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…

Surrounded By Witnesses

Chapter 11 surrounds us  with a “cloud of witnesses.” The word here is the word μάρτυς where our word martyrs comes from. It may sound like these heroes of heaven are up there right now looking down on us and I admit that would be motivating. But the word isn’t used that way. These weren’t witnessing us, Paul is saying they are a witness to us. Their lives, their service, and many times their deaths bore testimony to the Hebrew Christians.

These heroes, having left behind stories of faith and of sacrifice. And in those reports, is the Hebrews motivation to not give up. Paul tells the Hebrews, “Faithfully run your own race for the Lord by keeping in mind this great cloud of witnesses. Let their lives and deaths motivate and move you to run the marathon of faith.”

He tells them also that this race requires more than just mental motivation, it also requires specific acts of sanctification, the setting aside of things so that they may stay in the race.

Paul tells them to lay aside two things.

First, every weight. This means to shed themselves of the burdens of this world. Just as an athlete removes any extra weight before they run, so also must the believer get rid of that which would burden and hinder them as they run. This is not really sin but anything which would slow them down or sap their stamina. Anything that would steal their strength and keep them from having enough to run the entire race.

Secondly, they must also strip themselves of the sin which doth so easily beset. The word here is εὐπερίστατος (euperistatos). It has the idea of something that is all around. Any direction they would turn in this world, its sin would beset them, become attached to them. They can’t help but bump into it.

This word is the contrast between being “surrounded by heaven’s cloud of witnesses” Here they are encircled by the world’s sin. But if they would look heavenward to the surrounding cloud of witnesses, then they could escape this world’s encircling sin.

This then gives us three actions to take in order to run our own faith’s marathon.

See, Shed and Strip

Today we are the believers being exhorted and encouraged by God’s Word to keep running the race. So here are the three things we must do to keep running.

See the Saints - First we are to see those who have run before us. We are to keep in mind those who have gone before us. Paul, through the Holy Spirit inspired scriptures, is encouraging us to see them, to always keep their testimony, their witness before our eyes. Find our spiritual motivation though the documentation and illustration of the manifestation of their submission to the Lord. We should live, work, serve and sacrifice motivated by the lives of who have gone before.

Let me share with you some of my family heroes that motivate my life’s run. I had a great-grandfather, William Minefee, who lived in West Texas. He was a Baptist preacher, I met him only once as a young boy, but I remember him praying for his family to serve the Lord.  I don’t write a sermon, preach a message or teach a lesson without thinking of my Granddaddy Van George. Before I could read, he told me the stories of the Bible. He prayed with his grandkids, kneeling all around the living room. My grandma Buna George sang children’s songs about Jesus loving me and of me bearing "This Little Light of Mine," for Him. My Papa and Grandma Minefee helped build the church where I was saved and gave me my first Bible. My Mom, sacrificed so much of her pride, her health and her future to provide for my brothers and sisters. When my Dad’s alcoholism meant no one would hire him. She worked any job she could to make enough to put food on our table. She made sure we were at church, every Sunday, every Wednesday, every revival, every workday, every outreach day. Even today I still see that witness. How can I give up, how can I quit when she never did.

They all still witness to me. Their testimony still rings in my heart. I never want to let them down.

In addition to our personal witnesses, we all have the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews Hall of Fame in Chapter 11. They are our great cloud of witnesses, from Adam, to David, to Isaiah, to Jeremiah, to Peter and John. From the first saint who died to the latest saint who has just passed into the presence of the Lord,  all those who have served and sacrificed await us and their witness, their testimony must be our motivation.

Shed The Stuff - I must see the witnesses and I must lay aside the weights, shed and cast off the things that keep me from fully serving the Lord. I must throw off that which hinders me as I serve Him.  

This Greek word is ὄγκος ogkos; it means a mass, something that cause a bending or bulging by its load. a burden which hinders. This is burdens of this world that have no place in the life of one trying to run a believer’s marathon. There will be relationships I must give up. Friendships I must forsake. Jobs I cannot work. Recreation I cannot participate in. Not because they are wrong, but because I have a purpose. I have a heaven given goal. Yes, We are on a mission from God. I’m in a life-long marathon, I’m running for the Lord.

As my old coach used to say, "Run with them or run over them but don’t you dare stop running."

Strip The Sin - Not only must I throw off the burdens of this world, but I must also strip my life of besetting sin. Paul is describing a sin that is like a walk through a field full of burs. They seem to be everywhere and they attach themselves to you so easily and they are hard to get rid of you. These sins are a symptom of my human weaknesses, my fatally flawed nature. I will not be rid of them completely until heaven, they easily beset me, so I must be careful of the places I go and the things I give my mind to so that my life does not become plagued with them. They are easy to pick up and so hard to get rid of.

How strongly we would run our spiritual marathon if we could keep in our minds and heart the witnesses of heaven. We are surrounded by their witnesses and histories of those who have gone before us. How much of this life’s burdens and sin would we shed if we could just see heaven’s heroes waiting to welcome us home. How faithfully I would then run into eternity.