TITLE: HEAVY LIFTING
SCRIPTURE: ST. JOHN 3:14-15 / ST. JOHN 12:32
One of the things I enjoyed about lifting weights is there's no gray area –
• You either manage to lift a certain weight - or you don't
• There are clear successes and clear failures
• Either you Can or you Can’t
• This is rare in life to have such Absolutes
• It also means that if you don't put in the work - you lose your strength
It is always amazing if you stay out of the Gym too long because of an illness or busyness of life, when you return to the gym after an absence, you quickly realize the weight you were accustomed to lifting is now a struggle. You are reminded quickly you have neglected to put in the work to keep up your strength.
But, you know, sometimes it's good to have a tangible reminder of what happens when we stop doing the things that help to strengthen us. One of the dangers of grace is it's easy to allow it to be, as Bonhoeffer said, "cheap." We can allow ourselves to believe our faith requires nothing of us and that we can stop doing the hard work of conditioning ourselves to live it out in the world.
I believe in this day and age the Church is in the condition it is and can be summed up by understanding the importance of HEAVY LIFTING. I believe we have stopped doing the HEAVY LIFTING required to lead the Lost to Christ. We no longer –
• Desire to Lead others to Christ
• Desire to Evangelize the Lost
• Desire to Invite others to Church to hear the Word of God
• Desire to do the Heavy Lifting required to grow the Kingdom
The purpose and duty of every believer - every pastor - every church of the Lord Jesus Christ can be summed up in just three words- LIFTING UP JESUS! Lifting requires work, ordinarily hard work. If we were to define lifting, we would come to the understanding that Lifting is the power or force required for Lifting to take place. To Lift something requires our strength, we must exhert ourselves in some form or fashion that we might be able to do the Lifting.
In our text Jesus said that if he were lifted up that he would draw all men unto himself.
• In the providence and purpose of God, Jesus was lifted up on the Cross of Calvary by the hands of wicked men
• Because Jesus was lifted up on the Cross to die
• Because He was buried in the Tomb
• Because He Rose again the third day
• Because He was Highly Exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on High
• Jesus is Drawing all men unto Himself
That is, He is drawing all kinds of men from every nation - every class - every age - every sex -- color. Jesus is drawing all of His chosen ones whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the world. But it requires HEAVY LIFTING on our part.
• We are required to do the Lifting
• That He may do the required Drawing
Every Christian, every Child of God and every Minister should want to know how to reach the masses of unconverted people in the world - in their country - in their town. there are all kinds of books – articles - videos, that have been produced on the subject. How do we evangelize people? There are many sellers of goods, profiting from such endeavors, but very little light has been produced on the subject. I have a number of books in my library that cite the same biblical texts over and over.
• John 3:16
• Matthew 28:18-20
• Mark 16:15
• Luke 24:46-48
• Acts 1:8
• Acts 2:42-47
• Proverbs 29:18
• And the list goes on
While these are important biblical texts, however, Jesus’ words in this text give us the key to reaching the masses. The Key is found in that great hymn of the church and God’s Word -- HOW TO REACH THE MASSES MEN OF EVERY BIRTH, FOR AN ANSWER JESUS GAVE THE KEY -- “AND I, IF I AM LIFTED UP FROM THE EARTH, WILL DRAW ALL MEN TO ME.” The key is not demographic studies - surveying people to see what they want in a church (and then giving them that), not in –
• Techniques
• Sinner’s Prayers
• Alter Calls
• Many other gimmicks commonly seen today
The Gospel message, and focusing upon the Redemption that Christ Jesus has brought, through His life, death and resurrection on the cross is the key. Not that all individuals will come to Him, but we are all still required to do the HEAVY LIFTING. The reality is, all of us, I'm sure, at some time in our ministry, have been concerned about the limited results in soul winning when compared with the effort expended. How often we have felt inadequate for the encounter with hardened sinners. Looking back on my own ministry, I am sure much more could have been accomplished if I had more fully comprehended that in uplifting the crucified Savior a mysterious power touches the sinner's heart such as nothing else does.
We have stopped doing the HEAVY LIFTING as believers and especially from our Pulpits. Because of this, our Churches have become weak and believers have become even weaker from this lack of HEAVY LIFTING. We want to Preach and Teach everything but the lifting of Jesus.
• It is through the Preaching of the Word that people are saved
• It is through the Preaching of the Word that the saved are strengthened
Satan knows the Power of Preaching, and so he does everything he can to stop Pastors as well as every believer from preaching and lifting up our Savior.
• He will get churches to cut the sermon out of their service in favor of drama or more music
• Satan will get churches to tell the Pastor that people don’t want to hear the Bible taught any more, and so if he could just tell them a bunch of stories and jokes that would be better
• If we could just become a Life Coach from the Pulpit
We need to understand, preaching is warfare activity, therefore, we must be in proper shape. When we stop doing the HEAVY LIFTING, we become weak in the Word and weak in our faith and begin losing the battle to Satan. We must return to the HEAVY LIFTING of the Gospel.
• Move beyond Generic Sermons
• Move beyond Bible Basics of Bible Study
• Move beyond looking to be Entertained from the Pulpit
• Move beyond Showmanship during our Revivals
• Move beyond the Same Old Programs Year after Year
• Move beyond Packing the Church for Musical and Empty Church for Christian Education
• Get back to the Heavy Lifting of the Word of God
When we Preach and Teach about how Jesus –
• Came to earth
• How He lived a sinless life
• How He died on the cross for our sins
• Rose again the third day
• Seated now at the right hand of God the Father in heaven
• Will come again one day to judge the living and the dead
• That’s the basics the starting point to do some Heavy Lifting
When we preach these truths, it is a rallying cry for us, that Jesus Christ has defeated Sin – Death - and Satan. But aside from that, when we Preach these truths, it is a reminder to our enemy the devil, that he has lost this war.
• He is a defeated foe
• He has no power over us
• We are on the winning side
• We are champions over him
• Isn’t that good news!
• This is where we ought to shout
So not only is the Gospel an encouragement to us, and a reminder to Satan of his defeat, but Preaching the Gospel is also how we persuade unbelievers to believe in Jesus for everlasting life. Making the connections is part of the process of Heavy Lifting.
• Every time a person believes in Jesus for everlasting life, they leave Satan’s kingdom of darkness, and are transferred into Jesus’ kingdom of light
• Every person that believes in Jesus is another blow to Satan, and another victory for Jesus Christ
HEAVY LIFTING is really geared for those that are on the outside of the Church, they are why we need to continue doing the HEAVY LIFTING. Truth be told, we are like almost every church I know. We all say we want to reach unchurched people.
• But few are actually doing it
• Part of the problem stems from the fact that many churches don’t really understand unchurched people
Part of the problem is our model of church is designed to reach and help churched people, not unchurched people.
• Churches haven’t embraced change deeply enough
• We can say we want to reach people all day long
• We can teach about it every week
• But if we haven’t designed our church around ministering to people who don’t go to church, you might as well be preaching that you want to lose weight while eating a TRIPLE BACON CHEESEBURGER WITH A DIET COKE
Here is a NEWS FLASH - UNCHURCHED PEOPLE DO NOT COME ‘PRE-CONVERTED.’
• They will have lifestyle issues that might take years to change
• Some of us have been saved a long time and Holy Spirit still helping us clean up our act
• Cleaning up our behavior is not a pre-condition for salvation, at least not in Christianity
• It takes the Heavy Lifting on our part to understand our roll versus the roll of the Holy Spirit
What God has done for us in Jesus saves us; not what we have done for God.
• Are we really ready to love unchurched people, not just judge them?
• One of Jesus’ most affective approaches was to love people into life change
• If we can do that, this Church is ready to reach unchurched people
• But it only happens after we have done the Heavy Lifting of the Gospel
Yesterday was five Saturday’s in a row we have had a funeral conducted by the Kirk Funeral Home next door. Between the Funerals and our own daycare next door and ordinary traffic on this street, I oftentimes sit and watch and wonder how many even notice our church as they pass by. I am sure the answer is not very many. Many continue to pass by without so much as a glance, almost as if we were just part of the landscape and nothing more.
• Most don’t even look
• They didn’t stop
• They didn’t seem to know we were here at all
We have been serving this community and our City for 130 years, since 1888. I’m sure that’s news to most people who pass by. But it’s true. We’ve been right here in the Northeast side for a long, long time.
• And so many people still don’t know who we are
• They drive on by without a thought
• If they see us at all, we’re just another church in a village filled with churches
How will we reach them, these travelers who pass us by?
• What will we say that will cause them to listen?
• How will we catch the EARS - THE EYES - THE HEARTS of a generation so busy?
I believe the key is we must learn to do the HEAVY LIFTING. We must move beyond bible basics and bible stories and be able to handle the Word of God in such a way that provides answers for those that are still seeking. When it comes to Preaching, One issue still lingers -- for preaching to be effective, it must be heard, and the unchurched by definition are not in church.
• So how can preaching reach the unchurched?
• “Unchurched” does not mean “never in church”
• It is highly likely that an unchurched person will “try” our church at some point
• Effective preaching is a great motivator
• Members are motivated to invite the unchurched
• From the Pulpit to the Usher Door we must be prepared and equipped to handle the Word of God
If we want to lift up Jesus in a way that will convince the gainsayers, we must be students of the Word of God. May we as believers be grounded in the Word.
• Beloved, this takes work!
• It doesn't just happen
• It is a day by day process that must continue throughout our lives
I will be the first to admit, the older we get, the more difficult it is to remember those verses that we once knew. But we must not quit, just because our memories are failing. It has been shown that continued exercise of the memory actually preserves and improves it. So, let’s keep studying the Word of God, that we might lift up Jesus in knowledge and in wisdom to a dark world stooped in spiritual ignorance.
I love to handle the Word. I look forward every week to Sunday School and Bible Study with you that we continue to grow together. I believe there is no experience on earth that compares with the fellowship that God's people know, who in the unity of the Spirit and the Truth of God's Word, are striving together to lift up Jesus.
• We can just feel and know the presence of God manifested in the worship services
• We can experience the energy and power of God as we go about our daily lives in service to the Lord
• It is like Isaiah said in ISAIAH 40:31 “BUT THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH; THEY SHALL MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES; THEY SHALL RUN, AND NOT BE WEARY; AND THEY SHALL WALK, AND NOT FAINT”
• For all us who are saved, we know that experience in our lives
• This will be our experience when we lift up Jesus
Let’s continue to do the HEAVY LIFTING. If we learn to do that, the Lord has the responsibility of doing the rest. We have the easy part.
• Remember it is Jesus who said that He would draw men unto Himself
• We do not draw lost souls to Jesus
• But it is Jesus Himself Who draws them
• We just have to Lift Him so He can do the Drawing
Thus, it is a sure thing that if Christ is lifted up, He will draw His people.
• He will draw them with cords of love by the Holy Spirit
• He will draw them by the power of the Gospel through the testimony and lives of His people
• He will draw them to Calvary to see Him suspended between heaven and earth, dying for their sins
• What a great work
• What a wonderful honor to be a part of this Master plan of salvation
• To think that the Lord would use us to lift Him up, that through our efforts He would draw His elect unto Himself
Don’t be fooled for a moment - Jesus is still being lifted up today and he is still drawing his elect unto himself. All of God's saints, from Adam and Eve to the very last soul that will be saved, are drawn to Jesus through the Cross. This includes both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus was lifted up on the cross to draw all of His people to Himself- Past - Present - Future.
• The only way for any person ever to enter into heaven is through the Cross of Christ
• As Jesus has been lifted up by His people over the centuries, He has been drawing His elect unto Himself
--We lift up Jesus today when we exalt His Name, His Person, and His Work on the cross for the whole world to see
--We lift up Jesus for every soul to see His perfections - His mighty works - His Amazing Grace to sinners - His Glory - and His soon return
--Jesus was lifted up on Calvary as the mighty Prince and conqueror of Satan and of sin
--He was lifted up from the grave as the risen Savior
--He was lifted up to glory as the exalted King of Kings and Lord of Lords
--Today we lift up Jesus as the exalted Savior Who is mighty to save all who will look to Him by faith, and believe on Him as their own personal Savior
The question as I close this morning -- have you ever seen Jesus lifted up?
--Have you ever seen Jesus by faith - lifted up on the cross of Calvary dying for your sins?
--Have you ever seen Him by faith - being buried in a tomb, and in three days rising from the dead as your risen Lord and Savior?
--Have you seen Him ascended to the right hand of God - exalted as the King of Glory
--Our prayer is that you will see Jesus high and lifted up, and that you will believe on Him as your Lord and personal Savior!
