The
Oberlin Evangelist
WEIGHTS AND BESETTING SINS
March 12, 1845
Modernized by Cliff
Collins
“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.” (Hebrews 12:1)
In discussing this subject, I will show:
I. WHAT RACE IS MENTIONED HERE?
II. WHAT IS AT STAKE?
III. WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS OF WINNING IN THIS
RACE?
I. What is the race that is mentioned here?
In our passage today, the apostle Paul alludes to
the Olympian and Isthmian games. These
games were celebrated in the East, and the people Paul wrote to were familiar
with them. Since these games were very
popular and very well known, he often alludes to them to illustrate the truths
of Christianity. These games originated
with the policy of the Greek government, to develop the physical powers of
their young men, and encourage them to become the best and most efficient
athletes possible. Before gunpowder was
invented, success in war depended a lot more than it does now on the physical
power and dexterity of an army. Armies
back then, had to fight hand to hand with swords, spears, war-clubs, bows and
arrows, and crossbows, and all those weapons that required great physical
energy and strength. As a result, it
became the policy of many governments to cultivate physical development as much
as possible. For this purpose, many
governments established schools to train men to run foot races, to handle
spears, swords and shields, and engage in all those exercises that serve to
develop their muscular system to the utmost.
In order to make this system of exercises more popular, the authorities
established and supported these games.
Even kings attended these celebrations.
The competitors carefully trained and prepared for
months and even for years before the competition. Some of these games were mostly foot races, because it was very
important in those days that men should be able to run with great speed and for
a long time. They built bleachers along
the racetrack, so that a large number of spectators could sit and watch the
race. Indeed, a large percentage of entire
kingdoms would attend these events.
When these bleachers, forming a vast amphitheater on either side of the
racetrack, were all filled with spectators, you could actually call them “a
great cloud of witnesses”.
The competitors in these games, of course, spent a
lot of time preparing for the races.
Their dress, if they wore any clothes at all, was so arranged that it
would display every muscle. They
carefully avoided anything and everything that could hinder their strength and
motion. They laid aside anything that
would weigh them down. They exercised
daily. They carefully controlled their
eating and sleeping habits. In short,
they did everything they could possibly do to help them run faster.
There are two things that they had to pay attention
to if they wanted to run the race.
1. They must start right, or according to the rules.
2. They must run the race from start to finish. If they started out right, ran according to
the rules, and finished ahead of their competitors, they were crowned. Otherwise, they were not crowned.
Now, in this passage, the apostle Paul clearly
refers to these races. Here, Paul
compares the Christian life to these races.
In fact, he calls the Christian life a race. Sometimes, Paul calls the Christian life a fight or a
battle. It is a great conflict, waged
with the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Paul’s purpose is to bring out the truth that in order to be successful
in winning the race, we must make the best effort we can possibly make.
Therefore, it is the Christian race that Paul
mentions here, or that struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil, that
every Christian is familiar with. The
Christian must be victorious over the world, the flesh, and the devil to win
the crown.
II. Let me show you what is at stake in this race.
The prize is a crown of eternal glory. The prize includes partaking in all the
honors and glories of heaven. It
includes sharing with Christ in His glory; sitting down with Him on His throne;
and becoming kings and priests unto God.
It means that we will be God’s adopted children and have mansions in His
palace. And we will be able sit at His
table and enjoy all the honors and blessings of fellowship, as sons, with the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
III. What are the conditions of winning this race?
The first condition of winning the race that today’s
passage mentions is, that we lay aside every weight. This race or conflict is mental, not physical; it belongs to our
mind and not to the body. Therefore,
let us determine into what could weigh us down and hinder us from successfully
running this race. Let us look at those
weights right now.
1. All unnecessary business is a weight. By this, I mean any kind or degree of business
that we do that God’s providence has not clearly called us to do. Any business, in kind or amount, that God’s providence
clearly calls us to do, and we do with an eye focused on His glory, helps us to
run the race. We should regard this as
a part of our business and our duty as Christians. It is not a weight. It is
part of the race itself. But, when a
man engages in any business, no matter how great or small, that God has not
called him to do, he places an unnecessary burden on himself. It becomes a dead weight on his
shoulders. In fact, he cannot run the race
at all while he is carrying this business on his shoulders because his business
is selfish, and he has already abandoned his faith in God and committed his
heart to serving himself.
He has no right to do, say, or be anything, more or
less, than what God calls him to do, say, or be. If he gets involved in any selfish business, or takes on anything
more or less than his duty to God requires, he has fallen away from God’s
service. As a result, he can no longer
win this race, any more than a man could win in the Olympic games if he ran in
the wrong direction, instead of running towards the goal. Please, never forget, that if you get
involved in any business in kind or amount that, according to your best
judgment, is not for the glory of God and is not designed for His glory, you
abandon your faith in God, and you carry a burden that you must lay aside or
your soul cannot be saved.
2. Whatever unnecessarily occupies our time is a
weight that we must lay aside. All our
time belongs to God; and we should consecrate all our time to Him. Whatever we allow in our lives that occupies
a day, an hour, or even a moment of our time that our duty to God does not
demand, becomes a weight that hinders our progress in the Christian race that
much more. Suppose a racer in the Olympic
games allows himself to be hindered by the cheers and the approval of the
spectators. Suppose he should stop
along the way to shake hands and greet his friends and loved ones as he ran
past them; and, as a result, he loses precious time and distance instead of
using his time and strength to focus on the race, could he win the race? Now never forget, that whenever a man allows
his running time to go to waste, or he allows himself to be sidetracked from
the service of God, he carries an unnecessary weight. Whenever he occupies his time with any other business than God’s
business, he takes on himself a weight that he must lay aside, or he will never
win the race.
3. Anything that we become involved in that the
word, or Spirit, or providence of God does not call us to do, are weights and
we must lay them aside. We have no
business becoming involved in anything that our master, God, has not called us,
His servants, to do. Our whole time,
our talents, our powers, and all we have and are, are His. We should devote all our thoughts as well as
all our powers to God.
Therefore, whenever we take on the responsibility to
spend our time and strength doing things that God has not called us to do, we
forsake God’s service, and we become engaged in serving ourselves instead of
God. However, this makes it just as
impossible to win the race, as it would be if an Olympic runner should run in
the opposite direction of the finish line.
4. Whatever demands our attention, that God has not
called us to waste our time doing, is a weight that must be set down and left
behind.
God demands that we give our whole attention to His
business, to glorify Him, to obey His commands and promote His interests. Therefore, we have no right to give any part
of our attention to something He has not called us to focus our attention on. Therefore, anything that unnecessarily
occupies our attention, that is, anything that is not a part of God’s business,
are weights and we must lay them aside.
5. Whatever gets control of our affections is a
weight, and we must lay it side, or we can never win the crown. God demands that we should reserve our
supreme affections for Him. Whenever we
allow any other object whatever to control our affections, we burden ourselves
with a weight that we must lay aside.
6. We should consider all unnecessary cares,
worries, and burdens weights that we must lay aside. Our real needs are very simple.
We generally don’t have many worries, unless we burden ourselves with
unnecessary cares and worries. We have
no right to load ourselves down with a whole bunch of worries and burdens that
don’t belong to God’s service. Any
cares and burdens to which God calls us to carry, we may lay on Him who cares
for us. But where we engage in matters
that He does no call us to become involved in, and when we carry burdens that
He does not impose on us, we tempt God when we pretend to lay these on
Him. We must therefore assume no
worries, and no burdens that we cannot cast on the Lord. Whenever we voluntarily undertake anything
that is complicated, worrisome, and perplexing that God does not call us to do,
we are not doing God’s business. We
have accepted burdens that we cannot carry and still win the race.
7. All unnecessary furniture and possessions are
burdens that we cannot carry. See! Look at that woman! She has to work from morning until night, to
see that she cleans and dusts those useless articles of furniture and her
prized possessions that fill her house.
Everything must look just right.
She runs from room to room with her dust cloth, or calls her hired help from
room to room, to see that her chairs and bureaus, her sofas and her sideboards,
and a hundred other things for show and not for use are kept in their proper
order. A great house, a lot of
furniture, a small family, very little company, and lots of things she doesn’t
really need and seldom uses. Oh! What a burden that woman has taken on
herself, and certainly, God has not called her to do all of this. Now, can she have all this unnecessary care
on her mind and get to heaven? I don’t
think so. And, look at that man; how he
struggles to get along in his Christian race with that mass of useless baggage
on his back! Certainly, God is not so
cruel that He forces him to run with such a load.
8. You must set aside worrying over all unnecessary
property. It is a burden.
By unnecessary property, I mean any property that
you don’t and can’t manage for the glory of God and the good of souls. I have often thought of something the
celebrated Mr. Law once said. In
talking about the folly and wickedness of trying to be rich, he said that a man
who works to hoard up one hundred thousand pounds sterling is just as
unreasonably employed as if he were working to store one hundred thousand pairs
of boots and spurs. It would require
all his time to keep them from molding, rusting, and spoiling. He would only be able to wear a few of them
and yet they would occupy his time just trying to preserve them. The same is true with one hundred thousand
pounds. A man can never use it all, and
it is a lot of trouble to take care of it.
He must spend most of his time in his office with his books, notes,
bonds, mortgages, and musty papers, and what profit can his one hundred
thousand pounds be to him? Why, it is
only a burden, which, if he tries to carry, will ruin his soul. Therefore, every piece of property that is
above his ability to take care of and manage, and over and above what he can
sacredly consecrate to the service and glory of God, and hold and use for God,
is a weight that he must lay aside, or it is impossible to win the crown.
9. We must regard all unnecessary articles of
clothing as weights. Any man or woman
who has a large wardrobe to over-haul, and to maintain, has a lot of clothing
that must be cleaned, aired, altered, and attended to. It occupies their thoughts, takes up a lot
of their time trying to take care of all those nice clothes, and it is a burden
that must be laid aside.
10. Fashion is another weight that we must lay
aside. So many people today spend a
large part of their time altering their dresses, making changes, buying new
clothes and selling or throwing away the old ones, running here and there
shopping, talking about the latest fashions, the most tasteful colors, the best
fashion designers, clothiers, and tailors, and a whole world of gossip and
nonsense which accompanies the world of fashion. As the different seasons follow each other in rapid succession
and as the ever-fluctuating fashions are introduced, who can run the Christian
race with a mind filled with such things as these? Who does not immediately see that people engaged in such
activities are not consecrated to God?
God has never called them to this service and these obsessions. This is selfishness and it must ruin their
souls. It is impossible to ever win a
crown of glory by living this kind of lifestyle.
11. Unnecessarily wasting time receiving and
entertaining company is often a great weight.
It often taxes a person’s time to receive so many calls and
complimentary visits, and have so many lengthy conversations inflicted upon us
as often happens. Christians should
always arrange their time, so they can eliminate as much unnecessary company as
possible. They should always be ready
to exercise hospitality to the utmost of their ability. They should receive their friends and be
cordial in entertaining strangers, but they should also discourage all visits
and conversations that drain their time and energy in any way whatever. Please remember, that waiting on company,
receiving and entertaining company, or visiting people just to enjoy someone’s
company, and we are not called by God’s providence and will to do that, is a
weight that we must lay aside.
12. We must also lay aside all unnecessary
reading. By unnecessary reading, I mean
all reading that is not necessary to our highest usefulness and
well-being. God has not called us to
read anything over and above what is necessary and useful. It absorbs our attention and wastes our
time. In fact, it is often much worse
than a waste, since it burdens our minds with many unnecessary things that are
inconsistent with our highest holiness and usefulness.
13. We should regard all unnecessary conversation as
a weight. It is surely a great burden
to have to be talking all the time.
Many people seem to talk just for the sake of talking, and to gratify a
talkative spirit. And they will often
waste your time in a lengthy, and usually, one-sided conversation about nothing
or something that is about as good as nothing, much to the hindrance of your
spiritual life. Now please remember, that
our tongues must be used only for the glory of God, and to the use of edifying. We must give an account on Judgment Day for
every idle word that falls from our lips.
Therefore, we should avoid all unnecessary
conversation because it is completely inconsistent with growth in grace, and
with running our spiritual race. “If
anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but
deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” (James 1:26)
14. In short, everything that God does not
providentially call us to do, and therefore is not a part of our duty as
Christians, is a weight and we must set it down. Whatever is inconsistent with or not conducive to our highest
usefulness, we should regard as a burden, and set it aside immediately.
15. There is one more thing I must bring to your attention. Now, some of you may regard this as a rather delicate subject, and that is, untimely and unsuitable love affairs. Few things more completely occupy the mind than love affairs among young people. Now, whenever circumstances are such that the providence of God makes it a duty to seek a wife, or to become a wife, these things are lawful. These things may be committed to God and attended to without distraction. But whenever one’s affections are monopolized by such affairs, where there is no call in providence to such a course, it is a heavy weight that must be laid aside. Oh! How much time is spent in brooding over such matters, in reading letters, and in all the many things that occupies thoughts, feelings, and all the powers of our mind. We must lay all of these things aside. These things don’t belong to the service of God, because in the situation I have described, there is no providential call to yield to such matters. Indeed, where a person wallows in this stuff without consulting God and without being called by God’s divine providence to turn his attention in that direction, they abandon the service of God, and completely yield to their flesh. This is a true apostasy of their hearts. It is an attempt to please themselves and not God. To win the crown in this way is impossible. Indeed their goal here is not to win a person of the opposite sex, but to win a woman; to win a wife or a husband, and that too, not for the glory of God, but to make provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.
We can also win this race if we lay aside all the
sins that trap us. We are peculiarly
exposed to sins that trap and ensnare us, because of the way we are
constituted, or because of our circumstances or both. Once our constitution or circumstance exposes us to these sins we
easily and usually fall. Among these
sins are;
1. Ill temper.
Ill temper is one of those sins that can very easily trap most
people. It is remarkable to see how
many people frequently become angry because of their constitution, health, or
their circumstances. This sin traps
many people so quickly, because it easily throws them off balance. They become angry, and they often become
filled with wrath over things that don’t really matter at all. These sins must be laid aside.
2. Fretfulness is another sin that can easily trap
us. This is anger but in a milder
form. It is a peevish, passionate state
of mind. Fretfulness means to be vexed
or troubled. Many people who are rarely
filled with wrath or display what we generally call anger, are, nevertheless,
extremely susceptible to fretting. We
must lay aside fretting.
3. Covetousness is another sin that can easily trap
us. This is a peculiar form
selfishness. Some people seem to lust
after or covet everything they see, especially everything that is a little
better than what they have themselves.
A horse, a carriage, a farm, a house, a dress, or anything that is
better than what they own, they covet; without realizing that this is a sin
that traps them. Now indulging in all
these desires, is completely inconsistent with running the Christian race. And, whoever notices how covetousness
affects them, will find that it always destroys their peace of mind, and their
communion with God. Whenever men
indulge in wanting to have this, or that, or some other thing, and whenever
they want to possess things that God does not call them to possess, these
things will always draw them out of the way.
They must toss such temptations completely aside, or they can never run
the Christian race.
Some people never seem to be satisfied with what
they have, but are always lusting after more and better things, just as long as
someone they know has them. As the
scripture says, “They enlarge their desire as hell”. (See Hab 2:5) Now God
often gives them their desire, but sends leanness into their souls. (See Psalm 106:15) Have you never noticed, that when you have really set your heart
on getting something that you did not have, once you get that thing, it becomes
a snare to your soul, occupies your thoughts and your time, and leads you away
from God?
4. Another sin that traps is greed. Greed is a desire or tendency to hoard up
property or wealth. Some people are
easily affected this sin, that any opportunity to make a good bargain, or to
gamble, becomes a great temptation to them.
They have a constant tendency to yield to this form of selfishness. But they must restrain themselves and put
away this sin, or they will never get to heaven.
5. Dishonesty is another sin that easily traps
people. Some people find it extremely
difficult to be good and honest in what they say and do. They are tempted to commit little, petty frauds
and be a little bit dishonest in almost everything, and they frequently fall
before these temptations. They are not
sincere and honest with themselves in their religious matters, nor are they
upright with God. In short, they
strongly tend to be hypocrites. We
cannot run a Christian race successfully without putting this away completely.
6. Falsehood is another sin that traps many
people. It doesn’t seem like they
possess a truthful spirit. It doesn’t
look like they love truth for its own sake, but are very prone to give a false
coloring to almost everything they say.
They throw lights and shades in at their own discretion, in such a way
that it gives other people a false impression.
Now this sin so easily traps some people that I never know exactly what
to believe from what they say.
7. Trespassing on other people’s rights is another
sin that traps. It is astonishing to
see the strong tendency that some people have to trespass on other people’s
property, by crossing their field, perhaps with a team of horses without
permission, leaving their fences down, and trespassing on their rights in a
great many other ways, apparently without the least sting of conscience. They go onto their neighbor’s land and get
timber for wood and other purposes without permission, which is really stealing. Indeed, it is surprising to see the extent
many people will go in disregarding the rights of those around them. They seem to be supremely selfish, and
almost supremely reckless, and they go just as far as they think they can go
without their behavior destroying their character, or ending up in court. A person with this spirit can no more get to
heaven than Satan can, unless he lays aside this state of mind, and cherishes a
most sacred regard for his neighbor’s rights.
8. Unfaithfulness in business is another sin that
quickly traps many people. They are not
faithful to God in their business or their occupation, and they never pay that
sacred regard to it that their duty to God requires. They don’t seem to understand that they are the clerks and agents
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that He expects them to be prompt and
faithful. They are very loose,
reckless, and inattentive to their jobs.
If others employ them as clerks, agents, or laborers either indoors or
outside, they are servants only when someone is watching them. They feel little or no responsibility. They only do what they absolutely must do to
keep their jobs and get paid. Thus,
they are very unfaithful to their employers and to God. They can never get to heaven with in this
state of mind. It is sheer selfishness
and injustice, and anything but religion.
9. Slothfulness is another sin easily traps a lot of
people. Multitudes are really too lazy
to be true Christians. Everywhere in
the Bible, it represents the Christian life as a race or a conflict, that we
must give our undivided attention to, and we use all the faculties of our
mind. The Bible represents the
Christian life as a life full of activity.
That is why our passage refers to the foot races and conflicts in the
games. Now, can a slothful person get
to heaven? No! All the winds, and waves, and tides of this
world’s influence push right towards hell, and nothing but preparing ourselves
for action and devoting our lives to the work, will ever enable us to stem the
tides, overcome the obstacles, win the prize, and plant our feet on the hills
of glory.
10. Gossiping is another sin that can trap us. God has said, “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people”. (Lev 19:16)
Some people seem to get so excited with every secret that they hear or
learn about, that they just can’t wait until they can run around and tell it to
everybody. They are in the habit of
running up and down spreading the news.
They are literally gossips. They
don’t carry newspapers, but they carry the unwritten gossip of the village and
the neighbors. Such a person is a pest
to society and a sinner, and must set aside this sin if he ever wants to get to
heaven.
11. Slander is another sin that can easily trap
us. By slander, I mean, speaking about
the real or supposed faults of others behind their backs; speaking about things
that discredit them, without God’s providence clearly calling us to do it. This is a spirit of slander whether what you
say is true or false. Slander is
totally inconsistent with the law of love, by doing for others, as we would
want them to do for us. As a result,
slander is a sin, and many people have become trapped by it. This must be tossed aside or the race can
never be won.
12. Levity is another easily besetting sin. Some people, and indeed many people simply
love to jest, giggle, and laugh as they joke, tell stories, and gossip so much
that they not only become insensitive to anything serious, but they become sore
temptations to all those around them.
This kind of levity, where you never take anything seriously, is quite
inconsistent with true Christian religion.
Jokers don’t get to heaven.
Always remember this, and if you yield to this foolishness, lay it aside
or you will lose your soul.
13. Envy is another sin that easily traps many
people. When they see other people
becoming wealthier than they are or having more influence, or are smarter and
nicer; when they see others more beautiful, more humble, or more esteemed than
they are, they envy those people. This
shows that their heart is completely inconsistent with the love of God and our
neighbor. They must completely let go
of envy, denounce it, and repent of it as sin, or it can never be forgiven.
14. Jealousy is another sin that easily traps a lot
of people. Now, jealousy means a
suspicious frame of mind. Some people
can easily become jealous. They seem to
be constantly watching to see if they are slighted in some way. For example, they become jealous if a friend
prefers someone else to them, or if someone shares a secret with others but
does not tell them. Jealousy manifests
itself in a thousand ways, and it is always hateful and damaging, and we must
get rid of our jealousy because it will weigh us down and we will not finish
the race that God calls us to run.
15. Many people become weighed down by the sin of
ambition. This sin takes on many
forms. You often see it manifest itself
among students because so many of them desire to rise above their classmates in
the eyes of their teachers, and in their knowledge. Ambition seems common to a great many people, from the emperor on
his throne, down to the slave who works in chains. You will see it in public schools, in colleges, even in
theological seminaries, on the pulpit, at law firms, in courtrooms, behind the
counter, or on a military field. You
will find ambition everywhere human beings are. This must be put away.
16. Intemperance in eating is a sin that has trapped
great multitudes of people today. When
the amount that a person eats, or the quality of the food he eats, is
inconsistent with the laws of this life and health, he is guilty of
intemperance. Intemperate eating is
just as much a sin as intemperate drinking is, and it is inconsistent with salvation.
17. Intemperate drinking can keep us out of God’s
kingdom. There is such a thing as
drinking water intemperately. You can
actually drink so much water that it can be harmful to your health. All use of stimulating drinks which is
inconsistent with the most healthful operations of all the functions of life,
is intemperance. God commands us to be
temperate in all things. But, these
days, it turns out that nothing is regarded as intemperance except some of the
most flagrant forms of it, such as the abuse of intoxicating drinks. Please remember, that every violation of the
laws of life and health, that God has not called us to do, is intemperance. Now, a man may be placed in circumstances
where he is forced to eat and drink things that are not naturally wholesome, of
exercising or resting under circumstances that will violate the laws of his
life and health. But when providence
calls him to this, it is not sin, and therefore it is not the sin of intemperance.
18. Pride in vanity and dress, is another sin that has caused millions to drop out of the race altogether. People are always guilty of this, when they wear things that they wouldn’t dare be seen in if they were expecting to receive a personal visit from the Lord Jesus Christ.
19. All fleshly indulgences are sins, and with most
people, they are sins that cause people to abandon the race. We are required to make no provision for our
flesh to fulfill the lusts of our flesh.
Whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we are to do everything
for the glory of God, and not for the sake of gratifying our selfish appetites
and passions. Self-indulgence is always
selfishness and always sin. The spirit
of self-seeking, and self-indulgence must be handed over to God, and whatever
we do must be done with a higher motive than to please and gratify ourselves.
20. Unbelief is another sin that can easily cause us
to lose the race. No sin is more
common, and no sin is more fatal than unbelief. It’s interesting how easily this sin can put us out of the race. It shows the great degradation of fallen
human nature, that we can so easily and willfully distrust infinite truth, and
refuse to believe the One whom we acknowledge cannot lie. This is the most absurd of all the absurdities,
and the most unreasonable of all the abominations in the world, and yet seems
to be the most common sin of all mankind.
However, we must put it away, or damnation is certain.
21. Every duty that we neglect to do, we must repent
of, or we cannot be saved. Some people
are quick to admit that they are suppose to do this thing and that thing, and
they will acknowledge this with complete indifference, while they neglect to do
those same things. Now this course is
as fatal as death itself. How can
people be saved, who acknowledge their obligations, and yet they refuse to do
them? Who makes their religion consist
only in confessing that they do not do their duty, rather than doing their
duty? This will not do. Christ will not be satisfied with us simply
confessing what we should do, while we still refuse to do it. Shall we recklessly turn away from
everything we should do, and do things we should not do? It is true that we must confess our sins;
but the Bible says that whoever confesses and forsakes, shall have mercy.
The third condition that we need to win the race is
that we must get a good start in the race.
The first thing is that we must be born again. Unless people are truly regenerated by the
Spirit of God, they run in vain. For in
fact, they aren’t even entered into the race.
They haven’t even paid their entry fee.
They aren’t even on the racecourse.
If they are on the racecourse, they are wasting their time because, even
if they finish the race, they will be disqualified, because they haven’t paid
their entry fee.
The fourth condition of winning the race is that you
don’t cheat along the way.
You must keep the commandments of Christ. You must live a life of faith in the Son of God. You must learn to walk by faith and not by sight. Christ everywhere makes obedience to His commandments the only evidence of the fact that you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. The Apostle says, that those who run in a race are not crowned unless they run lawfully, that is, according to the rules of the race. We will not win the prize unless we comply with Christ’s directions. He is the judge. Therefore, run that you may obtain the prize that awaits you at the finish line.
The fifth condition of winning the prize is
perseverance to the end. The Bible
everywhere conditions salvation on perseverance in holiness to the end of our
lifetime. So does the passage “And run with endurance, (that is,
perseverance) the race that is set before us”.
(Hebrews 12:1) Please, never forget
this.
The sixth condition of winning the race is deep
earnestness and honesty in religion. No
man will, according to Christ’s word, seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, or make this his first and most important business of his life,
unless he is deeply honest and in earnest on the subject.
The final condition of winning the race is entire
consecration of our lives to the service and the glory of God. Nothing short of entire consecration is real
honesty and a hearty sincerity in the work of service and glory to God.
REMARKS
1. It is deadly to weigh ourselves down with
anything that is inconsistent with a holy, spiritual life. Anything that prevents us from walking with
God daily is completely inconsistent with our obtaining salvation.
2. From this subject we can see the madness and
folly of great multitudes of professing Christians. What would you think if a runner in the Olympic games loaded
himself down with sand, clay, iron, copper, silver, or gold? What would you think if he restricted the
movement of his muscles by wearing tight clothing or heavy neck chains? What would you think if he spent his time
and thoughts obsessed with things that wandered far from devoting his time and
energy to running the race that he was in?
Now it appears to me that a great many professing
Christians do not understand the true nature of religion. They do not understand what is absolutely
necessary for them to obtain a crown of glory.
Look! Here is one man running
the Christian race with an enormous load of unnecessary business on his
back. Here is a woman trying to run the
Christian race dressed up in such a way that she is unable to make any effort
towards that glorious goal. Should she
try to run the race before her, she would quickly run out of breath and
collapse. She has loaded herself down
with jewelry, trinkets, and everything that will interfere with the race set
before her. There is a man with a large
sack full of silver and gold. Oh,
there’s someone with an immense bundle of papers under his arm, another with a
tin chest of bonds, mortgages, and stock certificates. There’s someone with a whole bag full of
things strapped on his back. There is another trying to run the Christian race,
and driving a whole company of slaves before him. He is determined to get to
glory, and not to leave his slave property behind. There is another dragging his brewery behind him. There’s another with a whiskey distillery on
his shoulders.
On other words, we see the racers
walking towards the starting line, with all kinds of heavy burdens on their
backs, with every weight and burdonsome sin that the devil wants them to have,
in order to prevent them from winning the prize. Now let me say that the conduct of such professing Christians is
not only very unreasonable, but also so highly ridiculous that they turn the
Christian religion into a joke. Their
behavior is the greatest libel against Christianity and the greatest stumbling
block that anyone can think of.
3. Until you are prepared to make every necessary
sacrifice, until you are prepared to cut off a right hand or pluck out a right
eye if it causes you to offend, you probably won’t win this race.
4. Do you see the importance of counting the
cost? It will cost you a lot to be
truly religious. You can obtain a
hope. You can pass for a
Christian. You can gain a reputation
with a worldly church, of being a disciple of Christ. But, listen carefully to what I say and to what Christ says,
“except a man forsake all that he has, he cannot be a disciple of Christ. You must chop up every form and every degree
of selfishness. You must chop up every
leaf, branch, and root, and remove them completely and forever, or you will shipwreck
your soul.
5. From what I have shared with you today, we can
see the misery that results from creating so many artificial needs among
mankind. We can also see the need to
simplify, as much as possible, all our business and all our domestic
arrangements, so that we leave our mind as free possible, and we give ourselves
as much time as we need to cultivate that deep spirituality that is
indispensable to salvation.
6. We can see how foolish we are when we take on
responsibilities that Our Heavenly Father has not called us to place on our
shoulders. We should not burden
ourselves down with these things, no matter what they are. We should never allow ourselves to get into
circumstances that providence has not called us to get involved. If we do, these will certainly become
stumbling blocks to us. And, once we
are burdened down, we won’t be able to pray for the blessing, and the direction
and support of God; and without His direction and support, we will fall and
wreck our souls.
7. We must not accept the doctrine of today’s
message merely as some theory. We cannot
get to heaven simply by saying this is true, and saying that we should do this
and that, and then go about doing what we have always done. But please understand that we must truly,
and in fact, lay aside every weight and lay aside the sin that so easily traps
us, and run with endurance, the race that is placed before us. To acknowledge
our obligation and not to comply with it is fatal. Please, always remember this.
When we acknowledge our duty, we must do it, or we have no right to
expect the crown. Beloved, let us see
to this.