Finishing The Race (Faith - Part V)

Hebrews 11: Faith’s Examples of Victory and Suffering

Hebrews 11 starting in verse 30, By faith they overcame. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace.

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson, Japheth, also David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to fight the enemies of the aliens.

Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskin and goatskin, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in the dens and the caves of the earth.

All these, having obtained good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. May God add his blessing to the reading of his word.

Thank you.

Amen. Thank you, Mark. I've titled this message, Finishing the Race. Finishing the Race. So this will be the final lesson in our faith series. This concept of finishing and finishing well is absolutely vital.

So in our first message, we talked about going back to chapter 11, verse 1. We talked about the question, what is faith? What does it say? Hebrews 11, 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

So we talked about what faith is. Faith has substance. I would say Jesus is the substance, in a sense. Then we looked at why faith was necessary. We've seen examples of what faith looks like. Just example, after example, after example, here in Hebrews chapter 11.

And all of this is meant to really inspire us. I don't know about you, but when I read these Old Testament stories, things like David and Goliath, I mean, I feel inspired. I feel like by faith I can go out and I can actually make a difference like some of these people did.

But sometimes they never saw what they were building, what they were hoping for, what they were looking for. Sometimes they never fully saw it. But this is all about faith looking forward. We saw Abraham, the father of the faithful.

We also spoke about how church life is very important when talking about a life of faith. Last week, we talked about the importance of being set apart from the world. So being part of a local church and being set apart, different from the world.

But now in this final message, I want to talk, really highlight the point of Hebrews 11. Talk about finishing strong, finishing well, running the race. Because we see in chapter 12, verse 1, this is the whole conclusion of chapter 11.

See the word therefore, so you know it's the conclusion. Therefore, Hebrews 12, 1, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

So the Christian life is depicted as a race. I think any time there's a marathon, some sort of race, let's face it. There are some people who finish, they finish well. You know, there's first place, second place, third place.

I would never come in, if I were able to finish a marathon, I'd never be anywhere close to the top. It's about finishing the race, right? Many people who run a marathon, it's just about finishing, right?

They just want to finish. And with the Christian race, if you will, that's what's important. Finishing the race. Because if you've been following along with the series, you know the context of Hebrews.

Many of the Hebrew converts to Christianity, they were starting to fall away. They were not finishing the race. So the author of Hebrews, he's writing to exhort the Hebrew Christians, hey, run the race, run with endurance, finish the race.

How do you do that? Just keep looking to Jesus. Keep looking to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Because as a pastor, I think one of the most difficult things to see, and I know that you feel this as well, when somebody lives faithfully for years, years, maybe even decades, they live faithfully, but then at the end they fall out of church, they do not finish well.

That's one of the hardest things to see. And to be clear, I'm not talking about someone who's elderly or sick or who can't attend church. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about people who for the last season of their life make a willful choice to just stop running, and they just walk away from faith.

Well, the key to avoiding that, I think, is to have an anchor for your soul. Let's go back to Hebrews 6. Hebrews 6. This is one of the most controversial passages in the book of Hebrews, and it's one of the most controversial debates within Christianity, whether or not a person can lose their salvation.

I think we have it settled here at Moores Corner Church what we believe, but still this passage has troubled some, because you have to ask, what about those people who don't finish? What about those who do fall away?

Look at Hebrews 6, 4 through 6. It says, It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, he's saying, it's impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

A lot of things could be said about this passage. Again, a lot of people believe it's teaching a person can lose their salvation. This is what many people believe, that those who have chosen not to finish the race, they've walked away.

That's the attitude of many believers today. Well, they just lost their salvation. I don't think that is what's being said here. I believe this is a hypothetical. It's a hypothetical in the sense that if you could lose your salvation, which we do not believe that you can.

One simple reason is when you believe in Jesus, if you truly believe, you receive the gift of what? The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who seals us until the day of redemption. That's one good point. But you receive eternal life.

And if it's truly eternal life, it can't come to an end. And there's a variety of reasons I don't believe you can lose your salvation. But I think this is a hypothetical saying if you could, if a person could lose their salvation, then it would be impossible to get it back.

Because in order to get it back, Jesus would have to die again. And that's not going to happen. I think that's what is being said here. It's a hypothetical. Because look at verse 9. The author says, But beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you.

Yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. So he's speaking in a manner of speech. If you could fall away, you could never get it back. So, in other words, true believers, we don't believe based on the Bible.

We don't believe they can fall away. Still, there are people who seem to, we say, backslide. That's the most common term. They don't turn their back on faith altogether, but they spend a season apart from Christ.

And then when someone dies in that state, of course, that makes it even more difficult. But then look at Hebrews 6, 19. Actually, let's start in verse 13 just for the sake of context. I'm talking about an anchor for the soul.

In order to keep looking to Jesus, you need this anchor. Verse 13 states, For when God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself. Then verse 17 mentions how God is immutable.

God never changes. Verse 18 speaks about how God cannot lie. If he makes this promise, this promise is going to endure. And then he says that we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Verse 19. This hope we have as what? Yeah, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. So the anchor and the key to remaining faithful is to keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus.

The hope that we have is that he has secured eternal life. What he has promised, it will come to pass. As long as you keep focusing on Christ, you're good. If your focus is on him, that's the anchor for the soul.

Christ gives us hope. If you focus on yourself, however, then what? Well, I mean, you might be up, you might be down. You focus too much on yourself, that's a roller coaster ride. If you focus on others, same thing, maybe even worse.

So you have to keep your eyes focused on the one who is the author and finisher of our faith. In Hebrews chapter 13, we read the promise where Jesus says, I will neither leave you nor forsake you. Do you believe that?

Do you have faith in that promise? So we need to trust in Christ, look to Christ, and believe that he will bring us safely into his eternal kingdom. So our hope is a heavenly hope. Our best days truly are ahead of us because we have eternal life in God's kingdom.

Hebrews 11: The Witnesses Who Inspire Faith

All right, let's go back to Hebrews chapter 11. And this gives us a great description of these great men and women of faith who at times went through some very difficult things. They struggled. We know they were flawed.

Chapter 12 calls them witnesses. You know, since we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, who are the witnesses? It's the ones mentioned in Hebrews 11. Let's just walk through these verses. Verse 30, it says, By faith the walls of Jericho fell down as they were encircled for seven days.

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace. So we see that it's not just great men of faith that we're reading about. It's mostly men, that's true.

But there are also a few women mentioned. We talked about Sarah. Sarah believed God. She trusted in God. And now we read about Rahab. Now if you know anything about Rahab, Rahab had a past. Most commentators agree that the term Rahab should be translated harlot.

So essentially she lived much of her life as a prostitute. And what does that tell you? God can save anyone. God can use anyone. Because when the time came, Rahab was faithful to the Lord. I don't know how she figured it all out.

She heard what the Lord had done in Egypt and she feared God. And she said, I want to be on His side. And she sided with the children of Israel. And because of her, Jericho was defeated. So God can use anybody and everybody.

He continues in verse 32. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to write or tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah. These are all men we read about in the book of Judges. Judges was a dark time in Israel's history.

But these men were bright spots because they trusted in the Lord. And they accomplished great things for God. It also mentions David and Samuel and the prophets. So David is the only king mentioned here.

Samuel was the final judge before the monarchy. Verse 33, who through faith subdued kingdoms. So this would include men like Joshua. And of course the Hebrew Christians would have known all these stories, of course.

And hopefully, you know, those of us who are brought up in church, we know the stories as well. It says that they also worked righteousness. This could refer to men like Josiah. They obtained promises.

That would certainly apply to Abraham who saw the birth of his son, the child of promise, Isaac. It says they stopped the mouth of lions. Who does that make you think of? Daniel. Now, technically, I guess it was the angels who stopped the mouths of those lions.

But Samson and David both killed lions. Obviously, Daniel comes to mind. Also, it says they quenched the violence of fire. We think of the great story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Anyone who's ever read that story, you know these are three great men of faith.

And when you read about their story and stories like this, doesn't it make you want to stand firm? You know, in the face of opposition, in the face of a rebellion, you know, living in Babylon. And we feel like we're maybe living in a modern-day Babylon.

It makes you want to stand tall for the Lord. This is the whole point of Hebrews 11, to inspire and motivate people to keep the faith just like these people did. It says, escape the edge of a sword. This could refer to Elijah or Elisha.

Out of weakness were made strong, and they became valiant in battle. Almost certainly a reference to Gideon, who at first, right, Gideon, by himself, he thought he was weak. He thought he could do nothing for God, and yet, with the Lord's help, he became what?

A mighty man of valor. It says, turn to flight the armies of the aliens. That could be anybody who fought back the Canaanite tribe. So Joshua, a number of the judges, David, so many men. Verse 25, it says, women received their dead, raised to life again.

Jesus wasn't the first person to raise the dead. We know that in 1 Kings 17, Elijah raises the widow of Zarephath's son. Elisha raises the Shunammite woman's son in 2 Kings 4. So you see great works done by the prophets.

It says, others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. How many, we don't know the number, but how many Old Testament saints were threatened with death, and their captors said, deny the Lord, or else you'll die.

What did they do? They died. You're going to have to kill me then, because I'm not denying Christ. What kind of reward do you think they will receive? Great, great reward. So many stories of faith. Verse 36, it says, still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.

I think of the prophet Jeremiah, who was mistreated simply for speaking God's word, telling the truth about what God said. He was in prison. We think of Joseph, of course, who was in prison. He did nothing wrong, and yet through faith, trusting in God, he was elevated to be the prime minister of Egypt.

Does that give you a little hint at what God can do? One person who has faith, God can use them in really miraculous ways. Verse 37, still others were stoned, like the prophet Zechariah. They were sawn in two.

It's believed that the prophet Isaiah was literally sawed in half by King Manasseh. Just a horrible way to die. But when you're in heaven, I suspect all these things become a distant memory, if you remember them at all.

And yet great is their reward. They were tempted, were slain with the sword in the intertestamental period. So many of the children of Israel were killed in this way, and they would not deny the Lord.

Then we get this statement, verse 37. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was what? Not worthy. And they wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth.

Matthew Henry writes this about verse 37. The world considers that the righteous are not worthy to live in the world. And God declares the world is not worthy of them. Though the righteous and people of this world widely differ in their judgment, they agree on this.

It is not fit that good men should have rest in this world. Therefore, God receives them out of it. Why does God receive them out of it? Why did God receive Enoch up into heaven? Without dying because they had faith.

And then verse 39. All these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

I read that, and what does that mean? Well, the story of God's people continues to this very day. You know, we're reading about Old Testament saints, things that happened way back then. Do you realize the story of God's people is still being written?

It's still being written today. They looked ahead to the cross. We look back at the cross. But we're all part of the story. The story of redemption. And then we get to the conclusion in Hebrews 12. Because you really can't read Hebrews 11 without the conclusion.

So Hebrews 12 begins with the word therefore. And you've all heard. When you see the word therefore, you need to look at what it's there for. It signals that this is the summary. This is what it's all about, what he's saying now.

Hebrews 12. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Now this passage is often misunderstood. Many of you, I'm sure, have heard it preached this way.

That, you know, the cloud of witnesses, basically all these people, they're up in heaven. And sometimes people add, you know, our loved ones who have passed on. Who's ever heard this? You know, your grandmother, whoever is up in heaven, and they're looking down on you right now.

And they're watching you. Well, I mean, the Bible doesn't say that. I don't know that you want them watching you all the time. I don't know. It seems kind of creepy to me. That's just my opinion. Forgive me.

But people have this idea of Hebrews 12. The witnesses, all these Old Testament saints are up there. We're down here in the stadium of life, so to speak. And they're up in the stands watching us. Because a witness, you think, a witness is somebody who saw maybe a crime being committed.

So they're watching us. They're looking down on us. That's not the point of the passage. And I don't believe people in heaven can actually see or be aware of things that are going on in this world. I could be wrong about that, but I don't think so.

The point here is they're not watching us. They are the witnesses in the sense that we are looking to them. They bear testimony of their faith. Okay. They bore witness. When we think of witnessing today, what do we think of?

Somebody who is sharing their faith with somebody else. Someone witnesses by telling someone about Jesus. Well, they were a witness in the fact that they lived it out. And we can look at their story, and their life bears witness.

That's the point. And I have to say that just taking that as maybe an application, instead of sharing your faith, which is good to share your faith. We should all share our faith. If somebody asks you the reason for the hope that is in you, we read in 1 Peter 3 15.

Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with gentleness and reverence. But instead of just telling people about our faith, here's the key. We actually show them our faith.

You can tell somebody something, and that may have a certain degree of power. But if they can see that you're living it out, I just believe that actions speak louder than words. And this goes back to what James said in James chapter 2.

Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. We've probably all known people who, they talk a lot. And they talk a lot about Jesus. I used to know a guy, I mean he would tell, anyone who would listen, he would tell them about Jesus.

But his personal life was an absolute mess. And people knew him, so when he would tell them about Jesus, it just had no credibility. But when somebody sees a faithful life, like when we're looking back at a man like David.

He made mistakes, no doubt about it. But he was a man after God's own heart. When they see a track record of faithfulness, that really has an impact. So the whole point for the Hebrew Christians that were starting to fall away.

The author of Hebrews is trying to show them these great men and women of faith. And hey, be like that. Finish the race. Finish strong. Just as stories about George Washington and the American Revolution might rekindle patriotism.

Reading about the heroes of Israel hopefully will rekindle faith in the Lord. Or at least encourage them to remain strong. Great men and women of faith standing up for what they believed in. Of course there's examples throughout church history we could talk about.

Another man, Martin Luther, he lived in the 1500s. There's problems with his, he was like David. There's things he did and things he said that, you know, I'm sure we're all going to have to give an account for things before God.

But he stood up against the Catholic Church. He stood up, really, he stood against the world at that time. He made a significant difference. There were great men throughout history who did that. And it should inspire us.

So in making application, we look to these examples. We look to these witnesses. Maybe there's somebody you know that you kind of look at them. And you see how faithful they are. And they're an encouragement to you.

But here in Hebrews, so many were falling away. And the author is very concerned about the state of the church, especially in and around Jerusalem. The persecution was intense from the Jews. And now the persecution was intensifying from the Romans.

And because of that, so many people were falling away because they didn't want to face any persecution. So that's why many of the Hebrew believers were failing to finish the race. And I try to think of ways, believers today, things that lead them to maybe stumble or fall away.

What is it today that causes a believer to fall away? In the United States of America, there's really not a lot of persecution. It's true. There are people who might lose their job. And that is significant.

But people are not being killed. People are not being beaten, generally speaking, for their faith in this country. So I don't think persecution is the main thing that causes people today to kind of bail out.

So what is it today that causes people to maybe fall out of church, backslide, or not finish the race? What is it? There's all sorts of different ways. I think discouragement is a big part of it. People look, they get their eyes off of Jesus and they focus on the state of the country.

They focus on the culture. And I don't know about you, but when I focus on those things, I feel a little discouraged. Or they think back, or they think of other Christians that they know that just aren't living faithfully.

They look at them, and that discourages them. I mean, we get discouragement from all areas, and we need to just keep our eyes on Jesus. Keep our eyes on Jesus. So that's one thing that causes people to fall away.

Discouragement. Sometimes, you know, it's not even as simple as just turning your back on faith. Sometimes people will leave a good church, and they'll start attending maybe a church that doesn't preach the gospel.

Because what happened with the Hebrew believers, they were leaving the church and they were going back into the synagogue. And back to the sacrificial system where the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin.

So they're going back into that system. Sometimes, today, people will leave good churches, and they will go into maybe bad churches. There'll be this form of godliness. I guess I'm still a Christian. I still believe.

I'm not an atheist. I still believe. But they're not really following the truth. There's so many ways that it happens, what it looks like. I think one big thing, one reason why some people get discouraged or fall away, is because they're angry at God.

This is a big problem. It's always been this way, I suppose. Something bad happens. Life didn't turn out the way they expected. A loved one died, got sick. Somebody's going through great suffering. And you think, what kind of God would allow this?

How many people have said that or thought that? And what do they do? They blame God. Something bad happens. And it's horrible. It's true. It's bad. But they blame God. And because of that, many have turned their back on the faith.

Now listen, I believe in the sovereignty of God as much as the next person. Maybe even more so. But sometimes you have to tell people flat out, God did not do that. You think of a drunk driver who hits a car, kills innocent people.

God didn't do that. They did. We should not blame God for what other people do. I want to be sensitive when people get sick. Sometimes it's not anyone's fault. And you say, well, God's in control. God, why did you allow this?

And we look at these men and women of faith and what did they go through? They had no place to go. Wandering in deserts. They were stoned. They were cut in half. They wandered about in sheepskins, goatskins, being destitute.

You know, sometimes it's as simple as this. We live in a fallen world. We don't always understand why things happen. But this is where the rubber meets the road. This is where you have to have faith in God and say, Lord, I don't understand why this took place.

I don't understand why this happened. But I still trust in you. I still believe. So what does faith look like? Let's just end with a few examples to kind of make this real for us. And how we can have faith going forward.

How we can finish the race. You know, what does faith look like? It says that Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. It was by faith. Why? Because he didn't know. If he knew, it wouldn't have required faith.

So he was kind of walking into the great unknown. That requires faith. But really, we live by faith every moment of every day, don't we? You know, when you woke up this morning, you turned on the faucet, and you just assumed water was going to come out.

You had faith in that. You know, you have faith in your car. When you get in your car, you hit the brakes. You're going fast, and you're coming up around a corner. You have faith in your car that the brakes are going to work.

And we talked about the illustration of the chair. And you sort of learn that these things are dependable because of past experience, right? To where you don't even think about it anymore. But you're putting your faith and trust in people and things and circumstances.

We just need to take that same principle and apply it to God. So maybe God is calling you to do something you've never done before. Maybe there's an area where the Lord is convicting you. You need to do this.

God is speaking to you in such a way that you feel led to do something. You just need to do it and trust God for the outcome, especially when it's something you have never done before. Don't focus too much on your reasoning.

Don't think it out. If it's something that God says clearly, then do it. If there's something in the Scripture, the right thing to do, just do it and let God deal with the consequences. Maybe for some listening, it's getting out of your comfort zone, whatever that might look like.

We know that Romans 1 .17 says, The just shall live by what? Faith. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 .7, For we walk by faith and not by sight. In Luke 17 .5, we'll close with this. The Apostle said to Jesus, Lord, increase our faith.

And you know what he said? He said to his disciples, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this tree, Be pulled up by the roots and be planted into the sea. And if you do that, Jesus said it would obey you.

Now, that's hyperbolic language, okay? That never actually happened. They never actually said to a tree. And then it was moving mountain faith to move mountains. That's hyperbole. But what's the point?

Jesus is saying, Start small. Faith like a mustard seed. Start with something small. The best way to grow your faith is to step out of your comfort zone. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, whatever God is telling you to do.

Maybe he's saying, You know, your giving isn't what it should be. You're not trusting me and your finances. Step out in faith. Maybe he's saying, You need to volunteer. You need to serve in some way. You're just not doing it.

And you know that's what God is saying to you. You need to step out and volunteer. Well, this is putting me outside of my comfort zone. Do whatever it is that the Lord is leading you to do. And also, the greatest way to grow your faith is to go through times of trouble.

Persevering in the midst of testing and trial. I can just say personally, the times where my faith has grown the most are those times where there was suffering involved. And you think that you don't have the strength to do it on your own, which you probably don't.

And then when you come out of that trial with your faith intact, guess what? It's stronger. You've learned to trust in God through the difficult times. That's when your faith really grows. So in conclusion, to finish out this series, to really capture the essence of faith, a true faith, most of all, is a faith that endures.

This is why we are told in Hebrews 12, 1, something that should be ongoing, to lay aside the weight and do what? Run the race. Run with endurance. The race that is set before us. This is almost the exact same language the Apostle Paul used, which is probably why I think he wrote Hebrews.

Paul said this in 2 Timothy 4. We'll close with this. He said, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. So let me encourage you. Keep running. Keep running the race.

Keep the faith. How can we do it? Keep looking to Jesus. Amen. Let's close. Lord, help us to keep our eyes focused on you. Lord, you are the author of our faith. I'm not saved because of what I did. I'm saved because of what he did.

Lord, you are the author. You are also the finisher. Lord, you have said in your word, Philippians 1, 6, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of the Lord Jesus.

And Father, as always, if there's someone listening today who has never put their faith and trust in the gospel of Christ crucified and risen, I pray that they would have saving faith and simply pray and say, Lord, I know I have sinned.

I believe that Jesus died for my sin. I may not understand it all, but Lord, please save me. I trust in Jesus. And if that person truly believes, and if they keep looking to Christ, and if we all keep looking to Christ, you will bring us safely into your eternal kingdom.

Lord, we look forward to that day. We look forward to Jesus' return, and we ask it all in his precious name. Amen.