STRIVING AGAINST SIN!

 

Saturday, October 29, 2022

 

STRIVING AGAINST SIN!

 

Heb 12:1-4

12 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

 

          The Greek word for “striving” in verse 4 will look familiar. It is the word antagonizomai and is the basis for the English word “antagonize” which means “to provoke.”  Here the word indicates a struggle. If you are planning to fight against sin in today’s casual moral climate you can expect a push back.   

 

         The last verse in our section reminds us that “we have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” Not many of us can say that we have bled from our wounds while fighting the Devil. Yet we complain about our minor inconvenience and humiliation. My goal is not to add to your perceived burden but to point out how light it is when compared to the suffering of Jesus.

 

          The writer asks us to change our focus by using two seemingly common words. The first is look in verse two. This is the Greek word aphorao which means “to consider attentively.” Instead of looking at the Master we more often look at the mess.

 

          If we miss the first admonition to look, the writer offers yet another, stronger word. That word is “consider” which is the Greek word analogisomai which means “to contemplate.” This is a lingering look. I see in the original word our English word “to analyze.” To analyze is to separate a thing into component parts so that a better understanding might be had of the whole.

 

Ministers could have much larger congregations if it weren’t that they are always and forever confronting sin! Most have engaging personalities and are clever enough as coordinators of social events to draw significant crowds, but they soon lose their influence when they point out sin. A minister who sees himself as more than an “event coordinator,” will surely pay for his idealism.

 

“A man is first startled by sin; then it becomes pleasing, then easy, then delightful, then frequent, then habitual, then confirmed. The man is impenitent, then obstinate, and then he is damned.”  Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667)

 

Dear Lord, let my focus and attention be fixed on you. Strengthen those ministers who are willing to pay the price required to confront sin. AMEN