Take your Bibles and turn with
me to Hebrews chapter 12. I wanna talk to you a little while
this morning about running the race that God has set before
us. There's no doubt, literally millions
of people this morning Men and women alike, all of them running
a race that has nothing to do with God or God's glory or the
salvation of His people. They're running. Paul said, I
run, but I don't run uncertainly, not as one that beateth the air,
but I run, I have a purpose in my running. I have an object
in my running. What this world runs is a race
designed for man. It's by him and for him and for
his glory. He has no idea what he's doing,
he's just running. He's just running. Paul said,
I don't run like one beating the air, just shadow boxing. That's not how I run this race. There was a woman of Samaria
that our Lord talked to, met her at the well, and she came
there to draw water. It was one of her own. He began to talk to her. And
she said, after he made some statements, she said, I perceive
that thou art a prophet. And he didn't say anything to
her. And she said, well, I'll just impress him with my knowledge
of religion. She said, our fathers worshiped
here in these mountains, and your fathers worshiped down in
Jerusalem. You know what our Lord told her?
He said, you worship you know not what. Now that's the race
out here in the world. They're running a race. They
don't know where they're going. They don't know what the prize
is, but they're running. They're running because somebody
told them to run. That's not what Paul's talking
about here. He said there is a race that
God has set before you. This is the race you have to
run. Paul warned Timothy not to give
heed to fables, that is, made up moral stories and endless
genealogies. He said, you avoid these men.
They desire to be teachers of the law, understanding neither
what they say or whereof they affirm. One man will stand up
and say something. He don't know what he's talking
about. Another man in the audience say, amen. That's what Paul said. They don't know what they're
talking about, nor whereof they affirm. Religion will set a race before
you and you'll run it in ignorance and zeal and have no idea what
the race is or what it has to do with the glory of God. If
somebody asks you, you can't give them an answer. I'll never forget inviting this
old fellow to come down to the revival meeting when I was in
religion and he said, why? And I said, well, we have an
evangelist down there. Well, what's he doing? I said,
he's preaching the gospel. He said, you wouldn't know the
gospel if you met it in the middle of the road. Bell had a big old long neck
blue ribbon beard drinking it and cut off jeans and telling
me that. I said, what do you mean I don't
know the gospel? He said, if you know the gospel,
what is it? And I couldn't tell him. I realized
for the first time in my life, I didn't know. I didn't know
the gospel. Now if I'd been hearing it preached,
I would have known it, wouldn't I? But they weren't preaching
the gospel. They were preaching free will.
They were preaching decisionism, hour walking, decision making, legalism. There is a race to be run and
it's one arranged by God and for his people and all those
called of God gonna run this race. And the apostle's intent here
in these verses is to press us to a patient and a constant exercise
of faith because we have trials to endure. The world doesn't
have trials, we have trials. Sure enough, trials, fiery trials,
how the scripture talks about them. We have chastisement to
receive from our Lord and from our Father. He don't chastise
people that ain't his children, but his children he chastises. He said, if he don't chastise
you, you're bastards and not sons. That's what the scripture
said. We've got trials. We have to pass through these
fiery trials. We have to go through chastisement.
We have to go through affliction. True believers are afflicted.
This world despises what they preach. They despise what they
say. They'll despise you because of it. We have affliction to bear. And
whatever God in his purpose of grace is pleased to put in our
path as we run this race. And he tells us here that there's
a great cloud of witnesses. Those witnesses are those who
have already or who are presently enduring such things and stand
as our example. Paul said you mark them that
walk this way before you. You have them as examples. And they're examples to us who
are also running in this race. Now in order to run in this race,
there's some things we need to know and some things we need
to lay aside. First thing we're advised to
lay aside is every weight. Now runners don't run in Carhartts.
I've been to races, they don't put on Carhartt's rustle and
work boots and go out there and run in the race. They get as little clothing on
as they're allowed to wear, and that's how they run. They get
rid of all that weight, all them boots, they'll wear a real light
pair of shoes. What are these weights that he's
talking about? Well, a weight is a burden, isn't
it? That's one of the things that
it means. It's a burden. Believers' lives here have been
so arranged in their, from the time they were little until the
time they're married, and then after they're married, and before
the Lord ever calls them, and so on, and their lives have been
so arranged to suit their wants and desires of the flesh. Everything
in their life is arranged in that. All their finances are
geared to that. Their time is geared to that.
Got a house payment, I need a car, I'd like to have a camper and
a boat, and on and on it goes. And so we arrange, our whole
life is arranged around those things. We need a retirement,
I'm gonna retire one of these days, I gotta have that, and
I gotta have this, and college funds, and on and on and on it
goes. There's no end to it, no end to it. And it all varies
according to the person. But as they're born of God and
taught of God, all this changes. Now they're living after the
Spirit and not after the flesh. Now they're beginning to lose
interest in this world and take interest in glory. Now they see
this whole thing down here is just temporary. It's just temporary. If you go back and read Hebrews
11, somebody said that's the roll call of faith. You go down
through there and the Lord points out the faith in each one of
these men's lives. And he points it out in Abraham's
life and his children, and he said this man sought for a city
that had foundations whose builder and maker was God. And he never
did build a house. Never did, he just lived in tents.
Why? Because he knew it was all temporary.
This is all temporary. We live like we're gonna live
forever right here on this earth, don't we? Everything we say and
do geared to that. Buddy, your life will pass so
fast. Somebody tell me how fast it was going by when I was only
about 21 years old. I said, where do you get to be
my age? It's like taking a book and fanning
the pages. That's how fast them days go.
The older you get, the faster it goes. This place is temporary. Temporary. My hope, our hope's
laid up in heaven, ain't it? That's where our hope is. I know
there's things we got to have, like our children. I want my
kids to go to college. If I can afford to put something
back for them, I will. But I don't, my whole life ain't
geared to that. It's changed. Paul said for me
to live now is Christ. His kingdom, his glory, his purpose. And so, slowly but surely, the
believer begins to mature in faith, and as he matures in faith,
he begins to rearrange his life according to his new objects,
according to these new motives and these new goals. And he rearranges
his life. We live after the spirit. We
live after the flesh, he said, you're gonna die. Now we're not trying to lay up
treasures on the earth, we're trying to lay up treasures in
heaven. And it takes a little while,
it don't happen overnight. Man not born of God and the next
day he goes out and changes all his finances and sells everything
he's got and all that. I've never seen that in my life.
But I have seen men's lives change. And it changes as they mature
in the faith. And all these things that was
once considered necessity, all of a sudden they become weights.
And he wants to lay them aside because they're hindering him. Weights are cares of this world.
It can take the form of anything, houses, money, food, success,
health, and on and on and on it go. And these things, though
they're worked for and sought after, are provided for us by
the Lord already. Paul told those people down there
were fighting over some man's reputation that they heard and
professed faith on. I was born a Paul. I was born
a Timotheus. I was, you know, and on and on
it goes. He said, don't you know All things are
yours in Christ. All things. Everything is yours in Christ.
You're a joint heir with him. And he goes to name some of them,
and one of them was the world. It's yours. It's yours. Anything you have need of, the
Lord won't hesitate to give it to you. He's not gonna just give
it to you because you want it, but he'll give it to you as you
need it. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also freely
give us all things? If he didn't spare his son, what's
he gonna spare? Another weight that needs to
be laid aside is this legal ceremonial rights and customs. We have to
keep the holy days. We have to do this, we have to
do that. Christ fulfilled those things. Christ is my Sabbath. We don't keep a Sabbath day.
Christ is my Sabbath. He's my rest. He's my rest. You can read about it in Hebrews
chapter four. He'll tell you the same thing. Another weight that needs to
be laid aside is these legal ceremonial things and things
which were fulfilled in Christ. He's my Passover. I don't need
to keep the Passover. He's my Passover. He's the first fruits. He's the
sin offering. He's my sanctification. And the
only way for a believer to view the law is to see it honored
and exalted in Christ. With the mind, Paul said, I serve
the law of God with the mind of Christ. That's the only way
it can be served. And then another weight that must be laid aside
is vain glory. Glorying in yourself, boy. Remember
that story about Nebuchadnezzar? He's way up here on the hanging
gardens of Babylon, Got them fingers, I was picturing him
with fingers in his suspenders and he looking down and he said,
it is not this great Babylon that I built by the work of my
hands, according to my purpose, according
to my will. He was just glorying all over
in himself. Then the Lord brought him down
and he quit glorying in himself, didn't he? Bangalore is a weight. It's a weight and it hinders
us in this race. Pride, being puffed up, thinking
too highly of ourselves, and then struggling to maintain it. And then one version of the Bible
actually says that this word weight means the weight of luxury.
Luxury. living above our means, putting
on a show, pretending to be something we're not. But overall, I think
the weight, and he says here to lay aside the weight and,
now you're gonna connect that with something, and that sin
that so doth easily beset us. What is the sin so doth easily
beset us? What is it? Talking about adultery
here? No. Well, what in the world is
he talking about? He specifically says there's
a sin and it just easily besets that. It's the sin of unbelief. That's what it is. He said lay
it aside. Lay it aside. I've heard people actually, and
I've read old writers, and I quit reading them just for this purpose,
is because they want to look at unbelief and try to use that
as evidence of the Lord's work in them. Unbelief is evidence of your
sin, not evidence of the work of Christ in you. Christ in you,
we believe God. That's the evidence of faith.
We believe him. Not unbelief. Unbelief is the
expression of this flesh. And there's nothing that so hinders
the believer as his or hers unbelief. It's the granddaddy of all sins,
unbelief. That man brought his demon-possessed
son. He'd taken him to everybody,
took him to the disciples, took him to everybody, and nobody
do him any good. He finally brought him down to
Christ, and he said, if you can do anything, have compassion
on us. Can you imagine? This is the
son of God you're talking to. If you could do anything. Well,
he'd do anything. What can he do? He made the world. He spoke and it was finished.
He commanded and it stood fast. What can he do? He healed the
leper. By word, his leprosy was gone. He raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus come out of there. He
come out of there. What can he do if thou can do anything? Have compassion on us. Jesus
answered him and said, if thou can't believe, all things are
possible to them that believe. We had faith as a grain of mustard
seed. Our Lord said we could say to
that mountain, get out of here in that mountain and move. If
we just had that much faith. How come? Because faith rests
in Christ. That's why. It rests, the only
way you can run this race is to rest in Christ. The only way
you can do it. He's accomplished our salvation,
he reigns in glory to guarantee it. We're accepted in him, we're
joint heirs with him, and we walk as though we were altogether
ignorant of him. To me, this is both the weight
and the sin that does so easily beset us. And then secondly,
we're told to run this race with patience, this race that God
has set before. You see, the race is not a 100-yard
dash. It's a lifetime race. It's not a 100-yard dash. Religion
pumps you up, boy. Out that door, you go full blast. Going out here, dude, you don't
even know what. You're just gone. And they made
you believe that's what it was, and that's why men look back
to that aisle that they walked, or that bench they nailed out,
or that prayer they prayed, or whatever. That profession of
faith. I can tell you the time and the
place. You can't do any such thing. You can't go back in your
own life and tell me when you was born somebody told you that's
the only reason you know. You wasn't aware of it. You was
pretty good age before you had any concept of it. It's the same thing when you're
born of God. You don't run back to that time. I remember being
born. You don't do any such thing.
You know what, Paul? The Thessalonians didn't say,
we know our election of God. They didn't. But Paul told them,
he said, I know your election of God. And this is how I know
it and how you can know it. The gospel didn't come unto you
in word only, it come in power, come in the Holy Ghost. You become
followers of us and the Lord. You become examples of all them
that believe. You live the same way they do.
You run the same race they do. You run it the same way they
do. You become examples. You turn to God from your idols. This race doesn't go to the fastest. He that endures to the end, the
same shall be saved. It's an endurance race, and this
race has obstacles to overcome, things to go around, things to
avoid, things to go through, things to climb over. And the
only way it can successfully be run is with patience, with
patience. And a man who runs with patience
is a wise man. He listened closely to the judges
when they described the course to him. He thought, man, I ain't
gonna take off down there for a blast. There's blind spots, there's
cliffs, I'll run right off the cliff. And they quickly learned by some
falls They quickly learned as they came upon hurdles. You know what the scripture said?
Tribulation worketh patience. That's how patience come. Trouble, trouble. You have trouble, God delivers
you from it. Have some more trouble, God delivers
it. After a while, you patiently endure because you know he's
gonna deliver you. Patience. Patience, experience, and experience
hope. There's a race to be run. And it's not hidden, but it's
set before us. And it's been run by many already. It's a long distance race. It goes as long as you live in
this world. And we can't, you can't run this
race flat out. We do well if we just set a pace
and patiently run it as the Lord gives us instruction. And then thirdly, Paul instructs
us as to what to do and how to run this race. He said you run
this race, Look down there in verse two, looking unto Jesus. How we run it? Looking unto Jesus,
the author and the finisher of our faith. We don't need anything
else for faith but him. If you look to him, you're looking
to God. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. No man has seen
God at any time, but we've seen Him in Christ. We know something
of Him because He was manifested in Jesus Christ. This is God
come into the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law. The believers look to Christ
and they look to him alone. They look with a view of his
eternal appointments. What are you talking about, preachers? Well, it means they recognize
him as one chosen of God and appointed by God for the salvation
of chosen sinners. and chosen to manifest the glory
of God. He didn't save and then become
a Savior. He was appointed Savior and then
came to save. Is that right? That's what it
says. He didn't redeem his elect. and then become our Redeemer,
he was chosen to redeem and then came to fulfill the will of God. He didn't make peace by the blood
of his cross and then become God's mediator, he was chosen
as God's mediator and for that reason he came and redeemed his
people, mediated the peace. And Jesus Christ did nothing
in time which was not for which he was not chosen from all eternity
to do. Do you know the scripture said
that he is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world?
That's right. Paul said God has saved us, called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ. God purposed to save us in him
before the worlds were ever created. Never a man had set foot on the
planet yet, and their salvation was already ordered and ordained
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 1.9, Paul
tells us that God has made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure, which he's purposed in himself,
that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, which
are on earth, even in him. That is, in the administration
of times, which was given to him, in the administration of
the fullness of time, before ordained, and by divinely given
stewardship, God will gather everything in one in Christ,
in his own time. And God revealed this to us.
We didn't just sit around and come up with it. I didn't read
old John Gill or somebody and come up with it. God did this and revealed it
to us. Things in heaven, things which
are on earth, everything gonna be gathered together in one in
him. In whom also, verse 11, we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. You say, I don't
understand all that. You don't have to. Just believe
it. God said it, I didn't say it.
Holy Ghost inspired His men to write this. And believers see Him and constantly
look to Him as the author and finisher of their faith. He's
the object of it. He's the giver of it. It's not
humanly possible. I don't know if you even know
this or have even thought about it, but it's not humanly possible
for any man to believe. Did you know that? Not possible. He said, there's none that understand
it. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone astray. When
did they go astray? They went astray as soon as they'd
be born, speaking lies. They said, what can we do to
work the works of God? He said, this is the work of
God that you believe on him whom God has sent. That's the work. That ain't the work of man. It's
the work of God. Faith's eye is on the eternal
Christ, who is the author of our faith. And faith would be
of little benefit without Christ. In fact, Ephesians 2 tells us
that our quickening with Him, our justification in Him, our
acceptance with God with Him, was done so that in the ages
to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith. Now listen, and that, not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man
should boast. For, now listen, we are his workmanship. His workmanship. And once faith is created in
the heart, It never takes its eyes off Christ. It always looks to Christ. Some folks have said over time,
I was told there was a man here that said it. But there's been
men everywhere I've ever been who said this, and they'll keep
right on saying it. Okay, okay, you've read the scriptures,
I get it. Now let's move on. Move on to
what? He's the author and finisher.
Where are we gonna go? We're not gonna sit around and
discuss creation. We're gonna sit around and discuss
what heavenly glory is gonna be like, which we ain't got a
clue. What are we gonna discuss? Well, we need to preach. You
need to get away from this stuff, start preaching practical godliness. Only godliness I have, Christ. What thing have you ever done?
What thought have you ever thought? What word have you ever said
that you think would stand alone before the holy God? Here it
is, here it is, God. Huh, really? You got something
you wanna offer up to God? My soul. The only godliness I have is
in Christ. The Holy Ghost said this, without
faith it is impossible to please God. Impossible. Didn't say it wasn't likely,
he said it's impossible. And over and over God speaks
to men and he tells them, this is my beloved son in whom I'm
well pleased. Well, if he's well pleased in
him, let me just rest in him. Now he's well pleased with me. You can't run this race without
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And
thank God for maintaining a faith. That maintenance of faith is
in his hands. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. What is this revelation of salvation
but Christ himself? He's salvation. What's your hope,
preacher? Christ. Christ, I don't even
have to think about it, Christ. Yeah, but it's gotta be something
else. No, I'm resting in him alone. The maintenance of this faith
is in his hands, but there's also a perseverance of faith.
In Hebrews 10, 38, it says, now the just shall live by faith,
but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no, Pleasure
in him. But, he said, thank God for that. But, we are not of them who draw
back to perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul. You know why? Because what God's
created in you, he gonna perform it unto that day. God gives the gift of faith.
He defines it clearly. And he tells us in no uncertain
terms that this faith will be tried and proven to be of him. He gonna pass it through the
fire. He gonna take it through the trials. He gonna do all of
these things that he might prove that this was his gift in you. This race is a race of faith.
And it's a long run. and it must be run with a patient
looking to Christ, hoping in Christ, resting in Christ, and
rejoicing in Christ. In Colossians 121, he tells us
that chosen sinners have been reconciled to God in the body
of his flesh through death, that he might present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. if you continue
in the faith. It's not just for everybody who
said, well, I've got it. We'll see. We'll see. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel. Now then, the question is, what
race am I running? Am I running the race that the
world set before me or the race that God set before me? If you're running the race which
God has set before us, then we must run it according to his
instruction. And we must depend on him for
the gift of maintenance. And we must look to the means
which is Christ himself. Run this race with our eyes fixed
on Christ. He's our forerunner. Isn't that
what scripture said? Our forerunner. And he's entered
into heaven and our anchor chain's tied to him. And we run this
race being encouraged by all those who have gone ahead. All
those like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all these old men, these old
patriarchs, all those New Testament saints, Paul, Peter, all these
men. We're surrounded, he said, by
a great cloud of witnesses. And these men have already run
this race, and they run it with patience, and they run it by
faith, and God commends them for it. And then he said, therefore,
you run this race now. You run this race. But you run
it looking unto Jesus. You can be encouraged by these
old men, but you keep your eyes fastened on him. He's your hope,
he's your salvation. May the Lord give us some understanding
of what I've said here today, myself included.