Keep Your Eyes On Jesus - Part 2

HEBREWS 12:1-2 “KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS” – PART 2

A) In our last message, I gave an illustration of how Arnold Palmer

recalled the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament. (Explain)

* Palmer said, “You don’t forget a mistake like that; you just learn from it

and become determined that you will never do that again.”

* “I haven’t in the years since.”

B) All the failures in the Christian life can be traced to losing our focus

or taking our eyes off of Jesus.

* In our text, Paul admonishes us to keep, “Looking unto Jesus the author

and finisher of our faith.”

C) The word “looking” is in the present tense and denotes a continuous

tense, meaning you are doing it at the very present moment.

* The Greek word is “aphorao” (af-or-ah’-o) and means “to consider attentively,”

and carries the idea of fixing your eyes on Jesus and keeping them there.

D) Looking at our text, I want us to notice what happens when we take

our eyes off Jesus.

* The writer takes the picture of a runner running in a race and certain dangers

that are faced if we take our eyes off Jesus.

* First, taking our eyes off Jesus is:

(1) THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL DEFEAT

A) v.1 tells us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth

so easily beset us.”

* The writer is reminding us of the possibility of being hindered

or hurt as a runner.

B) His words are a reminder of the danger of being spiritually defeated.

* Notice with me how the writer describes that we should be:

A VICTORIOUS RUNNER

A) He tells us to “lay aside every weight.”

* The picture is of a runner taking off his clothes, removing every hindrance so that

nothing will hinder or slow him down, enabling him to be a victorious runner.

B) There are many things that can hinder or trip us from either running

in the race or running a race well.

* There are the hindrances that handicap us, those trailing garments that slow

us down and even trip us ... Let me just mention a few.

C) Doubts About Your Salvation Can Defeat You.

* I have seen many a Christian defeated by the uncertainty of knowing

they were saved.

D) Unbelief Causes Many To Stumble.

* The fear of taking God at His Word, trusting Him with certain things

and at certain times has caused many to stumble.

E) Many have missed the will of God because they would not trust God.

* We are robbed of untold blessings because of our unbelief.

F) There Is Pride And Often Has Been The Trailing Garment That

Causes One To Trip.

* Prov. 16:18-19 “Pride goeth before destruction, and an .......”

* Paraphrase: First pride, then the crash — The bigger the ego, the harder

the fall. It’s better to live humbly among the poor than to live it up

among the rich and famous.

G) Bitterness is another thing that hinders us from running and has tripped many

as they ran in their Christian life.

* D.L. Moody’s advice was, “Be humble or you’ll stumble.”

AND THEN PAUL TALKS ABOUT A VIRTUOUS RUNNER

A) He not only admonished us in v.1 to “let us lay aside every weight”

but also “the sin which doth so easily beset us.”

* Darby translates the statement, “the sin that so easily entangles us.”

B) Another translates the words “the sin which always clings to us.”

* The word “beset” literally means “to place around or stand around.”

C) The idea is that of a sinful inclination always surrounding us and ever present.

* For many Christians, it’s not a multitude of things that defeats them – It’s that

one particular thing – It’s the one thing that seems to cling to us.

D) It’s the one sin that seems to be one’s opponent.

* To put it very simply, it’s that one sin that keeps bringing you down.

E) There are a thousand and one things you do not have a problem with,

but there is that one thing that is always tripping you.

* You have confessed it to God more times than you can count.

* You do okay for a few days or a few weeks, but then it raises its ugly head

up again, and once again you yield to its power over your life.

F) For one this sin may be alcohol – For another it may be drugs.

* For another it may be lust – For another it may be your temper.

* This sin will vary from person to person, and each case, it’s the one thing

that so easily entangles them.

G) We are to run both a victorious and virtuous race.