get started here. Those of you that are Somewhat new here and haven't only been here What's been a number of months since we've done this but sometimes we use this first hour of the service to? give some men opportunities to to teach and Today is such a day so we have our brother hunters gonna speak to us for approximately 20 minutes and our brother Jim's going to be after him so that's what's happening in this hour and ask you be pleased to Give them your attention and let's pray for them right now. It's before they begin. Father, we are thankful. Lord, thankful for the Lord's day. Thank You. We serve a God who reigns over all things. We're thankful, Lord, for the men You've given this church. Thankful for passion for Your Gospel. Thankful, Lord, for gifts You've given us. We're ever wanting to utilize those gifts. Identify them and develop them and Lord, that's that's the goal in this hour We pray you give us listening ears pray you give our brother hunter and Jim grace and peace Lord to bring to set forth your truth and the burden that you've laid on their heart and Father use it to edify your Saints use it to exalt your son Lord use it in a way that's most pleasing to you. We pray your blessing upon our time in Jesus name. Amen. I Well, turn with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, and let's pray. Father, Lord, thank you for this time together this morning that we can gather and we can hear your word. Father, I pray, though Jim and I are inexperienced in the pulpit, Lord, I pray that you would help us. Help us to preach your word. Help those who are here to hear with faith. Father, we need You in this hour, I pray in Christ's name, Amen. Starting in verse 1, it says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, now that points us back to chapter 11, the chapter on faith. and there's no greater chapter in all the Bible that gives you better illustration and example of faith. Since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that's set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Now, does anybody know the title of Papa's book? Yes, Papa wrote a book. Papa wrote an autobiography. Ending the glorious race by God's grace is the title of Papa's autobiography. So the metaphor of a race is used to describe the Christian life. The life of faith. And every believer is running this race. Every Old Testament saint ran this race, and the race doesn't end until either Christ returns or He calls us home. Whether you're 15 or 94, you're still running the race if you're a Christian. until Christ returns or He calls us home. And the Christian life is primarily the life of faith. And it's a race of faith. We see that all throughout the book of Hebrews. He builds upon this reality of the necessity of faith. Just real quick, a couple passages. In Hebrews 3, he warns of the sin of unbelief. He says, take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. And after ten glorious chapters of the Hebrew writer expounding upon the New Covenant, and Christ as our High Priest, He says, therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain that is through His flesh, since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, Let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And at the end of the chapter, he says, Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward for you in need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. For yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay, but my righteous one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." So the Christian life is primarily a life of faith. The title of my sermon this morning is, Running to Win, looking to Jesus. Back to our text in v. 1 of chapter 12, it says, let us run with endurance the race that's set before us. Christians are to run. That's the primary verb in these two verses. The other ones lay aside and looking. They only modify This one. So primarily in this passage, what we're to do is run. Run the race set before us. We're not to be lounging around soft, undisciplined, lazy, on the sidelines, but we're to run. That's what he says. And that's the main emphasis, the main command in these two verses. And so, I want to answer this question with my sermon this morning. How are we to run? In what way are we to run in order to win the race? That's where I'm going with this. So, I hope you want to win the race. If you're here and you're a Christian, I hope you've thought about making it to the end. I hope you've thought about making it to glory. Do you want to win? Okay. So, it brings me to my first point. The first way we're to run as Christians, you see at the end of verse 1 it says, let us lay aside every weight and sin. Now I'll try and explain what this means and then we'll try and apply it. So, notice this. Notice in verse 1, if you look, he says, let us also lay aside both every weight and sin. The author makes a clear distinction between what's called a weight and what's called a sin. So what's a weight? We know what a sin is, but what's a weight? The idea behind a weight in a race is anything that slows you down, anything that hinders you, anything that keeps you from running. The New American Standard Bible says, let us lay aside every encumbrance. So the idea is that there's something that's slowing you down in the race. As you're running the Christian race, and you're seeking to follow Christ, things can come into our lives, things that aren't necessarily even sin. Things that are good. Good things even. Lawful things that can slow us down in the race. And these would be called weights. And you don't have to be a Christian for very long before you realize there are weights in the Christian life. There are things which come into our lives which slow us down. And here's where so many people can go wrong. So many people can go wrong and say, well, it's not a sin, is it? I mean, the Bible doesn't say it's a sin, so surely it's okay. People can have a vicious attitude about their Christian liberties, if you try and question them on certain lawful things that maybe it's slowing them down. Paul said, all things are lawful for me, but not all things build up. And the apostle knew this. So think with me about the different weights in our lives. Think with me about the things that have slowed you down in the past. If you're a Christian, you have things that you've had to let go of. You have things that you've had to sacrifice. Things that you've had to give up. The different weights. Unbelief is one big sin in our life that can slow us down in the race. Now, think with me about Or rather, I'll move on to the application. You know, that's the explanation. What a weight is, it's something that slows us down, something that hinders us, something that keeps us from running the race. What's the application of this passage? It says, let us also lay aside every weight and sin. So that's a weight, but the application is to actually do that. You see, with so many truths in the Bible, The thing is not understanding what it means. The thing is actually laying aside the weight that slows us down, right? See, think with me about eternity. In eternity, is it really gonna matter how nice your clothes were, how nice your car, how big your house, whether you had $10,000 or $100,000 in the bank? In eternity, it's not gonna matter. Anything but what we did. for Jesus Christ. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. And you know, I actually printed out that poem because it's a whole poem. I don't know if you've ever read it, but it's glorious. Let me read some of it. It says, and say, I was bogged down. I didn't run as hard as I could have. I didn't give up the things I should have. Why did I spend all my time watching television? You don't want to die in front of the TV, friends. You want to die living for Christ. You want to die pouring yourself out. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. And when I'm dying, how happy I'll be if the lamp of my life has been burned out for thee. Christian, do you burn for Christ? Do you burn for Him? How happy we'll be in that day when we stand before Him. if we burned out for him. Now this begs the question, what's our number one priority? What do we give ourselves to? What do we spend our time? And you know what the sad thing about weights is? They compete for our affections. It shows you where your heart's really at. But if you get your eyes on Christ, that breaks the power of that weight in your life, you say, you know what? What was I doing messing around with that thing? When the Lord Jesus Christ is so glorious. And that brings me to the second point. It says, looking. Looking. The second way we're to run is looking. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. or to run as we're looking. The New American Standard says, fixing our eyes on Jesus. The meaning in the original is actually deeper than what you get in the English. In the English, it just says looking, but the Greek carries with it the meaning of turning your eyes away from other things to fix them on something else. Vines Expository Dictionary says, to look away from one thing so as to look to another." So the idea is this, if you're going to look to Christ, you cannot look at other things. If you're going to look to Christ, you cannot look at the earth. You cannot look at your circumstances. You cannot look at yourself. You cannot look at other people. But you have to fix your eyes upon Christ. That's what the text exhorts us to do. Fixing our eyes on Jesus. Looking away from everything else. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim. in the light of His glory and grace. Do you remember the Apostle Peter? When he walked on the water? It says he got out of the boat and he walked on the water and he came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind and sinking, he cried out, Lord, save me. And here's another example in Hebrews 11. He says about Moses, He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Now, this is interesting, and I think it's important. Five times in the book of Hebrews, Christ is said to be where? Seated at the right hand of the throne of God. You know where that comes from in the Old Testament? It's in the Psalms. Psalm 110. The Lord says to My Lord, sit at My right hand. till I make Your enemies Your footstool." Do you remember what Jesus told the chief priests when they arrested Him? They put Him on trial and they questioned Him. They said, are you the Christ? The Son of the Blessed? And He said, I am. And from now on, you'll see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power. You see, Christ has all power. The Lord Jesus has all authority. All things are put under His feet. Is that a motivation to look to Jesus? Is that a motivation to look to Christ? Colossians 1.15-20 says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, and without Him was not anything made that was made." Excuse me, I was going off. visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him and He is before all things and in him all things hold together and he is the head of the body the church He's a beginning the firstborn from the dead that in everything He might be preeminent for him and all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things Whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross and Ephesians 1 Paul says I have not Because I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which He's called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe. according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that's named, Not only in this age, but also in the one to come. The Lord Jesus Christ is highly exalted at the right hand of God. And the Bible exhorts us, look to Him. Look to Him who's able to save you, able to strengthen you. He's full of forgiveness. He's full of grace to help you in the Christian life. And you can't do it without Him. And in closing, I don't know how long I've been, but there's those who will take it serious. There's those who will lay aside weights. There's those who will renounce sin. And there are those who will look to Christ. There are those who will not take it seriously. And as Christians, we've got to be following after our Lord, laying aside every weight and sin. Amen. Father, thank You for this time. Lord, I pray for my brother Jim. I ask You to help him. Lord, I pray that You'd help all of us to run this race. Amen.