Would you turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 9? After the service, could the
men go back in the fellowship hall and put out the tables and
chairs for the dinner that we're going to have together next week?
1 Corinthians chapter 9. As I announced
this morning, I'm going to preach on this subject, and I trust
I'm preaching the gospel in preaching this subject. I hope I better
preach the gospel every time I preach. But I'm going to deal
with the subject of temperance. Temperance, control from within,
is what it means. Let's begin reading in verse
24 of 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Now you know that they which
run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run that
you may obtain. And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate in all things. They do it to obtain a corruptible
crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly,
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my
body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when
I preach to others, I myself should be a castaway." That's the word that is generally
translated a reprivate. Paul feared being a castaway. He feared being a reprobate. You know what? I do too. And this is the same man who
said, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed to him against that
day. This is the same man who said
that I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. Now, those are words of assurance,
aren't they? He said, I'm persuaded of this. This same man who wrote
these glorious words of assurance spoke of the fear of after having
preached the gospel to others, he himself would prove to be
a castaway, a reprobate, one who failed the test, drossed Good for nothing but to be thrown
away. And this same one who spoke in these words of assurance also
expressed a fear of being cast away. Now, don't you feel the
same thing? I do. I know exactly what David meant
when he said, cast me not away from thy presence. You prayed
that prayer. You don't want the Lord to cast
you away from his presence. He said, take not thy Holy Spirit
from me. Now, I'm sure some theologian
could say, David, don't you know that God's people are eternally
secure? You shouldn't be praying like
that or even thinking thoughts like that. Well, he did. And
Paul did, too. And every believer in this room
has some understanding of this. We know something about the assurance
of faith, and we also know something about the fear of being a castaway. Now, I don't want to be a castaway. Now, we ought to have full assurance.
Should we? We ought to have full assurance.
Is what Christ did enough to save you? Do you believe that? What is there to not be assured
of? If what he did is enough, full assurance isn't full assurance.
Of myself, I'm fully assured that I'm a Christian. That's
really not what full assurance is. Full assurance is believing
that who he is and what he did is all I need. I have full assurance. I really believe that what he
did is enough not only to bring me in by the skin of my teeth,
but it's everything. It's the minimum requirement
and it's the maximum requirement and it's everything in between.
I'm going to be brought into glory on his coattails, and I
have full assurance that who he is and what he did is enough
to save me. But full assurance does not take
away this fear of being presumptuous, does it? These are very heart-searching
words. These are very sobering words.
Paul. Paul. It's not just some average Joe
like me or you. This is the Apostle Paul. expressing
this fear, lest by any means after I preach to others, I myself
would be cast away. Now, what led Paul to make this
statement? Look back up in verse 24. Know ye not that they which run
in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run that you may
obtain. And this is a reference to the
Olympics. Literally, they that run in a stadium, or as the Romans
called it, the circus. This is talking about the Olympics
that took place in that age, and Corinth was one of the chief
places where the Olympics were held. And a lot of people would
enter that race, but only one person wins. No prize is given
for beginning. Only the one who crosses the
finish line first wins. So, he said, you run that you
may obtain. Now, if you read Paul's writings,
it's pretty obvious that he was a sports fan. There's my justification
for being a sports fan. Paul was. And he spoke quite often about
things of this nature. He said over in Timothy, if a
man strived for the mastery, yet is he not crowned except
he strive lawfully. And the Christian race, the Christian
life, is actually compared to running a race. Turn to Hebrews
chapter 12 for a moment. Hebrews chapter 12, beginning
in verse 1. are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses, talking about everybody that he mentioned
in Hebrews chapter 11, let us lay aside every weight, and the
sin which doth so easily beset us. And before I go on, what's
he talking about, the sin which doth so easily beset us? He talked
about, well, some people have problems with this sin and other
people have problems with this other sin, and that's the sin
that does so easily beset us. That's really not what he's talking
about at all. You know what the sin that does so easily beset
us is? Unbelief. That's the biggest problem that
you and I have. Unbelief. And he said, let us
lay aside in running this race every weight and that sin which
doth so easily beset us, and let us run with what? Patience. Patience. The race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Now, obviously, to run this race,
you first have to enter before you can win it. Some say, well,
I make no profession of religion. I guess that's better than making
a false profession, I suppose. But when you say that, you say,
I have no love for God. I do not believe the gospel,
and there's nothing commendable about that. Would you commend
a man for saying, well, at least I admit that I'm a liar and I
admit that I'm a cheat and I admit that I'm a thief and I admit
that I'm a murderer. I don't claim to be anything
but that. Are you going to trust that person?
He's admitting right off the bat that he doesn't believe God. You wouldn't commend him for
that. No, to run this race so as to win, we must first begin. But we're given the ground rules
of this race. How are we to run this race? Well, we're to run with patience.
The race that set before us, laying aside every weight, that
which would hinder us in running. You know, if you're going to
run a race, you don't carry around weight with you, do you? It would hinder
you. He said, let us lay aside that
sin which does so easily beset us, which I have no doubt is
a reference to unbelief. Unbelief, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. Now here's where we start, and
here's where we end. Looking. Looking. Well, I can't see. Then you're not looking. If you
look, you'll see. Looking unto Jesus, we look unto
Him as the author and the finisher of our faith. Now, if words mean
anything, not only am I looking to Him whatever that means to
do it, but I'm actually looking to Him as the One who gives me
the faith, as the One who's the author of my faith, and the One
who's going to finish and perfect my faith. In other words, I'm
looking to Him for everything. I'm looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. When I run this race, I'm not
looking to the right, to the left. I'm not looking at my walk.
I'm not looking at your walk. I'm to look to Him. Now, that's
the only way to run this race. Looking unto Jesus. Looking unto
Him The author and finisher of my faith. Looking to Him for
everything, in other words. Really believing that who He
is and what He did is my salvation. And to keep my eyes on Him. Not on you, not on my walk, not
on anything around me. I'm to keep my eyes upon Him.
I tell you what, if you look to Christ, you will believe. You will. You can't look to Christ
and not believe. You look to Christ and you will
believe, he says, look unto me and be saved all the ends of
the earth. We. Start right looking to him,
we end right looking to him and we must finish the race. It's
not he that begins, but he that finishes the race that does not
stop. I love this passage of Scripture
in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 14, where he says we're made partakers
of Christ if. We hold. The beginning of our
confidence. Steadfast to the end. And what's the beginning of my
confidence? Well, you know, I have some understanding of this. When
I first looked to Christ, whenever that was, and I can't even give
you the date. I can't tell you when exactly
it was. But when I first looked to Christ, I knew this much.
I didn't have any experience to trust. I didn't have any works
to trust. All I had was Christ. If who He is and what He did
is not enough to save me, it's over for me. When I first looked
to Him, whenever that was, that was clear. Now, I'm to hold on
to that confidence, steadfast to the end. I'm to hold it tightly.
I'm to run, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, striving to win the race. Now, let's go back to our text
in 1 Corinthians 9. Know ye not that they which run
in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run that you may
obtain. Verse 25. And every man that
striveth for the mastery. And he's talking about the Olympic
Games. Every man that wants to win the Laurel or whatever. I can't remember. The olive leaves,
I can't remember what it is, whatever it is, the Olympics,
they would crown them with some kind of leaf when they won the
mastery, when they won whatever event they were competing in.
Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. That person who wants to win
that race is temperate. He doesn't allow himself to overeat. He doesn't allow himself to drink
too much. That would cause him to gain
weight. He couldn't win the race too heavy. He exercises vigorously
to make himself stronger. He denies himself many things
because he has one object and it's to win that race. And so he is temperate in all
things. And these athletes, what's temperate
mean? Temperate means control. from
within. It's something inner. It's the
fruit of God, the Holy Spirit in you. An unbeliever doesn't
have any temperance because temperance is a fruit of the spirit. Remember,
it's a fruit of the spirit. It's control from within. It's
the result of Christ's work in you. It's control from within. Every believer has temperance
because every believer has a new nature. Every believer has a
holy nature. Every believer has the Holy Spirit.
So every believer has temperance, and only the believer has temperance.
Now, we've known unbelievers that are remarkably disciplined
and self-controlled, and they're focused, and they're going to
do what it is they're wanting to do, whether it's some pursuit
of an athletic event, or maybe doing well on their job, or whatever
it is. We've seen all kinds of people that are very focused,
and that's commendable. I'm not taking away from the importance
of that, but that's not the temperance the Scripture speaks of. This
is the fruit of God, the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit
is temperance. Now, these fellows competing
to run this race, they're temperate in all things, and they're doing
it to gain a corruptible crown. It's a crown that will not last.
But Paul says we're doing this for an incorruptible crown. Now. Should we be any less temperate
than they are? Look at the discipline and the
self-control they used to pursue this corruptible craft. Now,
what is Temperance? Self-control, control over the
appetites of the body. Now, the body is the seat of
sin, the sinful flesh. You know, Paul said in Galatians
chapter 5 verse 17, he talks about the two natures and really
to understand temperance, you have to have some understanding
of the two natures that are in a believer. Does a believer have
two separate natures? Yes. Yes. Well, how can that
be? Well, Christ had two separate
natures. He's divine and he's man. He
had two separate natures. Perfect in both, obviously, but
he had two separate natures and a believer does too. The new
nature given to them by the Holy Spirit in the new birth, a divine
nature, partakers of the divine nature and the old nature. And
Paul said in Galatians 5, 17, he said the flesh. At sinful, evil, corrupt what
I am. what I am. And I tell you what,
I can say this with full conviction, my flesh hadn't improved a bit. It's as sinful and evil as it
ever was. And yours is too, whether you
know it or not. But if you're a believer, I believe you know
it. You know it. The flesh lusts, the scripture
says, against the spirit. The spirit lusts against the
flesh. And these are contrary one to
the other. They're at odds. They're at a
war so that you can't do the things you would. It's temperance
that keeps you from doing what you would, what your flesh would
do. It's the work of God, the Holy Spirit in you. You know,
I read that passage of Scripture at the beginning of this message
where Paul reasoned before Felix of righteousness. Is he talking
about righteous living? Gotta live right? Is that what
he's talking about? You know better than that. He's
talking about the righteousness of God, the righteousness of
Christ, the righteousness that God accepts, the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. His salvation. He reasons of
righteousness. He reasons of temperance. That
is the fruit of righteousness. That's the work of God, the Holy
Spirit in you. That's the new nature in you.
It causes you to be controlled from within. You know, all kinds
of religions or religious people, they have groups to where they're
accountable to. You know, they go and give an
account of themselves. I've got to be accountable to
this person and that person. But you know what? A believer
doesn't need to do that. Because he has a nature that
makes him accountable to God, and he's going to follow God
whether he has anybody's help or whatever it is people do or
not, because he's got this new nature. Righteousness, temperance,
and judgment to come. Now, yes, temperance refers to
being against gluttony and overeating and drunkenness. There's no doubt
that that's a of what it refers to, but you can be intemperate
in pride, and vainglory, and ambition. Or you can be intemperate
in some pursuit or hobby that is harmless in itself, but you
take it overboard. You can be intemperate about
anything, can't you? The fruit of the Spirit is temperance. Paul says in verse 26, now remember,
intemperance in any form is sin. And he says in verse 26, I therefore
so run. He's talking about his running
of this race. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. Now this is how I run
this race with temperance. Not in an uncertain fashion,
indistinctly and aimlessly, without a specific goal and objective. You know, when you don't have
a specific goal and objective in view, what do you do? Nothing. Isn't that so? You just spin
your wheels. I mean, even in our experience
in life, when we don't have a specific goal, an objective, all we do
is spin our wheels and we don't get anywhere. Now, Paul says,
I do not run uncertainly or aimlessly or without an objective. Turn
with me to Philippians chapter 3. I want to show you how Paul
did run this race. I want us to see his objective
here. Verse 7, I love this passage
of Scripture. He says, Yea, doubtless. Well,
verse 7, But what things were gained to me, I counted them
as to my benefit, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless,
and I count all things but loss. For the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, For whom I've suffered the loss of
all things, and to count them but done, that I may..." Now,
here's his objective. "...that I may win Christ and
be found in Him." When God comes looking for me, this is how I
want Him to find me, simply in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
where I want to be found, in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Now, that's
the righteousness I want to be clothed in. The very righteousness
of God, the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on
to say in verse 10, that I may know Him. That's my objective.
I want to know the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to know God. I
don't want to simply know things about Him. I want to know Him. I don't want to be just name
dropping when I talk about His name. I want to be somebody that
He knows. I want to know the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection. Whatever that means. When He
was raised from the dead, oh, the power of that. All the sins
of all His people were put away. I want to know the power of His
resurrection. I want to know the fellowship
of His sufferings. I want to know that what He did,
He did for me. I want to know that I have fellowship
in, and I want to know I'm a partner in this thing, that I get the
benefits from it. And I want to be somebody, and I say this
cautiously, but I say it believingly, I want to be somebody that suffers
for His sake. I would damn bet a great honor, a great honor
to be somebody that suffers for the sake of the gospel. You know,
if it cost you your life for the gospel, it'd be worth the
cost, wouldn't it? Infinitely so. Infinitely. I want to suffer
for His sake. Let's go on reading. being made conformable unto his
death. Now, his death was the ultimate
act of obedience. He humbled himself and became
obedient to death, even the death of the cross. I want to be conformed
to his obedience, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. That's what I want. I want to
attain to this resurrection of the dead. Now, look what he says
in verse 12. It's not as though I'd already
attained. Either were already perfect, but I follow after,
I pursue, if that I may apprehended that for which I'm apprehended
of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. You know, you can only do one
thing well. Now, let me assure you that. You can only do one
thing well. Can't do two things well. You
can't serve two masters. You can only do one thing well. He says this one thing I do and
where does he begin? I love this forgetting. What's behind? Forgetting those things which
are behind, forgetting my past. Forgetting my religious experiences. Forgetting Everything behind. You know, isn't it? Isn't it
a blessing that every day is a brand new day? Isn't it? You know, we really have every
reason to be very optimistic and positive. Just for the past. There was a lot of difficult
things about the past. There's no doubt about it. Forget it. Forget
that. That's what Paul says. Forgetting
those things that are behind. Forgetting the good stuff. Forgetting
the bad stuff. Forgetting what's behind. What's
he do? He says, reach him forth unto those things which are before.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. Have one ambition. And only one. This right. pressing for the mark of the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I have a specific goal. That's
it. Now, does that mean we just forget
everything else, don't worry about our jobs and so on? Well,
you know better than that. But we still are people of one
purpose, pressing for the mark of this goal. Now, back to our
text in 1 Corinthians 9. He says, I, therefore, so run
not as uncertainly, so fight I. He's talking about Olympic
boxing right here. So fight I, not as one that beateth
the air. If you simply swing and never
connect, if all you do is beat the air, you won't win. Now,
look what he says in verse 27. He says, but I keep under my
body and bring it into subjection. Blessed by any means when I preach
to others, I myself should be a castaway. Now, here's a literal
translation of what he says when he says, I keep under my body.
What in the world does that mean to keep under your body? He says,
literally, I give myself a black eye. I give myself. A black eye. I am the problem. My sinful self. Paul said, I know that in me
that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. You know that about
your flesh. I love the way Paul said it. This is not up for debate.
I know that in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. Now, what if I said I have a
sinful nature? There's nothing I can do about
it. I've got a totally depraved nature. That's what the Bible
teaches. So I will not restrain my sinful desires. I will gratify
my lust. I can't help it. I'm only human.
It's my nature. Hey, salvation is by grace anyway,
and I'm sure not going to try to be saved by my works. I'm
just going to go ahead and do what I want. I will sin without
restraint. Now, if I do that, you know what
that makes me? A castaway. A reprobate. Someone who will not be saved. One who will spend eternity in
the lowest hell. Now that's a sobering thought. But if I don't give myself a
black eye, I will prove to be nothing more than a castaway. Now what is reprobation? Let's
look in Romans chapter 1 for a moment. I want to look at several
scriptures. Romans chapter 1. Paul says in verse 25, who changed
the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the
creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever, and for
this cause God gave them up. unto vile affections. For even
their women did change the natural use into that which is against
nature, and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use
of the women, burned in their lust one toward another, men
with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves
the recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind. When someone doesn't like God's
gospel and God's truth, God says, OK, have what you want. The worst
thing that could happen to me or you is for God to simply let
you alone. Worst thing that could happen.
And that's what reprobation is when God says, let them alone. And I fear that. Lord, don't
leave me alone. Don't leave me to myself, because
I know what direction I'll go if you do. Lord, have mercy on
me. Cast me not away from your presence.
Take not your Holy Spirit from me. Don't leave me alone. Look in 2 Timothy chapter 3. Now, as Jannes and Jambres withstood
Moses, 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 8, Now Jannes and Jambres withstood
Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds
reprobate concerning the faith. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 7, for the earth, which drinketh
in the rain, that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth earth's
meat for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God.
But that which bears thorns and briars, it doesn't bear fruit.
It bears nothing but thorns and briars. It does not bear the
fruit of the Holy Spirit, is rejected." That's the word that
is translated reprobate. It's rejected, it's nigh unto
cursing, whose end is to be burned. Titus 116 says they profess that
they know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable and
disobedient and unto every good work reprobate. Now, Paul is
saying, if I don't give myself a black eye. If I'm intemperate,
if I just go ahead and let it go, hey, I can't help it. That's
my nature. I mean, if you think it, you
might as well do it. What difference does it make? If I take that
kind of attitude, even though I have preached to
others, Paul says, I myself will be proved to be nothing more
than a castaway, a reprobate. Now, what is it that proves the
reality of our faith? Our works. What did the Lord say first to
each of the seven churches in Asia? I know thy works. And you know that that doesn't
mean a believer doesn't see him. I mean, all we got to do is breathe
and see him. But he's talking about I must give myself a black
eye. I can't just let my flesh. If
I don't restrain myself. I'll prove to be nothing more
than a castaway. I want to look at one other scripture,
turn to 2nd Corinthians, chapter 13. Now, one of the things that the
Church of Corinth was continually doing was they were always examining
the apostle Paul, always examining. They were calling into question
whether or not God had called him to be an apostle. They're
always putting him on trial. They said his bodily presence
is weak. His speech is contemptible. He's not a good speaker. He's
just got all kinds of problems with Paul. They were always examining
Paul. They were putting him to the test. And they were comparing
him to other preachers. And he was always having to defend
himself to these people. But look what the way he closes
this letter. I think this is interesting. In 2 Corinthians,
chapter 13, he turns the tables. He says in verse 5, examine yourselves. That would be a blessing if everybody
in this room would do just that right now. Examine yourselves. What am I to look for when I
examine? How holy I am? How obedient I am? What am I
to look for? Give me some direction. Well,
look what he says. Examine yourselves whether you
be in the faith. Whether you really believe the
gospel. whether you really do trust the
Lord Jesus Christ as your salvation. Examine yourselves whether you
be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Put your
own selves to the test. Know ye not your own selves how
that Jesus Christ is in you? Except you be reprobates. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. I remember one time hearing somebody
say, it seems like if Christ were in you, he'd stick out. And I understand that. I understand
that. But how can I examine myself
and see if Christ is in me? How can I do that? Because I
want to do it. I want to do it right now. I
want to examine myself. I want to put myself to the test.
Is Christ in me? Well, Paul put it this way in
Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. You listen real carefully to
this language. Paul said, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave Himself for me. I don't frustrate the grace of
God. For righteousness came by the
law, Christ died in vain." Now let me tell you how you can examine
yourself and know whether Christ lives in you. Do you live off His faith or
your own? Do you live off Him? That's what
Paul, he said, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved
me. and gave himself for me." Well,
Paul, I'm doing the same thing. I live, yet it's not me. I don't
give myself, it's not me. It's Christ living in me in the
life that I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Now, I'm not asking and examine
yourself to see how holy and righteous and so on you think
you are. I'll tell you what, you're in trouble if you come
up, if you examine yourself and say, hey, I passed the test,
I'm a pretty good person. I mean, I'm growing here, I'm doing this.
No, we're not talking like that. That's foolishness and it's evil. Am I in the faith? Do I believe
the gospel? Now, when we're getting ready
to observe the Lord's table together, A lot of people, when they take
the Lord's Table, they use it kind of as a time of self-examination. You've got to examine yourselves
and see whether or not you're worthy to take the Lord's Table.
See if you're holy enough. See if you have any sin in your
life, any loud sin. I've always found that an interesting
one. What sin is not loud? That's foolishness. That's all it is. You examine
yourselves in this sense. I really believe that His broken body is my only
sin payment. I really believe that His shed
blood only makes me perfect before God, and I'm rejoicing in that. Do you believe that? Then you
are to take the Lord's table. What's the requirement? for the
Lord's table. I've heard people say, well,
you ought to be baptized before you take the Lord's table. And
really, you should. If you're a believer and you
haven't been baptized, you're walking in disobedience. Now,
just write it down as wrong as it can be. You ought to be baptized. But baptism is not the requirement
for the Lord's table. Faith in Christ. Is the only
requirement for the Lord's table. If you believe that He is your
salvation, the Lord's table is for you. May God give us the
grace truly to do this in remembrance of Him. Let's pray together.