Finishing the race

ACTS 20:24 24. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

PHILIPPIANS 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

The Apostle Paul likened our Christian walk to a journey. The prize was not given for finishing first; it was given to all those who finished the race.

MATTHEW 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Webster’s dictionary defines endurance as fortitude and the ability to last. The Apostle Paul lived at the crossroads of two major cultures: Roman and Greek.

Roman culture was very brutal. The Arena was the center of Roman sport and the place where hundreds of martyrs died; gladiators fought one another, and wild animals. A thirst for blood characterized the Roman psyche Their ideal was that of conquest; their sport was that of blood and death.

Greek culture was quite different. Freedom, beauty, and wisdom were the three chief ideals of the Greeks, and these became the goal of Greek education.

According to the Greek ideal, a properly sound spirit could only dwell in a sound body. For the Greeks, beauty and virtue were inseparable. The ideal man was seen as a noble soul with a beautiful body, and so everything beautiful must be good.

The whole Greek life of sport served this goal. Not being experienced in gymnastics was considered a disgrace; gymnastics became a state institution regulated by strict laws.

Into that Greco-Roman Mediterranean World, the apostles carried the Gospel.

The Apostle Paul used many illustrations from Greek and Roman cultures when teaching about the Kingdom of God.

He used the soldier and the athlete to portray spiritual truth concerning the Kingdom of God.

The Greek Gymnasium, The Palaestra, The Academy at Athens became a center for games and contests in fitness and endurance. Paul referred to these games in 1 Corinthians 9:

1 CORINTHIANS 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it (in the games) to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

The Race

The Greek races were a highlight of the Grecian games, and the winning athlete was given a laurel or wreath, sometimes referred to as a crown, which was placed upon his head. This was, as it were, a Victor’s Crown.

JAMES 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown (Greek: wreath) of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. The race we are in is won by those who finish the course.

The danger of being disqualified is real:

1 CORINTHIANS 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Our battle is not with each other, it is not with flesh and blood; it is against the powers of darkness. If we fight each other, devour one another with gossip and slander, judging one another, being unkind and nasty to one another, we will be disqualified. We are being watched and cheered on in our race by spectators just as they were in those Olympian Games.

HEBREWS 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When Romania became a kingdom in 1881, as there was no crown on-hand for the coronation ceremony, King Carol I said, “Send to the arsenal and meltdown one of the captured cannons and out of it makes an iron crown as a token that it was won on the field of battle and paid for with blood and lives.

REVELATION 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

2:7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.

2:11. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

2:26. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.

21:7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

The race is not to the swift but to those who endure to the end

Many Christians will get into heaven, saved, as it were, by fire – their eternal rewards lost forever. They will not have finished the race, they will be disqualified.

1 CORINTHIANS 3:13 every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Finally, the Apostle Paul said this:

HEBREWS 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13. And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

Laying aside every weight

Our Christian walk in this life is described as a race; there is a set course for each of us to run. This race cannot be viewed in terms of time or space, what is meant is something far more dynamic. This race is more like an obstacle course as well as a battle.

The phrase prokeitai agon was the usual Greek expression for a race and means “The battle lieth before.” This is an apt description of the race we are to run.

This race is beset with obstacles, traps, and fierce opposition, and finishing the course requires great endurance. Demons surround us; powers of darkness block our way, but just finishing our course results in great rewards.

The battle lieth before

We are heading into the greatest conflict of all time. To finish this race, one must become a warrior. If we do not learn to fight, we will not survive the race. To be a warrior in this end-time army of the Lord is a great privilege and a great honor.

There is soon coming a time when all evil will be put down and Christ shall reign as King of kings and the earth will be at rest and there will be war no more; however, today we must fight – fight for truth and righteousness.

Winning the battle on the inside

The battle, first of all, is within us, and winning this crucial battle is part of the race we must run. The subduing of the flesh and the ungodly motives of our soul is a battle that must be won.

ROMANS 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23, But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

These end-time warriors must win the battle with the flesh; this requires a death – a death to the self life, a laying down of our lives, the submitting of our will to God so that we live only for Him and seek only the Kingdom of God.

In the days that lay ahead, Satan will unleash his whole arsenal against the people of God to disqualify them from the race, stopping them from finishing the course and accomplishing God’s pre-ordained plan and purpose for their lives.

We will not survive what is coming unless we first win the battle on the inside; only then can we go forth in this end-time army and push back the darkness, replacing it with the Kingdom of God.

2 CORINTHIANS 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

The “Hold the Fort” mentality

We are not called to just hold on until Jesus returns; we are called to take the Land. The encroaching darkness will overcome you as a Christian if you do not fight it. Many Christians are just holding on, waiting for Jesus to return, not realizing that before the Lord returns there is a great battle to be won. If we do not win the battle on the inside and then begin to take back the ground that Satan has taken externally in the earth, we will not survive.

The spirit of Babylon

Let’s not be naive in our understanding of what is going on in our day. As we see events unfolding around the world at such a terrifying pace with such brutality and absolute disregard for human life, we must see the spiritual dimension which is behind the continuous and increasing escalation of lawlessness in the earth.

Behind the chaos and confusion, we are seeing in the world is the spirit of Antichrist, and the enemy has a strategy that involves the extermination of Israel and the Church. The battle which continues to rage in Iraq and Israel is a picture in the natural as to what is happening in the spiritual. It is not a coincidence that the territory of Iraq is the same territory in which ancient Babylon was located.

Whatever your political and ethical view is on the war in Iraq, you need to be mature enough to see the prophetic implications as God uses this conflict to show us what is happening in the spiritual realm. We know spiritual Babylon will fall, but not without a great battle.

REVELATIONS 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

21. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

DANIEL 7:18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

There is a coming spiritual war the likes of which has never been seen before. Some in this war will not be able to stand because they have not won the battle on the inside nor joined the battle externally against the enemy.

DANIEL 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22. Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Some of this teaching may alarm some Christians. The Church has been in the “Hold the Fort” mentality for so long and has been lulled and deceived into believing that all is well, that Jesus is coming and we will all be caught away before it gets too rough.

It is time to wake up – we are in a mortal conflict and it gets worse before it gets better. We must fight or we will lose the battle. A Christian leader said, “I’ve read the last book of the Bible and we win.” This is both naïve and misleading – there is a battle coming and the point is that not all will survive it.

When the Chinese communist army overran China, hundreds of thousands of Christians were slaughtered. Some of those who escaped confronted their Christian leaders, asking them why they did not warn them that this could happen to them. Whether we like it or not, we are in a battle and we must fight to survive. There is coming a time of peace when Jesus will reign on earth during the Millennium, BUT THIS IS NOT THAT TIME – TODAY WE MUST FIGHT!

Rewards for finishing the race

Rewards are a biblical principle. Although God loves everyone equally and His love is unconditional, rank, position, status and titles are all a part of the Kingdom of God. In heaven, rank is easily recognizable by the light coming from a person or an angel; the higher the rank, the brighter one shines. Often, the light is intermingled with another element of light, that of fire.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

We also need to appreciate the fact that the light coming from the Lord Jesus is exceedingly bright; if He did not tone it down, He could not appear to us.

Rewards for running and finishing the race

In the British Museum in London, there is a tablet from the theatre at Ephesus of a combatant of the second century after Christ. The inscription reads, “He fought three fights and twice was crowned with wreathes.” No doubt, such inscriptions were known to the Apostle Paul and this is reflected in his writings to Timothy:

2 TIMOTHY 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

These wreaths or rewards are unfading and will never perish.

There are five wreaths (crowns) of victory mentioned in the New Testament:

1. The victorious fighter with a crown of righteousness (2 Tim 4:8)

2. The steadfast runner (1 Cor 9:25-26)

3. The one who is faithful unto death (Rev 2:10, Jas 1:12)

4. The unselfish laborer (1 Thes 2:19, Phil 4:1)

5. The example to the flock (1 Pet 5:3-4)

A paradigm shift is required

The way we look at life and the reason for us being here is very important. Most Christians live their lives in a way that reflects their primary focus as being the importance of this life; most have very little thought about the next life.

JAMES 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. Your lifespan here on earth is tiny compared with eternity and how you spend your life here will determine for all Eternity your rank and position in the world to come.

ROMANS 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.

Our time on this earth is a testing time, a time to qualify and graduate. Death is simply a transition to another world that is far more real than this one, where our exam papers will be marked and graded.

One of the things that the angels marvel over is when they see faithful Christians who have not experienced the wonders and glories of heaven which seem to them as just a remote dream, and yet they give their all and cling in faith to this hope of glory.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

5:1. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

As this age comes to a close, we will see unbelievable destruction in the earth as God systematically demolishes all that is decadent to make way for a new and glorious age – the Millennium Reign of Christ.

Great plagues will sweep the earth until the world will know there is no hope outside of Jesus. Doctors will send these patients to the true Church for healing. Great darkness will cover the earth and great glory will be upon God’s people and millions will come to their light.

ISAIAH 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

The Apostle Paul told Timothy that a good soldier does not entangle himself with the affairs of this life:

2 TIMOTHY 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 5. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

SOON – VERY SOON – OUR EXAM PAPERS WILL BE MARKED AND WHAT THE LORD JESUS WILL LOOK FOR IS HOW MUCH OF HIMSELF HE CAN FIND IN YOU.

EXODUS 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee,

God is pure goodness which can be translated as pure love. That’s who He is and the light which manifests in and through Him is a product of that pure love.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. 3. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 4, love, suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8. Love, never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

In other words, we must allow the nature of Jesus’ love to become a part of who we are. The world will see who Jesus is in us as we become an expression of who He is in this earth.

ISAIAH 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 4. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

Finishing the race

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