3, to those who are scrutinizing him and questioning him, he's really stressing that he is a legitimate apostle. That he is really the real deal. He has the proper credentials. Notice that in one of the questions here in verse 1, he stresses that he has seen the Lord. Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? That was one of the characteristics of an apostle. He had to see the risen Christ. Obviously the Apostle Paul did not see Christ between his resurrection and his ascension as the other apostles did. But as one untimely born, he met the glorified Christ when he was on the road to Damascus. When he was persecuting Christians, Jesus appeared to him. And Jesus said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? and Saul of Tarsus was gloriously converted, and he was called to be an apostle of the Lord. And he's saying, I'm real, I'm legitimate, because I've actually seen Jesus. And so he's responding to his critics, even though he was one untimely born, even though he was one who saw Jesus at a later time, he still did see Jesus, and he still is an apostle. He also emphasizes here that the legitimacy of his apostolic office in that the Corinthians themselves had been converted by his apostolic ministry. He says there in verse 2, if to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. Your very conversion, your very faith, Corinthians, is the result of the legitimacy of my apostleship. I preached the gospel to you. I planted the church there in Corinth. And that was a seal, that was a confirmation that my ministry is legitimate. Much like we would say today when a minister brings other people to the Lord, that confirms the legitimacy of his call to the ministry. And so Paul is saying, you're the seal of that. Now remember there were people in the church in Corinth, the church he planted, who were criticizing him. And he's saying to criticize him is to undermine your own legitimacy as a congregation. Because you yourselves are my crown, and my joy, and the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. And so he says, this is the defense. This is how I'm defending myself. Jesus revealed himself to me in a special way as an apostle, and you have been converted, which proves that I am legitimate. Now in answering these criticisms, is the apostle Paul primarily concerned about his reputation? Is he primarily concerned about the fact that he has been undermined? are that he has been personally offended by these critics. How dare those people in the church he planted and labored for, how dare they say anything negative about him? No, I don't think so. I don't think he's responding to criticism out of selfishness. But he's responding to this criticism and this scrutiny that he's received for the sake of the gospel. He wants them to know that his apostleship is legitimate. And what is his apostleship for? To be an eyewitness to the resurrected Christ. He wants them to know that they have been genuinely converted and genuinely engrafted into the body of Christ. And so he's stressing, you're the seal of my apostleship. He's not just defending himself because he cares about his own reputation, he's doing this for the sake of the gospel. Now our context is different, but we should ask ourselves, there are times in life where we feel the need to defend ourselves. Maybe we come under criticism for serving the Lord in some way, and someone scrutinizes us. It's not wrong to defend ourself, but we should be defending ourselves for the right reason. And the right reason here is so that others might know the gospel. He wasn't taking this personally per se, but he was wanting them to be established in the truth of Christ. And so if you've ever come under criticism for the sake of doing something right, maybe it's evangelizing at your workplace, maybe it's serving your children or serving other people at this church or reaching out to someone in the community or proclaiming the truth in a secular setting. When you come under criticism, how do you respond? What is the reason for your response? Is it the gospel or is it your own? self-image. For Paul, his defense of his apostleship was tied together in the gospel message itself, and he responds to his critics for that reason. Secondly, we see not only that he responds to his critics, but also here that he surrenders rights for the sake of the gospel. That's what the bulk of this passage is about, surrendering rights. And he continues to ask questions, doesn't he, as he shows all the different rights that he has as an apostle. He speaks of his right to feed himself, to be able to provide for his own physical needs. Do I not have the right to eat and drink? He speaks of the right to get married in verse five. Do we not have the right to take on a believing wife? Like the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord in Cephas. Cephas, Peter was married. Paul was unmarried. He was called to be celibate. saying He has the right to do that. Interestingly we notice here that the Bible is very much against the idea of any kind of ministerial celibacy as a requirement as you see in some Christian traditions. But rather He's saying no ministers of the Word have a right to be married. He also talks about Barnabas and him as having a right to refrain from working for a living. Do they have the right to be provided for? And then he kind of uses common sense to hone in on one right, and that is to receive payment for his services as a minister of the word. He kind of uses some imagery here that makes perfect sense, a kind of common sense illustration. He says in verse 7, a soldier, a soldier is a servant, a soldier serves his country, but a soldier also gets paid. A farmer, he plants a vineyard, but does the farmer also eat some of the fruit that comes from that vineyard? Well, of course he does. He refers to a shepherd, a shepherd tends the flock, but he also benefits from the animals he cares for. He does eat some or drink some of the milk that comes from those animals. What is the point he's making? It's common sense that those who labor in the ministry of the word are entitled to compensation. But our rights need to be rooted in something more than common sense. And so then Paul says, it's also rooted in the authority of God's law. In verse 8, he talks about this right for ministers of the word to be paid. And he says there, it's written in the law of God. And he quotes from the book of Deuteronomy 25 and verse 4. It's an interesting passage, isn't it? You shall not muzzle an ox, it says, when it treads out the grain. I think if your average person quoted that to you, you would say, what does that have to do with the price of tea in China, wouldn't you? Well, it shows what a high view the apostle had of the law of God. It shows what a high view he had even of the case law in the Old Testament about this agricultural situation that it would be inhumane to have this animal working for you and not being able to receive benefit from its own labors. But what Paul shows is that there's a principle in that case law that carries on. And what is that principle? That those who labor are entitled to receive benefit from that labor. And whether it's material labor or spiritual labor, intellectual labor or physical labor, the principle is still the same. Isn't that interesting about just the case law? Maybe that means that you and me should read the case law. Do you read it in your devotional life? Do you skip that part of your Bible reading plan... ...when you get to all those laws in the book of Exodus and Deuteronomy... . ..and it's talking about how to live within the state of Israel as a theocracy. Do you just skip that? Well, we can't skip that because the principles still apply... ...and Paul is taking those principles to prove... that those who minister in this way should reap benefits. He says, if we've sown spiritual things, we should reap material things. And so he makes sure this is a right that he has. He also will go on to say, if you jump ahead for a moment in verse 13, he'll use the image of the priest. The priest would offer sacrifices. And if you read those sacrifices in the book of Leviticus especially, they were able to eat from those sacrifices. And so they were able to benefit even from the ministry that they were doing for the Lord, they were able to prosper from it as well. And so Paul's establishing this is a right. Common sense shows it's a right. He says the Bible says that it is a right. But because it was a stumbling block for the Corinthian culture, notice what he says in verse 11, verse 12 in the middle of the verse. Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel. And then he goes on to say in verse 14, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But then he says in verse 15, but I have not made use of these rights and I'm not trying to get you to fulfill this right. That would have been of great cost to the Apostle Paul. We know that he had a trade. He was a tent maker. Sometimes people say he's bi-vocational. Is that actually fair considering that he didn't even receive pay for the ministerial labors that he performed? Seems like he's mono-vocational to me. He was a tent maker and that's how he made ends meet. And yet he also served in this calling of Apostle. And in the first century, when those churches were struggling and they couldn't support ministers, He refused to burden them, but rather He laid aside that right for the sake of the gospel. Our circumstance is very different. Again, we can say, well, I'm not an apostle, I'm not, you might be able to say, a minister of the Word. But we can't ask ourselves this question, what are we willing to surrender for the sake of the gospel? what are we willing to sacrifice for the advance of the gospel? In America where we love our freedoms and we love the prosperous culture in which we live and we are a very entitled people in many ways, just even the concept that God would call us to sacrifice anything for the sake of the gospel is almost unintelligible to your average American. And yet there are sacrifices that God calls all of us to make. Jesus calls all of his disciples to deny themselves, to take up their cross and follow him. That's something that's true of every disciple. And in our own unique situation, our own calling in life, we have to consider what that cost may be. I've known mothers who are very intelligent, very great academically, very skilled and could go out and they could have a great job out in the world. But they have been willing to sacrifice that right to be home with the children for the sake of the gospel. I have known husbands and fathers who have had opportunities to get great jobs where they would make a lot of money, but because of the travel and because of the time it would have them away from their wives and children, they've sacrificed the right to take that job for the sake of the gospel and bringing the gospel to their children. We all have different circumstances. We all have different context. We can't make one law that equally fits everybody. But in your own life and in your own situation, what is God calling you to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel? It really is worth it. It really was a big deal for Paul to set this aside and yet he was glad to do it. You can see he even says he boasts in it. because he wants others to hear the gospel, believe, and be saved. So he's responding to his critics for the sake of the gospel. He's surrendering rights for the sake of the gospel. And all of this in the third place is because he's prioritizing the gospel. He's prioritizing it. Notice that when he talks about this gospel, he says here that he doesn't want to be paid, because that would deny him of his ground for boasting. And boasting there is not sinful boasting or proud boasting. You could almost translate it rejoicing. He rejoices that he not only gets to preach the gospel, that he gets to do it free of charge. He's happy to do it. It's not just his job. He gets to do it out of great joy, because he's been called an apostle. And he says, If you started to pay me or if I did secure this right and insisted on it, he said it would take away my joy because I feel called at this moment, at this time to do it for free. But notice that when he speaks of the gospel there in verse 16, just the burden that it is to get that message out. He says, woe, necessity is laid on me, woe to me if I don't preach the gospel. Sometimes young men will ask me, how did you know that you were called to be a pastor? And part of it was right there. It's just that when God calls a man to be a minister of the word, whether apostle then or a minister today, there's an insatiable desire to proclaim the gospel. There's a burden felt, woe to me if I don't preach the gospel. And that is something that the Holy Spirit confirms internally and the church recognizes externally. But what Paul is saying there is, I want more than anything else to make known the gospel. Notice the centrality of Christ and Him crucified. We've seen this before. He said, I resolve to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I want you to know who Jesus is. I want you to know that He's the Son of God. I want you to know that He's truly human, He's truly divine. He's the one mediator between God and man. He's the one God sent into this world to be the Savior from sin. He's the Lord of glory. I want you to know what he did. Crucified. He was born of the Virgin. He was born under the law. He lived perfectly for us. He was tempted in every way we are, yet he never sinned. And that he willingly laid down his life on the cross. No one took it from him, but he laid it down. And he died as a sacrifice, a blameless sacrifice for the sins of his people. He bore the wrath of an infinite God on the cross, and he truly died, and he was truly buried, and God physically, literally, and historically raised him from the dead. And he ascended into heaven, and he was seen by many witnesses, and he commands all people everywhere to repent. to believe in him and receive the forgiveness of sins in his name. This was his passion. This was on his heart. This was the most important thing. We might say for the apostle Paul, you've heard the statement, he kept the main thing, the main thing. And the main thing is the gospel of Jesus. Woe to me if I don't preach it. I don't preach it for a reward, but it is the reward. It is the reward itself, he's saying. It is a stewardship, he says. It is something that has been entrusted to me and I joyfully, cheerfully, willingly, sacrificially make it known. Is the gospel that important to you? Do you value it that much? Is it like the treasure hidden in a field that you go and you sell everything you have that in your joy you might obtain that treasure? Do you really hunger for Christ as He is the bread of life who satisfies? Do you really desire Him more than anything else? And do you desire others to know Him? Sometimes we make evangelism and missions and outreach much more complicated than it needs to be. If you wanna be a faithful witness for Christ, you simply speak about what you love. We all naturally talk about the things that we love, don't we? If we love sports, we tend to talk about sports. If we love music, we talk about music. If we love our children, we talk about our children. If we love a hobby, we talk about our hobby. If we love Jesus and the gospel, we talk about it. It doesn't have to be forced. It doesn't have to be a guilt trip. It doesn't have to be something that someone else coerces us into doing. But because we have been saved by the gospel, we want others to know the gospel. We don't want to put any obstacle in the way. And we're willing to surrender our rights. We don't have to insist on any entitlements that are due us. Notice here, even entitlements that are supported by scripture. Because we want people to be saved. We want them to know the good news. Notice later on what the Apostle Paul will say in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. He'll say in verse three, For I deliver to you, Corinthians, as of first importance what I also received. Now notice what he's saying there. This is the most important thing. I deliver to you as of first importance. He's putting this in bold. He's highlighting this for us. And what is it? That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the 12. And then Paul brings in his own apostolic testimony and says, then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, then he appeared also to James, last of all, to one untimely born, he appeared to me. though I'm the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. That's the most important thing. Last time we saw that there were those who were asserting their rights about food offered to idols. They say idols aren't real, food is just food, we can eat whatever we want. And they were exactly right. And yet Paul says there's more to think about than just being right, loving your brother. And here you could say, I have a right to this, that, or the other, and you might be exactly right, but what best serves to advance the gospel? That's something we all have to ask. When I respond to criticism, do I respond for the sake of the gospel? When I have a right that I'm entitled to, am I willing to lay it aside? Jesus was in the very form of God, and yet he didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he humbled himself, and he made himself nothing, and he took on the form of a servant, and he became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross for our salvation. He laid aside all his rights. Are we willing to lay aside ours for the sake of the gospel? But we will if it's a priority. The gospel will only be a priority is if we know how much we need it. Remember that woman, the sinful woman who came in and interrupted Jesus's dinner party with Simon, the Pharisee? and she broke an alabaster flask and poured it on Jesus' feet and she wept over his feet and wiped his feet with her hair and people started to whisper and they started to say, oh, if he was really a holy man, he wouldn't allow that woman to touch him. What did Jesus say? He who is forgiven much loves much. When you know how much you've been forgiven, when you know how much Jesus has done for you through His sacrifice, when you know how much He loves you, and you know how much you're forgiven, you are in love with Him. Your love increases because of the debt that has been paid. And we all have a debt we could never repay, but Christ has paid the debt. And if you're here today and you have not had that debt paid, Christ has paid the debt and if you trust in Him, all of your sins are forgiven and His righteousness covers you, His Spirit indwells you and you can have new life. But for the rest of us, we need to ask, is this the priority of our lives? And if it is, let us live in a way that is consistent with the gospel of the grace of God. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we do thank you and praise you for the good news of Jesus. And it is of first importance that he suffered for our sins according to the scriptures, that he died, that he was buried, and that he rose again according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to many. We thank you that the scriptures foretold our faith in specific prophecies. We thank you that Jesus was seen by eyewitnesses as risen from the dead. We thank you that the gospel is true and that you've sealed it to our hearts by the Spirit. And so, Lord, because we know that it is true, may we be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of that gospel, and may we be willing to love others and meet them where they are for the sake of Christ and the wonderful words of life. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.