back to index5-2-2021 Run With Endurance Part 2
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If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 12, we're going to be in part 2 of 00:00:19.160 |
Reading out of the NASB, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding 00:00:23.200 |
us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and 00:00:28.640 |
let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. 00:00:32.760 |
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him 00:00:37.240 |
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne 00:00:43.080 |
For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself so that you will 00:00:55.680 |
We pray for your Holy Spirit to teach us, to open our eyes, to shape our thoughts, our 00:01:02.040 |
emotions, our will, that it may all be surrendered to your word. 00:01:06.720 |
We pray, Father God, that your spirit would guide us, Lord God, that we may be sanctified, 00:01:11.080 |
that it would go forth and that your word would not come back until it has accomplished 00:01:17.600 |
We ask for your guidance in Jesus' name we pray. 00:01:21.200 |
All right, so this is part two of what we started last week about running this race. 00:01:26.320 |
And as we mentioned last week, the main imperative in this text is to run with endurance. 00:01:31.800 |
In English it says, "Let us fix our eyes, let us do this, let us do that." 00:01:36.100 |
And those are all supporting ideas of the main idea of let us run this race. 00:01:41.760 |
So the question I want to start with you this morning is, what race are you running? 00:01:48.720 |
And I'm not talking about what race did you sign up for. 00:01:55.480 |
We call the race of this life, what do we call it? 00:02:04.960 |
And there's a reason why they call it a rat race, right? 00:02:07.960 |
And rat race, everybody is in some kind of a race, right? 00:02:12.000 |
Competing, trying to get ahead, trying to be somebody. 00:02:18.280 |
And we invest money so that we can be at a next level. 00:02:22.000 |
And so every one of us is competing in some way. 00:02:28.480 |
But are we in the race that the rest of the world is in, or are we in the race that has 00:02:36.360 |
The rat race is basically constantly living for the next goal. 00:02:39.040 |
So if you're a college student, your primary goal is to graduate and get a job. 00:02:42.620 |
If you got a job, your primary goal is to make sure that you get a better job. 00:02:47.520 |
And then if you're making enough money, your primary goal next one is to find somebody 00:02:52.200 |
And if you're married, your primary goal is to have children and to raise them a certain 00:02:57.720 |
And then if you lived for a while, your primary goal is to have enough money in retirement 00:03:03.060 |
And then your primary goal is to make sure that your children are taken care of and your 00:03:13.120 |
Nevertheless, it is a race that we're constantly concerned about. 00:03:16.480 |
And each stage of our life has some other thing that we need to shoot for. 00:03:21.000 |
And we're constantly told that this is what an average 30-year-old has, an average 40-year-old 00:03:26.880 |
And by this age, you should have this because that's what everybody else has. 00:03:29.900 |
And so if that's what is driving us, you are in the rat race. 00:03:35.540 |
But the race that he has set before us is a race, he says, that we ought to run with 00:03:40.880 |
Now, we have 11 chapters of him telling us that this is the right race that you need 00:03:46.400 |
And then so chapter 12 and 13 is reminding us that in considering, in considering knowing 00:03:54.520 |
who Jesus is, if you confess that Jesus Christ is truly worthy of all our worship and attention, 00:04:03.600 |
So basically, what he's saying in these three verses is to be calling us out of the rat 00:04:08.480 |
race and to make sure that we're running the race that have eternal consequences. 00:04:12.520 |
You know, last week, I finished a message about that man who ran the race in Mexico, 00:04:18.080 |
Marathon, and I asked him, "Why did you suffer through with all the injuries that you had 00:04:23.680 |
for over 13 miles in order to finish this race?" 00:04:27.360 |
And again, he said, "My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race. 00:04:32.920 |
They sent me 5,000 miles to finish it, even if it took much longer." 00:04:37.980 |
So the call this morning to finish the race, you know, most of us have started the race 00:04:44.120 |
at some point, whether it was when you're a child, maybe in your 20s or 30s or 40s, 00:04:50.800 |
at some point, you met Christ, your eyes were open to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:04:56.400 |
But the challenge now is that these listeners, these recipients of this letter, they weren't 00:05:04.700 |
They were in danger of apostasy, not simply because they woke up one morning and realized, 00:05:13.980 |
Their problem wasn't one day they woke up and realized, "I don't know if I believe in 00:05:19.840 |
The pressures of life, the concerns for this world, for the safety of their children, for 00:05:25.480 |
the well-being of their future, caused them to get distracted and begin to ignore this 00:05:31.740 |
great salvation that they have, and they began to drift back into the rat race. 00:05:37.780 |
This is not a danger of just a few Christians. 00:05:47.360 |
We talked about last week when he challenged us to run this race with endurance, that we 00:05:51.520 |
ought to keep our eyes on the race that we're in. 00:05:56.280 |
That we may run this race to finish this race, and then to look back and see the cloud of 00:06:01.120 |
witnesses that have gone before us who have finished the race as well, that we would see 00:06:05.140 |
them as examples and inspiration for us to persevere in our race. 00:06:09.400 |
Today we want to look at verse 1 at the end of it, and when he says, "Let us lay aside 00:06:13.800 |
every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles." 00:06:20.120 |
You know, I did a quick search about the persecution, and I've been mentioning, and if you've been 00:06:24.760 |
following the news, the persecution against Christians has been rising rapidly in the 00:06:32.280 |
And even in this country, we've been hearing more and more rumors of our government targeting 00:06:37.640 |
Christians that if you believe in biblical Christianity, if you do not submit to the 00:06:44.240 |
liberal views, and again, that's not a Christianity at all, but if you don't submit to that, we're 00:06:50.920 |
We're going to take away the ability to be able to do church, your tax exemption plans, 00:06:58.260 |
Anybody who goes against the indoctrination that the government desires, we're going to 00:07:04.080 |
This is for the first time in this country, Christians are actually being targeted. 00:07:09.680 |
But in comparison to what's going on around the world, I mean, we're still living in comfort 00:07:18.440 |
According to Open Door's ministry, they said over 250 million Christians are severely persecuted 00:07:28.960 |
We're not talking about people who are just living in a place where it's not popular to 00:07:34.240 |
We're not talking about people who just get shunned at work for your faith. 00:07:37.920 |
We're talking about, he says, severe persecution, meaning that you're literally risking your 00:07:42.600 |
health, your life, your children, your sustenance in order to follow Christ. 00:07:51.000 |
One in nine Christians live in intense persecution. 00:07:54.880 |
There's been a 14%, 14% rise in this intense persecution in the last few years. 00:08:02.680 |
4,136 Christians were martyred for their faith just in 2019, according to record. 00:08:09.720 |
Martyrs, people who've given their life because they follow Christ. 00:08:14.480 |
Five years ago, North Korea was the only country on the list of the extreme persecuted countries, 00:08:33.800 |
If you remember, seven, eight years ago, when we first started going out to India, India 00:08:43.120 |
They're in the category of the 11 countries most severely persecuted, meaning that they 00:08:48.000 |
are literally risking their health and their lives. 00:08:51.000 |
Again, you've heard stories about our pastors there, right? 00:08:58.800 |
That's happening to all these pastors who are trying to share the gospel in remote villages. 00:09:04.680 |
But as bad as this situation is, that's not where the rubber meets the road for me and 00:09:11.840 |
It may shake us up and cause us to be concerned when the government threatens to shut us down 00:09:23.120 |
Most of us are not shaking in our boots day to day because of the threats that the government 00:09:29.320 |
We feel bad and we pray for the persecuted church all around the world, but that is not 00:09:35.000 |
the primary problem that you and I face day to day. 00:09:38.960 |
John Piper describes it this way in Hunger for God. 00:09:42.360 |
The greatest enemy of Hunger for God is not poison, but apple pie. 00:09:47.280 |
It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling 00:09:55.080 |
It is not the X-rated videos, but the prime time dribble of triviality we drink in every 00:10:03.560 |
It's not the persecution, it's not ISIS, it's not even our own government that is the greatest 00:10:10.640 |
Our greatest source of distraction, which destroys the church today, destroys our faith, 00:10:16.440 |
is the endless, tireless, day to day need to be entertained and amused. 00:10:24.280 |
You know, this is probably the only country, at least that I know of, that I hear regularly 00:10:33.920 |
They're bored because they're comparing it with entertainment. 00:10:36.560 |
Everything else seems exciting except their faith. 00:10:40.200 |
And part of the reason why is because, just like John Piper says, that we are constantly 00:10:46.920 |
We're not feasting at the world, we're nibbling at the world. 00:10:49.880 |
So by the time we come to church, there is no longer an appetite. 00:10:55.320 |
As I mentioned last week, when people backslide, that does not happen overnight. 00:10:59.060 |
You don't wake up one day and say, "You know what? 00:11:02.760 |
You see a gradual decline of interest toward Christ, a passion for the lost, and then the 00:11:08.240 |
singing of the songs, and when you open up the scriptures, it just seems like dull literature. 00:11:13.700 |
It feels more like homework than feeling like you're being spiritually fed. 00:11:18.220 |
And you see a gradual decline, and you just accept it as being normal. 00:11:22.820 |
So a month passes, weeks pass, years pass, and next thing you know, you become a great 00:11:30.540 |
Christian on surface, but inwardly, there is no spiritual hunger. 00:11:34.520 |
You remember what you were like when you were younger, but you become cynical. 00:11:40.340 |
Even when young people are passionate, it's like, "Yeah, I was like you one time. 00:11:42.820 |
I used to do that when I was young, but you wait until you have kids. 00:11:55.300 |
The church is being destroyed, not by persecution, not by ISIS, not by the threat of the governments, 00:12:00.540 |
but the constant dribble of nibbling at the banquet of the world. 00:12:07.780 |
And we will say we're not in the rat race, but every indication is that's exactly the 00:12:15.660 |
We're perfectly fine with the house that we bought until we see what other person has. 00:12:21.660 |
We're perfectly fine with the retirement fund we had until you hear that your friends have 00:12:27.540 |
We're perfectly fine with what our kids are doing until we compare with what other kids 00:12:34.820 |
And if we are not careful, we drift into this rat race. 00:12:43.780 |
First Corinthians 6.12, it says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are 00:12:49.340 |
All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." 00:12:52.940 |
In this race, the first thing that he calls us to is not, "Is it sinful?" 00:12:57.180 |
But the first thing that he tells us is, "Is it helpful? 00:13:03.820 |
If all you did was just sign up to the race, and your goal is not to finish the race. 00:13:12.620 |
We're just satisfied that we're in the race itself. 00:13:25.820 |
So this is what we would expect runners to look like. 00:13:37.620 |
They got the shirts, and all of them are even wearing tank tops. 00:13:41.700 |
It's not even short sleeve, because they don't want anything encumbering them. 00:13:45.300 |
So all they have is a number that shows that they're in the race, and everything else, 00:13:53.820 |
In fact, a long time ago, when they first started the Olympics, they ran naked. 00:14:00.460 |
So the only way to run without encumbrance is to take off whatever it was that they had. 00:14:09.220 |
And even the swimmers, some of you guys who swam, those of us who experienced swimming 00:14:17.280 |
But if you've ever competed, if you've ever known anybody who has really competed as a 00:14:22.540 |
swimmer, they'll shave off their head if they have to, to get that little edge. 00:14:28.320 |
Because whatever encumbrance that they have, that's going to slow them down to not to win, 00:14:44.440 |
My guess is he's just having fun, or maybe his wife told him to lose some weight, and 00:14:50.520 |
then he signed up, but he really wasn't interested, so he just kind of in the race. 00:14:55.360 |
And then the next guy, these guys clearly don't care. 00:15:00.000 |
They're in the race probably to get their picture taken. 00:15:05.000 |
So as soon as this picture is taken, I don't believe they may have finished their race, 00:15:12.980 |
But you can tell just by what they're wearing, they're probably not that serious. 00:15:17.520 |
I looked up to see if these marathons have rules and what they can and cannot wear. 00:15:22.880 |
And I realized that there are some marathons were very strict. 00:15:27.920 |
And there are certain marathons where they don't have any regulations. 00:15:33.720 |
And so if we're asking the question in our pursuit, in our race, is it sinful? 00:15:40.520 |
And if that's the standard, and that's the only standard that we use, is it sinful? 00:15:46.560 |
Then it's just like a marathon runner, it's like, well, is it legal? 00:15:50.760 |
Is there anything in the books that says that I can't be dressed like a chicken? 00:15:57.960 |
I can pay it and get the sign, get my picture taken, and I can say that I ran the marathon. 00:16:03.600 |
So on paper, you ran the marathon, but you didn't actually run the marathon. 00:16:11.040 |
Oftentimes, one of the most common questions that we get is, is it sinful? 00:16:16.600 |
And the reason why we get that question is, can I do it? 00:16:19.560 |
How far can I go to the line before I cross it? 00:16:22.960 |
And many people are living right on that line. 00:16:27.520 |
And they say, I don't know if that's profitable. 00:16:36.120 |
See the instruction that he's given us, in order to run this race with endurance to win, 00:16:41.920 |
he said first and foremost, he says, every encumbrance. 00:16:46.500 |
So our standard of running this race to win is, is this helpful? 00:16:57.740 |
In 1 Peter 2, 1 through 3, it says, therefore putting aside all malice, not some malice, 00:17:06.940 |
He said, all malice, all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander, like newborn babies 00:17:18.300 |
You know, if you've ever been in the room when a child comes into this world, and it's 00:17:23.180 |
amazing because first thing that they do is they want food. 00:17:31.140 |
They didn't have special training to drink milk. 00:17:34.020 |
Because if you think about it, for nine months, it's been fed to their stomach. 00:17:41.440 |
So as soon as they're born, they come sucking. 00:17:48.300 |
And one of the first thing they did, they gave it to the mom. 00:17:50.400 |
And then the baby comes out wanting to drink. 00:17:56.440 |
So instinctively, the baby is born knowing how to survive. 00:18:03.240 |
And so he's using that as an illustration as a child, as a newborn baby, long for the 00:18:09.040 |
pure milk, because that's the way he's going to live in this world. 00:18:15.600 |
He says when we are spiritually born, he said we ought to long for the milk, not just casually 00:18:23.200 |
Somebody who is satisfied with just having their number on their chest. 00:18:32.720 |
Because you're not eagerly trying to find who Christ is and to learn to apply and to 00:18:40.280 |
Oh, this church tells me I have to do this, and this is what's expected, and other people 00:18:45.720 |
And so we're just jumping through the hoops to be able to belong in the community that 00:18:59.720 |
There's no excitement to see what the word of God says. 00:19:02.040 |
It's just homework to be done week after week. 00:19:04.400 |
So we just get it done and get it over with, and then I'm okay for the next week. 00:19:09.080 |
That's an individual who just has a number plated on their chest and say, I'm in the 00:19:22.040 |
Our greatest hindrances in our walk with God is not external. 00:19:26.480 |
It is the constant compromise and constant need of being entertained 24/7. 00:19:35.000 |
Ephesians 5.15 says, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, 00:19:40.000 |
making the most of your time, because the days are evil." 00:19:48.440 |
You know, one thing I realize is, you know, when we get older, I don't know exactly at 00:19:55.120 |
what age that happens, you start having this old man's mentality. 00:20:00.320 |
You know, oh yeah, when I was a kid, I did that. 00:20:02.720 |
When you did it, oh, when I was in college, I used to do that. 00:20:06.080 |
And you live off of the passion that you had when you were younger and thinking that all 00:20:10.960 |
that God required of you, you've already done. 00:20:14.240 |
Now you're just here, I'm going to raise the kids and I'm going to give my offering and 00:20:19.000 |
I'm just sitting in the back and you retired spiritually years ago. 00:20:22.940 |
And there is that temptation when we start to get older, just look for retirement. 00:20:29.480 |
Not realizing the short time that we have, this is the only time that we have to share 00:20:36.320 |
the gospel with the lost, especially the people who are not Christians in our family. 00:20:42.840 |
And then when we're young, we have a tendency to think we have all the time in the world. 00:20:47.880 |
You know, you can waste a month, year, maybe even a decade. 00:21:04.840 |
Your parents may have said that, the previous generation have said that. 00:21:08.120 |
It really is a myth that comes and it disappears. 00:21:16.320 |
In Psalm 90 verse 12, "So teach us to number our days that we may present to you a heart 00:21:29.240 |
Everything in this world, when we pray for people, we say, "Oh, may the Lord bless you 00:21:33.520 |
and have a wonderful long life in this world." 00:21:42.840 |
He's saying, "Lord, help me to know that my life is short. 00:21:49.680 |
In fact, in James 4.14, it says, "You do not know what your life is going to be like tomorrow. 00:21:54.400 |
You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." 00:22:02.560 |
If you don't really believe in eternity, this is a depressing thing. 00:22:05.680 |
To come to church to be reminded, you're going to die. 00:22:26.800 |
What a depressing thing to say if you don't understand the context in which he is saying 00:22:31.800 |
He's saying, "Help me to number my days that we may present to you a heart of wisdom, that 00:22:38.080 |
we may have a perspective on the race that we're running, that this is going to end." 00:22:58.640 |
Are we actually running this race that is set before us by Christ? 00:23:03.400 |
That's why in numbering our days, knowing that we're just here temporarily, that we 00:23:07.600 |
invest in eternal things, not simply the temporary things. 00:23:13.480 |
It's not saying that you can't have nice things. 00:23:16.800 |
But in our pursuit, what do we value the most? 00:23:21.360 |
You know, whenever we go to India, we have regulations for people. 00:23:28.840 |
Because it's a very conservative culture, we have to tell the ladies, "You have to wear 00:23:35.280 |
I don't know how many of you are wearing skirts today, but people just don't wear skirts today. 00:23:41.720 |
It has to be a skirt all the way down to your ankles. 00:23:50.480 |
If you're indoors, you have to wear the scarf at all times or they get offended. 00:23:54.240 |
You can't have a one-to-one conversation with men unless you're in a crowd. 00:24:02.000 |
Even for the guys, even if it's 105 degrees, I can't wear shorts. 00:24:06.600 |
I have to wear long pants and I have to wear conservative clothes, even if we're sweating 00:24:12.040 |
I've never had anybody on our team say, "Well, there's nothing in the Bible that says that. 00:24:39.040 |
If they give you this, make sure you take it. 00:24:43.320 |
There's all these rules that we follow for one purpose, because we want to be effective 00:24:50.280 |
So we don't want anything that's going to hinder this race, anything that's going to 00:24:54.640 |
make us ineffective, where they're going to be offended or it's going to be awkward, and 00:24:58.960 |
then cause us not to be able to share it effectively. 00:25:03.520 |
But for whatever the reason, when we come back home, we turn that off. 00:25:08.720 |
And the common question is, "Well, I mean, where did the Bible say that?" 00:25:12.620 |
So all of a sudden, our standard of what we choose is right and wrong, all of a sudden 00:25:17.680 |
it's turned on and turned off when we come home. 00:25:23.600 |
It's because when we are going out to India, we have a wartime mentality. 00:25:30.640 |
We're going into war to bring people to Christ, and whatever is going to hinder that, we're 00:25:36.240 |
Any encumbrance, anything that I do or say that's going to be offensive to somebody there 00:25:42.760 |
that I want to share the gospel, and so he raises the standard so that there will be 00:25:49.000 |
But for whatever the reason, when we come home, we're not struggling in this battle 00:25:54.920 |
You know, he died for us so that I can have liberty. 00:25:59.040 |
And all of a sudden, my freedom supersedes anything else. 00:26:04.880 |
If you're in a position constantly saying, "Well, they're judging me, they're judging 00:26:09.120 |
me," my guess is they're judging you for a reason. 00:26:18.720 |
If you're in a habit, if your life is constantly, "They're judging me, they're judging me," 00:26:23.000 |
at least take a step back and ask yourself, what is it that you're doing that's causing 00:26:30.000 |
What is it that you're ... How are you running this race? 00:26:32.120 |
How are you living this life that makes it seem like you're not that interested? 00:26:35.900 |
You can't have a chicken suit running this race and then say, "Hey, I don't know if that's 00:26:44.320 |
I don't know if you should be wearing high heels." 00:26:53.360 |
But clearly, you're not that serious about running this race. 00:26:57.520 |
So he said, first and foremost, he says he's not to examine the sins, but examine every 00:27:02.000 |
encumbrance that gets in our way to run this race with endurance, to make sure that we're 00:27:09.680 |
We're running it to win, not just casually have signed up. 00:27:17.880 |
He says, "Throw it off, every sin that's so easily entangled." 00:27:23.600 |
These are sins that are constantly stumbling us, repeatedly, over and over again. 00:27:31.320 |
Those sins that are constantly near, coveting. 00:27:37.440 |
The thing that we struggle with, especially us being a young church, is that pornography 00:27:43.320 |
has become so prevalent and almost even acceptable because it's spoken of so freely in the media. 00:28:06.240 |
So it's almost weird for people not to be watching porn if you are in a secular arena 00:28:14.280 |
And that's kind of slowly crept into the church where it's become an acceptable sin. 00:28:20.360 |
Where I think in the previous generation, when we said we were struggling, we just meant 00:28:24.360 |
that we had impure thoughts, that we struggle. 00:28:27.880 |
Something that we saw years ago is kind of being replayed in our head. 00:28:31.640 |
Today when young people say they're struggling, they're in porn, in hard porn, day to day 00:28:40.520 |
If that's a pattern in your life, you're not struggling. 00:28:47.520 |
Struggling is working and confessing and laboring, asking for accountability. 00:28:53.320 |
If you've accepted a certain amount of pornography in your life, you're not struggling. 00:29:04.740 |
He says, "Every sin that so easily entangles." 00:29:11.660 |
Even though porn is an issue, before it was just, for the most part, it was men, but now 00:29:15.700 |
even women are struggling with it because it's in our pockets. 00:29:20.000 |
And I thank God that I wasn't a teenager in this period. 00:29:27.200 |
And again, this is not just for young people, but especially for younger ones. 00:29:30.480 |
The fact that you have access to anything that you want on this phone at any time, the 00:29:35.840 |
temptation that you guys are in, are intense. 00:29:39.000 |
This is not something that you can conquer just by saying, "Oh, I'm struggling." 00:29:43.360 |
And then next week you come, "I'm struggling." 00:29:47.280 |
Well, after about a month of that, you're not struggling. 00:29:52.640 |
You've allowed a certain amount of it in your life and you're okay with it. 00:30:01.000 |
You're looking at Facebook and Instagram and TikTok and whatever else is out there, and 00:30:05.960 |
they're constantly presenting the perfect life, the rat race. 00:30:11.200 |
Where before we would hear about it or we go to someone else's house and we see it, 00:30:30.760 |
The constant things that distract us get our minds off of Christ so that there is no longer 00:30:46.080 |
If I save enough money, I'm going to get this. 00:30:50.120 |
And so what has filled our hearts is constant coveting that we've allowed. 00:30:55.800 |
We've allowed day to day, every single day, so that our mind is no longer consumed with 00:31:01.040 |
the things of God, but they're consumed with this rat race. 00:31:04.600 |
This bucket list that we've made that has nothing to do with Christ. 00:31:12.120 |
In Psalm 139, 23, 24, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. 00:31:18.800 |
Try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead 00:31:28.800 |
If you are a religious person, and you have the right number, and you happen to be a little 00:31:37.440 |
And you spend the rest of the time ridiculing the people who aren't running as fast as you. 00:31:40.960 |
You may have the chicken suit on yourself, but your whole focus is not to win this race, 00:31:51.160 |
But you're not carefully searching your own heart. 00:31:54.880 |
As long as you're doing Bible study, as long as you're tithing, as long as you're active, 00:31:58.440 |
but in your heart, there's judgmentalism, there's bitterness, there's slander. 00:32:05.320 |
Other people's sin is a stink, but the odor that's near us, we've just kind of gotten 00:32:12.640 |
See, the psalmist comes before and says, "Search me." 00:32:17.720 |
The Word of God judged the thoughts and intentions of my heart. 00:32:20.880 |
It's not given to us as like, "Hey, I got these verses that you need." 00:32:27.160 |
Oh, man, this would be a great sermon for that guy to hear. 00:32:37.520 |
See if there's any hurtful ways in me, even my heart, my attitude." 00:33:07.240 |
Most of us spend the most of our energy on that part because you get judged right away. 00:33:15.360 |
You say, "Okay, maybe I shouldn't be a jerk." 00:33:20.520 |
Maybe the way you talk, the way you present yourself. 00:33:23.200 |
When we think about sanctification, that's usually where people put the most attention. 00:33:29.680 |
That's why sometimes prayer life kind of gets the back burner because we don't walk out 00:33:38.440 |
Whether you prayed hours, two hours, or you prayed none, no one sees it. 00:33:41.720 |
But when you do certain things about the Bible, it's like, "Oh, yeah, I did this and I did 00:33:46.600 |
So we have a tendency, if we're not careful, to give all our attention to that area. 00:33:51.760 |
But the second area is your private life, me only. 00:33:59.320 |
You could be struggling with porn, but on the outside, you're doing great. 00:34:03.520 |
You're leading, you're telling, you're serving. 00:34:06.000 |
But your private life, and this is an area that others would not know unless you revealed 00:34:11.720 |
You brought it to light because they don't know it's there. 00:34:14.280 |
That's why the Bible says to confess your sins to one another. 00:34:17.260 |
So if you're an individual who genuinely is running this race and you want to compete 00:34:21.840 |
to win, you have to go beyond just the surface and seek accountability in areas and to confess 00:34:37.920 |
If you're struggling with materialism, if you're struggling with competing, if you're 00:34:41.640 |
struggling with bitterness and anger, then maybe you've done a good job to cover that 00:34:48.040 |
You confess your sins and ask for accountability and run this race together. 00:34:56.920 |
This is an area that others see better than you. 00:35:00.440 |
And this is an area that no one likes to be pointed out. 00:35:04.640 |
So that's why it's so hard at home because your parents probably know this really well. 00:35:12.260 |
You may have done a great job presenting on the outside, but your parents kind of like, 00:35:22.440 |
And then usually they'll say it in a way that you don't like it. 00:35:26.000 |
And then you come to church or a community and other people begin to kind of, "Hey, what 00:35:33.440 |
And so what ends up happening, you're a Christian, so you can't say, "I hate you." 00:35:36.720 |
You're a Christian because that will ruin your public life. 00:35:41.400 |
So what ends up doing is, "These are my acquaintances. 00:35:57.240 |
But we've done that until we get married and all of a sudden our husband starts to poke 00:36:03.360 |
And so in the past, you just kind of shun people and kept them at a distance, but you 00:36:08.400 |
can't do that anymore with your wife and husband. 00:36:12.680 |
And that's an area where others only, that's your blind spot that we not only need to openly 00:36:17.760 |
confess our sins, but be willing to be corrected by others when they say. 00:36:22.560 |
So if you are constantly saying, every time somebody says something you don't like, you 00:36:27.680 |
Maybe you should take a step back and ask, "And why do they keep saying this?" 00:36:34.440 |
So when an individual comes before God and asks, "Search me and know me," you're opening 00:36:39.720 |
yourself up saying, "Lord, what is it in my life that is hindering me that maybe I know 00:36:46.040 |
Maybe I don't know of that other people have been trying to tell me. 00:36:55.520 |
And then there's an area of our life that only God knows. 00:37:00.000 |
These are the things that we don't even know ourselves and other people don't see. 00:37:03.400 |
And when you get married and have children, you have no idea what kind of mother you would 00:37:08.640 |
So this is an area where when all four areas are exposed to God and we're asking God, "Lord, 00:37:14.600 |
search me," then that's an individual who truly is trying to run this race and to win 00:37:20.880 |
any encumbrance, anything, any sin that easily entangles. 00:37:26.200 |
In Matthew 24, verse 7, it says, "Because lawlessness will increase, most people's love 00:37:32.200 |
You ever think about why with the increase of lawlessness, most people's love grow cold? 00:37:38.680 |
You would think that because of wickedness that the church would be on fire. 00:37:50.320 |
In order to have some of the world and some of God, and the more that they shift further 00:37:55.440 |
away from God, you have to move further away from God too in order to have both or in your 00:38:00.800 |
And that's why the increase of wickedness causes the love of most people will grow cold, 00:38:06.040 |
meaning most people are living compromised already. 00:38:11.120 |
Most people are running the rat race and they've convinced themselves that they're not. 00:38:16.260 |
That's why when the wickedness increases, we just naturally shift that direction. 00:38:22.080 |
First Timothy 1, 18-19, Paul tells Timothy, "I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance 00:38:29.260 |
with the prophecies previously made concern you that by them you fight the good fight." 00:38:38.680 |
Let me ask you, would you say you're fighting for your faith? 00:38:47.020 |
You just happen to be on this boat that's coasting somewhere. 00:38:52.360 |
Are you fighting to make the right investment? 00:38:55.100 |
Are you fighting so that your children will be healthy and wealthy? 00:39:06.900 |
You know, when it says in Matthew 18, 8-9, I'm not going to read it for you, but in that 00:39:10.400 |
passage where it says, "If your arm causes you to sin, cut it off. 00:39:16.960 |
If your eyes causes you to continue to stumble, gouge it out." 00:39:24.520 |
The point that Jesus was trying to make is that's how much he hates sin. 00:39:30.240 |
God did not hate sin in the Old Testament and was fine with it in the New Testament. 00:39:35.840 |
In fact, there's more required in the New Testament because we've been given more in 00:39:39.240 |
the New Testament than the Old Testament since. 00:39:42.120 |
Because now we see clearly what Christ has done. 00:39:44.640 |
Knowing everything that we know and we say, "Ah, okay, whatever." 00:39:47.520 |
Every once in a while, we'll talk to a young guy who's struggling with porn and say, "Hey, 00:40:01.640 |
You put it on the computer and it kind of keeps each other accountable and shows other 00:40:08.280 |
Every once in a while, we'll get the answer, "I don't want that because it slows down my 00:40:16.880 |
So this sin of pornography is acceptable, but a slow computer is not. 00:40:25.240 |
So what you mean is you want to conquer this sin, the easiest path possible with the least 00:40:32.320 |
sacrifice, enjoying everything that I enjoy, and I want this gone too. 00:40:44.400 |
That statement in and of itself is like, "Fast computers are more important to me than purity. 00:40:50.960 |
Having easy access to everything that I need on the internet is more important to me than 00:40:57.340 |
And that's why he says if these sins cause you to continually, repeatedly sin, he says 00:41:02.960 |
we need to struggle even to the point of shedding blood. 00:41:06.880 |
That's what he says in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 4. 00:41:10.600 |
You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin, 00:41:15.120 |
and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons. 00:41:18.120 |
My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faith when you are reproved 00:41:23.760 |
For those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. 00:41:29.000 |
If you are allowing this sin to easily entangle and exist in your life, you are doing two 00:41:35.920 |
One, either you are waiting for the discipline of God to come. 00:41:42.080 |
You are allowing sin where because of the love of Christ, discipline will come. 00:41:47.440 |
Or you're proving that you don't believe to begin with. 00:41:53.680 |
Even if I live in sin, what matters is what you think of me. 00:41:56.440 |
What matters is where I belong in this community. 00:41:58.560 |
What matters is that I feel a sense of safety. 00:42:02.320 |
But what God thinks doesn't matter, because I don't really believe. 00:42:14.520 |
Every sin that we are so easily entangled with. 00:42:19.320 |
In Matthew chapter 6, 11-13, I want you to pay very close attention to this Lord's prayer 00:42:24.360 |
that we all know and many of you have memorized, and you may not have really understood what 00:42:38.920 |
Don't give me wealth so I can have abundance in my bank account. 00:42:45.200 |
When you are praying that, you are not praying for wealth. 00:42:52.960 |
You are praying that you would have just enough that you would depend on him daily. 00:43:10.920 |
And forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors. 00:43:17.120 |
If we refuse to forgive other people, and then you say, Lord, forgive me of my sins, 00:43:28.680 |
He says, when you come before God asking for forgiveness, he says, as I have forgiven 00:43:36.240 |
So you can't ask for forgiveness if you are unwilling to forgive. 00:43:46.480 |
Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 00:43:51.360 |
You notice here he says, he doesn't simply say deliver us from sin. 00:44:00.040 |
Deliver us from anything that is going to tempt me away from you. 00:44:04.040 |
So you know when you pray that prayer, you know what you are asking? 00:44:07.480 |
If this girl, if this guy is going to tempt me away from you, deliver me. 00:44:18.580 |
If this business is going to make you a lot of money, it's going to tempt you away from 00:44:30.960 |
If this house that you are going to buy is going to tempt you away, where your heart 00:44:35.000 |
is going to be filled with desires that have nothing to do with Christ, this Lord's prayer 00:44:50.180 |
So when you are asking this prayer, you are praying that your primary thing that you desire 00:44:55.580 |
more than anything else is to depend on him, to practice forgiveness, and to take off all 00:45:12.900 |
Did you know that you were praying that you may be praying for poverty? 00:45:18.180 |
You may be praying for sickness because maybe your health is causing you to be proud? 00:45:24.380 |
Maybe your fat bank account and your nice life is causing your heart to draw away from 00:45:29.460 |
And so you are praying, deliver me from this temptation. 00:45:32.760 |
Whatever temptation that you allow in your life that causes you to have your heart be 00:45:43.240 |
If you are not running the race that is before us, you do not want to pray this prayer because 00:45:51.960 |
You can only pray this prayer if you actually mean it, if you are running this race. 00:45:57.640 |
There is a story of a man who was struggling with purity and he decided to go to a bar 00:46:07.360 |
where he knew that he was going to be solicited by prostitutes and he was sitting there by 00:46:10.620 |
himself and a lady taps him on the shoulder, soliciting him, turns around and she is not 00:46:17.020 |
So he turns around and prays, Lord, deliver me from this evil. 00:46:22.520 |
Second one comes, taps him on the shoulder and soliciting him, he turns around and she 00:46:29.200 |
But this time he turns around and says, Lord, let your will be done. 00:46:35.200 |
He is already compromised when he went there. 00:46:38.920 |
He is already determined in his heart that that is what he wants. 00:46:42.960 |
So many of us live in this juxtaposition of I want it all, I am going to have it all, 00:46:50.000 |
I am going to keep it all, and I am going to go after all, but the Lord deliver me from 00:47:00.760 |
I want to be pure but I don't want to have a slow computer. 00:47:05.840 |
I want to honor Christ and I want to live all for Christ but Lord protect all that I 00:47:12.280 |
Protect all that I have, all my children, everything that I have, that it would be under 00:47:19.160 |
When he says every encumbrance, every sin that easily entangles, the standard that we 00:47:24.760 |
ought to be asking is are we committed to this? 00:47:29.600 |
And part of the reason why people don't ask and they don't have a problem going to India 00:47:35.400 |
and giving it all up is because they recognize that we are in a battle. 00:47:41.040 |
Soldiers who are going into battle are not worried about the fluffiness of their pillow. 00:47:46.320 |
Because the only single-minded focus is, is this going to help me in this battle? 00:47:52.520 |
Or is this going to hinder me in this battle? 00:47:57.200 |
It's because they were drifting back to a civilian life and that's why he tells Paul, 00:48:01.960 |
Paul tells Timothy, right, to run in such a way, not to live like a civilian, as a good 00:48:16.920 |
In Psalm 119 verse 9 through 11 it says, "How can a young man keep his way pure by keeping 00:48:30.580 |
Your word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you." 00:48:36.180 |
Is that, can you say that that's your prayer? 00:48:45.120 |
The problem, again, the temptation, the struggle that you and I have in this, where we live, 00:48:50.080 |
yeah, we're seeking God, but not with all our heart. 00:48:59.400 |
We share the gospel, but we're not desperate. 00:49:06.760 |
There's a difference if you've raised children when a child wants his mom or dad, you know, 00:49:13.360 |
you ever get on the airplane and this child is like, "Mommy!" 00:49:17.040 |
And then the parents just kind of shut it off, right? 00:49:20.520 |
And then, you know, if you don't have kids you kind of like, you know, you get very impatient, 00:49:29.200 |
But the parents have a tendency, have a way, there's a mechanism to turn that off because 00:49:37.440 |
Because if you have even one child or maybe you have five children or six and they all 00:49:42.760 |
go through a stage where they're like, "Mommy, mommy," you know, they want your attention 00:49:49.960 |
You know, I drop my Cheerios, "Mommy, my Cheerios, you know, my brother took the bigger spoon. 00:50:06.360 |
So because you hear that 24/7, you recognize what needs your attention and what doesn't 00:50:15.940 |
So you have to learn to shut that off because you can't be jumping every time, "Oh, man, 00:50:33.560 |
But there's a kind of cry that your child cries that even if it's three in the morning, 00:50:51.000 |
Even if it's three in the morning, even if you're sick, even if you didn't sleep at all, 00:51:00.040 |
when you hear that cry, you jump and you pay attention because you know they need you. 00:51:08.640 |
In the way that we live our lives, we may be, "God, there's a house again, and a house." 00:51:24.480 |
And say, "Oh, God doesn't answer our prayer." 00:51:27.560 |
Maybe that prayer doesn't need to be answered because I don't think you really care. 00:51:40.320 |
We've decided not to be judged, but we haven't decided to run this race to win. 00:51:46.200 |
That's why if you're an individual who's not fighting to finish the race, anybody who's 00:51:53.240 |
a cheerleader is like annoying because you're just trying to relax. 00:52:16.440 |
And so if you're committed to this race, you want a cheerleader. 00:52:19.280 |
You want somebody to pump some energy into you to go. 00:52:23.080 |
But if that's not you, you're just kind of like casually just like, "Come on, calm down. 00:52:35.960 |
Even the way you listen to sermons is different depending on which race you're committed to. 00:52:43.760 |
If you're running to win, fellowship looks different. 00:52:56.520 |
But first and foremost, we have to decide, right, which race are we running? 00:53:04.320 |
Are we committed to the race that He has set before us?