When You Are Disappointed With God {Video}

Slaying the Worry Dragon {Video}

Rooting Out Bitterness {Video}

The Trouble With Envy & Jealousy {Video}

What is a Christian? {Video}

Table-Talk Conversation {Video}

What Does It Mean to Be Led of the Holy Spirit? {Video}

Why Does a Christian Need to Repent? [Video]

God's Name, God's Kingdom, God's Will: Our Passion [Video]

The Power of Persuasion [Video]

Barnabas, Ananias, Jesus and Me [Video]

Workshop of Wonders: Grow with God [Video]

We're In This Together [Video]

Hebrews 12:1 - Finishing the Race (Part 3)

Preached at Community Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, August 18, 2013

Hebrews 12:1-3, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

If you hadn’t already figured it out about me, as is evident from the first two sermons I’ve preached as your new minister, I like sports.  Both as an athlete, and as a fan, I have enjoyed watching and playing the games for many, many years.  Lately, however, it seems to me that competitive sports, especially on the professional level, is marked more by show-offs, huge salaries, and even scandals, than it is by genuine skill.  Maybe it’s just me, but, used to professional athletes got to that level of competition because they worked hard, sacrificed greatly, and perhaps had a few good breaks in their favor.  Now, however, it seems that way too many of them get there because of some drug they took to enhance their performance, which, to me, makes it all a big farce. 

The Scriptures, on the other hand, point us in a much different direction, as we who wear the name of Christ engage in a much more strenuous, and certainly in a much more eternally important contest, the race to win the crown of life everlasting.  While temporal, fleeting moments of fame and stardom come to those athletes who are the biggest, the fastest, the meanest and the strongest, in Christ and in this race we call the Christian life, these who finish the race, those who keep the faith, those who endure all the way to the end, are not the ones with the biggest muscles, but those with the BEST EYES.  You remember our outline of this text, don’t you? 

Speaking of the Faith Hall of Famers of Hebrews chapter 11, God’s Spirit, speaking through the writer here in chapter 12 says, first of all, if you want to run, all the way to the end of the race, you must look at the winners! Races as strenuous and demanding as this one is, it’s easy to think you want to quit, easy, as verse 3 puts it, to become weary and discouraged in your souls.  But, don’t do it!  Remember that you and I are surrounded by a whole host of athletes of former times and generations who, though stressed and stretched to the max, didn’t give up or give in.  Use your eyes, they are the most important resource you have.  Use them to take note of the example folks like Abraham and Moses, Joshua and Gideon, Samuel and David set for you.  Yes, use your eyes to see HOW those men and women persevered and finished the race.  Remember how they did so?  It’s the theme of Hebrews chapter 11.  They did so BY FAITH.  Not by means of performance enhancing drugs, but BY FAITH. 

Look at the winners, that great cloud of witnesses surrounding you.  Yes, use your eyes, your open-the-book-read-and-study-what-it-says EYES, to learn from their examples.  Then, what?  Do what they did!  That’s right, all those Sunday School stories about men building big boats to save mankind from a world-wide flood, or about women giving birth to babies when they are decades past their prime, or about children slaying giants with a sling and a stone.  They’re not just cute little stories.  No, because they are a part of this SWORD, they have a point to them!  Read them, study them, ask God to make clear to you what the point is!  Then, do it!  Look at the winners! 

Step two, requirement number two, if you and I want to run this race to win the prize of eternal life: we must use our eyes to look at us, to look at ourselves.  Twenty-first century athletes, it seems to me, use their eyes to look at themselves, alright.  But, the goal of their looking at themselves seems to be more like the fellow who saw his reflection in a pool of water, and was transfixed on his own beauty and body. 

But, the Word of God, once again, comes at all of this from a completely different angle, remember?  Once again, Hebrews 12:1.  Why do we, why are we to look at ourselves.  Is it to become Narcissistic, enamored with us?  No!  We look at ourselves, we do what the Bible calls SELF-examination, why?  So that if there is anything, I mean, ANYTHING, that is like a weight hindering us, or any sin – lying, gossiping, stealing, bitterness, envy, greed, immorality, or whatever that is is entangling us – we must lay it aside, we must PUT IT OFF, so that we can run, and run, and win! 

My fellow runners, use your eyes, to look at the winners, and use your eyes to look at yourselves.  But, all of that, as important as it is, won’t get you to the finish line.  That’s why God’s Spirit led the writer of this passage to cap off this text with this fitting climax.  Look at the winners!  Look at yourselves!  Look at Jesus!  Look at Jesus!  Let’s read it one more time:

Hebrews 12:1-3, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

As I was studying for this last portion of this sermon, God reminded me of several other passages that, to me, bring light on this part of our study. 

“Looking unto Jesus,” is how the writer state it.  He is the Author of our faith.  But, what does the writer mean?  What is he driving at?  Let me see if we can clarify it for us.  Look at Jesus, look at what He’s done for you, if you are His child.  And what has He done for you?  Well, once again, the text says that Jesus is the AUTHOR of our faith.  In coach’s terms, Jesus is the PLAYMAKER, He is the Point Guard, the Quarterback, if you will.  You see, if it wasn’t for Jesus, the religion of which we are a part, wouldn’t exist!  He is the FOUNDER of our religion, the One the apostles call the Chief Cornerstone, the Rock upon whom the Church is built.  But, listen, it gets even better than that!  Not only is Jesus the Founder of the Christian religion, listen, He is the reason you and I have come to saving faith!  Like the old gospel song puts it, “we were sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more.”  And, how did we come to be saved?  Did we pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps?  No!  Jesus, the Master of the deep, heard our despairing cries, and from the waters lifted us, now safe are we! 

Looking unto Jesus, He is the AUTHOR of my faith!  Looking unto Jesus, looking at what He has down for me! 

My loved ones, do you?  Do you realize and recognize what Jesus has done for you?  Romans chapter 4, culminating in the final verses of that chapter, verses 24 and 25, says it so powerfully.  Open your Bibles to that chapter with me for just a moment.  Early in the chapter, Paul alludes to the life and experience of King David, the writer of Psalm 32, the passage Paul quotes in about verses 6-8.  And, Paul does so to drive home what Jesus has done for us.  In our former state, before Jesus saved us, what were we?  Lost, sinful, dead!  Our lawless deeds rendered us guilty!  Our sins left us naked and uncovered and ashamed before God’s all-seeing eyes.  Our iniquities put us in a position of being accountable to God for repeated violations of His law, but with no adequate and acceptable means to give an answer to God. 

But, then Jesus came, the Author of our faith, and what did He do for us?  Do you know?  You really should know, Romans 4:25.  Here’s why we look to Jesus, why HE’s the PLAYMAKER of our salvation!  Romans 4:25, He allowed Himself to be handed over to death, delivered up to OUR MAKER, our Judge, and, think of this, to His Father, why?  For our sins!  For the benefit of hopeless, helpless sinners that we would otherwise be! 

Jesus was delivered to death for our sins!  But, that’s only half of it, right?  Look at what else Paul says Jesus did for you and me!  Romans 4:25 – As meaningful, and important as Jesus’ death for sinners certainly is, what significance would it have IF Jesus hadn’t been raised to life again?  Hebrews 12:2 talks about how Jesus, because of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.  What do you think that joy set before Him really was?  I’m virtually certain that it has something to do with His resurrection.  But, listen, not just with the joy of being alive again ONLY!  No!  Rather, I think that the joy set before Jesus, as He went up Mount Calvary and bled and died on that cruel cross, was the joyful expectation of what both His death AND His resurrection would accomplish for you and me!  Romans 4:25, “He was delivered over to death for our sins, AND, on top of that, Jesus was raised to life for our justification, so that now, God not only does NOT count our sins against us, better than that, God now counts Jesus’ righteousness for us!  Praise God! 

Looking unto Jesus, to the AUTHOR of our faith, the PLAYMAKER of our salvation, looking back to what He has done for you and me!  Isn’t it great to be able to do that?  To be able to do that each Lord’s Day as we gather around the Lord’s Table?

But, listen, as critical as what Jesus HAS done for us, as the AUTHOR of our faith, really is, what good is that for the race we’re trying to run today?  Without sounding like I’m blaspheming, let me ask you to consider this statement since most of us here likely have quite a ways yet to go on this race.  What’s our greatest need, now and in the future, a Jesus who helped back then, in getting us STARTED in the race, or a Jesus who can and will help us now and all the rest of the way? 

I’m sure you see where I’m going with this: Hebrews 12:1-2, notice that the text DOESN’T say: “Having looked [in the past] to Jesus…”  But rather it says, “Looking unto Jesus…”  Why do you think the Scripture puts it that way?  Because, as I said it a moment ago, when it comes to THIS race, this long and often grueling marathon, we don’t simply need someone to get us started, no!  We need Someone to help us finish!  Looking unto Jesus, and who IS Jesus?  He is the AUTHOR of our faith!  For sure!  But, listen, and praise God with me, He also is the FINISHER of our faith, the one God gave to see to it that all His promises come to fruition! 

Jesus is the finisher of our faith!  I had a very meaningful conversation last week with Mrs. Coach, Mary P., in the home of her daughter Missy and son-in-law Hayden.  And what made it extra special for me was what Mary told me about her husband, Coach Kent, and their son Timothy.  Mary said that when she was expecting Timothy, Kent’s dad passed away.  At Mr. P.s’ funeral, the preacher preached from Mr. P.s’ favorite passage of Scripture, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, where Paul describes how he had fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.  Mary told me that a few days later Kent told her that if the baby she was about to deliver happened to be a boy, he wanted to name him Timothy because of those Bible verses that were so significant to Kent’s dad.  And that are now greatly cherished by Kent.  I appreciate that, I really do.  But, let me ask you, all of you, to consider one thing with me, about those verses in 2 Timothy 4.  And that is this: what is their context?  What is the backdrop behind them?  Or, to put it another way, what is it, WHO is it, that gives those verses meaning and power?  Let me take you one more verse in 2 Timothy for an answer: the context, the backdrop for Paul’s triumphant declaration and Mr. P.’s assurance as recorded in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, is what Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:12.  Pick up the reading with me in verse 8:

2 Timothy 1:8-12, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

Two weeks ago, I asked you whether or not you’ve ever been tempted to quit, to drop out of the race.  Some of you have been there, some of you are there, now.  May I urge you and exhort you with these final words?  Don’t do it!  Don’t quit!  Why?  Because of Jesus!  Because of the One who is able to keep what you have committed unto Him against that Day!  Because of the One who, not only is the Author of your faith, but who also is the Finisher, the Fulfiller, the Completer of it as well!  Look to Him, consider Him, so that you will not become weary and discouraged in your souls. 

Hebrews 12:1 - Finishing the Race (Part 2)

Source

Preached at Community Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, August 11, 2013

Hebrews 12:1-3, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

If you were to evaluate where you are spiritually, today, compared to where you were a year ago, how would you rate yourself?  “I’m miles ahead…”  “I’m a few feet farther along…”  “I’m at a standstill…”  Or, “I’m s tuck in reverse gear, and have been so for several months…”  Spiritual progress, spiritual growth, like running a race - not a sprint, by the way, but a marathon – is meant to be just that: growth.  Progress.  Forward movement in the direction of becoming more like Jesus Christ.  Yet, at times, and for a number of different reasons, our progress, our forward movement in spiritual growth may be hampered, if not, out and out, stopped.  But, is that what God desires for us?  Is it?

Spiritual progress,  moving forward along the ‘track’ in the direction of the finish line, that is what was first and foremost on the mind of the writer of this letter when he wrote the words we read just a moment ago.  ‘Don’t quit!  Finish the race!  Don’t quit!  Run to win!’ could very well summarize his message to his first readers and to us.  Remember? 

In our study last Lord’s Day, we heard him say these Holy Spirit-inspired words, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…”  ‘Look at the winners,’ he exclaims, ‘Don’t quit!  Finish the race just like they did!  It’s not impossible and it’s certainly MORE than worth it.  So run it, all the way to the end, BY FAITH, trusting in Jesus all the way, even though it gets harder the closer you get to the finish line. 

Look at the winners, at those who persevered, all the way to the end, and follow their example!  That’s the first step in the direction of spiritual progress which the Hebrew writer sets out for us.  And, what an important, and really, very encouraging step that step is.  Look at the winners. 

But, then there is step number two.  Look at us!  Look at us.  You know, kind of like Coach Red and Coach Kent, teams walking up and down the hallways past the trophy cases, examining and admiring each and every memento of previous teams’ power and prowess, there is some kind of positive impact that such a stroll down memory lane supplies.  It encourages us, or should encourage us to see that others finished the race – thank God for that great cloud of witnesses cheering us on.  But, then what?  Then we have to come down from the clouds, back down to earth where we are in our own process of spiritual growth, and we’re forced to ask ourselves: “Where am I in reference to the finish line?”  And, “How long have I been in this place?”

Spiritual growth, spiritual progress, this is by far the more difficult, the more painful part of this study, isn’t it?  And why is that?  It’s because it requires self-examination.  None of us really like that, do we?  Yet, if we are to steer clear of quitting, and to aim diligently in the direction of winning, we must examine ourselves regularly! 

“Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us…” 

Weights, lifting weights, or, as my coaches used to call it ‘weight training’.  Such a rigorous regiment was beneficial when it came to Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays.  However, when Friday night came around, when it was game time, what did we do?  We left the weights in the weight room!  Why?  You know why!  Because they would hamper us, because they would impede us.  To put it bluntly, because those weights would get in the way!  Look at us, step two in this God-given formula for spiritual growth.  Look at us, examine yourself and ask, ‘What is getting in my way, hampering me, hindering me, from progressing spiritually?  What is it that keeps me from being a more fully committed follower of Jesus Christ? 

Time for a gut-check, right?  What is it that IS getting in our way as we want to grow spiritually?  For Saul of Tarsus, it was his spiritual pedigree, his thought that somehow he had attained to his own righteous standing before God - he didn’t need a Savior - that prevented him from spiritual transformation.  (Philippians 3:1ff)

For the thorny soil person, the individual whose heart Jesus says is plenty fertile, but unfortunately, that fertility is mainly in the direction of weeds not wheat, the list of what is getting in the way includes such things as worldly worries, deceitful riches, self-centered desires and passing pleasures (Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8). 

For the Christians at Corinth, the problem was unholy friendships, the binding together of someone whose desire is to walk toward Jesus, with someone whose heart moves him AWAY from Jesus.  Like light mingled with darkness, like Christ married to Belial, like the temple of the true and living God being decorated with images to false gods.  Such unwise, unequal yoking slows the spiritual progress of a believer to a virtual standstill! 

Are any of these things what is hindering you?  What are you going to do about it?  What does the Word of God instruct you to do about it?  Lay it aside!!  Does the word ‘encumbrance’ mean anything to you?  I suppose if you’re a real estate agent, you’ve heard the word and know what it means.  In real estate transactions, if you’re about to purchase a piece of property, you want it to be without encumbrances, you want it to be without any added and unnecessary financial burdens beyond the actual cost of the property. 

Added, unnecessary burdens.  Spiritual encumbrances.  Listen, my loved ones, the spiritual growth grade is STEEP enough without any extra weight.  Lay them aside!  We must lighten the load by laying those things aside! 

Then, what?  There is another aspect to this second step toward greater spiritual growth.  It also is difficult and even painful.  What is it?  We might not like to think about it this way, but the fact of the matter is that we HAVE to think about it this way, if we have any hope at all of growing spiritually.  What am I talking about?  Hebrews 12, verse one.  The writer whom God’s Holy Spirit uses to instruct us about spiritual growth says, first of all, ‘Lighten the load.’  “Let us lay aside every weight…”  Then, he adds these powerful words, “Let us lay aside every weight AND the sin that so easily ensnares us…”  Sin??  A danger to us?  Sin?  A trap, a snare, a set of chains for us?  Does that sound like something you’ll hear on the nightly news?  Does that sound like something our favorite country and western musicians will sing about?  Does that sound like something the latest Hollywood hit will warn you about?  Of course not, right?!  That’s because those sources of information and insight are not coming at this subject from a basis of absolute truth.  But this Book, because of WHOSE Book it is and because of WHO this Book’s Ultimate Author is, this Book comes at the subject of sin from the standpoint of the truth.  The pure, unadulterated, unchanging, absolute truth. 

And what does this Book say about sin and its relationship to a Christian’s challenge and responsibility to grow spiritually?  Number one, it says that sin is DANGEROUS!  No, it didn’t say that it is something that should be soft-pedaled.  And, it didn’t say that sin is something that should be redefined.  And, it didn’t say – God’s word didn’t say - that sin is something that should be covered up, swept under the rug or explained away!   Rather, God’s Word makes it clear, even right here in Hebrews 12, that sin is dangerous.  Like a runner whose Nike® shoelaces are tied together, so that the first stride he tries to make out of the blocks, puts him flat on his face, so sin is dangerous because it can trip us up and cause us to come crashing down! 

Yes, sin is dangerous.  So, what must we do about it?  We must ask God to help us loosen its grip on us, so we can lay it aside also!  By the way, did you know that the Word of God teaches us that if we are in Christ, if we have died with Him, been in essence, crucified with Him, and buried in that watery grave of Christian baptism with Him, and raised to walk in newness of life, then we have, in fact, been freed from the PENALTY of sin, eternal death, eternal punishment in hell. 

Furthermore, did you know that, if you are in Christ, if you truly are His child by grace through faith, then you are in the process, God’s Holy Spirit is at work in you to move you more and more in the direction of being free from the POWER of sin at work in your life.  That’s what this verse in Hebrews 12 is talking about!  Then, one more, did you know that, if you are in Christ, ultimately, on that day when you see Jesus fact to face, He will free you once and for all from the PRESENCE of sin your life!  Hallelujah! 

What is it that is getting in my way, getting in your way, in our attempts to grow spiritually?  What is it that makes us want to quit?  Is it the encumbrances, the added, unnecessary weight of unholy friendships, worldly cares, deceitful riches and so forth?  Lay those things aside!  Lighten the load so you can run!  And, what about sin?  Have you listened so much to the news, the music and the movies of this age that you actually think that sin can’t really be that bad?  Listen up, my friends, sin is dangerous.  Don’t let anyone fool you!  It’s way is wide, and its gate is broad; but its end is destruction and its payoff is death!  So, ask God to help you break free from its hold on you!  Ask Him to help you live in light of the freedom and victory He’s given you in Christ!  Ask Him to help you grow in Christ, in spiritual strength and fruitfulness like you never have before! 

Lighten the load, loosen the chains.  Then, one more, deepen the love.  Deepen the love.  Spiritual growth, spiritual progress, this race we’re talking about here, this race that others have run and won before us – why do we do it?  To make it to heaven?  Sure!  To attain to that crown of life?  Sure!  But is that the only reason we run, the only reason we lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us? 

No!  The ultimate reason, the most important reason we do all of this striving and struggling in the direction of spiritual growth is because of Him whose face we will see when we get there!  2 Timothy 4:6-8, listen to the words of the apostle Paul about the deep, deep love for Jesus Christ that spurred him on, all the way to the finish line: 

2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Why do you and I look to the winners, so as to follow their example, and why must we look at ourselves, so as to lighten the load and loosen the chains?  Here’s why: because we love, we long for the day when we will see the One who loved us first and best! 

We run, we grow, we persevere all the way to the end because He loved us, and we, through the help of His Spirit, love Him! 

Hebrews 12:1 - Finishing the Race

Source

Preached at Community Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, August 4, 2013

           

Hebrews 12:1-13, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”

Have you ever felt like quitting?   Have you ever been ready to give up, to throw in the towel?  Some of us were there just last week, right?  Some of us may be there almost every day.  You know what I mean?  If you’ve been there, or maybe are there right now, then you need to know how to answer the question, “SHOULD I?”  And you need to know why…

This thing called Being a Christian, living for Jesus Christ not for yourself, this thing called Participating in the Lord’s Church in a vibrant, growing, fruit-bearing way - did you know what you were getting into when you said ‘yes’ to Jesus Christ?  When you confessed Him before me, when you submitted your life to Him as your Master and owner, when your old selfish sinful person DIED with Him in that watery grave of Christian baptism, when you were raised with Him to walk in newness of life.  Did you know what you were getting into?  And are you ready now that you’ve come to recognize what this kind of commitment really means, are you ready to give it all up? 

Quitting, giving up, throwing in the towel on being a Christian.  Whether we’re brand new in the faith, or have been a Christian for decades, likely most of us, at one time or another, have been so discouraged, so overwhelmed by temptation, so overcome by guilt because we’ve failed the Lord, that quitting seems to be our only option.  The question is, “SHOULD we?”  Should you, should I, QUIT? 

Before you answer that, let me ask you to consider, what if Noah had decided to stop his work on the ark at the 50% mark?  What if Abram, when God called him to follow Him all the way to Canaan land, had decided to pack it in at Haran and go no further?  What if Moses had given up after the 7th, 8th or even 9th plague?  Then, what?

Well, thank God we don’t have to answer those ‘what ifs,’ do we, because none of them are true, right?  Those Old Testament men of Faith, and many other faithful men and women of that era, didn’t quit.  Though full of imperfections and glaring weakness, nonetheless, they didn’t give up and throw in the towel when it came to following God.  And as such, as this great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, what do you think their answer is to the ‘SHOULD I’ quit question? 

Don’t quit!  Finish the race!  Don’t quit!  Finish the race!  How is it that a cloud of witnesses, a roll call of faithful men and women, Abel, Enoch, Sarah, Jacob, Joshua, Rahab, how is it that these people’s lives and ‘testimonies’ actually serve to spur us on to run, when we’d rather quit?  Think about it with me. 

I’ve never been a coach - football, basketball, baseball - but I’ve played all three sports, little league, junior high, high school, and here’s what I’ve learned about winning and losing.  If you want to learn how to win, pay attention to how the LOSERS play the game…  Now, wait a minute.  Did I say that right?  And, did you hear that right?  Pay attention to the LOSERS if you want to learn how to win?  Huh?! 

Wrong!  You knew I was wrong, didn’t you?  Those who want to LEARN how to win, they don’t focus on the LOSERS, do they?  No!  They look at the winners! 

Hebrews chapter 11, the passage immediately preceding our sermon text, the so-called ‘Hall of Fame of the Faithful’ passage, why is it in the Bible?  For that matter, why are the fuller accounts found over in places like Genesis and Exodus, 1 Samuel and 2 Kings, why are those passages in the Bible?  To say to us, sort of like a coach in the sidelines, to shout at us, ‘Don’t quit!  Finish the race!  Don’t quit!  Keep going, all the way to the end!’ 

Throw in the towel, should you?  No!  Look at the winners, they’re saying, they’re example, it’s showing you and me that it’s possible to finish the race!  Jesus said, “He that endures to the end will be saved,” (Matthew 10:22).  ‘Jesus, You’ve gotta be kidding!’  Jesus said, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life,” (Revelation 2:10).  ‘No way, Jesus, there’s just no way I can make it all the way to the end!’   That may be what you and I are FEELING, but hear me, don’t listen to your feelings!  They’re wrong!  No!  Look at the winners!  Why?  Because their example SHOUTS to us the message that winning, finishing the race, IS possible.  It IS possible with God!  Through Jesus Christ!  Then, what?  Don’t quit!  Finish the race! 

Look to the winners!  Why?  Because they’re example will show you what you need to see and understand, and what is that?  Namely, that the CLOSER you get to the finish line, the HARDER it gets!  No surprises there, right?  Well, maybe for some of us.  Don’t believe me?  Ask Abraham.  He’ll tell you.  ‘Abe, how hard was it for you and Sarah to wait for little Isaac to finally be born?  Pretty hard, right?  But, tell us, was waiting all those years as hard as taking your dearly beloved son, Isaac, up Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice?’  The closer you get to the finish line, the harder it gets.

Ask Moses, how hard was it for you leave the luxury of Pharoah’s palace?  Pretty hard, right?  Especially when you had to trade it in for tending your father-in-law’s sheep in nowheresville.  But, then, how hard was all of that compared to having to stand toe-to-toe with Pharoah, the most powerful king at the time, and demand that he let your people go?

Or, how about Daniel and his three friends, how hard was it for you fellows to forego the king’s rich food in order to obey God’s laws and maintain your purity?  Pretty tough, right?  10 day long veggie and water fast, right?  But, then, how did that compare to when you fellows either had to say ‘yes’ to God and to a lions’ den and a fiery furnace, or ‘yes’ to the king?  How hard was that? 

Are you thinking about quitting?  My friend, don’t do it, even if the going gets tougher the further along you go!  No!  Look at the winners, consider their example, their ‘testimony’, if you please, and through the strength of God’s Spirit finish the race!  Keep the faith! 

Yes, look at the winners, that great cloud of witnesses, the Noahs and Abrahams, the Joshuas and Calebs, the Clintas and Eds and Dorises.  Look at them, at their example and what do you see?  Here’s what you see, you see how to run with endurance, you see how to finish the race.  Two words, repeated nearly 20 times in Hebrews chapter 11, what are those two words, the two words that summarize how we are to run so as to win?  By faith.  By faith.  Trusting in the unseen hand of God to strengthen them, to guide them, to protect them, to bless them.  These Old Testament worthies learned that if they were going to finish the race they must lighten the load, and yes, they must loosen their chains.  But, most important of all, if they were going to finish the race, they must look to the Savior, by faith!  They must lean on His ever-lasting arms! 

Quitting, throwing in the towel, giving up.  Have you been there before?  Maybe that’s where you are now?  Not many months ago that’s where I was, some of you know the details, and believe me, it wasn’t pretty.  ‘God, are you finished with me?  Am I no longer useful to you?’  For my family and me, that was our wilderness period.  But, because, ultimately, HE is faithful, God brought us through that time, to where we are today.  Praise Him!  And you know what He’s shown us through all of it?  Just like Hebrews 11 and 12 indicate, those winners, the example of those Old Testament men and women showed us that it’s worth it.  It is worth it to endure.  It’s worth it to persevere and finish the race! 

Let me show you what I mean.  Hebrews 12:6 – Ever feel like quitting because you think that God has abandoned you or given up on you?  Don’t do it!  His rebuke, His chastening, His discipline which may very well be what He’s carrying out through the hard things in your life, what’s He trying to say to you through all of that?  Hebrews 12:6, “I love you!  You are My child!  I lovingly accept you as My child!  I delight in you!”  Is it worth it to endure?   Look at the winners, not the losers: the Cains, the Achans, the Sauls, the Ahabs.  No, look at the winners.  And, what’s their testimony?  ‘It’s worth it to endure, Hebrews 12:10.  Yes, even to endure the correcting instruction and discipline of the Lord – why?  Because His goal, His target in working all of that in our lives is to prepare us to share in His holiness!  And to produce the peaceful fruit of righteousness, as we allow Him to train us, Hebrews 12:11. 

Quitting, throwing in the towel.  Giving up, perhaps, when you think God has given up on you.  Look at the winners, that Great Cloud of Witnesses that, like a cheering crowd urging us on to the victory, surrounds you and me.  Look at them and hear their words.  Listen to their testimony, including all the trials and hardships, what all of that mean for them, and what do they?  Don’t quit!  It’s worth it!  Don’t quit!  By faith, you can make it!  Don’t quit!  Sure, it will get harder the further you go, but don’t quit.  Through Christ, you can win, you can finish the race! 

Through Christ…  Look at the winners.  “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ‘Jesus, did you ever feel like quitting?   Did you ever feel abandoned, like God had given up on you?’  Look to the winners – yes!  And, don’t quit.  But, listen, as important and meaningful as their example, their testimony might be, they are not the Author and Pioneer, the Originator of our faith, nor are they its Finisher, its Perfecter.  But He is.  Even more, even better, because HE didn’t quit, because He obeyed His Father all the way to Calvary, where did that put Him, ultimately, and where does that leave us, as we battle the urge to quit? 

Here are the answers flowing forth joyfully, powerfully, from this Book, this Word from our great God: because Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame, because He made it all the way to His ‘it is finished’ moment, NOW He is right where we need Him to be, at the right hand of the throne of God – why?  So that there, at God’s right hand, as One who faced His own ‘I’m gonna quit’ crisis moment, He can intercede for you and me.  So that there, from there, at God’s right hand, He can dispense the mercy and extend the grace we’ve got to have to help us in our time of need. 

Don’t quit!  Look to Jesus!  He’s been there.  Don’t give us, look to Jesus, He IS there, at God’s right hand to help you, to strengthen your limp hands and your feeble knees.  Look to Jesus, trust in HIS strength, and run!  All the way to the end.