For our scripture reading this morning, turn with me to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 12. Let's begin reading in verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we also are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin doth so easily beset us. and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin, but he did. He did. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children.

My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when ye are rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons.

Furthermore, we have had fathers of the flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence, shall we not much more be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they rarely for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, that is, for their own satisfaction. But he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Wherefore, lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but rather let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Look indeligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. Now if you will turn back with me to Hebrews chapter 12. I mainly want to focus on verses 1 and 2. This whole chapter is just filled with meat, spiritual meat.

But it's impossible to stand up here and say in any detail everything that we need to know in one session about being saved. It's just an impossibility. Somebody told me one time, you had the perfect opportunity to preach on the love of God, and you didn't do it. No, I was preaching on election.

That was my subject. Had they been there the week before, they'd heard a message on the love of God. I invite you to turn with me to the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, chapter 12. This is a very unique epistle in that it deals with the people who profess to know God. I understand why he wrote to the Philippians and the Galatians. They were Gentiles. They were idolaters. They were drunkards, whoremongers. You go on and on with the description that Paul uses in those epistles. These are the people he's preaching to, but not in Hebrews.

In Hebrews, he writes a letter to those who profess to know God, a people with a longstanding identification with God, a people steeped in religious tradition, zealous of good works. whose relationship goes all the way back to Abraham. We have Abraham our father, that's what they told our Lord. And what makes it special to me is that my generation and that of the Apostle Paul's have so much in common. Natural Israel is a very accurate description of false religion. When the Apostle Paul talks and tries to illustrate, uses different things to illustrate the problems in the believer's life, he often refers back to natural Israel.

Every so-called Christian in our day sees themselves, as Israel did, as children of God. What do you mean, I need to be saved? I was saved. 1987, 2 o'clock in the afternoon, that gives you the hour, the day, the minute, anything you want to know. Every so-called Christian in our day, if you talk to them, they see themselves as Israel did, as the children of God, children of the promise, heirs together with Christ. Now, without question, These are things that all God's people have in common. God's people are heirs. They are the children of the promise. They are the children of God.

The controversy lies in how they obtained it. Religion today believes that God loves everybody without exception. I despise that bumper sticker with that little smiley face that says, smile, God loves you. Try to picture that on the ark. Storm raging, the water coming up, children dying. Here's a sticker on the side of the ark, smile, God loves you.

Religion today believes that Christ died for every son of Adam. He died for all the sins of all men. That's what religion teaches. That's what they preach. That's what they profess. They say that's their hope. And they preach that God's eternal purpose is to save as many as he can, as many as will let him. That's what they say, let God.

Can you imagine, if you read or know anything at all about the works of God in the Old Testament, could you say that of God, that you need to let God? All through the Old Testament, it shows you He did exactly what He would do, whatever it is. Dry up a sea, make iron float, you name it.

Everything He did was an impossibility with men, everything. But he did it, and he did it without man's consent. Today's religion teaches that God saves men, but he must have their consent. Otherwise, he violates their so-called free will. You haven't heard about violations. You go back and read about it. what God did to men in the Old Testament. He violated more than their will, didn't he? And all of them together believe that God's favor is obtained by their works. What a picture of today's religion.

Natural history. False religion. Now listen to me. I'm going somewhere with all this. False religion only appears false to true believers. We talk to men as though they understand what we're saying. They don't. False religion only appears false to true believers, those who practice true faith and believe it's the genuine article.

Today's religion has everything old Israel had except a blood relationship to Abraham. And that, they say, is a spiritual one. By faith, we're children of Abraham. And that's true enough for a believer. That's so. And for the most part, I'm not preaching to drunks and whoremongers and rank idolaters. I'm preaching to religious folks who don't know God. That was the whole purpose behind this epistle.

Paul knew him inside out. He was one of them. He was the best they had to offer. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was taught by Gamaliel, the greatest teacher the Pharisees ever had. He sat under him. He was a prime example of his teaching. He said, you want to talk about zeal? I put men to death. That's how zealous I was over the truth. So what separates the church from this religious world? It is the person and work of Jesus Christ. That's what separates us.

Jesus Christ has very little to do with their salvation, if you talk to them. And they have a very familiar tone when they talk about Christ. It's always Jesus, isn't it? And our text this morning uses the name Jesus, and there's a place and a time for it. He God come into the flesh. This is the God man. His name shall be called Jesus. He shall save his people from their sins. His name in the New Testament is the same word for Joshua in the Old Testament. But they always refer to him as Jesus. And they always refer to him as though they were on a first name basis, don't they? You ever notice the familiarity in religion?

Jesus is the Christ. That's what the apostles preached. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. The long-promised Redeemer, Messiah, the Savior of Israel. And the universal fatherhood of God and Christ as the elder brother of all mankind is at the very heart of false religion. Now, our Lord said this, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church.

So let me tell you what you do. You go home today, you embrace your wife, and you say, baby, I love you just like I do all the other women in the world. See how that goes over. But we'll do that toward God, won't we? And never think twice about it. Well, that's just how ridiculous it is.

And I preach to a people like old Israel who made much of the law of God. In fact, they made the law their salvation and themselves their own savior. They preach salvation as a work of man and the work of Christ nothing more than just an open-door possibility. They call good deeds a work and not the fruit of the spirit. All the glory of religion goes to man, and very little goes to God.

I can't help but look back on my past and understand how in the world I could sing a hymn called Amazing Grace. All my hope was in works. But we just built out that song at the top of our lungs, Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound. We'd sing on the solid rock. We'd sing this hymn, Nothing but the Blood. But that's not what we understood, not what we professed, and not what we were taught. Truly, God's definition of man is accurate. He's blind and he's deceived. That's what it says. Only a deceived man would sit in a place and sing a hymn like that.

But if you confronted him on the street with amazing grace, you'd have a fight on your hands. That preacher would get red in the face and get angry and mad. Being arrested by God, converted by the Spirit, this champion of false religion, the Apostle Paul became the author of more than half of the New Testament. He had a righteous hatred for false religion, yet a genuine love for those deceived by it, didn't he?

Hebrews chapter 12 begins with the word wherefore. It's a word that points back to what had been previously said. Paul had just penned, by divine inspiration, 40 verses in chapter 11 concerning the faith of God's elect. Do you know, and I want to tell you a few things about faith. I'm not just going to sit up here and say, well, they understand what I'm talking about. I'm going to tell you what I'm talking about. There's a few things we need to know about faith.

Number one, in Ephesians 4, verse 5, it says there is one faith. Faith not like spokes in a wheel. There's more than one spoke in a wheel. Faith is just one. It's one faith. That's it. No other faith. You either have this faith, the faith of God's elect, or you don't have faith. What do you have? Well, you have a lie. One or the other.

In Ephesians 2.8, it says, faith is the gift of God. Not something you worked up. It's not something you determined to do. Faith is the gift of God. It's not of works. So what if it is? Then it's not true faith. Faith is the gift of God. It's not of works. And here's why, lest any man boast. Faith comes through the preaching of the gospel, number three.

You read about it in 1 Corinthians 1.21, it pleads God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. You read about it in Romans 10, verse 17, faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Go back a few verses and he'll tell you what that hearing's all about. How should you hear without a preacher?

And faith makes, known the elect of God. Did you know that? How in the world do I know if I'm one for whom Christ died? He'll give you faith. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. He's not going to damn his elect. Do you know in Titus chapter 1 verse 1, it's called the faith of God's elect. That's what it is. Nobody else has it. And Paul tells us in Hebrews 11 what faith is. It's the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not seen. What do you hope for? Eternal life? What's the basis of your hope?

The Word of God. I believe God. I believe God. What do you hope for? I hope for forgiveness of sins. What's the basis of it? I believe God. I believe God. He said, once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Do you believe that? Do you have a hope of standing before God justified Perfectly accepted in Christ, on what basis? We believe God. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. I believe God. He was delivered for our offenses, raised again for our justification. What is faith? It's the work of God in the mind, in the heart, and upon the will.

Whosoever will, he said, let him take of the water and lie free. And he says this, all his people shall be willing in the day of his power. What on earth is that talking about? Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the preaching of the gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. You see what I'm saying? Faith. There's just one faith. And he describes it.

And in this chapter, 40 verses are dedicated to showing you what faith is, how it's preserved, where it comes from. Everything you need to know about faith is stated in chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews. In chapter 11, he sets forth faith to persuade a people so entrenched in false religion, so settled in this longtime tradition. And he points them to a cloud of witnesses And boy, you go back and read Hebrews chapter 11, it makes up a cloud. Makes up a cloud. And that's kind of what I want to talk to you about this morning is this cloud of witnesses. The cloud here is an allusion to God's presence with Israel after their deliverance out of Egypt. How did they know God was with them?

He followed them in a cloud. He led them during the day and then he'd get behind them between them and Egypt in the evening. It was a fiery cloud for light and warmth at night. It was a shade during the day and a direction. They followed the cloud. The cloud was a witness to Israel of God's favor and blessing. What a comfort, seeing what that cloud had done and knowing something of their deliverance out of Egypt. how comforting it was to see that cloud. That's what Paul's telling us. There's a cloud. It's a cloud of witnesses. God's gathered together a great cloud. And oh, what warmth and comfort and light comes from that cloud.

What is that cloud? It's his church. That's one thing that it typifies. typifies God's presence. Where is God's presence in this world? In the church. He's not out there. He's in here. Where's he at? Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there shall I be in the midst. Where is he? In his church.

And here in Hebrews 12, he tells us we also are encompassed about with a great cloud of witnesses. Faith defined, faith demonstrated, faith honored, faith persuaded, faith that refuses, faith that moves, faith that translates, faith that understands, faith that lives where it has to and still glorifies God. Faith that begins life, gives life, sustains life, faith that forsakes evil, faith that makes us move where God's people are. Isn't that what happened to Moses? God's not here. He's with his people. I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm leaving. I'm going back to his people. Man, he was next in line to be Pharaoh in Egypt.

What does faith do? Hebrews chapter 11, listen to this, verse 33. It subdues kingdoms. What kingdom? Satan has a kingdom. It's in the hearts of all the fallen sons of Adam. But faith subdues those kingdoms. Rocks righteousness. Obtains promises. Changed men's lives. quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword. Out of weakness made men valiant and strong. Women received their children raised to life by faith.

Some were not delivered. Some were sacrificed in the arena to wild beasts, sawn asunder with wooden saws, like a big wooden cross-cut saw, cut them in half, tortured. And they endured, some of them endured trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, endured imprisonment. Sawn asunder, wandered about in goatskins and calfskins, sheepskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented, wandered about in deserts and dens and caves of the earth.

And not one of them, saved by faith, ever received the promise. Christ had not yet come in their lifetime. No one had redeemed them. No one had justified them. Nobody had sealed their salvation being received into glory and sitting at the right hand of God. And they endured all these things.

Looking for what? Well, our text is looking to Jesus. But he hasn't come yet. But he will. He will. They were persuaded of these things. They saw them afar off and were persuaded of them, and become strangers and pilgrims on the earth. That's how they lived. This is not our home. This world is not our home.

In the cave alone, Elijah. prayed to God to take him home. He said, I'm the only one left. You ever been there? You ever felt like, I'm the only one left. There ain't nobody else. You're not alone, Elijah. I've reserved 7,000 men who had vowed to me to bail. You're not alone. I have a multitude. Now, with these things in mind, I want I want to show you just a few of these witnesses that made up this great plan.

I want to begin where the Holy Ghost begins with creation. Creation is a witness of God's eternal purpose of grace. Did you know that? Before God ever created anything, he said, let there be light. He's talking about the light of Christ, the light of redemption. And then everything else he created was created in that light, spiritual light. He didn't create the sun until, what, the fourth or fifth day. It was down the line before he ever put the sun in heaven, or a moon, or stars, or anything like that. This light's spiritual light.

He said he's declaring that the very light of the glory of God is going to be seen in creation. Paul tells us in Romans 8, 9, that the earnest expectation of creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. That's why it's still here. That's why it's still being preserved. Let there be light.

That was God's first commandment concerning creation. Light is discernment, revelation, understanding. It's the light of Christ creating all things by him and for him. Isn't that what the scripture says? And he tells us in Romans 1 that creation and conscience are the two witnesses of God that leave all men without excuse. In Psalm 19, the Holy Ghost moves David's pen to write this, the heavens declare the glory of God and the earth showeth his handiwork. And day unto day utter speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. And there is no speech nor language where their word is not heard. It's a universal language.

Man has creation to look at. The second witness, he calls it the elders. The elders obtained a good report. Who's that? He's talking about Abel. He picked three out. There's about 10 generations there. before the flood, but he picks three out. He picks Abel, Enoch, and Noah. You read Hebrews chapter 11. He picks these three men out and talks about their faith. These men were all believers, and their faith is listed among those in the cloud.

Abel, he said, offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by faith. By faith, he understood when he slayed that lamb and laid it on the fire, he understood what that lamb was meant to represent. He had faith. He had discernment. He believed God. This is God's way. Salvation through the blood of the lamb. He understood that.

Cain didn't. And Cain just could not imagine a bloody lamb being the means to worship God. He couldn't imagine that. So he brought his carrots and beets and cabbage and whatever else he grew. And I'm sure it was a nice, but God had no respect to it whatsoever.

Enoch, you can read about he was a preacher. Jude tells you what he prophesied of. Tells you he was a preacher. He prophesied this ungodly generation, unbelievers. And he pleased God. He left that testimony. He pleased God. And old Enoch, he walked. He was the father of the oldest man on record, Methuselah. Enoch. But Enoch, he wasn't nearly the age of any of the rest of them recorded there in that genealogy. And it said, all of a sudden, Enoch was not. They couldn't find Enoch.

What happened? God took him. And before he took him, he left his testimony. He pleased God. But listen to what he says about that. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. It's not unlikely, it's impossible. And then Noah, he was moved with fear and prepared an ark to the saving of his house. How did he know an ark was going to survive the flood? He didn't even know what a flood was. It never rained up to this point. Being warned of God. Warned of God. God told him how to shape every piece of wood. He told it to his sons and they went out and whittled it. chopped on it until it took that form, and he put it together. And over time, he assembled an ark.

That's what pastors do. They tell you the discernment that God's given them. They tell you these things, and you spiritually put together that ark. You put together Christ. You see who he is, why he come, what he did, where he's at. All that he intends to do, you see God's salvation in him. and you assemble it by faith.

And that's what he tells you here about Noah. And then thirdly, you got the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Romans chapter 9, the apostle Paul uses these three men to show true Israel and God's elect. You can read about it yourself. In Galatians 3.29, he said, and if you be Christ, Then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. In Romans 9, 7, he says, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Isaac was the son of promise.

At this time, I'll come and you'll have a son. And what's he use Jacob for? To establish election. Isn't that what he said? The elder is going to serve the younger, as it's written, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. When did God say that? Before they were ever born or ever did any good or evil. Why did he say it? That the purpose of God according to election might stand.

Not of him that worketh, but of him that calleth. And then he talks about Moses. Here's another member of the cloud, Moses. Moses is always associated with the law, but what Paul shows us in Hebrews is that everything he had made concerning the law was made after the pattern that God showed him in the mount.

He made a tent, a tabernacle. Our bodies called a tabernacle. God made a tabernacle in Christ, didn't he? The only way you can worship him is in Christ. All the sacrifices, the priesthood, the furnishings, they all picture Christ and his work of the Father, the work that the Father sent him to do. And our Lord said to the Jews, had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. He didn't write of Christ, did he? He wrote about the tabernacle, wrote about creation. Yeah, he wrote about Christ. What he wrote about? But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words?

And then we got the prophets. They're in this class, all the prophets. Turn with me to Romans chapter 16. I want to show you something over here. The Old Testament scriptures lay a foundation for the new. Apart from the Old Testament scriptures, we have no basis for the New Testament. If all you got's a New Testament, you got about a third of a Bible. I used to say half a Bible, but it's not. It's about a third. Without this Old Testament foundation, you have no basis for the claims of the new.

Our Lord did this, did that, said this, said that. that as according as it's written, or that it might be fulfilled which was written." Over and over and over, he tells us that. They lay the foundation of the new, and without the writings of the prophets, the whole of the New Testament would be nothing but some man's opinion, some man's speculation. You remember the Sadducees came and tempted the Lord, said this man was married to a woman and he died and his brother took over that relationship and then he died and on and on it went. Now whose wife is she going to be in heaven? He said, you do err not knowing the scriptures. And we do too. That's where a lot of our problem comes from. We err not knowing the scriptures. Listen to this, Romans 16 verse 25.

Now to him, that's talking about God, that is a power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began but now is made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets.

According to the commandment of the everlasting God, it's made known for the obedience of faith. There's no doubt about who Jesus Christ is. He's the promised Redeemer. How do you know that? Because to Him give all the prophets witness. I rest my faith on these spiritual types and pictures Would I do that? Absolutely. Absolutely I would. In fact, God commands it.

Isn't that what he just said? It's according to the commandment of the everlasting God. Romans chapter 3 verses 24 through 26 is talking about the Lamb being set forth before Christ comes as our propitiation. He's talking about Old Testament saints, Old Testament sins, Old Testament justification. Call it what you will. That's what it is.

And then, sixthly, there's a host of believing examples of this faith. Rahab, the harlot, Gideon, Samson, David, Ruth, Boaz, on and on it goes. There's a host of believing examples. The list is nearly endless. And then what of the many sinners that have come to Christ? Demon possessed, impotent, lepers, blind men, deaf, paralyzed, sinners made saints by the Lord Jesus Christ. What about them? Are they not witnesses? Let me tell you something. Faith is a long distance run. It ain't a hundred yard dash.

That's what he's telling us here. And what's the first thing you tell it? Now, we got a man here that runs long distance races. You don't wear your backpack down there, do you, when you run? You lay aside every weight. I've got a long distance run. It's not a short jump. Religion takes off like it's going to fight a fire. Take off running. That's why they don't last very long. They fall by the wayside. It's a long distance run. So you're going to take off all the weight.

And the sin that so doth easily beset us. What in the world is he talking about? Unbelief. Boy, how quick. How quick. How easy it sets you aside. Maybe he's talking about the sin, our nature of sin. Same thing. Boy, the simplest lust, simplest desire, off the track we go. Have to lay it aside. Lay aside this weight, whatever these weights are.

Remember I told you about the hitchhiker? He's out there pouring down the rain, late at night. Got this big old backpack on, and he's out there, and he got his thumb out, and this car comes flying by, and he stops, and he runs up there to the car, and he gets in, Driver hears the door shut, and he's looking, you know, and there's nothing coming. So he pulls out on the road, and he turns around. This guy's sitting like this with his backpack.

He said, just throw your pack in the back seat. Oh, no, he said, you kind enough to pick me up. I carry my own pack. Well, God's carrying us and the pack. But if you want to carry it, you go ahead. But you don't need to. Lay aside the weight. Get it off.

Man, we weight ourselves down in this world, don't we? With everything under the sun, we just wait ourselves down and then expect to run this big long race. Don't have time to read a passage out of the Bible during the week. We're so busy. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. This race is a long distance race. The prize is eternal life. I'm not running for the fun of it. There's a prize. Surprise! Can I finish the race? One way, looking under Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith.

That's the only way you're going to make it. I'm going to make it the other way. But if you're looking to Him, you're going to get rid of the weight because He's carrying you and the weight. And that sin, all my sin, He put my sin away. I'm sinless in Him. That's how I need to walk. He's my hope. Christ in you, the hope of glory. You see what I'm saying? That's what he's saying here. Now, there's a lot more meat in Hebrews chapter 12. He talks about the love of God. You're going to run into obstacles on this race. And most of them, if not all of them, are our fault. These obstacles. We know they're out there, but we won't avoid them. We're going to be us. We're going to prove it. I'm somebody's.

No, you're not. And God will prove it to you before you die if you're one of his. You're nobody. He's everything. And he said, the Lord chastened us whom he loveth. He'll chasten you. I'm going to go this way. No. No, you're not. You're going to go this way. How many fathers here have had to take a child and tell him that? You're not going that way. Yes, I am. No, you're not. No, you're going to go this way.

That's what the Lord does. We do it for our own comfort, our own satisfaction. We make life a little easier on us. But the Lord does it because he loves you. He loves you. And he only chastens his own children. My dad never whipped a neighbor child, but boy, he He put stripes on my legs, but he never whipped a neighbor. He whipped his own son. May the Lord teach us, give us some insight into his word. What a wonderful, marvelous book.