Eyes on "It is Finished" | Elder Ang Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from acts Church. We hope this message

will light up your day. I've simply titled my message eyes On. It

is finished, Okay, I will explain what it means. As I was

praying and asking the Lord, okay, Lord that the first of December,

it's we are right at the end of the year and we are looking ahead

to the new year. What do you want me to preach on? And

what do you want me to teach on and share on? And then I'm

reminder of this verse that Jesus actually say that I'm the Way, the Truth,

and the Life. And you know, the earliest believers were technically known

as followers of the Way. And you know, we may have arrived at

the year end, but we still have a long way ahead of us.

Amen, and we need to also be reminded that we have the way ahead

of That's something that I want us to not just walk into the new year

oblivious to who God is. I pray that as I'm sharing, as the

scriptures are coming to life to us, Heaven will continue to rule. And

I believe Heaven will continue to rule in our lives as long as as long

as we keep our eyes focused on the finishing line. And that's why I

say more importantly, we've got to keep our eyes focused on it is finished.

Who said it is finished, Jesus? So I want us to keep

our eyes focused on Jesus. That's going to be key, and that's where

my scripture is going to be coming from. I'm going to be teaching from

Hebrews Chapter twelve, verses one to seventeen. Okay, so just seventeen short

versus. But nothing is ever shot when I come up here. So let's

do this. Okay, let's do this. I'm going to be reading Hebrews

chapter chapter twelve Versus one to four first, and then we'll dive into it.

Verse by verse we will see what the Lord is going to be preparing

us for. Amen, Amen, let us do this Hebrew I'm going to

be reading from the NLT and so he says this. Therefore, since we

are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,

let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that

so easily trips us up, and let us run with endurance the race God

has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus,

the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him,

he andendealed the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is sitting in

the place of honor beside God's thrown Think of all the hostility he endured from

sinful people. Then you won't become weary and give up. After all,

you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. It's really

strong. Actually, if you ever take some time to read through some of

these scriptures, it's not just something that you can read one goal. And

sometimes we do that, No we we we always quote this portion of scripture.

No, God is the pioneer and the perfector of our faith, author

and the finisher of our faith, orgin or originator and the completer of our

faith. But what does it really mean. Let's look at it in context.

Let's look at it line by line, and I pray that we will

go back with a clearer and a better understanding of what this portion of scripture

is saying. Amen. So let's look at the cloud of witnesses, because

that's what it said here, Cloud of witnesses. What did they say?

Again? Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses

to the life of faith. Okay, so the first impression that we get

when we read it, and a lot of commentators actually when they comment,

when they when they give a commentary on this portion of the scripture, they

will be thinking of a big stadium. I think all of us have that

in mindsight it's a big stadium. Again, we are assuming a few things

from the this this this letter written to the Hebrews. Firstly, we are

assuming that it's most likely written to the church in Rome, in Italy.

We are not sure. Okay, you can be there are two things that

you are unsure of with this letter. You don't know who the author is

and you don't know exactly where this church is. So we're not going to

go into the guests work. It's here in scripture. We just accept it

first as it is. But we can sort of assume that it is actually

written to the church in Rome because at the last one of the the last

part of the letter, it actually says that all of us here from Italy

say hi. So so most people assume that it is actually sent to Italy,

to somewhere at least somewhere in Italy like okay, because that's why it

says all of us from Italy says hi to you, okay. So the

final great thing is the one that tells us about this. So when you

think about Rome, if you've ever been to Rome, you will actually see

a lot of these huge coloseums and stadiums full of sports stadiums, and they're

in that place you have basically rolls upon roles or spectators, just imagine any

modern football stadium. And that's why a lot of us have this idea that

when it says cloud of witnesses, it's like as though you are surrounded by

this great, big number of spectators who are They're spurring you on, cheering

you on. That's one way of looking at it. And if that is

the interpretation we may take from this, that actually that's Abraham, there's Moses,

there's Elijah. They're all watching us, watching down and saying, no,

you can do this, you can do this, You'll make it.

Come on, come on. They're asking you to tiju basically in Mandarin is

they're asking you to put more oil and keep running this trace. And so

there is the impression that many have got from the verse. But I and

I believe this whole communion of saints that means the saints before us and also

the saints that we live with, is very very powerful. It's a very

very important Christian experience. A communion of believers, the fellowship of believers,

the fellowship of the saints, all these things are really important. Know when

I think of it, I can think of Jesus holding the hands of those

who have gone before us and also holding our hands. And we are all

connected through this big fellowship. And that's how we can actually look at this

versus cloud of witness. This is what it means. No angels are singing,

arch angels are singing and cheering us on. But let us try to

look at it from another means witnesses. While it may actually sometimes imply that

it's spectators, the word can also mean those who themselves, whose own lives

give testimony to what faith in the invisible can do. Okay, I will

explain that you know, because the word witness is actually a word that is

taken more from the court room than from stadiums. If you, if you

study it, you realize that it's something that you take out of the court

room, you know, think of instead of thinking of a stadium, think

of a big court room, and think about witness after witness standing in the

witness box and saying, I believe that's that's that's how I want us to

take it a step further. No, don't just think of those witnesses cheering

us on. Think of it as those witnesses standing there and they're testifying of

their faith. I believe, and I think that that could possibly be a

more accurate meaning of the word witnesses. That means not witnesses of us.

No, they're not just witnesses of us, but witnesses to him. It's

a powerful thought. In other words, we are not the first to have

run this race. That's what I can draw from this. We are sometimes

no Christians are. When we get into problems. We always think that we

are the first to encounter this problem, and that our problem is the biggest

problem in the world, is a novel problem, until we actually find out,

actually, Nola, we are not the first to encounter this problem because,

believe me, there is nothing you experience as a believer that is new,

nothing, absolutely nothing. We are not the first to have run We

are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. And if you read the Bible

carefully, I believe you will find that all the problems you have in your

spiritual life, just read the scriptures. Any problem that you are facing in

your spiritual life, you'll find it in the Bible. It's going to be

recorded there. And the Bible is honest. No, it does not try

to paint that all these scenes that have gone before us had wonderful lives and

they went through absolutely blassful journey. Their way was absolutely awesome, and they

were they were never depressed. No, I mean, David was so honest,

right, why are you cast down all my soul psalms? And then

when you read the counts on Elijah, I mean he was doing wonderful things,

not sending fire down. And then Sally this woman, this woman scared

the daylights out of him, and then he became depressed. You read the

story of Jonah, same thing, you know, go here. He's like,

no, I don't want to go. I mean depressed. And these

are all real. And so the inspiration of the cloud of witnesses is to

us, not so much that they are watching us, but they are witnesses

to him. Think of it like that. It would change our perspective because

sometimes we like it. We like to think that, oh, the cloud

of winnesses are those who are cheering us. And yes, we are constantly

cheering each other on. But take it one step beyond. Know that they

have been along the cost before you got the thing of this winnesses as those

who have gone before us. They had faith, and they believe, and

they endealed as seeing him who is invisible. Basically, they two did not

see God. Not all of them actually had this encounter with God. No

walked with him. No. If you read chapter eleven before that, you

realize that all these men and women of faith who have gone before us believe

in an invisible God as well. And they got somewhere, Okay, they

got to a place where they're supposed to go. And this is what puts

heart and gives us encouragement that we are just one of a long line of

testimony to what faith can be and what faith can do. And that's why

this portion of scripture is a very practical passage. It makes sense so far.

So think of them as they are in the witness box, testifying of

God's goodness. And then it goes on to say let us run, let

us run. And that's why I say, just now, no, we

are, we are still standing. But don't just remain standing, because the

Christian life is a journey. It's not a stationary uh position that you take.

You know, you keep walking. That's why I started off by saying

that Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

And if your follower away, you realize that your faith is going to be

a journey in Your faith is not a moment. Your faith is a walk.

And that's why Scripture continues to teach us to walk alongside God, walk

with hand in hand with the Holy Spirit in our lives. That's something that's

so important, and so when it says let us run, it is it's

so important that as believers that we realize that we are in a race and

that we got to take our eyes off other people and then onto Jesus.

And I know it sounds so simple now you think, after all that has

been written in Hebrews about Abraham, Moses and the rest of them, it

would actually say fix your eyes on them and do what they did. It's

so easy because you just read No Hebrews chapter eleven. If you read the

chapter before that, it's all those heroes of faith. And sometimes we can

take our eyes and focus it on the heroes of faith, but that can

be dangerous. And one of the mystics that many Christians make is this is

to look at other Christians, to measure their own experience by what other people

experience, and then you try to imitate them. You know, we can

look to be inspired, but not to be compared to, and not to

compete against. I think that's something that's very something that we've got to really

take, not of look to be inspired, but not to be compared to,

and not to compete against, because it's dangerous not to read an account

of another believer and what this believer has done. And then now you say,

I'm going to run that race, I'm going to beat him, or

I'm going to do what he did and I'm going to try to do it

better. No. No, you know, after all all those heroes in

chapter eleven who had faith and who remained faithful to the very end, the

scripture now says forget the cloud of witnesses. No, the scripture is essentially

saying, look to Jesus. And there are two reasons why Scripture tells us

to do that. Don't fix our eyes on all these heroes of faith.

The first one is this is that they didn't get there yet. Okay.

They are also not there there yet. Okay. If you study the scriptures,

you'll realize, no, not one of them is there yet. Per

Se, It says at the end of Hebrews eleven that all of them have

not reached see the promise yet. Will they Yes, I believe they will.

But that's the truth of it, because God is still holding them until

they can be made perfect with us. They are basically waiting for us as

well. That's what scripture teaches us, because one day we will all stand

before the throne room of God too gether together. So they are also on

the way. Okay. The only difference is they're gone before us, and

they probably have many many steps before us, but they are waiting for us

together because God is holding them until they can be made perfect with us.

So they technically have not really gotten there yet. If they haven't really gotten

the yet, let's not keep our eyes just on them. And the second

reason is this, let us run the cause that God has marked out for

us, because each and every one of us here. You can't live someone

else's faith. You can only live the faith in which God has marked out

for you. And I find that a great encouragement actually, because He has

not called me to be an Abraham. He has not called you to be

a Moses. He's called you to be Sarah. He's called you to be

Terrence. He's called you to be Rose, to be Jason Jazz, you

know. And that's what he did. He called Abraham to be Abraham and

Moses to be Moses. And isn't that encouraging. He has marked out a

cause for each and every one of us, and he's asking us to run

the course marked out for ourselves. Keep running. He's not asking me to

run anybody else's race for them. And that's why the Bible constantly actually tells

us to mind our own business. It does, it does in various words.

No, Peter say to Jesus after the resurrection, now what about John,

what's your future plan for him? And Jesus actually say, they mine

your own business, mind your own business. He said, what is that

to you? You just follow me? And so let us look at Jesus

and run the race marked out for us. Let us see that we get

that, look to Jesus, go to him, ask him for your cause,

and ask him for the grace to run it, because we need to

persevere to run the race. Amen, that makes sense. It's a very

practical passition. Sometimes reading in line by line will help you realize that,

Hey, he's asking you to keep the main thing the main thing, and

if you are to do this, he goes on to say this, we

need to remove everything that hinders us, anything that can cause it to be

an obstacle for us to run this race. We need to remove it.

And we have noticed that good things as well may have to be discarded if

you're going to run this race, not just bad things. Okay, why

do I say that? Well, there will be different things for different people.

Well, to the rich young ruler, it was the good things that

Jesus actually asked him to leave behind, or you better sort of cut out

your bank account. And I know Jesus didn't say that to everybody, but

he marked out the cause for that young ruler. And you can't run a

race if you are overweight. I think any of you all involved in racing

and you like to run, and there's the reality of it. Sometimes if

you're overweight, it can become a handicap when we're running this race. And

so that's why it says, let us now run the race with perseverance,

perseverance, and let us get rid of anything good that could hold us back

and hinder us from running forward. That's something that we need to take in

mind. I know sometimes he's strong, but we need to ask the Lord.

No one can tell you whether this good thing or this perceived good thing

is something that I have to strip myself off. But he also definitely goes

without saying that if we have to geary or some good things, we definitely

have to gearry of all bad things. Live Okay, so some of the

good things and definitely all of the bad things, because what the scripture is

essentially saying is don't run through mud. And have you ever tried running through

mud? Because the faster you run, the more you pick up and the

more it slows you down. And so it says, strip off whatever tends

to cling, whatever tends to stick, whatever tends to pull you down,

and whatever tends to hold you where you are. And then if you read

it carefully, you realize that scripture actually assumes, it assumes that you know

what Mud is clinging on to you. It assumes too, that it will

be an effort to run, and that you will have to prepare yourself and

discipline yourself. It means this that you are able to strip it off.

That's what it also means. That means you can, because the Bible never

tells you to do anything that you cannot do by the grace of God.

If you don't strip for this race, what will happen to you? If

you read on in verse job, he actually says that you end up with

tired hands, weak knees, and lame limbs, and then you will not

be able to move and progress. We will go to it as we and

we will go to it even deeper. But the thing we subsequently need to

do therefore is we need to stretch right. I think those who sports people

sort of when they read the scripture, they can understand it a little bit

more. No, if you ever watch an athlete straining every muscle to go

forward, and I'm looking towards Jason many of because he's an iron man,

I don't think retire, not retire, it's still still on it, still

going strong. Brother. This is the same age as me. If I

do iron, man, I'll become jelly. But yeah, man, it's

okay. I value my life. Brother. But let's consider what Paul wrote.

Now, Paul say this forgetting the things that are behind, and that

is the stripping part. And then it says stretching forward, straining forward to

the things that are before, I press on towards the goal. So,

in other words, if you are an athlete as a Christian, and you

are not a good athlete unless you stretch forward, unless you have a goal

in mind all the time. So the entire letter to the Hebrews is saying

this. No, it is not whether you have started the Christian life that

is so important. It's whether you are continuing on it and whether you are

determined to complete it so that when you get to your dying day, you

can say, with the apostle Paul, I have kept the faith. I

have finished the course. That's what it is actually saying, and it is

our Lord Jesus will actually say it is finish. Basically, we are to

finish our cause because Jesus finished his into the three years, Paul probably finishes

maybe about fifty years. I think I may be wrong, but somewhere somewhere

there. But it's not the length of life. It is completing what God

gave you to do, and this actually involves perseverance and durance. Perseverance.

There are many of us who set off but don't arrive. Who yes,

like the many who died in the wilderness after leaving Egypt, never saw the

Promised Land. Out of two and a half million people that walked out of

the Promised Land, only two saw it. Only two entered. And the

truth is that when we become Christians, we have not arrived at anything.

Yet sometimes we think rite for this, so that's some Piere Blon. You

have started right, awesome, But that is all. And for the first

time in my life, I am now living on cause that's when we step

into faith. No, now I'm living on cause I'm living on the right

direction. And if you are going to have a goal, you have got

to then look at it, because if you don't look at it, you

end up like Peter who was walking on water when he kept his eyes focused

on Jesus. But the meaning he took his eyes off Jesus, he started

sinking. As long as he looked at Jesus, he was all right.

But as soon as he took his eyes off, he was lost. And

so that's why those two titles now come into place, those two titles that

are given to Jesus, which both have a double meaning. First it says

he is the pioneer of our faith. It has a double meaning. And

then second he goes on to say he is the perfector of our faith.

I believe that also has two meanings, and pier can mean this trail blazer.

A trail blazer, that's what Jesus is. Someone who has gone first,

and he put marks on the cause for us. And certainly Jesus has

done this for us. He has been through it all. There is nothing

in which Jesus has not gone through. But the other meaning of pioneer is

also this. It's our reginator, basically, the one who said go,

the one who started you off. So Jesus is not only the one who

ran the cost first and was the trail blazer, the pioneer marking out the

cost for us, but he was also the one that fired the pistol that

set you going, that helped you to originate the motion and got you on

the right course. He was the one that started me off, gave me

faith, and that's why I am now a believer. And that's why each

and every one of you here now are asshured of your faith. Amen.

Amen. The next thing is this perfector perfect? It means somebody who got

to the end of the cost, somebody who had a perfect faith, and

we know Jesus had the perfect faith. But it doesn't just stop that.

It also means someone who will finish my cost for me, and someone who

will perfect my faith. So Jesus sets me going and he is at the

winning post waiting for me and saying come on, come on. He is

calling us to keep going until we cross the finishing line, and then we

can also say we finish. We have finished the cost. So that's why

Jesus is the pioneer. And no, he's basically our example. He's our

coach. We are to fix our vision on him, which means seeing invisible

things. I know sometimes asks you to look at Jesus like pinto where am

I looking at? But it is like that, seeing invisible things. I

want you to realize that the race includes persecution. If you look at Jesus,

you will see this. He ran the race, he finished the cost,

and what happened to him. He was crucified for him. The course

led through Calvary. He longed to find a way around this cause no if

you read the scriptures carefully, he was like, is there a better way?

Because you know, like anyone, if there is a better way,

why go to the worst possible way. But the cost led him through the

greatest obstacle, and instead of running around it, he ran right through it.

And I pray it's not a shock to realize that when you start running

this race that there are many other people who don't want you to run it.

Many you will come to a lot of resistance, a lot of opposition,

and there will be all sorts of opposition from people who don't want you

to run this race, and people who naturally don't want to run the race

themselves. They're not even in it and they don't want to be and they

don't want anyone to be part of it. So as soon as you start

running the race, there are those who will try to stop you from running

it. It is a sad fact for Christianity. There is always a cross,

there is always going to be opposition, there's always going to be shame,

there's always going to be humiliation. You know, the worst thing on

the cross was not so much the pain. I believe it was more than

humiliation that Jesus had to go through. You know, you look silly to

the whole world, we look crazy. But then Scripture tells us to consider

Jesus and then we will realize persecution will come. But consider him who endealed

the cross, despising the shame. Jesus didn't like it. He didn't like

to be humiliated. He despised it. How was he able to go through

with it? Well, the answer is very simple, because Jesus kept his

eyes on the future rather than the present. And that's the main diffen.

Even if the present was humiliating, the future was glory. Even if the

present was painful, the future was joy. Even if the present was unhappiness,

the future is happiness for the joy set before him. That's what Scripture

tells us, and that is one of the greatest secret for surviving through any

tough patches in your walk, in your journey. I know, overcoming hurdles,

obstacles, trying to win this race. It's not easy. We are

constantly overcoming opposition, we are constantly overcoming different barriers, you go on running,

not for the joy you may be experiencing at the moment. You go

on running for the joy that is set before you. That's why it says,

consider Jesus and compare your own sufferings to his strong words. No,

sometimes no, compare Jesus and compare my suffering to his. And then,

of course the question I asked you, have you been crucified yet? Well,

technically no. Has the world done anything approaching crucifixion to you in your

office, in your marketplace. I don't think any of us can say yes,

but I know there are many who have also gone through that. But

he says, consider Jesus. When you consider Jesus, then then you won't

become weary. You see, if you are going through isolation and depression,

it says, consider Jesus and compare yourself to him, then you will keep

going because you see the challenge and you see the whole thing in a different

perspective when you're looking at it through the lens of Jesus. No, we

go down, and we can get depressed when we lose sight of Jesus and

we lose sight of Heaven, and the present sufferings can become so magnified.

And that's the reality of it. All of us have gone through it before,

all of us have put ourselves through. Takes place where all the problem

seems so big. No, we pity ourselves and we are you know,

before you know it, you're so down, you're so lost. Then we

have lost sight of the future and the invisible, and then we are going

downhill. It says, look what Jesus went through, and then look at

where he is now. He's sitting on the throne. Look, we are

going to sit on the throne with him. He promised that to those who

overcome. And that's why the Christian life is full of trouble. Never believe

anyone. I've been doing this I think the past year. Never believe anyone

that tells you that the minute you come to Christianity your troubles will be over.

That's a lie. Come to christ and your troubles have begun. But

it still says, be of good cheer because Jesus has overcome the world.

Amen. Amen, So let us read on it. Let us read on

scriptures. Let's read verse five. Hey, I'm doing good for time,

and 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. For the Lord disciplines those he loves,

and he punishes each one he accepts as his child as you, and

deal this divine discipline. Remember that God is treating you as his own children.

Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father.

If God doesn't discipline you as he does all of his children, it means

you are an illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Strong Since

we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn't we submit even more to

the discipline of the Father of our spirits and live forever for our earthly father's

discipline us for a few years doing the best they know how. But God's

discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.

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. Ever ever read it in this light? Before you know?

We have established that if you become a Christian and you start this journey.

You start this way, you will suffer more than you did before. You

will, I've but like I said, it's still a joy to suffer for

Jesus. The reason is simple. No, why you are suffering more than

you did before because you now have a heavenly father who disciplines you, and

any trouble that comes to you is actually allowed by him, and therefore it

comes from him. I know it might it may sound like a bit so

said, but Christians going through a tough time should always ask ask this question,

what is my heavenly father trying to teach me? What is he trying

to say to me? He allowed this to come? Why is he chastising

me? Because it's an important question to ask, because trouble does come if

he allows it, well, I can say that it does come from God.

If it didn't, then you should be worried because the scripture she says,

if God never troubles you, then in Hebrews he says that you are

an illegitimate child, calling yourself a son of God. But we have no

legal rights to do so. It's a very strong way to say that.

That's what it means, no illegitimate child. You are saying that God,

I'm your child. He said, no, you are. Okay, I

can't use that word here, not the right word. But no legal rights.

Okay, no legal rights. So let's look at this for a moment.

Now, what does it mean? And I think sometimes even for me,

I have to reading fatherhood because sometimes a father is unable to fulfill the

responsibility of parenting, of fathering. Maybe you don't really see your kids often

enough, too busy with life. Happens to all of us. And then

to ease our guilt, we sometimes project our own image into heaven. We

create God in our image and we have then got a God who is not

a father, but in our head we have a God who is a grandfather.

A lot of times we do that. And you know what a grandfather

is. Basically he has all the joy of the children, but none of

the responsibilities, so you can go back home after a few days when you

have had enough. Technically, that's what grandparents. I know. Last time,

my dad, I've shut this story many times. My dad, my

dad who beat me to a pulp when I was growing up, does not

even lay a single Okay, am I and Lizzie, when off scot Free,

they can be the noughtiest kids. And my dad, my dad no,

the most hot tempered person I've known. He's like, that's not my

responsibility. I'm like, man, I wish you were a grandfather to me

as well. But that's the truth, right. Sometimes we have this concept,

but I believe grandfather should discipline your children, your grandchildren. Okay,

there's another message for another day. But many of us, actually many of

us have this grandfather picture of God because people cannot accept that God is a

god who punishes, who disciplines, who chastises. And this is what happens

when we start reading our own kind of fatherhood into God's fatherhood. But God's

fatherhood is true fatherhood, and true fatherhood disciplines. It doesn't. If it

doesn't, I don't know what kind of harvest we will reap later. That's

the reality of it. There is discipline involved. Now, remember this was

slightly written to Rome. You know, I started off by saying that most

likely this read letters written to Rome. And if you study the early days

of the Roman Republic, that means before it became the Roman Empire. Actually

the family life was very strong. The family unit was very strong. Fatherhood

was very strong. And there is hardly any traits of divorce. If you

study sociology and you read about what was happening in the Roman Republic before he

became a big empire, family unit values were there, but from a republic.

He eventually became an empire, and of course the emperor himself started to

do his own thing, and then overall the family life started to break up.

And that's where you actually start seeing divorces and remarriage becoming more and more

frequent back then. But in essence, by law, a father technically has

absolute rights over his son. In fact, when a son was born,

the father could keep him, could discard him, because the law, actually,

no law will touch him. That the father has absolute right over the

child. Of course, a good Roman father would exercise discipline and produce a

good son. And there will also be those who abuse their powers. Okay,

but just imagine, imagine good values, good discipline, and they want

to raise their children well. In the early days of the republic, a

Roman father who was reckoned to be totally responsible for his son, and that

applied all the way until you die. Let me see, it doesn't matter

now if your son is sixty years old and you're eight years old, you

still are the rightful, lawful father over that child. So it is against

this background that the writer to these Christians in Rome is saying you have had

earthly fathers who discipline you. That's what is trying to say. It was

painful, right, All discipline is painful. If you come to Christ,

you have now got a heavily father, and discipline is going to be painful.

We don't like it, I know, but you think about it.

You know, the whole commandment, the commission that's given to us is to

make disciples, and you can't separate and you can't divorce discipleship from discipline.

They are from the same root word. And you thank God for it because

you didn't. If you didn't have it, you could question whether you are

truly a son or not. That's why I'm trying to say. You will

go through trials, you will go to challenges, You will have to go

to the discipline because God allows it to happen. You know, don't always

ask timkuy timki, why must this happen? Lord? Why must this happen

to me? But He is teaching us. That's why every moment is a

moment for God to disciple us and for us to also disciple one another,

because that's the common that's given. And so here is another way to look

at it. A father has a purpose in discipline if he is a good

father. A bad father, of course, will abuse his authority and will

just simply punish the child to work off his own feelings of frustration and anger.

But a good father does it for one reason, and only one reason.

He wants to see his son become a better person. That's all.

God wants us to be better people, to be better children. A good

father always looks to the future. He's not looking at the present. He's

prepared to cause a painful present that there might be a lovely future. Does

that make sense? And this is why the letter goes on to say,

en deal hardship. It is going to be tough, but enduring it because

God is allowing it. Why because it is his plan for your life.

The cause that He has marked out for you. Is this holiness in this

life happiness in the next. I know I've said this before as well,

and a lot of people like but I prefer happiness now and holiness later.

But the world simply is trying to keep on reversing that. Surely, surely

God wants me to be happy now, right, because you know even the

beattitudes is happy, happy, happy, you know, blessed outdoors, blessed

audoors. No happy. He wants me to be happy now and then later

he can make me holy. So let's just party us. But that is

a total opposite of God's will. God loves us, so he is prepared

to cause us pain that will help us to become holy. Now we are

called God's holy people, chosen people, the mean, set apart people.

And there is no easy path. This is somebody running the race. No,

this is somebody who has his eyes fixed on the goal. There is

no easy path. You got to keep on going. And that is what

I want to urge all of us, ongoing, no matter how challenging it

is, no matter how painful it is, and no discipline is ever enjoyable.

But the Lord is constantly working in us. Why am I teaching so

deep? Because I want us to think and I want us to ponder,

and I want us to have this thought on Jesus as we embrace the new

year? Can we do that? Because He's speaking to us. He speaks

to us to his word, and he will convict our hearts through his spirit.

Amen. Now we come to the final appeal in this portion of scripture,

and we're going to read the final verses, and he says this verse

twelve, So take the new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak

knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet, so that those who

are weak and lame will not fall, but become strong Verse fourteen. Work

at living in peace with everyone. Work at living a holy life, for

those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other

so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out

that no poisonous root or bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Make sure that no one is immoral or godless, like Esau, who traded

his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal verse seventeen. You know

that afterwards, when he wanted his father's blessing, he was rejected. It

was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears. Ever

read this far in the scripture and Stanley start to wonder what the world he

saw coming in now. But again, it's a very practical final appeal that

refers to different body parts. He says, strengthen your weak arms and knees.

In other words, Ah, we realize that we are not running as

individuals, but as a body. We are running together, and the way

I run is going to affect the way somebody else is running. And it

is more like a cross country run with a group of us running, and

one person can actually poison the whole race. How you may ask. First

of all, that's why he says we are to live in harmony, at

peace with all men. A lack of harmony can stop people from running.

Well, that's what the scripture is saying. And then secondly, it says

we are to strive after holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

If you don't strive for holiness today, you'll never be able to be

happy in the Lord. We need to do that. Thirdly, is this,

and here the Letter to the Hebrews goes way back. Suddenly. It

brings us back to the time of Esau in the Old Testament. And this

is a man who could have been in the running. But what happened to

Esaul? He was actually prime marked out to be in the running. But

he became you know, some commentators use this word, he became a straggler.

What's a straggler? Basically if you watch National Geographic and then a whole

herd of wielderbees are running together and then suddenly one gets I don't know what's

the word isolated. Yeah, either running too slow, kept his eyes focused

on something else, or became fearful, and then he starts to actually separate

from the pack. Uh. You know that was basically he saw he was

on course running together. He was a man whom the world actually a tough,

no quick man I read about. It's also I'm like, man,

this is a man's man full of hair. Yeah, you know when hunting.

Yeah. No, he was righting the line of God's blessing. He

was the firstborn, first bond of the set of twins. His twin came

out holding him, but he saw came out first. And that's the reality

of it. He was actually marked for it. Esau therefore was in the

running and could have inherited the blessing. And then one day what happened.

Joker saw a play of soup and then he had a choice to make,

which every one of us faced every single day. This is a choice between

the then and now, between something that is only a promise and something that

can we can actually have, between the spirit and the flesh. And then

Esau made the fatal choice. And then from that moment he was out of

running. As the first born, he should have been the father of Israel.

He should have been in the right line for God's chosen people. God

could have been known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Isaul, but

it became the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Esau should have been

the one, but he wasn't. He was disqualified from running. And we

know that there is no price for those who are disqualified, and that is

what the letter is talking about here. Hebrews is a powerful, powerful letter,

one of the deepest letters that you can read because of the way it

is written. The language that was used was very Polish Greek actually, And

any one of us know can be pulled out of the race, pulled out

of running, because all of us can be Esaus. What did Esau do?

He just exchanged spirit for flesh. He wanted his happiness, he wanted

his satisfaction now. And so the letter says it quite practically. Don't be

immoral, don't be idolatrous, don't be ungodly like Esau. It is people

who have been in the running who now have lost sight of the goal,

and who are just grabbing for satisfaction now because I want to be satisfied now.

I want to be satisfied now. And then he goes on to say,

such a person in a fellowship becomes a bitter root. Strong words and

bitterness here just means poisonous. If you are collecting wild roots in the Middle

East for your dinner, you can so easily pick a wrong one and then

it will just ruin your entire stool, and it becomes poisonous after that.

And what is being said here is that a fellowship that is running the race

can be poisoned by one person becoming an Esaul, and that root has got

to be taken out. It has to be uprooted. If not, it's

going to hinder all the others and they are going to stop running. Strong

words, strong reminder, it can contaminate the entire fellowship and disrupid. I

know it's serious, and we need to remember it, because I'm not just

running this race privately. None of us run or walk our Christian walk.

Privately, we got to realize that we are all running together, we are

all looking to Jesus, and therefore we cannot afford to have His sauls amongst

us. And you see, the saddest thing about your Saul is he lived

to regret what he had done, but he could never repent of it.

The tragedy is that someone can regret the consequences of having been disqualified and then

you cry about it, but they cannot change their mind. That's what repentance

is. They can't change their mind and then get back into the race.

He never repented, and he couldn't. And it is true to life that

if you are disqualified from running, you cannot get back into the race.

That is how strong the message is, and that's why science, when we

read Hebrews, it becomes uneasy. But again, I don't want to end

this whole message on such a serious node. Amen. Life has a finality

about it, and as we approach the year end, we're coming to the

end of it. But let us not kid ourselves like that. We can

actually drop out of the race and then drop back into it. Sometimes we

think like that, No, when I feel like it, I'm part of

the race. When I don't feel like it, I'm out of it.

You know, I was talking to CG who organizes the iron Man competitions,

and then he was saying, correct me if i' wround you say. You're

saying that sometimes there are different points of time where you will actually be disqualified.

That means they will stop the race a cut off. Say you're swimming,

and usually they swim in an hour or less. After five hours you're

still swimming. There is there is a cutoff time in which they will just

tell the competitor it's okay, you don't have to continue. In fact,

you can't continue. I think they don't. They won't allow you. You

get disqualified from the race itself. And it happens at the biking part,

it happens at the running part. If you take longer than you are supposed

to, you get cut off. So we can't we can't just think that

we can be in the race, out of the race, in the race,

out of the race, keep our eyes focused on the finishing line.

And that's why scripture says tells us that Esau was disqualified. He chose to

get out of the running and then when he regretted it, he wanted to

get back into it, he could not do so strong words. That's why

the reminder here is we are to strengthen those weak knees, make our arms

strong. Look to Jesus and let us strip off all the handicap that could

cling to us, everything that could hold us back. Let us run the

race with endurance and perseverance. Because why he endured everything, And why did

he endure everything only because of the joy set before him? Look what a

joy is said before us? Look what joy is a heat of us?

We may have to do without certain pleasures here and now, we may not

have as happy a life as some non Christians. I know, as we

look around, wish I could still party hard, And then we envy them,

and we say, my neighbor next door Sunday and chill, you know,

go play golf. You know, there's no bother about anything, not

bother about godliness, not brought about holiness. He's enjoying himself Byas for me,

how well, we have to see things in the balance. And we,

as believers, we have seen the race. Why do I see that?

Because we have seen the way. And if you have seen the way.

You have also seen the goal, and that's why I say, eyes

on it is finished. It is finished. Is your goal not just a

person but also a target. Not just a target, but also a person.

We have seen the goal, and more importantly, we have seen the

price, and that's why we are going to keep our eyes fixed there until

one day we can say this, I have finished the cause that you have

marked for me. I have kept the faith and what awaits us is essentially

a crown of righteousness. We hope you've been blessed by this message. For

more information on our church, please visit as church org. We are also

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a good week. I hate for you. God bless