The Race Set Before You

Have you ever been tempted to slow up because you don’t like the course you’re on?

You’ve got cancer or some other disease and everyone else seems to be the picture of health and wellness.

You’re unemployed and everyone else seems to be getting a job or busy at work.

You’re working like a dog and everyone else seems to have more time and days off.

You hate your job and everyone else seems to like their job.

You’re failing at your job and everyone else seems to be succeeding.

You’re struggling financially and everyone else seems to be getting along just fine.

You’re single and everyone else seems to be married or getting married.

You’re unhappily married and everyone else seems to be enviously single or enviously married.

You can’t get pregnant and wombs everywhere seem to be bursting with life.

Your kids seem to give you nothing but grief, while happy homes everywhere mock your pain.

You're aging not gracefully but painfully, and everyone else appears younger and carefree.

You look around and bitterness and resentment begin to rise. And you slow up. And your hands drop to your sides. And your knees hurt and feel weak. And the path seems always uphill and rough. And you’re tired. And you want to quit. And it seems fruitless to fight (after all, any fight you’ve waged in the past has only resulted in this!). Maybe some relief will come by giving up the fight. Maybe you’ll find some rest at the edge of the path as you brood over/wallow in your disappointment and frustration and self-pity. And you coast. And you wander. And you stop even being bothered by it.

The book of Hebrews was written for you.

There is a race set before you. It’s not the same race that is set before the next guy. You weren’t called to run his race. Don’t worry about him (see John 21:21-22). You have a race set before you. And you were meant to run it. Not sit on the side of it. Not give up on it.

Hebrews 12:1-2 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.

In the preceding context, the writer gives us a list of people who have already crossed the finish line. They are part of the great cloud of witnesses that are set all around us. They made it. And they are cheering us on as we run toward the finish.

Some of them seemed to cross as victors:

Hebrews 11:32-35a And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets--who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection.

Some seemed to cross as victims, tacked to a circumstantial cross by their seemingly victorious enemies:

Hebrews 11:35b-38 Some (through faith!) were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated--of whom the world was not worthy-- wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

So, which of these two categories would you like set before you? I’m guessing you’d like the former set before you. But God may choose to set the latter before you. Does the latter necessarily mean you don’t have enough faith to be victorious? No. Does it necessarily mean God is not pleased with you? No.

Hebrews 11:39-40 And all these (the conquerors and the conquered; the victors and the victims), though commended through their faith (they were pleasing to God by faith, not because they won or succeeded; their acceptability with God was not necessarily evident in earthly success, but in the fact that they kept trusting – through thick and thin), did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Instead of fixing your eyes on the difficultly of the race set before you; instead of looking around at everyone else who seems to have it better than you, fix your eyes on Jesus. He had a race set before him that makes even the most difficult race look like a cake walk. He endured it for the joy set before him. He blazed the trail by faith, for the sake of your faith. He’s the pioneer and the perfecter.

The real reward and the real victory and the real joy is not victory on this earth. It’s not earthly success. If, in the race set before you, you experience success and victory, keep looking to Jesus and know that you only win by his grace and for his glory. If, in the race set before you, you experience failure and defeat, keep looking to Jesus and know that these trials can’t take the true victory and reward from you. God doesn’t love only the successful conquerors. In fact, it's often the pain of defeat and trials that are filled with his loving fatherly training.

Hebrews 12:5-11 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 chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. … For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but [God] 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 by it.

Have you ever been tempted to slow up because you don’t like the course you’re on? Do you see how the book of Hebrews is for you? Hear and heed... 

Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away…

Hebrews 12:12-16 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive (Run after!) for peace with everyone, and (Run after!) the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it (with your eyes fixed on Jesus) that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.

Why Do Good Things Happen To Bad People?

This question isn't exactly en vogue. The reverse gets a lot of press, but this one not so much. We should get people to start asking this question. It's not the angst-riddled riddle that plagues your average person on the street. But it should be. 

None of us even begin to realize how much mercy and grace is poured out on us every single day. We all enjoy innumerable gifts we do not deserve. We all are spared innumerable miseries we have no existential right to avoid.

The fact that people who utterly reject God continue have air to breathe and beating hearts and any sense of pleasure whatsoever, for any length of time whatsoever, is an amazing merciful gift!

Matthew 5:44-45 (emphasis added):

[Jesus said], Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Why do good things happen to bad people?!

Only the merciful love of God.

There are angry atheists who will hug a loved one today and be hugged in return. Some of them will eat succulent steak tonight (they have tastebuds!). Some of them will enjoy the pleasures of the marriage bed tonight (they have erogenous zones!).

There are indifferent agnostics who could not care less what Jesus said or did, and they will lay their head down on a bed tonight…with a pillow! They will drink clean water – even in DE! They will go to the grocery store and pick up beautiful produce they did not grow, miraculous vegetables and fruits they did not plant or water or harvest. They most certainly did not supply the seed or the water or the miracle that is top soil.

There are sour church goers who think they’ve kept the rules and lived a good life and are smugly self-righteous. They look down with contempt on so many lazy, immoral, distasteful inferiors. They don’t need a bloody cross. They’ve kept the rules. They deserve the paycheck of a good life and warm, congratulatory entrance into heaven. They’ve earned it. No matter they turn their back on the cross of Christ as unnecessary (at least for the likes of them), or they belittle and downsize it to be just an example of sacrificial love we should try to emulate. "God helps those who help themselves! If only more people would get off their selfish, lazy tails and try a little harder!" These hypocrites wear warm clothes all winter! They pull warm blankets around them and never shiver the whole night through! They go on vacations and feel the satisfaction of warm sand between their toes! They feel the warmth of the sun on their skin! They enjoy laughter with friends! (Maybe that last one was a stretch.)

There are relativists (with, as one writer put it, "their morality firmly planted in mid-air") who reject the unshakable truth that Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the way, the truth, and the life. They will read today, because they can (they have books)! They will listen to beautiful music! Many of them will never worry where their next meal is coming from! They will not have to beg, borrow,  or steal.

Etc.

Etc.

Etc. 

How should your paragraph read? Sometimes it's really helpful to ask the questions nobody's asking. 

Covering Your Sin

Who's going to cover your sin?

You?

Or God?

I was encouraged by Psalm 32 this morning.

King David knows what it's like to try to cover up your sin. And he knows it doesn't work. God opposes the proud:

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

But, David also knows that God gives grace to the humble who don't try to cover their sin.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Result? The LORD, by his blood-bought covenant mercy, covers our sin.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit (i.e. the deceit of covering up your sin).

David then wants you to be blessed like him:

Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.

Don't be silent about your sin. Acknowledge it to God. The blood of Jesus was shed to COVER, to atone for, that sin. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn 1:9). Don't veer off into deceitful denial. It will not go well for you.

Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.

You can hide your sin and be surrounded by fears of exposure. Or you can expose your sin and have God as your hiding place, surrounded by the joyful shouts of deliverance.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

You can run from God, searching for a way to avoid his omniscient eye. Or you can run to God, and his omniscient eye will watch over you as you go his way.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Who's going to cover your sin?

You?

Or God?

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

When you experience this blessing of a cleansed slate and a clean conscience, you will be glad: 

Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Francis Chan Rope Illustration

Yesterday, we studied James 4:13-17:

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

I used an illustration with a rope that I once saw Francis Chan use. I tweaked the illustration a bit, so I wanted to make sure you could all benefit from seeing/hearing how he used it (much more effectively than me, I might add!). I was freshly challenged and encouraged to watch it again this morning.

Enjoy!

Before (Or After) You Go See Heaven is For Real

The Heaven is For Real book, and many other like it, have been wildly popular of late. Now it's been made into a movie. Who isn't intrigued by this kind of thing?



So, what do you think?

Does "dangerous" come to mind? I just showed our kids the trailer and asked them what they thought. Then I showed them the following clip by David Platt. I would highly recommend watching this before (or after) you go see the movie.



Satan doesn't just carry out his schemes by scaring you and shaking his pitchfork in your face.

What if he could incite a best selling evangelical (!) book such that Christians were more emotionally satisfied and impressed with the words of a 4 year old on the subject of heaven than with the Word of God? Might our defenses be down as he peddles his false ideas inside and outside the church? Surely we'd be more likely to buy from a cute little 4 year old. It couldn't hurt, right?

"And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Cor 11:14). We dare not be unaware of his schemes (Eph 6:11; 2 Cor 2:11).

HT: JT

Together For The Gospel Media Resources

If you'd like to experience some of the same messages we experienced last week at the T4G conference, you can go here and browse around. The media resources from past conferences are available there as well.

If you want some suggestions on where to start, I'd recommend you not miss the messages by Matt Chandler, David Platt, and Kevin DeYoung.

There were also panel discussions on a variety of topics. It looks like they are still at work making those available, but you can find them here.

At the beginning of a number of sessions, they showed a video testimony. I found them very moving and encouraging. Here are a few of them:







You can find the rest of those testimonies here.

Together For The Gospel

As I mentioned on Sunday, our missionaries on home assignment Neil Prentice and Dwight Singer, pastoral resident Alex Kirk, Pastor Tyler, and me are headed to Louisville tomorrow morning for this conference. We'll be joined by a few thousand pastors, missionaries, and other church leaders who share the confident conviction that the gospel is "the power of God for salvation."

I'm sure it will prove to be a great time of learning and personal challenge. Please pray for us to "meekly receive the Word." Pray for our conversations and discussions. Pray that we would "stir one another up to love and good works." Pray for the speakers. Pray that this conference would bear fruit in our ministry as we return, and that it would bear fruit in the thousands of other places where the conference attendees will return at the end of the week. Pray also for the wives and children we will miss while we are away.

After the conference is over, the media will be available on the site so you can listen to any and all of what we heard, for free. You can find media resources from past conferences here.

What Happens When We Don't Pray?

What happens when we don’t pray? At least these 5 things:

1) You have not.

James 4:2 … You do not have, because you do not ask.

2) You enter into unnecessary temptation – in a weak condition.

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

3) You are empty of joy where you could be full.

John 16:24 … Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

4) You can do nothing (at least in the sense of bearing real spiritual fruit).

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

5) You labor and seek your own protection in vain.

Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. ² It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Just 5 (of who knows how many) reasons to listen to Jesus when he says we "ought always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1).

Distraction's Deeper Meaning

Viktor Frankl: 

"When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure."

This little quote could help you read a big red indicator light on the dashboard of your life.

There's no harm in playing a game on your phone now and then, or in watching a funny or interesting YouTube video. But do you spend hours ("Oh man, did I just waste THAT much time?!") in an average week dinking around with small, meaningless distractions? When "down time" comes, do you regularly gravitate to mindless Facebook scrolling or Pinterest browsing or game apps on your phone? How strong of a pull does the sensual, provocative pic/link/ad have on you to feed on forbidden fruit?

"When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure."

Little things are always what fill the void if we don't have anything bigger. If we're not living for the big, weighty substance of God's glory and the good of others, we'll inevitably try to fill up on little selfish pleasures.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

That oft quoted text comes in the context of 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1, where Paul personally models (in chapter 9) the meaningful life of God-glorifying love that he calls his readers to live (in chapters 8 and 10).

Let your sense of the unsatisfying smallness of your typical distractions lead you to a purposeful pursuit of what really matters.

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14 (NLT)

"Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "completely meaningless!"

I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless-- like chasing the wind.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Living Faith - Song by Sojourn

We sung "Living Faith" by Sojourn (from the album "Over the Grave") this past Sunday. It's a great song, articulating so well the themes we've been studying in the book of James. We're going to sing it again this Sunday, so we can all learn it well. If you'd like to listen to it this week (and beyond!), you can stream it here for free. And the lyrics can be read here. Enjoy!

As the song says, let's:

Pray for a living faith

That leads us to trust this grace

We cannot come to God on our own.

A faith that truly sees

That drives us to bended knee

Looking for hope in the cross of Christ alone.

Amen.