SERMON NOTES

HEBREWS 12:1-13 KEYS TO FINISHING OUR CHRISTIAN RACE AND NOT GROWING WEARY! 

Often in scripture we find that our Christian journey in this life is likened to a running race!! (1 Corinthians 9:24-26, 2 Timothy 4:7-10) In all of these passages, the Lord reminds us that the aim is always to finish the race to win the prize! 
So let us look at 7 things this passage in Hebrews 12:1-13 encourages us to do, that might help us not grow weary and be able to finish the race marked out for us by God!! 

1.BE ENCOURAGED BY THE TESTIMONY OF OTHERS AND THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US! (vs 1) 

Notice that Hebrews 12:1 starts off with the word ‘THEREFORE’ since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.....’ When you see the word ‘therefore’, it means this verse is based on the passage preceding which is Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is known as the ‘hall of faith’ and records the testimonies of those children of God in the bible who faced troubles, hardships and persecutions and yet stood firm in their faith in God!! These are the ‘CLOUD OF WITNESSES’ that Hebrews 12:1 says are spurring us on to run this race and fulfil our Christian calling to the end!!! 
For example, If God has asked you to do something that seems foolish to everyone around you, you have the testimony of a man named Noah TO SPUR YOU ON, who was willing to build an ark even though it had never flooded the earth before by rain. He was willing to look foolish to the whole world and maybe even his own family because he reverenced God and His word above pleasing man! (Hebrews 11:7)

If Jesus is calling you into the unknown, into something that you have never attempted or even dreamed of doing for Him before that is out of your comfort zone, we have the testimony of a man named Abraham who when called by God to go to a place he had never heard before, obeyed, even though he did not know where he was going! (Hebrews 11:8-10) 

Likewise, the more we SHARE OUR TESTIMONIES WITH EACH OTHER of what Jesus has done in our lives, the more this will spur us on and encourage us to run this race for Jesus!!!

2.THROW OFF EVERYTHING THAT HINDERS AND THE SIN THAT SO EASILY ENTANGLES US! (vs 1) 

Notice there are 2 separate issues mentioned here? There are some things in our life that are outright SIN as defined by God in the bible.
Example: 

a) Sins of commission- the things we do wrong. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

b) Sins of omission- the good things we should be doing for God that we don’t do- James 4:17)
These are things we need to hand over to Jesus to help us overcome and turn from, to help us run this race. 

But notice also in this verse, that it says there are things that HINDER US that are separate to sin? This reminds us that there are some things in our life that even though they aren’t outright sin, are things that hinder our walk with Jesus and stop us from living out our calling for Him!! For each one of us these HINDRANCES Can look different! 
Eg. For some people it could be TV. Even though watching TV is not a sin according to the bible, for some of us, it can get to the point where we watch soo much TV or Netflix, that it stops us spending time with Jesus in His word. In this case, TV has then become a hindrance that affects our walk with Jesus and therefore needs to be thrown off by watching less TV.

Q. WHAT ARE THE SINS (of commission and omission) AND THINGS THAT HINDER YOUR WALK WITH JESUS THAT YOU NEED TO PUT ASIDE? How can I put these aside to improve my walk with Jesus? 

3.LET US RUN... (vs 1) 

The third thing we are encouraged to do from Hebrews 12:1 is STEP UP INTO THE CALLING GOD HAS FOR US!! Notice the writer of Hebrews calls us to get in the race? There are so many Christians who when they get saved, don’t actually step up into the calling God has on their life to serve Him! They are in effect ‘dormant Christians.’ 

In 2 Timothy 1:9, The apostle Paul reminds Timothy that as Christians we are not only saved but CALLED to live out a holy life for Jesus (Ephesians 2:10)!! According to Ephesians 4:11 for example, some of us have been called to serve Jesus as Pastors, teachers of the word of God, Evangelists, Prophets, Apostles etc. 

So the question is: WHAT IS YOUR CALLING IN JESUS? HAVE YOU STEPPED UP INTO THAT CALLING TO SERVE JESUS? 

4.RUN WITH PERSEVERANCE! 

Not only are we to step up and run in this race, but Hebrews 12:1 now reminds us that we are to run with perseverance!! This tells us our Christian journey is not a short 2 month journey where we are on fire for Jesus for only a short time and then fall away, but rather a life long marathon in which we need to ENDURE IN OUR FAITH in Jesus despite the persecutions, trials, temptations and troubles that may come along the way!! Hebrews 10:36 says ‘You need to PERSEVERE so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.’ 
Let us ask Jesus for His grace and strength through the power of the Holy Spirit to help us endure in our Christian walk!! 

5.LET US FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS RATHER THAN OUR CIRCUMSTANCE!! (vs 2) 

Hebrews 12:2 tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. In Matthew 14:29-30 when Peter stepped out of the boat to walk on water, As long as his eyes were fixed on Jesus as he walked towards him, Peter was able to stay above the water. But notice in vs 30, that as soon as he took his focus off Jesus and focussed on the wind and the storm around him, that’s when he began to sink!! The same can happen to us! It is often when we FOCUS ON OUR SITUATION that this leads to anxiety and fear and stress because we are focusing on the problem rather than on the one who can bring the solution!! If we can instead learn to fix our eyes on JESUS- THE AUTHOR AND PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH and focus on how wonderful and powerful and glorious He is, this can help take away the anxiety from our trials and troubles!! LEARN TO DISTRACT YOURSELF FROM YOUR PROBLEMS BY FOCUSSING ON JESUS! (Practically this could look like choosing to put on praise music in your circumstance so that you are forcing yourself to listen to songs that say how glorious and mighty Jesus is in that moment!!) 

6.CONSIDER HIM WHO ENDURED SUCH OPPOSITION FROM MEN! (vs 3) 

When we consider what our saviour Jesus went through for our sakes- (being whipped and lashed probably til His bones could be seen in His back, a crowns of thorns put on His head, being nailed hands and feet to a cross and tortured even though He was innocent, and taking on the sins of the world so that He was cut off and forsaken by God the Father!! Isaiah 52:14-53:12) when you realise just what our saviour went through for our sakes, all of a sudden our situation doesn’t seem that bad anymore!! 
The next time you go through a trial or tough circumstance, let us REMIND OURSELVES OF WHAT JESUS WENT THROUGH FOR US IN COMPARISON so that this helps us to not grow weary and lose heart in this race we are running!! 

7.HEED AND ACCEPT GOD’S DISCIPLINE IN OUR LIFE! (vs 5-12) 

In vs 5-12, we are reminded that Our Heavenly Father disciplines those He loves (vs 6) and that His discipline in our life (which can include the hardships we go through in life-vs 7) is proof we truly are His children (vs 7-9)!! We also see in vs 10-12 that God’s discipline is FOR OUR GOOD and leads us to HOLINESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS and PEACE by those who have been trained by it. It is because our Heavenly Father loves us that He is willing to discipline us so that we turn off the path of disobedience (that could eventually lead to destruction) and turn back on the right path with Him!!

Proverbs 10:17 tells us that “He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.” Let us learn to heed God’s discipline so that it helps us run this race with perseverance on the right path!! 

May these 7 encouragements help us persevere and not grow weary in this life-long Christian race we are running for Jesus, so that just like the apostle Paul, we may be able to say: 

“I have fought the good fight, I have FINISHED THE RACE, I have kept the faith.”  (2 Timothy 4:7)