Should You Give Up Your Rights?

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:05.000 Please be seated and let's turn to first Corinthians nine. Mike, I'm sorry 2 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:09.910 for springing it on you. That's not fair, but let's turn to first 3 00:00:09.949 --> 00:00:34.100 Corinthians nine. Here God's word this morning. So in the last chapter, 4 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:39.649 Paul spoke to us about food sacrifice to idols and he helped us a learn 5 00:00:39.770 --> 00:00:45.890 how to think through a difficult ethical situation, as he has been in the 6 00:00:45.969 --> 00:00:51.679 last several chapters, thinking about how we live in this world as citizens that 7 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:55.880 are not of this world and yet are here and belong here and have things 8 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:00.119 to do and callings to fulfill. He's helping us to think about how we 9 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:03.840 live in light of the world around us that God has given us, in 10 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:07.230 light of our communion with Christ and with one another. And he continues that 11 00:01:07.390 --> 00:01:11.510 discussion now by talking a little bit about his personal decisions, is, his 12 00:01:11.629 --> 00:01:18.739 choices that he's making in his ministry. Let's give our attention now to this 13 00:01:18.980 --> 00:01:23.900 word, God's word to us, and First Corinthians nine. Am I not 14 00:01:23.140 --> 00:01:29.379 free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus, Our 15 00:01:29.459 --> 00:01:33.930 Lord? Are Not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I 16 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:37.250 am not an apostle at least I am to you, for you are the 17 00:01:37.370 --> 00:01:42.290 seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who 18 00:01:42.290 --> 00:01:47.280 would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 19 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:51.560 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do 20 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:56.519 the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephus? Or is it 21 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:00.120 only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 22 00:02:01.709 --> 00:02:07.109 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? WHO plants a vineyard 23 00:02:07.189 --> 00:02:10.550 without eating any of its fruit, or who tends a flock without getting some 24 00:02:10.750 --> 00:02:15.460 of the milk? Do I say these things on Human Authority? Does not 25 00:02:15.580 --> 00:02:20.020 the law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses 26 00:02:20.419 --> 00:02:23.860 you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Is it 27 00:02:23.020 --> 00:02:28.780 for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? 28 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:32.169 It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope 29 00:02:32.689 --> 00:02:37.689 and the thresh or thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we 30 00:02:37.849 --> 00:02:42.449 have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material 31 00:02:42.650 --> 00:02:46.879 things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not 32 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:52.000 we even more. Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, 33 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:55.240 but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle will in the way of the 34 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:00.310 Gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the 35 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:04.349 temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar 36 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:08.310 share in the sacrificial offerings in the same way? The Lord commanded that those 37 00:03:08.349 --> 00:03:13.780 who proclaim the Gospel should get their living by the Gospel. But I have 38 00:03:13.939 --> 00:03:16.580 made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things 39 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:22.620 to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprived 40 00:03:22.699 --> 00:03:27.020 me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the Gospel, that 41 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:30.409 for if I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, 42 00:03:31.169 --> 00:03:35.689 for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach 43 00:03:35.770 --> 00:03:38.289 the Gospel, for if I do this of my own will, I have 44 00:03:38.490 --> 00:03:43.319 a reward, but if not of my own will, I'm still entrusted with 45 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:46.560 a stewardship. What, then, is my reward? That in my preaching, 46 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:51.240 I may present the Gospel free of charge, so as not to make 47 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.280 full use of my right in the Gospel. For, though I am free 48 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:59.310 from all, I have made myself a servant to all that I might win 49 00:03:59.469 --> 00:04:02.389 more of them. To the Jews, I became as a Jew in order 50 00:04:02.469 --> 00:04:05.750 to win Jews. To those under the law. I became as one under 51 00:04:05.789 --> 00:04:10.580 the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win 52 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:14.379 those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one 53 00:04:14.419 --> 00:04:17.420 outside the law, not being outside the law of God but under the Law 54 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:21.980 of Christ, that I might win those outside the law. To the weak. 55 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:27.050 Guy became weak that I might win the week. I have become all 56 00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:30.930 things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do 57 00:04:31.089 --> 00:04:34.290 it all for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share with them 58 00:04:34.329 --> 00:04:39.319 in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race, all the 59 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:44.199 runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may 60 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:48.319 obtain it. Every athlete exercises self control and all things. They do it 61 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:54.550 to receive a perishable wreath. But we have an in and and imperishable. 62 00:04:55.430 --> 00:04:59.350 So I do not run namelessly, I do not box as one beating the 63 00:04:59.430 --> 00:05:03.629 air, but I discipline my body, keep it under control, lest after 64 00:05:03.670 --> 00:05:10.019 preaching to you up to others, I myself should be disqualified. May God 65 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:17.060 bless his word to us. So we have a lot of freedoms as Americans, 66 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:24.209 and that is largely a very, very good thing. We think about 67 00:05:24.209 --> 00:05:28.209 it, we spend time talking about those rights, we spend a lot of 68 00:05:28.290 --> 00:05:32.449 time maintaining them, protecting them and oftentime just taking them for granted and enjoying 69 00:05:32.529 --> 00:05:36.800 them, which is often a very great blessing. But of course it's not 70 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:43.000 just about as Americans. It's not just Americans who care about rights. All 71 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:46.600 people in every place have rights by being virtue of being made in the image 72 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:53.069 of God, of living in a world that's under his authority. But just 73 00:05:53.269 --> 00:05:59.149 because we have a right doesn't necessarily mean it's the right thing to use it. 74 00:05:59.829 --> 00:06:03.339 Sometimes it's the wrong thing to use it in. This takes wisdom. 75 00:06:04.500 --> 00:06:10.620 Sometimes it is it right. It is important and necessary to defend, maintain 76 00:06:10.860 --> 00:06:15.180 and protect our rights. Paul does that here in verse three. He says 77 00:06:15.300 --> 00:06:18.370 this is my defense to those who would examine me, and he gives various 78 00:06:18.449 --> 00:06:24.649 proofs and arguments, which will consider in a moment. For why? Why? 79 00:06:24.730 --> 00:06:29.449 The rights that he has are rightfully his, but Paul also wants to 80 00:06:29.490 --> 00:06:32.399 think about it. Also wants us to think about when it's time to give 81 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:35.519 up our rights, which, as we all know, can be a very 82 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:42.839 hard thing to do sometimes. I'm to give up these things that naturally rightfully 83 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:46.829 belong to us. A children understand this very early on. That's mine, 84 00:06:47.589 --> 00:06:53.709 that's not fair, too much time, and all these other phrases that they 85 00:06:53.790 --> 00:06:57.509 use. They know right away that there are things that belong to them that 86 00:06:57.550 --> 00:07:02.620 are rightfully there's this is something God has has built into us, and there 87 00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:06.660 is a lot of goodness in that. But Paul also tells us that there 88 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:12.180 are ways and choices that he's making to give up those rights. And so 89 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:15.089 we want to do is think together this morning, through what he says here, 90 00:07:15.569 --> 00:07:19.250 about what those rights are, why they're in portant and why he's willing 91 00:07:19.290 --> 00:07:23.529 to give them up. And we should think also about how it applies to 92 00:07:23.610 --> 00:07:28.250 our own situations, what rights we have, what rights we should maintain and 93 00:07:28.370 --> 00:07:32.560 protect and keep and also sometimes give up for the sake of something greater. 94 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:39.279 So first, Paul's Rights as an apostle. He begins this passage by thinking, 95 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:44.199 or by sort of making the argument that he is an apostle, and 96 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:46.149 he puts it in the he starts by putting it in these rhetorical questions. 97 00:07:46.230 --> 00:07:49.350 He says, am I not an apostle? The answers of course yes, 98 00:07:49.430 --> 00:07:53.029 of course, Paul, we all know that your own apostle. But he's 99 00:07:53.069 --> 00:07:57.310 making this statement. I have these rights because I am this person. He 100 00:07:57.389 --> 00:08:00.899 says, have I not seen the Lord Jesus? And indeed he did. 101 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:05.579 You remember, Paul was on the road to Damascus when the Lord himself showed 102 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:13.410 himself to Paul and called him to life in Christ and to a ministry in 103 00:08:13.569 --> 00:08:20.129 Christ. He taught Paul, he empowered Paul, he sent Paul to do 104 00:08:20.930 --> 00:08:24.050 work in his name, and Paul did that work. And so he says 105 00:08:24.649 --> 00:08:28.920 that the people, the Corinthians that he's writing to, are the proof of 106 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.519 that work himself. You want to know that I'm an apostle, just look 107 00:08:31.559 --> 00:08:37.879 at yourselves. In acts we read that Paul, when he came first to 108 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:41.870 Corinth he took a job as a tent maker. How would Paul prove that 109 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:46.149 he was a tent maker? By looking at the tents right, the proof 110 00:08:46.230 --> 00:08:52.029 of his work. He's using a similar analogy here to talk about the Corinthian 111 00:08:52.110 --> 00:08:56.100 church themselves, these people, he says, you are my workmanship. Here 112 00:08:56.179 --> 00:09:01.620 you are, you have the very fact that you exist shows and proves that 113 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:05.259 I am an apostle. Now, of course it's not his work alone and 114 00:09:05.299 --> 00:09:11.090 it's not a work that he commissioned himself to do. He says it is. 115 00:09:11.250 --> 00:09:16.009 They are his workmanship in the Lord, the seal of his apostleship, 116 00:09:16.490 --> 00:09:20.690 in the Lord. He and that is the nature of an apostle. Right, 117 00:09:20.090 --> 00:09:24.250 he goes, not on his own authorities, not just a speaker of 118 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:31.600 some kind of communicator of some kind. He is an apostle, he is 119 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:35.360 an ambassador. He's been one who has been sent by Christ to do this 120 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:39.870 work, sent by Christ equipped to do this work, and indeed he has. 121 00:09:41.909 --> 00:09:46.990 The people are the proof. Well, that leads him to this question 122 00:09:46.070 --> 00:09:52.830 about his rights and as an apostle, he's going to focus particularly on one 123 00:09:52.899 --> 00:09:56.259 right, which is the right to be paid, but he's going to bring 124 00:09:56.259 --> 00:10:01.740 up several others as well to kind of combine these things into one to make 125 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:05.860 this argument. He starts with eating and drinking, which is very related to 126 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:11.730 being paid. He has to eat, like every other human being. Paul 127 00:10:11.769 --> 00:10:13.649 has to eat. He has to drink, he has to stay alive, 128 00:10:15.210 --> 00:10:18.169 and so he grounds this discussion in this very basic right. Do we not 129 00:10:18.409 --> 00:10:22.879 have the right to eat and drink? He continues, and he says, 130 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:28.039 do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do 131 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.559 the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? This is one 132 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:35.909 of a couple passages where we learned that Peter, one of the apostles, 133 00:10:37.070 --> 00:10:43.309 was married. Paul was not, that Peter was. These are rights that 134 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:48.110 he mentions and then he brings up a third in verse six. The third 135 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:54.059 right he mentions is to refrain from working for a living. Now, when 136 00:10:54.100 --> 00:10:58.539 Paul says this, he doesn't mean not working at all. Right, he's 137 00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:01.539 not saying I have a right to not work, because he just called the 138 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:07.730 Corinthian church his workmanship. Right, Paul obviously works, but what does he 139 00:11:07.889 --> 00:11:13.289 mean? They're he's talking about working in nonministerial work. He says that as 140 00:11:13.409 --> 00:11:18.320 an apostle he has a right to earn his living from the Gospel. He 141 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:22.240 has a right to refrain from being a tent maker, which he's doing at 142 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:26.440 the moment. He has a right to refrain from that, as do the 143 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:31.440 other apostles, and that's what he's he's talking about here. In other words, 144 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:35.070 he has a right to earn his food for his work as an apostle. 145 00:11:35.350 --> 00:11:39.389 Now, as we continue through this chapter, he begins to get into 146 00:11:39.389 --> 00:11:45.990 an extended argument men and give proofs for that. The first proofs that he 147 00:11:46.149 --> 00:11:50.539 gives for this right begin in verse seven and their arguments that are grounded in 148 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:54.940 what we might call natural law. On these he is making observations about the 149 00:11:56.059 --> 00:12:01.649 world that God has made, and he's making observations and coming to conclusions about 150 00:12:01.690 --> 00:12:05.889 principles that God himself has established, reliable principles, laws, we could even 151 00:12:05.929 --> 00:12:11.289 call them, in which are true. And so he says, for example, 152 00:12:11.850 --> 00:12:16.360 who serves as a soldiers as at his own expense? WHO plants a 153 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:20.080 vineyard without eating in an of an any of its fruit? Who tends a 154 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:26.200 flock without getting some of its milk? He points to these a different kinds 155 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:31.230 of workers, people that put their hands on to business, and he shows 156 00:12:31.269 --> 00:12:37.350 that they reap rewards often from the very thing that they are involved in. 157 00:12:39.309 --> 00:12:41.669 Well, sometimes, when it comes to natural law, people will make an 158 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:46.419 argument and say something. Well, that's just a social construction or that's just 159 00:12:46.539 --> 00:12:52.220 a human invention, and sometimes laws are that. They are social constructions, 160 00:12:52.299 --> 00:12:58.529 they are customs or traditions. But Paul wants us to understand that getting payment 161 00:13:00.009 --> 00:13:05.649 for one's labor is not just some human idea, not just a social construction 162 00:13:05.929 --> 00:13:11.049 or a human tradition or convention. And so he says in Verse Eight. 163 00:13:11.330 --> 00:13:16.120 Do I say these things on Human Authority? Answer is no. He says, 164 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.320 does not the law. And they're speaking of the law. He speaks 165 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:24.480 of the law of Moses. Say the same, for it is written in 166 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:28.190 the Law of Moses you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads the grain. 167 00:13:30.830 --> 00:13:35.549 So he proves this point that he's been making from a natural law kind 168 00:13:35.590 --> 00:13:39.590 of argument. Now he says, look, it's here in scripture too. 169 00:13:39.110 --> 00:13:45.860 You can see that I'm not just judging this on on Human Authority. The 170 00:13:46.100 --> 00:13:50.539 and his conclusion of these observations is that this passage about the ox, it 171 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:54.929 was written for our sake and it applies to everyone. The worker deserves his 172 00:13:56.169 --> 00:14:03.370 wage. And it's true. And Paul extends the argument even more in what 173 00:14:03.570 --> 00:14:09.090 is perhaps a surprising but I think a way that makes sense, when he 174 00:14:09.169 --> 00:14:13.200 says in verse eleven, not only is I'm paraphrasing now. He's saying not 175 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:16.960 only do we have a right to this, but we have perhaps even more 176 00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:22.879 of a right than in some of these other fields. He says, if 177 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.389 we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much that we ask, 178 00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:33.269 is it too much if we reap material things from you, if others 179 00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:35.629 have this rightful claim on you to get paid for their work? Do we 180 00:14:35.990 --> 00:14:41.179 not have even more? I'm so he appeals to the nature of his work, 181 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:43.820 the importance of his work, and says this is this is important, 182 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:48.820 this is really important and he and so he's making this point. Then in 183 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:54.809 verse thirteen he adds a little bit more when he points to the priests and 184 00:14:54.889 --> 00:14:58.529 the temple. Perhaps you are not aware of this, but when the people 185 00:14:58.570 --> 00:15:05.169 brought their sacrifices, many of those sacrifices brought to the temple, we're shared 186 00:15:05.330 --> 00:15:09.240 with the priests. There would be a kind of meal that would be had 187 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:13.480 there. The priests would eat some of that food on there were tithes and 188 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:18.879 offerings that were given that were meant to support the Levites. Paul is not 189 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:24.950 arguing for a return to the priesthood. When quoting these different sections of the 190 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:28.750 law of Moses. He's not trying to put us back under the old covenant. 191 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:33.950 No, he's using what we sometimes call the general equity of these laws, 192 00:15:33.990 --> 00:15:37.100 the general principles that are found in them, and applying them in this 193 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:41.539 new covenant situation. He's not saying we need to go to back to the 194 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:45.100 priesthood, but he says, look at the the the the essence of what's 195 00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:48.059 going on here. The priest was paid for his work and so then he 196 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:54.570 could have been finishes this argument in Verse Fourteen when he says very clearly that 197 00:15:54.690 --> 00:16:00.330 the Lord has commanded those who proclaimed the gospel should get their living by the 198 00:16:00.450 --> 00:16:07.279 Gospel. So this is his argument. Paul is not hesitant about saying what 199 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:14.000 his rights are. Paul is not hesitants about making this claim for himself and 200 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:18.710 maintaining and protecting he doesn't just give a sort of a passing glance at it. 201 00:16:18.789 --> 00:16:26.070 He spends some some time making arguments from different sources even to prove and 202 00:16:26.350 --> 00:16:32.980 argue his point. I mentioned that just to say that sometimes some people look 203 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:36.019 at this passage and some of the things that will get into now and they'll 204 00:16:36.259 --> 00:16:41.419 hear exactly the opposite, that ministers are not supposed to be paid or that 205 00:16:41.620 --> 00:16:45.259 the work of the Gospel is not supposed to receive its reward. But Paul 206 00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:49.529 is saying exactly the opposite here. He's saying it is very important, this 207 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:55.210 is a right that belongs, belongs to him, and he's taking time to 208 00:16:55.330 --> 00:17:03.759 emphasize that. There's other places where Paul, where Paul will maintain his rights. 209 00:17:03.920 --> 00:17:07.160 Will get to a verse in Philippians in a moment. And we're remember 210 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:12.519 also in another area of life, when before Festus, Paul is being accused 211 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:17.950 of various things and he says, I appeal to Caesar as a citizen of 212 00:17:18.029 --> 00:17:22.109 Rome. He exercises his rights to get a hearing before Caesar and remain under 213 00:17:22.150 --> 00:17:26.710 the protection and arrest and a way of Festus. I'm so as not to 214 00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:32.619 go to Jerusalem without getting in all that. The point is that Paul is 215 00:17:32.660 --> 00:17:37.220 not afraid to exercise his rights. Paul uses them. And now we get 216 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:41.059 to the however, because we still have half of this chapter left right. 217 00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:47.769 So Paul, after making this very strong, very strong argument about the importance 218 00:17:48.049 --> 00:17:55.089 and the necessity of ministers being paid for their labors, of eating and drinking 219 00:17:55.170 --> 00:18:00.640 and their needs being provided for, Paul makes this a surprising turn, at 220 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:04.920 least for us, when he tells us that he and other the other workers 221 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:11.759 in Corinth there have not made use of this right. So he says this. 222 00:18:12.309 --> 00:18:15.990 In verse twelve, he says, nevertheless, we have not made use 223 00:18:17.150 --> 00:18:22.390 of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the 224 00:18:22.470 --> 00:18:29.099 way of the Gospel of Christ. In Verse Fifteen, he says something similar. 225 00:18:29.180 --> 00:18:32.339 He says, but I have made no use of any of these rights, 226 00:18:32.779 --> 00:18:36.500 nor am I writing these things to secure such a provision. Right. 227 00:18:36.539 --> 00:18:38.140 If Paul stopped here, you would think he's saying, guys, I need 228 00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:41.809 my paycheck. Right. He does it say? I say he's not saying. 229 00:18:41.849 --> 00:18:47.329 I'm not writing this to secure this provision. In fact, he says, 230 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:53.890 for I would rather die. I would rather die than have anyone deprived 231 00:18:55.210 --> 00:18:59.640 me. I like that rights language there that if anyone deprived me of the 232 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:07.200 of my ground for boasting, what is Paul's ground for boasting? It's The 233 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:12.349 gospel of Jesus Christ. That is free. It's a gospel of grace that 234 00:19:12.509 --> 00:19:18.269 isn't that doesn't require our works or a payment or anything like that. Paul 235 00:19:18.430 --> 00:19:25.180 is not like just some other teacher who desire, who requires a payment in 236 00:19:25.259 --> 00:19:27.900 order for the truth to be given. The Gospel goes out freely. It 237 00:19:29.059 --> 00:19:33.460 is a work freely of God. It is a work in which God does 238 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:40.490 all the work, and he wants that to be maintained. Paul is protecting 239 00:19:40.650 --> 00:19:45.809 his reputation in a lot of ways here. Let me pause that for a 240 00:19:45.890 --> 00:19:52.809 moment and read one more passage to you from Second Corinthians. Second Corinthians Eleven, 241 00:19:52.809 --> 00:19:56.799 verses eight through nine, interesting passage related here. This is out written 242 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:02.480 after First Corinthians. He says I preached God's Gospel to you free of charge. 243 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:07.509 I robbed that's him exaggerating, but he says I robbed other churches by 244 00:20:07.589 --> 00:20:12.549 accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with 245 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:17.630 you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers 246 00:20:17.670 --> 00:20:22.339 who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from 247 00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:29.059 burdening you in any way. In Philippians four fifteen through eighteen, we read 248 00:20:29.180 --> 00:20:36.289 that these Macedonian Christians regularly contributed to Paul's needs and Paul accepted them. Right. 249 00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:40.690 So, in some places at sometimes, Paul is willing to accept from 250 00:20:41.410 --> 00:20:45.289 money from the churches. Even in Corinth he is accepting money, just not 251 00:20:45.569 --> 00:20:48.849 from the Corinthians. So you see, it's a little bit of a complex 252 00:20:48.930 --> 00:20:53.160 picture. What's Paul doing here? Why is Paul Willing to accept money from 253 00:20:53.200 --> 00:21:03.869 one place and not from another? The answer is probably there's probably several answers 254 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:07.150 to this, but I think there are two big ones and, as I 255 00:21:07.269 --> 00:21:11.750 was beginning to mention, one is that Paul is protecting his reputation. Right. 256 00:21:11.829 --> 00:21:15.910 Remember, at the beginning of Corinthians we read he came into a conflict 257 00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:21.460 where there was sort of one teacher and another teacher being pitted against one another. 258 00:21:22.059 --> 00:21:25.660 It wasn't Paul versus a policy, but it was people taking up their 259 00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:30.099 names and pitting them against one another. And he says they're at the beginning 260 00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:33.289 of First Corinthians. We're not in a fight for against one another. We're 261 00:21:33.289 --> 00:21:37.690 not in competition for one another. I'm not here for money and reputation and 262 00:21:37.849 --> 00:21:41.089 fame. I'm here to preach the Gospel and he wants to make that very, 263 00:21:41.130 --> 00:21:45.730 very clear to these people, to this church here. He doesn't want 264 00:21:45.730 --> 00:21:48.920 there to be any confusion about this and I think this is one of the 265 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:56.200 reasons that he withholds pay. He doesn't want to burden them. Is the 266 00:21:56.599 --> 00:22:02.190 reason none he gives. In Second Corinthians, this is perhaps a financial thing. 267 00:22:03.349 --> 00:22:07.549 Corinthian, the church in Corinth was a perhaps in need in some ways. 268 00:22:10.029 --> 00:22:12.190 We have a third reason as well, and that's that. And we 269 00:22:12.269 --> 00:22:15.059 haven't gotten into this yet, but we will come to see that the church 270 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:19.980 and Corinth had another problem that we haven't yet addressed and Paul's beginning to sort 271 00:22:19.980 --> 00:22:26.700 of get get, get that ball rolling in this discussion, and that's that 272 00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:30.329 there were a number of people in the congregation who didn't work. There were 273 00:22:30.450 --> 00:22:36.410 people who were part of this whole client patron system, which will get into 274 00:22:36.450 --> 00:22:38.329 it some later time, where there were just wasn't a lot of working going 275 00:22:38.369 --> 00:22:44.359 on. And Paul says that needs to stop, that the people of God 276 00:22:44.519 --> 00:22:47.720 need to work with their own hands, they need to earn money, they 277 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:51.960 need to do the work that they might provide for themselves and their household. 278 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.079 And so I think another reason Paul is doing this is he's setting them an 279 00:22:55.119 --> 00:23:00.309 example. He doesn't want there to be any confusion that he's not working and 280 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:04.509 just getting money, and so he's working extra hard to make this point and 281 00:23:04.670 --> 00:23:11.670 to show to them why, so that the Gospel Ministry that he is proclaiming 282 00:23:11.789 --> 00:23:15.900 that there wouldn't be any way to attack it. He's trying to move up 283 00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:21.099 and up and up above reproach so that anybody who might come and attack him 284 00:23:21.099 --> 00:23:26.819 in this way wouldn't have any thing to say. Paul wants the only thing 285 00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:33.490 these Corinthians to get and to understand is the Gospel and its implications. It's 286 00:23:33.609 --> 00:23:37.930 not about him, and that's so, so important to him, as it 287 00:23:38.009 --> 00:23:47.960 should be for every minister of the Gospel. So what does Paul say? 288 00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:56.630 Paul says that he has these rights, but he doesn't make use of them. 289 00:23:57.430 --> 00:24:00.950 Listen to some of what he says here and here the passion in his 290 00:24:02.789 --> 00:24:08.549 heart, his love for these people, for Christ and the Gospel. He 291 00:24:08.630 --> 00:24:12.660 says I would rather die in verse fifteen. I would rather die than have 292 00:24:12.779 --> 00:24:17.980 anyone deprived me of my ground of boasting, for if I preach the Gospel, 293 00:24:18.059 --> 00:24:22.460 that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is laid upon me. 294 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:30.569 Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel. Paul doesn't lay 295 00:24:30.690 --> 00:24:34.289 down his rights as a general practice, but he lays down his rights here 296 00:24:34.329 --> 00:24:38.759 as a necessity, because he feels that the Gospel is under threat, he 297 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:42.759 feels that his ministry and his preaching in this church is under threatned, and 298 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:48.440 so this is why he lays these things down. Will he have a reward 299 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:55.549 even if he dies? Absolutely. Paul doesn't care about dying, not not 300 00:24:55.750 --> 00:25:00.789 like we often care about dying. Paul says that he will enjoy the same 301 00:25:00.869 --> 00:25:07.500 gifts that all these other Christians will enjoy, and they will enjoy them together, 302 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:12.579 he says. He says that this is an aspect of his ministry as 303 00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:18.900 a whole. This characterizes his life as a Christian and as a minister as 304 00:25:18.940 --> 00:25:22.089 a whole. It's not just a money issue. We see that in verses 305 00:25:22.170 --> 00:25:27.369 nineteen and following. I'm free from all, though. I'm free from all. 306 00:25:27.450 --> 00:25:32.369 I have made a servant to all that I might win more of them. 307 00:25:32.450 --> 00:25:34.210 To the Jews, I became a Jew in order to win the Jews. 308 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:38.880 To the gentiles, he becomes like a gentile. To the week, 309 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:42.759 he becomes weak, and so on and so forth. He summarizes it all 310 00:25:42.920 --> 00:25:48.039 by saying I have become all things to all people that by all means I 311 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:52.990 might save some you hear what Paul is saying. Paul's not saying he's willing 312 00:25:53.029 --> 00:25:57.349 to do sinful things for the sake of the Gospel. He's not saying he's 313 00:25:57.349 --> 00:26:02.230 going to do foolish things for the sake of the Gospel. Now he will 314 00:26:02.269 --> 00:26:06.700 use all extra he'll exercise all wisdom and holiness, but when it comes to 315 00:26:06.740 --> 00:26:10.779 the freedoms that he has, when he comes to the liberty that he'd enjoys, 316 00:26:11.059 --> 00:26:15.299 he'll happily give it away all day to anyone if it's for the sake 317 00:26:15.980 --> 00:26:21.049 of winning some to Christ. Amazing thing is, and aren't we all blessed 318 00:26:21.569 --> 00:26:26.410 there's somebody, and lots of somebody's in this course of history, generations after 319 00:26:26.569 --> 00:26:32.410 generations of people who have done this for us, people who have laid down 320 00:26:32.450 --> 00:26:34.480 their lives for the sake of the Gospel, people who have given up so 321 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:40.799 much. We Sang and the mighty fortress of us our God right. Let 322 00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:45.400 goods and kindred go this mortal life, also the body. They may kill, 323 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:52.029 but God's truth abide still. The reason Paul can give up his rights 324 00:26:52.190 --> 00:26:56.230 and is so impassion to do so, he does is not begrudging. For 325 00:26:56.309 --> 00:27:00.819 him, he's like what's do this right. He's happy to do this because 326 00:27:00.859 --> 00:27:07.299 he's got his eyes on the prize, he's got his eyes on something greater, 327 00:27:07.460 --> 00:27:11.539 and that's how he talks about himself and this Athletic Language and verses twenty 328 00:27:11.619 --> 00:27:15.369 four and following. He's like runners, runners that run to win that prize. 329 00:27:15.450 --> 00:27:19.609 They're they're not lazy about it. there. Maybe I'll try, maybe 330 00:27:19.650 --> 00:27:26.650 I'll eat a good diet, maybe I won't know. They willingly suffer to 331 00:27:26.890 --> 00:27:33.160 get after that thing that they want. Perhaps you've been an athlete or you 332 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:37.440 know athletes. They perhaps wake up early, spend extra time, push their 333 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:42.519 muscles, push their their will power. They are careful about the things they 334 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:48.990 eat so that they can achieve the goal. Well, says, do I 335 00:27:49.069 --> 00:27:56.750 run aimlessly, which is a hilarious image. Right, there's somebody to sort 336 00:27:56.789 --> 00:28:00.819 of running around. I think there's a money python skid about. That gun 337 00:28:00.940 --> 00:28:04.140 goes off at all the runners. Hero started going all over the running aimlessly. 338 00:28:04.420 --> 00:28:10.140 Right, doesn't run aimlessly. Does he box the air? You're just 339 00:28:10.299 --> 00:28:14.210 wildly flailing his arms after something. No, he's, guys, eyes, 340 00:28:14.450 --> 00:28:21.049 focused, focused, focused. Paul's not making these decisions randomly. He's not 341 00:28:21.410 --> 00:28:23.730 choosing to with grow his rights because he just wants people to think he's a 342 00:28:23.769 --> 00:28:30.240 nice guy. He's doing this thing because he sees the Gospel for what it 343 00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:34.839 is. He knows how important it is, and so he says in Verse 344 00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:37.920 Twenty Three, I do it all for the sake of the Gospel that I 345 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:45.829 may share with them and its blessings. If he's with the Jews and he 346 00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:48.990 needs to, if he's with to Jews and he's trying to teach them of 347 00:28:49.029 --> 00:28:52.990 Christ, he's trying to point them to the blessings of the fulfillment of the 348 00:28:53.069 --> 00:28:56.700 new covenant. And if it means that for a little bit of time he's 349 00:28:56.740 --> 00:29:02.660 not going to eat certain foods or that he's going to circumcise Timothy or whatever, 350 00:29:02.700 --> 00:29:06.259 he's gonna do it, though not under the law. He's not putting 351 00:29:06.259 --> 00:29:10.329 himself back under the old covenant, he says, but he's gonna take on 352 00:29:10.529 --> 00:29:14.809 certain customs if it means if he's going to give up certain rides, if 353 00:29:14.849 --> 00:29:19.490 it means winning them, and in the other case, if means not eating 354 00:29:19.609 --> 00:29:25.359 certain things or looking or acting more like the gentiles in order to win them, 355 00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:30.240 he'll he'll do it again, not in sinful ways, but in the 356 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:37.960 areas in which he has freedom, he will let those aside. The question 357 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:41.549 we have to ask is, where does all this come from? Why is 358 00:29:41.710 --> 00:29:48.910 Paul so focused? What exactly is the nature of the Gospel? What is 359 00:29:48.950 --> 00:29:55.299 the nature and the message of the good news in that would help us to 360 00:29:55.420 --> 00:30:02.339 make sense of a man who's willing to die, WHO's willing to not eat 361 00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:11.130 or drink and die if it means accomplishing this end. Well, the only 362 00:30:11.250 --> 00:30:17.289 thing that would make sense is something that could give you wife, something that 363 00:30:17.410 --> 00:30:22.359 could give you eternal life, a calling that was greater and higher than the 364 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:30.400 things in this world. Then reputation than on or van wealth or even simply 365 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:37.390 eating or drinking. What kind of word could possibly come to us which would 366 00:30:37.390 --> 00:30:41.750 allow us to say, like goods and kindred go the mortal life also, 367 00:30:42.589 --> 00:30:48.869 you can kill me if you want, but God's truth abides forever. Well, 368 00:30:48.950 --> 00:30:55.500 it is that his truth abides forever, and not just living principles, 369 00:30:56.059 --> 00:31:00.779 not just in a word, a message that goes forth, but a word 370 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:07.170 that is a person. That little word that Martin Luther speaks of in that 371 00:31:07.250 --> 00:31:14.210 hymn is Jesus Christ himself, this one who is little in the sense that 372 00:31:14.970 --> 00:31:25.440 he gave up his rights to love us. Jesus took on a body that 373 00:31:25.640 --> 00:31:33.630 would be tempted, tried and suffering. Jesus took Jesus, who is crowned 374 00:31:33.990 --> 00:31:38.109 in heaven with all the glories that are rightfully due to God, took on 375 00:31:38.309 --> 00:31:45.549 the flesh like you and me, the things and thing, the pains and 376 00:31:45.670 --> 00:31:49.299 things that you suffer in your body or things that he felt as well. 377 00:31:51.740 --> 00:31:56.900 The crook in his neck from wine in the wrong position, being tired after 378 00:31:56.940 --> 00:32:04.490 a long night, the being weary, being hungry, all of these things 379 00:32:04.609 --> 00:32:08.009 the lord willingly endured. And he did it for us. He did it 380 00:32:08.089 --> 00:32:12.609 for love, he did it for something greater. He did it to save 381 00:32:12.730 --> 00:32:17.440 us from our sin. He did it to give us eternal life. He 382 00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:22.880 did it to rescue us out of a world that was so turned in on 383 00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:29.119 itself, so perverted, so twisted, so chasing after other gods, that 384 00:32:29.319 --> 00:32:36.390 all was and is coming to an end. A lot of times we live 385 00:32:36.509 --> 00:32:39.069 our lives, we spend a lot of our days, a lot of our 386 00:32:39.150 --> 00:32:45.980 energy trying to maintain our rights, to preserve and extend our lives and, 387 00:32:46.299 --> 00:32:51.259 as we've seen from the example of the Apostle, Paul himself. There's something 388 00:32:51.299 --> 00:32:54.339 good in that, there's something important about that, and we ought to do 389 00:32:54.539 --> 00:33:01.769 those things. But it's also true that there's a cap on that. There's 390 00:33:01.809 --> 00:33:07.410 a limit to what we can attain and what we can achieve and how long 391 00:33:07.529 --> 00:33:12.880 we can live. Rather than sisters, we live under the shadow of death 392 00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:20.920 every day and that's not going to change. When we think about Psalm Twenty 393 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:25.319 three and when we think about you know, the Lord is my shepherd and 394 00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:30.950 I know I shall not want we read this at funerals right right leading us 395 00:33:30.029 --> 00:33:34.750 through the Valley of the shadow of death. That's not just like the last 396 00:33:34.750 --> 00:33:40.150 few minutes before we die, that that's our whole life. We live constantly 397 00:33:40.230 --> 00:33:46.779 under the shadow of death. And sure we can and we should and we 398 00:33:46.900 --> 00:33:50.859 will in a minute. Will have a picnic and will enjoy, I hope 399 00:33:50.980 --> 00:33:54.970 will enjoy some good food and fellowship together and it will be wonderful. But 400 00:33:55.089 --> 00:34:00.890 we have to remember that that won't last forever. The picnic will end, 401 00:34:00.369 --> 00:34:05.569 the Sun will get too hot, the bugs might come or, worse, 402 00:34:06.730 --> 00:34:08.570 some trying to. That is my not my invitation the picnic. That'll come 403 00:34:08.610 --> 00:34:14.519 later, but it's but you see what I mean. Right. These things 404 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:17.280 have their limits and we have to remember that. We have to have to 405 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:21.679 remember that, because if we think that this life is all there is, 406 00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:24.909 then we'll grab onto everything we can and it will constantly be about us, 407 00:34:25.110 --> 00:34:34.349 and then we will die and we will have nothing. But in Christ. 408 00:34:36.429 --> 00:34:40.739 He promises to lead us through the Valley of the shadow of death to a 409 00:34:40.860 --> 00:34:47.380 place where there is victory and blessing and communion and fellowship, a place where 410 00:34:47.420 --> 00:34:52.570 you will no longer feel the need to protect and maintain your rights, a 411 00:34:52.769 --> 00:34:58.289 place and and a presence of God, where there are no more enemy threats, 412 00:34:58.369 --> 00:35:01.690 either from inside of us or from outside of us. And that all 413 00:35:01.889 --> 00:35:06.969 comes to us through this one and through Jesus Christ, who gave up his 414 00:35:07.159 --> 00:35:15.679 rights to live and to die for us. That's the message that Paul knows, 415 00:35:15.119 --> 00:35:20.760 that's the past message that Paul understands and that he has been sent to 416 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:23.869 preach, and it's the message that all of us have been called to believe 417 00:35:24.510 --> 00:35:30.909 and live in. I'm a Minister of the Gospel. Perhaps one day some 418 00:35:30.110 --> 00:35:35.900 of you may be ministers of the Gospel. The bigger point is that we 419 00:35:35.940 --> 00:35:43.619 all have a calling in Christ and sometimes that calling means giving up even those 420 00:35:43.699 --> 00:35:47.820 things that are rightfully due to us. It doesn't mean that we make others 421 00:35:47.940 --> 00:35:52.010 give up their rights right or re enforce these things on other people. All 422 00:35:52.130 --> 00:35:58.489 Paul can controls himself. So he does. He makes these choices and he 423 00:35:58.570 --> 00:36:01.690 makes them wisely and he makes them lovingly and he makes them in light of 424 00:36:01.730 --> 00:36:07.159 these greater things that have come, these greater things that he's preaching, so 425 00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:16.039 that you and me and these Corinthians would believe what he's saying. So, 426 00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:21.949 brothers and sisters, let's believe them and hold fast to the Gospel that he 427 00:36:22.070 --> 00:36:27.150 is preaching and live in light of that Gospel that he is preaching and have 428 00:36:27.389 --> 00:36:30.269 hope for the things to come. Let's pray together.