Hebrews studies series
Hebrews 12:1-3
RUNNING TO WIN
Hebrews Study #25 (A complete
lesson)
·
What is good about competition?
·
What is bad about competition?
·
What are some competitions that everyone
can win (not necessarily athletic)?
·
Why is there satisfaction in winning?
·
What should the Christian be striving to
win according to 1 Corinthians 9:25?
·
According to Hebrews 12:1 we should be
striving to win the “race”. How is this
race unique for every Christian?
The author of Hebrews is building on the “Faith Chapter” by
encouraging believers to go on to victory just as the heroes of chapter 11 did.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a
cloud of witnesses…
ð Who has encouraged you by facing a test or trial that you
ultimately faced?
ð Who are the witnesses here and how are they an encouragement?
ð Can you name one specific witness in chapter 11 that encourages
you and why?
ð How is a “memory bank” of Bible stories helpful? How can we put that memory bank to work when
we need it?
ð The giant cloud of witnesses is actually a series of giant
clouds. These witnesses form an overwhelming testimony. The more we become familiar with their
stories and the stories of others in the Bible who demonstrated faith, the more
equipped we will be to handle life’s challenges.
…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth
so easily beset us…
V
A weight is an
encumbrance. It is something that holds us back. Of course any sin is an
encumbrance. But there are things
innocent enough in themselves that can hold us back from spending time with God
or doing God’s will. What are some of
these things?
V
How can you tell
when something is an encumbrance?
V
The “sin” could
be any besetting sin, but more likely it is the sin of unbelief.
Matthew 13:58 - And he did not many mighty works there
because of their unbelief.
Mark 6:5 - And he could there do no mighty work, save
that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
V
What mighty works
do you think we’ve missed in this church because of unbelief?
V
What mighty works
do people miss in their lives because of unbelief?
V
When we lay
something aside we strip it off. As we
strip it off it should be surrendered to the Lord. Romans 6:10-14
…and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us,
J
The DISTANCE of
the race – a lifetime – a marathon
J
The DISTINCTIVES of the race – different for everyone
J
The DETERMINATION
for the race – “to be faithful unto death” – Revelation 2:10, 1 Corinthians 4:2
J
Remember that God
has set the race before us. It is
neither too long nor too short.
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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Ú
To look unto
Jesus we must take our eyes away from everything else and focus on Him. Our
minds are to concentrate on the Lord Jesus.
Ú
“The minute the
Greek runner in the stadium takes his attention away from the race course and
the goal to which he is speeding, and turns it upon the onlooking
crowds, his speed is slackened. It is so with the Christian. The minute he
takes his eyes off of the Lord Jesus, and turns them upon others, his pace in
the Christian life is slackened, and his onward progress in grace hindered.”
Kenneth Wuest, Hebrews in the Greek New
Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan, W. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1947), p. 215
Ú
The “author” is a
pioneer, a leader. How did Jesus model
faith for us?
Ú
How was Jesus the
finisher of our faith?
Ú
How does Galatians 2:20 relate with the concept of looking unto
Jesus?
Ú
Why did Jesus
endure to the end, thinking little of the shame?
Ú
What do we look
forward to that should help us do the same?
Ú
What is the
advantage to Jesus being “at the right hand of the throne of God?”
For consider him that endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
?
What is the
importance of our thinking patterns?
?
Why is learning
from Jesus so important?