Run for Your Life

The idea here, I don't think, is that at all. That isn't the picture of a bunch of saints sitting in a stadium staring down at a bunch of Christians running around. They don't want to be involved in that necessarily. There's nothing in the scripture to indicate that they are. But what it's saying here is: we are compassed about with so great a cloud of people who have given testimony to the fact that the life of faith is a winning way to go.

You see, that's what it's saying. Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Perhaps you've thought about dusting off your old jogging shoes with the hope of getting back in shape. Though your pace may not quite be what you want, It should improve as you train and get stronger.

Well, with the image of running in mind, today on Grace to You, John MacArthur looks at the parallels Scripture draws between living the Christian life and running a race. It's a perfect follow-up to the series John finished yesterday titled Reaching for the Prize. John's lesson today is called Run for Your Life.

So now open your Bible to Hebrews chapter 12 as John begins the lesson. We're coming to Hebrews chapter 12. Verses one through three, really, and four just kind of touching the last two verses. The Holy Spirit apparently was well aware of the fact that Good teaching, teaching where there is learning going on, boils down to effective use of figures of speech. We need to have illustrations and figures of speech to help us understand what somebody's communicating.

And so in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit very frequently makes use of multiple figures of speech. And in particular, there are many, many of them incorporated into the subject of the Christian life.

Now, all of these figures of speech are different aspects of the Christian life. But there is one figure of speech that appears repeatedly in the New Testament. And that figure of speech is the figure of a race. The Christian life is seen as a race. And that figure is what brings us to our text, Hebrews chapter 12.

The Christian race or run for your life. And in order to break the passage down, we're going to consider several aspects of the Christian race. As we look at this particular passage, we see that the first few verses break up very easily into different features of the race. First of all, we have the event itself. Then we have the encouragement to run.

Then we have the encumbrances which hinder us. Then we have the example to which we focus our attention. Then we have the end or the prize for which we run. And then we have a closing exhortation. All of this composite becomes the picture of the race for Hebrews chapter 12, the first four verses.

First of all, let's look at the event beginning in verse 1, and we'll tie it into the former chapters as we go. The event is a race. Beginning in verse 1, we read this. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, 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.

The Christian life is not a trot. The Christian life is not your morning constitutional. The Christian life is not a loaf. The Christian life is a race. There it is.

Look at it. Let us run with patience the race. The Greek word for race, agon, from which we get agony. This is a race where you've got to put out a little bit. It's not even a sprint either.

It's not a dash. It's a marathon kind of race. It is to be run with endurance. And like any good runner, must train and follow rigid kind of standards. If he's going to effectively run, so must the Christian.

To effectively run, there must be self denial, discipline, tremendous exertion. The Christian life is not a A thing of passive luxury. We are not called upon as Christians to lie around in flowery beds of ease, but we are to run in a race that is strenuous, that is self-sacrificing, that is hard-training, and that is disciplined, putting forth every ounce of energy that we have. I think of the charge that God brought against Israel through the old prophet Amos in chapter 6, verse 1. He said, Woe to them that are at ease.

This is one army when the command never comes at ease. This is a race that demands commitment. And to stand still or go backwards is to forfeit the prize. Worse yet, if you're still in the bleachers and haven't gotten in the race, you're forfeiting eternal heaven. And so, what he's saying then is: get into the race.

The Christian life is a struggle. It's a battle against Satan. It's a struggle against all kinds of odds. It's a struggle against the system that is the world. You've got to be different.

You've got to be able to butch your head against what's going on in the world. And you've got to be able to go right through. And you've got to do it with, look at the word, patience. The word is hupomone. This is a long race.

I'll never forget when I was in high school, the first time I ever ran in a race longer than the 100-yard dash, which was always my race, and I was put into a long race, I can't remember, I think it was an 880, which is two laps, which is a horrifying experience for a guy who's never run further than 100 yards. And I'll never forget I was leading by a mile at the 100 yard mark.

Okay. I came in dead last at the 880 mark. My legs were wobbling so bad, I had such terrible cotton mouth, I couldn't see the finish line, and I collapsed on it and fell out in a faint. I did really well for a little while, I was worthless. for approximately 780 yards.

You know, that's a kind of a classic description of many Christians who have such a hot beginning. Who really fire out of the blocks like something that's gonna tear up the world, and they get just around the bend, and all of a sudden you notice their legs begin to wobble, they start panting, their chest begins to heave, they've lost their stride, they've lost the correct movement of their arms, and by the time the race is over, they're flopped somewhere in the middle of the track. This is a marathon, and it is to be run with endurance. It is not that God is necessarily pleased with somebody who comes along in short spurts. God wants a sustained kind of running.

And there will always be obstacles and there will always be problems and we will get weary and we will get tired. But we must endure and run to win. The racetrack, unfortunately, is just loaded with short spurt Christians.

Now, when we use the word hupamone, which is translated here patience or endurance. It is not the kind of endurance that sits down and accepts everything.

Well, I'm patient. I can take everything. It's not that. It's the kind of word that means you master everything, you see? It means you go through everything on top.

It doesn't mean you sit there and take everything. It's determination. It's unresting and yet it's unhurried. It's steady and it's refusing to be deflected. It's like the tortoise and the hare, you know?

That's the difference. It's that continuous, persistent, enduring attitude that keeps going, that finally wins. This is an effort. But I promise you one thing. Prize is worth it.

And I'll tell you what, the prize is at the end, so you've got to stick around. Philippians 2.15, listen to this. That you may be blameless and harmless children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Listen. holding forth the word of life That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain.

Neither labored in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. And for the same cause also do you joy and rejoice with me. Paul says, Nothing stops me. I shall pursue this thing to the end.

I will run that I might win, and I will not labor in vain. I'm not going to bide my time. And if it cost me my life, I'll run right through every obstacle. That's what he's saying.

Now Paul was a winner and I like a winner. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, he said this, verse 24. Know ye not that they who run in a race run all. You're in it to run. If you didn't want to run, you wouldn't be in it.

But one receives the prize. Then, what he says, so run that you may obtain. Run the wind. Nothing worse than a guy who's in a race who doesn't want to win. Every man that striveth for the mastery is tempered in all things.

Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. But we and incorruptible.

So he says, I run not uncertainly, I fight not as one that beats the air, I keep my body under, and I bring it into subjection. You see, Paul wanted to win. He was committed to victory. And that's basic. And he's saying, you know, the athletes in the Isthmian Games would train just like athletes do today with severe training, maximum effort, and they did it to obtain a corruptible crown.

How much more should we run with endurance to obtain an incorruptible crown? I think the basic problem with Christians is that they don't care about victory just that much. I mean, they're happy to just be saved, and oh, well, I'll die and go to heaven anyway, and it's no big deal.

Now, whether they would say that or not, I'm not sure, but I think that's a problem. And that's why the armor of the Christian begins with the belt of truthfulness, which is sincerity. If you don't care about winning the battle, you're not going to win. You're not going to win. Above all, in any kind of conflict must be the total desire to win.

Now Paul knew this, and he had this kind of determination. He never pursued comfort. He never pursued learning. He never pursued money. He never pursued popularity, respect, position, lust of his flesh.

He pursued to win for God at all costs. And he says, I even beat my body into subjection. I discipline my body. I restrict it to those things that are going to hinder my running, and I run that I might win. And I think, beloved, that that somewhere along the line is what Christian commitment is all about.

When you care more about winning the prize, when you care more about running the race to win for the cause of Jesus Christ than you do about anything else in existence, then you're going to win. And when you don't, you won't. When your Christian life is all in all, And a fella asked me A couple of weeks ago, he said, when you become a Christian, does that take away your competitive spirit? It doesn't take away mine. Not at all.

I have a tremendous drive for victory.

So there's a race. Back to Hebrews chapter 12, and it's to be run, and it's to be run with endurance. Second thing. We've seen the event. Let's look at the encouragement.

Here it comes. Wherefore, verse one again seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.

Now there's a motivation. We ought to run this race. because of the testimony of the great men of the past. They ran with faith and they ran with endurance. They started out with Abel.

and the life of faith. And so he says, hey. Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let's run. I mean, these people have all lived by faith. They ran the race of faith.

They came out victorious. See?

Now, I don't think I often hear the view in this passage of a big stadium. And the big stadium is loaded with all these saints who are sitting up there watching all of us run.

Now, that might be motivation. I mean, if I realize that Moses and Abraham right now were hanging over the edge of heaven watching John MacArthur operate. Uh that would be some sort of motivation. I mean, I but it would it would be a lot more frustration than motivation. Paul and all those guys were hanging over the edge looking at me.

They got too much to do being preoccupied with Jesus, frankly, to care about me. But the idea here, I don't think, is that at all. That isn't the picture of a bunch of saints sitting in a stadium staring down at a bunch of Christians running around. They don't want to be involved in that necessarily. There's nothing in the scripture to indicate that they are.

But what it's saying here is, we are compassed about with so great a cloud of people who have given testimony to the fact that the life of faith is a winning way to go. You see, that's what it's saying. Seeing that you've seen all these people who said, we went by faith and we won the victory, man, how could we live any other way, right? The just shall live by faith. He started it out.

Then he showed you a string of just men all through chapter 11 and says, See, they live by faith, and look what happened. And then he says, See, you've got all those people to testify to the life of faith.

Now you get in it and you run. That's what he's saying.

These people have proven by their testimony that the life of faith is the only life. They ran the faith race. and their witnesses to victory. That whole big Nephilae, that whole big mass or cloud of witnesses, they all say to us loud and clear: live by faith, we did it, and it works. And the saddest thing that ever enters into the Christian's life is unbelief.

the lack of faith. Their stories in Scripture, their lives that they have lived are witnesses to us to run the race of faith with endurance, and God will reward. What are we saying here? Let me just give you the picture. It is not, the picture of verse 1 is not them looking at us in a stadium.

It is us looking at them as living testimonials to the fact that the life of faith really wins. They left us a history of victory. They prove that the victory that overcomes the world is even our faith. You know something, I just think about that, that really motivates me. That really, if I had a whole bunch of people just staring down at me, looking at me, that would scare me more than anything else.

That would frustrate me and make me feel inadequate. But when I look back and I say, look at those guys, here I am, a little old John MacArthur, putting around in the little race that I'm in, and I'm moving ahead and I'm saying to myself, I'm weak and I'm frail and I'm a pilgrim and a stranger. But you know what? I am one other guy added to the cloud of witnesses who can say to the world, I live by faith with endurance and it's a winner. And you know what that does?

That puts me right in that group with them.

Now I haven't endured many of the things that they've endured. But I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad to be a part of the team. For the people who ran the race of faith with endurance. And who are the winners? That's encouraging.

And the same God that was their God is my God. The God of yesterday is the God of today. He gets to that in the 13th chapter, doesn't he? In verse 8: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. They're my encouragement.

I just have to look at those guys, and I see they face things I've never been in a lion's den. I never had a bunch of hungry lions staring at me. Look in there, chaps. I don't know how long my faith would have lasted and how fast I would have been running up and down the walls. I've never been through a crisis situation where I've been tied to a stake to be burned.

Nobody's ever threatened to chop my head off with the sword. At least not really meaning it. I've never been through cruel mockings and scourgings. I've never been in prison for Jesus Christ. Man, I haven't even gotten close to what those guys went through.

I'm not even dead yet. I haven't even been martyred. That's what he says down in verse 4.

Well, you should worry. You haven't even resisted unto blood yet. I haven't lost a drop of blood for the cause of Christ. My faith should peter out at this point. I haven't even been one of those guys to be.

Man, if their faith in God took them through that, I want to be a part of that kind of life, don't you? That's encouragement. What a testimony. We live by faith, and in the face of unbelievable problems, God vindicated His promise to come to the aid of those who trust Him. That's my encouragement.

So the event, the encouragement. Third, the encumbrances.

Now one of the things you gotta do in a race is get rid of the weight. If we are to run this thing, we can't be burdened down unnecessarily.

Now, look at the middle of verse 12. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us.

Now, if we're going to run this thing, we're going to have to get rid of some stuff that's in our lives.

Now, the first thing we have to get rid of is every weight. And this is an interesting thing, the word weight is oricon, which means bulk. Bulk or mass? Superfluous flesh. And the word mass and bulk pictures a big blob is what it pictures in my mind.

And that's what it's meant to say.

Now you know that A guy who comes out to run a race, you don't expect him to take off his sweatsuit and see a giant pot belly hanging over his trunks. You just don't expect to see that. And I dare say you don't see that. The first thing that a runner must do is discipline himself in the matter of weight. A reduction of excess body weight is necessary for proper functioning in any kind of race.

And once you've lost it, you've got to train to keep it off. Then, not only that, when a guy gets to the race, he wears these bulky sweatsuits and he doesn't leave them on when he runs. He doesn't go down there with all of that stuff blowing in the breeze. He gets rid of that. And he finally gets down to a pair of very thin and very baggy shorts.

And then they wear a little tiny thin shirt. And they used to tell us: if you've got a white one, always wear a white one, because if you come in a dead heat at the finish line, the white one will stand out from a darker one, and you might get the win. He gets down to everything so that there's only minimal hindrance. And so in the race that we're living as Christians, we're going to have to get rid of some stuff.

Now you say, well, John, what's he talking about?

Well, all kinds of commentators say all kinds of things. And I read about everything I could read to find out what this weight was, and I didn't come up with anything that satisfied my mind, so I just started studying it on my own. And the scripture doesn't say right here, but I'd like to venture an educated guess. What was the biggest weight encumbering these Christians to whom this was written? Pretty simple, isn't it?

What was it? Legalism. Hanging on to Judaism. This is the hang-up they had. They were trying to run, but they were dragging these weights.

Have you ever seen a guy who works out and they tie these ankle weights around him? And very often, they even have a belt weight that he runs with that. And when the race comes, he takes all that stuff off. Of course, he feels much lighter on his feet.

Well, here they were trying to run this race of faith with weights of legalism hanging all over them. Still being attached to the temple, still being hung up on the ritual of the ceremonialism of Judaism, still being attached to the priesthood and all of this kind of stuff. They were trying to run a race of faith, dragging weights, like a guy trying to run down the track with a ball and chain on both feet. Dead works is dead weight, folks. And they were trying to run with dead works legalism.

Now our Lord calls them to a life of faith. And all they are is a whole lot of great big fat blobs with super sweatsuits on and weights all over their feet trying to run a race. And he says, get rid of all that legalism. Strip down. It's amazing what had happened to them.

They were so big and blobby with so much bulk and so much weight that they ran a step and collapsed in a pile of legalistic sweat. Panting to death. hanging on to Judaism, wouldn't let go. You can't run the race of faith weighted down by self-righteousness. Did you know that?

You can't run the race of faith weighted down and bogged down by your own works, trying to please God and earn his favor. That's just like dead weight. The race is run, beloved, by faith plus nothing. Just believe in God and He'll produce the fruits of that faith within you. Works as a way to please God don't speed you up, they slow you down.

Well, I'm going to do some works for God and work for God, and that'll please him, and that'll please him.

Well, it doesn't drag you down. Unload Judaism, drop all the old covenant stuff, and go. Then he says the second thing you got to get rid of. The sin that does so easily beset us. The word beset is interesting.

It's very graphic. I'm not going to tell you the word because it's kind of a complicated word, it doesn't really matter anyway, but it comes from a verb that means That means to surround, peristomy. It means to surround or stand around. And this is the picture of a guy running the race in a Harris tweed overcoat. See, just some huge big thing and he's flapping along in it.

Something that just surrounds him. And it is the sin which doth so easily surround us and encumber us.

Now it's not too. Perhaps it's a general thought. Perhaps he's talking about any sin. And sin is certainly a hindrance, but I think he's talking about something specific. He says here: the sin which doth so easily beset us.

Now, if you're trying to run, watch this, a race of faith. What would be the biggest hindrance? Unbelief. Unbelief. I think that's obviously implied right there.

The thing that they were running into was doubting God, you see. Doubting God, combine that thing, get the fat man running in his sweatsuit, and then put an overcoat on him, and you've got the picture of them trying to run the race, and they're just sitting there, big blobs in the middle of the track. I think it's the sin of unbelief. Let me show you why I think that from Galatians. This is the whole thing.

Galatians is trying to tell us to live by faith. Galatians 2.20. You remember that one, don't you? I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by Christ.

Faith. The faith of the Son of God, his faith that he gave me. When he died. Faith is a gift of God, isn't it? I live by faith.

That's how I'm to live. And of course, this message to the Galatians was so important because they were hung up on legalism.

Now go over to chapter 3 of Galatians, verse 1. Oh, you stupid Galatians, he says. It's a free translation. Who bewitched you? Who confused you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been openly set forth crucified among you?

This is only what I learned of you received you the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. What are you doing with legalism? He says to the Galatians. What are you doing? Did you get saved by legalism or by faith?

Are you so stupid, having begun in the Spirit, are you made perfect by the flesh? You see? What had happened was they got saved and then they started putting all the weights on, piling all the weights on, and they just kept getting overweight. It's terrible, he said. Go over to verse 24.

Wherefore the law was only our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith is calm, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. The schoolmaster was just to point a few things out to you. Schoolmaster used to carry a little stick, and if you didn't shape up, he'd slap your hands. That's what the law did.

But once you learned the lessons of faith and obedience, you didn't need any slaps on the hands anymore. It was a whole different thing. The law only was to teach you something. When the lesson was learned, you were free from there. You were justified by faith.

Forget the schoolmaster. You're no longer under him after faith has come.

So live by faith. Chapter 4, verse 9. But now, after you've known God, or rather, are known by God. Listen to this. How turn you again to the weak and beggarly elements?

Under which you desire again to be in bondage? Why would you put yourself back under the unbelief of legalism? And then in verse 10, you observe days and months and times and years. He says, you're back in that old rut again. That's not enough.

Chapter 5, verse 1. Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty with which Christ has made you free, and don't be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. That's law. In verse 5, for we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith works by love.

You did run well. Oh, we're in a race again. Who did hinder you?

Somebody came into these Galatians and unloaded on them a whole system of legalism that left them in unbelief. And they thought they had to go back to that. He says, Don't you know all you have to do is believe God?

So the weight is legalism. And the sin is unbelief. in the freedom of faith as a way of life.

Well, I really believe we need to live by faith. And that's the only way to take a spiritual diet and get off your sweatsuit is to start believing God. As soon as you start living by faith, you just start shedding the spiritual pounds, you strip down, you're ready for action, you unload your overcoat, your sweatsuit, and you're ready to go. And it all happens by faith. Don't be that kind of overweight.

bulky thing in the middle of the track. Go on a spiritual diet and trim down. A spiritual diet is simply understanding to live by faith. Eliminate all unbelief and self-righteousness, and then you're stripped down, ready to run. Yeah.

You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. John's lesson today is titled Run for Your Life.

Now, today's message is one that John preached several years ago. And something that strikes me is that the teaching is essentially timeless. It's not filled with references to pop culture and storytelling and jokes. It's just biblical content. We asked John to explain why he was committed to that verse-by-verse style of Biblical teaching.

Here's what he said. Yeah, well, it comes down to a very basic reality. The Bible is God's revelation, so we want to preach the Bible. But God also revealed it in the biblical context.

So I'm convinced, because God would never make a mistake, that you should teach the Bible in the biblical context.

Now, that might sound obvious to some people, but think about it. It's really popular to take a Bible concept, a Bible truth, and a Bible story. and bring it into modern culture. Maybe change the illustrations because you're not going to use an ancient illustration or an agricultural illustration, so you you kind of update it. And you have now moved the truth of Scripture away from its context.

And I think the purest understanding of Scripture Is studying Bible truth in the Bible context. And that means you don't bring the Bible into the modern day, you bring the modern reader into the Bible day. You take the listener. Back, and you recreate the biblical context because context is so critical in shaping an accurate interpretation.

So, as we do this kind of Bible teaching, we are going to introduce you. To the Bible and to the Bible's context, which means history, language, customs. All of those things that are germane to the time and place. and thinking of the people when the Lord inspired his word. That's right, and that is certainly a helpful perspective.

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That's 800-55 GRACE. You can also make a one-time donation or set up a convenient recurring donation online at gty.org. Thanks for helping reach people in your community and in communities across the globe with the life-changing truth of God's Word. Remember too, there are other ways you can support this ministry. Prayer is number one.

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Again, that's letters at gty.org. Or you can mail your letter to Box4000, Panorama City, California. 91412.

Now for the entire Grace TU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for joining us today. Make sure you're here tomorrow as John MacArthur looks at biblical principles that can accelerate your spiritual growth. Don't miss the next 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth. one verse at a time.

on Grace to Youth.