Hebrews 12:1-3

Hebrews 12:1–3 (ESV)

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 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,

By Faith...

Abel was found righteous in his sacrifice to the Lord

Enoch was a faithful witness and was spared from death

Noah constructed the ark and saved his family

Abraham obeyed and set out to an unknown destination

Sarah believed God and conceived the child that the Lord had promised her at 90 years old

Jacob worshipped God as he laid on his deathbed

Moses was spared from death as a child, defied Pharoah, stood for God’s people, left Egypt, protected the Israelites during Passover, and parted the Red Sea

The author goes on beginning in verse 32:

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

These people are the “cloud of witnesses” that Hebrews 12:1 speaks of.

They were “heroes of the faith” which is why chapter 11 is referred to as the “Hall of Heroes” or “Faith’s Hall of Fame.”

They were unwavering and relentless in who they believed the Lord to be and what he had commanded them to do.

And they are a constant encouragement to us, it is what we see in them that proves to us that we have not and do not struggle alone.

You are not, I am not, we are not the first to see the problems that we face on this side of eternity. Others have run the race and won, and their witness implores us to do the same.

Secondly, not only are we motivated in our faith by “the heroes of the faith”.... our “great cloud of witnesses” but we are to “lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely.” or said another way, we can throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that entangles us”

God is saying that if you want to come to faith in Him, if you want to become faithful to God and be used by him then you are going to have to get rid of the weight: your going to have to get rid of the heaviness and the influence of the things that are keeping you from reaching Christ and his plan for your life.

Maybe you have made bad financial decisions that have landed you in financial hardship and you are not giving God what is His, may be you are allowing yourself to be influenced by people who are leading you in a direction opposite of the Lord, may be you or a loved one have been diagnosed with a medical condition and the prognosis does not look good, may be you are involved in some sort of hidden sin that is weighing you down and hindering your ability to run:

The Christian will endure, will persevere, throughout the struggles and seasons of life.

And Hebrews is not talking about living to a good old age, its not talking about having a good, materialistic life. But rather its talking about actively enduring and persisting in our faith, continuing to remain faithful to that which the Lord has called us to do not matter the circumstance, consequence or outcome.

We trade the weight of life for a faith in Christ.

I think its important to note that most first century races were less than 3 miles in length. The finish line was marked, predetermined and the path was laid out.

And Our race here on earth is much the same, the average human lifespan is 73.4 years, the finish line is marked. And God has a plan for us. He has called us to be faithful to Him, His Word and His plan for our life. The Question is: Are you running well for the Lord or have you found yourself by the wayside rendered useless from decisions that you have made, from the weight of life circumstances or from your sin?

You will always fail to be used by the Lord, if you quit every time you fall.

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

So how do we change? How do we accomplish this?

Verse 2 tells us by “looking to Jesus.” And what its trying to tell us is that the only way that we will find ourselves faithful to the Lord…is when we “look away from everything else and focus on one object” that one object being Him.

We are to model our lives after Christ, who is the author/founder and perfecter of our faith the text tells us.

Jesus is the founder and perfecter of faith in two ways: (1) he is the source of faith; and (2) he is the model of faith. Jesus is the source of faith in that by his death and resurrection, he has become the “source of eternal salvation” (Heb 5:9);

he is the model of faith in that he trusted God as evidenced by his total obedience to the Father in the work of atonement. The author placed the name “Jesus” at the very end of the clause for emphasis. The human name “Jesus” emphasizes his humanity in the context.

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Consider Jesus… means to seriously weigh with utmost care how Christ endured the sufferings he experienced.

He is the perfect model of faith. He is the source of it. And when trade the weight of life and sin for faith in Christ, we experience victory, not necessarily in a physical sense, but

It is wholly impossible for us to know what lies before us, but it is possible to know something vastly more important. A quaint but godly American preacher of a generation past said it for us. “Abraham went out not knowing whither he went,” said he, “but he knew Who was going with him.” We cannot know for certain the what and the whither of our earthly pilgrimage, but we can be sure of the Who. And nothing else really matters.

Genesis 12:1–4; John 10:4; 2 Timothy 1:11–12; Hebrews 11:8–10

The Warfare of the Spirit, 97.

A. W. Tozer