| Sermons from Lone Rock Bible Church Stevensville, MT Index of LRBC Sermons: www.sermonlinks.com/Sermons/LoneRock/Sermons October 31, 2004 Help Running (Part I) The Bible compares living the Christian life to running a race, but it’s not as simple as scooting around a track! That’s why we need help “running,” thus, the following advice from the apostle:
With these verses we’re turning a corner; Paul is moving us from theology to liberty. Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets in the Christian life is the freedom and liberty provided by the Spirit of God. What does that mean and how does that work? Before he gets to freedom, however, Paul takes one last run at the problem that’s been plaguing these people. The apostle says to the folks in Galatia: Galatians 5 On the 6th of May 1954 in Oxford, England, a 25-year-old medical school student named Roger Bannister was determined to break that 4-minute mile barrier. He was determined that that would be the day. He had trained hard. He was a natural runner. He was eagerly anticipating this meet and the opportunity to set a world record. If anybody could do it, Bannister could. However, the day dawned cold, wet, and windy and he wasn’t so sure. At the starting line to run the mile, the starter gave them a false start, which couldn’t have helped. Nevertheless, Bannister had planned how he was going to beat the 4-minute time. In order to accomplish it, he enlisted two of his friends who also were good runners. It was decided that the three of them would run the first lap together and then Bannister would keep up with one of the guys for the second lap. The third lap, the second man would pace him, the goal being to keep each quarter mile lap under a minute and then the fourth lap, he was on his own to clear the oval in less than a minute. Bannister’s time was 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. He made it by six tenths. A couple months later an Australian beat Bannister’s record by two tenths of a second. Then the two of them raced again a couple months later and Bannister won. At that point he retired, but he had accomplished what he set out to do. He ran well. What we have to understand is, he didn’t run well by accident. He didn’t run well by default. He didn’t run well because he didn’t know what he was doing. He ran well because he had a plan. A deliberate design, purpose, and discipline resulted in his running well. The apostle Paul uses this imagery to great effect. I believe that these verses set us up for true Christian living. It isn’t something that you just fall into. It isn’t something that just sort of naturally happens. The apostle is saying no, there is more to it than that. 1 Corinthians 9 In Corinthians, in Galatians, run well, the Bible says. 25 Everyone
who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive
a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. “I’m deliberate, I’m purposeful, I’m disciplined; therefore I enjoy freedom.” Interesting where this goes. Christians are called to run the race well. Galatians 5:7 says you were running well. Something happened. You need to get back to running well and keep running well. As we look through these verses, I’ve gleaned six of what we might call habits to cultivate, practices to learn, disciplines to develop in order to run well because it won’t just happen. We need to engage in the fray with our will and with our minds and with our hearts. Let’s consider each one carefully. Each is represented by one of these verses in Galatians chapter 5. 1. Pursue the truthPursue, of all things, the truth. Go after it. You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? There has been a distraction, a detour. As you were headed down the track, somebody hit a switch. Somehow you got off course. You’ve been disrupted. The word “hindered” is an old word as all of these are. This one comes from the construction world, a road that is torn up. It’s as though Bannister is running down the track and he’s determined to keep each lap less than one minute and somebody is out in front of him with a disc or something turning up the ground, making it more difficult for him to keep his footing and to follow the course. It occurs to me if we liken the Christian life to a race, which the Bible does, what kind of race are we talking about? I don’t think for the most part we’re talking about a sprint, like a 100-meter sprint. Some run a sprint and God takes them home. Most of us, however, run a marathon. But it isn’t a marathon over a groomed track or a smooth, paved, level road. It has its peaks and its valleys and its shadows as well. Yet it’s a cross-country race and it’s there for God’s people to win. I’m going to suggest three steps to pursuing the truth. I think it’s absolutely critical. If we do not pursue truth, we will pursue something else. It’s guaranteed, we’ll find it. Pursue the truth first of all this way: Keep your eyes on the prize. Let me remind you of what the apostle says in the 12th chapter of Hebrews. Hebrews 12 The author and perfecter; the author and finisher; the beginner and the ender of faith. He is the prize. Fixing our eyes on Jesus. I can’t emphasize strongly enough how essential it is for God’s people to develop regularly a personal relationship with the living Savior who shed His blood on the Cross for our sins. It is vital for Christians to meet with Him, to get to know Him, to pray to Him, talk to Him, listen to Him. The Christian who does not designate, set aside, and maintain a time and place to meet with Jesus daily is not going to be able to run well. We have so many stimuli, so many distractions, so many influences that flood into our lives every day, everywhere we look. They come from outside, they come from inside. We must look to Jesus; we must sometimes make ourselves look to Jesus. He desires that we spend time with Him. He desires that we get to know Him. If we don’t have time for that, we cannot expect to run well. Somebody, something, will turn our head. We’ll not do as well. Where is your place? When is your time? When is mine? To meet with Him daily, to pray, to listen, to reflect, to meditate, to absorb His Word so that when error is there we are more ready to meet it. Keep your eyes on the prize. Do not take your eyes off Jesus. I don’t know how anyone can have his or her eyes on Jesus and not get to know Jesus. I don’t think wearing a cross around the neck will do it. I think it’s an issue of devotion, of priority, of relationship and it’s ours to cultivate before Him. We are crippling ourselves if we do not. Secondly, keep your finger in the Book. I Peter 2:2 says: 1 Peter 2 We absolutely must have God’s Word in order to grow. As wonderful as it is to see everyone on Sunday morning, Sunday morning isn’t enough. There is much more to the lives we live during the course of the rest of the days and hours of the week that taking in God’s Word only on Sunday morning is inadequate. We must school ourselves. The writer to the Hebrews says by now, he chides those readers; you ought to be teaching this! Instead I’m still having to spoon-feed you he says. The only fix for that is God’s people individually absorbing God’s word, not only the Scriptures, but to reinforce our understanding of the Bible as a priority in our lives. What do we know? Do you understand creation science? Do you understand how that works? What God has done in the world of nature? Do you understand God’s hand in history and how it is that He sovereignly moves and lovingly changes? It’s exciting to be a Christian. It’s exciting to see how God does things in the world of people, how He puts it together. Learning science, learning history, defending the faith, understanding contemporary issues with which we are bombarded these days through the grid of the Scripture. Do we know what God says about the issues of our day? If we don’t, it’s our responsibility to learn them. Be in the Book. It needs to happen individually. It needs to happen in our homes. We have Sunday school and Bible studies for these purposes. We need to make it happen and heads of our homes need to make it happen in our family. Keep our finger in the Book. Third, keep your beautiful feet on the muddy street. “How beautiful are the feet of those who spread the Good News.” As God’s people, He has saved each of us, and He has gifted each of us and He has called each of us into service somewhere. Opportunities in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our community, in our church, many places. Where are we serving? Are our feet muddy in the street? They ought to be. Someone has made a military analogy, likening the church to a military force in combat. Those who are on the front lines of combat, those who are concerned with defeating the enemy, taking the hill, gaining ground, are not worried by casual, incidental, petty issues. They are concerned about protecting one another, about taking the turf, about staying alive, about defeating the enemy. That’s what the front liners are doing. They’re engaged with what’s really important. Those behind the lines are worried about getting Dear John letters from their girlfriends, they’re worried about the food that’s no good, why don’t the officers know what they’re doing? They’re distracted by all kinds of things. Why? Because they’re not in the fray. It’s been my observation many years now that those of God’s people who are engaged in ministry will major on the majors and be less troubled by the incidentals. God calls each of us to be involved. Anyone can go to the nursing home. You don’t need a seminary degree to sit and hold someone’s hand or read someone a letter or just listen. To do that takes us out of our comfort zone, bumps us out of familiar territory. You know this when you’ve done it. When suddenly we find ourselves in unfamiliar ground we are hundreds of percentages more likely to trust in God rather than in ourselves. “Lord, I’ve never been here before.” “Lord, I’ve never met these people before.” “I’ll have to trust in You.” Has it come to that? In the trusting is growth. If our lives are sheltered, comfortable, predictable and safe we don’t need to trust God. We just go through our day. But when we put ourselves out there in unfamiliar ground because we believe God wants us to do something we’ve never done before in the Name of Jesus we get our beautiful feet a little bit muddy for His sake. We see God come through. We see amazing things happen and our trust factor in the Lord of Heaven is upped considerably. There are two ways we grow through circumstances. One is through service; the other is through suffering. Service can be kind of like self-imposed suffering. In both cases, God takes us where we are not in control and we have to trust Him. Keep your eyes on the prize, your finger in the Book, and your beautiful feet in the muddy street. 2. Remember Who called whomLook at verse 8. This persuasion, this business of you not going exactly the way you should, is not from Him who called you. Paul is saying, “I don’t know where it did come from, but I sure know where it didn’t come from and it did not come from the God of Heaven.” God is not out to derail your train. That’s not what He does. Others will. Others are more than happy to hinder us, to tear up the ground in front of us, to change the street sign so we go the wrong way or to hit the switch and send us off the wrong track. The world is happy to do it. Just listen to many, many voices of what’s right and what’s wrong and what ought we to do in the world. We can go all kinds of different places and they won’t be right. The devil is more than happy to take us to wrong places, or he has agents and friends who will help. Poor acquaintances, wrong friends, erroneous voices, all kinds of possibilities will hinder us. God won’t, but they might. We will too. The flesh cries out, “Make it easier, make it more fun, make it better, follow me.” Paul is saying, “Competing voices, competing influences will steer you awry but the God who called you will not.” Stop, pause for a moment on that, “God who called you.” The Bible is saying to you and me, “Think theology.” Mark chapter 5 is one place the story is found. Jesus and His disciples got in a boat one day on the southwest side of the Sea of Galilee and are headed out across the water. As they’re crossing, headed kind of east and south, a storm comes up on the sea. They’re all scared. They’re bailing and praying and Jesus fixed it. He just spoke. They become suddenly more afraid of him than they were of the waves. That’s a healthy posture. They get to the other side and who is the welcoming committee? A man who has come down to us in history as the Gerasene demoniac. He has not worn clothes in a long time. His body is marked by scars of different sorts because he’s been living in the hills and in the tombs. He cries out and cuts himself with stones because he’s possessed by the devil and the devil always seeks to kill, steal, and destroy so self-destruction is nothing new to the underworld. Everyone is scared to death of him and he has superhuman strength because of the demons that live inside of him. He’s wandering around being a general nuisance. Jesus showed up on the shore and here he comes. “Have you come to torment me before the time?” The demons understand God’s agenda. They know where everything is going. Jesus cast the legion of demons out of this fellow. They went into the swine, down the hill and drowned in the sea. When the townspeople saw that they ran and told everybody. When they came back they saw the man who had been demon possessed clothed and in his right mind and seated at the feet of Jesus. Perhaps the most touching part of this story is that when Jesus left the man who had been possessed said, “Can’t I go with you?” “You are my only hope. You are my only salvation. You are all that means anything to me. You’ve done everything for me I could never do for myself. Can I not go with you?” Remember who called whom. Jesus took the initiative and went to him. When we read the account we realize that as soon as this man was released and Jesus said go put your muddy, beautiful feet in the muddy street. Go back to your community and tell everyone what great things the Lord has done for you. Go be my advertisement among your community. And he did. Jesus turned around and went back. He caused that sea, went through that storm, did the deliverance ministry for one guy. He took the initiative. Remember Who called whom. He told him very clearly, “I want you to share My truth with others to the praise of the name of the God of Heaven.” He is the one who gets the glory. He is the One who did the calling. He is the One who takes the initiative. The Gerasene demoniac did not pursue Jesus; Jesus pursued him. He’s not then going to steer him wrong after going to all that trouble to cross the sea and encounter this man and all the hoopla that went with the destruction of 2,000 head of swine – Jesus isn’t about to steer this guy wrong. He’s going to tell him the truth. He’s going to say, “Now go do this.” If we’re struggling in the faith, if we’re being distracted by whatever stimulation there may be – a person, an event, a habit, any kind of distraction – it is not from God. He who called you isn’t going to steer you wrong. It’s about Him who took the initiative. It is about He who deserves our devotion. Please remember this about the Christian life. We want to run well? Let’s be very careful to remember that running well is not primarily about me, my well-being, my happy Christian life. Nor is it about other people, even people important to our lives. If the impetus behind my Christian life is myself or other people I’m setting myself up for disappointment, frustration, and letdown. It isn’t. It’s about Him. It’s about the One who called me. Romans 8 Remember who called. He called. He made it happen. He took the initiative. That means if He calls, you’re going home; you’re heaven-bound. That’s good news. He doesn’t call and then say, “OK, I called, now you have to do this and this and this.” That’s what the Galatians were being told in error. He takes responsibility from the calling to the glorifying. Let’s remember that – we trust Him. The Galatians needed to know it and so do we. Speaking of the unfathomable God, the Bible says: Romans 11 It’s about Him. He’s the only One who deserves our devotion. 3. Beware treacherous
influences (5:9) Do you want to run well? You’re in a cross-country race -- look out for quicksand. It’s rumored to be there. In a cross-country run there are poisonous snakes; don’t step on one. Watch out for what could be in the road. Beware treacherous influences. I like the word “insidious” because it implies sneaky, stealthy, deadly. Watch out for them. Look at verse 9: A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. The point here is watch out for the leaven because the leaven, or the yeast, has a permeating influence, hard to see, somewhat gradual, but very sure. The apostle takes us to the bakery. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. How does that work? Yeast, or leaven, are single-celled fungi. They’re in the air. We’re breathing them. They multiply rapidly under certain conditions. Heat and moisture help. When yeast is mixed with flour, the yeast loves the starch in the flour. It creates a chemical reaction that results in three things: sugar, alcohol, and carbon dioxide. It is the carbon dioxide gas that creates the bubbles in the bread that we eat. Leaven, or yeast, in Scripture, is normally a negative thing and we’re told to watch out. You can’t even see it, but you see what it does and you know that it silently, stealthily, insidiously is creeping among those flour molecules, creating sugar, alcohol and carbon dioxide and you see what it does. It makes the bread rise. This is where the hindrance is explained. In verse 7 he is saying you’re running well, who hindered you? Somehow, some leaven got in amongst you and has been distracting you, hindering you, attempting to detour you. There are two types of leaven mentioned in the Bible. Let me take you to two places in Scripture having to do with leaven because the apostle doesn’t make this stuff up out of the air. The church in Corinth was a wreck. All kinds of problems were going on. In the church in Corinth the believers were sanctioning immorality, just turning their backs on it, pretending it didn’t exist. Two individuals who were involved in somewhat of an incestuous relationship were being basically ignored and allowed to do whatever they wanted to do. Paul said you cannot allow that to be. He uses I Corinthians 5:6: 1 Corinthians 5 If you allow this sort of behavior to be among you, it will spread and it will pollute more and more and it will influence and change the appearance of your church. So he says clean out the old leaven. Leaven in I Corinthians 5:6 has to do with wrong behavior. Jesus also, in Matthew 16, uses this imagery. Matthew 16 In Matthew 16:12 they understood that he didn’t mean beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. So leaven represents in I Corinthians wrong behavior and in Matthew 6 wrong teaching. What do you suppose these Pharisees and Sadducees were teaching that was so wrong but yet would spread among the people, influence their lives, one after the other until ultimately the entire group would be all in error. They were teaching that you must work to impress God. You must jump through these hoops, you must push these buttons, and if you do the way we tell you to, maybe God will like you a little more or dislike you a little less. Isn’t it interesting that whether leaven is immoral behavior or leaven is erroneous teaching, both of them appeal to the flesh? Immorality is an action of the flesh. Working your way to heaven is an action of the flesh. In both cases that’s where it leads, wrong behavior and wrong teaching. Beware treacherous influences. Beware those who would lure to immorality. Beware those who would lure to heresy, that would say, “Yes, you need to do something. Just putting all your trust in Jesus only is not enough. You must contribute.” What an appeal to the flesh. Our flesh says, “Yes, I should do something too. I’m worth it.” No. Grace means all my trust in Jesus only. None of my trust in me; none of my trust in anyone else. Just in Him. My flesh would argue, but the Spirit is clear and the Word is clear. Beware treacherous influences because both teaching and behavior appeal to the flesh. That’s why verse 10 says you have to trust God; you have to trust God’s working. We’ll pick this up next week. Running well is incumbent upon God’s people. Is it impossible? No, but it does mean we must determine so to run. "Scripture
taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Jim Carlson 2004, Lone Rock Bible Church, Stevensville Montana, USA |