Paul's message to the Corinthians,
and predominantly being, we are bought with a price. And he begins
this ninth chapter. I believe that as you kind of
pull back from this book and look at it, evidently according
to some of the things that he had said, there had been some
correspondence with him questions asked, things that were on people's
minds in the church, and he was answering those questions as
he's gone through this book and addressed problems that he saw
in them. And so he comes here to the ninth
chapter and he says, Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ
our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others,
yet doubtless I am to you. For the seal of mine apostleship
are ye in the Lord. Mine answer to them that do examine
me is this, Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we
not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles,
and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas,
have not we power to forbear working, or to refrain from working? Who goeth to warfare any time
in his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard, and
eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth the flock, and
eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as
a man, Or sayeth not the law the same also? For it is written
in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox
that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or sayeth he it altogether for
our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this
is written, that he that ploughs should plough in hope, and he
that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual
things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things
or material things? If others be partakers of this
power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used
this power, but suffer all things lest we should hinder the gospel
of Christ. Do you not know that they which
minister about holy things live of the things of the temple?
And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar.
Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel
should live of the gospel. But 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 than that any man should make my glorying void. 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. For if I do this thing willingly,
I have a reward. But if against my will a dispensation
of the gospel is committed unto me, what is my reward then? Verily that when I preach the
gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that
I abuse not my power in the gospel. For though I be free from all
men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the
more. And unto the Jews I became as
a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under
the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under
the law. To them that are without law,
as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law
to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. To
the weak I became as weak that I might gain the weak. I made
all things to all men that I might by all means save some. And this
I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with
you. Know ye not that they which run
in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may
obtain, or that ye may win. And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain
a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so
run, not as uncertainty, so fide I, not as one that beateth the
air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection,
lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway." Or the word there that is used
is reprobate. or one who is rendered disqualified. Now Paul begins here on a setting forth something that
in some measures is difficult to talk about. but in others is a needful thing
that we might understand what it is, how the Lord would have
us to regard the preciousness of the delivery of the things
of God to us. Now, one of the things that seems
to be from some of the other things Paul has said that was
there was some question about Paul's apostleship and as to
whether or not he was one of the apostles. Paul didn't regard being an apostle like
a badge of honor, but he spoke of being an apostle for one reason,
that he believed God had sent him as an apostle. And so he
would uphold being an apostle for that reason. Now some people
like to be called certain things. You know, there's a lot of, and
I'm not picking on anybody, but there's people that like titles.
They like to be called Reverend so-and-so, or Doctor so-and-so,
Elder so-and-so or Bishop so-and-so. And they like it. They like that
title. And they hold themselves up when
they introduce themselves to you. You need to always be careful
of any man in religion who comes to you with a title and he says,
I am Elder so-and-so or I am Bishop so-and-so. You need to
start watching and you need to put your hand on your pocket.
Okay? We're not interested in titles. And when we look in the Word
of God, Paul never... He said, I am an
apostle, but he didn't ever come saying, I'm the Apostle Paul.
Now, there's a difference in saying, I'm an elder in the church
than there is in saying, I'm elder so and so. I mean, there's
a difference in how that comes across. And Paul was not interested
in being an apostle of Paul. But he was not ashamed in any
wise of being an apostle of the Lord because he believed it was
a calling that was given to him. So he says, am not I an apostle? Evidently there had been some
question about that. Some, you know, back biters and
perhaps some sent in to stir up trouble among the saints of
God, maybe some other jealous Guys that were trying to get
a place of preeminence among people said, you don't need to
listen to old Paul. There is nothing to him. And
that is why he said, you know, when I came to you, I didn't
come to you with great swelling words of vanity, but he said,
I came to you preaching the truth. And he said, you will know when
I preach to you that it is of the power of God, not because
I came to you and said I am so and so, but because God bore
witness with what I said. And so that's what it is that
he is getting at here. But evidently, there was a question.
So he says, I'm not an apostle. He says, I'm not a free. I mean,
does anybody have any power over me? As he's saying, as the apostles,
you see there's only twelve apostles. that the Lord has ever raised
up according to what the Scripture indicates as far as I can see.
I mean, the twelve apostles are mentioned more than one time,
but Paul says, Am not I an apostle? Because this was a calling. It's a calling that I believe
has passed away as far as the office of an apostle is concerned. Now, the work of an apostle is
still going on, but the office of the apostle, as Paul was an
apostle sent from the Lord as a special gift and calling from the Lord,
sent with the Word of God. Now keep in mind that they didn't
have this book as we have it. They had the Old Testament, but
everybody didn't have an Old Testament in their house. The
only place that these Scriptures were found was in the synagogues,
and maybe some wealthy people had copies of them or whatever,
but it wasn't a common thing as we have. And so in the formative
days of the Lord's work in the earth, there was kind of what
we might call a transition period between that which the Lord began
teaching until the Word of God was set forth in written form
and set forth in letters and the preaching, foundational preaching
of the apostles. And they are mentioned as those
foundational works that the church has built on the foundation of
the apostles. Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone. Now, the Word of God is set forth
in the New Testament by those who are called to be apostles
by and large. And so that is what Paul is saying
here, I am not I free. He says, I have been given a
calling, God has spoken to me directly. Now we believe that
the letters of the Apostle Paul are the Word of God. Why do we
think that? Because he was an apostle. He
was called of God and God gave him His Word directly. The first thing I did was I didn't
confer with flesh and blood, but I went into the wilderness
and the Lord taught me there. Now he says something here. He
says, Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Now did he see Him
like the other apostles did? Well, sure he did. Now, did he
see him at the same time that the other apostles did? No, he
didn't. But he did see him as a resurrected
Christ, not in the upper room with the other apostles. But
the Lord appeared to him. He met with him in the wilderness. He met with him on the Damascus
road. And so Paul says, Have not I
seen the Lord? He says in another place that
I was caught up into the third heaven. He says I saw things
and heard things spoken there that are unlawful to utter. It
is not in the understanding of men. I mean the Apostle Paul
was given a great gift and calling that was unlike that of the normal
regular guy out here. He had a foundational work. And
so he says, Am not I free? Have not I seen the Lord Jesus
Christ? Are not ye my work in the Lord? Now is he boasting? Is he saying,
Man, we got, you know, some more in last week? No, he's saying,
Look, you're my epistle written in letters of love. I mean, I've given myself to
bring the gospel to you, and you've heard the gospel and you've
believed it. Not because of what I've done,
but the Lord used me in laying a foundation. And now are you
going to question whether or not I am sent by the Lord to
do these things? Are you not my work in the Lord? Did anybody else come to you
in the beginning preaching the gospel to you? Where did you
hear the gospel, he said? You heard it from me. If I be
not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you. He said,
if you say I'm not an apostle to anybody else in the world,
he said, do you know for a fact I am to you because the Lord
sent me to you with the gospel. You didn't hear it from the lips
of somebody else. You heard it from me. And I came
preaching to you the same thing that I'm preaching to you now.
It hasn't changed and it won't change. If I be not an apostle
unto others, yet doubtless I am to you, for ye the seal of mine
apostleship are ye in the Lord." He said, the proof of the fact
that I am an apostle sent with a foundational work is the fact
that there is a church in Corinth. The Lord sent me to preach the
gospel to you. And this church is raised up
because of that very fact. He says, and you cannot deny
that. My answer to them that do examine
me is this." So see, evidently there were some that were saying,
well, you know, I don't know if old Paul, if he really was
sent by the Lord or not. Paul said, well, how did you
come to the place where you're at now if it wasn't that the
Lord sent me? My answer to them that do examine
me is this. Do we not have power to eat and
to drink? Don't we have the right to be
supported? I mean, now what he's talking
about here is material support. He's talking about money. He
said, don't we have the right for you to pay us money for what
we've done, the service we've done unto you? Isn't it worth
something? I mean, that's what he's saying.
Exactly, plainly what he's saying. Don't we have power to eat and
drink? I mean, how are we going to eat and drink if we don't
have something to eat and drink to get stuff to eat and drink
with? And he said, how are we going to do it? He says, have
we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, just like other apostles? Now, Paul was not married, but
he's saying, don't I have the right to do that? I mean, can
you call me into question if I was to do that among you? Now
the amazing thing is that he wasn't even doing this. But what
he's doing is he's setting forth his apostleship and saying, I
could do that. And you'd have to agree that
it would be the right thing. He says, don't we have the right
to do that as well as any of the other apostles? And as the
brethren of the Lord in Cephas, speaking about Peter, talking
about James, And Jude, or I only and Barnabas, have not we power
to forbear working? I mean, if we wanted to just
be supported by you, don't we have the power to expect? Don't
we have the right to expect that you should support us? If we
give of our time and our effort to help you, isn't it only proper
that you should do that? I mean, he lays that out pretty
plainly. Who goes to warfare at any time of his own charges?
I mean, when the government gets ready to go to war, how do they
get the money to do it? They up taxes, don't they? They
say, we're going to have to pay for this. And you're going to
have to pay for it. And that's always the way it
is. I mean, just like we looked there about the benevolent works
of the government of Egypt, how they were helping all these people.
Well, how were they helping all these people? By getting the
money from the people. That's how they helped the people.
And that's because the government don't have any money. And that's
the only way they've got to get it. So it says, who goes to warfare
anytime is on charge. If the king is going to war,
what he does, he goes around and he gathers up stuff from
the countryside, doesn't he? I mean, in the Civil War, when
the armies came through, buddy, and you had a farm, and you had
some cows and stuff, guess what? If the army needed to be fed,
and you had some nice fat cows, your cows got taken. And what
could you say about it? Not a thing in the world, because
that's just the way it is. Who planted the vineyard and
eateth not of the fruit thereof? What's the purpose of planting
the vineyard? You're going to gain something from it. Or who
feedeth the flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
Now say of these things, man, is that just simply a carnal
thing that I'm talking about? He said no. He said it's even
written in the law of God. It's set forth. For it is written
in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth
out the corn." Now, did the Lord put that in the law because He
was an animal rights activist? Was He telling them they needed
to feed the oxen because He just loved the oxen so much? Well,
now, the Lord loves His creation and He provides for His creation. And surely there is an application
that is an actual application of that. But the real reason,
the real lesson He is saying that the Lord was teaching in
that, "...thou muzzled the ox, it treaded out the corn," is
that He said it all together for our sakes. For our sakes, no doubt, this
is written, that he that plows should plow in hope, and he that
thresheth in hope should he be a protector of his hope. The
old ox is not going to go out and plow all day in the field,
he says, and then come home and expect that he's not going to
have any corn in the trough when he gets there. I mean, pretty
soon he ain't going to be plowing the field, is he? Because he's
going to be dead. He can't do anything. So you
wouldn't expect that. That is just what the Lord has
designed, that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of
his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a
great thing if we shall reap your carnal or material things?
He said if we have expended ourselves for your benefit, would that
be an odd thing for us to consider that you ought to do something
to help us along the way? Wouldn't that be an unusual thing?
Would that be an oddity? If others be partakers of this
power over you, or not, we rather. Now evidently, there were some
that came and they were given them support. I mean, I don't
know what the factions were or what the situation was. I don't
know, but he says if others do this, If others have done this,
why shouldn't we? Because of all people who have
ministered to you, we have, he says. Now listen to what he says,
though. Nevertheless. Now you know it's an amazing
thing that Paul builds all of this case for what the people
of God should do, and then he says, But we didn't do it. He said, we had the right. And
you couldn't have said anything whatsoever, but he said, we never
sent you a bill. We never said, now we'll come
down there and minister to you if you'll pay us. He never said
that. He said, we didn't do it at all.
Nevertheless, we have not used this power, but suffer all things
lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Now there are two
things at work here. Number one is he would speak,
I believe, to those who are ministered to, and then he is also speaking
in a fashion to those who would minister. And they have to have
two different perspectives. I think Paul had the proper perspective. He did not make a charge for
the gospel. But he did set forth that that
was the reason he did that was his own choice, not because what
he did was not worth being supported and paid for. And so that's what
he says. So there's two things. You see,
the man who's ministered to, he can't say, well, I don't owe
him anything. I believe at the same time the
man who is doing the ministry can't say, well, they owe me
and I'm not going to do it if they don't. See, those are two
things. They're just two different perspectives.
And so a man can't come and say, well, I'll come and I'll minister
to you for X number of dollars. I don't think that's taught anywhere
in the Scripture. In fact, the Lord, Paul, speaks
about it. He said there are some that go
out preaching for filthy lucre. I mean, that's what they're doing.
They're preaching to make money. Brethren, the preaching of the
Gospel don't have anything to do with money. Now, that's the perspective of
those who are preaching. Now I'm not necessarily saying
that everybody that claims they're a preacher, he's talking about
here. What he's primarily talking about is the work of the apostle
in the establishment of churches. Now that's primarily what he's
talking about here. We must keep that in mind. Do
you not know that they which minister about holy things live
of the things of the temple? How did the priests get their
food? Exactly. When the people brought
the sacrifice to the temple, the priest, they had a hook. And when they stuck the old hook
in the boiling pot of the sacrifice, they pulled out a hook. Whatever
the hook pulled out was theirs. I mean, it was the meat that
belonged to them. That's how they ate. So do you
not know that they which minister about holy things live of the
things of the temple, and they which wait at the altar are partakers
with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained
that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." Now,
he's not saying this by way of commandment in the sense that
a preacher can say, Okay, I'm preaching, so you've got to pay
me. No. He is speaking to the people
who are ministered to. And he is saying the Lord has
ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the
gospel. That is that what they are doing is of value to you,
of some kind. If you don't think that it is,
then you have got the wrong concept of what is being done when the
Lord is pleased to send the gospel to you. Isn't that worth something? Isn't it? I think it is. I mean, I think it's valuable.
Thank God that He sent the Word of God to us. Now, when He says
they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel, I've heard
a lot of guys over the years say, well, see there? I mean, we ain't going to go preach
if they don't pay us. If a man is going to preach the
gospel, he should live of the gospel. That's my right. No, it's not. You see, he's speaking
to the people. He's saying that is what the
Lord has ordained. That is how the Lord has said
that you should have regard to it. But he says, I have used
none of these things. Now he's back talking about himself.
He's back talking about how the regard that a man who's been
sent with the gospel is to have regard to it. I have used none
of these things, neither have I written these things that it
should be done unto me. He says, I'm not coming telling
you these things so you'll get your checkbook out and write
me a check. You've got it wrong if you think that's what I'm
doing here. He says, I'm not trying to get money from you
for preaching. He says, I'm wanting you to understand
the value of it. If you think that somebody, if
you go to a restaurant and you pay them for the food that they
put on your table and pay the waitress that brings it to you,
how much more ought you to have that same consideration, he says,
of the man that brings to you the Word of God? How much more
valuable is that? than that. And so that's what
he's saying. Well, I've used none of these
things, neither have I written these things, that it should
be none unto me, for it were better for me to die. He said,
I would rather die than I had to come and say to
you, I'm making a charge to you for the things I'm giving to
you. He said, I would rather die than
that any man should make my glory void." Wait a minute, Paul, you
shouldn't be glorying. Well, look at what he's glorying
in. He's not glorying in himself. He's not saying, I want to have
a place of glory. That's not what he's saying.
He said, for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to
glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. He said, it wouldn't
make any difference. Just forget about everything
I've said. He said, that doesn't have anything to do with what
I'm doing. He said, I have to do what I'm
doing. He said, necessity is laid on
me. I don't have anything to glory
of. I can't stand up and say, well, I'm this great preacher
that the Lord has sent down here. And you know, you all need to
pour out the corn here because I've come to town. He said, No, I don't want that. He said, I don't want you to
take away that which I glory because of the glory. He said,
I have nothing to glory of. Necessity is laid upon me. Yea,
woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this
thing willingly, I have a reward. Now I've heard people talk about
that. Oh well, you know if the preacher, he goes out here and
he preaches willingly and he does all these things and what
not, then he's going to have a reward in heaven. He's not
talking about a reward in heaven. He's talking about a reward now.
He's talking about that which is his reward once he says it
is. He says, what is my reward then? Here's his reward. Right here,
he said, this is how I'm rewarded. Verily when I preach the gospel,
I may make the gospel of Christ without charge. He said, that's
my glory. He says, I glory in the fact
that I am given by the grace of God to this task and I give
myself to it gladly. And if I should charge you for
it, it would be the It would take that away. He says, I couldn't
sleep at night thinking that I would come to you only if you
paid me a certain way. Well, we'll come. Oh, brother,
so and so will come, but he wants us to cover his expenses. Paul
never asked anybody to cover his expenses, did he? He just
did what he did. Now, I think it would be a shameful
thing if somebody did something at their expense for my benefit
and I didn't have any regard to that at the same time. Okay? For I do this thing willingly,
I have a reward, but if against my will a dispensation of the
gospel is committed to me. He said, now, if I preach this
thing, if I do this willingly, I have the reward. In other words,
if I go out and preach the gospel without charge, He says, I have
a reward. But he says, if it's against
my will, I can't help it. He says, a dispensation of the
gospel is committed to me. That is, the dispensing of the
gospel is put into my charge. I don't have a choice in the
matter, whether I like it or not. He said, maybe in the flesh
I'd like for somebody to pay me a bunch of money to do this.
But he said, I'm not doing that. It doesn't make any difference.
He said, the dispensing of the gospel is sent to me. A dispensation
of the gospel is given to me. I don't have a choice in the
matter. You see, preaching the gospel
is not a career choice. It's not something somebody plans
to do. It's something that they can't
avoid. See, a man doesn't choose to
be a preacher. of the gospel of Christ. He sent. And he can't help it. You remember Jeremiah, he said,
I'm so sick and tired of the way the people have been treating
me. He said, I decided I'm going to just sit down and shut up
and I'm not going to say nothing else. I'm not going to say another
word. And he said, the Word of God
burned in my soul. And he said, I could not be silent. Now, dear brethren, that is what
Paul is talking about here. He says the dispensing of the
Gospel is committed to me whether I like it or I don't. There is nothing that makes anybody
happier than to make people happy and people be their friend. But
you see, if a man is sent to preach the gospel, he cannot
be everybody's friend. He is going to make at least
half of the people mad, and probably more than that. Because you see,
that is just the way the truth is. It just goes forth and it
cuts one way and the next. And we are not sent, he said,
I am not sent to get money, What is my reward then, verily, that
I may preach the gospel of Christ without charge? For though I
be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all
that I might gain the more." I want to do what the Lord sent
me to do, he said. I'm not interested in what somebody
else says. I'm not interested in what somebody
else does. He says, I'm just going to do
what the Lord sent me to do. And what you do, he said, is
what you do. And whatever that is, is what
that is. But he says, I'm telling you this, I'm moving on. He said,
this is what I'm going to do, one way or the other.