1 Corinthians Week 8 • 1 Corinthians 9-10

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Man, it's a good day to be here. If you got your Bibles, go ahead and open up to 1 Corinthians.

We are going to be in chapter 9 and 10. I don't know if you're aware of this, but I checked this

morning. Today is the last Sunday of winter, all right? And it did a good job, right? Really

feeling like winter out there. So that made it a little tough this morning. But how many of you

kind of felt that loss of hour this morning when you got up and got out of bed? Yeah, I did. I'll

be honest. I got up. My alarm clock went off this morning. Erin looked at me, and she said, I'm cold.

Can you lay here and let's cuddle for a minute? I was like, absolutely, because I don't want to get up

and get going either. But then we got here today, and we see three families that stand before you

and say, this isn't a lip service, but this is what we've committed to, that we've committed to

discipling our kids. And then we got a family that comes forward, daughter baptizing them, small group

leaders, baptizing them, coming forward. I know every day is a good day. I know every day that we

have the privilege and opportunity to gather together for worship is a good day, but today just

feels like an extra good day. And so we are just blessed, blessed to be here. I want to follow up,

just add to a little bit of our announcements. First marriage conference, please, please, please,

March 25th and 26th. It's going to be a wonderful Friday night and Saturday morning gathering together

as married couples. I don't care if you've been married a minute, right, or a million years, all

right? You need to be here. You need to be a part of this to see what God's going to do to walk through

this. Erin and I have been studying this already in these talks that we're going to listen to,

these messages that we're going to listen to, and just already gleaning from and taking from them

what the Lord has for us, and just can't wait to see what it is going to do in the life of so many

of our families. And so we'll be selling tickets back here to my left. We'd like to encourage you

to be there, to be a part of that weekend with us. Also, last week, I mentioned and began to talk

about in the message, Circle of Welcome. It's a new ministry that we're going to be having here

at Willow Ridge Church as we're going to be partnered with a refugee family that is going

to be moving in from some location in the world. We don't know where they're coming from. We know

they're going through all the pieces and checkboxes that they need to from our government to be here

and to be here legally. And so we're going to be coming alongside one of these families and welcoming

them and ministering to them and caring for them as they acclimate, moving from wherever in the world

they are to where God is bringing them here today. And we shared that and had a wonderful response

from people last week that are interested in it, but we have a lot of questions that are out there.

And so what we're going to be doing is on March the 20th at 630, we're going to be hosting a meeting

in building two in room 200, where I get to kind of walk a little bit more in depth of what it means

to be a part of Circle of Welcome, but even more importantly, to give you guys an opportunity to

ask questions about what does this look like? What are you going to ask of me? What are you going to

require from me? And an opportunity to do that, okay? And so if you're interested in just being a part of

the meeting, if you're interested and can't make the meeting, there's a sign-up sheet on the black table

in our lobby out front. And if you just put your name and number down, we'll be in touch with you,

and hopefully we can all be at the meeting and hear and see what God is going to do.

Well, you know, as we think about Scripture, I don't know about you, but it's always neat when I'm

reading through the Bible, and there's the Bible verse that jumps out to me, and I'm going to put

this in quotes for the first time. Maybe I forgot that it was there. Maybe I've just glanced over it

in my reading through before, but the Bible verse that's there, and I'm like, you know, I forgot that

it was there. I don't remember seeing that before, and the newness and the freshness of it. Because I

find in a lot of ways that there are those Bible verses that for, especially those of us who are

brought up in church, right, that just become these popular common Bible verses that we say a lot, that

we use a lot, and that's good. We've set those things, those truths of the Lord in our heart, and God

brings them to our memory right when we need them in the situations that we face. But sometimes I find

that there's Bible verses that we can just kind of draw from quickly, and do we even understand the

great impact of what God's doing? Now, if you were a child, I believe I saw this the most in like the

70s and the 80s, you know, you couldn't see a major league baseball game without somebody holding up a

John 3 16 sign, right? And you'd see that. You don't see that as much today as you used to, but at that

time, probably whether you were in church or out of church, you at least had this John 3 16 reference,

right? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believe in him

should not perish, but have everlasting life, right? So there's those popular verses, but then there's

other ones that we hear, that we speak, that we reference, that we maybe even paraphrase in our own

words from time to time. Bible verses like Philippians 4 13, right? I can do all things through Christ who

strengthens me. Or maybe the Bible verse 1 Peter 5 7, it's been one for me. Cast all your anxiety

on him because he cares for you. These have been Bible verses that we know, that we say, but do we

understand at the depth and in the context of what the writer is talking about and what the Spirit of

the Lord is leading them in? Well, this morning's message in 1 Corinthians 9 and 10, there's one of

these verses. And it's going to kind of be the verse that we build on and we go off of. Now, what we're

going to do is we're going to start at the end and kind of work our way back and work through this a

little bit. And we're going to be really aggressive in our time approach to this this morning as we try

to look over two chapters. But there's the verse at the end of 1 Corinthians 10, not at the very end,

but right there in the last. That's a common one of so many. And it says, so whether you eat

or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. I don't know about you, but that's a verse

that I know that I've quoted a lot. Even if I don't give the reference, 1 Corinthians 10 31, so whether

you eat or drink or whatever you do, you do it all for the glory of God. And on the surface, right,

this is a very straightforward verse, very little to explain in all things that you do, not in some,

but in all. So go through your day. When you wake up, you go to bed. In every aspect that's there,

it's not do some, it's not do most, it's do all. Not just when we're at church, not when we're just

a small group, not when we're just at mission trip or when we're having our quiet time, but do all

things to the glory of God. Now, here's where I think we need a little explanation. Because you and I,

I think when we read this, we understand, even if we struggle with the practical application of this,

you and I know that we aren't allowed to subdivide our life into different segments and say, well,

this one's mine, this one's God's, this one's mine, this one's God's. Now, practically, our life

oftentimes plays out that way, but we know that's not God's desire for it. But what does it mean

when we say that we're to do all things for the glory of God? A phrase that we maybe use all the

time, that we are living for God's glory. And I think this is the piece that we see so much of

what Paul is pressing into, and honestly, not even just to the church at Corinth, but to every letter

that he's going to write to every book of the Bible, to every verse of living for God's glory.

Well, what is that? What is God's glory? I think it's a wonderful question.

And I think the application, how do I live for that, is fair. What is God's glory, and how do I live for it?

Well, very simply, the glory of God is the beauty of his spirit. I read it this week, and I love that

simple definition. This beauty is not a material beauty, it's beyond that. But the beauty that emanates

from his character, it's who he is. It's that we are to live for the beauty of God. We're to live for

the character of God. We're to live for the glory of God, that this is why we live. In fact, the Bible

even tells us, and I apologize that this verse isn't going to be on the screen, but that the Bible says

that we were created for this purpose, that we are created for his glory. Isaiah 43, 7 says,

So whatever reason you think you're here, for whatever purpose that you think that you're here,

for whatever wakes you up in the morning and drives you, you were created for a purpose that's not unique

to the rest of us, that we were created for God's glory. And now his glory and his beauty

are seen amongst many things. Many things. You go out and you look at the beautiful sunrise,

and you see the glory of the beauty of the creator. You hear a newborn baby cry, and you're reminded

of the glory of the glory of the creator of life in that moment. You see a marriage that's broken,

that's reconciled, and the couple draws back together and draws back to the Lord, and you see

the glory of the beauty of the redeeming God that we serve. Right? We see people who were lost and

separated from the Lord come to faith in him, and we see the glory of the beauty of the Savior.

This is what we see. But we are called also to live our life in a way as those that have been

redeemed, those that have been justified, those that are being sanctified, those that have been saved,

to live our life in a way that reflects and shows the world the beauty of God.

And we're good at doing that in places like here. We're good at gathering together amongst brothers

and sisters in Christ, and emulating and radiating and reflecting the beauty of God. We just did that

just a moment ago in worship as we sang and declared who he was. We do this as we open his word and talk

about how he is. We do that as we stand out front and greet and welcome one another. We do that as we

check our kids in and drop them off in kids ministry. We do that as our students gathered in a room and

talked through God's word together. We did that as adults where two of our small groups meet this

morning and dove into and talked about life and how God's leading them and drawing them and breaking

down God's word. We do a really good job of doing this together, but the gospel doesn't just say

come and gather. The gospel says come and gather so that you can go. And we spend way more time going

than we do in gathering. We spend way more time there than we do in here.

And so what I want us to look at this morning in a quick kind of overview of 9 and 10 is we're going

to look at this and Paul's going to say I'm going to walk you through as he's going to culminate in

1031 and say do it all for the glory of God and draw from this several ways of what it means to live

your life for the glory of God. Now please hear me. This is a not all-encompassing list of everything

that we do, but as we've seen, as we've walked through, as we see what the church at Corinth is

battling and noticing that we're battling some of those within ourselves as well, what we can do to

live our life for the glory of God. And so number one, and this has been kind of a on repeat theme

almost every single week, right? It's laying down our rights. Laying down our rights.

That we understand that Jesus demands from us, that Jesus calls us to stop living for you and

you alone. That I am not the center. I cannot be the center of my universe and be in the center of

God's will. I can't do that. Stop living for myself and start living for the Lord, right?

And loving others. Look at how Paul describes this 1 Corinthians 9, 19.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

To the Jews, I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the

law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law,

I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ,

that I might win those outside the law. To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak.

And I've become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I might share with them in its blessing.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?

So run that you may obtain it.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things, and they do it to receive a perishable wreath.

And so I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control,

lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.

And so Paul looks at him and says, here's what this means in my life.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, who's just previously in chapter 9 talked about what it means to be an apostle.

He says, to the Jews, which Paul understood, Paul is ethnically Jewish,

and before Christ saved him, was religiously Jewish as well, a Jewish leader.

He said, to the Jews, I surrender my rights and freedoms in Christ, and I live as one under the law.

Dietary restrictions, customs, festivals, all that that's there, I take that on,

and I know that that doesn't save me, but if it opens the doorway for me to be able to share the gospel with them,

then absolutely I'll lay it down.

He says, to the Gentiles, Paul embraces their difference, their cultures, their customs, their practices,

without pursuing the things that are sinful that their culture accepts.

He's already talked through that with us of what we read.

He's like, no, we abstain from that.

We don't pursue those things, but here's what I'm willing to take on.

Here's what I'm willing to do, because for the Jew, for the Greek, for the Gentile,

it's willing for the glory of God.

He says, for those of you who are weak in the church and your faith isn't as mature,

then I abstain from the freedoms that I have of what I can do,

because there's a greater purpose, Paul says.

There's a greater thing than dietary restrictions.

There's a greater thing than being able to eat meat that's been sacrificed to idols.

There's a greater thing than even abstaining from meat that's been sacrificed to idols.

Look back at verse 23.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.

Paul says, why do I do this?

For the Jew, so that they may be saved.

Why do I do this for the Gentile?

So they might be saved.

Why do I do this for the weak brother and sister in Christ?

Because if they're not saved, then they might be saved.

And this is how Paul looks at and approaches his life.

Understand this.

When we lay down our rights, when we think of others first,

when we decide that it's not, this life isn't not about me,

we're not doing this in an essence so that we can force ourselves into martyrdom

and earn our salvation or get a bragging right about how pious we are.

But we lay down our rights so that others can come to know Jesus.

Because we understand that that's what eternity is all about.

Paul paints a picture of a marathon runner and a boxer.

Now, I don't know if you've ever been in a marathon.

Shocker, I haven't.

I don't know if you've ever been a boxing match.

Shocker number two, not me again, right?

Not my things on either one of those.

But they're grueling.

At the end of a marathon, oftentimes the men and women who compete in those

will face injuries because of the grueling race that they had to go through.

We've all seen at least one Rocky movie, right?

So we know what that looks like at the end of them.

We know what it goes through.

And Paul says that we do these things for a wreath that will perish.

You see, they give them a wreath that was made and have the leaves on it, right?

And anybody who's ever given anyone flowers knows what happens after a certain point in time, right?

They wither and they fade and they die.

And Paul says that we as believers, we don't lay down our rights.

Like this is what we're living our life for.

When we're living our life for the things of this world, we're living our life for the things that will fade and will die and will go away.

But we're called to live for the reward that doesn't.

We're called to live for the reward that's eternal.

To see men and women and children surrender their lives to the Lord.

The second thing that we're going to see here, not only are we to lay down our rights, but we're to pursue holiness.

Pursue holiness.

Look down at chapter 10, verse 6.

Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did.

Do not be idolaters as some of them were as it is written.

The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

We must not indulge in sexual morality as some of them did and 23,000 fell in a single day.

We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents.

Nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer.

Now these things happened to them as an example.

But they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of ages has come.

Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

No temptation has overcome you that is not common to man.

God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

But with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

Therefore, my beloved, free from idolatry.

And so Paul begins by talking about those that have come before and their failings of where they've not pursued the things of the Lord

and the sins and the warning against them to learn from the examples that they've seen.

Because Paul's already been pointing out the sinful characteristics and the sinful actions of those in the Corinthian church.

We've been walking through over the last several weeks.

We've seen they've got divisions in the church.

We've seen that they've been trusting the wisdom of the world.

We've seen them unwillingness to deal with sin amongst the body.

We've seen that they're suing one another within the congregation.

We've seen the sexual immorality that has run rampant in many areas within the church.

We've seen the brokenness in the thoughts of marriage that are there.

We've seen the willingness to cause others to stumble for the sake of their own rights.

And it all culminates too in the society in which they find themselves in, the idolatry that's there.

And time and time again throughout 1 Corinthians, Paul says what you need to do is run away from it.

Run away from it.

You need to flee from it.

Why don't you think about this?

When you're running from something, you're running to something.

There's always some direction that you're headed.

And so many times, we want to think, we see the sin that's there, and we run from that sin to that sin to that sin to that sin.

But what Paul is painting for us here is to run away and to run to the Lord.

Look back at verse 13.

When we're tempted, when sin, and these things that Paul's been leading them to, they're sin that's enticing them.

They're not going to address this in 1 Corinthians and then go away.

It's going to continue to be there.

And he says, no temptation has overtaken you.

That is not common to man.

God is faithful.

He's faithful.

And he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

Right?

You know, Jesus was tempted.

Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

Jesus was brought into the desert.

When he was in the desert, he was tempted by Satan.

And we don't have the time to go through that.

But in every single instance, when Jesus was tempted, and I think we can all agree that our example of faith, we can look at our grandma.

We can look at Paul.

The greatest example of faith is Jesus and his holiness.

And in every single one, where did he turn to?

He turned to the Father.

He turned to the Word.

Right?

With temptation, we need to stop playing defense.

And we need to understand that we have the ability, with the Spirit of God in us, to play offense.

And to flee from temptation and the pursuit of God and his holiness.

If sexual morality is there, then I flee and I pursue the Lord and what he has for me.

If division is there, then I flee and I run toward the unity that God calls me to and shows me.

If causing others to stumble is there, then I flee from that and I run to a surrender of my rights.

If idolatry is there, then I flee from it and then I run to him and bury myself in him and in who he is.

And then lastly, and we've kind of talked about this before, but we'll close with this.

Think eternally.

Think eternally.

At baby steps last night.

It's the reminder for me, the older I get, how quick time passes.

I don't know about you, but right now I'm feeling really old, right?

My kids make me feel old.

They do.

The pictures on Facebook that come up from like six years ago when they're like this, and that now I look at them and they're like this, right?

Makes me feel old.

Friday night, I haven't confessed this to anyone.

I'll share this now.

Friday night, we had a group of the students up here, and we played dodgeball.

And I threw a couple of dodgeballs in my right shoulder.

If I could cut it off right now, I would.

I'm just being honest with you, right?

And I remember the day I'm watching the kids out there, and they're dodging, and they're laughing, and they're having a good time.

And I remember what that was.

I was telling our families at baby steps last night as they're talking about teaching.

And I began to look back.

I always reminisce on baby steps, right?

And I remember it wasn't too long ago I was teaching my kids how to ride their bike, and now I'm teaching them how to drive my truck, you know?

It just happens like that.

But we get stuck in thinking about time and the way that we understand it and what we need to do and what we need to accomplish because our life will end.

And so what are all the check boxes that we want to make sure that are done?

And so we set some great goals, goals that we have, goals that you have.

I don't belittle these goals.

These are wonderful goals.

Debt-free, retirement.

Get the kids taken care of, raise them up, educate them, bring them up in the Lord.

Great things, great things.

Especially to bring them up in the Lord, great things.

But are we thinking eternally?

Are we thinking in the ripples of the effects of time that will continue on and on and on?

Paul says, verse 31.

Read it again.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God.

Just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many that they might be saved.

And that's thinking with eternity in mind.

Paul says when we're living for the glory of God, when we're displaying his beauty and his kindness and his grace,

it's for a reason so that men, women, and children have an opportunity to see, to hear, and to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And that, my friends, and that matters in eternity.

Would you pray with me?

Lord, we come to you this morning.

And Lord, you are so beautiful.

Lord, in your kindness and in your compassion, in your grace,

in your creation,

in your saving,

in your word.

Lord, you're so beautiful.

Lord, as we go from here,

Lord, may we take what we've experienced.

May we take what we know

and reflect it, Lord, in such a way

that shows people who you are.

May we pursue holiness

not out of a mindset of a self-righteous, pious person, Lord,

but out of the heart

of a person that's been saved,

that's been redeemed,

that's been saved.

Lord, could we think eternally,

Lord, and understand

what the beautiful privilege that we have

to be a part of the mission of God,

to share with others,

to minister to others,

to care for others.

Lord, can we do that within the body

to each other,

but can we also do it outside of the body

in a way that gives us an opportunity

to not just to love with our actions,

but to love with our words

and share the hope of Jesus

and to tell our story

and see that others might be saved.

Jesus, I thank you for that wonderful privilege

and opportunity that we have.

Lord, if there's anyone here this morning

who's not saved,

Lord, I pray through the words

that they've heard this morning.

Lord, I pray through the testimony of baptism.

Lord, that your spirit would draw them to you,

that they would respond to the call

that you're leading them to,

and that today may be the day of their salvation.

Lord, I pray for the individuals

and families that are here,

as what they witnessed earlier

was a dedication of discipleship.

And Lord, that they,

regardless if they have kids or not,

regardless if their kids are one or 41,

would decide today to be a man, a woman,

a family of discipleship,

growing each other

and growing themselves in you

for your name,

for your glory.

And so, Lord, as we respond in song,

may it be done for you

and you alone.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

We got prayer encouragers

on either side of our auditorium.

If you've come here this morning with a burden

and you need someone to pray for you,

they'd be happy to.

They would love to.

They would welcome it.

If you need to talk to someone

about a relationship with Jesus Christ,

they'd be more than happy to do that as well.

All we ask is that you respond

on how the Spirit of God

is leading you this morning.

Would you stand as we worship Him?

Thanks again for listening

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