Running with Endurance the Race… And the Race is Christ (Hebrews Sermon 62)

This is an Olympic year, Summer Olympics coming up this summer, and you know that every Olympics ends with the marathon. Traditional event, it always ends with the marathon race 26.2 miles, rooted in history, rooted in a battle fought many centuries before Christ was born and a messenger that traveled over long distance to bring the news of victory. 1968 in the Summer games, the final event was the marathon then as well, and the event was won by Mamo Wolde from Ethiopia, but the final contestant was John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania. And he’s a man who early in the race fell and injured his leg, and it was bleeding and it was a pretty significant injury, and he was bandaged up quickly and sent on his way but greatly disadvantaged by this injury. And he continued to run and continued to lose strength, but he just wouldn’t give up. And so, long after a time when an Olympic athlete would have finished the marathon, there still were spectators in the stands waiting for this man to come, and he entered the stadium and the crowd rose and started cheering for this man. At this point he was barely running, more like limping jogging, just trying to get around the track. Of course, any hope of an Olympic medal long gone.

He just wanted to finish, and he did, and you can’t imagine the crescendo of adulation, of praise that went on him just for finishing, but there were questions too at the cost and the pain that he went through over those miles. Hard enough, fully healthy and strong, hard enough. But why did you do it? And he gave a very significant answer, relevant for our study today. Said, “My nation did not send me 5,000 miles merely to start the race, they sent me 5,000 miles to finish it.” Well, whatever was in his heart, compelling him to uphold the honor of his nation, to finish that race, should be multiplied infinitely in the heart of a Christian, to enable us to finish the race that’s marked out in front of us, for the Lord did not appoint for us merely to start that race, but that we should finish it. And he said very, very plainly, “He who stands firm to the end will be saved.” We must have endurance, we’re told in Hebrews 10:36, “You have need of endurance.” We must finish this race.

Endurance in what? Well, at the end of chapter 10, those who trust in the Lord will live, the righteous will live by faith. It’s a run of faith, which has been unfolded beautifully for us in the faith chapter in Hebrews 11, that we would live that kind of a life and run with endurance the race of faith marked out. We must have endurance. Now, the great encouragement of the fullness of the counsel of the New Testament is that we will finish. It has been promised to us to finish, as Jesus said in John 6, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me, and this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” But putting it all together, between the time that Jesus initially calls you in the embrace of faith to the time when you see him face to face, you must run a race with endurance, and it’s going to be hard. And that’s the purpose of our message today to look at that race. Let’s understand the context.

I. The Context “Therefore…”

We’ve just finished Hebrews 11, we’ve looked at the hall of faith, we’ve looked at the examples of one individual, one man or woman of faith after another. And it said in the context of this whole book of Hebrews, which is written to Jewish people who had made an outward profession of faith in Christ, but who are being pressured by their Jewish family and friends and relatives and authorities, religious figures, to give up their confession of Christ and turn back to Old Covenant Judaism. And so the whole letter is written to enable these people to stand firm and not do that, to not turn their backs on Christ.

And so there are these repeated warnings against apostasy in this book. In Hebrews 2:1, “We must pay more careful attention therefore, to what we have heard so that we do not drift away.” That slow drift from Christ, the danger of that. Hebrews 3:12, we are to ” See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” In Hebrews 6 the issue of falling away is mentioned, and it says there it’s impossible to renew again to repentance those who fall away. Don’t drift away, don’t turn away, don’t fall away. This is the message, the danger, and the remedy has been throughout this to give us a sense of the greatness and the glory of Jesus Christ and of the new covenant. And so the author has been doing that, and now he gives us chapter 11, all of these examples of men and women of faith who ran with endurance, and now he is applying it.

II. The Command: “Let Us Run With Endurance…”

And he gives us this command, “Therefore,” verse one, “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” This is the command, “Let us run the race and let us do it with perseverance right to the end.” That’s what the author wants us to do. So what is this race? The Greek word is ‘agon’ from which we get agony, a sense of something that takes intense effort and struggle. It’s not easy, this race.

And the text calls it in the NIV, a race marked out for us. That’s a little strong. Other translations will just give us the race set before us. There is a race course, however. We are not just to run any 26.2 miles here, friends. Imagine that, imagine if they brought the Olympic athletes or the Boston marathoners to the starting line and said, “We want you to run 26.2 miles, it’s up to you where you go.” I mean, how would you know who won, and how would the race be fair? No, there’s a very, very plainly marked course. The Boston Marathon went right through my hometown, plainly marked course. And there are rules about this.

We ran cross country when I was in high school, and I’ll never forget that experience and all that it meant to me. And whenever you would go on the road, to one of the neighboring towns, the thing that they would do is put you on a bus, and they would drive you around the course, and they would show you at the top of the hill you turn left, 100 yards you turn right, then you go down through these woods. They want you to know the course, because you’re not allowed to innovate. You may be a great runner and a great innovator, but that’s just not welcome there. You must run the race that’s marked out. And I remember in my freshman year, the best runner in the league was from our cross-town rival. He was a beautiful runner to watch, he was tall and fluid and had not lost in two years, he was a senior by then and just incredible to watch, and at the conference race, he’d gone through the regular season undefeated, the conference race he was running 30-40 yards ahead of the second place runner, and he took a wrong turn. I’ll never forget that. Got off the course. I don’t know how he got confused, but he ran a good ways up and then realized his mistake, and the only way to remedy it is to U-turn and go right back where you came and then… You can’t cut across. And he ended up coming in fourth, and I remember the anguish in his face at the mistake and the mental error and all that.

And I think that the point is clear here, there is a race marked out for us, we’re not to innovate here. In one sense, we could say it’s laid out for us in the law of God, in Psalm 119:32, “I will run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free,” it says. We are not innovate, as it says in Judges 17, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” No, there’s a very plain course marked out for us. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. There are paths of righteousness Isaiah 35 says that there is a way of holiness, and wicked people don’t go on it, but we stay on it. Jesus said in Matthew 7, “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction. And many enter through it, but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.” Why the broad versus the narrow? Because there’s many ways to go to hell, but only one way to go to heaven. There are a lot of different ways you can destroy your soul, but this is a race course that’s marked out for us, very plainly, and ultimately, dear friends, his name is Jesus, He is the way marked out for us.

Remember how he said in John 14, “You know the way to the place where I’m going.” And Jesus never said anything amiss. They thought he was wrong. How often did Jesus’ disciples think he was wrong? That was one of the many times they thought he was wrong. Lord, we don’t know where you’re going, so how can we know the way? You do know the way, I am the way. And because you know me, you know the way. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He is the race marked out before us. And in this way, all of these things harmonize. He is the law embodied. We run in the path of God’s commands, because Jesus embodies them. He is the way, the course marked out for us, and we are to run this race. We are to run it, and there’s many verses that speak of the Christian walk, this is not one of them. This speaks of the Christian run. And the difference between a walk and a run, they’re both metaphors, I understand that, I’m not in any way minimizing the word walk. It’s an important theological word, but here I’m just telling you it’s going to take everything you have to finish this race. It takes extreme effort. That’s the difference between running and walking, it’s the energy level, it’s the commitment, the willingness to feel pain, the willingness to suffer.

And we have to run this race, it’s marked out for us. It’s the way that was trod by these heroes of the faith, these men and women that went ahead of us, they ran that same race of holiness and perseverance and faith. We are to run too, and we are to run it with endurance, perseverance, and that’s really the focus, that’s the issue here, that the author is getting at.

You need to persevere. The implication is that there are going to be, there are going to be difficulties. It’s going to be a hard race to run, and you must run with perseverance, you need endurance here. Many verses speak of this, that the word of God produces endurance in our hearts, and endurance must finish its work. We’ve got to have this endurance. That’s why God brings us trials. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, and perseverance must finish its work, so that you’ll be mature and complete, not lacking anything. We must have endurance here.

And think of the alternative. To drop out of the race because you are weary today, because you’re tired of this race, you’re weary, you’ve been assaulted, you’ve been attacked by the world, the flesh and the devil, and you’re so weary in the Christian life. And you want to give up. But consider the alternative. Do you realize if you give up, you will be one of the stony ground hearers that the Lord warned about, that heard the word with joy and went with it for a while, but when things got tough, when persecution or difficulty came because of the word quickly fell away, had no root system. No, no, we, the true sons and daughters of the living God, we have a root system. Amen. And we must have endurance to finish this race, that’s what the Lord is giving us here, the command.

III. The Obstacles: The Weights and Sins that Easily Entangle Us

Now what are the obstacles? Well, they’re right in verse one. Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance. There are some things that hinder this running with us. If you look at it the, everything that hinders, any weight that weighs you down. Can you imagine going to the start of the Olympic Marathon or the Boston Marathon, and there was one particular contestant that had a belt of Scuba weights around his waist? You know what I’m talking about, those lead bricks, it’s like, “What are you thinking?” There’s no extra credit for running with that belt around your waist, you don’t get more of a gold medal if you should win, you’re not going to get a gold medal, as a matter of fact. You’ve got to loosen that belt and let it drop to the ground. Been doing some research on this. Nike has come up with a shoe for the Olympics, for the marathon, and it’s 20% lighter than the shoe worn by the gold medal winner in 2008, that one weighed 200 grams, this one weighs 160 grams, that’s 5.6 ounces. I mean, they’re making them just about disappear. They said, “Look, that 20% difference over the 40,000 steps of the marathon, equals one ton.” If you don’t wanna lift the extra ton, then buy our shoe” that’s how that works.

I wonder what the original marathoners wore and what those leather shoes were… They’re probably more like dress shoes at this point. Just an incredible thing. Those kind of athletes, they know the need to lighten what they’re carrying. Tour de France bike riders, they’re always looking for lighter, stiffer cycles, they don’t want to be carrying extra weight up the Alps and the Pyrenees. And that’s the image that’s given here, throw it off, everything that weighs you down. And it says, “And the sin that so easily entangles.” the idea, again, you picture a marathon runner, and he’s got a big fish net, like the kind used by fishermen trying to gather in lots of fish, and he carries it over his shoulder and occasionally casts it on the road ahead of himself. It makes no sense. What are you doing? And he trips up on it and falls, and his elbow is bleeding, and it’s insanity, dear brothers and sisters, but that’s what we do when we willfully sin. We are taking on a belt of weights, we are entangling our own feet and making it difficult to finish the race.

This is not talking about the duties of the Christian life, we’re not talking about church attendance, throw that off. You know, private prayer, throw that off. Daily quiet times, “Oh, what a burden.” The burden of witnessing, of having to share the gospel, it’s not that. Neither am I talking about afflictions and difficulties that God brings into our lives that James tells us we should count it pure when it happens, because those are the things that do develop perseverance and endurance. No, we’re talking about sin, we’re talking about violating the law of God, we’re talking about the issues of holiness, and we’re told here to just throw them off, as though it were some easy thing to do. Well, in one sense it really is in the end. You are free. We just sang about it. Did you celebrate it? We’re set free, we’ve been set free. And no temptation will ever come to you the rest of your life with a sovereign compulsion that you cannot resist. You’re free the rest of your life to say, “No,” effectively no, to every temptation that comes to you, throw it off.

This is how holiness is taught again and again, put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, be made new in the attitude of your minds and put on the new self. It’s again and again this kind of thing. We are the ones who are able to obey those commands. By the power of the Spirit, we are able to put to death the misdeeds of the body, and as a matter of fact, that is the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual Christian. Because Romans 8, “If you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” And so the Spirit is in you, and he is leading you to put to death these wicked things, these lusts that wage war against your soul, whatever it might be. It might be some lawful pleasure, something that God has given you ordinarily as a gift, but it’s gotten bigger, it’s swollen in your life, and it now threatens to be an idol. Maybe in some cases it is an idol, and it’s hindering you, throw it off, you have the power to do this and run with endurance. You may wonder what are you talking about? Ask the Spirit right now, what should I throw off in my life?

Whatever is popping up in your mind right now, that’s it, if you’re a child of God. Kill it, it’s hindering you. If your right hand cause you to sin, cut it off, throw it away. Whatever it is, kill it, by the power of the Spirit, and you will run lighter, dear brothers and sisters, you will run lighter and freer and with greater endurance. This is the command, these are the obstacles that the Lord is highlighting in your heart, free yourself. You are set free, run free.

IV. The Encouragement and Direction:  “The Great Cloud of Witnesses”

What are the encouragement? Well, we crossed over it quickly, I haven’t mentioned it yet, but we are surrounded, it says, by a great cloud of witnesses, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with endurance.” These witnesses I think, can be none other than these brothers and sisters in Christ that we’ve just celebrated their faith, some of them named, some of them unnamed, some of them seeing great success because of their faith, others going through great suffering because of their faith, but all of them finishing the race and giving us role models to follow. As we get in Hebrews 13, “Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you, consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

And so there is this cloud of witnesses, the departed saints, the spirits of righteous men made perfect. It’s an interesting thing, you may say, “Can they really see us?” Yes, they can. “Well, that’s a bit creepy,” you may say. “I thought I was alone, I thought I had some private time.” You have none. The fact is everything we do is open and laid bare before the eyes of heaven. There are angels, there are demons, there are departed spirits, and they do see. The book of Revelation, “The saints that are in Heaven are aware of what’s going on earth.” They can see it, they know, but don’t let that trouble you, because you’re not going to be standing before them on judgment day, anyway. The only one that matters when it comes to that is God, and nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight, everything’s uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we will give an account. He is holy, and there’s nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known. So yes, they see us, but they’re not here as judges, they’re not here as harsh convictors, they’re here as encouragers. They’re pointing the way.

The word cloud is a bit interesting. Are they some kind of nebulous drifting thing that’s kind of weird in that way? I like instead the idea of them being like a pillar of cloud that leads the way. Do you see what I’m saying? Like the cloud of the Lord in the Old Testament pointing the way, they’re basically saying, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” That’s how they’re a cloud of witnesses pointing the way. Because we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us run this race with endurance. So we need role models, we need examples, but we need more than that, dear brothers and sisters, we need power to run this race. And if all you have are examples and role models, it’s not enough. Even if the example is Jesus, I would say infinitely if the example is Jesus. We need power, and Jesus does more than merely give us an example, isn’t that marvelous?

Do you remember a few years ago when Michael Jordan was at the height of his powers, and Gatorade had a “Be Like Mike” thing. Do you realize how ridiculous that is? The guy had a what? A 42-inch vertical leap. Just astounding basketball skills. Was he mocking us? Was he standing in front of us saying, “Be like me, do the things that I do.” Seriously, I analyzed this, I was thinking about this on my way to church one day, I was thinking, what percentage of the population can dunk on a regulation hoop? Think about that with me. What do you think? Real small, alright. You can take, I’m not meaning to be offensive, but you can pretty much take all the 60-year-olds and just move them right on over, okay. I’m not trying to be offensive, but if there is a 60-year-old out there that can dunk, he is one in a several million and whatever. And you just start doing the statistical analysis, just goes down to zero, zero, zero, zero.

V. The Power: “Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Faith”

And if you’re just going to stand there and tell me, “Be like me,” that’s not enough, but that’s not what Jesus does here. He intends to give you of his power, the same power that enabled him to resist every temptation that came his way, and so he is commanding you to fix your eyes on him, like Peter walking on water, “Fix your eyes on me, and I will get you through.” So look at verse two, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him…” etcetera. So we are to fix our eyes on Jesus, it’s a very interesting Greek word, it literally is, look away to Jesus, look away to Jesus. I find that interesting, look away from what? Whatever you were looking at before. Whatever it was, look away from it and start looking at Jesus again, look away from yourself in your own strength, look away from the world and all of its allurements and temptations, look away from every created thing, look to Jesus.

And how do you do this? How could you do it except by faith, we just got done with the faith chapter, and Jesus is invisible to us. You’ve never seen him, and though you have not seen him, you love him. It says in 1st Peter, we have never seen him. Jesus says in John 20, “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed.”

So how do we do it? We do it by the ministry of the word of God, by this word, by the ministry of the word of God, we look away to Jesus. It says in Galatians 3:1, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” Friends, that wasn’t the Jesus film back in the first century, okay, that was preaching. By the preaching of the Gospel, Jesus was put before their eyes, the eyes of their faith, and they saw him, the crucified one, they saw him, the resurrected one, they could see him. Okay, so like we sang earlier, turn your eyes upon Jesus, you almost have to close your eyes to do it. Look away from the world and focus on him and turn your eyes on him, Jesus. I don’t know why, but I’m just glad it’s Jesus and not Christ there. There’s something very intimate and personal. Christ would be fine, but the intimacy of Jesus, of his humanity, of the fact that he has been tempted in every way, just as I am, yet he was without sin. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.

And look what it says about him, he is the “author and the perfecter of our faith.” You have a faith. You believe in Jesus, you believe that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus gave you that faith, isn’t that marvelous? Like the man born blind when he put mud on his eyes and told him to wash and he could see, he gave you the faith to see him, he’s the author of your faith, he wrote it in your soul, and he is not only the author of it, but he is the perfecter of it. He who began this good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. He will sustain your faith every step of the way. I can’t talk about this text enough, it’s just so vital when it comes to this. We already know that Jesus sustains all things by the word of his power, in Hebrews 1. He sustains also your faith the same way by the word of his power. And you remember the night he was arrested, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail, and when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

It is so important you understand those words, apart from Jesus your faith will fail, you understand that? Jesus must continue to sustain your faith or it will fail, he must protect it, he must nourish it, he must keep it going until you don’t need it anymore. And he will, he’s at the right hand of God and is interceding for you, he is praying for you that your faith won’t fail. He is filtering out your temptations, he is not allowing anything to come to you which is going to sweep you away. So that none of all of that the Father has given him will be lost. He is focusing his priestly ministry on this one thing, your faith, that it won’t fail. He is therefore not only the author, but he is also the perfecter of your faith. So here’s the twin message of today’s sermon: You must endure, you must persevere, and it’s going to be hard, but you will, because Jesus is at the right hand of God and is praying for your faith that it won’t fail. And put those two together, you have biblical sanctification. You have what God’s called you to do. Jesus gives you the power you need to run this race.

And look what it says about Jesus, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” So much weighty theology in these phrases. Probably in my life, the most significant non-inspired book is John Piper’s Desiring God. In that book, which has been revolutionary for tens of maybe hundreds of thousands of Christians. It’s a book of Christian motivation, and it zeroes in on why we do what we do. He coined a phrase which I never really loved, but I see the value to it, Christian hedonism. The idea is that we should live for pleasure, we should live for joy, but it should be the pleasure of God himself, and therefore everything that we do, we should do for pleasure, the pleasure of God. It’s not intuitively obvious that that’s so, especially when it comes to suffering. When you’re going through suffering, you’re like, “How do I find joy in this?” This is your text, dear friends. This one right here, Hebrews 12:2.

VI. The Goal: The Joy Set Before Him

Jesus shows how it’s done. He doesn’t enjoy the cross, that’s not the joy set before him. He enjoys what the cross accomplishes, he enjoys the final end of his labors. He knows that what he must go through is necessary to get the joy he’s shooting for. It’s the joy that’s set before him. And what is it? We sang about it earlier, we read about it, we were thinking about it. That there is a multitude greater than anyone could count from every tribe and language and people and nation, and they’re standing there in white robes surrounding the throne, and they’re holding palm branches in their hands, and they’re saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” that’s the joy, and he’s got that in his mind. That all of God’s people chosen before the creation of the world will most certainly be there and see his glory. Oh, what joy.

Does everything for pleasure, God Almighty, God does everything for pleasure. He’s a pleasure filled being. Don’t be deceived, Satan’s not a god of pleasure, he’s a miserable being, and he wants to deprive you of pleasure by tricking you. No, but God in his presence is the fullness of joy, eternal pleasures, pleasures forever more at his right hand, so God does everything he does for pleasure, even this. He delights in giving you the kingdom, “Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He really enjoys giving you the kingdom. He’s the one that told us, “God loves a cheerful giver.” Amen. He loves a cheerful giver, friends, God is a cheerful giver. And he gives us a kingdom, but he also knows there’s a price tag, an infinite price tag to that gift, and he did that with pleasure too. It was the Lord’s pleasure to crush his son and cause him to suffer, Isaiah 53:10, a mystery beyond our ability to comprehend. How do we understand that? Was it Jesus’ pleasure to go to the cross? This text says, ultimately yes. But he endured the cross for the joy set before him.

And so there’s an endurance aspect, and there is a constant joy aspect in the Christian life. How could you do anything but endure the cross? Hands and feet nailed to wood, gravity pulling you straight down toward the earth, to breathe you have to push up on your nailed feet to gulp air and sink back down, and you do this grotesque dance of death until you can’t do it anymore and you die. There’s nothing there to enjoy. We don’t enjoy the cross, you endure the cross. And that’s just the physical side, how much more being under the wrath of God as our substitute, endured it. And look at the next phrase, despising its shame. Shame, it’s one of the most powerful motivators in the human heart. We yearn to not be ashamed, we are embarrassed easily, we’re afraid of what the people will think. There is a matter of shame, and it’s a weighty thing for us. It motivates a lot of what we do, and a lot of what we don’t do, could we not say that it’s because of fear of shame that we don’t evangelize as we should? It’s not so we don’t know enough theology, we don’t care about people and all that, we’re afraid of shame.

Jesus was shamed, but not ashamed, you see. They tried to shame him, they did things to him, they spat on him. They struck him in front of the High Priest. The High Priest rejected him and condemned him, that’s shameful ordinarily. He went over to Pilate, Pilate though he desired to set him free still gave Jesus over to be shamed. They wove together a crown of thorns, and they put them on his head, and they bashed them down into his brow, and they beat him with a rod, and they blindfolded him, and they struck him and said, “Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?” I think one of the most shaming things that can ever happen is to be spat upon, to have someone come up and spit in your face. They covered him with a purple robe mocking him, “Hail King of the Jews,” they said, and then Pilate condemned him to die, and he’s carrying his own cross up the streets of Jerusalem, bearing the disgrace of the people as they filled with rage that he had betrayed their hopes and their confidence, poured out derision on him and rejected him. He was led outside the city gates, like a piece of refuse, and he was stripped, and he was crucified out there. That’s the shame.

Jesus despised it. What does that mean? It doesn’t mean he hated it. It’s the way we frequently use the word, but that’s not what it means. He thought little of it. It’s a small price to pay to save you, he thinks. I’ll do it, small, it’s as nothing to me, it’s a light weight thing. If I can only save that multitude from every tribe and language and people and nation, so that they will not be ashamed on judgment day, I will bear that shame. And to me it’s nothing. Think of it as a light thing, light and momentary. So the world rejected Christ, the world scorned him and mocked him and all that, but God didn’t. And through that perfect act of obedience, God raised him up and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. God exalted him, and he is exalted, shame is over.

He cannot be mocked, and he cannot be shamed, and he’s at the right hand of God. And he’s going to clearly call us in chapter 13 to come outside the city gates where he is, but he’s saying the race you’re going to run, you’re going to get… They’re going to try to shame you. They’re going to try to heap derision on you, they’re going to try to persecute you, they’re going to try to beat on you, they’re going to try to strip you of your self-esteem, they’re going to try to reject you, despise it, friends. Think of it as a little. It’s a small thing. If only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me, think of it that way because that’s how Jesus thought of it, and that’s the power that he’s giving to you.

VII. Consider Him, Lest You Become Discouraged (vs. 4)

“Consider him,” verse 3, “who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” That’s it, that’s the enemy of the race that we are to run here. Weariness of heart, growing weary and losing heart. That’s the opposite of endurance.

Is that you today? Did you come in here that way? Have you grown weary in the Christian race? Are you tired of fighting the world, the flesh, and the devil? Do you yearn for heaven, but you’re not there yet, and you wonder why? You might be elderly, you might be young. This weariness can come on anyone. Could come on somebody who has been a Christian for a month, somebody who has been a Christian for 50 years. Satan is selling it on every street corner: Grow weary, lose heart. It’s what he’s trying to do with every temptation to get you to grow weary and lose heart.

The remedy, consider him. Consider Jesus. Fix your eyes upon Jesus, draw from Jesus like a branch from the vine, the nourishing strength you need to keep running this race. I prayed this morning for two categories of people. I prayed in your hearing already. Been thinking about these two categories, those that would enter here, the beginning of this service lost, dead in their transgressions and sins, unsaved, maybe invited by a church member here today. I resolved before God a number of years ago that someone in that condition that heard me preach would not leave not knowing how to be saved.

I have proclaimed to you the basic facts of the gospel. Let me apply them to you. If you turn the eyes of your heart now by simple faith on Jesus, and you see in your mind, Jesus crucified his blood shed, and you recognize, he has shed that blood for you and for your sins, you deserved wrath and judgment, but Jesus is your substitute, and he died for you, and in your heart, you call on him and yearn for him to save you, and you believe that God raised him from the dead on the third day, you will be saved. It’s that simple. And so turn your eyes upon Jesus as verse 2 says, and trust in him. The one who went to the cross.

And if you are a believer, and you’re growing weary, getting… You’re getting slack perhaps in your daily quiet time, allowing sin to encroach and start to have its way with you, developing new habits of sin perhaps, and they’re sucking strength from you, you’re growing weary because of them, they’re parasites on your soul. Follow what the text says. Know that you have a race to run, you must run it with endurance, turn your eyes upon Jesus and trust in him, by faith in him throw aside these weights that you have voluntarily put around your waist, this net that you’ve thrown in front of your own feet, throw it aside, and run today. Run with endurance this race marked out for you, put your hope entirely in him, and do not be afraid of suffering in the Christian life. Let’s embrace it. God’s laid before us two infinite journeys. I’m talking here about the internal journey of holiness. There is an external journey of worldwide gospel advance, of evangelism and missions. I tell you that you can make progress in neither journey without suffering. So you have to go to Hebrews 12:2 again and again and say, “I’m enduring this for a joy. I’m enduring this for the joy set before me. I’m enduring this so I can lead someone to Christ. I’m enduring this so I can grow in godliness. I’m enduring these things so that I can be the man, the woman that God wants me to be.”

So focus on Christ. If you need some time set aside to pray, to meditate, to draw close again to Jesus, do it. Don’t drift away from him. Don’t turn away from him, certainly don’t fall away from him, but allow this message today in the ministry of the Spirit, through focusing on Jesus to draw you back into a vibrant run with this living savior. Close with me in prayer.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

At the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, the marathon was won by an Ethiopian, Mamo Wolde. But the most heroic story was John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania, who arrived at the stadium long after the early finishers. He had taken a nasty fall that bloodied his right leg.

After getting it bandaged, Akhwari continued with the race, obviously in great pain and limping. Afterward Akhwari was asked why he didn’t drop out. He replied, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”

So also God ordained that you run the Christian race in front of you and run it to the end. He did not merely ordain that you START this race, but also that you FINISH it!!

Matthew 10:22 he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

John 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

I.   The Context: “Therefore…”

A.  Linking verse: Hebrews 10: 36 and Hebrews 10:

Hebrews 10:36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

Persevere in WHAT? In the life of faith:

Hebrews 10:38 my righteous one will live by faith.

B.  Hebrews 11: the “Hall of Faith”… (more in a moment on the “cloud of witnesses)

Pink: “Hebrews 11 is a lengthy proof of the efficacy of persevering faith to enable its possessors to do whatever God commands, however difficult; to endure whatever God appoints, however severe; to obtain what He has promised, however seemingly unattainable.”

C.  This is the SETTING of the majestic summary command that follows:

II.   The Command: “Let us run with endurance…”

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

A.  The Whole Purpose of Hebrews

1.  The Christian life is a journey… a race to be run…

2.  It is not a momentary thing, something that happens in an instant

3.  The Hebrew Christians were under extreme pressure to renounce their faith in Christ and go back to Old Covenant Judaism

4.  The whole press of the Epistle has been to strengthen their faith and enable them to finish their lives as healthy believers in Christ

5.  So the “Away” verses we looked at earlier in the Epistle

a.  Don’t “Drift Away” (Hebrews 2:1)

Hebrews 2:1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

b.  Don’t “Turn Away” (Hebrews 3:12)

Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

c.  Don’t “Fall Away” (Hebrews 6:6)

Hebrews 6:4-6 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance

B.  There is a “Race set before us…”

1.  The Greek word “race” is “agon” from which we get “agony”… it implies a great contest, a struggle, something requiring immense effort

2.  The first century world would have understood this analogy of a RACE to run… an endurance race, in which great courage and stamina would be required

3.  The concept here: there is a race set before us, and we must run it to obtain heaven

4.  NIV: race “marked out” before us

a.  Perhaps a little strong; Greek word is a race “laid down” or “set” before us

b.  Idea of a specific race course, marked by the will and purpose of God

c.  Anarchy unacceptable… we don’t make our own race course according to the dictates of our personal tastes or consciences

d.  There are the “rules of the game”… and if we are to win, we must follow them

2 Timothy 2:5 if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.

Illustration: High school cross-country… Tony Baugh… excellent runner… turned the wrong way at the conference meet… the “race set out before us” is clearly marked in God’s Word

We can’t make up the route we want to run

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

e.  The Christian life is a race course marked out by the word of God, by the Law of the Lord

Psalm 119:32 I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. Psalm 23:3 He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Isaiah 35:8-9 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there

5.  Christ spoke of the road to heaven and the road to hell:

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

6.  Especially we know that Christ Himself is the WAY:

John 14:4-6 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The “race laid before us” is the clearly marked path of Christianity

It is Christ Himself… constant faith in Him, constant focus on Him… it is the Law of God, written on our hearts, enlivened by the indwelling Holy Spirit; it is the

C.  The Command: LET US RUN WITH ENDURANCE

1.  To run = FULL EXERTION… the life of faith is a RACE to be RUN, and it is a life of full exertion and energy

2.  Running is RELENTLESS… a sport in which there can be NO REST until the end of the race

a.  Other sports allow rest periods… there are timeouts in basketball and football; there are quarters and halftime; there are many breaks in the action in hockey and even more in baseball; tennis allows rest periods every other game and at the end of sets

b.  BUT in a race, when the starter’s gun sounds, you must run the allotted distance and KEEP RUNNING until the race is done… even if you have a big lead in the race, you are not exempted from running… you have to get your body across the finish line

c.  In the Christian life, you are either RUNNING or you are SINNING… every decision is a step toward heaven or toward hell… there can be no rest periods

d.  This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t restore our souls, or allow us to sleep at night; but it means that while we are alive, we must be making constant progress to the goal

3.  Here also we RUN not walk…

a.  Many verses speak of the Christian walk

b.  But here the image is of the Christian run

c.  When we RUN we are putting forth MAXIMUM effort to achieve the goal, the finish line

4.  Elements of the RUN

Self-denial… discipline… vigorous exertion… and especially ENDURANCE

D.  Run with ENDURANCE

1.  This is NO SPRINT… it is a marathon race

2.  From my early involvement in competitive running, I have been interested in the marathon

a.  The Boston Marathon went right though my hometown of Framingham

b.  I several years I rode my bike downtown to watch the best marathon runners in the world run right by me… it was about the six mile mark, and they had a long way to go

c.  I began studying the history of the race

d.  I learned about the heroic run of Abebe Bikila

1960: Olympic marathon champion Ethiopian Abebe Bikila; ran 26.2 miles on the hot, rugged, unyielding cobblestone streets of Rome totally barefoot!!!

3.  Endurance means a steadfast determination to keep on following Christ despite the obstacles and the pain… opposition, suffering, the struggle with sin, the weariness that comes from constantly trying to defeat the world, the flesh, the devil

4.  Sometimes, every fiber of your body—weighed down by the flesh—cries out to stop following the narrow way that seems so strict, so challenging… we endure… we keep on

5.  The alternative is devastating… to be a “stony ground” hearer of the word who falls away from Christ:

Matthew 13:20-21 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

6.  Only by persevering can we bring forth a harvest

Luke 8:15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

7.  Therefore, endurance is THE ISSUE of this Christian race

Luke 21:19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Romans 2:7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

James 1:4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

8.  The trials God brings into the lives of His genuine believers He does to build this one attribute: PERSEVERENCE

Romans 5:3-4 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Illus. Heartbreak Hill… at the 20 mile mark of the Boston Marathon… people drop out by the dozens

III.   The Obstacles: “the weights” and “the sins that easily entangle” us

Vs. 1 … let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us

A.  Every Runner Does this

1.  Running equipment has gotten lighter and lighter

2.  Nike unveiled a marathon shoe that is the lightest in history… reduced by 20 % to a mere 160 grams… the change over the 40000 steps a marathoner will take = weight of a car, about a ton

3.  So also other sports… the swimmers in Beijing used sleek swimsuits specially designed to move through the water with the least possible resistance; cyclists in the Tour de France use bicycles made of carbon fiber designed to give maximum strength with minimum weight

4.  So the Author to the Hebrews commands us to LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT, and the sin that “clings so closely” or “easily entangles” us

B.  Two Steps of Sanctification: Negative and Positive

1.  Negatively: we MORTIFY sin

2.  Positively: we PURSUE LIFE in Christ

Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

3.  We are commanded the same here

a.  Negatively: lay aside weight and sin

b.  Positively: run the race of life in Christ

C.  What are the Weights we must lay aside?

1.  Clearly, they are sins that hinder us from running the race with endurance

2.  They are ANYTHING that impedes your progress as a Christian

a.  The WEIGHTS that hinder us are NOT lawful Christian duties… like prayer and church attendance and witnessing and financial giving and service… these ARE the Christian race!! They are not BURDENS to be laid aside

b.  The weights are NOT trials… such as sickness, or financial difficulties, or the hostility of unsaved relatives or coworkers or neighbors… those are TRIALS God uses to BUILD your endurance… they are not the weights

c.  Neither are they lawful pleasures per se… the Scriptures do not call us to a life of extreme asceticism in which you deny yourself food, comfortable clothing and live in the desert on top of a pillar away from all the temptations of this world… though ASCETICISM is not a major temptation for this generation of Christians, I need to be clear that this is not the weight we must lat aside: all pleasures of this life

3.  BUT the text calls for us to analyze what is HINDERING our spiritual progress

a.  Study yourself… study your heart… ask if this or that LAWFUL PLEASURE (like eating or sleeping or entertainment or sports or any other such thing) has become an IDOL in your life and is actually hindering you are you run the Christian race

b.  Jonathan Edwards studied his eating and sleeping patterns so that he could know what effects they had on his SPIRITUAL HEALTH

c.  We could be adding on ourselves burdens the Lord is NOT calling us to carry… the frantic BUSYNESS of the typical American family… the sports leagues and music lessons and hobbies and trips and shopping and social occasions and vacations and and and… all of these can be UNWISE BURDENS making it very difficult for you to run the Christian life

Illus. Pit stop teams at Indy 500… study how to keep the race car on the track with what it needs to cross the finish line first… it needs tire changes, oil changes, gas… and all must be done in SECONDS… there is no need to study the quickest way to repaint the car, for that is not ESSENTIAL to the race…

D.  Especially: the WEIGHTS are SINS that are killing your spiritual life

1.  Imagine a marathon runner strapping a scuba diver’s lead weight belt around his waist before lining up to run 26.2 miles! HOW CRAZY would that be?? But that’s what WE DO BY SINNING… we are making it that much harder to run our Christian race

2.  1 Peter especially speaks of LUSTS which WAGE WAR against our soul

1 Peter 2:11 ¶ Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

3.  Every sin we commit WEIGHS US DOWN because it establishes a NEW HABIT that gets harder and harder to break

4.  The Author speaks of SINS that so easily entangle… the image is of us spreading out a net for our own feet… we entangle ourselves in our sins… they are around us all the time… they trip us up

a.  Our pride makes it hard to receive godly correction or to change our lives when things are going astray

b.  Our anger and irritability make relationships more difficult

c.  Our greed makes it easy to overeat and to be selfish and start living for our earthly appetites

d.  All of these easily entangling sins make running the race with endurance harder

E.  How Do You “Lay Aside” Those Sins?

1.  The author uses simple “lay aside” language here

2.  Paul in Ephesians 4:22 says we are to PUT OFF the old man

3.  Romans 8:13-14 speak of MORTIFICATION of these sins

Romans 8:13-14 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

4.  Various other passages speak of the same idea:

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

2 Corinthians 7:1 let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

IV.   The Encouragement and Direction: “the great cloud of witnesses”

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses

A.  Hebrews 11: The Heroes of the Faith Described

1.  The author’s incredible description of the heroes of the faith has created a “cloud” around us as we have read

2.  They are “witnesses” of the power and effectiveness of the life of faith

3.  A powerfully active life… by which Noah builds an ark, Abraham leaves his pagan lifestyle and pagan homeland

4.  A courageous life by which Abraham offers his only son as an offering, by which Moses leads his people through the Red Sea

5.  They are WITNESSES to us… calling to us to trust in the promises of God and live for the glorious city that is to come

B.  They Are Called a “Cloud” Reminding Us of the Pillar of Cloud by Which God Led Israel to the Promises Land

Exodus 13:21 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way

1 Corinthians 11:1 ¶ Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

C.  Do the Dead Saints Observe Us? Do They Look Down from Heaven on Earth and See Us? Yes!!!

D.  “How Much More”

1.  If the Old Testament saints were so faithful with lesser promises, how much MORE faithful should we be who have the fulfillment of the ages and the BETTER PROMISES of the New Covenant??!!

E.  However… these witnesses cannot give us power… only EXAMPLE… the power for the race comes from JESUS

V.   The Power: “Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Faith”

Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

A.  “Looking” by Faith

1.  Greek word = look AWAY so you can LOOK TO

2.  It’s a matter of turning away from every other thing to focus completely on one thing

3.  The idea is of a TOTAL FOCUS on Jesus… tunnel vision on Jesus

4.  And it must be BY FAITH… for we cannot see Jesus physically

Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him

5.  The focus comes by the preaching of the cross

Galatians 3:1 ¶ O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.

6.  The focus comes also by the ministry of the word of God

Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

7.  We “fix our eyes” on Jesus by saturating our minds with His words, His life, His miracles, His teachings, His death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead, His promises

8.  Especially what we have learned in Hebrews

a.  His deity

b.  His superiority to angels, the prophets, Moses, Joshua, etc.

c.  His perfect ministry as our Great High Priest

d.  His session at the right hand of God

e.  His opening for us into the throne room of grace

B.  Jesus the Author and Perfecter of The Faith

Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith

1.  In Greek, the word “our” isn’t there…

2.  He invented the “way of faith”

3.  He lived the “way of faith” perfectly… right to the end

4.  Underdeveloped theme in theology: Jesus as a perfect example of the life of faith

a.  The “Heroes of the Faith” were flawed examples and witnesses of the life of faith

b.  Jesus is the perfect example of the life of faith

5.  By faith, Jesus looked constantly to the Father for everything

6.  By faith, Jesus resisted all temptation

7.  By faith, Jesus overcame all feelings of discouragement about His mission

8.  By faith, Jesus lived in total dependence upon God for everything

9.  By faith, Jesus lived in constant communion with God

10.  By faith, Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father’s commands

11.  By faith, Jesus was totally assured of a good outcome for His death on the cross

C.  Jesus the Author and Perfecter of OUR Faith

1.  We need more than a MODEL and en EXAMPLE… our faith is under constant assault by the world, the flesh and the devil

2.  Jesus gave us our faith to begin with: He “authored” it in our souls

3.  Jesus will give us the POWER and ENDURANCE we need to finish this race of faith right to the end

4.  Jesus SUSTAINS EVERYTHING by His powerful word

5.  He ESPECIALLY sustains the faith of His people… and PERFECTS it… bringing it to full maturity

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.

6.  Jesus uses these various trials to shape and mold and perfect our faith

D.  Four Aspects of Christ’s Life We Should Ponder Carefully

1.  The MOTIVE that prompted Jesus to suffer

who for the joy set before him endured the cross

a.  Christ did it ALL for joy

b.  He looked BEYOND the immediate suffering and embraced the JOYFUL OUTCOME of the salvation He was working for His people

Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

2.  The EXAMPLE of Christ’s astonishing courage at the cross

Endured the cross…

a.  He didn’t ENJOY the cross… there was no joy whatsoever in the actual crucifixion itself

b.  It was a horrendous way to die; barbaric and repulsive

c.  The victim’s hands and feet are nailed to the wood and he is hanging down

d.  In order to breath he must push up with his nailed feet and gulp for air… the agony of this effort makes for a grotesque “dance of death”

e.  Seeking to avoid the pain of pushing up on the nailed feet, the victim will go as long as he can between breaths… but eventually, he must breathe and so he pushes up again

f.  There is NO JOY in this… but it was FOR JOY… the joy set before Him… that Christ did it

g.  The verb used here is that he ENDURED the cross

3.  The CONTEMPT Christ Had for the World’s “Shame”

Despising its shame

a.  Mocked and flogged by Roman soldiers

b.  Humiliated by Pilate: Behold the man…

c.  Publicly condemned

d.  Death on a cross is not only excruciating but humiliating

e.  People walking by mocked Him and scorned Him

Psalm 22:6-8 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8 “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

f.  The verse says he DESPISED THE SHAME… “despise” = thought little of it, looked down upon it… in effect, He mocked the mocking, He shamed the shaming… it was a LIGHT THING to him

g.  Christ looked at this price tag for our salvation and thought it a SMALL PRICE TO PAY to rescue us from eternal torment in hell… let them mock, let them wag their tongues and scorn me… it is as nothing to me if only I can save my sheep from the wrath of God

4.  The Final TRIUMPH of Christ in Sitting at God’s Right Hand

and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

a.  Bottom line: the world scorned and rejected Jesus and poured disapproval on him; he was brought before the tribunal of the world and condemned

b.  BUT GOD esteemed Him highly and raised Him up and exalted Him to the HIGHEST PLACE and gave Him the name that is above every name!!

c.  The world scorned Christ… God exalted Him!!

E.  The Power for Our Own Endurance Comes from Christ

1.  As we look to Him and feed on Him by the Spirit, we are made strong for our own race of faith

VI.   The Goal: “the Joy Set Before Him” (and us)

A.  Christ Did It All for Joy

B.  The Definition of Love: Cheerful Sacrifice for the Benefit of Another

C.  “Desiring God”: Christian Hedonism… Living for Pleasure

1.  Simple lesson: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him

2.  We were made for HAPPINESS, for DELIGHT

3.  Everything we do we should do for the pleasure of it… but the key is that we should find our joy, happiness, pleasure in HIS GLORY

D.  The “Pleasures of God”: God Does Everything for His Own Pleasure

E.  God Loves a Cheerful Giver… so God IS a Cheerful Giver

1.  All Christian giving should be cheerful

2.  Does God also give cheerfully??? YES!!!

KJV Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

3.  It was also God’s PLEASURE to crush His Son

NAU Isaiah 53:10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

F.  Christ Also is a Cheerful Giver

1.  This verse teaches us that Christ went to the cross for JOY

2.  It was His pleasure ultimately to die for you and for me

3.  He was looking beyond the pain and torment and shame and wretchedness to the incredible joy of heaven

4.  He was delighted to do this for us

G.  Even the Cross was Done for Joy

H.  How the Joy Works: Endure Now for Future Joy; Enjoy Now by Faith What You Will Enjoy in the Future by Experience

I.  What is the Joy Set Before Christ? His Glory in Our Salvation

J.  The Same Joy is Set Before Us As Well

VII.   Consider Him, Lest You Become Discouraged (vs. 4)

Hebrews 12:3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

A.  Earlier Command Repeated: (vs. 2) Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus… Hebrews 12:3 Consider him…

1.  THINK about Jesus… meditate on His example… think about His suffering and His patience and His joy and His obedience

2.  This is done by faith based on the word of God

3.  A steadfast gazing at Christ will enable us to persevere in the trials we face

4.  First century Hebrews were being persecuted… opposed by wicked people

B.  The Opposition Jesus Endured

1.  Greek word: hostility, hatred, persecution… verbal abuse, physical abuse

2.  The ones who did it: SINFUL MEN… this world is filled with children of the devil who hate the children of God… Christ was the pure Son of God, and they opposed him and hated him

C.  Goal: Protection from Discouragement

“so that you do not grow weary and lose heart”

1.  Satan’s top priority in the Christian life: to get us so discouraged that we stop running the race set before us

2.  Two infinite journeys: internal journey, we think we can never defeat the sins that entangle us and we give up fighting altogether; external journey, we think we can never really lead anyone to Christ, or the unreached people group is too hostile to even try doing missions… so we GIVE UP!!!

3.  The remedy to growing weary and giving up is Jesus… focusing our minds and hearts on Christ’s example, for His power is at work in us

4.  We are also to focus our minds and hearts on the same joy that was in Christ… the JOY OF ETERNITY IN HEAVEN free from all this abuse

VIII.   Applications

A.  Consider Christ for the Salvation of your Souls

1.  Look to Christ crucified for the salvation of your soul

2.  Consider him… picture him there in your hearts

B.  Fix Your Minds on a Race of Endurance

1.  Allow this passage to search you and probe your hearts

2.  You are in a marathon race, and you’re not finished yet… the prospect ahead looks very tough… you are running up Heartbreak Hill at the 20 mile mark of the marathon, with, it seems, no energy left

3.  Is it not true that you have grown weary in the Christian race? Is it not true that your weariness has resulted in you slackening your pace? Your love for Scripture is less than it was… your delight in prayer is somewhat lessened of late… your delight in Christian fellowship is reduced. And why? Is it not because you have become discouraged and beaten down with the seemingly endless warfare of the Christian life? Day after day, you have had to wage war against the world the flesh and the devil. Day after day, you have had to stand your ground against temptations. Sometimes you have stood, and sometimes you have fallen. Each fall has increased your discouragement a little more. So, as a result, you are weary of the race. You wonder if you will really make it, if you are able to stand up against all the attacks of the Evil One for the rest of this marathon race

4.  FOLLOW THE STEPS prescribed in this passage!!

a.  FIRST: understand that you MUST persevere in the Christian life… you are in a marathon race for heaven

b.  SECOND: understand that the strength for this perseverance comes from Christ, but it is still your responsibility

c.  THIRD: throw off everything that hinders your Christian walk… every sin that is entangling your legs as you run

i)  If this is some lawful pleasure that has become an idol, throw it off… stop indulging it and instead feed your heart on Christ and His word

ii)  If it is some sinful pattern, understand the damage you’re doing to your soul and untangle your legs from the net

d.  FOURTH: run the race with endurance… make progress day by day in the health of your soul… grow in knowledge, get stronger in faith, built your character up in love, habitually obey the commands of God… RUN this race

e.  FIFTH: fix your mind on Jesus… practically set aside time every day for meditation on Christ… picture Him in your mind as crucified for you… picture Him also as resurrected and at the right hand of God; tell yourself that the race you are now running you are running by faith in the Son of God… do not allow yourself to be discouraged and give up