Lord, thank you for this opportunity to meet
here.
Please be in our midst.
Speak to us through your holy word.
Touch our hearts and work.
May a great work take place that many
may be helped.
Amen.
We'll read from 1 Corinthians chapter 9.
And it will be from verse 24 to
27.
Do you not know that those who run
in a race all run, but one receives
the prize?
Run in such a way that you may
obtain it.
Now everyone who competes for the prize is
temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a perishable
crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
Therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty.
Thus I fight, not as one who beats
the air.
But I discipline my body and bring it
into subjection, lest, when I have preached to
others, I myself should become disqualified.
I was very blessed
this morning when I considered this portion.
The Bible is a book with such great
wealth in it.
We who have God's word sit upon a
huge treasure.
We should be filled every day, filled to
overflowing.
One can never get to the end of
these riches, and we can take so much
from it.
There are so many treasures in here.
Every Christian should read the Bible every day.
And if you have the strength, read it
on your knees.
And allow the Lord to reveal His mysteries
and secrets which are found in His word.
And if we fill our lives in such
a way with God's word, that it's filled
to the brim with God's word, then the
world and the devil wouldn't find place in
our lives because it would be full of
God's word.
And the only reason why the devil gets
into us is because we are empty tins.
If you take a bottle that's filled to
the brim, you can put it anywhere and
even into water.
None of that water will penetrate that bottle
because it's filled to the brim.
But if you put an empty bottle into
water, you can hear it absorbing all the
water, filling itself up with that water.
Or if we take just timber, wood.
If you take one that is saturated with
moisture and with water, you can put it
into more water.
It doesn't absorb any more water because it's
saturated.
Now in verse 24 here it says, Do
you not know?
Do you not know?
It's a great pity when people are filled
with ignorance where they don't know.
I thought of some Christians or many Christians
that become Christians and for a week they're
on fire for the Lord or maybe for
a month.
But after a while, it just fizzles out.
Nothing is left of their spiritual life.
And I wondered what causes it that people
are so useless as Christians.
You know why?
It's because they are so foolish.
It's because they're ignorant.
They don't know.
And that's why they're swept away by every
tide that comes.
Paul here writes to the Corinthians.
Now he had founded this church in Corinth
but he was no longer there at this
time.
Corinth was a big wealthy city and very
famous.
It was a glittering city and it was
a city that attracted people from all over
the world.
And Paul got there, he preached the gospel
and the church mushroomed there.
It's amazing because if one thinks of city
life, you
could take a child that grew up here,
went to school here at Domino's Savita for
10 or 12 years, but they just need
to go to the city, maybe Durban or
Joburg for one day and they will be
swept away by the current there.
Or a child that grows up in a
Christian home.
Christian parents taught the Christian way, the Lord's
ways.
And after years of being in that home,
the child leaves and in no time it's
swallowed by the world.
And you just hold your head and you
say, but doesn't that child know any better?
How can such a thing be possible?
Corinth was a big city in Greece.
So here
we
find this Greek city, this big city full
of the glory of this world with everything
that it offers.
And of course with all the evil that
happens in a city too.
The Samaritan woman, that whole city was brought
to the Lord in an hour.
And so it was with Paul when he
got there, the church, the congregation, it just
mushroomed and blossomed.
And then Paul moved on to other places
to found churches there.
But as a wise servant of the Lord,
involved in the Lord's work, he didn't, even
when he was traveling, he didn't forget those
Christians in Corinth.
And he wrote to them regularly.
And he would get reports from people that
would come to him and tell him, report
to him what was happening in Corinth.
And then he'd write to them.
And he'd teach them, instruct them, and even
reprimand them.
Correct them and discipline them through God's word.
But also comforting them according to their need.
So he also wrote this letter and also
this text which we read.
He was encouraging them to be faithful to
the Lord.
To fight the good fight of faith, to
stand firm and be steadfast, immovable.
Not that they move forward a few steps
and then move back a few again, up
and down, backwards and forwards, but that they
should be steadfast.
That they should be men of faith, standing
firm.
And Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, also
said that even though we can be very
active and very involved, but if we don't
play according to the rules, then we can
do all these things but be disqualified at
the end.
We won't get and receive a crown.
And that you who are lukewarm Christians, you
who change according to the times and the
situation, that you're like a chameleon.
When you're on a green leaf, you turn
green.
When you're on a red one, you turn
red.
It's for you that you should find help.
And as he's instructing and teaching them, we
can find help as well, that as Christians
we can become steadfast, upright, and that we
stick to our guns.
That anyone who meets us, even if it's
after 10 years, that they'll find us faithful
in that which God has put us.
And so he used an illustration, something which
was familiar to them, which happened often there
in Corinth.
Corinth was a city where all of Greece
met once in three years.
Outside of the city there was a huge
plain, a huge ground, sports field or field.
So every three years they'd have a huge
sports meeting there.
And so they'd all meet there.
Everyone was represented, old and young, male, female,
children, all ages.
And they'd meet there, sometimes hundreds of thousands
would meet there.
So many would come to take part and
many would come as spectators to watch these
people taking part.
And they would start with the running events.
And there were different events, long distance, short
distance, the sprint events, and you're familiar with
athletics meetings where you have field and track
events.
Now, these games didn't just take place over
one day, it would go over a number
of days.
They even had chariot races and it was
all about taking part to see who would
win the race.
And there were the archers, all those events.
They would see who would be able to
hit the bull's eye.
They also had wrestling events, a huge battle
to see who would win and who would
be the loser.
Others had their different pieces of equipment like
shields and they would fight.
It was a fight between life and death.
And at
the
end of the games, there would be a
huge prize giving and only those who won
the events got the prize.
Now, they would receive a wreath that perishes,
that just withers.
There was a certain tree which they would
use the branches or the leaves and the
twigs and they would weave a wreath out
of that and that's what the winner would
receive.
If you really think of it, that wreath
was really worth nothing, something that just withered
away, after a short while there would be
nothing left of it.
But for them it meant a lot because
they knew nothing better than that.
When they got this perishable wreath, it was
a huge honor for them.
Sometimes the emotions ran so high that if
a child, a son received a prize, that
the father sometimes died of a heart attack
on the spot because he got so excited
about this honor bestowed upon his son.
And then that athlete would go back home,
it was like a victory procession.
He was greatly honored in his hometown.
Well to this day you still get these
games.
Today we know them as the Olympic Games.
These games aren't just held in Greece, but
over the whole world in different places.
Just like recently with the World Cup, the
soccer World Cup, the Italians won it and
they say when they got home it was
about midnight when they arrived in Italy, but
they got a heroes welcome there, taken in
a bus to the leaders palace.
So they were greatly honored and of course
the whole country was celebrating like they celebrate
there.
They were drinking until the early hours of
the morning, there was a lot of noise
around.
So they were received to be honored and
to receive their reward.
The whole nation rejoiced.
And of course no one regretted being there
at this great occasion.
And of course to take part in these
games is not an overnight thing.
You don't just decide one day you're going
to be there the next day, it takes
many years to
prepare for it.
So it was also in Greece where these
games people would chastise themselves, they would work
hard over many years forfeiting many luxuries just
because they one day wanted to take part
in that event.
So God's word says, and
everyone who competes for the prize is temperate
in all things.
They exercise self-control and also their own
body they control strictly.
And over
a
long period of time they practice, they go
through a rigid training exercise.
While you are fast asleep, they are busy
training for that great day.
Even when it gets to eating, they exercise
self-control.
They don't just eat anything, they sacrifice much.
They say, I can't eat this, I just
put on extra weight and I can't afford
that.
So they do all that for that great
day.
People are even prepared to leave home, they
go away, they go through that training program
and it's tough, very difficult, but they are
prepared to do it.
Because they say after three years or maybe
even after six years, I want to take
part there.
And while others go and party, they say,
I cannot go there and booze and smoke
and get involved in drugs.
They say no to those things and they
do all that for a perishable crown.
And they're not ashamed to do it.
Not like many Christians who are ashamed to
stand for what they believe.
But they do it for that perishable crown,
knowing that maybe they'll win the race this
year.
But after three years, someone else breaks that
record and what you've achieved is forgotten.
I wish you all understood German, that I
could speak to you in German.
Don't those heathen Greeks put us Christians who
are so slick in our Christianity, don't they
put us to shame?
They do it for a perishable crown, but
we are doing it for an imperishable crown
in heaven.
They do it for a glory that is
just temporary, it's passing.
We do it for that glory which is
eternal, which is forever.
But they put us to shame.
I don't know why we Christians are so
slick.
We want to sit there in our comfort
zones, be comfortable and we don't want anyone
to upset that comfort zone we're in.
But they go all out.
There's no lukewarmness, no coldness.
There's no slackness.
There's no getting tired and weary.
There's no slackness.
There's no
getting
tired and weary.
For them nothing is too much.
So I've tried to portray this picture to
you and for us as Christians, nothing should
be too much for that heavenly prize and
for heaven.
The Bible makes it clear to us that
we'll never receive that heavenly prize in heaven
one day if we haven't overcome here on
earth.
Now in that race which we could say
you're taking part in something which really isn't
worth much at all because it's something that
perishes.
That race that one received, the winner received
was really a very poor attempt.
And the glory one received, the honor one
received was temporary because after three years your
achievement was forgotten.
But they sacrificed much.
They exercised self-control.
They said no to many other things.
And they did it just for a perishable
crown.
But we should be doing it and are
doing it for one that never perishes.
And many took part in the race, but
only one received the prize.
But for us Christians we can all win
the prize.
Everyone that runs the race faithfully will receive
the prize.
But we just despise it.
They knew
only
one would receive the prize, so they laid
off anything that would be a hindrance to
them.
If anything that would weigh them down, they'd
put a sign.
They didn't want to be distracted by anything.
They didn't want anything to weigh them down.
They wanted to run the best they could.
Like on air.
And they did it knowing that only the
one that wins the race would get the
prize.
But we know that every one of us,
if we run the race faithfully, we will
receive a reward.
And I wish you could take your hand
and get hold of your heart.
Take hold of it, inspect it and see
whether you're running this race wholeheartedly or not.
Take these Greeks and take yourself and put
yourself on the scale with them.
Compare yourself with them and could you say,
oh you Greek, you do it for a
perishable crown, but I do it for one
that never perishes.
You Greek, you do it for a perishable
crown, but I do it for one that
never
perishes.
And his whole life is totally focused on
this one goal and that is running that
race.
So everything revolves around that one goal.
Even when he's sitting at table with all
the food in front of him, he will
discern what will be good for him and
that which will just add weight and which
will just be a hindrance to him.
He's temperate, he exercises self-control in all
things.
Do you understand what this means in a
spiritual sense?
Just
one
example.
If people
are sitting
in front of the TV and you are
there and things are shown there that one
says, I cannot, if I want to run
the race, look at these things.
They will have an effect on me, they
will weigh me down.
It will bring lust into my life and
the world into my life and I cannot
afford that.
I
cannot afford
that.
I cannot
afford
that.
And that's where you see those who are
just Christian by name, they're not genuine ones.
So in verse 23, everyone who takes part,
he is temperate in all things, exercising self
-control in all things.
Like some people who use the Lord's name
in vain, just easily using his name while
they're talking and then they say, oh, that's
just a minor thing.
Well, you may think it's a minor thing,
but it's something from the devil.
And then
one
says, oh, it's just a small thing.
Oh, I wasn't really, I wasn't careful, you
know, just at that moment, I didn't really
take note.
Well, it's because of those things that you'll
end up in the wrong place.
Those small things before the Lord are not
small at all, they are big.
You will be careful what you do, your
actions, you'll take careful note of, and you'll
even be careful what you think.
And a
person
running in a race will take off anything
that will weigh him down.
This jacket that's so heavy, or these gumboots
that he was in the cow shed or
the pigsty with, those things he'll take off
because they'll weigh him down.
And a young person, a girl and a
boy runs the race with all those things
on and the pockets filled with photos of
the opposite sex.
Of a boyfriend or girlfriend, and all these
things weigh that person down.
It's obvious that person doesn't know what it
means to be running in the Lord's race.
And that's why you are the way you
are.
Like we read in Hebrews chapter 12, And
there is nothing in this race which is
such a great hindrance as sin itself.
That is what ensnares us.
Sin is the greatest hindrance in this race.
So anything that's a hindrance to you in
running this race, That which weighs you down,
which holds you back, which slackens your pace,
anything.
And then the sin which ensnares you, lay
those things aside.
So anything that's a hindrance to you, whatever
sin it is, also the lust, the lust
of the eyes, the lust of the flesh,
Those things you must annihilate in your life.
You must get rid of them totally.
I'm going to be preaching in German.
I'm going to be preaching in German over
there, so a lot of the things that
are coming to my mind, I'm thinking in
German terms already.
And unfortunately even here in the school they
don't teach German anymore.
And if you don't learn to speak German,
how can I take you along?
Because how will you communicate with the people
over there?
And don't say, well I'll get someone to
interpret for me.
And may God give us the grace that
there will be no indifference in our lives,
this cursed indifference where it doesn't matter to
us.
And these heathen Greeks
who
took part in these games in those times,
they will stand up and they will condemn
you on Judgment Day.
They'll condemn the lukewarm Christians saying, Lord we
did more for our perishable crown than they
did for the crown that never perishes.
Do you see how much?
Do you see what depth there is in
this portion?
And that's why I eventually had to put
down my pen.
I said the service will get too long.
Now let me just ask, what is then
this prize?
What is this imperishable crown?
What
is
this
crown?
Moses grew up as a prince in Egypt.
The son of Pharaoh's daughter, everyone took him
as he was going to take the place
of Pharaoh one day.
What made him turn his back on all
those things?
He turned his back on all that he
was doing.
All that worldly inheritance that he was to
receive, all that honor and that glory, he
turned his back on it.
Because he had his eyes set on that
imperishable crown.
That reward, that is what he had his
sights on.
That's why he chose to suffer with the
slaves at that time.
You see, if you set your sights, your
eyes on the goal, nothing will hold you
back.
Then the devil won't be able to pull
you around like a bull with a ring
in its nose.
If you speak of a crown, of a
reward, we could say so much.
When your last day comes and Jesus comes
to you and he says, today you will
be with me in paradise.
Is there a greater reward than that?
Imagine to hear those words which that criminal
on the cross heard.
On your last day to hear the Lord
saying to you, today you will be with
me in paradise.
Wouldn't you like to hear those words?
Do you rather choose?
Do you choose rather to go with the
world, to join up with prostitutes, to go
that way and to end up in hell
one day?
Would you rather have that?
Lazarus suffered, he had those sores all over.
He went through a difficult time, but my
how glorious when he was fetched by the
angels to be taken up to Abram's bosom.
Isn't that a wonderful reward?
What a reward, and that's why Moses said,
I'd rather suffer with these slaves.
The children of Israel for a short time,
so that I can reach and achieve and
attain to that eternal reward.
There are no tears, no pain there, no
diseases, nothing to make you sad or to
make you fear.
Just eternal genuine joy and peace, and that
is real genuine joy and peace, not like
that which you get here on earth.
And it's eternal, imperishable.
Would you really be put off by something
just temporary and small?
We never hear of it.
We
never
hear of it.
We never
hear
that Lazarus complained and he said, Oh Lord,
what have I done to deserve to live
in this way here on earth?
Why should I suffer like this?
What did I do to deserve it?
We never hear that.
No, he has his sights on that eternal
crown and glory, and he waited for the
day where the Lord spoke to the angels
and said, now it's enough.
Now go and fetch him into the eternal
glory, and there he could be in Abram's
bosom.
But we are short-sighted, and it's because
we don't know.
Our reward, our crown.
If you think of that, it should be
enough to carry you through even the most
difficult times.
We think of people who were burned at
the stake, and while they were burning there,
they were singing choruses and hymns, praising the
Lord, saying we don't even feel these flames.
One who burned at the stake, while he
was burning there, he said, It is like
I'm lying on a bed of roses.
He said, I'm on my way home.
We know that the Lord is returning at
any time.
We're expecting him soon.
It could be today, even before the sun
sets.
It could be before tomorrow.
It could be while I'm in the airplane.
But oh, what glory that will be, to
be with him in a moment.
And that you won't just run like it
says here, like those that run with uncertainty
or they fight as one who beats the
air.
But oh, what glory that will be, to
be with him in a moment.
Now you may be clever, you may even
be fast.
But you need to run with certainty towards
the goal and according to the rules.
Otherwise you'll be disqualified and your cleverness or
your speed, even your sweat won't help you
because you'll be disqualified.
Remember how I spoke about those sword fights
where they had to fight for their lives.
Imagine if you're in a sword fight and
you just wave your sword around in the
air and people won't even know what you're
actually trying to achieve.
You don't even know who and where your
enemy is.
It could be one of two things.
Maybe it's because you're in total darkness.
You don't know where you are, you don't
know where your enemy is and that's why
you're just waving your sword around aimlessly.
It's one possibility.
The other possibility, you feel sorry for the
devil and your sins and then you just
do this.
You don't want to kill your enemy, you
don't want to kill your sins.
So you won't be taking part in that
prize giving one day.
No, you'll be part of the devil's group.
You'll be part of the devil's group.
But the winners will be with Christ on
that day.
And my, what an experience that will be.
What won't they experience on that day where
heaven and earth will pass away.
Everything will be destroyed by fire.
The devil and his angels and all that
belong to him will be cast into that
lake of fire.
What an experience that will be.
What a reward to be able to experience
all that where everything will be destroyed and
will pass away but we will be with
the Lord.
Is there a greater reward than that?
Now if this doesn't touch you and doesn't
move you, then I say to you German,
Englishman, Afrikaner, Zulu, whoever you are.
If this doesn't move you, then you're like
a stupid donkey, as one says in German.
You're foolish.
And then you deserve to burn.
And then there will be no compassion anymore.
For then you will have deserved what you're
getting because you will have heard so often,
been in the service at Sisyphus, maybe even
gone to the school here.
You will have experienced and heard so much
but you've chosen not to accept it.
So you deserve what you get.
Paul said to him, he said to Corinthians,
I'm going to tell you what I'm going
to tell you.
I'm going to tell you what I'm going
to tell you.
I'm going to tell you what I'm going
to tell you.
So if we run, as Paul says, with
our eyes on the goal, running to win
that prize, to win the race, then no
matter whether we're in Durban and Gauteng and
Egypt or wherever we are, we won't be
distracted and put off and go off the
track because we'll have our eyes on that
eternal goal.
Do you understand?
The Lord Jesus said, if you have the
strength to hear this, and he said, some
people, they go through circumcision because they want
to become eunuchs so that they may enter
heaven.
They take the knife and use it and
castrate themselves to enter heaven.
Then to live like a wild bull and
be not satisfied by your own wife.
You still want others and you still look
at others.
Just recently, someone came here to look at
the game and I said, we've got a
problem.
We've got a problem with cats here.
And he said, well, cats are the worst
things around.
You need to get rid of them or
they need to be castrated.
Otherwise, they are a huge problem.
Don't waste any time.
Just kill them.
Now sin is worse than a cat.
Sin.
S-I-N.
The worst things.
Our greatest enemy.
We've got enemies.
We've got the devil, Satan.
We've got his demons.
We've got the world, the rest of the
flesh, rest of the eye, your own heart
may be your greatest enemy.
Kill, kill, kill, or they will kill you.
We've got the devil, Satan.
We've got his demons.
We've got the rest of the flesh, rest
of the eye, your own heart may be
your greatest enemy.
Kill, kill, kill, or they will kill you.
We've got the devil, Satan.
We've got his demons.
We've got the rest of the flesh, rest
of the eye, your own heart may be
your greatest enemy.
Kill, kill, kill, or they will kill you.
Now maybe you're lenient on your sin and
the sin in your life.
Why?
Because you actually quite like it.
And so you're soft on it.
Like in that sword fight, just beating the
air because you don't really want to do
damage to the enemy.
Let us stand and pray.
Lord Jesus, as
you sent your word directed to the Corinthians
at that time, may it not be in
vain to us today.
Help us, Lord, to be winners, to be
conquerors, people who overcome that we may attain
to that imperishable crown.
Amen.