INTRO.- Let us run the race.
ILL.- A man decided to take up jogging. He was astounded by the wide selection of jogging shoes available at the local sports shoe store. While trying on a basic pair of jogging shoe, he noticed a minor feature and asked the clerk: "What is this little pocket thing here on the side for?"
And the clerk: "Oh, that’s to carry spare change so you can call your wife to come pick you up when you’ve jogged too far."
ILL.- A man said: Last year I entered the New York City Marathon. The race started and immediately I was the last of the runners. It was embarrassing. The guy who was in front of me, second to last, was making fun of me. He said, "Hey buddy, how does it feel to be last?" I replied: "Do you want to know?" and I dropped out.
Let us run the race marked out for us. In a sense, life and especially, the Christian life is something of a race. It’s more like a marathon race, which is 26.2 miles rather than a short 100 yard dash. And sometimes the race can be difficult and grueling. Life is not easy and living for Christ is not easy. But I’d rather run the race with Jesus than without Him! Wouldn’t you?
Our text speaks of things that hinder us in running the race and the sin that so easily entangles us. HOW TRUE THIS IS. Many people drop out of the race early because of sin and various other hindrances; play, pleasure, making money, work, etc.
ILL.- There was a farmer who had three sons: Jim, John, and Sam. No one in the family ever attended church or had time for God. The pastor and the others in the church tried for years to interest the family in the things of God to no avail. Then one day Sam was bitten by a rattlesnake. The doctor was called and he did all he could to help Sam, but the outlook for Sam’s recovery was very dim indeed.
So the pastor was called and appraised of the situation. The pastor arrived, and began to pray as follows: "0 wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee that in Thine wisdom thou didst send this rattlesnake to bite Sam. He has never been inside the church and it is doubtful that he has, in all his time, ever prayed or even acknowledged Thine existence. Now we trust this experience will be a valuable lesson to him and will lead to his genuine repentance.
"And now, 0 Father, wilt thou send another rattlesnake to bite Jim, and another to bite John, and another really big one to bite the old man. For years we have done everything we know to get them to turn to Thee, but all in vain. It seems, therefore, that what our combined efforts could not do, this rattlesnake has done. We thus conclude that the only thing that will do this family any real good is rattlesnakes; so, Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes. Amen."
I think I’d rather be faithful in going to church and stay in the race than having the Lord send rattlesnakes to wake me up!
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
ILL.- I think it was the year 1989 and the fourth time I had run the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, AL. The year before I had set a personal record but in 1989 I was not feeling well. In fact, I was hurting but I was determined to finish the race.
I don’t know what mile it was (something like 15 to 18 miles) and I saw the girlfriend of a fellow runner, on the sidewalk cheering runners on. She asked how I was doing, I said, "I was hurting and wasn’t doing well." She hollered back, "JUST SAY JESUS!"
I didn’t holler Jesus out loud but I was sure praying that He might help me just to finish the race. I never prayed to finish well, only to finish. AND SO IT IS WITH ALL OF US.
We all need to praying that the Lord will help us to finish the race. We must fix our eyes on Jesus if we intend to finish the race.
PROP.- Our text tells us exactly what is important about fixing our eyes on Jesus. It’s because of who He is and what He did.
1- Jesus is the author
2- Jesus is the savior
3- Jesus is the victor
I. JESUS IS THE AUTHOR
2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus is the author of our faith.
ILL.- Reader’s Digest reported this news item one time: When Clarence Birdseye went fishing in Labrador, Canada, it was so cold that the fish froze as they came through the ice. Thawed in water, they began to swim. This led Birdseye to try quick-freezing food to retain its fresh flavor. His experiments worked, and in 1924 Birdseye launched a seafood company in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Five years later he sold it—for $22 million.
I’m not sure about thawed fish beginning to swim and but I am sure that Birdseye developed, created, authored a frozen food company that has made millions and millions of dollars.
Have you ever created, produced, or authored anything? Most of us have not. Not in the sense of being original. We merely reproduce what we have heard or what we learned from someone else.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus is the original author of all that is good! He is not only the creator of the universe but also the creator of all that is good! He is also the author of our faith! He is the one and only! He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him!
Through Christ we come to know what true faith is. Jesus lived and walked with His father while on earth. He rose early in the mornings to meet with Him in prayer. He prayed over graves and raised people from the dead. He fed with thousands with nothing but a prayer to His Heavenly Father. Jesus knew what it was to live by faith in His Father!
And He was only man ever to give Himself; body, soul and spirit, for the sins of the whole world! He joyfully endured the cross, knowing He was becoming the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world! THERE IS NO ONE LIKE HIM! No one can come close to Him. No prophet, priest or king! He is the author and perfecter of true faith!
ILL.- Someone wrote: Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ’s 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity. Jesus painted no pictures; yet, some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him.
Jesus wrote no poetry; but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world’s greatest poets were inspired by Him. Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection in the hymns and symphonies they composed in His praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth. It sounds like to me that Jesus is the author of most good things in life!
Jesus is the central figure of our faith. Without Him, there would be no faith! He is the author of our faith and the perfecter of our faith when we come to the end of our lives! Our perfection is in Him!
II. JESUS IS THE SAVIOR
2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
ILL.- A young boy was in the 4th grade and having a terrible time with his math. His parents worked with him night after night but there was no improvement.
In desperation, his parents in desperation decided to transfer him to a new school. They decided to try the Catholic school system but not until after they had given the matter serious consideration as both parents were not religious.
They checked around and the school seemed to have a good academic record. They reluctantly enrolled their son in the Catholic school. Immediately the boy’s math marks soared. He went from a failing grade to become an A student.
His parents were surprised at the change and over dinner one night they asked their son about his improvement. "Was it better teaching?" they asked. The boy said, "No, the teachers are about the same." "Was it a different text book?" Again the boy said, "No, it is the same text book"
Finally they asked their son why he thought he had made such a dramatic improvement.
The boy said, "Well, he first day I went to school I knew they meant business when I saw that guy nailed to a plus sign."
Brothers and sisters, God meant business, serious business when He allowed His only son to be nailed to the cross of calvary. The problem is, many people today don’t take God seriously!
Many don’t believe in Jesus and they don’t believe that His death on the cross has done them any good.
ILL.- Pianist/Musician, Billy Joel said, "Well, I wasn’t raised Catholic, but I used to go to Mass with my friends, and I viewed the whole business as a lot of very enthralling hocus-pocus. There’s a guy hanging upon the wall in the church, nailed to a cross and dripping blood, and everybody’s blaming themselves for that man’s torment, but I said to myself, "Forget it. I had no hand in that evil. I have no original sin. There’s no blood of any sacred martyr an my hands. I pass on all of this."
I think Billy Joel’s attitude is very much like that of many people in America. They either don’t believe in the cross of Christ or else they want to pass on it entirely. And it may be that Billy Joel has had a change of heart. If not, he might before he dies! Many people suddenly become very repentant and religious just before they die. God alone knows their hearts.
ILL.- Pittsburgh’s airport is one of the biggest and best-equipped in the nation. Two seconds in flying time from the airport and in direct line with one of its busiest runways is the steeple of Union Church.
“Ever since the terminal opened,” said the pastor, “planes have buzzed the belfry like bees after honey. It got so bad that low-flying jets turned our Sunday evening services into sudden prayer meetings.” Reluctant to have their steeple carried away by some careless and unwary pilot, the church topped it with an eight-foot neon-lighted cross.
The church is on the highest point near the airport and the lighted cross can be seen at night by planes all the way from the Ohio border. One of the pilots made this interesting comment regarding the lighted cross: “Most of us are using it as a guide to the field.”
Brothers and sisters, the cross of Christ is a guide to the field of heaven!
John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Brothers and sisters, there is no one else up there who can save us! NO ONE BUT JESUS! He alone is the Savior of the world!
III. JESUS IS THE VICTOR
2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. That’s a sign of victory. That’s the place and the podium of victory. We humans place a premium on athletic victory.
ILL.- For example, I am sure that you know who Lance Armstrong is. He is the 7 time winner of the Tour de France cycling race that takes place every summer. That race is 23 days and 2,200 miles of hard cycling. The best cyclists in the world compete in the Tour but Lance Armstrong is the only person to have won that race 7 times in a row. His last Tour was in 2005.
What makes Lance Armstrong’s 7 wins at the Tour de France even more significant and spectacular is the fact that he suffered testicular cancer, which spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain.
CANCER DIDN’T STOP HIM! It seemed that nothing could stop him from being such a miraculous winner. That is, until recently. In March he was racing in Spain and crashed in a pile with other riders, breaking his collarbone.
It’s ironic to think that cancer couldn’t stop him but a broken collar bone did! It remains to be seen whether he will race in the Tour de France this summer, beginning July 4th.
While we applaud Lance Armstrong for his tremendous ability and amazing victories at the Tour, his victories will mean little when he comes to the end of life.
I’m saying that all of the accolades of the world will mean nothing when people stand before the Lord. The only victory that will count will be the victory of Jesus!
He alone is the victor of victors! He alone makes salvation possible!
ILL.- This incident took place around Dec. 2007 in Dyersburg, TN. 92-year-old Pauline Jacobi had just placed groceries into the driver’s side back seat of her tan-colored Toyota Corolla, which was parked in one of the disabled spots near the grocery side entrance of the Wal-Mart SuperCenter.
"It was later than I usually like to get out," she said. "I’d had a pretty busy day and I was kind of skittish. It was getting dark. But I’d finished my shopping and got into the car. There were people walking to and from, passing back and forth in front of me, so I didn’t start my engine so I wouldn’t scare them."
After a few minutes waiting for the right time to move, the front passenger door opened "and a tall man, raggedy looking, sat in right next to me."
"He was bundled up with a heavy jacket and cap," Jacobi said. "And he said ’Give me your money.’ I said, ’No, you’re not getting my money.’ I didn’t have anything more than a $10 bill, I think, but I didn’t want him to get my medications."
"Then the good Lord took over," Jacobi said. "I said, ’If you kill me, I’m going straight to heaven. If you kill me, you’re going to hell. You look like you’ve had an awful time in this world, and as bad as that is, it’s nothing compared to hell. Hell is much worse than anything here ..."
"Jesus is sitting in the car with me," she told him, as he glanced in the back seat. "He’ll protect me if you kill me. I’ll go to heaven."
"I asked him his name," she said. "He said it was Ricky, and he was from Halls." "Ricky, you drink, don’t you?" asked Jacobi. "He said he was hungry. I said if you didn’t spend your money on drink you’d have money for a meal."
"Then I asked him, ’Ricky, would you like to go to heaven?’"
"’Yes, I sure would,’" he said. "’But I’m afraid the Lord won’t take me."’
"Yes he will. He will take you if you believe. All you have to do is believe in Him and accept Him as your savior."
"I reached into my purse and opened the clutch bag and pulled out what I think was the $10 bill. I said ’Ricky, I’m going to give you money. Don’t spend it on liquor. Get something to eat. I want you to have it. You weren’t going to take it from me, but I’ll give it to you.
"He started to cry. Then he leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek." The shaken man then opened the door and walked into the night.
There is victory in Jesus because Jesus is the victor in heaven!
CONCLUSION------------------
ILL.- He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.
- Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.
- Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest.
- Jesus paid tribute to the king, yet He is the King.
- Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.
- Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.
- Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.
- Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.
- Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.
Let us fix our eyes on this Jesus.
