Training To Win

TRAINING TO WIN

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER

Many are called few are chosen

Matthew 22:9-14 (KJV) Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. [10] So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. [11] And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: [12] And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. [13] Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [14] For many are called, but few are chosen.

He had failed to appropriate what the king provided for he was not wearing the proper wedding clothes. (Apparently the king gave them all wedding clothes as they arrived, for they came off the streets [v. 10]. A person must respond not only outwardly, but also he must be rightly related to God the King by appropriating all the King provides.) Consequently this guest was cast out into a place of separation and suffering. (For comments on weeping and gnashing of teeth, see 13:42.) While the kingdom had now been expanded to include individuals from all races and backgrounds (many are invited), there is an election (few are chosen). And yet individual response is essential.

Will you be the few good man?

In the bible we find that God chooses only a few good men.

In the bible we see God using the minority instead of the majority.

Matthew 7:14 (KJV) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Why? Not because he doesn’t want to use the majority cause he can only find so few good men.

This morning question to you is do you want to be the few good man?

1 Cor. 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

If you want to win? What must you do?

TRAIN

In the ancient Greek Olympic games, an athlete would begin training at least 10 months before the race. This training involved rigorous discipline. It included the athlete’s diet, his sleep habits, his exercise routine, and his daily running.

His goal was literally to punish his body until he was in the best possible shape to win. Then, one month before the games, the athlete would move to Corinth, 10 miles from where the games were held. He was assigned a personal coach who put him through additional rigors in preparation for the race. This meant early rising and long days spent lifting weights, exercising, pushing himself to the edge of his strength. All this was done in order to prepare to run the race of his life.

Whatever his success, it was due, to a great extent, to his preparation. No training is more important than that done for the marathon.

So it is in the Christian life. If we are to run the race in life that God has set for us, we must develop a lifestyle of discipline in order to win that race. As one noted basketball coach once stated, “The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.”

We Christians must prepare to win through training, discipline, and hard work. You enter God’s race when you receive by faith the free gift of eternal life through Jesus. You will run that race until you die and inherit what God has prepared for you.

Paul’s commitment to this course of ministry did not come easily. It required personal discipline (strict training) like that of an athlete who strove for supremacy in his field.

To that end Paul willingly gave up certain privileges which might otherwise be his to enjoy so that he could win the prize.

We need to understand that when we were born again the devil gets to angry and he doesn’t give up. He will try to destroy through tempting you to sin so that you will not be able to win the race.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV) Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.