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1 Corinthians 10:1-24,31-33

Pursue the Good Life

  • Jean Marais
  • Sunday Night Messages
  • October 20, 2024
  • Sermon Notes
  • Scripture

Pursue the Good Life
1 Corinthians 10:1-24, 31-33
October 20, 2024 

     In Chapter 9, Paul was exhorting the Corinthians to run the race with endurance, being focused, disciplining their  bodies with their eyes on the prize.  

     It becomes a recurring theme with Paul as he keeps exhorting and encouraging them to stay away from the carnal things of the flesh that tries to trip the believer up so as not to reach the full potential that God has planned for them.

     When we talk of pursuing the good life,  it means different things to different people. Some see the good life as pursuing everything that makes life fun.

     Doing fun things isn’t necessarily wrong, but it can be an illusion of something you think will fulfill you and bring contentment.

     Some fun things are just blatantly sinful, others can subtly take you of course as it can shift your focus away from God’s principles, His heart, and a godly worldview.

     Some people think the good life is chasing after greater security, being more comfortable, being more stable…. so that they can hopefully have more peace and options to have…. more fun.

     This is the illusion that the enemy dangles in front of everyone.

Illus – Many moons ago I worked in IT retail sales…

But is this really the good life, or is the good life something with much more substance and importance?

Paul addresses this as he again references the culture of the day, but this time he also uses the example of Israel in the wilderness as a parallel.

We see Israel falling of the wagon, pursuing the ‘good life’, growing dissatisfied with their situation, God’s leading, and God’s plan.

He says what happened to them was an example to us all on whom the end of the age has come.

I am sure you will agree with me that we are now much closer to the very end of the end of the age.

With all that is going on in the world, this is again such a great reminder and encouragement to us all to stay the course.

God’s best is the best for you. God’s heart towards you is to bless you by growing in your relationship with Him and through that impacting the world.

It becomes our new nature. It is not something to strive for or try and fake. It is running the race focusing on Jesus, and in the process all the while being changed by the renewing of your mind which then results in a life that is different.

The good life is only found in living a God-life. Pursuing God transforms your life into something that is good as He works all things together for our good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

I. Stay In Christ

  • This might be a strange phrase to say to a believer, because the truth of the matter is that when we receive him as Lord and Savior of our lives, we are placed in Christ and Christ is in us through his Spirit.

Colossians 3:3, For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

  • We should, however, actively stay in Christ, because our minds can wonder off, our focus can shift. What does this mean?
  • Paul uses Israel as an example. They were baptized into Moses (the law), God’s will and principles meant to keep them from harm and focused on life, while going through the red sea and the cloud above.
  • They were eating manna, a reference to Christ, and drinking from the supernatural water source, again referencing Christ.
  • They were partakers of the prophetic salvation pointing to Christ through whom salvation would come
  • God’s plan was that they should be fulfilled and receive their life and sustenance from Him, which also becomes a picture to us of Christ being our source of life and all we need.
  • There are many things in this life that want to distract us from our Christ-living. There are many things that want to take our minds of Christ and divert us from His purposes and plans.

A. Stay away from Idols

  • Paul references a few events from Israel’s history as examples. One is from Numbers 25. The back story is that Balak, the king of Moab, paid Balaam the prophet to curse Israel, because of their fear of Israel.
  • Balaam ended up blessing Israel three times as he stood over their camp.
  • Balaam then told Balak, seeing that Israel was blessed by God, that the only way to deal with Israel and circumvent this blessing, is to seduce Israel to commit fornication with the Moabite prostitutes and thereby luring them into idolatry. This would bring a curse on Israel.
  • God brought judgement on the camp of Israel until they repented.
  • We see that many times when God announced something amazing and a blessing towards Israel, the enemy would do a pre-emptive strike to distract them, lure them away, shift their focus. We see it in this story, also with Moses and the golden calf, and the fear of the giants in the promised land.
  • God is faithful and His purposes will stand, but they were kept out of God’s blessings longer than necessary.
  • This was the same thing that the people of Corinth were dealing with, and our enemy is still using the same tactics today.
  • God’s heart for you is blessing. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, but the enemy wants to keep your focus off it so you cannot take hold of it.
  • Paul says that Israel went through this as an example for us so that we would not desire evil.
  • The problem with sin, is that the flesh sees it as fun. It does not see it as evil. It does not discern the cost.

Proverbs 5:3, 8-11,  For the lips of an adulteress drip honey and smoother than oil is her speech; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

  • Verse 5- God was not pleased. Their hearts departed. In other words, they chose to move away from God. They were drawn away to other things.

B. Desire good

  • But we are baptized into Christ. We have a new nature. We are running a different race. Stay focused.
  • Paul has been building their identity up throughout the letter, but now he comes out with straight-up warnings.
  • Verse 8 – DO NOT indulge in sexual immorality. Just like in the physical what happened to Israel and in Corinth, it has a spiritual implication in that it draws you away from God into other things. Just like a gateway drug, it is a gateway sin.
  • DO NOT desire evil. We have no part with darkness. We are children of the light. Although we walk in the dark world, we are not to have fellowship with the dark world.
  • Do not have fellowship with it. What is fellowship? My buddy. My confidant. We should not buddy up with the things of this world and be comfortable with that which is wrong.
  • DO NOT put Christ to the test. Do not test His love.

Illus – It is like a woman who has a fiancé that loves her deeply, but she then goes on the dance floor with another man to try and make him jealous, flirting with him.

  • DO NOT grumble. We are called friends of God, but we must never underestimate His majesty, His power, His holiness. He doesn’t owe us anything. We are blessed because of His unfathomable goodness. Do not become discontented, disgruntled. God why don’t I have…. Be Thankful.

C. Stand Firm

  • V 12- Take heed not to fall. Again, Paul continues with his warning. One can become spiritually self-confident, overconfident, self-assured. Self-righteous.
  • The result of this is that one can look down on others that are struggling. This equates to pride.
  • We are called to self-control, yet the source of our self-control is not our own strength. It is a fruit of the Spirit. It is by the inner working of the Holy Spirit, our dependence on God’s power at work in us that we stand.
  • We stand firm in Christ.

Ephesians 6:11, Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

  • Put on Christ, because there are many temptations common to man. Everyone struggles with something. Everyone needs God’s grace.
  • I am so thankful for God’s faithfulness. He will not allow you to be tempted above your ability.
  • This is a great encouragement to me. Whenever you are going through something, whenever you face a temptation, the perspective should never be that it is too strong for you. That you will never conquer. That you cannot stand against that thing. It is just my burden to bear. ‘It is part of my DNA’. That is the lie of the enemy.
  • If you believe the negative, the battle is already lost because you are agreeing with the lie of the enemy.
  • The truth will set you free. God will not allow you to be tempted above what you can handle. In other words, when the temptation comes, you already have the victory in Christ. It is a change of perspective.

Romans 8:37, But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

  • Our strength is in the finished work of Christ. We are partakers of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which communion is a symbol and remembrance of.
  • We are called to live from that union as we surrender our bodies as living sacrifices to God, just like Christ sacrificed Himself for us.
  • So when Paul says that we should not partake of the table of idols, he is not referencing the physical food sacrificed to idols only, but the lifestyle of the pagans which it represents.
  • We cannot sit at the table of idols, the darkness of this world, the things this world chases after that are contrary to the Spirit of God. In effect it is sacrificing to demons. We cannot sit at that table and sit at the table of God. Don’t be part of it!

2 Corinthians 6:14, …for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 

II. Do All to the Glory of God

  • V31-33.
  • God is a jealous God. Verse 22- Do not provoke Him to jealousy. The word provoke also translates as provoke to anger or provoke to rivalry. Are we stronger than Him?
  • In other word, see yourself in the right context. Do you want to live your life opposed to God’s principles? Are you fine with it if God is angry and your rival? Are you strong enough on your own to defeat death and hell?
  • This pride he speaks of is the root of evil. It was Lucifers downfall. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
  • Those who keep playing in the camp of the enemy fornicating with idols, do not take God seriously.
  • But this is not who we are. We are called to greater things. We are called to live in greater glory, not in the muck of this world. We have been called OUT of darkness to live out God’s life.

A. Build others up

  • Verse 23 – All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful or build up.
  • As I said a few weeks ago, it is lawful to eat a tub of ice cream, but is it good?
  • Paul goes further. He says it is not just about yourself. It is not about only looking at what is good for you, or helpful for you, but are your actions helpful to others? Does it build up others or break others down?
  • Is it stirring greater faith in others, or is it breaking down the faith of others?
  • Our lives should be lived in the light, our actions aligned with light.

1 Thessalonians 5:5-11, for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. … Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

  • Do not get drunk on the things of this world. Be sober.

Illus – Alcohol has the effect that you lose inhibitions and perspective. When you get drunk on the things of this world, it makes you lose perspective. Whether it is money, fame, politics, entertainment, or whatever other area. It has the potential to impact every area of your life, including your faith life.

  • We are called to encourage one another in this. One way to do this, is to speak life.

Proverbs 18:21, Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

  • Interestingly, it goes both ways. Those who love to speak death, will eat the fruit of it. Those who love to speak life, will eat the fruit of it.
  • Are we proclaimers of life?

Ephesians 4:29, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

  • Our speech in the greatest revealer of what is in our hearts. Our speech should be wholesome. Many think that this refers to not swearing. Although this is true, it is deeper than that. Our speech should be hopeful, spreading life.

Illus – It makes me think of wholesome food. It nourishes the body. But it needs to be a continual habit. It Gives energy, restores, it builds muscle. Unwholesome food is like poison. It breaks down, saps energy.

B. Be an example

  • Paul again, goes further. He throws down the gauntlet. He raises the bar. He puts himself out there. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.’
  • This is a big statement. Follow me, because I am so sold out, so dedicated, so serving that I know that I am living the heart of Christ.
  • This could sound arrogant if we didn’t know Paul well enough. But by now we know his heart.

Philippians 3:12, Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 2:13,  [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you. (AMP)

  • It is not by his own power, but his conviction is that He wants to stay in the perfect will of God. He has made it his habit.
  • Sometimes we stumble, sometimes we fall, but our habit should be that we are living holy lives.
  • This is a life dedicated to living for Christ and impacting others. Living a godly, good life.
  • This is where real life and blessing is found, surrendering to God, holding on to this world very loosely, and following Him with all your heart.

 

1 Corinthians 10:1-24, 31-33    NASB

10 1For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. 10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. 16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?

23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.

31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.

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