 Hebrews chapter 12, and look with me beginning at verse one. Hebrews chapter 12, verse one. Where the Bible reads, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in 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. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, thank you for your word. I thank you for your spirit that attends the preaching of your word, and that works in the hearts of those who are yours, convicts those who are not. We're grateful to you, Lord, for all that you've done for us in the gospel. Thank you for your word. Thank you for this text in Hebrews 12. And thank you for this time together as a church body to study your word together and to consider our text here this evening. I pray that we would, again, not be merely hearers of your word, but doers of your word. Help us, Lord, by your spirit, to understand this text, for this text to make its way from our head to our heart, that we might live more fervently and faithfully for you as a testimony of your greatness and your goodness, your grace, and mercy in the gospel. For your glory, Lord, we pray. Amen. All right. In Hebrews chapter 12, verses one and two, the title of our sermon is In Christ Alone, In Christ Alone. And we've often considered faith in Christ as being, or that we're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Not when we think about that in terms of our salvation, but it's very important to think about that in terms of our Christian life. The same faith through which you were genuinely saved is the same faith through which that we live the Christian life. We're to live for Christ by faith in him. That's been a little while here since we preached through a series on Sunday evenings that we entitled Heroes of the Faith after A.W. Pink's book by the same name. And as going through that series, we preached through Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11, often called the Hall of Faith, gives us one example after another of the efficacy of a persevering faith in the life of a believer, a faith that works in the life of a believer. These are the great cloud of witnesses, or Martus, where we get our word martyr from, the great cloud of witnesses referenced in Hebrews chapter 12, verse one. It's these Heroes of the Faith that we see in Hebrews chapter 11. The implication is, by that word, they suffered these things, they endured these things for their witness for their testimony. They were faithful witnesses, as the Hall of Faith would say in some cases, of Christ, specifically, bearing testimony, the goodness and grace and mercy of God. Genuine saving faith picture there, a faith that subdues kingdoms. As the author to Hebrews chapter 11 says, works righteousness, obtains promises, according to verse 33. Believers who out of weakness, the Bible says, were made strong. They became valiant in battle. They turned to flight armies. They endured torture. They endured mockings, scourgings, chains, imprisonments. They were stoned. They were sawn into. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They endured poverty, being destitute. They were afflicted. They were tormented. They suffered these things in faith, knowing that their eternal reward was with God. And their example in Hebrews chapter 11 is to endure or to encourage us to endure faithfully ourselves in our walk with the Lord. These are those of whom the world was not worthy. Those who lived and those who died in faith. Having been justified by faith, the just shall live by faith, by faith in Christ alone. And that's the testimony of Hebrews chapter 11. These make up the cloud of faithful witnesses. That context, the context of Hebrews chapter 11 is the context then of Hebrews chapter 12. If you look at verse one, context is Hebrews chapter 11 and those heroes of the faith that who by faith lived in faith, by faith and endured to the end, then were exhorted in Hebrews chapter 12 verse one. Therefore we also, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, these witnesses of Hebrews chapter 11 specifically and other witnesses frankly down through the ages throughout church history. Since we're also 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. Now the author of the letter to the Hebrews exhorts us in verse one with this, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. That's the focal point of this passage. Let us run with endurance our race, the race that is set before us. Now this passage is part of the lettuce patch of the book of Hebrews. Let us, let us, let us. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. This is the focal point of the text, the primary exhortation. So let us break this down, right? The race being referred to here is the Greek word agon, agon. It means struggle or fight. It's where we get our word agony from. It's the same word, it's interesting. Same word used by Paul in 2 Timothy chapter four, verse seven, where Paul says I have fought the good fight, agon, they are translated fight. I have finished my race translated there in 2 Timothy four, verse seven, but the word is dramas, it means course. This word for race, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. That word for race means struggle. It means fight. It means battle. The word for race speaks of a rigorous, grueling, agonizing fight. Do you conceive of your Christian life that way? Let us run with endurance the rigorous grueling, agonizing fight that's been set before us. It's something that will require great effort. You must expend great effort. It's gonna take determination. It's gonna take discipline. Strenuous exertion here, it's conceived of in verse one is running, running. Not just running though, running with endurance, running with endurance without giving up, without slowing down, without stopping, without laying down in the road, all right. This is not a sprint, this is a marathon. It's going to take great resolve. It's gonna take great steadfastness, a pressing forward, great determination. You will fight weariness along the way. You're gonna fight exhaustion on the way. You're gonna fight discouragement on the way. You're gonna fight discontentment along the way. You're gonna fight your flesh every step of the way. But you must press forward, must press forward. This is an agony, a struggle, a fight, a battle. Run with endurance, the race that is set before us. There are two implications given from verse one and this idea or this concept of running the race with endurance, two implications. One is this, it implies conceiving of this as a race in verse one. It implies that we're competing against someone or against something. A race would imply that we're competing. We're not competing against each other, right. Not trying to win where the other person loses. No, our competition, so to speak, our fight is against the world, the flesh and the devil. The world, the flesh and the devil, our own sinfulness, our own flesh, our own tendency to lay down, our own proneness to wander off the course into the woods. We're fighting our own flesh, right. We're competing against something, it's the world, the flesh and the devil. Second implication is this, this struggle or this fight, the race implies an end or a finish line. Run your race, well how long? Until the race is done, until you achieve the prize, win the prize, it implies an end or a finish line. Paul says, in 1 Corinthians chapter nine, verse 24, do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives the prize? Paul says, run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is tempered on all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown but we do it for an imperishable crown. Then what's our crown? It's the crown of life, amen. So we are to run, we are to advance. We're to struggle, we're to fight for what? For the imperishable crown. Jesus himself says in Revelation chapter two, verse 10, be faithful until death, that's endurance. That's running your race with endurance, right. Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life, life everlasting with him, eternal life in heaven. That's the crown, that's the finish line, right. That's the prize that's worth fighting for, amen. The prize worth battling for, struggling for, agonizing for. That's the race worth running. I would submit to you, there's no other race more worth running than that race. That's the race worth running. That's the race that's worth expending effort and diligence and determination and resolve to run. And we apply ourselves to so many different things, don't we? We apply ourselves so diligently, some of us, to work. So diligently to a hobby, so diligently to a joy or a passion or a leisure, there are many things in this life which we will apply ourselves to diligently to achieve a level of expertise. This is the thing we need to apply ourselves diligently to following Christ until your death and winning the prize, the crown of life. That's the race worth running. That's the race of the Christian life. When we use the word race, that's the battle, that's the fight, that's the struggle of the Christian life. Now maybe your pace has slowed a bit. Maybe you sense that sometimes you're not really running, you're more jogging, right. Or maybe you're speed walking and it looks weird when you do it. You've slowed down some. Many professing Christians aren't running at all. They're sitting on the couch. Maybe your desire for the prize has cool, right. Our desires can cool. Sometimes they wax and wane. They're not as red hot as they once were. Not as red hot as when you first set out. It's not where you wanna be in a long race. It's not where you wanna be in a battle. It's not where you wanna be in a struggle. Many of us start strong. We run hard. Maybe we boast a little along the way at how easy this is, right. It was a period of time where I was ready to charge hell with a squirt gun thinking I would never sin again, right. And then I woke up the next morning. Fatigue begins to set in. Problems, trials, adversity, suffering begins to litter our path. There are potholes along the way. Sometimes you wake up and you find yourself knee deep in a pothole. Running becomes difficult at times. Maybe you begin to think after a while, you know. I don't need to run. I am a Christian. I was saved. And you think to yourself, I can coast now. No one's gonna snatch me out of his hand. Or worse yet, you may think, I can't make it. I can't continue to do this. I'm ready to throw in the towel. Word of God in Hebrews chapter 12 verses one and two gives us great motivation to press on in a fight. A great motivation to press on. When you feel tired, when you feel weary, Hebrews chapter 12 verses one and two should give you great motivation to press on. When you are discouraged, when you're beaten up over the head and shoulders with something, this, that or the other thing, Hebrews chapter one, 12 verses one and two gives you motivation to be determined, to be resolved, to continue on. It's motivation here to fan the flame of our desire and to renew our commitment, our resolve to run hard. And the author provides one such motivation for us in verse one. He says, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run. Since we're surrounded by this cloud of witnesses, let us run. Now we are from Hebrews chapter 12 verse one figuratively surrounded by this victorious and conquering company who have run their race and received the prize. They've run the race before us and they've run it successfully by faith and they've won the prize. In weakness, they were made strong. They endured hardship. They faced insurmountable obstacles. They became valiant in battle. They turned to flight armies and many of them died for the faith. If they endured, if they ran that hard, if they were steadfast, my faith, if they didn't throw in the towel, then you can make it too. I can make it too. That's the motivation of Hebrews chapter 12 verse one. Run hard brother, run hard sister because those saints made it and so can you. So can I. In your own power? No. If you're running in your own power, you will fail. It's by faith. Many of them died in faith. Faith, they ran in faith. We have these saints as an example for our race by faith. What the saints in Hebrews 11, the Hall of Faith, are figuratively shouting to us is this, don't give up. Don't give in. You can make it if you run by faith and not just make it hobbling along, right? You can make it running and running with endurance. Now, if that motivates you, or you think about this, does that prize motivate you? Well, then how do we apply it? How do we fight? We're provided in Hebrews chapter 12 verses one and two with three battle strategies from our text. First is this, you lay aside every weight. The second is this, you lay aside the sin which so easily ensnares us. And the third is this, you look to Jesus by faith. You look to Jesus by faith. First, you lay aside every weight, verse one. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, here's how you run. Here's how you struggle. Here's how you fight. You lay aside every weight. The word is on cause. It means impediment. It means hindrance or burden. The one point that is so helpful here is the distinction between weight and sin. You're to lay aside every weight and you're to lay aside every sin. It's not just that we're to lay aside sin. We're to lay aside anything and everything that hinders our running. These things may not be sinful in and of themselves, but if they impede you, if they slow you down from running, then put them away, put them aside, lay them aside. So right now, the fastest man on the planet is Usain Bolt, right? He's fast. It's amazing to watch that guy run. What would happen to Usain Bolt if you put one pound weight around one of his ankles? No longer the fastest man on the planet, right? It's gonna have an impact. The Christian, the professing Christian often carries a lot more than a one pound weight in his shoe. There are often many things that compete for our attention. We have many other priorities that get in the way. We don't manage our time well. We give too much priority to work, too much priority to leisure, too much priority to TV, too many other responsibilities when we should be seeking first the kingdom of God. We have all these things that weigh us down. Now is watching TV sinful in and of itself? No, but if watching TV hinders your running, then set it down. Lay it aside. It's not worth it. If there's something that gets in the way, put it aside. What may be weight to one person may not be weight to another person. So to one person, maybe what you listen to on the radio is weight to you, not weight to somebody else. Maybe how you use your time is weight to you. Maybe it's not weight to somebody else. You've got to work through that on your own. We're so prone to long for and to pursue the things of this world. When the Bible says that he who puts his hand on the pile and turns back is not fit for the kingdom of God. Lay it down, put it aside. Lay aside every weight, everything that keeps you from running, everything that hinders your run, everything that hinders your battle. Just set it down, lay it aside. Now some of you may think, well I've got to do weight with all my leisure time. Oh no, you'll find out very quickly that you need rest, right? You use wisdom in thinking through that. Secondly, first you're to lay aside every weight. Secondly, we're to lay aside the sin which so easily ensnares us. Sin is our chief impediment. It's our primary snare. We're so easily ensnared by it. Not just hindered by it. We're caught in its snare. We're caught in its trap so that we cannot run. It's like standing knee deep in a pothole. Both weights or hindrances or burdens or impediments and sins, we're to lay aside. Lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. We're to cast it off. Word literally means to shed it like a garment. You're just to take it off, set it down. Anything that gets in the way of our running, why? Because to stop running, or to stop fighting, or to slow down in the fight is to start losing the battle. Simply to stop running, to halt the exercise of yourself toward godliness is the first step in the direction of apostasy. And what will be the weight or the sin that entangles us so as to make us fall? Our author here exhorts us to lay aside. Lay aside every weight. Lay aside the sin which so easily ensnares us. And lastly, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We're not to look at those saints in Hebrews chapter 11. We're to look at faith working in those believers. We don't look side to side of the people running alongside of us although we are to follow their example, imitate them as they follow Christ. You don't stare at your feet or you're gonna be falling all over yourself, tripping over your shoelaces. You don't stare inward at your deceitful heart. You can't look to a pastor in that sense. You can't look to a guy that you listen to on a podcast. We are to fix our eyes. We're to steal our gaze on the Lord Jesus Christ, on the Lord Jesus Christ in Christ alone. Now how do we practically do that? Maybe it's looking sometimes at the example that is set following an example as you gaze at Christ and follow him. You do it through his word. James says in 121, chapter one verse 21, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Lay it aside, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. We don't, when James says receive there, we don't receive the word like we receive a pair of lungs. Like at some point, you received your lungs and now your lungs are there, they're in your chest. You have them, you've received them and you don't even pay attention to them anymore. They're just there, right? Till some problem comes up and you pay attention. We're not to receive the word like we receive a pair of lungs, we receive the word like we receive oxygen in our lungs, right? We breathe it in, we need it and we breathe it, we take it in as we need it, which is how often all the time, we absolutely, it's necessary to life and so we receive it as often as is needed and we meditate on that word which we've received. You receive with meekness the implanted word. You breathe it in, we need his word. We practically do it through prayer, right? Dependence upon him in all our circumstances. We pray in our circumstances and depend upon him in our circumstances. I'm grateful for Spurgeon writing about this and Spurgeon's example. One of the things that Spurgeon did in prayer was to pray before every change in his circumstances. So if he was leaving his study, first he would pray and then study. If he was leaving his study to go into a meeting, he would pray before going into the meeting. When he was leaving the meeting to go to lunch, he would pray before he went to lunch. When he was at lunch, he would pray for the food, pray for who he's gonna talk to after lunch, and when he was going back to a class, he would pray before going into class. Every change of circumstance, he was just depending upon the Lord in prayer. So pray, we depend upon him. We practically look to Jesus through prayer. Paul says to seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Now why, why is that? Because the Lord Jesus Christ is the archegos and the teliotase, the teliotase of our faith, the author and the finisher of our faith. The author, our archegos, means the originator, the one who begins, the source, and the one who leads. He is the object of our faith. He is the supreme example of our faith, but he's also the one who originated our faith, birthed faith in us by the word of God and the spirit of God, spirit of God who testifies the Lord Jesus Christ, which is a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that evokes faith through his word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. He is the author or the archegos of our faith. He's also the finisher, the perfecter, or the teliotase of our faith, the one who molds it, the one who shapes it, the one who purifies it to perfection, the one who completes it, the one who brings it to its ultimate and final intended conclusion to the point right where faith becomes sight. The Lord Jesus Christ authors and originates our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ brings it to its intended conclusion. He finishes or perfects our faith. The law couldn't perfect faith. Jesus Christ perfects faith. The sacrificial system couldn't perfect faith. What the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, right? Jesus Christ will perfect our faith. He'll bring our faith to its ultimate goal, as Peter says, so that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes that what is tested by fire may be found to, and here's the ultimate goal of our faith, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14 says that by one offering the Lord Jesus Christ has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. The Lord is the author and the finisher of our faith. Now as both author and finisher of our faith we're to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ alone. He is the grand object of faith. He is the grand example of faith. We're to fix our eyes on him. Verse two at the end. And he who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross despising the shame and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The Lord's exaltation to the right hand of the majesty on high was the joy that was set before him. His exaltation to glory was the joy that was set before Christ. As he perfectly finished his race on earth he prayed to the father in John chapter 17 verse four. He prayed, I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. I finished my race. I finished my course, right? I finished my fight. And now, oh father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. That exaltation glory was the joy that was set before him. That glory, that joy was the reason for which he endured the cross. He didn't merely face the cross. He didn't really come to the cross. He endured the cross. We went through John 19. We saw that in the text, right? He endured the cross and all that that implies. And to despise the shame, he endured the cross, despised the shame. To despise the shame here means to count it as a worthless thing. It is nothing to me to endure this shame. In that sense, he despised it for the sake of the joy that was set before him. Shame was a worthless thing. He endured the cross. That joy of glory, exaltation to the right hand of the father is the prize that came to him at the end of his race, that glory. That's interesting. We have the same joy to look forward to. It's not just heaven, right? Heaven is gonna be awesome. It's gonna be glorious, right? But it's not just heaven. It's Christ and it's glory. It's the joy that is set before us to be with him in glory, to be glorified. Glorified bodies, free from sin, right? It's the glory. We look forward to the prize. His session then, the session of the Lord Jesus Christ at God's right hand in one sense is the guarantee. It's the hope. It's the security of all of us who are living now and running our race. His session is the guarantee, the hope, the security of all of us as we run our race. And so we then must look to him. It's faith in Christ alone as we run our race. We fix our eyes on him. He's seated there making intercession for us. He authored our faith. He will finish and perfect our faith. He'll bring it to conclusion, bring it to completion. The life of faith from beginning to end, certainly the life of faith as we follow Christ must be a life of faith in Christ alone. When you running your race, battling, fighting, when you fix your eyes on him, when you trust in him, when you depend upon him, you know that he is the author of faith. He's the object of faith. He's the finisher of faith. He's our prime supreme example of faith. And as surely as he has endured the cross for you, as surely as he bore the shame that you deserved, and as surely as he is now raised seated at the right hand of God, living to make intercession for his own, as surely as all that, he through faith will preserve you, will protect you and will perfect you and bring you home one day. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. All praise, honor, and glory to the author and finisher of our faith, amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, thank you for these glorious promises, Lord. We rest in you for them. We trust in you for them. We fix our gaze upon him for them. You, Lord, are our joy. You, Lord, are our hope. We know, Lord, you are also our guarantee, our surety, our security. We fix our hope in you. We fix our eyes upon you. Help us, Lord, to run our race with endurance, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We know, Lord, that you endured the cross, despising the shame, certainly for the joy that was set before you, but for those who are your own. And so knowing, Lord, that you have conquered the grave and you are raised again, seated even now at the right hand of the majesty on high, we know that you then, living to make intercession for us, are our hope. So we put our faith in you. We put our trust in you. We entrust ourselves to you. We commit ourselves to you in doing good as to our faithful creator. And we love you, Lord, we thank you. We trust in you for these things. Help us, Lord, to run. Help us, Lord, to fight. Keep us, Lord, from slowing down or moving backwards or getting slothful or lazy or apathetic or sluggardly in our fight. Help us, Lord, to be encouraged by these glorious examples that we see in scripture that you've given for our admonition, but not to be set our eyes upon them, but to set our eyes upon the object of their faith who is the object of our faith that we may run as they did for your glory and for our ultimate good. We look forward to that day, Lord, where faith becomes sight. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.