He always existed (according to John 1 and other passages). He was with God, and He was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made. He is life, and that life is the light of men. Then Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. He left the Throne of Heaven to enter humanity on earth (according to Philippians 2). He made Himself of no reputation, and taking on the form of a bondservant He humbled Himself, even to the point of death on the cross. He was obedient to the Father who has highly exalted Him. Jesus set the example we are to follow. If anyone ever had the liberty to do as He wanted…it was Jesus, yet He chose to become a slave and to put Himself in bondage.
Last week we were in 1 Corinthians 8:9-13 and our title was “Loving Liberty.” We saw the Spirit warn us through the Apostle Paul to beware of liberty: our knowledge can lead us to think we have more liberty than we actually have and we never have liberty to sin – to go into the idols temple. We must also be sure that the liberty we do have doesn’t lead us to idols as well. In fact, our liberty can itself be an idol. The Sprit through Paul also warned us not to sin against Christ allowing our liberty to be a stumbling block to a brother or sister in Christ. If our words or actions permit a brother to stumble, we have sinned against him and sinned against Christ who died for that brother or sister.
As we begin 1 Corinthians 9, the Spirit continues focus on the problems if idolatry and abuse of liberty. We tend to skip right over 1 Corinthians 8 because, “I don’t eat meat offered to idols!” We skip right over 1 Corinthians 9 because, “it’s just Paul defending himself.” We skip right over 1 Corinthians 10 because “Oh my, it’s back to talking about eating meat offered to idols again.”
Today we’ll be getting a broad view of 1 Corinthians 9 so we don’t “miss the forest for of the trees.” I don’t want to get into such a deep discussion of the examples here that we forget we are talking about idolatry and the abuse of Christian liberty. So, let’s hear what the Spirit says to the churches…
This passage starts with Spirit-given words of Paul saying, “Am I not an Apostle? Am I not free?” Now, some say this is just Paul defending himself as it is very clear that there was division in the church at Corinth, and that part of that division was over who they thought they should be following, either Paul, Cephas, or Apollos. Some argue this is just Paul stating his case. Such an argument shows a complete misunderstanding of this entire section. Look, 1 Corinthians 8 is about idolatry and abusing liberty, 1 Corinthians 10 is about idolatry and abusing liberty, and guess what: 1 Corinthians 9 is about idolatry and abusing liberty too! The Spirit through Paul is demonstrating, that as much as anyone, the great Apostle to the gentiles was “free” in Christ. The issue in question here is Paul’s liberty, not his qualification as a leader of the church.
Then 1 Corinthians 9:3-7 it says, “My defense to those who examine me is this…” No doubt there were some in the Corinthian church who didn’t even like Paul. But this wasn’t a competition or popularity contest! Cephas, Apollos, and Paul were all given to the Church for God’s purposes and the church’s edification. But what we see there and anywhere there is division, criticizing becomes commonplace and the church was involved in idolatry and abuse of liberty. There were many things they loved more than Christ and it seems clear that they cared more about their freedom to do what they wanted than they cared about each other. YET, they all wanted to put chains on Paul…they wanted to restrict his liberty. The Spirit says of Paul, “he has the right to sustenance, has the freedom to have a wife, has the right to earn a living from preaching the Gospel as he has been called.”
I’ve talked to some older, and even retired oversees missionaries who recall receiving the old, worn out clothes as an offering, receiving out of date food, and even receiving used tea bags! Now none of these missionaries were complaining, but seriously, we’re going to send used tea bags to a missionary and keep the new ones for ourselves? We’re going to clean all the old, out of date food from our pantry and send it to a missionary in order to make room for our new stuff? We’re going to replace all the old clothes in our closet with new ones, sending the old stuff oversees? Seriously! How about we keep our old junk for ourselves and send the new thing to the brother on the field who can’t run to Walmart! Who wants a used tea bag!!! I guess the thinking was, “I would never use it again, but it is good enough for a missionary who has nothing otherwise.” Seriously? That’s the kind of attitude of those in
In 9:8-12a it says, “Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does the Law not say the same also?” Again, this is not Paul’s defending himself…this is the Holy Spirit rebuking their hard, idolatrous, liberty-worshipping hearts. Paul had the liberty to earn a living by preaching, God had called him to that work. God seeks to care for Paul’s needs like He does all of His children, but those in the church at Corinth were so interested in doing for themselves that they apparently resented the thought of giving to Paul. They thought it wrong that he should earn a living as minister of the Gospel even though the majority of them would still be enslaved to sin and death if God hadn’t of used Paul to bring them to faith in the first place! This attitude would have been evident in many ways, but the Spirit uses this issue of financial support because it is so obvious.
So, you’ve got a church full of people who worship idols – there were many things they loved more than they loved God. One of the big idols was their own liberty. There were many bad results…division, pride, immorality, divorce, etc. They believed they had the liberty to do such things, but that others, like Paul, shouldn’t even have the most basic of liberties.
In 9:12b-14 it says, “Nevertheless we (Paul and Barnabas) have not used this right.” They had gone hungry; they had not taken a wife, or accepted payment for their ministry to the church at
That’s the whole point!!! Paul, who truly had liberty to such things, did not use it…
I Will Not Use My
Reading 1 Cor 9:15-18, remember that it is preposterous to argue that Paul is just defending himself and arguing that he is the one the church at Corinth should be following. The Holy Spirit’s point is using Paul as another example after Christ. Having every reason to use their liberty, Paul and Barnabas chose to forsake that liberty for the sake of advancing the Gospel. They were following the example of Christ who is also our example. It is completely the opposite of what was happening in
That brings us to 1 Corinthians 9:19 which says, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant of all, that I might win the more.” I am free, YET I make myself a slave to all, that I might win more for Christ. That is the example set by Christ Himself. That is the example Paul was following. That is the example we are called to follow. It is in complete agreement with what is said in Philippians 2:5-8. “Let this mind be in you,” that is, follow Christ’s example. Christ was one with God (and we are one with Him), but He humbled Himself, did not consider His reputation, and made Himself a slave, obeying God.
“That’s fine for Paul preacher, but that’s not for me! That’s too radical! That’s legalistic! I have my liberty!” Yes you do…but do you love that liberty more than you love God or your brother in Christ? If your liberty is a stumbling block to a brother (or yourself) it is sin against Christ.
Conclusion:
I’ve said it before; sometimes the Word of God offends us. Is your liberty a stumbling block to someone else? Does what you say or do embolden someone else to sin or fall into idolatry? Is your liberty a stumbling block to you? Is what you think, say or do more important to you than God? What is it that you love this morning? Do your thoughts, actions, and words reveal that you love God more than anything or anyone else, or is there something else that you love more than Him?
My challenge to you this week is to READ Phil ippians2 everyday, and pray everyday that the Lord would reveal any areas that you have not yielded to Him, where you have not humbled yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment