Christian Liberty and Preaching

I. Paul's Freedom and His Necessity 9:15-18

Preaching was not an option – it was a commission.
The Sovereign God had commanded – and how could Paul say no?
    -- Woe is me if I preach not the gospel! --

Paul did not voluntarily choose to become a preacher – he was arrested.

II. Paul's Willing Service to All Men 9:19-23

“A Christian man is a most free lord of all, subject to none.  A Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”  Martin Luther

Acts 21:15-22

“All things to all men”.

    

III. Paul's Constant Preaching – to Himself 9:24-27

1.  We are in a race – the race won't be won by the fastest runner – because it is an endurance race.

2.  It's a race – but it's a race that needs to be run properly.

Even though there is Christian Liberty – there are still rules that apply – v. 25 -- – temperate in all things.

3.  There is a prize at the end of the race – but it is not a race in competition with others – it is a race that we run – according to the will of God and the plan that God that has for us.

4.  The prize we receive is not like any earthly prize.  This one is imperishable – compared to the garland wreath of the athlete that begins to perish even before he receives it.
        
5.  The metaphor of the boxer.  26b-27a

“The Christian victor does not destroy the body, but makes it his slave; so the body now serves the soul which it sought to slay…(the body) is the weapon with which the law of sin and death fights, and at the same time, the sphere within which the spiritual powers of evil come within our reach to be bruised and destroyed.” (Jonathan Edwards)