What Would You Like to Lose? What Would You Not Like
to Lose?
Body:
As we begin this lesson, I want us all to think about
two things. We’ll start with the first. What are some
things you would like to lose? Think about it. While you
think it over, I have something to share with you. I surveyed
several of my friends and asked what they would like to lose. The
number one answer was losing weight. Losing bad habits was second,
while sin and student-loan debt were tied for third. Other good
answers I received were about losing negative attitudes, worries
about money, lust, cursing, procrastination, stress/anxiety, bad
influences, worry, vanity, selfishness, debt/expenses, apathy, bad
eyesight, the desire for worldly things, being self-conscious,
homework, and the mouse infestation in the shop of one of my
friends. I’m sure some of those crossed your mind; while others may
have given you some inspiration. Now, I want us to examine five
things that we should want to lose, according to Scripture. Since
we are only covering five things, I’m sure I may miss some good
examples, but hopefully the examples I give will suffice.
1.
We must not be afraid to lose our lives for Christ.
(Matthew 10:38-39) “And he who does not take
his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his
life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find
it.” NKJV It is a most noble thing indeed to lose your life in
the name of Jesus and in the service of Christ. I certainly hope
this never happens to any of us, but if someone was holding a gun to
your head, asking if you believe in Jesus, if you say yes, you know
you will be shot. What would your answer be? Even in a tough
situation like that, I hope all of us would say “yes.” We would
certainly lose our lives physically, but our spiritual lives would
be in paradise. [This assumes we have lived a faithful life.]
2.
We must lose the sin in our lives.
(Hebrews
12:1) “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,” NKJV Sin is an encumbrance, and it
certainly entangles us in many dangerous ways. We must lose the sin
in our lives, so that we can defeat Satan and the sin in which he
can entangle us, and run that race in the name of Christ, and finish
with an everlasting reward in heaven.
3.
We must lose our worries.
(Matthew
6:25-34) “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what
you will eat or what you will drink; not about your body, what you
will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than
clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor
reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying
can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about
clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they
neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes
the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into
the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall
we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the
Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all
these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” NKJV
As humans, we have a tendency to worry, and to worry about what
turns out to be trivial matters. We must lose the worry in our
lives. It won’t add any time to our lives. (Verse 27) Instead of
worrying, we must recognize that God will always take care of us.
The only thing that will help us is to seek first His Kingdom and
His Righteousness.
4.
We must lose the vanity in our lives.
(II
Peter 2:18-19) “For when they speak great swelling words of
emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through
lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in
error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves
of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is
brought into bondage.” NKJV Vanity is associated with other
terrible things, like fleshly desires and sensuality. And while all
of these things may seem good at times, they enslave us in reality.
Vanity corrupts our lives and our souls. We must extinguish it from
our lives.
5.
We must lose our love of the world.
(I
John 2:15-17) “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the
world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he
who does the will of God abides forever.” NKJV It is clear
that the world is passing away. It is temporary, fleeting, and
corrupt. If we love the world, we are not of God, and it will
destroy both our salvation and our soul.
II.
And now it is time for us to think
about our second topic, which is the opposite side of the coin.
What things do you not want to lose?
As you think it over, I will share the results I
received in my survey. The number one thing my friends said that
they did not want to lose was family. Second was their faith in
God, and third was their own salvation. Some other answers included
not wanting to lose their significant other [spouse, boy/girl
friend, fiancé] their job, their patience, the souls of their family
and friends, their mind/sanity, their house, their car, their guns,
the church, their dogs, their hair, any body parts, their deodorant,
their optimism, and their hope. Those were some really good
answers. I’m sure as last time, many of these things crossed your
mind. Now we will examine five passages in the Bible and explore
five things that we must not lose.
1.
We must not lose our courage.
(II
Chronicles 15:7) “But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak,
for your work shall be rewarded!” NKJV In the world in which we
live, it can be an easy thing to be afraid and also easy to be
discouraged. But while we may face those dark times of fear and doubt,
we must continue being courageous. We must rise above the fear and
discouragement that can harm us. If we keep our courage, the reward is
great for us.
2.
We must not lose heart.
(Galatians
6:9) “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we
shall reap if we do not lose heart.” NKJV As with our previous
point, it is easy to lose heart in our negative society. Sometimes it
is easy to lose heart. We become discouraged and we feel like giving
up. But no matter how negative things can get, and no matter how
terrible that makes us feel, we must never lose heart. If we do not
lose heart, we shall reap good things.
3.
We must not lose good counsel and our desire for
learning.
(Proverbs 1:5) “A wise man will hear and increase
learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,” NKJV
Anyone who is truly wise does seek wise counsel. Obviously, the
best counsel we can seek is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But
we can also seek solid and sound counsel with our fellow
Christians. We must lean on each other and look out for each
other. We also need to continue to learn. We must have a constant
craving and desire to study our Bibles, to glean all we can from
God’s Word. May we never lose our desire to constantly seek wise
counsel and to learn all we can from the Bible.
4.
We must not lose Christ, but rather gain Christ.
(Philippians 3:7-8) “But what things were gain to me,
these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all
things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things and count them as
rubbish, that I may gain Christ” NKJV We all lose things
sometimes. We’ve all probably lost toys as children. Sometimes we
lose money, clothes, keys, and things like that. Sometimes our
losses can be great, like the loss of a loved one. But no matter
what we lose, and no matter how painful some losses may be, we must
never lose Christ. Losing Jesus is a blow from which none of us
would ever recover. Instead, we must gain Christ, even if it means
we lose everything else.
5.
We must not lose our soul.
(Matthew
16:26) “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world,
and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his
soul?” NKJV Living in the society that we do, we all have many
opportunities to gain the world. There are so many ways in which we
could do so. But while we could gain temporary and fleeting
opportunities from this world, chasing such things will distract us
from what truly matters, the maintenance of our soul. Our salvation
should be our greatest purpose, our foremost concern. Our soul is
the most important thing we possess; no worldly thing could ever
replace it.
Conclusion:
What things do you need to lose from your life? Are
you burdened by sin, worry, vanity, or something else? Or perhaps
you need to gain courage, gain Christ, or make sure that your soul
is not lost for all eternity. If you need the help and prayers of
the church, then make that desire known at this time.
Zane Berner [Guest Speaker]
September 4, 2016
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