"Run the Race" Pt 3 - Hebrews 12:18-29 - Ryan Nichols - Sunday Morning Service 8:30 AM

to the book of Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Well, this morning we'll end our series on running the race. We first of all looked at running the race as far as, oh my gosh, my brain just went blank. Running the race that's set before us. We looked at running with purpose. And today we look at running with discernment. And so picking up in verse 18 of chapter 12,

it says this. It says, for you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words, which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command that if even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I am full of fear and trembling.

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to the myriads of angels, to the general assembly and the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God, the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant and to sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking for if those who did not, if those did not escaped when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven. And his voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised saying, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.

This expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. And so as we look at this aspect of running with discernment there's two things that we'll look at. We're gonna look at discerning the reality.

And the second thing we'll do is look at discerning the warning. And so first of all, we discern the reality. He's going to once again, contrast two different things. He's going to contrast the old and the new because as he is wrapping up these thoughts on walking by faith and running the race, he wants to remind us of the necessity of sticking with the reality of the new covenant with the reality of the new, as opposed to the shadow of the old.

And so as he finished off by saying that there would be no immoral person among you such as Esau, he reminds us that first of all, you have not come to a mountain that can be touched. He's gonna compare Mount Sinai with Mount Zion. He says, for you've not come to a mountain that can be touched into a blazing fire, into darkness and gloom and whirlwind. He says, you've not come to a physical mountain.

This walk with Jesus Christ, this race of faith that we're running is not a race that involves a physical mountain like Mount Sinai. And what he begins to do is he begins to describe for us the events of Exodus chapter 19. As a matter of fact, in the margin of your Bible, you might write Exodus 19 verses 10 through 25. Exodus 19 verses 10 through 25, because this is what he describes.

And what he describes for us is fear and trembling. And he uses a handful of words. He says, a blazing fire and darkness and whirlwind. If you remember when Moses and the children of Israel had escaped Egypt and they came to the base of Mount Sinai where God had them camp, where he was going to give to them the law, there was this moment, they'd waited three days.

And at the end of three days, this cloud appears and there's all of this darkness and fire and there's literally fire consuming the mountain. And as this is taking place, they're all very fearful of what's taking place. And as this fearful view of God and fire and darkness and whirlwind is presented, it says second of all, that you saw a blast, they saw a blast of a trumpet. They hear the sound of this trumpet that is playing, the trumpet that played signaling the coming of God to give the law.

And then he said, and you heard the sound of the words that made them beg for no more. If you remember correctly in Exodus chapter 19, when God declared the law to the children of Israel, those 10 commandments were first declared from the cloud and spoken to where everyone could hear. They heard the booming thundering voice of the Lord declaring his righteousness and declaring his law. And rather than that law drawing them in and making them say, we wanna know more of who God is.

We wanna hear more of what he had to say. And they said, no, no, we don't wanna hear anything else from God. Moses, you go talk to God for us because this is a fearful moment for us because the holiness of God was on display in their lives. He said, you've not come to that kind of mountain that has that sort of fear and trembling. And then he reminded them that the command was made

that if anything touched the mountain, that it was to be put to death. Now in this, we are reminded of a truth of this old covenant. And I'm gonna bring this to a point here real quick. We're reminded of this truth of the old covenant. The shadow that these Jewish Christians wanted to return to, the shadow that they were being tempted to go back to actually meant separation from God

because that's what he's pointing out about Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai was not a moment that drew the entire congregation of Israel into a deeper and a closer relationship with God. It was something that showed the separation between God and man because God's display of his power and his holiness in the cloud and in the whirlwind and in the fire created an unapproachable nature of God. And as God spoke the law to the people, what they heard was not come closer because I love you.

What they heard was you're sinful, stay away. And as the command was given that anything that touches this mountain where the presence of God is going to be, that it will be put to death. All of this shadow created a reality of separation from God. And what this shadow represented was a lack of boldness on the part of the people. And what he's saying is, as you run this race of faith,

I want you to remember that this race that you're running does not bring you back to a place of separation from God that was caused by the law. It does not take away your boldness, which is taken away from you because of the presentation of the law. No, instead you are approaching Mount Zion. Notice what it says in verse 22. But you have come to Mount Zion,

the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the myriads of angels. What he's now gonna do is contrast the race of faith that they're really running, which has nothing to do with an outward law that meant separation. It has to do with a reality of heaven that brings them into a deeper relationship with God. He's gonna present seven things to them here about Mount Zion, the city of the living God.

He, first of all, says that it is the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. The city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. The reality that they have is that Mount Zion, the spiritual aspect of Mount Zion is the city of God. In other words, you have approached a heavenly reality and a heavenly city. The second thing that he points out is that there are these myriads of angels.

They've approached a myriad of angels. That's interesting. If you read, first of all, in Ezekiel, you'll find that there's a scene of the throne room of heaven. And when you get to the throne room of heaven, the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly reality, you find that there are angels surrounding the throne of God who are continually singing the praises of God and ministering to God.

When you get into Isaiah, you find that in the throne room of God, the angels are surrounding. When you move into the book of Revelation, you find that the angels of God are these ministering spirits. But fascinatingly enough, you find that when Jesus was tempted and he faced that very last temptation, who showed up to Jesus in the moment when he stood on the truth of what he was supposed to do? Ministering spirits.

Angels came and they ministered to him. And those same ministering spirits, those same angels are ministering spirits for us today. He said, you have come to a myriad of angels, number two. Number three, you have come to the general assembly, to the church of the firstborn. It's interesting because the word assembly is the Greek word, ekklesia, which is where we get the word church from.

So essentially, if you read this, and it's just bare nature, it would say you came to the general church, the church of the firstborn. Well, who was the firstborn? Well, I think it carries with it two ideas here. When he says, you've come to this general assembly, the gathering together of the firstborn. First of all, we know that Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead.

So we know that this is the church of Jesus Christ that's being spoken about here, because that's how Jesus is referred to throughout the epistles, as the one who was the firstborn from among the dead. But you know, there's another aspect to this because this is not just the church of Jesus Christ, this is the church that we are a part of, and we are the firstborn. What does that mean? Well, we are told in the book of Ephesians that you and I have been given an inheritance that is incorruptible.

We've been given this inheritance as a firstborn. You see, the firstborn in the ancient days that the book of Hebrews was written got a double portion of the inheritance. Therefore, we are that firstborn. And so what we have come to is not a church that causes us to be separated from God. Instead, we are drawn to a church that not only draws us into deeper relationship with God,

but the personal relationship of being the firstborn, the personal relationship of having the double portion of the inheritance that is from God. He says, this is the heavenly reality that you're living in. And I want you to notice what it says. Let me read this verse to you one more time. In verse 23, and to the general assembly, the church of the firstborn who are,

and I love this phrase, who are enrolled in heaven, who are enrolled in heaven. I would venture to say that many of you parents started off the year one particular way. You started off the school year one particular way. You took your kids to the school or you went online or however your school does it, and you enrolled them in the school that they now attend, unless you're a homeschooler, in which case you went into your own personal database and you said, I get to teach my kid this year.

At any rate, you're enrolled in the school, right? And that means that you're now a part of that school because your name is on the official list of the members of that school. And that's the same idea of who we are in heaven. Do you realize that, that we are enrolled in heaven? We're given another term for this in scripture. It's called the fact that our names are written

in the Lamb's book of life, that that's who we are. Our names have been written down in heaven, declaring that we are a member of the citizenship of heaven. That makes you a citizen of a heavenly reality, something beyond this earth. But do you know where else it says that we are enrolled in heaven? It says that we are inscribed upon his palms, that we're inscribed upon his palms,

that your name is written right here for him. And even if we went into the garments of the high priest, we would find, as we've talked about before, that the high priest, who Jesus is the ultimate example of, the heavenly reality of, always bore on, first of all, his chest, the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel, which if we were to carry that out to us, means that he bears us close to his heart. And on the shoulders, the scapulas that he wore, had the names of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel inscribed upon them. And in this way, we are enrolled in heaven.

And I've shared this story before, and I think it's important to share it again in this moment, because sometimes I think we lack the understanding of just how precious it is that our names have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I'll take you back to a story from Bible College. There was a men's conference going on one weekend at the Bible College, and a guy by the name of Romaine was there. And if you don't know anything about classic Calvary Chapel history, Pastor Chuck had an associate pastor named Romaine, who was an old drill sergeant.

And Romaine was, for lack of better terms, the enforcer, but he was the one who handled the church discipline. And he was just, he was a gruff little guy, just a little bit shorter than me. Hard to imagine, I know, but just a little bit shorter than me, but just a little stocky guy. And he just spoke pretty gruffly. And a group of us guys were standing around

on a Friday evening around the area where all these men from the men's conference were. And he looked at us and he said, are you guys a part of the men's conference as well? Because he was speaking at it that weekend. And I said, no, sir, we're just Bible College students. And he looked at me square in the eye, pointed his finger at me, and he said, you listen here.

And I got really scared in that moment. He said, you listen here, you are not just anything. Your name has been written in heaven and you are a child of God. You are never just a Bible College student. And I think that we need to remember that as believers in Jesus Christ, that that's who we are. We are not just members of a church. We are not just people who try to live

the way that God has called for us to live. You are, you're a child of God whose name has been written in heaven, you are enrolled in heaven, and you are a part of the church of the firstborn. And so he goes on from there to say, you've come to this Mount Zion, that not only is the city of the living God with myriads of angels and the general assembly, the church of the firstborn, but you've come to the God who is the judge of all, who has first of all judged your sins on the cross, but will ultimately judge everyone's sins who has not put their faith in Jesus ultimately. You have come to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

The spirits of the righteous made perfect. And then he says, and you have come to Jesus, the mediator of a better covenant. You have come to Jesus, the mediator of a better covenant. Brothers and sisters, what we realize is the heavenly reality that we have is not just a place we will arrive someday. The heavenly reality that we have is the person that we are allowed to have a personal relationship with,

the very purpose for which we were created. You have come to Jesus, who is the mediator of a better covenant. Jesus, who is the one who loves you more than you could ever imagine, more than you can fathom, more than you can ever learn in all of eternity, because we're told that it will take all of eternity for all of God's grace and love to be described to us. That's who you've come to.

You've come to Jesus, who is not just an idea, not just a philosophy, not just a teaching, but he is a person behind all of it. He is the person who is our purpose in everything that we have done. He says, you have come to Jesus, who is the mediator of a better covenant. And I'll explain what that means in just a moment. And you have come to the sprinkled blood,

which speaks better than the blood of Abel. You've come to the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. Why does he bring up the blood of Abel here? Because the very first blood sacrifice that we see man make in all of scripture is the sacrifice of Abel. And if you remember correctly, God accepted the sacrifice of Abel,

because it was a sacrifice of faith. But he says, you have come to a sprinkled blood

God accepted Abel's sacrifice because it was a sacrifice of faith. It was still only a sacrifice that could temporarily cover sins. It was not a sacrifice that could completely do away with sins, which is exactly what the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus does for us, is it takes away our sin. It completely removes it from our life. And that's what he's telling these people.

He says, you are running a race, and the race that you're running is the race of faith. Therefore, discern the reality of this race that you're running. You're not running a race to a physical mountain that only created fear and trembling and separation. You are running a race that leads to a heavenly reality, a heavenly reality that is settled in a heavenly city that is surrounded with a myriad of angels, that is the church of the firstborn, that is Jesus, the mediator of a better covenant, and that has the sprinkling of the blood that is able to ultimately take away your sins.

Discern the reality. Why is that important for us? Because the reality that we have as new covenant believers is a reality of nearness. Remember what we said about Mount Sinai? At Mount Sinai, they were told, stay away. If you touch the mountain, you'll die. At Mount Sinai, they heard the loud trumpet, which caused them to want to plug their ears because it was more than they could handle.

They heard the voice of God booming from heaven, which did not draw them into relationship. It pushed them away and said, Moses, you go talk to God, we'll stay here. The new covenant is so different because now it's the person of Jesus Christ who does not say, you must be separated because of your sin. He says, be drawn near because I've already dealt with your sin and you've been made holy through me.

It is a covenant of nearness because that is what God always intended for us. But not only is it a covenant of nearness, the reality creates boldness. The reality creates boldness. And brothers and sisters, I think there's one really big thing that sometimes we can lack in the Western culture church as conservatives. It's the boldness that we need to stand on the truth.

The boldness that we need in my relationship with Jesus Christ, but the boldness that I need to live out that relationship with everybody else that's around me. Sometimes we lack that boldness. And the reason why we lack that boldness is we fail to see the reality, the reality of the fact that the real Jesus has made a way for me to have a real relationship with him and now I can boldly come to Jesus with everything. Now I can boldly have this relationship with him that nothing stands between me and him.

There is no mediator that I have to go through. I don't have to go talk to a guy in a box who ultimately will try to talk to Jesus for me. I can lay all of those things aside and I can go directly to the throne room of God and have the boldness to enter into his presence. Not because of who I am, but because of who he is. Not because of what I've done, but because of what Jesus did.

He said, live the reality. Discern the reality. The reality that creates a nearness which was never created in the old covenant. The reality that creates the boldness that there never was in the old covenant. He says, discern the reality. But the second thing he tells us is to discern the warning. Notice what it says in verse 25. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking.

For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven. This is the last of the warnings that he's going to give. Remember, all these warnings have been building. And they've all been focused on one thing. If you depart from Jesus and look for another way, you need to be careful

because you're treading on dangerous ground. You're living in a dangerous spot. If you think that walking away from Jesus and finding another way to be holy is going to somehow work in your life, you're treading on dangerous ground. He gives us this warning. He says, discern this warning. That word, see to it, literally means to discern. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking.

You see, this is why I think that these people have not lost their salvation. This is why I'm not even sure you can lose your salvation because as long as you're willing to hear the warning, that means that your heart is sensitive to what God has to say to you. If you can still hear the warning, he says, you need to pay attention to this. He says, if in the old covenant they refused the word of Moses and they were punished for it, how much more if the very one who gave Moses the covenant is warning you of something now if you refuse it, are you not going to deal with issues in your life?

Are you not going to have some sort of punishment to pay? He says, heed this warning. And again, I don't want to create fear in the heart of people. I do want to create sobriety in our hearts, a sobriety that says, if I depart from Jesus and look for some other way to be righteous, I'm treading on incredibly dangerous ground because there is one way to salvation and that is through Jesus.

Oh man, I watched this video clip of this female pastor the other day and she is talking about the fact that we've always interpreted that verse wrong. Where it says Jesus, these are her words not mine, I'm not saying I think this is what she was saying, this is literally what she said, she said we've always interpreted this wrong where Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. Really what that's saying is I'm the path, I'm the road to being better. It's not excluding everything else, he's saying I am the path so walk on my path with me.

Well, no, that's not actually what he said. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by me. See, I think that woman's in a dangerous place right now. That's what, that's the warning that he's giving us right here. You see, these Jewish believers were starting to go, gosh, it feels really narrow minded to say that there's only one way and it's got to be through Jesus because quite frankly,

we're experiencing a lot of persecution. Maybe we were wrong, maybe let's go back to the law and he says, listen, if you go back to the law, you're in a really dangerous place because you've been given this new covenant. You've been given the new covenant that draws you into relationship with Jesus and so if you're now going to try to find righteousness in something else, you better watch out because if those who sinned under Moses dealt with punishment, what makes you think you're going to escape? He goes on from there to say, verse 25, see to it that you do not refuse for if those who did not, for if those did not escape when they refused him who warned on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven.

He then goes on to discuss this voice of God, this voice that shakes the earth. It says, and his voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised saying, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. Yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things to so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. He says his voice shook the earth then.

What's he referring to? He was referring again back to Mount Sinai when Jesus, when God declared the law from heaven, the earth shook. They felt the impact of God's words in the very earth itself and it says, and he has made a promise. I believe, I didn't look up this reference, I believe it's out of Habakkuk, where it says, and he will shake the earth again.

It's interesting because if you remember, there's several different big earthquakes that kind of take place surrounding things. One is when God gives the law. Another is when Jesus rises from the dead. You remember when Jesus rose from the dead, we're told in the book of Matthew that there was an earthquake and the foundation of the temple shook. Why? Well, I believe it's because of the great power of God when he spoke to the human body

of Jesus saying, come forth. I think that that's what that was. I think it was the very voice of God shaking the earth, the very power of God bringing resurrection, shaking the earth, shaking the temple, indicating the great power of God being unleashed. Well, if you jump into Revelation, you find that there's another great earthquake that takes place that shakes the foundations of the earth.

You see, I think what he says here, yet once more, I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. He's speaking forth into end times when there will be a great earthquake, a great shaking that takes place. And this is what he says. This expression, yet once more, denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

You see, when God shakes the earth again, the only things that will remain are the heavenly realities which will bring about a new heaven and a new earth. But can I draw a little application to our own lives? Understand in the direct context of this, he's speaking of the end times. He's speaking of a shaking that will take place that has not happened yet, but that will ultimately shake the foundations of the earth and bring about a new heaven and a new earth.

But can I just be honest and say something that I think all of us have seen at points in time in our lives? God brings about shaking sometimes, shaking that gets rid of the earthly things in our lives and focuses us on the heavenly realities, that sometimes our lives go through a certain amount of shaking. Sometimes it's a financial issue that shakes the foundation of who you are and reveals what's really true in your life and reveals heavenly realities once again. Sometimes it's a health scare or health issues that you deal with that shake all of the temporary things of this world and make you really focus on what's really important in life to get you back where you need to be, to get you back focused on the things that are really important.

Sometimes it's broken relationships. Sometimes it's just the plain hardships of life and God will allow a shaking to take place in our lives too, as it says right here, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Maybe you've been going through this shaking process in your life. God's been sifting out all of the things that don't need to remain in your life and trying to make it to where the only things that remain are the things that have eternal value.

The only things that remain are the things that are necessary for your relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes we go through times in our lives where God strips away all of the stuff, where God strips away all of the extra things that we don't need and we get right back to where we need to be in our walk with Him. Nobody looks forward to the times when our lives are shaken, but when we look on them, we say, thank you, God, for revealing what was temporary and revealing what needed to remain. See, I think that this is what we're going through as a nation right now.

I think our nation and our world is beginning the process of being shaken. We're watching the tremors, if you will, take place. I don't remember too many times we've had this many hundred-degree days in September. Maybe I'm wrong, but my understanding is that we're near some records on this. You ever wonder why? It's climate change, Ryan. Maybe, but probably it's God.

Probably God's trying to get a hold of us. Does it feel like everything in our world is just off right now? We were having this conversation last night. It just feels like everything's really off right now, and you go, why? Why is everything awful? Because I think God is shaking things, and I think He's starting with His church. I'm hoping, I'm praying that as we see these things being shaken in the world today, that

we as the church get back to what is heavenly realities and stop worrying about all of the extra things, all of the extra stuff that we don't really need. And I think it's happening in our world right now. I think this is why we're seeing pockets of revival break out in the world is because the world's being shaken and people are looking for what's reality. It seemed like we had one major cataclysmic event that would happen every 5 to 10 years at some point in time in our lives.

Those of us that are a little bit older, it's like, okay, yeah, you have this cataclysmic event, catastrophic thing that takes place. And you only have one every now and then, every few years, it kind of resets everybody. Now, it feels like we have one every six months. Can we all agree with that? It's like there's a landslide, there's an earthquake, there's something and thousands

of people are killed in it. There's new financial things all the time. There's all the things that are going on in the Middle East. I think everything that's happening right now is a shaking of our world. And what He's wanting us to do is get our eyes back on the heavenly reality, to get our eyes back on the reality of Jesus Christ, and stop worrying about all the things of

this world, and start getting a kingdom focus, start getting a kingdom mindset. What did Jesus tell to His disciples? He said, listen, the harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few. I can't imagine what He would say in today's culture. He would say, would you just get to work? Would you just get out into the harvest? Because I can't even describe how ripe the harvest is right now.

But it's going to take some shaking sometimes. So, here's my encouragement for you, those whose lives are being a little bit shaken, or maybe you're experiencing some of the things from the world that are shaking you a little bit, start asking the right question. I was just telling a group this the other night. I said, usually when we go through hard things, we ask the wrong question.

Our natural question is, why? Why, God, would you allow this to happen? Why, in this moment, and I said, that's the wrong question. The right question is, what? What do you want me to do with this? What are you wanting me to learn? What do you want me to do with the things that I'm learning from this? Because if you can start asking the right question, God will get your eyes focused on

the right answer, and He will begin leading you into the next thing that He has for you. He says, all of these things are being shaken so that only those things which cannot be shaken may remain. He says, therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. He says, therefore, in light of the fact that we should pay attention to the warning, in light of the fact that God is going to shake things, therefore, since we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and I want to point out again, this is why you've got to remain focused on the heavenly reality, is because the kingdom that we are going to receive can't

be shaken by the things of this world. It can't be shaken by the things that happen because it is a kingdom that will stand no matter what. We need to understand something about the kingdoms of this world. I feel like I just have to keep saying this over and over again, partly for me, partly for you, but the kingdoms of this world are going to fall. The riches of this world are going to fall.

The things of this world will not remain. And I feel like we still want to keep building our kingdom here on earth. What did Jesus tell His disciples? He said, don't lay up your treasure on earth where it can rust or moths can come in and destroy or thieves can break in and steal. Why does Jesus repeat phrases like that so much in Scripture? Because it is our tendency to set up our kingdom on earth and to invest everything that we've

got in this world, to invest everything that we've got in the here and now. And brothers and sisters, as I've said before, time is too short to invest all of our time and energy in the here and now. He said, this is what you should do instead. Instead, you should lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, a kingdom that cannot be shaken, where moth and rust cannot destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal.

And then He gives us this one last statement, because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He says, therefore, since we have this heavenly reality, and since we have this kingdom that cannot be shaken, instead, what should we do? Well, He goes on from there to say, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe. Let us show gratitude.

Now, it's interesting, because depending on the translation that you read, this is translated two very different ways. In the New American Standard, it's translated, let us show gratitude. In the New King James, it's translated, let us live with grace. So which one is the right translation? I would say to you, as I often do in these moments, yes. What do those two things mean?

Well, first of all, let's look at living with grace. If we're going to live with grace, He says, you need to live your life with grace. Not only with grace in the way that you handle yourself with people around you, but grace meaning grace is the supply of everything that you need from your life. Listen, we've been talking about running a race, and I've used lots of the really good terms that we need to use.

Run with endurance, run with focus, run with passion, and do all of these things. And if we're not careful, we'll start thinking that I've got to do all of the work, that I've got to be the one who fuels myself. After all, every day is a new battle. Let's get up, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, and we're going to do this thing. And that works for about a week.

But eventually, you get tired, and when you get tired, you go, I don't have enough to pull myself up anymore, and I'm out of stick-to-itiveness. What am I going to do now? You need to live with grace. You need to live according to the power of God's grace. How do we access the power of God's grace? The same way we access everything else in our life within an abiding relationship with

Him. As I spend time in God's Word, and He speaks His truth to me, and as I pray and seek Him for all of His strength, He empowers me with His grace.

That we are empowered with grace to live as God has called us to live. As Paul says, I believe it's in the book of Colossians, he says, the grace of God which brings salvation has appeared to all men and it teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust that we can live soberly and righteously and godly in this present age. He says live with grace. But there's another aspect to this, because here it says, let us show gratitude.

Let us show gratitude. In other words, there's also an aspect of grace that is giving our gratitude to the Lord. Living a life of gratitude. I've gone and talked to two different groups of kids the past couple of weeks and I've talked to them about anxiety. And it's, listen, what we need to understand in the world that we live in today, anxiety is literally the most prevalent thing amongst this generation.

It plagues the entire generation. And part of it is because we live with a news cycle today that we didn't even have when I was a kid, let alone some of you, no offense, let alone some of you when you were kids. We were not made to bear the burdens of an entire world on a 24-hour news cycle where we not only can turn it on any time we want to, but your phone lets you know at any point in time and any day, all of the bad things that are going on in the world. And all of the potential bad things that could happen to you if you drink out of a plastic bottle and if you eat Cheetos or Doritos, I mean, and if you eat the wrong Froot Loops.

Like we were not made to bear all of those burdens all the time. And then we tell kids, you need to know what you're going to do for the rest of your life Oh, and by the way, make sure that it makes you a lot of money. Oh, and by the way, make sure that it also cares about people. Because you need to make sure that you're compassionate towards people. And these kids are living with all of this anxiety.

So I talk to them. I understand what that world is like. I've been through it. So I go through my steps, right? My steps of anxiety. Identify your problems. Give them to the Lord. Believe what God has to say. But the fourth one that I have is one that not too many people think about. You need to practice gratitude. You need to practice gratitude. You see, we're really good at all the other three.

I'm going to believe what God says. I'm going to give all my worries to God. But do you know that practicing gratitude rewrites the way that you think? Do you know that science is just now catching up with what the Bible said thousands of years ago? What science is now teaching us is that if you practice gratitude, it will rewrite the way your brain works. That's what science is now teaching us.

God's like, gee, where'd they get that one? Right? Because he's been telling us about gratitude from the very beginning. Tell people this all the time. Every day you should be thanking God for things. You shouldn't have a thankful Thursday. You should have a thankful life. And I encourage these kids. I asked them all. I said, who all here, who all here keeps a journal?

And a few of them raised their hand. I said, who keeps a gratitude journal? No one raises their hand. It sounds cheesy, right? Gratitude journal.

You should practice gratitude because you don't want to live in the negative of everything going on in your life. You want to be thankful for what's good in your life because there's a complete refocusing of your mind. Do you know that that actually affects your health? Listen, I'm not trying to get overly psychological here, but the way you think really does start to affect the way you feel.

And if you are constantly negative and constantly down on everything and you complain all the time, it will eventually affect your health. Do you know that, again, science is just now catching up with the Bible, do you know that science teaches us that if you live a life of gratitude, it actually improves your physical health? It's a complete rewriting of it. So here's what I think you should do.

He literally just said, so let us show gratitude. I think every day you should write down all of the things that you're thankful for. I sat in a prayer meeting two or three weeks ago, and the guy that led the prayer meeting had us do this. And listen, this is a practice I'm not always very good at, something I'm trying to get better at. But what he had us do is he said, I just want you to write down everything that you're thankful

for. Big, small, in between, doesn't matter. Write it all down. And it's funny, the longer you think about it, the longer the list gets. And he said, and be detailed. Don't just say, I'm thankful for my family. Thank God for all of them. Like, start writing down specific members of your family you're thankful for, specific things that you're thankful for. And I'll tell you what, by the time you're done, you're in a pretty good mood.

Because you just realized all the really good things in your life. I'm not making this up. It's just true. And he says, let us show gratitude. And I want to encourage you, keep a gratitude journal. What are you thankful to God for? Because I can promise you, if you will do that, it will rewrite the way that you think and automatically turn into praise. So he says, let us show our gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service

with worship and awe, an acceptable sacrifice to God. Well, what kind of sacrifice, what kind of service is he talking about there? He's talking about the service of praise and worship. He's talking about the sacrifice of praise. Have you ever viewed praise like that, like it's a sacrifice? Because it is. When do we usually praise God the most? When everything's going great.

Right? And even then, sometimes we forget. Everything's going great and you don't take the time to praise God. Do you know that if you live a life of praise, just like if you live a life of gratitude, it sort of changes everything. As we've pointed out before, you should start off your prayer time with a certain amount of praise and adoration. Why? Because it puts God back in perspective.

And sometimes it is a sacrifice. Lord, I don't feel like singing today. How many of you, I don't need a show of hands, how many of you came in this morning, and I say this a lot on Sunday mornings, because the enemy attacks you on the way to church, right? It's like, and he's just going after us on the way to church. The toaster didn't work, your car's not running right, traffic was terrible, there's a stupid

construction zone that's not really a construction zone on 77 Highway, right? Amen, brother, preach it! I love the KDOT people, and you're just irritated by the time you get here, and you got here and you probably didn't feel like praising, because you were a little frustrated. See, that's when it's a sacrifice. Sometimes it's a sacrifice that we give with a willing heart.

Sometimes it's a sacrifice we give because we're supposed to, but it's a sacrifice. And not only is it to be a sacrifice of the praise and worship of our lips, but listen, it's to be a sacrifice of the praise and worship of our life. Do you know that every part of your life is praise unto the Lord? Every part of your life is worship to God, if you do it as unto the Lord.

That's why Paul said, I am a bondservant of Christ, because his entire life was set apart unto being praise and worship to the Lord. And why do we do these things? I just want you to notice what it says in verse 29. For our God is a consuming fire. For our God is a consuming fire. That's actually a direct quote out of Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 24. I didn't have to put it up there, so if you want to write it down, you just got to listen

quick. Deuteronomy 4, 24. For our God is a consuming fire. Why does he say that? Because as we live this heavenly reality, there's something that should be taking place in our lives. As we run this race of faith, there's something that should be taking place in our lives. And what should be taking place is the all-consuming fire of God completely consuming me.

There was a sacrifice in the Old Testament, it was called a sacrifice of consecration. Now a lot of the sacrifices, what they would do is a portion of the meat would belong to the priest, and there was only a portion of the things that would be burned on the altar. Everything else was taken outside of the camp and burned, except for the consecration offering. You see, the consecration offering was oftentimes called a whole burnt offering.

And they would cut the throat of the animal, and they would sprinkle the blood on the altar, and then they would put the entire animal, hide and all, on the altar, and they would burn it. And it was a consecration, a whole burnt offering unto the Lord. And the idea is this, as I offer this whole animal to the Lord, I'm saying, I completely belong to God. Well, it's interesting because if you look at Romans chapter 12, he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

The idea is the whole burnt offering that's given to us there in Romans chapter 12. Why? Because God is a consuming fire, and what he wants to consume is all of you. Why? Because he knows that if your life is wrapped up in him, your life is consumed in him, it is not only the most fruitful life that it can possibly be, but ultimately, it's the greatest joy that you'll have in your life because it is consumed with the purpose for

which you were created, to know God. Our God is a consuming fire, therefore, offer to him not only the sacrifice of the praise of your lips, but offer to him the sacrifice of the life that you live. Amen. Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me, Father, we come before you, O Lord, I thank you for your word that's a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

Lord, I lift up every person that's in here this morning, and Lord, I know the potential that we all have as human beings, and that's to hold part of ourselves back from you. To hold part of our life back, to hold part of who we are back from you and keep a little bit for ourselves. But Lord, what you really desire is a complete consuming fire in our lives. And so, Father, I pray that as we run this race, that we would do so with the discernment of the warnings and discernment of the reality, but Lord, more than anything, with a life that is fully surrendered to you.

And so, Father, I ask that you would move in our hearts and lives and draw us near to you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

I could sing these songs, as I often do. Every song must end, and you never do.

I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else than for a king, except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah.

Because all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else than for a king, except for a heart singing

Get up and praise the Lord. Oh, come on, my soul, don't you get shy on me. Lift up your soul, because you've got a lion inside of those lungs. Get up and praise the Lord. Oh, come on, my soul, don't you get shy on me.

hallelujah, hallelujah. And I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else than for a king, except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah. Lord God, we just come before you this morning, and we just thank you, Lord God. We just want to come before you and express our gratitude to you. Lord, we thank you for your word. Lord, we thank you for your son, Jesus.

Thank you for the precious blood that he spilled out on the cross for us, Lord. And thank you for the work that you're doing in our lives. Lord God, I just pray that as we leave here today that you continue to work in us. Lord, mold us into your image. Make us look more like you every day, Lord.