The Risk of Spiritual Negligence- Part 2

1 Corinthians 9:24-27.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 09, 2022.

Last week, we looked at the issue of spiritual negligence.  This is what we shouldn’t do.  The positive is to emphasize spiritual attentiveness and discipline.

There were three areas that we are told not to neglect.  First, we must not neglect our salvation, our faith in Christ and our love for Him.  We must maintain these at all costs.  Second, we must not neglect God’s Word.  We must become a student of the Word of the Creator.  Whose books in all of the Universe can compare to His?  Third, we must not neglect the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are in each of us.  You must pay attention and learn how the Spirit is gifting you to strengthen others.  You should exercise that gift by faith and by His direction.  You must also recognize God’s gifts in others that He is using to strengthen you.

In all of these, we risk eternal things.  To be negligent in these areas is to risk deception, weakness, knowledge, salvation, even our very souls.

Today, we will finish up this issue by looking at two metaphors that Paul gives to the Church in Corinth.

Let’s look at our passage.

Metaphors of spiritual things

Paul wrote several letters to the Corinthian Church.  He had a heavy burden for them because they were not thinking biblically about how they were living.  In short, they were clearly not using the mind of Christ.  They were using the mindset of the Greek culture within which they were immersed.

One of the big areas is being dealt with in this chapter of 1 Corinthians.  They are stuck making decisions based upon what they think their rights are, rather than out of love for one another.  Paul uses several examples of himself throughout the chapter to help them see how the mind of Christ thinks, and the kinds of choices it will make.

One area was material support of ministers.  Paul taught churches to care materially for those who care for them spiritually.  However, he would not receive that “right” from the Corinthian Church.  If he thought like them, then he would be demanding that they send him money or help in some manner.  However, Paul was purposefully sacrificing this right.  In fact, other churches were sometimes helping Paul so that he could minister to the Corinthians.  Paul also worked as a tent maker and mender.  He did this out of love for them.  Corinth was full of teachers who would come into town, put out a shingle, and make money by teaching some new philosophy to people.  Most of the time, this philosophy would be of precious little help to those receiving it, but the teacher made a good living off of it.  Paul was aware of these things and cared about the Gospel and the Corinthians too much to even let a hint of such be in his dealings with them.  Yes, he had the right, but love compelled him to choose the harder path for their sakes.

Paul also mentions that he had every right to get married and have a family like Peter and some of the other apostles.  However, Paul had chosen to remain unmarried so that he could focus all of his time on sharing the Gospel.  This is not to put down Peter.  Peter was already married when Christ called him.  Paul’s point is more about how he has chosen to sacrifice a right that he had out of love and for God’s purposes in the lives of others, like them.

To help them absorb this lesson in a way that came from their own Greek culture, Paul shares an analogy from the sports that Greeks loved to watch and to do.

The first Metaphor is also the main metaphor.  In verse 24 Paul speaks of a runner who runs a race.  All runners who enter a race hope to win the prize, but only one of them will.  In verse 26, Paul adds another metaphor in passing, that of boxing.  Boxers punch each other until one of them yields, passes out, or dies (as was the goal in some matches).

Now, it doesn’t take an Olympic coach to figure out the basics of becoming a good runner or a good boxer.  With these metaphors in mind, Paul points out areas of neglect in the Christian’s life that would be as foolish as if an athlete had done them, or neglected them.

Verse 25 shows that we must not neglect our training, which is self-discipline in essence.  Athletes live in very specific ways.  They eat and don’t eat certain foods.  The same with drink.  They will run or box everyday working on the fundamentals of their sport until it becomes locked into their muscle memory.  They will fastidiously adhere to quite rigid rules that they have set for themselves, or their coach, in order to obtain the goal, winning. 

If athletes are willing to train so diligently in order to obtain a temporal prize, shouldn’t Christians be even more diligent in our spiritual training in order to obtain an eternal prize?  How much more should we bring our bodies and lives under subjection (vs. 27) so that we can spiritually win?  The answer is rhetorical, but easy to dismiss as if it is not that important.

It is amazing how many hours we can spend on entertainments, or on books of some value, but not in comparison to God’s Word.  We can simply tell ourselves that it is far more fun watching a football game then studying God’s Word.  When I was in High School, I remember turning out for football.  It seemed that many of the best athletes were more interested in drinking beer than even coming out for the team.  Of course, others came out for the team, but were more focused on partying than training.  That directly affected what our football team was able to do.

How is your training?  Do you study God’s Word as if it was information from the Creator of all things that will help you win the prize that can be won in this life?  Or, do you spend more time on things that not only don’t help you, but become detrimental because you have “no time” for studying His Word.  “My people perish for lack of knowledge,” says our Lord!

God help us to stop wasting the time that we have outside of work and sleep on temporary things that won’t matter several years from now.  Don’t get me wrong.  We are supposed to do the temporary for eternal purposes, which redeems it.  Our very lives are the definition of temporary, but they can be lived for eternal glory!  The only way you can and will do that is if you are serious about your spiritual training in Christ, being a disciple.

But, reading and meditating on God’s Word is not enough.  We must put it into practice.  Training is all about getting ready for the race or for the boxing match.  However, in life we don’t have a schedule and don’t know when these things will occur.  In some way, we are tested every day.  Life is a series of pop-quizzes, or “pop-races.”  You are either ready or you aren’t, but at least at the end of the day you will know what you need to work on.  So, let’s look at those quizzes.

How is our running and our boxing?  Paul is telling us to run in such a way as to win the prize, called a crown in verse 25.  Am I doing well enough to win a crown?  The Bible speaks of believers winning crowns in several places of which this is one.

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.  2 Timothy 4:8 (NKJV)

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.  James 1:12 (NKJV)

and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. 1 Peter 5:4 (NKJV)

Behold, I am coming quickly!  Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.  Revelation 3:11 (NKJV)

That last word is from our Lord Himself.  Notice that God has that crown for you; it is obtainable.  But, you are going to have to go after it both in training and executing that training in the trials and bouts of life.

I don’t think that these are actually different crowns that we can stack up on top of each other, but rather, they are different ways of describing God’s crowning of His people.  I think we will have some kind of literal symbol of our win, but righteousness, life and glory are just different facets of that singular prize, reigning with Jesus!

There are different things that Paul points out about our running or boxing.  First, we are to run with certainty.  We are to know how we are to run and in what direction we are to run.  Christians are to be examples of God’s righteousness and are to be focused on pleasing the Father, not ourselves, or the world.  Too many Christians appear to be running away from God’s Word and towards the world.  This kind of running will not win the prize.

Second, a boxer doesn’t close their eyes and wail away at the air.  We must fight with a clear picture of reality, both the reality that is going on inside of me and the reality of our opponent.  We need to face reality so that we can fight in truth, not a fantasy fight, and with wisdom.  This reality includes my recognition that the most dangerous opponent is my own flesh.  A Christian who understands the reality of the weakness of their own flesh will train that flesh so that it will serve an eternal purpose rather than a temporal one.

Of course, elsewhere, Paul reminds us that our battle is not with flesh and blood, the people we encounter and tangle with.  Rather, our battle is with the spiritual powers that work on my mind and the minds of people around me in order to pull us away from the Lord.  May God help us to give the Devil a black-eye by training and then boxing him as the Lord leads the way.  In our own flesh, we are unable to stand against the Devil, but “greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world!”

Spiritual Negligence Part 2 audio

The Good Confession

1 Timothy 6:11-16.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 17, 2021.

For the next six weeks, we are going to put a pause on our study through the Gospel according to Mark.  We have reached chapter 15 which details the crucifixion and then chapter 16 details the resurrection of Jesus.  We will pick them up so as to ramp up to our Easter service.

Today, we will go to First Timothy.  I want to talk about making the good confession in the modern world.  We are in a spiritual battle that requires faith in Jesus, in his teachings, and his actions.  

Jesus came into the world to testify to the Truth.  All others before him could really only confess what the Holy Spirit had told them.  Jesus is unique in that he is the only one who is an eye-witness of the Truth and who actually came from heaven to give that witness to the world.  He has told us the truth about the world’s plight, about each of our sin, about the way that it can be fixed, and about the only one who can do the fixing (Jesus himself).

If the Christ had a true testimony that all Christians are to confess before the whole world (that is, speak the same testimony as he) then know this.  The antichrist system of this world has a false testimony that it pressures and forces all to confess.  It is the anti-confession in regards to Jesus, and it will find its climax in the whole world worshipping the Beast through taking a mark, a loyalty pledge that is just as much a confession as it is an economic choice.

Let’s look at our passage.

Our Pursuit

In this passage, we have an older minister, Paul, making sure that a younger minister, Timothy, has a full understanding of how to teach the believers in the churches that were under his care.  Paul was not sure when he would be able to visit Timothy again.

Thus, Timothy is not a new convert and most likely the words here are not new to Timothy either.  Paul actually addresses him as “man of God” in verse 11.  These words are the encouragements and commands of a general to those fellow solders under him in the midst of battle.  We too must understand that we are on a battlefield that has progressed for millennia.  What is the pursuit of my life?  If I am truly a man or woman of God then I will hear the commands of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul and respond in kind.

Before Paul reminds Timothy of his pursuit, he reminds him of what he must flee.  It is hard to go after something when another thing, or things, has our hearts.  Thus, Satan has filled this world with philosophies and lies that seduce our hearts into false pursuits.  He leverages the desires of our flesh against the call of the Holy Spirit.  They are things such as: riches, power, pleasure, fame, pride, and the list goes on.  We must flee these things because our lives depend upon it, and the lives of those we influence.  It is not that these things should not be had, but that they can never be the pursuit of our life.

The anti-confession of this world draws us into these anti-pursuits.  In this passage, Paul has been warning against the teaching of those who think that godliness is a means of gain (vs. 5).  He says that they think this way because they are full of corrupt desires and their minds are destitute of the truth (vss. 4-5).  It is in this context that we are given the statement, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (vs. 10).”

Godliness is not a means of obtaining riches, it is gain in and of itself.  You cannot obtain anything greater than being more like God, like Jesus.  The Gospel is not about making us rich and powerful in this world, but rather about taking on the image of our Father in heaven.  We do not live godly in order to get salvation, or natural blessings in this life.  No, we pursue a godly life because He has already saved us, while we were yet sinners, and has blessed us beyond belief.  We just couldn’t see it before we believed in Him.  Just as we are to flee sexual immorality, so we are commanded to flee the love of riches, and those who would pervert the Gospel into a means of riches.

With our hearts free from false-pursuits, we are then enabled to pursue what is true, God Himself, His image, and His character.  In truth, we cannot accomplish this on our own.  We cannot even accomplish it with the help of well-meaning believers who come alongside of us.  Without the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we would be lost to the seduction of The Lie, the lie that we don’t need God, or Jesus, to satisfy our hearts and minds.

Paul lists righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.  These are all fruit, or evidence, of the Holy Spirit within us.  Yes, we are to pursue them, but our obtaining of them to any measure is enabled by His presence.  This world cannot obtain true righteousness because it lacks the Spirit of God.  It can only redefine righteousness to match exactly what it wants to do.  We have seen over the decades the raising up of a false-righteousness that is now being used to condemn those who cling to the righteousness of God found only in Jesus Christ.  Christian, never forget that we are not called to pursue the desires of the flesh, but rather to pursue the image of God in our life.

Our Fight

In verse 12, Paul then commands Timothy, and us, to fight the good fight.  It involves a battle in which we will face enemies and contestants that desire to defeat us.  Some of them are sentient (spirits and humans), and some of them are abstract such as our internal weaknesses.  The false pursuits are the “bad fight.”  Too many people are fighting the wrong battles, and thereby, they are being used by Satan to become useful idiots in his plan to destroy God’s people and the Truth to which they cling.

It is called in the passage, “the good fight of faith.”  Eternal life is offered to all who will fight the good fight of faith.  In fact, the fight of faith is all about “laying hold of eternal life.”  When we believe upon Jesus, eternal life takes up residence within us through the Holy Spirit.  This eternal life continues to work within us to make us fit to dwell in the direct presence of God in eternity.  However, our faith will be tested in this world.  Just like love is tested by our experiences with others, so our faith is tested by the things we face in life.  This battle, both to keep believing and to agonize over what faith should do now, does not end until we finish this life.  It is in that day of resurrection that we will once and for all lay hold of eternal life.  Each difficulty begs the question, “Will you continue to believe and follow Jesus now?”

Yes, it is a battle, but the battle is worth it.  We have been called to eternal life!  Sin has put us under a death sentence, but Jesus came that we might have eternal life, and life more abundantly.  Jesus told his disciples to take possession of their souls by faith, and in so doing, we strengthen our grip upon eternal life.  No one can take it from you, but you can surrender it by shipwrecking your faith in Jesus.  May our faith be strengthened in Jesus, and not just a redefined Jesus that the world can accept.  No.  It must be the same Jesus that this world crucified 2,000 years ago, and would crucify all over again if he appeared again.  Can the world see the true Jesus in me?

Paul reminds Timothy that he had made the good confession before many witnesses (vs. 12).  All faith is expressed and is activated through confession.  We believe in our heart and confess with our mouths (hands, and feet) that Jesus is Lord.  Paul most likely has Timothy’s initial statement of belief in Jesus.  The many witnesses were other believers who are rejoicing in his confessing the truth of Jesus.  However, life always leads us to places where we must confess before witnesses who are hostile.  Just like Jesus before Caiaphas, and Peter before the servant girl, we will be faced with the opportunity to deny or confess Jesus, and thus the Father, before all men.  We must do the spiritual work now so that we are prepared for those moments.  Otherwise, we will crash and burn just as Peter did.

In verse 13, Paul reminds Timothy and us that Jesus testified the good confession before Pilate.  Most Gospels only have the question, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus then answers, “It is as you say.”  However, John 18 adds that his kingdom is not of this world, now, which implies that it will be one day.  Jesus came from heaven to testify to the Truth so that we can confess, agree with and stand by, his testimony, and thereby participate in his victory.  This sounds wonderful until you are face to face with a hostile enemy challenging you to deny Jesus.

Our Charge

Paul ends this part with a charge, a statement of strong urging, to believers.  We must hold fast to these things.  Paul reminds Timothy that he is in the presence of God and Jesus Christ.  In fact, everything that we do and hear is in the presence of God.  The Latin phrase is, coram deo.  How careful we should be of the things we flee and the things we pursue.  He who will judge all men looks upon us now.  How will we choose and how will we respond now?  The past is important, but the present is always what matters now.  Yes, I had faith yesterday.  Praise God!  But, what will I do today, now that I face this, whatever this may be?

When Jesus testified before Pilate, he was going before us blazing the way.  Jesus testified to the Truth as in a legal witness.  He knows the truth as an eye-witness because he is from heaven.  However, he knows the truth because he is Truth and one with Truth.  He went before us as a great captain of our salvation.  And, so, we must learn to follow him and agree with his testimony with our own confession before the people and powers of this world.

Ultimately, we are to keep this command to pursue the image of God and fight the good fight of faith without spot and blameless (vs. 14).  This is not about never making a mistake, but taking responsibility for our mistakes through repentance and turning back to Christ.  The daily maintenance of faith is a daily cleansing of our lives before our Lord Jesus.

We are not released from this command until Christ appears at the Second Coming.  Paul’s description of the Lord as the Potentate, or Sovereign over all things, is to encourage us.  We are on the right side when we stand with Jesus.  It may not look like it in this world, but all other sides, even those of the “new and improved Jesus,” will fail. 

What truths of Christ are being contested today and in what way?  Over and over again, we see the Scriptures being re-interpreted and obvious meanings cast aside for more modern, acceptable ones.  Will we stand with Jesus, or will we fold like an adulterous spouse?  O friend, hang on to your faith and go to work strengthening it, because you are going to need it in the days ahead!

Good Confession Audio

Instructions on the Battlefield II

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22; 1 Corinthians 3:8-10; Jude 1:3. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 15. 2020.

Last week, we looked at how the real battle for believers today is a spiritual one, and how we must make sure that our character is shaped by Jesus, rather than the culture.

Today, we will look at the issue of prophecy.

What about those prophetic voices in Christianity?

There are some Christians and Christian groups that do not want anything to do with the idea of prophecy about the future, whether in the Bible or via a modern prophet.  Our church has always believed that God is not revealing new Scripture, but that He does gift some people to serve as prophets in His Church.  Let’s take a moment to remind ourselves some of what Scripture says on this matter.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22, it is clear that the apostle does not advocate despising, or looking down on, prophecy.  He equates this to quenching the Holy Spirit, or putting out the Spirit’s fire.  Instead, believers are called upon to test everything and only hold on to that which is good.  To those voices that reject the reality of prophets and prophecy today, I would ask you to consider how you treat prophecy far different than the things that Paul mentioned before it.  He tells us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in everything.  No Church that I am aware of says that those things ended with the apostles of Jesus and the arrival of the completed written word of God.  No, rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks continue on in the Church Age.  Why is prophecy pulled out of this list?  Doesn’t it seem strange that the Apostle Paul would give strong instruction on how to deal with prophets and prophecy, if he knew that God would no longer use them after the first century?  Let’s look at another passage on this.

1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14 are within a larger section in which Paul deals with problems in the worship assemblies of the church in Corinth.  Chapter 12 and 14 talk about the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given them and the proper use of those gifts.  Chapter 13 is given as a parenthetical instruction within this area of spiritual gifts.  Paul’s point is that all spiritual gifts must be operated out of love and the goal to build up God’s people.

Near the end of chapter 13, we have one of the foundational passages used by those who believe that true prophets and true prophecy ended with the death of the first century Apostles.  This passage speaks of love never failing (this is better understood as “coming to an end”).  The point is that when Christ comes back and we enter into the next age, love will still be practiced by God’s people.  However, things like prophecy and knowledge (i.e. receiving it) will come to an end because the perfect will have come.  “That which is perfect” is usually connected to the writing down of the First Century Apostolic witness in the Bible.  They believe Paul to be saying that prophecy will cease when the Bible is completed.  This cannot be what the Apostle was teaching.

Paul never gives the idea throughout chapters 12 to 14 that these instructions are only needed while he and the apostles are alive, and then will become irrelevant.  Rather, he tells the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:29,

“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.” 

When the apostles were gone, it was going to be even more perilous and believers would definitely need the writings of the Apostles.  However, some of that writing is about spiritual gifts.    To believe that 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, and other such passages on spiritual gifts, were only relevant for 20 to 50 years of the Church seems to be special pleading.

Paul points out that we have prophecy because we are in a condition of having a partial knowledge of God’s mind.  The perfect has to be pointing forward to that time when not only Christ has returned, but we have entered into the New Heavens and the New Earth, where there will be no unrighteousness, and where God will dwell directly with us.  That seems to be a better “perfect.”  That perfected environment and perfected relationship with God will preclude the need of prophets and prophesy, like we have in this age. 

Finally, I would state that the Olivet Prophecy (that Jesus gave in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21) warns of false prophets in the Church Age, both at the beginning and at the end in the Great Tribulation.  The presence of the false implies the presence of the true.  In fact, Revelation 11 has two witnesses who are clearly two prophets of God. 

Thus, Christians should recognize that prophecy did not cease with the Apostles of Jesus, and believers are called to the spiritual maturity of testing anyone who claims to have a word from the Lord.

This does not mean that such prophets can add new doctrine to the Gospel.  How can I limit it in this way?  Well, I can’t, but God’s Word itself states in Jude 1:3 (Yes, I know that there is only one chapter) “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”

Jesus had revealed the faith, or teaching we are to believe, to his apostles.  It was their job to establish this teaching in the Church.  They did this by establishing Churches, teaching them the Gospel, defending against false teachers, false prophets, and heretics, and writing all of this down so that we can have an accurate account of their teaching.  This Gospel content is God’s “once for all” instruction to His Church.  Yes, we could want more, but we are told that this is enough, and that we must contend for it.  This does not cancel out prophets and prophecy.  Rather, it becomes the rule or means by which we can judge whether a prophecy contradicts Scripture, or not.  The Gospel becomes the grounds upon which we wrestle internally to take in God’s Word and trust it, and we wrestle externally with those who would pervert and twist its meaning, or add to it.

Not all are prophets who claim to be.  We are to use God’s Word to judge them as well as the character of their life and the success of the prophecy.

There are voices on both sides of this election

That brings us back to the question, “What about those prophetic voices on TV and on the internet, who are talking about the 2020 USA Presidential election?

There are some prophets who are saying that President Trump was God’s judgment on America and now that we are making the right choice of Vice President Joe Biden, we can move forward in healing.  Other voices are saying that President Trump is God’s help to America in order to get us back on the path of freedom.  Obviously, one of these sides is clearly wrong by the rules of logic.  God either wanted Christians to vote for Trump or not, and the same is true for Biden.

This kind of confusion should be expected.  Throughout the Bible, we are warned against false prophets.  In fact, there are far more false prophets in the Bible than true prophets.   I actually believe that both sides have false prophets.  A prophet is not a prophet because they say that something will happen, and it does.  They are a godly prophet because they have actually stood in the presence of God and received a message from Him for His Church.

Let me just warn us all against surfing the internet looking for the latest prophecy about this election and the future.  Some are doing this because they are afraid and have no relationship with the Lord themselves.  If God thinks that you need a prophet then He will send one to you, but be careful of going out to look for a prophet, or prophets.  That is not something that we are ever told to do in the Bible, and it will most likely get you into trouble.  However, over time, prophetic voices have risen up with a platform that became noticed by the Church at large.  To me, David Wilkerson is an example of a guy who was used to speak prophetically to the American Church beyond the church that he pastored.

These are chaotic times, and in chaotic times, you have to turn off the sea of voices and lean into Jesus through prayer and God’s Word.  We are not simply seeing a political divide, but there is also a huge division within the Church, and maybe even a division inside of you.  Too many voices in our heads are not good.  We have to learn to tune out the talking heads in the news media, the talking heads in the blogosphere, whether they are secular or Christian.  This is a time to go back into your prayer closet and seek Jesus.  This is a time to seek His wisdom.

It is not enough to come to church and have a pastor dish up a plate of God’s Word for you.  You have to want to know God and His wisdom enough that you are prayerfully reading through what His word says to you.

Scripture tells us that the end times will be perilous times, and we can see that happening today.  2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us,

“1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

Does this not describe many on either side of this political divide?  This is a time that calls for those who will rise up and fight the battles of the Lord in the midst of great deception.  It is the Spirit of God who blows the trumpet across our land, even this world, in order to follow Jesus, not a man or a political party.  What will we do?

Battlefield II Audio

USMC Lt. Colonel (ret.) Dave Winecoff

This last Sunday we were blessed with the visiting ministry of Dave Winecoff.  Dave comes from a military family and went on to join the United States Marine Corps.  After his three tours in Vietnam he was decorated with the Silver Star for his conspicuous gallantry in Operation Dewey Canyon.

Dave has spoken at Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International and is currently serving as a chaplain for a local Veterans of Foreign War post.

We are grateful that he accepted our invitation and have posted the audio for those who couldn’t be in Sunday’s morning service.

Dave Winecoff Audio