Disciples with Discipline
(Fifty Days of Consecration #1)
1 Corinthians 9:24-27[1]
3-20-05
Introduction
This morning we want to prepare for the Fifty Days of Consecration that begins next Sunday. The fifty days begins on Easter (March 27th) and will conclude on the Day of Pentecost (May 15th).
It is a special time for us to draw near to the Lord. We begin with the promise found in James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (NKJV). As a congregation we want to do that during these next six weeks. As individuals and families this is an opportunity for us to consecrate ourselves to the Lord. We are to live our lives in devotion or consecration to the Lord. But there are also special times of consecration. In Israel’s history the Passover was a special time of consecration. In Acts 13 we see the church in a special time of prayer and fasting.
When Israel was about to enter into the Promise Land, “Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you’” (Josh 3:5). “Consecrate yourselves”—prepare yourselves spiritually for the manifest presence of God. It was a call to separate themselves from anything displeasing to the Lord. It was a call to purity. It was a time for each family/each person to turn to the Lord and confirm their devotion to Him. The word translated consecrate in Joshua 3:5 is sometimes translated sanctify, hallow, or dedicate. How will you dedicate yourself to the Lord during these fifty days?
I want to begin by handing out these forms for a “Personal Plan”. When you receive your copy, turn to the back and read the explanation at the bottom of the page. We have purposely approached this time with a minimum of structure—because we want you to have the freedom to focus on areas the Lord is speaking to you about. I would encourage you to concentrate your commitments on a couple of areas and don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed by all the possibilities.
The yellow sheet you are receiving provides a few suggestions for each of the areas we will be dealing with during the next few Sundays. Each area has a section entitle “Other” so that you can put anything there you may feel God has for you personally. The suggested commitments that are listed are not mandatory. They are simply there to help you discover what God wants you to do during this time.
As an overview of The Fifty Days of Consecration we will talk a few minutes about your Personal Plan. Let me say up front, “Without a personal plan, you will probably not get much out of this program.” Generalized good intentions usually don’t succeed. The discipline comes when we make the decision and the commitment in a very specific way. You want to draw near to God. How will you do that? Will you get up fifteen minutes earlier each morning and pray? Will you covenant with a friend to meet together once a week and pray? The thing God is dealing with me about may be different from what He is speaking to you about. But we all want to respond to the Lord. I want us to pause for a moment and each one ask for God’s wisdom and direction as to what He would have you pursue. (Pray)
(Discuss the “Personal Plan” form giving brief explanation of each commitment listed. Then allow about 5 minutes for people to make some preliminary notes on the form as to what their commitment will be.)
Now I also want to give you another resource. On the white sheet of paper being handed out is a suggested devotion in preparation for next Sunday. We plan to do this each Sunday so that you have something to work with. It will be simple and easy to use. But it will help you get into the particular spiritual discipline for that week.
Discuss “Devotional Preparation for Worship/Remembrance”[2] and the Sermon Plan at the bottom of the page. Encourage everyone to read an inspiring Christian book during this time. Some groups are forming to discuss Richard Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline[3].
Now for the next few minutes set all that aside and let’s look into the word of God for an understanding of why this is so important.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
For the next few weeks we are going to be talking about seven spiritual disciplines. Why are we talking about spiritual disciplines? Is discipline all that necessary for us to live a successful Christian life? We believe in grace so why do we need to worry about the issue of spiritual discipline? Discipline is essential to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. The two words come from the same Latin root.
In Luke 9:23 Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” To follow Jesus demands that we do two things: we deny ourselves and we take up our cross daily. I have to be willing to say “no” to myself on some things if I am to be a follower of Christ. I have to be willing to take up my personal cross—not the one Jesus took up 2000 years ago. He took that one up and finished the work of redemption all by Himself. But there’s a cross for me as a follower of Jesus.
In 1693 Thomas Shepherd wrote the words:
“Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone
And all the world go free?
No there’s a cross for everyone.
And there’s a cross for me.”[4]
A Christianity without a cross is not Christianity at all. It is another gospel[5]—foreign to the Bible. Christianity was founded upon sacrificial blood of the Savior. It continues to operate upon the principle of personal sacrifice. When people find a way to remove personal sacrifice from their Christianity, they have robbed themselves of what it is all about. When people devise a belief system that allows them to indulge the flesh and live like the world yet expect all the glory of heaven, they have only deceived themselves. The ground rules for following Jesus remain the same today as they were 2000 years ago.
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
In our text this morning Paul calls our attention to the place discipline has in our Christian life. He compares it to an Olympic athlete who trains for the race.[6] If that athlete hopes to qualify (let alone win), he has to deny himself and work hard toward his goal. He can’t eat milk and twinkies every morning and be ready for the Olympic games. He will have to say “no” to things other people are enjoying. The whole idea is strict training, discipline, self-denial.
Self-denial is not a popular word in our society. Kids scream if Mom or Dad says, “no”. So what does Mom and Dad do? It’s just easier to give the brat what he wants than to train him. So people grow up without a healthy concept of self-denial. They try to live their Christian life with that same mentality and wonder why it doesn’t work. There is a strange paradox in real Christianity. You have to lose your life; but in losing your life (and only in losing your life) you find the abundant life of Christ. As long as self is front and center, there is no genuine abundant life. There may be a cheap, worldly substitute. But the real thing is only found in a cross, in self-denial, in personal surrender to the will and purposes of God.
Notice the motivation Paul talks about in our text: verse 25 “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” Discipline can not be sustained without a goal in mind.[7] Why in the world would anyone get up at 5:00 am in the morning and run several miles and then eat a high fiber breakfast that doesn’t even taste good; then do the same thing the next day? He wants to win that trophy. In Paul’s day they placed a “stephanos[8]” (wreath) upon the winners head and honored him for his accomplishment. That was what it took to motivate those runners.
But Paul says our motivation is far greater—our motivation is an eternal crown—eternal glory. 1 Peter 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you...”(NKJV). I personally believe we are touching on two major sources of weakness in the American Church. First, we have lost sight of heaven. Our heart is not set upon that eternal inheritance. That is taken for granted.[9] We are focused on the cares of this life and more immediate pleasure and gratification. Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law” (NASU). If I don’t have my sights on eternity, I will lower my level of discipline. When we lose sight of heaven we will become selfish and worldly. Second, we have lost sight of hell. The Bible provides an interesting balance between comfort and warning. On the one hand, God assures us of His love and of His best desires for us. The Lord is “...not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV). It is not God’s will that any of His children live in torment because of ignorance about His love and grace. On the other hand, it is also not God’s will that any of His children live in presumption because of ignorance about His judgment and justice. Heb 10:31 “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Do you know what the Bible says right before that statement? “...the Lord will judge His people.”
So in our text Paul is talking about two motivations: on the positive side there is eternal glory—on the negative side there is the danger of eternal damnation. 1 Cor 9:27
“No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” The New American Standard is much closer to the Greek[10], “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (NASU). Paul is saying that he disciplines his body and brings it under subjection so that after preaching to others he himself does not wind up disqualified. The word translated disqualified is “adokimos”. Every place that word is used in the New Testament it is referring to rejection.[11] Paul wasn’t just concerned about coming in 2nd or 3rd place. He was concerned about not coming in at all. If Paul had that kind of concern I would think we might do well to give some thought to it as well.
The chapter break from chapter 9 to chapter 10 is unfortunate because what Paul says in the next verse helps us understand the application of 1 Cor 9:27. Follow with me as we read I Cor 10:1-12 (read). Look at the experiences with God these people had enjoyed. In verse 1 they had all been “under the cloud”. That cloud was the manifest presence of God overshadowing them. They had all passed through the Red Sea. Surely if God had opened the Red Sea and delivered them, they would finish well. But it didn’t happen that way, did it? Verse 2 tells us they were all baptized. Verse 3 says they all ate of the spiritual food and drank of the same spiritual rock. Notice the word “spiritual”. “But, Pastor, those people were just experiencing outward things.” No, Paul makes the matter very clear in verse 4 when he says, “...and that rock was Christ.” They had followed God out of Egypt and had experienced God in powerful ways. But look at the way it all ended. Verse 5, “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the dessert.” Why should all of that alarm us? Because in the next verse Paul tells us this is not just an interesting history lesson. This is a warning for you and me. This is an example of what will happen to us if we follow their path. Twice, once in verse 6 and again in verse 11, Paul says this is a warning for us to heed. The message is loud and clear for every Christian that is presumptuous enough to think he or she can live sinfully and expect a good end of the matter. 1 Cor. 10:12 “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” That’s the point Paul is making.
Why do I discipline myself as Paul describes in 1 Cor. 9:27? Because there is a whole lot at stake. Mark 8:36-38 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul (NKJV)?”
That is Paul’s ultimate reason for living in spiritual discipline. On the one side there is this danger of eternal rejection. As negative as it may sound to our culturally condition American minds, it comes straight out of the Bible. On the positive side, there is the hope of eternal glory.
It will be worth it all
when we see Jesus.
One glimpse of His dear face
all sorrow will erase.
So bravely run the race
‘till we see Christ.[12]
Are you living in the bright hope of eternal glory? Jesus came to seek and to save sinners. Maybe that describes your condition this morning. Have your sins been forgiven. Have you received Christ as Lord and Savior? If you do not have that hope and expectation of heaven in your heart—if you do not have assurance of Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I have good news for you. Jesus came; He gave His life on the cross and rose again so that you could spend eternity with Him. He will make that a reality in your soul today if you will commit your life to Him this morning.
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] All Scripture quotes are New International Version unless otherwise indicated.
[2] Provided at end of manuscript.
[3] Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 3rd ed. (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998)
[4] www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/u/mustjesu.htm
[5] 2 Corinthians 11:4
[6] In our first service we used video clip from “G.I. Jane” (0:19:08 to 0:20:48) to introduce this idea.
[7] The UBS Greek Dictionary (BibleWorks 6) indicates that the word, adeeloos, (translated aimlessly in verse 26 means “without a goal in mind”.
[8] Greek word for the crown placed on the winner of the Olympic games.
[9] It is my personal conviction that the “entitlement” mentality of our culture has significantly affected the average church members attitude toward salvation.
[10] Although the context might warrant adding the words “for the prize” at the end of verse 27, NASU’s more literal translation is preferred.
[11] See Hebrews 6:8 and Romans 1:28; 2Cor. 13:5-7; Titus 1:16. A full development of this thought is beyond the scope of this message. For more information see Gordon Fee’s commentary on 1 Corinthians.
[12] Esther Kerr Rusthoi in The New Church Hymnal, Jacque Anderson, Keilani Baublitz, et. al., eds.(Lexicon Music, Inc.) p. 481
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Fifty Days of Consecration: Easter to Pentecost
Personal Plan
3-20-05
1. Commitment to Worship/Remembrance
I will write down a list of things for which I am grateful on ___________ (date).
I will meet with my family on ___________ to identify & celebrate monumental events in our family’s history.
Other ____________________________________________________________
2. Commitment to Prayer
I will increase my personal daily prayer by ________ minutes and plan to do so from_______ to _______ (time) on ____________ (days of week).
I will meet with _____________ and pray together from __________ to _______.
Other ____________________________________________________________
3. Commitment to Community/Relationships
I will forgive _____________________ and nurture the appropriate relationship.
I will show hospitality by inviting people to my home on __________________
___________________________(when and how often).
Other ____________________________________________________________
4. Commitment to Meditation/Solitude
I will increase my personal mediation on scripture by __________ minutes and plan to do so from_______ to _______ (time) on ____________ (days of week).
I will schedule and spend _________ (time) alone with God at _________(place).
I will memorize _______________ (verses) by _____________ (date).
Other ____________________________________________________________
5. Commitment to Fasting/Giving
I will fast ___________ meals each _________ (day) of the _______________.
I will abstain from ______________ foods on ___________________________.
I will increase my financial giving by __________________________________.
Other ____________________________________________________________
6. Commitment to Scripture Study
I will read ___________________ in the Bible during these 50 days.
I will study ___________________ in the Bible during these 50 days.
Other ____________________________________________________________
7. Commitment to Service/Evangelism
I will serve my local church by __________________________________ during
these 50 days.
I will help ___________________(person) by ___________________________.
I will look for opportunity to share my faith with _________________________.
Other ____________________________________________________________
8. Commitment to being filled with the Holy Spirit
I will limit ________________ to ________________ in order to nurture my spiritual hunger.
I will prepare my heart for more of God by ____________________________.
This planning sheet is only a tool to help you make an up front commitment that is between you and God. Without a strategic decision as to what you will do and how you will measure your progress little will be accomplished. You will get out of this Fifty Days of Consecration in direct proportion to what you put into it. This is for you! This is an opportunity for you to join with others in a pursuit of God’s presence and good pleasure.
For most of us there will only be a couple of spiritual disciples that we can effectively concentrate on during this time. Begin by identifying the two disciplines that are most significant for where you are now in your personal journey. Prayerfully decide what your commitment will be in those two areas. Then decide the others around that center.
Keep your goals realistic and measurable. It is better to follow through on strengthening a couple of disciplines than to attempt too much and not follow through.
We are purposefully not listing what you must do because we want you to have the flexibility to respond to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you personally. But we are all making a passionate pursuit for more of God in our lives.
