[Steve Myers] Ready, aim, fire. Does that describe your spiritual focus? Or maybe it's more like ready, fire, aim. Yeah, it seems like sometimes we expend a lot of energy and it's kind of random and we get out of sorts and we have kind of chaotic goals that sometimes aren't very clear and maybe we just get plain distracted and we get things a little out of order. And sometimes trying to live a life that is dedicated to obeying God, it is a challenge in this crazy world that we live in that is just entirely immersed in wickedness. And yet we've been called to a different kind of perspective to get that order right. It reminds me of what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:26. Now here's the Apostle Paul writing to God's people in Corinth. And they were certainly like us in many ways, totally immersed in a society of wickedness, surrounded completely. It was an amazing situation, how many challenges their culture brought in trying to combat spiritual focus and yet they had to keep it right in the right aim.

1 Corinthians 9:26 Paul says, “Here should be the focus.” He says, “Therefore I run thus not with uncertainty, thus I fight not as one who beats the air.”

Now some of the other translations say it a little bit differently. One says, “I do not run aimlessly.” Another says, “I don't run without a clear goal in sight,” or another, “I run straight toward the goal with purpose in every step.” And I think that speaks to the fact that we have to be on target. We get off sometimes, but we are to be precisely directed in God's way. We need to be true, we need to be accurate, we have to have purpose, we have to have objectives, and we have to stay focused on those objectives.

Or we end up ready, fire, aim. So, how can we take aim at the right spiritual target? How is that possible? Can we be on target? Well, this afternoon I'd like us all to think about that a little bit. And maybe there's one way we can begin to really deeply understand how we can hit the spiritual bullseye. And I think it can begin by truly understanding the nature of sin. Do we really have a handle on sin itself and the challenges that we face? The apostle Paul in Romans was speaking to God's Church and here were the people in Rome. You could say they were right at the heart of the beast. They were at the capital of the Roman Empire. And in chapter six, verse 12, he just lays it on the line, take a look at what our focus needs to be. And he uses interesting words to describe this. So, if you turn with me over to Romans 6, he kind of summarizes this concept of being sure we've got the right goals, being sure we're not distracted, being sure we're on target.

Romans 6:12-14 Paul says, “Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lust. Don't present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God for sin shall not have dominion over you.”

Now, we read this section of scripture, and of course we're not going to argue with this, of course, we're not supposed to let sin overwhelm us. But it's interesting when we look at the words that are being used here. Paul uses the most common word throughout the New Testament for the word sin. And this is the Greek Word hamartia. Hamartia, sin. Don't let Hamartia reign. Don't let sin have dominion over you. Now, do you know how many times this word is used throughout the New Testament? Okay, it's more than once or twice, as we see here. Being the most common word used, you'll find it 173 times. And that's just in the form of a noun. If we add in the verbs and we add in the adjectives, over 260 times you'll find this base word for sin. So, you think that might lead us to think it's probably a pretty important concept that we really need to get a handle on? And in fact, it's not just a New Testament thing, it's an Old Testament thing as well. The same word if you were to read it in the Septuagint version, in the Greek version of the Old Testament, you'll find it's the same word most commonly used to point to sin.

You'll find it in Judges 20:16 not even referring to sin, but you begin to get an idea of what this word points to. In Judges 20, it talks about the Benjaminites. The Benjaminites were famous for being good soldiers. They were mighty men of God. And a lot of them were left-handed. It was one of those genetic traits that they had. You know what they would use those left hands for? They would sling stones with them. And Judges 20:16 tells us they could sling a stone at a hair's breadth and not miss. In other words, they were on target. They didn't get off their aim, they weren't aimless. In fact, coming from classical Greek, that really does speak to the essence of this word that we are to be on target. We don't want to miss the mark, we don't want to miss the target. So, hamartia means missing the target, being off the bullseye. And so when you think of it, how it's used throughout the Bible, this is a very significant spiritual concept and it makes you think how important is it to stay on target.

I was reminded a while back about an individual who competed in the Olympics. In fact, do you know what sport more than any other they say requires the most mental precision to accomplish? It's riflery. I didn't know that. It's like, why would that be? Don't you just ready, aim, fire, you're done. Right? Well, there's more to it than that. Those that participate in the Olympics are trained to a...In fact, the difference between gold and being out of the competition could be just a millimeter or two, a millimeter. In fact, they're trained so precisely that they learn to shoot and squeeze that trigger between heartbeats because if you squeeze when your heart beats, it just might change your aim just that little bit to put you out of the gold. So, riflery, an amazing Olympic event.

Now, a few years ago, the best marksman of all was from the United States. His name was Matthew Emmons. He had already won a gold in one of the competitions in riflery. And he moved to the prone position event. He was leading the pack, way ahead, down to his last shot. All he had to do was hit the target, didn't have to hit the bullseye, just had to nick the target. He was so far ahead, he was going to win gold. It was undoubted, undoubted. So, he took aim, waited for that heartbeat, squeezed that trigger and, phew, fire right in the dead center the bullseye. No score came up. It's like, “Whoa, what's going on? Got the gold right?” Still no score. When the score came up, it was zero.

How could that be? Well, mark was in lane two and the bullseye he hit was in lane three. You need to aim at the right target. And so not even close to getting a gold or any kind of a medal because of that. And so how important is it to ready, aim, and fire? Are we really aiming at the right spiritual target? I think when we deeply understand sin, then we're more likely to hit the spiritual bullseye. And that becomes so critical. We know there's a definition that we're given. In fact, quite a few definitions for hamartia. One of them, maybe you put it to memory, it's over in 1 John 3:4.

1 John 3:4 “Whoever commits sin,” that's that most common word again, “also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.”

Hamartia. King James version, maybe that's the version you've got in your mind. “Sin is the transgression of the law.” When you miss the mark, you're off target. You're not obeying God. The target becomes God's law because we want to put on God's character. So, conforming to His law is obedience. And when we're off target, we've missed the mark and we have sinned. And so it becomes important to recognize, well, what is the purpose of the law? If someone asked you that question, how would you answer? The purpose for God's law is what? How would we answer that?

Well, if we look over at Romans 7:7, it begins to help us to define that very thing. What is the definition for God's law? What is its purpose? Well, we see it's going to help us to stay on target. But notice what it says here in Romans 7:7 here, the apostle Paul writing once again.

Romans 7:7 And he says, “I would not have known sin except through the law.”

In other words, God's law reveals sin. It shows us what sin is. You could say God's law is the standard for human behavior. It's a reflection of god's holy, righteous, perfect character. So, it's amazing when some say the law's done away, how do you define sin? What is sin? Well, you can't even tell me what sin is if you say the law's gone, if it's not, what is sin? I guess nothing's sin if there's no law. And so you run into a problem here. Paul says, “The law reveals what sin is.” And when we miss the mark, like that shooting competition, you're not going to get the prize not going to happen. You're going to fall short. And so, this word that we see so often used throughout the Bible, yes, it points to misconduct, shows you're doing wrong. It can point to specific kinds of sins as well. When it tells us all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, also here in the book of Romans, Romans 3:23, that's that same word, we're off target. We're not fulfilling our calling when that becomes the case.

And even when you look at the very beginning, sin entered the world by Adam, that sin, he was off target. He missed the mark, he fell short. He and Eve disobeyed God. They disregarded God's instruction. And so, it's important then to recognize sin for what it is. Do we really recognize it? When we ask that question, what's the purpose for God's law, helps us to begin to identify that, doesn't it? In fact, over just a couple of pages, if you look at chapter 3, Romans 3:20, here, Paul adds a little bit more to the facet of understanding this concept of being off target and missing the mark.

Romans 3:20 He says, “Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight.” Then notice what he says, “For by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

So, I can know what sin is by understanding the law of God. God's law gives us an understanding of what sin is. And of course, we realize doing the law doesn't save us. Now, we know that that is the free gift of God, God's mercy and love and the sacrifice of Christ is of course how we ultimately receive eternal life. But we are called to righteousness. We are called to live God's way. We're called to do His will. And so, it begins to show us there's a wider range of meaning to this word for sin than just being off target. Because of course, when you're, okay, I just missed the bullseye but got a pretty good score, so must not be that bad. You know, is this just a minor sin, just a small, it's not that critical. It's not that important. Is this kind of a, not really a big issue?

You see, I think if we think of just missing the target, it may seem like it's not that big an idea. But when we don't measure up to the standard, we don't make the grade, we don't win the prize, we don't pass the course, we fail the test. And so you can't go on and live righteously. And so God's called us to hit that target so that we aim by His power, by His authority. And ultimately it's such an awesome calling. And that's the objective that we're given. If you look over at 2 Corinthians 13, notice what Paul writes once again to Corith, God's people living in this corrupt society back in the first century, much the same that we are today. Notice the target that we're to be shooting toward, 2 Corinthians 13:11.

As Paul's kind of getting toward the end of the letter, he's kind of summarizing some different things and notice the emphasis that he gives us here. He says, finally, but he's still got a couple more chapters to go, that's the apostle Paul sometimes. But as he's kind of considering wrapping things up here.

2 Corinthians 13:11 He says, “Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete.” That's what the new King James says, “Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

So, he certainly tells us how it's possible to be on target, not by our own accomplishments, it's by doing things through the spirit of God. But he also says, become complete. Other translations, the old NIV says, “Aim for perfection. Aim for perfection.” That's the ultimate goal. It's not just to be a little bit better, but we're aiming for perfection.

And in the world we live in, that's pretty tough. That can be challenging because most people don't see it the same way. You know, when you think of the target in our world today, most of society, they could care less about the target. They don't even see it. Like oftentimes they just want to destroy the target because if there isn't anything to shoot at, well, who cares what direction we aim, who cares what my behavior is? Who cares if it just sails through the air and comes down somewhere? Doesn't matter. No big deal. Of course, people take it upon themselves then to choose their own target. There was a study that was recently done by the cultural research center that says that almost 3/4 of Americans believe that human beings have the right to decide right and wrong, not God. See, that's the perspective of our world today.

We choose, we get to choose what's right and wrong. And of course, today, less than half of Americans even believe in a God. And so what happens to the target? Yeah, it's irrelevant. Doesn't matter. We can ignore God's Word, we can ridicule it, we can minimize it, we can destroy the Bible. And of course, that's the challenge for us. We can't allow that kind of thinking to impact us. We can't be affected by it. And of course, even religion today, maybe they don't try to destroy the target. It's a little more deceitful way that they approach things. I'd say what they do, they make the target bigger. And what happens if you adjust the target and it expand it? Well, then you can't miss. You make the target nice and giant, you're going to hit the target every time. And so they'll say, “Well, your interpretation of the Bible, that's all wrong. You got a first-century view. You need to change the interpretation with the culture. Society demands that we have to change our definition of what marriage is. Society says we determine morality. Don't let that old approach impact you. You got to adjust the Bible. There's no need to repent. There's no need for any of these spiritual concepts because we get to decide how to worship or when to worship.”

And so they move the target or they make it bigger, or they destroy the target. And that's the world that we live in. And it can impact us if we're not careful. But Paul told Timothy, I think, something remarkable. If you look at 2 Timothy 2, notice the very beginning of that chapter. 2 Timothy 2:1 gives us that instruction. Of course, here's Paul writing to the young minister Timothy, showing how he needs to be a man of God, how to be a proper minister, how to serve God and serve His people. And notice what he says about hitting the target.

2 Timothy 2:1 He says, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that's in Jesus Christ.”

Okay, recognize the favor and the love that God pours out upon us. But that's not the end of the story. Now we have to walk in righteousness. And so he goes on explaining that.

2 Timothy 2:5 He says, “If anyone competes in athletics, he's not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”

Oh, that's, that's God's guidance. That's the law. In fact, other translations talk about you're not a legitimate contender unless it's by the rules. You have to compete lawfully, some translations say. Some say you have to strive lawfully. And that's certainly a reminder for us. We have to obey God's spiritual law. It defines sin and helps us to walk according to the character of God. I mean, face the facts, there's no participation trophies in the kingdom of God. Nope, everyone doesn't get a trophy. If we do not put on the image of Christ, we will not be in the kingdom. And so it becomes so important that it is a serious thing to be off target. It's not a minor little thing.

I was reminded of that fact when I heard the story about a little eight-year-old girl. Her name was Ariana Schnaiberg. And one beautiful afternoon, probably not too much unlike today, she was just playing in the backyard and then suddenly out of nowhere she was struck in the back by an arrow and it pierced her lung and it pierced her liver and it pierced her spleen and it pierced her stomach. How could that happen? What was going on? How could you explain where this came from? Well, later they found out that there was a neighbor who was shooting at a squirrel and missed, just was off target enough to have that arrow sail into their neighbor's yard and hit Ariana.

Now, she survived. Fortunately she survived, but she still bears the scars and she's still living with some of the pain that such a horrendous injury caused. And I think when you consider missing the target, maybe Ariana oughta come to mind because sin causes damage. It damages us. And when we miss the significance of what sin really does, we miss how important it is. When we're not on target, when we violate God's law, we are missing the holy, righteous perfection of what God has called us to. And when we realize we have genuinely fallen short, when you know your spiritual arrow is nowhere even close to the target, we can't fool ourselves into thinking, well, close is good enough.

If better is possible, good is not good enough. And when you get right down to it, we are target missers. We miss the mark. Yet at the same time, it's not a minor thing. It's not just a little off. When God describes our nature, paints a pretty ugly picture of what our true humanity is. And it's so much more than just missing the bullseye. Paul talks about it in Romans 3:10, our normal everyday human nature, who we really are without God. He lays it on the line here in Romans 3. Here he quotes some words from the Old Testament as well. We see the consistency of God's Word throughout scripture. Notice what he says. This is who we are without God. This is our nature.

Romans 3:10-18 He says, “There is none righteous. No, not one. There's none who understands. There's none who seeks after God. They've all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There's none who does good. No, not one. Their throat is an open tomb. Their tongues have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. And the way of peace, they have not known. There's no fear of God before their eyes.”

Now, we can try to put that off and say, well, that's not me. But when we don't submit to God's spirit, when we don't obey the law of God, that is who we are because are we truly carefully aiming at the target God has set before us? Or is it just turning my back and shooting wherever it goes anywhere else? And sometimes we aim at nothing and what do we hit? Nothing. Yeah, nothing that's worthwhile. Nothing that's lasting because it's about, it's about me, what I want. It's about what I think is most important. And yet those, those things that we're shooting at, they're temporary. They're not going to last. There's nothing in them. There's nothing that can satisfy, certainly can't save us. And yet, boy, we get distracted. Boy, we aim at the wrong. And yet we're not just target missers, we're self-centered. We're self-absorbed.

We're false target worshipers. And so when it comes to missing the target, we're not just veering off a little bit, we're not necessarily just missing the bullseye. Sometimes it's like we get in the car to drive to the shooting range and we purposely take a wrong turn and then we drive off a cliff. And that's what Paul's describing here. And so all too often we don't come close to the holiness of God and that's our calling. And so, that deep understanding of sin, yeah, it requires even more than just knowing the definition of a word. It's recognizing the fact that sin is framed over and over again in the Word of God. And it's more than just making a simple mistake or just being off target. You see, this reminds us sin is treason, spiritual treason before God. It is betrayal. It is rebellion against God and His holy, righteous, perfect law. That's how God describes it. And what do we deserve because of it? Death. We deserve death.

Roman 6:23 Says, “The wages of sin is death.”

We have earned death. Now, he doesn't stop there, but he reminds us he's going to give us the help to stay on task, to be focused, to be on target so that we can get things in the right order. We can be ready. We can aim and fire at the right spiritual target. What Paul describes the fact we, we do miss, and we have to come to that conclusion. We all miss. We all miss. Sometimes it's because we don't think it through. Sometimes we miss because we do the things God says don't do. And if it doesn't measure up to righteousness, boy, John says, “All unrighteousness is sin.” All unrighteousness is sin. So, we do the things we shouldn't do. That's part of missing the target.

Sometimes we miss because we just don't get away from the temptation. We allow that temptation that comes to mind to kind of percolate and circulate in our thinking until turns into lust. And then it turns into sin, which turns into death. And, see, not distancing ourselves is missing the mark. We're told to flee, run. We run away from sin, but then we also run toward righteousness. So, we run toward the target and we flee temptation. Sometimes we miss the mark because we don't know God's word. Is that possible? That we lose our aim because just don't know it. I mean, think for a moment when Jesus Christ himself was tempted.

We remember that situation. Christ was fasting before His ministry began on Earth. And after 40 days, who shows up on the scene? Satan does and he tempts Christ to sin. But do you remember how Christ combated the temptation? How did He combat Satan? Went to the Word. He went right to the Word of God. But if we don't know the Word, if we don't understand scripture and have taken it to heart and it's on our lips, how can we conquer sin when we really don't know? That's how Christ did it. Can we, do we know? Do those passages come to mind when we're tempted? They certainly did for Christ. And what a beautiful example He set. And so we don't want to miss the mark that way. We don't want to fail to do His commands because we know James 1:22 says “It's not just about hearing them, it's about doing them.” Because it shows us what sin is and we don't want any part of that. And so sometimes we're lured into missing just by not putting God first.

So, if we don't put God on the throne of our life, if He isn't in charge, we can certainly miss the mark. We miss the target. Christ said, “You can't serve two masters.” Maybe we get that a little out of sorts with what He said in Matthew 6:24. You see, we want to serve God. But what about that other master that keeps getting in the way? Gets me? Yeah. I'm the other one that keeps getting in the way. And so we've been called to hit that spiritual target. And I think it's important to remember that that means as I understand the depth of sin, that I come to a deep hatred of sin. I don't want anything to do with that. And it's going to frame my thinking, it's going to frame my relationship with God. It's going to frame the things that I do then, and that's a whole lot more than just trying to be a better person.

Sometimes we think that's our calling. Is it to just be a better person? I don't think so. You've heard the saying, “Be the best you, you can be.” Is that right? Is that the kind of philosophy a true Christian should have? “Be the best Steve you can be.” No, that's not it. That's not it at all. Does God want a new and improved me? No. That doesn't mean I shouldn't be a better person. That's not what I'm saying. But God's goal is not to just make us better people. What does He want instead? He wants us to put on Christ. He wants us to be Christ-like individuals. He wants us to be righteous, to show His righteousness, to live His purity, to be whole. And that's only possible by the power of God's spirit, which means I got to get myself out of the way and let Christ live in me and through me.

Remember Galatians 2:20, Paul of the Apostle said, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.” But he said, “Whoa, it's not me. It's not the new improved Paul. No, that guy's dead and buried. It's Christ in me. That's what it's about.” And so we recognize that it's not about just me being a better person. It's about me being Christ-like. Allowing, getting myself out of the way so Christ can live in me and through me. Because God wants us to grow in His holy, righteous, perfect character to put on His divine nature more and more and more in our lives. Because ultimately He wants us in His spiritual family. And we must put on the image of Christ in order to be in His family. Now, you consider the severity of sin.

We don't want to think that it's unachievable because the good news is we can be spiritual sharpshooters. It's possible. It's possible. Christ said, "You're my friends if you do whatever I command you". And you know what? He's given us the ability to do just that. When we choose to look to God, when we choose to follow His Word, when we aim for his target, we can hit the bullseye because we have the power to do it, but not of ourselves. It's because He's given us His spirit by the power of God's spirit. It changes our aim in life, it changes our focus. And we can take aim at those spiritual worthwhile targets by submitting to God's spirit. And so we can be that spiritual sharpshooter when we get ready and we take aim, take aim. We can take aim to please God in everything that we do.

We're given that instruction. John 8:29, if you want to take a look at that here, Christ set the example. John 8:29, It is possible. Christ lived the life. He was Emmanuel God with us in the flesh. And He lived that perfect life showing it's possible when we submit to God, when we allow His spirit to lead us.

John 8:29, here, Christ himself says, “He who sent me is with me.” Well, we could say that as well. God is with us. God is in us. We have His spirit. And Christ said, “The Father has not left me alone. For I always do those things that please Him.”

And so when God's spirit moves us and nudges us, urges us, we respond to that spirit. And we aim because God has given us the power over sin, which in other words, you can say, He's given us the power to hit the bullseye. And so we can ask ourselves, “Is this going to please God? Am I really striving to please God?” Always, always. That's the goal. And He's given us the ability and the power to take that proper aim and do just that. In fact, as we aim, He also wants us to aim for a clear conscience. He talks about this a little bit in Acts 24:16. The apostle Paul speaks to this very thing that by the power of God through His spirit, this can be our focus. This can change a perspective from just being about what I want and what I think to what does God want? What is my relationship with God? Am I drawing closer to Him? What about others as well? Well, we can take this kind of aim that the apostle Paul had.

Acts 24:16 He says, “I myself always strive,” which means I've got to work at this. This doesn't happen automatically. Yeah, striving. Yeah, sometimes it's translated agonize over these things. “I'm agonizing to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.”

So, that means I've got to be in a right relationship with God. I need to take a self-inventory, admit when I miss the mark, come before God in repentance, changing my thinking, seeking God. And when I do that, He forgives. He forgives as we humble ourselves before Him. And so we can make it our objective and our really an unrelenting kind of a desire to pray and draw closer to Him and truly repent and have that forgiveness that clears our conscience. And if we've wronged someone else, we go to them. And with God's help, we can come to a right relationship with each other as well. Because I think that's a key aspect to taking the proper aim even to be men and women of God. Because collectively we have a responsibility in this as well. Sometimes we are off target when it comes to our relationships with each other.

And yet God wants us to take aim by the power of His spirit to be men and women who love each other, because we are His Church. We love the Church, we love each other. And when that happens, something powerful takes place. Ephesians 3:21 describes that goal that God set before us, that focus that we can have as together we participate and collectively we become the body of Christ. Notice what Paul writes here to the Ephesians. Ephesians 3:21, are we really fulfilling this target?

Ephesians 3:21 It says, “To Him,” talking about the Father, “To the Father be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

So, as a collective body in the Church, do our relationships, do our perspectives, does our focus bring glory to God the Father in Jesus Christ? Is that our aim, our aim to use the gifts, the talents, the abilities that God has given us to build the body, to edify the body, to become more spiritual in seeking God and joining together to accomplish His mission? So that every one of us is doing our share, we're doing our part. We're building those joints and bonds between us so that we, as God intends us to be, an unstoppable force. That the gates of hell can't even stand against us. That's our calling. And we can take aim by the power of God's spirit at that very goal. And it doesn't stop there because, ultimately, what are we shooting for?

We're shooting for the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That's perfection. Hebrews 6 right at the very beginning of that chapter, reminds us of that. Well, many of us have been around for a long time. We know the basics. We've got 'em down. We understand that. But what an admonition we're giving here at the beginning of Hebrews 6, it says we're supposed to leave the fundamentals behind us, the elementary principles, that we should see beyond that, take it to the next level in other words.

Hebrews 6:1 So, He says, “Leave the discussion of the elementary principles, those basic things behind of Christ.”

And what do we do? Let's step it up. Let's go on to perfection. That's the goal, to be like Christ. Now, yet we know, okay, it ties. Yeah, we're going to mess it up, we're going to miss. But I think it speaks to where we're trending. And isn't that really what it's about? Because we are fleshly human beings and we are going to fall short at times, but that's not who we are. And when we do, we get down on our knees, we ask God's forgiveness, He wipes the slate clean, and we walk in righteousness. So, the line may bump down once in a while, but we're trending upward. And maybe we misstep, but we're still trending up. We're still moving toward that perfection. And I think that describes the calling that we have. And so consistently keep trending upward, day after day. Don't let the missteps define who we are. Turn it around with God's help, and let's go on. And so day after day, week after week, year after year, we are trending upward because this is a lifelong pursuit of the holiness of God.

And so with God's help, if we can get that order right, ready, aim, and we've got to fire, let's put it into action. Absolutely. And when we direct our thoughts and we focus our efforts, when we put God first and we love Him more and more, and we're in a right relationship with each other and with our Almighty God, we can pray and ask Him to help us to even more fully submit to His spirit. And when we do that, we certainly can stay on target.