[MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] Don't we live in
a great country? Happy Independence Day. [APPLAUSE] And thank you to
all those of you who have or are defending
our country, who fight for our country,
who are in our military. [APPLAUSE] Special honor to you. God bless America. Would you turn in
your Bibles, please, to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. There's a very popular series
on Netflix called The Crown. And how many of you,
just a show of hands, just on a show of hands, how
many of you have seen it? OK, so a lot of people have. 73 million people have viewed. 73 million people or homes
have viewed The Crown. And The Crown is about
the queen of England. It's about Elizabeth II, who
by the way, is 95 years young. So she is the oldest living
constitutional monarch that England has ever had. 95 years old. And she has been the queen
of England for 69 years, since 1952. That's when she
became queen, 1952. She has been served
by 14 British Prime Ministers, including
Sir Winston Churchill. So she goes way back,
and she's still at it. And people across the
Atlantic over here, we are always fascinated by
all things British royalty. We love the whole
royal wedding thing. That has captivated
Americans for a long time. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, Paul
is speaking about the crown, but not the crown like the queen
of England wears, not a crown that a monarch wears. This crown in 1 Corinthians
9 is not hereditary. It is not dynastic. That is, it doesn't
follow a bloodline. It is not an earthly
or temporary crown. It is the crown of a
runner in an athletic race, and that crown depicts
an eternal crown that one day you
and I will wear. By the way, the only
reason the Queen of England is the Queen of England is
because her dad was once the King of England. She's the oldest daughter
of King George VI. And the only reason
he was ever a King is because his brother
who was the King abdicated the throne, placing
the other guy on the throne so that Elizabeth
is now the queen. We're going to begin in 1
Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24 and read down to verse 27. That's the paragraph of thought. 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. Now, Paul is working
off an athletic theme. He is writing about two
different categories of athletic competition. One is the foot race
and the other is boxing. And he's combining
these metaphors, which Paul does a
lot, by the way, into this one theme in
the paragraph of striving in athletics. It's pretty obvious in reading
the New Testament letters of Paul that he likes sports. I don't know if he watched
Monday night chariot races or what the deal was. But the wording of athletics
appears much in his ministry and in his letters. Here's a quick sampling. When he goes to Ephesus
and he meets with leaders, he says, look, I know
that I'm going to face struggles as I'm on
my way to Jerusalem, and I know that it's been tough
and it's going to be tough. It's been revealed to me. But then he said this. None of these things
move me, nor do I count my life dear unto
myself that I might finish my race with joy
and the ministry that the Lord Jesus
Christ has given to me. So he pictured his
life as a race. He's on the race track and
he wants to run that race. In Philippians chapter
3, he also said this, and this is familiar to you. I press toward the goal for
the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Interesting that the
word he used for goal is the word scopas, which was
a square pillar in a stadium that runners would look
at to align themselves in running the race. I press toward that. I'm looking to cross
the finish line. In 1 Timothy chapter 4,
he said to young Timothy, train yourself for godliness. That's an athletic term. The word he used for train
is the word from which we get our word gymnasium from. Get a good workout spiritually. Put yourself in the
spiritual gym, Timothy. And then at the end of Paul's
life, he finally said this. To sum up his whole
life, he said, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. So Paul is using athletic
terminology so often in his writings. I suppose that if Paul
would have written a letter to a mountain
town somewhere, he might have used ski metaphors
if it was a modern letter. I think maybe if he was writing
to believers in Indianapolis, he might have used Formula
One racing language. But he's not. He's writing to the Corinthians. And the Corinthians
in particular knew about sporting
events because they hosted one of the most important
sporting events in the world just outside of their
town in Corinth. I'm going to explain that. Corinth was familiar with
two basic sporting events. Number one, the Olympics. The Olympics, because it took
place in Olympia in Greece. And the other was a set of
games called the Isthmian Games. That's so hard to say. Isthmian. You know what an isthmus is? You remember your geography? An isthmus is that
narrow neck of land that connects to
other pieces of land. And because Corinth was
on an isthmus called the Peloponnesian
peninsula, they had a set of games called
the Isthmian Games. And it was second in importance
only to the Olympics. Now, let me describe that just
so you get the background. The Olympics began in 776 BC. It occurred every four years
in the plains of Olympia in Greece, and it
lasted for five days. The first day was the
day of ceremonies. It was a day of sacrifice
to the Greek gods. And the competitors
came into the arena and they swore their oaths. And then on day two, an
announcer or a herald stepped into the arena and
introduced the competitors to the crowds. That was then followed
by chariot races followed by horse races followed
by the pentathlon for men. On day three, the boys competed. By the way, only males competed
in those Olympics back then. The boys competed on day three. They had their contests. On day four was the foot race,
jumping, wrestling, and boxing. And on day five, final
sacrifices were given. Awards were given out. In the evening was a
banquet and entertainment for all the visitors
who had come. Now, those are
the Olympic games. But then there were the
games that the Corinthians knew about as well called
the Isthmian Games. Let's just call them
the Corinthian games, because it's just a
whole lot easier to say. And the Corinthian games
were played not every four years but every two years. And as I said, they
were almost as well attended as the Olympic games. And they were hosted
right there at Corinth. So what I want to do is go
through this very simple, short passage and give you four
slogans, four sporting slogans. You've all heard them. But those four slogans
represent four decisions that we should make if we're
going to excel in our race, in our Christian walk,
in our life of faith. I don't have time to give
you all the background of the Corinthian letter,
but you probably already know that the Corinthian
Christians were like the problem children
of the New Testament when it comes to churches. They had so many issues in
their churches at Corinth, and Paul addresses them. But in this chapter, he
basically says, look, I'm giving my life all I can. And I want to reach the Jews. I want to reach the Greeks. I become all things to
all men if by all means I might save some. That's how serious
I am about this. Then he closes off this
chapter by giving us this analogy, this
metaphor that is a picture of the Christian life
and it represents decisions. And I'm going to give
you four decisions we need to make in these slogans. Number one, eyes on the prize. Eyes on the prize. Every athlete steps
into the event that he or she is going to
participate in with their eyes on the prize. They have a goal. They want to win. Nobody says, I'm going to join
this race so that I can lose. Everybody wants to win. That's what's in mind. Now, notice the choice of
words that the apostle uses, verse 24. 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, it being the prize. And everyone who
competes for the prize is tempered in all things. Now, they do it to obtain
a perishable crown. The prize is the crown. But we for an
imperishable crown. Now, you need to know that
in the Greco Roman world, the athlete was highly revered,
especially an Olympic athlete. He was highly regarded,
highly respected. But to lose an event
was a disgrace. In fact, they went through
a public humiliation. But it was quite an
honor to win a race. But here's the question. What did they win? You said, well,
they won a prize. Well, what was their prize? It says a crown. Now, when you hear
the word a crown, you're thinking, yeah,
wow, a gold crown or a silver crown,
some precious metal probably with jewels and gems. Not even close. It wasn't that kind of crown. I mean, it wasn't even as good
as a Burger King cardboard crown or a tin foil crown that
your kids would make for you. The crown of the
athlete was a plant. A plant. In the Olympic games, it
was a little wreath made out of all of leaves or celery. Wilted celery. I kid you not. That's the gold. You make it all around the
race and you're the winner, and here is a salad for
you to wear on your head. If you win the Corinthian
games, the Isthmian Games, theirs was a little pine
wreath of pine needles wrapped in a little circle
placed on the head. And so when he says crowned,
the Greek word is stephanas, and it's a temporary
victor's crown. A leafy wreath on the head. When an athlete won, there
was an elaborate ceremony. The athlete would leave the
arena and in a parade march to the Temple of Zeus and
he would be greeted there by judges in purple robes
on raised platforms called bematas or the bema
seat, the judgment seat. And there they would receive
their award, their reward. When they got that little
salad on their head, that was the greatest day
of the athlete's life. Because along with it
came fame and notoriety and he was considered a
hero and he got acclaim. And they even thought that he
is communing with the gods. And so it was just a
day of great pride. But what you actually
walk away with is going to wither in about four
hours or at least a couple of days, you're going
to toss that crown out because it's not meant to last. I mean, wilted celery. Come on. Right now taking place in France
is the most famous bicycle race called the Tour de France. 2,000 miles of bicycling. 2,000 miles of rigorous,
intense, steep terrain in France. And the athletes don't
stop to eat a cheeseburger. They eat their meals and
their energy drinks on the run while they're bicycling. And what's the prize
that you get when you win the Tour de France? Now, your team might
get a monetary award, some compensatory sum
of money for the team. But basically, the winner
of the Tour de France just walks away with a jersey. A yellow jersey. And the ability to say,
I won the Tour de France. That's it. That's what you walk away with. That is Paul's point. These athletes keep
their eyes on the prize, and their prize
doesn't last long. It fades in a couple days. You do it. You serve the Lord. Your race ends up in
an imperishable crown. Now, let that sink in. One day you're going to
stand before the Lord for an imperishable
crown, a reward. There's going to be some
kind of reward or rewards that will be given to
you by God in heaven. Now, some people might
read this and say, yeah, I think really what
he's just talking about is heaven itself. Just making it to
heaven is the prize. Just getting into the courtroom
of heaven is the crown. I don't think so. Because notice what
it says in verse 24. Run in such a way
that you may what? Obtain it. You don't obtain heaven. You can't earn heaven. You don't work for heaven. You are saved by grace through
faith, that not of yourselves. You get to heaven
not by doing anything but by believing in someone
who did it all for you. That's how you get to heaven. You don't obtain it. It's a gift. So getting into
heaven is by faith. Getting rewarded in heaven,
however, is according to works. I'm surprised at how
many Christians are not aware of this. The kind that just think, I'm
going to make it to heaven. That's all there is. Well, let me put
it to you this way. I'm going to make it to
heaven, but once I get there, I want more. And you can have more. You can get rewarded. And that's not
just heaven itself, but it's some kind
of compensation, some kind of status
that God gives to those the Bible
indicates will be different according to each one. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5. We must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ. Same word as in the Olympics. The bematas, the bema seat where
the judges stood and gave out the awards. We must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what
is due him for the things done in the body. At the end of the Christian
life, at the end of your race, when you appear in glory,
when you get to heaven, you are going to be evaluated,
not judged for eternal matters. You'll be in heaven. You'll be welcomed into glory. But you are going to be
evaluated and then compensated for your faithfulness
to God while on the Earth for how
you ran that race. Some kind of reward. Jesus said in Revelation
chapter 22, "Behold, I am coming quickly and
my reward is with me." Jesus said in Matthew
16, "The Son of Man will come in the glory of
His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each
according to his works." Once again, Paul at
the end of his life said, I have fought
the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord will give me at
that day and not only me but to all those who
have loved His appearing. I'm looking forward not
only to heaven, Paul said, but to a crown, a reward
that God is going to give me. So think of it this way. Heaven should be more
than just a destination. Heaven should be
your motivation. You should start
thinking about that. Keeping your eyes on the prize. Living your life in such a
way that I'm pleasing God now because the reward
in the future is what helps me to run
the race in the present. This race is getting tough. It's getting hard. But my eyes are on the prize. The crown of
righteousness, the reward for serving the
Lord on this Earth. So eyes on the prize. Here's the second motto
or the second decision to excel in your faith. No pain, no gain. Now, everybody's
heard that one, right? It came in the 1980s. I think that's when that
first slogan first came out. Gyms all across the country
used that as their pitch. No pain, no gain,
or feel the burn. Or another famous
one that kind of goes along with that I have
heard more recently is this. Pain is just weakness
leaving the body. Ever heard that? I think I was in a
gym recently and I was grunting under a weight. And somebody said, you know,
and then they quoted this. Pain is just weakness
leaving the body. And I think I turned
and said to him, well, why does it seem like the
older you get, it stays? It ain't leaving. It's still here. Look at verse 25
for just a moment. And everyone who
competes for the prize. Stop right there. The word competes. I'm going to tell
you what the word is in the original
language, and you're going to tell me what the
English equivalent is. You ready? Everyone who competes. Competes is this
word, agonizomai. What does that sound like? Agonizomai. Agonize. It comes from the
word agon, agony. Everyone who
competes, everyone who has an agonizing struggle,
which is so accurate of being an athlete. Any great athlete will tell you
this is hard work to do this. This is agonizing work. An Olympic champion,
PattiSue Plumer said, and I'm quoting her,
every single day I hated what I was doing. Now, here's an athlete. Here's a winner who's training
every day and she goes, I hate this. Every day I hated
what I was doing and loved what I
was doing because I knew it was going
to come down to who was willing to hurt more. And this word aptly describes
what it is to be an athlete. If you're a runner, as soon
as you start running hard, your body overheats. When your body
overheats, you start running low on blood sugar. And then your body
starts compensating. Your blood vessels distend. They get bigger so you can get
more blood flowing through, more oxygen to the muscles. Your lungs, you start gasping
for air to get more oxygen in. There is an agonizing
event that takes place. A fifth century BC Greek poet
said of the Olympic athletes, the athlete delights in
the toil and the cost. Now talk about toil and cost. If you're an Olympic
athlete, when you go into the arena on
that first day of sacrifices and the athlete gives an oath. And the oath that he
gives is that he has complete-- he swears
that he has completed 10 months of agonizing
routine to get there and is even willing to die. That's the oath that he takes. That's the agony that the
athlete has gone through. Now, if an Olympic athlete
is willing to agonizomai, how much more the Christian? Remember, it was Paul who
said, I press toward the goal. I'm looking at that scopas. I'm looking at
that square pillar. And it's not like I'm
going, oh well, I'm going to make it through and
just kind of get to heaven. I press. I press. I use my energy. Here's a fun fact. 80% of all those
people who join a gym will quit within five months. Usually we join
gyms what, January? That's right. That's the New
Year's resolution. That's sort of typical. I'm going to get in shape. I'm going to lose weight. I'm going to work out. And you join a gym. 80% of people who join the
gym will quit in five months. You want to know why? Because it's hard. That's why. That's just what
it comes down to. It's just tough to do
that day in and day out. Did you know that
according to Jesus Christ, a large percentage
of those people who claim to follow Jesus Christ
will also quit the gym? Jesus said in the Parable
of the Sower, Matthew 13, the seed fell on stony places. Represents those
who hear the word and immediately
receive it with joy, but he has no root in
himself but endures only for a little while. For when tribulation
or persecution arise because of the word,
immediately he stumbles. What happened? It's hard. That's what happens. It is difficult.
It is inconvenient. Which leads me to say this. Christianity is far more than
a decision to follow Christ. It must become a determination
to walk with Jesus, not just as Savior but as Lord. Agonizomai. Otherwise if you don't
plant that in your mind, like I'm going to
follow no matter what or no matter how easy
or how hard it is, you're going to
become a pew potato. That's the church equivalent
of a couch potato. You're here you're going to
become a viewer, not a doer. You're just going to watch
people run the race going, oh, I'm glad they're doing it. Christianity is not
a spectator sport. You've got to get on the track. Get in the arena. The Bible never says
lounge in the Spirit. Nowhere in the New
Testament does it say veg ye in the Spirit. Kick back in the Spirit. It says walk in the Spirit. Run the race that
is set before you looking onto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. I wonder what would happen
if we put as much dedication into our spiritual life as
we do into our golf game. If we put as much energy into
our walk with the Lord as we do fishing. Or you could name any hobby,
any activity that we do. I mean, let me ask you this. What would ever
motivate a guy like Paul the apostle, who was
an academic and could have had a pretty slouch life,
what would ever motivate him to travel long distances in
discomfort, go to cities, preach, get beat up,
get thrown in jail, then get up and do
it all over again? Why? For that matter, what would ever
motivates somebody like David Livingstone to go to medical
school, become a doctor, then hightail it to
Africa in the jungles under extreme conditions and
life-threatening conditions to serve the Lord? Or people like E. Stanley
Jones to do it in India. It's this idea,
no pain, no gain. Eyes on the prize. No pain, no gain. One of my favorite scenes and
one of my favorite movies, which is now an old movie,
1981, Chariots of Fire. Remember Chariots of Fire? So it's about Eric
Liddell who ran, but he had a buddy
named Harold Abrams. And there's a scene
in the movie where were Harold Abrams just
suffered his first defeat. He got beat in a race. And he was so mad at himself
and mad at his competitor for losing. So he goes over to the bleachers
and he sits in the bleachers. And he's just by himself. He's just pouting. His head's down. He's kicking the seats. And his girlfriend comes
over to him to encourage him. And he turns to her and
says in his Scottish brogue, if I can't win, I won't run. And she turns to him
and smiles and says, sweetheart, if you don't
run, you can't win. And that was enough
encouragement for him to sort of get it
in his head that he had to keep putting out the
energy and the agony to win. And he went on to win. Gold medal in the 1924 Olympics. Great story. So no pain, no gain. Eyes on the prize. No pain, no gain. Let me give you a third
motto that is a decision. Say no to say yes. Every athlete knows
that he has or she has to make some decisions
about their career and about their workout. And let me take you to
verse 25 to show you this. Everyone who competes for the
prize is, what's the next word? Temperate in all things. Now, that's simply a word
that means self control. He who competes, he who
agonizes as an athlete exercises self
control in all things. So athletic training
involves far more than just a passionate energy
to win eyes on the prize. It also includes rigid denial. The ability to say no. I mean, athletes are
incredibly disciplined. They've learned to say
no to staying up late. They've learned to say no
to sleeping in too long. They've learned to say no to
eating certain kind of foods. They've learned to say
no to hot fudge sundaes. Now, there's nothing wrong
with a hot fudge sundae. But if you want to
win the race, there's something wrong with
a hot fudge sundae. I suppose an Olympic athlete
on the day of the race would wake up and have a
half a gallon of ice cream, but it's dumb if you
want to win the race. So you learn to say no. There's nothing
wrong with good food. There's nothing
wrong with good fun unless it keeps
you from winning. So here's the principle. I've said it so many times,
but it's a good principle. A good thing becomes a
bad thing if it keeps you from the best thing. That's what an athlete learns. And this is what a lot of us do. Well, there's nothing
wrong with doing that. That's not the issue. It's not is it wrong
in and of itself. Is it wrong for me
now if I want to win? So a good thing
becomes a bad thing if it keeps you
from the best thing. Half our troubles, I think,
come from saying yes too quickly and no not soon enough. So we say no so
that we can say yes. Now I'm going to take
you down to verse 27, because this is sort of
part of that mentality. Paul writes, but I
discipline my body. Now, watch this. And I bring it into subjection. Literally I make
my body my slave. I tell my body what to do. My body doesn't
tell me what to do. I tell my body what to do. Most people are
slaves to their body. Let's just be frank. Most people are
slaves to their body. Their bodies tell
their minds what to do. Their body decides when to eat. Their body decides what to eat. Their body decides
how much to eat. Their body decides
when to go to sleep. Their body decides
when to wake up and when to sit
down, because it's been up since you got it up. Now it wants to sit down. Your body decides all that. Not an athlete. An athlete's mind tells
his or her body what to do. The body is not the master. The body is the slave. If an athlete says,
well, I've got to listen to my
body, not a good-- no, my body is going
to listen to me. So my body wants to rest,
but I'm going to make it run. My body wants to eat
ice cream, but I'm going to have a balanced meal. My body wants this, but I'm
going to make it do that. Now here's the question
I'm leading to. Are there things in your life,
is there anything in your life that you need to say no
to so that you can say yes to something else, someone else? What things are OK but
if you said no to them, you in a spiritual
sense could win? Are there certain activities? Are there certain
requests that you get? Are there certain hobbies. Nothing wrong with
any of those things. But maybe possibly it
could be that in making some of the
decisions you've made and saying yes to
so many things, you've spread yourself out so
thin your family is suffering, your walk with God is suffering. Could it be saying
no to spending money on certain items? Could it be saying no to
wasting time on social media? I know some people
that's all they do. They're glued to that
stupid little screen forever, all day long. Your phone will even tell
you how long you're on it. And you probably get
embarrassed every time it does. Really? Four hours? Could be saying no to certain
forms of entertainment. Look, this is just
setting boundaries. That's all. Setting spiritual boundaries. The Bible has a word for
this called self control. Good old word. Let's bring that one back. It's part of the
Fruit of the Spirit. Fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long suffering, self control. Saying no so that I can say yes. Wilbur Chapman, a spiritual
leader from yesteryear, wrote this. The rule that governs
my life is this. Anything that dims
my vision of Christ or takes away my taste for Bible
study or cramps my prayer life or makes Christian work
difficult is wrong for me, and I must as a Christian
turn away from it. Doesn't say it's wrong period. It's wrong for me. I'm saying no so that I
might learn to say yes. So we have three. Three models, three principles. Eyes on the prize, no pain,
no gain, say no to say yes. Let me give you a
fourth and final one. Play the long game. The long game. So the event that
Paul is speaking about when he talks about
running the race probably wasn't the 50 yard dash,
probably wasn't the 100 yard. Probably more like he's
thinking the marathon, the 26 point whatever mile run. The long haul. Since you're running your race
throughout your whole life. Now, I'm going to take
you down to verse 27, because he talks about running,
but then he quickly switches metaphors midstream. Watch this. Verse 26. Therefore I run. So he's still on the
track running the race. I run thus, not
with uncertainty. Stop there. Let me tell you what
he's talking about. To run aimlessly or
without certainty is to run not aligned
to the scopas. Remember I told you about
that square pillar that was at the end of the stadium? And don't worry. I'm not going to run up here
or anything and fall down. But if I'm in a stadium and way
at the other end of that 182 meter track is that
pillar, the athlete will always keep its eyes
on that square pillar so that he doesn't run aimlessly
or in the wrong direction. He's looking at
that while he runs. Paul says that's
how I live my life. I live it single
mindedly on a goal and I press toward the mark. I press toward. I'm at it. I run with certainty,
not aimlessly. But after the period,
now he changes settings from the runner to the boxer. Watch what he does. Thus I fight not as one
who beats the air, which means shadow boxing, but
I discipline my body, bring it into subjection. Lest when I preach to others, I
myself should be disqualified. The second analogy
after running is boxing. And did you know that boxing was
one of the major competitions in the Greek games,
both in the Olympics and in the Corinthian,
Isthmian Games? It was a violent sport
in ancient times. Boxers wore gloves,
leather gloves, that covered the forearm. So pretty long honkin' gloves. Covered the forearm. When it came to the
hand, the gloves stopped and the boxer would wrap the
knuckles in leather strips, but the fingers would
be totally exposed. Clenched into a fist. And usually a boxing
match resulted in great injury or death. Most boxers in the
Olympics left the arena with either broken teeth,
swollen ears, deviated septum, or sustained injuries
to the skull. You're thinking, what
person in their right mind would enter a
competition like that? Well, I never said that boxers
are in their right mind. I'm not saying
they're not either, but I never said they were. But only a boxer who's stepping
into the ring and believes he's going to win the match. That's what he comes with. By the way, in ancient
times, there were no rounds. Today we have 12 rounds
that are three minutes. In the Olympics, you won
when the guy's knocked out or gives up. They just kept fighting. And the only time they
would take a break is by mutual consent. Otherwise they would just
fight till it's over. It ain't over till it's over. Now, do you know that
Paul pictured himself not just as a runner,
but as a fighter? 2 Timothy chapter 4. I have fought the good fight. He wrote to Timothy and
said in 1 Timothy 6, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of eternal life. And let's be real. Paul bore the marks of a
fighter on his body, marks of persecution on his body. He was stoned at Lystra. He was beaten at Philippi. He was jailed in
Jerusalem and in Rome. He bore the marks as if he
was a boxer on his body. Now, I want to show you
two things, because there's two things he wants. Number one, Paul wants to strike
a decisive blow on the enemy. Verse 26. He says, thus I fight not
as one who beats the air. Now, that's shadowboxing. That's this. Dancing around. I'm not even good at this. You can tell I'm
not good at this. But he's boxing the air. He's kind of going
through his moves, but there's nobody there. That's what he means
by beat the air. I'm not a guy who wants to sit
around and dance and shadowbox. I want to make sure that I
strike a blow to my opponent. I want to hit hard. Now, he could be
referring to himself. Some scholars believe he's
saying this about himself, that I wrestle myself down and
I discipline myself so hard that I win my goal. Or he could be referring
to the common enemy of our souls, the devil. He could simply be
saying, you know what? I want to give the
devil a black eye. I want to strike
a decisive blow. I want to tick the devil off. I get so happy when I know
the devil is not happy. When we do freedom
celebration and I know that people
have come to Christ and there's people worshipping
Jesus with all their heart in the freedom of
the Spirit, I know that makes the devil so mad,
and it makes me so happy to go to bed at
night going he lost another one or
another few hundred or another few thousand. And just knowing that
he's mad makes me happy. Paul said, I want to
strike a decisive blow. Not as one who beats the air. The second thing
he wants here is to be able to stay in the fight. Stay on the race track
or stay in the ring. When he said, I
discipline my body, make it my slave, lest when
I have preached to others, I myself should
become disqualified. Now, in the ancient Olympics,
if you lose the race, I mentioned this before, you
get publicly scorned, publicly humiliated. But if you withdraw
from the race. Let's say you run a few feet and
then you say I'm pulling out, or you get disqualified from
the race, you get whipped. So Paul is saying, I'm
playing the long game. I'm thinking long term. I don't want to do
anything that'll take me off the race track. I don't want to do
anything that keeps me out of the boxing ring. I want to make sure
I am going to be effective for the glory of God
and make sure that I can serve Jesus Christ my whole life. I want to finish well. I want to finish strong. Back in 1968, the
Summer Olympics were held in Mexico City. It was 7 o'clock PM one
evening for the marathon event, 26 point whatever miles. All the contestants had
crossed the finish line. They had come into the arena. Suddenly the crowd noticed,
because they heard a siren, they noticed a vehicle
coming through, a siren, as the last runner
came staggering into the arena. He was wearing the colors
of Tanzania, his country. His name was John
Stephen Akhwari and he was the last contestant
in the 26 mile marathon. As he came into the arena,
the crowd stood on their feet and began to applaud the loser. The man in last place. And here's why. They noticed he had
been badly injured. They noticed he was
bloodied and bandaged. He had fallen in the race
early on, but he kept running. And though he came in last place
as he just sort of stumbled and staggered over
to the finish line, they cheered him like
he was the winner. Well, after it was all done,
somebody on the field said, why didn't you just drop out? You were injured so long
ago, but you got back up and continued to run. Why? And he said simply this. My country did not send me
7,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles
to finish the race. That's a winner. I finished the race. What are you willing to do? What are you willing to give
up to finish the race with joy, like Paul said? Only one life. It will soon be passed. Only what's done for
Christ will last. Father, may we run
for the glory of God. May we run with the attitude
of the apostle Paul, who said, I discipline my body. I do what I know should
be done, and I want to finish my race with joy. Lord, thank you for so many who
in this church over the years have run so well and have become
such great examples for us of what it is to run the
race, to fight the good fight, to keep the faith, and
now to look forward to a crown that
comes from your hand, a reward or rewards, plural,
for the service, the services, the gifts used, just being
faithful in whatever arena you place them in. Thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Hey, would you
stand to your feet? We're going to
close with a song. But speaking of
Chariots of Fire, the classic line is when
Eric Liddell decides to run and he said, and when I
run, I feel his pleasure. May you run that way. May you feel the Lord's pleasure
as you run the race that is set before you. Looking under Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith. We hope you enjoyed this special
service from Calvary Church. We'd love to know how
this message impacted you. Email us
mystory@calvarynm.church. And just a reminder, you can
support this ministry with a financial gift at
calvarynm.church/give. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from Calvary Church.
