Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• Heb 12:1-2
• Therefore ...
• Throws us back to chapter 11
• The cloud of witness are the saints of the Old Testament days
• You are in an arena/in a race and the Old Testament saints are cheering you on
• Look only to Jesus Christ
• Look forward
• There are many texts that talk of life as being a race
• 1 Cor 9:24
• All run but only one receives the prize
• Ps 55:22
• Cast your burdens on the Lord
• Yes we have responsibility
• 1 Cor 9:27
• Discipline your body
• Train yourself
• Feed upon the word of God
• Phil 3:13-14
• Forget the things of the past and press on to the things ahead
• Do we have issues that we have not let go of?

Encouraged by the Past

• You are not alone as a Christian
• The Holy Spirit intercedes for us
• We come through Jesus
• We say 'our' father
• We have saints around us/part of a great body (on earth and in heaven)
• Abraham and Moses live in heaven
• There is a great cloud of witnesses that have overcome difficulties and hardships
• 11:33 - through faith some subdued kingdoms: Joshua, Gideon, David
• They worked righteousness: Samuel
• They obtained promises: Rahab
• They stopped the mouths of lions: Daniel
• 11:34 - They quenched the violence of fire: Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego
• Out of weakness become strong - God loves to use the weak
• Are we reading the Bible every day?
• Are we reading Christian biographies?
• Seeing the grace and mercy of God to humour weak instruments help us go forward
• 11:35 - Dead raised to life: Elijah, Elisha
• How much do we look at ourselves and how much do we look at God?
• We ought to look at the life of the Lord Jesus and all He has done
• We should not look to the small things but to God
• We should look to God in the big things also
• We are not preaching a prosperity gospel
• Some were delivered through death
• Some were tortured
• 11:35-38
• Perhaps speaking of the Maccabean Revolution
• Suffering is part of God's plan
• Quote from John Calvin

Challenged by the Present (v1)

• Our real problem is how we respond to our trials and challenges
• Lay aside every weight
• Lay aside the sin that so easily ensnares
• Greek athletes ran naked
• Let there be nothing to hinder us in our life
• Hobbies
• Social media
• "All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful"
• Samson - lust was one of the great difficulties in his life
• We live in such a sensual world
• 1 Cor 6:19
• Sexual immorality, pornography
• Social Media: We are not to be gossips or busy bodies
• Not to malign people
• 1 Pet 4:15
• The sin that so easily snares - we may have difficulties in different areas
• Look to Jesus
• In Greek: more than just a mere look
• A constant fixed gaze
• If we are to go forward in our Christian life, we must look to Jesus
• We need help to do this
• We must pray to able to do this
• Look to Jesus
• There was no one more despised or rejected than Jesus
• There is no one who did greater acts than Jesus
• He was willing to go the cross to take our place, our sin, our death, our hell
• Consider the chorus
• Consider all the hostility that Jesus suffered in love for us
• Meditate on all that Jesus has done
• Consider, what would Jesus have me do here
• Give thanks and worship Jesus

Stimulated by the Future (v2)

• The people of the Old Testament were looking beyond their circumstances
• We are to look forward (even as Jesus Christ looked toward the cross)
• For the joy that was set before Him endured the cross

Closing Remarks

• In 2016 we have everything to look forward to, no matter what happens
• Let us run the race
• Let us seek God, look to Christ and live lives that please Him