Craig Smith • The Finish • August 14, 2022
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Heb. 11:39-40)
• The faith of a
generation creates kingdom
for the
– “The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory…Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.” (Psalm 102:15, 18)
What the heroes of the faith began in chapter 11, we are called to finish in chapter 12…
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… (Heb. 12:1)
•
the weight (
) – “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…” (Heb. 12:1a)
Repentance isn’t just a change of
, it’s a change of
– “When he came to his senses, he said…‘I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.’” (Luke 15:17-18)
•
the pain (
) – “…and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Heb. 12:1b)
May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. (2 Thes. 3:5)
•
the prize (
) – “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly… (1 Cor. 9:24-26a)
A great threat to a strong finish are
– “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection…Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:10-11, 13-14)
Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Heb. 12:3)
