HEBREWS 12:1-2 “KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS” – PART 2
A) In our last message, I gave an illustration of how Arnold Palmer
recalled the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament. (Explain)
* 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.”
B) All the failures in the Christian life can be traced to losing our focus
or taking our eyes off of Jesus.
* In our text, Paul admonishes us to keep, “Looking unto Jesus the author
and finisher of our faith.”
C) The word “looking” is in the present tense and denotes a continuous
tense, meaning you are doing it at the very present moment.
* The Greek word is “aphorao” (af-or-ah’-o) and means “to consider attentively,”
and carries the idea of fixing your eyes on Jesus and keeping them there.
D) Looking 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.
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.
* 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.
* Prov. 16:18-19 “Pride goeth before destruction, and an .......”
* Paraphrase: First pride, then the crash — The bigger the ego, the harder
the fall. It’s better to live humbly among the poor than to live it up
among the rich and famous.
G) Bitterness is another thing that hinders us from running and has tripped many
as they ran in their Christian life.
* D.L. Moody’s advice was, “Be humble or you’ll stumble.”
AND THEN PAUL TALKS ABOUT A VIRTUOUS RUNNER
A) He not only admonished us 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.
* 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.
D) 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.
E) 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.
F) 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.
G) 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.
H) Taking our eyes off Jesus is the source of spiritual defeat.
* Fix your eyes on Jesus – Keep your eyes on Jesus.
I) 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.
J) Remember that God would have never commanded us to lay aside our
weights and the sin that so easily besets us if were not possible to do so.
* The secret is in keeping your eyes on Jesus.
* Secondly, we learn from our text that taking our eyes off Jesus is:
(2) THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL DISTRACTION
A) The writer of Hebrews encourages is to run a race well run.
* His challenging words are “let us run the race that is set before us.”
* Again, the picture is of a runner in a race or a contestant in the Greek
games which were popular in Bible days.
B) The word “race” is very interesting.
* The Greek word is “agon” (ag-one’) ... We get our English word
“agony” from this word.
C) The very word itself suggests that we are to take this race very serious.
* It calls for the total giving of our self ... It’s putting all we have and all we
are into running the race.
D) A danger we face is becoming spiritually distracted whether by looking
behind us or beside us.
* We must fix our eyes on Jesus ... We must keep our eyes on Jesus.
E) We must not be distracted as we run this race.
* Why is it so important to keep our eyes on Jesus and not be distracted
as we run this race?
* First, we see this race described as a:
PERSONAL RACE
A) The admonition is to “let us,” – Let each Christian run the race.
* It is “the race that is set before us.” ... One writer translated these words,
“the course marked out for us.”
B) The idea is of a race that is very personal.
* It’s not a picture of a Boston Marathon with thousands of people – It’s a picture
of me running the particular race that has been appointed to me.
* It’s a picture of you running in the particular lane that is assigned to you.
C) In the Olympic Games, there are thousands of athletes from all over the
world who compete in the games.
* They all don’t compete in the same competition.
* One will run, another will box, another will swim, and another will jump,
and on and on the list goes – Each has their own particular event.
D) As Christians, we have our own particular event that God has given us.
* For you it may be one thing and for me another – Yet, we all have our own
particular race to run or contest to take seriously.
E) There is God’s will for each of our lives.
* There is a particular way that God wants to use each of us.
* There is a particular work that God has for every believer – His will is the race
that is personally assigned to us.
AN OLD SCOTTISH WOMAN
A) An old Scottish woman who went from home to home across the
countryside selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings.
* When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air
and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed.
B) One day, however, she was seen tossing the stick up several times.
* Someone asked her, “Why do you toss the stick more than once?”
* The woman replied, “Because it keeps pointing to the left, and I want to
take the road on the right.”
C) She then kept throwing the stick into the air until it pointed the way
she wanted to go.
* Sadly, many Christians live their lives the same way.
* They want their will rather than God's.
D) Nothing should be any more important to us than running our race.
* It’s the race God has given each of us – Therefore, it should and must
be taken seriously.
* Furthermore, notice with me that this is not only a personal race, but it’s also a:
PUBLIC RACE – v.1
A) v. 1 begins by reminding us that we “are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses.”
* The reason we are to lay aside all weights, the sin that so easily besets us,
and to keep our eyes on Jesus is because of these witnesses.
* The picture is of the stands filled with spectators watching the race or the contests.
B) The word “compassed” is the Greek word “perikeimai” (per-ik’-i-mahee)
and means “to lie all around, encircle.”
* Again, the picture is of a stadium that encircles the games filled with
people that are watching.
C) There are some who hold to the view that these are those who have already
ran their race and are now in Heaven’s grandstand cheering us on to victory.
* To me that is a great thought ... All the dear saints that have finished their race
are cheering for us like a hometown crowd cheering for their team.
D) It’s also possible that it’s referring to those in the world around us that are
watching us – It’s true that others around us are watching us.
* That’s why it is so important that we run our race well.
E) As parents, our children are watching us ... As grandparents,
our grandchildren are watching us.
* Our neighbors, employers, employees, our co-workers, and friends are watching us.
* Our testimony and the name of Christ can be helped or harmed by how we run the race.
F) Understanding that we have both a personal and public race to run,
we must not be distracted.
* The writer is encouraging us to take serious the race we run, and to let nothing
distract us from giving our all to our race.
IF WE ARE NOT CAREFUL WE CAN BE DISTRACTED
A) I see it happen all the time ... There’s someone who is involved in the Church,
excited about the Church, serving God and reaching people for Christ.
* But then they get their eyes off Jesus and on other things, and it’s not long before
they are griping about this and fussing about that.
B) Loving Jesus, serving Jesus, and reaching people is no longer their main concern.
* It becomes all about them – What they don’t like or who they don’t like.
C) I have been in this thing long enough to understand that most, if not all,
that get upset do so primarily because they took their eyes off Jesus.
* It’s amazing how certain things never seem to bother a person when their eyes are on Jesus.
D) You never find a person madly in love with Jesus fussing and fuming about things.
* All they think about is serving the Lord, worshipping the Lord, and pleasing Him.
E) Yet, when they get their eyes off Jesus, they start picking out this and that, what
they don’t like, complaining about one thing and then another.
* You mark it down, the reason most people get mad and leave a church,
started with them being distracted from what is important.
F) The reason many churches have trouble is because they get their
eyes off Jesus.
* If you went to some churches you would think you were at a Clemson
and South Carolina Football game.
G) In all my years of preaching, I have never heard of a church fight
because the church was not trying to reach people for Christ .......
* Or because the services are blessed and anointed of God.
H) No, it’s usually something silly or trivial.
* They don’t like how the preacher did this or the deacons did that.
* The building is either too hot or cold.
I) The sound system was too loud or not loud enough.
* They didn’t like the color and or the style of something.
J) Don’t let anything distract you from running your race.
* Fix your eyes on Jesus ... Keep your eyes on Jesus.
* Lastly notice with me that taking your eyes off Jesus is:
(3) THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL DISCOURAGEMENT
A) Notice how we are to run our race.
* We are told to run our race with “patience.”
B) The word “patience” means “to endure” and carries the idea
of not getting discouraged.
* The admonition of the writer is to not let things discourage us and cause
us to quit running ... This speaks to us of a:
FAITHFUL LIFE
A) Our race is to be run when things are good and when things are bad.
* Circumstances or happenings do not determine the outcome of our race.
* We run if the sun is shining or when the lightning is flashing – We are to keep
on running no matter what.
B) Oh yes, there are many things that can discourage us.
* Who among us tonight has not been discouraged?
* Some of God’s choicest servants have found themselves discouraged.
C) I think of A.W. Tozer, a man who knew God so intimately.
* Yet, he had days when he was so discouraged he felt he could not continue as a minister.
* A man who instructed thousands in the deep things of God often felt he was a miserable failure.
D) There have been times for all of us when the light we saw at the end of the
tunnel was an approaching train.
* Yes, there are things that discourage us, yet we must keep running.
E) Walt Disney had some good advice ... He said, “Get a good idea and stick with it,
dog it, and work at it until it’s done and done right.”
* Run till your race is done and done right.
* Not only does the admonition speak to us of a faithful life, but also of a:
FOCUSED LIFE
A) Again, the heart of everything the writer has said is summarized in
v.2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our .......”
* The Lord Jesus didn’t quit, and thank God, He didn’t.
* He endured the cross, and finished His work, and is now sitting at the right hand of God.
B) We must keep our eyes on Jesus.
* To take our eyes off Jesus is the source of spiritual defeat, distraction,
and discouragement.
CLOSE
A) I close with a story I read several years ago but have never forgotten.
* In Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting of The Last Supper, our Lord’s
hands are empty.
* The emptiness of the Lord’s hands in the painting contains an inspiring story.
B) Da Vinci dedicated three years to this painting, determined that it
would be his crowning work.
* Before the unveiling, he decided to show it to a friend for whose opinion
he had the utmost respect ... The friend’s praise was unbounded.
C) He said, “The cup in Jesus’ hand is especially beautiful.”
* Disappointed at once da Vinci began to paint out the cup.
D) Astonished, the distinguished friend asked for an explanation.
* da Vinci explained, “Nothing must distract from the figure of Christ.”
E) Let nothing take your eyes off Jesus.
