Sermon Tone Analysis

Stand for the reading of our passage this morning.

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (ESV) Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?

So run that you may obtain it.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Pray.

Introduction

The Olympic Games in Ancient Greece.

[1]

The Olympic Games as we know them today have a long his­tory which goes back to ancient times.

Everything started in the Peloponnese, in Greece, some 3,000 years ago.

Sports competitions were organized at Olympia and were named after their location, hence their name of Olympic Games.

Nobody knows exactly when they began, but the first writ­ten mention of the competitions is dated to 776 BC.

These Games were held at the same place every four years.

This four-year period acquired the name Olympiad, and was used as a date system . . .

On the occasion of the four Panhellenic Games, a sacred truce was proclaimed.

Messengers went from city to city announcing the date of the competitions.

They called for all wars to be halted before, during and after the Games in order to enable the athletes, as well as the spectators, to travel to and from the Games sites in total safety.

A climate of peace was considered important during the period of competition.

For the Olympic Games, a city selected the best athletes from its gymnasium.

The athletes chosen still had to train hard for several months.

Once the sacred truce had been proclaimed and the date of the Games announced, the athletes and their train­ers left for Olympia.

The journey could be long and difficult.

When they arrived in Elis, near Olympia, the athletes trained for one month at the city’s gymnasium, the last stage of qualifying for the Games.

Those who were finally selected went to Olympia and took an oath, as did the judges.

They promised to take part in the competitions in an honourable way, abiding by the rules.

PAUSANIUS: Beside this image it is the custom for athletes, their fathers and their brothers, as well as their trainers, to swear an oath upon slices of boar’s flesh that in nothing will they sin against the Olympic games.

The athletes take this further oath also, that for ten successive months they have strictly followed the regulations for training.[2]

At the modern Olympic Games, the first, second and third — placed athletes are rewarded, respectively, by gold, silver and bronze medals.

At the Panhellenic Games, there was only one winner whose prize was a wreath or crown of leaves. . . .

The glory of the victorious athlete brought reflected glory to all the inhabitants of his home town.

When he returned from the Games, he was given a hero’s welcome and received numerous benefits for the rest of his life.

To show that he had become famous, the victor had the right to have a statue of himself erected.

He could also ask a poet to write verses telling of his feats.

Because they were proud of him, his fellow citizens sometimes made coins with his effigy on them, so as not to forget him and to make him known throughout the Greek world.

The prizes awarded in local competitions had a greater material value. . . .

In spite of this, the prestige of the Panhellenic Games remained unequalled.

The modest crown of leaves was the highest possible reward in the Greek world, as it guaranteed its holder honour and respect from everyone.

The modern Olympian.

The modern Olympian is not all that different than the ancient.

There is a consistency in Olympian, ancient or modern.

They all are singular in their focus on a particular prize.

The gold medal may not be incredibly valuable, but a whole lot more goes along with that gold medal – prestige, honor, adulation, etc.

This singular focus is seen in the sacrifice of their time and money.

Consider Michael Phelps training schedule.

He averaged about six hours of swimming per day, six days a week.

He also lifted weights for about an hour three days a week.

What is your singular focus in life?

Isn’t true how so many things invade our lives and seem to consume our time, energy, and emotions?

Some of these things may be sinful habits, but many of them may be perfectly acceptable activities that simply consume too much of us.

Paul’s going to exhort us through this passage in 1 Corinthians 9 to . . .

Purpose Statement: Run the Christian life with purpose, discipline, and self-control, motivated by an eternal reward.[3]

This morning I would like to address this purpose by answering two questions?

What is the goal?

And, how do we get there?

What is the goal?

Explain why we run.

To receive the eternal reward

The context is quite clear as to what the reward is in this race.

If we look back just a few verses, what do we find that Paul wants to be a fellow partaker of?

1 Corinthians 9:22–23 (ESV) 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.

I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

We looked at this last week.

Paul wanted to win some to eternal life.

He wanted to save some from God’s wrath and eternal destruction, and he wanted to be a fellow partaker in eternal life.

It is that eternal life that is the reward in these four verses.

This is further reiterated by Peter.

1 Peter 5:1–4 (ESV) 1 So I exhort the elders among you . . .

as . . .

a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. . . . 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

A corruptible crown Στεφανος [Stephanos] (crown) is from στεφω [stephō], to put around the head, like the Latin corona, wreath or garland, badge of victory in the games.

In the Isthmian games it was of pine leaves, earlier of parsley, in the Olympian games of the wild olive.

“Yet these were the most coveted honours in the whole Greek world” (Findlay). . . .

Favourite metaphor in N. T., the crown of righteousness (2 Tim.

4:8), the crown of life (James 1:12), the crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4), the crown of rejoicing (1 Thess.

2:9), description of the Philippians (4:1).[4]

An imperishable reward.

Paul compares the imperishable reward of a wreath and temporary glory to the imperishable reward granted to those who run the race of faith.

1 Peter 1:3–5 (ESV) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

To not be disqualified

As we consider the Olympics, ancient or modern, there are many ways that a participant could be disqualified.

They could be disqualified prior to the race itself.

They could be disqualified due to certain actions during the race.

Remember Pausanius?

“The athletes take this further oath also, that for ten successive months they have strictly followed the regulations for training.”[5]

Paul desires for us to consider the fact that we could as well find ourselves disqualified.

The statement, “lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified,” can be a bit startling and maybe even make us a bit nervous.

Is Paul insinuating that if he doesn’t remain faithful in the Christian life he will somehow lose his salvation?

Is he implying that our eternal salvation is somehow dependent on our own hard work and running?

Some have softened the severity of this word disqualified and assume that it refers to Paul’s being disqualified from ministry if he hadn’t run in a certain manner.

While that certainly can happen, that is not what the word is indicating in this context.

It is clear that the reward is eternal life, and to be disqualified seems to point to a loss of eternal life.

So then, does that mean you can lose your salvation?

Absolutely not.

The point of the passage is not to offer a theological treatise on eternal security.

Instead it is intended to push and motivate Christians to not live the Christian life in a haphazard manner.

John Piper says it well.