Matthew Poole and continuators on 2 Timothy 2:5

5 And if a man also strive for masteries , yet is he not crowned , except he strive lawfully .

And look as it is in the publick games in use amongst you, where divers strive by wrestling, fighting, racing, where there is a Crown proposed as the prize for those who are the Conquerours in the Game:

They have not that Crown set upon their heads;

unless they keep to the Laws of that game wherein they are exercised. So it is i[illegible: 1 letter] the Spiritual Warfare, or Contest, there is a far greater reward, even a Crown of Glory, proposed for such as overcome, but none shall have it, unless those who keep to the Laws which God hath made for those who exercise themselves in that Spiritual Combate.

Marginal references: 1 Cor. 9.25.