Formation Church - Chandler, Indiana

Run for Your Soul - The Corinthians - Message 19

There are warning sign all throughout our lives. There are signs warning us about hazardous chemical. Signs that warn us that something is flammable. Signs that warn you that the road is slippery, signs that warn you that the bridge ices over before the road way, signs that warn you that there’s a stop sign ahead…

One that I think is the most compelling to me, is one that you see on equipment. It’s meant to keep you from sticking your hand in-between belts and machinery while the machine is running. To me it’s so compelling because it shows you the painful result of ignoring the sign. Just looking at that sign makes me want to grab my hand and hold it close. That just looks so painful.

Most signs aren’t like this, most signs are a little more tame. The signs that warn you about slippery roads don’t depict an overturned car. The sign that warns you about an upcoming stop sign doesn’t depict a scene of a crash. That would be kind of troubling right? But it might be more effective. 

Here in chapter 10, Paul gives the Corinthians a warning and he paints a really clear picture. Let’s take a look at the first 5 verses.

That last phrase of verse 5 is pretty vivid. 

The King James Version uses the word “overthrown” which is fitting, but we often think of overthrowing something as overthrowing a government or an authority figure. The idea here is the same as Jesus overthrowing the tables in the temple. It was strewn out or scattered about. Gordon Fee says Paul’s word here in verse 5 literally means to spread about or scatter about. The picture that I get from the original word is someone scattering seed, dispersing. Gordon Fee says the Corinthians would have heard,

“Their bodies are scattered across the desert.”

Paul wants his warning to be compelling. He wants this warning to be effective. He hopes that the people will pay attention. And there are 3 responses that he hopes to elicit. The first response to this warning Paul is hoping for is that they will

1. Learn from the examples that went before you.

Paul wants the people to first recognize the similarities between the Hebrews and themselves. He points out that they had also been saved in baptized.

They were saved from their bondage in Egypt, the Corinthians were freed from their bondage in sin. They were baptized in the Red Sea, taking a step of faith to walk in between the walls of water and flee from their captors. Just as the Corinthians had taken a step of faith and stepped away from the false gods of their temples when they were baptized.

Paul even says they lived off of the provision of God just like we do when we spend time with God and learn about Him take in the Word of God like daily nourishment.
These people had seen God do incredible miracles.
These people had been freed from literal slave owners and taskmasters.
These people had daily lived off of what God provided them, yet they did not reach the reward- the promise land.

Now remember I’ve said a few times through Corinthians Paul is saying, remember Corinthians, Jesus saved you from here, and you should be farther along to here now, but you need to keep your eyes focused on over there, on where we are headed, you need to keep your eyes focused on the reward that is waiting for us…

Paul wanted to make sure that they made it there, that’s where he was trying to get them to…Paul didn’t want to merely gather a crowd and record some baptisms and move on to the next city, Paul wanted all of these people to join him in heaven.

That was the stat that Paul was focused on, how many of these people are going to heaven.
So what happened? Why did the Israelite not make it to the promise land? Why are their bodies scattered across the desert?

Let’s look at verses 6-8 and 12-14.

Idolatry. What happened to the Hebrews? Idolatry.

They began to worship Idols. Now do you pick up on why Paul is giving them this vivd warning? The Corinthians were having this problem because some of them were still going to pagan temples where they could buy meat for cheap. Paul has said, this isn’t a big deal when it comes to the meat. But now he is saying it is a big deal when it comes to the idols. Idolatry is dangerous he is saying, just look at the example that went before you in Hebrew children!

There are 2 stark applications from this warning.

1.You can know God and still fall for idolatry.

Knowing God is not a guarantee that you will not fall into idolatry.

I know what you might be thinking, but Pastor Daniel if I know that Jesus is the Son of the True and Living God, why in the world would I ever start worshiping a statue to some strange God? I don’t think you will begin to bow down to a statue, but that’s not the only type of idolatry.

Idolatry is looking for what only God can provide from someone or something other than God.

When you rely on something other than God to receive peace, joy, purpose, comfort, redemption, meaning, or happiness- that’s idolatry. You can know God and start searching for what your soul needs elsewhere. People do it all of the time, and it destroys them. 

My father worked for the airlines. One day my dad saw a family friend at the airport. My parents knew that this man and his wife had been having problems. He saw this guy and didn’t think about that and just asked what you typically do when you see someone at the airport. Where are you headed? The man told my dad I’m headed to Australia to see this woman I met online. My father begged him not to get on the plane. My father begged him to not wreck his family. He had 3 beautiful young kids. My dad told me about it sometime later and said, I would quote a verse of scripture and he would finish it with me and he would say, I know, but I’m going. You can know God but look for what you need elsewhere, and it will ruin you…

There’s a second application…

2. You can see miracles and still fall for idolatry.

Some people think, I don’t just know God. I’ve done great things for him or he’s done great things through me. I’m different than the guy in your story Pastor Daniel because I’ve got a special relationship with God. I’m a seasoned Christian or I’m a effective minister of the gospel or I’m talented musician for the Lord or I’m a willing volunteer…. The Hebrew Children saw all kinds of incredible wonders of the Lord and still wandered from Him. On a regular basis effective pastors, pastors of large churches who speaks so well that thousands listen to the podcasts and watch them on TV, regularly these men fall away from the Lord because 

There is no length of time with Jesus or intensity of experience with God that makes us immune to temptation.

So Paul is saying, listen no one is immune to this temptation, so RUN! Run for your life! Run for your soul!

Flee from the idols which are around you.

Now Corinth was full of temples to pagan gods.

Evansville doesn’t have lot’s of temples to pagan gods, but our community definitely has plenty of opportunities to look somewhere else other than God. I want to share 6 modern idols that we need to flee from.

Paul points these out in his passage too, so they are not new. The same problems plague us that they struggled with thousands of years ago in the desert. In verse 7 Paul says they ate and drank and rose up to play. That gives us our first 3.

They ate.

1.Food

The Hebrews regularly complained about the food in the desert and longed for the food back in Egypt. Even though the food they were eating was after slaving all day- even though they weren’t free, they still longed for the food… We do this though, we choose food over freedom all the time. We choose food over health, we choose food over community. Some of us are so addicted to worshipping the idol of food the only way I can get you to church is ask the ladies of the church to prepare a meal…

2.Drink

Back then they had to work hard to get drunk. Some people have to work hard to get drunk today because their bodies have become accustomed to it, but for the most part it is a lot easier to get drunk and become a drunk today. There are many people who worship the bottle in our culture today. Back then drink was all they had to get the effect of drunkeness, where you are numb or brave or feel good… Today we have all types of substances to get this effect, and some of them you can buy right over the counter.

3.Play

Verse 7 says, they ate and drank and rose up to play. There’s a connotation of immorality here, but really they just did what they wanted to do. They ate and drank and rose up to do whatever they felt like doing. We worship this false god so much today. We choose to worship this god over gathering with God’s people to worship the one true God. We go fishing, we go to the ballpark, we go to the pool, we go to the golf course, we do what sounds like fun, what sounds relaxing.

And we even go as far as to say, I need it. 
I need a pool day, I need a day on the lake.

You need Jesus, you want a day on the golf course. You need Jesus, you want a day of fun.

Not only do we worship this god with great devotion we are training & discipling our children to worship this false god as well.

In the Old Testament they worshipped BAAL. Some even sacrificed their children to him. 
In our culture we worship BALL and we are sacrificing our children to it.

4.Immorality

verse 8:Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. I don’t need to cover again that our culture is sex crazed. But let me point out to you when we live in a culture that constantly promotes sex, adultery, pornography, we need to be running, fleeing in the opposite direction. That doesn’t mean that we run from sex, it means that we run from immorality.

5.Greed

verse 6 "to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted."

The Hebrew children were greedy. They wanted stuff. They cried for stuff like a child in a store.

In verses 9 & 10 Paul goes on to say,

9Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
10Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Paul is referring to a point in the dessert that the people were griping because they wanted nicer stuff, specifically nicer food. They were tired of this bland stuff that God was providing for them everyday in the wilderness. They were complaining because they were ungrateful for what they had and wanted nicer things…

Complaining is the product of greediness or ingratitude.

Because of their complaining, God sent snakes among them. Now, I hate snakes. If there’s a snake, I’m out. Like, I’m gone.

The story is told of this gospel singing group that would tour and sing at churches. The singer said they were at a small church in the appalachian mountains and the people started bringing out snakes to handle. The guy said to the other singer, where’s the backdoor? They don’t have one was the response… So he replied, where do you think they want one?

I’m that guy. You bring out snakes and I’m out of here. If there is no door I will make a door… What Paul has been telling them is that they should flee from these idols like the people fled from the snakes, like I fled from the snakes. The idols are just as scary.

6.Self

The last idol is self. Paul said in verse 12, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.  Paul was saying, some of you are so in love with yourself that you better heed this warning before you fall. Some of us, the God that we worship is self. We do what we want, we are convinced that we are always right, we are constantly impressed with ourselves… Some people act toward themselves like devoted followers act toward their God. 

We often refer to people who are extreme versions of this “Narcissists” which comes from a greek myth about a boy named Narcissus who saw his own reflection in a pool of water and became to enamored with it that he never left or fell in and drowned. The myth says that narcissus could never have what he wanted for whenever he reached for it, the reflection went away and couldn’t be grasped…

All the idols that I’ve mentioned are like this. They are mirages or mere reflections of what we want, they promise us something beautiful, but they can never be grasped. Paul covers the issue of idols in some great length and we are skip past that to the end of the chapter in verse 31.

Honor the God who is above you.

The problem with these idols is that they do not transcend the problems we have. They are just more of the same. When we look to the world around us, we do not find anything new or different or better. To me it is strange that people would worship a God of their own making- that they would carve wood with their own hands, make something themselves and then worship it…Isaiah actually mocks the man who cuts down a tree and then decides which part will be carved into his god and which part will be firewood.

Stop looking around you for purpose, meaning, and joy. 
Look up.

You know what’s beautiful about how Paul ends this passage. He ends it with a command that we can keep. It’s impossible to please a false God because it has not emotions or response… but also we create gods and idols with our own problems and shortcomings…

The false gods are petty, immature, selfish… We worship a God is able to be pleased because He has made the way for us…

The false gods of this world are impossible to satisfy, but our God makes us satisfactory through Christ.

Doctrine - Message 2 - The Holiness of God

For the Sake of the Gospel - The Corinthians - Message 18

Find all the messages from this series here: http://www.faithinchandler.com/corinthians/

This past week Rusty was telling me that on their vacation he decided to try body boarding and that he got caught in the wave.

I told him I refer to that as the spin cycle.

I experienced that in a big way when I was 14 or 15.

There was a hurricane that came through the Virginia Beach area and it brought huge waves and surf.

I had never been in waves life that…

When you’re surfing or body boarding, you’ve got to be going fast enough to “Catch the wave” or it will go right under you, or if you are a little ahead of it, it will crash down on you.

One crashed on me and then tumbled me over and over.

I lost all perspective of what was up and down.

The next thing I knew, I was dumped onto the beach and my board was trying to wash away a little further down.

I stood up and said, whoa. That was crazy powerful.

Occasionally a passage of scripture will hit me like that- it will be so much more powerful than I was expecting and send me tumbling.

This passage has done that to me this week.

I hope it hits you hard today, not that you wind up sore, but that you’ll walk away saying, wow that was powerful

Read

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Underline that phrase in verse 23.

For the gospel’s sake.

Brian- What are you doing?

Um, I don’t know…

Now Paul has just recently talked to them about Money, Meat offered in pagan temples, Marriage, Sex, and each one of those scenarios Paul has explained the issue, then said, now this is what I do, or this is how I’ve chosen to live my life.

Here in this passage he explains WHY

For example he said that it’s right that the church would provide financial support to their leaders, then Paul explains that he doesn’t take any financial support because he can go further faster for the gospel.

Before that he talked about Marriage- that it was a good thing, that people should get married, that it was especially better than to live in immorality, but then Paul explains that he has chosen to remain single because he believes that he is able to give more of himself to the ministry of the gospel that way.

In these instances he doesn’t say that they need to be just like him, but that he has chosen to live this way For the Sake of the Gospel.

Here’s the first main truth this morning- 

1. Paul devoted his life to the communication of the gospel.

This wasn’t just something that Paul claimed in his letters, it’s what he lived out as recorded by Luke in his history of the early church.

What we read about Paul is that he tirelessly went from city to city proclaiming the gospel.

He would preach until he was thrown in prison or had planted a church, often he would do both.

Then once he was thrown out of a city, he would go to the next city and start sharing the gospel to establish a church there.

Paul didn’t just ride in and preach the gospel and ride out, he developed leaders and elders. He set up Bible Studies and Small Groups, he organized a team that would carry on the work once he was gone to the next city.

In Acts 17 we read that Paul was establishing the church in Thessalonica and some people got upset and ran him out of town.

So he went to a place called Berea and started establishing a church there. The people in Thessalonica heard that Paul was in the next city doing the same thing so they came to Thessalonica and went before the officials of that city and began to stir up crowds, so Paul was run out of Berea but he was separated from the rest of his team, they stayed there to continue the work because they were much less noticeable.

Paul is sent to Athens to wait for them.

16Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 

17So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

Paul’s just been run out of two towns and separated from his team. They tell him to wait in Athens and they’ll be there shortly.

But Paul can not simply wait.

His Spirit Provokes him.
He must preach!

Do you remember what we read in verse 16 last week.

The end of verse 16 Paul says,

“Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”

Paul was so 

dedicated 

to the communication of the gospel because he was so 

passionate 

about the gospel.

In verse 23 Paul tells us this, he says, I do all of this because of the gospel. I do all of this for the sake of the gospel.

There’s the passion. There’s the drive. There’s the why.

So you need to understand how Paul came to know the gospel.

Paul was a religious leader in the Jewish tradition.

He was the type that believed in his God and was willing to compel others to believe as well through violence.

When the disciples of Jesus began to share the message of the gospel- that Jesus was not a criminal who had been executed but instead Jesus is the Son of God who died for the purpose of forgiving our sin and offering us new life and now He has risen from the dead demonstrating that He is able to offer forgiveness and restore lives-

When the disciples began to preach this and people were believing in Jesus by the thousands, Paul began rounding up anyone they knew to be a Christian.

He threw people in prison.

He stood by while people were executed.

He was a hatchet man. He was an old school terrorist.

Then he gets permission to expand his mission, he’s going bigger and better after more Christians in other cities and Jesus appears to Paul.

Paul is gripped by the power of God’s grace and this angry, judgmental, cynical, violent man is overwhelmed by the mercy of Jesus- it picks him up and tumbles him over and before he know it, he’s in the dirt of that dirt road asking what he must do to be forgiven of the horrible things that he has done.

Paul’s experience was powerful, but no more powerful than the experience people in this room have had when the love and mercy of Jesus knocked them backwards and left them on their knees asking for forgiveness and restoration.

Paul’s experience was like mine, when God gripped the heart of an angry, arrogant, rebellious teenager and left me on my knees asking God to forgive me and fix me.

Paul’s experience was like that of any sinner who is made a saint by God’s grace.

Because it was so powerful, Paul was dedicated to share it with everyone.

Now this is crazy-

Look at what verse 19 says.

Though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all.

When Paul met Jesus he was headed to another city because he had gotten permission from his bosses.

Paul had been living in a system where he was told what to do.

Paul had been living in a system that was full of rules and yet he had never done enough.

Paul had not been free. Now he was.

He was now free from the rules and the to do lists and even though he was no longer living to please those masters, he felt more at peace than he ever had before…

So he was free.

But he chose to live as a servant to take the gospel to all people.

Not because he had to in order to feel worthy- but because he had been freed from that life he wanted everyone to be free.

Paul viewed his God given freedom as an opportunity to free others.

So, Paul never made a decision based merely on what he wanted but rather he based his life upon a simple question:
What will give me the greatest opportunity to free the sinner with the gospel?

So when it came to the question of whether or not to eat meat that had been offered in the temple, Paul was asking what will work best for the spread of the gospel?

When it came to the question of whether or not to get married, Paul’s question was which manner of life will best serve the gospel?

When it came to the question of offerings, Pau’s question was what will best serve the communication of the gospel?

Paul was not as concerned with these issues- 

to him they were petty religious and cultural issues.

Paul was concerned with reaching people with the gospel!

“We are not keepers of the aquarium. We are fishers of men!”
-Mountain View Church

So that’s the why of what Paul was doing, 

let’s talk a minute about how Paul was doing this.

There were some Jews in Corinth, but not many.

So perhaps in Corinth Paul had done things that would have made it difficult for a Jew to accept as normal behavior, and then when Paul was ministering to Jews he was following their customs and traditions and when this got back to the Corinthians, they were confused. They were wondering why Paul was being a hypocrite.

They wondered why he acted one way with them and another way with other people.

Paul wasn't being a hypocrite, but he was attempting to respect the culture and traditions of the people that he was trying to reach with the gospel.

Paul wasn’t sinning- Paul wasn’t participating in sin just to put people at ease, but when it came to cultural and religious issues, he made the gospel the main issue.

Paul never changed the message or faltered in his mission, but he adapted his methods to the culture.

by the way, Paul was uniquely qualified to do this.

He was a Jew. A Pharisee of the Pharisees he once said of himself. He was an educated Jew so he was familiar with the Old Testament and Jewish customs.

Did you notice what we read about him from when he was in Athens? He reasoned daily in the synagogue.

He could be a Jew to the Jews.

Paul was a Roman Citizen, which many Jews were not.

He was a Jew, but he had some exposure to the greek culture and way of life.

He knew how to talk with Jews and Romans.

He knew where to start with each of them.

Paul says, to the Jew I am a Jew.

To the weak, I am weak.

To the strong, I am strong.

I am all things to all men so that by all means I might win some.

The Message is sealed in blood.

The Mission is engraved in stone.

The Methods are sketched in pencil.

In Acts 17, when Paul is in Athens and starts sharing with them because his heart is provoked. He shares in the synagogue, which had done before.

Then he shares in the marketplace, which he had done before, then he notices all of these idols.

They even had an idol to the unknown God.

So he called people to this little amphitheater type place to talk to them about the unknown God.

Paul had preached in the synagogue before.

He had preached to greeks in the marketplace before.

He had never preached like this.

This was new.

To reach people who had never heard the gospel before, 

Paul did something he had never done before.

So what does this look like for us?

Several year ago Jim Collins put together a research team that studied companies that were good companies that became top performing, great companies.

They put out a book with their findings.

One of the principles that they found in each of the companies that made the leap had a similar characteristic.

They found the convergence of 3 attributes.

What they were good at-

What they were passionate about-

What was profitable-

Companies that had something they were good at, they were passionate about, and was profitable were incredibly successful.

I think that’s just merely a secular illustration of the way God made us. I believe that God has uniquely gifted all of us, given us all a passion, and a mission to share the message of the gospel.

I believe that whenever we find the convergence of 3 attributes we are effective as a church-

What we are uniquely gifted to do-

what we are passionate about-

what we are called to do.

Let me give you an example.

Our church is unique in the fact that we have many young kids.

We have like 6 kids that are starting kindergarten this year, for a church our size, that’s pretty crazy.

So we’ve got young families.

We are passionate for young families and about teaching the Bible to children.

And we are called to train the next generation- so we’ve been effective at reaching and impacting other young families.

Our church is unique in the fast that we have several people who have been saved from a life of addiction.

We are passionate about reaching addicts.

We are called to reach addicts…

In the convergence of those 3, we’ve found an effective opportunity to reach addicts with the gospel…

We are all called.

We are all uniquely gifted.

But we are not all passionate.

Paul wasn’t more gifted or more called than others,

Paul was more passionate.

Passion beats polish!

(Paul devoted his life to the communication of the gospel)

1. Paul devoted his life to the application of the gospel.

Quickly lets look at verses 24-27

i think Paul was worried about the Corinthians.

If they were not willing to make changes in their lives for the sake of the communication of the gospel, would they willing to make changes in their lives for the sake of the application of the gospel?

Would they change when God called them to live differently because it’s what he expected?

Paul gives them an illustration. He points to the greek games.

He says, look at how disciplined and passionate they are!

What if we worked as hard to apply the gospel as they work to train for the games?

Paul says, only one of them is going to win and the prize he wins doesn’t even last!

Our reward lasts forever.

Even their fitness goes away!

Paul was passionate about the communication of the gospel because he was still active in the application of the gospel in his own life.

When was the last time God restored a broken piece of your heart?

When was the last time that the gospel reshaped you and molded you?

Paul says here that he isn’t living his life haphazardly or accidentally, but he is intentionally, persistently pursuing the work of God in his own life.

Paul says, God forbid that though I’ve preached to others that I myself would become a castaway-.

God forbid that I would forget the very truth I proclaim.

If you’re not passionate about the gospel touching new hearts, it’s been too long since it touched yours.

Doctrines - Message 1 - God's Nature

Theology is the systematic study of God.

Doctrines are the findings of that study.

What we do on a typical Sunday morning is a study of a passage with a focus on application of truth in our lives.

This systematic approach gives a rounded out, comprehensive view of who God is.

We often base our perception of God on one passage, on the Bible Stories that are most familiar to us or that we heard growing up.

We all know what it like for someone to get the wrong impression of us because all they know of us is one interaction or a story about something that we did.

Now, in God’s Word there are no false impressions of who God is- His word is truth and every representation of Him in the Word is truth, but Theology and Doctrine give a more comprehensive and detailed picture.

Have you noticed how incredibly more detailed ultrasound photos have become? It used to be that ultrasound photos were kind of like looking at a nebula. People would look at them and say, “Wow….” but have no idea what they were looking at…

Today you can make out all kinds of features and details.

I’ve even heard people say, he or she looks like the mom or the dad based on the ultrasound photos…

We don’t have any new information on who God is, the source material is still all the same, but when we study God in a comprehensive way it gives a greater picture of who he is.

Theology in the strictest sense is the study of God, but we’ll use that term to refer to the Christian doctrines which of course are all connected to God.

I’ll be using Thiessen’s book on Systematic Theology extensively and he points out early that there is a difference between religion and theology.

Theology is the study and organization of thought about God.

Religion or Devotion is the reaction these thoughts produce.

I think that speaks to the necessity of Theology.

Because we believe that there should be a reaction to truth about who God is- we believe that this truth is not neutral- it should have an affect.

It should influence the way that we think, act, feel, speak, and so on. It should change us, improve us, encourage us, challenge us, and convict us.

If that’s true, a better understanding of who he is should lead to greater and deeper reactions to this knowledge.

However, we can’t take that for granted.

Many people have divorced their knowledge of God from a emotional or volitional response to that knowledge.

Many people have been great students of theology with absolutely no devotion.

Psalm 86:11

11Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

12I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.

13For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

This passage asks for God to teach us about His ways so that we can walk in them, so that our hearts will fear or respect and honor him, that we will respond with praise and a life that ever glorifies God.

Knowing God- Knowing His power, His majesty, His beauty, His Holiness, His mercifulness, it can and it should provoke a response in us, but I don’t want to take that for granted, so I’d like to invite you to pause a moment with to pray, like this Psalmist prayed that knowledge of Him will lead to greater appreciation for Him.

Intro:

1. God is Eternal.

He is without beginning or end.

He has no start and no end, He simply is and has always been and will always be.

Scripture regularly calls Him Everlasting God.

The Psalmist says in 90:2
“From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.”

It’s clear from scripture that God does not exist in time as we do.

God created time, it’s something that he peers down into, something that he chooses to step into, but now something that he is bound by.

Peter said that a thousand years is like one day and one like a thousand years to God.

Many people hear that and think that God can speed up or slow down time as He wishes, but really it’s more that God doesn’t experience time.
It’s all the same to Him.

He is all times and yet in no time.

When God sees the past, He doesn’t see it as a memory- faint and distant. When God sees the future, it isn’t hazy like a prophecy.

God sees all time as vividly and comprehensively as He sees the present.

Thiessen points out that you can view a parade from a street corner and watch as it passes by, or you could drive next to it in a car, passing it- going faster than it, seeing it from the end to the beginning, or you could watch it from the top of a building seeing all of it at once.

God is able to see all these angles of the procession of time, simultaneously.

Just as God is eternal in relation to time, He is eternal in relation to knowledge, presence, and power.

1. God is Omniscient (All Knowing).

Omniscience is the combination of Omni (All) and Science (Knowledge). God knows all.

This almost seems natural since God can see all things, all times, all perspectives, all at once.

Think about how limited your knowledge is because of your limited perspective.

I don’t think anyone in here knows Chinese.

But I bet if you had been exposed to Chinese your whole life, you would. There are people in China who don’t know English but if they had been exposed to it like you do, they would.

However, God doesn’t know all simply because He’s been exposed to it all- He knows all because it is in His nature to know.

God is not simply well read, or been in school for a really long time.

God has always known all.

Just as God is eternal in relation to time, he is eternal in relation to knowledge.

Creation is a demonstration of this Omniscience.

They way that nature simply works in concert- that the elements and systems of our world rely on one another and work together on a large scale like the process of weather but also to the minute in the systems that work on a molecular level in our bodies.

Scripture tells us in Isaiah 46:9-10 That God has known the whole story, form the very beginning.

9Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

This doesn’t just relate to what is actual, but what is possible.

Thiessen points out that Jesus said, Tyre and Sidon would have repented if they had seen the miracles that were done in Bethsaida.

God knows all the permutations, all the possibilities.

This is how He can make promise like the one He makes in Romans- that all things will work together for the good of those that love Him.

In other words, when things go wrong and are bad, 

God can not only see the future but what could be the future and He is able to steer us toward the outcome that will give purpose to our difficulties and adversities.

That’s the infinite knowledge of God put into practical use for you and me.

Thiessen points out something that I just love.

God thoroughly knows all, including Himself.

No one else completely knows Himself.

God knows you better than you know you.

1. God is Omnipresent (Present Everywhere)

Scripture repeatedly tells us that God is everywhere.

Psalm 139 says, if I ascend into heaven you are there, if I make my bed in the depths you are there.

God is present in all of the universe, but God is not tied to the universe. We should make that distinction.

Pantheism makes God out to be everything.

God is not everything, but He is everywhere.

He chooses to be in all places, so He is. But he is not limited by creation, in other words if He chose to no longer be present somewhere, He would not have to be.

If He were to destroy everything, He would continue to exist.

God often chose to withdraw the essence or the influence of His presence, but He was still present.

His omnipresence is an act of his unlimited power and knowledge. It is an extension of His infinite, eternal nature.

There is no time and there is no place that we are alone.

God is always with us everywhere.

This is a comfort and a warning.

1. God is Omnipotent.

All Powerful

Scripture teaches repeatedly that God is all powerful.

He is called the Almighty. (Revelation 4:8)

He is abel to do all things He purposes. (Job 42:2)

All things are possible with Him. (Matthew 19:26)

And Nothing is too difficult for Him. (Jeremiah 32:17)

In the beginning God said let there be light and there was light. God didn’t create the Sun and the stars until the fourth day, but when He said let there be light, there was light.

God is so powerful that what He says is. He speaks the truth and His words are so powerful, His nature so eternal that the very words will make it so, make it the truth.

Now, God’s unlimited power is an extension of His nature, so this means that He can do anything that He wills to do- Anything that is in perfect harmony with His nature- His perfection and His holiness.

Because God will not do anything that violates His nature, there is a list of things that God can not do.

God can not overlook sin. (Hab 1:3)

God can not violate His nature (2 Timothy 2:13)

God can not deny the truth. (Titus 1:2)

God can not tempt us to sin. (James 1:13)

This means that He can not or will not do what is absurd or ridiculous. He will not, can not make a square circle, make a rock so big that he can’t pick it up, etc.

I recently heard that there was a stone so big that God could not pick it up, it was the penalty for our sin.

It’s not that the stone was too big, it’s that it is against God’s nature overlook sin.

So He established a means of rolling that stone away through the sacrifice of Jesus.

The beauty of the gospel is that God made a way for us to be forgiven without violating His nature and destroying us.

It's Time to Trade Up - The Corinthians - Message 16

Have you ever played or heard of the game bigger and better?
You start with something small and keep trying to trade for something bigger and better. The bigger, the better.

Bob Goff tells the story of one time his son and his son’s friends played this. They all started with something small and went out into the neighborhood.

Golf’s son started out with a dime.

The first house he went to he said, I’m playing bigger and better and I was wondering if I could trade you this dime for something bigger or better?

The man who answered the door yelled to his wife, 

Honey we are playing bigger and better! What do we have that we can trade for a dime?

They had an air mattress that they were no longer using- so they swapped that…

Now that’s pretty great. A large air mattress is pretty big.

However, he kept going. He traded the air mattress for a ping pong table. He traded the ping pong table, and made a dozen more trades as he made his way through the neighborhood…

When he came home, he drove home in an old pickup truck, that he had traded for! 

Goff said, he didn’t need a truck so he gave it to a local church to give away to a person starting over…

That trade was the best, because trading the dime up for bigger and better all the way to a pickup was nothing in comparison in trading the pickup for the great sense of joy and love that came from helping someone in need.

In this section of Corinthians, Paul talks about money and how we can trade it for something bigger and better.

God is always giving us chances to trade up and be part of something bigger and better than ourselves.

Money often creates controversy, and it was causing an issue between the Corinthians and Paul.

But it’s not what you would expect. It was creating a problem, not because Paul was requesting funds but because he was refusing them.
What?

Let’s read this passage and figure out what’s going on.

Read

1 Corinthians 9:1-14

Intro:

Paul hadn’t needed funds from the Corinthians. He had a means of support that he had worked out through tent making with Aquila and Priscilla- and some of Paul’s critics were using this against him. They were saying that he wasn’t the real deal- that he wasn’t even a full time minister- that he couldn’t be a real apostle if he wasn’t doing this full time.

Paul responds defending his apostleship and saying that he did deserve to receive material goods, but that he had forsaken that right because he found he could go farther, faster without relying on the financial support of the church and God had given him an alternative means of income in making tents.

Paul’s point is that he not any less of an apostle because of this, he has simply chosen to fund his own ministry efforts.

Currently in the FWB partnership of churches we have 2 churches that are on the rebound. They were very near the brink of closing.

They had large amounts of debt and had lost just about all of their people. In both instances the pastor who came there had been uniquely gifted in that they had great skills for and opportunities in the secular workplace.

James Lindsey in Ft Wayne runs a furniture factory.

Travis Penn is a an IT guy and run the IT department for the school corporation in North Indy.

Both of these men are not less than pastors. We do not look at them any differently except that we admire their willingness to pastor these churches and work regular work weeks at the other job.

Because of their skill set and unique calling, the church is able to afford to move forward.

Paul’s response to his critics is strange because he starts by saying I deserve to be paid, even though I’m not.

Paul was defending his authority as an apostle, but he wasn’t trying to establish a precedent that all church leaders should find other employment. So he builds the case for his apostleship and the support of church leaders.

So the first point here in chapter 9 is

1. Material goods should be supplied to church leaders.

4Have we not power (the right) to eat and to drink?

7Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

9For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

10Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

13Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

14Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

Verse 9 is a quote of Deuteronomy 25:4

Refers to the practice of an ox dragging a sledge over grain separating the kernels from the stalk. They were not to muzzle the ox so that he could reap benefits from the grain he was treading.

Then Paul asks, is God concerned for the ox?

Paul is saying, If God is concerned about the ox, I’m sure he’s concerned about people- about the leaders of the church.

Paul is saying, if God wants to make sure that the ox who helps harvest the grain gets a share of the fruits of his labor, surely your spiritual leaders and pastors should receive a share in the harvest- the fruits of his labors.

In this passage Paul highlights that fact that every church leader is different, every scenario is different.

Paul mentions that some of the apostles had wives that they were bringing along with them in ministry. Obviously Peter’s responsibilities were different than Paul’s.

Paul had argued that though he didn’t marry, that was well within the rights of a believer.

Paul is now arguing that though he doesn’t receive financial support from the church, that is well within the rights of the church leader.

The next two points are what I want to get to…

1. Material goods pale in comparison to Spiritual Benefits.

11If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?

12aIf others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather?

In verse 11, Paul uses yet another rhetorical question- if we sow unto you spiritual things, is it a big deal that we reap or harvest carnal or material things?

In other words, Paul is saying the seeds that we have planted in your lives are producing peace, joy, love, restoration, and purpose.

All of these are much greater than what we ask for to support our families and take care of ourselves.

Now Paul isn’t calling this a trade.

You don’t get the spiritual help because you give financial support. You don’t have to give an offering to receive spiritual benefit.

If you call me for counseling and help, I will not discuss payment plans with you first.

When you come to the altar, your benefit is not contingent upon the offering.

So it isn’t a trade, however, Paul is saying that if we compare what we receive with what we are asked to give, the deal is a pretty good one.

However, many people fail to see it this way.

For many, because the spiritual benefits are intangible- they can’t bring themselves to give their money which could purchase them tangible things- something that they can hold, or sit on, or ride in, or watch.

None of the tangible stuff you have purchased in this life comes close to the value that is in the intangible goods you receive through God’s grace. 

We struggle with this.

We struggle to give and make an investment in the kingdom of God because we can’t see what we are purchasing.

“Faith isn’t a formula or a business deal. In Short there’s nothing on the other side of the equal sign, just Jesus.” - Bob Goff

We’ve traded our broken lives for something bigger and better.

If we’ve trusted Jesus with our lives and received something far greater- why don’t we trust him to trade our material goods for something bigger and better?

My phone is broken. It’s messed up. I can see messages and calls and sometimes I can answer them, but often I can’t.

I went to the store to see about getting it fixed. They said, well you’ve got 4 months left on your contract so we’ll let you upgrade, but you have to trade in your phone and since it’s broken, we don’t want it.

Well, if it wasn’t broken I wouldn’t need to trade it in… but because it’s broken I do need to trade it in but can’t.

When we come to the Lord with our broken and shattered lives, he doesn’t say, “uh, well, I was actually looking to take an exchange on a moderately used life, not a broken one….”

When we come to the Lord with our broken and shattered lives, he accepts us, no questions asked.

If the Lord is willing to take your broken life- what sense does it make to not trust him with your money?

If you are willing to trust God with your very life,

why not trust him with your stuff? 

Why not trust him with your funds?

“You know your trusting God when you trust Him with your money.” - Nieuwhoff.

You say, well I’m poor. I hardly have any money.

That’s what’s great about the Lord- you don’t have to give a certain amount to qualify- you don’t have to reach some tier of giving- you just need to give. 

The Lord calls us to give 10% as a tithe.

For some of you, 10% isn’t very much, but it’s still obedience.

For some of you, 10% is quite a bit but that means your 90% is still quite a bit.

Though our income levels vary, we can all be obedient.

Got a small paycheck, you can still be obedient.

In fact, Jesus made it clear that the woman who had less to give exercised great faith because she gave out of need, not out of abundance.

Though our gifts differ, we can all be part of something bigger and better than us.

Then notice what verse 12 says, if others are partakers with you, are not we also?

Paul is referring to other church leaders and teachers who had come through that the Corinthians had supported.

Paul said, if they are worthy of your support, aren’t we?

We established your church and introduced you to the gospel and now we are doing the same thing in another city, doesn’t that qualify as worthy of support?

Now think about this in 2 ways.

1. You pay people all of the time.
   You pay people to work on your car, you pay for tires, you pay for gas, you pay for cable and internet, you pay for fast food, you pay someone to cut your hair, you pay for everything.
   
   Paul says, if you are willing to pay for all of these things, shouldn’t you be willing to pay to support the people who lead you in a relationship with Jesus?

If the Spiritual is more valuable than the material, why would we only pay to support those that provide the material??

1. Paul and Silas had established the church in Corinth and were now doing the same thing in another city that didn’t have a church. They were working so that another group of people could experience what they had experienced of the forgiveness and redemption of the Jesus.

Our church exists because Free Will Baptists sent funds and offerings to support Bob Helms as he established a new church.

We are here because God worked through the generosity of other churches to make this possible.

There are missionaries who are doing the same thing right now, they are taking the gospel into cities where it is not represented.

They are establishing new churches in places like Eerie, PA, and Irvine, CA and Tokyo, Japan, and India.

They deserve our financial support.

Last week at the NAFWB we ended the week with the missions service as we do each year. All missionaries who are able to be present come to the stage and are recognized, new missionaries are prayed for and commissioned.

It’s very moving.

Then this week I read of a missionary couple to Tokyo who are resigning and coming home in September because their funds have dwindled.

1. Material goods are not a motivating factor for noble church leaders.

12bNevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

15But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.

16For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!

17For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

18What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

Paul only used money to reach the next opportunity to preach the gospel.

We are not in this for the money, 

we are in this to preach the gospel.

verse 12 says we suffer all things lest we should hinder the gospel…

16 - I do this out of necessity. - Woe is me is I don’t preach the gospel.

Paul was saying, give or don’t give, I’m still going to preach the gospel. Paul says, I’m compelled, I’m called! I must preach the gospel. I do not lead the church because I want the pay- I lead the church because I love the gospel and I must proclaim it!

You will not be consumed with money if you are compelled by the gospel.

Paul said, I’ll walk away from money to preach the gospel.

Paul had traded money and stuff for something bigger and better,

the gospel.

Some of you, you love money. You cling to it. It consumes you. You are always angling to get more, make more, some of you- money consumes you because you spend it so fast on all the stuff that you want and all the stuff you so desperately want…

Let me invite you to trade it for something bigger and better.

The Danger of Stumbling Blocks - Message 16 - The Corinthians

Love Builds - Message 15 - The Corinthians

The Blessing & Hardship of Marriage - Message 14 - The Corinthians

The fourteenth message in our study of 1 Corinthians.

(Find the other messages from this series here)

Sermon Notes

Larry David, the head writer for the hit sitcom Seinfeld once jokingly asked, who do you think has more freedom, A married man in the USA or a Single man in Communist China.

As comedians often do, he was poking fun at the difficulty of marriage. While marriage is a wonderful gift from God, one that should be pursued by believers, one that should be very present and sacred among gospel believing people-
that doesn’t mean that it’s all wonderful.

Typically we only talk publicly about the blessing of marriage until we come to a breaking point and we start to only talk of the hardship.

Marriage is a blessing but marriage is also hard.

No marriage, however good it is, has had it easy.

When you bring together two separate wills, two separate sets of opinion, two separate broken and selfish hearts in an effort to make them one, there is going to be difficulty.

So Paul doesn’t pull any punches- he is once again completely honest and transparent.

Read
1 Corinthians 7:25-40

On July 4th of 1776, the United States of America declared their independence- but notice that they also declared their dependence. They referred to themselves as the United States.
They were joining together to establish this new country.

That’s a good picture of marriage- there’s a balance independence and dependence. There’s a separating and uniting.

What we’ve experienced for the last 200 plus years is that while our independence is magnificent, it’s also a lot of work. Marriage can be magnificent, but it is also a lot of work.

• Marriage is permanent and temporary.

In verse 27 Paul says if you are married
“Seek not to be loosed.”
Because marriage is permanent.

However, in verse 29 he says
“The Time is Short”

and even more clearly he says in verse 31
“for the fashion of this world passeth away.”

Marriage is to be permanent but no marriage will last forever.

Jesus made it clear in the gospels that marriage is not something that we experience in heaven. So if you and your spouse go to heaven, you will know one another- you will love one another, but marriage will not be thing in heaven.

Those of you with great marriages might be a little sad at this prospect. Those of you with bad marriages are saying “Oh thank God” to yourselves right now.

When I lead a couple in marriage vows I have them make a commitment for life and lead them to promise to love one another forever. There’s something you need to understand about Paul and something that we should seek to copy-

Paul’s life was a journey that was shaped by his final destination.

Paul was always looking ahead- looking toward the end.
Paul was living in light of eternity. The end of all things shaped everything for him.

He didn’t live “in the moment” by deciding what best suited him today, but rather he lived for the kingdom of God and decided what would be best as it related to end of all moments.

While Paul strongly believed that marriage was to last a lifetime, he also strongly believed that this life was short and eternity was long. Paul believed that he could best serve and work toward eternity if he was single in this life.

• Marriage is a responsibility.

In verses 33 & 34 Paul points out that a married person is going to have some cares and responsibilities that are very much focused on this world.
33But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.
34 but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

Now, let me be quick to point out, Paul isn’t saying this is sinful or foolish, he is just saying it is what is.

If you are married, you will be seeking to please your spouse and that’s just the way that it is.

Paul makes it really clear in this passage that this is his perspective but that he doesn’t make any rules or give any commands.

v. 25
"
I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment,"
v. 35
"And this I speak for your own profit;
not that I may cast a snare upon you,"

Then peppered throughout the passage are qualifications.
Paul is not giving a command, but he is explaining his perspective on this- He is pointing out that there are advantages and disadvantages to both- the disadvantage to marriage isn’t that you might end up being married to a loser, but that in your efforts to please your spouse your attention will be diverted that could be given completely toward serving God.

Marriage is a responsibility. Marriage is to be taken seriously.
Marriage is hard and tough. There are blessings that only come in marriage, but there are a unique set of challenges that come along with those privileges. Don’t try to cash in on the benefits of marriage without fulfilling the obligations and responsibilities of marriage.

• Singleness can be a great freedom to serve.

With the responsibilities of marriage in mind, Paul then points out that there can be a great freedom in being single. Paul isn’t talking about a freedom to see and date who you want or even freedom to spend your money as you want, but rather a freedom to serve the Lord with a more robust devotion and commitment.

32
"But I would have you without carefulness.
He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:"

34
"The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, t
hat she may be holy both in body and in spirit:"

35
"And this I speak for your own profit…
and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction."

If you don’t have a marriage and family to manage, you can give yourself more completely to serving the Lord.

BTW,
Being married with kids is not an excuse to not serve God.
Paul wasn’t saying that married people can’t serve God or please God, rather he was saying that they could not serve with the same amount of freedom that a married person could.

However, if you are single, you are free to jump into ministry with both feet, you are capable of living in a more sacrificial way with your time and your money.

A good example of this was a woman who I heard about. She was married but her husband passed away at a fairly young age. She realized that being a widow provided opportunities that she didn’t have when she was married, so she went overseas and served as a missionary living in a small home and focusing all of her efforts on serving the mission.

Paul argues here that the single person can focus more of this life working toward the next, it wasn’t a command that he was giving out, but rather it was a strategy that he had chosen for his life.

It may be that God is calling some of our people to serve in a way that they will best be able to accomplish as a single person. If that is the case, or even if it just possibly the case, the church should not pressure them into marriage or make them feel less important or less than complete if they are single. It may that God has a plan for them and who are we to interfere?

• The Question of marriage should be, "what pleases the Lord?"

This issue should be determined like all of the others in our lives, what will be most pleasing to the Lord?

The last several verses speak of a man who perhaps has chosen to remain single and has a female friend- as long as he is able to remain pure he does not need to marry her, but if he knows that his desires and will are going to make it difficult for him to please God with this relationship- to stay celibate, then he should marry and he hasn’t let the Lord down or stepped down a notch spiritually.

The question the single person need to ask himself or herself, is the same all of us would answer,
“how can I best please the Lord with my life?”

Remember Paul told the Corinthians at the end of chapter 6, you were bought with a price. You don’t belong to yourself- you belong to the Lord.

In every area of life, I believe that the we should answer the question, will this honor the Lord?


Will I be able to serve the Lord well in this?
 Will I be better capable of doing what God has called me to do?

I know for me, the answer to this was my wife.If you are around here for any length of time, you’ll pick up real quick on the fact that though the church hired me, Nicole is the brains of the operation. I could not do what I do without her.

One of our photographers snapped this photo at VBS and I think it captures what I’m talking about this morning. God blessed me with a spouse who helps me serve God.

Whatever your current station in life, God want to use that for the building of His kingdom.

If you’re single, there are things that you can do to serve God that I can’t. If you’re married, God wants to use that to give you an opportunity to serve the Lord. If you’re a parent, if you’re a grandparent, etc. the same is true.

But this is not just limited to family-
If you are wealthy, if you are an athlete, if you’re an outdoorsman, if you are artistic…

Paul said, whatever condition you are in, do not attempt to change, to leave your spouse or to get married so that you can serve God.

You don’t need a change of circumstance to serve God,
you need a change of heart.

So serve God right where you are at.

The Challenge of Alter Egos - Message 13 - The Corinthians

The Challenge of Alter Egos - Message 13 - The Corinthians

Find the notes, video, and audio of this message here:

http://www.faithinchandler.com/corinthians/challenge-alter-egos/

The Burden of Unbelieving Spouses - Message 12 - The Corinthians

The Burden of Unbelieving Spouses - Message 12 - The Corinthians

Find the video, notes, and audio for this message at:

http://www.faithinchandler.com/burden-unbelieving-spouses/