“CHAMPIONS”
Super Bowl Sunday - 2/1/09
INTRODUCTION:
Today is Super Bowl Sunday. We all know what Super Bowl Sunday is about. It’s about the National Football Teams who have played hard all year long in order to finish as “CHAMPIONS!” The teams who won their division are now the prospective “CHAMPIONS” of their & divisions now those two teams play for the “WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!”
The Pittsburgh Steelers & the Phoenix Arizona Cardinals have played hard, made mistakes, been up & down, had injuries, trials, tribulations, they’ve played in the heat & cold, wet & rain & burning sun. They’ve been “Cheered & Jeered”, sometimes, all in the same game. They’ve been disappointed, elated, they’ve won & lost, but they all worked hard to get where they are! Both teams have “PAYED THE PRICE” to finish at the top of their fields & their prospective teammates & the other teams who didn’t make it as far as they did. Both teams are w/out a doubt “CHAMPIONS” but there can only be #1 ultimate “CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM!”
Folk, “CHAMPIONS” aren’t born, “THEY ARE MADE!” Every single one of the players, playing this afternoon, will tell you they “EARNED” the spot they’re in today. They weren’t born that way but they TRAINED, PUSHED, STRETCHED & MADE THEMSELVES the “CHAMPIONS” they are!
Of all the people I think about in the Bible as a “CHAMPIONS” one stands out to me. Understand this, all the people mentioned in the Bible of those that God used in ways that glorified God from Genesis to Revelation were, without a doubt, “CHAMPIONS!”
I think of David, he was a “CHAMPION”, Peter was a “CHAMPION”, Mark, James & John, there were all “CHAMPIONS!” I love David as one of my favorite Biblical Characters along with Peter, Mark, James & John. I love David, I love Peter, Mark, James & John. But there is another one that stands out to me personally. It’s hard to single one out but there is one that stands out to me among these “CHAMPIONS!”
Paul is that one! Paul of all the people I see in the Bible Paul stands out to me as a man who didn’t fall by the wayside, or have any major failures as a Child of God. He understood things about God & God’s ways that very few if any understood as he did. He wrote about those things in order for the young church of the day to be the church “WORTHY” of God’s sacrifice and the Groom that Bride was and is to be united with.
I think about Paul’s “CHAMPIONSHIP DISCOURSE” in II Timothy 4:7-8. Don’t get me wrong. Paul wasn’t bragging at all, in all actuality Paul was just STATING A FACT THROUGH & BY THE HELP OF GOD IN HIS LIFE!
Paul says...
“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith. Therefore is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day,
& not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
“CHAMPIONS” are not made by accident! “CHAMPIONS” are not made by osmosis! “CHAMPIONS”are not made by whimsy, nor by a lack of deliberation! “CHAMPIONS” are made out of & by “PURPOSE & DELIBERATION!”
“CHAMPIONS” are created by God but it takes one like Paul to use the “CHAMPIONSHIP ATTRIBUTES” given by God in order for the “CHAMPION” to come out in the way that God intends! God intends that all of us become “CHAMPIONS!” But we have to take “INITIATIVE” in order for us to become the “CHAMPIONS” God made us & created us to be!
All of those players in todays game they weren’t born “CHAMPIONS!” They had to dig deep within themselves in order for the “CHAMPION” to come out the way God intended! They worked hard to be “CHAMPIONS!” They planned to be “CHAMPIONS!” They studied to be “CHAMPIONS!” They practiced to be “CHAMPIONS!” They even gave up things & suffered in order to be the “CHAMPIONS” they chose to be!
Folk, they just didn’t wake up one day in the Super Bowl! THEY EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE THERE!
IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE A “CHAMPION” YOU HAVE TO EARN THE RIGHT TO BE A “CHAMPION!” Don’t get me wrong, there are some things you cannot do by yourself but of those things you can you have a “CHOICE” to make! To be a “CHAMPION” or not! It’s just that simple! I’ve taken a good introspective look inside myself & I’ve made a choice for me! I CHOOSE TO BE A “CHAMPION!” IS IT EASY, IS IT SIMPLE, IS IT FUN ALL THE TIME! NO TO ALL OF THOSE! BUT THE PAY-OFF IS THE “CHAMPIONSHIP!”
Now before you start thinking bad of what I just said let’s take another look at what “PAUL” said about his life, his decisions, his process in himself! Paul was not at all, denying, the HELP of the HOLY SPIRIT & JESUS w/in him. What he was saying was all about HIS CHOICES! PLAIN & SIMPLE: HIS CHOICES!
Paul says...
“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith. Therefore is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day,
& not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
Three times in this passage Paul says “I HAVE...”,
“I HAVE FOUGHT...I HAVE FINISHED...I HAVE KEPT...!”
In order to be a “CHAMPION” you have choices to be made, choices that have to be made! Otherwise you’re just a get by kind of person! What if I make the wrong Choice! THE WORST CHOICE IS MAKING “NO” CHOICE AT ALL!
Are you going to make a wrong decision along the way! SURE! Most likely you will make a wrong decision along the way but without making any decision you’ll never go anywhere!
But look at it like this! YOU’LL NEVER MAKE A DECISION ALONE! God will always be by your side in order to help you make the RIGHT DECISION! If we listen, God will always help make the RIGHT DECISION! But the decision is OURS to make as we allow God to LEAD US!
I. I HAVE FOUGHT!
Paul was a “FIGHTER!” He was NOT a "QUITTER!" Paul would “FIGHT” for every single step in the world for the Kingdom of God! He never backed down from a fight! Every single one of those players playing today is a “FIGHTER” not a “QUITTER!”
Paul was LOVING, CARING but STRONG, EVEN ABRASIVE in his teachings, his writings, his preaching & his ATTITUDE ABOUT HIS “PURPOSE!” PAUL KNEW HIS “PURPOSE” WITH NO DOUBTS!
Look with in II Corinthians 11:23-26
“...I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prison more frequent, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked; a night & a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of robbers, of my own countrymen, of Gentiles, in the city, in the wilderness, in the sea,
among false bretheren, in weariness & toil, sleeplessness, in hunger & thirst, in fastings, in cold & nakedness besides other things...”
Paul was a FIGHTER! ONLY A “FIGHTER” COULD GO THROUGH ALL THAT FOR HIS LORD! Would you go through all that. Most likely many of us would think that we must be OUT of the Will of God if we were to go through even a little of what Paul went through! HE WAS A “FIGHTER!” YOU WILL NEVER BE A “CHAMPION” IF YOU ARE NOT A “FIGHTER!” FOLK, WE HAVE TO HAVE A MIND-SET ABOUT OURSELVES THAT SAYS, “I WILL FIGHT!”
WITHOUT A DOUBT
“CHAMPIONS ARE FIGHTERS!
II. I HAVE FINISHED!
PAUL WAS NOT A QUITTER! Again, every single one of those players playing today is a “FIGHTER!” They are not “QUITTERS!” One of the things I’ve noticed about some Christians is they give up! THEY QUIT! THEY DON’T FINISH! BY DEFINITION THEY ARE "QUITTERS!"
Proof that Paul was “NO QUITTER” was all that he went through or the cause of Christ and the gospel. Most of us would have “QUIT” after the first time we were given forty stripes save one. Most likely many would have said, “Ok! Well! I guess I can just find me a church & preach a little, teach a little & NOT ROCK ANYBODY’S BOAT!
BUT NOT PAUL! Paul was “NO QUITTER!” So many times we’d rather “QUIT!” than stand & “FIGHT” for the Kingdom of God! THAT IS NOT THE WAY OF THE “CHAMPION!”
Look with in II Corinthians 11:28 where Paul speaks of his humanity & weakness...
“Who is weak, and I am NOT weak?”
Paul was not just boasting of his strength! In fact Paul was just as Human as you and me. Just as Human as any other man of his day.
BUT HE WAS JUST NOT A “QUITTER!” HE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THE WORD MEANT! THE WORD “QUIT” IT WAS NOT IN HIS LEXICON OR HIS VOCABULARY! PAUL DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO “QUIT!”
But Paul also said in II Timothy 2:3...
“You therefore must endure hardship
as a GOOD SOLDIER OF JESUS CHRIST!”
Not “QUITTING” is more than just “DETERMINATION!” It is “DETERMINATION” but it is more than just that! It is the “ESSENCE OF FAITH!” PAUL’S “FAITH IN GOD” WAS GREATER THAN HIS SUFFERING! PAUL WAS DETERMINED TO “FINISH!”
“FINISHING” IS NOT JUST A PART OF WINNING! IT IS THE “ESSENCE OF WINNING!” WITHOUT “FINISHING” THERE WOULD BE NO “CHAMPION!”
WITHOUT A DOUBT
CHAMPIONS FINISH!
III. I HAVE KEPT!
Paul was a “KEEPER!” It was his intention to “KEEP” that which he had been intrusted with. “KEEP” that which was precious not only in his eyes but the Heavenly Father’s Eyes! That which had been intrusted to him to “KEEP” alive the PRECIOUS FAITH FROM GOD!
In doing so Paul understood the trials, battles, hurts, pains, disappointments & sorrows he had endured! But he understood it was little compared to what Jesus Christ had endured & what waited for him on the other side of this life.
His was a statement of “DEFIANCE & TRIUMPH!” “DEFIANCE” to the enemy of his soul & the world who tried to break him of his “PRECIOUS FAITH!” & “TRIUMPH” in his spirit for that which God had given him & the decisions he had made in FAVOR OF HIS LORD!
Paul says...
“I have kept the Faith...”
Folk, there is nothing wrong with rejoicing in VICTORY! Today we’re going to see 1 team rejoice in their hard fought, hard earned & much deserved Victory of the Super Bowl 2009!
But greater than any Super Bowl is that someday soon we’re going to be able to REJOICE, IN A HARD FOUGHT, HARD EARNED & MUCH DESERVED VICTORY WHEN WE STAND AT THE GATES OF HEAVEN, THE JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST & WE HEAR... “WELL DONE! WELL DONE YOU GOOD & FAITHFUL SERVANT! ENTER INTO THE JOY OF THE LORD!”
Paul had kept the “FAITH!” He knew without “FAITH” it was & still is IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD! IN “KEEPING THE FAITH” HE KNEW HE HAD “PLEASED GOD!”
OUR GREATEST GOAL IN LIFE SHOULD BE TO PLEASE GOD! THEREIN LIES THE “SUPER BOWL VICTORY OF LIFE!”
The world looks at & asks Paul, “Paul, now that you’ve won the Super Bowl of Life” where are you going next? He doesn’t say, “I’M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD IN ORLANDO!” NO WAY!
Paul sums up his “CHAMPIONSHIP DISCOURSE” by declaring:
“Therefore there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day,
& not to me only but also to ALL who have loved His appearing.”
The “ALL” Paul refers to are those who have “FOUGHT THE FIGHT, FINISHED THE RACE, & KEPT THE FAITH! THOSE WHO ARE READY & LOOKING FOR HIS RETURN!
Conclusion;
Folk, nobody on those two teams playing the Super Bowl today woke up there by accident! Nobody in those clubs didn’t expect to get there! Every single one of them from the owners to the water boys had every “INTENTION & EXPECTATION” of getting to where they are today! They wouldn’t be there had they not!
So here were are today. Now I bring it down to “YOU!” “YOU” will not make to heaven by accident! “YOU” will not get there by “NOT” CONTENDING OR FIGHTING, “YOU” will not get there by “NOT” FINISHING THE RACE! “YOU” will not get there by “NOT” KEEPING THE FAITH!
“YOU” have a “CHOICE” to make! Are you going to “CHOOSE” to be a “CHAMPION” or are you just going to be one of those who just gets by? Takes the easy way. Paul was not one to take the EASY WAY! I could say there was NO EASY WAY but there always is an EASY WAY!
Others chose the “EASY WAY” to obscurity, never heard of again! Never making an impact or even a dent on the world for Christ! How about “YOU?” ARE “YOU” A “CHAMPION?” MORE IMPORTANTLY:
WILL “YOU” BE A “CHAMPION?”
