Spiritual Exercise

I want to thank Brother Blake for leading our singing this morning and thank you for being here today. And we’re glad that you’re with us, especially if you’re visiting with us. And I’d like to echo Brother John David’s comments earlier, you are our honored guest. And so we’re thankful for you today being here.

Well, let’s get into it here this morning. We’re going to be talking about spiritual exercise. And, you know, exercise, physical exercise, is something that I do a lot of, and I enjoy it. And I know that there are others who get physical exercise out here that I see doing things from time to time, and that’s great.

But we want to take those principles that we see applied from physical exercise and apply them to spiritual exercise because while physical exercise benefits us somewhat, spiritual exercise benefits us in all areas of life. Now, let’s read what the Apostle Paul wrote here in 1 Timothy 4, 6 through 8 about these two things. He said this, If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of good doctrine, which you have carefully followed.

But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable in all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. And so we have this opportunity before us to engage in exercise, spiritual exercise, exercising ourselves toward godliness. And Paul told Timothy, yes, physical exercise profits a little, but godliness profits in all things, not only in this life, but in the life to come.

And so Paul compares physical exercise with spiritual exercise and helps us set up this idea that we can learn something from the principles of physical exercise and apply those things to spiritual exercise. Now, as I mentioned, I enjoy exercising regularly, and I know some of you do too, and that’s great. But let’s think about those principles of exercise this morning, and they are these. What do we need to do to spiritually exercise? Well, first of all, we need to be ready. We need to have repetition. We need some kind of resistance.

And finally, we need to be resolute. And so we have physical exercise and spiritual exercise, and let’s think about those two things. First of all, when we exercise, we need to be ready. You know, in order to exercise, you need to be ready to do that. One must have a desire, and we’re going to talk about that desire to exercise.

And this is often the hardest part of exercising is getting up out of the chair and going and doing it. That sometimes is the most difficult part. I find that if I can just get myself up and out the door, that is the biggest difference.

And then from then on, it’s easy to go and do the exercise. Or if I can just get started with the routine, whatever it is, then on, from that point forward, I can stick with it. But that mental move of just starting is sometimes the most difficult. So spiritual exercise comes from that readiness of mind.

We’ve got to get ourselves ready to do it. And look at what Peter says here, 1 Peter 1, verse 13. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Gird up the loins of your mind. What is that talking about? Well, this is an expression, you know, we don’t think about too much. But when we put our pants on, you know, or pull them up to our waist, and we put a belt on, that’s girding up.

That’s the process of getting ready. And when we do that, we’re getting ready. We’re getting ready to go somewhere. We’re getting ready to do something. Well, he is talking about not our physical situation, but the mental situation, the spiritual situation.

We’ve got to gird up the loins of our mind. We’ve got to be ready up here. To engage in that spiritual exercise. Look at 1 Peter 3 and verse 15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Be ready always. That takes a mental move. I’ve got to be mentally prepared. I’ve got to make that decision.

To be ready. And then spiritual readiness comes from that mind, that desire that we have to be spiritual. And then I must act upon that readiness. Consider Paul’s attitude in Romans 1, verse 15. So much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are at Rome. So he was ready, which meant he had already made the decision in his mind that he was going to do this. And sometimes that’s the hardest thing is making that decision. And then we’re going to talk about sticking to it a little bit later, but we’ve got to make that decision. Acts 17, verse 11, look at those were more noble than those in Thessalonica.

That they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so. They were ready for it. They wanted it. They didn’t reproach the Bible reluctantly. They were eager for it because they knew that it was something that would be good for them. Just like physical exercise, you know, you gotta get ready. You gotta put that idea in your head and then pursue it.

And so, readiness of mind, we’ve got to be ready, both ready in our mind and ready to act. So, first of all, to engage in spiritual exercise, there needs to be readiness. But then secondly, there needs to be repetition.

And exercise involves repetition. Walking two steps is not exercise, but walking 10,000 steps, now that’s exercise, okay? And you can walk and walk and walk, and when you walk those 10,000 steps, you are exercising. Doing one lift is not exercise, but doing three sets of ten, now that’s exercise. Why? Because you’re repeating something over and over. Repetition, repetition, repetition.

And so you do things many, many times to exercise. I’ve got this little program, you know, my son, Charlie, you know Charlie, he gave us one of those 3D things that you stick on your face and it gives you virtual reality. And I’ve got an exercise program on it. It’s a boxing program. And so, and I just throw my fists out there over and over again and hit them targets.

It’s fun because there’s music and there’s targets and there’s encouragement from the instructors and everything, but it’s just repetitive movement. That’s all it is. Repetitive movement again and again and again for, you know, half an hour or 45 minutes or whatever. That’s what running is. Just repetitive movement over and over.

So, repetition is involved in exercise. What about spiritual exercise? What about repetition, spiritually speaking? Are we just saying a prayer once a week and being done with it, you know? Or maybe only when we come on Sunday morning, we, oh yeah, I’ve got to pray with the church, you know? Or are we praying every day? Are we repeating those prayers all the time?

What about studying God’s Word? Do we crack open the Bible during the week, or do we just listen to the preacher once a week, you know? What is it? Are we repeating those exercises over and over again? And what about our attendance? Are we faithful in attendance, coming every time the doors are open, or just, you know, occasionally, just when I feel like it? Well, that’s not repetition. To have spiritual exercise, there’s got to be repetition.

We’ve got to repeat this exercise over and over. Listen to what Peter says in 2 Peter 1, verses 12 through 15. He says, Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth, yea, I think it meet or suitable, as long as I am in this tabernacle, “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance.”

Look at what He says again and again and again. I want you to remember these things, and so I’m going to repeat them, and you are going to remember them, and I am going to repeat them, and you are going to remember them. You know, He says that over and over. Why? Because repetition. Repetition is the three R’s of learning. Repetition, repetition, repetition. That’s it.

And the more you repeat it, the more you learn it. And the more we repeat it, the more spiritual we will be. Now listen to what Jesus said here in Luke 9, in verse 23. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Now, there’s repetition. Every day, we’ve got to take up the cross of Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray without ceasing. Christianity isn’t something that we just do on Sunday. It’s something we do every day of the week, every hour of the day.

Yes, Christianity is a 24-7 religion, and we’ve got to repeat it over and over again. To exercise spiritually, we need to involve ourselves in repetition. But then number three, there is resistance. Exercise requires some kind of resistance. We always have some resistance working on us at all times because there’s always gravity there that we have to resist against.

And that’s one of the most basic types of resistance that we can use to exercise is just using gravity. Think about push-ups and sit-ups and pull-ups. Those are all gravity-based resistance exercises. Now we can do other resistance too, but think about what happens when you don’t have any resistance to gravity at all. Think about what those astronauts have to do up in space, right?

When they’re up there and they don’t have any gravity to have resistance, they’ve got to get on treadmills and they’ve got to exercise on a regular basis so that they continue to have those muscles worked on. Why? Because if they don’t, they’ll atrophy. If you don’t use your muscles, they’ll atrophy, they’ll shrink, and they’ll become less than what they were before.

And then they won’t be as strong, and you won’t be able to use them as much. And so physical exercise means there’s got to be some kind of resistance. And spiritual exercise needs resistance as well. Now, first of all, we need to resist temptation. First Corinthians 10, verse 13. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer to be tempted above that which you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it. First Corinthians 10, verse 13. Now, think about that for a minute. This has exercised It’s written all over it because the more I run down the trail, the better I get at it and I’m able to bear longer periods of resistance running down the trail.

Well, think about it. If we resist temptation over and over and over again, we’re going to be able to bear it. And that’s what God is saying. You can bear it. Ephesians 6 and verse 13, “…wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.” Now, that’s resistance. That’s resistance against evil, and we’ve got to stand against it. How do we do that? We’ve got to take up the whole armor of God. You remember David back in the Old Testament when he went to fight Goliath, and Saul said, He said, Here, David, take all this heavy, heavy armor that you’ve… And David said, I’m not even used to this stuff. How am I going to wear it, you know?

Well, we’ve got to put on that armor every day so that we get used to it, and we can then bear it, and we can take it, and we can keep going. David eventually was able to wear armor, and he did so quite well because he was used to it.

Now think about 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8. When we think about spiritual resistance, we’ve got to resist temptation, but we’ve also got to resist the devil. And the devil is our enemy. 1 Peter 5, verse 8. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour. Now look at what he says. Whom resist, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same Some afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. Resist the devil, steadfast in the faith, and he will flee from you, James 4 and verse 7 says. Yes, there is resistance. We’ve got to resist evil and cling to that which is good, Romans 12, verse 9, and abstain from every form of evil, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 22.

And so we must resist. To engage in spiritual exercise, there needs to be resistance. And then finally, we’ve got to be resolute. We’ve got to be resolute. In order for our exercise to do any good, we’ve got to stick with it all the time.

And that maybe is the hardest thing ever because you get into the mindset, you know, getting out there, I’m going to go exercise and then you do it for a while and then you’re like, oh man, I just don’t want to do it anymore. And then you slack off and then guess what? All of that good work you did goes down the tube because you’ve got to keep doing it.

And it’s the same way, spiritually speaking. We’ve got to keep doing it. Now, think about, I don’t know how many of you saw the track meet at the Olympics, but that photo finish. Now, this isn’t that. Those other photos are copyrighted, so I couldn’t use, but this one was on Wikipedia, so we’re good to go.

But anyway, think about that photo finish on the Olympics. And those guys were just, you know, hundreds of a second’s difference between first and second place. What was the difference? They were resolute. They didn’t give up until the very end.

I heard a story not too long ago from one of the elders down in Hamilton, Texas. He said he was training a bunch of boys, he used to be a coach, and he was training a bunch of boys to run, and they were running the 100 meters in some time, I don’t remember what it was. I’m just going to make up a time just for the sake of illustration. If this sounds ridiculous, then, well, it’s just an illustration. Let’s say it was 4.6 seconds or something like that.

And they were trying to get down to 4.5 seconds, or whatever it is, you know, to run that 100 meters just really quick. And he told them, he said, he watched them and he said, you know what you’re doing? You’re letting off at the end.

Right, but right before you get to that finish line, you’re letting off just a little bit. And you can see the runners when they do that. They get right to the, almost before that finish line and then they let off just a little bit. Then they cross the finish line. We can’t do that. If you want the time. So he told them, he said, instead of running 100 meters, get in your mind that you’re going to run 105 meters. 105 meters. Run 105 meters instead of a… They did that and they shaved two seconds off their time. Now that’s pretty good. But you see, that’s a lack of resolution.

We’ve got to be resolute about this. And that’s what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about exercise, exercising ourselves spiritually. We’ve got to be resolute, which means committed to the long term of our exercise. In Luke 9, verse 62, Jesus said, No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. We’ve got to be resolute. We’ve got to go forward. We’ve got to keep at it. Think about Hebrews 10, verse 38.

Now, the just shall live by faith. That’s resolution. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Therefore, my beloved, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. That’s being resolute. That’s being steadfast. And that’s what we’ve got to have if we’re going to exercise spiritually.

You know, it’s much harder to get started again when we stop. And sometimes we have to stop exercising for one reason or another, you know, if you have an injury or something like that. But it is much harder to get started again. But if you will, you can get back into it and you can stick with it and don’t give up. Stick with it and keep going. And that’s what we need to do spiritually as well. We need to stick with it. Don’t give up. Keep going. Be resolute.

Are we exercising ourselves in godliness? We need to do that if we want to properly grow as God’s people. Spiritual exercise will help us both in this life and for all eternity. Physical exercise has its limits. And one day, I won’t be able to do it anymore.

Now, I know a guy, a preacher, who’s, I think he’s probably almost 90 years old, and he gets, he still runs half marathons and 5Ks and 10Ks, and he’s really something, and his name is Jerry Barber, and he runs barefoot. Now, I don’t know how he does that, but he is an interesting fellow, and he often gets stopped on the road, and people ask him, are you okay? Do you need some help? You know, he says, I’m fine. I’m out here running.

But he’s a very good person. He’s a very good example. And he is able to keep it up because he practices these principles. And we’ve got to practice them in our Christian life. So are we exercising ourselves to godliness?

Let’s be ready. Let’s repeat again and again. Let’s take up the fight and resist temptation in the devil. And let’s be resolute as we engage in spiritual exercise. Maybe you need to get off the proverbial couch and start spiritually exercising today. If you’re not a Christian, you can begin your journey with Christ this very moment by hearing His Word and believing it, repenting of your sins, confessing Him as Lord, and being baptized for the forgiveness of sins. There’s making the decision. There’s being ready.

I’m going to be ready by getting myself prepared to walk the Christian walk. We can help you do that this morning. If you’re a Christian, maybe you’ve given up spiritually exercising for a while. You need a little help getting back into it.

That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to help and we want to help. Sometimes you need a little help. Sometimes you need a little PT, right? Physical therapy, they call it. Let’s call it ST, spiritual therapy, right? Sometimes we need a little bit of that and we can get back into it. If that’s your desire, you need the prayers of the church to help you with that, we’d be happy to pray for you. Whatever you need is, you can come forward right now, make it known, while together we stand and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!