Amen, amen. Hebrews chapter 12. Apologize for the technical difficulties during Sunday school. We're working on trying to solve that problem, so bear with us. Hebrews chapter 12. Let's begin in chapter 11, verse 39. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. That's all those he mentions in Hebrews 11. Wherefore, now he encourages them in a great way. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience 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 set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him, that's Christ, that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we ask now again that you would bless us with your presence, but especially the Holy Spirit. May he guide us in these truths. I pray that, Lord, you'd encourage us as your children in this divinely appointed race We pray, Father, Lord, that you'd inspire us and strengthen us and comfort us. Lord, you know we so often grow weary and faint. I pray that, Lord, you'd strengthen your children this morning anew. Invigorate us, Father, by your Spirit. Enable us to get back into the race that we might run it with patience as we look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. We go this morning from the soul that fainteth for the salvation of God. to those who are in danger of becoming weary and fainting in their minds. It's not uncommon for God's people to faint in our Christian life. As a matter of fact, throughout Scripture we are told that we are often prone to fainting. Be it in soul or be it in mind. Yet God, our God, who is everlasting, Elohim, covenant-keeping God, the Lord, Jehovah God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Bible says He fainteth not, neither is He weary. Strange when you consider it. Why would this prophet declare God doesn't faint and that God's never weary? Because we are. God never gets tired nor does He get weary of our fainting. I want you to understand that. He never comes to the point to where He's frustrated, discouraged, or even angry when we faint. That's why the prophet declared that this God, this Elohim, covenant-keeping Jehovah God, never faints and is never weary. But there's one thing He does do for us in that text in Isaiah. It says, He giveth power to the faint. I don't know about you, but if God grants power to the faint, maybe sometimes it's not bad to be fainting. Something like Paul said, when I'm weak, then I'm strong, because then the power of God and the power of Christ restest upon me. He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might. The Bible says He increases strength. So it's amazing how the prophet in those words declares that our feigning doesn't keep God from giving us power nor does our lack of strength or might keep Him from giving us or increasing our strength. Thus is the everlasting and unchanging mercy and grace of our God. who hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants. Psalm 35, 27. Verses always amazed me. He has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants. He who will perfect that which concerneth them. Psalm 138, verse eight. He will perfect that. It's a concern to them. And like the psalmist said in Psalm 57, he will also perform all things for us. It's amazing God, isn't it? And on top of all that, he says, and besides all that, I want you to be assured that I will never, I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you because I'm God. It's a mating comfort for a child of God, is it not? And so we see that here in our text this morning when Paul describes to us in chapter 11 all those saints of old and the mighty workings of faith that was wrought upon their lives and within their lives. Before the Apostle would exhort the true believers to run the race with patience set before them, he first described the cloud of witnesses which encompassed or enclosed or encircled them. From chapter 11. He said they have obtained a good report through faith. A good report. Yet he said they haven't received the promise. And I'm telling you, that divine truth is worthy of our contemplation. They obtained a good report, yet they hadn't received the promise. Why? Listen closely. Verse 40 of 11, God having provided, ordained, decreed, foreseen some better thing for us. I don't know how that makes you feel, but I'm very humbled by that. Their acts and heroic acts of faith in Hebrews chapter 11 were great. And yet God says, I provided foreseen something better for you. Why something better? That they without us should not be made perfect. It's amazing when you think about that. After saying that, Paul says, or begins verse 12 with this word, wherefore. That's an amazing truth in verse 40 of chapter 11, but Paul says, wherefore, because God hath provided something better for us, that they without us should not be made perfect, wherefore, here is the exhortation. Seeing, now listen to the words, seeing we are also, we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. In other words, seeing those witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and let us lay aside, and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us, for whom God has provided something better, listen to the words, Stated in chapter 11, let us, to whom God has provided something better, let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Is it not amazing, he said, that we should see the cloud of witnesses that encircle us. We are to be inspired by that cloud of witnesses, motivated by that cloud of witnesses, but we're to look, we're to look unto Jesus. Isn't that amazing? Not unto them, but look unto Jesus. And it's amazing also that Paul would describe the Christian life, the life of faith, because chapter 11 is all about faith, as a race. He said, let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Now in context to what God said in verse 40, or Paul said in verse 40, we're God providing some better thing for us, that providing something better for us entails this race. And Paul would have us to understand that this life of faith, this thing that God has better prepared for us is a race that we're to run as Christians. It's not of our own choosing. but one divinely and providentially set before us. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. It's not one that we choose of our own. Stay with me. The course of this race is not decided by us. The length of that race is not decided by us. The ruggedness, the terrain, the obstacles are not decided by us. Everything has been set for us. That alone should encourage us in running this race, not frighten us. Why do you say that? In living the Christian life for 43 years, I thank God that I didn't choose my course. God did. Now was I always comfortable with the course that God chose for me? No. Was it always pleasant? Nope. Was there heartache and sorrow along that course? Yep. But it's God's course He set for me. Don't ever think that your Christian life is left to chance. And don't ever think that you have the power to run this race according to your own design or your own purpose. You see, to believe in the providence of God and His sovereignty is not only to believe that all creation is governed by God, but it is also to believe that His divine providence and sovereignty is also in my life and everything that I do and everything that happens to me. We plan. Nothing wrong with that. But it's God who directs our paths. There is comfort in knowing that, but also a solemn sense of humility. It is not. I see Christians over the years get so frustrated because their plans and purposes fail and falter. As though God had for a moment lost all consciousness and awareness of where we're going and what we're doing. That somehow we got out of God's will. It's a course set before us. It's a race that's prevalently set before us. The entire race, what Paul here describes, this Christian life of faith, that's what he's talking about. Don't forget, he's including chapter 11, all these great acts, heroic acts of faith. He began by describing faith. It's the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. He's still talking about faith. This life of faith He compares to a race that is divinely, providentially set before us by God. We need to comprehend that if we're going to understand the context. The entire race, even down to the course, the route, the path, the direction is divinely appointed with the greatest of God's wisdom, Stay with me. The greatest of God's wisdom, His grace, His knowledge, His care, that's how the course is laid out. You know when they have a marathon and they run this marathon, the course is diligently laid out. weeks, months before they even begin the race, they'll have men and women out there laying the course. And they will look at that course and they will design that course way before the race starts. So when the runners get there, they're not going, where do I go? It's all laid out. Now the difference is they know that course. Sometimes they're even allowed to run it a few days before in preparation. The difference with that kind of course in God's, we don't know what's around the bend. But God does. Sometimes the greatest frustration in our Christian life is because we don't have control of our situation. God said, I never intended for you to set your course. I set it for you. Run the course. At his departure, Out of this present world, or before his departure, out of the present world, Paul wrote unto Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, for I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I'm ready to go. Philippians, when he wrote them, he wasn't ready. He said, no, it's better for me to stay here with you. But in 2 Timothy, he goes, I'm ready. My departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I've kept the faith. He said, I ran the course which was mine that God gave me. Stay with me. Every single one of us in this race, we all run. But every single one of us has a designated course that God has set specifically for you and I. We might not have to run the same mountain or through the same valley. We all run the race, but the courses are different. Yours might not be like mine. Mine might not be like yours. Paul said it was my course. And I finished it. We must all run with patience the race, yet each of us have our own divinely appointed course, route, path. Our course may greatly differ than that of others, but it is a course of God's own choosing. Stay with me, I'm trying to make this practical. Why is that so important? Because sometimes Christians are too troubled looking at other people rather than what God has laid out before them. In this race, as we'll see in a few minutes, it's not a competition to win amongst others. It's to finish the course. Are you following me? It's to finish the course. Keep an eye on your course. Well preacher, they're not running the same course as I am. Mine seems pretty tough. It's the one God chose for you. I don't like it. Still the one God chose for you. You see, with all those descriptions in Hebrews chapter 11, Not everyone was called on to offer an Isaac. Not everyone was called on to build an ark. Not everyone, like Moses, was called to wait in the wilderness for 40 years before God used him. Not all were eaten by lions or tormented. But each one of them, like us, each one of them had a divinely appointed course that God set before them to run. It wasn't theirs to choose, nor is it ours. Have you ever found yourself, and I know I have, Lord, if in my life, if I would have back then turned this way instead of that, ever been there? Lord, what if I back then decided to go there instead of here? All those ifs, huh? What if? Let me tell you something, if we had control over that to go back and do what we wanted, our life would probably be more miserable than it is now. It's not the way it goes. And as you grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you begin to humbly realize the course God set before me is much better than one I would set. But you say, Preacher, I wouldn't go down this same course. I guarantee you, I would take another route. I would not go down this one. Well, it would not be the one God chose for you. Now, I know this is not always easy to humbly accept the course God has set for ourselves. But let me tell you something, by the time we get to the end, it will be. I guarantee you we will look back on the course that God set for us, and I guarantee you, like Paul, we will say, I've finished my course by the grace of God. Some of us here this morning, if time and Christ delays His coming happens, some of us here this morning are very near to that end of the course. Our life is coming to an end. If God doesn't come back or take us home, we're reaching the end of our course. We've got a few more miles to go. Some of you have a whole lifetime ahead of you. Let me tell you something from experience. Though you might not like or be comfortable with the course God sets for you, let me give you some good advice. Stay the course in faith because it's the one God has chosen. And it is the best course, regardless of what happens, it is the best course. My course. Each course. has a test to our faith, our hope and our trust in God and His Word. This divinely set course down which this race is to be run is often filled with various obstacles. The spiritual terrain often rough and rugged. There's high mountains to cross. So you must on them mountains pace yourself. Are you listening? You can't swiftly run up a mountain or sprint. So when those mountains cross your course, you pace yourself and you climb it. And though you get weary in your spiritual legs and the breathing gets heavy, you keep climbing. Because of the prize that waited for you, getting ahead of myself, of course, but also because it's godly, divine course. There are a lot of deep valleys that you'll have to pass through. It can be very dark and heartbreaking, but you stay the course. Why? Because God has said it before you. You see, the runner runs, and I'm getting ahead of myself, the runner runs not merely simply to run, he runs to win the prize. That's why he says looking unto Jesus, inspired by the cloud of witnesses, but not looking unto them, looking unto Jesus. Why? He's our prize. He's our prize. And so as we run down those times of dark valleys and it gets very dark, we run because the prize is Christ. And we keep running. There are times when our pace is or must be made slower. Like I said, sometimes it's made slower by obstacles and rough terrain. And there's also times in this race when we must pick up our pace. The race has a lot of different things attached to it. Yet run we must, never lingering, never tearing, too long in one place. A runner knows if he stops too long his legs get stiff, tired. Gotta keep going. Along the way we gotta make sure we drink enough water. Wonder what that could illustrate. Sometimes they'll grab protein bars. We run, though, but not uncertainly. That is, without confidence. We run with confidence. Look at 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9. Verse 24. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, we all run, but one receiveth the prize? So run, run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. comparing the races, human and spiritual. Watch this, I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, not doubting. So fight I, not as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body and bring it under subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. All run the race, but one receives the prize. So run, he says. Now, Paul is not saying that only one Christian is going to receive the prize. That's not what he's implying. He's just using the analogy of a race. We're all going to run, and every Christian that runs, we all receive the prize, which is Christ. But he's saying, run as though you're the only one that will receive it. Unlike the worldly race where only one person receives the prize, in this divinely ordained race, all receive the prize, but God would have us to strive and vigorously run the race. for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, according to Philippians chapter three. So he says, run the race, don't stop. One of the biggest problems with many Christians is they stop running the race. Paul asked the Galatians, you did run well, what did hinder you? In 43 years or so, I've seen many so-called professing Christians drop out of the race. This is not a race for those that truly don't know Christ. They will burn out and they'll quit. They cannot keep up. The terrain's too tough. The hill's too large. The valley's too deep. They will stop. Why? Because they see no prize ahead of them, which is Christ. The Christian on the other side realizes this is a divinely set course by God who is good and merciful and mighty and that the prize is Jesus Christ so therefore they run the race regardless of how difficult and trying that race might be, they run the race. Big difference. So that's the race set before us. But something else in Paul's description here in Hebrews chapter 12. He said, let us run with patience the race that is set before us. It's an odd word for a race, isn't it? Can you imagine the coach telling this marathon runner, I want you to run. The goal is to win. You need to win, but be patient. What in the world do you mean by that? How can I be patient and win the race? You see, this race is different. Listen to me. Strange, some might think, that patience in a race, yet in this divinely ordained and appointed and spiritual race, Paul says patience is the key to faithfully finishing our course. And let me tell you something, if you've ran this course for any amount of time as a Christian, I think you can bear witness to what Paul is saying. You got to have patience. Sometimes the race don't go according to what we plan, and you got to be patient. You see, the Christian's race in this present world is not a sprint. It's a marathon. When Paul said he finished his course, when you read that text, it's almost as though you can hear Paul with everything he describes he experienced as a preacher and as a Christian. It's almost as though you can hear Paul say, I finished my course. Have you ever seen a runner after a marathon race? He's not crossing that finish line going, yippee, yay. He might be excited, but he's going. He's exhausted. You know what happens when a Christian begins to reach the end of that course? He begins to be spiritually exhausted. Oh, he's not losing his energy, but the goal is so much closer now. And it's like, oh God, I want to cross that finish line. The only thing he's got in his mind is that finish line. I want to cross that line. I want to get that crown. I want to go home. You know, one of the last things Mr. Brady said to me, I think, if I'm not mistaken, besides some of these staff maybe, I think I was the last one that spoke with him. He looked at me and he says, I want to go home. And I said, home out at Santa Ana? He said, no. I want to go home. Why? He was a runner who had finished his race. He wanted to go home. You see, this is a good race to run. Man, I wish I could open up my heart to you young people and those who are younger in the Lord, who have still many, if the Lord doesn't return, many years to live. It's a good race. I can't tell you it's always going to be easy. I can't tell you there's not going to be some tears and heartaches along the way. That's part of the race. I can't tell you there won't be many mountains. And I can't tell you there won't be very deep valleys. But let me tell you something from a runner who's quickly approaching that finish line. It is worth the race. The run is worth it. because of the high prize of God in Christ Jesus. The run is worth it. But you have to run it in patience. It's not a sprint. Therefore, Paul says much patience is needed if we're to finish our divinely appointed course and not burn out. or become weary and faint in our minds. He mentions that later on. Look to Christ, let you be faint in your mind. And that's where the runner in this race weakens, when you grow faint in your mind. Your mind can be a devastating thing, not just your heart, it's desperately wicked. But your mind, here it doesn't say your heart, your mind lets you grow faint in your mind. You gotta be patient. Now, did older Christians know that when they began this race? Are you kidding? Man, I shot out of that box, I mean, like a racehorse. And I thought, man, I'm gonna charge hell with a water pistol. Boy, did I learn fast. So I'm always weary of young Christians who talk a lot about God. I'm always like, ooh. Be careful what you're saying. Do you have any idea what you're talking? As you grow older in the Lord, you're not so quick to voice how great your faith is. Because you learn that your faith is really weaker than you ever thought it was. Your knowledge is never what it used to be or thought it was. And what you thought you knew about Christ is nothing. compared to who Christ is. The race is not to the swift, Ecclesiastes 9 says, it's not to the swift. Because the swift can't persevere in this divinely ordained race, but the patient can. So when you find yourself on your course on a very rugged part, Maybe the terrain is uneven or the hill begins to get pretty steep. Pace yourself and be patient. Keep going, but be patient. Don't get frustrated. Amen? Don't just get disgruntled. Things didn't work out my way. Be patient. The swift, usually the young and the eager believer, will soon grow faint and weary. For he often overestimates his own strength and relies too much in his own abilities. Patience is not a virtue he has come to appreciate or value yet. That's why Paul says about a preacher, don't let it be a novice, he'll be lifted up in pride and the devil will be careful about that. So run it with patience. Be patient, be patient. I know it's hard. I don't think anybody's conquered patience yet. You've heard that old saying, people say, give me patience. And people say, watch out. You know how you learn patience, right? Try in your faith, work with patience. So when you ask for patience, do it wisely. God, as you seem fit. But as you grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and you begin to get further down this course that God set before you, you begin to learn that. You might not have learned at the beginning, you're like that young believer, you got out of the gates as fast as you can, and you didn't pace yourself, and you found out you fell on your face. You get back up and you say, I'm gonna be a little bit more cautious this time, I'm gonna be more patient. Have you found, and I hope you have, listen to me, have you found as you grow older in the Lord, Have you found that your patience also has gotten stronger and greater? Your trials don't cause you so much affliction or trouble as they did before. Oh, they're still there and you're still troubled by them, but they don't seem to overwhelm you as much. That's what patience is. You meet a trial, you say, okay, this hill's gonna, you see the hill before you. Something's happened in your life, there's a mighty hill before me, God. I'm gonna have to pace myself and be patient. But by your grace, I'll make it over this hill. And you run. And you're patient. And even though your spiritual legs begin to weary, and your breath begins to be heavy, you continue on. You know what I found years ago when I ran? I don't run as much now as before in Germany. I used to run every day when I was a full-time pastor, five kilometers. Which is what? Three miles? Something like that? Every day in the vineyard. It's beautiful. You know what I found? When you first start out running, it's kind of hard. But once you get in that and you get that rhythm and you get your breathing down, You could run all day. It feels like you could run all day. Now I can't run half a mile, but it feels like you could run all day. Why? Because you've learned to pace yourself and your breathing. And so you just, so is this race. Once you've started and you begin with the race, maybe you started a little bit too quick, but you quickly learn, I need to pace myself. I need to be patient in this race. Isaiah 40 says this, Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait, patience, listen, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Notice he says the word renew. He doesn't give them strength. He renews the strength they had. We learn in this race when we wait on God, He will renew our strength. He will freshen us up. He will quicken us. That word's used a lot in Psalms. Quicken thou me according to thy word. Quicken. So the believer waits for God to quicken him, renew his strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. And they shall walk. and not faint. Who? Those who run this race in patience. Preachers, you don't know, I've been climbing this hill for a while. It doesn't seem like I'm getting any, any, any way down this road. Seems like I'm stuck in the same place. I have been. Be patient. Let me tell you, let me tell you, when God renews your strength, and you begin to run anew with new strength, you'll thank God for that time you had to wait and be patient on God. But run the race. You know, like our Lord said in Luke chapter 21, with patience you possess your souls. That is, in all our afflictions, is what he's talking about, and trials. Don't let them disturb or trouble your souls. You possess them by patience. Don't let all your troubles and afflictions disturb you. Be patient. That's very hard to learn. We learn that by the trying of our faith. But he said, you possess your souls in patience. So too with the same patience, Paul says we must run this divinely appointed course Not allowing the often difficult and trying courses to disturb or trouble us, but keep running. Stop complaining. Stop murmuring. The way is too hard. The road is too rough. I am too tired. Don't you think every Christian has that same affliction when running this race? Oh, believe me, I'm not telling you that even as older Christians, I'm not telling you that we don't sometimes go, Lord, I'm tired. We do. But you run it with patience. Look in Psalm 27, and I'll bring this to a close. Psalm 27, for now. We're gonna look next week at some more things. Psalm 27, waiting on the Lord, being patient is healthy. Psalm 27, verse 13. Again, I had fainted. There's that word, you know, and they say that's not in the original. Of course, you can see the words that King James put them in there. But I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, in the land of the living. Some say that's in heaven, some say here, we're not gonna refute that now, but unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord, be patient, be patient. And you know what patience is, biblically defined, it's not, murmuring, complaining, it's having a spirit that is calm, submissive, patiently waiting on God. Again, the runner in the race learns that as he's running the course. You remember when Israelites were at the Red Sea? Pharaoh was behind them, mountains around them, Red Sea in front of them. They were trapped. God led them there. It's a sermon of itself. God led them right there. He said, Moses, you go here. God knew that he was going to trap them in. When they were there trapped, God said to Moses, tell the people to fear not. Stand still. Like, where were they going to go? Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He didn't mean physically stand still. He's talking about be still in your heart and your soul. Be patient, be still. Stand still so that you might see the salvation of the Lord. But you know what he said immediately after that? That was in verse 13 of Exodus chapter 14. You know what he said in verse 15? He said immediately after that, he said, now speak unto the children after I have told them to stand still. You tell the children that they go forward. And you say, you just told us to stand still. No, stand still in yourself, in your heart, in your mind, but you always go forward. And you know you'll find out when you're running this race, you know what you're going to find out? You're going to find out that God will always give you the strength and the grace to keep going. You won't know why or how in the world God does that, but you'll always find the strength to keep going. You know that? The course God has set for you and I is distinct and specific to your needs. what God wants you to learn and know and to mine. My course might be utterly different than yours. You might have to fight a lion. I might not. You might have to face a Goliath. I might not. But believe me, this course was divinely with the greatest wisdom and knowledge and grace and love. This course was ordained by God for you and for me. So I say, run it. But again, that was the race and the temperament or the character of the runner. There are some things that Paul says you've got to do when you run this way. He said you've got to lay aside every weight. Anything that bears you down. A runner can't run with a backpack. In fact, you know, a lot of them shave the hairs on their bodies so they can run faster. Anything and everything that will hinder you from running, get rid of it. Even though it is of itself not unlawful nor sinful, if it weighs you down from running, you get rid of it. And he specifies those sins that easily beset you. He specifically says not every sin, but those sins that easily. Those ones you and I tend to overlook, like not being bad, but they cause us to stumble. Lay aside every weight, lay it aside, and the sin would so easily beset us. And then he goes on to say, looking unto Jesus. Amazing race. This is an amazing race. May God give us grace to run it faithfully, patiently, being inspired by this cloud of witnesses, but looking unto Jesus. God give us grace to run it with patience. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word. We thank you, Lord, how it instructs us in this divinely appointed race. And I pray that, Father, you would help us to be reminded, Lord, of these words of the apostle that, Lord, we would run with patience this race that you have set before us. Lord, I pray that when we grow weary and on fear of fainting on this course that you've set for us, I pray that you'd strengthen us, renew our strength. And Lord, help us, Lord God, we pray to continue in this race until we reach the final course. Help us, Lord, to realize we'll never run this race if our eyes are taken off Christ. We must ever be looking unto you, ever looking unto Christ if we're going to finish this race. Lord, be honored and glorified in all that we say and do. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.