about the matter of those that
died in the faith. Now, what was the faith they
died in? It's the same faith that we live in. See, a man can't
die in the faith without living in the faith. And the faith,
even of those in the Old Testament, was the same as the faith that
we have, which was in Jesus Christ. Now, they didn't know him by
name. But Abraham believed God. Who did he believe? He believed
Jesus Christ because the scripture's plainly abundant that Jesus Christ
is God. He is not a part of God. He is
not a person of God. He is the person of God. He said
so. Philip said, show us the Father. The Lord said, Philip, if I've
been so long time with you and you've not known me, he that's
seen me, has seen the Father. So there is no revelation of
God to men other than that which is in Jesus Christ. He is that one who sent from
God. And you know, we don't go into
great lengthy explanations as to how all that is. I couldn't
begin to tell you how all of that is. But I can tell you what
the Lord said. And what the scripture plainly
sets forth here, it says here, we've been compassed about with
a great cloud of witnesses. Now, who are those cloud of witnesses?
It's those that are spoken of there in the 11th chapter, those
that died in faith, those that confessed that they were pilgrims
in the earth, that they were passing through, that they were
not They were not satisfied with what they had in this world.
They looked for something to come, and seeing that we're compassed
about with them, let us lay aside every weight. Now, why should
we lay aside every weight? Because we have been greatly
more privileged than they were. Now, the Jews, Paul says, I believe
it's in the book of Romans, He said, what profit then hath the
Jew much in every way? Because unto them chiefly were
committed the oracles of God. The Jews have been a blessed
people in the world as far as a carnal nation of people is
concerned, more so than any other nation on the face of the earth.
But he that's least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than all
the prophets that were sent to the Jews. So what a glorious
privilege it is, dear brethren, to see Jesus Christ as the prophet
sent from God. That they didn't know his name,
though they worshiped him from afar. And so it is. We're compassed about with a
great cloud of witnesses, so let us lay aside every weight.
This is a reason why we should lay aside every weight. If they,
having very little knowledge of the kingdom of God compared
to that which is given to us, if they walked in faith, let
us lay aside every weight. I mean, what are we doing? You
know, what excuse do we have? Let us lay aside every weight
and the sin which doth so easily beset us. Anybody who's been
born of God knows that's the truth. Sin does easily beset
us. It lurks around every corner.
And it finds us out, does it not? Even sometimes when we least
expect it. I mean, we may be, you know,
just thinking we're going along on some high spiritual plane
and all of a sudden we're brought back to realize, hey, we're nothing
but a sinner. because sin works in us. We're sinners by nature. Let us lay aside and let us run
with patience the race that's set before us. Now what is the
patience? Well, you see this is not a sprint,
it's a marathon. And it doesn't get easier. You
know, I guess when I was a younger Christian, I used to think, well,
you know, I'll struggle for a while and then I'll get to a place
and it'll just be downhill from there. I remember old brother Dykes,
I believe his name was. I remember Dale Hammond, Sr. He probably was of the same notion
that I was. And Brother Dykes, he was probably
about close to 90, I guess. And we kind of looked up to him,
and Dale said, well, Brother Dykes, he says, it must be an
enjoyable thing to be moving on up in age, following the Lord,
and things, you know, just get easier. And he looked at him,
he said, Dale, he says, it don't get easier. He said it gets harder. And of course, you know, we were
kind of like our bubble burst there when he said that. But now I understand that. That's
why it's necessary to run this race that we've been called into.
See, this is a race. We're racing to the finish line. We're not trying to keep anybody
else. We're not really worried about people on the right hand
or the left, but we want to win this race. We're not interested
in beating anybody, but we want to win the race because we want
the prize. Because the prize is the glory
of Christ. See, we want Christ to be magnified. Let us run with patience this
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. We're not running the race so
people pat us on the back and say, oh man, you're so faithful
and you're so good and kind and we want you. We want to build
you up and all this, and we're going to engrave your name on
the end of the pew. We're going to put a plaque on
there. We're going to put a poster up in the back of the mill and
say, old so and so and so, this is the hall of those that's been
faithful. And we're going to write you
out, and people can come in, and they say, oh, well, you remember
old brother so and so? He was faithful. No. We're not
interested in that. We don't care if anybody remembers
our name. But oh, that the name of Christ
might be exalted. looking unto Jesus. Why? Because He's the author and the
finisher. He's the one that wrote the book. You know over in the book of
the Revelation there was a book and there was nobody, John said
in his vision that there was nobody that could open the book. There was nobody that could bring
it forth, but he said, but, he said, the lion of the tribe of
Judah hath prevailed to open the book. Now who is that? The Lord Jesus Christ, he has
opened the book. He has opened the book because
he wrote the book. He was the only one that could
open the book. He's the only one that could
unfold the purpose of God to men because he is the author
of it. He's the giver of faith. Men
can't have faith unless the Lord gives it to him. Man can't put his name in the
Lamb's book of life. The Lord alone has written the
names there. He's the author. And he is the
finisher. He's the finisher. I don't know if anybody in here
has ever attempted to finish concrete. That's quite a job. And a skilled
finisher, when he gets through, it's a smooth surface. There's
no defects in it. Christ is the finisher. He has
done the job. And it's exactly like it's supposed
to be. Now, there's people out here
in the world trying to tell folks that, you know, we gotta help
the Lord finish His work. You know, we gotta do something
here that's gonna bring this to pass. Oh, the Lord's able
to finish His work. Because He is the author and
the finisher of our faith. He's the one that has made it
sure and steadfast. Who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame. We sang
that song there a moment ago. Part of the song was about those
angels that the scripture speaks about that came to minister to
the Lord in his time of suffering in the garden. And they sought to minister to
him, but they had no understanding of what it was he was going through. You know, it's like trying to
comfort somebody when someone has had, they've suffered a great
loss. Maybe some loved one or something
that they have lost. And you want to reach out and
hug them. You want to reach out and help
them. But you know that there's not really anything on earth
that you can do that's going to relieve their suffering. And
those angels, though they were sent to comfort the Lord, they
didn't have the power to do it. Because they didn't understand
that angels desired to look into these things. They looked on
with wonder at the suffering of the Lord Jesus. This was the
same one who, when those wicked angels had rose up against him,
he cast out, the scripture says, he cast out a third of them out
of heaven. The same one. You see, the angels
have never seen or understood anything other than the judgment
and wrath of Almighty God against sin. Whenever they saw it, what
a marvel it must have been to them as they looked upon him
suffering in the garden for the sin of men. Pouring out his life's
blood. And yet they could not help him. although they ministered to Him
by whatever means they were able to. But you see, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the scripture says, for the joy that was set before Him. This
was the thing He delighted to do. Why? He said, I came, I delight
to do Thy will, O Lord. He delighted to do the will of
His Father. He came into the world for that
purpose. And he came there with joy, enduring
the cross, despising the shame. And he sat down at the right
hand of God. He despised the shame. He didn't
enjoy the guilt that was placed upon him, but he bore it. And
he triumphed over it. You know, if you despise something,
it means that you, you, you, uh, You triumph over it, you
go over it. When you despise something, it
becomes beneath you. It's something that you hate.
And the Lord despised the sin that stained him, but yet he
bore it. Now that's an amazing thing,
a marvelous thing. In that we have something of
the mindset thinking about those angels as they looked on this.
We can't quite comprehend it. How he who knew no sin was tempted
in all points like as we are yet without sin and yet he became
sin, the scripture says, for us. He despised it. Now he sat down at the right
hand of the throne of God. Now what does that mean? Now
I know some people think Look on it like there's one big throne
up there and then Jesus Christ is over here sitting on the little
throne on the right hand side of that big throne. Well, dear
brother, that's not what this means. When he sat down on the
right hand of the throne of God, the right hand of God is the
power of God. See, when you read in the scripture
about the right hand, it's having to do with the power of God.
Jesus Christ is the power of God. He is God. No unequivocally, you don't need
to be afraid to say that. Some people kind of get a little
antsy when they would say that. Well, He is God. He said He was. He said, I and my Father are
one. There's one God. There's not
three Gods. There's one. He's manifested
himself in the scriptures. And he speaks of himself as being
the spirit whom he sins. Be our comforter. Brethren, I'm the first to admit
that I have to put my hand upon my mouth when I think of these
things. This is so sublime, I can't comprehend it. The Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost are revealed in the Scripture. But I know
one thing, that there is one God. And He has revealed Himself
to men in Jesus Christ and no other way. No man, the Scripture
says, no man has seen God in any time. Now, wrap your mind
around that a little bit. He's immortal, He's invisible.
The only wise God. He inhabiteth eternity. You don't
inhabit eternity. See, there's not a thing about
you that's eternal, except that Jesus Christ has given you eternal
life. And we have life because He lives. See, we don't sustain our eternal
life. It's not self-sustaining. It's
sustained by Him who is our life. Jesus Christ is our life. Thanks be unto God that it does
not rest on me. See, some people think, well,
you know, you can get eternal life, and then you can send it
away, or you can do something wrong, or this, that, or the
other, and you can, maybe you might even commit the unpardonable
sin. You had eternal life, now all
of a sudden you don't. Dear brethren, if Jesus Christ
gives man eternal life, it is eternal. Because he came to save
his people. Oh, what a glorious Savior He
is. And He has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And so it is that when Isaiah
saw the Lord high and lifted up, he didn't see three thrones,
did he? He saw one throne, and the one
that sat on there was that one whom the angels said, holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. He is that one. For consider him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied
and faint in your mind, for ye have not yet resisted unto blood
striving against sin. Now consider him, consider the
Lord, and as he walked in this world and men despised him. Now there were those that flocked
to hear him, and there were those disciples that he gathered unto
himself. But keep in mind that for the
most part, The world despised him. They didn't want to hear
what he had to say. They wanted to hear what he had
to say till they heard what he had to say. See, the Pharisees
wanted to hear what he had to say till they heard what he had
to say. When they heard what he had to
say, they said, man, this guy here, he's going to upset our
apple cart. Our religion will go by the wayside
if this man It keeps going. We gotta do something about him,
because he's gonna overturn our power. And religious men are
the same way today. You know, men by and large, it's
not a problem to get folks to have some form of worship, as
long as the God that they worship is one that they design. I've heard people say, well,
I wouldn't serve God if he was like that. Tell them how God actually is. He does all things according
to the good pleasure of His will. And people say, well, you mean
God doesn't give every man a chance to be saved? Well, I wouldn't
serve a God like that. Well, salvation is not about
chance. It's about the purpose of Almighty God in His mercy
reaching down and saving sinners out of this world. That's the
glorious thing that we see in the scripture. Consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself. Men hate the gospel. Now, it would seem like that men ought to love the gospel.
You know, in my mind, I'm thinking, how could somebody hear this
message and not delight in it? And the answer to that is, unless
the Lord gives a man a delight in it, he won't have it. There's
none that seeketh after God. There's none righteous, no, not
one. There's none that understand
it. Apart from the mercy of God, men are on the pathway to destruction,
and they have no desire to get off of it. Only as the Lord is
pleased to show them. So consider him who came into
the world contradicted by sinners, hated by sinners, and that's
how we are to live our life. without any consideration of
whether or not the world counts what we believe is good or not. We don't base what we do and
think and say on what the world thinks is proper. Lest you be wearied and faint
in your mind, because if you do try to conform to the world,
You won't have any problem with it as far as your flesh is concerned.
Your flesh loves the world. It loves the way of the world. But woe be to the man who walks
in that way. Because he can't ever find any
happiness or satisfaction. See, a sheep, one of the sheep,
cannot enjoy wallowing in a hog pen. Now he might see the hogs
over there in the pen and see them having just a good time,
you know, rolling in the mud and everything, and he might
think to himself, you know, I believe I'd really like that. That would
really be good. And he may go over there and
get in the mud for a while. But you see, if he's one of God's
sheep, he can't stay in the hog pen. That's not his nature. That's what the Lord said to
Nicodemus. Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. And so it is that that's the
work of God. You remember the prodigal son?
He, man, he went off, he was having a big time. He even ate
with the hogs. But you know, something happened
to him. He said, man, He says, this ain't no fun. He says, I
thought it would be. But the wages of sin is death. Consider. Him that endured such contradiction
of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your
minds. See, there's no help for you
in the world. And if you go that way, you're going to find that
you're going to discover how weak you really are. You have not yet resisted unto
blood striving against sin. When you get to thinking about
all the struggles that you face and all the things that you have
sought to stand against, you've not yet resisted unto blood.
The Lord did. Consider Him. Oh, that the Lord
may work His work in us today. And of all things that we would
exhort God's people to do is to look unto Him. Don't look unto me. Don't look
unto all the great people that have lived in the world. There's
been some great people. I mean, think of the apostle
Paul and the example that he set. But Paul never said, look
unto my example. He didn't say, John didn't say,
be like me. They all said, seek to be like
Christ. He's our example. He's that one
who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.
Dear brethren, for the joy that's set before us as the servants
of Jesus Christ, may we be given grace to walk in his way. To
walk according to the conscience that the Lord has given us. To
seek his truth. I can't stand up here and give
you a rule book to follow. But what I can do is seek to
be like Christ. If by the grace of God you're
given grace to be like Christ, then there can be no better place
for you to be than that. Oh, that the Lord might teach
us and help us.