Keith Battle - Keep Running - Part 2

Alright, we’re ready for the Word of God. Y’all ready? Alright, we’re doing a series called «Keep Running.» I’m in Hebrews chapter 12 and want to revisit part two where we left off in part one. So if you have a digital or physical copy of the Bible and want to follow along with me, you can do that. If you don’t have it, that’s fine; the verses will appear on the screen for your convenience. However, with technology, things sometimes go wrong—amen? We pray that they won’t. If you are physically able, it is our custom to stand to honor the voice of God as He speaks to us—amen? Speak, Lord; Your servants are listening. I can’t remember a time I didn’t need to hear from Him. I mean, you didn’t even want to hear from Him, but I needed it—amen. Does anybody here need a word from the Lord? I need you to speak me back in order, yeah—amen.

Verse 1 says, «Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.» That sin—the one that easily gets us. We don’t even have to work hard; we fall into that one. Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Verse 2: «We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now, He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.»

Verse 3: «Then think of all the hostility He endured from sinful people, then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.» Amen. You may be seated.

In part one of this series, we looked at verse one of Hebrews chapter 12 and focused on five things. I’ll summarize them quickly. First, we talked about this huge crowd of witnesses, described in chapter 11 as what some people call the Great Hall of Faith or the Faith Hall of Fame. These are 16 men and women who are what I call heroes and heroines in the faith. The importance of running a race is having spiritual role models we can look up to—people to show us how to pray, how to be married, how to walk with God, how to share our faith, and how to walk through trials. It is important to have those kinds of examples in our lives, and we should pray for those people to come into our lives and seek them out.

Then we looked at hindrances to our race. The Bible calls it a weight that slows us down—it’s not always something evil. It’s just something you can discover by paying attention to your life. You may say, «You know what? I spend too much time doing that.» Sometimes it’s a person. I’ve been on the phone with someone late at night, not even saying much. Just, «What you doing?» «I’m laying down.» «What you doing?» «I’m just laying on my left shoulder, your right shoulder.» Y’all are 47 years old; you better have something better to do with your life right now!

When you see you’re giving a lot of time to something, say, «I’m spending too much time doing this.» Here’s the thing: when you realize something is slowing you down in your race, you repurpose that time and give it back to your race.

Now, what is the race? By definition, this is very important for this series. Our race as Christians is twofold: our walk with God and our work for God. That’s our race. It is a walk with God: a relationship with God, and it is a work for God: our assignment. Every person who has a relationship with God should be doing something for Him. Ministry is not just for ministers, pastors, evangelists, prophets, or apostles. Every person who is saved is supposed to have a ministry. There is something God put you on this Earth to do that represents and honors Him. So if you’re not ministering, you’re not running.

I can’t tell you what your ministry is, but whatever it is, you must find out, «God, what are You calling me to do?» You’re calling me to a relationship with You, which is time I need, and then my service for You—that’s running. Are you with me?

The third thing we talked about last week was hurdles. I used hurdles because he says there is a sin that not only slows us down but also trips us up. Weighs us down, but sin can knock us down. Everybody has fallen. There’s nobody running for God, living for God, who hasn’t failed. Am I right? I said, «Am I right?» Yeah, we all fall down. We all have fallen short. Here it is: all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And he says, when it comes to this, he says. This is what the writer of Hebrews calls sin. It is important to call it what God calls it. We like to call things by terms that make us feel more comfortable.