1 Corinthians 9 “Run to Win the Prize” | Andrew Gutierrez
December 11, 2022 Speaker: Andrew Gutierrez Series: Q & A With an Apostle
Passage: 1 Corinthians 9:1–27
1 1 Corinthians 9. Those of you who are visiting us,
2 welcome. We have a general pattern to go verse by verse
3 through books of the Bible, and we are going through the
4 book of 1st Corinthians now, and today we come to a new
5 chapter, and we will go through, Lord willing, through
6 the whole chapter this morning, and I think you will see
7 why I have chosen to go through the whole chapter
8 instead of breaking it up. I've entitled this message
9 "Run to Win the Prize." Let's read 1 Corinthians 9 all
10 the way through to the end, verse 27.
11 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I
12 not seen Jesus, our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in
13 the Lord? If to others I'm not an apostle, at least I
14 am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the
15 Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me.
16 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not
17 have the right to take along a believing wife, as to the
18 other apostles and the brothers of our Lord and Cephas;
19 or is it only Barnabas and I that have no right to
20 refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a
21 soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard
22 without eating any of its fruit, or who tends a flock
23 without getting some of the milk?
24 Do I say these things on human authority? Does
25 not the law say the same? For it's written in the law
1
1 of Moses you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out
2 the grain. Is it for oxen that the Lord is concerned?
3 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was
4 written for our sake because the plowman should plow in
5 hope and the thresher should thresh in hope in sharing
6 in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among
7 you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
8 If others share this rightful claim on you, do we not
9 even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this
10 right, but we endure anything rather than put an
11 obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
12 Do you not know that those who are employed in
13 the temple service get their food from the temple and
14 those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial
15 offerings? In the same way the Lord commanded those who
16 proclaimed the gospel to get their living by the gospel,
17 but I have made no use of these rights, nor am I writing
18 these things to secure any such provision. For I would
19 rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for
20 boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I
21 do not preach the gospel, for if I do this of my own
22 will I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am
23 still entrusted with the stewardship. What then is my
24 reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel
25 free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in
2
1 the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made
2 myself a servant to all that I win more of them. To the
3 Jews I became a Jew in order to win Jews. To those
4 under the law I became as one under the law, though not
5 myself being under the law that I might win those not
6 under that law. Outside the law I became as one outside
7 the law not being outside the law of God but the law of
8 Christ, that I might win those outside the law. To the
9 weak I became as the weak that I might win the weak. I
10 become all things to all people that by all means I
11 might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel
12 that I may share with them in its blessings.
13 Do you not know that in a race all the runners
14 run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you
15 may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in
16 all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath
17 but we an imperishable.
18 I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one
19 beating the air. I discipline my body and keep it under
20 control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should
21 be disqualified. Again, the title, "Run to Win the
22 Prize."
23 Many of you know that we were in Cambridge for
24 a season this summer on sabbatical. I was doing some
25 studying there. The church that we went to there when
3
1 we were there was a great encouragement to us. It was
2 called Eden Baptist Church. It didn't have the same
3 length of history as some of the other faithful churches
4 in Cambridge had. It wasn't around as long as Saint
5 Andrew's or Holy Trinity or Cambridge Presbyterian, but
6 it's been a great church in the city of Cambridge for a
7 long time. A number of university students in Cambridge
8 University have been saved through the ministry of the
9 people at Eden Baptist Church.
10 Before we went to Cambridge, before we went to
11 Eden Baptist, I was talking to a British friend who
12 studied at Cambridge and became a Christian actually at
13 Cambridge. He said, Oh, you are going to go to Eden
14 Baptist? He said, that is a pastor's dream church, like
15 that would be the dream job for a pastor he was saying.
16 Now, it helped that he was British. That's where he was
17 from. Of course he thought it was a dream church. I
18 say the same thing about you by the way to all my
19 friends. But he said that's a dream church. Such a
20 gospel-focused group of people, great leadership, and
21 they just been so much for a long time at Eden Baptist,
22 so we went and we were greatly encouraged by the
23 ministry there at Eden Baptist.
24 Pastor's in his mid fifties, so he's got some
25 gas left in the tank, and before we got there, we
4
1 learned that he was actually going to be leaving the
2 church. Now, why would Julian Hardyman leave Eden
3 Baptist Church? Do you want to know why Julian would
4 leave a dream church? Well, you will have to wait
5 because I'm going to tell you at the end of the sermon,
6 but it relates to this passage; it relates to this
7 passage.
8 This passage is the Apostle Paul saying follow
9 my example; I am giving up my rights; you, Chapter 8,
10 are trying to hold onto your rights. You become a
11 Christian. You know that an idol is nothing. You know
12 that eating meat sacrificed to idol in an idol's temple
13 is nothing. You are not worshipping an idol. You know
14 you serve the one true and living God, but you still
15 want to go eat in those temples, and that troubles the
16 conscience of your fellow brothers and sisters who were
17 saved out of that environment.
18 Well, maybe if he or she is eating there, maybe
19 it's not so bad if you troubled their conscience. So
20 Paul is saying in Chapter 8 like we looked at last week
21 you can make decisions on what you should do based on
22 the consciousness of other people around you. Are you
23 leading them into sin? Are you leading them to stumble?
24 If you are sinning against them, you are sinning against
25 Christ, he says, in Chapter 8.
5
1 And then Chapter 9 is one long chapter about
2 Paul's example of how he lives with an others-centered
3 mindset, and that's what Chapter 9 is.
4 So Chapter 8, Hey, what are you doing? You
5 shouldn't be living this way. Chapter 9, consider how
6 I'm living, and then at end of Chapter 9 -- which is why
7 I'm doing the whole chapter at once -- at the end of
8 Chapter 9 the final verses, specifically that final
9 paragraph, verses 24 to 27, he calls on the Corinthians
10 to follow his example of living for the sake of others
11 in this life, so "Run to Win the Prize," and as I have
12 told you, most of the chapter, verses 1 to 23, are Paul
13 giving us his example. And then the final verses are
14 him giving us an exhortation to live in a similar way.
15 So for this morning, two points: A lesson in
16 running to win. First, we are going to see the example.
17 Paul's other-centeredness in the race of life, and then
18 again at the end -- I will give you this heading again
19 at the end -- the exhortation of our others-centeredness
20 in the race of life.
21 First, let's look at example verses 1 to 23,
22 Paul's other-centeredness in the race of life, so he's
23 going to show, as I told you, all the ways that he gave
24 up his rights and privileges for the sake of other
25 people.
6
1 Verse 1: Am I not free? Am I not an apostle?
2 Have I not seen Jesus our Lord which is what qualified
3 you to be an apostle -- one of the things, you have seen
4 Jesus the Lord. Paul saw him. See Acts 9 for that.
5 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I
6 not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my workmanship in
7 the Lord?
8 So this apostle specifically was called to
9 Corinth and worked among them, and they were saved
10 because he brought the gospel to them. They were his
11 workmanship. He was one of their apostles.
12 If to others I'm not an apostle so he hasn't
13 gone everywhere; there are other apostles -- other
14 apostles went other places -- at least I am to you, for
15 you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. You are
16 the proof of my apostleship, my seal, my official
17 declaration that I'm an apostle. Something happened to
18 you because God sent me, the apostle, to you. You are
19 the proof that I am an apostle.
20 Verse 3: This is my defense to those who would
21 examine me: Do we not have the right to eat and drink?
22 Now, something to know about apostles, they were
23 sent by God himself to go and preach the gospel to
24 people that needed the gospel, which was the whole world
25 at this time. So they start going out and preaching the
7
1 gospel. It was understood that they would get their
2 income, their support, by those that they were
3 benefitting, those they were serving. That was God's
4 plan.
5 So they had certain rights as apostles. They
6 had a right to eat and drink on someone else's dime.
7 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do
8 we not have the right to take along a believing wife, to
9 take along in their apostolic work take a believing
10 wife?
11 So Peter would travel with his wife to places
12 and preach the gospel. Paul's saying, Don't I have the
13 same right? Now, Paul wasn't married, but Paul's saying
14 if I was married, don't I have the right to bring along
15 my wife and to be supported financially as we are
16 seeking to help people spiritually? These are all
17 rhetorical questions. The answer being, of course we
18 have that right. Of course we should pay you. Of
19 course you should get supported by the people that you
20 serve.
21 He continues: Or, verse 6, is it only Barnabas
22 and I who have no right to refrain from working for a
23 living? Is it just us that aren't supposed to receive
24 support? And then he gives three examples of the
25 obvious nature of work and then receiving support from
8
1 that work.
2 Verse 7: Who serves as a soldier at his own
3 expense? When you go and serve in the military, you
4 know -- as are you training you go to the cafeteria or
5 the mess hall, whatever you people call it that serve in
6 the military -- thank you, by the way -- when you go
7 into the mess hall they don't say, "Okay. That would be
8 5.50." No. There's certain provisions given to you.
9 So it's obvious that you don't serve at your
10 own expense. You are there to help people, so you
11 should be cared for and supported. Who plants a
12 vineyard without eating of its fruit? You get to
13 benefit from the work that you are doing. Or who tends
14 a flock without getting some of the milk? These are all
15 just obvious things. Paul is using normal reason to
16 kind of make his case. And then he pulls out the big
17 guns. He uses the Bible to make his case.
18 Verse 8: Do I say these things on human
19 authority? Is it just because I have provided some word
20 pictures for you that make sense? Doesn't the law say
21 the same? This is Paul's way of saying, Open your
22 Bible. I will make my final point. Does not the law
23 say it's the same? For it's written in the law of
24 Moses, specifically, Deuteronomy 24:4: You should not
25 muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain. So when an
9
1 ox is doing the work, you let him eat the grain. Don't
2 muzzle the ox. Now he is citing Deuteronomy 25 which
3 talks about providing for people, providing for oxen
4 even. Providing for one's need; that's Deuteronomy 25.
5 So Paul's using the Bible as an example to say,
6 Listen, if God says that there he's concerned about
7 certain people, even animals who are doing work, certain
8 people who were in need, and we are the ones serving
9 you, and serving people the gospel, shouldn't we benefit
10 from that by having our needs being provided for? The
11 answer is yes, he should benefit from that.
12 But then he says something about Deuteronomy
13 25. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Did God
14 write that just because he's so concerned about oxen?
15 Well, we know God would be, but it's bigger than that.
16 Verse 10: Does he not certainly speak for our
17 sake? It was written for our sake because the plowman
18 should plow in the hope and the thresher thresh in hope
19 of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual
20 things among you, is is too much if we reap material
21 things from you? If others, other apostles, share this
22 rightful claim on you, don't we even more? I mean, I
23 was your apostle. If others have been helped by you and
24 they didn't even do all the work that I did -- see 1
25 Corinthians 15 for that information -- shouldn't I be
10
1 able to and Barnabas be able to be cared for you
2 financially? Again, the answer being of course.
3 We literally bought a new microphone this week,
4 and they tested it out for 20 minutes this morning, but
5 we will press on. Okay? Hang in there. Be mentally
6 strong. You can do it. We are in this together.
7 The middle of verse 12, Paul's been laying out
8 his argument, right? Nevertheless, we have not made use
9 of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an
10 obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Paul
11 thought it could be an obstacle if I'm receiving money
12 from you. I have the right to do it. Biblically I have
13 the right to do it, but I have chosen not to. I don't
14 want to put an obstacle in your way.
15 It's as if someone was maybe meeting with a
16 non-Christian and reading the Bible with them. Maybe
17 you are at Starbucks or your living room or whatever,
18 and you are trying to teach them the Bible, explain them
19 the gospel, and say, I want you to have life
20 forevermore, and the Bible points to the way to have
21 that life through Jesus Christ who came to die for your
22 sins, rose again to give you life; you simply must
23 repent of your sins, acknowledge your sins before a holy
24 God and believe in him, and you will have life in his
25 name. That's what the gospel of John says. Do that.
11
1 Please do that. I want you to know Christ. You do all
2 that as you are reading the Bible at Starbucks with them
3 and then at the end when you are packing up your Bible
4 you say, Now that will be $20. That might cause them to
5 go wait, wait, what? Why exactly are you doing this?
6 So Paul's saying, I don't want there to be any
7 obstacle, and he prided himself -- not in a sinful way
8 -- prided himself -- it was his great joy -- to present
9 the gospel free of charge, and he had the right to
10 receive the income, because he was doing the work, but
11 he wouldn't do it. So he's telling the Corinthians, I
12 have set aside that right.
13 Now remember the context of all of this Chapter
14 8, stop making all of your decisions in the Christian
15 life, when you -- just thinking about your own rights
16 and privileges. Consider other people.
17 So Paul's using himself as an example here:
18 Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we
19 endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way
20 of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who
21 are employed in the temple service get their food from
22 the temple? Again, that's a Biblical reality. And
23 those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial
24 offerings. In the same way that the Lord commanded that
25 those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by
12
1 the gospel. He said the Lord commanded that, and he is
2 saying, I'm freely giving that up. I could make use of
3 it and it would not be a problem at all, but I am giving
4 it up. I am laying it aside.
5 Verse 15: But I have made no use of any of
6 these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure
7 any provision. I'm not just saying all this and then
8 saying, Okay. Now I'm going to start collecting, which
9 you have the right to do. That's not why he's writing.
10 I'm not writing these things to secure any provision
11 from you. I would rather die, and he interrupts his
12 thought and says, And no one can deprive me of my ground
13 for boasting. I would rather die than trip you up and
14 for you to think I am just in this for the money. I
15 don't want anyone to deprive me of my ground for being
16 thrilled about what I get to do. I get to offer the
17 gospel, and I would do this free of charge and I am
18 doing it free of charge. I am so thrilled to offer the
19 gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying.
20 Maybe you have heard someone say this about
21 their job: "I love this job; I would do it for free."
22 That's kind of what Paul is saying here. I would do
23 this for free. I am doing it for free. I'm working to
24 pay my own way. He doesn't have to, but he is.
25 For if I preach -- verse 16 -- if I preach the
13
1 gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. I don't
2 necessarily just find this great commendation because I
3 am just preaching the gospel. After all, for necessity
4 is laid upon me, I'm supposed to preach the gospel.
5 Now, we know that Paul is supposed to preach
6 the gospel. Someone called him to preach the gospel,
7 and who was that that? God, Christ. In Acts 9 he told
8 him, You are going to go and proclaim my name.
9 So Paul's saying, I have to preach the gospel.
10 Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel, for if I do
11 this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my
12 own will, I am still entrusted with the stewardship.
13 What, then, is my reward? Here's what I take joy in.
14 Here's what motivates me, Paul says, that in my
15 preaching -- that in preaching the gospel -- I may
16 present the gospel free of charge so as not to make full
17 use of my right in the gospel. So he has no grounds of
18 boasting just because he preaches the gospel. After all
19 he's supposed to, he has to; woe be to him if he
20 doesn't, but he also wants to preach the gospel and
21 wants to preach it free of charge. He wants to offer it
22 freely.
23 So in summary, Paul's boast or what invigorates
24 him is that he preaches the gospel freely. His passion
25 is that he wants to preach the gospel and doesn't want
14
1 anyone to think that there are any strings attached.
2 I am actually going to take my jacket off
3 because I think that could be part of the problem. Okay?
4 All right. Now, Paul as a Christian as a
5 Christian servant preached the gospel freely so that he
6 would show this is not about what I can get from it; I
7 don't want to be a stumbling block to you; I'm doing
8 this so that you would see that I'm just here to serve
9 you; that's what I take joy in; I'm not holding onto my
10 rights; I don't want you to hold onto your rights as you
11 think about your own Christian life. Live for the sake
12 of other people.
13 Verse 19: For though I am free from all, I
14 have made myself a servant to all so that I might win
15 more of them.
16 So he's talking about how he's giving up
17 certain things he is able to do to win people. So he
18 kind of shifts from financial provision to now how he
19 lives among the Jews as he's trying to preach the gospel
20 to Jews, how he's going to live among the weak as he
21 tries to preach the gospel to those who are weak; as he
22 lives among those outside the law -- maybe the Gentiles
23 he's referring to -- when he's trying to win them to
24 Christ.
25 Again, for though I am free from all -- I have
15
1 made myself a servant to all -- I have come not to say
2 this is my right; I can do whatever I want. No. I came
3 to give up certain rights so that I could serve people
4 to win more of them. That's the purpose, to win people.
5 Verse 20: To the Jews I became as a Jew in
6 order to win the Jews. To those under the law I became
7 as one under the law, so not being myself under the law
8 that I might win those under the law. What's he talking
9 about here?
10 Remember, the Jews thought of themselves as
11 still being under all of the Old Testament law, so they
12 were still doing sacrifices at this time, and Paul knows
13 the sacrifices all pointed to Christ; he's the final
14 sacrifice. Paul knows he didn't need to offer
15 sacrifices anymore, but the Jews still would. So what
16 would Paul do when he was with Jews when he was trying
17 to evangelize Jews? He would offer sacrifices. He
18 would go to the temple with them to do that. Did he
19 have to? No, but he did as a way of serving them. He
20 didn't want to put a stumbling block in the way of his
21 gospel message. Paul even had a young disciple named
22 Timothy who was not circumcised, but when Paul and
23 Timothy were going to go and preach the gospel to Jews,
24 at some point Paul probably had to have an uncomfortable
25 conversation with Timothy.
16
1 So, Timothy, we're going to share the gospel
2 with the Jews and it could trip them up if you are not
3 circumcised, so, Timothy, I have laid aside my rights a
4 number of ways. It's time for you to lay aside some of
5 your rights.
6 And so Timothy -- and I believe Timothy
7 willingly was circumcised as well, but that's an example
8 of there not wanting to be anything in the way of your
9 proclamation of Christ. He doesn't want these people to
10 be stumbled in any way, and so he would be a servant to
11 the Jews. He would serve the Jews when he preached the
12 gospel to them.
13 Verse 21: To those outside the law I became as
14 one outside the law. Not being outside the law of God;
15 not saying he's not obeying the law of God in the
16 Scripture but under the law of Christ. So he's not
17 disobeying all of Moses's writings, all of Genesis
18 through Deuteronomy, but he's understanding there are
19 certain things he doesn't have to do anymore, again,
20 being a Christian, but he would live like the Gentiles
21 were living. He wouldn't force the Gentiles to be
22 circumcised, for example, like some of the Jews wanted
23 to do. He wouldn't say you've got -- in order to be a
24 Christian yes,, you have to have faith in Christ, and
25 you also need to do what the Jews have always done: You
17
1 need to be circumcised. He wouldn't do that. He was
2 outside the law in that way. He wasn't holding that
3 over the Gentiles' heads.
4 "That I might win those outside the law."
5 Again, that word win. He's wanting to win people.
6 Doesn't want to put a stumbling block in their way. He
7 wasn't telling the Gentiles when he would go preach the
8 gospel to them, for example, that they also have to
9 offer animal sacrifices. He didn't tell them that. So
10 he deals with the Jews one way and Gentiles another way,
11 and it's all for the sake of winning them. Again, no
12 obstacles in the way of his gospel presentation.
13 Verse 22: To the weak I became weak that I
14 might win the weak. Now, where have we heard the term
15 weak before? Chapter 8. Remember the strong
16 Corinthians, in their mind? They weren't really strong.
17 The ones who were knowledgeable, who prided themselves
18 on their knowledge? We know that these idols aren't
19 alive; we are not actually serving them when we eat in
20 the idols' temple; it's just good for business to keep
21 doing that; our family will ostracize us if we keep
22 eating in the idols' temple.
23 What about the weak brothers and sisters that
24 you are tempting? So he's already rebuked them for not
25 thinking of the weak. Here he now says to the weak, I
18
1 became weak so that I might win the weak.
2 Remember what he said at the end of Chapter 8?
3 Listen to these words: Therefore, if food makes my
4 brother stumble, I will never eat meat lest I make my
5 brother stumble. If they have got a problem with this
6 meat sacrificed to idols and my eating in the temple, I
7 won't do that anymore. Paul's looking out for the weak,
8 and, again, 1 Corinthians 9 isn't written so that you
9 just see Paul and how wonderful he is. He is. He lays
10 aside his right. He looks a lot like his lord who gave
11 up the glories of heaven to come to this earth and live
12 among the cursed.
13 This isn't written just so you say, "Wow. Paul
14 is amazing." We are getting to the final paragraph.
15 You live the same way. Chapter 8, you live this way.
16 And here's the principle, middle of verse 22: I have
17 become all things to all people that by all means I
18 might save some of them. So I live this way among the
19 Jews, I live this way among the Gentiles, I live this
20 way among the weak believers so that some of them would
21 be saved. Some of them are going to hear my gospel and
22 respond to this, and I don't want to put anything in
23 their way. I want to live in light of what could offend
24 them. I want to be careful not to compromise, not to
25 hurt the gospel presentation.
19
1 And we consider this, I mean, there are a
2 number of ways that this could apply to us. If you have
3 -- let's say you have got Korean neighbors that move in
4 near you, and you have prayed for a long time, Lord, let
5 me be a testimony of Christ in this neighborhood. Let
6 me see people come to Christ through the testimony that
7 we give in this neighborhood, and you have got some
8 Korean people that live nearby, so you strike up
9 conversations. And one day they invite you over to
10 their house, and there's you come to their house, and
11 you come to the front door, and there is a bunch of
12 shoes laying outside the door, and you think, Oh, no. I
13 am supposed to take my shoes off. When did I last
14 change my socks? And you are going through all of that.
15 Culturally them doing that is a lot because of hygiene
16 and other factors there. Some people do that because
17 they believe that the body is a spiritual being and that
18 the head is the most spiritual, and then as you get
19 lower like the feet, that's the least spiritual and so
20 that's a way of kind of keeping the house from that
21 bad-spirit kind of that was touching the ground, your
22 feet. Now, you know that's not true; as a Christian you
23 know that, but let's say your Korean neighbors don't
24 know that. They think that that's true. Here's what
25 Paul would do. He wouldn't say, no, no, no. I don't
20
1 need to take my shoes off. I am walking right in there
2 and I am eating that food. Some Christians are like
3 that. Paul's like, I will take off my shoes. I will do
4 that because there's something greater that I want to
5 talk to them about, and I don't want to put a stumbling
6 block in the way. And that's how Paul would live. So
7 he's not wanting to offend someone that he's going to
8 proclaim the gospel to.
9 Listen, the gospel is an offensive message.
10 You are in trouble with a holy God. You are born in
11 rebellion against a holy God, and we could actually --
12 if we looked at your life, we could point to all the
13 rebellion against God. But there's good news. God
14 loves to save sinners. So acknowledge your need for him
15 and acknowledge your rebellion toward him, and he will
16 save you. Now, that's a message different than the
17 world preaches. The world preaches, You are awesome all
18 the time; you are just wonderful; you are just the cat's
19 meow. That's what the world preaches. The Bible
20 doesn't say that. You are in trouble, but God is
21 merciful. You need Christ's righteousness. Now, that's
22 offensive because the world thinks I am good enough; I
23 am not Hitler; I'm not mean to other people like that
24 person is or that person. The world thinks they're
25 good.
21
1 So the gospel itself is offensive. Paul worked
2 hard to not be offensive himself as he proclaimed an
3 offensive gospel. The gospel doesn't need us to add
4 offenses to it. It's offensive itself at the beginning
5 of it, so don't be an offensive Christian as you are
6 going to proclaim a gospel that's sometimes hard to
7 swallow for people. So the gospel is offensive. Let it
8 be. It's truth. It saves people if they believe in it,
9 but don't put a stumbling block in their way. Don't be
10 that Christian that holds onto their rights all the
11 time. Serve people. Die to yourself. Consider what
12 might keep them from giving you an audience.
13 Now, people have abused this statement: "I
14 become all things to all people so that I might save
15 some." People have abused this and kind of participated
16 in sin for the sake of the gospel. Paul doesn't do
17 that. He doesn't do that. He doesn't say, Well, this
18 group of people, they do that sinful activity over there
19 so I am going to go do that, and while I am there I will
20 preach the gospel of Jesus to them. That's also not
21 saying I'm going to change the gospel message to try to
22 make it more palatable to them, so I'm going to be all
23 things to all people. That type of group of people,
24 they wouldn't want to hear about sin and unrighteousness
25 and even sexual sin. They're involved in that, they
22
1 wouldn't want to hear that, so I will just kind of sneak
2 in the gospel and make it sound like, Hey, do you want
3 to live a fulfilled life? Oh, yeah, I'm in. I'll do it
4 that way. Don't lie to them. Don't make up a different
5 gospel. So it's not us changing the gospel; it's not us
6 getting involved in sin with people for the sake of the
7 gospel; that's not what it means to be all things to all
8 people. It means that as you go to certain people, and
9 there could be something culturally that would trip them
10 up and not cause them to hear you, that you wouldn't do
11 that; you won't do that, no, no, no. I don't want to do
12 that. And it's not talking about change the gospel
13 message or compromising the gospel message, not at all.
14 Jesus was the greatest picture of this. He came to
15 serve. He would go and serve and he would go and be in
16 the house of sinners and tax collectors and not condone
17 what they were doing and then tell them things like, "Go
18 and sin no more," Don't do this, Stop sinning. He would
19 go to the woman at the well and accommodate himself to
20 her, and then he would say things and indicate that he
21 knew she was living wrongly and point that out to her.
22 So this isn't compromising the gospel message, but it is
23 being concerned that you don't put an unnecessary
24 stumbling block in front of the people that you are
25 seeking to bring Christ to.
23
1 And then verse 23, why does he live this way?
2 Why does he live with such a focus on other people? I
3 mean, in real life why would he work long and hard as a
4 tentmaker dealing with leather, which would smell and
5 was looked down upon? I mean, working with your hands
6 was looked down upon in first century Corinth. Why
7 would he go through all of that work being so exhausted
8 just to pay for his own meals? Why would he do all
9 that?
10 Verse 23 is the reason: I do it all for the
11 sake of the gospel so that I may share with them and its
12 blessings. This is a great picture. It's not just I do
13 it because I want to preach to them, but I also want to
14 enjoy the blessings of the gospel with them. I want to
15 be in heaven with them. I want to have renewed life
16 with them. I want to praise the Lord with them. They
17 are rebels against our lord. I want to preach the
18 gospel so they come to know our lord and we live as
19 brothers and sisters forever. I give up all of these
20 rights and privileges because I want that to happen. I
21 want to share the blessings with them.
22 So here's the example, 23 verses of Paul's
23 others-centeredness, and, again, as I have said before,
24 this reminds you a lot of someone, doesn't it?
25 Listen to this: Jesus came to the earth,
24
1 started healing people and started saying the kingdom of
2 God is here, and all the Jews were like, Yes, we are
3 going to beat Rome finally. Yes, we win politically,
4 and that's not what he's talking about. The kingdom of
5 God is here, and he was going to transfer people from
6 darkness to light, and his disciples started thinking
7 when the king comes, the friends with the king get all
8 of the benefits, and so they started arguing which one
9 is the greatest, which one is going to sit closest to
10 him in the kingdom, which one is going to be his
11 right-hand person, which one is going to get all the
12 accolades. So he would preach that he's going to die,
13 and they would argue which one of us is greatest. That
14 was a regular thing.
15 And so in Mark 10, you get an interaction
16 between James and John -- and they get their mother
17 involved -- which one is the greatest? Which one is
18 going to sit next to Jesus in the kingdom? We want you
19 to do it this way. Here's a request we have of you,
20 just focused on themselves, a lot like the Corinthians
21 were focused on themselves and what they could get out
22 of all of this.
23 Mark 10:42: Jesus called up to him. Hey,
24 guys, come here for a second. Jesus called to them and
25 said to them, You know that those who are considered
25
1 rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great
2 ones exercise authority over them. So worldly leaders
3 are the ones who try to benefit from those under their
4 care, right? Worldly leaders are the ones who use their
5 people for their own gain. Right? You guys have heard
6 that, right? That's what the world does.
7 Verse 43: It shall not be so among you.
8 Whoever would be great among you -- you guys want to be
9 great? Maybe he's looking right at James and John there
10 -- you guys want to be great? Whoever would be great
11 among you must be your servant, and whoever would be
12 first among you must be the slave of all. For even the
13 Son Of Man himself -- remember, I have told you a lot --
14 the Son Of Man in Mark, it's talked about victorious one
15 -- even the victorious Son Of Man came not to be served
16 but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So
17 the victorious one would ultimately die for those that
18 he was serving. The victorious conqueror would serve
19 people. He didn't come to reap all of the benefits
20 then. And he's telling his followers you do the same
21 thing.
22 And then shortly after the year -- shortly
23 after Jesus ascended to heaven he called into service a
24 man named Paul, who then started living this way when he
25 was converted. He started thinking of serving other
26
1 people not being served by them but serving them for the
2 sake of Christ. And then Paul tells everyday
3 Christians, which we are all -- he says, You live the
4 same way. This is the way we live. We live to serve
5 other people, not to stand in their way, not to lord it
6 over them, not to receive all the blessings and
7 benefits. We seek to serve them. This is why Paul did
8 this.
9 In a letter to the Galatians listen to these
10 words, so profound, Galatians 5:13: You, Galatian
11 Christians, were called to freedom. I have been set
12 free, brothers. No more sacrifices, no more slavery to
13 sin. You were called to freedom, brothers, and then he
14 says this: Only do not use your freedom as an
15 opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one
16 another. We are free to love. We are free to serve.
17 We are free to be others centered, is what Paul's
18 saying. Paul's the example here. Jesus is the great
19 example.
20 Now, let's look at second part of the passage,
21 the final paragraph. We have seen the example. Paul's
22 others-centeredness. Now notice to the exhortation.
23 Our others-centeredness in the race of life in the race
24 of life. Look specifically at second part of verse 24.
25 So verse 24: Do you not know that in a race
27
1 all the runners run? And then here's what he's going to
2 say: But only one receives the prize. So here's why I
3 just rehearsed all of this, guys. Here's why I am
4 giving you an example of a runner -- so run that you may
5 obtain it.
6 So this is where Paul starts to get the focus
7 off of himself, and he starts pointing at them. I have
8 given up certain rights, I've disciplined myself, I've
9 aimed at something, so -- so -- so you, brothers, so
10 that you may obtain it. Run so that you may obtain it.
11 So this isn't just a cute biography of Paul. What a
12 guy. This is now you all be like me. Remember I told
13 you this section, this whole section is from verses --
14 or Chapter 8 to Chapter 11, beginning of Chapter 11,
15 notice Chapter 11, verse 1: Here's how Paul ends this
16 section: Be imitators of me as I am of Christ, and that
17 summarizes Paul living with an others-centered view. So
18 he's saying now it's time for you to live this way.
19 Now, a couple questions before we get to the
20 final paragraph. What does it mean to run to win?
21 Let's use what we have been studying to understand what
22 it means to run to win. See, a lot of times we just
23 kind of take verses, pluck them out of thin air, you
24 know, read our own thoughts into a passage. We think,
25 Oh, it's kind of living the Christian life. I would say
28
1 it's more specific than that. In light of what we have
2 been talking about in Chapter 8 and Chapter 9, running
3 to win is living the Christian life in such a way that
4 you will not stumble other Christians but build them up
5 in love. That in light of what we've been looking at in
6 Paul is running to win. You are not causing other
7 believers to stumble but building them up in love,
8 again, see Chapter 8.
9 But then Chapter 9 gives us more detail here.
10 Also, live in such a way that you will not stumble
11 unbelievers but seek to win them to Christ. That's
12 running with intentionality. We know why you are here.
13 You can summarize why you're here in two ways: To build
14 up the body in love; build up your brothers and sisters
15 in love; and you are here to win the lost. That's
16 running to win. That's to what these two chapters to
17 point is running to win. So what are you living for?
18 What consumes your time? What consumes your mind? What
19 are your goals? What are your daydreams? What do you
20 want? Is it an earthly focus? Is it I want to build up
21 my career so that I can have this and that? I want to
22 be married so I can do this or that? Nothing wrong with
23 enjoying the gifts that God has given us, but don't
24 forget why we are here. We are here to run to win. To
25 build up our brothers and sisters and to reach the lost
29
1 and not causing either of those groups to stumble
2 because we are hanging onto our own rights and
3 privileges and desires.
4 Now, what's the prize, to win the prize? I
5 would argue from verse 23, Paul: I do it all for the
6 sake of the gospel so that I may share with them in its
7 blessings. I think part of the prize is winning people
8 for eternity. Enjoying heaven with ones that you have
9 communicated the gospel to and loved, brought to Christ,
10 introduced to Christ. I think that's part of the prize.
11 I think you could argue biblically God also
12 rewards us for investing what he's given us. See the
13 parable of the talents. He's given us certain
14 abilities. All of us are given spiritual gifts where we
15 can edify the body. We've all been called to the
16 great-commission work of proclaiming the gospel. So we
17 use what he's given to us to benefit other spiritually.
18 Summarize it in that way: Use what he's given us to
19 benefit others spiritually: Christians, building them up
20 in love and also, unbelievers, introducing them to
21 Christ and eternal life. There's a reward for that type
22 of living, and the Bible points to that.
23 So what does it mean to run to win? Live in
24 such a way that you build up the body, live in such a
25 way that you bring the lost the gospel.
30
1 What does it mean to run a win and win a prize?
2 Sharing in the blessings of salvation with your brothers
3 and sisters and being rewarded for that type of running.
4 Verse 24: Do you not know that in a race all
5 runners run, but only one receives the prize? And then
6 the command: So run that you may obtain it. Win. Go
7 out there and win. Go out there and aim for things.
8 Aim for spiritual victories. Not all people are running
9 to win. They are just meandering: School, work,
10 family, vacation, sports, just walking around.
11 Where are you going? Where are you aiming?
12 Who are you aiming to help in the body? Who are you
13 aiming to win who was lost? Paul saying aim at
14 something. Reminds us of Jesus setting his face toward
15 Jerusalem. I've got an appointment. I'm doing
16 something. Again, Jesus going to see the woman at the
17 well. Jews would go around Samaria. He was aiming
18 because he had an appointment with someone. Zacheus
19 looking to find Jesus. Jesus came to Jericho to find
20 Zacheus. He got there. He looked in the tree.
21 Zacheus. Of course he knew his name. He had a plan to
22 meet Zacheus. Jesus aiming, Paul aiming. Christian,
23 don't just wander aimlessly. Aim at something. Run to
24 win.
25 Verse 25: Every athlete exercises self-control
31
1 in all things. Running to win is going to cost us
2 something, right? They do it to receive a perishable
3 wreath. I mean, there are Olympic athletes that are
4 putting them on a strict diet for decades in order to
5 win a gold medal. If they can not eat doughnuts for 20
6 years, we can do something to help someone eternally.
7 We can sacrifice and give up, right? Every athlete
8 exercises self control in all things. They do it to
9 obtain a perishable wreath. It's going to die and go
10 away.
11 I was reading about the wreaths in Corinth.
12 Often times they were made of celery. All right. It
13 dies. It gets gross and you throw it away, but they
14 disciplined themselves for years to get the celery. We
15 can give up some time, money, energy, resources for the
16 sake of the gospel that has lasting effects and bring
17 eternal rewards, so let's just keep things in
18 perspective here. They do it for a perishable wreath
19 but we an imperishable.
20 Verse 26: So I don't run aimlessly, Paul says.
21 I don't box as one beating the air, just throwing
22 punches and getting tired here. I'm aiming at someone.
23 I am aiming at a target. I disciplined my body and keep
24 it under control lest after preaching to others I myself
25 might become disqualified. So part of my self-control
32
1 is just being godly when I proclaim the gospel; be godly
2 as I seek to benefit my brothers and sisters. I don't
3 want to preach them a message and then look at my life
4 and say, Well, you yourself are disqualified. This
5 doesn't make sense. I don't know about this gospel
6 thing, this new-life-in-Jesus thing. I'm going to
7 discipline myself so that I myself won't be
8 disqualified.
9 Notice the intentional living here. We see
10 this in Jesus pointing his disciples to intentional
11 living. He ascends and they are looking up and the
12 angels are like, he's coming back in the same way.
13 Shoo. Go. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost
14 parts of the earth. Get at it. Paul here: Don't live
15 aimlessly. Live purposefully.
16 Paul's going to finish the letter in
17 1 Corinthians 15:58: Therefore, my beloved brothers, be
18 steadfast, immovable, and then this: Always abounding
19 in the work of the Lord knowing that your labor is not
20 in vain, imperishable reward. Keep abounding, keep
21 working, and you will receive that final reward. Your
22 labor is not in vain.
23 So I think I just want to wrap up by pointing
24 you to some implications here. All right? Consider
25 your life before the Lord. For two chapters Paul's been
33
1 talking about the way to live rightly before the Lord.
2 Is there any way that your testimony has been
3 compromised? Paul makes sure he's disciplining himself
4 so that he would not be disqualified in preaching to
5 others. Is there any way that your testimony has been
6 compromised? Present that to the Lord. Repent of that.
7 He forgives. Our God is good. He forgives. Is there
8 any way that your testimony is compromised, and are you
9 loving the Lord and loving others? Are you living with
10 others in view, or are you living just to see all that
11 you can get from retirement, all that you can get from
12 the time that you have, all the resources that you can
13 get, or are you living to spend on others to spend for
14 others: Time, money, whatever it is; are you living
15 intentionally because your heart loves other people?
16 See, when you become a Christian God actually makes you
17 someone who loves. You love God rightly; you love
18 others rightly.
19 So what's your life look like? And then what
20 does your love look like? Then consider your service to
21 the body? Again, this comes up in Chapter 8. Is there
22 anybody that you can walk alongside? Is there anyone
23 that you can help build up because of love? Again,
24 that's Chapter 8, verse 1, knowledge puffs up, but love
25 builds up. There's an expectation that when you are in
34
1 the body of Christ, a Christian, you will build the body
2 up. Who can you influence? Who can you read the Bible
3 with? Who can you disciple? Who can you encourage?
4 Who can you exhort? Who can you help be built up
5 because you love them?
6 And then consider your life before those who
7 are lost. Are you praying regularly for people who are
8 lost? Are you intentionally working to invite them to
9 read the Bible, to meet with you, whatever it may be?
10 Are you seeking to put them in an environment where they
11 can hear about the mercy of God for sinners because they
12 are a sinner? You've been shown mercy; you can
13 introduce the sinner to a merciful God. You can know
14 what it's like to meet them. God has offered life.
15 Prayer, intentional living, intentionally meeting people
16 who are lost, maybe even understanding the Bible better
17 so you can answer questions but putting action to this
18 life. Aiming to win people so that you can share with
19 them in blessings. Consider the neighbors you live by.
20 Just pick the three or four you live by. Some of you
21 live out in Williamson Valley so you'll have to go a
22 long way. Pick some of the names and faces. How great
23 would it be if they were bowing before the throne with
24 you looking at you, looking at Christ, praising the
25 Lord, enjoying forever together. That's what Paul
35
1 wants, so your life before the Lord, your life in the
2 body, your life in living to bring the lost to Christ.
3 This final paragraph gives us the exhortation
4 to run in an others-centered way, and I told you before
5 -- I told you why Julian Hardyman is leaving Eden
6 Baptist. Have you been to Cambridge? It's amazing and
7 such a sweet people, such a great reputation of the
8 gospel. People are getting saved there. People are
9 growing in Christ. Why would a guy with lots of life
10 left leave? He's going to Madagascar and he doesn't
11 know the language, and when asked why he was leaving, he
12 told someone because there's such a great need there.
13 Him and his wife are planning on leaving Eden Baptist
14 and there are plenty of gospel proclaimers in Cambridge,
15 and they are going to leave to go to Madagascar because
16 there's such a great need there. Now some of you might
17 think, That's not my thing. Okay. Jesus is Jesus. Of
18 course he lived that way. The Apostle Paul is the
19 Apostle Paul. Of course he lived that way. This pastor
20 you are telling me about, he's a pastor. He's supposed
21 to live that way. I am just an everyday Christian.
22 I will remind you of two things: The final
23 paragraph in verse 20, Chapter 9, is written so that the
24 people of God follow Paul's example. Okay? So no more
25 excuses there. But just to humor you, I will give you
36
1 an example of a non-pastor.. a man named Dustin. Some
2 of you might have known Dustin. He was one of the 19
3 firefighters that died in 2013. If you have been in
4 Prescott for any time you know that those 19 are
5 precious to the people of Prescott. Dustin DeFord was a
6 believer in Christ and one that perished in that great
7 tragedy over near -- what's the town? Thank you --
8 Yarnell. If you go to see the memorial -- how many of
9 you have been on that memorial hike? Yeah, it's quite a
10 thing. You go on the hike a few miles, and you get to
11 the lookout spot over the place where they died, but --
12 and you could go down further, too, but if you are on
13 that hike there are these rocks with kind of a little
14 bio of each of the 19. Then you kind of go along the
15 hike and you read them, and so when we went on that
16 hike, we read all of these bios, and you come to Dustin
17 DeFord's, and you read it, and when I think of
18 1 Corinthians 9 and aiming at something, I think this
19 guy is a great picture, he wasn't an apostle. He wasn't
20 Jesus himself, but he was a Christian with the spirit of
21 Jesus in him. Listen to what the memorial says. I'm
22 quoting now:
23 "He was a man of God first and a firefighter
24 second, but he did both with all his strength. Dustin
25 decisively put his trust in Jesus Christ as lord and
37
1 savior as a young boy. It became his life's passion to
2 live for Jesus who died and rose again on his behalf.
3 Dustin desired that all would know his savior and wasn't
4 afraid to share Jesus. He graduated from Bible college
More in Q & A With an Apostle
January 15, 2023
1 Corinthians 11:17-34 “How to Eat the Lord's Supper” Andrew GutierrezJanuary 8, 2023
1 Corinthians 11:2-16 “3 Cheers for Biblical Gender Roles” Andrew GutierrezJanuary 1, 2023
1 Corinthians 10:14 - 11:1 “Learning From Meals” | Andrew Gutierrez