The Ultimate Race - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, January 6th. The 12th chapter of Hebrews compares the discipline of athletes to the attitude believers need to live God-honoring lives. Stay with us for coaching in the ultimate race. God has a path for you.

You get on God's path. You can walk that path. Will you have failures? We all do. Will you have weaknesses? We all have them. Will you sin at times?

We all do. Will you have disappointments? Yes, you will. Will you have heartbreaks? Yes, you will. And so, will you have times of suffering? Yes, indeed. Does that mean you give up and quit?

No, it does not. But there are many people who do. And the difference between the people who succeeded becoming and achieving are those who absolutely refuse to give up in spite of the things that blow their way, come their way, the things that become barriers on the pathway that they believe God would have them walk. And then I think about so many people who've never asked God about the path. You're just out there fumbling around and moving in a certain direction, having the same kinds of difficulty, hardship, suffering, pain, and the kind of disappointments and failures. But the problem is that you're walking it alone, which you don't have to. But you've chosen to do that.

It may be because you didn't know any better. But I want to tell you that today you're going to find that there's a better way. And that better way is to allow the Lord God Himself through His Son Jesus Christ to walk that path with you and to become the person God wants you to be, achieve and accomplish the things that God wants to achieve and accomplish in your life. And there is a key word in this passage of Scripture that I want us to look at. And that word is endure. What in the world does the Bible mean?

And what does the word mean? Endure. And you'll notice He says it several times. He says we're to run this race with endurance. He speaks of Jesus having endured. And He says that we are to endure even against a sin. And He says we're to endure even when we are being chastened by the Lord. So when the Bible speaks of endurance, what is it speaking of? Well, the Scripture translates that word endure also as patience and also as to persevere. Depends on which translation you're using. The New American Standard, which is the one we use here, translates it to endure.

Once in a while it's translated to suffer. But what I want you to notice is this, that endurance does not mean to sit back, take it easy, look for an easy way out. Doesn't mean that you decide you're just going to put up with something. But it means that you're going to take the initiative to endure. That you're going to exercise your energy. That you're not going to take it sitting down. That you're not going to give in and you're not going to give up.

You're not going to walk away and you're not going to quit. Endurance says that you're going to hang in there in trials and difficulties and hardship and suffering and pain. That you're looking for victory. That you want to overcome that. That you're going to triumph over that. You're not going to be defeated by these things that are a natural part of life. And yet that is exactly what defeats people.

Some people are defeated by the very thing that stirs someone else on. Some people just want to give up and quit by the very thing that starts someone else to moving in the right direction for the first time in their life. What you have to ask is this, are the goals that you have set for your life, the goals that God has set for your life, are they worth striving for? Are they worth living for? You may have had a good beginning, but the issue is how you're going to end your life. Unless you learn to endure hardship, suffering, pain, difficulty, disappointment and failure, you're not going to make it in life.

You may get the world's approval, but you know what? You'll know the difference. You'll know whether you're there or not. You'll know whether you achieved, accomplished or became or not.

You'll know all about that. And the truth is, only as you and I learn to endure will we be able to end our life well. And we'll be able to look back and say, thank you, dear Father. Thank you for the love and the grace and the goodness and the mercy that you poured out upon me. Thank you for picking me up when I fell down. Thank you for getting me back on the right track when I strayed away. Thank you, dear God, that you enabled me to end well. You say, well, I never have figured out you Christians. You talk about going through suffering and pain and hardship and you talking about being good. I'm going to show you why in just a moment. Is it good?

Yes, it's good. You say, well, you've never suffered. You don't know that. There are many people who've suffered far more than any of us who can tell you there is something very good about this whole issue of suffering and going through difficulty and hardship and pain and disappointment in life. Now, endurance is necessary because the Christian life is not easy. It wasn't easy for Jesus. Not easy for us.

Never has been easy for those in the Old Testament according to this eleventh chapter. And so, what we ask is this. We have to say, well, that being the case, how do you develop that? Well, you read a book. No, reading a book will not bring you endurance. Well, if I listen to a good sermon, you know what, that won't do it either.

Well, what does it? Well, it's unmistakably clear how you develop endurance in your life. So, I want you to turn over just a page or two in your Bible from Hebrews twelve to James chapter one. Look at this. James chapter one. And there's one of these verses people read and I'm sure that I did it for years and years and years. I'd read that verse, skip right over that and think, well, that must mean something that I don't understand. Well, the truth is it meant something I didn't understand and probably didn't want to understand. Look at this.

James begins his letter by saying, A bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings. Now, watch this next verse and I'm going to ask you a question. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.

Now, watch this. How many of you genuinely counted all joy when you go through some various trial? Raise your hand.

Not a single person in here has lied. Praise the Lord. Amen. Well, that's not the way we look at it.

Count it. You see, that's a ridiculous statement. Unless you read the whole story. Look at this. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. Why in the world would He say such a thing?

Well, look at this. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces what? What does it produce?

Endurance. Oh, that's what it produces. Count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. Now, if you just stop at that, and that's the way the world would look at that, going through some trial difficult to hardship and you telling me that I'm supposed to have some joy in my heart when I'm suffering.

Well, that's so ridiculous. If the Bible says that, the Bible must not be true. The Bible says that, but it doesn't stop there. Knowing. Why is it we can say, Well, Lord, this is painful. I don't like it, but I know that you have something good coming because He says, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.

How do you do that? Because you know that the testing of your faith is producing endurance. And what is endurance? Endurance is, listen, is that inner strength, is that inner fortitude, is that inner power that enables you to face any kind of difficulty, hardship, pain, suffering, and failure, and not give up, not give in, not quit, keep moving on and staying on the path. Now, let me ask you a question.

Would you not agree that if difficulty, hardship, and pain produces that kind of character quality within you that will make it possible for you to stay on the path, not get discouraged and faint-hearted and quit, and enable you to end your life well, accomplishing and achieving and becoming, would you not agree that it's worth the suffering and the heartache and the pain? God must think so. Because He says this is the way it's produced. Not by reading books, listening to testimonies, though that may be helpful. But how is it produced? Various trials.

Now watch this. Every single trial that comes into the life of a believer, God fits and suits, I didn't say He caused it all, but God will so work that difficulty, hardship, and trial to bring something good into your life. No matter what, He will so tailor it that when we respond in the right way, it builds endurance in our life. We become more valuable to the kingdom of God. Our influence and our testimony become stronger. Because other people see you enduring hardship and pain and suffering and you know what?

They want to know who you know, what you know. How is it that you can suffer through this and still smile? How is it you can suffer through these things and still have confidence in a God who's allowing this to happen in your life? Awesome testimony. So He says, consider it all joy.

When everything is broken loose in your life, He says, because knowing this, knowing what? It's producing endurance, and endurance going to get you to the end of the road. Endurance is going to make it possible for you to walk the pathway in spite of all the difficulty, hardship, and pain, and you're going to come out winning, triumphant, and victorious.

Why? Because you did not faint and you did not give up. You did not wander off the path. You were not distracted by this and distracted by that.

You kept your eyes where they belong. So what you have to ask is this, do I want to be a person who has learned to endure hardship and suffering? That's what Paul said in Timothy. He said, endure hardship. He said, suffer with me, endure with me, just like I did. And so, what you have to ask is, do you want to end well?

Do you want to run this race well? Lay aside those things that distract and hinder you. Recognize the Lord Jesus Christ learned endurance.

He had to endure. And we'll have to struggle sometimes against sin and temptation and hardship, remembering what He's promised us, that He's put a limitation on it, no matter what. Then I would say, if you say, well, what's my responsibility? That is, if it's trials and difficulties and hardship, what's my responsibility? I think we have a twofold responsibility if we're going to learn to be endurance and to learn endurance. And the first one is discipline. You and I have to learn to be disciplined in our life, which means we have to take control of our emotions and our mind, what we think. Discipline says you turn it off.

Discipline says you move on to something else. Discipline says I take control so that I do not let the world influence me. I do not let the world push me off the path. I do not let the influence and the yelling of other people and what they want and what they think and their attitudes pull me off of the path that God has set in this race for me or for you. And we're going to move on to do what God wants us to do.

You have to discipline yourself. And that means, listen, that we're conscious of where we are. We're conscious of what we're thinking. We're conscious of what we're looking at. We're sensitive to our surroundings.

Listen, we live in a wicked, vile, corrupt, sinful world that's full of sensuality in every form and fashion and all kinds of corruption. You can't just walk out and live your life and not think about who you are. And remember, we run this race every day. That's why it's the ultimate race. It isn't something that lasts a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, a few years, or a few miles.

It lasts for the rest of our life. And every single one of us is in the process of running it. We're either running it well or not so well. So my first responsibility is discipline. What did He say? Lay it aside, lay it aside, lay it aside, lay it aside.

What's the second responsibility I have? Here's what He said in verse two, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Here's what He's saying.

I want you to watch this. You want to live a life that knows how to endure? Then you must be disciplined in what you do, think, say, and feel. Secondly, you must keep your focus on the Lord. Why did He say fixing our eyes on Jesus?

Because He knows that everybody has a wandering eye because the world is throwing everything imaginable in front of us. And what we have to decide is this, this is the race, this is the path, this is the goal, and that's where I'm headed. If you listen to the world, your eyes will go here and yonder and there and what about this path? And there's so many religions out there today and so many ideas and so many theologies and so much absolute error floating around and so many different philosophies, you can listen.

You watch all that, you know what? You'll be off the path over in the swamp before you realize what's happened to you. Fixing your eyes upon Jesus says, place my trust in Him. And you'll see, I don't have to tell you when your eyes are off of Him. You know that.

The Spirit of God within you convicts you. That's not where you ought to be looking. Be looking to Him. What's the goal? And what you have to ask is this. Do I want to run this race well? Do I want to run it with the love of God, the help of God, the strength of God, the approval of God, the acceptance of God, the power of God, the blessings of God, the rewards of God?

Is that how I want to run it? Or do I just want to run it off here and get back on the path whenever it's convenient? Remember what we said in the beginning? People live their lives and they look back and think, where did I get off the path?

What drew me away from my original goals and dreams, what I wanted to become and what I wanted to accomplish? You say, well, suppose I've gotten off the path. Can I get back on?

Yes. How do you get back on? You ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you. Ask Him to show you where you got off the path. Repent of that sin. Ask Him to forgive you for that. Tell Him you want Him to step right back on the path. And at this point in your life, from this point on, you want to move at His list and at His rate on His path for His goals, His purpose, His plan for your life. And you want Him by the power of the Holy Spirit to keep you on the path. And with discipline and your eyes focused on Him, you stay on the path. Now, a lot of things we can say about endurance. But let me just conclude by saying a couple of things.

There are rewards for endurance. First Peter chapter four, verse twelve. I love this.

Listen to this. Beloved, do not be surprised that the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange things were happening to you, but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exaltation. If you're reviled for the name of Christ, you're blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he's not to be ashamed, but he's to glorify God in His name. But it's time for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with the first, what will be the outcome of those who do not obey the gospel of God? If it's with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man of the sinner? Therefore, those who also, who suffer according to the will of God, shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right." What is he saying?

Don't be surprised when you and I go through these things. He says, first of all, the first reward is a good testimony. Then I want you to turn to James one more time, first chapter. Turn to James first chapter.

Listen to what he says. Now the twelfth verse. Blessed, happy, contented, joyful, spiritually enriched is the man or woman who perseveres, who endures under trial. For once he has been approved, or she's been approved, they will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

What does he say? And there are lots. But the rewards, for example, of endurance, a testimony along the way helping others. And then the promise of God's blessing, part of which is the crown of life. And what is the crown of life?

I don't think anybody knows fully what that is. But certainly it has to do with eternal life. And certainly it has to do with our eternity in heaven with God. The issue is this, the life we live, the race we run is tough, difficult, and sometimes hard, and sometimes discouraging, sometimes painful. But we got to run it.

And what you have to decide is how you're going to run it. With endurance, eyes fixed upon the Lord, determined, triumphantly, victoriously, don't give up, don't give in, don't sit down, don't lie back. But with absolute confidence and faith in Him, you walk that path, you run that path, and you watch God make a way for you every step of the way. That's who He is.

That's what He's promised to do. Blessed is the man or woman who has endured all of this. For He says, there'll be a crown of life awaiting you. And Father, how grateful we are that You love us so much. Thank You that You've had to pick all of us up, and You have. Many times on the path, straightaway got us back on the path.

Sometimes disciplining us, sometimes just calling our name, reminding us where we are. And I pray for people today who are lost, who are unsaved, who are struggling, striving, trying to make things work in life when they can't work. Pray that You give them the wisdom to ask You to forgive them of their sin, to trust You as their Savior. Pray for believers. Every single believer who listens to this message may be reminded there's an awesome, wonderful light before us. If we choose to endure the hardship, the blessings will flow, not when we get to heaven, but all along the way, and then ultimately, the big awesome blast of eternity. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to Part 2 of The Ultimate Race. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.