Series: Jesus Is The Better Endurance
Speaker: Mike Laughrun
(1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2) looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2
(12) Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, (13) and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. (14) Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (15) See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; (16) that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
Hebrews 12:12-16
(18) For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest (19) and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. (20) For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” (21) Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” (22) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, (23) and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, (24) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (25) See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. (26) At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” (27) This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken–that is, things that have been made–in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. (28) Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, (29) for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:18-29
Big Truth:
Faith in Jesus Brings Worship
(18) For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest (19) and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.,
Hebrews 12:18-19,
Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.
Exodus 24:17
(12) And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. … (18) Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. – Exodus 19:12, 18
(22) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, – Hebrews 12:22
(23) and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, (24) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. – Hebrews 12:23-24
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.
Hebrews 12:25
(26) At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” (27) This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken–that is, things that have been made–in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.
Hebrews 12:26-27
(6) For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. (7) And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.
Haggai 2:6-7
(16) Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. (17) For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, (18) while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
(28) Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, (29) for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:28-29
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
Colossians 1:13
(20) But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (21) who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Philippians 3:20-21
Big Truth:
Faith in Jesus Brings Worship
Big Idea:
We worship by faith through Jesus, our mediator of the new covenant.
(22) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,… (24) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.
Hebrews 12:22, 24
Big Idea:
We worship with gratitude in response to his grace.
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken
Hebrews 12:28
Big Idea: We worship by offering our lives in service to God and others.
Therefore … let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
Hebrews 12:28
Big Idea:
We worship with reverence and awe.
(28) let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, (29) for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:28-29
How Do We Respond?
- KNOW
Genuine faith manifests itself in a life of faithful, grateful, all-consuming worship.
- FEEL
Express and feel gratitude that we have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
- DO
Run the race of faith that is set before us now… Knowing the unshakable promises that belong to us through Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.
- WANT
Long for and pray for those who have fallen short of the grace of God, and rejected the gift of grace through Jesus. Pray for opportunities to share the message of the gospel.