John’s Course – Acts 13:25

One of my top ten favorite movies is the 1981 British film called “Chariots of Fire.”

It’s based on the true story of two sprinters training and competing in the 1924 Paris Olympics.

Both Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams were driven by an inner fire to be the best runners in world.

One was a devout Christian who ran to bring glory to God.

The other was a Jew who ran to prove to the world his personal and ethic worth.

In both cases their running was a metaphor for their lives as a whole.

One was typical of those who want to win at any and all cost.

The other was more concerned with running according to the rules, both the rules of man and God with the Lord’s laws being more important than Olympic rules.

If you’ve never seen this movie, I have a copy at home and would be happy to loan it to you.

In course of Paul’s sermon and his references to John the Baptist, he made a noteworthy passing comment:

“And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.”

Although I should probably have a lesson on John’s humble comment regarding his inferiority to the Lord,

It’s Paul’s statement “and as John fulfilled his course“ which interests me tonight.

It’s obvious that he was saying that as John’s ministry and life neared it’s conclusion, he felt that he was unworthy to even be a servant of the Lord.

What Paul was doing was using a sports analogy to describe John’s life: “As John fulfilled his course.”

The Greek “dromos” is found only three times in the Bible and it’s always translated the same way.

Paul is the only one to use the word, and other than in this case, he used it only of himself.

In Acts 20 when he was talking to the elders of the church in Ephesus and they were trying their best to keep him from risking his life by going to Jerusalem, he replied:

I know all about the dangers, “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.”

Again, he was saying that he looked on his life and his ministry as a course to be run.

Then in II Timothy he said, “The time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.”

There are other scriptures where Paul uses this same kind of speech:

Hebrews 12:1-2 – “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,

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.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

And then there is I Corinthians 9 – “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

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.

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

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.”

Tonight, let’s take Paul’s analogy and run with it, so to speak.

Life is a RACE of sorts.

Nearly all the commentaries on Acts 13:25 say that this is Paul’s meaning.

When John’s race was about finished, he made this comment about his relationship to the Lord.

When he had jumped every hurdle and rounded the course the proscribed number of times;

As he was nearing the finish line, he said that he was an unworthy servant of the Lord.

Of course, if you paid any attention to the recent Summer Olympics in Greece, you know that there are lots of different kinds of races.

There are some very short and fast sprinting races, and there are very long and tedious road races.

In between those there are a variety of lengths and sometimes with multiple runners.

There are races that involve jumping over things, like the hurdles, and the steeple chase.

And of course there are other kinds of races with bicycles and just about as many with water.

But the racing in the ancient Olympics didn’t have bicycles and there weren’t any swimming competitions.

The ancient Greeks participated in various sprints and then the marathon.

As probably everyone knows, a marathon is supposed to be about 26 miles in length.

It was given that name because in 490 BC a messenger ran 26 miles from the ancient Greek village of Marathon to Athens to announce the victory of the Greek army over the Persians.

When Paul was writing, he was probably only aware of the sprints and the marathon.

And when he made this application to the Christian race, he was probably thinking of a marathon.

Most of our lives are lived over a long distance – over many years rather than just a few.

“And let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

This reference to “patience” is to persevering endurance as in Hebrews 10:

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”

The race in which John was involved was a marathon, requiring perseverance and endurance.

And for him it was an arduous and difficult race.

In his case it was more grueling and cruel than it is for many people,

And it was not as long for John the Baptist as it was for John the Apostle and for others.

And that points out the fact that each life is a PRESCRIBED COURSE.

It would be nearly impossible today for someone to cheat in an Olympic marathon.

There are so many cameras and judges that nearly every runner is accounted for at every moment.

There are almost as many judges as there are competitors.

There are TV crews on motor bikes right in the face of the leading runners with cameras sensitive enough to count the beads of sweat on the runners’ faces.

And if there ever was any cheating, they’d soon be wearing implanted GPS chips to monitor runners even more closely.

But in some of the big city races, where there are thousands of runners, like the Boston and New York marathons, there have been cases of cheating.

There have been people who started somewhere in the middle of the course rather than at beginning.

And I suppose that there have been some who have taken short-cuts to give them an advantage.

Some of these have been caught, but I suppose that others haven’t, and we’ll never know about it.

But when it comes to the course of life, there is a Judge Who does not miss a single step.

Eric Liddell was the son of an old-time Presbyterian missionary to China.

And Eric himself planned to return to China as a missionary.

In fact eventually he did return to China and died there as a martyr.

But in the early 1920s he was Scotland to visit churches and encourage people in serving the Lord and supporting missions.

Sometimes his meetings took place in rural settings, at camp meetings and at picnics.

He already had a reputation for being a runner, and people would encourage him to race.

Invariably he won those races even though he was basically untrained and had a very unorthodox style.

Eventually, the British Olympic Committee heard of Liddell and invited him to join them.

At first he would have nothing to do with the idea, but friends and family began to encourage him.

Very reluctantly he agreed to talk to the Olympic Committee and to run for them,

But at every race he publically testified that it was the Lord who gave him strength and the gift to run.

He ran for the glory of God, not for Britain and certainly not for self-glory.

It wasn’t until he was on the ship sailing across to France that he learned that the first heats to his premier race would be held on Sunday.

If he had known that he would never have set foot on the ship.

Everyone from the IOC President to the Prince of England could not convince Eric Liddell to participate in a mere Olympic race on the Lord’s Day.

As far as he was concerned HOW the race was run was more important than winning the race itself.

As far as he was concerned there was no joy in winning a race with which his Lord was not pleased.

When Paul wrote to Timothy and when he spoke to the Ephesian pastors, he all but said the same thing:

“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.”

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.”

Paul knew that some day he was going to stand before the Lord.

He knew that every man’s race is going to be manifest at the judgment day,

Because it is going to be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man’s race of what sort it is.

He wanted to be able to stand before the Lord with the joy of knowing several things.

He wanted to be able to say that he had run the race that the Lord had prescribed for him.

He wasn’t interested in the races of others, just in his own.

And he wanted the joy of being able to say that he had run it as well as he could.

His goal was to stay within the lines and run as hard as he could.

Like David, Paul was a sinner with occasions of stumbling and even causing others to stumble.

But it was his desire to hear the Lord say, “He is a runner after my own heart.”

He wanted to hear that the Lord was pleased with the general tenor of the race that he had run.

The Lord has a race for John the Baptist and another for each of us.

The general rules of racing are given to us in the pages of the Word of God.

We know that there are sinful things which shame and displease the Judge.

And we know that there are things which are required of every runner; things which are not done according to the rules disqualify us.

Sometimes, those sins of disobedience and neglect are so severe that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will decide to pull the runner from the race.

Such was the case with some of the Christian members of the church in Corinth.

Such was the case with Ananias and Sapphira.

The Lord has a race for you.

How are you running?

Are you making progress or are you standing still?

Are you facing an uphill run at the moment, or are you sprinting so fast downhill that its hard to keep your feet under you?

Are you breaking any of the rules of the course at the moment?

Do you display the courage that a lot of races require?

Do you possess patience and perseverance?

Are there things that you need to confess to the Judge?

These are questions that you need to answer,

Because as I’ve already suggested every Christian racer is going to be judged and somehow rewarded.

Paul said, “The time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

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 to all them that love His appearing.”

Have you ever watched a sporting event and disagreed with the judge or the race officials?

Is it a good thing that our Judge is omniscient; or does that fact terrify you?

In my human estimation, I would guess that the Lord was pleased with John as he neared the conclusion of his course.

If it was up to me I’d say that the Lord was pleased with the race that Paul completed.

But more important than the race of those two men, is the race that you are running.

You have not yet finished your course.

Are you running in a fashion that pleases your coach?

Are you running in such a way that the righteous Judge is pleased?

You have not yet finished you course.

There is still time to get on course.