This is the latest in a 3-part series on the subject of perseverance. Click Part 1 and Part 2.
So let’s move on to how. You can sit right now, feel a little overwhelmed, and think:?You told me that I had to pursue my career without shame and without letting anything bother me and that I had to endure until the end of the race, and if you do not persevere until the end, I am doomed, but in truth you did not tell me how to do it; Marathons are very difficult and I don’t even know if it can be done. Well, in a good mood, we’ll take advantage of the rest of our time to help you in this regard.
- First of all.
- Cheer on the large cloud of witnesses.
- As they show us as much how you can run the race as how to do it.
- Our passage begins: “So too.
- As we must surround ourselves with a great cloud of witnesses.
- “referring to chapter 11 and the accounts of the Saints of the Old Testament.
- In light of this great swarm of witnesses who now surround us and raise our spirits about our race.
- Let us read Chapter 11 a little.
- In fact.
- I’m going to read almost the whole chapter 11!.
By faith Abel offered God a sacrifice more excellent than 8 Edo; for which he gained the testimony of being righteous, having God’s approval for his offerings. About her, even after death, she still talks. By faith, Enoch was moved not to see death; It was not found, because God had translated it, for before his transfer he obtained the testimony of having pleased God; In fact, without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever approaches God must believe that he exists and becomes a reward for those who seek Him. By faith, Noah, divinely instructed of events that had not yet been seen and fearful of God, equipped an ark for the salvation of his house; so he condemned the world and became heir to the justice that comes from faith.
By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go to a place he would receive as an inheritance; and left not knowing where he was going. By faith he wandered in the promised land as in a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise; because I expected the city that has foundations, of which God is an architect and builder. Also by faith, Sara herself was empowered to be a mother, despite her advanced age, because she believed that she had promised to be faithful. That is why a posterity as numerous as the stars in the sky and countless as the sand on the beach of the sea has also emerged.
By faith, Abraham, once tested, offered Isaac; He was going to sacrifice his only father who willingly accepted the promises, to whom he had been told, In Isaac, thy seed will be called; because he considered that God was powerful even to resurrect him from the dead, from where he also recovered it figuratively. By faith, Isaac also blessed Jacob and Sau.
By faith, Jacob, when he was about to die, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and, leaning on the tip of his cane, adored. By faith, Joseph, nearing his end, mentioned the exodus of the children of Israel and gave orders on his own bones.
By faith, Moses, a newborn, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful; nor were they frightened by the king’s decree. By faith Moses, when he was already a man, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, preferring to be mistreated with God’s people than to enjoy the ephemeral pleasures of sin; because he considered Christ’s oprobrium for greater wealth than Egypt’s treasures, because he imagined the reward. By faith he left Egypt, without fearing the wrath of the king; rather, it has remained as firm as the one who sees the invisible. By faith, he celebrated Passover and bloodshed, so that the exterminator would not touch the firstborn of the Israelites.
By faith, they crossed the Red Sea as if they were on the ground; tempted by the Egyptians, they were devoured by faith, the walls of Jericho collapsed after being surrounded for seven days; by faith, Rahab, the whore, was not destroyed by disobedient, because he received the spies with peace.
And what else am I going to say? I will certainly waste time to mention what is about Gideon, Barac, Samson, Jephthé, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who, by faith, subdued the kingdoms, practiced justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, extinguished the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, weakness gained strength, became powerful in war, stole armies of foreigners.
(Hebrews 11:4-34)
These are some of those who are part of the great swarm of witnesses that now surround us and encourage us to persevere in the race to the end, and above all, they show us that the race can really be completed. “But don’t I look anything like these giants of the past?” am I an ordinary runner, and I’m honestly a mess? to which I replied: they were also like that.
Noah may have built the ark, but one of the first things he does after leaving the ark is making wine and getting drunk. Abraham could be a coward, Sara laughed in the face of God when she first heard the promise, Isaac was unworthy, Jacob was a thief, Moses was a murderer, Rahab was a prostitute, Gideon needed another sign, Barac did not want what God told him unless Deborah went with him, Samson was a total nightmare, Jefté made the most tragically irrational vow David was an adulterer and a murderer.
You see, the truth is that these giants of our faith were as imperfect and flawed as you and me. All he did to these special men and women was the God they trusted. So consider: you may not be David, but you do have the God of David and, honestly, that’s all you need. If you have noticed the constant repetition of chapter 11, you have learned how these ancient heroes run: Abraham, Moses, David, and all who ran did so by faith. , and that’s how you and I should run too.
Let’s go back to our text. Therefore, we too, as we must surround ourselves with such a great cloud of witnesses, free ourselves from all the weight and sin that harasses us tenaciously, running, with perseverance, the career that is proposed to us, looking at the author. And the perseverance of faith, Jesus?. Look at Jesus, the author and consumer of our faith. I love this phrase and you should love it too, because it is the gospel. Look at Jesus and not yourself, look at the one who did for you what you could never have. made by yourself.
There are some key questions in the heart of the gospel
How can a holy and righteous God forgive sin and judge the guilty?
How can a righteous God justify the wicked?
How can I, sinner, meet the standard demanded by a holy and righteous God?
How can I, sinner, escape the punishment I deserve?
The answer to these questions is: “Look at Jesus, the author and consumerist of our faith. “Look at him, he lived the perfect life you don’t have. He ran a perfect race. He has reached the standards demanded by a good, holy and just God. Look at him, he died of the death you deserve, he took your sin and God’s wrath against sin and sinners. Look at him, he is risen and glorified. look at him, he has ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and there he intercedes for you as his high priest. he returns to establish his kingdom, judge the country, punish the guilty, and reward the faithful. Look at him and make sure, “Am I sure that he who has begun a good work in you will finish it on the day of Jesus Christ?(Philippians 1: 6).
Look at Jesus, the author and consumerist of our faith, and have the courage, confidence, and strength to lead his career based on this glorious truth. Jesus not only responds to our faith with help. He is the author, creator, and founder of the faith, and he is the one who works to perfect the faith he creates. He’s working to start it and finish it. Our faith clings to Jesus’ help, because Jesus first adhered to our hearts through faith. Jesus and run.
Thus, when we reached the end of our meditation in this passage, we saw that we ran the race before putting our faith and trust in Jesus, the author and consumer of our faith, and in doing so we received the strength and perseverance we needed. to eliminate anything, to get in the way, fight sin and reach the finish line. And it is in the goal where we find our final motivation to run the race, because that is where the reward awaits us. Our passage tells us that Jesus aguantó. la cross for the joy offered to him, and like our Savior, we must also endure the difficulties, battles, and trials presented to us by the joy offered to us.
In Romans 8. 18, the Apostle Paul writes: “For I believe that the sufferings of the present time cannot be compared to the glory that is revealed in us. “
You may have read the 20schemes statement of faith. I like the last part of this statement of faith because it reminds us of the great reward that awaits those of us who run the race.
The restoration of all things: We believe in the personal, glorious and corporeal return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he performs his role as final judge and his kingdom is consummated. Do we believe in the bodily resurrection of the righteous? and the unjust: the unjust for conscious and eternal judgment and punishment in hell, as our own Lord taught, and the just for eternal bliss in the presence of the one who sits on the throne and the Lamb, in the new heaven and in the new earth, the abode of justice. On that day, the Church will be presented without fail before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin will be cleansed and its miserable effects banished forever. God will be all in all and his people will be amazed at his indescribable holiness, and all will be to the praise of his glorious grace.
There will be a day for those who endure to the end, when we will be with Jesus in the abode of righteousness, and every sin and its wretched effects will be banished forever and everything will be in praise of God’s glorious grace. prize worth competing for.
I will end with a quote from puritanical Thomas Brooks, to quote one last deceased sage who said, “Your life is short, your tasks are many, your help is great, and your reward is guaranteed; therefore, do not be discouraged, stand firm and persevere in good, and in heaven everything will be rectified?
Amen.