I just thought…
So, today we will go through Hebrews 12:1-2 and consider some aspects around that. We are familiar with these verses; however, we will refresh ourselves.
The topic is looking unto Jesus. The subtopics are heavenly vision, running the spiritual race, the goal of winning Christ, being a good soldier of Christ, and being temperate in all things. After a little exhortation, we will consider the joy set before Him and before us.
Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Let us have a quick word of prayer.
The Lord, we praise You and thank You for uniting us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through His sacrifice, He has reconciled us with our Heavenly Father. Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners.
Thank You, Lord, for Your sacrifice. We come before Your gracious throne for the words given unto us today. May You sanctify these words. May they help us to understand; speak to us. We seek Your Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
In Hebrews 12:1-2, we read:
Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
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,
looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
We see a great cloud of witnesses that has already passed before us. Our forerunner is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Most of them have finished their race, and we are in that race, continuing in our life of faith in Christ Jesus. So, we will consider what we need to do as believers while continuing this race.
The first and foremost thing is looking unto Jesus. Our eyes need to be fixed on Christ Jesus as we continue our life of faith in this world.
To continue this race, we need to have a heavenly vision, which is important in every believer’s life. Without vision, we cannot continue the race.
That is very important. In every aspect of our Christian life, we should have a vision. Without vision, there is no mission to continue. We have that desire inside us to continue the race.
Our hope is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Without vision, people perish. As born-again Christians, we are raised from the dead along with Christ Jesus, to seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated on the right hand of God. Because our life is hid in Him, we must seek the things that are above.
We see this in the Old Testament through Abraham and Lot. Their visions were different.
When Abraham saw the land, he was not seeing merely the land on this earth. He was seeing heaven—the city where God was the Architect and Builder. He was seeing that city.
He told Lot to select the land he wanted, wherever he wanted to go first. In Genesis 13:10, we see that Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan. Lot also lifted up his eyes, but he was not able to see the city of God.
While Abraham was able to see the city of God, Abraham understood that this place was temporary. This is not a permanent place where we are living now.
Our destination is in heaven.
That is the difference. Lot was unable to see because he lacked that vision of heaven. Lot saw that place as looking like the garden of the Lord, and it was very pleasing to his eyes. He chose Sodom and Gomorrah, the city that was going to be destroyed by the Lord.
So, as believers, seek the things that are above, which are permanent.
We belong to the city of heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, as we read in Philippians 3:20.
To become a citizen of any country, we must be born in that country. So, whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, witnesses in the waters of baptism, and receives the baptism in the Holy Spirit belongs to heaven. They are citizens of heaven, and their names are written in the Book of Life, the Lamb’s Book of Life.
These are simple things, but they are very important. We have that assurance now: we are citizens of heaven, and our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
For this, we do not have to pay anything. Nowadays, countries offer citizenship if you pay. But it is free to enter into heaven. This is the gift of God.
As citizens of heaven, we must represent heaven. In the Olympic Games, people from different countries participate.
Each country, when they participate, represents its country. They carry the banner of their country and walk before they begin the games. They show the culture and traditions of their country.
So, we are from heaven. We have to represent that we are from heaven and are citizens of heaven. We must follow the rules and values of heaven, show the taste of heaven to others, and invest our time, energy, and resources in heaven rather than on this earth.
These are the qualities of a citizen of heaven.
Also, we seek God first. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” and all things will be added unto you, He says.
These are the things we follow as citizens of heaven: seek the things that are above. It is all about our Lord Jesus Christ.
Anybody who wants to run a race needs to throw off all the weights they are carrying and make themselves free before they run. We are running the race of faith, and to run freely, we must cast off anything that slows us down: every weight and the sin that clings so closely.
Weights will distract us, bring us down, and discourage us from running the race. On the other hand, sin entangles us around our legs, tripping us up just when we need to press forward.
While we are running, laying aside all these weights and sins, we run with patience, fixing our eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
We know that this is a long race—a marathon race.
We need much patience to run this race until we complete it. The Christian life truly is a marathon, not a sprint: a long, often lonely race, where the crowd thins out, the cheers fade, and even those who once encouraged you may step away for a while. But the race continues, and so must we.
In our college days, we used to have those long races, you know. As soon as the race started, people would say, “This will take maybe one hour or two hours to complete. We can do something else and then come back to see the results and the winners.” So, they would go for a coffee break.
They could not wait for so long if the race went on.
While we run this race, this is a spiritual race. We are not looking to the crowd, not even to the coach, but to Christ, who never left the course. He ran it all the way to the cross and beyond.
We have to follow our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are no shortcuts to complete this race—no fast track, no express lanes. It takes time for us to complete the Christian life. It takes time. We need patience. That is very important.
You know, Jacob cheated and lied to Isaac, and he took the blessing of his brother Esau. That was a shortcut to get the blessing from his father. He went through a shortcut and received a blessing, but there was no peace in him.
He was in exile, in fear, and spent years wrestling with the consequences of his act. We see this in Genesis 27.
He realized that was not the true blessing until he met the Lord at Peniel in Genesis 32.
He clung to God and said, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.”
You can see the cry of his transformed heart.
Jacob’s journey reminds us that true blessing comes not by manipulation but by surrender. It is not taken; it is received. Often, it is in the wrestling, the waiting, and the breaking that we finally meet the Blessing Himself. We need to wait to receive the blessing of the Lord.
On the other hand, we see Moses, the leader, the man of God.
Moses’ life is also an example of God’s timing and our human ambition. He wanted to save the Hebrew people, his nation.
When he was less than forty years old, he killed an Egyptian. But then he was afraid, and he ran to the wilderness. There are no shortcuts in the Christian journey.
The wilderness taught him humility, patience, and dependence on God.
After he met the Lord, he said, “I cannot be a leader. I cannot speak. I cannot talk. How can I be a leader? How can I lead the nation of Israel?” You see?
Leadership in the kingdom is not about charisma or credentials. It is all about character refined by time and trial.
Christian life takes time. It is not instant that we can complete our race.
There should also be a goal for every believer. The goal is to win Christ in our lives. It is always winning Christ.
Just as every runner fixes their eyes on the finish line, we believers set our hearts on winning Christ.
What is meant by winning Christ?
To be rich in Christ is to be filled with His presence, clothed in His righteousness, and overflowing with the joy of communion with Him.
I think after one week we are going to have our conference, right? So, what do we do there? We worship our Lord. We praise Him. We sing songs about Him.
What are we doing? We are getting rich in Christ. We talk about Him. We pray about Him, okay? We are in this process, and what we are receiving is that we are getting rich. We are winning Christ.
True riches are found not in gold, but in grace.
When we hear about a goal, we think of a soccer game. Winning Christ may seem easy, but we may face hindrances, obstacles, and temptations.
A soccer player tries to put the ball into a goal. Just as a soccer player keeps his eyes on the goal and pushes through fatigue to score, a believer is called to pursue Christ with unwavering focus and spiritual endurance. Scoring a goal in soccer is not easy because the opposing team is constantly resisting, blocking, and trying to wear you down.
But just like a skilled striker does not give up after one blocked shot, the believer presses on, with eyes fixed on Christ, the true prize.
We face so many hurdles, you know, to overcome the obstacles, press on, and focus on winning Christ. This is the goal of a believer.
In this process, we will have temptations.
But God is faithful. He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. He will also give us a way to escape from temptation.
Temptations come from our own desires, and the evil one makes use of that situation and tries to exploit a believer.
If we think of temptation as a brick, the evil one throws bricks at us. Each brick is a temptation, coming as quickly as possible.
Whenever we receive that brick, we need to learn to pass it on to our Lord. What does He do with those bricks? He will make a big mansion for us. Christ is the Master Builder.
Hand the brick over to the Builder, trusting Him to use it for a greater purpose. He calmly constructs a radiant mansion in the background. See how trials, when we surrender to Him, become part of our eternal purpose.
Trials and temptations are part of our eternal purpose. They are going to be useful in our next life.
To overcome these temptations, we need to bring the body into subjection.
You see, the border security forces and armed forces—even when they are not at war, not at the border, and not fighting with any enemy—still exercise, even while on vacation. They never stop physical exercise because they are, in a way, preparing for the next war or to fight the enemy. They are ready at any time.
Just as armed forces maintain daily physical training, even during leave, to stay mission-ready, believers are called to spiritual discipline to remain steadfast in faith.
Soldiers do not wait for battle to train. They prepare daily. Likewise, believers cannot wait for trials to build spiritual strength. We have to be prepared to face trials and temptations. Do not wait for temptation to come to us.
What do we need to do? Be watchful and pray. Meditate on the Word of God daily.
All these spiritual drills will help us overcome temptation and trials when they come.
Paul goes one step further. He says, “I die daily.” It is being a death blow to the body every day.
Paul’s daily death was not just about physical danger. It was a conscious surrender of ego, comfort, and sin, so that Christ’s life could shine through him. You know, death is like a seed that should break open to bear much fruit.
It is a daily process.
When we know the source of temptation—where it is coming from—it is easier to handle or overcome it. We need to understand that temptation is not from God.
Suppose somebody throws a stick at us and it hurts us. Whom do we confront? Do we fight with the stick that hit us, or with the person who threw it at us? Obviously, it is the person who threw the stick at us.
Temptation comes from the evil one. We are not confronting the temptation itself, but the source from which it is coming.
When we recognize the source, we can respond not with panic, but with prayerful resistance, just as Jesus did in the wilderness.
Even though we are in the flesh, we are not fighting with the flesh. Our enemy is in heavenly places. He uses situations to exploit us and gives us these temptations.
As good soldiers, when temptation comes, we do not just react. We need to stand ready and sharpen discernment to recognize the schemes of the enemy. Put on the full armour of God, the spiritual armour of God, and be a good soldier of Christ Jesus to overcome these trials and temptations.
In 1 Corinthians 9:25, we read:
And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things.
Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown;
but we an incorruptible.
An athlete exercises temperance. He needs to be temperate in all things because he is aiming for a prize. For the believer, the prize is not a fading trophy; it is Christ Himself, the incorruptible. Our prize is winning Christ.
Spiritually also, we need to be temperate in all things. Temperance is choosing what strengthens the spirit over what merely satisfies the flesh.
Overindulgence can dull our alertness, both mentally and spiritually, making us sluggish in prayer, slow to obey, and inattentive to the Spirit’s prompting. This is also an important thing on which we need to focus.
One brother says that if we take a little food that is not necessary for the body, we are going to sleep. A little extra food that is not needed for the body can make us lazy. That is one type of sin, you know.
One student came to a pastor and asked, “Pastor, how can I stop eating sweets?”
The pastor replied, “Come next month and ask me the same question.”
After one month, the student again came to the same pastor and asked the same question. The pastor replied, “Now you can stop eating sweets.”
The student asked, “Pastor, you could have said the same thing that day. Why did you wait for one month?”
The pastor said, “I also had that desire to eat sweets. First, I learned to stop it. I stopped it. Now I am saying to you, ‘You do it.’”
I think—I hope—you understand.
Before giving advice, he chose to walk the path himself. That is the essence of Christ-like mentorship: not just telling, but showing.
The next point is being adorned in modest apparel. We see this in 1 Peter 3:3-4, where we are reminded that true beauty is not in outward adornment, but in the hidden person of the heart, in a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
True beauty is inside, not outside—inside the heart, in a meek and quiet spirit. This is the ornament we can call meekness, an ornament inside our heart. That is very important.
How does this meekness come? It comes through suffering. Meekness comes through suffering and is forged in the fire of trials. Jesus also learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
What do we mean by suffering? It is the cross. The cross is suffering. Without the cross, there is no meekness. There is no humility. There is no resurrection and life.
In 1 Peter 5:10, he says that by the grace of God, after we suffer a little while, God will make us perfect.
Before perfection, suffering is coming. We want to become perfect, but without suffering we cannot become perfect. Suffering is the cross, where we bear our own cross in our life to become perfect.
Sometimes he says suffering is a gift of God. It is the grace of God that He gives to a believer. How many want this gift of God—suffering? Do we like suffering? Without suffering, there is no perfection.
Proverbs 20:13 says:
Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty;
open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
A little sleep, sleep on this side, sleep on that side—for a long time. There is a spiritual thief when a believer sleeps. The spiritual thief comes and steals our precious things.
He robs us of time and readiness to labour for the expansion of the kingdom of God. We cannot work when we sleep. He robs our time to work for the kingdom of God.
People think that if we sleep for long hours, we will look fresh. One brother said, “I have never seen anyone who slept for a long time become rich.”
So, whoever wants to become rich must be temperate in sleep.
We are talking about spiritual richness—winning Christ. Work for the Lord to become rich; become rich in Christ; be temperate in sleep.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 says:
For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth;
therefore let thy words be few.
Temperance in words means that when we hold our words as thoughts, we reign over our words. Before we say or speak something, those words are in the form of thoughts in our minds.
If words are still in our thoughts, in our minds, we are like kings over our words. We are the rulers of our words.
When we speak out those thoughts, we become servants to our words. Then what happens? The words start ruling us, and when we say something, we are bound to do that.
When we put our words on paper and write something, then we become slaves to those words. That is why we have to be mindful of what we are saying.
People start talking over the phone for a long time—talk, talk, talk, many things. Even believers talk for long hours. Initially, they may be talking in a godly way, but as they go on, slowly they go out of the godly way and begin talking about different worldly things.
Talk, talk, talk—and then, after one or two hours, they have almost lost their faith.
It is like a boat without an anchor, sitting on the shore. What happens after one day or two days? It drifts away from the shore, and somewhere else you will find it—a lost ship.
God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore, let thy words be few.
We are familiar with these things. This is just a little exhortation.
The Lord Jesus Christ said only one thing: “Remember Lot’s wife.”
When God told the family of Lot to leave Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s wife turned back and looked at the city. What happened? Her race was stopped. So, we cannot continue our race if we look back.
Jesus Christ said one thing: “Remember Lot’s wife.” Jesus did not elaborate because the lesson is clear: do not look back.
Spiritual progress can be undone by a single act of the heart.
The pictures are representations only.
Jesus endured the cross not merely out of duty, but for the joy set before Him—the joy of returning to His Father. One day, we have that hope to see our Lord face to face.
The joy also included completing the redemptive work and receiving the glory and crown that awaited Him at the right hand of God.
Jesus becomes both our example and our forerunner.
We have this joy in us today: receiving the eternal rewards and crowns—the crown of righteousness, the incorruptible crown, the crown of life, the crown of glory, and the crown of rejoicing.
Let us run this race, looking unto Jesus, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. May the Lord bless this word.