“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” (Heb. 12:1).
You have a particular race that God has set before you to run. It is a spiritual race that has to do with the divine destiny God has planned for you to fulfill. The Bible says you are not only to run your race, but you are to finish your race or course (2 Tim. 4:7).
In other words, you are to fulfill God’s plan and purpose for your own individual life. You are not to run someone else’s race or finish someone else’s course, for God has set a different course before each of us.
Why is it so important to follow God’s plan for our lives? How can we successfully run our race and finish our course? The Bible answers these questions for us.
A Great Cloud of Witnesses
But first, notice something important in Hebrews 12:1. It says that we are not running our race unobserved. While we are running in this spiritual race, the Bible says we are “compassed about” by a “great cloud of witnesses.”
Who is included in this great cloud of witnesses? Hebrews chapter 11 tells us. Remember, the writer of Hebrews (who I believe was Paul) did not write this letter to the Hebrew Christians in chapter and verse.
So when we read Hebrews 12, we need to realize Paul was still talking about the “gallery of the heroes of faith” he had been discussing in Hebrews 11.
As Paul listed these heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, he began with Abel and then went on to talk about Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and so on. Then at the end of the chapter, Paul referred to all these heroes of faith, saying, “And THESE ALL…obtained a good report through faith…” (Heb. 11:39).
In the very next verse, Paul said, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a CLOUD OF WITNESSES…” (Heb. 12:1). So the men and women of faith Paul talked about in Hebrews 11 are a part of the cloud of witnesses Paul referred to in Hebrews 12:1.
What does Paul mean when he says we are “compassed about” by this cloud of witnesses? The Living Bible paraphrases it this way:
Since we have such a huge crowd of men [and women] of faith watching us from the grandstands…let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.
Paul used the illustration of running a race to describe how we are to follow God’s plan for our lives in our Christian walk. He gave us the picture of the Grecian athletic games that were held in Paul’s day, which were similar to our modern Olympic Games.
In the Grecian Games, those who ran in these races were compassed about or surrounded by people watching them from the grandstands, cheering them on. So in Hebrews 12:1, Paul was saying in essence, “All these heroes I’ve listed here and all the other believers who have ever died are watching us from the grandstands in Heaven as we run our spiritual race.”
That great cloud of witnesses in Heaven, as well as every believer on earth, are all a part of the family of God that Paul talks about in Ephesians 3:14 and 15: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.”
They’re Up There Cheering You On!
Let it encourage you to know you have family in Heaven’s grandstands cheering you on as you run your race! This huge crowd of men and women of faith are not watching you as you run your natural race on this earth. They are not interested in the natural things of life.
For example, they aren’t watching you as you go about your daily business. They aren’t interested in whether or not you bought new clothes or a new car or how much money you have in the bank. They are watching you in your Christian walk as you run your spiritual race. They are interested in whether or not you are following God’s plan for your life!
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.