2012 Apostle Two 0219: What Is an Apostle? (Conclusion): full transcript and answers

▶ 0:00 “What is my reward?” Then, okay, I’m not getting paid, what is my reward? “That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel without charge, that I may not abuse my authority.” And the word “authority” here is delegated. Leader, remember, every pastor, every evangelist, every apostle, every minister is a delegated leader. The real leader is who? Jesus Christ, who is the leader of the church, Jesus Christ, who is the shepherd of the flock, Jesus Christ, who is the commander of the army, Jesus Christ. Everyone under them may have titles, but they are delegated authorities. The real authority, the real boss, is Jesus Christ, and the church needs to wake up to that. You can hear me preach that today, but that doesn’t mean you got

▶ 0:53 it. I have seen ministers go to members’ homes and ask for their [unclear], literally knock on the door, “Give me your money, give me your [unclear], I can’t wait for service, give it to me now.” I go, “Brother, that’s, that’s not the character of Christ.” You don’t force people to pay anything, they’ve got to do it from the drawing of Christ, the change in the heart of Christ compelling them to do it. Isn’t that right? Hallelujah. That’s why an apostle is patient, he’s patient. Now the right

▶ 1:45 focus. He said my focus is right, not only my attitude is right but my focus is right, and my focus is to win people to Christ. “Though I am free,” I’m not obligated, “from all men,” I have no obligation to do what I’m doing. The Corinthians, citizens of the people of Corinth, the city of Corinth, he was not obligated to go there, he didn’t owe them anything, he went there freely. And he said, “Though I am free from all men, I have made myself a,” what? What’s another word for “servant” here? Slave. Absolutely. “I have made myself slave,” in other words, the Corinthians are my master, because I

▶ 2:37 voluntarily make myself a slave to them, and my responsibility as a slave is to meet their need. Hallelujah. Doesn’t that change ministry? I’ve always told my church, I don’t know who in their right mind would want to be a pastor of a church. I really don’t. The attacks you get, the blame, everything, it’s all your fault, and you can never preach good enough, you can never live good enough, uh, you know, and the responsibility to have a living word and to be patient and let God’s people grow is really heavy and a big requirement. Who would want to go through that in life without God choosing you and empowering you to do

▶ 3:28 it? It’s crazy. And he did this, he made himself a slave, “that I might win the more.” What’s his focus? Winning people to Jesus, the gospel and the cross, that’s his focus, his focus is to bring people to Christ, the one who delegated him to be an apostle. Now, verse 20, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win the Jews, to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those under the law.” Now, the Jews he’s talking about, the Jewish Jews by blood, okay. You can be a Jew that follows the Jewish religion, or you can be a Jew that was born by blood. You see, my children in my home can be a

▶ 4:39 Christian because they choose to be a Christian, or they can go out and say they’re a Christian because they were born in a Christian family, that doesn’t make them a Christian, and that’s a problem in America today. You see, and so even over in Israel right now, most of the Jews in Israel right now are not religious Jews, they are blood Jews, they do not follow the Jewish religion, and you can see that, find that in any encyclopedia. They’re just Jewish by blood. See, you’re an American because you were born in America, you know, you may not believe in the constitution of America and what made this nation what it is at all, but you’re an American because of the birth. Got it?

▶ 5:31 He said, “those who are under the law,” he’s talking about the shadow laws. See, the example laws, the sacrifice of the lamb was a shadow, an example of Christ coming to die for us. See, incense that they burned in the temple was the example of prayer: “Let my prayers be set before thee as incense, and the lifting of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” See, those shadow laws, the, can’t eat catfish and, and, you know, different animals, plainly says that you might be holy to the Lord. Well, eating, not eating catfish didn’t make you holy, but it illustrated, see, when Jesus come, that you separate from the world, you don’t partake of the sins of the world. Are you with me? Those are shadow laws. But the Jews were still under the shadow laws, there lot of people came to Christ that were Jews, and they kept observing the shadow laws, they, they kept wanting to sacrifice animals when Jesus was the sacrifice, they kept wanting to burn incense when prayer was the incense, see, they kept wanting to wear certain clothing and not eat certain foods,

▶ 6:42 which was an illustration of living, living rightly, and so they stayed under the shadow laws when Christ came and fulfilled all the shadow laws. Do we understand that? See, there are civil laws in the Old Testament which did not change, and then there’s shadow laws, illustration laws, type laws. And so he says, “Hey, that didn’t bother me,” and when he would, when he go into those group of people, it didn’t bother him, he would go in and he would shave his head and, you know, do these vows and do these routines, when he was free from them before, so he could, what? Win some. Amen. You’re looking at me like you don’t get it. And he goes on to say, “those without

▶ 7:35 law as without law.” And then he clarifies this, because there’s a lot of people say, “I’m not under law.” What law? The shadow law. You’re not under the civil law, you’re under the shadow laws fulfilled in Christ. You’re under, ain’t that right, your faith must be in Jesus’s death on the cross, the shadow law fulfilled. Amen. “Not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ.” See, he plainly says those without law are still under law to Christ, cuz he fulfilled all the shadows, “that I might win those who are,” what? “Without law.” In other words, whatever choice people made, it didn’t bother him from going right in their midst and preaching the gospel and accepting them where they’re at, not approving them but accepting them and respecting them where they’re at to preach the gospel, that he might win them. And what in America we’re divided. Man, anybody doesn’t believe our way, we won’t go near them, they don’t go near us. You know why? Because we don’t have people that are really mature, really free in themselves, that can handle

▶ 8:53 opposition that is obviously against the Bible. You know, we want to judge them, we want to point our finger, and we want to separate from them, but Paul says, “Hey, I go right in the midst of them, I don’t care what stage they’re at, I’m going to go in and preach the gospel that I might win some.” Isn’t that a good attitude? Isn’t that a good focus? Verse 22 of chapter 9, “To the weak I became as weak.” Now, remember we learned last week that a person who was so extreme in idol worship that they would want to check out whether the meat was sacrificed to idols or not, did it have the kosher stamp of approval, and Paul says, you know, that’s extreme, that’s weak, just get the meat and don’t ask any questions, because meat’s nothing, ain’t that right? And if someone says, “You’re not sacrificed to idols,” then don’t use it, because it’s going to violate their conscience. And so when we get to extremes, we are what?

▶ 9:57 Weak. Did that bother Paul? No, he went in and ministered to them anyway. He would go to the pagans’ houses, or even the believers’ houses where they were doing these festivals and sacrifices, and at their homes, and partaking, and to preach the gospel to them. Hallelujah. “I became all things to all men, that I might save some.” Now, does that mean he went to the prostitutes and partook of sexual immorality? Does that mean he went to the drunks and got drunk with them? No, come on, common sense tells you that. What he did, he just went in any condition they were in, that he might win some and preach the gospel to

▶ 10:51 them. Now we come to verse 23 of 1 Corinthians 9. He’s going to talk about the goal. He’s going to give us the goal, and he’s going to give us what the goal is, and he’s going to tell us that we need to be a partaker of the goal, not just a hearer of the goal, not just a talker of the goal, but a what? Partaker. Say the word: partaker. I sent out a flyer back in November and December about a Bible study, “Possessing the Promises,” and no one was interested. See, Christians think because they’ve heard the gospel they possess the gospel, but you don’t possess it till you got it. See, you don’t have joy till you got joy, you don’t have peace till you got peace, you don’t have wisdom till you got wisdom, you didn’t hear a message about

▶ 11:56 it, you got to possess it. And Paul is going to tell, you tell us the goal of this whole thing is to be a partaker of the gospel prize. Verse 23, “All this I do,” preaching without being paid, going to every stage of everyone in the country, whatever stage they’re at, “all this I do for the gospel’s sake.” You see, remember he said it’s just in me, I got to preach the gospel, ain’t that right? I’m not up there to, to be in front, “Look at me, I’m an apostle, look at me, I’m a worshipper, look at me, I have a ministry in God’s house.” I get sick and tired of people saying “my

▶ 12:49 ministry.” You give up your ministry, you might get to be one in attitude, I’m talking about, are you there? He said my whole motive, my whole source of action is the gospel, to win people to Christ, and not just win them to Christ, he wants to do something with them after he wins them to Christ, “that I might be a partaker of the gospel with you.” Now he’s specifically talking in the first person, he’s an apostle, but he does all these things that as an apostle he is still a what? Partaker, a participant, a reaper of the benefits. He’s saying I want to be a partaker with you, I’m the one to preach to you, but I still have to live a life that keeps me a

▶ 13:50 partaker. Now that was a good statement, did you hear that statement? He is using himself, and those he’s seen Christ and he’s done miracles, he still, he still says, “I do these things so I can keep being a partaker of the gospel.” And then he goes on in verse 24, “Those who run in a race all run.” Now, he’s using a natural illustration, this is his, this is his method of doing things, he uses natural and scriptural illustrations, he’s really good, but in doing it, it confuses a lot of people when they read his epistles. Would you raise a hand and say, “Yeah, that’s me”? You see, and we got to remember it’s the Spirit that reveals things to us, and so you can’t understand Paul until, this, you, you really get a hunger and a compelling for truth, then the Spirit starts, little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept, revealing truths to

▶ 14:56 you. “So those who run in a race all run, but how many received the prize?” One. When I ran a 100-yard dash back in my fast days, coming in second place didn’t do anything, you might as well come in last, the only guy that was declared the winner was the guy who went across the line first. Isn’t that right? So he, he’s using a natural illustration. “Run in such a way that you may,” what? “Obtain the prize.” Obtain the prize of the gospel. See, you got to run, you got to get across the line, you got to finish the

▶ 15:48 race. It’s not anything if you’re just in the race, the reward goes to the one that crosses the line. Amen. Better is the end of, of a thing than the beginning. “Oh, I’m in the race,” big deal. You got to get across the line, you got to get the prize, you got to be a partaker. Four qualifications to getting the prize. Okay, four qualifications he’s going to give. I tell you, this guy’s good, I’m glad I’m his microphone. “Grace and faith is all you

▶ 16:40 need.” We’ll see, we’ll see. Grace, faith, water baptism. “Everyone who competes for the,” what prize? What prize? The gospel’s prize, the gospel’s reward, “is first of all temperate.” Self-controlled. Whoa. Self-controlled. Yeah, it’s your job to control your tongue, it’s your job to control your body. Self-control is a spiritual thing, you don’t have to [unclear] and feel the vibes and shake, you have self-control, God will give you, you got to use self-control. You got to zip that lip, you got to put water and quench that fiery temper of

▶ 17:39 yours, you got to muzzle your mouth, you, it, you got to refrain from hitting someone because they hit you or they said something. You got to use what? Self-control. And he says I got to, to do this so that I gain the prize with you. I am still vulnerable to losing the prize. I might have signs and wonders in my life, I might have patience and, and all these signs of an apostle and my, and my care for the gospel, but I must maintain it so I win it with you. And self-controlled in how many things? Oh, well, I got drugs under control. Well, big deal, get your sex life under

▶ 18:35 control, get your anger under control. I mean, I deal with sinners, and yeah, you get them off drugs and they think that’s it. No, no, no, there’s a lot of things in your life that have to be delivered from, it’s not just drugs. I was once a drug addict, big deal, you’re having sex with everybody around you. You got to be what? Self-controlled in all things. All right, now, “they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable one,” an eternal one. All right, verse 26, “Therefore,” for this reason, “I run this way,” this is how I run the race, I’m not only self-controlled but I run with confidence,

▶ 19:28 not with uncertainty. I run this race with confidence. Amen. I mean, I’m out to get this, I’m on this track to win the race, I’m not out to just, you know, move around the track, I’m going to, I’m getting across that line, I’m going to do it with confidence, not uncertainty, not doubt, not indecision. Christians are so indecisive, hesitation. “Well, am I saved or am I not saved? I don’t know if I’m sa—“ He said you’re saved, get, get moving, get running the race. Amen. He said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” “Well, I’m just the flea on the dog, you know, I’m just no good.” Oh, yes, we’re all no good, back up and run the

▶ 20:30 race. Amen. And that’s what David said when he got down, “I’m just a flea on the dog, I’m just no good.” No, we all know we’re no good when you stand by Christ. Good Lord, who can line up to him? But we are in the race to be like him. “I fight, I box.” The word is “box.” He’s using the, the [unclear] games again, they had games there every two years and competition, and he’s talking about the boxing. “I box, I fight, not as one who beats the air.” I don’t go in the ring and just shadowbox and there’s no opponent there, there’s nothing to conquer. He said I box to beat the enemy, to put my flesh under control, to overcome these things, I’m, I’m fighting to knock out my

▶ 21:36 adversaries. Allelujah. Now, we want the ministers to do our fighting for us. Now, instead of us going to the prayer, we just send in an offering to [unclear] Roberts or somebody to go to the prayer tower and do our praying for us. And, you know, this is true in America, you know, instead of going to college and learning a degree or, or a technical school and learning a job skill or on-the-job training to learn a good job skill, oh, we just send our money to Benny [unclear] so that God will just rain money from heaven on us. Hallelujah. No, you got to fight. He’s got to fight to win the prize, even though he’s got the prize right now, and he’s telling you you got to fight the same way I do, you got to run this race the same way I do. Isn’t this good? Now, see, he gives us these

▶ 22:41 qualifications. He said, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection,” or bring my body into slavery. I don’t do what my body wants to do, my body does what I wanted to do. “Well, I just, you know, I was just born this way, that I just got to have alcohol, or I got to have drugs,” like they said of, uh, Whitney Houston over the weekend. You weren’t born that way, you chose that way. You got to bring your body into discipline, restrain it, make it a slave of you. When that body doesn’t want to get out of bed and pray, you say, “Body, get out of bed. Arms, lift yourself up. Mouth, move.” And you know what? They obey.

▶ 23:41 You, you know, your body doesn’t make you watch TV four hours a night. You can get up and turn it off and listen to good Christian worship or read the Bible or have a Bible, you know, you have mastery over your body. Hallelujah. And he says this: “lest when I have preached the gospel to others, I myself become disqualified.” He’s an apostle, he was raised from the dead, he has done miracles, he has led many to Christ, and he can be

▶ 24:34 disqualified. Wow. There goes once saved always saved right out the door. Yeah, don’t you believe that big lie. Judas at one time was saved, but he didn’t wind up being saved, did he? Judas once preached the gospel, cast out demons, and healed the sick, big deal, in the end he was what? Disqualified. And Paul knew this. He failed the test, he failed the qualifications, he didn’t keep the qualifications. He said it’s possible for me, who has exercised these qualifications, to violate them and become

▶ 25:36 disqualified. Wow. One preacher said it meant he was going to get benched. No, he’s getting kicked off the team, he’s getting kicked out of the gym, he’s getting kicked off the campus, he’s disqualified. He’s not even a benchwarmer. Wow. All of a sudden the things of God are serious, aren’t they? Now, if Jesus gave us these goals, does he empower us to attain to them? Yes. And see, that’s the faith Abraham had that was counted to him for righteousness in Galatians, that he had the faith, he believed that God had the power to perform what he

▶ 26:40 promised. Now, if God can get us saved, can he keep us sav— and get us to the goal? Does he have the power? Yes. But is there requirements on my part? Yeah. Here’s four of them.