Running the Race

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Preacher: Greg Magazu Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

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Okay. Well, good morning again. So this morning we're gonna be taking a look at 1st
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Corinthians 9, 24 through 27. Often when you only preach occasionally it becomes so clear how long it takes the
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Lord to prepare a sermon in one who is not called to the regular duty of preaching.
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Many people said to me this week, wow I can't believe you preached on such short notice, but the more
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I've been looking at this the more I realize the Lord's been preparing this sermon for over a year. That's how long it takes when you're not doing it regularly.
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For I have been growing in a desire to walk more closely with the Lord. Probably the men remember about a year ago we were at a men's meeting and I was talking about just how convicted
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I'd been over movies and things like that. That's kind of when this started for me because I lament the fact that I don't see my desires for Christ being the first thing, right?
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That that old question when you have nothing else to do what's the thing you want to do, right?
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Does it have anything to do with Jesus Christ and his word? I want to be consumed with our
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Lord. I want him to be all that I think about and where my joy comes from. I want that to be an experiential reality in my life.
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I still find sin has such a foothold though. Its claws are still in my flesh and I hate it.
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I feel often like Christian in the valley of the shadow of death. As you guys know one of my favorite books is
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Pilgrim's Progress. I saw then in my dream so far as this valley reached there was on the one on the right hand a very deep ditch.
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That ditch is into which the blind have led the blind in all ages and have both there miserably perished.
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Again behold on the left hand there was a very dangerous quag into which if even a good man falls he finds no bottom for his foot to stand on.
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Into that quag King David once did fall and had no doubt therein been smothered had not he that is able plucked him out.
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The pathway was here also exceedingly narrow and therefore good Christian was the more put to it.
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For when he sought in the dark to shun the ditch on the one hand he was ready to tip over into the mire on the other.
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And also when he sought to escape the mire without great carefulness he would be ready to fall into the ditch.
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Thus he went on and I heard him sigh bitterly for besides the danger mentioned above the pathway here was so dark that oft times when he lifted up his foot to go forward he knew not where or upon what he should set it next.
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Isn't that a wonderful illustration of the Christian walk? You know we have legalism on the one hand we have lawlessness on the other and we are by God's grace treading the narrow path between them.
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I find I have to keep myself busy with good things these days. All right truly Paul has it right when he says see then that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil.
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With sin I feel that as soon as I let my guard down I'm getting lax in something media work anger it is a game of whack -a -mole so often.
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I thought it would do me some good to consider the Christian life and what our battle with sin looks like and I must say that over the past week it has.
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My prayer is that it will do you some good as well. The verse
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I chose for today is 1st Corinthians 9 24 through 27 and the title of my sermon is running the race.
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Do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may obtain it and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.
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Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus not with uncertainty and thus
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I fight not as one who beats the air but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection lest when
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I have preached to others I myself should become disqualified. These verses were some of the first that I memorized when
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I became a Christian. I've always loved the metaphor the longer I walk with the Lord the more fitting I see that it is and as Ross said last week the
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Lord did not use a race to show what the Christian life is like but gave us races because the Christian life is a race.
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So I want to cover these verses in four parts. Verse 24 running to win. Verse 25a what is needed to run.
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Verse 25b running for the prize and then finally verse 26 and 27 how are we to run.
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So as a by way of background we know that Corinth is a place where Paul ministered for over 18 months.
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He was encouraged by the Lord and a vision to stay there because he had many people in that city.
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Corinth was a great city in Greece where it was a bustling center of trade in the Roman Empire and the letters to the
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Corinthians are very relevant to the American Church because we are very similar in our culture to that of the
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Corinthians. We have incredible wealth incredible luxury.
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We are an idolatrous people and we have special struts especially these days struggle with sexual immorality and back in those days they did because the worship of Aphrodite was in that city.
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Corinth was a city of about 600 ,000 people so about the size of Boston almost exactly the size of Boston.
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It was actually I was chuckling about that because the men had been reading a book on Sundays talking about you know a covenantal county where we go and try and find someplace with only 10 ,000 people but God decided to send
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Paul to a place of 600 ,000 so I guess our God can do whatever he wants. The church in Corinth had a lot of problems because of the culture it found itself in and the compromise that they were constantly fighting against right we see this in our own world right we don't we we praise
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God and we should for the freedoms that we have in this country and for the wonderful blessings and even the material blessings that God has given us in this country right where there are many places in this world where both the material blessings and the freedoms are not there but we have a different problem and I'm not saying it's harder or less hard than what they have but we have the problem of becoming complacent right by letting our guard down letting this culture lull us to sleep in a
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Christian life and it can be as dangerous as a place where there is active persecution.
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So in the section of this letter that our verses appear it seems
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Paul answers the question is answering questions that the Corinthians have so in chapter 7
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Paul starts a section where he's answering questions about marriage right when is it good to marry unbelieving spouses what do we do with them should we remain single and then in chapter 8 he starts a new section answering a question related to idols and meet offered to idols and this section goes on for three chapters 8, 9, and 10 and so I'll cover that in just a moment and then in chapter 11 he switches gears again and starts answering questions related to headship to head coverings and the worship of God and things like that and so in our section here we are in 8, 9, and 10 and the verses that we're focused on today which
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I have no idea is any significance or not but are in the exact center spot of these three chapters right if you look at all the verses are 73 you know chapter 9 verse 24 is verse 37 so it's right in the middle of this exposition that Paul is doing around idols and meet offered to idols and so he starts answering that question of idolatry and meet offered to idols but he expands it and it doesn't seem at least from the way he writes this letter that he's answering additional questions but actually he's trying to help the
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Corinthians see something bigger because he begins talking about self -denial he begins talking about not wounding another's conscience and in being you know the whole thing about the weak versus the strong brother right he's getting into trying to help them to understand that a big part of their role in this world is to be self -denying he moves into chapter 9 and he uses himself as an example right
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Paul is showing himself that even though he is an apostle and he has every right to demand of the
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Corinthians of their material blessings right as he ministers to them spiritual blessings he refuses to take those things right he talks about you know no one will rob me of this boast
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I will I will not cause any stumbling block for the gospel by doing this right he's not going to give anyone an excuse to say that he's peddling the gospel for the
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Corinthians who are generally wealthy material benefits but he's being self -denying right he has the right to ask for these things and then we come to our verses which
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I'll skip over for just a second and then he goes into chapter 10 and as he comes out of the verses we're going to cover chapter 27 but I discipline my body and bring it in subjection lest when
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I preach to others I myself should become disqualified he then in the beginning of chapter 10 goes into several examples from the
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Old Testament to talk about how the Israelites became disqualified right they all passed through the sea they were all baptized they were all they got the receiving of the law they were in the wilderness they followed that rock that was
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Christ and yet most of them fell right I'm in numbers right now in my daily reading and I just read how you know the only two who got to go into the promised land was
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Caleb and Joshua and and so they all lost the blessings and why did they it was because of idolatry it was because of the fact that they were they were not keeping themselves right that they were continually complaining against God continually looking to other things for their strength and so these examples kind of extend verse 27 and kind of say therefore you know look at look at Israel as another example and then finally he finishes it up chapter 10 with getting back into the original question back into idolatry and meat offered to idols he gives some practical advice about hey when you're in the market if you know don't ask questions for conscience sake but if somebody says this has been offered to idol don't eat it not for your conscience but for theirs and again he brings it back around to that self -denying for the gospel theme and so this is where we find the verses that we're gonna pick up this morning this section of Scripture also has many well -known verses that we all have memorized we've all put on little cards and memorized right verse 813 therefore if food makes my brother stumble
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I will never again eat meat lest I'm lest I make my brother stumble 919 for though I am free from all men
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I have made myself a servant to all that I might win them more verse 1011 and now these things happen to them as examples and they were written for our admonition upon whom the end of the ages have come verse 1013 no temptation has overtaken you except such as common to man but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able 1023 all things are lawful for me but not all things are helpful all things are lawful for me but I will but I but not all things edify and then finally the summary verse of this entire section so 8 9 & 10 come down to a final therefore 1031 therefore whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God and so that's ultimately the summary verse of this whole three chapter discourse of Paul and so in the middle of this whole section on self -denial and those things we do to live the
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Christian life upon God's glory we have a metaphor he uses the metaphor of a race which is well known to the
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Corinthians for the Ithmian games took place in Corinth and most historians say these games are the most famous and well -known after the
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Olympic Games so Olympics most well -known but Ithmian right behind it and so the
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Ithmian games were like the Corinth's NFL right everybody knew these games everyone knew how they went everybody knew who competed in them everybody knew how they competed one commentator said the preparatory training the diet the willing temperance in moderation the regime of the athlete in the studious care to observe the conditions of success furnished a forcible illustration of what was essential to those who would run the
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Christian race and win an immortal crown so going into section 1 running to win first 24 says do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives the prize run in such a way that you may obtain it this verse is talking about persevering in the
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Christian life we must run this race of the Christian life to the end and for us the end is our death or Christ's return this is a lifelong race that we run the
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Christian life this is not something that we run for a season and then we take a break we must continue to run those who run till the end will be saved
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I want to quickly say that it may seem that what I'm about to say is that salvation is dependent on running
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I am not and it is not it is dependent on the one who has one in what he is one for us in the games he who finished first got the prize that is true in our race as well in a manner of speaking
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Jesus Christ finished first and he has won the prize we win this race in him the key is we must run the race in him which means we have to run when what
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Paul is talking about here is showing ourselves to be in Christ by running justification is a complete work of Christ but those who are justified will be sanctified and we pay a play a part in that bit and if we are not being sanctified that it may be because we've never been justified therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is
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God who works in both in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure Philippians 2 and 2nd
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Timothy Paul uses the same metaphor and also if anyone competes in athletics he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules 2nd
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Timothy 2 5 so what are the rules of this race how do we know you how do you know you qualify before you listen to a sermon on running a race you should make sure you're in it
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Arthur Pink said when we ask is Christ your Lord we mean does he in very deed occupy the throne of your heart does he actually rule over your life we have turned everyone to his own way says
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Isaiah 53 describes the course which all follow by nature before conversion every soul lives to please itself of old it was written every man did what was right in his own eyes and why in those days there was no king in Israel that is the point we desire to make clear to the reader until Christ becomes your king until you bow to his scepter until he until his will becomes the rule of your life self dominates and thus
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Christ is disowned we must run in such a way that we may obtain the prize
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Matthew Henry says concerning this verse you may all run so as to obtain you have great encouragement therefore to persist constantly and diligently and vigorously in your course there is room for all to get the prize you cannot fail if you run well yet there should be a noble emulation you should endeavor to outdo one another and it is a glorious contest who should get first to heaven or have the best rewards in that blessed world
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I make it my endeavor to run so do you as you see me go before you so then what is needed to run this race of the
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Christian life verse 25a and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things let's look at what is needed to run the
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Greek word for temperate means to exercise self -control or to control oneself when one competes in a contest they must exercise great self -control when it comes to those pleasures which are lawful but that can be abused food drink exercise sleep they have to decide very seriously how they spent how they will spend their time what they will dedicate their energies towards and how they will live
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I did some research on how Olympic athletes train and what stood out to me was not the extremity of it right it wasn't a situation
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I assumed I was gonna find out that these people work out like they're in the gym 22 hours a day and they work you know then they somehow sleep eight hours a day and they also trained another 12 hours a day and it like I figured it was this insane thing but what
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I found is it's actually much more self -controlled and there's a forethought to everything that they do and I think there's a lesson in that for us they work out hard but they ensure they have time for recovery they plan meals and what they eat often days in advance in order to support their bodies not just for energy but where they are in their workout and training routines recovery muscle growth things like that probably do a whole lecture for us they ensure that they get the proper amount of sleep not too little not too much they cut out all things that hinder performance drugs drinking partying they also focus on goals and mental performance so that they can push themselves during the big contest right they set small goals in their training in their exercise to achieve those things just outside so that they're getting used to pushing themselves to achieve a goal so when they're in the big race and they have to make that last push for the win they're already mentally able to push themselves even beyond their bodies typical ability what they're doing through all of this is not seeking to do some herculean effort but basically bring themselves to the optimal performance in order to get the most possible out of their bodies there are lessons in the
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Christian life when we think about that those who run in a race are purposeful about being temperate they exercise self -control to ensure that they are focused on the most important things and that they're not overindulging in one area right actually was interesting when
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I when I used my Bible software to see where temperance shows up in the scriptures there's three verses that came up and they were all related to elders and deacons and their qualifications because the qualifications for elders and deacons are really just the qualifications for a mature
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Christian and so a bishop then must be blameless the husband of one wife temperate sober -minded of good behavior first Timothy likewise their wives wives of the deacons must be reverent not slanderers temperate faithful in all things also first Timothy and for a bishop must be blameless as a steward of God not self -willed and not quick -tempered which would be the opposite of temperate and so ultimately as Christians who are mature we're called to be temperate we're called to hold all things in their proper place as we walk with the
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Lord right and these are and again these are what we're talking about here is all things that are lawful for us but as we know we can take even lawful things and in sin with them and so this is a message that the
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Corinthian Christians sorely needed and frankly it's a message we sorely need in our day as we said earlier
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Corinth was a place of luxury and excess there was wealth everywhere and even the poor didn't have it so bad kind of sounds like this place doesn't it in fact we were the men were joking on Saturday morning about the fact that even the poor among us have cell phones and sometimes even
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Cadillacs and you really have to scratch your head and be like how are they poor exactly but this is where we live and so we're used to excess in having excess and almost whatever we want if we are to live the
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Christian life well we must be thoughtful about what we need to be doing and what we need to avoid
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HR Ironside said concerning this verse for us there stands in the distance the blessed
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Lord himself waiting to place on our brow that incorruptible crown yet when many of us are in danger of losing it because we are so self -indulgent so careless so carnal and so worldly minded let us take a lesson from the athletes and be willing to give up present pleasures for future glory
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Matthew Poole says but look as it is with wrestlers in those games and practiced amongst you they are temperate in all things in the use of meats and drinks or any pleasures though in themselves lawful we that are
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Christians and striving for heaven should also do the like so behaving ourselves in the use of meats drinks apparel pleasures as the things so used by us may serve us in our business for heaven and be no clog or hindrance to us another area that we need to consider in our day is being self -controlled in the use of media and entertainment there has never been another time in history where the ability to distract yourself in waste time on things of no value are so accessible for me as I mentioned earlier movies have been a big thing that I have had to grow in temperance with have to have self -control over how often
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I watch movies because for me it is just something that ends up dominating too much of my time and negative in it negatively impacts my walk with the
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Lord so I I have to focus on that you know what is it for you is it
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Facebook is a TV is a Twitter is it movies books some hobby that you have that again is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself as long as it has its place and it doesn't consume your life or hinder you in your run with the
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Lord so Paul is very wise to exhort the Corinthians to be self -controlled in the face of the excess that was in their society considering themselves as they lose their reward oftentimes moderation is lawful in lawful things can be the more difficult thing to accomplish they are things we need like food and sleep but they shouldn't be abused things that we can just cut off because they they're never lawful can sometimes be easier because you can just remove them from your life right
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Christians have no reason to ever use heroin so just stay away from it right it's easy sometimes to do that rather than using heroin moderately
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I think that because of this difficulty Paul then mentions the reward as a as a means of motivation for striving and self -control so let us turn to section 3 running for the prize now that now they do it to obtain a perishable crown but we for an imperishable crown
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Matthew Henry says they take pains and undergo all those hardships to obtain a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible those who conquered in these games were crowned only with the withering leaves of boughs of trees of olive bays and laurel but Christians have an incorruptible crown in view a crown of glory that never fadeth away in inheritance incorruptible reserved in heaven for them and would they yet suffer themselves to be out done by these racers or wrestlers can they use abstinence and diet exert themselves in racing expose their bodies to so much hardship in a combat who have no more in view than the trifling who's eyes of a giddy multitude or a crown of leaves and shall not
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Christians who hope for the approbation of the sovereign judge and a crown of glory from his hands stretch forward in the heavenly race and exert themselves in beating down their fleshly inclinations in the strongholds of sin do you think about the prize often
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I find that is rarely top of mind for me there are times in prayer or reading the
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Bible that I might have a longing to hear well done good and faithful servant but I must say
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I don't often think of the crowns and the rewards perhaps it's due to the fact that we don't see these illustrations in our culture as we have in times past we don't have kings and emperors and so crowns are not really a thing that we connect with I don't know but let's look at what the scriptures say of these things revelations 22 12 and behold
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I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work 1st
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Corinthians if anyone works if anyone's work which he has built on it endures he will receive a reward first first Thessalonians 319 for what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing is it not even you in the presence of our
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Lord Jesus Christ it is coming and then in 2nd Timothy 4 8 finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which is the
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Lord which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing
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James says blessed it is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life which the
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Lord has promised to those who love him and finally Peter tells us and when the cheap shepherd appears you will receive the cloud crown of glory that does not fade away so many in this life will live with such self -control in order to gain earthly glory that like the crown of leaves quickly fades away as Christians we have a glory unthinkable waiting for us in a place of righteousness life and rejoicing we have a master waiting to tell us well done good and faithful servant you were faithful over a few things
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I will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of your Lord we should have all people be most concerned with having self -control in all things but so often we take our blessings for granted and we must always be stroking our affection stoking stoking our affections with the
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Lord so remember the prize one of my favorite parts of Pilgrim's Progress is the end because I think
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Bunyan does a wonderful job imagining Christians entrance into the Celestial City now
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I saw in my dream that these two men went in at the gate and lo as they entered they were transfigured and they had raiment put on that shone like gold there were also that met them with harps and crowns and gave to them the harps to praise with all and the crowns in in token of honor then
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I heard in my dream that all the bells of the city rang again for joy and then it was said unto them enter ye into the joy of your
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Lord I also heard the men themselves that they sang with a loud voice saying blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the
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Lamb forever and ever now just as the gates were opened to let in the men I looked in after them and behold the city shone like the
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Sun the streets also were paved with gold and in them walked many men with crowns on their heads palms in their hands and golden harps to sing praises with all may that be the meditation of our hearts when we grow weary self -control now let us turn to our two verses and think about how we are to run therefore
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I run thus not with uncertainty and thus I fight not as one who beats the air
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Paul finishes this illustration by taking self -control a step further it is more than just making sure we are wise in our use of good things we must be in a very real way in a battle with our flesh
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Paul says it like this in Romans I find then a law that evil is present with me the one who wills to do good for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members
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Oh wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death
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I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God but with the flesh the law of sin in verse 26
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Paul talks about living as aware of these realities we run thus not with uncertainty but with certainty of what our actions must be this speaks of giving thought to ourselves and our lusts and ensuring that we take action to restrain them as Christians we have
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God's Word and it reveals to us who we are for the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two -edged sword piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart says
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Hebrews we know our inward corruption because the Word and the law reveal it to us so we must with certainty run this race
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Simon Kistemaker says Paul is coming to the conclusion of his discourse on apostolic freedom and he applies his conclusive remarks to himself he is the runner and the boxer as a runner in the arena he keeps his eye on the finish line for he cannot afford to run aimlessly throughout the race the goal is always before him as he himself writes forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead
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I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus no runner in a race loses sight of the finish line all other contenders are a vivid reminder of that mark
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Paul is saying to the Corinthians who seem to be lax in their spiritual pursuit emulate me as you see me running towards the goal to win the prize thus he fights not as one who beats the air or someone who enters a fight just flailing around wasting energy with punches that miss
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Mike Tyson is one of my favorite boxers and I know that he's not someone to be promoted as a general person but he was a great boxer he was small but he was powerful he was well -trained and although he was super aggressive what most people don't realize is he knew how to attack and make his opponents miss and he was known for having laser accurate punches so he did not beat the air he always had a strategy when fighting and he was fierce in executing it most people were so afraid of him because of his reputation they thought he was so powerful but at the end of the day he was a 250 -pound guy pure muscle but he was fighting 260 -270 pound guys of pure muscle right so they were just as powerful as he was but he always had a plan he was always even though he seemed very aggressive he was actually very measured in the way that he came in and he could always get in under he was 510 so he did not have a reach of most super heavyweights and so he had to get in under them and then he delivered that uppercut and most of the time it was over in a round or two this is how we must be when fighting our sin and temptations in the
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Christian life we need to be fierce in fighting them but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection lest when
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I have preached to others I myself should become disqualified the Greek for these verses paints a picture of beating our flesh black and blue and making it our slave to obey us as its master
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Calvin says let us however treat the body so as to make a slave of it that it may not by its wantonness keep us back from the duties of piety and farther that we may not indulge it so as to occasion injury or offense to others
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Matthew Poole says by body here we must not understand only the apostles fleshly parts which we usually call our body no nor only are more gross or filthy affections and lusts as some of the school men have thought but what the
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Apostle elsewhere call it the old man under which notion come as the sinful inclinations of our will and corrupt dictates of reason as it is in man since the fall right so this is our sinful nature this is the sinful side of our flesh that were that Paul is talking about here we see these admonitions throughout the scriptures if your right eye causes you to sin pluck it out and cast it from you for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell holding fast the word of life so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain
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Philippians 2 16 brethren I do not count myself to have apprehended but one thing
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I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead I press towards the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus Philippians 3 therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight in the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
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Hebrews 12 behold I come quickly hold fast what you have that no one may take your crown says the
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Lord Jesus for if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live
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Romans 8 13 and so it is with an exposition of Romans 8 13 that I want to draw to our application today my favorite theologian is
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John Owen I mean I named one of my boys after him one of his greatest works is of the mortification of sin and believers
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Martin Lord Jones says of this book for Owens this text Romans 8 13 makes it abundantly clear that the believer has a constant duty to engage in putting to death the sin that still indwells his mortal frame but equally important for Owen is the fact that according to this verse such a duty is possible only in the strength of the
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Holy Spirit supplies for he alone is sufficient for this work and so although Paul doesn't directly talk about the
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Spirit in his analogy it is true that when we are dealing with sin in our lives we have to we can't just do it through sheer force of will that won't work we need the
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Spirit to change us and we need to be working with him when we are running this race of the
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Christian life we are to be about the work of putting to death the sins of the body but we must also draw on the power given to us through the
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Spirit who Owens calls the great beautifier of souls in Owens book he provides us with nine things we can do to fight sin in our lives and it is with these that I want to conclude our time today so I ask you is there a sin in your life that you are fighting right now is there a sin in your life that you're not fighting and maybe you should be keep that sin in your mind as we rehearse these steps laid out by an old brother in Christ as Ross says get those pens ready so that you can consider these steps again later number one we are to cultivate the same hatred of sin that God possesses we should meditate on the sin the specific sin how
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God views it until we stir ourselves up to a hatred of it often when we are struggling with killing a sin is because we don't hate it but we still kind of love it and we seek to protect it what does the scripture say of this sin how would you imagine
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God's reaction to be if he was standing by you as you engage in the sin so many of these you're gonna see
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John Owen talks about the lost art of meditation right this is something that the Puritans were so good at and that the busyness of our day has killed from our minds right we need to meditate on these things in order to stir up our affections whether they are good affections or whether they are hatred against the things that we ought to hate we are to get a clear so number two sorry we are to get a clear and abiding sense upon the mind of the guilt danger and evil of the particular sin being fought so we need to think to ourselves
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Christ is wounded when believers harbor sin that he came to destroy are you wounding
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Christ we grieve the Holy Spirit that has chosen our hearts as his place to dwell that great spirit who desires to beautify you are you grieving him when we harbor sin
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God takes away our usefulness to those around us think of your family your children your friends your witness in their lives all those things are ruined by our sin we need to think on those things we need to feel that guilt number three we should reflect on the punishment that sin deserves and how displeased
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God is with them Owen says say to your soul what have I done what love what mercy what blood what grace have
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I despised and trampled on is this the return I make to the father for his love number four through all of this meditation get a constant longing a breathing after deliverance from the power of this sin this involves meditating on it as I said its consequences praying for deliverance until it because something that you must have in order to have peace right
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I know for myself I've come to prayer before repenting of a sin and even while repenting thinking to myself the next time
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I'm in this situation I'm almost certainly gonna commit the sin again right that's that's not repentance that's not hating that sin that is not longing for it to be dead and that's what we need to get to number five is there a natural or temperamental proneness towards the sin and if so a company you're fighting with fasting so he's getting a little more practical here right if this is a sin that is kind of part of your personality right like I've been fighting anger right
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I tend to be just an angry person right it's been tough so fast right we are physically disciplining our bodies when we fast right we're denying our bodies food so that we can separate ourselves from the flesh weaken the flesh it helps our prayer life and it's calling on the spirit to put forth his power to overcome it number six be on guard for the occasions and situations that are conducive for giving into temptation right so again this is that this is that certainty that Paul was talking about right we run with certainty right this comes back to running we must know ourselves and build an awareness of where we are likely to be tempted to sin and be ready for that temptation all right really think it through think about all the things that are involved in you committing a sin and if you do fall in a temptation number seven you must rise mightily against the first acting of the sin because we have to remember temptation is not sin right
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Jesus was tempted right so what we have to recognize though is that sin is like a mouse and if you give a mouse a cookie he's gonna ask for a glass of milk as my kids like to say right
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Owens describes it a little bit better he says sin is like water breaking forth once it's out it will go wherever it wants right and so we have to set up our barriers at that temptation so when we feel that temptation to sin we rise up quickly to fight it because once we've sinned it makes it that much easier to sin again and to have to start the whole process over again number eight meditate regularly on the inconceivable greatness of God is him in his omnipresence as a way of fighting sin so meditate on something positive now if we don't cultivate a big view of God we will have a big view of our sins but when
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God is big our sins become smaller and easier to face so if there is a sin that you struggle with and you look at like how could
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I ever possibly have victory over this you need to get a bigger view of God because there is no sin
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God cannot free you from and then finally do not speak peace to your soul before God does so again
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I actually used my example a moment ago earlier than I meant to but if peace is spoken without the hatred and abhorrence of that sin then it's no peace from God again if we are saying to ourselves that we're forgiven in Christ so we don't have to worry about this and yet we don't hate that sin we don't mourn over the fact that we've committed it again then we don't have any peace we shouldn't expect peace right but if we have that we certainly shouldn't condemn ourselves in Christ right there is a time to speak peace right and to be assured that you are
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Christ then he loves you and forgives you but if you do that too soon you're just gonna be asking for forgiveness again
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I can testify from my own struggles with things like anger that there is much wisdom in these words of Owen if we want to have victory over a struggle with we need to really consider it we need to hate it we need to pray against it we need to understand the root of it and be purposefully on guard against it a final step
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I would add is if it's a besetting sin especially that you struggle with make sure that you have accountability with somebody whether a spouse or a friend seek a brother or sister to help you bear up under that sin but one thing
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I would say is make sure that brother or sister doesn't struggle with that same sin right or they're not going to be of any help to you because you'll both be speaking peace to each other when there is no peace but I can tell you for myself that just the mere fact of knowing that I have a brother who's going to ask me pointed questions specific questions about the sin that he's holding me accountable for gives me incredible strength in the moment of temptation this
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Christian life is one of blessing joy and love we do not struggle as the world does but as those with hope for better things to come our
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Savior has done all for us the race is one we have the victor's crown in Christ but we are still in the race and we must not grow weary in the running of it we must run with endurance that race that is set before us because to the one who has already run looking to the one who has already run we must strive to make our calling an election sure and that means we cannot grow slack in fighting those sins that so easily entangle we must be those who are willing to deny ourselves our desires our wants the lusts of our flesh in order that we me we may be those who are not disqualified at the last and then
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I will close with a final statement from Matthew Henry he says holy fear of ourselves and not presumptuous confidence is the best security against apostasy from God and final rejection by him so let us be sure to have a holy fear of ourselves let's pray
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Heavenly Father we do thank you oh
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God that we stand in such a blessed place if we are yours father you have set us in a race
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Lord you desire to see how we run it and yet Lord we know that we stand already on the victor's podium father the crown is already on our heads because you have done all father you have dealt with our sin father you have given us your righteousness father you have provided to us your word and your spirit and the power we need to walk with you to love you and to know you father you are the one who has done all things well and we thank you so much for that Lord but father we do pray we do pray that you would help us father for in this
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Christian life it is hard father and we still struggle with sins
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Lord and although we may not struggle with dramatic sins although if there is one here that is
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Lord I pray that you administer to them but father even those little sins even the little foxes in the vineyards
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Lord can do a lot of damage and so father we pray oh God that you would help us to be serious about mortifying sin in our lives that father we would recognize that when we don't
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Lord we are treating your cross with contempt and we are betraying the
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Holy Spirit and father we are treating the love of God as a common thing
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Oh Lord help us help us to run help us
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Oh God to love you help us Oh God to bring glory to your name and would you use us
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Lord would you use us in this life for whatever purposes you have for us we thank you