The Power of the Resurrection pt. 2

Mark Finley: Let us run with endurance. Why? Because we're looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We're not looking at the problems, the difficulties, the challenges. We're looking at Jesus. Looking unto Jesus gives us the strength to endure life's tough times.
Guest (Male): This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: The Power of the Resurrection, Part Two. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up-to-date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: Let's suppose you were visiting England. My wife and I lived in England from 1985 to 1990. One of the things we enjoyed doing was going down to London. We were living in Saint Albans, about 25 miles from London, and we’d love to come to Buckingham Palace. I remember one of the early times I got there, we took the train down to London. You go down to the Piccadilly Circus and you walk around. But I didn't know much about London, so I'm saying, "Where's Buckingham Palace? I want to see Buckingham Palace." Finally, a kind Britisher, a Londoner, said, "Okay, you've got to go through the park here, and you walk up here and you go over there, and you'll be right at the gates of Buckingham Palace." Was I happy to get to the gates of Buckingham Palace. Now, if I visited London today, do you think it might be possible that Prince William and Princess Kate would meet me there? And they would say, "We want you to come to dinner with King Charles." Some of you are shaking your head yes. Well, you've either got faith or a lot of presumption. I think it's more presumption than faith. Is it one thing to know the direction to get to the gates, but another thing to get into the palace and fellowship with the King? Here is the incredible good news. Jesus says through Paul in Hebrews, "Let us draw near with a full heart in the assurance of faith." Let us draw near. The marvelous truth of the resurrection of Christ is that you and I can draw near to God through Christ and have the Shekinah glory of God fill our hearts and fill our lives with a new hope and a new strength. Now, a true heart implies sincerity and not hypocrisy. We come into the presence of God not to get something from Him, but to enjoy fellowship with Him. To know Him deeply, to fellowship with Him intimately, to commune with Him intently. We come with full assurance that implies complete confidence that Christ welcomes us into His presence. It's the unwavering faith in the power of Christ to cleanse the soul from sin and to impart the grace to live godly lives. We come in full assurance, not doubt. We come with faith to believe that Jesus will do for us what He promised. Doubt and unbelief rob us of the blessings that God has for us. It is not what doubt does to us, don't miss this, it is rather what doubt keeps us from doing. Doubt keeps us from living the life of faith. Doubt keeps us from the joy that God wants to give us. Doubt keeps us from living the abundant Christian life. Doubt and unbelief rob us from the blessings God desires to give. I love the way George Mueller put it. Mueller put it this way. He said, "Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him and expect help from Him, He will never fail you." Now, the apostle uses two keywords in this passage. Let's go back to the passage and look at it again. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 22. "Let us draw near with a true heart," without hypocrisy, wanting to know God, not wanting to manipulate God to try to get something from Him. "In full assurance," complete assurance, "having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." Look, in the ancient sanctuary, holy things were cleansed with blood. In the ancient sanctuary, the priest was washed with water in the laver. What's Paul saying here? He's saying only Christ, our High Priest, can cleanse us from sin. This is no external cleansing. Only Christ can cleanse our actions. Only Christ can cleanse our desires. Only Christ can cleanse our inner thoughts. So let us, through the merits of Christ, enter into the presence of God in full assurance to allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse us for preparation for the coming of Jesus. Our Great High Priest welcomes us into His presence. Our Great High Priest forgives us. We come to Jesus just as we are, but we don't stay as we are. Jesus wants to do a work in your life and mine of cleansing. He wants to sprinkle His blood symbolically upon us so we understand the depth of the meaning of the cross. Our hearts are broken at the cross so we find forgiveness there. He wants to cleanse us with the washing of water of His word. So that as we fill our hearts and minds with His word, we are different men and different women. Fifth "let us." This "let us" is specifically designed for you and me in relation to one another. We go here to Hebrews chapter 10 again, and we're looking at verse 24. Your fifth "let us." "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is." Resurrection power provides us with the motivation to encourage one another. Did you notice what the text said? "Let us consider one another" in order to do what? "Stir up love and good works" in who? In one another. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, exhorting one another." What is that, "one another"? What's exhorting one another? Encouraging one another, so much the more as you see the day approaching. See, the world is full of discouragers. The world is full of discouragers. It is. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. It's surprising how one word of encouragement can lift the spirit, encourage the heart, put a spring in your step and a smile on your face. Just yesterday, I was over here at Giant at the grocery store, running around before Sabbath like you all probably were, trying to get as much stuff as possible. The checker in the line was a new lady. We had been through this same checker before, and man, was she slow. But Sabbath was coming, and I wanted to get into the fastest line, and I noticed there were hardly any people in that line. So I ran to that line, and she got a little faster than she was the day before. It didn't take her 10 minutes to check me out; it only took her 9 and a half. I’m a little bit tense because Sabbath is coming and she's checking slow. But then all of a sudden the thought came to me, "She's going a little faster." So I looked up at her and smiled and said, "Boy, you're really learning this job well, madam. You are going faster today than you did the other day." She looked at me and she said, "This has been a rough day for me." And I said, "Tell me about it." At that moment, my rushing didn't make much difference. I didn't care if people were behind me in the line. I said, "Tell me about it." She said, "I made a big mistake." I said, "What was the mistake?" She said, "I charged the wrong person for the groceries. Somebody came through the line and I made a mistake, and I charged the person in the back for the person in the front's groceries and the person in the front for the person in the back." She said, "This is a big mistake." I said, "You know, we all make mistakes in life. Every single one of us makes mistakes. We can sometimes expect them." Thank you very much, you're encouraging the old preacher. I looked at her and I said, "You know, we all make mistakes in life. None of us are perfect. But you're doing so much better today. Don't worry, you're going to get this job and you'll be just fine." As she checked me out, I began to walk away and she looked at me, and this is what she said. "Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you for encouraging me." One word of encouragement can bring a smile on somebody's face. It can bring a sparkle in somebody's eye. It can put a spring in somebody's step. It can lift a heavy burden off their shoulders. The world is full of discouragers, and it's surprising how one word of encouragement can make a difference. What does our text say? "Let us consider one another" in order to stir up one another in love and good works. I love this simple poem. The poem goes like this: "If you see a friend despondent 'neath the cares and ills of life, if he wears a face of sadness and if weary in the strife, speak a word of hearty kindness, greet him with a handclasp warm, let your smile be like the sunshine breaking through the clouds and storm." Our text says "let us, let us, let us consider one another." You know, there's a regulation in the British Royal Navy that says this: "No man shall speak discouragingly to another officer in the discharge of his duties." If that is true of the Royal Navy, it certainly ought to be true of the church of God. If there's any place that should be a place of mutual support, a place of encouragement, a place of inspiration in the journey of life, it ought to be where? The church. We are Christians not only for our own sake, but for the sake of others. It's easy to drift into a kind of selfish religiosity where our focus is on our needs rather than the needs of others. When we live to bless others, Jesus blesses us. When we minister to others, Jesus ministers to us. When we meet the needs of others, Jesus meets our needs. And when we serve others, Jesus serves us. The words of this "let us" urge us to consider one another. The sixth "let us." Resurrection power provides the ability for us to lay aside every weight and the sin that easily besets us. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. The "let us" statements of the apostle Paul written to a church in the first century that was facing the destruction of Jerusalem, which is a symbol of the destruction of the end of the world. These "let us" statements are written by God in the book of Hebrews to encourage His people just before the coming of Jesus. Hebrews 12, verse 1. "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Notice there are two "let us" servings in that first verse. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance. Now, what's the first word in Hebrews 12, verse 1? What is the word? "Therefore." Therefore. When you see a "therefore" in the Bible, you ask this question: What is the "therefore" there for? Therefore has to connect you with something that's gone before. What is the theme of Hebrews chapter 11? Hebrews 11 is the great faith chapter. So we have the saga of the heroes of faith, and it says "therefore" because these men have been faithful and have never given up. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Who are these great cloud of witnesses? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses. They're the great cloud of witnesses, these men of faith. "Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us." What is the sin that so easily ensnares us, and what is it, what is that weight around our legs? The sin that so easily ensnares us is the lack of faith. That's the sin. It's unbelief. It's doubting how awesome God is. It's doubting how great God is. It's doubting the power that God is. That is the sin that so easily besets us. It's doubt, and the devil wants to constantly fill our minds with doubt, with fear, with discouragement, with disappointment. So it says, let us lay aside this weight. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. In other words, never give up. Let us run with endurance. Why? Because we're looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We're not looking at the problems, the difficulties, the challenges. We're looking at Jesus. Looking unto Jesus gives us the strength to endure life's tough times. We endure not because we have the answers to all of life's challenges, but we endure because we know that Jesus has the answers. We endure one day at a time, asking God to give us strength for that day. God has never promised you strength for tomorrow. He's not promised you strength for next week. He's promised you strength for today. I just read an amazing story about the writer and historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle. Thomas Carlyle was encouraged by his friend in 1834. He was encouraged by John Stuart Mill to write the history of the French Revolution. So he said, "I think I can get that done in a year." So he began to write, and as he wrote, he recognized he wasn't going to get it done in a year. It was going to take him three years. So he wrote and wrote and wrote. Finally got the first volume done. Now, in those days, it's 1834. Now he's written for a year, it's 1835. He's written this manuscript, and he wants his friend who encouraged him to write it, John Stuart Mill, to read it. So he said, "I've finished. It's taken me a year." No computers in those days. No typewriters in those days. And the way he would write is he'd sit and write a manuscript by hand from his notes. Once he had it, he'd burn up his notes and had the manuscript. No second copy at all. He gave the only copy he had to John Stuart Mill. One night at midnight, knock comes on Thomas Carlyle's door. John Stuart Mill is shaking. He's hysterical. "You'll never believe this. My maid, my servant, was cleaning the room. She saw some old papers. It was your manuscript. She threw it in the fire. Your manuscript is gone. It's burned." Carlyle would have to reconstruct the first book. There were no drafts, no backup copies from which to work. He didn't take notes. The news of the burnt manuscript was devastating. Two years of laborious writing was lost. He was deeply discouraged. Thousands of long, lonely hours of writing wasted. He could not imagine writing the book again. He was in deep despair. He wasn't going to write. That's it. It's over. One day, he was walking through the city with his head down, discouraged. And he saw over there some men. They were building this large wall. It was a big brick wall. And he watched them putting in one brick at a time. And he began to think. That wall's not going to be built all at once. One brick at a time. He said, "I can write one page at a time. I can write one day at a time." He went back after seeing those brickmen putting one brick in at a time and said, "I can do this." There are some people who go through such challenges in life that if you have to think too far in the future, it's going to overwhelm you. But you can make it through this day by the grace of Christ. You can endure by the grace of Christ. You can persevere by the grace of Christ. You can hang in there by the grace of Christ. What does our text say in Hebrews chapter 12? Looking unto Jesus. Verse 1: "Therefore, since these heroes of faith went through similar trials, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses." What do they witness to? They witness to God's faithfulness. They witness to God's goodness. They witness to God's power. They witness to God's grace. They witness to God's deliverance. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us lay aside doubt. Let us lay aside fear. Let us lay aside lack of assurance. Let us run with what? Endurance the race that is set before us. Why? Because we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus has begun something in your life. Is Jesus going to finish what He has begun in your life? Can you trust Jesus to do that? Indeed, we can. We live one page at a time. We live one day at a time with renewed courage and renewed faith. The seventh "let us." Resurrection power provides the encouragement for us to live lives of praise. Look how Paul ends Hebrews chapter 13, verse 13. "Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come." Therefore, what's the "therefore" there for? It connects us with the fact that we have no continuing city. Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Through the life and death and resurrection of Christ, we have the title deed to the continuing city. Did you get that phrase? We can go forth in faith. We can go forth living lives of praise. We can go forth living lives of thanksgiving. Why? Because we have a continuing city. It's a city that does not deteriorate like the cities of this world. It's a city whose walls are not marred with graffiti and whose streets are not filled with garbage. It's a city where there is no crime, no robbery, no violence, no murder, no death. It's a city where there are no ambulances, no fire trucks, no police stations, and no hospitals. It's a city where there is no homelessness, no hunger, no poverty. It's a city where there is no racial tension, no interpersonal conflicts, no hotly contested political debates like Washington, D.C. Thank you, God, for that new city. A city where there is no deep animosity. It's a city, the continuing city. It does not fade away. The cities of this world often are prominent today, but they fade away tomorrow. It's a city where love and joy, peace and harmony, life and health, smiles and happiness prevail in the streets forever. A city where we fellowship with the great minds of all the ages. Where we share the joy of salvation with heavenly beings. Where we gain insight and wisdom from the Bible's heroes of faith. But most of all, it is a city where we enjoy sweet communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Guest (Male): You've been listening to HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at hopelives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to hopelives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.
Mark Finley: The book of Hebrews concludes the "let us" statements with, "Therefore, as the result of this, let us continually offer praise to God," which is the fruit of our lips, the scripture says, giving thanks. Our hearts are filled with gratitude to Christ. To the Christ that died for us. The Christ that lives for us. The Christ that's coming again for us. Our lips are filled with praise because we know the end of the story. There's a continuing city, one that lasts forever. One that we can enjoy the fellowship of angels and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the ceaseless ages of eternity. A city where there is no sickness, suffering, heartache, sorrow, or death. A city where there are no tears to pierce our souls. A continuing city that will never fade away. There's a continuing city that endures time and where God's people will worship Him through all eternity. Our lives are characterized by thanksgiving because we know where we're headed. We know the end of the story. We know our destiny. We know how the conflict will end. So let us today be filled with praise.