How Can I Keep From Wasting My Life?

1 Corinthians 9:15-27 January 28, 2024 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis The Christian life is a call to leave much behind to pursue what matters most—building the church and reaching the lost—with relentless devotion until Christ returns or calls us home.

Series

—

Type

Expository

Tone

propheticpastoraldidactic

Method

grammatical-historicalapplicatorycanonical

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

28 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #24

"The preacher provides a comprehensive list of concrete resolutions covering major life domains: vocation, location, retirement, church commitment, evangelism, marriage, parenting, budget, calendar, possessions, and motivation. This is the sermon's most concrete application, translating the abstract call to relentless devotion into specific, actionable commitments across the Christian life."

Doctrinal loci· 5 surfaced

Sanctification · 14 Pastoral Theology · 4 Ethics / Moral Theology · 3 Christology · 2 Doxology / Worship · 1

Bible citations· 13

Illustrations· 5

cultural reference · unit #4 — The preacher uses Jürgen Klopp's "heavy metal football" as an extended analogy for relentless Christian living. The illustration establishes the sermon's central metaphor: Christianity requires constant intensity, focus, and effort with no moments of rest or passivity—just as Klopp's style demands peak athletes who never let up.
hypothetical · unit #11 — The preacher uses a relatable airport luggage analogy to illustrate the Corinthian error: trying to bring excessive baggage on the journey to heaven. The image makes vivid the absurdity of attempting discipleship without sacrifice.
personal story · unit #13 — The preacher tells Trey Richardson's story as a contemporary embodiment of Paul's principle—a man who sacrificed career advancement, financial security, and comfort to build the church, and who declares at the end that it was all worth it. The illustration demonstrates that Paul's model is not ancient history but living reality.
historical example · unit #17 — The preacher uses the Titanic disaster and John Harper's story as a powerful analogy for Paul's mission clarity. In the crisis of the sinking ship, trivial concerns vanish and the singular imperative—save as many as possible—becomes obvious. Harper embodies this clarity by literally giving his life jacket to another man while evangelizing in the water. Paul, seeing people perishing eternally, operates with the same clarity.
historical example · unit #22 — The preacher introduces Jonathan Edwards as a living example of relentless devotion, quoting Edwards' youthful resolutions to live with maximum intensity for eternal happiness. He shows how Edwards maintained this intensity throughout his life, even moving to the frontier in old age after being dismissed from his pastorate. The illustration demonstrates that Paul's vision is not theoretical but has been embodied by real Christians.

Theological claims· 8

The Corinthians have lost their focus and drifted from gospel mission into a listless Christianity driven by comfort, preference, and rights. unit #5
If we believe what we claim to believe as Christians, Paul's relentless, focused life is not crazy but the only sane way to live. unit #7
The Christian life is a call to leave much behind to pursue what matters most with relentless devotion. unit #8
Paul's sacrifice is not exceptional; all Christians are called by Jesus to deny themselves, take up their cross, and leave much behind for the gospel. unit #10
The Corinthian approach of carrying all comforts into discipleship is not the Christian life at all. unit #12
Paul leaves things behind not with regret but with joy, considering it a privilege to sacrifice for the gospel. unit #14
Paul sacrifices for the gospel not as a joyless ascetic but motivated by the clear vision that everything he loses will be restored and magnified in eternity. unit #18
Christ demonstrated relentless devotion by leaving heaven, pursuing us through sin, and going all the way to the cross—therefore we should follow him with the same unflinching focus to bring others into salvation. unit #25

Quotations· 5

"This is God's Word." — Ricky Alcantar (pastoral formula) (unit #1)

"When he found himself in the icy water with a life jacket floating near another man, Harper asked, 'Are you saved?' 'No, I'm not saved,' the desperate man replied. Harper replies, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.' One report says Harper, knowing he could not survive long in the icy water himself, took off his life jacket and threw it to another person with the words, 'You need this more than I do.' And moments later, Harper disappeared beneath the water." — Erwin Lutzer (recounting John Harper's story) (unit #17)

"Resolved to live with all my might while I do live." — Jonathan Edwards (unit #22)

"He was a young man unsure of his future. He had many gifts and not a few options before him. His father and grandfather were ministers, as were uncles and others in the family tree. He had a first-rate education, one of the finest of the day. He was well-prepared for a future in the halls of the academy should he so choose. He had a penchant for science and perhaps could head it off into that. But at 19, he was invited to pastor and chose to accept." — Steve Nichols (unit #22)

"Resolved to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, and with all the power, might, vigor, vehemence, yea, violence I am capable of or can bring myself to exert in any way that can be thought of." — Jonathan Edwards (unit #22)

Read it

Full transcript

37,912 characters 28 units ~42 min reading time Listen instead →

0 · The preacher introduces himself and orients the congregation to the biblical text

All right, well, I want to invite you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. If you have not met me yet, I'd love the chance to meet you. My name is Ricky, and I have the privilege of being a pastor in this church and also had the privilege of growing up in this church, and I could not love it more. So love the chance to meet you and tell you the story of this wonderful place and these wonderful people. We're in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and Every Sunday, I usually use a phrase as we're about to open the Word, which is this: "This is God's Word." I'll say that before we read the text.

1 · The preacher steps outside the expositional flow to address the congregation directly about their posture toward Scripture

And I think this Sunday in particular, we have to remember what we are saying. This is not us opening a religious text. This is not us opening a book of good advice from some long-ago philosophers. This, we believe as Christians, is the very word of God, that we hear his voice. So therefore, anytime we approach the Bible, we approach it ready to be encouraged where we need to be encouraged, exhorted where we need to be exhorted, challenged where we need to be challenged. And we sign up to have our lives rearranged by the Bible as God speaks.

2 · The preacher reads the primary text aloud in full, establishing the biblical foundation for the sermon's argument about Paul's voluntary sacrifice of rights for the sake of the gospel and his call to disciplined, focused Christian living

So let's read 1 Corinthians chapter 9, beginning in verse 15. This is God's Word. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. This is God's Word.

3 · The preacher addresses God directly, asking for receptivity to the Word and willingness to be transformed by it

And Lord, I pray we would hear Your voice today. I pray that we would be willing to have our lives even rearranged By Your voice. In Your name we pray. Amen.

4 · The preacher uses Jürgen Klopp's "heavy metal football" as an extended analogy for relentless Christian living

Well, being a Cowboys fan, I have turned my attention to other things. And one of the things I love is watching professional soccer in the English league. And there's a particular coach I love in the English Premier League named— he has the best name too— Jürgen Klopp. He's a German. And he is known for a particular pioneering style of soccer called, and he's named it this, this gives you a flavor of his personality, he calls this style of football that his teams play heavy metal football, or in German, gegenpress, meaning like a constant relentless press across the field. And here's the difference between sort of classic soccer and heavy metal football. Traditionally in soccer, and this is a bit of a caricature, but traditionally in soccer, when the ball changes teams, when the other team gets the ball, everybody on each team kind of pauses and goes, "Okay, well, we were on offense, we lost the ball. Now we're all going to get set up in our defensive positions. Okay, here we go. Now we're ready." And the opposing team too, with the ball, goes like, "Oh, we were defensive, Now we need to hold for a second, everybody's getting in their offensive positions. And in many ways, you see some soccer games, they seem relatively polite. It's like, oh, the ball has changed hands. Well, give you a second, I'm gonna take a second. Great, now we're ready to play soccer. And Jürgen Klopp is like, no! And traditionally, the moment where everybody pauses to reconfigure, the moment where the team, the ball changes hands, his teams are known for, as soon as the ball changes hands to the other team, you press all the more to get the ball. He has his players, this is real, hunting in packs. He calls them packs. Like 2 or 3 guys will work together to corner somebody, get the ball away from them. And then rather than being like, okay, great, well, let's set up for our offensive play. It's like, no, get the ball down as far down the field as fast as you can, all the way. Right, that is heavy metal football. And here's the difficulty with heavy metal football. You have to have peak athletes because at any moment, there is no rest, right? Like, I love Messi. Messi can't play heavy metal football. He walks around for part of the game, right? This is, the athletes he's got are all in, all the time physically, and even more importantly, Klopp would say, your focus must be relentless while you are playing the game. Because at any moment, as soon as the ball changes hands, you could be playing offense or defense in a split second, So you must be, and it only takes one weak link on the field, one guy not paying attention to exploit this style of football. So he preaches constant effort, constant vigilance, constant focus, and it's been successful. He's won essentially every trophy that is winnable from his historic Liverpool Football Club. And that style of football, that heavy metal football has actually been popularized in Europe, but not everyone can do it. 'Cause not everyone has the athletes and not everyone has the focus.

5 · The preacher diagnoses the Corinthian problem: they have drifted from gospel passion into comfort-driven, preference-oriented Christianity

And I think if you read 1 Corinthians chapter 9, what Paul is calling Christians to is heavy metal Christianity. His concern is this, the Corinthians have lost their focus. They are drifting. Where once maybe they were passionate about the gospel, passionate about building the church, passionate about reaching the lost, They have drifted into a listless, directionless sort of Christianity that is driven not by gospel mission, but rather by their own comfort, their own preference, their own rights. They're very concerned about their rights in this passage, if we were to read the entire thing in context. They want to be able to do what they want when they want. They don't want anyone to interrupt their ability to live their lives as best they can with maximum comfort and all of their preferences.

6 · The preacher explains Paul's unusual practice of refusing payment and working as a tentmaker while doing ministry

And they perhaps think Paul the apostle is crazy because Paul, when he came to Corinth, he refused to accept any payment for preaching the gospel, even though that was traditional among the speakers of his days, we'll talk about. And rather, he made tents during the day and then preached the gospel and built the church nights and weekends. And so they're like, "Man, that's weird. Why would you do that?" Because their concern is, "I want as much comfort and I want as much of my life to be preserved and uninterrupted."

7 · The preacher inverts the evaluation: Paul is not crazy—he's the sane one

They think, the Corinthians think Paul is crazy. But in fact, Paul using this passage is going to argue that if we as Christians believe what we claim to believe, a relentless, focused life is the only sane way way to live. Rather than— and Paul is looking out at the way the world lives and he's going, "You people are the crazy ones. I'm the only one that's sane here." And he's going to make his argument. His heavy metal Christianity means not letting up, not losing focus, recognizing you have one shot, that tomorrow is never guaranteed, and therefore you live all in, all out until you're with Jesus.

8 · The preacher states the sermon's governing thesis in a single sentence

The Christian life, you could sum it up this way, the Christian life is a call to leave much behind to pursue what matters most with relentless devotion.

9 · The preacher explains the Corinthian cultural context where successful orators accumulated wealth and status, creating a symbiotic relationship between lifestyle and credibility

The first section, "Leave Much Behind." Verse 15, he introduces and summarizes, rather, the verses 1 through 15 by saying, "I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision." What he's been arguing in verses 1 through 15 is that it is contrary to the gospel to live as his culture and the Corinthian church expect him to live. The way it worked in Corinth is, in Corinth, people who were public speakers were very popular. They were sort of local or regional celebrities, right? You gotta remember, they don't have Netflix, right? So their entertainment is going down to the agora or the speaking area and hearing the, the best speakers and the best orators. And once you found somebody, you either liked their style or you liked what they taught, you would kind of start paying them. You'd kind of, if you could say it this way, subscribe to your favorite preacher or teacher or orator. And the more sort of money that person accumulated, the more lifestyle, the lifestyle of theirs would be sort of increased. And actually increasing their lifestyle only led more people to say, "Man, this guy's got a huge house. He must be really good. I'm going to go listen to this guy." Right? "This guy's got the nicest robes in Corinth. Like, I'm going to listen to this dude." And so it kind of fed off of each other. The income and the lifestyle went back and forth. And the greatest orators, the greatest thinkers, the greatest philosophers were those who had a lot of money and weren't afraid to show it. And yet Paul, Paul, when he comes to Corinth, refuses to accept any payment for this reason. He knows it will undercut the mission of the gospel if he begins to play the Corinthian orator game. He wants them to understand the gospel is utterly unlike these worldly philosophies, and, "I am not here to make money. I am here to save your souls." And so Paul goes all out. Now, he makes an effective argument in verses 1 through 15 that the church should pay its pastors. The church should take care of materially those who are laboring to establish the church or advance the church. And he makes a great argument. And in fact, if you're wondering why traditionally in church history churches have paid pastors, it's this argument in 1 Corinthians 9. So he makes a great argument and then says, "But I have the right to it, but I'm going to forego it. I'm going to lay down my right for the sake of the gospel."

10 · The preacher universalizes Paul's example, arguing that all Christians—not just apostles or super-committed believers—are called to sacrificial living

Here's the principle: Paul left behind his demand for material comfort for the sake of the gospel, and his example is not the exception in Christianity. In fact, all Christians are called to leave much behind for the sake of the gospel. In Matthew 16, Jesus says whoever would follow Him must deny himself, take up his cross, and set himself to this kind of sacrificial, in the footsteps of Jesus life. So Jesus is not saying, okay, there's gonna be the kind of Paul Christians. And then there's gonna be, you know, the— if you could say it this way, there's gonna be the heavy metal Christians. And then there's gonna be the soft rock Christians, right? The soft rock Christians are like, yeah, ba da ba ba ba. And I asked one guy that was a musician one time, like, why do people— why is soft rock in like offices and restaurants? Radio stations? Why is it everywhere? And he goes, "Oh, nobody really likes it, but it doesn't offend anybody." Right? It's just sort of, "De la piña colada." It's just like this, like, nobody, you know, just— and over— and I think the Corinthians thought, like, well, okay, you're kind of a weird Christian. We're the normal Christians. And what we would like to do is carry as much comfort and as much sort of wealth and as much— as big a house as possible and as many nice things as possible. And we can follow Jesus and carry those things.

11 · The preacher uses a relatable airport luggage analogy to illustrate the Corinthian error: trying to bring excessive baggage on the journey to heaven

And in many ways, the Corinthians are like— have you ever been on a trip in which you all arrive at the airport and you have, as is appropriate, a bag, only for your friend to arrive with multiple bags, only for your friend to say, "Where do we get those luggage cart things?" Right? And you're like, "Uh-uh, buddy, no way." Like, this is not good, right? A bag is fine. And this is what the Corinthians are doing. They're going, "Okay, great. We're going to heaven. We love it. We would just like to bring everything comfortable that we like with us. We would like to not interrupt any of these things. We would like to not leave anything behind. We would like Jesus, but we'd also—" We kind of like to keep everything in our lives at the same time. That's what they're saying.

12 · The preacher delivers a blunt verdict on the Corinthian approach, using Paul's example as the counter-witness

And Paul is demonstrating that is not the Christian life at all.

13 · The preacher tells Trey Richardson's story as a contemporary embodiment of Paul's principle—a man who sacrificed career advancement, financial security, and comfort to build the church, and who declares at the end that it was all worth it

This week we were at a pastors and wives retreat with some churches in Sovereign Grace in the West, and it was great. One of the things we did was we celebrated the retirement of one of the kind of the founding pastors and leaders in the West region of our family of churches. His name's Trey Richardson. A number of you guys know him. And he was one of the early leaders in our church, and he became kind of a legend in a good way because he came to church, he began to have a heart for building the church and reaching the lost, and he's working for IBM at the time, but IBM was telling him, look, if you want to advance in your career, you've got to get out of here. We are moving you. You got to go here, you got to be willing to bounce around for a while, but you're going to have a really good career trajectory with IBM. And he was like, "No, it's okay." And they're like, "Okay, well, if you want to stay, we only have a worse, harder, lower-paying job." And he's like, "I'll take that one." Right? Right, and he's not working full-time for the church. He's literally just giving his nights and weekends and sacrificing so that he could serve the church. And he eventually— you might wonder, well, where is he? He eventually did leave El Paso to go pastor full-time in the city of Phoenix, the only place I'm aware of that's hotter than this place. Nobody here in El Paso growing up is like, "I'd like to live in a hotter place. I like this, but hotter," right? That's what Trey did. He was like, "Okay, that's it. This church needs a pastor. I'm going to go help." And so he had a multi-decade run as a pastor. And we were praying over him and celebrating his retirement. And one of the guys that knew him for a long time said, "Man, just think, Trey, you could have had an IBM retirement." right? You could have had multi-decade career at IBM. You'd probably be doing pretty well. You'd probably be able to do some things in your retirement that you probably can't do now. You know, you could visit a new island every week if you wanted to, and yet you're just going to go fishing with your buddy Lynn every weekend instead and, and keep showing up at church and keep supporting your son who's a pastor and keep loving people. And, and it was a funny thing. But you could just tell when he said it, Trey said something like, you know, "It's worth it. It's all worth it, man." Like, he left a lot behind, but he left it behind with joy.

14 · The preacher corrects a potential misreading of Paul's sacrifice as begrudging or resentful

And similarly, I want you to hear in Paul's words, he is not leaving behind things going like, "Oh, if only I could have brought my PlayStation with me." Like, he is like, "No." In fact, it is my privilege, it is my ground for boasting and rejoicing that I'm counted worthy to leave things behind for the sake of the gospel. It is a joy.

15 · The preacher turns Paul's example into a direct question for the congregation, asking them to identify areas where rights, privileges, or preferences are hindering their pursuit of God's calling

Is there an area of your life then, in light of the example of the text, that God would call you to leave something behind? Maybe, There's a right that you have, a privilege that you have, a preference that you have, may not even be a bad thing in and of itself, but you know it is hindering you in pursuing what God has called you to do. That's what the text charges us to consider today.

16 · The preacher expounds verses 19-22, explaining Paul's paradoxical use of freedom—he possesses maximal freedom (education, Roman citizenship, wealth, spiritual liberation from Jewish law) yet voluntarily enslaves himself to all people for a single purpose: winning souls and building churches

Second thing, to pursue what matters most. So we leave things behind, but not for no reason. We leave them behind to pursue what matters most. Look at verse 19, "For though I am," Free from all, I have made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them. And then look down at verse 22. I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings. Man, think of Paul. Paul is— he has utter freedom in both the kind of the material worldly sense and the spiritual sense, right? In the material sense, he was one of the most highly educated rabbis of his day. He studied under the greatest rabbi of his day. He also is a Roman citizen, which gives him massive privileges around the Roman Empire. Many speculate that Paul came from wealth, which is how his family obtained Roman citizenship. And not only is he kind of free to do whatever he wants materially, spiritually, man, he's been freed of many of the Jewish regulations in that sense, being now under the law of Christ. He can now eat bacon. And if I were Paul, growing up, you can't eat bacon, I'm able to eat bacon, I'm going to be eating a lot of bacon, right? And he has the ability to do things he could not do before. He has kind of the world open to him. He's free, and yet he uses that freedom and says, "I have made myself a servant to all." That is what he is doing. Why? Why would he do such a radical thing? Because he has a clear goal in mind. He sees what matters most in life. He's willing to leave things behind because what he is gaining is far more valuable. And what is he gaining? It's not even something for himself. "That by all means I might save some." His heartbeat is for building the church and reaching the lost, meaning he goes into a town, he evangelizes, he reaches the lost, he builds that lost group of people into a church, and then he equips that church, to send others out that they might reach the lost and build more churches, and the pattern may continue from one end of the earth to the other until Christ returns, right? That is his heartbeat. He's going to leave everything behind to get there. He has a startling, icy clarity about what matters in life.

17 · The preacher uses the Titanic disaster and John Harper's story as a powerful analogy for Paul's mission clarity

Now, I was reading this week about the sinking of the Titanic, as many of us do, during the week, and that great tragedy where 1,500 people died. Just thinking about that, reading about it. And here's what's interesting that I've found as I've studied a bit of the Titanic. As the ship was going down, there were obviously not enough lifeboats. There were far too many— far too few lifeboats and life vests for the number of passengers there. And so it left those that were lucky and had a lifeboat with a unique moment of startling clarity, right? Often, a lifeboat would be launched, maybe some women and children, but they'd have a little bit more room, and yet there's chaos, and so the thing's being dropped, and they have a little bit more room. They can save a few more. And in that moment, there's startling clarity about what you're supposed to do next, right? No one in those moments is going, "Oh my gosh, could we go back for my luggage?" You know, I really want to take that with me. They're not thinking like, oh my gosh, can we grab a blanket before they drop us in the water? It is frigid out here, right? There is a startling clarity that our job is to save as many as we can. And in a similar way, Paul looks around him in the Roman Empire, in the dark waters of this pagan world, and sees people perishing without Christ, and he determines my lifeboat is going to them. One man in the waters of the Titanic, in those icy Arctic waters, was the Scottish evangelist John Harper, who was on his way to America. And Lutzer shares his story. When he found himself in the icy water with a life jacket floating near another man, Harper— you just think, what do you do? Harper asked, "Are you saved?" 'No, I'm not saved,' the desperate man replied. I don't know what sense he meant that in, but, 'No, I'm not saved,' the desperate man replied. Harper replies, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.' One report says Harper, knowing he could not survive long in the icy water himself, took off his life jacket and threw it to another person with the words, 'You need this more than I do.' And moments later, Harper disappeared beneath the water. 4 years later, there was a reunion of the survivors of the Titanic, and the man to whom Harper had witnessed told the story of his rescue and gave a testimony of his conversion, which he put into a tract entitled "I Was John Harper's Last Convert," using the opportunity to evangelize everybody else at the reunion. John Harper, had utter clarity about what mattered most. Even greater than his need for physical safety was the need of those around him perishing without eternal safety. He was willing to take up his own life jacket and hand it to someone else because he knew where he was going and he had a startling clarity about what he should do in that moment. All the other concerns of life fade in that moment of startling clarity. And this is what Paul is saying is true of him. He sees with startling clarity what mattered most, right? He has one life. He has no idea how much time is left. There are people around him perishing in the icy waters. He has a life raft in Jesus Christ. So he is going out again and again and again until the Lord brings him home. That is his priority.

18 · The preacher corrects a potential misreading of Paul as joyless ascetic

Purpose, and he is willing then to leave everything else behind to pursue it. Now, lest we believe that Paul is just— he's sort of this ascetic guy, he's like, "Well, I just don't like anything. I don't want anything. I don't want to experience joy. I don't want to experience pleasure. I don't want to experience life. I'm just this kind of, you know, I'm just gonna gut it out. Maybe I like that kind of thing. No, that's not Paul at all. Paul actually is, if you could say it this way, doing this for his own benefit as well. Meaning he's been called by Christ, called to follow Christ, and he says, "I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings." Meaning he sees the blessings of heaven laid out clearly before him. And he believes this, that nothing he leaves behind will be worth comparing to what he will receive in eternity. This is what Jesus says in Mark 10:29. He says, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sister or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and last first. Right? Paul gets this. He sees, look, I am giving up a lot of my life, but I'm giving up for a purpose, that I might build the church, reach the lost, and I'm doing it in view of eternity, in view that all that I have lost will be restored and beautified in eternity. Right?

19 · The preacher applies the eternal-reward motivation directly to non-Christians in the congregation, explaining that Christian sacrifice is rational because Christians believe in eternal life

That pushes on each of us. Look, maybe if you're not a Christian, I want you to get this, that Christian life is not, "Well, we're just going to deny ourselves because we like that kind of thing. We just are into denying ourselves for the sake of denying ourselves." No. We believe that this world is a passing, fleeting moment and eternity stretches out forever. And we believe that Christ saves, not just— not in this life, not just in this life rather, but in the life to come for all eternity. That he offers life not for 5 minutes or 5 hours or 5 years, but life eternally. That's why he's worth following. That's why we're giving all we have to follow him. And if you repent and believe in Jesus, you too can be welcomed into this great design and offer of Jesus Christ.

20 · The preacher introduces the third section and provides cultural context for Paul's athletic metaphors

Alright, third section before we wrap up, or as we wrap up, third section. We leave things behind, we pursue what matters most with relentless devotion. Now Paul uses a bunch of sports metaphors here at the end and he uses them intentionally because you might not think a a wandering Jewish rabbi with major physical ailments and bad eyes would be real into athletics. But he probably wasn't. But he was like, okay, this is your language, Corinthians. The Corinthians loved athletics. They had a big sort of Olympic-style event every 2 years in Corinth. And so everybody that was training for the Olympics came through Corinth and it happened every 2 years, so it was more frequent. And so there would be these big festivals and big races and it was a big deal. And people would come from the surrounding area and everyone who lived in Corinth would be familiar with these things. The taverns would be full of guests. The outskirts of the city would be full of runners and people training and people boxing and people, you know, buying equipment to exercise with. And it was just that they knew these things. They saw it all the time. And so Paul says, great, think about this then, verse 24. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? "So run that you may obtain it." His charge to them is to live their lives with the kind of intensity a runner entering a big race runs with, right? Nobody in a big race, like the world championships or the US championships for running, is entering the race to hang out with the other runners, right? Nobody's there to be like, you know what? I just am a big fan of tracks. Love seeing different tracks, would love to see this one. No, they're all in there running after the prize, knowing only one will obtain it. Paul says that kind of intensity is the way you're meant to live your life.

21 · The preacher expounds three athletic metaphors: (1) athletes abstaining from distractions for a perishable wreath—how much more should Christians sacrifice for an imperishable prize; (2) effective versus ineffective training—disciplined focus versus aimless effort; (3) the danger of stumbling at the finish line—the possibility of wasting everything through lack of discipline at the end

Second picture, verse 25, every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. And so these athletes would often take a vow of sort of abstaining from all the things of life that would be distractions. They would abstain from alcohol and from fine foods and from romance and sensuality and all these things. They would do this for months in the lead-up to the big race or the big competition. They would leave all that behind. Why? Well, Paul kind of half-jokingly says, to receive a perishable wreath, to receive a A little half crown made out of plants that's going to get old and brittle and fall apart. And Paul says this, "If they're willing to do that for a perishable wreath, how much more should we as Christians be willing to live relentlessly for something imperishable, for something that will not be lost?" And then third picture in verse 26, "So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and I keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." Now, there's a lot going on with this metaphor, but let me just pull out of it the simple truth that it is possible to train a lot, but train utterly ineffectively. You could run every day for hours, do it badly, and end up worse as a runner, right? You could box the air and never be good at boxing any other humans, right? You can discipline your body for a few months, only at the very end in your training or in the race to fumble it right before the finish line. Have you ever watched one of those races where somebody's running and they are about to cross the finish line only to stumble and skid their way and the person behind them wins, right? Paul is saying, look, that's the danger. You need to be aware, Christian, that it is possible to, at the last moment, through lack of discipline, through giving yourself to sin, through lack of focus, through embracing materialism, to waste it all. So are you, he says, are you wasting it all? His picture is a picture of total and complete focus and complete intensity until the very end of the race.

22 · The preacher introduces Jonathan Edwards as a living example of relentless devotion, quoting Edwards' youthful resolutions to live with maximum intensity for eternal happiness

Now, I want to introduce you to someone that I think will help us here as we end. Steve Nichols introduces him to us in his biography. He was a young man unsure of his future. He had many gifts and not a few options before him. His father and grandfather were ministers, as were uncles and others in the family tree. He had a first-rate education, one of the finest of the day. He was well-prepared for a future in the halls of the academy should he so choose. He had a penchant for science and perhaps could head it off into that. But at 19, he was invited to pastor and chose to accept. And he was in need of a direction for his life, a trajectory for his life. So, this young man named, you may have heard of him, Jonathan Edwards, wrote what came to be known as his resolutions. I want to give you the flavor of what he writes here. "Resolved to live with all my might while I do live." I think Paul would be like, "That's it. That's what I'm saying." Live. As long as you have breath, live. Run. Live with all your might. And here's another one: "Resolved to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, and with all the power, might, vigor, vehemence, yea, violence I am capable of or can bring myself to exert in any way that can be thought of." Right, do you get the feel for this guy? He's like an intense 19-year-old, man. He is ready to go. But here's the thing, we might read that and think, "That guy's crazy." And Paul would reply to us and say, "No, no, no, he's the sane one. It's the rest of the world that's crazy." Running after perishable wreaths, running after things that will fade and fall, running after things that are not ultimately life, running after that which does not ultimately satisfy. That's crazy. This young man is sane. He sees with startling clarity the eternal shores of heaven before him, and he is resolving to do all he can to reach them with joy and save as many as he can along the way. And here's what I love about Edwards. In his own life, the way his story ended, he went on to have a well-known pastorate and found himself later in life unexpectedly cast out of that pastorate. And you might think, okay, Edwards, your youthful exuberance has got to be gone by now. Enjoy your retirement, man. Take a vacation. Just, you know, this is your time. These are the golden years, Jonathan. You know, embrace them. You know what he does instead? He moves to the frontier to reach and serve Native Americans, trading his nice house for, like, you know, a cabin. That's what he does his whole life.

23 · The preacher transitions from Edwards' example to direct application, challenging the congregation to write their own resolutions based on 1 Corinthians 9

And here's what I want to encourage us today. What would your resolutions look like in terms of how to live from 1 Corinthians 9? How would God call you to live? I want to challenge you, maybe even this week, to resolve some things in your own life and heart, maybe to resolve to leave something behind that is hindering you in your walk, or resolve to— have a startling clarity about what your task in this life is, or resolve to not do things half-heartedly, to not pursue Christ half-heartedly, not pursue the mission half-heartedly, but to do it all in, all out until the end. What might that look like?

24 · The preacher provides a comprehensive list of concrete resolutions covering major life domains: vocation, location, retirement, church commitment, evangelism, marriage, parenting, budget, calendar, possessions, and motivation

Well, I tried to, imperfectly as I could, draft some resolutions that I think Paul and Jonathan Edwards, if they were over our shoulders today, would approve of, to help us get a feel of what this looks like to live on the ground. I'm going to read these to you and then just ask that the Lord would lead you in your own. Here they are. Resolved: To pray that God would give me a passion for the building of the church and the advance of the gospel with my one brief life. Resolved: To consider honestly whether I should move to reach the unreached and give my life away for the sake of the gospel. And if not, consider how else God has called me to give my life away for the sake of the gospel. Resolve to decide what career or vocation to pursue, not based on wealth or notoriety or excitement, but on God's calling and whether he might use it for the kingdom. Resolve to decide where I'll live, not based on amenities and comfort or even family, but on where that God is sending me. Resolved to plan to never retire and instead spend my life serving others and making an impact as long as God gives me breath. Resolved with each church plant sent out to consider where God— whether God calls me to go and give my life away for the sake of the gospel with them. Resolved to pick my church not based on my comfort and convenience, but whether it's clearly preaching the gospel and whether it lives on mission. Resolve to search every Sunday for those who are new or out of place, that they may— because they may well be those unbelievers God is drawing to himself that day. Resolve to serve in kids' ministry and youth ministry and among the young adults, that God might save the next generation. There's so many, I'm just going to read a couple more. Resolved to become friends with people who don't know Jesus and to invite them into my life. Resolved to take every opportunity to share what Jesus has done for me and what he can do for others. Resolved, if not married, to choose my spouse not based only on looks and compatibility, but on whether we will make an impact together for Jesus. Resolved to spend not only time— to spend time not only managing my kids or playing with my kids, but laboring to reach my kids with the gospel. Resolved to plan my budget and my spending with kingdom priorities, giving regularly to the cause of Christ in the local church and beyond. Resolved to plan my time and my calendar with kingdom priorities that move even other good priorities like vacation and hobbies and comfort around, resolved to see anything I have or anything I own as dust and air when I look ahead to eternity and therefore offer them in service to Christ, and resolved to do all of this motivated not by pride and not by fear, but what Christ has done for me and in the hope of eternal glory.

25 · The preacher grounds the call to relentless devotion in Christ's own relentless pursuit of us

Look, friends, as we end, this is what I believe the Lord would call us to consider. How has Christ lived toward us? Giving up, laying aside his heavenly throne, coming and walking among us, pursuing us even after we've turned away in sin, pursuing us to the point of death, laying down his very life to buy us back, to give to give us a future and a hope and a home with him in eternity. That is what the Lord has done for us. He did not in his earthly mission waver or wane in his focus. He went all the way to the cross so that we could be brought all the way home. And the question today is this: Will we not follow him? Will we not seek to live like him, that others like us might be brought into the lifeboat of Christ and saved for eternity.

26 · The preacher signals the sermon's end and transitions into the closing prayer, inviting the congregation to stand in preparation for corporate worship and dismissal

Would you stand and let's pray.

27 · The preacher closes with an extended pastoral prayer addressing God directly

Lord, we Now, Lord, I come to You and just admit I myself in the face of this text have been profoundly challenged. And Lord, I pray that that would be its right effect on us as Christians. This text is from You. It is Your voice to us. And Lord, for those of us who live among the comforts of America, where we have many rights, where we have many privileges, where we have many possessions. Lord, I pray, first of all, that you would help us see if there are any areas in our life that we are trying to bring too much luggage on the trip, Lord, where we are trying to pursue Christ but not be affected in any way in our life, not give anything up, no money, no time, no convenience. And Lord, I pray that you would allow us to loosen our grip on those things if they are in the way of what you've called us to do. But then, Lord, I pray that you would fix our eyes on you and on where you're taking us. Lord, help us to fix our eyes on you. You are the one that sets the example for this. Lord, even more than the Apostle Paul, Lord, you have lived these verses and you have done them that we might be saved. So I pray that we would feel the call and the pull toward the path of Jesus Christ. But I also pray, Lord, you'd fix our gaze on the shores of eternity. Lord, I pray that we would be like Jonathan Edwards, to live for our own happiness in the next world as much as possible. Lord, I pray that that reality of eternity would press in on the details of our life. Lord, may we live lives that line up with what we say we believe. Lord, I just feel led to pray for two groups today. Lord, I pray for especially our high schoolers and early college people that are making decisions about their lives right now, making decisions about where to go to school or where to live or who to date or who to marry. Lord, I pray, I pray, Lord, that they would see clearly the point of their whole life. Lord, a career is wonderful, a spouse is wonderful, deciding where to live is wonderful, but Father, we have this one brief life and I pray that they would feel the reality of that and would make wise decisions in light of that, that they might not get to the end of their life and think, "I've wasted it." I pray for them, Lord, give them grace. Call them away from the siren song of the world, to the imperishable— to the perishable wreaths around us and call them toward the imperishable. Lord, I pray for those of us, for those in the church rather, who are in the retirement age. Lord, I pray for my mothers and fathers in the faith. Lord, I thank you for them, thank you for their example. Lord, I pray that you would give them, like Paul, like Mr. Edwards, a resounding passion to continue to live for the gospel until the very end. Lord, I pray that their prayers would not cease, that their encouragement would not cease, that their service insofar as they are able would not cease. And yet, I pray that they would be examples of mothers and fathers in the faith that we want to follow until the very end and proclaim joyfully at their memorial when you gather them home that they did not waste it. They lived for Jesus, and we want to as well. Pray for them in Jesus' name. Amen.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Dec 24, 2023

The Great Reversal of Bethlehem

Jan 7, 2024

Should I Get Married? When? How? Why?

Romantic relationships should enhance rather than compete with your pursuit of Christ, such that the question 'Should I marry?' is answered by whether this marriage helps you live with undivided devotion to Jesus.

1 Corinthians 7:25-40

Jan 14, 2024

Should My Conscience Be My Guide?

Christians are called not to use others to serve their freedoms, but to use their freedoms to serve others, following the pattern of Christ who gave himself sacrificially for us.