A Worthy Race

Text: Hebrews 12:1-2

Theme: Faithfulness in the Christian race.

Introduction

  1. The book of Hebrews is a book that is full of great exhortation to believers. The theme that runs through the whole book is that the New Covenant of Grace is far better than the Old Covenant of the Law.
  2. The Law commands us to do good, but it doesn’t give us the power to life righteously. Under the New Covenant we are commanded to live righteously but we have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to enable us to live godly lives.
  3. In the passage here in chapter 12, we have an exhortation to be faithful in the Christian race.

Main

The Witnesses to the Race (Vs 1a)

  1. The witnesses being spoken of.
    1. The word “wherefore” points us back to what has been discussed in the previous chapter.
      1. Chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews has often been called the great Hall of Faith of the Bible. In it we find compiled a list of faithful servants, not a list of people who were great because of their own talents or deeds, but who had unwavering faith in a great God.
      2. The whole of chapter eleven is given as an exhortation to anyone who is struggling today, that they can take courage in the God, because the God who gave victory to past heroes of the faith is still the God we serve today and He is still able to bless us and give us victory of the trials we face.
    2. The cloud of witnesses
      1. The mention of a cloud of witnesses gives us the picture that we are surrounded by a crowd of spectators. Like a crowd watching some great sporting event in the Olympics, we have a crowd of witnesses who have run the race before us and are now watching to see how we will complete the race.
      2. “The cloud of witnesses who have themselves been in the same contest, ought to increase our earnestness, testifying, as they do, to God’s faithfulness.1”
  2. The witness’s example to us.
    1. The example of these believers ought to encourage us today.
      1. These godly people were enabled by God to endure great trials, overcome otherwise insurmountable obstacles, and even to be martyred for their faith and yet they still believed God and were counted righteous.
      2. “After having shown us, in his wonderful picture gallery, what the fulness of faith is, he now calls us, in view of all the trials life may bring, and with them the temptation to grow disheartened and faint, to patience as the virtue by which faith is to prove its persistence and secure its reward.”2

The Weights in the Race (Vs 1b)

  1. The picture of a runners’ weights
    1. The runner in a race is careful not to be burdened down with unnecessary weights.
      1. Competitors in the games would need to adhere to a strict diet and exercise routine so that they would be in the best shape for their competition. They may choose not to eat certain foods, and to wear particularly light clothing.
      2. What would you think if you saw a runner in the Olympics who was wearing an array of gold chains around his neck, and was wearing jeans and a thick wooly jumper? There isn’t anything wrong with wearing those things, but they will probably keep him from winning the race, because they are unnecessary weights.
    2. The runner will keep himself healthy and in good shape.
      1. Competitors in the games would need to adhere to a strict diet and exercise routine so that they would be in the best shape for their competition. Likewise, carnal and worldly lusts, and all other things, whether from without or within, that would impede the heavenly runner, are the spiritual weight to be laid aside.
  2. The view of our spiritual weights
    1. What do spiritual weights look like?
      1. Weights are different to sins. Weights are things that are not sinful on their own, but they keep us from being the faithful Christian God wants us to be.
      2. Weights are those things that keep us from studying the Bible as we should, praying like we should, attending church as we should, and keep us from doing the will of God for our lives.
    2. Weights are different for everyone.
      1. The things that are weights for you probably not a weight to your wife or your sibling. For example, you may find it really easy to spend hours just scrolling on YouTube, but for others they couldn’t care less what YouTube has to offer.
      2. The point is, that you know what things captivate your mind and keep you from doing what you ought to. Whether it’s watching the footy finals, or going to a friend’s party, you know if those things have kept you from being in church on Sunday.
      3. Again, weights are things that are not sinful in and of themselves, but when they keep us from being faithful to God they become a problem.

The Wickedness in the Race (Vs 1c)

  1. The description of sin
    1. What is sin?
      1. The word “sin” is the Greek word áìáñôé̔áì (hamartia) which means to miss the mark, or offend. Sin is the transgression of God’s law and is an offence to Him.
      2. Sin is described as being something that is besetting us, it hangs off us and hinders our ability to run the race set before us.
      3. Sin easily besets us. We are easily hindered from, or distracted from following God by the sins that tempt us from day to day.
    2. We all have the sin nature present in us from birth.
      1. Regarding sin, “William Tyndale translated this, “the sin that hangeth on us.” Every believer knows the truth of what this verse is saying. We all have the same sin nature, the old flesh, the old Adam…”.
      2. “As the Isaac Watts’ hymn When the Battle’s Over says, “Shall I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to gain the prize and sailed through bloody seas”.”
      3. There is no saint so holy but that he realizes he has certain tendencies, which if allowed to control him, would lead to the breakdown of his testimony.3
  2. The result of sin
    1. The result is that we fail to follow God and be faithful in our Christian life.
      1. The Christian is instructed to lay aside the weights and the sin which easily besets us, out-distancing these things. (Rom 13:14 …and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”
      2. Illustration: I once heard an anecdotal story of two men walking bare foot on a hike when they happened upon a bear which was upset by their approach. The first man turned to run but the second man immediately began putting his shoes on. The first man said, “what are you doing? You’re never going to outrun the bear anyway!” to which the second man replied, “I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you.” While that’s an amusing tale, the question is, how would you run if you knew a bear was chasing you? Would you allow yourself to be burdened down by the weight of you backpack and water bottle, or would you throw everything aside in the pursuit of life? That is what we are supposed to do when it comes to the Christian life. Throw everything aside that hinders us from being a faithful Christian. We must throw off everything that keeps us from being faithful in prayer, Bible study, and church attendance. Each one of us knows the things that are a hinderance to us individually.

The Worthiness of the Race (Vs 2)

  1. The race has been set before us.
    1. The race we are running is not one of our own makings.
      1. The runners in the Olympics don’t get to set the term and conditions of the race. Those things are set for them, and they have to run within the boundaries and rules in order to win the prize.
      2. Likewise, we have a race before us that has established rules for obtaining the prize. The Bible is our manual for life’s race and it contains the instruction we need for running a Christ honouring race.
    2. The goal is established
      1. There is good news to be found here because the race has a definite path and end goal.
      2. Sometimes, as we are running the race, we begin to wonder where we’re going and how we’re going to get there and we start to question the path that God is leading us down, but rest assured that God knows the race from beginning to end and we can trust him to lead us from start to finish.
  2. Jesus is our forerunner.
    1. Looking unto Jesus
      1. The word “looking” here has the idea of fixing our eyes on Jesus and being undistracted by anyone else, looking solely at Him.
      2. Keep your focus in the Lord Jesus, who has run the race before us, and it will encourage you to be faithful to the end.
    2. The Originator and Completer of faith
      1. The Lord Jesus has gone before us and has given us the perfect example of true, undefiled faith.
      2. There is no greater example for us to follow than the example of the Lord Jesus who sacrificed his own life so that we might have faith in Him and be sure of eternal blessing through Him.

Conclusion

  1. How is your race going? Are you running a race that is pleasing to the Lord or are you trying to make the rules up for yourself?
  2. Are you feeling discouraged in the race? Then I encourage you to fix your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ and be encouraged that He has gone before us and He is able to strengthen you for the path ahead. He knows the beginning and the end of your race.

References

  1. Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 475.
  2. The holiest of All, Andrew Murray, Fleming H. Revell Company, Pg 477
  3. A. Ironside, Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1932), 151.