Paul
the apostle asked the church members in Corinth if they knew, “that
they which minister about holy things live of the things of the
temple?”,
and he shared how, “the Lord ordained
that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel”.
In chapter nine and verse fifteen of
First Corinthians, Paul told
the Corinthians how he “used none of
these things” where
we read:
But I
have used none of these things: neither have I written these things,
that it should be so done unto me: for it
were better for me to die, than that
any man should make my glorying void.
The
verse begins, “But
I have used none of these things: neither have I written these
things, that it should be so done unto me:
Paul began
with the word, “But”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated “I
have used” or
“Paul took or made for himself”
“none of these things”
which refers to “not one thing of which he wrote”: “neither”
or “not for this reason” “have I
written”
which means “had Paul expressed in written characters” “these
things” or
“the things pertaining to remuneration for ministers”, “that
it should be” or
“that remuneration ought to be” “so
done”
which means “arise, happen and come to be” “unto
me” or
“unto Paul himself”. Paul “used”
none of the remunerations that were due to him as the church members'
“minister”,
and he was not “writing” to them so they would begin to do so at
that time.
The
verse continued, “for
it were
better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying
void.” Paul
continued with the word, “for” or
“even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore”
“it were better”
which means “it was much greater by far and degree” “to
die” which
means “for Paul to breathe his last and expire”, “than
that any man”
which means “that any certain one” “should
make my glorying”
which means “should fashion Paul's boasting and rejoicing” “void”
or “empty,
abase, useless and of no reputation”. Paul felt it would be
“better”
for him to “die”
than to receive of the Corinthians remunerations and have his
“glorying”
or “preaching of the gospel” as invaluable and “empty”.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we see his total dedication to the
“gospel of Jesus Christ”. Not only did he work for his own
support in the “ministry”,
but he also would not allow even the appearance of him receiving
remunerations to make his “preaching” or
“glorying” “void”.
Only Jesus Christ could bring about such desire within a person who
once was a rival to Christians. Paul's life was dedicated to the
presenting of the “good news” and “glad tidings” of Jesus
Christ, and he shared how Jesus desires to be the “Savior and Lord”
of everyone who “believes”.
When he thought it might make his “presentation of the gospel”
empty and invaluable, he did not receive wages even though they were
due to him. Though Paul's example, let us evaluate our lives and how
much the “gospel” means to us, and when we make our discovery,
let us value a relationship with Jesus more than anything that may be
afforded or is due to us.
Next
time Paul tells the church members, “woe
is unto me, if I preach not the gospel”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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