(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) So 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 1. 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 1. Now, you know, first of all, you know, it is Resurrection Sunday, right? So most churches are preaching on the Resurrection. I mean, if you attend pretty much any church, a Baptist Church, a Catholic Church, an Anglican Church, whatever it is, they're gonna probably be preaching about the Resurrection. And you might be wondering, why, Kevin, why are you, you know, preaching from chapter 9 when it's Resurrection Sunday? Shouldn't you be preaching about the Resurrection? And I will cover the Resurrection in this in this chapter, okay? I know it wasn't really mentioned as a whole, but I'll cover it, don't worry. I'll figure out a way how to do that. But look at verse number 1. So the first thing that Paul is mentioning in this chapter, he's asking the Church of Corinthian, am I not an apostle? I am your apostle, okay? Because what you see soon, later on, is that people were criticizing Paul, okay? People were saying that he's not an apostle. He's not like the twelve that were with Jesus Christ. And what you find in this chapter is that Paul is uplifting, not himself, but his position as an apostle of Christ. And he says, am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? So what is the criteria? What is one of the qualifications of being an apostle according to Paul in this verse here? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord, okay? First thing that I need you to understand, and we're going to turn to, maybe you can keep a finger there in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, but turn to Acts chapter 1 as well. Acts chapter 1. But one of the conditions, one of the qualifications to be an apostle, to have that office, is that you have seen, you have physically seen the Lord Jesus Christ. And that should tell you something straight away about false apostles in our day and age, okay? Because we have not seen nobody in this generation, nobody for the past 2,000, well let's be a bit more accurate, 1,900 and some 80 years, has not seen Jesus Christ, okay? So there are no such things as apostles today. That office has been finished. There was a purpose for the apostles. That was to kick-start the New Testament Church, but the condition was to physically have seen the Lord Jesus Christ, okay? But now look at Acts chapter 1 verse 21, because you'll remember that Judas Iscariot killed himself. He committed suicide after betraying the Lord Jesus Christ. So the 12 apostles needed someone else to fill that position. And look at verse 21. Wherefore of these men, so they're trying to decide which of these men can we have to fill the shoes of Judas Iscariot? Who can be the 12th apostle according to Peter and the others that we'll discuss in this. Wherefore of these men which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. So what are the conditions of this person that we're going to choose? Verse 22. Beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us. So the person that we need to choose is someone that was there with us from John's baptism. When John was doing the baptisms and then it says and that was taken unto the same day that he was taken up from us. So the ones that have saw Jesus Christ ascended up to heaven, okay? From baptism to seeing Jesus Christ ascend up to heaven, but also this. Must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection? So if you were there for John's baptism but you didn't see his resurrection. Jesus Christ did not reveal himself to you. You did not qualify to be an apostle from the opinion of Peter, okay? This is Peter's opinion, but what you'll notice is that these people, the one that they were going to choose to be an apostle also had to visibly have seen the resurrected Jesus Christ. Now Paul does not fit the criteria that Peter lays out here. He was not there during John's baptism, but he did see the Lord Jesus Christ. He did see the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. Paul did on the road to Damascus, if you remember that. When he was on his road to Damascus, Jesus Christ appeared to him and he was blinded, right? He was asking, who are you? And Jesus Christ revealed himself to be the Lord Jesus Christ, the same Lord that he was persecuting. So when we take this passage in Acts chapter 1 and we take the passage in 1st Corinthians chapter 9, we can see what the criteria was, what the requirement was. That they had physically seen the Lord Jesus Christ, but not just seen him, but seen him in his resurrected body. Seen him in his glorified resurrected body. So we don't have a contradiction here, okay? We just have the opinion of Peter in Acts chapter 1 and then we have Paul reinforcing, hey that is the requirement to have seen the Lord Jesus Christ resurrected body. Now back to 1st Corinthians chapter 9, actually go to 1st Corinthians 15. So keep your fingers still in 1st Corinthians chapter 9, but go to 1st Corinthians chapter 15. Because Paul acknowledges the fact that he doesn't line up perfectly with Peter's opinion of being an apostle, okay? And we see that in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 7. 1st Corinthians 15 verse 7. After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. So this is the resurrected Jesus Christ. He was seen of James, then all the apostles. And then verse 8. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born at a due time. So it says, look I'm someone that's like a delayed birth. I've come late to the party, okay? Because he recognizes from the conditions that Peter laid out for being an apostle, he wasn't there for the baptism of John. He wasn't there for the crucifixion of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. But he did, Jesus Christ did appear to Paul physically in his resurrected body. And that's why he refers to himself as one born at a due time. And then because of that, in verse number 9, we see Paul's humility. He says, for I am the least of the apostles. I am the least of the apostles. Even though we have more New Testament Scripture written by Paul than anyone else, he says I am the least. And I believe that's why God used Paul in such a powerful way. Because if you humble yourself, God will exalt you. And we see God, we see the Lord Jesus Christ exalt Paul the Apostle and affirm his apostleship as well. For I am the least of the apostles that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. So he sees himself, man I was an enemy. While those others were following Christ, they were listening to his teaching, I hated it. You know I was persecuting the believers when I had the ability to do so. And that's why he considers himself as the least. And you know what? You may have started in your life poorly. You may have been very worldly. You may have been saved late in your life. You might be, as someone like Paul says, born at a due time, saved later in your life. But you can be exalted by the Lord Jesus Christ. You can still do great things for God. How old was Moses when he delivered Israel out of Egypt? Do you guys know? 80 years old. 80 years old! When he finally did anything substantial for the Lord, got into Egypt and delivered. And like Moses is one of the greatest mens that you're going to read about in the Bible. So hey, don't feel bad. Yes, you know we were speaking yesterday about the kids having this great opportunity. You guys can start young and serve the Lord as a young age. And you know we regret not having started early ourselves. But at the same time, even if you do start late, you can be exalted by God. You can still do great things for the Lord Jesus Christ. The same way Paul the Apostle did. Back to 1st Corinthians chapter 9. 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 2. 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 2. Paul says, if I be not an apostle unto others. So if there's other people that's not of this church, other people saying I'm not an apostle. He goes, yet doubtless I am to you. I am your apostle. Don't worry about what the others are saying. You know that I am your apostle. For the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. You are my proof. Corinthian Church, as messed up as they were, they were his proof that he was an apostle. Because remember he came into Corinth. He came preaching the gospel. He got them saved. He established this church. He was leading this church, even when away in his missionaries journey. He was sending people into this church to help them learn and grow. And so they as a church, as an established church of the Lord Jesus Christ, was proof that he was their apostle. Regardless of what other people were saying. Who cares what other people were saying. It wasn't important. Verse number 3. Mine answer to them, mine answer to them that do examine me in this. So those who criticize Paul, this is his answer to them. That they are his seal of his apostleship. But let's look down at verse number 4. Have we not power to eat and to drink? So he started off with something very basic. He started off with something very basic. He goes, do we not have the ability or the authority or the power to eat and drink? We all eat and drink. We all have, all of us have the power to eat and to drink. So he starts with something very minor, but then he starts to build up from that. He starts to build up from that thought. Verse number 5. He says, have we not power to lead about a sister? And by what he means by a sister, he means a wife as well as other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas. Now before I talk about verse 5, look down at verse number 6. Or I only and Barnabas have not we power to forbear working? So he's speaking here on behalf of himself and Barnabas. So Barnabas was his partner at the time that he wrote this letter. And one of the interesting things if you ever have time is try to study out Paul's missionary journeys. Now I don't think anybody knows 100% sure of his journey. Like where did he start? What towns did he go into? But we get a rough idea by reading the letters because when we read 1 Corinthians 15, we see that he is still with Barnabas. But then we read in the book of Acts that he and Barnabas later on have an argument and they split ways. So we know that this was written before they had that argument. And so that's one of the very interesting things. I might do a study like this on a Thursday one day and just go through Paul's missionary journeys as best as I know how. But what you find if you look it up, there's many different variations of what people believe. But that's just an interesting study if you ever wanted to, if you thought what do I study now. That would be really interesting. But I wanted to point to you back to verse number five. Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife? So do we not have the ability or the authority to get married? Okay so we know that Paul was a single man. Some people have said that Paul was divorced. Okay but no I mean he wasn't divorced because he says I have the ability to get remarried. Okay he's saying and that would be true for Barnabas as well. Neither he nor Barnabas were married. Again just an encouragement to those that are single. You can do great things for the Lord even as a single person. Okay even as a single man or a single lady you can do great things for God. But he says look I have the power to eat and drink. I have the ability, I have the power to get married as well as other apostles. So the other apostles were married. The other apostles had wives, had children, had families. Okay and what you'll understand what he's leading to now is that he has the ability and the power to be paid by the church. Okay a lot of people argue and say well you know pastors should not be paid by the church. You know workers should not be paid by the church and currently I'm not being paid by the church. But I'm not asking you to put more money into the offering to be paid. I recognize that. I prepared for that. You know we need to start small at some point as we grow. Hopefully I will be able to be paid by the church. But you'll see how his thought develops and he talks about how he has the ability or the authority or the power to be paid by the church. Because these other apostles had families. These other apostles had wives and then he refers to one of the others. He says and as the brethren of the Lord in verse 5 and Cephas. So who's Cephas? You guys remember who Cephas is? Who was he? Peter. Peter was Cephas and you know when you read the Gospels that Peter had a mother-in-law because Jesus came and healed his mother-in-law. So we know that Peter was married and so he must have had children. Which just flies in the face of the Roman Catholic Church. Because the Roman Catholic Church says Peter was their first Pope and yet what's their requirement for a Pope? To remain celibate. To be unmarried and if you're married you're not fit to be a Pope. And yet Peter had a mother-in-law. How did he get a mother-in-law without getting married? Why would you have a mother-in-law if you don't even have a wife? All right do you want the struggles of having a mother-in-law but with not having the wife? No way you know Peter Peter was married. Anyway he says look the other apostles were married and had families. Verse number six or I only in Barnabas have we not power to forebear working. So what is he saying? Me and Barnabas we work. You know we have a job outside of preaching the gospel. We have work outside of our teaching the churches. And we know that Paul was a tent maker. We know that was one of his you know trades that he had. I don't know if he had other skills and abilities but that was one thing that he was doing. He would sell tents. Okay he would sell tents and that's how he made his living. And I guess as a single man it's probably a lot easier to provide for yourself than provide you know for a family. But he says look do we not have the ability or the power to forebear and we not have not we power to forebear working. Hey we should have the ability to stop our secular jobs. We should have the ability to stop working and be provided by the offering of the churches. Okay we have that ability. We have that power both Barnabas and I. And look at verse number seven. For who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? So who goes to war? If you're a soldier, if you get enlisted in the army, who goes and buys their own you know equipment? Who buys their own guns? Who buys their own uniforms? Who goes and buys their own helmet and their own boots and their own knife? Whatever else you know their own food that they would need. Their own jackets and the clothing the extra clothing they need to go to war. Does a soldier do that? Does a soldier go and buy their own things and then go fight? No. When he's enlisted in the army the army provides all the equipment right? The army provides the clothing, the weapons, the boots, the helmet, you know the training, all the costs. The cost of the food. It's all provided by the army and he's is likening himself to that soldier. Okay and then he continues saying who plants of a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? So if you plants, I don't know if you've ever planted like fruit trees or or anything you know that grows and that you can eat of, who doesn't then go and eat that fruit? You know I mean that's just crazy right? You do the work, you plant the vineyard, you go and plant the fruit trees, you go plant the lemon trees, but you never go and actually take off that fruit? I mean that's ridiculous right? You know common sense would indicate if you're going to do the work you're going to also partake of the fruit of that work. And then it says he or who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Okay so if you have cattle, you have sheep, do you not then partake of you know what what the animal produces whether that's the milk or you know you know eating you know lamb or whatever it is. You know if anyone does the work you do it to be paid, you do it to be rewarded right? I mean the reason why you go to work Monday to Friday is to get your paycheck. You wouldn't do it if you weren't getting paid for it right? That's just logical common sense that he says here in verse number seven. So a farmer a farmer works hard you know farming is hard and of course they're going to enjoy the fruit of their labor. But look at verse number eight 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 8. Say I these things as a man. You know yes I'm just giving you examples like a man okay you know it's common sense for man to partake of the fruit of their labor but then he says this or sayeth not the law the same thing. So not only is it common sense for man but the law of God the Bible itself says the same thing. And where does it say the same thing? Okay it's it's um we'll look at verse number nine. For it is written in the law of Moses. What did Moses write about? That pastors and apostles ought to be paid. Well what did Moses write? Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Now that reference I've always told you if you see where it's written you can go back to the Old Testament and have a look where it is written and I'll just read it to you it's in Deuteronomy 25 verse 4 it says thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. Okay so if someone's using an ox to do farming don't muzzle the ox don't put something on its mouth where he can't eat as it works. Okay and because otherwise I mean the animal is going to lose strength it's going to lose energy you know it's going to want it's going to want to eat and if it eats it's going to be able to work more for you right it's going to do more work for you and yet God's talking about an ox in Deuteronomy. Now if you go and read that chapter it's it's kind of like this random verse out of nowhere like he's not really he's not even talking about animals but all of a sudden he just talks about the ox right and it kind of like if you're reading the Old Testament by itself it kind of looks like that's a bit weird just just out of nowhere he talks about the oxen and making sure that you don't prevent the ox from eating the corn that it treads but then Paul explains why it's sort of this random verse there in verse number nine so he goes actually in verse number 10 in verse number 10 or say if he it all together for our sakes so did God say this for the ox I mean yes obviously literally yes for the ox but the God take care for oxen was it for the oxen that he said this verse I mean what's the ox gonna read Deuteronomy 25 verse 4 and now hey you need to feed me as I work was it for the ox no verse number 10 or save he it all together for our sakes for our sakes for our sakes no doubt this is written that he that ploweth should plow in hope and he that fresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope so he says look the reason why Moses wrote that in Deuteronomy 25 verse 4 was for our sakes was for us for those that are working for the church the Apostles for the pastors whoever it is you know evangelists whoever it is that you're using to further the work of the church that's why Deuteronomy 25 verse 4 was written for them hey there the ox don't prevent the worker from being paid from being from being from benefiting from the work that they're doing in their church saying Kevin why are you preaching about getting paid hey I'm not I'm not comfortable preaching this should pastors be paid yes they should but I don't want to tell you that I'd rather just let you the scriptures tell you that right the scriptures ought to tell you that pastors ought to be paid and again look I'm not preaching this because I I'm like we need more money and I I'm fine you know we're sustaining ourselves quite well at the moment I'm going a little bit backwards I'll be honest with you but not as badly as I thought I would we're doing we're doing pretty well we're preaching this because we're up to first Corinthians chapter 9 but still it's the Word of God it's important it needs to be preached okay now verse number 11 verse number 11 if we have sown unto you spiritual things okay so if we like it's like sowing the seed of spiritual things now this isn't just preaching the gospel because it's right into a church right he's right into the first Corinthian Church that are already saved so in what way is he so in spiritual things preaching the Word of God teaching them the scriptures right encouraging encouraging them in the Lord if he says if we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great things if we shall reap your carnal things now what do you think is more important the spiritual things or the carnal things I'll let one of the kids answer that one that one spiritual things are more important why because they're everlasting right it's forever okay the treasures that you lay up in heaven will never rust okay no thief will ever be able to break in and take those things the things that are spiritual will be with you forever but the carnal things what's carnal you know money is carnal food is carnal a house is carnal you know lots of things are carnal those things are temporary those things will rust and thieves can break in and steal those things they're great we use them we need to use them in our life but they're not going to last forever which is why God's going to give us a future home in heaven with our future resurrected bodies that are perfect okay there is a great promise of eternal life in the future we have eternal life now but it's fully realized when we go to be with the Lord so what's more important the spiritual things than the carnal things so if we're working you know not as a as a farmer not as a soldier not as someone planting a vineyard not just like an ox treating out the corn but we're actually doing spiritual work which is much greater than the carnal rewards then isn't such a great thing you know what's the big deal about taking the carnal things for ourselves so we can sustain ourselves sustain you know well he didn't have a family but the other apostles were taken and sustaining themselves and sustaining their families verse 12 if others be partakers of this power over you are not we rather so there were other workers I don't know if there were pastors in this church at this point in time I don't know if it was just the other apostles going through you know we hear about Peter you know obviously they knew of Peter they knew of Apollos Apollos came through teaching them as well so I'm assuming he's talking about these other men he says if others be partakers of this power of you so there were other people in this church that were getting paid for their work are not we rather he says so if there's other people getting paid then shouldn't be more than them shouldn't it be shouldn't it be us Paul and Barnabas that are getting paid because we're the one that establishes the church we're the ones that got you saved we're the ones that got you started right now it's Paul writing all this because he's greedy for money now of course not okay look at this look what he says continuing on nevertheless we have not used this power yes we have the ability we have the authority we have the right to be paid by you but we've not used this power okay he's refrained from that he says but suffer all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ that's that's an interesting statement he's saying look we've not taken anything from you we're not getting paid lest we hinder the gospel of Christ so there was something going on at this time where if he was getting paid maybe because because people were criticizing him and saying he's not an apostle and so you know if he was getting paid perhaps I'm just giving you my opinion here perhaps people were saying hey you know you know he's just filthy for for money you know he's just greedy for money and that will hinder the gospel right that will hurt the church and say well no I mean Paul Paul gotta say I mean Paul's doing great works for us but he might cause further division and and prevent the gospel of Christ being preached or or simply that he's saying this simply pick maybe that he doesn't need to be paid right like hindering the gospel like you are paying other people that are preaching the gospel and so if I took from that then maybe there wouldn't be enough for others to go and preach the gospel that's another way to look at it as well I'm not sure which is the right answer maybe you guys have some thoughts on that you can share that with me feel free to do this so but what the point is this we see that Paul refrains from taken from being paid you know from being from reaping the carnal things because he wants the gospel of Christ to go out to the area okay whatever the reasons are is not so important but we see his heart we see his humility he'd rather just not be paid as long as the gospel is going out and and there's great work being done for the Lord Jesus Christ verse 13 do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple now this is talking about the Old Testament practices this is the Old Testament priesthood the Levitical priesthood if you don't know the Levites did not inherit land had the tribe of the Levites did not inherit any land it was given to the other tribes and if they didn't inherit land what does that mean can they farm can they grow anything on the land and provide for themselves no they won't be able to now obviously they stayed on land they stayed on certain people's land but they could not provide for themselves they could not go out farming because back then you know it was agricultural you know farmers you know growing growing you know food or having cattle in that sense so the Levites weren't able to do that they didn't have the ability to sustain themselves but that was God's purpose that was God's purpose and then he says this so just read it again do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple so how were the Levites providing for the how were they provided for because things it was by the things of the temple in those days people would come and bring their offering right they'd bring their tides and their offering they bring food they'd bring meat they bring you know drink and the Levites because of their service because they were serving in the temple it wasn't just a few people this was a rotating work I mean we're talking about a whole nation okay a whole nation they were serving spiritual things to the whole nation and this was work that was being rotated amongst many many people and obviously these Levites they weren't celibate they were they weren't like popes without wives and kids they had families that they need to provide for themselves but they would live off the things of the temple they would live off the things that people would come in and give to the work of God and then it says this and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar so when when the lamb let's say was sacrificed they would then partake of they will eat that was their food as well okay it wasn't just wasted when they'd sacrifice a lamb or sacrifice an ox or whatever it wasn't just wasted food it was just burnt up to a crisp they would then eat it they would partake of that that was their food and this stuff was going on every day every day this was going on so I guess then the priests will take food to their families and they had food I'm not sure the Bible doesn't really tell us exactly how the practices were but that's talking about the Old Testament look at verse 14 now verse 14 is interesting even so even so what's that mean in the same way so in the same way that the Old Testament priests would be sustained but the things that were given to the temple in the same way half the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live off the gospel okay so they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel so part should pastors be paid yes should any workers you know anyone that sort of put in relatively full-time work into the church should they be paid yes but here's the other thing they should preach the gospel because how many pastors right how many churches pay for their pastor which I'm not I'm not against that you know praise God that they're able to pay for their pastor so they can have a full-time job and provide them to provide it for their families through the offerings of the church praise God but then they're not preaching the gospel right you see the condition there that they which preach the gospel should live off the gospel so I never want to get to a point hey if I'm ever being able to be able to provide for myself from the church offerings and then stop preaching the gospel at that point you should turn around and say Kevin you're not getting paid anymore until you go out again and preach the gospel these pastors are ashamed that they're not even going out preaching the gospel and yet they're being paid by their church hey those things go together you get paid but you go and preach the gospel stop wasting your time we see how important it was for Paul to preach the gospel that he refrained from being paid and you're getting paid and you're not preaching the gospel what a shame what an embarrassment okay I never want to be that way if I'm that way kick me out guys please Callum you've got the courage you got the you got the bonus to do that right just just grab me by the neck and kick me out so this passage is probably one of the best evidences we have about tithing in the New Testament okay now people have a lot of people have different views on tithing okay I don't want to one day I'm gonna preach a whole sermon on tithing I think that that deserves its own sermon but it says even so so in the in the Old Testament days they would bring the tithe to the temple and I'll just read to you Malachi 3 8 very quickly Malachi 3 8 9 and 10 the Bible says will a man rob God can a man rob God yet ye have robbed me so how how has Israel robbed God when you say wherein have we robbed thee God says in tithes and offerings so you're not giving your tithes you're not giving your offerings you're robbing God how are you robbing God I mean God's got everything God owns everything how can you rob God verse 9 ye are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed me even this whole nation the whole nation of Israel were robbing God they weren't doing the things properly for the temple and then it says this in verse 10 bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse why do we need to bring our tithe what's what the tithe the Bible it's 10% okay the tithe represents 10% bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse this is why a lot of Christians and I have this practice that I I give 10% of my income even today like I still give 10% even though I'm the pastor I still give 10% of my income to the church okay and it's that's a great thing because I always know there's something in the offering like there's always something right because I'm always making sure that I give my 10% but it says he bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house what's the house of God in the Old Testament the temple what's the house of God in the New Testament the church okay and like we saw in 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 14 even so in the same way we should be doing this and this is and prove me now here we've saved the Lord of hosts if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall be not be sorry that there shall not be room enough to receive it so he said God said to Israel in the Old Testament look just bring your tithes bring your offerings if you don't do it I'm going to curse you and if you do do it I'm going to bless you and you're going to have more than you need okay now I've really told you that there's been a change from the Old Testament to the New Testament everyone knows that and I've already taught you how there's been a change in the blessings and cursings of the Old Testament and the New Testament right I mean if you disobey God the whole nations disobeying God God saying I'm going to curse you all right but if you obey me I'll bless you but in the New Testament the blessings and the cursings are through Christ okay we're blessed because of what Christ has done for us okay we're in Christ we're blessed with Christ we're blessed with faithful Abraham but the curse that should come upon us for our disobedience was put on Christ Christ became the curse for us okay so we cannot be cursed by God as Christians but we can be chastised but chastised is much lighter than being cursed right being cursed is being you know you want you know you want evil to come upon those people whereas chastisement I want to correct you I just want to get you back in line so it's very different it's very loving whereas curse is anger and you know very very sort of a wrathful way of doing things but all that to say this the question that comes to me a lot is is tithing mandatory in the New Testament should we still give 10% of our increase in the New Testament like they did in the Old Testament and my answer to that is it depends what you mean by mandatory it depends okay now because here's the thing there's a lot of poor teaching on tithing I think I think in our churches a lot of Christians think if I don't give 10% of my income to church God's gonna curse me okay and and and what happens is they give out of fear now not everybody gives out of fear but I'm saying a lot of people in fact what got me started tithing was out of fear I heard about it for the first time like man I don't wanna be cursed so I started giving 10% of my income to church obviously I matured in time and I'm happy to give I'm not like it's not out of fear you know it's something that I really want to do I see the importance of it we see the importance here in 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 14 but but if someone's if someone's asking the question do you believe it's mandatory in the sense that if you don't do what you're going to be cursed by God then no I don't believe it's mandatory if that's what you mean okay because I don't believe in the persons and blessings the same way that are applied in the Old Testament as a New Testament but if you are asking like if someone comes to me and says okay you don't believe it's mandatory but if someone comes to me and says okay so what do you think we should give to the church what's gonna be my answer 10% 10% why because we see the principle laid out throughout the whole scriptures we see that whole principle being laid out that's the way things were done in the Old Testament it makes sense like when I started giving 10% you know it was a bit of a struggle because I wasn't even married yet we were trying to save up for our wedding and then what I found was as soon as I started doing it it wasn't a big deal I just give it I don't even think about it it just comes out of my pocket I give it to church it's no big deal okay so it's kind of funny because some people think well you don't believe it's mandatory and maybe you guys have your own opinion to this you know you don't believe it's mandatory but then people think well then what you're not giving 10% like they think you're trying to just keep it all to yourself and you don't want to give anything to the church no I still give my 10% and I give usually more than 10% as well you know I don't care well I just give I'm not I'm not saying that to boast I'm just being real to you you know if you're given out of fear that you're gonna be cursed you're given for the wrong reasons you should be given knowing full well that that money is going to be used by God gonna be used by the church and hopefully one day the Christian workers should be paid by that offering and if nobody's given anything it's never gonna happen right it's never gonna happen and again I'm not saying this because I need your money right now okay promise I promise like this is just first Corinthians chapter 9 that's what we're up to so I still believe you ought to give your 10% I do believe that's the practice that God has laid out in the Old Testament even so in the New Testament okay now I'll just give you one funny example of this in Australia things are different pretty much everybody's got a job pretty much anybody can earn an income in Australia but in Chile things are a little bit different you know you know it's not a third world country it's more like a second world country in Chile but a lot of people don't have work and a lot of people still grow have farms you know and have their chickens and stuff like that well one of my one of my uncles is a pastor and one of his church members every now and again she can't afford to give any money she doesn't have anything and obviously whatever she gets she can't like it's only it's very few and she needs it for food or whatever but every now and again should come to church and bring two chickens to the pastor two chickens that were that were grown out of a farm she'd bring that you know she'd be feather it so it's ready to go ready to cook so he would just take it and then he'll cook it and eat it you know home that's her way of giving her 10% which is pretty cool because that's the way they did it in the Old Testament in the Old Testament they would give their food they'd give their livestock they'd give drinks and stuff like that but it's funny like we think of Western world we think about you know people giving money but in some of these other nations you know they give like what they can they give whatever they can just to help provide for the for the worker provide for the pastor all right let's look at verse 15 first Corinthians chapter 9 verse 15 but I have used none of these things neither have I written these things that it should be done so unto me so I'm not taking anything from you I'm not taking in money I'm not taking any chickens I'm not taking anything from you and he goes neither have I written these things that it should be done so unto me I'm not telling you that I need to be paid is what he's saying for it were better for me to die than that any man should make my glory in void okay so he's not writing this to get paid let's look at verse 16 for though I preach the gospel I have nothing to glory of for necessity is laid upon me yay woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel whether I get paid or don't get paid I'm gonna preach the gospel okay I'm not preaching the gospel because I'm getting paid to do so says Paul I do it out of necessity all right he says I have nothing to glory of and if you start glorying if you start boasting about you soul winning about how much soul winning you do you boast about having people you get saved right trying to lift yourself up that's the wrong attitude that's the wrong behavior Paul says I don't glory of that I do it because it's the necessity and goes woe is unto me it's such a bad thing I'm so upset I'm so depressed I'm so cast down if I don't preach the gospel and I you know we're talking about this yes say how we feel down with like when we when we haven't especially once you get into the habit once you get into the habit of preaching week in week out knocking on doors preaching the gospel and you haven't done it for a while you know it starts to eat up in you and starts to build up and you just want to get out there knock doors and he's saying this is how Paul feels hey I'm just going out there I don't want you thinking that I'm going out there preaching the gospel to be paid otherwise it's all for nothing it's all void he said in verse number 15 so yeah I mean if churches are boasting about their numbers and boasting about so in it it's a shame unto them all right it's something out of necessity it's something that we ought to do like if I came you know I don't have a full-time job anymore but if I came home you know after my full-time job and man I worked so hard why can't you guys appreciate me it's like no you're the father you're the husband of your house you're the leader you ought to go out and work and provide you for your family that's nothing to be boastful about that's your responsibility that's your work same thing as preaching the gospel it's our responsibility to go out and preach that gospel verse 17 for if I do this thing willingly so if I willingly go and preach the gospel I have a reward we'll see what that reward is soon but if against my will so if I don't want to preach the gospel and look honestly there are many times I don't really want to do it but I do it anyway so Paul says the same thing if against my will a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me okay so even if I don't want to go so in but I go and preach the gospel it's committed unto me preaching the gospel is committed to me God has given me that commission to go and preach the gospel anyway whether I'm willing or I'm not willing but if I'm willing there is a reward okay there is a reward for that what is that reward a lot of people think of heavenly rewards and that does tie into this a little bit but look at verse 18 what is my reward then verily what's his reward verily that when I preach the gospel I may make I may make the gospel of Christ without charge that I abuse not my power in the gospel that's a bit weird what's his reward for preaching the gospel willingly then I do it freely okay the fact that he can do it without getting paid that he does it freely is his reward that's all he needs he says I don't need more than that just the fact that I can go and preach the gospel freely without getting paid I'm not charging anybody to give him to the gospel presentation you know that was what this happened once to me I can't remember where this was but I kind of I was I was laughing about it I came to someone's door started to give him the gospel and they said do I have to pay you I'm like no no I mean I think this is free you know I'm giving you a free gift I'm hoping you know I don't think that person got saved but they were afraid that by the time I finished preaching the gospel they're gonna have to pay me some money or something like that Paul says no I do this free that's my reward the fact that I can do it freely without charge that's my reward to go out and do it willingly and then verse 19 for though I be free from all men yet have I made myself servants unto all that I may might gain the more so is Paul a servant to any man no he's free he's a free man okay he provides for himself that he's a tent maker but even though he's a free man even though he self provides even though he's not even taking any money from the church though he has the ability to do so he says I still make myself a servant to all men why is he a servant that I might gain the more he wants to see more soul saved so he makes himself a servant and it doesn't matter who you are what status you are in life it doesn't matter if you're a billionaire or you're poor when you go and preach the gospel you are being a servant you are lowering yourself you are humbling yourself down to people so you can present the gospel and hey don't be full of both and don't be full of pride Paul is a servant to win more souls look at verse 20 and I love these next verses I really do verse 20 and I think a lot of independent fundamental Baptists forget these verses he says this and unto the Jews I became as a Jew so when he wants to preach the gospel to the Jews he became like the Jews that I might gain the Jews okay he did not want to offend his people he did not want to offend the Jews so when he came to preach the gospel to the Jews he was like the Jews he put himself under the law he knows like he was a Pharisee he knows what it's like to live Jewish in those days right so it become like them probably made sure he didn't eat anything that was forbidden from the Old Testament so he wouldn't offend them so he could fellowship with them work with them and preach the gospel to them he says this therein to them that are under the law as under the law so those that are under the law I became like under the law that I might gain them that are under the law so was he under the law no he's not under law because he's saved but to preach the Jews he put himself under the law so he would have something in common with them to win the Jews to Jesus Christ and as Australians we ought to become like Australians right I'll tell you what I mean by that in a minute when I when I go to Chile and I talk about the gospel I shall to become like a Chilean right you know there are different cultures in the world right if I go and preach the gospel to I don't know like two different areas I might change my approach I might change my appearance I might be more sensitive to the customs and the cultures of that country so that way I can make sure that I can preach the gospel to those people and you know I'll just share this with you and this is where I say a lot of independent Baptist forget this is you know obviously a lot of preachers dress nicely I'm not against that you know putting a nice little jacket on put in the time one day I'm gonna come in with a tie just to surprise you oh you know put in the tie and I'm fine with that you know I think you should look nice I think you should look presentable especially when you're standing behind the pulpit and preaching the gospel but then some churches put a rule in place that when you go and preach the gospel you got to make sure you're dressed properly adequately you know your pants and your suit with your tie and that's what I used to do because I used to be in a church that dressed really nicely like that and then I go knock doors and preach the gospel now it took me a while to realize that I wasn't getting much success doing that all right and I covered this in the lessons for soul winning right do I I can't remember now anyway and then I what I realized was if I took off my tie oh that's a rebellious Kevin right but if I took off my tie I'd have more people come into the door and then I realized if I took off my jacket I had more people coming to the door then I realized if I took off my shirt and put on a polo top I had more people coming to the door the more I look like a neighbor the more I looked neighborly the less I looked like this religious you know because people think of you as a Jehovah Witness or a Mormon or whatever the less likely they were to come to the door and then I realized oh my Bible that's right that's what I mentioned in my video oh I'm gonna put my Bible in my pocket and I started to look less you know churchy and I had more people coming to the door and I was there to have more conversations and so I don't have a fixed rule of your of your dress because if we're gonna be a church that goes and preaches the gospel to the neighborhood afterwards then I want you to be dressed in a way that we can win more that we can be like the Australians right we can do more for him and that's why sometimes you'll see me as sometimes I forget but sometimes after service I'll take off this shirt and put on a polo top just so I look a lot more neighborly because I want to be able to have more conversations I want to win more to the Lord and I remember one pastor saying to a friend of mine if you came to my door dressed in your shorts and your polo top I would not answer the door yeah cuz you're an independent fundamental Baptist and you're full of tradition not even thinking about how can I win more people to the Lord right and so that's why my dress standards you know I want you to be neat and tidy don't don't get me wrong I'm not expecting you to come to church in in ripped jeans and and look like a slob okay because if you look like a slob guess what they're not gonna open the door either right you're gonna need to look neat and tidy look presentable like a smart casual kind of look it's probably what I'm after and that's how you're gonna get more success in Australia now maybe in America maybe in the United States you know dressing with your tie and your jacket maybe you get more responses that way there are different cultures okay I know America is like a Western culture and so we but still culturally were very different people are very different Australians are much more laid-back than Americans okay Americans are workaholics you know and my brother lives in America and he's a workaholic he fits there just fine right but we're a lot more laid-back where we're more likely to have fun you know laugh at ourselves and that kind of stuff Americans are not like that right if you laugh at Americans they get offended much much easier than Australians I've experienced that but hey we need to tailor ourselves to make sure that we can win more to the more lost to Jesus Christ and that's what that's what our Paul did let's look at verse 22 to the week became I as weak that I might gain the week I made all things to all men that I might by all means save some and this is another thing in Sydney I'm going to play the week here with the really poor people in Sydney there are places that are like housing Commission where people don't even have a house like they came in a for their own house and usually they're not even working usually they're completely on welfare 100% on welfare that's how they sustain themselves and those places some of these areas stink they're like broken beer bottles and it's just it's disgusting like I I kind of trying to hold my breath when I'm talking to people at the door but you know what I don't go dressed that's when I usually take off my you know and I put on I look a lot more casual because I want them not to think who's this guy coming in this suit and tie you know and they won't open the door but I dressed in a way and I speak to them in a way so you know I'm not using big religious words or anything like that I speak to them just in common English language and present the gospel as best I can to them and that's how I think of Paul when he says he comes to the to the week he comes as weak that he might gain the week I made all things to all men that I might by all means save some what a great attitude what a great attitude that he makes himself he conforms himself to all men so they can win some now some people have taken especially the liberal churches have taken this to the extreme right they'll say well you know if I want to win my you know win my buddies you know who are alcoholics then I'll go to the pub with them I'll have a few beers with them I'll get drunk with them so they know I'm just one of the guys you know and they think well it's fine you know no you know sinning is never right you know even if it's preaching the gospel if you're drunk you're not gonna be a preacher gospel anyway but you're not gonna be filled with the Holy Spirit because you're gonna be filled with alcohol all right so this is not saying hey you can sin as long as you know you can win some no because look what he says this in uh what does it say that oh wait verse number 21 did I read that properly I didn't finish reading it but to them that are without law as without law this is when you're talking about the Jews being not without law to God but under the law to Christ that's something that I forgot to mention so what he says is even though I make myself under the law to reach the Jews he says anybody's not on the law he says he's under the law of Christ is under the law of Christ so we don't disregard the commandments of God we don't disregard the law of God when we're trying to reach the lost okay we don't go in sin and make ourselves look foolish okay no we're still under the law of Christ okay so if you tell yourself to reach someone you still need to make sure that you're obedient to the laws of God that's something that I just wanted to cover there but verse 23 and this I do for the gospel's sake that I might be partaker thereof with you so Paul is trying to motivate and share his passion of the gospel with the church he's trying to share the passion get them motivated hey we're partakers of this we're working together I do this for the gospel's sake so we can be partakers we can work together the next verse expands on this verse 24 know you not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the prize so run that you may obtain so now he's talking about a reward a heavenly reward not just a reward of preaching the gospel in his life but he's talking about the heavenly rewards that it comes to preach in the gospel and he says look know you know that they which run a race run all guess what you're all in the race you might say Kevin I've never preached the gospel I never knock on the door you're still in the race okay then he says run all okay all of us ought to run all of us ought to get into this ministry of preaching the gospel to this community you know it's about participating that's why Paul is encouraging the church hey be partakers with me in this work and then verse 25 and every man that striver for the mastery is temperate in all things now they that now now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown so it's talking about those that literally run a race like the Olympics like the athletes and people that play sports people that are literally running around for a living he says they do so they do they do so to win the prize but they do so to obtain a corruptible crown so any awards you win for winning a sporting event or you run a race you win a gold medal at the Olympics I mean great great work I mean you worked hard for it great but it's a corruptible crown it's not going to last forever okay it's temporal and I mean who won which which which sprinter won the 100 meters in 1966 if there was an Olympics during that time who knows who cares it doesn't matter anymore it was a corruptible crown right it was great for them at the time but now hey no one even remembers their name probably you know who did it back then but then he says this but we and incorruptible so we run the race we want to win that prize that prize is for anybody that can win that race that can run that race it's an incorruptible crown that we're aiming for the treasures in heaven verse 26 and this is what motivates Paul as well the treasures in heaven I therefore so run the reason I run this race the reason I preach the gospel the reason I try to win more to the Lord is to get that incorruptible crown so therefore I therefore so run not as uncertainly I don't do this uncertainly I know I'm gonna be rewarded even though I'm not gonna be paid by the church I know the Lord Jesus Christ is going to reward me I'm certain about it so fine I I get into the fight he says not as one that beat of the air I'm not someone that's just fighting the air you know like I'm just punching nothing no it's hitting something we're having success I'm certain that we're going to win the incorruptible crown and even though this first Corinthian church was so messed up Paul says you can be a partaker of this run the race with him he's getting them motivated he's getting them encouraged and that's what we were doing yesterday guys we're running the race and again let me just say this to the ladies of the children you know we need someone to look after the kids so don't feel like I'm criticizing you for not being out there knocking those I want you knocking out though I want you out there but at the same time you looking after the kids you know you know getting the food organized get into the area you know that helps us that gives us the ability the freedom to be able to go out and knock the doors okay so we're not worried about everything else that's going on elsewhere but again I said I said to the guy I said I really would like us men one day to stay and look after the kids and let our wives go out and knock doors okay the wives going like no no we'll try that way we've got to try it one day okay I reckon our wives will get more people saved than us I reckon people are going to be more willing to listen and open doors to ladies then to the you know the you know these ugly looking men but then look at this in verse 27 I'll finish off with this last verse finish off with this but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection so now he's talking about himself personally yes he's running the race preaching the gospel you know going for the prize but then he brings his body under subjection lest by any means when I have preached unto others I myself should be a castaway we need to be careful about this like we can get motivated let's go win souls let's knock doors yeah let's do great things and it is great it is a great thing but make sure at the same time that you keep your body under subjection you look out for yourself as well yes you're looking out for the needs of others yes you're looking out for the souls of others but then what about your own Christian life your own Christian walk how are you doing how are you performing you know are you do you disregard God in all other areas of your life but you're just doing the gospel preaching it's great but what if your life's falling apart what if you're struggling with sins you know you can become a castaway yes you win all these people to the Lord yeah they can go to church and be these great Christians but then you could just fall away you know you spent so much time and energy on other people and you've let your own Christian life fall apart and Paul's just saying hey we need to make sure we have that balance keep our bodies under subjection under subjection to who and the subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ the flesh needs to be subject to the spirit of man as well okay the new spirit the new man that God has given us we need to be careful with what we do again so we can be more effective in gospel preaching but at the same time we need to make sure we have that balance not all about gospel preaching it's about looking after yourselves learning the gospel overcoming sin you know being a better Christian you know for the Lord Jesus Christ so let's just keep that in mind now let me tie in this to resurrection Sunday all right now most churches are preaching on the resurrection and to praise God glory to God for his resurrection that we serve a living Savior okay but how do you think God's gonna be glorified with his resurrection us talking about the resurrection or us going and preaching the gospel because preaching the what is the gospel it's the death burial and resurrection is a not okay is it not the facts that if he was not resurrected we would yet still be in our sins okay and all of this would be vain okay so how do we glorify God how do we honor his resurrection we go tell people about it we go knock doors we preach the gospel and again churches today full of people praising God for his resurrection but what are you doing about it what are you doing are you using it are you going out and telling people about how Christ was resurrected from the dead that he had power over sin power over hell and power over death and he can save you from your sins he can save you from going to hell is that what is that what they're doing no they're just saying yeah great the resurrection hey we're doing something about it this church is doing something about I'm not boasting about it this is just our work necessity is laid upon us to do this work let's pray