Encouraged To Endure

Until 1954, it was universally believed that

it is impossible for a human being to run a mile

in less than four minutes. As a matter of fact,

some thought that a man's heart would explode

before he would ever reach such a pace. But then,

on May 6, 1954, at the Eiffel Road track at Oxford

University, English track star Roger Bannister

did the impossible. He ran the mile in three

minutes, 59 .4 seconds. Now what's interesting

about this is just really in a matter of days,

less than a month, in June of that same year,

Australian John Landy broke Bannister's record

by running the mile in three minutes, 57 .9 seconds.

And since that time, more than 2 ,349 men have

run a sub four minute mile. The current record

was set this year on July 18th at London Stadium

by Josh Kerr of Great Britain. He completed the

mile in three minutes, 42 .66 seconds, almost

17 seconds faster than Bannister's impossible

feat. Now the point of this illustration is to

demonstrate that once an impossible barrier has

been overcome, Others are encouraged that they

too can do what was once thought to be unachievable.

You may believe, after hearing us preach through

chapter 11 of Hebrews, that you could never achieve

or endure what these great heroes of the faith

did. But if you think in that way, you're wrong.

If you're a child of God, that would be wrong.

Their lives bear testimony to the fact that there

is no No suffering so intense that God cannot

save us through that difficulty successfully.

Are we having some problems with the mic? Cutting

out a little bit? No? All right, well, let me

know if it continues to do that. Turn with me,

if you would, to Hebrews chapter 12. We're gonna

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

begin looking at this new chapter. There are

only two chapters left in our study, so pray

for us as we continue to prepare these messages

through the end. of this wonderful letter to

the Hebrews. If you don't have a Bible, the words

will be here on the screen at the front of the

auditorium. Hebrews chapter 12 beginning in verse

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

one says, therefore, since we are surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also

lay aside every weight and sin which clings so

closely, and let us run with endurance the race

that is set before us, looking to Jesus. the

founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the

joy that was set before him endured the cross,

despising the shame, and is seated at the right

hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured

from sinners such hostility against himself,

so that you may not grow weary or faint -hearted.

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet

resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses

you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the

discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved

by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and he chastises every son whom he receives.

It is for discipline that you have to endure.

God is treating you as sons. For what son is

there whom his father does not discipline? If

you are left without discipline in which all

have participated, then you're an illegitimate

children and not sons. Besides this, we have

had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we

respected them. Shall we not much more be subject

to the father of spirits and live? For they disciplined

us for a short time as it seemed best to them,

but he disciplines us for our good, that we may

share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline

seems painful rather than pleasant, but later

it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness

to those who have been trained. Let's pray, and

we'll look at these verses together this morning.

Father, as always, we are thankful for your word.

Thankful, Father, that we can turn to you in

moments of difficulty, moments of crisis, moments

of confusion, moments of sorrow and suffering,

and we can be reminded and be reassured of the

fact that nothing that comes into our lives is

unknown to you. As a matter of fact, quite the

opposite, Father, as we are being told here in

Hebrews chapter 12, you allow these periods of

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

sacrifice and suffering to come to us so that

you might train us, Lord, in righteousness. And

we thank you for that. And I pray that you would

help us today to see these great truths that

will bring such comfort to our hearts and lives

if we will live in accordance with them. So once

again, Father, I just ask you to open our hearts

and minds to receive your word. And Father, I

pray if there's someone here, Lord, and there

undoubtedly is, who is going through some great

difficulty, some great struggle, some great period

of suffering, I ask that the comfort and peace

of the Lord might rest upon them today, that

they might look to you and look to your son,

Jesus Christ, to be their peace. And Father,

I pray beyond that if there's someone this morning

that does not know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

that today would be a day of salvation for that

one. Draw them to yourself, Father. Open their

eyes to the truth that there is salvation only

in Jesus. May they receive him by faith today,

and it's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen. Amen.

Of course, this wonderful chapter 12 begins with

that word, therefore, and of course it's referring

to everything that has come before, specifically

chapter 11, all these great illustrations and

examples of the great men and women of faith

from our past, but not just chapter 11, really

everything that the writer of Hebrews has been

arguing since the very first verse of chapter

one. He is trying to encourage, trying to urge

These these these fellow believers to to continue

on in their pursuit of Jesus Christ and his purposes

Again, he has pulled no punches with us He has

made it very clear that in the pursuit of Jesus

following Jesus and desiring to live godly lives

Sacrifice will just be part and parcel of that

life often suffering will come and as we have

learned some may even be called upon to die for

their faith but again in every God is there with

us and the life that Jesus has given us far outweighs

any suffering that we might have to endure in

this life. And certainly the life that we look

to as we have been talking about these great

men and women of faith who were looking for this

home, this country, that was still somewhere

out there in front of them, we too look for that

great day when Christ returns, when we are gathered

home. to those that have gone on before us, never

to be separated from them ever again. And ultimately,

one day, to live upon a new resurrected earth,

no unrighteousness will dwell there. Our experience

will be something that we can't even imagine.

Our world is so marred from sin. Our lives are

so corrupted by sin. Even as Christians, we can't

even imagine what it's gonna be like to live

in a world where there is no unrighteousness,

no sin. no sickness, no sorrow. And so we look

forward to that. And so the writer of Hebrews

just simply continues his argument, encouraging

us to move forward with faith, to engage the

Lord daily, to take upon ourselves the responsibilities

that he has entrusted to us. And again, to know,

yes, it's gonna be hard, but yes, it's gonna

be worth it. And so the first thing that he does

is he again, reminds us of those who have gone

before us, our predecessors. We are surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses. He says, you

know, it's a wonderful thing to think of these

witnesses. Who are they? What are they? Well,

this cloud of witnesses includes the very people

that were mentioned in chapter 11, but it goes

far beyond that. It is an amazing thing. These

men and women of whom the world was not worthy,

that's that great cloud of witnesses that is

there, again, cheering us on, setting the pace

for us as it were. They include, of course, the

patriarchs, some of them we've already talked

about, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the prophets, Moses,

Elijah, Samuel, Daniel, Jeremiah, the apostles,

Peter, James, John. Paul, martyrs for the faith.

Stephen, of course, the very first Christian

martyr. Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna. I was

talking about him a little bit this morning in

our life group. Arrested at the age of 86. And

it was demanded of him that he deny Christ and

declare that Caesar is Lord. And this saintly

old man refused to do it. And they said, well,

if you don't, we're gonna burn you at the stake.

Still he refused. They tied him to a pole. They

put wood all around him and set it ablaze. And

history tells us that the flames didn't touch

him. They formed an arc around his body and finally

it was ordered that one of the Roman soldiers

come forward and spear him in order to kill him

because the flames wouldn't consume him. He refused

to deny Christ. And again. then of course much

more recent in our experience, Jim Elliott, Nate

Saint, those faithful missionaries who were killed

by the Alka Indians not that many years ago.

The great preachers of our past, Martin Luther,

John Calvin, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, missionaries,

Barnabas, who we read of in the New Testament,

William Carey, who is considered the modern father

of missions, Hudson Taylor, all of these, along

with even our own departed family members. and

friends, they are those who comprise this great

cloud of witnesses. They've all taken their place

in the heavenly hall of faith and they bear witness.

I guess that's really what I wanna stress about

this. This great cloud of witnesses are not simply

spectators. They're not just watching us and

how we live. That would be a little bit intimidating,

would it not? I'll never forget the first time

that I stood in this pulpit and I looked out

and one of my professors from Chriswell College

was seated out there in the auditorium. It was

a little bit intimidating. I think I struggled

through that message as much as I've ever struggled

through a message knowing that this man who had

such knowledge of the scriptures, this man who

had taught me most of what I knew in my early

experience as a Christian in Bible college, there

he was listening to me preach. But that's not

what this scripture is teaching us. These faithful

men and women are not just sitting in this great

arena watching us, perhaps criticizing our performance,

or even simply cheering us on in our performance,

but rather their lives as witnesses. That word

witnesses is the key. Their lives bear testimony.

Their lives proclaim to us that no matter what

you have to endure, you can do it. We did. We

endured all manner of suffering. We could go

back through chapter 11 and we could read about

all the things that they had to suffer in order

to accomplish the will and the purposes of God

and how many of them, most of them never even

received all the promises that God had made to

them. And yet, there they are, this great company

of faithful men and women. And that's the company

that we're a part of. I guess if anything, that's

what I want you to understand today when you

think of that cloud of witnesses. These are not

some group of super saints, some category of

Christian that we could never hope to attain.

These are men and women who one day we will join

side by side with among that cloud of witnesses.

And their lives, again, speak to us. You can

do it. We did it before you. We understand what

you're going through. God is faithful. You can

trust him. That's what they're saying. So we

are among that great company of the faithful.

I know we would never even consider our names

being listed in Hebrews chapter 11, but who knows

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

if a new book of the Bible was written today

and it won't be. But if it were, who knows what

names would be included in that great. And even

if your name were not included, there might be

those references to you that we read of beginning

in verse 35 of chapter 11. No longer names, but

it says some were tortured, released. Others

suffered. We might have been among those some

and others, and certainly we are. And that's

the whole point. This is the company of which

we are a part. Don't think of these great heroes

of the faith as super human or super Christian.

They were men and women just like us. They had

fears, they had doubts. They even argued with

God about whether or not God had the right man

or the right woman. They were just like us. And

when God calls us to do some great thing, when

we find ourselves in a situation where we are

called to deny our faith perhaps. I believe that

the grace of God will be there for you just as

it was for them, and you'll be able to stand

in that moment because you, like them, are a

people of faith, a person of faith, and God will

see you through. So we're surrounded by this

great cloud of witnesses, their lives bearing

testimony to the fact that no matter what we

have to endure, we can do it. And so he goes

on and he says, in light of that, he said, let

us lay aside every weight and sin which so. which

clings so closely and let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us. And there's,

boy, if you want a good definition of what life

God has called you to, it's right there. Run

with endurance the race that is set before us.

And let me just say this. Every one of us has

a unique race to run. I mean, we read through

the various stories in Hebrews chapter 11, and

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

of course, if we take the time to go back into

the Old Testament and read of other great men

and women of faith, all of their stories were

different. All of them were called upon to serve

the Lord in a unique way. No two stories are

exactly alike, what they faced, how they struggled.

And the same thing is true for us today. The

course that God has set us upon is a course that

is unique to us as individuals. But the one thing

that we share in common with these men and women

of faith is the God who strengthens us, the God

who runs with us, the God who shows us the way,

the God who has established the course that we

run for us. And let me tell you, God's the same

yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes.

The courses of our lives may change, but our

God, never changes, you can accomplish successfully

the calling that God has upon your life. But

of course, there's some warnings he gives to

us there. Let us lay aside every weight and sin

which clings so closely. There's some things

that we have to do. We have to be willing to

get rid of anything that might hinder us in this

race that God has called us to. And by the way,

you know, We've been talking about a mile long

race. That's a long race for most of us, right?

But just a little less than four minutes. People

are running the mile in these days. So pretty

much a sprint. The race that God has called us

to is a mega marathon. It's not gonna end in

three and a half minutes. It's not gonna end

in a day or a week or a month or a year. It's

a lifelong race. That's why we have to endure.

And why, if we're gonna do this successfully,

we have to lay aside every weight, every sin

which clings so closely. We must be determined

to strip away any hindrance. And by the way,

that may mean things that aren't inherently evil.

Whatever God calls you to, there will be sacrifices

that you will be called upon to make. Things

that you will turn from in order to follow after.

And it's not just sin that we turn from. Certainly

we must turn away from sin. Scripture's clear.

If you want to stumble and fall in this great

race that God has put you in, just continue in

sin. Continue to sin. It'll trip you up every

time. But there are other things that you have

to lay aside. You know, I can think of my own

life when I first came to Christ and when I first

began to understand the calling that God had

upon my life. I was working a job and I thought

to myself, I can't continue to do this job. This

isn't the job that God would have me to do. I

can't honor the Lord the way I want to and do

this job. And so I had to leave that job behind.

And again, it wasn't a bad job. It wasn't anything

dishonest or anything immoral. But I had to lay

it aside in order to follow Jesus and to run

this race that he had set before me. So that's

what God has called us to do. Run with endurance.

And again, that certainly implies, really it

tells us very clearly, that this race that God

has called us to run, this life that God has

called us to live, it's gonna be difficult. It's

gonna demand effort. I can't even imagine the

training that Roger Bannister went through to

prepare for that sub four minute mile. I've seen

a documentary on it and it was quite something

that he did and how he accomplished it. It demanded

every bit of his... His life, his training, emotionally,

mentally, physically, psychologically, I mean

everything that he had, he had to pour into breaking

that impossible barrier. And of course he did

it. And I believe the same thing will be true

for us. We're gonna have to work hard. We're

gonna have to endure hardship. But what God has

called us to, he will no doubt equip us to do.

So we run. with endurance, the race that is set

before us, laying aside every weight and the

sin that so closely clings to us. And then, of

course, our courage. You know, not only do we

think of the predecessors, but of course, supreme

among those predecessors is the Lord Jesus Christ

Himself. And it speaks of Jesus here. Looking

to Jesus, the founder. and perfecter of our faith

who for the joy that was set before him endured

the cross despising the shame and is seated at

the right hand of the throne of God. This life

that God has called us to is gonna demand courage.

And sometimes if we're not careful, we'll get

to looking around at the hardships that we face,

the enemies that we have to overcome, and we

can lose courage, right? We can become fearful.

We see it in the lives even of these great men

and women of faith in the Bible. But as we sang

this morning, What we have to do in that moment

is we have to turn our eyes upon Jesus. We have

to look to this one who is the ultimate example

of what it means to follow the Lord wholeheartedly.

We must consistently choose to look away from

the things of this world, to look away from the

hardships and the difficulties of this world,

and to focus our attention on the Savior. We

taught a series of messages years ago that We

become what we behold, right? And we want to

behold Jesus. We want to look unto Him. What

courage we will gain as we do that. You know,

reference back to that four -minute mile. After

the Australian Landy broke Bannister's record,

some people got together and said, we need to

have these two men race. They're the two fastest

milers in the world. We have to put them together

and let them race to see who's the best. And

of course, that all happened up in Canada. It

was a great race. It was later that year in 1954.

And both of the men planned out their game plan

for how they were going to run their race. And

off they went. And what's interesting is that

John Landy led the race for almost the entire

mile. He ran a completely different race than

Bannister thought he was going to run. And so

thus, it forced Bannister to change his game

plan in the middle of the race. And nearing the

end of that mile, it looked as if Landy was going

to win. But something happened. He turned. I

mean, he'd led the whole way. And in the last

few yards of that race, they say he turned to

look over his shoulder to see where Bannister

was. And it slowed him down enough, it allowed

Bannister to pass him and to win the race. We

need to keep our eyes on the goal, don't we?

We need to keep our eyes on the finish line.

Of course, a biblical example of that same thing.

Remember the night that the disciples were out

in the boat on the stormy waters and they saw

Jesus walking on the water. Of course, they were

scared to death until Jesus said, hey guys, it's

okay, it's me. And then he commanded Peter to

come out of the boat. And what did Peter do?

He got out of the boat. Matthew 14 says he got

out of the boat and he walked on the water. But

then something happened. It says he saw the wind.

He took his eyes off Jesus. He saw the wind and

he became afraid and he began to sink. Jesus

of course takes him by the hand and together

they walk back to the boat. When we take our

eyes off Jesus, we're gonna fall. So we need

to keep our attention on him. He is the one from

whom we will draw great. And then, of course,

he continues talking about Jesus, says, consider

him. We've already heard this word once before

in our sermon series. Consider, it means to think

deeply about. It's really a word that has to

do with making a mathematical calculation. And

what I would say to you today is that it's saying

this to us. Whenever you are in the midst of

some suffering and you're wondering why, or why

me, or why am I the only one who's having to

go through this? And by the way, any time you

have that thought in your brain that you're the

only one that's going through something, It's

just never true. You can find somebody real quick

that's had it much rougher than you. Probably

somebody that's in that very moment going through

much rougher than you. But he says to consider

Jesus, consider him who endured from sinners

such hostility against himself. I mean, think

about that. Jesus came to seek and to save that

which was lost. Jesus came as the very expression

of God's love for his people. I mean, God loved

us so much that he was willing to send his own

son to die on a cross for us. I mean, that's

hard for us to even comprehend that kind of love.

So Jesus came into this world. John says that

he came to his own and his own received him not.

The Jews rejected him and ultimately crucified

him. But sinners, everywhere he went, showed

him nothing but hostility. And he says that we

must consider this, the hostility that Jesus

himself experienced so that we may not grow weary

or faint -hearted. When you are tempted to give

up, to throw in the towel, to say, I can't do

this, just remember what Jesus endured for you.

That's what the scriptures are saying here. And

then he goes on and makes it even plainer. He

says, in your struggle against sin, you have

not yet resisted to the point of the shedding

of your blood. In other words, none of you has

had to give up your life, not like Jesus, not

like some of these Old Testament saints of God.

You've not had to do that. So yeah, you may be

struggling. You may be suffering. but you're

not suffering as others have suffered. Take that

into consideration. Remember that in your struggle.

You've not suffered anywhere close to what Christ

himself suffered for you. And you've not suffered

anywhere close to what some of these great heroes

of our faith have suffered. As a matter of fact,

for us American Christians, we've done very little

in the way of suffering, haven't we? And yet

often, we're the ones who complain the loudest

about how hard it is, how tough life can be.

Just take a moment when you're there in that

place to consider Jesus. And then, of course,

look to the scriptures. He says, have you forgotten

the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My

son, don't regard lightly the discipline of the

Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For

the Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastises

every son whom He receives. You know, one of

the reasons I think that we become so willing

to give up in our pursuit of the purposes of

God is because we lose sight of what scripture

has taught us. That's what he's saying. Don't

forget what God said. Don't forget God never

lied to you and told you that this life that

he's called you to is going to be a life of comfort

and ease. No, not at all. He's been brutally

honest with us about the difficulties that come

with living the Christian life, the suffering,

the sacrifice, the dying that many of our predecessors

went through. We need to have that perspective.

It's good to have that understanding as we face

the difficulties of life that we will face. So

consider Jesus. And then really this third encouragement

for us. He begins to talk about what this Old

Testament verse is referring to, the discipline

of God. Again, we could put suffering. Do not

regard lightly the suffering that the Lord allows

to come your way. The struggle, the persecution,

I mean that's what was going on in the context

of this letter. These early Christians were being

persecuted, not put to death in the arena as

we would later find out that some had been faced

with, but they were being ostracized by their

communities, no longer welcome in their synagogues.

no longer loved by their families like they once

had been. Perhaps they had lost job opportunities

because of their faith in Christ. That's what

they were experiencing. And so that, according

to the author of Hebrews, was the discipline

of the Lord in their lives. I think sometimes

we get really confused about the discipline of

God in our lives. We just wonder why is life

so hard? Why is this happening to me? But in

those moments, again, don't forget what the scriptures

say. The Christian life was never an easy life

promised to us, a comfortable life promised to

us. Always a life of persecution, hardship, sacrifice.

Don't forget that. But then, for sure, don't

forget this. Look at verse seven. And this is,

again, an encouragement to endure in the faith.

It is for discipline that you have to endure.

That word discipline can mean training, conditioning.

Again, we've kind of had an athletic illustration

moving forward through all of this. That's what

that word discipline is talking about. It means

to train, to instruct, to condition. This is

the way God conditions us to live the life that

he has called us to through the hardships of

life. It is for discipline that you have to endure.

This is God preparing us for the life that he

has called us to live, training us, conditioning

us so that we can run this mega marathon and

finish it successfully. And then notice what

it says about God. It says God is treating you

as sons. It's hard for us in the midst of a catastrophe,

in the midst of suffering, in the midst of hardship

to think of that as being from God's loving hand,

but that's what the writer of Hebrews tells us

we must do. Suffering is never random, not for

the Christian. God is lovingly, he's treating

you as sons and daughters. It is his love. He

is preparing you for the difficulties of life

that not only that you're going through at the

moment, but for those that you will go through

and for those that you will assist others as

they go through. He's treating you as sons. And

so he says, for what son is there that a father

does not discipline? He's saying, you know this

to be true from your own. Experience. Your fathers

disciplined you because they loved you, and when

you experience the suffering that you are encountering

now, you must look at it as God's discipline,

God's training. God is treating you as sons.

There's an assurance in that, right? We tend

to be more assured that we're God's children

when everything's going great. When things get

bad, we begin to wonder, have I been disowned?

Is God not paying attention? But the writer of

Hebrews says, oh no. these difficulties you're

experiencing, this suffering that you're going

through, God is treating you as sons, disciplining

you as your own father did. He said if you were

left without discipline in which we participated,

then you're illegitimate children and not sons

at all. Just let that sink in for a minute. If

you live a life of ease and comfort and never

experience a day of suffering in your life, never

have to go through anything hard or challenging,

writer of Hebrews is saying that's not the life

of a child of God. God disciplines and chastens

his children just as human fathers are to do.

And he says, besides this, we had earthly fathers

who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall

we not much more be subject to the father of

spirits, our spiritual father is what he's saying

there, and live? For they disciplined us for

a short time as it seemed best to them, but he

disciplines us for our good. Again, mark that

down. God in his discipline and our suffering

is treating us as sons. He is disciplining us

for our good. He doesn't take pleasure in hurting

us, but he disciplines us for our good. And why?

That we may share his holiness. I don't know

about you. I wanna live a holy life, don't you?

I wanna be holy. I want my life to be characterized

by a practical holiness. I mean, oh yeah, there's

the reality that God has declared me righteous.

I am one of his saints, just as you are if you've

been born again. But I want my life to be marked

by a practical holiness. God disciplines us for

our good that we may share his holiness. And

then of course he says, for the moment all discipline

seems painful rather than pleasant, but later

it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

to those who have been trained by it. You know,

there's a wonderful passage of scripture that

Paul writes for us in Romans, and it simply talks

about the fact that, again, this very thing that

the writer of Hebrews is talking about here,

that spiritual discipline, that these hardships

that we endure for the Lord are from the Lord

and for our good. or in chapter five of Romans,

Paul says this, therefore, since we have been

justified by faith, we have peace with God through

our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also

obtained access by faith into the grace in which

we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory

of God. That's all sounds good, right? But then

he says this, not only that, but we rejoice in

our sufferings. Knowing that suffering produces

endurance and endurance produces character and

character produces hope and hope does not put

us to shame. because God's love has been poured

into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has

been given to us. So when you go through suffering,

look at it as the loving discipline, the conditioning,

the training that your Heavenly Father must accomplish

in your life in order for you to live this life

that he has called you to.