They turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 12. Don't normally do this, but we're going to cover the same material that we did on Wednesday night at our Bible study. Two reasons for this. The first is we're starting a new section, a new flow of thought in the book of Galatians.

I won't be here next Lord's Day. Pastor Cam will be preaching. So instead of jumping into that and then having a break next week, I thought it'd be best just to return to that in two weeks time. And then secondly, I don't know about all that were there on Wednesday night, but this passage sure was an encouragement to me.

I think it is an encouraging section of scripture, one that I would hope would benefit you, even if you did hear it on Wednesday night and you're going to hear it again tonight. But for the for those who were not there on Wednesday, hopefully this will be a help to you as well. We're going to focus just primarily on Hebrews chapter 12. verse 1. That's the only verse that we looked at on Wednesday, but I do want to read it in context, so I'll pick up reading in verse 1 and we'll read to verse 11.

Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself. lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons.

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he for our prophet, that we may be partakers of his holiness.

Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Father, we come now and we pray that You would guide us in our study of this passage. And we thank You for the encouragement that we have received in our study of Hebrews chapter 11. And we thank You, Lord God, for the unity of the Scripture and for the fact that those brethren in the Old Testament serve as encouragements to us now. We just pray, God Most High, that You would help us to understand this section of Scripture and help us to apply it in our daily lives.

We ask these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Introduction

Well, Chapter 12 is a specific charge to the believers. If you look back for just a moment in Hebrews chapter 10, you will see that the apostle calls the church to endure, to persevere. He does this in Hebrews 10. at verse 32. It says, Recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle, both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated.

For you had compassion on me and my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods. knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward for you have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. So he exhorts them. He encourages them.

He commands them. to endure, to persevere. That's one of the most difficult things in the Christian life, is to realize that we're not in a hundred-yard dash, but we're in a marathon. We're called to run for the long haul. He then, in chapter 11, sets forth these various examples.

He highlights the fact that by faith, all of these men and women in the Old Covenant did mighty exploits, or they were called to suffer, and they engaged in these things according to God's will. They were faithful. And so, having set forth all of those examples in chapter 11, He returns to His exhortation to us. He gives a command in verse 12, Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us.

Here's the command. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. So he likens the Christian life to a running race. He appeals to athletics.

He appeals to those things we are conscious of. He appeals to those things that we know and observe. And so we're going to consider tonight the believers race, first of all, in verse one, and then the believers incentives. Why he ought to run the race.

And there are three. But we'll focus on the first one tonight. It is the cloud of witnesses in verse one. The other two are the experience of Jesus and the purpose of the father, God willing, in our Coming up Wednesday, studies will take up those sections.

But tonight, the believers race and then the believers incentive, the first one being the great cloud of witnesses that is given to us to encourage us to be faithful runners on to heaven. But

The Believer's Race

notice, first of all, the believers' race.

The Duty: Run the Race

The duty stated, let us run the race that is set before us. Again, this is something that has been emphasized throughout the book of Hebrews. Please turn to these passages so that you can understand what the author's intention is in terms of writing to his audience. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1.

Hebrews 2 and verse 1. Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. We need to not only give heed, we need to give earnest heed. And if we fail to give earnest heed, the problem is, is that we'll drift away.

We are either running this race or we're drifting away. We're either pursuing Christ or we're drifting away. There's no sort of neutral position. It's not as if you're not running, but you're not going backward.

To not run is to go backward. To not run with endurance is to drift away. We need to understand that. Jesus speaks in very sharp language.

He says, He who is not with me is against me. Now, by virtue of God's grace, when we believe the gospel and we come into that saving union, we don't have an option anymore. We are called to run. We are called to persevere.

We are called to endure. We're not called to sit around and whine. We're not called to grumble. We're not called to complain.

We're not called to cry about how difficult our particular circumstances are. I mean, when you do visit Hebrews 12 and see what it says concerning Jesus, he received such hostility or endured such hostility against sinners or by sinners against himself. Now, as bad as you may think you have it, you have it nothing like the Lord Jesus did, leaving the throne room above, coming into the world cursed with sin and being a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, being mocked and despised, being spit upon, being abused and ultimately being crucified. I mean, as bad as we may think we have it, we haven't even begun to enter in to the sufferings that marked our blessed Lord.

Notice in Hebrews 3.14, The emphasis on endurance, the emphasis on perseverance, the emphasis on going forward in the fear of God. Notice in chapter three, verse twelve, but beware, beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. but exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. It's not just about how you start.

It's about how you persevere and finish. It's not just about a decision for Jesus or signing a card or coming forward. It's about believing the gospel and continuing with Jesus all the way until the very end. Till that time when, as we sang, the bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face.

I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of Grace, not at the crown He gifted, but on His pierced hand." Until that time, brethren, we are to be faithful runners. We are to be persevering. We are to endure. He gives a caution in chapter 4, verse 1.

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it. And then in chapter 4, verse 14, he says, seeing that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession Seeing that we have this great high priest, now just sit there and marvel at what a glorious thing this is. It is a glorious thing. We ought to marvel.

But the specific command is hold fast your confession. Don't let go of it. Don't drift away. Don't renege.

Don't recant. Don't depart from the living God. Faithfulness and perseverance and running to the very end mark God's people. If you stop running, if you stop enduring, if you stop persevering, it means you never started to begin with.

This is an evidence that God has saved a soul when that soul runs to the very end. So don't tell me you're a Christian or you're a runner when you pay no attention to the scripture. You give no place to prayer. Public worship is a bother to you.

You're not a runner for whatever else you may be. You're deceiving yourself. Genuine runners do what God has called them to do. Notice in chapter 10 verse 23.

Chapter 10, verse 23, after highlighting the fact that Jesus is our High Priest, and that we have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way. He then says in verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Isn't that beautiful? God not only wants you to hold fast, He wants you to do so without wavering.

He doesn't want you to be limp-wristed. He doesn't want you to be a milquetoast. He doesn't want you to be one of these kinds of people that's blown to and fro by every wind and doctrine. You need to hold fast that confession, and you need to do it without wavering.

You need to be faithful. The God who purchased you, body and soul, has called you to run in this particular way. We already saw chapter 10, verses 35 and 36. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise." Now, this imagery is also other places in the Scripture. The Apostle Paul uses this image in 1 Corinthians 9. You may turn there. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Repetition, hopefully, is causing you to think, wow, we've already seen this.

I'm remembering it. Good. 1 Corinthians 9, 24. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

Don't run in such a way that you may forfeit it. Don't run in such a way that you may lose. Who of you enters into a race to lose? I know today they say it doesn't matter whether you win or lose.

Here's a prize or a trophy for everyone. Well, you know what? It does matter, at least in this race. Because if you lose, it's hell.

There's one option in this running race, and it's victory. Not over everybody else. That's not the image. The idea is you win the prize, you obtain by God's grace what He's already purchased for you.

And remember, I am not teaching that you need to run in order to be saved. I am saying that those who are saved by grace through faith will now run in this particular way. So that if you don't run this particular way, it is an evidence that you were never saved by grace through faith. You are not saved by the way you run.

You are not saved in the manner in which you run. You are not saved because you were victorious over all these other people. You're saved solely by the grace of God, solely grounded upon the doing and the dying of our Lord Jesus. The only acceptance we have with God is through the blood.

It is through Jesus Christ that is our acceptance with God. But the thrust, the emphasis, the accent of these passages say that those who have entered in by the blood will be these kinds of runners. He goes on to say in verse 25, and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

As I mentioned on Wednesday night, if you won the athletic events in Paul's time, and this is the precursor to the Olympics here, these were organized games, organized athletic events, running races, probably discus throwing, javelin, various feats of strength and other things, a speed. If you won, you got a perishable wreath. They'd put a garland of flowers over your head or a laurel wreath. They'd put that on your head.

They'd give you front row tickets to the theater. That's what you got. Look at Paul's argument. They do it for a perishable crown.

He's arguing from the lesser to the greater. The idea is, is if they're doing it for something that perishes, how much more should God's people, who've believed on God's Son, do these things for an imperishable ground. If the pagan running his race is temperate in all things, then the Christian who is running the race ought to be temperate in all things. He shifts the metaphor a little bit from running now to boxing in verse 26.

Therefore, I run thus not with uncertainty. Here he goes. Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, But I discipline my body and I bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. He uses this image in Philippians chapter three, Philippians chapter three, verse twelve.

There he says, not that I have already attained or am already perfected. But I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me." There it is, the grace of God. Jesus laid hold of Paul. Paul is running because Jesus saved him.

Paul is running because Jesus laid hold of him. Paul is simply running after that for which Jesus already laid hold of him. He says in verse 13, "'Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Isn't that a beautiful picture? He's stretching forward. He doesn't have time to think about all that stuff that happened in his past. He believes the blood of Jesus has washed him.

He doesn't keep looking back to issues and problems and things that God has already taken care of. He's reaching forward. He sees the prize. He's running with determination.

He's running with intensity. He outdoes all those men who sweat and who stretch and who labor. He is on the road to heaven itself, and that dictates a certain manner of running. Brethren, that's the imagery that he's trying to put forth to us.

A.W. Pink describes this running that we are to do according to Hebrews 12.1. He says, the principle thoughts suggested by the figure of this race are rigorous self-denial and discipline, vigorous exertion, persevering endurance. The Christian life is not a thing of passive luxury, but of active fighting the good fight of faith.

The Christian is not called to lie down on flowery beds of ease, but to run a race. And athletics are strenuous, demanding self-sacrifice, hard training, the putting forth of every ounce of energy possessed. Does this mark our running? Is this the way we live the Christian life?

Is this the way you run with endurance the race that is set before you? You hear A.W. Pink and you say, man, that's a Christianity I don't want anything about. That's the kind of attitude that we have towards this imagery.

It sounds hard. It sounds painful. It sounds difficult. You know, today we don't labor.

We don't walk. We don't persevere like Christian did in Pilgrim's Progress. I mean, that's a long, strenuous, arduous walk. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Celestial Railroad.

The whole point of it was simply to display this, that in Christian's day, pilgrims used to walk their way onto heaven, battling giants and battling foes, going up hills and having seasons of depression, but nevertheless fighting manfully onward. Nathaniel Hawthorne highlights that in his day, people wanted The Celestial Railroad. Oh, we're not going to walk to heaven. We'll just get on the train.

We don't want to walk because our little feetsies can't take that. Check us into the train. We have long passed the train phase. We want to get onto a jet or a rocket and we want to just soar there right now.

We don't want any difficulty. We don't want any trial. We don't want anything to happen that might affect us in the least bit that would be a discomfort or an uncomfortable thing. We far surpassed the celestial railroad.

We want the celestial missile. I don't want any problems. I want to fly first class. I don't want any difficulties.

I'm not going to open my mouth because I don't want any rebuff. I don't want any issues. I don't want any problems. I'm not going to get up early.

I'm not going to stay up late. I'm not going to read my Bible. I'm not going to pray. I'm just going to strap myself into first class.

I want people to fan me. I want them to put grapes into my mouth. I want them to rub my feet so that I can sail myself right into the celestial city. That's where we're at.

That's why Hebrews 12, 1 is so counter-Christian cultural. Let us run with endurance.

Obstacles to Lay Aside

Notice, secondly, with reference to the believer's race, there's a duty stated. Let us run the race that is set before us. Secondly, there's obstacles to lay aside. Look at what he says in verse 12.

Verse 1 of Chapter 12. I'm sorry. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. Some interpret this verse or this section this way.

Let us lay aside every weight. That is the sin which so easily ensnares us. I don't think that's correct. I think the New King James highlights it accurately.

There's two things involved here. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. The first is the weight. There are things that may not necessarily be sinful in and of themselves, but they may not be profitable to a runner.

Take the physical runner. Perhaps he's put about 50 extra pounds on and he realized that when he's embarked on that marathon at about mile 13, that extra 50 pounds is going to feel like an extra 500. So maybe in his current weight and current position, that extra 50 pounds isn't necessarily sinful, but it is a weight that will hinder him in the perseverance necessary to run that 26 miles. You see, there are certain things in the Christian life that may not necessarily be evil.

They may not necessarily be sinful, but it may be a weight that we have taken on ourselves that will not enable us to run effectively in terms of perseverance. There are things, brethren. There are issues, there are entertainments, there are persons, there are things that we heap up that will not necessarily help us to persevere under heaven. Jesus describes it this way in Matthew 13, 22.

Now, he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful. All of us have chairs in this world. What do we do with them? Do we deal with them biblically and effectively, or do we wear them like a weight?

Like some of those vests. Some guys like to go out and run with a lot of weight on them, so they buy a vest that weighs 50 pounds. They're not looking to rip themselves of 50 pounds. They're looking to put on 50 pounds so that they have a better workout when they're running.

Well, some things are like that. Some things are like that, the cares of this world. We all have them. But are we being choked out by them?

Are we being diverted from the cause of Christ over them? See, the Bible never minimizes or says you won't have cares. In fact, Jesus says just the opposite. He said in this world, you will have tribulations.

But are you paralyzed by them? Are you a servant to them? Have you become choked out by the riches that you possess? Paul does not command, Paul does not tell Timothy to command rich people to get rid of all their riches in 1 Timothy 6.

He gives them very specific directions, but getting rid of all that money is not Paul's encouragement or Paul's command. So we may have riches which are not necessarily evil, but if we are choked out by them, If we wrongly prioritize, that thing which is not necessarily a sin has become a weight on us that does not help us in this running with endurance, the race that is set before us. Again, back to the racing metaphor. The man may need to shed an extra 50 pounds.

The man may need to get up earlier. It's not sin to sleep until 7 o'clock. But if you want to win a marathon, It's a weight that you may want to lay aside and shoot for 6 o'clock or 5 o'clock so you can get up, so you can discipline yourself, so you can go out before work and run 13 miles and get yourself ready for undertaking that. He may need to forego some social activity.

It may not be wrong to go out with his friends on a Friday night. But if he wants to win a marathon, he may forego that so that he's in bed by eight or nine and he can get up bright eyed and bushy tailed at five o'clock the next morning. You see, there are certain things that we may take on as Christians that don't help us. What's the apostles encouragement?

Lay it aside. I like it. Lay it aside. It's not going to help you.

The Christian engaged in this race may need to lay aside friends and acquaintance with whom he wants sin. He may need to lay aside entertainment that provides a temptation to sin. He may need to lay aside patterns or habits which tend towards sin. He may need to lay aside a mindset which is calculated to bring defeat rather than victory.

Lay it aside. But then, of course, we need to lay aside sin. That doesn't help you on your race at all.

The Sin That Ensnares

Notice that it's sin that so easily ensnares us. That's what he says in verse one. And the sin which so easily ensnares us. Isn't that somewhat embarrassing just to read it?

I mean, let's be honest. As great as we may think we are, as holy and wonderful as we may think we are, sin so easily ensnares us. I'm thinking that if fish had rational capacity, when they were being reeled up on that hook, they would reflect on how idiotic they were to bite that worm. Why did I bite that worm?

Now I'm being towed to death. I'm going to be in someone's pan tonight. You're a fish. You're so easily ensnared.

That's what he says of us. Name your sin. You are so easily ensnared. We need to remember this.

We are not strong. We are not mighty. We are not eight foot tall and bulletproof. The best of us are still easily susceptible to being ensnared by sin.

We need to get that. We need to identify that. We need to reckon with that, and we need to deal with it. That's why Paul says in Romans 8.13, if by the Spirit you do mortify the deeds of the body, you will live.

You need the Spirit in this sin-killing exercise. Philip Hughes says, one of the chief problems with the Hebrew Christians to who this letter is addressed is that they have set out on the race, but after a good start are now slackening in the will to persevere. So the whole point here is we've had cause to reflect several times on Wednesday night. The author's audience, Paul's audience are Jewish Christians living in Jerusalem before the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70.

They have come to Christ. They have come to the church, but they are being ostracized from their community. They are being shut out. They are perhaps being put out of families, being, you know, hindered in the workplace.

Their economic trade is being affected because they have no longer or they are no longer engaged in those mosaic rituals. So the pressure is on. Their friends are saying, come back. Come back to Moses.

Come back to the temple. Come back to where we have a high priest. Come back to where we have sacrifice and we have atonement. Come back to your roots, man.

So the pressure is laid heavily upon them. And some of them, unfortunately, went back. Some of them, unfortunately, gave evidence that they were never Christ to begin with. When the going got tough, they knuckled under.

They gave way. They gave in. He goes on to say, their effort is decreasing. Sin is holding them back.

They need to recover their intensity of purpose to shake off the sluggish mood into which they have fallen, to regain their confidence and their competitive spirit. That's what he's saying. I think it was here the other night I said, look, this is an evidence that God loved them. Please keep this in mind.

I suspect that I'm not alone when I read in verse 1 that I'm convicted. I don't think I'm the only guy in here that's saying, man, I've taken on weights or I haven't dealt with sin that I should be dealing with. I don't think I'm alone. Maybe you all have arrived.

Maybe you all are laying aside the weight. Maybe you're all dealing with your sin. Maybe it is just a bit of soliloquy up here for me. Indulge me for a moment.

Notice that Hebrews 12.1 is exhorting them. It's not cutting them off. It's not saying you're finished. It's not saying your sluggishness and your slacking off and your unwillingness to run with endurance gives evidence that you should be thrown into the pit.

No, Hebrews 12.1 is an evidence that God loves them. God hasn't given up on them. God is coming to them through the apostle, calling them back. This is the God that we serve.

Turn to Revelation 3 for a moment again. I know you heard this the other night. You need to hear it again. The worst of the seven churches in Asia Minor was Laodicea.

The worst of the bunch was Laodicea. Notice in chapter 3, verse 14, And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. Hopefully someone that was here on Wednesday night could explain what he means there.

He's not saying I want you to be a white, hot, burning, godly Christian man or to be a cold, utter atheist. Either way is good. He's not saying that. The cold here isn't atheist.

It isn't just be a complete apostate, be a complete defector. The idea is simple. Hot things and cold things are pleasant in terms of drinking. It's the lukewarm, it's the tepid, it's the stuff that's not hot, not cold, that we want to spew forth.

As I mentioned the other night, there's a bit of geography, perhaps, in view here. Laodicea did not have its own water supply. The water had to be piped in. Nearby Colossae had healing springs of hot water.

Nearby Hierapolis had refreshing cold water. Because Laodicea had neither, it had to be piped in. So by the time it got to Laodicea, it was lukewarm. It was nasty.

Well, the church in Laodicea was like their water source. They were not hot, medicinal, healing the city in which they lived. They weren't cold and refreshing, preaching gospel truth to the city around them. They were worthless.

They were nothing. They were useless. And this is what Jesus is conveying to them. Notice verse 16, So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

Just like the land of Israel in the Old Covenant. If they would sin in Israel, if they would sin in the land, God said the land will vomit you out of its mouth. Leviticus. Old Covenant, the land vomits.

New Covenant, Jesus vomits. He spews you forth if you are not hot or cold. What's their problem? What's their issue?

You might say, Jesus, what are they doing? They're horrible, aren't they? Well, look at what it says in verse 17. Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.

Isn't that amazing? They're independent. That independent spirit. I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.

Is this precisely what Solomon or the writer in Proverbs 30 asked not to have? Give me neither poverty nor riches. Why? Because if I'm poor, I'll be tempted to go out and steal and bring shame on the name of the Lord.

But if I'm given riches, what's the temptation or tendency? I may forget the Lord. Isn't that what's happened here in Laodicea? I'm rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.

And do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich in white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see." He hits on all of the city's industries in this particular statement. Laodicea had a rich textile industry.

It had a banking center. It had a place that developed eye salve. All the things in the city. The church, no doubt, was an affluent church.

They were well off. In fact, Laodicea was a city that was pretty much decimated by an earthquake, but in the space of just a few short years was able to rebuild itself without federal aid. They didn't have to go to the Roman Empire. They didn't have to go to Nero.

They didn't have to ask for handouts. They didn't need FEMA. They were so rich, they were able to rebuild. That's the makeup of this city.

And in this, they defected. The church had defected or apostatized or had left Jesus. But notice verse 19. This is an amazing statement.

He says, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent. This hard-hitting letter, this threat to spew them forth, is because Jesus loved them. He had not given up on them.

So my brothers and sisters, if you are here tonight, conscious of the fact that you have not laid aside every weight, that you have not laid aside the sin that so easily ensnares us, that you are not running with endurance the race that is set before us, repent. Repent. This is God's Word to us tonight. to stop seeking first class passage into heaven and to take our place with Christian in Pilgrim's Progress and press on. That's what he's saying here in Hebrews 12.

So there is a duty, there's obstacles,

The Manner: With Endurance

there is a manner specified. It is to be with endurance. It is to be with endurance the race. A steady heading.

Steady. Steadiness. Slow and steady wins the race, doesn't it? What happens when you get all fired up?

You burn out. You see this sometimes. People go to a conference, and after the conference, man, they're on fire for the Lord for a week. Sometimes in Christian schools, they go on a missions trip.

They come back and they're praying by the flagpole for three days. You know what's more impressive? 300 days, 600 days, 30 years, 40 years, 50 years, 60 years of steady running with endurance. That's the vision the Bible presents to us. Not fits and starts.

Not I'm going to run like the dickens and then keel over. I'm just going to run and die. No. Pace yourself.

You may be here another 40 years. You may not. I often think these older brothers, man, you're closer. Whenever we hear, oh, somebody had a birthday, oh, you're getting older.

Praise God. I, for one, do not care about getting older. I think it's closer. That's how I translate it.

You may be here for a while and with endurance. The race that is set before us. Slow and steady wins the race. Phaesop taught us anything.

He taught us that. Slow and steady wins the race. Persevere. Endure.

Endurance marked the various examples in chapter 11. How did Enoch live for so many days, so many years? What was it? 365 years? And he walked with God.

It says he had sons and daughters. You know what having sons and daughters means? Childs. Difficulties.

Issues. He had to work. He had to put food on the table. He had to live as a man for all those years.

And yet, the defining mark of his life is he walked with God. You take that man Noah that is indicated in Hebrews 11. You know, sometimes we say, nobody knows how bad I've got it. I live in such a wicked place.

I live in the inner city, or I live here, or I live there. There's wickedness all around me. Oh really? You want to talk to Noah?

Up there pounding nails into his ark when the entire earth around him is exceedingly corrupt and filled with violence? Be careful about complaining about how bad you have it. What about Abel? Some of us want to say, oh, you don't know how bad I have it at home.

My wife or my husband or my kids or my this. I certainly wouldn't want to be able, rather tame, kill them. Kill them dead. You pick any of these men in Hebrews chapter 11 and you find, besides faith, the word that marked them, it's endurance.

It's running with endurance. Not perfection. Allah, Jephthah, Samson, Rahab, not sinlessly, but by faith they endured. And that endurance comes up in our context in Hebrews 12.

Notice the connection. Verse 2, Who for the joy that was set before Him, Jesus, endured the cross. So He's not calling us to do anything He hasn't done already. Not calling us to do anything that he himself hasn't accomplished.

Drop down to verse three. For consider him who what? Who endured such hostilities from hostility from sinners against himself. You need to run with endurance because all these brethren in the Old Covenant ran with endurance.

You need to run with endurance because your Lord and Savior endured. Who do you think you are? that you can just get into a first class jet and fly your way into heaven. When the Son of Man had to taste death, had to taste the agonies of the cross before He got the crown. This has always been the way.

The cross, then the crown. There's not going to be an inversion for you and I. There's not going to be a change. God's not going to say, wow, I've been doing this all wrong.

Let me just give you the crown right now and waft you up into heaven and let you sail without any issues whatsoever. You may not like that. It may bother you at some certain gut level. You may have to deal with your sinful tendency against such a proposition.

But that's Bible. Your whining about it isn't going to change it. Your agony over it isn't going to change it. Best to embrace it.

By faith, run with endurance. The race that is set before us.

The Believer's Incentive: Cloud of Witnesses

Now, notice the believers incentives. Let's look at this first one, the cloud of witnesses, verse verse one of Chapter 12. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, a beautiful statement. Who are these cloud of witnesses?

Everybody mentioned in Chapter 11. Starting off with April. Going through the period of the judges and the monarchy under David. to the time of Daniel, all the way up until the Apostle Paul. All these witnesses are surrounding us.

The Amphitheater Image

The idea here, or the imagery is one of an amphitheater. All who have gone before us surround us. It's a beautiful picture. You're not alone.

The Proctors, who I hope are listening tonight, Gave me a beanie once. That's what we call it in California. I didn't know what a toque was until I moved to Canada. What's a toque?

It's a beanie. They gave me a beanie from Liverpool, England. The motto here for Liverpool is you'll never walk alone. And that's what's on this beanie.

Now, we may feel like it at times, we may think we are, but we're never alone. Not only is there Jesus to whom we are looking, but there's this great cloud of witnesses sort of surrounding us. Now, as I mentioned on Wednesday night, I used to have the view that this great cloud of witnesses just watch us, cheer us on, go, man, run with endurance, persevere. But I don't think that's the point of the image.

When you call a witness into the courtroom, it's not simply so they can be spectators of what's going on. You call a witness to the courtroom so that they may testify. That's the purpose. A specific truth.

That witness is called upon to testify. The image is simply this. We have this great cloud of witnesses with this one consistent testimony that your God is faithful. So that while we're running with endurance this race, while we're looking unto Jesus in our peripheral vision, we're seeing Abel, we're seeing David, we're seeing Samson, we're seeing Jephthah, we're seeing Paul.

And the consistent testimony of these brethren is to keep running because God is faithful. He will not let you go. He will not let you die. He will not send you to hell.

Run! That's what the cloud of witnesses testifies to us.

Witnesses Beyond Hebrews 11

Now, some of the examples beyond Hebrews chapter 11. We rehearsed a few of these the other night, and I think it bears rehearsal again. Deuteronomy chapter one. Deuteronomy chapter one.

We'll just kind of move through these pretty quickly. But as you're running with endurance, the race that is set before you, yes, look at these men indicated in Hebrews 11, but think beyond those brothers as well and listen to that faithful, consistent testimony of all the men of God who have gone before us. Here's what Moses says to Israel, Deuteronomy 1 verse 29. Then I said to you, do not be terrified or afraid of them.

The Lord your God who goes before you, He will fight for you according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes. Now notice in verse 31, and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son in all the way that you went until you came to this place. Beautiful. Last night, Lindsay was sick, so she took some NyQuil and fell asleep in front of the fire.

Tried to wake her up to tell her to get to bed. Because you don't want to fall asleep on the floor. Your back ends up hurting. So I tell Rebecca, why don't you go pick her up and carry her upstairs?

Yeah, right. It's been a bit of a shift now in terms of who's going to carry who. There was a time when she was a little girl. We could pick her up and walk her upstairs and put her in her bed.

Get to do that now with the grandchildren. Pick them up and carry them. Your kid comes in and he's hurt. He skins his knee.

He hits his head. Something happens. What do you do? You pick him up.

You carry him. That's the image that He gives. So when you're running with endurance this race that is set before you, think of God picking you up and carrying you. That's the point of our passage.

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Feet off of them. Use them, understand them, hear them. Look at David in 2 Samuel chapter 4. 2 Samuel chapter 4 on the eve of an execution.

David is going to have two men executed because these two men went by night to kill Ish-bosheth. He was sort of a puppet king propped up by Abner. These two men thought they were going to do a great job and cut off his head, bring it to David. And David would say, good job.

Welcome. You can be my guides. No, David doesn't roll that way. You don't cut a man's head off while he's asleep.

David was upset the way Saul was disposed of. Notice, though, in 2 Samuel 4, verse 9, David answered Rechab and Baanah, his brother, the sons of Rimeh, the Barathite, and said to them, listen to this. This is amazing. As you're running with endurance, listen to David here, David, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity.

You don't understand what David means. Go back to 1 Samuel 18-30 and learn something of his adversity. Haunted like a dog living in caves. The heir to the throne of Israel having to run for his life.

Finding harbor and safe haven with his enemies. And yet he's able to say at this vantage point in his life, having looked back, he says, the Lord who has redeemed my life from all adversity. David's in that amphitheater and he's saying, your God is faithful. Keep running with endurance the race that is set before you.

We mentioned those three friends of Daniel. Remember, you all know their slave names. You know their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Their real names are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

But an interesting thing before they went into the oven, if you look at Daniel chapter 3 for just a moment, we often focus in verses 19 and following when they're cast into the oven. And these men look in and they see a fourth man, one like the Son of God, the second person of the triune God, saving, sparing, keeping his beloved children. But back in chapter 3, verse 16, look at what these runners tell us, or what these witnesses tell us runners. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, O king. I love this. But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." They didn't know deliverance was a sure thing. They hadn't read chapter 3, verses 19 and following.

They weren't completely in the know that when they entered into that furnace, they were going to come out of it. Either way, King, we're going to serve God. Oh, knuckle under. God may not deliver you out of the mouths of lions, but He will. see you until the very end.

Micah: Looking to the Lord

Micah the prophet in chapter 7. Micah the prophet in chapter 7. Dark times in Israel. Difficult times for the prophet.

Chapter 7, verse 1. Woe is me, for I am like those who gather summer fruits. Like those who glean vintage grapes, there is no cluster to eat of the first ripe fruit which my soul desires. The faithful man has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among men.

They all lie in wait for blood. Every man hunts his brother with a net." It's horrible, isn't it? He had no fellowship. He had no friend.

He had nobody he could hang out with. He couldn't call someone. He couldn't email. He didn't text message.

And if he could do that, there was nobody on the other side who would give him an encouraging word. Look at this statement. The faithful man is perished from the earth. There is no one upright among men.

No one for Micah to hang with. No companionship, no friendship. What happens, brethren, when you're running with endurance the race that is set before you? Cast your peripheral vision on Micah when you're alone, when you're lonely.

Ask Micah, what am I supposed to do as I'm running with endurance this race that is set before me? And there's nobody for me to hang out with. Let's keep reading. Verse three, that they may successfully do evil with both hands.

The prince is asked for gifts. The judge seeks a bride and the great man utters his evil desire. So they scheme together. The best of them is like a briar.

The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen and your punishment comes. Now shall be their perplexity. Society is thoroughly corrupt.

We're talking about the Hivites or the Hittites or the Jebusites. We're talking about the covenant community. We're talking about Israel. And he says from the top to the bottom, everything is evil.

Thoroughly. Notice verse five. Do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence in a companion.

Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom. For son dishonors father. Daughter rises against her mother. Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

A man's enemies are the men of his own household. Marriage and family are disintegrated. These are difficult days for the prophet, aren't they? What does he do?

What happens to you when you're running with endurance the race that is set before you and you find no companionship? You find problems in your home. You find corruption in the civil magistrate. What is a runner to do, Micah?

Verse 7, Therefore, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. That's what he tells us as runners.

Habakkuk: Rejoicing in God

Look at Habakkuk, the prophet. Habakkuk 3, verse 17. Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food, though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. Translate.

Though the super Walmart dry up, though Costco never get built in Chilliwack, though the shelves remain empty, Though the animals all go away, though there's no food for us, though there's no sustenance for us, though there's no, you know, dial whatever and get a pizza delivered. Though all those things are the case, what does he say? Yes! I will rejoice in the Lord.

I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet and He will make me walk on my high hills. Do you see why, as runners, enduring and going forward, you need to be in the Scriptures?

You need to listen to these men? You need to hear the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20, when he says, But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself. And the specific thing in question is that the Holy Spirit has promised that in every city, chains and tribulations await Him. That's the context.

And he says, none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy. That shines the light on our passage. When we're to run with endurance, it's not like Stoics. I'm going to endure.

It's not the Spartan endurance. It's joyful endurance. It's Christian endurance. It's running with endurance to race with your head up. with a smile on your face, with a spring in your step, with delight in the God who saved you from your sins.

There may be trials, there may be times, there may be some slugfest where you're not always looking like Eric Liddell with the head thrown back at you. But you know what? That should be characteristic of this run. That's what Paul says.

So that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. You see, this great cloud of witnesses is filled with men and women who have persevered, men and women who endured.

Polycarp: Faithful unto Death

One final one, a martyr from church history from 155 A.D. I know I read this Wednesday, but it bears reading again. A man by the name of Polycarp. About the year 155, the aged Christian pastor Polycarp was also martyred.

He had been a disciple of the Apostle John and had become the leading Christian in the church at Smyrna, one of the seven churches of Asia, named in chapters one and two of the Book of Revelation. In the middle of the second century, the church was visited with fierce persecutions. Polycarp found refuge for a short time outside the city limits, but he was betrayed by an unfaithful servant and fell into the hands of his enemies. Calm and dignified, he surrendered himself with the words, God's will be done.

Then after giving food to his hungry persecutors, he poured out his heart before the Lord, praying for himself, his friends, the Church of Smyrna, and also for his enemies. The usual test applied to Christians was that they must call Caesar, the emperor, Lord, as if he were a divine person. When you read in the New Testament, every time it says, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, understand that that was something of a revolutionary statement in the Roman Empire. Caesar was Lord.

Caesar was Savior. Curios soter. And for the church to celebrate the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was to say, in effect, we will not let this king rule over us because we have Jesus. And so that was the test given.

And he goes on and says, refusal to do so meant the death sentence taken before the Roman consul Polycarp was required to say on oath that he venerated Caesar in this way. But he was firm in his refusal. I have wild beasts, said the consul. If you refuse, I will throw you to them.

Send for them, replied Polycarp. If you despise the wild beasts, I will send you to the fire, said the consul. Swear, and I will release you. Curse the Christ.

Eighty and six years have I served Christ, replied Polycarp, and he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my king who has saved me? You threaten a fire that burns for an hour and then is quenched. But you know not of the fire of the judgment to come, and the fire of the eternal punishment.

Bring what you will. The consul was astonished and sent a herald to announce to the people that Polycarp had confessed himself to be a Christian. When the torch was applied to the wood and smoke and flames encircled him again, he prayed, Lord God, Father of our blessed Savior, I thank Thee that I have been deemed worthy to receive the crown of martyrdom, and that I may die for Thee and for Thy cause. It is recorded that all the multitude marveled at the great difference between the unbelievers and the elect.

They saw what Christian obedience meant, for Jesus had said, Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He's in the cloud of witnesses, testifying that one simple truth, God is faithful. So run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Application

You know, just by way of conclusion, I didn't mention this on Wednesday night, but you know the best way to run with endurance? I know this is going to sound revolutionary. Run. It's the best way to run with endurance.

It's by doing it. Any of you ever thought, hey, I want to get into some physical exercise, and you first start off. Maybe it's push-ups. Man, I want to do 50 push-ups.

You do five and you're dying. So what do you do? Well, I'm just going to give up. No, you try and you endure and you persevere.

Next time you get seven. Next time you get ten. Next time you get twelve. What happens?

You're being conditioned. You're being exercised. You're disciplining yourself. Same with running.

You may have it in your head. I want to run around my block. First morning you go out and you run to your mailbox and you about die. Get up the next morning.

What do you do? You run back to that mailbox. You don't die this time. What happens the next morning?

You run past the mailbox. So much of the Christian life is like that. It's not super mysterious. It's not super ethereal.

It's not super spiritual. Just get on it and run. Not to sound like the Nike commercial, but they're actually right. Just do it.

Get up. Run. You say you believe the gospel, read the Bible, pray and run, run with endurance. Look at that cloud of witnesses.

Be faithful. Secondly, we ought to desire to join that cloud of witnesses. Don't you love being around older saints? Don't you love being around older men and women who can testify of the faithfulness of God?

People that have been in the way for 40 or 50 years and they say, like Polycarp, for 86 years I have served Him and He has done me no wrong. Don't you want to be like that to younger brethren? Or what about tried brethren? Brethren who have gone through the fires.

Brethren who have gone through very big difficulties. And yet they come out on the other side and they testify, God is faithful. We ought to labor to be like that, to join this crowd of witnesses so we can testify to the young runners that God is faithful. The only way to jump into this race is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

You don't run the Christian race without having first come to Calvary, without first having believed the Gospel, without having first been saved by grace through faith. Once that occurs, then run. Run with endurance. Don't stop.

Don't look back. Reach forward. Press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, how we thank You for Your Word and how we thank You for these examples, these witnesses, this great cloud of witnesses that continually testify to us that God is faithful. I pray that You would help each one of us here to run with endurance. Help us, Lord God, to persevere. Help us not to slack off.

Help us not to take the easy way. But God, help us to take up what You have given to us and to press onward. Father, we know the reward is great. We sang of it in 599.

We read of it in our Bibles. We see Paul the Apostle highlight this reality in 2 Timothy 4. And I pray that we would see how great you are, how gracious you are, and that you would just continue to fill us with your Spirit so that we may run with endurance. Go with us now, Lord God, we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Deuteronomy 1:29; 1:31
• 1 Samuel 18-30
• 2 Samuel 4:9
• Daniel 3:16; 3:19
• Micah 7:1; 7:7
• Habakkuk 3:17
• Matthew 13:22
• Acts 20
• Romans 8:13
• 1 Corinthians 9:24; 9:25; 9:26
• Philippians 3:12; 3:13
• 1 Timothy 6
• 2 Timothy 4
• Hebrews 2:1; 3:12; 3:14; 4:1; 4:14; 10:23; 10:32; 10:35-36; 11; 12:1-11; 12:2; 12:3
• Revelation 3:14; 3:16; 3:17; 3:19