August 11, 2012

• What kind of racer are you? So run that you may obtain! (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

   
  

  I Corinthians 9:24-27

  Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, 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 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.

  Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (KJV)
  
  
  From Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on I Corinthians:

  In these verses the apostle hints at the great encouragement he had to act in this manner. He had a glorious prize, an incorruptible crown, in view. Upon this head he compares himself to the racers and combatants in the Isthmian games, an allusion well known to the Corinthians, because they were celebrated in their neighbourhood: "Know you not that those who run in a race run all, but one obtaineth the prize? 24. All run at your games, but only one gets the race and wins the crown." And here,

        I. He excites them to their duty: "So run that you may obtain. It is quite otherwise in the Christian race than in your races; only one wins the prize in them. You may all run so as to obtain. You have great encouragement, therefore, to persist constantly, and diligently, and vigorously, in your course. There is room for all to get the prize. You cannot fail if you run well. Yet there should be a noble emulation; you should endeavour to outdo one another. And it is a glorious contest who shall get first to heaven, or have the best rewards in that blessed world. I make it my endeavour to run; so do you, as you see me go before you." Note, It is the duty of Christians to follow their ministers closely in the chase of eternal glory, and the honour and duty of ministers to lead them in the way.

        II. He directs them in their course, by setting more fully to view his own example, still carrying on the allusion. 1. Those that ran in their games were kept to a set diet: "Every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things, 23. The fighters and wrestlers in your exercises are kept to strict diet and discipline; nay, they keep themselves to it. They do not indulge themselves, but restrain themselves from the food they eat and so from the liberties they use on other occasions. And should not Christians much more abridge themselves of their liberty, for so glorious an end as winning the race, and obtaining the prize set before them? They used a very spare diet, and course food, and denied themselves much, to prepare for their race and combat; so do I; so should you, after my example. It is hard if, for the heavenly crown, you cannot abstain from heathen sacrifices." 2. They were not only temperate, but inured themselves to hardships. Those who fought with one another in these exercises prepared themselves by beating the air, as the apostle calls it, or by throwing out their arms, and thereby inuring themselves, beforehand, to deal about their blows in close combat, or brandish them by way of flourish. There is no room for any such exercise in the Christian warfare. Christians are ever in close combat. There enemies make fierce and hearty opposition, and are ever at hand; and for this reason they must lay about them in earnest, and never drop the contest, nor flag and faint in it. They must fight, not as those that beat the air, but must strive against their enemies with all their might. One enemy the apostle here mentions, namely, the body; this must be kept under, beaten black and blue, as the combatants were in these Grecian games, and thereby brought into subjection. By the body we are to understand fleshly appetites and inclinations. These the apostle set himself to curb and conquer, and in this the Corinthians were bound to imitate him. Note, Those who would aright pursue the interests of their souls must beat down their bodies, and keep them under. They must combat hard with fleshly lusts, and not indulge a wanton appetite, and long for heathenish sacrifices, nor eat them, to please their flesh, at the hazard of their brethren's souls. The body must be made to serve the mind, not suffered to lord over it.

       III. The apostle presses this advice on the Corinthians by proper arguments drawn from the same contenders.

  1. They take pains, and undergo all those hardships, to obtain a corruptible crown (25), but we an incorruptible. Those who conquered in these games were crowned only with the withering leaves or boughs of trees, of olive, bays, or laurel. But Christians have an incorruptible crown in view, a crown of glory that never fadeth away, an inheritance incorruptible, reserved in heaven for them. And would they yet suffer themselves to be outdone by these racers or wrestlers? Can they use abstinence in diet, exert themselves in racing, expose their bodies to so much hardship in a combat, who have no more in view than the trifling huzzas of a giddy multitude, or a crown of leaves? And shall not Christians, who hope for the approbation of the sovereign Judge, and a crown of glory from his hands, stretch forward in the heavenly race, and exert themselves in beating down their fleshly inclinations, and the strong-holds of sin?

  2. The racers in these games run at uncertainty. All run, but one receives the prize, 24. Every racer, therefore, is at a great uncertainty whether he shall win it or no. But the Christian racer is at no such uncertainty. Every one may run here so as to obtain; but then he must run within the lines, he must keep to the path of duty prescribed, which, some think, is the meaning of running not as uncertainly, 26. He who keeps within the limits prescribed, and keeps on in his race, will never miss his crown, though others may get theirs before him. And would the Grecian racers keep within their bounds, and exerting themselves to the very last, when one only could win, and all must be uncertain which that one would be? And shall not Christians be much more exact and vigorous when all are sure of a crown when they come to the end of their race?

  3. He sets before himself and them the danger of yielding to fleshly inclinations, and pampering the body and its lusts and appetites: I keep my body under, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away (27), rejected, disapproved, adokimos, one to whom the brabeutes--the judge or umpire of the race, will not decree the crown. The allusion to the games runs through the whole sentence. Note, A preacher of salvation may yet miss it. He may show others the way to heaven, and never get thither himself. To prevent this, Paul took so much pains in subduing and keeping under bodily inclinations, lest by any means he himself, who had preached to others, should yet miss the crown, be disapproved and rejected by his sovereign Judge. A holy fear of himself was necessary to preserve the fidelity of an apostle; and how much more necessary is it to our preservation? Note, Holy fear of ourselves, and not presumptuous confidence, is the best security against apostasy from God, and final rejection by him.

  * * *

  What kind of racer are you?
  How are you running your course?
  Will you suffer yourself to be outdone by earthly racers?
  Are you running that you might obtain the glorious prize?

  Are you running your course constantly, diligently, and vigorously?

  Are you chasing earthly glory or eternal glory?

  Are you running to obtain a corruptible crown or an incorruptible crown?

  Are you running to receive a perishable wreath or an imperishable wreath?

  Do you have a glorious prize in view?

  What kind of racer are you?
  How are you running your course?
  Will you suffer yourself to be outdone by earthly racers?
  Are you running that you might obtain the glorious prize?
  

  Are you running your course constantly, diligently, and vigorously?

  Are you temperate in all things?

  Are you exercising self-control in all things?

  Are you disciplining your body?

  Are you inuring yourself to hardship?

  Do you understand the danger of yielding to fleshly inclinations, and pampering the body and its lusts and appetites?

  Are you exerting yourself in beating down your fleshly appetites and inclinations?

  Have you lost sight of the glorious prize?

  What kind of racer are you?
  How are you running your course?
  Will you suffer yourself to be outdone by earthly racers?
  Are you running that you might obtain the glorious prize?
  

  Christian, are you taking pains and undergoing all hardships  – or have you become sluggish and slothful?

  Hebrews 6:11-12

  And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
  
  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (KJV)

  Each of you. Every one of you. Writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the author knew the heart of man and how each one of us would be tempted to sluggishness and slothfulness in the Christian race. These words are included in the Bible as a warning and encouragement to us today, for it's far too easy for each and every one of us to become sluggish and slothful in running the race set before us. We see that happening time and again with God's people, both throughout the Bible and all throughout Church history.

  Perhaps you may have begun well as the starting gun sounded. As you entered the Christian life, you got a good jump off the starting blocks, so to speak – however, now you're finding yourself hobbled and hamstrung in your heavenly race by sluggishness and slothfulness, your zeal has declined, and you've lost your first Love. Jesus Christ is no longer at the center of your vision, as you may have sung about Him at one time in the past:

  
  Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
  naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
  Thou my best thought by day or by night,
  Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
  (Eleanor Hull)

  
  Have you found yourself more earnest and diligent in regard to the earthly and fleshly, in comparison to matters of your soul and God's Kingdom and eternity?
  
  What is at the root of your sinful sluggishness and slothfulness?

  Who or what is arresting your attention away from the heavenly Bridegroom?
  
  What rival is wooing you away from the Beloved?
  

  It's far too easy for any one of us to start the race well, but then along the way we can become distracted by, enamored by, entangled with, and weighed down by earthly concerns, earthly glory, earthly crowns, and earthly wreaths. What tonic exists to awaken us and to shake us out of such treacherous slumber? The hymn writer Helen H. Lemmel reminds us that as we ...

  Turn [our] eyes upon Jesus,
  Look full in His wonderful face,
  ... the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
  In the light of His glory and grace.

  Like Moses, in order to endure, we need to keep looking to the God who is invisible! (See Hebrews 11:24-27; that last portion of v. 27 has been one of the most soul-fortifying passages for me in all of Scripture). Ah! To truly LOOK to and to CONSIDER Jesus, the glorious prize – lest we grow weary or fainthearted!

  Hebrews 12:1  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

  3  Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

  In verse 2, the Greek word for "looking" is aphorao, and it means "to consider attentively," from the Greek words apo and horao. From Strong's Concordance horao means:

  properly, to stare at (compare 3700), i.e. (by implication) to discern clearly (physically or mentally); by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear:--behold, perceive, see, take heed."

  And the word for "consider" in verse 3 is to analogizomai, meaning "estimate, i.e. (figuratively) contemplate:--consider."

  In other words, this looking to Jesus and this considering Jesus goes far, far beyond a once-in-a-while glance; far, far beyond breezing through a 5-minute devotional while your eyes are on the clock, anticipating checking your facebook; far, far beyond having a daily quiet time so as to check off an item on your "to-do list"; and far, far beyond intellectual scholarship without the Spirit's breath.

  Have you really considered why Jesus came?

  I Peter 3:18a  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God...

  This is one of the most glorious verses of Scripture, and I regret to say that I missed it... for years! Consider it! The spotless Lamb of God gave His precious blood, so we might be brought to God! So often Christianity is made out for a way to get to heaven, and yes, it is that, but, my friends, heaven begins in the here and now, as the veil has been torn, and a new and living way has been made for all of us who believe – straight into the Holy of Holies, through the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ! Yes, it will be unceasing glory one Day, but even in this fallen world, we get foretastes of glory divine and joy unspeakable!

  Earlier this year, I heard one of the most blessed statements. It was made by one of our Sunday School teachers regarding the result of our reconciliation in Christ: "We get God!" Amen to that. I was thrilled! After all the classes I've sat in for years, that is one of the few statements which has been etched deeply on my soul. Afterwards, I shared that experience with a friend, who agreed with me, and added, "And God gets us!" What a thought! That God loved us while we were yet sinners, and Christ humbled Himself, He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but took on the form of a man, and became a servant, obedient unto death, even death on the cross in our place –– and who are we? Worms... dust and ashes! And yet, because of His great love for us, Christ became sin for us so we might become the righteousness of God in Him! Our God came to ransom and redeem His elect, so our joy might be full and God's glory might be displayed and exalted and exulted in, as we fellowship with our God, together with all the saints! Consider it! Vile, wretched sinners now justified in the eyes of God. Because we are credited with Christ's righteousness by grace through faith in His atoning sacrifice, and because Christ appeased the wrath of God, we are now free to draw near to God! Once far away, we have been brought near! Once not a people, now a people! Once not having been shown mercy, now shown mercy! As children of God, we are now privileged to look unto Jesus and to consider Jesus in a way that the world cannot do!

  Therefore, if we as Christians aren't beginning to plumb the depths of what it really means that we have been brought to God, then we're really in a miserably poor position as far as understanding the privileges and blessings we have as children of God! That's the state that the church of Laodicea was in: Jesus was reproving them as He stood at the door of the church and knocked. He was calling to all who would hear to open to Him, so they might sup with Him and He with them, to enjoy the fellowship that He suffered and died to bequeath to her! Let us not neglect or make light of the blessed and glorious privilege we have been granted to look unto Jesus and to consider Jesus!

  • Our time with Jesus in the Word of God is not merely something on our "to do" list, but it is something we ought to REJOICE WITH TREMBLING over! It's true that we no longer come to Mt. Sinai, but Mt. Zion, yet our God is a consuming fire! Psalm 130:3  If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4  But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. Let us always approach the throne of grace with reverence, awe, and a holy boldness. (See the last portion of Hebrews 12.)

  • Our time with Jesus in the Word of God is not merely something on our "to do" list, but it is something we ought to HUNGER and THIRST for – because Jesus Christ is the True Bread sent from heaven and the Living Water which is provided to us to specially sustain and satisfy us, unlike and surpassing any and all earthly food or drink! Christ is our life! All our springs are in Him! John 6:35  Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst..."

  • Our time with Jesus in the Word of God is not merely something on our "to do" list, but it is something we ought to SAVOR and ENJOY! Our Bridegroom died for us so we might be His bride, so we might enter into life and life abundantly! We get to sup with God! We can draw near to our exceeding Joy, our all-satisfying Portion, and our great Reward! Even as we walk in this fallen world, we can expect to receive grace upon grace from His treasure store, so we might make the Valley of Baca (weeping, thirsty valley) a place of springs, and go from strength to strength. (See Psalm 84.) Proverbs 4:17 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

  This looking to Jesus and considering Jesus moves us to an intentional and suspended supernatural gazing and contemplation. And no! I'm NOT talking about unhealthy mysticism, but healthy mysticism (see here for more on this): i.e. - always centered on the Bible, always flowing from the Bible, always checked by the Bible. And, it is not something we can work up, but the sovereign Spirit brings it down to us, at those times when we are graced to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the written Word of God, through the operation of the Holy Spirit...

  I Corinthians 2:9  But, as it is written,
  
  

  “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
  nor the heart of man imagined,
  what God has prepared for those who love him”—

  
  10  these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11  For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12  Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

  John 5:39  You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40  yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

  You can read and study the Scriptures all day long, all your life long, you may have been raised from birth attending church, you may have attended seminary, you may even have many degrees, and be serving in a ministry position, but it is quite possible you may have never truly looked unto or considered the Lord Jesus Christ in this sense. You may know of Him, but have you ever known Him in this direct sense through the operation of the Holy Spirit? That type of looking and considering is what fuels us to keep running the race so we might obtain the glorious prize! Have you ever supped with Christ? Has the Holy Spirit brought His truth to bear in your heart? Has He ever given you a glimpse into the deep things of God? Can you say with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength that Jesus Christ is altogether lovely and the fairest of 10,000? Have you been in the position of the Shulamite woman where you have sought a glimpse of Christ, and you have been lovesick for Him? Can you honestly confess that Jesus Christ is The Beloved above and beyond all other lovers? Have you been brought under His apple tree, where you have tasted and seen He is infinitely holy, and good, and precious? With the apostle Paul, have you come to spiritually see the all-surpassing worth of knowing Christ that you consider all else as rubbish? Having seen the glory of God, does your sin increasingly grieve you and do you despise yourself? Have you come to know God as your portion and great reward? Has God's Holy Spirit written Christ's beauty and glory and sweetness upon your soul, so that you cry out with David...

  Psalm 27:4
  One thing have I asked of the LORD,
  that will I seek after:
  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
  all the days of my life,
  to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
  and to inquire in his temple.

  Regrettably, we often exhibit such great resolution and determination in regard to worldly matters, but pay little attention to our souls' welfare. We find ourselves almost effortlessly and thoughtlessly feeding the lusts of our flesh. In marked contrast, it is pathetic to see how very little time and attention we pay to the feeding and sustaining our souls with the Bread of Heaven and the Living Water so we might show the same earnestness and the same diligence until the end. May God be pleased to draw us to Himself, to increase our dissatisfaction with earthly fare, and to increase our hunger and thirst for Christ alone, and may He grant us such soul-refreshing and soul-satisfying views of the Lord Jesus Christ, so we might strengthened to run to obtain!

  May God also grant us that holy fear of ourselves of which Matthew Henry wrote, and may God guard us so we do not fall into sinful and deadly presumption. I Corinthians 10:12  Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (Please read the whole chapter of I Cor. 10, as well as Hebrews 3 & 4, which point us to the example of the Israelites whose corpses fell in the wilderness! ~ And then go and read the account in the Old Testament. These things are written to us as an example! ALL Scripture is God-breathed and is for our profit, each and every word has been given to us by God so we might persevere in the race marked out for us! That's why it's so important for us to read the whole Bible (not just to pick and choose), as well as to read Church history!)

  In Romans 12:11, Paul exhorts us with these words:

  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

  And in Ecclesiastes 10:18, the Preacher shows us the sad result of sloth and sluggishness:

  Through sloth the roof sinks in,
  and through indolence the house leaks.

  

  How much more necessary it is for us to be fervent, energetic, vigorous, and zealous regarding our spiritual house...

  
  

  I Corinthians 3:16: Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
  17  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

  II Corinthians 6:16  ... For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
  
  “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
  and I will be their God,
  and they shall be my people..."

  May we not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom we are sealed for the day of redemption.
  (Ephesians 4:30)

  * * *

  What kind of racer are you?
  How are you running your course?
  Will you suffer yourself to be outdone by earthly racers?
  Are you running that you might obtain the glorious prize?

  Are you exerting yourself to the very last?

  Are you exacting and vigorous?

  Are you fervent in spirit – or slothful in zeal?

  Are you earnest and diligent – or sluggish and slothful?

  Do you have a holy fear of yourself – or a presumptuous confidence?

  Like the apostle Paul, are you disciplining yourself – or are you in grave danger of being disqualified?

  II TImothy 2:1  You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2  and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3  Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4  No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5  An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6  It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7  Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
  
  Philippians 2:12  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

  Be strengthened by God's grace, by God's Holy Spirit who is at work in you...
  So run that you may obtain!

  ---

  Related posts:

  Bible Reading: Job 2:1 - "Again" (To press on we must always be mortifying sin | John Owen)
  the visitor we can't ever entertain (mortifying sin)
  Then Abigail made haste (complacency & devotion)
  occupy ~ do you seek your own – or the things of Christ? does His Spirit occupy?
  tangled
  Is your ambition holy? / What are you living for? (Louis Paul Lehman) / The Christian's Aim
  the infinite significance of the eternal Kingdom
  Lent V. - You follow me! (Are we steadfastly setting our faces to His will?)
  Letter 13 on assurance and fighting for joy (strengthened for endurance and patience with joy)
  Are you a radiant Christian or a drunken old woman? (letter 82 on assurance & fighting for joy)
  the door, the sword, the crown ~ through faith & patience (Hebrews 6:11-12)
  My love affair . . . whose trumpet, whose glory & incomplete joy
  "Who wants candles when he has the sun?" ~ Edward Payson | letter 124 on assurance & joy
  
  

  Considering Jesus: (1) Making time to consider Jesus
  Considering Jesus: (2) Why do we do quiet time anyhow?
  take to heart ALL the words (more on quiet time)
  Get gnawing, put your nose down in the Book to feed the white-hot flame of God's gift
  postcards from England: are we excited over a dead fish and a car wreck?
  update w/ excerpt: Lloyd-Jones' sermons on the role of experience in Christianity
  "Garbage In" (Are you truly His disciple?)
  Are you a foolish or a wise pilgrim? (What have you done with your roll?)
  Linger, linger, linger – so you might know God's love
  Why read Christian biography? To help us examine our love for God.

  Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Emphasis mine.

  Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Emphasis mine.

  Photo credits:

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  Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hunt,_William_Homan_-_The_Light_of_the_World_-_1853-54.jpg / CC BY-SA 3.0 /
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