One of the most dangerous things that ever occurs in a Christian's life is when that Christian becomes preoccupied with looking at himself. You know, even in the scripture, the Bible doesn't tell us to look at the Holy Spirit.
Some Christians just look at what the Holy Spirit's doing. That's wrong, too. You focus on Christ, 2 Corinthians 3.18, and the Holy Spirit will change you into his image. But you need to be looking at Christ. Always, always, always focusing on Christ.
Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. What is it that pushes an athlete to spend years hitting the weight room, doing countless drills, running for miles, and spending hours of intense strategizing? The answer has to be dedication. If someone trains that hard for the fleeting glory of an athletic prize, how much more dedicated should you be to train for the ultimate spiritual prize?
What should you be willing to sacrifice to pursue Christ like you should?
Well, today John MacArthur will take you to the gym, so to speak, and show you how to progress further in your spiritual training than you ever thought possible. Follow along as we continue John's message called Run for Your Life. 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. 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.
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. 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 he says the second thing you gotta get rid of. The sin that doth so easily beset us. And it is the sin which doth so easily surround us and encumber us. All right, we see the event. The encouragement.
and the encumbrances.
Now the example. This is beautiful. Verse 2.
Now, you know, you always got to keep your eyes somewhere when you're running. This is the best place in this race. Looking unto whom? Jesus The Archagos. And finisher of our faith.
Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand. of the throne of God.
Okay, the course has been set. The weights and obstructions have been stripped off. The race is underway. We have the encouragement of all those who lived by faith and came out on top. We're running the race, but we've got to have a pattern for the race.
We've got to have somebody who shows us how we are best able to run it. And here's our example: looking unto Jesus. The literal, interesting, the literal Greek is looking away to Jesus. One of the most dangerous things that ever occurs in a Christian's life is when that Christian becomes preoccupied with looking at himself. You know, even in the scripture, the Bible doesn't tell us to look at the Holy Spirit.
Some Christians just look at what the Holy Spirit's doing. That's wrong, too. You focus on Christ, 2 Corinthians 3:18, and the Holy Spirit will change you into His image. But you need to be looking at Christ. Always, always, always focusing on Christ.
That's why Paul could always be content, even in the worst circumstances, because he's always content with Christ, you see? Kept looking at Christ. You say, well, I didn't think it was important to watch anything in a race. Listen. You try running sometime at full speed watching your feet.
Just try it. You'll run into everybody on the track, trip over the guardrail. Fall all over the place, you can't run watching your feet. You try running, watching the grandstand. Never forget we had a guy in high school.
This comes back to me. Oh, it was funny. Yeah. This guy finally got into a football game. He was about fourth string, and he finally got in.
We were ahead, you know, 50 to nothing or something. Finally, put him in and he went through a big, huge hole. We opened a hole in the line, and he could have driven a Mac truck through, you know. He went in for the touchdown. He was so excited.
He was running full speed. He went across the goal line and he turned to get his moment of glory into the crowd and ran right into the goal post. I'll never forget it because the ball went about 10 yards in the air and he split his helmet right down the top.
Well, it's disastrous.
Well, it was quite a day for him. Say that it was about the only time he got in, and he made it lasting. But you know, that's in running any kind of a race or in any kind of participation, you cannot look around and see, well, look, they're all watching me, boy, my spiritual man, I must have pleased with me. Nor can you look at myself. I wonder how I'm running.
Is this foot going right? Is that foot going right? Oh, I wonder if the Lord's moving this foot. Oh, is that the Holy Spirit? No, that's the Holy Spirit over there.
Oh, is this the flesh? You know, where you get all bogged down in what's going on in you, see? That's disastrous. That's disastrous. The other problem is: hey, I'm ahead of Joe, he's back there.
I'm ahead of Bill, he's back there. See, that's another way some Christians run. They're only content in relation to others who are behind them. But the point of the Christian life is that you can't run your Christian life saying, well, I'm not too bad, I'm more spiritual than Bill. Looking onto whom?
Jesus.
Now you keep looking into Jesus and you're going to keep your eyes off what other people think. You're going to keep your eyes off of whether you're ahead or behind because you're always behind. Because you're always having to look away to Him. and you're running to Christ's likeness. Did you get that?
The goal of the race is Christ's likeness. I want to run. Here's heaven. And when I get there, I'm going to be like him. But I want to get as close to that spot before I get to heaven so that it's not such a big change when I arrive.
That's what I'm running in. I'm running, I'm looking at him and running to be like him. And as long as I look at him, the Spirit of God has got something to change me into his image. When I start looking at myself or at this guy or that guy or the crowd and thinking, boy, they think I'm something, look aspirate, then it's disastrous, you see.
So I look at him. Christ consciousness, like the old Indian I always remember who said, Came to church a half an hour early. They said, Why do you do it? He said, Me come early, me sit down, me think Jesus. It's good.
Practical. Christ conscious looking to Jesus. And so the Christian focuses on him. You say, well, I want to look at him. Why would I look at Jesus?
Listen, here's why. The author and finisher of, there's no R in the original, the author and finisher of faith. You know what that means? That means something very important. That means that Jesus Christ Is the supreme example of what faith is.
And we need to look to Him. We need to look to him. You can't win looking around at everybody else. It can't be done. Remember when they ran the first sub-four-minute mile, Roger Bannister and John Landy, and then they had a race.
And I'll never forget the day that John Landy was ahead in Canada and At a fatal moment he looked back. and Bannister went by him on the right, You can't be staring around at everybody else. You can't be looking at your own feet. You look at Jesus because He is the supreme example of faith. That's what this means.
Now, the word author, archigas, or pioneer, one who takes the lead in anything, it could mean that he's the originator of faith. And I'm sure he is. I'm positive of that. I'm sure that Jesus Christ is a pioneer of faith. I'm sure that the faith of Adam and the faith of Abel was really a product of the work of the Son of God in their lives.
And 1 Corinthians 10 is a good indication that the Son of God was working in this way long before his incarnation, incidentally. He didn't just come to be when that was. He even says in verse 4: the rock was Christ, you see. In the wilderness, the rock was Christ. He was active in the wilderness, even.
So, all faith is a product of the work of the Son as of the Trinity. And he was there before. His incarnation And after. Interesting verse in Jude 5: I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, that the Lord, in reference to Christ, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believe not. Jesus was actually the one who got Israel out of Egypt.
And he dealt with the faithful and destroyed the unfaithful.
So he was operating on the principles of faith clear back in Egypt, and he was the rock in the wilderness, too. Interesting verse that comes to my mind is Micah 5:2, which is always quoted in part and not in whole. And I think we miss a great thought. Micah 5:2. Listen.
But thou, Bethlehem Ephridah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth. The prophecy of Messiah. Listen to this. That is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from old from everlasting. You want a verse on the deity of Christ, there it is, and on his eternal character and life.
He didn't just start. In Bethlehem, he was from old and from everlasting. And so there is a sense in which he is the author, in a primary sense, of the concepts of faith in relation to men. But I don't think that's really the point of the word archagos. In this verse?
Archagos literally means the chief leader. It literally means the chief. in preeminence. And I think it's saying this. The greatest example of faith that ever lived was Jesus Christ.
And He is the one to whom we look. You say, you mean you think Jesus lived a life of faith? Oh, did he ever? Why, when he was being tempted in the amount of temptation, the devastation. The devil came to him and said, why don't you turn that stone into bread?
And the implication was, You're the Son of God. What are you doing 40 days with nothing to eat? What are you doing up here? The Father, has He forsaken you? Grab some satisfaction, grab something, make that stone into bread.
And Jesus simply said, No, He said, In effect, I shall wait until my Father supplies. I'll trust Him for sustenance. And when it was over, He sent His angels to feed him and care for Him. Later on, Satan took him up on a pinnacle of the temple and said, Do a dive, land on your feet gently, and everybody will say, Terrific, what a trick. You must be the Messiah, and you'll have the homage you want.
He said, No, God's got another plan. I'll wait and do it His way. Satan said, See the kingdoms of the world, worship me, and I'll give them to you. He said, No, God's got another plan. I'll do it His way.
He always believed God. In the garden, He said, Not my will, what? Thine be done. He inevitably believed God. You know what the scoffers and the mockers and the crucifiers said on the cross?
He was up there and he said, they said to him, He trusted him. Let him deliver him now. Do you know the one thing those people got out of the life of Jesus was that he trusted God? It was obvious that he lived by faith. Even the Blatant mockers who killed him knew that.
He trusted him. They knew the characteristic of Jesus was that he lived by faith in God.
Now, it's a supernatural kind of faith, but nevertheless, it's the example that we are given. And that puts it where it ought to be, my friends, because you can't say, Well, I've got more faith than Bill, which makes me some kind of Christian. You've got less faith than Jesus, which makes you retarded. From God's normal standard. You see, that's what everybody does.
We always set ourselves against some lower standard. You know, whenever your husband gives you a bad time, you always say, Well, Martha, you could be married to that guy down the street who drinks every night and beats his wife. See, we always like to pick some standard that's infinitely less than we are, but. We don't do that. We look under whom?
Jesus, who is an absolute perfect example of faith, and we continue to strive to be like Him. Finisher, teleon, means to carry through to completion. He was the perfect one of faith. He was the absolute chief leader of faith, and he is the one who was the finisher of faith. What does that mean?
That means he was faithful right on through to the epitome. Right to the very end. It's Hanging on that cross, bleeding with a cloak of blood and flies, and the spittle of those who had spit on him, and the blood coming down from the crown of thorns, he simply said, This, Father. Into Thy hands I commend my spirit. That's faith, isn't it?
He took faith right to the teleon. Right, to its extreme. And you see, that's what he means when he says in verses 3 and 4: Boy, you guys really think you suffer, don't you? Oh, consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. They spit on him and they mocked him and they said, Ye trusted in him, let him deliver him now.
And then, lest you be worried and faint in your minds, remember, you haven't resisted unto blood, striving against sin like he did. He was on the cross bearing the sins of the world, and he was faithful to the very end. And so you get a little trickle of problems and you collapse. and start going back to unbelief. Look at Jesus.
You haven't begun to endure what he endured. He lived by perfect faith from the beginning to the end. He raised faith to its perfection. He set for us such a high example of faith that it becomes that to which every one of us is to rivet our eyes for as long as we live. My faith, unless it's like the faith of Jesus Christ, has a long way to go.
I don't compare my faith by the faith of someone else. I compare it by the faith of Jesus Christ that was good right down to the bearing of the sins of the world on the cross. and still he trusted God when God turned his back on him. And he knew it. He said, Oh my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And still he trusted. And so Concentrate on Christ. He's the object. He's the example. He's the goal.
So we see the event, the encouragement. The encumbrances. and the example.
Now the end. What are we running for? I never want to be in a race that doesn't have a prize. I'm not interested in just running for exercise. If I'm going to train and I'm going to work, I want to do it for some reason.
There's got to be a goal, even if the goal is my physical health, I want to do it for a reason. What is the goal?
Well, in those days, in the Isthmian Games, there was a pedestal at the end of the finish line. Hanging on that pedestal was a wreath. The first guy across the finish line got a wreath made out of leaves. Olive branch stuck on his head. You say, big deal.
That's right. Big deal. That's what the world has to offer. We collect our little reeds. In those days it didn't last very long.
Today we've got little, nice little trophies that last a long time. Let's see. But it's all corruptible, isn't it? Boy, there's a lot of people who work awful hard for some corruptible prizes. And you say, well, what are we running for, John?
What's the prize?
Well, it's not heaven. No, it can't be heaven because everybody's going to get that, right? I'm not running to win heaven. I've got that, right? I got that when I got saved.
You say, well, what are you running to win?
Well, it's not heaven. What is it? Look at verse 2. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus ran for two things.
There it are. They're both right there. Who for the what? Joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. He ran for joy and exaltation, reward.
He ran for joy and reward. And the two are inextricably tied together. He wanted joy and he wanted reward. You say, well, what What gave him that joy and reward? What brought him his triumph?
Listen to this. This is so good. John 17, 4. Listen. I have glorified thee on earth.
I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, Give me my reward What did he do? He glorified God. See? How do you glorify God?
By totally Watch by totally exhibiting his attributes. Did Jesus do that? Did he ever fail to do that? Never. Did he always reveal the attributes of God?
Always, always, always, always? I did it, Father, all the way down. I revealed you. That is what brought him his reward. You know, he was looking at God.
And he was to be God manifest. We are looking at whom. Christ, and we are to manifest Christ. We are to reveal to the world in our lives all that Jesus Christ is. You see?
And as we do that, then we will receive the reward which is joy. I should say then we will receive the prize, which is joy and reward. He was running to glorify God. That's the goal. And friends, we have a simple way to glorify God as Christians.
That's to be like Jesus. When we're like Jesus, God gets glorified. Because then his attributes shine through us. The glory of God is simply his attributes. And as they're shining through us, he gets the glory.
The goal of every Christian, friends, is Reward in the end in heaven, full reward. and full joy. That's why we want to run. You know, I want joy in my life. Do you want joy in your life?
You know how to get joy in your life? When you can anticipate Heaven. And the reward of faithful service, that brings present joy.
Okay. Paul said to the believers that he had led to Christ, he says, You're my crown of rejoicing and my joy. See? The fact that he was going to receive a crown. indicated that there was joy presently because of future promise.
And so you'll notice there's a comparison here. We are to run the race that is set before us. And it says, Christ ran for the joy that was set before him.
Now that parallel means that the very prize is this joy. And I think this, friends, I think what gives great joy in this life is the confidence of future. Reward. And I'm not talking about, you know, crass kind of thing where you're, you know, like the Imperial Marjorie in Man Zing, there's another crown, and I'll stack it in my cupboard and all. But what I'm talking about.
What I'm talking about is that you know what gives me joy right now? The anticipation, and I pray, God, I have not arrived, I am still running, I am still pressing toward the mark. But you know what gives me joy in my heart at this point is the confidence that I can have in my heart that if I am faithful to Jesus Christ, I will someday hear, well done, good and faithful servant, and enter into the joy of thy Lord, and He will give me a crown which I can then, according to Revelation chapter 4, verse 10 and 11, cast at His feet in praise. And you know something? When I think about someday hearing from Jesus Christ, MacArthur, thank you.
for being faithful. Man, that's joyous to my heart. Because the one thing I want to do above everything in this world is I want him to know I love him and I want to serve him with everything I have. And that fact alone gives me joy as I anticipate what may be mine. You know, Jesus went to the cross, he endured all that was there, he despised the shame.
He accepted willingly. And he did it because he knew he would be rewarded by the Father for faithful work, and that brought him present joy in anticipation of future reward. You understand? I'm running the race. for a reward.
A reward that I can give back to my Lord that proves to him that I cared and I loved him. And mine is not a corruptible. It's an incorruptible crown. I want to read you just a brief word or two from Philippians 3, verse 12. Paul says, Not as though I had already attained.
Neither were already perfect. I'm just running. I'm not there, he said. But I sure follow after. If that I may apprehend that for which I also am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Laid hold is the word. He says, God laid hold of me, and I want to lay hold of others for his cause. I'm running for the glory of God. 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have laid hold.
I haven't gotten the prize yet. I haven't finished. I haven't accomplished it all. But this one thing I'm doing, forgetting those things which are behind. Don't get hung up on the past, it's the past.
And reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the what? Prize I wanna win. God has given me a high calling in Christ Jesus, and there's a prize for being faithful to that calling, and I want to win that prize. There's nothing crass about that, beloved. That's only sensible.
If you're in the race, you run it to do what? to win it.
So Paul says, the end of the race is future reward. Man, I've got a prize out there waiting for me. And you know what else? That prize gives me present joy. Summing up.
I want to be like Christ. That glorifies God. When God gets glorified, He rewards me. As I anticipate that reward, I have joy.
So, the event, the encouragement, the encumbrances, the example, and the end.
Now, the exhortation. Verse 3, and I'm just going to read it to you. When you get weary in the race, beloved. When your faith runs out. And you think God's turned his back?
And you think he can't get you out of that mess? And you'll never get over this hump. And no one in all the universe has ever endured what you've endured. Just go to the Bible and read these two verses, will you? Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
lest you be wearied and faint in your own minds, You haven't resisted under blood, striving against sin. You haven't begun to do what Jesus did. And God took him through, didn't he? You know what this is? This is the culmination of the heroes of faith.
We've seen some really wonderful ones in the book of Hebrews up to here, but here's the epitome. Here's the epitome. If I run the race and look at Abraham, Is my example? Mm.
Some failures. I run the race and look at Moses. Oh, Moses blew it. Hit that rock, I wasn't too good. I run the ration.
Look back and Try to focus on those guys who are going to find failure. If I run the race and focus on Jesus, I'm going to find absolute and total success.
So where am I going to focus? On him. And as I focus on him, I'll be like him. As I'm like him, I'll manifest his attributes. As I manifest his attributes, God gets glory.
As God gets glory, I get a promised reward. As I think about a promised reward, I get happy. And that's what I want. It's a joy of knowing I pleased my Lord. Listen, the sinners contradicted him.
They railed against him. And he stood fast. I pray, God, that we shall run the race of faith. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Today's lesson is titled: Run for Your Life.
Well, this notion of running the race before you and pursuing spiritual growth like an athlete agonizing for the finish line, it's great when you have practical resources that can keep you motivated to know God and know His Word better and better. And along that line, I want to remind you about our flagship resource, the MacArthur Study Bible. For almost 30 years, this all-in-one theological library has helped countless people understand and apply God's Word. To get a copy of the MacArthur Study Bible available in multiple English and non-English translations, get in touch today. Call 80055 GRACE or visit our website gty.org.
The MacArthur Study Bible is available in the English Standard, New King James, New American Standard, and Legacy Standard versions. Again, to order the MacArthur Study Bible, call 855 GRACE. or shop online at gty.org. And while you're at gty.org, I would encourage you to download the Grace TU app for your smartphone or your tablet if you haven't done it already. You can access all of John's sermons, more than 3,600 total, from the palm of your hand, and it even works on your smart TV.
That includes popular studies like The Fulfilled Family and the helpful lesson you heard today called Run for Your Life. To learn more about the free Grace2 app, go to gty.org forward slash Apps.
Now for the entire Grace TU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Remember, Grace to You Television airs this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378. And then join us again at the same time next week as John MacArthur answers the question, why is preaching worth fighting for? That's the study John launches on Monday. Be here for another half hour of Unleashing God's Truth, one verse at a time.
on Grace to You.
