1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,640 To the book of 1 Corinthians, the ninth chapter, where we're going to focus on the end of 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,320 the chapter, verses 24 through 27. 3 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:17,920 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:25,000 Run in such a way that you may win, and everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control 5 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,000 in all things. 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:32,520 They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 7 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,760 Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim. 8 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:43,920 I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I buffet my body and make it my slave, 9 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:51,580 lest possibly after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. 10 00:00:51,580 --> 00:00:58,400 The world's attention for the past two weeks has been fixed on Seoul, South Korea, and 11 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,560 the 24th Olympiad. 12 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:07,240 I think all of us are at the point of admiration of the athletic skills, the discipline, and 13 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:12,640 dedication that has been demonstrated by the nearly 10,000 athletes that have represented 14 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,380 about 160 nations. 15 00:01:16,380 --> 00:01:22,920 The modern Olympic Games trace their heritage back to ancient Greece, where the Games were 16 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:32,120 practiced as early as the 8th century B.C., that is, 800 years before Christ there were 17 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,360 the Olympics. 18 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:44,320 The Olympics were one of the four national festivals in ancient Greece. 19 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:52,080 The Olympics were held appropriately in Olympia every four years and were held in honor of 20 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,960 Zeus, the pagan god of the ancient Greeks. 21 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:04,040 It is no wonder with that kind of cultural route that the Apostle Paul picks up on the 22 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:10,200 athletic theme a number of times as he writes his epistles to churches located throughout 23 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:14,360 the Greek-Roman Empire. 24 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:20,160 The picture that Paul paints in the text that we read this morning is a meaningful one. 25 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:26,640 The Corinthians were very familiar with another festival called the Isthmian Games, which 26 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:32,840 were held in their city every two years. 27 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:41,360 In the context of this particular text, we find that Paul is dealing with those things 28 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:49,360 that the Bible does not state are right or wrong, those things that are sometimes called 29 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,920 the doubtful or disputed things. 30 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:58,320 This goes all the way back to the beginning of chapter 8 where Paul introduces this subject, 31 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:05,360 and the issue at that time was whether one should eat meat that had been offered to idols. 32 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:13,040 The basic principle that Paul lays down is this, we know that idols really are nothing, 33 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:18,440 and yet there are some whose consciences have not been strengthened to realize that. 34 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:26,260 And they may stumble if we eat meat that has been offered to idols, therefore he says love 35 00:03:26,260 --> 00:03:32,920 overrules our knowledge, and love says that we should restrain ourselves from eating something 36 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:37,720 if that is going to cause a brother to stumble. 37 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:45,360 We must not use our liberty in Christ and thus cause another to stumble in his Christian 38 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:46,360 experience. 39 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:52,040 In chapter 8 and verse 13 he puts it this way, if food causes my brother to stumble, 40 00:03:52,040 --> 00:04:00,280 I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble. 41 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,640 That is a good principle for all of us to remember. 42 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:09,640 As an example of this willingness to limit oneself, he points to himself as an apostle 43 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,040 in chapter 9. 44 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:18,300 He reminds them and us of the rights that he had as an apostle, the rights which he 45 00:04:18,300 --> 00:04:24,880 chose deliberately not to employ, he did not want to use those rights. 46 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:25,880 Why? 47 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:30,600 So that nothing would hinder the gospel. 48 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:41,040 And he goes on then to share that his decision about that and other lifestyle decisions are 49 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,060 matters of accommodation for him. 50 00:04:44,060 --> 00:04:52,200 As he says in the end of chapter 9, to the Jews I became as a Jew. 51 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,020 Verse 21, to those who are without the law as without the law. 52 00:04:56,020 --> 00:05:00,100 Verse 22, to the weak I became as weak that I might win the week. 53 00:05:00,100 --> 00:05:07,500 I have become all things to all men that I may by all means save some. 54 00:05:07,500 --> 00:05:13,720 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may become a fellow partaker of it. 55 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:21,960 What Paul is saying is that he was willing to accommodate himself, to restrict himself 56 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,840 for the sake of those he was trying to reach. 57 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:30,440 If he was with the Jews, he limited himself in a certain way. 58 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:35,160 If he was with the Gentiles, he limited himself in another way. 59 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,560 It was not that Paul was a compromiser. 60 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,540 Paul never compromised on anything that was essential. 61 00:05:42,540 --> 00:05:48,460 But on those things that were non-essential, he was willing to accommodate so that the 62 00:05:48,460 --> 00:05:56,480 focus in his ministry would not be on something he did, but on the message that he had to 63 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,560 preach, the gospel of Jesus Christ. 64 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:07,840 But Paul wants us to know that even though he was a man willing to accommodate himself 65 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:17,480 on non-essential things, he was not a man who lived without discipline or without standards. 66 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:23,280 Paul was not easy on himself, and that's why he writes the paragraph that he does at 67 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:27,240 the end of chapter 9. 68 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,080 Actually there are several lessons, I think, that we observe as we see Paul's remarks 69 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,800 here written around the athletic metaphor. 70 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:41,320 The first lesson is this, that our Christian experience is likened to a race. 71 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:46,120 You see that clearly in what Paul says. 72 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:47,120 Now why is that? 73 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,800 Well, I think it's because in the first place there's a starting point, just as there is 74 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:52,760 in a race. 75 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,520 The starting point of the Christian life is conversion. 76 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:04,280 We can be raised in a Christian home, or we can be raised in a pagan home. 77 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:09,000 Whichever way we may have been raised, the point is that we begin the Christian life 78 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,720 at the point of conversion when we trust Jesus Christ as Savior. 79 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,360 That's the beginning of the race. 80 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:21,000 And then there's a course that has to be followed. 81 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,760 A race in the Olympics has a course. 82 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:29,480 It may be around the oval, or it may be cross country, around streets, or in the case of 83 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:34,280 the equestrians, it was over hillsides and ponds and jumps and so on, but there is a 84 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,640 course that is laid out. 85 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:42,680 Likewise, in the Christian life there is a course laid out for us in the commands and 86 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,280 the principles of God's Word. 87 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,680 God does not leave us at a loss as to how to live the Christian life. 88 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,640 We have the course laid down for us here. 89 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,920 And in a race there is a conclusion. 90 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:58,680 There is a finish line. 91 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,400 There is a goal to aim toward. 92 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,040 And so it is true in the Christian life. 93 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:13,160 There is a goal, a purpose for which to strive, and it's reached at death when we go to be 94 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:14,920 with Christ. 95 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:20,100 And so I think at least for those three reasons the Christian life is likened here to a race, 96 00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:25,720 because it has a beginning, it has a course, and there is an end to it. 97 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:33,080 A second lesson that I see from what Paul says is that we can win or lose the race. 98 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,240 He makes that clear. 99 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:41,000 When he talks about losing the race here, he is not talking about the loss of salvation, 100 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:48,040 but he is rather talking about the loss of potential rewards, the imperishable rewards 101 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:49,840 that we might earn. 102 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,120 Please understand we are not talking about salvation. 103 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:58,160 We are talking about rewards that one may earn and be given at the judgment seat of 104 00:08:58,160 --> 00:08:59,880 Christ. 105 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:06,120 Salvation is a gift from God freely received, the rewards we earn by our faithfulness in 106 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:07,760 this world. 107 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:17,040 We can win or lose the race by evidencing faithfulness or failing to evidence faithfulness. 108 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:23,080 God is pleased at the end of our life to give us reward based upon how we have run the race 109 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:24,680 and how we have won the race. 110 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:30,040 The interesting thing about this race is that there need be no losers. 111 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:33,720 One of the things that you have to regret when you see talented athletes like we have 112 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:38,640 seen in Seoul is the fact that somebody has to lose. 113 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:44,320 Somebody earns the silver and the bronze and there are many who get nothing after years 114 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:51,580 of training, because only a few can get the prize and only one can get the gold. 115 00:09:51,580 --> 00:09:56,680 But that is not so in the Christian race because every single one of us can receive the top 116 00:09:56,680 --> 00:09:57,680 prize. 117 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:01,080 We are not running against other people. 118 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:06,360 What we are doing is running the will of God for our lives. 119 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:11,320 And if we are faithful, keeping on course with that, then at the end we will receive 120 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:14,960 the gold that we have earned. 121 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:24,040 A third lesson I see is this, that to win the gold, to win the prize, we must exercise 122 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:25,040 self-control. 123 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:28,520 Now that is really the heart of what Paul was getting at. 124 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:33,240 He says, now I accommodate myself to those that I am preaching to. 125 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,120 He says with the Jews I am this way, with the Gentiles I am this way, with the weak 126 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:38,320 I am this way. 127 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:40,600 But he said whatever. 128 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:45,600 He says I am under self-control and self-constraint. 129 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,600 He compares it first of all to a runner, in verse 26. 130 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,800 I run, he says, in such a way as not without aim. 131 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:58,700 In other words, he says as a runner in a race I stay on course. 132 00:10:58,700 --> 00:11:01,760 I don't take shortcuts. 133 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,800 I don't stop for sightseeing. 134 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:12,760 But I exercise self-control and restraint and I stay on course to the finish line. 135 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:16,120 He compares himself to a boxer. 136 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:20,280 I box in such a way as not beating the air. 137 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:26,520 The picture there is of a boxer who gets into the ring and forgets his self-discipline and 138 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,020 begins to throw punches wildly. 139 00:11:30,020 --> 00:11:35,360 We saw just a hint of that in one of the matches, didn't we, during the Olympics when the 140 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:40,320 crowd ultimately got so upset they attacked the referee. 141 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:48,120 The Korean boxer lost his cool in that particular match and was throwing wild punches. 142 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:52,520 Paul says I am like a boxer who remembers my rules. 143 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:54,600 I am not in there throwing wild punches. 144 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,680 I am self-controlled, he says. 145 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:05,260 Then he makes it clear that he is talking about the way that we live in our bodies. 146 00:12:05,260 --> 00:12:13,840 He goes on to say in verse 27, on the other hand I buffet my body and make it my slave. 147 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:18,760 Paul is saying that if we are going to win the race we must exercise self-control over 148 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:24,000 the impulses and desires of our bodies. 149 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:30,920 There must be self-restraint even in the good things, not just the evil lusts, but even 150 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:36,320 in the good things of life, even in the luxuries that we enjoy. 151 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,460 There must be self-restraint. 152 00:12:40,460 --> 00:12:42,760 He says I buffet my body. 153 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:52,640 Literally he says I strike it under the eye, the picture being that of a black eye. 154 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:58,880 It might be put this way, I deal my body knockout blows. 155 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:07,040 Paul is determined that though he has liberty in Jesus Christ, he will not allow that liberty 156 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:11,560 to make him lawless. 157 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:18,960 He will exercise self-control and self-restraint over his body, even to the point as he says 158 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:20,960 here of knocking it out. 159 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:26,840 Unless metaphoric, please don't go home and try to knock yourself out. 160 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:31,320 Paul is saying he will not allow his body to get out of control. 161 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:33,840 And he further says I make it my slave. 162 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:35,960 That is he leads it about. 163 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,880 He puts his body under discipline. 164 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:46,960 His point is this, that anything that hinders his full devotion to Jesus Christ must be 165 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,560 put aside. 166 00:13:50,560 --> 00:14:02,540 Even the good things must be sacrificed so that he can win the prize. 167 00:14:02,540 --> 00:14:13,840 Our bodies can either serve the cause of the gospel or hinder the cause of the gospel. 168 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:22,520 It depends upon our discipline or our lack of discipline over our bodies natural appetites. 169 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:29,660 Even the God-given desires and appetites we have, even the good things, there must be 170 00:14:29,660 --> 00:14:37,760 self-control, says Paul, so that we can win the prize. 171 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:43,500 And then we observe another lesson, it is this, that we can be disqualified. 172 00:14:43,500 --> 00:14:44,960 That was the thing that concerned Paul. 173 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:53,040 He says, lest possibly after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. 174 00:14:53,040 --> 00:15:02,040 The word preached here comes from a Greek word that reminds us of the heralds that were 175 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:10,880 sent out to summon the athletes of Greece to the games as competitors. 176 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:15,840 Sometime before the games began, these heralds would fan out through the nation and they 177 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:23,400 would summon or call out the athletes to come to such and such a place for the games. 178 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,400 So that's what Paul has in mind here. 179 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:35,840 He is saying, lest after I have summoned others and been the herald, I myself would be disqualified 180 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,280 when it came to the games. 181 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:43,880 Again, Paul is not talking about a loss of salvation. 182 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:49,800 But Paul is speaking here about a loss of usefulness to Jesus Christ. 183 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:57,000 The word disqualified was one used in that day of the testing of metals or of coins, 184 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:02,480 which were then rejected because they did not pass the test. 185 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:06,840 Disapproved is the thought. 186 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:15,040 That is a danger that every one of us faces in our race and our Christian life. 187 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:23,600 That if we do not exercise self-control and self-restraints, though we are free in Christ, 188 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:30,840 we run the danger of becoming disqualified and not winning the prize or the rewards at 189 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,840 the judgment seat of Christ. 190 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:38,560 The apostle goes on then in chapter 10 to give us examples of those who tragically were 191 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:40,520 disqualified. 192 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,880 He talks about the fathers. 193 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:51,840 His Israelite fathers who came out of Egypt with Moses, and they had all kinds of spiritual 194 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,120 benefits and privileges. 195 00:16:55,120 --> 00:17:01,080 But in verse 5 it says, nevertheless, with most of them God was not well pleased. 196 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,920 That is a similar word to the word disqualified. 197 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:11,240 With most of them, God disqualified them is the thought. 198 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,920 For they were laid low in the wilderness. 199 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:16,440 God killed them. 200 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,640 They died there without getting to the promised land. 201 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:25,640 And he says, these things happened as examples for us that we should not crave evil things 202 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,360 as they also craved. 203 00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:38,040 It is that in our Christian experience we should exercise self-control. 204 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:44,240 Then he tells us as he moves on into the last part of chapter 10 that one who is not living 205 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:51,200 under Christ's lordship and under discipline is one who is disqualified from coming to 206 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,920 the Lord's table. 207 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:58,920 He warns them of association with idolatry. 208 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:04,760 And I remind you that idolatry is anything that takes the place of Jesus Christ in my 209 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,200 life. 210 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:12,320 It need not be a tangible object sitting on a shelf or on a table. 211 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,660 It is any relationship. 212 00:18:14,660 --> 00:18:15,660 It is any activity. 213 00:18:15,660 --> 00:18:18,720 It is any goal in life. 214 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:22,920 Any person that takes preeminence over Jesus Christ. 215 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,040 That becomes to me an idol. 216 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:30,920 And he says in verse 14, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 217 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:38,600 Flee from anything that would take the preeminent place of Christ in your lives. 218 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:45,260 He says in verse 16, is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? 219 00:18:45,260 --> 00:18:49,360 Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 220 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:52,560 Yes, it is. 221 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:56,200 And so he says, do not partake of the bread. 222 00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:01,840 Do not partake of the cup if Jesus Christ is not Lord in the life. 223 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,640 For that is a contradiction. 224 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:09,960 That is to serve the purpose of demons of the devil in your life. 225 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:17,280 If Jesus Christ is not Lord, if you are not exercising self-control and self-discipline 226 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:22,840 under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, he is saying, please do not come to the Lord's 227 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:23,840 table. 228 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:31,200 For that then becomes a mixture in your life of the Lord and demons and that cannot be. 229 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:38,400 And so his plea in this whole section of 1 Corinthians is that while we are free and 230 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:45,840 liberated in Jesus Christ, liberated from our sin, liberated from legalism, we are not 231 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:53,400 free to live as we please, but we are free to live under Christ's Lordship. 232 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:59,480 And so we must determine to run the race to win it. 233 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:03,280 That was Paul's determination, I remind you. 234 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:09,200 He said to us, run in such a way that you may win. 235 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:16,120 Let nothing hinder you from accomplishing what God has for you in life. 236 00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:22,180 See the course that is laid out for you in the will of God and go for the goal. 237 00:20:22,180 --> 00:20:29,000 Be self-disciplined under the Lordship of Jesus Christ so that one day when you pass 238 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:38,360 that finish line, you may hear from him those words, well done, good, and faithful servant. 239 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:45,960 When Paul came to the end of his life, he said, I have finished my course. 240 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:51,600 Beloved, let's live in such a way that whenever that time is that God calls us home, 241 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:58,560 that we'll be able to cross that line and having finished our course, receive from our 242 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:03,440 dear Savior the reward that we have earned. 243 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:11,640 And receive that reward so that then we may present it at His feet in worship and thanksgiving 244 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:16,120 and adoration for what He has done for us. 245 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:20,720 As we come to the Lord's table today, it's time for us to examine our race. 246 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,760 What kind of Christian athletes are we? 247 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,800 Are we running, staying on course, or have we taken a shortcut? 248 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:35,440 Or have we stopped along the way to sightsee in the world? 249 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:41,080 Are we boxers who are throwing wild misses in the ring because we've lost our cool, 250 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,080 lost our self-control? 251 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:48,000 And this is the time as we come to the Lord's table to acknowledge that and confess it to 252 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:54,240 Him and to place ourselves afresh under the Lordship of Christ that we might live disciplined 253 00:21:54,240 --> 00:22:00,760 lives as those who are running the race to win it. 254 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:07,080 Let's pray together. 255 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:13,080 As we bow in prayer, let's allow the Holy Spirit to speak to each of us and respond 256 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:18,480 just in the quietness of a few seconds. 257 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:34,240 How does God want you to respond? 258 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:39,040 Lord I pray that none of us will come to Your table today in an unworthy manner and thus 259 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,720 bring discipline upon ourselves. 260 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:55,240 But let us come with hearts clean through confession of sin and our wills, our lives 261 00:22:55,240 --> 00:23:01,440 submitted to the Lordship of Christ. 262 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:10,280 Let us be men and women of integrity, disciplined in running our race. 263 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:17,040 Bring us, Lord Jesus, as we partake of these elements that You ran the race to. 264 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:24,040 You know the difficulties, the pitfalls, the temptations that we face, but You ran it successfully 265 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:29,120 and You are able to help us. 266 00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:34,720 Thank You for Your grace and mercy in cleansing us where we failed, for Your willingness to 267 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:42,520 lead us on, to strengthen us, that we might win the prize. 268 00:23:42,520 --> 00:24:05,400 Amen.