Jeffrey Johnson's sermon on 1 Corinthians Chapter 9 discusses Apostle Paul's defense of his apostolic authority and his approach to ministry. In this chapter, Paul emphasizes his rights as an apostle, including receiving material support from the congregations he serves, yet he chooses not to exercise these rights in order not to hinder the Gospel. Paul contrasts himself with other apostles who may utilize these rights, pointing out that despite his freedom to claim support, he has chosen to work (as a tentmaker) to avoid being a burden.
Johnson highlights Paul’s sacrifices and his resolve to preach the Gospel without seeking financial gain, which reflects his dedication and his primary focus on spreading the message of Christ rather than personal benefit. He further discusses how Paul feels overlooked and unappreciated by the Corinthians, who even question his authority, despite his extensive labors among them.
The sermon draws on this example to challenge modern Christians to emulate Paul’s selfless service, emphasizing that serving in the kingdom of God often involves personal sacrifice and may go unrecognized. Johnson identifies a broader message about the nature of true service, suggesting that it should not be motivated by recognition or reward but by love and dedication to God’s work.
Ultimately, Johnson encourages believers to persevere in service, regardless of the lack of appreciation or immediate rewards, inspired by Paul’s example and the ultimate example of Jesus Christ. He calls for a reassessment of personal motivations for service, advocating for a selfless approach that seeks to serve others as Christ did, without regard for personal gain.
Jeffrey Johnson's sermon on 1 Corinthians Chapter 9 discusses Apostle Paul's defense of his apostolic authority and his approach to ministry. In this chapter, Paul emphasizes his rights as an apostle, including receiving material support from the congregations he serves, yet he chooses not to exercise these rights in order not to hinder the Gospel. Paul contrasts himself with other apostles who may utilize these rights, pointing out that despite his freedom to claim support, he has chosen to work (as a tentmaker) to avoid being a burden.
Johnson highlights Paul’s sacrifices and his resolve to preach the Gospel without seeking financial gain, which reflects his dedication and his primary focus on spreading the message of Christ rather than personal benefit. He further discusses how Paul feels overlooked and unappreciated by the Corinthians, who even question his authority, despite his extensive labors among them.
The sermon draws on this example to challenge modern Christians to emulate Paul’s selfless service, emphasizing that serving in the kingdom of God often involves personal sacrifice and may go unrecognized. Johnson identifies a broader message about the nature of true service, suggesting that it should not be motivated by recognition or reward but by love and dedication to God’s work.
Ultimately, Johnson encourages believers to persevere in service, regardless of the lack of appreciation or immediate rewards, inspired by Paul’s example and the ultimate example of Jesus Christ. He calls for a reassessment of personal motivations for service, advocating for a selfless approach that seeks to serve others as Christ did, without regard for personal gain.
Turn to chapter nine of 1 Corinthians. We have a fairly lengthy text before us, 14 verses. First 14 verses of 1 Corinthians chapter nine. She's. Then read with me. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus or 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 other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Mornabas 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 in 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 grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake because the plowmen should plow in hope and the thresher, thresh, and 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 even more? Do not we 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 not know, 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. Here we see an example of a man who serves when it's not easy to serve. Have you ever felt overworked, underappreciated, and underpaid? Well, this is the Apostle Paul. He labored diligently. In fact, when it comes to the other apostles, he says, "I labored and worked harder than them all." He gave his life. He didn't get married, and he gave his time working, and he never hardly ever, in fact, he never asked for financial return. Some churches supported him, but very rarely did that happen. And when he'd go and preach a place, he would not ask for money. And often, like in Corinth, they never offered him any offerings. And he labored and labored. In fact, he labored in Corinth a year and a half. And then, at this time, it's five years from the planting of the church, and they're beginning to question his authority and his apostolic ministry, and some didn't think he was that great of a preacher. And so here, now, he's on the outside of the very church that he planted, and he's being criticized and critiqued and questioned. And he has to defend his apostolic ministry to the church that he planted. Isn't that amazing? He's in a position that he has to give a defense of himself. And the defense that he gives is, "Hey, I labored among you sacrificially. I served you. I didn't take advantage of you. And you should have assisted me, but you didn't." And it had to be hard on him. It had to be very difficult to serve people who didn't appreciate you. And he continued to serve, and so he's underappreciated, underpaid. In fact, he's not paid at all, and he's overworked. He had to become a tentmaker. He was a tentmaker, but he had to go get a side job and work. And of all people that shouldn't have to be making tents, think about this. Of all people who shouldn't have had to be working, it shouldn't have been the apostle Paul. That is a marvelous thought. The apostle Paul had to go to work. And it's amazing. And he worked, so he wouldn't have to ask for money. And I do think it's the heart of ever a true pastor that they never preach for money. They never ask for it. They do it freely. In fact, many good men that I know have pastored Bible occasionally their whole life. And they don't want to ask for money. That's not in their intentions. That's not their heart. They're glad to serve. But I do also think it should be the heart of the church to say,"Let's take care of our ministers." And so here we have the church of Corinth that's neglecting their responsibility. But here you have a servant who's not neglecting his responsibility. And the church of Corinth is taking advantage of Paul, but they're the ones critiquing Paul when it should be Paul critiquing them. And this is the scenario where Paul is being taken advantage of. And then in so doing, he's also being critiqued. Now that might be you in your particular area. You all have jobs or maybe you're a housewife or you're this or that and you're being overlooked. You feel underappreciated. You're working hard. You're serving. You're sacrificially giving. And all your sacrifice seems to be overlooked. And then all you get for your reward is criticism. And if you're not experiencing that now, you probably have experienced that some point in your life where your supervisor or your boss is overlooking your accomplishments, taking advantage of you, wants you to work more than you're even required to work, and doesn't want to reward you for it. It's hard. It's hard to be a servant. But in this passage, we see a man who's willing to serve and serve hard and diligently under the worst conditions. Many of us don't want to serve in the best conditions when everybody loves us and everybody wants to take care of us. We still have a hard time being disciplined to serve and give of ourselves sacrificially. There's one thing to serve those who love us. And by the way, I feel like you guys love us, us ministers. This is a wonderful place to serve. And it's wonderful to serve in a church like this where you do feel appreciated and loved and valued. But think of the poor pastors and the poor men who are pastoring other churches. And all they want is the reformation of the church. All they want is the truth to be proclaimed. They want the salvation of the unconverted and the church is criticizing them for everything they do. And and they don't want to help them out at all. And these men have proven to be men of God with a heart of God who continue to serve and serve and serve. And that's what we see here in Paul. In fact, there are three things that will demotivate us from serving, feeling that we are too important to serve. You know, I'm I'm an important person. And because of my status and my office, who should I be serving? I shouldn't be taking out the trash. I'm an apostle, right? I'm the chief of the church. I'm the highest level. I'm the arch arch arch bishop. I'm the apostle Paul. You know, but that didn't keep them from serving. So often our status, our self-importance, our position tends to demotivate us from serving. Secondly, when we feel that we're mistreated, when we're being taken advantage of, you know, when we're serving and we seem to be serving harder than other people are serving and no one's acknowledging us, maybe even mistreating us, taking advantage of us, that seems to demotivate us. You know, every got the point, well, fine, I quit. You know, that attitude, I'm done. I'm done. I've worked hard. You don't appreciate it. You find someone else. I'm out. That seems to be a common temptation for us. Thirdly, the feeling that we've given too much. You know, I've given and I've given a sacrifice. I'm going to sacrifice. I've done without. I can't give anymore. And so I'm done. Well, these three things demotivate us from serving. But these are the three things that Paul was experiencing. And he continued to serve. In fact, in this text, we see the heart of a servant. The greatest example of a servant's heart is Jesus Christ. I think the second clearest example we see in scriptures is the Apostle Paul. Paul was an apostle, but yet he was underappreciated, taking advantage of mistreated. Yet he continued to serve and not only did he continue to serve, he did so at his own expense. He did so by giving up his own rights. He did without the things he could have said, no, listen, I'll do this, but I need a certain amount of compensation. I need these rights to be satisfied. But he gave these things up. And so here we see the heart of a servant. So we have three points out of this text. One, we are not too important to serve. None of us are too important to serve. Does it matter where we're at? Our water status is or how old we are. We're not too important to serve. Two, and this will get us, we are not too abused or taken advantage of to serve. Three, we are not too depleted. Like I'm worn out, I'm done, I've given up too much. We're not too depleted to serve. We can still serve under these conditions. And I think a heart of a servant is going to serve. He's going to serve. And because the heart of his servant is not seeking to get something out of it for himself. It's not a job. If it's a job, you quit. I will. I want a certain amount of compensation for the amount of work. Once the compensation is less than the work putting in, then it's not a valuable exchange. I'm a good businessman. I know that I'm putting too much in. I quit. This is I'll find some other field to work in. But when it comes to the kingdom of God, the goal of the servant is not to receive. It's not to be rewarded. It's not to get some accolades. It's not the glory of a pat on the back and appreciation. The goal of a servant, even to serve unseen when no one's looking, the goal of the service is to give. And he truly finds it more blessed to give than to receive out of a great love for God, motivated out of the great gift that God has given us and how Christ has served us perfectly. And so we have a desire, a true servant of the Lord who has a heart of service, has a heart to serve and give for the joy of serving God. So it's not seeking something in return. I see that in the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly. I've been studying his life for six months now, and the thing that strikes me about Jesus Christ is that he gave everything. He gave everything and he received nothing. It was a very poor exchange. It's like, Lord, don't do that. You know that you're just depleting yourself, running yourself empty, and you're not going to get any return. But he felt the joy of the Holy Spirit in all that he did because in the kingdom of God, it's not like the kingdom of this world. The kingdoms of the world, it says if you're going to advance, you need to take care of number one. You need to take care of yourself. You need to think about your own interests. You need to be, you know, you need your own me time. You need to treat yourself. You need to be really concerned about yourself. No one else is going to be concerned about you. So you should be concerned about yourself. But in the kingdom of God, the ministers of God, the children of God, the servants of God, the saints of God, that's you and me. We are to have the heart of Christ where we're not seeking to be served. And that old destroy a church. It will destroy a church if you come to church and you're looking for whoever's talking to you or paying attention to you. And I don't feel connected. I don't feel like people is noticing me. I don't feel like like I'm being ministered to. And you get this self-awareness complex, you know, and you're ready. All this clicks because everybody seems to be having fun and getting to go on. But you're on the outside or you feel like you're on the outside. It's like that old destroy and put a bitterness in your heart and you'll be cranky and you'll start finding faults and all kinds of faults here and there. It's like that's not a good spirit to have a good spirit to have. It's like, yeah, I'm not being taken advantage of, but so was the Lord. And there's a joy in serving God's people. Sacrificially as Paul did as Christ did. And so first of all, let's look at these things and I'm going to try to hurry. Try is the important word. One, you're not we are not too important to serve. We see that in verses one, really? Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? I mean, he's reminding them of his position because they had forgot who he was. I mean, they were taking advantage of him. And I mean, he's an apostle. That office is so rare that there's not any apostles anymore. He had authority. Apostle had authority over all the churches. You didn't have to be located in a local church to have authority over it. You had authority of all the churches. All the apostles had direct authority over God's people. And that that's an important position. That's we got the New Testament from the apostles. And those whom the apostles directed their content to. But he didn't use his position, his rate as a as a motivation to not serve. You know, we are prone. There's just a human nature is called the sin nature. We're prone to think we're something when we're nothing. You know, we get a little bit of praise and it goes to our head. A man is tested by his praise. Someone says, good job. Are you accomplished something? You got a job? You start making some money. You got you know, you got a degree. You got promoted. And all of a sudden you didn't have these things that now you have. And now you feel like you've accomplished something. And it goes to our head. It goes to your head. It goes to my head. And we begin to feel like we're important and people need us and we need the respect. You know, we need honor. We are Mr. Johnson. Where's the mister? I need I need the accolades. I do not know who I am. That's that's the tendency that we all have. That's the nature of this world. And imagine you've been promoted to the rank of apostle. How would that not go to your head? I think God put a lot of sufferings in Paul's life. So wouldn't go to his head. He was a broken man. I once asked a real notable. I was in a car ride with someone who's very notable preacher that we all know. And I said, besides MacArthur, you may be the most well-known preacher in our in our conservative evangelical camp. How does that feel? He says, Jeff, I've been through so many hardships and so difficult situations. I'm a broken man. I don't consider any of that. And that stuck to me. I think that's what happened to Paul. He did not view himself as a great man. But he did view himself as a servant of all servants. We do need to be careful that we do not use our age, our position, our jobs, our education, our authority to excuse ourselves from doing the lowliest jobs. Jesus was traveling with his disciples to Caesarea Philippi. He's about to go to the Mount Transfiguration and reveal his glory. But on the route, he's telling his apostles, his disciples for the first time, I'm going to die, which would be about eight months or six months later. I'm going to die. I'm going to end. Peter rebukes him. He says, No, you can't happen to you. And that's when Jesus said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. And and on the way down from the mountain after the Transfiguration, he starts talking about his death again. And he's talking about how the great to be great. You have to humble yourself and serve and even deny yourself. That's the message of Christ. That's the example of Christ. And then just probably in that the same day of that conversation, as they got closer to Capernaum, they were talking on the road. The disciples were who among them were the greatest. So they get an argument. The disciples are arguing. And of course, Jesus is ahead of them or behind them. But Jesus overheard a little bit of the conversation and he overheard that they're arguing about who's the greatest. So when they get into Peter's house and Capernaum, Jesus says, What were you all talking about? And of course, they were scared. They were scared to say. And Lord knew what they were talking about. They were arguing about who was the greatest. And it's amazing thing. The Lord brought in a boy or girl or little kid. Just like one of these little kids and put them on his lap. He says the greatest in the kingdom of God is like this little child. If you want to be great in the kingdom of God, you have to become like this child. You know, who's the last on the totem pole? Children. You know, if a great man came into this room, we would be a great man. Let's think about it. You know, the Apostle Paul came in this room. All of us would stand up and say, Hey, you thirsty? Can I get you something to drink? What could I? How can I serve you? We would all want to circle around a great man and just serve a great man. But, you know, when little kids come into the room, how many does to stand up and go? Hey, let me ask that little kid if he's thirsty or hungry. How can I serve the little child? You see, in the kingdom of God is so different than the kingdom of this world. Jesus says if you're going to be great, you have to put yourself in the position of a child, which means you're putting yourself last. You recognize you're not important. You're the least. You're just a child. You're not this. You know, so it's like, I'm an old man now. No, you're in your mind. You should be. I'm a child and I'm last. You should prefer others above yourself. This is what the Lord taught us five months later after this conversation, James and John's mother, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus. Right. This is like the week before the the Passover of a week before Christ dies. And the mother of these two boys comes to Jesus and he says, Hey, request. She gets on her knees. This is a perfect prayer request. She gets on her knees before Jesus and say, Hey, when you get to your kingdom, could you make my sons James and John set on your right hand on your left hand? I mean, could you make them great? I mean, could you imagine that prayer request? And do you think, well, James and John wasn't there? No, they were there and they that kind of agreed with her brother. That's how we feel sometimes. We want to be great. But then Jesus says, Hey, the kingdom of God is is not like that. The greatest in the kingdom of God are the least. The greatest in the kingdom of God is the one that serves. It's not the one who is served, but the one who is the greatest servant. You see, the apostle Paul understood that. No, he didn't get the accolades and the praise, at least in that time setting we do now. Now that he's dead, we praise him. We honor him. But at that time, he was scorned and abused and mistreated and despised. And they thought his preaching was poor. He wasn't well liked per se, especially among the Corinthians. But he served. He was a great man. Not because he was an apostle. He was a great man because he was a servant. And we would do well to learn that. To serve real people. To serve people who may not even care for us. So point number one, don't let your status, your position. Deceive you in the fact that you don't need to serve. We all need to be servants. We should outdo one another and showing honor and preference to the other person out knew one another in serving rather than seeking to be served. That is what Christ has done for us. That's what Paul has exhibited for us. And let's seek to do that as well. Second point. You're not too abused. We're not too abused or taken advantage of to serve. It's hard to be rejected by the ones we're serving. I mean, mothers have experienced this, especially mothers who have children that have gone. Um, a wall, if you would, after they leave the house and they're no longer calling or associating with the parents and they're upset with the parents and speak bad about the parents. I know so many cases like that. And you look at the mother and father, but they given and given and given and loved and prayed and served and served. They got no reward for it. There was no paycheck for all the service. Right. And now that your work is almost done. If you would. There's no appreciation for all that you've done for your kids. How sad is this? This is what happened to Paul with the Corinthians. He labored among them diligently and hard. And now, five years later, they're questioning him. In fact, he has the right second Corinthians, which is another three or four more years later, and they're still questioning him. Um, they're questioning his authority. This is looking at verse one through three. Have I not seen Jesus our Lord or not my workmanship in the Lord? If to others, I'm not an apostle, at least I am to you for you are the seal of my upholstered ship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me. I mean, if you're questioning if I'm a real apostle, look at yourself. Who? How was your converted? It was through the preaching of the gospel. I came to you in the Lord used my preaching to convert you. You're my spiritual children. I'm your spiritual father. May other people can question if I'm an apostle. Why are you questioning? Segrath is 12. He has to say, truly, the signs and apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance in the signs and wonders and mighty deeds for what is it in which you were inferior to other churches except that I myself was not burdensome to you. Then he's been sarcastic. Forgive me of this wrong. Sorry, I didn't take advantage of you. Secretary Corinthians 11. He says, indeed, I consider that I'm not in the least inferior to these super apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I'm not so in knowledge. Indeed, in every way we have made this plane to you and all things. Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge. I robbed other churches by you accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you, I was in need. That's a support. I was in need. I was hungry. I was thirsty. I didn't have the proper supplies. I did not burden anyone for the brothers who come from Macedonia supplied my need. So I reframed and will refrain from burden you in any way. Then in verse 19, it says,"For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourself, for you bear it if someone makes slaves of you or devours you or takes advantage of you or puts on hairs and strikes you in the face." To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that. It's like, hey, if I come in there, other people come in there and they exploit you, take advantage of you, take your money, take up offerings, you'll gladly do it. And you'll receive them even though they're abusing you. In being sarcastic again, it says, I'm too weak to do that. I'm sorry about that. I apologize. 2 Corinthians 3 says, in verse 1, "Do we begin again to commend ourselves, or do we need, or some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation for you? You are our epistle written on our hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly, you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone, but by tablets of flesh, that is of the heart. You should be able to look at your own lives and the change that took place and being filled with the Holy Spirit to know that I am an apostle worked by God's grace in your, my ministry has worked in your hearts. So here he is, he served, served, served. He was in great need. He had to take help from the Macedonians. And when the Corinthians was a large metropartal, Corinth was the second largest city in the Roman Empire. And by this time, this was a large church. They had ample means to take care of Paul, but they didn't. They questioned him. So in conclusion of this point, think of this of serving and serving and serving. And even being criticized, but Paul continued to minister to them. We're called to walk the extra mile. We're called to to give not just to those who will bless us. We're called to give to even those who take advantage of us. And this is what Paul has done. And this is what we're called to do. It's not easy, but this is the example of Christ. My third point is we're not too depleted to serve. We see this. This is the bulk of the text verses three through fourteen. What I mean by being depleted. You know what it is when you've given up a lot. You know, you're not getting a paycheck or reward for what you're doing, but you're actually it cost you. It cost you to serve. I've been on on. Preaching trips, you know, where they somehow say, hey, will you come preach for us? And it takes a week of preparation. It takes time. And then when you get there, you're you're away from your family and then, you know, then you leave. And and there was no no honor area or anything of that nature. And then you go, wait a minute. I spent five hundred dollars to come to this trip, the gas and the food and all the lodging. And this cost me to serve them. And you start feeling a little bitter about it. You realize that's Paul lived his whole life like that. On his own expense, and he wasn't a wealthy man. He was a tentmaker on his own dime, on his own expense. He's going out ministering and serving. Sacrificially. I mean, this is the heart of a true servant. We need to have this as well. And he gave up his rights and he he's talking about the right. He says, look at verse four. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? I mean, this is a sad commentary. What does he mean? Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Of course you have the right to eat and drink. But the problem was he was in real need. I mean, he didn't have the basic needs. He didn't have the basic funds to buy groceries. And the church of Corinth was completely unaware that he was hungry. They didn't care. They didn't have enough sense to go. Wait, here's the apostle Paul. Does he is someone providing for him? No one even thought about it. And listen, it's true among churches, not you, but churches generally, they don't think about the pastors and their well-being. I talked to an old man once who pastored for 30 years. And he was about to retire and he was Bible occasional in the church because they never paid him. They had a big good sized bank account. They were able to save money. And here he's trying to retire. He says, I don't know if I can retire. I don't think I can afford retiring. He says, what have you? What about your church? You've been pastoring them. I said, you've been pastoring that church for 30, 40 years. Could they not help you out? He goes, I'm too embarrassed to ask. I don't know how to ask. And is that that's the nature of a true man of God. He doesn't ask for money. He doesn't want to do it for money. That's not the motivation. But what's sad is people go to church and they never consider. They just, they got on like, well, the pastor and some sadly, some, some crushes, they pastor should be poor. And I'm glad I can preach this. I couldn't preach this before I can preach this now because y'all do a great job of taking care of us. So I don't, I'm not, this is not me. I wish this goes out. I wish this could go on the internet. So other pray pastors could be taken care of. Y'all do a great job here. I'm just, this is a real echo academic in churches today. It really is. I could tell you minister after minister after minister that are giving their lives to serving the people of God. And it's the nearest the way I look at it. I don't think there's, there's one person going, well, they just assume someone else is taking care of it. It's just out of sight, out of mind. It's just assume that the pastor is okay. That Paul saying, do we don't have a right to eat and to eat? Can we not? Well, do we have a right to pay our bills? You know, you want our time. And sadly, the Corinthians failed. Paul was exemplary in not asking for it. The Corinthians were, they're not exemplary for not being aware of it. For this one pastor, I ended up had a call some men in the church. I said, listen, y'all need it. Y'all need to take care of your pastor. He needs to retire and he needs to be taken care of. And he served you free for 30 years. There's not too much you could do for him. I mean, you can't over assist that man. Thankfully, the church responded. He says, do we not have a right to marry? Look at verse five. Do we not have the right to take along a believing? Why? As do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas. You know, Paul is giving up a lot of comfort. Think of a comfort of a spouse. I don't know how I would live without my wife. Comfort me there for me. I was thinking how is she this morning. I was just thinking how she was putting Evelyn's hair up really cute. It's like, man, if something happened to her, Evelyn's hair is not going to look good at all. Except that man. But not just that you just have a comfortable wife. That's a right. He had a right. You know, nowhere in scriptures is ministers called to be celibate and single. They're free to marry in the Lord. But Paul, he loved serving. And so he gave himself fully to serving. And so he did not him and Barnabas did not get married. We see thirdly, he had the right to not have to work. He didn't have to be a tentmaker. Look at verse six or is it only Barnabas? I have no right to refrain from working for a living. I know there's such things as Bible occasional preachers. In fact, I was one for 15 years. And I understand small churches can't afford, but listen, biblically speaking, ministers shouldn't have to work. They should give their time to ministry serving preparing. Pastry. Praying. I remember thinking when I was Bible occasional, I don't want money. Lord knows that it's not money. I just want time. And I just want the time. And I couldn't imagine having a well, I can't imagine. But going out and making tents and working for a living as to like it's it's it's it's wearing. But it's also a division of the time, division of thoughts, division of attention. And here he's freeing himself up of having a family and a wife. But yet he's still my necessity has to go and make tents. Galatians six six. Let him who's taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches Romans fifteen twenty seven for the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things. Their duty also is to minister to them and their material things. Now, Palm goes on to give seven proofs or examples of why the churches are to take care of ministers. Verse seven. Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Could you imagine I'm volunteered to be an army and go in and fight and you're full time in the army, but you also have to make tents or deliver pizzas or have a part time job just to provide for yourself. Could you imagine that? Does it happen in the army? He gives an example of a farmer who plants a vineyard without eating of its fruit. He gives an example of a shepherd or who tends to a flock without getting some of the meal. Fourth, he gives the example of the law of Moses. Verse eight. Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same thing? For as written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher threshen hope of sharing in the crops. So the Lord is not. He gives us law about take care of animals when they're working hard. Make sure they can don't muzzle them. Let them. Get a bite of grain every now and then. I mean, they're doing the work. Let them eat a little bit. But Paul says this was written in the law of Moses, not because God is concerned about animals as much as he's concerned about us. He gives the example of. Of others who are financially compensated. Look at verse 11 and 12. If we have some spiritual things among you, is it too much for if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do we even more? So apparently other ministers may be a Paulist. They were paying for him or helping him. Maybe others who knows says if you're doing this for others, why would you not do this for us? He gives the example of Christ teaching verse 14. In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. This is two times Jesus made this teaching. One, when he says out of the 12, he says, don't take money bags with you. Don't take an extra change of clothes. Don't just take what you have. He says, when you go, those who receive you will take care of you. And if they don't take care of you, they don't receive you. And if they don't receive you, wipe the dust off your feet when you leave, he says, both cases sending out 12 and 72, he says the same thing. At the beginning of his ministry, at the end of his ministry, he says for a workman is worthy of his power. So here's this is the teaching of Christ. In fact, Paul says in first Timothy 5, 17, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching for the scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain and the laborer deserves his wages. Now, this is something Paul purposefully knew all about. He knew he has seven reasons why he should be compensated. He could have taught on this. In fact, he's teaching on it now, but he could have demanded it. In fact, we'll see in a minute, he says, I'm not teaching you this so that I can get something from you. Even now, I'm not going to take it. But this is something that he willfully did without. You see, this is because a servant doesn't serve to serve himself. A servant is not seeking his or her own interest. We'll see in verse 12 that Paul was concerned about the gospel. Look at verse 12. Nevertheless, we have made use. 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. Verse 15 says, but I've made no use of any of these rights, nor am I riding these things to secure any such provision, for I'd rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. He says to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 6, nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So affectionately, laying longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives because we had become dear to us for you. Remember, brethren, our labor and toll for laboring night and day that we might not be a burn to any of you. We preach to you the gospel of God. He says, I gave to you. It was my desire to give to you because you become dear to me. I wasn't seeking my own benefit. In fact, I labored night and day. I suffered all these things for the sake of your well being. In fact, I would have given you my very life. This is the this is the heart of a servant. He says in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 8, nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but we work with labor and toll night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. And this is why Paul is an example for all of us to serve without seeking to take advantage or even. Demand that our rights are satisfied. He gave and he gave and he continued to give because it was not about him. It wasn't even all together about the Corinthians. It was about the gospel of Jesus Christ. So let us not place our rights above serving others. Galatians 5 tells us for you were called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. But through love, serve one another. Now, let's close with just a few two applications. How do we continue to serve when we feel like we don't have much energy left to serve? Maybe your wife and you're serving your family well when you're just feeling tired. Maybe your husband who's got a job that you feel like it's tough. Maybe you're a servant of the church, this church, and you feel overlooked. You don't know of anybody's noticing what you're doing. Maybe it's, you know, you're having to pay out of pocket to do things. You know, maybe it's setting up some type of shower and you know, next thing you know, you spent money to decorate. You've done this or that and no one even noticed what you did. Or there's so many scenarios where it's can be difficult to serve and give. I just want to close with just reminding you that Christ has done that perfectly for you and I. Christ has given everything to you. He had authority and he didn't think being equal with God was something he had to grasp after, but he, you know, covered up his glory and he didn't allow his position as God to hinder him from serving you and loving you. And he died for you when you were yet sinners, when you didn't appreciate him, he continued to love you and I when we have no ability to count our blessings. Or at least know them one by one. We don't have that ability because they're too great. There's too many. Just it's just amazing what God has done for you and I. Behind the scenes, we don't know, we won't know until glory. And we are to draw our strength in serving from the joy of the Lord. You won't necessarily find the joy of serving the church through the joy of being always appreciated and rewarded properly. You can't continue in the ministry or serving because there's some reward for you in this life. It has to be for your sake of the love of the gospel and love of price, the love of his glory, his kingdom that has to give you the joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord will be your motivation to love people sacrificially and love people when you feel like they don't necessarily love you in return. Remember, you and I have all taken advantage of Jesus. We have and we and the sad thing is we're going to do it again. But Jesus continues to serve us and love us so we can have the strength to serve others. So in conclusion, remember these things. You're not too important to serve. You're not too abused to serve. And you're not too depleted to serve. Let's pray. Lord, we see a great example in your servant, the apostle Paul. Lord, we apologize for how we have not lived up to that, but we're thankful for the gospel. That gives us forgiveness of sins, gives us the hope and encouragement and strength to live for you, to serve your people. Thank you, Lord, that you take note of what's done in the closet. You see what's done behind the scenes. And Lord, we do serve and Lord, though we may not be fully appreciated in this life, we long for that day that we can be with you and we hope to hear dear Lord, that wonderful phrase. Well done. That would be well worth it to know that you could say well done this. We pray in your son's day. Amen.