1 Corinthians 9
The Rights of an Apostle
1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? 2Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4Don't we have the right to food and drink? 5Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas[a]? 6Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?
7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? 8Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? 9For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."[b] Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?
But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 13Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
15But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. 16Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.
19Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Timothy 6:17-19
17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
July 1, 2008
Joyful Living
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READ: 1 Timothy 6:17-19
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. —1 Timothy 6:17
Our search for joy takes us many different directions—dream holidays, shopping, food, clothes, friends, cars—the list is almost endless.
My guess is that if you perked up at the mention of shopping, holidays, or cars, you might have felt a twinge of guilt. We often view the joy of temporal things as less than spiritual and show our discomfort by apologizing for nice things: “I wouldn’t have bought this, but someone gave me a wonderful deal.” As if real Christians never eat quiche, drive cool cars, or wear designer clothes!
No doubt God’s greatest gift to us is our relationship with His Son Jesus. It’s a gift beyond comparison. Jesus promised that when we abide in Him we will experience the fulfillment of His joy (John 15:11), and without that kind of deep, abiding joy the rest of life is mundane at best.
But Scripture also casts the joy of the Lord in terms of temporal things. The enjoyment of “things” can be a positive spiritual experience. When we recognize that He “gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17) and that “every good gift . . . is from above” (James 1:17), our hearts should be full of thankfulness and praise. This, in and of itself, is an act of worship! Enjoy the Giver and the gifts. — Joe Stowell
We thank Thee, Lord, for daily food,
For plenteous store of earthly good;
For life and health we still possess,
With house and home so richly blessed. —Mohler
Our heavenly Father delights in bringing us delight.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
July 1, 2008
The Inevitable Penalty
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You will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny —Matthew 5:26
There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been "thrown into prison, [and] . . . you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny" ( 5:25-26 ). Yet you ask, "Is this a God of mercy and love?" When seen from God’s perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide to do it right now, saying, "Yes, Lord, I will write that letter," or, "I will be reconciled to that person now."
These sermons of Jesus Christ are meant for your will and your conscience, not for your head. If you dispute these verses from the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will dull the appeal to your heart.
If you find yourself asking, "I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?"— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an "ought" behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Focusing On the Rescue - #5602
Monday, July 1, 2008
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Not long ago I was in downtown Oklahoma City, and had the privilege to visit the scene of the Oklahoma City bombing back in April 1995. I don't think any of us will ever forget the images of the day that that Federal Office Building was destroyed by a terrorist bomb. The images of that devastated building and of the frantic rescue efforts there, of a baby in a fireman's arms. It was a day of heart-wrenching tragedy and it was a day of incredible heroism, too. Literally, an entire city dropped everything to respond in whatever way that they could to this life-or-death situation. The job was clear that day: rescue the dying whatever it takes.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Focusing On the Rescue."
When Jesus came, the job was clear: rescue the dying whatever it takes. Our word for today from the Word of God is Luke 19:10, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." God's Son came here to aggressively pursue and rescue lost people like those rescuers going into the wreckage of that building. The "save" word here isn't just a theological concept - it's a rescue word as in what those rescuers did in Oklahoma City. If they didn't get to the people trapped in that building and save them, they would die.
Then Jesus says to us in John 20:21, "As the Father has sent Me, I'm sending you." Our job is clear - to rescue the dying people around us whatever it takes. Paul makes our responsibility very clear when he says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, "We are Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you..." Now notice the passion and the urgency "...on Christ's behalf. Be reconciled to God." See, that's why you are where you are - in that school, or that neighborhood, that organization, your workplace. Jesus put you there to be His personal representative to that group of people. It's a divine assignment. How are you doing? He's put you there to, well as they say in kindergarten, "show and tell" them about Jesus. You need to show them what Jesus is like by your attitude and your actions and your treatment of them. But you can't just show - you have to tell. They'll never guess that Jesus died on the cross to pay for their sins just because you're a nice person. You have to tell them.
And it really is a life-or-death assignment. Sin carries an eternal death penalty which can only be canceled one way - by a person putting their personal trust in Jesus, the One who paid that penalty for them. Jesus took their hell so they don't have to, but chances are they don't know that. It's up to you to lovingly deliver that life-saving message. Your job is clear, rescue the dying whatever it takes. It's easy to forget that most important mission of all.
But they didn't forget that mission that day Oklahoma City, or that awful day at Ground Zero in New York City, because they knew the lives of dying people were at stake. They dropped everything. And I think that's what we've forgotten - that the people in hell will look just like the people we work with, we go to school with, we live near. They don't look like they're dying spiritually, but the sentence for sin is very clear. You have to ask Jesus to give you His broken heart for those people; His eyes to see what He sees when He looks at the people around you.
Churches forget what our life-or-death mission is and all of us rescuers tend to forget it and we do what's easy - just talk to the people who are already safe. But when you realize that people's lives, people's eternities are in the balance, you put everything else on hold to save them. The job is clear, rescue the dying whatever it takes.
