1 Corinthians 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others… I. WHAT IS IT TO BE A "CASTAWAY"? One who had been pronounced by the judges to be disqualified for the Greek games, or one who, having been permitted to enter into the contest, fails. Or the expression may have reference to metals, which, when the mass has been "proved" to be dross, is rejected. Thus we read of "reprobate silver." The theological idea of reprobation does not belong to this word, it is simply intrinsic worthlessness, brought to light by the scrutiny of God's eye, the searching efficacy of His Word, or a providential dispensation. 1. From whom may we be castaway. (1) God. God "drove out the man" Adam; and Cain "went out from the presence of the Lord"; and David says, "Cast me not away from Thy presence," &c. (2) Christ, who said, "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out." Yet He drove the buyers and sellers out of the Temple; ejected demons; denounced the scribes and Pharisees, and foretold to them their doom. (3) The Spirit of God, who "will not always strive with men." "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost," said Stephen to the Jewish nation; and at length the Jewish nation was cast away. A man may sin till the Spirit of God will let him alone. (4) Good men; rejected of the Church, excommunicated. The salt having lost its savour is good for nothing but to be cast away. (5) Certain societies. You are blackballed, and your rejection may involve shame and infamy. (6) The angels of God. Did they not turn their backs upon Sodom? Did they not smite Egypt? (7) Yourselves; and this in the case of an apostate is not that salutary self-loathing which is associated with hope and pardon, but that of darkness and despair. 2. When? In part now; as when a man is excluded from the fellowship of the wise and good. Yet very often this may not be carried into effect; just as in the case of the tares, Christ told His disciples to let them grow together until harvest. The time of final discrimination, then, is the end of the man's earthly probation. When he departs from this world, he is rejected of heaven. We read of those who were "without," of the virgins who were cast away; of those to whom Christ will say, "Depart from Me, I never knew you, ye workers of iniquity." The most affecting thing in the universe is to be "a castaway," finally and for ever rejected. II. THE MEANS WHICH THE APOSTLE TOOK TO PREVENT THIS. The text is only one among many. 1. He abjured confidence in himself, and his own virtue and excellence (Philippians 3.). He grounds his hope of eternal life on the atonement of Christ, and resting as he did in Christ, it was impossible for him to be "a castaway." 2. He lived, and loved, and laboured by faith (Galatians 2:20). It is when the love of Christ is not present in a man's heart and mind, that he is in danger of being a castaway. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha." 3. He kept near to God in prayer. If you cast off prayer, you will be in peril; if you continue in prayer and supplication, you will not. 4. Taking these points antecedently to the one suggested in the text, our course becomes clear. "But I keep under my body," &c. Now the apostle does not mean anything ascetical; but that the body was subjected to the reason; and if any one of you has acquired a mastery over the animal appetites and instincts, he is on his way not to be a castaway, but to be approved and glorified of God. 5. What comes after this is sweet and sacred resignation to the Divine will "I am ready, not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." 6. The final thing is that Paul laid aside every weight. "This one thing I do," &c. III. THE TRIUMPHANT ISSUE. I know not anyone name which surpasses that of Paul. He is no castaway as respects the honour done to his name in the Church. And then in the world how has his character been appreciated even by those who have rejected his doctrine! What an immense effect have his writings had on the condition of society and on human affairs! Then as respects his admission to heaven, one moment there is the axe of Nero, the next he hears, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (J. Stratten.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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