Hebrews 12 - 10/28/12
PRAY - Turn with me this morning to the book of Hebrews, chapter 12. We have been going through this book that talks about the “better” system we have in Jesus Christ. The book is written to Jewish Christians who were tempted to go back to the OT sacrificial system. But this book reminds them, and us, that Jesus is better than the OT prophets, better than angels, better than Moses, better than any high priest, better even than Abraham, the father of the Jewish race.
We camped out for four weeks in chapter 10, looking at the calls we are given to live boldly in Christ. We are called to draw near to God, and if we do, He will draw near to us. We can come boldly to God in prayer, knowing that He delights in hearing and answering our prayers. We are called to Hold on to Hope - to firmly believe the promises of God and look for Him to bring to pass everything He has told us. We are called to Spur One Another On - by being an encourager to one another. So often we want someone to come alongside US instead of asking who it is that we could encourage. And then last week we looked at the call to Meet together for Encouragement - we saw that when we meet together for worship, it is an encouragement for everyone present.
Then the author of Hebrews goes on in chapter 11 to remind us of a whole host of witnesses who went on before us and who lived their lives in faith and hope and encouragement. We aren’t going to look at chapter 11 in depth today, but most of these stories are familiar to us. They are the heroes of the faith.
And then after listing example after example of these faithful Jews, the author of Hebrews moves on to chapter 12 and gives us a visual picture of a sporting event. Very much like the Olympic games. The Greeks and Romans loved to compete in their arenas. In fact, while it is not recorded anywhere in the biblical text, the Romans actually had an arena in Israel in a town called Scythopolis, located between Jerusalem and Nazareth. So the Jews were very familiar with this sporting image.
I’ll be using the NIV today, but I want to read the passage first out of the New Living Translation today:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven. Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don’t become weary and give up.
Now let me read the same passage in a modern translation called the Message:
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves.
The writer of the book of Hebrews pictured himself in a race. He imagines himself in a great arena, with people all around him watching and cheering. Have you ever done that? Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to play football in the Super Bowl or soccer in the World Cup? When you are on the world stage, everybody is watching you, and the thunder of applause is deafening as fans are cheering for you to win. Here in chapter 12 we see a crowd of those who have already run the race of life themselves, and won. And each one of them is now watching us, cheering for us to overcome all the obstacles in front of us in our quest to become, like them, a spiritual champion.
So who are these spectators - this huge crowd of witnesses? The answer to that is in the previous chapter, Hebrews 11. Notice that 12:1 starts with the word “therefore” - remember the old rule - “whenever you see the word “therefore”, look back to see what it’s “there for”. Therefore - in light of all the spiritual champions of chapter 11, who showed us that we CAN live a life of faith - we want to keep on running the race!
The first thing we see here in chapter 12 is that we are to
• Remember the witnesses. Remember those who teach us by their lives that we can live a life of spiritual victory. We so often give in to discouragement, defeat, and despair. But Satan doesn’t need to win the battle; we don’t need to give in to sin. We can be victorious in following Christ.
What is it about the lives of these heavenly witnesses from Hebrew 11 that should set the bar for us in our spiritual lives? Hebrews 11 says that it was their faith—“being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (v. 1). They were mostly ordinary men and women who ended up doing extraordinary things as a result of their faith in God.
The Bible says in 11:33 that these heroes, by their faith, conquered kingdoms, administered justice, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword. Faith in a great God enables ordinary people to powerfully overcome the obstacles they face in life.
Today, many people look up to athletes and musicians as heroes. They are seen as heroes because in many ways they do things that most of us can’t. But God’s heroes, the heroes of the Bible, were not men and women of extraordinary ability or talent, but men and women of extraordinary faith.
1 Corinthians 1:26-30 reminds us “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”
That should be a great encouragement to us: not many of us will ever be “superstars” in the eyes of the world. But every single one of us can be a “hero” in God’s book - each one us us can choose to have a victorious faith. So, we are called to remember the witnesses. Secondly, we are called to
• Remove All Hindrances - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. . .
Did you ever think about the fact that each of those spiritual champions in chapter 11 had to get rid of some hindrances of their own - some spiritual baggage? Abraham twice deceived a king by claiming his wife was his sister. Joseph’s pride nearly got him killed. Moses actually killed a man. Elijah struggles with depression and pity. David had an illicit affair with a woman and then had her husband killed. Solomon, the wisest man, is led astray by idolatrous wives and ends up worshiping idols. Mary Magdalene has a checkered past. Peter denies his Lord. Timothy is timid. Paul says he is the chief of sinners—and in many ways he was. These great heroes of the faith all had sins that weighed them down. So do you and I. There’s no excuse for us not being holy, but the truth remains that we’re not! I’m certainly not. And you aren’t either. Thank God for His mercy and grace, because without that we’re all in deep trouble!
In the race set before you, what is keeping you from being the champion God wants you to be? Most of us know the answer to that question. If we think about it, most of us could identify the “baggage” in our lives. Hebrews says there are two things that a runner must get rid of. First there is unnecessary weight. When I was in college I had a roommate who was a cross-country runner. He didn’t run in steel-toed work boots. He didn’t run in sneakers. He had expensive track shoes that weighed only a couple ounces. I had another friend who raced bicycles. He didn’t have a mountain bike with an iron frame - he had a ridiculously expensive bike that you could lift with one finger. Modern racing bicycle frames weigh only 2 pounds - less than this bible! Why so light? Athletes want to get rid of every excess weight.
The Bible speaks of throwing off “everything that hinders.” Some versions translate this as “every weight.” There are many things in life that are not particularly sinful in and of themselves, but they have the potential to become weights that can hinder us in our race of this life. These are not evil things per se. They’re choices we make that repeatedly infringe on spiritual priorities. It could be something as simple as watching too much television. And here are hours lost each day and each week that can’t ever be recaptured—months wasted in trivial pursuits. Talking too much on the phone. Reading too many unimportant books. Did you ever hear anyone say, or maybe you even said “I’m going to the mall because I’m bored.” Never-ending work on the house, in the garden, shopping or socializing. Playing video games. Texting. Biking. Decorating. Bowling. Golfing. Just trying to keep up with all the magazines that come to your house. Surfing the web. Going from movie to movie on youtube. Channel surfing the TV.
None of these things are necessarily bad. But they can each stand in the way of our spending time building our relationship with the Lord? These verses are speaking of running a race, but none of us would think of trying to win a race weighed down with all kinds of unnecessary weight. What is the “weight” in your life that keeps you from being victorious in living for God? Make a decision to throw it off!
But weights are not the only things that hinder us. Another thing mentioned here is sin, a word which in the original Greek means, “to miss the mark.” Just as an archer aims his arrow at a bull’s-eye, so the Christian’s target should be nothing less than holiness, for “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). But unfortunately sin constantly keeps us from hitting the mark. It tangles our feet so that we are unable to make it to the finish line. How many people have you seen get tripped up in their Christian walk over anger, bitterness, lying, envy, idolatry, and sexual sins? It says here that sin “easily entangles” us. A better translation might be it “skillfully surrounds” us. Matthew 13 tells the parable of the sower and the seed. It states in verse 22 a picture of sin like a weed, choking the good growth that God desires. It says in verse 22 of that passage, “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” I have some “pineapple grass” in my back yard, a weed that spreads through the grass, and chokes out the good grass from growing.
Sin works the same way. It entangles and strangles us so that even when we think we want to do the right thing, we just don’t see how we can. You might WANT to honor God and do right and get the victory in life, but Satan whispers his lies in your ear - Give up! It’s no use - you’ve tried it before and you fail every time! That’s what you are - one big failure!
So, if we want to have victory in our lives and finish well, we need to deal with these distractions that weigh us down, and these sins that entangle us and strangle us. Most sins are stubborn, and many weights involve years of habit. Far too often we try to get victory over a sin or habit in a day that we have spent years developing. It’s like a person who over the last five years had gained 100 pounds, and then they go on a diet for a week and expect the weight to be gone! The truth is that it will take a long time of faithfully sticking with the diet to reach the goal of that weight coming off. It takes perseverance! And that is the next thing we see here in this verse.
We are called to remember the witnesses, to remove all hindrances, and then to
• Run with Perseverance - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
The KJV says it, let us run with patience the race that is set before us . . .
The NLT says it, let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. . .
We will never get the victory if we give up, if we “run out of gas” spiritually. In Phoenix, at the Checker Auto Parts 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been leading the race for 105 laps. But then something very disappointing happened to him - he ran out of gas, literally, and had to coast into the pit area for fuel. He never recovered from that setback and wound up finishing the race in 5th place.
Today, as we continue to think about the “spiritual race” we are in, we want to make sure that we don’t “run out of gas” spiritually.
Just what is this idea of perseverance and what does it mean for us? The Greek word is translated in a variety of ways in the NT.
Luke 8:15 has the idea of “steadily holding fast” to God’s message.
Luke 21:19 has the idea of “standing firm.”
Romans 2:7 has the idea of “persistence” in continuing to do good
Romans 15:4-5 teaches us to “patiently” wait for God to fulfill his promises, and to “patiently” live in harmony with each other.
2 Corinthians uses the word with the idea of “patiently enduring” troubles, hardships, & calamities.
While the word is translated different ways, it is the idea of holding on, not giving up. In fact we are told this over and over again in the scriptures, not to give up, but to keep on going. Why does it tell us this? Because we are in a struggle! We are in a struggle against sin, against the world, against our selfish, sinful desires. And God’s desire for us is that we WIN!
1 Corinthians 9:24 reminds us, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul once uses sporting imagery. He says, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” First is a wrestling analogy, We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed -- a wrestler may be on the mat, being pressed hard, but if he hasn’t been pinned, the contest isn’t over. Then he says, perplexed, but not in despair - think of football, a running back may not be able to see a hole, but he finds a hole and goes through anyways. persecuted, but not abandoned - In a footrace, a runner may have fallen behind, but he hasn’t been left behind. struck down, but not destroyed. - a boxing image - you may get knocked down, but you’re not knocked out - the fight is still on.
In each case mentioned here, the idea expressed is of not giving up. The battle may get hard, but we don’t give up. We are in a struggle, a battle, a race, a fight, a conflict. And God’s desire is that we win! Not to win in the eyes of the world. As we look at the witnesses in Hebrews 11, many of the spiritual champions looked like failures in the eyes of the world. But we want God to see us as a winner. We persevere. We endure. We patiently continue. So, how do we do that?
Set a Goal! If you never set a goal, you can be sure you will never achieve the goal. A runner who never has an end in sight never pushes himself to win. Those who run intently keep their eyes focused on the goal. Any farmer knows if you want to plow a straight row, you don’t look at the rows beside you, rather you pick a spot in the distance and keep your eyes focused on that point as you get closer. Yet far too often, we have no goals spiritually. We go from day to day aimlessly. Ask yourself “What one or two things do you think that God wants you to do in the next few weeks? We do need to consider future goals of what we want to do with our life, but those long-term goals are reached by setting short, accomplishable immediate goals.
From now to Thanksgiving, and it’s only 3.5 weeks away, can you believe it! - from now to Thanksgiving, what is one goal you would like to set for yourself? Maybe it’s to read your bible daily, or start a bible study with a small group, or to say yes to a ministry opportunity, or to get rid of some baggage, or to get victory over a certain temptation -
Whatever it is, I would encourage you this morning to set for yourself a goal to focus on it for the next three weeks. The person who thinks he can’t accomplish anything in three weeks and the person who thinks he can accomplish something great in three weeks are both right! Your success will largely be affected by your commitment to set and achieve a spiritual goal. And once you set a goal,
Don’t give up! Determine to finish well!
In the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania ran in the marathon. In an earlier qualifying race he had sustained an injury, though—a hairline fracture to the right fibula. Nevertheless, he was determined to compete. So he entered the competition in spite of his injury. The runners all took off together on their 26-mile race, and the day became night as the race neared it’s end, over 2 hours later. Another hour passed as nearly every competitor completed the race, except John Akhwari. Fans in the large stadium remained patient as they waited for every runner to complete it. Finally he entered the stadium. His injured leg was wrapped with a bandage, and he struggled as he limped his way around the track. The crowd began to cheer, though, and with each step the noise grew louder and louder. With each step he gained strength from the cheers. His limp became a walk, his walk became a jog, his jog became a run. As he neared the finish line, even though he came in dead last, the cheering in the stadium made one believe that he was finishing first. In a later interview a reporter asked him, “It must have been very difficult for you. Why didn’t you stop?” He replied, “My country did not send me halfway around the world to start the race. They sent me to finish it.”
So, we want to run with perseverance. We want to set some goals spiritually and not give up! We get discouraged and give up when we look at circumstances. But every good runner knows you don’t watch everyone else around you, instead you keep your eyes fixed on the goal. This passage tells us that we accomplish our goals by keeping our eyes on Jesus.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, to look at the example of Jesus. Verse 2 says, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross. . . It says Jesus was motivated by the goal of achieving joy. Yet, it was not a joy to be on a cross. It was not a joy to suffer shame and humiliation and rejection. What WAS joy was the reward he received for running well - sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God.
No athlete finds it a JOY to practice for hours a day, every day. No athlete finds it a JOY to deny themselves, to pass up cheesecake and ice cream, and stick to a very strict diet. No athlete enjoys the pain and soreness and bruises that come from training. It’s all just a part of the discipline and preparation they go through. But they do it for the JOY of standing on the platform and hearing the national anthem played while a gold medal is placed around their neck.
In our spiritual race, there is no JOY in resisting temptation. Sin IS pleasurable. We don’t resist it because there is no joy in sin; we resist temptation because we know the deadly effects of sin. Crack is very pleasurable; a man I worked with had been addicted to crack - he said he didn’t care about anything - money, sex, his family - all he wanted was to get high on crack. Sin IS pleasurable, but very addictive and deadly. Our joy does not come from resisting. But our joy comes from the REWARD we get for resisting temptation. We want to hear our Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the JOY of the Lord.” Our joy comes when we finish our race. Yes, we can have a limited amount of joy here on earth, but it will be NOTHING compared to the joy that is ours when we receive our reward from the Lord.
Verse 4 tells us, “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” The writer says, “you don’t really have it that bad!” When we think about all that Christ went through for us, we realize how petty our daily struggles really are. Sometimes we think that life is just miserable because the gang at work makes fun of us, or we have a family member who is critical of us or a spouse who doesn’t love us, or we struggle with spending more than we make, we struggle with contentment. Verse 4 reminds us how small these struggles really are.
Hebrews 12 continues in verse 5 - “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Endure hardship as discipline.
Hebrews reminds us that we should be encouraged by the idea of Discipline! That doesn’t usually make us leap for joy! What is it about discipline that would encourage us? Verse 6 tells us that God gives us discipline because he loves us! Verse 7 tells us that God disciplines us because we are his children. Verse 10 tells us discipline helps us to grow spiritually, to be holy.
Now, verse 11 goes on to remind us that discipline is NOT enjoyable. No one says, “Oh, I sure hope God disciplines me hard today.” Normally we hope for mercy, we hope for leniency. Our joy is not in the discipline, but our joy is the result of the discipline. Verse 11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Tom Landry, coach of The Dallas Cowboys, said, “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.” Discipline helps us grow.
So, Discipline is good for us. But discipline involves sacrifice. A young man went up to a famous preacher one day and said, “I’d give my life to know the Bible like you do." To which the preacher replied, "That’s what it took, a lifetime of study and dedication.” The world is full of naturally brilliant people who will never be anything more than ordinary because they aren’t willing to make the sacrifice necessary to become great. And the church is full of people like that, too.
If we are going to do great things for God, we must choose to discipline ourselves. John Wesley traveled an average of 20 miles a day for 40 years. He got up every morning at 4:00. He preached 40,000 sermons. He produced 400 books and knew 10 languages. At the age of 83, he was annoyed because he couldn’t write more than 15 hours a day without hurting his eyes, and at the age of 86, he was ashamed that he couldn’t preach more than twice a day. He complained in his diary that there was an increasing tendency to lie in bed until 5:30 in the morning. He understood discipline. When we look at his example, we realize we are often lazy, unmotivated, and undisciplined.
So, we have covered a lot a material, but let’s wrap it up:
We have many examples given to us who witness that victory comes as we ordinary people choose to live a life of faith. We need to get rid of sin and distractions that keep us from following God. We need to persevere - to not give up, but to faithfully day after day keep on doing what we know is the right thing to do. We don’t measure ourselves by how we are doing compared to others, but we look at the example of Jesus and want to be like Him. And we allow God to use hardship, trials, difficult circumstances to help us to grow. As we go through those trials we can rejoice - not because life is difficult, but because our God is faithful in rewarding us for faithfulness. Let’s determine today that we are going to life faithful for God this week, that when it comes to the race we are going to run, that WE WILL WIN! Let’s pray.
