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[Music] everyone it's good to be back in the house of our god on this lord's day just one announcement a reminder that next sunday morning after our worship service there'll be a luncheon an email should go out this week telling people what to bring so everybody's encouraged and invited to attend that well for our call to worship this morning you can turn with me in your bibles to psalm 84. psalm 84 a wonderful psalm that highlights the beauty of attending the house of god on the sabbath day to praise our god psalm 84 beginning in verse 1 to the chief musician on an instrument of gath a psalm of the sons of korah how lovely is your tabernacle o lord of hosts my soul longs yes even faints for the courts of the lord my heart and my flesh cry out for the living god even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young even your altars o lord of hosts my king and my god blessed are those who dwell in your house they will still be praising you salah blessed is the man whose strength is in you whose heart is set on pilgrimage as they pass through the valley of bacca they make it a spring the rain also covers it with pools they go from strength to strength each one appears before god in zion oh lord god of hosts hear my prayer give ear o god of jacob say law o god behold our shield and look upon the face of your anointing for a day in your courts is better than a thousand i would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my god than dwell in the tents of wickedness for the lord god is a son and shield the lord will give grace and glory no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly the lord of hosts blessed is the man who trusts in you amen well please turn with me to psalm 110 we'll sing psalm 110 a as in alpha and we'll stand as we sing together [Music] is [Music] [Music] yes [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh is [Music] well let us pray our great god and holy father we gather together on this day to praise and glorify your great name we come to you through your son and the power of the holy spirit and we confess that god is all in all we know that you made the world that you govern the world and that you have redeemed your elect out of it so we give praise to you for these works these demonstrations of your wisdom and your goodness and your power and god on the lord's day especially we celebrate that grace and mercy that has been so vividly revealed to us in the gospel of our salvation we thank you the word became flesh and dwelt among us we thank you for his life of perfect obedience to the law for his death as a sacrifice and a substitute on the cross and for his resurrection again the third day and god we bless you for the fact that he is now re reigning and ruling over all things from the right hand of the father we know that he has promised to build his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and as we've sang in psalm 110 we see the triumph of the in the victory of our great messiah and god we know that this greatly encourages the hearts of your people we know that it stabilizes us and settles settles us and so we pray for a fresh glimpse of that even today as we gather in the house of the lord god most high we pray that you would be honored not only in this place but other churches here in chilliwack and throughout this country and to the uttermost parts of the earth as the psalmist says a day in your courts is better than than a thousand elsewhere and he'd rather be a a doorkeeper in the house of god than than dwell in the tents of wickedness and so father we praise you for not only saving us but for bringing us to this conviction of lord's day worship the the blessing of gathering with your people on your day to bring glory to your great name we ask now that you would forgive us for all of our sin and transgression we know that you call us to a life of holiness and conduct that is indeed worthy of the gospel of our salvation we know there is remaining corruption we have what the hymn writer describes prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love so we rejoice that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared and we pray that that would be the effect that that would be the consequence that that fear of god would be a great means by which we live in a manner that is consistent with your revealed law and god for any and all who've come here this morning that are dead in their trespasses and sins that know not the forgiveness that comes through the blood of our lord jesus christ we pray that today would be the day of salvation we pray that you'd open their hearts to receive the truth we pray that they would see christ in all of his offices to save as the prophet the priest the king we pray god that they would come to him to the father through him knowing that he saves to the uttermost and may that be for your glory and for your praise as well god we pray for other churches in this land that they would be faithful and hold the line in terms in terms of gospel preaching we thank you for those that we have intimate fellowship with god bless the saints in surrey and continue to watch over pastor kirkpatrick and use that church as a as a beacon there for the salvation of sinners in that community we pray for our brother pastor ryan and in armstrong we pray for that work god that it would be well established that a good foundation would be laid and that many would come to a saving knowledge of jesus christ as a result of that local body and god bless the brethren in northern ontario we thank you for the efforts to establish a good church there and father we confess and we know what it is to to see a church plant there are many struggles and challenges initially so we pray that you would just study them that you would encourage them that you would grant them grace lord god to be a faithful lighthouse in that community as well god bless the church in honduras we thank you for pastors carlos and luis we pray that these men would be faithful in proclamation of your truth and that you would add to the numbers there such as should be saved and may you strengthen and encourage and edify that local body and god we pray for your blessing throughout this earth as we read in the last hour there are many countries steeped in a persecution and an oppression that we have not seen in this nation god we pray for your saints there that they would continue to be faithful that they would know the presence and the power of the holy spirit that they would go forward in the fear of the lord and in the comfort of the spirit and that they would be faithful even to the end and god may you sustain your church in these lands and may you bless your church and may you indeed continue to save through the ministry of the word as it goes forth as paul asked for prayer that the word of god would run swiftly and be glorified that is our prayer to you most high and we know the prophet has said that the word of god does not return unto you void but it always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it and this encourages us encourages our weary hearts for god as we look at this world as we see a complete and utter disregard for the holy law of god it does cause us to reflect upon the the nature of man but it does remind us on the glory of god and the fact that you save the fact that you have saved us has proved positive that there is hope in the gospel for a multitude that no man can number so send that word forth to every tribe tongue people and nation and may you cause your face to shine upon the nations and let them be glad as the psalmist prays god we ask that he would look with favor upon the needs in this local church we rejoice in the fact that jordan does not have meningitis meningitis we know he's not out of the woods yet and we pray father that you would sustain him on a daily basis she would give his body the strength necessary to fight whatever this virus may be and just cause him to increase in health and strength each and every day look with favor upon others in our midst that have physical trials and challenges and ongoing difficulties as we prayed in the last hour we just commend them to you into the word of your grace trusting in your power and in your mercy not only in things spiritual but in things temporal and we know that you are over the entirety of us so god we thank you for this time together we pray that your blessing would be upon us that as we sing as we pray as we consider holy scripture we would do all of this for the praise and the glory of your great and awesome name even father son and holy spirit and we pray through jesus christ our lord amen we can turn with me again in your hymn books to number 403 number 403 will stand as we sing together yes [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] my name is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] well you can turn in your bibles to the book of hebrews we're in chapter 11 hebrews chapter 11. for our scripture reading this morning and i'll begin reading in verse 1. now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen for by it the elders obtained a good testimony by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of god so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible by faith abel offered to god a more excellent sacrifice than cain through which he obtained witness that he was righteous god testifying of his gifts and through it he being dead still speaks by faith enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because god had taken him for before he was taken he had this testimony that he pleased god but without faith it is impossible to please him for he who comes to god must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him by faith noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith by faith abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going by faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country dwelling in tents with isaac and jacob the heirs with him of the same promise for he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is god by faith sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed and she bore a child when he when she was past the age because she judged him faithful who had promised therefore from one man and him as good as dead were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore these all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar afar off were assured of them embrace them and confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth for those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland and truly if they had called to mind that country uh from which they had come out they would have had opportunity to return but now they desire a better that is a heavenly country therefore god is not ashamed to be called their god for he has prepared a city for them by faith abraham when he was tested offered up isaac and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said in isaac your seed shall be called concluding that god was able to raise him up even from the dead from which he also received him in a figurative sense by faith isaac blessed jacob and esau concerning things to come by faith jacob when he was dying blessed each of the sons of joseph and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff by faith joseph when he was dying made mention of the departure of the children of israel and gave instructions concerning his bones by faith moses when he was born was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command by faith moses when he became of age refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin esteeming the reproach of christ greater riches than the treasures in egypt for he looked to the reward by faith he forsook egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is invisible by faith he kept the passover and the sprinkling of blood lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them by faith they passed through the red sea as by dry land whereas the egyptians attempting to to do so were drowned by faith the walls of jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days by faith the harlot rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace and what more shall i say for the time would fail me to tell of gideon and barrack and samson and jephthah also of david and samuel and the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms worked righteousness obtained promises stop the mouths of lions quenched the violence of fire escape the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong became valiant in battle turned to flight the armies of the aliens women received their dead raised to life again others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection still others had trial of mockings and scourgings yes and of chains and imprisonment they were stoned they were sawn in two were tempted were slain with the sword they wandered about in sheepskins and goat skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth and all these having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise god having provided something better for us that they should not be made perfect apart from us amen well the focus of our sermon this morning in a few moments will be chapter 12 verse 1. so i don't want to tip my hand too much with reference to chapter 11 but to say two things in the first place notice the emphasis on these heroes of the faith it's not by strength it's not by wisdom it's not by military savvy it's not by wealth that they engaged in these mighty exploits it's by faith and this shows us the consistency between the old and the new covenants every sinner that has ever been saved it's been by grace through faith in our lord jesus christ you look to the last verse in chapter 10 notice what the apostle says we are not of those who draw back to perdition but of those who believe to the saving of the soul he then gets into a brief description of faith and then highlights the champions of the faith so as abraham believed god and it was accounted unto him for righteousness so that's always been the case abraham doesn't enter into heaven because he's a good man he enters into heaven because christ is a good mediator so doesn't abel enter into heaven because he's a great man but he does so because of the gospel of our lord jesus christ those men looked forward to the coming of the savior we look back to when the savior had come when he lived when he died and when he was raised again the only means by which sinners enter into heaven is the grace of god through faith in our lord jesus christ so that is the grand emphasis in chapter 11. it's been called the hall of faith for that very reason it is by faith they engaged in this they believed the promises of god in terms of salvation by grace through faith in the coming of the messiah but then by faith they lived the lives that were consistent with that profession or confession and then the second observation is the thrilling nature of the old testament if you're not too familiar with the old testament my hope is is that a hebrews chapter 11 whets your appetite i mean there's a lot going on in these several verses concerning the exploits of the people of god these are just brief statements or snapshots of what the old testament is about so as augustine said take up and read get the scriptures before you and understand god's purpose and plan in redemptive history yes in terms of creation yes in terms of providence but certainly in terms of redemption and what god has done in the salvation of sinners through faith in our lord jesus christ well let us pray our god we thank you that the bible is a most exciting book because it tells us of a great and glorious god father son and holy spirit as well it tells us of wretched and depraved man but the message goes on to the good news that this god has reached down in grace and mercy and has saved his people from their sins we rejoice that you have counted us among that lot that you have placed us among that lot and that you have blessed us by your sovereign grace and power and god again may this word go forth conquering and to conquer and may you be glorified throughout the earth today and we pray through jesus christ our lord amen well you can turn with me again in your hymn books to number 325 hymn number 325 will stand as we sing together [Music] me is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] foreign foreign [Music] is is [Music] well you can turn in your bibles to hebrews chapter 12. hebrews chapter 12 as i mentioned our focus will be on verse 1. but i do want to read the chapter get us in context so beginning in chapter 12 at verse 1. the apostle writes therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of god for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls you have not yet resisted the bloodshed striving against sin and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons my son do not despise the chastening of the lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him for whom the lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives if you endure chastening god deals with you as with sons for what son is there whom of whom a father does not chase it but if you are without chastening of which all have become partakers then you are illegitimate not sons furthermore we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live for they indeed for a few days chastened us as seen best to them but he for our prophet that we may be partakers of his holiness now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it therefore strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be dislocated but rather be healed pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the lord looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of god lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defile lest there be any fornicator or profane person like esau who for one morsel of food sold his birthright for you know that afterward when he wanted to inherit the blessing he was rejected for he found no place for repentance though he sought it diligently with tears for you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire into blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore for they could not endure what was commanded and if so much as a beast touches the mountain it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow and so terrifying was the sight that moses said i am exceedingly afraid and trembling but you have come to mount zion and to the city of the living god the heavenly jerusalem to an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven to god the judge of all to the spirits of just men made perfect to jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of abel see that you do not refuse him who speaks for if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven whose voice then shook the earth but now he has promised saying yet once more i shake not only the earth but also heaven now this yet once more indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as of things that are made that the things which cannot be shaken may remain therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken let us have grace by which we we may serve god acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our god is a consuming fire amen well let us pray father again we thank you for the written word of the living and true god we know all scripture is given by inspiration of god it's profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness so instruct us now lord help us to receive with thankful hearts these encouraging words concerning your faithfulness your goodness and your mercy to your church and lord fill us with your holy spirit guide and direct us into all truth and forgive us for all sin and those things which darken our minds and we ask this through jesus christ our lord amen well god willing will return to our exposition of john's gospel next sunday morning but it would be a good thing for us to be reminded on god's faithfulness and that's the emphasis here specifically in chapter 12 and verse 1. and i hope to show you that as we proceed but first just an overview of the the chapter as a whole you are uh the people of god are exhorted or encouraged to run the race of faith in verses 1 to 11 they are in court are encouraged or exhorted to renew their vitality verses 12 to 17. they are to be reminded that they have come to mount zion in verses 18 to 24 and they are finally admonished to not refuse him who speaks from heaven we see that in verses 25 to 29 and those themes take up an emphasis in the book of hebrews which is an exhortation by the apostle paul to exhort believing jews to keep going forward to persevere the temple was still standing the sacrificial system was still in play and certainly these who had professed faith in jesus as israel's messiah were being pressured by their fellows whether it be family whether it be an economy or economic trade whatever the case may have been they would probably have had pressure laid upon them to resist or reject the notion that jesus was in fact the messiah come back to moses come back to the to the temple come back to that sacrificial system that you knew so repetitively throughout the book the author emphasizes the need to endure the need to persevere and that is precisely what we find here in chapter 12 verses 1 to 11. so i want to look first at the believer's race and then secondly at the believer's help if you look specifically at verse 1 the main emphasis in this section is let us run the race that is set before us let us run the race that is set before us i know he says with endurance we'll look at that in just a moment but if we were to peel out the simple sentence the simple statement the simple exhortation it is that let us run the race that is set before us now often times when apostles or prophets god through his people give us exhortation or give us command they often give us incitements or enticements to comply with those commands i might say to you come to my house for for supper later on we're going to have a nice big pan of sizzling fajitas not just come to my house but here's a good reason why we just had a nice big pan of sizzling fajitas on thursday can't get it quite out of my head but you see there's an incitement or an enticement as to why you should comply with the exhortation come to my house why because you're gonna eat good endure persevere press on run the race why because god has given you these enticements he has given you these reasons he has provided this rationale so that being the simple command it falls after this statement concerning witnesses but we'll take up that statement first so we'll look at the believer's race and then we'll look at that first sort of enticement in the second place under the believer's help but notice the duty let us run the race that is set before us in other words we need to persevere we need to go forward we're not supposed to be stagnant in the christian life we're supposed to be fighting not physically necessarily but spiritually we're supposed to be praying we're supposed to be watching we're supposed to be taking guard we're supposed to be on the alert and this is an emphasis throughout as i said this epistle go back to chapter 2 at verse 1 to see the several exhortations in this vein so chapter 2 verse 1 therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away see it's a problematic thing to drift away so how do we avoid drifting away by taking earnest heed to the things that we have heard notice in chapter 3 at verse 14 same emphasis same sort of an exhortation for we have become partakers of christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end now god is sovereign god keeps us by his power but god also employs means and one of the means that he employs is that we by grace and through the power of the holy spirit do what he tells us to do and then notice as well in chapter 4 verse 1 therefore since a promise remains of entering his rest let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it and then notice in chapter 4 at verse 14 seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens jesus the son of god let us hold fast our confession again they were in danger of letting go go of that confession they were in danger of defection or apostasy they were in danger of relinquishing their faith in the lord jesus christ or their professed faith in our lord jesus and going back to the sacrific sacrificial system of moses not that moses sacrificial system was bad it was a wonderful thing an old covenant religion but the message of hebrews is is that the new covenant has come it's a better covenant with better promises because it's grounded on a better hope namely the life death and resurrection of our lord jesus christ notice in chapter 10 verse 23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful and then chapter 10 verses 35 and 36 therefore do not cast away your confidence which has great reward for you have need of endurance so that you uh so that after you have done the will of god you may receive the promise so that brings us to chapter 12 verse 1. let us run the race that is set before us but it's not simply confined to the book of hebrews we know that paul uses this imagery or this analogy elsewhere and his writings first corinthians chapter 9 verses 24 to 27 do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives the prize run in such a way that you may obtain it paul is against or at least he's not four participation trophies paul wants you to win he wants you to run in such a way that you win that you are victorious that you use the resources that god himself has provided namely the word and the spirit so that you march forward to zion in a manner consistent with his calling upon your life so he says run in such a way that you may obtain it and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things now they do it to obtain a perishable crown but we for an imperishable crown he's speaking about the athletic events that he knew of that were going on in his own generation similar to what we call today the olympics he saw guys getting up at oh dark 30 and running in preparation for their meet or in preparation for their eventual race or competition he saw the regiment with reference to food their guiding or guarding rather their protein their carb intake all that sort of thing this stuff was rampant in the early uh early centuries as well he saw their temperance and what he is saying is they do it for a perishable crowd we get over to the church with reference to spiritual needs and we're a bunch of sluggers we're all just stagnant we're not temperate we're not doing the things that god calls us to do he says therefore i run thus not with uncertainty thus i fight not as one who beats the air but i discipline my body and bring it into subjection lest when i preach to others i myself should become disqualified she uses the same imagery the same analogy the same sort of a vivid display again he's not saying run in order to be saved he's saying run because you have been saved run because god's grace has conquered you run because you've been forgiven of your sins run because you have the righteousness of jesus christ this is the impetus for our running this race that is set before us he says in philippians 3 at verses 12 to 14 not that i have already attained or am already perfected but i press on that i may lay hold of that for which christ jesus has also laid hold of me brethren i do not count myself to have apprehended but one thing i do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead i press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in christ jesus for the apostle paul he didn't have this mentality well you know i'm an older man now i've i've done my fighting i've done my work i've i've expended my energy i'm going to just sort of sit back now and settle on my leads and and just glide my way into heaven he doesn't do that he's a fighting watching praying man he is a faithful runner and he calls upon us to be faithful runners likewise so back to hebrews chapter 12 the duty is very simple the ver the exhortation is very simple let us run the race that is set before us but notice that particular race has obstacles or there are difficulties as we can all testify right in your christian race are there ever challenges are there ever hardships are there ever difficulties if you say no i will say well just wait just bide your time because jesus promised in this world you will have tribulation but be of good chair i've overcome the world that was the way he encouraged his apostles in john 16 33. he doesn't try to to to candy code he doesn't try to pair off the rough edges of discipleship in fact earlier in his ministry he says you need to take up your cross daily and follow me and in that context he's not saying whatever hardship might be in your life take up your cross meant to go to death if necessary for your commitment and and faith in our lord jesus christ so there are obstacles that attend this particular run notice in the first place we need to lay aside every weight look at what it says in verse 1. therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight now because he goes on to say and the sin which so easily ensnares us there's obviously a distinction there are weights that we can bind on ourselves that aren't necessarily sin but they don't necessarily help us win the race they don't help us run the race i think it's this that jesus appeals to in the parable of the soils he says in chapter matthew 13 22 now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful now riches in and of themselves are not sent you're not sinner a sinner because you're rich paul tells you in first timothy 6 how you're supposed to deal as a believing man or woman who has great wealth but it's not necessarily a sin but it can be a weight it can be something that weighs us down the cares of this world if you are like me in your political junkie you have to watch your your heart because you want to see what's happening there's this somehow tendency to continue to look at train wrecks that's not always a positive and helpful way to live in this present lower world i mean there's enough right out right now going on in this world to put some of us in a coma for years to come there's so much stuff happening and so what the apostle says is that we need to get rid of those weights imagine a long distance runner a long distance runner in fact one of my brothers just mentioned this this morning with a parallel to a real running race he just went in but you imagine if you're gonna go run a long race 26 miles in a marathon you don't put on a weighted vest you put on a weighted vest if you're 100 pounds over weight you want to walk around your block a few times that's a good way to get a little extra exercise but you're when you're running a marathon you don't add weight you try to reduce weight you don't go out there 50 pounds overweight you try to lose some weight before you slosh that around the course and so this is what the apostle says you're going to run this race don't take on unnecessary weight don't make unnecessary commitments don't get rid of your time unnecessarily make sure you're focused make sure you hone in on make sure you understand the primary reason for which you exist as a blood-bought child of god is to run this race and if there's anything that would detract from that he says get rid of it disband it get just remove it but then notice sin sin doesn't help us run this race at all he says let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us all sin does hinder not all weights necessarily are sinful but all sin is necessarily a hindrance and so the apostle says you got to get rid of it you got to put to death the deeds of the body that you may live you got to put on the lord jesus christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts you need to adopt that mindset of our blessed savior and the sermon on the mount you need to gouge out the right eye you need to cut off the right hand you need to enter into heaven lame or maimed if necessary then enter into hell hole you see there is this emphasis on runners running in the way that god calls us to and lo and behold he grants grace lo and behold he doesn't call us to do it on our own he gives us the spirit he gives us the bible he gives us church he gives us hymn singing and psalm singing you might have seen me pause after that second hymn i was going to say something like wow isn't it wonderful to be in the house of god and getting to extol the praises or extol our god in praise with a lot of people like us not like us exactly but blood-bought children this is a means of grace that god encourages runners so that when we leave here we run with endurance the race that is set before us we lay aside the weights we lay aside the sin and we pursue those things that god most eye has said we ought to be about pursuing one commentator says one of the chief problems with the hebrew christians to whom this letter is addressed is that they have set out on the race but after a good start are now slackening in the will to persevere their effort is decreasing sin is holding them back they need to recover their intensity of purpose to shake off the sluggish mood into which they have fallen to regain their confidence and their competitive spirit brethren it's in this vein that i bring this message it's not to come to condemn you and say oh what a bunch of you know wretched runners in this race god is merciful god is gracious god is encouraging us to renew this vitality so that we run in a manner that is consistent with our calling in our blessed savior but before we leave the believer's race notice the manner specified so there is a duty let us run the race that is set before us there are obstacles to lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us but then the manner is specified notice let us run with endurance endurance i understand how attractive it is to believe the lord believe on the lord jesus christ and then die and go to heaven you don't have to deal with a whole lot of hardship right there's been a few in the history of the church that that happened to the thief on the cross he was converted in the 11th hour he ended his day in paradise with our blessed christ but for most of us we get converted and it's back to work we get converted it's back to home we get converted and it's not that society has somehow changed it's not the case that we now have a prime minister committed to biblical law in the office there are hardships associated with the christian life there is the tribulation that jesus promised and so the apostle emphasizes not only run the race but do so with endurance this flash in the pan christianity this you know raise the hand at the tent meeting this say the sinner's prayer with no fruit is the evidence that there was no conversion the apostle john says they went out from us but they were not of us because if they were of us they would not have gone out from us but they have manifested that they were fake it was a fake profession it was false not all that glitters is gold brethren but gold does glitter and therefore we were supposed to run with endurance the race that is set before us this requires or this is perhaps one of the most difficult lessons in the christian life o'brien says the race is not a sprint but a long distance race requiring resolute determination now i know what it is to be battle weary i know what it is to be tired i know what it is to have that that mindset i'm not sure we can keep taking this but we can't because god is faithful we can because god is gracious we can because god has purpose to save us and that means not just at one time in history not just in the present but it will bring us into future glory that is the purpose and plan of god so if he has purposed that then he will provide the means necessary so that we may run with endurance the race that is set before us so the duty is pretty obvious the duty is pretty simple run with endurance getting rid of weights and getting rid of the sin that so easily ensnares us now let's look to the believer's help and there's three things but i only want to focus on the first notice in verse 1 therefore we also sense we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses that'll be our focus but then the example of christ in verses 2-4 notice after saying we need to run the with endurance the endurance the race that is set before us he points us to christ now i've told you before that in the first place christ is a substitutionary atonement for us men and for our salvation the incarnation was about the life and the death and the resurrection of jesus christ with redemptive ends with redemptive focus to save us from our sins but there are passages that point us to the example of our savior and this is one of them so he points us after this cloud of witnesses he points us to christ looking unto jesus verse 2 the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of god great example isn't it you're supposed to run with endurance the race that is set before you and if you say but it's so hard it's so difficult i don't know that i can do it it was hard and it was difficult for jesus hebrews 5 8 tells us the son learned obedience through what through suffering and so the son of man according to his humanity ran with endurance the race that was set before him how did he do it he despised the shame he he despised the cross but but he looked to that glory that was to come and then the third sort of incentive to run this race is the father's purpose and you see that in verses 5 to 11. so the cloud of witnesses the example of jesus and the father's purpose are the three incentives the three uh sort of enticements as to why we should comply with the command to run the race with endurance but as i said we're going to just focus at that cloud of witnesses now notice the cloud of witnesses he says in verse 1. therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses now if we were to scratch our head and say wow i i wonder what he's talking about here who could these witnesses possibly be the men and women in chapter 11 okay the persons that he just told us by faith they did these things by faith they persevered by faith they ran the race with endurance by faith they went forward by faith they looked to god by faith they resisted the temptation to sin with the people of egypt but but but counted the riches of glory much more to be preferred so the cloud of witnesses are all the saints that have gone before us the cloud of witnesses are all our fellows all our fellow men and women that by grace believe the gospel of our lord jesus christ and are now in heaven the language suggests an amphitheater so this cloud of witnesses are up in an amphitheater there's two ways to interpret these clout of this cloud of witnesses are they witnesses of us or are they witnesses to us now the one is they are witnesses of us and then the emphasis of the tax would be run with endurance the race that is set before you knowing that abraham's cheering you on knowing that enoch is cheering you on knowing that sarah is cheering you on knowing that abel and jephthah and samson and barrack and david and the prophets all of them are up in that amphitheater they're seeing your running self and they are cheering you on that's the interpretation that suggests that they are witnesses of us i don't believe that's what's in view they are witnesses to us we're supposed to look outside of ourself at those men and women as we're running with endurance the race that is set before us as paul says in philippians 2 forgetting what's behind we reach toward that upward call of god in christ jesus but along the way we look at abraham along the way we look at enoch along the way we look at abel why do i suggest that that's the way the text ought to be understood first the word doesn't mean spectator if you were in a modern court and they called a witness the witness doesn't sit in the dock simply to watch the proceedings the witness is there to give testimony the witness is there to give eyewitness testimony or or whatever testimony that he or she has to offer so they're not coming to sit in the dock next to the judge simply to watch the proceedings to make sure they're going on as well the witnesses are beholding the glory of christ i like to think brethren that abraham and enoch and and rahab the harlot they have better things to look at than than me running with endurance the race that is set before me and i'm not going to try to trigger you here but they probably have better things to do than look at you they're beholding the face of jesus they're in the presence of the lamb they're in heaven so what do you think they're gazing upon they're not looking at us rather we're supposed to be looking to them the witnesses serve on our behalf to manifest here's the point the faithfulness of god and to show that god upholds faithful runners whatever their circumstances i think it functions beautifully and i think the various snapshots given in chapter 11 to which we'll look in just a moment function beautifully what happens when we run with endurance the race that is set before us if you're like me there's a lot of complaining and then some whining and there's some sniveling but you don't really know what my life's like i i have it really tough i i've got an unconverted family they're not very nice to me i i live in a godless age i've got these various challenges and and you know i'm just riddled with difficulties we try to whine our way out of running with endurance the race that is set before us as if we are the only ones that have ever faced any hardship or difficulty or woe brethren the witnesses that are named in chapter 11 and through the history of the church are there to testify of this one theme god is faithful whatever your circumstances whatever your lot whatever your trials whatever your hardship know this that when you run with endurance the race that is set before you god's got you just like god had us now consider in hebrews chapter 11 the various witnesses mentioned we have abel in chapter 11 at verse 4. now before you tell me how hard your life is because you have a family that doesn't love you or doesn't like you which is a miserable condition and a situation by the way if that's your issue i would love to pray for you in that regard abel's brother murdered him abel's brother killed him abel's brother despised him to the point where he bashed his head in or some other way to dispatch him from this life which just goes to show you as well you don't need a gun in order to kill somebody you can use your bare hands if you are so inclined to do that so abel testifies that even in the midst of that god is faithful you've got enoch in chapter 11 verses 5 and 6. enoch walked with god and then he was not it really doesn't tell us much about enoch in terms of of the history in genesis of what his life was like but it does tell us he lived for 365 years and it does tell us that in the midst of that 365 years he had children now i'm not suggesting that children are the hardest things ever to deal with but there's a challenge to be had in rearing children and yet enoch in the midst of that was faithful to the point where he was not because god took him imagine being so holy that god just reaches down from heaven and brings you up into heaven that's the manner that enoch was he walked with god and then he was not so in the life of routine in the life of the ordinary in the life of the mundane i mean sometimes we get so romantic and we say well if i was out there with david on the on the valley of elar in the valley of elah sure i'd stand up against goliath but my life is just normal it's ordinary it's routine you mean like enoch he managed successfully to live that ordinary routine and mundane life in such a way that god brought him up right into heaven notice as we continue down this hall of faith you've got noah this is especially appropriate for us in our own generation i mean look at europe look at the uprisings against governments that want to impose the green new deal and not learning that it just doesn't work sri lanka fell panama's about to fall why because they wanted to embrace anything and other everything but fossil fuels and we see this and people are saying no we don't want you to lead us down this path there is great unrest think about the the corruption in society abortion we think about the decalogue we think about the latter half the second table i mean we don't we don't even think about the first table anymore we don't even begin to entertain the thought that idolatry would be a crime or or that blasphemy would be a crime or that sabbath-breaking would be a crime but let's just take the second table of the law murder you shall not murder these people rejoice in abortion these people shout their abortion these people want to get rid of crisis pregnancy centers that are designed to help ladies who are pregnant i mean this is evil it is a manifestation of wickedness and vileness and it apes the father of lies and murder himself and then you have euthanasia we have all kinds of ways now to get you out of this world and so we see this world it's exceeding corrupt and it's filled with violence but that's precisely what noah faced and yet in the midst of it nail after nail he pounded that ark together and he did what god said by faith he was faithful in a faithless generation notice as well abraham brethren abraham before he came out of early chaldeans was an idolater just like his father tara it wasn't like abraham had a jesus come to jesus moment in irv the chaldean and then said to tara you know i'm going to go over here to to canaan i think this is where god's people are gonna god drew him out god saved him god said that in you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed he had been an idolater he had been a man committed to false gods you see this in joshua 24 covenant renewal at shechem there joshua tells us that tara was an idolater well terror was a father like the rest of us if i'm going to worship an idol my son's going to worship an idol if i'm going to worship the true and living god my son and i'm going to exhort him to worship the true and living god so abraham was a sinner saved by grace and he becomes in many respects sort of the the benchmark in terms of justification by faith alone he believed god and it was accounted unto him for righteousness him and david serve as the examples of justification by faith in paul's book of romans romans chapter four and then you have sarah sarah's mentioned in chapter 11 11 and 12 what was her deal you're going to have babies and lots of them but god i'm not a spring chicken i'm 99. these people had enough knowledge of biology to know that what god was promising them was a stretch come on this is just not the way remember she laughed she actually laughed at the thought of prospect that she was going to have children i mean that would have been a hard one for any of us and yet what does she do by faith she embraces the promises of god and she becomes along with abraham the progenitor of many many people it's ultimately about christ and seed but notice impossible physical demands are met by our god chapter 11 20-22 isaac jacob and joseph isaac jacob and joseph they didn't just sort of wander through life without any challenges the book of genesis is very curious very interesting you have these macro cosmic you know mind-altering events up until chapter 11 and then chapter 12 the narrative comes to almost a dead stop and then you start with abraham and his family to the point where there's whole chapters given to finding a bride for isaac finding a bride for jacob the narrative crawls along at that point and what it does is it shows us that god's people have their challenges they have their issues they have their obstacles and their hardships isaac jacob and joseph jacob makes this observation in genesis 35 3 then let us arise and go up to bethel and i will make an altar there to god who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which i have gone see that's the witness you're supposed to appeal to or look to it's not him looking at you saying go run or go it's you looking at him hearing him say god's faithful keep running don't stop don't shrink back don't end it don't throw up your hands in in in in frustration and say no more and then with joseph joseph again if you think you've got family problems i mean when they threw joseph into the pit joseph is at the bottom of the pit and he's crying out to them while they're eating lunch brethren they're sitting at the edge and they're having a bologna sandwich actually it wouldn't have been a bologna sandwich but they were eating they were mowing their lunch while their brother was in the bottom of a pit of course they wanted to kill him but then once one intervenes and says no let's just sell him into slavery that's a much better option well what does joseph learn when all is said and done you meant this for evil but god overruled it for good genesis 50 20. that's the point of the narrative brethren that's where it goes that's the focus that's the purpose whatever hardship you face whatever difficulty you have god's faithful he doesn't ever stop he is immutable he is impassable he is most loving he is most glorious he is most kind and gracious to his people you've got moses and the exodus in chapter 2 11 verses 23 to 29. look at chapter 11 verse 23 by faith moses when he was born was hit in three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child excuse me they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command the king commanded the extermination of every hebrew baby born every male that was born should be killed praise god that his parents didn't go with the policy of the state praise god for civil rights resistance and civil disobedience in that instance praise god that moses parents hid him from this oppressive regime that would cut his throat and throw him into the nile notice verse 24 by faith moses when he became of age refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter he had everything at his disposal he had riches he had wealth he had women he had you know the education system he had everything that egypt had to offer and yet he refuses this notice verse 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin would we do that would that be our conviction everything is yours every good thing every good gift all you've got to do is bow and worship me bow and worship the state or if you're the devil in matthew 4 bow and worship the devil jesus and all these things will be given to you but notice it wasn't just mercenary on the part of moses it wasn't like he was of the school that that pain is good suffering good let's just embrace it like a stoic no there's greater joy greater blessing greater provision than the passing pleasures of sin that's what the text goes on to say verse 26 esteeming the reproach of christ greater riches than the treasures in egypt for he looked to the reward so when you're running look to moses and learn from moses hey passing pleasures of sin notice pleasures but they're passing sin doesn't say come and engage in me because i'm going to make you miserable we know that it does make you miserable but initially why do people sit because it feels good brethren if nobody wants to admit that i guess i'll go on record to say it because there are pleasures attached to it now we know the end is destruction we know it's a bad thing but there's greater riches to be had in our blessed savior so you've got moses and there's an instance in moses or with moses deuteronomy chapter one the book of deuteronomy is simply a series of exhortations by moses to prepare the children of israel to go in to conquer the promised land and so he gives them a history of how god dealt with them and in chapter one he traces the wilderness now the children of israel in the wilderness whined they grumbled they'd say things to moses like we want to go back to egypt there were leeks and there were onions and there were melons we can kind of kind of fantasize about how good it was all all we have is this this wretched manna all we have is this this bread all we have is this stuff they would say on occasion of moses did you bring us out to the wilderness simply to kill us well in deuteronomy 1 31 he says that yahweh carried you through the wilderness the way that a father carries his children what's moses telling you as a runner today god's faithful god is going to see you through it notice he goes on to the shady lady of jericho we looked at her recently and she's in chapter 11 verse 31 but in joshua chapter 2 rahab the harlot by faith she did this by faith she proved again civil resistance to a godless king isn't necessarily wrong civil resistance to a godless king in that event landed her in the hall of faith when a godless king wants to exterminate the godly people then a godly person stands up in their defense and that's what rahab the harlot does so if we look up into that amphitheater she's given us a chair if she's looking at us which i suggested earlier she's not but for the sake of an illustration and she's saying god's faithful he saw us through when the children of israel surrounded jericho what happened joshua chapter 6 tells us there was only one family spared that day the city was banned the city was given to destruction the word anathema that you find in the new testament greek is the hebrew word harem and it means devoted to destruction there were certain things devoted to destruction jericho was one of them don't go in there destroy it and then take the loot don't go in there and destroy it and take their stuff no everything there must be destroyed except for rahab the harlot and her family god spared them alive so rahab testifies that god is faithful you've got the judges the judges in chapter 11 verse 32 i'm sorry yeah verse 32 you've got gideon barrick samson and jephthah turn to judges 15 for one illustration judges 15 for one illustration in the life of samson and we know that uh gideon boy what a great lesson he gives us right gideon tells us you don't need you know thousands and thousands of military militarily armed men you don't need battle battle uh conditioned soldiers to go out and do the bidding just 300 that's all yahweh needs he doesn't need 300 but it's a it's a it's an illustration it's an analogy it's a description of god's power you've got barrack barrack didn't want to go into battle without first hearing the word of the lord that's the function of deborah in the barrick narrative she was not a judge she was not a co-judge when it says that she judged she was probably a judge like circuit judges she probably heard criminal things and gave adjudication barrick was the judge in terms of what judges did in the book of judges they were saviors of israel they were king like men and uh they function in that particular capacity so the barric narrative does not show us his dependence upon a woman it shows us his dependence upon the word of god he consults deborah who's told to us to be a prophetess he doesn't want to go into battle without hearing the word of god so you've got uh gideon barrack samson jefftha jefftha again a noble character that did glorious things to advance the kingdom of god but let's jump into judges 15 and just focus on samson for a moment it's a it's a chapter that's filled with treachery and victory first samson is betrayed by his father-in-law in verses 1 to 8. you can read that later second he's betrayed by his own countrymen in verses 9 to 13. i'll just open that one up a little bit judah was the tribe of messiah right jesus will come from the tribe he's a lion of the tribe of judah judah is the first ones addressed in the book of joshua or judges with reference to conquest judah is a warring tribe judah is the ones that go out and get things done in terms of breaking heads and and taking soft dispossessing the land of the canaanites judah here is cowering in fear from the philistines their problem isn't with the philistines their oppressors their problem is with samson their savior they want to deliver samson over to the philistines so that the philistines can get rid of their arch enemy i mean this is one of the saddest chapters in redemptive history judah should have came behind samson stood behind him and resisted this philistine threat with every ounce of blood they had in death but no cowards that they were babies and nancies that they were they give up samson to the philistines now in the province of god that brings us to the victory at jawbone height and so we know the story samson finds the the the jawbone of an ass and he uses that to dispatch a thousand philistines brethren i'm not sure i could dispatch one philistine i imagine by 550 i'd be pretty tired i can't even imagine being covered in the blood of philistines at a thousand now notice a text that i think some people don't really like because it sounds a bit offensive notice what happens in verse 17. and so it was when he had finished speaking that he threw the jawbone from his hand and called that place raymath lehi that was the proverbial mic drop right you've just got it covered with philistine blood he now throws it he drops it verse 18 then he became very thirsty so he cried out to the lord and said you have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant and now shall i die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised we think that sounds a bit cheeky doesn't it come on samson this is the holy god you shouldn't talk to him that way but you see god doesn't respond that way god gives him water god understands he's thirsty he just killed a thousand philistines i'm gonna give him a fountain i'm gonna refresh him i'm gonna bless him such that he has the cooling effects of that in his body and on his soul and that he'll be my servant forever so god split the hollow place that is in lehi water came out he drank and a spirit returned and he revived therefore he called its name and hakur which is in lehi to this day and he judged israel 20 years in the days of the philistines the point is simple brethren throughout his life whether it was killing philistines or whether it was a need for water samson is able to encourage us as one of the cloud of witnesses that god is faithful even to the point of bodily refreshment after a wearying battle the apostle goes on he speaks of david samuel the prophets all of those men testify to us that god is faithful consider two statements from king david one in earlier life and one at the end of his life second samuel 4 9 david says to wreck ebb and ban on his brother the sons of riman the barathite and said to them as the lord lives who has redeemed my life from all adversity david had a tough life brethren he was a simple shepherd that had to deal with lions and bears and those sorts of things i'm not suggesting that was fun but the moment the spirit of god comes on him in first samuel chapter 16 that's when the problems really begin that's when saul has animus against him that's when saul hunts him down that's when saul wants to get rid of him but he doesn't not only has saul to deal with he's got philistines to deal with what what illustration of not only internal threat but external threat and yet in the midst of that david is able to say the lord has redeemed me from all adversity but at the end of his life subsequent to the bathsheba narrative subsequent to that incident where he killed uriah the hittite to cover up his adultery with with bathsheba remember when he owns his sin in second samuel chapter 12 i have sinned against yahweh god forgave him and so at the end of his life he's able to make the same statement in terms of god's faithfulness first kings 129 and the king took an oath and said as the lord lives who has redeemed my life from every distress again subsequent to the bathsheba and uriah situation notice the triumphant heroes in chapter 11 33-35 notice the suffering saints in chapter 35 to 38. history or tradition tells us the one that was sown into was isaiah the prophet i've said this before i'll say it again that isaiah the prophet met his end by being sawn into demonstrates how wicked this world really is the man who penned isaiah 53 the man who penned isaiah 1 to 66. that man everybody should just say what a good what a guy i mean what a great man what a what a one what a champion what a what a beautiful human being the most beautiful of feet are on the prophet isaiah and yet history tells us it was him who met his hand by being sawn in two and may i suggest the health wealth prosperity gospel or so-called gospel has no truck in bib in the scriptures this tells us the lot of god's people but consider just outside of hebrews 11 the person's mention hananiah mishael and azariah we know them as shadrach meshach and abednego turn to turn to daniel chapter three daniel chapter three we're coming to an end and we're not going to go through every human being that ever lived that confessed faith in christ but if we did go through every human being that ever lived that confessed faith in christ you know what one message they could continue to give us god is faithful as much i know i don't know a lot i don't know everything i don't know many things but this one thing i do know god is faithful look at this instance in chapter 3 specifically at verse 16. they're going to be thrown into the fiery furnace for having refused to bow the knee to nebuchadnezzar shadrach meshach and abednego answered and said to the king oh nebuchadnezzar we have no need to answer you in this matter you mean you're not going to answer the civil government no there's no need to there's no command in the bible that i must but we're going to proffer one if that is the case he's talking about being thrown into the fiery first furnace you can read that in the preceding section if that is the case our god whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us from your hand okay now we typically stop there and go wow that's great they have absolute confidence that yahweh is going to deliver them but look at what they say this is faith brethren verse 18 but but but if not they don't know god's providence they don't know the secret things they don't know that they should die as a great example to other persons they don't know that they don't have the certainty that god is going to throw down a whammy and and free them from the burning fiery fur furnace but if not let it be known to you o king that we do not serve your gods nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up that's faith but if not we only ever think that it's going to work out brethren the history of the world tells us it doesn't always work out the history of the world tells us that isaiah the prophet was sawn in two the history of the world tells us the apostle paul was ultimately martyred under uh nero the history of the world is a it is a providential under god nevertheless difficult place and we need to embrace that and faith does that is a statement that every one of us should pray would be in our hearts and mouths at crunch time but if not we're not going to recant we're not going to bend the knee to you we're not going to shrink back from our blessed jesus we will go to the fire if that is what is necessary if that is what our god calls us to that brethren is faith and what do we find god's faithful in the midst of that and he does deliver them now there is micah the prophet i don't want to spend too much time here there is the prophet habakkuk let's just jump into the new testament acts chapter 20 the apostle paul two new testament examples one new testament example one from history then we close acts chapter 20. look at what the apostle paul says verse 22 and see now i go bound in the spirit to jerusalem not knowing the things that will happen to me there except that the holy spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me not sure what's going to happen but this much i do know there's going to be hardships see brethren lesser men would say well it's time to find a new job i'll go work at walmart i'll go you know golf i've got enough retirement saved up don't need much i'll go be homeless i mean come on it's a better option than every city holds chains and tribulations for me but notice what he says in verse 24 but none of these things move me nor do i count my life dear to myself so that i may finish my race with joy and the ministry which i received from the lord jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of god second timothy chapter four second timothy chapter four he knows he's going to die not because he's had absolute prognostications concerning such things but he knows he's going to die philippians 3 he sees the possibility uh second timothy 2 or 4 he knows he's going to die so verse 6 second timothy 2 4 6. for i am already being poured out as a drink offering in the time of my departure is at hand i have fought the good fight i have finished the race i have kept the faith finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only but also to those all those who have loved his appearing so when we look up as we're running that race that is set before us we're doing it with endurance we're laying aside the weights we're laying aside the set and we happen out of the periphery of our eye we see paul up there what's paul's message to us god is faithful the history of the church is littered with martyrs there was a man by the name of polycarp paulie carp i only cite him typically every time i preach this sermon because it what he says is pretty much representative of what the martyrs do or say when they're in such situations so in ad155 ad155 early on in the time of the christian church polycarp is going to be set ablaze for his crime of fidelity to jesus again fox's book of martyrs this is not you know boy i didn't know this you should know this you should read fox's book of martyrs you should read by his blood you should be familiar with what our brothers and sisters went through why because we have some sick twisted fascination in this no because we want to hear all of them to a man tell us that god is faithful paulie carp said when he was asked or told commanded to recant that means don't confess jesus anymore if you stop confessing jesus we'll let you go home there'll be no fire for you except that your hearth you can have a nice bevy you can relax you can hang out with your family very simple right i mean you're only good you just renounce your faith and every good thing will come your way brethren that's a temptation for the professing people of god renounce your faith and every good thing will come your way so paulie carp says this 80 and six years kids that means he's 86 80 and six years i have served him and he has done me no wrong how then can i blaspheme my king and savior you threaten me with a fire that burns for a season and after a little while is quenched but you were ignorant to the fire of everlasting punishment that is prepared for the wicked he was burned at the stake and was pierced with a spear for refusing to burn incense to the roman emperor on his farewell he said i bless you father for judging me worthy of this hour so that in the company of the martyrs i may share the cup of christ what do you think polycarp says when you're running that race with endurance and you catch him out of the periphery he's going to say god is faithful therefore having this great cloud of witnesses being surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight that would slow us down let us get rid of every sin that would ensnare us let us run with endurance the race that is set before us and let us keep our periphery on these witnesses that continue with one refrain your god is faithful now to close understand what i said before we don't run in order to be saved we run because we have been saved god saves us by his grace through faith in our lord jesus christ he causes us to be born again regeneration he gives us the graces of faith and repentance we believe the gospel we turn from our sin we lay hold by god's mercy of his offered salvation in jesus christ we have him we have his righteousness we have his blood to cleanse us it is from that vantage point that we now run the race with endurance that is set before us so if you are not a believer here this morning my emphasis to you is not go out there and run it do it resist it no believe on the lord jesus christ repent from your sins and then by grace run the best race that there ever was now we may whine we may snivel we may complain but brethren what's the alternative the road that leads to destruction the road that leads to everlasting punishment come to the savior and by grace run with endurance that blessed race let us pray our god and our father we thank you for your faithfulness so vividly displayed in hebrews 11 just these snapshots of what you do in the old testament what we see in the new testament what we see in polycarp and in in thomas hawks and what we see in all of the the saints that that suffered for the cause of god and truth what we hear of on a regular basis as we read these prayer letters concerning churches and in other lands lord you are faithful and help us all to see that help us all to hold on to that and help us all by grace to run this race with with endurance with faithfulness and with with great joy and with happiness and with delight and we ask this through jesus christ our lord amen let us close by standing together and singing the doxology and praise to our god it's found on page 568. is [Music] is [Music] the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace thank you father for your grace to us thank you for this this benediction and god may it be the case for each of us and may you bless this day call cause us to call it a delight and may we rejoice in your loving kindness and in your goodness and we pray through jesus christ our lord amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation you