We'll begin there, but we're
going to go and read on to verse 1 and 2 of chapter 12. Hebrews
11 and verse 39. And the title of the message is,
A Race Run by Faith. A Race Run by Faith. Now the Apostle here says in
verse 39, "...and these all, having obtained a good report
through faith, received not the promise, God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us or apart from
us should not be made perfect." Wherefore, seeing 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,
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, is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Now the Apostle, in Hebrews chapter 11, having given us an extensive
list of believers that had gone before us whose faith is an example
of the character of true faith. Every one of these men here mentioned
are an example of what true faith and the character and nature
of true faith really looks like. Remember, Abel Abel looked to
Christ by the sacrifice of that animal. He was looking by faith
to Christ. So is that not true of us tonight?
By faith we are looking to Christ, just as Abel did. Enoch. He testified that God will accept
those who believe. He said, without faith is impossible
to please God. That's what Enoch's faith proved,
that he was made accepted. Noah's faith motivated him to
move him with fear to enter the ark. Isn't that what faith does
for us? It moved us to enter into Christ,
our ark. our protection from the wrath
of God. Abraham's faith trusted God,
and he left his home, his family, his friends, believing God's
Word. And so it is with us. We forsake
all for Christ. All who truly believe forsake
all for Christ. So true faith, then, is this.
it endures. True faith endures unto the end. That's what it says in verse
13 of chapter 11. These all died in faith, not
having received the promise. A true faith offers up all things
that are dear in this world and trust God. that by Christ He
is able to raise us from the dead. A true faith chooses rather
to suffer the affliction of God's people than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season. And now, seeing all these saints
and all their example of faith for us, their character of faith,
What does Paul say about them? He says in verse 39, they have
obtained a good report through faith. In other words, they kept
the faith. They kept the faith. Friends,
these men never stopped looking for Christ. All their life, until
the day they died, they were promised He was coming. And they
looked for Him right up until the point that they died, believing
God's Word. Even though they did not receive
the promise, they did not see His coming, they believed Him
unto the end. That is, all these that believed
that Jesus would come, They suffered great losses, trusting God's
promise, yet they did not see that day. It says, "...for God
providing some better thing for us." What does that mean? They
died in faith, not receiving the promise of Christ. God providing
some better thing for us. What's this better thing? This
better thing is the coming of Jesus Christ. The fulfillment
of all the types and shadows and prophecies. The full revelation. That's what better thing God
has for us who live after Christ. We don't live under types and
shadows. We don't live under pictures. We live under the full
revelation. Look at what you've got in your
hand. Don't you think that Moses and all the prophets, what they
would have given to seeing the full revelation of this? And yet it was not given to them
to see the full thing. To you it is. How much better
is this? This day that we live. And yet,
listen, they lived a full life of faith not having what you
had. And now then we have the full
revelation of God. How much better should our race
of faith be? Seeing we have the full and not
the shadows and types is a better thing. So it's not a better state
or standing. We don't have a better state
or standing than they do. But we have the same state and standing. They believed in Christ who was
to come. We believe in Christ who has
come. And we both receive the same reward. Eternal life, the
righteousness of Christ. That's what we all receive together. So that better thing is not a
better state. What we have is a full revelation. Remember,
this is the beginning of this book. God in sundry times and
in divers manners spake unto our fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days, listen to this better thing, spoken
to us by His Son. spoken to you by his Son." What
a better thing we have. Isn't that one of the main words
in this book, better? It is. We have a better revelation,
a fuller revelation. It's the same revelation, it's
just fuller, just better. Yet though they did not live
in the times of Christ and see the fulfillment. Paul says this
at the very end of this, that they without us should not be
made perfect. In other words, you remember,
we are all one body. We're all one body, and this
thing is not going to be over until all the body has come together. You see, when Christ came, that
wasn't the end of it. That's what the Jews thought,
wasn't it? That Christ was just going to wrap this thing up as
soon as he came, and then shut everybody out. They're talking
about us Gentiles, that we'd be shut out. God said, no, that's
not, they're not going to be, have everything until all of
us are brought in. All of us are brought in. Isn't
that good news for us? That's good news that this thing
didn't wrap up. God said they should not be made
perfect without us. I'm glad. And you know what?
There's others. There's others yet to come in. And so this is
why Christ did not yet come today. Because there are others of His
elect that He must bring. He said, other sheep I have of
this fold, them I also, what? Must bring. I must bring them. And so these saints, they're
redeemed, quickened, and saved. They're partakers of the blood
of Christ, just as we are. So having seen the true nature
and character of faith in these saints, we see the great feats
and conquests of faith, of true faith, and seeing our faith,
and theirs are the same, seeing we have the same Lord, the same
faith, and the same baptism." The Apostle now concludes this.
He says, "...wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight
in the sin that doth 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." Now listen, just by the reading of
that, can you not see three distinct points here? Three distinct things,
and these are going to be my points because it's the most
obvious thing. First of all, a race to be run. There is a
race to be run. Let us run the race. Let us run with patience the
race that is set before us. The second thing is the laying
aside of all weights. He said this, let us lay aside
every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us, and
how are we to run this race? Verse 2, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher. So first of all the race, second
of all the weights, third, looking unto Jesus. How we run this race,
looking to Jesus. So first of all, let's look at
the race. The race to be run. The race to be run. The Apostle
uses this metaphor of an Olympic event, an Olympic race, to describe
the life of every believer. Now listen, every believer, we
have many metaphors in Scripture concerning our life, right? It's
a warfare. Paul says our life is a warfare,
a struggle, a fight that we must fight. Flesh lusts against the
spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary
one to another. You see, you're a soldier. There's
another instance. This is a journey, isn't it?
This is a sojourn in this land. We are just strangers and pilgrims
in the land. So it's like a journey, isn't
it? But here, it's likened unto a race. A race. Now, before I
get to the race itself, I want us to see what he says about
this arena that we're running in. The arena. Look at this. He says, Wherefore seeing, we
also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Now this thing, this language
here, cloud of witnesses, alludes to the spectators who came to
see the race. Those who spectated in these
Olympic arenas, they were there to watch the runners run. They were there to cheer on the
runners. This great cloud of witnesses
are all those that went before us. These spectators. Now not to say, and we don't
take this to the full degree as though those in heaven are
watching us in everything. That's not what it's talking
about. It's talking about their report. Their testimony. The Word of God that they left
us. What does this Word do to you,
believer? It cheers you on, doesn't it? When you read the history of
Moses and David and Elijah and the prophets, what does that
do? That encourages you. It strengthens you to read their
report. to read of their faith and the
triumphs of their faith. And that motivates us to continue
to run the race that's set before us. So that's what it means by
great cloud of witnesses. These saints who ran before us.
Now listen, their race is done. Their race is over. You remember
the Apostle Paul says this. He says, I have fought the fight. I've finished my course. Listen
to my testimony. I've kept the faith. And so it
is, we see these reports and we are encouraged by them. These
great cloud of witnesses. See then, as we run this race
that's set before us, their record, their trials, their temptations,
their failures, their victories, surely are meant by the Holy
Ghost to cheer us on, to encourage us. To encourage us. seeing then
that they have already endured, even so we too must endure. This is not an option. Do you
realize that? Endurance in this race is not
an option. It's a necessity. It's a necessity. Just like they
must have endured, even so you, believer, must endure the race. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, He
that endureth to the end, what? The same shall be saved. Endurance
in this race is necessary. And so then, for us to endure,
what do we need? We need encouragement. We do. We need encouragement. And this
is what the Apostle says. He says in 1 Thessalonians 5,
Paul says to these, he says, and the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly. Absolutely sanctify you, completely
sanctify you wholly. And I pray God, your whole spirit
and soul and body, listen, be preserved, blameless, under the
coming of our Lord. Oh, what is the hope of that,
Paul? What is your hope that I should be kept blameless, body,
soul? Isn't that your desire? To finish
this race and to be kept by God wholly, purely, body, soul, and
spirit. I desire to be kept wholly preserved. How is this going to happen? Faithful is He that calleth you.
He will also do it. Now what's your confidence
for finishing this race? Now you must finish. But yet
what is your confidence to finish? How do you know that you'll finish?
If it's left up to you, could you finish? Do you think you
have the strength to endure one day in this race of faith? No. No, my strength is in this. He
is faithful. Who will do it? See, I'm going to finish this
race because He's going to do it. I'm going to finish this
race because He did it. He did it. Look now, then, at
this great cloud. And I tell you, if you ever stumble,
open up your Bibles. Look at the men that stumbled
with you. There's not... God, I like this. God doesn't
leave His saints without their warts and all. He paints them
warts and all, doesn't He? Why? Because you need it. You need to see that these men
were just like you. These men were sinners, saved
by grace, kept by the power of God. Faithful. Only because of
God's faithfulness. And that's how you're going to
finish this race. So look to these cloud of witnesses. Use
them. How do you suppose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob wandered about
in the wilderness and tents? How do you suppose they made
it through that? Most of us, we can't even last a day in our
own yard. It gets so hot out, we've got
to get inside. These people lived down in the desert, tents. How
do you suppose they endured all this? Because they believed God. They trusted God. And God was
faithful to keep them in this wilderness. And they endured,
and they made it. And so will I. So will I. How do you suppose David who
sins so greatly, whose house was so marred with adultery and
murder and death, how could he say it is death? Though my house
be not so with God? Yet. Ah, yet. Here's my hope. He hath made
with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure. See David running? You see his
strength, his final sprint. What was it? It was in the power
and faithfulness of God. It wasn't in his own strength.
How am I going to finish this race? In the same power and strength
that David did, looking unto the covenant of our great God
and Savior. That's how you're going to finish
this race. These men of faith, they sacrificed
and suffered the loss of many things and died in faith, even
because they were kept by the power of God through faith unto
the very end. These are the spectators. These
are the ones cheering us on. The ones that went before us.
And their word is important to us. And we should keep it near
to our hearts, because how they finish is how you'll finish.
Their reward is your reward. Their God is your God. Their
Christ is your Christ. Their race is your race. And they finished, so will you. Why? He is faithful who will
also do it. He is faithful. That's why we'll
finish. We'll finish this race like they
did. Now then, let's look at the race itself. Therefore, let
us see then the metaphor. We who believe in Christ are
all runners. And those who went before us
were runners just like we are. They left a good report through
faith whose words and account are left by the Holy Ghost to
encourage us to endure. Now we are made participants
of this race not by chance or accident. Matter of fact, we
weren't made participants of this race by the volition of
our own will. We were made participants of
this race by the will of God. That's good to know. I didn't
enter myself in this race. I don't take myself out of it.
God put me in this race. God provided all that was necessary
for me to run and to finish. And to finish. We are made participants. We are called of God to run this
race. Listen, set before us. One translation
puts it like this. Listen. Let us run with patience,
endurance, and steady and active persistence the appointed course
of the race that is set before us. You get that? The appointed
course. You realize your whole course is appointed? Your track
has been laid out by God himself. Therefore, every obstacle in
your track is laid specifically by God for you, individually. Now, we're all running a race,
and our course is very similar. Now listen, I've never had the
experiences Moses had, did you? I didn't have the experiences
David had, but I guarantee you I had the temptations, the troubles,
and the same difficulties he had. Not specifically the same
ones, but all alike. All alike. And so, these races,
this race, this course of life that is appointed by God is an
individual course appointed by the Father and laid out before
us. Each course then is full of hills
and valleys, full of obstacles and difficulties, full of sorrows
and joys, griefs and triumphs, which are skillfully and purposefully
designed by the great God and Savior. We all are set to run
in this arena. Now listen, we're all running
in the same arena. Our course may not be identical.
It all has problems. It all has troubles. It all has
its difficulties. But the arena in which we run
is this present evil world. We're all in this present evil
world. Our Lord said this, I pray not that thou shouldest take
them out of the world. but that thou shouldest keep
them from the evil one." Isn't that what he does? He didn't
take us out of this world. Why? Our course is in this world.
We must run our course in this world. And none of us escape
this. None of us escape the trials
and difficulties of this life. None of us. We all must endure
them. So our course is set, and the
Word of God and divine providence are our guide. The Word of God and Divine Providence
are our guide in this race. This race all believers must
run and it requires great effort. Is that not your experience?
Does this not require great effort? Does this not require great sacrifice
to run this race? You think of an Olympic runner
and what he'd have to endure in order to build up, to prepare
for such a race, but yet, it requires effort, doesn't it?
Discipline, determination. And so it is when we run this
race. We must be determined. We are committed to this race. You see, I'm so committed I can't
turn back. Can you? We'll get to that in a minute.
Some people turn back only to find they're not in the race
at all. They're not in the race at all. But we who are in this
race, we're in it to win it. I'm telling you. And you know
what? We are. Why? It's already won. It's already
won. Not by us, but by our Savior. The Apostle Paul puts it the
analogy this way. He says, You know, know you not,
that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the
prize? So run, that you may obtain. And every man that striveth for
mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown, but we an incorruptible. 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 to subjection,
lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway." Anybody want to be a castaway?
Any believer? That is the greatest fear of
a believer, isn't it? to be deceived, to be finally
lost, and to have our faith proven to be a sham. You know who doesn't
have any concern? Apostates. Apostates are the
ones that have no concern about this. Believers are concerned,
and therefore we put everything in subjection under our body.
We're really into this. We must finish this course said
before us, and it requires effort, requires determination. Constant,
relentless, endurance, persistence, patience, and determination.
Everyone's race is hard. I want you to understand that.
This race is not easy. Everyone's race is hard. Everyone's
race is full of sorrow. Everyone's race is full of pain. But if our race is ordained of
God and we are redeemed of Christ and called by the Holy Spirit,
you listen, we will finish. We will finish. This should be
encouragement to you, though it takes great determination.
You will finish. You will. We shall finish this
course. But it will not be without effort.
You remember in Pilgrim's Progress, Christian and hopeful, and how
they had to climb that great hill of difficulty. They had to go the narrow road
full of troubles and trials. They had to walk through the
valley of the shadow of death. They had to face Apollyon. They
had to endure great trials and they came across that other man
skipping along, light as a feather, ignorance. Ignorance. All is well. Everything's well. He looks at the path Christian
and hopeful take. That's too hard. And he goes
the other way. Enter ye in at the straight gate,
for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth unto
destruction, and many be that go in thereat. Ah, but straight
is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and
few there be that find it. Telling you this way is difficult.
But believer, I ask you, is there any other way you would rather
go than faith in Christ? Is there any other way but salvation
by grace through faith in Christ? No! No. We would not have it
any other way. Why? There is no other way. This
is the only way. The only way. So believer in Christ, then let
us keep this in mind as we see others of this wicked world. Do not envy their race. Their
race is to hell. Why should you envy their race? Pity them. Pray for them. But don't envy them. And another
thing I want to remind you about this race, don't envy another
believer's race. Has anybody got that? Because,
I mean, maybe I'm the only one that's done that. I don't know.
I'm just going to put myself out. I'm sure I've looked at
others and said, man, I wish I had that. Isn't that what Peter
did? I'm not alone. Peter did it.
Remember when he was told what death he should die? And he said,
what about John? And he said, well if I want him
to live until I come back, what is that to you? Run your own
race. Follow thou me. So you're running
this race. It's difficult. Saint of God,
I'm here tonight to encourage you. Though the trial is great,
don't quit. Don't quit. Endure. Looking to Christ. Believing
in Christ. Don't turn back. Why? Only apostates
turn back. Only apostates turn back. He says, Now the just shall live
by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure
in him. But we are not of them that draw
back. unto perdition, but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul." I know this race is hard,
and the valleys are low, and the heels are steep, and the
thorns are sharp, and the sorrows and pains are many. I know this
race is long. It's a long race. It's an endurance race. It's
not a sprint. It's full of snares, traps, dangers. Satan's darts pierce our soul,
and you are often laid down by the corpse of this old man. I
know this to be true. So the Word of God is clear in
this. If you continue grounded in the
faith, settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, You're the one that has peace
with God. He said, for we are made partakers of Christ if we
hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast until the end. So you see the necessity of this
race. You see the path of your race. You see it's hard. You
see you must endure. You have that great cloud of
witnesses cheering you on in this race. So then, I ask you,
how are you to run the race? You must run it. It must be endured. How then should you run it? Well
here's a, this is obvious, this should be the most obvious thing
for a runner. Don't bring any weight with you. Wouldn't that be something, you
see a runner and he starts putting on weights. to run. That would be silly. No! He said,
let us, look at this, this is the second point, lay aside every
weight and the sin that does so easily beset us and let us
run with patience. The race set before us. Lay aside
every weight. When those Greek runners would
run away, they would strip themselves of all the things that would
hinder their progress. Even so, believers, strip yourselves
of all this world that would hinder you. All the weight that
would hinder you from running this race. Now those that did
this before us, You can go through the Old Testament and you can
see them as they were going. Now listen, when you see them,
you'll see this happen. One, either they willfully forsook
the things of this world or God stripped them of it. Now they
either laid it aside willingly or God took it from them. Which do you suppose would be
easier? It would be better if you would
just lay it aside, don't you think? Than having God having
to strip it from your hands. There's pain involved in that. You think of Abraham. How did
he leave his house? Did he leave kicking and screaming?
No. He left willingly. Why? He valued heaven more than he
valued home here on this world. It didn't need to be taken from
him. How did he let go of Isaac? Here
he is. Laid him out on that altar. Next
day, rose up early. Done. Whatever you want. You see men like Jonah. Jonah, he didn't want to go. And what happened? God said,
you're going to go. You're going to go. It may be
harder for you, but you're going. And he went. He had that gourd,
you remember? And he loved that old gourd.
That tree hung over his head in the desert, gave him shade.
And God put a worm in the gourd and killed it, and he was angry
with God. And God said, does that well
be angry? You weep over a gourd, and I just saved this whole nation
here, and you weep over that gourd. Think of Job. Think of Job. There Job was.
He was an upright man. He feared God astute evil, but
he was a wealthy man. And what did God do? He must
have stripped him of all that. And when He did, what did He
do? He came out better, didn't He? He came out with a clearer
view of God and Himself. God was everything. And He said,
Behold, I am vile. He had a clearer view of things.
And this is what God does by stripping us of these weights
and laying them aside so that we may run with patience this
race, said before us. Let us lay aside every weight
It would be foolish for us to lay on ourselves more weight.
It would be foolish for us to take on the things of time and
earth that would hinder us from believing Christ and beholding
our goal. Believer, what's your destination?
Where are you going in this race? You have a destination, isn't
it? Is it here? It's not here. It's heaven. We
have an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away.
Reserved where? In heaven for you. Okay? So that's our destination. Do
we pick up things as we go along? No. We get rid of them. We're
to get rid of the things of time and earth. No, we've been chosen,
we've been redeemed by the blood of Christ, stripped of the weight
of our sin. Isn't that something? That God's
already stripped us of the heaviest weights that there was. Our sin. He's taken our sin, imputed it
to His Son, charged it to Christ. He endured it in His own body
on the tree, suffered once for our sin, obtained eternal redemption
for us. This man, by His one offering,
has perfected forever them that are sanctified. He removed that
biggest weight, our sin, our guilt. He took it away. How light
should we be? How light should we run this
race where our sin is gone. No more sin. No more sin. What else? No more law. Oh, the
law was a weight that we could not bear in ourselves. It was
too heavy a burden. And what did He do? He bore the
law for us. For us. He says this in Romans
chapter 8. He says this, "...for the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made us free from
the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do
in His weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son. In the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us." How light and free should you run? You're free. You're
free to run with faith. Free to run and obey your Master. free from sin and guilt. Behold, then, believer, this
world is not our home. Stop trying to make it your home. If God give us something, we
can enjoy it. There's nothing God giveth. Paul
said this, he says, but in the living God, who giveth us richly
all things to enjoy. These things that we have, we
can enjoy them. Never set them above and never hold them so
tightly as you can't let go. I'm talking about your children.
I'm talking about your wife. I'm talking about your husband.
I'm talking about your life. Don't hold these things too dearly.
Why? They're weights. They're weights. And I tell you, another weight
you need to lay off is the flesh. Isn't that a weight? That's a
weight. Paul said this, O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from this rotting, stinking
corpse about my neck? It's a weight. Every day you
have to endure this flesh. What did Paul say? Put it off.
Put it off. put off the old man and his deeds
and put on the new man. Continually may God cause us
to be renewed in the spirit of our minds to show us what we
are in Christ. Reckon yourselves! Reckon yourselves
to be free indeed of sin. Paul says that in Romans chapter 12, he says this, Be not conformed
to this world, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is good, acceptable, and perfect will
of God. Let go of the things of this
world, let go of the flesh, and reckon yourselves to be righteous,
because that's exactly what you are. In Christ you're righteous.
Isn't that freeing? Doesn't that lift the burden
off of your shoulders? And you should do this daily.
Constantly put it off. And listen, put aside the sin
that does so easily beset us. Now, I want you to know this. The Apostle John said this. He said, little children sin
not. Isn't that just obvious? We should put away sin. Isn't
that the desire of our heart is to live without sin? It is. For a true believer, it is. And
so then we must constantly put away sin. We must constantly
neglect the deeds of this body and the lust of this flesh. That's
true. But this idea, look at your text again. I want you to
see this. Paul says, let us lay aside every weight, and listen, The sins. Is that what it says? No. The sin. Friends, there's
one sin that easily besets us. Unbelief. It is the root of every other
sin. The reason we are not able to
run with patience the race that is set before us many times is
that we fail to trust God. Fail to trust God. Lay aside
that foolish sin. Who else could be trusted but
God? Now if this race was left up
to you and me, I can see you not believing you're going to
finish. God said this race is up to me. You will finish. Now that should
give you all the encouragement you need to know this. You will
finish. You will finish. Let us lay aside
this weight of unbelief. Why do you doubt? Why do we fail
to believe the promise of God who cannot lie and trust ourselves,
trust the weak and frail minds of our corrupted nature? See
then, for us to fail in this race, for us as the elect of
God to fall away, I want you to know this, Christ himself
must fail. I came to do the will of the
Father. Isn't that what he said? And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all He had given me, I should lose nothing. Now, who do you trust? You or
Him? Trust Him. Put off that weight
and run. Run patiently. Now, and the last
thing is, how are we to run? What is the strength of our running?
Look at this in verse 2. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. You know what the remedy for
unbelief is? Belief. Isn't that the remedy for unbelief?
Believe! Believe what? No, believe who? looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. How did you start this race?
You believed on the Son of God. How are you running this race
right now? You are right now believing on the Son of God.
And you know how you're going to finish this race? You will
believe on the Son of God. Now how do I know all that? Because
Jesus is the author and finisher of your faith. That's how I know
you'll finish. That's how I know you started. That's how I know
you're continuing. And that's how I know you who
believe will finish this race, because Christ is the author
and finisher. So who are you looking to? To run this race,
who are you looking to? You? No, don't do that. That's a weight, isn't it? That's
more of a weight to look to yourself, isn't it? Lay that aside. You're
not going to finish this race on your own. Matter of fact,
You're going to finish this race because he's the author and finisher
of it. Therefore, look unto him. What does the scripture say?
The just shall live how? By faith. By faith. When do you start living by law?
Never. When do you start living by merits?
Never. When do you start living by looking
to you? You look to Christ. And listen,
my faith, Christ is the author of that faith, so my faith is
his faith. You now see that? His faith. Paul said this, I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life that I now live, I live, how? By the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Oh, friends, this should be an
encouragement to you looking to Jesus. This faith is a work
of God. This faith is a gift of God.
This faith is the fruit of the Spirit of God. And this faith
shall endure unto the end. Therefore, let us now run with
patience. Oh, friends, be patient. Run
with patience. Endurance. dedication, commitment, putting
off every sin, every weight, and keeping your eye on the one
object who is going to get you through this race, Christ. May God help us not look here. We've been surrounded by a great
cloud of witnesses, and their word encourages us on. May God encourage us with this.
Stand and be dismissed in prayer.