Sister Jeannie…
Never give up…
Whenever you know you’re going to lead or you’re about to do something, the first thing you do is ask Holy Spirit, “Where are we going?” And sometimes He’ll tell you the second you get here, and sometimes He’ll give you a little bit of a notice. So this time He gave me a notice, which I was so thankful for. But the whole thing was about that we never give up. And on the way over this morning, we thought we left plenty early. And we did. I mean, we got here with kind of just enough time. But on the way over, there was a lot of traffic. And of all the cars to be in front of us was a car with a sticker on it that said, “Never give up!” But what I love even more is that sticker was tattered. It had been there for a while, and it had been through a few things. But it still said, “never give up.” So let’s start with prayer.
Opening Prayer…
Father, we just thank you for today. Your Word says that today is the day that you have made and because today is the day that you’ve made, we rejoiced in this day. Holy Spirit, you speak through me, you speak to me, you speak to each of us this morning. You empower each of us and you minister your good will, your kingdom come here on the earth right now.
Is it a sin to want to give up?
So in Hebrews 12, in the Amplified, it opens up with telling us to strip off all weights and distractions, looking to Jesus who’s the author and the finisher of our faith. So I’m going to tell you the broad-brush stroke of where we’re going today. And then I’m going to get in the Word and break it down. So the broad-brush stroke of where we’re going today is that even Jesus was tempted to give up. Even Jesus! Jesus who did everything He saw the Father doing and said everything He heard the Father say and was never without sin. Jesus, the perfect example of man, rightly related to God… Jesus, the Son of God and the son of man, wanted to give up. Is it a sin to want to give up? Jesus wanted to give up and He never sinned.
That makes me smile.
And what’s even better is Jesus who didn’t give up… and we’ll get in the Word and look at this… is alive in you. So when you want to give up, you just lean into Jesus. And He says to you, “I know what that’s like to want to give up. And I didn’t give up, and neither are you because you and I are in this together. And you are alive in Me. And I’m alive in you.”
It doesn’t matter how cunning the enemy is, we win!
Do you see that… that co-laboring? All we need to do is engage and lean in. We’ve taken some hits lately, but we’re not giving up. It’s a kingdom quality that cannot be denied. Why do we not give up? Because He never gave up and because we are winning. Did you know that King Herod—evil, evil, evil King Herod—was afraid of a baby, an infant! Think about that. An evil king being afraid of a baby. King Jesus. Even when Jesus was born, an evil and cunning king could not keep the kingdom from breaking in and coming to the earth. And that is the power that is in you. And that is the power that’s in the church. So it doesn’t matter how cunning the enemy is, we win! And as we walk this out—and we are walking this out—we’re winning. I’m telling you right now, we are allowing Holy Spirit to minister victory to us, to minister winning to us. Think about that. A cunning, evil king who was large and in charge, afraid of a baby because that baby was King Jesus.
Hebrews 12 from the Amplified.
Now, as I read this, the beginning of this passage addresses Jesus enduring the cross. So then once I read it, I went to what happened right before Jesus decided to endure the cross.
“Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us…”
Steady, active persistence. The appointed course. We each have an appointed course. We have an appointed course individually, corporately in our city, in our state, in our nation, in the world. We all have a purpose and an assignment.
“Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus…” Why is He so worthy to look to during these times? Because He’s the leader and the source of our faith. Because He, for the joy of obtaining the prize that was set before Him, endured the cross despising and ignoring the shame and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
So we look away from all that will distract to Jesus. But why? Because Jesus, the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.
Jesus wanted to give up.
But let’s look at what happened before He decided to look to the joy set before Him and endure the cross. What did Jesus experience in that poignant moment, that sliver of time before He decided to do that.
He wanted to give up.
Here it is in Mark 14: 32. “Then they went to a place called Gethsemane and He said to His disciples, sit down here while I pray. He took with Him Peter, and James and John. And began to be struck with…” This is Jesus. “He began to be struck with terror, amazement. He was deeply troubled and He was depressed.” Jesus! Jesus was struck with terror. He was amazed. He was deeply troubled, and He was depressed. Yet He never sinned. So if you’ve been struck with terror, if you’ve been deeply troubled and are feeling depressed, Jesus experienced that too.
He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sad. It’s overwhelmed with grief so that it almost kills me.” This is Jesus. This is Jesus who experienced the Father working through Him and with Him in miracles, signs, and wonders. This is Jesus who already overcame a king wanting to kill Him from birth. Jesus Himself experienced terror in His inner being. He was deeply troubled and depressed. He reached out to His friends and told them, “I’m overwhelmed with grief and it’s almost killing Me. Remain here and keep awake and be watching.”
Just think on that for just a minute.
You know, when the Word says that we have a Savior, we have a friend that has experienced everything we will ever experience, this is what He experienced when He wanted to give up and He wasn’t sinning. So I’m here to tell you today, there is no condemnation when you experience these things. None! There’s no condemnation when you tell your friends about it and they let you down. That doesn’t mean you’re in too deep to be encouraged or to be taken out of the miry clay and have Him put your feet on solid ground.
This is our moment…
Many are in this moment right now where they’re terrorized. They’re afraid. It’s happening all over the globe. But that’s not the end. That was just our Savior experiencing these things before He became and finished that He was our Savior. I just marvel at this. King Jesus endured not just the cross, but He had to endure before He even endured the cross. He had to enter into that place with God and say, “Father, I reached out to my friends. I’m afraid. I’m depressed. This is almost killing Me, the task before Me. I’ve experienced you working through Me this entire time. I’ve seen miracles. I’ve seen answers to prayer, and I’m terrified right now. Is there any other way?”
I’m telling you right now, when we say to God with everything that’s going on, “Is there any other way?” And God says, “No, you’re the answer.” That’s what He said to Jesus. “Actually, no, Son, you’re the answer. You’re the one who is going to endure and you’re going to do this on behalf of My church.”
You’ll be depressed if you choose not to move forward.
And I’m here to tell you right now, you are the answer for whatever assignment He gave you. There is no other way. And that’s good news because you’re going to be depressed if you choose not to move forward. You’re only experiencing the terror and the depression because you’re experiencing it. You’re not experiencing it because if you move forward into the will of the Father, you’re not going to experience victory. No. When Jesus leaned into the will of the Father, He endured that task. And then resurrection power came. Just like you. You endure and stay on your assignment and victory manifests.
When there’s a race there is a winner.
“Let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance, everything that clings to and entangles us.” That’s what Jesus had to do. “Let us run with active persistence in the appointed course of the race that is set before us.” When there’s a race, there’s a winner! And there’s a finishing. And that’s you! That’s the church! That’s God’s plan. It’s coming to pass. It’s coming to pass.
“Looking away from all that will distract to Jesus.” Jesus is the one with the most credibility in this whole thing. He’s the one that did it. He’s the one that finished it. And He even was tempted not to do it. But He leaned into the will of the Father and the joy appeared before Him and He kept going. And that’s us. We’re leaning into what God promises. We’re leaning into who God is and the joy is set before us. And we keep moving forward.
Don’t you want to be that person?
You know, when you watch those movies, The Lord of the Ring series, and you see these victories. I always think when I see those victories, I would want to be one of those people that hung in there through the whole thing, so that in the victory I knew I was engaged and participated in the result. Don’t you want to be that person? So there was a scene, I think it was the second Lord of the Ring. I can’t remember his name, if you guys remember his name. The elf. Orlando Bloom played him. And the enemy was coming to breach the wall. And Aragon said, “Okay, here we go, get ready to fight.” And Orlando’s character said in front of all these people, “What are you talking about? We can’t win. It’s only farmers and boys. They don’t know how to fight. This isn’t going to work.”
Have you felt that way?
And then Aragon said, “Oh no, we’re fighting today.” Well then there’s a few scenes and then Orlando’s character comes back into the battle. And I love this. He comes to his buddies and says, “I apologize. I despaired, but I’m back.” That’s all we have to do! “I wanted to give up and I gave up for a while, Jesus. I’m back. Just get back.”
Just come back.
Just get up and keep going. So here you are, depressed and in despair. If you move forward, you’re going to move through that depression. You’re going to move through that despair. It’s a kingdom concept that cannot be denied. It’s how it works. Every time.
Don’t be a huge dork and a big moron.
Every person in the Word that kept moving forward and kept their eyes on Him knew that without Jesus, they were a huge dork and a big moron. Every one of them! That’s the whole point. We are a bunch of farmers and a bunch of boys and a bunch of unqualified people, but we have God. And cunning evil is afraid of the church… is afraid of a baby! A baby! Like they’re afraid. A baby’s being born. They don’t even want those lives to be born. They’re terrified of destiny and purpose of God walking the earth. And that’s you! And that’s me! And that’s the church!
Don’t let fear be a distraction.
I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. You are being built up on the inside through all this, even though a perceived defeat seems like it’s happening; that is a part of the distraction that we are looking away from and unto Jesus today. Fear can be a distraction. Have you thought that the terror Jesus experienced, He had to choose to be like, “Okay, God, I’m going to get back in line here. I’ve been distracted by terror. I’ve been distracted by depression. I’m being distracted by grief. I’m being distracted by anticipating the worst.”
We keep our eyes on Him.
It’s just distraction! That’s all it is. We keep our eyes on Him. So exciting. Think about how exciting this is. Why do we love a good Lord of the Ring movie? Why? Because that’s what you’re made for.
