LIVING BY FAITH
Two men stood side by side on a dock one day, peering out into the broad ocean. One
looked out and said, “I see a ship!”
The other guy turned his gaze in the same direction and declared, “There’s no ship out there.”
“Yes there is,” the first man insisted.
“Look,” his friend countered, “I just had an eye exam. I’ve got
perfect twenty-twenty vision and I’m telling you, I don’t see a
ship.”
“Take my word for it. There is a ship.”
“How can you be so sure?” the second man asked, squinting hard as he looked out to sea.
“I see it clearly through my
binoculars.”
Your Perspective
To a great degree, living a successful Christian life is a
matter of perspective. The clarity of your vision can make all the difference
and sharp-sightedness often depends on the focusing power of the lens you are
using.
Even distant images
can be brought into crystal
clarity with the right
optics. In the same way, if we look
at our lives through the lens of Scripture, we might discover an ocean liner we failed to notice earlier.
We might see death become
life, disease become
health, and despair
become victory.
I believe that’s
partially what the author of Hebrews had in
mind when he wrote his Epistle. With three simple verses, he places into our
hands spiritual binoculars. He tells us that
if we learn to live the life of faith,
we will enjoy spiritual
victory in every category of our existence. If we can get a handle on the sufficiency
of God—if we can comprehend the fact that He is one step ahead of our problems
and way out in front of our needs—then
we can be “more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.” In order to catch the vision of the book of Hebrews, you need your
binoculars. Your unaided eyes can’t bring
the image
into focus. You need lenses so potent
that they can focus on tomorrow and make it
seem like today.
Otherwise,
there’s no way you can navigate through today and make it to tomorrow!
No Turning Back
The writer found himself addressing a most perplexing problem. He was faced with a congregation
of people who were contemplating quitting the Christian faith. They were considering throwing in
the towel because they
were no longer sure that following the path was worth
the pain. They thought that it might just be too
uncomfortable being totally committed
to Jesus.
Consequently, the book of Hebrews explains to these beleaguered
believers why they can’t turn back. “No matter
how bad your circumstances,” the text argues, “Jesus is better!” Each
successive chapter examines more reasons why going back is going nowhere.
“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.”
Hebrews 10:26
The writer asks,
what business do Christians have with sin? Since God has already given us
victory, why are we still caught in the very trap from which Jesus died to free us?
Christ died for
us. What further sacrifice
can
there be? There is neither
spiritual victory nor supernatural enablement for those who
abandon their calling.
On The Other Hand
“Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2
The Race
The apostle Paul (who very well may be the author of Hebrews)
was always fond of athletic analogies. I suspect that if he were alive today,
he might be the type of man who believes that the news and editorial sections
of the paper are only there to keep the rain off the sports section.
It is implied that one reason the Hebrews considered giving up is because they never quite grasped
the fact that the Christian life is a race. And not just an ordinary race, but a marathon. A 26-mile
marathon requires not
only that we run, but that we run with endurance.
Anyone can run a 100-yard dash. Even a 300-pound couch
potato can slog his out-of¬-shape body 300 feet down a track.
Obviously, he won’t set any records—at least, not for speed.
But, most likely, he will eventually cross
the line. A marathon is another story. You don’t swallow your last bonbon, climb off the sofa, and
hit the track. Training and conditioning are
essential if you plan to finish—and perhaps even to survive.
Let me put it another way. “No pain, no gain.” Without the trial of
training, you can’t run.
Trials are like
the iron you use on your clothes. It employs heat
and pressure to smooth out the wrinkles.
Too many of us want to be used by God without the inconvenience
of being tested by God. We want the Lord to
do great
things for us, not to
us. It
doesn’t
work that
way. There are no shortcuts in the race of faith. We can’t be like the young lady who crossed the
finish
line of
the Boston marathon well ahead of the others...because she covered half
the distance on the subway. She was, of course, disqualified. Don’t let the
same happen
to you.
Setting Aside Encumbrances & Sin
I remember watching the pageantry with which they kicked off the
most recent Olympic games. Athletes from the participating countries paraded by
wearing colorful costumes and carrying flags. When the competition time
came around, there was a noticeable change in wardrobe. Those
jackets had been left elsewhere. Trousers were replaced with shorts. The flags
had been rolled up and stored. Why? Because
costumes and props don’t win
races.
Have you inventoried the three-piece suits, fancy dresses, and expensive jewelry in your church lately? Don’t misunderstand; there’s nothing wrong with
looking nice. Sunday morning
is a lot like the Olympic kickoff ceremony. But how about Monday? Are we
willing to strip down to our running clothes and
get down to business? Are we willing to remove the encumbrances?
An encumbrance is anything that holds you back from moving at
maximum speed. Some of us have human encumbrances in our lives; we are hanging
out with the wrong people. Some of us
have the encumbrance of the past. Old hurts or habits keep us paralyzed, and prevent us from moving forward in our faith.
Some are encumbered by television or other forms of
entertainment. We’d rather play than
pray.
There’s a simple scriptural prescription for dealing with encumbrances:
lay them
aside. The
Bible doesn’t say, “pray about them”
or “get together with some friends and study them.” We must, by an act of our will, choose to
be a finely-honed tool in the Master’s hand and then take the steps necessary
to move in that direction. Let me call your attention to a very telling point
of scripture that many of us tend to
overlook.
Notice that Hebrews 12:1 refers to many encumbrances, but only
one sin. “Lay
aside the sin...”
Everyone reading this booklet has only one sin. Anything else
that’s wrong with your life can be brought back to that sin. In fact, it’s the
same sin—unbelief.
It’s like the college student who decided to do his own laundry for the first
time. He gathered
all his soiled
clothes and bound them up in a bedsheet. Since the whole load needed washing,he threw the entire
bundle into the machine,
dumped in some soap, and pushed the start button. Later, when he pulled the clothes out of the machine; he found a
clean sheet surrounding some wet, dirty clothes.
The clothes couldn’t come clean; they were entangled
in the sheet—in much the same way many of us are entangled in sin.
Don’t you know that unless you deal with unbelief,you can’t fix lying? Unless you deal with unbelief, you can’t fix immorality. You must
decide to trust God by obeying His
word. It is that obedience that leads to empowerment.
Contrary to popular belief, the process
will not work in reverse.
Keep the Faith
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6
Unlike the earthly marathons,
running the Christian race is not a matter of how you move your feet, but of
how you are moved by your faith. Faith
is simply defined as “acting in the
present in light of God’s statements about
the future.” Faith is taking God at His
word.
Now there is passive faith and there is active faith. When you
were saved, you exercised passive faith. You
received the gift of God that is eternal life. You didn’t cause it and you didn’t create it—it already existed. You merely received
it. Passive faith is enough to deliver you from hell and into heaven, but it
will not enable you to live the Christian
life. Doing so requires active faith—the kind of faith that accomplishes
something. That is why James tells us that “faith
without works is dead.” ( James 2:20)
In other words, if you want the faith that made heaven your home
to come down and bless you where you live and breathe today, yours must be a
faith that blends belief with obedience and
action.
It is by this faith, our text tells us, that the men of old
gained God’s approval. These men of faith are our witnesses—our “proof
positive”—that the life of faith can be lived successfully.
The Cloud
Often, before a major professional fight, all the past champs are paraded through the ring.
While the crowd applauds wildly,each one shakes
the hands of the evening’s contenders.
As the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Smokin' Joe Frazier, and Muhammad Ali offer their best
wishes to the guys sitting in the corners, the former titleholders are silently
delivering an important message, “This is not the first championship fight
in history. I sat in this ring once myself. Take it from me—you may leave here with a bloody nose, a bruised rib, or a broken jaw. But you may also leave with a belt. I’m living proof that this contest
can be won.”
Like the Hebrews
to whom this Epistle was addressed, some of us have been beaten and bruised—if not literally,
at least figuratively. Some have spoken out for
Christ only to have our jaws broken. We’ve been bloodied in our battle
with the world. It’s only natural to ask, “Can this war be won?”
The answer, of course, is a resounding “yes!” provided we fight the fight, run the race, and live the life by faith. To back up this claim, the writer of
Hebrews offers proof.
Have you heard your preacher
pause in the middle of a sermon and ask, “Can I
get a witness?” He wants to know
that his congregation is backing him
in prayer and that they understand his point. When you want
to find out who is backing you
in your day-to-day struggles, you may want a witness
as well.
Our verse tells us that you have more than a witness. You have a
cloud! There’s a regular storm brewing out there! “God,” you may ask, “who are
these witnesses you are talking about?” The answer depends on your need.
What’s Your Excuse?
Perhaps your problem
is worship. Maybe your
devotional life is stuck in the mud. Flip over to chapter 11, verse 3, where
Abel’s act of worship
was honored by God—a development
which made his brother jealous enough to kill. But Abel had a testimony that could not be silenced. “Though he is dead, he still speaks.”
(Hebrews 11:4)
Yours might be a health problem. “I’m sick,” you say, “and my doctors
haven’t got a clue.” Well, there’s old Enoch in the crowd, saying, “I’m your
witness!” Enoch walked so closely with God that he never tasted death. Hebrews
11:5 tells us he was “taken up.” Ask Enoch— he’ll tell you that deterioration
and disease have no dominion when God is in
charge.
“All right, but how long must I wait for God to come through
for me?”
Why look—isn’t that
Noah
stepping up to the podium? “I’m a
witness!” he shouts.
“God told me it was going to rain. He didn’t tell me it was going to take a hundred and twenty years. All I
knew is that He called me to be faithful.” Everyone outside Noah’s immediate family thought him
insane. But though the people didn’t listen, the giraffes did. And so did the camels and
the goats and the lions
and the butterflies. Noah and his family survived, and wound up inheriting the entire world.
You say, “But you don’t understand, Tony. My situation
is impossible.” Let me respond by introducing you to Abraham
and Sarah. He was pushing
l00, and she was a decade behind
him. God told them it was time to start a family. Today, we call that family the nation of Israel. Don’t talk to me about “impossible.” I’ve
got a witness from Abraham and
Sarah.
You say you’ve
been snared by temptation and have become wrapped up in worldliness? Let’s
have a word with Moses. Here was a man who was raised
in the lap of luxury
and was being groomed as the
next Pharaoh of Egypt. But he chose to endure hardship with the people of God
rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season
(see Hebrews 11:25).
With his priorities
in order, God used Moses to
deliver an entire nation from slavery and lead them to the Promised Land.
Lest you ladies think we’re leaning too far in man’s direction, let’s hear a word from
Rahab, the only person in Jericho to embrace the God of Israel. When the walls
of Jericho tumbled and
the city lay in ruins, just one house remained standing, and it wasn’t the local Holiday Inn. But Rahab’s greatest testimony is
found in Matthew, chapter 1, where she shows up in the genealogy of Jesus. God
took this woman and made her somebody.
Fixing Your Eyes
Witnesses like the ones I’ve mentioned can be a great encouragement. All of these
people were special, but they
were still just people. Abraham was immoral. Moses disobeyed God when he killed
the Egyptian, and later when he struck the stone with his staff.
Rahab was a harlot. Each has a mark on his or her resume. It is
dangerous to become so intent on the illustrations that we miss the point
they are intended
to illustrate. That’s
why our passage reminds
us to “fix our eyes
on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:2)
In driver training classes, instructors remind their students to
“aim high.” This is good advice. If you're staring at the road, trying to stay
between the white lines just in front of
your car, it's much
harder to steer than if you look further ahead
toward where you want to go. In life,
we try too hard to
steer between our circumstances. “Aim high,”
Jesus says. Keep your eyes on Him as you steer your way through life.
That leaves no doubt about your destination, and tends to smooth out the road along the way. Shall we talk about aiming high? Let’s not forget that this Jesus
“for the
joy set before Him
endured the cross.”
(Hebrews 12:2) Jesus knew
about the cross,
but He did
not fixate on it.
He didn’t want to go, but He refused to let that fact paralyze Him. He had his
sights set on Sunday morning!
It is as though He said, “On Friday,
my head will be dripping with blood from the thorns they will drill into my skull. On Friday, I’m going to
have a hole in my side and my bones are going to jump out of joint. On Friday, all of humanity will mock me and
scorn me.
On Friday, my Father will turn His back on me as I take the sin
of the world on my shoulders. So I’d better not look at Friday. Let me take a
long, hard look at the joy of Sunday morning instead.”
Brothers and sisters,
get your eyes off Friday. I know you’re
bearing a cross. But I also know you have a risen Savior sitting at the
right hand of the Father.. Keep your
eyes on Jesus. Are you still not sure that will work? All right.
Let's see if I can get a witness.
Can I Get a Witness?
Peter, would you step up here and tell us whether
looking at Jesus makes a difference? If the apostle Peter were here, he would tell you about that day he
walked on water. As long as he stared straight
to Jesus, putting
one foot in front
of the other, he did just fine. But then he got distracted.
Perhaps it was the storm or the
waves. It could
have been the shouts of the men back in the boat. Maybe he remembered
something from a physics class that had to do with the density of water.
Whatever it was, it was enough to change the story. He began to sink. Just as
he was about to go under, he remembered to fix his eyes on Jesus. In Matthew
14:30 he cried, “Lord, save me!” Because Peter redirected his gaze, he lived to
tell the story.
Stephen, will you testify about
whether fixing your eyes on Jesus can sustain you? If Stephen were
here, he would tell you that even though the Sanhedrin condemned him, he kept
his eyes on Jesus. As the stones were fracturing his skull, he saw heaven open.
As he looked at Jesus, he saw something more powerful than a rock!
The rest of
the disciples can tell you about what looking
at Jesus can do when you’re crossing
a stormy lake. While the waves threatened to swamp their small craft, Jesus lay
sleeping. Suspecting that they were about to die, they
woke Jesus. All he said was “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39). The storm ended. Period.
How about the ten lepers? They could tell you how their flesh was disintegrating, until
they looked to Jesus. But you don’t have to look to the past for a testimony to the power of God. Ask your Christian friends, ask your pastor.
Ask me!
I can remember when there was no food on my table. I can recall wondering how I could continue in
the ministry. There were times
when we didn’t have the money to pay
staff salaries at The Urban Alternative. In every case, we looked to
Jesus. And, in every case, we found the strength and resources to carry on. I
can testify that fixing our eyes on Jesus has brought us through every single
time. He helped us make it, and He will help you make it too.
The rest of the pack ran on to finish the race, but poor Derek
just lay there. His dreams, his hopes, and years of training collapsed along
with him.
Then,
something happened that drew the attention of the crowd and the television
cameras away from the winner. Derek pushed himself up off the ground, stood up
on wobbly legs, and began making his way around the track.
He was going to finish that race.
After only a few painful strides, it was clear that running was
definitely out of the question. He slowed to a walk—a slow, agonizing, tentative walk. Then a man appeared on the track.
Security guards tried
to deter him, but he was not to be stopped. He put his arm around Derek’s shoulder and started helping him
make his way toward the finish line. The TV commentators confirmed my suspicions quickly: It was Derek’s father. Eventually, father and son
crossed the line while the applause thundered throughout the stadium.
In the Christian race, it’s not all that important who crosses the finish line first.What matters is that you stay on the course. Each
of us stumbles from time to time.
Sometimes it seems impossible to
go on. That’s when our heavenly Father
steps out of the stands. Satan
may come and claim that it is unfair for
God to step out on the field. But
our omnipotent Lord will
not be stopped. He will enfold
us in His loving arms
and say, “This is my child. We're going to finish this race together.”
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