The Need to Run the Race
Hebrews 12:1-3 and Psalms 5:1-12

“If you see me running, you better run too
because that would mean that something is chasing me.”

“I run every day for 30 minutes, if I miss a day
I add 30 minutes to the next day.
This has truly been a game changer,
tomorrow I’m supposed to run for 3 weeks.”

“If you’re on the treadmill next to me,
the answer is yes, we are racing.”

A few years ago, a young woman named Lois signed up for her first marathon. She trained hard, but halfway through the race, everything started to fall apart.
Her legs cramped. Her breathing tightened.
Her confidence evaporated. She slowed to a walk and eventually stopped altogether.
She stood on the side of the road, hands on her knees, ready to quit.
Then something unexpected happened.
From behind her came an older runner — gray hair, steady stride, clearly someone who had run many races before. He slowed down, looked at her, and said, “Don’t stop here.
You’ve come too far. Run with me.”

She tried to explain how tired she was, how much pain she felt, how she didn’t think she could finish.
The man just smiled and said, “Pain means you’re still in the race.
Keep your eyes on the finish line. I’ll stay with you.”
So, she started running again — slowly at first, then stronger. Every time she wanted to quit, the man reminded her, “Look ahead. Don’t stare at your feet.
Don’t stare at your pain. Look at where you’re going.”
When they finally crossed the finish line, Lois turned to thank him… but he was gone.
Lost in the crowd. She never saw him again.
But she never forgot what he said:
“Don’t stop here. Keep your eyes on the finish line.”
This Illustrates Hebrews 12:1–3
As some of you know, the apostle Paul often compared the Christian life to athletic events, and he is doing so in this passage.

“Therefore we also, since we are 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.”

• “We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” Lois wasn’t running alone. Someone who had run the race before came alongside her. In the same way, the heroes of faith — and the faithful people in our own lives — cheer us on by their example.
• “Let us throw off everything that hinders.” Her pain, discouragement, and self doubt were the weights slowing her down. We carry our own: guilt, fear, distraction, sin.
• “Let us run with endurance.” Endurance isn’t glamorous. It’s choosing not to quit when quitting feels easier.
• “Fixing our eyes on Jesus.” Just as Lois had to lift her eyes from her pain to the finish line, we lift our eyes to Christ — the one who endured the cross and now stands at the finish, calling us forward.

I like to hear stories about people who won't give up.

Quitters aren't much of an inspiration, but people who stay with a commitment even though the going gets tough are a source of inspiration to us all.

Do you remember the man who came to Jesus and said, "I'll follow you wherever you go"? Jesus told him, "Before you make that kind of commitment, you need to realize that foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
"In other words, if you follow me, realize that there will be difficulties.
There will be times when you will not know where you'll sleep, or where your next meal is coming from. There will be difficult and discouraging times.
But after you realize that, and then put your hands to the plow," He said, "don't look back."

When people start the Christian life, and then quit when the going gets tough, they can become an object of ridicule to some, and a source of discouragement to others. That's the reason Hebrews 12:1-3 is so important.
In this passage Paul is not comparing the Christian life to a wind sprint, but to a marathon.

In a wind sprint you run as fast as you can for a short distance, and speed is the critical factor. But in a marathon, endurance is the critical factor, and the concern is that over the long run the runner will not “grow weary and lose heart.”
The Apostle Paul was faithful. In his last letter to Timothy, (2^nd Timothy 4:7-8), he wrote,
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Finishing the race is critically important to all of us who would be followers of Jesus.
And I believe that this morning’s text in Hebrews 12 contains at least 3 pieces of advice that will help each of us faithfully run the race that is before us.

The first piece of advice is to remember that you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, and that you can be inspired by those who have gone before.

Notice that chapter 12 begins with the word "Therefore." That connects it with the previous chapter. And in chapter 11 the writer of Hebrews gives a long list of people who have been found faithful.

1. For instance, in vs. 7 he mentions Noah. We can hear Noah whispering in our ear, "How long do you say you've been waiting? It took me 100 years to build the ark, and it was never easy. I tried to warn the people, but no one would listen. Yet I kept on building, and when the floods came the ark was the vehicle of our salvation. You need to keep on, keeping on, also."

2. Next, in vs. 8, is Abraham. Abraham, called from his home in Ur to a place where God would lead him; Abraham, who in his old age was told that his wife, Sara, would bear a son; Abraham, who was told to take this precious son and offer him as a sacrifice. It wasn’t easy, but Abraham passed every test!

So, when you become discouraged, here is Abraham whispering in your ear. "Listen," "if you obey God, the world will think you’re crazy because God's ways are not their ways. But listen carefully and be true to His will."

3. Then go to vs. 22 and the story of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. In Egypt he was accused of crimes he didn't commit and thrown into prison. He was about as low as a person can get. Yet he remained faithful to God. Then everything changes, and suddenly he is very powerful, Prime Minister of Egypt. He has control of money and grain and food and people. And yet, when he is at the top, he is still faithful to God.

So, listen to Joseph say, "Look, it doesn't take much to be faithful when things are going your way. But when you are at the bottom, and everything seems to be falling apart, make sure that you're still faithful."

4. The list goes on. There's Moses and Samson and Samuel and David and more besides. There is a great cloud of witnesses to cheer us on. They whisper in our ear when we become discouraged, saying, "Don't lose heart! Don't give up. Don't quit, whatever you do."

Now when we get discouraged, we need to think of the great saints in Scripture, and of others who have inspired us.

WE sing Song #222, FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.
When we are discouraged, we hear their voices saying, "If we can do it, then you can do it too." Be inspired by those who have gone before and realize that at the same time there will be others watching you. You will be their inspiration, their example, and their guide.

The second piece of advice from Hebrews is to prepare for the struggles you will face.
“... let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”

As I read the words, “…the sin that so easily entangles…” I think of the old Tarzan movies.

There was usually a scene where Tarzan, with his knife between his teeth, jumped into the water and swam to rescue Jane or boy or whoever was in the water. Then the music would intensify and you knew that at some point something bad was going to grab him.

Oftentimes it was an enormous octopus. At first you could just see its eye. Then a tentacle would suddenly reach out and wrap around his ankle. But that’s no problem. Tarzan can get loose from that. But then here comes a second tentacle. It would grab the other ankle. Then another tentacle and another one, and soon he is all entangled and can’t get loose. Is this the end of Tarzan?

Oh no. Remember that knife in his teeth. Somehow, he is able to grab it and start cutting off the tentacles, and soon an inky cloud comes out of the octopus. And Tarzan is free!
The writer of Hebrews says that sin is just like those tentacles, and that we must throw off “...the sin that so easily entangles, and …run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Now I'm obviously not a marathon runner. But marathon runners tell us that there are two critical times in the race. The first one is at the beginning. When you begin to run you feel so good, and the temptation is to run too fast too soon, depending upon your own strength and skill to pull you through.

The second critical time in a marathon is at the halfway point.

You suddenly realize that you still have as far to go as what you've already run, and your strength is giving out. Runners call it "hitting the wall." You've come to the end of your endurance and you're not sure if you can put one foot in front of the other anymore.

To keep that from happening in your life remember this promise,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
If you’ll trust Him, He will be the source of all you need to finish your race.

AND, the final piece of advice is this, Fix your eyes on Jesus.
Listen again to a part of vs’s 2 and 3, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith… Consider Him… so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Jesus was opposed. Jesus was persecuted. And yet He stayed the course. He ran the race. He paid the price for our sins. Every Christian needs to hear this because it's so easy to quit. It's so easy to say, "I don't have to do this anymore."

But the writer of Hebrews says, “Fix your eyes on Jesus. He's the author and the perfecter of our faith,” and one day each one of us will stand before Him as our judge.

Romans 3:23 says, “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
If you ever take the tour in historic Williamsburg, VA they will explain to you why, even to this day, we hold up our hand and swear that we will “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God" whenever we give testimony in court.

The story they tell goes all the way back to medieval times. When someone was being tried for a crime and the evidence seemed overwhelmingly against him, there was a way out. He could stand up and say, "I plead the benefit of clergy."
Now when he pled "the benefit of clergy" everyone was shocked because that was the same as an admission of guilt. But it was the accused’s last hope, his last chance.

So, a clergyman would come in with a selected passage of Scripture, usually from Psalms 51, which tells of the confession of David for all the sins that he had committed.
He would hand it to the accused and say, "Here, read this." It was kind of a forerunner of the lie detector test.

The law said that if the accused could read it without stammering or stuttering, he would be set free even though the evidence against him was overwhelming.
But if he stumbled or stammered just one time, he was judged guilty.
Usually, a guilty person could not read that passage without stammering or stuttering. So, they were found guilty.
But when someone read it perfectly and was set free, they branded the palm of his hand with the brand of the cross.
You see, you could only claim the benefit of clergy one time.
So, whenever anyone testified in court he would have to hold up his hand so that all could see if the brand of the cross was there.

IN CONCLUSION: One day, folks, we're all going to stand before the judge of the universe, as guilty as we can be.
The evidence is overwhelmingly against us.
Satan, the accuser, will be there to accuse us of all the sins we have committed.
Our only hope is to claim the benefit of the cross.

THAT IS WHY the writer of Hebrews says, “Fix your eyes upon Jesus because the only hope we have is our hope in Him.”
So, run the race with patience. Don't lose heart. Don't become discouraged. Don't quit.
Keep on running the race that has been set before us.

This morning if you're not a Christian, we invite you to come to Jesus and accept His mercy, His love, His grace, and His sacrifice on the cross.
We offer you the opportunity to begin a whole new life in Him. Will you come as we stand and as we sing together?