Conduct: Regarding fitness/exercise
Life as the church- Book of 1Timothy • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:05:48
0 ratings
· 63 viewsFiles
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Physical/Spiritual Exercise
Physical/Spiritual Exercise
Value, physical and spiritual fitness have value, one temporally, the other eternally, both are needed.
Questions to ask yourself:
What value do I place on physical exercise?
What value to I place on godly exercise?
Do I have a responsibility to both?
Consider our passage today (1Tim4:7-8)
(Insert Gym picture here)
In Fort Dodge we have 21 gyms, health clubs, not counting the public pools etc. Do you think that man thinks about physical fitness?
Why do people go to the gym? They want to prolong their life. They want to preserve the temple of God (the body).
Some take physical fitness to such an extreme that it is almost a religion to them. Many have allowed that to infringe on things that are eternal spiritual fitness.
Physical fitness has value and must be kept in the right perspective. Our passage today along with others we will look at will help us to have the right perspective and application.
7 But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; 8 for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
So this morning three things to look at.
Bodily exercise
Godly exercise
A healthy balance
Bodily Exercise
Bodily Exercise
According to our passage bodily disciple is only of little profit. It does not say it is not profitable, it is! Paul has been addressing spiritual discipline for the disciple of Jesus Christ who is in the church at Ephesus whom Timothy is entrusted with serving.
(Insert - Benefits of bodily exercise PowerPoint here)
Stop; Look at the screen go over (expand) on each of the 7 items listed there.
Beyond the benefits listed by Mayo Clinic, consider some biblical benefits of bodily exercise.
Makes for balanced development (Lk2:52)
Our walk with Christ is both a physical and a spiritual walk and we need to have it balanced. At the moment we are looking at the physical.
52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
We need to have a well rounded, well balanced life as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus was increasing do you think it was spiritual only? I think not, it was physically too.
Enhances our use of instruments of righteousness (Rom6:12-13)
When we take care of our bodies then it opens the door as instruments of righteousness to be used more
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Part of our presenting our bodies is what we do with our bodies, for we are members of the body, instruments of righteousness of God
May extend our time so that we can glorify God (1Cor6:19-20)
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Look at (v.20) we are to glorify God with our body. One way is to take care of the body God has given us.
Whereas there is some value to bodily exercise there is some limitations to it too.
Charm and beauty can be deceitful (Pro31:30)
Charm can be deceitful
Beauty will fade away and we can deceive ourselves thinking that it won’t and obsess on it making it an idol.
Strength will eventually fail (2Cor4:16)
Our body is going to fade away, we loose our bodily strength and most their bodily form.
(Transition) Physical exercise alone cannot meet all our needs, and will eventually fail us. There is the other exercise, godliness, that is listed in our passage and we will turn to that now.
Godly Exercise
Godly Exercise
Godly exercise is good for our life now and for our eternal life too.
7 Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! 8 Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.
Benefits for life today
Renewal, strength for the inner man (2Cor4:16; Rom12:2, 1The3:2; 2The2:17; Heb13:9, 12:12)
I mentioned this passage a few minutes ago, now time to bring it in
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
How is our inner man being renewed day by day?
Consider
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Strengthened by renewing mind
2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith,
Strengthen our faith
17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
Strengthen our hearts
9 Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.
Strengthened by grace, which is good for the heart
12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
Strengthen the hands that are weak, knees that are feeble
This is spiritual and physical isn’t it?
True, joy, peace and hope (Rom14:17, 15:13)
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
These inner things, strengthening bring the peace and joy in the Holy Spirit in the kingdom of God (spiritual kingdom is the church now)
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual fitness brings an abounding of hope in the power of the Holy Spirit, so be sure to do your spiritual fitness training. (more to follow on this)
Extends our family (Mk10:29-30)
Family benefits were for the life today and the life to come, now looking at the passage in context
28 Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake,
30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
Benefits for life to come (our eternal life)
Extends our family now and in future (Mk10:28-30)
just reference the above, we just read it.
Everlasting fellowship with God (Rev21:1-7)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
I think you can see where godly exercise succeeds and excels over bodily exercise
(Stop: are you a recipient of the eternal promise? Are you filled with the water of life, eternal life? - You can know
9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
You can be assured
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
you can be saved
16 ‘Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’
appeal to God
21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
in doing such it is a repentance that Peter speaks of
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
for those who believe
16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
These are spiritual things, spiritual exercises for the spiritual man. Consider these things as we look at maintaining a healthy balance between the spiritual (godly) and the physical then if you need to respond to the message we will give opportunity.
A healthy balance
A healthy balance
We have already looked at some benefits of physical and godly exercise. I think to get things in perspective, or help us in doing such we should look at time and energy, how we use it for a few minutes.
Consider which is more important
Think about this, the expenditure of our time.
Health experts say we should exercise 30 minutes a day
Do we keep, spend an equivalent amount of time in prayer, bible study or in service to God?
Think about this, the expenditure of our energy.
It takes effort, dedication, perseverance to do physical exercise and not give up, or is it just me?
It requires a great expenditure of effort.
Are we willing to make similar efforts in our walk with Christ? In our service to Christ?
Consider the time and energy used for the physical (2Cor4:16-5:1)
Putting into context a passage I introduced earlier and extending on for contemplation and application.
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
Consider which comes first
When conflicts, choices arise which comes first? Going to the gym or joining in on being spiritually fit on a Wednesday night?
Think of this real life example of conviction:
Eric Henry Liddell (/ˈlɪdəl/; 16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945) was a Scottish athlete who played athletics and rugby union who later served as a Christian missionary. He was born in Qing China to Scottish missionary parents. He attended boarding school near London, spending time when possible with his family in Edinburgh, and afterwards attended the University of Edinburgh.
At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Liddell refused to run in the heats for his favoured 100 metres because they were held on a Sunday. Instead he competed in the 400 metres held on a weekday, a race that he won. He returned to China in 1925 to serve as a missionary teacher. Aside from two furloughs in Scotland, he remained in China until his death in a Japanese civilian internment camp in 1945.
Liddell's Olympic training and racing, and the religious convictions that influenced him, are depicted in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire.
Liddell was a man who ran with conviction (physical) with some restrictions that it did not impact his faith.
There is only so much time in a day and we have to chose and to prioritize the time God has alloted for us. May we consider the words of Jesus?
Consider Jesus call for priority (Mt6:33)
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
So, weather young or old, taking care of our bodies (Physical fitness) has a place and has benefits for it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Taking care of it is making good use as an instrument of righteousness. Hopefully increasing the time we have to glorify God with our body.
Without a doubt our body will fail, it will give out, but the things we did (godly exercise) will go on for eternity. We may groan in our body when we exercise, but may we think on these things as we close out
2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.
4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
Are you clothed in Christ Jesus?
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Clothed at baptism
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
(Invitation slide- be clothed in Christ; already saved in Proclaim)
If you have not be clothed in Christ, be clothed today having your sins forgiven.
If you are a Christian don’t let that clothing be invisible, may it be seen by all you come in contact with, a hope that endures regardless of circumstances!
(Song) (Prayer)