So Great Salvation!
by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001)
(Chapter 15 from Dr. Hyle's excellent book, Salvation is More than Being Saved)
Hebrews 2:3, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at
the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that
heard Him." The above verse is one of the most misinterpreted in the Bible. The
usual interpretation is that if one neglects being saved, he will not escape the
wrath of God. The truth of the matter is that this verse does not primarily
apply to the unsaved. The book of Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians
admonishing them to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. It is a book exhorting them not to turn back but to go forward and be
all that their potential would allow them to be in the will of God.
The illustration that is used in Hebrews is that of the Israelites. They were in
the land of Egypt, which is a symbol of the natural man, the unsaved man. Through the Passover lamb and the crossing of the Red Sea they entered into the
wilderness, which is a picture of salvation. Their journey across the wilderness
symbolizes the Christian who is not yet Spirit-filled, but the fact that they
would journey across the wilderness as they were going from Egypt toward the
Promised Land symbolizes growth in grace. Then the Promised Land is a symbol of
the Spirit-filled life. These three places-Egypt, the wilderness and Canaan
represent three types of people in the world as far as their relationship with
God is concerned: the natural man (unsaved), the carnal Christian, and the
spiritual Christian.
I Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned." I Corinthians 3:1-3, "And
I,
brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even
as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for
hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are
yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions,
are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"
The Israelites had crossed the Red Sea. Now they are saved from Egypt and they
are marching through the wilderness toward the land of Canaan. They come to a
place called Kadesh-Barnea. Twelve spies are sent out to view the land of Canaan
and to bring back a report concerning the feasibility of the Israelites entering
into the land and conquering it. These twelve spies return with glowing reports
of the magnificence of the land. They tell that it is a land that flows with
milk and honey. They bring back samplings of the grapes and pomegranates and
speak glowingly concerning Canaan's land. However, they bring a negative report. They declare that the people are giants in the land of Canaan and that the
Israelites are grasshoppers in comparison. The report is that they cannot
possess the land and the recommendation is that they not attempt to do so. The
people followed them and accepted their recommendation. Because of this, all the
people over
20 years of age were consigned to the wilderness for the rest of their lives, and
only those under 20 would ever have a chance to see the Promised Land. There
were two exceptions to this, however. Those exceptions were Joshua and Caleb,
for they were the only two of the twelve spies who felt the land could be
possessed!
Because the Israelites refused to enter into the land, God sent them in the
wilderness to wander for 40 years and then to die without ever seeing their
dream fulfilled of entering into the land chosen for them.
This is what God called "neglecting" so great salvation. These people had so
great a salvation--so great that they had been delivered from Egypt with the
Passover lamb; so great that they had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground; so
great that the armies of Egypt had been drowned in that same Red Sea as they
pursued the Israelites; so great
that God gave them manna from Heaven daily; so great that God gave them water
from the rock in Horeb as it was smitten by the rod of Moses; so great that they
were led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; so great
that God came to the Holy of Holies in the form of the Shekinah Glory and dwelt
with His people over the mercy seat in the tabernacle. It was a "so great
salvation."
However, they neglected that salvation! Because they did, they never entered
into the land of Canaan. This is the illustration that God uses to warn us. He
is reminding us that if we neglect the salvation that we have, we will never be
what we could have been. He is reminding us that there is only one chance to be
our very best. This is not to say that God does not still love us and cannot
still use us if we do not seize upon the one great opportunity that is ours. Though the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and never got to
enter into the Promised Land, they still were led by the pillar of fire by night
and the pillar of cloud by day, and they still ate the manna that came each
morning from Heaven. God still loved them. They were still His children. They
never entered back into Egypt (natural man), but they never achieved that great
purpose for their lives.
The same is true with the child of God today. When he receives Christ as
Saviour, he enters into the life of growth in grace. He is a Christian, but he
is still somewhat carnal and a babe in Christ. He continues to grow as he reads
the Bible, prays, fellowships with God's people, is faithful to church, etc. Then the big opportunity presents itself He can either become the Spirit-filled
Christian God intended him to become and the success that he wants to be, or he
can refuse his one big opportunity and go back into mediocrity. He has neglected
so great salvation.
This neglecting of so great salvation is not that of the unsaved man neglecting
being saved; it is that of the saved man neglecting the salvation that he has.
When our oldest daughter, Becky, was a freshman in high school she asked me if I
would buy her a Hammond organ. Of course, I could not afford such an expensive
gift. It was Christmastime; it was hard to say, "No," but I could not afford a
$1600 gift just for one child. During
her four years of high school Becky asked me each Christmas for a Hammond organ. Finally, during her senior year at Christmastime, I bought her a Hammond organ. I paid $40 down and promised to pay $40 a month until it was paid in full. On
Christmas morning the door opened and in came a beautiful Hammond organ. "Oh,
Daddy, I love it! I love it! You are the best daddy in the whole world!" she
cried. She was so happy. I then sat down and said to her, "Puddin', this organ
is yours. It is a gift from your dad, but woe be to you if you neglect it! You
practice. You keep it dusted and polished, and if you neglect it, there is
punishment awaiting." God comes to the Christian and says to him, "Salvation is
a gift. It is the greatest gift ever given to mankind. I want you to have it. It
is yours to enjoy and to keep forever, but woe be to you if you neglect it. You
will not escape My punishment, My chastisement or My wrath if you neglect the
salvation that you have."
When our youngest daughter, Cindy, was seven years of age she came to me at
Christmastime and said, "Daddy, would you buy me a new bicycle for Christmas?"
I went to the best bicycle shop in the Calumet region and picked out the
best bicycle for a seven-year-old girl. At that time the best bicycle
for a seven-year-old girl cost $69.95, and at that time my salary was less
than $ 100 a week, so it was a great investment. On Christmas morning
the door was opened and the bicycle rolled in. "Oh, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!
That's the prettiest
bicycle in all the world. I love you! I love you! I love you!" she said. (I
guess there is not a happier time humanly speaking in a person's life than the
time he gets his first brand-new bicycle. Most of us still remember the day when
we fixed our eyes upon our first brand-new bicycle.) We had a wonderful
Christmas. It was a warm day for the Midwest, and we enjoyed riding Cindy's
bicycle.
Two weeks passed. I was preaching one night in Denver, Colorado. I flew back
during the night and got back to my house about three o'clock in the morning. It
was 20' below zero, 20 inches of snow had fallen, and the drifts were much
higher than that. As I drove in the driveway guess what I saw sticking out of
the snow! You guessed it! A little bit of the handlebar of the best bicycle for
a seven-year-old in Lake County, Indiana. Did I dig the bicycle out of the snow? Not on
your life! I ran upstairs, opened the door to Cindy's room, turned on the light,
grabbed her by the nap of her pajamas, held her eyeball to eyeball and said,
"Young lady, how should you escape if you neglect so great a bicycle? I paid
sixty-nine hard-earned dollars and ninety-five hard-earned cents and bought for
you the best bicycle that I could find for a young lady your age in this county,
and you have neglected that great gift. Now get out of bed, get on your boots,
your coat, your hat, go out in the garage, get the shovel and dig that bicycle
out of the snow!"
That is exactly what God is saying to us. He is saying, "I have given you such
an amazing, marvelous gift of salvation. How dare you neglect it! How dare you
rob Me of the tithes and offerings! How dare you leave your prayer closet empty
day after day! How dare you leave the Bible unread and unloved! How dare you be
unfaithful to God's house! How dare you live as the world, speak as the world,
sing your rock music, and follow the unisex movement in your dress! How dare you
drink your liquor, smoke your cigarettes, have your heart filled with envy,
covetousness and bitterness! How dare you not give your all to Me in the light
of the so great salvation that I have given to you!"
Now just how great is this salvation? It is so great that before the world
began, God in His foreknowledge looked down and saw the fall of man. In
eternity's cabinet meeting, Jesus volunteered to leave Heaven and come to earth
to become a man, to fulfill and fill-full the law, to go to Calvary and pay the
penalty for our sin, and to rise again for our justification 72 hours later, to
ascend to the right hand of the Father as our Intercessor, to prepare for us a
home in Heaven and come and receive us unto Himself and take us to Heaven
forever.
How great is this salvation? So great that God did become flesh and fled to a
virgin's womb. How great is this salvation? So great that He was born in
Bethlehem's manger, angels announced His coming, shepherds came to worship Him
and wise men brought Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
How great is this salvation? So great that for 33 homesick years Jesus lived
away from the Father. Foxes had their holes; birds had their nests, but He had
no place to lay His head. He was expelled from His
own synagogue, forced to leave the city of His birth. He was despised and
rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was betrayed by
one of His twelve, wrongly tried by Pilate, scourged by the cat-o'-nine-tails
until Isaiah tells us that one could not even tell that His body was that of a
human being. How great is this salvation? So great that after His scourging, a
cross was laid on His back, and He was forced to carry it up Calvary. So great
that when He bent beneath the load, Simon of Cyrene carried His cross to the top
of the hill. How great is this salvation? So great that He was placed on that
cross and nailed to it as a common criminal. How great is this salvation? So
great that the cross was lifted between Heaven and earth, one point pointing to
the Hell from which He saves us, another pointing to the Heaven to which He
saves us, the other two pointing to the east and the west saying that everybody
that way and everybody that way can be saved from Hell to Heaven by what is
transpiring on the cross. How great is this salvation? So great that on the
cross He cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He dipped His own
soul into the torments of Hell and paid the penalty for your sins and mine!
How great is this salvation? So great that Jesus was laid in Joseph's tomb and
rose after three days and three nights. How great is this salvation? So great
that He ascended back to the Father and even now sits on the fight hand of God
as our Advocate, our Intercessor, our Mediator, our Daysman, our Go-between, our
Attorney, our Lawyer!
How great is this salvation? So great that He is preparing a home in Heaven for
us now, a home where the streets are paved with gold and the gates are made of
pearl, where no crepe shall ever darken the doorknob, no brow shall ever furrow,
no face shall ever wrinkle, no crow's feet shall ever adorn the eyes, no hand
shall ever be palsied, no foot shall ever walk an unsure step and no back shall
ever bend. There will be no cancer, no heart attack, no leukemia, no sadness, no
sickness, no sin, no heartache, no loneliness, no sorrow, no broken hearts or
broken homes or broken lives or broken dreams or shattered air castles, and we
shall live in His presence forever and ever and ever until forevers become
forevers and forevers become forevermore!
How great is this salvation? So great that someday the trumpet shall
sound and the dead in Christ shall rise and we which are alive and remain shall
be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and we shall forever be with the Lord.
How great is this salvation? So great that we shall be with Him in the air for
seven years enjoying the marriage of the Lamb and facing the judgment seat of
Christ, where we shall be given rewards for our work on earth. We Christians
shall receive crowns for their labors of love. We shall then take those crowns
and hurl them at Jesus' feet, shouting that He alone is worthy to receive honor
and praise and glory!
How great is this salvation? So great that after seven years we will join Him in
a cavalry trip on white horses back to the earth. He shall ascend the royal
stairway of Mt. Zion and shall be King of all the earth! Jerusalem shall be the
headquarters and the capital city. Washington will bow before Jerusalem; Moscow
will lay at its feet. London, Paris, Berlin and Cairo shall be paralyzed in
obeisance to Jerusalem and the King, Who will reign for 1000 years on the earth.
How great is this salvation? So great that ...
"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more!"
We shall rule and reign with Him for 1000 years in a kingdom of peace where
righteousness shall conquer unrighteousness, good shall conquer evil, justice
shall conquer inequity; where the wolf and the lamb will lie down together
peacefully; where the child shall play at the cockatrice' den, and the serpent
shall be tame and offered as a pet for children's enjoyment. Someone who dies at
the age of 100 will be just a child dying prematurely. How great is this
salvation? So great that at the end of the 1000 years we will see the Holy City,
the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband!
How great is this salvation? So great that earth was not big enough for its
display, nor the heavens large enough for its platform. It can be housed only in
eternity.
How great is this salvation'? So great that it cost Heaven its crowned Prince! So great that God gave us a Book to tell us of Christ. In Genesis He is the
Promised Seed. In Exodus He is the Passover Lamb. In Leviticus He is the
Scapegoat. In Numbers He is the Brazen Serpent. In Deuteronomy He is the great
Lawgiver. In Joshua He is Prophet, Priest and King. In Judges He is the great
Judge of the earth. In Ruth He is the kinsman Redeemer. In Samuel He is the
anointer of kings. In Kings He is King of kings and Lord of lords. In Chronicles
He is the great Historian. In Ezra He is the temple Builder. In Nehemiah He is
the wall Builder. In Esther He is the Saviour of Israel. In Job He is the great
Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. In the Psalms He is the Song of the
ages. In Proverbs He is the Truth. In Ecclesiastes He is the great Preacher. In
Song of Solomon He is the wonderful Lover. In Isaiah He is Wonderful, Counseller,
The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. In Jeremiah He is
the weeping Prophet. In Lamentations He is the street Preacher. In Ezekiel He is
the Rebuilder of the millennial temple. In Daniel He is the Stone cut out
without hands that will someday come back to earth and break in pieces the
kingdoms of this earth and establish a kingdom that will cover the earth with
the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. In Hosea He is the spurned but
forgiving Lover. In Joel He is the Trumpet. In Amos He is the One standing upon
the altar. In Obadiah He is the Great Vision. In Jonah He is the One buried for
three days and three nights. In Micah He is the One coming out of Bethlehem of
Judah. In Nahum He is our jealous God. In Habakkuk He is the burdened Prophet. In Zephaniah He is the great Counseller. In Haggai He is the Encourager. In
Zechariah He is the great Motivator. In Malachi He is the Son of Righteousness.
In Matthew He is King of kings. In Mark He is the suffering Servant. In Luke He
is the Son of Man. In John He is the Son of God. In Acts He is the Power of the
church. In Romans He is the Dynamite of the Gospel. In Corinthians He is the
Restorer of the carnal nature. In Galatians He is the rent Veil. In Ephesians He
is our Heavenly One. In Philippians He is our Sufficiency. In Colossians He is
the Shadow of the One to come again. In Thessalonians He is our coming Saviour.
In Timothy He is our great appearing God. In Titus He is our blessed Hope. In
Philemon He
is the Forgiver of a wayward slave. In Hebrews He is the Best of all. In James
He is the Fulfiller of the law. In the epistles of Peter He is the Rock of our
salvation. In the epistles of John He is our Assurance. In Jude He is the One
Who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy. In Revelation He is the One coming on
a white horse to establish a kingdom on earth where Jesus shall be King of kings
and Lord of lords and shall rule and reign for 1000 years!
How great is this salvation? So great that it is built around the Person of our
lovely Christ. In Matthew 17:8 we are reminded they saw no man save Jesus only
"And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only." In
Luke 4:20, we are told that "the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
were fastened on Him." The Greeks came to the disciples and said, "Sirs, we
would see Jesus." The first name given Him was brought by the angel Gabriel to
the humble home of Mary, when the angel said in Luke
1:31, "Thou shalt call His name JESUS." Isaiah looked down through the telescope
of prophecy and said, "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The
Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." In 24 of the 27 books
of the New Testament, He is in the first verse. The name "Jesus" is the seventh
word of the New Testament. His name is the seventh word from the end of the New
Testament. His name is the first name mentioned in the New Testament and the
last name mentioned, and between those two times Jesus is mentioned 700 times.
In the Bible He is called “the young Child, the holy Child, the Nazarene, the
Lord, the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord from Heaven, the Lord of
glory, the Lord of righteousness, the Lord and Saviour. He is called Christ
Jesus, the Lord's Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, our Lord. He is called
Saviour, Emmanuel, Teacher, Rabboni, Governor. He is called Lawgiver, Redeemer,
Messiah, Shiloh, Deliverer, Mediator, Intercessor, Prince of Peace, the King
of glory. He is called the Banner, the Ensign, the Captain, the Desire of
the nations, the Judge, the righteous Judge, the Author, the Finisher, the
First-fruits, the Advocate. He is called the Peace, the Ransom, the
Passover, the High Priest, the King of Righteousness, the King of Salem, the King of Peace, the King of kings, the Just One.
He is called the Holy One, the Faithful Witness, the Commander, the Consolation
of Israel, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the first Begotten of the dead,
Elect of God, the second Adam. He is called the King of the Jews, the King of
Zion, the King of Israel, the King of saints, the King eternal. He is called the
Vine, the true Vine, the Root of Jesse, the Offspring of David. He is called the
Door, the Door of the sheep, the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, the Angel of
the Lord, the Lamb of God, the Water of life, the Living Water, the Living
Bread, the Bread of Life, the Word of Life, the hidden Manna. He is called the
Way, the Truth, the Life. He is called the Tree of life, the Light of life, the
Prince of life, the Day Star, the Day Spring. He is called the tried Stone, the
living Stone, the elect Stone. He is called the Temple, the sure Foundation, the
Rock, the Rock of Ages, the Spiritual Rock. He is called the I Am, the
Resurrection, the Life, the Messiah, the Son of man, the Son of God, the Son of
Abraham, the Son of David, the Son of Righteousness, the Son of the Highest. He
is called the Anointed. He is called God's dear Son, the beloved Son, only
begotten Son, Almighty, Man of sorrows, Friend of sinners, Gift of God,
unspeakable Gift, the Power of God, the Wisdom of God, the Image of God. He is
called the First, the Last, the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning, the End, the
Ancient of days, the Lord of lords. He is called God with us, our elder Brother,
the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, the Firstborn, the Master, the
Good Master, your Master, Lord and Master, the Passover. He is called the
Fulness of the Godhead, the Bridegroom, Wonderful, Counseller, The Mighty God,
The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. He is called the Lily of the
valley, the altogether lovely One, the Fairest of ten-thousand, the bright and
morning Star. He is called the Rose of Sharon, that Prophet, the High Priest,
the Priest after the order of Melchizedek. He is called Ruler, the Stone cut out
without hands. He is called Servant, Servant of servants, lowly One, the Desire
of the nations, Lamb of God, the Lamb, the Com of Wheat, He is called the Lamb
of the altar, the Door of the tabernacle, the Light of the candlestick, the
Bread of the table, the Incense of the altar, the Veil to
the Holy of Holies, the Shekinah of the mercy seat. He is called the bleeding
Lamb, the cooing Dove, the lowing Oxen, the red Heifer, the brazen Serpent. He
is the Juice in the cup and the Bread in the tray at the table of communion. He
is all of this and more, and our great salvation is built around Him!
More pens have written of His name than all the names of history combined. More
chisels have sculptured Him, more orators have described Him, more institutions
have been named after Him, more brushes have painted Him, more lives have been
changed by Him, more choirs have sung of Him and more poetry has been penned of
Him than of any other person who ever lived on the face of the earth.
This so great salvation must not be neglected. It is so great that it takes
eternity to hold it and to describe it. How dare feeble creatures of earth,
frail, lost, depraved and condemned be the recipients of this marvelous
salvation and then receive it, only to neglect it and not give it our best!
Now the question comes-how do we neglect this salvation? There are two ways we
neglect it. Hebrews 12:1, 2, "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, 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." Notice we are to lay aside every
weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us in order that we may run with
patience the race that is set before us. The way that we neglect this so great
salvation is by not running the race that God has set before us; that is, not
doing His perfect will in our lives. This race cannot be adequately run if we
carry weights and sins with us. God through His Holy Spirit with the pen of His
men reminds us that we neglect this salvation first if we do not lay aside our
sin. However, there is something else that is seldom mentioned in the
preparation for this race in order that we will not neglect so great salvation.
That something else is the laying aside of our weights. What is a weight? A
weight is something that is not wrong to do, but it hampers us in running the
race that God has set before us.
Let us suppose that a runner is running a 100-yard dash. He lines up at the
starting line, preparing for the race and awaiting the starting gun. Somebody
notices that he is drunk or that he is high on dope, and someone reminds the
crowd that he spent the night in sin. Will he win the race? Of course not. Sin
will keep him from it.
Now let us suppose that right beside him there is another runner. That runner is
sober. He rested for the night, watched his diet, exercised and is prepared for
the race. He is on his knees ready for the start, waiting for the starter's gun.
He buttons his overcoat around him, laces up his combat boots, straightens his
hat on his head. Will he win the race? No. Because of sin? No. Because of
weights! The overcoat will do the same thing to him that the sin would do to the
runner beside him. Neither will win the race. One will lose because of sin; the
other will lose because of weights, but as far as the outcome is concerned, the
weights are as much a handicap as are the sins.
Many fundamental believers make an honest effort to live a separated life. They
have confessed their sins and forsaken them as much as is possible, but they are
still not winning the race that God has set before them because they are
encumbered with weights. The great tragedy of a person being where he should not
be is not that he is where he should not be; the great tragedy is that if one is
where he should not be he cannot be where he should be! The great tragedy of sin
is not what sin does to us, but it is what sin keeps us from doing!
Because of this, the altar at church should be not only a place to forsake sin
but a place to forsake weights. What is it in your life that is hindering you
from running the race, thereby causing you to neglect so great salvation? Is it
sin or is it a weight? Whatever it is, lay it on the altar so you can run with
patience the race that is set before you, so you can avoid the neglecting of so
great salvation.
"Okay," you say, "show me my weights." I wish I could, but I cannot, for your
weight is not my weight and my weights are not your weights. Now sin is the same
for all of us. Drinking alcoholic beverages is a sin for you and a sin for me.
Immorality is a sin for you and a sin for me. Lying is a sin for both of us,
yea, to all of us. Cheating is a sin for everybody. I can tell you your sin, but
I cannot tell you your
weights, for your race is not my race and the will of God for your life is not
the will of God for my life.
Suppose that I were preaching at your church, and suppose that you had never
seen me or met me. You had heard of the First Baptist Church of Hammond and of
Hyles-Anderson College and of Dr. Jack Hyles. You had a desire to meet me and
see what I looked like. Suppose that you got there early on the night I was
preaching at your church, and suppose you waited outside to see me as I drove in
the parking lot to be the first one to shake my hand, and then you were
surprised to see me ride up on a motorcycle. I am wearing a helmet, goggles,
turtle-neck sweater, leather jacket, blue jeans and boots. Would you be
surprised? Of course, you would! Would you be disappointed? I think so. Now is
there anything sinful about a motorcycle? No. Is there anything sinful about a
turtle-neck sweater? No. Is there anything sinful about goggles? No. Is it a sin
to wear a leather jacket? Of course not. Is it a sin to wear blue jeans? Certainly not. Is it a sin to wear boots? No. But if you saw me dressed like
that coming to preach for you, and if others likewise saw me dressed in that
manner, I would not be able to run the race as effectively as I could otherwise. If someone in the congregation rode up on a motorcycle, it would not affect
their race for that night. My race would be to preach the Gospel and the Word of
God. The layman's race would be to hear me. For me to ride up on a motorcycle
would hinder my race.
One of the deacons in the First Baptist Church of Hammond is a doctor, and he
paid $30,000 for a brand new Mercedes Benz automobile, called me out in front of
the church building and said, "Pastor, I want you to have it. It's a gift." Of
course, I told him I could not accept it because the driving of a $30,000
Mercedes Benz would be a weight for me. I cannot live above the lifestyle of my
people, and folks would be surprised to see me driving such an expensive
automobile. The doctor kept the car. It was not a weight to him. No one lost
confidence in him or was disappointed to see him drive it. It was a weight for
me; it was not a weight for him.
Years ago I was a softball pitcher. It became too much of my life, and to be
quite frank, I was a little bit too tense in my suggestions to
the umpires concerning their failures! So when I became Pastor of a Baptist
church as a 21-year-old man, I gave up softball. It was a weight to me. Now
the truth is, many of our members play softball, and it does not become a weight
to them, but to me it is a weight.
What is it in your life that is a weight? What is that something that hinders
you from running the race that is set before you and thereby causes you to
neglect so great salvation? Lay it on the altar right beside your sins! Turn
from it so that you may not be encumbered as you run the race that is set before
you, so that you may not neglect so great salvation.
'Tis true—salvation is a gift. God comes to us after He has given us that gift
and says, "Don't neglect it. Keep it out of the snow. Keep it polished. Work on
it." This is not in order that you might be saved, but because you are saved
with so great salvation!
