CAPITAL BAPTIST CHURCH SEPTEMBER 19, Running the Marathon Race of Faith Hebrews 12:1, 2

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1 CAPITAL BAPTIST CHURCH SEPTEMBER 19, 2004 SERMON NOTES PASTOR BILL HAKEN Running the Marathon Race of Faith Hebrews 12:1, 2 Intro: In 490 BC the Persian army landed at Marathon twenty six miles from Athens. The Greeks against overwhelming odds won the battle. A solider Philippides was sent to tell the good news to the capital city of Athens that they had won the battle. When he reached the city he shouted "Rejoice, we conquer," and fell to the ground dead. We need to have the same spiritual determination as we run the race of life. And the race of life is a marathon! The Marathon is one of the most difficult of all sports to finish. To think that someone could run 26 miles 385 yards is unbelievable. The 385 yards was set for the 1908 London Olympics so that the course could start at Windsor Castle and end in front of King Edward s VII s royal box. Hebrews 12:1-2 is a bridge passage or connecting passage. The word Therefore tells us that the thoughts of chapter 11 are to be remembered as we look at chapter 12 in other words, it refers you back to chap. 11 and the people named there. 1. Run realizing that you are not alone. Heb. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us Examples : is the meaning of the word for "witnesses" They are not the spectators of us, rather, they are the examples put before us...we are to look to them! This is meant to be an encouragement...their examples witness to us that we can and should be fervent and faithful. It does not mean the people in Heaven can see us, and see what we are doing! How do we know? There are no tears in heaven, and they d be sad if they knew all we were going through! Since, the writer here has in mind the champions mentioned in chapter 11 (the Faith chapter), like in the Olympics they are standing before us with their medals (or wreathes) on spurring us on to dream of winning too...thus encouraging us to strive by their examples. THEY ARE WITNESSES "TO" US ABOUT GODLY LIVING. They are godly examples to us to encourage us to do better in life. If these people made it, then we can too! ILL.- If Noah could preach 120 years and have only seven converts, then what about us? We ve done better than that in most churches.

2 If Enoch, Noah and Abraham did what they did with what they had, think of what we can do with what we have? If the saints who have gone before us did what they did without telephones, cell phones, cars, pagers, TV s, comfortable church buildings with AC, videos, power point, transparencies, PA systems, church buses, church vans, contemporary Christian music, computers, , and without evangelists, without Billy Graham, without Charles Stanley, Max Lucado, and others, THEN JUST THINK OF WHAT WE CAN DO WITH ALL OF THESE THINGS AND ALL OF THESE PEOPLE HELPING US! 2. Run freely. Excesses: The example they set for us is to encourage us to "throw off everything that hinders..." The idea here is to encourage those who wish to win the race to get rid of those things that will slow us down or prevent us from competing seriously! The word for "throw off" implies in Greek excess body bulk! It may also refer to the heavy garments one wears that must be "thrown off" as one prepares to make the run. Everyone knows what extra baggage can do to a runner in a race...no serious runner would ever consider carrying around extra baggage when they are competing to win. This is the essence of "SELF DISCIPLINE"...it is our responsibility before God to cast aside those things that become serious extra baggage - self discipline is needed to even get started! ILLUS: listen to this POEM that all too aptly makes that point! I spent a fortune - On a trampoline, A stationary bike - And a rowing machine Complete with gadgets - To read my pulse, And gadgets to prove My progress results, And others to show - The miles I ve charted -- But they left off the gadget - To get me started! Entanglements: the "sin that so easily entangles us" the sin of laziness, of not exercising ourselves to godliness. Without this there can be no success in a race, The Christian life doesn t just happen, it comes as the fruit of self discipline along with God s graces. There has yet to be a world champion that never practiced! Cast off the extra weight like these: WORRY - something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness; be anxious, troubled, or uneasy; Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. Proverbs 12:25 "So I tell you, don t worry about everyday life Matthew 6:25

3 Don t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 "I am leaving you with a gift peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn t like the peace the world gives. So don t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27 DISCOURAGEMENT - The act of discouraging, or the state of being discouraged; depression or weakening of confidence; dejection. That which discourages; that which deters, or tends to deter, from an undertaking; the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles. Discouragement is a state of being that is spiritual & the enemy will bring with it depression & fear. It will stop you from pursuing that which God Divinely designed you to do. Answer me speedily, O Lord; My spirit fails! Do not hide Your face from me, Lest I be like those who go down into the pit. Psalm 143:7 "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. Jeremiah 17:7 LUST - To have an intense or obsessive desire, especially one that is sexual. To have an eager, passionate, and especially an inordinate or sinful desire, as for the gratification of the sexual appetite or of covetousness; have a craving, appetite, or great desire for throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. Ephl 4:22 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. 1 Peter 4:3 For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. 1 John 2:16 A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls. Proverbs 25:28 All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 1 Corinthians 9:25 FEAR - A painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger; apprehension; anxiety; solicitude; alarm; dread. an uneasiness of the mind, upon the thought of future evil likely to befall us. be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event; F alse E vidence A ppearing R eal Do not fear anything except the LORD Almighty. He alone is the Holy One. If you fear him, you need fear nothing else. Isaiah 8:13

4 In that wonderful day when the LORD gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains Isaiah 14:3 Say to those who are afraid, "Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you." Isaiah 35:4 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 You can lie down without fear and enjoy pleasant dreams. Proverbs 3:24 Cut out the wickedness Sin will corrupt you, control you, change you, conform you, and finally will consume you. I want you to know tonight as a Christian that when sin gets into our lives, it starts to weigh us down. It starts to get real heavy. Proverbs 27:3 says A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool s wrath is heavier than them both. Isaiah 5:18 says this Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: They carry it around with them. Dragging sin with them where ever they go. A lot of times dragging it into the church. Some drag it into their home. They have it in their life. The Bible said: OUR SIN WILL SEPARATE US FROM GOD. Nothing can ever separate God s love toward us but we as Christians when we get weighted down with sin separate ourselves from God and don t run the race well at all. 3. Run in spite of weariness. The key to success in the Christian life is the same as it was for Christ and the heroes of our faith. Spiritual success is found in the ability to endure. In Hebrews 12:3 we read how we are to consider Christ who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. If there is one character flaw that we should be without, it would be that we are quitters. A Christian should never quit. We are admonished, over and over again to endure, to stay in the fight to the very end. Marathon runners tell us that there are two critical times in the race. The first one is at the beginning. When you begin to run you feel so good, & the temptation is to run too fast too soon. So

5 you expend all your energy & don t have enough left for the end of the race. Some Christians have done that, too, haven t they? They started out with great promise but didn t finish the race. The second critical time in a marathon is at the half way point. You suddenly realize that you still have as far to go as you ve already run & you re already very tired. Runners call it "hitting the wall." You ve come to the end of your endurance & you re not sure you can put one foot in front of the other anymore. I ve seen it happen in the Christian life, too. You ve been around for a while & you ve fought the battles, but you re not sure there is enough energy left to make it to the end, & the temptation is to quit. But the writer says that we are to "run with perseverance the race that s marked out for us." Don t grow weary & don t lose heart. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God s throne in heaven. 3 Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don t become weary and give up. 4. Run focused on a Winner run like He did! 1 Cor. 15:57 But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! We are to be looking at Christ...He is the "author" (starting point) and "finisher" (goal line) of our faith, not people! people can be examples, but not our focus! Jesus was opposed. Jesus was persecuted. People made fun of Him. And yet He stayed the course. He ran the race. He paid the price. So the writer says that when we get weary & tired we are to "fix our eyes on Jesus." Every Christian, every church needs to hear this because it s so easy to quit. It s so easy to say, "I don t have to do this anymore." But the writer says, "Focus on Jesus. He s the author & the finisher & the perfecter of our faith," & one day we re going to stand before Him as our judge. ILLUS: The Christian race is not a competitive event to see who comes in first, but an endurance run to see who finishes faithfully. It s like the experience of Bill Broadhurst, who entered the Pepsi Challenge 10,000-meter road race in Omaha, Nebraska. Ten years earlier, surgery for an aneurysm in the brain had left him paralyzed on his left side. Now, on a misty July morning in 1981, he stands with 1,200 lithe- looking men and women at the starting line. The gun cracks! The crowd surges forward. Bill throws his stiff left leg forward, pivots on it as his right foot hits the ground. His slow plop-plop-plop rhythm seems to mock him as the pack fades into the distance. Sweat rolls down his face, pain pierces his ankle, but he keeps going. Six miles and two hours and twenty-nine minutes later, Bill reaches the finish line. A man approaches from a small group of bystanders. Bill recognizes him from pictures in the newspaper. He s Bill Rodgers, the famous marathon runner.

6 "Here," says Rodgers, putting his newly won medal around Bill s neck. "You ve worked harder for this than I have." Broadhurst had also been a winner. 5. Run to the Finish! ILLUS: In a recent NCAA cross-country championship held in Riverside, California, 123 of the 128 runners missed a turn. One competitor, Mike Delcavo, stayed on the 10,000 meter course and began waving for fellow runners to follow him. Delcavo was able to convince only four other runners to go with him. Asked what his competitors thought of his mid-race decision not to follow the crowd, Delcavo responded, "They thought it was funny that I went the right way." Delcavo was one who ran correctly. In the same way, our goal is to run correctly; to finish the race marked out for us by Christ. We can rejoice over those who have courage to follow, ignoring the laughter of the crowd. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness." (2 Tim. 4:7-8) (Loren D. McBain, Leadership Magazine, Summer 1994, Vol. 15:3, p. 49.) Ill. By 7 p.m. on October 20, 1968, at the Mexico City Olympics Stadium, it was beginning to darken. It had cooled down as well. The last of the Olympic marathon runners were being assisted away to first-aid stations. Over an hour earlier, Mamo Waldi of Ethiopia had charged across the finish line, winning the 26-mile, 385-yard race looking as strong and as vigorous as when he d started. As the last few thousand spectators began preparing to leave, they heard police sirens and whistles through the gate entering the stadium. The attention turned to that gate. A sole figure, wearing the colors of Tanzania, came limping into the stadium. His name was John Steven Aquari. He was the last man to finish the marathon in His leg was bandaged, bloody. He had taken a bad fall early in the race. Now, it was all he could do to limp his way around the track. The crowd stood and applauded as he completed that last lap. When he finally crossed the finish line, one man dared ask the question all were wondering. "You are badly injured. Why didn t you quit? Why didn t you give up?" Aquari, with quiet dignity said, "My country did not send me seven thousand miles to start this race. My country sent me to finish." Citation: Craig Brian Larson, "Strong to the Finish," Preaching Today, Tape No. 1 In the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Great Britain s Derek Redmond was expected to win the gold medal for his country. As the race started everything started well. Some time during the race something went wrong. Derek felt a pain that caused him to fall on the track. He went down with a torn right hamstring. Even though he experienced excruciating pain, he struggled to his feet, pushed away the medical attendants who had rushed out to help him, and started to hop on one leg in a determined effort to finish the race. When Redmond reached the homestretch, a large man in a T-shirt that said Have You Hugged Your Kid Today and a hat that said Just Do It came out of the stands. He pushed his way through the security guards and ran to Derek Redmond and hugged him. It was his father. "You don t have to do this," he told his weeping son. "Yes, I do," whispered Derek through his pain. "Well, then," said the father, "we re going to finish this together."

7 That s exactly what they did. The son s head was sometimes buried in his father s shoulder, but the two men stayed in Derek s lane and crossed the finish line together as the crowd looked on, then rose up, cheered, and wept. 2 Tim. 4:;7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith