Well, excitement is really building, if you're a football fan right now.
Just think about it.
High school games begin this Friday night.
Y'all are at Easley, right?
Okay.
Three weeks from yesterday, college games begin.
And I think the NFL begins on Thursday night, September the 7th.
But I know everybody does not get into football.
There's millions of people who love basketball, baseball, soccer throughout the world, volleyball.
Here it begins big.
A lot of people throughout this world, throughout this country, they're big into sports.
Now today, we can know more about our favorite team and favorite athlete than in any other time in history
because there's so much media coverage.
But I want everybody to understand, ESPN is not responsible for all the great interest there is in sports.
For centuries, people have really gotten into athletic games of all kinds.
Even the Apostle Paul in the first century.
He was either a sports fan himself or he knew that a lot of people were because in several of his letters,
he uses sports terminology, sports analogies.
For example, look on the screen.
In his letter to the Corinthians, his first letter, he says,
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.
I do not run aimlessly.
I do not box as one beating the air.
He's writing to Christians and talking to them about living the Christian life.
And it takes discipline.
It takes a lot of self-control.
And he compared it to athletics, especially a runner, a boxer.
He says in 2 Timothy 2.5,
An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
That was his way of saying it matters how you live.
It matters how you do everything in life.
It matters how you do your job.
It matters how you play the game.
The worst thing that could happen on Friday night,
one of the worst things,
is y'all are behind,
last minute of the game,
somebody breaks free,
runs 50 yards for a touchdown for the winning score,
and you look back up,
and there's a yellow flag on the field.
Somebody blocked somebody in the back.
It matters how you play the game.
It matters how you play the game of life.
And that was Paul's way of stressing,
it matters.
Now, the writer of the Hebrews,
he is unknown,
but he was aware of how people were interested in sports.
And he writes in Hebrews chapter 12,
beginning in verse 1,
about the need for us to live a faithful Christian life,
just like a runner,
must discipline himself or herself,
stay focused to run and win their race.
I want you to look at it with me.
Hebrews chapter 12.
We're going to read verses 1 and 2,
and please keep your Bible open to that,
because there will be times when it will not all be on the screen.
Hebrews chapter 12,
verses 1 and 2.
Look at it with me.
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.
As we go through this message,
I want you to think about living the Christian life
in terms of a long-distance race.
Living a Christian life is not a sprint.
It's a long-distance race.
It's like a marathon.
But in this passage this morning,
let's think more of a long-distance race,
5,000 meters, 10,000,
something that could take place on a track with spectators.
We are instructed in these two verses
to be disciplined,
to be focused on the goal,
to stay faithful no matter what.
No matter what it costs,
and finish the race.
Just like an Olympic athlete
running a long-distance race would have to do.
Now the first thing I want us to notice
about running the race of Christian living
deals with some motivation.
Look at it.
We should be motivated by the example of people
who have successfully completed the race.
Look at verse 1 in that first word,
therefore.
The writer is pointing back to a long list
of men and women
in chapter 11
that he was telling the Hebrew Christians about,
men and women from the Old Testament,
who were faithful.
Now let me give you a little background of this letter.
This letter to Hebrew Christians,
Jewish Christians,
who were having a hard time
because they were being persecuted.
You can read toward the end of chapter 10 of Hebrews,
some of these people had been put in prison,
or they knew people,
Christians,
who had been put in prison
just because they were Christians.
Some of them had had their property
taken away from them
just because they were followers of Jesus.
And so he's writing to people
who are really struggling
because it's costing them something
to let everybody know they're Christians
and to live like it.
Some of them are being tempted
to just forget it all.
As you read through this letter,
it's obvious.
He is trying to encourage them,
don't quit.
Don't turn around and walk away from Christ
as if you no longer believe in Him
or want to have anything to do with Him.
The writer is encouraging these people
to stay faithful
by pointing out how men and women
in the Old Testament
endured hard times
and they remained faithful.
Some of them,
they were even killed,
but they would not renounce their faith.
They ran their race,
however long it was,
to the very end and never quit.
And now in verse 1,
these Old Testament believers
are what he calls
a great cloud of witnesses.
It's like these people
who've gone before you
and they've been faithful,
well, they're in the stands
and they're watching you
as you run your race.
Think about it.
He's saying these people
are watching you.
He's not saying these people
who never played,
people who were never in the race.
This writer is saying
to these Christians
who are struggling,
there's people in the stands,
they have struggled
and they persevered.
They hung in there.
They didn't quit
and now they are watching you.
And the idea is
if God enabled these people
to be successful,
he'll do the same for me.
Let me ask you guys,
would it make a difference
in how you practiced tomorrow
if somehow or another
last year's Clemson
national championship team,
Kane,
circled the field
and they watched you?
I bet there'd be less loafing.
I bet there'd be more people
just sucking it up
and not talking about
something hurting.
You would do the best
you've ever done
because you know
those guys are there
and they know all about it.
They have practiced
and played
in a lot more difficult circumstances
than I have,
longer than I have.
they've endured the pain,
the suffering
that you do in practice
and they've been successful.
They won the national championship.
Same thing
if South Carolina's
women's basketball team
came and watched you
who are on Pickens High School's
women's basketball team.
If North Carolina's players
came to the guys' practice
in basketball,
you would sit up
and take notice.
You would do your best
because that great cloud
that's watching you,
they've been there,
they've done that,
they've been successful
and so you want to
be successful
in their eyes
as well.
No matter what kind
of hardships
we experience
as we seek to live
an obedient Christian life,
we can always be certain
that there's a lot of people
who've gone before us,
not just in the Old Testament,
maybe some of your parents
or grandparents
or somebody you just
admired in your church
in a day gone by,
they had a hard life
but they never quit,
they never gave up,
they never blamed God
for what was going on.
They persevered,
they were faithful
and if you can look at them
for some inspiration,
that's what this writer's
trying to say to us.
No matter what we go through,
others have been through worse.
For example,
back in chapter 11,
Abraham was called
to leave his home,
his family
and everything he ever had
and go to a place
that he didn't know
where he was going to go
and it says in chapter 11
that Abraham was sent
to a place
where he lived in tents
and the idea is
he never had a home.
God's call
to Abraham's life
was you leave home,
you leave security,
you leave everything
you've ever known
and I'm going to send you
to a place
and you're never going
to have anything.
You're always going
to be an alien
in that place.
But that's my plan
for you.
It was costly.
Moses,
look back in chapter 11,
Moses actually grew up
in a place of privilege.
He was the adopted grandson
of Pharaoh,
the king of Egypt.
But it tells us
in that passage
that Moses gave all that up.
He renounced
that place of position,
that life of ease
in order to identify
with his own people,
the Hebrew people
who were slaves
and eventually
God used him
to lead them out
of slavery
into the promised land.
The point is
there's people
around us,
some in the Bible,
some you know.
They've been faithful.
They were successful
in doing what God
called them to do
because they were faithful.
These in the Old Testament,
Abraham and Moses
for example.
It's been thousands
of years
since they walked
the face of this earth
but we're talking
about them this morning.
they are remembered.
And one day,
every Christian
in this room,
you will actually see
those men and women
listed in Hebrews chapter 11.
You'll get to talk to them
and hear their stories
firsthand
about how life was hard
but God gave me
what I needed
and I was able
to be faithful.
That's why they're in
what some people call
the hall of faith
there in Hebrews chapter 11.
The next thing
I want us to look at
is also in verse 1.
As important as it is
to look around
and find some inspiration
from people
who've been there
and done that,
it's more important now
to understand
if we're going to run
this race of Christian living
and be successful,
we've got to be
personally disciplined.
Look at it.
We must discipline ourselves
if we want to run well.
Every successful runner,
that's what he's talking
about here,
a track athlete.
Every successful runner
must train for their race.
Every successful athlete
must train,
must discipline themselves.
Well, that also applies
to living a faithful
and obedient Christian life.
Notice what it involves
in verse 1.
He says,
we must lay aside
every weight.
Another way to translate that
is or throw off
everything that hinders.
That literally refers
to the bulk of the body.
Eliminate excess pounds
is what he's talking about.
Olympic runners,
they don't carry
any extra weight.
They have any extra fat.
Their skin, bone, and muscle.
You think what it takes
to be that.
Think up of the discipline
in what you eat
and how you work out,
how you even rest.
I want you to think
and make this real personal now.
What hinders you?
What causes you sometimes
to fall
as you seek to live
a faithful Christian life?
We're not talking about
sinful things yet.
It doesn't have to be
anything bad.
But we who are Christians,
we want to,
we want to be faithful.
We want to know God's will.
We want to do God's will.
We want to do what we know
God wants us to do.
But we don't
a lot of times.
We let things,
we let people,
we let a lot of things
sort of pull us down.
And this writer is saying here,
in writing to these people,
writing to us today,
let us also lay aside
every weight.
What's weighing
or pulling you down?
It could be something good,
but it's not good
in what it's doing to you.
For example,
it could be a hobby
that takes too much
of your time.
It could be a particular person
that's in your life,
and they're just a bad influence.
They make you worse,
not better.
This is sort of an aside now.
When you're dating someone,
when you're looking for someone
you really want to get serious about,
you think about marrying,
ask yourself the question,
am I a better person
by being around them,
by being influenced by them?
Are they helping,
if you're a Christian,
are they helping me to walk
and follow Christ?
Or,
do they pull me down?
Could be the kind of music
you listen to,
the movies,
TV shows you watch,
that for you,
it just,
you don't have the right
kind of thoughts.
It just doesn't affect you
in a positive way.
Anything that drags us down
spiritually is a hindrance
that we've got to get rid of.
You know,
a lot of Christians say
they don't have time
to spend with the Lord
in prayer and Bible reading.
Fact is,
no one,
me,
you,
no one in this room,
no one you know
can live a faithful Christian life
without having a real relationship
with God.
And the only way
we can have a relationship
with Him
or anyone
is to spend time with Him,
talking to Him in prayer,
listening to Him
as He speaks
from His Word.
A lot of people say,
I know that's true,
but I just don't have the time
to do that
on a daily basis.
Let me ask you this.
Do you have time
for Facebook
and other forms
of social media?
If you do,
then your problem
about the Bible
and prayer
is not a time problem.
It's a priority problem.
And I'm saying this
because today,
social media,
it can be a great thing,
it can be a positive thing,
form of communication,
smartphones,
you can learn a lot,
it's a lot of good
that can come from it,
but social media
is a weight
that is hindering
many people's
relationship with God
and their actual
real relationships
with other people.
The main reason
I'm bringing this one up
as an example today,
some of you saw this
toward the end
of last week.
There was a house fire
in Anderson County.
Three people were inside.
They got out,
but a 22-year-old man
went back inside
to retrieve his cell phone.
And he didn't make it back out.
He died.
He died
for a stupid cell phone.
He was that addicted.
It was that much
of his life.
I talked to someone
after the first service
this morning,
after preaching this message.
And they were telling me
about a situation
where a person
was going to have to
do a particular thing.
I don't want to give it away.
A person told me
they were going to have
to be doing something.
And they were instructed
in order to do this test,
do this thing
you've got to do,
you cannot have a cell phone.
You must leave it at home.
Leave it with your parents.
Leave it somewhere.
And this person said,
I can't do that.
I cannot go anywhere
in this world
without my cell phone.
My cell phone
is my lifeline.
That's an addiction, folks.
A smartphone can be a tool
or it can be an addiction
that is interfering
in your own relationship
with the Lord
and your relationship
with other human beings.
It's been a long time
since I dated.
But I can tell you this.
If I went out with a girl
and we sat down at a meal
ordered,
looking at the menu
and she whips out that phone,
I'm leaving.
You can do what you want to.
I didn't come to talk to you.
I didn't come to look at you
with your face down
in that stupid phone.
I challenge you guys,
do that.
Do that.
Leave them.
Tell them to take that phone
and call their mom and daddy
to come get them.
But let's reverse it now.
I believe in equality.
Ladies,
if you go out with a guy,
he's got his face in that,
sneak out if you can
before he even looks up.
Don't let him hear you.
Just don't say a word.
Go out and call somebody
to come and get you.
I'm making a lot of this
because it is a serious problem
that's interfering
in people's actual human interaction
and it is interfering
in a lot of people's relationship
with the Lord
because they've got time for this
but they don't have time for Him.
It is a hindrance
to a lot of people's spiritual growth
and a lot of people's social,
real growth
with other people face to face.
We also see in verse 1
that we must discipline ourselves
to throw off the sin
which clings so closely
or the sin that so easily entangles
or the New Living Translation says
the sin that so easily trips us up.
The idea here is
of a runner stripping off
as the Greek runners would do
so that there would be nothing
to hinder them in any way,
to slow them down a step.
Obviously all sin causes us to fall.
Which sins do you find
or you're a real stumbling block?
And we all have them.
Every one of us,
the most committed Christian in here,
there's certain sins
that appeal to you more than others.
There's certain ways you are tempted.
And I want you to stop for a moment now
and identify what sin
or sins is tripping you up.
Is it interfering
in your running this race
of faithful Christian living?
Could it be gossip?
Anger?
Impatience?
Lust?
Lying?
Laziness?
Alcohol or drug abuse?
Just not trusting God
in the details of your life.
Whatever your particular sin is,
you know what it is.
It's tripping you up.
It's causing you to fall
more times than you want to admit.
If you're serious about
wanting to be faithful to God
and live the kind of life
He's calling you to live,
if you're serious about it,
you've got to get rid of the things
that are hindering you.
You've got to confess
and turn from the sin
that's tripping you up.
You can do that
and God will forgive you.
He'll give you a fresh start
if there's a problem right now
that you're dealing with.
1 John chapter 1 and verse 9
tells us this.
If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just
to forgive us of our sins
and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
God forgives.
God is a God of grace.
And if we'll be honest with Him
about what our problem is,
what our sin is,
truly confess it,
turn from it,
change your mind about it,
hate it,
and seek His forgiveness,
He will forgive us
just like that verse is saying.
It's a promise.
What is it that,
what is it that really
you are battling
is a temptation in your life.
I want you to understand
no matter how powerful,
how strong it may be
in some temptations,
sort of like sometimes
they just grab us,
shake us,
demand that we give in.
But we don't have to.
God always provides
a way of escape
if we want it,
if we'll look for it.
I want you to look at
what Paul said
to the Corinthians
about temptation.
No temptation
has overtaken you
that is not common to man.
You've experienced,
I've experienced
no unique temptation.
God is faithful.
He will not let you
be tempted
beyond your ability,
but with the temptation
He will also provide
the way of escape
that you may be able
to endure it.
We can endure temptation.
We can resist it.
We can overcome it.
God always provides
a way of escape
if we'll look for it,
if we'll take it.
Notice one other aspect
of discipline found
in verse 1.
He talks about running
with endurance.
The runner's got to have
the attitude,
I'm going to finish.
I'm going to complete
the race.
It doesn't matter
how good a start he gets.
In this analogy here,
a long distance runner
on the track,
say it's 5,000 meters.
That's what?
About 12 and a half laps.
It doesn't matter
how strong he starts,
how, if he even laps
the field,
the first few,
if he quits
in the 11th lap,
he won't finish.
He has no possibility
to win.
You've got to finish.
You've got to stay the course
is what he's saying.
This is true
in our relationship
with Christ.
There's a lot of people,
a lot of people,
as children,
as teenagers,
even as adults,
they make a profession
of faith.
They may even be baptized.
But they don't continue
to trust Christ,
to follow Christ.
I want you to understand
that is an indication
that a person
wasn't really a Christian
to start with.
Because when God
really and truly
does a work in us
to save us,
he changes us,
he puts his spirit
in us,
and God will never
leave us alone.
Look at how Paul
describes this
in Philippians 1,
verse 6.
And I am sure of this,
that he who began
a good work in you
will bring it to completion
at the day of Christ Jesus.
What God starts in us,
he's going to continue.
There may be times
that we fail him,
as we're talking
about how I go,
that we fall.
We give in
to the temptation.
But if the spirit
of God lives within us,
he will convict us,
he'll cause us
to want to confess
our sin,
to come back
to the Lord
and start all over again.
I want you to look
at something else
Paul said.
It's not easy
to live a Christian life.
If anybody ever
tells you it is,
they don't know
what they're talking about.
There's a lot of verses
I showed you
at the beginning.
We're looking at one here.
The Christian life
requires discipline.
It requires self-control.
We have to work at it.
It's not going
to just happen.
But I want you
to see how
we can be confident
that we can work at it.
Look at what he says
in Philippians 2.13.
For it is God
who works in you
both to will
and to work
for his good pleasure.
When God saves us,
he puts his spirit in us
and he will never leave us.
God will give us
the desire
to be faithful,
to resist temptation,
to obey him.
God will enable us
to do that,
but we've got to
cooperate with him.
We've got to eliminate
the hindrances.
We've got to turn
from the sin.
We've got to do
the acts of obedience
that he calls us to do.
You may have to
close your mouth.
He's telling you
to quit saying things
you're saying
that you're not
supposed to say.
You may have to
open your mouth
and say some things
he's wanting you
to say to certain people.
God will enable us
to be faithful.
He will enable us
to discipline ourselves
and stay the course.
Let's look at
one more thing.
One more thing
about being faithful.
We must stay focused
on our goal
as we run.
The Olympic runner
runs with his eyes
fixed ahead of him
on the goal,
on the finish line.
He may be aware
of people in the stands,
but he's not looking.
He may be aware
of other runners.
He can sort of
sense their presence,
maybe see them
out of the side
of his eye.
But he's not going
to be turning
and always just
looking around.
He's going to be
focused on his goal.
His goal is going
to be the finish line.
What this writer
is telling us
is we need to run
with a clear focus
and our focus
is simple.
It's Jesus himself.
Why would he say this?
Because of who he is.
Look at what it says.
Verse 2,
looking to Jesus,
the founder
and perfecter
of our faith.
Everything in the
Christian life,
everything in the
Christian faith
begins, continues,
and ends
with Jesus.
Specifically,
his death
on the cross
for our sins.
See,
when Jesus
died on the cross,
he died
in your place.
He died
to pay the penalty
for my sins.
It's like God
took my sin
and placed it on Jesus
as he hung on the cross
and Jesus cried out,
my God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?
God had turned away
from him in that moment
and it's because
he was bearing
the full weight
of our sin
and experiencing
the pain of hell,
not going to the place,
but experiencing
the pain of hell
because God
was turning away from him.
He was experiencing
the wrath of God.
He died for our sins.
Just before he died,
one of the last things
he says was,
it is finished.
The penalty for sin
had been paid.
He was buried.
Three days later,
he arose from the grave
because God
wanted everybody
to understand,
I've accepted
his sacrifice.
He arose from the grave
and was seen
over a period
of 40 days
by a lot of different people,
different places.
That was God's way
of verifying.
My son,
he's died on the cross,
paid the penalty
for your sins.
He's risen from the grave.
He is my son.
He is the son of God.
The penalty's been paid.
And the good news
of the gospel is
if we will admit our sin,
put our trust in Jesus,
call upon him
to save us,
he will.
Now in keeping
with this race imagery,
think about Jesus.
He has cleared
the path
that we need to run
to stay in our lane
and be faithful
in the race of life.
Because of what he's done,
look at it,
he endured the cross
despising the shame
and is seated
at the right hand
of the throne of God.
The cross was the lowest
form of execution
in the Roman Empire.
In the Roman Empire,
only slaves
and criminals
were crucified.
A Roman citizen
could not be executed
that way.
It was a torturous,
humiliating way to die.
But Jesus endured that.
He disregarded the shame
because he was fulfilling
the plan of God.
He was fulfilling
the way for us
to be forgiven
and made right with God.
He did that,
it says in verse 2,
for the joy
that was set
before him.
He looked beyond
everything,
everything that was
terrible about that cross
for the joy
on the other side.
I know that you guys
playing ball
practices,
a lot of times,
it's just awful.
Sometimes you just think
the coaches,
they got their training
in a torture chamber,
all the things
they make us do.
But you hang in there.
You do what you've got to do
because you want to play
on Friday night.
You want to wear
that uniform.
You want to go out
in front of all the people
that's going to be
in those stands.
And you want to play football
in that game
so you endure
whatever it has to do.
There is joy
before you
on the other side
of practice.
There was joy
on the other side
of the cross
for Jesus.
That's why
he endured that.
That's our example
for enduring pain
and hardship,
suffering for the short time
because we're going
to experience
an eternal reward
waiting for us
at the end.
You know,
we're never going to live
a faithful life
that honors God
and brings joy
and satisfaction
to ourselves
if we just focus
on the circumstances
of today.
If we just focus
on how life bad
is at various times.
we've got to learn
to follow the example
of Jesus
and look beyond
our circumstances.
Look beyond
how we feel
and just think about
what God,
how God will reward us
for being faithful
as his son
or daughter.
That's the attitude
we've got to have
in order to endure
throughout this race
of life,
of Christian living.
And I encourage you
to look beyond
the hardship,
those of you
who are going
through hardship.
There is more,
there is better
to come
and it'll be yours
for all eternity.
If we want to live
faithful Christian lives
and please God,
we need to look around
and see
success stories.
Look at some of the people
in the Bible.
Hopefully there's some people
in your life
who've been before you,
they've been faithful
and God is blessed
in their life.
Be inspired by that.
But inspiration
is just going to carry you
so far.
In order to really
and truly live
the Christian life
as God's called you to do
and deep down
you want to do
if you're a Christian,
you've got to learn
to discipline yourself,
to eliminate hindrances
and distractions
and any form of sin
in your life.
Take the responsibility
to discipline yourself,
to cooperate with God
as He works
to change you
and enable you
to develop
Christ-like character.
If we'll run the race
of Christian living
like this,
we can be faithful.
It doesn't mean
it'll be easy.
It doesn't mean
that everything will happen
the way you want it
to happen in your life.
But faithfulness
is what pleases God.
Faithfulness
is how God
determines success.
Faithfulness
is what makes us
in this race
of Christian living
victorious.
Faithfulness
by God's grace
is what will enable us
to experience
an eternal reward
at the end of this race.
let's pray together.
Dear God,
help us to see
right now
how we should respond
in light of what
you've said
through your word
and through your spirit
to us individually.
Father,
if there are people
in this room
who are not Christians,
but they want to be,
dear God,
make it clear to them
that if they will
admit their sin
and truly turn from it,
change their mind
about how they're living
and put their trust
in Jesus
that He has taken
their punishment,
He paid the penalty
for their sin
when He died on the cross.
Help that person
right now,
dear God,
to call upon Jesus
to save them.
Help that man,
woman,
young person
to surrender control
of their lives
right now
to Jesus
as their Lord,
as their ultimate leader.
Father,
if there are Christians
in this room
right now,
you have identified
things that are
hindering them
from faithfully
living the life
that God's called
them to live.
Dear God,
show them
what they need to do.
If there's sin
to confess,
if there are priorities
to rearrange,
if there are some
changes in their lifestyle,
in their relationships
that need to be made,
make it clear.
Help them,
dear God,
to make that kind
of commitment.
Not just right now,
but every day.
In an attitude
of prayer,
let's just all
listen to the Lord
and respond to Him.
If I could pray
with you during this time,
I'll be here
at the front
and would be happy
to do that.
Thank you.