To the book of 1 Corinthians, the ninth chapter, where we're going to focus on the end of
the chapter, verses 24 through 27.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?
Run in such a way that you may win, and everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control
in all things.
They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim.
I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I buffet my body and make it my slave,
lest possibly after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
The world's attention for the past two weeks has been fixed on Seoul, South Korea, and
the 24th Olympiad.
I think all of us are at the point of admiration of the athletic skills, the discipline, and
dedication that has been demonstrated by the nearly 10,000 athletes that have represented
about 160 nations.
The modern Olympic Games trace their heritage back to ancient Greece, where the Games were
practiced as early as the 8th century B.C., that is, 800 years before Christ there were
the Olympics.
The Olympics were one of the four national festivals in ancient Greece.
The Olympics were held appropriately in Olympia every four years and were held in honor of
Zeus, the pagan god of the ancient Greeks.
It is no wonder with that kind of cultural route that the Apostle Paul picks up on the
athletic theme a number of times as he writes his epistles to churches located throughout
the Greek-Roman Empire.
The picture that Paul paints in the text that we read this morning is a meaningful one.
The Corinthians were very familiar with another festival called the Isthmian Games, which
were held in their city every two years.
In the context of this particular text, we find that Paul is dealing with those things
that the Bible does not state are right or wrong, those things that are sometimes called
the doubtful or disputed things.
This goes all the way back to the beginning of chapter 8 where Paul introduces this subject,
and the issue at that time was whether one should eat meat that had been offered to idols.
The basic principle that Paul lays down is this, we know that idols really are nothing,
and yet there are some whose consciences have not been strengthened to realize that.
And they may stumble if we eat meat that has been offered to idols, therefore he says love
overrules our knowledge, and love says that we should restrain ourselves from eating something
if that is going to cause a brother to stumble.
We must not use our liberty in Christ and thus cause another to stumble in his Christian
experience.
In chapter 8 and verse 13 he puts it this way, if food causes my brother to stumble,
I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble.
That is a good principle for all of us to remember.
As an example of this willingness to limit oneself, he points to himself as an apostle
in chapter 9.
He reminds them and us of the rights that he had as an apostle, the rights which he
chose deliberately not to employ, he did not want to use those rights.
Why?
So that nothing would hinder the gospel.
And he goes on then to share that his decision about that and other lifestyle decisions are
matters of accommodation for him.
As he says in the end of chapter 9, to the Jews I became as a Jew.
Verse 21, to those who are without the law as without the law.
Verse 22, to the weak I became as weak that I might win the week.
I have become all things to all men that I may by all means save some.
And I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
What Paul is saying is that he was willing to accommodate himself, to restrict himself
for the sake of those he was trying to reach.
If he was with the Jews, he limited himself in a certain way.
If he was with the Gentiles, he limited himself in another way.
It was not that Paul was a compromiser.
Paul never compromised on anything that was essential.
But on those things that were non-essential, he was willing to accommodate so that the
focus in his ministry would not be on something he did, but on the message that he had to
preach, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But Paul wants us to know that even though he was a man willing to accommodate himself
on non-essential things, he was not a man who lived without discipline or without standards.
Paul was not easy on himself, and that's why he writes the paragraph that he does at
the end of chapter 9.
Actually there are several lessons, I think, that we observe as we see Paul's remarks
here written around the athletic metaphor.
The first lesson is this, that our Christian experience is likened to a race.
You see that clearly in what Paul says.
Now why is that?
Well, I think it's because in the first place there's a starting point, just as there is
in a race.
The starting point of the Christian life is conversion.
We can be raised in a Christian home, or we can be raised in a pagan home.
Whichever way we may have been raised, the point is that we begin the Christian life
at the point of conversion when we trust Jesus Christ as Savior.
That's the beginning of the race.
And then there's a course that has to be followed.
A race in the Olympics has a course.
It may be around the oval, or it may be cross country, around streets, or in the case of
the equestrians, it was over hillsides and ponds and jumps and so on, but there is a
course that is laid out.
Likewise, in the Christian life there is a course laid out for us in the commands and
the principles of God's Word.
God does not leave us at a loss as to how to live the Christian life.
We have the course laid down for us here.
And in a race there is a conclusion.
There is a finish line.
There is a goal to aim toward.
And so it is true in the Christian life.
There is a goal, a purpose for which to strive, and it's reached at death when we go to be
with Christ.
And so I think at least for those three reasons the Christian life is likened here to a race,
because it has a beginning, it has a course, and there is an end to it.
A second lesson that I see from what Paul says is that we can win or lose the race.
He makes that clear.
When he talks about losing the race here, he is not talking about the loss of salvation,
but he is rather talking about the loss of potential rewards, the imperishable rewards
that we might earn.
Please understand we are not talking about salvation.
We are talking about rewards that one may earn and be given at the judgment seat of
Christ.
Salvation is a gift from God freely received, the rewards we earn by our faithfulness in
this world.
We can win or lose the race by evidencing faithfulness or failing to evidence faithfulness.
God is pleased at the end of our life to give us reward based upon how we have run the race
and how we have won the race.
The interesting thing about this race is that there need be no losers.
One of the things that you have to regret when you see talented athletes like we have
seen in Seoul is the fact that somebody has to lose.
Somebody earns the silver and the bronze and there are many who get nothing after years
of training, because only a few can get the prize and only one can get the gold.
But that is not so in the Christian race because every single one of us can receive the top
prize.
We are not running against other people.
What we are doing is running the will of God for our lives.
And if we are faithful, keeping on course with that, then at the end we will receive
the gold that we have earned.
A third lesson I see is this, that to win the gold, to win the prize, we must exercise
self-control.
Now that is really the heart of what Paul was getting at.
He says, now I accommodate myself to those that I am preaching to.
He says with the Jews I am this way, with the Gentiles I am this way, with the weak
I am this way.
But he said whatever.
He says I am under self-control and self-constraint.
He compares it first of all to a runner, in verse 26.
I run, he says, in such a way as not without aim.
In other words, he says as a runner in a race I stay on course.
I don't take shortcuts.
I don't stop for sightseeing.
But I exercise self-control and restraint and I stay on course to the finish line.
He compares himself to a boxer.
I box in such a way as not beating the air.
The picture there is of a boxer who gets into the ring and forgets his self-discipline and
begins to throw punches wildly.
We saw just a hint of that in one of the matches, didn't we, during the Olympics when the
crowd ultimately got so upset they attacked the referee.
The Korean boxer lost his cool in that particular match and was throwing wild punches.
Paul says I am like a boxer who remembers my rules.
I am not in there throwing wild punches.
I am self-controlled, he says.
Then he makes it clear that he is talking about the way that we live in our bodies.
He goes on to say in verse 27, on the other hand I buffet my body and make it my slave.
Paul is saying that if we are going to win the race we must exercise self-control over
the impulses and desires of our bodies.
There must be self-restraint even in the good things, not just the evil lusts, but even
in the good things of life, even in the luxuries that we enjoy.
There must be self-restraint.
He says I buffet my body.
Literally he says I strike it under the eye, the picture being that of a black eye.
It might be put this way, I deal my body knockout blows.
Paul is determined that though he has liberty in Jesus Christ, he will not allow that liberty
to make him lawless.
He will exercise self-control and self-restraint over his body, even to the point as he says
here of knocking it out.
Unless metaphoric, please don't go home and try to knock yourself out.
Paul is saying he will not allow his body to get out of control.
And he further says I make it my slave.
That is he leads it about.
He puts his body under discipline.
His point is this, that anything that hinders his full devotion to Jesus Christ must be
put aside.
Even the good things must be sacrificed so that he can win the prize.
Our bodies can either serve the cause of the gospel or hinder the cause of the gospel.
It depends upon our discipline or our lack of discipline over our bodies natural appetites.
Even the God-given desires and appetites we have, even the good things, there must be
self-control, says Paul, so that we can win the prize.
And then we observe another lesson, it is this, that we can be disqualified.
That was the thing that concerned Paul.
He says, lest possibly after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
The word preached here comes from a Greek word that reminds us of the heralds that were
sent out to summon the athletes of Greece to the games as competitors.
Sometime before the games began, these heralds would fan out through the nation and they
would summon or call out the athletes to come to such and such a place for the games.
So that's what Paul has in mind here.
He is saying, lest after I have summoned others and been the herald, I myself would be disqualified
when it came to the games.
Again, Paul is not talking about a loss of salvation.
But Paul is speaking here about a loss of usefulness to Jesus Christ.
The word disqualified was one used in that day of the testing of metals or of coins,
which were then rejected because they did not pass the test.
Disapproved is the thought.
That is a danger that every one of us faces in our race and our Christian life.
That if we do not exercise self-control and self-restraints, though we are free in Christ,
we run the danger of becoming disqualified and not winning the prize or the rewards at
the judgment seat of Christ.
The apostle goes on then in chapter 10 to give us examples of those who tragically were
disqualified.
He talks about the fathers.
His Israelite fathers who came out of Egypt with Moses, and they had all kinds of spiritual
benefits and privileges.
But in verse 5 it says, nevertheless, with most of them God was not well pleased.
That is a similar word to the word disqualified.
With most of them, God disqualified them is the thought.
For they were laid low in the wilderness.
God killed them.
They died there without getting to the promised land.
And he says, these things happened as examples for us that we should not crave evil things
as they also craved.
It is that in our Christian experience we should exercise self-control.
Then he tells us as he moves on into the last part of chapter 10 that one who is not living
under Christ's lordship and under discipline is one who is disqualified from coming to
the Lord's table.
He warns them of association with idolatry.
And I remind you that idolatry is anything that takes the place of Jesus Christ in my
life.
It need not be a tangible object sitting on a shelf or on a table.
It is any relationship.
It is any activity.
It is any goal in life.
Any person that takes preeminence over Jesus Christ.
That becomes to me an idol.
And he says in verse 14, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Flee from anything that would take the preeminent place of Christ in your lives.
He says in verse 16, is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?
Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
Yes, it is.
And so he says, do not partake of the bread.
Do not partake of the cup if Jesus Christ is not Lord in the life.
For that is a contradiction.
That is to serve the purpose of demons of the devil in your life.
If Jesus Christ is not Lord, if you are not exercising self-control and self-discipline
under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, he is saying, please do not come to the Lord's
table.
For that then becomes a mixture in your life of the Lord and demons and that cannot be.
And so his plea in this whole section of 1 Corinthians is that while we are free and
liberated in Jesus Christ, liberated from our sin, liberated from legalism, we are not
free to live as we please, but we are free to live under Christ's Lordship.
And so we must determine to run the race to win it.
That was Paul's determination, I remind you.
He said to us, run in such a way that you may win.
Let nothing hinder you from accomplishing what God has for you in life.
See the course that is laid out for you in the will of God and go for the goal.
Be self-disciplined under the Lordship of Jesus Christ so that one day when you pass
that finish line, you may hear from him those words, well done, good, and faithful servant.
When Paul came to the end of his life, he said, I have finished my course.
Beloved, let's live in such a way that whenever that time is that God calls us home,
that we'll be able to cross that line and having finished our course, receive from our
dear Savior the reward that we have earned.
And receive that reward so that then we may present it at His feet in worship and thanksgiving
and adoration for what He has done for us.
As we come to the Lord's table today, it's time for us to examine our race.
What kind of Christian athletes are we?
Are we running, staying on course, or have we taken a shortcut?
Or have we stopped along the way to sightsee in the world?
Are we boxers who are throwing wild misses in the ring because we've lost our cool,
lost our self-control?
And this is the time as we come to the Lord's table to acknowledge that and confess it to
Him and to place ourselves afresh under the Lordship of Christ that we might live disciplined
lives as those who are running the race to win it.
Let's pray together.
As we bow in prayer, let's allow the Holy Spirit to speak to each of us and respond
just in the quietness of a few seconds.
How does God want you to respond?
Lord I pray that none of us will come to Your table today in an unworthy manner and thus
bring discipline upon ourselves.
But let us come with hearts clean through confession of sin and our wills, our lives
submitted to the Lordship of Christ.
Let us be men and women of integrity, disciplined in running our race.
Bring us, Lord Jesus, as we partake of these elements that You ran the race to.
You know the difficulties, the pitfalls, the temptations that we face, but You ran it successfully
and You are able to help us.
Thank You for Your grace and mercy in cleansing us where we failed, for Your willingness to
lead us on, to strengthen us, that we might win the prize.
Amen.