For The Gospel

We're going to look at 1st Corinthians 9.

You read this to you bit of a doozy. It says am I not free. Am I not an apostle have I not seen Jesus our lord or not? You might workmanship in the Lord if the others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you for you are the Seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me do we not have the right to eat and drink do we not have the right to take along a believing wife as do the other Apostles in the brothers of the Lord and cephas or is it only Barnabas and I who should have no you have no right to refrain from working for a living who serves as a soldier at his own expense who plants The Vineyard without eating any of its fruits or who tends to A Flock without getting some of its milk. Do I say these things on human authority does not the law say the same for it is written in the law of Moses. I'm not muzzle an ox when it's red. The grain. Is it for oxen that God is concerned is he not certainly speak for our sake it was written for our stage? Because the ploughman should Plow & Hope in the thresher thrash in Hope of sharing in the crop if we have sown spiritual things among you is it too much if we read material things from you if other share this rightful claim on you do not we even more nevertheless. We have not made use of this rights, but we can do or everything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar Sharon the sacrificial offerings in the same way the Lord commanded of those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel, but I made no use of any of these rights nor my writing these things to secure any such a Mission Road, rather die than have anyone deprive me of my grounds for boasting for if I preach the gospel that gives me no ground for both Dean for necessity is laid upon me world to me. If I do not preach the Gospel Four I do this in my own will I have a reward but if not of my own will I am still interested with stewardship what then is my reward but am I preaching I may protect the gospel free of charge of not to make use full of my right and the gospel Believe It or Not 1st Corinthians chapter 9 is actually a continuation of 1st Corinthians chapter 8. It's kind of hard to Fathom that I know but the wait all is progressing and moving through this letter he is writing to the church that had a question whether or not they could partake in food offered to idols and as we saw last week Paul was making a defense and a case and he said if it can Brother or sister to be let into idolatry the causes them to send you should lay aside your rice for what for the sake of your brother or your sister. And now what Paul has to put more some self-defense on not just well, here's my rice and and I I can do this but he saying you know what even if you have the right to do something you refrain from it for the sake of your brother or sister and if I'm just going to push this first argument down here this morning. He says look Paul myself in Paul Barnabas we have arrived. To take a wife with us like Peter did we have a right to make our living off of the Gospel but for the sake of you for the sake of the Gospel, we are laying aside that right for your sake in Corinth. There were Sophos who traveled around and they had inner knowledge and when it would come to your town and it would begin to share with you if there was enough groupies who offered to pay the softest some money they would then give them even deeper knowledge invite him into deeper truth and tell them there's this deeper spirituality. You can participate in and Paul says I am not that for you. I have come to preach the gospel and give you Jesus because the gospel is not for sale. And so you can make this massive large argument that I don't think for us this morning is the pinpoint important spot of the text. I don't feel that this morning we have to unravel the idea of whether or not to pay your pastor. But the question is is where did Paul get the in-app straight to lay down his rights for others.

The Hot Topic Hot Topic Now, isn't it? There's so much drama, especially in Western thinking of how important are individualism actually is you guys might all remember the commercials of Burger King put them out have it your way. All right. Absolutely. How about this one? The customer is always Yeah, it's all about the individual all about your once it's all about your needs. It's all about your right. I don't have this snow and Grains into our thinking from the littlest of age ordering it at the count of your life. It's all about me and what I want why on Earth should I ever have to look at the person next to me and lay down my right for impulsive. I'll tell you why in this moment in this instance. It's for the sake of the Gospel. But how do you get to be or how do you become the kind of person that grows into that's not just doing something to help someone we're good at that. Why when I help someone how good do I feel? And Brad Paisley sing it. Well, I sure could use an attaboy is what he says so you go and help somebody and they say hey hun. Thanks for hanging the recently. Anyway, I don't know light on right? Yeah. I took the weekend off of working with fantastic straight coffee in my window seat did nothing while she cleaned of the great weekend. I'm a horrible husband this last weekend makes me feel good. But he is saying it's also not doing something you have the right to do that might not even make you feel God. Where does the strength come from to do that? If you hung around redeemers for any length of time we talked on and talked about I'm going to continue to hammer on this point. We live out of the inside. We live from the inside out and our greatest passions there. What form our beliefs Ideas and our values. So the question is what is instilling your greatest pumpkins in you your influence from the outside and it's coming at you but you live from the inside out. So whatever you begin to form your beliefs and whatever you set your heart on that becomes a thing that you desire most maybe even in a position where you wanted a new car and everywhere you drive you see the exact new cars that she wants but it's even in the exact color that you want and you begin to go online and check it out or you want a new friendship relationship. You're looking for a spouse and that's all you can think about see it again to order your life in such a way to get the thing that's you want. I wanted to date Jess who is now my wife praise God hallelujah. I'll never forget. I told her I want to take you out to Eastlake and we're going to go fishing on the lake. I thought this is going to impress her. So I had this Jeep Cherokee at the time and I'm coming up her driveway and she shares this hindsight with me. Now as she saw my car coming up. She looked at her mom and went

and she though didn't want to say anything to embarrass me or to put me down. And so we drive about an hour to Eastlake and I go to the trunk and I pull out this RAF and I start to pump this singer. Middle of the lake no joke hole in it. We're in the middle of the lake and I'm pumping this thing and I'm trying to impress her. We caught one fish and I'm trying to show off more. I'm living from the inside that I have this desire that I want her to be my girlfriend ultimately marry her and so my eyes were set on the pride and I continue to live in such a way that I would give myself for whatever she needed or I thought she wanted and somehow I snowed her and ended up with her. The reality is the reality is we live from this Inside Out position. I mean, you can just go ahead and begin to look at your Google ads and you can see which Desiring lately or what's been popping up in your newsfeed and this isn't bad. But the reality is your life is controlled by your deepest Passions. Truly has you're always controlled by what captivates the heart the most of the positive experience experience. About this somebody baby grew up in a household where you live your life being put down. Do you have the father that said you'll never amount to anything who instilled into you is this negativity this abuse this hardship? So what do you want to do? You live your life to prove him wrong, You do everything you can it's not about the money. It's not about the success. It's not about the awards. It's to prove something to him that he was wrong and you were right or maybe you lived in a more positive household, but you spend your entire life trying to prove how much moral how good how well-behaved you are and you maintain this facade that somehow you've arrived but your actions and your behavior and what you're actually driven by is not a love for God Is Not a Love for others. Is your driven by this to Sodom? Look how holy righteous spiritual I am and we struggle to maintain face classic story of love in the Old Testament name Jacob and it says there that Jacob worked 7 years for Rachel. They did things a little different than although. I have three daughters. I wouldn't mind seeing a man Works 7 years for my baby. Yeah, you can marry her you're going to be cool. Now. What is it say?

The worst thing to give a bad boss. A guy is the worst hardships difficulty trouble, but it says it seems but a moment for Jacob. Why? Do you have all this stuff will but are you just with the able to organize and life in such a way and put it in such an order that the work didn't bought them know he had his eyes set on a pride which was the ride that he was working for. He loved her. What gives us is kind of self-control what gives us ability to order our lives, whatever you set your heart on. your greatest passion That's what you're going to speak in your life now to tell her to this about this idea. It's basically a misnomer. It's misleading to fix self-control comes from stuff in your feelings. Okay, it's after Christmas. We're trying to get that summer body and you're looking there at the cake and what he's basically saying is your desire to be fit has to be greater than your desire for cake. I can tell you what it's a coin toss most of time for me. That's that's what he's getting at in this idea. If you have to have this desire for something more no self-control comes from feeling strongly passionately for some goal which then is the basis for the right ordering of your entire life. Here's your question. What order is your life right now? What drives you what when your feet hit the ground in the morning causes you to get up is it to prove dad wrong is to prove somebody else that you were right. Is it to make lots of money in order to have lots of things it is to show yourself off is it sex is its people? What is it when your feet hit the ground that begins to move your morality providing? And I want you to say about that. What is it was taken from you would it cause you to think your whole life is falling apart. And why is it an important question? So often we as humans have right passions God give you passions and I'm thankful for that. Like I love those people in a passion for music if they make it sound fantastic when I cannot I love passion for art for the things that I am not God has given a passion for what happens is in the fall. Our passions are just ordered and it becomes disorder desires and check it out of control in our life. And then we begin to see these disordered unchecked desire to even the normalized in society. Then it would be participating in any causes Devastation destruction and problem all over the place. How do we rightly order? Our desires is the question Paul answers believe it or not in 1st Corinthians chapter 9. Oh, yes, he talked about whether or not your pastor should have provision and things like that, but I want you to go down 2 verse 19 or going to read through 20. For though, I am free from all I have made myself a servant to all your Christian. You are the freest person on the face of the planet. You are not a slave to your passions to your loss. You are free to worship and serve Christ, but then he said because you are free. You can actually come under and serve others. How's that possible poly continues to the Jews? I became as a Jew in order to win Jews do those under the law became is under the law but not being myself under the law but I might win those under the law to those outside the law. I became as one outside the law not being outside the love God, but Christ that I might win those outside the law to the week. I became weak that I might win the week. I become all things to all people that by all means. I might say some I do it all for the sake of the Gospel that I might share with them and it's And she writes on his passage wrote. God has invested everything in the gospel including his own very self in the person of his son. Jesus Christ. Now he wants to gain something back from it namely the people of all sorts and conditions Who Lies we won through the gospel? Paul says there's one way to rightly order your life. And if you get outside of this one way your passions will go unchecked and your life will begin to be owned and controlled even what might seemingly look like good pursuit to become alternate Pursuits. Does it become the bike Dollar Tree in our life? Because we go outside of God to get something that God himself has already provided for us and pulse is my one goal. My one passion is the gospel. I do this for the sake of the Gospel when he says I have this incredible blessing in the gospel and what he's saying is I have this passion that I want to share with you all. Imagine this you read a really good book. You heard some brand new music. Are you watching the great movie and you are never allowed to share it with anyone? Your joy would not be complete in what you just heard a red or saw listen to what it part of the joy is experiencing the joys experiences with other people is sharing a passion with others and pulses that is what the gospel has done in my life. I'm giving up everything in my life to follow Christ because of the UT because of how to reclaim to me because of what it's done for me on that idea CS Lewis wrote. Have you ever noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into Pray when we're enjoying God we're going to begin to praise him in our hearts in this Quiet Moments at home corporate Lee as we were singing the reason we're able to see it because of our enjoyment of God. He says unless shyness deliberately brings it into check. We praise what we enjoy because the praise is not merely a Breast the complete the enjoyment. It is appointed consummation solutely frustrating to have discovered a new author and not be able to tell anyone how good he or she is incredibly frustrating to have found some Mountain Valley of unexpected Grandeur and not be able to take anyone to it. You can't enjoy it as much. Pause as part of the reason why he does all for the sake of the Gospel that he's found us a new glorious life head and Jesus Christ. Eddie can't help but share the praise of discharge with other people. I cannot enjoy it very much alone is what he's not everything in my life is subordinate that I would pursue Jesus Christ the power of God unto salvation. That is what controls me this idea of the Gospel. We talked about the gospel. I want you to think of it in the context that yes. Jesus has come because of his death and Resurrection. He is giving you New Life far too many Western evangelicals though. His idea of Salvation is just some trajectory that we finally get to rather than understanding his kingdom has come and is Willis to be done in our life. And what does Dustin is it completely reorient our entire vision of the world? Around us. We adopt his kingdom ethic. Talking about this a lot and I'm setting this up for this big idea here this morning as it plays out over the next even few years for us, but don't think of Salvation as blanket to hide yourself in and suck your thumb until Jesus comes back. He said I have placed you in this world. You're no longer of this world and back. I given you now this pain and act sick of what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus if you're one passion is Jesus Christ, Did you pursuing him? It's going to absolutely change how you look at everything. I think of Jesus in the political scene in his day. He was far too conservative. Are the Sanhedrin anyways far too liberal for the Pharisees could put them in a box. You would look at each issue and you have his radical explanations of what it looks like you fit into the kingdom ethic and we've gotten so good. It just kind of happened in a box and adopting all of its values without even examined and going. How does this line up with the kingdom? Jesus changes everything on how we look at the world around us, but now and forever. First things first though is step it to relationship with him. You are from God alienated from God. Isolated to yourself. You are the most important thing on the planet. You are a just a two-and-a-half-year-old that can shave that's just what it's like all of a sudden Jesus who's on your heart. You respond to the gospel. He's invited you into this Kingdom and now we're learning what it looks like you participate in that Kingdom. Paul said it's by that and which I have reorder my

We sure miss out on this with you comes from Thomas Chalmers. He was Scottish Theologian. He said when we cease to be a slave of one appetite because of another has brought it into subordination. I used my teeth to idolize sensual pleasure and partying around but it's only because the idol of material gain and Career Success.

There's that one personal transformation, which of the heart is left without an ultimate object of the beauty and joy, its desire for one particular object may be conquered but its desire to have some object conquerable. The only way to dispose of the heart of an old affection is by the explosive power of a new one with Paul right here is by Dia that Watch The Chew movie. Is it the sake of the Gospel? and if your life completely reorder by that Are you taking a step back said that classic cliche 1990s bracelet. What would Jesus do in these situations? And how has he changed my heart and my life? How much goes on and says we only cease to be a slave one appetite because another is brought into its subordinating chisme the end of it. He says there is one personal transformation. The heart is left without an ultimate object of beauty and joy his desire for one particular object may be conquered. How do we conquer? How do we like Paul move into a place? We say getting her life ordered isn't just about self-control because self control whenever really tell you it's going to be a better person does not going to eat the cake. I'm just not going to drink I'm just not going to do that is not going to go there we can tell ourselves that. But the desire is buried deep within any of the Conqueror 2. How do we move those desires out? And I'm not just talking now about physical objects or things that we participate in and I'm talking about the place of the heart with sits on the throne of your heart which tends to be self. How does that move out of I get pushed aside? What is it look like it looks like worship. When we think of worship we think of what we just did a few minutes ago or 25 minutes ago. And that's awesome that the part of praising God is Michael talked about on the podcast as he shared a few years back here worship absolutely involved singing and praise before worship is an activity. It is first in identity and we're told and Genesis that he created us in His image image bearers there to reflect the glory of God and we don't just simply worship through an activity of singing with praise and worship with all of life and that's what Jesus has done and storing us and making us whole therefore even our work. Our relationships are raising of children our friendship with one another having a meal together and 1st Corinthians pissed worship. And what we have to do is get under the king in order our lives in light of who he s worship is having the right passion and putting it in the most important thing which is the number one place of your heart. That is Cheese's redeemers. What motivates you what moves you or the sake of the Gospel. Let's beat those people. I'm going to change the city spray, Thank you.

For your love and your kindness and your generosity? The ability to even look at our own lies and re-evaluate what is right, but we're walking in his truth. moments Paul where to stand enter boldly. Proclaim his rights and appeal to Caesar yet. Also when she lay down his rights for the sake of his brothers and sisters. I feel like so much has fluid before us and we desperately need the Holy Spirit to be leading and directing us. How much to take stands were you caught us to teach us to love our brothers and our sisters well and be glorified amongst your people here this morning in Jesus name.