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Paul’s Race & Reward
I would like to begin today’s message by jumping right into where we left off last time.
Review: We are in the section of Paul’s letter to the Corinthian believer, regarding the question they had… particularly here the question of eating food offered to idols.
....
Some may wonder how Paul was able to make such a great sacrifice.
We see the way Paul lived and we admire it, we are inspired by it, and may dare wanna try to live like that.
I’m sure the Corinthian believer read these words from Paul and felt extreme conviction.
Knowing what was God-honoring but feeling so uncertain and incapable of living that way.
They too may have wondered how Paul was able to make such an incredible sacrifice, something that for us seems so unnatural.
It’s unnatural because our flesh, our very nature (sinful nature) resists and opposes every limit to it’s freedom.
It longs to do whatever it wants, to go where it feels, and to be whatever we want to be.
It’s desire is to do anything that will please self, have it our own way!
Teenagers… resisting restrictions and boundaries parents set...
But that’s what makes Paul’s commitment even more incredible.
He wasn’t crossing any lines.
In fact, what he could have done in accepting his rights would have been God-honoring.
It was free of any guilt or shame.
He deserved it, He earned, and God has gifted it to him and to all those that serve and deemed it good, yet Paul did not accept it.
We refused what was good for what was best!
How was He able to do this?
To live this kind of dedication and devotion to God?
I believe as we take at look at these verse in 1 Corinthian 9, Paul will answer this important question.
In order for us to make the big plays ~or~ have the big moments for Christ, we have to train in big ways.
Paul in addressing his young disciple Timothy, as the young man lead a church in Ephesus, writes to him...
He tells him to train yourself for godliness.The word “train” is an athletic term denoting the rigorous, self-sacrificing exercise an athlete undergoes.
You might say, wait I thought it was God who produces these good works in us.
Isn’t God the only one that can bring about godliness in us?
How do these go together?
Let me quickly take these verses as a great proof text of these concepts.
It is the Lord who produces the good works and spiritual fruit in the lives of the believer yet Phil.
2:12, the previous verse, still commands us to work.
To “work out” literally means “to continually work to bring something to fulfillment or completion.”
This is through the process we know as Sanctification.
Phase one of sanctification is called “positional sanctification.”
Our identity has been changed.
We are a new creation.
Permanently in Christ.
God no longer sees our sinfulness but sees His sons redeeming power to wash us clean.
Phase 2 is what we can “progressive sanctification”.
From the moment God begins His good work in us until the day of its completion, the Holy Spirit is chipping away, renovating our character, day by day reforming us into partakers of the holy nature of God.
God does the work, but believers are also meant to be active in the process, yielding to the effort (Romans 6:13, 19; 12:1) and pressing on toward the upward call to holiness (Hebrews 12:14; Philippians 3:12–14).
Both concepts are present.
God’s power to bring about change but also our effort to bring it about.
We are held accountable to that.
That is why Paul tells Timothy and in a way every believer to train yourself for godliness.
Train at an Olympic level.
Paul will share with the Corinthian believer 3 things that their training needed to produce in us that same kind of godliness, and commitment that Paul had to make such a sacrifice.
In order to produce this kind of sacrifice…
I.
It takes Passion (v.
24)
Paul’s imagery here is great.
He understood the times and understood what concepts God has created to help us better understand His spiritual truths.
Life is full of them.
Jesus often drew upon physical things that happen here on earth to convey spiritual meaning.
He did that with Nicademus when he talked about being born again.
Paul does that here, using the visual imagery of Athletics.
The Corinthian believer would have been well acquainted with Athletic games.
In greek culture, there were 2 high level Athletic competitions, the Olympics and the Isthmian games which were held in the city of Corinth.
(I)A.
Passion for the Race
We as Christians are all part of the race, and we are responsible to run.
But in order to run well, we need to be passionate about the race, enjoy the sport.
In high school, I ran cross country.... running 3.1 miles… you’d have to love it to do it!
I wasn’t passionate about it, that’s why I wasn’t that successful in it.
Well, how do you build passion for something...
*Disc golf
It’s the same thing in our spiritual lives..... sharing with someone the excitement, them pursuing it even more, exercising what they learn, being victorious… we become passionate about spiritual living.
We realize it is the ultimate satisfaction and the greatest thing to live for, and we thrive on it.
But we have to have a passion for it first.
But it’s not just a passion for the race that we need in order to succeed and make the “big plays” for Christ.... we also need to have a ....
(I)B.
Passion for the Reward
If you’ve ever been around someone who is extremely into their sport, you know that they have there mind set on being the best, taking home the trophy.
If they are gonna take home the trophy, they will need to keep their mind set on thinking of it.
It’s easy as a human being to be pulled away from what we want to accomplish.
Think of all the failed New Year’s Resolutions.
How does one keep their mind on the task so as to earn the reward.
They put up reminders in their life.
Ever been in an elite athletes room.
What’s covering their wall.
The closest I’ve been to a high caliber athlete was being around one of my brother’s friend Dillon Jergens.
Posters on wall, pictures on phone, necklace or keyring, basketball always on hand, etc. reminders of what he is playing for.
Paul was like that...
He called all the past and even the things present “dung” in the same chapter but continually rights about the things that he is fighting for.
We read these verses last week, but Paul’s prize was here in mind...
Here also in our passage
An Olympic athlete’s dedication is simply astounding.
I’m sure you heard of Michael Phelps daily routine of eating, exercising.
He would exercise in the pool for 8-10 hours a day, six days a week.
Then on top of that we would spend about a hour every other day “dry” exercising through weight training to gain strength.
His “Olympic” diet” was like 10-12,000 calories per day.
Leaving very fews hours of daytime left for him.
His routine started everyday at 6:30 in the pool.
He rarely missed that morning start in the many years he competed and trained.
All this to become the most decorated Olympic Athlete.
But the thing is all his accomplishments, all his notoriety will eventually fade away.
Michael Jordan, who we consider greatest of all time is little by little being forgetten and replaced.
Ask any of the younger guys and they’ll tell ya Lebron James.
That’s cause legacy’s don’t last forever.
Can any of us name the winners of the Isthmian games or the Olympic games of Paul’s time?
Eventually these men like Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan will be obsolete.
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