A LIFE OF ENDURING FAITH

Introduction

-[Hebrews 12]

-The Bible often compares the Christian life to a race. At the end of his life Paul said he ran the race. But when the Bible speaks of a race, it is speaking more about a marathon than anything else—the long-haul. This is in contrast to, say, the 100m or 200m races in Olympics, where all you need for those are short bursts of energy and before you know it, it’s over with. Even someone as out of shape as me could get a burst of energy to run 100m or even 200m (might have call ambulance after, but can do it). But I can’t run a marathon, because you need endurance to run 26 miles. And you don’t just have endurance naturally. It is something that is developed over time and with much practice.

-Now there is spiritual application to this. It is now the New Year and we always joke about making resolutions, but so often those resolutions are short-sighted. We resolve to do something in the new year (something to complete by 12/31/2023), and if get done by then (if we haven’t already given up by January 10th), we think we accomplished something.

-We may include some spiritual goals in our desires for New Year (what would like Christian life look like), but thinking in terms of just 1 year is like a short sprint in comparison with our entire lives. One year is like a 100m or 200m race. Because whether or not you accomplish your goals by 12/31/2023, then what after that? What if instead of breaking our Christian lives into short sprints of year after year, we think long term (meaning, we consider what we want to develop into as a Christian before we meet our Savior). When we think like that, now we’re talking marathon—and that takes endurance.

-So what I want from us in this new year is to not just to think about what we want to accomplish with our walk with God in 2023, but what we can do to prepare ourselves to endure in the marathon of our entire Christian life.

Hebrews 12:1–3 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

-{pray}

-The writer of Hebrews tells us to run the race, but to run the race we need to develop a spiritual endurance. The writer of Hebrews talks about three ways we develop a life of enduring faith to be able to run the Christian race.

1) Allow saints of the past to inspire us

-The first part of v. 1 talks about a great cloud of witnesses that should inspire us to run the race to develop a spiritual endurance because these witnesses themselves developed such endurance. But who or what is he talking about? It refers back to chapter 11, to what I call the Faith Hall of Fame (where the writer lists and talks about Biblical saints whose lives reflect great trust in God).

-Within the context of this book, the author is writing to persecuted Jewish Christians who need encouragement to continue to grow in their Christian walk so they can develop a life of faith that cannot be shaken no matter what the world throws at them. And to help with this, the author gives a history lesson of all these great men and women of Israel who walked by faith in God and not by sight. These were people who knew by experience God’s gracious character and they acted upon it—not just once, but they developed an entire lifestyle of faith (all by grace of God at work in them through the Holy Spirit).

-So, the writer reminds those persecuted Christians and us about the stories of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and so many more. The whole eleventh chapter is about how the lives of these people reflect enduring faith. And so the author is telling us readers that: SINCE WE HAVE SUCH PEOPLE OF HISTORY TO LOOK TO AND INSPIRE US, LET US RUN THAT KIND OF RACE WITH ENDURANCE JUST LIKE THEY DID.

-When you are training for something, or developing habits or characteristics in life, it helps to know that there were other people in the past who have BEEN THERE and DONE THAT—that they went through the same things that we are currently going through and they survived, and (even better than just surviving) they succeeded—THEY ENDURED and made it and ran a great race.

-Say, for example, if I was an athlete and needed some encouragement, I’d think back to the past greats in my sport to inspire me knowing what they went through to have success. I’ve never played football, but if I were to be a quarterback and I needed a little inspiration, I’d think about the careers of men like Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, or John Elway. I would allow their careers to encourage me to something bigger and better.

-Now we Christians in the Church of Jesus Christ have a 2000 year history of men and women who lived lives of enduring faith, and we can draw inspiration that we too can have such a life. I don’t want our youth and younger generations to tune me out. I know that you like the latest and greatest and newest of everything, so when I start talking about great saints of old you start tuning me out because you might think: WHAT CAN A GUY OR GAL WHO’S BEEN DEAD 100 OR 200 or 500 or 1000 YEARS HAVE FOR ME—what can they teach me about life?

-I’ll tell you what—Solomon in Ecclesiastes said that there is nothing new under sun. The same stuff that you go through, they went through in some manner—and they made it and they developed lives of enduring faith. If you want to run and finish this marathon of the Christian life, you could learn a lot from people like: WESLEY, WHITEFIELD, SPURGEON, MOODY, C.S. LEWIS and many OTHERS.

-All of us could—and it could do us all some good to learn about these people’s lives and see how they inspire us. I like to read biographies, and I remember one particular biography I read was about Leonard Ravenhill who was an anointed man of God and it inspired me in my personal spirituality and prayer life. And if you need inspiration, maybe you can do same—God has given these men and women a legacy to inspire us to develop a life of enduring faith, so we ALLOW SAINTS OF THE PAST TO INSPIRE US. But we see we also need to...

2) Abandon obstacles of the world that hinder us

-The latter part of v. 1 tells us to LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT, AND SIN WHICH CLINGS SO CLOSELY

-Imagine how ridiculous it would be for someone who is running a marathon to take a chain, strap one end to an 18-wheeler, strap the other end to themselves, and then try and drag that big truck for 26 miles and finish the race at all, much less finish it well.

-And yet author of Hebrews warns us that there are things of this world that spiritually are like chaining ourselves to an 18-wheeler—things that slow us down, impede us, or even stop all progress in having an enduring life of faith in Christ. And what it tells us do with these weights / encumbrances, is to get rid of them—to take them off, lay them down, abandon them, leave them there, and never return to it. It doesn’t say find way to make the load easier to carry or learn how to cope with them. The author is saying do whatever you have to do in order to rid yourself of whatever is slowing you down. The picture really is one of getting violent and radical with these things that hinder you.

-The author specifically names sin. If there is a constant sin plaguing you, find your victory in who you are in Christ and get that weight off you—whether it be pride, selfishness, unbelief, worry, gossip, etc. If it is against God’s Word, and you know it is, do what have to in order to lay it down. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:29–30 ESV

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

-Jesus is not literally saying to mutilate yourself. What He is saying is for you to get radical with whatever you have to do get rid of that sin obstacle.

-But sin is not the only weight that hinders our progress to enduring faith. It could be a relationship with person that is bad for you (maybe you’re unequally yoked with someone or they just plant bad seeds). And so what you need to do it break it off. Maybe the hindrance is a TV show that you are watching that is darkening your mind toward the things of God, or filling your mind with sin and corruption. So what you do is stop watching it. Or maybe it’s the music you’re listening to. If you listen to music that is constantly talking about drugs and violence and sex and darkness and evil you can’t look me in eyes and tell me doesn’t have impact on you. I know it does because I’ve been there. If you’re listening to that stuff or allowing your kids to listen to it, it’s feeding your soul garbage. It would be like me taking you to our dumpster out here and start shoving its contents into your mouth. That’s what you’re doing to your soul.

-If it impedes your Christian marathon—if it slows or stifles you from developing life of enduring faith, get rid of it—and then learn to run free. It doesn’t even necessarily need to be bad things either. Sometimes good things might slow us down because they are not the best for us. As one author stated it:

A winning athlete does not choose between the good and the bad; he chooses between the better and the best

-What so often happens is that we allow ourselves to get so busy with so many minor things, that the weightier things of life get lost in the shuffle. And there is a 2-letter word we may need to learn to lay aside those things of life that bog us down—NO!!! If there is something that is not helping us to develop the endurance of a life of faith, we need to get rid of that weight.

So: ALLOW SAINTS OF THE PAST TO INSPIRE US; ABANDON OBSTACLES OF THE WORLD THAT HINDER US...

3) Affix our focus on the Savior who leads us

-The author of Hebrews tell us in v. 2 to look to Jesus and in v. 3 to consider Jesus. The word for “look” in v. 2 means for us to FIX OUR GAZE upon Him. Just like a runner of a race keeps his or her focus on the goal of the race so that they are not diverted, in a similar way we are to keep our focus on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that our lives are not diverted from a life of enduring faith.

-As long as we are focused on Jesus, we will not turn to left or right from the path of faith. But when we allow ourselves to become enamored with the things of world, we get off track, our pace is slowed, and we are no longer running the race. Instead, we become distracted from our goal of a life of faith. But if our focus remains on Jesus, we will finish strong.

-You notice that the author of Hebrews calls Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith—some translations will say that He is the author and finisher of our faith. To call Him the founder/author of the faith means that He is the trailblazer—He pioneered our faith. Not only is He the object of saving faith, He Himself being 100% man (as much as He is 100% God) lived a life of complete faith and trust in God in all He did as an example for us to follow. With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we too can live the same faith-life that Jesus did. Even knowing all that He would suffer even to the point of death, He endured it all, living by faith believing that even in suffering God had it under control and causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purposes.

-But Jesus is also called the perfecter/finisher of the faith. The word means that Jesus carried faith to its completion and gave the example of perfect faith in His life. That’s what it means when we say God is developing Christ-likeness in us. God not only saves those who believe in Jesus from hell, He is also developing the very life of Christ in us so that our life of faith reflects the same life He had while on this earth, and He will see it thru to the end by the power of the Holy Spirit.

-Jesus went through so much more as human than we ever will know, and yet He didn’t doubt God, He didn’t have any reservations about what God would do, but even when cruelly treated and mocked and killed at the hands of evil men, Jesus trusted that God the Father knew what He was doing. Now, we need to remember that the author of this epistle is writing to persecuted Christians who were probably down and discouraged. And the author tells them to fix their gaze on Jesus, focus on Him, and be encouraged that God has it under control and will empower them to live a life of faith if they would just trust Him every step of the way. Affix your focus on Jesus Christ as He leads us to a life of amazing faith.

Conclusion

-In history, there have been many feats of endurance in racing. In 1867, Edward Payson Weston raced from Portland Maine to Chicago Illinois in 29 days to win a wager, captivating the nation. This eventually developed into a Long-Distance Championship of the World which was a series of 6-day races. Whoever would go the farthest distance in 6 days would be the winner. A bit of a race rivalry developed between Weston and another man, Daniel O'Leary, an Irish immigrant farmer. Each would win several of the races that pushed men to the limits.

-It very doubtful I will ever race between cities or race for six days, much less run marathon. I have never developed an endurance to run 26 miles or more (or less). But, you know what? I want to run the marathon of the Christian life and run it well. I want to develop an endurance, not to live just mediocre, cultural-Christianity, but a life of faith like Abel, Noah, Abraham, David and others. I hope you have same desire. We develop that endurance by Allowing Saints of the Past to Inspire Us…Abandoning Obstacles of the World that Hinder Us…Affixing our Focus on the Savior Who Leads Us

-The people in chapter 11 were not part of some super-human race, they were ordinary people who trusted God, focused on Him, and by God’s empowerment lived by faith, an utter trust, in God and they finished the race well and we can do the same.

-Christian, will you come to the altar today and pray that 2023 would be a year where you develop an enduring faith that will go well beyond the year 2023, but will last your whole life time.

-But some of you aren’t even entered into the race. You think that just because you have a moral code and you participate in some sort of spirituality that you have a life of faith. But faith has a starting point and it is in Jesus Christ alone. Only Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith. You start there or you don’t start at all. Jesus is God the Son who became man to live the life we couldn’t, and die the perfect sacrifice to pay for your sins and give us peace with God. Put all your trust in Him, and start a race that leads to eternal life...