Hebrews 12:1-3 Running Life's Race Of Faith

The speaker is excited about finishing the book of Hebrews and emphasizes that Jesus is superior to everything. They begin with a prayer thanking God for His word and asking for guidance. They then discuss running life's race of faith, using the cloud of witnesses as motivation. The cloud of witnesses refers to heroes of faith from the Old Testament who endured hardships and remained faithful to God. The speaker encourages the audience to be a cloud of witnesses themselves by living a life of faith. They highlight the importance of keeping our eyes on Jesus and relying on God's strength. The speaker concludes by reminding the audience that God is big enough to handle any challenge and encourages them to live in a way that others can see the power of God in their lives. Tonight and six more. Six more. Six more weeks and we'll be all done. After tonight. So that'll be great. We'll be finished with the book of Hebrews. Hebrews is a great book. Jesus is superior to everything. He's all in all. He's the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. How good does that get? Amen. That's great. So, let's pray and open this day. Dear Lord, thank you for this day that you've made and thank you for helping us to be glad and to rejoice in it because you put Jesus Christ at the very forefront. Thank you for your word, which is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, divides to the sword and soul, and the spirit joins to the marrow. It's a discerner of the motives and intents of the heart. What we know not, dear Lord, teach us. What we have not, dear Lord, give us. And what we are not, dear Lord, make us. Make us to be like you, conformed to the image of your Son, Jesus Christ. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. All right, David. Have fun. We're going to run a race tonight. You ready to get your track shoes on? You ready to go? All right. We're going to go through three verses. Here we go. Running life's race of faith. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance in the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. How? Right? Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and set down at the right hand the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. So, we're going to run life's race of faith. The first thing we notice is it requires motivation. It requires motivation. So, who's the cloud of witnesses, and what have they done? Let's look at Hebrews 11, 33 and 38, which refers back to last week. Somebody read that, please, while I get my scripture written. 33 through 38, David? Yeah. Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword from weaknesses we were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight, women received back their dead by resurrection, and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others experienced mocking and scourging. Yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were put to death with a sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. So, just a thought. Anybody have an idea who got sawn in two? I've read that all my life and kept thinking, who got sawn in two? Was it Isaiah? Yes. It was Isaiah. At least that's what the historians believe. They believe that Isaiah was sawn in two. And how about hiding in mountains and caves and holes in the ground? Who does that remind you of? David. Yeah. How about some of these others? Did any of the others jump out at you? Like the mouths of lions, right? Who shut the mouths of lions? Daniel, right? How about the one, where is it? Let's see if I can find it. I think of John the Baptist. Yeah, John the Baptist, right. Now, remember, the author here is writing to a bunch of Hebrews, a bunch of Jews, and he's writing about the Jews and their history. So, this is not, he's not picking up on those that have been martyred recently. He could. Who was a martyr that had already been martyred by the time, or who were a couple of martyrs that had already been killed by the time this letter was written? Stephen. Stephen, for sure. James. And James. Yeah. For sure. So, you're saying that the crowd of witnesses are those who have gone before us. That's correct. So, you think that they're looking down? No, no, no, I didn't say that. What are they witnesses of? That's exactly right. That's the question you need to ask. And we're going to answer that. That's a great question. Now, these are heroes of faith. That's correct. So, when, again, they were looking forward. Remember last week? They're looking forward to what? Christ. Christ. Right? They didn't get to experience Christ, because He came later, after their death. But they were looking forward to Christ. They didn't waver in their faith, no matter what came, though. Right? So, they have a testimony. Their testimony, their witness, is that God is able to enable you to endure. Are you with me? These are witnesses to God and what God's done. What has God done? He enabled them to endure, to run the race, life's race of faith, all the way to the finish line, without wavering. How are they surrounding us? Oh, this is a... This is Paul. Paul, the author here. In Ron's belief, it's Paul. I've started to say that. It's a... Whether it's Paul or whoever the author is, he is using a track scene as just a figure of speech. Right? To try to give the audience a perspective. Right? These are guys that have already gone before you. And you can say they're surrounding you if you want to, but I'm not convinced they're looking down from heaven on us. I believe when they got to heaven, they had other things to do. Absolutely. So, I always thought this was talking about, since we have so many people that are watching us, looking to see if the Christian life is real, therefore, let us lay aside all these ways and run the race. I never thought they referred to people from the Old Testament. Well, the reason I... And when I was studying, this is where everybody landed. And the reason I think he landed there is because of the context of the letter. Again, what's he been doing? He's been presenting the argument that Jesus is superior. Right? And he's been... And this last argument in Hebrews 10 about faith is you achieve righteousness by faith. So, this is immediate reference back to the righteousness by faith that was achieved by the heroes of faith. He says, since these guys were successful in running that race of faith, those guys are witnesses to you that it can be done. Okay? Now, would you not agree? Okay? I understand where you're coming from, but this is what I studied, and this is where I landed. I think we should be a cloud of witnesses, too. I mean, I know that they're talking about past tense because of what they did and how they succeeded. That we have this that we know about. Like, we're looking at the Scripture, and we should be strengthened by studying God's Word and seeing what others did before us. Yep. And we should take up the mantle ourselves. Exactly. And that's exactly what he's saying. And become a cloud of witnesses by the way we live. That's exactly what he's saying. Since we have these guys who've gone before us, who've already shown us how it gets done, now let's do the same thing. Alright? Since we have this great cloud of witnesses, people who've already gone before and shown us the way, right? What does this cloud of witnesses do for us? They provide examples of how to run life's race of faith. Yes, by their faith and by their walk. By their faith and walk, right. Right. By their endurance. The point is, if these guys can do it, so can who? Me. Right? Now, they weren't, and we're going to get to that in a second. Here we go. Next question. How were they able to have success in running life's race of faith? By their own wit and wisdom? By pulling up their bootstraps? How were they able to do it? By keeping their eyes on Jesus. Exactly. Again, they were enabled by God. And that's the way we run our race. And when we try to run our race of not being in our own strength, right? If we try to run our race in our own strength, guess what? Yeah. Blow a tire. I mean, that's just all there is to it. Yeah, we're going to blow a tire. We're going to wreck. We're going to spin out. We're going to do something. We're not going to get there. So, it's God that enables you to do this. And how does this give us motivation to run life's race of faith? Well, Romans 8.31, Paul's famous verse, If who is for us? It's God. And who can what? Be against us. Which comes to the question that I've been wanting to ask. I was thinking about this when I was driving up here today. I went on and on and on. Here's the question you've got to ask yourself. How big is your God? How big is He? Mine gets bigger every time I see Him do something in my own life. Yeah. I mean, I've seen a lot. I've seen Him do some incredible things. Heal people. Spare my mom. She lived way longer. And just two little boys, Neal and I, prayed for Mom. And she lived many, many, many years. Because we didn't know any better but to believe God then. But as an adult, I think I need to follow this example of the story. And I need to be living in a way that someone can look at my life and say, What is it that allows Him to live that kind of life? Exactly. And we should be what they're saying they were. Because they're such a great cloud of witnesses. We know the whole story. We don't have an excuse not to be living the way that we should be. We don't have the excuse. He's big enough to do eventually more than all we can ask for. There's the answer. There you go. He's big enough. Right? No matter what it is. He's big enough. He's big enough. Absolutely. No doubt. So what brought this to mind was a conversation I had yesterday with one of the students at school. And he's a pastoral student. And he came in and sat down and said, Can I talk a second? Sure. And we're talking about some challenges that their church is facing, which are similar to what we faced here. Okay? And I told him about how Zechariah 4, 6, and 7. It's not by might, not by power, but by my spirit says the Lord. Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you'll become a plain. And use Zerubbabel. Well, bring forth the capstone and put it on the temple. With shouts of grace to it. Grace to it. Look what God's done. Look what God's done. I said, Here's the prophecy. Read Haggai and Zechariah. They're contemporary prophets. And they both have the same message. One of them talking to the high priest. The other talking to the king. Rebuild my house. You've been sitting around for 16 years because you were afraid of opposition. Rebuild my house. I'll take care of the opposition. Okay? And so I said to the young man, I said, Here's a problem. It was their problem too. How big was their God? They had lost sight of how big God is. And they delayed 16 years doing what God told them to do. Because they focused on what? The opposition. Instead of who? The God who overcomes the opposition. Don't we do that? Yes. It's all about your focus. Exactly. It's all about your what? Focus. Yes. Yes. That's what we're getting here. That's why I wanted to ask that question. When you're running this life race of faith. The question you've always got to have in your mind. How big is my God? Because guess what? Oppositions are coming. Right? Hurdles are coming. Enemies are coming. Right? And the biggest one is doubt. And the biggest one is doubt. Yes. I doubt that. Okay. I'll stop my little rant. And we'll go back to it. But I thought, man, I've got to share that. Because that's really what this is about. God's big enough. Don't ever stop running. He's big enough. He's big enough. I've grown up. My parents would always put on these records. And there's one before us who can stand against us. We are marching in the army of the Lord. Yeah. His word is stronger than the sharpest sword. You know? And I thought, you know, I was four or five, six years old. And it still hits me today sometimes to, you know, when you're praying or something, to listen to that, or to just reminisce on stuff like that. And I just thought, but His word is stronger than the sharpest sword. And I just thought, you know, how many times does His word comfort me in the time of strife, the struggle in the time of strife? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Jim. Okay. So to run it requires motivation. It also requires commitment. Let's also lay aside every encumbrance and sin which the Lord easily entangles us. That word encumbrance is a bulk or mass of something. Encumbrances aren't necessarily bad in and of themselves. What are some encumbrances that affect the performance of a runner, though? It's interesting. There was a track star who had won the, I don't remember, a medal at the Olympics. I don't remember which one. And the next year they came up to the World Championships, and he's a favorite, and he gets out there and he starts running, and he doesn't even qualify in his heat. And when asked about it, he said, well, I can tell you exactly what the problem is. He said, I put on 10 pounds. Do you hear me? This guy admitted, I put on 10 pounds. He encumbered himself. Get the picture? So what else can encumber a runner? You know, I'm not thinking about a runner necessarily, but self can be an encumbrance. Well, sure it can. You know, because you lose that focus, and you focus on self, and then doubt, and all this stuff comes in because you aren't focusing on. Yeah, self. When you don't run your race. Ah, you go and run. You have to run your race. Ah, good. Yeah, you get distracted by some other race. All right. What about the fans in the stands? You remember his Olympics, the runners running? I don't remember which race, but he's ahead in his sprint, in his heat, and all of a sudden the commentators make a big deal about the fact that you see him look left and right, looking to see where the guys are. No, no. What do you focus on when you're running a race? The finish line. The finish line. You cannot look around you. You cannot listen in to the stands and listen for Mama's voice. Okay? You just can't do it. You've got to focus on that finish line. All right, I'm going to give you an example. My second son was a gifted athlete, still is, and when he was in high school he was the fastest in the class, and Noel remembers that. He, at district, he won the 100 and the 200 and went to regionals, and he gets to regionals and there's some guys from the other side of town just kind of showed him what speed looks like. So, you know, I always thought he was fast. He is fast, but he wasn't that fast. Anyway, but here's the track meet that comes to mind. You don't know how many times I sat in a track meet over the years, right? You can just imagine. And it was at the old Birdville Stadium. Remember that one? All right. It was late January. That's when track season starts in Texas. Now, in Texas, sometimes January is not that bad, right? But sometimes it is. It was one of the times it was. We were up in the stands bundled up like snowmen, right? I mean, we had our parkas on or whatever and towels and blankets. We sat on those metal bleachers, and it's like heat sinks. It didn't matter what you ate. I mean, you understand? It's cold. So, Brent is getting ready for his race, and he is, of course, bundled up. And I'm watching down the infield, and he's doing his exercises. He's stretching. He's doing his high steps and all that, but he's bundled up, right? He's bundled up. And everybody else is too. I mean, nobody's out there just hanging around in their track shorts. And so, time came for his race. He goes down to the starting line. Guess what he did? He took all that off. All the encumbrances. All the encumbrances. Every piece of it. Every piece of it. And there was a trainer assigned to grab it and have it in his arms and go down and meet him at the finish line. Okay? Anyway. Anyway. He took off all the encumbrances, and he ran the race and won. But if he had enough, guess what? He wouldn't have. So, that's what an encumbrance does. So, I'm asking a question here. What are some spiritual encumbrances that affect the success of believers running the race of faith? And so, if you recall the context of the purpose of the letter, and let's look at Galatians 3, 1 through 3 right quick, and see what comes to mind. Okay? Who wants to read that? Galatians 3, 1 through 3. You foolish Galatians who have bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. This is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? So, what is Paul doing when he's writing to the Galatians? The Galatians have been influenced by Jews coming down from Jerusalem. They're trying to get them to go back to the old way of life, which is the works of the law. And that's called legalism. Legalism. So, the number one issue even the writer of Hebrews is writing to is legalism. That's the number one encumbrance, the spiritual encumbrance. Others include the traditions of men. It includes believers' lack of commitment and enthusiasm. And I also think it includes the focus on the method and not the message. I think we can get so focused on the method that the message becomes secondary. And that's an encumbrance. Now, maybe y'all can come up with some more. That's what I came up with. So, a spiritual encumbrance is going to impact how you run your race of faith. What do these encumbrances do? Well, they weigh down. They divert attention. They sap energy. And they dampen enthusiasm for the things of God. They take your focus off the truth. That's a good one to add to it. I'll give you a gold star for that. Anybody else? It's a good list, isn't it? That's what encumbrances do. That would affect how you run your race, wouldn't it? The other thing he says is don't mess with sin. Let's make sure that there's no sin that entangles us. All sin affects the success of believers in running their race of faith. In verse 1b, reference is made to the article THE. Lay aside every encumbrance and THE sin, which so easily entangles us. What do you think THE sin would refer to? Unbelief. Unbelief. Another gold star. You got two in a row, dude. Unbelief. Unbelief. The sin that has the most detrimental effect on running the race of faith is unbelief. Like you said a while ago. Unbelief. Doubt. Doubt. Doubt. So what commitments must believers make to have success in running their races of faith? What do you think you need to commit to regarding encumbrances and sin? You want to make sure of what? It's pretty obvious. Jim, you got one? Trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. Okay. Trust in the Lord no matter what, right? Don't take your eyes off the Lord and put your eyes on yourself. When you start looking at your own strength, you're already failing. Keep your eyes on the Lord. Keep your eyes on Jesus. That's right. What else? Here's what I said. Constantly be on guard. The reason is is because a slip-up is not hard. It just isn't. Constantly be on guard. Against anything that will divert my attention away from living for God and His purpose. Now, that could be lots of things, couldn't it? What do y'all do when you want to chill? Do you feel like you've got to chill sometimes? It's been a hectic day and you come home. You're tired. You're exhausted. What do you do to chill? Sit on the couch and play on my phone. Sit on the couch and play on your phone? Play games. Play games, right? Watch TV. What else? Read. Read? Okay. I wish I was productive like that. I'm the watch TV guy. Or play on the phone. Just to do-go. I always have to have my mind solving a problem. Yes. Okay. Or Sudoku or whatever it is. I do that as well. Yeah. Here's the problem with TV. Can you find a program that's perfectly clean? The closest I've found is The Chosen. That's about as close as you can get, isn't it? Is what? The Chosen. And even then you've got to watch what? You've got to be careful with your license. They do take some license. Right? You know what I did? I took my television out. What? So it was a distraction. Four years ago. It's just I could not find anything. And I get that quickening in my spirit. No matter what, I watched it. So I just took it out. Now that doesn't mean I never watched. Because my son has one and he watches ball games. And once in a while I watch an old movie. But I do not have a television. I never turn it on. So we're this weekend. I don't remember Friday night. I think it was. That's the night that we try to do something together, you know. So we get on Amazon Prime and we're looking. And I think I found a movie. And it's rated 13 plus. And I'm thinking 13? Okay, that's PG-13, right? That's not the PG-13 we grew up with. No. No. About halfway into it, I discover it wasn't. Yeah. So I'm just saying, guard against. Because why? That's going to be a distraction. Images are going to be made and impressions are going to be made on my eyes and in my mind. Or I'm going to hear words I didn't want to hear. Right? I'm going to see a scene that I didn't really want to see. As a matter of fact, we fast-forwarded twice. As soon as we realized what was going on, zip, get me out of there. Why? Because if I don't guard against it, it's going to impact me. So guard against. Constantly be guarding against anything that will divert our attention away from living for God and His purpose. And somebody already said it. Constantly be relying on God to enable us to do it. That's the commitment I think it takes to run life's race of faith. It also requires endurance. Let's run with endurance the race that's set before us. Is the race of faith a sprint or a marathon? That was a dumb question, but I thought I got to ask it. It's definitely a marathon. Definitely a marathon, isn't it? The Greek word that is translated race is agon. Guess what word in English comes from agon? Agony. Agony. Agony? Yeah. Wow. Agony. What contributes to the agony experienced by runners in long-distance races like marathons? I Googled this, and I'm going to read you the list. Dehydration. Cramps. Mental fatigue. Overheating. Pain in the calf, the hamstring, and the thigh muscles. That happens to me at about the 40-yard mark. Achilles tendonitis. You get that? Achilles tendonitis. Shin splints. Ankle sprains. And bone stress fractures. And so I read all that, and I knew there was a reason why I'm not a marathon runner. But boy, those that do, right, they're in great shape and condition. And they've got the self-discipline it takes to do it, which helps them in other areas of life. They agonize, though. When they are running that race, they're in agony. So what contributes to the agony experienced by believers when running the last race of faith? What kind of obstacles do we face that cause agony? Death. Death. I'm thinking about things, your work associates, right? They can cause agony, right? Or the environment in which you work can cause agony. Your neighbors can cause agony. Even your family members can cause agony, can't they? If they're not walking with God themselves, right? So one's relationships. Another thing I thought of is weariness. Paul even, I believe it was the Corinthians, but I can't remember for sure, maybe I want to remember. He said, don't grow, what? Weary in well-doing. In doing good. Why would he say that? He says that because there is a tendency to grow weary in doing good. Why is that? Because the world's not doing good and they're getting ahead. And you think that you have to do what they do to stay up with them. You're thinking, okay, am I doing good in accomplishing much? If you do good to get something out of it, it will wear you out. Oh, sure it will. You might have done something that's really a benefit to somebody, but they don't appreciate it. They might, but they don't tell you about it. Right? You ever been there? You did a good deed and it was unnoticed? I'm just saying, right, I'm just thinking different ways where I can experience a position of wanting to call it a day. I'm growing weary. Because I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, yet I'm not getting appreciated. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, yet I don't see any fruit or results. Right? And that's because you're working in the world. Yes. It's hard. Yeah. It's hard not to take that stuff on. It's just... Yeah. I can understand that. Yeah. So don't grow weary is what we've got to be watching out for. We can get weary. Exhaustion, we can overdo it and work ourselves into a state of exhaustion. We already talked about persecution, suffering, loss of enthusiasm and confidence. And the big one for me, you've got to... Man, loss of desire. If you let all this get to you, all of a sudden the desire goes away. And you drop out of the race. No, we want to endure. This is a marathon. And to endure, we've got to keep our eyes on Jesus, what we're about to get to. How are you going to endure? You've got to keep your eyes on Jesus. Jim? I always thought, this is what contributes to the agony experienced by believers. Well, the infiltration of sin, where it starts just a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit and it starts to grow. Just like I read somewhere, I came into a Christian home and they were watching the TV and they said, we don't do that sort of thing. It's infiltrated in your TV right there. Infiltration of sin, I know it causes me a lot of times to grow into an agony type of experience. Sure, sure. David, it's easy to listen to the wrong voice. Sure. I was talking about what the right voice is in the world. Not God, in the world. I mean, I'm just like at work, you hear negativity, you hear untruths, you hear the wrong things. And if you see someone quote, getting away with it, of course we know no one gets away with it, but you see someone getting away with it. If you start listening to the wrong voices, then you think that you can get away with it. The only thing, you belong to a different father. Yeah. And you don't get away with it, ever. Your father takes you behind him, wouldn't you? So, I mean, but it's easy, it's easy like in the course of a day, you see things going on around you and you're trying to do the right thing and you sometimes feel like that they're succeeding more than you're succeeding. And it's because you're listening to the wrong voice. Because if you listen to what the Scripture says, then you know that the voice is the wrong voice and then you can get encouragement from God's Word to listen to the right voice and continue on the correct path. Yeah. But our sinful nature is so quickly we can turn from one side to the other and not be focused on the race, but be focused on the people around us running the race. And they're running a different race than we are. Oh yeah. But the world is running the race they're running. Yeah. And so sometimes it's easy to listen to the wrong coach. Yeah. We don't want to get into that race, do we? That's not the race we want to be in. We want to run the race of faith. The prophets didn't get much support from people around them. No, they didn't. And I think we might think about that when we think about going along with the flow or the easy things to believe in. That's right. Good point, Tom. So I ask the question, what's required to overcome such agony? And the answer is right there, that word endurance. That's a steady determination to keep going no matter what comes or may come. And so I ask the question, what does Paul say about his determination to endure his race of faith? Look at 1 Corinthians 9, 26-27. This is Paul's determination. This is his endurance statement. Therefore I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air. I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I preach to others, I myself will not be disqualified. So here's my summary of that. He is determined to run with aim. All right? He's determined to box with contact. I'm not just going to shadow box and beat the air. No. If I'm boxing, I'm making contact. All right? He's going to train and discipline to prepare to engage. I'm going to get ready for whatever comes. And when it comes, I'm going to engage. Okay? How is running the race of faith different from running a marathon? Well, besides spiritual versus physical, what do you think? How is it different? In a marathon you're competing with who? Others. Others. In a spiritual marathon, are you competing? Against yourself. Against yourself, but not against others. Right? All right? We don't compete against other believers. We compete against the enemy. And we compete against ourselves. And what part of the self are you talking about there, Kim? The human self. The human self. Which is summed up by John called it the lust of the what? Flesh. The lust of the what? Eyes. And the boastful pride of life. That's what you're competing against. Yourself. And that's a gold star, Kim. You get that. Yourself. Maybe I'm being too honest. All right. What? No. You're no different than me and anybody else in here. All right. Whose strength do we rely on to endure? There is a person of the Godhead who took up residence within me the moment I received Christ Jesus as my Savior. The Holy Spirit. He is the one who enables me to endure. And we said before, what happens when we don't rely on Him with our own strength? We're going to fall. We're going to fail. All right. Running that race of faith requires focus. There was a, I believe, Mary, you mentioned that focus earlier, didn't you? All right. Requires focus. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joys said before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. When running a race, where should the runner's focus be and why? And we already talked about that. On the finish line. Right? I think your focus is also on the lane that you are to run in between. Oh, yeah. You can't get outside your lane. If you get out of your lane, you're disqualified. And I think that sometimes in the Christian law, we want to change lanes. There you go. I'll give you a gold star for that, Susan. That's good. I like that. Good answer. Keep your eyes on the finish line and make sure you stay in your lane. If the focus is on anything else, then distraction is going to keep you from winning. On what can believers focus that would cause them to be distracted while trying to run their race of faith? Well, we've kind of gone down that path, but... You think it's not God. Yeah, you think it's not God. What others may think, what others may say, what others may do. Here's the one that I think we're guilty of sometimes, is the good, because the good's good, but it's not the best. If we say good is good enough and we're not going for the best, then we're going to come short. The best, Paul says again, I run in such a way that I win. My desire is to win. I guarantee you when Brent took off from the starting line, he wasn't thinking about coming in third. He's going for the tape and he's going to win. The reason I don't talk about myself is because I never wore the sprinter. I wasn't much of a track hitter either. He got it from his mother. That's where he got his speed from, okay? Y'all can tell her, I tell her now. The good that we do versus the best in obedience to God. On who must we focus to effectively run life's race of faith and why? Well, we already know the answer. His name is Jesus. And he is what? The author and perfecter of faith. Now what that means in essence is he's the supreme example of how to run life's race of faith. And let's just see how that works. Author in this context most likely means chief leader or chief example. It can mean several things, but most likely in this context means chief leader, chief example. How is this position supported? Look at Hebrews 4.15. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are what? Yet without sin. There's not one thing that we will ever experience that he did not experience. Yet he never failed in experiencing it. Without sin. Alright? Alright? Two, Matthew 4. So in other words, he's an example of how to overcome sin, right? Matthew 4.1-10. This is the 40 days in the wilderness. Jesus led by the spirit in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After 40 days of fasting, he gets hungry. The tempter comes and says, if you're the son of God. And I always thought that was interesting. If you are the son... Are you kidding me? Do you not think that the tempter didn't know who he was? Absolutely he knows he's the son of God. If you are the son of God. If you are the son of God. Command these stones to become bread. How does he answer? Three words. It is written. Right? Answer number one. It's written. Well, then the next opportunity. It says the devil took him to the holy city. He's standing on the pinnacle of the temple. And he said to him, if you are the son of God. If, again, if you are the son of God. Throw yourself down for it is written. And so what the devil did is he took his it is written. And he twisted it a little bit. He will command his angels concerning you. And on their hands they will bear you up. So that you will not strike your foot against the stone. Ah, Jesus says, good, good, good. You almost got it. You almost got it. But you forgot another it is written. You shall not tempt the Lord thy God. Right? Hmm. You should not put the Lord thy God to the test. Then finally the devil takes him to a very high mountain. And shows him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory. And he says, all these things I'll give to you. If you fall down and worship it. They already belong to him. That is the audacity of this enemy of ours. He is a liar. He is a deceiver. He wants to kill, steal, and destroy. Remember that is all he is. That is all he wants to do. I like what the next verse says. And the angels came down and ministered to him. Yeah. So many times I think when we go through a lot of trials and tribulations. And once we get through all that. You know. Yeah. You know. Well 40 days and nights. Yeah. So. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. God will take care of you. Right. But again his answer it is written. So what is Jesus the chief leader, chief example of doing here? Relying on God's word. Relying on his word. So he showed us how to overcome sin. He showed us how to overcome temptation. He showed us how to rely on his word. And then finally you have John 5.30. I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will but the will of him who sent me. He defines the chief leader of how to do the will of the father. He seeks only the will of the father. And finally on the cross. He went a little beyond them and fell on his face and prayed saying, Father, my father if it's possible let this cup pass from me as I will but as you. And the garden of Gethsemane. Right. As he's facing the cross. He knows what he's about to endure. Now guys we have never endured that. No. We have no clue the agony he went through. Absolutely no clue. Now Ron might give a medical dissertation on what was experienced. But Ron has never experienced it himself. No. We have no clue the agony he went through. He could have done what? The song says he could have called 10,000 angels. He could have done that. It would have messed everything up but he could have done it. Yes. But he's a chief example of how to do the father's will. First and foremost no matter what he's calling you to do without any hesitation. You know he really couldn't have done it. He couldn't. Because of God. Oh he just couldn't. No his love. Right. His love wouldn't let him do it. You're right. But from a human perspective it was like oh man do I really want to go through this. David has God given us everything that we need to succeed. Absolutely. Why? Because he dwells within. Yeah. Alright so that's author. Perfecter means the one who carries it through to completion. So when was Jesus' race of faith completed? John 19.30. Someone read that I've been reading too much. Susan have you read tonight? John 19.30. Yep. Before when Jesus had received the sour wine he said it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. And then the next thing he said after that Luke 23.46. And Jesus crying out with a loud voice said father into your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this he breathed his last. So when was his race completed? On the cross. On the cross. That's when it was completed. When he said it is finished that was right after he said what? My God. My God. Why has thou forsaken me? It was at that moment when the sin of the entire mankind for all time suddenly is on him. And the father turns his face away. Because he can't look on sin. At that point in time he says okay I've done it. To tell us that it's finished. Now take me home. I've done what you sent me to do. Now take me home. We know that's not the end of the story right? But that's when he completed his race. Now what happens after you finish the race and you win? What do you get? You get a celebration don't you? Right? You get a celebration. I don't know how many medals Brent had over the years. He had plenty. Those weren't just handed out right? They were announced over the intercom. Sometimes there was actually a presentation. We watched the Olympics what was going on right? Every time a medal was presented the national anthem of the country that person represented was being played. There was a celebration going on. Jesus finished his race. What was the celebration Jesus experienced? Oh my goodness. Think about it. He got to return to the father. And experience his glory. That's what we're going to get to next. Oh I forgot this part. How was Jesus shamed by others while on the cross right? Matthew 27-43. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now. To be the light in him. He said I'm the son of God. You think you're a big shot then take yourself down off that cross. Show us who you are. I mean you can just hear all the catcalls going on. Right? Big man now huh? Yeah big man now huh? Yeah. Yeah. He was shamed by others. What motivates Jesus to focus on completing the race? John 17-4-5. Here's where I was going. Alright. In the high priestly prayer. Before he goes to the cross. He's already asking the father to do something. He says I glorified you on earth. I've done everything you told me to do. I've done nothing but your will. I've pointed everyone to you and to the salvation that I'm going to bring. I've pointed it all out. I've accomplished the work you've given me to do. Now father glorify me together with yourself for the glory which I had with you before the world was. In other words take me back to the glory. Take me back to the glory. That motivated Jesus to endure. What should motivate us to focus on completing the race to faith? Matthew 25-21. Two words. I said this in Columbia one time. We were down there on a mission trip. Doing some mentoring training. Susan was there. Brian Massey was my interpreter. So I'm sitting there and I said there's just two words I want to hear. I'm just telling you there's two words I want to hear. Well done. And Brian starts laughing. He said David in Spanish is only one word. He says I can't say it the way you say it. Because it's just one word not two. Bueno. Muy bueno. That's the word. Well done. Right? Well done. 25-21 says well done. And 2 Timothy 4-8. Paul says in the future there is for me the crown of righteousness. Which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day. And not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. That's Paul's swan song as he's writing to Timothy. He's saying my race is over. I'm done. I'm done. I've fought the good fight. I've run the race. I've done what? I've kept the faith. Back to what we're talking about here. I've kept the faith. Therefore is now laid up for me a crown of righteousness. A crown of righteousness. So that's what motivates me. What about you? Do you all want to hear well done? Is that what you want to hear? Do you want to have a crown of righteousness? Shake your head yes. If you're having trouble shaking it then let me know later and I'll help you with it. Shake your head yes. I want that crown. But what are you going to do with it once you get it? Lay it at his feet. Why are you going to lay it at his feet? Because he's the only reason we're there. He's the only reason he got the crown. It's his righteousness. It's his righteousness. It is an expression of our love in reciprocating his love. His love gave me a crown. My love is here. It's yours. I can't wait. How about you all? I can't wait. I just can't wait. I know I read somewhere where it said keep your eyes on the prize. Yeah. Yeah. Requires focus. Finally requires encouragement. Consider him who has endured such hostility but centers against himself that you will not grow weary and lose heart. The best thing for us to do when we get weary while attempting to complete life's race of faith is what? Consider who? Him. Jesus. We've already said that a hundred times tonight but we want to repeat it again. Consider Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus. What should we consider about Jesus? Well, we've already talked about that. We will never face anything close to what he experienced. Never. In other words, I can never come close to what he experienced. And yet he endured all the way to the end. That should encourage me to endure all the way to the end. Whose power and will did Jesus live for on this earth while completing the race of faith? It was the Father's power and will. And whose power and will must we live to successfully complete our race? Galatians 2.20. Ron? Come on now. Let me down, Ron. Galatians 2.20. Come on. That's a great verse. Yeah. They're waiting to hear it. With Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life I live I live by faith. And the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So who are we relying on to complete our race? Jesus. Who lives in me and enables me to complete the race. What happens when we consider Jesus in this way? Get this, guys. If you keep your eyes on Jesus, your perspective changes, number one. Right? Secondly, all of the junk going on around you becomes a blur. When Peter's walking on the water, when he's got faith and he's walking, what is he not seeing? He doesn't see the ocean. He doesn't see the water until he takes his eye off Jesus. That's the whole point I'm making. He doesn't see the wind or the waves. He doesn't hear the guidance in the boat saying, Peter, get back in here. What are you doing, fool? No, he doesn't hear the catcalls. He doesn't hear that stuff. He's got his eyes focused on Jesus. He sees nothing but Jesus. And it doesn't matter what's going on around him. All he sees is Jesus. And he's walking on the water. But the moment he doubts, back to the word you've used earlier, right? The moment he doubts, now all of a sudden Jesus becomes a blur. And the wind and the waves become reality. And down he goes. I'm telling you guys, your perspective changes when your eyes are on Jesus. And your vision is so focused, all that's going on around you is a blur. But when he just was thinking, Jesus reached out. Well, he cried out, yeah, he cried out, save me. Right? Jesus said, sure, I'm going to save you. Then he asked him a question. Why did you doubt? Because I saw the wind and all that. Why did you doubt? A life lesson for Peter right there. Right? Jesus was teaching him, you think the wind and the waves are bad? Guess what you've got in front of you, buddy. Right? You need to get to where you don't doubt. And Peter got there. We're no longer focused on the hostilities and challenges, but on the one who can handle it. How big is our God? Big enough. He can handle it. And we're encouraged. Don't grow weary and don't lose heart. Don't grow weary and don't lose heart. All right, there's your three verses. I think we torn them apart and put them back together. I've got five questions, though, that when I'm writing these questions, I'm going, ooh. You know, I've got to answer these, too. Am I truly motivated to run the race that God has set before me? Now, my race might be different than yours in terms of how the course is and where it takes me and all that type of thing. My responsibilities in it. It's still my race. Am I truly motivated to run the race that God set before me? Am I truly committed to removing everything that hinders me from running that race? Am I so focused on the race I don't want anything to keep me from running it? Am I relying on the Holy Spirit to enable me to stay in the race until I've completed it? Am I focused on Jesus as my example and driven to hear again, well done, and receive the crown of righteousness? And finally, am I keeping the right perspective when faced with the challenges that come? Because they will come. And that perspective is what? My God's big enough. My God is big enough. If I keep that perspective, then I won't grow weary or lose heart. Ron? Well, it doesn't get any bigger than that. You get a gold star. That's right. But because David gets a gold star, we all get a gold star. But I call it an A plus to infinity. So, isn't it interesting that we start chapter 5 and he says, Let us lay aside every weight and encumbrance. Let us run with patience the race that is before you. So, we're sort of at a gigantic salad bar. Let us. Now, the problem is in the world today is we feel like we have to make a mark in the world. The problem is that it's based upon performance, isn't it? We live a life full of comparison and competitiveness. And in medicine, it's even worse. These doctors in the future have a mantra. It's called the 3A mantra, availability, affability, and ability. So, they say it's in that order. I didn't learn that until my third year residency at Southwestern. But the medical students learned this the second year, the beginning of the second year of medical school. And the problem is with that, it's based upon performance. So, you get the idea if it's the 3As, availability, affability, ability, that if you're the smartest of the lot and all these young doctors-to-be are all like valedictorians or salutatorians of their class, multiple academic awards, multiple things that they've done in research already, and now they're being forced into another mold. This is being squeezed into the mold of the world. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the new in your mind. The problem is that the world is squeezing us into a mold. And the mold that we're squeezed into, now all of us who are professionals in whatever field or whatever endeavor that we have, are all being squeezed into the world's mold. You have to look good, feel good, make good, do good, or get no good. In other words, we're all performance-oriented. And that's a lie out of the fit of hell. Because what happens to a doctor who focuses his whole life on performance? What happens to the doctor by age 50, they want to get out of medicine because they've been burned out. See, growing weary of doing good. And we're all in medicine or whatever profession we have because we want to do good in life. So we're based upon our performance. And is that all there is to life? And so the wisest of the wise, his name is Solomon. The greatest of the great, Solomon. The mostest of the most, Solomon. He says, everything is meaningless and empty. See, why does he say that? He's burned out. Because he says, now the reality of things is the fact that we all are going to die. And when we die, we're going to leave everything behind. There are no U-Haul trailers behind our life and our casket. So what do we leave behind? See, now is the question. And see, now the great thing is the author of Hebrews, who I still think is Paul, or one of his mentees. He says the fact that what I want you to realize is that there's only one thing that's going to give you true joy. And he gives it in, of course, chapter 11, which is the chapter of faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Because anyone who comes to God must first of all believe that he exists. And secondly, must believe that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. The problem he's pointing out is the fact that the problem is unbelief. There is the issue, unbelief. Why do we unbelieve God at his word? Where he says at the beginning of Hebrews, the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, divides the soul and the spirit, joints and the marrow. It's a discerner of the motives and intents of the heart. There's where the action is. The heart. Now what makes up the heart? Our mind, our will, and our emotions. Guess what's under attack? The moment that you trust in Jesus Christ, you're under attack. Satan does not want you around. So if you think you've been in some hot water, or what I call barnyard fertilizer, it's because Satan is going to God and saying, Hey, have you ever thought about a guy named Job? The most righteous in the land. If you let me at him, I can get him to curse you. To your face. See, that's what Satan's goal is. To have you curse God to his face. Doubt. Unbelief. Now, is there a lot of stuff in the world that causes this unbelief? Yeah, there is. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the fright of life. 1 John 2, 15 and 16. See, so Satan has a grip on us. And the grip is on our hearts. So Solomon, in Proverbs, he said, Thou guard thy heart above all else, for this is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4.23 Now, is it really the wellspring of life? The heart? Our mind? Our will and emotion? It is, isn't it? See, because when Jesus comes to planet Earth, he says, Now God is spirit, so we must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4.24 And in John 4.34, he says, Now, my food is to do the will of the Father who sent me. My food is to do the will of my Father, who is my Father, who sent me here to do that which I ought to be doing. And that is to lay my life down for you. Because my Father loves the world so much that he sent me to come down to die for all of us. You see? Isn't that right? God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now, because we have everlasting life, guess who targets us? Satan himself. He doesn't want us around. See, because we're light and salt. Now, what we're going to be doing now is, well, what is the hope ahead? The hope ahead for us is the fact that Jesus is coming again. He's taking out of us here on Earth and taking us out of this barnyard fertilizer. We have an election that's going to be awful, okay? It's going to be political warfare. And lies are being thrown out all over the place. Now, who do you believe? See? It comes down to this fact that we have to believe God at his Word. See? So when we come to God, we say, all right, if we come to God in moments of stress, in the moments of war, in the moments of rumors of war, in the moments where we just don't know what to do because things are happening. I get calls every day about people who are just so sick and kids who are going to die. I got a call from one of our church members here whose son is in Africa, and he has malaria, and his kidneys are failing. And he probably has blackwater fever, which is the fell super form of malaria. And its lethality is 90%. He's going to have to go on a dialysis probably. But in Africa, do we have those machines available? In certain places, yes. But in most places, no. So he's facing a moment to be home with the Lord. Now, is that a problem? For the Christian, no, it's not a problem. For us Christians, it's a relief. We're going home to be with the Lord today and forever. So now he says, okay, now you're going to survive this world. Now what? How do we thrive in this world today? Now, Peter is the guy who's the water walker. He's the only water walking disciple. He's the one that says, Lord, save me. Because he took his eyes off of Jesus. And then Jesus, of course, saves him. Why did you doubt Peter? But later on, Peter doubts Jesus again and denies him three times. Okay, you remember that moment. And of course, Peter weeps because he feels he's one of Jesus' inner circle friends. You know, Peter, James, and John. Now, what does that leave him? So Jesus has to look him up. In the last chapter of John, verse 15, Jesus looks at Peter. This is after he's resurrected. And this moment was a poignant moment because this is very familiar to Peter. He goes fishing, waiting for Jesus. And he doesn't catch anything. And Jesus says, well, just put the net on the other side. He catches 153 gigantic fish. Nets are going to almost break, but they don't break. They get this wonderful catch into shore. And Jesus is waiting for Peter. And Peter says, that's Jesus. I'm going to swim to shore. And so he swims to shore. And sure enough, Jesus is there cooking fish. And so he's cooking fish for Peter. And Jesus asks Peter, remember the three questions? Peter, do you love me, agape? Peter answers, you know I love you, fileo. You're my best friend. Feed my sheep. Second question, Jesus is asking Peter, do you love me, agape? Peter answers, you know I love you, fileo. Feed my little lambs. Third question, Peter, do you love me, fileo? Not trying to insult Peter. But Peter gets a little, Jesus, you're my best friend. You've always been my best friend. Sure, I love you, fileo. Feed my sheep. See, so here's the situation for us. God wants us to feed sheep. He wants us to do Roman, Matthew 28, 19. He wants us to make disciples in this world. To leave this world a better place than when we came. We want to take as many people with us to heaven as we can possibly be. So here's what God's saying. Now you're going to survive. So how do you survive? Well, in 1 Peter 5, Peter says, you know, what I'd like you to do is to remember this. God mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble. So I want you to choose to humble yourselves under God's mighty hands, so that he may lift you up in due time, trusting all your care upon him, because he cares for us. But be alert, because the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour. Verse 8. Verse 9. But resist him. Stand firm in your faith in Jesus Christ, because this is a struggle that all believers have that are dispersed in the world. But here's the promise. Verse 10. But the God of all grace, who's called us to his eternal glory, that after we've suffered a while, he'll restore us and make us firm, strong, and steadfast in Christ. Survival. We're going to survive all the barnyard fertilizer here on earth. Now he says, I want you to thrive. 2 Peter chapter 1. He says, now I've given you everything that you need to survive. I've given you my fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. I've also given you my love, agape. 1 Corinthians 13, 4-8. All you girls know that one. Love is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no records of wrongs, does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. And then he says, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and this kind of love never fails. He's given us his agape love that never fails. Why? Because he says, I've also given you my wisdom from above, James 3-17. That's first of all, pure and peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, full of good fruit, impartial and sincere. Solomonic wisdom is all about power. It's all about what you see. But God's wisdom is all about the heart. To have a heart of integrity, a heart just conformed to God's image. So then he says, because I've given you all these resources, I want you to be diligent to add to your faith virtue, the courage to excel. The courage to excel is to be the best you can be. Not perfect, but be the best you can be. Are there any perfect doctors around? Not one. And I'm not, I'm the bottom of the pile. I'm not one. But you see, the only perfect physician is Jesus Christ. So you see where we're headed, right? So be diligent to add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to know God, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering, the conformity to his death, burial, and resurrection, Philippians 3.10. To add to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, the last of the fruit of the spirit, to self-control, perseverance, barnyard fertilizer, Romans 5.3, to be thankful in your suffering because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, character produces hope, which never disappoints because of God's agape love that's bountifully poured into your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. And then he says, and therefore I want you to know that suffering is for that purpose of building that perseverance. So to add to perseverance, godliness, or holiness, to holiness, brotherly kindness, phileo, and to phileo, agape. For if you do these things in increasing measure, life will be neither unfruitful nor unproductive in the Lord. But if you don't do those things, we're nearsighted and blind, and we've forgotten that we ourselves have been forgiven of our many past sins of unbelief. So therefore be all the more diligent to add to your faith so that you will not stumble, you will not fall, and you'll have a rich reward in the kingdom of heaven. And you will be thriving with me here on planet earth before you're with the Lord in heaven. Surviving and thriving by grace through faith is done. So keep our eyes on Jesus. It's a salad bar. Let us. He said, let us. Everything that we do is with Him. Because He's in our heart. See, and that's Colossians 2. But Paul says again in Colossians 1.27, he says, But the secret and mystery of life is Christ in us, the hope of glory. So therefore together let us proclaim Him, teaching and admonishing everyone with all wisdom so that we would be able to present everyone that we meet, greet, and serve to be perfect and complete in Christ Jesus. The perfection that God gives us through Jesus Christ is the same perfection that we can share with others, but we have to do it with Him. So keep our eyes on Jesus every moment of every day. And we pray for that end. So let's pray. Dear Lord, thank You so much for this day. Thank You for this wonderful, wonderful lesson. First of all, in humility, but a lesson in Your love, Agape, a lesson in Your grace, a lesson in Your wisdom. And it's all about You, dear Lord, because You are abiding in us and through us so that we can be light and salt in a very dark, needy world. Help us to be all who You meant us to be so that we will do Your will and not our will. And so, dear Lord, thank You for Your word. Thank You for this wonderful book of Hebrews. Thank You for the first three verses of Hebrews chapter 12 to remind us that all that we do is not for You, but with You. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, thank you so much, everyone.