Sermon Tone Analysis

There is a wonderful encouragement that we read about of enduring faith in Hebrews chapter 10:35-39.

What is so amazing is that this passage actually comes to life and is beautifully illustrated in the lives of the faithful saints in Hebrews chapter 11.

-By faith Abraham.

-By faith Jacob.

-By faith Moses.

These men lived lives of faithful endurance.

And there were others.

With that being said we see that all of this is now repeated and explained again at the beginning of Hebrews chapter 12 of which we will look at this morning.

The theme here is that of endurance and that is what I want to talk to you about this morning as we now begin a new year.

The reason why this is so important for us to address this morning is because so often we can start the year off going strong and even making new habits and new goals, but it is so easy to become weary and fainthearted along the way.

How many folks do you know today who have dropped out of the Christian race or who have gotten sidetracked?

I want to encourage all of you today as you begin to think about the year ahead, to run with endurance.

But exactly how do we do that?

I mean so often things seem to be sailing along and then comes a crisis or a health issue, or a strong temptation to give into a particular sin.

So, how do we remain strong?

How exactly can we run with endurance.

Let’s dive into God’s Word and see.

1.

The Christian Life is to be Ran with endurance.

The therefore that starts this verse shows us the wonderful survey of the Old Testament people of faith.

They are a great cloud of witnesses that are testifying from God’s Word that God is faithful.

These ancient believers also bear witness on God’s behalf that He can be trusted.

As believers today we should be motivated by these faithful witnesses to keep running the Christian race.

As runners we should be inspired by these godly examples who have gone before us.

Why?

Because they have lived their lives in such a way for us to look at, and say God help me to be faithful and persevere in my christian race as others have who have gone before us.

The “Let Us” here shows us that these Hebrews had made a profession of faith, but had not gone all the way.

In other words they had not yet started the race.

They knew about the race and had heard about the author and director, but had not yet SALVATION.

The author of Hebrews invites them to accept salvation in Christ, and begin to run with Christ.

You may be here today and have never started the race.

You don’t have a relationship with Christ yet.

Will you call out to Him today and confess your sin and your need for a Savior?

If you are a believer today and know Christ, your are in the race and this next part is so vital.

Notice what the author tells us.

There are several things we must lay aside.

In other words, here are some things to get rid of so that you can run with endurance.

First of all, lay aside every weight.

Now this is a different word from the word sin.

What was weighing down the Hebrews at this point in the church, was that of the Old levitical system or legalism.

These were all the outward things that the religious leaders at the time were imposing on the people or adding to salvation.

So, my point here in explaining this too us is that we as runners need to strip off or get rid of the extra weights that can cause us to get weighted down and not continue on in the race.

So every weight, but also sin.

The second thing we must lay aside is Sin.

Sin ensnares us, it tangles us up and binds us from competing and running.

There are many sins today that entangle us from running this life with joy and peace.

Anger can weigh us down, pride, the lust of possessions and money.

Sexual sin, worry, un-forgiveness and even bitterness.

These things can drag us down and cause us to get off course or even stop completely.

That is exactly what the enemy wants.

So, watch out for these things, lay them aside and run with endurance.

2. In the Christian Life we must Fix our attention on Christ!

In order to run with endurance there are some things we must cast off, however the key too endurance in the race is looking to the founder and perfecter of faith, Jesus.

Let me ask you this morning where is your attention focused on?

What has your heart and mind most days?

Is it the Lord or other things?

Christ is the originator and object or our faith.

He initiates our faith, He has already run the race ahead of us, and brings our faith to it’s goal.

How has he done this?

God back with me to chapter 10 verse 14.

Jesus’ sacrifice has perfected for all time, those who trust in him.

Today Jesus has set the pace of enduring faith.

When we come to the Lord and recognize that we are a sinful people and trust in Christ, we rely on the blood of Jesus and His righteousness as we recognize our own unworthiness.

The joy here in verse 2 means that Jesus kept going, He kept persevering all the way to the cross, so that He might receive the joy of accomplishment of doing His fathers will.

In everything Christ did while he was here on earth, He did it to obey his father and to exalt him and bring Him glory and honor.

With that being said, as we start this new year we must consider Christ.

This is what verse 3 is pointing us too.

Jesus was, has been and is a great example for us in regards that He was willing to suffer and die as well as many other difficult things.

-He faced angry hostile people who were always against him.

-He faced the cruel death of the cross.

So, as we think about these things that Christ experienced throughout his life we need to understand that this same opposition will come to those who follow Jesus as well.

Here is what I mean by this.

There will come times in your life as a believer where you will face pressure, trials, struggles, stress, exhaustion, and even persecution.

The world in which we live today will not like what believers stand for.

They will think God’s Word is outdated and irrelevant.

But as believers we stand on God’s Word because it is truth and it dispels all darkness.

God’s Word tells us difficult things because we are sinners and we need to hear those things.

So, don’t get weary and discouraged.

Look to Jesus and consider all the things he went through, so that you don’t get discouraged this year.

When we meditate on the Lord’s sacrifice it put’s our own trials into perspective, fortifying our hearts against self-pity and hopelessness.

3. Throughout the Christian Life don’t forget that God’s Discipline is Proof of His love for His Children.

The author here in verses 5-6 is quoting from Proverbs 3:11-12.

The point here is that trials and suffering do come from God.

Now of course there are other reasons that these may come about in our lives, however there are times where God allows them to happen.

God uses these to teach us, to train us, and to discipline us.

But remember here that this happens for a reason in a believers life.

It happens to a believer only because God loves us and doesn’t want us to stay in the same place.

It is also evidence of His love and care to show us that we are truly His children.

Verse 6 “God disciplines those whom He loves.”

Here in these verses we see the mention of son quite a few times.

The point is as God’s children, as sinners and as imperfect that we are we need discipline and training.

But again this is for our good.

You may say yeah but I don’t see it right now.

That is because in the struggles and trials we don’t always see it, so remember to look to Christ.

Also the world or unbelievers will not get this.

Discipline will not make sense to them.

Verse 8 tells us that if you are without discipline then you are illegitimate.

You are not a Christian.

This is the only time this word is used in the entire New Testament, but it is also used in Greek literature.

It is used to describe people who are born to slaves or concubines.

Like Ismael was born to Hagar in Genesis 16.