Sermon – “Self-Denial for the Good of Others”

Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord? 2 Even if others think I am not an apos-tle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle. 3 This is my answer to those who question my authority. 4 Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals? 5 Don’t we have the right to bring a believing wife with us as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do, and as Peter does? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves? 7 What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? 8 Am I expressing merely a human opinion, or does the law say the same thing? 9 For the law of Moses says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” Was God thinking only about oxen when he said this? 10 Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was written for us, so that the one who plows and the one who threshes the grain might both expect a share of the harvest. 11 Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink? 12 If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be sup-ported? But we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ.

19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ig-nore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. 22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do every-thing to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I disci-pline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office.’ 21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scrip-tures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hun-dred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

This morning I titled my message self-denial for the good of others are we willing to deny yourself to deny our conference to die deny the things that we hold dear for the good of others. So I hope that we are willing to do that let’s begin with the word of prayer this morning because as I work through this I probably do sometimes do some preaching on the way through so let’s go ahead and pray for the God we thank you and praise you we thank you for your son that walked upon this earth and lived the completely sinless life completely and we thank you that he was willing to suffer and die on our behalf that we can have life that we can have life now that we have the hope of eternal life when Jesus returns and sets up His Kingdom we thank you that we have that hope when we believe in your Son Jesus Christ that wonderful Lamb of God Father I just thank you for the love that you’ve given each of us that you show each of us thank you for the love that’s in this church and for the love for all those that are listening and watching and father I just pray that your spirit will be in this place this morning I pray that you would open our hearts and our minds to receive what you have forced fathered by the God that we would grow in our faith in our understanding it but we would use it for your glory and for your honor in Jesus precious name we pray Amen were to begin with 1st Corinthians Chapter 9 versus one through 12 and then skip down the verses 1000 through 27 we are going to be reading from the New Living Translation this morning. I generally try to send my information Rozanne in the middle of the week but I was a little bit late and then after 7 or yesterday evening and realize I forgot to tell her this is a New Living Translation and I called her just in the nick of time so hear the word of the Lord this morning. Am I not as free as anyone else am I not an apostle Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes isn’t it because of my work that you be long to the Lord so Paul’s saying is it not because that I brought the gospel message to you that you belong to the Lord speaking to the Corinthians church again he says even if others think I am not an apostle I certainly am to you you yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s Apostle this is my answer to those who question my authority don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals don’t we have the right to bring Christian wise with us as other disciples in the Lord’s brothers do and as does Peter or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves what soldier has to pay his own expenses think about that for a moment I pause could you imagine you’re a young man or young woman you’re going to go down you’re going to see the army recruiter you go in their new sit down and he says how going to help wad like to enlist Well you’re going to have to go out there and raise some money because you’re going to have to pay your own way you know you’re going to have to raise a 1000 dollars a month so we can afford to feed you while you’re in here all by the way you got to buy your own weapons could you imagine that ridiculous right. What soldiers are going to pay is our way while I can tell you some soldiers that pay the room way soldiers of the cross how many missionaries go out they raise their own funds to buy the room plane tickets to support themselves where they’re also to raise funds to help build projects if they’re going to building project so my friends missionaries of the cross soldiers of the cross often times do pay the room way home Barnabas paid the room way he continues what farmer plants a vineyard in does the doesn’t have the right to eat some of his fruit what Shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk in my expressing merely a human opinion or does the law say the same thing for the Law Moses says you must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as a treads out the grain was God thinking only about oxen when he said this wasn’t he actually speaking to us yes it was written for us so that the one who plows and the one who threatens the grain might both expect and share of the harvest since we have planted spiritual seed of money you are we entitled a harvest of the physical food and drink to Paul saying we are the ones that brought the message to you we planted the seed of Christ should not we be entitled to share in some of your food to stay in your homes says if you support others who preach to you shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported but we have never used this right we would rather put up with anything then be an obstacle to the good news about Christ Paul was a tent maker. So wherever Paul went he would work in his occupation of making tents the be able to sell them to be able to support in self he did not want to be a burden on these young new churches that he had planted he didn’t want to burden them in any way he didn’t want to be a hindrance to them his goal was to share Christ and grow the church in support himself continue with verse 21000 even though I am a free man with no master I had become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ when I was with the Jews I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ when I was with those who follow the Jewish law I lived under that law even though I am not subject to the law I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law when I am with the gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law I to live apart from the law so I can bring them to Christ but I do not ignore the law of God I obey the law of Christ when I am with those who are weak I share their weakness for I want to bring the weak to Christ yes I try to find common ground with everyone doing everything I can to save some I do everything to spread the good news and share in its blessings Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs but only one person gets the prize so run to win all athletes are disciplined in their training they do it to win a prize that will fade away but we do it for an eternal prize so I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing I discipline my body like an athlete training to training it to do what it should otherwise I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified May God that is blessings to the here and in the reading of His Holy Word you know how does an athlete train they train your body you know and it depends on what type of athletics they participate in they train their bodies differently you know you look at football they’ve got to train and build and create sets muscle in their body to take the brutal punishment that they take out there in the field but you take a long distance runner they’re going to train they don’t need all those big giant bulky muscles like in football players to try to run 26 miles do that they train differently they train for a long in durance But Paul I don’t think it’s yes I think Paul 2 had to train his physical body for some things because he endured much with the the rigors of the travel but I believe also he’s trained his body to is to resist the temptations the temptations that may come along the way it’s more than just the physical but it’s the physical emotional mental train or bodies to resist the temptations that the devil is going to throw at us Paul trained himself he began this passage by defending his apostleship that he is truly an apostle he shouldn’t have had to defend that right but he is that’s what he’s doing here defending that he is truly an apostle of Jesus Christ he says a man not an apostle Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord even if others think that I am not an apostle I certainly am to you he’s speaking to the church at Corinth. He’s asking them these questions so what does that tell me it tells you that there are some within the church that are trying to create division they’re trying to stir things up they’re trying to divide split and divide my friends who is it the tries to destroy the church say from the beginning this is the 1st century church from the very beginning he Satan has been trying to divide and destroy the Christian church we can see it in Paul’s teaching you know I don’t know if everyone read the newspaper last Sunday but I seen an article I didn’t see it too like Monday or Tuesday and last Sunday’s paper there’s an article in there so I mean I’m not talking about another denomination if you read the paper you would have seen it there is this ongoing battle in the Methodist a nomination about whether homosexuals should be ordained and put in the puppets this has been raging for 30 years I’m not saying I’m saying or speak in anything about it so as I read this article they they have given titles to the 2 different sides there is one group within the methods denomination that say we need to stick to the doctrine that it hears to the Bible the say that says that homosexuality does not line up with the with the Word of God that those that are openly gay should not be ordained put in the pope it’s they are calling those an issue if you read that article you can see that the the person who wrote the article leans towards the other side because they call them the traditionalist that’s what they’ve tagged those who stand on the Word of God They call them traditionalist and they call the mean spirited. So the other side that says that we should allow openly gay pastors into the pulpit or teachers or whatever they call them the inclusiveness the rule are the ones that are inclusive to mean they should include all so they’re saying the others are mean because they won’t include everybody isn’t it something how the devil takes words and makes the good guys sound like the bad guys and the bad guys sound to good guys they’re trying to divide in New York away read that there’s a church in Texas it’s a huge church I think it has like 20000 members with their own the all inclusive side that we should accept everybody into the church we should allow and we should accept that everybody into the church but you’re saying we should allow anybody behind the Paul but we should adore and ordain anybody we sure are doing gays we should ordain lesbians we should ordain transgender which according anybodies what they’re saying so this big mega church down there said that they are going to withhold their money from the conference for like a month or 2 so that they can see what it feels like when their money is not received by the conference so you know if they say that this is the way it should be that it’s OK That’s the way God made me so we’re talking about this of a Sabbath school not on how they’re going and my message so that’s the way God made me and he loves me I shouldn’t have to repent now I wonder how that church would feel if I would fly down to Dallas the next Sunday morning walk in there in a soon as I get done taken up the offering walk up or just discard walk up front and start stuff and all that offering in the my pockets in the past it would have gone well I’m a thief but I believe in Jesus all loving I’m a thief and he may still loves me but it’s OK right be OK in Dallas they probably shoot me now. But how do you think they would receive that. Well I’m sorry Pastor I shouldn’t have to repent because I was a thief whenever I believed on Jesus and it must be OK now I don’t think they’d receive that my friends is the side to say that we should be all inclusive has no place for repentance What did Jesus tell the woman that was caught in adultery go and sin no more he says word jerk users go where they’ve all left he says Neither do I condemn you but go and sin no more so what’s a mean we’re not going to continue to walk in that lifestyle Yes he does love them but he wants them all to walk according to his word do not walk in the things that he says is wrong we were talking about a $45.00 turned to be a group drunk I need to turn from that we’re not just going to pick on one because it’s easy God said it no don’t go don’t enter in if they’re walking in practice in that So if I’m a drop it’s because I’m Mohsin I’m not going to enter into heaven the bomb in the daughter because of Masin that I’m not going to enter enter into heaven if I don’t repent of it Satan’s out to destroy to divide with Paul’s question in mind let’s get back to an apostle exactly what is an apostle What are the qualifications that makes one an apostle of Jesus Christ there are those out there that proclaim that there are no apostles today there can’t be any possible because they say that an apostle had to see Jesus Christ in the flesh so there’s no on that today that’s a teaching to some. We’re going to look at this you know you can take one passage often and make it fit we’re kind of talking about that tunes out of school make it that your way of thinking but how does the rest of the scripture line up with it so we’re going to look at some 1st how does. Strong’s or the Greek lexicon define apostle to brick lexicon says an apostle is a delegate a messenger one sent forth with orders it specially applied to the 12 the 12 apostles who cry selected out of the multitude visited at hearers to be as constant companions and heralds to proclaim to men the kingdom of God Strong’s Concordance is very similar it says it is comes from the word a pasta Lo means a delegate especially an ambassador for the Gospel officially a commissioner of Christ he that is sent he that is sent So let’s look at the scripture where they replaced Judas in Acts chapter one verse is 822 now this man speaking of Judas purchased a field with the wages of iniquity and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out and it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem so that field is called in their own language a keel Dhamma that is Field of Blood for it is written in the book of Psalms It’s amazing to me that this was written songs let his dwelling place be desolate and that no one live in it and let another take his office David spoke this in songs therefore this is Peter speaking therefore of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning from the baptism of John to that to that day that he was taken up from us one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection so this passage does kind of lean toward Well it has to be one the scene Christ he said it had to be one that was with him the whole time from the baptism till he was taken up what does Paul say in Corinthians 1st Corinthians 15. Verses 3 through 10 says for delivered to you 1st of all that which I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture that he was buried that he rose again the 3rd day according to the Scriptures and that he was seen by C.P.S. then by the 12 after that he was seen by over $500.00 brother and at once of whom the greater part remained to the present but some have fallen asleep and after that he was seen by James then by all the Apostles then last of all he was seen by me also as one born out of due time for I and the least of the Apostles who were not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God but by the grace of God I am what I am again Paul seems to be placed in the lot of emphasis on those who have seen the Lord but you know Paul himself does not actually meet all the criteria that Peter placed on be an apostle did know because Paul was not with them from the time of John’s baptism until the time he was resurrected Waze because Paul at that time Paul was persecuting the church so Paul does not meet all the criteria that Peter laid out so as any of the is there any that would say that Paul was an apostle now I believe Paul was a possible very great apostle the 1st 12 apostles absolutely were very unique among all of the Apostles and that they were privileged and blessed to be able to go in and out with him and be with Him entire time that he minister here on the earth the entire time from the baptism until the day he was taken up in the clouds they were very unique in that aspect they witnessed all of his teaching had their private time with him but like I said Paul didn’t need all that but I truly believe he is a true apostle. So this is one of those areas if you want to debate it you could find some scripture here scripture there to my back what your opinion is so is there Apostles today if we look at the not the strict the sense of it it’s those that are sent those that are sent to I believe that Jesus can speak to some today to the Holy Spirit and send them absolutely absolutely so they may not be one of the original 12 obviously but I believe they can still be an apostle if Asians for 11 through 13 says and he himself speaking of Christ gave some to be apostles some prophets some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints and for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ so we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ I think the main thing the main thing is brought out here in emphasis in. So the main Evans’s is I don’t care what kind of leader he has called you to be the main thing is that we do it for the right purpose that it is for the equipping of the Saints it is for the preparing of the ministry to continue that’s what it should be done for for the edifying of the Body of Christ I think the last part of our passage in 1st Corinthians 9 reveals in my mind what it what it truly takes to be a faithful minister of the Lord Jesus Christ I don’t care what title you give it I don’t care if you want to call it an call mama calls an apostle would a deacon a preacher or an evangelist whatever I don’t I’m not really that can win titles really I’m really not just live the life do what were called to do. You know it was Wednesday night by will study kind of talk and it seems the church today the church as a whole does a lot of talking we need to do a lot more doing we need to be more active I want to reread the last part in chapter 9 for even though I am a free man with no master I have become a slave to all people emphasis to bring many to Christ that’s the key when I was with the Jews I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ when I was with those who follow the Jewish law I had to lived under the law even though I am not subject to the law he knew he had the liberty but I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law when I was with the gentiles who do not follow the law the Jewish law I had to live apart from the low so I can bring them to Christ but I do not ignore the law of God I obey the law of Christ when I am with those who are weak I share in their weakness for I want to bring the weak to Christ yes I try to find common ground with everyone doing everything I can to save some I do everything to spread the good news and share in its blessings Paul saying he is a free man we say and I am a free man and I am no man no man is my master he is not meaning that Jesus Christ is not his master he is meaning that there is no man will put on this earth that is his master that only Jesus Christ is his master he had every right to receive that financial support from that church in Corinth but he supported himself so he would not be a slave to anyone in that church you better believe that there are many pastors over the years over the centuries. That would soften up the message so they wouldn’t offend someone in the church because that was a big giver in my church man if I found that when he leaves I might get a cut in my wages I might not enjoy all these pleasures and the good things that I enjoy Paul was not beholden to any man only to Christ he preached the true Gospel the unadulterated truth of the Word of God The apostle Paul was driven by one thing and one thing only to do everything in his power and his ability to bring people to Jesus Christ when he was with those who strictly follow the law he followed the law if he was with those that said we don’t eat pork chops and sausage and we don’t eat shrimp and we don’t need that stuff guess what he didn’t need it either because he didn’t want to set down the table and then be offended and say look what he’s eaten How does he have it freedom but if they were with those that man they had done sells an Italian sausage sandwich guess what he had one too because he didn’t want them to say well maybe we shouldn’t beaten us remember what we learned in Chapter 8 food does not commend us to God brothers and sisters it’s not what goes in is what comes out as I said before we might be a little less healthy if we’d some of the things that God said we shouldn’t be should be. But it’s not going to commend us to God He’s among the week the week he’s among the strong he was strong he was among those who were mourning he’d mourn with them and when he said that he was not without the law toward God It means he did not sin he did not sin he did not say I was among the sexually immoral I was sexually immoral also now he didn’t say I became a drunk so I could minister to the drunkard not those things but the things that are important to salvation. Things that we you know if he want to sit down and eat meat that was offered tonight we talked about that a couple weeks ago he had a freedom to aid but if he was among those that was afraid he didn’t eat it all to share Christ the nice self for the sake of others that’s what Paul did deny his freedoms these are the not his liberties for the sake of the gospel are we willing that’s what we can and should do now it’s what can and should happen we have an account with Jesus Christ Paul had an encounter with Jesus Christ and we have an encounter with Christ we should do everything in our power to witness the good news to deny self I found a little story called The Knot self-denial and the author is unknown says I had walked life’s path with an easy tread had followed where comfort and pleasure led. And then by chance in a quiet place I met my fat my master face to face with station and rank and wealth for gold much thought for a body but none for soul I had entered to win this life life’s mad race when I met my master face to face I had built my castles reared them high till their towers had pierced the blue sky I had soon to rule with an iron mace when I met my faster face to face I met him and knew him and blushed to see that his eyes full of sorrow were fixed on me and I faltered and fell at his feet that day while my castles vanished and melted away melted in vanished and in their place I saw not elles but my master’s face and I cried aloud Oh make me meet to follow the marks of the wounded feet my thought is now for the souls of men I have lost my life to find it again ever since alone on that holy place my master and I stood face to face he can melt away all the things of the world that our hearts long for and we have an encounter with Jesus or are we willing to deny self for the good of others are we willing to come out of our comfort zones for the good of the Souls of others you know it may mean being around people that are a lot different than us it might mean being around people whose color of their skin is different than ours it might mean being around people who have tattoos all over their body it might mean being around people with real long good dirty hair or people with no hair I don’t know it might mean being around people grasshoppers I don’t care what they eat it might mean they smell bad I don’t know but are we willing to come out of our comfort zone and be around anybody and everybody for the sake of the Gospel Jesus Christ. To share the good news that they can share in the blessings of Christ that was Paul’s purpose let us come out of our comfort zones I found a another article about how people love their comfort it was called escalators anyone the following information was taken from registration sheets and comment cards returned to the staff of bride or wilderness area in Wyoming in 1906 the 1st comment the trails need the waters of people can walk and hold hands Number 2 trails need to be reconstructed please avoiding trails that go up hill it’s too strenuous number 3 too many bugs and leaches and spiders and spot spider webs please spray the wilderness to rid the area of these pests please pave the trails so they can be plowed in the winter so there will be no snow chairlifts need to be in some places so that we can get a wonderful view without having to strenuously hike up that hill number 6 the coyote’s made so much noise last only last night I lost sleep can you please eradicate the wilderness of these annoying animals a small deer came into my camp and stole my juror Pickles is there any way I can be reimbursed reflectors need to be placed on trees every 50 feet so people can hike at night with flashlights escalators would be helpful in the steep sections the McDonald’s would be good at the trailhead Could you please install one of those the places where trails do not exist are really not well marked too many rocks in the mountains you know I wonder what kind of comments we get if we had comment cards in the back of the church the peers are too hard the back of the pews are too straight the sermons too long sermons too short I don’t like that kind of music you guys saying can we change the music. I don’t like the ARA the service I have to get up I really could use my sleep I mean come on we could go on and on a norm we need to come out of our comfort zones we need to come out of it for the good of others for the Souls of others we need to run with purpose as Paul said every step every step he took was for one purpose only the gospel of Jesus Christ to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to those who did not know. Friends that needs to be the church’s purpose today it needs to be our purpose winning others to Christ are we willing to deny yourself it may mean gone to Bangladesh she knew I was going to say that I don’t know what they ate over there I’m scared to find out but we might but we might I remember many years ago at Holy Cross the Methodist Church. One gentleman got and sang a song please don’t send me to Africa. But God might call us to Africa he might call you to Africa he might call you to Bangladesh he might call you to South America I don’t know he might call you to go down to that area in your community to try to avoid where they are different than we are a different community different they look different they smell different he might call us to go there are we willing to deny ourselves and step out of that comfort zone that we do hey we like our comforts don’t we we like the familiar I’d say that is a human nature I don’t care if we’re talking about the church or anywhere human nature is we don’t like change we like comfort and we like you know we like our own little world don’t change are we willing to step out of it we might be put on a ship like Paul was shipwrecked we might be beaten for a 2nd the gospel. It still happens today we might be persecuted greatly but are we willing to take that step make every step be with purpose the purpose of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ I pray that God will strengthen us encourage us and I pray that we would be willing to have the boldness and the courage to say Yes Lord yes Lord Amen.