1 Corinthians 9:1-27 - Drudgery to Joy

[Music] please stand if you are able for the reading of God's Word our teaching text today is 1st Corinthians 9 am I not free am I not an apostle have I not seen Jesus our Lord are you not my workmanship in the Lord if to others I am NOT an apostle at least I am to you for you are the seal of my Apostleship in the Lord this is my defense to those who would examine me do we not have the right to eat and drink do we not have the right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living who serves as a soldier at his own expense who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk do I say these things on human authority does not the law say the same for it is written in the law of Moses you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the green is it for oxen that God is concerned does he not speak entirely for our sake it was written for our sake because the plow man should plow and hope and the Thresher Thresh in hope of sharing in the crop if we have sown spiritual things among you is it too much if we reap material things from you if others share this rightful claim on you do we not even more nevertheless we have not made use of this right but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings in the same way the LORD commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel but I have made no use of any of these rights nor am i writing these things to secure any such provision for I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting for if I preach the gospel that gives me no ground for boasting for necessity is laid upon me woe to me if I do not preach the gospel for if I do this of my own will I have a reward but not of my own will I am still entrusted with a stewardship what then is my reward that in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge so was not to make full use of my right in the gospel for though I am free from all I have made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them to the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews to those under the law I became as one under the law though not being myself under the law that I might win those under the law to those outside the law I became as one outside the law not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ that I might win those outside the law to the weak I became weak that I might win the weak I've become I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings do you not know that in a race all the runners compete but only one receives the prize so run that you may obtain it every athlete exercises self-control in all things they do it to receive a perishable wreath but we and imperishable so I do not run aimlessly I do not box as one beating the air but I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified this is the word of the Lord you may be seated Thank You Kat thank you very very much for reading that long text good to read the whole text these these letters were written to the church to be read in the churches so it makes a lot of sense for us to read larger text like that at times good morning great to see you my name is Matt one of the pastor's here and it's a pleasure to have you with us if you checked in to the livestream those of you the few here in the room too awesome to be with you happy Father's Day to all you dads who are a part of this church community you're so thankful for you thankful for the call as NAT said that God has on your life incredibly high calling for you to lay your lives down for your families and we're just we're so grateful for the way that you do that here with such grace and humility and strength and end and all that so thank you actually that call that you have on your life dad is is fits perfectly with our text that we have in front of us today so let me pray and then we'll get into chapter 9 so so spirit thank you for for the work you're doing thank you for your presence with us thank you Lord that you have that you have not only come for us to redeem us and set us apart and sanctify us but that even in these moments Lord that you're with us you are the God with us you're the God who sees us you're the God who is intimately acquainted with us in every possible way and you still love us you love us incomprehensibly in Jesus thank you for that Lord we ask today that you would apply these words to our lives to our hearts that we trust or we believe that you inspired the Apostle Paul to record these things that you that you kept them for us you you compiled these words and kept them for us and handed them down now to us as your sons and daughters in this time in place and so we just need you spirit to continue that work and speak to us through your word have your way we love you in Jesus name Amen so here's the here's our question I wanna start with a question it's a question spent on my mind a lot recently what does it actually mean to be a transformed person and what does it mean to be transformed why is it that you know the gospel of Jesus is that it seems so powerful to transform some people and then seems to lack so much transformative power and others like what's going on here why are some people seem so radically on fire and lit up for the gospel like even through history and and some just you know it just really struggle you know you know I I relate to that individually and personally you know for me I've known the gospel for a long time and feel like I haven't been transformed by the gospel you know to this point of my life the way that I'd really hope to have been the way that I want to be I've known Jesus for a long time and and I remember when I first encountered started encountering sort of the transformed types you know it was mostly in books when I was young I I met people like George Mueller and Corrie ten Boom and Keith Greene and Jim Elliott and Hudson Taylor you know and I just was so in awe so struck by these transformed people and then I got a little bit older and gotten two more the philosophical types like like a gust in and and Lewis and Schaefer and and and Tozer and you know these guys just think they rocked my world it was thrilling to read about these followers of Jesus who'd been so radically transformed by the gospel that they'd given everything their whole lives were flipped on their heads and they they were gonna they would go anywhere in the world they would do anything God called him to they would they would leave anything they had to just to follow Jesus just to make an impact for Jesus in the world and it just it just it is it plagued me with this question why are there so few of them and yet so many of us like why are there so few of these people we can point and go man look how transformed these people were I mean why is it how is that the exact same gospel can cause some to leave everything Trek to the middle of an Ecuadorian jungle where they give their lives and for others the gospel doesn't even seem powerful enough you know to get us to attend a gathering of the church I even when it's live streamed directly into our living room or a bedroom to our lab topic how is this possible what is happening here why does the gospel seem so transformative in the lives of some and then seem to lack so much transformational powers in others it's a question I think we really have to wrestle with today because you know Christian thinkers and philosophers tell us that you know we live today and in a post-christian culture charles taylor and and others like that have taught us and help us understand the reason that our culture today especially you know here in the pacific northwest the reason our culture rejects the news about Jesus out of hand has nothing to do with the fact that they deny his claims or even know his claim it's because there's a general sentiment in the air when it comes to the Christian gospel to the news that Jesus you know lived and died and rose to wipe away our sins to give us life in his kingdom forever there's a sentiment in the air just and it's just been there done that we've seen it that's what people think they think that we've seen we've tried the Christian experiment like we live today in a very different time than Paul did as he's writing to the Corinthians who'd never heard about this for we live in a time where we believe we've been there done that we've tried it and it failed and actually the Christian experiment was a danger to us societally you know today the gospel of Jesus isn't just seen as irrelevant but as impotent as powerless to actually affect change in a human life and this is why the soil of our culture is so corrosive to our faith this is why our society functions and it's been built on you know principles and structures that are intended to counter the Christian worldview it's why you know the Christian subculture of the 60s 70s and 80s and 90s is is dead now I mean thank goodness there's a lot there that we can we're happy to leave behind but the fact that those subcultures have now died it's why it's becoming more and more impossible all the time to be just a nominal follower of Jesus just somebody who follows Jesus in name only it starts to cost us something in a post-christian Christian culture like things are changing Westside all around us but that's not all that's change you see there's more that's changing here in the Pacific Northwest secular people are more open than they've ever been to the ideas about transcendence spirituality isn't just an abstract idea anymore this is now a real and legitimate lens for all of life respected scientists and astrophysicists are positing higher other dimensions as very real possibilities I mean the absolute self-assuredness of a scientific revolution is showing is some of its cracks and people are getting a hungry people all around us are getting a hungry but a hungry for what what are people getting the hungry for well for something real for anything real it's why we're chasing authenticity like nothing else we are hungry for something that could actually transform a real human life I mean not just band-aids and brand Jesus and building the church up like a business the world is not waiting to see if Christians can become influencers and YouTube celebrities we're not waiting to figure that out to find out no one's interested in that the world is hungry to know hungry to see if there is any real transformative power in this world any more this world our culture is ready for a new crop of the transform and we don't even need a lot we just need a few just a few and we exist around here our mission statement we exist to know Jesus and to make Jesus known and that's not going to be done you know through intellectual debates and arguments not going to be done you know by getting your friends out to a Christian concert or a conference or into a revival tent those days are gone it's not happening that way anymore now there's one thing that matters in a culture like ours if we're executing it properly looking at it and saying how do we build a bridge from the gospel to what people are hungry for today there's one thing that matters that can cut through the rest all the rest of the noise and that one thing is transformed lives people actually transformed by the love of Jesus and that's what I want to talk with you about today so in Chapter eight in Chapter eight we walk to the last couple of weeks cliff opened did a couple weeks ago and then I finished it off last week in Chapter eight we we saw as the Corinthians were asking Paul you know this question about food sacrificed to idols what do we do with this Paul and and we saw how Paul avoided the question actually went to the to the question beneath the question to help them understand that okay here's what you need to know love is greater than knowledge so focus on love here right lay down your rights for the sake of the weaker and then chapter 9 could be really easily summed up by saying you know this is Paul now holding up his own transformed life as an example of what he's talking about and I get you know for us as Canadians that sounds that seems brash that seems arrogant like Paul what are you doing this is not polite but this is actually you know you need to know it's actually the essence of all discipleship you know what we're gonna see in Chapter 11 imitate me as I imitate Christ this is the essence of discipleship that we actually live transform lives and then just say to other hey here here's how I'm living you know you to try this that's discipleship and what we'll see in this text there are three ways that the gospel will transform ah if we will just apply to our to our hearts before our behaviors I'll explain what I mean by that but three ways three ways the gospel will transform us three ways it'll move us he will move us from drudgery to joy we need this drudgery to joy from stewardship to reward and from self-interest to love so that's what we're going but we've got a lot in this text so we just need to understand Paul's argument so let me set up Paul's argument a little bit okay so what Paul wants to do as we've seen is he wants to use himself as an example of what it looks like to lay down our rights in love for those around us so he begins with four rhetorical questions in verses 1 & 2 he says am I not free am I not an apostle have a not seen Jesus our Lord are you not my workmanship in the Lord Paul saying hey Corinthians just so we're clear I am as free and as knowledgeable as any of you I also happen hey by the way to be an apostle meaning I was I've seen and was commissioned personally by the Risen Jesus so in case we're not getting this Corinthians I mean just the fact that you even exist as a group is evidence of my call that's why in verse 3 he writes this is my defense to those who would examine me so he set up who he is that's just the beginning because because he wants the Corinthians to understand that by virtue of the fact that he's a free man a knowledgeable man an apostle has seen the risen Jesus was commissioned by the risen Jesus there are some rights some personal rights for Paul that that come along with that which he goes on to illustrate with six more questions do we not have the right to eat and drink do we not have the right to get married is there only Barnabas and I who aren't allowed to make a living from our ministries what soldier serves at his own expense who plants a vineyard without eating its fruit who tends a flock without getting some of the milk in other words as a commissioned apostle of Jesus Paul had clear rights to make a living from his work a point that he goes on to emphasize in verses 8 through 14 he actually goes the Old Testament to take you know to back himself up here with commands from God in the Old Testament he actually looks forward to the words of Jesus that were handed down orally at this point words of using the New Testament and then in verse 12 he comes to his main point here's his main point verse 12 nevertheless we have not made use of this right but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ now this is key we endure anything instead of putting the obstacle in the way of the gospel okay so grab this church everything Paul has said already and everything he is saying here about this life of love is transformed life of love and the laying down of our rights everything he is saying he hangs on this one thing called the gospel the gospel so apparently this thing we call the gospel really matters it's important but what is it what is the gospel I mean how would you answer that question this might be a good exercise for you who are home with your families right now it's perfect Father's Day exercise I think you know dads you can go first and and just explain that it's to the family you know and so here's why I'm laughing because you know I have discovered over the years like wherever I've been doing ministry not that when I ask people when I sit down with them and ask them what is the gospel this crazy thing seems to happen and their minds just go just straight blank like there's nothing there there's nothing there and sometimes you get a word or two sometimes you get like well the Bible or you get Jesus or you get something like that but here's what I've started to do just because I'm such an empathetic you know sympathetic and kind of hearted loving pastor the thing that I've started to do is whenever I'm going to ask that question I always preface by saying hey so I'm gonna ask you a question but just so you know your mind is gonna go blank I don't want you to feel bad I'm gonna walk with you through it but it's kind of unfortunate isn't it that we have to do it that way I mean it's kind of too bad so we should know how to articulate this thing that Paul calls the power of God to salvation we should note how to articulate this thing that apparently are a whole lives hinge on and our salvation it hinges on I mean if we're gonna actually have any hope of knowing Jesus and making him known in our time in place we've got to get this one piece kind of straight so let's talk about the gospel okay the gospel comes to us in history the the it's a historical event it's something that actually happened his stories historians can point back to the time in the place when Jesus walked the earth when he was crucified and when reports of his resurrection started circulating this is a historical event all that we have in Scripture all the way through the Old Testament of the new is a historical event we can trace it archaeologically we see this happening unfolding in time and space the gospel is also though the meta-narrative of creation the gospel is cosmic and organic it's as big as the cosmos and it's as small as humble as a little baby born in a slum and Paul will actually give us you know a summary of the gospel in chapter 15 and we'll look at it at that point but you can summarize the gospel by saying this that the gospel is just simply this the gospel is the news that Jesus died for our sins that he rose from the dead conquering every one of our enemies so there is now no condemnation for those who believe in him but only everlasting life in his kingdom like that's the gospel it's very simple in fact you could just pause there and go back and memorize that couple of sentences that's the gospel and this gospel church is the power behind any deeply transform life I mean not just transformed enough to you know stop one day slow down in prayer prayer once upon a time and then move on I mean like a deeply transformed life to change us and how we see the world and how we see each other the gospel is the power of God to transform on that's what Paul's saying to live of life of love where we lay down our rights for each other like Jesus did for us means we live with the gospel at the center it's B means were motivated by this gospel you'd rather rather endure anything then put an obstacle in the way this gospel and when this happens and when the gospel moves you know to the center of our lives the core of who we are there's there's these three movements of transformation to take place let's look at the first one the movement from drudgery to joy where we it's starting in verse 4 15 where Paul writes he says this but I have made no use of any of these rights nor am i writing these things to secure any such provision for I would rather die it's a strong language from Paul I would rather die than have anyone deprived me of my ground for boasting so Paul says look the reason I don't make use of these rights even though they're mine is because I refuse to put anything in the way of the gospel and because I would rather die than have anyone take away my ground for boasting now you have to know that when he says boasting here this is nothing to do with pride this is a greek construction talking about rejoicing but not in self as one commentator points out the term boast refers to that in which one glories or to the basis of one's glory in and carries the idea of rejoicing it is a statement of sincere joy not pride in other words Paul is saying look the reason I lay down all my rights is joy Corinthians the reason that I'm calling you to lay down your rights for each other is joy I mean such intense joy that I would rather die such intense joy that I would rather die than have somebody take it away from me now this is a struggle for me this is a struggle for me because I am prone to melancholy and a depressive personality I've been that way my whole life my whole life in fact you know when I was 8 when I was just small like small and all the way through my life there's been this thing with me I I get really stuck I get really stuck in myself really stuck emotionally and I just I just withdraw I go off and I get away by myself and I I will go away and just like be with the Lord and those are some really really sweet times and I love it but it's but it's also this thing that makes it tough for me to really understand joy for me to really grasp joy I mean I've tasted it like I've tasted it sometimes I taste it you know when I'm preaching I tasted at various moments it hits me but it's pretty fleeting and I found in my own life that like I'm more comfortable in and you know that in the in the times of silence and solitude with the Lord where there's like a bit of a wait and I'm going to him and I'm just needy I'm desperate for him and I just feel that and there's and I'm just more comfortable there because joy I just feel like I can't trust it the same but I want to be transformed like that's not a good biblical picture of how to walk with the Lord long-term I want to be transformed I want to be changed there's a whole lot more transformation that needs to happen in me I mean you know I think that's my call as your pastor I think my call is your pastor is just to let all that stuff hang out I'm not supposed to be you know a perfect one you know getting this all right and straight this is just a call for us to try to do it together just to try to do it together and that is great great great joy for me although I wish you were in the room I miss seeing your faces that is for sure like Mark said so I want to be transformed just like Paul was something happened to Paul we talked about last week right but something happened to this guy and it flipped his whole life on its head something had gotten ahold of Paul and transformed him to the point where laying down his life and his rights and his personal preferences and his comfort and his security it had nothing to do with drudgery nothing to do with obligation because it was all pure joy and we know what happened to him and what happened to him was the gospel the gospel happened to Paul but it's not Saint enough because you know a lot of us know the gospel some of us even paused you know the video and now you can say the gospel I can't wait to ask you what is the gospel and here you just articulate it like that but but we know the gospel and and but for many of us you know the implications of walking it out we read these we come to text like Corinthians and it's like the implication of this still feel like drudgery not joy so what's going on with us I think you know one of the things that's happening is that you know there's there's a primary mistake I think that we can make with the gospel it's really common we do it all the time and and it's this you know we we can it's so common for us to hear the gospel and then want to respond to the gospel in the way that we try to respond to the gospel as we we try to apply to our behaviors long before we ever applied to our hearts we want the gospel to change what we do and how we live but we forget actually to just apply it to our hearts just to sit in it and just to understand what this means and just to let it change our minds we forget that we're meant to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds means we just have to sit in it we have this sit with Jesus we have this sit with an open Bible and not try to rush through it just sit there and apply it to what we're experiencing that's what we're going through to what we're feeling in fact you know we can go decades knowing the gospel working like crazy to apply the gospel to our behaviors and actually never apply it to our heart Tim Keller is famous for putting it like this he says the operating principle of religion is I obey therefore I'm accepted by God so there's a behavioral trends like there's a behavioral transformation change and therefore God accepts me that's that's how religion operates whereas the operating principle of the gospel is I am accepted by God and therefore I obey and it's this acceptance of God it's this love of God for us evidence through his son it's this perfect righteousness that you've been given that the God looks at you and sees you as as as justified there is therefore now no condemnation for you none not now not in the future there is none coming for you if you're in Jesus you are accepted fully and completely and if we would just let that sink in just let it let us let let ourselves feel it to apply to our hearts we don't even need to worry about our behaviors they follow suit and it's really important you know because it's operating principle of religion it you know it it does a couple things to us so for some people you know what it does primarily is it it puts us in a position where we begin to barter with God we now want to barter with him and so and so that that will look different depending on who you think is getting the better end of the deal in the exchange right so if you think you know today Jesus is really lucky to have me on his team I use lucky because you're not a good theologian anyway he's just joking sorry that was rude but if Joe cheese is really lucky to have me on his team and so therefore you know Jesus I will follow you as long as my marriage goes well as long as my career continues to progress as long as I feel this way as long as I experience this thing as long as she marries me I mean what I fill in the blank whatever it is for you but you know you begin to barter that way if you see yourself getting you know sort of the shorter end of the stick in the deal you want Jesus to live up to it and you're in your bartering with him and and and and that's and that's kind of easy to diagnose at least in other people like it's easy to see it's easy to diagnose it's easy to say hey well you know you're not getting the core of the gospel you're missing it but there's actually a far more subtle as I was thinking of praying about this and about us you know thinking through this thought this week I there's a far more subtle way this works out in our lives and and that is those people who you know they look at the gospel and they look at what Jesus has done for them and they're just in all of it they're in all of it the problem is when they look at themselves there's just nothing but despair when they look at themselves there's just nothing but they just see nothing but inadequacy and failure so this too is a bartering relationship but now if the roles are reversed now these people are going around saying hey Jesus okay I'm doing my best to try to live up to this thing that you did for me I'm doing my best to somehow you know become worthy to make myself worthy of it so you know these are the people who sit in sackcloth and ashes on a regular basis and actually never move from the foot of the cross you know to the rejoicing of the resurrection they never actually make that transition from repentance to this victorious life living with Jesus full of his spirit because they too are bartering with God and so really it's a much more subtle version of this religious operating principle but however this works for you I mean both of those systems and anyone else trying to mix the gospel with religion it means that drudgery not joy drudgery is at the core of your relationship with Jesus it's hard work fine I will do it as long as you hold up your end Jesus fine I'll do it but I'm probably just gonna fail like every other time and church I mean there's just no transformation in that there's just no transformation there there's only stagnation this is why so many of us feel utterly stuck this is why we want to push back constantly on the implication of the Gospels laid out for us in this Bible well we want preachers we want to accumulate for ourselves preachers and teachers to you know to tickle our ears and to tell us just what we want to hear because we don't like hearing what this has to say and it's because it's already too hard it's already too much the religious operating system is already demanding way too much and we can't take it anymore so you need to hear me on this you got to hear me on this the message of the gospel is not that Jesus lived died and rose so that you could hold up your end of the deal he didn't live die and rise for you so that you could hold up your end relationally and sexually and financially and in your family or in your devotional life that is not the gospel no remember the the gospel is the news that Jesus that Jesus died for our sins he rose from the dead conquering every one of our enemies you have no enemies left with any teeth so there is therefore now no condemnation for any who believe in him but only everlasting life in his kingdom you are set free you are secure you have assurance your life is is fixed your eternity is fixed you just have to let yourself experience it you got to apply it to your heart before your behaviors the other way is just religion and it will destroy you and it will mean drudgery and so you know you can assess yourself here like I've been assessing myself if there's drudgery in your life with Jesus there's a religious operating principle at work in you somewhere go find it I take 10 minutes a day and just sit with him and ask him to search you and didn't try to discover it but this is how Paul this is how Paul instead of any drudgery looked around and just saw opportunities for greater and greater joy he wasn't trying to earn or barter or make himself worthy no Paul knew he was the chief of all sinners and that Jesus accepted him fully and completely this is how he loved it's how he gave his life it's how he laid down his rights this is how he was transformed and this move him from drudgery to joys on the table for us to you're known fully you're known fully you're seen completely there's nothing hidden you're already exposed don't be afraid if you're in Jesus He loves you in comprehensively he knows you completely and loves you in comprehensively you have to let that sink in anything else that you're experiencing any shame and he guilt any weight the discouragement the apathy the weight the drudgery these are lies these are embedded in lives you've got to allow him to search you and show you what those lies are so you can demolish them with the truth of the gospel of the Gospels keep repeating that gospel to yourself until your heart starts to feel it so you're in you can be welcomed into the family of the king who died for you while you were his enemy it's the gospel you're invited into a relationship with the Creator who isn't impressed by you isn't in love with some future version of who you might become Jesus is not asking you to live up to or try to earn anything he's just asking you to hold out your hands and receive just a hold of your hands say okay I need that I need that I need that that's all that it is this is the entire Christian life that's why the gospel is moving from drudgery to joy we'll move faster now second it's also movement from stewardship to reward let me show you what I mean verse 16 Paul writes for if I preach the gospel that gives me no ground for boasting for necessities laid upon me woe to me if I do not preach the gospel for I do this of my own will I have a reward but if not of my own will I'm still entrusted with a stewardship what then is my reward that in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel okay so Paul was given something to steward every Christian has been giving something to steward when we come to experience a love of God in the gospel of Jesus we become stewards of that gospel carriers of it right we're now we're now ambassadors of the coming kingdom for the coming king we are we are missionaries and when we've been called with we've been given this Ministry of reconciliation is what we're doing in the world we have something to steward here but stewardship is never where we were meant to stay now as the gospel gets hold of us and begins to transform our ordinary lives we start to move way beyond stewardship we start to move and chase reward now we've talked a lot about rewards before we said we've seen it in Jesus you know talked a lot about rewards in the Gospels but what's interesting about these verses that Paul is not talking about eternal rewards here he's talking about the rewards that come to him in the laying down of his rights in his preaching he says his reward is in not after but in presenting the gospel while laying down his own personal rights Paul is telling us that he gets a reward not later but now when he lays down his rights for the sake of the gospel Anthony thistleton great commentator puts it this way Paul's reward is not some external return that he receives in consequence of a personal sacrifice it is the joy that this renunciation of Rights gives him in in for its own say here's what this means as Paul applied the gospel to his own heart and then went on living it as a pursuit of more joy he was rewarded by Jesus on the spot he was rewarded by Jesus as he went as he went he was rewarded while he was shipwrecked and in prison and beaten and stoned hungry homeless and criticized constantly by the people that he poured his life out for but but what kind of reward Westside I mean what kind of reward could make all of that worth it what kind of reward can maintain joy in the midst of those circumstances well I said it's just the reward of knowing Jesus it's just the reward of knowing Jesus knowing Jesus is how we move from stewardship to reward no one's stewards knowing Jesus you receive knowing Jesus as a reward it is the greatest reward the greatest thing in this world you can ever taste and if you've ever tasted that you know what I mean I mean I'm not just talking about knowing about Jesus I'm not even talking about being able to articulate the gospel really really well in all kinds of different ways with all kinds of different facets and dynamics and movements through Scripture I'm talking about actually knowing Jesus I mean actually you know moving through life where you sense the conviction of his spirit or you sense of voice saying hey this is the way walking it you sent someone saying hey go talk to that person share the gospel with them and you just step out in it and you sense his pleasure you just feel his pleasure you feel like you're operating the thing that is better than anything else because nothing it can never be taken from you and it's what you were built to do designed to do it feels like you're coming alive it is the reward I'm talking about the reward that comes when we lay down our rights knowing that we're following the footsteps of our king a lamb who is slain but the most powerful being in all the universe I'm talking about the reward to find that deep and elusive satisfaction maybe even joy in the middle of pain and unknowns and brokenness and what looks out really like disaster just because you're imitating him I'm talking about the reward that comes when you're done trying to earn or live up to or barter because all you want is life in Him and you know the only way you get that is just hands open it's the only way that that happens you have to stop trying to work for it you have to put your hands out and just receive it's a reward better than life knowing Jesus I mean it's a reward that nobody else can take from you I tasted this you know once when I was 20 and and my whole life changed on the spot some of you know the story but I mean it was a radical transformation and and I remember just saying to Jesus okay I mean I didn't have a lot of guarantees of how long my health was gonna hold up whatever I was in bed at the time and it was the first time I was in bed for about six months stint and I just said to Jesus okay you give me any strength it's yours you give me any breath it's yours and I've failed miserably at that I've taken a lot of strength back for myself a lot of breaths I've used to reject him and run from him but I've tasted it and I just want more you know it's for this reward it's for this reward that some of our brothers and sisters have gone and laid their lives down in the jungle or in prison or in marriage or in singleness or in their sexuality or by losing their jobs or by walking away from millions or by not eating food sacrificed to idols even though they had every right to it's this kind of reward that causes you to look around the world and start saying where can I lay down my rights instead of trying to push back on the sermon and go hey you know I don't well I don't think we should lay down our rights in this way or that way or what I think Matt that was a good point here but I think you missed it here and I think you know you yet see to this part of the text we didn't do this part if we would just stop for a second and allow the imperfect you know sermons to not get us all stuck and instead just open our hands and go okay Lord how do I respond to you I mean we would change this city we doesn't not even take it won't even take all of us just a few of us to do that we will change the city will change and we see this all the way through the Bible and the people of God it's why the old testement Prophet Hosea wrote this in Hosea 6:3 said let us know let us press on to know the Lord we can stop we can stop you know getting upset at each other for some people saying hey there's more to be had it's all the way through the Bible the people who know Jesus want more of Jesus people who know relationship with God want more of him they want more they want more they want more let's press on to know our God the Prophet says let's move into it let's not stick around on the periphery on the outside of the whole thing let's get after him let's not just be saved in a technical sense let's commune with the Living God you can commune with the Living God every one of us in this room can commune with the Living God nothing is held back from you can have it all let's give everything to find out what kind of life that would be I mean what kind of life would that be well what did he do with you what would he do with your gifts the natural ones the learned ones and the spiritual ones what would he do with your family what would he do with your money what would he do with your life and what would he do this is why Paul articulates the goal of his life in ian's 3:10 by saying that I made know him now Paul already knew him he says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and they share in his sufferings becoming like him in his death Paul wanted to share the sufferings of Jesus just like he wanted to lay down his rights why because he would rather die than anybody take his joy from him the reward of relationship with the divine is everything this world can give you on the other hand religion and the religious operating principle limits itself to stewardship religion has no reason to move beyond obligation we just stick with obligation the religious operating principle means that you know we we just want to know okay hey what's so I'm in the club I'm in the club uh you know I've been to the members class as well it's pretty good of me I signed the document I'm in now what is the minimum standard that I need to keep this thing alive that's religion but the gospel is different the gospel moves us to press on to know the Lord and we do that in in primary sense by loving each other the gospel is powerful enough to change us if we would just let it sink in just let it sink in Jesus God Himself he became a man he died for you for your sins to wipe them away he rose from the dead to conquer every one of your enemies so there's now no condemnation for you there's no condemnation for you there's no condemnation for you you do not have to be afraid there is no condemnation for you but only everlasting life in its kingdom starting like when you came to him more now today and that's why the gospel is moving from drudgery to joy stewardship to reward and lastly from self-interest to love so we've looked at this last couple of weeks we won't spend a lot of time here we only have a couple minutes left but just a couple closing thoughts based on what Paul says in verses 19 to 22 where he writes I'm free from all I've made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them to the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews to those under the law I became as one under the law though not myself being under the law that I might win those under the law to those outside the law I became as one outside the law not being outside a law of God but under the law of Christ that I might win those outside the law to the weak I became the weak I became weak that I might win the weak I've become all things to all people that by all means I might save some I've become all things to all people that by all means I might just save some Paul gave up self-interest when he came to know Jesus he his life was no longer his own because it was bought with the price I mean everything he gained he counted his loss for the surpassing worth of just knowing him his eyes were up his eyes were fixed on Jesus that's what he saw that's who he saw that's how he lived I mean Paul was one of those transformed he was a George Mueller he was a Corrie ten Boom a Keith green a Jim Elliott a Hudson Taylor he tasted something so much better than anything else that he'd ever tasted he lost the taste for anything else what he tasted ruined him it was just so much better and Paul had done the religious thing like he'd done the stewardship he done the obligation done all that he was he was the highest heights of that world and then he tasted Jesus and it was over he was ruined and he got low and he laid his life down and he put away his rights he was changed and that man Paul was free to love to love others without needing them to love him back that's how Paul that's how come Paul was so radically malleable it's how he could become all things to all people he wasn't looking out for himself he was given all he needed in Jesus and ever since that point he was just here to love people into the kingdom matter what it looked like and then in verse 23 he tells us why I do it all for the sake of the gospel there's that gospel again we should know what that thing is hey that I might share with them in its blessings if you catch one line today catch this line the gospel comes with blessings the gospel comes with blessings it's why Paul closes our tags with this call to get after it to run the race in front of you not for a perishable wreath but around your neck but an imperishable crown we have talked about joy and reward that we receive here and now as we follow Jesus and layered the lives down for each other in love but as our text closes Paul wants us to remember there's a whole lot more coming there's more coming do you know that Jesus has promised those of us who love Him follow him know him that he's going to use us to restore all things restore this creation but do you realize that like all the good that we want to affect in the world jesus promised that you can do immeasurably more through him just by knowing him just by holding your hands out and receiving from him his love and this life applying this gospel just walking in freedom and joy and reward and love you can do more that way than you could ever imagine and then do you know that Jesus says hey and by the way you're going to restore all things I'm gonna use my church in this world I'm gonna restore all things we come to make a new heavens new earth bring a new city down and then you and then Jesus says you're actually gonna reign with me you're gonna reign this new kingdom in this new creation alongside me do you know that Jesus promises this to you jesus promises that we will reign with him and his new kingdom on earth this is the everlasting life in this kingdom part of the gospel and it's such good news because it means that we are not in any danger of missing out on anything as we lay these lives down there is nothing that you could lose as you lay your life down that won't be paid back to you infant Limor exponentially more there is nothing your life is short you've got maybe 80 or 90 years that is nothing it's a blink of an eye and most of us are halfway there already right I mean that's to say we could you could walk outside today and get hit by a car there's no there's no telling when this life is up when your time is up or mine is up like there is nothing stopping us from giving all of it to Jesus there's nothing stopping us from applying this to our hearts and saying okay geez what do you want to do how would what would transform life look like I mean the only danger for us is that we would miss out on joy like indescribable joy if we don't I love the way Dallas Willard puts it when he when he writes this he says we have the opportunity to create something incredibly precious and good we have the opportunity to create something incredibly precious and good and God is going to bring it to pass God will fulfill every word he has spoken no word returns void he said he would build his church he said the gates of hell wouldn't prevail against that God is doing this God is going to bring it to pass if we miss our chance to participate with him we miss our chance but he's not going to be defeated in this he is going to Westside he is going to create a community of loving creative intelligent loyal faithful powerful human beings and they are going to rule the earth this is what the Bible says it is going to come to pass if you want to be a part of that just get on board so here's my encouragement if you have eyes to see if you have ears to hear if there is something stirring within you and you can look around and see an opportunity to lay down your rights and love somebody just go after it if you can take ten minutes today ten minutes tomorrow and every single day maybe that ten minutes turns into an hour maybe two - who knows maybe you start waking up at 3 a.m. like our brothers and sisters through history have done just so they can be with Jesus while it's still quiet I mean they had kids - they usually had like 35 of them just to be with Jesus they would put themselves through that because hey that joy was better than life itself I mean just get after it this is your time this is where your call comes to pass we join him Church as we apply the good news of his gospel our hearts we join him as we sit back and rest in his love for us as we lay down our lives for each other in love as we consider others more significant than himself other than ourselves as we choose his promises over the promise of the world if you haven't surrendered to Jesus yet I mean if you haven't come to him yet I mean we want to come around you we want to walk you through that text Jesus - the number in the description and we'll put some people around you to welcome you into the family and walk you through that our post Christian culture is ready we're ready for a new crop of transformed people we're ready for it we're ready for a church that has moved from drudgery to joy from stewardship to reward from self-interest to love we are ready we are ready to know Jesus and make him known so let me pray for us and then we'll respond together so Lord would you please apply these words to our hearts just how you want to anything of me and I said Lord not of you just take it away just let it fall to the ground and just just don't let it distract us God please give us your word spirit what you want to say to us change us we are your people Jesus thank you that you died for our sins thank you to you rose from the dead you conquered every one of our enemies thank you Lord that there is no condemnation for us but only everlasting life of your kingdom may we enjoy this good news in your name amen [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Westside Church

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Keywords: westside church, jesus, vancouver, church, gospel, mission, truth, grace, bible, teaching, preaching, sermon

Id: NnKx-WOER0w

Length: 54min 5sec (3245 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 21 2020