INTRO.- ILL.- Two preachers were having lunch at a farm during a certain anniversary celebration. The farmer’s wife had fried several chickens and told her family they could have what was left after everyone had gone home. But it was not to be. Those hungry preachers ate every piece of fried chicken. CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?
Later, when the farmer was conducting his guests around the farm, an old rooster starting crowing loudly. One guest said, "He seems to be mighty proud of himself." "No wonder," growled the farmer, "HE’S GOT TWO SONS IN THE MINISTRY." (or two sons in those ministers)
Brothers and sisters, you can start out one place in life and end up somewhere entirely different. You could start out as a chicken and end up in the ministry!
ILL.- Between March 1999 and March 2000, 43.4 million Americans moved. That’s about 15% of America’s population. 56% of these moves were within the same county, 20% were between counties but in the same state, and 19% were moves to a different state. 4% were moves from another country. We Americans move a lot.
ILL.- I was born in Joplin, MO, and was raised in Webb City, MO, which is right next door to Joplin. I went all 12 years of school in Webb City. That doesn’t happen as much these days. Since those days, I have lived in Bayard, IA, Iberia, MO, Anna, IL, Mattoon, IL , and now the best place of all: Jonesboro, AR!
We start in one place may well end up in another place. We never know where life will take us, do we? Life is indeed a journey.
Life is not only a physical journey, but also a spiritual journey. Some people don’t have a very good start spiritually speaking and don’t go too far either. It often depends on whether or not the right people come into their lives and influence them in a positive way.
ILL.- We had a neighbor in IL who told me that he got turned off to Christ and the church at the age of 8 when he heard a woman preach for three hours. I didn’t ask any questions.
ILL.- My mother dated a man for several years after my father died. His name was Ralph Lee. Ralph had worked most of his life. He was mainly interested in making money. He often worked seven days a week, building houses, etc.
He was worth about a million dollars, but his spiritual worth was not much. HE WAS NOT INTERESTED IN SPIRITUAL THINGS. The only time he went to church was for a wedding or a funeral.
He told me that when he was just a youngster he got turned off to Christianity when some preacher told him not to visit his grandpa because his grandpa smoked and was a bad influence on him. Ralph loved his grandpa and decided he would never go back to church.
Sometimes we Christian people don’t always say the right things to people, do we? Sadly, we sometimes turn people off to Christ and the church.
The other side of the coin is this. Some of us get a decent start on our spiritual journey by hearing about Jesus in Sunday School, VBS and church and we end up doing fairly well. We stay with it and even make some progress.
Do you realize how fortunate you are if you were raised in any church that preached Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living God? It’s so sad to think that some people, some little children never hear about Jesus. WE ARE BLESSED!
The saddest thing of all is when people hear the message, but they don’t believe it and never decide for Christ. THIS IS NOT GOD’S WILL FOR PEOPLE.
I Tim. 2:4 “God wants all men (all people) to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” But all people will not hear the truth and will not believe the truth even when they hear it.
ILL.- Actor Woody Allen said, “It’s not that I’m afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens" Woody Allen, you are wrong. You will be there when it happens and you should be afraid.
II Cor. 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
Heb. 10:31 “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” This is true for some people.
Some people in our world act and talk as if God is some kind of joke. But we know better. Whether people face up to the truth in this life or not, they will face God and Christ in death.
We need to thank God every day that we have come to know Him through His Son Jesus Christ. WE ARE BLESSED! We are blessed in life’s journey, but this life is not always easy. There will be lumps and bumps, hills and valleys in this journey.
PROP.- From our text in Hebrews 12 I would like for us to consider what will help or hinder our spiritual journey.
1- The witnesses who encompass us
2- The weights that encumber us
3- The weariness that encounters us
4- The winner who encourages us
I. THE WITNESSES WHO ENCOMPASS US
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses..." V. 1
ILL.- A longtime sinner opened the newspaper one day and was shocked to read in the obituary column that he had died. He immediately phoned his best friend.
He said, "Did you see the paper? It says that I’m dead." His friend replied, "Yes, I read that, and I know where you’re calling from."
Brothers and sisters, the dead do live on! We are eternal beings. God has given us an eternal spirit that lives forever! The real you is not what you see in the mirror every morning!
I know that many people are convinced that when Christians die they are in heaven watching us….a great cloud of witnesses. I’m not convinced this is true.
Eccl. 9:5-6 "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward... never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun."
What happens under the sun is here on earth. And those who have left this earth have no part in this life anymore. THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS LIFE. They do not know what we are doing!
If they did know what was going in this life (pain and suffering) and in our lives, how could they possibly be happy in heaven? They couldn’t.
Enoch, Noah, Abraham and the other people of faith who are listed in Hebrews chapter 11 are witnesses who encompass us. They are witnesses "to" us, but not witnesses "of" us.
THEY ARE WITNESSES "TO" US ABOUT GODLY LIVING. They are godly examples to us to encourage us to do better in life. If these people made it, then we can too!
ILL.- If Noah could preach 120 years and have only seven converts, then what about us? We’ve done better than that in most churches.
If Enoch, Noah and Abraham did what they did with what they had, think of what we can do with what we have?
If the saints who have gone before us did what they did without telephones, cell phones, cars, pagers, TV’s, comfortable church buildings with AC, videos, power point, transparencies, PA systems, church buses, church vans, contemporary Christian music, computers, email, and without evangelists, without Billy Graham, without Charles Stanley, Max Lucado, and others, THEN JUST THINK OF WHAT WE CAN DO WITH ALL OF THESE THINGS AND ALL OF THESE PEOPLE HELPING US!
Can we do better? We could, if we wanted to! The witnesses who encompass us are a great encouragement to us. They were faithful to God under extremely difficult circumstances. THEY MADE IT AND WE CAN TOO!
Anytime you are feeling down in living the Christian life just go back and consider people like Noah, Abraham, Job and others! Hopefully, you will be encouraged to keep going.
II. THE WEIGHTS THAT ENCUMBER US
V. 1 "Let us throw off everything that hinders..." Let us throw off the weights that encumber us.
ILL.- Two men were riding on a tandem bike going up a steep hill. They were panting and perspiring for all they were worth as they neared the top of the hill.
The first man said, "That was a tough climb." The second man said, "It certainly was. And if I hadn’t kept the brake on, we would have slid down that hill backwards."
There are times when we need to throw off certain things that hinder our forward motion. It could be a person or persons. It could be a bad habit. It could be a bad job. It could be something secular that hinders the sacred part of our lives.
ILL.- Many years ago (60’s) when I worked for Safeway in Joplin, MO, the produce manager, Tom Billings, and I became good friends. I liked drinking beer at that time and would often drive over to Galena, KS, and drink at Nina’s Green Parrot. One time I invited Tom to go with me. Before long, Tom was going to Kansas to drink occasionally.
One morning when I went to work Tom’s face was all bruised. I said, “What in the world happened to you?” Tom had gone to Galena, KS, the night before, got liquored up, challenged some guy to a fight and the guy knocked him clear across the pool table.
Tom didn’t say much else about that incident, but I don’t think he went back to Galena, KS, any more! DO YOU KNOW ELSE HE SHOULD HAVE SAID? He should have said to me, "Steve, I’m not running around with you anymore. You are a bad influence.”
I Cor. 15:33 “Do not be misled: bad company corrupts good character.”
Brothers and sisters, I was a weight that he should have thrown aside. I was a negative weight to my friend. I was bringing him down, instead of lifting him up.
Are you sluggish in living the Christian life? Have you lost some zip and zeal? Are you not growing in your faith? Are you encumbered by some things that get in the way of your relationship to Christ? Things that keep you from church, Sunday School, Bible study, prayer time, and Christian service?
Well, perhaps you need to throw off some things that are weighing you down or dragging you down.
II Tim. 2:3-4 “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – he wants to please his commanding officer.”
Some things are below us as soldiers of Christ. We are not civilians. We’re in the Lord’s army, which means we should seek to please Him most of all.
Matthew 6:33 Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness...."
III. THE WEARINESS THAT ENCOUNTERS US
V. 3 "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Have you ever grown weary of this life or in this life? Who hasn’t? Life is hard on us.
ILL.- An elderly gentleman wasn’t feeling well, and became irritated with his doctor because he wasn’t getting any better after five visits. "Look!" said the doctor, "I’m doing all I can to help you. I can’t make you any younger."
The old gentleman replied, "I wasn’t particularly interested in getting young. I JUST WANT TO CONTINUE GROWING OLDER."
All kinds of things happen to us in life that cause weariness of the heart and soul or weariness the mind and body. Our cars break down and so do our bodies. We have health problems and heart problems.
ILL.- In 1846 former president John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke. Although he returned to Congress the following year, his health was clearly failing. Daniel Webster described his last meeting with Adams: "Someone, a friend of his, came in and made particular inquiry of his health. Adams answered, ’I inhabit a weak, frail, decayed tenement; battered by the winds and broken in upon by the storms, and from all I can learn, the landlord does not intend to repair it.’"
I’m sure that’s how some people feel. "I’m falling apart and nobody can do anything about it." Health problems are a real part of the weariness of life. And so are heart problems.
ILL.- Larry Norman is the man who services our air conditioners at the church. I was talking to Larry last week and he told me about an accident that he witnessed. A young mother, age 33, crossed the road and hit a gravel truck head on. Larry was mowing his grass when he saw the accident happen. He was one of the first on the scene. He said the front end of that car, motor and all were jammed back into the front seat. He could only see a portion of that young mother, but he could tell she was dead. A bone was sticking out of her arm and no blood was pumping.
That young mother had four children at home and a husband. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE HEARTACHE THOSE CHILDREN AND FAMILY MEMBERS MUST FEEL? No, I can’t imagine either but it has to be horrible. LIFE CAN BE SO HARD AND DEVASTATING ON PEOPLE.
And we’ve all seen families torn apart by death and divorce, by prodigal children, financial problems, etc. The journey of life makes us all weary at times.
I Pet. 5:9 "Resist him (the devil), standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
One thing that makes our burdens somewhat bearable is the fact that we are not alone in this world. We humans are all in the same boat! We all suffer. We all hurt. We all experience weariness in some form or another. BUT WE ARE HERE FOR ONE ANOTHER! We should be here for one another!
Gal. 6:2 "Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."
We may not be able to solve everyone’s problems, but we should be sympathetic, supportive, and try to give strength to one another during times of weariness.
IV. THE WINNER WHO ENCOURAGES US
V. 2-3 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
ILL.- BIG WINNER, BIG GIVER. That was the title of an article in TODAY’S CHRISTIAN, Jan/Feb 2001. Here’s the story. Starting a church isn’t easy. It takes prayer, time, effort, and money. Sometimes it’s the money that’s a killer. Just ask 41-year-old Kim Hunt. He helped with a church plant in Seattle after graduating from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, Texas, in 1989. The church ended up closing because it lost the support and funding of its sponsoring church. Now, after winning a million dollars on the hit TV show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" he’s trying to make sure that doesn’t happen to some other churches.
After Hunt won the million dollars, the idea came quickly to him. Why not supply a few young, needy churches with some expense money? And apparently that’s what he did.
Big winner, big giver. But an even bigger winner and a bigger giver is Jesus. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Jesus was and is the winner of all winners. HE CONQUERED DEATH AND SATAN ON THE CROSS! On the cross, Jesus said to Satan, “I win and you lose.” Jesus is the ultimate winner in life who encourages us to keep going. He is the one who can save us, motivate us and encourage us to make it in the journey of life!
Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. We should always consider Jesus when we are weary and tempted to give up. We should always look to Jesus for support, encouragement and strength. We can do all things through Him who strengthens us. Phil. 4:13.
Heb. 4:15-16 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
We have a Savior who understands what we’re going through in this life. He is completely sympathetic and able to help us in life. He is merciful and will give us His grace to endure, survive and succeed.
ILL.- Occasionally, when I am driving I have noticed some driver in the car ahead looking around, gazing at the scenery, etc. And to me, that’s a sure way to have an accident. Any time we take our focus off the main thing and put it on something else we’re headed for trouble.
And any time we take our focus off Jesus it’s a sure way to have a spiritual accident. I am absolutely convinced that the reason most of us have so much trouble in life is because we lose our spiritual focus. We take our eyes off Jesus.
Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Don’t just consider Him, look to Him daily in Scripture and prayer. Keep your focus on Him and you’ll find that traveling life’s highway is a whole lot better. It’s always better to have the winner sitting beside you, giving you instruction and encouragement.
CONCLUSION---------------------------------------
ILL.- When Lloyd Douglas, author of The Robe, attended college, he lived in a boardinghouse. A retired, wheelchair-bound music professor resided on the first floor.
Each morning Douglas would stick his head in the door of the teacher’s apartment and ask the same question, "Well, what’s the good news?"
The old man would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of his wheelchair and say, "That’s middle C! It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs sings flat. The piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C."
Brothers and sisters, we all need a middle C. Relationships change. Health changes. The weather changes, but Jesus never changes! HE IS OUR MIDDLE C! Life is forever changing, but Jesus is the constant we can always trust while traveling life’s journey.
Heb. 13:8 “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever!”
