25 And every man that 1 striv- eth for the mastery is temperate 1 Eph. vi. 12-18. 2 Tim. ii. 5. Heb. xii. 4. and they were exempted from taxes. Cicero says that a victory at the Olympic games was not much less honourable than a triumph at Rome. (See Anachar. iii. 469, and Calmet, art. Race.) When Paul says that but one receives the prize, he does not mean to say that there will be the same small proportion among those who shall enter into heaven, and among Christians. But his idea is, that as they make an effort to obtain the prize, so should we; as many who strive for it then lose it, it is possible that we may; and that therefore we should strive for the crown, and make an effort for it, as if but one out of many could obtain it. This, he says, was the course which he pursued; and it shows, in a most striking manner, the fact that an effort may be made, and should be made, to enter into heaven. ¶ So run, that ye may obtain. So run in the christian race, that you may obtain the prize of glory, the crown incorruptible. So live; so deny yourselves; so make constant exertion, that you may not fail of that prize, the crown of glory, which awaits the righteous in heaven. Comp. Heb. xii, 1. Christians may do this when, 1. They give themselves wholly to God, and make this the grand business of life; 2. When "they lay aside every weight," Heb. xii. I, and renounce all sin and all improper attachments; 3. When they do not allow themselves to be diverted from the object, but keep the goal constantly in view; 4. When they do not flag, or grow weary in their course; 5. When they deny themselves; and 6. When they keep their eye fully fixed on Christ, Heb. xii. 2, as their example and their strength, and on heaven as the end of their race, and on the crown of glory as their reward. 25. And every man that striveth for the mastery (ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος). That agonizes; that is, that is engaged in the exercise of wrestling, boxing, or pitching the bar or quoit. Comp. Note, Luke xiii. 24. The sense is, every one who endeavours to obtain a victory in these athletic exercises. Is temperate in all things. The word which is rendered is temperate (¿ykpatÈVETαi) Qui studet optatum cursu contingere metam De Arte Poet. 412. And shun the weakening joys of wine and love. Francis. To obtain a corruptible crown. A garland, diadem, or civic wreath, that must soon fade away. The garland but we an incorruptible. 1 in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; bestowed on the victor was made of olive, pine, apple, laurel, or parsley. That would soon lose its beauty and fade; of course it could be of little value. Yet we see how eagerly they sought it; how much self-denial those who entered the lists would practise to obtain it; how long they would deny themselves of the common pleasures of life that they might be successful. So much temperance would heathens practise to obtain a fading wreath of laurel, pine, or parsley! Learn hence, 1. The duty of denying ourselves to obtain a far more valuable reward, the incorruptible crown of heaven. 2. The duty of all Christians who strive for that crown to be temperate in all things. If the heathens practised temperance to obtain a fading laurel, should not we to obtain one that never fades? 3. How much their conduct puts to shame the conduct of many professing Christians and christian ministers. They set such a value on a civic wreath of pine or laurel, that they were willing to deny themselves, and practise the most rigid abstinence. They knew that indulgence in wine and in luxurious living, unfitted them for the struggle and for victory; they knew that it enfeebled their powers, and weakened their frame; and, like men intent on an object dear to them, they abstained wholly from these things, and embraced the principles of total abstinence. Yet how many professed Christians, and christian ministers, though striving for the crown that fadeth not away, indulge in wine, and in the filthy, offensive, and disgusting use of tobacco; and in luxurious living, and in habits of indolence and sloth! How many there are that will not give up these habits, though they know that they are enfeebling, injurious, offensive, and destructive to religious comfort and usefulness. Can a man be truly in earnest in his professed religion; can he be a sincere Christian, who is not willing to abandon any thing and every thing that will tend to impair the vigour of his mind, ! 1 2 Tim. iv. 8. Jas. i. 12. 1 Pet. v. 4. Rev. ii. 10; iii. 11. and weaken his body, and make him a stumbling-block to others? 4. The value of temperance is here presented in a very striking and impressive view. When even the heathens wished to accomplish any thing that demanded skill, strength, power, vigour of body, they saw the necessity of being temperate, and they were so. And this proves what all experiment has proved, that if men wish to accomplish much, they must be temperate. It proves that men can do more without intoxicating drink than they can with it. The example of these Grecian Athletæ ; their wrestlers, boxers, and racers, is against all the farmers, and mechanics, and seamen, and day-labourers, and gentlemen, and ministers, and lawyers, who plead that stimulating drink is necessary to enable them to bear cold and heat, and toil and exposure. A little experience from men like the Grecian wrestlers, who had something that they wished to do, is much better than a great deal of philosophy and sophistical reasoning from men who wish to drink, and to find some argument for drinking that shall be a salvo to their consciences. Perhaps the world has furnished no stronger argument in favour of total abstinence than the example of the Grecian Athletæ. It is certain that their example, the example of men who wished to accomplish much by bodily vigour and health, is an effectual and irrefragable argument against all those who plead that stimulating drinks are desirable or necessary in order to increase the vigour of the bodily frame. But we. We Christians. ¶ An incorruptible. An incorruptible, an unfading crown. The blessings of heaven that shall be bestowed on the righteous are often represented under the image of a crown or diadem; a crown that is unfading, and eternal. 2 Tim. iv. 8. Jas. i. 12. 1 Pet. v. 4. Rev. ii. 10; iii. 11; iv. 4. The doctrine here taught is, the necessity of making an effort to secure eternal life. The apostle never thought of entering hea 1 2 26 I therefore so run, 1 not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 1 Phil i. 21. 2 Tim. i. 12 ven by indolence, or by inactivity. He urged, by every possible argument, the necessity of making an exertion to secure the rewards of the just. His reasons for this effort are many. Let a few be pondered. 1. The work of salvation is difficult. The thousand obstacles arising, the love of sin, and the opposition of Satan and of the world are in the way. 2. The danger of losing the crown of glory is great. Every moment exposes it to hazard, for at any moment we may die. 3. The danger is not only great, but it is dreadful. If any thing should rouse a man, it should be the apprehension of eternal damnation and everlasting wrath. 4. Men in this life, in the games of Greece, in the career of ambition, in the pursuit of pleasure and wealth, make immense efforts to obtain the fading and perishing object of their desires. Why should not a man be willing to make as great efforts at least to secure eternal glory? 5. The value of the interest at stake. Eternal happiness is before those who will embrace the offer of life. If a man should be influenced by any thing to make an effort, should it not be by the prospect of eternal glory? What should influence him if this should not? 26. I therefore so run. In the christian race; in my effort to obtain the prize, the crown of immortality. I exert myself to the utmost, that I may not fail of securing the crown. ¶ Not as uncertainly (ουκ ἀδήλως). This word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It usually means, in the classic writers, obscurely. Here it means that the apostle did not run as not knowing to what object he aimed. I do not run at hap-hazard; I do not exert myself for nought; I know at what I aim, and I keep my eye fixed on the object; I have the goal and the crown in view. Probably also the apostle intended to convey this idea. I so live and act that I am sure of obtaining the crown. I make it a great and grand point of my life so to live that there may be no room for doubt 2 Matt. xi. 12. Luke xiii. 24. Col. i. 29. 2 Cor. v. 1, 8. I or hesitancy about this matter. believe it may be obtained; and that by a proper course there may be a constant certainty of procuring it; and I so live. O how happy and blessed would it be if all Christians thus lived! How much doubt, and hesitancy, and despondency would it remove from many a Christian's mind! And yet it is morally certain that if every Christian were to be only as anxious and careful as were the ancient Grecian wrestlers and racers in the games, they would have the undoubted assu rance of gaining the prize. Doddridge and Macknight, however, render this "as not out of view;" or as not distinguished; meaning that the apostle was not unseen, but that he regarded himself as constantly in the view of the judge, the Lord Jesus Christ. I prefer the other interpretation, however, as best according with the connexion and with the proper meaning of the word. So fight I. (övrW TUKTEUW). This word is applied to the boxers, or the pugilists, in the Grecian games. The exercise of boxing, or fighting with the fist, was a part of the entertainment with which the enlightened nations of Greece delighted to amuse themselves. Not as one that beateth the air. The phrase here is taken from the habits of the pugilists or boxers, who were accustomed, before entering the lists, to exercise their limbs with the gauntlet, in order to acquire greater skill and dexterity. There was also, before the real contest commenced, a play with their fists and weapons, by way of show or bravado, which was called oxiaμaxía, a mock battle, or a fighting the air. The phrase also is applicable to a missing the aim, when a blow was struck in a real struggle, and when the adversary would elude the blow, so that it would be spent in the empty air. This last is the idea which Paul means to present. He did not miss his aim; he did not exert himself and spend his strength for nought. Every blow that he struck told; and he did not waste his caer 188 27 But I keep under my |tion: 2 lest that by any means, body, and bring it into subjec- when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Rom. viii. 13. 2 Cor. vi. 4, 5. Col. iii. 5. 2 Tim. ii. 22. gies on that which would produce no result. He did not strive with rash, ill-advised, or uncertain blows; but all his efforts were directed, with good account, to the grand purpose of subjugating his enemy, sin, and the corrupt desires of the flesh, and bringing every thing into captivity to God. Much may be learned from this. Many an effort of Christians is merely beating the air. The energy is expended for nought. There is a want of wisdom, or skill, or perseverance; there is a failure of plan; or there is a mistake in regard to what is to be done, and what should be done. There is often among Christians very little aim or object; there is no plan; and the efforts are wasted, scattered, inefficient efforts; so that, at the close of life, many a man may say that he has spent his ministry or his christian course mainly, or entirely, in beating the air. Besides, many a one sets up a man of straw, and fights that. He fancies error and heresy in others, and opposes that. He becomes a heresyhunter; or he opposes some irregularity in religion that, if left alone, would die of itself; or he fixes all his attention on some minor evil, and devotes his life to the destruction of that alone. When death comes, he may have never struck a blow at one of the real and dangerous enemies of the gospel; and the simple record on the tombstone of many a minister and many a private Christian might be, "Here lica one who spent his life in beating the air." 27. But I keep under my body (ww). This word occurs in the New Testament only here and in Luke xviii. 5. The word is derived probably from IOV, the part of the face under the eye (Passow), and means properly, to strike under the eye, either with the fist or the cestus, so as to render the part livid, or as we say, black and blue; or as is vulgarly termed, to give any one a black eye. 2 Luke xii. 45-47. 3 Jer. vi. 30. Luke ix. 25. 2 Cor. xiii. 5, 6. This The word is derived, of course, from the athletic exercises of the Greeks. It then comes to mean, to treat any one with harshness, severity, or cruelty; and thence also, so to treat any evil inclinations or dispositions; or to subject one's-self to mortification or selfdenial, or to a severe and rigid discipline, that all the corrupt passions might be removed. The word here means, that Paul made use of all possible means to subdue his corrupt and carnal inclinations; to show that he was not under the dominion of evil passions, but was wholly under the dominion of the gospel. ¶ And bring it into subjection (dovλaywyŵ). word properly means, to reduce to servitude or slavery; and probably was usually applied to the act of subduing an enemy, and leading him captive from the field of battle; as the captives in war were regarded as slaves. It then means, effectually and totally to subdue, to conquer, to reduce to bondage and subjection. Paul means by it, the purpose to obtain a complete victory over his corrupt passions and propensities, and a design to gain the mastery over all his natural and evil inclinations. Lest that by any means. Note, ver. 22. Paul designed to make every possible effort to be saved. He did not mean to be lost, but he meant to be saved. He felt that there was danger of being deceived and lost; and he meant by some means to have evidence of piety that would abide the trial of the day of judgment. When I have preached to others. Doddridge renders this, "lest after having served as a herald to others, I should myself be disapproved ;" and supposes that there was allusion in this to the Grecian herald, whose business it was to proclaim the conditions of the games, to display the prizes, &c. In this interpretation, also, Macknight, Rosenmüller, Koppe, and most of the modern interpreters agree. They suppose, therefore, that the allusion to the From the many remarks which might be made from this interesting chapter, we may select the following: I. We see the great anxiety which Paul had to save souls. This was his grand purpose; and for this he was willing to deny himself, and to bear any trial. games is carried through all this des- and would then be cast away as unfit cription. But there is this difficulty to enter into heaven. in this interpretation, that it represents the apostle as both a herald and a contender in the games, and thus leads to an inextricable confusion of metaphor. Probably, therefore, this is to be taken in the usual sense of the word preaching in the New Testament; and the apostle here is to be understood as dropping the metaphor, and speaking in the usual manner. He had preached to others, to many others. He had proclaimed the gospel far and near. He had preached to many thousands, and had been the means of the conversion of thousands. The contest, the agony, the struggle in which he had been engaged, was that of preaching the gospel in the most effectual man ner. And yet he felt that there was a possibility that even after all this he might be lost. I myself should be a castaway. This word (abókμos) is taken from bad metals, and properly denotes those which will not bear the test that is applied to them; that are found to be base and worthless, and are therefore rejected and cast away. The apostle had subjected himself to trials. He had given himself to selfdenial and toil; to persecution and want; to perils, and cold, and nakedness, and hunger. He had done this, among other things, to give his religion a fair trial; to see whether it would bear all these tests, as metal is cast into the fire to see whether it is genuine, or is base and worthless. In doing this, he had endeavoured to subdue his corrupt propensities, and bring every thing into captivity to the Redeemer, that it might be found that he was a sincere, and humble, and devoted Christian. Many have supposed that the word castaway here refers to those who had entered the lists, and had contended, and who had then been examined as to the manner in which they had conducted the contest, and had been found to have departed from the rules of the games, and who were then rejected. But this interpretation is too artificial and unnatural. The simple idea of Paul is, that he was afraid that he should be disapproved, rejected, cast off; that it would appear, after all, that he had no religion, II. We should be kind to others; we should not needlessly offend them; we should conform to them, as far as it can be done consistently with Christian integrity. III. We should make an effort to be saved. O if men made such exertions to obtain a corruptible crown, how much greater should we make to obtain one that fadeth not away! IV. Ministers, like others, are in danger of losing their souls. If Paul felt this danger, who is there among the ministers of the cross who should not feel it? If Paul was not safe, who is? V. The fact that a man has preached to many is no certain evidence that he will be saved. Ver. 27. Paul had preached to thousands, and yet he felt that after all this there was a possibility that he might be lost. VI. The fact that a man has been very successful in the ministry is no certain evidence that he will be saved. God converts men; and he may sometimes do it by the instrumentality of those who themselves are deceived, or are deceivers. They may preach much truth; and God may bless that truth, and make it the means of saving the soul. There is no conclusive evidence that a man is a Christian simply because he is a successful and laborious preacher, any more than there is that a man is a Christian because he is a good farmer, and because God sends down the rain and the sunshine on his fields. Paul felt that even his success was no certain evidence that he would be saved. And if Paul felt thus, who should not feel that after the most distinguished success he may himself be at last a castaway? VII. It will be a solemn and awful thing for a minister of the gospel, and a successful minister, to go down to hell. What more fearful doom can be |