The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1957-10-19

I
of God. For if / do this thing
willingly / have a reward: but
if against my will, dispense
ton of the gospel is commit
ted unto me-" Paul has no al
tentative but to preach. If he
breaches willingly, he has a re-
ward, if he breaches unwilling
ly, he still must be true to the
dispensation STEWARDSHIP
with which he is entrusted.
What is my reward then?
Verify that, when l preach the
gospel, l may make the Cos
pei of Christ without charge,
that | abuse not my power in
the gospel" The great reward
is that of preaching the gospel
of Christ without taking advan-
tage of the provisions made
therefor. No burden is brought
upon the cause when the min
istry of the gospel is rendered
in this way, and that itself is
a great reward.
For though / be free from
all men yet have / made myself
servant unto all, that I might
gain the more" Paul is not
bound by mans restrictions
because he has received this
authority from Christ. Yet
Paul willingly had become the
servant of all that he might
win people to Christ the Sa-
vior. "And unto the Jews | be-
came as a Jew, that / might
gain the Jews; to them that
are under the law, as under
the law, that | might gain
them that are under the law"
In order to gain the Jews,
especially those who were con-
firmed believers in the all i'm
portance of the law to saliva
ton, it was necessary for Paul
to make himself become as one
of the group to arouse and
hold their interest in his own
Christian faith.
ITO them that are without
law, as without law, Cbeing not
without law to God, but under
law to Christ,) that / might
gain them that are without
law" To these people without
law Paul presented himself as
one of their group, yet reser-
we'd within himself the convic-
ton of his personal faith. In
none of these cases did the
apostle actually accept the po-
sition of the people as his own,
but lived among them as one
of them to gain them and avoid |
offending and repelling them. |
ITO the weak became / as
weak, that I might gain the
weak: I am made all things to |
all men, that / might by all |
means save some" This does |
not imply that Paul lacked con-
viction or moral backbone. 1t |
means rather, that he sought |
to alphabetically understand |
those he sought to win to |
Christ. The depth of Paul's
conviction and concern for 9TH
ers can be seen in his willing
ness to subject himself to any,
thing in order to save people. |
"And this I do for the gospels
sake, that / might be partaker |
thereof with YOU" The point |
here is not that Paul himself |
might attain salvation, but that |
he wants to share his gospel |
with others. The verse could |
be translated" that / might
be joint-partaker Tor co-shar-
err with you"
SELF DISCIPLINE THE |
Means of Remaining Upright: |
Il therefore SO run, not as I'M
certainly; so fight I, not as one |
that beateth the air." To keep
fit the apostle had to be on |
constant alert, ever striving to |
retain his own spiritual bal
ance while seeking the saliva
ton of others. The efforts he |
put forth to that end were not |
In vain, as one that beats the
air, but were successful and eff
fective in keeping the apostle |
on his course. "But keep I'M |
der my body, and bring it into |
subjection: lest that by any
means, when / have preached |
to others, / myself should be |
a castaway." He is even stern
with himself. He knows that
he cannot be the spiritual chan
mel for Gods work unless his
life is above reproach.
PRACTICAL Points on the
Lesson: Honest, fair, judgment
OF a persons calling must take
into consideration the results
of his efforts.