850 1 Cor.9.1-18 The Gospel Comes First
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Q. The Gospel is said to bring liberty, but what is this liberty?
The Gospel Comes First Pt. 1
The Gospel Comes First Pt. 1
Date: 5-1-20 850 Echuca
Q. The Gospel is said to bring liberty, but what is this liberty?
- It is certainly liberty or freedom to approach God – to have a personal relationship with the creator of the universe
Q. But does Gospel liberty mean freedom to live however we please? No
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- Gospel liberty, in this passage, means the liberty to not be the centre of attention
- The liberty to know that you have peace with God & don’t need to elevate yourself – in short, you are in Christ & have a new identity
- Gospel liberty means putting yourself behind & the Gospel in front
- It has bearing on how you present yourself to everyone else
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- This passage fits within the wider concerns from the beginning of chap. 8 to the end of chap. 10
1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.
—1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.
—31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved. 1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
—31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved. 1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved. 1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
- In actual fact, the persons that placed the chapter/verse divisions in the Bible got this one wrong – chap 10 should have finished with 11:1
- In actual fact, the persons that placed the chapter/verse divisions in the Bible got this one wrong – chap 10 should have ended with 11:1
- Just to clarify, the apostles did not write their Epistles with chap & verse divisions – the church did that starting no earlier than the 13th C.
- Chapter & verse divisions certainly have their advantages, but they also disadvantage us at times too, because they divide verses off from the whole story & we tend to like to quote verses, but often we do that independently from the context of the biblical passage - so we’re not getting the whole story!
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- How familiar are you with these chapters 8-10? If you aren’t very familiar, you should be reading your Bibles
- Do you have a Bible reading plan? If not, why not? How will you grow in Christ or be familiar with His commands if you don’t read the Scriptures?
- You may not understand everything you read, but you will get something. But better still, you are becoming familiar with the contents
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- No doubt, when you were a child, you had to learn the ABC’s & basic arithmetic
- You had to learn to pronounce names – like ornithorhynchus
- You may have not understood it all, but you had to go over it & over it for it to sink in
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- Christians mostly struggle with the Christian life because they don’t know what God wants or expects of them
- They think it will just pop into their brains like an epiphany
- That only happens when you have something there to start with
- The Holy Spirit ministers to you, giving you understanding based on what you have heard & learnt
- So let me urge you to work with the Spirit of God & keep reading the Scripture daily - after all, He is the author of the Scripture
—14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
- Why not make it your new year’s resolution in 2020 – daily Bible reading - a chapter a day will help keep the devil away!
- Why not make it your new year’s resolution in 2020 – daily Bible reading
- In , we get Paul’s “20/20 vision” of what was important in the lives of God’s people
20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
—20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
- He gave them what they needed to hear even if it would be uncomfortable
- He gave them what they needed to hear even if it would be uncomfortable
- He continues on in his message to the Ephesian elders
—27 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
27 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
- You may not know it, but these passages were instrumental in the formation of my pulpit ministry
- You may not know it, but these passages were instrumental in the formation of my pulpit ministry
- Going through the books of the Bible ensures that I am not teaching you only that which is comfortable for me
- It also ensures that you are getting all the counsel of God & not just what I want to cherry pick out - what is easy & popular
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- Sometimes I have to speak on some uncomfortable passages that challenge what some people might think & do
- Going through context by context, book by book, you are getting what God is saying – you won’t get that if the pastor picks & chooses his own topic from week to week – because no one picks a topic that is controversial or uncomfortable or requires hard thinking
- That’s why I don’t like doing funerals – truth telling at funerals rarely, if ever, is experienced
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- It’s important, that you get the whole purpose or whole counsel of God & not just the pickings of the pastor
- Paul was committed to that & I have committed to that
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- So these 3 chapters – go to the heart of what Gospel living means & how we reflect the Gospel of Jesus in our lives
- It’s pretty straight forward really – reflect on what Jesus did
Q. What led Jesus to allow Himself to be crucified?
Q. Was it not, so that we might be reconciled to God?
- If there was any other way, that would have satisfied the justice of God, the mercy of God & the grace of God, then He would have chosen that way
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- But there was no other way – Jesus had to drink the cup of suffering
- It was not His will – in His flesh that is – to suffer
- What made it all so special was His obedience to His Father
42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
—42 “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
- His priority was to put others first – He did His Father’s will & He thought of us in His obedience
- His priority was to put others first – He did His Father’s will & He thought of us in His obedience
- If this is the Gospel, then Gospel living must surely reflect those truths, attitudes & desires
—3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
- These passages are indeed about the importance of the Gospel
- These passages are indeed about the importance of the Gospel
- Someone asked me recently: “what is a bond-servant”?
- A bond-servant is another name for “slave”
- A slave is different from a servant in that a slave has no choice as to whether he or she wants to serve – they are a bond servant as in bonded to their master - they are his property - & unable to walk away
- A servant, on the other hand, is usually a free person who is employed to serve
- Taking the form of a bond-servant – that is, taking on the role of a slave in His absolute obedience to His Father’s or master’s will
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- Let’s begin then by looking at some of the crucial junctures in this passage – chap. 8 today
- We will not get through this whole passage today, but we will certainly be able to look at the overall point – I will continue it next time
1. Paul’s Standing (9:1-2)
1. Paul’s Standing (9:1-2)
- The general consensus among church teachers is that, in the NT, there are 2 types of apostle
- A person who is a personal messenger of Jesus & a person who is generally a messenger of either some person or by some church
- Apostle means “one who is sent” or “a messenger”
- The apostle in this passage, we are speaking about, relates to the first category which is a messenger of Jesus
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- The question, however, is why does Paul even have to raise this issue?
Q. What! Don’t they believe he is an apostle of Jesus?
- Well, in fact, they are wrestling with him in many ways
- They think he is a lousy speaker
—10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.”
10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.”
- They tell him what God accepts & what God doesn’t, since they have the Spirit & perhaps, he doesn’t or is not in sync with the Spirit
- They tell him what God accepts & what God doesn’t since they have the Spirit & perhaps, he doesn’t or is not in sync with the Spirit
40 But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
—40 But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
- Here we see a continuation of this previous in just had up
- Here we see a continuation of this very chapter in 2 Cor.
4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. 5 For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. 6 But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things. 7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge? 8 I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you; 9 and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
—4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. 5 For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. 6 But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things. 7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge? 8 I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you; 9 and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
- Paul is struggling to get this church to accept his authority as one who has been personally sent by Jesus
- Paul is struggling to get this church to accept his authority as one who has been personally sent by Jesus
- We look at this from hindsight
- We think Paul is the greatest apostle since sliced bread
- He is the writer of the mighty Epistles & we have a long history of accepting him as one of the greatest “heroes” of the early church
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- But it was not always so
- Many people are accepted only posthumously (that is, after they are dead)
- That’s a shame, but it seems all too true that we treat the people who get under our skin better when dead than when they are alive
- We appreciate the truth they told us only after they are gone
- No one likes the panel-beating God does through these people & we often react to them
- But we miss them when they are gone
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- One of the problems the Corinthians had with Paul is that he was earning his living as a tent-maker
- If he was a government official or someone who worked on Wall Street, then he was cool
- But he was a lousy tent-maker & no philosopher or spokesman would demean themselves like that
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- Remember, they also had trouble with the cross of Christ because it didn’t sit well with the cultural elites
- So they were avoiding Jesus’ crucifixion
- But God has turned the values of fallen man upside down
- Through Jesus’ death, we have been given life
- Through His suffering, we receive blessing
- Through His cross, He shows God’s love
- Through His weakness, He showed God’s power
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
—21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
- God went in the other direction to the cultural elite & fallen man
- God went in the other direction to the cultural elite - to the values of sinful, fallen man
- Proof for them is the fact they they have come to know God
—26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
- Ditch the idea that social standing is important, because social standing is not in line with the Gospel
- Ditch the idea that social standing is important, because social standing is not in line with the Gospel
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Q. Can an apostle of Jesus, then, be associated with tent-making?
- Why not? Especially since many of the Corinthians are slaves & yet God called them to Christ
- They exist through the Gospel so why now abandon the truth of the Gospel?
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- Paul confirms here that he, the tent-maker, is indeed a messenger of Jesus
- He has seen the Lord – which is one of the qualifications of an apostle of Jesus
—21 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— 22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
21 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— 22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
- Paul was late on the seen, but on the road to Damascus, the resurrected Jesus appeared to him & spoke to him
- Paul was late on the seen, but on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him & spoke to him
- The men with Paul also heard the words of Jesus, but they were not able to see Him as was Paul
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- There is a further credential that Paul says bears the marks of an apostle of Jesus
- The ability to do miracles, signs & wonders
—12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.
12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.
- The final evidence that Paul has been personally sent by Jesus as His messenger is that the church at Corinth exists – they themselves are the seal of his apostleship, that is, the fact that they exist authenticates his ministry as an apostle of Jesus
- The final evidence that Paul has been personally sent by Jesus as His messenger is that the church exists – they are the seal of his apostleship, that is, they themselves authenticate his ministry as an apostle of Jesus
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- Paul’s choice to work in an apparently demeaning job as a tent-maker did not demonstrate that he could not be an apostle of Jesus
- Again, social standing was the all important issue to these Christians
- They loved to climb the social ladder & look “respectable”
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- One of the key reasons for them attending idolatrous feasts, that is - celebrating the idol with a meal – was that they got to move up the ranks of the social ladder
- Yes, they saw it as their freedom to do so because of the freedom that knowledge of the truth brought them
- The knowledge of the truth – the knowledge that an idol is nothing but a piece of wood, metal or stone & merely the figments of men’s imagination
- But really, what drew them there was the prestige that surrounded such a gathering
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- There are jobs that people have, which we automatically assign as either prestigious or humiliating
- It’s not necessarily the type of work that is involved, although, that is certainly true to an extent – washing dishes, cleaning toilets
- But we tend to rate the value of a person by the income that job provides
- We are embarrassed to think that we may do this, but the reality is that in a market driven economy, we do value work differently
- I’m not saying that a market-driven capitalist economy is bad or wrong, just that the by-product of that, can be a problem
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- I can easily demonstrate how this is true – some of you may have heard this illustration before, but a number of you haven’t
In 1982, my brother-in-law went we me & 2 other guys down to Victoria & while we were there, we visited his grandparents. These people were very fine indeed. It was like visiting Mr. Darcy at Pemberley Manor
They were a lovely Christian couple, but I’m talking very upper class. You should have seen the dinner setting on which we went to have lunch.
His grandfather making chit-chat asked us guys what we did for a living. It was a “precious”, but embarrassing moment as we used exaggerated language to make our jobs sound better than they actually were.
Millsy, as we called him, was a bee-keeper who became a farmer; Byron was a radiator repairman who became a mechanic and I was a carpenter who became a builder. We all up-scaled! Later, in private, we had a massive laugh with each other, as we recalled how we did it totally off the cuff, unrehearsed & independently of each other
- There you have a clear example of the underlying thoughts of the average person living in a world where certain types of work dictate our value both to people & to God
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- If someone works at a supermarket is the person less of a person or less of a Christian for working there?
- Should we be aiming for a higher paying job or a more fulfilling job to be in harmony with our calling as God’s children?
- No, not to be in harmony with God, but you may move to another job if you like
- Only do not think that it will bring you any closer to God
2. Paul’s Rights
2. Paul’s Rights
- The apostle will now elaborate on his rights as an apostle – his right to be financially supported by the Corinthian church
Q. Does he have to convince them of that?
- No, but he wants to make it clear how much of a right he actually has
- This will make his point all the more powerful when he denies himself that right
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- He argues from normal life issues that a soldier in an army is not there voluntarily, but is supported
- He argues that a farmer would use the milk from his vat – the milk of his labour in milking
- I can assure you that Amy does not buy milk from the supermarket
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- Then he argues from the fact that the priests eat the meat that the people bring in sacrifice to God
- Then finally, that Jesus commands that those who preach the Gospel are to get their living from the Gospel
3. Paul’s Issue
3. Paul’s Issue
Q. So why state all this if he wants to work & earn his living through tent-making?
- Simply because he wants to give away his right to support, in order to benefit others
- This is the attitude he is trying to instil in them
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- Jesus died & rose again that men & women may be reconciled to God
- If you cause a stumbling block to another Christian – say a young Christian in the faith, although it can happen to anyone - then you have undone the work of the Gospel & the cross
- Paul wants them to be loving towards one another. Mindful of one another
- He wants them to stop looking in the mirror at themselves & start to look to the cares & concerns of a fellow believer in Christ
- The Gospel demands this approach because it is the essence of the what & how of Jesus’ suffering, death & burial
- God raises Him from the dead to vindicate & point to Jesus as His Son & Saviour of the world, but to get there, He had to suffer
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- I will be looking at more of this next time since it is fundamental to how we live as Christians & if the truth be told, we have not been living up to that too well of late
- We have said things that do not reflect the Gospel of Christ; we have acted in ways that has not reflected the Gospel of Christ
- Too often, self-centredness has reigned
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- As you listen to some Christians you might think, “wow, what would God ever do without them” - you find that life & Christian living is all about them
- And whether we lie; whether we exaggerate unnecessarily; whether we speak maliciously of a fellow believer – none of this reflects the Gospel of Christ
- And if we hear that kind of speech, I challenge you to call it out
- If we give ear to it for too long, we become part of the problem
- Not only is no one edified, but both become complicit in the denial of the Gospel
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- Let us make 2020 a year of repentance
- A year where we will not be making ourselves the centre of attention
- Instead of looking at ourselves in the metaphorical mirror, we start looking at how we can actually build into a fellow Christian’s life
- Speak truth in love - absolutely - but be careful to not create an offence that causes others to be hurt, damaged & to stumble
- If we give ear to it for too long, we become part of the problem
- Not only is no one edified, but both become complicit in the denial of the Gospel
- Speak truth in love - absolutely - but be careful to not create an offence that causes others to be hurt, damaged & to stumble