I guess we’ve all run in a race some time in our lives.  And we know the feeling that – well, I’m exhausted.  I, I – I just want to give up.  And that’s what happens to so many, when they’re running God’s race in their lives.

I have a confession to make. I hate running. I love walking, I just hate running. There’s something about the impact and breathing so heavy and sweating and the muscles aching and… It doesn’t matter how often I’ve tried it, I just don’t like it. Now if you’re a runner, I don’t mean to offend you, go for it. It’s just not for me. So when I hear people talk about a fun run I think to myself, ‘what’s the matter with you? I mean, are you nuts or something? How can you put ‘fun’ and ‘run’ in the same breathe?’

When I was in the army. Particularly in those early years when I was training to be an officer. We were young and incredibly fit. Even then I hated running. And there’s one thing I know about running. When your heart feels like it’s going to explode in your chest and when you’re hot and tired and thirsty and aching and you’ve got blisters. When you’ve lost sight of why it is that you’re even running and you can’t even imagine stumbling over the finish line.

There’s just one thing you want to do. You want to stop. You want to pull over and sit down under a shady tree and have a drink and give it all away. And I know because I’ve been there so many times. Running races, when I was in the army and running that one race that matters more than any of them. The race we call life. I’ve been there so many times, as well, in that race called life. Where I just wanted to pull over and give up.

And my hunch is so have you. It doesn’t matter what kind of a race we’re in. Whether it’s studying to finish a course at school or college. Whether it’s bringing up children or perhaps working. It’s so hard. And then there’s life itself. So many people set off with great hopes and dreams and ideals. So many people set off on a relationship with God. They hear about Jesus. They go, “Wow, yeah, I believe that. That kind of works for me.”

So off we head. But what we soon discover is that it’s like running a race. It’s hard sometimes. And the further you go, the harder it seems to get. And the hearts pounding and every muscle’s aching and we’re out of breathe and before you know it, you want to pull over and stop. Sit down under a tree. It’s the logical thing to do, right? But what might surprise you to know or maybe you knew it already. But in the hurly burly of the race, it’s easily forgotten. Is this: that’s exactly what Jesus promised. Have a listen to this. He said,

Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

It’s kind of counter intuitive, isn’t it? I mean you would think that God is God and if Jesus is who He said He was, that when we decide to follow Him, it should be much easier than it is. But it’s not. It wasn’t meant to be. A lot of times it’s really tough. And this week on the program we’re going to share some things with you to nourish your heart. To put those tough times into perspective.

I know there are people who want to give up that race. The very race that’s more important than any other. The one at the end of which lies the prize of eternal life. So if you’re after some sugar candy, fairy flossy kind of Christian spirituality, this is definitely not for you. But if your soul is dry and aching and you’re yearning for some nourishment. You just want some refreshment. If you’re aching and you want a fresh breathe from God and a new hope and life deep in your spirit. Then this is definitely one that you want to listen to. You definitely want to take this in.

I want to start today with something that Jesus said to His disciples. Have a listen, it’s so powerful.

As Jesus came out of the temple and He was going away, His disciples came to point out to Him the buildings of the temple. Then He asked them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another. All will be thrown down.”

When He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately saying, “Tell us, when will this be and what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age?” Jesus answered them, “Beware that no-one leads you astray. For many will come in my name saying, ‘I am the messiah’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed for this must take place but the end is not yet.

For nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There’ll be famines and earthquakes in various places. All this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. Then they will hand you over to be tortured and you’ll be put to death and you’ll be hated by all the nations because of my name. Then many will fall away and they will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray and because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold but the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:1-13)

The temple that He’s talking about took decades to build. It was the heart. It was the centre of Israel’s belief in God. Up on the hill there, it was where Gods presence dwelt. They couldn’t imagine that it would ever be gone. And yet, just a few decades after Jesus said that, in AD 70, it was destroyed never to be rebuilt again.

See what Jesus is describing to them is an uncertain world. A world where their faith in God would not have the, the rock solid foundations of the temple. A world of turmoil. A world where things were not what they seemed. A world where people would come proclaiming seductive truths. People doing it in Gods name yet they’d be false prophets. Wars and rumours of wars and people betraying one another. Lawlessness. A world of birth pangs.

See, this is our world He’s describing. Yours and mine. A world where you and I have every reason to let our love for Jesus grow cold but listen again to what He says to them. In Matthew chapter 24, verse 13 “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

See sometimes, sometimes we use the circumstances of life as an excuse to give up the race. We reason, “Well, if God is God, it should be easier than this, shouldn’t it? If God is God, my husband should love me, my finances shouldn’t be in a mess. My son or my daughter shouldn’t be on drugs or my family shouldn’t be fleeing another war into the hopelessness of a refuge camp or …”

Do you see? We have these rose coloured expectations of what it means to be one of Gods people. And when those expectations aren’t met, we want to use that as an excuse to give up. But Jesus never, ever promised His disciples that sort of a life. Some cushy, easy life. In fact, the exact opposite is true. He said to them, “They will hand you over to be tortured. You’ll be put to death and you’ll be hated by all the nations because of my name. Many will fall away. Many will be betray each other and hate each other. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Wow! You know, the more you step out and you live your life for Jesus, the more the shell fire and the flack comes your way. But listen again to Jesus own words. He said, “Remember I am with you until the end of the age.”

What you’re going through in your life right now, it’s no surprise to God. And it’s definitely no excuse for pulling over and giving up the race. So what’s the answer here? Hang in there. Here it is. This is what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 8:

He will also strengthen you to the end so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

See, that’s the answer. Hang in there. Let Jesus have His way. Let Him make you strong.

I don’t know about you, but it’s easy to get tired of life.  To just – well, I’ve had it.  I’m sick of always being the good guy.  Don’t you get it, I’m tired.  Hmm.  Well God – yeah, God actually does get it.

The last couple of weeks on the program we’ve been talking about running the race in order to win the prize. Not some foot race or a horse race or a car race. But the race of life. The life that God set before each one of us. But along the way there can be many distractions. Things that cause us to pull over or to turn back and one of those is other people behaving badly.

Happens so often. This is how it works. Someone like you or me, we decide to run our race for God. Somewhere along our path we’ve met this Jesus and from deep within our hearts, we’ve reached out to Him and so has begun, the race of a lifetime. A race begun with all the best intentions.

But then what we notice is this. There are people around us who aren’t behaving the way they ought to be. Even people who claimed to be running this same Jesus race as we are. Sometimes it’s especially those people in Gods family who seem to be behaving so badly. And that gets to us. They hurt us. And then there’s the temptation to give them what they deserve. To behave as badly towards them as they’ve been behaving toward us.

And before we know it, we’re just like them. Exactly like them. And then we meet someone who’s just started the race over here and the cycle repeats itself over and over again.

Kind of depressing huh? So many people start running the grace race, the race of faith, and they discover it’s hard. It’s tough. There are circumstances. There are people. And they all seem to conspire against us. It’s not quite what we expected. And you know the bit that really gets me. It’s when other people start behaving badly.

I remember quite a few times along my journey. In my “grace race”. My race of faith. Where other Christians, people more mature. At least they should have been than me. People who’d been walking with God much longer than me. People who should have known better. They seem to want to drag me down.

I’m completely sold out. I don’t do things by half measures. It’s just the person I am. When I gave my life to Jesus, I gave Him the lot. But then, along the way, I met people who were luke warm. People who made compromises in their lives. People who are into petty bickering and back biting. People who wanted me to descend to that level and carry brand ‘Christian’ around on their terms. People who’d reject me. People who deliberately set out to hurt me.

To tell you the truth, in my early days as a Christian I oft times wondered whether there was something wrong with me. I had this deep passion for Jesus. This desire to make a difference. A heart to use the few things that God had put into my hand for others.

Now please don’t get me wrong. I make so many mistakes along the way. I stumble over here and get up and ask for Gods forgiveness and dust myself off and get on with it. We’re all on a journey. We’re all running that race. But it seems to me that there are two sorts of people on that race track. Those that are completely sold out to Jesus and those that aren’t. And there are more in the second category than there are in the first.

And so it’s easy to slow down. To get with a pack. To compromise. To lose the fire in our hearts. To lose the passion for Jesus for a lost and hurting world. And before we know it, we’re back where we started. We’re just like anyone else in this world. You wake up one day and you realise the race you started with such great intentions and enthusiasm. If you’re really honest, I’ve given up.

I want to share something with you today that the apostle Paul wrote about that very thing. Have a listen. It comes from his letter to the Galatian Church, chapter 6, beginning at verse 7. He said,

Don’t be deceived. God isn’t mocked. Whatever you reap you will sow. If you sow to your own selfish flesh you will reap corruption from the flesh but if you sow to the spirit, you’ll reap eternal life in the spirit. So let’s not grow weary in doing what’s right for we will reap at harvest time, if we don’t give up. So then, whenever you have an opportunity work for the good of all, especially of those in the family of faith.

Now the bit of that that really cuts to the quick is the bit about not growing weary in doing what’s right. For at harvest time we will reap if we don’t give up. See, when someone gets angry at me and nasty towards us. At first, well maybe at first, we try and deal with them lovingly with good intentions, you know. I believe in Jesus, I’m supposed to love everyone and so I’ll cop it sweet for a little while and I’ll do the right thing, right?

But after a while, when they keep on, they keep on, it wears us down. You get sick and tired of it and one day something snaps. That’s it! I’ve had enough! And so we give them a serve. We start treating them the way they’ve been treating us. It becomes about winning. Why do we do that? Why did we stop running the race of love and sacrifice that Jesus called us to? Simple. We grew weary. We had enough. We’re sick and tired of them.

Now I don’t know where you are in your faith. I don’t want to assume that you’re completely sold out to Jesus the way I am. Maybe you are, maybe you’re not. Maybe you’re much stronger in your faith than I am. I don’t know. Wherever you are, my hunch is that the things we’re talking about, they’re kind of true in your heart too, aren’t they? We can all relate to this.

Let me state it plain and simple. God’s an amazing God. He loves us so dearly. He sent His Son to pay the price for all our sin and rebellion and mistakes. And when we put our trust in Him not only do we get an eternal life but we get a new life. A fresh start. Slate wiped clean. Here and now. And part of living that new life of freedom is discovering that, well there’s a better way to live life. A way that works so much better than the old way. But it involves sacrifice. There’s a cost. And yet the prize, the prize is a freedom and a joy and a peace that words simply can’t describe.

But some days, we’re going to grow tired. We’re going to grow tired of making the sacrifices. Of biting our lip instead of lashing out. Of praying Gods blessing on our enemies. We want to give up. Because taking up our cross and following Jesus, like He told us to, man it hurts some days.

And that’s where so many people who started that race with all the best intentions, pull over by the wayside and just plain give up. And then we wonder, ‘Why isn’t this Christianity thing working for me? Jesus promised so much.’ Well let me give you Paul’s advice again. It’s clear. It’s unmistakable. Let it ravage your heart today.

Let us not grow weary in doing what is right for we will reap, at harvest time, if we do not give up.

And the very next time you feel like giving people their just desserts, listen to this very next verse. Galatians chapter 6, verse 10:

So then, whenever we have an opportunity let us work for the good of all, especially those of the family of faith.

Run the race. Win the prize. When you grow tired just remember Gods word. Keep going. Keep sowing into the spirit and not into the selfishness. Because just at the right time, at harvest time, we will reap the rewards. That’s the promise. The reward that God always planned for our lives.

So many people start off running the grace race – walking with Jesus – with the expectation that it’s a walk in the park. And yet so often, it’s anything but that. Seems that from the beginning, we can have the wrong expectations.

If you’ve joined us on the program over these last couple of weeks, you’ll know that what we’ve been talking about is running the race of life. A race that Gods called each one of us to run. A wonderful race. An invigorating race. An exciting race. A race littered with blessing. A race full of challenges. And a race with victories along the way as God leads us through those challenges and over the obstacles.

Sadly though, so many people start off wanting to run a race like that, ah, somehow it all gets too hard. And so many of them give up. They don’t run the race to the end. “No, no. Too hard. I give up. I’m packing up my bat and ball and I’m going home.”

We start off expecting the race to be easy and as we saw the other day on the program, that’s not what Jesus meant it to be. This is what He said:

Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction and there are many who take that one. But the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

It’s like we haven’t prepared ourselves for what lies ahead. It’s as though we haven’t soberly sat down and figured out that when, when we give our lives to Jesus, it ain’t going to be easy. There is a cost. It’s going to cost us our lives. So we head off with this kind of fairy floss expectation, completely unprepared for what lies ahead.

Most of us would have heard the old boy scouts’ motto “be prepared”. But that could be interpreted in a whole bunch of different ways. So someone, one day, asked Lord Baden Powell, the founder of the scout movement, what it meant. What should we be prepared for? His answer was, “Why, for any old thing.”

So many people start a course of study at college or at a university with all the best intentions. Why? Because they want the qualification at the end. But then, when they get into it, they discover it’s so much harder than what they expected. They have to give up their social life to do assignments. They have to give up income to spend time learning. And so you go to any college or any university and you’ll discover a pretty significant drop out rate.

I went to become an officer in the Australian army. I trained at the Royal Military College Duntroon. 7,000 young men applied to do the four year degree course. 7,000. Of those, 148 were accepted and after four years only 62 of us, of the original 148, graduated. Less than half. 86 of our colleagues fell along the way. It happens in sport. Happens in music and the arts. Happens in just about any part of life and it happens in our walk with Jesus.

See there’s a very simple dynamic at play here. See we want to win the prize in the future but in order to do that you have to make sacrifices today. And many people get into that and they go, ‘ooh, ooh, these sacrifices today, they hurt. I’m not prepared to make them.’ That’s why Jesus said this to His followers. You can read it if you like, it’s in Luke chapter 14:

A large crowd was travelling with Him and He turned to them and said, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost to see whether he has enough to complete it. Otherwise, when he’s laid the foundation and isn’t able to finish, all who see it will ridicule him saying, ‘the fellow began to build but wasn’t able to finish.

That’s why today, we’re going to count the cost. We need to be prepared for the reality. And actually, once we get our hearts and minds around that reality, it’s actually not that bad. Have a listen to the apostle Peter. This is what he says about getting our minds around this reality. Getting our expectations right. Comes from 1 Peter chapter 1, begins at verse 13. He says:

Therefore prepare your minds for action. Discipline yourselves, set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when He is revealed. Like obedient children, don’t be conformed to the desires that you once had in ignorance. Instead, as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all that you do. For it is written, ‘You shall be holy for I am holy’.

See this whole thing about preparing your minds for actions, literally he writes “gird up your loins”. It’s a picture of a Roman soldier, going into battle, girding up his tunic so that he doesn’t trip over on his tunic in battle. Getting ready for battle. Disciplining yourselves and setting your hope on Jesus.

See, in those old battles they always had a banner or a standard or a colour. A flag bearer in the middle. And in the heat of the battle the soldiers would look to that flag and rally around it. They would set their hope on their banner, their flag.

That’s the picture that Peter is painting here. Get prepared for the realities. Get real. It’s a battle. It’s going to be hard. Set your hearts and your focus and your hope on Jesus and get into it. Things are going to get tough because when we decide to run the grace race, the rest of the world is not going to be pleased with us. Have a listen again:

 Like obedient children, don’t be conformed to the desires you once had in ignorance.

Give them up. The selfishness. The money. The greed. The laziness. The slander. The back biting. All those things. It’s not going to be easy because we’re stepping out of the worlds parade and we’re going to march to the beat of a different drum. “Instead (he says) as He who called you is holy, you yourselves be holy in everything you do because it is written, “You shall be holy for I am holy.”

Holy means, means “to be clean and pure and set apart like a vessel to be used by God for His glory”. That’s a hard call some days. You know, the little hidden compromises. Giving up those for Gods pleasure. For God’s glory.

Let’s be prepared. Let’s expect those difficult days to come. So when they do we walk into them thinking, “Well Lord, I always knew a day like this would come. I need your help. We’re going to get through this. I’m going to run the race today for you and with you and through you. But I need your help.”

Because if we’re not prepared, I tell you, we’re going to think something else instead. We’re going to think, “Oh God, what’s going on here? Why is this happening? How long is it going to be?” Go on, wake up. That’s like a soldier going onto a battlefield expecting not to get shot at. By definition, the soldier is going to be shot at when he walks onto the battlefield. That’s why he’s a soldier on a battlefield. And it’s the same for us.

Ditch this airy, fairy notion that following Jesus is about floating around on a cloud nine. I have a lot of joy in my life because I follow Jesus. I do. A lot of joy. But boy, there are some tough things that you have to deal with.

When we step out of the worlds parade and we start marching to the beat of a different drum. It is precisely like stepping onto a battlefield. We are going to get shot at. “Therefore prepare you minds for action. Discipline yourselves, set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring when He is revealed.”

And, don’t be conformed to your old desires. Instead, as God is holy, you yourselves be holy in everything you do.

Here’s the thing. The whole point of believing in Jesus is that we run the race to the end. Because the end is worth it. The end is a beautiful, wonderful, eternal life with Jesus Christ. Run the race and run it to the end.

Ever felt like – well, like it was all too much. That you’re groaning under the weight of life. And you look around at everyone else. They’re groaning too. It seems like it’s work, work, work. There’s no hope anymore. We’ve all been there.

This week on the program, well, over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at running the race and winning the prize. Running the race of life and winning the prize of eternal life at the end. But this week we’re kind doing something a bit different. We’re looking at running the race to the end, right to the end. Because in any race, people want to give up. We get hot, we get tired. Not just our bodies but our hearts and our minds. We get blisters on our feet too. And we want to give up sometimes. Any marathon runner will tell you that at some point they want to give up. It’s par for the course.

So I started having a poke around through the Bible to see what it said about this whole ‘giving up’ thing. And you know, I was amazed how much God has to say on that. Maybe it’s because He knows how common it is for us to want to, well, give up the race.

So often, the people that the letters of the New Testament were being written to at the time, were suffering persecutions and trials of all kinds. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10:

Brother will betray brother to death and the father, his child. And children will rise up against parents and have them put to death and you’ll be hated by all because of my name but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

See, persevering to the end is a really strong theme as it turns out. And that makes this weeks programs, I think, really important.

See it’s so easy to give up along the way. Sometimes the pressure of following Jesus, well it’s incredibly tough. I was talking with a man just the other day and he was sharing part of his journey with me. He’d stepped out, in faith, into business. He did it ethically. He could have taken advantage of his clients but he didn’t. He did it with a good heart. He did it for God. He wanted to give money away. And yet, before he knew it, it was looking like he was going to lose his home and his family were living off food donations.

See these sorts of things really do happen. Bad things happen to good people. People who’ve decided to live out their lives for Jesus. Who make sacrifices for Him. So often things end up going from bad to worse. We end up groaning under the weight of it all.

Well the Apostle Paul actually talks about that. That sense that we’re groaning under the weight of it all. Have a listen to what he writes to the Church in Rome. If you’re interested it comes from Romans chapter 8, starts at verse 18. He said:

I consider the sufferings of this present time, they’re not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now and not only the creation but we ourselves. We who have the first fruits of the spirit. We groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved and hope that is seen isn’t hope. For who hopes for what is being seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

We’ve all been there haven’t we, groaning under the weight? I can’t relate to groaning in labour pains as Paul writes. I haven’t experienced that. But it’s the sense that something new is being born but there’s pain involved.

See, so often we groan under the weight of life. Under the pressure. And it feels hopeless. It feels like there’s no tomorrow. You turn to the evening news and that’s full of hopelessness. And you turn around and look at the people around you and they’re groaning under the weight of life. With a sense of lostness and purposelessness and hopelessness. The whole creation seems to be groaning just as Paul writes.

But here’s the interesting thing. Paul gives us a whole different perspective on that. See, through the worlds eyes it is hopeless. But when you look at it through Gods eyes, from His perspective, the groaning the Paul is talking about here is birth pangs. It’s about ushering in a new age. This present age is nothing compared to that.

Let’s look at it again. “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.” Paul’s taking an eternal perspective. One day, he is saying, Jesus is coming back. One day all this stuff is going to change. And you might say to be, “Oh Berni please, do you really believe that stuff?” Absolutely I do ’cause that’s exactly, exactly what God promised. And when you set the suffering of this present day in a context of the eternal glory, of a new order, it pales into insignificance.

These days we don’t look much beyond today or tomorrow. Things are so bad in so many peoples lives they’ve stopped even dreaming about the future let alone hoping in eternity. There’s a beautiful song. It’s one of my favourite songs. It’s by “Mercy Me”. And it’s called I Can Only Imagine. And it’s a song sung to Jesus about when we are with Him. Have a listen to the words just at the beginning.

I can only imagine what it will be like when I walk by your side.
I can only imagine what my eyes will see when your face is before me.
I can only imagine surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you, be still?
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine.

Paul’s calling us to lift up our eyes. To set them fairly and squarely on eternity. And see the suffering and the groaning of this present age for what it is. The birth pangs of eternity.

We know the whole creation’s been groaning in labour pains until now. Not just the creation but we ourselves. We who have the first fruits of the spirit. We groan inwardly whist we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that’s seen isn’t hope. For who hopes for what they can see. But if we hope for what we can’t see, we wait for it in patience.

And what we have is hope. Not an uncertain hope. Not a hit and miss hope. A certain hope. And the whole point of hope is that it can’t be hope if you can see it all now. That’s Gods plan. To live out the life He’s got planned for us now. To go through all the trials and all the suffering. To run the race for the sake of the hope, the eternal glorious hope, that He’s set before us. The joy and the peace. Do you get it? There’s a beautiful future.

You know, here in this life, some days we have bad days. Some years we’ve have bad years and other ones, we have good ones. But can I tell you something? When we’re living in the knowledge that there’s an eternal future. When we’re living in the knowledge that there’s something better coming. Even the bad days. Even the worse days are days when we can experience the peace and the joy of God. Jesus knew that. Jesus was the pioneer and the perfector of our faith. “And He, for the sake of the joy that was set before Him, he endured the cross.”

What will it be like when we’re with Him? God only gives us a glimpse. Just opens the door a crack to let the glory of heaven shine out a little bit. What will it be like? I can only imagine. I can only imagine. But let me tell you something. When you and I have run the race to the end. When we’ve endured the trials and when we’re with Him for eternity, the suffering along the way won’t seem like anything at all.

Lift up your eyes. Set them on heavenly things. The things that are above. God wants us to do that. Hope in the eternal prize that’s set before us. Don’t lose that hope. Don’t give up. Yes, there are trials and hurts, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Most of us live life with the expectation that one day – hopefully well of in the future, we’re going to die. We try not to think too much about that, but that’s the idea. So what if there’s an alternative? What if something else could happen – much sooner than we think? Hmm?

There are two absolute certainties in life they tell us. Death and taxes. I guess I don’t think anyone would argue with that little maxim. We all have the expectation that one day, one day we will breathe our last breath on this earth. And that will be the end of this race. Now some people don’t know what happens after that. Others firmly believe that nothing happens. Others still, like me, well we’re crazy enough to take God at His word and with our faith firmly in Jesus, who died for us and rose again. We know with an absolute certainty that we will have life eternal with our God.

I don’t mean to sound arrogant or disrespectful if that’s not what you happen to believe. But I just know. Whatever faith profile we have though, we all pretty much expect to end our race, here on earth. Dying in our sleep or in our beds or in a car accident. Now we may not like to think too much about that but that’s pretty much the template that we all carry around in our heads. One day I’ll be dead.

That’s fair enough. But today, today I just want to take a look at one other possibility. Because there is another possibility other than that. It’s a possibility that if we take God at His word, it could happen at any moment. As much as we might look at the physical realities of the world and think, “No, that could never happen.” Actually, it could.

Well here it is. Here’s the alternative. However improbable it may seem. Jesus promised that one day He would return and that would be the end of this age. Now most of us are so buried in the day to day realities of life that, no matter what we believe, even if we believe in this Jesus, that it’s not likely that we’d consider it. “No, no, it wouldn’t happen.” We kind of push that into the background. Most people live their lives as though their own death is a long way off and so the end of this age doesn’t appear to matter much.

Well today, let’s have a reality check. Let’s just listen to what Jesus said about this because what He said matters. It matters right here and now. I’m reading from Matthew chapter 24 and it starts at verse 35. Have a listen ’cause it’s right in your face. He said:

Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away. But about the day and the hour, no-one knows. Neither the angels of heaven nor the Son but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were so will be the coming of the Son of man. (That’s what Jesus called himself – the Son of man) For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away. So too it will be at the coming of the Son of man. Then two will be in a field and one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together, one will be taken and one will be left.

Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming but understand this. If the owner of the house had known what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Who then is the faithful and wise slave whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all of his possessions but if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘my master is delayed’ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with drunkards. The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect and at an hour he does not know and he will cut him to pieces and put him with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Boy, that’s pretty direct. No mamby pamby Jesus here. He doesn’t mince His words. He says, “I’m coming back. Don’t you make any mistake about this.” And twice He says, “at an unexpected hour”. He has this picture of Noah and the flood and the day before. It was just an ordinary every day. People were getting married. They were having babies. They were eating. They were drinking. And then the flood came and swept them away. They didn’t expect it.

That’s exactly what it will be like, He says, when I come back. And you’d better be ready.

Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

It’s sobering stuff. Let me ask you this. If Jesus returned in about, lets say, the next forty-five minutes. He walks straight up to you and cast His eye over your life, would He find you ready? Would He find you living the life that He’s called you to live? Would your life be in order? I’m not talking perfection but how would you feel if He lobbed in, in this next hour or so?

Now you maybe thinking, “Berni, Berni, why are you trying this guilt trip thing on me? Do you think I’m that gullible?” Here’s my answer. Think what you like. One day there will be a day of reckoning. There will be a day of judgement. Now you and I could be dead tomorrow or today or Jesus could come back at the most unexpected hour. The very next hour perhaps. And when either of those two things happens, that’s it. It’s all over red rover. And either He’ll find us with our faith in Him, our hearts full of His spirit, our hands busy about the work that He’s called us to do or He’ll find us asleep at the wheel.

And there will be consequences. Listen to what Psalm 111, verse 10 says:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All those who practice it have a good understanding.

Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

And that’s, I guess, what I want to share with you in no uncertain terms today. We need to have a right fear of God.

I want to go back now, to the beginning of what we started talking about over these last couple of weeks. What Paul says about running the race of life.

Do you not know (he says) that in a race the runners all compete but only one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may win it.

Live your life in such a way that when you die or when Jesus comes back, you’ll be found in Him, living for His glory. The point is this, the race could be over much sooner than we think. And that’s the reason to keep going with vigour and energy and joy and focus and perseverance.

Please don’t think I’m trying to lump some great mill stone around your neck. No. This is about being set free. See, so often we want to pull over and the things that keep us going, well they’re multiple and we need different ones at different times. There is a real joy in running the race that God’s set before us. Real satisfaction. And when we get weary, sometimes when you can look up at the prize of eternal life and think, “I’m going to keep going for that.” And other times, like today, maybe, maybe we need a kick in pants.

Come on. With the reality that there is a day of reckoning coming and that day may come at the most unexpected hour. See there’s a flip side to the prize and it’s a hell of an alternative. We need to have both the joy and the fear of the Lord in our hearts. And a sober fear of the alternative. And my job is to share both of those with you.

“Run the race in such a way that you will win the prize.”

And as you do that, we grow and we enjoy and we overcome. Yeah, there’s suffering along the way and sacrifice but in the middle of it all is the piercing sweetness of the love of Christ. And I have to tell you, it just doesn’t get any better than that!