For the Sake of the Gospel

Introduction: Senior Sunday

Embarking on this new journey in your lives, you can begin to think vocationally about your future. You are motivated to think relationally about your future, but let me encourage you this day, to first think theologically about your Lord and Savior. All of these areas of your life that lay before you but flow first through a proper view of your purpose in this world as a follower of Jesus Christ. We must all be careful not to segment Jesus to one piece of the pie of our lives but instead, he must be the center of it all…center of our partners, our careers, our roommates, our community and global impact. We must live as He wants us to live in this world.

How is are you making plans for the sake of the gospel?

This is a question for us all…a question that Paul highlights in 1 Corinthians 9, as he addresses christian liberty. Paul lays for us a solid foundation of what followers of Jesus Christ are rooted and built up upon in our lives in this world. He summarizes in v 23

1 Corinthians 9:23 NASB95

23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

That sounds somewhat similar to what Paul will say in chapter 10,

1 Corinthians 10:31 NASB95

31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Our lives on this earth are created for the purpose of glorifying God and we glorify God supremely when we give glory to the work of the Only Son of God and we proclaim the work of redemption that he accomplished for sinners. How might you seniors accomplish making the glory of God known through salvation in his Son? Will it be at work? Will it be on your college campus? Will you be strategic disciple-makers as you go out from this place.

Review:This is Paul’s message to the Corinthians in chapter 9 as he defends his rights as an apostle. We looked last week at how he is qualified as an apostle by the calling from the Lord Jesus and how as an apostle he had rights to be provided for financially by the churches. This was the way in which the Scriptures teach for God’s people to support those who lead them.

Now Paul will go into how and why he refuses the right to that financial gifts because in receiving it there might be a distraction to his gospel ministry. In his argument, we will be challenged as the church to see the same gospel ministry that the Lord has called us all to and how we might consider the life that God has called us to which is set apart for the purpose of gospel ministry. We are not all able to called to be preachers of the gospel in the church, but we can are all called to make the celebration and proclamation of the gospel the main goal of our lives in this world.

Let’s look at a few components of a gospel-saturated calling:

1. Our Boasting in the Gospel (15-16)

1 Corinthians 9:15–16 NASB95

15 But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

Let’s focus first on Paul’s refusal of financial support. Seems contradictory to some that Paul would write 14 verses about his rights to be paid and then refuse those rights. But actually, this is how this all ties together regarding his Christian liberty. As followers of Christ, we may have a freedom in Him that needs not be exercised for the sake of God’s greater purposes. Those purposes include: love for neighbor, or goal of making disciples. You and I should refuse offering guests into our home pork or some other culturally inappropriate food if we are seeking to build relationship in order to share Christ with them.

Paul states he would rather die that make “my boast” empty. First, his boast is the gospel, most particularly, his gospel ministry. Typically, boasting is used in the negative but here Paul’s boast is boasting in Christ.

Galatians 6:14 NASB95

14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

A. Our Boasting in Christ is our internal and external glorying in the work of Christ alone.

Paul states any boasting must be in the work of Christ on the cross. Our redemption in Christ is all we can boast about and he states in verse 16, “If I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of.” Paul and all followers of Christ cannot boast because salvation is in Christ alone. We cannot add to any of the work that was accomplished at Calvary. No one else can add power to redemption or even activate the effectiveness of it by our belief. Salvation is by Christ and for His glory.

Paul then states that to boast in the gospel is to glorify Him by proclaiming the message. To preach the gospel in Paul’s context is publically preaching as a leader in the church. But all of us have a similar but not an exact calling. As followers of Jesus, we may never stand in the pulpit but we can stand on the streets, we can sit at the coffee shops, we can post on social media as we tell the old, old story of Jesus’ love to all so they might hear and believe. This purpose of all believers is captured in a poem from 1866 by Katherine Hankey that was put to music as hymn for the church:

Tell me the old, old story Of unseen things above, Of Jesus and His glory, Of Jesus and His love. Tell me the story simply, As to a little child, For I am weak and weary, And helpless and defiled. Tell me the story slowly, That I may take it in, That wonderful redemption, God’s remedy for sin. Tell me the story often, For I forget so soon; The early dew of morning Has passed away at noon.

Tell me the same old story When you have cause to fear That this world’s empty glory Is costing me too dear. Yes, and when that world’s glory Is dawning on my soul, Tell me the old, old story: Christ Jesus makes thee whole.

B. Our Boasting in Christ Will Require Sacrifice

Paul uses the phrase that “He would rather die” which in this context means that Paul will suffer the loss of financial gain in order to make such his reputation is not stained in the community so that the gospel may go forth without hindrance. Paul often spoke of his suffering as he ministered the gospel, choosing such dire circumstances so that Christ may be proclaimed.

2 Corinthians 11:24–27 NASB95

24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

Some may say, “Paul was special, he was an apostle, he was called by God to serve the church in a special way.” Yes, he was called as an apostle and you were not. Yes, he was called to preach to and shepherd the church and most of you are not. But how is the majority of Paul’s mission different from any other believer? It is not. We are all called to “make disciples of all nations.” This means that we are to set our focus on making the proclamation of the good news and helping others understand the Gospel the primary purpose of our lives. In our workplace, on the field of athletics, in our neighborhoods, followers of Jesus are consistently working towards the goal of proclaiming Christ with the platform the Lord has given you.

This will require suffering and sacrifice. We will have to forgo earthly pleasures, comforts, and confidences. We will have to let go of our dreams if they interfere with our purpose as Jesus followers. Paul is not a super-Christian, he is a faithful follower of Christ who carried out the Lord’s specific plan for him. This doesn’t devalue the Lord using you in a similar way.

C. Our Boasting in Christ Can Be Tainted

Then Paul says that he would rather die than something empty his boasting in Christ. What does he mean by emptying? This phrase is used in the NT to meant to devalue something or ruin something designed for specific purpose.

I used to know someone close to me, and I won’t divulge who they are, who cleaned out their ears with the eraser of the pencil. There are probably many medical reasons why this is dangerous. But practically, a pencil eraser with ear wax on it completely ruins the use of such an item. It no longer can erase anything. That pencil eraser is useless.

Paul states that there is a reality where the preaching of the gospel can lose its value or worth. Let’s look at a few examples:

The most common way the gospel message is devalued is when we alter it or change it to appeal to the masses. This common place today in a culture that wants to capitulate to sin that runs rampant. There is a growing number of churches across the world that believe they can the gospel message would be better served if it was altered so that it accommodated current lifestyles. One example is of course those churches who want to affirm homosexuality as a normal struggle of the flesh. We can agree that struggling with sin is a normal Christian experience, but the difference is that we identify that as SIN and we turn away from it. Instead, these churches want to affirm that gayness as a human biological component and therefore the way God made them.

2 Timothy 1:14 NASB95

14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

Paul tells Timothy to guard the “TREASURE” entrusted to him. That treasure is God’s word, the good news of Jesus Christ. It is a treasure that should never be edited, watered down or misused.

Our lifestyle as a believer can devalue our Christian witness if we are trying to live in sin, to reflect the world, but then try and share the message of the gospel. Don’t get me wrong, there is still power in the good news of Jesus Christ, but it is devalued coming from someone who is not living a life as if Christ really changed them. You might be speaking about gospel transformation but are you reflecting gospel transformation in your own life.

1 Peter 2:11–12 NASB95

11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

One way that Paul sees the gospel message devalued in his accepting payment for it. He does not want the world to see that He is a pay-per-sermon type of preacher. He wants them to understand his divine compulsion he has been given as a slave of Christ to tell the gospel. This doesn’t mean that the church should strive to pay him but he explains his reasons of refusal so that no criticism may come from accepting such payment.

In everything thing that we set out to do in life, we must strive to live in this world with teh goal of making Christ known to those in darkness. As we plan for this goal, we must make sure that we are representing the message and the giver of that message as his holy representatives. We do not want to bring shame to the name of Christ in the way we represent our selves.

THE US military, travels across the world, and every uniform of every soldier bears the flag of the United States of America. That flag stands for freedom against tranny and oppression. It stands for courage in the face of evil. Those solders who wear that uniform must maintain a demeanor of honor and respect as they represent their own country while on foreign soil.

So likewise, our life must also reflect such a character reflective of the one who saved us. We must be aware to not devalue or make empty the message of the gospel int he way we act and live.

D. Our Boasting in Christ is Our Responsibility

1 Corinthians 9:16–17 NASB95

16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. 17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.

Paul uses two significant phrases that state our obligation that we have to boast of Christ in this world because we belong to the Lord as his humble servants.

The first phrase of significance is in verse 17, where Paul states that preaching the gospel is a stewardship entrusted to Him. A stewardship is the role of a servant who has been given responsibility over his master’s house and affairs. Stewards are mentioned throughout the bible as trusted officials who cared for the most valuable assets and people of a wealthy person. Joseph in the OT was a well-known steward who was placed over the affairs of Potiphar’s house.

Acts 9:15 NASB95

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

Paul had this calling on his life to go and take the gospel to Israel and to the world. This message was entrusted to him and since it was a calling from his Lord, he was obligated to go. This is why he states in verse 17,

For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward, but Iif against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.” Think about this that the Lord Jesus has placed in the hands of every follower of His the most precious treasure on the face of the earth. It is not some gem to put away and hide. It is not a some technology that will aid society for a while only to eventually become obsolete. It is a message of hope that can brings spiritual change to all the world. We have been given such a powerful and humbling responsibility to be ambassadors for Christ in a foreign land.

The second phrase is “woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” This phrase “woe is me” is a condemnation that Paul is calling upon himself if he does not accomplish the task that God as set before him. This brings great emphasis to the responsibility that God has placed on preachers to accurately preach God’s word correctly, rightly dividing the truth. James states that “teachers will incur a stricter judgment before God.”

The point is that Paul acknowledged that not fulfilling the calling on his life to preach the gospel would result in being cursed by God. That does not mean that he would lose salvation but that as God called him to declare the gospel, to ignore that call is to forget the blessings of God and to fall under his discipline. That discipline of course if for our good because it reminds the person of their God-given responsibility to declare the gospel, to boast publically in Christ.

This then leads us to contemplate our lives and our calling of the Lord. As I have stated, all followers of Jesus Christ are called to declare his gospel to all nations. This responsibly is why we were given new life in Christ. As we are transformed, we are transformed in Christ to be his witnesses to the nations. Israel failed to be faithful witness of the Lord to the nations. Instead of being good witnesses, they became like the pagan nations. IN return, they faced the great judgment of God.

God’s people are called to boast of Christ and to do so faithfully and to do so under subjection to the Lord who saved them with his blood. We cannot fear man’s approval or man’s opinion of us. Instead, we must stand firm to declare the good new of Christ to all the nations.

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Seniors and all believers in Jesus ,;et us make this our greatest goal that as we go, we make disciples of Jesus Christ. We must tell them of the way that Jesus changed you. Tell them of his love that is displayed in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

2. Our Strategy with the Gospel (19-23)

3. Our Faithfulness to the Gospel (24-27)