-Transcript-
00:38 Amen. Thank you for joining me today. Good to be here today.
00:41 Welcome to the cafe. Today we are speaking on a subject that is so important and it’s our conduct as a ministry. Our conduct as a ministry.
00:53 Our behavior as a ministry. Our life as a witness. You know this is something that will literally change how you live if you consider it.
01:04 It’ll change how you live. It’s changed how I live. Amen.
01:09 I was called to preach. Preached as a preacher boy. I was an adult but I was lumped in with the preacher boys for some years.
01:17 Amen. Preached online and so forth. The Lord finally called me to plant a church which we did.
01:24 We planted a church. Shortly after we went to go get some food with my wife. I don’t recall exactly where we were but we went through a drive-thru and they had messed up the order or something.
01:37 And I looked at my wife. I said, I can’t believe they messed the order. It was late.
01:42 We were hungry. I looked at her. I said, I can’t believe they messed it up.
01:43 And she looked at me and she said, you’re a preacher now. Well God had called me to preach before I was even born I believe. He foreknew me.
01:50 Amen. But what she was bringing up was that my conduct mattered. Now let me take this a step further.
01:58 It’s not just the preacher but it’s all of us. In our very vocation that God has placed us in. Whether it be student.
02:05 Whether it be office worker. Whether it be on the factory line. Whether it be in the store.
02:11 Whether it be driving a car. Whether it be driving a truck. Whatever it is.
02:16 God has called us to this vocation I believe. Especially if you look at your work and you say this is just what I meant to do. Or this is where I ended up.
02:26 Or I keep ending up here. Whatever it is. You can see God’s hand of providence there.
02:31 And now you have to be a witness for Him. And there’s a great passage of Scripture. There’s a great passage of Scripture here as I trip over my words.
02:38 From 1 Corinthians 9:18-27. 1 Corinthians 9:18-27. What is my reward then? This is Paul writing.
02:50 Verily that when I preach the gospel I make I may make the gospel of Christ without charge. That I abuse not my power in the gospel. For though I be free from all men yet have I made myself servant unto all.
03:01 That I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew. That I might gain the Jews.
03:08 And to them that are under the law as under the law. That I might gain them that are under the law. To them that are without law as without law.
03:16 Being not without law to God but under the law to Christ. That I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak.
03:21 That I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men. That I might by all means save some.
03:31 What a beautiful verse. Verse 23. And this I do for the gospel’s sake.
03:34 That I might be a partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.
03:49 Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run not as uncertainly so fight I. Not as one that beateth the air. But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection.
04:04 Into subjection. Lest that by any means when I have preached to others I myself should be cast away. I myself should be cast away.
04:14 Beautiful verse from Paul here. Look 1 Corinthians 9. We’re getting into the deeper things. I believe we’re getting to the spiritual meat of the Word.
04:21 Amen. And there’s a lot of very deep doctrine. There’s a lot of having to pause as you read it and say let me search this up in the commentary or in preacher or teachers eyes.
04:35 Help me get some understanding of this and praying to God for discernment. There’s a lot of depth to Paul’s writings of course. But at the end of the day what Paul is writing here is quite simple.
04:42 He is saying that he wants to partake in what God’s called him to do. He wants to earn a heavenly reward and the way that he’s going to do that is by not offending anyone and by being relatable to people. And so we as Christians are called to do this.
04:59 Now how do we do it? We have to look as Paul looked at each individual. We have to look and say if this group of people they let’s say they meet on Saturdays to worship. Well if they meet on Saturdays and that’s their holy day and they know the Lord Jesus Christ is their Savior.
05:18 Are you gonna go in to this group of people let’s say you meet on Sundays and are you gonna approach them in a manner that’s legalistic? In a manner that that thumbs your nose up at them?
05:28 And just take that example anywhere you want to go. Women that wear pants to church, women that don’t or whatever little thing there is that that gets in the way of Christian fellowship or in someone being saved Amen.
05:40 Because what Paul is writing here is that there is a group of people that are either not saved or they’re babes in Christ and he doesn’t want to offend them or discourage them.
05:55 And so while he everything is lawful to him he writes as in he’s saved by Jesus Christ and because he’s saved by the blood of Christ he’s no longer under the law. Christ has fulfilled the law and so now he can live freely.
06:09 You know we as Christians we’re saved if you’ve been saved if you’ve accepted Christ as Savior if you realize your need for a Savior if you realize your offense as I’ve spoken about here recently if you realize your need for salvation and you live for the that’s great
06:22 and if you stumble that’s okay you don’t come under condemnation we believe in eternal security here Christ died for all for all mankind one time and we accept that free gift of salvation that that free gift when Christ was risen from the dead if we accept Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior the old man passes away
06:40 behold all things become new and we become new like Christ we are no longer under the law amen it doesn’t give us license to sin it doesn’t give us permission to sin but doctrinally speaking God is being very clear in His word that we’re not under the law if you go out with again
06:59 I just think of some of these denominations that or or groups that think very similarly to maybe independent Baptist or a Baptist or one of the other ones and yet there’s great division there and that division sometimes or that strife could lead a young Christian
07:16 or someone that would be saved they could discourage them or even hinder their salvation and that is completely opposed to the gospel I think of when Jesus when the disciples went to Jesus said there’s a some person we don’t know them
07:30 but they’re they’re casting out demons in your name and Jesus said you know essentially don’t worry about them they’re with us just because you don’t know them doesn’t mean anything right that’s what Jesus said leave him alone leave him be let him do what they’re doing
07:44 and so we don’t know God’s plan we know his ways are so much higher than our ways we know the doctrine we get from his word and we look in 1st Corinthians9:18-27 there’s so much here Paul says remember he was a Jew but he was also a Roman citizen they had a unique background there
08:01 and in verse 20 Paul writes and unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews he would go into the temple where would he always go first when Paul would go on his missionary journeys to preach the gospel he would go into the temple he would go to the Jews now Paul’s the Apostle to the Gentiles because that’s what God called him to do
08:22 God gave him that special revelation that mystery got God gave it to Paul and Paul reveals it to us that’s why as church age believers we put so much weight on Paul’s epistles at the same time Paul went to the Jews
08:33 and became as a Jew that he might win the Jews and to them that are under the law is under the law that I might game that gain them that are under the law who made the law in the Old Testament who spoke to Moses God did
08:45 so how dare we go to somebody that is trying to live by God’s principles and act obnoxious to them and act rude to them and act superior to them in some way no no we can’t do that we must love them and look at those commonalities
09:06 that’s what Paul is doing is looking at the similarities Amen if we meet somebody even let’s say you meet someone that is a Orthodox Jew or Hasidic Jew that they’re very much believing in the Torah or the Old Testament we can find common ground with them Amen
09:20 and that’s how it would a conversation could start that could lead somewhere whereas if we just look at them and just shake our heads well what good is that gonna do for the gospel Amen the gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive it is
09:31 and so what we need to do is be good stewards of that gospel by loving others and identifying with them God has given us so many commonalities so many things we have in common I visited the neighbor the other day they needed help with something
09:44 and they’re a young couple they’ve got a couple of young kids and they’re just they remind me so much of our family they’re different but there is so much so similar Amen just a couple houses down from us
09:56 and I’m in there and I’m looking around in their houses I’m helping to move this thing and I said to myself we have so much in common that I didn’t even think of you know just little things my wife wants a fireplace and this young lady’s got a fireplace and they’ve got the the different computers set up and I’ve got computers set up similarly
10:16 and it’s just like man we have so much in common these commonalities I don’t know I don’t even think we’re the same exact denomination Amen we’re certainly not the same we don’t look the same amen we didn’t go to the same schools who don’t have the same families
10:26 but we have so much in common and so let’s use these commonalities to bring forth more fruit in the gospel message and that can work so many ways it can work in winning souls to Christ it can work in edifying and encouraging souls in Christ Amen
10:43 as many preachers have said there’s no denominations in heaven I don’t believe now there are the twelve tribes of Israel as I’ve learned and that that’s what the disciples they’ll rule over those twelve tribes
10:52 and they’ll be there and so I believe God has great order in heaven and there may be an order of course that I don’t know about I’m sure there is but as far as I understand there’s no denominations there are Christians there are those that believe on Jesus Christ specifically the blood atonement for our sin
11:09 the substitutionary death for our sin that’s who’s there those that truly believe let’s keep going here
11:15 verse 22 to the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak I made all things to all men that I might by all means save some
11:24 I love that verse so much because it’s so poetic Paul he is going he’s gonna do all he can for all different groups right that he might save some because we know many won’t be saved many will turn a blind eye to the gospel be willfully ignorant have pride in the way have have all kinds of reasons
11:48 and and and love the world more than they love God or love the family their family or or their whatever more than they love God and you think I’m kidding but tell tell someone that goes out and drinks every day just go ahead
12:04 and get rid of all that booze and and and and you see what they say okay I guarantee you there is literally people that are letting a can of beer get in the way of their salvation
12:12 or they’re letting a adult website or they’re letting some other sin and they’re just saying they know it’s a sin and they just don’t want to give it up it’s so sad and what Paul is saying here is we need to be loving we need to be caring we if there’s someone that’s weak we need to be weak with them
12:28 we need to identify with them we need to help bear their burdens and then some not all but some will be saved and Paul writes and I and this I do for the gospel sake that I might be a partaker thereof with you for the gospel sake we must humble ourselves
12:42 and be meek Jesus was meek Jesus when he saw Zacchaeus that the tax collector who was corrupt right he didn’t just wag his finger at him say how dare you he said I’m coming to your house for dinner
12:54 do you see how he approached him and Zacchaeus was convicted of his own sin and said I’m gonna give back three or four fold whatever I’ve taken from anybody right but Jesus he just said I’m coming to your house for dinner is that how we identify with people that intimate idea of eating together and loving one another and again not compromising on our principles
13:13 but realizing the way to saving souls and edifying Saints is identifying those commonalities and and loving each other and yes Paul writes in this very chapter about fornicators
13:24 and how we should separate ourselves or from this very book the book of Corinthians I should say how we should separate ourselves from fornicators and from these people that are breaking they’re breaking a fellowship with God through sin okay
13:39 so we are not supposed to be tolerant of all sins all the time but at the same time we are also supposed to be identifying with those that need it most let’s identify with people
13:50 today let’s love people today and let’s let our love and our fellowship with them guide them and point to Jesus Christ through our conduct through within our vocation within our job
14:02 I wish I had more time I always say that wish I more time but I hope and pray this message touches your heart here today
14:07 thank you so much take care God bless and Amen