Sermon Tone Analysis

Disciplined to Finish

1 cor

Paul is stating when it all said and done he does not want to be a castaway.

Put aside - put on the shelf

He want to finish strong .....

He says the same thing as a praise in

2 tim 4.

Finished my course.

The reference is to finish ...

The Christian life is a disciplined life that cane be finished ....

Again the object of fear for Paul was that he would be put away as a castaway ....

This does not imply that you can loose your salvation but you may be put on the shelf

Dad that got so involved in business that church and family suffer

Mom that gets bitter and angry over her financial status

A teen that just does not have time to read the bible

Ladies and gentlemen the race requires discipline .

I Finishing Requires Endurance

Illustration - Charlotte Marathon

Illustration - Charlotte Marathon

Illustration - Charlotte Marathon

Relay - 3-5 miles their race

1/2 marathon - their race

Marathon - my race

Just outside the city of Corinth, on the Isthmian Plain, triennial Greek games were held.

These games were famous.

At the time of Paul’s writing they even overshadowed the Olympian games.

The Corinthians were proud of these games, the chief glory of their city.

Paul draws on this important athletic event for an illustration as to how we should live in view of the judgment seat cf Christ.

Well, if we are to take seriously the numerous warnings and exhortations that are presented in the New Testament, we had better consider the possibility that our endurance is not so certain.

Paul pictures a race.

The word he uses is stadion, denoting a stadium or a racetrack.

The stadium with which the Corinthians were familiar measured about 600 feet (Greek) or about an eighth of a Roman mile.

Traces of the great Corinthian stadium where the games were held are still discernible on the isthmus.

While our salvation is quite certain and totally secure, our success in our Christian lives and ministries is not.

In 9:24, Paul tells us to run the Christian race with the intent to win the prize at the end of the race.

In 9:24, Paul tells us to run the Christian race with the intent to win the prize at the end of the race.

“Run!” says Paul.

He urges the believer to get into the race, to try to win, to train to win.

Christianity is not a spectator sport—or, if it is, we are not the spectators; other eyes than ours are watching (); we are the contestants.

“Run!” he says.

We are all in the race, like it or not.

Paul sees not only a contest, he sees a crown: “Now they do it,” he says, “to obtain a corruptible crown” ().

In the context he uses two words.

The word prize is brabeion, which refers to the prize bestowed in connection with the games.

The word is akin to brabeus (an umpire) and to brabeuō (to decide, to arbitrate).

The crown is the stephanos, a chaplet made of perishable material such as wild olive, parsley, wild celery, or sometimes pine.

Greek athletes would go to great lengths to win such a crown.

We see the same thing even to this day, only now the Olympic Games are televised and watched by millions, and the prizes for outstanding and extraordinary feats of skill and endurance are medals.

Paul sees, too, a contrast: “But we [do it to obtain] an incorruptible [crown]” (9:25c).

His eye is on that coming day when the Lord will reward those who have been overcomers in the race down here.

A forgotten poet has captured the idea.

He says,[1]

Now whenever Paul uses this question he is confident that his readers already know the answer.

This passage is no exception.

Paul’s audience knows that in any race there can only be one winner.

[1] Phillips, J. (2009).

Exploring 1 Corinthians: An Expository Commentary ().

Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.

Fortunately, Paul uses plural verbs and the exhortation is not “you” singular but “you” plural.

Paul is saying, “You all run in such a way that you all may win.”

The prize is offered to each and every believer.

Unlike a foot race, we’re not competing against each other.

Every Christian can win the prize.

That’s good news because there will always be someone faster, stronger, or smarter than us.

But that’s okay, because you and I are running against opportunities God gives us, not what He gives other Christians.

We are competing against ourselves.

What does faithful running look like?

Who are those who run in such a way that they may win?

Christians who finish their lives still growing, still serving

Senior saints that persist in daily prayer until the Lord calls them home

Christians who finish their lives still growing, still servingSenior saints that persist in daily prayer until the Lord calls them homeHusbands and wives who stay faithful to each other “until death do us part”Young people who preserve their virginity until marriage, in spite of crushing peer pressurePastors who stay passionate about ministry until their last breathChurch members who weather the rougher patches and remain joyful, loving, and faithful

Christians who finish their lives still growing, still serving Senior saints that persist in daily prayer until the Lord calls them home Husbands and wives who stay faithful to each other “until death do us part” Young people who preserve their virginity until marriage, in spite of crushing peer pressure Pastors who stay passionate about ministry until their last breath Church members who weather the rougher patches and remain joyful, loving, and faithful

Husbands and wives who stay faithful to each other “until death do us part”

Young people who preserve their virginity until marriage, in spite of crushing peer pressure

Pastors who stay passionate about ministry until their last breath

Today, you may be thinking, “I’m not running well.

In fact, I’m barely in the race at all.

What should I do?”

Today, you may be thinking, “I’m not running well.

In fact, I’m barely in the race at all.

What should I do?”

Church members who weather the rougher patches and remain joyful, loving, and faithful

Today, you may be thinking, “I’m not running well.

In fact, I’m barely in the race at all.

What should I do?”

The running metaphor works like this: When a person believes in Jesus Christ he or she becomes a runner in the Christian race.

So if you are a Christian, whether you like it or not, you are a runner.

Paul finishes 9:24 with these words: “Run that ye may obtain.”

Paul issues a command, “Run!

Don’t walk.

Don’t stop.

Don’t sit down.

Run because you can win the prize!”

II Finishing Requires Training and Sacrifice

Understood properly, then, the prize that Paul is speaking of is a reward that may or may not accompany salvation.

The Christian’s prize is the honor and glory of eternal rewards.

It is the joy of hearing Jesus say, “Well done!” (, ) This is the amazing grace of God.

We receive salvation as a free gift and then the Lord blesses us on top of that with temporal and eternal rewards for faithfully serving Him.

What a God!

So what does faithful running look like?