Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20070513.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Corinthians: Discipling Believers With Very Sinful Backgrounds
VI. Relating Well To Others Regarding Liberty, License and Legalism
B. Paul's Positive Example Of Bridling His Liberty To Edify Others
(1 Corinthians 8:4-9:-27)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

According to "research efforts of Gallup, Barna, and Hunter", major polling experts on American life that were made in the late 1980s, over half of professing evangelical Christians "affirmed self-fulfillment as their first priority." (John H. Armstrong, gen. ed., The Coming Evangelical Crisis, 1996, p. 61) In other words, most professing evangelical Christians in America think that the most important goal in life is to make sure that they themselves are fulfilled!

However, that is proving to be either an elusive or an unfulfilling goal! As we learned in an earlier message in this series from a study by LifeWay Research of the Southern Baptist Convention, America's largest Protestant denomination, many such seekers "are restless . . . They're switching from church to church . . ." ("Dissatisfaction, yearning make churchgoers switch," by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY, April 23, 2007, p. 6D)



So we may ask, "If making self-fulfillment one's TOP PRIORITY in life is NOT FULFILLING many CHRISTIANS, is there some HIGHER GOAL, some higher priority we should have as CHRISTIANS? IF so, WHAT is it?!"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "If making self-fulfillment one's top priority is proving not to be fulfilling for many professing Christians, IS there a HIGHER goal, a higher priority for us Christians to have? If so, what IS it?!"
  1. Paul urged his readers to LIMIT the USE of their liberty in Christ to protect the consciences of weak Christians, 1 Corinthians 8:4-12:
    1. The Corinthian Christians had raised a question in a letter to Paul on whether it was right for them to eat meat that had once been offered to idols (F. W. Grosheide, 1 Corinthians (NICNT), 1980, p. 188).
    2. In reply, Paul claimed eating such meat itself was not sin, for there is only one true God and Creator, and His Son, Jesus is the believer's Lord and Savior, so eating food created by Him was not sin, 8:4-6.
    3. However, since not every person had this insight, "strong" believers would wound the consciences of the weak were they to eat meat offered to idols in an idol temple, thus sinning against the weak believer, and thus in turn, sinning against Christ, 1 Cor. 8:7-12!
  2. Then, Paul reported how he SEVERELY LIMITED the USE of his Christian liberties from doing what HE WANTED to do SO AS TO edify OTHERS, and so to PLEASE GOD and REMAIN an EFFECTIVE DISCIPLER of OTHER PEOPLE, 1 Cor. 8:13-9:27:
    1. Paul held that if using his liberty to eat meat offered to idols offended a weaker brother's conscience, he would never eat meat, 1 Cor. 8:13!
    2. Now, his references in 1 Cor. 9:4-6 to his liberties as an apostle to eat, to drink, to marry and to be financially supported by others are given in a defensive way, showing that some at Corinth doubted his apostleship as he did not receive their support as if he was not a true apostle, 1 Corinthians 9:1-3; Bible Knowledge Com., N. T., p. 522.
    3. Thus, Paul focused on this subject of his income to reveal he was not only a true apostle, but a very dedicated, motivated one who tried to limit the use of his liberty to receive money from his hearers in order to avoid creating a stumblingblock to their discipleship, 1 Cor. 9:7-27:
      1. Paul as a true apostle of Christ had the liberty from God to receive financial income from those he had discipled to the Christian faith:
        1. He noted that just as occurred in secular occupations, apostles could rightfully make a living from their ministries, 1 Cor. 9:7.
        2. Even the Law (Deut. 25:4) taught that an ox that threshed grain should be left unmuzzled that it might eat freely of the threshed grain from its threshing labor, 1 Corinthians 9:8-9.
        3. Also, the priests under that Law were to partake of the sacrifice offerings as part of their income, 1 Cor. 9:13; cf. Lev. 6:16.
        4. Similarly, Paul noted he had the right to be materially supported by the Corinthians he had evangelized, 1 Corinthians 9:10-11.
      2. However, he had not used this right, but worked at his secular trade [of tent making, Acts 18:1-3] that he might not hinder the spread of Christ's Gospel, 1 Corinthians 9:12, 15-23:
        1. Paul claimed he had not used his right to gain support nor taught believers financially to support him, 1 Corinthians 9:12, 15.
        2. As God's steward, he was obliged to preach the Gospel whether he did or did not gain financial support while doing so (1 Cor. 9:16-17), but Paul did not exercise this liberty for such gain lest he appear to be like so many false teachers who lusted for money from their hearers, 1 Cor. 9:18-19 with 2 Cor. 2:17 NIV.
        3. Paul applied this restriction of his liberty to other areas of his life that he might not offend Jews (1 Cor. 9:20), Gentiles (1 Cor. 9:21) or weak people (1 Corinthians 9:22).
      3. Finally, Paul used two analogies of athletes to reveal he worked hard in restricting the use of his liberties that he might please God and remain very effective as a discipler of others (as follows):
        1. Like a runner, Paul ran to win, limiting the use of his liberties to maximize his credibility and evangelize the more, 9:24-26a.
        2. Then, as a boxer, he beat, as it were, his own body, making each blow count [like working his body hard at tent making to earn his own living, et al.] that he not lose God's reward from becoming ineffective to some by accepting money that might hurt his ministry credibility, 1 Corinthians 9:26b-27.
Application: For a higher calling than trying to fulfill ourselves, (1) may we trust in Christ to be saved unto eternal life, John 3:16. (2) Then, may we heed God's will for us to (a) disciple others in the use of our spiritual enabling in the realm of the local church (Romans 12:1-8; 1 Timothy 3:15), (b) and voluntarily restrict the USE of our Christian liberties to please ourselves so as to please God in remaining very effective for the Lord in discipling others!

Lesson: Paul taught and lived a HIGHER calling than FULFILLING HIMSELF -- that of RESTRICTING the USE of his Christian LIBERTIES of serving his OWN interests IN ORDER TO edify OTHERS and PLEASE GOD by STAYING an EFFECTIVE DISCIPLER.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

All this past week, the Lord applied this message in powerful ways in my own life, but it was best exampled by Ken Hall at his sister's memorial service held on Thursday in her Church in Plainville.

As many of us know by now, Ken and Deb Hall, missionaries we support in Kenya with the African Inland Mission, made a quick flight from Kenya home to the United States to see Ken's sister, Susan as she lay dying of a fast spreading form of lung cancer. She had been diagnosed with her illness in early April, but, to the shock of even the nurses who ministered to her, Susan passed away while Ken and Deb were flying on the plane the first weekend in May. When they arrived at the airport, Ken and Deb were met with the news from a relative that Susan had just passed, a heart wrenching experience to say the least!

In the aftermath of this event, my wife and I attended Susan's memorial service where we heard Ken give the eulogy. He told of how he had been used of the Lord to introduce his sister to faith in Christ by taking her to a Word of Life function many years ago. Then, as he closed his eulogy, striving his best to control his overwhelming grief, the usually reserved Ken extended his hand and looked toward the cremated remains of his "little sister" and, fighting his emotions said, "Someday the Lord will make of these ashes a resurrection body for Susan! That is our hope in Christ!"

However, in an incredibly selfless move, he quickly shifted his attention to the audience where he began to say in as controlled a manner as he could muster, "So, how about you -- do you have that hope? Today, if you have not done so, you may receive Christ by faith in His work on the cross to be saved and given the same hope!"

So, even in this humanly devastating time for them both, there was the drive in Ken and Deb to do what the Apostle Paul taught us to do in this 1 Corinthians passage -- to restrain their own liberty to express their enormous grief and cutting disappointment of failing to be able say their last "good-bye" to Ken's beloved sister that they might use the opportunity of her memorial service to give out the saving Gospel to other souls that they might believe and be saved!



May we also not make "self-fulfillment" our chief priority, but the HIGHER goal of RESTRAINING the exercise of our OWN LIBERTIES for the sake of OTHERS and THEIR welfare!