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[0:00] Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 9.! 1 Corinthians chapter 9.

[0:12] ! We'll be reading from the ESV. And we're going to be starting this chapter 9, which talks about Paul and Barnabas' right to receive from the church, but also exhorting us to give up our rights for the good of others.

[0:42] 1 Corinthians 9, starting at verse 1. Let's hear God's holy word. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle?

[0:55] Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

[1:10] 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 and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

[1:27] Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?

[1:38] Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same?

[1:52] For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake?

[2:05] It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

[2:21] If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

[2:35] 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 share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

[2:52] But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision, for I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.

[3:06] For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.

[3:24] What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

[3:37] Let's hear God's word preached. We all know what it's like to speak rashly, rashly to say something that you quickly regret and wish that you could take back, especially when it's an absolute statement.

[3:58] I will always do this, or I will never do that. Those words sound so very confident as they roll off our tongue, but almost immediately you regret that you said it.

[4:11] You wish you could take it back, or at least that you could qualify it, but you can't, because everyone has already heard you, you've said it very publicly, and of course their reaction is one of disbelief.

[4:25] They scoff and say, yeah, right, you couldn't do that. Well, Paul here, in 1 Corinthians, has just made a rather bold statement, one that he anticipates the Corinthians might hear and not believe.

[4:42] They might scoff and say, yeah, right, Paul, you couldn't do that. Paul, you wouldn't do that. The Corinthians might be thinking, Paul spoke rashly, but he didn't.

[4:56] And that's what Paul sets out to prove in chapter 9 here. So what was the bold statement that Paul has already made in chapter 8? Well, it's the very last verse when Paul said, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

[5:19] There's an absolute statement for you. I will never eat meat. Paul is ready to become a vegetarian for the sake of his brothers. And that's what chapter 8 was really all about, considering your brother in Christ, foregoing your liberties for love, limiting your liberties in the name of Christian love.

[5:44] I can do this, but for the sake of my brother, I won't. Because while my conscience is clear, his won't be. And I'm willing to sacrifice my own freedom for him.

[5:59] So the issue in chapter 8, it's centered on eating meat that had been offered to idols. We looked at it just a few weeks back. Paul agreed with the Corinthians in that there was nothing that was sinful in itself about eating that meat.

[6:15] God doesn't forbid it in his word, and so they have the liberty to do it. But some in the church can't eat that meat without associating it with their former life of idol worship.

[6:28] For them, when they participate in eating the meat, it is as though they are going back and participating not just in eating some food, but in the very act of idolatry all over again.

[6:41] So we see it's a matter of conscience. For them, to eat that meat would be to go against their conscience. Their conscience is weak, meaning that they think something is sinful, but it's not.

[6:55] And their weak conscience is telling them that it's wrong. Now again, it's not actually wrong, it's not actually sinful, but any time that we go against our conscience, even if our conscience is wrong, we are sinning.

[7:10] We are doing something that we think is sinful, and to do something that we think is sinful is to do something sinful. If my kids get it in their heads that they're not allowed to read or look at books at night, if they think that I've said that and they believe that I've said that even though I haven't, I never told them that they couldn't.

[7:32] But if for some reason they thought, Dad said we can't read books, well now, if they didn't consult me and clarify, Dad, did you say we couldn't? And they simply just looked at those books, read those books, well that would be sinful because they would be thinking that they were disobeying me.

[7:51] They would be knowingly doing something that they thought was wrong, and that makes it wrong. Now that's not just for kids, that's for us as adults as well.

[8:03] And so that's what it means to have a weak conscience. So Paul, back in chapter 8, now into chapter 9, he's been teaching the Corinthians and he's been teaching us this all-important principle to lay down our liberties out of love for our brothers and our sisters.

[8:19] I have the right to do something, but I don't need to exercise that right if it will keep my brother from stumbling. I value the purity of my brother's heart more than the privileges I could enjoy.

[8:36] So Paul says this shockingly confident, absolute statement, therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

[8:51] Do you hear the emphasis there in Paul's words? He couches that absolute statement in the idea that he does not want his brother to stumble. He begins the statement by saying that, he ends the statement by saying that yet again.

[9:05] I would go to such an extreme as to never eat meat for the sake of my brother. Now, in chapter 9, Paul is anticipating the pushback.

[9:19] He anticipates the scoffs and the chuckles and the eyebrow raises. Remember, these letters in the New Testament would have been read in the hearing of the whole church.

[9:30] The church would have gathered together to hear it publicly read, and so he's anticipating people are hearing it read and they're scoffing. What? Did he just say that?

[9:40] Murmuring to one another, you'll never eat meat? Did he really speak so rashly? Easy for him to say, but actually walking in our shoes, I'd like to see him do that.

[9:52] I'd like to see him actually give up his rights and not just talk about doing that or talk about it to us. Paul, would you really do such a thing? And to that, Paul replies, okay, let me tell you about myself.

[10:07] I'll give you more than my words. I'll give you my life as an example. So tonight, we have the privilege of examining Paul's life and seeing the example that he is to us by the grace of God.

[10:21] First, we're going to see Paul's obvious right. Second, we're going to see Paul's firm refusal. And third, we'll see Paul's surprising reward.

[10:31] So his right, his refusal, as well as his reward. And all of this is with the ultimate end goal of helping us to humbly prefer one another over ourselves.

[10:45] We can't lose sight of that end goal. We can't get so caught up in the example here that we miss the point that Paul is making in his example to see how he joyfully lays down his rights for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of the church.

[11:02] And as we see that, then we too, may we be spurred on all the more by his example to live our lives in the same way. So let's consider first Paul's obvious rights.

[11:17] And let's read part of our passage again, beginning in verse 1. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?

[11:29] Are you not my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

[11:40] 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 and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

[11:54] Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit?

[12:06] Or who tends a flock without getting some of the 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, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.

[12:21] Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.

[12:36] If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

[12:47] There are lots of questions in these verses. In fact, we have here just 12 verses and in those 12 verses, Paul poses 15 questions.

[12:59] And that's in comparison to just four statements. Lots of questions that Paul gives to us. He's not just spoon-feeding the answers here. He's asking good rhetorical questions that should lead us and the Corinthians to the right answers.

[13:16] So let's break down these verses filled with questions. First here, Paul defends his position, particularly his position as an apostle.

[13:28] There are some who question the legitimacy of Paul's apostleship as one sent by the Lord Jesus with special authority to lead the church.

[13:40] Some outside of Corinth were apparently disputing this fact. And Paul is saying, even if they can, which really they can't, but even if they can, well you of course Corinth, you can't.

[13:54] It was Paul himself who had brought the good news to the Corinthians. He had established the church there. Remember back to chapter 3 when Paul said, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

[14:09] And then he used another analogy and he also said, I laid the foundation. So he planted the seed, he laid the foundation, he did the work at the very start.

[14:21] That's indisputable evidence of Paul's work as an apostle in Corinth. So yes, he is free. Yes, he is an apostle. Yes, he has seen Jesus our Lord.

[14:33] And they in Corinth are Paul's workmanship in the Lord. That fact actually is the seal of his apostleship. The Corinthians are proof of it.

[14:45] So that's the first layer of Paul's argument here. He's an apostle. And more broadly speaking, even, he's one of many leaders in the church. He's one of many who are taking the gospel all throughout the known world and they're seeing as the gospel is preached that sinners are saved.

[15:02] They're seeing to it that churches are established, that elders are appointed, that the souls of the disciples are strengthened, just as we saw last week in Acts 14. That's his job.

[15:13] Now the second layer. As one who works a job and a very valid job at that, Paul has every right to compensation for his work.

[15:25] And this is his defense beginning in verse 3. As an apostle, as one laboring to preach the gospel, Paul, and he includes Barnabas here as his fellow laborer, well, they both have a right to eat and drink.

[15:38] They have a right to be physically sustained. They have a right to take along a believing wife as they travel, though Paul didn't have one. They have a right to not work a secular job.

[15:51] And why is that? Because they are working and the laborer deserves his wages. They are working hard at preaching the gospel. They need food and drink.

[16:04] Some have families. You can't live life without money. And so Paul is saying, we have a right to be compensated for our work. It seems, in fact, that others were being compensated.

[16:16] That's what he implies in verse 6 when he says, is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? So others have been supported in such a way that they don't have to work a secular job.

[16:29] Paul is saying, Barnabas and I have just as much a right to that as others. And then he proves this point. And he does it using two sources. He uses human reason and he uses the word of God.

[16:43] And this is a really helpful just model to us of how to persuade. If we're desiring to persuade somebody of the truth, an unbeliever or a believer, if we're seeking to grow in our own understanding of the truth, here are two tools that Paul gives to us.

[17:00] Reason and Scripture. And as we'll see, reason is secondary to Scripture. Scripture, of course, holds the final authority. But reason is useful and we shouldn't neglect it.

[17:13] And Paul models for us the usefulness of reason. We see that in verse 7. Paul is continuing with his barrage of questions, three of them here. Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?

[17:25] Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? The answers to all of these questions are obvious. It's intuitive.

[17:37] It's why Paul doesn't even answer it himself. Common sense would tell us, yes, a soldier is paid for his service. Yes, the owner of a vineyard eats some of its fruit.

[17:48] Yes, a shepherd who tends his flock gets some of the milk. And yes, I discovered this week that sheep produce milk. And Paul is very purposeful in these examples.

[18:02] He's not just grabbing some random professions. He's helping us to see that these professions all illustrate something of the ministry. Those laboring in the spread of the gospel.

[18:14] Those laboring in the church. They are like soldiers fighting the good fight. They're devoted. They're focused with a single-minded focus. No soldier gets involved in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlists him.

[18:31] That's not 1 Corinthians, but that is 2 Timothy 2.4. And those in the ministry are like owners of a vineyard, planting and tending and seeing a harvest, just as Paul has already illustrated in chapter 3.

[18:46] He planted. And those in the ministry are like shepherds, tending to the flock, caring for those entrusted to them. And if those three examples weren't enough, well, Paul has one last that he needs to give.

[19:01] He almost can't help himself. He already had moved on in his thinking and he comes back to one more example in verse 13. Drop down and look at what he says there. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple?

[19:16] And those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings. Well, this principle held true in the temple there in Jerusalem. It held true even in Corinth in the pagan temples.

[19:30] Those who worked in the temple were paid through portions of the offerings themselves. They had no side hustle. Many examples that Paul gives as he appeals to logic here.

[19:42] And it's a very simple reasoning. To deny the answer to any of these questions would be ridiculous. And so it follows. Paul has every right to compensation for his work as well.

[19:54] But Paul doesn't just appeal to logic. He also, very importantly, appeals to Scripture. His ultimate, his final authority. As he says in verse 8, Do I say these things on human authority?

[20:07] Does not the law say the same? Or as the NIV says, Do I say this merely from a human point of view? So it's useful, this human point of view.

[20:20] We should make use of it. But it's not all that we should be using. And that's why he says merely. It's certainly important that we have the authoritative word of God.

[20:32] So Paul appeals to Scripture. For as it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy 25, 4.

[20:46] And that means, let the ox eat some of the grain as it does the work of treading it. Don't muzzle the ox. Don't withhold the ox from his own form of compensation.

[20:59] He who treads the grain, well, he should get to eat some of that grain. This same Old Testament Scripture Paul uses to prove the same point in 1 Timothy 5, 18.

[21:12] For the Scripture says, You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. And then he adds another quote from Jesus himself in Luke 10, 7. The laborer deserves his wages.

[21:25] Don't muzzle the ox. And Paul says, here's the application of that principle. Because it's not just about oxen. God is clearly concerned for us. Don't muzzle the apostle.

[21:37] Don't muzzle those laboring in the gospel ministry. Paul says, We've sown among you. We have every right to reap among you. And that is particular to Corinth, especially.

[21:50] Paul deserves to reap more than anyone else. Remember how he finished out chapter 4? He had told the Corinthians, Well, you had countless guides, but not many fathers.

[22:02] And then Paul says, I became a father to you in Christ Jesus through the gospel. So both reason and God's word clearly teach us that Paul and all gospel laborers deserve compensation when it can be given.

[22:21] Of course, if a congregation can't support its elders, that's understandable. But at the same time, the goal should be to financially support those who proclaim the gospel.

[22:32] As verse 14 says, The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. So Paul can say, It's my right.

[22:43] Just as the Corinthians have the right to eat meat offered to idols. Chapter 8. It's the right of gospel workers to be paid.

[22:55] Now you'd think that Paul's very next words would be, So you can make out a check to Paul, comma, the apostle. But that's not what he says.

[23:07] In fact, he says the exact opposite. And we see here now Paul's firm refusal, beginning in verse 12, there with the new paragraph.

[23:18] Nevertheless, we have made no use of this right, for we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

[23:31] 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 share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

[23:44] But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision.

[23:55] Paul has an obvious right to compensation, and yet, he firmly refuses it. I don't want it. I don't want my well-deserved wages.

[24:07] I've made no use of my rights. And Corinthians, I'm not writing to you now to get what I deserve. Paul is saying everything I've just said, the very logical and biblical case I've made for being paid, yeah, I'm setting that aside.

[24:25] How often could we say of Paul, we should listen to his words, but not his example. But that's kind of what he's saying right now. Listen to what I'm saying, but not how I'm actually living.

[24:36] I don't want these wages. I'm ignoring that when it comes to my own life. I could have it. But I don't want it. Why not? Because it would be a hindrance, he says.

[24:50] Because it would create an obstacle, a stumbling block. To what? To the spread of the gospel. Let's think about this together.

[25:02] How would Paul have been received if he came and preached the gospel there in Corinth? And with this small group of those who had believed, a church was formed.

[25:15] And they began to meet regularly, young in the faith, they're growing in grace. But Paul, they don't know all that well. He was a stranger, perhaps, to many of them in coming to Corinth.

[25:27] And here now, Paul, with this young church of very young believers, he starts asking them for money. There would have likely been some suspicion about his motives.

[25:39] And in some sense, rightly so. This was common in their day, and it's common in ours as well. Those who speak eloquently, those who can flatter with their words, often then use their words to get into the pockets of those that they've won.

[25:57] Paul wanted to be as far removed from those kinds of accusations as possible. He said as much to the church in Thessalonica, he wrote to them, for we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed.

[26:16] God is witness. So we hear that words of flattery that were used with a pretext for greed. Others did that.

[26:27] Paul didn't, and he did whatever it would take to ensure that he was never once accused of that. He was willing to go to great lengths like not taking a paycheck.

[26:40] So others had come preaching and teaching for gain. Paul came preaching and teaching so very clearly for the glory of God and for the good of those that he spoke the gospel to.

[26:52] It wasn't that taking a paycheck would be wrong, but no one could accuse him of being greedy if he never took a dime. You can inspect him all that you want, you can scrutinize him all that you like, but there would be no immoral or corrupt motive that you could find in that way.

[27:12] Others, as Paul said to the Roman church, do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. And by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive.

[27:26] Paul, though, wasn't seeking to deceive their hearts. he simply wanted to see them become obedient from the heart to our Lord Christ. And here's the proof.

[27:37] He would take no money. He would present the gospel free of charge. No hindrance, no obstacle, no stumbling block put before those that he preached to because all he wanted was to see was for them to see Christ.

[27:52] He wanted to put only Christ before them. And that's what he did. He made money in secular works so that he could preach the gospel without the possibility of false accusations getting in the way.

[28:05] Nobody could say, just follow the money with that guy, Paul. All they could say was, Paul follows Christ. And then perhaps, by the Spirit of God, they too were persuaded to follow Christ as well.

[28:22] So Paul had obvious rights, but he firmly refused them. And that leads us now to the third and the final point, Paul's surprising reward. Beginning in verse 15.

[28:35] But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.

[28:48] For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward.

[29:02] But if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching, I may present the gospel free of charge, so as to not make full use of my right in the gospel.

[29:18] So here's Paul's great reward. It's the laying down of his rights. That should be surprising to us that his reward is to preach the gospel free of charge.

[29:33] We might think of that as a sacrifice. We might think of that as what Paul is giving up. But Paul thinks of it as his great gain. Now Paul here distinguishes between what he has to do and what he gets to choose to do.

[29:49] He has to preach the gospel. He is under obligation to do that by God. Paul stated it up front at the very introduction of his letter in his opening reading as he's identifying himself.

[30:04] He says in chapter 1, verse 1, Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. Paul is not trying to squirm his way out of being an apostle and preaching the gospel.

[30:21] God called him to that role and to that responsibility. We see this in the conversion of Paul when he was formerly known as Saul in Acts 9. The Lord Jesus spoke to him saying, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise and enter the city and you will be told what you are to do.

[30:43] Right there it is conversion. Paul is already being given orders by the Lord. You will be told what to do. And ultimately, big picture, what was that?

[30:55] Acts 9 tells us as well, he was to be, as God said, a chosen instrument of the Lord Jesus to carry his name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

[31:09] So preaching the gospel, that Paul must do. That is the stewardship that he was entrusted with. What he doesn't have to do, though, is to preach that gospel free of charge.

[31:23] God didn't call him to that. God didn't oblige him to work as a tent maker. It was his own choice to lay down that right to compensation.

[31:33] And laying down that right is wonderfully satisfying to Paul. He says he would rather die than have those grounds for boasting taken from him.

[31:45] He loves to talk in the extreme and he means it. I would rather die than take a paycheck. That's how serious he is. And by boasting, Paul isn't saying that he takes pride in himself.

[32:01] I mean, if you've been with us in 1 Corinthians, Paul talks a lot about boasting and it's always, a true boast is in the Lord, not in oneself. So by boasting, Paul simply means it gives him great joy.

[32:15] It thrills his heart that he's able to preach the gospel free of charge. He isn't puffed up with pride. He's just overjoyed that this is his privilege to preach and to do it without any possible hindrances put in the way financially.

[32:34] He's just so glad that he gets to point others to Christ. If there's any boasting, it's not in himself. It's in the Lord. It's not look at me. It's look at him. He doesn't want money.

[32:46] He doesn't want the praise of men. He just wants the privilege to preach Christ crucified. Any rights that he has are so very secondary to him.

[32:59] So he can say that laying them down is his reward. He's wonderfully satisfied in laying down his rights. So let's think about ourselves.

[33:13] We live in a world that preaches something very different to us. Take what is yours. If you earned it, you should get it. Don't let anyone else get in your way.

[33:26] You deserve it. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Well, that kind of thinking is poisonous in the church. Demanding our way.

[33:38] Demanding our rights. It's almost unthinkable to give up a right. I hear the word right. I think it's fundamental. It's basic. There are lots of things that I may sacrifice, but not my rights.

[33:52] Those I can't compromise. But as it relates to your brothers and sisters in Christ, what kind of spirit do you have about yourself?

[34:04] Like Paul, do you consider the laying down of your own rights to be wonderfully satisfying? That is hard to feel, that satisfaction, if we have a white-knuckled grip on those rights, on those Christian freedoms, because we can't stand the thought of losing them?

[34:25] In Christ, I'm free to do this, but my brother or my sister doesn't see it that way. I don't want to lose what I'm free to do. And this is where God's word is so very helpful to us tonight.

[34:38] Here, Paul is modeling for us. Think of laying down your rights less as losing something and more as gaining something. Not, I have to do this, but I get to do this.

[34:52] I get to do this, that the gospel may not be hindered. I get to do this, that the church may be built up, that the main thing might stay the main thing in the life of the church.

[35:05] How often, though, do we say, I have to, when we sacrifice for the sake of another? We don't do it joyfully. How often do we do it with reluctance? We do it, but we're not happy about it.

[35:18] I guess I'll sacrifice for this person, but I really wish I didn't have to. I wish they would grow up and mature and see things my way. That's what I want, but I guess I'll lay those rights down for them.

[35:32] Well, that's not Paul's mindset at all. He considers it his reward to lay down his rights. It thrills his heart to see the gospel go forth unhindered by any rights that he might demand.

[35:46] Those rights, he recognizes, very well could serve as an obstacle. That's his mindset. And so he's teaching the Corinthians, well, that should be their mindset as well.

[35:57] They should be saying, we get to abstain from eating meat if necessary so that the gospel might not be hindered. The laying down of their rights, the advancement of the gospel that follows.

[36:11] They should be saying, that's our reward. That's the mindset that Paul wants them to have. And that's the mindset that we should have as well. Not, I have to, but I get to.

[36:23] Not heavily demanding, but happily preferring. Is that your mindset? Is that your heart? Is that the posture of your heart?

[36:34] I'm going to lay down my rights and I'm going to consider that my reward. It's my joy. I'm glad to do it. If it means the gospel goes forth unhindered.

[36:44] If it means a stumbling block is not put up for others. That is a far greater priority to Paul than getting what is owed him. That's more important than any right that he might have.

[36:59] This is Paul's heart. May this be our heart as well. I won't make demands for myself. In fact, I will gladly deny myself for the sake of my brothers and sisters.

[37:12] It's easy to complain and to grumble in our hearts and to say they need to change. But the reality is if I'm doing the complaining and the grumbling in my heart, it is I who needs to change.

[37:28] And God's word helps us to do that tonight. Through the example of Paul, we see what it really looks like to prefer one another, to love one another, to count others as more significant than ourselves and to do that in humility.

[37:44] Of course, Paul isn't the only example of self-sacrifice for us. Our Savior left the joys of heaven, the unending worship of the angels and the saints, and he came to earth.

[37:57] But he did not come demanding what was rightfully his. He certainly could have. He could have said, the Son of Man came to receive the worship of all men.

[38:09] But that's not what he said. He said, the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus set aside what was rightfully his.

[38:22] He deserved all men to serve him, and instead he came as a servant and he laid down his rights as he laid down his very life.

[38:34] He who was rich for our sake became poor so that by his poverty we might become rich. This is the example that Paul followed and so we ought to follow Paul as Paul follows Christ.

[38:52] Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we do count it such a privilege that we have this wondrously unique book written by you, written to us for our sake that we might hear your word to us.

[39:10] Thank you, Father, for the humbling of Paul that we see here in 1 Corinthians 9. His heart posture of one in which he's willing to give up so much for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of the church and for the sake of your glory.

[39:29] Father, we pray that you would give us those hearts as well. We pray that you would continue the good work of sanctifying us, of giving us that humility, of giving us that love for one another, that preference of others.

[39:42] So help us, Father, to live in such a way and to live in such a way even before a watching world for it is indeed by our love that they know we are the disciples of your Son, Jesus Christ.

[39:55] So we pray for our good that you would make us to live in such a way. We pray for the good of unbelievers you would make us to live in such a way and we pray for your glory that you would make us to live in such a way. We pray all of this in Christ's name.

[40:07]  Amen. Amen.