Losing Weight and Running Races [28mb]

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This is a sermon based on Hebrew 12:1-3.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction: This letter was written primarily to Jewish Christians who were undergoing substantial persecution for their faith and they had been banished from the use of the temple in Jerusalem. Some believers were abandoning their Christian faith and returning to former Jewish beliefs so they could resume their worship at the temple with the tangible benefits.

The author is trying to show them how their faith and their privileges are better now than before. Some writers affirm that one of the key words in Hebrews is the word "better." They have a better sacrifice, a better high priest, better access to God, etc.

Now in this particular passage, the author is trying to encourage them to keep believing and not give up. I would propose that this passage of Scripture presents some incentives from the past and encouragement in the present for the task that is at hand.

I. Incentives from the Past

v. 1a - Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses...

These are individuals and groups mentioned in the previous chapter where we learn what their faith was able to do for them. They witness or testify of a living, vibrant and effective faith. A witness is one who testifies only of those things that he or she knows to be fact from first-hand knowledge or experience. Witnesses are not permitted to testify about hearsay, or opinions, or conjectures.

The witnesses mentioned in chapter 11 "obtained a good report" (v.39), which means they acquired a good reputation because of their faith and the results that they received by their faith. This report continues to live on centuries later and now inspire New Testament believers to keep their faith as well in the midst of opposition and persecution.

II. The Encouragement in the Present

vv. 2-3 - "Looking unto Jesus..."

This verb is in the present tense which denotes an ongoing, continuous action. Their source of encouragement for the present and for all time is to keep looking at the Lord and following Him, rather than getting their eyes on other people.

A. Jesus is the author and finisher of our salvation.
All that is necessary for our redemption has not only been started by Jesus, but has been completed as well. Nothing else is needed for our salvation to be complete and perfect. Our Lord Jesus Christ paid the full price to accomplish all of this for each of us.

B. Jesus endured rather than evaded.
In verse 2, we read that he endured the cross. In verse 3, we read that he endured opposition to his ministry. The Christian life is one that requires endurance; not just for a little while, but for our whole lives. The message in Scripture over and over is "he that endures to the end will be saved, and will receive the crown of life."

III. The Task at Hand

A. Part of the task includes getting rid of extra baggage.

"Let us lay aside every weight." Weight refers to superfluous flesh that slows down the runner in a race. This wording gives the idea that he is not necessarily talking about sinful behaviors, but perhaps things that might be considered legitimate, yet they have the potential to distract and weigh us down if we do not exercise temperance and restraint.

We see this principle applied in all kinds of athletics today. Athletes will exercise, train, and avoid certain foods, activities, etc. in order to get in shape and stay in shape so they can run a race or play the game. This same attitude should be evident in the lives of believers as they strive to run this Christian race.

B. Part of the task includes getting rid of our besetting sin.

"... and the sin that so easily besets us..."  This is referring to the area of temptation that we are most likely to yield to. Everyone of us knows what our weak areas are and so does Satan. He is most likely to keep attacking us at our weakest point, because he knows that is the temptation that we have yielded to so many times before.

Jesus used the analogy, "If your eye offends you (causes you to sin), pluck it out...." Whether or not you believe that he meant this literally, the least he was saying is that we must take whatever measures are necessary in order to avoid committing that sin, so that we will not end up losing our soul in hell.

C. Part of the task includes just running the race.

This race of faith involves daily living out the principles and teachings of Christ. It is a marathon; not a sprint. We must stay true to the Word of God and follow the teachings and example of our Lord. We must remember that only those who are faithful to the end that receive the crown of life.

Let us not give up, but just like those mentioned in the previous chapter, and just like our Lord Jesus Christ, let us also keep faithfully serving and trusting until our race is over. Then we too will be able to say with the Apostle Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Now there is reserved for me a crown of life..."

Liberty Is God's Idea [28mb]

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This is a sermon that celebrates Independence Day and our nation's freedom as well as our spiritual freedom in Christ.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

Tomorrow our nation will be celebrating Independence Day and the birth of our country. Many people have referred to the United States of America as the greatest experiment in human freedom in the history of the world. I have heard some who make the claim that the only reason America has become such a great nation is because of its great freedoms; not just political and religious, but also economic freedom. One popular radio host has repeatedly stated that if we truly desired to “export” the prosperity of our country to the other countries of the world, the first and foremost necessity is to “export” the same type of freedom we have enjoyed for all these years.

I have also read and heard many comments over the years that have made a direct link between the basic principles of freedom outlined in the Bible and the principles found in our founding documents. I concur with these comments and therefore I have developed a message with the title, “Liberty is God’s idea.”

We will be referring to different passages in Scripture as we talk about the various principles related to the topic of freedom.

I. Liberty was woven into the very fabric of creation.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

2:15 ¹⁵Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

In these passages we find the first indication of free will and free choice given to humanity in creation.

Chapter one describes the fact that man was created in the image of God. There are many things that can be defined as part of the image of God in each one of us. Free will and the freedom to make real choices is obviously one of the characteristics of the divine image. It is one of those qualities that make us like our Creator. This image of God and this type of freedom sets us apart from the animal kingdom God created.

Some would argue that animals have liberty and freedom because they “can do anything they want to do.” Well, that is true to a certain extent. However, we must understand that is not genuine freedom as compared to the type of freedom that God granted to human beings.

Animals may “do anything they want to do,” but their “wants” are dictated by instincts; stimulus and response; and what we might call “basic animal passions.” In fact, sometimes we describe human beings as “living like animals” when they fail to practice self-discipline or self-restraint, but continually seek to satisfy every passion and desire of their fleshly or carnal nature.

Animals are so driven and “enslaved” by their natural instincts and passions, that it many times gets them into traps or even killed. An animal does not have the basic ability to analyze life situations and then restraint their habits and instincts for a longer better outcome and more enjoyable freedom.

Only people in God’s image have the ability to forfeit some immediate desire by intentional choice in order to gain a greater freedom in the long-term future. After all, true freedom is not the ability to do whatever one wants to do, but it is the ability and the strength to do what one ought to do.

The reference in Ch. 2 gives a hint regarding free will in the sense that God is giving a command, directive or instruction about something that He does not want the man and the woman to do – eat of the fruit that is in the middle of the garden. In spite of providing a mandate that they were expected to follow, God does not coerce or force them to obey; He allows them to make the choice whether to obey or not. With this fact, we observe that free will and freedom or liberty was part of God’s design.

This situation points out at least two interesting conclusions:

A. God could have guaranteed that they would obey Him by simply taking away their freedom to choose.

God could have simply eliminated the forbidden tree and its fruit from the garden. He could have provided a perfectly “sterile” environment with no possible choices to err or go astray. Then there would have been a perfect “obedience” or performance of every desire or plan of God. Or, God could have found some other method to force / coerce obedience. He was the Creator and Designer. He could have eliminated the free will aspect of their creation.

B. Since God did not eliminate their choice and “sterilize” their environment, and he gave the freedom to choose, it emphasizes the fact that freedom is a higher quality than perfect obedience.

We understand in all of Scripture that God wants us to obey Him. Yet, this scenario implies that obedience that comes by one’s free choice is much more desirable than obedience that comes as a result of coerced compliance. I believe that this is true because obedience by free choice speaks to the issue of love as a motive rather than just simple performance of a certain deed.

I’ve said many times that it seems rather obvious that the freedom to love someone or not means their love is of higher quality than love that is not free. I think this may shed some light on why God wanted us to have free will in the first place.

II. Liberty was woven into the fabric of national civic life.

Lev. 25 8-17 (NLT) “In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven years times seven, adding up to forty-nine years in all. ⁹Then on the Day of Atonement of the fiftieth year, blow the trumpets loud and long throughout the land. ¹⁰This year will be set apart as holy, a time to proclaim release for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you returns to the lands that belonged to your ancestors and rejoins your clan. ¹¹Yes, the fiftieth year will be a jubilee for you. During that year, do not plant any seeds or store away any of the crops that grow naturally, and do not process the grapes that grow on your unpruned vines. ¹²It will be a jubilee year for you, and you must observe it as a special and holy time. You may, however, eat the produce that grows naturally in the fields that year. ¹³In the Year of Jubilee each of you must return to the lands that belonged to your ancestors.

¹⁴“When you make an agreement with a neighbor to buy or sell property, you must never take advantage of [oppress] each other. ¹⁵When you buy land from your neighbor, the price of the land should be based on the number of years since the last jubilee. The seller will charge you only for the crop years left until the next Year of Jubilee. ¹⁶The more the years, the higher the price; the fewer the years, the lower the price. After all, the person selling the land is actually selling you a certain number of harvests. ¹⁷Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other. I, the LORD, am your God.

(International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) - Thus there are three distinct factors constituting the essential features of the Jubilee Year: personal liberty, restitution of property, and what we might call the simple life.

Without going into a lot of details about the O.T. law, I simply observe that liberty and freedom was built into the fabric of national civic life among the people of God. There were specific rules and laws given so that no one could oppress his fellow countryman or even “oppress” the land that was so vital for the growing of crops and food. Even the O.T. laws regarding treatment of aliens were written in such a way to prevent oppression of liberties.

III. Liberty was woven into the whole scheme of redemption.

John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³²And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” ³³They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” ³⁴Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ³⁶Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

It is truly ironic that the very freedom to choose may actually result in a type of slavery. While we celebrate the genius of God in granting free will to humanity in creation, we must understand that if man uses that freedom to choose disobedience and sin, it has the power to enslave him.

This truth is vividly described in the words of Jesus here in the Gospel of John. Jesus clearly proclaims that the commission of sin is evidence of the bondage of sin. Also see Romans 6:11-18; 7:19

The Apostle is echoing the same concept Jesus had taught – doing one’s own will and disobeying the will of God will bring about slavery to the sinful nature and we continually find ourselves yielding to temptation and powerless over the impulses of the carnal nature. This slavery and bondage to sin goes contrary to the very nature of God and His will for all mankind. God desires that we be free from sin. Deliverance from the bondage and victory over sin is God’s will for all of us.

Conclusion:

Liberty truly is God’s idea. I am convinced that the founding fathers of our nation understood this basic truth because of their understanding of the Holy Scriptures that was so much a part of the fabric of public and civic life back in those days. The seed of liberty is planted in the heart of every human being. Every human heart yearns to be free; except the ones who have squelched that desire through excessive pessimism and fatalism.

This liberty not only pertains to the human desire for freedom from tyranny and oppression in the political/national sense, but it also pertains to the desire to be free from the bondage of sinful deeds and desires.

There are many people in the world today that regularly got out and “live it up” in the pleasures of sin and immoral behavior. They boldly proclaim what a fun time they’re having; what happiness and joy they feel. Yet, when they get home and find themselves alone and quiet with some time to think, they are filled with remorse and regrets. They long for the strength to stop the cycle of “madness.” I’m glad that there is real freedom available through the blood of Jesus Christ and the wonderful grace of God.

Jesus said, “The truth shall make you free.”

Let us close our service today by singing an old patriotic favorite that emphasizes the role of God’s truth in our personal and national freedom. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”