Have You Forgotten?

Have you forgotten? Hebrews 12:1-11(Amp)

• • The Spartan Beast -The Spartan Montana Beast is grueling:
    • 13+ Miles -Expect steep mountain elevation gain, thick mud, creek beds, and uneven footing
    • 30 brutal challenges, including carries, climbs, and crawls
    • Set in the rugged Montana wilderness in the Flathead Valley, it combines challenging mountain terrain, steep climbs, technical descents, and river crossings that demand both physical endurance and mental grit. 
    • Most participants finish in roughly 3.5 to 5 hours, heavily dependent on fitness level and course conditions
  • I, through the influence of some of the dudes here – have done this death race twice 
  • The first time, it was acceptable – I didn’t know what to expect but the second time when I came home with another injury- my beautiful wife asked me – Did you forget what happened last time? – maybe that was before I signed up for the second time 
  • When I think of our passage today of running with endurance – I think of the Spartan race – You know there will be challenges (John 16:33 (NKjv) These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you [a]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”) 
  • You think you know what it involves, but you only understand 10% of it- if that
  •  I wish this life race was a choice- I will sign up to walking and no obstacles please 
  • Whether you like it or not you are in it -running – intentionally or unintentionally 
  • The word Race comes from an Ancient Greek work agona- word used for conflict or struggle of many kinds 
  • Meaning, in this life there will be conflicts/struggles
  • And from Paul’s letter to the churches, we can say that he had an awareness of the race set before him: 

• Philippians 1:29-30 (NLT) For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. 30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it

• • Paul is saying – I signed the dotted lines, and I will count it all Joy when I get into various trials – why?
  • Because there is something greater that awaits us at the finish line 

• I Timothy 6:12 (Amp) Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and [for which] you confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses.

• Hebrews 12:2 (Nlt) We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.[a] Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. 

• Jesus modeled this – Through it all He kept His eyes on the reward set before Him 
• Paul never forgot that this second change he had been given was Agona for the Lord and we shouldn’t either 
• My question for you today is, have you forgotten that you are in a race?

Crowd of witnesses

• • I got good news – Hebrew remind us that while we agonize, we are not alone 
  • One of the biggest lie and tactic of the enemy is to tell us and make us feel alone (Yet its written – I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5 Nkjv) – that’s a permanent promise) 

• Vs 1. Therefore (meaning – its a given) since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses 

• • There is a GREAT crowd of witnesses- who are these people?
    • People who trusted God and agonized to the end. Their lives testify that God’s promises are TRUE & AMEN. 
    • They confirm that is possible to live in the world of trouble and overcome while giving God all the glory 

• The focus is not that these great men of faith are picking in the edge of Heaven cheering us on – (that’s the work of the Holy Spirit- Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby – John 14:26 (Amp)) –It’s us looking at their examples and agonizing well 

• • Also, the witnesses are your brothers and sisters in Christ. Remember the Spartan race- on top of the encouraging words (you got this), the help to get over some of the obstacles, the shared snacks and mustard packets – one of the most powerful motivations was when I saw someone go through an obstacle, I thought that there was no way I could do it 
  • As I watched them, I saw (Witnessed) how they did it: they put their feet there, they held on to that part of the swing, they stepped on the left support step first, they used their left lung to breathe, and they smiled with their eyes while bitting their lips 
  • Today as I watch (witness) my brothers and sisters:
    • They lost their job and still showed up to church every time the door opened
    • They have health issues and they still praise with their hands lifted up
    • They just lost their child and yet they remained faithful
    • They have marriage issues, yet they continue to fight for the covenant
    • They are in their teens struggling with friendship at school, they feel alone, yet they are at the alter every Sunday worshipping God!

• I am encouraged and challenged at the same time 

• • Have you forgotten that you are a witness by the way you represent Christ and others are being encouraged or discouraged when they look at you?

• Actions speak louder than words

• Matthew 7:16-17 (NLT) You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.

• What kind of witness are you?

Unnecessary weight 

• • You can’t run be a good witness if you are carrying  unnecessary weight
  • I have never seen a sign at the starting point of any race that says “Carryon weight limit” – It’s as given 

• All runners know that less is more – that you only carry the essentials 

• Vs 1-2 (Ampc) – let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, 2 Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus

• • The unnecessary weight – The enemy cannot stop you from running 
  • But he can slow you down and discourage you in clingy to and entangled ways – and you end up trading your essentials for things that don’t help you and won’t help you in the race 

• 1 Peter 5:8 (Nlt) Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

• • The writer warns us to strip aside – it’s a confirmation that we will have things in our lives that will sneak into our lives and slow us down
  • But we have to ask the Lord to search us, examine us and see if there is anything that is not intended to be on us during my race 

• Psalm 139:23-24 (Nkjv) Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

• • Is there division, jealousy, strive, anger, lies, lust, fear, doubt, self-reliance, lack of faith, e.t.c 
  • All these things and much more are unnecessary weight – It serves us better to stop for a minute and check yourself 
  • 2 Corinthians 13:5 (Nlt) Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.

• Lamentations 3:40 (Nkjv) Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the Lord

• We have a part to play and it’s for your own good 
• Test yourself, ask the Lord to test you – if you don’t the unnecessary weight will cost you your reward and your life 

Focus on Jesus 

• • You can’t focus on Jesus when you are being bugged by unnecessary weight
  • Have you forgotten to keep your eyes on your lane and at the finish line? 

• Vs 2-3(NLT) We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

• • We have so much we can learn from Jesus just on these two verses 
  • That He kept His eyes on the assignment and reward ahead of Him
  • He concentrated on the joy that awaited him – Whatever we focus on expands 
  • Because of the joy ahead -not during His trial but – joy ahead He endured the cross 
  • The joy of seeing you be reconciled with the Father – Him paying for the sin and acquitting us from any guilt of our sin – these was the joy that allowed Him to endure the cross
  • The joy of accomplishing His Fathers will, that none should perish but all have eternal life 
  • He endured the shame for you and I 

• Isaiah 53:7-10 (NLT) He was oppressed and treated harshly,
  yet he never said a word.
  He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
      And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
      he did not open his mouth.
  8 Unjustly condemned,
      he was led away.[a]
  No one cared that he died without descendants,
      that his life was cut short in midstream.[b]
  But he was struck down
      for the rebellion of my people.
  9 He had done no wrong
      and had never deceived anyone.
  But he was buried like a criminal;
      he was put in a rich man’s grave.

• 10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
      and cause him grief.
  Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
      he will have many descendants.
  He will enjoy a long life,
      and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.

• Shameful mocking, shameful beating, shameful crown, shameful robe, shameful cross – Jesus despised it yet endured it – because His eyes were on the father 

• • • I have realized that most of our unnecessary weight comes from trying to safeguard ourselves from shame 
    • We don’t want others to see us being ____ that bring shame 
    • That is why we are defensive, we preemptively strike with words, action and distance, we shut others out, we payback 
    • The cross was an instrument of shame – Public shame, Humiliation, pain and fear 
    • But Jesus all-knowing and all powerful disregarded the shame because He only set His eyes on the race that was set before Him 

• Let go of shame dear brothers and sister – Let there be a renewing of the mind 

• • • A mind that says, “I am new, the old is gone and I am a child of God” and I have a race to run /My eyes are on the finish line

• 2 Corinthians 4:17–18 ( NLT) For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

• I like how the writer ends vs 3  Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

Welcome discipline 

• • Have you forgotten that you are a son and daughter of the most high God?
  • Everything we have spoken about (good witness, losing unnecessary weight, focus on Jesus) can only be possible if we welcome this word of encouragement 

• Hebrews 12:5-6And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?  He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. 6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” 

• • The writer spends the next few chapters reminding you that, as a child of God there: 
  • The benefits come with discipline, protection comes with discipline, favor comes with discipline, growth comes with discipline, reward comes with discipline 

• Not every hard time is a test from the enemy – sometimes it’s the necessary thing to refine you to be like the father 

• Hebrews 12:11(NLT) No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

• • I used to work in the cellphone industry back in the days – and I was in charge of inventory. For every 100 or so phones I would get one with a red sticker that said QC 
  • QC would take one phone among hundreds and test it to make sure that batch of phones are good – there would be rigorous testing 
  • This one phone would reveal the quality of the whole batch 

• God is also in the QC business 

• Proverbs 17:3 (NLT) Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart

• Just like the phone under QC – God is more interested in the source than the symptoms 

• Hebrews 12:7 (NLT) As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

• Praise God that He is dealing with us as sons & daughters – think about what God does to His enemies