Run The Race 7-26-26 PM

I.            The reminder.

a.      Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses… (Heb. 12:1).

b.      The word “wherefore” connects this chapter to chapter 11.

           i.      This word, sometimes seen as therefore, is an emphatic conclusion.

           ii.      It carries the idea of, “In light of all that was just said.”

c.       Because Abel trusted God, Noah obeyed God, Abraham left home, Moses chose mistreatment with God people, you keep running too.

d.      The word compassed about is also translated surrounded.

           i.      It means to be encircled, or to have something situated all around you.

           ii.      Wherever they look, they can find evidence that faithfulness is possible.

           iii.      They are surrounded by Abel’s worship, Noah’s obedience, Abraham’s trust, the prophets courage.

e.      The word translated cloud has the figurative meaning of a large, dense multitude.

           i.      This was not some small band of exceptional spiritual heroes.

           ii.      It is a massive company of people whose lives declare that God is trustworthy.

f.        The word translated witnesses is from the Greek word that we get our word martyr.

           i.      A witness is someone who testifies to what is true or false.

           ii.      I used to believe this meant this great cloud of Old Testament faithful were in an arena watching and cheering us on as we run.

           iii.      I have come to believe that this means their lives are bearing witness to the faithfulness of God.

           iv.      They are not merely watching us – they are speaking to us.

1.      Abel’s life testifies, “Worship God His way.

2.      Noah’s life testifies, “Obey even when no one else understands.”

3.      Abraham’s life testifies, “Follow God even when you don’t know every detail.”

4.      Moses’ life testifies, “The reproach of Christ is worth more than the treasures of Egypt.

5.      Every person in Hebrews 11 says, “We endured by faith, and you can too.”

g.      We live in a culture that constantly shows us examples of compromise.

           i.      We see people abandoning commitments.

           ii.      We see marriages discarded.

           iii.      We see convictions surrendered.

           iv.      We see Christians gradually getting more and more comfortable with sin.

h.      Scripture reminds us that we are also surrounded by examples of endurance.

           i.      The Christians who taught you the gospel.

           ii.      The godly men and women who remained faithful through grief.

           iii.      Those who served Christ through illness.

           iv.      Those who quietly worshiped, prayed, gave, served, and obeyed for decades.

i.        Their lives all testify that God can be trusted.

j.        You may be struggling, but you are not the first to struggle.

           i.      You may be suffering, but you are not the first to suffer.

           ii.      You may feel tired, but you are not the first to feel tired.

k.      Others endured, and by God’s grace, we can endure too.

l.        The faithfulness of those before us reminds us that we can finish the race.

II.            The renouncing.

a.      “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…” (Heb. 12:1).

b.      These witnesses remind us that the race can be completed, but also that you have to renounce some things that hinder us.

c.       The imagery comes from athletic competition.

           i.      The ancient Greek world valued athletic contests and running events were central to those competitions.

           ii.      Some races were fairly short, but others required great stamina.

           iii.      The precise distance could vary, but they were races of endurance rather than one sudden burst of speed.

d.      Athletes trained intensely and practiced great discipline.

           i.      They would condition their bodies by running with weights on.

           ii.      When it was time to compete, runners removed anything unnecessary that could restrict their movement.

e.      A person might train while carrying resistance, but no sensible runner enters the race wearing unnecessary weight.

           i.      You may train with weights.

           ii.      You do not race with them.

f.        The writer applies this picture spiritually.

g.      The phrase lay aside means to take off, or remove.

           i.      It is used of taking off clothing.

           ii.      It describes deliberate action – the runner is not waiting for the weight to fall off accidentally.

           iii.      There are things that Christian must intentionally put away.

           iv.      We can’t pet them, excuse them, or manage them.

           v.      We have to remove them.

h.      The word translated weight refers to a bulk, burden, mass, or encumbrance.

           i.      A weight is not necessarily sinful in itself – it may simply be something that slows us down.

           ii.      This is a distinction that matters.

           iii.      The writer says to lay aside every weight and the sin that besets us.

           iv.      Some things are inherently sinful while others are spiritually dangerous because they consume attention, weaken resolve, or interfere with faithfulness.

           v.      The question is not, “Is this technically sinful?

           vi.      The question is, “Is this helping me run toward Jesus?”

           vii.      A hobby may not be sinful but it can become a weight.

           viii.      A relationship may not begin as sinful, but it can become a weight.

           ix.      Same with work, technology and other things, because even good things can become harmful when they keep us from the best thing.

i.        The phrase easily besets us is also translated clings so closely.

           i.      It’s the only time this Greek word is used in the New Testament and seems to carry the idea of something that easily surrounds, entangles, or trips us the runner.

           ii.      The picture is of sin wrapping itself around our feet and making it difficult to impossible to run the race.

           iii.      Sin never helps us run – it only entangles.

           iv.      Some interpreters suggest that, in this context, the sin is that of unbelief, which fits the major warning of Hebrews.

           v.      Remember the warning about the Israelites who failed to enter the land of rest (Heb. 3:19).

           vi.      These Jewish Christians were being tempted to not trust Jesus, to turn away from the sufficiency of Jesus and return to what was familiar.

j.        Every runner has to ask, “What is slowing me down?”

           i.      What have we allowed to become spiritually heavy.

           ii.      What is weakening our prayer life?

           iii.      What keeps us from assembling with the saints?

           iv.      What is filling our minds with sinful thoughts?

           v.      What keeps wrapping around our feet?

k.      It is different things for each of us.

           i.      We cannot run freely while insisting on carrying what Jesus calls us to put down.

           ii.      We can’t pray, “Lord, help me run” while refusing to release the thing that is keeping us from running.

l.        God’s command is clear: lay it aside, put it away – confess it and repent of it.

m.    Think of a runner wearing a backpack.

           i.      He started running well but along the way he has decided to pick up stones.

           ii.      The stones have labels on them: pride, bitterness, lust, envy, fear, unbelief.

           iii.      After starting well, he can now barely put one foot in front of the other.

           iv.      How would we think of that runner if he would not put down those rocks?

           v.      In reality, how are thinking of ourselves if we are running weighed down with these problems?

n.      We can’t run faithfully while holding what God tells us to release.

III.            The running.

a.      “…let us run with patience the race that is set before us…” (Heb. 12:1).

b.      The writer does not tell us to admire the course, study other racers, or study the race from a distance.

c.      He says “Let us run.”

d.      Christianity requires personal participation.

          i.      No one can run for us.

          ii.      Not our parents, spouse, elders, or preacher.

e.      Other Christians can and should encourage us, correct us, pray for us, and run beside us – but you and I must continue responding to God in faith on our own.

f.        Let us run shows that the command is corporate.

           i.      The Christian life is personal but it is not meant to be isolated.

           ii.      We run, encourage, bear one another’s burdens, provoke one another to love and good works, assemble with one another.

           iii.      The church is not a crowd sitting beside the course criticizing the runners.

           iv.      The church is a community running together.

g.      The word patience, or endurance, denotes steadfastness, or the ability to remain under a burden without abandoning one’s commitment.

           i.      This is active faithfulness under pressure.

           ii.      Continuing to obey when obedience becomes difficult.

           iii.      Continuing to pray when we haven’t gotten an answer yet.

           iv.      Continuing to serve when no one notices.

           v.      Continuing to resist temptation when the struggle doesn’t immediately disappear.

           vi.      Continuing to trust God when we don’t understand what He is doing.

h.      The word for race is the word from which we receive the word agony and it describes a struggle, conflict, or race.

           i.      The Christian life is never presented as effortless.

           ii.      There is resistance and sometimes a lot of it.

           iii.      There is strain, pain, and opposition.

           iv.      There are moments when faithfulness hurts.

           v.      It does not mean we are on the wrong course.

           vi.      Sometimes difficulty is evidence that we are actually running.

i.        The race is “set before us.”

           i.      We don’t design the course, God has.

           ii.      Different Christians run through different terrain.

           iii.      Some run through seasons of prosperity while other through poverty.

           iv.      Some run through chronic illness.

           v.      Some run through grief.

           vi.      Some run through persecution.

           vii.      Some run through family hardship.

           viii.      We don’t choose every hill or obstacle.

           ix.      We are responsible for running the course God has placed before us.

           x.      Comparison is dangerous because we aren’t running someone else’s course.

           xi.      We might look at someone and think their course is easy, while they are struggling and we don’t know it.

           xii.      We have to run the race that is set before us.

j.        The Christian life is race, not a sprint.

           i.      A sprint depends heavily on explosive speed.

           ii.      A distance race requires pacing, discipline, and endurance.

           iii.      It is possible to begin the Christian life with excitement and still fail to finish faithfully.

k.      Jesus warned about those who received the word with all joy but have no root.

          i.      They endure for a little while and then, when it is difficult, fall away.

          ii.      We all know people like this.

l.       The race is not completed by one emotional moment, but by daily faithfulness.

          i.      One prayer at a time.

          ii.      One temptation overcome at a time.

          iii.      One act of forgiveness at a time.

          iv.      One worship assembly at a time.

          v.      One decision at a time.

m.    We can’t confuse slow progress with failure.

n.      At the end of his life, Paul said… (2 Tim. 4:7).

          i.      He did not say he had just started the race.

          ii.      He said, “I finished…”

o.      Faithfulness is not proven by how fast we start, but by refusing to quit.

IV.            The riveting.

a.      “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” (Heb. 12:2).

b.      Our English word “rivet” can describe fastening something securely in place.

c.       The writer tells us to fasten our attention on Jesus.

d.      The word for looking means to look away from one thing in order to concentrate on another.

          i.      This is not a mere glance in the direction of Jesus.

          ii.      It means directing our attention from distractions and fixing our eyes on Jesus.

          iii.      We look away from the crowd, the world, our failures, ourselves, temporary suffering and from the temptation to quit.

          iv.      We look to Jesus.

1.      Jesus is the founder of our faith, which carries the idea of leader or champion.

a.      Jesus has gone before us,

b.      He opened the way and completed the course perfectly.

2.      Jesus is the perfecter in that He brings faith to its intended completion.

a.      Jesus does not merely stand at the finish line telling us to run.

b.      He has already run the course.

e.      Think about the phrase “for the joy that was set before Him.”

          i.      He endured the cross but it was not joyful.

          ii.      All that pain, rejection, the cross, the nails, the yelling were not joyful.

          iii.      The joy lay beyond the suffering.

          iv.      He saw the result of His sacrifice, the redemption accomplished.

          v.      He saw the joy of Heb. 2:10.

          vi.      Jesus did not enjoy the cross because it was easy but because our salvation was worth the suffering.

f.       Jesus endured the cross.

          i.      Crucifixion was designed to produce prolonged suffering and public humiliation.

          ii.      It was reserved for the worst of the worst.

          iii.      The condemned person was displayed publicly stripped, mocked, naked, and left helpless before the crowds.

          iv.      For Jewish readers, crucifixion also carried the stigma of De. 21:23.

          v.      Paul used this language… (Gal. 3:13).

          vi.      Jesus accepted the place of shame, the mocking, the rejection.

          vii.      He was treated like an criminal and endured the hostility of sinners.

          viii.      He bore our sins in His own body.

g.     Despising the shame does not mean Jesus felt no pain or humiliation.

          i.      He regarded the shame as insignificant compared to the joy and glory beyond it.

          ii.      The shame spoke loudly, but Jesus didn’t let it have the final word.

          iii.      Through it all, the jeering, the temptation, the pain, Jesus remained on that cross.

h.     Because of that, He is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

          i.      Jesus finished His race.

1.      The cross, the grave, the shame, were not the end.

2.      Jesus rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sat down at God’s right hand.

3.      Sitting indicates the completion of His sacrificial work (Heb. 10:12).

          ii.      Jesus won His race and now reigns beside the Father.

i.       We often lose endurance because we rivet our eyes on the wrong thing.

          i.      When we fix our eyes on the difficulty, it appears greater than God.

          ii.      When we fix our eyes on other people, their opinions begin controlling us.

          iii.      When we fix our eyes on ourselves, our failures overwhelm us.

j.       The answer is not to try harder but to look higher.

          i.      Look to Jesus when obedience is costly, when we are ashamed or our past, when people misunderstand our faith, when suffering makes us question whether continuing is worthwhile.

          ii.      Jesus endured more than we will ever endure, was tempted but without sin, was rejected without become bitter, and suffered with abandoning God’s will.

k.      The One who calls us to run is the One who ran before us.

l.        We endure our race by keeping our attention on the One who finished His.