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You You You Well good morning everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church take your song books and turn to song 175 Song 175 in your song books. We'll sing. It's just like his great love and if you would stand We'll sing song 175 a Friend I have called Jesus Whose love is strong and true? And never fails. How it is tired. No matter what I do I've sinned against this love of his but when I now to pray Confessing all my guilt to him Thus and clouds rolled away It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like his great love Sometimes the clouds of trouble be damned the sky above I Cannot see my Savior's face. I doubt his wondrous love But he from heaven's mercy seed beholding my despair And pitty birds the clouds between And shows me he is there It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day It's just like Jesus All along the way. It's just like his great love When sorrows clouds or take me and break upon my head When life seemed worse than useless and I were better dead I Take my grief to Jesus Then nor do I go in vain For Heavenly hope he gives that cheers like sunshine after rain It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like his great love Oh, I could sing forever of Jesus love divine Of all his care and tenderness for this poor life of mine Love is in and over all and wind and waves obey Oh When Jesus whispers peace be still and rolls the clouds away It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day It's just like Jesus All along the way. It's just like his great love Let's pray Heavenly Father Lord. We just want to thank you God for this beautiful day. You've given us to meet in your house Thank you for our church. Thank you for our pastor I pray Lord now that you would just receive all the honor and glory out of everything that's said and done for it's in Jesus Name we ask all of it. Amen. All right, maybe seated and turn in your son books to song 449 Song 449 we'll sing dwelling in Yule Land song 449 Song 449 Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling Then I know the sins of earth be set on every hand Doubt and fear and things in vain to me are calling None of these shall move me from you I'm living on the mountain underneath a cloudless sky I'm drinking at the fountain That never shall run dry. Oh, yes, I'm feasting on the manna From a bountiful supply for I am dwelling in Yule Land Far below the storm of doubt upon the world is beating Sons of men and bad along the enemy withstand Safe am I within the castle of God's word retreating Nothing that can reach me Tis pew La land I'm living on the mountain underneath a cloudless sky I'm drinking at the fountain That never shall run dry. Oh, yes, I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply for I am dwelling in Yule Let the stormy breezes blow their cry Cannot alarm me I Am safely sheltered here protected by God's hand Here the Sun is always Shining here. There's not can harm me. I am safe forever in Yule And I'm living on the mountain underneath a cloudless sky I'm drinking at the fountain That never shall run dry. Oh, I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply for I am dwelling in Yule Viewing here the works of God I see in Contemplation Hearing now his blessed voice I see the way he planned Dwelling in the spirit here. I learned a full salvation Gladly will I tarry and you Land I'm living on the mountain underneath a cloudless sky I'm drinking at the fountain That never shall run dry. Oh, yes, I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply for I am dwelling in Amen Actually, I've been to a church where everybody would say praise God at that point so We can start that. I gotta have brother Dave lead that though so Alderman Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday morning and We got some visitors from the DC area and also Baltimore So if you haven't got a chance to say hi after the service obviously say hi to all these and then Just some general church announcements here. We have the typical service times this morning And then we'll have our soul winning time at 1 p.m. So We usually end around 12 or so depending on how long-winded I am And then that gives you a little bit of time to go get some lunch and then come back We'll get teamed up to go out soul winning around 1 p.m. And then Then we'll have our normal 4 p.m. Service This afternoon and then we have a regional soul winning times I think our brother Charles leads up the Monday, but I think brother Richie you're gonna be out of town. So the Wednesday time Obviously if other people want to go just get on the whatsapp there You can still go out on Wednesday, but brother Richie won't be there to lead it up And then brother Matt's been leading up Thursday over in Salem the Salem area, so So just be on the whatsapp that's kind of where the Mountain Baptist whatsapp is where All the locations and the exact times people are gonna be meeting is gonna be there And then as far as upcoming events, we have soul winning marathon that we're gonna be doing in Wheeling, West Virginia So this is gonna be the day before our anniversary service So we're gonna be meeting up at the Panera Bread on Cabela Drive And we're gonna be meeting up there around 930 or so We're gonna have breakfast will be provided So we'll get bagels and all that stuff coffee Whatever you want, honestly if you don't want a bagel and you want like a Egg sandwich. I'm not sure all at all. They got over there. But you know, we can accommodate that and then We'll be going out basically doing one big push and then we'll be coming back for like a lunch slash dinner And so that'll be provided as well if you come out to that and so I'm not sure exactly where we're gonna go, but there's a lot of choices there. So If you can't make it out to the sewing marathon just be in prior for it Obviously, we're coming into our fifth year anniversary. And so that'll be the next day So instead of the soul winning time in between there between the services We're gonna have a fellowship and so we're gonna have food and all that And we're gonna have some fun stuff to do I think have we locked down the dunk tank yet Or have we talked to them? so So if you ever wanted to like get back at your pastor or your deacon For stepping on your toes or whatever You could do this in a manner that's not going to be rebuking a pastor or anything like that I'm willingly gonna be sitting on this dunk tank and Allowing people to try to dunk me so Anyway, so I think it'll be fun. We used to have one at a manual and so that was always fun So I think the kids are gonna love it. The adults might love it more. I don't know but we'll see so So it should be a fun time and then obviously we're still gonna have our Afternoon service there after that, so I'm gonna have to bring a change of clothes. I'm definitely not getting dunked in a suit It's not happening. So But that's coming up here soon actually so a couple weeks and Then we have on the calendar there the Mountain Baptist Church retreat Canadian Valley and that if there's a sign-up sheet back there. I think most of you have already signed up But we'll take a look at that list and see if there's anybody that we have question, you know Whether you're gonna be going or not And so that'll be coming up here soon as you can tell we're in September So, I guess it's technically you can start having pumpkin spice everything, right? You know, even though fall doesn't start to like the 20th or something just say no but but we're going from 2nd John to 3rd John, so Chapter memory slash book memory this month and then our verse memory for the week is Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about what's so great a cloud of witnesses Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is Set before us and so this is a longer one Maybe next week we'll do our will do Jesus wept or something like that for you guys to get your candy But this will be pertinent for the sermon this morning Birthdays birthdays, so going into September do we miss anybody in August? Yeah Yeah, we got Denzel on Wednesday brother Jim was yeah, he was he was on it yeah, we made sure we got him so and What's today in the fourth? So Olive yeah half the Gandy family is born in September apparently so As you can tell the Gandy Gandy Gandy on there So so Kenji is Kenji here. No, I don't think so and then we got all of and then Clara is Saturday So Yeah, okay making sure then Tabby Dave and Avery are all the next thing So because it's just right down the line. Do you guys just have one big birthday party and celebrate it all together? You got a plan, okay So we have so we have all of and Clara and so it's all of gonna be one no I'd lose track of Everybody's kids if I forget your kids names I'm sorry, but we have more kids in this church than we have adults and so I'm trying to remember everybody's kids But they remember their ages. You can't put that on me. I can't bear that burden So So we're gonna sing for Clara where is Clara so Clara is gonna be seven all is gonna be one and So we'll sing for them here after after the announcements here And then anniversaries we do have some anniversaries coming up But not till later on and then the pregnancy list there being prayer for my wife under the pregnancy list and As far as we know everything's going well, but we're Gonna be coming to the halfway mark. So we still don't know if it's a boy or girl We do know one thing. It's a boy or a girl Nothing in between or anything like that, but So we'll find out soon I guess but be in prayer for my wife and That's about all guys for announcements the offering boxes in the back there if you want to give a tie their offering The mother baby room is for the mothers and babies only and Father God for announcements. So brother Dave's gonna sing one more song before that. We're gonna sing. Happy birthday and Who is reading brother brother Anthony he's gonna be reading Hebrews chapter 12 for us All right, take your song books and turn to song 441 It's a song 441 We'll sing great is thy faithfulness, but before we do that we need to sing happy birthday To Clara What what date there would Saturday Yeah, there are a lot of September's Yeah, most of them are mine too, okay All right. Well Clara the 10th, so it's Saturday and then olive. It's 9th from Friday Got all that. All right, and Claire you want to stand up? Yeah stand up All right and olive There she is, all right All right, Mufasa style We'll sing happy birthday seven and one here we go ready happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday God bless you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to both of y'all and we'll sing song 441 Great has thy faithfulness Oh God my father There is no shadow of turning with thee Thou changes not thy Compassion they fail not as thou has been thou forever will be Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed thy hand hath provided Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me Summer and winter and spring time and harvest Sun moon and stars and their courses above With all nature and manifold witness to thy great faithfulness and love Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed thy hand hath provided Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me Pardon for sin and a peace that Endureth thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow Blessings all mine with 10,000 beside Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed thy hand hath provided Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me Alright take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews chapter number 12 The book of Hebrews chapter number 12 We'll have brother Anthony come and read that for us You Hebrews chapter 12 The Bible reads wherefore seeing we also are compass About with so great a cloud of witnesses Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth is so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race That is set before us Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endure the cross Despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be weird and faint in your minds You have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin and ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children My son despised not the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth If ye endure chastening God deal with you as with sons for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not But if ye be without chastisement whereof all our partakers then are ye bastards and not sons Furthermore ye have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure But he for our prophet that we might be partakers of his holiness Now no chastising for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet Lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. Let it be but let it rather be healed Follow peace with all men and holiness Without which no man shall see the Lord Looking diligently lest any man lest any man fail of the grace of God Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and therefore many be defiled Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright For you know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing He was rejected for he found no place of repentance Though he sought it carefully with tears For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched and that burned with fire Nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words which voice they That heard and treated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore For They could not endure that which was commanded and if so much as a beast touched the mountain It shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart and so terrible was a sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake Be ye are come unto the Mount Sion and unto the city of the living God to the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly and church of the firstborn Which are written in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant and To the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel See that you refuse not him that speaketh for if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth Much more shall not escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven whose voice then shook the earth But now he hath promised saying yet once more I shake not the earth only but also heaven in this word yet once more Signify at the removing of those things which those things that are shaken as of things that are not that are made That those things which cannot be shaken may remain Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved Let us have grace whereby we may serve God Acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is consuming fire Let's pray Lord. Thank you for your word and thank you for this morning We're all gathered here and we continue to study from it I pray it should be the pastor Robson film with your Holy Spirit and help us all to learn in Jesus name. I pray Amen so you're there in Hebrew chapter 12 and look at verse 1 & 2 there and verse 1 is our memory verse for the week, but verse 1 & 2 So Hebrews 12 verse 1 it says wherefore seeing we also are compass about was so great a cloud of witnesses Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience The race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God So the name of the sermon is running the race with patience running the race with patience. So Brother Dave brother Matt and I did a race last week. And so this is kind of just on my mind just running a race Just enduring a race But the thing that when we were doing this race Because it was such a long race is the fact of dealing with patience and having patience as we were doing this race and What you have to understand is that The race of the Christian life is not a sprint It's an endurance race. Okay, it truly is an endurance race. It's it's a it's a marathon It's a mega marathon ultra marathon if you will the idea there is that we need to run with Patience and not just sprint off the line and then basically then we're just completely done after running You know, we may run really fast for a little bit but then you you're completely done and then you just have to like quit the race the idea is that consistency Patience and just trudging through till you finish. Okay, and I'm gonna kind of get into just just some things that going through this race that kind of you kind of get look at look At some spiritual applications with it Is the fact that that would apply to just the race of a Christian life And go to Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 11 Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 11 when I think about running a race I think about these two passages Hebrews 12 and Ecclesiastes chapter 9 Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 11 That's What the Bible says here It says I returned and saw under the Sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong Neither yet bred to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favor to men of skill But time and chance happen to them all now in general a Race is going to be won by the person that's really fast in general The war is gonna be by one by someone that's strong But what you have to understand is time and chance happen at the everyman and you can't just base your race off your your physical abilities and Just the idea of it's all about being fast. It's all about being strong Well, that could be toppled real quick The fastest person could just have like an injury that just takes them out and then they're done the strongest person could do something to injure themselves the way they're completely done and So time and chance happen that every man I think every Calvinist should read that verse And have to expound on that exegete it you know, but But that being said is that the race When we're running this race what you shouldn't you shouldn't be thinking about like am I the strongest am I the fastest the idea here? Is that are you still going though? Are you still moving? When we're doing this race, we started off, you know, pretty strong I would say I mean we didn't we didn't just start sprinting because we're not idiots, you know we have we have 21k plus, you know because As one guy said when we were seeing these mile markers He said that he said I trust these mile markers as much as I trust gas station food Because they were literally I mean you go one mile and you're like that was definitely like one and a half two miles there And so whoever did that? They need to know that Google Earth exists and they can they can figure that out without having to like walk it and all that but anyway So when it comes to this, you know, we started off strong. I would say halfway through we were we were jogging we were running to the obstacles and You know been about the six mile mark and we were still running after that But there was a point where maybe it was after that massive hill that we had to climb I think at that point was like a breaking point. I felt like Jonathan I was telling brother Dave and brother Matt. I was like, I feel like Jonathan, you know where where he's going up to the garrison They said, you know if they say to come up then the Lord has delivered him in hand They're like come up and we'll show you a thing, you know And then he goes up on his hands and his feet and he climbs up this mountain and we're climbing up the mountain and we're literally having to use our hands and our feet to get up this thing and And I'm like, you know, just think about this though once we get up here we got to take out a whole garrison. Yeah, so but after that it was like this point where We've lost a whole bunch of energy and The big thing that I wanted to do with this race was survive and finish right I wanted to finish the race but there was a lot of things that started happening that wasn't necessarily things that I I'll say this. I think it was brother Matt, you know or We were basically all saying is that this is gonna take pure willpower to get this thing done it's just pure determination to get through this and but your body starts breaking down and What we were running into is that my cardio was there be like, okay. I want to run again Let's let's jog to the next one. Let's run to the next obstacle right and then our muscles are like no you're not Everything starts tightening up You know, I'm like, oh, let's run this this will be fine and we start running and in my My quads up right above my my knees just start tightening up and I'm like all I can think about is like we're gonna be Stuck in the woods because I can't move You know and then brothers Matt's ankle was tightening up actually brother Dave's quads were tightening up You know after that swim and everything and so he just got to the point where like we just need to be patient and just get through this without like Pulling something like everything tightening up and just being come like completely enabled, right? So I obviously was thinking about this passage as we're running This is the fact that even though like in my mind if we can go faster We have the strength to go faster Especially brother Matt brother Matt had a lot more strength to go faster than we did But there was still like hey, we could probably I could probably run this I could probably do this but basically My body was breaking down and There was only so much you could do to where mentally you had to have patience to just basically trudge through it and I think about the Christian life in that and that there's times where you're just going full Bore and you're just hitting it hard but then there comes points where you're basically gonna just your body is breaking down or even Spiritually, you just need kind of the slow down not stop Because as you know, if you're running a race and you stop everything starts tightening up You know run run run down run a mile come back and just sit and don't move at all and then get up after that you know, there's obviously time where you need to cool down and kind of slowly get to the point where you're gonna be sitting or whatever but So when it comes to this race, it needs to be with patience and go to 1st Corinthians chapter 9 1st Corinthians chapter 9 But as you get into the race there has to be some preparation for it Okay, so before we did this so just just a backstory we did we did a 21k Spartan race Which has like 30 obstacles and who's doing them someone's they're doing the Tough Mudder. It's a brother brother Nick brother Aaron anyone else anyone else here that's doing it anyway, so they're gonna be doing the Tough Mudder later on but When it comes to this race, what was that it's easier Throwing shade on it already So But when it comes to this we were gonna do like the 10k but the Spartan race The 10k and the 5k were all on Sunday I'm like Well, can't do that Like sorry guys can't preach today. I got to go run a Spartan race But but the beast they called it was on Saturday I'm like, well, I guess that's what we're doing if we're gonna do this race So I didn't really want to start it out that way I kind of wanted to just do a 10k and just start off a little smaller But I was preparing for this race. So basically I forget when we decided Do you remember when we start decided was it like in March or something like that or somewhere around there? We were decided we're gonna do this thing. And so I started running More I was still running but I started running more. I'm like, okay I need to start running like two miles three miles four miles I need to start running to where I'm getting, you know, because this thing is supposed to be twelve and a half it was more like 20 but The idea there is that I need to start bumping up my training to prepare for this race, okay, and So there's a lot that that goes into the Christian life when it comes to preparation To where when you're running this race, you don't just completely fall apart Okay, go to 1st Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 24 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24 It says know ye not that they which run in a race run all but one received the prize So run that you may obtained so just so you know, we didn't win. Okay, so caveat we didn't win this race because there's crazy Superman people out there that can just They're there. I think they do it. They must get sponsored or something like that They must just do this their whole like that's all they do is just prepare for this race. But anyway This is obviously talking spiritually here. But the idea here is that Everybody's running but it says so run or but one received the prize so run that you may obtain Every man that striveeth for the mastery is temperate in all things Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we in an incorruptible so the idea there is that he's talking about he's using the physical race to say here that everybody's running but only one's gonna win the race right and Then the idea there is that they're gonna receive a corruptible crown But that same person that is running to receive that crown in that race it says he's temperate in all things right the idea there is that Which you think about the race that we did wasn't just running there was a lot of physical things you had to do like picking up Atlas stones doing a lot of Climbing doing a lot of like monkey bar type things Swimming like there's a lot of different things that you had to do on this thing And so it wasn't just this one thing that you're doing you weren't just running You're doing a lot of different things. So when you think about like preparing for a race You don't just run You watch what you eat You you you fix your diet up to where you're gonna start getting in better shape But you do run. Okay, so obviously it's a race You're gonna be running but you're gonna do other things that are gonna bring up your strength in other areas And so the idea there is that you're temperate in all things you're not just gonna be Great at one thing. Okay, and in the Christian life when it comes to You know the Christian life you need to not just be on one subject or one thing and just that's all you're about It needs to be all the counsel of God I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God The idea there is that you don't want I'm sure you don't want a preacher that just gets up here and preaches end times Prophecy all day long and that's all they ever talk about Even though end time prophecy is pretty cool You need to know about Okay, let's let's let's see all the the stuff about salvation. Let's see all the stuff about baptism Let's see all the stuff about you know Going down the line about doctrines that we need to believe or or false doctrines that we need to stay away from And just everything right you want to know everything and have a well-balanced diet when it comes to the Word of God But the same thing goes for everybody that's out there. Is that you need to be well-rounded You need to be temperate in all things You need to have all the counsel of God and not just get stuck on one hobby horse Okay, and because there may be sermons you may look at this sermon to be like wow, you know I was hoping he was gonna preach on like The queers or something like that, you know and just so you know, I don't like preaching on them But you know, it's pertinent and it's something that has to be preached But you may say well, I wish he was preaching on, you know against Zionism I wish he was preaching against you know, like, you know against dispensationalism and and listen I have and I will but there's gonna be times where you're gonna have sermons that are gonna be on something else and Everything needs to be preached down the line and When it comes to this I think about this passage is in the fact that if you're gonna run this race You need to be tempered in all things Not just some things all things and definitely not just one thing not just one doctrine that you're just like I'm just honing on this one doctrine and If you say well, you know, I'm a new Christian and you know, I really want to study out this one subject and know this Subject. Well, here's what you need to do you need to read the Bible cover to cover many times and just Well, obviously have salvation down pat as much as you can but when it comes to all the other doctrines You just need to basically be honing in just your knowledge in general and Then as you get a base knowledge about all these different doctrines, you can start picking one be like, alright I want to know this one a little more I'm gonna I'm gonna know this one a little more over here But the problem is that a lot of people get saved and then they'll be like, alright I want to know this one doctrine and I'm gonna know everything about this doctrine But what you don't understand is that all these other doctrines over here are gonna help you understand that one doctrine And if you don't have all those other doctrines down You're gonna be missing pieces to that puzzle And you're gonna go off base and you're not gonna be well-rounded. Okay, but keep reading there in 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 26 there it says I Therefore so run not as uncertain Certainly, so fight I not as one that beat at the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection Less that by any means when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway. So He's obviously tying in the spiritual here in the fact that He's running but he's not talking about like a physical running race here He's talking about running the race with patience right the race that is set before us and Just like it says in Hebrews chapter 12 is that we need to lay aside every sin and weight that that's so easily beset us right or every weight in the sin that which That's so easily beset us and the idea there is that he keeps under his body just like a runner would write Just like if you're running a race, what are you gonna do? You're not gonna be eating Twinkies every day Which Twinkies are disgusting anyway, but you're not gonna be eating Reese's Cups every day. All right Let's put it down on the shelf where everybody understands You're not gonna eat Reese's Cups every day and then expect to go run this race and survive it. Okay? You're not gonna you're not gonna Basically not train at all and just be sedentary and not move at all and expect to run this race You know, I was training and running and all this stuff and I'll say this I was probably maybe not the best running shape of my life, but I was I was in decent running shape there was there was things that I was running that back even when I was doing crossfit and I would even wait a little less that I struggled with whereas at this point I was doing a lot better at now there was definitely things that got in the way and my whole family got sick and then I had to move and like Training I put on the back burner and others kind of dealt with that too. But So I didn't get the train as well as I wanted to I wasn't exactly in the position I wanted to be but I say I'll say this I didn't just get off off the couch and say alright, let's do this race You know, I was preparing for it keeping under my body trying to trying to get in better shape cardio shape trying to eat better You know We weren't just pounding down Reesey cups when we went out there and ran this race now after the race What we ate after that is none of your business. No, I'm just kidding. Actually, you know, we had this whole big plan We're like, we're gonna eat like it's no tomorrow and we went over to Bob Evans and these guys were ordering two meals and I got the farmers choice, you know, which is like the best thing that they have there but but I couldn't I couldn't eat it on my stomach's just like what you've been eating salt tablets and and You know, like what have you had today granola bar salt tablets and what was the other thing that they do that? Yeah But there was a just these things that like these like little wafer things that have like these nutrients in it And then then I'm like, alright, I'm gonna eat some bacon eggs and pancakes and blueberries all over my body Just like what are you doing? So That being said is that we weren't eating all we didn't go eat that and then go run this race. We're keeping our body in Subjection essentially now when it comes to the Christian life the same thing applies But more so when instead of food you're dealing with sin Right because when it comes to dieting What's the stuff that you shouldn't be eating donuts pancakes, you know, like these different things that aren't going to Help your body out you need to be eating right and You need to be Basically prepared because when you get to that race, you don't want to just fall off and just fall out of this race. So Now go to Jeremiah chapter 12 Jeremiah chapter 12 verse 5 Now I I've never run a marathon Like a typical marathon if that makes sense like the the one where it's just like you're just running on streets and all this stuff But Anybody had ever heard to run a marathon they never run the actual amount That they're doing right. What is it 26 miles or something like that for a marathon? 26.2 Everybody's got those little stickers right 13.1. I did a half marathon 26.2 if you have that sticker on your car, I'm not against you, but that's how I remember actually but that When I talk to people that ran marathons they would like have this regiment and they'd be like, okay today We're gonna run an easy for four miles and I'm like that shouldn't be in the same sentence That's an oxymoron Easy four miles anyway, so to give you an idea that I'm not a runner But they have an easy four then they'll do like a hard Six or something like that, but they'll never do 26 They'll never do the full amount Okay And I don't think that you have to necessarily do the full amount to be prepared for the battle Does that make sense? Like if you're running a race, it may be this really long race and you can't run that really Long race to train for it necessarily just for sake of time or whatever But you can prepare for it. Notice what it says here in Jeremiah chapter 12 and verse 5 It says if thou hast run with the footmen and they have weary be then how canst thou contend with horses? And if the land if in the land of peace where in thou trustest they weary be Then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? Okay, so basically it comes down to this if you're preparing for a race and you can't run two miles But you're gonna go run 26 You're like winded your side hurts and you're trying to run two miles and you can't do it Then you're not gonna make it Like how you're gonna contend with horses when you're going 26 miles Okay So the idea there is that you're training at a lower level maybe because obviously keeping up with the footman Keep them up with horses are two different things But it comes down to this in the Christian life if you can't handle Running this race when everything is great And everything's good How you gonna do it when tribulation come the persecution comes? Because I hear a lot of people say well, you know what I'm not going soul-winning now But if I see the abomination desolation and I see this stuff going down then I'm getting in the fight. No, you won't Because if you were too afraid and too lazy or whatever the case may be to go out soul-winning when It was a time of peace and it was easy to do Or you're like, well, I was afraid that people would be mad at me You know, I'm afraid what people are gonna think of me. What are you gonna think when they are wanting to kill you? So the idea there is that if you can't if you can't run with the footman now And how you gonna contend with the horses if you can't in a time of peace? Do what God wants you to do then? How you gonna do it when it's made illegal Or when basically they're coming after you for doing it So when it comes to the running this race is that you need to be prepared you need to be training for it, okay? Go to Isaiah chapter 40 Isaiah chapter 40 Another thing with running this race is that you need to be willing to have people help you Okay So when you understand that in the in this Christian race where you're not alone I Mean, there's one great thing about having a church is because we're not alone. We're all doing this together And we all need each other and there's gonna be certain times where you need someone to give you a boost Okay, now let me give you a physical example of this after I read this but Isaiah 40 in verse 29 It says he giveth power to the faint and to them that have no no might he increases strength Even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly utterly fall But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as Eagles They shall run and not be weary. They shall They shall walk and not faint. It's funny when we were running this. I'm like Brother brother Matt. He had some endurance going on there and Anyway, I was brother Dave and I were kind of like behind him all the whole time basically But I was like brother Matt. Just let me get a second wind and brother Dave's like I've already had my second wind Then let us get our third wind or something I don't know and so but you've probably heard of that second wind that idea of being refreshed where You kind of get this second boost of energy when it comes to whatever you're doing You'll just kind of get that boost of energy and I'm sure there's some Biological reasons behind that actually brother Dave was trying to explain that to me I didn't care because we're running this race and he's like talking about her What was it like our pancreas and like blood or something like that and how it gets oxygenate oxygenated? and I'm like, I can't even say that word right now because this is ridiculous, but The idea here is that? God will help us when we're faint And you have to be willing to let God help you now go to go to second Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 second Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 9 Philippians chapter 4 verse 13 is a very famous verse. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me And let's not let that verse just be cliche The idea there is that we need Christ to strengthen us but in order for Christ to strengthen us We have to admit that we're weak There has to be times where you have to basically say, you know what I'm not strong enough to do this and Second Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9. It says this it says and he said unto me My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect and weakness most gladly Therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities and reproaches and necessities and Persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak Then am I strong and you'll see this throughout the Bible where when people are the weakest that's when God steps in And you have to admit that you're weak though. And if you remember the story of Gideon, you remember that There was like 10,000 left Like there was 32,000 then there was 10,000 left and God said there's too many because they're gonna say Basically even with 10 10,000 against the million to say well we somehow pulled it off But when it went down to 300 He said there's no way that they can say that this is out of their own might that they did this So when it comes to wanting God's strength and his support, you really have to have this humble heart to say You know what Lord it is all you and it's your strength that's getting me by but I'll give you an example this and we're doing an obstacle and There was this there's one obstacle where you had to basically climb up this wall, but there was no footing It was all just just a basically just a flat wall so you had to basically you know we had to jump up where you're at to even get to the handholds and then you had to basically pull yourself up And then try to get your foothold in and then go up. Okay, and Brother Dave and I are not the tallest people You know this and so some of us don't have wingspans of pterodactyls and but Matt did great and He went right up that thing. There's other reasons. I mean, he's stronger and faster and you know all that but But when we were at this obstacle, I was just like I'm like no I want to do this You know, I I don't need any help and I just kept like jumping up to this thing trying to pull myself up But I just couldn't get to the point where I can get a foothold when I'm pulling myself up there So I helped Brother Dave. So Brother Dave's like give me a boost up Okay, so Brother Dave was automatic like I need I need a boost up, right? So, you know I get you know You kind of get it gets on your knee you get up there and you get boosted up and I'm still like now I want to do this and then then I'm just like, you know what? This is just embarrassing. So so Brother Dave came back around and he He gave me a boost up but the idea there is that I ended up getting through the obstacle But I just needed like just that little push to get up that obstacle and but you have to have a mind to say You know what? I might need a little help. I might need a little boost in some areas to get through the obstacle to get through the race and you know, I can't remember if there's other times those obstacles all blur now when it comes to those obstacles, but And so when it comes to Fainting or or anything like that getting strength is that we need to learn to lean on one another Okay, and this is where church is very important you know, we were talking to a guy out soul winning last week and He basically said that he he does church at home. He watches online and all that and But I was telling him after we gave him the gospel and everything I said I said just just so you know Obviously salvation is more important to go in the church or anything like that. But at the same time you're missing an element there besides the fact that the church is watching fry horrible, but You're missing the element of fellowship Because you can hear the sermon you can hear the preaching and that's all great But there's that idea of like the fellowship right where you're there You come on a Wednesday and you're just in the world and like trying to work and you're dealing with all this stuff That's just being shoved down your throat and you just need a time to kind of escape from that and get a little boost That is only gonna be really coming from from the church where you're congregated with believers because you can listen to a sermon and get uplifted but you don't have that like personal contact of like Speaking to someone face to face and just having that reaction that'll kind of help boost you through whatever you're going through Go to Philippians chapter 2 and verse verse 14 verse 14 So when it comes to running this race Another thing that you need to be thinking about here is the fact that running this race You need to have The Word of God at the forefront This is where most churches are falling apart Because they don't have the Word of God as being the thing that's leading them in all faith and practice It could be tradition. It could just be The fact that they're just not following it at all, they're they're succumbing to the world to the standards of this world Whereas you need to be looking at the Bible as your standard completely if the Bible states it We believe it and when it comes to this go to Philippians chapter 2 and verse 14 Philippians chapter 2 verse 14 says do all things without murmurings and disputings that you may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without Rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom you shine his lights in the world notices holding forth the word of life That I may rejoice in the day of Christ notices that I have not run in vain neither labored in vain You remember we were talking about how the the the race is not necessarily to the swift or to the strong Because you could be strong physically you could be swift physically But listen if you don't have right doctrine, it's vain You don't want your run to be in vain even if you are running faster than everybody else You don't want it to be all in vain because your doctrines bad Right you're running you're going full bore You're you're doing you're doing what you believe what you think you should be doing, but then it's not according to the Bible and You know this idea of like you do you Go your own way Yeah, I remember something in the Bible about when they did that which right was right in their own eyes the idea of there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death and We need to go the way of the Bible and the Word of God should be our life If you were to define like what are you trying to do in life what the Bible says? The Word of God that is the light that is the life That is where you're going and when you're running a race you need to have that at the forefront Because you don't want to be running. Can you imagine running imagine if we got off track? Like we were doing this race and we went off the rails and went off track We started running like miles out of the way of this race You See how it's vain We're not gonna make it to the finish line in it and let's say we get back on track Well, now we've just gone like miles out of the way that we've added to our race That we have to now make up as we're going down the line No, you need to stay on the path you need to stay on the way the right way and Or your running's gonna be in vain. You can just run it all over the place and it's not doing anything for you You're not winning the race. You're not gonna even finish the race And obviously I'm not talking about going to heaven or hell I'm talking about the fact that as Christians our goal is to win the crown That could be the crown of light that could be the crown of righteousness There's different rewards that are given for those that serve the Lord that run this race with patience Fact of the matter is most Christians don't even get in the race They're not even running they're spectators and We need to all be in the race you should not just want to be a spectator Christianity should not is not a spectator sport it's one where you get involved okay, and Go to Galatians chapter 5 dealing with doctrine notice how it keeps using this term run when it comes to Doctrine and when it comes to the Word of God Because I mean here's the thing when it comes to this if you don't know which way to go. How can you really confidently? Run the race remember that Paul says I so I run not as uncertainly Right the idea is that you want to be running in a certain manner you're you're certain where you're going You know where you're going you just have to make it there And you may have to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling God in Christ Jesus meaning you may have to Like just be pressing and going and just using pure willpower to get there, but at least you're certain on where you're going Like throughout this race. We weren't like ever thinking like are we going the right way Now we knew we were going the right way It just was It was just a drudgery to get there right it was as a I think brother Matt Said is it just felt like we're on the death march on the last end of that thing. We're just We're just surviving but Galatians chapter 5 verse 7 here says he did run well Who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump I have confidence in you are in you through the Lord that you will be be none otherwise minded But he that troubles you shall bear his judgment whosoever he be and he's talking about there's false doctrine in there They're being bewitched to think that works are involved or circumcision is involved in salvation and he even is questioning He's like I'm afraid of you lest I bestow labor upon you in vain Basically, if you truly believe this then Christ has become no effect unto you You're falling from grace because you're not believing it's by grace through faith. You're not saved and But he's stating if you are saved if you're just being bewitched by this he's like you need to purge out that leaven Because you're running well like who hindered you Who's stopping you from running like you should be running. What are we talking about doctrine? You think about the leaven of the Pharisees right beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and it says beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the idea there is that we need to have good solid Doctrine if you know, okay, here's exactly what we believe about salvation Here's exactly what we believe you should do when you go out soul winning when you go out soul winning Is it are you uncertain where you're going with anything? Are you uncertain about what you're gonna what you're gonna preach to them? No It's but is it still hard sure still hard still hard to block those doors still hard to deal with people it's still hard to maybe you know, try to win that person gently and to try to Tear down all those obstacles in their mind. It's still hard because it's work but You're certain though Salvation is by grace of faith. It's not by works. It's eternal security. You can never lose your salvation that is sure and certain Well now it's just a matter of doing the work And Habakkuk good Habakkuk chapter 2 in verse 2 Habakkuk chapter 2 in verse 2 Habakkuk chapter 2 in verse 2 Habakkuk chapter 2 in verse 2 It Says and the Lord answered me and said write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run That readeth it So when it's stating this I Don't believe it's saying like make it so big that when people are running by they can see it Like it's a big sign on the interstate. I believe what is stating here. Is that make it plain meaning easily understood So that basically once they read it, they understand it immediately and they can just go, you know, hit the ground run So when it comes to doctrine and especially at this church we should have doctrine that is easily understood and Here's my rule When it comes to doctrine if you can't explain it to me in five minutes, then it's too complicated. I I Remember I was preaching on I think the Trinity And I was preaching on the difference between the only begotten Son You know how Jesus the only begotten Son of God meaning he's the second person of the Trinity and the first begotten Which is talking about the resurrection. He's the first begotten of the dead He's the first fruits of them that slept and the difference between that he's both obviously But there's a difference between being the only begotten and the first begotten Okay, and I basically just explained it like that and I was writing this sermon and I turned over to my wife I said hey I'm gonna explain this to you really quick and I want you to I want I want to see if you understand what I'm saying And I basically explained it like that I said only begotten means that he's the only Son of God meaning he's the only he's God That means he came forth from the Father. He's the Son of God from eternity past. That's who the only begotten That's what it means first begotten is talking about He's the first one to raise from the dead He's the first one in a glorified body and he is the first fruits of the resurrection That's why I says this day have a begotten me. Okay, and I explained it to her and she's like, yeah makes sense So I felt better about going into that sermon because I'm like, okay Obviously, my sermon was long and I had a lot of points to the sermon to prove those points But if you can't explain to me and like a matter of minutes, this is what I believe in why And explain it to me then you're probably wrong Because a doctrine at the core should be simple and you can get into all the complex like Things that kind of branch off of that doctrine As far as let's say end times prophecy, for example, you have the fact that you have the tribulation The rapture God's wrath being poured out Simple how do you explain it? Well, it says immediately after the tribulation of those days the Sun and moon are darkened and Then you shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds or see the side of the Sun man coming in clouds and he Shall gather together is his elect from From one end of heaven to the other that's the abridged version. So but basically After the tribulation Jesus comes in the clouds gathers his elect and then his wrath is poured out You Can get into a whole bunch of details with the timeline on that. Can't you? like well for the first You know time times and half the time is the beginning of sorrows and here's everything that's going down the line And then you have the abomination desolation and then that's gonna give the Antichrist power for 42 months And and then you can get into the fact that those days are shortened if they weren't shortened and the elect wouldn't be saved And no flesh would be saved they were shortened. That means that the rapture is going to happen Between the halfway mark of that seven years and when that and end of the seven years happens that it's shortened He's gonna come and then he's gonna pour out his wrath upon it You can get into all the details on that but at the core tribulation rapture wrath boom Does that make sense when it comes to this make it plain? So that he that run it or that he that read it can run the idea there is that Here's the doctrine go run Go do what you got to do But have you ever gone out of a sermon and hopefully you haven't gone out of one of my sermons be like man I have no idea what he's trying to get across. I don't know which way he stands on that issue If there is ever a sermon like that, please come to me and say that to me in a nice manner You don't wanna be like listen that sermons off You really need to work on that, but you can come up to me like listen I'm just sorry pastor, but I just was really confused about what you were trying to get where do you stand? After a sermon you should be very clear like here's where he stands on that issue whether you agree with it or not You know like hey pastor stands right here on that issue Here's what he believes about that doctrine and so it should be plain why so that you can run Make it very plain like this is the direction we got to go. This is the direction our church is going We should be very clear on what our mission is here at Mountain Baptist Church. Our mission is to go out soul-willing See them baptized and then teach them to observe all things That is our main goal of this church Why do we come here to hear preaching so we can go out soul-willing bring it back in get him baptized and teach and observe all things and Everything is centered in on that goal and now you know, okay, I can run with that You're not like uncertain about what we're trying to do here Now, let me show you a story here real quick. I go to 2nd Samuel chapter 18 there's a story and I'm probably I'm gonna bridge it here just for sake of time because I'm just not gonna get to some of these points there's a story here where Absalom if you remember the story where Absalom tries to take over the kingdom from David and They his hair gets caught in the earth's head I'm sorry I I miss that everything because his hair talks about how his hair is really heavy his head is caught in an oak Hey doesn't say his hair So but that's what you always assume like why he had this big long hair that he pulled every year He must have got caught in the in the tree says his head was Possible that his hair had it was involved in that. Anyway, so he's caught in this this this this oak He's hanging there and basically they didn't kill him and jobs like why didn't you kill? So Joab goes and kills him and then they're sending news off to David to say that Absalom's dead But there's two men here and there's Cushai and there's a Hymaz so Cushai Notice what it says in verse 21 It says then Joab Then said Joab to Cushai go tell the king what thou has seen and Cushai bowed himself unto Joab and ran Okay, so he basically tells them go tell them the tidings So Cushai starts running. Okay, but then it says here in verse 22 then a Hymaz The son of Zadok yet again yet again To Joab, but howsoever let me I pray thee also run after Cushai and Joab said wherefore wilt thou run My son seeing that thou hast no tidings ready So I'm gonna You could read that story later on for sake of time Basically what happens here is that a Hymaz outruns Cushai So a Hymaz wants to go and give tidings to the king, but he doesn't know what the tidings are He doesn't have any tidings But Cushai knows he was there So Cushai is the one that actually has the tidings to give to the king and Joab's like go Cushai go tell the king What happened right and a Hymaz even after he runs off so Cushai's already got a head start And then and then Hymaz is like just let me go And it's almost like Joab is just like go then, you know, go run I don't know, you know, like basically go but he's basically saying you don't have any tidings ready. Why are you running? and So basically what happens here is that a Hymaz gets there first and then they're like, hey what tidings do you have? He's like, I don't know there was a tumult and I don't know what was going on But he's just basically like has nothing right? He runs there has no information to give to them and Then Cushai comes and gives him the news now Obviously, it's good news and bad news because it's good news that the kingdom is back to David The bad news is that his son is dead and David's distraught over that. So it's obviously bittersweet But in the end so isn't the Word of God sometimes When it comes to the message the message may not always be this this awesome message that you love to hear sometimes it's hard to hear but the truth hurts sometimes and When it comes to this you could be faster, but not have tidings I'd rather have someone that's slower at running But has the right tidings Okay, go to Isaiah 52 and verse 7 Isaiah 52 verse 7. This is our moniker verse if you will for our church Isaiah 52 7 We're called Mountain Baptist Church one. We're in the mountain state. So yeah It is geographic to a certain extent But the other thing that I think about is that I wanted our church to be known for soul winning. I Wanted to be said that hey if we stop soul winning, why are you even called Mountain Baptist Church? Because our Monica verse here is in Isaiah 52 7 It says how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings That publish of peace that bringeth good tidings of good that publish of salvation that set unto Zion thy God reigneth Nahum 115 Kind of has a little excerpt of that It says in a m115 behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good Tidings go to Romans chapter 10 Romans chapter 10 Romans chapter 10 is the soul winning passage wouldn't you agree? I mean who here goes soul winning and doesn't go to Romans chapter 10 So for some reason or another usually right? I mean, this is usually where you're landing the plane right if you're gonna go into like, how do you all right? What do we got to do? To land this plane and get this person to believe on Christ. You're gonna go to Romans chapter 10 But Romans chapter 10 in verse verse 13 it says for whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how should they believe in him in whom they have not? heard and how should they hear without a preacher and How shall they preach except to be sent as it is written How beautiful are the feet of them to preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things Let me ask you a question when you run. What do you run with your feet? And what are your feet bringing glad tidings? That's the whole principle and why it's talking about the feet here Is that you go go you into all the world preach the gospel to every creature? Go you into all nations teaching them to observe all you know teaching them and baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things What's our command of you and lo I'm with you all even unto the end of the world Amen, and the idea there is that we go we go we go on our feet we physically walk out and go out and give the gospel and When it comes to giving the gospel these glad tidings What if you don't have the tidings though Do you really care about how fast they got there Do you care about how many doors they can hit in one evening or one afternoon? What if this what if a church down the street was like you know what We're so quick that we can go to I mean we we've hit every single door in this town But they had the wrong gospel It's in vain they've run in vain They're bringing bad tidings actually But what if they were going and they're just not giving any tidings Which I was actually talking to the gentleman that's from Baltimore We're just talking about let's just face it and a lot of churches today They go out knock the door put a door hanger on and run away like scared little children And That kind of the same thing that I'm as is doing he's like I want to run I want to go but got nothing Like so what tidings you got me? I? Saw two mole There's a lot of commotion going on like what are you talking about? What happened? Why are you here? Why'd you run? but if you have Salvation down and you have the gospel down Then when you run you have those glad tidings and guess what it's not gonna be in vain Because those are the labor and Lord it's not gonna be in vain and but you have to have the tidings You have to have the good tidings and You think about Ephesians chapter 6 where it talks about The whole armor of God it says having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace So when it comes to this when you're thinking about the gospel it needs to be prepared right you need to have this this Preparation that that's there before you go out to the door. You're not just going out to the door and just just shooting from the hip Now listen when I first got saved. That's what I did I Got saved. I was in college, and you know we went out to the mountain layer, and we're like hey Let's go try to see if we can win someone You know see if we can get people to believe what the Bible teaches on this right And you know I went up to somebody like hey, do you know if you're going to heaven? they're like no well let me show you Ephesians 2 8 9 says this and You know you can't lose your salvation all this stuff, but didn't explain to him like hey, you're a sinner Hey, you know that punishment for sin as hell like had no plan Nothing was prepared. I just had a few verses that I knew were great verses when it comes to salvation Now that some people get saved Sure, I'm sure someone did because the Word of God is powerful and and God can work through that right But here think being prepared and having a plan before you go out there. You're gonna be way more efficient you're gonna see a lot more people saved and The fruit is going to be increased because of that go to Romans chapter 5 the last thing I'm going to show you here, and we'll be done The name of the sermon is running the race with patience Having patience you ever hear the story of the tortoise and the hare My kids have a book that has all these like stories and one of them said the hare and the tortoise I'm like that's wrong That's not how it said who here has ever heard the story of the hare and the tortoise How about the tortoise and the hare? Everybody right today actually did anyone ever like read the story be like and call it that Like the hare and the tortoise you be honest. I'm not gonna call you out or anything like that But I'm reading that I'm like that's wrong. It has nothing to do with the sermon I'm just saying like say it right you know write it out there right so tortoise in the hair, right? Anyway, I digress, but you've heard that story and the idea there is that the tortoise is slow, but he's steady He just keeps going And in the Christian life there's gonna be people that are steady, and there's gonna be people that are like firecrackers Whether it's just like super excited And they're just like gung-ho about doing something that there's nothing wrong with having zeal and being excited about it okay, but you also need to have stability and When it comes to the race when it comes to running the race with patience you know what I see with that stability You're stable in your run. You know your limitations. Okay, well we were running that race like I said I Know we could have gone faster. I know we could have pushed it harder But I don't know if we would have finished Just being honest if we would have pushed it harder And I would have tried to run more and try to run faster and try to do different things We may not have made. I mean we would have survived. I'm not saying I'll be dead right now Like all pastor Robinson, and yeah, we lost our pastor a deacon. You know church member all one day They're dead no no I'm not saying that but I was saying though is that I wouldn't have got across that finish line I'd have some someone had to get like a UTV out there and rescued us on the trail and Like taking us and there were people that were literally stopped and couldn't move like their muscles have tightened up, and they were just enabled and But thank the Lord for those people that had those salt tablets and those electrolyte tablets and everything else but That being said is that when I think about running with patience I think about knowing your limits knowing when to throttle back Okay, not stop throttle back There's nothing wrong with throttling back every once in a while when you're running this race of the Christian life There's gonna be times where you're gonna be hit with a whole bunch of stuff You're gonna have a mountain to climb I'll say this when we were climbing that mountain It's not like all right We got a we got a jog up this thing Or once we got up to the top There had to be a recovery process that was going on there where we basically recover regaining our energy To kind of kick it back up again And there's gonna be times like that We're gonna find a mountain that's just all you can do to get up that mountain And once you get up that mountain, there's got to be a time where you're just like, all right I got to take it easy just for a little bit here and reach my composure And that's where you throttle back a little bit go to run with chapter 5 verse 1 This will be the last thing I show you here and we done it says therefore being justified by faith We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ By whom also we have access by faith into this grace where and we stand and rejoice in Hope of the glory of God I love these two verses because this really just shows you that we're saved by grace and how do we get that grace? We have access to that grace by faith. It just like just nails it and the fact that Ephesians 2 8 9 for by grace are you saved through faith and That is that not of yourself is the gift of God not of works, let's anyway suppose Faith is how we get access into that grace. We're saved by grace. But how do you get that grace? You have to believe it put your faith in him. We keep reading there in verse 3. It says and not only so So he's basically saying yeah, we're saved that way. We have peace that way Spiritually speaking we're saved we have grace But that's not the only area that we can have that kind of peace that we can have that type of You know comfort and grace in our lives it says not only so but we glory in tribulations also Now when you read that first of all, you're like what in the world? Why would you be just like lorien in tribulation tribulation is time. It's trouble right? You're going through times of trouble It says knowing that tribulation worketh what? patience and patience Experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us this these verses are so important to the Christian life and the idea here is that Tribulation is important because it teaches you patience because you have to have patience to get through that trouble, but then that patience works experience why Because you've gone through it before Because when you go through for example, I've never done one of these races before but now I have experience I didn't have experience for brother. Dave had done it before and he had done other races before and So he had the experience So he probably had a little more. Hope that maybe I did when you're going into it okay, but now that I've done it I have experience and that experience Will give you what hope? Because let's say now let's say now I go and let's say hey next year, which I'm not saying I'm doing this but next year You know, like hey, let's hit up that Spartan again Well now I have hope because I have experience I couldn't say that before But I had to learn patience through that race I Had to humble myself and say you know what? I might need a little boost up on this This one obstacle or in some cases there were just obstacles. I'm just like that ain't happening Of course, we ripped our calluses off like the first like mile in like, all right Let's do this rope climb after we ran twelve and a half plus miles Yeah, let me do that. You know why I'm at it But That being said is that when it comes to running the pace with the race with patience Running the race with patience is going to give you experience and the experience is going to give you hope and hope with make it not a shame So when you're running this Christian life, just know this it's not a sprint And Listen, people are at different levels and you can't look at somebody and say hey That person is like so way up here. I need to get there now Not happening You're not gonna get there overnight Because that person that's up here in Bible knowledge or whatever case may be experienced with soul winning A Lot of that stuff when it comes to soul winning came from experience and that's from hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of going out soul winning and talking to different people and going through Different experiences and and have to study things out same thing with the Bible knowledge That's hours upon hours upon hours of Bible reading. That's hours and hours and hours upon hours Of study in a doctrine. It's not gonna happen overnight. You're not gonna get that just from listening to the sermons So you can't look at them you like I need to sprint up there No, what you need to do is just it's time to go running slow and steady Slow and steady wins the race and slow and steady or patient running the race with patience Listen, you'll be far ahead of any of those other Christians that are trying to sprint it Because they're gonna they're gonna get gassed around like a mile They're just like I they sprint for a mile and now they're done they've lost all their energy they're completely exhausted Everything's tightened up and they're done and you're just jogging past them ready to go on for another 12 miles That's the way we need to be reliving our Christian life is running with patience and You know, I believe the Bible uses Things like running a race different things like that the physical to represent the spiritual because you can understand it and when you do these Certain things they're just like yeah, isn't this just like the Christian life, right? We went from hill to hill we ran this mountain and and we're just like they're just being mean A lot of people like they're just being spiteful to us right now Like they're just trying to just whoever made this race doesn't like humanity and wanted it to suffer Like But isn't that the way life goes right You're going through the Christian life and you're just like really I'm hit with this I'm hit with that and it's like I know things come in threes but five and six at all the same time, you know, everything happens to you at once and The question is are you gonna stop we're gonna keep going And you have to have some grit you have to have some tenacity you have to have some Some integrity Some willpower to just keep going keep the legs moving Keep moving forward if you have a certain path that you're going down. You have a sure path that you're going down. Just keep going and When you're at your weakest God will give you strength and that takes faith to Know that he will strengthen you in those times. He will not give you a temptation Above that you're able to bear He will not ask you to go down a path that you're not able to go down And just have faith in the Lord that he will give you strength through it, but you have to have patience and That's what I learned doing the spark race now, but it is something I definitely thought about doing that race So obviously it was on my mind. Let's end with the word prayer the only father we think today Thank you for your word and pray to be with us as we go out soul winning this afternoon But also with the church service this afternoon I pray that you to be with us bring us back to the appointed time and what we love you in Paris in Jesus Christ Name men, so by the able comment sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed All right, take your song books turn to song 205 Song 205 in your song books. We'll see he keeps me singing stand We'll sing song 205 There's within my heart a melody Jesus whispers sweet and low Fear not I am with thee peace be still and all of life's ebb and flow Jesus Jesus Jesus Sweet as name I know Fails my every longing keeps me singing as I go All my life was wrecked by sin and strife discord filled my heart with pain Jesus wept across the broken strings stirred my slumbering cords again Jesus Jesus Jesus sweet