Have you ever felt spiritually confident, only to be blindsided by weakness? Pastor Scott LaPierre unpacks the biblical warning in 1 Corinthians 10:12: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” This is a wake-up call for every believer, illustrating how spiritual pride and overconfidence can render us vulnerable to temptation, as seen in Peter's case in Luke 22:31-34, who denied Jesus despite his bold declarations.
https://youtu.be/A9BnHpeBV2I
Table of contents*
Spiritual Injuries Occur Like Weightlifting Injuries*
Take Heed Lest You Fall, Peter!*
We Can’t Trust Ourselves*
We Need New Hearts*
The Way Godly Men Describe Disqualified Leaders*
Take Heed Lest You Fall, Because We Fail Regarding Our Strengths*
We Must Be Warned About Our Strengths*
Many Men Failed Regarding Their Strengths*
Noah Was Unrighteous*
Abraham Lacked Faith*
Moses Was Proud*
Solomon Was Foolish*
Repent and Then Help Others*
Take Heed Lest You Fall
I want to discuss weightlifting injuries. First, I will tell you how I wish they occurred. And then I will tell you how they occur.
I wish they occurred very slowly, so you knew they were coming. I wish you were bench pressing and your rotator cuff said, “This is too heavy. I’m about to tear.” Or you’re squatting in your 20s and your lower back says, “You better not do this. You’re going to have lots of problems in your 40s.”
Instead, weightlifting injuries take place in one of two ways: first, and most obviously, when you’re working out. If you’re interested, you can go to YouTube and search for videos of people tearing their biceps and chest muscles. I decided against showing you any videos because they are gruesome to watch. But here’s what you’ll see: a man bench pressing and he lowers the weight, probably a weight he’s lifted many times before. Suddenly, a large gap develops around his armpit where his chest muscle detached from his shoulder. Or someone is bent over a preacher bench curling, they lower the weight, and suddenly their biceps tears and rolls up their arm.
The second way weightlifting injuries occur is when people are not working out. You shut the car door or drop something and quickly reach for it, and your shoulder tears. There’s only one time my lower back went out at the gym. Every other time I was at home, feeling fine, and I bent over or threw a kid in the air, and then suddenly felt the shoting pain.
What you notice with these injuries is that there’s no warning sign. Instead, we feel strong. We are confident nothing bad will happen. We are doing something that we have done many times before. Next thing you know, we are severely injured.
Spiritual Injuries Occur Like Weightlifting Injuries
I think sin often occurs in this manner, too. There’s no warning sign that we are going to have trouble. We feel strong.
