Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: We are called to be spiritual athletes in the race of life. Listen to Adrian Rogers.

Are you looking for cheap way and easy way, a lazy way to serve God? Forget it. You're not going to find it. We're called on to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We're called on to run with patience, endurance, the race that is set before us.

If you possess it, it must possess you. You must weep over it, pray over it, work over it, concentrate on it. Nobody just ambles over the finish line. You set your heart, your mind, and you finish your course.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the timeless biblical teaching of pastor and author Adrian Rogers. All this month, we've been exploring the truth about champions of faith found in Hebrews chapter 11, looking at how their stories can encourage ours.

And in Hebrews chapter 12, we're given clear instructions on how to run our race. If you have your Bible, turn there now as Adrian Rogers shares part two of how to run like a champion.

Adrian Rogers: Now, we've come all the way through Hebrews chapter 11 of those who ran the race. And now a challenge comes to us. Let me read to you Hebrews chapter 12, verses one and two. "Wherefore..." Now the "wherefore" refers to everything that is already given us in chapter 11 and this wonderful Hall of Heroes, champions of the faith.

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." I want you to watch a young man run here and see what lessons we can learn. As he comes up there on the screen, he's getting set.

He's full of anticipation. Every muscle is tensed and he starts. A good start has a lot to do with it. Now he's running. He's running with all of his might. And notice he has a lane to run in. And so he's straining now every muscle, every sinew, every corpuscle. He's working toward the goal.

He's breathing hard. Actually, right about now, he's beginning to hurt a little bit, but he's running and he will not slow down because the goal is before him. Look at his face. See the determination. And there, he finishes the goal. It's an interesting race. Nobody else on the track but him. He has his own race to run and so do you.

Well, you say, "Pastor Rogers, I wish I were young like that young man. I would do some running." You may be 90, I'm talking to you. You may be in a wheelchair, I'm talking to you. You may be on a sick bed, I'm talking to you. You may have disease, I'm talking to you. You may have palpitations and flutters, I'm talking to you about running the race.

Now, it is true that sometimes physical things keep us from running as we ought. But friend, in your spiritual life, you are to be forever an athlete. You are called to run a race. You are called to be a spiritual athlete. Wherefore let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run.

So let me tell you some things how to be a champion and run like a champion. Because this book of Hebrews is not written just to inform us as to what others did, but to encourage us to do what we ought to do. Because he says "wherefore." Because they did what they did, now wherefore, let's see what God wants us to do.

First of all, friend, there is a purpose to pursue. There is a purpose to pursue. You're not just here to draw your breath, draw your salary, just endure. You are to be a spiritual athlete, and there is a race for you to run. Now, God has a race for you to run and you never get over the race until you draw your last breath.

There's no way for you to retire, there's no way for you to quit, there's no way for you to move aside. You know, we're not in a race with one another. We're in a pilgrimage. I'm not trying to outdo you and outrun you. But I am in a race against sin, against Satan, against self. I'm not in competition with you. You don't need to be in competition with me. No, you are in the race. There is a purpose to pursue.

Number two, if there's a purpose to pursue, there is a person to prepare. And that person is you. Now, no athlete can run a race who does not prepare to run that race. Now, he says in order to run a race, first of all, you've got to lay aside every weight. These are the things that would slow us down.

Now, what he's saying is there's certain things that may not be wrong in themselves, but if they are weights, get rid of them. Life would be simpler if it were a choice between good and bad. It's a choice between good and best, and good things become bad things when they keep you from best things. Lay aside every weight.

And then the sin that does so easily beset us. And the word "beset" is a word which literally means in the Greek "to entangle." Now, there's some things that weigh us down and we need to get rid of them. There are other things that trip us up. Sin will trip you up. You lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us.

Sin in your life keeps you from believing God. And if you're going to run the race, and the race is the race of faith, you have to get rid of those things that weigh us down and get rid of those things that trip you up. Now, I don't know what your sin is. People have a besetting sin, something they come back to and fail at over and over again.

Look into your heart. Is there a besetting sin? Something that you wrestle with over and over again? And you wonder why you don't have the faith that you ought to have. Lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us. What I'm trying to say is this: if you're having difficulty with faith, try repentance.

There's nothing more debilitating, more stultifying to faith in your heart as a harbored sin, sin that does so easily beset us. And so, if you're going to run a race, there's got to be some conditioning. There is a person to prepare. You lay aside the weights and you do away with that sin by confession and repentance that would trip you up and cause you to fail in your race. There is a person to prepare.

Next thing I want you to see: there is a price to pay. You pay a price to be an athlete. Now, look at it again here in Hebrews 12:1. "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us." Now, here's the price: "And let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

Now, the word "patience" here doesn't mean the ability to thread a needle. The word "patience" is a much heavier word than that. It means "endurance." Endurance is a chief factor in running a race. I don't care how far ahead you may be in any race, if you quit running, you're going to lose. You're going to lose. I don't care how far ahead you are. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Are you looking for a cheap way and easy way, a lazy way to serve God? Forget it. You're not going to find it. We're called on to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We're called on to run with patience, endurance, the race that is set before us. If you possess it, it must possess you.

You must weep over it, pray over it, work over it, concentrate on it. Nobody just ambles over the finish line. You set your heart, your mind, and you finish your course. Second Timothy chapter four, verse seven, Paul said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course." He did not quit running until the course was finished.

John 19, verse 30, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. They endured. So must you endure. One of these days, we're going to cross the finish line. We don't know when that's going to be.

It may be you are a teen, but you might be at the very end of your course. One of these days, however, I'm going to breathe my last breath. And I'm not going to stop running, God helping me, until I do. I don't want to stroll over the finish line.

I want to hit the finish line with a blaze of energy and power, going for the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, "Well, you'll be an old coot." Make no difference. Though our outward man perish, our inward man is renewed day by day. That's the reason you are to be an athlete no matter what your physical condition is, no matter what your economic condition.

You are in a race, and that race is not over until you bow your head like the Lord Jesus and say, "It is finished. It is done." There is a price to pay. And next, there's a promise to plead. Because it may sound difficult to you today and many of you are saying, "Well, I don't think I'm able to do what the pastor's preaching about today."

Well, the Lord God who calls you is the Lord God who enables you. Notice verse two: we're to be "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Now, this passage of scripture says that we are to be looking unto Jesus.

Why? Because he is the author and the finisher of our faith. He is the originator of our faith and he is the goal of our faith. You see, our Lord has not just told us to go out and do our best. If the Lord Jesus Christ wants me to have faith, he is the author.

That word means file leader, example, originator. He is the author of the faith. Faith is not something that I can conjure up. I can't make myself believe. Jesus gives me faith. Jesus gives me faith. He is the author of my faith and he is the finisher of my faith.

That is, he's the one to whom I am running. He is the goal as well as the coach, as well as the one who fires the gun at the starting block. From A to Z, he is the author, the finisher of our faith. Faith comes by looking to Jesus, looking unto Jesus. Now, it doesn't say looking at Jesus.

There's a subtle thing here, but I want you to notice the difference. Jesus is not merely our example. He is our example, but this says looking unto Jesus. It doesn't mean look at him, but look unto him. Depend upon him. That's what this verse means when it says looking unto Jesus.

"Jesus, I look to you. You're the one who is going to put faith in my heart. You're the one who's going to encourage me along the way. You are the author and the finisher of our faith." That's the reason I frequently say that it's really not a big compliment to call somebody a great man of faith.

Now, I hope that you're a great man of faith and I hope you're a man of great faith or a woman of great faith. But if you are, that's wonderful, but you can't boast about it because Jesus is the author and the finisher of your faith, isn't he? He's the one that you gain faith from by looking unto him.

I often use this example. People say, "Pastor, do you travel?" Yes, some. "Well, does Joyce always go with you?" Not always. "Well, when you are away from home, who keeps an eye on Joyce? Who watches her for you?" I said, "What do you mean? Well, how do you know she doesn't have a boyfriend?

Or how do you know that she's not going down to the casinos or whatever while you're going?" I'm not worried about it. "Not worried?" Not worried. "Not at all?" Not at all. "Not even a little bit?" No, none. Don't worry about it. "Oh," you say, "what great faith." I said, "No, what a great wife. Amen? What a great wife."

So if I have faith in God, I really shouldn't take a lot of credit for it, although I want faith. I don't say, "What a great believer I am." I say, "What a great Savior I have." You see? Looking unto Jesus, who is the author and the finisher of our faith. The God who calls us to run this race is the God who empowers us.

And Jesus is the one if you will keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. And this word "looking unto" is a Greek word, a technical word that means looking away from everything else unto Jesus. Anything that takes your eyes from Jesus is wrong for you and foolish if you're running a race.

Now, there is therefore, friend, a promise to plead. But also there is a prize to possess. When you run a race, you run for the prize. Jesus was running a race. And you see, Jesus is not only our example, but he is our empowerment. And notice here in chapter 12, verse two: "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who..." watch it, "...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross."

Remember we're supposed to run with endurance? Jesus was running a race from that cross. And he bowed his head when he hit the finish line and said, "It is finished." "...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

You know, Jesus was running the race because he saw you and he saw me today. This is the joy that was set before him. To have those like us who believe in him, who worship him, who praise him. And Jesus endured the cross and paid that price on bloody Calvary that we might be here today and enjoy what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, there's a crown for everyone who wins the race. And remember, we're not in competition with one another. It's a different kind of a race. Back in Bible times, in the natural realm, when a man would win the race, his name was proclaimed, his family was honored, his country was called out.

Friends would scatter his path with flowers. He was presented with costly gifts. Hymns were written about him. His hometown was honored. Famous sculptors would do a sculpturing of him. And his way was paid through life if he were to win the Olympic Games. You can see why they strive so hard to win that kind of a game.

But oh, how much more we when we see the Lord Jesus Christ and receive the crown. I was looking at these scriptures. The Apostle Paul said to those in Thessalonica, First Thessalonians 2:19, "For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?"

You know what he's saying? Look, Paul says, "One of these days, I'm going to see Jesus face to face when he comes. At his coming, I'll see him." Now, Paul didn't know he's going to die and go to heaven even before Jesus came. So he's anticipating Jesus coming. And he said, "I want a crown."

And he says, "What is my crown? You saints at Thessalonica that I won to Christ. You are my crown. You are my joy." May I ask a personal question? Have you ever led anybody to Jesus Christ? When you meet Jesus face to face, will there be some people you can say, "Lord Jesus, this is my crown. This is my joy."

Will anybody take you by the hand and lead you to the throne and say, "Lord Jesus, this is John, this is Susan, this is Mary. They're the one that introduced me to you." You say, "Pastor Rogers, I'm not trained." Well, get trained. You say, "Well, I can't win an adult." Then win a child.

You say, "Well, I can't win somebody in my family." Then win somebody in somebody else's family. Folks, there is a crown. There's a prize to possess. Now you say, "Well, what do you want with a crown, Adrian?" I'll tell you what I want. I want a crown to lay at Jesus' feet.

That's what I want. I want a crown to lay at Jesus' feet. I don't want to go prancing around heaven with a crown on my head. That's not it. I want a crown to lay at Jesus' feet. You know, the Apostle Paul said, "I finished my course." He's writing from prison, a musty, dusty old prison, the Mamertine prison.

In just a little while, they're going to cut off his head. Perhaps outside that prison, he can hear the executioner sharpening his lethal axe. And so Paul is writing to young Timothy. And he says, "The time of my departure's at hand. I'm ready to be offered. I've fought a good fight. I've kept the faith. I've finished my course."

He sees the tape now. He knows he's coming to the end. They rattle the cell door. A Roman guard says, "Paul?" "Yes?" "Come. It's your time." Paul says, "All right, be right there. Just a moment. Thank you, Lord Jesus." They open the door and out he goes. I just kind of imagine him as a kind of little stooped-shouldered, hollow-chested, bald-pated man with poor eyesight.

I mean, you consider what his body has been through. He's been stoned and left for dead. He's been beaten with rods. He's been whipped with a cat-o'-nine-tails. His body's been pickled in the Mediterranean. He's spent many, many days in prison. He's been abused and scorned. He's fasted.

He couldn't be a great physical specimen at this time. Those knobby knees and that guard behind him. He's making his way down to the executioner's block. And the guard says, "Is that you that I hear singing?" "Oh," he said, "I didn't know you could hear me. That's just a little song I learned that Jim Whitmire taught me.

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. One glimpse of his dear face, all sorrow will erase. So gladly run the race till we see Jesus." Run the race, my precious friend. Run. I don't know what happened exactly, but I think it happened this way. They said, "Paul, kneel. Put your head on that block.

Now, Paul, do you have anything else to say before the axe falls?" "Yes, I'd like to say that Jesus Christ is Lord." The axe falls, the head topples in the basket. His blood runs down to the Tiber River. The next scene is heaven. Paul is face to face with Jesus Christ.

What did Paul say? I don't know what he said, but I tell you what I think he could have said. "Lord, I wasn't much. I wasn't big. I wasn't strong. But Lord, I fought a good fight. I kept the faith. I have finished my course." Now, what did Jesus say? Well, I don't know for certain because I wasn't there.

But I tell you what I think he said, something like this: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many." And there in the glory, Paul is singing eternal praises to God and glad that he ran the race and that he did not quit and that he finished his course.

And that's what we all need to do. We need to finish our course with joy. Run the race that is set before us. We're not in competition with one another. I can't do what you can do. You can't do what I can do. But there's one thing we can all do is look to Jesus and be faithful.

He is the author and the finisher of our faith. What a tragedy it would be, what folly it would be for us to study these champions of faith and then to go on living the same way that we live. There is a race to run. There is a price to pay.

There is a prize to possess. Now you say, "Well, Pastor Rogers, I don't like that kind of preaching because I just kind of want to coast on into heaven on flowery beds of ease. I just want to be all honey and no bees. I just want to have it easy."

Well friend, one of these days you wish that you'd been faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not saved by works, but we're rewarded according to our works. Don't you want to hear the Master say, "Well done"? Don't you want to hear Jesus say, "God bless you, here's a crown, a soul winner's crown"?

Guest (Male): And with that challenge, we end today's portion of the lesson here on Love Worth Finding. And maybe as you've listened, you have questions regarding your faith in Jesus. We'd love to offer an insightful resource on our website, the Find Answers page.

There you'll discover resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about your relationship with God. We also would like to invite you to check out our Grow Your Faith page. It's where you can get grounded and dig deeper in the scriptures.

Go to lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Find Answers or Grow Your Faith. We can't wait to hear from you today.

Cary Vaughn: Hi, this is Cary Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a non-profit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you.

To give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVEGOD. That's 1-877-LOVEGOD. Or write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You can also connect with us online by going to lwf.org/radio. There, we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teachings of Pastor Adrian Rogers.

Additionally, you can sign up for daily emails, donate to the ministry, and learn more about how to become an ambassador of the word. Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated right here on Love Worth Finding.

Guest (Male): As America approaches 250 years, a lot of people are asking the same question: what does it really mean to live as a Christian here today? Not just in theory, but in everyday life at home, at work, and in a culture constantly shifting.

That's why we want to invite you to join us for the Faith in Freedom journey for this defining moment in our nation. This six-week journey will walk you through teachings of Adrian Rogers on how to be a Christian in America.

Filled with scriptures and guided prayers for our nation, Faith in Freedom is designed to help you grow deeper in your faith and live with confidence as a follower of Christ. Search for MYLWF wherever you download apps and begin the Faith in Freedom journey today. And thank you for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.