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00:00 from family, lost from friends, and nobody knew exactly where they were.
00:06 Nobody knew if they were still alive. But there was tremendous concern shown
00:11 for these lost boys. And a great desire to see them saved. So a massive effort
00:18 was undertaken to try to locate and then to rescue these lost boys. From all
00:24 around the world, experts came. The best cave divers, experts in search and
00:30 rescue operations, engineers, military personnel, all became involved to seek
00:36 and to save these boys who were lost. About nine days after the search began,
00:44 the boys were located. But the problem was now, how do we get them out? The
00:49 boys couldn't swim. They couldn't dive. They could do nothing really to help save themselves. Their location in the
00:57 cave was over four kilometers from the entrance. They were about a kilometer
01:02 underground. How do you get the boys out? So, plans were made to sedate the boys, put them
01:09 on a stretcher, and this is an artist's conception of what it might have looked like. But realistically, when these
01:17 divers were bringing the boys out, they couldn't just stand and carry the stretcher. It was an 11-hour roundtrip
01:23 journey by diving in and out of the cave. So, here's some actual photo in
01:29 one of the wider areas, but some of the areas were so thin you could hardly fit a scuba an oxygen tank through.
01:37 There was a massive effort involved, a lot of money, a lot of time. When they
01:43 were trying to empty the cave of water, farmers fields in the area were flooded. They lost their crops. a great financial
01:51 loss. One of the divers that tried to rescue the boys ended up losing his life. So you might ask, was it worth it?
02:00 Well, one of the farmers who lost all of his crops said, "Yes, it was worth it.
02:05 A life is much more important than the money that I have lost through the destruction of my crops."
02:12 Was this great effort worth it to save these boys? Yes. Every time you could
02:18 see the face of one of the boys being pulled to safety, the family, the friends, everybody watching the news.
02:25 Yes, it's worth it. It's worth the massive effort. It's worth enduring
02:30 hardships. It's worth the great cost. It was worth it to save these lost boys.
02:37 The love and the concern shown for these lost boys had been translated into action at a great cost, but the boys
02:46 were saved. As followers of Jesus, we are called to
02:51 love the lost. And that's not just the physically lost, like the boys in the
02:57 cave, but it concerns an even greater type of lossness, a loss of even greater
03:02 consequence than being a kilometer underground four miles into a cave.
03:08 We're talking about a spiritual lossness. Those who have not yet accepted Christ in faith are spiritually
03:16 lost, which means we are separated from a close relationship with God. We're in
03:22 danger of going through eternity, separated from God when we're spiritually lost. And being called to
03:30 love the lost is more than just some kind of a feeling. It's a call to action, a call to do something about the
03:37 lostness. Now, two weeks ago in our series on 1 Corinthians, we looked at chapter 8. And
03:44 in that text, in that sermon, we were reminded that knowledge alone, knowledge
03:49 without love is worthless. But we saw that love will build up.
03:56 Knowledge with love is powerful. If you've been a Christian for any
04:02 period of time, if you've been in church very much, you do have some biblical knowledge. You do have some spiritual
04:09 knowledge. But the question that we should each ask ourself is, do I combine
04:15 my spiritual and biblical knowledge with love? Does love motivate me to put into
04:22 practice the knowledge that I have? For example, we know that people without
04:29 Christ are lost. They're separated from God, missing out on the most important things in this life, deprived of eternal
04:36 life with God in heaven forever. We know that. The question is,
04:43 what am I doing about it? Based on this knowledge that people are lost, do I
04:49 really have a love for the lost that is being translated into action?
04:55 1 Corinthians 8 says, "We all have knowledge." For example, as a Christian,
05:01 you probably can quote the great commission in one form or another, or at least come fairly close to quoting it.
05:07 You know the gist of it. Whether you're looking at Matthew 28, where it says, "Go make disciples of all peoples," or
05:14 Luke 24, where Jesus said, "Repentance and forgiveness of sin is to be proclaimed in Christ's name to all
05:20 nations, beginning at Jerusalem," or beginning where you are. or the version
05:26 of the commission in Acts chapter 1. You'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my
05:32 witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and all Samaria and for some reason my slide cut
05:39 off and to the end of the world. But you know that you can probably quote that.
05:44 And if you can't quote it, I would encourage you to memorize it. I know some weeks back, Brother Jeff Stillwell
05:50 preached a sermon on the discipline of scripture memory. Great verses to memorize
05:57 but better verses to put into action. Many of us have this knowledge. But what
06:04 are we doing with this knowledge? Knowledge needs to be combined with love.
06:10 Love first of all for God. If we love God, we love him with all our
06:16 heart, our soul, our strength, our mind. And Jesus said, "If you love me, you
06:23 will keep my commandments." And that includes, of course, the commandments that are on the screen. Our knowledge
06:30 needs to be combined with love for others. Now, love for others is more than just being nice and polite and
06:37 friendly and smiling and greeting others during the welcome time. Now, that's a good start. Some of us need to at least
06:45 take that step. But a love for another person goes beyond just trying to be nice and
06:50 polite. If you are a believer, are you glad that somebody shared the gospel with you?
06:59 I don't think anybody here would say, "No, I wish I'd never accepted Christ." Yes, you're glad someone shared the
07:05 gospel with you. You're glad you had the opportunity to call on Christ in faith.
07:12 Well, Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself. do to others as you want other people to do to you.
07:19 When people have done something great for you, such as sharing the gospel, don't you want to do that for them also?
07:27 We have knowledge, but do we act on it in love? And in the sermon two weeks ago from
07:34 chapter 8, Paul was talking there about being willing to make sacrifices, being
07:40 willing to give up some of his rights in order to help fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those
07:48 whose faith was weak. He would give up his rights in order to help people grow in faith. That theme has continued
07:55 today, but it's broadened and expanded. Here Paul continues talking about being
08:01 willing to give up rights, give up freedoms, make sacrifices,
08:07 but in order that lost people will have a chance to hear and respond to the
08:14 gospel. And this theme of being willing to make sacrifices and do everything to help
08:20 people come to faith in Christ and to help them grow, it continues not only through this chapter, but the next
08:27 chapter. It goes on into chapter 11. And there in chapter 11, Paul says, "Be
08:32 imitators of me as I am of Christ." Now, you might ask, why am I throwing in that
08:39 verse two chapters later? Well, it's because some people can get
08:44 quite creative when it comes to making excuses for why they're disobedient to
08:50 God. Well, Paul was just talking about himself in this passage. Paul was an
08:56 apostle. I'm not Paul. I'm not an apostle would tend to be our excuse. And
09:02 Paul knew that some of the people reading his letter and some of us today would make that excuse. So he goes on at
09:07 the end of his argument saying, "And what I said about myself, that's the lifestyle for you as a follower of Jesus
09:15 to also follow." Paul, remember when he was in Corenth
09:24 was not a full-time minister. Some of us also get creative and say, "Well, yeah,
09:29 Paul was a full-time minister, but I have a job. I can't do this." Paul, when
09:34 he was in Corinth, had a job. He was not supported by the church. He worked full-time and yet was still involved in
09:41 ministry, still involved sharing the gospel, just like many of our members are too
09:48 today. many of our church members fully involved in jobs but also working hard
09:53 for the kingdom of God. So when we look at our text today, don't just think, well, that was Paul. He was an apostle.
09:59 He was somebody special. He too was working for a living and he's
10:06 telling us follow his example because this is what Christ wants us to do. From
10:11 our text in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, there are several key verses I want to focus in on.
10:18 Verse 12, Paul says, "We endure all things in order that we may not cause
10:24 any hindrance to the gospel of Christ." Verse 16, where he says, "Woe is me if I
10:32 do not preach the gospel." Verse 19, he says, "I have made myself a
10:40 servant to all that I might win more of them." Verse 22 and 23. I have become
10:48 all things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do it all for
10:55 the gospel. And when we look at these key verses and think not only of Paul but also think of
11:02 us, we'll see the four points that I'm wanting to emphasize from our text
11:09 today. We'll see that loving the lost includes
11:14 enduring anything in order not to put up an obstacle or to be a hindrance to the
11:20 cause of the gospel. Loving the lost includes having a passion to share the good news.
11:28 Loving the lost includes taking the initiative to cross barriers.
11:35 And loving the loss includes placing a high personal priority on God using you
11:41 to touch the lives of others with the gospel message. And just a brief reminder, the gospel
11:47 message is the good news of what what God has done through Jesus Christ,
11:53 especially through his crucifixion and resurrection, his ascension and exaltation as Lord. And it's the good
12:00 news of God's promise of forgiveness of sin, reconciliation with him, and
12:06 eternal life to all who repent and believe.
12:13 In the first part of our go in first part of our text today, we're going to see that loving the lost includes
12:18 enduring everything in order not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel.
12:26 Now, it's interesting in the very first few verses of our text, Paul is asking some rhetorical questions, questions
12:34 that have an obvious answer. It seems that the people in Corenth were
12:39 questioning whether he was really an apostle or not. So Paul asks, "Am I not
12:44 free?" Of course, he's free. Am I not an apostle? Yes, you know I am. Have I not
12:52 seen Jesus our Lord? Yes. And later he'll talk in more detail about that.
12:58 Are you not my workmanship in the Lord? Obvious answer, yes, of course they are.
13:04 They came to faith through his witness. And he goes on, if to others I may not
13:09 be an apostle, at least I'm an apostle to you, for you are the seal of my apostilhip in the Lord. This is my
13:17 defense to those who would examine me. Now, it's hard to imagine why anybody in
13:23 Corinth would be questioning Paul's authority as an apostle because if he
13:29 were not an apostle, their faith would be in vain. If he were not an apostle,
13:34 perhaps they had believed a false message. Perhaps they had been deceived. Perhaps they were still dead in their
13:41 sins and separated from God. So I can't imagine why they must have
13:46 been questioning his apostilhip. But possibly after some time they had been
13:52 exposed to some other characters who claimed to be apostles who might have had a stronger charismatic personality,
13:60 more likable with more charm, able to wow or impress the congregation with
14:05 their stage appearance. Maybe they'd found people who were a stronger, more forceful speaker, a
14:12 person who was more forceful and authoritative and demanding that he be the boss and demanding that he get all
14:18 of the rights. Perhaps they had been exposed to somebody who would entertain them and
14:24 make them feel good. And they thought, well, Paul didn't do any of that for us.
14:30 Well, Paul had already told the people that, "No, I did not come with lofty
14:35 speech or words of wisdom. I didn't come with clever words.
14:40 I came preaching Christ and him crucified."
14:46 But for some reason, Paul was having to defend his apostilhip. And one reason he
14:52 was having to defend his apostilhip was because he had not claimed any of the rights that he rightfully should have
14:58 had by the fact that he was an apostle. So Paul says this is my defense. And he
15:06 goes ahead to list three rights that he should have as an apostle.
15:13 He said we have the right to earn our food and drink, don't we? In other
15:18 words, the Christians in Corenth should have provided for him food and drink where he didn't have to work. We have
15:25 the right to take a believing wife with us like the other apostles, don't we? And that means at church expense. Had he
15:32 been married, had he brought a wife with him, the church should have then also provided for her living.
15:39 Or is it only Barnabas and I that have to keep on working for a living? In other words, he's saying, "Yes, I have a
15:46 right as an apostle to not have to work a secular job. You as a congregation should be supporting me and covering my
15:52 expenses. And if I have a wife and family, covering those expenses." These are the rights that Paul said he
15:60 had, but yet he had not claimed. But he wants to defend that yes, he rightfully
16:06 has these rights. And he uses first of all just some illustrations from secular everyday life. Does a soldier go to war
16:14 of his own expense? No. He doesn't buy his weapons. He doesn't pay for his provision.
16:21 A person that plants a vineyard, can't they drink or eat of the grapes and the juice?
16:27 If you're a shepherd taking care of a flock, can't you have some of the milk? Obviously, of course you can.
16:35 He goes on and now he quotes from the Old Testament from Deuteronomy,
16:40 Deuteronomy chapter 25 and he says in the Old Testament the law of Moses says you must not muzzle an ox while it is
16:47 treading out the grain. Now I don't know exactly what the comparison is between an ox and an apostle or an ox and a
16:56 minister of the gospel but evidently there's something there. Well, what he's saying is if an ox is allowed to eat
17:03 while he's working, surely a minister of the gospel, an apostle has a right to
17:09 eat. And he goes on with some additional arguments from agriculture. The one who plows will plow in hope in hope of
17:17 having a crop that he can eat. The one who threshes threshes in hope that he'll
17:23 be able to eat some of what he's working on. And he goes on and says, "If we have
17:29 sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?" So several reasons why he should
17:38 have these rights. And he says, "And if others can enjoy these rights. Don't we
17:44 have an even stronger claim? After all, he's the one that founded the church.
17:50 He's the first one to bring the gospel." He makes a very strong statement to
17:56 conclude this, but we'll come back to this because he really doesn't conclude it here. He comes up with some more
18:02 reasons why he has rights. Verse 13, he goes back to the Old Testament and
18:07 points out the fact that the priests did not have a secular job.
18:13 When the tribes of Israel went into the promised land, the tribe of Levi was not given any land.
18:19 They were to live from the tithes and offerings that were brought to the temple because of their service to God
18:25 in the temple. And then if that's not enough, then he quotes the Lord himself. And he says, even Jesus commanded that
18:32 those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
18:38 So yes, it's okay to pay pastors. It's okay to pay missionaries. It's okay to pay people who are involved in full-time
18:44 ministry. And Paul had these rights. He could have claimed the right for food and drink, claimed the right to bring a
18:50 wife along at church expense, claimed the right to not have to work a secular job. But, and here's where he makes a
18:59 very important statement about rights, he also has the right not to claim these
19:06 rights. He has the freedom not to exert his freedom
19:12 because of the greater good. More important to Paul than claiming his
19:17 rights is that people come to faith in Jesus Christ.
19:25 We'll go back and look at verse 12 again. On the contrary, we did not use this
19:31 right. We endure everything in order not to put
19:36 an obstacle or not to put a hindrance in the way of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
19:45 The word obstacle or hindrance is an interesting word. It's used only here in the New Testament and it comes from the
19:52 military. The word obstacle or hindrance here is
19:57 the word that's used. If an advancing army is coming, then you just totally
20:04 destroy the road on which they're advancing so that they will not be able to advance anymore.
20:11 About 13 to 14 years ago, Suzanne and I were traveling in Nepal. And this was during the time when the Mauist
20:18 gorillas, the rebels were trying to overthrow the king. And they happened to be successful during the time we were in
20:25 the country. And we were trying to travel from one part of the country over to the eastern part of the country. And
20:31 there were roadblocks all along the way, but most of them weren't much. We could just get out of the car, move the rocks,
20:37 move the brush, and go on through. But finally we came to a section where there was a bridge going across a dry up
20:43 riverbed. It was dry season and this road was really blocked. There
20:49 were huge boulders stacked taller than I am all the way across the road including
20:55 to the rails on either side of the bridge and about 15 to 20 meters long
21:01 just solid rocks. Our advance across the country was stopped. No way we could move all those
21:08 rocks. Of course, our driver thought, well, he could do something. So, he pulled down to the riverbed and went across the
21:14 riverbed, got to the other side, and the other side there was a wall straight up and down. You can't go up the wall. Once
21:22 again, our advance was blocked. And so, we turned around in the riverbank, and on the way out, we sank up to our axle
21:29 in the sand. And we were stuck. We didn't go anywhere. Our advance was
21:34 totally stopped. Paul is saying he does not want to do anything that would stop, not even slow
21:42 down the advance of the gospel.
21:47 Paul states, "Yes, there was the possibility that he or for that matter, we could do things that would put a
21:53 hindrance or an obstacle in the way of the advance of the gospel.
21:59 But by the same token, we could do things that would help the spread of the gospel. We can hinder the advance. We
22:06 can help the advance. And the same is true for all of us. We can advance the
22:12 spread of the gospel by our verbal witness, by our consistent lifestyle.
22:18 We can hinder the advance of the gospel by our lack of verbal witness or by a
22:24 self-centered lifestyle where we don't get involved with the lives of other people and share with them.
22:33 We can advance the gospel when we think of other people, their needs, and what
22:38 can I do to have a positive influence in their life. We can hinder the gospel by
22:44 thinking primarily of oursel, primarily of our rights, and not being willing to sacrifice anything in order to reach
22:51 other people. So ask yourself,
22:56 may there be something in your life that is hindering the advance of the gospel?
23:03 something you're doing or maybe something you're not doing or saying that would hinder the advance.
23:09 Also ask, what am I doing that would help to advance the gospel and the gospel cause? What am I saying? What am
23:16 I doing? How am I living that would advance it? Paul said he was willing to endure
23:23 everything in order not to put a block in the way
23:28 of the advance of the gospel. And later on in writing to the Corinthians, he listed some of the things he had
23:34 endured. Being jailed, being severely beaten, being being stoned and left for
23:42 dead, going hungry, wondering where the next meal would come
23:48 from, working hard day and night. Yes, Paul was willing to endure all
23:55 things, give up his rights, and that was something he would not have had to have done. If you'll remember,
24:02 Paul before he became a believer and Jesus had a very successful, luxurious,
24:08 easy life. He was a recognized scholar, a respected religious leader in a
24:15 society that paid very high respect for the religious leader. He was an influencer of public opinion, prestige,
24:24 power, authority, money, anything he needed. He had
24:29 he had an easy life. And he would have continued to have an easy life if he had not followed Jesus.
24:38 Now, that's just the opposite message of what you hear some people preaching today
24:43 who claim a gospel that is not a gospel but seducing people with health and
24:49 wealth and prosperity. Paul had a luxurious life but he gave it up for the gospel.
24:57 Why? He wanted to follow the example of Jesus which we see very clearly in Philippians
25:03 chapter 2. Jesus though he was in the form of God did not count equality with
25:09 God something to be grasped but emptied himself taking the form of a servant
25:16 born in the likeness of men being found in human form he humbled himself by
25:22 becoming obedient to the point of death Jesus had all the rights and privileges
25:28 of God he is God in heaven angels serving him But yet he was willing to
25:36 leave that comfortable environment. He emptied himself.
25:41 He suffered as a man. He experienced hunger, thirst, pain, and he suffered a
25:47 humiliating death. Why did he give up all of this?
25:53 To bring salvation to lost people. Yes, Paul had rights. He defended those
25:60 rights. But he also defended his right to give up the rights and he showed the
26:05 reason why he was willing to do it. He wanted to give up anything that might
26:12 possibly put a barrier in front of somebody listening to or accepting the
26:19 gospel. Paul loved the lost and loving the lost includes enduring everything in order
26:27 not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel. Loving the lost also includes having a
26:33 passion to share the good news. Paul said, "Woe is me if I do not preach the
26:40 gospel." Now, when we see this word preach the gospel, some of us think, "Okay, that
26:46 lets me off the hook because I'm not a preacher." There are not three words in the Greek
26:52 language. There just one word. It's a verb. For if I do not, good news is what
26:59 it says. But we cannot use good news as a verb. But if we could say good news in
27:04 the verb form, that's what he's saying. Woe is me if I do not good news. Woe is
27:10 me if I do not announce good news or share good news or tell good news, bring
27:16 good news. It's the exact same word, the exact same verb that's used in Luke
27:21 chapter 10 when the angel didn't preach a sermon. The angel just announced good
27:26 news to the shepherds. I bring you good news of great joy. And what was that
27:32 good news of great joy? A savior is born. Jesus the Messiah, the Lord.
27:40 And that's the same good news that we proclaim. The same good news Paul proclaimed. Jesus has come. He's the
27:47 savior. He's the promised Messiah. He is the Lord. So Paul had this burning desire to share
27:56 the gospel much like the prophet Jeremiah who had said when the word of
28:01 God is in me it burns like a fire and I cannot keep quiet.
28:07 Paul is saying my life would be empty. It would be void. It would be meaningless. It would not be worth
28:13 living. It would be devastated if I weren't able to share the good news with
28:19 other people. He had an inner compulsion, this desire
28:24 because he had a heart that belonged to God. A heart that had been changed by
28:30 God. A heart that was truly seeking to glorify God.
28:37 Ask yourself this morning, do you have the desire to share the good news of what God has done with others? Do you
28:44 really care? Do you love lost people? Because loving lost people includes
28:50 having this passion to share. Not only does Paul talk about this passion in
28:56 verse 16, verse 19, he also says, "Though I am free from all, I have made
29:04 myself a servant to all that I might win more of them."
29:10 Paul's free, but that's not what he's concerned about. what his passion is, what his desire is, is to win more
29:18 people to Christ, even to the point of becoming a servant.
29:24 Paul knows people will not call on the name of the Lord in faith if they've never heard of the Lord. And he knows
29:31 they're not going to hear of him unless somebody that knows him tells them. So
29:37 Paul, we see here, is more concerned about reaching people for Christ than he
29:43 is about his rights. And he's willing to be a servant to all.
29:52 An illustration of a person who became a servant to take the gospel to another
29:58 person. This happened in my country. There was a relatively wealthy executive
30:05 non-Christian who had a nice expensive house, good paying job, good salary, health
30:11 insurance with the with his job, but he got cancer and it was a long
30:17 debilitating illness. He ended up losing his job. And in my country, back before
30:24 Obamacare anyway, that meant when you lose your job, you usually lose your health insurance. And so pretty soon he
30:31 ate through all of his retirement savings, ate through all the family's savings, and he was in a desperate
30:38 situation. Christian man went to visit him in the hospital, and he shared the gospel with him. And the executive said, "You
30:46 blankety blank Christians, all you concerned about is what happens to me after I die.
30:52 What about your concern for my family now? We don't have money."
30:57 The Christian left the hospital, talked to some of his Christian friends,
31:03 and he came back a few days later, and he apologized and said, "I'm sorry. I was not sensitive to your needs, but
31:10 I've talked to some people since I've left. I've talked to a realtor who would be willing to help you sell your house,
31:17 and when he sells the house, he will give you the commission. He won't keep a scent. And that money could then pay for
31:24 your children's education. I've talked to a Christian man who owns an apartment complex who is willing to
31:32 provide a large apartment for you free of charge, pay the utilities,
31:37 and even give you a salary if your wife is will or give your wife a salary if she is willing to help in some small
31:44 items such as collecting rents there at the apartment complex.
31:50 And when this business executive who had lost a job, lost his savings, heard that, he wept.
31:59 There's no knowledge of him becoming a Christian. He died just a couple of days later. But his wife, having seen the
32:07 servant attitude of the Christian and heard the gospel message, his wife became a believer in Jesus and an active
32:14 follower of him. a Christian who became a servant in order to win other people.
32:23 That brings me to our third point. Loving the lost includes taking the initiative to cross barriers. Barriers
32:31 of all kinds, racial, religious, linguistic, socioeconomic barriers.
32:38 We see this in verse 20. To the Jews became as a Jew in order to win the
32:43 Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law. Though not myself being under the law, that I might win
32:49 those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law. Not being outside the law of God,
32:56 but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law. To the weak, I became weak, that I might win
33:03 the weak. I've become all things to all people, that by all means I might save
33:10 some. So here we see Paul taking the initiative to cross barriers to go to
33:18 other people, willing to go outside the comfort zone, willing to go to people
33:23 that have different culture, different religion, different ethnic background, different social status.
33:30 If we truly love the lost, we like Paul will take the initiative to
33:36 go to people, even to those that are different from us, that are outside our
33:41 comfort zone. Now, some people have misunderstood Paul's words here. When you look at
33:47 Paul's words here, you can't just take one or two verses. You need to look at the entire context of what he has
33:53 written first. So before I talk more about what Paul meant with these verses, let me first of all talk a little bit
33:60 about what he did not mean. When he said, "I become all things to all people." He did not mean when in Rome do
34:08 as the Romans, which is a common phrase for, "Hey, if I'm with this group of people, I'll engage in all of their
34:14 activities. It doesn't matter whether it pleases God or not. I'll commit these
34:19 sins when I'm with this group of people because I'll just be like everybody around me.
34:25 That's not what he's saying. He's not promoting situational ethics. He's not saying, "Well, since everybody else is
34:31 doing it, I'm going to do the same thing." Paul did not join in the wild, drunken orgies that were common in the
34:39 city of Corenth. He did not employ the services of temple prostitutes like many
34:45 of the men in the city of Corinth did. Like today, it would not be a good idea
34:50 to try to start using crack cocaine just in order to try to reach drug addicts. That's not what Paul's talking about.
34:57 Paul also is not talking about changing or diluting the gospel message. He was
35:04 true to the gospel message. No compromise. At the beginning of the letter to the
35:10 Corinthians, he had pointed this out. I preach Christ crucified. Knowing this would be a stumbling block
35:16 to the Jews. knowing it would be folly or foolishness to the Gentiles, but I'm
35:22 not going to compromise the message whether it might be a stumbling block or folly.
35:28 I'll change things in my life so they won't be a stumbling block, but I cannot change the gospel message. If they
35:34 stumble over the gospel, there's nothing we can do. We can't change it. So, that's the beginning of the letter. And
35:40 at the end of the letter, Paul once again emphasizes the message that he preached that was of highest importance,
35:46 which is Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. He was buried. He was raised on the third day
35:53 according to the scriptures. And he appeared to many witnesses. This is the undiluted pure gospel message that Paul
36:01 preached. And Paul did not compromise on sin. He called the Corinthians out on
36:07 many sins. We've already seen that he called them out on their pride, on their immorality, on their greed, on their
36:14 lack of love. And he'll go on and list other sins. So, he's not being soft on
36:19 sin. Some preachers, some churches don't really want to mention sin because they
36:26 don't want to give people a bad feeling. Just try to make people feel good and then keep them happy, keep them
36:32 entertained. Well, yes, God wants us to have joy, but
36:39 the joy comes from having our sin forgiven and being in a right relation
36:44 with God. God wants us to have peace. Yes. Harmony, yes.
36:51 But that's not going to come when sin is separating us from God. You can't just
36:56 try to treat symptoms on the surface and polish over. Sin is a problem. And Paul
37:02 addressed the sin. That's why Paul frequently he preached to everybody. He
37:08 said the need for repentance towards God, repentance of sin, faith in the
37:13 Lord Jesus Christ. So in these verses, Paul is not talking about
37:20 compromising the gospel message. He's not saying join in sinful lifestyles and
37:25 he's not saying ignore sin. Well, what did Paul mean when he wrote these words?
37:32 I've become all things to all people so that I might save some. Well, first of
37:37 all, he just meant he's going to take the initiative and he's going to cross the cultural barriers. He's going to try
37:44 to develop relationships, including with people who have different backgrounds than he does.
37:50 Don't approach people with a sense of superiority. Condescendingly, condescendingly looking
37:56 down on others because we think we might be better financially or socially,
38:03 professionally, racially. It means to be flexible,
38:09 adaptable, sensitive to other cultures and world views. The example Paul gives verse 20.
38:17 To the Jews, I became as a Jew. To those under the law, I became like those under the law.
38:23 The Jews had over 600 commandments that they were expected to follow, plus
38:29 interpretations and various applications, making the list even longer. Well, Paul knew these laws. He
38:34 had practiced them. So, there's no problem. When he was with the Jewish people, for example,
38:40 he would not eat stir-fried pork. When he was a Jewish people, he would not go to the Pizza Hut and order a
38:47 pizza that had meat on it because Jews could not eat meat and cheese or meat and a milk product in the same meal.
38:54 When he was with the Jewish people, he kept their Sabbath restrictions,
39:01 knowing saying, "I'm not under the law." Knowing that keeping these laws are not what makes him right with God. Faith in
39:08 Christ is what made him right with God. But it shows he's willing to be flexible, adapting as needed so people
39:16 will not be offended so that they will listen when he talks about God. But to those outside the law,
39:24 hey, if they wanted to have some sweet and sour pork, he would eat it. If they wanted to go to McDonald's and get a
39:30 cheeseburger, meat and cheese together, he would do it because he knew Jesus had declared all foods to be clean.
39:39 when he was with the Jewish people, he would not keep every single Sabbath regulation
39:46 because he knew that God had created all days. All days are holy to the Lord.
39:52 So what Paul was trying to say here, people who are not Jews do not have to
39:58 accept Jewish culture in order to become a Christian. A person who comes to faith
40:05 does not have to adopt a totally foreign culture and give up their culture in
40:10 order to be a Christian. Yes, we need to give up idol worship. Yes, we need to
40:15 give up sinful practices. But that does not mean we have to
40:22 totally change cultures. Verse 22, he continues and talks to the
40:29 weak. I became weak that I might win the weak. A couple of weeks ago, we saw that the weak were those who had accepted
40:36 Christ, but they came from an idolatrous background. And so, they're wondering, "What from my former life can I keep?
40:44 What do I have to get rid of? If me, if an animal has been sacrificed at a
40:49 temple, can I eat that meat?" And Paul is saying, "There's absolutely nothing wrong with eating that meat. But I'm
40:58 willing not to eat that meat if it will cause somebody to stumble. If it will
41:04 keep somebody from coming to faith or keep somebody from growing in their faith, I'm willing to not be involved
41:10 with that." I think there are many Chinese and Tamil Christians here in Malaysia who come
41:16 from Buddhist dowist traditional Chinese religious background or Hindu background
41:21 who asking some of the same questions today. I want to glorify God but I don't want
41:27 to alienate family and friends. I want to re show respect for family especially
41:33 parents but I don't want to sin against God. These are existential questions that
41:39 need to be addressed, that need to be answered. So Paul in his discussion about meat
41:44 says,"I know what's right, but I'm also not going to do anything that will hurt somebody else."
41:51 This passage is also saying, "Communicate the gospel, but make sure
41:57 what you're communicating is the gospel. Communicate it clearly. communicated in
42:02 terminology that others can understand. But don't confuse the gospel with
42:07 non-essentials. Sometimes we mix things up with the
42:14 gospel. In my country, there are some people who claim to be Christian and then they'll have a bumper sticker that
42:19 has something like God, guns, and country. That's an idolatrous mix and has nothing
42:27 to do with the God of the Bible. And that mixture in my opinion is keeping
42:34 some people in my country from responding to the true gospel because they have not heard the true gospel.
42:41 They're hearing a cultural baggage that is not gospel.
42:46 Many people think that Christianity is a western religion. Was Jesus an American? Was he a
42:53 European? Jesus was an Asian, a Middle Easter. Where did Jesus travel?
42:60 He set foot only on the continents of Asia and Africa. The first believers were Asians. The
43:07 next group of believers were Africans. But why do we think Christianity is a
43:13 western religion? Because most expressions, most forms of
43:19 worship, most disciplehip materials, most evangelism materials are westernoriented.
43:25 And so people get the idea, well, if I'm going to become a Christian, that's the same thing as becoming a Westerner
43:31 and I don't want to be a Westerner. I'm proud of my heritage. I'm proud of my ethnic identity. I'm proud of my
43:37 culture. So, I don't want to be a Christian. We need to do something about that like
43:43 Paul did. We were in the northeast part of India some years ago. Ran into a tribe of
43:51 people where many of them had come to faith and a large group of people from this
43:58 tribe had come to faith over a hundred years ago. But still many people in that
44:03 tribe had not come to faith in Christ. And after the first missionaries came there really two divisions in this
44:09 tribe. The Christian group and the animous group. and very few were going
44:15 from one side to the other. And we were talking with some of the Christian leaders in this tribe and they said a
44:21 few years ago we realized that some people are not becoming Christian
44:28 because they think they have to become a westerner. And we realized everything in
44:34 our worship style is totally western. It does not relate at all to the local culture.
44:40 So they changed the style of music they were doing. Instead of using western music imported from the US, the UK,
44:47 Australia, they used traditional music, traditional musical instruments, traditional
44:53 dancers, beautiful music, non-western, but it had appeal to the local people.
45:02 In Delhi, I met a man who when I first saw him, I thought this must be a Hindu because he did not look like a
45:08 Christian. however a Christian is supposed to look. He had on long flowing
45:14 saffron robes, long hair, long beard, looked like a Hindu holy man. Went to a
45:21 worship service he led. And if I had not listened and just watched, I'd have thought this was a Hindu service.
45:28 But if you listened, he was preaching the gospel message. But he was doing it
45:34 in a way where Hindus could relate and understand and realize they could come
45:40 to faith in Jesus without becoming a westerner. That's what Paul is saying here. You
45:46 don't have to give up everything in your culture. And I think that's one reason
45:51 some of the Chinese in this country and some of the Tamils in this country have not become Christians. Another thing
45:59 Paul is saying is when you're relating to other people,
46:05 adopt attitudes and lifestyles that are appealing to others. Let them see Christ in you. See his grace, his mercy, his
46:13 love. Avoid selfcenteredness. Avoid legalism and judgmentalism.
46:20 A man named Henry, a Christian man, was riding on a train and a man next to him
46:27 was drinking. And every time the man pulled out his bottle, before he took a drink, he asked Henry, "Would you like a
46:33 sip?" Henry politely, "No, no thanks." This happened five or six times. The man
46:38 pulled out his bottle. Would you like some? No thanks. Then he went ahead to drink. Well, in this part of the country
46:44 where they were traveling, drinking was considered by most people to be a sin.
46:49 So after a while, the drinker said to Henry, he said, "You probably think I'm a rep probate, don't you?"
46:56 Henry said, "No, I think you're a very generous person."
47:02 I mean, after all, he'd been offering his drink every time. This kind, soft,
47:07 non-judgmental answer surprised the man who was drinking, and it opened the door
47:12 for him to be able to share his faith in Christ.
47:20 He's going to do all things. Why? So that he can save some.
47:28 Notice the progression. Paul starts off talking about, "I want to win more. I want to win those under the law. Win
47:34 those outside the law. Win the weak. I want to save them. Save some." No, he
47:41 knows he can't save them. But through his words of testimony, God will save them.
47:47 And he knows not everybody will come to faith but many people will. So loving
47:53 the lost includes taking the initiative to cross barriers. And finally
48:00 loving the lost includes placing a high personal priority on God using you to
48:05 touch the lives of other people. Paul says, "I'm doing everything for the sake of the gospel that I might share with
48:12 them in its blessing." And then he goes on and gives illustrations from the world of sports. The city of Corinth was
48:20 the center of the Ismian games, second only to the Olympian games. And people
48:25 were used to seeing athletes making great sacrifices. Athletes who would deprive themselves of
48:31 things. Athletes who would work hard, exert a lot of effort, spend a lot of time for what?
48:39 To win a crown that was made out of celery leaves.
48:44 all that work to get cell reliefs.
48:50 Why not invest your life sacrifice? Put in the energy, the time,
48:56 the self-disipline in order to gain an imperishable crown,
49:03 the crown of eternal life. Loving the lost includes enduring
49:09 everything in order not to put an obstacle in the way of Christ. Includes having a passion to share the good news.
49:16 It includes taking the initiative to cross barriers. It includes placing a high personal
49:22 priority on God using you to touch the lives of others.
49:27 I started with a story of a rescue mission. I want to end with a story of another rescue mission. But this one
49:35 happened about 150 years ago. A European man from Belgium named Damian, at least
49:41 that's the English pronunciation, went to what was then called the Sandwich Islands. We know it as Hawaii
49:47 today. But now remember this is before the days of the five-star hotels on the
49:53 beach, before the nice seaside restaurants with the fine cuisine. Quite
49:58 primitive lifestyle there compared to Europe. Shortly after he arrived in Hawaii, he was ordained as a priest. And
50:06 he had a desire to try to help the outcasts, those who had been shunned by society.
50:13 Because you see, the government in Hawaii had forced all the people with leprosy to be isolated. And they were
50:21 restricted to one small section of one small peninsula of one of the smaller
50:26 islands. And they were forced to be away from all the people, from all the cities, from all society, which meant
50:32 also being separated from any goods and services, being separated from civilization.
50:38 These people had been shunned by society. Separated. And now they're suffering
50:44 from their diseases. But Father Damian felt that God was calling him to go and
50:50 share the gospel with these people. He knew the words of Jesus where Jesus says, "I have come to seek and save the
50:56 lost." And he knew that Jesus had also said, "As the father sent me, so I'm
51:02 sending you." So Damon went from one of the more prosperous civilized areas of
51:07 Hawaiian islands to live among this leper colony. And after being there about six months, he wrote to his
51:13 brother back in Belgium and he said,"I make myself a leper with the lepers to
51:20 gain all for Jesus Christ." Paraphrasing the words of Paul, "I've made myself a
51:25 servant to all that I might win more of them. I have become all things to all people that I might save some of them."
51:34 Damian meant, of course, becoming a leper. I'm living like the lepers. I'm
51:39 living with the lepers. I'm living in isolation like them. I'm suffering hardships caused by the isolation, the
51:46 separation from civilization. I'm eating with them. I'm sharing my life with them. I'm investing in relationships
51:53 with them. But after 10 or 12 years, Father Damian himself was struck with leprosy.
52:02 And after he was struck with leprosy, he noticed that he had an even greater
52:09 impact. Even more people were willing to listen to the good news.
52:15 They were more receptive. More people coming to faith. And even though he was sick, he continued faithfully in
52:22 ministry as long as he could. Truly, he had become a leper with the lepers to
52:28 gain all for Jesus Christ. About 16 years after writing those
52:34 words, five years after being diagnosed with the illness, Father Damian died of
52:40 leprosy. Father Damian had loved the loss of this leper colony. He had a passion to see
52:47 them come to faith in Christ. His love had been translated into action,
52:53 and it cost him dearly. Was it worth it?
52:59 I think if you ask Father Damian if he could speak to us from heaven surrounded by those people who are also in heaven
53:06 that he led to faith in Christ, he would say yes. It definitely was worth it even
53:13 to die with the lepers in order that they might accept Christ.
53:18 Let's pray together. Father God, I want to pray first of all
53:24 for those among us who may be among the lost. I pray that you would speak to
53:29 their hearts, draw them to repentance, draw them to faith in Jesus. For those of us who have accepted Christ
53:36 as our Lord, I pray that you would give us the passion, the desire that Paul had
53:41 to see other people come to faith. Help us be willing to give up rights, make
53:46 sacrifices, take initiative, cross barriers that we too, like Paul may do
53:52 all for the sake of the gospel and that more people in this area of the world would come to faith in Jesus. In
53:58 Christ's name I pray. Amen.
