Training
1Timothy chapter 3 verse.16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.MT 5:1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:
MT 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
MT 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
MT 5:5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
MT 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
MT 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
MT 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
MT 5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
MT 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
LK 9:59 He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
LK 9:60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
LK 9:61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
LK 9:62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
LK 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
This week we have been inundated with news of the Olympics
The brilliant opening ceremony and already some outstanding performances.
Some athletes have great results.
Putting aside the drugs cheats – how does a naturally talented person get to the top.
The normal life of the athlete is all about training – Physical and mental.
Great success is great to see that is why people pay huge amounts of money to queue up and see these athletes perform.
Take Emil Zatopek for example a great athlete of over 50 years ago.Emil Zátopek
(1922-2000)One of the greatest runners of the 20th Century, Emil Zátopek achieved legendary status when he won the 5,000, the 10,000 and the marathon at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.
"The Locomotive" or the "Bouncing Czech" as he came to be known, dominated long distance running from 1948 until 1954 when he won a remarkable 38 consecutive 10,000 meter races, including 11 in 1949 alone. He set 18 world records over various distances including every record from 5K to 30K, and won four Olympic gold medals and one silver.
Outstanding success
I am sure you will agree.
That is going back fifty years.
But as we discussed last week we too are to be in training –
What kind of result might we expect to see if we get to be where we are meant to be with the Lord?
To discus Emil Zatopek we have had to go back 52 years.
Lets go back 2000 years to look at an incident in the life of the followers of Jesus
LK 10:17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."
LK 10:18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Jesus had spent much time with these followers and now was the time when he would send them out.
Out they went – filled with God’s Holy Spirit and came back rejoicing.
Jesus, himself says these things and greater things you will do because he is going to send his spirit.
The question I believe that needs to be asked today by the Christian is not – What is normal christian life?
You see just as normal athletic life is different from the life of normal citizens so the christian’s life is to be radically different from the world in which they live.
Too often excesses of behaviour and habit have been used by christians with the excuse that they are trying to “get alongside the world.” Frankly not many are convincing with an argument like this.
God makes it quite clear in his Word that he has only one answer to every Human need – his Son – Jesus Christ. In all his dealingw with us He works by taking us out of the way and substituting christ in our place. The Son of God died instead of us for our forgiveness; He lives for us for our deliverance. So we can speak of two substitutions – a Substitute on the Cross who secures our forgiveness and a Substitute within who secures our victory.
(Watchman Nee – The normal christian life.)
The question then for the Christian is not so much how can I train myself better but rather how can I train myself to yield to Christ.
In the United States I understand that they have street signs that are like our Give way signs – these signs simply say “Yield.”
Yield .
How then do we train for the Christian life?
You see we want to see the world growing for Christ we long to see people coming to God but the question is How are we going to do this – how can we train to allow God to have his way in our lives?
This morning I want to look at three Biblical concepts that will help us to train to be more effective for Christ.
The first, it may seem is a parodox.
MT 5:1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:
MT 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
MT 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
MT 5:5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
MT 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
MT 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
MT 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
MT 5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
MT 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
These words of Jesus have been called the greatest sermon ever preached.
Thosands upon thousands have preached on it , studied it, memorised it and tried to live it.
You see the first thing the disciples are encouraged to do is to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen.
So many today presume to know what Jesus’ wants.
That is all very well if that person is well versed in the teachings of Jesus and portrays His character in their lives.
I remember just a few years ago being confronted by a man who was on a personal crusade.
His rhetoric was intimidating and full of accusations.
He demonstrated none of the finer qualities that one would expect to see in jesus Christ. Yet he embarked on a program of self publicity and high profile ministry.
I was not surprised when shortly afterwards he had to give up.
Undoubtably he blamed others but I think the real problem lay with the too slender thread between him and Jesus.
Before we get too self congratulatory about that though we need to examine ourselves and ask –
Does my life reflect the teaching and the character of Jesus Christ?
If you think you have heard from Jesus remember, if it is correct it will need to agree with the scriptures:-
One of the great teachers for the Christian is the Bible.1 Timothy chapter 3 verse.16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
If it doesn’t it may wello mean that we could profit from sitting once again at the feet of Jesus.
For example take the line
MT 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Here Jesus is referring to someone who has God’s hear for righteousness. To really understand it you would need to go to a place where food and water are in short supply – one of the refugee camps in the Sudan for example.
You can imagine to those dying of starvation in these places what food and water means – it means a rushing forward abandoning all dignity all other matters for the food and water.
Jesus says you are blessed when you hunger and thirst after righteousness like this.
This is only one example from the sermon on the mount but you see we not only need to get these concepts in our heads but we need to get them in our hearts as well.
That requires training and sacrifice.
Many today hunger and thirst after unrighteousness and it leads to their failure and doom
We will know when we have lived in this way because our lives will begin to reflect the character and nature of our Lord Jesus.
Alexander the Great was a brave and brilliant general. Once, one of his officers appeared before him to stand for charges brought against him for insubordination and behavior bordering on cowardice. Alexander the Great asked the officer, “What is your name?” The officer replied, “Sir, my name is the same as yours. My name is Alexander. The general stared at the officer and shouted, “Alexander? Then either change your name, or change your behavior!” As Christians, we cannot be called disciples of Jesus unless we are willing to follow his orders. We must change our name or change our behavior.
The second matter for christian training is availability.
The thing about athletics is you have to turn up for training.
If you don’t train then you don’t win.
If we are not available how can the kingdom of God win on earth through us?
Joshua was called into the presence of God for commissioning.
DT 31:14 The LORD said to Moses, "Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, where I will commission him." So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.
RO 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
When you get a call up for the army you are instructed to present yourself at the barracks for army training.
Most men who have been through basic army training say two things. One it was tough and severe. And two it was the making of the person.
Watchman Nee says this:- it is a great thing whaen I discover I am no longer my own but His. If the dollar in my pocket belongs to me, then I have full authority over it. But if it belongs to another who has committed it to me in trust, then I cannot buy what I please with it, and I dare not lose it. How many of us know that, because Christ is risen, we are therefore alive “unto God” and not unto ourselves.
How many of us dare not use our time or money or talents as we would, because we realise that they are the Lord’s not ours?
Many years ago My Grandfather hired an accountant in his garage. That man seemingly embezzled a large amount of my Grandfather’s money. He was dismissed immediately.
I once had a business where a young lady helped herself to the money out of the cash register – I dismissed her immediately.
What happens in the army if a soldier wakes up and instead of reporting to His commanding officer goes for a walk instead?
He is court martialled.
Why?
Because the army cannot function like that.
Doesn’t that raise serious questions about how we spend our time everyday for God?
Don’t you think we should present ourselves to God everyday and check that we are spending His time the way He wants not the way that we want?
Watchman Nee tells on one occasion how a Christian brother was travelling by train and found himself in a carriage together with three non-Christians who widhed to play cards in order to while away the time. Lacking a fourth to complete the game they invited this brother to join them. ‘I am sorry to disappoint you,” he said, “But I cannot join your game for I have not bought my hands with me. “ “What ever do you mean?” they asked in blank astonishment.
“This pair of hands does not belong to me.”, he said, and then there followed the explanation of the transfer of ownership that had taken place in his life. That brother regarded the members of his body as belonging entirely to the Lord. That is true holiness.
Paul says, “Present you members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification.av. Romans 6:19. Make it a definite act present yourself to God.
Thirdly. Christianity is a team sport. Most great athletes have a great coach. Snell had Lydiard – Herb Elliotte had Percy Ceruty – David Tua had kevin Barry - our coaching comes from several areas.
1.The Holy Spirit:- LK 12:11 "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."
There is much more we can say about the training role that the Holy Spirit plays in the life of the Chrisitan but let me take a moment to give you one illustration from the scriptures:-
AC 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.
2.The body of Christ – the church. Interestingly but not surprisingly Jesus sent the disciples out in two’s. The bible speaks often about the body of Christ. The Church is a body – we need each other – we are not designed to be alone. The scriptures in Romans 12 or Ephesians 4 where it says: 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Christianity is more about being a body than individual brilliance.
Let us then view again the three things that we have considered as necessary training needs for the Christian:
1.Respect the coach. Take time to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen. Learn to listen to God. Use prayer and the scriptures.
2.Availability. To make ourselves available to God.
3.Christianity is a team sport.
E
Emil Zatopek once said that a runner must run with dreams in his heart.
I believe the Christian is the same –
We need a dream and we need to train towards that dream
This morning we encourage you to do just that.
1.Respect the coach. Take time to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen. Learn to listen to God. Use prayer and the scriptures.
2.Availability. To make ourselves available to God.
3.Christianity is a team sport.
E.
