The following message was delivered
on Sunday morning, August 18, 2002, in the Adult Sunday School
class at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.
Now let me attempt very briefly to condense into about five minutes
the substance of two hours of exposition and application of
the Word of God. I suggested to you that it would
be helpful if we think of this material under four major headings. the first of which is what I
called an emphatic disclaimer and a sober warning. The disclaimer
distanced what we're doing from the current cult of body worship,
and the warning was that we not move from inactivity and indifference
to the stewardship of our bodies into the cult of body worship. I then suggested that the next
two major headings will be set before you under the imagery
of a string of pearls. And so major heading number two
was the string itself, composed of the larger biblical and theological
context of any responsible consideration of the Christian stewardship
of his body. And following on with the analogy
of the string, I set before you the six strands that, woven together,
comprise this string on which these pierced pearls of biblical
truth are always to be found attached, or to which they are
to be found attached. I just give them to you without
any texts, without any comments. Number one, as a result of the
fall of man, physical abnormalities, liabilities, and degenerative
diseases and various illnesses and death itself are woven into
the fabric of human existence and will remain so until the
redemption of our bodies at the return of Christ. Don't in any
way be seduced by the promise of perfect health from whatever
source. It simply is not true to the
scriptures. Secondly, our concern for and
care of our bodies must always be subservient to the greater
concerns of our souls and the advancement of the kingdom of
God. Strand number three, a long and
healthy life is to be desired and responsibly sought when it
is desired and sought for the sake of fruitfulness for God. Strand number four, poor health,
chronic physical ailments, and premature death may be the result
of an unexplained, mysterious exercise of the absolute sovereignty
of God. Paul, who raised the dead, had
the gift of healing as an apostle, said without embarrassment, Trophimus,
have I left at my lethis sick. There it is. Have I left, at
my lethis, sick? God's absolute sovereignty. On
the other hand, strand number five, poor health, I'm sorry,
number four, poor health, chronic ailments, and premature death
may be the result of divine chastisement for sin or a divine restraint
from sin. And then Sixth strand, poor health,
chronic physical ailments, and premature death, along with all
the consequences of these things, may be the direct result of sinful
carelessness or indifference with respect to the stewardship
of the care of one's body. And that sixth stranded string
must always be present when we think of these pearls, these
specific biblical texts which set forth the heart of the Christian's
duty in relationship to the stewardship of his body. So that brings us
to Roman numeral 3. We looked at the disclaimer and
the warning, Roman numeral 1. Roman numeral 2, the string,
the larger biblical and theological context of this, Roman numeral
3, the pierced and threaded pearls which really are the biblical
case for every Christian exercising a responsible stewardship in
the care of his body. And I stated last Lord's Day
that my purpose in setting forth this biblical case was a two-fold
purpose and I was unembarrassed to lay out my goal without shame,
without any hidden agenda at the outset. My goal is to set
before you a sound biblical case seeking to persuade every Christian
to acquire and promote a conscientious and balanced concern regarding
the stewardship of one's body And secondly, my goal is to set
before you a sound biblical case seeking to persuade every Christian
to implement and promote an informed, disciplined effort in administering
the stewardship of one's body. So the heart of what I'm out
to do is to produce concern and effort and internal conception
and conviction of the mind expressed in external practical disciplines
of the life. Well, then we began to consider
what I'm using in this analogy, the pierced and threaded pearls
that go on that six-stranded string. And we had time to look
at three of them. Number one, an apostolic supplication
which warrants this concern and effort in conjunction with the
stewardship of one's body. Third, John 2, John's prayer
for Gaius. Secondly, an apostolic exhortation,
which warrants this concern and effort, Romans 12, 1 and 2. And
then an apostolic declaration and its application, which warrants
this concern and effort, 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20, where Paul sets
forth the dignity of the body as the purchased temple of the
Lord Jesus Christ. and then gives this applicatory
command, glorify God therefore in your body. Now today, as time
permits, I hope to take up three more of these pierced and threaded
pearls and then, God willing, next week, one final pearl and
some practical application and hopefully have some time for
discussion and interaction. What then is the fourth of these
pierced and threaded pearls? We move from the apostolic supplication,
apostolic exhortation, apostolic declaration, fourthly, an apostolic
assertion which warrants this concern and effort regarding
the stewardship of our bodies. And here I would ask you to turn
with me to 1 Timothy and chapter 4. An apostolic assertion which
warrants this concern and effort regarding the stewardship of
our bodies. Here in 1 Timothy chapter 4,
after giving to Timothy a catalog of directives concerning the
administration of the affairs of the church at Ephesus, Paul
now focuses on Timothy's responsibility to administer the affairs of
his own stewardship as a Christian man and as a servant of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He begins doing this in verse
six. If you put the brethren in mind
of these things, you, Timothy, shall be a good minister of Christ
Jesus, you yourself nourished in the words of the faith and
of the good doctrine which you, Timothy, have followed until
now. But you, Timothy, refuse profane and old wives' fables,
and you, Timothy, Exercise yourself unto godliness, for bodily exercise
is profitable for a little, but godliness is profitable for all
things, having promise of the life which now is, and of that
which is to come. So here in verse 7b, as he is
focusing upon Timothy's stewardship with regard to himself, as a
Christian man and as a servant of Christ, he commands Timothy
to exercise or discipline himself unto godliness. This is a clear
command issued to Timothy. It is a present imperative of
the verb gounazo, and Timothy would have immediately associated
that verb with what men would do in preparation for the Grecian
games. They would strip down in order
to be prepared for serious, vigorous, disciplined, physical exercise
and training to prepare themselves for competition in one or more
aspects of the Grecian games. So when Timothy would read this
letter from Paul, in the imperative, Timothy, amidst all the duties
you have concerning ordering the life of the church, You must
never move away from a conscious, constant, vigorous, exercised
discipline of soul in those things that will cause you to have a
healthy soul. Exercise yourself unto godliness. You, Timothy, are to have a pattern
of conscious, deliberate, consistent use of the appropriate means
just as The athlete has this constant, conscious, disciplined
use of those means that produce physical astuteness, physical
alacrity, physical strength and competence, utility, are to do
that with regard to the pursuit of godliness. Now, having given
that imperative, he now sets before him this comparative statement. Look at the text. bodily exercise
or discipline. And here you have the noun form
of the verb, gumnadzo. We now have, excuse me, a gumnasia. You now have exercise that comes
out of that verb. And he says, you, Timothy, are
to recognize by way of comparison that bodily discipline or exercise
is profitable for a little. Bodily exercise is indeed profitable
for a little, and the commentators differ on the significance of
the word a little. Is it speaking a little in terms
of the extent of its profit in the individual or the extent
of its profit time-wise? Well, both are true. Bodily exercise
is profitable for a little when compared to this spiritual discipline
or exercise, which has promised not only of this life, but of
the life to come. So from the imperative given,
we have the comparison made. bodily gumnasya, vigorous, serious,
disciplined, physical exercise is profitable for a little within
a limited sphere, whereas spiritual gumnasya, vigorous, serious,
disciplined pursuit of godliness has profit for this life and
for the age to come. Now, in setting forth that comparison,
Paul is not giving a negation of the profit of bodily discipline,
he's given one of the most clear positive statements of the positive
benefits of bodily discipline. Lift that statement out of its
comparative structure, and it stands on its own. Bodily discipline
is profitable for a little. Paul recognized that, and he
wants Timothy to recognize it. While the great burden of his
heart is to stir up Timothy to this exercise unto godliness,
in the process of doing it with this comparative statement, he
gives this simple, straightforward statement, this that I call an
apostolic assertion that warrants this concern and effort regarding
the stewardship of the body. bodily exercise or bodily discipline
with all the connotation of what gumnadzo and gumnasio would have
to a first-century Greek-speaking man like Timothy. All the connotations,
bodily exercise, that is, a conscious, deliberate, disciplined effort
with respect to our bodily condition is profitable. Now, granted,
compared with that discipline, that issues in godliness, it
is limited in scope and in time. But within its limits, it is
profitable. Now, have I got your conscience
from the Bible? Yes or no? Do I have your conscience?
All right. Now, the question is, how is
it profitable? Well, if you want to know, there's a tape entitled
Biblical rationale for bodily fitness. Who do you think taught
or preached this? Anyone want to guess? Pastor McDiarmid, that's right.
Back in 1995, Pastor McDiarmid led, in his own assembly, an
adult class taking this text based upon the fundamental exposition
that I've given, and he answers the question, how is it profitable? Nine points. to his answer. Every one of them buttressed
and rooted in the Word of God. And so anxious are we that you
listen to this. A whole bunch of them have been
made. They're sitting on the table at the rear of the upper
foyer, and you get them for nothing with one caveat. If you reach
out your hand to take one, you're making a silent covenant. I'm
going to listen to it. And if you're not making the
silent covenant, take your hand back. It's forbidden goods. All
right? You're an aching, stealing what
doesn't belong to you. If with your hand reaching out,
you're not making the silent covenant, as soon as I can, I'm
going to listen to it. All right? All my joshing aside,
we really want you to hear this. It is a very, very sound, balanced,
helpful explanation of in what ways is bodily exercise profitable. And because he has done such
a thorough job, and because I only have the rest of this class and
next week to finish up, I'm not even going to give you the headings.
I had them all listed, but I said no. I really urge you, please,
get hold of the tape, listen to it, and have the Berean spirit
searching the scriptures to see if these things are so. So then,
We move from an apostolic supplication, an apostolic exhortation, an
apostolic declaration with its application, an apostolic assertion. Now we come to the fifth pierced
pearl, and I call it this, an apostolic observation and example
which warrants the concern and effort regarding the stewardship
of one's body, an apostolic observation and example. Turn please to 1
Corinthians chapter 9. Remember what I'm trying to do.
I'm trying to present a biblical case to persuade you both to
have an intelligent, balanced concern about these issues and
to implement a realistic, helpful, informed regimen of implementation. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Let me read verses 24 to 27. Do you not know that those who
run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Even so run
that you may attain, and every man that strives in the games
exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive
a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so
run, not as uncertainly, so fight I as not beating the air, but
I buffet my body and bring it into bondage, lest by any means
after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected,
disqualified, ad hocimos, reprobate." Now, the context is Paul's dealing
with the issue of Christian liberty. And here in chapter 9, he's been
demonstrating that as a Christian man and as an apostle, that he,
fully conscious of all the areas of his liberty, is willing to
relinquish the exercise of those liberties in one area after another,
if in so doing, he can be more useful in the salvation and edification
of others and in the salvation of his own soul. You follow what
I said? He has been laying out the nature
of our liberty in Christ with regard to things indifferent.
But now in chapter 9, he's saying, now look, as a Christian man
and apostle, I know full well my liberties in Jesus Christ. However, as he says in this passage,
I have used none of these things. He did not relinquish his liberty
in Christ, but again and again he voluntarily relinquished and
restrained the exercise of his liberty in the pursuit of the
salvation of sinners, the edification of saints, and the salvation
of his own soul. Any doctrine of Christian liberty
that does not mirror that is an aberration. It's an aberration, and it's
rife in our circles. Under Christian liberty, all
kinds of impediments to the progress of the gospel, to the edification
of saints, and to the ongoing safety and salvation of souls
is being indulged, and I see it everywhere. They didn't learn the doctrine
of Christian liberty from Paul. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Christ our Lord?
Don't I have a right to lead about a wife? Am I not free from
kosher rules and laws? He said, yes, but, but, I make
myself the slave of the scruples of others, if by any means I
may win. God help us. I'm not going to
digress and preach on that, though everything in me wants to. The
spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets. But I trust
you hear me because I believe it's one of the Trojan horses
of the rising generation in our circles. You haven't been cursed
with fundamentalist, checklist morality. Can't do this, can't
do that, can't do the other. You've heard the doctrine of
Christian liberty taught and expressed. But detach it from
1 Corinthians 9 and it's the bogus product. It's not the real
thing. It's not the real thing. As he comes to verse 23, he makes
it plain that a right practice of liberty is a subset of a larger
view of the nature of the Christian life in general, and that he
wants the Corinthians to view it that way. Look at verse 23.
And I do all things for the gospel's sake, that I personally may be
a joint partaker thereof. When doing these things as a
gospel minister, above all else, I want to make sure that I experience
the full benefit and blessing promised to men in the gospel. And then he goes on to say, do
you not know? Here we have a rhetorical question
in verse 24, a rhetorical question and then a practical application
in the form of an imperative. Here's the rhetorical question.
Do you not know? that they that run in a race
all run, but one receives the prize? You say, now you Corinthians,
you've viewed the Grecian games, and if there are 10 men that
line up at the starting line, you know there's only one that
gets the wreath at the end. If there are 100, some of us
have seen the pictures of 25,000 stacked up at the Verrazano Bridge
beginning the New York Marathon, but among those 25,000, you know
only one's going to break the tape as the winner. Paul says,
you all know that. That's a no-brainer. You all
got it? Yeah, sure. All the Corinthians reading this
are here. They say, yeah, of course, Paul, you think we're stupid?
Sure. We know that everybody enters the race who feels he's
competent to enter the race, but only one's going to receive
the prize. Now the rhetorical question then moves to a very
serious imperative. Look at it. Even so run that
you may attain. Attain what? Attain the prize.
You're in the Christian race. And it won't do to come in second
or third or twenty-fifth. You've got to break the tape.
You've got to complete the course. You see, he's speaking of perseverance.
He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. And in the
very real sense, every true Christian that perseveres to the end wins
the race. I have finished the course, the
apostle said. Every believer who joins him in glory says,
I've finished the course. I've endured to the end by the
grace and power of God and in the way of his appointment. And
so Paul joins to his rhetorical question this practical application
in the form of an imperative. And then he goes on in verse
25. with respect to this very simple
observation with regard to those that are serious about finishing
the race and winning. And every man that strives in
the games, whether a race, whether a wrestling match, whatever,
he moves to the broader concept of the Grecian games, very familiar
to the Corinthians, exercises self-control in all things. The man that has any serious
concern to break the tape, to pin his opponent, to knock out
his opponent, to throw the discus the farthest distance, whatever
the particular athletic discipline, the man that's serious about
winning is serious about universal discipline of every facet of
his life in preparation for the contest that he wants to win. All right? Look at the text.
Every man that strives agonizomai, in the games, exercises self-control
in all things. When he thinks in his fantasies
that his discus will go the furthest, lying on his bed he knows how
much sleep he gets, what he eats when he gets up for breakfast,
the kind of regimen he'll be subjected to from morning till
night. The totality of his life is under
the constraints of winning the prize. Now, do you see that with
your own eyes in your own Bible? All right? Now, notice carefully
the parallel Paul's going to draw. Now, they do it. Do what? Exercise self-control
in every facet of life. They do it to what end? Now here's where you have similar
discipline, but utterly disparate goals and motives. They do it
to receive a corruptible crown, a wreath of olive leaves that
will wither in a few days. They do it to receive a corruptible
crown, but notice, but we, we what? We do in the spiritual
realm what they do in the physical realm in order to receive an
incorruptible crown. And what do they do in the physical
realm? They exercise self-control in
every facet of life. Every facet of life is geared
toward winning the prize, breaking the tape, winning the race. Now
you say, they do it with no motive higher than a corruptible crown.
But we do it, that is, We exercise universal discipline and self-control
with a view to persevering to the end and winning the prize. They do it, we do
it, and the it is exercising self-control in all things. See that? I trust you see it
from the text. Now then, we've looked at the contrasting goals. Now Paul's going to move to his
own personal example. So that's why I said we have
an apostolic observation. That's what we've looked at.
And now the example. Now notice Paul moves to the
personal. I, therefore, I so believe what
I'm telling you Corinthians and what I want you to believe. And
you can't deny it because it's a matter of your common observation
with your contact and awareness of what goes on with athletes
contending in the Grecian Games. I, therefore, I so believe this
that I'm ready to set forth myself as an example. And it's emphatic
in the Greek. You have an ego. I for myself. Not just taking the I in the
first person singular of the verb. And you have the person
and number locked up in Greek verbs, but he says, I for myself. In other words, he's conscious.
I'm setting myself forth as an example. And I for myself, therefore,
what do I do? He gives a negative, two negatives, typical
of Paul, and then two positives. He says, I therefore, two images
now under the negative. He says, I'm not a meandering,
unfocused runner. I therefore so run as not uncertainly. I am not a rambling, meandering,
unfocused runner who's out there just jogging along, looking at
the birds, looking at the sky, going off. He said, no, no, I
don't run with uncertainty. I don't run as a meandering,
unfocused runner. That's imagery number one with
a negative. Image number two, I'm not a flailing, shadow-pummeling
boxer. Look at the language. So fight
I, literally, so box I, as not beating the air. I'm not like
Rocky in his morning runs out there, you know, shadow boxing.
He said, that's not me. I said, Pastor, you're being
silly. No, I'm being Pauline. I just want you to get it by
the eye gate as well as the ear gate. Paul says, you look at
me as a Christian, I'm not a meandering, unfocused runner, and I am not
a flailing, shadow-pummeling boxer. That's what I'm not. Whatever
you see in me as a Christian man, you never say, oh, Christian
life is a nice meandering jog to heaven. No, it's a race, focused,
concentrated, with all the powers and faculties geared to winning
the prize. And it's not shadow pummeling
boxing. No. That's the negative. Now look
at the positive. He uses the image of giving his body a black
eye and the image of bringing his body into the condition of
a slave. Look at the vigorous language. Paul says, I'm going
to put myself forth as an example of what this universal discipline
means for a Christian who's serious about getting to heaven. Here
it is. But I buff it my body." You may have a marginal reading
that says, I bruise it. It's the word to give it a black
eye. In other words, he said, when
I'm boxing, I'm going straight for the part
that makes a guy see stars. And he said, the guy that I'm
making see stars is me. Look at the text. I therefore
so rung, not as uncertainly, so fide, but I buffet my body. I'm out to give my body black
and blue marks under the eye. I'm out to knock it out. And
what does he mean? We'll see what he means by that.
But that's what he says. That's the language, inspired by the
Holy Ghost, set forth as an example from Paul for all Christians.
I, for myself, you want to know what it means? Exercise self-control
in all things in this matter of the Christian race seeking
to win the prize? I'll tell you what it means.
It doesn't mean an aimless, unfocused, meandering job. It doesn't mean
shadowboxing, flailing, shadow pummeling. It means giving the
body a black eye, subduing it, and then he uses this verb, and
bring it into bondage. Now the verb used there is exactly
the verb you would use if you were describing a returning Roman
general. General Octavius is coming home
from a conquest, and you say to him, what are you going to
do with those thousand prisoners? He would say, I'm going to make
them my slaves. That's the very verb he would
have used, that Paul uses here. I make my body my slaves. It's in that family of words.
You've heard about a doulos, a bond slave, douluo, to make
a slave, or to service as a slave. That's the family of words. He
said, I make my body my slave. I knock it out, and I subdue
it. Why? Now look at the text. Lest by any means, by any carelessness,
In the discipline of my bodily faculties and appetites, after
I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected, set aside,
disqualified as a man and as a servant of Christ. That is
serious business. And what I want you to note is
that in the context it focuses on the body. Now, none of the
things he says about dealing with his body are possible without
the engagement of the mind and the heart and the soul, which
is he doesn't stop with the soul. He concretizes it into bodily
discipline, bodily appetites, bodily faculties and passions. And he says, I'm determined that
I will not be disqualified by carelessly laying the reins upon
the neck of my bodily passions and appetites and thereby not
complete the race, be kicked out of the race, and disqualified
for breaking the rules. Surely, this apostolic observation
and example constitutes a warrant for all of us to cultivate a
concern for and to make tangible effort to be good stewards of
our bodies, especially in the self-disciplines essential to
the governing of bodily appetites, predispositions, and passions. Can you come to any other conclusion
from this passage? I can't. I can't. And if the apostle, called to
Christ by a voice from heaven, taken into the secrets of God
by direct revelation, and all of the privileges of grace, if
he was convinced the only way to win the prize was in this
way of universal self-discipline of the body, that was akin to
the universal discipline of the body by someone contending in
the Grecian games. Who are you? Who am I to think
we can be indifferent? to this matter of bodily appetites,
bodily passions, bodily predispositions. Now let me say again with an
emphatic disclaimer here, this man had no sympathy for a demonically
inspired asceticism regarding the pleasures of food and of
sex. In 1 Timothy 4, he says it's
demons that inspire doctrines that lead men to forbid to marry
and eat certain foods. That's the same man who wrote
this. So if anyone says, oh, well, maybe the—no, no, no, no,
no. There is no demonically inspired asceticism here. Furthermore,
we read last week in Colossians 2. He said, in the light of what
you are in Christ, why are you submitting yourself to man-made
rules? Don't touch this. Don't touch
that. Don't handle that. Don't eat this food. Don't eat
that. He said, no, no, no, no, no. That's contrary to who and
what you are in Christ. So you do not have in this passage
any justification. for a demonically inspired ceticism,
man-made rules of diet and days and all the rest that are condemned,
what you have is a man who's a realist, who knows that if
this body and its appetites are not harnessed, he could be disqualified. If its appetite for sleep is
not harnessed, you become a sluggard. And a sluggard is put in the
same word with a drunkard in the book of Proverbs. Drunkard
and sluggard are put together in the book of Proverbs. If I
don't have discipline to tell my body, get up and do. You see,
Paul says, I not only smack it under the eye with a knockout
blow when it needs it, I make it my slave. When my body says
to me, oh, stay in bed and get a few more And my renewed man
in Christ says, but ah, that's going to rob me of time to meet
with God. Who's the master? Your body giving
you the orders and you obey? Or are you making your body your
slave and making it obey? Say, body, you will not keep
me glued to my bed. I'm going to go meet with God
and you've got to join me. Can't go there without you, body.
You're going to be my slave. I give the orders under Christ.
You don't give the orders to me. That's what he means. I make
my body my slave. And when you sit at the table,
and that particular morsel tastes so good, and the second helping
and the third would taste as good as the first, but you know
that that's going to put more calories in than are going out
in the ordinary metabolic process and in exercise, and therefore
it's potentially stored up on your waist, on the rest of your
body, straining your heart, clogging up your arteries. Your body is
your slave, not your belly, the master. Got it? That's what it means. And when
everything in you wants to be the proverbial couch potato,
And you know, given the sedentary pattern of life in our day, generations
ago didn't have to worry about this. The man chopped the wood
and did so many activities that he got his cardiovascular exercise
and his stretching and his muscle toning and all the rest. And
the woman's there at the scrub board and going out and pumping
the well. She got all kinds of cardiovascular
exercise, strength training. We don't have that in our sedentary
life. And you've been persuaded from all the medical knowledge
and medical information that without structured cardiovascular
exercise, you're a time bomb waiting to go off. And you know
it. And it's time to push your body
to exercise. And it says, no, no. Leave me
in the mode of the couch potato. You say to your body, you're
not the master. I'm not the slave. I'm the master.
You're the slave. Do what I tell you. That's what
Paul's saying. It's right here in your Bible,
folks. And he says, I'm setting myself forth as an example. I'm
setting myself forth as an example. And when my body screams and
cries and yells and hollers, I scream and yell and holler
it down in the name of Christ. And it carries over into other
areas. Bodily passions and appetites. You young women, when Mr. Wright
comes into your life and everything in you wants to be held in a
bone-crushing embrace. That'll happen. If it ain't happened
yet, it's going to happen. Who's going to be the master?
Your passions and your natural, God-given yearnings and longings
to be held in a bone-crushing embrace? Or are you going to
say to Bobby, Bobby, ain't got no right to that yet. You mind
me? You mind me, Bobby? You're my slave. for the service
of Christ, I'm not your slave, but the service of the flesh
and of the devil. And my Bible says, as the crowning fruit of
the Spirit, what is it? Self-control. The fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
faithfulness, meekness. And there'll be very little fruit
of the Spirit in the other areas if there's no self-control in
bodily appetites, passions, and inclinations, because you're
going to grieve the Spirit by what you do with your body. And
a grieved Spirit will not be producing rich, lush fruit in
all of these other areas. See, if any of you have been
tempted to say, oh, Pastor Martins, I'm one of his hobby horses.
That's a Pauline horse, not mine. And God's calling you and God's
calling me to ride it. So run that you may attain. Oh, but, oh, Paul, I don't need
the disciplines you did to run. I can be just a meandering jogger. I can think I'm going to win
the crown without universal self-discipline. Paul said, no. You know, every
man that strives in the games exercises self-control in all
things. They do it. to receive a corruptible
crown but we do it an incorruptible and I will set myself forth as
an example I therefore for myself so run as not uncertainly so
fight I as not beating the air but I buffet my body bring it
into bondage lest by any means after I have preached to others
I myself should be rejected. Well then we're going to move
to the third pierced and strung pearl for this morning, and it
is this. It's the inescapable implications
of the Sixth Commandment. The inescapable implications
of the Sixth Commandment. In Exodus chapter 20 and verse
13, here is the simple language of the Sixth Commandment. Exodus
chapter 20 and verse 13. you shall do no murder. Better rendering than thou shalt
not kill, for here in the Mosaic law, God himself mandates the
Israelites killing a lot of their own for various reasons, taking
their lives. But you shall do no murder, that
is, you shall not unjustly, without divine warrant, take another
human life. That's the sixth commandment.
And I'm saying that the inescapable implications of the sixth commandment
warrant both this concern and this action, this commitment
to bodily discipline. Now those of you familiar with
the larger and shorter catechism, you know that there are some
very vital principles that our forefathers used in opening up
the meaning of the Ten Commandments. And I want to read several that
they say were formative in their understanding of the implications
of the commandments, and this is from the larger catechism. What rules are to be observed
for the right understanding of the Ten Commandments? And then there follows eight
rules that are to be observed for a right understanding of
the Ten Commandments. I want to read just three of
them. Rule number four is this. When a duty is commanded, the
contrary sin is forbidden. And where a sin is forbidden,
the contrary duty is commanded. So you shall not do murder. A
contrary duty is commanded. Honor your father and your mother.
A contrary vice or sin is forbidden. And then the next principle,
number seven, is this. that what is forbidden or commanded
to ourselves, we are bound according to our places, that is, our station
in life, to endeavor that it may be avoided or performed by
others according to the duty of their places. That's why I
use the word, I want to persuade you to have a concern and to
promote that concern, and then to have effort and to promote
that effort in others. This was the principle that lay
behind my inclusion of that word. effort to influence others. And
then rule number or guideline number eight, that yes, that's
number eight, yeah, but it's basically the
same only the flip side of it. And then you have the two-fold
question with each command. What duties are commanded? What
sins are forbidden? Now listen carefully as I read
the larger catechism, selected sections, this is not an exhaustive
reading of the entire answer. Here we come to the Sixth Commandment
and we have this question, what are the duties required in the
Sixth Commandment? Answer, the duties required in
the Sixth Commandment are all careful studies and lawful endeavors
to preserve the life of ourselves and others. That's why I use
the word an informed and balanced regimen of physical discipline. All careful studies and lawful
endeavors to preserve the life of ourselves and others, how? By resisting all thoughts and
purposes, subduing all passions and avoiding all occasions, temptations,
and practices, which tend to the unjust taking away of the
life of any. If the practices have to do with
non-exercise, with undisciplined eating, our forefathers would
say that is forbidden by the sixth commandment. Furthermore,
a sober use of food, drink, medication, sleep, labor, and recreations,
and they have a proof text for everyone. This is the duty required
by the Sixth Commandment. All careful studies, lawful endeavors
to preserve our lives, resisting all thoughts and purposes, all
occasions, temptations, and practices that tend to the unjust taking
away of the life of any, a sober use of food. What's a sober use
of food? Understanding the basic principles
of diet. and caloric intake, and the relationship
of that to scales that don't lie. A sober use of food, of drink,
knowing whether or not you can take a glass of wine and stop,
whether it gives you a buzz, or whether it just makes the
meal taste good and is metabolized as you sip it with your meal.
A sober, realistic, honest interaction with drink. with medication,
sleep, labor, recreations, then what are the sins forbidden in
the Sixth Commandment? The sins forbidden in the Sixth
Commandment are, hear carefully now, the neglecting or withdrawing
the lawful and necessary means of preservation of life. The
neglecting or withdrawing the necessary means of the preservation
of life. I hope you've read the articles
I put in your hands two weeks ago. The medical evidence from
the most sound, extensive medical studies is clear that some form
of regular cardiovascular exercise extends life expectancy, period. Can't deny it. Any more then
one can deny that there is most frequently a direct connection
between lung cancer and smoking. Any man who now smokes and says,
well, I just have a bunch of propaganda, he's violating this. He's neglecting necessary means
of the preservation of life. The immoderate use of food over
eating. Drink. labor and recreations
and whatsoever tends to the destruction of the life of any. It's clear, dear brothers and sisters,
that if we're going to have a good conscience, that with no thought
that we're going to earn brownie points by keeping any of the
Ten Commandments to any degree whatsoever, but out of love to
Christ, who perfectly kept the law who died under the curse
of the law, and in whom we trust alone for acceptance in the court
of heaven based upon His perfect life and His sacrificial death,
but out of love and gratitude to Him we want to keep His law, including the sixth commandment,
determined to perform the duties commanded by it, and determined
to avoid the sins forbidden by it. And so I say the inescapable
implications of the sixth commandment not only warrant, this is the
one time in my notes where I said no, I should probably use the
word demands, this concern and this effort in conjunction with
the stewardship of the body. What would you think of a Christian,
and with this illustration, I close, who at the age 65, with 10 to
15 years of life expectancy, given his overall health, genetic
patterns, and the rest, he has reason to believe that barring
some sovereign intervention of God, he's going to live to be
70, 75. He's got another 10 to 15 years of life expectancy. What would you think if you heard
that he put a gun to his temple and on his 65th birthday blew
his brains out? Well, you'd think a lot of things,
I'm sure. But you'd be grieved that grandchildren
lost a grandpa just at the time when he could be most influential,
that the people of God lost a seasoned saint at a time when he could
be tremendously influential, when his place of employment
for all his life has given him forced retirement and he now
has hours free to serve that he never had before. It would
be a grievous shame Would you not feel that? Yes? No? Would you feel that? I ask you in principle, is it
any different if that same man dies of a heart attack at age
65 because from age 30 to age 65 he was willfully indifferent
to principles of diet, exercise, medical knowledge and involvement?
And all the chickens came home to roost and took him to his
grage at age 65. The only difference is the bullet
did it all at once. The combination of these violations
of the Sixth Commandment and the other pierced pearls I've
laid before you spread it out over 35 years. And that's what
I want to see avoided in this place. You young people, I want
to see you avoid that tragedy. You feel the weight of the analogy?
I believe it's a valid one. There's no fundamental difference
in both cases. It is the willful destruction
of life. Pow! In an instant. Couch potato. Stretched out over time. It is
the willful, wanton destruction of human life. That'll take the
giggles out. I know it's supposed to do that.
That'll take the gills out, just as much as you wouldn't giggle
with a man holding a pistol to his head. This must not become,
this whole issue, a source of nervous joking. It's as serious
as the preservation of sacred life. for the service of our
God. Let's pray. Our Father, we live in a soft,
undisciplined, hedonistic age. In Your providence, we have come
to an age with so many mechanical servants that we acknowledge
that a sedentary life is so natural to us We live in a day when so
much is set before us to tease and tantalize our taste buds
has very little relevance to the nutrition of our bodies.
Lord, we know that we are being called to a counterculture in
these things we've considered these past three Lord's Day mornings. But we pray that as in so many
other areas, you've helped us to embrace our calling as the
counterculture committed to Jesus. Lord, help us to embrace our
identity in this area as well. We pray for those who've rationalized
about these matters for years. Lord, in mercy, deal with them. We pray for those who stand on
the threshold of adult life, that these things will be worked
into the texture of their souls and into the patterns of life,
that they would not be plagued in their later years. Father,
bless your Word. Seal it to our hearts, and to
your name be praise and honor and glory, for Jesus' sake, amen.