1 CORINTHIANS 9 RUN TO WIN AN IMPERISHABLE CROWN2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Corinthians 9 Run To Win An Imperishable Crown

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, run to win an imperishable crown. Paul here at the end of chapter 9 uses this illustration of a race.

It's a very popular and famous passage, really. It's one that you've heard and studied before, I'm sure. And so it's not one that is unfamiliar to us or strange to us to read or to hear about. And yet at the same time, I think as I read through this passage, what typically enters through my head is

The first things that enter through my head as I read through this passage is different than what the passage is actually about. Not that it doesn't apply or is wrong, but I typically read through this passage and I begin to think about spiritual disciplines.

As you think about running to win that imperishable crown. And Paul talking about how he disciplines himself. And he wants to make sure that, you know, after he's done all of this ministry that he's not disqualified. You can think about, all right, yes, I need to run to win. And so I need to really be working on my relationship with God and spending time in devotions and be disciplined and devout in my daily prayer times.

and be focused on those things that would develop me and draw me near to the Lord. Or another avenue of thought that goes along with that in this passage, and thinking about running to win and not being disqualified, it's like, oh man, I need to avoid sin. I need to stay away from things that really trip me up in the race and would cause me to stumble, and things that would cause me to be disqualified.

this passage might kind of stir us up to ministry. Like, yeah, we need to be getting to work and really engaging in the race and being part of the work of God and the ministry of God. And certainly there's room for the Lord to speak to all of those areas through this passage.

But this evening, I want to kind of tackle chapter 9 a little bit differently and work our way backwards through the chapter. So we're starting here in these closing verses, but to a little bit understand the context better, work our way backwards through the passage, backwards through the chapter to fill in some of the gaps and help us to think about and understand the passage in a different light.

Here, as Paul talks about the race, he's using athletes as an illustration. And he's saying, look, they limit themselves in some ways. In verse 25, he says, everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. And they do it to obtain a perishable crown. They limit themselves. They're disciplined. They're focused. And they limit, you know, what they're involved in, what they eat, what they consume, what they engage in. They limit themselves in many ways.

But then also as they're preparing to compete in the race, they push themselves in other ways. And so in some aspects of their life, they're pulling back, they're bringing in the reins and being strict. In other aspects of their life, they're stretching themselves and pushing farther and harder to progress in other areas. And Paul is using this illustration to essentially tell us as believers, this is a model for us.

Believers, we ought to be limiting ourselves in some ways. There are some aspects of life, some aspects of our existence and the things that we go through, the things that we're involved in, the things that we engage in. There are some aspects of our life that need to be brought back in, reined back in, that there needs to be some temperance and there needs to be some limiting of the things that we do. But then there's other areas of our lives where we need to be stretched.

And not just stay, you know, where it's comfortable and not just stay in the same path or same pattern or same condition where we have been, but to grow beyond, to stretch beyond for the glory of God and for the kingdom of God. And so Paul is using this example and using himself as an example to say that this is how we as believers are to be.

And I would remind you that Paul here is writing to the church of Corinth. This is not a letter to Timothy, you know, a letter to Titus, you know. This is only for, you know, specific ministry roles or something like that. But this is for the church. He says, this is what we ought to be doing. Run in such a way that you may obtain that imperishable crown. And that's going to involve some limiting things.

some restraining, some withholding of things in your life. And it's going to involve some pushing and stretching and growing in some other areas in your life. Now, as he talks about being disqualified there at the end of verse 27, I want to just...

kind of make sure that it's clear that we understand Paul here is not talking about when he talks about becoming disqualified he's not talking about losing salvation or something of that regard he's talking about the reward for the race being disqualified out of the race doesn't make you no longer a citizen of the kingdom right it it disqualifies you from the reward of the race but

It doesn't change your citizenship. And so what Paul is talking about here, as he's talking about being disqualified, he's talking about the idea of us being in a race with other believers. And in the context here, chapter 9 of Corinthians is sandwiched right in between. You're going to be very surprised about this. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 comes right before 1 Corinthians chapter 9. And then 1 Corinthians chapter 10 comes right after 1 Corinthians chapter 9. It's like shocking theology, I know.

Chapters 8, 9, and 10 all go together. It's a package deal where Paul is dealing with a few different little things, but they're all tied together in the concept of Christian liberties and specifically those liberties becoming a stumbling block.

In chapter 8, he clarifies this and, you know, establishes the case and begins to talk about it. In chapter 9, he develops it a bit further using himself and this race and some other things as an example for us, for us to be able to understand what he's talking about. And so if you can think about it as a race, if you and I are in a race and we're running side by side and I trip you and then I win, I don't get the prize, right?

right? I'm disqualified because I tripped you. Now, even if I tripped you accidentally, I'm still disqualified, right? If I impede your race, whether intentional or not, I'm disqualified. I don't get the prize even if I was the fastest runner. This is the idea that Paul is talking about. He's talking about our relationship with others around us. And if we cause others to stumble, we don't get the prize, right?

We can't run to win the imperishable crown and be causing other people to stumble because it disqualifies us from the race or from the reward. And so again, Paul's not really dealing with salvation. He's talking about loss of reward. He's talking about losing out on what could have been in our pursuit of the things of God and for the glory of God. The commentator F.B. Meyer puts it this way.

It says, Paul had no fear of being rejected from God's love, but he feared lest God, who had used him so wonderfully, should cease to do so and should cast him aside in favor of someone more unselfish, more pliant, more free from that which would excite prejudice. Paul's fear here of being disqualified wasn't that he would no longer be, you know, in God's presence or in God's love, but he loved being part of the work of God.

And so he's saying here, I work hard to press forward and pursue that imperishable crown so that I'll continue to be part of the work that God wants to do. That I wouldn't be set aside because, well, I cause too much trouble and I bring too many problems and I bring too much hurt and affliction and difficulty in other people's lives.

And so run to win an imperishable crown. But as we consider this chapter, let's consider it in light of the things that Paul is addressing here in chapters 8, 9, and 10. So as I said, we're going to kind of work our way backwards through the chapter. And so for the first thing for us to consider, first point for us to consider, and how to run to win that imperishable crown, we're going to look at verses 19 through 23. Point number one, verses 19 through 23. Here's point number one. Run to win...

by serving people. To win that imperishable crown, Paul says, here's what I'm doing. I'm serving people. Jumping into verse 19, it says, for though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all that I might win the more. And to the Jews, I became as a Jew that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law.

to those who are without law as without law, not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak, I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be a partaker of it with you. Here again, Paul is using himself as an illustration.

He's saying, look, this is what I do. This is my approach to ministry. And he says, though I am free from all men in verse 19, again, he's dealing with and addressing liberties that we have in Christ, rights that we have as believers in Christ. I'm free from all men. I'm not under bondage in that way. I have lots of liberty in Christ. And yet, he says, I've made myself a servant to all that I might win the more.

Now in chapter 8, Paul is specifically dealing with the idea of meat that is sacrificed to idols. And so he's talking about this contention, this issue that was happening within the church.

And Paul says, look, when you know the truth theologically, you know that it's not really an issue to eat the meat that's sacrificed to idols because there are no other gods except for the one and true living God. And so, yeah, it's not really a problem.

And in fact, it could be a good deal because if you ate the meat that was sacrificed to idols, well, it was cheaper in the marketplace than it was if it was meat that had not been offered previously to a false god. And in the...

you know, temples to these false gods, they would be offering these sacrifices. And then they would also be serving, you know, the meals that would come from this. And so Paul is describing the situation where he, if somebody who doesn't understand all the details about that, and it's an issue for them, this idea of meat that's sacrificed to idols and, oh no, I could never partake of that.

If someone whose conscience is conflicted about that, if they walk by the marketplace and they see you in the marketplace eating that meat that was sacrificed to an idol, then they're going to be hurt. They're going to be wounded. They're going to be stumbled.

And so there was this issue that was going on within the church at Corinth. And so he's addressing that situation, again, talking about Christian liberties. You have the freedom, the liberty, the right in many ways to partake of that meat. But at the same time, there's some problems that it presents. Now, Paul also addresses this subject in Romans chapter 14. And so there's a lot of things that we could consider in regards to Christian liberties.

There in Romans chapter 14 is the verse where Paul said, let each one be persuaded in his own mind. So talking about, hey, I'm going to worship the Lord on this day versus that day, or, you know, I want to pursue this versus that. And there's a lot of room for us as believers to have freedom in Christ, to do things differently, to make decisions according to what the Lord is putting upon our hearts. We have great freedom in Christ. We're not under the law, but we need to be careful that

that we use our freedom to serve and not to stumble. And so Paul says, to the Jews, I became as a Jew. Even though I'm free from the law, I'm not under the law like I used to be. But when I was around the Jewish people, I would minister to them as a Jewish person. And I would serve them in that way. I would meet them where they're at, he says, so that I might win the Jews. I wouldn't necessarily, you know,

flaunt my freedom in front of them and be offensive to them because hey we have freedom in Christ or you know even believers you know who were experiencing those things that that I would be offensive to them but but he's saying no no I became like them in order to win the Jews to those who are under the law I became as those who are under the law but but then as I went to those who are without the law and the Gentiles well I approached them differently and so you know Paul would

bring about the ministry and the gospel in a way that was appropriate to the people that he was ministering to. He says,

to those who had some hangups and some difficulties and some issues, he wouldn't come to them scowling like, hey, what's wrong with you? Why don't you get up already and stop being so weak? Why are you so emotional about these things? And he wasn't bullying them, right? And saying, no, no, instead he would come as weak with compassion, right? He'd be able to come alongside to those who were weak. And he's just giving these out as examples, but hopefully it gives us the idea and understanding that

that our goal is to not push people away, but to bring people in, to serve people, to come alongside in a way that is helpful and beneficial. He says, I became all things to all men that I might by all means save some. And I do this for the gospel's sake, Paul says. This is a great example for us as we consider how to run to win. Again, do you not know that those who run in a race all run

but one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may obtain it. Paul says, serve people in such a way. Come alongside people in all types of different categories, in all types of different walks of life, in all types of different genres or whatever other kind of group of people there is. Come alongside people and serve them in a way that you would be able to win an imperishable crown. Paul says, I'm free from all men.

I have all kinds of rights and liberties, but my goal here is to serve the people that are in front of me, that are there before me. And so I'm not necessarily going to exercise all my freedoms. I'm not going to necessarily, you know, demand all my rights. I'm going to...

limit myself like an athlete limits himself. I'm going to restrict myself. I'm going to stretch myself in other ways where, hey, maybe I'm not comfortable, you know, approaching this person in this way or being like this or in these kinds of situations. But for the sake of the gospel, I'm going to stretch. I'm going to limit. I'm going to be like an athlete in that way and

to advance the kingdom of God, to further the kingdom of God, to win that imperishable crown. I'm going to do everything that I can to run to win. Well, moving on to the previous verses, verses 16 through 18, we get the second point to consider this evening. Point number two is run to win by faithful stewardship. Run to win by faithful stewardship. Here's what it says in verses 16 through 18. For if I preach the gospel,

I have nothing to boast of. For necessity is laid upon me. Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship, what is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. Paul says, if I preach the gospel, I don't have anything to boast of.

I don't have anything to boast about when I say I presented the gospel message. Paul says, because it's not really my decision. It's not really my choice. He says, necessity is laid upon me. This is God's charge in my life. This is what God commissioned me for. He says at the end of verse 17, I've been entrusted with a stewardship.

We talked about stewardship on Sunday in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. What's required of stewards? That they be found faithful. And like Paul, every one of us are stewards. That is, a steward was a servant who didn't own anything, but was entrusted with all of the master's resources and commissioned or charged with fulfilling the master's will with all of those resources.

And you and I are stewards in that we have been given gifts. We've been given time, energy. We've been given opportunities. We've been given resources. And they're not ours. They don't actually belong to us. Even our own life and our own breath doesn't belong to us. We're stewards. It all belongs to God. And our responsibility is to fulfill the master's will with all that he's given to us.

And that's what Paul is saying here. Look, I don't have anything to boast of if I preach the gospel because that's the necessity that God has laid upon me. He says, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. I'm a bad steward if I don't preach the gospel. I deserve God's correction in my life if I don't preach the gospel because that is what he's called me to do. Now, Paul goes on in verse 17 to say, look, if I do this willingly, I have a reward.

That's God's calling in my life. If I willingly participate and I say, all right, Lord, you want me to do this? I'm going to do it. And I'm going to run to win the race and I'm going to do my best. Paul says there's a reward that comes with that. Again, we talked about that a little bit on Sunday with the stewardship in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. There's an amazing thing that God does in commissioning us, giving us all the resources that we need to

And then rewarding us for doing what it is that he called us to do. If I do this willingly, he says, there's reward. But it's interesting that he also says, but if against my will. Do you ever do things that God asks you to do against your will? Okay, fine, Lord. I don't want to do this. You think about Jonah, right? I don't want to do this, but you sunk me in the bottom of the ocean and the inside of a fish. So fine. Okay. You twisted my arm. I'll do it.

And it was still God's commission to him. It was still God's charge to him to go to Nineveh. In a similar way, we were stewards. And sometimes we resist the will of God and we don't do what God calls us to do willingly. And so, like Jonah, God, you know, brings about a little bit of pressure, a little bit of persuasion. Pastor Chuck used to always say, you know, God won't

I can't remember exactly how he would say it, so I'm going to say it wrong, but you'll get the idea. God won't force your will, but he certainly has a way to make you willing, right? Like he won't force you to go, but he is able to work about circumstances in our lives that you'd be willing to go. Like Jonah, like, okay, fine. Now, if I do it grudgingly, okay, fine, I'm going to do it. Paul says, well, that's good because I've been entrusted with the stewardship.

So even if I don't do it with a good attitude and a good heart, and it wasn't like my joyful service unto the Lord, but I'm still responsible to do it, even if I don't like it. But if I do it willingly, then there's reward. And so Paul's here saying, either way, I need to be a faithful steward. Whether I'm willing or not, whether it's my idea or not, whether it's what I wanted or not, I need to be a faithful steward.

And so again, run to win by faithful stewardship. Paul says, do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. How do you do that? Be a willing steward. Don't resist the Lord as he's speaking to you, as he is putting things upon your heart. Don't be resisting and pushing away and running from the things that God is calling you to. No, run to win that imperishable crown.

Grasp hold, be willing, and reach for the reward that God offers for faithful stewards. Run to win. Involve yourself, engage yourself in the mission, in the call, in the charge that God has given to you. Well, moving on now to the next previous set of verses, verses 6 through 15, we get point number three, and that is run to win by laying down rights that hinder the gospel.

run to win by laying down rights that hinder the gospel. And this is a longer portion of verses. We're not going to cover all of these in detail, but jumping into verse six and seven, it says, or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? Whoever goes to war at his own expense, who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock.

Here, Paul is addressing this idea of ministers who work and ministers who don't work. There were some issues in the church of Corinth. There were those who were in the church who were saying, you know, Paul is not really a real apostle. He's not really a good apostle. And, you know, part of the way that you can tell that is because he was working for a living. If he was a real apostle, then he would be provided for by the ministry. But he wasn't. He was here in Corinth and he was making tents and

You can go back to Acts chapter 18 and see that Paul, as he gets into Corinth, he meets up with Priscilla and Aquila and their tent makers and they're working together. And Paul was working hard to provide for himself and not relying upon the people of Corinth to provide for him in the ministry that was going on there. Other apostles, other ministers were supported by the ministries, right?

But Paul in Barnabas, he says, is it only us who have no right to refrain from working? Is it only us that have to work? He's talking about the idea here, the right of ministers to be supported by ministry. And so he says, who goes to war at his own expense? If you're signed up and you go to battle, you're provided for, your needs are met. You don't go to war at your own expense. If you plant a vineyard,

you expect to partake of the fruit, to benefit from the vine keeping that you are doing. If you're tending the flock, well, you get to partake of the fruits of the flock. Paul goes on in verse 8 to say, Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does he say it altogether for our sakes?

For our sakes, no doubt, this is written that he who plows should plow in hope and he who threshes in hope should be a partaker of his hope. Paul quotes here from Deuteronomy chapter 25 verse 4 saying, look, God in his law established that don't muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain. If the ox is hungry while it's working on the grain, let it eat. You have the food right there. It's, you know, stomping on the food. It's appropriate. Don't muzzle the ox. Let it eat. Let it be provided food.

for by the work that it's doing. And Paul is saying, look, oxen can't read. That verse isn't for them. That verse is for us. That verse is for us to understand that it's appropriate for one who is working to participate in the rewards of that work. And so he says in verse 11, if we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?

So we've served you in a spiritual capacity. It's appropriate, Paul is saying, for us to benefit, for us to receive material things from you.

Now, we can think about this in regard to other, you know, service occupations, right? You go to the doctor and it's appropriate for the doctor to be paid for the services that's provided. Or a teacher, you know, that is tutoring you or teaching you or training you. It's appropriate for there to be a receipt of support, you know, for the one that is bringing this kind of service to you. You can think about a lawyer, a banker, a

I don't know what they're called, pedicure person, toenail painting person, you know, like it's appropriate, right? You pay them for the service that they're doing unto you. And Paul is saying, look, here we are bringing to you spiritual things, helping you grow and develop your spiritual life. Is it a great thing? Is it really, you know, crazy and weird that we should receive from you material things that we should be provided for by God?

those that we are ministering to. And the point is, no, it's not a great thing. In verse 12, he says, if others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless, we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. Now, others came into Corinth after Paul, and they claimed this right. And they said, look, it's right for ministers to be provided for by the ministry.

And Paul here is establishing that is right, that is appropriate. But Paul, in this occasion, he didn't use this right. He refrained from this right. He withheld himself. Now, again, going back to athletes, what do they do? They limit themselves in some areas and they press themselves in other areas, right? This is one of the areas where Paul said, I chose to limit myself. It's not that the right wasn't there. It's not that it wasn't right for me to provide it for.

I chose to limit myself to lay down that right. I have the right to be provided for by the ministry as I was among you. But I laid down that right because I didn't want to hinder the gospel of Christ. Paul is not saying that's always the case, that it's always a hindrance to the gospel of Christ. He was supported and provided for in other contexts and other situations. But there in Corinth,

Apparently the Lord had spoken to him and told him, here's a particular approach you need to have when you are in Corinth. And there's, you know, easy to understand scenarios in our minds, right? That others would come in and take advantage and try to fleece the flock. And so as an example, Paul said, I'm not going to receive from the ministry there.

But notice what he says in the middle of verse 12 there. He says, we have not used this right, but endure all things, lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. Paul says we didn't use this right, and it wasn't easy. It was costly. It was difficult. We had to endure all things. As you read through the book of Acts, and specifically in Acts chapter 18, and you see, like, he would work all night so that he could minister during the day, or work all day so that he could minister during the night. Like, he was...

engaging himself and burning the candle at both ends in order to be fully engaged in the work there at Corinth without receiving from them the support that was his right, but he chose to lay it down because of the hindrance and the danger of hindering the gospel of Christ.

Verse 13, he goes on to say, do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. Now, Paul goes back to, he paused and talked about himself for a moment, his example. Then he goes back to establishing the reality. This is the right.

in the tabernacle and temple scenario that God had established, those who minister at the altar, those who minister, the priests, the Levites, they would partake of the offerings that were given. You know, sometimes we think about offerings and we think about, you know, we picture the whole thing just being put on the altar. And there was...

a kind of sacrifice that was like that. But the majority of the sacrifices, there was just a small portion that was placed upon the altar. And the majority of the animal was then consumed and eaten. A portion of it was given to the priest that was offering the sacrifice. A portion of it was also taken by the family offering the sacrifice and they would have a meal together with it.

But the priests that were serving, they were provided for by the very offerings that they were offering unto the Lord. And Paul says in the same way, God has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. Again, he's establishing the right. It is right, it is appropriate for ministers to be provided for by the ministry. Paul has established this several different ways now.

But then again, he says in verse 15, Paul says, And I'm not writing this to you right now to tell you, hey, please send me money, right? Paul wants to make sure that's clear.

Maybe I'll just like tack on to that. Hey, I'm not sharing these things with you tonight because I'm saying you need to send me money. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 is where we are in today's reading in the Bible in three years. And so this is what I'm teaching, right? This is not a lecture on you need to give more. In fact, that's not what Paul is talking about at all, really. What's he talking about? He's talking about running to win. And he's using himself as an example and saying, look, I laid down my rights to

clear rights that I had established by God, it would have been perfectly fine for me to receive from the ministry in that way. But I laid down that right for the sake of the gospel because I was running to win the imperishable crown. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And I would encourage you to consider that.

And you need to be thinking about and praying about what rights do you have, put another way, what liberties do you have in Christ that you are free to do, that it would be perfectly right for you to do, but that you should not do for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the work that God has called you to, for the sake of the stewardship that you've been entrusted with. There are things in your life that you are free to do in Christ, but

There are rights that you have that maybe the Lord would say to you, you're free to do it. You have the right to do it, but don't do it. That's apparently what happened to Paul. He had the right to do it. It was appropriate for him to be supported by the ministry. But there in Corinth, he decided, no, what's best for me in this context, in this situation is for me to not receive, to not partake of this right, to not exercise this liberty, right?

I need to lay down this right to protect the ministry that God has given to me. That's running to win. Not insisting on our rights, not insisting on our liberties, not doing what we want, but laying aside those things for the sake of the call of God and the work of God in our lives. That's running to win that imperishable crown.

Well, finally, now moving on to the beginning verses, verses 1 through 6, it gives us point number 4. Run to win by laying down rights according to your ministry. This is closely related to what we just talked about, but just looking at it from a slightly different angle here. Verse 1 says, Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

Here at the beginning of the chapter,

Paul again establishes this foundation. I am an apostle. He's asking a series of questions, but they're not actual questions, right? He's establishing, I am an apostle and I am free. I do have liberties in Christ. I have rights as an apostle of Christ. I have seen Jesus and you are the fruit of my ministry. You're my work in the Lord, Paul says. And even if I'm not an apostle to other people, I am definitely an apostle to you

Because I was there. I ministered the gospel to you. And many of you came to Christ, he says, as a result of my ministry. And so in your midst and in this context, I am for sure an apostle. Again, establishing his liberties, establishing his rights. He says, do we not have the right to eat and drink in verse 4? Now again, this is flowing directly out of chapter 8, where he's addressing this idea of eating and drinking.

In chapter 8, he said, look, if eating meat causes my brother to stumble, I'll never eat meat again. I have the freedom. I have the right. I have the knowledge. I understand that it's not an issue to eat this meat. But if it causes my brother to stumble, even though I have the right, even though I have the freedom, I'm not going to do it. Do we have no right to eat and drink, he says? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife? Paul and Barnabas said,

Apparently, we're single guys on the missionary journey that other apostles, other ministers, he talks about the brothers of the Lord. He talks about Peter specifically. Like when they would travel and go on these mission trips and go visit these churches and do the work of the Lord, they would bring their wife along for the ministry. They had the right to do that. Paul says, do we not have that right? We didn't do that, but we had the right to do that.

He says, is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? Is it only the two of us? Everybody else, they have the right to be provided for by the ministry, but only us, we don't have that right. Everybody else can carry on their, carry along their wife for the journey and the ministry, but only us, only the two of us, we can't. Everybody else can eat and drink whatever they want and, and, and,

You know, only us. We're the only ones who don't have that right or that liberty. No, he's saying, look, we do have the right. We do have the liberty. But we behaved that way because that's the ministry that God has given to us. In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul talks about, hey, there's a benefit. If you remain unmarried, you are able to devote yourself to the things of God in a unique way. And so Paul said, look, I have the right to get married and bring my wife along the ministry, but...

That's not the ministry that God's given to me. And so I lay aside that right to pursue the ministry that God has given to me. I have the right to eat and drink, but I'm going to limit that. And again, like an athlete, limits themselves in some ways, right? They're temperate. They control their diet. They control their activity. They don't engage in certain things. And a similar way, Paul says, look, you're in a race and I'm in a race, right?

And I'm running to win that imperishable crown. I'm running to win that prize. And so I'm making choices according to the ministry that God has given to me, according to the stewardship entrusted to me. There's rights that I'm going to lay aside. I have the freedom to do it. I have the freedom to pursue that kind of lifestyle and the right to do so, but I'm not going to because I want to win the prize. Run to win an imperishable crown.

If you're going to do that, again, Paul's writing to the Corinthians, not just the Timothy, not just the Titus, right? He's writing to the church as a whole and he's saying, don't you know, those who run in a race, they all run in the race, but there's only one who receives the prize. And that one who receives the prize, they don't just accidentally win the race. They don't just, you know, like never think about it and just kind of like sign up that day and put on shoes that are wrong for the race and whatever.

Run anyways and wow, what do you know? I won the race. And what do they do? They have an intense focus. They're living their lives in preparation for the race, even before the race begins. And they're temperate in all things and controlling all kinds of different aspects of their lives. And then in other areas where they've limited down in some areas, they're pushing themselves farther and harder to stretch, to grow, to develop. So that then as the race takes place,

They're prepared. They're equipped. They're ready. They've trained. And they're pushing themselves. And they're working hard. And they're running that race with endurance to win the prize, to obtain the prize. Paul is saying, look, that's the way that you need to approach your life as a Christian, and specifically your life as a member of the body of Christ who's been given part of the work of God. You've been commissioned by God for the ministry. You've been commissioned by God for the ministry.

to accomplish the things that God has set before you. And so Paul says, you need to treat it like a race. There in Corinth, some of the people were not treating it like a race. Even though it was causing people around them to stumble, they're like, hey, I'm going to do what I want. I have the freedoms in Christ. I have rights to do it. I can do it. I know, you know, the theology that tells me that this is okay. But here it is tripping up all these other people and like a race. If I'm tripping up other people around me in the race,

Even if I run the fastest, even if I am right, I don't win the prize. Paul here is using this to tell us, to encourage us, to challenge us to consider our relationships with the people around us and our engagement in the work of the kingdom of God. Again, run to win an imperishable crown.

It's not just about, all right, you need to be devout in your Bible reading, devout in your prayer life, disciplined in your relationship with the Lord and seeking after the things of God. That is definitely a part of running the race and our walk with God that we need to be engaged in. But sometimes we can be so caught up and consumed with ourselves that we forget what else is involved in this race. There's a stewardship that God has entrusted to you.

You're a member of the body of Christ. As we continue to read through Corinthians, we're going to head into chapters 12, 13, and 14. Again, another block of chapters that all go together talking about the spiritual gifts and our roles in the body of Christ and the love that we're to have for one another that inspires us and encourages us to then exercise those gifts and serve one another in that way. Run to win by serving people, by meeting them where they're at, ministering to their needs.

Caring for them. And not being hard and saying, look, I don't care if it stumbles you. You're stumbled because you don't know all the things that you need to know. But if you knew all the things you need to know, you wouldn't be stumbled. And so I'm not going to be limited by you being stumbled by me. No, I'm going to do what I want to do. I was thinking about this today as I was preparing. It reminded me of this situation that was happening in Bible college back a long time ago when I was at the Bible college in Murrieta. And during worship, there would be all this...

distraction going on. And there was this one particular person that I knew that during worship would be doing all kinds of interesting hand motions and movements, not like sign language, but, you know, just like ribbon dancing without the ribbons kind of thing, right? And so I heard this person over and over and over again explain to people, look, if you have a problem with this, and if this distracts you from worship, that's your problem. That's not my problem. I have the right and the freedom in Christ to worship God this way.

And certainly there was the right and the freedom. And yet at the same time, we have to be careful that we're not so right about our rights that we're no longer right. Because now we're messing up others because we're insisting on our freedoms and our rights. Run to win by serving people. There's balance to this. That doesn't mean we don't do anything if somebody is going to say something about it, right? There's balance to this. But the heart, the heart is clear.

Is this an act of service? Is this out of love for others as you're engaging in this, as you're pursuing this right or this freedom that you have? Run to win by serving people. Run to win by faithful stewardship. God has entrusted to you. It's so valuable. It's so precious.

the gifts, the opportunities, the life that God has given to you, steward that life. It's not yours. It's his. Use those resources for his will, willingly. Don't make him twist your arm and throw you in a giant fish and, you know, bring you along. It's still your responsibility. It's still your role, even if you don't like it. So you might as well come to terms with it and say, Lord, I'm going to submit to you. I'm going to do your will willingly.

joyfully, willingly run to win by laying down rights that hinder the gospel. There may be a lot of things that you have the right to do. You have liberty in Christ to do, and it's no problem in the sense of it is not an outright sin. But still, perhaps the Lord would speak to you and say, you know, other people may do that. You might be able to do that in other circumstances, in other situations, in other seasons of life. But for right now, for this ministry, you need to lay down that right.

Well, but what about Peter? He brings his wife along. Okay, Paul, you have the right, you have the freedom, but that's not my call in your life. And you can fight against me on that, or you can go forward in the call that I have given to you. So lay down your rights according to the ministry that God has entrusted to you to protect the ministry and that you would not hinder the work that God wants to do. Athletes limit themselves in certain ways, in certain capacities.

And they push themselves and really stretch hard in other ways and other capacities for their sport to accomplish the win. Paul says that's a great example for us. Limit yourself. Pull back. Hold back. You have rights and freedoms that you need to lay down. But then in other areas of your life, you need to push hard and go far and stretch yourself and

for the glory of God to accomplish the work that God has set before you. Run to win that imperishable crown. Let's pray. God, I pray for each one of us that you would help us to see clearly in our lives the race that you have set before us. And Lord, that we would have a desire, Lord, would you fan a flame in our hearts, Lord, that we would be passionate about you and about your work in us and your work through us.

Lord, may we not be content to just make it into heaven, Lord, but that we would engage in the work, that we would engage in the things of the kingdom of God and be about our Father's business. And so, Lord, help us to run to win that imperishable crown, to glorify you by the way that we live. And Lord, that's going to involve loving the people around us, serving them, and restricting ourselves,

being unselfish, laying down our rights, laying down our freedoms, that others might be blessed and ministered to, that your name might be known and glorified. And so, Lord, help us to see those things clearly in our lives, the specific details. Lord, just like you had specific details for Paul in his ministry, Lord, would you show us, would you speak to us about the rights and the liberties of

that we need to withhold, that we need to lay down, and the ways that we can serve one another to accomplish your purposes. Help us, Lord, to run to win the race. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.