Text Hebrews 12:1-2

I. Every Christian has a race set out before them to run. With this race each person
needs to come prepared. The race is not easy. We get our word agony from the
Greek work for race. The path before us is already full of obstacles, traps, snares,
why hinder ourselves further?

1. Lay aside all our excess weights

2. Lay aside all our besetting sins

3. Look to where we are going

II. Laying aside every weight

1. Distinction made between weights and sins. Weights themselves are not sins,
but things that we are unnecessarily burdened with that are not God’s
will in our lives

A. this Greek word for weight used once in NT; means burden/hindrance

2. Weights take up our time, affection, attention, resources

A. money- Mat 6:19-21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon

earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also.”
savings, retirement, how much we make

B. worries- Luke 8:14 “And that which fell among thorns are they,
which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked
with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no
fruit to perfection”
roof over our heads, clothing, food, necessities

C. family- Luke 14:26 “If any man come to me, and hate not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren,
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple”
hate here has a meaning of love less
“nurture and admonition of the Lord”
 D. everything good work you try to do that God hasn’t lead you to do
I Corn 3:13-15 “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the
day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and
the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s
work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a
reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer
loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire”

Bema judgment, we will give an account for things done

3. How do we cast aside these weights? We have to discern the will of God in
our lives

A. Seek guidance in prayer

B. Read the Bible

III. Laying aside our besetting sins

1. These are the sins that we individually are most prone to. These are the
sins that we continually ask forgiveness for, vow to never do again,
and find ourselves doing the same thing again.

A. Beset only used once in NT; The way besetting is translated; it is

likened to a competitor thwarting a racer in every direction

B. These sins can easily overtake us; they can get us while we are on
our highest peaks, or our lowest valleys

2. Chapter 11 of Hebrews list us the great hero’s of faith, yet they themselves
had sins that they were easily beset with.

A. Abraham

1. Great hero of faith who left his homeland when God told
him to- Heb 11:8-10 “By faith Abraham, when he
was called to go out into a place which he should after
receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out,
not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in
the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the
heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked
for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God.”
 Was willing to sacrifice his son when told- Heb 11:17-19
“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up
Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his
only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac
shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was
able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence
also he received him in a figure.”

2. Yet more than once, Abraham was quick to rely on himself

with deceitful tactic when he was scared for his life
when he thought that he would be killed for his wife Gen
12:10- 20, Gen 20:1-18. But even then, God interceded for
Abraham both times.

B. David

1. Great hero of faith that slew Goliath, Had a great victory

over the Syrians and the children of Ammon, slew
over 40,000, kingdoms made peace with Israel because
they feared Israel and their God 2 Sam 10:17-19

2. Yet after these great victories given to him from God, a

fondness for a woman caused David to sin.
David sinned greatly in being adulterous,
deceitful, and murderous, killing Uriah the Hittite trying to
cover up his sin with Bathsheba. After the sin, God tells
David He would have given more if would have just
asked, yet David chose to do evil.

3. How do cast aside these besetting sins?

A. Realize that there is no sins that we are forced to commit

1 Corn 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but
such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye
are able; but will with the temptation also make
a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

B. Realize we are no longer slaves to sin, but free from

it
Rom 6: 4-7 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into
death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of
his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

No excuses. We are free. We are born with a sin nature, but are
not forced to be alcoholic, homosexuals, thieves, adulterers

C. Read and memorize the Bible

Ps 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin
against thee.”

D. Recognize the sins the easily beset you. Ask those close to you if
they see sins in your life, things that may be so common to
you that you don’t see them as what they are. Also know that
we might be holding these sins in secret, ashamed of them.

E. Sins among the church:

1. Covetousness-our race isn’t against other Christians

2. Dishonesty
3. Our tongues James 3:7-8 “For every kind of beasts, and of
birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is
tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue
can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly
poison.
4. Anger
5. Pride
6. Unbelief
7. Lust

IV. Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith

1. The goal of a race is to run it to the finish. The course is already set
before us, and a goal already established. For Jesus, His goal was
the cross, which He bore for the “joy set before Him.” He didn’t run
the race for Himself. Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane “let
this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” He
ran if for God the Father, and ultimately, our salvation. Now Jesus is our
finish line, and we can overcome any obstacles in the way, but only
through Him can this be done.
 2. All that are saved have the same finish line, yet we all have a different
race set before us. My race is not the same as anyone else’s race,
but I still have to make the same preparations.

3. Why would I run a race with know hindrances? There are already plenty
of things already in my way, I really don’t need any more.

A. The devil is always lurking 1 Pet 5:8-9 “Be sober, be vigilant;

because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the
faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your
brethren that are in the world..

B. The demon are here as well Eph 6:12 “For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.”

C.The world is always getting I our way, trying to tell us what truth
is. Constantly bombarded with garbage. The world hates
us and will not make our lives any easier
Jn 15:19 “If ye were of the world, the world would love
his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I
have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you.”

D. Ourselves- we can trip ourselves up easily

Our sins can destroy our testimony and usefulness to
God
Our weights can make us useless in the race, how long can you run
all the extra baggage?

V. Conclusion

1. The race of our lives is already tough. We are, or should be, in a struggle
during our lives. Our paths are not meant to be smooth and easy,
but they are meant to be followed. If our race is going really
smooth, we need to check if your still in the right race.

2. We serve a sovereign God who is always with us, and will not allow
anything to come at us that we cannot handle WITH Him.
Rom 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose.”
 3. We must run the race as best we can, and cast off our hindrances.

4. Finally, we must run a consistent race. Galatians is written by the Apostle

Paul to the Galatians and Paul says in Galatians 5:7-10 “ Ye did
run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This
persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”

They started off well, but eventually did not obey the truth and were off
course. Then Paul asks them who hindered them? Not He who
called them. One among them had injected some untruths and caused
them to be hindered in their race. That one person caused many of them to
not obey the truth.

We need to realize that anything or anyone can hinder our race, lessening
our effectiveness for God. We need to cast aside this dead weight,
these sins that hold us back.

Just remember, if we keep our focus on the finish line, on Jesus, all of
the other things in our lives will be seen in the right perspective.