13th August 2023
Text: Hebrew 12: 1-3
Reading: 12 :1. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
12: 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
12 : 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Intro:. Verse 3 tells us to ” CONSIDER HIM ” Consider Jesus lest we be wearied and faint in our minds.
Remember in Mark 6 Jesus fed Five thousand. After the miracle, Jesus sent His disciples into a boat to go across the Sea to Bethsaida. He went to a mountain alone to pray. Later, He came to them walking on the water. Their ship was being tossed about by strong winds. They were afraid when they saw Jesus, thinking He was a ghost. He assumed them it was Him, and got into the boat with them. Immediately the wind ceased, and the disciples were amazed beyond measure the Bible says; ” For they Considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their hearts were hardened.
It has been worrying that the disciples had just seen Jesus perform a great miracle. They even had a big part in it..
When I think of someone with a hard heart I think of Pharaoh not letting the children of Israel leave Egypt or I think of a rebellious person who will not listen to instruction. I don’t think the 12 disciples had a hard heart.
Is it possible the 12 disciples had a hard heart?
Is it possible for a Pastor to have a hard heart?. Yes, it is! When you don’t take time to consider our God and what He has done, we take our eyes off Him and our hearts can quickly be hardened. To consider means to contemplate, to regard, to make note of, to think about, to estimate, to evaluate.
We are admonished in Hebrews 10 to consider one another.
In Isaiah 5 the LORD said of the Children of Israel, ” ….they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captive.. . ” Oh how sad, God had done such great works for them, yet they will not regard or consider Him.
Today I will give you 3 things to consider our God.
(1) CONSIDER GOD’S WONDERFUL WORKS .
Job 37: 14 “…… stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God”
We need to be still and look around us and consider God’s wondrous works.
Psalms 8: 1 – 4.
God created the light. He made the sky, filled with clouds.( The heavens declare His glory) He made the waters and dividend it into Seas, lakes, and rivers. Flowers, fruits, and vegetables to grow, He made the sun, moon, and the stars, He made the birds to soar in the sky and the fish to swim in the sea, He made a multitude of animals that live on land and He made mankind in His own image and He saw all that He had made was very good!.
Oh how we need to be still and know that He is God, it is He that made us and not we ourselves.
Consider the wondrous work that Jesus did on Calvary!
This is from Calvary! Consider what Christ did for you.
(2) CONSIDER GOD’S WONDERFUL WORDS .
Psalms 119: 95 ” The wicked have waited for me to destroy me, but I will consider thy testimony”.
He also ” O how love I thy law, it is my Meditation all the day.” And how sweet are they words unto my taste yea sweeter than honey to my mouth” And thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”
God gave us His very words, wonderful words.
One of our Hymn book song : ” Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of God..”.
We carry out Bible to Church. We read it at home. We declare that is God’s word. Yet how much do we really love God’s word? How much often do we set aside chunks of our time to consider God’s
wonderful words?
O how quickly our heart can harden when we neglect God’s Word. O how quickly our faith can weaken when we neglect Gods’Word.
CONSIDER GOD’S WONDERFUL WORDS !.
(3) CONSIDER WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU .
1 Samuel 12:24, “. Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things he hath done for you”.
What has God done for you? When is the last time you stopped to consider what God has done for you?
The Psalms said in Psalms 139, ” O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me”. God has done great things for us.
Luke 12 : 24, Consider the ravens , for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them, how much more are ye better than the fowls? “
Luke 12 : 27, 28, “Consider the lilies how they grow, they toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, Which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven: how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?.
SONG : We sing a song ” God is So Good ! God is so good!, God is so good. He’s so good TO ME !.
CONCLUSION : Let’s make it a habit to consider Him. To consider His wonderful works, wonderful words and what He has done for us .
Amen .