Follow The Example of Christ

Claim - True faith results in disciplined godliness that flees temptation, rejects all idolatry and lives for God’s glory not ours. (False faith results in failing to receive salvation, God’s jealous angre and causing others to sin and fall)

Focus - We must train for the race of faith or fail to win the prize!

Function - to unsettle the complacent and for all to seriously cast off idolatry and sin (in practical real ways), trusting in God’s faithfulness and for His glory.

Self-disciplined faith - or no faith at all - seriously! 9v24-10v13

Flee Idolatry - or face the Lord’s jealousy- 10v14-22

Freed for God’s glory, not our own 10v23-11v1

Not only are many bible passages very challenging - some are so straight forward in their challenge it cuts to our hearts like a warm knife through butter.

Or if it doesn’t - perhaps you are the one the passage is really trying to warn.

This is one of those passages.

It ought to make us uncomfortable.

It ought to cause us to question our faith?

OUr motives - what we ive for - how we think about our Lord.

So keen is our culture and society to reassure every indivudual that we are valied, special, perfect just the way we are, that we in the church I think have brought such self-reassuracen into our theology.

Saved by Grace alone we teach and believe,

and so we often stop there!

But how do we know if we are saved by grace, or not saved as we deserve.

‘Knowing’ that salvation from the judgement of God is a free gift of grace from God through Jesus our saviour and Lord - does not mean we are saved!

Satan himself knows that salavtion is through Jesus, by grace.

I started (but didn’t finish) a biography about Jonathan Edwards, the great American pastor and theologian who lived in the early 1700’s.

He was constantly concerned about his salvation.

Not because he didn’t believe in salavtion by grace alone - but preceiesly becasue he did!

And as such, he wanted to be sure he was a recipient of that grace.

How could he know?

Jonathan Edwards lived shortly after the time of the Puritans.

The Puritans set out to reform the church of England in the 16th and 17th century - desiring to correct false theology and errors in the church as a whole.

They earned the name puritans due to their great desire to live a pure life before God.

The puritan governments - regulated ale houses so people didn’t drink too much,

banned gambling,

restricted sensual dancing between men and women,

limited sexual content in theatres,

They were opposed to Sunday sport because these distracted from a religious observance of the Sabbath.

Blood sports involving animals or humans (boxing for example) were banned.

None of this was to earn salavtion,

But was in a desire to proove their salavtion and aid others in bearing good fruit not bad in their faith.

Perhaps you feel they went too far,

perhaps you don’t think God cares wuite as much about the life and choises we make as they did.

Perhpas we’re so confident in simply ‘knowing that Jesus died to forgive our sins for our salvation,

that we’re not too worried about needing to demonstrate or prove it.

Well that would be a mistake in my opinion,

It would be a mistake in Paul the apostles opinion,

And, given how serious this qhole question is,

Even Paul - liscensed by Jesus to bring fresh insight and truth to God’s word, unlike anyone since -

Even he, will use the OT to make his point.

But he starts with a very simple,

uncomplicated illustration...

We need a Self-disciplined faith - or we have no faith at all - seriously! 9v24-10v13

1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Usain Bolt, Mo Farra, Linford Christie - remember him - none of them were winners becasue they turned up to a race - or even becasue they knew there was a race.

They won - becasue they wanted to win, and so trained.

As you can probably tell from my physique, pause,

I do run a bit, as does Leanna,

The most pathetic I’ve proabbly felt as a runner was probably when we spent a month in Kenya, and would go for a run, and the occasisonal teenager would fly past.

They were serious abouting winning something.

And so they were serious about training!

My fastest ever 1km segment was in Kenya - partly because I was spurred on by these serious and impressive men, or boys even,

and partly becasue I’d just seen a hyena run across the dirt road near me.

But even if those disciplined and trained men did win, they did all that for something far less incredibel that what we have been offered:

1 Corinthians 9:25 NIV

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

here

Flee Idolatry - or face the Lord’s jealousy- 10v14-22

Freed for God’s glory, not our own 10v23-11v1

If you don’t prioritise church, HG, prayer meetings, reading your bibles, personal prayer, fellowship, community, loving your brothers and sister before yourself, the Lord’s Supper - instead sports, TV, sexual gratifications, work, money, - isn’t that idolatry. Isn’t that boxing the air, isn’t that not bothering to train for the race!?

We loved running in different African countries when we traveled for training of conferences,

but that sort of training only has limited benefit.

We discovered that another team (not our Lesotho team) but one living on a remote Island were really struggerling as ateam and in faith. So they and we gave up our running for the next 2 weeks of the training,

and gave up some sleep,

to study the bible together at 6am every momring.

Not to earn salavation - but becasue we all needed to rtain our sleves for a bigger prize - an eternal one.

LORDS SUPPER