RUN TO WIN THE PRIZE – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 17, 2019 under 2019 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; March 17, 2019 from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Theme: We should give more commitment to our faith in Jesus than a world-class athlete would give to winning the game.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

The apostle Paul was a masterful teacher and communicator. He wanted to teach something very important to the Christians living in the ancient city of Corinth, and wanted spiritual truth to sink deeply into their hearts. And so, he chose to speak to them in terms that would readily capture their interest.

And so, he spoke to them in the language of sports.

Every two to three years, the city of Corinth would host the Isthmian Games–an event that was second only to the Olympic Games in importance. The Corinthians were great lovers of sports, and were very proud of this great athletic festival. And so Paul—himself a great lover of sports—used the analogy of the games to encourage his dear Christian brothers and sisters to have a zealous faith in Jesus Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, he wrote;

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

* * * * * * * * * * *

Now; if I were to make a list of what I thought were some of the greatest passages of the New Testament, I’d definitely include this one. It describes one of the greatest needs we have as Christians today—and that is for an attitude of earnestness in our commitment to live the Christian life in the power of the Holy Spirit. It calls each one of us, who have placed our trust in the Savior, to live for Him with the same sort of serious determination that a world-class athlete would exhibit in running a race in the games.

Why is it that we don’t live with such zeal for Jesus? Why is it that, often, we live less like runners in a game, and more like spectators in the stands—as people content to cheer those who are truly ‘committed’ as they run, but then go back to life as usual when we’re through watching the game?

Well; it’s certainly not for lack of information. We have all the information that we need to encourage our zeal. Every one of us who has trusted Jesus Christ has a God-breathed book that tells us everything we need to know. It’s an inspired ‘manual’ in how to run the race. As Paul says elsewhere;

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Nor is it for lack of power. Left to ourselves, of course, none of us could live for Jesus with the sort of zeal that we should. But the fact is that we’re not left to our own power to do so. God the Father has placed the Holy Spirit in us. And because of His indwelling ministry, we are able to say;

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us … (Ephesians 3:20).

It’s not even for a lack of a good example. We have the testimonies of six-thousand years of faithful saints who have sacrificially ran the race ahead of us. And what’s more, we have the greatest example of them all to inspire us—Jesus Himself. As the writer of Hebrews says;

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).

So; with all these remarkable things going for us, why is it that we as believers are having such a comparatively weak impact on the world around us? I suggest that the missing ingredient is an attitude of “earnestness” in our walk. As individual Christians, many of us lack an attitude of fervent seriousness about our faith in Jesus. We simply don’t set our hearts to respond to the call to follow Christ with the same sort of whole-hearted, sacrificial devotion that He truly deserves from us.

We need to be gripped by the sort of disciplined zeal, in living for Jesus Christ, that characterizes an athlete in the games. In fact, we ought to be gripped by more zeal than such an athlete would; because it’s a greater honor to be in the race that we’re in—and the prize is far more valuable.

And it’s that sort of “earnestness” that God is calling us to in this morning’s passage.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Now; I believe that it would be very easy to misunderstand or misapply this passage. We need to take the time to stress what it is that Paul is talking about in it. And we probably need to begin by stressing what he’s not talking about.

First of all, he is not talking about earning our salvation. The “race” is not an analogy for doing good deeds; and “obtaining the prize” is not an analogy for earning eternal life. Scripture teaches us that no one will ever earn eternal life by their good works—no matter how “earnestly” he or she does them; “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Nor is Paul talking about Christians competing against one another for a position of superiority in the church He isn’t saying that we should make it our personal ambition to run ahead of one another and take the lead against each other. The Bible teaches us to do the exact opposite. It teaches us that this is a race that we actually help each other run in. It says;

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).

So then; what was Paul seeking to do in this passage? He was addressing a specific problem in the Corinthian church; and it had to do with how some of them were exercising their own liberties and rights to the harm of one another.

You see; some of the Christians of Corinth felt the freedom to eat meat that had been offered to an idol in a temple. They figured that the idol was nothing at all; and so, the meat was harmless. But other Christians felt that it had been defiled by being offered to a false god. The Christians who felt the freedom to eat were being insensitive to the consciences of the Christians who felt it was wrong. The liberty of some was being thoughtlessly exercised to the harm of others.

In Chapter 8, Paul explained why this was an unloving thing to do. And then, in Chapter 9, Paul himself sets the example. He shows how he had made a practice of setting his own liberties and rights in Christ aside whenever it would advance the cause of the gospel in the lives of others. You might say that Paul offering himself as an example of an earnest, self-disciplined, self-denying “athlete” in the “race” of the Christian life.

And it’s that sort of “earnestness” that is lacking in many of us in our expression of the Christian life. We forget that we’re in a race—and that the race requires constant, continual, self-sacrificing, self-denying, disciplined earnestness on our part.

That’s why this passage is so important. It gives us something we desperately need today. It gives us the reminder that we should give more commitment to our faith in Jesus than a world-class athlete would give to winning the game.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Let’s look a little more closely at this passage, and see what it has to teach us about running the race of the faith. First, notice that it reminds us of …

1. OUR MOTIVE FOR RUNNING.

In verse 24, Paul writes, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?” And of course, who would have known this better than the Christians living in Corinthian?

They lived in the city of the great games. They would have been the first to say that no athlete would have been satisfied with just being entered into the race—whether they won or not. They would have affirmed that no one ran in the race unless they were absolutely committed to obtaining the prize. As far as each runner entered into the game was concerned, “receiving the prize” was the only goal in mind. It was everything.

Now; when Paul brings this to bear on the Christian life, he isn’t meaning for us to understand that only one runner in the Christian “race” will win, and that every other Christian who comes in later will be losers. Rather, he is simply pointing to the kind of earnestness that ought to motivate each individual Christian forward in the walk with Christ. He means for each of us who are in the Christian race to understand that we are to personally run with the same motivation as the athlete who had been entered into the Isthmian Games would have had—and that is, to win the prize. We’re not to run in a half-hearted, uncommitted, take-it-or-leave-it manner. “Run,” he says, “in such a way that you may obtain” (v. 24b).

What is that prize? I really can’t think of anything greater to have happened at the finish-line of the Christian life than to hear the Lord Jesus—the great Author and Finisher of our faith—say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23). The greatest day of our lives will be that glorious day when we behold Jesus and enter into His own joy over our faithfulness. To be in His eternal pleasure on that day will be worth whatever it may have cost us in this world. That was certainly Paul’s attitude. What a great motivation! There is, in fact, no motivation greater!

So, let’s pay attention to the motive which drives us to run this race. If we have been redeemed by Jesus, then we have been entered into this race. Let’s not be half-hearted about it. Let’s not lope along on the track. Let’s be earnest about it. Let’s run in such a way as to obtain everything that the Lord Jesus wants to give us!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Second, notice that this passage also describes …

2. OUR MANNER IN RUNNING (v. 25).

Paul goes on to speak of the manner in which we are to run when he says, “And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (v. 25).

In the Isthmian games, the “crown” was a wreath of green leaves or sprigs that were worn on the head of the winning athlete. It was often set on a pillar that was in plain view of the athletes—sometimes even placed at the end of the race track—so the athletes could keep the prize in sight as they ran. And of course, it wasn’t for the mere wreath that the runner ran. It was rather for the honor that it symbolized.

But the winner of the race could only enjoy that wreath for a short while before it began to wilt. Paul spoke of it as a “perishable crown”; and indeed, it was very perishable! Even the honor that it represented would eventually fade away. Nevertheless, athletes would give everything they had to train for the race; so that they would obtain that perishable crown—and the honor that went along with it. They would become “temperate” in all things. They would practice self-control. They would abstain from anything that might slow them down in the race. They would go into months—even years—of strict, disciplined training. They would carefully control themselves in terms of what they would eat. They would deny themselves the pleasures and comforts that other people freely enjoy.

These great athletes went through all this effort and suffering, and training, and sacrifice—all in order to obtain a perishable crown. But Paul spoke of the crown we will receive from Christ that is “imperishable”. Unlike even the greatest crown bestowed at the Isthmian Games—this one will be eternal. It is what the apostle Peter described when he wrote;

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, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5).

This was certainly the crown that Paul sought to win. He wanted to please his Master; and hear Him say, “Well done!” But do you know what else excited and motivated the apostle Paul? It was the thought that the people he loved and could influence for Christ would themselves one day stand before Him and join in that inheritance too. For Paul, seeing his brothers and sisters in heavenly glory before the Lord Jesus—hearing Him say “Well done!” to them—was the “crown” that most excited him. The apostle Paul told the Thessalonian believers,

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).

And that’s what drove him to run the race in the manner that he did. That prospect was what led him to be “temperate in all things”—to even be willing to set his legitimate Christian liberties aside, if it would advance the cause of Christ in others that were called into this race.

Dear brothers and sisters; let’s bring that same sort of athlete’s discipline into the manner with which we live our Christian lives. Let’s be “temperate in all things” for the sake of a truly, gloriously “imperishable crown”. Let’s be ready and willing to deny ourselves some of our legitimate liberties in Christ in order to earnestly advance His kingdom in the lives of others.

* * * * * * * * * * *

So then; there’s the motive for running the race of the Christian life—-that is, to run in order to obtain. And there’s also our manner in running it—that is, being temperate or self-controlled in all things in order to win an imperishable crown.

And finally, please notice …

3. OUR MODEL OF RUNNING.

Paul himself is our great example of earnestness. He wrote, “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air” (v. 26).

Imagine a row of runners in position for a race. Imagine the firing gun going off, and picture them running with all their might—but in all different directions! Imagine some running to the left, others to the right, and some in a circle. They were all “running”; but they were uncertain of their direction. None of them would win the prize—except perhaps that one runner that might have crossed the finish line accidentally! That’s no way to run in a race! And it’s no way to live for Jesus either. Paul, by contrast, lived the Christian life carefully and intentionally. He used the same sort of diligent attention to himself and his actions that a world-class runner would use in competing in the games. He knew where he was going, and what it took to get there, and what would happen at the end. He did not run “with uncertainty”.

Similarly, imagine boxers in a boxing ring. Imagine the bell going off, and picture the two boxers dancing, bobbing and weaving, throwing powerful punches—but all while still in their own corners of the ring. They’d be “boxing”; but none of the punches would connect. The “fight” would go until it was called a draw! Paul wasn’t like that either. Paul lived the Christian life with the same sort of earnestness that would characterize a professional boxer. He made every punch count. He didn’t fight like someone who just “beats the air”.

Now; all this didn’t come naturally to Paul. He had to work at it—just as we have to do. He said, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (v. 27).

Paul had the potential of stumbling in his Christian faith—just as any one of us does. He could have drifted from the race through sin, or through neglect, or through distraction, or through quitting when the going got tough. He wouldn’t have lost his salvation, of course; but he would have lost the rewards that his Lord and Master would have wanted to give him. But Paul didn’t let that happen. He didn’t want to have the grievous experience that some have had—that is, that of preaching to others that they should run the race, only to become disqualified and set on the side-lines themselves. The prize was too great for such carelessness; and he was in the race to win it. And so, he disciplined himself. He buffeted his own body and made it his slave. He told it what to do; so that the race would be run with certainty, and so that each punch in the fight would count. He said;

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14).

And dear brothers and sisters; God is holding Paul up to us in this passage as a model to be followed, that we might run for our Lord with the same kind of earnestness of faith.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Let me close with a testimony from Paul’s own lips about his own sense of discipline in the race.

In Acts 20, the apostle was on his way, in the midst of his missionary activities, to Jerusalem. He had been warned more than once that what awaited him in Jerusalem was persecution. But he knew, nevertheless, that the Lord wanted him to go. And since he was in the race to win, and since he made himself the slave of the Lord rather than of his own passions and comforts, he didn’t let any of those threats of persecution or suffering caused him to stop running the race.

In a farewell sermon to a group of pastors—just before he went to Jerusalem—he said;

“You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself …” (Acts 20:18b-24a)

What resolve! What discipline of self! And what was his reason for it? He said,

“… so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (v. 24b).

Did he succeed? Yes, he did! In his final words—just before laying down his life for Jesus—he wrote;

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 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 4:7-8).

Dear brothers and sisters; you and I are in that race too. So then; let’s live for the Lord Jesus with all the earnestness of a world-class athlete. Let’s run this race in such a way as to lay hold of the prize! Let’s be temperate in all things so that we may win an imperishable crown! Let’s run with certainty, and fight with purpose. Let’s discipline our own bodies and bring them into subjection.

And like Paul, let’s do all this, so that we may finish the race with joy, and hear the Lord’s “Well done!”

EA