Thursday
Evening Bible Study
September
11, 2014
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid to die? Does it speak
to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach
for a decision Is the church loved? Target 4400 words
/ 3500 words
In Paul's day, Corinth was the capitol of the province of Achaia (southern
Greece), and was the most important city in Greece.
Corinth was quite the cosmopolitan city. All merchant traffic flowing north
and south, as well as east and west, flowed through Corinth.
Corinth was also the center of the world’s greatest immorality.
The Temple of Aphrodite stood on the hill overlooking the city, and every
night 1,000 male and female prostitutes would come down into the city and
encourage the citizens to “worship” the goddess of love.
Paul had established the church in Corinth in AD 51 on his second
missionary journey. He had spent 18 months teaching and building the church
before moving on.
It is now AD 56, and Paul is across the Aegean Sea in the city of Ephesus. He’s received a letter telling about the problems and
questions in Corinth, and now he’s writing back.
The first issue raised was about the divisions in the church.
(1 Corinthians 1:11 NKJV) For it has been declared to me
concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there
are contentions among you.
The second issue had to do with immorality
(1 Co 5:1 NKJV) —1 It is actually reported that there is sexual
immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the
Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!
The third issue was about lawsuits
(1 Co 6:1 NKJV) —1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law
before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
The fourth issue was about marriage.
(1 Corinthians 7:2 NKJV) —2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own
wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
The fifth issue had to do with eating meat sacrificed to idols
(1 Corinthians 8:1 NKJV) —1 Now
concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.
9:1-27 Rights
:1 Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not
seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?
:1 Am I not an apostle?
Paul has been talking about how we as believers need to learn to put a
limit on our “rights” for the sake of the gospel.
In the last chapter, the issue was whether or not
to eat that had been sacrificed to idols.
In reality, there are no other real “gods”. You aren’t
polluted if you ate meat that had been sacrificed to Aphrodite.
Yet there were some believers in Corinth who had weak consciences, and they
couldn’t help but think that you were compromising
your faith if you ate meat sold at the temples.
Paul made it clear that as loving believers, we ought to be careful about
how our “rights” can cause others to struggle.
(1 Corinthians
8:13 NKJV) Therefore, if food makes my
brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
Now we’re going to see how Paul puts some of this
into practice in his own life.
:2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless
I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
:1 apostle – apostolos – a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders
There was a group of folks in Corinth who were constantly
challenging Paul’s authority, and specifically his authority as an “apostle”.
The title of “apostle” is one that
carries authority with it.
There was a group of Jesus’
disciples, the “twelve”, that Jesus called His “apostles”, or “sent ones”.
Paul was not a part of that group,
and Paul did not even become a believer for a couple of years after Jesus was crucified, raised from the dead, and ascended into heaven.
Some have suggested that when Judas
betrayed Jesus and the remaining eleven decided they needed a twelfth apostle
that they should have waited for Paul to come along instead of choosing
Mathias.
Yet we have to reason to think they
made a mistake in doing so.
When Peter and the others decided
they needed a twelfth, they put forth some qualifications:
(Acts 1:21–22 NKJV) —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.”
The other eleven thought that an
“apostle” (one of the “twelve”) should have been present for the entire
ministry of Jesus and a witness to the resurrection.
Even though we have no evidence
that Paul was ever present when Jesus ministered to
the Jews for three years, we know that Paul was a witness to the resurrection
since Jesus appeared to him specifically.
“A”-postles vs. “B”-postles.
It seems that there are two
“grades” of apostles in the New Testament.
The “A” Apostles were the twelve.
There were other folks, like Paul,
who are also given the title “apostle”.
Barnabas was
called an “apostle”.
(Acts 14:14 NKJV) —14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they
tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out
Others also were called “apostles”,
and I’d call them the “B”–postles.
(Romans 16:7 NKJV) —7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among
the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
(Galatians 1:19 NKJV) —19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the
Lord’s brother.
Paul gives some other
qualifications for apostleship:
(2 Corinthians 12:12 NKJV) Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with
all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.
The working of
miracles seems to be part of it.
(2 Corinthians 11:22–25 NKJV) —22 Are
they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the
seed of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they
ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more
abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths
often. 24 From the Jews five
times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three
times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
Paul was trying to
teach the Corinthians the difference between the “false apostle” who wanted to just exercise authority over people, and a “true
apostle”, one who was willing to go anywhere, do anything, and even suffer for
Christ.
Are there apostles today?
If you have some of these young
handsome Mormon missionaries into your home, they will explain to you what is
necessary for a church to exist:
(Ephesians 2:20 NKJV) having been built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
After reading this passage with
you, they will ask you if your church has “apostles”, because their church
certainly does.
Does our church have “apostles”? Of course. We have the writings of the apostles in the New
Testament.
I think that you could make a case
for those on the mission field being called
“apostles”.
They are certain “sent ones”.
But I’d use the word “apostle” very sparingly.
:3 My defense to those who examine me is this:
:3 defense – apologia – verbal
defense, speech in defense; a reasoned statement or argument
:3 examine – anakrino (“again” + “to judge”) – examine or
judge; to investigate, enquire into, question; specifically in a forensic sense
of a judge to hold an investigation
Not only was Paul’s apostleship being called into question, so were his
rights and actions as an “apostle”.
:4 Do we have no right to eat and drink?
:4 right to eat and drink
Some were questioning Paul’s handling of financial support from the various
churches that he had planted.
Some thought that apostles shouldn’t ever receive any
support from a church.
:5 Do we have no right to take along a believing
wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and
Cephas?
:5 right to take along a believing wife
Some thought that an apostle should be a celebate,
single man, or at least never take his wife along on his journeys.
Illustration
A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons
and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are
copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So,
the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if
someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up!
In fact, that error would be continued in all of the
subsequent copies. The head monk, says, ‘We have been copying from the copies
for centuries, but you make a good point, my son.’ He goes down into the dark
caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held as
archives in a locked vault that has ‘ t been opened
for hundreds of years. Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot. So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for
him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing, ‘We missed the R ! We missed the R ! We missed the
R !’ His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is
crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot, ‘What
‘ s wrong, father?’ With A choking voice, the old abbot replies, ‘The
word was... CELEBRATE !!!’
The implication is that a man in ministry being married would cause the man to not spend as much time
doing ministry because he had his wife with him.
:5 the
brothers of the Lord, and Cephas
Apparently Jesus’ brothers (perhaps at
least James and Jude) were married, and so was … Peter (the first “pope”
according to the Roman Catholic church)
Peter even had a mother-in-law
(Matthew 8:14 NKJV) Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his
wife’s mother lying sick with a fever.
They even brought their wives along with them on trips.
:6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who
have no right to refrain from working?
:6 no right to refrain from working
These same people were trying to say that all “ministers” should pay their
own way and not be supported by the church.
:7 Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who
plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or
who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?
The soldier is paid to fight. The vineyard owner
gets to eat the fruit of his vineyard. The one who tends the flock gets to
drink milk from the flock. Natural.
:8 Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also?
:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You
shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is
concerned about?
:10 Or does He say it altogether for our
sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written,
that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be
partaker of his hope.
:9 You shall not muzzle an ox
Paul is quoting from the law of Moses, from,
(Deuteronomy 25:4
NKJV) “You shall not muzzle an ox while
it treads out the grain.
When you hitched up an oxen to walk through the
reaped kernels of wheat to break up the grain and separate the chaff from the
wheat, God wanted the oxen to not be muzzled so they could keep feeding
themselves while they worked.
Paul’s point is that God didn’t give this law for
the sake of the oxen, but to set up a principle that it is proper for the
person who works to be paid.
:11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is
it a great thing if we reap your material things?
The principle applies to those doing spiritual work like Paul, or even a
pastor.
:12 If others are partakers of this right
over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we
have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of
Christ.
:13 Do you not know that those who minister the
holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the
altar partake of the offerings of the altar?
:13 those who serve at the altar
Under the Law of Moses, the priests and Levites did the work of maintaining
the Temple and performing the sacrifices.
And they were paid for what they did.
They were paid a portion of what was sacrificed.
:14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who
preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
:14 those who preach the gospel
When Jesus sent the apostles out on one of their training missions, He told
them,
(Matthew 10:9–10 NKJV) —9 Provide neither gold
nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey,
nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
The idea was that they were not to take along money for the journey,
because they would be supported by the people they ministered
to.
:15 But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things
that it should be done so to me; for it would be better for me to die
than that anyone should make my boasting void.
:15 But I have used none of these things
Paul didn’t require the churches to pay him, and
he’s not hinting that he wants them to pay him.
That doesn’t mean that Paul never received financial
support from the churches (just not from Corinth).
The Philippians supported Paul financially.
(Philippians 4:15
NLT) As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me
financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from
Macedonia. No other church did this.
(Philippians 4:10–20 NKJV) —10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your
care for me has flourished again; though you surely
did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that
I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in
whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know
how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both
to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me. 14
Nevertheless you have done well that you
shared in my distress. 15 Now you
Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from
Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and
receiving but you only. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again
for my necessities. 17 Not that
I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. 18 Indeed I
have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus
the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable
sacrifice, well pleasing to God. 19
And
my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. 20 Now to our God and
Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Some people have taken some of Paul’s words and twisted them to say that if
you pay your pastor, you are not a good church.
Paul’s whole point of this passage is to make it clear that it’s okay to pay those in ministry.
Yet with the Corinthians, he’s reminding them that he apparently didn’t take any money
from them in particular.
(2 Corinthians 11:7–8 NKJV) —7 Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be
exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8
I robbed other churches, taking wages from
them to minister to you.
The idea is that
he was supported by other churches, while he didn’t
accept finances from Corinth.
:16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to
boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the
gospel!
:16 woe is me if I do not preach the
gospel
Jeremiah tried to stop speaking for God once…
(Jeremiah 20:9 NKJV) Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak
anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart
like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I
could not.
Paul has a sense of “necessity” from God that he must preach the gospel.
I wish we all felt that more often.
:17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward;
but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
:18 What is my reward then? That when I preach the
gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse
my authority in the gospel.
(1 Corinthians
9:17–18 NLT) —17 If I were
doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But
I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust. 18 What then
is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging
anyone. That’s why I never demand my rights when I
preach the Good News.
:17 if I do this willingly
If Paul preaches the gospel because
he wants to, not because he’s paid to, then he has a
reward.
:18 the gospel of Christ without charge
This was Paul’s boast, to be able
to preach the gospel without charging people for it.
:19 For though I am free from all men, I
have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more;
:19 made myself a servant to all
This goes back to how we started the chapter, in not doing things that
cause others to stumble (like eating food sacrificed to idols).
Paul had rights as an apostle, but he was willing to lay down his rights
and serve others, all for the sake of getting a chance to preach the gospel to
people.
Though I am paid a full time salary
by the church, I’m not here because I’m being paid a
salary. There are some who might take a position of pastor in a church simply
as a job or career, and they’re in it as long as they
get their paycheck.
We started this church because we
felt led of the Lord to do it. Even if we weren’t paid
a salary, we’d find a way to keep doing this because that’s what God wants us
to do.
:20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I
might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I
might win those who are under the law;
:21 to those who are without law, as
without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ),
that I might win those who are without law;
:22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win
the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might
by all means save some.
:23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I
may be partaker of it with you.
:22 all things to all men
When Paul was talking to a Jewish person, he could talk all day about his
own Jewish heritage.
When Paul was talking to a Gentile person, he had the ability to relate to
them, not as a lawless, godless person, but as another human being.
Paul didn’t give up his Jewishness when he
ministered to Gentiles, but he also didn’t require a Gentile to become Jewish
before he talked to them.
We saw in our study in Acts that Paul was arrested in the Temple because
the religious leaders were thinking that he was teaching people to abandon the
Law of Moses, which he certainly wasn’t.
Lesson
Identify
It seems that sometimes we are better at telling people why we are
different than they are, than why we are the same.
Jesus had the ability to talk to all kinds of people, and break through the
barriers they erected between them and God.
Video: The
Gospel of John – Woman at the well (starts at 29:53)
With Jesus and the woman at the well, the initial issue was that of a Jewish
man talking to a Samaritan woman – a racial and religious set of differences.
There was also another under current, that of a righteous man talking to a sinful woman.
With each issue, Jesus diffused the conflict and was able
to speak truth to the woman
I don’t think this verse means that you have to
become a drug addict to minister to drug addicts. I don’t
think you need to become a thief to minister to a thief. You don’t
need to practice homosexuality to minister to a gay person.
I think it means that you learn how to speak to people in a way that
displays kindness and respect. It doesn’t mean you
compromise your values, but instead of arguing over why you are right, spend
time listening to them.
:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race
all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.
:24 race – stadion – a space
or distance of about 600 feet (185 m); a race course; place in which contests
in running were held, the one who outstripped the rest and reached the goal
first, receiving the prize. Courses of this description were found in most of
the larger Greek cities, and were like that at Olympia, 600 Greek feet in
length
:24 prize – brabeion – from brabeus
(an umpire); the award to the victor in the games, a prize
:24 Run in such a way
Paul is going to compare the ministry to something like the Olympics. In
Corinth, they had the “Isthmian Games”, which were very similar to the
Olympics. Among the chief contests of the games were the foot races.
The point in a foot race is that only one person is the winner.
Lesson
Ministry excellence
You need to be careful about the pictures that Paul paints here.
This is not about “winning” in the Christian life and beating others.
This is about how you are serving the Lord in your ministry.
It’s not about doing “better” than others, it’s
about “how you run”.
(1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV) … Run in
such a way as to get the prize.
You can get all carnal with this picture, thinking
that the idea is about beating other people. It’s
about excellence in your own life.
If your ministry were to be compared to an Olympic
style foot race, what would best describe you?
Are you the guy who has trained
hard and prepared well, one who will run with the goal of being the first to
hit the tape?
As far as how we do church – this is not about spending more money on
glitzy programs than the church down the street.
It’s about doing what you do with excellence.
:25 And everyone who competes for the prize
is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown,
but we for an imperishable crown.
:25 competes – agonizomai – to enter a contest: contend in the gymnastic games; to contend
with adversaries, struggle
We get our word “agony” or “agonize” from this word.
Paul used this word when he wrote Timothy,
(2 Timothy 4:7 NKJV) I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith.
Paul also used this word to describe the prayer life of one of his friends,
(Colossians 4:12 NKJV) Epaphras, who is one
of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you
in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in
all the will of God.
:25 temperate – egkrateuomai – to be self-controlled; athletes wo prepare themselves for the
games abstained from unwholesome food, wine, and sexual indulgence
Most athletes are very careful about how they eat, sleep, and train.
They exercise “self-control” in order to “win”.
:25 perishable – phthartos – corruptible, perishing
In Paul’s day, the winners of the games received a wreath of fir
branches to wear around their head. The fir trees surrounded the Isthmian race course.
In earlier days, the wreath was made of parsley.
In the Olympics, it was of a wild olive branch.
Ancient athletes ran just for the glory of the race, for a crown that would
dry up and rot.
:25 imperishable – aphthartos –
uncorrupted, not liable to corruption or decay, imperishable
The crown we’re “running” for is an imperishable
one, something we will receive in heaven.
We will receive rewards for what we do on earth when we get to heaven.
:26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.
Paul doesn’t run wildly in all directions, he runs
with a purpose.
When he “fights”, he isn’t just shadow boxing and
swinging at nothing.
He’s swinging to knock out a real opponent.
:26 uncertainty – adelos –
uncertainly
:26 fight – pukteo – to be a boxer, to box
:26 beats – dero – to flay, skin; to beat, thrash, smite
:27 But I discipline my body and bring it
into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become
disqualified.
:27 I discipline – hupopiazo (“under” + “to look at”) – to beat black and blue,
to smite so as to cause bruises and livid spots; like a boxer one buffets his
body, handle it roughly, discipline by hardships
I think the word speaks of getting a “black eye”, getting
punched in the face.
:27 bring it into subjection – doulagogeo (“enslave”
+ “to lead”) – to lead away into slavery; to make a slave and to treat as a
slave, subject to stern and rigid discipline
:27 disqualified – adokimos – not standing the test, not approved
; properly
used of metals and coins; that which does not prove itself such as it ought
:27 discipline … lest … disqualified
I don’t think Paul is afraid of losing his
salvation.
I think he’s afraid of losing his credibility.
Lesson
The value of self-discipline
Paul had a goal in mind, to be excellent in ministry. For that reason, he
was willing to pay the kinds of prices that an Olympic skater will pay, doing
the kinds of things that are necessary to win.
Illustration
In February, 2000, the U.S.
Figure Skating Championships were held in Cleveland. One of the competitors was
a young gal, Sasha Cohen, 15, who trained at the Ice
Chalet in Costa Mesa.
According to the O.C. Register, she
was a big hit with the crowds, but she had some problems in her performance and
couldn’t pull off the win.
Video: Sasha Cohen 2000
Here’s from the Register
(2-13-2000, Sports, pg.11):
…For Cohen, this competition was all fun and games. She
possesses a sweet, childlike innocence. When asked if she still liked to paint,
Cohen said with a straight face that unfortunately she didn’t
have as much time as she did when she was younger. She talked about going
skiing just a few weeks ago, much to the dismay of Nicks (her coach). Never
mind that the biggest competition of her life was looming and she was risking
serious injury by taking to the slopes. From now on, it won’t
be so easy for Cohen, and Nicks claims she’s not the easiest skater to coach. “A
lot of people always knew she had talent, but she always lacked discipline,”
Nicks said. “She’s learning discipline now. But Sasha
dances to her own drummer. She probably won’t learn from anyone else because
she likes to do things her own way.”
I’d guess that Sasha did learn
somewhere along the way because by 2006, she won a silver medal at the Winter
Olympics in Turin. I’d imagine she figured out the
discipline part.
The point of us learning how to be disciplined in
our personal lives has to do with our witness in the world.
There are people all around us that need to see that God’s love is real, and they need to see it in our lives.
When our lives aren’t disciplined to “win” and to
do what God wants us to do (like love each other), people around us have a hard
time hearing the gospel.
Over the years we’ve all seen pastors fall into
sin.
A long time ago it was guys like Jimmy Swaggert and Jim Bakker. Then David Hocking fell – a little
closer to home since his church is just in Santa Ana.
I know folks who had been in David’s church and who were
devastated.
This last year within our Calvary Family, the pastor of the largest
Calvary, Bob Coy, fell.
It can happen. We all can fall.
You might be tempted to think, “but
if I fall, I won’t affect anybody”, or at least not as many as Bob Coy has.
You are so wrong. Your family is watching. Your kids are
watching you. your co-workers are watching you.
I think a good exercise to go through from time to time is
to make a list of the consequences of you falling into that particular sin that
keeps calling out to you.
Think of the people you will hurt. Think of the damage to
the gospel.
Self-discipline is important. It is worth it.