Join us for a detailed look at Paul’s writings in 1 Corinthians 9, where we examine his message about spiritual and material exchange in the life of a preacher. The episode emphasizes Paul’s dedication and self-discipline in his calling, inspiring listeners to consider their personal commitment to their own callings. We also introduce the Day by Day Through the Bible series—a valuable resource for deepening your biblical understanding.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Alan J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we are in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and we’ll listen to Faith Comes Right Hearing’s reading of the 27 verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians 9
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Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord in Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same?
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For it is written in the law of Moses, You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does He not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.
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If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is laid upon me.” Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews, I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law. To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
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Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
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So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.
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I have some interesting journal entries on 1 Corinthians 9. So let’s begin with my journal in 1994. I wrote, Paul talks about himself in this chapter, but also about principles. We can expect fruit from our labors, according to verses 7 and 10. And am I under compulsion for what I do? The next thing I wrote is, what? Woe to me if I do not speak. And then, appeal to your audience, verses 19 through 22. Play to win, verse 24. Run with aim, verse 26. Know where you are going. That’s an interesting list of insights from a 39 year old in 1994. In 2004, I was in Breckenridge, Colorado over Thanksgiving weekend when I read 1 Corinthians 9-11, and I wrote in my journal, Paul could not not preach the gospel. I quoted verse 16, I am under compulsion, for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. He did all things for the sake of the gospel, according to verse 23, and he worked hard at it to win glory. I am compelled to share the word of God, paid or unpaid, with a hundred or one, with those I have never met and those I have known my whole life, through Gideon’s Ezra or my personal life. It comes out of me. It has to, and it will. Thank you, Jesus, for compulsion. And in 2015, on chapter 9, I wrote, Those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel, according to verse 14. Then I quoted verse 11. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? It is biblical to pay preachers, pastors, rabbis, etc., even us at the Ezra Project. And then I wrote, preachers should be called, compelled to preach the gospel according to verses 15 through 16. Those who preach the gospel are entrusted with stewardship of it. Paul, as some today, chose to preach free of charge. And I finished my journal entry in 2015 with this, The body is a tool to preach Christ. Use it wisely. Paul begins chapter 9 by defending himself as an apostle. Look at this amazing statement in verse 1, Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? It’s a reminder to them and us that Paul did not get his gospel from Peter, John, or any of the apostles. He got it directly from Jesus himself. And then Paul gets into the principles of this chapter. In verse 11, he says to them, If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? And the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. So should we financially support pastors, preachers, rabbis, priests? Absolutely. It’s a scriptural principle to do so. But Paul says to the Corinthians, I never exercised the right to do this. He says, nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. He says again, “‘But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!’ So as I wrote in one of my journals, certainly some preachers, pastors, priests must be paid to proclaim the good news, and others can do it freely. There are plenty of bivocational pastors out there, meaning they work and they also are a pastor of a church. That’s kind of what Paul did as a tent maker. Paul understood the call on his life to preach the gospel. He said it was a necessity. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. Surely most pastors, most priests, most preachers believe that they are called by God to preach the gospel, to be pastors of churches. Paul is so sold out to the gospel that he says, I am a servant of the gospel. In verse 22, he says, I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do all for the sake of the gospel that I might share with them in its blessings. Oh, to have preachers, pastors, and priests like Paul today sold out to preaching and sharing the gospel. And Paul closes with this great illustration as an athlete. All runners run, but only one receives the prize. Athletes exercise self-control in all things. He says, I don’t run aimlessly. Paul sees his calling, preaching the gospel, like an athlete running a race to win. It takes discipline. It takes specific aim. It takes disciplining himself physically, keeping his body under control to do that which God has called him to do. How about you? Are you compelled to do something by God? Is there something God is asking you to do that you cannot not do it? That was the Apostle Paul. Is that you? That was the argument Paul was making to the Corinthians. I’m called to be an apostle. I gave you the gospel I got from Jesus. Hear me out. And though I had every right for financial benefit from this, I did not exercise that right. I gave it to you free of charge. That’s the deep, deep commitment of the apostle Paul. Do you have that kind of deep, deep commitment to whatever God has compelled you to do? Lord, we thank you for calling the Apostle Paul. We thank you for his deep, deep commitment to sharing the gospel so deep that thousands of years later, we’re reading his letters today. May we examine our hearts. What are we deeply committed to? What have you compelled us to do? Whatever it is, Lord, help us commit to it. Help us run the race with one goal in mind, and that’s to win the prize for you. Lord, reveal your calling on my life to me. Then help me run the race with endurance that I might give you the prize when it’s all over. And we’ll give you the praise for that. In Jesus’ name, amen. All of the Ad Bible radio programs are available to you in writing. We transcribed all of Ad Bible into an 11-book series called Day by Day Through the Bible, and we did it in a unique way by authors of the Bible. You can get the complete set or a book at a time at our website, EzraProject.net. For example, there are the writings of Moses, the writings of Solomon, the writings of the minor prophets, and the writings of the major prophets, the writings of the Old Testament historical books, and the writings of Old Testament leaders. Covering the New Testament, we have the writings of Matthew and Luke, the writings of John, the writings of Paul, and the writings of Mark, Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews. So this 11-book series covers all 66 books of the Bible, chapter by chapter. So if the radio program was on 1 Samuel, you would find the written version in day by day through the Bible, the writings of Old Testament historical books. If the radio program is covering Daniel or Jonah, you would find all the minor prophets in the writings of the minor prophets. But say you’re studying the gospel of John in your own personal quiet time. You can find our coverage of John’s gospel in the writings of John, which includes not just his gospel, but other writings like 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John and Revelation. Or you are going to be reading one of Paul’s epistles. You could find them all in the writings of Paul. Our Day by Day through the Bible series is a tremendous resource as you read and study any book of the Bible. It will deepen your understanding of God’s Word and enhance your personal quiet time because each book breaks down the passage with comments from my personal Bible reading journals, offers life applications, and prayers related to the passage. If you want more from your time in God’s Word, visit EzraProject.net and try one of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. Any of the 11 books are a great place to start or get the full set to use wherever you are in the Bible today or wherever you are heading in your Bible reading.
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