HEBREWS 12:1-2 “KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS” – PART 1
A) The great golfer Arnold Palmer recalled the final hole of the
1961 Masters tournament.
* He told of how he had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot.
* He felt he was in pretty good shape ... As he approached his ball, he saw an old
friend standing at the edge of the gallery.
B) He motioned Palmer over, stuck out his hand and said, “Congratulations.”
* Palmer took his hand and shook it, but as soon as he did, he knew he had lost focus.
C) On his next two shots, he hit the ball into a sand trap, and then put it over
the edge of the green – He missed a putt and lost the Masters.
* Palmer said, “You don’t forget a mistake like that; you just learn from it
and become determined that you will never do that again.”
* “I haven’t in the years since.”
D) All the failures in the Christian life can be traced to losing our focus
or taking our eyes off of Jesus.
* On different occasions in the book of Hebrews, Paul speaks to us about keeping
our eyes on Jesus – We read in Hebrews 3:1 .......
E) The word “consider” is the Greek word “katanoeo” (kat-an-o-eh’-o)
and means “to observe fully.”
* The idea is to fix and keep your eyes on Jesus, the High Priest of our profession.
F) In our text, Heb. 12:1-2, Paul speaks to us of the importance of keeping
our eyes on Jesus.
* He admonishes us to keep, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”
* The word “looking” is the Greek word “aphorao” (af-or-ah’-o) and means
“to consider attentively,” and carries the idea of fixing your eyes on Jesus.
THE WRITER SPEAKS OF JESUS AS THE PIONEER OF OUR FAITH
A) The word “author” is the Greek word “archegos” (ar-khay-gos’).
* It suggests such concepts as “leader, originator, founder, and pioneer.”
* The term was used for those who cut a path for their followers.
B) The word is translated in Hebrews 2:10 as “Captain of our salvation.”
* As the pioneer of our faith, Jesus is the originator of our salvation, and has
cut the trail that we are to follow.
* As the author of our faith, we are to keep our eyes upon Him.
C) The writer also speaks of Jesus as the perfecter of our faith.
* He is not only the author of our faith; He is also the finisher of our faith.
* The Lord Jesus is both the originator and consummator of our faith.
D) What He started, He will finish.
* He not only cut a path for us to follow, but will also lead us every step home.
* As we follow Him we must keep our eyes on Him.
E) As we look at our text, I want us to notice what happens when we take
our eyes off Jesus.
* The writer takes the picture of a runner running in a race and certain dangers
that are faced if we take our eyes off Jesus.
* First, taking our eyes off Jesus is:
(1) THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL DEFEAT
A) v.1 tells us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth
so easily beset us.”
* The writer is reminding us of the possibility of being hindered
or hurt as a runner.
B) His words are a reminder of the danger of being spiritually defeated.
* Notice with me how the writer describes that we should be:
A VICTORIOUS RUNNER
A) He tells us to “lay aside every weight.”
* The picture is of a runner taking off his clothes, removing every hindrance so that
nothing will hinder or slow him down, enabling him to be a victorious runner.
* The Greek scholar A.T. Robertson said that every “hindrance that handicaps” is laid
aside and there is, “No trailing garment to hinder or trip one.”
B) There are many things that can hinder or trip us from either running
in the race or running a race well.
* There are the hindrances that handicap us, those trailing garments that slow us
down and even trip us ... Let me just mention a few.
C) Doubts About Your Salvation Can Defeat You.
* There is no misery like the misery of having doubts about your salvation.
* I have seen many a Christian defeated by the uncertainty of knowing they were saved.
D) Unbelief Causes Many To Stumble.
* The fear of taking God at His Word, trusting Him with certain things and at certain
times has caused many to stumble.
E) Many have missed the will of God because they would not trust God.
* We are robbed of untold blessings because of our unbelief.
F) There Is Pride And Often Has Been The Trailing Garment That Causes One To Trip.
* D.L. Moody’s advice was, “Be humble or you’ll stumble.”
STORY OF A ROMAN GENERAL
A) I was recently reading about how when a victorious Roman general
arrived back in Rome.
* He was given a hero’s welcome and a triumphant parade of victory.
* A philosopher was hired to ride beside him in the victory parade.
B) As the victor acknowledged the cheers of the crowd, the philosopher kept
whispering in his ear: “You are mortal – You are mortal.”
* How we need to be reminded again and again that we are nothing but sinners saved by grace.
C) Bitterness is another thing that hinders us from running and has tripped many
as they ran in their Christian life.
* I read the story about a man who was foreman on a construction job was noted for
his vulgarity and ungodly disposition among the men who worked for him.
* A Christian man on the job was grieved to hear so much cursing and vile language.
D) One day he got up enough courage to speak to his foreman on the matter.
* He received this story from the lips of the man: “I was once the pastor of the
First Baptist Church in this city.
* Some trouble arose in the congregation of such magnitude that there
seemed to be no solution.
E) I was so distraught and provoked that I didn’t know what to do.
* One Sunday morning I walked up to the pulpit and literally tore my Bible
into shreds and threw it piece by piece at the congregation.
* Then I walked out of the pulpit and out of the church, vowing never to enter
again – That’s why I am as I am today.”
MANY PEOPLE ARE FILLED WITH BITTERNESS
A) Bitter against a family member, a friend, a former employer
or an acquaintance.
* Something happened between them and they feel as if they were done wrong.
* They have never been able to get it out of their system.
B) Some are even bitter with God.
* They blame God for something that happened and feel that if He really loved
them He would have never allowed it to happen.
C) The goal of the Christian life is to run victorious race.
* We are to lay aside, remove from our life, anything that hinders us as a runner
and has the possibility of tripping us.
* Furthermore, notice with me that the writer describes:
A VIRTUOUS RUNNER
A) We are not only admonished in v.1 to “let us lay aside every weight”
but also “the sin which doth so easily beset us.”
* Darby translates the statement, “the sin that so easily entangles us.”
B) Another translates the words “the sin which always clings to us.”
* The word “beset” literally means “to place around or stand around.”
C) The idea is that of a sinful inclination always surrounding us and ever present.
* It reminds one of a ring of wild beasts in the jungle that encircle the camp-fire
at night each ready to pounce upon a careless victim.
D) The writer speaks of “the sin” referring to a particular sin that is ever
present, and a sin that so easily besets us or entangles us.
* For many Christians it’s not a multitude of things that defeats them – It’s that
one particular thing – It’s the one thing that seems to cling to us.
E) It’s the one sin that seems to be one’s opponent.
* To put it very simply, it’s that one sin that keeps bringing you down.
* It’s like a wild beast circling around you just waiting for a moment of weakness.
F) There are a thousand and one things you do not have a problem with,
but there is that one thing that is always tripping you.
* You have confessed it to God more times than you can count.
* You do okay for a few days or a few weeks, but then it raises its ugly head
up again, and once again you yield to its power over your life.
G) For one this sin may be alcohol – For another it may be drugs.
* For another it may be lust – For another it may be your temper.
* This sin will vary from person to person, and each case, it’s the one thing
that so easily entangles them.
CLOSE
A) We are to run both a victorious and virtuous race.
* To do so, we must keep our eyes on Jesus ... To take our eyes off Jesus is let
the weights trip us and let our besetting sin trap us.
B) Taking our eyes off Jesus is the source of spiritual defeat.
* Fix your eyes on Jesus – Keep your eyes on Jesus.
C) He is the secret to being victorious – He is your source for being virtuous.
* To take your eyes off Him for one moment is to expose yourself to your
weaknesses and open yourself to spiritual defeat.
D) Remember that God would have never commanded us to lay aside our
weights and the sin that so easily entangles us if were not possible to do.
* The secret is in keeping your eyes on Jesus.
