Living above reproach

1 Corinthians 8:12–13 “Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

1 Corinthians 9:1–2 ESV

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

2 Corinthians 6:3 “We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,”

NOTICE

1 Corinthians 9:3–5 “This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?”

1 Corinthians 9:15–27 (ESV)

But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; 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.

1 Corinthians 10:1–12 ESV

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 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. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

This is going to be a two part sermon

We are so young, and what I am going to share today is something that no one in this room has done well. We have all fallen short, but we are learning, and as I was praying today I felt convicted to speak about this so that we might grow in this area, myself included.

If we are truly serious about the Gospel, WE MUST LIVE ABOVE REPROACH.

Spurgeon says your life lived above reproach will be your greatest defense.

We are all about equipping here. Equipping you to lead well, whether its a ministry, your family, your friends, we are all leading something.

The best way to lead is to do it above reproach.

The church in Corinth was messed up. They had TONS of issues. Earlier in the book it describes how there were divisions and how they were doing all sorts of wild things. They were a people who did not know how to live above reproach, they had all sorts of weird beliefs about God, they let the culture influence them in tons of what they did.

Remember this, the Corinthian church was by no means a church that was a good role model. Out of every church paul writes to, his harshest rebukes were against the corinthian church.

They went to secular judges, They were sleeping around within their congregation, They had guides and spiritual people who pretended to be teachers, but they did not have a father, they did not have people that really cared for them.

SIDE NOTE: BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHO YOU LET MENTOR YOU. Not every mentor cares for you, but they just want something from you. What distinguishing a spiritual father or mother is someone that doesnt just want something from you, but truly cares FOR YOU.

They talked with lofty words, but thats why paul writes to them, 1 Corinthians 4:19–20 “But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.”

They boasted in matters other than Christ and Him crucified, they loved the add on’s

Thats why paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:1–2 “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

CHRIST IS THE POWER OF GOD AND THE WISDOM OF GOD. What is the power of God 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Ethan shared a dream with me he had the other day where a fire burned buildings in hollywood and all that was left was the frame, instantly I knew God was saying he wants to strip all the add ons and just give us himself.

1 Corinthians 3:12–15 “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

They loved philosophical wisdom, they loved “spiritual things.” They loved status and prosperity and all sorts of wicked things.

He calls them infants. ALL THIS TO SAY, they WERE NOT PEOPLE TO LEARN FROM

Want to know the quickest way to a tame and lousy Christianity? Let the culture influence you.

HE ENDS THIS WHOLE SECTION WITH IMITATE ME. He is saying to the corinthian church. YOU ARE NOT LIVING ABOVE REPROACH.

May we live above reproach in how we live, in how we act, think, talk, speak, in what we watch, what we listen to.