ILLUSTRATION: THE THREE PREACHERS
1945 was an amazing year for evangelists. World War II was over, evil had been conquered in Europe and in the Pacific, and there was an immense yearning in America to get back to family, stability, and Christian values. While that took a bad turn here with the rise of the apartheid government, America saw the unleashing of three great evangelists. All three men were in their mid-twenties.

The first was Chuck Templeton. As a young man of 18, he was working for a sports magazine, and one night at his bedside, after drinking too much in debauched places, he had a warm-glow conversion experience, and became a fire-brand for Christ. He started to preach for Youth for Christ with enormous results. His evangelistic crusades would fill stadiums, and dozens of churches sprung up following his preaching conventions. He began a church that grew to more than 1200 in one year's time. He quickly rose to the top of protestant evangelism. He hosted the weekly radio show "Look Up and Live" on CBS radio. Cutting against racial sentiments, he arranged the first integrated public evangelistic meeting south of the Mason-Dixon line in the USA.

One seminary president, after hearing Chuck Templeton preach one evening to an audience of thousands, called him "the most gifted and talented young man in America today for preaching." As a matter of fact, in 1946, the National Association of Evangelicals published an article on men who were "best used of God" in that organization's five-year existence. The article highlighted the ministry of Chuck Templeton. His preaching partner during the evangelistic crusades across America and Europe, who was not mentioned in the article, was a Bob Jones University graduate named Billy Graham.

The second great evangelist was Bron Clifford, yet another gifted, twenty five year old fireball. In 1945, many believed Clifford the most gifted and powerful preacher the church had seen in centuries. In that same year, Clifford preached to an auditorium of thousands in Miami, Florida - people lined up ten and twelve deep outside the auditorium trying to get in. His crusades took him all over the US and Europe. At age 25, Clifford had touched more lives, influenced more leaders, and set more attendance records than any other clergyman his age in American history. National political leaders wanted to meet with him. He was tall, handsome, intelligent, and eloquent. In fact, in 1947, Hollywood invited him to audition for a leading part in the movie, The Robe, about Jesus' death and resurrection.

The third young evangelist was none other than Billy Graham who was Templeton's preaching partner with Youth for Christ. Eventually branching out on his own, his impassioned pleas for the gospel have gone around the globe and lasted for more than 60 years.

Templeton, Clifford, Graham. What Happened to these men?
Chuck Templeton, convinced that he needed an education to be the Christian leader he needed to be, enrolled in seminary … and two years later in 1949 came out an agnostic. He left the ministry, parted company with his close friend Billy Graham, and decided he was no longer a Christian in the orthodox sense of the term, and did not believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God. By 1950, he no longer believed in the validity of the claims of Jesus Christ at all. He pursed a career as a radio and television commentator and newspaper columnist. He became the editor of the Daily Star (after which the Daily Planet is named). Over the years, he wrote articles against Christianity, eventually writing the book, "Farewell to God, My Reasons For Rejecting The Christian Faith." He died in 2001 of Alzheimer's Disease.

What about Bron Clifford? By 1954, Clifford had lost his ministry, his family, his health, and then . . .his life. After a few years of preaching, alcohol and financial irresponsibility did him in. He wound up leaving his wife and their two Down's syndrome children. At just thirty five years of age, this once great preacher died from cirrhosis of the liver in a run-down motel on the edge of Amarillo, Texas. His last job was selling used cars on the dusty edge of town. Some pastors in Amarillo took up a collection among themselves in order to purchase a casket so that his body could be shipped back East for decent burial in a cemetery for the poor.

Only Billy Graham has stayed true to the faith. Only Billy Graham is finishing well. In 1945, three men with extraordinary gifts were preaching the gospel to multiplied thousands across America. Within ten years, only one of them was still on track for Christ.

TEXT: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
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. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Steve Ferrar stated in his landmark book, Finishing Strong, that in the Christian life, it's not how you start that matters; it's how you finish. That's what the Apostle Paul was looking at here in this passage - finishing strong. Statistics repeatedly bear out that only 1 out of 10 men finish strong. And that's not just men in ministry, that is Christian men in general.

PRAYER

ILLUSTRATION: John Bisagno is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Houston, Texas. When John was just about to finish Bible college at age 21, he was having dinner over at his fiancé's house one night. After supper, he was talking with his future father-in-law, Dr. Paul Beck, out on the porch. Dr. Beck had been in ministry for years and he turned to John and he said this. "John, as you get ready to enter the ministry, I want to give you some advice. Stay true to Jesus! Make sure that you keep your heart close to Jesus every day. It's a long way from here to where you're going to go, and Satan's in no hurry to get you. It has been my observation that just one out of ten who start out in full time service for the Lord at twenty-one are still on track by the age of sixty-five. They're shot down morally, they're shot down with discouragement, they're shot down with wrong theology, they get obsessed with making money . . . but for one reason or another, nine out of ten fall out."

John was shocked. "I just can't believe that!" he said. "That's impossible! That just can't be true." John went home that night, took one of those blank pages in the back of his Scofield Reference Bible, and wrote down the names of twenty-four young men who were his peers and contemporaries who showed great promise. These were young men in their twenties who were sold out for Jesus Christ. They were trained for ministry and burning in their desire to be used by the Lord. These were the committed young preachers who would make an impact for the Lord in their generation.

Pastor John Bisagno today would relate the following to us with a sigh: "I am now fifty-four years old. From time to time as the years have gone by, I've had to turn back to that page in my Bible and cross out a name. I wrote down those twenty-four names when I was just twenty one years of age. Thirty-three years later, there are only three names remaining of the original twenty-four."

In the Christian life, it's not how you start that matters. It's how you finish. Finishing strong doesn't mean finishing perfect or flawless, and a person can still finish strong even though he had a poor start or tripped along the way. When we scan the Scripture, we can see men who finished strong - men like Abraham, Job, Joseph, Joshua, Caleb, Elijah, Daniel, John, Paul, Peter. These men all had bumps in the road and messed up at times, but they finished strongly for the Lord. Notice names that are missing? Noah, Moses, Eli, Gideon, Samson, David, Solomon.

Analyzing the Text: The Analogy of a Foot Race
Remember the context of this passage:
1. Not slowing down the gospel even though I am not getting paid (vv. 1-18) - We should give sacrificially for God's work.
2. Not slowing down the gospel because I refuse to adapt to my surrounding culture (vv. 19-23) - We should force ourselves out of our comfort zone to reach others with the gospel.
3. Not slowing down the gospel because I am not careful in my own moral purity (vv. 24-27) - We have to keep ourselves squeaky clean and finish strong

1. Stadium Track (v. 24)
- Those who run in a race - stadion - a race course that was 600 feet or 185 meters, found in every city
- One receives the prize - prize
- So run in such a way that you may obtain it - lay hold of, seize - used for a demon taking hold of a person, the day of judgment grabbing the wicked
- Reminds us of Hebrews 12:1-2 - lay aside weights and besetting sins

2. Strict Training (v. 25)
- Everyone who competes [strives for the mastery] for the prize - agonizomai - strives for mastery, agonizes for, labor fervently, contend for
- Is temperate in all things - self controlled, depriving oneself of indulgences in food, drink, and sex - (NIV) goes into strict training - used in chapter 7 "if they cannot contain themselves, let them marry"
- They do it to obtain a perishable [corruptible] crown - stephanos - a wreath of greens, sometimes celery leaves, to the winner - wilting soon, no good after a day or two

3. Serious Tenacity (v. 26)
- I don't run with uncertainty (aimlessly, without a path or a plan) - I live my life with focus - look to the tape but watch your step
- I don't fight (box) as one who beats the air (shadow boxing) - dero aero (play on words)

4. Striking Trauma (v. 27)
- But I discipline - to beat black and blue, to smite so as to cause bruises and livid spots, like a boxer buffets his body, handles it roughly, and disciplines it through hardships. Metaphorically to the Greeks - to give someone intolerable annoyance, beat one out, or wear one out.
- My body - Notice that Paul identifies the body as the main problem in serving the Lord and finishing strong. The main thing that makes discipline hard is our feelings. When we need to run and get fit, we don't feel like it, we feel pain everywhere. In the Christian life, there is a constant battle between passion and principle - doing what we feel like doing or doing what we know is right.
Howard Hendricks wanted to study fallen pastors to find out what happened. Sadly, he was able to interview 245 pastors who had fallen in the previous two years - that's 5 pastors per week. He found that men with lust issues typically also battle with financial struggles (pastors who fall morally almost always have had shady financial dealings) because they live by passion … their feelings, and are not disciplined by their own principles. He also said that when a man or woman fall, they don't fall very far - there has been a hidden pattern in the person's life that made him or her easy prey. Bodily impulses must be kept in check!
- Bring it into subjection - lead it way as a slave
- Lest when I have preached to others - when I have a reputation as a Christian and as a leader
- I myself should become disqualified - a disapproved metal or coin - a wooden nickel, a cast-away, throw-away

Steve Farrar points out that these men don't finish strong because they respond poorly to ambushes. Here are a few:
1. The ambush of another woman - Samson, David, and Solomon
2. The ambush of alcohol - Noah, Lot
3. The ambush of money - Demas, Jesus said it was #1 thing to keep us from God
4. The ambush of a neglected family - Eli, Samuel, David

ILLUSTRATION: Poem - The Race

Defeat! He lay there silently, a tear dropped from his eye.
There's no sense running anymore - three strikes, I'm out - why try?"
The will to rise had disappeared, all hope had fled away,
So far behind, so error prone, closer all the way.

"I've lost, so whats the use," he thought, "I'll live with my disgrace."
But then he thought about his dad who soon he'd have to face.
"Get up," an echo sounded low, "Get up and take your place.
You were not meant for failure here, so get up and win the race."
With borrowed will, "Get up," it said, "You haven't lost at all,
For winning is not more than this - to rise each time you fall."

So up he rose to win once more, and with a new commit,
He resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn't quit.
So far behind the others now, the most he'd ever been,
Still he gave it all he had, and ran as though to win.
Three times he'd fallen stumbling, three times he rose again,
Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner as he crossed the line, first place,
Head high and proud and happy; no falling, no disgrace.
But when the fallen youngster crossed the line, last place,
The crowd gave him the greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last, with head bowed low, unproud;
You would have thought he'd won the race, to listen to the crowd.

And to his dad he sadly said, "I didn't do so well."
"To me, you won," his father said. "You rose each time you fell."

And now when things seem dark and hard, and difficult to face,
The memory of that little boy helps me in my race.
For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all,
And all you have to do to win … is rise each time you fall.
"Quit! Give up, you're beaten," they still shout in my face.
But another voice within me says, "Get up and win that race."
AUTHOR UNKNOWN

To keep on track, Steve Farrar gave four reinforcement "stay" principles - I'll add two more:
1. Stay in the scriptures
2. Stay on your knees
3. Stay close and accountable to a friend
4. Stay away from other women (avoid being alone) and listen to your wife's warnings
5. Stay watchful to the devices of the enemy
6. Stay alert as the jail keeper of your feelings - "I don't feel like doing that"

To my neighbour, a heart of love;
To my God, a heart of fire;
To myself, a heart of iron. - Augustine

Young men may ask, "Dave, will I make it to the end? Will I finish strong?" Statistically, the chances are 90% that you will fail.

ILLUSTRATION: When they got married, our Joshua gave his new bride, Celeste, an ostrich egg. That sounds strange until you realize what he was getting at. You see, a female ostrich lays between 40 and 100 eggs a season, but only one out of 10 eggs actually hatches a live chick. This is one reason there are so many eggs available in curio shops. Only 1 in 10 eggs hatch; only 1 in 10 men finish well. Josh said to Celeste, I commit to you that I will be that 1 in 10.