 We're going to be looking at verses 15 through 27. So I'm going to read in chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians, beginning at verse 15. And I'll read to verse 18, but we're going to reintroduce this by touching on a couple of things we've already looked at, then we'll move on into our study before us. I'll begin reading at verse 15, but I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me, for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void, for if I preach the gospel I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me, yes woe is me if I do not preach the gospel, for if I do this willingly I have a reward, but if against my will I've been entrusted with a stewardship, what is my reward then, that when I preach the gospel I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. Now obviously last time we were together we closed with Paul's teaching concerning support for ministers. We closed by looking at verses 12 through 14. Now in verses 12 through 14 Paul had said, if others are partakers of this right over you are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar, even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. And so the apostle Paul spoke and made application and noticed with me in verse 12 he had said if others are partakers of this right over you are we not even more? There are others he was saying who regularly benefit from your finances. In other words you have supported other ministries, you support other people, when done so responsibly and with discernment he would say this is a good thing. And so it's a right to do that but he goes on to say in verse 12 we have not used this right. So he's actually referring to his own habit of not receiving support from the Corinthians. Now I mentioned to you that it's not that he hadn't received support. He's making it clear that the Corinthians had not been a means of support to him. He was supported by the churches of Macedonia. He was supported by the church of Philippi and Thessalonica in Berea. We know that because he mentions that in Philippians chapter 4 verses 15 and 16. He says moreover as you Philippians know in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel when I set out from Macedonia not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you only for even when I was in Thessalonica you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. He says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 7 through 9 was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge. I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you and when I was with you and needed something I was not a burden to anyone for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way and will continue to do so. When you look at the province of Greece you have Greece is actually a single today it's a single nation but there's a lower portion and Isthmus that connects the northern portion. The southern portion would be where Corinth was. The northern portion is referred to in Scripture as Macedonia which is the northern portion so he's basically saying I minister to those in this particular region but never received any ministry support from you in Corinth in the south. I did receive support but not from you I received support from those in the north in the area called Macedonia and so he's simply saying I'm not asking for your support and I'm not profiting monetarily from the gospel. Now in his ministry Paul knew that ministers were not only skilled in teaching but ministers also were to have a trade. Paul was a tent maker and that's revealed when he was in the city of Corinth in Acts chapter 18 verses 2 and 3. It says there he found a certain Jew named Aquila born in Pontus who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them so because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked for by occupation they were tent makers. The apostle Paul was a tent maker. A tent maker was somebody who not only worked with fabric but he also worked with leather because during that day many tents and many sales were made actually out of out of leather so he would he would work with linen he would also work with leather but he was an individual who worked in that fashion during that time rabbis were often individuals who not only supported themselves with their hands but could be supported by those whom they ministered to but very often they would be vocational in that they would take care of themselves so that they wouldn't be a financial pressure up to others and they wouldn't have to charge for their teachings so in Paul's case he would work so he could offer the gospel without charge and so that he'd be a model of hard work and ministry indeed is hard work he'd already mentioned that in chapter 4 of verse Corinthians at verse 12 when he said we labor working with our own hands ministry can be hard work and he not only ministered in in a fashion that was difficult but also physically work for himself to provide for himself in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 9 he said you remember brethren our labor and toil for labor night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you we preach to you the gospel of God Acts chapter 20 verse 34 yes you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me and so often the rabbis would would work as well as ministers so that they could minister the gospel free of charge and people would not say they're profiting from the gospel when he asked in verse 13 don't you know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple he simply saying those who serve God have always been supported by their service even so verse 14 the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel in Matthew 10 9 and 10 Jesus said provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts nor bag for your journey or two tunics nor sandals nor staffs for a worker is worthy of his food so he's making it very clear biblically God cares for the the minister the minister can be supported there's nothing sinful about that but as we enter now into verse 15 he's making it very clear that he used none of these things I have not taken financial advantage of you as what he's saying the the ones who take financial advantage are normally the false teachers all of us have encountered false teachers there's one particular one who was revealed as a false a false teacher years ago on TV you know he was one of these guys who would call out someone's name you might remember this he'd say you know you know Marie Rosales is there a Marie Rosales you're off here to the right and he'd look and there's Marie Rosales he'd say Marie you've had headaches recently it's your husband David who's causing them no he'd say you're you've had headaches you know and your back hurts and he's and then Marie would be going oh and crying like God knows my name and he knows my need and then the fellow would say you know it's time for your deliverance and and it was revealed that what was happening is is Marie Rosales and all the others in line who wanted prayer were filling out little prayer cards and the prayer cards were taken into a a trailer there was a camera there would be cameras there were forms of giving information the wife of this particular individual was reading the different prayer cards knew where the Marie Rosales would be and so she would say she's off to your right she has headaches and this charlatan would start saying Marie you're here I know you're here off to my right and so you know that's how he did it and it was exposed there was a man by the name of the amazing Randy who exposed this years ago and I thought I hope that the man repents from this you see I had his home address and when he was starting to do this I wrote him a letter and I said what you're doing is wrong you're taking advantage of the people of God and the Lord does not take that lightly you need to stop doing this and get right with the Lord I wrote him to at his home but he never listened I don't I guess I guess he just didn't want to he never listened and then he was exposed for this and so I thought well prayerfully he'll repent I was channel surfing just a couple days ago and there he is doing the exact same thing telling people things about God is going to give them miracles of money and he's going to miraculously put money in their bank account and starts talking about how people got a hundred thousand a million dollars somebody out here you can receive a million dollars and it's always based on give us some money for our anointed prayer cloths or for our water you know from the Jordan River and I'm telling you charlatans and they take advantage of the naive and innocent believer so many times the new believer so many times the person in such a hopeless condition that their last hope is God and then somebody takes advantage like that of them Paul hated that kind of thing false teachers take advantage and Paul made it very clear he was not a false teacher Jesus in Matthew 23 verse 14 said woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayer therefore you shall receive the greater damnation second Peter chapter 2 verse 3 the apostle says in their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they've made up their condemnation has long been hanging over them their destruction has not been sleeping Titus chapter 1 verses 10 and 11 for there are many rebellious people mere talkers and deceivers especially those of the circumcision group they must be silenced because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach and that for the sake of dishonest gain so Paul was writing to them and saying I have a right to receive support God has made it clear in his word both Old and New Testament that this is proper and right but I have not used this right what is he saying verse 15 it would be better for me to die than anyone should make my boasting void now what is he glorying or boasting in he's he's glorying in the progress of the gospel as well as his personal integrity the integrity of this man's ministry made ministry possible because his reputation was spotless Paul was somebody who in Acts 2033 could say I have not coveted anyone silver or gold or clothing he's saying I don't do this for the bottom line I don't do this for money I do this for for the Lord he goes on to say in verse 16 if I preach for if I preach the gospel I have nothing to boast of for necessity is laid upon me there is an overwhelming burden in my heart to preach the gospel I have an internal compulsion and I need I need to preach the gospel is what he's saying it's like what it says in Jeremiah twenty verses eight and nine whenever I speak I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction so the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long but if I say I will not mention him or speak anymore in his name his word is in my heart like a fire a fire shut up in my bones I am weary of holding it in indeed I cannot he was one of these people who just couldn't hold back one of the ways that I knew the Lord had called me to speak for him was that there were times when I tried to not say something I would sit there and somebody would be saying something and and my mom can tell you this because she was with me more than once and she saw this happen more than once where my body actually began to shake I would sit there and my body would begin to shake and she would see me because I was holding it in and I didn't want to speak I just because when I would do that when I would open my mouth it was like a blast furnace and you know something would come out and they didn't always appreciate what I had to say and so I said I've got to learn how to speak without coming off so in such an improper way and so I would be quiet but I just couldn't hold it back my mom saw me at the door that Jehovah's Witnesses would be there at the door and she'd see me starting to shake and she'd kind of take a couple steps back as she knew an explosion was about to take place I can still remember going with her she had started to go to a Bible study in a particular other city she wanted me to go there to see whether or not they were teaching the truth and I was still a very young believer at that time but I'd already started teaching and was going to school and she saw me sitting there beginning to fidget she saw me starting to move because my body actually has a reaction there are times to this day when somebody is saying something Marie can tell you this, Marie knows uh-oh here it goes because I actually breathe hard she will hear me starting to go and I start to rock back and forth and she knows give them a couple feet because there's an explosion about this to happen it's the truth and I'll just bang here we go you know because what you're saying is wrong I understand to a degree what Jeremiah is saying Jeremiah was saying I try to hold it back because whenever I spoke there'd be a repercussion that I didn't like I didn't appreciate but I couldn't hold it back what Paul is saying woe unto me if I preach not the gospel of Jesus Christ there is something inside of me that causes me to want to share about him with anybody who will listen I have an internal compulsion I have a divine commission and it's one that I will not reject Spurgeon once said I dare not play with you sinner I dare not tell you sin is a trifle I dare not tell you that the world to come is a matter of no great account I dare not come and tell you that you need not be an earnest I shall have to answer for it to my master and there's that sense that you need to speak the truth you do it in love but there's that sense and Paul had it that he needed to communicate the gospel woe unto me if I do not preach the gospel what was was his motivation what was it that caused him to do that for him it was God's mercy that had been shown to him it was a love for Jesus Christ and it was a sense of duty his call was to speak the word of God and he was one of these men who was determined to fulfill that call for Paul to live was Jesus and preaching the gospel is all that matters he was a steward he was entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ and he would faithfully deliver the message of the Lord Jesus Christ the fact is there's a greater reason to preach the gospel in financial reward there is a greater reason to preach than material benefit because these kinds of benefits are temporary he is saying I have an eternal reward for faithfulness to Jesus Christ he says in verse seventeen if I do this willingly I have a reward but if against my will I've been entrusted with a stewardship my reward is more valuable than what I have on earth and my reward is more valuable than any compensation that I could receive and even when it's difficult to preach he's saying I will continue to do so because I have been trusted the gospel so have you by the way every believer in this room you have and I don't know how many times I've said this and how many different ways I'll say it again you have been given the keys to the kingdom of God when my kids were beginning to learn to drive I can start with the oldest and go to the youngest but we'll start with Corinne she being the oldest when she was learning to drive I would take her out into parking lots let her drive around the parking lot for a while when she eventually got a feel of the wheel and the brakes and had an idea of the power of the vehicle we were driving and all of that I let her go on to the street there we go on the street now Marie would be in the back seat and I'd be there in the front Marie would have her hands over her eyes but I wanted to see what what I hit before I died so I would be in the front seat and the passenger and Corinne would drive and she's always been a good driver by the way my little girl's a good driver but you know just like every other driver she had to learn how to drive and so she did she spent time behind the wheel she began to learn how to do those things and then finally one day we took her to get her driver's license all of us remember the day when we got our driver's license that we have them those of you who are driving illegally it's really a thrilling day when you get your driver's license but we went to get our driver's license her driver's license and uh... and I remember she passed her test she did well comes home and what is the first thing she wants she wants my car and I'm sorry that is not about to happen that's not going to happen oh dad I just want to go to my friend's house I passed the driver's you know test I've got a ninety-something on it dad you know I can drive you pull the keys out of your pocket man and it's kind of like I I don't I don't you know it's just like one of those things like oh okay jeez uh no okay oh no okay oh no take it go you know when you hand them and they go on and that was just for a car it's just for a car it is no big deal if she smashes it up I had her driving her mother's car I mean it's no big deal but guess what the Lord did the Lord gave you keys but not to a car to his kingdom if that doesn't cause your heart to faint with fear nothing will you have the gospel of Jesus Christ entrusted to you the message of salvation the only message whereby an individual must adhere to in order to get into heaven it is the most powerful message that has ever been given to mankind and God trusted you with it what do you do with the trust that God gave to you do you do you take that message and give it or do you hold it back well the apostle Paul when he was speaking concerning this to the Thessalonians in 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4 said it like this he said our exhortation was not of deceit nor of uncleanness nor in guile but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel even so we speak not as pleasing men but God who tries our hearts we have been put in trust with the gospel you know when I was a kid in my teens up to when I got saved I was not trustworthy I just wasn't I was an unfaithful son an unfaithful friend and I wasn't necessarily the person that you would trust very much because I didn't care whether I was trusted or not it was to my advantage I would take advantage of it but when I got saved and I began to read passages like I just shared with you that I was put in trust with this message changed my life it changed my life because somebody trusted me somebody tested me proved me and trusted me and that somebody is God himself what is it that motivates a minister to remain faithful to the things of God it's the fear of God it's the love of God and it's awareness that God has trusted you with the most important message that mankind has ever received Paul said woe unto me if I preach not the gospel of Jesus Christ even if I don't do it out of faithfulness I do it as responsibility for my stewardship because I've been given something that is of utmost importance and as a steward I will remain faithful to my stewardship he says in verse 18 what is my reward then well I want to be able to preach it absolutely free of charge I'm not going to take advantage of you I have proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ without charge to you he says in verse 19 though I am free from all men I have made myself a servant all that I might win the mort to the Jews I became as a Jew that I might win Jews to those who are under the law as under the law that I might win those who are under the law to those are without law as without law not being without law toward God but under law toward Christ that I might win those who are without law to the weak I became as weak that I might win the weak I have become all things to all men that I might by all means save some now this I do for the gospel's sake that I may be a partaker of it with you the liberty that I have in Jesus Christ the liberty that Jesus has given to me has been used to evangelize it's this desire for people to be saved that has actually motivated him now notice when he says in verse 19 I am free from all men yet I've made myself a servant to all he's saying I don't depend on any man I depend on Christ alone for my support but I have chosen to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ now this liberty that I have I'm using to evangelize so to the Jew I became as a Jew in other words I'm willing to identify with anybody Jew or Gentile alike to bring them to Jesus Christ now he would identify with them but he didn't compromise the gospel to the Jew he was willing to to appeal to his Jewish roots to the Gentile those who did not recognize Moses he was willing to fellowship with them and minister to them even though the Jews thought Gentiles to be unclean to those who were weak he would minister to them because these were those who were weak of conscience they had concerns about food there in Corinth but he was able to minister to them with a sympathy towards their weaknesses and so what he chose to do is to simply in every way identify with man and find God's way to minister the word of God to them the level or the area that they lived in a way that is understandable to them and that's how you do proper ministry you know your audience you know who you're speaking to if I'm speaking to a group of older people senior citizens I'm not going to stand up there and share things like I was speaking to a high school group if I'm speaking to men I don't go and speak to them as if I'm speaking to a woman's retreat you need to know your audience when I'm teaching pastors and pastors classes I say you need to know your audience you need to know who you're speaking to you need to know what kind of appeal to give you need to know your audience in the sense that you can communicate in the level or in the direction or in the understanding that is general for that particular audience and you need to learn to do that well Paul was simply saying that to the Jews I understood the law I understand Moses I'm able to communicate to them to those who are Gentiles or without or outside of the law I can speak to them I can appeal to their prophets and I can bring New Testament in so that they can understand what I'm trying to say as I'm giving to them the gospel if somebody's weak in their conscience I know how to speak to them with loving compassion because they're a weak brother I can speak to them on their level and that's something that we all need to learn to do and then he finally highlights this in this way in verse 24 do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives a prize run in such a way that you may obtain it everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things now they do it to obtain a perishable crown but we for an imperishable crown therefore I run thus not with uncertainty thus I fight not as one who beats the air but I discipline my body bring it into subjection unless when I have preached to others I myself should become disqualified this is something that is rather practical for us today because what Paul is speaking about is athletic games when you read his writings very often he will make reference to athletics because it's quite obvious that he was familiar with the various athletic games during his time and the various contests during this time the Greeks had two great athletic festivals one of them was called the Isthmian Games the Corinthians would be familiar with that the other one was called the Olympics and the Olympics were something obviously that everybody knew about the contestants who were going to be involved in these particular games would train and they trained diligently for ten months they would abstain from certain foods they would stay away from certain beverages certain wines in order that they could be in top shape they worked and trained and got their bodies into a superb condition because they wanted to win a prize they would win what is called a pine wreath and not only would they win this wreath but they also when they got the wreath as the champion they also got fame and finances and they became very very well known and so Paul is exhorting Christians and he's saying to us as believers we're not running for short-lived fame and we're not running for short-lived comfort what we're doing is we're serving the Lord for eternal rewards when he speaks in verse 25 concerning this crown that they would win notice he refers to it in verse 25 as a perishable crown because that's exactly what it was it didn't last it was not something that was imperishable it was something that over time would deteriorate he's saying the prizes that you win in the world are never lasting prizes but the rewards you receive from God will always be that which does not perish so if you're going to make a choice as to what you want choose that which does not perish choose the reward that lasts forever and you need to make sure that you you contest in a lawful fashion and you need to make sure that you're in the condition to win now when he says in verse 27 I discipline my body and bring it into subjection unless when I've preached to others I myself should become disqualified it's interesting I was watching the Olympic Channel Channel 4 yesterday and they had something like the thirty most famous Olympic moments or something and I I found it interesting and I wanted to watch it and what was part of the thing that I found interesting is in fact that we were going to be looking at this passage today but beyond that in the United States today we have this attitude and I think it's it's found its way into the church and I want to speak about this for a minute this is really something that's on my heart and I hope I can say this properly we have this attitude that if you compete in something you ought to get a trophy everybody gets a trophy I mean you drive around town and I'm you know not necessarily knocking people who do this because who knows maybe someone in this room finds comfort in putting those bumper stickers on my child as an honor role student and all of that you know but everybody in one fashion or another here in in in our society is is is a champion in one way or another everybody nobody's really ever loses everybody always in one way or other wins so you join little league and and you you have to play and you end up the season everybody gets little trophies and what that does is it diminishes the reality that there was a team that was better than other teams there were there were athletes on the team that you played against that were just it is just a better team than you it when when I was growing up and I'm you know I have to be careful about this because I'm starting to sound like one of these old man who's saying you know when I was a kid we walked twenty seven miles in the snow to go to church you know or whatever and I don't really I I don't really think that way and and yet I find myself thinking that through and realizing that there are some great differences between how I basically grew up in the society that I grew up in and the society that is just today it's it's really a very different society very different see when I was in little league the the coach would put on on the field those whom he wanted and if he didn't want you to play you didn't play that was just it and if a lot of times the ones who played would be the kid whose father was out there helping you know in practice and also his kid was going to start you could be a good ball player never start simply because you have connections and the coach already had his team so I was nine years old when I started playing little league and I did pretty well and I started in what when what we had as you had what they called the pioneer leagues and then you had the pacific league then you had the major league so I started out like most every other kid nine years old as my first year playing ball I played pioneer league but we had tryouts and the next year I was boosted to what were called the major league so I didn't ever play pacific league I went right into the majors at the age of ten so at the age of ten I was there were in the uniform the whole things because not everybody wore uniforms major leagues were uniforms and pacific league had a uniform that was a little less in quality than the major there were actually statuses involved in in even your uniforms and the hats that you wore and so I made the major leagues but I can still remember my first year in the majors we had twenty uh... league games and we had like three or four practice games and each game consists of six innings and so in twenty four games over the season I played a total of ten innings in twenty four games and six of those innings were in the last game of the season because it was inconsequential whether we won or lost and so I only played four innings including practice games and then nineteen regular games I sat the bench for twenty three games and I sat there chewing on my glove wishing I could play but there was there was no recourse if the coach wanted you in you went in if you didn't want you in you weren't going in and it didn't matter if your dad walked up to the coach and said my boy's got a glove he knows how to throw the ball he's a good ball player didn't matter and you can imagine how it felt for me some of you can you were there too seeing your friends playing and you're not because the coach had his favorites and and I sat there and and I have to tell you did I like that no what did it do in my heart well that year it caused me great discouragement my mom said to me son we can pull you from the team we can put you in the pacific league you'll start you'll play I mean you won't have to sit the bench and I said no I'm gonna sit the bench I sat the bench for all those games because I knew I was learning some things even at that age I knew that something was going to happen eventually and that's what happened the next year I played then the next year I played in and that was the rest you know and and and I did well but I learned some things and part of it is life isn't fair and not everybody gets trophies and not everybody's a starter and there are some people who will start who maybe shouldn't there are others who should start who will not but life isn't fair so you have to make adjustments to it I also learned something I learned that the best team usually does win and so if you're going to be a winner you have to practice when I was eleven and twelve years old I played baseball every day every day that I could go out I played ball my best friend lived across the street and every day we played we had a fence there a brick wall by my house he would pitch I would bat I would pitch he would bat and we did that from the time we got out of school until we went to bed that night until when the the sun went down every day practiced and practiced and practiced and practiced until my skills were improved because I figured that if you try hard and work hard and do your best eventually you're probably gonna be able to contribute that's how I thought because that was the society that I came from and so I'm listening to this Olympic guy just yesterday and he said just because you go into the pool doesn't mean you're gonna medal and that's the truth you have to you have to work hard you have to discipline yourself the greatest athletes are the ones who practice the most who made it their life that's what Paul is talking about he's saying these people are putting their entire life's efforts into winning a perishable crown they practice they diet they abstain from certain foods and they eat other kinds of foods they work out and work out and work out so that they might have a chance to win a wreath that perishes and he's saying if these people have a discipline to get something like that that has no value outside of the temporary shouldn't we as believers discipline ourselves so that we might win that which lasts forever and that is a mentality that even the church today has failed to grab hold of holiness godliness is not something that just happens because you woke up today it is something you pursue it's getting up in the morning and reading the word it's abstaining from activities of the flesh it's dying to self it's making choices that are difficult when your flesh would rather do something and you say no I will not do that I will choose the better I'll choose the greater I'll choose the thing that matters more when I first got saved in my early first years of being a Christian there were things that I wished that I could drink because I enjoyed drinking that kind of beer or I enjoyed doing that kind of whatever and the Lord had to teach me very early in my walk with him if you want to excel you put things away that don't matter and pursue the things that do put away the things that don't matter put away the things that just distract put away the things that may entertain you right now or amuse you at this moment but are not edifying and building you up pursue the things that matter so that you can grow so that you can have understanding of God so that you can have a relationship with Him so that you can be equipped for works of service so that you can have something to share with people when you're trying to tell them about Jesus Christ there are people I've known over the years who can talk about the batting average of their favorite baseball player or the yardage that their favorite running back as accrued over the season or the points that they've made their favorite basketball player how many three-pointers he's made how many championship teams he's been on and they know all kinds of these kinds of information bits of information but they don't know anything about the Lord they don't know anything about His Word they don't know anything about fellowship they don't have any of that discipline their discipline is learning how to rebuild an engine or to work on a firearm or to do their hobby, whatever it may be it's not that learning how to rebuild engines isn't good if you can do that, that's a great thing to do I could use your friendships sometimes knowing how to work on your firearms and having hobbies none of that's bad as long as it's not the premier goal of your life because when it's all said and done that which matters is that which is done for the Lord serve God with all that you have in you Ecclesiastes 9-10 says whatever your hand finds to do do it with your might Colossians 3-17 says whatever you do whether in word or deed do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through Him Romans 12-11 says never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord so Paul is simply saying like an athlete I actually have a training regimen and my regimen is rigorous when he speaks concerning it it's interesting how he puts it he says in verse 26 I run thus not with uncertainty thus I fight not as one who beats the air I'm not a shadow boxer in other words but I discipline my body and I bring it into subjection less when I have preached to others I myself should become disqualified it's been said when he says I discipline my body and bring it into subjection he's literally saying I give myself black eyes I discipline myself I want to have a walk with God that is solid and continuing now this is coming from the pen of the mightiest apostle Paul himself and he's saying less having preached to others I find myself disqualified less moving into a life that lacks discipline God cannot use me any longer and places me on a shelf and find somebody else that he can use again back into that athletic thing I never wanted to sit the bench I never was one of these kids who could do that it was hard to sit there especially when you're looking out in the field knowing that you're just as good as any of those kids who were playing and you're just sitting there and you're just sitting there and your uniform's all clean I used to want to dirty my uniform up I wanted to slide I wanted to dive after the ball I wanted to play with all of my heart and I would sit there and I would watch this and I would get so upset and I'd say I want to play I would say to the coach I'd say put me in put me in coach and he wouldn't he never did so I learned to shut up I learned to just sit there and I learned that there's a time when the coach decides he'll put you in so the best thing for me to be and this is something I learned in ministry is be ready be ready just be ready so I practiced every day I worked every day I was ready every day because if I got my opportunity I was going to make the best of it I wasn't going to be one of these kids who just sat there and then okay Rizal let's go in and then what drop the ball I'm going to learn how to catch I'm going to learn how to throw I'm going to learn how to play and I'm going to be ready and guess what I brought that into my walk with the Lord same attitude I'm ready so should the Lord open a door I want to step in I want to be ready to be used by him see I figured that God is looking for a man he's looking for a woman that he can use the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for the one whose heart is completely his that he might show himself strong on behalf of and so I want to be that man I want to be the one that the Lord looks and he's looking through the area and he says I can use Rizal as I can put him in and I want to be ready that's what Paul is saying Paul is saying I discipline my body I give myself black eyes because lest after preaching to others I find myself put on a shelf I want to be used by God he's saying discipline yourself to godliness pursue the things that matter and watch what God will use you to do you will be amazed at what the Lord can use you to do if you're ready so be ready