Now, we were looking earlier
in chapter nine last week when Paul was teaching us that the
Lord's servants, his pastors and missionaries, are to be supported
by the church financially so that they can be in the ministry
full time, spend all their time in study and preaching and ministering
to us. And we saw how that's a good
trade for us, giving financial, material things in exchange for
spiritual things. And earlier in the verses prior
to that, Paul had been teaching us that while believers have
the freedom to do things, freedom from the law to eat and drink
and do various things that they would, we give up those freedoms
for our weaker brethren, for the good of the church. And he's
continuing in that same vein in our lesson this morning, showing
us how God's servants are sold out for the gospel. And as I read through these verses
this week, and of course, Paul is writing as an apostle, as
a preacher. But that attitude, being sold
out for the gospel, is not just for preachers, although it is
a must for God's preachers. That's the attitude of every
believer, to be sold out for the gospel. And in these verses,
I believe he'll show us how that's done. So our lesson begins in
verse 15. Or Paul says, but I've used none of these things. None
of this, you know, getting the financial support from the people
I've preached to there in Corinth. I've 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 glory void. You know,
Paul just been teaching us that he had the right to receive financial
support. from the people that he preached
to. He had the right to marry and receive enough support so
that he could support a family. But he hadn't used that right.
And he's not writing to ask for that right. He's not writing
asking for money. Now false prophets had come in
there at Corinth and they had accused Paul of being in the
ministry for money. You know, they say that the ministry
is an easy life. That's why Paul's in this. And
you know, people think This is just a thing about human nature. People think everybody else is
just like them. We think, well, people think
like I do, that they're motivated the same way I am. And false
prophets that were there in Corinth, they were in it for the money.
So they assumed Paul was too. And that's why Paul didn't take
any support from the Corinthians while he was there. You know,
you can't be accused of being in the ministry for money when
you don't take any. They couldn't accuse Paul of
being in it for money because he wasn't taking any from them.
He worked to supply his own needs. And he did that because Paul
was sold out for the gospel. He says here, it would be better
for me to starve to death because I refuse to take your money than
for somebody to be able to accuse me of being in the ministry for
money. It'd be better for me to starve
to death. Because the gospel is so important
to me that I preach it freely. Even though I have the right
to receive support for being in the ministry full time, it's
more important for me to preach the gospel freely than take anything
for my own fleshly good. And the glorying Paul's talking
about here, you know, is not glorying before God. Paul's the
same one that wrote, where is boasting then? It's excluded. By the law of faith, boasting
is excluded. So he's not boasting or glorying
before God. His glorying is before these
false prophets. He can glory before them, before
their charges against him. He can glory and say, boys, I
didn't take a dime from these folks. You can't accuse me of
being in a ministry for money because it's more important for
me to preach the gospel than my own physical welfare. In verse
16, he goes on, he says, 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 Paul, he says, I do preach
the gospel, but I still don't have anything to glory in. Even
if I preach the gospel well, even if I can preach the gospel
with power, Still don't have anything to glory in because
God's the one that gave the gifts. God's the one that made the message
effectual. Paul certainly could say he preached,
he planted and he watered, but it'd all be for naught unless
God gave the increase. No matter what Paul does, God's
got to give the increase. He's the one that's got to bless
it. And he says, I must preach the gospel. This is not an optional
thing. He can't say, well, you know,
Do this now. I'm not going to do this now.
No, it's a necessity that's been laid upon him. He says, whoa,
be unto me if I don't preach the gospel. You know, Henry told
me one time. A man's in the ministry because
he must be in the ministry. He can't do anything else and
be happy. He must be in the ministry. And
he gave this advice to a young pastor one time. I don't know
if you all remember this story or not, but he was preaching
somewhere. A young man just became pastor
of that church, and Henry was there preaching, and they were
eating dinner. And the man's wife asked Henry, she says, what's
the one piece of advice you'd give my husband, a young pastor? And he gave advice she totally
did not expect. He said, get out if you can.
If you can do something else, do it. Get out if you can. And
what he meant was, do this only if you must do it. Do this if
you're sold out for the gospel. But if you're not, don't be in
the ministry. And that exact same thing applies
to you and me. Don't follow Christ unless you're
sold out for him. Just don't do it. You count the
costs and then you follow him. If you can, Feed on the husks
around you. If you can feed on the husks
of human religion somewhere, go do it. It'll be easier than
this. If you can feed on it, do it.
But if you can't, if you can only feed on the Lord Jesus Christ,
then follow Him completely. Be sold out for Him. If you're
going to follow Christ, the person that truly follows Christ says
with the songwriter, give me Christ or else I die. I can't
have anything else. I'm sold out to Him. I follow
Christ because I must follow Him. I must. That new man must
have Him, must follow Him. Woe be unto me if I don't follow
Him. Woe be unto me if I don't come
to Him. Woe be unto me if I don't rest
in Him. That's being sold out for the gospel. And that's what
truly following Christ is. And that's the way You feel that's
the way this group feels. And it's by grace. That's by
God's grace. But that's your attitude by God's
grace. You're faithful because of God's
grace. You know, things come up and
things need to be done. Problems come up. Your attitude
is what can I do? Not looking for somebody else.
What can I do? Because I'm sold out for the gospel. And that's
that's by God's grace. And we can be very thankful.
I am. I can tell you that. Well, verse
17, Paul goes on, he says, 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. Now, Paul says, if I am committed
to this, I preach the gospel with a willing attitude. And
I keep that willing attitude in times of adversity, in times
of trouble, if I keep this willing attitude when I deny myself to
preach the gospel, then I have a reward. But it's not a reward
like the wages that I earned. It's not a reward of wages that
God must give me. This is the reward that a servant
feels for doing a good job, for a job well done. A true loving
servant works faithfully, whether he's getting paid or not, because
he loves his master. His object is to please his master. You know, I go to work. Every
day. And I try to work hard every day. But I wouldn't do it if
I didn't get a paycheck on Friday. And I wouldn't do it for long.
I made the company was in trouble and everybody had to work for
free for a week or two to get the thing back up and running.
Then I'd get paid. I might do it. But I wouldn't do it for
long. I'm a mercenary there. I do it for pay. Ministry is
not a job. It's a calling. It's the service
of a servant. So Paul says, I preach it willingly.
He says, now I might preach it reluctantly. Maybe I preach it
and I feel like I'm forced to do it. Maybe I'll be like Jonah
and I'm forced to go to Nineveh and preach the gospel to those
folks. But either way, I'm still God's servant. Either way, I've
been given a command to preach the gospel. This dispensation
of the gospel has been given to me and I must preach it. And
at the end of the day, God's servants are willing. Now we
serve, we willingly serve, all of us, we willingly serve wherever
it is that the Lord's put us. Because God made us willing in
the day of his power, and he'll keep us willing, won't he? The
whole time, he'll keep us willing. We're going to have to fight
this flesh, don't be mistaken, we've got to fight this flesh.
Because this flesh doesn't like to sacrifice, this flesh doesn't
like to take second place, because our selfish flesh is selfish.
But the believer will be willing. That new man that's been born
in you will be willing. You can't help but overcome.
Now, verse 18, Paul says, he said, if I do this thing willingly,
I have reward. Well, 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 in the gospel. Now,
Paul earlier talked about his glory was before false prophets,
that he didn't take money from those Corinthians. In many places
Paul went, he didn't take money from them. And he says, if I
do this willingly, I have my reward. Well, his reward is a
clean conscience. I didn't do this. People might
accuse me of doing this for money, but I didn't do it for that.
I preached the gospel of Christ freely. I did not make myself
a burden to people. Why did he do that? Sold out
for Christ. He's sold out for the gospel.
He's so in love with Christ that my reward is to preach the gospel
to sinners. That's my reward. My reward.
I have such a burden for the lost that my reward is to preach
the gospel to them and see some of them converted. Maybe the
Lord will save one of them. That's my reward. I have such
a burden for God's sheep. My reward is to see them fed. That's my reward. And what happens
to me doesn't enter into it. Honestly, it doesn't. And no
one could say that that wasn't Paul's true motive because he
never abused his power as an apostle or preacher to take financial
support from people. He never abused it. Now, verse
19, he says, for though I be free from all men, yet have I
made myself servant unto all. that I might gain the more. Now
that word men in this verse is in italics, that's not in the
original. What Paul is saying is though I be free from all,
I'm free from everything because I'm free in Christ. I'm free
from the law, free from the curse of the law, free from the condemnation
of sin, free from the ruling power of sin. And he's free from
men as far as an obligation, you know, to them because he
didn't demand anything from them. You know, a lot of times you
give somebody money and you feel like, well, they're kind of indebted
to you. Paul says, I'm not indebted to any man because I didn't take
anything from them. I preached the gospel to them
freely. But even though Paul was free, he made himself a servant
to all men. And he did what he could do not
to offend people. He did what he could do to endear
himself to them for this reason. So they listened to him preach
the gospel. That's why. Because his goal, any true preacher's
goal, is to win sinners to Christ. He wants people to come hear
him preach so that they'll look to Christ and find forgiveness
of their sins in him. His goal is to be able to preach
to people so that they listen to him, so that sinners can find
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his goal. Paul is saying that he is like
a merchant who works very, very hard. to present his goods and
sell his goods so he can gain a profit from selling those goods. You know, a man is a successful
merchant. People come in, you know, asking
for donations for the Little League and stuff. He writes him
a check. He gives him stuff for the Little
League. He goes out and is involved in the community so people know
him and like him. So they'll come into a store.
That's why he's doing all that stuff. So the people come into
his store and buy stuff. That's why he's doing it. Well,
Paul's goal was for not to offend people. So they'd come listen
to him preach. And his profit was not a gain
for himself. Was to gain sinners, was to gain
sheep to Christ so that so that people sinners would be joined
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look over in Philippians chapter
two. I show you where Paul got this attitude from. Why did he
make himself a servant to all men that he might so that he
might win some to Christ? Philippians 2, he got this attitude
from the Lord Jesus Christ, our head. Philippians 2 verse 5,
let this mind, this attitude be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. You talk about Paul said he's
free. You talk about free. This is God's son. Yet, but verse
7, he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross." Why? To save his people
from their sins. That's why he did that. And Paul
had the exact same attitude. Why is he willing to do this?
Why is he willing to go to these places and preach? Why is he
willing to sacrifice himself to preach the gospel? For the
salvation of God's sheep. Because there's no salvation
apart from hearing the gospel. That's exactly why. Now, verse
20. Paul says here, he's talking
about making himself a servant to all men. Here's what he's
talking about. And unto the Jews, I became as a Jew that I might
gain the Jews to them that are under the law as them as under
the law, that I might gain them that are under the law and to
them that are without the law as without the law. being not
without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might
gain them that are without the law. To the weak I became as
weak, that I might gain the weak. I have made all things to all
men, that I might by all means save some." Now we know the ceremonial
law. That's done away with in Christ.
He fulfilled all that ceremonial law. It's done away with. But
people who are still in that mode of religion. People are
still under that bondage. They don't know that that's been
done away with in Christ, do they? So Paul would observe some
of those things. So they'd listen to him preach.
And when Paul came and preached to the Jews, where did he preach
to them? On the Sabbath day in the synagogue. And when he was
in those towns, I'm sure he observed the dietary laws and those things
so that he wouldn't put those people off. So they'd listen
to him preach. When Paul took Timothy out with
him to go preach to the Jews, look over in Acts chapter 16.
When Paul took Timothy with him to
go out and preach, he had Timothy circumcised. In Acts 16 verse
1. Then came he to Derbe and Lystra,
and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, the
son of a certain woman which was Jewish and believed. But his father was a Greek. And
this man, Timothy, he was well reported by the brethren that
were at Lystra and Iconium. Now him would Paul have to go
forth with him. And he took and circumcised him
because of the Jews, which were in those quarters, those quarters
where they were going to go preach. For they knew all that his father
was a Greek. Those Jews that they were going
to go preach to, they knew his father was a Greek. They knew
this man wasn't circumcised and they weren't about to listen
to him preach. So Paul had him circumcised before
it ever became an issue. So that he removed that obstacle
so they wouldn't automatically tune him out. But, and you can't
go too far with that, Paul would do what he could do to avoid
problems so that people would listen to him preach. But it's
a whole other matter. What if someone demanded that
he be circumcised? So he's got to, because that's
what the law demands. He must be circumcised. Paul
draws the line there. Look over Galatians chapter two,
that very issue came up and I had Timothy circumcised. But this issue came up with Titus
and look how Paul handled that in Galatians two, verse three. But neither Titus, who was with
me being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised and that because
of false brethren, unawares brought in who came in privately. to
spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they
might bring us into bondage to whom we gave place to whom we
gave place by subjection. No, not for an hour that the
truth of the gospel might continue with you. See, when they made
it a matter of law, when they made it a matter of righteousness
and salvation, Paul said, now, we draw the line there. He's
not going to be circumcised. We're not going to be brought
into bondage to the law. But if he could do it beforehand,
in order and not violate the freedom that, you know, the law
of Christ, then he'd do it so that people would listen to him
preach. And when he went to the Gentiles, those Gentiles didn't
grow up with the law of Moses. Well, Paul didn't go in and start
bashing them and calling them heathen and teach them the law
and then teach them Christ. No, he just went in and preached
Christ to them. Paul didn't go in as a reformer
and try to reform all their bad habits and their bad behavior.
He just preached Christ to them. Knowing this, if they meet the
Lord Jesus Christ, that behavior will take care of itself. He
just came and preached Christ to them. When Paul was with weak
believers, he gave up his right to eat and drink and do these
various things so that they wouldn't be offended, so that they listened
to him preach. Because his desire for them was
that they grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that'll come through listening to him preach. When Paul went
to preach to the Jews, he became a Jew. He used illustrations
they could understand. He talked about the fathers and
the Old Testament and scriptures and those things. When Paul went
to the Gentiles, he used illustrations they'd understand. He talked
to them about literature and the philosophers and science.
Here in a little bit, he's going to use the example of the Olympic
Games, things that they're familiar with. He became like one of them.
So they listened to him preach. And Paul was willing to do this,
to deny himself if anyone would come hear him preach. Perhaps
they'd come to know Christ. That was his goal. That's what
he says in verse 23. And this I do for the gospel's
sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Paul is sold
out for the gospel so that people would come hear him preach Christ
and be saved. so that people would be partakers
together with Him of eternal life. That was what his goal
was. Look over in 2 Timothy 2. Paul gave the same advice to
Timothy. He told Timothy, you do the same thing. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 10. Paul
says, therefore, I endure all things. I endure all the hardships
of preaching. I endure all the hardships of
denying myself for the elect's sake, that they might also obtain
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. That's
my goal. That was Paul's goal. Now verse
24. Know ye not that they which run
in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run that ye may
obtain. Now Paul is making reference
to the Grecian Games and the Olympic Games, these kind of
competitions that are very, very popular around Corinth. And everybody knew exactly what
he was talking about. And Paul says, now there are
many people at the starting line, but just one runner is going
to win. Just one of them. And the object of the race is
to win the prize. And believers are in a race.
And we should run to win that race. Be sold out to Christ. Be sold out to run this race
to be found in Him. To win Christ and be found in
Him. Not have my own righteousness, but His righteousness. And if
you're determined to run this race, you're sold out for Christ.
You're not going to be tempted to veer off course. Something
is not going to get your attention and make you want to take a detour.
You're running the race. You're running this race. And
that takes strength. and stamina that only Christ
can give. You know, to run a road race,
you can train to build some strength and stamina for that. This race,
the believer's race, takes strength that comes from the Lord. No
matter how hard we run this race, no matter how well we run this
race, we're dependent on Christ to give us the strength to do
it. And, you know, I run some road races. I don't run them
very good, but I run them to try to keep my weight in check
and let me eat whatever I want. And I've run a lot of them. Never
one time, ever, have I won one of those races. Never, ever.
I entered a race recently. There were 12,100 some odd people
at the starting line. I looked around. There wasn't
a thought in my mind I'd win that race. There just wasn't
a thought. But one time, once, I won my age group. You know,
they break it up in like five-year increments, you know, so you
feel like you won something. You're not competing against very many
people. And one time, I won my age group. And the only reason
I did it was because it was the run by the river down in Russell.
Well, they run a 5K and a 10K at the same time. And I got there
and looked around and, huh, all the fast guys in my age group
were running a 5K. I got a shot here. So I took
off. I'm running. And there was one,
I pretty much knew everybody in my age group. When I passed
the last one, I thought, I think I'm in first place in my age
group. Guy's name was Jeff Bauschman. His family, he had daughters
that would run like the wind. And in the last mile, I was ahead
of Jeff. And I'm wondering as I'm running,
I'm getting tired, can I hold him off? I mean, I wondered the
whole, up to the time I entered that chute, I thought he might
pass me. Just that, you know, uncertainty in my mind. And I
was able to hold him off. And if I wouldn't have held him
off, I'd have been so disappointed because I had to leave, you know,
right up to the end. Well, in the Christian race,
every believer runs with certainty and every believer will win the
same prize. The Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, some
will run faster. Some will run stronger. Some
will run slower. But every believer will win the
same prize. Every one of us will win the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we should be motivated to
run as hard as we can. You know, that race I told you
about, I was seeing the 12,100 people enter. Well, I knew I
wasn't going to win. I mean, that's ridiculous. But
you know what? I still run it as hard as I could.
And I was still mighty happy to cross that finish line, even
though I knew I wasn't going to win. That's the way we're
to run this race, the believers race as hard as we can, knowing
that we're running to please our master. Now, verse 25, Paul
says, and every man that striveth for mastery is temperate in all
things. Now, they that do it, they are
now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. You know, competitive runners.
They'll give up all sorts of things so they can run further
and faster. You know, they go to bed earlier.
They run instead of sitting on the couch eating chips and, you
know, watching TV. They stick to a good diet. They
do these things so they can run faster and be competitive. A
couple of months ago at work, we had this group of consultants
come in to work and we spent days with them training. One
of the days we took a break and it was much later than normal
and we went out and took them out to lunch. We all ate too
much, you know, but this one fella, he just had a salad and
water. Well, at the end of the day,
we just said, well, we'll take you out to dinner. Well, everybody
was still, you know, kind of full, so we didn't want to order,
you know, a bunch of entrees, so we just ordered a bunch of
hors d'oeuvres and things, you know, and thought we'd just sit
and pick at that stuff and talk and get to know one another.
And we ordered a bunch of fried appetizers. And this guy, he
wasn't eating anything. He was just sitting there drinking
his water, you know, talking with us. And I asked him, didn't
we order something that you like? Should we order something else?
And he said, no, no, that's fine. He said, in the past three months,
I've not eaten one thing fried. I've not drank a drop of alcohol
in the past three months because I'm training to run a half marathon.
I said, oh. As I ate the next piece of fried
Mozzarella sticks. I said, I am too. But I thought
you ran so you could eat whatever you want. This guy's running
to be competitive. He's striving for masteries.
Which is probably why he ran his race eight minutes faster
than I ran mine. Because he's temperate in all things. Because
his goal is to run that race. Well, believers are willing to
be temperate in all things. Not just for ourselves. Not just
so I can run well. But my brethren can run well,
too. We're temperate in all things
so we don't put a stumbling block in front of our brethren. And
runners, they're willing to do what they do just so somebody
will tell them, congratulations, you won first place. They'll
put a medal over their neck. Believers are running for an
incorruptible prize, a prize you cannot lose, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, verse 26, Paul says, I therefore
so run, not as uncertainly, And so fight I, not as one that beateth
the air, but I keep my body and bring it into subjection, lest
that by any means, when I preach to others, I myself should be
a castaway." Paul says, I'm not just out jogging aimlessly around
town. I'm running hard and I'm running
on a set course with a set finish line with a set goal in mind.
And that's the way believers run our race. We're run on a
set course. The course is not marked by white
paint on the street. It's marked by God's word. The
course is set out for us. The finish line is ahead. Now,
we don't know exactly when we'll reach the finish line. That's
the Lord's business. But we're running on a set course with
a set finish line for a set prize to awaken his likeness. And Paul
says, I'm not shadow boxing. I'm fighting a real opponent,
my flesh. Now, we're not shadow boxing
with any of our enemies and we have lots of them, but here he's
speaking specifically of our flesh, fighting our flesh. And
wrestlers who would train for these Grecian games would beat
themselves black and blue in order to train, to fight and
wrestle in these games to win. And Paul says, I'm beating my
flesh black and blue so that I can preach more effectively,
so I can subdue my flesh. Like a wrestler who pins his
opponent and stands with his foot on the neck of his opponent. Victorious. We have a picture
like that, I don't know, somewhere in our house. A number of years
ago, we were, Janet and I were keeping, and I got wrestling
with him. That's what you do, right? I
got wrestling with him and I let Michael pin me. He's just a little
guy. And I was laying there, you know,
on the ground acting like he'd knocked me out and Janet got
him to stand with his, his foot on my back and stand there, unless
you've got a picture of him like this. That's what Paul's saying. He's willing to beat his flesh
black and blue so he can subdue it and put his foot on the neck
of that old man and have him subdued so that he can preach
the gospel more effectively. That's why he's willing to do
all this so that he won't be judged as a reprobate. And so
his ministry wouldn't be judged as counterfeit. Paul said, I'd
rather give up, it'd be better for me to die a death of starvation
than my ministry be judged a counterfeit. And when he talks about being
cast away, he's not talking about losing his salvation, being cast
away. We know God's not going to cast
away any of the people which he foreknew. No believer's ever
going to lose their salvation. He's talking about his ministry,
that his ministry won't be cast away because he did something
that offended someone and they wouldn't listen to him preach.
And if you're sold out for the gospel, that's a whole lot more
important than satisfying this flesh. All right. Well, Lord
bless you.