RJ - Get Off The Treadmill

I responded in a way I wasn’t happy with – spent a week rehashing and beating myself up over it

Devil in the ear – see you haven’t changed at all, you’ve disappointed God now and He is turning His back on you, you better do something to make it right.

Satan wants us defeated, separated from God and family and stuck in an endless cycle of hopelessness, deceit and ineffectiveness.

Back on the treadmill.

Hebrews 10:1-25

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2 If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.

3 But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. 4 For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 That is why, when Christ[a] came into the world, he said to God,

“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. 6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”[b]

8 First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, this can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honour at God’s right hand. 13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,

16 “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day,[c] says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”[d]

17 Then he says,

“I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.”[e]

18 And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

A Call to Persevere

19 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[f] we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death,[g] Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

1. Why I hate the treadmill – Who likes it anyway?

· Treadmill – doesn’t go anywhere, you can’t choose where you’re going, you are stationary – not effective in any way.

· That whole week I was stuck in the cycle.

· I prefer to walk outside in freedom, going somewhere!

· The Treadwheel, also known as treadmill or “everlasting staircase”, a penal appliance introduced in 1818 by the British engineer Sir William Cubitt (1785–1861) as a means of usefully employing convicts. The device was a wide hollow cylinder, usually composed of wooden steps built around a cylindrical iron frame, and was designed in some cases to handle as many as 40 convicts. As the device began to rotate, each prisoner was forced to continue stepping along the series of planks. The power generated by the treadwheel was commonly used to grind corn and pump water, although some served no purpose at all other than punishment. The use of treadwheels was abolished in Britain by the Prisons Act of 1898.[2]

Sin Offering

Guilt Offering

Offerings twice daily

Yearly offerings

Day after day, year after year

Priests lay hands on the animal – substation…would pay the price for the persons sin

Weak / shadow - had to be done over and over

· The sacrifices reminded them, over and over, “You are not okay. You are sick with sin. And you will be back next year and next year for the rest of your life. You will never be able to do enough to be good enough to be acceptable to God.”

· The best the Old Testament sacrifices could do was to look forward in faith to a perfect sacrifice – Jesus.

But the Old Testament sacrifices themselves did not have the ability to do anything with your sins.

We may not bring animal sacrifices to God in order to find forgiveness, but people do all sorts of things to try and take away their awareness of guilt. And they too don’t work.

Some people try to do good works, hoping in the end that their good works will somehow offset the evil of their sins.

· Some people try to punish themselves for their sins.

They either sabotage the good things in their life so they can be more miserable, or they choose to stay away from things that could be a blessing all because they feel they deserve some sort of punishment.

What’s worse is often the person isn’t quite aware they’re doing it to themselves.

Others just try and cover up their sense of guilt through self-medication: Drugs, alcohol, sex.

Romans 8:3-4

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

2. Jesus is sitting down

· Have you noticed you can’t be on the treadmill if you’re sitting down.

· The idea of Christ "sitting down," implying that His work is finished. The prior verse specifically referred to the old covenant priests as "standing," a contrast which shows their work was never done.

· If Jesus isn’t worried or remembering our shortcomings, then why are we?

· Rest is knowing who Jesus is and knowing that He has done away with our sin and shame.

· Jesus said in John 19:30 “It Is FINISHED” The Greek word translated “it is finished” is tetelestai, an accounting term meaning paid in full.

3. Stay off the treadmill

God is bringing His church to a place of strength and stability – Knowing who we are in Christ and unwavering in our faith.

Galatians 5:1-14

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favour with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. 6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

7 You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? 8 It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. 9 This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! 10 I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.

11 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. 12 I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.[b]

13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[c]

· How? Last verse gives us an idea:

· Reject shame, reject the pressure to jump on the treadmill

· Hold strong to hope – come close to the Holy Spirit

· Keep doing what God puts in your hand to do…inspire each other to righteousness – Connect Life

· Gather as a community – Helps us stay strong in faith and stay off the treadmill.

PRAY

Romans 10:9-10

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.