1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

This is God’s Word!

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

They had a race the other day—the Fleet Empire State Building Run-Up. This was the 26^th annual race up the stairs of the Empire State Building. There are 86 floors—some 172 stairways—some 1,575 steps from the ground floor to the observation deck at the very top. Could you run in a race like that? There were 100 people in the race. They start them out in two groups of 50 each. I saw some news video tape—it starts out a recipe for a chain reaction crash—everybody pushing against everybody else—elbows everywhere—the corners sharp—the steps hard as concrete. It isn’t long—before the people start to spread out as it gets harder and harder and harder to lift your foot—your whole body up the next step. 1,575 steps! How long would it take you to go up that many steps? The winner this year is a guy named Paul Crake—from Australia. He’s 26 years old. He won last year and the year before that and the year before that and the year before that! He has won the last 5 years in a row! He set a record last year—1,575 steps in under 10 minutes! He did it in 9 minutes and 37 seconds. And this year he broke that record—by being 4 seconds faster still! Can you imagine that? Today God’s Word says we are all in a race—a race for eternal life. This is not a race where you win or earn or deserve Heaven. It is a race that Jesus already won for us. It is because Jesus took all our sins away that Jesus makes us strong—to make our way through life—always fixing our eyes on the ultimate goal of our faith—the forever rescue of our immortal souls. It is Jesus who gets all the glory. It is Jesus who makes us strong to:

Run For Your Eternal Life!

1. The training is strict

2. The race varies

3. The prize lasts forever

For 5 Sundays now—we have been working our way through Paul’s first letter to the believers in the Greek city of Corinth. Remember—Paul was writing to people who lived in the big city—the city of trade—buying and selling—import and export—investing and making money—lots and lots of money. Corinth was a place of pagan worship—the worship of gods like Zeus, Neptune at the bottom of the sea—Hermes with wings on his feet—Hades and the blinding choking smoke of the underworld—Aphrodite with every kind of sinful and lustful perverted pleasure indulged. Corinth was a city of art and architecture—sculptures and paintings—plays—dramas and comedies. Corinth was also a place for sports. The Greeks loved the Olympics. They loved the human body. They loved to watch athletic competitions—the discus and the javelin and the shot put—the broad jump and hurdles. What they really loved was a foot race—to run—to run faster and faster and farther and farther—to see who was the fastest. The apostle Paul made use of this illustration to talk about our faith life and our ultimate goal of Heaven.

Paul begins by talking about our training. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. There are three guys from Dublin, Ireland, who run in the race up the Empire State Building. They practice by running up the steps of the Liberty Hall building. The Liberty Hall building has only 16 stories—only 270 steps—so what they do—is run up those steps ten times. That's 2,700 steps—even more than the Empire State Building. They run up those steps three times a week—just about every other day they run up 2,700 steps. Can you imagine how strong their legs must be—their calves and their thighs and their ankles? Can you imagine how good their lungs must be—to run 2,700 steps every other day? I bet those guys do not eat Twinkies! I bet they eat oatmeal and apples and oranges and bananas. I bet they eat spinach and broccoli and Brussels sprouts and green beans and squash and eggplant and tomatoes. I bet they drink lots of water and take vitamins. I bet they are making difficult choices all the time—about where they are going to go—what they are going to eat and drink—when they are going to go to sleep and when they are going to get up. I bet they don’t smoke—and I bet they don’t drink many beers. I bet they are very careful not just day after day—but month after month and year after year—because they run in races like this all the time.

What we need to ask ourselves is—how strict is our training? How careful are we—not just about the food pyramid—and fruits and vegetables and fat and cholesterol and carbs. How careful are we about our spiritual training? How careful about training our heart and mind and soul? When it comes to self-discipline and self-control—how are we doing? Are we keeping the ten commandments? Could we recite the ten commandments—all ten of them? Do we remember the What does this mean part—or did we forget that soon after we were confirmed? Do we know the books of the Bible? Can we spell Habakkuk and Zephaniah, Haggai and Zechariah? Do we know the Green Bay Packers but not the names of the disciples? That wouldn’t seem right! The better we know God’s Word—the better the nourishment for our faith. The deeper our understanding of God’s will—the stronger our child like trust in Him!

Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. The Apostle Paul is talking about focus. Not going through life running aimlessly—just sort of jogging through one pointless day after another. Not just shadow boxing—kind of dancing around—kind of punching the air—a jab and a jab—a couple of punches and then a big upper cut. This is all much too serious for that. I was listening to educational radio the other day. They were talking about playing chess against a computer. Now I would have thought there is no way you could ever win against a computer—because the computer can calculate a zillion possibilities in an instant—so it would have considered so many possible moves—and all the possible consequences. But what I thought was the computer’s strength—one expert said was exactly it’s biggest weakness. A computer would be calculating and calculating all the possibilities—while the human being could say—these are the important possibilities—these are the main ideas—these are the essential consequences—this is the greatest priority. I will make these moves to accomplish this critical objective. And when you do that you win. They talked about people who play blindfolded chess. Maybe you have all heard of that—blindfolded chess. That’s when you don’t even look at the chessboard. Your chessboard is in your head—inside your mind. The person you are playing against simply tells you their move—and you have to picture it in your head. Then you tell them your move. Again—not a matter of physically moving a piece—taking your finger off of the piece when your move is complete. You just tell them you move. They have a board. They actually move pieces. You just keep it all in your head. How well would you have to concentrate—to play chess like that? Paul said, “I do not run like a man running aimlessly.” Concentrate! Pay attention! Read your Bible! Don’t dust it! Don’t lock it up in some beautiful bookcase with antique oak doors. Read your Bible! Instead of reading the TV Guide—read the scriptures. If we make time to watch hour after hour after hour of sports—rent an athlete—slam dunking for thousands and thousands of dollars—or hammering their way out of sand traps and over water traps—then make time to read your Bible! If we make time to watch hours and hours of rented videotapes—if we buy more and more DVD’s—then how can we tell Jesus we just didn’t have time to read our Bible? If we have time to make our homes nicer and nicer and nicer inside and out—we have time to make sure that our faith is not a house built on a foundation of sand—sure to collapse if a storm comes!

I don’t run like a man running aimlessly. Some people are sprinters. Their race is short—exceedingly short—and it’s all over. As I jog through the cemetery beside my home—there are very small grave stones—that have names chiseled on them and sometimes just one date—the day they were born—the same day they went home to Heaven. Some dates are only days or weeks or months apart. A short race and early rest. Some run a long race. That race up the Empire State Building? There was a man this year named Chicho—Chicho Scimone. Chicho was not one of the fastest finishers. It took Chicho 40 minutes to run 1, 575 steps—some 86 stories. It took Chicho 40 minutes—which is pretty good when you figure Chicho is 91 years old! One of the neatest things about this race up the Empire State Building is that fact that all along—especially near the top—especially near the end there are people in the stairways that encourage you. They offer you water to drink. They call out to you words of encouragement. Do you know how precious that is—when you are discouraged—tired—exhausted—thinking you can’t go on? Do you know how precious it is—to have someone tell you—you can do it? You will do it. You are doing it! Hang on! Be strong! Don’t stop! It’s just a little farther! Jesus is our strength. Jesus is our help. Jesus is our encouragement. And for Jesus’ sake we can encourage one another. Don’t run aimlessly. Fix your eyes on Jesus—the one who began your faith will make you strong to endure—strong to persevere! Jesus will not fail you!

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. A couple of weeks ago they played the Super Bowl. The people who played in the game and won—the coaches—the people who help the team in special ways—all got Super Bowl rings—about 125 people—get rings. Those rings cost as much as $6,000. Huge lumps of gold with all kinds of diamonds—each year they seem more and more gaudy—in a never-ending effort to outdo last year’s! That’s what it’s all about—they say—wearing that ring. Nobody can ever take this away from you—they said over and over and over again. Death can. Death will! You can keep that Super Bowl ring on your cold dead finger. The undertaker can lock your casket and seal the vault—and cover that with soil. But you didn’t really take that ring with you. It doesn’t matter. The Greeks—the original Olympics guys understood—I think—sometimes far better than we do. You see—when you won the race back then—they would give you a crown made of laurel—out of olive branches and olive leaves. It would only last for a little while. It would fade and dry up and wither and crumble. It didn’t last! Earthly glory—who won the Oscar—the Academy Award one or two or ten years ago—doesn’t matter. I was buying a DVD the day the nominations were announced—and the check out lady told me—how sad this one man wasn’t nominated. I said—what is really sad is the fact that actor is a Buddhist—doesn’t know who Jesus is. She said—we are all one! I told her—we are all sinners—that’s true. She said—sinners—because someone says we are? I said—Jesus says so—the Bible says so. She said there are only about 10,000 ways to interpret the Bible. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one—no one comes to the Father except through me!” How many ways can you explain that? Jesus is the only Way to Heaven. Jesus is the finish line. Jesus carries us—through this life—through this race—to the forever rest of Heaven. That crown of glory that Jesus won for us is all that matters. It’s the crown that will last forever! Amen!

To God alone all glory!