August 18, 2025 • 42 mins
"I'm the captain now" takes on profound meaning when we consider who's really steering our lives. Are we allowing our selfish desires to navigate, or have we surrendered the wheel to Christ? This challenging message explores the radical difference between worldly authority and kingdom leadership.
The gospel of grace isn't passive—it demands active love. When we put on our "grace glasses," we not only see ourselves as unconditionally loved by God but recognize our responsibility to extend that same love to others. This isn't about following rules; it's about embracing a new identity where love flows naturally from who we are in Christ.
Jesus gave us the perfect blueprint for this love-driven humility. Unlike worldly leaders who demand respect and payment, Jesus had no thought of self-importance, no concern for reputation, no preoccupation with self-will, and no interest in self-preservation. He identified with humanity at its lowest point, demonstrating that true greatness comes through service.
Paul embodied this same mindset in his ministry. Though entitled to financial support as an apostle, he chose to work as a tentmaker rather than burden the Corinthian church. His reasoning wasn't pride but pedagogy—by refusing payment, he showed them that love doesn't come with a price tag. "You don't have to pay for love," he demonstrated, because "God can't love you any more than He loves you right now in your mess."
The path to this grace-centered life requires discipline, but not in the way many imagine. It's not about rigid legalism or summoning goodness from our flesh. Rather, it's the daily discipline of moving away from performance-based religion into relationship with Jesus. It means waking up each morning and intentionally choosing to trust in Christ's finished work rather than our own efforts.
Take control of your life today by declaring "I'm the captain now" over your selfish desires. Your body and spirit belong to God—not because they're evil, but because they're deeply loved and redeemed. Will you respond to this extravagant love by offering your whole self as a living sacrifice? The One who purchased you at the highest price is worthy of nothing less.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm the captain now.
That's the name of today'ssermon.
Have you guys seen this movieor that movie?
Sorry, there's no picture upthere.
Have you seen this movie sogood?
No, okay.
So, yeah, captain Phillips, isthis movie with Tom Hanks?
Obviously, everyone loves TomHanks.
He's like your grandpa or sonfor some of you All, right, well
(00:31):
, in this movie he's like acaptain and these Somalian
pirates take control of his ship.
And this guy's awesome becausehe's like look at me, I'm the
captain now.
Remember that, because at thevery end of the sermon it'll
come back, but this is called aforeshadow and it'll be a
callback.
So there you go.
All right, I'm the captain now.
(01:00):
Well, the part of the gospelthat we're going to be learning
about today is how it applies toour life through love, how
we're supposed to love otherpeople.
Okay, so, as we put on ourgrace glasses, it tells us we
look at the whole worlddifferently, so we see ourselves
differently.
We see that we're loved andthat God has grace with us, but
then we also see how we're goingto respond and how we're going
to treat people.
So we're going to learn how tochoose loving others instead of
(01:21):
being selfish.
Sounds simple, but we'll seethe reason why it's so important
.
And it's kind of a lot likelast week, if you remember, with
us last week we learned thatthe way we treat others is more
important than what we want orwhat choices we make with our
freedom in Christ.
Excuse me, so last week it wasin regard to the eating meat
(01:46):
sacrificed to idols.
So Paul says, yeah, you're freeto eat meat sacrificed to idols
, but be careful what you do,because sometimes you might not
be loving the person next to you, even though you're allowed to
do such things.
So we talked about things likemovies and different choices
that we can make, that we'reabsolutely free.
You are free, but you can't justdo anything because sometimes
(02:08):
it's not love and so we'resupposed to use our freedom, but
we're under a law to Christ tolove people as he has loved us.
So it's not a law like you haveto do this.
It's a law like you've beenloved, and that's now your new
identity, and so you're gonnalove others like you've been
loved.
So that's now your new identityand so you're going to love
others like you've been loved.
So it's a different kind of law.
So our identity now is love.
(02:30):
So the love of Jesus needs tobe shown in what you do.
That's your identity.
It's who you are.
It's not whether you feel likeit or like it.
It's who you are.
Just like a frog ribbits, right?
What sound do turtles make?
They croak, do it?
(03:00):
Do it?
Okay?
Everyone go up to Taylor laterand say give us the turtle sound
, because now I'm really curiousand that's all I'm thinking
about.
Okay, we'll have to figure itout later.
Amy knows it for sure, I know,but I'm not teasing Amy right
now.
Okay, okay, all right, lovingisn't just something you're
(03:28):
going to choose to do, but youare.
But it's who you are.
It's who you are.
So, this new command that Jesustells us how to live this life
in John 13, 34, it says a newcommand I give you that you love
one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another
as I have loved you, that youalso love one another.
Now, this is different from theold covenant of law which said
(03:51):
love God perfectly and loveothers perfectly.
Now, that command you can't do.
Let me prove it to you.
Do you love God?
Yeah, I love God.
Well, let me rephrase that theright way.
Do you love God the way hedeserves to be loved all the
time, from the moment you'reborn to the moment you die?
No.
So do you love God?
No, according to the law, we'renot successful at that.
(04:13):
Do you love other people?
Barely so?
That's the law, sometimes right, but the way they deserve to be
loved from the moment youbreathe your first breath to the
moment you die.
Do you love everyone perfectly?
No, we don't do that.
That's the law and that is thestandard for every human being.
But it's a good thing thatwe've been saved from the law.
(04:36):
The law is still perfect, thelaw is still good, but Jesus
said that's not gonna work.
I have to love you first, and Igot to put my love inside you
and then you can just be who youare, and that is going to be a
loving person.
It's going to start coming outof you like fruit.
So this new command is to letJesus live through you.
(05:00):
The word let is the mostimportant thing.
You're either going to takecontrol of your life and try to
live your life the way you wantit, holding things back, or
you're going to let Jesus livethrough you.
It's a letting go, it's asurrender, it's a releasing of
control and we hate that becausewe love control, because every
(05:24):
time we've been out of controlin our lives, people have
generally hurt us.
So we try to take control ofour lives and guard ourselves
from being hurt and protectourselves.
And Jesus is like I really wishyou would trust me.
I love you, I really do careabout you and allow me to live
(05:45):
through you.
So it's the let is the key wordhere.
Let Jesus live through you.
The love we have for others isthe love he has for us first.
So we never have to source thislove in ourselves.
We receive this love first andthen it can flow out of us.
And that's the gospel of gracein action, in action.
(06:09):
Action is the key word there.
Some people say grace ispassive.
You grace people.
You're a bunch of sloppy, agape, lazy, bump-on-a-log Christians
.
You just sit there on yourcouch and think Jesus will do
everything for you.
But nothing could be more wrong.
Nothing could be further thanthe truth, because we have to
make active choices to loveothers.
(06:33):
So we make active choices toactively love.
We live a life of active love.
You let everything be done,everything you do be done in
love.
So it's so active that itliterally is everything that you
(06:53):
do is supposed to be done inlove.
Today, we're going to learn howto take control of our lives by
choosing to live a life offaith and humility, saying I'm
the captain now.
Like you're grabbing someone bythe face saying I'm the captain
now, okay.
Like you're grabbing someone bythe face saying I'm the captain
now, we're going to love Okay.
So we actively receive this.
We actively receive his loveevery day too.
Okay, in fact, at the end ofthis chapter, we're going to see
(07:15):
an athletic analogy.
So anyone like sports I superlove sports.
Football, basketball, those aremy things.
Golf I super love sports.
Football, basketball, those aremy things.
Golf.
Well, we're going to see todaywe're going to see an athletic
analogy talking about this, butwe're actually going to.
Before we get into 1 Corinthiansand read chapter 9, we're going
to start in the book ofPhilippians to learn about
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humility and love, which is theway of Jesus.
So this is how Jesus activelyshows love, and it's through the
word humility.
This is how Jesus activelyshows love and it's through the
word humility.
Okay, then we're going to seehow Paul lived it out as an
example to the church in Corinthhis humility which showed love.
So we start in Philippians,chapter 2, verses 3 through 11.
(07:57):
So here is the grace of Godlived out.
This is how to actively beloving, or let the love of God
flow through you.
It says let nothing be donethrough selfish ambition or
conceit, but in lowliness ofmind, let each esteem others
better than himself.
(08:17):
So that's humility.
That's what humility looks likeesteeming others better than
yourself.
I mean you don't care aboutyourself at all.
No, you're just not thinkingabout yourself before you think
of everyone else.
So let each of you look out,not for his own interests, but
also for the interest of others.
See how it's active.
(08:38):
Look out for other people.
Don't just sit there as a bumpon a log doing nothing.
Think about, look out for howyou can serve other people.
Don't just sit there as a bumpon a log doing nothing.
Think about look out for howyou can serve other people.
Then he says let this mind bein you, which was also in Christ
Jesus.
So now this is how to apply thegospel.
Okay, let this mind, becausethe gospel is always.
(08:59):
We got to change our minds.
Let this mind be in you.
Who, being in the form of God,did not consider.
So that means Jesus had nothought of self-importance.
So Jesus was the master of hismind.
Right, he knew who he was inthe spirit, but he bossed around
(09:21):
his mind.
He told his mind this is whatwe're going to think of, I'm the
captain.
Okay, because even he was man.
So he had flesh he could havehad.
I am God, hear me, roar, I amGod.
And he was fine with being God.
But he had no thought that hehad to build himself up or prop
(09:42):
himself up.
So he had no thought ofself-importance.
That's the definition ofhumility.
Do you have thoughts ofself-importance?
That's not love, the next thing.
But made himself of noreputation.
He had no thought of self-value.
He didn't have to worry abouthow valuable he was.
(10:03):
His value came from God lovinghim.
So he knew God valued him.
He didn't have to try to buildup his own value.
We don't have to build up ourown value.
We can leave that in ourfather's hands.
Then it says taking the form ofa bond servant.
Taking the form of abondservant, that means a slave,
(10:30):
a willing slave.
So that means he had no thoughtof self-will.
Do you see how he's bossing hismind around?
He's saying this is how I'mgoing to think.
It's not about what I want.
I'm a bondservant.
I choose to do everything.
My father says I'm in charge ofwhat I do.
I'm a bond servant by will.
I don't even think about what Iwant, though.
I think about only what hewants, no thought of self-will.
(10:51):
And then it says and coming inthe likeness of men, so he
identified with men because heloved them.
He identified with them, thesestinky flesh bags he loved and
he thought about them, and heidentified with them.
He left his perfectly sanitaryheaven and came down to be born
(11:16):
in an animal trough, dirty fromthe beginning, and he lived as
the dirtiest in the dirty, likepoor, you know.
And that's how he identifiedwith us.
He came to be one of us and,being found in appearance as a
man, it says, he humbled himselfand became obedient to the
point of death, even the deathof the cross.
(11:38):
So he had no thought ofself-preservation.
Right?
You see how Jesus is definingfor us what humility looks like,
what loving humility looks like.
I don't worry about myself, Idon't think about my reputation,
I don't think about my value, Idon't think about
self-preservation.
And so what happens to Jesus?
(11:59):
Therefore, god has also highlyexalted him and given him the
name that is above every nameAmen, right, yeah, he is the
(12:24):
perfect man.
He is the perfect God and heshowed us how to live with
perfect love.
Okay, so now we turn in ourBibles back to 1 Corinthians.
So, with that as our context,we're going to look at 1
Corinthians, chapter 9.
So what's the issue?
Well, in that day, teachers,traveling preachers, would
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travel around on their donkeysand on their horses and walk
around and they would travelthrough.
You know, it doesn't matterwhat religion.
They were not just Christian,but they were basically like
traveling philosophers goingthrough and they would go
through each city and they wouldgo there and they would stand
up in the city square and theywould start teaching their
philosophy and arguing withpeople and preaching, and if you
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liked them, you could give themmoney.
That was the culture.
They would put a little tip jarand it's like donate to Nate
Hubble and they would give totips.
Okay, so the way they showedtheir appreciation was by paying
(13:32):
them money.
The better the message, themore they paid Like, the better,
you're saying, the more tipsyou got.
Does that work out that way?
No, so they had this littleeconomy of traveling
philosophers making their livingtrying to impress people with
(13:53):
their speeches.
Paul didn't do ministry likethat.
That was the worldly way ofthinking.
So, paul, he didn't even accepttheir money.
He's like keep your dirty money.
No, he just said you guys keepyour money.
He loved them.
He's like I love you guys likeJesus does.
So he didn't even accept theirmoney.
But the culture created thisproblem where they had a hard
(14:13):
time accepting him because hedidn't require money, because
culturally they're like well,the better preachers cost more
money, so you must be a terriblepreacher.
So Paul is going to write.
He writes this chapter to showthem that he is an example of
love, selfless love for thischurch.
(14:34):
He's not trying to impress themand he's not trying to gain for
them.
Why?
Why is this all important?
So that then they can take thisexample and then they can
choose to love others with thisactive life of love that Paul
has given them.
An example, a life of humilityand love Make sense.
(14:57):
So that's what we're going tolearn.
Okay, so it begins here.
Am I not an apostle?
Am I not free?
Have I not seen Jesus Christ,our Lord?
Are you not my work in the Lord.
So he asked like four questionsto these guys.
Apostle means sent one, so Paulwas sent specifically to these
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guys.
So they should know how specialthat is.
God sent them a special teacherand pastor, somebody who loved
them.
He shared with them the gospel.
They got saved by listening tohis preaching.
So he feels like their fatherand they could treat him like a
father.
And now they're treating himpoorly.
(15:48):
They're saying Paul schmall,he's nothing, we don't need to
listen to him.
So look what he says.
My defense to those who examineme is this Do we have no right
to eat and drink?
That means buy our own food.
Are we supposed to just behungry and die?
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Do we have no right to takealong a believing wife, as do
other apostles and the brothersof the Lord and Cephas?
So Peter and James, and thebrothers of Jesus, which is
interesting that Jesus hadbrothers and sisters?
So you know Mary wasn't thevirgin forever.
Your Catholic friends will lovethat.
(16:32):
So he's saying I should be ableto support my wife.
He didn't have a wife, but he'slike I could have a wife and
you guys aren't supporting that,but I should be able to eat and
drink.
I should be able to eat anddrink.
I should be able to have a wife, he says.
Or is it only Barnabas and Iwho have no right to refrain
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from working?
Whoever goes to war at his ownexpense?
Who plants a vineyard and doesnot eat of its fruit?
Who tends a flock and does notdrink of the milk of the flock?
We all understand that right.
You guys tend your flocks andyou drink.
Very applicable to our day andage.
So do I say these things as amere man, or does not the law
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also say the same also?
For it is written in the law ofMoses you shall not muzzle an
ox while it treads out the grain.
Is it the oxen God cares about,or does he say it all together
for our sakes?
So basically, when you wouldhave your ox, you would you know
, with all your ox, as you do,you have your oxes and they
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smush on the grain and it getsit out of its grain husks, and
then you're really mean to put amuzzle on them so they can
smell all the nice grain.
It's like smelling just like, Idon't know, wheat.
I guess they would really lovethat, they'd love to eat it.
But you're like no walk and youcan smell it, but you can't
have any.
He says that's really mean.
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So he says is this really aboutoxen?
He says it's for our sakes.
No doubt that it is written,for he who plows should plow in
hope.
He who threshes in hope shouldbe a partaker of this hope.
If we have sown spiritualthings to you, is it a great
thing if we reap your materialthings?
If others are partakers of thisright over you, are we not even
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more so?
All of this means that thechurch should have taken care of
them.
The church should have beenwilling to pay Paul, but they
didn't.
And Paul didn't even ask themto.
He was too busy helping them tounderstand the love of God and
the grace of Jesus.
He wasn't thinking abouthimself, but they should have
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been taking care of him.
But his mind was focused.
He was too busy sharing thegrace of Jesus with them.
So he was purposefully activelyloving them, and that keeps him
from being worried abouthimself.
But the issue has come up.
So he's explaining to them whythey should have been concerned
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about this, but they weren't.
He says this nevertheless.
We have not used this right,but we endure all things lest we
hinder the gospel of Christ.
So he's saying it's fine, I'llwork, I work my own job.
Do you guys?
Anyone?
22 Jesus points available here.
Anyone know what job Paul hadwhen he was working Ten maker?
(19:27):
Ten maker Ooh, I have to spreadall those, so each of you get
one.
He was a tent maker, so he wasspending his time making tents
so he could provide for himselfbecause the church didn't come
alongside him.
And he's saying it's fine, I'lldo it, I don't care, I'm not
even worried about myself, butit would have been nicer for him
to have more time to disciplepeople, more time to pray, more
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time to do the things he wasreally called to do.
But he had no problem with it.
So he says do you not know thatthose who minister the holy
things eat of the things in thetemple and those who serve at
the altar partake of theofferings of the altar?
Even so, the Lord has commandedthose who preach the gospel
should live from the gospel.
But I have used none of thesethings.
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Nor have I written these thingsthat it should be done so to me
, for it would have been betterfor me to die than that anyone
should make my boasting void,for if I preach the gospel.
I have nothing to boast of, forof necessity it is laid on me.
That means I have to preach.
Yes, woe to me if I don'tpreach the gospel, for if I do
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this willingly, I have a reward.
But if, against my will, I'vebeen entrusted with a
stewardship, what is my rewardthen?
That I preach the gospel, I maypresent the gospel of Christ
without charge.
So all of this means that Paul'sentire focus was loving them.
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That's it.
He knows that his reward is inloving them.
So he has no problemsacrificing and not being paid.
He said it's right that pastorsbe paid, but he's like he was
too focused on loving them.
He's not talking abouttreasures, like treasures in
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heaven or like rewards or fancythings.
He says his treasure is to dothe will of God, which is to
love these precious people thathe cares about, to love them as
God loves them.
And so Paul loves these peoplelike God does, and he says that
the loving them is his reward.
He loves loving them so muchthat he finds great value.
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He knows the love of Jesus iscoming to him and that he is
letting it flow through him tothe people in his church.
When he didn't demand to be paid.
The love of God was madeclearer to them.
That's what he's trying toteach him here.
He wanted them to understandthe love of God and when he says
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you don't have to pay me, theysee that love is free.
You don't have to pay for love,guys.
That is a big lesson in here.
You don't have to pay for loveGod has promised you.
He loves you.
You don't have to do a singlething to ever earn that love.
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He can't love you anymore.
You could do everything rightand do miracles and give your
life for the turtles and thepeople and all the stuff here on
the island.
You could be the most perfectperson and he will not love you
one bit more than he loves youright now in your mess.
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He loves you so much.
This is what the purpose ofthis is.
This is the free grace of God.
He gives his grace to us, hislove, for free.
But they misinterpreted this thechurch did because they were
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thinking like it was how theworld works.
It's authority.
When someone's in authority,you have to pay them.
You have to pay them attention.
You have to pay them respect.
You have to pay them respect.
You have to pay them authority.
You have to pay them money.
And Paul said I'm flipping thatall upside down.
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I am an authority over you, butI'm showing you that the
authority of Christ iscompletely upside down.
The greatest has to become theleast, and the whole purpose of
the kingdom is to love oneanother.
And so he was showing them thegreatest amount of love he could
.
He said I love you guys so, somuch, and I'm proving it to you
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by showing you that love is free, because that's the way God's
love works.
All right, so the next littlesection here is about Paul's
flexibility in ministry.
It's another way that his lovewas going to shine through as he
was teaching them about God'slove.
It's his flexibility.
Have you guys ever heard theterm blessed are the flexible,
(24:25):
for they shall not be broken?
Right?
I was watching a football gamelast night and a guy's leg
snapped in half.
It gives you the heebie-jeebies, okay.
So it says for though I am freefrom all men, I have made myself
a servant to all.
I have made myself a servant toall, okay.
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So what does that show?
Paul is focused on others.
This shows his humility Again.
Always others focus.
I don't have to love them, Idon't have to tell them anything
.
But I'm free.
And I am free I can do whateverI want.
But in my freedom I choose tobecome a servant of everyone.
I freely offer myself.
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No one is making me, even God,except that pesky love of God
that fills my heart, makes mechoose to love others and
sacrifice daily for their good.
That pesky love of God, I hopeyou guys feel, that pesky love
of God that will not let youcontinue living self-focused,
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selfish lives.
That I might win the more.
That's Paul's purpose in beingflexible.
And to the Jews I become as aJew, that I might win the Jews.
To those who are under the law,as under the law.
That I might win those who areunder the law.
To those who are without thelaw, as without law.
But he clarifies not beingwithout law towards God, but
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under law towards Christ.
Okay, so, yes, we are not underthe law.
So what does that mean?
You can go do cocaine with theguy who's doing cocaine to show
them the love of Jesus.
No, yeah, that's a weird church.
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No, remember the love of God,the law of Christ.
We learned about this two weeksago.
The law of Jesus was believe inJesus.
That's the first law that we'reunder now.
So we're not under any of theTen Commandments or that law,
but we're under this law.
Believe in Jesus and let hislove that you believe now, let
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it flow through you to loveothers.
So love others as I have lovedyou.
Believe and love, that's whatwe are as Christians.
That's our law, so we are underthat law when we're dealing
with others.
So he's basically saying you cando whatever you want, as long
as it's loving.
As long as it's loving I'll sayit again for the people in the
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back as long as it's loving, youare free.
He says that I might win thosewho are without law To the weak.
I become as weak that I mightwin the weak.
I have become all things to allmen that I might by all means
save some.
Now this I do for the gospel'ssake, that I might be a partaker
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of it with you.
Okay, so this isn't being fake.
This isn't being fake.
It's identifying with peopleand relating to them,
understanding where they'recoming from, listening to them.
Do it as much as you can, up tothe point of doing something
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that dishonors God, so you cansit with them in a bar, you can
be with them where they're at.
You can love on them.
Just don't sin with people.
Don't go sit and sin with them.
Sit with them where they're at,listen to them, understand
their context.
Don't make them feel bad aboutwhere they're at or what they're
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struggling with or the wordsthat they say, and we do this so
that we can share the truth andget people saved.
You know what instantly turnspeople off when we, as
Christians, get offended.
Don't get offended.
Why are we offended?
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That unbelievers act likeunbelievers?
Shouldn't we expect that?
And then Jesus says you werelike that, you were an idiot,
and I came and loved you andrescued you.
So you should absolutely neverget offended by anything any
unbeliever does.
Sit with them, bear with them,love on them, listen to their
(28:55):
words it doesn't matter whatthey say or how they say it and
then speak truth in love as aresponse.
That's how you can respectfullyshare the gospel, and that's
what he's saying here.
So we can share the gospel asmuch as we can.
So that's the mission Loveothers so we can share the good
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news of Jesus with them.
That's what we're doing here.
Now let's look at the athlete'sexample.
Paul's going to give us anexample from athletics.
Do you not know that those whorun in a race all run?
You're like duh, right, I guessif you're not running in the
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race, you're running it wrong.
But one receives the prize.
Okay, run in such a way thatyou may obtain it and everyone
who competes for the prize istemperate in all things.
Now, paul loved sports.
He was a huge football fan.
How do I know this?
Because he talked about sports12 times and mostly it was about
(30:03):
running, wrestling andgladiators and, as we all know,
that was football and get out.
Just kidding, just kidding, allright, where am I?
(30:25):
You distracted me, see, look atyou.
Well done, I can see why he'salways distracting you with his
little comments.
We love you, Mark.
Okay, so he's saying betemperate in all things.
So it's not simply discipline,okay.
(30:45):
So people sometimes think thatbeing a Christian means you have
to be super disciplined and youget these really legalistic
militant groups that are likecome to our church camp and
we're going to teach you how tobe like climbing through the mud
, and what was that place called?
There's a documentary shewatched recently that was like
(31:05):
one of these horrible places andthey're like trying to get you
to be this like special forcesfor Jesus.
This is not simply talkingabout discipline.
It's not trying to sourcegoodness from our flesh or hard
work or efforts.
We got to make that distinction.
That's not what Paul is sayinghere.
But it is training, and what Iwant you to see is that it's
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training in grace.
Okay, so we have to disciplineour lives to not live by the
flesh anymore but to live by theSpirit, and that does take a
discipline.
That's why Paul said it's nolonger I who live, but Christ
lives in me.
That doesn't just happen.
The truth of it happens.
But we have to learn.
(31:48):
The Bible says three times inthe New Testament to renew your
mind, to train your mind, totake every thought captive.
That's because it takesdiscipline to learn anything.
If you want to learn how to fly, you got to practice.
You got to learn how to fly.
If you want to learn how todrive, you got to.
Some of us learn how to driveand practice Down here in Texas.
(32:08):
I'm not sure if they practiceor learn, but and you can see
the results are it's terribleright.
So if you just try to be aChristian, you're going to fail
miserably.
He says there is a discipline.
And the discipline is this youare going to wake up every
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morning and the first, yourdefault position is I got to
work for what I get from God.
Today, I got to do, do, do.
What am I going to do today forJesus?
I'm going to read my Bible, I'mgoing to pray, I'm going to
tell 10 people about Jesus andI'm going to walk three old
ladies across the street.
And that's how we wake up everyday and it takes discipline to
(32:50):
every day.
Move away from thisperformance-based religion and
move into a relationship withJesus where we open the word to
receive and celebrate what Jesushas already given to us and we
share the gospel because we'reoverflowing with love and we're
not thinking about ourselves.
That is this massive change.
(33:12):
That takes discipline.
It takes discipline.
I'm meeting with many guysthroughout the week and we get
together and we study the samething every week the grace of
Jesus.
Why do we discipline ourselvesto do that?
And it's hard work and we spendan hour, hour and a half, two
hours, sometimes, three hourssometimes going through it.
Why do we do that?
Because it's disciplining ourmind to think rightly, according
(33:37):
to truth, because our mind'sall squirrely and it'll go all
over the place.
But this is the discipline he'stalking about.
It's the discipline of agrace-centered life.
It takes discipline Because youwill naturally be religious no
matter what.
So he says now, they do it toobtain a perishable crown, but
(34:00):
we for an imperishable crown.
So serving God in the spiritmatters.
Your life will matter.
Your spiritual life mattersmost, more than your physical
life.
It is eternally valuable.
And see, he's not talking aboutphysical discipline here, or
else he would say it would be aphysical prize.
(34:21):
But it's not, it's a spiritualthing.
He says, therefore, I run thus,not with uncertainty, but I
fight, not as one who beats theair, but I discipline my body to
bring it into subjection lest,when I have preached to others,
I myself should becomedisqualified.
And the word disqualified inGreek means not to stand the
test of fire like metal.
(34:42):
So if a metal was good, theywould put it in the fire, it
would heat up and it wouldn'tbreak or bend or whatever the
metal would do.
So what he's saying here is Ihave to practice and fight to
maintain my confidence in Jesusalone.
You have to practice it and Godwill give in Jesus alone.
You have to practice it and Godwill give you little tests,
different things that come by,and the test is am I going to
(35:03):
rely on myself or am I going totrust in Jesus?
Am I going to have self-trustor Jesus-trust?
Am I going to depend on mywisdom or the wisdom of Jesus?
Which one am I trusting in?
God says if you want to knowthe wisdom, I'll tell you, but
are you even going to trust it?
Are we even going to trust it?
(35:24):
I have to practice and fight tomaintain my confidence in Jesus
alone.
The flesh always wants me totrust in it, because since I was
a kindergartner, everyone inschool said you can in it.
Because since I was akindergartner, everyone in
school said you can do it.
And then you know Nike, everycommercial just do it.
(35:46):
And so our entire.
And then you know the devil,even his whole thing is just do
it without God.
You don't need God.
Just do what makes you happy,dude.
And we fall for it.
So we have to be vigilant andcontinue to trust in the work of
Jesus alone.
(36:07):
Does anyone ever struggle with?
Am I really saved?
Am I doing the right thing?
What should I be doing?
If you look to yourself toanswer that question, well, what
have I been doing?
Am I saved?
Well, am I a good person?
You're barking up the wrongtree.
You're walking down the wrongpath.
You never look to yourself.
Who do you look at to determineif you're saved?
(36:30):
Jesus?
They literally fought warsabout this in the 1500s.
In the Reformation, there wasthe big majority of the church
that was like no, you gotta dowhat the church says.
And then the Bible's like no,look to Jesus and your
confidence is in Him alone.
And we're still fighting thatbattle today.
(36:52):
We must be vigilant to continueour trust in the finished work
of Jesus.
And then we gotta grow in graceand be trust in the finished
work of Jesus.
And then we got to grow ingrace and be strong in grace.
That's how you grow and bestrong, like working out well,
that's you grow in faith.
Disciplined in this text.
Here is actually a weaktranslation.
So the word actually means Igive a black eye to my body.
(37:14):
The Greek is give a black eyeLike okay.
The Greek is give a black eyeLike okay, paul.
What are you saying then?
And then the next word is Ibring it into subjection.
So I give a black eye to mybody and I bring it to
subjection, which means I leadit around as a slave.
So Paul's saying I give myselfa black eye and I lead myself
(37:37):
around as a slave.
You know what he's saying.
I give myself a black eye and Ileave myself around as a slave.
You know what he's saying.
I'm the captain now.
I'm the captain now.
Body, you want to live life foryour pleasure.
Flesh, you want to do thingsyour way.
You know what?
Boom, black eye.
You know, put a slave.
No, we're doing things my way.
(37:59):
Which?
Who am I really?
What's my real identity?
I'm a child of God.
I am His.
And you know our flesh isn'tevil.
Our flesh is actually neutraland Jesus says he loves your
body.
He saved your body, he'scleansed your body, so your
body's pure.
It's the temple of God.
God loves your body, but yourbody's not in control.
I'm the captain now.
(38:20):
Jesus says I live in you.
I'm the captain now.
Your body's not evil, it's justgoing to try to take control if
we don't keep our hope centeredon the grace of Jesus alone.
It wants to jump in and startliving by law and performance,
(38:41):
because that's what our bodyunderstands and our brain
understands.
Look, I can do it.
I can live life the way I wantto live.
That's what our body thinks,because that's how every human
being thinks, and that's how theworld works.
But it's not how the gospelworks.
It's not how God works andthat's how the world works, but
it's not how the gospel works.
It's not how God works.
(39:04):
Remember what Paul alreadytaught us at the end of chapter
6 in 1 Corinthians.
If you're in your Bible, justgo back.
This one should be highlightedfrom a few weeks ago.
He said for you were bought ata price.
Therefore, glorify God in yourbody and in your spirit, which
are.
They belong to God.
Your body and your spirit werebought at a price.
Jesus loves them, so offer themto him.
(39:27):
God owns both your body andyour spirit.
God loves both your body oryour spirit.
Have you ever gone to the storeand bought something you didn't
love?
You're like I hate this, let mebuy it.
We respond to God's love, thisact that he did of purchasing us
, redeeming us, by offering himall of ourselves as a living and
(39:52):
loving sacrifice of praise.
He is worth it.
He is worth it.
He's worth it.
You guys are blessed becauseGod loves you and he's bought
you.
You will never disappoint him.
You are so loved by him.
(40:18):
As the team comes up here tosing a song for us, I just want
to spend some time praying foryou guys.
Father, we set our eyes to you,jesus, because we are just
barely scratching the surface ofhow much you love us.
We are barely understanding thedepth and the width and the
(40:41):
height of your love.
But I know, I know.
I know that your spirit isworking in every single person
here to help us understand andbelieve in the truth, that we
are loved, that we have valueand that, jesus, you are with us
(41:02):
and the things you havepromised us, they are true.
And so, jesus, I pray that wewould respond to this love by
offering you every thought,every moment, every word.
We offer you our lives as emptycups.
(41:23):
Jesus, use us and Jesus, weregret the times that we have
not chosen to live by love.
We regret that because wedidn't run the race, we sat down
(41:45):
and sat on the bench and sat onthe sidelines just thinking of
ourselves and Jesus.
We repent of that.
Lord, we want to get up andstart following you, even if we
just start following at a walk,not even a jog right now, but
(42:06):
just keeping our eyes on you.
Jesus, take us by the hand andlead us in the way that we
should go.
Jesus, we trust in you and notourselves.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
I'm the captain now.
That's the name of today'ssermon.
Have you guys seen this movieor that movie?
Sorry, there's no picture upthere.
Have you seen this movie sogood?
No, okay.
So, yeah, captain Phillips, isthis movie with Tom Hanks?
Obviously, everyone loves TomHanks.
He's like your grandpa or sonfor some of you All, right, well
(00:31):
, in this movie he's like acaptain and these Somalian
pirates take control of his ship.
And this guy's awesome becausehe's like look at me, I'm the
captain now.
Remember that, because at thevery end of the sermon it'll
come back, but this is called aforeshadow and it'll be a
callback.
So there you go.
All right, I'm the captain now.
(01:00):
Well, the part of the gospelthat we're going to be learning
about today is how it applies toour life through love, how
we're supposed to love otherpeople.
Okay, so, as we put on ourgrace glasses, it tells us we
look at the whole worlddifferently, so we see ourselves
differently.
We see that we're loved andthat God has grace with us, but
then we also see how we're goingto respond and how we're going
to treat people.
So we're going to learn how tochoose loving others instead of
(01:21):
being selfish.
Sounds simple, but we'll seethe reason why it's so important
.
And it's kind of a lot likelast week, if you remember, with
us last week we learned thatthe way we treat others is more
important than what we want orwhat choices we make with our
freedom in Christ.
Excuse me, so last week it wasin regard to the eating meat
(01:46):
sacrificed to idols.
So Paul says, yeah, you're freeto eat meat sacrificed to idols
, but be careful what you do,because sometimes you might not
be loving the person next to you, even though you're allowed to
do such things.
So we talked about things likemovies and different choices
that we can make, that we'reabsolutely free.
You are free, but you can't justdo anything because sometimes
(02:08):
it's not love and so we'resupposed to use our freedom, but
we're under a law to Christ tolove people as he has loved us.
So it's not a law like you haveto do this.
It's a law like you've beenloved, and that's now your new
identity, and so you're gonnalove others like you've been
loved.
So that's now your new identityand so you're going to love
others like you've been loved.
So it's a different kind of law.
So our identity now is love.
(02:30):
So the love of Jesus needs tobe shown in what you do.
That's your identity.
It's who you are.
It's not whether you feel likeit or like it.
It's who you are.
Just like a frog ribbits, right?
What sound do turtles make?
They croak, do it?
(03:00):
Do it?
Okay?
Everyone go up to Taylor laterand say give us the turtle sound
, because now I'm really curiousand that's all I'm thinking
about.
Okay, we'll have to figure itout later.
Amy knows it for sure, I know,but I'm not teasing Amy right
now.
Okay, okay, all right, lovingisn't just something you're
(03:28):
going to choose to do, but youare.
But it's who you are.
It's who you are.
So, this new command that Jesustells us how to live this life
in John 13, 34, it says a newcommand I give you that you love
one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another
as I have loved you, that youalso love one another.
Now, this is different from theold covenant of law which said
(03:51):
love God perfectly and loveothers perfectly.
Now, that command you can't do.
Let me prove it to you.
Do you love God?
Yeah, I love God.
Well, let me rephrase that theright way.
Do you love God the way hedeserves to be loved all the
time, from the moment you'reborn to the moment you die?
No.
So do you love God?
No, according to the law, we'renot successful at that.
(04:13):
Do you love other people?
Barely so?
That's the law, sometimes right, but the way they deserve to be
loved from the moment youbreathe your first breath to the
moment you die.
Do you love everyone perfectly?
No, we don't do that.
That's the law and that is thestandard for every human being.
But it's a good thing thatwe've been saved from the law.
(04:36):
The law is still perfect, thelaw is still good, but Jesus
said that's not gonna work.
I have to love you first, and Igot to put my love inside you
and then you can just be who youare, and that is going to be a
loving person.
It's going to start coming outof you like fruit.
So this new command is to letJesus live through you.
(05:00):
The word let is the mostimportant thing.
You're either going to takecontrol of your life and try to
live your life the way you wantit, holding things back, or
you're going to let Jesus livethrough you.
It's a letting go, it's asurrender, it's a releasing of
control and we hate that becausewe love control, because every
(05:24):
time we've been out of controlin our lives, people have
generally hurt us.
So we try to take control ofour lives and guard ourselves
from being hurt and protectourselves.
And Jesus is like I really wishyou would trust me.
I love you, I really do careabout you and allow me to live
(05:45):
through you.
So it's the let is the key wordhere.
Let Jesus live through you.
The love we have for others isthe love he has for us first.
So we never have to source thislove in ourselves.
We receive this love first andthen it can flow out of us.
And that's the gospel of gracein action, in action.
(06:09):
Action is the key word there.
Some people say grace ispassive.
You grace people.
You're a bunch of sloppy, agape, lazy, bump-on-a-log Christians
.
You just sit there on yourcouch and think Jesus will do
everything for you.
But nothing could be more wrong.
Nothing could be further thanthe truth, because we have to
make active choices to loveothers.
(06:33):
So we make active choices toactively love.
We live a life of active love.
You let everything be done,everything you do be done in
love.
So it's so active that itliterally is everything that you
(06:53):
do is supposed to be done inlove.
Today, we're going to learn howto take control of our lives by
choosing to live a life offaith and humility, saying I'm
the captain now.
Like you're grabbing someone bythe face saying I'm the captain
now, okay.
Like you're grabbing someone bythe face saying I'm the captain
now, we're going to love Okay.
So we actively receive this.
We actively receive his loveevery day too.
Okay, in fact, at the end ofthis chapter, we're going to see
(07:15):
an athletic analogy.
So anyone like sports I superlove sports.
Football, basketball, those aremy things.
Golf I super love sports.
Football, basketball, those aremy things.
Golf.
Well, we're going to see todaywe're going to see an athletic
analogy talking about this, butwe're actually going to.
Before we get into 1 Corinthiansand read chapter 9, we're going
to start in the book ofPhilippians to learn about
(07:37):
humility and love, which is theway of Jesus.
So this is how Jesus activelyshows love, and it's through the
word humility.
This is how Jesus activelyshows love and it's through the
word humility.
Okay, then we're going to seehow Paul lived it out as an
example to the church in Corinthhis humility which showed love.
So we start in Philippians,chapter 2, verses 3 through 11.
(07:57):
So here is the grace of Godlived out.
This is how to actively beloving, or let the love of God
flow through you.
It says let nothing be donethrough selfish ambition or
conceit, but in lowliness ofmind, let each esteem others
better than himself.
(08:17):
So that's humility.
That's what humility looks likeesteeming others better than
yourself.
I mean you don't care aboutyourself at all.
No, you're just not thinkingabout yourself before you think
of everyone else.
So let each of you look out,not for his own interests, but
also for the interest of others.
See how it's active.
(08:38):
Look out for other people.
Don't just sit there as a bumpon a log doing nothing.
Think about, look out for howyou can serve other people.
Don't just sit there as a bumpon a log doing nothing.
Think about look out for howyou can serve other people.
Then he says let this mind bein you, which was also in Christ
Jesus.
So now this is how to apply thegospel.
Okay, let this mind, becausethe gospel is always.
(08:59):
We got to change our minds.
Let this mind be in you.
Who, being in the form of God,did not consider.
So that means Jesus had nothought of self-importance.
So Jesus was the master of hismind.
Right, he knew who he was inthe spirit, but he bossed around
(09:21):
his mind.
He told his mind this is whatwe're going to think of, I'm the
captain.
Okay, because even he was man.
So he had flesh he could havehad.
I am God, hear me, roar, I amGod.
And he was fine with being God.
But he had no thought that hehad to build himself up or prop
(09:42):
himself up.
So he had no thought ofself-importance.
That's the definition ofhumility.
Do you have thoughts ofself-importance?
That's not love, the next thing.
But made himself of noreputation.
He had no thought of self-value.
He didn't have to worry abouthow valuable he was.
(10:03):
His value came from God lovinghim.
So he knew God valued him.
He didn't have to try to buildup his own value.
We don't have to build up ourown value.
We can leave that in ourfather's hands.
Then it says taking the form ofa bond servant.
Taking the form of abondservant, that means a slave,
(10:30):
a willing slave.
So that means he had no thoughtof self-will.
Do you see how he's bossing hismind around?
He's saying this is how I'mgoing to think.
It's not about what I want.
I'm a bondservant.
I choose to do everything.
My father says I'm in charge ofwhat I do.
I'm a bond servant by will.
I don't even think about what Iwant, though.
I think about only what hewants, no thought of self-will.
(10:51):
And then it says and coming inthe likeness of men, so he
identified with men because heloved them.
He identified with them, thesestinky flesh bags he loved and
he thought about them, and heidentified with them.
He left his perfectly sanitaryheaven and came down to be born
(11:16):
in an animal trough, dirty fromthe beginning, and he lived as
the dirtiest in the dirty, likepoor, you know.
And that's how he identifiedwith us.
He came to be one of us and,being found in appearance as a
man, it says, he humbled himselfand became obedient to the
point of death, even the deathof the cross.
(11:38):
So he had no thought ofself-preservation.
Right?
You see how Jesus is definingfor us what humility looks like,
what loving humility looks like.
I don't worry about myself, Idon't think about my reputation,
I don't think about my value, Idon't think about
self-preservation.
And so what happens to Jesus?
(11:59):
Therefore, god has also highlyexalted him and given him the
name that is above every nameAmen, right, yeah, he is the
(12:24):
perfect man.
He is the perfect God and heshowed us how to live with
perfect love.
Okay, so now we turn in ourBibles back to 1 Corinthians.
So, with that as our context,we're going to look at 1
Corinthians, chapter 9.
So what's the issue?
Well, in that day, teachers,traveling preachers, would
(12:44):
travel around on their donkeysand on their horses and walk
around and they would travelthrough.
You know, it doesn't matterwhat religion.
They were not just Christian,but they were basically like
traveling philosophers goingthrough and they would go
through each city and they wouldgo there and they would stand
up in the city square and theywould start teaching their
philosophy and arguing withpeople and preaching, and if you
(13:06):
liked them, you could give themmoney.
That was the culture.
They would put a little tip jarand it's like donate to Nate
Hubble and they would give totips.
Okay, so the way they showedtheir appreciation was by paying
(13:32):
them money.
The better the message, themore they paid Like, the better,
you're saying, the more tipsyou got.
Does that work out that way?
No, so they had this littleeconomy of traveling
philosophers making their livingtrying to impress people with
(13:53):
their speeches.
Paul didn't do ministry likethat.
That was the worldly way ofthinking.
So, paul, he didn't even accepttheir money.
He's like keep your dirty money.
No, he just said you guys keepyour money.
He loved them.
He's like I love you guys likeJesus does.
So he didn't even accept theirmoney.
But the culture created thisproblem where they had a hard
(14:13):
time accepting him because hedidn't require money, because
culturally they're like well,the better preachers cost more
money, so you must be a terriblepreacher.
So Paul is going to write.
He writes this chapter to showthem that he is an example of
love, selfless love for thischurch.
(14:34):
He's not trying to impress themand he's not trying to gain for
them.
Why?
Why is this all important?
So that then they can take thisexample and then they can
choose to love others with thisactive life of love that Paul
has given them.
An example, a life of humilityand love Make sense.
(14:57):
So that's what we're going tolearn.
Okay, so it begins here.
Am I not an apostle?
Am I not free?
Have I not seen Jesus Christ,our Lord?
Are you not my work in the Lord.
So he asked like four questionsto these guys.
Apostle means sent one, so Paulwas sent specifically to these
(15:26):
guys.
So they should know how specialthat is.
God sent them a special teacherand pastor, somebody who loved
them.
He shared with them the gospel.
They got saved by listening tohis preaching.
So he feels like their fatherand they could treat him like a
father.
And now they're treating himpoorly.
(15:48):
They're saying Paul schmall,he's nothing, we don't need to
listen to him.
So look what he says.
My defense to those who examineme is this Do we have no right
to eat and drink?
That means buy our own food.
Are we supposed to just behungry and die?
(16:08):
Do we have no right to takealong a believing wife, as do
other apostles and the brothersof the Lord and Cephas?
So Peter and James, and thebrothers of Jesus, which is
interesting that Jesus hadbrothers and sisters?
So you know Mary wasn't thevirgin forever.
Your Catholic friends will lovethat.
(16:32):
So he's saying I should be ableto support my wife.
He didn't have a wife, but he'slike I could have a wife and
you guys aren't supporting that,but I should be able to eat and
drink.
I should be able to eat anddrink.
I should be able to have a wife, he says.
Or is it only Barnabas and Iwho have no right to refrain
(16:53):
from working?
Whoever goes to war at his ownexpense?
Who plants a vineyard and doesnot eat of its fruit?
Who tends a flock and does notdrink of the milk of the flock?
We all understand that right.
You guys tend your flocks andyou drink.
Very applicable to our day andage.
So do I say these things as amere man, or does not the law
(17:16):
also say the same also?
For it is written in the law ofMoses you shall not muzzle an
ox while it treads out the grain.
Is it the oxen God cares about,or does he say it all together
for our sakes?
So basically, when you wouldhave your ox, you would you know
, with all your ox, as you do,you have your oxes and they
(17:38):
smush on the grain and it getsit out of its grain husks, and
then you're really mean to put amuzzle on them so they can
smell all the nice grain.
It's like smelling just like, Idon't know, wheat.
I guess they would really lovethat, they'd love to eat it.
But you're like no walk and youcan smell it, but you can't
have any.
He says that's really mean.
(18:01):
So he says is this really aboutoxen?
He says it's for our sakes.
No doubt that it is written,for he who plows should plow in
hope.
He who threshes in hope shouldbe a partaker of this hope.
If we have sown spiritualthings to you, is it a great
thing if we reap your materialthings?
If others are partakers of thisright over you, are we not even
(18:22):
more so?
All of this means that thechurch should have taken care of
them.
The church should have beenwilling to pay Paul, but they
didn't.
And Paul didn't even ask themto.
He was too busy helping them tounderstand the love of God and
the grace of Jesus.
He wasn't thinking abouthimself, but they should have
(18:47):
been taking care of him.
But his mind was focused.
He was too busy sharing thegrace of Jesus with them.
So he was purposefully activelyloving them, and that keeps him
from being worried abouthimself.
But the issue has come up.
So he's explaining to them whythey should have been concerned
(19:07):
about this, but they weren't.
He says this nevertheless.
We have not used this right,but we endure all things lest we
hinder the gospel of Christ.
So he's saying it's fine, I'llwork, I work my own job.
Do you guys?
Anyone?
22 Jesus points available here.
Anyone know what job Paul hadwhen he was working Ten maker?
(19:27):
Ten maker Ooh, I have to spreadall those, so each of you get
one.
He was a tent maker, so he wasspending his time making tents
so he could provide for himselfbecause the church didn't come
alongside him.
And he's saying it's fine, I'lldo it, I don't care, I'm not
even worried about myself, butit would have been nicer for him
to have more time to disciplepeople, more time to pray, more
(19:51):
time to do the things he wasreally called to do.
But he had no problem with it.
So he says do you not know thatthose who minister the holy
things eat of the things in thetemple and those who serve at
the altar partake of theofferings of the altar?
Even so, the Lord has commandedthose who preach the gospel
should live from the gospel.
But I have used none of thesethings.
(20:12):
Nor have I written these thingsthat it should be done so to me
, for it would have been betterfor me to die than that anyone
should make my boasting void,for if I preach the gospel.
I have nothing to boast of, forof necessity it is laid on me.
That means I have to preach.
Yes, woe to me if I don'tpreach the gospel, for if I do
(20:35):
this willingly, I have a reward.
But if, against my will, I'vebeen entrusted with a
stewardship, what is my rewardthen?
That I preach the gospel, I maypresent the gospel of Christ
without charge.
So all of this means that Paul'sentire focus was loving them.
(20:58):
That's it.
He knows that his reward is inloving them.
So he has no problemsacrificing and not being paid.
He said it's right that pastorsbe paid, but he's like he was
too focused on loving them.
He's not talking abouttreasures, like treasures in
(21:23):
heaven or like rewards or fancythings.
He says his treasure is to dothe will of God, which is to
love these precious people thathe cares about, to love them as
God loves them.
And so Paul loves these peoplelike God does, and he says that
the loving them is his reward.
He loves loving them so muchthat he finds great value.
(21:47):
He knows the love of Jesus iscoming to him and that he is
letting it flow through him tothe people in his church.
When he didn't demand to be paid.
The love of God was madeclearer to them.
That's what he's trying toteach him here.
He wanted them to understandthe love of God and when he says
(22:09):
you don't have to pay me, theysee that love is free.
You don't have to pay for love,guys.
That is a big lesson in here.
You don't have to pay for loveGod has promised you.
He loves you.
You don't have to do a singlething to ever earn that love.
(22:32):
He can't love you anymore.
You could do everything rightand do miracles and give your
life for the turtles and thepeople and all the stuff here on
the island.
You could be the most perfectperson and he will not love you
one bit more than he loves youright now in your mess.
(22:54):
He loves you so much.
This is what the purpose ofthis is.
This is the free grace of God.
He gives his grace to us, hislove, for free.
But they misinterpreted this thechurch did because they were
(23:15):
thinking like it was how theworld works.
It's authority.
When someone's in authority,you have to pay them.
You have to pay them attention.
You have to pay them respect.
You have to pay them respect.
You have to pay them authority.
You have to pay them money.
And Paul said I'm flipping thatall upside down.
(23:37):
I am an authority over you, butI'm showing you that the
authority of Christ iscompletely upside down.
The greatest has to become theleast, and the whole purpose of
the kingdom is to love oneanother.
And so he was showing them thegreatest amount of love he could
.
He said I love you guys so, somuch, and I'm proving it to you
(24:02):
by showing you that love is free, because that's the way God's
love works.
All right, so the next littlesection here is about Paul's
flexibility in ministry.
It's another way that his lovewas going to shine through as he
was teaching them about God'slove.
It's his flexibility.
Have you guys ever heard theterm blessed are the flexible,
(24:25):
for they shall not be broken?
Right?
I was watching a football gamelast night and a guy's leg
snapped in half.
It gives you the heebie-jeebies, okay.
So it says for though I am freefrom all men, I have made myself
a servant to all.
I have made myself a servant toall, okay.
(24:46):
So what does that show?
Paul is focused on others.
This shows his humility Again.
Always others focus.
I don't have to love them, Idon't have to tell them anything
.
But I'm free.
And I am free I can do whateverI want.
But in my freedom I choose tobecome a servant of everyone.
I freely offer myself.
(25:07):
No one is making me, even God,except that pesky love of God
that fills my heart, makes mechoose to love others and
sacrifice daily for their good.
That pesky love of God, I hopeyou guys feel, that pesky love
of God that will not let youcontinue living self-focused,
(25:32):
selfish lives.
That I might win the more.
That's Paul's purpose in beingflexible.
And to the Jews I become as aJew, that I might win the Jews.
To those who are under the law,as under the law.
That I might win those who areunder the law.
To those who are without thelaw, as without law.
But he clarifies not beingwithout law towards God, but
(25:57):
under law towards Christ.
Okay, so, yes, we are not underthe law.
So what does that mean?
You can go do cocaine with theguy who's doing cocaine to show
them the love of Jesus.
No, yeah, that's a weird church.
(26:18):
No, remember the love of God,the law of Christ.
We learned about this two weeksago.
The law of Jesus was believe inJesus.
That's the first law that we'reunder now.
So we're not under any of theTen Commandments or that law,
but we're under this law.
Believe in Jesus and let hislove that you believe now, let
(26:39):
it flow through you to loveothers.
So love others as I have lovedyou.
Believe and love, that's whatwe are as Christians.
That's our law, so we are underthat law when we're dealing
with others.
So he's basically saying you cando whatever you want, as long
as it's loving.
As long as it's loving I'll sayit again for the people in the
(27:02):
back as long as it's loving, youare free.
He says that I might win thosewho are without law To the weak.
I become as weak that I mightwin the weak.
I have become all things to allmen that I might by all means
save some.
Now this I do for the gospel'ssake, that I might be a partaker
(27:23):
of it with you.
Okay, so this isn't being fake.
This isn't being fake.
It's identifying with peopleand relating to them,
understanding where they'recoming from, listening to them.
Do it as much as you can, up tothe point of doing something
(27:46):
that dishonors God, so you cansit with them in a bar, you can
be with them where they're at.
You can love on them.
Just don't sin with people.
Don't go sit and sin with them.
Sit with them where they're at,listen to them, understand
their context.
Don't make them feel bad aboutwhere they're at or what they're
(28:07):
struggling with or the wordsthat they say, and we do this so
that we can share the truth andget people saved.
You know what instantly turnspeople off when we, as
Christians, get offended.
Don't get offended.
Why are we offended?
(28:28):
That unbelievers act likeunbelievers?
Shouldn't we expect that?
And then Jesus says you werelike that, you were an idiot,
and I came and loved you andrescued you.
So you should absolutely neverget offended by anything any
unbeliever does.
Sit with them, bear with them,love on them, listen to their
(28:55):
words it doesn't matter whatthey say or how they say it and
then speak truth in love as aresponse.
That's how you can respectfullyshare the gospel, and that's
what he's saying here.
So we can share the gospel asmuch as we can.
So that's the mission Loveothers so we can share the good
(29:15):
news of Jesus with them.
That's what we're doing here.
Now let's look at the athlete'sexample.
Paul's going to give us anexample from athletics.
Do you not know that those whorun in a race all run?
You're like duh, right, I guessif you're not running in the
(29:39):
race, you're running it wrong.
But one receives the prize.
Okay, run in such a way thatyou may obtain it and everyone
who competes for the prize istemperate in all things.
Now, paul loved sports.
He was a huge football fan.
How do I know this?
Because he talked about sports12 times and mostly it was about
(30:03):
running, wrestling andgladiators and, as we all know,
that was football and get out.
Just kidding, just kidding, allright, where am I?
(30:25):
You distracted me, see, look atyou.
Well done, I can see why he'salways distracting you with his
little comments.
We love you, Mark.
Okay, so he's saying betemperate in all things.
So it's not simply discipline,okay.
(30:45):
So people sometimes think thatbeing a Christian means you have
to be super disciplined and youget these really legalistic
militant groups that are likecome to our church camp and
we're going to teach you how tobe like climbing through the mud
, and what was that place called?
There's a documentary shewatched recently that was like
(31:05):
one of these horrible places andthey're like trying to get you
to be this like special forcesfor Jesus.
This is not simply talkingabout discipline.
It's not trying to sourcegoodness from our flesh or hard
work or efforts.
We got to make that distinction.
That's not what Paul is sayinghere.
But it is training, and what Iwant you to see is that it's
(31:27):
training in grace.
Okay, so we have to disciplineour lives to not live by the
flesh anymore but to live by theSpirit, and that does take a
discipline.
That's why Paul said it's nolonger I who live, but Christ
lives in me.
That doesn't just happen.
The truth of it happens.
But we have to learn.
(31:48):
The Bible says three times inthe New Testament to renew your
mind, to train your mind, totake every thought captive.
That's because it takesdiscipline to learn anything.
If you want to learn how to fly, you got to practice.
You got to learn how to fly.
If you want to learn how todrive, you got to.
Some of us learn how to driveand practice Down here in Texas.
(32:08):
I'm not sure if they practiceor learn, but and you can see
the results are it's terribleright.
So if you just try to be aChristian, you're going to fail
miserably.
He says there is a discipline.
And the discipline is this youare going to wake up every
(32:29):
morning and the first, yourdefault position is I got to
work for what I get from God.
Today, I got to do, do, do.
What am I going to do today forJesus?
I'm going to read my Bible, I'mgoing to pray, I'm going to
tell 10 people about Jesus andI'm going to walk three old
ladies across the street.
And that's how we wake up everyday and it takes discipline to
(32:50):
every day.
Move away from thisperformance-based religion and
move into a relationship withJesus where we open the word to
receive and celebrate what Jesushas already given to us and we
share the gospel because we'reoverflowing with love and we're
not thinking about ourselves.
That is this massive change.
(33:12):
That takes discipline.
It takes discipline.
I'm meeting with many guysthroughout the week and we get
together and we study the samething every week the grace of
Jesus.
Why do we discipline ourselvesto do that?
And it's hard work and we spendan hour, hour and a half, two
hours, sometimes, three hourssometimes going through it.
Why do we do that?
Because it's disciplining ourmind to think rightly, according
(33:37):
to truth, because our mind'sall squirrely and it'll go all
over the place.
But this is the discipline he'stalking about.
It's the discipline of agrace-centered life.
It takes discipline Because youwill naturally be religious no
matter what.
So he says now, they do it toobtain a perishable crown, but
(34:00):
we for an imperishable crown.
So serving God in the spiritmatters.
Your life will matter.
Your spiritual life mattersmost, more than your physical
life.
It is eternally valuable.
And see, he's not talking aboutphysical discipline here, or
else he would say it would be aphysical prize.
(34:21):
But it's not, it's a spiritualthing.
He says, therefore, I run thus,not with uncertainty, but I
fight, not as one who beats theair, but I discipline my body to
bring it into subjection lest,when I have preached to others,
I myself should becomedisqualified.
And the word disqualified inGreek means not to stand the
test of fire like metal.
(34:42):
So if a metal was good, theywould put it in the fire, it
would heat up and it wouldn'tbreak or bend or whatever the
metal would do.
So what he's saying here is Ihave to practice and fight to
maintain my confidence in Jesusalone.
You have to practice it and Godwill give in Jesus alone.
You have to practice it and Godwill give you little tests,
different things that come by,and the test is am I going to
(35:03):
rely on myself or am I going totrust in Jesus?
Am I going to have self-trustor Jesus-trust?
Am I going to depend on mywisdom or the wisdom of Jesus?
Which one am I trusting in?
God says if you want to knowthe wisdom, I'll tell you, but
are you even going to trust it?
Are we even going to trust it?
(35:24):
I have to practice and fight tomaintain my confidence in Jesus
alone.
The flesh always wants me totrust in it, because since I was
a kindergartner, everyone inschool said you can in it.
Because since I was akindergartner, everyone in
school said you can do it.
And then you know Nike, everycommercial just do it.
(35:46):
And so our entire.
And then you know the devil,even his whole thing is just do
it without God.
You don't need God.
Just do what makes you happy,dude.
And we fall for it.
So we have to be vigilant andcontinue to trust in the work of
Jesus alone.
(36:07):
Does anyone ever struggle with?
Am I really saved?
Am I doing the right thing?
What should I be doing?
If you look to yourself toanswer that question, well, what
have I been doing?
Am I saved?
Well, am I a good person?
You're barking up the wrongtree.
You're walking down the wrongpath.
You never look to yourself.
Who do you look at to determineif you're saved?
(36:30):
Jesus?
They literally fought warsabout this in the 1500s.
In the Reformation, there wasthe big majority of the church
that was like no, you gotta dowhat the church says.
And then the Bible's like no,look to Jesus and your
confidence is in Him alone.
And we're still fighting thatbattle today.
(36:52):
We must be vigilant to continueour trust in the finished work
of Jesus.
And then we gotta grow in graceand be trust in the finished
work of Jesus.
And then we got to grow ingrace and be strong in grace.
That's how you grow and bestrong, like working out well,
that's you grow in faith.
Disciplined in this text.
Here is actually a weaktranslation.
So the word actually means Igive a black eye to my body.
(37:14):
The Greek is give a black eyeLike okay.
The Greek is give a black eyeLike okay, paul.
What are you saying then?
And then the next word is Ibring it into subjection.
So I give a black eye to mybody and I bring it to
subjection, which means I leadit around as a slave.
So Paul's saying I give myselfa black eye and I lead myself
(37:37):
around as a slave.
You know what he's saying.
I give myself a black eye and Ileave myself around as a slave.
You know what he's saying.
I'm the captain now.
I'm the captain now.
Body, you want to live life foryour pleasure.
Flesh, you want to do thingsyour way.
You know what?
Boom, black eye.
You know, put a slave.
No, we're doing things my way.
(37:59):
Which?
Who am I really?
What's my real identity?
I'm a child of God.
I am His.
And you know our flesh isn'tevil.
Our flesh is actually neutraland Jesus says he loves your
body.
He saved your body, he'scleansed your body, so your
body's pure.
It's the temple of God.
God loves your body, but yourbody's not in control.
I'm the captain now.
(38:20):
Jesus says I live in you.
I'm the captain now.
Your body's not evil, it's justgoing to try to take control if
we don't keep our hope centeredon the grace of Jesus alone.
It wants to jump in and startliving by law and performance,
(38:41):
because that's what our bodyunderstands and our brain
understands.
Look, I can do it.
I can live life the way I wantto live.
That's what our body thinks,because that's how every human
being thinks, and that's how theworld works.
But it's not how the gospelworks.
It's not how God works andthat's how the world works, but
it's not how the gospel works.
It's not how God works.
(39:04):
Remember what Paul alreadytaught us at the end of chapter
6 in 1 Corinthians.
If you're in your Bible, justgo back.
This one should be highlightedfrom a few weeks ago.
He said for you were bought ata price.
Therefore, glorify God in yourbody and in your spirit, which
are.
They belong to God.
Your body and your spirit werebought at a price.
Jesus loves them, so offer themto him.
(39:27):
God owns both your body andyour spirit.
God loves both your body oryour spirit.
Have you ever gone to the storeand bought something you didn't
love?
You're like I hate this, let mebuy it.
We respond to God's love, thisact that he did of purchasing us
, redeeming us, by offering himall of ourselves as a living and
(39:52):
loving sacrifice of praise.
He is worth it.
He is worth it.
He's worth it.
You guys are blessed becauseGod loves you and he's bought
you.
You will never disappoint him.
You are so loved by him.
(40:18):
As the team comes up here tosing a song for us, I just want
to spend some time praying foryou guys.
Father, we set our eyes to you,jesus, because we are just
barely scratching the surface ofhow much you love us.
We are barely understanding thedepth and the width and the
(40:41):
height of your love.
But I know, I know.
I know that your spirit isworking in every single person
here to help us understand andbelieve in the truth, that we
are loved, that we have valueand that, jesus, you are with us
(41:02):
and the things you havepromised us, they are true.
And so, jesus, I pray that wewould respond to this love by
offering you every thought,every moment, every word.
We offer you our lives as emptycups.
(41:23):
Jesus, use us and Jesus, weregret the times that we have
not chosen to live by love.
We regret that because wedidn't run the race, we sat down
(41:45):
and sat on the bench and sat onthe sidelines just thinking of
ourselves and Jesus.
We repent of that.
Lord, we want to get up andstart following you, even if we
just start following at a walk,not even a jog right now, but
(42:06):
just keeping our eyes on you.
Jesus, take us by the hand andlead us in the way that we
should go.
Jesus, we trust in you and notourselves.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
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