BNC Podcast
BNC Podcast
Voice of the Nazarene 8-10-25
Voice of the Nazarene 8-10-25
Coming to you from North Central Ohio. We share with you the voice of the Nazarene, a week by week venture into the Word of God, sponsored by the Bucyrus Ohio Church of the Nazarene. We join our Pastor Reverend Ray LaSalle, and the voice of the Nazarene. Verse one wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses, he said, Let us lay aside every weight and the sin. Did you notice that he says sin? And He separates between sin and weight? There are some things in our life that are not a sin, but they can become a hindrance in our spiritual race. They can sidetrack us, they can pull us down. They can drag us. There's even people that can be in your life that'll pull you down. And he said, let us lay aside all these weights, hindrances, obstacles and the sin that does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience. The race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author, the finisher of our Faith. I've noticed that every time that I've become discouraged, disenchanted, depressed, disillusioned, I've noticed when I look back, I can point to a time in my life when I got my eyes on something or somebody other than Jesus. Can you relate to that? But as long as I keep my eyes on the one that's writing the chapters of my life, I'm able to stay in his will. And I believe I can finish the race well. Peter did well. He could walk on the water as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. And I'd rather be a wet water walker than a dry boat talker. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross despising His pain, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Now this chapter breaks itself out into a beautiful little outline. We have a race. We have runners. There are rules, there's rigor. He said he endured the cross, and of course, there is a reward. But that's not the direction I'd like to go for this Sunday. My mind this week has been thinking about how we overcome lions in our life. Do you have lions in your life? Health lions, financial lions, relational lions, temptational lions. Man was without a job, and he had been without a job for a while, and money, he just wasn't making it, and he got desperate, and he heard about the zoo, and he thought, maybe I could find work there. And he went down to the zoo and inquired of the zookeeper if he had any job opportunities. And he said, Well, really, we don't. Well, he said, It's ironic that you came today, yesterday, our gorilla died. And we don't have a gorilla, but we do have a costume, and if you'd want to wear that, all you'd have to do is just grunt and beat on your chest and climb a tree and swing on a rope. And he thought, Man, I need a job bad and this could be an opportunity. He said, I'll take the job. He put on the costume and begin to beat on his chest and climbed a few trees, swung out on a rope, and the crowds came and kids liked him. And one afternoon, the kids began to scream, and the audience were taking pictures, and he got so excited that he swung too far in the rope, and he missed the tree limb and went over a fence into the lion's den. And the lion started for him. He forgot about he wasn't a gorilla, and he began to scream, Help me. Help me. About that time, one of the lions said, if you don't shut up, we're both going to lose our job. In my research this week, thinking about lions, I was amazed to find that lions can weigh up to 575 pounds. Some specimens even up to 600 pounds, and I found that lions can run up to 50 miles per hour. I found that lions could leap 30 feet. I found that lions can roar, and their roar can be heard more than five miles away. That's more than 88 football fields, and then a lion has better eyesight, five times better than a human being. So I'm really so busy, I don't have time to go on a lion hunt. If you're going, you just leave me out this afternoon. I've got other things. But did you know there are men in the Bible that the Bible tells us actually killed lions, man by the name of Samson, if you remember, he killed a lion. Later came back and he found the carcass, and bees had gone inside and had made a honeycomb, and it was full of honey, and reached in there and took some honey out and begin to eat it. It was a boy by the name of David. He was 17, and a lion came down against his sheep, and bare handedly, he killed that lion. That's why I don't keep sheep. And then there was a guy by the name of Benaiah, and the Bible said in two places it must have been important that he killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. And then all of us know the story about Daniel, how he survived the lions. But you know, it didn't always that way. It didn't always that way that it turns out, if you go back in time to the Coliseum in Rome, and even to this day, it's the largest standing amphitheater of the world, handling more than 80,000 people, 40 galleries that surround that oval arena. And what they would do in this coliseum, they had sporting events, and there was a place of entertainment. And up in the galleries would set the Emperor and the king and and dignitaries and senators and then ordinary people could literally fill the facility. There'd be a blast on the trumpet. And when there was a blast, it was an indicator the games were about to begin, and the moment that trumpet gave a blast, there was a deadly silence, and then you'd hear a scream, and a Roman soldier would drag a Christian from out from under those galleries out to the middle of that Coliseum, 80,000 spectators watching, and the soldier would hand a sword to that Christian, and then under the galleries they had cages with wild, vicious, starving lions, and they would release a lion, and that Christian with that sword would have to fight the lion for his life. And if he beat the lion, they'd release another lion, and the battle would go on and on until finally worn out, a lion would kill the Christian, and they would bring a cart in, and they would place the dead body of the Christian in that cart and go through a gate called the gate of death. Then they bring out another Christian for entertainment, put a sword in his hand and begin to release lions, and he would fight the lions for his very life. Paul was very familiar with this story, because he was a Roman citizen, and that's why, in his writings, he writes about that we wrestle. He understood the sport of wrestling. He in his writings, talks about running the race, the great races he talked about in his writings, this thing of fighting a good fight. Now I want to remind you of two things. It's basically foundational. It's groundwork. This world is our Coliseum. It's our arena for Second Corinthians 4:4, whom the god of this world is blinded the minds of them which believe not. This world is our arena. If you think that we're on a Sunday school picnic, you've been misinformed. We're not in a playground, we're on a battleground. We're fighting for our very lives. I don't know if you realize that this is a battlefield, not a playground. It's a battleground. And we're in a warfare, and right in this arena, the Bible tells us, in Matthew 5:13 that we're to be the salt of the Earth. We're to be the light of the world, in verse 14. And I want you to know something while we're in this world, in contact, we're not in this world by conduct. We're to be different, and we'll never make a difference until we are different. And I believe the world has become so churchy, and the church has become so worldly that we're not having the impact that we ought to have. I'm reporting to you this world is our Coliseum, but something else every Christian has lions to
face. First Peter 5:8, says Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil has what a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. And over there in First Timothy
6:12, fight the good fight of faith. That's why Ephesians 12, where we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but it's bigger battle than that. He said that we wrestle against principalities and against powers, against the rulers the darkest of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places. That's why Nehemiah 4:14, said you better fight for your brethren and for your wives and for your sons and your daughters and your houses. Why? Because the devil wants to destroy your family. He wants to destroy your very soul. He wants to destroy your influence. He'll destroy your life. You say, Well, I'm not having a real hard time right now. Well, hang around he'll lie in the weeds for 40 years waiting to trap God's servant. And it's when you think you're standing so tall and so high and so strong, better take heed lest you fall for he literally has come to steal and to kill and destroy. When I think of the great men of God, like the apostle Paul, I thought he had a thorn. He struggled with a thorn in the flesh, so much so that three times he begged that he might be delivered from that thorn. I don't want to mess with your theology, but some of the better bigger thinkers than I say that, Timothy struggled with this issue of alcohol. I don't know that's what better men than I think. I know that David struggled with lust. I know Simon Peter struggled with his impatience and his pride and his arrogance. I know Jonah was disobedient. Thomas struggled with doubt. But what I want to say, every Christian has lions they'll have to fight. Hebrews 11, the Hall of Fame chapter, and get this in Hebrews 11. He lists the patriarchs and the matriarchs of the faith who are already in heaven. He lists Abraham, Moses, Sarah, Enoch, Joseph, and he says in verse one of chapter 12, Wherefore, seeing all of these that Abraham and Moses, all that crowd, the great cloud, they're watching us. We're compassed about. They have gone on, and we're surrounded by these wonderful witnesses and Christians have lions to fight. But here's the third thought I want to leave with you. Our help comes from the galleries. Just as they had those galleries in the Roman Coliseum, we have help from the galleries. Look at that first gallery. Guess who's up there? It's the king. It's where the king sat, it's where the Neros had sat, it's where the Tiberius had sat. And I've got news. We have a King who's in that gallery. And I want to remind you of something. The King in that gallery wants to put a sword or a weapon in your very hand, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. According to Ephesians, 6:17, ladies and gentlemen, our weapon is The Word of God. Teddy Roosevelt said, a thorough knowledge of the Bible is more important than a college education. Did you know The Word of God will keep you from sin? Did you know that sin will keep you from The Word of God? Psalm 119, verse 11, Thy word have I hid in my heart. Why that I might not sin against thee. In Hebrews 6:12, says The Word of God is powerful. It's quick, it's powerful, it's sharper than any two edged sword. And folk, we have access to a great weapon. We do. How did Jesus put the devil on the rod in Matthew
4:11, and withstood The Word of God, and then the devil leaveth him. When he said, It is written, it is written, he kept repeating that it's written. He took him to The Word of God, and the devil leaveth him. And behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Now this is what I know. The Scriptures that I've memorized are the ones that I utilize. The scriptures that I've memorized are the ones that come to my mind and I utilize, and I'm glad the king placed a weapon in my hand. But listen, the Emperor back there in the Coliseum in Rome would not leave the galleries, wouldn't get down where the battle was, but we have a king. He came down out of the galleries. John 1:14 said, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He put on skin, sandals and came and walked the Roman roads, where we were. And I'm here to report that our King comes out of the gallery, and he's with us, and when we feel forsaken, he says, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. You say, I'm in trouble, but the psalmist said, I'm your present help in the time of trouble. When we're sick He comes as the great physician. When you don't know what to do, He said, I'm the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. You say, Pastor, what am I going to do when I face death? He says, I'm the resurrection of the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Jesus came out of the galleries, and the Bible said that he's with us. Now let's get back to our text. There's a man in the Bible by the name of Daniel, and Daniel was told that he couldn't pray anymore. Now I wouldn't have to tell some of you that you haven't been doing it anyway. I'm talking about people watching by live stream or something. Well, I didn't mean them. I meant the television crowd. I didn't mean them. I meant the next crowd that's coming in here. When they get here I said, No, it was that first crowd, not you Latter Day Saints. But he was told he couldn't pray anymore. But he didn't bother Daniel. He knew Psalm 55 Verse 16, is for me, I'll call upon my God. And he said he'll save me evening and morning and noon. I will pray and cry aloud. He'll hear my voice three times a day. He would throw open the window and look toward Jerusalem, and he'd pray, but they told him, King Darius said, If you pray again, he's going to put you in the lion's den. They were vicious lions. If you don't believe that. After Daniel was delivered, they took the accusers of Daniel, that's in Daniel 6:24, and they threw them and their families in, and the lions tore up their bones. These were real lions, vicious lions. Daniel's put in the lion's den and the next morning, the king came and he looked in and he said, Daniel, the God that you're continually serving, did he deliver you? And he looked up and he said, Oh, King, live forever. He said, My God has sent his angel and they shut the lion's mouth. You thought you had a bunch of lions around me, but there was a lion out of the tribe of Jude and showed up. He backed all the other lions down. You'll have lions in your life, but I'm grateful that our King put a weapon in our hand and he comes out of the galleries to help us. That's only gallery number one, there's gallery number two, and there's angels in that gallery. Did you know that the Bible mentions angels 273 times. You say, Well, Pastor, how many angels are
there? Hebrews 12:22, says they're innumerable. You can't even count them. Revelation 5:11, I beheld, heard the voice of angels, and there were 10,000 times 10,000 and 1,000s of 1,000s. So I quit counting. Angels, according to Psalm 9:11, He gave His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dace thy foot against a stone they're given to protect and watch over us. You say, Well, when were the angels created? Job 38 verse seven, while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy, back when the foundations of the world were laid. You say, Well, what do angels do? Psalm 34, seven, the angel of the Lord encampeth around those that fear him. You don't know what you're going through. Angels show up sometimes, and I believe we're unaware. Do you know what Matthew 18 says? I want you to catch this. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones for I say unto you that in heaven, talking about these little ones, their angel do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven. Sounds like to me, we have an angel, and you've got an angel. We're not on our own. We've got a king on the throne that put a weapon in our hand, and we got an angel to walk along with us. You say, Well, preacher, I'm battling lions. I'm struggling for my very life, yeah, but from the galleries, there's a king that's put a weapon, and he's come down out of the arena. But there's that second gallery of angels. I like that. There was a neurologist by the name of FW Mitchell, number of years ago. It had a long, long day. He'd gone to his home and had gone to bed, and it's late and he sound asleep, and he heard a knock at his door, and he got up and he opened the door, and it was snowy outside, and a little girl stood there with a coat on, and she looked up and said, Doctor, my mother is very, very sick. Would you come talk and help my mother? So he got his bag and threw his coat on and made his way behind that little girl through the snowy streets to an impoverished home, and stood aside of the bed and minister to this little lady and and gave her some medication. And he said, I wouldn't have known how to have found your house or how sick you were if you hadn't sent that little girl for me. And the little lady looked up quite surprised and said, that little girl.? My little girl died a month ago. What he said at my door, there was a little girl with a coat on. Well, she said, My little girl, her coat is left in that closet, right there. He opened the door and there hung the coat. Now, if you have a problem with that story, you have a big problem with Genesis 1:1. If you can get past Genesis, you can handle all the rest of it. You say you've got any scripture for that little story? Well, I think about
Hebrews, 13:2. Wherefore, some, he said, have entertained angels, unaware. Three groups of angels. Lucifer used to head up about a third of the angels. They were the angels of worship and music. He fell and so did his group. There was a messenger angels, and Gabriel, every time there was a big event such as the birth of Christ, Gabriel would come and make the announcement and bring the message. There's another angel group called Michael. He had to do with warfare. And sometimes I'm glad that he comes to help us and to do battle for us and with us. But there's a last Gallery, and then I'm done, and it's of the saints. Hebrews 12:1, wherefore seeing we all sort of compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Remember, that's in chapter 11, the Hall of Fame chapter. It's about the saints. And now he's saying, in chapter 12, all of those back there, in chapter 11, they're gathered around. There are witnesses talking about the saints. Those who have gone on, look at what it says. Wherefore, seeing we also great cloud. Let us lay aside every weight of sin which thou shall easily beset us. Let us run. You say, Well, Pastor, people in heaven don't know what's going on on Earth. Who told you that, you got another book that I don't have? I know over here in Luke 15, verse 10, it says, There's joy in the presence of angels over a sinner that repented. If the saints of God in the very presence of angels are rejoicing because a sinner got converted, they must know what's going on. And I would remind you of Revelation, chapter six, verse nine through 11. If you've got to throw it up on the screen, I'll not read it to you, but I believe that heaven is cheering us on. I believe Moses is simply saying, you can make it to the promised land. I believe Noah is saying to us that one person can make a difference. I believe that David is saying, I made some big mistakes, but I came back and confessed that sin, and you can do the same thing if you stumble. I believe Esther would tell us that God has a plan for our life. I believe the thief on the cross, he would say, it's never too late to get back to God. I had a little lady in my meetings when I would get into the Dayton, Ohio area years ago, and she would come to my meetings. And once in a great while, that little old Saint would bring her prayer list, different than anything I'd ever seen. It was about a foot wide sheet. Just cut a foot wide out of a sheet, and she had added names to the years of people that she was praying for. Problem was she ran out of sheet, so she sewed on another length of that sheet, and sewed on and sewed on until it took several people to bring in that. It was about three feet big ball, a prayer list with names on it. And I've been in the meetings when once in a while, the pastor would get her to unroll that thing. You couldn't unroll it all. They'd roll it from the back door all the way to the front and and she would say, you need your name on there. You want to pray for I believe if she was here, she would say, don't quit praying. Battles are won on your knees. I believe if the dad that raised me and poured himself into my life, I believe if he could say anything, he would say, try to reach one more soul. Now I've officiated here for 32 and a half years. I cannot begin to tell you how many I've said goodbye to and I've stood at the lip of the grave and I said my final words. I believe they're cheering for us. We have some right now that are about to slip into another world. I believe they're pulling for us. We've got lions to fight, and I've got lions to fight, and you've got lions to but I believe we can win. I believe we can win because we have a king that's come down to help us, and he's put a weapon in our hand, and it's the sword of the Spirit, The Word of God, quick and sharp and powerful, and it can cut where nothing else can cut. And that lion out of the tribe of Judah, that King of kings in the galleries, and Lord of lords, he's on our side, and he's going to win the battle. Thanks for being a part of the voice of the Nazarene. Visit us every Sunday at 9am with BNC{astor Ray LaSalle for more information regarding BNC, visit bucyrusnazarene.org.