True Freedom; I know My Rights

I want to be right, especially when I know I am wrong.

That has 2 meanings. 1. I want to be right despite the fact I know I am wrong or, 2. I want to be right and when scripture reveals I am wrong I correct my understanding of what is right.

Let’s simplify.

I want what I want and I don’t care if it’s wrong. That is the worlds way.

I still want what I want, but I will do what God wants when I see that his way is the right way.

Let’s look at a few verses on freedom and I want you to see something in those.

2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

That one is straightforward, would you agree. Where the Spirit is there is freedom. Plain, simple, direct.

How about this one.

John 8:36 ESV

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Again, pretty clear. How about this:

1 Corinthians 6:12 NLT

12 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.

Hang on a minute, I can do anything. Yep, but not everything is good or ok for me to do.If I allow myself to do everything I want, I am a slave to some things, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, sex…let me throw a fire in here, work, Facebook, Instagram, gaming, the internet, porn…do you get the idea???

If I cannot break away from something that is bad for me and it consumes my time, I am a slave to it.

With that said, there is a certain thing I can become a slave to that is acceptable. Do you know what that is?

What type of slavery is acceptable?

Being a slave to Christ.

What’s my favorite word?

WHY???

Becoming a slave to Christ, Jesus is freedom.

Galatians 5:13–14 ESV

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 3:22 ESV

22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

What’s the promise?

Freedom, Salvation, Eternity with Christ

I long for that freedom with all my being.

I am free to do anything I want. God allows me to choose to do anything, but not everything is good.

Did you know preaching the Word is hard?

Did you know I am a slave to this?

I am, but why?

This is where I begin to understand Paul and Peter and others. There are many other things I could do, but nothing else satisfies.

Ask my wife what I am like when I am not serving, preaching, teaching, helping others in some way.

I am a miserable human being. I am slave to this. When I go without preaching or teaching others for long, I get depressed and angry and miserable. I quite literally am a slave to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let me be clear, I am a lousy slave. I do things I should not. I believe Paul felt the same way. He went so far as to say,

Romans 7:15–20 “15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

Here is where I think some people see contradictions. I don’t and I will spell it out.

I know what is right. I have to fight sometimes to do what is right because I know that is what I should do. Getting ready for this sermon was something I had to fight to do.

Go ahead, ask.

WHY???

Because I am getting ready for another book release, book 12 in a series and I have spent almost every spare minute listening to the series and I want to be ready and fresh for book 12. I had to put the book down, but that was not the only obstacle.

I want to get up in the morning and read scripture before I go to work.

What gets in the way? Sleeping just 30 more minutes, eating, a stupid game I play, email, facebook, instagram, scrolling through reels, yes, some of them are good reels…but, do you see the issue?

I have the freedom…sometimes that freedom doesn’t lead to the best action.

I want to be right, especially when I know I am wrong.

We have covered a lot of scripture so far, but we have a long way to go. Bear with me.

Open your bibles or bible app to 1 Cor 8. Don’t worry we will get to chapter 9.

Chapter 8 is relevant to chapter 9 so we start there.

Paul states in this chapter that we can eat food offered to idols.

Why? Because we know an idol isn’t real and it doesn’t matter. However, if it causes someone else to fall into sin we should not do it.

You have the freedom to eat whatever you want, but you might want to check yourself if it causes someone else to pull away from the gospel.

I am free, but some checks on my freedom are necessary for the greater good.

When I first read this chapter, 9, I focused on the pastor pay. That is not what the context of this chapter is about. Let’s read chapter 9.

Read: 1 Cor 9.

V 1-2

Some did not consider Paul an Apostle. There are several reasons.

V 3-7

People are complaining that Paul is not full time in the gospel ministry.

Have you ever complained about Tom, maybe even me?

How much are you paying us?

Do you know?

We have the freedom, I would even say, blessing, to work another job for a living. Tom has several businesses and I work as a manager for Sandia National Labs. Both of us, Tom, when the economy is better, make enough that we don’t need pay from the church to make a living. Everything other than what Tom takes, as is his right, goes back to the church.

Do you know how much we have in the church account? You should. I know, roughly how much.

Why should you know?

Do you know the vision of the church?

Do you know what we are saving for?

Do you know what is the goal of the church eventually?

I do, do you care enough to know?

Why do I ask such silly questions?

Many people would rather argue over things they don’t like in the church instead of fixing things. I am glad that this church is not like that, for the most part. Let me be clear, every church has issues, but not every church has a vision and goal. We do.

What is our focus here at Horizon?

“Glorify God by growing others in Christ!”

What do we focus on when we are making a decision or dealing with a problem?

“Pause, Pray, Ponder, Proceed”

Paul was working as a tentmaker when he ministered to the Corinthians. He worked and got paid for helping a tentmaker in the city. Prisca (Pricilla) and Aquilla, a husband and wife team that later taught Apollos, more clearly, the way of the Lord.

…and people were offended that he was working a second job.

Where would we be if the pastors didn’t work a second, or primary job to make a living?

V 8-14

Paul was free to work to earn a living outside the church, but he was a slave to Christ. He could not avoid or stop preaching the gospel.

In these verses he stresses how it is his right to get paid for preaching the gospel. He uses the example of the ox in the law of Moses and the Levites from the temple service. Scripture supports paying a pastor or priest.

How may people have you heard say, “All that church wants is my money!”

How many times have we passed an offering plate or asked you to give money?

We have said to you, we support BIOT, Carenet, and others. We have also said you can give to the building fund or to the church, but what we have not done is held our hand out and demand or expect money from you.

Why?

Beacuse it all belongs to God. Because the mandate is to give with a joyful heart whatever God leads you to give.

2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Where is our offering plate today?

We don’t have one. We have 2 ways to give, the app, and the box on the wall outside the door. If you want more information on how to use the app, ask. We will be happy to help, but we won’t pressure you for money.

I don’t get paid for this. I am not interested in a raise because 10% of zero is still zero. Enough about that…moving on.

What is Paul’s point. It’s not about money, it’s about freedom and rights. He has a right he has not claimed because he has another method to make money to live and he is happy about that.

Read the next verses with me.

V 15-18

Being able to make a living that the church doesn’t have to pay for is bragging rights. Look what God has allowed me to do and how much more we can spend on ministry and missions to others.

Also, even though he is free, Paul is still a slave to the gospel. If he does it because he wants to, there is a reward. Maybe not money, but a reward.

“Save up your treasures in heaven…”

Matthew 6:20 ESV

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Paul is saving up in a place that it counts. However, he also does it because he has a responsibility. He does it because he was given a charge by God.

V 19-23

Tom and I both feel that charge. You heard me say what I get like when I don’t preach or teach. I do it out of a stewardship, like Paul, but also because it is a passion that burns inside me.

I can’t not preach. I just get to do it in the workplace as well as in church. Ministry and missions are everywhere. We are to be in the world, not of it. So often we are so trapped and held in the world that we stay in it and never climb out.

Imagine the world as an open sewer. Would you rather stay in the sewer, swim around and enjoy it, or climb out and get a shower, then bath, then another shower? Some folks are adapted sewer rats that don’t know what it’s like to get clean and are terrified that they will have to get out of the sewer.

We are called to offer free showers, the gospel of Jesus Christ washes us white as snow.

V 24-27

I can’t identify with what it is to run a race. I am allergic. If you see me running, you better run because there is something chasing me or something very wrong that you don’t want to meet.

I can identify with setting my mind to a task and pushing through to win a prize. I am one of a small percentage of pastors with a regionally accredited doctorate. I am also one of many that have masters of divinity degrees. Most go other routes because the MDiv is 90 credit hours, twice a normal masters. I spent a lot of hours, days, months, and years getting those degrees. I spent a lot of money on books. Fortunately I had help, G.I. Bill and VA to pay most, not all of my tuition.

I ran the race, I persevered, I finished the course. Now, that is not what Paul was referencing, but it does relate.

What is the goal?

Salvation, heaven, but for me, for Tom, for Paul, it was to present the gospel, bring people to Christ, disciple them to maturity, and see them go on to make more disciples. That or those, are the goals.

What is your goal?

What is the point in this sermon?

You have the freedom to do whatever you want, but you are called to something better.

Please don’t dangle your legs over the sewer pit and swish your legs in it, certainly don’t jump back in and go swimming. We are called to get out of the sewer, the world and go tell others about Jesus.

It is not easy, it is as Paul stated, a race. Sometimes there are hurdles on the course, jump them and keep going, but finish the race.