The Great Christian Race
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Hebrews 12:1-4
Hebrews 12 turns the page from Hebrews 11 and brings the faith of yesterday into the race of today.
And that is the scene that the writer of Hebrews is drawing for us here.
The scene a stadium, the moment is a race, and the command is simple—run.
We are not racing to earn salvation, but because we are saved and set apart to finish well.
Think of a high-school track meet where focus and form determine the finish, not just enthusiasm at the starting gun.
The Christian life is not a sprint fueled by bursts of emotion, but a marathon fueled by steadfast devotion.
Tonight, God’s Word teaches us how to run and why we must keep our eyes on Jesus.
The writer gives us five helps for holy endurance, moving from what surrounds us to what we must do and finally to whom we must look.
Let’s take them in order and apply them as we go.
I. The Crowd That Motivates Us
I. The Crowd That Motivates Us
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses…”
These “witnesses” are not spectators judging our pace, but are testifying about their lives, and how it attests that God is faithful.
Their testimonies say, “By faith, you can finish too.”
And you can!
It is not too hard for you!
We looked at Hebrews 11:33-34 last week, but it talked about…
33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Their victories show what God can do through ordinary people who trust Him.
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
Elisha was just a man…just like we are.
He prayed, and God answered.
Their humanity encourages our hope when we feel weak.
Because their stories shout “God keeps His word,” we can take the next step He asks of us.
So what can we do with their examples to motivate us?
A. Remember Their Proofs
A. Remember Their Proofs
Faith works in every generation because God never changes.
God hasn’t changed since the days of Elisha, Daniel or David!
6 For I am the Lord, I change not; Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
The unchanging God guarantees that faith is still the right response.
We just need to choose to have faith like they had.
The help is still there
The grace is still there
The gift from God of faith is still there
We just need to accept it and use it.
If their witness motivates us, our next move must be to travel lighter.
B. Reject Our Pretenses
B. Reject Our Pretenses
We honor their testimony not by admiring their plaques, but by imitating their patience.
We can’t just sit back and say, “Wow, what faith! What amazing people!”
What good will that do?
No, we need to imitate their faithfulness…their faithfulness.
“Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience…”
Paul said,
1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
Follow what I did right!
Run with patience!
Use the living and biblical examples to stir present obedience.
I believe it is extremely beneficial for every christian to read biographies of great Christians who have gone on before us.
I have a list of ten well-known Christians whose biographies have been used by God to strengthen the faith of many believers.
These are men and women who lived in different eras and contexts, but each demonstrated remarkable devotion to Christ.
Reading about their lives can encourage you to be perseverant, and to deepen your trust in God, and it will help stir a heart for service.
Maybe you say, “But I don’t like to read.”
Ok, get an audio book on amazon and listen to it on yoru phone.
Get a digital copy of the book and have your phone read it to you.
But this is an important part of the Christian life.
So write down some of these names.
William Carey – Often called the “father of modern missions,” his life in India shows the power of perseverance in spreading the gospel.
David Brainerd – His journal and short life of missionary work among Native Americans inspired generations, including Jonathan Edwards, who published his biography.
Amy Carmichael – Missionary to India who rescued children from temple slavery and showed the beauty of sacrificial service.
Hudson Taylor – Founder of the China Inland Mission, a man of deep faith and prayer, who trusted God for provision without public appeals.
Charles Spurgeon – The “Prince of Preachers,” whose sermons, writings, and devotion still inspire Christians to boldness and trust in God’s Word.
Jim Elliot – Missionary martyr in Ecuador, whose famous words, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose,” continue to challenge believers.
John Bunyan – Author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, who remained faithful while imprisoned for preaching the gospel.
Fanny Crosby – Blind hymn writer who penned thousands of hymns, showing joy in Christ despite hardship.
D.L. Moody – Evangelist and founder of schools, whose simple faith and zeal for souls brought revival to two continents.
Elisabeth Elliot – Missionary, author, and speaker whose testimony of forgiveness and faith after her husband’s martyrdom has impacted many.
Follow the example of those who have gone before us.
Follow the Crows that Motivates Us
II. The Clutter We Must Manage
II. The Clutter We Must Manage
“…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…”
Weights are not always wicked things, but they never the less slow our stride and steal our wind.
Besetting sin is the familiar snare that tangles our feet at the worst possible moment.
We all know what we struggle with.
That sin that just pushes us off the path.
And it seems to happen so easily.
But we need to always remember the point!
Remember the goal!
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Train on purpose and say no to anything that blunts your spiritual edge.
Keep faithful to following after the race that God has give you!
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Replace sinful patterns with Christlike practices.
How do we identify weights in real life?
A. Weights: Good Things That Got Too Heavy
A. Weights: Good Things That Got Too Heavy
Remember weights are a good thing for training.
They are not a good thing for the race!
Maybe it’s schedule bloat
Maybe it’s screen habits
Maybe it’s unchecked hobbies
These all may be lawful but lethal to our zeal.
Ask, “Does this help me run, or make me drag?”
Like Paul said,
12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
Keep only what maximizes pursuit of Christ.
Then deal decisively with the sins that keep tripping you.
B. Snares: Old Sins That Know Our Gait
B. Snares: Old Sins That Know Our Gait
Name it
Confess it
Then replace it with Spirit-led obedience.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Daily dependence on the Spirit breaks daily sin cycles.
Find a spirit led activity or thought that will replace the sinful one.
We have seen the Crowd that Motivates Us
and we need to follow their examples
We have seen the Clutter We Must Manage
and we know the weights and the sins we need to set aside to run this race.
Thirdly let’s see…
III. The Course We Must Maintain
III. The Course We Must Maintain
“…and let us run with patience the race that is set before us…”
Our race is assigned by God, marked out ahead of time, and it requires patient endurance.
You do not pick your course, but you decide your pace—steady, steadfast, and surrendered.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Stop staring at yesterday and lean into today’s call.
One of the biggest tools of the devil is to get you to look at your mistakes from yesterday.
Don’t let him win.
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.
Waiting on God refuels running for God.
What does patient running look like this week?
A. Steady Steps Over Flashy Sprints
A. Steady Steps Over Flashy Sprints
Consistency beats intensity when the race is long.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Finishers are faithful in small things over long seasons.
You don’t have to look at the big picture and try to finish the big project.
It’s the little things that add up to the big things.
Just focus on what is before you right now!
Patience also means trusting the boundaries of the course.
so then…
B. Stay In Your Lane
B. Stay In Your Lane
Resentment over your route breeds ruin.
Don’t look at another persons lane and get jealous of their path…just stay faithful to the lane God has given you!
25 Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: Remove thy foot from evil.
You can’t wish for another path, if you are going to run this race as you should.
You can’t wish the race was over, if you are going to please the Lord.
Keep your Eyes forward,
Keep your feet straight,
Keep your heart fixed on the Lord - The Captain of our soul!
IV. The Captain We Must Model After
IV. The Captain We Must Model After
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…”
To “look” is to fix your focus,
to rivet your gaze,
to lock on the Leader.
Jesus started our faith,
He sustains our faith,
and He will successfully finish our faith.
“For the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
A higher focus produces a sturdier faith.
Keep your eyes on Jesus!
This life will soon be over.
Only what is done for Christ will matter.
Not the hurts
Not the trials
Not the struggles
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Long views make light burdens.
Model yourself after Jesus.
How did Jesus endure such agony?
A. His Joy Outweighed His Shame
A. His Joy Outweighed His Shame
The joy of our redemption and the Father’s glory outweighed the agony of the cross.
Christ finished what he came here to do…
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
So we must finish what we are here to do.
Christ’s finished work fuels our ongoing work.
And where is He now?
B. His Seat Guarantees Our Strength
B. His Seat Guarantees Our Strength
He is seated, meaning the atonement is complete and His intercession is active.
25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
We need to draw our strength from our praying Savior.
We have seen the Crowd That Motivates Us
We have seen the Clutter We Must Manage
We have seen The Course We Must Maintain
The Captain that is Our Model
Lastly we see…
V. The Calculation We Must Make
V. The Calculation We Must Make
“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Weary feet come from wandering eyes and wandering thoughts.
Consider Christ deliberately, mentally, repeatedly, until courage returns.
“Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”
Your struggle is real, but your Savior’s suffering went further.
1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
Arm your mind with Christ’s mindset to fight sin with resolve.
Don’t be like those in Galatia, to whom Paul said,
7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
Identify the hindrance and cut it off in Christ’s strength.
Charles Spurgeon said, “By perseverance the snail reached the ark.”
Even small saints finish great races by steady grace.
In 1952, swimmer Florence Chadwick attempted the Catalina Channel, but a thick fog hid the shoreline.
Frozen and discouraged, she quit less than a mile from the finish.
Two months later she tried again, still in fog, but this time she kept a clear picture of the shore in her mind and finished with record time.
When you cannot see the finish, keep the Finisher in view.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Lay aside the clutter, lock in on Christ, and lean forward with patient steps.
The cloud says, “It can be done.”
The Captain says, “I did it for you and I am with you.”
So run your race today with your eyes on Jesus until the day you see Him face to face.
Take a minute and ask yourself, “What weight is slowing me?”
“What sin is snaring me?”
Name it to God and lay it aside tonight.
Then let’s pray for endurance for one another by name, fixing our eyes on Jesus together.
If you are weary, consider Him again and commit to one practical change this week that helps you run lighter and look longer at Jesus.
