Turn to Hebrews chapter 12 and verses 1-2. I suppose I wanted to preach a New Year sermon.
! These verses would be great verses to learn, wouldn't they, for you and I. Hebrews 12 and verses 1-2.
! I'm going to begin a series next week in the book of Philippians, and so maybe you want to read that this week.
But today, Philippians chapter 12 and verses 1-2. Some of you are very young, aren't you? Some of you are very old, aren't you?
Some of you are very old. And I expect children, you look around you, and some of you will look around and you'll think,
these people are ancient, aren't they? These people are ancient.
I want to speak, really, this morning on how do you keep going? How do you keep going as a Christian when you're very young and when you're very old?
The theme, the big word is perseverance. That's the big word. How do you persevere? How can I keep on going?
I expect some of you are sitting here this morning, you've got through Christmas, you're exhausted,
and the thought of a new year doesn't actually fill you with great joy. You think, how can I keep on going?
Maybe you've got many worries, anxieties about life on this coming year.
And there are many things that are needed to live and to serve God in our world,
but it seems to me that none of them are more vital
or more neglected by the church than this big theme of perseverance.
In a way, it's the theme of the whole of the letter of Hebrews.
The letter of the Hebrews is written to a group of Christians
who are living in days which were pretty dangerous for them spiritually.
And the danger of drifting,
spiritually drifting, was an ever-present danger. In fact, there's two dangers.
One of the dangers is drifting away,
and the other danger is shrinking back.
Let me show you that.
If you come with me to Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1,
the apostle makes it really clear.
He says this in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1,
Therefore you must pay, we must pay close attention
to what we've heard lest we drift away from it.
And that seems to be a drifting,
which is just careless or neglect.
Maybe they weren't applying themselves to the truth of what God had said.
And so in chapter 2 and verse 3,
you get this question where it says,
and this is written to the church, to Christians,
how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
And it was this drifting that caused neglect.
You know what that is.
When you go on holiday in the summer,
and you go away for a week or two,
and you leave your garden,
when your garden,
when you come back after a week or two away in the summertime,
your garden isn't exactly like how you left it, is it?
Because it's been neglected.
You didn't do anything with it,
and yet it has grown.
It is overgrown.
Drifting.
And neglect.
The other danger is in chapter 10 and verse 32.
Can you see that?
He says to them,
recall the former days when after you were enlightened,
you endured,
and here it is,
a hard struggle with sufferings.
Sometimes you were publicly exposed to reproach and affliction,
sometimes being partners with those so treated.
For you had compassion on those in prison,
and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property,
since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
Therefore,
do not throw away your confidence,
which is a great reward.
For you have need of endurance,
perseverance,
so that when you've done the will of God,
you may receive what is promised for yet a little while.
And the coming one will come and will not delay,
but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.
But we are not those who shrink back and are destroyed,
but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
So the appeal is keep on going.
Now can you imagine at the end of chapter 10,
these Hebrew Christians,
they've been weakened by suffering.
They've lived in pretty discouraging times,
pretty desperate situations.
And they're saying,
is this perseverance really possible?
Can I really keep going?
Is it really feasible for somebody who is ordinary and weak and frail like me,
to go on believing and trusting in the Lord?
My circumstances are dark and difficult and troubling.
Is it practical for me?
And the writer says,
well,
it's certainly historical,
and so chapter 11 is the story of people who lived by faith in God.
Look what it says in chapter 8,
by faith,
Abraham obeyed when he was called out to go to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance,
and he went out not knowing where he was going.
He believed God.
He took his only son,
and he laid him on an altar by faith,
and he offered him up.
By faith,
Moses,
can you see him?
Verse 23,
when he was born,
was hidden for three months by his parents.
And when he was grown up,
verse 24,
he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God,
than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
He considered the reproach of Israel of greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt.
And we're given this catalogue of men and women,
who in circumstances of appalling difficulty,
believed God and kept going.
I haven't got time to go through the chapter.
But it's a catalogue of one person after another,
who kept on going.
And that's what the apostle calls us to.
He imagines life as a race.
And he says,
you're on the track in the Christian life,
not for a sprint,
not for 400 meters,
but for the marathon.
And he says,
persevere,
keep going.
There's nothing more urgent than this.
And maybe our world finds this kind of perseverance strange.
But we need to cry to God at the start of this year,
that he would form in us,
and make in our Christian character,
such that we would persevere.
You find it all through the Bible.
You find it in the teaching of Jesus.
You find it in the teaching of John.
You find it in the teaching of the apostle Paul.
So Jesus said this,
John 8, 31.
He said,
if you continue in my word,
then you are my disciples.
Colossians 1, 22 and 23,
the apostle speaks about presenting us before the throne of God,
provided that you continue in the faith,
stable and steadfast,
not shifting from the hope of the gospel.
The apostle John speaks of some who've left us.
If they'd been with us,
they would have continued with us.
And so there's this constant plea in the New Testament.
The apostle Paul in Acts 13,
he persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
2 Timothy 3, verse 14,
he says to his apprentice Timothy,
continue in the things you've heard.
Now these two verses of Hebrews 12 are full of that.
So let's look at them under four headings.
First of all,
the need for perseverance.
The need for perseverance.
Why is it such a vital quality
that God calls us to seek from him?
It derives from the very nature of the Christian life.
And the word persevere gives us a clue.
It's often set against the background
of a military metaphor.
So it's used to continue the fight,
the battle,
until the very end.
Not to desert the field.
Not to run away.
Because the enemy seems so great.
Don't give up your post.
But go on battling
until victory.
That's one picture.
The military picture.
The second picture is
that of an athletic one.
It's of a race of staying the course.
Of not dropping out.
Of not falling behind,
but staying the course.
And the apostles are using
that particular picture here.
But you also find the military one
in chapter 11,
where the apostle speaks
about the kind of perseverance.
He says in chapter 11
and verses 33 to 34,
he speaks for all these different people
who through faith,
chapter 11 verse 33,
conquered kingdoms,
enforced justice,
obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the power of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword,
were made strong out of weakness,
became mighty in war,
put foreign armies to flight.
That's the military context,
isn't it?
And so in both of these,
Paul finds himself,
or the apostle,
the epistle finds himself
talking of the Christian life
as a race and as a battle.
He puts them together,
doesn't he?
So think about 2 Timothy,
when he speaks about
the end of the Christian life,
what does he say?
He says,
I fought the good fight,
I finished the race.
And so what I'm trying to say to you
is this,
the Christian life,
as it's painted in the New Testament,
is painted as a race
and a fight.
It is nowhere depicted as a holiday
or a journey
through this world
that is free from danger
and free from disaster.
The Christian life is nowhere depicted
as floating to heaven
on kind of fluffy clouds
and beds of ease.
The Christian life is described
as a war
and as a race.
And a Christian has to give everything
and to discipline herself
and to prepare himself.
And the Christian has to spend
all her energies
in this business
because it's hard,
isn't it?
It's hard to fight
the good fight
and run the race.
The endurance of hardship
and of trial.
The pressures
which the apostle speaks
of a thousand different kinds.
Now, none of us
would want to hide
from any young Christian
what it's like to be a Christian.
None of us would want to hide
the sheer, indescribable joy
there is in serving God.
None of us would want
to dial down
the sheer, indescribable glory
of what it means
to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
To know God as your Father.
To have the Lord Jesus Christ
as your elder brother.
To have the Holy Spirit
within you.
We wouldn't want to downplay that.
We wouldn't want to downplay
the sheer, indescribable joy
of knowing forgiveness of sins,
your conscience cleansed,
your past dealt with,
your future secure.
of knowing that you are
an inheritor
of the riches of his grace.
But we also don't want
to hide the fact
that the Christian life
is a deadly conflict
with the most bitter of enemies.
That we're engaged
in a marathon.
That we're not in a little sprint
that takes a little bit
of energy
but we have to go on
and on
and on.
And there are occasions
aren't there
when the Church of Jesus Christ
most needs people
who are just willing
to keep on
keeping on.
Think of Christopher Columbus.
You know the guy
who discovered America?
He talks about his diary
doesn't he?
Where he's just sailing
and sailing
and sailing.
Sailing on.
That was his diary.
Day after day
after day.
Sailing on,
sailing on,
sailing on.
But there was a moment
wasn't there
where he caught sight of land.
There was a moment
when he discovered
a whole new world.
And for those
in the Christian life
who keep on
and keep on
there will be a day.
There will be a day
when you will discover
a whole new world.
To your joy
you will discover
the God
who will bring you
into a new world.
The truth is though
until that time
you will discover
also an enemy
who will use
every means
to harass you
in the Christian life
and to divert you
from the great business
of running the Christian life.
And so
to some
the apostle says
doesn't he
you ran well
but what has hindered you?
What has diverted you?
WP Nicholson said
if Satan cannot
keep you
from being converted
he will do
all he can
to get you
diverted.
Quite good isn't it?
And the devil
will divert you
by all sorts of means.
Taking your eye
away from
the finishing post.
Getting you involved
in a whole lot
of things
that will actually
just slow you down
and drag you back
and blow you
off course.
So there is this
need for perseverance.
But secondly
there's the encouragement
to perseverance.
Can you see the
beautiful balance
in the verse?
There's this really
severe need
isn't there
for perseverance.
and yet there's
glorious encouragement.
Therefore since we
are surrounded
by so great
a cloud of witnesses
let us lay aside
every weight
and sin
which clings so closely
and let us run
with perseverance
endurance
the race that is set
before us.
So can you see
the picture?
The difficulty
of perseverance
the encouragement
of the witnesses.
The picture is
think of one of those
great amphitheaters
think of a great stadium.
rising ranks
of people
watching the runners.
Tier advantage points.
And those tiers
are full of spectators
who are bearing
witness to something.
That's the important thing.
They are bearing
witness to someone.
They bear witness.
The real point
of verse 1
therefore since we
are surrounded by
so great
a cloud of witnesses
is not that the believers
are in heaven this morning
cheering us on.
That isn't the point.
They're not sadly.
And they're not
standing around
watching us
admiring what we're doing.
Isn't Paul Levy
doing so well this week?
That's not the main point.
That's not the big point.
But the big point
Paul the apostle
who we don't know
who wrote Hebrews
is that the big point
is
is we need to listen
to what these witnesses
are testifying.
What are these witnesses
in Hebrews chapter 11
that he's just named?
What are they saying
to us
in the crowd?
Well think about it.
How did they manage
to go on?
How did Abraham
keep on course?
How did Moses
go through
all those trials
and pressures
that he experienced
in leading
those difficult people
Israel
out of Egypt?
Was it because
they had some
great personal qualities?
Was it because
Sarah had some
wonderful characteristics?
No it wasn't was it?
It was because
of the faithfulness
of God.
We're told that
he endured
Moses
he endured
as seeing him
who is invisible.
And that is what
all these great clouds
of witnesses
bear witness to.
That is the great
encouragement
to persevere.
And incidentally
that is why
we should be people
who are interested
in history.
It should be the
history of Christ's
church.
The biblical use
of history
is not to point
us to the past
and say
oh they were
great days
weren't they?
They were great
days in the
16th, 17th
and 18th century.
That's not the
biblical use of
history.
It's not wishing
that you were
living in the past
oh that we were
living in those
days.
No the biblical
use of history
is to say
look what the
living God
did in those
days and that
God is the
same God as
today.
And so where
is the Lord
God of Elijah?
The answer is
he is precisely
here with us.
He is the
same God.
God has not
changed one
iota.
And there's
not one thing
that he did
for those men
and women in
Hebrews chapter
11 that he's
unable to do
for you.
And you might
be thinking
well not me
not for me
other people
here maybe
but not for
me.
but the
living God
who took
that geriatric
Sarah
and gave her
a child
the living
God who
took Abraham
who brought
the name of
his God
into disgrace
when he went
down into
the land of
Egypt.
That God
is able to
take you
and make
you the
kind of man
or woman
or boy
or girl
who will
go on
and on
to the end.
Encouragement
to persevere.
And so
think about
how does
God introduce
himself in
the Bible
often.
He says
I am the
God of
Abraham
and I am
the God
of Isaac
and I am
the God
of Jacob
and I am
the God
who brought
your fathers
out of
Egypt.
He isn't
simply giving
them a history
lesson is he?
He is telling
them this is
my character.
These are
the qualities
at the start
of 2023
that you
ought to
put your
confidence in.
This is
the God
you are
to rest
in
and rest
upon.
Thirdly
what about
the preparation
for perseverance?
The preparation
for perseverance
there is a
preparation
so look at
verse 1
therefore
since we
are surrounded
by so
great a
cloud of
witnesses
let us
lay aside
every weight
and sin
which clings
so closely
and let
us run
with endurance
the race
that is
set before
us.
In your
vision
it will
say throw
off everything
that hinders.
The writer
of the Hebrews
is urging
us
and urging
the readers
to be serious
about the race
and he is
only addressing
those who are
serious to
throw off
everything
that would
be an
impediment
in running
it.
And so
one of the
ways that
people are
hindered
and prevented
from persevering
is just
because they
are weighed
down with
various kind
of impediments.
So can you
see what the
race is like?
It's not like
the school
parents race
at the
school
sports day.
You know
what that race
is like isn't
it?
And people
get there
they've done
no warming
up
and yet
they really
go for it
don't they
and there's
hamstrings
pulled
and all
sorts of
things
and people
joking
and laughing.
It's not
a fun run.
The Christian
race is not
a fun run.
It is what
life is all
about.
And it's
why we're
here.
The question
is how
serious
am I?
Think of
the professional
sportsman
get up in
the morning
and they
weigh themselves.
They fill in
a sleep
chart of how
they slept.
They watch
what they eat
for breakfast.
They train
until they can
train no more.
They manage
their load.
They live
don't they
a really
strange kind
of life.
And you say
to them
why on earth
are you doing
that?
Why are you
living like
that?
What's the
point in
doing that?
And they
would say
to us
it all
depends how
seriously
you take
the sport.
Lots of
people in
churches ask
the question
is there
any harm
in dot
dot?
There's
probably not
any harm
in that but
it's not
the right
question.
The question
is this
is how
serious are
we about
the race?
And in
our culture
we would
say well
you don't
want to be
too serious
do you?
I don't
know about
you but
I have
found that
the man
or woman
who is
most serious
about God
is often
the most
gentle
and the
most humorous
and the
kindest of
people.
And I've
tragically found
that the
person who
is a
Christian but
is not
really serious
about God
often is
the most
unhappy
most
discontented.
And that's
because they've
got the
worst of
both worlds.
And so
just look
with me at
chapter 12
verse 1
because it
is a
flabbergasting
verse isn't
it?
Lay aside
every weight.
And let's
go to the
Olympic final
100 metres
and you
know they
go along
the thing
and they
I don't
know
who
is
runners
now
and they
kind of
interact
one
is
dot dot dot
and there
you go
the person
waves at
their crowd
and they're
from
Dominican
Republic
you've
got someone
from Jamaica
and then
you come
to somebody
who's
wearing
a duffel
coat
and carrying
two
suitcases
on the
front
on the
start line
of the
100 metres
it would
be ridiculous
wouldn't it
be so
stupid
a figure
of
stupidity
is there
anything
stupid
about
an
overcoat
it's not
is there
there's nothing
stupid
about carrying
suitcases
that's
really fine
it's good
to have
a coat
it's good
to have
suitcases
but
it's what
he's professing
to do
makes it
ridiculous
and here's
the point
the apostle
says
the weights
and the
hindrances
get rid
of them
and just
notice
can you see
this
I'm not
sure I've
seen this
before
but in
verse 1
there's a
distinction
between
every weight
and sin
the weights
are distinguished
from
sin
there are
things in
your life
and my life
that are
not sinful
and yet
they may be
a weight
that is
stopping us
from the
Christian
life
and yet
there are
things
which are
harmful
for all
people
all the
time
these things
cling about
us
and the
apostle Paul
says to you
think about
your life
this morning
at the
start of
2023
and
disentangle
yourself
from the
things
that are
hindering
you
and drop
the sin
that is
stopping you
running
maybe a
phone
maybe an
app
maybe the
TV
maybe money
it may be
possessions
maybe a
relationship
that is
stopping you
from running
all out
maybe the
trap of
pornography
and Paul
speaks about
cutting
cutting away
in Romans
Paul speaks
about putting
things to death
he speaks
about being
radical
with certain
things in our
lives
being radical
with things
that will
stop us
running the
race
and keeping
on looking
at the
finished
post
don't
drift
preparation
for
perseverance
let us lay
aside every
weight and
the sin
that so
easily
entangles
and then
finally
let's
just see
the manner
in which
way to
persevere
look at
verse 2
why is it
worth it
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
right now
at the
right hand
of the
throne
of God
and so
can you
notice
where our
eyes are
in the
race
our eyes
are not
primarily
on the
cloud of
witnesses
our eyes
are on
Jesus
and he
is the
author
he is the
founder
and the
finisher
of our
faith
and of
course
Jesus
is the
great
example
of
perseverance
isn't he
he is the
prototype
of perseverance
look what
he did
he endured
the cross
he despised
the shame
and is seated
at the right
hand of God
and so
if you think
of Jesus
life
they came
to him
again and
the devil
came to him
again and
again to
divert him
to try and
distract him
to try and
entangle him
and so
when Peter
says you are
the Christ
the son of the
living God
and then
immediately
Simon Peter
says this
way of
suffering that
you're talking
about Jesus
that isn't the
way of the
Messiah
that isn't
the way of
the Lord
and what
does Jesus
say to Peter
Jesus says
get behind
me Satan
because he
saw behind
Peter's
diversion
was the
devil
diverting his
eyes from
the glory of
the father
and as he
hung on the
cross you
remember what
they said to
him they
said come
down from
the cross
if you are
the Christ
but he
didn't listen
because he
persevered and
he endured
the cross
but of course
we don't look
to Jesus
primarily as
our example
we look to
him primarily
as our
eternal
sufficient
saviour
that he
is the
author and
the finisher
of the faith
what that
means is this
this is a
wonderful truth
the only reason
if you are
running the
Christian life
this morning
the only reason
if you are
in the race
this morning
is because
he's put
you there
it's only
by his
grace and
by his
mercy
that the
Lord Jesus
Christ has
made you
who were
dead in
your trespasses
and sins
and made
you alive
in Christ
so that
you can
run
and he's
given you
newness of
life and
he's put a
new heart
and a new
spirit within
you and a
new desire
for heaven
and the glory
of God
and he's put
you in that
race and he
is the author
of that race
he is the
alpha the
beginning of
that race
but notice
it also
says he
is the
finisher
because he
who began
a good
work in
you will
bring it
to completion
at the
day of
Jesus
Christ
and that
wonderfully
means that
if God
has begun
a work
in you
he will
complete it
and he
will finish
it
and so
the secret
to running
this race
is not
that I
have this
particular
quality in
my Christian
character
it is
primarily
that God
will
persevere
with me
he will
persevere
with me
to the
end
and he
calls you
and I
to persevere
because he
persevered
with us
to be the
author and
finisher of
our faith
and that is
the ground
on which we
rest
as we set
our eyes
on the
Lord Jesus
and we are
able to say
at the start
of this year
Lord take
me on
let nothing
divert me
and so
the great
business of
your life
and my
life
this year
is to go
on with the
Lord Jesus
Christ
and to keep
going on
and so
we say to
him today
don't we
let not
the sins
which cling
around me
help me
Lord to
put them
to death
give me
a new
heart
give me
a great
hope that
will delight
in you
that God
will go
on in
his work
with you
what he
has begun
he will
continue
he is
the author
and the
finisher
so we
know the
hymn
don't we
a debtor
to mercy
alone
the work
which his
goodness
began
the arm
of his
strength
will complete
his promise
is yea
Amen!
and never
was forfeited
yet
and so
that is
the hope
of the
child of
God
this
morning
as we
look to
the future
of this
year
and that
is why
when we
say keep
on
keeping
on
we are
assured
that there
is a
new world
that is
coming
and in
that world
this morning
there is a
forerunner
who has
entered
into it
before us
you think
of the
image
he has
put an
anchor
down
for our
souls
and it is
as it
were
he is
drawing
you in
and the
Christian life
is letting
him draw
you
and let
nothing
in earth
or in
hell
divert you
from it
and may
God make
us a
people
who will
persevere
to the end
let's pray
together