By Paul Frimpong Manso
In the Christian life, it is important that we start the race right, that we run right, and that we finish right. And for those who are feeling that all of this is beyond them, we should take encouragement from the fact that our God is alongside us.
I want to encourage you with words from the Word of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Whenever someone becomes a Christian, he enters into a race. If someone is running a race, he will need the rules and the principles that govern the race. Whenever someone enters a race, he sees the end from the beginning. His purpose is not only to cross the line, but to win the race and receive the trophy.
The Christian race is not like competing to be first, but to finish. Other people want to be first. Our goal is to finish.
The writer of Hebrews wrote to a group of Jewish Christians who had turned from the Jewish faith with its tradition and laws. They became Christians, but they began to face trials, and they wanted to go back to the old ways. This assumes that the letter was written before the Temple was destroyed. The old religion was still there. They had come to Christ, but began to encounter problems. The writer wrote this letter to encourage them in their new-found faith.
Probably we are not facing that particular problem. There’s no religion we want to go back to. But maybe other things are drawing us back. Maybe things are demoralising us – pressure from family, work, friends. We are at a cross-roads and we don’t know what to do. I’m here to encourage you that you can make it in Jesus’ name.
For the Jews it was the Jewish religion. So the author told them that God indeed did speak through their forefathers, but in these last days had spoken to us through His son, who is above all of these. He encouraged them to realise they didn’t need to go back and offer the same sacrifices again, but to hold on to Christ.
He says that all those who went before them had also gone through difficulties. They went through persecution. And he said all these men and women of faith are there as witnesses to encourage and motivate us. And they are encouraging us and cheering us on.
The people in Heb 11 are there to inspire to us. And he goes on to say that we should look to Jesus who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
There are so many things which can inspire or de-motivate in our Christian life. But if we make Jesus our aim, then we can make it. I believe that by the grace of God, all of us will make it to the end.
There are three things involved in any race: there should be the start, the right run, and the right finish.
A few years ago Linford Christie was going to run. He had two false starts, and that was the end of his career. There are rules which govern any race. So too there are rules which govern Christianity. For you to start you need to get the basis right. You have to acknowledge you’re a sinner, you want to repent from your sins and take the Lord as your Lord and Saviour and be willing to live for Him.
God doesn’t have grandchildren or in-laws. He has children. So if your parents are in the church, you still need to become the child of Jesus yourself. If you have followed a husband or wife to church, you still need to make a personal decision. If you don’t get the right start, you feel like a stranger among foreigners. We must all at a point in time realise that we were sinners, that we made a decision to turn away from our evil ways, and made a decision to take Christ as our Lord.
As part of this, we should surrender ourselves to His teachings and be baptised in water. These things are never optional. You cannot opt to be baptised – you must be baptised. There was an exception, with the thief on the cross, because there was no opportunity. But with Philip and the Ethiopian, the latter was baptised. And the Great Commission involved baptism. So when people become Christians, they need to be baptised as a sign of identification with Christ. You need to confess Him as Lord and Saviour. You need to be baptised in water. And you need to be part of the fellowship of believers.
Some people say they’re Christians, but don’t got church. That’s wrong. Jesus gave gifts unto men – apostles, etc. These were given to prepare the saints for the work of the ministry, to make us grow in the things of God. When someone becomes a Christian he needs to take part of the Christian fellowship. Walk with Christians. There’s a need for Bible study and prayer, a need for evangelism, if there is any group in the church which will promote his growth, he should join it. And the church should provide to nurture such growth. In this church, you have everything you need to grow mature Christians.
After the right start, you need the right run, according to the rules.
As we are running we need to set aside anything which would hold us back. No one runs in athletics wearing a business suit. People wear the things which help them go faster. They do exercises. I don’t believe in do- and don’t- Christianity. But I believe as you grow in the Word of God, it will help you know what will aid you in making it. You need to cast aside the things which would draw you back, and focus on Jesus.
In Pilgrim’s Progress, we see Christian wanting to moving from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. There were many obstacles, but the Evangelist gave him the book and he followed it.
Some people want you to believe that when you become a Christian, all your problems are over. No. We’re in a battle. Sometimes we lose. But the next day we fight again and win. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. Some things – peer pressure etc – will come against us.
There are no shortcuts in the Christian race. Sometimes it is tempting to take the easy way. There is no easy way. There was a women who won many trophies at athletics, but lost everything when it turned out that she cheated. We can cheat and deceive man, but we can’t do that with God.
We need to follow the rules. Noah walked with God. He did not run ahead or sit behind. He took it one day at a time. If you are finding the going tough and it looks as though the whole world is against you, and you want to throw in the towel, take it one day at a time.
The journey to destruction is easy and many choose it. But if you want to take the journey which leads to eternal life, it is not easy. There are trials and temptations, but with the grace of God, with patience and the help of the Holy Spirit you will make it.
You keep pressing forward. You need to focus. “That I may know Him.” You have an idea of focussing on Jesus, not on anything else. Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress had the focus to reach the Celestial City.
He who began a good work in us is able to complete it. If you abide in Jesus, you will bear fruit. The way to run the race is to focus on Jesus, remain in Him and turn away from the things of the world. We should not allow the world to dictate to us.
1 John 2:15-17
We will always be confronted with the things of the world, with pressures, because the enemy is always out to pluck people away. He always wants to get someone down. In the race there are always people who want to see the negative side. But if we remain close to God, He will help us. To run the race right, we must draw near to God, we must focus on Him, and we should run according to the rules. We should not try to be clever in our own eyes and do things our own ways. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon thine own understanding.” Let us learn to trust Him.
Some people believe they cannot make it. They dread the future. But you can make it. By the grace of the God, by the gifts that God has given your leaders to counsel you, you can make it. And it helps people when they come to the fellowship. As a pastor it has been one of my responsibilities to get involved in the activities. So many people come as spectators. They hear the message, hear the choir, and just sit back. But it is easy to lose out that way. But every member in the church is given a gift and a responsibility. If you learn what to do and do it – cleaning, making tea, joining the choir, doing the things we see as insignificant – those are the things which keep you in the faith and help you make it.
It impresses me the number of people here who are always around giving their time. I want to commend those, and encourage the others who think that services are all there is to it. I want to encourage those people to take part in these activities.
The right finish.
Someone can run and get to the line, but if they don’t cross the line, then they haven’t finished. It is easy to start and impress, but we measure things by the time you cross the line. Sometimes you see marathon races on TV. You see people who start in the lead, but some fall by the wayside.
1 Corinthians 9 motivates me a lot.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
We must come into Christianity with one focus – to be with the Lord Jesus. Should the Lord tarry, we serve until we die. If He come now, He will see us as faithful.
In the Christian life, you can’t go halfway and then say “I am coming back.” In Roman times, if you were enlisted for the army and went to war and died, they would inspect the body, and would give you a military burial only if you were wounded in the front. If you were wounded in the back you were assumed to have been a coward. There is no turning back.
I am motivated any time I read 2 Timothy 4.
2 Timothy 4:7
2 Timothy 4:10
Somebody could not make it. My prayer is that we do not measure our Christianity by what happened yesterday, and by what is happening today, but by tomorrow. Are we going to drop out of the race or carry on to the end?
It breaks my heart when you see people with whom we did things, but along the line they allow the pressures of this world to make them fall behind. My prayer is that the good Lord would give us the grace and strength to carry on – those of us who have started already. And for those about to start, let us get things right from the beginning. Baptism is very important, and we need to be a regular, willing, open part of the fellowship.
We need to subject ourselves to discipline if there is a need. If we don’t do that, then we are illegitimate children. There are people who want to be in the church and enjoy everything, but run when discipline comes. If you run away from one discipline to another, the discipline from the first church still follows you. Church discipline is a must, not an option.
We must do things one day at a time, with a focus on Christ, and we should be in fellowship and find something to do in the church. Some people who do nothing end up gossiping and creating confusion.
And finally there should be the right finish. The journey is not how you started, but how you finished.
Jesus hung on the Cross and said, “It is finished.” Paul said, “I have finished my race.” The lord wants us to finish the race, so He can say, “Well done, though good and faithful.” It’s not important that we should be first, but to finish.
I have come to encourage you. If you are facing problems – personal, family, corporate body – the Lord is with you, and His amazing grace and love will carry you through. He cares about you, is concerned about you, knows all your problems, and will not desert you. He is with 24 x 7. And by the grace of God you will make it to the end.
