Finishing Well
Text: Hebrews 12:1-3
OPEN WITH PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING
Well before we get into our text this morning, I want to tell you a little story. A few weeks back, my wife was watching a movie on TV. I was sitting at my desk, reading the news, so I wasn’t really paying a whole lot of attention to the movie she was watching. But there was one scene that caught my attention. It was of this British guy, and he was sitting in a large home office, with paintings on the wall of his deceased relatives, and he was talking to his daughter about those paintings. And I can’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of, “This is a painting of my great grandfather – he lost his arm at the Battle of Waterloo, and this is my grandfather, he lost his leg during World War I. This is my Uncle; he was severely wounded in World War II.” And then the man looked at his daughter and said, “You see, being part of this family comes with having a certain duty as well.” Now I wish I could tell you the name of that movie, but I can’t remember it… like I said, I wasn’t paying too much attention to it. But there’s a lot of truth in that line.
Let’s go ahead and open up our Bibles to Hebrews 12:1-3 (READ).
Now we don’t know who penned the Book of Hebrews. Some people say it was Paul, some say it was Barnabas… I personally think it might have been Nicodemus, but we don’t really know for sure who put pen to paper and wrote it… but we do know that it was inspired by God. And our text this morning, coming from chapter 12, comes right on the heels of what theologians have typically called the “The Heroes of the Faith Chapter”; chapter 11. In chapter 11, we are given a long list of Biblical characters who, by faith, did amazing things, and accomplished amazing things. We read about Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. We read about Moses and Rahab, Gideon, David, Samuel, and others. And there’s this long list, and that’s what brings us to chapter 12, which starts out in verse 1 by saying, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…” In other words, all of these people mentioned in chapter 11… all of these people who had faith, and who by faith, served God, and obeyed God, and walked with God, and were used by God to do miraculous things, and endure all sorts of things, and accomplish all kinds of amazing things… all of those people, are this cloud of witness that chapter 12 verse 1 is referring to. And the writer of Hebrews says, “those believers… those men and women of faith. They should motivate you to lay aside the sin that ensnares you, so that you can run the full race… and finish the race.”
He is saying, “remember the saints who have gone on before us. Remember what they have endured. Remember what God has done through their lives. Remember how God used them in mighty ways, as they were faithful and obedient to Him and His Word.”
They are a witness to us that God will finish what He has started in you. They are a witness to us, that God is not only the Author, but the finisher of our faith. In-fact; that’s what our text goes on to say – that God is the Founder and Perfecter of our faith. Now a lot of times you’ll hear well-meaning pastors say, “those believers who have gone on before us, are looking down on us – cheering us on”. That’s not what this passage is saying here. The Greek word for “witnesses” here in the word “Martys” – it’s where we get our word “Martyr”. What the author of Hebrews is saying to us is that those who have gone on before us, are a witness to us of how God will get you through. They are a witness to us of how God will bring to completion the good work He began in you. And they are a witness to us of how God will use the man or woman who has true, lasting, faith!
In other words, these are people who didn’t just make a profession of faith… these are people who acted upon their faith, they lived it out consistently, day in and day out. They are examples for us… and give us a roadmap so that we can stay on course, and finish the race.
How do we do it? We lay aside every weight, and the sin that clings so closely to us… What’s dragging you down? What’s keeping you from running the race of faith… what weights are you carrying? A weight is anything that is hindering your walk with Christ… it’s anything that’s keeping you from loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The author of Hebrews says, “Lay those things aside.” Now there’s another way to look at that as well. You see, the Greek runners would train with weighted clothing, but when it came time to actually race, they would remove those weights, so that they can run with purpose, and at their full potential. And why is that important? Well, you’ll again sometimes hear pastors say, “The Christian race isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.” And to that I would say, “No… it’s an ultra-marathon. It’s like the Badwater 135 – a 135 mile race over crazy obstacles, in blistering heat, going uphill most of the way.” And if you’ve got weights hindering you, you’re never going to finish… you’re going to drop out. So… we are told to lay aside every weight – everything that distracts us, and hinders us from following Christ to the fullest. But we’re also told to not only lay aside every weight, but also the sin that clings to us so closely…
Now hear me… sin, by its very nature, is not following Christ. If you or I sin, we’ve deviated from following Christ. We’ve fallen out of formation so to speak. Because Jesus is going one way, and we’re supposed to be running the race, looking to Him, as He has led the way, but when we sin, we’ve taken our eyes off Jesus, and turned in another direction. Listen to me Christian, lay it aside! “But it clings so close to me…” Yes, and it’s causing you to go in a different direction than Jesus. It’s causing you get off track in this race of faith. And ultimately; it’s going to kill you – the wages of sin is death! Strip it off, lay it aside, and don’t go back and pick it up again. We’ve got to run this race. How do we do it? With endurance, looking to Jesus! That’s how we do it.
I want to read something to you. It’s from a sermon preached by Charles Spurgeon… listen to what he says here… it’s kind of a long quote, but man it’s good. “Everybody admires Luther! Yes, yes, but you do not want anyone else to do the same today. When you go to the Zoological Gardens you all admire the bear; but how would you like a bear at home, or a bear wandering loose about the street? You tell me that it would be unbearable, and no doubt you are right. So, we admire a man who was firm in the faith, say 400 years ago; the past ages are a sort of bear-pit or iron cage for him; but such a man today is a nuisance, and must be put down. Call him a narrow minded bigot, or give him a worse name if you can think of one. Yet imagine that in those ages past, Luther, Zwingle, Calvin, and their compeers had said, ‘The world is out of order; but if we try to set it right we shall only make a great row, and get ourselves into disgrace. Let us go to our chambers, put on our night-caps, and sleep over the bad times, and perhaps when we wake up, things will have grown better.’ Such conduct on their part would have entailed upon us a heritage of error. Age after age would have gone down into the infernal deeps, and the pestiferous bogs of error would have swallowed all. These men loved the faith and the name of Jesus too well to see them trampled on. Note what we owe them, and let us pay to our sons the debt we owe our fathers. It is today as it was in the Reformer’s days. Decision is needed. Here is the day for the man, where is the man for the day? We who have had the Gospel passed to us by martyr hands dare not trifle with it, nor sit by and hear it denied by traitors, who pretend to love it, but inwardly abhor every line of it. The faith I hold bears upon it marks of the blood of my ancestors. Shall I deny their faith, for which they left their native land to sojourn here? Shall we cast away the treasure which was handed to us through the bars of prisons, or came to us charred with the flames of Smithfield? Personally, when my bones have been tortured with rheumatism, I have remembered Job Spurgeon, doubtless of my own stock, who in Chelmsford Jail was allowed a chair, because he could not lie down by reason of rheumatic pain. That Quaker’s broad-brim overshadows my brow. Perhaps I inherit his rheumatism; but that I do not regret if I have his stubborn faith, which will not let me yield a syllable of the truth of God. When I think of how others have suffered for the faith, a little scorn or unkindness seems a mere trifle, not worthy of mention. An ancestry of lovers of the faith ought to be a great plea with us to abide by the Lord God of our fathers, and the faith in which they lived. As for me, I must hold the old Gospel: I can do no other. God helping me, I will endure the consequences of what men think obstinacy. Look you sirs, there are ages yet to come. If the Lord does not speedily appear, there will come another generation, and another, and all these generations will be tainted and injured if we are not faithful to God and to His truth today. We have come to a turning point in the road. If we turn to the right, mayhap our children and our children’s children will go that way; but if we turn to the left, generations yet unborn will curse our names for having been unfaithful to God and to His word. I charge you, not only by your ancestry, but by your posterity, that you seek to win the commendation of your Master, that though you dwell where Satan’s seat is, you yet hold fast His Name, and do not deny His faith. God grant us faithfulness, for the sake of the souls around us! How is the world to be saved if the Church is false to Her Lord? How are we to lift the masses if our fulcrum is removed? If our Gospel is uncertain, what remains but increasing misery and despair? Stand fast, my beloved, in the Name of God! I, your brother in Christ, entreat you to abide in the truth. Quit yourselves like men, be strong, the Lord sustain you for Jesus’ sake – Amen.”
Church, the race is set before us. Some of you are maybe just starting the race… some of you… your race is almost done. But it doesn’t matter where you are in the race, I pray that you finish it. That you continue looking to Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of your faith. I pray that you lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely to you. And I pray that if you’ve gotten off track… or if you’ve turned and gone the wrong direction, that God will get your attention, and set you in the right direction once more.
CLOSING
