The Little Word “Lay”
Text: Exodus 7:2
Ecclesiastes 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
The Bible is full of little words with big meanings. Take the word all in that verse for example. That word in the Bible is used to teach God created all, all have sinned, Jesus died for all, all can be forgiven, all will stand before God and many other things. There’s quite a bit in the Bible about that little word. I want us to look at another little word in that verse that God’s Word has a lot to say about. I want to a message I have titled, The Little Word Lay. Did you know the Bible has a lot to say about that little word lay? Let me give you seven things from the Bible concerning the word lay that apply to every one of us this morning. I hope that each of us will lay some part of this message to our hearts.
The Bible Says We Are To Lay Aside
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Paul the apostle sometimes used sports to illustrate Scriptural truth.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1 Corinthians 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
1 Corinthians 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
In Hebrews 12:1, Paul compares Christianity to a race that a person might run. He said that since we are running a race and we want to win the prize, we need to do some of the same things that runners do. First of all, runners get rid of anything that will hinder their race. You don’t see runners with pockets full of change and car keys and things. In fact, most runners don’t have pockets in their pants or shorts. They don’t want anything to slow them down.
That’s what the Bible means when it says we are to lay aside some things. Sin certainly slows down a Christian trying to run the race set before them.
Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
I want you to notice that verse doesn’t say anything about running, does it? It mentions walking, standing and sitting, and all are slower than running! That’s what sin does. Sin slows us down. That’s why we need to lay aside sin. But also, we need to lay aside things that may not be sin in and of themselves, but they still slow us down.
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Think about this. The runner trains with weights, but he doesn’t run with weights! Before we got saved, there were plenty of weights in our life. But now that we are saved, we need to set those weights aside. It’s time to run the race!
1 Peter 4:3a For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles,…
Now is not the time to be weighed down. We need to lay aside every weight and every sin!
The Bible Says We Are To Lay Apart
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
To lay apart something is to part company with.
Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Something that is filthy is something that is not clean. In the Bible, filthiness is a condition.
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
It’s one thing when a child steps outside for a few minutes and comes in with mud on his feet. But it’s quite another if he goes outside and wallows in the mud. To be filthy is to be totally unclean. The Bible teaches that Christians are to lay apart anything that would make them totally unclean before God. In the Old Testament, a leper had to place his hand upon his mouth and cry, “Unclean, unclean”. The idea was that he was contagious. When Christians live in sin, not just getting into a little sin, but I mean living in sin, those Christians are filthy! They must lay apart their filthiness and get right with God. That word superfluity in James means excessive. That’s the idea. One of the reasons church discipline is in the Bible is for the church to be able to separate from Christians who are filthy with excessive sin. They must lay apart their sin and naughtiness in order to be received back into the church fellowship, lest they contaminate others.
We are to lay aside. We are to lay apart.
The Bible Says We Are To Lay Down
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus Christ gave us the best that He could give. He gave Himself! We all know John 3:16, but do we also know 1 John 3:16?
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
One of the greatest teachings of Christianity is that of self sacrifice for others. Paul tried to teach that to the selfish Corinthian church.
1 Corinthians 11:20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.
1 Corinthians 11:21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
Paul was not only rebuking them for their lack of respect for the Lord’s supper, he was also rebuking them for their lack of charity and their selfishness.
2 Corinthians 12:15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
There really is no room for selfishness in Christianity, or at least there isn’t suppose to be. Our love for one another ought to be so great that we would be willing to lay down our lives for one another, just as Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
Another thing the Bible teaches we are to lay down is ourselves.
Psalms 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
Mark 6:30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
Mark 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
Mark 6:32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
Believe it or not, there is nothing in the world wrong with a little extra rest every now and then. We live such hectic lives that we really need it. In fact, if we really are living our Christian life in the principle of laying down our lives for the brethren, we will need to lay down every now and then to rest ourselves.
The Bible Says We Are To Lay Up
2 Corinthians 12:14 Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
That verse speaks of leaving children an earthly inheritance and that is certainly a Biblical concept. The bumper sticker that reads, “I am spending my children’s inheritance” is a mockery of the Word of God. Notice what Matthew 6:19 says and what it does not say.
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Matthew 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
It’s perfectly right to lay up for your children treasures upon the earth, but we need to also lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. There is something else we are to lay up.
Deuteronomy 11:18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
Proverbs 7:1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
Job 22:22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
Laying up the Word of God in our hearts is just as important as laying up treasure in heaven. We ought to be in God’s Word every day and we need to memorize the Word of God as well.
Psalms 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
If you want to have treasure in heaven, lay up the treasure of God’s Word in your heart.
The Bible Says We Are To Lay Hold
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
What does it mean to lay hold on eternal life?
Hebrews 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
To lay hold means to understand and to comprehend.
Ephesians 3:14-19 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
I tell you what, if we Christians would just take the time to think about what Jesus Christ has done for us and to comprehend our eternal salvation and eternal security, it would change the way we live. Sometimes we just don’t lay hold to what we have as often as we should. I mean, we are only saved forever. We are only guaranteed never to go to hell. We are only promised eternal life. We are only waiting to go to the place where there will be no more sickness, sorrow, pain nor death. We need to lay hold on these things. Let me tell you something else that we need to lay hold of every now and then.
Deuteronomy 21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
Deuteronomy 21:19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
The trouble with most children today is that they have never been laid ahold of!
Proverbs 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
In the world’s eyes, a parent who spanks his child hates his child. But in God’s eyes, a parent who spanks his child loves his child. Talk about an opposite point of view! More Christian parents need to really lay hold of this thing of discipline (no pun intended).
Do you know what I have learned in 16 years of being a parent? I have learned that the more you spank a child when he is small, the less you will need to when he is tall. But the less you spank a child when he is small, the more you will want to spank a child when is tall. Let me give you one more thing we need to lay hold to.
Proverbs 3:13-18 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
We need to lay hold on wisdom. Where do we find wisdom? The next verse tells us.
Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
It’s the Lord that gives wisdom. If a Christian wants to lay hold of wisdom, he needs to spend time with the Lord. Only He can give wisdom.
The Bible Says We Are To Lay By
1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
Of course this verse is talking about giving and Christians ought to be giving people. I don’t think I need to preach on that in this church, but that little word lay does show up in relation to giving. To lay by means to have it available so that when God gives us the opportunity to give back some of what He has given to us, we can do that! We need to lay by! Let me give you one more.
The Bible Says We Are To Lay Upon
Acts 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
Acts 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Most Christians that love the Lord don’t have any problems with the thou-shalt-nots. You can go to a charismatic church and tell them they shouldn’t curse, or murder anyone or steal or tell a lie. But go to that same church and try to “lay upon” them a couple of thou-shalts and you will see a different attitude. There are some that believe Jesus nailed the law to the cross and therefore things like standards of dress, conduct, and Christian testimony don’t really matter. We can live like we want to and do what we want, but that is simply not true. God’s Word gives us some things we need to lay upon ourselves. We don’t have time to delineate all of the things, but I will mention one important verse in regards to standards.
Job 34:23 For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.
If God tells us to do something, it’s not more than right! The difference in standards and legalism is simple. Legalism is placing man’s laws upon man. Standards is placing God’s laws upon man. One is wrong and excessive. The other is right and acceptable.
Well, the Bible sure did have a lot to say about that little word Lay.
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Even the little words have a lot of meaning in God’s Word.