Hebrews chapter 12, our focus this evening will be on verse one, but I do want to read Hebrews 12, verses one to 11. Beginning in verse one, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

Laying Aside Weights and Sin

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 unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is 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 the 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. Again, let us pray and ask God's help as we look to this passage. Father, send the Holy Spirit now and guide us as we look at this chapter, this section.

We thank you for these calls to endurance and perseverance that certainly imply that our life on earth will not always be easy. We know from the gospel records, Jesus Christ in the boat with the disciples. Nevertheless, there was a storm that beat upon the ship. We know, Father, that being in Christ does not mean the absence of any hardship.

Grant us help and strength and grace, and may we be encouraged by this great cloud of witnesses that we are surrounded by. Help us, we pray. Again, forgive us for our sins, and we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Well,

Introduction

here specifically, the people of God are exhorted to run the race that is set before them. And the apostle here not only gives them that charge or that command or that exhortation, but he gives them incentives. In other words, he's not just saying, I want you to run the race with endurance, and then leaves it up to them on how they ought to do it. But rather, he tells them, he gives them specific direction, but he gives them certain enticements or incentives.

And that first incentive is found in verse 1. We are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses. And we'll sort of unfold that as the time proceeds tonight. The second is the example of Jesus in verses 2 to 4.

We are to run the race looking unto Jesus. We are to run the race with an eye, obviously, upon the Son of God who lived for us and who died for us and was raised for us. And then we are to run the race considering the purpose of the Father according to verses 5 to 11. So 1 to 11 highlights or indicates or demonstrates for us the necessity of Christian perseverance.

That's what we find here. As well, the chapter also rehearses the need for the people of God to renew their vitality in verses 12 to 17, to remind them that they have in fact come to Mount Zion in verses 18 to 24, and to not refuse the God who speaks to them from heaven, according to verses 25 to 29. So this is a practical section in the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews taken up largely with the priestly office of Jesus Christ.

The fact that Christ came into this world, he was a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, both king and priest, who laid his life down for the sins of his people so that they might have everlasting life. And now the apostle comes to apply that, to encourage the people of God, to exhort them on how to live in light of those truths or those realities. So I want to do two things tonight. First, look at the believer's race. in verse 1, and then the believer's incentives.

And as I said, there are three, but we'll only focus on this cloud of witnesses tonight in verse 1. But note the text in verse 1 of chapter 12. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, we'll get to that in just a moment, let us lie aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and here it is, here's the exhortation, the command, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. In other words, what we are supposed to do as God's people are to live as God's people in this world.

We are called by grace. We are brought out of darkness into marvelous light because of grace. We are cleansed. We are washed.

We are justified. We are being sanctified. We'll ultimately be glorified. And as God's people, we're to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel.

We are to be a persevering bunch. We are to be a group of runners. We're not to be a group of sinners, of those who whine or those who moan or those who grumble, but rather we're supposed to man up and take charge and run the race that is set before us. This is something repeated in the book of Hebrews.

Go back to chapter two at verse one, just to see these several exhortations from the author, I believe it's the apostle Paul, exhorting the people of God to perseverance. Now, there's a specific reason why this context or in this context. Essentially, the book of Hebrews is written to Jews, Hebrews, those who had professed faith in Jesus Christ and Jews that having professed faith in Jesus Christ are being pressured. They're being persecuted. other unbelieving Jews want them to forsake this Lord Jesus, they want them to reject his claims to Messiahship, and they want them to come back to the temple, come back to the Levitical priesthood, come back to Moses and the prophets.

So the author, Paul, sets forth the superiority and the supremacy of Jesus Christ and shows that all of the Old Testament scriptures find their fulfillment in that person, in that Lord Jesus Christ. And so the author is encouraging the people of God not to turn back. You've made a profession of faith. You need to be consistent.

You need to run the race with endurance. Notice in chapter two, verse one, therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. You see, we don't want to drift away. We want to persevere.

We want to run. We want to finish the race that is set before us. Notice in 3.14. 3.14, for we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. Notice in chapter four, verse one, therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

Chapter four at verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus, the Son of God, notice the next words, let us hold fast our confession. We are saved by grace, we are kept by grace, but God in his keeping us by grace tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in us, both to will and to do according to his good pleasure. Notice in chapter 10, verse 23. Chapter 10, verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

And then 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. I want you to turn to Revelation chapter 21 for just a moment. Revelation chapter 21, just to sort of illustrate the point that is being made in these various passages in the book of Hebrews.

Now, I'm sure that you've heard me say this before, but I think it bears repeating at this particular juncture. Notice in Revelation 21 verse 8. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Now, most of that list is pretty evident, pretty obvious. We would certainly see those who do not believe the gospel, those who are abominable, those who are murderers, those who are sexually immoral, those who are sorcerers, those who are idolaters, those who are liars.

We see those as opposed to God, those having rejected God, those living according to themselves. But that first statement says the cowardly. When we read the cowardly, we think of our own fears. We might be afraid of the dark.

We might be afraid of spiders. We might be afraid of snakes. We might be afraid of, you know, who knows what it is. Is that what John is saying?

If you're afraid of spiders, you're going to go to the lake of fire. If you're afraid to meet a bear in the woods, are you therefore going to find your part in the lake of fire? No, the cowardly in this particular description are those who didn't persevere. Those who didn't overcome the seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor, each one of them has an exhortation to the people of God to overcome.

In other words, persevere. Run the race with endurance. Do what God has called you to do. There is simply no quit, no resignation, no stopping. when it comes to the Christian life.

We need to go forward. We need to be persevering. So back to Hebrews chapter 12, we notice that this imagery is used in other places in the scripture by the Apostle Paul. He says in 1 Corinthians 9, 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. 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." I love his logic there. You know, the men, the gymnasts in that particular day, Paul would be very acquainted with this.

I suspect that Paul often uses athletic imagery. Because Paul's other trade, not his apostolic ministry, his other trade was that of tentmaker. Where do you think a tentmaker would need to sell his wares? Where a tentmaker would need to engage in his craft?

Probably at the games. probably at the athletic sporting events, probably in places where these sorts of things took place. So he appeals to athletic imagery very often. And he says, these men get up early, they push their bodies, they regulate their diet, they don't go out and party, they live temperate lives, and they do it for a perishable crown. They get a garland wreath for their head and tickets to the theater.

That's what they do this for. That's how they buffet their bodies. That's how they regulate their diets, simply for that little garland wreath and four seats to the next play. And he goes on, and he says, therefore I run thus.

Not with uncertainty, thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I preach to others I myself should become disqualified." You see, Paul wants the people of God to follow his example and to run with endurance the race that is set before them. Philippians 3, Paul says, not that I've 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. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, for getting 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. You see, that imagery is something that is replete in the New Testament.

So back to Hebrews 12.1, he says we are to run this race with endurance. And he also counsels us that there are certain things, hindrances that we need to lay aside. And he speaks specifically to these in verse 1. He says, let us lay aside every weight.

Now, the every weight there may not necessarily be something that's sinful, but it's something that will hinder you in running. It's not necessarily sinful like the next phrase, and the sin which so easily entangles us, but there are things that can sort of attach themselves to Christians that aren't sin in and of themselves, but it may hinder effective running. It may hinder the ability for one to engage themselves in that long haul run. And there are several things.

In fact, I think Matthew chapter 13 speaks to this. Jesus speaks to the types of hearers with reference to the Word of God. He says, That's not necessarily a sin, the cares of this world. I don't think that that's something that we ought to identify as a sin.

I think that every single one of us has some, at least, mind toward the various cares of this world. What are we going to eat tomorrow? Where are we going to lay our head tonight? Jesus tells us not to engage in carnal anxiety.

He tells us not to be paralyzed with worry. But at the same time, he points us to the birds with reference to the fact that God will feed us. Well, the birds don't just lay in their nests with their beaks open, waiting for God to pour food in them. The birds actually fly around.

In fact, most of a bird's day is spending the energy that they're eating. They're out eating and flying and out eating and flying. And there is not indolence or a lack of diligence to be had in the Christian life. So the cares of the world, he says, the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful.

Again, riches in and of themselves, now hear me carefully, aren't necessarily wicked. There is this mindset that somehow attaches itself to Christianity, that riches are necessarily evil. Riches are challenging, riches are difficult, but in and of themselves, they're not necessarily evil. I would point you, if we had time, to 1 Timothy chapter 6, where Paul tells Timothy to command those who are rich in this present age, not to get rid of their money, Not to sell everything they have, shave their heads and wear orange sheets and, you know, wander around airports.

That's not what he counsels them. They're not to be haughty, they're not to trust in uncertain riches, and they are to be filled with charity toward others. You see, that might be a weight that does keep us from the run. There might be things in the lives of God's people that hinder them from effectively running.

And the apostles' exhortation is, you need to lay it aside. In other words, you need to be honest with yourself in your life, whether it comes to acquaintances, whether it comes to entertainment, whether it comes to certain places, or whether it comes to certain things. Are these things calculated to help me in my run to heaven? If they are not calculated to help me in my run to heaven, then I may need to lay them aside.

These weights, these things that aren't necessarily in and of themselves sinful, but those things that will hold me down. And then notice he says to lay aside sin. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us." Now that's obvious, isn't it? We can't run the Christian race with endurance while we're engaging in sin.

Those things are contrary to one another. In fact, when we are occupied with sin, guess what we're not doing? We're not running the Christian race. We're not doing it with endurance.

We are being entangled, we are being caught up, we are being held down from the run. And so the Apostles' Council is absolutely crucial. Lay aside the weights, lay aside every sin which easily ensnares us. 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.

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. Now, isn't this one of the things that is absolutely crucial in the Christian life?

A lot of people can start well, but it's finishing well that's in view. And there's only one way to finish well. Think about the Apostle Paul when he says, for I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Most people everywhere see 2 Timothy as the last letter of the Apostle Paul.

He says, the time of my departure is at hand. He knew he was going to die, and he did die. You know, history tells us under Nero, he was beheaded. So Paul says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Now, the only way that a man can say that in the 11th hour of his life is if he's been faithful in hours 1 to 10. You and I will never be able to say that when we're nigh unto death if we haven't been faithful tomorrow, yesterday, if we're not being faithful today. Consistency, faithfulness, and discipline are all necessary when it comes to running the Christian race. It's not glamorous.

There's no prizes. People don't say, wow, you're just running the race so wonderfully. People who have been here for a long time will have remembered the middle mile. One man is well observed that typically with reference to a race, the starting line is very well attended.

Everybody wants to see the start of a race. Everybody wants to see the end of the race also. That's where the pomp and the show and the accolades are poured out upon the competitor who wins. It's the middle mile.

I mean, who in a marathon goes and camps out at mile 13 to watch everybody sort of dying as they run by? You don't do that. You start at mile 1 or you go to mile 26 because you want to see them start and you want to see them end. Mile 15 might not be pretty.

You're going to see people driving and losing bodily functions and all that. We don't want to see that. It's not glamorous. The Christian life is not glamorous.

The Christian life is to be faithfulness. The Christian life is to be consistency. The Christian life is to be marked by discipline. Paul tells Timothy, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness, or exercise yourself toward godliness.

This isn't glamorous, this is faithfulness, and this is what the people of God are supposed to be about. So he says, 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. Endurance. Again, it's not just a quick start and then to fizzle out, but it's to run with endurance.

If it's a marathon, you're going to run with endurance through mile 10 to 24. And then probably at 25, you're thinking, OK, this is almost going to end, finally. But it's that endurance that is here specified. Now,

The Believer's Incentives

I want us to transition into this incentive because he says, therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. This endurance has been demonstrated in the lives of the people in Hebrews chapter 11. This endurance has been demonstrated by Jesus Christ, who is alluded to here in verses 2 to 4. In fact, notice that second incentive, looking unto Jesus, verse 2, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

You see, endurance is the name of the game. It was that way for Jesus, and it was that way for those Old Testament saints that Paul has rehearsed in Hebrews chapter 11. So

The Cloud of Witnesses

let's look at this cloud of witnesses. Notice, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. How does this incentivize us running the race with endurance? How does this cause us to get up tomorrow morning to resolve, by the grace of God, to live lives of faithfulness unto our God?

How do this cloud of witnesses incentivize us? We see how looking unto Jesus does. We certainly see how considering the purpose of our Father in verses 5 to 11 does. But how does this cloud of witnesses?

Well, I want to notice first the imagery. He says, we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. Again, I think that in that time frame, the athletics were big. We think that our culture, and it is, it's saturated with sports and athletics and big money being spent on guys who do incredible things.

But in the grand scheme of things, come on. I mean, $6 million a year, that's just incredible to me to play a game. Now, I realize they work hard and all that sort of thing. But this particular time frame was filled with sports as well.

They had amphitheaters, they had these sorts of things, they had arenas. Remember that Nero fed Christians to lions in the amphitheater in the Colosseum? Well, that's the imagery. We have this sort of amphitheater thing, and we have all these old covenant saints sort of sitting up in the stands.

Now, I used to think, and I've shared this with you before, that those old covenant saints, the ones mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, were sort of up in that amphitheater watching or witnessing us on the run. But as time went on, as I considered that, and as I heard a very helpful sermon by Dr. Dale Ralph Davis, that's not what witnesses do. The word isn't spectators.

They're not up in the amphitheater watching us run. The saints that have gone before us, those Hebrews 11 men and women, they're not beholding us. They are beholding Jesus. They are in the presence of God Most High.

Why would they want to look at me running on a Thursday to make sure I'm sort of doing my thing? That's not what they're doing. The witnesses here are not witnessing to us, or rather witnessing us, Ron, but rather they are witnessing to us of something concerning God. That's the function of a witness.

They're not spectators viewing us, rather they are witnesses testifying to us, and we need to listen to their testimony. And their testimony, according to Hebrews chapter 11, and the various Old Testament contexts that we find these men and women in, their testimony is consistent and sure. Run because God is faithful. Run because God is with you.

Run because God will sustain you. Whatever your lot, whatever your trial, whatever your difficulty, whatever your hardship, run with endurance the race that is set before you. You need to listen to Abel. You need to listen to Enoch.

You need to listen to the various men up there testifying to us concerning, again, not their greatness, not their sterling abilities on the running course, but on the faithfulness of God. That's the point of this passage. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. The witnesses function on our behalf to manifest the faithfulness of God and to show that God upholds faithful runners, whatever their circumstances.

Now, if we just refresh ourselves or remind ourselves of the various characters in Hebrews chapter 11, their testimony ought to be received. Now, it's typical for us when we get into a funk or we get into a low spot in our Christian lives or we have trials or we have difficulties or we have hardships to say, you know, I'm just going through things that nobody can understand. I'm going through things that are so difficult. I'm going through things that I just don't think I can manage in terms of the Christian race.

Now, I don't want to minimize anyone's suffering. I don't want to minimize anyone's hardship. I don't want to minimize anyone's difficulties. But I do want us to remind ourselves of the faithful men and women in Hebrews chapter 11. and the various circumstances they found themselves in.

And when we run this race with endurance, we ought to do it with an eye obviously looking unto Jesus, but listening to the faithful testimony of these witnesses who have gone on before us.

Witnesses: Abel to Joseph

Consider Abel. We actually considered Abel. These are all persons mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11. But remember Abel from our study on Wednesday night.

It was probably hard to be holy if you were Abel, wasn't it? You know, I don't think that Cain's antithesis or animosity rather toward Abel was only manifested when he invited him out to the field. Cain probably had an ongoing problem with Abel. So Abel's got this very difficult family life, we might say.

In other words, you might think you have difficult family life. As of yet, your brother hasn't invited you out to a field and murdered you. So, thankfully, that hasn't happened. Hopefully, that will never occur.

But you understand that Abel testifies from that amphitheater that God is faithful. Even when you've got a brother named Cain, who's about murder and vengeance and animosity, God is faithful. We have a man mentioned in Hebrews 11, that interestingly, according to Genesis 5, didn't die. He's a man by the name of Enoch.

And just in a brief section in Genesis 5, it tells us that Enoch walked with God, and then he was not. I mean, this man was faithful. Now, in that few-verse description of Enoch, it doesn't tell us that he had a terrible brother. It doesn't tell us that he engaged in, you know, all sorts of difficulties in his life.

But it does tell us something intriguing. He lived for 365 years, and it said he had sons and daughters. You know what he did for 365 years? He was faithful.

He was consistent. He was disciplined. I would imagine you'd have a lot of sons and daughters after a 365-year run. That right in of itself is a challenge, almost a difficulty.

It can be a difficulty to be sure, but it's certainly a challenge. But Enoch maintained faithfulness in the day in and the day out. That's what I love about Hebrews chapter 11. Yeah, you have the mighty exploits of a Samson, but you've got the faithful consistency of an Enoch. 365 years.

He had sons and daughters. He maintained fidelity unto Yahweh in a world that was on the precipice of destruction because it was filled with violence and exceedingly corrupt. God Almighty blessed that man. You've got the situation of Noah.

How many times have you or I thought or perhaps said, it's hard to be godly and consistent and faithful in our society? I mean, our society is horrific. It is horrendous. It is terrible.

Now, you'll get no argument from me or very little argument from me on that, but Noah lived at a time when society was really bad. The earth was filled with violence and it was exceedingly corrupt. This is why God sent the flood. It wasn't some capricious act of judgment.

It wasn't arbitrary. It was because the people of that day and age rejected Yahweh, the God who made them, the God who governed them. They raised their fists at him, and so God sends the flood. Noah was faithful in the midst of absolute ungodliness.

You've got Abraham. Sometimes people say, boy, I'm just going through this test right now, and it's just so hard. It's hard to be holy in the midst of a test. It's hard to be holy in the midst of these sorts of things that are just so difficult for me to undergo.

Again, I don't want to minimize anybody's pain and suffering, but I want us to remember Abraham's test. Abraham is told to take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, take him up to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him to Yahweh. What does Abraham do? Abraham gathers the gear, Abraham gets Isaac, and he marches up to Mount Moriah.

Isaac says, father, we have the fire, we have all the makings for the sacrifice, but we don't actually have a sacrifice. And what's Abraham say? He says, the Lord will provide. Hebrews 11 tells us that even if Abraham was to carry out this particular task, He believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead.

You see, he's running the race with endurance in the midst of great difficulty and hardship. You have his wife, Sarah. Sarah is told that she is going to have a child. Well, this old doll doesn't think it's going to happen.

Biology isn't on her side. Things like this aren't typical. It just doesn't transpire this way. And yet, by the grace of God, she does.

You've got Isaac and Jacob and Joseph, the patriarchs. Their lives were not marked by pleasantry and joy. Their lives were marked by hardship and difficult and trial and sorrow. You see, that's why I think this great cloud of witnesses are so instructive for us.

Because when we sign up by the grace of God to follow Jesus Christ, I think somehow it gets into our heads that it's only ever going to be rosy. It's only ever going to be joyous. It's only ever going to be without any suffering or hardship. That's simply not the case.

The Master promises in the upper room, in this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. You have this statement from Jacob in Genesis 35 3, then let us arise and go up to Bethel and I will make an altar there to God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone. He has been with me. You see, that's what Jacob testifies to concerning God in the midst of trial.

Consider Joseph again, another difficult family, right? His brothers are jealous of him, his brothers want to kill him, but they end up throwing him into a pit and selling him off as a slave. At the end of it all, Joseph is in a position of prestige wherein he is able to provide for the children of Israel. And Joseph interprets his lot in this way.

He says, you meant it for evil, but God overruled it for good. You see, you need to listen to Joseph, brethren, while you're running with endurance the race that is set before you.

Witnesses: Moses and the Exodus

You need to listen to the other faithful servants, Moses and the Exodus, again highlighted in the book of Hebrews chapter 11. There's one specimen text that always encourages my heart in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses makes this statement concerning the children of Israel and God's care and protection for them. Now, remember, the children of Israel did not interpret the Exodus in the same way that we have been taught to interpret it.

Yes, they came out of bondage, and yes, they ended up in the Promised Land, but there was a lot of trial on the way. There was a lot of hardship and a lot of difficulty. And more often than not, you know what the children of Israel did in response to God? They grumbled, they complained, they murmured, they whined, they continually second-guessed Him.

And yet Moses comes on the plains of Moab to tell the people what the reality of it was. In Deuteronomy 1, he says, 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. Don't you love that imagery? They whining, they grumbling, they complaining, and yet all the while Yahweh had borne them up under His arms as a father carries his son right through the wilderness.

You see, it's a question of perception. You know, if we assume God is against us, then we'll interpret the data that way. If we assume that God is going to get us, then we'll interpret the data that way. But the Bible tells us that God works all things for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

That's to be the interpretative framework by which we approach the difficult providences in our lives. We're not supposed to whine, grumble, or complain. We're supposed to pray, God, help me, bear me up, strengthen me, so that I may indeed persevere, because this is the means by which you conform me unto the image of your Son. In Hebrews 5, the Lord God Most High, through the Apostle, tells us that His Son, Jesus, learned obedience through what?

He learned obedience through suffering. Now, that doesn't mean God has some sick fascination with suffering. Doesn't mean that we ought to, you know, flagellate ourselves and put ashes in our soup and wear hair shirts because somehow that, you know, appeals to God. But no, the Son of God learned obedience through suffering.

He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Why is that? So that we'll follow in his train. so that we will do likewise, so that we'll realize that whatever my God ordains is right, and I know that He'll sustain me, and that He'll govern over me, and that He'll work this out for good. Paul goes on in Hebrews 11 to mention Rahab the harlot, the shady lady of Jericho, as Davis calls her.

And there was a woman of great faith, a woman who risked her neck Well, you know, people come to Rahab in Joshua chapter 2, and they say, wow, she lied. Yeah, she also committed treason against the city-state of Jericho. And had she been caught, she would have been executed. But you know what?

She knew that God was faithful, and she knew that God would deliver her. So you need to listen to Rahab the harlot, and therefore go out in line, commit treason. I'm not suggesting that. Don't make that connection.

And then he goes on with the judges, Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Japheth. I mean, you know, he even says time would fail to sort of go through all of the exploits of these mighty men of God. These are the ones in the amphitheater. As we run the race, we're looking unto Jesus, and we got in the periphery, Abel.

We got in the periphery, Jacob. We've got in the periphery, Samson. We've got in the periphery, Japheth. We've got in the periphery, Barak and Gideon.

We are seeing Sarah, we are seeing Abraham, we are understanding their consistent testimony that God is faithful, He sustains runners, and He will bring them through to the end. That's why this cloud of witnesses is so crucial and so important. He mentions David, Samuel, and the prophets. There are two times in David's history where he mentions the faithfulness of God.

Not two times. I mean, David wrote Psalms. David always speaks and rehearses concerning the faithfulness of God. But there are two instances where he describes to others Yahweh's relationship to him.

In 2 Samuel 4, 9, David answered Rechab and Baanah, his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Barathite, and said to them, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity. Isn't that beautiful? When you're running and you're looking unto Jesus, make sure you see David there. He has redeemed my life from all adversity.

The other one is in 1 Kings 1. Now, it's intriguing because you know there's a big disconnect between 2 Samuel 4 and 1 Kings 1. In other words, David does some incredibly horrible things in 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. David actually commits the sin of adultery, and he covers it up with murder.

And then there is usurpation by his son Absalom, such that David is actually exiled from his own kingdom, and his son takes the throne. But David, nevertheless, at the end of his life, is able to say the same thing. 1 Kings 1 29, and the king took an oath and said, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress. This after the Bathsheba and Absalom incidents, this after the great consequences of his sin, this after the trials and the afflictions and the hardships and the woes that he faced, this after He is nevertheless able to say that God is faithful even in this. See, brethren, this is where we need to be.

It's far too easy for us to stop running or to get sidetracked and say, well, you know, life isn't great. I've tried serving Jesus and it just doesn't, it doesn't seem to work. I've tried to pray, I've tried to read scripture, and I've tried to go to church, and it just didn't work out for me. No, we need to run with endurance the race that is set before us, laying aside weights, laying aside sin, and seeking by the grace of God to look unto Jesus and in our peripheral vision to see these great saints of the faith.

Triumphant Heroes and Suffering Saints

We see triumphant heroes, verses 33 to 35. Triumphant heroes in verses 33 to 35. Notice that for a moment, chapter 11. Who through faith, he mentions all these people, subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to fight the armies of the aliens, women received their dead, raised to life again.

You want to think about that as you're looking unto Jesus, as you're running with endurance the race that is set before you. You need to think about those, this cloud of witnesses that is in the amphitheater. You need to understand the mighty exploits of the faithful of God. But he doesn't stop there.

He mentions the suffering saints. Notice in verse 35b, others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned.

They were sawn in two. Now, as I've said before, history tells us this is Isaiah. Isaiah the prophet is the one spoken of here by the Apostle in Hebrews chapter 11. Could you imagine somebody actually having the wherewithal to saw into the man who wrote the book of Isaiah?

I mean, that's just absolutely terrible, but you need to keep Isaiah in your mind. You need to keep him in your periphery. You need to see him as you're looking unto Jesus because he's faithful, and that's his consistent testimony concerning God. God is faithful.

God does sustain. He goes on to say, they were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth.

The next time you say, well, I've got it really bad, so I'm just going to put this Jesus thing on hold and try to get things fixed up, and then I'll come back to Jesus. Brethren, it's been the consistent testimony of the people of God throughout the ages that there's hardship associated with the Christian life. That might come as a bit of a shock to us in the 21st century, but this is the consistent testimony. Jesus was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.

Now, there are certainly others. You think of the three young men. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, better known to us as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In fact, let's look at that.

Daniel chapter three. Daniel chapter three. Just filling up the amphitheater with some additional brothers for our encouragement. Daniel chapter three.

Beginning in verse 16.

Witnesses: The Three Young Men

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. But if not, listen to this. This just isn't the way we operate.

We've been tutored by the health-wealth-prosperity guys that say, every time God's always going to deliver you. No, He's not. He may not. It may be His purpose is for you not to be delivered.

But we ought to have the attitude of these young men. But if not, if not, if He does not deliver us, if He does not free us, if He does not liberate us, if He does not bring us out of this trial, 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. Yahweh is our God, whether He delivers us or not, we're not gonna bow to your gold image. We need to hear those men.

We need to look unto Jesus. We need to receive their testimony. Think of the prophet Micah, the very man that we're reading, the prophecy that we're reading in our evening worship. By the time we get to chapter seven, we see that Micah is isolated.

Micah is alone. Micah is lamenting in Micah chapter seven, and yet he finds his hope, he finds his trust, he finds his help in God Almighty.

Witnesses: Habakkuk and Job

Turn to the prophet Habakkuk, or Habakkuk if you prefer. Habakkuk chapter three. Now this is on the verge of the destruction of the Southern kingdom. It's about 20 years prior to the actual destruction and the prophecies are sure.

And yet notice what Habakkuk does in Habakkuk 3.17. 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, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." If I could sort of paraphrase that or bring it into modern 21st century English, though Costco be shut down and Superstore no longer be stocked and Walmart go the way of the Dodo bird, though all those things happen, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. Brethren, if you are not prepared to run the Christian race with endurance, understanding that there are trials and afflictions and hardships and sorrows, if you are only running that Christian race because you think it's blessing and roses and birds singing around you and everything just going your way, you may be what the devil accused Job of having been.

He only serves you because he gets good things. Isn't that what the devil says to God? He only serves you because he gets good things. So what does God say?

Take his good things and let's see what happens. I'm greatly paraphrasing, but that's precisely what happens. He is stripped of everything, and yet what does Job say? Job 13, a guy you ought to put in your amphitheater.

Though he slay me, yet Will I trust him? See, that's the essence of Christianity. We don't serve God because of what God gives us. We serve God because he's God.

We serve God because he's altogether lovely, because he's chief among 10,000, because he is worthy of our praise and adoration. One more text in the book of Job, Job chapter 19. Job chapter 19, we're almost done. I don't want to keep you here on a hot night too long.

I kind of like that clock. It's like 10 minutes slow. So I look at my watch and I hasten on and I look at that clock and I say, oh, we got plenty of time. So when you get home and it's later, you'll say, that clock in the sanctuary is slow.

I've told the deacons, just so you know, I've told them it's slow. So if there's a disparity, don't think it was me that went up there and set it back a little just to keep everybody thinking that I was within the confines of reasonable preachingness. But notice in Job 19.25, for I know that my Redeemer lives. and he shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God." Isn't that beautiful?

There was a hope of the resurrection of the dead in the Old Testament. In fact, Job's hope of the resurrection of the dead affixed itself to the Redeemer, to the Lord Jesus, to the Messiah, promised in Genesis 3.15, revealed in farther steps until the full discovery in the New Testament. It's a blessed and a wonderful thing. You have the testimony of the Apostle Paul, I already cited before, 2 Timothy chapter 4, where he says, I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. And he goes on in verse 8, and he says, Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. These are the brethren in this amphitheater.

This is the great cloud of witnesses. And the constant refrain is that God is faithful. So run with endurance the race that is set before you. Don't stop, don't quit, don't rest, but rather persevere.

Witnesses: The Martyrs

The martyr, Polycarp, in A.D. 155. Eighty and six years I have served him. He was asked to renounce, to recant his commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. You disown Christ and we won't murder you, Polycarp.

You disown Christ and you will get to keep your life. Eighty and six years I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior? You threaten me with a fire that burns for a season and after a little while is quenched, but you are ignorant to the fire of everlasting punishment that is prepared for the wicked.

Polycarp was burned at the stake and was pierced with a spear for refusing to burn incense to the Roman Emperor. On his farewell, he said, I bless you, Father, for judging me worthy of this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs, I may share the cup of Christ. That's how Christ's people die. They die like Thomas Hawks, that martyr who prior to his death by fire, his death by burning, his friends were also going to be executed because of their crime, believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So his buddies essentially say to Thomas, when you're in the fire, give us a sign so we know how long you can bear it. I mean, you think that's legit? You're on your way to the fire, you ask your buddy, hey, let us know how long you're able to sustain, or how long you're able to maintain when you're in the fire. So Thomas Hawks has marched off, he is burned, and he is melting, and out of the flames comes his stumps, and he slaps his stumps together three times.

Christ is Lord of the fire. That's how God's people, who have ran with endurance the race that is set before them, end. They end by God's grace, entering into His presence, and that is something we need to be reminded of concerning these saints. They all ended, ultimately, in heaven.

This was the impetus for Moses. Moses chose, rather, to suffer the reproach of Christ and enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Why? Because he saw that suffering was somehow virtuous?

No, because he looked to the reward. He saw that whatever it was that Egypt offered paled in significance to what Yahweh offers. The presence of God is the great motivator for the people of God to run the race with endurance. Remember, it's a marathon.

It's not a hundred-yard dash. Remember to lay aside every weight. Remember to lay aside the sin that so easily entangles us. And remember to run with endurance. looking unto Jesus, verse 2, but having a mind for those martyrs, those saints, those persons in Hebrews 11 and the Old Covenant Scriptures that testify with unanimous consent that Yahweh is faithful.

Brethren, run. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for your grace, and we thank you for your loving kindness and your mercy that is the consistent testimony of the scriptures, the consistent testimony of the people of God throughout the ages, and how we thank you for the gospel, the gospel of our salvation. the fact that those who believe by grace in the Lord Jesus Christ will have everlasting life. Give us help, give us strength, give us fresh resolve to run with endurance the race that is set before us. Go with us now, we pray, and grant us grace to have a week wherein we may glorify and honour and praise you. And we ask in Jesus' name, amen.

We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.

Scripture References

• Genesis 3:15; 5:21-24; 35:3
• Deuteronomy 1:31
• Joshua 2
• 2 Samuel 4:9; 11-12
• 1 Kings 1:29
• Job 13:15; 19:25-26
• Daniel 3:16-18
• Micah 7
• Habakkuk 3:17-18
• Matthew 13
• Romans 8:28
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
• Philippians 3:12-14
• 1 Timothy 6:17-18
• 2 Timothy 4:7-8
• Hebrews 2:1; 3:14; 4:1; 4:14; 5:8; 10:23; 10:35-36; 12:1-11
• Revelation 21:8