All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12. Our text
will be found in verses 1 and 2. And I've entitled this message,
A Race of Endurance. A Race of Endurance. The Scripture says, Wherefore,
see, we also are compassed about with 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 that is set
before us. How are we going to run this
race? And he gives us the answer. I like the scriptures. They don't
make us guess as to how to run. Here it is, 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." Now, the apostle
in the previous chapter had given us what we like to call the hall
of faith, the hall of faith. He gives us a very exhaustive
list of those believers who have gone before us whose faith are
an example An example, we're to run this race that Paul says
by faith, looking to Jesus. And before this, he gives us
examples of such faith in Christ. The faith of Abel looked to Christ,
didn't he? Looked to the offering of Christ. Enoch testified of God's acceptance
of all who believe in Christ. Enoch walked with God. And so
this morning, if you are a believer, you're walking with God, like
Enoch. Noah's faith reveals to us that
God's true faith moves us to a refuge, moves us to the ark,
which is a refuge for our souls. Abraham's faith trusted God's
word, regardless of what he saw, regardless of man's reason. He
offered his son Isaac, how? By faith. That wasn't reasonable
according to man, but he did it according to faith. He believed
God. And true faith endures even unto
death. Look at verse 13 of that previous
chapter. Listen, all of these that had faith, these all died
in faith. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
were persuaded them, embraced them, confess that they were
strangers and pilgrims in this world, they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country, and truly, if they
had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they
might not have opportunity to return. But now they desire a
better country, that is, heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. True faith offers up all that
is dear, all that is dear. Why? We seek a country, friends.
We seek a heavenly country whose builder and maker is God. And
because of this, he goes on and he says, we suffer the loss of
all things. True faith offers up that which
is most dear. Isn't that what he did with Isaac?
He offered up what was most dear to him. Like Moses, true faith
sacrifices the treasures of this world and suffers with the saints
of God. True faith keeps the Passover,
which is looking to Christ, looking to His blood to satisfy the justice
of God. And look at verse 39. and says,
and these all, all of these who live by faith, all of these who
died in faith, all of these who sacrificed everything so that
they should obtain heaven, obtain Christ, all these having obtained
a good report, how? Through faith. Receive not the
promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that
they without us should not be made perfect. Now, seeing these
saints obtained a good report, they kept the faith. In other
words, what'd they do? They never stopped looking to
Christ. No matter what happened to them, no matter their circumstance,
no matter their trial, no matter their difficulty, these all obtained
a good report. You know, we had believers in
our congregation who have obtained the same good report, haven't
we? They died in faith. They looked to Christ. So did
all of these saints who went before. But what happened to
these saints? They didn't receive the promise.
Christ didn't come during their time. These all believed that
Jesus would come and suffer, and they suffered a loss of all
things, trusting God, yet they didn't receive it. For God having
promised some better thing for us. What is this better thing?
Now, we know this, that Our salvation is not better than theirs. Why? Because they had the same faith
we had. They had the same Savior we had. The same blood of Christ
cleanses us is the same blood that cleanses them. The same
righteousness of Christ that robed them. The same inheritance we'll receive
is the same inheritance they'll receive. So what's this better
thing? Oh, friend, you got it in your hands. It is the full
revelation of the Word of God. God has something better for
us. What's better than miracles and signs and wonders? It's the
revelation of God. What do we need miracles and
signs for when we have the full revelation of God? There are
a lot of people seeking miracles, aren't there? Signs and wonders.
But we who run this race by faith, we know this. This is the blessing. The revelation of God we have
in our hands. Paul said it at the very beginning
of this book. He said, God in sundry times and divers manners
spake to the prophets in times past, hath now in these days
spoken to us by his Son. He spoke by miracles and types
and pictures and signs. But now what has he done? The
full revelation has come. Christ is the manifestation of
all those types and shadows. That's the better thing that
we have. And so, We've seen that the faith of
these saints. He said in Hebrews chapter 12,
now in verse 1. Now, I think I've got a technical
issue. So having seen the true nature
and character of faith of the saints, seeing the great feats
of faith, the apostle now concludes in our text. He's concluding
here. Let's read our text together
now. He said, wherefore see? We are compassed about with a
great cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight.
And the sin that doth easily beset us, let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. Here we're able to see three
duties and responsibilities of every believer who's come to
Christ. Every one of you who are believers, This is our duty
and responsibility given to us. It is our exhortation. He is
exhorting these saints and he is exhorting us in three different
things. First of all, we are to run a
race that is set before us. This is our responsibility. Run the race set before you. And we are to lay aside every
weight and the sin that easily besets us. And how are we to
run this race is clear in the third point, looking to Jesus. First of all, a race to be run. The apostle here uses the metaphor
of a race, an Olympic event, to describe the life of every
believer. Now, there are many metaphors
in Scripture. Warfare, that's a metaphor for our life, isn't
it? We struggle with the flesh. We war with Satan. We war with
the world. We're at war. A journey. We're like strangers and pilgrims
in this land. That's a metaphor for what our
life is. And Paul said, now our life is
like a race. A race that has been set before
us. Now, first of all, Paul, in this
race, he sets our attention first on the spectator. Look at that
in verse 12, he says, Wherefore seeing we are compassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and run
the race. He says there's spectators around. We've got witnesses. This crowd
of witnesses, who are they? Well, those are the saints that
have gone before. These saints whose faith we have read of in
chapter 11 and have gone before us. whose record of faith we
have in the Holy Scriptures. He said, see now that they've
run their race. They've endured their trials
and difficulties. They are what? Witnesses to us
of this one truth. Listen to this. They're witnesses.
Everyone who has true faith will endure. Everyone who has true faith will
endure. And so he encourages us to endurance. to endurance. This race of being
a believer is not a sprint. You know, those who sprint, they
die out. Like that one who had the seed
planted on the stony ground, he sprang up. And what happened
when trouble came to him? He withered away. But this race
that we have is an endurance race. And Paul encourages us
to endure, seeing we've had these witnesses. Seeing how we are
kept by the power of God through faith in the midst of all of
our weakness and infirmities, all those witnesses went before
us. They were kept by God. They endured their trials in
the midst of all their trials and troubles. How did they endure? Friend, how in the world did
Moses endure? How did Jacob endure? How did Abraham endure? You pay
attention. Here's their witness. They were
kept by God. That's how they endured. They
were kept by God. Go to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. Look at this with me. A few pages over. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. And look at verse 23. The apostle
says here, And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly, completely, absolutely. God sets you apart. God sanctify
you. God keep you. And I pray your
whole spirit, soul and body. In other words, He keeps the
whole man. He sanctifies the whole man. And be preserved blameless. unto
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is the confidence
that we would be wholly sanctified, that we would be wholly preserved?
What's your confidence this morning you're going to endure this race? How do you know that your faith
will endure? Look at the next verse. Because
faithful is he that calleth, he will also Don't you see who
called you? God called you. God sanctified
you. God preserves you blameless.
And God is faithful. If he that hath begun a good
work in you, what? What is it? Shall perform it
unto the day of Jesus Christ. If you go back to Isaiah chapter
9, you remember that section where it says, the zeal of the
Lord shall perform this. What is that, your salvation?
the zeal of God is going to perform your salvation. Now look now
at that great cloud, those who bear the record of faith that
went before us. How do you suppose they endured
to the end? How do you suppose these men
through all their difficulties and promises endured to the end,
even unto death? Remember David He said this,
though my house be not so with God. Is your house so with God? What
about your house? You suppose you could take your
house and your works and make them, make God accept them? No,
David said no, although my house is a mess. Listen, here's my
hope. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, though he make it not
to grow, though I can't even see it growing." He said he's
sure. These men endured by faith. They
sacrificed and suffered the loss of all things for Christ and
died in faith, even because they were kept by the power of God.
Now, believer, This should give you great encouragement.
If you were for a moment to study the faith of these men, your
faith is the same as their faith. It's God-given. And listen, it's
God-kept. It's God-kept. God gives us great
encouragement and hope and assurance to our weary souls that we too,
like those who went before us, Though frail and suffering, though
weak and wounded by our troubles, our trials, our sins, our difficulties,
we have this promise, we shall endure because He is faithful. He is faithful. We're not going to run this race
in your own strength. You're not going to be able to
grin and bear it. I've seen people try that. These are false believers.
False believers grin and bear it. And they just try so hard. And they just don't last. Why? They're doing it in their own
strength. They're trying to run this race in their own strength,
their own power. Believers, we know this, we can't.
Could you make it one day in your own strength? No, you couldn't make it one
minute in your own strength. But look at those clouds of witnesses,
they endured. Now, what's the hope of this?
So will you. If you have true faith, it will
endure. Now, we who are made participants
in this race, we are made participants in this race, we know this, we
did not stumble into this race. You know, that's like me running.
They're going to have Olympics soon. And that's like me just
showing up one day and stumbling into the race. I'd be laughed
off the track. There'd be no way to get in.
Why? The race is set for the participants
that are purposed to be there. And so it is with God. We didn't
just stumble in this race. Listen, God set us in this race. God put us in this race. And
you listen, our course is set. What kind of race would it be
if there were no course? You just run where you want to. Paul said, look, this race, your
race, is set, it has a course, it has a start, it has a middle,
and it has an end. Some are longer, some are shorter,
some are harder, some are less, but I'll tell you this, It's
all set by God. Listen what one translation says
about this text. It says, let us run with patience,
endurance and steady, active persistence. The appointed course,
the appointed course of the race that is set before us, this race
we're running today. This life we are living, I want
you to know this, it is all appointed of God, every bit of it. It is all appointed an individual
course designed of God for each of his saints. And so each course is full of hills
and valleys. It's full of obstacles and difficulties. It is full of joys and sorrows,
griefs and triumphs. which are skillfully purposed
and designed by the great and wise God our Savior. Everything
in your course is set. It's fixed. There's not one bump
in this road that's not ordained of God. There's not one difficulty
you'll face, not one hill you'll face, not one sorrow you'll face,
not one joy you'll experience that has not been set for you by the all-wise God. are set
to run this race in the arena of this present evil world. Why
do you think the course is so difficult? Because it's here.
It's in this world of sin and death and sorrow and grief. And our Lord, He prayed, He said
this in John 17, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out
of the world, but should keep them from the evil one. Christ
didn't want us out of this world. Why? Our course is set in this
world. That's where our course is. And
so our course is set in the Word of God and by divine providence. How do we run this course? Well,
according to the Word of God. This is our source of faith and
practice right here. Not human wisdom, not human reasoning,
not what we see, not what we feel, and not what we think.
The Word of God is the source of our faith and practice. And
what is that Word? It's all about Christ. We're
going to see that in just a minute. And so all the providences of
this life are said, and this race, all believers must run. And I'll tell you this, it requires
great effort. in your life, in your experience,
believe it or not, is that not so? Is this not a grueling race? Is this not a hard road? It is. We must strive. We must constantly
strive, relentlessly endure, persistent, patient determination. And everyone's race is full of
hard sorrows and pain. Don't you think that you're the
only one? We get in that Elijah mode, we
say, I'm the only one. Nobody else has suffered like
me. No, every believer has his own course and every believer's
course. And so I wouldn't envy anyone's
course. Don't look at a man's outward
appearance and say, man, that guy's got it made. I wish I had
it. You couldn't handle his course. and most likely. So every believer's course is
full of pain. But if our race is ordained of
God, if we are redeemed by the blood of Christ and called by
the Holy Spirit to faith in Christ, listen, we shall, without exception,
finish our course. We shall, without exception,
finish our course, but it will not be effortless. You remember in Pilgrim's Progress
those two men who were headed to the Celestial City, Christian
and Ignorance. They both wanted to go to heaven. They both wanted to get to heaven.
But you remember Ignorance's course, he floated about. Wherever the easiest course was,
that's the course he took. Whatever road was easiest. Christian
was not permitted to take the easy roads. Why? Straight is
the gate and narrow is the way that lead unto life. And what
does that mean? Is that like to obey the law? No. Faith in
Christ. That's the road. And that road
is covered with snares and traps and difficulties. Ignorance. He went on and his life was blissful. Until what? He got to the gate. And he was cast into outer darkness. Believer in Christ, let us mind
our race and not envy the race of the wicked, which seems easy
and without trouble, without difficulty. You see, our race, our course
requires effort, sacrifice in the service of Christ. And our
race, we must endure to the end to have eternal life. Jesus said
that, didn't he? He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. Over in Psalm 37, David said
this, fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be envious
of them. Don't be envious of the easy path of the non-believer. Don't be swayed into taking their
path because it's easy. Why? Because their path leads
to death. He said, for they shall soon
be cut down like the grass. But let us also not look to our
brethren's way. This happened to Peter. Remember
Peter? He was told how he was going to die. He said, look,
Lord said, when you were young, you went where you wanted to
go. But when you're old, somebody's going to carry you where you
don't want to go. And John said this speaks of his death, how
he should glorify God by his death. And you know what Peter
said? What about John? What about John? What is his
course? And what did Jesus say? You never
mind his course. Follow thou me. Isn't that exactly what our text
is saying? It says, let us run the race that is set before us. A race of faith and endurance
in faith. Not minding someone else's course. Let us keep our eyes fixed on
the prize. That's what runners do, isn't
it? They keep their eyes fixed on the finish line. Let's run our race. Now remember,
The whole book of this book is meant to encourage these Hebrew
believers to endurance. If you read this whole book of
Hebrews, you're going to find that, that he is encouraging them to
endure, to hold fast, seeing so many have gone before us and
have received the crown, the promise, so will we if, listen,
if we endure. And pay attention, those that
do not endure will not receive a crown. Those who do not finish this
race will not receive glory. Paul said this in Hebrews 10,
he said, Let us hold fast our profession of faith, not wavering,
for He is faithful that is promised. You see how we're going to endure?
Is by His faithfulness. That's how. We must endure, but
our endurance is not dependent upon our strength, it's dependent
on His faithfulness. We hold fast, yes, hold fast
with all your might, but know this, He's holding you. Brother Don Fortner had that
illustration, I loved it, his little, his daughter used to
take it, swing on his finger. She had her little hands wrapped
around his fingers, and she would grab ahold of them so tightly,
and she would swing back and forth. But who was holding who? This morning, who's holding who? Why have you made it this far?
Has the road not been hard? Has it not been full of thorns
and snares and troubles? and heartaches? Yes. Why do you believe? Why do you
still come? Knowing that the road ahead,
if we endure, if we live, the road ahead is going to be harder
than the road behind. Why do you endure? Because He
endures. Because He keeps me and gives
me strength for the day. Faith for the day. O Saint of
God, don't quit. That's the message
of this book. Don't quit. Why? He's faithful. You should endure
because he's faithful. Don't turn back. That's a warning,
isn't it? Listen to this. Remember lots. What? Piano. Oh, the appearance. of a good
runner. She had all the makings of it.
Everyone believed she was a believer. Until when? Until she stopped
running. And her heart was in Sodom. This morning, listen to me, where's
your heart? Where's your heart? Our Lord said, set your affections
on things above and not on the things of the earth. Why? Where moth and rust are corrupt,
where thieves break through and steal, this stuff is passion.
Set your eye on Christ, who endures forever, whose strength we need
to endure. I know that you are tried on
every side, believer. I know that you are tempted by
Satan, the world. You're tempted by your family
and your friends and your lusts. and your own flesh pulls you
backwards? I know that. Well, let's do like Christian
did. You remember how he put his hands on his ears and he
ran. Life! Life! Eternal life! He ran! If you're tried, tempted, run!
Run! Run to where? Run to Christ!
Immediately! Daily! Constantly! Perpetually! Running to Christ! Why? Because these things weigh
us down in this race. I want to be like Paul. Paul
said, I count all things but loss that I might win Christ
and what be found in Him. Is there anything greater than
to be found in Him? Is there anything more you want
in this world than to be found in Him? A true believer only
wants to be found in you. No matter the cost. No matter the loss. I must have
Him. That's running. That's enduring. Paul says, now the just shall
live by faith. But, listen to it, if any man
draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in it. Is that not
true? That's true, isn't it? Here's your hope, true believer,
but we, but we chosen, redeemed, and called of God, we are not
of them that draw back to perdition, but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul. Why? He is faithful, promise. He is faithful. I know this race
is hard. The valleys are very low and
the hills are steep. The thorns are sharp. The pains
and sorrows are many and the way is long. It's full of snares
and traps and darts of Satan to hinder us. The flesh weighs
us down, Paul said, likens your flesh to a rotting corpse tied
about your neck, always weighing us down in this race. Listen,
we must endure. I must have Christ. I must have Him. We endure, we
persevere, because the end of those who leave Christ is what?
eternal death. So the word of God is clear.
If you continue in the faith, settled, grounded, and not moved
away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, Paul said
Christ died for you if you don't go away. If you continue. What's the evidence of true faith?
The evidence of true faith is this. We continue. We endure. Paul said, for we are made partakers
of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast.
Therefore, only the elect, only those called and redeemed of
Christ will endure. But we know that our endurance
is not the cause of our salvation. Now listen to me. You're enduring
this morning, to this morning. Don't trust in your past endurances. Why? Your endurance has nothing
to do with your salvation. You got that? Your salvation
does not rest on your endurance, but rather on Christ's finished
work. On Christ's finished work. We
must persevere, but we will persevere because we are preserved. For
all who fall away, who continue not in the faith, they will only
manifest this. They started their own race by
themselves. They've made up their own course.
And they're not running for life. They're running to death. They're
running to death. So let us see now how we may
run this race. Second thing is this, lay aside
every weight and the sin that easily besets us. When ancient
Greeks would run a race, they would strip down. I mean, they
stripped down to nothing. Why? Because they didn't want
anything to weigh them down. Isn't that just logical when
you're running a race that you don't want to put on weights?
You want to take off weights. You want to strip down. And that's
what God does to us in this race. He strips us down. He constantly
is stripping us down of what? Those weights. Those things that
hinder us. This is what those before us
did. They either willingly forsook
the things that weighed them down, or God took them away.
Isn't that right? And that's the same with us.
Listen, we are either going to willingly get rid of these weights,
or God is going to strip us of it. Why? So that you might endure. So that you'd take away those
things that hinder, the possessions of this world, the things that
hinder our love, our service, our obedience to God, Either
we lay these aside or God will lay them aside so that we might
endure. Abraham willfully left his home,
didn't he? God didn't have to strip Abraham
of his home. He said, yeah, I'm going. And he willfully went. But old Job, he didn't get such
pleasure as that, did he? God was made to strip him of
everything he had. Therefore, let us heed the gracious
exhortation to which every believer is responsible and is very reasonable. That's just reasonable, isn't
it? To lay aside weights in this race. It would be foolish for
us not to. Even so, it would be foolish
for us not to set aside the affections of the things of time and earth,
that they would hinder our course of faith, behold our goals, Behold, what is our destination?
Is our goal the things in this life? Listen to me, I love my
family, but is that my goal? Is that my aim, to have a good
family? To have finances in this world? Riches? Is that my aim
in this race? I'm not running for a family.
I'm not running for riches. I'm not running for the things
that... I'm running for life! I'm running to win Christ. I'm running to be found and healed. And it's reasonable for me to
cast off those things that would hinder me. We were chosen to
this race. We were redeemed by the blood
of Christ and stripped of the weight of sin, weren't we? That
was a weight. We were given life. We were dead.
There we were at the start line, dead as a doornail. God gave
us life and we began to run this race. But how could we run this
race with all this sin? You know what the first thing
he did? He took all the sin away. He removed our sin. He stripped
us of our sin. What a weight. That's what Pilgrim
did. He had that big burden on his
back until he came to the cross. And when he came to the cross,
the burden rolled off his back. That's what happens to us. We
come to Christ and the burden of sin. And you know what? He
leave. He just he had so much joy. The sin was gone. Where'd
it go? Christ suffered in his stand. died for those sins, and justice
was satisfied. He bare our sins in His own body
on the tree and lifted the weight off our shoulders. Where'd that sinned goat? Rolled
into the tomb, never to be seen again. Always love that great
David Thoma, don't you? That man, that strong man who
carried that scapegoat. Can you imagine watching him
go in the distance? Just watch him. He's very big
at the beginning, and as he goes, he gets smaller, and smaller,
and smaller, and he's gone. That's our sins. Our sins are
gone. You should be able to run freely.
You've been justified before God. You have peace with God.
You have grace to stand before God acceptable. Isn't that strengthening,
encouraging? No matter what, you have acceptance
with God, no matter what. Now your sins are gone. Christ
did by his self purged our sins. Scripture says, Wherefore, as
by one man... I'm sorry, over Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9, chapter
9 and verse 12, I think it is. It says, Neither by the blood
of goats nor calves, but by his own blood he entered in, listen,
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.
Verse 29. You see, so in verse 28, So Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many, and of them that
look for him, that run this race, he shall appear the second time
unto salvation. Chapter 10, verse 12, But this
man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, sat down forever
on the right hand of God, henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever.
Now isn't that a wait? That wait is gone. Yet how often do we try to take
that weight back on ourselves? Isn't that so? We sin! We still have sin in
this body. When we sin, we feel the guilt
of that sin. And what do we do? We're trying
to make up for it. We're trying to reconcile ourselves
to God. Why? That's a weight you can't
bear. Look to Christ. Run to Christ. He's already satisfied that debt. Throw off that guilt because
He has. Don't take the law. The law was
never meant for that. No. The whole believer of this world
is not our home. Christ has died. He laid aside
those sins. Let us lay aside the weight of
our sin, of our guilt, the things of this world, anything that
would slow us down. The second thing is this. He
said, let us lay aside this sin that doth so easily beset us. What is this sin that doth easily
beset us? I'm going to tell you this. It's
unbelief. Unbelief is the sin that easily
besets us. It is the mother of all sin.
Isn't that right? Now, suppose you are lusting
after something. Why is it that you are lusting
after this thing and you fulfill that lust? It's because you believe
that it's better than what God has. You don't believe God is
enough. So you want something more. Unbelief. Lay the side of sin of unbelief
and run with patience the race that is set before us. Paul said,
put off that old man, that old man of sin, put him off and put
on the new man. So that we may run this race
with patience, endurance. I like that when John says, if
my little children, if any man sin, we have an advocate with
the father. He says, sin not. Sin not. Are you tempted to sin? You know what that is? That's
a burden. It's a weight. Cast it off. Cast it off. Sin not. But if you do, here
it is, you have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the
righteous. But I want you to know this word
in our text is singular. It says, the sin. That easily
besets us. That is unbelief. Is there anything
more unreasonable for the believer than unbelief? Is there anything more troubling?
Why is it that we fear? If you have fear and doubts,
why is it? Isn't it because you don't believe
God? It's unbelief. So what should you do? Lay it
aside. How do you lay aside unbelief?
Here it is. You lay aside unbelief by believing,
trusting God's Word. If our salvation and endurance
of faith were left up to us to add something to it, that's unbelief,
isn't it? How many times do you try to
add to what God has said? That's unbelief. Lay it aside.
It's a weight. But seeing that our race was
purposed of God, set by God who loves us, seeing Jesus has removed
our sin, fulfilled righteousness by His blood and obedience, seeing
the Holy Ghost has given us life and faith, why then should we
doubt? Why then should we fear that
we will not endure? Now, I'm going to ask you this.
Is that not the greatest fear you have, believer? You who are
believers, is that not the greatest fear that we have? It's like
when the Lord said, one of you shall betray me. What was the
greatest fear of the disciples? Is it me? Am I Lot's wife? Am I the one
that won't endure? What's the remedy for such fear?
Listen to this. Believe. Faith. Faith. We will not fail to continue
because we are kept to God. We will not fail, listen to me,
because He does not fail. He will not fail. Jesus said this, Lo, I come,
in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will,
O God, listen, by the witch will we are, We are sanctified. And so Jesus
could plainly, boldly say this, this is the will of the Father
which is sent me, that of all he had given me, I should lose
nothing. You know how many runners of this race are going to fail?
None. Not one. Not one true runner
will fail. Why? Because he cannot fail. Don't you know that my salvation
is totally dependent on him? If you're a true runner in this
race, I know this, I'm going to strive. I'm going to press
toward the mark of the high calling of God. I'm going to run my race
with patience, endurance, looking to Christ. But I know this, the
whole of my salvation, it depends on none of my endurance. It depends
totally on Christ. So lay aside any unbelief that
you should fail. Why? He shall not fail. He shall not fail. And so the
only way then to run, the third thing here, the only way to run
this race is mentioned in verse 2. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. We who believe in Christ know
that the Lord Jesus Christ requires of us a full and complete surrender. Don't you know that? A full and
complete surrender. That we may trust that we may
cast all our salvation upon Christ and follow Him and trust Him.
And the only grounds upon which we make such a commitment so
as to forsake all and follow Christ, the only motivation of
everyone who comes to Him is this, looking to Jesus. This is what we do. Everyone
who surrenders Christ does one thing. We look to Him, who is
what? The author and finisher of our faith. The author of our
faith. Isn't faith a gift of God? He said this is the will, this
is the work of God. Jesus said this to those people
in John chapter 6. This is the work of God, that you believe
on Him whom He has sent. For by grace you are saved through
faith, and that faith not of yourself. It is a gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast." So this faith that we
have, who authored this faith? It was Christ. Matter of fact,
it's His faith. When Jesus Christ walked as a
man, He walked by faith. He was a man of faith. He believed
God. He trusted God for everything.
And it is that faith by which we live. You see, I get my righteousness
not by my faith, but by His faith. You know what the Scripture says? It says in Romans chapter 3,
Romans chapter 3 and verse 22, it says, Even the righteousness
of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Where did I
get my righteousness? by the faith of Jesus Christ. And that
by the faith that I've been given is how this righteousness is
imputed and imparted to me through faith. That's what it says in
the next part of that same verse in Romans 3, 22. The righteous
God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe. He's the author of this faith.
And so How do I know I'm going to endure in faith? Because He's
the finisher of it, too. See, I'm looking as I'm running
today, as I'm believing in Christ, and as I endure all the difficulties
and trials of this life, I know this. I will endure because He
that hath begun a good work in me will perform it. He is the
author and finisher of our faith. This is how we run, friends.
You want to endure in this? There's only one way. Looking
to Jesus. For what? Everything. You need
strength? Who do you look to? You need hope? Who do you look
to? Is your faith weak? Your love low? Who do you look
to? If you're looking to anything
else, it's nothing but a weight. It's nothing but a hindrance.
Cast it off. Whatever it is. and run with
patience the race set before you, looking to Jesus, keeping
your eye fixed on Him. The moment we take our eyes,
we're like Peter, we're sinking. Isn't that right? We're sinking. How do we run? Looking to Jesus.
So what are these three things that we learn from this text?
We learn this, that God set our course. Whatever course you're
on, hey, listen, God did it. Whatever trial and difficulties
in your way, God did it. He set this course for you. Now run your course. Run your
course. Endure. You must endure. You must believe. Those cloud
of witnesses, they endured. Here's my hope. They endured
because they were kept. Even so, if I believe in Christ,
I too shall be kept as I endure. And as we endure we lay aside
the weights of sin and unbelief." You have sin in your life, listen,
you need to set it aside. Why? It's a weight. It's not
a help. It's a weight. Unbelief is a
weight. How do you set these weights
aside? Looking unto Jesus. Why? He started this race by
faith and He's going to finish this race by faith. I pray God will help you to endure,
give you strength in this message. Strength to look to Christ. That's
what I want you to do. Look to His blood, look to His
righteousness, look to His strength, His power. And I know this, we
that look to Him, one day we'll be in the witness stand. We'll
be in the witness stand and be looking on at other believers
as they're running their race. I pray that God give us a good
report of faith and all the glory belongs to God.