1 Corinthians 9 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00First Corinthians chapter 9. In
2. 0:03>> [music]
3. 0:04>> chapter 7 and chapter 8, Paul has spoken
4. 0:07about the marriage relationship.
5. 0:10And then [music]
6. 0:11in chapter 8, he has spoken about
7. 0:15how not [music] to use your liberty
8. 0:17in a way that could hurt somebody. So,
9. 0:20he's alluded to food sacrificed to
10. 0:23idols,
11. 0:24eating in an idol's temple, knowing that
12. 0:26we have knowledge and that that idol is
13. 0:28nothing. But if we use that knowledge in
14. 0:30a way that causes a brother to stumble,
15. 0:33then
16. 0:35knowledge is puffing us up in arrogance,
17. 0:37but only love can build up. And and
18. 0:40we're destroying the one for whom Christ
19. 0:41[music] died.
20. 0:43Chapter 9 begins like this.
21. 0:46Am I not free?
22. 0:49Am I not [music] an apostle?
23. 0:52Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
24. 0:55Are you not my work in the Lord?
25. 0:59If to others I am not an apostle, at
26. 1:02least I am to you.
27. 1:04For you are the seal of my apostleship
28. 1:08in the Lord.
29. 1:09My defense to those who examine me is
30. 1:13this.
31. 1:14Do we not have a right to eat and drink?
32. 1:18Do we not have a right to take along a
33. 1:20believing wife, even as the rest of the
34. 1:22apostles and the brothers of the Lord
35. 1:25and Cephas?
36. 1:28Or do only Barnabas and I not have a
37. 1:30right to refrain from working?
38. 1:34Who at any time serves as a soldier at
39. 1:37his own expense?
40. 1:40Who plants a vineyard and does not eat
41. 1:42the fruit of it?
42. 1:43Who tends a flock and does [music] not
43. 1:45use the milk of the flock?
44. 1:48I am not speaking these things according
45. 1:50to human judgment, am I?
46. 1:52Or does not the law also say these
47. 1:54things?
48. 1:56So, Paul is pivoting here
49. 1:59into
50. 2:01some of the themes that he began with,
51. 2:03which is a defense of his apostleship.
52. 2:07And the underlying question here is
53. 2:11that finances have become an issue,
54. 2:14and they're not wanting to support Paul
55. 2:17financially.
56. 2:19And there's some kind of conflict,
57. 2:21there's some kind of tension where the
58. 2:24super apostles,
59. 2:26those who they are preferring,
60. 2:29um
61. 2:30Paul is saying, I measure up in every
62. 2:32way to them.
63. 2:34And he says, am I not an apostle? He
64. 2:36says, at least I am to you,
65. 2:39showing that he founded them, he
66. 2:42established them, he ordered them in the
67. 2:45truth and relationally.
68. 2:47And he's saying,
69. 2:49you know, I've I could be traveling at
70. 2:52much greater expense than I am. I could
71. 2:54have taken on a believing wife like
72. 2:56everyone but Barnabas and I do,
73. 2:59all the other apostles. And he's saying,
74. 3:01why do I not have the same liberties?
75. 3:03And then he pivots into this question of
76. 3:06should a soldier serve in the army with
77. 3:09no pay? And his implication is, should a
78. 3:12minister in Paul's place, should he
79. 3:14serve Corinthian churches with no
80. 3:17financial compensation?
81. 3:19And he goes on and he says, who plants a
82. 3:22vineyard and does not eat the fruit of
83. 3:23it? So, he's saying, if I planted
84. 3:25something spiritual, I have a right to
85. 3:29the practical aspect of what of that
86. 3:32vineyard, of that growth.
87. 3:35Or who tends a flock and does not use
88. 3:36the milk of the flock?
89. 3:39I am not speaking these things according
90. 3:40to human judgment, am I? Or does not the
91. 3:43law also say these things?
92. 3:45For it is written in the law of Moses,
93. 3:47you shall not muzzle the ox while he is
94. 3:49threshing.
95. 3:51God is not concerned about oxen, is he?
96. 3:56Or is he speaking altogether for our
97. 3:58sake?
98. 3:59Yes, for our sake it is written, because
99. 4:02the plowman ought to plow in hope, and
100. 4:05the thresher to thresh in hope of
101. 4:07sharing the crops.
102. 4:10If we sowed spiritual things in you, is
103. 4:14it too much if we reap material things
104. 4:18from you?
105. 4:20If others share the right over you,
106. 4:24do we not more?
107. 4:26Nevertheless, we did not use this right.
108. 4:30But we endure all things so that we will
109. 4:33cause no hindrance to the gospel of
110. 4:35Christ.
111. 4:37So he's saying, if anybody has a right
112. 4:41to the financial prosperity that this
113. 4:44Corinthian church is experiencing, they
114. 4:46should be sharing some of the harvest.
115. 4:49Some of that came of the spiritual seeds
116. 4:52that were sown. And he says, if anybody
117. 4:54has that right, I have that right. But
118. 4:56he says we didn't use that right.
119. 5:01Do you not know that those who perform
120. 5:03sacred services eat the food of the
121. 5:06temple, and those who attend regularly
122. 5:08to the altar have their share from the
123. 5:11altar?
124. 5:13So he's saying, the priests who
125. 5:15sacrificed the altar, God gave them a
126. 5:17portion of the food that they're burning
127. 5:19on the altar. And he's saying, we should
128. 5:20have a portion of the financial
129. 5:23benefits that you are coming to this
130. 5:24church that we planted and started.
131. 5:28So also the Lord directed those who
132. 5:30proclaim the gospel to get their living
133. 5:33from the gospel.
134. 5:36So here he says the Lord directed.
135. 5:40Jesus apparently directed at some point
136. 5:44that those
137. 5:45who share the gospel should derive their
138. 5:48livelihood, their financial support from
139. 5:50the gospel.
140. 5:52But I have used none of these things,
141. 5:55and I am not writing these things so
142. 5:57that it will be done so in my case.
143. 5:59For it would be better for me to die
144. 6:02than have any man make my boast an empty
145. 6:04one.
146. 6:06I don't want you to diminish my
147. 6:07sacrifice. I don't want you to take away
148. 6:09my boast. I'd rather die than that. But
149. 6:13I haven't used these rights, but God
150. 6:16gave them to us, and you need to keep in
151. 6:18mind
152. 6:19that you owe us because we're not using
153. 6:21these rights.
154. 6:24For if I preach the gospel, I have
155. 6:26nothing to boast of, for I am under
156. 6:28compulsion, for woe is me if I do not
157. 6:30preach the gospel.
158. 6:32For if I do this voluntarily, I have a
159. 6:35reward. But if against my will, I have a
160. 6:38stewardship entrusted to me. What then
161. 6:40is my reward?
162. 6:42That when I preach the gospel, I may
163. 6:44offer the gospel without charge,
164. 6:47so as not to make full use of my right
165. 6:50in the gospel.
166. 6:52For though I am free from all men, I
167. 6:54have made myself a slave to all,
168. 6:57so that I may win more.
169. 7:00To the Jews I became as a Jew,
170. 7:02so that I might win Jews.
171. 7:06To those who are under the law, as under
172. 7:08the law,
173. 7:09though not being myself under the law,
174. 7:11so that I might win those who are under
175. 7:13the law.
176. 7:15To those who are without the law, as
177. 7:17without the law, though not being
178. 7:20without the law of God,
179. 7:22but under the law of Christ, so that I
180. 7:24might win those who are without the law.
181. 7:28To the weak I became weak, that I might
182. 7:30win the weak.
183. 7:32I have become all things to all men, so
184. 7:34that I may by all means save some.
185. 7:38I do all things for the sake of the
186. 7:40gospel, so that I may become a fellow
187. 7:43partaker of it.
188. 7:45I'm living a life of sacrifice.
189. 7:48When I'm among some cultures,
190. 7:50I restrict myself so as not to be a
191. 7:53stumbling block.
192. 7:54I don't eat meat. I behave like this. I
193. 7:57change to be respectful
194. 7:59because I don't really care about those
195. 8:01things. I'm willing to endure a hardship
196. 8:03in order to win them to the Lord.
197. 8:07And he says, "When I'm with the
198. 8:08Gentiles, I live as though not under the
199. 8:10law." But then he clarifies, "Though
200. 8:11certainly not the law of God."
201. 8:14So, Paul is not living without
202. 8:16obedience.
203. 8:18He's not living without complete
204. 8:20submission to the commands of the Lord.
205. 8:22He's just saying he's not living under
206. 8:24the ceremonial law of the Levitical
207. 8:27system anymore. Certainly not.
208. 8:29Do you not know that those who run in a
209. 8:31race all run,
210. 8:34but only one receives the prize?
211. 8:37Run in such a way
212. 8:40that you may win.
213. 8:42Win what? Paul said, "Win some
214. 8:45>> [clears throat]
215. 8:46>> to the gospel."
216. 8:47I do this to win some.
217. 8:50So, the winning that Paul is talking
218. 8:51about is not
219. 8:53us achieving our salvation through
220. 8:56running harder. He's saying the winning
221. 8:58that he's talking about is us being
222. 9:00successful in reaching the hearts of
223. 9:03people [music] from different
224. 9:04backgrounds and hang-ups and cultures.
225. 9:08Do it in such a way that you may win
226. 9:10people to Jesus.
227. 9:13Everyone who competes in the games
228. 9:14[music] exercises self-control in all
229. 9:16things.
230. 9:18They do it to receive a perishable
231. 9:20wreath,
232. 9:21but we an imperishable.
233. 9:23So, he's saying [music] in in Olympic
234. 9:25games, they all have to go under strict
235. 9:28discipline. They have to change how they
236. 9:30eat. They change how they sleep. They
237. 9:32change how they exercise. He said, "They
238. 9:34all have to go under strict discipline
239. 9:36to get a perishable wreath. That's like
240. 9:38the crown. That's the
241. 9:40the reward that you won. First place,
242. 9:42gold medal, silver.
243. 9:44And he says, "But this is for something
244. 9:46perishable. But we are trying to run in
245. 9:48such a way
246. 9:49and and yeah,
247. 9:51it changes how we eat, it changes how we
248. 9:53sleep, it changes how we exercise
249. 9:55[music] self-control.
250. 9:57But the goal is to win people to Christ.
251. 10:01To become all things to all men.
252. 10:05Therefore, I run in such a way
253. 10:07as not without aim. I box in such a way
254. 10:11as not beating the air.
255. 10:15But I discipline my body.
256. 10:18And I make it my slave.
257. 10:22So that after I have preached to others,
258. 10:26I myself will not [music] be
259. 10:27disqualified.
260. 10:30So he says, "Here's my secret. Don't let
261. 10:32your flesh be your master.
262. 10:35Let your flesh be your slave, and let
263. 10:38your love be your master.
264. 10:42So that [music] after you've preached to
265. 10:43others,
266. 10:44you aren't disqualified. If Paul were to
267. 10:47let his flesh become his master again,
268. 10:50he'd be disqualified.
269. 10:52Disqualified is a term to be [music]
270. 10:54excluded from the games. You're no
271. 10:56longer part.
272. 10:58Do any of us want to be disqualified
273. 11:00after preaching to others? No. We can
274. 11:03be, and we will be if we let our flesh
275. 11:05[music] become our master again.
276. 11:07But if we keep love and winning others
277. 11:10as our master,
278. 11:11that's what qualifies us.
279. 11:15>> [music]