Sermon Tone Analysis

The letter of Hebrews was written, some time prior to AD 70, by an unknown penman to professing Christians who were of Jewish background.

Though the penman is unknown, there have been several attempts at discerning the penman.

Some of the earliest Christians identified Paul while others identified Barnabas, Apollos, Silas, Jude, Priscilla, or others.

It is evident that they are professing Christians by the language of the book, and the Jewish background is noted in a couple of ways: (1) heavy use of the Old Testament scriptures with a special emphasis on (2) the Jewish sacrificial system.

Image:

RUNNING ACROSS THE SAHARA

Topics: Ambition; Attitudes; Challenges; Courage; Dedication; Determination; Faith; Faithfulness; Goals; Motivation; Passion; Patience; Perseverance; Persistence; Self-discipline; Strength; Trials; Victory

References: Acts 20:24; 1 Corinthians 4:9–13; 9:24–27; 2 Corinthians 1:8–11; 2 Timothy 2:1–13; 4:6–8; Hebrews 11:1–12:13; Revelation 3:10

For 111 days.

Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab, and Kevin Lin ran across the Sahara Desert.

They touched the waters at Senegal and then made their way through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Egypt to touch the waters of the Red Sea.

Along the way, the trio faced blazing afternoons of 100-plus degrees; jarring, freezing nights; sandstorms; tendonitis; violent sickness; aches, pains, and blisters.

But the biggest challenge they faced was finding water.

Finding it in its purest, cleanest form gets to be a bit of a chore while in the middle of nowhere.

Running 4,000 miles across the Sahara Desert is an amazing accomplishment.

But just as commendable are these marathon finishers:

• Christians who finish their lives still growing, still serving

• husbands and wives who stay faithful to each other “until death do us part”

• young people who preserve their virginity until marriage despite crushing peer pressure

• pastors who stay passionate about ministry until their last breath

• church members who weather conflict and remain joyful, loving, and faithful

—Anna Johnson, “3 Ultra-athletes Run across Sahara,” USA Today (February 20, 2007)

In much the same ways as a runner must endure:

Hebrews was written to encourage the faith-filled living of professing Christians as opposed to giving up, especially in the face of adversity.

Hebrews 12:1–2 (KJV 1900)

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, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Craig says:

The purpose of Hebrews is to strengthen, encourage, and exhort the tired and weary members of a house church to respond with courage and vitality to the prospect of renewed suffering in view of the gifts and resources God has lavished upon them.

[Lane, W. L. (1991).

Hebrews 1–8 (Vol.

47A, p. c).

Word, Incorporated.]

Subject:

Christians are people who endure to the end.

It is not just just the fact THAT they endure, but it is HOW they endure.

So we have to ask, “Am I just enduring my life as a professing Christian?” or “Am I enduring as a Christ-centered Christian?”

“Endure” - (Hebrews 12:2) remain, stay, hold out (Hebrews 10:32); persevere, to stay in a place beyond an expected point of time.

Need: [these all instances where there is not endurance]

There are two primary reasons why this kind of a book is so applicable today:

(1) The need to warn those who think they are in the race.

Today, there are those who are physically in the church but who are NOT truly in covenant with Jesus.

These are individuals who have tasted of the truth, but it is only has only been a mental exercise and not a faith exercise.

These individuals are the ones who do NOT have a living belief.

These are individuals who may attend the gathering and may enjoy the benefits of Christian community but their hearts are so deceived by sin that they think they are in the race of Christianity but they are actually unbelievers who will die and enter eternal condemnation.

Eventually, these individuals fall away from the faith and show that their hearts were never really in the faith.

Christ was never really the center of their endurance.

[Hebrews 2:1, 4:11, 6:6 - Examples Demas & Josh Harris]

Much like the movie Sixth Sense, these individuals think that they are alive, but they eventually will realize that they were dead the entire time.

(2) The need to encourage with hope those who are tempted to quit.

Today, there are those who have been going on in the Christian race for many years.

You have raised your children in Christ.

You have loved your spouse faithfully.

You have discipled, trained, and led others in the faith.

You have endured the grief of loss.

To you, Hebrews will both confirm and strengthen you in the faith.

Hebrews will offer to you the mid-race refreshing water and electrolytes so that you can keep following Jesus faithfully.

The same Christ who was central at the beginning must remain central if you will finish.(Hebrews

10:32-33, 12:25)

Consequently, I want you to know that...

Big Idea:

Professing Christians should take Christ-centered endurance more seriously because it is the proof of real life and the means whereby we experience hopeful rest.

The letter of Hebrews will teach us that...

Preview:

Christ-Centered Endurance:

Consideration [is characterized by a particular kind of thinking…]

Thought - What should I be thinking?

Recreation [is fueled by a kind of experience…]

Emotion - How should I be feeling?

Confidence [is evident by a kind of confidence…]

Psyche - Where do I get my confidence?

Perseverance [lived by a particular kind of practice]

Body - What does it look like to keep on keeping on?

Hebrews 1:1-4 Christ-Centered Endurance (series name)

Statement: The Messiah is the center of the message of endurance because He is God’s Speech in these last days.

Illustrate It:

5462 When Light Bulb Falls

The Rev. Earl Kelly, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Holly Springs, Mississippi, was preaching on the second coming of Christ.

He had just quoted Matthew 24:27, “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.”

At this point, a large light bulb fell from its socket in the ceiling and shattered on the floor in front of the pulpit.

As reported by Baptist Press, Kelly was equal to the occasion.

He told the startled worshippers, “His coming will be just as sudden, and unexpected, and devastating to the dreams that are not Christ-centered.”

—Christianity Today

Would you say that you life, your hopes, your dreams, your plans are Christ-centered?

Prove It: Hebrews 1:1-4

What the writer of Hebrews does is open up by making clear a few truths:

(1) God is the God who speaks.

Hebrews 1:1.

God has spoken in the past, and these speech of God were communicated through the prophets.

These prophetic speeches are preserved in the scriptures.

WHO it is that is speaking is important.

This is God.

The implication of the writer by beginning this way is that the Person of God is unique and exclusive in a way that everyone else who has spoken in the past is not.

Deuteronomy 6:4

A second implication is that God’s speech important.

We learn as much by just considering how a Jew understood the speech of God.

A few examples are found in Genesis 1:3, Psalm 33:6.

God speaks

(2) God is the God who speaks Cristo-centrically.

Hebrews 1:2.

If you want to know God, you must hear and see what He has said.

God has said, “the Son”.