This is God's Word. This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the 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 thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do 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 you not know that? Those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings. In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel, but I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision, for I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting, for if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel, for if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching, I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make use, make full use of my right in the gospel. I read that far from God's word. People today, just like the people in the days in Corinth, like to assert their rights. We even have what's called a Bill of Rights. The Constitution of our country says that our liberty to choose what to do is an inalienable right. The Declaration of Independence gives three examples of inalienable rights. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We have other rights too. The right to act in our own self-defense. The right to own property, private property, and be secure in our homes. The right to work and enjoy the fruits of our labor. To move freely within the country, even exit the country to another country. To worship or to refrain from worshiping. These rights cannot be taken away, says our Constitution. Our rights are beyond the reach of government. The senators cannot pass a law to take away our rights. No one can remove them. These rights are given to us at birth and retained at each stage throughout our whole lives. These rights we sometimes call privileges or even entitlements. That's things that we're entitled to, things that are owed to us that can't be stolen or taken away. But in the Christian church, the reason Paul is bringing it up in this chapter is because that idea of human freedom and liberty had gone too far It had cast a shadow over the truth of the gospel. We have a Declaration of Independence as a nation, so we're used to thinking that way as American Christians, American citizens, but we've fallen into the same mistake he's addressing in this chapter if we think that we have this ultimate independence as personal individuals. It's going too far. A more philosophical term or way to approach this is the word autonomy. Auto is self, it's you and me. Nomos is law. So autonomy is I demonstrate for myself what my laws and rules are. I'll decide what I get to do and what I don't get to do. That's autonomy. I get to adopt and follow what I say is right and wrong for me. Paul hit this issue head on in our passage and he's explaining how wrong it is. and how damaging it is for the Christian in our walk. So our main point is Christ has given me what is better than my rights, a Christ-like heart that would willingly surrender my rights for others. So first we'll see verses one to seven, the rights are truly mine. Secondly, verses eight to 14, spiritual rights operate the same way as other rights. And thirdly, verses 15 to 18, to forfeit my rights for a higher cause when needed is better than to claim my rights for my enjoyment. First, the rights are truly mine. We look at Paul, Paul's rights were real. He truly had these rights he's referencing. In chapter nine, he's illustrating here from his own life, the principle that he laid down earlier in chapter eight, that in chapter eight, the bold Corinthians had the right of eating this meat, the meat that had been offered to false idols. But what was better was to give up their right to eat of that meat in order to bless another person. So here he's saying that he is prioritizing the action in love over pleading for his rights based on his own knowledge. He's living out what he asks them to live out. He's using himself as an illustration. So verse one he asks rhetorically. He starts off with this question. Am I not free? Of course he's free. And they're being asked to admit that. He's saying, first stipulate this and then we'll work our way down through what it means. It answers the first objection. How can we, be considered free if we give up that freedom for the sake of another Christian. So they're wondering whether he is, in fact, free. And Paul's saying, no, no, no, no, let's start over. Am I not free? Am I free or not? And show that the practice of the higher principle of love and yet retaining his freedom is a conflict, and so he's clearing it up. He's still free. So he does have the power to utilize his freedom for his own benefit. but he has decided to give up that freedom willingly. That's significance, why he starts the chapter this way. His freedom was real, that's important to remember. Next, Paul asks the next question, am I not an apostle? If anyone could have claimed his own authority and rights across the church in Corinth, it would be Paul the Apostle. So since Paul the Apostle is the person with the most authority and the most rights in the church, even though he's away on a mission trip, he's still willing to forgo his rights. How much more should the Corinthians be willing to pass up their rights? It's the point he's continuing to make. Then verses 3, 4, and 5, he kept defending this truth of his own rights by asking more questions. For example, could an apostle get reimbursed for his food expenses? Could an apostle take a wife along on his ministry journey? Could an apostle avoid working another job and be supported by the church funds through Corinth? So he's making this case and deepening it and giving more of a backing to his point. So what prerogatives belong to Paul that he was not collecting? The right to a paycheck is the point he's making. Verses six and seven he wrote, the paycheck was a universally recognized principle in every realm of human endeavor. Whatever your job, you get a paycheck. He uses examples. Soldier gets paid for fighting for his country. A farmer plants a vineyard, gets paid by being able to eat some of the fruit of the vineyard. A shepherd gets paid at least by being able to enjoy some of the milk and milk products from his flocks and herds. So no one objects to these paychecks and no one should object to the apostle getting paid as well. So that's his first point, the rights are truly his. Now we move on to his second point versus 8 to 14, spiritual rights operate the same way as other rights. It should be clear the logic of how this goes because we're used to it in daily life. Here he shows that the rights of the spiritual realm operate the same as the rights in other realms. Verse 8 here, when he wrote the law, he's talking about God's law, the book of the law, the Pentateuch we call it, the books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. The Jews call it the Torah. So then at the start of verse nine, he quoted from it. He quoted from the book of Moses, the Torah, the Pentateuch, the verse about not muzzling the ox while the ox is treading the grain. I understand that we don't operate this way of a modern system, right? You go to pick and save for your food. But it's pretty easy and clear to understand this illustration he's using. that he's referencing how God said something about the ox and whether the ox can eat or not eat while the ox is treading out the grain. So surely God has created the oxen, so God cares about the oxen, but do you really think that God will go out of his way and use space within Moses' books to write down that the oxen need to have no muzzle on them, and that's the only point that God was making? I mean, so Paul is pushing them to see that yes, of course God cares about the oxen, but there's a bigger point here that God had in mind. The oxen being driven around and around and around in a circle on a threshing floor should not be cruelly restrained from eating some of the food that his own labor's making available. And since that's true for something as simple as an ox, it also should be true for a human, such as an apostle. No labor should be in drudgery without any incentive. Neither an ox nor a human being was reduced to being a mechanical instrument serving only the needs of others without any gain or benefit for oneself. People need incentives. Even oxen need incentives because life is more than sheer toil. That's how God created his world. The law about oxen reveals God's will for his people, his world, his image bearers. Something is provided for the animals working for us. Something is provided for the humans working for us. Someone who blesses the community is blessed back by the community. The ox deserved his share of the grain that resulted from the ox treading the grain. And Paul deserved his share of the right as a man proclaiming the gospel news from God. Verse 11, Paul then, performed a spiritual service for Corinth, he says. Was it too much for him to ask to be materially supported? Was it too much to expect? Since an animal sows, an animal reaps. Since the apostle sows, the apostle reaps. It's all very straightforward, logical thinking. Since Moses taught that sowing and reaping applied to the grain, the sowing and reaping applied to the spiritual sowing of the gospel seed. The one who's working should also receive a return from the work. Solomon supports this in Proverbs 27, 18, whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored. So whether it's a bodyguard or whether it's a farmer, they gain from their work. Verse 12, he talks about others. If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? He showed that when the process screen was delivered to them, they would expect to have to pay for it when it got delivered. And also in the same way, if the gospel got delivered to them by Paul, they would expect to need to support him and pay for it, in a sense. Second half of verse 12, he begins to reason that Paul had been focused on this point in order to show that Paul voluntarily relinquished his right to be paid for preaching the gospel to them. And Paul renounced his right for support from them. Why? Because there was something better, investing in the advancement of the gospel. And this is where he pulls out one of his famous phrases. Remember from chapter six? Do you not know that? Here he pulls out the same phrase again, to remind the people as he's making his case that there is a logical basis to this that they already do know and should remember. Do you not know that? And what is it this time? This time, they should know, they do know, the fact that the Old Testament priests could eat the meat that was offered. As shown in the book of Leviticus, chapter six and seven, wherever the people brought the meat in the Old Testament temple, the priests could eat a part of that meat. And Paul showed the connection in verse 14, in the same way, meaning the application of what they know about priests being able to eat the food and the sacrifices was a direct application here. In other words, those who proclaim the gospel got their living by the gospel. It's very simple and straightforward here. He's teaching the same truth Jesus himself taught. When Jesus said, the laborer deserves his food, Matthew 10, 10. Or, over in Luke 10, verse seven, we read that Jesus said, the laborer deserves his wages. So Paul is saying that the church in Corinth should provide for Paul, its apostolic preacher, with resources so that Paul could continue to serve the church freely without need for another job, too. Again, Paul's whole point is that he deserves the wages, but he's turning them down for something better. Which brings us to our third point, to forfeit my rights for a higher cause when needed is better than to claim my rights for my enjoyment. Verse 15, he repeated his point by now writing, I have made no use of any of these rights. He hadn't received their money and he's not asking for money now. Quite the opposite. Paul wanted something better. He next wrote that he'd rather die than to receive what's worse. He wanted the thing that's better. The intensity of language here would wanna die showed Paul's passion about this subject. Paul passionately wanted to receive the right to boast, the legitimate ground to do so. Wait, boasting? Another time out. Paul the apostle, example for Christianity, wants the right to boast? Is this really a proper understanding of our passage? Isn't it a little bit out of character for a Christian not to mention a minister or an apostle, an apostolic leader like Paul? Let's be careful not to misunderstand him here. It's a legitimate question. I've raised it for us. Let's not forget a mega theme in the book of 1 Corinthians. Ever since chapter one of 1 Corinthians, Paul has this mega theme revolving around glorying in the cross. Remember? Clear contrast between human boasting and glorying in the Lord, glorying in the cross. For example, chapter one, verse 31, I'll quote again. Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. Chapter two, verse two, I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Chapter two, verse two. So again, ever since the first chapter, there's this mega theme running here. For Paul, boasting was the same as glorying in Christ and Christ crucified. Paul's so passionate about not letting anyone deprive him. of the ground for boasting, the ground for glorying in Christ and Christ crucified, that he said, I don't want a red cent, so that I can be seen as one who's only operating for Christ. Paul would rather have died than to lose the statement of Jesus. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10, verse eight. Paul wants no one to be able to say, he's just in it for the money. No one. He had this ground for glorying in Christ purely and solely. Don't threaten that, Paul says, or you threaten the very nature of who I am. I'd rather die than have this in question. Offering the gospel free of charge, Paul's own ministry became a living demonstration of the gospel itself. The gospel's free of charge. We don't pay our way into heaven with money, of course, only get into heaven through the blood of Jesus, as we know. It would actually be false If a pastor wanted a pay raise and he came to the church and used this passage to argue for it, it would actually turn itself on its head because in order for him to be an advocate of his own salary, he would go against Paul's best illustration. The pastor should work for free. So Paul's ground for boasting or a reason for glorying in Christ is solely the cross of Christ itself. His cross is the picture of self-giving, the picture of self-sacrificing, accomplished by self-emptying. Things we've been studying all through the book. Such was a fundamental ethical core that Paul would rather lose his life than lose this basis. This self-sacrificing to Paul was better than self-advocacy. The gospel is better than my rights, says Paul. Christ is better than my rights. Having Christ is better than having my rights fulfilled and met. This is what he says in verse 16, for if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. So what? You did what you were told to do. You see what he's saying? And he goes on to write in verse 16, Paul's under a compulsion from Christ to give away the gospel. He's set apart for this task from his birth. Galatians 1.15, God set me apart before I was born and called me by his grace. By the will of God and by the agency of God, Paul received a compulsion that was placed upon him to preach the good news. And if Paul were trying to escape the constraints and the commission of this calling, it would cause him personal agony that all of a sudden he discovered how much money he could make in doing it and to propose his own money pay raise would be against his very calling since before birth. Verse 17, if Paul set out to preach by volunteering, entirely on his own personal choice, that would be an entirely different concept. It would then be for some personal reward for Paul. Self-motivation leads to logical benefit for self, right? This motivation would have remained in the realm of reward. It would have been legitimate to ask, since he's volunteering, what's in it for Paul? if he's volunteering to do this only out of his own will. But he operated in a different realm altogether. It's not a volunteer thing. He didn't ask for this. He didn't sign up for this. God called him from before he was born. It was a task entrusted to him by God. And either he's going to fulfill it or not fulfill it. Because it is a task put on him by God. He's either going to be a good steward or a bad steward of that calling from God. He showed us that he's the recipient of a mantle. laid upon his shoulders, that he couldn't just shrug off or pretend it wasn't there, that God himself had given Paul a stewardship. He had no choice. So what he's saying is he has to do this in order to be a good steward to God. He can't opt out of it. He must perform the task of preaching. He barely wants to think about the ramifications if he fails to perform the task of preaching. He can't hardly think about what a day would be if it's not given towards the task of preaching. And all Paul knows is that it would not be good And instead of thinking about that, he presents to us this beautiful pull that's constantly on him to perform the God-appointed task of preaching as freely giving out what Paul had freely received. God gave him a free gift, and so he's giving it away for free. Pressure doesn't even apply to him. He's not scared of failure. He does not focus on the woe and agony if he were not to give away the gospel. Rather, he shows what is better than wages. He shows that Paul is privileged to be in a realm where one who gives receives. It's in giving that the apostle receives. He lives in a spiritual realm. It's in preaching the gospel that the apostle receives fruit from the crop and the enjoyment of the crop in his share. It's not some external reward. It's the ability to be stamped with Paul's personal identification with the cross of Christ. He's just privileged to be counted one of Christ's own. It's for real for him as a being, as a person, as a human, as a believer. He's on Christ's team. What's all this little talk about money? I belong to Christ, he's called me to be an apostle. I'm part of the kingdom, the worldwide expansion of the glory of Christ in this world. Why would I wanna do anything to risk messing that up? You could give me $10 million and I wouldn't take it. You could give me a little bit and I wouldn't take it. You don't understand me, is what he's saying. Boasting or glorying in Christ and him crucified is a major theme of 1 Corinthians. And he's finally now getting around to the issue of them wanting to pay him. See, what was happening in Corinth was famous speakers would come in, and if you pay them, then you kind of own them. This speaker was brought in by me and my company. We own this fellow. Isn't he great? And Paul says, nobody owns me but Christ. He didn't want to be involved in that whole undercurrent system in the city of Corinth. His boast here is not that he has preached. His boast here is that he has not made use of the rights that would be his from preaching. The fact that he didn't take a salary is part of Paul's boast. We see very clearly in his last verse we're studying now, verse 18, what then is my reward? My reward is that in my preaching, I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. He's deliberately not using his right. Paul has been willing to do what the bold Christians in Corinth were not willing to do back in chapter eight. He's willing to forego his right of his, as he now pleads with the bold Christians to do to forego their rights. Paul has not made use of his right. He has endured everything. He calls not the tender, but the bold from chapter eight to do this. The tender have no rights to surrender. They don't have any rights. Give up their rights? No. It's like taking a slave and saying, give up your freedom. I don't have any freedom to give up. It makes no sense, right? They think no one is allowed to eat the meat that was sacrificed to idols, the argument from chapter eight. But the bold think they do have a right to eat. So he turns to the bold and he says, give up your right to eat. He says, you're correct, you have a right to eat. Absolutely slam-dunk yes, it's a clear answer you have a right to eat what I'm saying is don't take it Come with me and let's decline our rights together. He says I've been doing this my whole career my whole ministry I've been declining my rights come with me decline your rights as well for Christ's sake decline your rights Follow Christ fully decline your rights For the benefit of the tender ones decline your rights for the beautiful outcome of unity in the church. It's the issue from chapter 8 Decline your rights so you can boast or glory in the cross of Christ with me. You sacrificed something. You gave up something. Your walk with Christ cost you something. You invested that in the unity. of his church by paying for it with your own personal loss and cost. You're just a little bit closer to understanding what Christ did on the cross for us. He gave up not just something, he gave up everything, his own life. He sacrificed something. And he invested in the unity of the church by paying for it with personal cost. That's what he's asking us to do. Giving up their right to eat the meat offered to idols was the example from chapter eight. Stop eating. Do that for the sake of the Christian community. Do it for the common good. If you can use your right to eat meat, you'll destroy your tender brother or sister. Resist destroying him or her. Care about him or her more than you care about your own rights. Give up your right to be correct on the gray area for the benefit of the body of believers. So that's what we've seen today. Christ has given us what's better than my rights, a Christ-like heart that would willingly surrender my rights for others. Their rights are truly mine. Spiritual rights operate the same way as other rights. To forfeit my rights for a higher cause when needed is better than to claim my rights for my enjoyments. What is our application? We need to ask ourselves a searching question. Is the gospel of Christ as important to us as it was to Paul? Has it cost us anything? We have to give up anything for the sake of the gospel. Glorying in the cross, boasting about our great God who died and rose again to give us everything for free, that's what we're talking about. Anything that we could possibly have the right to on earth to enjoy is less important than advancing the cause of the kingdom. Christ has done such a work in our hearts. We're willing to follow him and willing to give up anything for him. We give up things for Christ. Not lent, not eating red meat, that's nothing. We give up things for the gospel cause, things that really cost. The bold and well-taught Corinthian Christians in chapter eight were to remain willing to give up their right to eat that certain food that if it would bring more unity with the tender brothers and sisters who were not sure about eating that meat. The modern Christian today has a heart given to you from Christ such that you remain willing to give up any of your rights for something better. Christ is better. The gospel cause is better. Unity in the church is better. When disputes break out, we make our point and then we cave on that point for the sake of unity between us. When we forego rightful enjoyments because unity is more important, the gospel advances. Christ is glorified. By the sacrifice of Christ, the gospel advances. By the sacrifice of each Christian, our desires, the gospel advances. He writes elsewhere the same idea. Philippians 3.10, Paul wrote, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, that I may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. What if the means possible is for us to give our rights for something better? Would you become like Christ and do it? Come die with me. We all deny our own rights and watch the gospel advance and we can glory in the cross of Christ. Let's pray. Father, it feels like dying to deny ourselves.