“Great
Issues Of Life” Series #3
"MOOD!"
TEXT: Hebrews
12:1-3, 12-13, 18-24
INTRO: Picture
these scenes: You're grocery shopping ... down aisle B you travel to the sounds
of classical music…
You're
in your favorite restaurant ... the lights are low; the corner table is yours as
a violinist serenades you during your meal ... it's your anniversary and you
actually remembered the right date – you even got your wife
flowers!
You
woke up with a headache ... the kids are screaming, schools out and they’re
bored at home ... the telephone just rang for the 5th call since 7 a.m., and the
pot roast burnt about the same time you were trying to figure out why the
washing machine quit mid cycle!
You
just sat down to do your budget, your monthly income was up this month, almost
$1,500 this month ... then the total for the bills comes to $1,750 for the same
time period ... next morning the Pastor
preaches on tithing!
You
just discovered you are the winner of a $10,000 dollar sweepstakes ... and that
afternoon in the mail you receive a letter from the IRS stating that a serious
error had been found on previous tax forms ... the government owes you $5,000
dollars in returns ... then your husband comes home and announces he just got a
huge raise and promotion that will require less work and less hours but with
much more income ... the kids bring their reports cards home and they both have
straight A's and the comments at the bottom says, "Model
children!"
TRANS.
SENT:
Moods obviously affect
to a great deal our behavior ... and our persistence in setting out to do
something (or not do something!) ... thus it is important HOW we look at
things in life, not just what we do with things!
PROP.
SENT: The Bible teaches
us to “guard
our hearts and minds” ... to set out to deliberately fix our moods or
attitudes toward Christ ... and stick to our faith! Christianity doesn't just happen to us
... we are active participants in the process and we deeply affect the
process!
I. STUBBORNNESS THAT'S RIGHT! Heb. 12:1-3
A. History! Heb.
12:la
1. "Surrounded" by a great cloud of "witnesses" (Greek lit: "Testifiers")
a. The Greek work for "witness" comes from "marturos"
(“marturwn”) ... our English word "Martyr" comes from it ...
but,
b. The Biblical concept of “martyr” has changed over the years ... it
didn't mean then "one who died for their faith" ... but “one who
TESTIFIED about their faith,” whether they lived or
died!
2. We are not alone in the struggle of
faith ... next time you feel lonely think of yourself within a huge stadium
surrounded by all the believers who have died in faith and they are cheering you
on!
3. Struggling is not just YOUR THING
... it has been every believer's experience!
4. Others have struggled and survived
... or conquered ... so can you!
ILLUS: By
7 p.m. on October 20, 1968, at the Mexico City Olympics Stadium, it was
beginning to darken. It had cooled
down as well. The last of the
Olympic marathon runners were being assisted away to first-aid stations. Over an hour earlier, Mamo Waldi of
Ethiopia had charged across the finish line, winning the 26-mile, 385-yard race
looking as strong and as vigorous as when he'd started. As the last few thousand spectators began
preparing to leave, they heard police sirens and whistles through the gate
entering the stadium. The attention
turned to that gate. A sole figure,
wearing the colors of Tanzania, came limping into the stadium. His name was John Steven Aquari. He was the last man to finish the
marathon in 1968. His leg was
bandaged, bloody. He had taken a
bad fall early in the race. Now, it
was all he could do to limp his way around the track. The crowd stood and applauded as he
completed that last lap. When he
finally crossed the finish line, one man dared ask the question all were
wondering. "You are badly injured.
Why didn't you quit? Why didn't you give up?" Aquari, with quiet dignity said, "My
country did not send me seven thousand miles to start this race. My country sent me to finish." So it is with God. God didn't just send you to start this
race. He didn't just send you to
begin a noble task or a noble relationship. God sent you both to start and to
finish.
--
Craig Brian Larson, "Strong to the Finish," Preaching Today, Tape No.
155.
5. If we allow ourselves to sit in
self-pity and get moody we might be tempted to quit!
B. Hindrances Heb. 12:lb
1. Here we are told what to do when
such times come:
a. “Throw off
everything that hinders our progress” ... this is an active process
on our part!
b. AND to “throw off any
sin that so easily entangles us!”
c. Thus it is NOT JUST sins the writer
is referring to since there can be other "things" that can hinder us ... such as
improper perspective and improper moods, anything that gets in the way of our
making progress spiritually!
2. Since the analogy of the text
refers to runners in the stadium games the image is important ... a good runner
knows that the less stuff you carry the longer you will be able to
run!
a. Excess baggage will wear you
out!
b. Nobody runs with the idea that
they will quit before the finish line either!
c. Pacing oneself is critical in a
running race also ... don't run too fast at first though you feel you can whip
the world ... you'll need the stamina later ... even out the pace from first to
last!
3. Denial can be our worst enemy at
this stage, we have a tendency to deny that "things" can hinder our
efforts:
ILLUS: Like
the old dessert nomad who awakened hungry in the middle of the night, he lit a
candle and began eating dates from a bowl near his bed ... he took a bite from
the first one and noticed a worm in it ... tried a second, again a worm ... and
third ... and a fourth, still worms!
Finally he came upon a solution ... he would blow the light out and eat
them in the dark, then he wouldn't know ... and so he ate them all in the
dark!
– Source Unknown
4. Denial doesn't solve our problems
... it only hides them temporarily!
C. Headstrong!
Heb.
12:lc-3
1. "Run with
perseverance..." Heb.
12:lc
a. There is no other way to run in a
race!
b. You don't enter a race just to run
only as far as you feel like running!
c. Will must overcome mood ... or at
least control it!
2. Notice to the end of this verse he
calls the race, "the race marked out for
us."
a. In other words ... we don't always
get to choose the route ... we just follow it!
b. Short-cuts will only disqualify
us…
ILLUS: Several
years ago a woman in the Boston Marathon was disqualified because it was
discovered later that she had taken some short-cuts when she thought no one had
been looking ... she thought she could win her own way!
– Source Unknown
3. Heb.
12:2 adds: "FIX our eyes on Jesus" … “the author and
finisher of our faith...”
a. A good runner doesn't allow himself
to look at where the other runners are in relationship to
himself/herself!
ILLUS: One
year in the Olympics the guy out front coming to the finish line was so
confident of his victory that he decided it would be completely safe to turn his
head to see where the next guy was ... he did, and he lost his pace and the guy
just behind him soon passed him just as they hit the finish line!
– Source Unknown
b. Broken concentration can be costly
in a race!
c. Many runners will mark out a single
item down track and keep their eyes completely set on that mark as a focal
point.
d. Jesus should be the only object we
focus on for setting our own pace and goals ... not on the other
runners!
4. There is no denial
in the text that running will be with pain ... in fact since Jesus is referred
to it clearly states that Jesus ran with joy ... knowing that the suffering and shame of the cross
would bring great honors later!
a. The statement that Jesus endured with JOY helped
establish Jesus' mood during suffering!
b. It is not the absence of pain that
is the Christian's goal ... it is the reward in spite of
pain!
ILLUS: One
of the greatest men of the 20th century, Winston Churchill was asked to give his
final speech near the end of his life in 1955. In great pain he was helped to the
podium where he stood for a very long time with his head hung low in weakness,
barely standing he finally raised his head and delivered his final message to
the world, "NEVER GIVE UP ... NEVER GIVE
UP ... NEVER GIVE UP!" Then he
turned and sat down ... his speech over, the last one he ever gave ... but the
message spoke volumes!
– Source Unknown
5. Victory comes to the
persistent ... not to the quitters or to those who
mope!
6. Verse
3 is really acknowledging the fact that there will be those times when we
WILL feel weary and FEEL like
quitting!
a. What we are to do is look at Jesus
... He didn't quit or give up, or lose heart because He kept the long range
victory in focus during His suffering.
b. This we must do when we are
confused and feel God doesn't care or love us ... if you can't handle the
present ... then simply think about the future!
II. SMOOTHING THE ROAD! Heb.
12:12-13
A. Hopeful!
Heb.
12:12
1. Notice the "active" nature of the commands here: "Strengthen your
feeble arms and weak knees... "
a. Certainly our
flesh is weak ... and even our spirit is not always on top ... we
cannot just sit however waiting to be zapped!
b. Inherent in this statement is the
note of responsibility on our part to search out a way to “strengthen our
weak arms and weak knees!”
2. Since we are commanded to do so
... it must also be possible!
God doesn't ask us to do what we can't do ... at least without His
help!
3. Hence the note of hope is found
within the statement!
a. It is possible to have our
"feeble" arms
strengthened!
b. Our “weak
knees” can be made strong!
c. You do note however that we are asked to do this … meaning
there is a responsibility on our part to strengthen
ourselves!
4. Keeping to the runner's analogy
used at the start of the chapter can help us define some of the "how
to:"
a. Regular
exercise!
b. Practice, practice,
practice!
c. Studying the route until it is well
memorized!
d.
Listen to the coach!
e. Even the knowledge that a host of other
runners have made it already should be
encouraging!
f. This is no ordinary race
... it is not optional!
5. One way to strengthen ourselves is
by simply realizing how important this race is ... more so than any
other!
ILLUS: Years
ago when Apple computer fell on tough times, Steven Jobs, the chairman sought
out one of the best executives in the country in the hopes of saving his young
company. He went to New York to
meet with the top executive of the PEPSI Company. John Sculley, Pepsi's executive didn't
seem too anxious, finally he stated he would take the company but with the
following demands:
a. A $1,000,000
salary
b.
A $1,000,000
bonus
c. A $1,000,000 severance
pay ... Steven Jobs, desperate, finally gulped and agreed.
Then
Scully added, "And I would stay in New
York and act as consultant only!" At this Jobs flinched, finally Jobs said,
"Do you want to spend the rest of your
life selling sugared water, or do you want to change the world?" It knocked the wind out of Sculley, who
realized he would rather spend his life doing something that could really
impact the world rather than just make soda ... and he moved to California and
turned Apple around!
– Source Unknown
6. No race is more important than the
one we are in for Christ!
B. Healing!
Heb.
12:13
1. "Make level paths
for your feet..."
a. The quality of the path we follow
is partly our responsibility!
b. We can help keep that path clear or
let it get cluttered and increase the change of
tripping!
2. Many runners will walk a course
through its entirety to get the sense of what the course is like and to check it
out for any pits, holes, or bumps ... even to clear debris if necessary before
they run!
a. It is obviously easier to run on
steady even ground than it is to run up-hill!
b. How many Christians however by not
“leveling” some of the issues in their lives
find that they are always running up-hill and thus they tire
easily!
c. Check out the course and make
necessary corrections!
ILLUS: Probably
everyone has seen the old opening scenes from ABC's Wide World of Sports! ...
this skier who falls to the side of the path on the way down a jump and hurtles
through fences head over heels, plowing through people and all kinds of stuff
off the side of the run! The man
this happened to planned it that way!
As he was coming down the jump he noticed that the hill was way faster
than what was safe ... if he had made the jump he would have traveled past the
point of safe landing and would have been likely killed ... instead he chose to
just fall and ride out the spill ... unbelievably the man only sustained a
slight headache and no injuries ... he made a wise decision to save his life by
not trying to fly too far too fast ... and what a sight to see every time ABC
airs the scene!
– Source Unknown
III. SUBSTANTIAL REALITY Heb.
12:18-24
A. Heavy! Heb.
12:18-21
1. Before Christ's death on the cross,
believers had a heavy course to follow:
a. Constant sacrifices of
blood!
b. Laws that had little room for error
in them!
c. Fear was the main course of
faith!
d. God was distance in terms of
fellowship ... spoke through thunders, etc.
2. There was much one had to do --
just to approach God; hours of preparations were required,
etc.
3. Under the Old Covenant the weight
of their sins weighed in on them before a Holy God ... approach was careful and
very specific in nature ... timely too!
4. Even Moses said, "I AM TREMBLING
WITH FEAR!" And he had a
face to face relationship with God!
B. Heavenly!
Heb.
12:22-24
1. Fortunately we have a new mountain
we can come to! MOUNT
ZION!
a. To a heavenly Jerusalem that
actually lives up to its name: “CITY OF PEACE”
b. Instead of hiding in fear from God
and His angels we can JOIN THEM!
c. Celebration marks the NEW COVENANT
faith, not fear!
2. Instead of focusing on our guilt
... we can focus on forgiveness!
3. Grace has overwhelmed Law ... and
we have had God's grace “POURED out on us” in
Christ!
4. We are the guilty prisoners who
have been set free and pardoned from sin and guilt ... free to live a new
life!
ILLUS: The
18th century King of Prussia; King Frederick II was visiting the Berlin prison
one day to speak with the inmates.
As he went from cell to cell each prisoner tried their hardest to
convince the king of their real innocence. Each one after the other told stories of
how they had been unjustly convicted and imprisoned ... until one guy when the
King asked, "Were you guilty?"
replied like this: "Yes
sir,
I entirely deserve my punishment."
The King was taken by this prisoner
and asked him, "what are your
crimes?" He responded, "Armed robbery your honor." Suddenly the King gave an order to the
prison officials right on the spot, "Release this guilty man immediately ... I
don't want him corrupting all these other innocent prisoners!" Confession had won his release, while
those who had denied their sin remained
in jail! THE KING HAS SET US
FREE ... THOUGH WE WERE GUILTY!
– Source Unknown
5. The blood of Jesus speaks a
better covenant than did the blood of Abel ... or that of
animals!
6. We have therefore, a bold faith ...
one that rejoices ... our MOOD CAN BE UP - even when we feel
down!
7. The NEW COVENANT in Christ gives us
the ability to run and make the goal line ... REMEMBER "NEVER GIVE UP,
NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER GIVE UP!"
CONCLUSION: A great deal of how we feel about
life is at our own control! Much of
how we feel, and how we respond is a matter of choices, including moods! Moods influence perspective, and
perspective affects action! The
good news is we are not alone in the
race!