The Miracle Mile

September 14, 2014
The Miracle Mile
Philippians 3:1-17        Notes not edited

SIS – You can experience a full life and die with no regrets if you set as your goal the desire to please God in everything you do.

SIS: We can live a God-honoring, Devil-busting, People-blessing, world-changing life full of energy and enthusiasm if we run with the Lord.

I love the words, “it can’t be done.”

When someone says this to me it is like saying “sic-em” to a dog.  I believe that Christians should erase the word “we can’t” and replace them with “we’ll try.”  The Bible says clearly, “ I CAN do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

As my Dad said to me many times: “Can’t never did anything!”

Roger Bannister proved this very point 60 years ago and long

distance sprinters have been proving it over and over again.  Before 1954 all sports experts and even doctors said that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in under 4 minutes.  This was an accepted fact in the sports world prior to 1954.  Pundits said, “It simply can’t be done.”

Well, Roger Bannister did not accept the pronouncement of the sports

pundits.  He rejected the conventional wisdom of the physiologists of his day.  Bannister was a British medical student and a runner for the Amateur Athletic Association.  He was determined to prove the pundits wrong.  He was determined to run the “miracle mile” by breaking the 4 minute barrier.

Bannister planned his exhibition race carefully.  He chose two running

mates to serve as “chasers” for his miracle mile.  Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway would help put Bannister on a “miracle pace.”  As they began the race Brasher took the lead, Bannister fell in second, and Chataway brought up third.  Brasher set a muscle-straining pace.  When Brasher began to wear out about half-way into the mile, Bannister motioned for Chataway (who had been cruising comfortably in third place) to take the lead.  Chataway burst out in front and Bannister drafted in behind him.  About 200 yards from the finish Bannister exploded into first place heading toward the finish.  Bannister fell across the finish line exhausted into the arms of a minister friend.  He said later, “It was only then that real pain overtook me.”  Bannister remarked, “I felt like an exploded flashlight with no will to live.”  A hush came over the crowd as an announcer read Bannister’s time: THREE MINUTES, 59 SECONDS!”  Pandemonium broke out.  Bannister accomplished what experts said could not be done.  Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier.  Bannister had run the “miracle mile!”

Now, that record has continued to be shattered over the years.

Is there a physical limit to how fast a runner can run the mile?

Maybe.  I don’t know.  But I do know this:

There is no limit to what a child of God can accomplish
when he or she runs for Christ.

If we run with the Lord we can run a “miracle mile”  – or more correctly,

perhaps, a mile of miracles!

We CAN live a God-honoring, Devil-busting, people-blessing life

ful of energy and enthusiasm if we follow a few training principles.

Let me list them.  Then we will read about them in God’s Word.

Then, I will examine them one at a time.  Here they are:

               

1.  Lighten the load – get rid of negative attitudes or counter-productive

     behavior.  2.  Train over time and stick to a plan.  3.  Expect bad days. 4.  Do NOT run alone.

Now, let’s stand and read about these principles in God’s Word.  Phil 3:7-17

⁷ But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value  of knowing Christ  Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ  ⁹ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law,  but one that is through faith in Christ —the righteousness from God based on faith.  ¹⁰ My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings,  being conformed to His death,  ¹¹ assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.  Reaching Forward to God’s Goal  ¹² Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold  of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³ Brothers, I do not  consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind  and reaching forward to what is ahead, ¹⁴ I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly  call in Christ Jesus.  ¹⁵ Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal  this also to you. ¹⁶ In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained. ¹⁷ Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.

This is an awesome passage of Scripture!  Any parent, church, or community

that boldly and enthusiastically attempts to apply the principles in this passage WILL – WITHOUT A DOUBT – develop a God-honoring, Devil-busting, people-blessing, world-changing life!

PRINCIPLE #1 in training to run a “miracle mile” requires that one

Lighten the Load: get rid of negative attitudes and backward behaviors

¹³ Brothers, I do not  consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind  and reaching forward to what is ahead

Modern Olympic games are usually rated “G” – they are suitable

for the whole family.  In Paul’s day, when an Olympic runner came to the

starting line all he would be wearing was “HIS BIRTHDAY SUIT.”

First century Olympic runners ran NAKED!  The Greek word translated “train yourself” in 1Tim. 4:7 means to “train naked.”

They wanted to be as free and light on their feet as possible.

They did not want any clothing to constrict their ability to split the wind like a Genzu knife through a tomato!

Paul mentions this idea several times in the Word.  For example in

Hebrews 12:1 we read:

Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses  surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance  the race that lies before us.

Trying to live a godly life while carrying on your back the weight

of sinful attitudes and bad behaviors is like trying to run an Olympic weight with a 50 pound boulder strapped to your back.  Sin will slow your life to a crawl and you will end up crawling into a pit of ineffectiveness.  To live a God-honoring, Devil-busting, People -blessing, World-changing life in Christ you must LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD by throwing off bad attitudes and sinful behaviors.

Today . . . will you consider lightening your load by throwing off any

sin that is causing a negative, destructive attitude in your life?

PRINCIPLE #2: If you want to run the “miracle mile” and have a God honoring, Devil-busting, people-blessing, world-changing life you must

TRAIN OVER TIME AND STICK TO A PLAN (V 12)

¹² Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature ^{[pf. tense]}, but I make every effort ^{[pres tense]} to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

There is no such thing as a “NATURAL WORLD-CLASS ATHLETE.” Some athletes may have more natural skills than others, but it takes more than natural skill to be a world-class athlete.  Great athletes are those who develop a training regimen and stick to it.

Too often, most Christians simply give up on ever running a miracle

mile because it takes hard work over a long period of time.  It is hard work to get up a little early to read your Bible before you read the paper.  It is hard work to spend time on your knees on a regular basis to hear the Voice of God.  It is hard work to get up and go to church early on Sunday morning after your wife wears you out doing chores on Saturday!  It is hard work to knock on the door of your neighbor and ask them if they have ever heard the good news about Jesus Christ.

Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and evangelism is the plan

that God has given us in His Word to create in us the kind of character

that can run a “miracle mile.”

Would you be offended if I spoke bluntly to you today?

It doesn’t matter . . . I’m going to speak bluntly anyway!

Here’s the short, skinny on why most Christians never develop a

God-honoring, Devil-busting, People-blessing, World-changing life:

MOST CHRISTIANS ARE JUST PLAIN LAZY!

The man told his doctor that he wasn't able to do all the things around the house that he used to do. When the examination was complete, he said: "Now, Doc, I can take it. Tell me in plain English what is wrong with me."
"Well, in plain English," the doctor replied, "you're just lazy."
"Okay," said the man. "Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife.

Most Christians are just too plain lazy to be of much use in the Kingdom of God.  It takes a great deal of time and sacrifice to become the kind of disciple that brings honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look again at what Paul said about training to run a miracle mile.

He said, “press on.”  The original Greek word in this passage carries

the idea of “straining forward,” or “feeling pain.”

If you want to develop a God-honoring, Devil-busting, People-blessing

World-changing life where you experience the “miracle mile” you need to follow God’s training regimen on a daily basis: daily Bible study, daily prayer, regular – even daily – fellowship, and regularly sharing with others.  This is a tough plan to follow and results may take time – but results will come.

Remember Roger Bannister that we spoke of earlier – the first man to

break the 4-minute barrier in the mile?  Well, he did not just get up one day and go down to the track to break the record.  For weeks before the day of the race, this already tired medical student would spend his lunch breaks running quarter mile sprints.  He would use his lunch every day to run 10 quarter mile sprints in under 59 seconds.

Breaking the miracle mile in your life will require that you train

over time and stick to God’s plan for growth.

TRAINING PRINCIPLE #3 To experience the miracle mile in your life you must EXPECT BAD DAYS (V10)

¹⁰ My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings,  being conformed to His death,  ¹¹ assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

This is a verse few American Christians understand.

Living a God-honoring, Devil-busting, People-blessing, World-changing life following Jesus Christ as Lord is full of suffering and hardship.  I’m not talking about the difficulty of a strict training plan.  That is hard enough.  Here, I am talking about “expecting evil, persecution, and the Devil’s wrath” to be a constant companion if you decide you want to run “a miracle mile.”

Life is hard – and Christian living is even harder.

Over my short life time I have seen more than my share of tragedy.

I’ve had some very bad days.  In May of 1983 – a couple days after Mother’s Day – I performed my first funeral as a Baptist preacher.  It was the funeral of my first daughter, Amanda Marie Clegg.  She has been in heaven now 31 years waiting on her Daddy and Mommy to come see her with her brother and her sister.

In 2004 I went back to West Virginia to do what is perhaps the harder funeral I’ve ever performed.  My mind could barely comprehend what my eyes beheld.  There, in a simple casket wearing his favorite sweater was my dear sweet little brother Timmy.  Growing up we were best friends.  There was less than two years of age between us and we did everything together. 

I could go on and share a near endless litany of the trials and tragedies I’ve faced in my own life, and share with others in their lives.  There’s just no getting around it – life is hard!  Trial and tragedy awaits around every curve.

I remember the day I got a frantic  phone call from one of my dearest friends in the church.  Her 53 year-old daughter had shot herself.  She had developed “ringing in the ears” and had been prescribed the wrong medicine.  It sent her spiraling into depression and finally suicide.  They lived just a few doors down the road.  The mom’s nightgown was covered in her daughter’s blood as I hugged her and tried to console her the best I could.

There is not a person in this room with any significant amount of years that has not faced trials and tragedies in life.  EXPECT BAD DAYS.  Running the miracle mile in your life means you must “share in the sufferings of Christ.”

Too often Christians become side-tracked or short-circuited in their

lives when tragedy comes.  It is so easy to ask “WHY?”  I have two

degrees in religion including a Master’s Degree in Theology.  I have

been asked the “Why” question hundreds of times over 27 years of ministry.

I asked the question myself.  My friend asked the question.  My parents asked the question.  My answer: I really don’t understand “why” God allows

some of the bad days to come into our lives as we try to run the

the miracle mile.  I just don’t know “why.”  But I do know “WHO.”

Paul says he was “Sharing in the sufferings of Christ” as he ran the race of life.  If we think we have seen some bad days – just think of Jesus Christ.  On the Saturday before my brother slipped into a coma, he had gone to see Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ.  My Dad said that the film made my little brother cry.  My little brother was saved in 1993.  I led him to the Lord in the living room of my home.  He was an alcoholic who desperately wanted to be free from the demon of the drink.  Three days after seeing the suffering of the Lord played out in painful detail on the big screen, my brother was set free.  Alcohol would take his life, but it could not take his soul.  The last images on my brother’s heart before he died was the image of the terrible suffering Christ faced so we could have eternal life.

If you want to run a miracle mile – expect bad days.  When we chose

to live a God-honoring, Devil-busting, People-blessing, World-changing life for Christ – literally – all hell is going to break lose.    But look at verse 11 again: when we enter willingly into suffering for the sake of Christ we also – look at verse 11– “attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

The greatest reward for running a miracle mile –
is crossing the finish line and seeing Jesus in heaven.

EXPECT BAD DAYS – BUT ALSO EXPECT A GREAT ETERNITY.

Perhaps the greatest training principle for running a miracle mile – and

perhaps– the most neglected in the church today is this principle:

PRINCIPLE #4: DON’T RUN ALONE!  (VERSES 10, 17)

10 I want to know Christ. . .17 Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.

PLEASE LISTEN CAREFULLY TO ME:  “God never called us to win the world to Him all by ourselves.”  The word translated, “join in imitating me,” occurs only here in the N.T. It is a compound word combing the word for “mimic” with the word for “together.”  It literally means, “join together in mimicking me.” In church we are both, “following” examples and “leading” as examples. The KJV calls us, “followers together” in this verse.

Jesus built only one institution in His ministry – the Church.  Except for about three times in the N.T., when the word, “church,” is used it is used of a particular body of believers—a local church.   

Now, the Catholic Church teaches that “there is no salvation outside of the church.”  Actually, you CAN get saved completely apart from the church.  I’ve led people to the Lord while sitting on a Mark 35 torpedo cruising hundreds of feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean on a nuclear submarine.  I’ve led people to the Lord on a park bench on the campus of a major university.  I’ve led people to the Lord at their doorsteps.  I’ve led people to the Lord in my living room and in theirs.  I’ve led people to the Lord at the altar of the church.  People can find the Lord any place or any time that someone who knows Jesus is willing to share with someone who doesn’t.

You CAN be saved completely apart from the church and her services –

but hear me well – you CANNOT – I REPEAT YOU CANNOT –

develop a God-honoring, Devil-busting, People-blessing, World-changing

life apart from the Church of the Almighty God!  You cannot thrive as a disciple without “joining in” with other disciples.

How can one say, one is a Christian if one does not love that which

Jesus loved most.  The Bible clearly says that “Jesus loved the church and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25).   As followers of Christ, we too, must love His church and give our lives for it.  Paul clearly and plainly states this principle: “Join with others.”

Go back with me again to that day in 1954 when Roger Bannister

ran “his miracle mile.”  He did not run it alone.  It was a cold and windy spring day.  About 3000 enthusiastic fans filled the stadium surrounding the track.  The race was carefully planned.  Bannister had engaged the assistance of two other runners: Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway.  The three men took their mark.  The gun sounded.  As they began the race Bannister had Brasher take the lead to set a muscle-paining pace.  Bannister fell in second and Chataway took it easy pace cruising third.  When Brasher began to fade, Bannister motioned Chataway to take the lead and keep up the muscle-paining pace.  Chataway’s legs were fresh from cruising in third.  About 200 yards from the finish line Bannister exploded past Chataway.  Every muscle in his body was screaming in pain.  Bannister sprinted across the finish line and collapsed in the waiting arms of a friend.  His body was wasted and wracked with pain.   A hush came over the crowd as the track official took to the microphone to announce the official time.  Three minutes, . . . .  Pandemonium broke out and drowned out the end of the announcement—3 mins., 59.4 secs.  Bannister had beaten the 4-minute barrier.  He did not do alone.  He had a plan, and he had help.

Friends, I want to invite you into a great race – a miracle mile.  I want to

encourage you to seek a God-honoring, Devil-busting, People-pleasing, World-changing life – a life of miracles.

You can if: you lighten the load of sin in your life.  You can if:

you train over time following God’s plan in the Word.  You can if:

you expect and deal with bad days.  You can if: you join with Christ and

His church.  YOU CAN RUN A MIRACLE MILE.

The question is: do you want to.   The question is will you.

You can live a great life and die with no regrets if you set your goal to please Jesus Christ with how you run this race.

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