Alright, let's turn to the book
of 1 Corinthians. The past several chapters have
been dealing with Christian liberty. And what he's attempting to do
here, what he is doing, he's not attempting to do it, what
he is doing here is to show us where Christian liberty works
in to the whole of what's going on. We have Christian liberty,
but Christian liberty is not at the top of the list. Christian
liberty is down the list. And these men who were wise in
their own conceits, they were using Christian liberty and looking
down their nose at others who didn't have it and being inconsiderate
of those who didn't have their understanding of it. So I want
to start here, believers, are truly free. They're the only
free people on the face of God's earth, the believers. Believers
are truly free. They're free from the law. They're dead to the law, having
died in their substitute. They've exalted the law by satisfying
God's justice to its fullest demands in their Savior. And
then believers are free from the law as a means of righteousness. Believers do not want or have
a righteousness by their own works. We don't have it. And Paul said he didn't want
it. He said that I might win Christ and be found in Him not
having my own righteousness. He didn't want that righteousness. He had that righteousness at
one time. And then he saw what it was and
he took it out and threw it on the dung heap. He didn't want
to be found having his own righteousness, but that righteousness of God
which is in Christ. They have what Paul describes
in Romans 3.21 as the righteousness of God without the law. Without
the law. That is the righteousness of
God by faith of Jesus Christ. And it's unto all and upon all
that believe. And then believers are free from
the law as a means of worship. I don't need the ceremonial way
of worship that they had in the Old Testament. That's done away.
That's done away. I don't need a priest. Catholics
have a high priest. They have a priesthood. They
worship God through a priesthood. I don't need a priesthood. Our
priesthood has been fulfilled. We have a high priest. He is
seated in the heavens. And we don't keep days or feasts
or holy days. Christ has fulfilled all these
things. He is my Sabbath. There is no
rest in a day. The rest is in Christ of whom
the day spoke. He fulfilled that. And He has fulfilled all these
things. And we worship God in spirit and truth looking to our
Redeemer as the fulfillment of all things. Believers are truly
free. But this liberty needs to be
kept in its place. It's a great thing to understand. It's something we need to understand. It's something we need to look
into the scriptures and learn about that freedom so we're not
in that old bondage to religion. We're all filled with, last week
I told you, we carry a lot of luggage. We're still carrying
that religious luggage around with us and we need to be free
of it. We're still in bondage to those
things in our minds. But Christian liberty is not
more important than the purpose of God to call out his sheep.
Christian liberty is not more important than the well-being
of weak believers. And as we saw last week, if it's
abused and left unchecked, it can cause great damage to the
weak brethren. I can justify my liberty in Christ
Jesus, but I cannot justify proving it at the expense of a weak brother. And knowledge is just not enough. It's not enough. It's what's
called in the Scripture in letter only or in word only. James tells
us that faith without works is dead, being alone, that is, without
the presence of God with it. And the works he's talking about
are divinely enabled works like faith and love and repentance,
worship, compassion, perseverance. These are works which God works
in us. Paul told the Thessalonians that
he knew their election of God because his gospel came not in
word only. But it came in power and in the
Holy Ghost and in much assurance. And it's the continual working
of the Holy Ghost in us that gives us the wisdom and maturity
to use our gifts and privileges to the furtherance of God's kingdom. Now, I want you to hear me. Liberty
is not the primary motive behind what we do. Love is the primary
motive. Love is the primary motive for
all that the believer does. And love is sacrificial. It's sacrificial. Hereby perceive
we the love of God because He laid down His life for us. And
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. When He talks
about love to the husband and the wife, He said, Husbands,
love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for
us. gave Himself for it. Love is
sacrificial. And love has a character. Now we're going to get into that
a little later on in the book of Corinthians, but I'll just
give you a few things that it says. It says, love suffereth
long. That's the character of it. If
I have true love, it's long-suffering. Because it knows where it came
from. It knows You see what I'm saying? In order for you to have love,
you had to have experienced that love. And you can experience
that love and not see to some extent the long-suffering of
God toward you, so that you become long-suffering toward others.
And it's kind. It's not cruel. It's kind. Love
is kind. Find somebody you love and you're
kind to. You're kind. You're not severe. You don't just cut the legs out
from under them. You're kind. It envieth not. It vaunteth not itself. It's
not puffed up. Does not behave itself unseemly. Seeketh not her own. It's not
easily provoked. Boy, all you've got to do is
hiccup around some folks and they just blow up, have a meltdown.
It loves not that way. It loves not easily provoked.
And so on and so on. But my friend, being a Calvinist
does not constitute salvation. Salvation is to know God in Christ. And when you come to know God
in Christ, you can't help but experience these characteristics
that I just gave you. Those are all part of that experience
with the Lord God. And those who truly know Him,
know Him by way of the new birth. They do receive the doctrine.
We do receive that, the letter, the Word. But they are accompanied
with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit of God. He says
He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Ghost. And salvation is a heart work.
It's a heart work. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. Our Lord said, where your treasure
is, that's where your heart is. That's where your heart is. People
tell me all the time, Christ is my treasure. But they're always
somewhere else. They're always somewhere else.
Now, I'm telling you, wherever your treasure is, that's where
your heart is. And wherever your heart is, you're
going to be there. You're going to be there. Where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. Knowledge, true saving
knowledge has a character. It's kind, it's humble, it's
selfless, it bears all things, endures all things. And love,
pure, perfect love never fails. Never fails. That pure and perfect
love of Christ never fails. And it's utter blasphemy to say
that any man loved of God in Christ should ever perish. should
ever fall permanently and forever. That's blasphemous. That makes
the love of God to be nothing. That's what that does. And that's
why we don't preach a universal love. Yet there were men in this
church who claimed to have this knowledge who did not manifest
any of the character that went with it. Now in our lesson today,
Paul speaks of his liberty as an apostle And then he shows
them where this liberty truly belongs. And he begins with his
office. And then he talks about various
aspects of his life, and he shows us how that this liberty in Christ
did not dictate how he ministered to God's sheep. Verse 1. Now watch this as we go through
this. If I be not an apostle unto others,
Wait a minute. Am I not an apostle? Verse 1.
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. Paul's office. as a preacher
and an apostle of Christ was manifested by the work of the
Holy Ghost in them. In them. Overcoming their traditional
understanding of God and overcoming their vain philosophies and concepts
of man, tearing down their strongholds of refuge, and casting down their
imaginations, bringing them out of darkness into light, bringing
them out of ignorance into truth, bringing them out of a outward
show into an inward worship and spirit of God. He said, God confirmed my work
in you, and others may doubt my apostleship, but not you,
because the seal of my apostleship are you in the Lord. He was God's
ambassador to them, and they could not deny it. Verse 3, mine
answer to them that do examine me is this, Have we not power
to eat and drink? Have we not power to lead about
a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, as the brethren
of the Lord and Cephas? If I be free in Christ, do I
not have the same liberty as others? Do I not have the liberty to
eat whatever I want to eat? Do I not have the liberty to
have a glass of wine with my meal? Do I not have the liberty
to marry and have children? Verse 6, For I only and Barnabas
have not we power to forebear working. Paul was an apostle. He held the highest office in
the church. He was a missionary spending
his life in foreign lands and looking for God's elect. Should
he then be forced to pay his own way? Didn't he have the right
to forbear working? That's what he's asking. Verse
7, Who goeth to warfare any time at his own charges? Who planteth
a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth
a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? My friend,
the ministry is a warfare. It's a warfare. It's going into the enemy's territory
and taking from him that which God has purposed to have. That's
what the ministry is. We go out into the... He's called
in Scripture the God of this world, the Prince of the power
of the air. His influence is universal. It's over every man.
Every man born of Adam. That spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience. And when you go out to minister
to God's elect, you're going into the enemy's territory just
the same as Israel did when they went into that promised land.
They went in there, but there was enemies in there. They were
going into the enemy's territory and taking from them what God
had promised to give. And that's the ministries of
warfare. And Paul likens it to that. It requires suffering,
it requires effort, and it's exhausting work. You know, if
I'm working out here on the job, I got a sick day, and I just
get up one morning, I don't feel like going to work. I just really
feel rotten. I could probably get through
the day, but I've got a sick day, and I just stay home. You
can't do that with the ministry. Now, I may get sick to the point
where I can't come. But I got to get up, feel like
it or not, and have something prepared for when I stand up
here to teach you or stand up here before you to declare the
gospel, I have to have something prepared. I can't just jerk something
out of my file cabinet and get up here and preach it. It won't
preach. I tried. It won't work. It won't work.
You have to study and prepare. Must a man who goes into battle
work to pay his way? Is that what our soldiers do?
Go over there to Iraq and get them a job over there so they
can eat? No. No. And Paul said, well,
we're at a warfare. We're going into battle. And
we're not to go in there at our own expense. He said, I have
the right for support as a minister of God. And a ministry is also
like a vineyard. Preachers are planters. He said,
I planted a polished water. And this vineyard belongs to
God. You are God's husbandry. Now,
the man who plants and waters and keeps the vineyard, don't
he have a right to eat a few grapes? You see what Paul is
telling them? And the ministry is also like
tending a herd of sheep. Peter, do you love me? Feed my
sheep. Feed my sheep. Well, the man
who tends the sheep, is it a crime for him to have a little milk
and butter? You see what Paul is telling them here in this
chapter? Verse 8, Say I these things as a man, or saith not
the law the same thing also? Verse 9, For it is written in
the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox
that treadeth out the corn. Does God take care for oxen?
In His law does He make provision for oxen? Or saith He it altogether
for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt this
is written, that he that ploweth should plow in hope, and he that
thresheth in hope should be partakers of his hope. Even the law of
God establishes provision for his fellow laborers. Verse 11,
if we've sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if
we shall reap your carnal things? Is there any comparison with
the value of your money to the value of what God ministers to
your heart by way of His preacher? Is there any comparison at all?
Can you compare these things in value, gift to gift? Verse
12, if others be partakers of this power over you, are not
we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used
this power. Now, Paul has went through all
these verses. And he showed you his rites, his rites plainly
stated in the law of God, plainly stated in the word of God, plainly
known and understood by that. And then he gave them plain illustrations
of the man going into battle and the man who's tending the
sheep, the man who works the vineyard. He gave them plain
illustrations of all these things. And he said, others do this,
but now you're calling me down because we do. But he said, let
me tell you something. We didn't do it. We had the right
to do it. We had the liberty to do it.
We had the law behind us. We had all things behind us. We had the right to say, you
need to do this. But you know what? He made tents
and he took no money from them. None whatsoever. And he uses
this to show them the proper place for Christian liberty. He's gone to great lengths to
show us his liberty and rightful dues as an apostle of Christ. And now he shows to us his love
and his gratitude and forbearance in the Gospel. Paul didn't just
love to preach. He loved those he preached to. Lots of people love to preach. A few people love those they
preach to. If he could more effectively
minister to men unmarried, then he wouldn't marry. He wouldn't
marry. He had the right to do that.
He tells us that in his first few verses. He had the right
to leave about a sister, a wife, the same as everybody else. Peter
had a wife. He points that out. All the brethren
there had a wife. He said, I have the right to
a wife, but I didn't exercise my right. I didn't exercise my
right. And if he could more effectively
minister to men unmarried, then he'd forego marriage. If he could
more effectively minister to some as being independent, then
he'd pay his own way. If he could more effectively
minister to some by leaving his house and leaving his family,
he'd do so without hesitation. Verse 13, 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 glory in vain. 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's 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 them
all. Preachers, especially, are bond
slaves. They're free. Isn't that what
the law said about the bond slave? He served his time. The debt
was paid. Everything was clear. He was
free as a bird. And the master brought him up
there before the house, and he said, there's the door. You're
free to go. Free to go. Here's the paper telling you
that the bill's been paid. There's the door. Just go out
the door. But the bond slave stands in
the door, and he says plainly so that everybody in the house
can hear him. I love my master, I will not go out. You know what
that's all about? Christian liberty. Paul had the liberty to go out.
He wouldn't go out. He was a bond slave. He loved
his master. To him, freedom was to serve
his master. Liberty is to serve his master.
And all these other things come way down the list. They come
way down the list. If it offends my brother that
I eat meat, I won't eat any more meat. I'll just eat vegetables.
I'll eat carrots until I die. They have the freedom to go out,
but they will not go. They're bond slaves of Christ.
And they'd rather be servants to Him and His house than to
be free in this ungodly world. Can you see where he's going
with all this? He's talking to them about Christian liberty.
He's talking to them about marriage. He's talking to them. He's coming
down on their level, and he's telling them, you can be married.
That's honorable. Marriage is honorable in all
things. It's OK to be married, but if you're going to preach,
and you're going to go out here and serve God, you'd be better
off if you didn't. Now, this was in his time, in
his days. But I could say the same thing
about today. I could say the same thing. It's
a hardship. on preacher's family. And lots
of these churches that they go to, they can't fully support
them. And somebody has to work. Wife
has to work. Kids suffer. They don't have,
you know, this man might have had a good job. He might have
been making $100,000 a year. His kids, their college was going
to be paid. They had insurance. They had
all these things. But they come down here to preach,
and all those things go out the window. You see what I'm saying? So, in a certain respect, it's
better to stay unmarried. And he talks to them about all
these Christian liberties. All these Christian liberties.
But he says they have their place. Here's the main thing. That the
gospel be preached. And this is what this whole book
is about. From the very get-go of this
book, he's trying to tell us that here's the only reason for
us to be on this earth. is for God's gospel to be preached. No other reason. You're as holy
as you're going to get. You're as righteous as you're
going to get in Christ. I don't believe in this progressive
sanctification. That's just a load of bull is
all that is. You're as holy and righteous
as you're ever going to be. You're as fit for glory as you're
ever going to be. So why are we still here? Why
are we still here? Are we paying for sin? No, our
sin is faithful. Why are we here? We're here that
His gospel be preached to His elect because God has ordained
this as the means to call out His elect. And preaching is the
primary thing. It's the primary thing. And Paul
said he was ready to sacrifice everything for it, even his Christian
liberty. And it needs to be set in its
place. And so why is the gospel, when
I say it's preeminent, what am I saying? I'm saying that the
work that Christ did in His glorious person is preeminent. And what
the gospel is, is the declaration of Christ. And that's the only
reason we've been left here. You can't find another reason
for us to be left here. That's the only reason. But what
have we done with this? We put it way down here and took
liberty and put it way up here. And we've taken music and everything
in the world and we put it way up here and we took gospel and
put it way down here. And that's what Paul's doing
in this book is he's trying to show them where things go in
their order. Where do these things go? What
has the preeminence? And we're bond slaves. That's
what he's pointing out. about himself and about Apollos
and about these ministries we've got. We're bond slaves to Christ. Bond slaves. And I'd have every
one of you to be bond slaves. And you will be if you know your
master. When you know him as you ought to know him, you'll
be a bond slave. You don't want to go out.