1. Feeding off our Encouragement (12:1a—cloud of witnesses)
2. Getting rid of our Encumbrances (12:1b—lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us)
3. Building up our Endurance (12:1c—let us run with patience the race that is set before us)
4. Looking to our Example (12:2)
HEBREWS 12:1-2
What a blessing it has been to see these buildings filled with children, youth and adults this week. The Lord has blessed us by moving in children’s hearts and lives. I am so thankful to all the workers and teachers for all the love and effort they put into this week. It is amazing what can happen when God’s people come together, united for a common purpose. I’m sure most of them feel like they’ve just finished running a huge race. Of course that’s an appropriate feeling. Not just because of all the hard work they’ve put in, but also because of the theme of Bible School this year. As you can see from the decorations, the theme this year was sports. But not just sports for sports’ sake—sports as an illustration of what it takes to be a follower of Christ. Archaeologists and historians tell us that sports have been around for almost as long as people have. It seems like we are wired with a built-in love for physical competition. I don’t know, but if I had to guess, I’d say that God made us that way for a reason. Probably because physical competition gives us such a great picture of what it takes to overcome all the real struggles in life. Real struggles aren’t any fun to go through. But it is fun being victorious over the make-believe struggles that are presented to us in sports. And when we see those make-believe struggles and victories, they give us great pictures of overcoming the real struggles of life. The writer of Hebrews understood that as well. In our passage this morning, the Holy Spirit inspired him to describe our life as a Christian in terms of a great sporting event. Of course, in those days, the most popular sports today hadn’t been invented. They didn’t have football, baseball, basketball, tennis or golf. But they did have many of the Olympic-style games we have today. They had the decathlon, javelin, shot-put, archery, and jumping events. But the most popular sporting events they had were the running events. They loved watching the races. They gathered in huge arenas by the thousands to watch men run races. And they would run, not for money. They would run for a simple little wreath that was placed on the winner’s head. Our passage shows us that true Christian living can be compared to an Olympic-style race. With the crowd in place and the prize set before us, Jesus Christ has given us everything we need to run. All we have to do is just do it. I want each of us to leave this place this morning determined to run the race well that God has given us to run. In order to do that, we’re going to look at four essentials to running the race that is set before us. The first essential is we must feed off our encouragement. Look with me at the first part of verse 1:
HEBREWS 12:1a
We must feed off our encouragement. I got to coach my son’s little league baseball team for a couple of years. Anytime you deal with children, you quickly learn about the differences in personalities. I’m sure our VBS workers got to experience some personality differences this week. Just because a certain type of treatment works on one child doesn’t mean it’s going to work on another one. Some kids need a whole lot more attention than others. We had two boys on our team that I will never forget. One was named Cameron. He had the best personality. He had absolutely NO skills—but a great personality. He’d strike out swinging and just smile. “Missed it again coach.” He’d hustle and play hard and was an absolute joy to be around. And then there was Travis. Travis had some issues. He was always too hot. Or too tired. Every time he messed up, it was always somebody else’s fault. He would rarely move faster than a slow trudge. Unless it was time for the after game snacks. Then he’d run to get to the front of the line. Discovering the different personalities and figuring out how to deal with those different personalities is one of the biggest challenges to dealing with kids. But one thing works across the board. Whether you’re dealing with a Cameron or a Travis, whether you’re dealing with a child or an adult, whether you’re dealing with a young adult or a senior adult, everybody needs encouragement. We want it, we need it, we feed off it. All through the chapter before our passage this morning, God’s Word highlights a group of people. We like to call them God’s Hall of Fame of faith. The writer begins chapter 11 by giving us a working definition of faith. Verse 1 tells us:
HEBREWS 11:1
He then goes on to give us a chapter-long list of Old Testament saints who were examples of faith. Examples like Able, who offered a more perfect sacrifice than his brother. Enoch, who was caught up in a chariot of fire instead of dying. Noah, who built an ark, even though it had never rained before. Abraham who went when God told him to go—even though God didn’t tell him where he was going. Sarah, who eventually believed that God would give her a son in her old age. Abraham is listed again because of his willingness to obey God in offering up Isaac as a sacrifice, even though God didn’t require him to follow through. Isaac and Jacob for faithfully passing on God’s blessing. And the list goes on. Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. He gives us a huge list of people that seems to go on and on and on. And then comes our verse. And it says we are surrounded with a great cloud of witnesses. But what does that mean? Does that mean that they’re watching us like a bunch of ghosts sitting watching a ball game? No, of course not. They’re busy praising the Lord in His presence right now. Instead of being like a bunch of passive fans, they’re really more like coaches to us. In His Word, God has given us the history of their faith as examples to us. He’s told us of their struggles and their victories. Their flaws and their faith. As you study each of their lives in Scripture, you see that each of them dealt with the same issues we deal with. Temptation, sin, pride, weakness, lust, a bad past. God recorded their histories in His Word to be an encouragement to us in our daily walk. As we struggle to run the race that God has set before us, we can be encouraged by that great cloud of witnesses. The ones who have “been there, done that.” But not only have they been there and done that, they were able to finish the race because of their faith. Their lives are recorded in the Bible for our encouragement. Feed off that encouragement. The first essential to running the race that is set before us is we must feed off our encouragement. The second essential is we must get rid of our encumbrances. Look back to the second part of verse 1:
HEBREWS 12:1b
We must get rid of our encumbrances. An encumbrance is simply a weight. One of the greatest problems runners face is weight. Think about it, how many times have you ever seen a fat runner on the medal stand at the Olympics. It doesn’t happen because weight slows you down. In World War II, a man named Jimmy Doolittle did the impossible. He launched 16 B25 bombers from an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. He then flew them over the heart of Japan where they bombed Tokyo. From an engineering standpoint, there was no possible way to launch a plane as big as a B25 from an aircraft carrier. So, if it was impossible, how did they do it? They simply got rid of their encumbrances. They got rid of everything that wasn’t completely necessary to fly their plane and drop their bombs. That’s the picture that is painted in this verse. Except instead of a plane, he’s picturing a runner. A runner with all sorts of excess baggage. And he lays all that baggage to the side so he can run the race that is set before him. When set out to run the race that God has set before us, what kind of baggage gets in our way? Is it guilt over past failures? Lay it aside. Is it conflict with others in the church? Lay it aside. Is it personal preference or selfishness? Lay it aside. Is it hurt feelings? Lay it aside. Lay it aside because it gets in the way. But all that excess baggage isn’t the only thing that gets in our way. Sin gets in our way. Even though any sin can get in our way, here it is specifically talking about besetting sin. The word that is translated “beset” carries the idea of a sin that tightly clings to us. It’s the sin that we can’t seem to quit doing. The particular sin you seem to have a continual battle with. It just seems to cling to you like a piece of gum you can’t get off your shoe. Different ones of us have different besetting sins. Some of you might have a problem with lust. Some might have a problem with pride. Some might have a problem with gossip. Some might have a problem with causing dissention. Some might have a problem with worry or complaining or lying or…fill in the blank. Whatever your besetting sin is, our passage says to lay it aside. But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? How do you lay aside a besetting sin? Well, it takes a lot of prayer. But that’s not all. It takes a lot of work too. It takes accountability. Make yourself accountable to a Christian brother or sister. Take positive steps in building up barriers between you and your besetting sin. If you have a problem with gossip, figure out when you gossip the most. Is it on the phone? Then limit your phone conversations. If you have a besetting sin, and most of us do, the only way to lay it aside is to bulldoze the roads that normally lead you into it. Bulldoze the roads and build big roadblocks. In order to run the race that the Lord has set before you, you have to get rid of your encumbrances. Lay aside the weight—the excess baggage. And lay aside the besetting sin. The second essential to running the race that is set before us is we must get rid of our encumbrances. The third essential is we must build up our endurance. Look back to the last part of verse 1:
HEBREWS 12:1c
We must build up our endurance. Running a race with patience. That almost sounds like it doesn’t make sense, doesn’t it? If you’re running for all you’re worth, how can you be patient? Well, the reason it doesn’t seem to make sense is that the way we use the word patience has changed. Today, when we think of being patient, we think of calmly waiting for something to happen. Or maybe not going nuts when you feel like it. But that’s not how it’s used here. Here, the word carries the same meaning as when people used to talk about the patience of Job. That saying used to really confuse me. Because when I read Job, he wasn’t very patient. At least according to the way we use the word today. He got frustrated. He got annoyed with his friends. He even got frustrated with God. Not very patient. But he was very patient in the older sense of the word. Because the older sense of the word carries the meaning of perseverance. Sticking to it. Being faithful to the end. Enduring. That’s the way the word is being used here in verse 1. We run with endurance. Think about the runner that is used to running the 100 meter race. He trains for 100 meters. He knows he has to go all out, the whole way. But then what happens when you put that same runner in a 400 meter race? He runs the same way—all out. And then when he gets to the 100 meter point, he’s out of gas. If he tries to keep that same pace, by the time he gets to the 200 meter point, he’s barely jogging. Why? Because he doesn’t have the endurance to run longer races. Do we have the endurance to run the race that God has set before us? All too often, Christians will sprint for a while, then walk for a while. Then they get emotionally charged up at a revival or something and they take off sprinting again. Then after a couple of weeks, they slow back down to the walk. That cycle works for a little while. But then the sprints begin to slow to jogs. And the walks eventually slow to crawls. It goes that way until eventually, they pull up a recliner in the middle of the race track and do nothing. Why does that happen? Because endurance isn’t built by occasional sprinting. It isn’t built on emotional roller-coasters. Endurance is built on exercise. And I don’t know about you, but most of us don’t like exercise. I’m sure we all know what kind of exercise it takes to build endurance for a physical race. But what kind of exercise builds up the kind of endurance our passage talks about? What does it take to build the kind of patience we need to run the race God has set before us? Turn with me to James 1.
JAMES 1:2-4
James is talking about trials, not temptations to sin. He says the trying of your faith works patience. In other words, the trials you face on a daily basis are what can give you the endurance you need to run your race. Almost every day of our lives we are faced with trials. How we react is what can give us endurance. How did you react when that guy almost rear ended you this morning? How did you react when your spouse said something unkind to you? How did you react when your Christian brother or sister offended you? You can allow all those trials to tear you down. Or you can use them to build your endurance. If you allow them to continually tear you down, before you know it you’ll be pulling up your recliner in the middle of the track. But if you use them to build your endurance, you’ll be able to run the race God has set before you. You’ll run it and more importantly, you’ll finish well. The third essential to running the race that is set before us is we must build up our endurance. The final essential is we must look to our example. Look with me in verse 2:
HEBREWS 12:2
We must look to our example. God has given us a great cloud of witnesses. The biblical history of their struggles and victories should serve as our encouragement. And those witnesses encourage us as we move along our race. As we get rid of the encumbrances of our excess baggage and besetting sins. As we build up our endurance by pressing on and honoring God even in the middle of trials. The crowd is there, the runner is ready. But why are we running? What are we running to? We’re running to Jesus. We’re running because He wants us to. We’re not running to be saved or to stay saved. Jesus is the author and finisher of faith. When Jesus saves you, He does it by His grace alone. By His grace alone, through your faith alone. But even your faith is a gift from Him. He is the author of it. He originates it. And when He originates it, He is faithful to finish it. No, running the race isn’t what will save you. The only thing that will save you is the blood of Jesus. He finished His race. But notice in verse 2, how He didn’t even refer to His as a race. He called it a joy. Jesus considered it a joy to run the race that was set before Him. The race of shame. The race of pain. The race of humiliation. The race of scourging. The race of abandonment. The race of betrayal. The race of crucifixion. Jesus Christ, our ultimate example finished the most grueling race imaginable. Why? Because He loves you. He loves you so much that He called the horrible race He completed a joy. And because He completed His race, He now sits in the place of honor in Heaven with the Father. What an example! Jesus is the perfect example of faithfulness in running the race that was set before Him. But He’s not just the kind of example that sits back and says, “look at me.” Because He is alive and seated at the right hand of God, He can give us the power to run our race. He will give you His power if you just ask Him. Power to feed off your encouragement. Power to get rid of your encumbrances. Power to build up your endurance. And power to look to Him as your example.
Maybe you’re here this morning and have never entered the race. If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, let me encourage you to trust Him today. In a few minutes, as we sing our hymn of invitation, the altar will be open. Come up and let me talk with you and pray with you about making Jesus the Lord of your life.
Maybe you’ve entered the race and when you did, you really took off with a sprint. But now you’ve slowed to a walk or a crawl. Or worse yet, you’ve parked your recliner in the middle of the track and you aren’t doing anything. If that is you, here’s what I don’t want. I don’t want you to get some kind of emotional charge that’ll set you off sprinting again. Because that only lasts for a few minutes. And then you end up moving slower than before. That’s not what I want. What I want is for you to make a real, lasting, enduring commitment. I want you to come forward and lay the things that are encumbering you at the altar this morning. That’s the first step. And the first step is the most important step. If you take that first step, I guarantee you that the Lord will take the rest of them with you. Because He is your example, your strength and your power.
