Lighten Up
1 Cor. 9:24-27
Can you imagine running a race and you have a 50 lb. sack on your back
Usane Bolt is the fastest man in the world. He can run 110 yards in 9.58 seconds… faster than it takes me to run to the front doors.
If he runs uphill… with a hat over his eyes… with this thing tied to him… I can outrun him in the 100 meter race.
“He would never do that!”
But we as Christians do it every day.
I’ll explain in a minute
Let’s look at some scripture…
1 Cor 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Hebrews 12:1-2 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus...."
James 1:21-25 "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does."
Our scripture shows us a PROBLEM… A SOLUTION… and THE RESULTS
The Problem
Sin hinders… growth, victory, joy, peace, usefulness,
Sin easily entangles us.
Do you know why God hates sin?
Because of what it does to us.
Sin makes believers become defeated.
They can’t stand up with courage against sin because of the secret sin in their own lives.
They excuse the sins of others because of the disobedience in their own hearts and they can’t preach victory because they live in defeat.
Some of them once knew what it was like to live victoriously, taking vengeance against sin, having fulfilled Christ’s righteousness in their own lives.
They experienced the power, the courage, the blessings that come to those who are obedient to the Lord.
Today they hang their heads in shame, unable to look the world in the eye, victimized by a sin that rules their lives.
A besetting sin has robbed them of their spiritual vitality and one enemy after another is raised up against them.
A once mightily used evangelist now sells pre-need funeral policies in a small town in Texas. He once stood in the pulpit as a powerful preacher of the Gospel and thousands were converted through his ministry. He became an adulterer, left his wife. In just a few weeks, he lost everything. That minister is now but a shell of his old self. He has repented of his sin, but he cannot undo the past. God forgives, but people don’t.
When David was right with the Lord and in good fellowship, none of his enemies could stand before him. He slew them by the tens of thousands and his name was feared in every enemy camp.
David’s sin of adultery immediately followed one of his greatest victories. The Ammonite-Syrian war was one of Israel’s greatest battles. The Syrians fled before Israel - seven hundred chariots were destroyed, forty thousand horsemen killed and all the kings allied with the Ammonites and Syrians fled.
This great man of God, basking in the glory of his greatest victory, begins to lust after Bathsheba, kills her husband Uriah and commits adultery with her. "But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord" (2 Samuel 11:27).
So the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan got right to the heart of the matter. "Thou art the man. You have despised the commandment of the Lord. You have done evil in the sight of the Lord. You are guilty of secret sin."
But when David sinned and became estranged from the Lord, his enemies grew bold and triumphed over him. Sin caused him to lose his courage and confidence, making him weak before all his enemies.
To a man after His own heart, God had to say, "Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house..." (2 Samuel 12:11). Shortly after, his beloved son Absalom turns against him and David flees for his life into the wilderness. What a pitiful sight!
Is this the same great king who, just months before, had defeated two world powers?
What turned him into a weak, powerless and cowardly man who fled before, the enemy?
It was sin - nothing else! Like Samson, David was shorn of his courage and power because he caved in to the weakness of his flesh.
Not a single enemy of Israel could stand before them when that nation did what was right before God.
But when Israel sinned, even their weakest enemies prevailed against them. Achan committed an accursed sin and the minuscule army of Ai sends Israel running in humiliation and defeat.
Israel was told, "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, if ye obey ... And a curse, if ye ... turn aside out of the way..." (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).
God’s Word is so simple and easy: "Obey and be blessed or disobey and suffer."
The Solution
Throw off those things that hinder and entangle you.
Get rid of that sin.
God will not make you take that load of sin off your back. You have to make that decision.
The Results
You will be able to run down a path that you can clearly see the problems and avoid them.
God will be back in charge.
You will be back on the path to victory.
When we are lighter, we will run faster.
We will run with more endurance.
We will stay in the race.
The Problem (we already did that)
1. We don’t always want to get rid of some of those sins.
2. We don’t always want to run in the race.
Another word for all of this is APATHY.
Your Besetting Sin
In the life of every individual, there is a "besetting" sin that can tower like a mountain between the individual and God.
This is "the sin which doth so easily beset us", and it differs according to the person.
Sometimes not obvious to others
The word, beset, means skillfully surrounds.
This sin is like an army: it surrounds us, and continually attacks us from every side.
Everywhere we look, there it is. No matter what we try to do, it is continually there, seeking to overcome us.
If it cannot control us, at the very least, it corrupt everything we do.
The besetting sin will not stand out unless we really desire to serve God, and seriously seek his face.
Those who are content with being a dead fish floating downstream to heaven will not know what I am talking about here.
There is a way which, if carefully followed, will bring us complete victory over the besetting, soul-trying sin.
1. I must DESIRE to be rid of my besetting sin!
It may sound strange, but there are those who pray to God for help to overcome the impurity which hotly pursues them, and, at the same time, deep in their hearts they cherish and do not desire to give it up.
You cannot imagine Blind Bartimaeus, after waiting for Jesus and risking everything… when asked “Do you want to be healed?” saying, “No, I’m good!”
But many do not truly want to be released from their besetting sin.
Many people stay under some evil practice; yet, they offer continually their insincere prayers for deliverance.
This insincere praying can continue for years.
Their real prayer is not the one from their lips, but the one coming from the deepest desire of their heart.
The prayer they should offer is that God might help them to surrender completely their hearts and take away their secret desire for evil.
Most of us are fully aware that sin is at the root of all our problems. We know that sin causes fear, guilt and depression.
We know it robs us of all spiritual courage and vitality.
But some of us do not really want to be free.
2. I must accept the loving help of my
Father in resisting and overcoming.
1 Cor. 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Besetting does not equal irresistible
Envy, bitterness, pride, lust, covetousness, anger, malice, gossip, worry, swearing, rebellion against proper authority; actually, all the works of the flesh.
That besetting sin is continually trying to conquer us in our heart, in our thinking and in our emotions.
But God made us a promise that the temptation will never exceed the help
Maybe strength, maybe assistance, maybe escape
There you are in the middle of your temptation… you are being besieged, the struggle is intense… you think you have no chance, no choice… but if you will look over to the side you will see a small door or hole… Jesus is there pointing to the door “Fire Escape.”
The temptation will never be allowed to exceed choice!!!
Understand, when Satan wants to tempt you, he has to seek God’s permission. God is in control of Satan. He tells Satan what the limits are.
Job – don’t touch his life
Peter- like wheat
God knows you weakness and strength… He will never allow the temptation to exceed the ability.
YOU ALWAYS HAVE A WAY OUT
The question for you is the same one as for the blind man… do you REALLY want to be healed?
Do you really want to be set free from your besetting sin?
Are you willing to give it up?
Are you prepared to never do it again?
IF YOU ARE… The next time the temptation comes…
Recognize it as SIN
Call it by name… LUST… GOSSIP… ENVY… LYING…
Thank Jesus for dying for that sin
Ask for deliverance
Look for the way out…IT IS THERE
It may be prayer… or visibility… or praise… or scripture
But it is there… God promised!
