INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Isn’t it great that when you become a Christian, life is easy and there are no struggles!
• You do realize that if you are struggling in life that God must not be shining His love and grace upon you! ? NOT!
• Whoa, wait a minute!
• Those of us who live in the real world know that life is full of struggles. We struggle with sin, we struggle with our health, we struggle with our relationships, we struggle with our weight, among other things.
• In our final message in our WHAT NOW series, we are going to examine the issue WHAT ABOUT MY STRUGGLES!
• Here is how we will handle this subject today.
• If we spent the time to talk about EVERY type of struggle we deal with, we would be here all day, with no lunch break ?.
• The contention I am going to build upon today is that all the various struggles we face more or less are a struggle with being faithful to God and His Word.
• No matter what I am dealing with in life, the real question is, am I going to stay faithful to Jesus, am I going to be faithful to His will for my life, am I willing to trust Him when trusting Him in a particular area of struggle makes no human sense?
• I am going to do the right thing, I am going to stay faithful.
• From that we are going to build upon the notion of what about my struggles.
• We will be in Hebrews 12:1-4. The context of this passage springs from Hebrews 11, which has been come to be known by many as the Hebrews Hall of Faith.
• Throughout chapter 11, we see some of the great people of the faith and how their faithfulness to God was pleasing to God.
• Even when they died for their faithfulness, they won with God.
• Listen, life can be a struggle, for the saints of listed in the Hebrews Hall of Faith, life was not easy, but these ordinary people, lived out an extraordinary life because of their determination to stay faithful to God, no matter what the cost.
• I our passage today, we will experience a mix of encouragement as well as so counsel as to how to overcome the struggles of life that could cause us to abandon our faith in Jesus.
• Let’s look at the first part of Hebrews 12:1
• SLIDE #2
• Hebrews 12:1 (CSB) Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. The baton has been handed to you. (1a)
• Look at the first part of Hebrews 12:1 again
• Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
• The passage sets up a backdrop of a race that is being run. This race has the contestants as well as the crowd surrounding the track watching the race.
• Who are these witnesses and what does it mean that they are surrounding us?
• There are a couple of conventional thoughts.
• Now the direct context seems to indicate these witnesses are those saints mentioned in the chapter 11 Hebrews Hall of Faith. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Rahab, among others as well as those who were killed for their willingness to stay faithful to God.
• Now if these are the only ones in the crowd, then it may give us some guidance as to what the word witness means.
• The word WITNESS can mean “people who have demonstrated their faith.”
• The point is that these Old Testament heroes in chapter 11 were approved for their faith by the testimony of God, and their experience now stands as a testimony to us as to what pleases God.
• So, they may or may not be “watching”.
• The other plausible explanation, and the one I currently subscribe to personally is this.
• That at the minimum, the cloud of witnesses includes those in Chapter 11, and these “witnesses” have lived their life, they have run their race, and their lives stand as a witness to us, to encourage us to run in like manner.
• The word for “WITNESS” also does not mean a passive spectator, (although in 1 Timothy 6:12 and Hebrews 10:28 it seems to lean that way), but rather to be an active witness to something. It denotes someone who sees an event and reports what happens.
• Their lives encourage us, and they are cheering for us.
• We should think of something like a relay race where those who have finished their course and handed in their baton are watching and encouraging their successors.
• I am not sure we should limit the witness to only Hebrews 11 since our passage says we have a LARGE cloud of witnesses!
• In the story of the Rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:27-ff, the rich man was aware of the current condition of his unbelieving brothers.
• Nonetheless, to be in that cloud (which is a metaphor denoting a large number), one has to have lived in such a way that their life was a testimony of their faithfulness to God.
• So, when we feel like quitting, we need to realize that the baton has been passed to us and the crowd is cheering us on.
• When Rachel ran cross country, those runners were exhausted as they neared the end of the race, many were ready to quit along the trail, those runners had parents and coaches cheering for them not to quit, to finish the race.
• When you are struggling, no matter what the struggle, you have a throng of witnesses cheering you on, encouraging you to stay faithful and finish the race!
• Let’s look at verse 1 again!
• SLIDE #4
• Hebrews 12:1 (CSB) Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,
• SLIDE #5
II. Lay aside anything that slows you down. (1b)
• Let’s look at the middle part of verse 1.
• let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us.
• Imagine for a moment running. Some of our retired and current military can relate to this.
• Is it or was it easier to run 3 miles without your 50 lbs. of gear or with it on your back?
• When you watch runners, who are in a race, they are not carrying a bunch of stuff with them, the take as little as possible with them.
• IF they fly to the race, they are not running with their luggage.
• When this was written, the Greeks ran races naked. LOL
• Imaging trying to run a race carrying suitcases, your computers, your lunch…
• You would get tired and quit.
• This part of the verse encourages us to lay aside EVERY ENCOMBRANCE.
• The word ENCOMBRANCE denotes something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress. It is understood as a large weighty mass.
• When we are carrying all the burdens of life with us, our race will be hard to run.
• We will tire and give up.
• Sometimes some of the things we need to lay aside are not bad things, but they are things that get in the way of our faith growing.
• Some things that are not necessarily sinful get in the way because we place them ahead of our relationship with Jesus.
• This goes to priorities in life and we have covered that, so when we take stock f our life, we need to be willing to lay aside whatever hinders us.
• This part of the verse speaks of the sin that so easily entangles us. Sin weighs us down.
• The effect of sin and the guilt that comes with it will impact our ability to stay faithful.
• When we keep getting entangled in various sins, we will eventually want to give us.
• We can win the struggle with sin through Jesus.
• SLIDE #6
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 (CSB) — 13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide a way out so that you may be able to bear it.
• We are never put in a place where we have to succumb to sin!
• Many times we struggle because we are not willing to lay aside things in our life that need to be laid aside!
• Let’s go back to verse 1 again.
• SLIDE #7
• Hebrews 12:1 (CSB) Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,
• SLIDE #8
III. Train for the right race. (1c)
• Look at the last part of verse 1.
• Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,
• If you were going to train for a race, you would need to know if it is 100-meter, 200 meter, a few miles or a marathon.
• We need to realize that our race is a marathon, not a sprint.
• A marathon means we need to train for endurance and we have to take a long-term view of things. How will my current decision affect my future?
• SLIDE #9
• Hebrews 10:36 (CSB) For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.
• We struggle many times because we take a short-term view on what we do, then later we find that short-term decision hurt us in the long term.
• Next let’s look at our last observation.
• SLIDE #10
• Hebrews 12:2 (CSB) — 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
• SLIDE #11
IV. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus! (2-4)
• When you are driving, where you fix your eyes is where you will end up driving. If you fix your eyes on the ditch, you will eventually end up in the ditch. If it is your cell phone, you will eventually end up meeting your maker. ?
• When we are struggling, we need to somehow take the eyes off the struggle and place them on Jesus!
• This verse tells us a fixed gaze is required. A gaze that allows us to be encouraged by His love, kindness, mercy, and perseverance.
• Jesus is the source and perfecter of our faith. Because HE blazed the trail for us.
• A PERFECTER is one who brings something to its goal or completion.
• At the second coming, Jesus will bring everything to completion!
• We see that nothing stopped Him from doing what God called Him to do for us!
• Jesus did not let anything draw Him from God!
• When this verse speaks of the JOY THAT LAY BEFORE HIM, is refers to the fact that instead of joy of Heaven He enjoyed before coming to earth as a man, He endured the cross because of the joy of knowing that people could come to God through His suffering and sacrifice!
• Jesus’ faithfulness to God required the same ENDURANCE that we are called to exhibit in the face of struggles.
• Despite the shame of the cross, Jesus was not dissuaded from His calling!
CONCLUSION
• So, what about my struggles? As a Christian will I have them? YES! Some of the most faithful Saints of the Old and New Testament had them.
• We need to realize that most if not all of our struggles are rooted in the deciding to whether to be faithful to God or to let the struggle over take us.
• Just like a couple who fights over money all the time, MONEY is not the problem, there are deeper problems.
• Our struggles are not the problem, they are the symptom of a deeper issue.
• We need to understand something important.
• SLIDE #12
• Ephesians 6:12–13 (CSB) — 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.
• We need to realize our struggles are rooted in something deeper than ourselves and that if we stand faithful and strong we can overcome, and we can come out the other side with our faith in tact!
• Don’t let your struggles win or define you!
