Running to Win: Fight to the Finish - a podcast by Grace Christian Fellowship Church, Spokane WA

Fight to the Finish

[Announce Text] Please keep your Bibles open to Hebrews 12:12-17 (pp. 1009).

[Scripture Introduction] My name is Brett Sweet and I’m one of the pastors here. We’re in a series on the book of Hebrews- which was written to Christians who weren’t quite sure they wanted to continue to be Christians.

[Prayer for Illumination] Please pray with me...

[Illustration] The book of Hebrews was written to people who are fighting for their faith. They’re being opposed on all sides. They’re fighting against the lies of their family background that call them away from Christ and back to something else. In their case- Judaism. They’re fighting against the lies of the culture around them telling them to give up Christianity so they can be accepted and welcomed into the culture around them. They’re fighting against the struggles within them- sin and suffering. These people sound like us. These sound like our problems.

And, as every study of wars, every kid who’s watched a playground brawl and heard the kids shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” have seen, it’s not really how the fight starts that matters. It matters how it ends. What matters is how it finishes.

And that’s what Hebrews 12:12-17 is telling us. No matter how things started. No matter how bad things might look for you now.

[Proposition] Fight to Finish Well.

We’re in a race and our Heavenly Father is our coach and He’s disciplining us and training us to finish the race. It’s a tough race. But God our Father is with us and He is proving His love for us- even in hardship. He’s using all things for our good. And as He is with us He calls us to Fight. So there are two ways that will help us fight to finish well. We need to Fight like Sons of God and we need to Fight together against obstacles. Fight like Sons of God and we need to Fight together against obstacles.

[Main Point 1] Fight like Sons of God

Before we continue to our text, though I feel like I need to say something to put this passage and idea in context. There are a lot of famous opening lines to books: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”- Charles Dickens’ A Tale of

Two Cities. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”- JRR Tolkien’s the Hobbit. “Call me Ishmael.”- Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. A part of me wishes I was clever enough to come up with something like those for this sermon.

But God, knowing that the Hebrews and we are in an intense fight gives these opening lines to this book- and they’re far better than Dickens or Tolkien or Melville:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

These people are in a fight for their very souls. So are we. And God the Holy Spirit directed them to start by looking at Jesus Christ, the Son of God- the greatest being to ever set foot on this planet. The Spirit makes a huge deal of the fact that there is a better relationship that exists than that between God and His angels, God and His prophets, and that is between God and His Son. Then, last week we were reminded of something that should completely transform our existence- Christians are children of God. He has adopted us. And to use the ESV- he’s treating us not just as children generally, but specifically, like sons- which implies receiving an inheritance. And God proves this by lovingly disciplining us as we run the race that is set before us. He disciplines us, we’ve learned, so that we look like our Father. That we might share in His holiness.

But this only applies to Christians. If we keep reading in those opening lines we hear this

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

If you aren’t a Christian, this passage calls you to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God Himself- He’s the exact imprint of God’s nature and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. This also means you need to turn to Him by abandoning your trust in your goodness- which isn’t good at all- and rely only on Him. Jesus, God’s eternal Son, is the one who has made purification for sins- by going to the cross. There is no other way to have the stain of sin washed away. And He lives

now- seated in God the Father’s presence. Believe in Jesus today. Do not wait. There is a fight for your soul that you need to engage in. If you haven’t become a son of God, the rest of what I say this morning will be impossible. I know I’m speaking with a level of intensity often missing from our culture- but that’s because this fight is so serious. I would love to speak with you more gently after the service if you have questions. But for now, please know that you need Jesus, the All-Powerful Son on your side to win the fight. And when you trust in Him, you become an adopted son. And God transforms you to be like His eternal Son- Jesus. You aren’t God like Jesus is. But you are a true son.

The All-Powerful Son has done the fighting to secure our salvation. Now we should be starting to look like Him. We should fight like Sons of God. Because that’s what we are. But what does this look like? Fighting like a son of God means that you

[Subpoint 1] Fight with all you have

Look with me at vv. 12-13

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.

This language about weak hands and knees comes from Isaiah 35:3-8 where God’s people are scared of an invasion by hostile Assyrians. But God tells the people of Judah that they can trust Him with confident hope. He will be their warrior king. He will care for them and transform a potential warzone into a utopia. In that place the strengthened will walk on a Highway of Holiness- implying the way to be holy will take effort but the arrival is sure.

And notice here in Hebrews the different references to anatomy- hands, knees, feet, joints. We need to use all that we have in this fight. Even with the joy of the Lord, things are often hard on this race and we take some punches in this fight. But if it’s all discipline from a loving Father, then we can keep our chins up. We have confident hope. So we need to quit slouching and lift our hands to where they belong. We need to engage our legs in this race and strengthen our knees. We need to steel our minds so that we pick the right paths for our feet to tread so that we can build our strength as we go rather than injure ourselves. The idea of

being healed seems to imply that if we run and fight properly we’ll actually get stronger as we go.

Fighting like sons of God means that you fight with all you have. It also means we [Subpoint 2] Fight for peace
Listen to the beginning of v. 14Strive for peace with everyone,

Christians don’t just see if peace in our relationships comes to us. We fight for it. It says “strive for peace.” The word translated as “strive” is the same word translated as “persecute” or “pursue.” When you persecute someone or pursue them, that means that you don’t let them rest. Is that how you regard peace between you and the people around you? Or do you just kind of avoid certain people? Romans 12:18 says

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Are you doing everything in your power to live at peace with those around you? God fought to secure the peace that made us into a family. God is calling us, as sons of God, to fight for peace as well so that we finish well.

Fighting like sons of God means fighting with all you have and fighting for peace. It also means we

[Subpoint 3] Fight for holiness

Let’s read verse 14 in its entirety

Strive for peace with everyone, and (strive) for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

A lot of us don’t like the word “holiness.” But holiness, which means being separate from the common and being completely pure, is what makes God so great. So He invites us to share in His holiness as a blessing to us.

I mentioned earlier about how strive has an intense pursuit aspect to it. Pastor John Kershinar is preaching this same passage and he mentioned the word “harass” as we were talking about it earlier this week. Sons of God fight for holiness. They harass it. They keep going after it. They do what it takes to catch it.

Why? This passage says that without holiness no one will see the Lord. This is practical holiness. This is saying that if you aren’t growing in holiness- you won’t see the Lord. How can I say this? Because Sons of God are disciplined to share in God’s holiness- v. 10 from last week. If you aren’t engaged in the fight for holiness- you probably aren’t a son of God.

[Illustration] I was watching a documentary on Dale Earnhardt once- the great NASCAR racer. And they showed this footage of Dale with his family- including his son Dale Jr. who would be very successful NASCAR driver himself. And there’s this image that really stuck in my mind. Dale Sr. was with his third wife Teresa and he was paying special attention to their young daughter Taylor. The three of them were happy and dancing around. And Dale Jr., now a teenager, a child from a previous marriage, is trying to get Dale Sr.’s attention to show him something he had worked really hard on. “Hey Dad. Hey Dad, look at this. Hey Dad.” Dale Sr. glanced at Dale Jr. and then ignored him. And Dale Jr., a self-conscious teenager with a documentary film camera focused on him, looked at the camera and slouched down on the couch like he wanted to disappear.

[Application] Dale Jr. was ignored by his father- but he still wanted to be like him. He still wanted to drive racecars. Hebrews 12 has been telling us that God is never ignoring us. He’s always lovingly disciplining us for our good. His attention is on us. How much more should we want to be like our Heavenly Father? And God is holy. Do you want to be like your Father? Enough to fight? I’m convicted by this passage. I always have time to check headlines on my phone. Do I always make the time to pray with my children? No. God is holy, he doesn’t celebrate when image-bearers are demeaned and harmed. Do you laugh at jokes that demean people of other skin colors, family backgrounds, or political parties?

The year is still new: Do you set holiness goals? Are there sins you are actively trying to kill? That you are fighting against? Are you actively trying to control the words that come out of your mouth? Are you fighting? Or do you just say whatever you feel like- if it’s funny? Or if you are angry. Do you realize that complaining about insignificant things is speaking directly to God that He’s a bad provider and ruler? Are you fighting against favoritism? The book of James condemns favoritism. Do you look for people just like you? The fight for holiness means sharing in God’s holiness. God loves those who aren’t lovable.

Holiness is how you will see the Lord. In Exodus 33, God states that no one can see the Lord and live. But here we’re told how we can see the Lord. By growing in holiness- which is evidence that we’re God’s sons. The New Heavens and the will be a place without sin, in the presence of the holy God. If you aren’t interested in growing in holiness- you won’t want to be in Heaven. As we grow in holiness now, we’ll long for it more and fight sin harder. Always trusting in Christ for our salvation- but knowing that while we trust in Him we also fight for holiness.

Sons want to be like their fathers. We have a holy God who hates the slightest sin. He wants to destroy it for the sake of His glory and our good. The holy God is calling you to fight with all you have. Let’s get serious about it. We want to finish well don’t we? We’re going to have to fight to finish well. We fight like sons of God and Hebrews also tells us to

[Main Point 2] Fight together against obstacles.

Hebrews 12 is very corporate. It’s very community based. It’s saying that you cannot finish well on your own. The idea of fighting for peace has already shown that. But now things are going to really intensify and we’re going to see our need to be in a community. To fight together against things that will keep us from finishing well. As we do we’ll see the obstacles we must fight.

[Subpoint 1] Fight together against catastrophic failure (obstacle 1) Look at the beginning of v. 15See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God;

We have a responsibility to those around us to help them keep going on to finish well. “Fails to obtain” could also be translated “falls short.” We are to see to it that no one falls short of the finish line. If people fail to finish it shows that they weren’t sons of God. They will have failed to obtain the final grace of God. This is catastrophic failure. We need to help one another- this is a command. We, or the people around us might fall temporarily, but we need to make sure they don’t fall permanently. This might mean something like, “Meddling” in others’ lives when it seems their drifting from Christ. Because we care for them. We need others and others need us. We have to fight together against this obstacle.

There are other obstacles though

[Subpoint 2] Fight together against a bitter heart (obstacle 2)

God our Father, the one who disciplines us, is after our heart. And a bitter heart is huge obstacle that can hinder us from finishing well.

Look down at v. 15 again

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

This bitter root language comes from Deuteronomy 29:16-19. There, the ancestors of these Hebrews were warned that a bitter heart would turn them from God. Who had delivered them from Egypt. And that bitterness would cause them to turn toward idols- assuming that they would still be safe. It’s the same temptation these Hebrews have. We have the same temptation: to leave the path Jesus paved and think God won’t mind.

Everyone since Adam and Eve has to fight against a bitter heart. But notice the plant imagery. You plant a seed in the dirt and you can’t see it. But it’s roots start to grow and then something springs up from the ground that we can see. Maybe we can’t see the things that will cause trouble now in you, but do you feel a root of bitterness starting to take root in your heart? Is it toward people in the church? Is it toward the pastor? We’re all sinners. We’re all going to sin against one another. If we refuse to forgive we’ll be bitter toward God and others. We won’t be able to fight together. The obstacle will be too great. Confess your bitterness. Your jealousy. Don’t let it take root. Ask others to identify it in your heart and work together to deal with it. If you don’t this text says that many have become “defiled” which carries the meaning of being cast out and separated from the church and God Himself.

We’re to fight together against obstacles. We need each other to fight to finish well. Obstacle 1 that could hinder us is catastrophic failure and obstacle three is a bitter heart. There’s one more thing we need to fight against

[Subpoint 3] Fight together against instant gratification (obstacle 3)

Look with me at vv. 16-17

(See to it) that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to

inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Those of us who know much of the Old Testament, like the Hebrews did, know that Esau was the oldest son of Isaac. He was Isaac’s favorite. He was the rightful heir to receive the birthright and blessing. But he came in one day and wanted food. Now! And his scheming, cheating twin brother Jacob offered Esau a bowl of stew only if Esau traded his rights and inheritance as the firstborn. And in his focus on that moment- Esau gave in! He wanted something now. Later, Jacob disguised himself like Esau and duped blind Isaac into blessing Jacob rather than Esau. And Esau was upset, he wanted the blessing- but he missed his chance. And this passage tells us the reasons why. Esau was a man who was unholy. He was common. He was tied to this world. The world wants things now. Holy people are willing to wait. Esau wanted instant gratification. He was sexually immoral- he married women from tribes that were hostile to the true God. Some Jewish traditions state that he was a serial adulterer as well. When Esau wanted sex, he had it. It was about instant gratification. And this attitude meant he forfeited his blessing as a son of Isaac. He missed his chance.

[Application] What about you? Will you forfeit your chance at the blessing that comes as being a son or daughter of God? Will you throw away eternity because you want the pleasures of the world now? We must fight against instant gratification. It’s a sign of something deeper. I’m convinced that every sin can be killed by winning the fight against instant gratification. Can you deny yourself the cookie or ice cream after dinner- or do you have to have it now? Can you wait until tomorrow or next week? Can you deny yourself the pornography, the Youtube video, the desire to hold your phone in your hand? Can you deny yourself checking the latest sales or sports scores? Can you wait? Can you wait to buy something with real money instead of using a credit card now? This boyfriend or girlfriend will ultimately lead to trouble, but they make you feel so good right now- the way they look at you and the things they say. Can you fight instant gratification and wait for God to provide a better spouse? Instant gratification is an obstacle. We must fight it if we’re to finish well. Our culture is 100% against us right now- this is a serious fight. Jesus said, we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses- which is an instrument of death- and follow him. We need to help each

other practice this. Pick an area where you struggle with self-control and ask people around you to help you fight instant gratification together.

Fighting for holiness which means fighting for peace and against bitter hearts and against instant gratification. This seems like work. This passage has some hard edges to it doesn’t it? I don’t want to soften them. We must fight. But I do want us to remember that in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son. To the degree that we really get to know Jesus and our Heavenly Father whom He brings us to. The more closely our relationship grows to God. The more strength we’ll have for the fight. The more we’ll be able to help others and obey the “see to it” commands that call us to fight together. God could have left us in our sins, but He’s so gracious that He adopted us as sons. And now He reveals more grace to us by showing us the way to run the race. The way to win the fight.

[Conclusion] God the Father loves His children. Here He’s having a sit-down with the children He loves dearly. He does it with seriousness. Do you hear Him today? He’s telling you that when you’ve trusted in Jesus you were adopted. Nothing is going to change that. So find your strength. Live up to your family reputation as you get to know Father, Son, and Holy Spirit better. Fight against evil and sin like they do. It may not be easy. It’s a long race. But you will finish. It may be a hard fight, but with God’s help you will win and finish well. Let’s finish with the Apostle Paul’s words that fit this race and fight imagery of Hebrews 12. This is 2 Timothy 4:7-8

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Further episodes of GCF Central Sermons

Further podcasts by Grace Christian Fellowship Church, Spokane WA

Website of Grace Christian Fellowship Church, Spokane WA