I Corinthians 9:1  Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?
2  If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
3  Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,
4  Have we not power to eat and to drink?
5  Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
6  Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

Two interesting things came up in the news yesterday. Since last October 7 Israel has been trying to take out the man that was one of the main leaders of Hamas. He has been in hiding for quite awhile. Reports said he had previously surrounded himself with hostages which were taken last October 7. He was using them as human shields. Israel has been quite effective in weakening both Hamas and Hezbollah over the past year. They will not destroy them, but they have slowed them down a little. It has been suggested that Mr. Sinwar, the leader that was just killed, was no longer able to effectively communicate with his followers and was moving around to get to a safer place. I suppose it was too slow to move with the hostages around him. It may be they have killed them.
I do not believe it is wise on the part of Israel to boast so much about the terrorist leaders they have killed. This boasting could come back to bite them yet. Israel is certainly not out of the woods. Their constant rebellion against God is not good. The Bible is warning them of much bigger trouble ahead, but they are not listening.
It is important for us to learn from the rebellion that has occupied so many Jews for generations. We need to realize that rebellion against God is never wise.
The other interesting piece of news was the report that there are around 2 million Muslims in Canada and they spend over 1 billion dollars a year in the food industry. They are complaining that there are not strict enough rules around how food is classified as ‘halal’. We have mentioned before that Islam is not content to just move into another country. They want control of the world. They have come to this country, not to find a better life, but to expand their wickedness. The sadder part is that too many Canadians do not see the danger here and they are tripping over themselves to try to accommodate this wicked ideology. Businesses are trying hard to cater to their demands.
The Muslims are very aggressive and they push their weight around. The world would be wise to wake up to this threat. The 7 year Tribulation period will be a violent time, such as the world has never known. Some of the characteristics of that violence is very similar to the way Islam behaves. Those who are saved now will not be here during that terrible time on this earth. Those who are left to enter into that time will face things they have never faced before. The safety that we have today will not be there then. The antichrist will demand loyalty. He will be the most vile dictator the world has ever known. The time of salvation is today!
The Bible is constantly reminding us of the importance of knowing the true God and being saved through the Only True Saviour – the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is only One True God. There is only One True Saviour. God created the nation of Israel through choosing one man, Abram/Abraham, who was married to Sarai/Sarah. God gave that nation a parcel of land. They were to live in that land and demonstrate the love, mercy, justice, authority, etc. of God to the world. God told Abraham’s descendants to drive the former occupants of the land of Canaan, out of that land. Sadly, Israel failed to obey God’s orders. They chose to accommodate God’s enemies and they made alliances with God’s enemies. God continued to work with Israel to show them His will. He gave them godly prophets to teach them His Word. The nation rejected those men. After several hundred years in their gifted land, God brought some of His vocal enemies in to attack and destroy the land of Israel, to kill a number of Jews, and to take others hostage. God never gave up on Israel. He still has not given up on them today.
Jesus Christ came as a Jew to minister to His people and to lay down His life for the entire world. He shed His blood on the cross of Calvary to make it possible for anyone who will turn to God in repentance, to be forgiven and saved through faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Born again Christians are unique. We, those who are saved, have a very important message for the world. We do not use guns, or knives or any other physical weapon to advance the truth. We use the “Sword of the Spirit” which is the Word of God. We are told to be witnesses unto Jesus Christ to the world. Those who are saved are convinced that we have the only true faith and we seek to help others to see the blessing of trusting in the true God.
Sadly, as we see in the church in Corinth, many professing Christians are very careless with the truth. They pick and choose what they will believe, rather than accepting all of God’s Word as Truth. The result has been much suffering in our world, as well as much suffering after death for the many who have chosen to believe a lie, rather than the Truth.
In our text today, God directed the apostle Paul to remind the saints in Corinth of his authority. He was not some fly by night speaker who was coming to spread some propaganda and make some money and leave. He was God’s chosen vessel to write this epistle and to help the people to turn to God and know His peace.
He began this chapter with some needed questions. These are all rhetorical questions. He was an apostle. He was personally chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles. He was a free man. He had been set free in Christ. True, Biblical salvation is not bondage. It sets the recipient free to serve God and know His blessings. False religions keep their followers in bondage. We are all born as lost sinners. Being a lost sinner is bondage. The lost person does not have the power to resist the many tactics of the devil. They do not have the discernment to be able to know when they are being lied to and being led the wrong way. That is bondage.
The apostle Paul had seen the Lord Jesus Christ. He met Him on the road to Damascus. After he was saved, he was personally trained for his duties as an apostle, by the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the requirements of being an apostle was to have personally seen the Lord Jesus Christ. No person can make that claim today. Some have tried, but they are deceived and they are deceiving others.
Further to this, God had worked through him to bring some of the Corinthians to repentance and true salvation. They had been blessed to have him in their presence and also writing to them. Some of them did not appreciate this at the present time, but they were blessed.
The apostles had a unique ministry. As they travelled from place to place, they were given messages from God to give to the people. Paul’s letters were part of God’s Word and they are still God’s Word for us today.
Paul continued to remind the saints there that he was an apostle to them. He was God’s chosen vessel to preach and teach the Word of God to them. He was chosen particularly to be the apostle to the Gentiles. He also preached and taught Jews, but God chose him to focus in on the Gentiles. The saints in Corinth were the seal of his apostleship. The saints in Corinth could not deny the fact that Paul had ministered to their needs. He had come with the authority of an apostle. He had shown them the truth and they could not dispute that. Even though they were carnal and fighting over who the best leader was, they had the stamp of the apostle Paul on them. He had taught them faithfully.
In verses 3-6 Paul gave further defence of his right to do certain things. He was not demanding anything from them. We know he had taken up tent making while in Corinth because the saints there did not see the value of supporting him. He did not send them a bill for ministering to their needs. He was directed by God to raise some important points here.
In verse 4, he asked them if they did not have the power to eat and drink. The “we” there could be a reference to himself and Barnabas as we see in verse 6.
He had the right to eat and drink just as they the people in Corinth did. He is not talking of gluttony or drinking alcohol here. God has already shown us that gluttony is sin and that drinking alcohol is sin and thus not for Christians.
In verse 5 he addressed the matter of having a sister or a wife to assist them in the ministry. Since he was busy preaching and teaching the Word, he needed someone there to prepare meals and to look after other needs such as laundry. A sister would be very helpful for these things. A wife would also be a good companion in travel if the apostle were a married man. There is debate on whether the apostle Paul was married or not. We know from chapter 7 that he was directed to write about the challenges that married couples would face and that it was better to be single under the circumstances. A married apostle would have the cares of his wife and possibly children to deal with. We see that God’s design would be for a married couple to be together even if he was called to travel.
We know from our text and from the Gospels, that Cephas (Peter) was married. The Catholics make him their first pope, but he was not a pope. He did not believe what the Catholics teach. He was a married man and he was a born again man whom Jesus Christ chose as one of the 12 apostles. He learned obedience to Christ and he died a martyr for Christ.
In verse 6 Paul further showed that those who are called into a public ministry should be supported by those who benefit from their ministry. At the time of the writing of I Corinthians, the saints in Corinth did not see the value of Paul and Barnabas. They did not want to give of their earnings to support these men in their important work. Paul did not stop doing what he was called to do just because he lacked funds. He found ways to gain the funds needed to survive and continue to do the work. Other churches gave to his needs. He also did tent making. He knew what it was like to be hungry and cold due to insufficient funds. However, he continued on because he had an important and necessary work to do.
Today there is also a lack of recognition of the value of certain men’s labours for Christ. God’s Word is precious and needed in all parts of the world. The salvation of one soul is of great value to God. Sadly, few are getting saved. Many are too proud to accept the truth, assuming they are smart enough to figure out their own way to heaven. Those who are saved, have the privilege and responsibility of proclaiming the truth in a manner taught in God’s Word. That is what the apostle Paul was doing. The saints did not appreciate this ministry at the time, but they would repent and benefit from submitting to the will of God.
The wise person humbly submits to God’s Word. God chooses those He wants, to minister His Word to others. There are no apostles today. There are evangelists, pastors and teachers. Those chosen by God in these positions, have a responsibility to encourage other saints to walk humbly and faithfully with the Lord. They also are called to proclaim the Truth to the lost. It can be a thankless task at times, but the faithful servant of God continues on because his reward is in heaven. No one can take that away from him.
Pastor Bartel