Lessons From Marathon I. Introduction A. We are familiar with the "marathon," a long distance run that occurs yearly in such cities as Chicago, New York, Boston, etc. B. The marathon is reckoned at 26 miles and 385 yards (or, in metric terms, 42 kilometers and 195 meters) C. So far the fastest marathon run occurred in 2002 and was 2 hours 5 minutes and 38 seconds! D. The marathon is not a new idea; it is actually a memorial to a legendary event in the history of Ancient Greece E. In 490 BCE, the Athenian Greeks fought the Persians on the plain of Marathon and defeated them, and legend says that a man named Phidippides ran the 26 miles and 385 yards to announce the victory to the Athenians F. He made it, shouted "nike," which means "victory!" and promptly died of exhaustion G. If we take some time today to examine the battle of Marathon and Phidippides' run afterward we may gain some lessons about spiritual truths in the New Testament H. Let us now see what lessons we can learn from Marathon II. The Historical Event A. 490 BCE: Conflict between Persia and Greece 1. The mighty Persian empire, the same Persia we read about in the books of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, etc., had spread west into Asia Minor, now known as Turkey 2. There Greeks from the west had already planted colonies and during a revolt 20 years or so earlier, the mainland lent support to the revolt 3. In order to end this threat and further enlarge his territory, King Darius I sent an army to Greece to conquer it 4. The Persians and the forces from Athens in Greece met at the Plain of Marathon in 490 BCE B. The Battle 1. The Athenians were heavily outnumbered by the Persians, yet had the better fighting style for the battle a. Persians favored the bow and arrow from a distance b. Athenians favored the hoplites: heavily armed men in interlocked clusters c. Plain of Marathon tucked in between mountains and the sea 2. The day Militiades was leader of the Athenian army, he gave the order to fight 3. Battle hard-fought, but the Athenians were overwhelmingly victorious 4. Persians fled to their ships C. The Aftermath 1. Militiades was concerned about the potential for the remaining Persians to travel around the peninsula of Attica and threaten Athens a. the Persians would be deceiving the Athenians into thinking that their forces had been defeated b. The Athenians would perhaps surrender, fearing the worst; the battle of Marathon would be for nothing! 2. Militiades searches for someone who would be able to go ahead of the army to deliver the news of the victory to Athens 3. Phidippides, a professional runner, was found a. a professional runner in those days would be used to deliver messages as fast as was possible in those days b. He must have still been very battle-weary D. The First Marathon 1. Phidippides runs the 26+ miles from Marathon to Athens 2. Delivers his message: "Nike!" (Victory!) 3. Dies of exhaustion 4. Successful? Partly. The Athenians were skeptical and did not know fully what to make of this message E. Postscript 1. Militiades and the Athenian army arrived before the Persian fleet was sighted in Piraeus (the port of Athens) 2. The Athenians recognized that victory was theirs and the Persians, seeing that the Athenian army had beaten them back to Athens, sailed back to their camps and eventually Asia Minor 3. The Persians had been repulsed, and this victory, along with the Greek victories against Xerxes 10 years later, allowed Greece to remain free F. Let us now see what we can learn from Marathon III. Spiritual Lessons from Marathon A. I: They were at war. 1. This may sound like an obvious and silly lesson, but it is very true 2. The courage, bravery, and heroics on the plain of Marathon occurred because the Athenians and Persians knew that they were at war and the former knew that their liberty and way of life was at stake 3. We are currently at war against the forces of sin and darkness, and our liberty and salvation in Christ Jesus are at stake a. Ephesians 6:10-17 b. we must take up the armor of God in our fight against the powers of darkness B. II: The enemy was deceptive. 1. War is not "fair" 2. The Persians could certainly attempt to sail to Athens and put on the show that they had won 3. This fear was justified, for the Persians did attempt just that 4. Our enemy, Satan, is not fair, but deceptive! a. We may be able to defeat him on one battle ground, but can he not attempt to find another temptation that could bring us down while we are encouraged by our earlier victory? b. Luke 4:13: Satan departed from Jesus after His success against Satan's temptations, but only left until he could find a more "opportune time" to tempt Jesus again c. Hebrews 3:13: we must encourage one another constantly lest any of us be "hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" d. 1 Peter 5:8: Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking to devour anyone and everyone, and a man content and complacent after a victory can be very easy prey C. III/IV: Phidippides was motivated and therefore endured 1. Place yourself in his position: he does not know what will happen in the future. The threat of the Persians deceiving the Athenians is very real, and if he does not succeed in his mission, his family, his city, and maybe even his civilization will be no more 2. Therefore, even after fighting a long, hard day of battle, in armor and weapons weighing over 80 pounds and in the heat of the summer, Phidippides ran the 26+ miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver the critical message to the people 3. The same is true for us today: we have a message-- the Gospel-- that must be delivered to lost souls to save them from the bondage of sin and death and be delivered into life eternal (Romans 1:16) 4. We do not even need to run 26 miles after a hard day of battle to deliver the message; we are given the opportunity to preach the Gospel within our own households, to our neighbors, to any and all we come in contact with 5. Matthew 10:22: we must endure 6. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27: Paul uses the very example of a race to demonstrate the need for endurance D. V: Despite minimal success immediately, lasting fame is achieved 1. Phidippides was not the most successful: the message was not fully believed until Militiades returned 2. The run was also not necessary in the end since the army returned to Athens before the Persians reached the Piraeus 3. Yet we in the 21st century, almost 2500 years later, still remember the Marathon of Phidippides and thousands of people run a marathon as a testament to the endurance of the human body 4. We as Christians may not always be successful in our efforts of preaching the Gospel; we may, in fact, be rarely successful, but for our preaching and for our endurance we gain entrance into the Book of Life and the Kingdom of Heaven 5. 1 Corinthians 15:54-58: our work in the Lord is not in vain; for even if it does not bring forth results on Earth it does bring forth results for Heaven IV. Conclusion A. We have seen that there is much to learn from Marathon B. We are at war, our enemy is deceptive, if we are motivated we can endure, and even if we do not accomplish much on Earth we shall gain Heaven C. We are at war, brethren and friends, and we must choose our side 1. Will we fight to preserve our freedom from sin and death and be on the Lord's side? 2. Or will you fight for the wrong and hinder what is good and holy? D. We must choose our side; there is no middle ground E. We encourage you to choose the Lord's side today F. If you have fought for sin and death and see the need for God, let us help you today G. If you are battle-weary and have lost ground to the wrong, let us encourage you as we stand and sing