First Corinthians chapter nine. I'd like to read verses 19 through
23. First Corinthians chapter nine. Beginning in verse 19. For though I be free from all
men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain them
more. And unto the Jews I become 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 the
law, as without 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 became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men,
that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel
sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you." Now, I want
to call your attention to the last statement of verse 22. Paul says, I made all things
to all men that I might by all means save some. I can't help but wonder if any
of the Corinthians raised their eyebrow at that statement. Paul, don't you know you can't
save anybody? What do you do in making a statement
like that? Salvation is of the Lord. You can't save anybody. Now, you can be assured that
Paul was very well aware of that. Paul is the man that God used
more than anybody else to expound salvation by grace. Now, when
the Bible uses the word, by grace you are saved, that means that
your works, what you do, have absolutely nothing to do with
salvation. You cannot do anything in order
to get God to save you. You and I are in His hands. Salvation is of the Lord. It's not in your hands. Think
about this. It's up to God as to whether
or not you're going to be saved. It's not up to you. You don't
have any control in this. It's up to God. God chose a people
to be saved. Christ died for those people.
God the Holy Spirit gives them life. They all will be saved. Salvation is of the Lord. The
number of the saved cannot be added to or taken from. That's
the truth. Salvation is of the Lord. You and I are totally, 100% dependent
upon Him to do something for us. Salvation is of the Lord. And Paul was the man that God
used to expound grace more than any other man. So, was Paul wrong
in using language like this? He said, if by any means I might
save some, Was Paul wrong in using language like this? Absolutely
not. God uses human instrumentality
in the salvation of men. Now let me show you this from
Scripture. Turn over to Romans chapter 10. Turn back a few pages
to Romans chapter 10. Verse 13. For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. If you call on
the name of the Lord, you shall be saved. That's a promise from
scripture. Thank God for that. How then should they call on
him in whom they have not believed? And how should they believe in
him in whom they've not heard? And how should they hear without
a preacher? And how should they preach except
they be sent? Now, we see from that passage
of Scripture that God uses human instrumentality, doesn't he?
How should they hear without a preacher? Turn over to First
Timothy, chapter four. Paul says to Timothy in verse
16, Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, the doctrine
of God, the doctrine of Christ, the truth. Continue in them,
for in doing this, Thou shalt save both thyself and them that
hear thee. Now that's the language of scripture.
In continuing in the truth, in the doctrine of God, you'll save
both yourself and them that hear thee. Now do you remember when
Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost and he said to those
people he was preaching to, save thyself. Save thyself from this
untoward, from this perverse generation. He said, save yourself.
Now, Paul is letting us know in this passage of Holy Scripture
that I just read in First Corinthians nine, that his great desire,
his great end in what he did was the glory of God in the salvation
of souls. That's what he wanted to see.
I want to see men and women saved and brought to a knowledge of
Christ for the glory of God. He said, if by any means I may
save some. Now every believer, without exception,
has a desire to see others saved. Isn't that so? Every believer
desires that. The Lord has put that in the
heart of every one of his children without exception. Now, some
obviously have more of a desire for this than others. And their
works prove that. But every believer has this desire
and God uses us human instruments in saving his people. I just
read that passage of scripture where our Lord said, follow me.
and I will make you fishers of men." Now, evidently, if I'm
not a fisher of men, I'm not following Him. Is that a fair
inference from that passage of Scripture? He said, you follow
Me and I'll make you fishers of men. Now, He's not talking
about just preachers. He's talking to every believer.
Follow Me and I'll make you fishers of men. Now, why does God use
human instrumentality? You know, it was not necessary
for Him to do so. Would you be more impressed If I sit down
and all of a sudden an angel came in here and started preaching,
maybe a cherub or a seraphim or something like that. Who knows
what they look like? I have no idea. But what if they
took on some kind of physical form and all of a sudden we saw
an angel preaching rather than me? That'd be more impressive,
wouldn't it? You think you'd be more likely
to listen to them? You know, if the Lord wanted
to, he could have not used instrumentality. The Lord Himself could speak
from heaven. He's done it before. This is
my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. I mean, wouldn't it
be better, it seems like, to just set any man down and have
God Himself do the preaching? You know, He doesn't have to
use means, does He? I mean, it's not like He's unable
to save without the use of things like this. He could do this if
He wanted. But He gets more glory through the use of human instrumentality. He works through human instrumentality
in spite of the weakness of the instrument. And he gets more
glory that way. If the Lord uses you, he gets
more glory than he would if he used an angel, because he's working
in spite of you. He's working in spite of me.
I read this statement. It's always, I agree with it.
I think it's an interesting statement. One fellow said, it's amazing
that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ has persevered through
the years with such bad preaching going on. I thought, well, there
might be a lot of truth to that. A lot of truth to that. But the
Lord uses weak vessels, human instruments. He always uses human
instrumentality. If He's going to save somebody
you love, He's going to have you praying for them. He's going
to have you preaching to them. He's going to have you witnessing
to them. He's going to have you living a life in such a way as
to be an example to that person. God uses weak instruments to
make himself known. Now, this is for the good of
the church. Our purpose is to be fishers
of men. That's my reason for being here.
That's your reason for being here. It's not just to enjoy
life. Although we do enjoy life, I'm
thankful for life. I'm thankful for the blessings
of the relationships we have and so on. But our purpose for
being here, the reason God didn't bring us straight to heaven,
the reason he left us here, our purpose is to be fishers of men,
to be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be ambassadors of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our purpose. If we're believers, it's to be
ambassadors of Christ. That's the reason for our existence. The church is not a social club
where we find people of common interest and make friends. That's
not what the church is. The church, the purpose of the
church is not even to try to get people to believe the way
we do. Now, I want you to believe like I do, but, you know, I can
talk you into believing like I do and what good would that
do you? Really? The purpose of the church is
to be the instrument of God in saving souls. That's the purpose
of the church. That's the purpose of the individual
believer. It's to be the instrument of
God. This is why he's left here. It's to be the instrument of
God in the proclamation of his gospel, in being a fisher of
men, in seeking the salvation of souls. Look in Matthew chapter
16. The scripture will Emphasize that. We already looked at that this
morning, look in verse 18. And I say unto thee, that thou
art Peter, and upon this rock, this confession Peter made, thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. It's the confession
of every believer. Upon this rock, I'll build my
church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Now, the picture we have here
is of the church busting down the gates of hell through this
confession and delivering people from hell. That's the picture
we're given. That's the purpose of the church.
It's to be on the trail of God's sheep. That's our purpose. That's my purpose. And that's
your purpose. Now, the desire For the salvation of souls is
such a blessing to the individual believer. It's the church, yes,
but it's also what every individual believer has. And here's why
it's such a blessing. It's God-likeness. That's what it is. It's God-likeness.
It has as its root a love for God. And we can't bear that men
should not love our Redeemer. I love Him. And I cannot bear
that men should have no love for my Redeemer. And I love men. If you don't love folks, you're
not a believer. You want them to come to a knowledge of Christ.
You want them to bow beneath of Christ. You want them to know
something of the grace of God. You want them to know the joy
of forgiveness. You don't want them to know what
it is to walk with Christ. You love those folks. We want
their eternal good. Now, I have a question I'd like
for us to consider before we get into our text. Why is it
that this passion? For men and women. Is not more largely developed
in us. Why is that? There are some of
us who have never brought a person to hear the gospel. There are
others who really don't view themselves as ambassadors of
Christ in the place of influence that God has placed them there.
It's just not uppermost in their mind. Now, why is this? Why is
this? Because I believe that every
one of us feel like when it comes to being a witness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, we don't do a very good job. You feel that about
yourself? I feel that about myself. And
I want to be a witness of Christ. testify of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, why is it that in believers, because I guarantee you, everyone
must feel that way beginning right here. We don't feel like
we're what we ought to be in that area in so many ways. Well, why is it that this zeal
for souls is so largely undeveloped in us? Well, I can give you several
reasons. One is a one sided view of the truth. Believing in the sovereignty
of God, men say, well, God doesn't need me to be a witness. Indeed,
he does not. And you can be sure he won't
use you with that attitude, won't you? Now, if my belief in the
sovereignty of God in salvation, and I do believe in the sovereignty
of God in salvation, the Bible teaches it. God elected a people,
only the elect will be saved. That number can't be added to
or taken from. It's a definite number. It's
what the Bible teaches. And you don't preach a gospel
if you don't preach that. I'll say that strongly. You don't
preach the gospel if you don't preach that. If you believe that
salvation is up to the whim of man and up to the free will of
man and up to what man does and the number of the saved can be
added to or taken from, depending upon man's will, you don't really
believe the gospel at all. Now, if My belief in the absolute
sovereignty of God in salvation causes me to be fatalistic, apathetic,
indifferent, or less energetic in seeking to win the lost of
Christ. I have not understood the sovereignty
of God at all. Isn't it so? If my belief in
the absolute sovereignty of God, and I do But if that makes me
fatalistic, indifferent or apathetic in this thing of preaching the
gospel and in seeking to be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and
seeking to bring me into a knowledge of Christ. If my belief in sovereignty
makes me that way, I've not understood sovereignty, God's sovereignty
at all. Now, here's another thing that
causes us to be stunted, and I hope the Lord uses this message
to make us to not be this way anymore. Another thing that causes
us to be stunted in our passion for seeing people brought to
the knowledge of Christ is worldliness. Being so taken up with this world
that it just is not an issue with me, I have too many other
things going on. Worldliness. Here's another reason. Lack of faith. Not really believing
that God will use me in this glorious enterprise. Forgetting
that we're debtors to all men to preach the gospel to. These
are reasons why we've become so stunted in this, but Paul
the Apostle didn't have this attitude, did he? He wasn't apathetic. or fatalistic or indifferent
at all. He said that I might by all means
save some. Now here's a question I'd like
to ask you. Should we, you and I as individuals, be any less
passionate about this than Paul? Now you know the answer to that
question. He believed God had an elect people. He believed
Christ died for them and that they would be saved and their
number cannot be added to or diminished. Yet, look what he
said back in our text in 1 Corinthians 9. Beginning in verse 19. For though I be free, from all
men. You know, even liberating to
be free from all men. Now, I realize there's a sense
in which we all answer to each other. We do. I mean, we love
each other and we're friends. We're a church and we answer.
I realize that. But it's also true. You don't
answer to me. And I don't answer to you. And
I like it that way. I'm free. I'm free from human
opinion. I don't have to bow down just
because this is the way they do it. So what? This is what
they believe. So what? We're free from men. We're free from human opinion.
We're free from those things. I'm free from all men. I don't
have to conform myself in order to please you. I really don't
have to. I mean, I want you to be pleased
with me, but if you're not, that's okay. It's okay. I'm free from
all men. I'm free. You're free. Isn't
it wonderful to be free? Grace has made us free. You know, the Lord's servant
is the only true free man. We're so free in Christ. Oh,
how liberating salvation by grace is. Oh, I tell you, there's nothing
more liberating than being saved by the righteousness and merits
of Jesus Christ. Like I said, don't misunderstand
me. I want you to be pleased with me. I want you to think
well of me. But if you don't, that's OK. And if I don't think
well of you, that's OK. It's amazing. I've had so many
people say, do you think I'm saved? Well, does it make any
difference what I think? What if I think you are? Does that
make you saved? No, it doesn't. What if I think you're not? Does
that mean you're not? No, it doesn't. We're free from all
men. Now, look what he says next,
though. I love this. He says, though I be free from all men,
yet have I made myself servant to all that I might gain the
more. Although I'm free from all, I've
made myself servant to all, and he goes on in the next several
verses to explain to us what he meant by that. Now, he gave
up his liberty. This is what it comes down to.
He relinquished his liberty, this freedom that he had, and
he made himself not free from all, but servant to all, slave
to all that he might gain Now he tells us what he means by
that. Look in verse 20. Unto the Jews I become as a Jew
that I might gain the Jews. When I'm around the Jews, I conform
to their customs and dietary laws so as not to offend them. Even though it's not necessary
for me to do this, as far as my standing before God goes,
I still conform in order to gain them. He says to them that are
under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are
under the law. Now, this needs to be understood
in a qualified sense. He's not saying, I consent unto
salvation by law that I might appease them. But he is saying
in things indifferent, such as dietary laws and dress and so
on, I'm willing to conform to what they think in order to get
them to listen to me. And I'll be sitting down to eat
a pork dinner with him while I'm preaching to him. I'll conform. Now, here's a powerful example
from the Scriptures of what this means. You remember Timothy.
What did Paul have Timothy do? Now, Timothy was a grown man.
And he knew those Jews would have a hard time listening to
him preach because he hadn't been circumcised. And you know
what he had Timothy do? I mean, he was a grown man. He
had him to become circumcised. Timothy didn't have to do that. I mean, we're free from the law. You don't have to do stuff like
that. But Paul knew that those Jews would be more likely to
listen to Timothy preach if he did this. So Timothy submitted
himself to going through this in order to preach the gospel
to those people. Now, that's really surrendering your liberties,
isn't it? And he did it knowingly, willingly, for the gospel's sake.
But then I can turn around and use the example of Titus. Do
you remember over in Galatians chapter 2 that we read where
some people came and said, Titus needs to be circumcised or he
can't be saved? And there's no way he can be saved if he's not
circumcised. Did Paul tell Titus, well, go
ahead and be circumcised so they'll listen to your preach? No. He
said we wouldn't back down even for a second over that. Now,
in matters of Just getting people to listen, Paul would be so conforming. But in matters of principle,
he wouldn't budge an inch. And you have that example in
both Timothy and Titus. Timothy, he had him circumcised.
Titus, he said, no way, not if you think that that is what saves
you, your obedience to the law. Paul would conform where the
truth of the gospel was not at stake, but where the truth of
the gospel was at stake, he would not budge an inch. Now he says
in verse 21, let's go on reading. To them that are without the
law as without law, being not without law to God, but under
the law of Christ, what he's saying is, is that somebody's
a Gentile, somebody, I'm not going to try to get them to conform
to what the Old Testament says the Jews are supposed to do.
I'm without law. I try to be one of them. Now,
he says, I'm not saying it's okay to sin. I'm not saying,
well, since I'm without the law, it's okay to break the Ten Commandments.
He's not saying that at all. He's saying, I'm not without
law to God, but under the law of Christ that I may gain them
that are without the law. When I'm around the Gentiles,
I'll eat pork. But he qualifies what he says.
That doesn't mean to the drunks I become a drunk or to the prostitutes
I become a prostitute. He's not saying anything like
that. He's just saying I conform to these people in order to preach
the gospel to them. Verse 22. To the weak became
I as weak that I might gain the weak. Look over in chapter eight.
He tells us what he's talking about. Verse 11. Here's who these weak people
are. And through thy knowledge shall thy weak brother perish,
for whom Christ died. But when you sin so against the
brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I'll eat no flesh
while the world standeth, lest I should make my brother to offend."
Now here, he's talking about a weak brother who has scruples
that are ridiculous. He thinks, well, I can't eat
that meat because it was sacrificed to an idol. Now Paul knew that
you could eat that meat and it didn't make any difference, it's
just meat. But in order to keep from offending that fellow, In
wounding his weak conscience, he was willing to give up his
steak. He was willing to give up something that was OK for
him to eat for that fellow's sake. To the weak become I as
weak that I might gain the weak. I'm willing to adapt myself to
others that I might by all means save some. Verse 7. 22, to the weak become I 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
sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Now, why did,
don't you admire Paul, the way he surrendered his liberties?
He surrendered his rights. He said, I'm willing to become
all things to all men. Things that are lawful for me,
I'm going to go ahead and stay away from them. that I might
by all means save some. I admire his willingness to give
up stuff, to sacrifice stuff in order to be a preacher of
the gospel to these people. Now, why did Paul have this earnest
desire to see people saved? Well, because he loved God. That's
why. And because he loved men. Now,
is there any reason why you and I should not live our lives just
like Paul did. Lives of self-denial so that
we might by any means save some. Now, Paul was so earnest about
this because the salvation of a sinner glorifies God. Turn over to Romans 9 for a moment. Verse one. Paul, speaking under the inspiration
of God, the Holy Spirit, says, I say the truth in Christ. I'm
not lying. My conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness. and continual sorrow in my heart,
for I could wish that myself were a curse from Christ for
my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh." Now, he's talking
about his brethren, the Jews. And he is saying, he's saying,
I'm not lying, I'm not being a hypocrite, I'm telling you
the truth. I would be willing to be cursed, cut off, anathematized
if they would be saved. Does he say anything less than
that? Now, I'll be honest with you.
I don't know whether I can go there. I want you to be saved,
but I'm afraid I might desire for me to be saved a little bit
more. But Paul said this, and I don't
understand it all, but he said it. And I know that there is
someone who was... You know, Paul said, I could
wish that myself would be cursed from Christ, that they'd be saved,
but he knew that wouldn't save anybody. But there is one who
fulfilled this scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was cursed,
but I might be saved. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though He were rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich. And look what Paul says in verse
23 of our text, back to 1 Corinthians 9. Now, I admire him, and don't
you want to imitate him in this? I mean, we all say this now,
but I hope when push comes to shove, we will imitate him in
this, in everything he says. But look what it says in verse
23. He says, now this I do. I become all things to all men.
I give up my rights. I give up my liberties. I adapt
myself to become all things to all men that I by all means save
some. And he knows he's not saving
anybody. We've already seen that. He's the great expositor of grace. But he's talking about human
instrumentality. He says, and this I do for the gospel sake. that I might be partaker thereof
with you. Now I'm doing this for the gospel
sake. I become all things to all men for the gospel sake. I'm doing this for Christ's sake.
I'm not doing this to earn a higher reward in heaven. I'm not doing
this to gain the applause of men on earth. I'm doing this
for Christ's sake. For the gospel sake. What will I do for Christ's sake? You know, there are men who have
willingly placed themselves in leper colonies and contracted
leprosy in order to preach the gospel to those lepers. And they
do it for Christ's sake. No other reason is needed. And
Paul is also saying, He's saying it's the gospel that causes me
to do this. I can't congratulate myself about
this. It's the gospel that causes me
and constrains me to do this. This is the power of the gospel
on me. It causes me to do this. The
gospel is a thing of power. Because we're all so naturally
selfish and self-centered and self-focused and egotistical.
That's the way we are by nature. Yet the Gospel of Christ will
make someone do this, become all things to all men for the
Gospel's sake. The reason I'm doing this is
because of the Gospel. It's the Gospel that causes me.
I'm doing this that I might be a partaker of the benefits of
the Gospel. I love the way he says this. And this I do for the gospel
sake that I might be a partaker thereof with you, that I might
just be a believer with you, just like you, that I might.
That's what he's saying. I'm not doing this to earn a
higher reward in heaven. You know, for many years, I probably
would have been afraid to bring a message like this because of
all the emphasis on soul winning and such and the emphasis religion
puts on that. I would have been afraid to bring
this message because of them. But forget them. Forget that.
Just forget all that soul winning stuff. What does the Word of
God say? Paul says, I become all things to all men that I
might by all means save some. Now my purpose and your purpose
here on earth is to be winners of souls. Fishers of men. The fact that I do this is simply
evidence that I'm a partaker of the common benefits of the
gospel. Now, you and I, I'm talking to
every believer, you and I are called on to be ambassadors of
Christ in the place of influence where the Lord puts me. You go to work tomorrow, you're
an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. The people you're around,
You are an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. You ought
to be the best at what you do. And you ought to be the most
merciful. I'm talking to myself, too. I'm not just talking to
you. You ought to be the most merciful, gracious, kind-hearted,
forgiving person in that place where you're at. Shouldn't you?
Ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. And really, this is where
our sense of well-being is. Simply being in Him. Being a
Christian. Following the Lord Jesus Christ.
My sense of well-being is not in how much I can get or how
successful I can be. It's just following the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's my sense of well-being.
Simply, I tell you what, I don't even get much of a sense of well-being
about how well I follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's my sense
of well-being being in Him. Having His righteousness covering
me. Having His shed blood putting away all my sins. Oh, there's
my sense of well-being. I want folks to know him. I want to be a witness. I want
to be an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to look
at two scriptures. Turn to Revelation 22. Verse
17. And the spirit That's God the Holy Spirit and
the Bride. That's the Church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's every believer. Here's what they've got to say.
Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't stay away. Come to the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's our message. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that's athirst, Come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life. Really, that's our purpose. To
bring that message. And one other scripture turned
to Acts, Chapter 20. You know. We can't get away. From a selfish
motive in anything we do. Even in this. Look what Paul
says in Acts chapter 20, verse 24. But none of these things move
me. And he's talking about the afflictions and the bonds that
are awaiting him for preaching the gospel. He says, none of
these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy. Now, the only way that
you and I are going to have some joy is by not counting our life
dear to ourselves. He said that I might, I don't
count my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my course
with joy and the ministry which I've received of the Lord Jesus
to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Should you and
I be any less at this than Paul was. Now, the answer to that question
is no. May God give us the grace to say, neither can I, my wife,
dear to myself, that I might finish my course with joy in
the ministry which I've received of the Lord Jesus to bear testimony,
something I've experienced Something I've seen. I've seen it in the
Word, and I believe it. I bear testimony to the gospel
of the grace of God. You know, there's a proverb that
says, He that winneth souls is what? Wise. Well, I pray that the Lord will
enable us to do exactly what Paul did in this passage of Scripture. Let's pray together.