WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.820 A cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely. 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:12.080 And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:18.519 perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:26.420 shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. On Sunday we were looking at 00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:35.300 that passage where we were reminded because of the incredible lawlessness of the times, 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:43.700 that the love of many would grow cold. It was a very sad statement. But then side by side 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:49.000 with that, Jesus went on to say that those who endured, those who kept going, those who 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:56.980 persevered, the same, these would be saved. So it's following on from that, that wants 00:00:56.980 --> 00:01:03.579 to look at these as well known words. We're looking more at the manner of running this race. 00:01:04.659 --> 00:01:11.379 This is the way we continue, the way we persevere, the way we endure. And we're told very simply 00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:19.519 what we are to do here. Now, in the previous chapter, the apostle lists this great, as it 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:25.500 were, catalogue of men and women of faith. And that's what set them apart. There were men 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:31.620 and women who had their flaws and faults. They had their doubts and their fears. But they 00:01:31.620 --> 00:01:39.479 are in that chapter for one thing, and that is their faith in God. It was by faith that they 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:47.500 did what they did. And that's why they are recorded in that chapter. And they are there 00:01:47.500 --> 00:01:54.020 as an encouragement to us, because it is by faith that we live as well. It's by faith we're 00:01:54.020 --> 00:02:01.580 here tonight. It's by faith we do what we do. And I know that there are times that we examine 00:02:01.580 --> 00:02:06.560 ourselves, which we're told to do, and very often we're afraid that we're not doing what 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:15.159 we do by faith. But so much of it, it's almost has become natural, and it is of faith. Coming 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:21.640 here tonight is an act of faith. You've come here to worship God. And that is an act of faith. 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:27.900 Because thousands don't, thousands don't want to, but you do. And so it's faith that has 00:02:27.900 --> 00:02:35.500 taken you here. Now some people say that they have faith. But if you delve a wee bit further 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:43.700 down, it's not faith in God. It might be faith in themselves, faith that it's little more than 00:02:43.700 --> 00:02:50.159 positive thinking. Or some people have faith in the church as an institution. Or they have faith in 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:56.819 a system, or they have faith in different things. But the Christian is somebody who has faith in the 00:02:56.819 --> 00:03:05.639 living and through God. And this faith will bring us into places where we are tested and we're tried. 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:13.560 This faith will bring us into situations where every prop and every comfort and every support 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:21.939 sometimes is taken from us. And we're left alone with God. There's nowhere else we can turn. There's no 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:28.740 one else we can look to. Every human support is taken away. And there are times in our experience 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:34.879 where we're saying, well, if God doesn't intervene, if God doesn't help, then there's nothing else for me. 00:03:36.079 --> 00:03:43.199 Now, quite often we quote, and rightly so, the verse, we walk by faith, not by sight. And we can say that glibly. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:53.039 But it's only by grace that we can really walk by faith. And of course, faith comes. It is by grace you are saved through faith. 00:03:53.299 --> 00:04:00.939 That not of your shelves. And so the Lord takes us into these places. And we've all been there in different ways, 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:07.699 at different levels, where our faith has been tried and tested. And God does that deliberately. 00:04:07.699 --> 00:04:15.899 Not for him to discover that we have faith, but very often for us ourselves to discover. 00:04:16.599 --> 00:04:25.000 But through these testings and trials, our faith develops and grows. We become stronger Christians as a result of it. 00:04:25.939 --> 00:04:32.680 And so we're to look to Jesus. And that's what the apostle is doing here, is encouraging the Christians. 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:40.759 Christians. And you will find that as you go through the New Testament, all the different writers, although sometimes they're writing to instruct, 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:48.660 sometimes they're writing to rebuke, sometimes to challenge. But you'll find all the gospel, all the epistle writers, 00:04:49.220 --> 00:04:53.340 at some point or another, are encouraging those that they are writing to. 00:04:53.980 --> 00:04:58.759 And that's an important part of our Christian life, that we seek to encourage one another. 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:03.959 That we live in a world that is so opposed to Christianity. We live in a difficult world. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:11.980 So let us make sure that as Christians, we don't knock each other down, but that we seek to build one another up. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:20.879 And we can do it by, very simply, by sharing something we've read, which has meant something to you. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:30.399 It's often good when you meet another Christian, you share and you say, well, you know, I was reading this morning and I'd never seen it like this before. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:34.019 And you can share that or an answer to prayer or there's so many things. 00:05:34.019 --> 00:05:41.000 And when you do that, a growing bond develops between you and the other person. 00:05:41.979 --> 00:05:51.659 And this is part of the way that our fellowship and our friendship in the gospel develops by sharing and seeking to encourage one another along the way. 00:05:53.099 --> 00:05:57.279 And so the apostle is telling us that the Christian life is likened to a race. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:11.119 Again, Paul tells us that in Corinthians and he uses the example of how human athletes will train and they will deny themselves many things in order to get an earthly crown, a temporary crown. 00:06:11.539 --> 00:06:15.779 But that we are running a race in order to gain the heavenly crown. 00:06:15.919 --> 00:06:18.879 And there's various examples given in scripture. 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:23.859 Now, this race begins the moment that we're converted. 00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:34.040 The moment that we come to faith, we begin to run this race and we continue to run it every single day until we draw our last human breath. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:38.560 And we are then taken into the presence of the Lamb. 00:06:38.840 --> 00:06:41.060 Our race here is over. 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:44.639 Paul elsewhere, he says, I have run the race. 00:06:45.080 --> 00:06:48.600 He talks about finishing the course that has been set before him. 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:50.480 He knew the end was coming. 00:06:51.320 --> 00:06:57.760 And the days of our running, the race will come to an end for each and every one of us. 00:06:58.700 --> 00:07:04.320 And we also notice here that this is not a random race. 00:07:05.260 --> 00:07:08.280 It's not a race that's just sort of thrown together. 00:07:08.640 --> 00:07:11.379 It's a race that is set before us. 00:07:12.340 --> 00:07:14.240 It's a definite race. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:44.220 It's a race that's just sort of race. 00:07:44.220 --> 00:07:48.920 It's a race that has been set for you by the Lord. 00:07:49.840 --> 00:07:51.560 And we notice that it's a race. 00:07:52.520 --> 00:07:53.560 It's not a jog. 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:54.800 It's a race. 00:07:55.500 --> 00:08:02.600 A jog is something that you, if you go out, if you go out for a jog, I don't know how many of you still do that. 00:08:02.900 --> 00:08:03.800 Maybe some of you do. 00:08:04.260 --> 00:08:04.920 I used to. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:05.740 I don't do now. 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:09.120 But if you go out for a jog, you set the pace. 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:15.439 And you're in control of how far you want to run, how fast you want to run. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:21.340 You're in control of whether you want to stop, take a breather, or just say that's enough and head back. 00:08:21.339 --> 00:08:23.599 But this is not like that. 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:26.219 This is an actual race. 00:08:26.359 --> 00:08:28.599 And a race is something totally different. 00:08:29.459 --> 00:08:32.819 It's a race that involves every aspect of our being. 00:08:32.939 --> 00:08:36.279 It is a race that will exhaust us and tire us. 00:08:37.019 --> 00:08:42.059 But the rewards in this race are beyond anything that we can even begin to imagine. 00:08:42.059 --> 00:08:45.939 The Bible talks of a weight of glory, a crown of glory. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:49.199 It talks about the most wonderful things that lie ahead. 00:08:50.359 --> 00:08:56.359 And although there are times that we feel overwhelmed and times that we feel we're being sucked under, 00:08:57.479 --> 00:09:00.599 we see that the Lord won't let us go. 00:09:00.699 --> 00:09:02.359 Now, we're told here how to run the race. 00:09:03.219 --> 00:09:07.839 Very simply, we're told, first of all, to lay aside every weight. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:08.839 That's the first thing. 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:14.200 And then we're told the second thing, and the sin which clings so closely. 00:09:16.420 --> 00:09:19.980 So there's these two aspects, first of all. 00:09:20.060 --> 00:09:21.540 Let us lay aside every weight. 00:09:21.660 --> 00:09:29.180 And many people think that by the weight here is not something that is necessarily sinful in itself. 00:09:29.920 --> 00:09:32.980 That it might be something that's completely right and legitimate. 00:09:34.160 --> 00:09:37.400 And yet it's something that is holding us back. 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:41.679 It is something that is taking up maybe too much time in our lives. 00:09:42.379 --> 00:09:44.980 Something that's hindering our running. 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:52.620 Something that we have to look at and say, well, maybe it simply means to moderate what we're doing. 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:57.019 Say, for instance, it's a hobby and you find that you're giving so much time to it. 00:09:57.079 --> 00:10:01.259 And you're saying to yourself, when you look at it honestly and say, well, this is actually coming in the way. 00:10:01.259 --> 00:10:04.200 This is something that I have to give less time to. 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:08.159 But we've got to look at our lives and look at all the things. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:11.600 Things, as I say, that can be quite right and legitimate in themselves. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:17.100 But they are things that are affecting our Christianity. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:18.420 Affecting our zeal. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.779 Affecting our spirituality. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:28.139 And then it says that we are to not only to lay aside every weight. 00:10:28.580 --> 00:10:31.519 But the sin which clings so closely. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:37.960 And this elsewhere, it says the sin that easily besets us. 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:42.600 Now, we all have, we're all individual. 00:10:43.319 --> 00:10:45.220 We all have our own particular makeup. 00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:54.040 And we're, I'm sure, every single one of us are more prone to certain sins than to others. 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:55.820 We have different weaknesses. 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:00.100 My word, Satan knows our weaknesses. 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:02.399 He knows where to get us. 00:11:03.180 --> 00:11:10.960 He knows the points that are most likely, the most vulnerable points, where we're most easily tempted. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:14.180 And so we've got to, we've got to be ruthless. 00:11:14.340 --> 00:11:15.740 We've got to examine ourselves. 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:22.000 And we've got to be, this requires often almost a brutality about it. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:27.120 Where we're having to, if we're serious about our walk with the Lord, our run with the Lord, 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:29.600 then we have to deal with these things. 00:11:30.700 --> 00:11:33.940 And when you go through the Bible and you'll see a lot of the characters, 00:11:34.560 --> 00:11:37.120 you'll see that there were different characters. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.920 There were different areas of their lives. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:41.979 It's that they were more prone to sin. 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:48.339 Taking David as an example, David is a man, an exemplary, God-fearing man. 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:53.079 He was a man whose whole life, by and large, was lived to the glory of God. 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:58.399 And the glory of God was uppermost in his thinking, in his writing, in his life. 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:03.839 But it's very obvious when you look at the life of David that his weakness was women. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:10.440 Not simply our love for women or our friendship with women, but our lust for women. 00:12:11.139 --> 00:12:20.680 And the most dangerous time is when Satan will tempt and where there's desire and there's opportunity. 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:26.859 These three is the perfect storm of desire, temptation and opportunity. 00:12:27.059 --> 00:12:29.799 It's what exactly happened in David's life. 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:34.579 There was the desire, the temptation and the opportunity with Bathsheba. 00:12:34.580 --> 00:12:43.180 And we know of how the aftermath of that and the grief, and we have the psalms that came as a result of that. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.580 But you see, there are weaknesses. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:49.660 And again, it's in the line. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:52.120 Solomon, it was exactly the same. 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:56.700 The Lord had said with regard to that they weren't to multiply wives. 00:12:56.700 --> 00:12:57.900 And Solomon did that. 00:12:58.060 --> 00:13:06.420 And it's very interesting that Solomon, more so even than David, in 2 Kings it tells us, 00:13:06.500 --> 00:13:11.940 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh. 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:13.320 And there's a list of things. 00:13:13.940 --> 00:13:14.600 And then it says, 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:30.639 Solomon clung to those in love. 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:35.620 He had 700 wives, princesses and 300 concubines. 00:13:36.300 --> 00:13:38.340 And then I have a really sad word. 00:13:38.940 --> 00:13:41.019 And his wives turned away his heart. 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:47.220 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods. 00:13:47.319 --> 00:13:52.159 And his heart was not holly through to the Lord, his God. 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:56.159 It wasn't that Solomon had stopped worshipping the Lord. 00:13:57.259 --> 00:14:00.960 Solomon was still involved in all that was called upon. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.639 And Solomon had been a great servant of the Lord. 00:14:05.319 --> 00:14:08.639 But this was a sin which so easily beset him. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:11.720 And he was living in disobedience to the Lord. 00:14:12.259 --> 00:14:15.500 And the further he went over the edge, the worse it got. 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:18.779 And the result was what God said would happen. 00:14:19.100 --> 00:14:21.620 Your heart would be turned away from the Lord. 00:14:21.939 --> 00:14:23.659 And that's exactly what happened. 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:27.279 So sad in the latter part of Solomon's life. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:32.879 And so this sin which so easily besets us is dangerous. 00:14:33.299 --> 00:14:35.220 Dangerous for you and it's dangerous for me. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:42.659 And it hinders and it hampers our running, this race that is set before us. 00:14:44.019 --> 00:14:51.620 Paul tells us not to be entangled again with the sins that we've been delivered from. 00:14:51.620 --> 00:14:59.000 And so if we don't lay aside, then it's like trying to run a race. 00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:03.720 When you look at athletics, when you look at, say, for instance, the Olympic Games today, 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:10.560 and you look whether it's in the field of athletics or you go to the pool where all the swimming and diving takes place 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:16.559 or whether it's on the cycling tracks, everything is so streamlined. 00:15:17.459 --> 00:15:27.079 And it's made so that every athlete in whatever field they're going, the clothing, whatever they wear, the bikes, 00:15:27.459 --> 00:15:31.019 everything is geared for maximum efficiency. 00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:32.679 Nothing to come in the way. 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:38.979 And it would be like going to run at a race like that and all the other athletes have all the proper gear 00:15:38.979 --> 00:15:43.559 and you come with long flowing robes and all sort of things. 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:49.079 There's no point even competing because you'd be entangled with them. 00:15:49.299 --> 00:15:50.459 That's what Paul is saying. 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:57.539 It's like trying to run a race with all kinds of loose clothing flapping all over and you're getting entangled. 00:15:57.539 --> 00:16:02.879 So that's the first, the main thing that, well, it's not the main thing. 00:16:02.959 --> 00:16:04.279 It's one of the things he tells us. 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:10.939 But the key to running this race, and very, very, very briefly, is looking to Jesus. 00:16:11.959 --> 00:16:13.639 Let us run with endurance. 00:16:14.199 --> 00:16:15.259 That is, keep going. 00:16:15.339 --> 00:16:16.899 This race, it's a marathon. 00:16:17.219 --> 00:16:18.019 It's not a sprint. 00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:19.740 Let us run with endurance. 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:26.480 The race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:28.399 That's what it is. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:31.480 The founder and the perfecter of our faith. 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:33.700 He found us in the first place. 00:16:34.779 --> 00:16:39.159 He's the one who found us and found our faith. 00:16:39.300 --> 00:16:41.680 It's in him and through him alone. 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:45.139 And we run this race looking to him. 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:49.399 We wouldn't be running the race if we weren't looking to him. 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:55.120 As we sang in Psalm 34, they look to him and lightened where. 00:16:55.120 --> 00:17:00.500 And when his light came into our heart, it opened up a new world. 00:17:01.299 --> 00:17:06.480 And it opened up a running track, a race track in front of us that finishes in glory. 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:09.279 And we're running, looking to him. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.160 If we're taking our eyes off, we're in trouble. 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:20.759 And the great example which we use over and over again, but it is so biblical, it is so correct, is Peter walking on the water. 00:17:21.600 --> 00:17:23.360 Remember, how did Peter walk on the water? 00:17:24.120 --> 00:17:25.340 Looking to Jesus. 00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:26.840 He heard the voice of Jesus. 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:29.880 He went over the side and he fixed his eyes on Jesus. 00:17:30.080 --> 00:17:31.460 And as he did that, he walked. 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:35.259 And then it tells us when he heard and when he saw. 00:17:35.259 --> 00:17:40.160 When he heard the roar of the wind and when he saw the surge of the sea, what happened? 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:41.599 He began to sink. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:44.980 And so it will be for you and for me. 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:55.619 If we take our eyes off Jesus and we see the pull of the world and hear the noise of the world and get pulled by it, we'll begin to sink too. 00:17:55.619 --> 00:18:00.559 So it's imperative that our eyes are fixed upon Jesus. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:05.500 And when our eyes are fixed upon Jesus, it will help us deal with the weights. 00:18:05.639 --> 00:18:07.559 It will help us deal with the sin. 00:18:07.819 --> 00:18:08.559 It will help us. 00:18:08.879 --> 00:18:10.979 This is the key to running. 00:18:11.819 --> 00:18:14.039 And when we look at him, we see the one who endured. 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:18.159 For our sakes, remember, he ran a race. 00:18:18.679 --> 00:18:20.779 He ran the race that the Father gave him. 00:18:21.299 --> 00:18:23.299 He ran it with perfect obedience. 00:18:23.299 --> 00:18:27.859 And he finished the course for the Father and for us. 00:18:28.899 --> 00:18:30.139 That's the wonder of it. 00:18:31.180 --> 00:18:35.500 And you remember how when you look at Jesus, he was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:37.099 He suffered. 00:18:37.639 --> 00:18:38.379 He endured. 00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:42.180 He went through everything for us. 00:18:43.500 --> 00:18:47.799 He is the founder, as we say, and the perfecter of our faith. 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:55.919 So let us all ask the Lord to help us to run, to run this race that is set before us. 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:03.659 I'm conscious of the time because there is a wake tonight following on from the meeting. 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:06.579 So let us conclude with a word of prayer. 00:19:06.579 --> 00:19:09.519 O Lord, our God, we pray to bless us.