Fix Your Eyes on Christ

The Race

intro illustration

Faith Finishers

Consider the faith of past witnesses

They’re surrounding you as the audience of the race

the race hasn’t changed though the track may look different or be in a different location, it’s still running

Do you remember where you were when the news came that the COVID-19 virus was changing everything? How did you feel? What was your first reaction, fear or faith? As we open the word together today, I want you to keep this question in mind: when I am facing fear, how do I have faith (repeat)? Open with me now to Hebrews, chapter twelve, verses one and two (repeat, pause). These verses have been aptly timed in my life and in this season, I hope they can be just as encouraging to you (repeat Heb 12:1-2, read).

“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.”

The letter to the Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were most likely located in Rome. It was written during emperor Nero’s rise to power before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70AD. Nero is famous for being the worst of the Roman emperors in persecuting Christians. The audience of Hebrews would have been amid this persecution, even seeing some of their brothers and sisters martyred. Many of the Christians were tempted to apostatize Christianity and revert to their old Jewish ways of religion. The author of Hebrews is writing to his audience to consider the supremacy of Christ above everything, encouraging his readers to keep their faith in Christ just as the Old Testament saints had.

The author of Hebrews is unknown, but he was a companion to Timothy, he knew his audience in Rome very well, he was highly educated, and he was well spoken. Hebrews is very likely to have been spoken first as a sermon. The rhetorical style and structure of the book are characteristic of oratorical presentation.

The focus of our text today in chapter twelve: to run the race of faith with endurance, consider faith finishers, put off faith fractures, and look to Jesus who is the fullness of faith (repeat).

To run the race of faith with endurance

The analogy of running the race in this text is powerful. As I prepared for this message, I talked to two of my running friends asking them about how they run track and cross country. I first talked to my brother Noah, who is a well decorated Division II NCAA decathlete running track for Cedarville University. I also spoke with my friend Jessica who ran cross country for Moody Bible Institute and herself says she has been running since before she could walk. As I asked each of them questions about their experiences, Hebrews 12:1-2 came alive for me as I realized what the author was communicating in these verses. As we dive into this text, picture this Christian life we live as a race. In this race we have teammates, we have hindrances that keep us from running faster, and we have coaches and a head coach who has run this race before and can help us through it.

To run the race of faith with endurance, consider faith finishers (repeat)

Chapter twelve verse one says, “Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…”. “Therefore,” The sermon of Hebrews is meant to be presented in one sitting for its full rhetorical effect, so when considering two verses, it is crucial to know the context. It’s important to go back and see what therefore is there for. Hebrews main purpose is to establish the supremacy of Christ over all the prophets and leaders of old. Christ is the highest. Hebrews main encouragement is to have faith that endures through trial because of Christ. The idea of ‘therefore’ in chapter twelve begins in chapter ten. The author visits the past of the Christians he’s talking to in chapter ten. Then, in chapter eleven, he gives past examples of a multitude of Old Testament men and women of faith in order to frame the members of the audience’ present faith. Chapter eleven is known as the ‘Hall of Faith’ and includes saints like Abraham, Moses, Rahab and many others. There are some surprising people mentioned there. I would recommend going back and reading it later when you have the time. The focus of the passage is to show how all these people showed faith in God, and in verse thirty-nine and forty, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” The imagery is given of these Old Testament witnesses being in the stands as the audience runs the race

Faith Fractures

Consider the hindrances to faith

Do you remember where you were when the news came that the COVID-19 virus was changing everything? How did you feel? What was your first reaction, fear or faith? As we open the word together today, I want you to keep this question in mind: when I am facing fear, how do I have faith (repeat)? Open with me now to Hebrews, chapter twelve, verses one and two (repeat, pause). These verses have been aptly timed in my life and in this season, I hope they can be just as encouraging to you (repeat , read).

“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.”

The letter to the Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were most likely located in Rome. It was written during emperor Nero’s rise to power before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70AD. Nero is famous for being the worst of the Roman emperors in persecuting Christians. The audience of Hebrews would have been amid this persecution, even seeing some of their brothers and sisters martyred. Many of the Christians were tempted to apostatize Christianity and revert to their old Jewish ways of religion. The author of Hebrews is writing to his audience to consider the supremacy of Christ above everything, encouraging his readers to keep their faith in Christ just as the Old Testament saints had.

The author of Hebrews is unknown, but he was a companion to Timothy, he knew his audience in Rome very well, he was highly educated, and he was well spoken. Hebrews is very likely to have been spoken first as a sermon. The rhetorical style and structure of the book are characteristic of oratorical presentation.

The focus of our text today in chapter twelve: to run the race of faith with endurance, consider faith finishers and put off faith fractures, looking to Jesus who is the fullness of faith (repeat).

To run the race of faith with endurance

The analogy of running the race in this text is powerful. As I prepared for this message, I talked to two of my running friends asking them about how they run track and cross country. I first talked to my brother Noah, who is a well decorated Division II NCAA decathlete running track for Cedarville University. I also spoke with my friend Jessica who ran cross country for Moody Bible Institute and herself says she has been running since before she could walk. As I asked each of them questions about their experiences, came alive for me as I realized what the author was communicating in these verses. As we dive into this text, picture this Christian life we live as a race. In this race we have teammates, we have hindrances that keep us from running faster, and we have coaches and a head coach who has run this race before and can help us through it.

To run the race of faith with endurance, consider faith finishers (repeat)

Chapter twelve verse one says, “Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…”. “Therefore,” The sermon of Hebrews is meant to be presented in one sitting for its full rhetorical effect, so when considering two verses, it is crucial to know the context. It’s important to go back and see what therefore is there for. Hebrews main purpose is to establish the supremacy of Christ over all the prophets and leaders of old. Christ is the highest. Hebrews main encouragement is to have faith that endures through trial because of Christ. The idea of ‘therefore’ in chapter twelve begins in chapter ten. The author visits the past of the Christians he’s talking to in chapter ten. Then, in chapter eleven, he gives past examples of a multitude of Old Testament men and women of faith in order to frame the members of the audience’ present faith. Chapter eleven is known as the ‘Hall of Faith’ and includes saints like Abraham, Moses, Rahab and many others. There are some surprising people mentioned there. I would recommend going back and reading it later when you have the time. The focus of the passage is to show how all these people showed faith in God, and in verse thirty-nine and forty, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses….”

These witnesses are faith finishers. They have run this faith race and finished it and are now standing on the other side of glory looking back at those still running the race. Faith finishers give us hope and encouragement, but also a sense of responsibility.

Imagine you’re running. Your breath is heaving, heart pounding, feet hitting the ground one after the other… and you’ve been doing it for a very long time. You don’t know how many miles you’ve been or how many there are to go. You feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere running toward nothing. Then you come to a bend in the path, on the other side are a few of your good friends camped out waiting for you. “Run! Go! You can do it! reach the end! One foot in front of the other! Let’s go!!” Your feet lighten, your heart strengthens, and your pace quickens as you run on with hope! (pause) Hebrews defines faith in chapter eleven verse one, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” If you place yourself in the Christian race and imagine that every Old Testament saint that had faith is surrounding you in the stands cheering you on to go faster, you will run faster. Not only is it now your joy, but it is your responsibility. Their faith got you where you are now. It’s always easier to do something when someone not only explains it to you, but also shows you how to do it by finishing it first.

Men and women of faith, this faith race has been run before by a great number of people just like us. They faced trials just like us. They messed up just like us. But they also had faith in God who brought them through it all, just like we should.

(as conclusion) To run the race of faith with endurance, consider faith finishers (repeat as transition) and put off faith fractures (repeat)

What fractures your faith? The second half of Hebrews twelve one says, “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.” Imagine again you’re running; breath heaving, heart pounding, feet stomping. Except, you feel this weight in your legs like there’s something pulling you down. You look down and realize you’re wearing led shoes. A space man must have switched out his boots for your sneakers. You think “hopefully there isn’t an astronaut on the moon in sneakers,” then you take off the heavy boots and keep running, except now you feel so much faster because you have laid aside what made it harder to run.

In the Roman times, the Olympic games would be competed by men who were completely naked. This would free them from any hindrance to their performance. The same principle is applied to swimmers today who shave their whole body to be more aerodynamic in the water. There are a lot of things in this world that fracture our faith and make it harder to run. Hebrews distinguishes two types of fractures, “weight, and sin”. Both terms are purposefully left ambiguous and undefined because when it says “every” it means every! Everything that causes our faith to falter, get rid of it! A weight can be anything; worry, fear, distraction, procrastination, anything that you find that hinders your faith. Remember, this is meant to be amidst trial and hardship. The author is saying to lay distraction aside amid the trial, not to put off the trial you have no control over. He also says to lay aside sin which “clings so closely”, or as other versions say, “so easily entangles”. What sins in your life entangle you the easiest? What distracts you most from your faith in God; pride, lust, greed, deceit? Sin takes on many forms, and all of it distracts us from faith. Put off what fractures you and run with endurance. To us this may seem an impossible task, and you’d be right if we ignored verse two.

To run the race of faith with endurance, consider faith finishers and put off faith fractures, looking to Jesus who is the fullness of faith (repeat).

The Fullness of Faith

Look to Jesus who is the fullness of faith.

The View

Where do we look in life when faced with difficulty?