We must run the Christian race as contenders, athletes, until we finish our course and receive Christ as the crown as a reward; we need to fully accomplish our ministry in the unique ministry of God’s economy. Amen!
Thank the Lord for bringing us into this wonderful race, the Christian race, where we need to run with endurance until we receive the prize! Amen!
On the one hand, we believers in Christ need to be shepherds and teachers, and on the other hand we need to be soldiers in the Lord’s army.
Still further, we need to be contenders, those who run the Christian race as athletes, to finish our course and receive the prize. Amen!
As teachers, we need to have a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words and be ready to minister Christ to others, dispensing the riches of Christ into them for them to also gain the good deposit.
As soldiers, we have been enlisted in the Lord’s army by the Lord Himself, and now we fight the good fight of the faith, fighting the battle in the Body against God’s enemy.
As soldiers in the Lord’s army, we need to put aside any encumbrance of this world, not allowing ourselves to be entangled with anything of this life.
The things of this world and the things of this life tend to entangle us, drag us down, and hinder us from being fully consecrated to the Lord.
So we need to fight the battle in the Lord, always coming to Him and taking Him as our fresh consecration, so that He in us would be the One fighting the battle in the spiritual warfare.
May we fight for our time with the Lord. May we allow nothing and no one to come in to disturb or remove our time with the Lord.
And in our time with Him, may we open to the Lord concerning Him making us shepherds and teachers, and also making us soldiers in the Lord’s army, part of the Body of Christ that wears the armour of God. Amen!
As soldiers in the Lord’s army, we fight against any spiritual death. We just fight against death in all its forms.
Satan attacks the church by means of death, which is himself, but the enemy cannot prevail against the builded church.
May we remain in the middle of the church life, being built up with God and also with the saints, so that we may fight the spiritual warfare in the Lord and in the Body.
When we feel we are entangled with something of this world and we cannot break through with the Lord, we need to simply come to the Lord and also come to our companions in the Lord so that the Lord may have a way to release us and the Body stands with us in this matter.
Run the Christian Race as Contenders until we Finish our Course and Receive the Prize
2 Tim. 2:5 mentions contending in the games; if anyone contends in the games, he is not crowned unless he contends lawfully.
As believers in Christ, we must run the Christian race as contenders, athletes, until we finish our course, fully accomplishing our ministry in the unique ministry of God’s economy so that we may receive Christ as our prize (2 Tim. 2:5; 1 Cor. 9:24-26).
Those who run in a race exercise strict control over their body in all things.
They exercise self-control in all things, for they want to obtain the crown, the prize.
![Do you not know that those who run on a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? Run in this way, that you may lay hold. And everyone who contends exercises self-control in all things; they then, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible. I therefore run in this way, not as though without a clear aim; I box in this way, not as though beating the air; But I buffet my body and make [it] my slave, lest perhaps having preached to others, I myself may become disapproved. 1 Cor. 9:24-27](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Do-you-not-know-that-those-who-run-on-a-racecourse-all-run-but-one-receives-the-prize-1-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "Do you not know that those who run on a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? Run in this way, that you may lay hold. And everyone who contends exercises self-control in all things; they then, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible. I therefore run in this way, not as though without a clear aim; I box in this way, not as though beating the air; But I buffet my body and make [it] my slave, lest perhaps having preached to others, I myself may become disapproved. 1 Cor. 9:24-27")
These days the Olympic Games are taking place in France, and the whole world can see these athletes who have trained, prepared, and got ready for the games.
Throughout the year, they have worked hard, exercising strict control over their diet, sleep, and other activities so that they may run the race with no encumbrance until they reach the goal and get the gold medal.
They do this so that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we as believers in Christ will obtain an incorruptible crown if we run the Christian race until we finish our course.
We must subdue our body and make it a conquered captive to serve us as a slave for fulfilling our holy purpose; this we do not by our effort but by the Spirit (Rom. 8:13).
On the negative side, we flee youthful lusts (2 Tim. 2:22), and on the positive side, we pursue Christ with the saints to gain Him and obtain Him as the crown.
To flee youthful lusts does not refer only to the lusts of the youth; it refers to all the lusts, all the things in this world that appeal to our lusts.
We need to flee. As Christians, we need to be strict with ourselves.
May we never be loose, may we never make excuses for ourselves, and may we never consider ourselves an exception.
May we not be loose in our pursuit of the Lord and function in church life.
Rather, may we run the Christian race as contenders until we finish our course so that we may receive Christ as the prize, the crown.
When a runner is in the race, he does not exercise patience, nor does he want to stop and take a drink or help others; rather, he runs fast.
Similarly today in the Christian race, we need to run the Christian race as contenders and not look back, not be distracted by anything and anyone else, for we want to obtain the crown!
To run the Christian race as contenders is to reign in life.
We need to desire to reign in life for Christ over everything that is negative so that we may obtain Christ as our reward.
To gain this experience of reigning, we must first realize what is our position and then have the desire to reign.
We need to realize that we are in the position of ascension (Eph. 2:6), for God has seated us with Christ in the heavenlies.
We need to know the position of ascension, where Christ is, and we need to remain in the position of ascension.
Furthermore, we need to know the position of order, for we are members of the Body of Christ, and God arranged for us to be in the Body.
When we know the position of ascension and the position of order, we can exercise the Lord’s authority and reign for God.
As we run the Christian race as contenders to obtain the crown, Christ as our reward, we need to reign in life.
We must have the desire to reign in life, that is, positively and actively reign for God over all things.
When we enthrone the Lord in our being, when He rules and reigns within us, we can reign with God and in God over anything of the enemy.
But if we are loose, if we don’t have the thought or desire to reign, we will not automatically reign for the Lord.
If we are not interested in reigning in life, if we don’t care for the saints in the church and are not interested in the situations taking place in the church life, the enemy can come in and do much damage.
![For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live. Rom. 8:13 But I consider my life of no account [as if] precious to myself, in order that I may finish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus to solemnly testify of the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/For-if-you-live-according-to-the-flesh-you-must-die-but-if-by-the-Spirit-you-put-to-death-the-practices-of-the-body-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live. Rom. 8:13 But I consider my life of no account [as if] precious to myself, in order that I may finish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus to solemnly testify of the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24")
According to our growth in life, we are able to reign, but according to our experience, we may be lax and unwilling to reign, so we don’t exercise the Lord’s authority over the enemy.
May the Lord save us from this.
May we see the position of ascension and may we desire to reign for God and with God over anything that is negative so that we may run the Christian race as contenders and obtain Christ as our reward.
When we come to the meetings of the church, we should not just be there passively waiting for someone to function nor should we overfunction; rather, we need to be saved from being loose and lax and also be delivered from being too much and just function in our measure.
So many times the meetings seem to be weak or confused because those who have the growth in life and maturity in the Lord do not function, while those who are not mature function and speak, but there’s not much enjoyment or exercise. Oh, Lord Jesus!
May we learn to exercise strict self-control over ourselves and may we also exercise our spirit in the meetings of the church to function, reign in life, and release the life of God through our prayer, singing, praising, and sharing.
May we be a benefit to the church through our function and living.
Lord Jesus, we want to run the Christian race as contenders until we finish our course and obtain Christ as the prize! Amen, Lord, we want to fully accomplish our ministry in the unique ministry of God’s economy so that we may receive Christ as our prize. We exercise our spirit, and we exercise to subdue our body and make it a conquered captive to serve us as a slave for fulfilling our holy purpose. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to be one spirit with You today. We don’t want to exercise our own effort but rather, be in spirit and do all things according to the Spirit. Amen, Lord Jesus, may we be those who flee youthful lusts and pursue Christ with all the saints until we gain Christ as our reward. We desire to reign in life, Lord, and we praise You for bringing us where You are, in ascension, to rule and reign with You. We exercise our spirit and we want to live in the spirit so that our spirit may be released in the meetings of the church to function and minister life for the building up of the church!
Being Graced in Christ to Finish our Course and be Rewarded with Christ as our Incorruptible Crown
As we run the Christian race as contenders, we need to look to the Lord to be graced with His grace in Christ to finish our course and receive Christ as our incorruptible crown (Eph. 1:6; 1 Cor. 9:24-27).
Our running the Christian race as contenders is not by our own effort, our energy, our zeal, our ability and capability; it is by the Lord as our power, strength, and everything.
On one hand, we exercise our spirit and exercise control over our body so that we may run the Christian race as contenders.
On the other hand, we look to the Lord and trust in Him, receiving His grace in order to finish our course so that we may awarded in the next age with Christ as our incorruptible crown! Amen!
Day by day we need to come to the Lord and enjoy Him as grace, receiving from Him our portion of grace for our daily supply to run the race.
As we do this, as we enjoy the Lord as grace and run the Christian race as contenders, the Lord will take us through, and He will bring us all the way to the end, for He is the One who runs the race in us, and He will bring us to finish our course.
The triumphant runners of the Christian race will be rewarded with Christ as the incorruptible crown.
Christ will be our crown of life (Rev. 2:10; James 1:12), our crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:6-8), our crown of holiness (Exo. 28:36-38; 29:6; cf. 1 Pet. 1:15- 16; Eph. 5:26), and our crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4).
Hallelujah, Christ is will be our prize as our crown of life, righteousness, holiness, and glory!
These items are seen both at the beginning of the Bible and at the end of our Christian race.
In Genesis 3 man fell and was restricted from the tree of life by God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory; the way to the tree of life is blocked and guarded by these three attributes of God.
We see that a cherubim with a flaming sword closed the way to the tree of life.
The cherubim represents God’s glory, the sword, God’s righteousness, and the flame, God’s holiness.
But praise the Lord, when He died on the cross, He fulfilled all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory, and He opened the way to the tree of life!
Just as the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom for all to enter into the Holy of Holies at the time of the Lord’s death, so we today have a new and living way opened through the Lord’s death on the cross to come forward and enjoy the tree of life.
Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life!
![But according to the Holy One who called you, you yourselves also be holy in all [your] manner of life; Because it is written, "You shall be holy because I am holy." 1 Pet. 1:15-16 And when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 1 Pet. 5:4](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/But-according-to-the-Holy-One-who-called-you-you-yourselves-also-be-holy-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "But according to the Holy One who called you, you yourselves also be holy in all [your] manner of life; Because it is written, \"You shall be holy because I am holy.\" 1 Pet. 1:15-16 And when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 1 Pet. 5:4")
We today have the right to come forward to God and enjoy God in Christ as life.
And as we eat the tree of life, Christ with all His divine attributes is being dispensed into us.
As we run the Christian race as contenders to obtain the crown, the Lord is adding Himself to us as righteousness, holiness, and glory to the point that one day righteousness, holiness, and glory will become our crown! Wow!
The very attributes of God that guarded the tree of life against fallen man are now being dispensed into us as we eat the tree of life to become our righteousness, holiness, and glory (Rev. 2:7; Gen. 3:24; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 2:10; 3:10). Hallelujah!
This is in order for us to display Him as the multifarious wisdom of God to the whole universe! Praise the Lord!
One day the whole universe will look at us and see that those who once were corrupted, defiled, sinful, and dead in sins, are now regenerated, transformed, and conformed to the image of Christ, and they have Christ as their crown of life, righteousness, holiness, and glory!
The very attributes of God that once excluded us from partaking the tree of life are now being wrought into us to become part of our being until we have Christ as the crown of righteousness, holiness, and glory! Praise the Lord!
Lord Jesus, we look to You to be graced with Your grace in Christ as the Beloved so that we may finish our course and obtain the prize. Amen, Lord, we want to run the Christian race as contenders by enjoying You as grace so that we may live You out and gain You to the uttermost. Hallelujah, today we have a way to enjoy God as life, for the way to the tree of life has been opened! Praise the Lord, the very attributes of God that guarded the tree of life from us as fallen men are now being dispensed into us as we eat Christ as the tree of life! Hallelujah! Lord, we open to Your divine dispensing today. We open to enjoy You, partake of Your riches, and be freshly infused with You. Work Your righteousness, holiness, and glory into us so that You may be displayed in the church as the multifarious wisdom of God! Yes, Lord, we run the race with endurance until we receive the prize, the Christ of God as our incorruptible crown!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” pp. 510-512, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 3, Being Empowered in the Grace Which Is in Christ Jesus to Be Teachers, Soldiers, Contenders, Farmers, and Workmen.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– Run the race, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 45, by Witness Lee.
– It Is Possible By Being Grouped Together, via, Living to Him.
– The Christian life being a race, a portion from, Life-Study of Hebrews, Chapter 50.
– A soldier, a contender, a husbandman, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 15, by Witness Lee.
– A Christian’s Attitude toward Reforming Society, via, Shepherding Words.
– A crown of righteousness, a crown of glory, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 38, by Witness Lee.
– The Present World Situation – 6 Ways for a Christian to Respond, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– The word of righteousness – the kingdom reward, article in, Affirmation and critique.
– 2 Timothy 2:22: Flee Lusts and Pursue Christ, via, Bibles for America blog.
– The ministry of Christ in the stage of intensification, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
– Run with Endurance towards New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog. - Hymns on this topic:
– There’s a way before us and a race to run— / Christ our way, Christ our way! / Turn away from everything distracting us— / Run the race, run the race! / From the altar through the Holy Place, / Through the veil into our God, / To the law of life within the ark; / ’Tis the goal, our great reward. (Hymns #1207 stanza 1)
– Fight the good fight with all thy might! / Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right; / Lay hold on life, and it shall be / Thy joy and crown eternally. / Run the straight race through God’s good grace, / Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face; / Life with its way before us lies, / Christ is the path, and Christ the prize. (Hymns #872 stanzas 1-2)
– Brothers, to the Holiest forward come; / Leave your sins behind, the race now run. / Hallelujah! All the work is done— / The veil is gone! / Mercy now is flowing, oh, the grace— / That I find of Him to run the race! / Boldly now I come again to taste / My glorious Lord. (Hymns #1208 stanza 3 and chorus)
About aGodMan
![For if we have grown together with [Him] in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be [in][ the] [likeness] of His resurrection. Rom. 6:5](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/For-if-we-have-grown-together-with-Him-in-the-likeness-of-His-death-indeed-we-will-also.jpg?fit=178%2C100&ssl=1)
Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” pp. 510-512
We need to run the Christian race as contenders, athletes, so that we may receive Christ as the crown of life, righteousness, holiness, and glory.
Amen, may we realize we have the position of ascension, keep the order in the Body, and desire to reign in life with Christ.
May we not have a lax, loose, or timid attitude but rather, may we exercise our spirit to reign in life and build up the church.
Amen, brother, may we be those who exercise our spirit to reign in life for the Lord.
Amen! May we be those who exercise our spirit to reign in life for the Lord, amen!
If we are lax and timid we allow Satan to run loose.
We must know & keep the position of ascension, and we must also know & keep the position of order.
Before we can exercise authority & reign for God, we need to know & experience the position of order which He has arranged for us in the Body.
We must also have the desire to reign. For this, our spirit should not be lax/timid but willing to exercise God’s authority & deal with the works of the enemy.
If our meetings are dead & depressed it means Satan is there as king.
In these situations, we must be willing to rise up and reign for God, either by a hymn, a word or a prayer to change the atmosphere and release the life of Christ.
Wow, brother may the Lord give us the desire to reign,
Amen! Lord gain us more today, strengthen us into our inner man
Amen! Thank the Lord for bringing us into ascension.
With Him we have the position to reign over all things.
Praise the Lord! 🙌😃🙋🏼
Today we must contend lawfully as an athlete and exercise self-control in all things if we are to receive Christ as our crown of righteousness, holiness and glory.
We must be those reigning in life today, even in the church meetings, to give a word, call a hymn or offer a prayer that would swallow any death by life and change the atmosphere so that Christ not Satan is reigning there.
08/08/24 Being Empowered in the Grace, which is in Christ Jesus, to Be Teachers, Soldiers, Contenders, Farmers, and Workmen (Week 3, Day 4)
3.) To Be Faithful Contenders
In these last days, before the Lord’s coming, we, the believers in Christ, must not only be the faithful teachers and soldiers, but also be the faithful contenders. In 2 Timothy 2:5, Paul likens Timothy to an athlete contending in the games: “And also if anyone contends in the games, he is not crowned unless he contends lawfully.” At the same time that Timothy was to be a teacher and a soldier, he was also to be an athlete. A soldier must fight to win the victory, whereas an athlete must contend lawfully to receive the crown
A contender in a race is an athlete who aspires or aims to win the prize. He is one who is not lazy, loose, nor lousy but diligent, strict, and fast to take every opportunity to run with the goal of reaching the finishing line to receive the prize ~ the incorruptible crown, the crown of righteousness. The finishing line will be the time of the Lord’s coming. When the Lord returns, he will render reward, the prize of the incorruptible crown, which qualifies the contender to rule with Him over the nations during the millennial age.
To contend lawfully is to follow the legal rules, the Lord’s regulations. If we want to obtain the Lord’s reward, we must act according to the Lord’s regulations, have self-control, and be restricted in everything. This is an indispensable requirement for us to obtain the reward.
In Genesis chapter 37, Joseph not only fed and shepherded the flock; although he was the second youngest brother, he was sent by his father to shepherd his brothers. Thus, Joseph shepherded not only his father’s flock, but also his father’s sons. The Lord Jesus also came as a Shepherd to shepherd us, tge Fatger’s flock (John 10:11).
By ourselves, we are loose and unrestrained. But by turning to Christ, as the Chief Shepherd, Who is residing in our mingled spirit, He shall empower us by His grace by our continual enjoying of Him and experiencing Him. He then will renew our mind, recover our love for Him, and subdue our will to do His will. In this way, we shall gradually experience and enjoy His reigning, causing us to be strict, disciplined, and restrained within to reign over our situations
According to Romans 5:17, those who receive the abundance of grace and the abundance of the gift of righteousness, those who are justified, will reign in life. A justified person should reign because he has the divine life, a kingly life, with which to reign. Without the kingly life, no one can reign. When we were redeemed by Christ, forgiven of our sins, and washed by the blood of Christ, we were justified. In addition, we were regenerated with a divine, spiritual, heavenly, kingly, and royal life. Thus, we are now able to reign in life as kings.
In order for us to experience the reigning, we must:
1.) Solve the problem of position:
a.) By knowing and experiencing the position of ascension, which Christ has caused us to obtaining His salvation, where we are seated together with Him at the right hand of God (Eph 2:6), and
b.) By knowing and experiencing the order of the Body, which He has arranged for us to be place in a certain part of His Body for our specific use and function (1Cor 12:18).
2.) Have the desire to reign. Many Christians today are just passive believers. They are contented in knowing the of God and His will, but are too weak to participate and to cooperate with God in accomplishing His will. As the faithful contenders of Christ, we aspire to win the prize, we must submit to the Lord’s reigning within us, constricting us to run faithfully and lawfully in order for us to also reign in life.
For us to reign in life, we must actively participate in preaching the gospel, shepherding the new believers in homes, perfecting the saints in the district meetings in order to make them functioning members in the Body of Christ, causing them to also become faithful teachers to teach others, soldiers to fight for the Lord’s ministry, and contenders to reign in life until we all arrive at the finishing line to receive the reward of Christ in His return.
Amen, we can reign in life
Whenever a meeting is dead and depressed, it means that Satan is reigning there as king. At that time, someone should rise up to reign for God! HWMR – W3D4
We must look to the Lord to be graced with His grace in Christ as the Beloved (Eph. 1:6) in order to finish our course so that we can be awarded in the next age with Christ as our incorruptible crown in the following aspects (1 Cor. 9:24-27):
👑 He will be our crown of life (Rev. 2:10; James 1:12).
👑 He will be our crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:6-8).
👑 He will be our crown of holiness (Exo. 28:36-38; 29:6; cf. 1 Pet. 1:15- 16; Eph. 5:26).
👑 He will be our crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4).
Further Reading: CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “Life and Building Portrayed in the Song of Songs,” ch. 6; CWWL, 1969, vol. 2, “The Recovery of God’s house and God’s city, ” chs. 6,8)
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