God’s Hall of Fame
Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, 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, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Mt. 16:24, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The author of Hebrews is comparing the Christian life to a race. It is a race of endurance. Paul compared our walk with wrestling, another sporting event. Paul was very aware of what he was talking about. The Romans were known for their games. He understood the analogy, as did the writer of the book of Hebrews. We have the Olympics today. An Olympian is focused on his sport. If he is a runner, his entire life is about running. If he is an archer, his life is spent bettering himself, striving to hit the mark. If he is a wrestler, he will diet, he will exercise, he will practice until he is the best wrestler he can be. An athlete will get rid of anything that prevents him from reaching his goal. He is focused. It is this kind of focus Hebrews is talking about.
Nearly every sport has a Hall of Fame. Men and women who stand taller, shine brighter, than the other athletes. Basketball has Michael Jordan, football its Johnny Unitas (Fantasy Football, its Jason Brown), soccer its Pele, running its Carl Lewis, and the list goes on and on.
Can I tell you that God has a Hall of Fame?
The writer of Hebrews said we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. He is referring to Hebrews chapter 11. This is the faith chapter. It is a short walk down the hallowed halls of God’s own Hall of Fame. There we see those who have run this race and made it to the finish line.
We see Abel, who, by faith, offered an excellent sacrifice. He paid with his life, but he finished his race, and is in God’s Hall of Fame. We see Enoch there, what a trophy in God’s Hall of Fame. Here is a man who lived at one of the most wicked times on the planet, but he walked with God, and was not, for God took him. He crossed the finish line. We see Noah there in God’s Hall of Fame. Here is a man who went against absolutely everything and everybody in the society he lived in. He stood, righteous, in the face of complete moral depravity. He had a church of eight people, including himself, but, by faith, he endured, and saved all life on the planet. We see Abraham there in God’s Hall of Fame. Here is a man who lived among the pagans. His entire family were idolaters. But He believed the one true God. He left all he had, forsook the only home he had never known, and followed the call of God. God promised him he would be the father of many nations, but he and his wife were unable to have children. Everything was against him. He literally abandoned all he was to follow an impossible promise. He could have remained where he was, dying comfortably with his family, but he left it all. When God finally gave him the son he had promised him, he was willing to let God take him back, to sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. Abraham was focused, a tremendous athlete, who finished the race strong.
Walk with me through the Hall of Fame.
Jacob is there, Joseph is there: a man sold into slavery by his own brothers, lied about, accused of rape, cast into prison, forgotten by one who said he would help him. Joseph did not know the story of Joseph when he was living it. But he did not give up. He finished strong. He crossed the finish line. He was focused on the race. Moses is there, as well. Here is a man raised in the lap of luxury, wrapped in splendor, granted Royal power. He could have remained there, enjoying the pleasures of life, living like a prince of Egypt.
“When he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.”
Moses was focused on something greater, he saw something greater than all the wealth of Egypt. Others couldn’t see it, but he saw it, and he finished the race.
Rahab is there. Think of that, a harlot of the wicked city Jericho. Rahab saw something the other citizens of Jericho could not see. She believed in the God of Israel. She had faith. She put her life at risk protecting the two witnesses, and because she did, because she forsook her own city, her own people, and cast her lot with the people of God, she is in the Hall of Fame. From her loins, the messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, came.
“Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.”
The early Christians have gone on. They finished the race. They are our cloud of witnesses. They are in God’s Hall of Fame. I believe Heaven is watching us. Those who have gone before us are a cloud of witnesses, watching what the church is doing in the world today.
1 Peter 1:12, “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”
Paul was wrongly accused, cast into prison, brought before an unjust Caesar. But he did not complain. He told Timothy,
2 Tim. 4:6, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Paul is in the Hall of Fame tonight.
Peter, who, history says, was crucified upside down.
James, who was beheaded.
Andrew, who was crucified and hanged on an olive tree.
History records Thomas sealed his testimony as he was thrust through with pine spears, tormented with red-hot plates, and burned alive.
Philip preached in Phrygia where hostile Jews had him tortured and then crucified.
Matthew was beheaded.
Nathaniel, unwilling to recant his proclamation of a risen Christ, was flayed alive, and then crucified.
James the lesser was taken by the Jewish leaders. In order to make James deny the resurrection of Jesus, these men positioned him at the top of the Temple for all to see and hear. James, unwilling to deny what he knew to be true, was cast down from the Temple and finally beaten to death with a fuller's club to the head.
Simon the zealot was crucified.
Judas (Thaddeus) was beaten to death with sticks.
John is the only one of the twelve Apostles to have died a natural death. Although he did not die a martyr's death, he did live a martyr's life. He was exiled to the Island of Patmos under the Emperor Domitian for his proclamation of the risen Christ. It was there that he wrote the last book in the Bible. It is interesting to note that he was the only apostle to follow Jesus to Calvary.
Paul tells of his sufferings for the name of Jesus: "In labors more abundant, in beatings above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once was I stoned, three times I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeys often, in storms on the water, in danger of robbers, in danger by mine own countrymen, in danger by the heathen, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in the sea, among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness "(2 Cor. 11:23-27).
Finally, Paul met his death at the hands of the Roman Emperor Nero when he was beheaded in Rome.
These are in the Hall of Fame. They are spiritual athletes who have gone before us. They made it to the finish line despite hardships, weakness, shame, persecution. They made it, because they were focused on the prize. They had a goal. The opinions of the world did not matter, the wickedness of the world did not matter. They made a choice. They followed the call. They kept the faith.
I met a young man not too long ago, a Navy Seal. He was, at first, reluctant to talk about what he did, but after engaging him in conversation, he opened up. This young man went through BUDS, the hardest military training in the world, when he was only seventeen years old. He told me more than 80% of his class, all men who were in shape, men who dreamed of being Seals, quit, ringing the bell when things got too hard. I asked him what made the difference. Why did he make it when the others did not. He told me something that stayed with me. He said “the reason they failed is because they had a plan B. They had something else to fall back on if they did not make the Seal teams. This young man explained to me that when he decided to go to BUDS, he left everything behind. He broke up with his High School sweetheart. He turned down college scholarships. He sabotaged every plan B he had. He told me, “The reason why I did not quit, is because I knew if I quit, I had nothing to return to. If I quit, I would be a complete failure.” He was focused. He had set aside every weight, every hindrance to his goal. One by one, the men in his class quit. But he remained. They had other things in life, besides being a Seal. He did not. At BUDS, there is a list of every man who finished, every man who finished the course. His name is on it. There he is in the Hall of Fame.
My friend, if this Christianity thing doesn’t work out, do you have a plan B? Would you ever be happy doing anything other than what God has called you to do? Lay aside every weight. Look at the those who have gone before us, those who laid down their lives, who did not have a plan B.
I walked one day along a country road, And there a stranger journeyed, too,Bent low beneath the burden of His load: It was a cross, a cross I knew.
“Take up thy cross and follow Me,” I hear the blessed Savior call; How can I make a lesser sacrifice, when Jesus gave His all?”
I cried, “Lord Jesus,” and He spoke my name; I saw His hands all bruised and torn; I stooped to kiss away the marks of shame, The shame for me that He had borne. “Oh, let me bear Thy cross, dear Lord,” I cried, And, lo, a cross for me appeared, The one, forgotten, I had cast aside, The one, so long, that I had feared.
My cross I’ll carry till the crown appears—The way I journey soon will end—Where God Himself shall wipe away all tears, And friend hold fellowship with friend.
“Take up thy cross and follow Me,” I hear the blessed Savior call; How can I make a lesser sacrifice, when Jesus gave His all?”
