to Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12. The title of this message, The Race
of Faith, The Race of Faith. Now, in chapter 11, the apostle
The Apostle having given us an extensive list of those believers
who went before us, whose faith is an example to us. Now all of these people that
are listed here in Hebrews chapter 11, what we call the Hall of
Faith, these men that he is presenting here, every one of them manifest
a different aspect of true saving faith. Faith. The faith of Abel looked to the
offering of Christ. Enoch's faith testified of necessity
of faith, that without faith it is impossible to please God. Noah's faith reveals that every
one of us must flee to Christ for refuge. Abraham's faith trusted
in God's Word regardless of human reasoning, offering up his only
son, leaving his home, his family simply based on the Word of God. That's an example of true faith. True faith endures even unto
death. In verse 13 of chapter 11, it
says, these all died in faith. So true faith, all true faith
endures. Looking to Christ, all true faith
endures. Seeking Him for a refuge. True
faith suffers the loss of Egypt, gladly forsakes Egypt and the
treasures of the world for the suffering of the saints. Moses,
Moses is an example of that. He refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter. that he might suffer the afflictions
of God's people. So true faith moves and walks
through the Red Sea. We are walking through the Red
Sea. The Red Sea pictures God's justice and we are walking on
Christ, the solid ground to glory. True faith trusts in Christ as
the foundation of our souls. And he says this that in the
end of that chapter, he says that all these obtained a good
report, a good report. These believers, they kept the
faith, they never stopped looking to Christ. Listen, even though
they did not receive the promise. They were all promised Christ's
coming, and yet we read this, that they did not experience
His coming. They believed in it, but they
didn't get to see it. And in verse 40, He says, for
God providing some better thing for us. And what's that better
thing that God has provided? These saints are all examples
of true faith and everybody that believes. Listen, their faith
is the same as our faith. What was the faith of Abel? Looking
to Christ. What's your faith? Looking to Christ. We trust like
Enoch that you cannot please God without faith. Isn't that
true? We who believe understand that. And we have the same object
of faith as these, Christ. We forsake the things of this
world for Christ. And so this better thing, what
is it? The better thing is that we enjoy the full revelation
of God. We are now experiencing those
things that they long to see. They long to see Christ and yet
what? Christ has come. He has fulfilled
all that they testified of. All those types and shadows.
This is better than those miracles that they experience. What we
have is better. We have a full revelation. of
God's promises. God who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake unto the prophets in times past hath in
these last days spoken to us by who? By His Son. Isn't that
better? Isn't that better than lambs
and goats and bulls and golden boxes and smoke and all that
incense? It's much better. Much better. We have His Son to testify, to
speak of. And he says this, that without
us they should not be made perfect. In other words, that they apart
from us should not be made perfect. He's saying this, that they trusted
in Christ even as we do. Their perfection is not any different
than our perfection. Their salvation is not any different
than our salvation. Theirs was by faith looking to
Christ, and our salvation is by faith looking to Christ. Same. It's the same. They're
not made perfect without us, apart from us. We all trust in
Christ. We all have the same spiritual
birth. These saints were chosen, redeemed, and quickened, and
made partakers of the divine nature just as we are. So now having seen the true nature
of faith, that's what chapter 11's about, the true nature of
faith. One man said this, it's like
taking a diamond and putting it up to the light. And as you
see the beautiful colors of that diamond, if you were to just
turn it a little bit, you're gonna see some more color. You're
gonna see some more brightness. And that's what he did with faith,
is he took it to the light and he says, look at this faith.
Now let me turn it a little bit. Look at that. He turned a little
bit more and you see a different aspect. It shows us the true
nature of our faith. Now having shown us this, he
begins in chapters 12 and he says this, wherefore, wherefore
seeing we are compassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight
and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race 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 sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God. Now, this is our text,
and in this we have three different distinct actions, duties here,
responsibilities to those who come, those that come that are looking
to Christ, you that have faith in Christ. And I want you to
see three things this morning, especially this. I want you to
see, first of all, the race. This race. Paul uses this metaphor
of a race. Every believer is engaged in
this race. And then we're going to take
a look at the spectators. Who are these spectators of this
race? What is their purpose? This cloud
of witnesses, what is it? They're the spectators of the
race. Then I want you to see the race itself. What is the
race? What is the course of this race? And then I want you to see how
we are to run this race. What is the method by which every
believer is to run this race? So first of all, the race that
is to be run, he uses this metaphor. Now he uses many metaphors in
scripture, right? Metaphor of us being soldiers. We're in a
warfare. We're engaged in a war. It's
a metaphor. You're not actually engaged in physical combat, but
it's spiritual. He uses a metaphor of us on a
journey. We are journeying through this
life. But here he uses this metaphor of a race. And so the first thing
I want you to see in this race, if you were to imagine an Olympic
race, because this is a time Paul lived in. He lived in the
time of the Olympiad. So he uses many of these illustrations. And this is one of them, a race.
So you see this crowd of people gathered for the race. This crowd
of people that surrounds the runners as they run this race
is a great cloud of witnesses. It alludes to those spectators. Now, those saints whose faith
we just read about in chapter 11, who have believed unto the
end, those who obtained a good report, listen, they have finished
their race. They have finished their course.
They are now entered into eternal bliss. But yet their race, that
has been recorded for us in scripture, is for us an encouragement. Isn't that what crowds are? They
encourage the runners. They encourage them to endure.
And that's what these cloud of witnesses do. See, that as we
run the race that is set before us, Their record of faith is
given to us by the Holy Spirit to encourage us, to cheer us
on, to endure. Seeing they have endured,
even so must we all endure unto the end. We must endure. Seeing how they
were kept by God even in the midst of their weaknesses. Don't
you love it how God displayed the history of these men? All
of their faults and their weaknesses and their troubles and their
cryings and their faintings and their failings are all laid out
before us. Why? To encourage us. Because
they're no different than us. He leaves them there for that.
Go to 1 Thessalonians. We're just going to look at this.
1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Look at verse 23. And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly. That means completely, absolutely
sanctify you. In every aspect, set you apart,
make you holy, completely, absolutely. That's a good prayer, isn't it? Yes. And I pray, God, your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved, blameless, kept, kept. Believer, who needs to be kept?
Who needs to be preserved? I pray God keep you and preserve
you, all three of you, body, soul and spirit. Until the day
of our coming, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what
is the confidence that Paul had that he would preserve us? What
is the confidence that God had that he would wholly sanctify
us? What is that purpose? How do
you know this, preacher? Look at that in verse 24. Faithful
is he. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who will also, what? What is he going to do? He's
going to do it. And over, you remember in Isaiah
chapter 9, how he said unto us, a child is born unto us, a son
is given, the government is going to be on his shoulder, his name,
wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father. He said,
the zeal of the Lord shall perform this, In other words, there is
nothing going to stop it. Well, who's going to stop Him
from holy sanctifying you, body, soul, and spirit? Nobody. The
Lord will do it. The Lord will do it. And this
great cloud, those whose record of faith is now, cheers us on
to glory. How do you suppose they endured
to the end? He is faithful. Isn't this their
cheering? Isn't this their singing now? Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. They're praising Him right now.
And that praise echoes in our hearts as we are running our
race, as we have not yet finished our course. We have this hope
that we shall endure because they endured. And they endured
because God was faithful. How will you endure? How will
you finish your race? Because God is faithful. Who
promised it, He will also do it. How do you suppose Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob wandered in the wilderness believing in Christ? How do you
think they kept doing that? Not seeing anything but desert
their whole life. How do you think they endured?
because God was faithful. How do you suppose David endured
who sinned, whose house was marred by sin and murder and adultery? How do you suppose at his deathbed
he said, though my house be not so with God, though my house
is ruined, though my sin was great, oh though my house be
not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant
ordered in all things and what? These men of faith, they sacrificed,
they suffered the loss of all things for Christ, even so they
were kept by the power of God through faith unto the end. And now, believer, do these men
not cheer you on? They not give you encouragement
that if David made it, so will you? Abraham made it, so will
you? Isaac made it, so will you? Name
one of God's people in the Old Testament that failed to make
it. Name one of God's children. There
are many pretenders who didn't make it. They weren't even in
the race. They weren't even running. They
made it because God is faithful, is the power of God. So as we
see this race, we see these saints, and so as you read these saints,
know that's what they're there for. They're exposed, their whole
life is exposed so that we should be encouraged, strengthened. Secondly, the race. Now, let
us look at the race itself. The race here is a metaphor.
We who believe in Christ are the runners. And this race, this
track that is out there has been set. It's been set before us. And those who went before us,
who left us a good report through faith, those whose words and
actions are meant to encourage us to endure. Now, we are made
participants of this race. We didn't stumble into it, did
we? Are you accidentally participating in this race? No. This race was
purposed. You were a runner in this race
because God has called you to it. And how do you begin this
race? You begin this race by faith
in Christ. Faith in Christ. This is what
we were called to. And so you didn't stumble in
this. But this race, as Paul says here, was set before us. It was already laid down. The
track was laid before you even started running. The track was
laid. I like this translation. Let
me read this translation to you here. It says, let us run with
patient endurance and steady and active participants. Persistence. Listen, the appointed course
of the race that is set before us. Believe it, the race that
we are running was appointed. The race that you are running
now is appointed. It was set. The course had already
been laid. And each course, the course is
so full of hills and valleys, it's so full of obstacles and
difficulties. This course is full of joys as
well as sorrows. This this course is lined with
thorns that pierce the soul. The distance of this course is
great. It's long. It's hard. It's steep. But I know this that
comforts me. It was prepared by God. Everything that has happened
in my race was appointed of God. It was set. It was said of God. Now, where is this course taking
place? Where is this race that believers
are running is taking place in this present evil world, isn't
it? God doesn't set us on a higher
plane and let us run up there. No, we run this race in this
present world that is opposed to us, that hates us, that despises
us. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. This course we're running is
in this world. It's in this world. That's why
all the thorns, the sorrows, the difficulties, But I want you to understand
that God has given us a map of this course. He's given us light. We're not running in darkness.
We've got a light. What is that light? It is the
word of God, isn't it? We've got a map here. All these
other runners that ran that course, now, I don't have their particular
experiences, do I? But yet I know this, that they
ran trusting the Word of God. And that's how we're to run this
race, trusting the Word of God. And as we run this race, we experience
the divine providence of God. How often have you been running
this race and you think, well, this course is straight. And
all of a sudden, boom, you've got to take a right-hand turn.
You didn't even know it was coming. That's providence. God's divine
providence directs this course, whithersoever He will. Jesus said, I pray not thou should
take them out of the world, but thou should keep them from the
evil. In other words, look, where's this court? It's taking place
in this world, taking place right now. You are running right now.
And God's course has directed you to this place. And when you
leave here, that course going to direct you somewhere else.
You're going to go out through this world and running this race.
That's what you're doing. And we're not going to escape
the common troubles of life, nor is this race going to take
us from the trials of this life. This course is set in the Word
of God, and how are we to run it? Simply this, the Word of
God is our rule of faith and practice. You want to know what
your rule of faith and practice is? It's the Word of God. That's
what it is. How are you going to run this
race? According to the Word of God. That's how you should run
this race. And as you run this race, I want
you to understand it requires great effort. It requires great effort. If you've ever run before, you
understand that. If you've ever tried to jog, you understand
it requires effort. And so is this race. It requires
effort, constant straining, relentless endurance, persistence, patience,
determination. Paul said this, I press toward
the mark of the high calling of God. So as we're running this
race, we understand it's in this world. It's full of obstacles
and trials. And what is it going to take? It's going to take endurance.
It's going to take persistence. It's going to take constant dedication
to running this race. And so everyone in this race,
it's hard, it's full of sorrows and pains, but here it is, it's
ordained of God. If you believe in Christ, if
you trust God, what did God say? That all things work together
for what? Good. To them that love God,
is that you? To them that are called according
to the purpose, is that you? Then all things work together
in this race for your good. And so knowing this course is
ordained of God should comfort us, should encourage us to keep
running. And all of us who believe in
Christ without exception will finish this. Isn't that good
to know? How many times do you think you're
not going to finish? You will. You will. Why? He is faithful.
I'm so glad it didn't say anything about my faithfulness. Because
I'll tell you what, I surely would have fainted. It says He
is faithful. He is faithful. This race will
not be without suffering and sacrifice, yet none of our suffering
and sacrifice adds to it. None of our suffering and sacrifice
adds to this salvation. God has appointed this suffering
and sacrifice for our growth. I remember in Pilgrim's Progress,
you remember that guy Ignorance? He had Pilgrim, Christian, and
his friend Hopeful were on the way, Celestial City, and they
come across this guy Ignorance, and, you know, they start asking
him questions, says, how'd you get into this? He said, well,
I just walked over into it, you know, said, oh, you didn't start
at the beginning, you didn't go through the Wicked Gate, and
you didn't have a burden, and didn't fall off of you? He said,
no, but I'm hoping for the best. You remember those people? I'm
just hoping for the best. Well, look, you didn't come in
through the door. You didn't come in through Christ. You didn't have sin.
You didn't have any need of the cross. You didn't have your...
They didn't have the scroll, the promise of God, the covenant.
Oh, well, I guess there's hope for the best. You go your way
and I'll go mine. We'll both make it. Ignorant.
Ignorance. And they came to that fork in
the road. You remember, there was a broad way and then there
was a narrow way. And Christian, you know, they
messed up big time. They follow this guy. They end
up going in a circle. And finally these men came and
they showed him the way and they went to the narrow way. And that
way was full of difficulty. And then there was a broad way.
Ignorance came to the broad way. And he said, looked at that narrow
way and said, man, that's too rough. I'm gonna go this way.
See, the believer's course is set by God and it's rough. It's
hard. It's difficult. Believer in Christ, let us not
mind our enemy's race. How often do we, running this
race, we look over at the wicked and envy them? Well, man, they
ain't got no problem. They ain't got no trouble. We
all got common troubles, but they're not dealing with these
inner troubles we deal with, and we envy them. Paul said,
Let me see, it was David that said, fret not thyself of evildoers,
neither be envious of the workers of iniquity. They're going to
be cut down. Don't be envious of these people. So as you're
running this race and it's hard. No, this is set by God. It's
full of trouble. Don't envy the wicked race. They're
not even in this. They have no difficulty because
they have no life. But also, I want you, as you
run this race, to understand this. Don't envy one another's
race. Each course is individually set
by God. You know, we didn't experience
Paul's course, did we? No, the apostle Paul was a persecutor,
hater of the church, and God struck him down off of his horse,
and he saw Christ! Anybody have that experience?
No. No. Of course, I wasn't put in
prison either. He had a lot of other experiences
that I didn't have. But I know this, we're not to
envy one another's course. Peter did that, didn't he? Remember
John, remember Christ said how Peter's gonna die? He said, this
is how you're gonna die for me. He said, they're gonna take you
and they're gonna take you to a place you don't wanna go. And
you know what Peter said? He said, what about John? And
Jesus said, well, what if I want him to live until I come back?
What's that to you? You follow me. You walk your
course. You run your race set before you. Don't envy someone
else's race. You know, we look at our brother
and he looks like he's so, so strong, so confident. His race
is so easy and mine is so hard. You know what? If you were enduring
his race, you couldn't take it. You probably couldn't take it. Don't envy one another's race.
Your race is yours. Your course is set. And so we are not to envy one
another's race. Why? This is ordained of God.
Remember the whole, and I'm going to bring you back now, this whole
book of Hebrews, the whole book of Hebrews has a purpose. It
is to encourage troubled believers. These Hebrews were being persecuted. They were being tempted to go
back. They were tempted to faint. in their race. And so the whole
book of Hebrews is set on this. Endure. Hold fast the profession
of your faith without wavering. Don't faint when you're chastened
of God. It's all about endurance. It's
what it's about. Encouraging us. Why? Because
only true faith endures. Only true faith endures. You will only receive the promises
of God if you endure to the end. Jesus said, they that endure
to the end, the same shall be saved. The Spirit of God says, don't
quit. Don't let go of Christ. Don't
turn back. No matter your trials, no matter
how troubled you are. I know this. You are troubled
on every side. So am I. You are tried. You are oppressed. You are hurt.
You are tired. I understand. Don't quit. Endure. Hold fast to Christ with all
your soul. Believe on Christ and forsake
everything that would hinder you. Forsake the world. The world is trying to bring
you from Christ. Satan is trying to peel you from
Christ. Your family is trying to pull you from Christ. Your
own flesh is trying to pull you from Christ. Don't turn back. In Hebrews 10
verse 38 he says, The just shall live by faith. Listen, how did
you begin this race? By faith. Now, how are you going
to run this race? By faith. Well, how are you going
to end this race? By faith. The just shall live,
endure by faith. But, listen, if any man turn
back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. You understand that?
If any man say he begin this race and then turn back, God
says, I don't have any pleasure in that man. But Paul says this, I'm glad
this next verse isn't there. That's really troubling, isn't
it? That's troubling. But Paul says, but we are not
of them that draw back. If your faith is real, we are
not of them that draw back, but of them that believe to the saving
of the soul. I know this race is hard. The
valleys are really low. The heels are very steep. The
thorns are very sharp. The sorrows and pains are many.
The way is long, full of snares, dragging around this rotting
corpse of flesh about our neck. It's tiresome. But we must endure. The scriptures are clear concerning
this. Paul says that Christ made, in
Colossians 1, that Christ made peace by the blood of His cross,
by Him to reconcile us to Himself. You were aliens and enemies in
your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled you. How? Through His flesh, through death,
to present you holy and unblameable, unreprovable in His sight. Who?
Who is He going to present? Who is He reconciling? if you continue in the faith
grounded and settled and not moved away from the hope of the
gospel, which you have heard, which we preached. Therefore,
only the elector called and redeemed and quickened the elector given
such a faith that will and must endure. Is there anything else
you want? I want to endure. True faith
does. How many times have you been
so pressed out of measure that you can do nothing else but say,
I believe, help thou my unbelief. You just don't have anything
else. How many times you've been turned, you're confused and you
don't know and the Lord said, will you go away also? And you
say, where am I gonna go? I've got nowhere to go but you.
Faith is always pressed out to turn to Christ, and it always
will. It always will. True faith will endure. It always
will endure. And so as you're running in this
race, you know you must endure. So it gives you some encouragement
here as to how to run this race. Look back at your text. Look
at this first thing. Lay aside every weight. and the
sin that does so easily beset us. These ancient Greeks, when they
used to run this race, they would strip down. They didn't want
anything at all hindering them from running. That's how they
did it. They didn't have any weight whatsoever. And this is what those before
us did, didn't they? Well, how is one to lay aside
every weight? Well, let me tell you there are
two ways. First of all, willingly. Second of all, unwillingly. I'm going to show you this. When
Abraham offered his son, he did it how? Willingly. Willingly. He laid aside that
weight. He did not lean upon Isaac. He
leaned upon the Word of God. He trusted God. He despised the
reasoning of man and did what God said. He willingly laid aside
that weight of unbelief. He laid it aside and he believed
God. Second way that God does this
is that He strips this weight from you. Job. Remember him? Did he ask for that? No. Job had a lot of self-righteousness
that needed to be stripped. And God stripped him of it. God
took those things, those weights, from him. And so it is with us. Sometimes God allows us to willingly
set aside these things. And other times, He has to remove
them and pry them from our hands. Make no mistake, God's people
will lay aside every weight. They will. They must. Isn't that just reasonable when
running? I mean, when you're running a race,
now, I understand training, when Andrew was running and he wanted
to do better, we got him some ankle weights, you know. We put
those weights on him and he would go jogging with those ankle weights
on, you know. When it comes time for the race,
you gotta put them back on. No, no, that's what he's telling
us. Lay aside the weights. It would
be foolish for him to take the weights, and so it is for us.
It's foolish to take the affections of the things of time and earth. Because they hinder us. Where are you going? Where's
the end of this race? What's the end? Isn't it? Isn't that where this finish
line is? When we get there, it's done, race is over. But yet we take the things of
earth and time and we set them above Christ, they become a weight. The things that are intended
for our joy and for our good, you know, family is a good thing,
it is. If you have money, that could
be a good thing, it's not an evil thing to have it. The problem
is when we take these things and we make them weights and
they take precedent over the race. They begin to weigh us
down. What do you say? Throw them off.
Throw them off. So foolish for set defections
and things above this world because we're not we're not going to
be here long. We're just not going to be here long. We were chosen for this race.
Christ redeemed us. And listen, we've been stripped
of the most heavyweights. You know what that is? Sin. We've
been stripped of that. Christ took our sins in his own
body on the tree and suffered for them, and they are now gone. Gone. The shackles of the law
that chained us, the justice of God that condemned us. It
is gone. There's no more chain. Don't you see you have free access
to God? Ain't justified by faith. We have peace with God. We have access to his throne,
unchained, unfettered, free. Christ has removed those sins
far from us. We who are dead now live unto
God. We are made the righteousness
of God in Christ. We've been purged of our sins
and made accepted in Christ. Jesus said, I give unto my sheep
eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of our hands. Heaven is our inheritance, and
yet why is it that we try to take these things back upon ourselves? We try to take these things back
upon ourselves. You remember in Pilgrim's Progress
that man Little Faith? There's a story of a man, Little
Faith, and he fell asleep. He was going his course and he
fell asleep. And three robbers came to him,
mistrust! It was mistrust and guilt and
faint heart. These three men attacked him
and clubbed him and robbed him. They took everything except The
scroll that was he had that that was secure. That was the only
jewel that was left him, but everything else he was robbed.
How often do we faint in the way and are robbed by guilt and
mistrust of God's word? How often are we faint hearted
because we failed to trust God's word? Trust Christ in this race. These men attack us because we
set the things of the world above what the word of God says. We
set our guilt. How how often do you think believers
feel spiritual feeling guilty? I mean, I have. Yeah, you know
that you feel guilty and you say, oh, I'm so spiritual. I'm
so spiritual. I feel so guilty. Why you feel
guilt? Didn't remove your guilt. You've
taken a weight, haven't you? You've taken a weight on yourself. My guilt is gone. Christ bore
my guilt, didn't He? It's gone. So you're not trusting
Christ. So that's how we're not to set
these things. And Peter said this in 2 Peter
3, he said, Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,
what manner of person ought we to be? How ought you to run this
race? Seeing the things you're taking
on yourself are going to be dissolved. Family, friends, money, jobs,
where's all that gonna go? It's gonna go away. And so if
that stuff, we cast that stuff off, how well could we run? How
lighthearted could we run? He said, cast off these weights
and lay aside the sin that does so easily beset us. Now I'll
tell you this, I'm gonna, go through this one really quickly,
sin. John said this, little children,
sin not. How often do we take the weights
of our lust, the weights of our desires, of the things of this
world, and we put them on ourselves, sin. Lay aside the old man. Put off concerning the former
conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful
lust. Listen, this old man is constantly
weighing us down, isn't he? He is a weight. Paul said, O
wretched man that I am, who should deliver me from the body of this
death? That's the idea of a rotting corpse about his neck. So while
we're running this race, we've got this weight, this corpse. You know what we got to keep
doing? We got to keep throwing him off. We got to keep throwing
him off. Now, are you ever going to get
rid of him? No. No. But the exhortation is clear.
Put him off. Put him off. And be renewed in
the spirit of your mind. We are in constant need of putting
off the flesh and sin and the old man. I know this. I want you to see
this. Look back at the text and read
with me again. Lay aside every weight and the sin. Is that plural or singular? It is. Lay off the sin that does
so easily beset us. I'm going to put this out there
and I want you to think about this because I believe this is true.
Listen, that sin is unbelief. That sin is unbelief. What is
the root of all of our sin? Why do you lie? Because you don't
believe telling the truth will be good. You don't believe. Why do you steal? Because you don't believe God
to provide what you need. Unbelief is the root of our sins. He said, lay off that root sin
of unbelief. Why? Because if you are not believing,
you're not running. We run this race by faith, and
unbelief is the sin that trips us up. Lay aside your unbelief. If our salvation and endurance
by faith were left up to us to add anything, any works or strength,
endurance for our race we surely would have great cause of unbelief
in that right if this race was really left up to our power we'd
have great cause for unbelief but he's saying this put aside
unbelief because you're not going to finish this in your own power
you're going to finish this in the power of God and that would
John says in John 1 chapter 1 and verse 1st John 1 5 I think it
is we are kept by the power of God. Every step we run in this race
of faith, listen, is by the power of God. You believe this morning
by the power of God, and you'll continue to believe by the power
of God. Therefore, throw off what? Unbelief. Throw it off. It's a weight. Seeing our race
as purposed of God, seeing Christ has removed the chains of our
sins, seeing the Holy Ghost has given us life and a new nature.
Why then doubt? Why then fear? Why do we fail to believe the
promises of God who cannot lie? Why should we trust in ourselves,
trust in our own strength? I want you to know this. If you're
a true believer and you fail, I want you to understand this,
he would have to fail. If you're a true believer and
you fail, he would have failed. And we know this, he shall not
fail. That's my confidence that I'm
gonna finish this race. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Therefore, we who are running
shall not fail. Christ said, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. What was his will? His will was
to save us. His will was to redeem us. His
will was to justify us. His will was to bring us wholly
to himself. That is the will of God. Therefore, Christ says in John
6, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast him out. This is
the will of him that sent me. All which he had given me, I
should lose nothing. As you run by faith, you should
keep that in mind. He'll lose nothing. He'll lose
nothing. Will you fail? Only if he did. Because my salvation
is completely dependent upon his success. Therefore, as we run with all
the trouble, with all the trials, all the thorns and snares in
our way, endure. Endure. Casting off the weight
of sin, casting off self, casting off any confidence in this world
or yourself, trust solely in Christ and you will not fail
because he cannot fail. He cannot fail. And so then,
what is the only remedy for unbelief? Belief. It's the only remedy
for it. Isn't that what Paul said? Look
at verse two. Go to your text. Looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We who believe
in Christ know that the Lord Jesus requires full and complete
surrender. Isn't that what faith is? Isn't
faith full surrender? It is. So what are we to do? When we are in unbelief, what
are we to do? Surrender. Surrender. Go to Romans chapter 5, and I'm
going to close with this, but I want you to see this. He says
in that text, he says, let us run the race with patience set
before us. Run with patience, looking to
Jesus. Patience. That word patience means endurance.
You know that? I think there's one time, one
or two times in the book of James that it means quietly waiting.
Only one or two times everywhere else, it means endurance. It's
hard. You run this race and it's going
to be hard. Ever lift weights. Not easy. It's hard. What does it do? It
builds endurance, doesn't it? You lift them enough and pretty
soon it'll feel light. That's what he's telling you. Run this race in endurance. Notice this in Romans chapter
five. Let me get there. Romans chapter
five. Look at verse three. I think it is. He says, not only so, not only
glory in being justified and having acceptance with God, but
glory in tribulation. Knowing that tribulation worketh
what? Endurance. Endurance. And listen, endurance works experience. Now listen, when you endure and
you suffer in tribulation, tribulation always is linked to patience.
You want patience? It always comes by tribulation. But the
end of patience, James said, let patience have her perfect
work. You know what the perfect work of patience is? Muscle failure. Isn't that the idea of lifting
weights? To get to a point where you just, you just... That's what endurance does. It
brings you to a point of absolute surrender. And then when you
reach the patience, guess what? You experience something. What
do you experience? You experience the power of God. Isn't that what Paul experienced
in 2 Corinthians when he had the thorn in the flesh? He said,
remove this thorn, remove this thorn. He said, my grace is sufficient
for thee. My strength is made perfect when
you're flat on the ground. Only then can you see it's my
strength and not yours. So as we run this race, we're
going to be laid out. And you know what, being laid
out, it works experience in this. We are totally dependent upon
Christ. When you have no strength, who
are you trusting? Looking unto Jesus. Who is the
what? The author. and the finish of my faith. We run this race by faith. He
began this faith. Listen, he's going to finish
it. He's going to finish it. And so the point of this is that
believers, we are set this race that we have. We have a cloud
of witnesses and they're cheering us on saying, look at what God
did for us. He'll do it for you. We endured. You'll endure. And as we run
this race, this course has been set by God. Our course, our race,
run your race. How do you run it? How do you
begin it? By faith. And during this race, you need to throw
off those things that hinder you. You need to run with endurance,
determination, zeal, not looking to your strength, but to his. And listen, he is the author
and finisher of your faith. Isn't that encouraging that you're
not going to, he didn't start this and you finish it? That's
religion's idea of this race. Well, you know, he started, but
you got to finish it. Well, I know I got to finish
it. But I'm not the one going to finish it. He is. He is. Let us, therefore, run with patience,
the race said before us, endurance, looking to Christ. Don't you see that
salvation's all in Christ? The beginning, the middle, and
the end is always looking to Christ. Always. You in trouble? What do you do? Look to Christ.
Cast everything else off, look to Christ. Look to Christ. I pray God give us grace to do
that constantly as we run this race. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer. Father, I pray you dismiss us
with your blessing. Thank you, Father, for giving
us the grace of life and faith in Christ. Thank you for sending
him who bore our sins, removed our sins from us, satisfying
your justice. And Father, thank you for bringing
life and faith into our hearts that we may run this race. Lord,
it's hard. Have mercy upon us. Give us grace
to endure and cast off the things of the world and set Christ as
all our hope. when we press toward the mark
of the high calling of God in Christ. Forgive us our sins in
where we fail you. I pray you do this for your own
glory. In Christ's name, amen.