Alright, I'm going to ask you
to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I'd like to consider verses 15
to 19. I'll make a few comments out
of 14 where we left off last time. Let's ask our Lord's blessing. Our Father, Hal, we indeed thank
you for another night. Thank you for the time we have
to hear the gospel. Lord, I ask your blessing. Give
us ears to hear, eyes to see. For the glory of Christ, we ask
these things. Amen. The Apostle Paul had revealed
the Lord's ordained means of God-called preachers actually
having their needs met. And this is how the Lord moved
upon Paul, verse 14, to say, Even so hath the Lord ordained
that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. According to the scriptures,
wherever Almighty God has called a preacher, whether he's a pastor
of a local assembly, whether he be a missionary like the Groovers
or the Moose down in the Virgin Islands, One that God has called
to preach the gospel. One that God has given a heart
to forsake His worldly vocation and to give Himself to the ministry. God has ordained that that pastor,
that preacher of the gospel be sustained by, monetarily supported
by people to whom he speaks, to whom he preaches. The Lord
taught this to his apostles. In Matthew 10, 9, he said, as
he sent them out, he said, provide neither gold, nor silver, nor
brass in your purses, nor scrip, that's a large leather bag I
found out that they carried their things in, for your journey,
neither two coats, Neither shoes, nor yet staves, and I read on
that what he was talking about when he said neither, you know,
nor yet staves, that meant more than one staff. Don't take a
bunch of them. For or because the workman is
worthy of his meat. God has called men to preach
the gospel. He's called them to the ministry. And even the apostles at that
time, when the church began to grow in the book of Acts, they
said, choose you out seven men, good report, that we may give
ourselves to prayer and to the ministry. And I'm just telling
you from experience, you know this. But it is a full-time calling
to pastor, to prepare messages weekly, prepare the bulletin,
just preparing your heart, and not just the fact that you're
sitting. So much of the time is spent
in reading, but just meditating, thinking, asking, looking, seeking. looking up these scriptures,
getting the meaning of these scriptures, getting the heart
of the message. You know that whenever we're
in any book, there's always a question, I tell you. Every time, every
time you hear somebody preach, where's the Lamb in this message? Where is the glory of God in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ? Where's the Lamb here?
So that's what Paul was saying. Those that preach the gospel
live by the gospel. They walk by faith, believing
that Almighty God is going to supply and expecting that their
calling, according to the Lord's ordination, is a worthy calling. We are the Lord's servants. We are your servants for Christ's
sake. Your servant. as I serve unto
the Lord." Well, Paul was such a man that had been called of
God. God Almighty stopped him on the
road to Damascus, effectually called him. Paul was a Pharisee.
He was a religious man. He knew, you know, he knew scriptures
and he, I mean, he was just, I mean, Pharisee was one of the
most upright, honorable, I mean, they wouldn't knowingly do anything,
I mean they prided themselves in their morality. A Pharisee was immoral, but they
hated the gospel. I only know of two Pharisees
in scripture that Almighty God ever did anything for. One of
them was Paul, Saul of Tarsus, and the other one was in the
book of Nicodemus. The Lord saved a Pharisee. That's only two that I know of
that I can think of right now. But God Almighty called, taught,
arrested, and sent, commissioned Saul of Tarsus to preach the
gospel. Paul gave himself to the ministry. But, verse 15, the Spirit of
God moved upon the apostle Paul to write this concerning that
right. He had a right. God had given
him a right. to be sustained, to be kept,
because he gave himself. That was his vocation. That was his job, that was his
calling, his life. He gave himself to it. But Paul
said, verse 15, I have used none of these things, neither have
I written these things that it should be so done unto me, for
it were better for me to die. and that any man should make
my glorying void." Obviously, Paul had been accused of preaching
the gospel merely as a means of making a living. Now you'd
be surprised how many I mean, that's a very widespread thought
of those that know not the gospel. I mean, I'm talking about just
people. They say, well, he couldn't do anything else. He was a preacher.
You know, I mean, you know, you don't have to do anything to
be a preacher. You know, well, contrary to popular belief, that's
not so. I mean, I can remember before
the Lord called me to preach, and here was my thoughts. How,
how do you go to that study and stay there all day long, every
day, and do that? Well, if the Lord ever calls
a man, He gives you a heart to do it. That's what you want to
do. That's what you do. But Paul said, I have that right,
but, he said, I've not used that right. I've not made use of that
right because of being accused of being nothing more than just
a traveling public speaker. One that, you know, just went
around making a living just like a president or something that
goes around making speeches, you know, just makes money making
speeches. And Paul said, he said, though
I have And he's talking to a group here that obviously had asked
him something about that. He's dealt with so many issues
in the church. Well, this is one of them right
here that he's dealing with. Paul said, I have a God-ordained
right. to maintenance. And that God-ordained
right was even proven in nature by not muzzling the mouth of
the ox when he's plowing it. The Lord said that. Don't do
that. If an ox is pulling a plow, And he reaches over and grabs
a manure corn and eats it. Don't scold him for that. Don't
muzzle the ox. Let him eat. He's worthy. He's
worthy to get him something to eat. And Paul had said previously,
he said, we have rights to a family, to a wife. He said, I have to
eat. I have to wear clothing, just
like everybody else. He said, but I've not. made use
of that right. I've not availed myself to that
right. And he said, and I'm not writing
this to try to make you support me. That's what he said. I have
used none of these things, neither have I written these things that
it should be so done unto me. He said, to be honest with you,
he said, rather than exercise my right to maintenance, to have
a gift, to be compensated monetarily by you, he said, because of these
that are obviously scolding him or saying, you're just doing
this just to make a living. You're just coming over to get
a gift, a love offering. That's all you're doing. He said,
I'd rather die. I'd rather die than make my glorying
void. I'd rather starve. than be deprived
of my privilege to preach the gospel freely. That's why Paul
made tents for a while. Wasn't he enjoyed making tents?
He could make tents. He was probably a pretty talented
man. Probably could have done anything
he wanted to do. But he made tents not because he was going
to set forth that it's okay to go ahead and be bivocal or something
like that or have two jobs or something, not bivocal. But he
said, I'd rather die than give someone something to feed on. saying he's just doing this,
you know, just to get some money out of it. That, you know, just
usurping God's blessing. He said, I'd rather die than
God not get the glory for what I'm doing. I'll just turn to
Genesis. Hold on, I'll read something out of Genesis 14. Whenever Abraham
was coming back from the slaughter of the kings there, in Sodom. In Genesis 14 it said the king
of Sodom, the battle is over now and Abraham has obviously
been victorious, and the king of Sodom went out to meet him
after his return from the slaughter of and of the kings that were
with him at the valley of Sheve, which is the king's veil. And
Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine. He was
the priest of the Most High God, and he blessed him, blessed Abraham,
and said, Blessed be Abram. of the most high God, possessor
of heaven and earth. And blessed be the most high
God which has delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he,
that is Abraham, gave tithes to Melchizedek, the high priest. And the king of Sodom said unto
Abram, give me the persons and take the goods, give me the prisoners
that you got, you take all the The spoil, you take it all. And
Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto
the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
that I will not take from a thread, even to a shoe latchet, and that
I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest
say, I have made Abram rich. He said, I'd rather die. The
king of Sodom said, you give me the prisoners and you take
all of these riches. Because you're victorious and
you got us out of a big bind. And Abram said, no, no. I've lifted my hand to the Lord.
I'm trusting God. I'm not going to have you saying
I've made Abram rich. That's what Paul the apostle
said back in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. These that have blasphemed
the God that I serve, ridiculed me, saying I'm just a traveling
preacher. I have a right. He said, I have a right to be
sustained by the Lord through God's people. But he said, I'm
going to relinquish that right. He said, I'll wait on the Lord. He said, I'm not going to have
that in which I glory, trusting God, to be void. Verse 16, for though I preach
the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid
upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. Now, you know, Paul the apostle
made a statement right there, and I could really stay right
here. Here's what he said, for though I preach the gospel, I
could stay right there for the rest of this message and finish
the message out of that portion right there. I want to make a
couple of statements about that. Though I preach the gospel. I was coming over here picking
my mom up and we were riding over here and I was talking to
her about this passage of scripture right here. Paul made this statement,
though I preach the gospel. as many times, and I've made
this statement many times before, and it's concerning this. Whenever someone were to ask
you, or if you were to ask someone else, do you believe the gospel? And of course everyone's going
to say yes. But you'd be surprised how many
times we need to be reminded What is the gospel? What is the gospel? They that preach the gospel,
what is it? Now listen, for all of our benefits,
for mine too, I need to hear this again. I need to hear. One
more time, tell me what the gospel is. When the gospel is preached,
there's four things that are truthfully set forth. Four things. Four things, truthfully. Number
one, the truth about who God Almighty is. Now, if we're going
to worship God Almighty, number one, this is life eternal, that
they might know thee. How can you know, how can you
worship someone you don't know? How can you worship? Who is the
truth of God Almighty? God Almighty is He who is, number
one, holy. He's right, He's separate. There's
none like Him. There's one. There's one God. There's one God. He is God Almighty. He is the ruler of providence. Orderer of salvation, He is the
Lord. He is the Lord in heaven and
earth. He doeth as He will. He's sovereign in all things.
God Almighty is the ruler and sustainer of all. He's God. He's not trying to be God. He's
not hoping to be God. He's not waiting on someone to
let Him be God. He's God. And he doeth as he
will. This is what was said in Daniel
chapter 4. He doeth as he will. Nebuchadnezzar
said this after he spent years grazing for taking glory to himself
and saying look at this great Babylon that I built. And God
took his mind away from him and let him graze for years. One
day God gave his mind back and this is what Nebuchadnezzar says.
He doeth as he will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And no man stays his hand. No
man says to him, what doest thou? Nobody, nobody. Somebody says,
if you'll just let the Lord just, you just say, listen, just hush
from right from that point, just stop. We don't let God do anything. God almighty is God almighty. If Almighty God is purposed to
save a people, let me tell you what He's going to do. He's going
to save them. He's going to save them. He's going to save them. He's God. Scripture says before the foundation
of the world, Ephesians 1-4, He chose, this is Scripture,
He chose a people in Christ. that they should be holy and
without blame before Him in love, not that He wished they would
be. 2 Thessalonians 2.13 We're bound to give thanks to God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation. 2 Thessalonians 2.13 So when
you hear the gospel, you hear the truth of who God is. Number
two, you hear the truth concerning who man is. Who is man? Man is a dead, spiritually dead,
depraved sinner. There's none good, no not one.
God looked, Psalm 2 says, looked from heaven to see if there were
any that did good. And there was none, not one.
Every mind is wicked, evil, desperately. from the crown of the head, sole
of the foot, putrefying sores. When the gospel is preached,
the truth is told about man. Men say that everybody's got
a free will. God says as many as received
him. That doesn't mean an offer that
was made. The word received there is like a glass of water. I took
a picture and I poured it in there. That glass just received
the water. When the Spirit of God imparts
life, as many as received Him, as many as God Almighty gave
life unto, To them gave He power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name, which were born, this is John
1.13, not of blood. You know what that means? That
means that just because my daddy or my mom is a believer, that
doesn't mean I'm going to necessarily be a believer. Salvation doesn't
run in blood. Which were born, not of blood.
Nor of the will of the flesh, I've told you before, I want
God to save my kids. I want everyone in this room,
according to God's will, to be saved. I do, I want that. But I'm going to tell you something,
I don't have the power to save anybody. By the power, nor by the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man. Nor of the will of man. Somebody
says, it's left up to you. No it's not. No it's not. Salvation,
Jonah 2.9. Salvation is of the Lord. The Lord. The Lord. So whenever
we talk about the Gospel, the truth is told about God, the
truth is told about man, the truth is told about the Lord
Jesus Christ. Who is He? I'll tell you who He is. He's
God Almighty. He's God. He's God Almighty who
took upon Himself flesh. He took unto himself the form
of sinful flesh. Without sin, but the form of
sinful flesh. And as the God-man mediator. There's one mediator between
God and men. You got God and you got men.
And there's the mediator. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And He, according to God's everlasting covenant of grace, He agreed
as the surety of God's sheep, I will save them. He came unto
His own. His own received Him not, the
Jews, but as many as received Him, to them gave He power. Call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. John chapter 6, All that the
Father giveth Me, 637. shall come to me. Why? Because He's going to pay their
debt. He died at Calvary and He put their debt away. He paid
that debt of sin to God's law. He paid it. It finished. And
the Spirit of God, when it pleases God, the Spirit of God comes
and regenerates them. So the truth is told about the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then the truth is told about
salvation, which I've already touched on. God Almighty originated
it according to the everlasting covenant of grace. Moses said,
show me your glory. The Lord said, I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So Paul says in Romans 9, so
then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. Now,
are God's people willing? Yes, they are. When? In the day
of God's power. When He gives them a new heart.
That's when they're willing. Because up until then, they're
dead. They're dead in trespassing sense. They're dead. So Paul
says, I almost did finish the message, didn't I? Paul says
in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 16, For though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of. for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. Now, let me tell you something
that Paul has said in that scripture. He said, first of all, I have
nothing to glory in if I preach. I don't have any room to boast
because the gospel was not of me. The Lord taught me the Gospel. And He said, thinking that I've
done something by preaching the Gospel, there's nothing that
I have in which to boast while I'm preaching right now. Why?
Because this message didn't originate with me. I'm a repeater. All I'm doing is repeating what
the Scriptures say. I've always told you, if I ever
say something and I can't back it up with this Scripture, Well
then I just might as well keep my mouth shut because I don't
have anything to say. But Paul says, I have nothing
to glory in for necessity is laid upon me. Necessity is laid
upon me. He said there's a weight, there's
a burden for obedience laid upon me. God has called me, God has
commissioned me and He's given me a constraint and a distress,
a needs be of heart to preach. I can't imagine, I can't imagine
not being here on a Wednesday night or a Sunday and preaching.
I can't imagine not being, I'm just not doing it. I can't, why? Because necessity is, the Lord's
called me to this. I want to do this. This is what
I want to do. I want to preach the gospel. Necessity is laid upon me. I'm going to read. I'm going
to tell you right now. I'll probably not finish this
message. That's fine. That's fine. I'm going to preach
until I stop. But I want you to look. Turn
with me to Jeremiah. Talking about this necessity.
Jeremiah chapter 20. Jeremiah chapter 20, verse 7. God had called Jeremiah,
he was a prophet, you know that. He was a prophet. And God had
called him to go preach to God's people. And Jeremiah did it. He preached just exactly what
the Lord called him to preach. And then Jeremiah said, he said,
verse 7, Jeremiah 20, verse 7, Thou hast deceived me, and I
was deceived." Now, that word deceived there is a word that
we don't understand. We think of the word meaning
like you fooled me. You know, you blindsided me here,
you've deceived me. No, that's not what the word
means at all. What he's saying is, Lord, you've
persuaded me. That's what the word means. Lord,
thou hast persuaded me, and I was persuaded. What have you been
persuaded of, Jeremiah? He said, well, thou art stronger
than I, and you've prevailed. I'm in derision daily. Everybody's
mocking me. For since I spake, I cried out.
I cried violence and spoil, because the word of the Lord was made
a reproach unto me and a derision daily. Then I said, I will not
make mention of him nor speak any more in his name but his
word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones and
I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay. This is what
Jeremiah said, Lord, you called me, you persuaded me of the message. And what you persuaded me to
preach unto the people, I cried. I cried. I cried violence and
destruction. What was he doing? He was crying
to them violence, that is, he was telling them, this is the
wrong that you've done against the Lord and against yourself.
I've cried violence. And he said, and I cried destruction. I told them, Lord, what you told
me that you were going to do to them. If there was no change,
if there was no repentance, I cried. You convinced me. You persuaded
me. And I cried it. And after preaching
that, everybody mocks me. They mock me because of what
I preach. I know and you know. Men that
are faithful to these scriptures, faithful to preach the God of
this Bible, the Christ of this Bible, the depravity of man. They're mocked and they're ridiculed.
You're an idiot. Nobody believes that but you
people. I know, I know. He said, but I'm mocked and I'm
ridiculed because of what you call me to preach. I'm reckoned
to be an enemy of my country. I'm reckoned to be a false prophet.
So I said, I'm not going to do this anymore. I'm not going to preach anymore.
I'm mocked. I'm ridiculed. I'm not going
to speak anymore in His name. I'm not going to speak anymore
about the calamities that He's going to send for disobedience.
But something happened. He said His Word was in my heart
like fire in my bones. I couldn't refrain, I couldn't
stop myself. I labored to contain that desire
to quit, and I couldn't. I couldn't stop preaching. God
had given me a needs be. That's what Paul said. Though
I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. For necessity is
laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel."
Destruction. Being an outcast. Woe. Woe unto you. Judgment unto you. Woe unto me. Paul said, if I
preach not the gospel. A man that preaches, let me say
it like this. A man that preaches, and preaches
not the gospel, as we've described it, who God is, who Christ is,
who man is, what salvation is. Those that preach, and God's
not given them a heart to preach the gospel of God's sovereign
grace, woe unto them. Woe unto them. Why? Because they're
a false preacher. Everyone that God calls, God
teaches. Everyone that God calls, God
gives them this message right here. I'm telling you, you know
that. You know that. Almighty God calls, teaches,
sins. Woe unto me. He said, woe if
I decline the work assigned to me. That personal work. Verse 17. For if I do this thing
willingly, When he talks about willingness, what do you mean?
Well, he's talking about if I preach the gospel with a conviction
of its truth and its importance, if I preach because of my love
for God, love for the people of God, love for the regard of
His glory, and I preach it toward hell-deserving, perishing sinners. If I preach it with a concern
for their salvation, And their cheerfulness and their eagerness,
if I preach it, if I preach this thing willingly, he said, I'm
not a loser, I have a reward. That is true, if I preach it
willingly, all those things. keeping it in the context of
what he's talking about. What was he talking about? He
was talking about having the freedom to preach the gospel
without being compensated. Because of what people had been
saying about him, you're just a hired preacher is all you are.
He said, I'd rather die than give you grounds to say that
about me. God's called me. No, just keep
your money. Just keep it. I don't want it.
I've got the freedom to be able to preach. Keeping it in the
context of what he's talking about, this is what he's saying.
If I do this willingly, what do you mean? If I willingly continue
to preach without receiving compensation because of what's being said
about me. He said, I'm not the loser. I am receiving pay for
my services. And then he explained in verse
18 what his pay was. I'll come back in the last half
of 17 as I wrap this up. He said, verse 18, what is my
reward then? If he said, if I do this willingly,
that is, if I preach receiving no monetary compensation, I have
a reward. What is my reward then? Verily,
that when I preach the gospel, I make the gospel of Christ without
charge, that I abuse not my power or my freedom, in the gospel. He said, this is my reward. He
said, my reward is that I'm able to preach the gospel. Number
one. I'm able to preach the gospel.
He said, my reward is that I'm preaching that which I believe
and I know God's people believes. He said, my reward is that I'm
declaring that message of rest in Christ. What do you mean rest
in Christ? I'm resting from trying to labor
for my salvation, trying to do enough for God to earn my salvation. I'm resting from that. I'm resting
from trying to merits salvation by my works. He said, my reward
for preaching the message that gives God all the honor and all
the glory and all the praise, he said, that is my reward. I
am making the gospel of Christ without charge. I'm doing it
without expense to you, but my reward is that I have the liberty
to be able to preach the gospel to you gratuitously. He said,
I'm free. He said, God's going to provide
for me. He said, the Lord's not going to leave me to myself.
That reward that I receive from the Lord by not receiving anything
from those that treat me with such disrespect. So then in that
latter half of verse 17, He said, but if it's against my will,
what do you mean? You mean He was preaching the
gospel and He just didn't want to? No, that's not... Remember
he had a will to not exercise the right he had of compensation.
He had a will for that. He said I don't want the money.
I'm not going to accept a gift. But he said if I did receive
money. If I did do that, you know, against
what I'm thinking right now, if I do it against my will, he
said a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. He said
whether I preach it willingly, not accepting, or if I did accept
something, he said that would not be any difference whatsoever. He said the Lord has committed
to me the office and duty, a dispensation of preaching the gospel, that's
committed unto me. He's entrusted it, and I'm his
servant, and I'm going to preach it. And then verse 19, and this
is where we'll stop. For though I be free from all
men, yet have I made myself servant unto all. that I might gain the
more, though I be free from all. Men right there is in italics,
but I think that's truly what he's talking about. Men was not
there in the original, but I think he's talking about men. Though
I be free from all, free from the curse of the law, free from
the bondage and the yoke of thinking that righteousness is from keeping
the law, free from having to answer to men about what I preach. I'm the Lord's servant, or even
from the necessity of exercising my right of support. For though
I be free from all, he said, I don't have to answer to any
man, is what he's saying. Though I have that freedom, I
have made myself servant unto all. He said, my freedom in Christ
is that I have the privilege to enslave myself to the Lord
and to the Lord's people, to his flock, that I might gain
the more. I'm truly God's servant. I'm
the most blessed of all free men. I've been given liberty
concerning these matters and I consider myself, being his
servant, to be the servant of his people. To be provided for
by God's people or to not be provided for by God's people.
He said I'm God's free man. The Lord taught his disciples,
you know, concerning those that ridiculed Paul there and causing
him to not exercise that liberty. He was hated for what he preached,
you know that. The Lord said in John 15, 18,
if the world hates you, you know it hated me before it hated you.
So this verse of scripture sets forth when Paul is talking about
his freedom to be able to not receive compensation. It's to
encourage God's people. The Lord is going to provide.
Almighty God has not ever and shall never forsake his own. We realize that God has sent
a preacher to the church at Corinth. It amazes me that the Lord would
send a preacher anywhere. That the Lord would send a preacher
to Katy, West Virginia. Maintain an assembly here. 62 years. 62 years. And I tell you the
amazing thing is that one that I know of One of the original
is still here. His wife is still here. Many of you grew up, but that
Almighty God would maintain, faithfully maintain an assembly
where the gospel of God's grace is preached. And at one time
has He ever forsaken us. I pray that God have mercy upon
us to not teach us through these things. and bless the Word to
our hearts for His glory and our good. Amen.