I. To finish the race well you must remove the sin that hinders you. (1)

John Falotico

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Hebrews 12:1-3 “Finishing the Race”

John Akhwari, was a marathon runner from Tanzania who finished last at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. No last-place finisher ever finished quite so last. He was Injured along the way and hobbled towards the finish line with his leg bloodied and bandaged more than an hour after the rest of the runners had finished. Only a few spectators were left when he finally crossed the finish line. When asked why he continued to run despite the pain, he replied, "My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me here to finish."

By grace through faith each of us have entered the race, the course is the whole of Christian life. It is the race of faith! Each of us will run our course but will each of us finish well?

Hebrews teaches us that Jesus is superior to all things. This lesson was important to the original audience. Their faith brought troubles and they were tempted to abandon their course and return to the Jewish sacrificial system. Hebrews 10:1 tells us “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.” The sacrificial system was a shadow of what was to come, it was merely a band-aid but Jesus is the substance, the only person who can truly save, secure, and perfect the worshipper forever! So this is not a question of losing your salivation! By grace through faith you are saved and sealed! Jesus said John 10:28 “and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

Like today, athletic contest was a popular part of culture and this imagery would not be lost on the recipients, perhaps they could see themselves halfway through their race, they had come so far, so why stop competing now?

CPS: The key to finishing the race well is removing the things that keep us from competing well and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus who is the object of our faith as well as our perfect example!

I. To finish the race well you must remove the sin that hinders you. (1)

Everyone who starts the race finishes but not everyone finishes well. To finish well you must compete well!

The course of Christian life is difficult, but we can find encouragement by those who have gone before us. Cloud is the Greek noun nephos which refers to a huge mass of clouds beyond numbering. These clouds are the men and women of chapter 11 who in spite of what life dealt them finished their race in faithfulness. The author names sixteen people and they are followed by a plethora of unnamed examples. These witnesses endured, were found faithful, and now bear witness to the possibility of the life of faith. They finished well and we can to!

But in order for us to finish well we must remove the things that weighs us down. We are told to lay aside EVERY weight and the sin that which doth so easily beset us. The author is telling us to remove all things that impede us, the good and the bad!

Lay aside simply means to take off. We must remove the weights and the sin that impede us! Did you know that in the Olympics you can carry a supply of food and beverages during your race? You can also wear weights around your ankles but no one does! So why do we run our race with heavy weights impeding us?

While in the Army I went to Germany and trained with the fallschmagers. While there I had to take the German P.T. test. It consisted of a number of events including a 1K swim. A solider beside me stripped down to nothing. When the whistle blew he jumped in and started swimming and finished first. Later we asked why he stripped naked and he said his P.T. shorts caused drag so he took them off!

Shorts are good but heavy wet cotton shorts weigh you down! We must be like the soldier who removed off his shorts! We must remove everything that impedes us!

Sin not only impedes us it trips us up! Notice the term Besets Us. It is a Greek Adj (euperistatos) that means to control tightly. It is the idea of being cleverly encircled and AMBUSHED.

The author is speaking of the loose fitting robes that were common during that day. Have you ever noticed in Ancient Greek art that the statues of athletes are always naked? That’s because their clothing would trip them up! So why do we run our race under the entanglement of sin?

For us to finish our race well we MUST stop settling for the good over the best and get rid of the sin in our lives! We must confess our sin to God who promises to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Today we need to make a conscience effort to ask God to reveal our sin to us so that we can put it where it belongs.... the cross of Calvary!

Jesus died for our sins! Our sin is nailed to the cross so why must we put them on again? We will never finish the race well as long we as we are carrying the weight of sin upon ourselves!

II. In order to finish the race well we must fixate our eyes on our Savior (2-3)

Our race is difficult; race is the Greek noun agon. It is where we get our word agony. It means to struggle. Life is hard but we must be steadfast and run our race well.

When I first got to the army the long distance runs were a struggle for me. But I learned to fixate my eyes on a fixed marker way ahead of me, then vowed to not stop until I made it to that marker.

The key to finishing well is fixating our eyes on Jesus. “Looking unto” means to have a steadfast, intent, and continuous gaze, it’s the idea of looking from afar with your eyes fixed on Jesus seated on the throne of God. Looking unto Jesus” describes an attitude of faith and not just a single act. Because He the “author and finisher of our faith”

Philippians 1:6 , that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” He is the beginning and the end of our faith, as well as the object of our faith so we must look to Jesus. Unless your eyes are fixated on Jesus you will get off course! We look to Jesus as our deliverer through faith and also our perfect example of faith!

The previous chapter gives us many examples of faith however none of them were perfect. They all stumbled! Abraham lied about Sarah, Moses was a murderer, David an adulterer. But Jesus is perfect and the only perfect example of faith.

The saints of old had a difficult course and so do we, but no one had a course like Jesus.’ Though faultless and perfectly innocent He endured the agony of the cross because it was the will of God. Endured is the Greek verb hypomenō, it means to reside or stay! The Cross was the most shameful and painful death, it was reserved for the lowly of the world, for those who had no value, yet the King of kings and Lord of lords allowed himself to be cursed and hung upon the splintery timbers of the cross.

As He bore the nails and struggled to breathed those around Him cast insults and abused Him, they shouted (Mark 16:30) “Save Yourself, and come down from the cross.” But Jesus endured. Though He could have called all the host of heaven, though He could have levitated off that cross, HE STAYED RIGHT THERE!

The sins of the world were cast upon Him, for a moment in time He was forsaken of God. On he cross the author of life died but death hllds no grip on Jesus! He burst out of that tomb on the 3rd day and now He is seated at the right hand of God.

Why did Jesus stay on that cross? Why did He allow Himself to be treated this way? It was “For the Joy that was set before Him!” He was completing the will of the Father! He endured the cross because He knew He would be resurrected and exalted…. And He endured the cross in order to present you to the Father in Glory! Jude 24 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,”

The joy that was set before Him is you! Jesus did this for us because He loves us and desires to present us perfect before God the Father! He lived for us and died for us and in the process gave us the perfect example of faith so that we may finish our race well!

Conclusion: We have a race to finish, and we must run it well! We must run it unimpeded by the weight of sin, with our eyes fixated on our Savior Jesus who is tried and true and seated on the throne so that we don't get off course, grow weary, and lose heart.