"The Church is Called to Persevere."

Turn with me this morning to Hebrews chapter 12. We are going to looking into the first 3 verses of this chapter and see why the discipline of perseverance is so important. The author of Hebrews draws this awesome picture of heavenly observers in an attempt to motivate and instruct a faltering church to persevere. What this scene is all about is a great coliseum. The occasion is a footrace, but not a short 100 meter dash. It is a long race. The contestants here include the author and the members of his flock, as well as us who know the Lord. This cloud of witnesses in (12:1) that fills up the stadium is made up of all the great spiritual athletes of the past. They are not live witnesses but witnesses because they have been faithful and gave testimony down through the ages. They have had persevering faith like Joseph, Abraham, Moses, and many more. Hebrews 12 gives us 4 things to help us persevere in this thing we call the race of life.

1. Get rid of the things that hinder you from following God.

Hebrews 12:1 ESV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

As a runner there can often be several nagging things that hinder me from running and one is injuries. Over the past year I have been dealing with an Achilles injury that has hinder me from running. I have had to go to do physical therapy in order to get back to running.

Here in verse 1 we see a call to throw off several things. The first thing is every weight or any hindrances that can get us down. The second thing is every sin which clings so closely to us. This would be anything that would impede or hinder the runners progress. It can be translated as weight or hindrance. The author of Hebrews wants us to see that we as believers must throw off anything that would encumber or hinder us from running this race of life well. The author here has in mind in ancient times that when a runner would compete he would strip off his clothing before the race, as was the Greek custom of the day.

The sin that we are told to throw off is the sin which clings so closely to us. So, let’s get specific. These would look like besetting sins or the sin that are more appealing to us and may not appeal to others. What are the specific sins in or sin in your life that you need to get rid of???

-Jealousy is where we have this feeling inside us when others do better than we do.

-Lust. This could be for others, or things, or even a position.

-Anger. This is a heart that is always raging and very hateful.

-Lying. This is a sin that can show up in our relationship with others when we are full of deceit.

All of these besetting sins are sins that attract and hold us with the promise of pleasure, that sadly bring no happiness or enjoyment but only despair.

If we are going to finish this race well then there must be things that we get rid of. We can never run the race that is set before us, if we do not put off the weights and clinging sins. Confess those to God today and ask Him for His help. What is the one thing today in your life that is hindering you from following the Lord??? Is it a habit, a pleasure, a hobby, an event, a person? I know that this may sound radical but we must lay these things aside because it is a matter of life and death. It has everything to do with finishing and finishing well.

2. Run the race of life with endurance.

After we have taken the time to get rid of the hindrances, we now begin to run the race of life. We begin to run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Verse 1) Persevering during a tough race is an amazing thing.

In 2007 I had the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon. This particular year it was very cold and rained the entire race. It was also very windy which made the race very tough to run. At mile 20 came the famous Heartbreak Hill and I my legs were killing me. The last 6 miles of the race were very tough and I was ready to be done. I knew that I couldn’t stop running but I was ready to be at the finish line. I remember my last mile and running down Boylston Street and finally seeing the finish line. It was a glorious sight.

Perseverance can be very tough but it also can be a beautiful thing. We all have a very specific race that the Lord maps out for us. The Lord directs our paths and numbers our days. Our race is like no one else’s. It is marked out for you where you are as a student, parent, single person, and even grandparent.

Some races are straight, some have a lot of turns and ups and downs, some seem very long, but the glory is, each of us getting to finish the race and finishing the race well. Here is how the Apostle Paul describes it.

2 Timothy 4:7 ESV

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

With God’s help we can finish this race well. No matter what you have done or what your past looks like with God we can keep running until the Lord calls us home or returns.

(Story of my sister in Roswell, New Mexico at the Turtle Marathon finishing in last place.)

Biblical perseverance is putting one foot in front of the other. It’s taking our time to finish well. The race is not for sprinters who start off to fast never to finish. It is for faithful joggers and even slow walkers who just move little bit by little bit. Fast or slow, strong or weak, we must all persevere.

3. Focus your attention on Christ so that you may be able to finish well.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The other day I was out by Goldsmith riding my bike and a car was quickly approaching me from behind. I turned around to see how closely it was too me and when I focused back on the road ahead of me I had drifted off the road onto the gravel and almost crashed. The bad news for me was that both of my bike tires went flat and I had to wait for Jennifer to come pick me up. I lost focus of the road!!!

The focus of course is Jesus, we are to be looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. The reason why Jesus is to be our focus is because every obstacle was thrown his way, but never once did Christ stumble and fall. He lived a perfect and sinless life and then went to the cross and died for us so that we could have eternal life. Jesus became the founder and perfecter of our faith by the way he lived. And the good news today is that He continues to be the founder and perfecter of our faith.

Why am I telling you this today? Why is this important for us? Because we all need faith to run this race and to look to Jesus. We must deliberately lift our eyes from other distracting things and focus with concentration on Jesus and His words. We must not look away for a quick glance. This kind of faith is so important to finishing the race well.

In this life I think that there come many times where it is easy for us to fix our eyes on a lot of other things than Christ. We can fix our eyes on our hardships and that can weigh us down. We can fix our eyes on other things or even people for all the answers, and that is why the author of Hebrews is calling us to regain our focus and look to Jesus.

So, as we focus on Christ here is the amazing thing. Check out the last part of verse 2. “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.” Jesus’ joy is our joy. Christ is in us and we are in him. We are heirs of Christ and the Lord calls us His children. Yes, there will be times where we struggle here on earth. Yes, there will be difficult moments and times of suffering, but we can have joy because we know that as we continue to persevere here on earth there will come a day when we will be with Christ for all eternity.

Yes, there may come times where we want to doubt God and His words for our lives, even His plan for our lives. However if we can focus on the joy that Christ has set before us, we can endure the difficult things we will face here on earth. And we can run the race of life to God’s glory.

4. Consider what Christ endured for you.

Hebrews 12:3 ESV

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

As we go about our lives persevering to the end would should do this in such a way that we consider Jesus as our supreme example. He was willing to suffer in obedience to God the Father. It seems that there were many times throughout the life of Christ where he faced ridicule and difficult moments especially when dealing with the religious leaders of his time. Jesus endured the opposition that came his way and that is so important because for all of us who follow the Lord we can expect the same thing.

But, there is also something so important here for us. We consider what Christ endured, so that we may not grow weary or fainthearted. This phrase grow weary or fainthearted was sports lingo in the ancient world, used to describe a runner’s exhausted collapse. He would get so weary and tired that he just fell over and collapsed. (Not being able to finish the race.)

So, the way for Christians to avoid a spiritual collapse is to consider Christ and the opposition he faced from sinners like Herod, Pilate and the religious officials. Consider how he faced them with confidence, meekness and even strength.

You may be here today and dislike sports. I get that. You may also realize that you have never desired to be an athlete. However we all have a race to run in this hostile world. It does not matter how old you are. Today we have been surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses whose lives are examples for us to persevere to the end. Patriarchs such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Daniel, Peter, James, John. Men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley and many others. These folks finished well and they are cheering us on to persevere and run the race that God has set before us.

This discipline of perseverance is not easy but it confronts us to get rid of the things that distract us and entangle us from running well. It calls us to run with endurance, but to run our own race knowing that God is with us and does not leave us out on the course by ourselves. In fact, if it were not for Him there is no way we could start or finish this race. Through out the race of life we have to focus on Christ, He must be our center of attention. His joy gives us the strength and power to endure through the race of this life. And finally, we must always consider Christ. Our life is to be spent considering how Christ lived and what he did for us.

-We are to run as Christ did, he got rid of the distractions.

-We are to run with Him.

-We are to run toward Him.

-He is to be our focus.

Christ has a race for us to run, and we can do this as we lean unto him with perseverance.