Endure Your Race

Recap:

• The first week we talked about being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses,
• Then we looked at what means to lay aside the weights and sin
• Last week we looked at running your race.

Hebrews 12:1-3

¹ 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, ² 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. ³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

This week we want to talk about running the race with endurance.  Enduring Your Cross

What is Endurance?

Endurance- steadfastness, constancy, endurance; in the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings

I like to relate endurance to running a long-distance race.  In a long-distance race, you need what is called running stamina.              Increasing running stamina takes work, it does not happen after running one time.  But it takes running multiple times for multiple weeks to build your running stamina.  When you are consistent with running you will eventually find that distances which were once a challenge to you are now much easier to attain.

Regarding the Christian faith we need what is called “Spiritual Stamina.”  This entails the steadfastness needed to fulfill the purpose that God has given us amid trials and sufferings.  Meaning we will not let anything, or anyone prevent us from finishing the race that is before us.  Endurance is finishing the race, no matter what.

Like running stamina, Spiritual stamina is built over time.  In this life you will not be faced with just one trial in life, but you will encounter many trials during your lifetime. 

John 16:33

³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Each time that you learn to depend on Christ to get you through that trial, the easier it will become to trust Him to get you through the next trial.  Before you know it, you will have a legacy of being an overcomer as you will have gone through months, years and even decades of trials. This will develop endurance.

Why is Endurance Necessary?

• Why not just give in when it gets hard?
• Why must you keep doing the right thing when no one around you is doing the right thing?
• Why continue to strive for holiness in your life when you have failed so many times in the past?
• Why must you continue to share your faith when it seems no one is listening?
• Why persist in prayer when your prayers seemingly go unanswered?
• Why teach your kids the things of God when they do seem to be listening?

Why endure, why press on? Because it is a matter of life or death.

Mark 13:13

And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

He did not say “the one who starts the race well and then gives up will be saved.” But rather the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The apostle Paul would say it like this in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 8:13

¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 

It is your flesh that tempts you to give up when Christianity gets hard.  It is your flesh that would cause you to abandon holiness and/or disciplines that are necessary for right living. Paul would say to yield to flesh will bring about spiritual death.  But if you live by the Spirit, He will bring about life.

In another passage Paul gives us another reason why endurance is necessary.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. ²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

In this passage the apostle Paul says that he must discipline his body and keep it under control so that He can finish the race and receive the imperishable crown.  Even though he was an apostle and wrote nearly half of the New testament he realizes his need to bring his flesh under submission so that he can endure to the end.

The reason you keep doing the right thing, striving for holiness, sharing your faith, persisting in prayer, teaching your children, pushing, pressing is so that ultimately you endure to the end, finish the race and inherit Eternal Life.

Who is a good example of Endurance?

We can go back to our theme verse to find this answer.

Hebrews 12:2

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,

What it meant for Jesus to endure the cross:

• Extreme Sorrow and anguish in the garden of Gethsemane

Matthew 26:38                 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” ³⁹ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 

Endurance was not easy.  In fact, Jesus mentions that He could have called down angels to help him at any moment, and how tempting that would have been.  But He willingly chose to lay down His life and endure the race that was set before Him.

• Frustration with his disciples who fell asleep
• Betrayal-Judas
• Abandonment-All His disciples fled away
• Being wrongly accused before the chief priest and the council
• Denied by Peter three times
• The cheers of the crowd who were chanting to “free Barabbas” and to “crucify Jesus.” The same crowd to which He had devoted his entire life to.
• Being mocked

Matthew 27:28 

And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

The writer of Hebrews says, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,”

What joy is there in being ridiculed, mocked, spit upon, humiliated, beaten, crucified etc.…

It was what He saw on the other side of the cross that brought Him joy that would help him endure the suffering of the cross.

• What did He see?

He seen you and I, and all those who have called upon His name to be saved.  He seen that we would be delivered from the slavery of sin and death.  He seen that that we would be reconciled to our Heavenly Father because He would endure the cross. 

That brought Him great joy.  Ultimately, He looked into the future and seen a host of blood bought, blood washed, believers gathered around the throne of God worshipping together with the angels in heaven singing

Revelation 4:8

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!”

This brought Him sustaining, enduring, joy.

How do we Endure?

                Endurance Requires Setting Your Eyes on the Prize

Before entering a race, you know what the prize is for those who place.  For instance, if you compete in the Boston Marathon and come out first then you would receive a cash prize in the amount of $25,000.  Second place still gets $15,000 while third place only gets $7500.  A person training for this event can endure the necessary pain in preparation for that race knowing that there is a substantial payoff.

There is substantial payoff which is far more valuable than any earthly possession, for believers who endure to the end.

Romans 8:18      For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Paul was able to endure great hardships as he looked toward an unperishable crown, one which we will receive at the end of the age.

Jesus looked toward the joy that was set before him, mainly our redemption, and by doing so He endured the cross.

We can endure our cross as we set our eyes on our eternal reward Christ Jesus.

                Endurance Requires Being Consistent

To improve endurance as a runner I must train consistently.  I cannot expect to be able to endure a long race if I am not consistent in my training.  If I would only run once a month, then my running stamina would deteriorate quickly, and I would not be able to run long at all. 

The same can be said about our spiritual race.  We must do the right things and do them consistently.  This includes having personal devotions with the Lord, coming together in corporate worship, studying God’s word, prayer, fasting, serving, resisting temptation…

I could not imagine how quickly my spiritual health would deteriorate if I only read the bible once a month or if I only prayed when I got myself in a bind. 

                                Consistent devotion is vital to enduring worldly commotion.

Endurance Requires Maintaining a Sustainable Pace

To push the running analogy even further, when I begin my runs with a pace that is too fast then I tend to get burned out by the end of the race and have difficulty finishing.  So, the way to ensure that I can finish the race, is to find a sustainable pace from the beginning.

You may not be able to wake up at 4:00 every morning and read a whole book of the bible.  Perhaps you cannot read at all in the morning because you tend to fall asleep.  So rather than taking on such an aggressive Bible reading plan find one that is more sustainable for you.  

Or sometimes we go to conferences and we feel the need to replicate that same hype, energy, intensity in our daily lives.  Which is fine until we cannot.   Will your faith continue when the lights are not as bright, or when the speakers are not as loud? 

• What is sustainable to you?

Run your race with endurance by running a sustainable race.  What can you do right now that you could sustain doing for your lifetime?

                Endurance Requires Watching your Intake

One last thing about running a long-distance run is to be mindful of the foods that you are taking in.  Experts suggest that runners should take in enough carbohydrates such as whole grains, brown rice and oatmeal and avoid refined carbs and sugary foods.

I can always tell when I have eaten either too many servings or too many sweets the day before I run because my pace is much slower than usual. 

It is hard to endure our spiritual race when we fill our lives with a bunch of garbage. 

If all you do is submerse yourself with what is being broadcasted on social media or in the news, you will not have what you need to endure your race.  In fact, the quite opposite is true, you will lose hope, you will be anxious, fearful, depressed and will probably give up your race.

You must fill your mind with the word of God.  You must fill your spirit with the presence of God.  His thoughts must become your thoughts.  His heart must become your heart.

1. Have you taken your eyes off the prize?
2. Are you consistent with your spiritual disciplines?
3. Can you sustain what you are doing in terms of daily devotion for the next 10 years?
4. What are you filling your mind with? Is it conducive to enduring your cross?