3 - What does it mean to be a World Christian - part III

jsfry — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:08:06 GMT

3 – What does it mean to be a world Christian – Part III

by Jeff Fry, Darwin Park Community Church

1 Corinthians 9:19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. ²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Thesis: We must adopt as our aim the salvation of men and women

I. Intro

A. Review

1. We must know where we can be flexible and where we must not be flexible

2. We must not demand our rights

B. Thesis: We must adopt as our aim the salvation of men and women

II. We must adopt as our aim the salvation of men and women

A. State

1. Read 1Cor. 9:19ff

2. 1cor. 9:19 “I make myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible”

a) Paul doesn’t give up his rights as an end in itself, but to evangelize others

b) Paul repeats this again and again

(1) 1Cor 9:20 “To the Jews I became like a Jew”

(a) even though Paul was a Jew he didn’t see himself as a Jew culturally because he was now a World Christian first

(2) 9:22 “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak”

(3) 9:22 “… I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some”.

c) This repetition underlines the importance of this principle in Paul’s life.

3. This important principle sometimes focuses and even limits the other principles he talks about

a) For example:

(1) Principle: We mustn’t demand our rights.

(2) But we see that in Acts when Paul is arrested in Rome he demands that his right as a Roman citizen to a fair trial. Paul was doing this to establish precedent to protect the early church so that they would have every advantage to get the gospel out!

(3) The controlling principle seems to be : get the gospel out.

4. Secondly, becoming a world Christian doesn’t mean to be so international and culturally flexible that theyou do not fit in anywhere, but the aim is to become so understanding and flexible that you can fit in almost anywhere and get the gospel across.

5. different groups have different languages, smells, tolerances, history and shared memory.

a) Barriers must be overcome

b) Illus.

(1) The different sense of humor in England vs. America.

B. Illustrate

1. Mountain biking in Cannock Chase with Ian’s neighbours.

a) A secular society will do things in secular ways (no regard for God). This is natural and we must expect this.

b) Profanity

(1) Hearing this will not defile us in God’s eyes – this is flexible – ie. we can be in its presence and not be defiled

(2) So, for me mountain biking with guys who use profanity is fine – a bit like eating meat sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8)

C. Apply

1. Is your greatest aim and projectory of your life to get the gospel across?

2. Are you easily distracted from this aim?

a) “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62)

b) Satan wants you distracted from winning souls to Christ.

(1) Iphone

(2) I Tunes

(3) I pod

III. Conclusion

A. Paul says run the race to win.

B. How are you running the race?

1. just to finish or to win?

2. a meander through the meadow or a full-exertion run?

2 - What is a World Christian - Part II

jsfry — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:49:02 GMT

2 – What It Means to be a World Christian – Part II

by Jeff Fry, Darwin Park Community Church

^NIV1 Corinthians 9:19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. ²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Thesis: We must not demand our rights.

I. Intro

A. Review

B. This week: we must not demand our rights

II. We must not demand our rights

A. State

1. Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-27

2. Background

a) 1 Corinthians 8:1- 11:1 is one thought unit

b) Food sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8:1-13)

(1) This food was received either by

(a) Getting the sacrificial food after attending a sacrifice at the temple

(b) Or by buying the meat on the market which was produced by a meat guild which would first dedicated it to one of the local idols (e.g. goddess Aphrodite)

(2) Believer has the freedom/right to eat food sacrificed to idols BUT …

(a) 8:9 “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

(i) “weak” = those who still have a problem with eating meat sacrificed to idols

(ii) 8:13 “Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.”

(iii) Thisis the exercise of the principle of love

c) Some of Paul’s life events

(1) Paul was converted in a radical way while on the road to Damascus during one of his persecutions of Christians

(a) Jesus appeared to him and saved him and pronounced that he was chosen by God to preach the gospel of Jesus. (Acts 22:14)

(b) He was baptized immediately and began preaching the gospel in Damascus. On threat of death he escaped to Jerusalem.

3. Paul’s right to remuneration and to take along a believing wife. (1 Corinthians 9:1-12)

a) 1 Corinthians 9:1-2 “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”.

(1) Some in Corinth were questioning Paul’s apostleship status.

(a) Most probably some false teachers who Paul sarcastically referred to as the “super-apostles” (see 2 Corinthians 11:5)

(b) Paul defends his apostleship by:

(i) Reminding that he has seen Jesus too like all the other apostles (on the Damascus road)(ii) Pointing out that the Corinthian believers are Paul’s fruit in the Lord (he won them to Christ).

(2) But the salvation of the Corinthians was a result of Paul’s ministry and therefore he claimed to be their apostle in the Lord (ie. “I may not be an apostle to others surely I am to you”)

b) 1 Cor. 9:3-6 “1 Corinthians 9:3 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 must work for a living?”

(1) “… to those who sit in judgment on me”

(a) there was a faction in Corinth who were critical of Paul and questioned his apostleship, his authority as a teacher.

(b) Teachers in those days were judged by how costly their tuition was

(c) The better the teacher, the higher the tuition

(d) So, you can see where this left Paul who charged nothing for his teaching of the gospel.

(2) Paul asserts that he does have certain rights here as an apostle:

(a) Right to remuneration for his ministry to them (e.g. food)

(b) To take a believing wife

(c) Just like others do

c) 1 Corinthian 9:7-8 Examples of those who have such similar rights as Paul

(a) V. 7 Soldier – serves and gets paid for serving in the army

(b) Planter of a vinyard (eats of its grapes)

(c) One who tends to the flock (drinks of its milk)

(d) So why not Paul too?

(2) Paul brings up Deuteronomy 25:4 to show that even God supports Paul’s right to remuneration

(a) “do not muzzle an ox while it is threshing out the grain”

d) 1 Corinthians 9:12 “But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ”.

(1) Clincher and controlling principle: Paul gave up the right to remuneration in order that the gospel would run unhindered before unbelievers.

e) 1 Corinthians 9:16-18 “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward. If not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.”

(1) “for I am compelled to preach”

(a) Paul is compelled because he was commissioned to preach the gospel by the Lord Jesus when he was saved on the Damascus Road and this calling to preach was tied to his conversion experience.

(2) “woe to me if I do not preach the gospel …”

(a) Therefore, if he abandons the call to preach it would be tantamount to abandoning his conversion. They are tied together because Paul was saved to be a preacher to the Gentiles.

(3) “If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward …”

(a) preaching volutarily means those who have decided on their own to preach the gospel without being directly commissioned by Christ to do it.

(b) supposedly other teachers who come to Corinth to teach are given a reward of a remuneration of some sort for their teaching. But not Paul.

(4) “If not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me”

(a) Paul never volunteered to preach the gospel – he was commissioned to do it by Christ when he was saved.

(b) Acts 26:12 ff Paul tells his testimony of his salvation to Festus

(i) ¹² "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' ¹⁵ "Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' "'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. ¹⁶ 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'(a) “I have appeared to you to appoint you a witness …”(b) Paul was personally commissioned by the Lord Jesus himself for the very specific purpose of preaching the gospel and this in a very dramatic fashion such that there was no doubt about the purpose of it all.(c) Paul’s preaching was tied to his salvation

B. Illustrate

1. Church splits

a) An ugly row breaks out in a church with each side demanding their own way. For example, worship style is a big splitter. And it gets ugly and even in front of non-Christians it gets ugly.

b) This shouldn’t be – why not give up your right to defend yourself so that the Lord and the gospel is not discredited in front of non-Christians who otherwise will see Christian torn to shreds by each other.

2. In Les Miserables, the famous French novel, Bishop Myriel, bishop of digne, takes in the peasant convict Jean Valjean who cannot find anywhere that will give a convict lodging. In the night, Valjean awakens, steals the Bishop’s silverware and makes off into the night. The next day he is captured by the police – a convict with a rucksack full of stolen silver and the Bishop’s silver no less. They take valjean to the bishop to confirm the crime but when they arrive the Bishop scolds Valjean for leaving so hastily and without taking the two silver candlesticks which he gave him. The bishop “reminds” him to take the silver to make an honest man of himself. Valjean leaves, remembers the bishop’s words and makes good by opening a factory and giving many people jobs, etc..

3. The bishop could have demanded his rights but he didn’t in hopes that it would save Valjean from a lifetime of imprisonment.

4. Note: we don’t give up our rights just for the sake of giving up our rights. We give up our rights in order to redeem and save others says Paul. It works towards that end.

C. Apply

1. We may say “I have a right to a quiet house” and so we never host others in our house. But Paul teaches us to give up our right to a quiet house at times and let others invade your private space for a time showing the love of Christ to them “to win some” (to bring them to Christ).

2. We may say, “Joe Smoe called me up and asked me to cover his Sunday School teaching duty for him again! Man, that’s not fair. I should only have to serve in Sunday School once a month.”

a) That’s the way we get – we make up rights in our mind and cling to them

b) By the way if someone agrees to comver for you on Sunday School or worship please be sure to cover for them in the schedule (in other words just switch – don’t make them do double duty).

3. We demand our rights in our homes and in our marriages too. Many of our arguments are centered around sticking up for ourselves. “I have the right to ….”

Search results matching tag 'world christian'

3 - What does it mean to be a World Christian - part III

I. Intro

A. Review

1. We must know where we can be flexible and where we must not be flexible

2. We must not demand our rights

B. Thesis: We must adopt as our aim the salvation of men and women

II. We must adopt as our aim the salvation of men and women

A. State

1. Read 1Cor. 9:19ff

2. 1cor. 9:19 “I make myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible”

a) Paul doesn’t give up his rights as an end in itself, but to evangelize others

b) Paul repeats this again and again

(1) 1Cor 9:20 “To the Jews I became like a Jew”

(a) even though Paul was a Jew he didn’t see himself as a Jew culturally because he was now a World Christian first

(2) 9:22 “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak”

(3) 9:22 “… I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some”.

c) This repetition underlines the importance of this principle in Paul’s life.

3. This important principle sometimes focuses and even limits the other principles he talks about

a) For example:

(1) Principle: We mustn’t demand our rights.

(2) But we see that in Acts when Paul is arrested in Rome he demands that his right as a Roman citizen to a fair trial. Paul was doing this to establish precedent to protect the early church so that they would have every advantage to get the gospel out!

(3) The controlling principle seems to be : get the gospel out.

4. Secondly, becoming a world Christian doesn’t mean to be so international and culturally flexible that theyou do not fit in anywhere, but the aim is to become so understanding and flexible that you can fit in almost anywhere and get the gospel across.

5. different groups have different languages, smells, tolerances, history and shared memory.

a) Barriers must be overcome

b) Illus.

(1) The different sense of humor in England vs. America.

B. Illustrate

1. Mountain biking in Cannock Chase with Ian’s neighbours.

a) A secular society will do things in secular ways (no regard for God). This is natural and we must expect this.

b) Profanity

(1) Hearing this will not defile us in God’s eyes – this is flexible – ie. we can be in its presence and not be defiled

(2) So, for me mountain biking with guys who use profanity is fine – a bit like eating meat sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8)

C. Apply

1. Is your greatest aim and projectory of your life to get the gospel across?

2. Are you easily distracted from this aim?

a) “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62)

b) Satan wants you distracted from winning souls to Christ.

(1) Iphone

(2) I Tunes

(3) I pod

III. Conclusion

A. Paul says run the race to win.

B. How are you running the race?

1. just to finish or to win?

2. a meander through the meadow or a full-exertion run?

2 - What is a World Christian - Part II

I. Intro

A. Review

B. This week: we must not demand our rights

II. We must not demand our rights

A. State

1. Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-27

2. Background

a) 1 Corinthians 8:1- 11:1 is one thought unit

b) Food sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8:1-13)

(1) This food was received either by

(a) Getting the sacrificial food after attending a sacrifice at the temple

(b) Or by buying the meat on the market which was produced by a meat guild which would first dedicated it to one of the local idols (e.g. goddess Aphrodite)

(2) Believer has the freedom/right to eat food sacrificed to idols BUT …

(a) 8:9 “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

c) Some of Paul’s life events

(1) Paul was converted in a radical way while on the road to Damascus during one of his persecutions of Christians

(a) Jesus appeared to him and saved him and pronounced that he was chosen by God to preach the gospel of Jesus. (Acts 22:14)

(b) He was baptized immediately and began preaching the gospel in Damascus. On threat of death he escaped to Jerusalem.

3. Paul’s right to remuneration and to take along a believing wife. (1 Corinthians 9:1-12)

a) 1 Corinthians 9:1-2 “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”.

(1) Some in Corinth were questioning Paul’s apostleship status.

(a) Most probably some false teachers who Paul sarcastically referred to as the “super-apostles” (see 2 Corinthians 11:5)

(b) Paul defends his apostleship by:

(2) But the salvation of the Corinthians was a result of Paul’s ministry and therefore he claimed to be their apostle in the Lord (ie. “I may not be an apostle to others surely I am to you”)

(1) “… to those who sit in judgment on me”

(a) there was a faction in Corinth who were critical of Paul and questioned his apostleship, his authority as a teacher.

(b) Teachers in those days were judged by how costly their tuition was

(c) The better the teacher, the higher the tuition

(d) So, you can see where this left Paul who charged nothing for his teaching of the gospel.

(2) Paul asserts that he does have certain rights here as an apostle:

(a) Right to remuneration for his ministry to them (e.g. food)

(b) To take a believing wife

a) 1 Corinthians 9:1-2 “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”.