INTRODUCTION
Watching the male gymnasts at the Athens Olympics last night from the comfort of my armchair!
When you become a sports spectator instead of a participant, all the wrong things start to happen to your body. Your weight, blood pressure, resting heart rate and cholesterol all go up. And your oxygen consumption, muscular flexibility, stamina and strength all go down. So it doesn’t take too much to work out that being a couch potato isn’t good for your physical health.
In a similar way being a spiritual spectator – a Christian couch potato - can seriously hinder our spiritual health.
But why is our spiritual health so important? (Listen, this is really vital for you to know...) Because the condition of your soul determines the quality of life you will enjoy both here and now and in the next life – in eternity.
The condition of our soul determines our quality of life. Not the condition of our body (Cancer? Eyesight? Aches and pains? - some of the most joyful and peaceful people I know have been dying of cancer!).
The Lord spells this principle out plainly in the Bible. He says, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). (Not in the outline but write it down.)
The condition of your bank account doesn’t determine your quality of life. Jesus said, “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15)
It’s not our education, our job or the place we live that determines our quality of life. It’s the condition of your soul. That is the one and only thing that really determines your quality of life.
This is why it’s so important to have a soul that is in peak spiritual condition. It will determine the quality of your life now and forever – and that’s a long time!
So now the question is, how do you maintain a peak spiritual condition so that you can enjoy that quality of life that God has promised you?
Fortunately God wants you to know exactly what to do. And in Hebrews 12:1 he tells us .....(OUTLINE)
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.
(Hebrews 12:1)
Here the Lord says the first thing you should do if you want to maintain a peak spiritual condition, is to watch the winners.
1. WATCH THE WINNERS (12:1a)
Elite athletes study the technique of the winners. And we are encouraged to study the lives of the spiritually elite.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses
The writer is talking about the spiritual elite that are listed in the previous chapter. And this is what they teach us.
In every single case their lives teach us that, if we stick with him, God will give us this quality of life he has promised.
a. Abel (11:4)
We must compete according to the rules.
HEB 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.
Don’t be disqualified for not following God’s direction (Like the Aussie cyclists)
When we compete according to His guidelines, God is faithful and will see us through. He did it for Abel, he can do it for you. Yes, Cain murdered Abel – and if we look at that with worldly eyes it would seem a tragedy. But remember we’re talking about the soul - and Abel was “commended as righteous” – that means his soul was in peak condition. And his quality of life was not found in this world.
b. Enoch (11:5-6)
We must join the team
HEB 11:5 Enoch ..... was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God.
Have you even joined the team? Without faith it is impossible to please God. Do you believe? Are you committed to following God.
When we commit to His way, we are maintaining our peak spiritual condition and God will give us this quality of life he has promised.
c. Noah (11:7)
We must dedicate our life long journey to the competition
HEB 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.
When we dedicate our life long journey to him we are maintaining our peak spiritual condition and God will give us this quality of life he has promised. He did it for Noah, he is willing to do it for you.
d. The Patriarchs (i.e. Our spiritual ancestors)(11:8-22)
We must strive for the best time – God’s time .
HEB 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
When we are patient and move only in His timing, we are maintaining our peak spiritual condition and God will give us this quality of life he has promised
e. Jesus
Teaches us all of the above.
In the very next verse after the one we have chose for today the writer says...
Let 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 (Hebrews 12:2).
When we trust in Him, we are maintaining our peak spiritual condition and God will give us this quality of life he has promised.
If you sense your spiritual life and vitality fading perhaps this is where you need to start. Take a look at some of the winners of the faith. Study how they handled life – and learn that God was faithful to them – and understand that he will be faithful to you too.
Maintaining a high level of performance in any area of life requires work – it doesn’t just happen. And it’s no different in our spiritual life.
If you want to maintain a peak spiritual condition, and enjoy the quality of life the Lord has promised, you simply have to get in shape (OUTLINE).
2. GET IN SHAPE (12:1b)
Some Believers need to sign up for God’s gym.
Again our verse for today tells us that if we want to run our race well we must ......
throw off everything that hinders
and the sin that so easily entangles
(Hebrews 12:1b)
A physical appraisal at the gym determines our goals for exercise – what we want to achieve. Most work out regimes aim to get body fat down and the fitness level up. That’s usually the goal of a physical work out.
a. Body fat down
I want you to think of those in relation to your spiritual health. We’re told here to, “Throw off everything that hinders.” In other words we’re to lose weight – i.e. body fat down.
What does it mean to throw off everything that hinders? It means we just get rid of everything that’s holding us back. Anything that hinders our spiritual progress has got to go. And in the eyes of some these may even be good things – but they’re holding us back from our best spiritual potential.
You may recall that we received this challenge during the 40 Days of Purpose.
Maybe you simply need to give more time to God – you’ve got the time you just need to make God a priority in your life.
If you’re weary in your walk with Jesus, then maybe your life is too busy (or too fat) with other stuff! Remember – body fat down. Off load some weight.
b. Fitness level up
To get in shape we need to get our Body fat down and our fitness level up.
Are you fit for service in the kingdom of God? What makes you unfit? Hebrews 12:1 tells us that it is ....
the sin that so easily entangles
(Hebrews 12:1b)
Sin makes us unfit for use by God. And the sin that tangles us the easiest is the sin of unbelief.
Throughout the Bible there is account after account of how unbelief held people back. And it holds us back too from our best spiritual condition, and the quality of life the Lord wants us to enjoy.
So we’ve been motivated and inspired by watching the winners; we’ve built strength by working out – getting in shape spiritually (fit for work in the kingdom of God) - - - - - now all that remains is to raise our level of endurance.
If you want to maintain a peak spiritual condition so that you can enjoy that quality of life that God has promised, you must complete your race .
3. COMPLETE YOUR RACE (12:1c)
If you’re a Believer here today I want to encourage you to complete what you set out to do the day you gave your life to Christ – to live out the rest of your days for Him. To .....
.... run with perseverance the race marked out for us
(Hebrews 12:1).
a. Don’t quit
First, don’t quit. Complete your race. Persevere.
Sometimes it helps to break the race down into stages. Maybe your in to the teen years, or twenties – the single years; maybe your in the young family years; maybe you’re approaching the empty nest years or the retirement years. Whatever stage you’re at and however long you’ve Believed, aim to finish well.
Perhaps the last stage of the race was a bit of a mess for you, well aim to finish this next stage well.
(How to endure for the long haul see Daniel 5).
Jesus persevered – up to the point of death. All the way to the cross his prayer was “not my will but yours be done.” That’s the best way to endure – to surrender ourselves to the will of God at every step.
b. Stay Focussed
Second, to complete our race well we have to stay focussed.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us to run the race marked out for us. Not the race marked out for someone else, not the race we make up ourselves – but the race God has marked out for each of us.
An athlete knows which event he or she is best at and they stick to it. To endure in the spiritual life we must discover our particular calling within the family of God – the role God would have us play – and stick to it.
Even as a church, if we wish to finish well we must discover the particular calling God has for us and stick to it. Spiritual endurance over the long haul requires focussing on the calling God has marked out just for us both individually and as a church.
CONCLUSION
The apostle Paul knew what it meant to stay in the running over the long haul and through difficult times. He knew that the condition of the soul is what determines our quality of life. He said this in relation to the race God had him run .....
..... I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me [Will you do that today?] ..... one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12b-14).
