Hindrances to our Faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2
What’s the first thing you think about when you wake up? -Coffee? -Time? -Your spouse? -Your Children? -Job?
-What do you think about?
Everyday is determined by two driving forces:
Flesh.
Spirit.
What's the default setting and the natural thing to do? To let the flesh control you? -The flesh is loud and demanding. It likes to have its own way, and it won’t give up easily. -Here’s the remedy to flesh.
Hebrews 12:1-2NKJV Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Several words and sentences stand out to me: First, We are surrounded by witnesses... Lay aside the weights and the sin which easily ensnares... Run with endurance the race set before you. Look to Jesus. Jesus authors faith and Jesus finishes faith. Jesus is the perfect, spotless Lamb/King who sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Sitting down on the right hand of the throne equals authority and power, however, sitting down also equals completion, rest and sovereignty.
In biblical times, defeated enemies were brought back in chains and the victorious king would sit on his throne and put his feet up on the backs of his defeated enemies as a sign of victory. Likewise, Jesus’ conquered enemies are being dragged to Him one by one, and put under His feet.
Please realize you are surrounded by hero’s of faith listed in, Hebrews 11.
Most were common folk just like me, and you.
Personal Testimony- I can't tell you in the last year or two, how many times I wanted, or even tried to call my mom or my dad and tell them something important in my life. I believe my parents are now part of the hero’s of faith. -Generations surround you and me!
Hero’s of faith have something in common, they lay aside hindrances.
Hebrews 12:1b...Stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us...
What’s a unnecessary weight in your life?What’s the sin you’re carrying? What’s got you stuck?
The apostles Paul gives us some of those unnecessary weights listed in:
Galatians 5:18-21MSG It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.
It might not seem like it, but you have control and authority over what’s controlling you.
You weren’t created to allow the flesh to control your life. You were created to walk in the spirit and live in a higher dimension of life.
John 14:26AMP But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.
Allow the Holy Spirit to correct, guide and teach you in your walk. As you walk in the spirit He will help you, He will separate you from the world. -You will desire the things of God more than anything else.
This I know, you were created, for victory to reign!
Colossians 1:15-18NLT Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.
For Believers, Jesus first in everything.
Jesus holds all creation together. Jesus Christ is the head of the church. The church is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything.
Illustration: Picture of my Mother-In-Love Mary Davis, this is how we found her with her hand on two Bibles.
Again, Colossians 1:18 Jesus is supreme over all who rise from the dead.
Do you want to know how to walk in the spirit? The spirit of God is in you right now. You may not feel like it, but He is there– speaking to you, directing you to freedom and blessing.
God wants you to operate in the realm of the spirit– not in this natural world –
The apostles Paul makes it clear in, Galatians 5:16NKJV So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
So I think the question could be asked, What are some of the things I need to know to insure victory in the Spirit?
I want to give you two big steps:
Step One: Walk in the spirit by throwing off all hindrances, and sowing to the spirit.
Hebrews 12:1AMP Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us,
So what is a hindrance? Anything that is out-of-line with the word of God is a hindrance.
That's the reason satan is so determined to strap hindrances onto to your spirit. He wants to slow you down and keep you from reaching God’s best.
Hear the hard language of apostles Paul: Colossians 3:5-6NKJV Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,
Notice there is only one way to victory. -Jesus!
This verse doesn't say anything about gently removing hinderance’s one at a time. No! It says to throw them out, strip them away, put them to death!
Ant-Bed illustration.
If you were to walk into an ant-bed, or mess with mad hornets, you don’t take your time in getting rid of them.
Again step one, throw off all hinderances.
-Step Two, Walk in the spirit by keeping your eyes on Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2TPT We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!
Again, We look to Jesus because He is our example.
Galatians 6:8 J.B. Phillips New Testament
8 If he sows for his own lower nature his harvest will be the decay and death of his own nature. But if he sows for the Spirit he will reap the harvest of everlasting life by that Spirit.
To get rid of those things that are slowing you down, and to walk in the spirit, the natural realm has to become small in your heart and mind.
Moreover, the things of God have to become bigger and bigger. Big Jesus. Little devil.
If you have a sin habit now is the time to get rid of it, -2 Corinthians 6:2.
-Things that deplete your spirit have to go! They should not be tolerated.
There are times when you just need to say ‘no’ out-loud, when something is displeasing to Father.
It’s okay to shout out, “No I do not receive that.”
Again, Galatians 6:7 Are you sowing to the lower nature, or Are you sowing to the spirit?
The lower nature can only produce more flesh. -Thus in turn, destruction.
Sowing and reaping is one of the simplest, yet most ignored concepts of life. Anything we put our time, energy, money, or focus on is an act of sowing. Reaping is the results or consequences of what we’ve sown.
The ramification of our reaping depends on the amount of effort and time we put into the sowing.
The Bible gives very clear teaching on this reality that can influence our eternal rewards. Take a look at 7 Bible verses about sowing and reaping:
1. Sow tears, reap joy.
Psalm 126:5 “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy”
2. Sow Righteousness…Reap Reward
Proverbs 11:18 A wicked person earns deceptive wages, but the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward”
3. Sow Injustice…Reap Calamity
Proverbs 22:8 “Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity, and the rod they wield in fury will be broken”
4. Sow to the Flesh Reap Destruction; Sow to the Spirit Reap Eternal Life.
Galatians 6:7-8MSG Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
5. Sow Sparingly Reap Sparingly. Sow Generously Reap Generously...
2 Corinthians 9:6 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously”
6. Sow Nothing…Reap Nothing
Luke 19:20-21NLT “But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. 21 I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’
7. Sow in good soil…Reap/Harvest a Crop.
Matthew 13:24 Jesus told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field’”
Did you hear that? The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
In the city of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, the broken end of a high voltage wire was lying on the pavement, along which the engineer was walking, unaware of the fact that he was about to be FRIED! A worker saw the danger and yelled to warn him, but his voice was drowned by the noise around. Picking up a stone, he threw it as hard as he could and hit the engineer on the chest.
Angry, the engineer looked up--but just as he did, he saw the wire just as he was about to step upon it. Tearfully, he thanked the worker for saving his life.
The stone hurt, but the high voltage wire would have hurt MUCH more. It was a loving act of CONCERN that motivated the worker to throw the stone at the engineer.
As Paul Harvey would conclude,“Here’s the rest of the story.”
-And when the Lord brings trials into our lives, we often get angry at God for throwing rocks at us. What we ought to do is have the attitude of the engineer and rejoice and be thankful for a God who loves His children too much to let them hurt themselves by going astray.
Benediction. -Remember, Cast off hinderances, and look only to Jesus.
