1 Corinthians 9:24 Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain. In a race generally there are multitudes to compete, but out of those multitudes bow few win! The same fact in the Christian race can be accounted for on two grounds: — I. THE LACK OF EARNESTNESS. Consider this in — 1. Its sources. (1) Lack of knowledge, or confusion of thought. Because of such passages as Romans 6:23; Titus 3:5-7; John 3:16, &c., some do not see what there is for the believer to strive after. As though merely being a child were enough; as though it were not possible for a father to give his children special marks of his love. "How pleased father will be when he sees how much we have done." Are not children, when speaking in this way, really labouring for just the kind of prize held out here? the expressed approbation (Matthew 25:21) of the "righteous judge" (2 Timothy 4:8). (2) Lack of appreciation. All. who see the nature of this gracious reward do not also see its great value. Besides, how dim and distant! Like Esau's despised birthright, how intangible the whole promise! 2. In its results. Those who have never succeeded in grasping this prize with their hearts, naturally never do so with their hands. Such halfhearted competitors have lost the race even before they begin. Never starting, how are they to arrive? In such an undertaking as this, would it not be more than a miracle if they did? II. LACK OF SUITABLE TRAINING. Consider — 1. What "training" Signifies. Living by rule. To be "temperate" (ver. 25) is to rule oneself. It is to "keep under" the body, &c. (ver. 27). It is to deny ourselves everything that would in any way impede us in running our race (Hebrews 12:1). Hence we see — 2. What the lack of it does. It secures failure. (1) On account of the greatness of the enterprise. What we are striving for is nothing less than the "mastery." In such an enterprise, if we do not rule our desires, our desires will rule us — and ruin us too. In such a work we not only need no self-inflicted hindrance, we need all the help we can get. (2) On account of the insufficiency of our strength. Even those who are strong, if "out of condition," are unequal to their task. Much more we, who are weak.Conclusion: To stir us up, consider in the case of failure — 1. How much is lost. How can we hope that we are true Christians if we do not even "study to show ourselves approved unto God"? There are those who have just enough religion to make them miserable. 2. How little is gained, viz., too little to be described. The man who misses the approbation of Christ obtains no other in its stead, not even his own. How many centuries have passed since the question of Matthew 16:26 was first asked? How much nearer are we, even now, to finding a reply? (W. S. Lewis, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. |
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