Gospel Commission

Let me invite you to turn. In your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 91 Corinthians 9, our purpose, as we've been telling you, in recent weeks through the weeks of this short series is to help people to journey from brokenness, the brokenness of sin to wholeness. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And there are 5 critical, points or elements of this journey from brokenness to wholeness.

And in the series we've already looked at the 1st 3 and that is gospel conversion, and then secondly, gospel centrality. Thirdly, gospel community and today we will look at the 4th aspect or element of this journey and that is gospel commission. Gospel commission and we, and looking at these elements of the journey, we have been tracking the life of the apostle Paul and we've been observing his journey from brokenness to wholeness through the gospel and we have seen how he was converted to Christ and we have also studied and seen.

In recent weeks, how Paul lived a life of gospel centrality.

2 weeks ago, we saw how he operated and lived his life in gospel community. And today we're going to see how Paul lived a life that was focused on fulfilling. The Gospel commission. That Christ had given to him.

And doing this is gonna be helpful for us because all of us have been given a commission, right? All of us have been given the great commission. And that is in Matthew 28 to go into all the world and to make disciples of all the nations. And Jesus continues on from that call.

but one of the things you'll notice as you read that passage in Matthew chapter 28, you'll notice that it doesn't just apply what we do to nonbelievers. Jesus says, go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations. Being used of God to turn nonbelievers, non-disciples into disciples of Christ. And then once they are saved disciples of Christ, Jesus tells us what to do with them.

He says, baptizing them. That's something we do to save people. And he says, teaching them to observe. All that I have commanded you that teaching is what we do for those who have already become saved disciples.

Actually, when you break down the different parts of. This great commission that Christ gives to us, you begin to realize that everything you do in your life as a Christian, that contributes to someone becoming a disciple of Christ, or That contributes to helping a fellow Christian become a better disciple of Christ. Obeying what Christ has taught, you are serving the agenda of the great commission that Christ gives to us in Matthew 28. I hope that's clear.

We have our great commission that is given to us by Jesus in a passage like Matthew 28, and Paul had his commission as well, according to 1 Corinthians 1:17. Paul tells us that Christ called him to preach the gospel. Literally that Christ called him to evangelize. That's the word that Paul uses.

He felt the call upon his life from Jesus Christ to be continuously evangelizing other people. In Acts 22:15, Paul speaks of how Jesus spoke to him and told him, the, the apostle Paul, that he will be a witness for him, for Jesus. To all men Which would include Jews and, and Gentiles. And from that point forward, Paul's life was all about fulfilling that commission, that calling that Christ had given to him.

And Paul made a staggering difference upon the world by giving himself to this task from Jesus. In fact, I, I want you to think about this, for a moment, the time span that Bible scholars give from Paul's conversion to his martyrdom is 34 years. In all likelihood, he had 34 years of his life as a believer. Seeking to fulfill the commission that Christ had given to him, yet in those 34 years Paul impacted the world in a way that even secular observers agree is utterly profound and unrivaled.

Several years ago, a secular historian. Named Michael Hart came out with a book entitled A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. He provided a list of the top 100 most influential people in human history, and guess where he, the secular historian, ranked the apostle Paul. He ranked him 6th.

He ranked Paul as the 6th most influential person in human history. A few years ago. The historical atlas of the Mediterranean developed its own list of the top 10. Most influential people in history and this resource, which is not a religious resource, ranked the apostle Paul as the 2nd most influential person.

In history, and they suggested in this book that 18.4 billion lives have been impacted in some way. By the apostle Paul over the last 2000 years, 18.4 billion. I don't know how they arrived at the 0.4 billion, but that's just a staggering number any way that you look at it. And as, as we think about that, we should realize that there were things that were very special about Paul.

He was an apostle of, Jesus Christ given. The ability to speak and to write divine revelation, he was able. To perform miraculous signs and wonders, we should also realize that God raised him up at a particular strategic point in history for this very unique role that We're not necessarily called to reproduce exactly like the apostle Paul did, however, There is a place for us to be curious about what makes a man tick. Who would have this staggering impact.

Upon the world that Paul did. I think all of us ought to think, how does a man think who wields this influence upon the world, because however he thought. I want to try to emulate that as much as I possibly can. So that I can impact the world to the full extent that God wants me to.

And fortunately, 1 Corinthians 9, the passage we're gonna look at today, provides us a chance to get inside Paul's head, to get inside Paul's heart, and observe how his thoughts. His ambitions. and his life were laser focused on fulfilling the gospel commission that Christ had given to him. We're not gonna look at everything in this text in detail, but with the time that we have, I want us to observe seven ways that Paul lived a concentrated life focused on fulfilling.

His gospel commission that Christ had given to him 7 ways, and the first of these ways is that he evangelized others without compromise. He evangelized others without compromise, or we can say it this way, he preached the gospel without apology or without compromise. Listen to what Paul says beginning in verse 16. And you might wanna mark these in your text.

He says, for if I preach the gospel, that's the Greek word evangelize, if I evangelize, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. That's again the word evangelize. Look at verse 18. What then is my reward that when I preach the gospel, that's the word evangelize.

I may offer the gospel without charge so as not to make full use of my right. In the gospel Just in those two verses, verses 16 and 18, we see literally, I evangelize, I evangelize, I evangelize, I offer the gospel. And Paul lived that. That was his obsession.

And remember, by the way, what it means to evangelize as we learned a few weeks ago from 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and 2, and Paul's practice to evangelize most often for him was to impart the gospel. To the lost and to the saved through the words he spoke, and through the person he was in relationship with them. This is how Paul evangelized. Paul preached the gospel, and he gave people through word, the gospel, and he also imparted to them his gospel laden life in relationship with them.

So that in the mind and practice of Paul is what. What he means when he speaks of evangelizing others. Paul did this knowing. Like preaching the gospel, knowing that this gospel message was offensive to many, but Paul preached it anyway because he knew that it was the power of God.

Into salvation that had the power to transform lives, and transfer people from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God. And turn people from being bound in their sins to being free from the guilt and the power of their sins. But Paul preached this knowing that some will believe and others will be offended by it. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 1:18, Paul says, for the word of the cross, that's the gospel, is to those who are perishing foolishness.

But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. In verse 23, he says, we preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling block, and that's the Greek word scandalon. It's a scandal To the conscience of the legalistic Jews, they stumble over this. And to Gentiles, he says it is foolishness, and the Greek word translated foolishness there is the Greek word we get our English word moron from.

So Paul knew this when he would come into any town. In any setting and began to declare the gospel and evangelize others, he knew that it would be a scandal to some and moronic foolishness to others, but he knew that there would be some who would believe and experience it as the power of God. Paul could have Thought this through and laid aside the gospel and preached a message that was less offensive and that perhaps fit better with the prevailing. Mood of the day and had he done so, he would have been utterly forgotten on the pages of history, right?

In fact, Timothy Keller, he, offers this as the key for having a forgettable ministry. So if any of you are interested in having an utterly forgettable ministry, you might wanna get out a pen and write this down. Here's Keller's advice look around at the prevailing culture and become just like it. And in 40 years, your ministry will be out of date.

That's what many people are doing today, and they will ultimately have utterly forgettable ministries. But Paul did not do this. He believed that he served his culture best, not by being like the culture, but by colliding against the culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.

The gospel message did not fit into the spirit of Paul's age, but Paul didn't care. He preached the gospel, and some got mad and some got saved, and this message that Paul was obsessed with preaching has touched and impacted every age since and here we are 2000 years later. Talking about him. His ministry is touching more lives today than it did when he was alive 2000 years ago, that's staggering.

This is why it is wise for us as a church and as Christians to stay focused on the gospel. And making it known. Why you in your life should be preaching the gospel to yourself and evangelizing others with that gospel the way that Paul did. There's another way that Paul lived his life with a focus on fulfilling his gospel commission.

I really wrestled with how to word this, but let's word it this way, he evangelized others for the sake of his own happiness. He evangelized others for the sake of his own. Happiness or joy. Listen to what Paul says in verse 16.

He says, for if I preach the gospel, in other words, if I evangelize, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion for woe is me if I do not evangelize. In verse 16, Paul is basically saying, if I evangelize, I don't even hardly think that there's any virtue in that. That should credit to my account. I don't even feel like I'm hardly making a choice.

I am driven to evangelize out of a sense of inner compulsion, a compulsion that must be satisfied. If this compulsion is not satisfied by me evangelizing others, then I am left miserable is basically the vibe here. In fact, notice what he says in verse 16. Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

Woe is me if I do not evangelize. And when we read that, like at first blush, it might sound as if Paul was afraid of some judgment down the road if he failed to evangelize. And there are commentators who suggest this that Paul was afraid of chastisement from God. One commentator goes so far as to write these words.

Let me read these to you and. Try to sift these words. As I read them and see what you think of them. He says Paul must preach the gospel of salvation.

If not, he would incur God's wrath. And its consequences. This commentator is suggesting that this is the woe that Paul feared if I don't evangelize. Then I will incur God's wrath upon myself.

And when I read that, I'm thinking really? Really, Paul was wonderfully saved by the grace of Jesus Christ into the grace of Jesus Christ, and he's now being driven to evangelize others out of a fear that if he didn't, he would incur God's wrath upon himself. I'm not sure that's what Paul is saying, which then leaves you asking what is he saying when he says woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. Well, for starters, realize that Paul is using the present tense here.

Literally he's saying woe is present tense me if I do not evangelize. In other words, woe is me right now. If I do not evangelize. That's literally what he is saying.

In the mind of Paul. In making the statement, he's not indicating that he fears some future woe of God's wrath or chastisement if he failed to evangelize others. In the mind of Paul, A life of not evangelizing was itself the woe. Does that make sense?

Paul is like a man. Speaking to a woman that he loves and who says, woe is me if I can't have you. What such a man is saying is that not having the woman he loves is itself the woe. His life is already a ruined life if he can't have this woman that he loves, and here in this passage, Paul is saying, woe is me if I cannot give the good news of the gospel to people.

Woe is me if I can't impart the gospel to the lost and to my fellow believers through the words that I speak and through the man that I am in relationship with them. A life wherein I cannot evangelize people with the good news of the gospel of Christ is a ruined life already. Socrates, I believe it was, said the unexamined life is not worth living. The apostle Paul would say that for himself, the unevangelizing life is not worth living.

And this belief is part of what drove Paul to live a life of imparting the gospel to others, both lost and saved. For the sake of his own satisfaction and happiness. There's another way Paul lived his life with a focus on fulfilling his gospel commission. Number 3 He found it rewarding to evangelize others for free.

He found it rewarding to evangelize others for free. In verse 17, Paul says something that at first glance might seem confusing to understand regarding evangelizing, he says in verse 17, for if I do this, if I do this evangelizing voluntarily, I have a reward, but if against my will or literally apart from my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. And as this passage unfolds, you eventually discover that what Paul is doing is he's explaining why he preaches the gospel to others and engages in ministry without charging for his services, even though he knew biblically he was entitled to that.

And to explain why he did this in verse 17, he's basically saying, there's two ways of looking at what I do, and both of them lead me to the same outcome.

In the first place, if I do this evangelizing voluntarily, meaning I do it because I want to, I have a reward already, and my reward is that I get to do this thing that I wanna do. Evangelizing others is in itself its own reward, Paula Singh. Does that make sense to you? Think about the things that you really wanna do.

And you voluntarily choose to do them because you want to do them. Do you expect some additional reward for doing those things? If you eat a delicious bowl of ice cream. Later today, do you call up someone and ask for compensation?

For them to pay you to do what you just did and eating this bowl of ice cream if you wanna take a nap this afternoon and you choose to do that because you want to do that, would you call someone afterwards and. Ask them to pay you for doing that thing that you wanted to do. I don't think you would, and that's how Paul felt about evangelizing others it was his favorite thing to do, so the doing of that thing was itself its own reward. He didn't require that.

The churches that he ministered to and labored at compensate him for evangelizing them through the words that he spoke. And through the man that he was in relationship with them. And by the way, I am thankful for so many of you in this church body who model that very spirit. Paul then indicates that there's another way of looking at his ministry here in this verse.

He says, but if I do this, in other words, if I do this evangelizing against my will, or apart from my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. And at first blush, this seems like an odd thing for Paul to say, but it makes perfect sense if we understand that Paul is pointing us back to his conversion and commissioning from Christ. Keep in mind that preaching the gospel is not something that Paul. was initially wanting to do with his life.

Paul didn't come to Jesus in Acts 9 and say, Jesus, I, I wanna evangelize others. Well, would you commission me to evangelize others, please? No, what you see in Acts 9 is that Paul was on his way to Damascus. To persecute Christians and de-evangelize them.

He was doing the exact opposite. When Christ confronted him on the road to Damascus and saved him and then called him, commissioned him to Spend the rest of his life preaching the gospel and evangelizing others. Christ's commission to Paul in Acts 9 came to Paul, apart from Paul's own will in the matter. Christ didn't ask Paul's opinion.

About this commission, Christ just told him what he was going to do from that day forward. And based on that, Paul viewed himself. As having been given an incredible stewardship. Of the gospel.

Even apart from his own will in the matter. He didn't ask for it, but it was placed in his hands by Jesus, and he knew that this gospel that was placed in his hands wasn't even his gospel. But it belonged to Christ, and Paul is saying, I didn't choose this calling, it was chosen for me. It's not even my message.

It belongs to Christ and it's all about him. I'm just passing along to people what is his. So no, I don't want to charge people for evangelizing them. With this gospel that came from him is all about him.

And is owned by him. Paul elsewhere in his epistles argues that he had the right to be financially compensated for preaching the gospel. He does this even, in First Corinthians, and he argued for that right. for other ministers, but he didn't demand compensation because he intentionally did not want to make full use of his rights in the gospel.

We find him in Philippians receiving a financial gift and being thankful for that, but he did not charge people to. Evangelize them. Through the words that he spoke and through the man he was in relationship with them. Looking back at our text here in 1 Corinthians, Paul continues in verse 18 and says, what then is my reward?

That when I preach the gospel, in other words, when I evangelize, I may offer the gospel without charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. Paul is saying here, my greatest reward in life is to evangelize others and to do so without charging money for it. That is reward enough for me. There's another way Paul lived his life with a focus on fulfilling his gospel commission.

Number 4, he evangelized others as if he owed it to them as their slave. He evangelized others as if he owed it to them as their slave. In verse 19, Paul says, for though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all that I might win the more. Paul was not Some celebrity preacher who viewed everyone as his slaves who served him, he did not view people as something for him to use for his own selfish purposes.

If anything, he viewed those he ministered to as his masters, and he viewed himself as their slave. Who owed them the service of evangelizing them through the words he spoke and the man he was in relationship with them, and he ministered to them from this posture. As a slave seeking their good and all that he said and did. Keep in mind that like back in this day, I don't know what the percentages would have been, but.

History tells us that many of those who were slaves during Paul's day were slaves as a way of paying off a debt. And so we're not surprised to see Paul speaking the language of indebtedness in passages like Romans chapter 1, and you could turn there if you want or you can just stay here and let me read it to you. In Romans 1 verse 14 and 15, Paul says, I am a debtor. Both to Greeks and the barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.

So for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel or literally evangelize you who are at Rome. The truth is we ought to think this way toward everybody that we know, whether they are lost or saved. We are in debt to them and being indebted to them, we are in a sense, their slave. Remember the proverb that the borrower.

Is the lender's slave. And the ultimate service that we render to others is to give them the good news of. The gospel And notice how Paul applies this sense of debt to the believers just in the church of Rome, saying to them in verse 15, so, in other words, so because I am a debtor for my part, I'm eager to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome. And we should feel.

The way Paul felt and what he expresses here, a sense of debt. To both the lost and the saved, and we should delight to be paying on this debt all the time. Whenever I stand up here to preach. I am your slave.

Indebted to you and what I owe you. Is the gospel. Whenever any of us teach you or preach to you what we owe to you. It's not entertainment.

Or to parrot the wisdom of this world. Or to champion the latest social cause. What we owe you, here's the debt that we owe you to give you the gospel. Of Jesus Christ.

In every counseling session, what we owe. To you and to one another is the gospel of Jesus Christ and our care group gatherings. What we owe to our fellow care group members is the gospel of Jesus Christ and our marriages, what we owe to our spouses is to evangelize the other through the words we speak and through the person we are in relationship with them. And we should feel a sense of debt to the people of this community.

We've got really amazing news, which is the power of God and the salvation which can transform lives for eternity. And we should view ourselves as slaves to the people of this community, and the primary service we can render to them is to make known to them the good news, the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, so that through Christ they can come to have their sins forgiven and be made right with God. This is the way Paul thought, this influential man who lived his life with a laser-like focus on fulfilling.

The commission that Christ had given to him.

There's another way that Paul lived his life with this focus on fulfilling his gospel commission. Number 5, he laid aside his personal preferences in order to win people to Christ. He laid aside his personal preferences in order to win people to Christ. Let me read verses 20 through 22.

Where Paul says, and to the Jews, I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews, and to those who are under the law, as under the law, though not myself being 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 the law of God, but rather under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without the law. To the weak, I become weak, that I might win the weak.

I have become all things to all men that I might by all means save. Some From the language here, it's evident that Paul was willing to flex on just about everything. Except The gospel. If you changed one thing about the gospel, he would pronounce a curse on you.

But on everything else, Paul was willing to flex in every way that he could. He was willing to dispense with all other traditions and practices. He was willing to give up any liberty that was his in order to open a door to engage lost people and saved people about Christ. Paul was absolutely rigid and inflexible on the gospel, but he held loosely to everything else.

On some occasions he was willing to give up his Jewish customs if it helped him to reach Gentiles who were present. On another occasion he was willing to have Timothy circumcised if that would help him to reach Jews for Christ. He was willing to eat ham with Gentiles. If that would help him to reach Gentiles unless it was something that.

Amounted to disobedience to the word of God, Paul prioritize those other things where they ought to be and was willing to flex in order to serve God's gospel purposes in the lives of other people. Also, you'll notice that in verse 22, he talks about how he behaves toward the weak. And guess who the weak are? They're Christians.

Read 1 Corinthians 8, the week. That he's speaking about are Christians with a weak conscience. So here Paul is saying that when he was with weak Christians who couldn't bring themselves to eat meat that had come, for example, from a pagan temple or when he was with Jewish Christians who felt obligated in their conscience to keep to Jewish festivals and holy days for whatever reason, Paul, as much as he could, would. Adapt himself to them so as to have opportunity to continue his mission of winning them for Christ.

And by the way, when, when Paul talks about winning people for Christ. In these verses, he's not just talking about getting people converted. He didn't just evangelize someone and then they called out to Christ for salvation, and then Paul would say, I have won you to Christ, my work here is finished. No, he's, he's talking about.

His desire in this passage to win people to Christ and help them to be fully devoted to Christ. And to mature in that devotion to Christ and to persevere in faith so that Paul might be able to present them to Christ in a future day. And the day of Christ being fully complete in him. So even when Paul was with Christians, he was still investing in them and seeking to win them for that day.

And it would be on judgment day before Christ and glory presenting them to him that Paul would say. I have won them for Christ. So this was a lifelong ministry of winning people for Christ in the day of Christ to be presented to him. But let me ask you this morning, what, what are, what are you willing to give up so that you might win people for Christ?

What things are in your life right now that you could do without in order to enlarge your capacity to reach more people for Christ? What are we willing to give up in order to have time to spend with people and to share Christ with them more effectively? What are you willing to give up so as not to cause unnecessary offense to people and thereby keep the door open to. Being able to engage them for Christ.

In his book Radical Together, David Platt tells about two Baptist. Missionaries who came to a particular island. Years ago to evangelize, to preach the gospel, and they did that, and the leaders of that island didn't like the message of these two Baptist preachers, so they killed these missionaries. And ate them.

Sometime later, a Lutheran. missionary came to that island and preached the gospel, and this time the tribal leaders listened and amazingly they believed in Christ and soon thereafter the majority of people in their tribe had become Christians and that's a wonderful thing. But David Platt goes on in his book to bemoan the fact, and let me read from him. That, and I quote, in the years since their mass conversion to Christ, to Christianity.

This tribe has turned inward due to a variety of factors including cultural isolation and religious persecution. These Christians have virtually kept Christ to themselves, and he goes on to say this take the issue of pork. Muslim tribes across this island do not eat pork because they believe it is unclean. This Christian tribe, on the other hand, loves to eat pork.

Naturally, any Christian wanting to reach Muslims with the gospel would be wise to abstain from pork when they are around Muslims. Yet most Christians here on this island are not willing to take even this small step. One believer succinctly said to a friend of mine on this island. I would rather a Muslim go to hell than for me to have to stop eating pork.

Unquote. Now before we shake our heads, And discussed at these Christians, we should think very carefully. Would you give up eating pork for someone who was persecuting you? And likely might want to kill you and eat you.

For sharing Christ with them. That's not as easy as. You might think. Or can I get myself into some trouble here?

and bring this a little bit closer to home, if you knew of a nonbeliever. Or even a believer. Who wears a mask. In public settings.

And they strongly think that others should do also. Would you be willing to wear a mask in order to engage in a gospel conversation? With them or to fellowship with them if they are your brother and sister in Christ. I have talked to Christians.

In the past year and a half, who would not do that. They would emphatically say absolutely not. But I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest, I think Paul would have. Paul would have been willing to wear two masks.

Because of what he says in a passage like this, Paul was willing to adapt himself on virtually every issue. Accept the gospel. He did not elevate minor things to the level of gospel importance. He flexed where he could.

Even giving up his rights. Voluntarily in order to have opportunity to evangelize the lost and the saved through the words he spoke and through the man that he was in relationship with them. There are other applications of this, but I, I would just encourage you guys to. read through this passage and try to internalize.

What Paul is saying here and, and then ask God to show you ways that you can live out this ethic that he expresses here. There's another way that Paul lived his life with a laser-like focus. On fulfilling his gospel commission. By the way, is there anyone who's not listening anymore because of what I said about mask if.

So raise your hand But you won't even hear that, I guess, because you're not listening anymore, but. hopefully you understand, my heart in that, but let's look at a six-way. That Paul lived his life with a laser-like focus on fulfilling his gospel commission. Number 6, he did all he did to be a fellow partaker of the gospel with others.

He did all that he did to be a fellow partaker of the gospel with others. Listen to what he says in verse 23. He says, and I do all things for the sake of the gospel. That I might become a fellow partaker of it.

You just get the sense that he understands the importance and the gravitas of the gospel, and everything else fades in comparison to that. And he says, I do everything that I do for the sake of the gospel that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Paul did not just live a gospel centered life, he lived a gospel commission centered life. This is a broad and general statement by Paul encompassing everything in his life.

When Paul was evaluating doing anything, he would always ask himself, will this serve God's gospel purposes in me and in others. Will this activity serve to deepen my participation in the gospel together with other people? Will this activity. Or investment of time make me more effective in impacting the loss for Christ.

And impacting my fellow Christians more and more deeply. To Christ. Essentially, Paul is saying here, everything I do in my life, I do for the gospel. Everything I do, I do to enhance my goal of being a partaker of the gospel.

With others. You'll notice from the language here that Paul didn't just fit the gospel somewhere into, or he didn't just fit gospel ministry or evangelizing somewhere into his busy life. No, everything in his life was bent in this direction. Everything he did, he did for the gospel.

If something did not serve that ultimate end, Paul didn't invest his time in it. Imagine living your life with this focus, and maybe you think that's a little too radical. But it helps to explain why this man can live as a Christian for 34 years. And impact so many lives and wield such influence through history it's people who live with this laser focus that make maximal impact.

I love Paul's wording here in verse 23 where he says, I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may become a fellow partaker of it. In other words, Paul was himself partaking of the gospel, but he was not content with just being a partaker of the gospel by himself. He wanted to be a fellow partaker. Of the gospel with other people.

Paul was like a man enjoying a delicious feast by himself, and he's thinking this would be so much more enjoyable if others were partaking of this feast together with me and I could dine with them. So I will go out and I will tell people about this feast, and I will invite them into this feast that I am enjoying, so that I am not a sole partaker of this feast, but a fellow partaker together with them of this sumptuous feast. Is it not true that food is always best enjoyed? With others, and the same is true with the gospel.

And Paul wanted the joy of partaking in the gospel together with others whom he was winning to Christ, and this ambition governed everything he did. I do all things, he says, for the sake of the gospel. So that I may become a fellow partaker of it. There's one final way that Paul lived his life.

With a laser focus on fulfilling his gospel commission. and let's put it this way, he endured, he endured any rigor necessary to preach the gospel to others or to evangelize others with maximum. Impact With maximum impact. And let me just read these verses to you and just make a couple comments.

Beginning in verse 24, Paul says, do you not know that those who run in a race, all run. But only one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may win, and everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, and this word translated wreath is Stefanos.

Stefanos, a perishable Stefanos, but we an imperishable. Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly after I have preached to others I myself should be. Disqualified Back in Paul's day In the city of Corinth, every 2 years there would be held these great games.

The athletes would train for. Weeks and months prior to these events and would then gather. In the city of Corinth and then compete in these games in order to gain a Stefanos, a wreath of parsley leaves, which started fading and wilting the day that they received it. These amazing athletes made incredible sacrifices.

And endured many rigors and agonies to gain an earthly reward. And they could hold no candle to the rigor and the discipline and exertion of Paul's life for a greater reward. In this passage, Paul is saying that he did what he did in order to gain an imperishable wreath. And what that wreath was?

At least in part. It was people It was people. Write down this reference. 1 Thessalonians 2:19.

1 Thessalonians 2:19, Paul speaks to the Thessalonian Christians whom he had won to Christ, and he says, who is our hope and our joy and literally our Stefanos, our wreath of exaltation? Is it not even you? He says, pointing his finger at the Thessalonians. We now see that the pay, the crown, the wreath, the reward, the compensation that Paul wanted for his preaching of the gospel was people.

Evangelism was simply Paul's way of making friends for eternity. And he was willing to endure anything to make these eternal friends, so that he could be a fellow partaker of the gospel together with them, not just in this life, but also throughout all of eternity. Imagine how many friends Paul is going to have. An eternity.

I can't wait to meet him. And I know you feel the same way. All the people throughout eternity coming up to him to share with him. Something he did by example or wrote that has blessed them and changed their life and led to their eternal salvation.

We all know that there's nothing in this world that we can take with us. Into heaven, right? Except one thing, and that's other people. That's the only thing in this life that you can take with you.

To glory and Paul was obsessed with bringing as many people. With him to glory as he could, that was his reward, souls were his reward. In these verses, Paul is saying, I run, I run to win in this particular cause. I exercise self control.

There are things I wanna do that I just frankly don't allow myself to do because they're not consistent with my gospel mission. Every stride I take is in this direction to win people to Christ, and if they're already saved, my aim is to win them further for Christ and his cause. Every blow that I deliver. I want it to hit its mark.

And when you read that language from Paul, it sounds so foreign and so strange. But the truth is, a lot of us. In fact, let me say it this way, you might look at how he's talking here and go, man, that sounds hard. And Paul would say, what's harder?

Live in the way you live. In contrast to Paul, a lot of us are running hard and we're expending a whole lot of energy. But we're running aimlessly, chaotically, with no governing principle or focus that. Brings it all together.

We're delivering blows. And just beating the air and wearing ourselves out. But Paul lived strategically. He did not want to waste an ounce of energy that didn't serve God's gospel purposes in him.

Paul is saying here, I give myself a black eye if I need to. I make my body my slave. I make sure that my body is in alignment with my mission, lest after I have preached to others, I might be rendered ineffective, disqualified from ministry and lose influence for Christ and limit my capacity to win even more people for Christ and his cause. As I said at the outset of this message, when we go through a passage like this, we have to be careful and we have to remind ourselves that there are some ways that Paul's situation.

And calling were unique, with him being an apostle of Jesus Christ, who is involved in full-time ministry, we should realize that our life is not supposed to look like the apostle Paul's in every way. But we also have to be careful to not let ourselves off the hook so quickly. Christ is given to all of us. A commission to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations and to be ambassadors for him.

And we should let Paul's example inspire us and direct us and how we can do a better job in doing that. In fact, if you read the context of this passage, you'll see that Paul's whole goal, if you read chapter 8 and then into chapter 9, through the length of this chapter, you'll see that Paul's goal in sharing what he is saying in this passage is to get the Corinthians to become more like him. Paul has been correcting them for their refusal to make even small sacrifices for their weaker brothers and to give up their liberties for the sake of not causing their weaker brothers to stumble.

And so in this passage, Paul is sharing with them how he thinks.

And how he happily yields up his rights for the greater cause of the gospel. And Paul is putting his example before them and before us so that we would all be inspired to become more like him and be consumed with the gospel and do all that we do for the greater good of God's gospel purposes. In our lives and in the lives of others. Whose lives we touch.

So let's learn just as we wrap up, let's, let's learn from Paul this morning and seek to follow his example. Let's not try to squeeze fulfilling the great commission somewhere into our busy lives. Let's reorganize our lives around this commission. And ask the Lord what is my role in this.

Let's let the great commission color our whole life. Let's do all that we do for the sake of the gospel. Let's evangelize the loss. Let's keep evangelizing our fellow believers.

Let's impart the gospel to others, both lost and saved, through the words that we speak to them and through the people that we are in relationship with them. Let's love our spouses for the sake of the gospel. Let's love and teach our children God's word for the sake of the gospel. Let's be good repenters of our own sins for the sake of the gospel.

Let's be good employees in the workplace for the sake of the gospel. Let's be good neighbors. For the sake of the gospel. Let's study God's word and pray for the sake of the gospel.

Let's show up for our corporate worship services here at Cornerstone on Sunday mornings, for the sake of the gospel. Let's celebrate communion together for the sake of the gospel. Let's Participate meaningfully in our care groups for the sake of the gospel. Let's be willing to yield up our rights for each other's good for the sake of the gospel.

Let's forgive one another for the sake of the gospel and love one another, and let's never Let us never underestimate. How much we can impact others for the gospel through the simplest of these things. And they're varied expressions that we might do. Some time ago, I was reading the testimony.

I'm sharing this with the men in the man forum. A few weeks ago I was reading the testimony of a young woman who had experienced A tremendous amount of hurt and dysfunction in her life that left her so despondent. That she had begun to conclude that there was no such thing as true love and no such thing as a God worth believing in. But she shared about a small.

Event That ignited a flicker of hope in her that helped her to turn a corner back to God. She tells how she was looking out a window and saw her church's youth pastor. And his wife walking to their car. There was no one else in the parking lot.

So this youth pastor and his wife had no reason to put up some pretense of being a loving couple. To this young woman watching through the window, it was an authentic moment in the life of this couple, so she watched them through the window. With keen interest. She observed the easy banter between this youth pastor and his wife as they walked to their car with occasional touches of affection.

It was obvious to her that they loved each other and enjoyed being with each other, and then she watched as this youth pastor opened the car door for his wife and assisted her as she got in. It was a simple mundane moment in the life of this youth pastor and his wife, but this woman. Who was desperate for hope was watching through the window, and she saw evidence that maybe. Maybe love really exists after all.

And what she saw lit the tiniest flicker of hope in her, and that flicker turned into a flame. That help Direct her back to God. Little did this youth pastor and his wife realize that when they walked together. To their car that day.

They were doing so for the sake of the gospel. Little did they realize that they were enjoying one another as they walked. For the sake of the gospel, little did that youth pastor realize that when he was opening the door of his car for his wife. He was opening that door for the sake of God's gospel purposes in the life of someone who was watching that he didn't know.

He was opening that door for the sake of the gospel. Or what, maybe. He did know Maybe both this husband and wife. Did know Maybe they live their life with the gospel intentionality that Paul expresses here in 1 Corinthians 9.

Maybe they truly were deliberate about doing all things, even in their relationship for the sake of the gospel, such that not even knowing that this young woman was watching them through the window, they would have been happy enough to just know that they were serving God's gospel purposes in each other's lives. And that was good enough for them. As we've been learning in this series, if you are a Christian, you have not only been saved by or through the gospel of Jesus Christ, but you have also been saved into the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we learn in our passage today that we have been saved for The cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so I would encourage you to ask God.

To help you to live a life that is more concentrated and more focused on furthering the advance of the gospel in your own life and in the lives of other people, both saved and lost through the words you speak and through the person you are in relationship with others. May your life and my life become more and more organized under this governing principle of the cause of the gospel. And if we do this. And do it well, you and I may not end up on the top 10 list of the most influential.

People in human history, but we will end up having exactly the amount of influence. That God wants us to have. And that's good enough for me. And I trust it is for you as well.

Let's, let's go to the Lord and just ask him to help us. With this Lord, I, I just wanna thank you and praise you for how transparently Paul lived and. Passages like this where he puts his heart on his sleeve and. Gives us a glimpse of the way.

He thought and felt and lived. And while we respect ways that he was unique in his life and mission. We are inspired. I trust to become more like.

What we see depicted in this passage and help us to explore ways that we can bring our lives in greater alignment with The commission that you have given to us, help us not just to live what we can easily call a gospel-centered life, but. May that also mean that we're living a gospel commission. Centered life. Where our lives become organized under this beautiful commission.

That you have given to us. And then use us. I can just imagine, Lord, with if each of us in this church. began to live our lives with greater laser focus in a more concentrated way.

That ends up resulting in greater impact for your glory. If each of us are taking steps in that direction, what can you do through us as a church body in the days to come? And whatever that is, you would say this is what I saved you for in part. And may we so relish your grace and your love for us in the gospel, Lord.

May we so feast our souls on your goodness. That it's not some external guilt trip that makes us want to be more like what we see in this passage, but an inner compulsion that it is an overflowing joy that drives us. Outward into the lives of our brothers and sisters and the loss to. Win them further and further for Christ so that we might dine together in this gospel feast.

That you have given to us. And may in the days to come, souls be saved. And believers helped. And may you use Cornerstone and.

All other churches, Lord, that are in this city and beyond. And around the world that have been given the same mission and the same gospel, help us. To live lives. Of gospel commission.

We'll give you all the praise and the glory for how you might use us to this end, Lord. We ask all of these things of you in Jesus' name. And all God's people said,