I'm sorry, I got that wrong.
Sorry about that. Just testing everybody. Let's see, at the cross 129. Oh yeah, okay, here we go. Let's
try that again. It's better. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I? At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burning of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sign, And now I am happy all
the day. Was it for crimes that I have
done, Be crowned upon a tree? Amazing pity, grace unknown,
And love beyond degree. At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light, and the burning of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received
my sight, and now I am happy all the day. might the sun in
darkness hide and shut his glories in. When Christ the mighty maker
died and man the creature sinned. At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received
my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Drops of grief can
ne'er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself
away, tis all that I can do. At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light And the burden of my heart rolled away
It was there by faith I received my sight And now I am happy all
the day Thank you. It was a little faster, I think,
but that's that new website I've been downloading from. Anyway,
we kept up. Morning. Go with me to Proverbs
chapter 5. Proverbs chapter five My son attendant attend unto
my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding That thou mayest
regard discretion and that thy lips may keep knowledge For the
lips For the lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb, and her
mouth is smoother than oil. But her end is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, her
steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldst ponder the
path of life, her ways are movable, thou that canst not know them.
Me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words
of my mouth, remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the
door of her house, lest thou give thine honour unto others,
and thy years unto the cruel. Yes, strangers be filled with
thy wealth, and thy labours be in the house of a stranger, and
thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
and say, how have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof,
and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor inclined mine
ear to them that instructed me. I was almost in all evil in the
midst of the congregation and assembly, drink waters out of
thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well.
Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad and rivers of waters in
the streets. Let them be thine own Let them only thine own. Let
me try again. Let them be only thine own and
not strangers with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed and
rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving,
kind, and pleasant roe. Let her breast satisfy thee at
all times and be thou ravished always with her love. And why
wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman and embrace
the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of man are before
the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. His
own iniquity shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden
with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction,
and in the greatness of his folly shall go astray. Father, we come to you this morning
thankful for our time together, Lord, a place to come to meet.
And Father, we are thankful for the time you gave us last week
with our conference, with a chance to see other brethren and have
a good time of fellowship. And Father, we're thankful for
the pastor that you've sent us. And Lord, we're so thankful that
you've brought him to us. And Father, we ask that you give
him the time he needs to study and the support he needs to study
and to bring us the messages each week. And Father, we ask
that you open up our eyes and our ears and our hearts, Lord,
as he brings the message. And Father, we ask that you continue
to have this congregation grow, Father, as your will determines. And Father, we ask that you just
continue to watch over us, Lord, and we ask that you just watch
over and care for us in Christ's name. Let's sing 489, Glory to His
Name. Down at the cross where my Savior
died, Down where for cleansing from sin I cried, There to my
heart was the blood applied, Glory to His name! Glory to His name. Glory to His name. There to my heart was the blood
applied. Glory to His name. I am so wondrously safe from
sin Jesus so sweetly abides within There at the cross where he took
me in Glory to his name Glory to His name. Glory to His name. There to my heart was the blood
applied. Glory to His name. O precious fountain that saves
from sin. I am so glad I have entered it. There Jesus saves me and keeps
me clean. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. There to my heart was the blood
applied. Glory to His name. Come to this fountain so rich
and sweet. Cast thy poor soul at the Savior's
feet. Plunge in today and be made complete. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. There to my heart was the blood
applied. Glory to His name. Thank you. All right, brethren, let's go
to Galatians chapter five. Galatians five, I wanna look
at verses seven through 10. From this passage, I want us
to first see the race which God sets before every believer. And second, we're going to look
at the lawful way in which we run this race. There's an unlawful
way and there's a lawful way in which we run the race. And
that lawful way is by faith. The race is run by faith. And
then third, we'll see the obstacles which are in the way of the believer
here. And then we'll close that by
the grace of God, these comforting words that every child of God
shall endure unto the end. I've titled this message Running
a Good Race. Running a Good Race. Let's begin
by reading our text, verses 7 through 10 of Galatians 5. Paul says,
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. I have confidence in you through
the Lord. that ye will be none otherwise
minded, but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment,
whosoever he be." The believer's life in Christ is likened to
a race. a sprint. It's not he who gets
to the end the fastest, but rather it's a race that requires endurance. It's a race of endurance. Our Lord said, He that endureth
to the end shall be saved. He that endureth to the end shall
be saved. Now the believer is taught by
grace, by the Lord, In the scriptures, he's taught that the goal, which
is Christ, that it is a certainty. That is a certainty of what we
are striving to attain in Christ. He that endures to the end has
life and fellowship with God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we shall not come short of that promise of God made unto us in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 9.
1 Corinthians 9 and we're going
to look at verses 24 through 27 here. Again, likening our life in Christ
to a race, Paul uses a race as an illustration. He says, Know
ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth
the prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate. He that's running a race, training
for a race, exercises control, he says, in all things. Now,
they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. an incorruptible crown. Now he
says, I therefore so run, not as uncertainly. So fight I, not
as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body, and
bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Now Paul
isn't teaching here that one for whom Christ's blood was shed
can ever lose their salvation. Our Lord tells us that none shall
pluck them, my people, out of my hand, none shall pluck them
out of my Father's hand. That's nothing else can pluck
you out of his hand, not even you. You can't even take yourself
out of his hand. What he's actually emphasizing
here is that our run is not a run of uncertainty. We're not running
as one that's just beating the air. In other words, it's not
a waste of time. We know what the prize is. We
know who the prize is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, and
it is sure and certain. We're not going to come short
of the inheritance in Christ. When Paul was writing to Timothy,
he said, I know whom I have believed. I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have
committed unto him against that day. In other words, I have forsaken
all other hopes, and I have one hope. It is the Lord Jesus Christ,
and I know that in Him I have life. That is why Paul suffered
for the Gospel's sake. Because he knew, I'm not going
to be ashamed. I'm not going to come up and
stand before God, and all my enemies here in the flesh aren't
going to be the ones sitting with God and mocking me for trusting
the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not going to be ashamed.
Those who trust in their own righteousnesses, those who trusted
in the law, those who forsook Christ, and those who have no
part in him, they shall be ashamed. because they've woven a garment
of their own righteousnesses, and that is filthy rags. It exposes our nakedness. Any who come to God in their
own righteousnesses, they shall be ashamed. but you who come
in Christ's blood alone shall never be ashamed. It's a sure and certain thing. Just as the scripture says, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Alright, so we see it's
likened to a race. So Paul is speaking of running
a race and attaining a prize. Now that prize is Christ. We
that are in Christ have been justified from all our sins. We have received grace of our
God. We have received His righteousness. We are cleansed of our sins and
given life in the Lord Jesus Christ. But this race must be
run lawfully. and must be run lawfully. He had said to Timothy, if a
man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except
he strive lawfully. Lawfully, you must follow the
rule. If you don't follow the rules,
you'll be disqualified. Many of you will probably remember
that I think it's about a decade ago now, there was a bicyclist
named Lance Armstrong and he was amazing. He won lots of races. He would always race in the Tour
de France and maybe some others, I don't know, but he was winning
that thing over and over and over again and his European competitors
hated him. And they felt like surely he's
doing something to cheat. And all the tests they did on
his blood work, they could find nothing. But they stored that
blood work. And eventually, they had a test
that was able to go back and check that blood and found that
there was something in his system that showed, oh, he was using
something. to help him be stronger and have
better endurance and quicker. That wasn't detected initially,
but eventually it was found out. And all those medals that he
had won and been decorated with were stripped from him and given
to the next in line. He was disqualified because he
ran the race unlawfully. That's what we're saying here.
Well, how is the race of the believer lawfully run? How do we lawfully run the race? The race is lawfully run by faith,
by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing I do saves me. No righteousness I bring to it
has any effect, doesn't earn me any favor with God. How is this faith obtained? The same way the believer's salvation
is obtained, it's given. The faith we have in Christ is
given to the believer by God. It's not of him that willeth,
Paul said in Romans 9.16. It's not of him that willeth.
It's not your decision. It's not of him that runneth.
It's not of your good works. but of God that showeth mercy. God must show mercy, and that
faith is not of the flesh, it's the gift of God. As he writes
in Ephesians 2.8, by grace are ye saved through faith, and that,
that faith is not of yourselves, it's not a fruit of the flesh,
it's the gift of God. God gives faith to whom He will. He blesses His child with that
hope and faith, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now it says
in Galatians 5, 7, ye did run well, who did hinder you that
ye should not obey the truth? You should not obey the truth.
What is the obedience to the truth? It's faith. Obedience
to the truth is faith, believing that good word of the gospel
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're looking to the person and
work of Christ. It's an obedience which God works
in his child by his grace. Look over at Galatians 2.16.
Galatians 2.16. He says, knowing that a man is
not justified by the works of the law. And the child of God
is not trying to attain justification. We have obtained justification. The good news of the gospel,
the good news of Christ is that he's obtained everything necessary
for his child. If you're still working and laboring
to justify yourself, And to make yourself a Christian or a believer,
you're not running the race lawfully. You're now doing something that
disqualifies you from the race. Our justification is by the faith
of Jesus Christ. And what is the faith of Jesus
Christ? That's not talking about our
faith. It's talking about His faith,
His faithfulness to fulfill all the will of the Father perfectly. Obediently, doing everything
the Father sent him to do. That's the faith that we're talking
of here in Galatians 2 16. So a man is not justified by
the works of the law, but by the faith or the faithfulness
of Jesus Christ. And then look, even we have believed,
there's our faith, we believed in Jesus Christ. We believed
we bore that fruit given to us by the Spirit of God that we
might be justified, not by our faith, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ. And our hope is fixed in his
justifying atonement. What he did satisfied God perfectly. Not by the works of the law,
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. And so
the child of God is shown the salvation wrought by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we're made to know all my
attempts, my work at the law, My following the traditions of
men, my seeking to receive forgiveness of sins and to deliver myself,
it all comes to nothing. Christ has obtained all that
for his child. And this is why the scriptures
say the just shall live by his faith. It's described as our
faith because God gave it to us. Who he loves, he gives faith,
and they believe, and they walk by that faith. That's the lawful
running of the race. We walk by faith, believing. We don't see in this flesh what
we would see. As we talked about in the last
hour, this flesh still has sin present in it. We're still tempted
by that sin. But thanks be to God. He's put
it away. The punishment of my sins has
been paid in full by the blood of Christ, who bore it for me,
and now delivers me from the guilt of sin, from the dominion
of sin, and from the condemnation of sin. I don't stand in the
inheritance of Adam anymore. I stand in the inheritance of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I've been born again. and all
who hope in him have been born again and stand in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So the lawful running of the
race is by faith. By faith is how we obey the truth. That's the obedience that God
works in his child. They believe him. They hear what
he says, as he said in Isaiah 42.1, Behold my servant whom
I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth, I have put
my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Look to him. Look to Him, brethren,
trust Him, He's everything that we need to stand before Holy
God, accepted, justified by Him. Now that's exactly what the Apostle
Paul was teaching the churches when he said to Philippians 3,
7, he said, what things were gained to me? those I count a
loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ
my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but dumb that I may win Christ. Paul's saying every
religious work that I had done I turned away from it. Treating
it like it's garbage. It's just dumb to me because
everything I need is perfectly 100% provided in full by the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's everything for the believer. Everything. I want to be found
in Him, not having any stain of my own righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ."
Christ's faithfulness, the righteousness which is of God by faith, received
and understood by faith in the Lord's people. They were taught,
shown of God, that He's given everything in Christ. that I
may know Him and the power of His resurrection and fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death."
And then he said in Philippians 3, 14, I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I run
that race which God has set before me, looking unto Jesus, my Lord
and Savior, by faith, lawfully running it by faith, trusting
that just as God said, so it is. I'm not believing myself.
I'm a liar. I'm a wicked man in this flesh. I'm nothing in this flesh. I
have no confidence in this flesh, but I have every confidence in
Christ. And that's how we run, by faith. That's the lawful running, by
faith. Now, we come to obstacles. Let's read verses seven through
nine. Galatians 5, seven through nine. Paul said ye did run well. Who did hinder you? Who put this obstacle before
you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh
not of him that calleth you. God didn't teach you this. A
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. He's saying a little sin,
just a little work that you add to it destroys the whole thing. It's entirely polluted now because
of your work which you've added. It's just leaven. Our works are
leaven and it just raises the whole thing with pride and now
we glory in self And God receives none of it. It's all ruined.
Throw it out. Now, there's many obstacles in
this race. And by nature, we're not equipped
to run this race lawfully. We don't have it. In this flesh,
we're dead. Dead men don't run races. But
the scriptures do describe the race of the natural man. It's
called in Ephesians 2.2, it's called the course of this world. That's what this flesh is running,
the course of this world according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. It's a course of death. It's
where the dead run. And the prize that they obtain
at the end is eternal death and separation from Almighty God. Without the grace of God giving
you faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting his faithfulness, you'll
just run this course of the world, and you're going to die in your
sins. Our Lord, he told the Jews, he said, if you believe not that
I am he, you shall die in your sins. But he that believes me,
he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life. Now, you're familiar with the
parable of the sower. And these are speaking of the
obstacles that are before man in his flesh. These are the obstacles. There's the seed which fell by
the wayside. And we're told that that seed
was devoured by the fowls of the air. And what the Lord tells
us is that's the wicked one who comes when this word is preached,
the people hear it, but he comes and snatches it away. And there's
many people that hear what Christ has done, what he's accomplished
for his people by himself, not looking to anything that the
believer does. They hear that and they rejoice
in it for the moment, but then they go right out and they go
right back to their works, looking to what they've done, forgetting
everything they just heard about the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't
profit them one bit because they speak about Christ, but all they're
looking to is what they do or don't do for any hope before
God, forgetting what Christ has done for his people. Then there's
the seed which fell upon stony places. And we're told that what
grew up there, a plant grew up pretty quickly, but it withered,
being scorched by the sun. Why? Because it has no root.
It's not connected to Christ. It's born. It springs forth out
of the flesh, saying, oh, that sounds pretty good. And they
go out, and they start to repeat what they've heard. But then
persecution comes, saying, what? That's not right. Either that's
foolish to believe in Christ. That's just a fable. Don't listen
to that. Or they say, what are you talking
about? You have to follow the law. Christ
isn't sufficient. You've got to now keep the law
if you're a Christian. You've got to do x, y, and z. And so that person hearing and
a plant coming up brings forth no fruit because they wither
under the persecution. in whatever form it takes. And
they say, you know what? I don't need this. They get offended
and they turn away from it. And I remember meeting somebody
that rejoiced for a time. And then she got into a car accident
and she got fired and had all these problems. And soon after,
and she stopped coming. She stopped coming to hear the
gospel because she said, as soon as I believed on Christ, all
this trouble came. She had no root in Christ. It was just of the flesh. And
the persecution offended her, and she died. Now, there's also
that seed which falls among thorns. It grows up for a time, but it
gets choked out. gets choked out by the thorns.
For that one, it's the care of the world. It's the deceitfulness
of riches, right? You begin to make some money
and you begin to get some Expendable income, you know where
you can just dispose of disposable income there it is disposable
income and you start enjoying some of the finer things so-called
finer things of life and that becomes your love and your interest
and you you give more of yourself to those things and to pamper
and please the flesh, and you don't necessarily turn away from
Christ, you just become unfruitful, being choked out by the thorns
of this life. That's all describing where the
dead run in the course of the world. But the Lord brings his
people through all that. connecting them to Christ, giving
them Christ, hope in Christ. And though they struggle and
are troubled by those things for a time, the Lord teaches
them, strengthening them by the gospel word, the word preached,
where he feeds his sheep and comforts his sheep. and gives
them that hope fixed in the Lord Jesus Christ, teaching them,
delivering them from those pitfalls and obstacles and stumblings
that the world stumbles over and falls away. And so the good
ground hearer is prepared by the Spirit, hearing of what Christ
has done, and they bear fruits of righteousness in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now the Galatians, they were
being charmed by the Judaizers. They were being charmed by the
vain traditions of men. They were being hindered by the
obstacles of the law and man's tradition. They came and said,
that's great that you believe on Jesus. That's wonderful. But
now you've got to mature. You've got to start eating strong
meat. Come on over to the law. And so they began to circumcise
the men. And Paul says, this persuasion,
this charming that you're being taken away with is not of him
that calleth you. God hasn't turned you to the
law. He doesn't do that. Following
the law, you know, makes us critical of others. When we look to the
law, we begin to get critical of others who aren't focused
on or looking at the things that we're looking at and doing well.
And so then we begin to start noticing, wait a minute, the
Lord just showed me that. They don't see that. And then
we begin to criticize them in some way. It doesn't produce
love in the heart or faith toward God. Why? Well, the law is not
a faith. He tells us that in Galatians
3.12, the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall
live in them. But the believer runs this race
obeying the truth, that is, he walks by faith. trusting the
Lord, waiting upon the Lord to work His righteousness, His will,
bear those fruits in Him, trusting Christ is all. Christ is all. And when you don't see what you
would see, it causes you to groan and to cry out in the Spirit,
Lord, save me, Lord, keep me, Lord, help me, Lord, teach me,
Lord, provide for me, keep me. And we walk by faith, trusting
that he has done everything. As Paul was taught in the end
of Romans 7 when he cried out saying, who shall deliver me,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? The law? No. Thanks be to God
for the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we are delivered.
looking to the Savior, trusting Him. A little leaveneth the whole
lump. Just one bit of the law, just
that circumcision that they were doing, just that one tiny bit
that they added to the work of Christ puffed the whole thing
up. and ruined the whole loaf. It
destroyed the whole thing. And so the law and the works
of man, they take our eyes off of Christ. If we're running to
Christ, if we're running by faith, looking at Him, knowing the certainty
of our inheritance in Christ, But if we, and looking at him
by faith, if we turn back to the law, that's going backwards.
That's going away from the goal, because it's turning us back
to the flesh. It turns us back to the flesh. And that's what we've been delivered
from. Now, if you don't succumb to
those hindrances, if you don't stumble over those obstacles,
Paul says there's hardness for you. You're going to endure hardness
as a good soldier in Christ. He said, all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution for. Because it's
an offense that you should hope in Christ. that you should come
and declare what he's done for you, and that you're telling
me all my works under the law are filthy? And they persecute
you. They separate you from their
company because you're not speaking like they are. But Christ tells
us we shall suffer. We're going to have obstacles,
but it comes in the form of afflictions, of difficulties, of trials, of
sorrows, of troubles, of sufferings, of adversities and afflictions,
all for the faith that we have in Christ. And Paul asked in
Galatians 5.11, he said, and I brethren, if I yet preach circumcision,
if I was preaching the law, something of the law, why am I yet being
persecuted by my countrymen? Why are they coming around behind
me to undo everything I've done if I was preaching the law? They'd
be content. Because if I preach the law,
then the offense of the cross ceases. Because the cross Christ
crucified declares to us we cannot save ourselves. God would not
have sent his son to lay down his life for his people if there
was a law that was given that we could have kept and made ourselves
righteous by. And so when you preach Christ
you're declaring we're sinners and we can't do anything to save
ourselves. God provided it freely by grace
in his son. Look to him. have no confidence
in your works. And that angers the flesh. That angers the flesh. Because
it's saying salvation belongs to the Lord. And he blesses his
people. And he comforts and teaches them.
James said it this way in 112, Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of
life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. And we do love him. The more
we see of what we are in his flesh, what sinners we are, what
we are in Adam, the hatred, the enmity that's in this flesh against
God and what he delivered me from, In Christ, the more we
love Him, because we see what great sinners we are. He that's
saved from little loves little, and he that's saved from much
loves much, because we know, Lord, I'm a vile dead dog. Thank you, Lord, for your grace
and your mercy. Now we come to the final point,
the fourth point, where our confidence lies. Thankfully, Paul calls
them brethren in verse 11. Because in verse 10 he said,
I have confidence in you through the Lord that ye will be none
otherwise minded. You know, sometimes we do struggle.
Sometimes we do stumble and succumb to the hindrances or some charm
and our eyes are taken off of the prize which is Christ and
we look to the things that we're doing and we turn to fleshly
things and we look critically at our brethren and judge them
and speak evil of them and doubt them and speak critically of
them. You know, we saw that with The
Corinthian church, when they were going after Apollos, and
Cephas preferring his preaching over Paul's. And Paul said, that's
carnal. You guys are focused on fleshly
things. You're not trusting the Lord. You're not believing him. You're not looking to him. So
it does happen. Don't be quick to judge your
brethren and to doubt them. I'm reminded of what Paul said
to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, 24 through 26. He said, the servant
of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt
to teach, patient. in meekness instructing those
that oppose themselves, if God, per adventure, will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will. The only confidence we have is
Christ. And we know that's how the Lord
saves his people, by grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
not saved by the works that we add. We're not saved in being
harsh or condemning of others. We're saved by Christ. Pray for them. Pray for them.
Speak the truth to them, but speak to them in love. And remember,
your brethren in love. Love beareth all things, it believeth
all things, it hopeth all things. Love endureth all things. Love never faileth. It won't fail. Stay in the Lord,
trust Him, believe Him. Now Paul said to these stumbling
Galatians, I have confidence in you through the Lord. Not
confidence in them, but our confidence is in Christ. And we trust Him
to keep us. But it is going to be a walk
of faith. He gives faith because you're going to lean on that
faith which He's given you. You're going to learn to trust
Him through the difficulties and learn not to have any confidence
in the flesh. So keep your eyes on the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the Savior. He's the one
who is leading you home. He's provided everything. It's
sure and certain. You're just running that race
which the Father had set before you in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's leading you. You're following
Him in faith. Now I'm going to close with an
illustration. When I was in ninth grade, I
signed up for high school track and field. I'd never run track
before, but I signed up for the track and field, and I was a
long-distance runner. I was a cross-country runner
is what they called it. their courses are something like
3.1 miles to 3.3 miles each race. And I was in my first race, so
I didn't know what I was doing. I had never been in this type
of a competition before. And if I remember correctly,
they let us freshmen go out first. We had a head start of some amount
of seconds in the race or something like that is how it was and I
say that because I remember I was out there for a little while
and I was trying to figure out where this course went because
it was sparsely marked as we ran and I was all alone and beginning
to feel the pain of running. You know, you get that cramp
in your side, your knees, the ligaments, you know, and the
tendons are like, what are you doing here? What is this? You
get these pains and things and you're not sure, is this normal?
Am I going to make it through this thing? Do I just keep running
and doing this thing? Well, I remember hearing someone
from behind me coming up and he said, I was like, what? And I saw, I looked back and
I could see it was someone on my team. It was one of the varsity
guys. And he said, lead or follow.
And I didn't know what that really meant. But in the context, I
was like, well, it must have something to do with the race.
And I'm not going to lead because I don't know what I'm doing.
So I said, I'll follow. So he goes up in front of me.
And he's going at a faster pace than I was. And I'm like, whoa,
I'm going to lose this guy if I don't pick it up here. So I
began to push myself a little bit. And I caught up to him again.
And it was hard, because he was going faster than I was. He was
a varsity runner, and I'm a freshman. And so I remember all I did was
just eventually I noticed his feet, the flick of his feet coming
up. And I just watched those feet.
And when he sped up, I sped up. And if he slowed down, I slowed
down. Whatever he did, wherever he went, I was just watching
his feet, just watching him. And before I knew it, the loneliness
was gone. The pains, I wasn't thinking
about anymore. I was just looking at his feet. And before I knew
it, we crossed the finish line. The race was over. And apparently,
I had run a good race. I was told by my coaches and
the other teammates, they said, you did good. I said, well, all
I did was follow him. I didn't do it. I didn't know
what I was doing. I just followed him. And that's the point. We're looking at Christ. We don't have the strength or
the ability, we're just looking at Him and He carries His people
over the finish line. He's already seated at the right
hand of the throne of God. Looking to Him, you shall run
a good race, because it's all of Him. It says in Hebrews 12,
1 and 2, 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, 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. He's leading you
home. He's the leader. You're just
following Him, looking to Him. And He's going to bring you across
that finish line. And the Father is going to say,
well done thou good and faithful servant. You've run a good race.
I didn't do anything, Lord. I just followed Him. and we'll
give him all the thanks and the praise and the glory. So endure
that, looking to Christ, the sure and certain prize whom the
Father has given freely because he loves you and provided everything
for you in his Son. Amen. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace and mercy. We thank you, Lord, so much for
your Son, whom you've sent who ran the race before us, enduring
the cross, bearing all the hardships and difficulties, and He took
it all on Him, Lord. Lord, keep our eyes looking to
Him. When we see only Him, we don't
think about what we're doing. We don't think about the pain
or the suffering or the difficulties or the trials. We see Jesus,
our Lord and Savior, the author and finisher of our faith, who
is already set down at Your right hand. Lord, keep us looking to
Him. And we know the certainty of
this salvation, the certainty of our life, the certainty of
our inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ. Glorify Him, Lord. We are looking to Him, and we're
so thankful that You are only looking to Him as well, and that
You receive us in Him, His perfect righteousness. Lord, thank You.
It's in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that
we pray this. not only for ourselves, but for
our brethren, that we walk and run in love. It's in Christ's
name we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, Brother Joe. It's all Stan, the singer, closing
hymn 512, Saved by Grace, 512. Someday the silver cord will
break, And I no more as now shall sing, But oh the joy when I shall
wake, Within the palace of the King. And I shall see Him face
to face And tell the story saved by grace And I shall see Him
face to face And tell the story saved by grace Someday my earthly
house will fall I cannot tell how soon it will be I know my
all in all has now a place in heaven for me. And I shall see
him face to face and tell the story saved by grace. And I shall see him face to face
and tell the story saved by grace. Someday when fades the golden
sun beneath the rosy-tinted west, my blessed Lord will say, well
done, and I shall enter into rest. And I shall see Him face
to face, and tell the story saved by grace. And I shall see Him
face to face, and tell the story saved by grace. someday till then i'll watch
and wait my lamp all trimmed and burning bright that when
my savior opens the gate my soul to him should take its flight
and i shall see Thank you.