WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.580 Well, we're in 1 Corinthians 9, and if you can turn back there, that'll be a help, page 957. 00:00:07.580 --> 00:00:18.120 Continuing this journey through the letter, and Paul has been explaining various things 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:24.719 ! about the situation in Corinth and the church there, but he's also begun to address the questions 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:29.199 that previous correspondence with the Corinthian church has raised with him. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.700 And here we are at chapter 9. When we think about life, when we look around, we think about the way 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:41.679 things are in the world, we realize that having ourselves at the center of things is really 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:49.799 something we find easy and natural, and it comes to us without much effort. Life with us at the center. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:55.719 If you look around, and we could go right to the very top, there's a class of people, it seems, 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:01.420 in our culture today who have all the means and all the connections, and the normal rules of life 00:01:01.420 --> 00:01:07.299 don't apply, and they can do what they want. And they can do all kinds of things that other people 00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:13.420 might end up getting in trouble for, and it doesn't seem to stick with them. In a sense, there's a, 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:19.519 we get this impression that they believe that the world actually exists to serve them. A really crass 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:27.599 example of having yourself at the center. And we might look at celebrities. Celebrities get things 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:32.540 given to them all the time. Because they are celebrities, whether in sport or film or music 00:01:32.540 --> 00:01:37.680 or drama or whatever it might be, when they're famous, people want to give them stuff because they 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:41.540 want to curry favor with them. And when people give you stuff all the time, you become entitled, 00:01:41.540 --> 00:01:47.480 and you think that that's the way the world works. Well, I should have that because that's the way 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:55.200 things are. We see it in all kinds of other ways as well. The employee who says that they can't work 00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:01.320 five days a week. They can't stay late in order to finish this project because they've got to look 00:02:01.320 --> 00:02:07.560 after their mental health or their self-care or whatever it might be. They can't wear certain fabrics 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:13.539 or eat certain foods. Can't bear certain noises because it's just too much for me. 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:20.199 Now, of course, that's not to denigrate those that struggle in those ways, but there is a sense in 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:27.719 which that is the condition of the human heart. Actually, all the way through, me first, my preferences, 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:35.599 my opinions, my voice. I'm actually in charge of my world. And then the spirit that flows from that is, 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:42.039 well, I want it, and therefore I should have it, whatever it might be. And it's all very natural. 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:49.000 No one needed to tell us to think of ourselves in this way. It is part of, well, it's the air that we 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.259 breathe for a start. Some are able to have it more easily than others, and some are more honest about 00:02:53.259 --> 00:02:59.439 their pursuit of those things than others. But we naturally incline, because of our sinful condition, 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:07.939 to me first. When someone shows you a photograph, the first place you look is for yourself. You zoom in. 00:03:08.359 --> 00:03:15.219 How do I look? Well, that spirit is, it runs all the way through society because it runs all the way 00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:23.180 through all of our hearts. And that is why we find what Paul said last week in chapter 8 and this week 00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:30.240 in chapter 9 so strange. Last week we heard him say that we should put other people ahead of our 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:36.319 personal preferences. And when the me at the center of things, when that message is everywhere, it's no 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:41.020 surprise that this kind of teaching feels on the one hand out of touch, and on the other hand, 00:03:41.100 --> 00:03:47.300 completely impossible for us to apply in our own lives. To go against that spirit that seems to run 00:03:47.300 --> 00:03:52.320 all the way through society because it runs all the way through our heart, well, is it even possible 00:03:52.320 --> 00:03:58.939 to do this? So we need to get to grips with what he's saying here. The issue last time you remember 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:05.660 was meat offered to idols. Corinth was a pluralistic city where there were many gods that were worshiped, 00:04:05.820 --> 00:04:10.800 and part of the worship required animals to be sacrificed and the meat from those animals to be 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:17.280 offered to the respective gods. And Paul told us last time, whilst the meat itself has no moral value, 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:23.680 whether it is offered to Zeus or Diana or whoever, it does nothing to the meat. Anything that's 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:30.020 attributed to the meat, he says, is superstition. But there will be times, he said, when you should 00:04:30.020 --> 00:04:38.220 forego eating for the sake of someone else. You may know that the idol is nothing. You may know that 00:04:38.220 --> 00:04:45.160 that steak that was offered to the idol is nothing. You may know that the words used over it in the 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:50.900 pagan worship were also nothing. Chapter 8 verse 4, he talks about that there. You may know that the 00:04:50.900 --> 00:04:57.320 earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. You know that. You know that you're free to say grace over 00:04:57.320 --> 00:05:03.480 whatever is in front of you to eat it up and to enjoy that satisfying feeling that follows to the 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:10.160 glory of God. But the new Christian, freshly converted from some kind of idol worship, can't separate the 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:17.020 food from the idols. In their mind, they can't make that distinction. And so Paul says, it is better for 00:05:17.020 --> 00:05:23.620 you to go without that food in order to protect your brother or sister than to lead them into sin 00:05:23.620 --> 00:05:29.379 by your knowledge. That's where we were last week. It doesn't sound very, I want it, I should have it, 00:05:29.379 --> 00:05:36.460 does it? It doesn't sound very, I need to prioritize my preferences for my self-care. But this is what the 00:05:36.459 --> 00:05:41.479 Christian life requires. It requires that we would go without certain things for the sake of other 00:05:41.479 --> 00:05:47.060 people. It requires that we would give up our rights for the sake of others. We could summarize, 00:05:47.259 --> 00:05:52.379 you remember I mentioned it last week, the Christian ethic could be summarized in four words. The whole 00:05:52.379 --> 00:06:00.399 thing, my life for yours. The ethic of the Christian life could be summarized in those four words, my life 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:08.459 four words. That was what Christ did. That is what those who follow Him should do. Well, this morning we have 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:19.239 Paul explaining how this worked out in his life. Verse 1, am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen 00:06:19.239 --> 00:06:26.299 our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? Like he did right back in chapter 2 when he referred to his style 00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:32.079 of preaching, Paul is using himself here as an example of the point that he's making. He's saying, 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:38.420 I've told you to put other people before yourself. We saw last week that he's telling them to do this, 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:42.540 even when the other person is wrong. That was an important qualification. Even when they're wrong, 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:50.519 even when you have a right to eat what you want to eat. I told you to put people before yourself, 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:55.199 even in those situations. He's saying, and here's how I have done this myself. Chapter 9, 00:06:55.199 --> 00:07:01.000 he starts with his status as an apostle. Verse 1, he has seen, he has spoken to, he was commissioned by 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:06.399 the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the Corinthians, they of all people he's saying should know this 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:12.099 because he planted their church. Many of those hearing this letter, as it is read out, will know 00:07:12.099 --> 00:07:20.759 that they came to faith under this man's preaching. And so they are, verse 2, the seal of his apostleship. 00:07:20.759 --> 00:07:26.759 They are the proof that he was a legitimate apostle. Their very faith itself points to the fact that 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:33.180 he was the real deal as a gospel preacher. And that means he has rights. And that's our first point. 00:07:33.300 --> 00:07:39.899 Paul lays out his rights, his rights. Piles up the rhetorical questions there in verse 4. Look at verse 4. 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:47.899 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of 00:07:47.899 --> 00:07:53.679 the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 00:07:55.639 --> 00:08:04.560 As a minister of the gospel, Paul has a right to eat and to whatever will support a wife and family, 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:10.540 just like the other apostles did. He and Barnabas aren't special cases. They have a right to be 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:16.339 financially supported in their ministry, just as the others were. And Paul points to how this 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:21.579 principle is both obvious and biblical, and it's something that the Corinthians implemented 00:08:21.579 --> 00:08:27.639 previously. So he says it's a principle that you see generally, verse 7. Who serves as a soldier at 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:32.539 his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without 00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:39.439 getting some of the milk? He's saying we don't expect soldiers to buy their own uniforms. We don't 00:08:39.439 --> 00:08:46.480 expect them to procure their own weapons. We expect a farmer to be able to enjoy the fruit of his crops 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:52.980 and the shepherd to get some of the milk from his herds. Everyone has a right to profit from their own 00:08:52.980 --> 00:08:58.399 labor, but this isn't just an idea humans have come up with. Paul says, look around. You see it 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:03.980 generally, that's the way you think about the world, but it is also, verse 9, it is a biblical principle. 00:09:04.980 --> 00:09:11.259 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same? For it is written in the law 00:09:11.259 --> 00:09:16.919 of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:23.579 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in 00:09:23.580 --> 00:09:29.180 hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, 00:09:29.420 --> 00:09:35.200 is it too much if we reap material things from you? If we've sown the spiritual, is it too much to expect 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:42.900 that we would receive material? The verse Paul quotes here is Deuteronomy 25, verse 4, and it is 00:09:42.900 --> 00:09:50.420 applied in 1 Timothy 5, 18 as well. It's not really about oxen, he's saying. It applies to them, of course, 00:09:50.419 --> 00:09:58.120 but it is ultimately, it ultimately has humans, it has ministers in view. It was written for our sake, 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:04.799 Paul says. The plowman has a right to share in the crop as does the thresher, and it's the same for 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:13.059 ministers of the gospel, verse 14. The Lord commanded those who proclaim the gospel as the apostles had 00:10:13.059 --> 00:10:18.980 done to get their living from doing that. It is biblical. It's there in both testaments. The minister has a 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:23.779 right to profit from his labor, and actually, the Corinthians already knew that. Verse 12, 00:10:24.300 --> 00:10:30.779 if others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more. So, it's a general principle, 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:36.960 it's a biblical principle, but it's also been their practice. They've paid other ministers. It's possible 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:41.500 here, perhaps, that he's referring to Apollos. Do you remember Apollos back at the beginning of the 00:10:41.500 --> 00:10:48.580 letter? I planted, Apollos watered. I follow Paul, I follow Apollos. Apollos was the pastor that came in 00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:55.180 after Paul to the Corinthian church, and they paid him. So, they've shown that they understand this 00:10:55.180 --> 00:11:03.100 right as far as it applies to others. So, Paul highlights here his rights. People should profit 00:11:03.100 --> 00:11:08.160 from their labors. It's biblical. It applies to gospel ministers, and the Corinthians know this 00:11:08.160 --> 00:11:13.280 because they've been doing it already. But why does Paul say all that? He says it 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:22.539 in order to make it clear to them that he has passed it all up. He has a right to all of these 00:11:22.539 --> 00:11:28.439 things, and he could make that demand, but he has said, I'm passing it up. And here's our second point. 00:11:29.439 --> 00:11:34.600 Outlines his rights. His second point is his sacrifice, his sacrifice. Verse 12, 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:41.540 Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle 00:11:41.540 --> 00:11:45.360 in the way of the gospel of Christ. Go down again to verse 15, 00:11:45.800 --> 00:11:52.040 But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such 00:11:52.040 --> 00:12:01.560 provision. Paul has passed on his rights, and he isn't talking about them now in order to call them 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:07.719 in either. There is something more important to him than getting what he owed, and that is getting 00:12:07.719 --> 00:12:15.319 people to Christ. He will, verse 12, endure anything rather than be an obstacle to people hearing the 00:12:15.319 --> 00:12:21.899 gospel. He would rather die, verse 15, than have someone take away his ability to say he gave up these 00:12:21.899 --> 00:12:29.399 rights. That is how important it is to him. If Paul had been paid double honor, he would have been worth 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:36.740 every penny, but he chose not to take it for the sake of his mission. It is a mission that is tethered 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:43.459 to, that he is tethered to by God. Verse 16, he says he needs to preach the gospel. In fact, woe to him 00:12:43.459 --> 00:12:51.379 if he doesn't. So it's not about him. Having said all of this stuff at the beginning about his rights, 00:12:51.379 --> 00:12:58.059 he's making it really clear it's not about him. It's about doing what God has called him to do, 00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:05.519 and that is preaching the free grace of Christ for free, whatever the sacrifice. So, verse 19, 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:14.379 I am free from all, but I have made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them. 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:20.379 To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win the Jews. To those under the law I became as one under 00:13:20.379 --> 00:13:25.399 the law, though not myself under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those outside the 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:29.779 law I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:36.019 that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:43.159 I become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 00:13:45.539 --> 00:13:50.620 So the apostle Paul, with all of his rights and all of his freedoms, became a Jew. That is, 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:56.259 he will have adopted some Jewish practices he submitted to the law in some areas that would 00:13:56.259 --> 00:14:00.899 have limited him in ways that he didn't have to be limited. This may relate to the discipline that 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:06.120 he received in 2 Corinthians 11, where the lashes meted out there were consistent with the law's 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:11.539 punishment for blasphemy, something that the synagogue would have deemed his preaching of Christ 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:17.820 to be, and he accepted the punishment for this as a Jew. To those outside the law, 00:14:17.820 --> 00:14:23.320 the Gentiles who didn't have God's law, in some cases he became as one of them. Now he's not saying, 00:14:23.420 --> 00:14:28.540 Paul isn't saying here anything goes. He's not saying when in Rome, you know, that kind of thing. 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:34.260 He isn't talking about becoming a pagan, living like the culture. He is saying that he didn't insist 00:14:34.260 --> 00:14:39.280 on Jewish customs when he was around Gentiles. Rather, he lived under Christ. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:47.720 And then to the weak, to those who couldn't eat idle meat without stumbling, he became weak. He stuck 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:54.100 to vegetables, stayed away from idle temples in order that they might stumble. Despite his right 00:14:54.100 --> 00:15:03.600 to do otherwise, Paul chose sacrifice. Think of the level of inconvenience that would have been involved, 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:10.879 consistently going without things that he could rightly have for the sake of others. 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:19.600 There isn't much be true to yourself in that, is there? It is very challenging, and that is precisely 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:26.800 the point. Paul isn't talking about himself here to make himself look good. He is explaining the way 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:34.079 he lives that we might follow his example. Now often these verses, you've perhaps heard 00:15:34.079 --> 00:15:42.419 sermons on contextualization, sermons on evangelistic adaptability, sermons on mission 00:15:42.419 --> 00:15:48.399 from that little passage to the Jew, I became like the Jew, and all of that. Many times you could have 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:55.740 heard great sermons on those things. And these verses are often used by Christians to legitimize their 00:15:55.740 --> 00:16:02.000 preferences, becoming like the group that you admire and you'd quite like to belong to, and saying, 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:10.360 I'm doing it for the gospel, becoming an ex in order to win the ex. But what Paul is describing is 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:18.279 completely the opposite. He's describing that which is inconvenient and sacrificial. He's becoming 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:30.319 like those that he doesn't want to be like in order to reach them with the gospel. And he does this because in 00:16:30.319 --> 00:16:39.740 operating that way, he is imitating the Lord Jesus. Paul becomes like others in order that they might find 00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:49.399 salvation. Well, isn't that exactly what Christ did for us? He had all the rights of the Son of God, 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:58.680 the one through whom the world came into being. He belongs in glory. He does not need to condescend 00:16:58.680 --> 00:17:06.480 to us. He was within his rights to stay there. But even though he was in very nature God, he did not 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:14.660 count equality with God a thing to be held on to. Instead, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. 00:17:15.860 --> 00:17:26.839 The King of glory came that infinite distance to take on flesh. And it wasn't just that he took on flesh, 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:34.660 but he kept going. You remember, he washed the feet of his disciples as a servant, as a slave, 00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:44.920 the one who belonged in the perfection and beauty and majesty and glory of the triune communion in 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:51.220 heaven, condescended to the lowest place. In fact, it wasn't just washing the feet of the disciples, 00:17:51.360 --> 00:17:56.360 was it? Because that wasn't far enough. He even gave up his right to life. 00:17:56.359 --> 00:18:05.879 He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death. And not just death, he went again, 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:13.979 the most humiliating death, the death by crucifixion, death on a cross. He did this 00:18:13.979 --> 00:18:22.240 in order to bring us salvation. Jesus was free not to do any of this, but he did it for you and me. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:30.740 One theologian says, not only did Paul imitate the Lord, he imitated the Lord in the freedom he had not 00:18:30.740 --> 00:18:37.299 to do it. That's the thing. We are free to enjoy the good things that God has given, 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:44.640 but there is a deeper good than the good of our freedoms. Paul understood this. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:51.180 He understood the fundamental principle that God has established that you gain life by giving it away. 00:18:52.280 --> 00:18:58.920 It is more blessed to give than to receive. You gain freedom by giving it up. It's the paradox of 00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:08.580 the Christian life, a world where the way to win is to come last. Do you believe this? 00:19:08.579 --> 00:19:18.220 Do you believe that actually sacrificing for others, actually walking the way of the cross 00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:27.899 is the actual path to actual life? Paul has learned to see his life as a seed, 00:19:28.659 --> 00:19:35.460 something to be planted in the ground for a harvest later on. Will you make the same investment? 00:19:35.460 --> 00:19:44.220 You know, I will think about it in your family. Husbands, you have the right to respect from your 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:49.660 wife. Wives, you have the right to sacrificial love from your husband. When you don't get these 00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:55.100 things because your spouse isn't perfect, will you overlook that for the sake of your marriage and 00:19:55.100 --> 00:20:03.120 the good of your children, or will you stand on your rights? Husbands, will you sacrifice to put time 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:09.619 and energy into nurturing your wife towards greater maturity in the faith? The delayed harvest image 00:20:09.619 --> 00:20:15.439 here is most clearly seen when it comes to children, making sacrifices now for the sake of a good outcome 00:20:15.439 --> 00:20:22.399 in the future with your children. Mothers, sacrificing your career in order to raise godly offspring. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:29.119 Seeing motherhood as the promotion that it is. Fathers, sacrificing time and convenience and giving up 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:35.459 your right to comfort and quiet after a busy day to engage your children, to discipline them, to train 00:20:35.459 --> 00:20:43.839 them in godliness. My life for yours. What about not just in your family, but your church family? 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:52.859 Your time, your money, your convenience, your freedoms, your rights. The Lord allows you to have them. 00:20:52.859 --> 00:21:00.139 He gave them to you as gifts. And by the way, other people can't demand them from you legitimately. 00:21:00.919 --> 00:21:05.039 God gives you something, nobody else has the right to demand it from you. 00:21:06.539 --> 00:21:12.299 You should not feel a shred of guilt about what you have if you've accrued it legitimately. 00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:19.439 You didn't sin in order to get it. The question is, will you give them up to invest in the lives of 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:26.799 others? Will you give up your spare time and invest it in the lives of younger people, younger Christians 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:31.299 who will outlive you in the faith and bring the gospel into a time when you won't be? 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:38.240 Your money could resource training ministers for the future of the IPC. 00:21:39.180 --> 00:21:44.900 Will you plant your life in the ground of service so that others flourish? Use your home and your 00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:51.320 hospitality. Will you give yourself to others for their sake, for their flourishing in the Christian 00:21:51.320 --> 00:21:57.860 life? What about in your wider circle? Family, church family, in your wider circle. A good question 00:21:57.860 --> 00:22:05.140 to ask yourself is, where in my life am I going without so that men and women, boys and girls, 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:14.720 might hear the gospel? Where am I going without in order to assist the gospel spreading across this 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:23.400 community, across this city, and across the world? I want to say I see lots of this across our church. 00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:29.339 Sacrifice freely offered for the sake of others and the sake of the gospel. It is great to see. 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:39.880 But I want to encourage you to keep going. Keep going. My life for yours. How will we keep going? 00:22:39.880 --> 00:22:48.700 Well, to help us, Paul points us to the athlete. Verse 25, every athlete exercises self-control in 00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:53.100 all things, saying we're to have an athlete's mindset as we think about this. If we're going to 00:22:53.100 --> 00:22:58.120 think about this sacrifice, we need to adopt the mindset of an athlete. Not all of us can have an 00:22:58.120 --> 00:23:05.240 athlete's physical capabilities, but we can have their mindset. Athletes make countless sacrifices. 00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:08.839 They discipline their bodies. They go without things that they are free to have. 00:23:13.299 --> 00:23:18.819 One of the biggest ways you see it with athletes, one of the biggest sacrifices is that they miss 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:23.779 important events in people's lives. Weddings, funerals, big birthday celebrations. Sorry, 00:23:23.859 --> 00:23:31.339 I can't make it. I am training. Why do they do this? They do it in order to win the race and get the 00:23:31.339 --> 00:23:38.059 medal. That's what Paul says. And that's, he includes this at the end as his motivation. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:46.119 Here's his motivation. So his rights, his sacrifices, and then his motivation. The reason Paul does all of 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:51.159 this is simple. He wants, verse 23, have a look, verse 23, he wants to receive God's blessing. 00:23:51.399 --> 00:23:58.799 I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings. The blessings in 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:04.579 question are the imperishable reward of verse 25, the blessing that God gives to all who put their 00:24:04.579 --> 00:24:10.359 faith in Jesus Christ. The athlete, they make their sacrifices for a prize that fades, a temporary wreath, 00:24:10.500 --> 00:24:17.139 medal, just something that in many cases will end up in a drawer. In special cases, it'll be in a frame 00:24:17.139 --> 00:24:23.980 on the wall somewhere, something like that. The Christian makes their sacrifices for an eternal reward. 00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:32.019 Giving up your rights now feels like a ridiculous thing to do. The air that we breathe, the culture 00:24:32.019 --> 00:24:37.180 that we live in, I'm giving this up, this freedom, I'm passing it up. It sounds like a silly thing to do. 00:24:37.980 --> 00:24:43.500 Why on earth would anyone sacrifice what they have a right to enjoy? Or why would they delay gratification 00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:48.480 for a moment longer than they should? Here's why. There's something better in the future. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:57.460 Paul keeps his body under control, verse 27, so that he doesn't miss out on this. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:04.240 The Corinthians should pass up the sacrificial meals so that they don't miss out on this. 00:25:05.500 --> 00:25:08.640 And we should be prepared to give up our freedoms for the same reason. 00:25:10.220 --> 00:25:16.660 Speak to any Olympian between Olympics about the early mornings and the diet and the pain of pushing 00:25:16.660 --> 00:25:21.779 themselves. And ask them why they bother, and they'll think it's a dumb question. 00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:28.660 Why do I bother? Because doing this is how you win. Doing this is how I'm going to get the medal. 00:25:29.620 --> 00:25:32.740 There is no other way to get the medal other than the sacrifice. 00:25:34.420 --> 00:25:37.900 And then ask them after they've won, was the sacrifice worth it? 00:25:37.900 --> 00:25:42.100 Of course it was. 00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:49.480 If you insist on your rights to the detriment of a brother or sister, your faith is lost labor. 00:25:49.860 --> 00:25:51.880 Paul says it's beating the air, it's shadow boxing. 00:25:53.259 --> 00:25:57.640 But if you resist the cultural narrative, and you put people before preferences, 00:25:58.100 --> 00:26:01.720 and you give up your rights for the sake of others hearing and growing in the gospel, 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:07.920 when you stand on the new earth and you see those people there, you will not regret a single sacrifice. 00:26:09.259 --> 00:26:13.460 Nobody will get to the end and say, I wish I'd given God a little bit less. 00:26:14.100 --> 00:26:17.940 A little bit less of their money, a little bit less of their time, a little bit less of them. 00:26:18.360 --> 00:26:22.900 None of us will stand on the new earth and say, I wish I'd done a bit less. 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:29.660 If we give up our rights for the sake of others hearing and growing in the gospel, 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:32.480 we will not regret it on the last day. 00:26:32.600 --> 00:26:33.480 Take the long view. 00:26:34.080 --> 00:26:35.019 Take the long view. 00:26:35.140 --> 00:26:37.440 And when you ask the question on that day, was it worth it? 00:26:37.460 --> 00:26:39.019 Well, the question won't even occur to you. 00:26:39.600 --> 00:26:40.340 Of course it was. 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:42.019 Of course it was. 00:26:43.600 --> 00:26:44.180 Let's pray.