Self-Denial for the Gospel

I Corinthians 9:1-23

Praise God for the precious gift of His Son.

In the time we have remaining, let us continue with our study of I Corinthians.  We are going to read through a good portion of chapter 9 today.  The thoughts there stand by themselves, but it is helpful to consider where we finished up last week.

Tim shared on chapter 8, and the message there affirms our liberty in Christ.  We are free.  At the same time, we should take care with our liberty and how we express it.  We need to consider that our knowledge is limited.  And so, we need to think and act with humility.  But, we do not need to be afraid because God is more powerful than anything.  We can move forward with confidence.  And yet, we may need to choose to limit our freedom out of concern for our brother or sister. Our guiding principle must be love.  If taking advantage of our right to freedom would cause someone else to sin or even stumble, we should give up that freedom. (1 Corinthians 8:13)

In today’s passage, we are going to read about Paul’s example of his use of liberty.  I think what we will see is that he’s going to turn the reasonable and even Biblical course of action on its head.  While his course or direction may seem strange and certainly distinct, I think it is easier to understand by having just taken communion together.

Voluntary Limits to Freedom

I Corinthians 8:1-13

I want to begin by saying that I was really blessed by Scott Brittin’s message last Sunday. The phrase “reign in life” from Romans 5:17 caught my eye many years ago, and I have frequently pondered what it actually means. It’s clear that when sin reigns in us it leads to death: the deadening of our spiritual life and sensitivity; the death of our relationships with God and with other people. To be able to reign in life sounds like such a wonderful thing. How many people, including believers, just seem to be getting by, going through the motions, not failing but not really thriving either? I know I feel like this at times. 

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to live in the reality of Christ’s victory all the time, to reign in life consistently? The key, as we were reminded last week, is to receive grace – the abundance of grace that God offers. There is tremendous freedom and power in simply remembering and taking to heart how much God loves us: that He accepts us the way we are – while always desiring more for us. Reigning in life means experiencing true freedom from everything that would drag us down or hold us back.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.—Galatians 5:1

Live as God Has Called You

1 Corinthians 7:17-40

 

The message opened with the first 2 minutes of this clip…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFiljc9NVJs

Does anyone recognize which movie that clip comes from?  It’s from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.  That clip came to mind yesterday when I was working on the message.  I had added this thought, “even though it is not a command what Paul has written is clearly a better course of action.”  I’m kind of weird, but I often see life as a big story.  I’m always looking for themes and seeing parallels in movies and other media.

That particular scene where the horse Philippe looks first down the dark path and then the cheerful path cracks me up.  He purses his lips, shakes his head, and then tries to go down the bright and safe path.  I like to think I’m like Philippe, always choosing the right path.

In reality, I’m afraid I’ve been a lot like Maurice the old man.  He comes to the sign post, but the signs are illegible or contradictory, kind of like the signs our world gives.  He looks at his map but he’s not reading it correctly.  Then, he chooses the wrong path and later blames his error on Philippe.  “Where have you taken us, Philippe?”