Turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, I thought this might be a helpful sort of supplement to what we looked at this morning in John 15, our Lord Jesus' emphasis on us as branches being connected to the vine and seeking by God's grace to bear much fruit. Well, the emphasis here in the first part of chapter 12 is on the necessity for the people of God to persevere, to endure, to go forward in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. So our text is going to be chapter 12, only verse 1, but I want to read beginning in verse 1 all the way to verse 11.

So Hebrews 12, beginning in verse one, 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 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 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 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. Well, let us pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you again for the written word. We pray now for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who gave us that word to guide us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, and help us to endure, to run with endurance the race that is set before us. Help us to do so, always being mindful of that great cloud of witnesses. Help us do so, always looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, and help us to do so, understanding the the fatherly love and care and even discipline that you give to us.

Lord, be glorified in this time again, fill us with the Spirit, forgive us for all of our sin, and we pray through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, in this particular chapter, as a whole, we see this emphasis on running the race of faith, specifically in verses 1 to 11. He then calls them to renew their vitality in verses 12 to 17. Thirdly, he calls them to be reminded that they have come to Mount Zion according to verses 18 to 24, and then not to refuse the God who speaks from heaven in verses 25 to 29. I assume Pauline authorship.

I think Paul wrote this epistle. I think he wrote it prior to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in AD 70. And as a result, he is writing to Christians, believers that are being tempted, that are being tested, that are being pressured to turn back from Jesus and the New Covenant, to go back to the Old Covenant, to Moses, to the Levites, to the Temple, and to the sacrificial system. it was still standing. Certainly the pressure would have been strong for the people of God to hear that from others, from friends, family, business associates.

You need to stop with Jesus. You need to come back to Moses. You need to come back to the sacrifices. So this letter as a whole is written to exhort them, to encourage them, to strengthen them, and to help them in their resolve to go forward with our Lord Jesus Christ.

As I said, our focus is brief tonight. It's only on verse 1. And I want to look first at the believer's race, and then secondly, the believer's help. We're kind of going to kind of dive into the middle of the verse for the believer's race, and then take up the first part of the verse in the believer's help.

First, though,

The Believer's Race

note the believer's race, dropping down a couple of lines in verse 1. Notice it says, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Now this is common parlance in the hand of the apostle Paul in terms of the Christian life looking like a race. He says this in 2 Timothy chapter 4 when he says he has fought the good fight, he has finished the race, he has kept the faith, and he's confident that the Lord of righteousness has a crown of righteousness waiting for him.

But it's a recurring theme in the book of Hebrews as well. Again, the apostasy passages in chapters 6 and 10 suggest that there's pressure being placed upon the professing people of God. And the apostle does not want them to apostatize. He doesn't want them to depart from or defect from New Covenant religion.

And so let's look at several of those passages which highlight the need to persevere and endure. Go back to chapter 2, specifically at verse 1. Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. The apostle doesn't want them to drift away.

What's the antidote to drifting away? Giving more heed. giving more earnest heed to the things we have heard. Notice in chapter 3, specifically at verse 14. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

Notice in chapter 4 at 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 414, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession. It's hard to miss the emphasis along the way in the book of Hebrews on Paul's insistence that the people of God who have professed saving faith in Jesus Christ persevere, that they endure, that they continue steadfast, that they go forward.

Notice in chapter 10, specifically at verse 23. Summarizing, or rather applying, what he has said doctrinally concerning the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus, we'll just pick up in verse 19. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us, through the veil, that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God. He then gives three exhortations.

Notice in verse 22. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Notice in verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. There's that emphasis, perseverance.

Endurance, holding fast, being steadfast. The third is in verse 24, and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another in so much the more as you see the day approaching. look over at chapter 10, specifically at 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.

So by the time we get to chapter 12 and verse 1, and the apostle emphasized, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, that doesn't come out of left field. We're already prepped. We're already expecting. We already understand.

This is a significant and major theme in the book of Hebrews. Obviously, the overarching theme is the superiority of Christ and new covenant religion. But a central theme or another theme alongside that central one is for the people of God to press onward, to run with endurance the race that is set before us. Notice as well in the book of 1 Corinthians, you can turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, 1 Corinthians chapter 9, just to see that this is not an isolated use of the running metaphor or the race metaphor with the apostle Paul. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, specifically at verses 24 to 27.

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.

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. Last, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. And then Philippians chapter 3, a similar use of the race metaphor. Philippians chapter 3, specifically at verses 12 to 14.

He 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, 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. So back to our text, specifically the believer's race,

The Duty: Run the Race

we have a duty stated. That is simple. Let us run the race that is set before us. But as well,

The Obstacles: Weights and Sin

we have obstacles identified. If you're going out to run a race, it was on a flat track, this wouldn't be much of a big deal. But if you were going to run a race in some rocky terrain, you'd want to know what the obstacles were. You'd want to know what possible threat there was to your wellbeing with reference to that course.

And so Paul identifies two. Notice again in verse one, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. Now, I think that what he's doing is showing us that there are those things that may not necessarily be sin, but they're not necessarily helpful for us in the running of a race. I suppose some could read it this way, let us lay aside every weight, that is the sin which so easily ensnares us, but I don't think that's what he's doing.

I think he's making a differentiation. I think that there is a weight that is certainly cumbersome and one that you wouldn't want to take on a running race, but might be appropriate in another situation. The fact is, is that not every weight is necessarily a sin. The fact that some things are, though not sinful, a challenge with reference to running the Christian race.

It's not wrong to have non-Christian friends. But if those non-Christian friends are constantly weighing you down and keeping you from running the race with endurance, then it might be time to cut bait. It's nothing wrong with having a certain activity perhaps on a Monday through Saturday that you shouldn't necessarily engage in with reference to the Lord's Day. As well, money, for instance.

I'm going to invoke a text in just a moment. Money's not bad. Money's amoral. It's not that money goes out or causes you to go out and sin.

It's the love of money that's the root of all kinds of evil. But consider our Lord in Matthew 13, 22. He says, now he who receives 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. We cannot escape the cares of this world.

We cannot get our minds away from the cares of this world. But we take Jesus' admonition in Matthew chapter 6 to deal with them accordingly and properly so that we don't get weighed down by it, so that we don't get to the place where we're crushed and we can't run with endurance the race that is set before us. And then he moves on with reference to sin. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us.

The fact is, is that all sin does ensnare us. There might be some weights, not necessarily sinful in and of themselves, that nevertheless are cumbersome. But all sin definitely has that rotting effect upon the soul, wherein it does kill to some degree that running with endurance the race that is set before us. The fact is, is that all sin does easily hinder us from running the race.

That's why when we consider sin, we need to deal radically with it. And this is why Jesus taught us, cut off your right hand if it causes you to stumble. Pluck out the right eye if it causes you to stumble. It's better to enter a life maimed than hell whole.

It's better to go into heaven and glory as having dealt radically with sin. Now, it's just here that I should say we're not saved by the way that we deal with sin. We're not saved based on how well we run the race. We're saved by God's grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who lived for us, who died for us, and was raised again for us.

But as we saw this morning, there is an inextricable connection between regeneration and justification, and then subsequent to that, sanctification. The God of heaven and earth, who has saved us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, has called us to live in a particular way. He has made provision when we don't. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But, John says, my little children, I write these things so that you may not sin. But when you do sin, remember you have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. We're to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel. We're to understand that weights that weigh us down and keep us from running that race with endurance or those sins that we indulge or those sins that we're not killing, they're going to kill us with reference to running the race with endurance.

As Owen says, be killing sin or sin will be killing you. Philip Hughes says, one of the chief problems with the Hebrew Christians, to whom 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 or purpose, to shake off the sluggish mood into which they have fallen, to regain their confidence and their competitive spirit. But then notice under the believer's race, we've got a duty, we've got the obstacles, we've got the manner.

The Manner: With Endurance

Notice, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance. Endurance or perseverance. In other words, the Christian life and the race that we have to run is going to be hard. It's not a walk in the park.

It's not without its problems. It's not a Disney movie. There aren't bluebirds coming down and filling our pathway with rose petals so that we can skip our way into heaven. The Christian race demands on the part of the people of God the recognition that it may be tough, that more often than not, it is tough, and that we are going to run it with endurance, with perseverance.

But I want to make this observation. We're not supposed to divorce this from the rest of the Bible. This running with endurance isn't just a gritting and bearing it sort of a thing. We still find ourselves in the orbit of the apostle Paul's writings to rejoice always.

In other words, this running with endurance isn't a grin and bear it. It isn't a knuckle under. It's with that joy and that thanksgiving and that gratitude expressed to God most high for the goodness that he has bestowed upon us in saving us from our sins. So the Christian race must be run with endurance.

Now, interestingly, that's what the apostle demonstrates in chapter 11, and we're going to look at that in just a moment. In chapter 11, what do you see the emphasis on? Faith. But faith in a myriad of circumstances.

I always try to encourage people to read your Old Testaments. Read the Old Testament, it's the Christian life lived. I'm not suggesting that the New Testament isn't, but the various narratives, the various stories, the various persons, the various places, the various things going on in the Old Testament, all of us can connect with, and I hope to show that to you or demonstrate that to you in just a moment. So you've got endurance manifested by the saints in chapter 11.

By faith, they ran the race with endurance. They laid aside the weights, they laid aside the sins. Again, not always, not in every instance, we see. their stumblings, we see their difficulties, we see their sins, we see the fact that they have blemishes and warts and they don't always do the things that they should have done, but God is faithful. And as well, this endurance is manifested by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 2, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, same word, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Look at verse 3, for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. And then dropping down to verse 7, if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. What does this suggest?

This suggests that when the tough times come, we don't have the warrant from God to abandon ship. When the tough times come, we don't have the warrant from God to say, well, these are tough times, I'd rather not. I'll just go take a vacation. I'll go sit on the beach, and hopefully all those things will pass by, and when I return, I'll be able to get right back into my smooth, comfortable, well-fitted shoes, no obstacle race, and just run.

That is absolutely unacceptable. God Most High calls us to run with endurance, put off the weights, that'll bring you down, put off the sin that is always calculated to bring you down, and run that race with endurance. And when you're running that race with endurance, do it with the joy that is characteristic of the people of God. Do it with the gratitude and the thankfulness that is characteristic of the people of God. when it's always the case that we're miserable and that everything is bad and we're always sorrowful and we're always down.

Brethren, I think there are times for that. As I've said before, I think there's a doctrine of bad days in scripture. I think there's a doctrine that, you know, depression or sorrow. Now, I'm not suggesting again, if you've got a 38 up to your head, you may need some help beyond what I'm telling you now, but sorrow and depression and melancholy in the life of the people of God, It's to be expected.

We live in a sin-cursed world. As we move our way through the Upper Room discourse in John 15, when we get there, Jesus basically, well he does, he says, if the world hates you, know that it hated me first. We live in a society, we live in a country, we live in a world, that is antithetical to God and His Messiah. It's a Psalm 2 situation.

Why do the nations rage? Why do the people plot vain things? They hate God and they hate His Christ. Do you think they're going to love you as one who has allegiance to God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?

So you see the connection, you see the emphasis, you see the duty, the obstacles and the manner. Now let's then

The Believer's Help

look secondly at the believer's help or incentives to running the race with endurance. God not only gives us commands, but he gives us incentives or helps or reasons why we ought to fulfill or seek to fulfill those commands. Now there are three in the context, but as I said, we're only gonna look at the first one. First, the cloud of witnesses in verse 1.

Secondly, the example of Christ in verses 2 to 4. And then thirdly, the purpose of the Father in verses 5 to 11. Run with endurance the race that is set before you because of this cloud of witnesses. because of the paradigm that was set forth by our Lord Jesus, and because of the purpose of the Father in dealing with you as a father, which includes and oftentimes necessitates parental discipline for us when we go waywardly. So I want to look

The Cloud of Witnesses

first at, or only at, this great cloud of witnesses. First of all, the imagery. Notice in verse one of chapter 12, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, the witnesses surround the runners on earth, sort of like an amphitheater. You've probably seen an amphitheater and we've got this amphitheater sort of surrounding us.

And then all of these witnesses, this cloud of witnesses up in the amphitheater. I hope you're not wondering who the witnesses are, because they're the people mentioned in chapter 11. Notice how verse 1 starts, therefore there is a close and inextricable connection between chapters 11 and 12. The great hall of faith is populated with the witnesses that are described by the apostle in chapter 11.

So when he comes to get practical with us and tell us to run with endurance the race that is set before us, he wants us to look and to see that great cloud of witnesses. So that's the metaphor, the imagery that's employed. Secondly,

Function of the Witnesses

what is their function? When we look at the fellows and the ladies in chapter 11, what is their function in that amphitheater? What is it that they are doing that the apostle is able to call them witnesses? Well, some suggest that we are on the track and doing field or doing track on the field.

Track and field is what I was trying to get at. So we've got this amphitheater and there's Abraham and there's Moses and there's Sarah. and they're watching us and witnessing the way that we run the race with endurance that is set before us. I don't think that's what the apostle is talking about. I don't think that for a few reasons.

I would suggest that the witnesses witness to us concerning the faithfulness of God. So instead of us running on the track and the witnesses looking at us, we're running on the track and we're looking at the witnesses. The particular word here does not mean spectator. So Moses and Abraham and Sarah and and Samson, they're not watching us as spectators watch a race.

This isn't the Olympics, where they're just populating this amphitheater, and they're watching the likes of you and I. I'd like to think that Abraham in glory, and Moses in glory, and Abel in glory, and Sarah in glory, ain't wasting their time looking at me. They are beholding the face of the Son of God most high. They are in Emmanuel's land.

Why would they look at a slob like me fumbling around on the track below? They are witnesses to witness about God. That's the imagery that the apostle employs. The witnesses serve on our behalf, to manifest the faithfulness of God, and to show that God upholds faithful runners, whatever their circumstances may be.

So they're not watching us, we're running the race with endurance, and all the while, out of our periphery, we're looking at these several brothers and sisters. And when we're looking at these several brothers and sisters, they all have a constant theme, and that is simple, God is faithful. Run with endurance the race that is set before you. Why?

Because God is faithful. Now, when we consider the various persons in Hebrews chapter 11, those witnesses, we then understand that there are several persons in several circumstances that imitate, or parallel rather, the things that we go through. If I were to come to you and I were to say, look, I know that what's happened to you is bad. I know that what you're going through is difficult.

I know that this is a tough pill to swallow. You need to run with endurance the race that is set before you. What might you respond? If it's a good day, you might say, yeah, you're right, Pastor, I'm going to do that.

If it's not a good day, you might say, but you really don't understand. You really don't know what I'm going through. You all look shocked. Okay, I guess it's all the other people I've ever talked to that have that response.

It's only everybody out there. It's the Hivites and the Hittites and the Canaanites and all those ites. Well, you see the wisdom of the apostle in Hebrews chapter 11. We're gonna just take a quick tour through Hebrews chapter 11 in the hall of faith.

And remember the theme, it's by faith they did what they did. And on the heels of that, therefore, since we have this cloud of witnesses, we need to lay aside the weights, we need to lay aside the sin, and we need to run with endurance the race that is set before us. And he's saying, use those witnesses, listen to their testimony, see them in their circumstances, see them in their life experience, See them in the ebb and flow of their Christian life. See them with the difficulties and the trials associated with life in this present evil age.

And then ponder, maybe God does know what I'm going through.

Abel: Family Difficulty

First of all, there's Abel. Hebrews chapter 11, specifically at verse four. By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it, he being dead, still speaks. I think Abel is a key circumstance that does connect with a lot of people.

You don't know what my family's like. You don't know how difficult they can be. You don't know what it's like to run the race with endurance when you're surrounded by the kinds of people that I call brother, sister, mom, or dad. Brethren, I would just take a bet here and say it's probably not as bad as Abel's.

He had a vicious, murderous brother that ultimately terminated his existence. Abel's a great example for anybody going through difficulties in their family situation.

Enoch: Ordinary Faithfulness

What about Enoch? Enoch is in chapter 11, verses five to six. I would suggest though that we turn back to Genesis, Genesis chapter five, because I think Enoch illustrates something in a way that perhaps we may not typically really, well, we may not typically appreciate. Notice Enoch in Genesis chapter five, specifically at verses 21 to 24.

Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. Now Abel had a difficult, family situation.

The rest of the people that we look at in the Hall of Faith had difficult situations. Nothing jumps out from chapter 5, 21 to 24 about a difficult situation. But I think what we ought to appreciate is that in the normal ebb and flow of life, The normal ebb and flow of being a husband and being a father, you can walk with God. Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters.

And so all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. It may be a mercy of God that he takes some of us long before we hit 365. because if it were possible, we would get ourselves out of this arrangement in any way we could. In the ebb and flow of having sons and daughters, what was Enoch known for? By faith, he walked with God.

You don't understand how bad my life, it's so ordinary. It's so normal. Praise God for ordinary and normal. probably a whole lot of people out there that would happily trade you for ordinary and normal. Enoch walked with God and then he was not.

Noah: Corrupt Society

Noah, Noah, look at Genesis 6 while we're there. Genesis 6, this is another one. It's hard to be a believer in communist Canada. It's hard to believe a believer in a society that is just oppressive and persecutorial and after us.

It's hard to be a believer in a society that celebrates violence, that celebrates perversion, that celebrates lawlessness and viciousness and godlessness. What about Noah? Look at Genesis 6, 12. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

We learned that in this particular narrative, the earth is corrupt and it's exceedingly violent. And yet Noah, by faith, ran with endurance the race that was set before him.

Abraham, Sarah, the Patriarchs

Consider Abraham. He's mentioned in Hebrews 11, but we know his story in Genesis, sections of Genesis. Genesis 12, he's called out of Ur the Chaldeans, called away from his father, called away from his family, called by God to come to God. What does he do?

He does it. What about Abraham when he's called to take his son, his only son, the son whom he loves, up to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him? Again, we have 22-1 in our Bibles. Abraham didn't have that.

Abraham didn't have a nice Cambridge goatskin leather Bible that told him, oh, God's testing me on this morning. He didn't know that. God simply spoke and said, take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, up to Moriah and sacrifice him. And yet Abraham does that.

So for those who say, well, you don't know how God is testing me. You don't know how bad it is and severe these trials. Brethren, I sympathize. I'm not condemning.

I've probably said a lot of these things myself, truth be told, but there's been no test like that. So all of these heroes of faith, this cloud of witnesses are testifying God's faithfulness in the midst of a horrible family situation, in the midst of a normal family situation, in the midst of a corrupt society, in the midst of corrupt or difficult tests. Sarah is mentioned in chapter 11, 11 and 12. Remember when they're told they're gonna have a lot of children?

You're gonna have a lot of seed? What was their response? Basically, are you kidding? He's 100 and I'm 99.

This just ain't gonna work. I'm not a spring chicken anymore. This is not the way things go. And yet she's up there and what is she saying?

God is faithful, keep running. You've got Isaac and Jacob and Joseph, we call them the patriarchs along with Abraham. Again, chapter 11 in Genesis 20 to 22. One specific instance in the life of Jacob in Genesis 35, 3.

It says, 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. Tried to pray, but it doesn't seem to deliver me from this distress." You need to look at Jacob. As Jacob is up there in that cloud of witnesses, he is saying, God is faithful, God hears prayer, and God answers prayer in the day of your distress. You've got Moses and the Exodus, again, highlighted in Hebrews chapter 11, but we see it in the book of Exodus.

And then commenting on that particular scene on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy chapter one, the people of Israel were complaining about the wilderness era. They didn't like it. They did not like it. Remember, in the wilderness, they said, we want to go back to Egypt.

We had leeks and garlic and melons and all kinds of stuff. We'd like to go back. But notice what God says through Moses on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy 131. 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.

They interpreted it one way that was bad. And that was wrong. That was a misinterpretation. And then they ordered their lives based on that misinterpretation.

So God through Moses says, no, it was just the opposite. It was like a father carrying his son. It's like a father picking up his son and taking him to that place of safety. So again, brethren, hear Moses.

God is faithful. He will deliver you from your distress. Rahab the harlot. It's funny to me how we get hung up on our lie.

The woman commits treason against her city-state of Jericho and deserved the, you know, death penalty. But with reference to Rahab, what did she do? By faith, she testifies to us now that the Lord is faithful. Remember, we've seen the reading over the last couple of weeks and in our reading through the book of Joshua, she asks to be spared.

What do the spies tell her? Yep, you're gonna be spared. When we get to Joshua 6 in a couple of weeks, you'll see precisely that she was spared. So what do you think she has to say when she's up in that cloud of witnesses to us?

She's gonna say to us, God is faithful. Notice the text in Hebrews 11 continues.

The Judges and David

You've got the judges, Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Japheth. Let's just drop into a few of those particular men. Over in Judges 6. Judges 6.

Judges 6 begins the Gideon cycle and it continues to chapter 8 at verse 35. Actually, there's not going to be a specific text that I want to direct us to, but just consider Gideon. What do you think Gideon would say in that cloud of witnesses to us as we peer up when we're running the race with endurance? He'd say, God is faithful.

Remember the fleece? God answers specifically and gives him the answer that he wants, and Gideon says, oh, but I wanna do it again. I gotta say, brethren, if I was God, I'd be like, once is enough. I've answered the particular request.

You've got enough data now. Go ahead and proceed and go beat up the Midianites. But God gives him that second one. What about when God says to Gideon, I want you to whittle away all those troops, and I want you to bring it down to a manageable 300?

I just want a handful of men that are gonna go into battle. What do you think Gideon's going to say? Gideon's going to say, God is faithful. Turn specifically to Judges 4 with reference to Beric.

Beric is misunderstood here. I'd argue that Deborah, as she is called in verse four, is a prophetess, and then it says in verse five that Deborah engaged in judgment. She's not a judge in Israel the way that Barak was. She's not a judge in Israel the way that Othniel was, the way that Ehud was.

She's not a judge in Israel the way that Samson was or Jephthah was. She is a judge more like what we are akin to with reference to judging. She's the prophetess. That's the emphasis.

Person's trying to make her a co-judge alongside of Beric, and they give short shrift to Beric. I don't think she was a judge at all in terms of the judges of Israel. But notice what Beric says when he's going to go into battle to fight the enemies of Yahweh. Verse eight, chapter four, Beric said to her, if you will go with me, then I will, if you will go with me, then I will go.

But if you will not go with me, I will not go. Again, persons read the Book of Judges very weirdly. There's actually feminists that do serious damage in their interpretation of the Book of Judges. But here specifically, Barak's got cowardice.

Barak lacks courage. Barak needs the prophetess, woman power. No, he needs the Word of the Lord. What's the function of the prophetess?

It is to speak and communicate the Word of the Lord. In essence, what Barak is saying, I'm not going to face the enemy without the Word of Yahweh. If the Word of Yahweh is with me, I will go out and conquer. And conquer he does.

And then you've got Samson. We've considered Samson many times. Just remember chapter 13, the birth narrative, we have it described what he's supposed to do. He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, a true type of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Judges 14, we've got Samson and the lion. We've got Samson and the Philistines. We've got Judges 15, Samson and the cowardly Judahites that deliver him over to the Philistines so that he can be executed by them. And then in Judges 16, we have Samson and Delilah, and then Samson ultimately defeating the Philistines through his own death.

Samson, up in that cloud, is going to tell us God is faithful. And then turn to 11, Judges 11, with Jephthah. Note something interesting about Jephthah. I was musing on this recently, there was that event that happened with former President Trump and you saw that Secret Service sort of team surround him.

I gotta say, brethren, I'd want dudes twice my size with scars on their faces and 20-inch biceps to be my sort of guards. Well, these men of Israel were kind of like that. Look at Judges 11, 1. Now Jephthah, the Gileadite, was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot, and Gilead begot Jephthah.

Gilead's wife bore sons, and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, you shall have no inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman. And Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Taw. And worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him." You see that? They want nothing to do with Jephthah.

He's got bad genes. He's got bad stock. His mother's a harlot. They drive him out.

Until they're faced with the enemy, notice in verse 4, it came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel. And so it was when the people of Ammon made war against Israel that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. Then they said to Jephthah, come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon. They wanted guys twice their size with scars all over their face and 20-inch biceps as well.

Jephthah was a bad dude when it came to killing the enemies of Yahweh. What do you think Jephthah is saying up in that cloud of witnesses? Keep running. God is faithful.

You see, that's the point of the apostle with this cloud of witnesses. He then invokes David, Samuel, the prophets. Specifically with reference to David, consider that twice David affirms, David confesses, David celebrates the goodness of God to him. 2 Samuel 4, 9, but David answered Rachab and Baanah, his brother, the sons of Rimon, the Barathite, and said to them, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity, He says that before the Bathsheba incident. After the Bathsheba incident, remember, the sword never departed from his house.

There were consequences appended to that sin with Bathsheba that involved Uriah the Hittite. But at the end of his life, in 1 Kings 1.29, the king took an oath and said, So whatever the situation was, whatever the difficulty was, whatever the hardship was for David, this much he understood, the Lord is faithful. You see the apostle's point, you're running with endurance the race that is set before you. Read the Bible, read Genesis, read Exodus, read Leviticus, read Numbers, read Deuteronomy, read the former prophets, read the latter prophets, read all of scripture so that you can hear with one unified voice, the common consent of God's people through all the ages.

God is faithful. And remember, at the end of Hebrews chapter 11, it speaks of the suffering saints, and it gives us what they endured. 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. 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. Isn't that interesting? Therefore, since we have this cloud of witnesses, run with endurance the race that is set before you. Don't complain, don't grumble, don't murmur, but rather understand that God's people throughout the ages, whatever their circumstances, whatever the situation, nevertheless found it to be the case that when they ran with endurance the race that was set before them, God was faithful.

God was faithful. You've got the three men in the book of Daniel.

Daniel, Micah, and Habakkuk

A couple passages outside of Hebrews 11 that I think are helpful, then we'll close. Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3. A very important passage, I think, in many respects, but I think it certainly makes our point here.

Shadrach, verse 16, 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. Talk about faith. He's able, he can, we'd like him to, but if not, it's not gonna shake us from our foundation.

It's not gonna cause us to apostatize from Yahweh and go seek out Baal. It's not gonna cause us to flee into the arms of the Canaanite deities, or in this particular instance, the Babylonian deities. 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. Look at the prophet Micah in Micah chapter 7.

Micah chapter 7, specifically at verse 1. Woe is me. This is lamentation. Micah is lamenting here.

Woe is me, for I'm like those who gather summer fruits, like those who glean vintage grapes. There's 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. If that's what you think in terms of society, look up at Micah in that great cloud of witnesses and say, brother, what do you have for me? God's faithful, even in the midst of it. So no godly fellowship, but as well, the corruption of society.

Notice in verse three to six. that they may successfully do evil with both hands. The prince asks for gifts, the judge seeks a bride, and the great man utters his evil desires. So they scheme together. The best of them is like a briar, the most upright is sharper than a thorn-edge.

The day of your watchmen and your punishment comes, now shall be their perplexity. But as well, marriage and family have disintegrated. You've got no godly fellowship in terms of friends. You've got corruption all throughout society.

And even in your own home, there's nothing but a sort of division. 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. Man's enemies are the men of his own household.

But notice, therefore I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me. I think the point in Hebrews 12, one, with that cloud of witnesses as we run with endurance the race that is set before us, if we're musing about how bad it is that we can't find good Christian friends, we're musing how bad it is that we live in a corrupt and godless society, we're musing on the fact that even in our own home there is division. There's not peace, there's not unity, there's not harmony. There needs to be that, therefore, I will look to the Lord.

I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. One final prophet is Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter three.

Habakkuk chapter three, who basically tells us that everything's going to be miserable. I don't know how better to sort of encapsulate that, but this is prior to the destruction of Jerusalem or the Southern Kingdom in 586-ish, 587. Habakkuk writes around 608, 605. So we're moving in redemptive history at this point up to that time when Nebuchadnezzar, the servant of God, by the way, is going to come in and decimate the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

So basically chapters one, two, and much of three are about, yep, We're facing some hard times, some rough days ahead. Notice how he ends the book. Verse 17, though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on 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. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet. He will make me walk on my high hills.

You've got the Apostle Paul's testimony in Acts chapter 20. You've got the Apostle Paul's testimony in 2 Timothy chapter 4. You've got Polycarp of Smyrna. One of the blessings that we had in Smyrna was our guide said, I think that Polycarp died probably over up in that region.

You know, there's all houses and everything there now. They don't have the specific place marked out, but remember Polycarp in 8155 as he's about to be burned. at the stake and then stabbed because apparently his body didn't die during the burning, so they had to stab him. 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 of the fire of everlasting punishment that is prepared for the wicked. Polycarp was pierced at rather 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 then in the company of the martyrs, I may share the cup of Christ.

Application

So in conclusion, as you run the race with endurance, As you do so by laying aside weights and laying aside sins, do it with the eye of faith upon these heroes of the faith that with common consent confess that our God is faithful. And if this isn't an argument for us to read our Bibles and to know the men and the women that have gone before us, I don't know what is. And of course, we can't run with endurance the race that is set before us if we have not been saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. So the appeal to the non-believer isn't, now start running the race.

The appeal to the non-believer is to come to Jesus in faith, to believe the gospel of the one who lived and died and was raised again. And when you by grace are justified, when you by grace enter into that life of sanctification, then run with endurance and look at that great cloud of witnesses.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.

Scripture References

• Genesis 5:21-24; 6:12; 12; 20-22; 22:1; 35:3
• Deuteronomy 1:31
• Judges 4:8; 11:1-6; 13; 14; 15; 16
• 2 Samuel 4:9
• 1 Kings 1:29
• Psalm 2
• Daniel 3:16-18
• Micah 7:1-7
• Habakkuk 3:17-19
• Matthew 6; 13:22
• John 15
• Acts 20
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
• Philippians 3:12-14
• 2 Timothy 4:7-8
• Hebrews 2:1; 3:14; 4:1; 4:14; 6; 10:19-24; 10:35-36; 11:4-6; 11:11-12; 11:35-38; 12:1-11; 12:12-17; 12:18-24; 12:25-29
• 1 John 1:9; 2:1-2