Good evening. Tonight we are going to continue our series titled, Finding Freedom From Sin. Each week, starting a couple of weeks ago and going until we finish we are going to take a look at some ways to free ourselves from the slavery of sin that we get caught up in. Tonight, we are going to take a look at lightening the load. In this evening’s discussion time, we will hopefully see how to run the Christian race faster and endure longer.
Before we get started this evening, let’s begin with a word of prayer. Let’s Pray!
Have any of you ever ran in a race? If so, explain it a little?
Well, I am sure that most of us have run in a race at some point in our life. If you want to see the best foot races, you would need to watch the Olympics or some sort of a World Class Race. And if you were to watch these types of track events, you will notice that these athletes have several things in common with one another.
1. They not only plan on finishing the race, but their goal is to win the race.
2. They are strong and in good shape.
3. They are well prepared mentally and physically for the race.
4. They run light. Things that are not necessary do not weight them down.
5. They run in the race regardless of the conditions. It doesn’t matter if it is hot or cold, windy or calm, raining or snowing, sunny or cloudy. It does not matter if they don’t feel very well or if they are feeling great. They run the race regardless of the conditions.
As Christians, we too are in a race. But the questions that we need to consider are:
1. Are we running to finish the race and win the race?
2. Are we in good spiritual condition?
3. Are we well prepared?
4. Are we running the race free of things weighing us down?
5. Do we run in the race regardless of the conditions or do we find ourselves sitting on the side lines resting?
The focus on this sermon this evening is in how to run the race without carrying extra weight. Sometimes in our Christian race, we don’t run a strong race because we are weighted down by sin. We become slow and have no endurance. What we need to do is lighten our load. Go ahead and turn with me to Hebrews 12:1. This will be out main verse for this evening. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
So, as we read that verse, how do you think that is accomplished?
Well, this evening, I want us to examine 3 things about the weight factor of this race.
1. Extra Weight
2. Losing Weight
3. Light Weight
First, is extra weight:
What do you think I mean by extra weight?
Well, in Isaiah 59:2 it says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
And then in Colossians 1:21-23 it says, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”
Now, from those passages, let’s take a look at the problem with extra weight. The problem with extra weight is that sin separates us from God. We become so distant from God that we feel that God is not there anymore. I’m sure that we have all faced times in our lives when we have sinned and that sin has brought us down so far that we began to wonder is there was a God out there. Another problem with sin is that, because it causes us to love the world, eventually it will lead us to hate God.
Now, what do you think the solution to that problem would be?
Well, the solution to the problem of extra weight I believe can be found in Jesus. God has reconciled us by putting Jesus to death in our place. He put all of our sins on Jesus. Jesus removed our sin that prevented us from having a relationship with God. So the solution to this extra weight is to accept what God has done for us and enter into a relationship with Him. That is the first step to all of this. That is a crucial key in finding freedom from sin.
Now, the result of this is that the death of Jesus Christ tells us that God has done something about our sin problem. The results are that we who have been reconciled to God are holy, without blemish, and free from accusation. II Corinthians 5:21 says that, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” You see, sin weighs us down and will slow us down and make us tired, very quickly. So we need to get rid of that extra weight. And that leads us to our next point:
Secondly, losing weight:
How do we lose this extra weight of sin?
Well, when it comes to losing the extra weight of sin, Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Now, here is another problem. Sin will hinder us from living a life that God wants us to live. Sin easily entangles us. Imagine running a race and you have a 50 pound sack on your back and your hat has slipped over your eyes a little bit and as you are running from that big dog behind you, you realize that your feet are wrapped up in something. You are probably thinking, “What’s going to happen to me?” And the answer would be that you are going fall and fall hard.
Well, that is the way it is with sin in our lives. That extra weight that causes us to slow down and eventually fall. And when we fall in this race we truly fall hard. We lose some of the blessings that God intends to give to us, and its possible that we could fall so far and so hard that we would miss out on eternity with God.
But here is the solution to that problem. Throw off those things that hinder and entangle you. Do you understand just how easy that solution is? Just get rid of that sin. Now I know that it can be hard at times, but it is a lot easier than having to die on a cross in order to remove them.
If you are addicted to alcohol, what is the first thing you must do physically? Get rid of all of the alcohol you have. If you don’t, when you are tempted, the problem will be too easily available. This means you have to throw it off. God will not make you take that load of sin off your back. You have to make that decision for yourself. And that is the same way it is with sin. God is not going to do it for you, you have to be strong and do it on your own.
But if you will, there will be some amazing results. The results will be that 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 of your life. And you will be back on the path to victory.
So there is a look at the extra weight that we carry. There was a look at the fact that we need to lose that weight. That leaves us with just one last topic for this evening.
Finally, light weight:
II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” That is the goal when we try and lose that extra weight. The hope that we will become a new creation in God. However, there still remains a problem. Sometimes we don’t want to change.
The last problem this evening is the problem of not wanting to get rid of some of those sins. We don’t always want to run in the race, because that means that we need to make some serious changes in the way we act, the way we talk, the way we live our lives. We just don’t care enough to want to change. Another word for all of this is APATHY. We just don’t care.
But there is a solution to all of that. What would you think would be a solution to apathy when it comes to losing that extra weight?
Well, the solution to apathy is to realize that apathy is a sin. The solution is to repent. Throw that sin off and leave it to God. It is unneeded baggage that has already been paid for by Christ. And if we can do that, then we will see some truly amazing results. The result of losing all of that extra weight of sin is that we are lighter and we will be able to run faster. We will run with more endurance. We will stay in the race. We will have a better change of wining the race that God has placed us in.
Now, before we close this evening, does anyone have anything that they would like to add as it comes to finding freedom from sin and losing the extra weight of sin?
Well, if there is nothing else, Paul told Timothy in II Timothy 4:7 that, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” I would ask you this morning, are you still in the race or have you fallen to the weight of sin and have not gotten back up? Are you still running that race lightly or have you got so much weight on your shoulders that you have no chance of winning this race or even finishing it? If you have fallen, look up. Jesus is there to pick you up. Remove that sin and confess it to God.
As we close, it is my prayer that at the end of all of our lives, we too will be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Let’s Pray! |
