Nepal Sermon: Hebrews 12:1-3

Running the Race Well

Olympic runners are known for preparing several years in advanced for the next summer olympics.

They put in a lot of hard work, sweat, and tears to compete.

The practice that they put in does not often have immediate results.

The results will only pay off a couple years later.

The runner prepares every day like the Big Race is tomorrow.

The preparation can seem repetitive and boring, but they continually persist in the labor.

The runner does not complain that the training is difficult, but they keep going in spite of it.

Runners participate with joy because they get to represent their countries and desire to win for them.

Their country is what gives them the motivation to run well.

In the same way, our Savior Jesus is the One who motivates us to prepare and run hard.

We must run the race of the Christian faith like Jesus is coming back tomorrow everyday.

We know that when we run the race and finish well, we will see Jesus one day and He will be our prize that we receive.

He is the greatest Treasure in the entire universe and nothing compares to Him!

So look with me at Hebrews 12:1-3 to see how we can be encouraged to follow Jesus better.

Hebrews 12:1–3 ESV

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

Run with endurance because their is a cloud of witnesses who show God’s faithfulness.

Exegesis: This phrase “cloud of witnesses” refers to the saints that the author of Hebrews had just talked about in ch.11.

They faced all kinds of hardship but kept on running.

They could keep on running because they knew that the God they entrusted their lives to was very faithful.

This did not mean that their lives did not meet hardship and trouble. They faced more hardship than most of us have.

These believers demonstrate that God can be trusted!

God was sovereign over their lives, and His will was different for each of them.

Application: This same cloud of witnesses and other Christians that have gone before us encourages us to endure faithfully.

May we not be followers of Jesus who do not show that He is faithful.

But may our lives reflect the lives of the saints that have gone before us who glorified God!

There will be many temptations to grumble and complain to God that the race is too hard,

but we must remember that grumbling is the opposite of thankfulness.

As Christians, we have so much to be thankful for since Jesus came and lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose 3 days later for our justification.

In Christ, we have been freed from the penalty of sin!

We are now being saved from the power of sin over us.

And one day, we will be free from the presence of sin!

Overcoming our sin nature was our biggest problem, but Jesus has given us His Spirit to help fight sin.

To keep from complaining, we need to remember that God is so good to us, and that He will always be faithful.

When we are prone to complain, we should be quick to repent and remember the Gospel that saved us.

The hardship may even cause us to complain against our pastors,

but we must remember that Jesus has given them to us as our shepherds to submit to.

The Bible says in...

Hebrews 13:17 ESV

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

To grumble against and not obey your pastor is to disobey Jesus.

Your obedience to their leadership makes it much easier for them and the church.

In the same way the runner has to abide by the rules to run the race, so we must listen to our pastors in order to endure the race of faith.

If we want to run the race well, we must get rid of the extra weight.

Exegesis: The sin in which the author speaks of is the ongoing sin.

It refers to unrepentant sin in the believer’s life that can cause them to run poorly.

Illustration: If the olympic runner does not lay aside additional weight, then they could be greatly injured and fall out of the race.

A runner usually does not run with weights or heavy clothes because that would slow him down.

Application: We must let go and turn away from our sin if we want to run with more ease.

Sin will always hold us back!

Sin will always weigh us down!

Sin will always take you further than you want to go!

Sin will always keep us from finishing the race!

Complaining that the work is too hard could cause you to reject following Jesus.

Complaining that the work is too hard could cause you to fall out of the race.

In a minute, we will see Jesus’ example to follow.

Therefore, we must let the Spirit reveal areas of our lives that are not submitted to Christ.

The Spirit must expose the extra weight that keeps us from following Jesus closely.

The Spirit must remind us of the Gospel to get more energy to run faithfully.

Fix your eyes of Jesus who endured the most brutal suffering on the cross.

Exegesis: Now we come to the verse that compels us to endure the race.

Jesus ran this race before us, so the hardship we face is not new to Him.

Jesus the founder of our faith meaning He is the origin and object of our faith.

Every word of Scripture points to Jesus.

It is all about Him!

Luke 24:27 ESV

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Jesus is the perfecter of our faith meaning that he has completed it.

When Jesus gave His last breath on the cross He cried out “It is finished!”

Everything had been fulfilled in Jesus!

He had purchased for us salvation!

A worship song that we sing in our church family is called His Mercy is More.

One verse goes like this...

What riches of kindness he lavished on us,

His blood was the payment, and His life was the cost.

We stood beneath a debt we could never afford.

Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

Application: Look what Christ has done!

Whenever we begin to grow weary from running the race, know that Christ has ran and completed the race before you.

He is now in heaven praying every second of the day for you to endure!

He is a Great High Priest who is able to sympathize with us!