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Please, as we turn to the book
of Luke in chapter 16, I want you to hold on to your tickets
this morning and your seats. We might go into overtime today.
Notice with me as we turn to Luke chapter 16. I want to preach
a message this morning titled, Sports. And I'm not here this
morning to criticize you if you enjoy playing or watching it. But I hope that you will stay
with me this morning as we consider this in the light of Scripture
and in the light of history and just think about some things
that God has to say and some of the things that the pagans
have believed and practiced over the years. And just please consider
them today. Notice with me as we come to
Luke chapter 16. I want to begin reading here. I have an article
that I cut out of the paper By the way, February 6, 2005, last year after Super Bowl Sunday,
and I saved this, I've had it for a year, or at least a year,
over a year, and it's titled American Idol, and it's got a
huge football trophy, I mean huge, and thousands of people
standing around the bottom of it worshiping. And the caption
is a father speaking to his son and he says, It's why God made
Sunday's sun. And then as you were to look
into The television today, there's 24-hour sports stations. Every news channel has a sports
station. Every newspaper has a section
with sports in it. Every, you go through the bookstores
and the magazines and the internets, and you think about here's one
paper that I'm going to open up right here. This is out of
the Mobile Press. And think about now, as Sergeant
York would say, this is a lot of writing. But I want you to
think about this is all, this right here, dealing with the
issue of sports in America. This ought to tell you just a
little bit how far we have come in this country away from God
Almighty, in the worship of man and the worship of the body.
Now, notice with me as we begin reading here in this chapter.
We find that in verse 13, he said, No servant can serve two
masters. For either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also who were
covetous heard all these things, and they derided him." In other
words, they laughed at him and they mocked him. Then in verse
15, this is the text I want to begin with here this morning,
and he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves
before men, but God knoweth your hearts, for that which is highly
esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. That which
is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight
of God. Many years ago, after I got saved,
I memorized at least part of this verse, and this has been
a principle and rule for me for over 30 years. In other words,
to find out whether something is of God or of the devil. In other words, is it highly
esteemed among men? Father, we ask your blessings
this morning upon the reading of our Scripture. And Father,
we ask this morning that you fill us with thy Holy Spirit
Lead us in truth and righteousness. Forgive us of our sins. And God,
help us with an open mind to please consider the subject that
is before us. For it is in Jesus Christ's name
we pray, Amen and Amen. You may be seated. Now, I realize
that as we consider this subject, I realize that if men can't fight,
then they must compete some way, somehow. I mean, I understand
that. But I want you to come to the
Scriptures this morning and begin looking at this from a biblical
point of view. I've got several quotes I'm going
to read to you today, and even dealing with the Olympics and
other things, and I want you to consider as we look at this.
But when we come to this and begin considering it, yesterday
was the beginning of college football season, and there were
many people gathered around the family altar yesterday, their
television, and there will be others gathered around it today
as the pro-season begins. And they will begin their season
of worship of their gods. And the conversation will be
for the next few months. Thank God, football season only
lasts three or four months. But the conversation from here
on will be centered around teams and, you know, championships
and things of that nature. Now, the thing about it, when
we began looking at this, and I want to use this verse here
to begin with this morning, but I want you to understand that
as we come to look at this, that sports is big business in our
country. As a matter of fact, it has become
an idol and a god in America, and there's year-round, there's
no seasons Hardly anymore, it just goes in from one sport to
the other. If it's not baseball, it's football. If it's not football,
it's basketball, and tennis, and golf, and everything else
that we could consider. In other words, you can watch
this stuff year-round, and actually if you've got the mind to do
it, or don't have the mind to do it, you can watch it 24 hours
a day, or listen to it 24 hours a day on the radio. But what
does God have to say about this? Some questions that I'd have
to ask you this morning. Do you have a bad day if your
team loses? And be honest with yourself.
Do you know the quarterbacks' names of the SEC conference more
so than the twelve apostles that God gives us in the Word of God? Do you watch four hours of college
football intently sitting on the edge of your seat and then
doze off and go to sleep in church? I mean, there's many questions
that we need to ask ourselves this morning. And I know some
of you are saying, well, now, Brother Reid, I don't have a
problem with sports. Well, we preached on your sin last week,
and if we didn't get it, we'll get it next week. Now, notice
as we look at this verse again, before we turn away. By the way,
here's an article I picked up some years ago. Again, I've got
some quotes to give you. But he said there is an industry
in America that takes in more money than agriculture and automobile
industry combined. I don't know if it's true or
not, but this is an article I picked up. It says it is the sports
industry. It took in $313 billion in 1999.
This says nothing. of probably 100 times that amount
that was gambled on it, and it mentions one shortstop of one
baseball team getting $118 million. In other words, the article basically
ends with the fact that you can see the true God of America.
On page 11 of the 9th of August, 2004, the newspaper contained
an interesting article. This had been two years ago.
And it talked about explaining why ancient Greeks traveled 210
miles from Athens to Olympia to watch the original Olympic
games. And it goes on to say, the Greeks
thought it was a small price to pay to be as close as they
could to their gods. And how true that this is in
America. Now, notice with me as we come
back to this passage again, I want to read this and then we're going
to move on. And by the way, the first college
football game that I can ever remember watching was in Alabama. I remember when I was pastoring
in Pennsylvania, preaching at Penn State College to college
kids, and somebody asked me while I was there, they said, what
about them Nittany Lions? And I said, I don't understand.
And they, you know, they, what about them Nittany Lions? I said,
I don't know where Nittany's at and I haven't seen any Lions.
And I was serious. And they said, well, you fool,
we're talking about Penn State football team up there. I didn't
even know the names of these. But it was when I moved to central
Alabama, taking a church that was divided down the middle between
Auburn and Alabama, And it was then that I began starting watching
a little football because Tennessee had to come down and play twice
a year at that time. So I began watching a little
bit of football and got caught up in it to some extent when
I realized after a period of time, what a waste of time that
this really was. Now, and especially after I had
a deacon and a man in the church get into it one morning over
Alabama and Auburn, I had to step between them to keep them
from fighting. Yes, this is in the house of God. Now, notice
with me as we come here to this passage. Now, he says in verse
13, he said, No servant can serve two masters, for either he will
hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one
and despise the other. Notice with me in the middle
part of verse 15, he makes this statement, look at it carefully.
He says, but God knoweth your hearts. For that which is highly
esteemed among men, notice, is abomination in the sight of God. If you want to use a principle
whereby you can judge whether something is of God or not, listen
to me, if the people hate it, you better check it out, God
may be in it. But if the majority of people
love it and flock to it, you better check it out because God
may not be associated with it whatsoever. Now, first of all,
I want to speak to you this morning about the origin of sports. We find that this verse here
is a gauge that we can use. There is nothing that gets any
more publicity than sports today, whether it be local or whether
it be national or worldwide. A sport draws more crowds today
than anything else, and many of the players today are idolized. In other words, sports is highly
esteemed in America in the time in which you and I live. I want
you to turn with me, please, to 2 Timothy 3. I told you to
hang on. We may be going to overtime.
That's exciting to think about. Now, notice with me as we come
to 2 Timothy 3. In 2 Timothy 3, we went into
overtime a couple of weeks ago in the sermon. We may have to
do it again. Now, notice with me as we come to this passage
here. Now, we find that in the last day, The Bible speaks about
men being lovers of pleasure, and I want to read a verse here
that will bear this out. But let me give you just a few
thoughts, and some of these are a few quotes. When we talk about
the origin of sports, where did it come from? Well, it did not
originate in the house of God or the kingdom of God. We're
talking about organized, spectator, competitive sports. I want to
put all three of these words in there. Organized, competitive,
spectator sports. That's what I'm after. This morning,
I'm not after getting out in the backyard and enjoying one
of those company in the family or with friends or the church
or whatever, and getting some exercise and having a good time,
which we will probably be doing that tomorrow evening at the
cookout. Not dealing with that this morning. I'll say more about
that a little bit later on. But I'm dealing with organized,
competitive, spectator sports that we see in America today. Now, it did not begin in the
church of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, many of
the church fathers spoke not against bodily exercise for maintaining
health, but they did speak against the vainglory of competitive
sports and public games." As a matter of fact, they spoke
of the issue of sports, arts, the theater, and amusement, and
in many cases they connected sports with idolatry, that is,
with pagan gods. And this is something I want
to bring out as we go through this message this morning. In
Hebrew history, and I want you to listen to me, folks, when
we began to study subjects, and it doesn't matter what it is,
I wrote articles on certain subjects that have blessed some and cursed
others. And I've had people, some love
them and some hate them. But we've written on subjects
of colleges and schools and we've written on the subject of cremation
and birth control and a number of different issues. If you want
to know whether it's right or wrong, go to the Bible and forget
about what the history has to say and find out if it is in
the Word of God. In Hebrew history, athletics
and sports as we know it today, was not found. It was foreign
to their culture. As a matter of fact, it was introduced
by the Greeks and the Romans. The Hebrews did not have gymnasiums
or competitive athletics in their time. But after the conquest
of Alexander the Great of Palestine, we find that even though he died
early at 33 years of age, his legacy lived on, and you can
see it not only in the Middle East, but you can see it all
around the world. But one of the things that the
Greeks gave to the world was the design of public buildings
and gymnasiums for games and open-air theaters. And the Romans
continued to carry on this custom and this tradition. So as we
begin and talk about the origin, when we talk about organized,
competitive, spectator sports, and put those three words with
it again, we're talking about the fact that it has pagan roots. You can go back in history and
find that to be so. I'm going to quote a few things.
to you this morning. I do not have the time to go
into a lot of details. I could bring a stack of stuff
this tall into the pulpit and read this for you this morning. Diana, here's one quote, and
I want you to listen to this. We're going to read here and
Timothy in just a moment. But here's a loose quote by another
author. He said the Greeks introduced
competitive sports to the Jews and erected a gymnasium at Jerusalem. They didn't have one before the
conquest of the Greeks, long before Christ was born into this
world. He goes on to say that under the rule of the Maccabees,
these games came to an end. But Herod the Great revived them,
even building a theater at Jerusalem. The Romans carried on these Greek
athletic customs and gave special prominence to their gladiatorial
shows. One of the key forms of amusement
among the Romans in the early Christian era in the amphitheater
in the empire before huge crowds of spectators. The crowds would
urge on the beast, and Paul speaks of beast in 1 Corinthians 10.32. But it says, and they would urge
on the beast to destroy the poor victims by throwing darts and
shouting at them. And these people that were in
the amphitheaters, the gladiator gangs, they were condemned criminals,
slaves, captives of war, and yes, Christians that had been
persecuted that was thrown to the lines as the people sat around
and watched this brutality. One of the reasons of the fall
of the Greeks and the Romans was that their emphasis upon
amusements and coliseums and circuses and theaters and amphitheaters
is one of the reasons that they fell. The Greeks worshipped the
mind and the body. We would call that humanism.
And that is introduced in Genesis 3 and verse 5 when Satan came
and told Eve, he said, your eyes shall be opened and you shall
be as God. It is the deification of reason,
and it is the glorification of a body. This is the religion
of humanism, and the survival of the fittest has its source,
by the way, from hell. And this is the foundation of
the pagan gangs that were introduced into the world. Alexander the
Great was, even though he lived a short life, his legacy lived
on, he was tutored by Plato's greatest pupil, Aristotle. And all you've got to do is go
back and begin studying a little bit of that, and you'll find
out that when we look at this, the organized, competitive, Spectator
sports was born out of paganism. It did not come from the Hebrew
people. As a matter of fact, there is
a revival in America of Roman and Greek thought. As a matter
of fact, years ago Americans did play sports, but it was a
lot different than it is today. As a matter of fact, you can
go around America and the Capitol buildings throughout each state,
and all you've got to do is look at the naked statues of the gods
and goddesses that are all around our country, showing us that
we were influenced by the Greeks and the Romans. When they removed
the Ten Commandments out of a building in Montgomery just three years
ago this month, I believe, it's been about three years ago, they
at the same time, with taxpayers' money, protected a statue in
front of a federal building which was a Greek god. Now I want you
to notice with me, please. that as we come to 2 Timothy,
and I'm going to be reading from verse 1, notice here very carefully. He says here in 2 Timothy chapter
3 and verse 1, he said, This know also that in the last days
perilous times shall come. For men, now notice the wording,
shall be lovers of themselves. Covetous. boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful and unholy, without natural affections,
truth-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers
of those that are good. Notice he said in verse 4, traitors,
heady, high-minded, and here it is, the lovers of pleasure
more than the lovers of God. And this fits in the society
in which you and I live. We're talking about the origin
of sports. Turn with me please to 1 Corinthians
chapter 9. Now, before we get into very
many scriptures, let me bring a few more quotes from an article.
These are quotes from about three different sources. But I want you to listen to this.
This was taken from an article, probably in 1996-97, in dealing
with the Olympics, talking about the Olympics being revived in
the last hundred years. We say the last hundred years,
for about 1500 years, Christian thought pervaded and dominated. The Olympic Games were done away
with in about the 3rd or 4th century AD because of Christianity. But he says in Atlanta, and many
of you will remember this, the opening ceremonies in Atlanta,
Georgia, on July 19, 1996, was totally pagan, idolatrous and
New Age. The estimated 15 million production
is titled, The Call of the Nations, was watched by 3.5 billion people
around the world. Now I want you to listen to the
origin of the Olympics. Here is a quote from this Christian
magazine. It says, the origin of athletic
games lies in the ancient world, where they were treated as a
ritual festival. Now I want you, as I read this,
make the connection between organized competitive sports and between
paganism. Make that connection. He goes
on to say, He said especially these were true in Greek. They
were treated as ritual festival. He said modern historians have
the games beginning in 776 B.C. or earlier. They lasted well
over 1,000 years until A.D. 394. Olympia, the town where
the Olympic games were held, was devoted to the worship of
Zeus. who was the sky and weather god of the ancient Greeks. The
temple of Zeus at Olympia was one of the seven wonders of the
world. It says here, it contained a
gold and ivory statue of the god that was more than 40 feet
high. In the beginning, the Ganes were
few. and were held in less than a day. However, by the 6th century
B.C., there were 13 events and the contest lasted several days.
The first day was devoted to worship and preparation. On the
second day, the contest began. It says, Day 3 of the Olympics
began with religious rites. A parade of judges and priests
and athletes and trainers marched to the sacred altar of Zeus.
Of their 100 auctions were sacrificed to the god. Thus the Olympic
Games were pagan festivals for believers in the polyistic Greek
pantheon. By the 5th century B.C., Olympia
was the holiest place of ancient Greece because so much religious
ritual was tied to the games where an athlete, when an athlete
rather, won an event, he was supposed to give public thanks
to the deities. The stadium there held about
45,000 people. There were other games such as
in Corinth, Athens, Sparta, but we found that the Olympic games
were celebrated the most. Now, I want you to turn to 1
Corinthians chapter 9. And as we get into this, we're
talking about the origin of this. We're not talking about exercising. We're not talking about friendly
games and, you know, with family and friends and things like that.
We're not talking about that. But we're talking about what
we see in America and what is around the world. I was in Honduras
a year ago, and they reminded me of this story a few weeks
back when we were there, is that over a soccer game, I believe
it was Guatemala or one of the other neighboring countries,
actually bombed one of the cities because one of them had lost
a soccer game. Now, notice with me as we come
here. Now, I want to show you some athletic imagery that is
used in the Bible, especially by the Apostle Paul. Now, I listened
to a few sermons of preachers on this subject, and I finally
just threw them away because I think they're totally off base
on this. But I want you to see why Paul
uses this athletic imagery. He does not use it to promote
the Greek or Roman athletics. You've got to understand that
the Greek and Roman athletics was associated with idolatry,
was associated with nudity, was associated with brutality in
the gladiator games and so forth, and it was associated with pride
and vainglory. So Paul uses this imagery not
to promote sports among Christian people, but he uses the imagery
to show the people. The people were very familiar
with this. When he writes the letter to
Corinth, We're talking about in the area of Greece. We're
talking about there were games held in this city as well as
Sparta and Athens and Olympia. And Paul writes and uses an object
lesson to communicate truth unto them that they would be familiar
with. He also uses the imagery of soldiers. But Paul didn't justify the things
that the Romans and the Greek soldiers did, but he uses the
imagery. Now, notice this as we come to
1 Corinthians 9, verse 24. He says, "...know ye not that
they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize,
so run that ye may attain." He said, "...and every man that
striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things." In other words,
the athletes. that played in these games, even
the pagans. They disciplined themselves.
They submitted themselves. They worked hard. They were temperate. They were enduring. There was an issue of teamwork
and staying focused upon the goal. And Paul is not justifying
the games, but he's using something everyone was familiar with, and
he's saying that as that athlete trains and performs in the games,
he says that we as Christians ought to be just as dedicated.
He says in verse 25, And every man that striveth for the Master's
temperament in all things, now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainty,
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air, But I keep under my
body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when
I preach to others, I myself should be attached away." So
Paul is using the athletic imagery of running a race. Turn with
me, please, to 2 Timothy, chapter 2. These imageries are used in
the book of Hebrews in chapter 12 and other places. Turn with
me to 2 Timothy, chapter 2, and notice here. You see, Corinth
was a city that linked Sparta and Greece. And in the first
century, there was different games conducted throughout Greece
in which the Corinthians would have been very familiar with. Notice what means 2 Timothy in
chapter 2. Now, we've got to get through this origin of this,
and we're going to get into some other thoughts. I'm going to
talk to you about the danger of sports, and then, last of
all, the Christian's response to this issue. In 2 Timothy,
and I'm going to be reading in chapter 2, and I'm going to begin
in verse 1. He said, Thou therefore, my son,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things
that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, saying, Commit
thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.
Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
Now he's going to use the image of soldiers. Then he's going
to use the imagery in these verses also of a farmer in verse 6. But in verse 5 he says this,
he uses the imagery of athletics. He said in verse 5, "...and if
a man also strives for mastery, yet is he not crowned unless
he strives lawfully." Those athletes, they trained and they trained
and they had to do it properly and lawfully and so forth. And
all Paul is saying is that if they can dedicate themselves
and discipline themselves and work hard at this, why can't
you and I as Christians do the same thing? 2 Timothy chapter
4, his last letter, the last chapter, he says this in verse
7 and 8. He says in verse 7, he said,
I have fought a good fight. Talking about soldiers. I have
finished my course," talking about athletics, and I have kept
the faith. And then he says, there is a
crown laid up for me in verse 8. So again, we see the imagery
there, or the metaphor is used. Now turn with me, please, to
1 Timothy, and this time in chapter 4. Notice with me in 1 Timothy
chapter 4. So there's at least three figures
of speeches that were used there and which we just looked at.
Now, we're not talking about creating with men a bunch of
weenies, amen? You know, a man needs to be a
man and not hang around the kitchen all the time, amen? But what
we're talking about is, again, is this organized, competitive,
spectator sports. I'm going to say that eight or
ten times throughout this sermon, because I'm telling you, folks,
it is ungodly, and I'm going to talk about that in just a
moment. It is a waste of time, and it
will get you caught up in thinking things that you shouldn't be
thinking. Now, notice with me in 1 Timothy 4. Now, let me give
you a little testimony as we come to this chapter also. And
by the way, Four hours of being a couch potato on Saturday will
not take any weight off of you or make your heart pump at all.
It will not help you physically or mentally. You can watch another
man run up and down the field while you're eating potato chips
and drinking root beer or whatever. You can watch that all day long.
It won't help you a bit. As a matter of fact, it will
hurt you. Now, let me tell you just a little bit about exercise.
Now, there's a verse here that many believe that is talking
about physical athletic exercise. We're going to read it. There's
some different commentators differ on this, but we're going to take
it in that text this morning because it's used by most, where
it talks about the fact that bodily exercise profiteth little. Now, if that is talking about
athletics, you know, to exercise, we know that that to be true,
do we not? It is good to exercise. If you
do not exercise, you are going to be sickly. As a matter of
fact, many years ago, I'm going to give you my little brief testimony
here, and we're going to read, by the way, verse 7 and 8, then
back up into verse 1. But several years ago, I began
exercising, always been pretty active most of my life. I'm going
on 54 years of age. And I find that exercising is
very, and I don't like to just, you know, some people, the way
to go to the gym and stuff, never care for that kind of stuff,
like to be outside. But I've found out that physical
exercise is refreshing, it is renewing, it is energizing, and
it is cleansing. And I don't say that in a religious
sense. It is very good for you. As a
matter of fact, when I was in the Navy at 18 years of age,
I had arthritis in my feet and in my knees and had problems. Probably had it in other places,
but that was where it showed up the most. At 18 years of age,
I was in a hospital having a needle that looked like it was three
feet long. It wasn't quite that long, draining my foot because
it was swollen to the place that I couldn't walk on it. And then
when I got married at 21 years of age, I was back in the hospital
again with a needle stuck in my foot during that time, draining
fluid off of it again. And so over the years, when I
was in construction work for eight years, I had my left foot
that stayed swollen for eight straight years, and my right
knee stayed swollen for eight years. So what I did, in order,
believing that it would help it, I exercised as much as I
could. I was a brick mason working 8,
10, 12 hours a day, coming home, running 4 miles, not 4 hours,
but 4 miles a day, riding bicycles. I've had a bicycle all of my
life. And then later, when I moved
to Selma, Alabama, and through changing vocations, I'm now pastoring,
waking up on Monday morning feeling horrible, I began every Monday
night meeting with a few other guys and began playing basketball. Not because I like the sport.
I think it stinks to have to watch it on television or whatever. But I thought this would be one
way for me to get some exercise. So every Monday night I went
for about two hours and played basketball, and it helped me
mentally and it helped me physically, if you can understand that. It
was a great blessing to me. It's therapeutic and it helped
me emotionally, mentally, and physically. And I have been doing
that for all of these years. I have not in the last year had
somebody regularly to get out and pound the court with. I've only been out about four
or five times this year, but I feel the best and the greatest
when I can exercise at least once or twice a week, that's
when I'm at my best. The wheat-eating and mowing just
doesn't get it. Even though I do that every week,
it doesn't get it. I've got to have that exercise,
and that's when I will feel the greatest. In the last 24 years,
my foot has not been swollen, neither has my knee been swollen,
and you can ask these young men in the church, I can get out
and run two hours with them, can I not? Now, I am not against
physical exercise or getting out and playing games with one
another if it's kept in a perspective with a good attitude and doing
it for the right reasons. Now, what I am against, as I've
said, help me out, I can't get all these words together, organized,
competitive, spectator sports that we have in America. I've
considered this for years. I've been caught up in it myself,
and it's been several years that I backed away from this and was
able to look at it. I didn't just quit this yesterday,
but I'm talking about some years ago. Now, I want you to notice
with me that he said in verse 7, He said, but refuse profane
and old wise fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness,
for bodily exercise profiteth little. That means it will profit
for a little while. It is temporary. That is true,
is it not? But he goes on to say, but godliness is profitable
under all things, having promise of the life that now is and of
that which is to come. So we find then that if he's
talking about athletic, physical exercise, some believe he's not
because of the context. He's dealing in verses 1, 2,
and 3, the context is a warning against apostasy. So some believe
that he's talking about something different in the religious matter
in verse 7 and 8, but we're this morning are going to just let
it stand as bodily exercise. Now, he says in verse 8 again,
for bodily exercise profiteth little. There is temporal profit
in bodily exercise. There is a little worth in bodily
exercise. It will make you feel better,
make you stronger, so there is some profit in that. I want you
to turn with me, please, to 1 John and in chapter 2. In 1 John chapter
2, we're going to move to the second area and we're going to
talk about the danger of sports. There's no doubt. in my mind
that its origin is out of hell. Now, you can disagree with that,
but that's the conclusion that I have come to after being saved
for thirty-something years. Now, notice with me in 1 John
chapter 2. What about the danger of these
sports that we're talking about? An excessive love of pleasure,
amusement, was the downfall of the empire of Babylon, and Persia,
and Greece, and Rome, and eventually it will be the downfall of America. We have become obsessed with
pleasure, and sports has become a god in this country. Sports were used by many nations
to get the people's mind off of the reality of what was going
on in the nation. And it also was used by many
leaders to get people to forget about God and to get them caught
up in their rivals and in their sports. And I want you to understand
this, that colleges across our land are identified mainly by
their sports program today. What do you think of when you
think about Notre Dame? You think about the sports program.
Years ago in Alabama, what do you think about when you think
about Alabama? The Bears. In other words, they
become identified with the sports program. I want you to understand
something. In the philosophy of the high
schools that are state-funded and the colleges that are state-funded,
the philosophy of these institutions are against everything I believe
and everything I preach. Why would I want to buy their
tickets? Why would I want to support them? Why would I want to memorize
the names of the men on the team? Why would I want to know the
stats of all these men? Why would I want to give them
one word of conversation and approval? No way, because they
teach humanism, they teach immorality, they hate God and everything
else, and most of them are fag infested. And so I am not supporting
any college or any high school or any protein in this country. You're not going to hear coming
from the lips of this preacher how great and wonderful they
are, because they're destroying families that I'm trying to preach
to. Now, notice with me carefully as we come to 1 John. I'm going
to be reading two or three verses from this chapter. But let me
give you a few other verses before I read. One verse is 1 Corinthians
10.14. The Bible says, flee from idolatry. James 4.4 says you cannot be
a friend of the world and at the same time a friend of God. Romans 12.2 says be not conformed
to this world, but be ye transformed. by the renewing of your mind.
Colossians 2 says, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy
and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ. And when Paul arrived in Athens
according to Acts 17 and verse 16, he was just amazed because
when he looked around, he said that the whole city was given
to idolatry. He said they were wholly given
to idolatry. We're talking about paganism. We're talking about the roots
and the danger of this subject that we call sports in America. I'm going to read another quote.
This was taken from a book titled, A Generation Which Knew Not God. Listen to me carefully. In this
quote is a quote from another man that wrote a book titled,
Safely Home. Listen to this. He said, The
word gymnasium actually comes from a Greek word meaning to
exercise naked. And you can check the Strong's
Accordance, by the way, 1128, 1129 and 1131. You know there's a lot of nudity
and nakedness and body form in the issue of sports. He goes
on to say the word athlete comes from the Greek goddess Athena.
She was known as the goddess of wisdom, skill and warfare. The Greeks' love for sports was
a natural outflow of their love for the gods. You know that as
we become more pagan, the more we love sports. He goes on to
say, in the peak of the political might, the Greeks saw humanity
as something to be indulged in as far as their development of
human reason and the human body. He said, a true discovering of
the individual. He says, humanistic, to say the
least, the gymnasium of Athens was the center of advanced learning,
intellectual as well as athletic ability were the measure of a
man. Again, this is a quote from another author. Folks, the roots
are in paganism! And the more pagan we become,
for instance, it's like the subject several years ago, it's been
13 or 14 years ago, I stood in this pulpit and preached the
message against cremation. And then I wrote an article.
That article has been sent all over the country and even outside
the country. I know of over 75 people that
have changed their mind about cremating their dead because
of that one little article that we wrote. But how come cremation
is an issue in America? It's not just because it's cheaper.
It's because of the pagan invasion into America. The same is true
with this issue. Why is it that sports has become
a god, and it's worship, and we love it more and more every
year? It gets bigger and better, supposedly. It's because of the
pagan invasion into the United States of America. 1 John 2,
please notice here, and I'm going to be reading from verse 15.
He said in verse 15, he said, Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but it is of the world. And the
world passes away in the lust there, but he that abideth He
that rather doeth the will of God abideth forever. Turn with
me, please, to Ezekiel chapter 16. We see the issue of the world
and the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the
pride of life in Ezekiel chapter 16. Now, what comes to your mind
when you think of the city Sodom? First of all, am I correct? Homosexuality. Isn't that the first thing that
comes to your mind? That's not the first thing that happened
to Sodom. Let me show you. By the way, the Greeks worshipped
the body. They even exercised and played
naked. Much homosexuality in the Olympics
and all these kind of things, and we see it also in the sports
in America today. Turn with me to Ezekiel chapter
16, and let me show you the real problem or the root problem of
Sodom before they ever came to the place of what we would call
homosexuality. Jeremiah 10 too tells us to learn
not the way of the heathen. Another quote from a book that
was named or titled Safely Home says this. It says, academics
and athletics competitions were the cornerstone of the Greek
vision for training supermen. The worship of the body and the
exaltation of human reason were indispensable components of the
Greek philosophy. Their countless festivals and
competitions were driven by an intense religious passion for
their pagan faith and optimism in the perfect ability of man.
It was in the context of religious worship and its relationship
to athletics and culture that the gymnasium was birthed. He
goes on to say, another purpose of the Greek gymnasium was to
create an entire nation of soldiers, think about this, who could serve
the state and further its interests. Thus, the ancient Olympic dream
had as much to do with preparing warriors for the state as it
did with athletics. He said, the doctrine of the
military state has long been with man. It was a critical part
of the ancient world. How true that this is. The whole
concept of worshipping the gods, training these athletes to be
soldiers that they might fight for the state and for the country.
Think about it. Notice what I mean in Ezekiel
chapter 16. Ezekiel chapter 16, notice this. By the way, there are some sports
that are just absolutely stupid. Basketball, who can stand to
watch it, man? I'd love to play it. But who
can stand to watch it? If I was going to watch anything,
it would be football. But the thing about it is, what
about racing? Get in the car, drive 500 miles and get out the
same place you got in. I don't understand it. Golf. Golf is about the stupidest sport
that I have ever... I mean, good name. I've been
offered memberships all over where I've ever pastored and
I've had people offer to play. I've never played the first game.
I said, it's stupid to go out there and hit a ball and then
get in a cart and ride around the cart. There's no exercise
in that. As a matter of fact, there's more die playing golf
than any other sport because of lightning. You see, God created
that sport to kill preachers on Monday, amen? Now notice carefully
as we come to this, in Ezekiel chapter 16. Notice this in Ezekiel
chapter 16, reading in verse 49. He said, Behold, this, now
look at this, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. Now here
we, he don't begin with homosexuality, which is down in verse 50. Abomination. He begins with pride. Then he
goes to fullness of bread. Everybody's got two months to
eat. Then he says abundance of vitalness. Who's got the time
and money to follow their team all over the Southwest and East
and everywhere else? I mean, who can afford all of
that? And then he says also, neither did she strengthen the
hand of the poor and needy. And verse 50, they were haughty
and committed abomination before me. Therefore, I took them away
as I saw good. So we find that the beginning
of Sodom was not what we call homosexuality. It was pride,
and it was fullness of bread, and too much idleness, and it
was not helping the poor and the needy, and it was haughtiness.
And all of that led to homosexuality. Turn with me, please, to Proverbs
chapter 16. In Proverbs chapter 16, we're
talking about the danger. of these sports events that we're
speaking of. What are the dangers? Well, notice
here as we come to Proverbs. Let me list just a few things
quickly. What about promoting pride? And you say, well, I've
never promoted any pride in my life. Have you ever argued over
or debated with somebody about your team and them winning or
losing? Have you ever done that? Men,
all nature is aroused more in sports than anything else that
I can think of. There is more anger and more
temper and more pride and more display of the flesh than anything
else that I can possibly think of. And the Bible says that women
are to cultivate a meek and quiet spirit. What are they doing in
sports? What are they even doing watching it? Because there's
no way that they can cultivate a meek and a quiet spirit. I'm
saying that sports cultivate a competitive nature and a macho
attitude in the majority of people that follow it. Can I get an
amen? Telling you the truth. What about
rivals? What about rivals? It creates
enemies and contentions among even friends. I've listened again. I gave you the story of the two
that were arguing in the church. I've heard it in this church
before. Even team ball. Go and watch the mamas cuss each
other and cut each other with knives. You know, go watch that. As a matter of fact, I started
a church league when I first came to this area. Baseball,
I hate baseball. That's a stupid game too. And
it takes too long to play it. I hate it. But anyway, I started
a league and we had ten teams in it. You know, down here in
the bayou, I had the mayor to give me one of the parks. We
cleaned it up and I hung Scripture signs around it, replaced the
lights, opened a concession stand. That thing was a train wreck.
Did I enjoy some of it? Yes. But I'm telling you what,
I ain't never seen the arguing, not in our church, but in other
churches, the lying and the cheating, the arguing. I said, no way,
this is among supposedly Christian people. What about idolatry? Do we not worship and idolize
the athletes? They become our heroes. The martyrs
are no longer heroes. The twelve apostles, the preacher,
the father, the mama are no longer heroes. But we find that we hang
the pictures on the walls and whatever, and then we find the
addiction. You say, well, I'm not addicted.
You know, I've seen old drunks, you know, the boy, I'm not addicted,
I can quit anytime I want to. Well, you're addicted when you
think about it and you talk about it. You're addicted to this.
What about covetousness, buying the tickets and paying? I have
never, by the way, been to a college game and I've been offered tickets.
I had a man eight years ago say, I'll pay your way, I'll pay your
night in a motel if you want to spend the night, and I'll
fly you there in my plane to go see an ogre game. I said,
no. I was going to go see one. It wouldn't be an Auburn game,
but anyway. But I said, no, I'm not interested. I'm not interested.
I've never had a desire to go to one. Again, the philosophy
behind this whole thing. What about the nudity that is
involved in these games? The cheerleaders alone are half
or three-quarters naked. I've seen men say, well, I just
like the game. And the wife really believes
that. Their wife, right? You know, what about the cheerleaders? And what about most of the sports?
If it's tennis, they're half-dressed. If it's swimming, they have no
clothes on. If it's soccer, they don't have
many clothes on. If it's basketball, there's not
a clothes on. If it's football, they have clothes
on with every form of their body, you know, especially the bottom
part can be seen. You see, the nudity that's involved.
It is the Hollywood and the athletes that are setting the dress. Many
go out and buy shoes because Michael Jordan's name is written
on them, and pay $70, $80, $100 for a pair of shoes. I'm saying
to you that one sign of paganism is nudity. Athletics, rather,
is the primary way of introducing nudity into a culture. That is
expressing the form and the movement of the body. This stuff is out
of hell. What about the drinking and the
drugs, the tailgate parties and on and on? You say, well, I watch
it on television. What about the commercials and
the sponsors? I mean, come on, really think about this. I'm
not criticizing you if you watched one yesterday. That's your business.
What I'm trying to say to you is that this stuff is leading
us away from God and it's pagan. What about the time that is spent? What about the music? the bands
of the teens and also the commercials. Can you imagine somebody, a Christian
loving God, following the Dallas Cowboys some years ago? I guess
they still have the naked women that dance for them while they
play, do they not? Can you imagine somebody sitting down with their
family watching this stuff? He says in the book of Proverbs
in chapter 16, notice this very carefully. He says in verse 18,
he said, "...pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit
before a fall. Better it is to be of a humble
spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the prime. Does not organize competitive
spectator sports without any doubt produce pride in the hearts
of men and women." Turn with me please to Philippians chapter
2. We'll get on to our third point.
In Philippians chapter 2, and by the way, you are blessed this
morning. I already wrote an article. We
just got to get it off the computer. You will have that in your hands
in the weeks to come. I finished it yesterday. I usually
preach then write an article, but I wrote this one first. Notice
with me in Philippians. I started to do this last year.
the beginning of football season. I did not. I was going to do
it the year before. I did not do it, but I committed
this time and this year to do it and get it finished and preach
on it so we can have it on tape or CD. Notice what we mean in
Philippians chapter 2. Now, what is the Christian's
response to the issue of sports? Have you ever asked the question
about does it display the fruit of the spirit in our life, love,
peace, joy, missing gentleness and temperance and so forth.
Can you find that in most of the sports across our country
today? As a matter of fact, what about boxing? You know, that
is a sport that people love in our country. What is the whole
point? Try to do the other guy in. There's not a Christian spirit
in that. Matthew 7.12, there is not a
Christian attitude or spirit in this. Line up on a football
line and I'm going to kill him if I can. I'm going to put him
down. I'm going to break his leg. He won't be in the game
anymore. That's not Christian. That's not Christian. And we
don't even have to deal with wrestling. If you watch that
on TV, you need to get saved this morning. That's fakey stuff,
man. You need to get saved. You know,
but just go through the list of them. Go through the list
of them and consider. Christians want to justify this.
They say, well, they teach discipline. That's not what I've seen. Man,
I've seen cursing and nudity and attitudes and pride and all
this stuff. And I'm going to tell you what,
if you get out in the backyard, you can't get out in the backyard
and play with that organ. You need to quit that too. Everybody's trying to imitate
the prose. Had a man broke a goal out here
a year ago, and a fellow down the street, because he's trying
to imitate Michael Jordan or somebody, and he jumped up on
it, hangs on it like a monkey. Why does anybody want to do that?
Because they saw somebody else do it on television. Christlikeness. That's what we're
after, is it not? The spirit of these sporting
events is contrary to the spirit of Jesus Christ. Matthew 7.12.
Write it down. Romans 12.10 says, "...in honor
preferring one another." Romans 12.16 says, "...mine not high
things, but consonant to men of low estate." In other words,
who gets to play on the team? Is it the lowly man or the great
athlete? James 4, 6 says, God resists
the proud and giveth grace unto the humble. Eric Little, in Scotland,
many years ago, there's a movie inspired, Chariots of Fire, by
him, and he refused in the Olympics to play on Sunday. Now, that's
another issue. deal with, when are many of these
sports played? They're played on the Sabbath.
Are they not? God said in the book of Exodus,
He said, Keep it holy. Hallow it. He said, Delight in
it. Don't do your own thing on My
day. But this man that ran in the
Olympics, he made this statement when he refused to run on Sunday. He says, My faith in Jesus is
far more important than sports. And another man that went to
China, India and Africa as a missionary, that he lived in England and
played a sport similar to our baseball, he left all of that,
and he said this, he said, If Jesus be God and died for me,
then no sacrifice that I can make for Him would be too great.
Some questions. Does it glorify God or man? Questions. Does it promote my
fellow man? Does it lift him up? Does it
promote him? Does it encourage spiritual maturity? Does it manifest the fruit of
the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5, verse 22 and 23? Does it cause
harmony in the kingdom of God? These are some good questions.
The Bible said abstain from all appearances of evil in 1 Thessalonians
5, verse 22. I see liquor, nudity, cursing,
pridefulness, vainglory. The Bible said evil communications
corrupt good manners. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33. That's
the reason you can't go to the ballparks and stuff, you know,
because that's what you see. Nudity and drinking and cursing. Notice what it means when we
read this. Now, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in Philippians
2, and I'm just going to read this slowly, but please look
at the words. Please make note of the word
lowliness and humility and servant and no reputation. Please make
note of them. This is Jesus Christ, verse 3.
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. But notice, in
lowliness of mind, Let each esteem other better than themselves.
Look not every man on his own things, but every man on the
things of others. Let this mind be in you which
is also in Christ Jesus. who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made of himself
no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross." Is Christ Jesus my example, or is it some
athletic hero that is my example? Which is it? I want you to turn
with me in closing to 1 Peter chapter 2. And we'll close in
this passage. You and I ought to be salt and
light. I'm not going to follow the world and the system. That
which is highly esteemed among men is a what? Abomination in
the sight of God. Again, look at this one section
in this newspaper I put up here laying on the platform. This
is one day. One day, five full-page ads dealing
with sports, college, high school, and pro. And this is every day,
seven days a week. Seven days a week that this is
dealt with. Again, we won't run from one
to the other. one season to the next, into
one sport into the other. And again, we are not dealing
with this morning with wholesome gains whereby a family or a church
or friends can get out and enjoy each other's company as long
as it's done with a good attitude and maintaining a good spirit.
We're not dealing with that. We're dealing with this organized,
competitive, spectator, covetous-oriented sports in our country. That's
what we're dealing with this morning. It is not of God. It
does not cultivate a humble spirit in the lives of those that follow
it. The Bible said in Ephesians 5
verse 17 that we're to redeem the time. And we cannot redeem
the time following the paganistic system of this world, getting
our minds away from God Almighty. It's just not good. I'm going
to close in 1 Peter 2, and I want you to notice here, I'm going
to begin reading in verse 2. And I want you to notice that
we are of peculiar people. 1 Peter 2, I'm sorry, verse 9.
We are of peculiar people. Did not God put a difference
between Israel and the Egyptians? Did He not? He made a difference
between them. They were different in every
way. Again, we're to be sold in life. We're not to be like
the world. We're not to follow the world's system. By the way,
we're talking about the Lord's Day. Athletes, probably more
than anyone else, violate the fourth commandment. Probably
more than anyone else. And in their violation of the
fourth commandment, they're leading others away from God and violating
the same commandment and forsaking the house of God Almighty. See, this is not of God. There
is no way God can be in something when it's held on His day. There is absolutely no way. He says in 1 Peter 2, reading
in verse 9, he said, but you're a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood. Notice a holy nation, a peculiar
people. That word peculiar there means
that you've been purchased by God, according to Deuteronomy
7, 6 and Exodus 19, verses 1 through 5. He said here that you should
show forth the praises of Him who had called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light, which in time past were not of people,
but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts, which war
against the soul, having your conversation honest among the
Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evil, They may
by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in
the day of visitation." I believe with you this morning that this
issue must be reconsidered. It must be prayed about. It must be meditated upon. And I'll tell you what, it can
form an addiction because I got to liking it at one time as much
as anybody. And if I did miss a game, I wanted
to see what the scores were the next day in the paper. It is
and can become an addiction. And it is a waste of time. I'm not against rest. I'm not
against amusement or exercise. You know that. But what is our
God? As we began, you cannot serve
two masters. These are things we must pray
about as our song leader comes, would you stand with me? And
I want to once again, I challenge you to look at this February
the sixth, 2005, after Super Bowl Sunday, a huge trophy. with thousands of people, a cartoonist
called American Idol. And a father and his son there
with a big smile on his face and his arm around his son, and
he said, It's why God made Sundays, son. It's why God made Sundays. Our country has become like Greece,
has become like Rome, has become like many of the other nations
that have fallen by the wayside. Spectators wanting to be amused.
And the circuses. The circuses in the days of Rome
were more than just what we think of circuses. They had to do with
such things as chariot races and things of that nature. Then
the theaters became big. The amphitheaters where sporting
events took place. the gymnasiums, the athletic
games, they became the God of their time. And I've seen people that's come
through this church, they don't stay here very long, but they
struggle with these issues. And they haven't been here on
a Sunday night or a Wednesday night service, but they sure
saw Their team played yesterday for four hours. That stuff is
out of hell. You cannot serve two masters. You'll either hate the one or
love the other. It cannot be. What song do we have, Brother
Bill? 116. I've been preaching to Christians,
by the way, this morning. I've been speaking to you and
I as believers. If you're here lost, we'll be
happy. to show you how to be saved,
but I, like last Sunday, I wasn't speaking to the lost. I'm speaking
to the church of Jesus Christ. This, in my book, is serious
business. Would you come?
Sports
Series Sports Series
| Sermon ID | 32208218383 |
| Duration | 1:08:26 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Luke 16:15 |
| Language | English |
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