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1 Corinthians chapter 9 · Scripture Unscripted

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First Corinthians Chapter 9, Let us pray our Lord God, who reigns
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on high, high above all circumstances, high above all
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politics, high above every principality and every ruler,
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high above every throne and every Kingdom, high above all of
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the universe. Lord, we fix our eyes upon you
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today, the author and the perfector of our faith.
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God, I pray for a supernatural feeling today.
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Fill us today with the Holy Spirit.
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Fill us today, God, and give us the mind of Christ.
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Help us to understand our worth. Help us to understand our
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dignity God, help us to know that we are your masterpiece
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made in your image. Father, I pray in the name of
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Jesus that today will be the day of salvation for many.
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Father, I pray that your word will go out to the ends of the
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earth. God, I pray for every single
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man, woman and child on planet earth to be sold out, laid down,
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lovers of Yahweh your way. Father, I pray in the name of
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Jesus God, for a worldwide revival to break out.
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God, I pray that your word will be preached in schools.
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Lord, I pray that your word will be preached in government
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offices. God, I pray that your word will
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be preached all over the world. God, I pray for many to come in
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to salvation. God, let today be the day of
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salvation. God, we see our need for
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repentance. We see that our salvation is
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drawing near. God, we see the leaves that are
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on the fig tree. God, we know that you're coming
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soon and we cry out, Maranatha, the Spirit and the Bride says,
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come, Lord, we just want you and we want all of you.
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We see you dimly, but God, we want to see you clearly.
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Father, I pray that we can put our fingers in your side and in
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your hands. God, let us lay our head upon
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your chest and hear your heartbeat.
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Father, we want to worship you in spirit and truth.
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We want to worship you all of eternity.
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It's all about you. King Jesus, we thank you for the
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inspired, infallible, inerrant word that we hold in our hands.
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We thank you for all of your words, all of your promises.
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Father, we just want you and we want more of you.
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We have tasted and we have seen and God, you satisfy us, but you
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leave us longing for more. You're the only one who can
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completely fill us into, RIP down and tear down all of our
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own wants and desires and passions and replace them with
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your heart and with your mind. Father, I pray against the
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schemes of the enemy. Bind the enemy today.
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Cast them into the judgment that you have a waiting for them.
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I pray in the name of Jesus, against all malice and deceit
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and discord. God, I pray in the name of Jesus
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for a hedge of protection around the church.
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Father, in this hour, God, let revival go from the King to the
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cattle. Father, we love you.
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King. Jesus, let your words go out and
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never return void, and you will never be mocked.
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God, you sit in heaven and you laugh.
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Father, why do the nation's rage and the people's plot in vain?
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We kiss the Son today lest he be angry.
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We love you, Jesus. You are our everything.
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We want you and you only. It is in your holy and precious
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and powerful and magnificent awesome name that I pray.
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Amen. Well, let's start in verse one.
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Am I not an apostle? Am I not free?
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Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?
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Are not you my work in the Lord? Paul's vindicating his
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apostleship here, which he never really needed to do.
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Friends, he received his ministry from Jesus Christ
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himself on the road to Damascus and he did not even go to the
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apostles in Jerusalem to try to get them to tell him what he
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ought to do and to preach and to say he received it all from
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Jesus Christ. And that is what Paul is
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referencing here. And he said, I established the
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church there in Corinthians, and now my apostleship is being
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called into question as if these Corinthians were very
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disrespectful towards Paul because he was not demanding his
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own rights, he was not demanding them to support him.
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And here Paul is wanting them to know that it was actually his
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humility and him being humble that proved his power and it
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proved his authority, friends. And that is what you need to
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know that meekness is not weakness.
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Meekness is only power in control.
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And Paul desired that he would be able to glory in God's
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provision and not in man's. And there are many congregations
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that are congregation LED that have a church government and
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they are pushing out the Holy Spirit before they ever push out
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the Spirit filled pastor. Two, if I be not an apostle unto
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others, yet doubtless I am to you for the seal of my
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apostleship. Are you in the Lord?
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So that is what he's wanting the Corinthians to understand is the
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fact that they exist as a church proved his apostleship. 3 My
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answer to them that do examine me is this. 4 Have we not power
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to eat and to drink? 5 Have we not power to lead
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about a sister, a wife as well as other apostles and as the
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brothers of the Lord and Cephas 6 or only I in Barnabas have not
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we the power to for bear working?
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So he's saying that Barnabas and I have the right to be supported
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by you for our food. Even if we have a a wife and a
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family that we bring along, you need to support them.
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And he's going to show us in this passage that pastors and
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ministers have the right to be supported by the gospel, by the
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congregation. And Paul actually relinquished
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that right because he did not want anyone to Lord over him and
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to try to tell him how to behave 7.
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Who goes to warfare anytime at his own expense?
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Who plants a vineyard and eats not of the fruit of it, or who
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feeds A flock and eats not of the milk of the flock?
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So that's what he's trying to say is those who preach the
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gospel are to live by the means of the gospel. 9 where it is
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written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle the mouth of
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the ox that treads out the corn. Does God take care for oxen?
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So what he's saying is how much more important are pastors and
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ministers if God says do not muzzle the ox as it treads the
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grain. And by the way, friends, if you
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try to do that, that ox would fall over from exhaustion.
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And there are so many people that are so scrupulous and so in
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love with mammon that they refuse to allow those who work
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to be able to eat from all of the leftovers, from all of the
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fruit that falls to the ground. And they they refuse for them to
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be able to eat. And that is what leads to
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burnout and that is what leads to so much of the compromise
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that we see is whenever a pastor has to work 2 jobs and he's
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exhausted and he can't teach and he's giving the ministry
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leftovers. And here we need to understand
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that discernment, friends, that a pastor should only have enough
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that is at the same equal playing field of the
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congregation that is there in his midst.
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He should be above the poverty line, friends, but not in
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excess, Tim. Or says he all together, for our
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sakes. For our sakes, no doubt this is
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written, that he that plow should plow and hope, and he
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that threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11 If we
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have sown unto you spiritual things, it is a great thing if
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we shall reap your carnal things. 12 If others be
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partakers of this power over you, are not we rather
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nevertheless we have not used this power, but suffer all
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things? Thus we should hinder the gospel
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of Christ. So Paul is saying that they
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relinquish their right to be supported by the congregation,
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and that is actually the irony of the situation because the
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Corinthians thought of them as weaker because of their refusal
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to demand support from them. What a flipped upside down kind
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of situation. And that is the way of God.
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The way up is down, friends, and the least shall be the greatest.
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The greatest shall be the least. And he's saying here that just
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because they are preaching the gospel does not mean that they
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do not have physical needs. And he does not want to hinder
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the gospel by trying to come to them and cause some kind of riff
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by demanding financial support. 13 Do you not know that they
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which minister about holy things live of the things of the
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temple, and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the
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altar? So we can see this principle
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applied all the way back whenever the Israelites were
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being LED through the wilderness and into the Promised land.
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And we see the Levites as never inheriting land, but they were
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to be supported by all of those other tribes as they came into
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the temple. And here Paul is telling the
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Corinthians that it is the minister's right to demand to be
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supported by the congregation. And it is also something that
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gets abused. And Paul here is trying to bring
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about a great understanding with discernment friends.
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And this calls for wisdom. If God leads you to a place that
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cannot support you and it's going to take away from the
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congregation for you to be supported by them and it's going
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to cause everything to fall apart in the church to be
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shuttered, then you need to be able to be a tent maker on the
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side. But if you are part of an
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opulent congregation in a very, very luxurious setting with very
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affluent people, you need to make sure that your salary is
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not so inflated that you are disconnected from those who are
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level with the gravel friends. 14 Even so has the Lord ordained
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that they which preach the gospel should live of the
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gospel? 15 But I have used none of these
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things, neither have I written these things, that it should be
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so done unto me. For if it for it were better for
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me to die, then that any man should make my glorying void.
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It's the glory of God that Paul is after to live his Christ, to
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die his gain. And that's what he is
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referencing here is he would rather die and to try to steal
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God's glory. And God will share his glory
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with no one. And Paul is wanting these
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Corinthians to know that he's not doing what he's doing for
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money and he is not in love with mammon.
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And he would rather die and go on to be with the Lord than to
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be accused of being in love with this world. 16 For though I
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preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for
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necessity is laid upon me. Yeah, woe is unto me if I preach
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not the gospel. Like Jeremiah, Paul had a fire
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that was burning, and he could not shut it up.
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He could not contain it. Every time he tried to keep his
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mouth shut, he could not. God had lit a fire in them, and
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I pray that fire has been lit in this whole world on every
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continent at this time. Right now, friends, I pray that
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we go out into the harvest. I pray that the workers are many
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Right now, friends, I pray for a global revival.
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Right now, friends, I pray for repentance.
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I pray for confession. I pray that God is glorified in
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the highest by your life. Woe is unto me if I do not
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preach this gospel. 17 For I do this thing willingly.
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For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward.
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But if against my will a dispensation of the gospel is
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committed unto me, so he's saying here that he is pressing
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forward, and he knows that our rewards are with him.
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And he's coming on the clouds, friends, And he knows that his
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mark that is on his life, that's been placed on him, is to preach
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the gospel and to bring the whole word to the whole world.
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18 What is my reward then, truly, that when I preach the
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gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge?
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That I abuse not my power in the gospel?
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That was Paul's heart, and that should be our heart.
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The gospel is not-for-profit. Friends, freely you have
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received, and so freely you shall give.
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God is not for sale and that is what we learned with Bar Jesus
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whenever he was trying to get Peter to sell him the Holy
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Spirit. And what did Peter say?
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He said to hell with you and your money.
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This gospel is not for sale. It is a free gift that has been
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given to anyone who shall take it. 19 For though I be free from
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all men, yet have I made myself servant to all that I might
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gain. The more so.
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This is what you need to understand.
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As Paul understood that he was a free man, but he was a
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bondservant to Christ. He had released this fear of
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man. He cared nothing for this life.
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He knew that if he was alive it was to preach Christ and Christ
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crucified, and that if he was to die, it would be nothing but
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rewards and gain. 20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that
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I might gain the Jews, and to them that are under the law is
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under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. 21
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To them that are without the law is without law, being not
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without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might
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gain them that are without law. 22 To the weak I became as weak
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that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men,
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that I might by all means save some.
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This is what you need to understand about what Paul has
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written here in this little section is that Jesus Christ was
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never worried about being around sinners, but he never condoned
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the sin. Jesus was just as comfortable
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around tax collectors and prostitutes, and he actually had
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the harshest things to say towards the religious folk, but
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he never condoned their sinful life.
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He said go and sin no more unless something worse comes
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upon you. And here Paul is not
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compromising in his faith, but what he is doing is getting
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level with the gravel. What he is doing is making sure
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that he does not present himself in a way that is unapproachable,
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whether if it is in rags where he cannot reach the suit and
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ties or whether it is in suit and ties where he cannot reach
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the rags. Friends, Paul understood this
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balanced life so that he can reach as many as possible, and
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we would do well to adopt this principle.
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Friends 23. And this I do for the gospel
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sake, that I might be partaker there of with you.
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That is Paul's heart. He wants as many as possible to
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come in to the banquet, this marriage feast, friends.
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He wants as many as possible. He wants heaven to be full, and
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God knows the complete number who are coming in.
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He's the alpha and the Omega. He's the beginning and the end,
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and we are already seated with him in heavenly places, friends,
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and he knows who belongs to him, and he is unwilling that any
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should perish. 24 Know you not that they which run in a race
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run All but one receives the prize?
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So run that you may obtain. 25 And every man that strives for
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the mastery is temperate in all things.
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Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown.
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But we, an incorruptible part of our rewards is receiving the
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crown that is given to us, that we throw at the Lord's feet.
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We care nothing for the rewards, we only want him and him alone,
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and he keeps placing that crown back on our head and we keep
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throwing it at his feet because he is worthy.
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There was only one found worthy to open the scroll. 26 I
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therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I not as
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one that beats the air. 27 But I keep under my body and bring it
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into subjection, unless that by any means, when I have preached
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to others, I myself should be castaway.
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He will never cast you away when you come to him honestly.
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He will never cast you away whenever you come to him
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wholeheartedly. He will never cast you away,
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friends. And what Paul is referencing
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here in this one little section is how many ministers of faith,
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how many pastors and preachers have been found out in all of
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their disgusting practices that they thought were hidden.
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And God's whole plan is to bring the hidden things out, good or
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bad, And He will, in do time, reveal the secrets of men, good
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or bad, The things that you didn't think anybody saw that
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you did for him. He's going to reveal.
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The things that you didn't think anybody saw, that were
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disgusting and despicable, He's going to bring into the light.
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And how many ministries have been upended and how many
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people's salvation has been questioned because of the
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pastor's negligence? And Paul is referencing here
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that we need to practice integrity all the way to the
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end. And it's easier to start a race
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than it is to finish it, friends.
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And we need grace and we need God's power to help us finish
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this race well and to wait well. And the greatest work that is
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getting done is in the waiting. Don't forget it, lock in for
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today. Today has enough worries in
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itself. Do not worry about tomorrow.
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Friends who by worrying can add a single cubit to their stature,
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single moment to their life. You cannot by worrying, friends.
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We lock in for today. We enjoy this day and we thank
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God for this day. We run the race for this day,
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and if we get tomorrow, try again.
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His mercies are new every day and your life is but a vapor.
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It's here today and it's gone tomorrow.
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Spend more time praying. Friends, I hope you've been
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blessed by this amazing chapter here in God's Word.
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I love you, so does God. I'm praying for you.
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I'm praying that today something breaks off of you, praying that
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you live in freedom. I'm praying that you see
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yourself the way that he does. I'm praying that you're covered
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in the blood of Jesus Christ and you'll stand before him.
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Holy and blessed are you who sins will never be counted
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against you. We'll see you back here
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tomorrow. God bless you.