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Looking Unto Jesus · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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We can turn back to our reading in Hebrews.
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We're going to look at the first two verses of chapter 12.
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Hebrews chapter 12.
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You see there it says,
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Therefore, so it's in light of what we've just read in chapter 11 as well.
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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
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let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely,
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and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
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looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
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who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
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despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
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Here, the writer to the Hebrews is speaking about the Christian life
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in that sense of it being a race running, a race.
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And as we approach a communion season,
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as we think of the week ahead of us,
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we could ask ourselves,
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where are we in this race that we are running?
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What stage are we at?
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And how is it?
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How are we running in this race?
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Are we running with vigour and energy,
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fresh in this race?
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Or are we running with that sense of weariness and tiredness
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and struggling in the race?
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Are we in the race?
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Might be a question we ask ourselves as well.
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Have we begun this race?
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Are we looking to engage in this race?
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There's so many ways that we can look at this.
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But the writer is encouraging us all where to look as we look to this race.
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It's to look to Jesus.
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The summer months see a period when many races take place.
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There'll be the fun runs.
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There'll be the 5Ks and 10Ks,
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and then all the way up to maybe half marathons and marathons
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and ultra marathons even that people will run in.
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And sometimes we might think,
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well, the summer seems so far away.
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But anyone who's wanting to do one of these runs,
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and especially runs that are for a greater distance,
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you cannot just wake up one morning and say,
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I'm going to run a 10K.
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Or wake up one morning and say,
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well, I'm going to go and run a marathon.
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You would unlikely finish
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because there's been no preparation made.
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You haven't been training.
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You haven't been out running before that.
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You're just thinking you can just go and do it.
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These kinds of races, they need preparation.
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And they need ongoing preparation, training, and exercise.
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And the same is true when we think of the Christian race.
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We might think, well, I want to be a Christian,
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and I'm going to do it myself.
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I'm going to figure out how I'm going to run this race in my own way.
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I'm going to make the plans for it.
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I'm going to see just how it is I'm going to run this race.
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But it takes preparation.
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It takes training.
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It takes endurance.
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It takes a lot of work.
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And that's what the Scripture reminds us of.
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And in these two verses,
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we have so much that reminds us of what the Christian race is like.
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And we're going to look at these two verses under four headings.
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And they are under a heading where we see
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it is a setting of being in a stadium, if you like,
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and running a race where there is a crowd round about us.
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And the first thing we're going to see is the crowd.
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The second thing we're going to see is the call.
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The third thing we're going to see is the fear.
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And then the fourth thing is the focus.
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So these four things, these four headings,
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the crowd, the call, the fear, and the focus,
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as we think of running the Christian race.
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The first thing is the crowd.
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The writers wanting us to know what the Christian life is like,
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this great race that we are running in.
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And what he is doing is writing it in light of
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what he said in the previous chapter as well,
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the example of others who have gone before us.
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And that's what I said in verse 12,
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it begins with a therefore, a therefore.
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And that's in light of all these people who are mentioned in chapter 11.
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He draws our attention to that chapter
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where he mentions the great men and women of the faith in the Old Testament,
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of how their race was set before them,
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and of how they ran this race.
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And these people who you read of in chapter 11,
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we see that they are now the crowd that is watching on.
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It says,
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A great cloud of witnesses.
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There is the substance to the crowd that is around,
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the people who are around.
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And they are the witnesses,
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a great cloud of witnesses.
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They have run their race.
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And even in the verses that we read there in chapter 11,
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we saw the kind of race that some of these people had.
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It wasn't straightforward.
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It wasn't easy.
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It was a difficult race.
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You see it throughout the last few verses there in verse 33.
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There's a whole list of things that these people have gone through.
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Their race was hard.
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Their race was difficult.
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But they have run the race.
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And how did they run the race?
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Well, that's what that great chapter is about.
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It always begins with by faith.
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By faith, they ran their race.
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And so these are the great cloud of witnesses that we have around us.
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And it's saying to us,
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Well, if these people could run the race, so can you.
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So can you.
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And they're there as an example to us,
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as an encouragement to us.
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When you read through this great chapter in Hebrews 11,
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it reminds us that they were ordinary men and women.
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Ordinary men and women who had their backgrounds,
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who had their problems, who had their challenges,
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and who yet by faith ran the race.
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For example, Elijah, who is mentioned in chapter 11,
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is mentioned in James chapter 5, verse 17.
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In the New Testament, it says,
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Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.
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He was an ordinary man.
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And James is writing there in chapter 5 about prayer
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and the power of prayer.
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And he's saying it wasn't because Elijah was a superhuman being.
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He was a man just like us.
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But by faith he prayed.
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Through faith he prayed.
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And so this crowd is there for us,
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there around us,
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as this cloud of witnesses.
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The ones who are, almost like you would say,
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looking on and there for our encouragement.
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The image is very much of a stadium
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and of a crowd gathered in the stadium.
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We runners are about to start a race
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and the crowd is watching on.
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And you imagine the crowd that's watching down
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on our race, on our lives.
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You think of the names that are mentioned.
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The crowd, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rahab, Noah, David.
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The list goes on and on.
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It's not just the ones mentioned in Hebrews 11.
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Many others who have gone before us,
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right up to the ones we knew ourselves.
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Those who have gone to glory.
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They are the cloud of witnesses
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who are watching on, as it were, on our race.
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They are there for our encouragement.
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Encouraging us, surrounding us at all points.
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When you think of this crowd,
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you almost ask, well, what would they think of us?
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What would they think of you and think of me
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and how we are running our race tonight
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and in our time?
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Are we running being faithful?
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Are we running with that prayer of faith of Elijah?
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Are we running with those acts of obedience
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of the likes of Noah who built an ark?
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Even when it seemed crazy,
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is this the way that we are running our race?
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What do they see of us?
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Are we doing things for the glory of God?
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Are we being obedient to the Lord in all that we do?
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And especially as we think of coming to a communion season,
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are we doing this in remembrance of him?
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Are we being obedient to that call
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and to the mission of the church?
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What would they make as that cloud of witnesses around us?
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What would they make of us?
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There's a challenge in that, as there always is.
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But they are there for our encouragement.
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They might challenge us this evening
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to review our race,
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to ask, are we running as we should?
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Are we doing as we ought?
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They are there as those who have gone before us.
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Those who by faith went on in this race.
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The second thing we see here is that there is a call.
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There is a call to us.
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So there is the crowd of witnesses around,
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but then it says,
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let us also lay aside every weight and sin
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which clings so closely
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and let us run with endurance
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the race that is set before us.
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So there is a call to us.
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You might hear when you're going to run a race,
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the starter says,
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on your marks,
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you're about to go into this race.
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And that's the call to us as well this evening,
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the call to run this race.
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And if you're going to run this race,
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you need the right approach.
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And so the writer here says,
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let us lay aside every weight and sin
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which clings so closely.
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They sound similar,
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these two things.
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He's talking here about the weight,
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every weight and sin.
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But as you might understand,
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they are two different things.
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He wants us to see the kind of life
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and preparation and training
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that we need to have in our lives.
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So he says, first of all,
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lay aside the weight.
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Lay aside the weight.
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What kind of impression would this have?
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What understanding would they have
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in the theme of the race
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that he's talking about here?
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A runner cannot run a race properly
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if he's overburdened by many different things.
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So in the days of the writer to the Hebrews,
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and you see it in Paul's letters so often as well,
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the theme of running the race is always there.
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But they would make preparation.
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They would get ready to run the race.
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They wouldn't run dressed as they were.
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Just as you see people running races today,
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they wear the right shoes,
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the right gear,
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everything that's going to help them.
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And so that's what he's saying to us here as well.
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Every weight has to go.
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Everything that's going to hinder you in this race
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has to go.
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And sometimes it's speaking about legitimate things.
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But if they are coming between us
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and our relationship with the Lord,
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then they have to go.
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You don't see someone going into a race,
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carrying their laptop on their back,
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or running with a mobile phone in their hands,
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or a bag of clothes.
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They are going to leave all of these things behind
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to run the race,
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because it's going to hinder them.
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And that's what the writer is challenging us with as well.
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Whatever is holding us back,
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whatever is more important to us than Christ,
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it has to go.
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As one person put it,
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we will often need the help of us,
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the help of Christ to enable us
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to let it go.
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That's what we need.
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Because there are things that are hindering us,
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that are weighing us down,
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that have to go.
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But Christ is there to help.
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Christ is there to help.
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But he also says here that the weights must go,
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but he also says the sin which clings so closely.
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So there's the legitimate things we could say
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that come between us and God,
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and sometimes it can be people,
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it can be work,
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it can be so many different things
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that we have to think,
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well, what's more important?
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That or my relationship with the Lord Jesus.
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But he also says there's the sin
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that clings so closely.
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And again, these are the things
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that we have to examine in our lives
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as we approach the Lord's Supper,
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to examine ourselves and to ask,
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are there sins that are clinging so closely?
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Those repeated sins in our life.
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Any athletes, maybe not as common now
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because they've clamped down on it,
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but many have been caught out
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by taking performance-enhancing drugs,
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thinking they could get away with it.
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And when you look back,
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some were actually stripped of their titles afterwards
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because they had cheated.
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And there are sins in our lives
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that will prevent us from running this race
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as we ought.
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And so we have to take it seriously.
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And sometimes we can think it's,
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well, insignificant sins that don't matter,
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but sin will be set.
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Sin will hold us back.
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Sin will bring us down.
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There's a little plant called the sun june.
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And when you look at it,
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you think it's not much to look at.
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A slender stem, some round leaves.
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But on those leaves,
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it's fringed with hairs
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and like a substance that glistens in the light.
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Bright drops of a liquid on these leaves.
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But any fly or insect that lands on this,
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they're stuck.
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This shiny moisture on each leaf,
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it just sticks to the fly
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and the fly cannot move.
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And the more the fly struggles,
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the more then the leaves start to close in.
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And eventually the fly is trapped in the leaves
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and the plant feeds on this fly.
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It's so gentle, so subtle,
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so insignificant,
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yet so deadly.
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And that's the way the sin is described here,
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the sin that clings so closely.
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The sin that we get stuck into
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and we can't get out of.
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And there are so many sins
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that can cling so closely to our hearts as well.
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The sin of pride,
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the sin of lust,
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the sin of greed,
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the sin of jealousy,
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the sin of anger.
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They can seem insignificant things
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in and of themselves,
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but they cling closely.
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And they are there all the time for us.
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And they too have to go.
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Let us lay aside every weight and sin.
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So the weight we can get rid of
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by saying,
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well, what needs to change in my life?
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But what about sin?
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How do we rid ourselves of that sin
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that clings so closely?
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Well, we think of what we are doing,
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of what we are looking to
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as we think of coming to a communion season.
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We are looking to the one
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who went to the cross.
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And why did he go to the cross?
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That our sins might be forgiven.
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But how?
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By confessing.
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By confessing our sins.
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By taking our sins to the cross.
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By laying them before Jesus.
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As Psalm 130 says,
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Who can stand before God?
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But yet with you,
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there is forgiveness.
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We can come before God
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through Jesus and confess our sins.
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And seek forgiveness for all of our sins.
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And he is faithful.
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And he is just to forgive us our sins.
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As we come confessing.
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So here we have that call
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that comes to us
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to run this race,
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laying aside every weight
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and sin which clings so closely.
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There are certain things
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we maybe need
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to look at in our lives,
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whether it's to get rid of
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or to confess
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as we look to the race
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that we are running.
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The third thing that we see here then
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is the fear.
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The fear.
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Let us run with endurance
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the race that is set before us.
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When you enter a race
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or maybe before you enter a race,
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you may be thinking to yourself
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whether maybe you want to run a 5K
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or a 10K
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or a half marathon.
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One of the fears
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that's going to come quite naturally
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is will I finish?
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What if I don't get very far?
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What if after maybe 2K
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or if I have 5K
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I've got a stitch
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and I've just got to give up?
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How embarrassing that would be.
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There's this fear of failure.
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And so it is
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with the Christian life as well.
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This fear of what if?
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What if I fail?
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What if I don't make it?
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What if I don't get through?
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Well, we are told
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that we can do so
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running the race,
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this race with endurance,
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the race that is set before us.
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And there's a couple of words here
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that we just want to tease out a little.
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And the first is this,
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this word for race.
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What kind of race are we running?
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Well, if you're going to run
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a half marathon,
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if you're just the ordinary person
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coming to run the half marathon,
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it's not going to be easy.
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It's going to be hard.
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And that's what this word
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is saying here as well.
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We are going to run this race.
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And this race is a struggle.
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This race is a challenge.
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It's not going to be easy.
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The word used in the original language here
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is where we get our English word
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agony from.
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So when you think of running,
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there are times when a race is agony,
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when there is pain,
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when there is suffering.
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And there will be that
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in our experience.
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As we go in this Christian race,
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there are going to be
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those struggles,
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those pains in our life.
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And they are going to be ongoing.
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This is a race that we are in.
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That's a long race.
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And so over that period,
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there are going to be
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these struggles,
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these pains
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that we have to experience.
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But knowing that is surely
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a help for us as well.
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Knowing that there is going to be pain.
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But knowing that
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as we go through,
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we will come through this pain.
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And that it will be worth it
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in the long run
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to finish this race.
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So you have this agony,
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this pain that you have to go through.
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This race is a struggle.
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But he also says here
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that we run with endurance
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the race that is set before us.
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This endurance,
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this means that we are
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in it for the long haul.
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That there is a commitment
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on our side.
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But we also,
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as we're going to see in a moment,
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we have a commitment
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from the other side as well.
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That the Lord is with us.
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So that despite this race
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being a struggle,
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being an agony at times,
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and there are obstacles,
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there are difficulties,
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we are in it for the long haul.
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We are in it with endurance,
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this race that is set before us.
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William Barclay,
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the Christian writer,
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he said this,
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it is that,
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I'm talking about this word endurance,
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it is that determination,
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unhasting and unresting,
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unhurrying and yet underlaying,
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which goes steadily on,
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and which refuses to be deflected.
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Obstacle will not daunt it,
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delays will not depress it,
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discouragements will not take
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its hope away.
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It will halt neither for discouragement
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from within,
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nor opposition from without.
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It is a steadfast endurance
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which will carry on
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until in the end,
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it gets there.
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It gets there.
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It's like the hymn writer says,
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through many dangers,
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toils and snares,
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the grace leads us on.
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There is endurance.
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It's for the long haul,
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but we keep going.
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And you notice how in verse 1
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it says,
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the race that is set before us.
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This seems to indicate
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that we all run our own race.
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We all have a race to run.
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We all have our different pains.
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We all have our way of endurance.
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So we are running our own race.
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We don't look at others.
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One of the greatest distractions
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for athletes is to get distracted
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by those who are running beside them.
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Instead of looking towards the finish,
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they look to their left
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or to their right
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and they're thinking,
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that person's catching me.
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And all of a sudden,
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they lose their stride.
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Well, here we're being told,
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we don't look to others,
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what they're doing,
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in the same way in the Christian life.
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We don't think,
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oh, that Christian is doing
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so much better than me.
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That would just bring us back.
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We think I'm not good enough.
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I can't make it.
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Or we can look at others and say,
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oh, I'm doing much better than that person.
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And pride comes in
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and then we start to stumble
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in a different way.
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We run our race.
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The race that is set before us.
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But we are not in a competition.
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We are on the same team.
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We are all running our own race.
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And our job isn't to outrun anybody else.
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Our race is to run for Jesus.
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The race that he has set before us.
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The race that he has planned
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for your life and mine
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is what he has set before us.
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And we run that race for him.
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We do so not trying to beat
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those who are beside us,
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but to encourage those who are with us.
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Just as those who have gone before us,
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the great cloud of witnesses,
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are there for our challenge,
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our encouragement,
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all of these things,
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so we run this race together as well.
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And we run it with other brothers
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and sisters in the Lord
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to encourage them,
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to strengthen them.
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Let us run this race with endurance,
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the race that is set before us.
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The final thing we see here is
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how are we going to run?
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How are we going to keep going?
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How can this endurance be?
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Well, the only way that we can run well
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is to keep our eyes on Jesus.
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He is the only one we have to run for.
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And that's what you see in verse 2.
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Looking to Jesus,
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the founder and perfecter of our faith,
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who for the joy that was set before him
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endured the cross,
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despising the shame,
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and is seated at the right hand of God.
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Looking unto Jesus.
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This is our focus.
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This should be our focus on a daily basis
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in everything that we do.
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Looking unto Jesus,
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the founder,
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the perfecter of our faith.
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Where did our race begin?
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Did it begin by looking at ourselves?
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Well, if you go back to Isaiah chapter 45,
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verse 22,
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there it tells us where the Christian life begins.
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Where God says there,
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turn to me and be saved,
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all ends of the earth,
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for I am God,
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and there is no other.
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Turn.
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Look to me and be saved,
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he cries out there.
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That's where faith is focused,
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on him.
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Look to me and be saved,
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all ends of the earth,
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for I am God,
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and there is no other.
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So looking to him is where the race begins.
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But it's also how the race goes on.
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Always looking to Jesus,
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the founder,
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the perfecter of our faith.
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We keep our eyes on him,
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on what he has done for us,
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on how he has gone before us.
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He has finished the race for us.
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He is,
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as it says here,
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the founder,
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the perfecter,
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you could say the pioneer of our faith,
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the one who has gone before us for our faith.
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Our faith is in him,
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and his finished work.
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That's what the cross is all about.
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Where Jesus died on the cross for our sin,
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where he said,
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it is finished,
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that we might look to him.
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What it says here,
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the founder,
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the perfecter of our faith,
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who endured the cross,
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despising the shame of it.
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He endured the cross,
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and he's at the right hand of God the Father.
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What he suffered for you and for me,
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that is what we are to remember
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as we come to the Lord's table.
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This due in remembrance of him,
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not self-congratulating,
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not saying well done to ourselves,
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but looking to him,
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who went before us,
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who endured the cross,
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despising its shame.
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And look at what it says though.
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Who for the joy that was set before him.
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It seems a little strange,
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doesn't it,
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to use the word joy.
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For the joy that was set before him,
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he endured the cross.
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You might think it would say something else.
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The shame,
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you might think,
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that was set before him.
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The agony that was set before him.
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The horror that was set before him.
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You might think it would use these words,
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but no,
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it says the joy that was set before him.
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And so we have to ask,
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what was this joy that was set before him?
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Well,
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as someone said,
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it's the joy of bringing many sons to glory.
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When you go back to Isaiah 53,
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and that great passage that describes the suffering of Jesus,
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it says there,
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along the lines of,
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he shall see of the travel of his soul,
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and he shall be satisfied.
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It's almost like he looks on the people,
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he's on the cross,
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he looks on the people,
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and he sees in his agony,
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but is satisfied because he's doing it for them,
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for those who will believe.
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And so this is the joy that was set before him,
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that he endured the cross,
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to bring many to glory.
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The great cloud of witnesses,
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that is a crowd that is ever increasing.
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As it says in the parable of the lost coin,
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the lost sheep,
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the lost son,
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that is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner,
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see,
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there is joy,
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there is joy in salvation.
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And as we look to the cross,
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we see there what Jesus endured,
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for the joy that was set before him.
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And you think of what he endured on the cross,
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the shame,
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the mocking,
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the beating,
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the abandonment,
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where he cried out in that agony,
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my God,
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my God,
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why have you forsaken me?
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He endured the cross,
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for the joy that was set before him.
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Jesus has gone before us.
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He is the pioneer of our faith.
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And that means that he is there to help us along the way.
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So that as we look to Jesus,
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as we set our eyes on him,
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looking to Jesus,
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what do we see?
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Well,
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earlier in Hebrews,
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it's described in this way,
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chapter 4,
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verse 15,
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we do not have a high priest,
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who is unable to sympathize with our weakness,
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but one who in every respect,
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has been tempted as we are yet without sin.
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Then it goes on to say,
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let us then with confidence,
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draw near to the throne of grace,
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that we may receive mercy,
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and find grace to help in time of need.
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When you think of running a long distance race,
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one of the things that people look for as they are running,
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is that watering point,
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where you get a certain distance,
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and there's people there to offer a cup or a bottle of water to you.
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And it's there for your strengthening,
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your help.
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Well,
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as we think of running our race,
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as we think of coming to the Lord's table,
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it's like coming in that remembrance
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of the one who endured the cross
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for the joy that was set before him.
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And that we might find grace
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to help in time of need.
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That as we take of the Lord's supper,
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we find grace to help
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in time of need.
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So we fix our eyes on him.
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We run this race.
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We see the finish that is ahead of us all,
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and we keep going.
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Just as he endured,
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but with joy that was set before him.
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Do you know,
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we have a joy to look forward to as well.
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that we would see him face to face.
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That we would come into his glory.
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Paul writing of running the race,
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and as he concluded his race,
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in 2 Timothy chapter 4,
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said,
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I have fought the good fight.
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I have finished the race.
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I have kept the faith.
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A wonderful testimony.
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And he's able to say,
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there is laid up for me
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a crown of righteousness.
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The reward is there.
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So what is the great cloud
34:45
of witnesses seeing of our race?
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Are we in the race?
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Are we running the race as we ought?
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Are we doing it for his glory?
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And are we looking to Jesus?
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The founder,
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the perfecter of our faith.
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Are we doing it for his glory?
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There's a hymn that says,
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O soul, are you weary and troubled?
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No light in the darkness you see.
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There's light for a look at the Savior,
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and life more abundant and free.
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Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
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Look full in his wonderful face.
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And the things of earth
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will grow strangely dim
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in the light of his glory and grace.
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Turn your eyes towards Jesus.
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That's the call to us all.
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Remembering the great cloud of witnesses.
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Remembering the call to run this race.
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Knowing the fear of it,
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but the help that we have.
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And knowing that in everything,
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we can look to Jesus.
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May he help us.
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Look to him.
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Not just for this week ahead,
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but every day as we run this race.
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That we would look to him,
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the founder,
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the perfecter of our faith.
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Let us pray.
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Lord, our gracious God,
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we do thank you for your word,
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for the truth that it gives to us.
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The reality of our lives,
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the race that is ours,
36:41
the agony that it brings,
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the endurance that we need,
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but also for the great promise
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that there is Jesus there for us.
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That we can turn our eyes towards Jesus.
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That we can look to him,
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the author,
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the founder,
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the perfecter of our faith.
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And that we would do so in all things
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for his sake and for his glory.
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Amen.
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We're going to conclude by singing
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to God's praise in Psalm 18.
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Sing Psalm's version,
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Psalm 18,
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page 21 of the Psalm books.
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We're going to sing from verse 29 to 32.
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The tune is Old 100.
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Psalm 18 at verse 29,
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With help from God I can advance
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against a troop and rout them all.
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And with the aid of my God will give,
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I can leap over any wall.
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We'll sing from verse 29 to 32
37:45
to God's praise.
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with help from God I can advance
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I can't be poorer than he wants.
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For perfect is the way of God.
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No choice but within his word.
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To all who put their trust in him.
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A shield of refuge is the Lord.
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For who is one except the Lord?
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He is the Lord who is the Lord.
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He is the Lord who is the Lord.
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Amen.
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After the benediction I'll go to the main door.
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We'll close with the benediction.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
39:55
Amen.