Let's look at the text again,
Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 and 2, wherefore seeing that we also
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. I used to skip over chapter 11
of Hebrews. It appeared to me to be like
one of those chapters of genealogy, the house and line of different
people, but chapter 11 of Hebrews is a very sacred and solemn and
serious experience. In that chapter 11 of Hebrews,
Paul takes us by the hand. and leads us through God's hall
of fame. He leads us through that place, the spiritual hall of fame. And the first picture there,
he stops and he says, look, that's Abel. By faith, Abel offered
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. I don't know how old Abel
was when he died. But that young man believed God. That young man stood for the
cross, the blood sacrifice. It cost him his life. He was
slain by his self-righteous brother. He was the first martyr who was
slain by the advocates of salvation by works. But he believed God. And then he moved on. He said,
there's Enoch. There's Enoch. Enoch was a public
man, a leader of men, a family man, an important man, an influential
man. But that man walked with God.
Enoch walked with God. Enoch walked with God in a personal,
intimate fellowship so real that one day he just walked right
on into heaven, walking with God. And he's still walking with
God. And then he moved on down, and
he says, there's Abraham. Look, there's Abraham. There's
a man that by faith was willing to leave his home. He grew up
in this place, and he loved his mama and daddy, and he loved
his brothers and sisters, and he loved his community, and he
loved his neighbors and friends. Oh, they were pagans. They were idolaters. They didn't
know the living God. Abraham didn't either. But one
day God called him. And that man by faith dared to
leave all of these things that up to this time were so dear
to him, so important to him, of such great value to him. But his walk with God, his love
for God, his faith in God was more important to him than anything
that that this world had to offer. He was willing to leave home
and wander in the wilderness, in the desert, never owned anything
as far as the world is concerned. No land, no mansion, no kingdom,
just wandered, lived in tents all his life by faith. And then he moved on. He said, here's Noah. Here's
Noah. Now, here's a man that for 120
years was ridiculed. Here was a man who believed God.
Oh, how he believed God, who dared to stand alone. Oh, his
three sons believed on him and his three daughters-in-law, but
you know, you expect a man's son to stand by him and to defend
him, but he was the only one. And he talked about judgment.
They'd never seen judgment. He talked about floods. They'd
never seen floods. He talked about things they'd
never seen and therefore they didn't believe. But God told
him about these things. And God revealed these things
to him and he dared to believe them. And all the skeptics and
agnostics and doubters didn't change his mind for 120 years
he persevered in this faith. Well, it all came true. But that
didn't make it any easier for Noah. But he dared, by faith. That's the reason he's here.
That's the reason his picture's here. That's the reason I mention
him. Because he dared to be different and to stand alone and to believe
God. Although nobody in his factory,
nobody in his store, nobody in his community, nobody in his
neighborhood believed that stuff. But he did. He did. And he went on down and he said,
here's a man named Moses. Here's Moses. Moses turned his
back on a throne. Moses was raised in Egypt, the
son of Pharaoh's daughter, educated in the schools of Egypt. knew
something about the pleasures of Egypt and the luxuries of
Egypt and the fame of Egypt and the power of Egypt and yet he
dared by faith to turn his back and walk away from it because
he chose rather to suffer the afflictions of God's people.
Now you've got to naturally speaking and in the wisdom of human thinking
and normal, natural men. Here's Moses, 40 years old. He's had everything. He's been
living in the lap of luxury and power. And when he walked down
the street, people say, there goes Moses. And there goes the
next pharaoh or the next king. And he was an educated man, and
he knew science and he knew mathematics and he knew all these things
that other people didn't know. He was somebody. And then to
turn just a few hours and look over here and here he sits cross-legged
on a mountainside with an old robe on his back and a shepherd's
staff in his hand sitting there picking up rocks and tossing
them while sheep graze on the hillside. That's not good sense. No, but it's spiritual sense.
Moses knew what he was doing. He knew these things of Egypt
were anti-God. He knew these things of Egypt
were anti-Christ. He knew these things of Egypt
were anti-truth. He knew these things would be
destroyed, ultimately wiped away, even with their memory. But he
knew walking with God a man who lived always. So by faith he
left that situation. He turned his back on it. And he walked with God. And
Paul goes on and he said, with a wave of the hand, we went by
all of these men and the others, Sarah, Jethro, David, Daniel,
Rahab, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, time would fail me, he
said, men and women of whom the world was not worthy, men and
women who knew God and who had one object of life, one object,
it's found in verse 35, the last line, that they might obtain
a better resurrection. That was it, that they might
obtain a better resurrection. Paul knew something about this.
Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him, that I may know
him and the power of his resurrection, that I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead. And as I walk among those giants
of faith, as I say, I used to skip that chapter, but now I
camp in that chapter. I sit in that room and I think,
what in the I do in here. Little faith. What sacrifice have I ever made
for what I believe? What has it ever cost me to be
a Christian? What boldness and courage have
I ever demonstrated to be numbered among these? And that's what Paul is saying
in chapter 12, the next verse, he says, wherefore, seeing we
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, examples. This is what, as I told our ladies
in the class this morning, don't, the Bible as a historical book
is worth nothing to you personally. The Bible as a religious almanac
is worth nothing to you personally. But as we read the Word of God
and bring it down to my personal situation, relationship with
God, past, present, and future, then it means something. And Paul takes us, here's Abel,
take a good look, think about it, by faith, Abel, by faith,
Enoch, by faith, Noah, by faith, Abraham, by faith, Moses, by
faith, David, Daniel, Jethro, and all the others of whom the
world was not worthy. With one object and one goal
and one aim, to win Christ, to know God, to obtain a better
resurrection, to live eternally, They dared to do these things.
Therefore, seeing you and I are encompassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses who've gone before, let us do what? Lay aside every weight. A man doesn't run a race seriously, effectively, or with any hope
to win, weighted down with all of the unnecessary things of this world. And the Christian,
this thing of walking with God is compared to a fight. Paul
said, I fought a good fight, a conflict, and a race. Now I don't know a great deal
about track, but I see these young men and young women who
are running track. They don't even wear socks. They don't need
them. They don't wear a raincoat and
galoshes and carry an overnight bag and carry a snack or a lunch
pail or a thermos jug. They wear as little as they can
possibly put on to effectively. They're serious. They're dead
serious about running this race. They're dead serious about crossing
that line. They're dead serious about winning
this race. So they lay aside everything
that would hinder them from winning this race. Now this is what he's
talking to us about, laying aside every association, every ambition,
every alliance, every attitude. every connection that doesn't
make a contribution to my running this race. That's what he said. Now see if you don't, you do
what you want to with this, that's all you can do anyway, but you
don't, reading this and sliding over it and leaving it back yonder
doesn't help me. I've got to apply this to my
own personal relationship with God. I am, if I'm with this company,
If I've got the same goal they have, and I better have, to know God, to walk with God,
to attain a better resurrection, then I've got to lay aside these
weights that are making no contribution whatsoever to my run in this
race. They're making no contribution
to my relationship with God. Rather, they are slowing me down. They're slowing me down in my
growth, slowing me down in my race, they're slowing me down
in my relationship with their hindering. And the sin, read
on, and the sin which does so easily beset us, not only must
care and concern for the flesh be laid aside, but also these
sins of the flesh, pride and envy and lust and malice and
jealousy and hatred and all these things, these things that come
so natural to the human flesh. That sin which does so easily
beset me personally, that sin which does so easily weigh me
down personally, that's personal to me, that's my problem, not
everybody else's problem, my problem. Lay it aside and run with patience. What is patience? Waiting on the Lord. Does the
way seem long? Does the race seem long? Does
the track seem long? Does the finish line seem so
far away? Wait on the Lord. Be patient. Oh, preacher, it seems so long.
I get so weary. Well, some don't run quite as
long as others, but some run a long time. David Brainerd died
when he was 29 years old. Charles Spurgeon, 58, but old
John Gill lived until he was almost useless. Long ways. I don't know how long. I just
know we'll wait on the Lord. Does the wait seem mysterious?
The more mysteries that are unfolded, the more that we discover. Well, we see through a glass
dimly. We know in part. We prophesy. Does the way seem
hard? Paul said, Father, remove this
thorn. He said, My grace is sufficient.
Does the way seem lonely? Lonely. He said, I'll never leave
you. You're not running alone. Does
the way seem filled with enemies and trouble and conflict? He
said, that will work for your good too. All things. Does the way seem, do you seem
unimportant? Zechariah said, don't despise
the day of little things. Every runner is important to
God. And when least expected, he'll
use you. Sometimes we are so ambitious
to do great things that we miss the slingshots that God uses
to deliver a nation. We're so taken up with great,
we want to do great things, we want to preach to great crowds,
we want to accomplish great things, and we miss that slingshot and
five, four, three stones or however many David picked up. We're all
geared to do great things, we're trained to do great things, we're
aspiring to do great things to influence a lot of people, and
we miss the Ethiopian unit. Or perhaps we dismiss the loaves
and fishes as too little. I could stand here this morning
and go to time to preach tonight, giving you examples of God using
little things. that the person, when they did
it, said it, had no idea of what would happen as a result. Our
missionary program in Mexico, the school, the 25 preacher boys,
Walter's work, the mission, all of this started, as far as we're
concerned, with one small check that a believer in this church
sent after reading Walter's name in a religious publication. A
most unassuming, unpretentious, unplanned, just reading a religious
magazine, he saw Walter Gruber, the missionary in Mexico, needs
help, so he ought to send him some help. He wrote him a check
and sent it to him. Some time passed, and Walter
had been in Mexico about five or six years. I was in Birmingham
in a Bible conference, and I told him, I said, Come by the church,
I'd like to get acquainted with you, and I'd like our people
to get acquainted with you sometime when you're up that way. Well,
he said, I might do that. Well, he was up our state down
south, and he was in Charleston. He had an old Ford truck with
135,000 miles on it, wired together. just about wired together. He
had no money in his pocket, very little support. They had no screens
on their windows in Mexico. They didn't have enough food
to eat. They didn't have enough support. And they were getting
ready to leave Mexico and come back to this country and give
it up. And he was riding down the highway.
He said, what about that check? I'm coming to it. He's in Charleston,
he's riding down the highway, going to Houston, Betty and Walter,
they had $78 in their pocket that a church had given them,
scarcely enough to buy gas on. And she says, let's go home.
He said, I'm ready. They were riding down 64 by Ashland
Oil, headed for Houston. And she says, let's just about
come on back to the United States and give it up. He said, I'm
about to that place. And they passed a sign, it said
Catlisburg, Kentucky. And Walter put on the brakes,
and he said, that man from Catlisburg named Eddie Robinette sent me
a check. I'm going to run by and say hello to him and thank
him. She says, let's go on to Houston. No, he said, I'm going
to run by and say hello to Eddie Robinette. He turned off the
road, found Eddie's house. And some of the men of this church
met in a home with Eddie's home and gave Walter some money and
told him to stay till I came in town, that I wanted to see
him. Well, the next day, he and Betty thought, well, we're going
to Houston. He doesn't want to see us, or he just said that
being polite. So they came over here to church
to see if I was here, and I wasn't here. And they were leaving to
drive out the parking lot, and Charlie Payne swung in the parking
lot and said, where are you going? Walter said, to Houston. He said,
no, you're not. You're going to stay right here
till my pastor gets home. But Walter left here the next
Monday or Tuesday with a new truck and with $1,300 in his
pocket. and enough support to keep him
on the field. And every bit of it goes back to an insignificant,
unassuming, unplanned check for $20 or $25
or $50, whatever it was, sent to a missionary. One day, I could
tell you how a lot of people got started here in the Gulf.
Margie and Aaron lived across the street from the Harders up
in Barbersville. And one day, Lucy Harder, who came to this
church, went over into the yard. Margie was standing there, didn't
know the gospel. Lucy said, it's time for church,
and for some reason we can't go, and I want to be there so
badly. I hate to miss. Margie said, I wish my church
was interesting enough to want to go. That's all Lucy needed. She went over to the house and
got a tape, you know, and came back with it. You see how it
opens, and here they are, been here ten years. Little things. We look for, we're
going to knock a home run, and we miss all these little things. Faithful, you be faithful in
a few things, God said, I'll make you rule over many. And
great things are never going to be done by folks that look
for them. It's a little thing. Little thing.
Faithful. Loyal. These men by faith, I
look at Ed Stevens sitting there, God's blessed us with a relationship
here, but when we, I didn't know him, he wasn't attending church,
he didn't know the gospel, and M. Adkins, one of the men here
was going to build this church, he said, I got a cousin, a nephew
in the contracting business, you ought to see him, just a
word. So I went down to Ed's house, and there he is, and here
we are. Little things, I don't know how
to explain this, but despise not the day of little things.
Little things, little words, little deeds. But walking with Christ, you've
got, and we miss these little words here, look at verse 2,
looking unto Jesus, there's three little words, looking unto Jesus.
Let us lay aside these things that weight us down, and these
sins which are so peculiar to us, our indifference and our bigotry
and our prejudice and our pride and our own personal oddities
that keep us from walking with God like we ought to, running
the race like we ought to, our moodiness and depression and
despair and all these things that are so easily beset us.
Throw us off. What is it that throws you off?
Find out what it is and throw it off. And run that race with patience. I'm in this race with God Almighty.
I may be the smallest one, I may be the slowest one, I may be
the dumbest one, I may be the least one, I may be the most
important, least important one, but with God's hands on me, great
things can be done. But I've got to run it with patience.
I don't care how dark the way gets, how rocky it gets, how...
There's nobody in the stands watching me. I'm running all
alone, you know. Nobody knows I'm running, but
I'm running. There's nobody clapping and nobody
cheering and nobody saying, look at him, look at him. He's running,
he's great, he did the... No, I'm out there by myself.
As far as the world's concerned, but my Lord's with me. And we're
running a race. And we're headed for the finish
line. And you know who I got my eyes on? Looking unto Jesus. I'm not looking at the stands
to see if they appreciate me. I'm not looking at the other
runners to see if I'm keeping up with them. See what I'm saying? Well, he's running a little faster
than I am. He knows a little more than I am. He's a little
more gifted than I am. He's a little stronger than I
am. No, I'm not looking at them. I'm not looking at them. I'm not looking at my successes
or my failures. I'm not looking at my strength
or weakness. I'm not looking at my blessings
or sorrows. I'm not looking at my brethren.
I'm looking to Jesus. Where do I see him? Well, let
me just give you this brief. I see him in the scriptures.
I've got to get acquainted with this book. I've got to get acquainted
with this book. I've got to read it as I've never
read it before. I don't mean length of time.
I mean in consecrated study to find God's way. I've got to read
it as I've never read it before. Not more than I've read it before,
but as I've never read it before. And I find Christ not only in
the scripture, but I look to him in the covenant of mercy.
I look to Christ as the reason why God pays any attention to
me. Because of Christ. He chose me in Christ. He loved
me in Christ. He blessed me in Christ. He accepted
me in Christ. He pleased God that in Christ
should all fullness dwell. I look to Christ in the flesh,
my representative. He imputed to me a perfect righteousness. I look to Christ on the cross
as my substitute, made sin for me. I look to Christ in the tomb
as my scapegoat, the curse exhausted, the penalty paid. I look to Christ
risen as my justifier, seated as my mediator, coming as my
king. I look to Christ. Not around me, but to Him. I'm running with my eye on Christ.
They may pass me up, they may slow down, they may fall aside,
beside me and fall out of the race and drop out, they may run
faster for two miles and after a while I see them sitting on
the roadside, but I'm looking to Christ. And with my eyes on
Him. This race can be run. This race
can be finished. looking to Christ so completely
that my eyes see no other, looking to Christ so totally my ears
hear no other, my heart loves no other, my hands hold no other,
my mind thinks on no other, my feet serve no others, my lips
praise no others, looking to Christ. His name yields the richest profit. sweeter than music, his voice,
his presence disperses my gloom and makes all within me rejoice. I should, were he always thus
now, have nothing to wish nor to fear, no mortal as happy as
I, my summers would last all the year. content with beholding
his face, my all to his pleasure resigned. No changes of season
or place would make any change in my mind. While blessed with
a sense of his love, a palace, a toy, would appear, and presents
would palaces prove if he had dwelled with me there. There
is the key. I am compassed about with so
great a cloud of witnesses. I am running I'm to lay aside
these things that weight me down, that hinder my running, these
sins that are so peculiar to me, that cause me my difficulty. And I'm to run with patience,
patience, patience, waiting on the Lord, deliberate patience
and long suffering. Whether I go through the rain
or the storm or the cloud or the sunshine, whether there's
nobody watching or everybody watching, whether I go fast or
slow, whether I go alone or together, I'm looking to Jesus. I started this race looking to
him. That's how I got started on this race. As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up that whosoever believeth or looketh upon him. That's how
I got started, looking to Christ. When the Lord saved me, I wasn't
looking at a preacher. I wasn't looking at a congregation.
I wasn't looking at the failures of other people and the inconsistencies
of other people and this, that, and the other. I was looking
to Christ when God saved me. That's how God saved me, looking
to Christ. That's how God saved me. And that's how God keeps
me looking to Christ. I never quit coming to Christ.
To whom coming is a living stone. I never stopped leaning on Christ.
I never stopped drawing from Christ. I never stopped looking
to Christ. And I'll guarantee you this,
if Satan can even get you to look to your faith, You're defeated. It's looking to Christ. If he
can get you to look to somebody or something, he's defeated you. You've dropped out of the race.
You quit looking to Christ. Quit looking to Christ. You started
looking at somebody else, or at yourself, or feeling sorry
for yourself. You became an ex-runner. Because you quit looking to Christ.
And I'm going to wind this thing up, looking to Christ. When I
see him, I'll be like him. When I see him, I'll be like
him. This is the solution. I'm giving you three little words.
Despise not the day of little things. I'm giving you three
little words. Look into Jesus. Look into Jesus. Oh, John Jasper. Bob and I have
been reading a book about John Jasper's life. Maybe we'll get
some of them. Some of you all can. You wouldn't
agree with everything in it, but who does with everything
in anything except this? But old John Jasper, he got to
talking about dying and going to heaven. And he said, old John
Jasper went up there and said that it was an angel stopped
me and said, John Jasper, would you like to see Moses? Moses,
the great man of God, Moses who led the people out of Egypt like
God instructed him, Moses who is such a picture of the black
man, you, in bondage and then in freedom through Christ. Yes
sir, he said to the angel, I'd like to see Moses, I'd love to
see Moses, but not now. Well, John Jesper, here's Abraham. Abraham, he's the father of the
faithful. He's the man who walked out of
his home and walked with God. Would you like to see Abraham?
Yes, I'd sure like to see Abraham. He was a man of faith. He believed
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness, and he was
willing even to kill his own son because he loved God. I'd
sure like to see Abraham, but not now. And the angel got a little bit
disturbed with him, he said. The angel said, Would you like
to see David then? Oh, he said, David. I'd sure
like to see David. David, the man after God's own
heart. I'd like to see a man after God's
own heart. Oh, I'd like to sit at the feet
of a man after God's own heart. But I'd like to see David, Mr.
Angel, but not now. Not now. And the angel got even
further disturbed, and he said, Would you like to see John and
Peter? Oh, he said, I sure would. You
mean I'm going to get to see John, the beloved, and Peter,
the apostle who preached at Pentecost? Peter, the great preacher of
Pentecost. I'd sure like to see Peter and
John and Paul, but not now. And the angel got real upset,
and he said to John Jasper, well, John Jasper said, Would you like
to see your mama Tina? Your mama who washed and picked
cotton and slaved for you, you and your nine or ten brothers
and sisters, and gave her little old frail body and life to bring
you into the world, and took care of you, and nourished you,
and cherished you, and fed you, and did without for you. She's
with the Lord. Would you like to see her? Yeah,
sure. I love my mama. Sure love my mama. And I sure
want to see my mama, she meant so much to me. She led me to
the Lord. She pointed me to Christ. She gave me to God before I was
born. When I was out there in the world,
she never quit loving me. When I was gambling and drinking,
she never quit praying for me. I sure like to see my mama, but
not now. And the angel said, John Jasper,
if you don't want to see Moses, and you don't want to see Abraham,
and you don't want to see David and Paul and James and John,
and you don't want to see your mama, who do you want to see?
He said, I'd sure like to see my Lord. I want to spend the
first million years looking at Christ. You see, that's been
the object of my very life and the goal of my very soul, to
see Him, whom my soul loveth. Looking unto Jesus. Brethren,
I can't give you three more important words in all of this book of
important words. I can't give you any more motive
or instructions that will mean more to your eternity-bound soul
than these three words. Look unto Jesus, and don't ever
quit looking. Don't ever quit looking, because
you can't run this race without looking to him. He's the goal.
He's the object of faith. That's what it's all about. And
anything else is just tread and water, that's all, running in
the same place, looking to Christ. Our Father used the message,
for whatever it pleaseeth thee, that none can break the stony
heart, but the power of our God, There is none who can turn our
eyes away from the things of this world but the grace of our
Lord. There is none who can beget spiritual
life where there is no life but the power of our God. There is
none who can save the guilty sinner, cleanse the filthy soul,
or put away the condemnation and curse of the law but Christ
Jesus and his precious He's all we have and all we want. He's
all we need and all you require. Christ is all and in all. May
we see the importance of our Lord, the glory of our Lord,
the beauty of our Lord. And in this race, Lord help us,
Help us patiently and in a long-suffering manner, whatever the conditions,
environment, surroundings are, let us run with patience looking
to Christ in a persevering manner, loyal, true, day by day, despising
not the little things, waiting to be used in whatever way it
pleases thee. For Christ's sake we pray.