The Grace of Self-Denial Pt. 6

Would you take your Bibles and
turn back once again to First Corinthians chapter nine. We’ve arrived at the end of this
very significant chapter. We arrive with a much different
perspective than that which we may have had when we first approached. Our unfamiliarity with the overall
flow of this epistle, our understanding of the context layered by years
of relatively light study of this chapter may have led us
to consider this chapter as an unrelated insertion into Paul’s
overall discussions in this letter. Even some of the commentators
saw it that way. But this is not a rabbit trail
by Paul, as we’ve seen. This is not a digression from
his overall argument. It’s a masterful spirit-inspired
testimony by a godly apostle showing that he had indeed already
modeled the exacting self-denial that he was now urging of his
Corinthian friends. It is very much a declaration
of his own integrity. He was a leader who exemplified
the rules and standards that he urged upon his disciples. Paul had rights, but they were
rights that he had already sacrificed before this church even realized
that he had done so. This is what Paul has set forth
in this chapter. And Paul had to address this
with the Corinthians. You remember this because they
critically doubted his sincerity, all the while greatly dishonoring
the Lord by their own behavior. Of the long list of reasons over
which the Corinthians were divided, matters of Christian liberty
were perhaps the most divisive among them. No matter which of
the opposite ends of the spectrum believers found themselves, they
were sinning, whether by maintaining a death grip on some liberty
or rigidly pressing their legalistic perspective. The bottom line
was that they were both putting issues before the practical love
of their brother in Christ. And this is why Paul exhorted
the stronger among them to join him in abstaining from meat altogether
if necessary. No earthly enjoyment could ever
eclipse the love of a brother. A Christian brother is of infinitely
great value. In the opening six verses, Paul
introduced the idea of his sacrifice. It was a consideration of self-denial
and there he outlined that he was free as an apostle. He was
not bound by differing even higher standards of behavior. He had a right to eat and drink.
He had a right to take along a believing wife. He had a right
to refrain from working a second secular job. And that made his
example of self-denial that much more significant. In the second
major section of this chapter, 7 through 14, Paul drives home
the point that the idea of self-denial must be balanced. David said
it this way, I will not sacrifice that which cost me nothing. For
Paul, after all, he was not obligated to do without food. He was not
obligated to do without the support of the churches to which he ministered. Paul’s sacrifices were real,
and they were costly. And these were sacrifices of
things which he had legitimate, legitimate rights, God-ordained
rights. Paul there presented In 7 through
14, three arguments, you remember them, the argument from livelihood,
where Paul uses the most basic argument for justifying his financial
support from the churches. He has to eat. He has to make
a living, just like the soldier, the vineyard owner, the shepherd,
the farmer, the thresher of grain. Everyone has to make a living.
Paul was no different. He had a right. His second argument
is argument from priorities. In verses 11 and 12, Paul basically
poses the question, what’s more important? Earthly things that
are here today and gone tomorrow or spiritual things that endure
throughout eternity? If we sowed spiritual things
in you, is it too much we reap material things from you? It’s
an argument by comparison as to what’s more significant. The
spiritual or the material? Which one is of more value? Paul
had sown spiritual things, the gospel and his teaching and baptizing
and encouraging and counseling. He taught them spiritual things.
For nearly two years, it was certainly reasonable that this
very well-to-do church should naturally want to participate
in Paul’s ongoing ministry efforts. Paul had a right to their support,
but he didn’t use this right. His third argument, the argument
from priesthood, the Jewish priests were allowed, even stipulated
by God himself, to partake of the leftover meat from the animal
sacrifices. And any Jew who heard this would
have had to acknowledge that truth immediately. God’s maintenance
of his priests was written into Jewish law. The priests were
supported completely through the offerings of the people. And then in the third major section,
which section we finished last Lord’s Day, Paul sets forth the
fact that he had already exemplified self-denial. He had used none
of the things which were at his disposal to use, namely the financial
support of his Gentile churches. His great goal was to preach
the gospel to them specifically without charge. As he explained
at the end of verse 18, so as not to make full use of his right
in the gospel. His one great goal was to win
those with whom he had opportunity, before whom he lived. Whether
they were Jews or heathen, those professing believers with weak
consciences, Paul had, for the sake of the gospel, become all
things to all men. Now, some of you may be sitting
here asking, and especially if you’ve been with me for the six
weeks leading up to this final portion of the chapter, why all this review again? Precisely for this reason. Why would Paul, having invested
now 23 verses of Holy Scripture on a subject so interrelated
to the subject first introduced in chapter 8, the idea of willingly
setting aside or right a privilege, an area of freedom, a Christian
liberty, Why, after all this, would Paul suddenly drop in in
verses 24 through 27 a completely unrelated motivational message
to be used primarily by Christian athletes down through the centuries? Not only as a motivator to strenuous
effort in their particular discipline, but also even as a motivator
to the successful pursuit of their Christian life. Why would
Paul do that? The truth is he doesn’t do that. That’s not the purpose of this
passage. That’s not what Paul does. This
section is not out of sync with the entire rest of the chapter.
It is the fitting capstone to this chapter. It is Paul’s plea. for the Corinthians to call out
for the grace of God that issues forth in their own personal self-denial. To be ready to do anything for
the Lord, to sacrifice anything, to be ready to relinquish anything
for the sake of the gospel. This is not a power message to
stir them in their push for salvation. This is an exhortation, together
with his sterling example in the matter, in the religious
prosecution of the Christian life toward others, and especially
as it pertains to the areas of freedom, Christian liberties. If you would, I want to read
verses 24 through 27 alone today for the sake of time. Chapter 9, 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? Everyone who competes in the
games exercises self-control in all things. They do it then
to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way
as not without aim, and I box in such a way as not beating
the air, but I discipline my body and I make it my slave,
so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not
be disqualified. Not only is the grace of self-denial
needed among God’s people, among our fellow believers, it is exceedingly
needful with those who do not know Christ. We must be in pursuit
of the grace of self-denial. Just like Paul with us, nothing
can be allowed to negatively affect our efforts with others,
but especially not our own preference issues. Those things must take
a subservient position to the gospel, to the God-ordained opportunity
for such. And so as we come to verses 24
through 27, we come really to the application of the grace
of self-denial. I would call it grace applied
if I had an independent title for this message. Here, the believer
is called to appropriate the grace of self-denial in their
life. In other words, to maintain a
winsome influence with others, whether with complete unbelievers or even with professing believers. And to accomplish his noble purpose
here, Paul issues forth a new illustration. A new metaphor,
one that was very familiar to the Greeks in general, but is
especially so to the Corinthians. They knew this because he’s speaking
of essentially the Olympics of their day. This is not a passage
that is meant to be used as the keynote passage for an FCA conference. This is a passage that’s for
the church. Paul takes them to images that would have been easy
for the Corinthians in their own minds, those stadiums filled
with people to a summer day brimming with activity of plentiful athletic
contests, the sights and sounds of one of the most popular events
of the day. The Isthmian games is what they
were called. Contests of running and jumping
and throwing and boxing. This is the image that Paul uses
to call the Corinthians to a selfless pursuit of their Christian life.
A gospel-oriented pursuit that would give them the surest means
of effectiveness for Christ in their own arena. True, no doubt
that they needed, first and foremost, an accurate understanding of
the gospel message, but they also needed to nurture a winsomeness
for their influence with others, whether believers or unbelievers.
And Paul urges this in four particulars in the verses before us. Grace
applied. First and foremost, as we appropriate
the grace of self-denial, if we’re going to have a winsome
influence, we must be, first of all, striving for victory. That’s what he says in verse
24. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but
only one receives the prize? Paul utilizes one of the most
frequently used literary devices that he ever uses in his discussion,
do you not know? It’s a gently but almost chiding
prompter of something that should have been known, but that seems
to have been forgotten. And in this case, Paul employs
a direct reminder to an event that occurred regularly in their
region, with which they all would have been familiar and from which
ought to have been observed and seized upon as a great life lesson. Those who run in a race all run,
but only one receives the prize. The Isthmian Games were held
every few years in Corinth. about eight miles to the southeast
of Corinth on the opposite coast of the narrow strip of land.
The word isthmus, a word that I personally never much cared
to pronounce when I was a kid, it just refers to a narrow strip
of land that connects two larger bodies of land and is surrounded
on either side by bodies of water. So these games were held in this
region and they were not just entertainment, such as so many
of our sporting events are in our day. They were more than
just an event. The competition was fierce. And
the culmination, rather the competition was the culmination of nearly
10 months of training for these athletes. It was here that heroes
were made, where their accomplishments were recognized and then remembered
for decades. One historian noted that to be
a victor was to be immortalized with such immortality as the
breath of man can give. People, whether athletes or spectators,
came from all over the world for these games. This was the
great national event, as big to them as our modern-day Super
Bowl Sunday or World Series or even our own Olympic Games. One historian described the almost
idolatrous esteem of the arena. Listen to this. It was not a
mere resort for public amusement, but an almost sacred edifice,
surrounded by the most solemn recollections of Greece, its
white marble seats rising like a temple in the grassy slope,
overlooking the blue waters of the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean
Sea. It must have been a fantastic
sight, this arena, And the prize that Paul mentions here was not
an Olympic medal, gold, silver, or bronze, but a mere woven garland
of pine or olive branches. But a simple crown like this
would have set a victorious athlete off to an almost mythical category
all his own. Paul’s point in bringing up these
games and specifically the reminder that all who run in a race all
run but only one receives the prize. It was born out of Paul’s
concern that the Corinthians had become careless. Careless
and casual about their life before others. Perhaps even that they
were indifferent. about it, or worse, even lazy
about how their actions and habits might be perceived by others.
Some of them were even greatly disengaged completely from the
living, breathing, day-to-day life of the local church. By mentioning that only one wins
the prize, let’s be clear, We have to be careful here of avoiding
the idea of works righteousness. As if only one true Christian
is going to win the prize of salvation. That’s not the case
at all. The very idea is ludicrous. Nor are we in competition against
one another, I’m happy to tell you. Paul only looks at the arena
as a metaphor, and he concludes that just as an athlete runs
to win a blue ribbon, or in this case, a crown. So also the Christian is to run.
Each of us are to run. The Corinthians were to run to
win. To run as if there were to be
only one winner. What athlete would discipline
themselves so greatly for 10 months only to enter into the
race with a casual indifference. Nobody would do that. To employ
Paul’s metaphor, some of the Corinthians weren’t even in the
race, just as it is in our own day.
Or if they were in the race, they were at best jogging, dogging
it around the track, as if it were some mundane, unimportant
means of recreating, certainly not an actual race, just as it is in our day. And
even if it were a race, they weren’t in it to win it, just
as it is in our day. Paul says, run in such a way
that you may win. Paul’s certainly drawing back
on a word that he had used plentifully in the previous section, remember?
Win. Paul had made himself a slave
to all so that he may win more, verse 19. He became a Jew so
that he might win the Jews, verse 20. He became those as those
without the law, the Gentiles themselves, that he might win those who are
without the law. And then in verse 22 became weak
that he might win the weak. Truly Paul had become all things
to all men so that he might by all means save some. He wanted
to win. He was in it to win it. He was
in it to win souls. Did the Corinthians? Did they
even enter the race? Were they in it to win it? Were they willing to run so as
to win? And even more importantly, what
about us? What about you? Are you in it
to win it? Are you running to win? Is that your sole reason for
being in the Christian race? Are we so concerned sometimes
about our rights and our privileges that we squander God-given opportunities
and responsibilities just for the sake of holding on to some
liberty? This is to meander around the
track of life. Not really in it to win it. This
is to miss the jump at the sound of the starter’s pistol. This
is to jog if we’re even running at all. around the track of life
which Paul uses to point to occasions for the gospel. He doesn’t want
these believers to miss or to squander any one of those providentially
supplied opportunities by holding too tightly to some darling freedom. I told you there were four elements
to this, to enjoy a winsome influence, we must be striving for victory,
verse 24. We must be disciplined for reward,
verse 25. Everyone who competes in the
games exercises self-control in all things. Paul takes us
to another familiar element of the games, that of the training
room. The gym, the track, the arena,
the ring, depending on the sport, whatever the sport, the athlete
was engaged, he or she had to train. It wouldn’t just happen. It wouldn’t
just come to them. They had to train. And so Paul
says here in verse 25, that everyone who competes in the games exercises
self-control. It’s a given. The athlete works
hard. They train hard. They eat and
drink things that most people would never touch. protein shakes
and such, and they avoid such things on which most people indulge
themselves, right? Ice cream, sugar, fatty foods, and all the rest. Now I’m in everybody’s kitchen
with this simple mention of self-control, right? The truth is we exert
self-control in very few areas of our life, don’t we? We do what we want. We eat what
we want. We drink what we want. We get
up when we want. We exert our energy, or not,
on what we want. Typically, we average humans
are not known as those who exercise a whole lot of self-control.
I’m sorry, but that’s just the truth, isn’t it? Self-control
is practically a dirty word in our society. Think of the calories that we
consume. Think of the time that we waste.
Think of the vices in which we indulge. Think of the conversations
in which we engage, the guilty pleasures we enjoy, the opportunities
we squander, the money we waste, the excesses we devour, any of
it. all of it. Such is the case with
us. Such was the case with the Corinthians.
And so Paul reminds them, everyone who competes in the games exercises
self-control in all things. And by doing so, Paul points
out the fact that they are not just in the city where the games
are being held. They’re not just in the stadium
where the athletes are gathering. They’re in the race. They’re
not signed up to compete. They have a number on their back.
Others are already warming up. They’re already stretching, running
in place. They’re taking their last sip
of water before they compete. They’re focusing their mind on
the task at hand, vigorous competition. Why would an athlete do all that? And more directly still, why
should a Christian exercise self-control? Paul addresses that in the remainder
of verse 25. Glance at it, would you? What
motivates the athlete? What motivates the Christian?
They, that is the athletes, do it to receive a perishable wreath. What irony, right? They do it
to receive a perishable wreath, but we, that is believers, do
it to receive an imperishable wreath. The Greek athlete was
in an all out pursuit for a simple wreath that was woven out of
olive branches, maybe pine, and the fame that came with it. Nothing
more. The pine wreath and the fleeting
fame would would soon fade away. And the once popular athlete
would soon descend into anonymity, forgotten completely. The Christian,
however, was in pursuit of a much more durable prize. The Christian
has different goals in front of him or her in the midst of
their pursuit. The New Testament speaks plentifully
of a Christian’s crown. Paul mentions the crown of righteousness,
2 Timothy 4.8. James speaks of the crown of
life in 1.12. Peter in his first epistle of
the unfading crown of glory in 5.4. These are all symbolically
mentioned as the believers blessing in heaven. We know why we’re running. Our
goals are different than the mere athlete’s goals. Our goal
is to serve and glorify our Savior, not just chase after a withering
crown of leaves. Paul’s whole point here is that
if an athlete will starve and discipline and labor and sacrifice
and exercise self-control for a pine crown, What should a Christian be willing
to endure? What about us? What about you? Are you in it to win it? Are
you ready for the competition? Are you prepared and ready to
compete? According to Paul’s metaphor
here, given the context, this would mean a deep self-examination
that seeks to discover any impediment to our relationship with others.
believer or unbeliever? Are there bad habits that we
can overcome by God’s grace? We should. Are there sinful indulgences
that crowd out opportunities with others? Are there points
of irritation in the way we conduct ourselves, liberties that we
flaunt unnecessarily, elements of our personality that grate
on others? Those should be repented of because
they stand in the way of the prize. If we’re to enjoy a winsome influence
in this life, we must appropriate the grace of God, not only in
striving for victory and discipline for reward, but thirdly, we must
be aiming for results. We must be aiming for results.
Look at verse 26. Therefore I run in such a way
as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating
the air. For Paul, it wasn’t enough just
to have a number on his back. It wasn’t enough just to be called
out of the stands, down into the field of competition, It
wasn’t enough for him to break out in a jog and aimlessly trot
around the infield. It wasn’t enough. Most finish lines in a foot race
are in clear view, aren’t they? Brightly colored tape across
the finish line, perhaps a great banner over it, balloons, Not
to mention a great crowd of spectators crowded into that section to
see the finish of the race. But I was reading about a phenomenon
this past week about long-distance runners who lose their way. It’s happened many times apparently
and it happened again last year in a race in the Quad Cities
on the Illinois-Iowa border The two leaders were way out in front
of the rest of the field. But they lost their way. They
took a wrong turn. They went off course. And the
runner in third just kept going. And he covered the course as
it was laid out and ended up winning. Paul says it this way. Run, I run in such a way as not
without aim. I know what the end goal is.
I know what I’m doing. I know why I’m doing it. He makes
it very personal here in the remainder of this passage, verses
26 and 27. And he does so by using the first
person singular, I. Look, if you will, I run in such
a way, I box in such a way, I discipline my body. Paul was intentional.
And I would suggest that most people just are not. They’re not intentional. They
become a Christian and they just begin this long meandering path
towards heaven. Most of us just kind of take
life and relationships as they come. We don’t think or prepare.
We don’t have any particular goal in mind with our interaction
with others. Just whatever happens, happens. Not Paul. Paul was intentional. He wanted every interaction with
every person to count for eternity. He wanted to make an impact,
either for the opportunity to simply share the gospel, or for
the greater opportunity to direct someone to the Savior in prayer,
or for one who is an existing believer to take them just one
step farther in sanctification, in the role of discipleship.
Paul was intentional. And regardless of where he found
an individual, he wanted to impact their life for Christ. He could see the finish line. He knew why he was running. He
had a set and specific course. He wasn’t just out for a jog
in the neighborhood. He was on track in a stadium
in the greatest race ever conducted. He was a Christian and he had
an opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to make a difference
for him and to impact and influence others for the sake of his savior.
He had a goal, he had an aim. He says it again with a slightly
different but much more graphic terms there in verse 26. Glance
at it. I box in such a way as not beating
the air. Now he mentions a second sport
of the games, very popular if not violent sport, that of boxing. Paul is neither condoning boxing
or violence, he’s just literally speaking of the sport metaphorically. And he again is using this metaphor
which every Christian would have recognized in Corinth. the brutal
sport of boxing, and employing that metaphor, he says, I box
in such a way as not beating the air. This is such a clear
and simple illustration. Paul basically says here that
he lands his blows. When he steps in the ring, he
knows where he’s aiming. He lands his punches. His punches
count, he’s not shadow boxing, he’s not fighting an invisible
opponent, nor is he swinging and missing wildly. He’s scoring
points with each punch. He’s striking his intended target
with each blow. He’s clobbering his opponent,
like a fighter whose opponent is flailing, nearly senseless,
still on his feet, but no longer even able to fight. Paul’s winning. As for the Corinthians, they
were as so many beginners, if they’re even in the ring at all,
they had their eyes closed and were simply flailing away blindly. Such a boxer would have been
a laughing stock in the arena. But in the Christian realm, such
a sight is not humorous. It’s dreadfully sad. Not only the Corinthians, but
most believers are like that. Throwing punches, going through
the motions, but they’re flat-footed, landing no punches, scoring no
points toward victory, beating the air. They have no
aim. They land no blows. They make
no impact in the world whatsoever. It’s sad. What about you? What do you want to do? Do you
want a shadow box? Or do you want to land a punch
by impacting the world? It’s not enough to be in the
arena. Every Christian is that. Not enough to enter the contest.
Many do that as well. But again, exercising Paul’s
illustration here, we want to win our race. by keeping the
goal ever before us. We want to win the boxing match
by landing the punches that we throw. We want to intentionally
impact other people with the message of the gospel, with the
discipleship in God’s Word, with deep, interactive, meaningful
Christian friendships. There’s a fourth element to this. If we’re going to appropriate
the grace of God for self-denial in order to enjoy a winsome influence
in this world, we must not only be striving for victory, disciplined
for reward, and aiming for results, but we must be trained to finish. To finish. Look at verse 27. But I discipline my body and
I make it my slave. so that after I have preached
to others, I myself will not be disqualified. Not unlike Paul’s
second point that in order to enjoy a winsome influence, we
must be disciplined for reward. Here he says we must be trained
to finish. It’s not enough as we’ve seen
just to compete, just to come down out of the stands and sign
up for an event, a sport, or even to go through specific motions
of a sport. It’s not enough. We need to train
vigorously, harder if possible, than our opponents so that we
might finish the race. We might complete the event.
When Paul says here that he disciplines his body, it literally means
that he wearies himself. Jesus used this word to tell
about a widow. You might remember it in Luke
18. A widow who is seeking legal protection, remember? And initially
she went to the judge and did not receive what she needed from
the judge, this legal protection, but she kept at it. And she kept
at it. And eventually she wearied the
judge into granting her her request. He wearied her. Pardon me, she
wearied him. What we need is not, just not
the right team, the right mascot, the right colors, the right coach
and such. What we need is what Paul points
to here in verse 27. We need discipline. Bone-wearying
discipline. Paul says that I discipline my
body. This is the third time that he’s
mentioned himself as an example in this section. And by discipline,
Paul points to the metaphor again of the athlete in training. Not
sitting around eating milk and cookies, or pizza, or sleeping
till noon, or skipping workouts. No, Paul was like a good athlete
who made his great calling to make every effort to subdue his
fleshly desires, or as he says here, to make his body his slave. Many people are living illustrations
of what Peter cautions in 2 Peter 2.19. By what a man is overcome,
by this he is enslaved. They’re enslaved to some vice,
some little delight, some liberty or another. not Paul. Paul was in charge of his body.
Paul was in charge of his appetites, his calendar, his time. And this,
as you may recall, is the second time in this chapter that he’s
used this word slave. The first of himself in verse
19, he said that he had made himself a slave to all, and he
did so partly by making his body his slave. By disciplining himself
so that his body, with all its appetites, all its wants and
desires, knew just who was in charge. And Paul had a purpose
even in this. Glance at the very end of verse
27. Why so rigorous a discipline, Paul? Why make your body a slave? so that after I have preached
to others, I myself will not be disqualified. That’s alarming
to our ears, isn’t it? You mean to say that after a
lifetime of preaching, justification by faith, faith alone and the
finished work of Christ alone, that at the very end of Paul’s
life, he could possibly lose his salvation because he didn’t
have enough discipline? Is that right? No, not at all. Paul is still deep into his metaphor. And just as in the Christian
life, there is not one, but many victors. So also there are some
in the midst of the race who run outside of the lines or forget
to check in at the starter’s table or bump an opponent There are many things in athletics
that can disqualify a person from competing at a particular
meet or match. That doesn’t mean at all that
Paul could be disqualified from Christ himself. After all, it
was Paul himself who penned arguably the greatest sentence in all
of scripture. Romans 8.1. There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Paul
or any other true believer could not be disqualified from the
race of Christianity. But Paul points to here once
again, in keeping with his illustration, to an effectiveness in his influence
and impact upon others. To squander that to Paul would
be tragic. To disqualify himself from particular
interactions with people would be tragic. It would be to miss
the great goal of winning souls. We have to appropriate the grace
of self-denial. God gives us the grace, but only
when we put it to use. If we’re going to have a winsome
influence in this fallen world, we have to strive for victory.
We have to be disciplined for reward. We have to aim for results,
and we have to be trained to finish. Would you humble yourself
before the throne of God?