Sermon Tone Analysis

Out of the blue, Miracle asked me a very pointed and thoughtful question (as he often does).

Thursday after school, Miracle asked, “Dad, what’s the most important part of your job?”

“The most important part of my job,” I replied, stalling a bit.

“The most important part of my job is preaching God’s Word.”

Miracle seemed satisfied with my answer and went off to go play and rip a hole in the knee of his pants.

My answer seemingly satisfied Miracle, but then I had to decide if I was satisfied with my answer.

And I think I am.

In the early moments of the church, the leaders/elders of the church faced the issue of what was the most important part of their calling:

Acts 6:1–4 NIV

1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.

We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

The ministry of the Word is not to be neglected.

It has to take precedence in the life of the church.

If you’ve ever wondered why the church pays a preacher (and I know there are some Sundays, some weeks, some months, some years, you absolutely wonder why this church body pays this preacher), if you’ve ever wondered, here’s why: it’s Biblical, the Lord commands it, it’s good, and it shows how much a church values the word of God preached.

That a church body would hire a man whose chief task is preaching and then pay that man more than enough to live on, more than enough to support his family, that is a reflection of that church body’s love for God and the Good News about His Son, Jesus.

You, church, have done just that.

You have shown the great value you place on the preached Word of God, over and over again.

You support me and my family more than sufficiently.

You support us and, on top of that, generously support several missionaries and ministries.

It’s clear how highly you regard the Lord and His Word.

I need to make a disclaimer before we begin our time in 1 Corinthians 9 this morning.

Let me say it as clearly as I can: as I preach this chapter, please do not think I’m asking for more money.

If anything, you should probably pay me less than you do!

This is not me asking for more money; I count myself among the most blessed pastors in the world.

I don’t have a private jet, nor do I live in a mansion, or have a summer home in the Keys; I have far more, and far more than I deserve.

I have a church family who is truly that—a family who is generous, selfless, loving, and a daily blessing to me and mine.

I will not be asking for more money this morning.

I am preaching 1 Corinthians 9 this morning because I preached 1 Corinthians 8 last Sunday morning.

My prayer is that you will take your Bible, open it up, and search along with me what the Lord would have us do in response to hearing His Word.

>If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 9.

If you are able and willing, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word out of reverence for Him.

1 Corinthians 9:1–18 NIV

1 Am I not free?

Am I not an apostle?

Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?

Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? 2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you!

For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?

7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?

Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes?

Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk?

8 Do I say this merely on human authority?

Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?

9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”

Is it about oxen that God is concerned?

10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.

11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

But we did not use this right.

On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?

14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

15 But I have not used any of these rights.

And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.

16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach.

Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.

18 What then is my reward?

Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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You remember that Paul has stated a very important principle at the end of Chapter 8, the principle about giving up rights for the sake of your brothers and sisters.

He says, at the end of his argument:

1 Corinthians 8:13 NIV

13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.

Paul states the principle in chapter 8, illustrates it in chapters 9-10, and applies it in chapters 10-11.

All of chapter 9 is an illustration from Paul’s life of the principle he taught in chapter 8. It’s Paul expresses his freedom, but more than that, he expresses his freedom from his freedom.

Paul is free!

He’s an apostle—having seen Jesus (the last of the apostles to see Jesus; Paul met Jesus, or rather, Jesus met Paul on the Damascus Road and called him to this work).

Paul’s free.

He’s an apostle.

The Corinthians are evidence of Paul’s ministry and the seal of his apostleship—the change made in the Corinthians’ lives by Paul’s preaching of the gospel shows that his apostleship is genuine.

He argues, hypothetically, almost teasingly that he has these rights—along with the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers (Jesus’ half-brothers, James and Jude, and any others born to Mary and Joseph after the virgin birth of Jesus), and Cephas (that is, Peter):

Paul has the right to food and drink, the right to take with him a believing wife, the right to make a living as preacher.

Those are “rights” afforded to Paul; pretty basic things, really.

“Rights, rights, rights”—Paul had many “rights”...and claimed none (as he makes clear in vv. 12 and 14).

Paul has the same “rights” as anyone else (at least in theory).

He’s free to do almost anything.

And yet, he won’t.

What most concerns Paul (and the point I believe he’s trying to get across to the Church, then and now) is that everything he does or doesn’t do is done out of a concern to:

Honor God.

That’s his goal.

That’s what he’s after, what’s he’s striving for.

This is his concern.

And it should be ours, that everything we do or don’t do is honoring to God.

Before he talks about how he honors God individually, he writes at some length about an important principle.

Paul argues in verse 7 and verse 13 using examples from everyday life that illustrate the principle that Christian ministers ought to make a living preaching the gospel.

Christian ministers ought to be able to make a living preaching the gospel, just like the soldier gets paid for going to war, for their service, for their sacrifice.

No one serves for nothing.

Christian ministers ought to be able to make a living preaching the gospel, just like the vintner (the one who plants a vineyard) gets to enjoy a little wine and eat the grapes.

Christian ministers ought to be able to make a living preaching the gospel, just like the shepherd gets to drink the milk of the flock.

Christian ministers ought to be able to make a living preaching the gospel, just like those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar.

Those are some really good arguments; no one could disagree with Paul’s assertion there.

But Paul doesn’t make his argument with just those common scenarios.

He appeals to God’s Word, to the Law of God.

Paul doesn’t want them to listen to him alone, to obey merely human rules.

He’s not the authority; the Word of God is the authority.

Honor to Paul doesn’t matter nearly as much as honor given to God.

Paul’s desire is that the Church of God might listen to the Word of God (novel concept, no?).

The Church should desire to obey God’s Word, understanding the ceremonial and sacrificial commands have been fulfilled by Jesus.