Jeff Miller

May 10, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

What About Gender Roles in the Church?

Jeff Miller

May 10, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

Authority & Submission: God's Plan for Order. (1 Corinthians 11:2-16)

God's Plan For Order Must Be UNDERSTOOD. (1 Cor 11:2-3)
God's Plan for Order Must Be APPLIED. (1 Cor 11:4-6)
God's Plan for Order Started at CREATION. (1 Cor 11:7-10)
God's Plan for Order Brings BALANCE. (1 Cor 11:11-12)
DECISION TIME: Are You On Board with God's Plan for Order? (1 Cor 11:13-16)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:36
Open up those Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians 11.
00:42
And as you do so, just please take a moment to pray for me to faithfully and clearly communicate the Word of God.
00:53
And I will pray for you to have a heart that is open to receive what God said.
00:59
Alright? Let's pray.
01:05
Father, we once again just ask for Your Spirit to be at work with Your Word in a supernatural way that we can't fully describe, but it always brings about life change when Your Spirit works that way. Father, I pray that You would help us to eliminate any distractions and to just take this time to laser focus on your word and what you've communicated to us here, Father.
01:43
We pray in Jesus' name and all of God's people said, amen.
01:50
Amen.
01:51
Amen.
01:53
When I was in college, I worked at Walmart.
01:56
This was in Ohio.
01:58
And one of my jobs at Walmart was when a customer bought something heavy, like a trampoline or an anvil or whatever Walmart sells, it was my job to get it in their car.
02:13
And I remember this one lady in particular, I was putting something heavy in her car, and she said, Are you married?
02:24
She wasn't proposing to me, by the way.
02:26
She was much, much, much older. And I was much, much, much younger. She goes, you married? And at the time, I was not. I said, no. She said, if you were, would you let your wife wear pants? And I got to tell you, I was young and a brand new Christian. And I was like, as opposed to what?
02:59
I just wasn't sure that I had a say in that matter. Is my wife going to wear pants? I'm like, that's a thing? I didn't know that was a thing. Well, it's a thing. It is a thing. In Corinth, it is a thing even more than ever today.
03:26
talking about, and I later discovered what she was talking about, gender roles, attire, what is appropriate, what is a woman? God created them male and female. We're going to talk about gender roles today.
03:56
And in this section, it's kind of a Q&A section. And here, next question up, we're going to see is what about gender roles? We're going to give you a little background here so you understand why Paul was writing what he wrote. But the church in Corinth, they had a lot of problems. And one of the problems they had was they had issues with feminism.
04:28
Now listen close because this, you have to understand this to understand why Paul is saying the things that he did here. But in that culture, in the Corinthian culture, married women would wear a veil or a head covering as a sign of modesty and submission to their husbands.
04:56
When a woman wore a veil, it was her way of saying, I'm taken. I'm not interested. I'm not available. You know, sort of like in our culture, we wear the wedding ring. That's your way of saying, look, I have been claimed. I'm not looking for someone else. All right? Some cultures today still use head coverings or veils in a similar custom. It was a sign of modesty and submission.
05:26
Well, some of the Corinthian women, in the name of liberty, would protest the traditional male and female roles. And they would make a statement that they're liberated women. They'd make the statement by throwing away their head coverings. And some would even take it a step further than that. And say, I'll show you how liberated I am. They would shave their heads.
05:57
and protest.
06:02
Now in past time and going through 1 Corinthians, we talked a lot about the prostitution in Corinth.
06:10
And let's just say prostitutes didn't wear veils.
06:15
Because prostitutes were going around saying, I'm available.
06:21
And you see some of the liberated Corinthian women were like, throwing their veils away too. Women rejecting their roles. Men abdicating their roles. It's an issue as old as the human race. Like, well, what about today? Well, obviously veils really aren't a thing in the American culture.
06:58
I'm not great at mincing words here, okay? But let's just be honest. In our culture, there are clear signs of masculinity and femininity, right? There are clear signs of that, right? Don't you dare leave me up here. There are clear signs in our culture of masculinity and femininity, right? I don't judge.
07:24
Okay, so if you come across a woman who has a purple crew cut, a skull tattoo on her face, and she's wearing combat boots, would you immediately think to yourself, that's very feminine? Would you? Would you? Okay. Or what if you came across a man, who was wearing mascara, and he had his fingernails painted pink, and he's wearing a pink mesh half tank top. Would you say, that's masculine? Would you? No. There's obvious signs of what's feminine and what's masculine. You're like, so this passage today is about clothes. Yeah.
08:26
And more than that, it's about men being men and women being women living the roles as God designed them to be lived out. And these roles for men and for women must be reflected in attitude, they must be reflected in conduct, and they even must be reflected in appearance.
08:53
This passage is about the fundamental way that God is at work in everything in the universe. It's a divine order that Satan would want to disrupt. Here's the real issue on the table in this passage. It's the issue of authority and submission. Now, as soon as you say the dirty S word in church, people get their guards up. Like, submission. Submission.
09:23
People get their guards up. There's already this like animosity. Submission. Really? This is the sermon you went with on Mother's Day? Submission? I do the preaching calendar in July. I did not see this coming until about like two weeks ago. And then I was like, oh dear. Here's the problem though with submission. You know what the problem is with submission?
09:53
Submission is people don't understand it.
09:57
I want to give you a couple biblical truths about submission to help us set up this passage.
10:03
It's an acronym, SOFT.
10:08
Listen, ladies, it's okay to be soft.
10:11
That's how God designed you, soft.
10:14
So what is submission?
10:15
S. S is for strength.
10:18
Listen, you know why people don't like to hear submission?
10:21
Because they think submission is weakness.
10:23
Submission is strength. I'll prove it very easily. Who was the most submissive person to ever walk the planet? Do you know? Jesus Christ. Jesus did not do one thing that wasn't in complete submission to his Father's authority. Jesus never had a day where he's like, well, the Father wants me to do this, but I don't feel like doing that. He never had a day like that. Jesus was He was completely submissive to the Father's will every second of His life, and He loved it. Okay, another question. Who was the strongest person to ever walk the planet? Jesus. The most submissive person ever somehow is also the strongest person ever. So is submission weakness? Submission is strength.
11:24
O.
11:25
Soft.
11:26
O.
11:27
O is for order.
11:29
Listen, when we talk about submission and authority, it's just the way God made everything to function.
11:35
It's just the way.
11:36
Everything that we see, everything that's unseen.
11:38
Submission, authority.
11:40
Authority, submission.
11:41
That's the way God structured the universe.
11:44
It's in the spiritual realm.
11:48
All right, we'll talk about that in a few minutes.
11:51
It's all over the earth.
11:53
The government, your workplace, the church, the home, authority and submission in every arena of life. It's everywhere. Authority and submission. The focus here in this passage has to do with men and women. Men and women are equal, but we're different. That's okay.
12:23
some roles for men and some roles for women. It has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority. It has nothing to do with that. It's your workplace. You are under your boss's authority, but that doesn't mean he's better than you or she is smarter than you. It's just about the structure that's been established. It's about order. It's about order. Somebody has to make decisions.
12:52
decisions out. It's just the way it works. Everywhere. All right? S, O, F and T go together. Faith and trust. Faith and trust. Do you have faith? Do you have faith? Well, one of the key ways faith is expressed is by submitting the authorities that God has placed over you. So long as the authority is not asking you to sin.
13:22
We express our faith by submitting to the authorities God has over us at our workplace, in the church, in the home. Faith says, God, I trust you by submitting to the authority that you placed over me. That's an act of faith. And it takes an incredibly strong person to be able to trust God to that degree. So here's the principle for this passage. Please really tune in here.
13:52
because this is the principle of this passage. And I was very careful I worded this. I'm going to read this to you twice, okay? But here's the principle of this passage. Christians should, in the name of laying down their rights, as Brian talked about last week, Christians should conform to their gender-specific patterns of dress and appearance that their culture identifies with being male, and female because God wants these roles embraced because authority and submission in these roles is God's plan for order. Let's say that again. This is the short version. If you want the long version, stick around. Christians should conform to their gender-specific patterns of dress and appearance that their their culture identifies with being male and female. Like, why? Because God wants us to embrace those roles. Why? Because authority and submission in these roles is God's plan for order. All right? That's the short version. Now, let's take a look at the text and see what exactly God said on your outline. Authority and submission, God's plan for order. That's what this is. This is God's plan for order.
15:22
This is the way God orchestrated everything. Authority and submission, God's plan for order. Number one, write this down. God's plan for order must be understood. It must be understood. Look at verse 2. Paul says, Now I commend you, because you remember me in everything, and maintain the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.
15:52
Paul is front-loading a very hard topic with praise. Paul says, you seek my counsel on everything. I appreciate that so much about you. You hold the traditions. Literally, that word is translated doctrine in other places in Scripture. Paul's like, you're people that care about the truth and harvest. Let me commend you. Listen, I know that this is a controversial topic. I get that.
16:22
And I know that this is an extremely unpopular topic. But you know what else I know about this church? That you come here because you want to know what God said. You come to this church because you believe that we want nothing more than to represent the Bible in our sermons, right? Check the record. That's all any of us have ever tried to do is just reflect God's truth. And I commend you for that.
16:51
Even when it's hard. Look at verse 3. Verse 3 is the thesis of the whole thing. Paul says, but I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ. The head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. You see, here's the thesis. Authority and submission is God's design.
17:22
He says the head of man, the head of every man, is who? Christ. You're like, Jesus isn't the head of every man. Wait 15 minutes. Every knee will bow, okay? But the head of every man is Jesus Christ. Man, we better get on board with that sooner than later. Okay, the head of the wife is what?
17:56
You are so much more reluctant to say this one, aren't you? The head of the wife is the husband, right? And the head of Jesus is God. You see, Paul's just giving the thesis here. There are roles that have been established. And I love how he puts the hard one sandwiched between two very obvious ones. Do you see that?
18:25
It's obvious, right? The head of man is Christ, obviously. And the head of Jesus is God, right? Jesus completely submissive to the Father in all things, right? John 14, 28. Jesus regarded the Father greater than Him. And He says the head of every wife is the husband.
18:51
that men are called to have authority. There's the problem. Another problem that we have with submission. Because we don't get what authority means either. People get this idea that authority means man sits on the throne and chop, serve me, everything for me, my way, my preferences. That's not what authority means at all. Do you know what authority means. Biblically, authority is I have to make decisions that are going to bless and protect the people that God is entrusting to me. That is true in my home. I have to make decisions to bless and protect my family. That is true in the church. I have to make decisions in this church, and our elders have to make decisions in this church that's going to bless and protect the congregation, the people who come to this church, the members, the sheep of this fold.
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That's what authority is.
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And you see, Paul lays out this thesis.
19:59
You can't deny any of these things.
20:03
If you look very close, in every case, it's about trusting God by submitting, right?
20:10
How does man trust God?
20:12
Well, man trusts God by submitting to Christ.
20:15
I want to jump to the last one.
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How did Jesus trust his Father?
20:21
He trusted His Father by submitting to Him. So how does the wife trust God? Right there in the middle, by submitting to her husband. Also, the other side of that, the authority in every case is not dominating. It's lovingly leading. Do you see that? How does Christ lead man? Lovingly. How did the Father lead Christ?
20:51
Therefore, how should the man lead his wife? Lovingly. So if you believe this universal law of authority and submission, then you're going to get the rest of the passage. All right? Number two, God's plan for order must be applied. God's plan for order must be applied. Look at verses 4 and 5.
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He says, every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.
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But every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven.
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So Paul is applying this principle here.
21:45
He's talking about prayer and prophecy.
21:47
What's that?
21:48
It was just talking about women preachers, right? No. No, the women as pastor thing, Paul makes that very clear in just a couple of chapters. You can write it down. Chapter 14, verses 34 and 35, Paul talks about women as pastors.
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about that in this passage. This passage, he's focusing on the head covering customs, and later, like the pastor thing, we're going to get into the other gender issues. Chapter 14. So, he says, men, when you pray, when you prophesy, wherever that is, he says, your head should be uncovered. And women, you should have your head covered. Why did Paul say that?
22:48
because in Corinth, again, this is a culture-specific tradition, but in Corinth, if a person covered their head, that was a sign of being feminine. That was a very effeminate way to present yourself. And what Paul's simply saying here is, men, don't do that. Men, in Corinth, hey, don't cover your head.
23:18
Don't do it.
23:20
You're like, well, what about the Jewish men?
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Because, you know, the Jewish men covered their head when they pray.
23:27
Yeah, that is a Jewish custom.
23:29
Came from the rabbis, not from the Bible, because of Moses being veiled after he talked to God.
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So what about the Jewish men in Corinth?
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Paul's like, no.
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Jewish men, don't cover your head.
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Why?
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Because if people in Corinth see you praying with your head covered, they're going to think you're effeminate. Right? And you're like, all right, is this for all churches? I mean, is this for us today? I mean, tell me, Pastor Jeff, should I go home and throw away my Yankees cap? Are people going to think I'm effeminate if I wear that? No. Look, this is obviously, obviously, it's a Corinthian-specific issue.
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Because, you know, Paul only addressed gender and veils in Corinth.
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You don't see this anywhere else in the New Testament, not to any other church.
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So what Paul is saying to the Corinthians is this.
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Accommodate yourself to the customs of the Corinthians.
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In other words, church, here's the principle.
24:45
Here's the principle that does apply to us. Don't violate customs that have significance in your culture. That's what he's saying. Don't violate customs that have significance in your culture. Meaning this, men should do what men do, and women should do what women do. Don't try to make some statement of liberation by taking on the appearance of the other gender.
25:18
In verse 6, he addresses the feminists. He says, For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. Again, Paul here is speaking to the feminists. What he's saying here is this. Ladies, you want to protest?
25:44
Okay, you're making some kind of statement. You refuse to act like a lady. Is that what you're going for? Then just, okay, just shave your head. How about that? Because the response for these Corinthian church ladies would be like, shave my head. I'm not going to do that. That's like, that's disgraceful. Paul's like, then put a veil on Miss Corinth. Paul's being very facetious here. He says, look, you've got to go with the cultural norms.
26:14
when it comes to being male and female. You've got to know what's happening in that culture and you've got to go with it. Right? Like when we go to Thailand, some of the churches in Thailand, many of the churches in Thailand, when you go to church, the men sit on this side and the women sit on this side. They don't have a middle. All right? So when I go to Thailand, I don't just go strutting into the church like, I'm free in Christ. I'm sitting with the ladies. Because all the men are going to be like, that American guy. Is he a little weird, isn't he? Like, no, we sit with the dudes. Because that's just part of the custom. That's part of the culture. Right? That's what Paul's talking about here.
27:14
He's saying, look, boy, this is a hard sell. This is such a hard sell. When I got into ministry, I never imagined this would be a hard sell. But now that we live in a day of drag queen story hour and transgender stuff, the Bible just here says, embrace gender distinction. You know what it is in the United States in 2026. Your look, the way you act, your role.
27:43
If you're a man, be a man. If you're a woman, be a woman. That's what Paul's saying here. You've got to apply God's plan for order. Thirdly, authority and submission, God's plan for order. Thirdly, God's plan for order started at creation. Look at verse 7. He says, for a man to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. Stop there. Paul's saying, men, you are to lead. Not abdicate that role in submission. If too many men that just aren't stepping up, being the servant leader in the home that God has called them to be, that's a problem. There's a problem in Corinth. It's a problem.
28:43
in our day today. Man, you've got to step up and lovingly lead your family.
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That's what Paul's saying here. Stop shrinking back.
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He says, man, you're the glory of God. Then he says, woman, you're the glory of man.
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This is how authority and submission was established. Man is the glory of God, means man was made to manifest God's will.
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And woman being the glory of man means that woman was made to manifest man's will. You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Since when? Since creation. Look at verses 8 and 9. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man.
29:40
Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. Stop there. Authority and submission. The Bible says very clearly here and in Genesis 2 that woman was created to help man. And we need all the help we can get.
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says the woman was made from man for man. Do you think God could have created men and women at the same time? Do you think that's possible? I think he could have if he wanted to. So why in the world did God create man first and then take woman from the man? Why did he do that? Why didn't he just create them both?
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at the same time. And the answer is right here. He's establishing his plan for order.
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Because look at verse 10.
30:49
He says, that is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels.
30:59
Paul's saying, so, if you accept God's plan, authority and submission, God's plan for order, if you accept God's plan, show it by dressing the way that's reflected in your culture because of the angels. What? Whoa, what? Because of the angels. Yeah, obviously, duh, because of the angels. What do the angels have to do with any of this? Here it is, listen.
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God's plan for order, authority, and submission. Do you know who gets that more than anybody? Do you know if you scoured the universe and you were looking for someone who understood this more than anyone, do you know who you would get? An angel. They get God's plan for order. They get it. They're like, okay, there's authority, there's submission. God's my authority. He says to do something, I do it.
32:07
They get how it works. Do you know what else they get? Angels get that rebelling against God's plan is a very bad idea. Speaking of angels, look at Jude, verse 6. And we studied Jude a few years ago. You can look up this whole sermon online. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, God has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. You see that? Because of the angels, Paul is pleading here. He goes, ladies, look, as soon as you talk about these matters of men and women and authority and submission, there's a lot of women immediately want to throw the whole thing out. And Paul is pleading here. He's like, ladies, look, God's plan is good.
33:07
And if you're not on board, learn from the angels who weren't on board that God takes it very seriously when his plan for order is rejected. God was serious about his plan for order at creation, at Corinth, and at Harvest Bible Chapel today. God's plan for order started at creation. Number four, God's plan for order brings balance. Look at verses 11 and 12. He says, nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor man of woman. For as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.
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God's amazing plan of order to work. We all have to do our part. We all have to work together. We're not independent. That's what he's saying. We're not independent. God designed us to be interdependent. That's how order works. The home, the church, understand.
34:37
Neither were designed to function just by man. The home, the church, neither was designed to function just by woman. In order for the home and the church to be at their absolute healthiest, both men and women have to be faithful to the roles that God established in creation.
35:07
Let's look at verse 12 again. This is so beautiful and so profound at the same time. He says, for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman, and all things are from God. Yes, man is called to have authority. And moms, moms, You have the responsibility and privilege to make your son a man who is going to serve God faithfully in his role. That's what Paul's talking about here. Yes, woman was taken from man at the beginning, and ever since then, man has come from woman, and man has been shaped by woman. Meaning, those of you who are moms of sons, listen, you made a son and now you are making a man. So moms, you hone your son into a man who's going to lead with love. You hone your son into a man who's going to lead with kindness, who's going to show respect. Moms, you make your sons into men of humility and self-sacrifice. Because moms, your impact on your son will ultimately exponentially manifest throughout the whole world with the impact that he's going to have when you send him out of your house. So you see there's balance. Every role fulfilled God's way advances his kingdom and glorifies the name of Jesus Christ. That's why Paul says, All things are from God. Number five. Decision time. Are you on board with God's plan for order? Look at verse 13. Paul says, judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a wife to pray to God, with her head uncovered. Judge for yourself. Paul's saying, in other words, is it appropriate for a woman to fight being feminine? Is that proper? Verse 14, he says, does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is a disgrace for him? But if a woman has long hair, it is her glory, for her hair is to her for a covering. Judge for yourself, Paul says, authority and submission. Embracing God's gender roles. Is that proper? Is that appropriate? I think it's right back on the hair thing. Paul's like, hey, even beyond the Corinthian culture, he says, nature teaches men shouldn't have women's hair. He says, but it's It's right on a woman, though. So interesting. Paul says that the veil they wore, the head covering, it was just sort of an accent for the hair that God designed the woman to have anyways. Tradition came from somewhere, didn't it? And you're like, oh, all right, fine. Man doesn't have long hair. Woman should have long hair. All right. Here's where we get legalistic, right?
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You ready for the legalism? We've got to define what's long hair. Four inches? Five inches? I don't know. Maybe the standard is just this. Every dude has got to shave their head. Women have to be tripping over their hair. It has to be that long. How about that? You guys, I'm not interested in legalism because God's Word certainly isn't.
39:38
Look, in our culture, men don't need to have a crew cut to look manly. In our culture, women can look extremely feminine with shorter hair. All right? Because in their culture and in our culture, it's about the heart. And that's why Paul says, judge for yourself. Look, be honest. If you've chosen a hairstyle because you're trying to be rebellious. That's a hard thing. If you've chosen a hairstyle because you're trying to make a statement with it, that's a hard thing. That's what he's addressing here. And if you're trying to make some kind of feminist statement with your hair or whatever, I just want to say this as lovingly as I can. If you're trying to make a statement with some feminist thing. Nobody here really cares about your statement.
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But, God cares about your heart.
40:48
That's the bottom line.
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That's the bottom line.
40:54
And probably my favorite verse in the whole passage is the next one.
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Paul says, If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
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Paul says, because he knows, look, nothing's changed. He knows writing this, people are going to be like, I'm sending Paul an email. And I'm sure there are people thinking that about me. And this is what God says. He's like, look, if you want to fight about living out and representing your gender role, you're not going to sway the church. Because God made a distinction between men and women.
41:34
We are God's church, so we're going to keep the distinction. Because God has a plan for order. For men, for women. And it's godly authority. And it's godly submission. Our worship team would make their way up. That was the introduction. Now here's the sermon. Men.
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Act like a godly man. Women. Act like a lady. Act like a godly lady. This is God's plan for order. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I pray that you would give us understanding.
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Because our whole culture would just rail against this passage today. We live in a culture that can't even define what a woman is when you have made it very clear that you want us to be the people that you've created us to be. Father, I pray that we would find great joy and fulfillment and contentment and contentment.
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And finding our identity in Christ.
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And living out the role, whatever that is, wherever you have us, however that looks, God.
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Let us be a people that are shaped by the truths of your word.
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We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 11:2-11:16

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Explain 1 Cor 11:3. What does this say about authority and submission pertaining to God's plan for order?
Is this passage teaching women should wear head coverings at Harvest? Why or why not? How does this apply today?
Read 1 Cor 11:10. What do angels have to do with women understanding the roles of authority and submission? See also Jude 6.
Why do you think this topic is such a source of contention (1 Cor 11:16)?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

May 3, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

What if My Conviction Offends Someone?

Jeff Miller

May 3, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

What if My Conviction Offends Someone? (1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1)

CHOOSE to CONSTRUCT. (1 Cor 10:23-24)
CONCEDE for the CONSCIENCE. (1 Cor 10:25-30)
CELEBRATE our CREATOR. (1 Cor 31-11:1)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:36
Morning, Church. Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 10.
00:41
We're going to start in verse 23 and go through the first verse of chapter 11.
00:48
Have you ever had one of those moments where you walked away from a conversation and immediately thought, well, I really stepped in it on that one?
00:59
You know the feeling. You say something and at first you think it was just something harmless, right?
01:07
But then you notice the silence. Where you see the look on someone's face and the room gets just a little awkward, right? And suddenly there's this chill in the air and you start replaying the conversation in your mind and you start thinking, well, what did I just say? Most of us have had a moment like that, right? I remember one time in particular when Elizabeth and I were a young couple before we had any kids.
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We got invited over to a dinner party. And we didn't know one of the couples in particular very well. And so we were brought together and they were trying to do some, you know, friend matchmaking kind of a thing. It was nice. We had a good dinner and a good time and we were just chatting with one another and telling funny stories and whatever. And I seized on the opportunity to tell a really, what I thought was funny story about an experience that Elizabeth and I had had just a few days prior.
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And Elizabeth and I had gone to a high school band concert. You remember this? Yeah. Of course she does. We had gone to a high school band concert just a few days before. And I'll just tell you that it was not the greatest concert ever. In fact, it was, in my opinion, it was pretty bad. And I thought it would be a great opportunity to make everybody laugh. So I'm telling about how the trumpets are squeaking and how the trombones were just a few notes, a little off and you know the the kid playing the triangle got a little too excited and you know i'm getting laughs and it's it's a great time we're all yucking it up i did notice there was one couple though the couple we didn't know too well they weren't really engaged in my story and so you know i just bore in i'm telling it a little more getting a little trying to get some more laughs so i finished my story and then uh the husband of the couple that was quiet that we don't know very well he kind of leans in and raises his head and says I'm the band director at that school. That's a true story. That one hurt. That one really hurt, you know? Maybe you've been there. I don't know. Maybe I'm the only one. Maybe that's the worst example in the room. But I felt awful. You know the Homer Simpson meme where he just backs up into the shrubs? You've seen it, right? You've sent it, right? Yeah, that was what I wanted to do. I just wanted the earth to open up, swallow me whole, and I just wanted to be gone. But you know, honestly, they took it really, really well. They were very gracious. And we laughed about it. And I think they got over it. We never got invited over for dinner again. But you know, I think they got over it. At least that's what I tell myself. You know, in most circumstances like that, most social mistakes, they're just accidental. I didn't mean to offend them. I thought I was just being funny. And they're awkward, but eventually we get over it and we work through it and we laugh and we kind of move on.
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But sometimes that sort of thing, that can even happen here in the church, right? You know, some of the hardest conflicts that we find ourselves in in the church and in our lives, sometimes they're not accidents. They happen when we are absolutely convinced that we are right about something, and we need to get that out of our heads.
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It can happen when our personal convictions, our preferences, and what we believe, that we have every right and good purpose to say, begin to collide with someone else's preferences or someone else's conscience or conviction. And that is a much, much harder problem. Because now it's not just, oops, I misspoke, I didn't realize. Now it's, I believe I am right. I believe I have the freedom here to say what I think I need to say and to express myself.
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And so, what do we do in that instance? What do we do with that conviction if it offends someone or if it's going to offend someone? Maybe just to make sure you understand, maybe it's a situation like this. Maybe you're in a group, even here at church, right? And you're having a conversation and you say something like, I just, for the life of me, I can't really understand how people can send their kids to public school. I mean, it's just a terrible place.
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Do they know what they're doing? And then someone in that group goes to public school. Or is a school board member. Or is a teacher, right? Or how about you're expressing that absolute correct conviction that anyone who goes to a non-Christian concert or, heaven forbid, takes their kids there, right? They're doing a terrible disservice to their family. Or how about expressing the very strong and, of course, correct that anyone who chooses not to follow the right vaccination schedule for their kids, they're just a looney tune, right? Or anyone who lets their kids participate in Halloween in any form, they're just inviting their children to be overcome by evil spirits. Or one more, maybe you have a strong conviction that you know that someone who is not a five-point Calvinist, right? They know what all the tulip letters stand for.
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Maybe they're destined for help. And you know that you're right. You know that your purpose is to declare your conviction in these circumstances. And you don't really have to have much regard for the people around you. And this is where 1 Corinthians 10 brings us this morning. I mean, we all have convictions, of course. These strong opinions.
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And if it's not one of the ones I listed, maybe it's the idea of drinking that Jeff talked us, walked us through with that example in the small group, right? We had a few months ago or heaven forbid politics or dress standards or social media. So the question then becomes, what do I do with these convictions? What do I do with my convictions on a non-essential, non-salvation issue that offends somebody else?
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thinking.
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Because I know you.
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Some of you right now are thinking, I'm a black and white kind of a person.
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I'm right.
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The rest of the world, they're wrong.
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So what do I do?
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What do I do?
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If I have this strong conviction, do I stand my ground, defend my rights?
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Do I prove my theology?
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Do I push harder because I know I'm correct and it's just going to require a little more convincing?
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You might be thinking, of course I do.
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That is my role in this world.
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Why else would God put those things in my head or on my heart? Paul has some things to say about this issue, and that's what we're going to dive into. So before we get into Paul's instructions, let's pray. And in our normal harvest tradition, I would ask that you take a moment and pray for me, and I will pray for you.
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Holy Father, I pray that your word would speak loudly this morning. I pray, God, that the wisdom that our brother Paul brings us in the Holy Scriptures, God, would convict us where we need to be convicted and would encourage us where we need to be encouraged. And God, that we would leave a changed people in whatever way you know that we need to be changed. It's in Christ's holy and precious name we pray. Amen. So Paul has been building us up. We've been in 1 Corinthians for a while now, right?
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And Paul has been building us up to this point. In chapters 1-4, in this letter to the Corinthians, he's correcting their wisdom. He's saying, are you following human personalities or are you following Christ and the cross? Remember the sections we had Taylor and Jeff and Rich? He's saying, who are you following? And then in chapters 5-7, Paul is correcting their conduct. He says, how do Christians, how are we supposed to handle these topics of sexuality, marriage, holiness? The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
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And then in chapters 8 and 9, he spends some time correcting their rights. He says, knowledge without love is pretty dangerous, actually. The Christian liberty is real, but liberty without love, it can become really destructive. And then here we are in chapter 10. Paul is going to show us how to actually live this out. This is the practice of this liberty that Paul has been talking to the Corinthians about. Because he acknowledges you have rights, you have freedoms, you have convictions.
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But how do we use them in a way that helps people instead of hurting people or pushing them away? How do you handle these convictions in a way that is honoring to Christ? So let's look at three clear responses from Paul for us on this particular topic. If you look at verse, starting in verse 23 and we'll look at 24, Paul begins by saying, all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful.
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All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Apparently this phrase, all things are lawful, it had become kind of a favorite slogan of the Corinthians. So much so that you might remember that Paul already talked about this and used this same language back in chapter 6. And back in that chapter, Paul was using this rhetorical argument, This rhetorical technique to say to the Corinthians and now to us, freedom isn't just what you can do, but rather what you should be looking at what you should do. This idea that we all have this freedom in Christ, Paul asks us, how are you using it in light of what is good and what is helpful to do? See, the Corinthians were saying, and you might remember from a few weeks ago, or maybe you don't, so I'll remind you, I'm free, I'm under grace, I have rights, I can do this. And in some sense, they were right. But actually, Paul is talking about a term that some theologians will use. It's called adiophora. It's really just getting to this idea of these matters of indifference. These things that are neither clearly commanded nor forbidden by God in Scripture. They're not sin. Not holiness issues.
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with explicit commands, but you might call them gray areas. Questions like, can I eat this? Can I eat that? Can I go here, participate in this, celebrate that, enjoy this freedom? So Paul doesn't deny Christian liberty and Christian freedom at all. He doesn't say actually nothing is lawful. Instead, he applies two simple, profound filters. Yes, it may be lawful, but he says, but is it helpful?
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Yes, it may be permitted, but does it build up? And that is a completely different standard, isn't it? It's not, what am I allowed to do? Whether or not something is lawful, that is really the bare minimum for a believer. Instead, whether something is helpful should be our standard, and that's what Paul is calling us to. So I want to focus a little bit on this word build up, this two-word phrase build up.
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In the Greek it literally means to build a house. And Paul is saying your liberty should function like a construction project, not demolition work. Christian freedom is not a license for self-gratification. It's a tool. It's a tool for church building, for people building, and disciple building. So the question is not what can I get away with? The question is what helps build up the people around me.
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And that's our first point this morning that Paul is bringing to us. What do I do if my conviction offends someone? You choose to construct. You choose to construct. If my freedom tears down a brother, then my freedom has actually become selfish. Paul then takes it in a slightly different direction than he did back in chapter 6 when he says, Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Boy, that's really hard, isn't it? Because what's our natural tendency? Do you naturally seek your neighbor first? Probably not. Probably not, at least most of the time. We think about my preference, my conviction, my right, my comfort. But Paul says, with all this freedom, with all this liberty, start with your neighbor instead of yourself. That is the way of Christ. Let me illustrate it to you maybe this way. Maybe this will help. Drive home the point. Let's just say I decide to do a renovation project in my house. Actually, you know what? Better yet. Let's say I have a neighbor who calls me up and says, hey, you know what? I want to do a renovation project in my house. Would you help me? I'm a good neighbor, right?
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This guy lives next to me, Larry. He's a pastor. He's a good guy. So he gives me a call and I say, you know what? Yeah, I'll help you out, Larry. I'll come over. I'll help you with your renovation project. Well, what's the first step in any good reno job? Demo day, right? So Larry calls me up and I decide, okay, yeah, I'm going to go help Larry and I go grab my sledgehammer like a good neighbor and I walk over there and I am prepared. I am ready to help him do some demo.
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I have every right to be there, don't I? I mean, he invited me. So legally, I'm allowed in his house, and I brought the right tool. I brought the sledgehammer, right? And Larry, I mean, he knows. He knows how I feel about demo. He knows that I'm really excited about this, and I'm going to have some skill, and I'm probably going to have some, maybe some opinions, too. So Larry invites me over, and we're maybe talking a little bit about the project. He gives me some of his opinions and some of his thoughts, and I'm thinking, you know, and I'm like, yeah, you know, okay.
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Larry knows me. He knows I've done some demo in my day and I've got some things to offer here. And I'm thinking, you know what? I heard his ideas, but there's this one wall. It's right in the middle of the house. And I have a very strong conviction that that wall, it's got to go. I mean, for the good of his family, for the good of Larry and Kimmy and their girls and grandbabies, that wall, it's going because I feel very strongly about this. In fact, I feel strongly enough that my sledgehammer, I take it.
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And I just knocked that wall down. That wasn't Larry's idea. That was my conviction. Well, that wall just so happened to be very structurally integral to the house. So what happens when I take that wall down? The second story of that house is now directly on the first floor. But it didn't just fall on me. It fell on Larry and his wife and their girls.
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See, my exercise of my freedom in that instance, it became destruction. And Paul says that's exactly how some Christians handle their own personal liberty. They swing the sledgehammer of personal rights without asking what they're hitting, without thinking about it. They say, I'm free, I'm right, I can do this, I feel very convicted about this. In a sense, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I That's okay. That's true. But are you building the house or are you collapsing it? With your conviction. Because in the church, just like in Larry's house, it's not just you. There are other people under this roof. There are younger believers watching. There are weaker believers learning. There are unbelievers observing. There are hurting people trying to heal. And your liberty, it affects them too.
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So the application here, it's simple, but it's kind of uncomfortable. Ask yourself, am I more interested in defending my rights or protecting the structural integrity of my brother's house? And in this week, instead of swinging a hammer, a sledgehammer of your conviction, maybe choose to lay a brick of encouragement. Maybe instead of proving your point, you protect a person. And maybe instead of demanding liberty, you ask, what would help them the most? So what do I do if my conviction offends someone? I choose to construct. And then Paul goes on to take it even further because sometimes this issue, it's not just about general building up or edification. Sometimes someone else's conscience is actually involved. And that leads us to Paul's second point. Look at verses 25 to 30. Paul goes on to say, eat whatever is sold in the meat market.
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without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. You can pause there. Paul maintains a very high view of God's creation. Paul's actually quoting King David here from Psalm 24 and he's telling us, listen, this is similar to back in chapter 6. He says, meat is just meat. The earth, all of this, it belongs to the Lord. An idol, it's nothing. Food itself is morally neutral.
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So Paul tells strong believers, stop turning everything into a theological investigation. Go buy the meat. Eat dinner. Don't interrogate the butcher. You do not need to walk into the meat market saying, excuse me, before I purchase this ribeye, I need a full spiritual background on this cow, please. No. Relax. That is not Paul's point at all.
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He says, enjoy the meat, enjoy God's provision without unnecessary anxiety.
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And He goes on to say, if one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
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He says, if you want to go to the unbeliever's house and have dinner, if you think it's a worthwhile time, if you think it's going to be good, it's a good opportunity, then go and eat.
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And don't worry.
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He says, without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
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Concede your conscience on this non-essential and non-sin issue and go.
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But then the situation changes somewhat.
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Verse 28, look at that.
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It says, But if someone says to you, This has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it.
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So now there's an informant at the dinner table.
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A believer sitting next to you who says, he points out that this meat, it's been sacrificed to idols.
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It's tainted, right?
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He says, now someone's conscience, now someone else's conscience is involved in this scenario.
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And now the issue is no longer about the meat.
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It's now about the person.
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Paul then says, stop eating.
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Stop.
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For the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of their conscience. Not yours, but their conscience. Not because the meat is suddenly bad. Not because the conscience of another person is at stake. This is where we Christians get it wrong so often. We think the goal is to prove, that we have to prove that we are theologically on this non-essential issue. That we think we have to convince the weaker brother that we are totally right on this issue. And if we don't, then we've done something wrong. But Paul says the goal is to protect the person. For the weaker brother, eating that meat would have been a violation of his conscience. Even if the act is objectively fine, which Paul has already told us, it is.
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If he believes it's wrong, but does it anyway, he's training himself to disobey what he believes God wants him to do. It's kind of like what Paul says in his letter to the Romans in chapter 14 where he says, But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. The issue isn't just about the external act.
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of eating.
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It's about the intent of the heart on these negotiable issues.
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These negotiable convictions.
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If this guy were to go ahead and eat the meat.
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And go against his conscience.
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His conscience guided conviction.
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He would actually be sinning.
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Because as it says in Romans.
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This man's faith.
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Or in that context.
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Faith means a conviction or an assurance.
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His assurance is that eating the meat does not honor God.
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So would he be honoring the Lord? And Paul says to concede. To yield. Not because your theology has changed. Not because your conviction has disappeared. But because the love of your brother matters more than proving your point. So we have to concede for the conscience. That's our second point. Concede for the conscience.
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So to drive this home a little bit, why don't we reverse the scenario a little bit and say, imagine the believer goes into the marketplace and he starts just making a total scene. He's flipping tables over. He's tossing meat away. He's tossing it on the ground stomping on. He says, this whole place is compromised. This meat, it's pagan. Everyone here is wrong. You're all going straight to hell.
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None of us would ever do anything about a particular issue we feel strongly about on social media, right? But what does that accomplish? What would that accomplish in this scenario? Would that help to reach anyone? Or does it simply create noise and disagreement? So continuing on in Paul's scenario, imagine that you get invited to dinner by an unbeliever and you say, yeah, I'll come over. I'll come over.
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But only if... Fill in the blank. I'm only going to come over if there's no alcohol there whatsoever. Or, you know what? I'm only going to come over if everyone agrees with my political... No MAGA hats, please. There's not going to be any MAGA hats, right? Or everybody's vaccinated, right? Everybody's had the COVID and the double and they're wearing the masks, right? You remember those days? Or I'm only going to come... You know what? You guys only read from the ESV version of the Bible, right?
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Okay, good. And I'll come over then. Or, you know, there's no evolution or there's no old earth people at this dinner, right? We're all seven-day young earth people, right? I'll come over if your family does things my way. Is that building a bridge to the gospel? Is it building a wall, isn't it? And then continue on, right? Imagine that someone at the table, they're struggling with the conscience issue of, eating whatever's in front of them for whatever reason, instead of gently stepping back, the stronger believer, maybe you in this case, you actually launch into a theological debate. You are going to convince this guy why he is wrong about his conviction. Nobody gets helped in that scenario. In fact, the dinner becomes a courtroom scene, right? Everybody gets exhausted, and Paul says, stop trying.
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to win all the arguments in the moment all the time. You've lost your focus when you're doing that. He says sometimes, or we can say that sometimes, that weaker brother's conscience, it's not an invitation for debate. Maybe it's a check engine light on our liberty or on what we think. The Holy Spirit might just be saying to you, you know what? In this instance, slow down. This is not about you. This is not about your rights anymore. This is about your witness.
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of me.
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So, is there a non-essential issue where you could maybe take a step back?
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Not because you're weak.
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Not because your convictions are wrong.
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Maybe it's in your family.
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Maybe it's in your small group.
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Maybe it's in your workplace or with a newer believer or somebody you're trying to win for Christ.
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If your conviction on a non-essential issue, on a non-salvation issue, is consistently resulting in people being pushed away or being hurt. Maybe your knowledge isn't the problem. Maybe it's your pride. Because sometimes the greatest display of spiritual maturity is not just standing your ground in a confrontational way. It's actually being willing to take a step back and concede to the conscience of someone else. Now I know, Again, because I know you, because I know myself. Some of you are out there saying, Brian, I cannot, I can't, I can't believe Jeff and Taylor are letting you stand up there and say this. I mean, I have strong convictions. Is Paul telling me to just take them all and just set them aside? Set them on fire over here? They're useless? Isn't that a violation of my own conscience? That's not what's being said here at all. Our convictions are important.
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And do you really think Paul, a guy who has a fair amount of pretty strong convictions on issues like sex, marriage, gender roles, spiritual gifts, etc., do you really think he would tell us your personal convictions, they don't matter at all? No. And in fact, I would say that discussing your convictions with believers or non-believers in a non-confrontational way, it can be really helpful. That's where iron sharpening iron can come, right? You can help a believer with your convictions. But remember, like Jeff told us last week or two weeks ago, we should all be believers in legalism. But what kind? Personal legalism, right? We should be very strict on ourselves according to conviction from Scripture, but to have that be general legalism to everybody else, that's where we get in big trouble. And all of this, that leads us to Paul's final and biggest point.
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Why do all of this? Paul goes on to ask a couple of questions. He says, For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced? Because of that for which I give thanks. In other words, why do this? Why lay down my rights? Why surrender preferences? Why choose people over liberty? Why choose to concede for the conscience? Is it so that people think we're nice?
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Is it so they think that we're really winsome and non-argumentative and non-confrontational? We're just go along to get along people? Is it so we can fill every seat in this auditorium two Sundays a week? Is that why we do this? Let's see what Paul has to say. Go ahead and look at verse 31. Paul lands this entire argument when he says, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God. Just try, just as I try, to please everyone in everything I do. Not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. This is the center of everything. Glory to God alone.
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If you eat the meat, do it, give thanks, and go. If you abstain in order to protect your brother's conscience, do it to the glory of God alone. Not just in the big spiritual moments either, not just church and missions and all that, but in the mundane. The eating, the drinking, posting, talking, working, walking. Because every ordinary moment Paul is sharing with us can become an opportunity to put the character of God on display. And he is most with His people when we value Him and His family more than our own freedoms and our own right to express those convictions. So this is the how. How do we keep our conviction from becoming barriers? Or what do we do when our conviction offends someone? Our third point is that we celebrate our Creator. We celebrate our Creator.
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We need to ask, does this make God look amazing and beautiful? Does this glorify Him and bring honor to Christ? We need to celebrate the Creator. Because if eating the meat, if it creates a scandal and confusion and makes your neighbor think that Christ is compromised, then it doesn't matter how correct your theology is, you are not glorifying God.
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Verses 32 and 33 just shows us how broad this responsibility is. Paul says again, give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God. He's got all the bases covered there. Jews, they were people with religious history and pretty strong convictions. Greeks, people outside the faith who are watching Christianity and seeing what it looks like. And the church, fellow believers who have different and may have different maturity levels than we do. And Paul is saying, be a universal witness to them all. Don't put any unnecessary obstacles in front of them. I've got to pause one more time and say, I think I know what you're thinking. This is just not right. We can't be this way. I know those kinds of Christians. The ones that are so agreeable, so winsome that they stand for, nothing.
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They're just a bunch of people-pleasing, gospel-compromising weaklings.
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Guys, this is not, do not misunderstand Paul or me.
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This is not about people-pleasing.
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Because people-pleasing, what is it?
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It's self-centered, right?
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It's me controlling all your perceptions of me.
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That's not what's going on here.
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Paul is talking about being a person who is strategically on mission for Christ always.
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He is saying, I will gladly set aside my negotiable preferences and hold my convictions personally at every opportunity I have if it removes barriers between someone and Jesus.
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And that is radically different than a washed down or watered down, unoffensive gospel.
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That is not what we're talking about here.
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Paul says, he goes on to say, be imitators of me as I am of Christ.
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And he's pointing us to Christ.
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He wants us to celebrate Christ.
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and to celebrate the Creator. There might be someone here this morning who doesn't usually come to church. Or maybe you've been to church a lot, but you know the truth in your heart is that you've never trusted Christ as your Savior. And maybe all of this hasn't really resonated with you for that reason. Well, this point, Paul's point here, our Creator, that's to you. It's to all of us. But I want to make sure that you tune in here. Because he says, look at Jesus. Jesus as God's Son, who was with Him from the creation of everything, had every right, every freedom, every authority, all power, and yet what did He do? He laid it down. Philippians says that Christ did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, But he emptied himself. Christ didn't cling to any of these divine rights, divine privileges that he had as the Son of God. Instead, he moved toward sacrifice. His entire earthly life was a steady march to sacrifice. Toward death on the cross so that he could overcome death and become the perfect substitute for spiritual death for all of those who choose to follow him.
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And if that's not something you've done yet, if you haven't trusted Christ as your Savior, if you've never looked to Christ as your only refuge and strength, please talk to me. Talk to Jeff or Taylor or go to the prayer corner after church. We'd love to talk to you more about that. Because Paul says, look to Christ. And he says, watch me do the same. Paul says, I'm just a regular guy following Christ.
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If I can lay down my rights for the sake of the gospel, then you can too. And honestly, that is where we probably need, I know I need sometimes, the strongest correction. Because so much of our culture and in our mindset, it sounds so often like Corinth, right? We say, I know an idol is nothing. I know Halloween is pagan. Democrats are evil. Republicans are selfish. Drinking is wrong. Drinking is right. Whatever. You fill it all in. Maybe sometimes we're right, but Paul is saying, hear me on this.
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there's a better question. Do you know what your neighbor needs? Do you know what your neighbor needs? He needs Christ. That's the point. We say, I have all these freedoms. Yes. But you also have the power through Christ to abstain from freely expressing all of those convictions that you have all the time to everyone.
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Or even better yet, perhaps, you have the power through Christ to be patient. To be patient with someone else, a weaker brother, to come to a better understanding of their faith. And to grow in their own convictions. So do you have the patience to allow the Holy Spirit to work in your brother's life in that moment? Or do you feel like you have to be the Holy Spirit in their life?
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for them.
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That is maturity.
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Having that patience.
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In the Corinthian way that Paul is pushing back against says, my goal is personal liberty.
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I am free.
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I am independent.
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I am a Corinthian.
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I'm an American.
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The way of Christ says, my goal is to win people for Jesus.
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The way of Christ is self-denial for the good of others.
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The way of Christ says it is not about me. It's about Him. It's about people's eternal souls and the gospel and God's glory. Our worship team can make their way on up as I finish up. Because the Corinthian way, which is oftentimes our way, it produces pride and it produces division.
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Christ's way produces humility and unity and brings glory to our Heavenly Father, but I've got to ask you this morning, which way will you choose? The Corinthian way or Christ's way? So what if my conviction offends someone? Choose to construct. Use your liberty to build people up and not demolish them.
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What if my conviction offends someone? Concede for the conscience. Value the person more than proving your point. What if my conviction offends someone? Celebrate the Creator. Let your highest goal be the glory of God, not the defense of self. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, God, for your word. We thank you that, God, that it answers all of our questions.
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God, that it so clearly cuts into all of our circumstances. God, and we just, we think of this word from Paul this morning, and God, I pray that our hearts would be looking to our neighbor. God, that through the power of your Spirit, that we would be turned away from ourselves, from selfishness. God, and that we would look to the needs of those around us. God, that we would seek to build others up.
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God, and that we would follow the leading of your Holy Spirit in those moments when we're wondering, do I say what I feel strongly about? Or do I hold back? Do I concede on this issue or do I push in? God, I pray that your Spirit would work strongly in each of our lives, God, and that we would hear Him. Lord, and most of all, I pray that our goal would be to bring you glory, to look to you in all things. To celebrate you as our Heavenly Father. And to look to Jesus as our one and only Savior. We love you and we're grateful for all you do for us. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
In what area of life are you most tempted to defend your “rights” or personal convictions instead of asking, “Is this actually building others up?” What would it look like to choose construction over demolition there?
Can you think of a time when someone’s conscience, weakness, or spiritual maturity should have mattered more than proving your point? How did you handle it, and would you handle it differently now?
Where is God calling you to “concede for the conscience” of someone else right now—maybe in your family, friendships, workplace, or at Harvest? Why is that so difficult for you?
Paul says, “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” How can you tell when your convictions are truly about God’s glory versus when they are really about pride, preference, or control?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

April 26, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Why is Idolatry So Dangerous?

Jeff Miller

April 26, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

Matthew 6:24 – No one can serve two masters... You cannot serve God and money.

Ephesians 5:5 - For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Philippians 3:19 – their god is their belly...

1 Samuel 15:23 - For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.

3 Reasons to Run from Idolatry: (1 Corinthians 10:14-22)

Because of WHO YOU ARE. (1 Cor 10:16-18)
Because It's DEMONIC. (1 Cor 10:19-21)

Deuteronomy 32:17 – They sacrificed to demons that were not God...

Psalm 106:37 – They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons...

Ephesians 6:12 - For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Because God is JEALOUS For You. (1 Cor 10:22)

Exodus 34:14 – for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God…

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:36
Open up those Bibles to 1 Corinthians 10 and take a moment to please just pray for me to communicate God's Word clearly as I should, and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us today. All right? So let's just take a moment and pray. Father, we trust Your Word and Your Spirit to do a work in our hearts.
01:08
As only you can, Father. That's why we're here. Father, open our hearts and minds up to receive what it is that you've told us in your word. We sing, I exalt thee, but Father, I pray that we would live that, a lifestyle that exalts you. We pray in Jesus' name.
01:37
Amen. 1 Corinthians 10.
01:42
Many years ago at a church picnic, we did the pie the pastor thing.
01:48
Now I know we've done it more recently. We did it like with VBS.
01:51
This is years ago when we had a lot less kids.
01:54
And I couldn't remember what it was, but Mandy Maul was our children's director at the time.
01:58
And she reminded me, it was like those big five-gallon jugs.
02:04
was if the kids could fill it with change, they went to some mission or ministry, but if the kids could fill it with change, some of the kids would be able to pie me at the church picnic.
02:18
So when I say pie, not like an apple pie, you know, the old whipped cream, the whipped cream pies, right?
02:26
So it started with, can some of the kids pie you at the picnic?
02:32
I was like, okay.
02:34
Well, that turned into, can all the kids pie you? And I said, multiple times, each as hard as they can. You would be surprised how hard some of these little guys can hit you in the nose with a whipped cream pie. I had to go into like concussion protocol. So they're like, can all the kids hit you in the pie, hit you in the face with a pie as hard as they can? I was like, okay. Then somebody, not one of the kids, somebody had this brilliant idea.
03:32
How about we pie Pastor Jeff, but instead of whipped cream, they brought a squeeze bottle of mayonnaise. A squeeze bottle of mayonnaise. And they're like, let's pie him with a mayonnaise pie. Mayonnaise pie, excuse me. And I said, too far. That was too far. Absolutely under no circumstances.
04:02
But you see, they just took it too far. They just took it too far. It was all fun and games until they brought out the Hellmanns. Too far. You went too far. And it's that idea of going too far that takes us to this next section. Because you see, the Corinthians that Paul was writing to lived in a pagan culture.
04:32
Right? Paganism was everywhere. And some of the people in the church obviously came to Christ out of the pagan culture, and they realized, hey, I am free in Christ. And an idol? An idol is nothing. And Paul's like, you're right, an idol is nothing. Well, meat that was sacrificed to idols? I can eat that. I'm free to eat that. And Paul's like, yes, you are free to Eat that meat. Yes. But not if it offends a weaker Christian. Then you lay down your freedom. Say like, well, I'm free also to go to the pagan festivals. Go to these pagan parties. I'm free to do that. And Paul said, too far. You've taken it too far. Yes, we are free in Christ, but going to the pagan festivals, That's too far. Look at verse 14. He says, Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
05:43
That word beloved, that is such a term of just deep affection.
05:50
Paul's like, look, I love you, church. I love you.
05:56
And it's because I love you, church, that I have to tell you something that's really important.
06:02
A lot of you are still getting involved in the paganism around you. You've got to run from that. You've got to flee. Get away from that whole scene. Idolatry. So let me ask you, are you in danger of idolatry? You. Are you in danger of idolatry?
06:38
We would agree that idolatry is an issue for a lot of people in the world. Right? We would agree with that. As many of you know, we are the stateside support. We have 23 churches in northern Thailand. Mountain, jungle, tribal, places that don't see white people.
07:03
We support 23 churches, 4 children's homes, a Bible institute. We have a thriving ministry there. And I've been to Thailand several times. And when you go to Thailand and you land in the airport, there is a sign at the airport that says there is a severe penalty.
07:32
for stealing the head of a Buddha statue. And I thought, well, that's random that you land. It's like, welcome to our country. By the way, we will arrest you if you steal the head of a statue. So I asked our missionary Barnabas, like, what is up with that? What's up with that sign? He said, well, people realize they can't steal the whole statue.
08:00
So people come and they just try to steal the head. And to them, that is so sacrilegious. That is a horrible thing. And he said they come down hard on people that do that. So we look at that and we're like, yes, idolatry. Or we go up into the mountain jungles of Thailand. When you get away from the city where there's a lot of Buddhism, But when you get to some of these tribal areas, it's not Buddhism as much as it's spiritism and animism. And they have these spirit altars in their homes where they burn things to appease the evil spirits. And when they become Christians, when they receive Christ, one of the first things they do is rip that spirit altar out and take it outside their village and burn it as their way of saying, I am done with this.
08:58
And we hear those stories and we see the ashes and we say, yeah, they have a problem with idolatry. But we don't think idolatry is an issue for us. But here's the thing, church. We don't have less idols. We have infinitely more.
09:30
I've never bowed down to a rock. I understand the Bible's definition of idolatry is much greater than just that. For example, the Bible says money can be an idol. Money and stuff. Jesus said, Matthew 6.24, you cannot serve God and money. Money and stuff can be an idol. How about covetousness? The Bible says covetousness is an idol. Ephesians 5.5, it says, that is an idolater has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
10:04
Covetousness.
10:05
That's when instead of being thankful for what God has given to you, you wish that you had what God gave to someone else.
10:14
That's coveting.
10:17
And God says when you covet, you're an idolater.
10:22
The Bible says your belly can be an idol, Philippians 3.19.
10:27
In that passage, Paul talks about people who are ruled by their appetites. That's what drives them. Whatever they are hungry for, that's their idol. Or how about this one? Rebellion. 1 Samuel 15 talks about that. Rebellion is as the sin of divination and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
10:56
You see, when God tells you to do something, and you're like, I'm not going to do that, and you're rebelling against God, God says, in my mind, that has become an idol to you, your rebellion. Ezekiel 14 talks about taking idols into your heart. You know, I was thinking about that a lot this week. Idols are kind of a funny thing. In that, You realize literally anything, literally anything on this earth can become an idol. Do you ever think about that? Anything. I mean, an object, whether it's a rock or your car or something, an object can become an idol. Another person can become an idol. Your spouse, your kids, your Whatever. Celebrity. A person can become an idol. Some activity. Some hobby. Even a good thing. Consumes you. It becomes the thing that you worship. An activity can become an idol. Or a position. Right? I've got to get this job. I'm not going to be content until I reach this level. And that becomes an idol. You realize an idea can become an idol.
12:26
An idea can become an idol. Like, I didn't think my life was going to turn out like this. And we sort of have this idea of, this is how I thought my life was going to be at this point. This is how I thought my kids were going to be. I thought I'd be in a much different place at this point in my life. And we sort of have this idealized utopia of how we think our lives should be. And that becomes an idol for us.
12:55
Literally anything can become an idol. But here's something else that's funny about idolatry. Idolatry is completely individualized. And it's completely subjective. Here's what I mean. Like, when I've been to Thailand, one of the times I went, I said to Barnabas, I said, hey, can I see one of these Buddhist temples? Because there was one right down the street from his house. And I said, would they object to like somebody like me just going in there. He goes, oh no, they're fine with that. He says, you want to see it? I'll show you. He took me down. There was nobody in there. We just walked right in. He goes, oh, they don't care. But I got to tell you, did nothing for me. It was interesting, but it did nothing for me like religiously. But you know, there are a lot of other people that go in there and that is where they worship and that is everything. You see how it's subjective.
13:55
The same thing means everything to one person but meant nothing to me. Or I could take one of these Thai people here to America and maybe I've turned my kids into an idol and to the Thai person, my kids mean nothing to them. So you see how idolatry is so individualized and it's so specific and subjective to us, to each of us, that there is something in your life that you are tempted to turn into an idol. Unless it has already become an idol. You're like, well, what is it? What is it for me? It's that thing in your life that's more important than Jesus. That's an idol. It's the thing that keeps you from obeying Jesus as you should. That's an idol. If I said to you, what is the thing in your life that you know if this thing wasn't in the way, you would have a closer walk. You would feel like you are nearer to God. What is that thing? That thing would be your idol. The thing that's more important than coming to worship. The thing that's more important than your personal time with the Lord. That's an idol. The thing you devote your time and money and attention over Jesus.
15:25
That's an idol. So I'll ask you again, are you in danger of idolatry? Because when we consider the biblical definition of idolatry, I think the answer is yes, we all are. Every single one of us are in danger of idolatry. So verse 15, he says, I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. Do we have any sensible people here this morning? No? This is going to be the longest sermon you've ever heard if you're not sensible. But that's what Paul's saying.
16:26
in your head, listen to what I'm saying. Listen, this is something you need to think about. Something you really need to stop. And what's he saying? I got to think about that. All right? So here's what Paul's saying in this passage we're going to look at. Paul says, run from idolatry.
16:55
Okay, why, Paul? Paul says, because of the Lord's Supper. You're like, what? What do you mean? You've got to be sensible, sensible people. Let's talk about the Lord's Supper. Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22. Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples before Jesus' death. And Jesus, in this celebration, changed the meaning of the Passover meal from remembering the Exodus to remembering Him. It became a regular observance in the church. And here's what Paul's saying in this passage. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, if you are a sincere, born-again believer in Jesus Christ, if you are someone, who comes and takes the Lord's Supper, then you don't want anything to do with idolatry. So let's explain what he means by that, sensible people. On your outline, three reasons to run from idolatry. Number one, because of who you are. Why should I run from idolatry? Because of who I am. You should run because of who you are.
18:27
Look at verse 16.
18:29
Because we've got to talk about this one for a couple of minutes.
18:34
Paul says, sensible people flee from idolatry. Why, Paul?
18:38
Look at verse 16. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?
18:49
The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
18:56
The cup of blessing. What's the cup of blessing? That's the third cup in the Passover meal. That's probably when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. Jesus blessed it. And Paul says, when we get together and take the Lord's Supper, we bless it. What does that mean? It means that we are regarding this as a sacred thing. Right? When we have the Lord's Supper together, it's a sacred thing.
19:24
And we're not having the Lord's Supper today. In hindsight, we probably should have. We're going to have it in a couple weeks because he talks more about the Lord's Supper. But understand, church, when we take the Lord's Supper together, it is more than just a religious ritual. The cup and the bread are way more than just symbols.
19:54
What are they? He says it four times in this passage we're looking at today. The word that you've got to understand this to understand his whole point. The word is participation. Participation. He says the cup is participation in the blood of Christ. The bread is participation in the body of Christ. What does that mean?
20:24
And I really like the analogy, so I'm going to use it. But he compared it to if you've ever had somebody that you love very much who passed away, but you have a photograph of them. When you look at that photograph, that awakens something in you, doesn't it? A photograph isn't just a piece of paper with an image on it to you.
20:54
that picture of that one who you love who had passed away, when you see that person is sort of actualized in your mind, the person sort of becomes alive in your mind. You know that feeling. You see that old picture and you just feel something in your spirit. You feel your emotions. That something really stirs in you when you look at that picture.
21:28
The Lord's Supper is sort of like that, but it's more than that. When we take the Lord's Supper, it's not just a reminder. Like, why am I here again? Oh, yeah. Yeah, Jesus. Now, what did he do? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:54
Yeah, he died. Right, right, right. No, no, no, no. It's much more than that. When we take the Lord's Supper, we are engulfed in who he is and what he has done. This is what Paul's saying here specifically. Sensible people, sensible. Look, you promised me you were sensible. So let's keep going here, all right? The cup is a participation in the blood of Christ.
22:24
What does that mean? The blood of Christ is not about the red fluid that pumped through his veins. Blood of Christ is a figure of speech regarding his death. Right? So here's the thing. When we take the Lord's Supper, we are participating in Christ's death. When we take that cup, we're identifying ourselves in the benefits of his death.
22:54
Jesus' death means something. And when I receive the cup, I'm participating in that. That this isn't just about a man who died for me. This is about God in the flesh who bought my salvation with his death. And I'm participating in that. This means something to me right now. That's what happens when we take communion. The bread, that's the body.
23:23
Paul tells us here, but it's more than just the suffering of Christ. It's that, but it's more than that. It's everything that the incarnation means. See, when we take that bread, we're reminded of the body of Christ. We're reminded the invisible God made himself visible. He became a man. God was here. God was here as Jesus, and he showed me what God is like. And ultimately, yes, He came to die as only a man can die. So when we take that bread, we're participating in Christ's life. We're identifying ourselves with His righteousness, with His example. We're saying, this is the manifestation of God. This is who He is conforming me to be like. That's what we are saying together, church, when we are taking the Lord's Supper. We are participating.
24:22
So the cup and the bread, they're more than symbols. All that Christ is, all that Christ means is life, his grace, his humility, his love, his death. We are participators in all of that. So the Lord's Supper isn't just about reminding ourselves of an event that happened long ago. But the Lord's Supper is, hey, this is our life right now.
24:52
Because of what he did, this is who I am today. But it goes deeper than that, believe it or not. Look at verse 17. He says, because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. You see, in the Lord's Supper, we are joined with Christ and we're joined with each other. See, that bread all came from the same loaf.
25:22
and we're all eating a piece of bread from the same loaf. We're saying that the Lord's Supper unites us in a profound way. When we take the Lord's Supper, it unites us in a profound way. Look, whatever else we may agree on. Best sports team, favorite brand of ketchup, what political, what side of the political aisle you're on, whatever else, we may disagree on. When we take the Lord's Supper as a church, do you know what we're doing together? We're uniting. We're saying, this. This is our God. This is what unites us. We have been saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We all identify this is our God. We are together on this. This is what we share.
26:22
Look at verse 18. Paul's making the same point. Flashback to Israel. He says, Consider the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices? Participants in the altar? Same point. And Israel's worship, when somebody offered a sacrifice, like, well, who got that? Everybody. God, the priest, and the worshiper were all participators in the sacrifice.
26:56
Isn't that terribly fascinating? You're like, yes, but what's the point? I thought we were talking about idolatry. What is the point of all this? Here's the point. You ready? Sensible people, are you ready? Here's the point. When you are in a religious service, You are participating with what you are worshiping and the other worshipers.
27:34
So Paul's point here is this.
27:36
How can you come here and participate with Christ and Christ people and then turn around and go to a different religious service where we are participating with idols and idolaters. When we take the Lord's Supper, we're saying, church, we're saying, this is who I am. I'm in Christ. I identify with these people here who are also taking from this loaf. Now, I can't just turn around after participating here with these people. I can't just turn around and participate with another group entirely.
28:19
Does that make sense? Because if you're so a little fuzzy on it, think about it this way. It's Stanley Cup playoffs, right? Did you watch that game last night? I did, but I think it was like this the whole time. But just imagine, A person goes down to PPG Paints Arena, Pens versus Flyers. They go down and they're wearing their Sidney Crosby number 87 jersey and they're down there like, Sid! Go Sid! Greatest player in the world! Go Sid! Let's go Pens! Let's go Pens! Let's go Pens! Right? And then that same person goes, hey, when?
29:18
Like, when's the next game? And they're like, oh, the next game's in Philly. So that person gets in their car and drives to Philadelphia and wears a Flyers jersey. And during the game, Sid, you stink! Sid's the worst! And they're like cheering for the Flyers the whole time. What would you think of someone who did that?
29:47
you be like how can you thank you Justin like how can you how can you be participating with the penguins and now you're participating with the flyers how can you do that that's Paul's point right here how can you participate with the living God and then participate with an idol because when you go to church When you go to church, it's about participation. Listen, this is why many Christians miss this concept, because you look at church as an event. For some people, that's all church is, it's an event. What's on my calendar this week? Well, I got this appointment of work, I got a Oh yeah, Sunday morning, 11 o'clock, church. Yeah, it's an event on the calendar. Just one more thing on the schedule. You just see church as an event. And listen, when you see church as an event, then skipping church because I'm sleepy, that's okay. It's just an event. Or church hopping, that's okay. It's all the same.
31:14
This church, that church, whatever. We just hop from church to church. It's okay. Or not getting involved. You warm a seat, usually, but I'm not going to get involved. That's okay. Listen, beloved, none of those things are okay. Because church is not an event. Church is participation with Jesus and people who identify with Jesus.
31:46
And when you finally get to the place where you are settled in your heart and mind and say, I participate with Jesus, I participate with the people of Jesus, when you fully grasp and understand and embrace what it means to participate with Jesus, then you will be able to face the things that can become idols for you and say, no, that's not who I am.
32:15
You see? Maybe money and stuff has been your idol. Maybe that's the thing that's tempted you. When you realize who you are in Christ, you're a participator in Christ. You're like, oh, that's just stuff. That's not important to me. No. Jesus is who I participate with. Or maybe it's addiction. Maybe you've been battling the idol of addiction.
32:43
And you realize, no, my identity is with Jesus. I'm done with that addiction because I'm not participating with Jesus and with the addiction at the same time. It just doesn't work that way. And for some, it's the idol of lust and all of the ways that that idol is worshipped. That you have to get to the place in your life, like, that's not who I am. That's just not me. I'm a participator in Jesus.
33:13
Christ. I belong to him. Not that. I'm done with that. That's what Paul's saying here. You've got to get the participation thing. You're not attending a church event. You are a participator in the life of Christ. All right? It's a matter of identity. Run from idolatry because of who you are. Number two, write this down. Three reasons to run from idolatry. Number two, because it's demonic.
33:49
Look at verse 19.
33:50
Paul says, what do I imply then?
33:53
That food offered to idols is anything?
33:57
Or that an idol is anything?
34:00
Paul's like, so what am I saying?
34:02
Am I saying that an idol itself is anything?
34:04
Am I saying that?
34:06
No, he's not saying that.
34:07
He just said that in chapter 8, verse 4.
34:11
Like, we just answered that question.
34:13
Look at verse 20. He goes, no. I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. Listen to what Paul's saying. Listen very close. He says, I'm not saying that there is a real God in the idol, but there is a real participation still taking place. Participation with who? He says right here. With demons. Church, demons are at work in idolatry. And if a person buys into an idol, any kind of idol, here, Thailand, wherever. When a person buys into an idol, demons will be at work to keep the person hooked into worshiping that idol. That's just the way it is. The first time we were talking about Thailand earlier, the first time I went to Thailand, I was 20 years old. I was a brand new Christian. Boy, that was an eye opener.
35:42
Like I said, I went to places that pockets of civilization that have never seen a different race of people at all. Well, this one village that we visited, there was a man there. I've never seen a human that looked like him. His whole head looked like, it was like a flesh-colored cue ball. There was no hair, and it It was perfectly round and smooth. And there were just like tiny little like slits where they're like for the nose. There was no nose. It's just these little slits. And the same with the eyes peering behind these really tiny little slits. And he had he had a trach. And it was very strange. Like I've never seen a human that looked like this. And I asked our missionary Barnabas.
36:42
I said, Barnabas, that man that we saw, I said, does he have a disease or was there some genetic thing? Like, what's the matter with this man? Barnabas said, oh, he goes, this fellow, he used to look just like everybody else, all the other Thai people. He said he looked just like everybody else.
37:12
gave his life to Christ. He received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. And he said, soon after he received Christ, an evil spirit in the form of a bear ripped his face off. And you might say, I don't believe that. Okay, well then you tell me what happened to this man. Because the guy on this earth that is my hero that I look up to in the faith more than anybody, That's the story that he told me. You tell me then. That this man was so into idolatry that the evil... That was a demon's way of saying, you're not leaving us. You're not aligning yourself with Christ. And he was physically attacked. There are demons behind idolatry. Deuteronomy 32.17 says they sacrificed the demons.
38:12
that were not God. Psalm 106, verse 37, they served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the... You see that? It's all through the Old Testament. Demons are behind idolatry. Verse 21, he says, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord.
38:42
of demons. It's the same point. You can't do both. You can't. You can't participate with Christ and participate with demons. And understand, in idolatry, there's a lot more going on than bad theology. It's demonic. And Paul says, I don't want you to participate with demons. Like, why would you mess with that? And if you're like, oh, you know, So, Pastor Jeff, I believe that if you're truly born again, if you truly have God's Spirit, you can't be possessed by a demon. You just can't. A demon can't possess a true believer. And I agree with you. I believe that. I believe that 100% that a demon cannot possess a true believer. But why would you mess with that anyways? Really? You know, demons are powerful. And demons are evil.
39:43
Why would you mess with that? It's like keeping a pet cobra. Like, why would you do that? Earlier we talked about the idol of addiction. We did a whole sermon series on this one time. Addiction is a worship disorder. Addiction, ultimately, at its very foundation, is idolatry. I want you to think about addiction. What is it that keeps someone so hooked on the thing they're addicted to?
40:12
You think it's just physical? Really? Just physical? You mean a guy is willing to lose his wife because it's just a physical addiction? You think a guy's willing to lose his family? A guy losing everything he spent his life building up. He's willing to watch it be destroyed. You think it's only physical? It's demonic. That's why Paul reminds us, Ephesians 6.12, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Paul says run from idolatry. Why? Well, it's a matter of spiritual affliction. Run from idolatry because it's demonic. One more sensible people. Number three, because God is jealous for you.
41:14
Why do I run from idolatry? Because God is jealous for you. Last one. Look at verse 22. He says, shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? Look, if you are in Christ, if you have believed in Jesus, his death, his resurrection, if you are in Christ, you belong to God. And if you belong to God, understand he is jealous.
41:42
for you.
41:47
Exodus 34.14 says, For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous god.
41:58
I thought jealousy was bad. Isn't jealousy bad?
42:02
Isn't jealousy a bad thing?
42:07
Not in this context.
42:10
Not when jealousy is about right to ownership. Not when jealousy is about you belong to me and something is threatening that. That is appropriate jealousy. God himself says he's jealous. Like 28 times in the Old Testament I think it was. Years ago to former ministry I had this young couple come in for marriage counseling.
42:40
You can kind of get a feel for where it's going when they come in and they're not sitting beside each other. They're sitting on opposite ends of the table. Like, oh, I see where this is going. And the wife came in. She looked like she was ready for a fight. And the husband just sat down, had his arms folded and his head down the whole time. And I'm like, so, what seems to be the problem? And she goes, he's jealous.
43:14
He's jealous because I'm always going to Ghost Riders with this guy friend of mine dancing all night and my husband's jealous oh you know what Ghost Riders is it's up in Butler I don't know if it's still there it's on like Route 8 North there's a honky tonk where they do line dancing you know the line dance where they're like You know what I'm talking about? Ghost riders. Okay, thank you, Jillian. That's not still a thing, Sharon. Did it close down? Okay. What was the thing back then? It was a big thing. Well, anyways, she goes, he's jealous that I go with my guy friend to dance.
44:09
She goes, he's jealous. And I said, he should be. She went through the roof. Like, what are you talking about? He should be. I said, he is your husband. You belong to him. And when something is threatening the marriage covenant like that, jealousy is appropriate. She's like, jealousy is wrong. I'm like, jealousy is not wrong. She goes, Jealousy is always wrong. I said, but you know the Bible says that God is jealous. She goes, the Bible does not say that. I'm like, here we go. And I walked her through all these verses where God says He is jealous. I'm like, see, we belong to God. He doesn't want us messing with something else. And it's the same principle in marriage. She goes, jealousy is wrong. I'm like, you're wrong.
45:11
Well, the counseling session did not end well, as you probably surmised. But then, like, for months after that, I would get phone calls from her. Like, I'd be in my office, and be like, Pastor Jeff, so-and-so on line one. I'm like, yeah, jealousy is always wrong. I'm like, oh, please lose my number.
45:37
But that's Paul's point here is, look, if you're in Christ, you belong to God, and God takes it seriously when you flirt with something else. When that ownership is threatened, God takes that very seriously. You belong to Him. Oh, by the way, we were talking about demons earlier. Demons, evil, powerful demons. Do you know the only thing worse than messing with a demon?
46:10
provoking God. Way worse. Infinitely worse. Provoking God. Why would you do something that you know provokes God? Why would you do that? Like, well, what will he do? Well, the Bible is full of God's reaction to idolatry. Read Deuteronomy. Read the Psalms. Read the prophets.
46:38
They're like, yeah, that is so Old Testament. Yeah, it is Old Testament. But this here that we're studying today is so New Testament. The Bible says it's still a bad idea to provoke God to jealousy. Are you stronger than he? No, we should just do what he says, right? So it's a matter of the fear of the Lord. Run from idolatry.
47:13
I just like you to bow your heads for a moment I want to ask you the question that I asked you earlier are you in danger of idolatry considering that idolatry is a heart issue considering that we can turn anything into an idol The answer is yes, we are all in danger of idolatry. And I just want to ask you today, what idol do you need to flee from? What is it today that if you were going to be completely honest, I would draw near to God if this thing wasn't in the way. What is that thing that's keeping you from drawing closer to God? What is that? The Bible says that's an idol. If you belong to Jesus, you don't need to crack a door open for a demon. You certainly don't need to provoke God.
48:39
Father in Heaven, we bow ourselves before You as Your church. God, we realize that idolatry is just as much a temptation for us today as it was to the people that Paul wrote to. As it was in Old Testament times. Father, You are greatly glorified when idols are torn down. We see that throughout.
49:07
Your Word when a king who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, that was usually accompanied by him tearing down idols. And I just pray that for this church today, Father, that You would, by Your Spirit, by Your Word, You would give us the wisdom to identify the idols, and You would give us the faith to cast them down. Whatever that needs to be, however that needs to look, Father, let today be the day that idols are destroyed.
49:37
in our lives. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
In light of 1 Cor 10:16-17: How would you explain the Lord's Supper (the “participation” concept) to a new believer?
How can believers be guilty of idolatry today, in our culture?
How does idolatry make a believer participate with demons (1 Cor 10:20)?
What does it mean that God is jealous (1 Cor 10:22)? How exactly do you think He will respond when He's provoked to jealousy?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

April 19, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

How Do I Humble Myself?

Jeff Miller

April 19, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

That Can Happen to Me: Reality Check About God's People and Disqualification. (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

Taking God's BLESSINGS for Granted: That Can Happen to Me. (1 Cor 10:1-6)
Falling into SIN: That Can Happen to Me. (1 Cor 10:7-10)
1. IDOLATRY. (1 Cor 10:7)
2. IMMORALITY. (1 Cor 10:8)
3. TESTING God. (1 Cor 10:9)
4. COMPLAINING. (1 Cor 10:10)
Claiming God's PROMISES When Tempted: That Must Happen By Me. (1 Cor 10:11-13)

God's Promises When You're Tempted (1 Cor 10:13)
1. COMMON. (1 Cor 10:13a)
2. BEARABLE. (1 Cor 10:13b)
3. AVOIDABLE. (1 Cor 10:13c)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:36-00:41
Open up your Bibles with me, please, to the book of 1 Corinthians 10.
00:43-00:46
While you're turning there, let's just pause.
00:46-00:53
Please pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's Word clearly and accurately.
00:54-01:00
I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what the Lord is teaching.
01:03-01:06
Because as usual, There's something here for each of us.
01:07-01:08
Let's pray.
01:10-01:21
When all of God's people said, "Amen, we'll try next week." "That won't happen to me." Did you ever say that?
01:23-01:23
Did you ever say that?
01:23-01:27
"That won't happen to me." Do you know who says that?
01:29-01:33
Well, I think everybody, but do you know who most often says that?
01:34-01:38
in their teenage years and in their 20s.
01:39-01:40
That won't happen to me.
01:42-01:43
Right?
01:44-02:01
You're out somewhere and you see some little kid disrespecting their parents, and you're like, "When I have kids, that won't happen to me." And then you have kids.
02:04-02:14
Or, you see kids all glued to their screens, their iPads and their iPhones and all that, and you're like, "Look at that.
02:16-02:17
Those parents have their kid addicted to screens.
02:17-02:36
That won't happen to me." And then you have kids, and you're like, "Can't you just go play the iPad for a few hours?" "That won't happen to me." I think we've all said that in considering maybe some of the things that our parents have said.
02:37-02:50
I think back to when I was a teenager, hearing some of the things my dad would say, I'm like, "That won't happen to me." And now I find myself, even just the other day, "Who left the lights on?
02:50-02:56
"I don't work for Wes Penn." That won't happen to me.
02:57-02:58
You know what the biggest one though was for me?
02:58-03:09
I know this might sound dumb, but, As a much younger man, I see these people get married and have kids and then they get the minivan.
03:10-03:12
And I'm like, "That won't happen to me.
03:15-03:16
We've had too many vans.
03:18-03:20
That won't happen to me." You ever said that?
03:22-03:22
Have you ever said that?
03:22-03:29
"That won't happen to me." Well, before we look at this passage, just back up a verse.
03:31-03:49
Chapter 9, verse 27, Paul's given this sports athlete analogy, and he says, "But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." What's he talking about?
03:49-03:59
This whole section that we've been in these past few weeks, this Q&A section, the issue is should a Christian eat meat sacrificed to an idol?
03:59-04:03
And that turned into a whole discussion about your witness.
04:03-04:04
Like I don't want to offend.
04:05-04:13
And then he started talking about disciplining yourself so that you don't get disqualified.
04:14-04:15
He's talking about his witness.
04:16-04:25
Like I want to reach lost people, and if I'm disqualified, if there is sin in my life, I've shot my testimony.
04:26-04:28
He's not talking about losing your salvation.
04:29-04:34
He's talking about losing the opportunity to be used by God.
04:34-04:35
That's what he's talking about.
04:35-04:38
He's talking about your witness, your testimony.
04:39-05:02
And he says, "Last, after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified." And of course, people can read that in the Corinthians day and in our day and say things like, "Well, maybe you have something to worry about." But that won't happen to me.
05:04-05:05
That won't happen to me.
05:08-05:10
A lot of Christians have said that.
05:12-05:21
They see the sin of others and think, "That won't happen to me." And it did, right?
05:22-05:45
How many Christians have we seen who have ruined their testimony, maybe because it's been found out that they are guilty of some kind of abuse toward a spouse, toward a child, or it comes out that there's some kind of addiction that they've been keeping hidden for years.
05:47-05:48
That won't happen to me.
05:51-05:52
How about pastors?
05:52-05:54
How many pastors have we seen disqualified?
05:55-05:56
No longer usable.
05:58-05:59
They've ruined their testimony.
05:59-06:04
How many times have we seen that with affairs, with embezzlement?
06:06-06:07
That won't happen to me.
06:09-06:13
Well this section that we're looking at today is a warning to God's people.
06:14-06:15
And here's the warning.
06:15-06:20
Being blessed by God can make you think that you're above failing.
06:23-06:54
When you know God, when you're walking with God, when you're experiencing the blessing knowing God, the danger is you can get to the point where you say, "That won't happen to me." And the key to all of this is verse 12. Jump down there for a second. Chapter 10 verse 12, he says, "Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall.
06:58-07:10
So are you telling me that you think that people who have been so blessed by God, who have been so used by God in such powerful ways, you think they couldn't possibly fail?
07:12-07:22
You think God's people, even God's people, you think there's no way that they could be disqualified from being usable to God.
07:27-07:29
Well, let me tell you about Israel.
07:32-07:33
That's where Paul goes.
07:33-07:43
If you're jotting things down in your outline, the heading, "That can't happen to me." So this is a reality check, church.
07:43-07:48
This is a reality check about God's people and disqualification.
07:50-07:51
That can't happen to me.
07:51-07:57
Number one, right, just taking God's blessings for granted, that can happen to me.
08:00-08:07
Now Paul here is going into this illustration from Israel from Old Testament times.
08:08-08:13
And he's talking about Israel when they were going from Egypt to Canaan.
08:16-08:26
And if you're familiar with that story at all, you know that they were blessed incredibly.
08:28-08:37
They saw God's hand at work in their lives, in their nation, every step of the way.
08:39-08:39
Right?
08:40-08:41
They were so blessed.
08:42-08:43
Like, how?
08:43-08:45
Well, look at chapter 10, verse 1.
08:46-08:54
Paul says, "For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud." Stop there.
08:54-08:58
That's the first blessing that they experienced.
08:58-08:59
They were led by God.
09:00-09:03
This cloud - we're not going to look up all these passages.
09:03-09:05
We'll be here until Thanksgiving.
09:07-09:11
But Paul here is giving sort of a paraphrase of the history.
09:12-09:13
But you can jot them down.
09:13-09:14
You can look them up later.
09:15-09:16
What's the cloud? Exodus 13.
09:17-09:20
The Bible says this is how they were led.
09:20-09:23
By day, it was a pillar of cloud.
09:24-09:26
By night, it was a pillar of fire.
09:26-09:27
That's how Israel was led.
09:28-09:32
You realize, not one of the Israelites could have ever said they never saw God.
09:33-09:37
He was right in front of them every single step of the way, right?
09:37-09:38
So they were led by God.
09:38-09:41
Secondly, Paul says they were delivered by God.
09:42-09:43
Look at the rest of verse 1.
09:44-09:52
He says, "And all passed through the sea." You probably could guess what that is, right?
09:52-10:00
Exodus 14, God basically led Israel to a dead end.
10:00-10:02
He led them to a dead end.
10:03-10:05
And now there's the sea.
10:05-10:07
Here comes the Egyptians after them.
10:07-10:09
They're like, "We are doomed." Do you remember what happened?
10:10-10:12
God parted the waters, so they walked through.
10:12-10:14
The Egyptians followed them.
10:14-10:16
God closed the waters, drowned the entire army.
10:19-10:20
That's what He's talking about here.
10:21-10:25
So not only could none of them say, "Well, I never saw God." They did.
10:26-10:30
Not one of them could say they never experienced God's power to save.
10:32-10:33
They were all delivered by God.
10:35-10:39
Thirdly, they were given a great leader by God.
10:40-10:40
Look at verse 2.
10:44-10:56
He says, "And all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." Baptized into Moses - that's just talking about their identification with Moses as a leader.
10:57-11:00
I mean, you think you have a great leader.
11:02-11:11
Well, they had, who is in my opinion, the greatest human in the Old Testament, Moses.
11:11-11:13
I don't think there's anybody greater than Moses.
11:13-11:14
He was their pastor.
11:16-11:16
Awesome.
11:18-11:19
Given to them by God.
11:20-11:22
All right, they were also provided for by God.
11:22-11:24
Look at verses 3 and 4.
11:26-11:42
It says, "And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ." They were provided for by God.
11:42-11:43
How did they eat?
11:44-11:44
Manna.
11:45-11:47
It was food that God just put on the ground.
11:47-11:55
They gathered it up every day, except the Sabbath, but God just put this perfect food for them on the ground.
11:57-11:59
And He gave them water from a rock.
12:00-12:03
God handed them everything they needed.
12:03-12:17
By the way, when it says, "The rock was Christ that followed them around," Paul is telling is that somehow, these provisions that Israel received literally came through Jesus.
12:17-12:22
Paul is saying Jesus Christ was literally with them every step of the way.
12:25-12:30
But you notice in these first four verses the word "all." He says it five times.
12:30-12:30
All.
12:30-12:31
All.
12:31-12:31
All.
12:31-12:32
Five times.
12:34-12:40
Every single Israelite experienced God's presence and His provision.
12:41-12:41
Alright?
12:42-12:58
He says in verse 5, "Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness." With most of them, God was not pleased.
13:00-13:05
Most scholars estimate there was about two million Israelites in the Exodus.
13:06-13:08
Most of them God was not pleased.
13:08-13:11
There were, do you know how many there were that God was pleased with?
13:12-13:15
Two, Joshua and Caleb.
13:16-13:18
I did the math on that.
13:19-13:21
Two people out of two million, do you know what that is?
13:22-13:30
That's 0.00001% of the people God was pleased with.
13:31-13:32
All the rest.
13:35-13:36
The rest, Paul would say most of them.
13:38-13:41
They were disqualified.
13:43-13:51
God's like, "You're not usable to Me because you refuse to be faithful." They were disqualified to death.
13:53-14:00
So Paul's point here in these first five verses is just simply this, Old Testament Israel, They saw all they saw.
14:00-14:06
They experienced all they experienced, and they got disqualified.
14:09-14:09
So what's the point?
14:10-14:11
That was like thousands of years ago.
14:13-14:14
Why are you telling us this?
14:16-14:34
Verse 6, he says, "Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did." So this is an example for who?
14:36-14:37
It's an example for who?
14:38-14:49
It's an example for us, because those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, right?
14:53-15:12
made everything they saw. Everything they saw. Like, what was the problem? It tells us right here what the problem is. They desired evil. That's the problem. They desired evil.
15:12-15:23
See, the problem was God was with them, but their hearts weren't with God. And Paul says Hey, He's talking to us, church.
15:25-15:27
Their story is our story.
15:27-15:29
You know those provisions we just listed?
15:30-15:31
Can we say the same?
15:32-15:40
I would argue we can say God's provision for us has been greater than God's provision for Old Testament Israel.
15:41-15:42
Here's what I mean.
15:43-15:47
We just said they were led by God, right?
15:47-15:48
Are we led by God?
15:50-15:54
Much greater than a cloud and fire, as awesome as that was.
15:54-15:56
You realize how God leads us?
15:56-16:05
He put His Spirit in us, and He put His wisdom down in this book so that we can have guidance directly from God Himself.
16:07-16:07
Wow.
16:11-16:13
Have we been delivered by God?
16:15-16:16
If you know Jesus Christ, you have.
16:17-16:24
And again, as awesome as the Red Sea had to have been, do you realize your deliverance was so much greater?
16:25-16:39
That because of your sin, you were heading to hell, and God sent His Son to die in your place to bear the wrath of God on Himself while He suffered on the cross, and then to raise from the dead so that we can have eternal life.
16:40-16:41
We have been delivered.
16:46-16:47
We've been given great leaders.
16:49-16:53
I couldn't possibly overstate the greatness of the elders that lead this church.
16:57-17:00
We have been blessed with great leaders in this church.
17:03-17:04
All of our needs have been met.
17:07-17:09
So much more than manna and water from a rock.
17:09-17:12
You have so much more than any of these Israelites ever had.
17:14-17:14
Right?
17:18-17:20
We have the same problem, don't we?
17:21-17:22
We have the same problem.
17:22-17:24
We - what do you say?
17:25-17:25
desire evil.
17:30-17:39
Even as redeemed people, those of you who know Christ, even the redeemed, we live in in this fallen flesh.
17:41-17:44
And this fallen flesh still hungers for sin.
17:46-17:49
That's why we've been talking about self-control.
17:50-17:59
And I remember as a young Christian, I prayed so often that God would remove any desire from me for sin.
17:59-18:01
I prayed that so many times as a young Christian.
18:02-18:06
And then as I grew in my faith, I realized that's just not how it works.
18:07-18:11
Because as long as you live in the flesh, you're gonna have a desire for sin.
18:12-18:17
Instead, what I needed to pray for and what I continue to pray for until today is self-control.
18:18-18:19
That is a fruit of the Spirit.
18:19-18:20
That's how God works.
18:20-18:21
That's what he's commanded us to.
18:25-18:30
So Israel failed to get their hearts devoted to God.
18:32-18:33
That's the moral of that story.
18:34-18:45
"How are you doing? How are we doing, church?" You're like, "Well, how did Israel fail?" Well, let's get specific, shall we?
18:46-18:49
That takes us to number two, "I'm falling into sin.
18:51-18:56
That can happen to me." First, they took God's blessings for granted, as we do.
18:57-19:01
Secondly, falling into sin, that can happen to me.
19:02-19:05
Sin hasn't changed, you know that.
19:06-19:15
And these blessed people under Moses fell into the same sins that we can fall into.
19:16-19:16
It's the same.
19:18-19:20
Specifically, jot these down.
19:20-19:21
We're gonna go through these quickly.
19:22-19:27
Pastor Taylor's gonna be unpacking some of these on the series in July.
19:29-19:31
Letter A, idolatry.
19:35-19:37
The sins they fell into that we can fall into.
19:37-19:38
Idolatry, look at verse seven.
19:39-19:42
He says, "Do not be idolaters as some of them were.
19:43-19:53
"As it is written, "if people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." Idolatry.
19:53-19:54
We've talked about this.
19:54-19:56
It was a big issue in Corinth, wasn't it?
19:57-19:59
And it was a big issue in Israel.
20:02-20:05
Now here he's speaking specifically of the golden calf incident.
20:05-20:06
Are you familiar with that?
20:07-20:09
If not, just jot down Exodus 32.
20:09-20:11
You can go back and read this later.
20:11-20:15
But what was happening was Moses was up talking to God.
20:17-20:20
Moses was in like the ultimate business meeting with God.
20:20-20:22
God was giving Moses the 10 commandments.
20:23-20:26
And what were the people doing while Moses was talking to God?
20:26-20:34
praying for Moses, fasting, excitedly seeking the Lord, you know, wondering what is God going to do for Moses?
20:35-20:41
You read your Bibles, what you see is instead, Israel just got tired of waiting.
20:44-20:45
We don't know what happened to Moses.
20:45-20:54
So they go to his brother Aaron, and they're like, "Can you make us like a God that'll go before us?" Golden calf.
20:56-21:00
And the point is this, idolatry, you're going to worship something.
21:02-21:16
And if it's not the living God, if you're not worshipping the living God, if Jesus Christ is not everything to you, something else is going to get your attention and your affection.
21:18-21:20
Idolatry, look, that can happen to me.
21:22-21:23
That can happen to me.
21:23-21:28
I can take my eyes off of Christ, and all of a sudden, something much lesser is so much more important.
21:29-21:30
That can happen to me.
21:32-21:37
By the way, it says they sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.
21:41-21:45
To play, that doesn't mean shoots and ladders, okay?
21:46-21:47
That leads us actually to letter B.
21:47-21:48
Write this down, immorality.
21:50-21:50
Immorality.
21:53-21:55
Sexual immorality bleeds right into this.
21:56-22:08
He says, "We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in a single day." That's Numbers 25.
22:09-22:10
You can read that.
22:11-22:18
Israel saw the daughters of Moab and went hubba hubba.
22:21-22:24
God sent a plague that killed 23,000 people.
22:26-22:29
Israel disqualifies from usefulness, disqualified to death.
22:30-22:36
And we've talked so much these past few weeks about sexual immorality, but here it is again, it comes up again.
22:36-22:38
Look, it's gonna disqualify you.
22:39-22:50
If you choose to engage in sexual immorality, unrepentant, you're gonna be disqualified.
22:52-22:53
That can happen to me.
22:55-22:56
That can happen to me.
22:58-22:59
Idolatry can happen to me.
22:59-23:01
Immorality, that can happen to me.
23:02-23:03
Letter C, testing God.
23:04-23:06
Testing God, look at verse nine.
23:07-23:17
He says, "We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents." Testing God, right down on Numbers 21.
23:19-23:29
Numbers 21, Israel spoke against God and Moses, the Bible says, "You brought us here to die." Right, was that your plan, Moses?
23:29-23:31
You brought us out of Egypt to die.
23:31-23:33
Moses is like, "Yeah, that was my plan.
23:34-23:36
You caught me." Sarcasm.
23:38-23:41
They said, "You brought us out here to die, Moses.
23:42-23:44
You brought us out here." They said, "There's no food.
23:45-23:45
There's no drink.
23:46-23:50
All we have is this worthless manna." They said that.
23:53-23:58
Can we just pause for a second and acknowledge how horrific that statement is?
23:59-24:00
Worthless manna?
24:01-24:02
Worthless manna?
24:02-24:06
Do you mean the supernatural food that God provided for you every day?
24:07-24:08
That worthless manna?
24:08-24:16
Do you mean the stuff that all you have to do is bend over and pick it up and stick it in your mouth?
24:16-24:18
You mean that worthless manna?
24:18-24:23
Oh, and by the way, manna was the perfect food.
24:23-24:25
It was absolutely perfect.
24:27-24:27
How do you know?
24:28-24:28
Did you have any?
24:28-24:29
No, I didn't have any.
24:29-24:30
Not today.
24:33-24:40
But you know, in the Old Testament it talks about how their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
24:40-24:41
You ever see that in there?
24:41-24:51
Like, "Well, their feet didn't swell, what's that mean?" There's a disease called beriberi that's a result of malnutrition, and it makes your feet swell.
24:52-24:57
And what the Bible's telling us is this food was perfectly nutritious, so they were not malnourished.
24:59-25:01
Banana was perfect food.
25:02-25:28
And Israel gets in God's face and says, "All we got is this worthless stuff that you gave us." Well, God sent serpents, serpents that bit many of the people died, and that's when God told Moses to make the bronze serpent on the pole look to this, "You will live." Jesus said that was a picture of Himself lifted up when you look to Him.
25:29-25:30
You'll be saved.
25:33-25:34
Testing God though, testing God.
25:35-25:36
What's it mean to test God?
25:37-25:43
It's when you have this hard attitude towards God where you say, "God, why did you do this?
25:44-25:45
Why did you do this, God?
25:46-25:51
God, you don't love me because God, if you loved me, this wouldn't be happening to me.
25:52-25:54
God, what have you done for me lately?
25:55-26:24
Or God, you need to prove yourself to me." testing God. That can happen to me. That can happen to me. How much irreverence do you think God tolerates? How much? I would say, let's not find out. But I imagine it's not Not too much.
26:24-26:31
When your attitude is constantly accusing God, testing God, he says don't do that.
26:34-26:36
Letter D - complaining.
26:37-26:38
Complaining.
26:38-26:45
Verse 10, he says, "Nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer." Complaining.
26:45-26:50
Literally, it's expressing unwarranted dissatisfaction.
26:51-26:54
expressing unwarranted dissatisfaction.
26:54-26:55
That's what complaining is.
26:56-27:00
That's what this literally is talking about in this passage.
27:00-27:03
You're like, when did the Israelites complain?
27:03-27:04
When did they ever complain?
27:10-27:14
If you're looking for some examples, numbers 11, numbers 14, numbers 16.
27:16-27:19
Complaining though, you're like, complaining really?
27:19-27:21
How did that make the list?
27:22-27:26
I mean, everyone does it.
27:27-27:27
Right?
27:28-27:30
I mean, everybody complains now and then.
27:30-27:34
I mean, is complaining really that big of a deal?
27:36-27:40
Well, apparently to God, it is.
27:43-27:48
Because the Bible says were destroyed by the destroyer.
27:48-27:50
Look up those passages.
27:50-27:51
Read the book of Numbers.
27:51-27:55
You'll see so often when there was complaining, do you know how God responded?
27:57-28:00
Fire, swallowing people by the earth, sending plagues.
28:01-28:05
God is not a fan of complaining at all.
28:06-28:10
He takes complaining very seriously.
28:13-28:21
You're like, "What's the big deal?" Well, just imagine you take your kid to Disney World.
28:22-28:27
If you don't have a kid, just imagine you've got a niece or a nephew, or you take a kid to Disney World.
28:29-28:30
And you're like, "You know what?
28:32-28:33
You can have whatever you want.
28:34-28:40
You get them the Fast Pass, they ride all the rides, they get the mouse ears, right?
28:40-28:43
and everything they want.
28:46-29:04
And then partway through the day, as you've provided everything, you just kind of lean down and you say, "So how do you like Disney World?" And they say, "Disney World stinks!" Like, what's the matter?
29:04-29:08
They're like, "I wanted curly fries, They were straight fries.
29:11-29:12
How would you react to that?
29:14-29:15
Not good.
29:17-29:18
Are you kidding me?
29:19-29:20
And see, that was Israel's story.
29:21-29:49
God was handing them everything, and they're like, "We don't like man anymore." We can point the finger, but that is so me, and that is so you, that God showers millions of blessings on us every day, and we have the audacity to complain about the two or three things in our lives that we don't prefer.
29:51-29:52
That can happen to me.
29:54-29:59
So idolatry, sexual immorality, testing God, complaining.
29:59-30:00
Well, sin hasn't changed.
30:03-30:05
People haven't either, right?
30:06-30:06
Can happen to me.
30:08-30:08
Can happen to me.
30:11-30:14
It's a reality check about God's people and disqualification.
30:16-30:20
Taking God's blessings for granted, that can happen to me.
30:20-30:22
Falling into sin, that can happen to me.
30:24-30:25
Let's change gears, all right?
30:26-30:32
Number three, claiming God's promises when tempted, that must happen by me.
30:33-30:35
That must happen by me.
30:35-30:37
Claiming God's promises when tempted.
30:38-30:39
Look at verse 11.
30:39-30:53
He says, "Now these things happened to them as an example, "but they were written down for our instruction "on whom the end of the ages has come." End of the ages, he just means we live in the last days.
30:53-30:54
That's all that means.
30:54-31:03
"Ever since Christ ascended, until He returns, we're living in the last days." That's an example for the Corinthian church, and we're in the same days as them.
31:04-31:06
But notice again, this is an example.
31:06-31:07
He said it in verse 6.
31:07-31:09
This is an example to instruct us.
31:10-31:13
Okay, verse 12, the key verse in all of this.
31:14-31:23
He says, "Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall." It's a warning.
31:24-31:26
This whole passage is a warning against pride.
31:29-31:30
You think you stand.
31:30-31:31
You think you stand.
31:32-31:37
You think sin is something that affects other people.
31:37-31:43
You think getting disqualified from ministry and being usable by God, that only happens to others.
31:44-31:46
That won't happen to me.
31:48-31:50
And Paul says, "You better humble yourself here.
31:52-33:03
think you stand, you think you're on a different level, you better humble yourself because it absolutely can happen to you. It can. It is a scary thing, church, but do you realize you are, each of you, each of you are one bad decision away from ruining your life. Do you know that? You are one bad decision from wrecking your family. You are one bad day away from destroying your testimony. Do you realize that? You're like, "Well, I don't want to be disqualified." Great, because here's the encouragement. This is where Paul lands. It doesn't have to happen to you. It doesn't have to. Because look at verse 13. He says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.
33:03-33:11
But with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to to endure it.
33:14-33:28
We pray as our Lord taught us, rightly we pray, lead us not into temptation, but there will be times temptation shows up at your door.
33:32-33:34
So here's God's promises when you're tempted.
33:35-33:35
Alright?
33:37-33:48
I was going to give you like the ABCs of it, after studying through this, it's CBA. It's CBA. That's just how it is, right?
33:49-33:56
CBA. Remember God's promises when you're tempted. The first one, "C" is for common.
33:57-34:37
Common. Did you see that? Look at verse 13 again. He says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man." That's the first promise from God. Look, When you're struggling in a sin, any kind of sin, whatever it is, whether it is sexual, whether it's with your mouth, whether it's coarse joking or gossip or fits of rage or whatever sin you struggle with, Satan loves to come along and lie to you and convince you you're the only one. You know this problem you have? You know in the history of mankind you're the only person ever had that problem.
34:40-34:42
And you're like, "I am a sin freak.
34:43-34:48
I'm doing something that nobody in the history of mankind has ever done." That is a lie.
34:49-34:54
The thing that you're dealing with has been dealt with by countless other people.
34:56-34:58
You are not the only one.
34:59-35:00
You're not the only one.
35:00-35:04
And you're like, "Well, why is this happening to me?" Do you know why it's happening to you?
35:04-35:05
It's just your turn.
35:09-35:10
It's common.
35:12-35:18
You have never, you will never face anything that hasn't been faced by countless others before you.
35:18-35:19
And that's encouraging.
35:20-35:21
That's encouraging.
35:23-35:27
That when you're faced with temptation, you can say, "Oh, this temptation, it's nothing new.
35:27-35:31
"Others have resisted, I can too." Right?
35:31-35:32
So it's common.
35:32-35:34
I'll let it be as forbearable.
35:36-35:37
Be as forbearable.
35:40-35:57
Look at the middle part of verse 13, he says, "God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability." By the way, this is the most misquoted verse in the Bible, I think.
35:59-36:17
How many times you're going through struggling of some kind, you're suffering, you're going through some kind of trial, the storms, you're going through the storms of life and somebody comes along and says, "Well, you know, the Bible says God won't give you any more than you can handle." And that's just not at all what this says.
36:19-36:20
It's just not.
36:21-36:28
Actually, I think God will give you way more than you can handle so that you learn to depend on His strength and not your own.
36:29-36:34
But this verse, three times in this one verse, He says temptation.
36:34-36:36
He's talking about temptation.
36:36-36:39
He's not talking about suffering and trials and storms and all that.
36:40-36:41
He's talking about temptation.
36:43-36:54
And the reality is, church, God does not tempt, James 1.13, God does not tempt, but nothing happens to you without God's permission.
36:56-36:57
There is nothing that's coming into your life.
36:58-37:02
No temptation is coming to you that God doesn't okay first.
37:04-37:09
And God has promised that He's not going to allow you to face more than you can handle.
37:10-37:12
And this is individualized, by the way.
37:13-37:14
He knows.
37:15-37:15
God knows.
37:17-37:20
No one can say, "You know what?
37:20-37:21
I sinned.
37:21-37:21
Yes, okay.
37:21-37:22
I sinned.
37:22-37:23
I'm guilty of sin.
37:23-37:24
But you don't understand.
37:25-37:26
I sinned because I couldn't help it.
37:27-37:28
It was just too much for me.
37:29-37:32
God makes sure that it's never too much for you.
37:32-37:33
That's the promise.
37:34-37:35
He makes sure.
37:37-37:46
And this might be a tough pill to swallow, but according to this verse, maybe it's why you don't have more money.
37:49-37:51
For some of you, you're like, "You know, I've tried and I've tried.
37:52-37:53
Financially, I just can't seem to get ahead.
37:54-37:59
Why do I not have more money?" Because God knows that more money would be too much temptation for you.
37:59-38:02
I was like, "I don't want him to go there.
38:02-38:07
I'm going to make sure that he doesn't." For some of you, you're like, "I don't understand.
38:07-38:08
I applied for this job.
38:08-38:09
I was a perfect candidate.
38:10-38:11
It would have been the perfect job.
38:12-38:14
Why didn't I get the job?" I'll tell you why you didn't get the job.
38:14-38:20
God knew something was going to happen at that job that was going to be too much temptation for you.
38:20-38:30
Whatever that is, God's like, "No, they're not going to be able to handle that, so I'm I'm not going to let them have that job." Maybe for some it's a relationship.
38:30-38:37
You're like, "Man, I was so into this person and we just kind of started dating and I really thought it was going to be a long-term thing that worked out.
38:38-38:46
Why did it not work out with this person?" Because God knew that there was going to be too much temptation for you there.
38:47-38:50
He says, "I'm just...I'm not going to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear.
38:50-38:57
I'm not going to do it." And you know, that's encouraging, church, because God knows me better than I do.
38:59-39:01
And He's not going to put me in a hopeless situation.
39:03-39:04
All right?
39:04-39:07
So the CBA is here of temptation, God's promises.
39:08-39:09
It's common, it's bearable.
39:10-39:13
And letter A, it's avoidable.
39:14-39:15
It's avoidable.
39:15-40:23
Look at the end of verse 13. He says, "But with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it." God promises that when temptation comes, He's always going to provide a way out. You know, for the person that says, "I had no choice but to sin." I had no choice but to sin. That's that's not actually how we say it. You know how we say it? It's an addiction. And look, I'm not denying that addiction is a real thing. I know addiction absolutely is a real thing, but I think a lot of Christians have just slapped the addiction label on any sin propensity, and all of a sudden now it's not my fault. I can't help it, I have an addiction." Well, maybe the problem isn't you have an addiction, maybe the problem is you chose not to look for the way out that God provided.
40:26-40:35
Because if you're like, "Well, I was forced to sin, there was no option, I was just forced to sin," well then you're basically calling God a liar because He's promised that there's there's always going to be a way out.
40:35-40:40
He's going to make sure that you're not cornered into some "I must sin" situation.
40:42-40:44
There's no excuses.
40:44-40:46
There's no one to blame but myself when I sin.
40:48-40:51
And I will remind you that temptation isn't sin.
40:51-40:52
Jesus was tempted.
40:53-42:07
But it is on you to find the way of escape that God has provided so that you can avoid in to the temptation. And that's encouraging. That means I'm never forced to sin. God always provides the way out. "Oh, that won't happen to me. That won't happen to me." Remember blessed, tempted to sin, not exempt from disqualification. And we are just like Israel, but today we have an opportunity to make different choices than many of them did. I just have to ask you, is your reputation worth it? Is your testimony worth it? Is Jesus Christ worth it? Will you bow your heads with me, please?
42:10-42:13
Father, we just want to pause and we want to thank you.
42:16-42:26
Sometimes we idealize Old Testament Israel, but your word here reminds us that we're just like them.
42:29-42:51
Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters here, that we would make better choices, is that we would not lean into the craving for evil that we have, but instead, Father, I pray that we would claim and live the promises that You have given us regarding temptation.
42:52-43:02
Father, we thank You that we know there's nothing that we're going to face today that hasn't been faced by countless people before us.
43:02-43:04
That's encouraging to us, Father.
43:04-43:04
Thank you.
43:06-43:16
Father, we thank you that you're making sure that we're not suffocated by temptation, that we're in some kind of a hopeless situation.
43:16-43:23
Your word is clear, God, that you have promised that you are not going to allow us to be tempted beyond our ability.
43:24-43:28
Thank you, Father, for that individual care that you give for every one of your people.
43:31-43:33
God, I thank you that you provide the way of escape.
43:34-43:36
I just ask, Father, you give us eyes to see it.
43:38-43:48
Yes, we need to avoid situations where we might be tempted, but when we get in those situations, Father, show us very clearly the way out.
43:50-44:03
Father, above all, give us humility today, because I'm sure there's gonna be people walking out the door still thinking that it can't possibly happen to them when your word so clearly says otherwise.
44:04-44:05
Humble us, Father.
44:06-44:08
Give us the faith to humble ourselves.
44:08-44:10
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
44:39-44:40

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
In what ways has the church been blessed as Old Testament Israel was? How can these blessings make us feel exempt from being disqualified (i.e. no longer useable by God)?
What does it mean to “test the Lord”? How can people do that today (1 Cor 10:9)?
Why is complaining (1 Cor 10:10) such a serious sin in the ears of God?
Many people, talking about trials, wrongly quote 1 Cor 10:13 by saying, “God doesn't give you any more than you can handle.” Explain why this statement is wrong when it comes to suffering. What is 1 Cor 10:13 actually saying?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

April 12, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

How Do I Control Myself?

Jeff Miller

April 12, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

How to Get Self-Controlled: (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

You Must Give Maximum EFFORT. (1 Cor 9:24)

2 Peter 1:5-6 - For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control...
You Must Be Motivated By the PRIZE. (1 Cor 9:25)
You Must Have a PLAN. (1 Cor 9:26)

The Plan for Self-Control:
1. AVOID Situations Where You'll Be Tempted.
2. ACCOUNTABILITY.
3. Put OFF / Put ON.
You Must Have a Healthy Fear of Being DISQUALIFIED. (1 Cor 9:27)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:36-00:41
Open up those Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians, in chapter 9.
00:43-00:55
After a little break from 1 Corinthians to go through our Easter series about the offices of Jesus, Prophet, Priest, and King, we are back in 1 Corinthians.
00:56-01:05
Let's get caught up, let's review, for those of us who have been part of it, and for those of you who are visiting with us, of 1 Corinthians so far.
01:05-01:11
The first four chapters are about the church being united.
01:13-01:15
Paul's like, "You guys have to get it together.
01:15-01:19
You've got to stop the faction, stop your little clique, stop the divisiveness.
01:20-01:32
You guys have got to get it together." And then, chapters 5 and 6, he talks about the church purified, dealing with sexual sin in the church.
01:33-01:34
you guys got to get it together.
01:35-01:42
All right, and then when you get to chapter seven and beyond, 1 Corinthians sort of turns into a Q&A session.
01:43-01:46
Paul's like, okay, you had some questions for me and I'm gonna answer them.
01:46-01:55
And the first issue was about marriage and the issues that go with that singleness, intimacy, all of those things.
01:55-02:06
And then this last stretch we've been on before our little break was the issue of Should Christians eat the meat that was sacrificed to idols?
02:08-02:23
And that turned into a whole discussion where Paul says the mature believer is willing to lay down his rights or her rights for the sake of winning the lost.
02:24-02:30
And that takes us to chapter nine, verse 24, picking up where we left off last time.
02:30-02:35
So, I'd like you to just bow your heads and just take a moment and please pray for me.
02:36-02:44
To be faithful to clearly communicate the word of God, I'll pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is.
02:46-02:49
The Lord has something for each of us in this passage today, all right?
02:50-02:50
Let's pray.
02:52-02:58
Father in heaven, as we turn to your word today, it's such an ironic concept because we think we're in control.
03:00-03:07
But when we insist on doing things our way, we actually aren't in control at all.
03:10-03:11
You've commanded us, Father.
03:11-03:15
You've empowered us to be self-controlled people.
03:17-03:40
And I pray for every single one of us in this room, everyone who's watching the stream, everyone who's going to be downloading the podcast later, everyone who encounters this teaching from your word, Father, every single one of us, please, by the wisdom of your word, by the power of your Spirit, make us different than the world.
03:43-03:50
Make us kingdom people who are self-controlled. To your glory and honor, We pray in Jesus' name.
03:52-03:56
And all of God's people said, "Amen." Amen.
03:59-04:03
When you drive home today, just be careful.
04:04-04:13
I'm not sure legally if I'm allowed to say anything, but I have a pastor friend who, driving home from Easter, was crashed into by a door dash driver.
04:15-04:17
And I was so confused when he told me.
04:17-04:25
I'm like, "I thought they just brought the food to your house." Like, "Ah." But there's a lot of maniacs on the road.
04:25-04:45
You're like, "Yeah, I'm one of them." But several years ago, Aaron bought me a tire cover for the back of my Jeep that says, "To God be the glory." And at first I thought, that's just a nice little witnessing tool or something, right?
04:45-04:49
but I found that it's had a much different effect than I was expecting.
04:50-05:18
That thing has given me a lot of self-control. Aaron's always reminding me in traffic, "Remember what the back of your Jeep says, remember what the back of your Jeep says, do not give that driver a thumbs down, remember what the back of your Jeep says." And the reality is we all need help with self-control, don't we? We You and I, we have an enemy.
05:20-05:22
And if you're not careful, this enemy is going to destroy you.
05:24-05:34
And your enemy is not some spiteful coworker, not some other student in your school, not some slanderous church member.
05:34-05:39
And I'm not even talking about the devil himself.
05:42-05:45
Your biggest enemy is you.
05:48-06:01
And if we're going to be honest with ourselves, which we certainly encourage, many of your problems ultimately find their root in a lack of self-control.
06:03-06:06
I mean, just think about the problems a person can have.
06:06-06:08
Think about the problems that you have.
06:08-06:13
How much of it comes from just a complete lack of self-control, right?
06:13-06:15
People dealing with issues of lust.
06:16-06:17
It's a lack of self-control.
06:18-06:21
People dealing with anger issues, fits of rage.
06:22-06:22
What do they say?
06:22-06:25
"I just lost control." Right.
06:26-06:28
People dealing with addiction issues.
06:29-06:33
Zero self-control, whether it's a chemical or a drink or food.
06:35-06:36
Lack of self-control.
06:36-06:37
For some people, it's spending.
06:39-06:40
They just spend out of control.
06:41-06:44
There's no budget, there's no discipline, there's no self-control.
06:47-06:49
For some of you, it's your words.
06:50-07:01
Like, man, I just, I say things and I joke about things, I'm determined I'm not gonna do that, and then I just kinda go with it and I don't have any self-control.
07:03-07:06
But church, God's word is absolutely clear on this.
07:07-07:13
Your walk with Christ is to be on a path of self-control.
07:15-07:19
Self-control is going to affect every single area of your life.
07:21-07:25
Do you want to feel like you're walking in victory with Christ?
07:28-07:30
It's a path of self-control.
07:32-07:34
Lack of self-control can affect your physical health.
07:36-07:39
Lack of self-control can affect your mental health.
07:40-07:46
How many people dealing with depression, at the very base of it is, they lack self-control.
07:50-07:54
Lack of self-control can affect your witness for Christ.
07:55-08:01
So in this passage we're looking at today, Paul is going to show us how to grow in spiritual self-control.
08:02-08:06
And Paul says you need to learn principles from an athlete.
08:07-08:17
And they tell you, you know, when you're in preaching class, you don't always want to go to a sports illustration in your sermon.
08:17-08:21
And Paul didn't get the memo about no sports illustrations because that's where he went.
08:22-08:28
So this illustration we're going to look at is a familiar analogy to the Corinthians.
08:29-08:32
They were a sports-dominated culture.
08:34-08:34
Sound familiar?
08:36-08:38
They had the It's Me In Games.
08:39-08:43
It was every two or three years, depending on who you read.
08:44-08:45
But they were like the Olympics.
08:47-08:49
And I found this fascinating.
08:49-09:01
The athletes in these games had to take an oath that they were going to train for ten months, including abstaining from eating anything unhealthy.
09:02-09:02
Okay?
09:03-09:35
Funyuns for 10 months. These people were dedicated. But it was even harder than that because the last 30 days before the event, they were required to be in the gym every single day. And the winner of the event got a pine wreath. Alright, with that as a background, let's look at what Paul says, we're going to read all of it and then go back, pick up some principles.
09:36-09:37
That is a background.
09:37-09:39
They knew what he was talking about here.
09:39-09:52
He says in verse 24, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?
09:53-09:55
So run that you may obtain it.
09:57-10:02
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.
10:04-10:11
They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we, an imperishable.
10:13-10:15
So I do not run aimlessly.
10:15-10:26
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.
10:28-10:30
It's obvious Paul's point here, right?
10:30-10:33
He says our life is like a race.
10:34-10:41
And we need to run our race in such a way that we are useful to God.
10:43-10:48
And to do that, Paul makes it very clear, we must be self-controlled.
10:48-10:53
We have to be willing to give up anything that's going to hinder our race.
10:55-11:03
So using this race metaphor, God gives us principles for self-control.
11:03-11:07
So if you're taking notes on your outline, I certainly encourage you to do that.
11:08-11:11
Just very simply, here's the point.
11:11-11:12
This is how to get self-controlled.
11:13-11:18
Number one, you must give maximum effort.
11:21-11:25
You must give maximum effort.
11:25-11:26
Look at verse 24 again.
11:27-11:39
He says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?" Here it is.
11:40-12:09
run, that you may obtain it." Now their race only had one winner. But this prize he's talking about in this passage is open to everyone because it's your own race. Listen, in this race you're not competing with anyone but yourselves. You're like, "What's this prize he's talking about? Only one receives a prize. I knew what it was for the athletes, but how How does this analogy translate spiritually?
12:10-12:12
What prize is he talking about here?
12:16-12:19
You know, when you read the Bible, you have to read it in context.
12:20-12:30
You know, too many people just pull a passage out and kind of run with it, but he's keeping the same train of thought going throughout this whole section.
12:32-12:33
What is the prize?
12:34-12:39
Well, in the previous section, he talked about being all things to all people.
12:41-12:43
Why? Why, Paul?
12:44-12:47
If you recall, he said he wants to win people.
12:48-12:49
Win people.
12:50-12:51
He said it five times.
12:52-12:54
Verse 19, verse 20, verse 21, verse 22.
12:54-12:58
Paul's like the Jews, those under the law, those outside the law, the weak.
12:58-13:00
I want to win lost people.
13:00-13:03
That's the prize in view here.
13:03-13:13
You see, the prize he's not talking specifically here about salvation, or heaven, or some believers' heavenly rewards specifically.
13:13-13:15
All of those are prizes for sure.
13:15-13:18
But specifically in this context, he's talking about people.
13:20-13:23
Specifically here, he's talking about winning lost people with the gospel.
13:24-13:34
You see, this flows from the thought of the previous passage where he says, "Holding on to your rights can make you lose your opportunity to share the gospel and win people.
13:38-13:41
So what's his point here with this analogy, with this illustration?
13:42-13:43
This is the whole point.
13:46-13:52
If you're concerned about winning the lost, listen, church, you have lost your audience.
13:54-13:55
You have ruined your opportunity to share.
13:56-14:04
You have shot yourself in the foot when you're trying to win someone to Christ, but they don't see Christ in you.
14:10-14:15
You see, if somebody looks at your life, somebody that you're trying to win to Christ, they look at your life and they see sin.
14:16-14:18
They see hypocrisy.
14:18-14:22
And you're telling them that they need Jesus like you need Jesus.
14:22-14:26
They're thinking, well, Jesus didn't seem do you any good.
14:27-14:32
You know, all your church, and all your Bible studies, and all your Sunday school didn't seem to help you at all.
14:33-14:35
So why would I be interested in that?
14:39-14:46
That's why Paul says, "Run that you may obtain the prize." Run that you may obtain the prize.
14:46-14:48
You're like, well, that's obvious, right?
14:49-14:51
I mean, you run like you're trying to win.
14:55-14:58
He's talking about putting forth the effort.
15:01-15:03
Isn't this kind of a no-brainer?
15:03-15:08
I mean, what athlete would show up and not try to win?
15:08-15:13
Who shows up to the event and puts no effort into it?
15:19-15:19
a lot of people.
15:23-15:24
Here's what I mean.
15:25-15:51
For example, Christian men say, "I'm struggling with looking at things on the computer that I shouldn't look at." And I've dealt with a lot of this over the years where men come to me and they're like, "I'm struggling with that!" And I'm like, "Okay, well, tell me about your struggle." Well, I do it every day.
15:52-15:53
Like, that's not a struggle.
15:54-15:55
You know what struggle implies?
15:57-16:01
Struggle implies that there is some effort going on to deal with it.
16:01-16:07
But to just sort of roll over and give yourself to some besetting sin, and be like, well, it's a struggle.
16:07-16:08
You're not struggling.
16:13-16:23
Just doing it in no way suggests there's any effort for self-control with any besetting sin.
16:24-16:24
Not just that one.
16:26-16:27
And that's what Paul's saying here.
16:27-16:28
This is where it has to start.
16:28-16:30
Look, church, you've got to make the effort.
16:33-16:37
You can't just go to bed and hope the self-control fairy shows up.
16:38-16:39
You have to make the effort.
16:42-16:46
You have to get to the place where you're like, look, I am in a race, okay?
16:47-16:52
And maybe I haven't been putting the effort in, but that changes today.
16:52-16:53
I'm gonna win.
16:53-16:58
Look, you're gonna get to the place in your life where you say, I'm not okay with living in defeat.
16:58-17:00
I'm not okay with that anymore.
17:01-17:02
This ends right now.
17:03-17:04
You gotta put forth the effort.
17:07-17:08
How are you doing there?
17:11-17:14
As you know, I coach my son's deck hockey.
17:14-17:17
We, I've done it for years.
17:18-17:25
And several years ago, at the time, actually, the GOAT was coaching with me, we had a couple players on our team.
17:25-17:26
Don't say their name.
17:26-17:36
We had a couple, they're gonna be watching this, we're like, "Hey!" We had a couple players on the team a few years ago, extremely high-skilled players.
17:40-17:52
And during the game, we noticed - Sean and I did - we noticed that these two players in particular, any time we had a line change, they'd go out on the deck.
17:54-17:57
It was somewhere between a walk and a trot.
18:00-18:37
And I'm like, "Sean, what's going on there?" And he's like, "What are they doing?" we called them over like next line change and we're like what's going on out there why are you guys are like barely moving out there everybody else like running and they're just like and they said well we got a we got a big important game with another league this weekend we don't want to risk getting hurt so Sean and I were like hey that's great we'll help you with that you can and just sit the rest of the game.
18:38-18:41
Because we're not putting players out there that aren't putting forth any effort.
18:42-18:43
We're not going to do that.
18:43-18:46
You're embarrassing yourselves and you're embarrassing the team.
18:49-18:54
But you know, those two young men had everything they needed to win.
18:55-18:57
They had their equipment on.
18:57-19:00
They had a great knowledge of the game.
19:01-19:03
They had a lot of experience.
19:04-19:29
what they didn't have that day? Effort. So you see, it doesn't matter what else they had. When there was no effort, it was game over before it started. It's like, why did you guys even show up? Why did you put your gear on and go on the deck if you don't want You don't have to make any effort.
19:32-19:36
And I think that describes a lot of Christians in their walk with Christ.
19:40-19:50
I mean, you come to church, you go to small group, you go to the men's conference, you go to the women's conference, and you show up.
19:50-19:57
You have everything you need to succeed, but there's just zero effort in the area of self-control.
20:00-20:00
It's a problem.
20:02-20:03
It's a problem.
20:06-20:10
Look what 2 Peter 1:5-6.
20:10-20:11
Same thing.
20:11-20:22
Look, "For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with..." Oh, oh, there it is again.
20:24-20:25
Self-control.
20:27-20:28
Yes, listen, I know.
20:29-20:35
Before you send me a text or an email, I know that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit.
20:36-20:43
I know that the only way that happens is if the Lord empowers you to do that.
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I know that. Yes.
20:44-20:47
That is 100% true, and that is also another sermon entirely.
20:48-20:51
This is telling us right here.
20:52-20:56
This passage is telling us here, you and I are commanded to make every effort.
20:57-20:58
Are you doing that?
21:01-21:02
You must give maximum effort.
21:04-21:07
If you're not willing to do that, none of the rest of this sermon is going to apply.
21:08-21:12
But if you are willing to do that, if you're willing to say, "I'm done.
21:12-21:16
I'm done living in defeat." If that's you, great, let's keep going.
21:16-21:19
Number two, you must be motivated by the prize.
21:21-21:23
You must be motivated by the prize.
21:24-21:25
Look at verse 25 again.
21:28-21:29
Bless you.
21:31-21:36
"Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.
21:39-21:53
They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable." First of all, note, "every athlete." This isn't a passage for preachers and missionaries alone.
21:54-21:55
This is for you too.
21:57-22:00
And then notice he says self-control in all things.
22:01-22:02
All things.
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Every area.
22:04-22:14
You have an area of your life right now where you're like, you know what, I think overall I'm doing good in my walk with Christ, but I do have this area where I'm not self-controlled.
22:14-22:14
Do you have that?
22:19-22:20
You need to stay motivated.
22:21-22:22
You've got to keep your eyes on the prize.
22:28-22:29
I like Paul's point here.
22:30-22:32
The comparison of the prizes.
22:33-22:37
Paul says here that these Greek athletes, all that training, right?
22:37-22:40
Ten months, 30 days, all that training.
22:40-22:41
And what do they win?
22:43-22:44
What do they win?
22:44-22:49
A Christmas decoration put on their head.
22:52-22:53
Hip, hip.
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No.
22:56-22:58
No, not even close.
23:00-23:01
That's Paul's point, right?
23:01-23:05
He says, "They do all that for a lame prize." Talk about lame prizes.
23:05-23:09
In these past Olympics, didn't those medals like fall apart or something?
23:09-23:15
Wasn't there a whole thing like, "Hey, I've traded my whole life for this medal." Oh, and a stuffed animal, yay.
23:16-23:16
(audience laughing)
23:19-23:30
He goes, "It's a lame prize." It's like, you know, that's like several years ago, a bunch of guys from church, we went to, do you ever see those indoor places where you can throw the ax at the wood,
23:30-23:31
(imitates ax thudding)
23:31-23:32
when you're into the bulls eye,
23:32-23:32
(imitates ax thudding)
23:33-23:34
do you ever see these?
23:34-23:40
What's it called, the lumber jacks or something, or you know what I'm talking about?
23:40-23:41
The old ax throwing thing?
23:42-23:48
Well, a bunch of us went there, And there might've been some ladies there too, I don't remember, but here's what I do remember.
23:50-23:51
I won.
23:53-23:53
I won.
23:56-23:58
Yeah, thank you, the one person that's proud of me.
23:58-24:02
No, Tristan, just Tristan, just Tristan.
24:03-24:05
The rest of you, too late, thank you, Tristan.
24:07-24:07
I won.
24:08-24:09
Do you know what I won?
24:11-24:11
A sticker.
24:11-24:12
(Laughter)
24:14-24:15
I'm not even joking.
24:16-24:19
It's on my wastebasket in my office, the sticker.
24:20-24:22
That's what I want. And that's Paul's point here.
24:22-24:36
He goes, "They did all that training, all that competing, and all they got was a stupid wreath for their head." Paul's point here is, shouldn't we be more motivated?
24:37-24:39
Because our prize is winning people to Jesus.
24:39-24:50
We're talking about eternity, and we're talking about lost people who are going to suffer apart from the presence of God forever, and we have the opportunity to change that.
24:54-25:00
And look, if you've ever won someone to Christ, you know the humble joy that that brings.
25:03-25:05
And if you haven't, go do it.
25:09-25:10
And if you have, go do it again.
25:12-25:14
It's about winning people to Christ.
25:14-25:15
That's the prize.
25:15-25:16
That's the prize.
25:17-25:28
I know there are some people that are hearing this, and they're like, "Oh, that's the prize." Yet people aren't excited about the gospel because they aren't doing what makes the gospel exciting.
25:29-25:31
That's the problem in the church.
25:31-25:33
They're not living it, and they're not sharing it.
25:34-25:35
That's what makes the gospel exciting.
25:38-25:39
That's the prize.
25:41-25:56
I promise you, someday, someday, Christian, when you stand before the Lord, you're going to realize it was worth it.
25:58-26:12
You're going to stand before the Lord, you're going to say, "Jesus, You were worth it." You're going to say, "Jesus, every time I used the self-control you gave Me by the power of Your Spirit for the sake of imitating You, it was all worth it.
26:12-26:22
Every person that you reached, Jesus, through Me, that is now beholding Your glory and worshiping You for all of eternity, it's worth it.
26:24-26:27
There's a glorious victory celebration that's coming soon.
26:29-26:31
And Paul reminds us, keep your eyes on the prize.
26:31-26:33
Not some stupid wreath.
26:34-26:35
Perfecting eternity.
26:38-26:40
So keep control of yourself.
26:42-26:44
How to get self-control.
26:44-26:45
Maximum efforts.
26:46-26:47
Motivated by the prize.
26:48-26:52
Number three, you must have a plan.
26:53-26:54
You must have a plan.
26:56-26:57
Luke 26.
26:59-27:04
Paul says, "So, I do not run aimlessly.
27:06-27:10
I do not box as one beating the air.
27:12-27:13
I do not run aimlessly.
27:15-27:18
Track and field people, you know this, right?
27:19-27:26
When you show up for a meet, when you show up for a race, there has to be a track and a finish line, right?
27:26-27:34
You don't show up to the event, you're like, "I'm ready to run." They're just like, "Run wherever you want." Well, how do I know if I win?
27:34-27:35
That's his point.
27:35-27:36
I don't run aimlessly.
27:37-27:39
You got to stay on track.
27:40-27:46
You don't show up at the track meet and you just start running through the bleachers, running by the concession stand.
27:47-27:48
Well, this is my race.
27:48-27:49
No, no, no.
27:50-27:51
No track.
27:54-27:55
No finish line.
27:57-27:58
Likely, no effort.
28:00-28:01
Definitely no victory.
28:04-28:05
You have to have a plan to win.
28:10-28:10
Please hear me.
28:12-28:14
This is why many of you struggle with self-control.
28:16-28:19
Many of you struggle with self-control because you do not have a plan.
28:21-28:21
Here's what I mean.
28:21-28:26
You'll walk out of church today, and this is your big takeaway.
28:26-28:27
You'll say, "You know what?
28:29-28:30
He's right.
28:31-28:33
From now on I'm going to have self-control.
28:36-28:41
And you're going to leave it that vague, you're going to leave it that non-specific, and you're going to fail again.
28:44-28:45
Because you don't have a plan.
28:49-28:50
You're not being intentional.
28:51-28:53
You're running in a concession stand.
28:54-28:55
You have to have a plan.
28:55-29:00
So very quickly here, you're like, "Well, I don't know what the plan is." tells you what the plan is.
29:00-29:02
I'm going to give you the plan for self-control.
29:03-29:04
Start here, okay?
29:06-29:07
Three things, again, quickly.
29:07-29:13
We could spend a whole lot of time on these, but if you want to dig deeper, come and meet with one of our pastors.
29:14-29:15
We will be glad to walk through this with you.
29:15-29:17
But letter A, the plan for self-control.
29:17-29:19
Avoid situations where you'll be tempted.
29:19-29:21
We just talked about this recently in a message.
29:23-29:28
You know, I'd like to remind you, as I do often, I've never ever ever lost a fight to Mike Tyson.
29:29-29:29
Not once ever.
29:30-29:32
I have a perfect record against Mike Tyson.
29:33-29:35
Zero losses, thank you, thank you Tristan.
29:35-29:37
Tristan is the only person in this church that's proud of me.
29:40-29:42
I've never lost a fight to Mike Tyson, why?
29:42-29:43
Because I've never showed up.
29:45-29:53
Right, you have to avoid situations where you'll be tempted because I guarantee you if I would have showed up to fight Mike Tyson, my teeth would have been in the fourth row, okay?
29:54-29:57
you won't lose the fight if you don't show up.
29:58-30:00
So avoid situations where you'll be tempted.
30:00-30:01
Put up fences for yourself.
30:02-30:06
You're like, "Well, that sounds like legalism." Listen, it's okay to be a personal legalist.
30:07-30:07
It's okay.
30:08-30:13
Legalism is a problem when I start enforcing my convictions on you.
30:13-30:14
That's when it's a problem.
30:14-30:19
But when I have convictions and fences that I enforce on myself, that is healthy.
30:20-30:21
That is self-control.
30:23-30:24
You can be a personal legalist.
30:25-30:25
It's okay.
30:27-30:29
But avoid situations where you'll be tempted.
30:30-30:31
Letter B, how about accountability?
30:32-30:33
Accountability.
30:33-30:35
You should be in a small group.
30:36-30:39
You should have a trusted brother or sister in Christ.
30:40-30:41
Somebody that you can be open with.
30:41-30:43
Somebody that you can share your heart.
30:44-30:45
Where you're really struggling.
30:45-30:46
Where you really need prayer.
30:46-30:48
Where you really need them to check up on you.
30:48-30:53
You should have a two-way street with someone that way.
30:53-31:04
Someone that's not going to judge you or look down on you or be harsh with you, but somebody who's going to love you through it and encourage you.
31:05-31:06
And you do that for them.
31:06-31:07
Accountability.
31:11-31:13
The third plan for self-control.
31:14-31:14
Put off, put on.
31:16-31:17
Put off, put on.
31:18-31:19
This is all through the Bible, by the way.
31:21-31:24
This is a key piece in your personal discipleship.
31:24-31:26
This is a key piece in your walk with Christ.
31:29-31:30
Here's the short version.
31:30-31:32
The Bible doesn't tell you to just stop sinning.
31:33-31:37
The Bible tells us that you need to replace sinning with something good.
31:38-31:40
That's over and over and over in Scripture.
31:43-31:45
It's like, "Okay, stop sinning." No, no, no. Don't stop sinning.
31:46-31:47
Replace sinning.
31:48-31:51
Take the sin off and then replace it with something else.
31:56-32:07
If you've ever come to one of us for counseling, especially if you're dealing with a besetting sin, this is what we do, because this is what the Bible commands.
32:08-32:11
That besetting sin, okay, here's what we're going to do.
32:11-32:18
We're going to look at it the way God looks at it, and we're going to replace that sin with something else, with something that honors and glorifies God.
32:20-32:22
It's like the old story.
32:24-32:25
I've shared this with you before.
32:26-32:27
I didn't make this up.
32:27-32:30
This is ancient, but I love it because it's effective and I like dogs.
32:30-32:32
But this guy had two dogs.
32:33-32:36
He had a white dog and a gray dog.
32:38-33:35
And every time he let him off the leash to eat, that old gray dog, he just beat that white dog up and the gray dog got all the food. So over time the gray dog was getting stronger and stronger and the white dog not getting to eat was getting weaker and weaker and the guy's like this isn't working. So here's what he did he he leashed both dogs and for a season he gave the white dog all the best most Awesome dog food kibbles and bits and bits and bits and and the gray dog He barely gave enough food to keep it alive. It's just an illustration. It's made up. Do not call PETA But the guy says no for a season I'm only feeding the white dog So, you know what happened the white dog got bigger and stronger in the gray dog at that And that season got weaker and weaker. So when he let him off the leash guess which dog was stronger, right?
33:35-33:39
The point of the story is this, the dog that you feed is going to be the stronger dog.
33:42-34:00
And if you find in your life that you're constantly feeding your sin, whatever your sin, your besetting sin is, your sin tendency, if you're constantly feeding that, it's a lot harder if you don't want to do the right thing when you're constantly feeding doing the sinful thing.
34:00-34:03
Self-control is feeding the white dog.
34:03-34:05
I'm only going after the things that honor the Lord.
34:06-34:07
That's what I'm going after.
34:07-34:08
I'm not feeding my sin.
34:08-34:11
I'm feeding righteousness, so to speak.
34:14-34:15
That's the plan.
34:16-34:20
I want to remind you that self-control has to happen before you encounter temptation.
34:21-34:27
Self-control isn't, well, I hope if I encounter a temptation today, I hope I stand strong.
34:28-34:29
It's usually too late by then.
34:30-34:31
The work has to be done beforehand.
34:32-34:34
Decisions have to be made beforehand.
34:36-34:48
That's why Paul here says in the second part of the verse, "I do not box as one beating the air." Same principle, right?
34:48-34:49
Paul says I have a plan.
34:49-34:50
I stick to the plan.
34:50-34:52
I stay focused on the plan.
34:52-34:53
Like wait, wait, wait, wait.
34:54-34:55
Boxing? I thought we were talking about racing.
34:58-34:59
I thought we were talking about running.
35:00-35:56
boxing thing. You know that'd be a great new sport. Wouldn't that make the Olympics so much more interesting if the people that were running were also allowed to punch each other? Wouldn't that be awesome? You know, because you, right, as one person pointed out, you would have one guy that's like really fast and like he's not getting punched and he's probably gonna win but I think that everybody faster. And I think it would really make those middle-of-the-pack people... I think we need to get on this. So what's he talking about here? Well, Paul says, "Yeah, I'm still talking about racing, but while I'm running my race, I have an opponent who wants to knock me off track. I have this opponent that I I have to knock him out.
35:58-36:00
Like, who is that opponent, Paul?
36:00-36:01
And he's like, it's me.
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I'm the biggest problem in my race.
36:06-36:07
My flesh is my biggest enemy.
36:10-36:17
Which is why number four leads us to this, you must have a healthy fear of being disqualified.
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You must have a healthy fear of being disqualified.
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Look at verse 27.
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He says, "But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified." I was like, hey, hey, I control my body, not vice versa.
36:39-36:42
My body doesn't control me.
36:42-36:46
I tell my body what we're doing.
36:48-36:51
Paul, why are you so adamant about that?
36:51-36:56
Why are you coming in hot about self-control here?
36:56-37:02
What's your issue, Paul?" He tells us right here, he says, "Because I don't want to be disqualified." That's why.
37:06-37:21
You know, it's interesting, in these It's Me and Games, their Olympic Games, the whole The whole thing began with a herald.
37:22-37:26
They would have a guy who got up, he announced the contest.
37:27-37:28
He announced the games.
37:29-37:30
He announced the rules.
37:30-37:32
He announced the contestants.
37:34-37:38
And anyone who broke the rules was disqualified.
37:38-37:39
You're out.
37:40-37:41
We don't tolerate that.
37:42-37:44
And here's the point, church.
37:46-37:57
Paul here is telling us that the Christian is the herald and an athlete in the race at the same time.
38:03-38:07
Do you see why that's such an important point to make?
38:10-38:21
Paul is saying here, how embarrassing would it be You stood up and told everybody the rules, and then you got disqualified because you broke the rules.
38:22-38:24
How embarrassing would that be?
38:25-38:27
Oh, it's worse than embarrassing.
38:31-38:36
Because a ruined testimony discredits the gospel in the eyes of the unsaved.
38:40-38:41
It's Paul's point here.
38:42-38:45
He goes, "Look, you're no longer effective.
38:48-38:50
You're worthless when it comes to witnessing.
38:50-38:52
You've discredited yourself.
38:54-38:54
It's happened to too many.
38:55-38:57
It's happened to too many Christians.
38:57-38:59
It's happened to too many preachers.
39:00-39:03
You stand up and announce, and then you break the rules yourself.
39:03-39:06
Like, dude, shouldn't you have known more than anyone?
39:11-39:13
So you need another motivation for self-control?
39:14-39:16
You should have a healthy fear of failure.
39:17-39:23
And please, let's be clear, he is not, when he's talking about disqualification, he's not talking about your salvation.
39:24-39:25
Understand that.
39:25-39:27
You cannot lose your salvation.
39:27-39:48
If you are truly born again, I mean, if you are truly born again, you believe in Christ, you receive Christ, you believe in His death on the cross to take away your sins, If you believe He rose from the dead, He gave you the promise of eternal life, if you truly believe that, you are an adopted child of God.
39:49-39:52
You are sealed in the Holy Spirit and nothing can change that.
39:52-39:55
There is not a force in the universe that can change that.
39:55-40:00
And I see no language in the Bible that talks about being unadopted.
40:02-40:05
That talks about the seal of the Spirit being removed from you.
40:05-40:07
I don't see any language in the Bible about that.
40:08-40:11
He is not talking about losing your salvation.
40:12-40:13
You can't.
40:13-40:17
But, you can lose your ministry.
40:21-40:29
And if you're a believer, you know, that's one of the greatest losses that you can experience in this life.
40:31-40:42
Any ministry, however you serve God, Whatever you're doing for the king, you lose that.
40:46-40:50
You're like, "You know, I was partnering with the living God.
40:50-40:54
I was doing things that matter for eternity and it's over.
40:55-41:01
And I have no one to blame but myself because I just couldn't control myself.
41:02-41:07
And I got myself disqualified." on the outside looking in.
41:09-41:13
Watching other people do what used to give you so much purpose and joy.
41:14-41:14
You're disqualified.
41:17-41:19
You ruined your testimony.
41:19-41:21
You shattered people's trust in you.
41:22-41:24
You're no longer useful for ministry.
41:26-41:27
You're disqualified.
41:29-41:31
You should have a healthy fear of that.
41:33-41:41
You should always have it in the back of your mind what's at stake if you fail to be self-controlled.
41:43-41:47
If our worship team would come back up, I'd like you to just bow your heads, please.
41:47-41:49
I just want us to take a couple of moments.
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I want us to take a couple of moments for prayer, self-evaluation.
41:58-42:00
You know, sometimes we get together and go to little groups and pray.
42:03-42:05
That's wonderful, but we're not doing that today.
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Today, this is between you and the Lord.
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Just you and the Lord.
42:15-42:16
Right now.
42:19-42:26
Is there any area of your life right now where you are not exercising self-control?
42:28-42:30
We talked about this not too long ago.
42:30-42:30
Confession.
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Agreeing with God.
42:33-42:35
Do you need to do that today?
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Agree with God.
42:36-42:36
Yeah, God, you know what?
42:36-42:45
This is an area, Father, where I have completely neglected to exercise any kind of self-control.
42:46-42:55
I just want to ask you today - your head's bowed - how much effort are you putting into this?
42:57-43:00
Can you honestly say you've been struggling with sin?
43:01-43:06
Or have you just been sort of letting sin walk all over you?
43:08-43:10
Are you putting forth any effort?
43:12-43:14
Do you realize the prize?
43:17-43:19
Oh, there are so many prizes.
43:21-44:07
Eternal life in the presence of our Lord, the rewards that come through faithful service, all of that, but specifically again, here he's talking about winning the lost in this whole section. He's talking about winning the lost. That's the prize. Changing eternity for people, winning people to Christ, should motivate us to repent of our hypocrisy. So Again, my friends, you don't want to walk out of here with some generic, "I'm going to try to be self-controlled." It's just not going to work.
44:08-44:09
You've got to have a plan.
44:11-44:18
Are you willing to put up fences for yourself to stay out of places where you know you're going to lose that fight if you walk in there?
44:20-44:22
Are you willing to get accountability?
44:22-44:33
Are you willing to replace that sin, that time, that energy, that effort you're putting into sin, will you put that into something that honors the Lord instead?
44:33-44:37
You're going to start feeding the white dog and stop feeding the gray dog.
44:38-44:39
What's your plan?
44:41-44:42
Remember what's at stake.
44:44-44:55
Oh yes, there's always shame and embarrassment in being found out that you've been living in some kind of unrepentant, besetting sin.
44:57-45:15
There's also forfeiting your ministry, disqualifying yourself, being completely ineffective for the kingdom because you were so unwilling to get with God.
45:17-45:25
Today's the day to put the flag in the ground, draw the line in the sand, whatever other metaphor you want to use, but today's the day.
45:26-45:28
We're changing things today.
45:29-45:38
Father in heaven, I pray for every single one of us who are called by Your name.
45:40-45:45
Father, we all have areas of our lives where we just have let it go.
45:45-45:46
We've made excuses.
45:46-45:49
We've not exercised any control.
45:50-45:53
Today, Father, let us be done with the excuses.
45:53-45:56
Give us a reality check on what's at stake.
45:59-46:04
The main thing, Father, is Your glory and honor.
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So I pray today, Father, that we leave here recommitted that the light of Your Word, the and the light that comes from Your Holy Spirit would shine in all of the dark places in our hearts and minds and show us where we are not honoring You.
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Father, let today be a day of confession and repentance.
46:33-46:39
Let us be people who actually show up to the race to win.
46:42-46:46
We thank You, Father, for the power that You give us to do that through Your Holy Spirit.
46:48-46:52
Give us the want to by that same power.
46:53-46:56
We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What strategies have you found effective to be self-controlled?
Why do you think many Christians put little (or no) effort in self-control?
The “prize” in this context is winning lost people. How is that a motivation to self-control?
NO NAMES! – but do you know someone who disqualified themselves from ministry due to lack of self-control? How did you react to that news? How does this make an unbeliever think about the Gospel?

Breakout

Pray for one another. In what area are you struggling with self-control? What is your plan for change?

What About Gender Roles in the Church?

Introduction:

Authority & Submission: God's Plan for Order. (1 Corinthians 11:2-16)

What if My Conviction Offends Someone?

Introduction:

What if My Conviction Offends Someone? (1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1)

Why is Idolatry So Dangerous?

Introduction:

3 Reasons to Run from Idolatry: (1 Corinthians 10:14-22)

How Do I Humble Myself?

Introduction:

That Can Happen to Me: Reality Check About God's People and Disqualification. (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

God's Promises When You're Tempted (1 Cor 10:13)

How Do I Control Myself?

Introduction:

How to Get Self-Controlled: (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

The Plan for Self-Control:

Upcoming Small Group Questions CLICK HERE

How much of the Bible have we covered since 2011?

Introduction:

Authority & Submission: God's Plan for Order. (1 Corinthians 11:2-16)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

What if My Conviction Offends Someone? (1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

3 Reasons to Run from Idolatry: (1 Corinthians 10:14-22)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

That Can Happen to Me: Reality Check About God's People and Disqualification. (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

God's Promises When You're Tempted (1 Cor 10:13)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

How to Get Self-Controlled: (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

The Plan for Self-Control:

Audio Transcript