Run With Endurance, Part 3 (Hebrews 12:1-3) | Worship Service

Kootenai Church

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November 6, 2022

Run With Endurance, Part 3 (Hebrews 12:1-3) | Worship Service This stream is created with #PRISMLiveStudio

Running With Endurance, Part 4 (Hebrews 12:1-3)

15:50: Good morning, everyone, welcome to Kootenai Community Church. Would you stand with us as we sing, please?
17:38: We join the everlasting song and crown
17:53: Him Lord of all. I sing praises to the
19:16: Lord. I sing praises to the
20:25: Lord. I sing praises to the
20:50: Lord. The Father so tender is calling us all.
20:56: He welcomes the weakest, the mildest, the poor.
21:03: Our sins clear are many, His mercy is bold.
21:09: Praise the Lord, His mercy is cold.
21:20: Stronger than darkness to every foe. Our sins clear are many,
21:27: His mercy is bold. On branches of kindness
21:33: He lavished on us. His blood was the payment,
21:39: His life was the cost. His love we've had that we could never afford.
21:48: Our sins clear are many, His mercy is bold.
21:53: Praise the Lord, His mercy is bold.
22:04: Stronger than darkness to every foe. Our sins clear are many,
22:12: His mercy is bold. Praise the Lord, His mercy is bold.
22:25: Stronger than darkness to every foe. Our sins clear are many,
22:34: His mercy is bold. My hope is found.
22:59: He is my life, my strength, my song. His torn stone is solid ground.
23:09: Far through the fields He's trod and stoned. On heights of love, what gifts of peace.
23:18: When fears are sore, when strife ensues. I come for Him, my all in all.
23:27: Here in the love of Christ, His life's end. Christ alone, who took on flesh.
23:40: Fondness of God in earnest pain. His gift of love and righteousness.
23:49: Stored by the ones He came to save. Till on that cross, as Jesus died.
23:57: The wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on Him was laid.
24:06: Here in the death of Christ, His life ends.
24:15: There in the ground His body lay. Light of the world by darkness slain.
24:24: In thirst of war, in glorious day. Up from the grave
24:30: He rose again. And as He stands in victory.
24:37: Since curse has lost its grip on me. For I am
24:42: His, and He is mine. Bound with the precious blood of Christ.
24:51: In death, this is the power of Christ in me.
25:02: From life's first strife to final breath. Jesus commands my destiny.
25:11: No power of hell knows Him again. And never plucked me from His hand.
25:19: Till He returns, for cause behold. Here in the power of Christ.
25:26: You may be seated.
25:48: We went one song longer than I thought we were going to go with that set. So I thought they were just going to continue to do that.
25:53: And I would only have to navigate the stairs once. And you'll notice that I look like I'm in a little bit of pain.
25:59: I want to just briefly explain why that is. I went bowling. And that's it.
26:08: That's the whole story. Not I went bowling and I was mugged.
26:14: Or I went bowling and I slipped on the ice and fell down two flights of stairs into a well. And had to be rescued by Lassie.
26:20: But just I went bowling. And apparently that's a new thing. You turn 50, you go bowling. And then muscles that you've had a very good working relationship with up to this point.
26:29: Decided they need to have an intervention. And that's what happened last night. So I'm going to try to preach as best
26:36: I can. But if you notice me having difficulty, that's why. Today we have a harvest dinner, a potluck.
26:41: After our service here we need to tear down immediately when we're done here. Just so we kind of have a general head count.
26:47: How many of you plan on sticking around for the potluck afterwards? Is that most people?
26:52: Okay. So we will do that right after the service. And we would just ask that if you're not involved in setting up tables and chairs.
27:00: And we need about 10 or 15 guys to do that. But if you're not involved in that, please leave the room. The less people we have in here for doing that, the better it will go.
27:08: The faster it will go. And I would encourage you to take the opportunity to wander around the upstairs and look at the work that's been done up there.
27:15: We're almost ready to paint up there. You can kind of see what that's going to look like in a few months once we get that completed. And then next
27:22: Sunday, the Christmas choir will be meeting to practice the tenor and the bass sections next
27:27: Sunday after church. Will you turn to the book of Psalms, to Psalm 96.
27:33: Psalm 96. We have an election this next week, and I find it always comforting to read something that describes
27:49: God's sovereignty over the nations before we all go out to vote this next week. I wish it were not the case, but we tend to cast our vote in order to limit evil in the world in which we live.
28:01: Not necessarily because we think we're trying to do good, but we're really trying to limit evil so much as we are able to do so.
28:09: Psalm 96. Will you stand with me as we read, and then we will pray together.
28:18: Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the
28:23: Lord, bless His name. Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations,
28:30: His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods.
28:38: For all the gods of the peoples are idols. The Lord has made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him.
28:46: Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples.
28:51: Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name. Bring an offering and come into His courts.
28:59: Worship the Lord in holy attire. Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, the
29:05: Lord reigns. Indeed, the world is firmly established. It will not be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.
29:13: Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar and all it contains. Let the field exult and all that is in it.
29:20: Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
29:26: He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness. I just want you to notice in this psalm that the coming judgment of God is a cause for great rejoicing and exaltation.
29:39: It is not something that we as believers fear. It is something that we should look forward to and expect with great anticipation.
29:46: For we will sing praises to Him when He pours out His wrath upon the ungodly and the wicked. And that is right and it is appropriate.
29:53: Let's bow our heads. Our Father, we can entrust ourselves and all of our doings and our actions to You.
30:00: We know that You sovereignly rule over all things, over all the affairs of the nations, over all the kingdoms of this world, that You are moving to accomplish
30:09: Your purposes throughout all the ends of the earth. And we know that the outcome of the election in this coming week will be to put into place those people whom
30:18: You have ordained for such a time as this. Whatever that means and whoever that is, we would just pray that it would be in the best interest of Your people and of Your kingdom and of the coming judgment.
30:28: For we look to You and we anticipate and look forward to and expect that You are coming again.
30:35: And we anticipate and love to look forward to that day when our Savior, our
30:40: King, will rule and reign in righteousness and that forevermore. That is the hope of Your people.
30:46: We anticipate the resurrection. We look forward to Your coming. And we pray that You would fill our hearts with joy, with worship, and with affection, and with glad expectation as we await our coming
30:58: King. Accomplish Your purposes here in this world. We pray that You would advance Your word,
31:04: Your church, Your kingdom, Your truth, and that all that is to happen in the days and weeks to come may only serve to glorify
31:11: Your name, to prepare this world for the judgment that is to come, and to bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ so that those whom
31:19: You have loved and chosen from before the foundation of the world may come to know You and experience eternal life and eternal joy with Your people.
31:27: We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. We have one final song in this set, and I think it's appropriate.
31:37: It's Joy and Forgiveness. Lord, forgive us for our pride
31:52: When our faith becomes a show Dressed in righteousness divine
31:59: All the saints we owe We have judged in sons and daughters
32:06: For the sin that is our own May we now forgive each other
32:12: And bring it down Forgive us
32:20: Forgive us Forgive us for our love
32:34: Of the things we wish to owe We forsake the feast above For all the crumbs below Lord, You've made us sons and daughters
32:47: We don't need this world at all May we find the greatest treasure in You We are forgiven
33:16: The blood of Christ We are forgiven Lord, forgive us for our shame
33:39: When we can't release the past When we're quick to take the blame
33:45: But forget we're free at last We avoid in sons and daughters
33:51: For the fear we don't belong Give us eyes to see each other
33:58: Through Your only Son Forgiven Forgiven Through the blood of forgiveness
34:39: Turn now, if you will please, to Hebrews chapter 12 Hebrews chapter 12 When you've found your place, let's begin with a word of prayer
34:58: Our Father, it is our desire that You would speak to us through Your word this morning As we commit our hearts to You and our minds to You We pray that You would send
35:06: Your Spirit to be the illuminator of our hearts and minds by Your truth
35:11: So that we may see in the pages of Scripture Your will for us What You have done for us in Christ We pray that You would encourage our hearts and strengthen them
35:21: Reprove us and rebuke us where that is necessary And encourage us as we stand strong in the truth
35:28: May You be glorified here through this time, we pray In Christ's name, Amen Well, our time today is shortened
35:35: Because we have a potluck which is to follow our worship service today And so without any ado whatsoever, we will jump right in with both feet to our passage
35:43: Since this is part three of a four -part series The fourth part, which might take two weeks
35:49: So don't try and do all the math on that as to how many parts this will be But we're working our way through this analogy in chapter 12, verses 1 through 3
35:56: As we consider how the author likens the walk of faith, the life of faith
36:02: To a foot race A foot race is something that all of the audience to which he wrote would have been familiar
36:08: They were familiar with the contests and the games And so he is likening our path in this world and the race that God has called us to run
36:16: To the foot race of an ancient athlete And we have considered this and we've looked at this twice in the two recent weeks
36:25: Let me try that sentence again We have spent two weeks looking at the analogy so far That's better We've spent two weeks looking at the analogy thus far
36:32: And we've noticed how he is encouraging us to run and to run our race well
36:37: And if we're going to run our race and to run it well Then four things are necessary First, we must consider others who have finished the race before us
36:45: That was the first part of chapter 12, verse 1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us
36:52: Let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us Countless men and women have gone on before us
36:59: And they have run their race And they have finished their race And they have finished it well And their example testifies to us of the need for faith
37:06: And the reward that faith brings to those who finish their course So through the triumphs and the trials
37:12: And through the sufferings And through the sacrifices And through all of the successes of life
37:18: Faith has held strong And faith has endured alongside those who have run their race
37:23: And allowed those who have run their race To finish their race And complete it all the way to the end The second thing we must do
37:30: Is cast off all of the entanglements that threaten to hinder us All the extra weight
37:35: All of the masses All of the things that slow us down That bog us down in a race
37:40: We have to examine ourselves And look at our own lives And see what is it that slows me down What is it that keeps me from running my race effectively
37:48: And doing it well And then we are to cast those things off We are to be light of foot As we set aside all of the entanglements
37:55: And the hindrances that slow us down in our course The sin that besets us
38:01: We must continually mortify it And set it aside And throw it off So that we can run lightly
38:07: And run with ease And that is a lifelong and continual work that we are to do If we are to finish well
38:12: Now third We must continue the course that is set for us This is the end of verse one He says that we are to lay aside every encumbrance
38:20: And the sin which so easily entangles us And here is the phrase Let us run with endurance The race that is set before us
38:27: The fourth one is that we are to Concentrate on the one who will reward us That's verse two and three
38:32: Let's just finish that up so we have the entire context Verse two Fixing our eyes on Jesus The author and perfecter of faith
38:39: Who for the joy set before him Endured the cross Despising the shame And sat down at the right hand of the throne of God For consider him
38:48: Who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself So that you will not grow weary and lose heart
38:53: The author does not want us to grow weary in our race And to lose heart So he tells us in verse two
38:59: Or sorry at the end of verse one That we are to run with endurance The race that is set before us That is our phrase that we are considering this morning
39:05: And that is the central command of the whole passage It's the main idea of the passage
39:10: The central verb The central idea You are to run your race And to run it with endurance
39:15: To run the course that is laid out for you And just the notion of running The idea of running
39:20: That phrase Communicates something of the exertion that is necessary In running the race and running it well
39:28: All of the other phrases in verses one and two Are all intended to explain to us What it means to run
39:34: And to run well To finish the course What it is that we are to look forward to But the central idea is that we are to run
39:41: That word run means to rush at something Or to move quickly It's used in scripture in the
39:47: New Testament Of literal running Like when Peter outran John on the way to the tomb
39:52: That's the word that is used there It describes the exertion that you put forward In moving quickly
39:58: But most often in the New Testament The word is used to describe running in a metaphorical sense
40:04: And we looked a couple of weeks ago At all the various times in the New Testament Where this idea of running comes up A notable example is 1
40:12: Corinthians 9, verse 24 Where Paul says Do you not know that those who run in a race all run
40:18: But only one receives the prize And here's the command Run in such a way that you may win So the
40:25: Christian walk The walk of faith is likened to a foot race And we are encouraged not to enter the race
40:30: And meander around Not to tour Not to simply walk about aimlessly
40:35: But when we enter the Christian race We are encouraged to run the race And to run well As if we are in competition with other people
40:42: We want to run in such a way that we may win We want to come in first place Now in reality we're not running against one another
40:49: As if the goal of our Christian life is to outdo The people who sit around us on a Sunday morning That's not the goal of it
40:55: But we are to focus and run in such a way As if we were running against each other As if it is a genuine competition
41:01: Because we want to not just run And to run well and to finish well But we want to run in such a way
41:06: As that we would achieve that prize If we were running against everybody else If it were a competition
41:13: We should run in such a way that we would win the race And if everybody runs in such a way as to win the race
41:19: Then there really are no losers Even though we're not competing against one another Then we would all finish and we would all finish well
41:26: So you don't step into a race to sit down Or to walk or to relax on the curb You don't step into a race to wander around You don't step into a race
41:35: If you're a coach or a spectator You step into a race if you are a runner And if you're going to step into the race
41:41: Then you want to run and you want to run well And even not just the running communicates Something of the exertion that is necessary But the word that is translated race itself
41:51: Communicates something of the exertion that is necessary It is the Greek word agone From agone
41:57: We get our word agony from that word It describes a conflict An effort
42:03: A contention A fight An agony A race A struggle
42:08: Or a constant struggle You and I are to run That's exertion
42:14: Our struggle Our conflict And our fight If anybody sold the
42:20: Christian life to you On the understanding that it was going to be easy That it was going to be your best life now
42:25: That it was going to be everything you've ever dreamed of And wanted in this world And a whole lot more that is in the world to come
42:32: Then you were sold a false, a fake bill of goods Because the Christian life is not easy
42:38: The Christian life is not simple When I do evangelism training Out of Coquillac Bible Camp every year
42:44: I encourage the kids That when you're communicating the gospel To those who come to camp You don't tell them that if you trust
42:50: Jesus as your savior Everything will be better when you get home Because that might be a lie
42:55: It might be the case that those kids are going back Into homes and environments That are filled with unbelievers
43:02: Where they're going to be persecuted And hated for their faith Where they may end up having to sacrifice Everything they hold dear
43:08: Just to be faithful to Christ So if you were sold the notion That your Christian life would be easy
43:14: It would be simple That it would not require any effort Then you were lied to I'm sorry you were lied to But that's what you get for listening
43:20: To our prosperity preacher Or to Joel Osteen You listen to liars You should expect to be lied to We're to run
43:28: Exertion The agony That is set before you That's the honesty with which Scripture describes the
43:34: Christian walk It is an agony A conflict This is a call to labor
43:39: To industry To effort And to hard work In the Christian life Now let's be clear about something
43:45: We're not talking about labor Effort Industry And hard work To be a
43:51: Christian That's not what we're talking about We're not talking about laboring In order to merit
43:56: God's goodness or grace Or the eternal life To which we are called We're not talking about laboring
44:01: For our salvation We're talking about laboring Once we have been called Into the race of faith
44:07: The faith comes first The laboring comes next So we're not laboring To have faith We're not working
44:12: To gain God's merit Or God's favor Or God's grace Not at all
44:18: Instead Having received by faith God's grace You and I are to work And to labor
44:23: And to run the agony That He has set before us So the Christian life then Is a fight of faith
44:29: In this world We wrestle against Flesh and blood We resist temptation
44:35: We fight the desires Of the flesh We crucify the old man We put to death
44:40: The sinful deeds Of the body We resist the allurements And the siren song
44:45: Of the world And the world system We keep ourselves Unstained by the world We refuse to bow
44:51: To idols We refuse to go Downstream With everybody else To capitulate
44:56: And to compromise With the spirit of the age In fact All of us as Christians Are commanded
45:01: And expected To swim upstream Against the entire flow Of the world That requires effort
45:09: Paul invited Timothy Invitation is the wrong word Paul commanded Timothy In 1st
45:14: Timothy chapter 6 verse 12 Fight the good fight of faith That's the language Fight the good fight of faith
45:19: Take hold Of the eternal life To which you were called And you've made the good confession In the presence of many witnesses
45:25: In all honesty The apostle Paul said To the Philippian church You are to work out Your own salvation With fear and trembling
45:32: Knowing that it is God Who is at work in you Both to will and to do For His good pleasure So this is the balance
45:37: Of Christian living We are to work out Our own salvation With fear and trembling Laboring Resisting Fighting Knowing that it is
45:47: God Who is actually at work in us Both to will and to do For His good pleasure So there are two elements At play here
45:53: Our work And God's working in us Now as you work out Your own salvation With fear and trembling
45:59: As you run your agony That He has set before you Who gets tired in that task? You or God?
46:05: You get tired You get exhausted But We do this
46:11: Knowing that God Is at work in us Both to will and to do For His good pleasure Therefore we fight
46:16: The good fight of faith So we can say Hopefully With the apostle Paul At the end of our lives
46:21: As he did in 2nd Timothy Chapter 4 I have fought the good fight I've finished my course I've kept the faith
46:26: See that's the goal There's the apostle Paul Saying I've run my race I've struggled in my agony
46:33: I have reached the end And now I have crossed The finish line So many of us Have all of the energy
46:38: That is necessary All of the time That is necessary To gladly spend it In our occupations
46:44: In our businesses Outside of our spiritual lives For employers And for a reward
46:50: That will perish in this life But then when we get home And it comes to Fighting the fight With our family And for our family
46:55: And our wife And our children And our church And the spiritual battle That is in front of us We just don't have Any energy for that Nor desire for that And the opposite Should be the case
47:05: Make sure that we are Spending our efforts And our energy And our time Making sure that we are Faithful to do
47:10: What God has called us to do And then we give To everything else Outside of that Whatever effort
47:16: Whatever energy Whatever time we have left This is the struggle This is the conflict
47:21: That we are called to And we would despair If we thought for a moment
47:26: That we would do this Without any reward But you and I As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15
47:31: You and I can work and toil Knowing that our toil Is not in vain in the
47:36: Lord Because we look forward To the hope Of the resurrection That is to come That statement
47:41: Be steadfast Immovable Always abounding In the work of the Lord Knowing that your labor Is not in vain in the
47:47: Lord That comes at the end Of an entire chapter 57 other verses On the subject Of the resurrection
47:52: The bodily resurrection And the resurrection That is to come So because there is a reward Ahead of us
47:58: You and I can work And labor and toil With the expectation With the anticipation That in that reward
48:04: Everything that we have struggled All of our agony All of our agonizing All of our fight
48:10: All of our resisting Of temptation All of our battling Of the flesh And putting to death The deeds of the flesh
48:15: All of it Every last bit of effort Will be amply rewarded Why?
48:21: Because there is a resurrection To come That's why So run the race
48:26: This will take exertion And it will take endurance Notice that the author says We are to run with endurance The race that is set before us
48:33: Why does it require endurance? Because it's an agony It's a conflict
48:40: You're not called to capitulate To the flesh You're called to fight the flesh You're not called to give in To your baseless desires
48:46: But to resist Your baseless desires In the power of the Holy Spirit You're not called to submit your members
48:52: As instruments of sin Which comes quite naturally But rather as instruments To do righteousness Which is not at all natural to us
48:58: In our flesh And all of that effort And all of that agony We must do that with endurance
49:04: The Christian life is not a 40 yard dash It's not a 100 yard dash It's not even a quarter mile run The Christian life is a marathon
49:11: So when we set our sights On the finish line We understand the finish line Is not just up there a little ways
49:18: It doesn't take endurance To run a 40 yard dash At least not for most of us Maybe some of us would
49:23: Need a little endurance To run 40 yards Or a 100 yard dash But it does take endurance To run a marathon And the
49:29: Christian life is a marathon We're called to run And to run And it's going to be difficult We have to endure those things
49:35: Because they are not easy You and I don't endure things That are easy We don't endure things
49:41: That are delightful We don't endure things That are pleasant We only endure things That are difficult
49:47: And it is in the difficulties of life Where endurance is necessary This is why the author says In Hebrews chapter 10
49:52: Verse 36 You have need of endurance So that when you have done The will of God You may receive what was promised See the reward
49:58: You endure Because there is a reward That is to come So you have need of endurance So that when you have done
50:04: The will of God You may finally receive What was promised You cross the finish line Get to the end
50:09: And get everything That He has promised to you You receive the reward When you endure in faith
50:14: And so we have All of those examples In scripture Hebrews chapter 11 Of those who endured in faith
50:20: And thus received the reward That's encouraging To a group of people Who had endured
50:25: A great conflict of sufferings Chapter 10 says They had been imprisoned For their faith
50:30: They had suffered The seizure of their property They had endured Reproaches and tribulations They had endured
50:36: All of those things But the author says You still have need Of even more endurance Because having suffered
50:41: Through all of those sacrifices For your faith In the midst of a hostile world You're gonna have to have
50:46: Even more endurance To cross the finish line We endure the agony
50:52: Of the faith We endure the agony Of the race We have to endure these things
50:57: Because they're not pleasant And listen All along the way The world The flesh
51:03: And the devil Will offer us exits Off of the race They will present to us
51:09: Little soft spaces Along the curb Right along the way And they will sing to you
51:14: If you just sit down You can rest And you can relax This will be so much more pleasant Than finishing the course
51:20: And that's true It will be so much more pleasant Than finishing the course But in the long run
51:26: There is nothing more joyful And nothing more pleasant Than finishing the course In the short run
51:33: All of the temptations To take the exit Offer us an alleviation From the need for endurance
51:40: But as long as we're in this world We have need of endurance This is the example of faith That we observed in chapter 11
51:46: Noah waiting 120 years While he built the ark In faithfulness Obeying God in his generation
51:51: Abraham waiting 25 years For the promised son Abraham waiting And living in tents
51:56: His whole life In the promised land Living Even though he had been Promised the land Living as a stranger
52:02: And an alien In that land In tents In temporary shelters Waiting and even dying
52:07: In the land Without receiving the promise And today you and I wait For all kinds of promises That the Lord has given to us
52:14: With great expectation We wait for his return For the establishment Of his kingdom For the final judgment
52:19: The vindication Of his righteousness Our resurrected bodies And our eternal reward And the new heavens
52:25: And the new earth In which righteousness dwells Those are the things That we have been promised That we are still anticipating
52:30: And still waiting for And listen We, most of us Will die before we see Any of those things There'll be a small generation
52:38: At the end of time That will live through And see the return of the Lord I hope it's in my lifetime But we ought to be prepared
52:43: To live and agonize In this world For our entire lives And never see the fulfillment Of that promise
52:49: And yet die in faith And cross that finish line Knowing that we have run
52:54: Our race with endurance So just like the saints of old We look forward to unkept promises
53:00: To this point But promises that will Most certainly be kept By the end And we are to run with endurance
53:06: Notice this last phrase The race marked out for us The race set before us That word set before Means to lay out openly
53:13: And to expose something You take something out In public view You set it out
53:18: In front of everybody So everybody can see it That's the idea There is a race That has been marked out In front of all of us
53:24: It is a race marked out Clearly in the word of God It is a race That has been run By others who have come before So we know what the course entails
53:32: We know what the expectations are It's been clearly described for us Clearly laid out for us
53:37: So there's nothing Hidden from our sight In terms of the difficulty Of this course It's laid out in front of all of us
53:43: Marked out openly So we run this race In front of everybody There's something
53:49: Even in the language here Of the race that is set before us That harkens us back to that phrase That we run
53:54: In front of a great cloud of witnesses As if all of the witnesses Are in the stands
54:00: Watching us run our race That's the analogy And they from their vantage point Can see the course
54:05: That is laid out for us And we from our vantage point Because we have the revelation Of scripture We can see the course
54:11: That is laid out for us No runner sets their own course You're aware of that, right? No runner ever steps up To the starting line
54:19: And says I know I'm supposed to go around This circle 30 times But instead I want to go off And take a deviation
54:25: I want to go by the snack shack I want to go out Through the parking lot There's a watering hole down the way I'm going to stop for lunch
54:31: Over here And I'll come back around Into the stadium And then I'll finish the course No runner does that No runner ever gets
54:37: To determine their own course Our modern mentality says That all courses end up At the same place
54:43: And as long as you're running With your best intentions As long as you're following And living your own truth
54:51: As long as you're following your heart And going after whatever desires You have to choose your own course
54:57: And you have to run that faithfully That's hogwash There is a race That has already been set out for us
55:03: That we are called to run The path is laid out for us It's marked out with clarity Scripture marks it out for us
55:10: It's laid out in the word of God The path of obedience To what God commands us The Christian life
55:16: And the truth Are revealed in Scripture Our job is not to determine What course we are to run
55:22: But just to run it faithfully I'm thankful for that That way I don't have to wonder
55:27: If the course that I'm running I never have to wonder If that's what's going to please the Lord or not
55:33: He's already marked out for me The path of obedience And now I just have to obey So we deny the lust of the flesh
55:40: We turn from our love of the world We mortify our sin Casting our sinful desires off Taking up the works of righteousness
55:45: Yielding our members in obedience to Him Living for others Denying ourselves Fulfilling our duty Taking up our cross
55:51: Walking in obedience to the truth Embracing the reproach of the cross And just as we have received Christ Jesus So we are to walk in Him In a manner worthy of the calling
56:00: With which we are called Being renewed in our minds And presenting our bodies
56:05: As a living sacrifice Now that's simple Right? It's all laid out for us
56:12: Already in scripture We're given the course that we are to run We don't have to invent it We don't have to discover it
56:18: In terms of it being some Mysterious and hidden will of God That is not revealed to everybody
56:23: He has marked out the parameters of that course And it's the same for all of us And the word of God is our guide
56:31: The steps are laid out We know what obligations we are to fulfill We know what responsibilities we are to take up We know what affections we should have
56:38: We know what acts we are to do in obedience to Him We know what desires of our heart are pleasing in His sight
56:45: We know all of that He's not hidden any of it from us The commands are there The warnings are there
56:50: The examples are there Positive and negative He's given wisdom to us in the book of Proverbs He's told us how we are to worship in the book of Psalms He's given us
56:59: His law So we might morally know His will He's given us the epistles So that we might know how we are to live with one another
57:05: He's given us promises of the future So that we know what we're running toward And what we should expect All of it's laid out in Scripture This is the race set before us
57:14: Now there is a sense in which You have need of endurance Because there are parts of that race
57:21: That you don't know about You don't know what tomorrow brings, do you? I had no way of knowing
57:28: That when I went bowling yesterday I would be struggling to walk today No way of knowing that Things hidden from my sight
57:36: Difficulties even in my life Losses, sorrows, and joys
57:41: All of which I will experience They're common to all men So the individual aspect of what lies before me
57:48: I don't know But the general strokes of the pen, as it were I do know
57:54: Because other people have gone before me And who is it that sets out Each and every difficulty of my race?
58:00: Who is it that has appointed my affliction today? It's my God who has appointed this, right?
58:07: Now you say, Jim, it's just a sore muscle It's true, it is just a sore muscle But listen, if I get into a car accident this afternoon
58:15: And I lose my ability to walk entirely There's just as much appointed for me By the loving hand of my
58:21: God As a sore muscle is Every last difficult Every last difficult trial
58:28: Every last difficulty Every last affliction Every last suffering Is appointed for us
58:34: By the hands of a loving and all -wise All -kind and all -benevolent God Who has marked out the course for us
58:41: He sets us on this journey And listen, every last difficulty is appointed for us
58:47: Not to trip us up and to cause us to fall Not to do us harm Not to hurt us
58:52: Not to stop us, but to strengthen us To encourage us And to fit us for the world that is to come
58:59: So he has laid it all out for us The difficulties are chosen Not for our harm, but for our good
59:07: And if we did not know the all -wise And all -loving and all -gracious character Of our sovereign and providential
59:14: God You and I would have reason to despair Of any hope in this world or the next
59:20: But because we know who our God is We know that whatever it is That is on the course set before us
59:26: Whatever individual difficulty He has set in our way By his own divine appointment It is for our good
59:32: It is for his glory And it is for the good of everybody around us That is how our God works
59:38: And if we did not know that We would despair Nothing about our race is hidden from us
59:44: He has given us a full description Of what we should expect Let me give you a few passages That describe it for you Whoever does not carry his own cross
59:51: And come after me Cannot be my disciple Luke 14 You realize the cross is an instrument of death
59:58: Which is why in Luke 9 Jesus said If anyone wishes to come after me He must deny himself And take up his cross daily
01:00:04: And follow me For whoever wishes to save his life Will lose it But whoever loses his life for my sake
01:00:10: He is the one who will save it For what is a man profited If he gains the whole world
01:00:15: And forfeits or loses his own soul Those are the terms that we agree to Those are gracious terms by the way
01:00:25: For he is worth all of that And so much more Acts 14 .22 Through many tribulations
01:00:31: We must enter the kingdom of God Now that is honest isn't it Yeah not through many easy ways
01:00:36: Not through comfort Not by lounging in a hammock Spiritually speaking To enter the kingdom of God But through many tribulations
01:00:42: We must enter the kingdom of God Momentary and light affliction Is producing for us An eternal weight of glory
01:00:47: Far beyond all comparison I consider that the sufferings Of this present time Romans 8 Are not worthy to be compared
01:00:53: With the glory that is To be revealed in us 1 Peter 4 Beloved do not be surprised At the fiery ordeal among you
01:01:00: Which comes upon you For your testing As though some strange thing Were happening to you But to the degree
01:01:05: That you share the sufferings of Christ Keep on rejoicing So that also at the revelation Of his glory
01:01:11: You may rejoice with exultation If you are reviled for the name of Christ You're blessed Because the spirit of glory
01:01:16: And of God Rests upon you Make sure that none of you Suffers as a murderer Or a thief Or an evildoer
01:01:22: Or a troublesome meddler But if anyone suffers As a Christian He is not to be ashamed But to glorify God In that name 2
01:01:28: Timothy 3 .12 Indeed all who desire To live godly In Christ Jesus Will be persecuted
01:01:34: See the Lord has been Very honest with us About what this entails He's hidden nothing from us It's only folly
01:01:41: And foolishness That we enter into Christian life And think I didn't realize It was going to be this hard I didn't realize It was going to cost me this I didn't think
01:01:46: I was going to be reproached And hated And persecuted By the world Can you not read? Who sold you this
01:01:52: In the beginning? These were the terms The end user agreement When you clicked Yes In your salvation
01:01:58: You agreed to all Of those terms Maybe you should have Read them more closely Before you agreed to them
01:02:03: If you're going to Object to them But those are the terms Through many tribulations We must enter The kingdom of God This is why you have to Run your race
01:02:10: With endurance This is why we all Have need of endurance It's not easy
01:02:16: And the path is difficult And I'm going to close With a quote From Charles Spurgeon Spurgeon said this
01:02:22: Quote How can we poor Limping mortals Run in such a race As this?
01:02:28: Even the starting Is beyond us How much more Must perseverance In it Outreach our strength?
01:02:34: See how we are driven To free grace How we are driven To the power Of the Holy Spirit The race that has been
01:02:41: Set before us Most clearly reveals Our helplessness And our hopelessness Apart from divine grace
01:02:48: The race of holiness And patience While it demands Our vigor Displays our weakness
01:02:54: We're compelled Even before we take A step in the running To bow the knee And cry unto the strong For strength
01:02:59: We do not dare to retain To retreat from the contest But how can we begin A struggle for which
01:03:05: We are so unfit? Who will help us? To whom shall we look? Close quote
01:03:11: That's good The race Of holiness And patience While it demands
01:03:17: Our vigor Displays Our weakness Displays our need So here's what we're called to do
01:03:23: We're called to run With endurance The race that is set before us Casting off every weight And the hindrance
01:03:29: Which so easily Entangles us While we look To those who have already Finished the course before us
01:03:34: So that we may Cross the finish line Do so with joy Do so in faithfulness
01:03:39: Get to the end of our race Having pleased him Step into the eternal kingdom And hear him say Well done, good and faithful servant
01:03:44: That's the goal Is there anybody here That is fit To do that? I certainly am not
01:03:52: You certainly aren't But who is? You see,
01:03:57: I suspect That we need to look To one who has already Run his race In perfect obedience
01:04:03: To the Father And cross the finish line Who for the joy Set before him Ran a race
01:04:10: That you and I Could never run Endured a conflict That you and I Could never endure And cross the finish line
01:04:17: That you and I Could never faithfully cross What we really need Is one Who has run the race
01:04:23: For us In our stead And done it perfectly So that when we step Into his eternal kingdom
01:04:29: It is not our own merit Or our own effort Or our own ability To run that race That is praised and rewarded
01:04:35: But rather We are praised and rewarded Based upon the work And the merit And the race
01:04:40: Of somebody else Who did it in our place And that's Jesus Christ If you do not know
01:04:46: Jesus Christ You have no hope Of running the race Or finishing faithfully Or ever hearing Well done, good and faithful servant
01:04:52: For you do not belong to him But his righteous life Is sufficient To give us
01:04:57: All the righteousness That you need To stand in the presence of God And his death on the cross Was sufficient To pay the price
01:05:02: For your sin So that you may have Eternal life All of your sin If you were a believer
01:05:08: In Jesus Christ Was laid upon him Every stumbling In your race Every failure
01:05:14: Every sin Is already atoned for Laid upon him And dealt with at the cross
01:05:20: And therefore We are freed up To run that race And we are enabled To run that race Not because of our own strength
01:05:26: Because of the strength Of the one Who ran his race And finished it perfectly Let's pray Oh Father We are so grateful to you
01:05:33: For the blessings Of your grace And the mercy That you show us In calling us Into your family In giving us
01:05:39: Grace and salvation Forgiveness of sins In granting us The faith to believe And eyes to see
01:05:45: Christ Thank you for these mercies And we pray now That you would strengthen us To walk faithfully
01:05:51: In obedience to your word We pray that you would Grant to us the grace Of endurance So that we may run
01:05:57: With endurance Our race that you have Set before us Encourage us in these things And strengthen us
01:06:02: In these things we pray For the glory of Christ Our Lord In whose strength we run And in whose name we pray
01:06:10: Stand with us As we sing our closing song Holy God The God I see
01:07:01: By His mercy
01:07:44: The God I see By His mercy
01:07:53: The God I see By His mercy The God I see
01:08:03: By His mercy
01:08:16: The God I see By His mercy The God I see By His mercy The God I see By His mercy The God I see
01:08:22: By His mercy The God I see By His mercy
01:08:46: The God I see The God I see By His mercy The God I see The God I see By His mercy
01:08:56: The God I see By His mercy The God I see By His mercy The God I see By His mercy
01:09:12: The God I see By His mercy
01:09:19: The God I see By His mercy The God I see By His mercy
01:09:24: The God I see By His mercy The God I see The God I see The God I see By His mercy The God I see By His mercy The God I see By His mercy
01:09:32: The God I see By His mercy
01:09:43: The God I see By His mercy The God I see
01:09:48: By His mercy The God I see By His mercy The God I see By His mercy The God I see By His mercy The God I see
01:09:56: By His mercy The God I see Well I could say amen to that and I had my
01:10:05: Manuscript but ah Dave told me to leave it back there I to want to give thanks to the
01:10:12: Lord for Jim and Deidre and their whole family because Jim has taught us in all every week and every year that we have been here has been a blessing because of what
01:10:27: God has done through him but it didn't come by him and just studying a little bit.
01:10:33: It took labor and he does so faithfully every week and for that we are all blessed.
01:10:40: We love this body and we're here to serve the Lord and to under shepherd.
01:10:47: But I wanna give praise to the Lord for what Jim has done for our family personally and for me spiritually and my wife spiritually.
01:10:57: It has been a blessing. We give praise to God, thank you. So I'll just kind of third that.
01:11:04: But first of all, I did go through the basket there and make sure there was no bowling gift certificates or anything like that.
01:11:12: So took those out, we'll hand those out later. Are we still gonna give him the gift card for the bowling alley or no?
01:11:20: No, we're gonna cash that in. I know everybody's hungry and so I'll be brief.
01:11:29: I could talk about Jim for a while, but I'm not going to because that wouldn't work very well for either one of us. But I've had an opportunity this week to kind of reminisce about the beginnings of this church because I was at a church this last weekend.
01:11:42: It was very small and there were some similarities there. And so I was thinking, well, what is it that I appreciate about Jim?
01:11:49: And it took me a while to figure something out. But we talk about the work that Jim does and the only thing that's easy about the way
01:11:57: Jim preaches is deciding on what passage he's gonna preach next week. Right, that part's done, but that's the only part that's easy, the rest of it is a real chore.
01:12:07: Not that it's unpleasant, but it is difficult, it's hard work and those of you who have done any preaching and teaching, you know that.
01:12:14: If you've never done it, it takes a lot of work. He can't cherry pick a passage to fit some hobby horse that he's got to share with you that day.
01:12:23: He's got a passage in front of him. And here's what I appreciate, it's not the work. I mean, people work, right?
01:12:31: It's not that, it's the value of it. I wanna know what my king wants me to believe, what he wants me to do, what he wants me to think.
01:12:42: And Jim tells me that from his word. He's done that for me, he's done that for my family and he's done it for so many of my friends.
01:12:50: And that's what I value, that's what I appreciate. You wanna say something or you wanna sit down?
01:13:00: Don't even know what to say other than thank you. This body means as much to me and my family as it means to any one of you and these men make my work here easier than it would normally be because of the work that they do.
01:13:13: So I just wanna remind you, you don't have one pastor, you have four, they're up here. So thank you everyone, I appreciate it very much.
01:13:20: Thanks. So now we are dismissed and we can exit this room and we'll start setting up tables and chairs and we will announce through the speakers or out in the foyer when we're ready for everybody to come back in.
01:13:39: One change real quick. One change real quick, hold on. We're gonna be serving food in this room over here.
01:13:46: So you're gonna come out of the foyer, you're gonna come into the classroom over here where the tables are set up, the food will be set out.