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).
God gave us not only a complete type of entering the kingdom of the heavens in the Old Testament but also a good pattern in the New Testament. This pattern is the apostle Paul. In the New Testament Paul was a pattern of one who pursued to enter the kingdom of the heavens. He wagered his entire life on the pursuit of the beloved kingdom of the Lord whom he loved. His living throughout the course of his whole life was a living in pursuit of the kingdom of the heavens. His word shows his heart to strive and endeavor in this matter. He placed his whole being in a race for the kingdom of the heavens in order to gain the prize of the kingdom of the heavens. He ran in a specific way and boxed in a focused way in order to run well to obtain the crown of the kingdom of the heavens. He exercised self-control in all things and buffeted his body without looseness, lest having preached the word of pursuing the kingdom to others, he would be disapproved by the Lord and fail to enter the kingdom of the heavens. In the original Greek buffet my body means to “beat the face under the eye black and blue.” This shows that he was in fear and trembling, that he did not care for anything else, that he paid any price, and that he expended his all for the kingdom. He wrote this passage to the Corinthian believers in his early years, proving that from early in his Christian life, he was striving and pursuing to enter the kingdom of the heavens.
2. “Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward. Let us therefore, as many as are full-grown, have this mind; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, this also God will reveal to you. Nevertheless whereunto we have attained, by the same rule let us walk” (Phil. 3:12-16).
Paul wrote this word when he was old and imprisoned in a Roman jail. This word shows that Paul endeavored to pursue an entrance into the kingdom of the heavens not only when he was young but even when he was old. By this time he had served the Lord faithfully for several decades, yet he kept running, not thinking that he had already laid hold of that for which the Lord had laid hold of him. He continued to pursue, forgetting the things which were behind and stretching forward to the things which were before; he was not content with his past achievements. Instead, he forgot all the former things and pressed ahead for the prize—the kingdom of the heavens—to which God in Christ Jesus had called him upward. Paul endeavored to run the course for entering the kingdom of the heavens. From his youth throughout his old age, he was always pursuing the kingdom of the heavens.
Paul pursued to enter the kingdom of the heavens, and he also charged others to pursue in the same way, because he was an example, a pattern to us all (1 Tim. 1:16). In 1 Corinthians 9 he exhorts us to run the race for the prize of the kingdom of the heavens, and in Philippians 3 he tells us that even those who are full-grown among us need to have a heart to pursue the kingdom of the heavens. He also is confident that God would reveal whether or not we are otherwise minded in this matter. He encourages us to continue to walk by the same rule whereunto we have attained, having a constant desire to pursue an entrance into the kingdom of the heavens. This word shows that the apostle wanted us to maintain a mind to pursue the kingdom of the heavens in all things, just as he spent his all in order to pursue it.
3. “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will recompense me in that day, and not only me but also all those who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7-8).
This is the victorious word that Paul spoke as he was about to leave this earth. He earnestly pursued to enter the kingdom of the heavens, and he continued to pursue right up until the time he left this earth. He fought the good fight for the Lord, finished his course of following the Lord to enter the kingdom of the heavens, and kept the faith by holding the Lord’s word; therefore, he could say that there was a crown laid up for him that the Lord would give him in the day of His return. Paul constantly endeavored to run the course to enter the kingdom, to follow the Lord, and to be faithful unto death, so he knew that according to the Lord’s righteousness, the Lord would give him what he had pursued his entire life. He was assured that he would receive the crown of the kingdom of the heavens and that he would receive the Lord’s reward of entering the kingdom of the heavens and inheriting the kingdom.
Even at the time of his departure, Paul did not forget that all those who loved the Lord, lived for Him, and loved His appearing would receive the same reward from the Lord and would enter the kingdom of the heavens. He knew that he was established by the Lord as a pattern for pursuing an entrance into the kingdom of the heavens and that whoever similarly pursued would receive the reward of the kingdom and inherit the precious kingdom of the Lord’s love.
4. “The Lord...will save me into His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:18).
This is Paul’s last word concerning his pursuit to enter the kingdom of the heavens. It is such a glorious word! He was about to be executed, but he knew deeply that his final end would not be death; rather, it would be the kingdom of the heavens for which he had wagered his whole life to pursue. Death for him was only something to pass through, and the kingdom of the heavens was his glorious destination. For the sake of this kingdom, he had fought the good fight, run the course, kept the faith, and exhausted all that he was, all he could do, and everything he had. Now for this heavenly kingdom, he would give himself in death to be a drink offering poured out upon his service before the Lord whom he believed, loved, followed, and served. His entire life on this earth had been wrecked for the Lord, and all he was and had was given to the Lord. The Lord’s heart’s desire was Paul’s heart’s desire; the Lord’s goal was Paul’s goal. He lost himself in the Lord to such a great extent that he could lose himself completely in Him in death without reservation. Therefore, he knew that the Lord would bring in the heavenly kingdom and that he would enter into it; he knew that the Lord would enjoy the heavenly kingdom and that he would participate in it. Since he was completely lost in the Lord and completely mingled as one with Him, he knew that the kingdom of the heavens would become his destination and home. Thus, at this time Paul could say and even dared to say, “The Lord...will save me into His heavenly kingdom.” This was the proclamation of an old warrior on the spiritual battlefield just before his death. It was also his message to the companions whom he had to leave behind on the road to the kingdom of the heavens. May he always be our pattern in our pursuit of the kingdom of the heavens. May he often be our encouragement as we run the Lord’s race. May we be like him, wagering our entire life to endeavor to pursue the reward of the kingdom of the heavens. In the end may we also be able to declare like Paul that there is a crown of righteousness laid up for us by the Lord, who will save us into His heavenly kingdom.