Heb 6:9-12 – Keep on keeping on – sermon notes
[A short talk, delivered at a mid-week prayer meeting.]
Hebrews 6:9-12
In her first Christmas broadcast as Queen in 1952, Her Majesty asked people to pray for her: ‘Pray that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve him and you all the days of my life.’
The heartfelt desire of the writer to the Hebrews is that his readers may faithfully serve God and one another all the days of their lives.
How can we do this?
1. By showing loving concern for each other’s spiritual wellbeing, v9.
‘Dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case.’
Heb 10:24 ‘Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.’
Are we willing to enquire: ‘How is your walk with Jesus?’
2. By remembering that when we serve one another, we are serving the Lord, v10.
‘The love you have shown him as you have helped his people.’
‘Inasmuch as you did it for the least of these my brothers, you did it for me.’
To focus on serving the Lord, rather than on seeking the praise of others, frees us up to be faithful in small things, and to pray:
Teach us, good Lord,
To serve thee as thou deservest;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not for seek for rest;
To labour and not to ask for any reward
Save that of knowing that we do thy will.
3. By keeping our eyes on the finishing line, v11.
‘We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end.’
Heb 12:2f ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross…Consider him…, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.’
4. By imitating those who have gone before us, v12.
‘Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.’
We will be directed to think about Abraham. Then, in chapter 11, of a whole gallery of God’s faithful servants. And we can think of others, whom we have known personally.
In such ways, then, we mature into fruitfulness, and find wisdom and strength to serve God and his people all the days of our lives.