Bryan Wilkerson tells the story of a time when his kids were young, and they were at a themed restaurant with TV’s all over the walls. The TV’s were playing cartoons with no sound, and his youngest son, about four at the time, had his eyes glued to one of the TV screens. He was viewing a continuous loop of Road Runner cartoons, watching as Wile E. Coyote strapped on rocket-propelled roller skates, or shot himself out of a cannon, or launched himself from a giant slingshot in pursuit of the elusive Road Runner. After watching intently for a long time, he had an epiphany. Without taking his eyes off the screen, he quietly announced to our family, “No matter what he does, he's never going to get the chicken.” (Bryan Wilkerson, "What's Your Story?" www.PreachingToday.com)
Wile E. Coyote reminds me of a lot of people who are in pursuit of the good life, but they never get it. Some try accumulating wealth or friends on Facebook, but it leaves them feeling empty. Some even try Christianity, hoping that God will give them the good life, but life gets hard for them. They lose some of their friends. They are mocked, and Satan attacks, because they are no longer on his side.
Then they think, “I’m not sure following Christ is working for me;” “I’m never going to get the “chicken.” So they’re tempted to go back to their old way of life and give up on Christ altogether.
Does that describe some of you? Are you about ready to give up on Christ? Please don’t, because you’re not alone. Many people since the early days of Christianity have felt that way, but they found the strength to persevere. They found the grace to keep on following Christ until He became more precious to them than anything else.
In fact, there’s a whole book in the New Testament written to people who are tempted to give up on Christ. The original readers of this book were Jewish believers in Jesus, whose faith in Christ ostracized them from their families. Some of them lost their jobs. Most of them lost their status in the community, and life got real tough for all of them.
As a result, some of them seriously considered setting their faith in Christ aside and returning to the old Jewish religious system. They wanted to leave their new way of life in Christ and go back to the way they used to live.
It is to them, and to anyone who is tempted to give up on Christ, that the book of Hebrews was written. So if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 3, Hebrews 3, where it tells you what to do when you’re tempted to give up your faith.
Hebrews 3, starting at verse 1 “Therefore” – because of who Jesus is in chapters 1 & 2, because Jesus is the Crowned Sovereign of the world and your Complete Savior.
Hebrews 3:1-2 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. (ESV)
When you’re tempted to give up your faith…
LOOK UP TO CHRIST!
Consider Jesus very carefully. Focus your attention on Him.
He is the Apostle – i.e., the one who represents God to us (chapter 1). He is also the High Priest – the one who represents us before God (chapter 2). And He is faithful to carry out the duties assigned to Him just like Moses was.
However, Jesus is so much better than Moses. Jesus is so much better than any hero you could admire. Writing to a Jewish audience, who revered Moses as their greatest hero, the author of Hebrews says…
Hebrews 3:3-4 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. (ESV)
Jesus is God who built the “house”; Moses is just a stone in the “house”, so to speak. Jesus is the Creator; Moses is just part of the creation.
Hebrews 3:5-6a Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. (ESV)
Moses was a servant IN God’s house. Jesus is a Son OVER God’s house.
If you went into a house with servants, you would have no trouble telling the difference between the servants and the son. The servants would be busy cleaning the bathrooms, dusting the furniture, and vacuuming the floors, among other chores. On the other hand, the son might throw his books on the table after school, raid the refrigerator, and plop down in front of the TV. Sure, he would have work to do at times, but there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind who was the heir and who was the servant.
In the same way, Moses was a servant IN the house. Jesus is a Son OVER the house. Jesus is both the builder and the beneficiary of the house. He is much greater than Moses, the hero of the Jews.
Now, Moses may not be your hero, but think of any person you admire. Jesus far outshines anyone you could name.
After the horrible shooting at a Parkland, Florida, High School this last Wednesday (February 14, 2018), an assistant football coach is being called a “hero.” The coach, Aaron Feis, died from gunshot wounds received when he selflessly shielded students from the shooter. A witness says Feis was seen jumping “in front of bullets to save some students' lives.” Gage Gaynor, a sophomore who plays football for the high school says, “He was a great guy. Everyone loved him. Shame he had to go like this. Always gave his all to making us better. Definitely learned a lot from him.” (By Ryan Gaydos & Nicole Darrah, “Florida high school football coach who was seen shielding students from gunfire dies”, Fox News, February 15, 2018)
Aaron Feis is true “hero”, and may his tribe increase especially in our day and age. He deserves all the recognition and praise he receives for his selfless act and his love for the students.
Or name any other hero: Nelson Mandela for his work in getting rid of apartheid in South Africa; Martin Luther King, Jr., for advancing civil rights in our own country in the 50’s & 60’s; or Abraham Lincoln, for leading our country through a Civil War to eradicate slavery. Like Moses, these were all brave men, who deserve to be called “heroes”!
But there is one who outshines them all, and that’s Jesus Christ, the One who made them all. Each hero would say they were just doing their duty as a “servant IN God’s house”, so to speak. Jesus, on the other hand, is a Son OVER God’s house.” He not only MADE these heroes; He LED them to greatness as the greatest hero of all. While their sacrifices saved some lives for a time. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has saved millions for all eternity, so that everyone who puts their faith in Christ receives eternal life!
Jesus is greater than any hero you could admire, and you could be one of those heroes too! Your faith in Christ makes you a part of that household of heroes that He is creating and leading to greatness.
Hebrews 3:6b And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (ESV)
Do you see it? You are a part of HIS household of heroes just like Moses was IF you hold fast your confidence; IF you don’t stop trusting the Lord. Please, don’t give up your faith in Christ. Sure, things may be tough for a while, but Jesus is making you into one of His heroes, so hang in there with Him!
When you’re tempted to give up your faith, 1st of all, Look up to Christ. Then 2nd…
LOOK WITHIN AT YOUR OWN HEART.
Examine yourself to make sure you are truly trusting Christ. Check to make sure you have a genuine faith in the Lord. Don’t be like the Israelites of old, who didn’t really believe in God.
Hebrews 3:7-11 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” (ESV)
This is a quote from Psalm 95, which urges its readers to “bow down… before the Lord [their] Maker”, and “not harden [their] hearts” like Israel did in the wilderness. You see, God had set them free from Egypt with 10 plagues. He parted the Red Sea for them. He provided water from the rock and manna from heaven. He led them with a pillar of cloud during the day and protected them with a pillar of fire at night.
Day after day, God demonstrated His ability to care for them; but when they came to the threshold of the Promised Land, They refused to go in. They refused to believe that God would give them the land. Despite all of the miracles they had witnessed, they refused to trust God.
So God in His anger turned them away. He made the Israelites wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that whole generation died off. As a result, none of them, except Joshua and Caleb, were able to see the Promised Land. As a result, none of them were able to enter “God’s Rest” as it says here in verse 11. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who believed God. The rest refused to believe that God would give them the Land, so God turned them away and they never saw it.
Please, don’t be like those Israelites of old.
Instead, examine your own heart. Check to make sure you are truly trusting in the Lord.
Hebrews 3:12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. (ESV)
Unbelief causes people to “fall away”, literally to apostatize. Unbelief causes people to desert the living God. On the other hand, the true believer does NOT fall away. The true believer does NOT desert the living God.
So examine your heart to make sure you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, the Living God. You see, it’s not enough just to say you are a Christian. It’s not enough just to hang out with some Christians in church. It’s not enough even to do what Christians do. You must trust Christ in your heart!
The Bible says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe IN YOUR HEART that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
This is what John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, discovered. In 1735, John Wesley left England as a missionary to the colony of Georgia. He came to be a pastor to the settlers and to preach the Gospel to the Native Americans, but he returned to England as a miserable failure. Later, he confessed that he went to save his own soul. He was looking for salvation in religious activity, but it didn’t work.
Then, on the evening of May 24, 1738, Wesley went to a society that met on Aldersgate Street in London. There, someone was reading Martin Luther’s preface to his commentary on Romans, where Luther describes how one finds righteousness not in religious activity, but through faith in Christ.
As John Wesley listened, he felt his own “heart strangely warmed.” He realized that he was trying to get to heaven by his own efforts; and for the first time, He put his trust in Christ alone for his salvation. (T. T. Crabtree, 1985 Zondervan Pastoral Manual, p. 121)
My dear friends, please examine your own hearts to see if you are depending on Christ to save you. Make sure you are not depending on some religious activity, your baptism, or some prayer you prayed, Make sure you are depending on Christ, who died for you and rose again.
Please, settle the issue before you leave today. Please, don’t leave without calling on the Lord yourself and asking Him to save you. Otherwise, when the going gets tough, you’ll give up the façade; you’ll throw away the mask, because a fake faith never saves or sustains anybody.
My dear friends, if you are at the place where you’re tempted to give up your faith, 1st, look up to Christ; 2nd, look within at your own heart to make sure you are truly trusting Christ; and 3rd…
LOOK AROUND TO OTHER BELIEVERS.
Get help and encouragement from others who are following Jesus. Find strength and grace to keep on going from others who are on the path with you.
Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (ESV)
Exhort one another, or better encourage one another. Literally, come along side and help one another. Do what you can to keep each other on the right path away from the deceitfulness of sin.
Max Lucado talks about participating in a Young Life Summer Camp where every Thursday, 400 students make the fourteen-thousand-foot climb up Colorado's Mount Chrysolite.
[On one of those trips], somewhere around 4,000 feet, [a student named] Matthew decided to call it quits. Lucado coaxed him, begged him, negotiated a plan with him: thirty steps of walking, sixty seconds of resting. Finally, they stood within a thousand feet of the peak, but the last stretch of the trail rose up as straight as a fireman's ladder.
So they got serious. Two guys came up beside Matt, each taking an arm. Lucado pushed from the rear, and they all but dragged Matt past the timberline and to the awesome view at the top.
That's when they heard the applause. 400 campers on the crest of Mount Chrysolite gave Matt a standing ovation. As Lucado slumped down to rest, a thought steamrolled his way: That’s a perfect picture of God’s plan. Do all you can to push each other to the top. (Max Lucado, "Push Each Other to the Top," Men of Integrity, March/April 2010; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s what the church is all about. It is NOT a collection of super-saints on display for all to see. It is a group of fellow-travelers, doing all they can to push each other to the top, to help each other become all that God has called us to be. When one of us feels like quitting, there are others to come along side us and help, to push us if need be, so we don’t give up until we reach the peaks of heaven.
If you’re struggling with your faith, that’s NOT the time to stay away from the church; that’s the time to get close to God’s people, to get the help you need to keep going.
Max Lucado put it this way: “Questions can make hermits out of us, driving us into hiding. Yet the cave has no answers. Christ distributes courage through community; he dissipates doubts through fellowship. He never deposits all knowledge in one person but distributes pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to many. When you interlock your understanding with mine, and we share our discoveries, when we mix, mingle, confess and pray, Christ speaks. (Max Lucado, Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear, Thomas Nelson, 2009, p. 144; www.PreachingToday.com)
So don’t stay away from God’s people. When you’re struggling with your faith, get together and encourage one another.
Why? Because Christ is with you even in your struggles. You are a partner with Christ! You share the load with Jesus!
Hebrews 3:14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. (ESV)
This is not something that happens in the future “if we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” This is something that has already happened for every believer. “We HAVE come to share in Christ.” That is to say, the moment we put our faith in Christ, we became a partner with Christ with the result that we are still partners! And that partnership remains as long as we continue to “hold our original confidence,” or as long as we continue to trust in the Lord.
You see, we not only climb this mountain with other believers; we climb it with Jesus. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 11: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden in light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Now, a yoke is literally a wooden bar that joins two animals at the neck, so they can effectively work together in pulling a plow or some other heavy object. Jesus uses that illustration to describe those who come to Him. They are in the same yoke with Him. That is to say, they are in partnership with Him, which makes their burden light. That’s because Jesus is pulling most of the weight.
J. Dwight Pentecost, one of my professors at Dallas Theological Seminary, talks about his college days, when he used to go out to a little rural Sunday school to teach. One such day the superintendent, a farmer, and he were visiting in the community. They saw an old farmer plowing with a team of oxen; and as Pentecost looked closer, he was amazed. There was one huge ox in the same yoke as a tiny bullock. That ox towered over the little bullock that was sharing the work with him. Pentecost wondered how two such unequal animals could work together.
Then the farmer stopped his car and said, “I want you to notice something. The large ox is pulling all the weight. That little bullock is being broken in to the yoke, but he is not actually pulling any weight.”
In the normal yoke, the load is equally distributed between the two that are yoked together, but when we are yoked with Jesus Christ, he bears the load, and we who are yoked with him share in the joy and the accomplishment of the labor but without the burden of the yoke. (J. Dwight Pentecost, “The Yoke of Jesus”, DTS Voice, October 1, 2013; https://voice.dts.edu/article/the-yoke-of-jesus-j-dwight-pentecost/)
So don’t give up, my dear believing friend! You are sharing the yoke with Jesus, and He has promised to carry most of the load.
Encourage one another, because you are a partner with Christ; and because of that, you will persevere! You will make it! If you truly believe, you “WILL hold your original confidence firm to the end”. Only unbelievers lose their confidence and give up.
Hebrews 3:15-18 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? (ESV)
Unbelief kept them from the Promised Land. Unbelief kept them from persevering to the end. But those who truly believe in the Lord persevere! Those who depend on Christ find rest, because He carries the load.
So encourage one another, because you who trust Christ are a partner with Christ and you will persevere! Oh, you might get discouraged along the way. You might have some doubts every once in a while. And you might even stumble and fall, but your faith in Christ will get you up again and again and sustain you until the end.
So when you’re tempted to give up your faith, look up to Christ; look within at your own heart to make sure you are truly trusting Christ; and look around to other believers for the help you need to keep going.
That’s the way to keep the faith, or better yet, to let the faith keep you.
