Keith Battle - Keep Running - Part 5

All right, we are ready for the word of God. I am in a series that I am continuing today, and just in case you don’t know what the series is, this is part five of the «Keep Running» series, and we are excited about this right now. If you have a Bible, please join me in it in Hebrews chapter 12. I’m going to look again at verse one, and if you are physically able to stand without harming yourself, please stand with me for this brief reading of the word of God as we stand in honor of His word. All right, if you’re standing next to someone close enough to you, tell them, «I’m glad you made it today.» Um, hey, if you’re online right now and you’re on Zion Church Facebook Live, YouTube Live, the app, Roku, Apple TV, or the church’s website, please share this link right now. This service is live; this is not a recording; it’s a live service, and I am about to talk about something that I think people need to hear, particularly those who are down, depressed, or ready to give up. They feel like they can’t go on. Please share this link with someone you know who needs that kind of encouragement to keep going. I believe I’m on assignment today to speak to those people, and you’ll both be glad that you did. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 from the New Living Translation: let me read it from the screen because I can’t pull it up. Let me go ahead and read it from here. Verse one 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. Let us strip off especially the sin that so easily trips us up, and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.» You may be seated. Help the people who are coming in; give them a sign that you have a seat near you they can get to. It has been statistically proven that for every 1,000 people who register to run a marathon, only 650 of those people actually finish the race. That’s 650, which means 35 percent of people who register to run the marathon do not finish it. In fact, out of 350 people who don’t finish, 180 of those people never even start the race. They signed up for it but never even show up to start. Of the 820 who started from the thousand who signed up, another 170 people don’t finish, and they are marked in their record as DNF: Did Not Finish. I share that statistic from the world of track and field because I am on assignment today to talk to someone who feels like quitting, someone whose life has hit you hard. Something has knocked you backward, knocked you down, and has really knocked the wind out of you. It may even be something that you’ve done or a mistake you made that has you feeling so low, so down, so sad, and so hopeless that you’re not only not running; you’re lying on the track, unable to resume your race. I want to tell you something: there are three words that I need to resonate in this room today—in the room there in Landover, any room where you are. I hope you take these words with you into your car when you leave service and hold onto them. I want you to fill up the chat with these words. Here are the three words I need you to hold on to: «I won’t quit.» «I won’t quit.» With resolve, I won’t quit. Say that with me: «I won’t quit.» Again, let me try this again. I want you to say it so that the forces of darkness can hear you: «I won’t quit.» Say it again: «I won’t quit.» I like how somebody over there said it: «I won’t quit.» So, you’ve got to say that when quitting is on your mind, when it haunts you. When life is hard, it might get hard, but I won’t quit. It might hurt, but I won’t quit. I might need a rest; I might need a break; I might need a respite, but one thing’s for sure: I’m not going to quit. I won’t quit—say it again. The reason why this is so important is because right there in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1, there’s a real strategy of the devil that makes people quit. The strategy is not just about the weight; the weight only slows you down. What makes you quit is that sin that so easily trips you up. See, the weight slows you down; we’ve talked a lot about the weight. The weight could be guilt or grief; it could be unforgiveness. It could be time-wasters like playing too many video games or doing too much of this that takes away from our focus. Remember, the race that we’re in consists of two things: my walk with God and my work for God. That is the race. It is my relationship with God and what He put me on this Earth to do—that’s my race. Certain weights slow me down, but there is a sin that can knock you down. Here’s what the devil wants you to do: he wants to keep you down, but you’ve got to tell him one more time: «I won’t quit.» I won’t quit, because he wants to manipulate how we feel. Here’s how…