Hebrews 12, our text this morning
is going to be the first two verses in this chapter. And what
honestly blessed my heart about these two verses was looking
at the dictionary definitions. Going through each phrase, or
in some cases each word, and seeing the definition, the deeper
meaning of exactly what he's saying here. I thought about
bringing this for our Bible study because I was looking up definitions. And to me, it felt like a Bible
study. It seemed this is the format
of a Bible study. But the gospel is so clear in
this. It is so glorious. It's just
so Wonderful, I ultimately felt led to leave it for our message.
And I pray this study format will be as much a blessing to
you as it was to me. These first two verses, we're
exhorted to do something, and then we're told how to do it.
Verse one, he said, wherefore, coming off everything that he
said in chapter 11, Considering all the examples
of all those believers that we just had read to us. Verse one
says, wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses. The word witnesses means martyrs. Compassed about with so great
a cloud of martyrs. It also means examples. All of those great examples,
things that believers endured for the sake of the gospel. Don't
you love the stories of the Old Testament? Those great, great
stories in the Old Testament, those things that people went
through, the things they endured for the sake of the gospel, the
things that they suffered, the things that they gave up. You
think about what Moses gave up for the sake of the gospel. The
great sacrifices, chapter 11, verse 36, it says, others had
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn
asunder, 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
in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth. Some literally
gave all for the cause of Christ. Some truly gave all. Some saw Christ and his gospel
and his worship to be the greatest possession this earth could offer.
They laid hold of that. Some honestly bought the truth
and sold it not. Right here, though, he's saying,
even though the Old Testament was full of such wonderful examples,
the New Testament is too. Chapter 12, verse 1, he says,
wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great
of cloud of witnesses, we also. Not just them, it's not just
they were compassed about with this great cloud of witnesses,
so are we. If we want to see some wonderful
examples, if we honestly want to see some amazing grace, I
mean truly amazing grace on sinful men and women. All we have to
do is look around. That's all we have to do. Just
look around. God has caused his people to
deny what is natural to the flesh. You know how it said, sin shall
not have dominion over you. That's an amazing work of God
Almighty. Is He saying we don't sin anymore?
No, not at all. But what He's saying is God creates
a new man with a new spirit, one that hates the old man in
the old way, in the old sin, and desires Christ. Desires to
worship Christ, desires to be like Christ. A new man, a new
spirit that chooses rather to suffer the affliction of Christ,
meaning Suffer the ridicule of the world for choosing Christ
over the world. Is steaming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than all the treasures of the world? Go into your heart
for just a minute. Do you honestly believe that
the reproach of Christ is greater riches than anything this world
has to offer? Believers say I do. I believe
that's the greatest possession any man or woman could attain.
The gift of Christ. The reproach that comes from
being a child of God. So all we have to do is look
around if we want to see these amazing examples. Verse one says,
wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses Let us, just like they endeavored to
do, let us lay aside every weight. Here's what he's exhorting us
to do. Let's lay aside every weight. Weight means hindrance. Whatever might be a hindrance
to us, time is of the essence. We don't have time for hindrances. It's of the essence. It's flying
away. Hindrances slow us down. He's
about to tell us to start running. He's about to say, run with everything
you have. Run, run, run. And he said, lay aside every
weight. The reference that he's making
is to the old Greek games, those Olympic games. They used to,
you've seen those Greek guys, they had those big robes and
scarves and those hats, and they would take every cumbersome thing
off. When it came time to enter the
games, they were gonna go race. They would take every cumbersome
thing off so they could run. They could start running. And he said, lay aside every
weight. We need to do the exact same
thing. May God cause us to do the exact same thing. Lay aside
every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. The
apostle Paul said, Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? Can anybody enter into that? Oh, wretched man that I am. Sin
so easily besets the body of this death, this death. He said,
let's lay aside every weight in the sin, which does so easily
beset us and let us run. Let us run. What that means is
exert ourselves. It means strive hard. Spend all our strength. Let's spend all our strength. Run, and then he went on to say,
with patience. That means steadfastness. constancy, cheerful endurance,
keep going, keep going, keep going, run and don't stop. He went on to say in verse one,
the race, the course that is set before us, what he's saying
is let's not get sidetracked. Let's stay on the course that
is set before us and let's run that course as hard as we can. letting go of anything and everything
that might hinder us along the way. If it's a hindrance, Lord,
take it out of my hand. If it is a hindrance, Lord, would
you please remove it from me? If it's a hindrance, Lord, would
you please get it out of my mind? If it's a hindrance, Lord, would
you please get it out of my heart? If my legs are a hindrance, Lord,
would you break them? I adore that story of that man
who, you know, you've heard it many times. Had it all. Lost it all. Ended up in a wheelchair. Heard the gospel on TV. A man told him, he said, you're
a sinner. He got mad. He said, I'm not a sinner. And
then God revealed the truth. He said, maybe I am a sinner.
And God saved his soul. And the man later on said, God
stripped me of everything and put me in a wheelchair to save
my soul. Lord, if these legs are a hindrance,
break them. Whatever it is, if it's a hindrance,
break it. If this hand won't stop reaching
for it, break it. Take it away and break it, Lord.
Whatever is a hindrance, Take it from me so I can run. Lord, strip me. Is it enjoyable
to be stripped of things? No. Is it enjoyable to miss Christ
and leave this world without Christ? No. Lord, help me. Help me. Let me not get sidetracked. There is one way that leads to
eternal life. All I want to do is run that
way. It's all my flesh wants to do. Close that door. Block that way. Let me not get off of the course.
Lord, help me. Prone to wander. Lord, I feel
it. There's nothing in me doing right. There's nothing in me helping
me out. I'm fighting against everything
I need. I'm the enemy of my own soul. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Hedge me about, narrow
my way. Let me start running, cause me
to see what I'm in. Let me plug my ears, crying life,
eternal life, and run to the cross. The Apostle Paul said, press
toward the mark. Let me not lay down in slumber. Oh, let me start running. I want
to start running. Let me not walk to the cross. Let me not crawl to the cross,
Lord, make me start running. The Apostle Paul said, press
toward the mark, he said, forget those things which are behind.
And reach forth unto those things which are before. and run it
as the one prize. Only one prize is going to be
awarded and you have to have that prize. Have to have that prize. Go with
me over to first Corinthians chapter nine. First Corinthians 9 verse 24,
it says, Know ye not that they which run in a race run all,
but one receiveth the prize? So run. Run like that. Run like that, as though there's
only one prize that you may attain. This, the Apostle Paul The best
way I know to say it is he's not messing around. He's not messing around. He is
not playing games. He said, you set your heart on
the one great prize of the finish line and you run to it as though
many, many people are going to run and not receive it. And you don't want to be one
of them. Verse 24, Know ye not that they
which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?
So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain
a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. He said, I therefore
so run. He's telling them, this is what
I do. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly. So fight I, not
as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body and
bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Lord, don't
let me be the pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church for five
years or 20 years or 50 years and preach the truths of Scripture
and come the last day be a castaway. Let me. Run, let me run. Lord, let me run. Paul was a man who was running
and telling others to run as though his eternal soul and their
eternal soul depended on it. Life and death. He said, be warned
and run. Our Lord said it more clearly
than that. Look over at Luke 21. Luke 21 verse 34, he said.
And take heed to yourselves. lest at any time your hearts
be overcharged with surfeiting and that means excess and drunkenness
and cares of this life. And so that day come upon you
unawares. And what he's saying is, you
miss it. All of a sudden that day comes
on you and you miss it. You miss Christ. Got doctrine,
missed Christ. How terrible. Go back over to
our text. Hebrews 12. The apostle said,
run. Seeing we have so great a cloud
of witnesses, Let's lay aside every hindrance and run. A believer
hears that and he says, okay. God's people truly do say, I
hear the word. I hear the warning. I see my
sin. I see my need. Okay. Here's the
question. How do I do that? How do I do that? God said, I'm
going to make my people willing in the day of my power. God's
people truly do say, I want to run. I do. I want to run. Now here's the
question. How do I do that? How does a
sinner run? Verse two, 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 set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. The more locked our eyes are
on that, the harder we're running. The more we are completely fixed
on that, the harder and more fervently we are running. Looking means, he said in verse
two, looking. I want you to run looking. It
means to turn the eyes away from other things in order to fix
them on something. That's what looking is. Turning
away from all these other things to fix them on one thing. It means to see with the mind,
to perceive, to know, to become acquainted with by experience.
True experience. None of those things are done
with physical eyes. I want to show you something
in 1 John 1. A few pages over. 1 John 1. First John 1 verse 1 says that
which was from the beginning. Which we have heard, he said,
we heard with our ears. Which we have seen with our eyes. Which we have looked upon. And our hands have handled of
the word of life. He said we saw him with our eyes.
And we looked upon Him. Something totally different from
seeing with the eyes. It's talking about the heart.
We looked on Him with the heart. How does a sinner look? He looks
with the heart. How does a sinner run? He runs
with the heart. He runs looking. It's all with
the heart. True looking doesn't involve
the eyes. True running doesn't involve the legs. Romans 9 says,
It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. The
Apostle said, Run! It's not of him that runneth.
Run! It's not of him that runneth.
You better run. It's not of him that runneth. Running has nothing to do with
the legs. He went on to say it's of God
that showeth mercy. It's of God that showeth mercy. He does a work on the heart,
seeing that, looking to the God who shows mercy. That's running.
He does a work on the heart. He causes the eyes of the heart
to honestly turn from everything else. Looking at baptism. Looking to the Sabbath. Look
into church membership, look into this. He causes the eyes
to turn from all of those things in order to be fixed on one thing. And he causes the legs of the
heart to run. The eyes of the heart become
fixed, the legs of the heart start to run, and whenever a
child of God truly does that, when they start running through
looking, When they truly start looking, this is what they see. This is what true running and
looking is. Back in Hebrews 12, verse 1 says, Wherefore, seeing
we also are compassed about, with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight in the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus. His name means Savior. A sinner is truly running when
he is running to a Savior. A sinner is truly running when
he's running to a Savior. Most people don't see themselves
to be sinners. So they don't see themselves
to be in the need of God's mercy. That's not even a thought in
their mind as they consider going to heaven, running to heaven. They don't see themselves as
being in need of a savior. They call him the Savior, but
they're not running to a Savior, needing a Savior. They see themselves
as being their own Savior, worthy to go stand next to the Savior.
They honestly see Jesus Christ as being the doorkeeper of heaven,
who's just standing there, waiting on them, just holding it open
and waiting on them to just run on in. Y'all just run on in. That's not running. That is not
true running. If that's what is in a sinner's
heart, that sinner is going to miss the prize. He's going to
run that race and he's not going to get to the finish line. He's
not going to obtain the final prize. This man only receives
sinners only. True running is a sinner running
to a Savior. Seeing that Savior, true running
is running to a Savior and seeing that Savior to be both the author
and the finisher. Some in religion, and you'll
know this to be so, Some in religion are absolutely happy with him
being the author. They're happy with that. But they will not have him being
the finisher. Some are absolutely happy with
him being the finisher. But they will not have him being
the author. True runners. run seeing looking
unto Jesus as being both the author and the finisher that's
what God called God drawing running truly is it's running to the
author and running to the finisher. The author means the chief, the
captain, the prince, the beginning, the origin, the first in the
series. It means the active cause, running
to the active cause. The finisher means the perfecter,
the completer, the one who has brought an end. The one who has accomplished
the goal, verse 2 says, of our faith. Accomplished the goal
of our faith. That means God's people don't
just see him to be the one who gave the faith. Ephesians 2 verse
8, faith is not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. God's people
don't just see him as being the one who gave the faith. They
see him to be the one who performs the faith, the author of it,
the finisher of it. Faith means conviction of the
truth. He started this conviction of
the truth, and he finished this conviction of the truth. It means
full persuasion. It means reliance upon Christ
for salvation, and it means the ability to believe. He started
that ability. He finished that ability. true
running, is seeing that Christ did it all. He did it all. And verse 2 says, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him, the author and the finisher, who
for the joy, who for the gladness, the cheerfulness, the calm delight,
The joy that was set before him. That means appointed to him. Destined to him. Verse 2 says
he endured. And I adore this. See if the
Lord will let us enter into this. Who for the joy set before him
endured means remained. It means to not recede or flee. The cross. The wrath of God, the punishment
of God against sin. He did not recede from it. He did not flee from it. He endured. He remained. Verse 2 says, despising
the shame. That means to think nothing of
one's self. You think about this great mystery. God was manifest in the flesh.
The Almighty God, the I Am, was manifest into the flesh and He
went to the cross of Calvary and He despised the shame. And what that means is the actual
God thought nothing of Himself. It means to be modest in the
opinion of one's self, to condemn one's self, to think against
one's self because of a sense of shame. Utter shame. It means to be ashamed, to feel
disgrace and dishonor. It means to disfigure. Why did our Savior, our author
and our finisher, why did the one that we're looking to think
against himself, condemn himself, feel disgrace and feel dishonor
and feel shame? It's because in order for him
to be the author and the finisher, he had to be the substitute.
In order to be the author and the finisher, he had to be our
substitute. He had to start something that
only God could start. And he had to finish something
that only the God-man could finish. He had to hang there in the place,
in the shame, in the guilt, in the sin of every one of his people. He had
to set his face like a flint and run to the cross. So His
people could set their face like a flint and run to Him. That's the exhortation. You set
your face like a flint to the Lord Jesus Christ and run to
Him. Run to Him. So He endured the
cross, despising the shame. Verse 2 says, and. That means not only, but also. Not only did He endure the cross
and despise the shame. That's not all He accomplished.
That's not all that we're looking to. He endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down. That means has been appointed
to sit down. It means to have one's abode
fixed. He is now fixed. He is never going to have to
give his chair up. Never. It has been appointed
and fixed. He is set down at the right hand. That means the place of honor
and authority. All honor, all authority, the
right hand of the throne of God. That means the seat of potentate
power. ruling mighty power, God of very
God. Because of everything he endured,
God was well pleased and highly exalted him. Highly exalted his
name above every name and said, Thy throne, O God, is now forever.
Appointed and fixed, the apostle said, Run to him. He's given
His people boldness to run to that throne of grace, that they
may obtain grace and find mercy to help in time of need. If anything
hinders our view of that, let's get rid of it. Let's get rid
of it. Let's press with all of our hearts
to Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Substitute and our God. Let's
start running and run to Him alone. Run to Him alone. Run looking, believing, bowing. This is what He said, all who
run like that, all who run truly believing,
All who run truly bowing have been made to run like that. They have been drawn to run like
that. And all who run like that are
gonna win the prize. Every single one, they're gonna
win the prize. May the Lord give us a heart, give us legs to run,
run to Him. All right, let's all stand together.