1 Corinthians 9:25-26

THE INCORRUPTIBLE CROWN

‘Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.’

1 Corinthians 9:25

The few ivy leaves soon fade away. The glory is ephemeral, and the hero is soon forgotten in the presence of newer and younger bloods. And the time soon comes when the natural force of even these well-trained athletes abates, and their former prowess fades into a memory.

I. The Apostle teaches that if we follow after self-denial for the sake of others, we shall reap a richer reward—an incorruptible crown. ‘When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.’ And the argument runs that if the Corinthians could put such earnestness and self-denial into their games for the sake of a passing glory, how much more should we Christians strive for the mastery over our worst selves, when such a prize is offered to us?

II. This prize may be won by all earnest souls who enter the arena.—At Corinth only one received the prize. In the spiritual race there is a prize for every one who strives in the right spirit. The ‘race is not always to the swift.’ The labourers in the vineyard who wrought but one hour each received a penny, because it was the spirit in which the work was done that commended them in the sight of their Master. And the Apostle was in deadly earnest when he said: ‘But I keep my body under, and bring it into subjection.’ He struggled with and overcame his passions, and even lawful appetites, so that his lower nature was his servant and not his master. He neither followed, nor was led by them, lest, after having proclaimed victory to others, he himself should be counted unworthy of it.

III. Let us so run the race that is set before us that we may obtain this incorruptible crown.—We can do it if we are only faithful to God and true to ourselves. Let us go forward trusting in the living God, Who is the helper of all who flee to Him for succour. Let us so run that we may obtain the prize—the prize of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus. If we bend our energies towards this goal, we shall win for ourselves ‘an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and which fadeth not away.’

Rev. C. Rhodes Hall.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

CHARACTER AND SERVICE

Character and service. These two words, I think, describe the higher regions of man’s life, in which alone his powers can fulfil themselves and know their real strength and fit themselves for the full doing even of their lower tasks. In them the workman doomed to-day to lower toils, when he is once allowed to enter, lifts himself up and knows his dignity, and begins to put forth the might which he possesses.

I. Character: what is that?—The absolute quality of a being distinguished from its circumstances. Beyond even that closest of circumstances which we call the body, the intrinsic substance of the soul, what the man is, original, distinct, different from what any other man has ever been before, fed through the channels of his circumstances, of what happens to him, but fed directly from first principles, from fundamental and eternal truths, an utterance of the life of God, a true unit and harmony of personal existence, which can change every condition and be itself unchanged, whose goodness and badness rest in the very fibre and substance of itself, a true soul. That is character.

II. And then service, what do we mean by that?—The other truth about each human nature; that which is so separate and distinct is also true part of a unit greater than itself; that the personality is portion of humanity, that what belongs to it belongs also to the larger whole, that it realises and possesses itself only as it gives itself to the greater which enfolds it, that it is its own only as it serves the life of man to which it belongs, as the eye keeps its quality of vision only as it dwells in the complete structure and dedicates its power of vision to the use of the whole body, hand, and foot, and tongue, and heart, as they may need it.

III. In character and service lie the true life of a human creature.—We do not thoroughly believe that. We think of the struggle to be perfect and the effort to serve humanity as suburbs of human life, great districts into which excursions are to be made, heavens into which ecstatic flights are to be soared, not as the very city and citadel of humanity, to live outside of which is not to be a man. Until we do believe that with our hearts and souls, the higher regions are still closed to our powers, and they live, stunted and perverted, at their lower tasks. Christ took these splendid human capacities of ours and carried them beyond the stars into the heavenly worlds of character and service, and when men listened—as they had to listen—hark, in these visionary worlds, the same old human faculties had put out a new strength and worked with a pulse of power and a throb of music which made heaven and earth stand still to listen. Yet it was our human patience with which He was patient, and our human bravery with which He was brave, and our human intelligence with which He knew, and our human purity with which He was pure, only they proved themselves Divine when they attained their full humanity.

Bishop Philips Brooks.

(THIRD OUTLINE)

‘THE CHRISTIAN’S REWARD’

The Christian is urged to strive for a rich reward. Two objections are raised against this assertion.

I. Is it not contrary to the New Testament doctrine of grace?

(a) Even if it cannot be reconciled with that doctrine, it is not the less true, for it rests on precisely the same authority. It is no other than St. Paul, who elsewhere opposes the notion of salvation by works, who here distinctly writes of the Christian reward. Christ’s great description of the judgment deals with rewards and punishments for conduct (St. Matthew 25).

(b) A prize in a race is different from payment for work. The latter is earned by its equivalent; the former may be much more valuable than the effort that wins it. The Christian reward is a prize offered by Christ, not wages justly claimed.

(c) The strength by which we win the race is given to us by the grace of God.

II. But is not this assertion likely to degrade our aims from disinterested to selfish motives?

(a) Surely we are over-scrupulous to the extent of hyprocrisy if we object to motives of which Moses (Hebrews 11:26), St. Paul (Php_3:14), and Christ (Hebrews 12:2) were not ashamed.

(b) The worthiness or unworthiness of working for a reward depends largely on the quality of that reward. It may be a noble thing and a blessing to others. Christ’s reward was to see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied in the redemption of the world.

(c) Until we have attained to perfection, we cannot afford to part with any lawful motives to encourage us in the Christian race. Pure altruism is impossible.

The Christian reward is an incorruptible crown. The value of this is felt in contrast with the prizes of merely worldly endeavours.

Illustration

‘St. Paul is here referring to the Isthmian games, which were celebrated near to the city of Corinth. We shall miss the force of his allusion if we regard it with our modern views of such sports. The religious associations of the old Grecian games, the national enthusiasm with which they were followed, the intense eagerness of competitors to win renown from all Greece, and to have their names handed down to competitors in triumphal odes, gave an importance to these contests which would make the Apostle’s readers feel at once that he had chosen no mere casual illustration, but about the most stirring field of ambition with which to contrast the Christian race. Thus he would say, “Even the reward of the first pursuits of earthly endeavours is a fading garland compared with the immortal crown for which you Christians are called to compete.” ’

(FOURTH OUTLINE)

THE CROWN

St. Paul looked forward, and he would have his followers look forward, to ‘an incorruptible crown.’

I. To whom this crown is given.—To him who strives enduringly, devoutly, and successfully. To him who shares Christ’s crown of thorns as preparatory to the gaining that of amaranth.

II. Of what the crown is the reward.—There is no merit in the case; the bestowment is altogether of grace. It is the recompense, not of natural gifts, or great opportunities, or of distinction among men, but of a Christian and a Christ-like life; of faith, self-denial, labour, devotion, benevolence.

III. In what the crown consists.—The chief value of a crown is to be found in its historical associations. So the Christian’s crown denotes the approval and confidence of the Divine Lord and King.

IV. By whom the crown is bestowed.—By Christ, the Lord Who has Himself overcome, and on Whose ‘head are many crowns.’

V. Why the crown is incorruptible.—It is the crown of righteousness, the crown of life.