Endurance in Faith: Embracing the Race Set Before Us

Danny Akin discusses perseverance in the Christian life, using the metaphor of a race to encourage believers to endure in faith despite challenges. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on Jesus as the model and motivator in the spiritual race, advocating for a steadfast commitment to following Christ and drawing strength from Him.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

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Good music. But it’s even better to hear good music and good theology wrapped together. And that song, from beginning to end, of course, is saturated in scripture, but also is accurate precisely and specifically concerning what the Lord Jesus did for us in the incarnation. And so they have prepared my heart for God’s word, but my heart is prepared anyway when I come here; you have been a great blessing to me. Now for almost a decade, I was looking back and I believe I came here and preached for the first time in about 1997, maybe 98.

And so I had the joy of being here a decade ago. And then since Todd has been your pastor, I know I’ve been here at least, this is at least the third time. And every time I’m here, I am encouraged and I’m blessed. And God has given me some precious friendships with a number of you. And I am very, very grateful for that. I’m also grateful for the weekend emphasis because my favorite subject in all the world is Jesus. And whenever you’re talking about Jesus, thinking about Jesus, you really can’t go wrong.

And so I’m thrilled that this is what we are giving our attention to this particular weekend. So this morning I want you to take your Bible and join me in the book of Hebrews, the 12th chapter. And we’re going to give our focus to the first three verses, verses that are perhaps my favorite in all of the Bible. These verses have sustained me through the years. They have kept me going when I have gone through some valleys or some difficult times. And the whole theme of these verses is keep your eyes on Jesus.

Which of course, indicates to us that our eyes can be placed in a number of different directions. But when everything is said and done, the author of Hebrews would say, if you’re looking to anything other than Jesus, you’re destined to be disappointed, you’re going to be let down. And so, for those of us that are radically committed to bringing glory to God in our lives, the clearest direction for doing that is keeping our focus and our eyes, keeping our hearts and our minds saturated with the Lord Jesus Christ.

So in verse one, the Bible says,

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1, ESV)

Now let me pause for a moment. Good interpreters know that when an author uses a particular word and he perhaps repeats that word, that is a key idea that is driving the argument of that particular passage.

Well, it’s interesting to note that some form of the word “endure” or “endurance” occurs in verse one, verse two, and verse three. So whatever the author is talking about, he is calling you and me to endure. You see it there in verse one: “Let us run with endurance.” So keep that in mind as well as we work our way through these three verses.

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:1-3, ESV)

I am a sports fanatic. I played football, basketball, and baseball in high school, went to college to play baseball before the Lord called me into the ministry. And so I love athletics. I love sports. And it was an encouragement to me when I began to study the Bible to see that the Holy Spirit moves. The writers of scripture also use illustrations from the world of athletics to teach us about the Christian life. Paul, for example, in 1 Corinthians 9 and in 2 Corinthians 4, says the Christian life can be compared to a boxing match.

In Ephesians 6, he says, the Christian life can be compared to a wrestling match. But a number of times in the Bible, and here in Hebrews, the Bible says the Christian life can be compared to a race. Now, the author of Hebrews has a very specific race in mind because he says there in verse one, let us run with endurance. In other words, as believers in Jesus Christ, we’re not called to a sprinter’s race. We’re not even called to an intermediate distance race. No, we’re called, I believe, to a long distance race.

And I think he probably had in mind the marathon. Now, a marathon is 26 miles, 385 yards. It is the longest race run in the Olympics. It was even in place back in this time. And so I believe what he has in mind is, is the marathon. And what he is saying to all of us today is, look, God calls all of his children to run in a race. And it’s not a sprinter’s race. No, no. It’s not even an intermediate distance race. No, it is a marathon. It is a long distance race.

And therefore, if you and I are going to run well, we need to be trained. But secondly, we need a strategy. We need to understand the nature of, of this kind of a race so we can have in place a strategy that, number one, will ensure that we run well and, number two, that we get to the finish line. And so there are three ideas from these verses that I want to share with you this morning that I think will help us run this race well as we keep our eyes on Jesus.

Number one, the Bible says this, find encouragement as you run. Find encouragement as you run. Verse one. Therefore, we also, whoever the author is, he includes himself to those that he is writing. We also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.

I had godly grandparents and a godly, godly mother, and she’s in heaven today. And is it possible that Emmalou Aiken, who went to be with the Lord about two years ago, is she watching her son?

Is she looking down from heaven, and can she see right now that her son Danny is preaching at First Baptist Church? I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know whether my mama can see me or not. I do believe this. That’s not what this text is saying, though. It uses the imagery of a coliseum, and the grandstands are filled to capacity, and you and I are down there on the track. I don’t think he’s saying, “Look up into heaven, they’re watching.” But rather, I think he is saying, “Look around.”

You’re not in this race by yourself. And secondly, he is saying, look back. Look back to the past. For there you find brothers and sisters who have already run in the race, and they are there as a wonderful source of encouragement. What was the first word of verse one? Therefore, and of course, the therefore is there for a reason. And what it is saying is look back to chapter eleven and see the connection between chapter eleven and chapter twelve, verses 1, 2, and 3. So if you go back to chapter eleven, what do you see?

You see God’s great hall of faith. And what you find there is a wonderful source and avenue of encouragement. But that encouragement comes from at least two different groups, you say. What do you mean, Danny? Well, first of all, I think this, I think the Bible says we find encouragement from what I call heavenly winners. But then secondly, the Bible also says we find encouragement from those who are the earthly winners. Now let’s start with the earthly winners. First, just go back with me for just a moment.

We’re going to just do a little Bible reading and look at chapter eleven and verse 32, and you’ll see some great earthly winners.

³² And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— (Hebrews 11:32, ESV)

Now he is going to list no less than ten extraordinary accomplishments of these men and women of faith.

³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection… (Hebrews 11:33- 35, ESV)

Women received back their dead. Now, folks, that’s extraordinary. That’s incredible. In fact, what it is, is supernatural. And these men and women of great faith did these things, why? Because they were wonderfully talented? No, because they were off the scale gifted?

No, they did it not because of who they were. They did it because of the great God they loved, trusted, and who was working in and through their lives. And I want to tell you something. It is possible that there are some of you here this morning, and if you would really get serious about running in God’s race, God will do in you and through you far, far beyond what you could ever, ever hope or even imagine. Is it because you’re brilliant? No, you’re pretty ordinary. Is it because you’re incredibly gifted? Nope.

You are like most of us, just a few gifts here and not so many elsewhere. But you see, that’s where God often does his greatest work. God doesn’t need superstars. God just needs willing servants. And when you’re willing, it’s amazing what God might do in and through your life. Recently I was in Jordan meeting with some of our students that are on the international mission field, and one in particular, this really stands out. It’s a young lady, she’s about this tall, and she is taken by a helicopter into the interior of a north african country.

They drop her off and then they leave. There’s no electricity where she is, there’s no running water where she is. She does have a satellite phone, so if she gets in trouble, she can call and they will come and get her. And she is there as a courageous little lioness, if you like, for King Jesus. Now, since I’m here for a moment, I’m going to digress, just briefly, but it’s worth me digressing. You say this little mouse of a girl yes. Why didn’t they send a man? Because there were none available.

So what do you mean by that? I mean, there were no men that would go. I asked her leader, “Why didn’t you send a man into a dangerous area like that?” And he said, “I would have if I had one.” He said, “The fact is, Danny, young ladies and even older ladies will go where men won’t go.” Guys, we ought to be feeling a little red around the face right now, but it’s going to get worse. I’m just going to stay here for a minute. Take the region of West Africa.

Today on the international mission field, there are 47 single ladies serving as international missionaries in West Africa. 47. Would you like to know how many single men are serving in West Africa today? Three. Three, you say? That’s not very good. No, it’s downright embarrassing for the male species. It’s almost enough to make you want to become a girl. Not quite. Not quite. I saw my wife deliver four kids and I’m not going there. But anyway, it does make you step back and ask, where are the men? Where are the courageous, godly men?

Where are the dads who are raising up courageous, godly men who will be champions for Christ and go to the hard places, go to the tough places, that God might indeed do an awesome, incredible work in and through them? Where are they? But that’s the burden of my life today. I am praying more. Todd’s right. I have. God has given me a renewed, in fact, not a renewed, a brand new passion for the nations. But in particular, I am praying for godly, godly men who will step up and be what God saved us to be.

You see, there’s just too many males that have the body of a man, but they still act like a boy. As my friend Mark Driscoll says, they run around in Star wars jammies playing video games and wasting their lives. And, you know, guys, there’s just better things to do than play video games until, you know, you’re ready for something like the pasture. There’s just something better than that. And yet, too many of us are wasting our lives on trivialities that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things at all. They just don’t matter.

I’ve learned this year, in doing a number of studies on great missionaries, that more and more and more of them actually surrendered to be missionaries as teenagers and young adults in their early twenties. You say they’re not old enough to make a decision like that. Oh, yes, they are. Yes, they are. You see, some of us parents are the ones who are at fault here for perpetuating adolescence until they’re 30. What’s that all about? What is that all about?

Never forget, brothers and sisters, that in the world of the Bible, you became an adult at the age of twelve. Mary probably gave birth to the Lord Jesus as a 14 or 15-year-old. No, we perpetuate adolescence, and as a result, we see fewer and fewer and fewer great heroes. And yet the Bible says there are some, that God wants to do an incredible work, that they might fall into that category of being earthly winners. But there’s also another category because I quit reading in the middle of verse 35.

And Paul Harvey, that wonderful Christian commentator, would say, now go back, Danny, and read the rest of the story. And it’s different because look at verse 35 and following, and you’ll see the heavenly winners.

³⁵ …Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. ³⁶ Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy— wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews 11:35-38, ESV)

But now, here’s the phrase that blesses me so much. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith. Some of these, no, all of these obtained a good testimony through their faith. Now, that second group, the world would say they played the fool. That second group, the world would say, God did not come through, did he?

But yet in heaven, I believe God would say, I am just as pleased, perhaps even more pleased with the second group than I was the first. Because, you see, it’s one thing to walk with Jesus when you’re on the mountaintop. It’s another thing to stay with Jesus when you’re in the valley.

Several years ago, in fact, almost four years ago to this month, Southern Baptist lost four precious missionaries in Iraq. You may remember, four were brutally killed. One was tragically, tragically wounded and injured, but she survived.

Two of those that were tragically killed were Larry and Jean Elliott. They had been career missionaries in Central America, and they were at retirement age. But like all of us should think, those who serve Jesus never retire. Now, I’m not saying God sends you all to the mission field, but I think it’d be neat if more did go to the mission field and in their golden years. But they said, no, we’re not retiring. We’re going to go to Iraq because there are people there who need the gospel.

And they were only there for three months when they were brutally gunned down by islamic terrorists. Their son, Scott Elliot, goes to my church. We go to the same church. And following the murder of his parents, I called him simply to say that we were so sorry and that we were praying for the family. And I said, scott, how are y’all doing? And he said, well, Doctor Aiken, we’re doing okay. He said, we’re crying, but we’re also rejoicing because mom and dad are with Jesus, and that’s what they always longed to experience.

And then he told me a very interesting thing. He said, you know, I’ve gotten a lot of emails, a lot of letters, a lot of phone calls, but one I think you’ll find interesting. He said, I got an email from an atheist who wrote to express his condolences. And then in the email, he also said, isn’t it a shame that your parents died for no good reason at all? And he said, I wrote him back and I wasn’t ugly, but I said, no, you’re badly mistaken. My parents died for a very good reason.

Furthermore, and this is what I promise you, folks, I think about this every single day. I think about this every single day. He said, I told him, Danny, that if my mom and dad had known in advance that going to Iraq would have meant their death, my mom and dad would have still gone anyway. That’s how much they loved and trusted Jesus. Folks, that’s the faith that I can hardly get my arms around. I mean, I really can. you? Oh, I know in advance I’m gonna die. I’ll go anyway. Most Christians don’t think like that.

We think as long as it’s comfortable, as long as it’s convenient, as long as I’m not put out, I’ll serve him. But you just stretch me a little bit. I begin to get under a little pressure and, oh, my goodness gracious, we look to bail as quickly as possible. And no wonder in America today, they don’t fear us. The secular world and the lost world simply ignore us. They don’t give us much attention because we’re not a threat.

Jim Elliot, the martyred missionary among the Akka Indians, said in his diary, Dear God, make me dangerous for Jesus. Wow. Make me dangerous. That Satan would fear me, that the demons would fear me, that hell would fear me. Lord, take my life and make me dangerous.

Brothers and sisters, chapter eleven is filled with men and women who have gone before us, who indeed were made dangerous for King Jesus, and God was faithful to be with them every step of the way. We should find encouragement as we run in this race.

Now, secondly, go back into chapter twelve. We should also focus on the essentials as we run in this race. And there are three essentials in verse one that you and I should give great attention to. First of all, he says, let us lay aside every weight. I believe that means we run cleanly. Secondly, he says, lay aside the sin which so easily ensnares us. I believe that means we run with confidence. And thirdly, he says, let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us.

I believe that means we run with consistency, so we run cleanly, we run with confidence, we run consistently. Let us lay aside every weight, let us take off, put away and remove anything and everything that would weigh us down and slow us down and keep us from running our best for Jesus. Now, brothers and sisters, sometimes the things we need to lay aside are not bad things. They can even be good things. They’re just not the best things.

And so, there are some things in life, if you and I really want to run this race well, we just have to lay aside and get rid of them because they’re not helping us run well for Jesus. Now, it may be sin, but it may not be. You say, well, I don’t know what my weights are. Oh, I imagine you do. Now just take a minute, just start doing a little inventory and begin to ask, what is it that gets in the way of me loving the Lord Jesus?

What is it that gets in the way of me having a radical devotion to Christ? What is it that is getting in the way of me just immersing myself in the things of God? You want an analogy? Think of marriage. What is it in my life that can get in the way of me loving and adoring and serving Charlotte? And whatever those things are, I need to get rid of them. Well, raise that now to a higher level. What is it that is getting in the way of your service for King Jesus?

And the Bible says you’ve got to run cleanly, get rid of those things that will weigh you down and slow you down. But secondly, you’ve got to run with confidence, he says, and lay aside the sin which so easily ensnares or entangles us. Now, I’m going to make an interpretive decision here. I believe, first of all, because of the context, chapter twelve comes after chapter eleven. And secondly, because there is a definite article before the word sin, it is the sin which so easily ensnares us.

I think he is talking about a particular sin that is true for everybody. I don’t think he’s saying, “you’ve got your sin, and you’ve got your sin, and you, you’ve got.” No, no, no. I think he’s talking about the same sin for everybody. You say, “What do you think that sin is?” Unbelief. Unbelief, you say, “Why would you say that?” Well, what’s chapter eleven about? Faith. What does chapter eleven say? “Without faith, it’s impossible to please God.” Now you say, “But Danny, time out. Hold on. I’m a Christian.”

By the very definition of what it means to be a Christian, I am someone who has put their faith; I believe in Jesus. you’re telling me that you think a Christian can be guilty of unbelief? I think most Christians are guilty of unbelief. I think most Christians live their lives like practical atheists. And your life is scarcely different than the life of your lost pagan neighbor in terms of your priorities, in terms of your values, in terms of the way you spend your time, in terms of your radical devotion to Christ.

There’s just not a whole lot of difference. It’s just not a whole lot of difference. And again, that’s why the world doesn’t really oppose us. They just ignore us. We’re not even on their radar screen in most contexts because they really don’t see something all that different.

You say, Danny, unbelief. What is that? It’s an attitude of life that says for me to move on in this race and for me to serve the Lord, I need the Lord plus. You get that? I need the Lord plus. Guys and gals, once you draw a line and fill in the blank, does it matter? You now have stepped into the world of unbelief. I need the Lord plus my mate. Then you live in unbelief.

Less than a year ago, my dear, dear friend, our fellow trustee Ed Litton, gets a phone call that his wife, taking their daughter down into Mississippi for an interview with a world renowned cellist, hits a stalled 18-wheeler and is killed. Just like that. They’re the same age as us. My age and his precious wife of almost 30 years gone.

Just like that. Last night, I shared with you that there’s a wonderful Christian sister who was working in Afghanistan. And if the reports are true, she was brutally murdered by her kidnappers this week. There’s her mom and dad over there on the west coast. What do they do? Do they believe? As long as I have Jesus plus my daughter, I’ll stay in the Christian life. Well, then they’ll drop out. I need God plus my health. We just lost our former vice president, Russ Bush, a wonderful gift to God from God in his early sixties.

Suddenly, cancer, two years later, gone. His wife, his children. Do they just now walk away? Because we needed God plus our mate, and we needed God plus our daddy, and God took our daddy. And so we’re going to walk away. Some people do.

You see, the bottom line is this: Are you living life in such a way that you can say, as long as I have Jesus, I have everything I need? As long as I have Jesus, I have everything I need. In fact, I can even say with Job, though He slay me, I will still trust in Him. There’s the kind of faith that will really cause a lost, skeptical, cynical world to look up and take notice.

¹⁵ Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him. (Job 13:15, ESV)

Got to run the race with confidence in Christ and Christ alone. But thirdly, you’ve got to run the race with consistency. The last part of verse one says, and let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us. In other words, like a good, faithful soldier, you show up every day reporting for duty, King Jesus.

And you show up the next day reporting for duty, King Jesus. And you show up the next week, and the next month, and the next year, and the next decade, and you just keep showing up day after day after day after day. Because here’s the bottom line, brothers and sisters: God is not impressed with shooting star Christians. He is not impressed. Oh, they burn bright for a night and then they vanish into the midnight darkness, never to be seen again. That does not impress the Lord.

To say it another way, God is not concerned with how high you can jump, but He’s bodily interested in how long you keep running. I shared with you last July when I was here with the family conference, that one of my heroes is my granddaddy. My granddaddy had a fifth grade education. My granddaddy was a farmer in Douglasville, Georgia. But my granddaddy walked with God till the day that he died. And I do what I do today because of the influence of a faithful, godly granddaddy. Was he ever on television? No. Ever on radio? No.

Was he ever up on the platform at a church? No. In fact, for a time, he was the church janitor. But over ten years after his death, when I go back to Douglasville, Georgia, to preach at the Victory Baptist Church, I am introduced as Mister Galloway’s grandson. Will people be talking about you like that when you’ve been dead for ten years? Will they even know that you’re gone? I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I’m just trying to say, where is that kind of devotion and commitment to Christ?

Among those who really say, Jesus is everything to me. So you’ve got to run the race consistently. So what have we seen? Be encouraged as you run. There’s others that have run before us. They went through some tough times. God was faithful every step of the way. You need to focus on these essentials as you run. Get rid of stuff that weighs you down. Keep a radical commitment and devotion and faith in Christ, and just stay with it, stay with it, stay with it, stay with it.

And then, number three, follow the example as you run in verse two. And verse three gives us the most wonderful example of all. It gives us the example of the Lord Jesus. Look at verse two very quickly. Looking unto Jesus. That’s the present participle. The participle in the present tense means continuous action. You just continually look to Jesus. The word looking there means to gaze at. It has the idea of locking onto something so that you’re not distracted by anything else.

I still think the best way of illustrating this is what happens when you get married. Todd shared that Charlotte and I will celebrate 30 years of marriage on May 27 of this year. Now, when I married her at the Ash Street Baptist Church in Forest Park, Georgia, almost 30 years ago, I didn’t say it exactly like this. But here’s kind of what I said to her. I said, girl, I didn’t say it like that. But anyway, girl, I want you to know something.

There are many beautiful, gifted, attractive, nice ladies out there in the world, and then there certainly is. But I make a promise today to God, to you, to these witnesses, to our future children, and now our future grandchildren. And that promise is this: From this day forward, and for the rest of my life, I will have eyes for only one lady. And that one lady is always going to be you.

You see, in the same way, there are a lot of things out there that want your heart, that want your affection, that want your eyes. But when everything is said and done, give them to Jesus. Just give them to Jesus and just stay locked on with him. You say, why? The text tells you he is the author and the finisher of faith. He gets you in the race, and he’ll get you to the finish line. You say, how do I know he can do this? The text tells you, for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. In other words, the Bible is saying, the Lord Jesus ran in a race.

² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2, ESV)

God’s son ran in a race. Where’d that race take him? To a cross. God designed a race for his son that involved his death. But don’t stop there. Read the rest of the story. He despised the shame of it, knowing what it would accomplish. And now he sits at the right hand of the throne of God. Oh, he’s running the race. He understands what you’re going through, and he can keep you in the race, and he can get you to the finish line. So, verse three, consider him. The word means to meditate upon.

It means to. Again, if you lock your eyes in verse two, you lock your mind in verse three, lock your mind on him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you will not become weary and discouraged in your souls. You see, the author of Hebrews is very honest, isn’t he? He knows that you and I sometimes get tired, and we do. He knows sometimes we get discouraged, and we do. But when those times of discouragement and fatigue come into your life, he says, just keep your eyes on Jesus.

Keep your mind on Jesus, and He will keep you in the race. You said, Danny, these verses are precious to you. They are. You say, why? Because of discouraging things that have happened to me throughout my life. The pastor that married my wife and me announced a week before he married us that he and his wife were separating and getting a divorce. And they did. He left the ministry.

The student minister of my church, whom God used to turn my life around as a 1920 year old, left his wife and his two daughters for another woman and left the ministry. The first pastor I ever served with left my church where I was with him, went to a church in west Texas, had an affair with a woman in the church, and divorced his wife out of the ministry. The next pastor I served with came to our church after multiple affairs. The church foolishly swept it under the rug as if it had not happened.

Surprise, surprise, it happened again out of the ministry. And in the early 1990s, I was called to be the interim pastor of a church in Dallas, Texas, because there was a young, rising superstar. How people referred to him, well, he’s a pulpit superstar. I pray that that is never said of any man of God. In fact, God is not. God’s not into superstars. He is not into that. Okay, there’s only one superstar, and his name is Jesus.

The rest of us are just, you know, as Jim Elliott said, a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt somebody. There it is right there. Bottom line, a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt somebody. But this young superstar had resigned after multiple, multiple affairs. And so I was the interim pastor of that church.

There was a young man in our church by the name of Scott. Excuse me, young man at our school by the name of Scott. Scott was from Jacksonville, Florida. He’d been a bartender. And one night, driving home from work, he was in a car accident and was in a coma for several days. And when he awakened, he was looking into the face of a Christian doctor who said, “young man, God must have something special for you because you ought to be dead.” God used that to prick his heart. A few months later, he came to Christ. A few months after that, he believed God was calling him into the ministry.

So he left Jacksonville, came to Dallas, began to go to school where I was teaching, joined this church where this young superstar could preach the stars down. And he thought he had died and gone to heaven. And then it all came crashing down with the exposure of his multiple adulteries. So Scott, a young man in his twenties, came to see me one day. I was the dean of students. He said, “Doctor Aiken, I’m on my way downstairs to the registrar’s office because I’m going to withdraw from school and go home. I can’t handle this.”

I can’t handle this. And then he said something again that I’ve never forgotten. He said, “Doctor Akin, I’ll tell you something. The people I used to wait on in the bars have more integrity than what I see in the church right now.” Let that sink in. He said, “But I have a question, and I believe you’ll be honest with me. Have you ever thought about leaving? Have you ever thought about walking away from the whole church scene because of all the garbage, and all the junk, and all the stuff?”

And I really would like to know, and folks, with the honesty of my heart, I said to Scott, the answer to your question is no. No, I have never thought about walking away. I quickly told him about my pastor, my youth pastor, the first two pastors I served with. And I said, Scott, when I cursed his name as a teenager, he never turned his back on me. And Scott, what I’ve learned in life is this: your brothers and sisters in Christ, and even you yourself, will let you down.

But this one thing I know, Jesus never will. He just never will. And I said, so, Scott, I’ve learned in life. Now listen to me as I close. Listen, it’s okay to give a glance to your brothers and sisters in Christ for encouragement. That’s what the text tells us to do.

But when you need an example that will sustain you through the valley, that will keep you going in the days of weirdness and depression and discouragement, when you need someone that will never, ever, ever let you down, just keep your eyes on Jesus and you will not be disappointed. I want us to bow our heads for just a moment and close our eyes. We’re going to have a time of invitation where this morning you can respond as the Lord speaks to your heart. And my invitation is going to be very simple.

I’m just going to use this part of the text. And here’s my question: Where are your eyes today, spiritually speaking, in terms of the priorities of your life? Where are your eyes today? And let me just say to you, whether you’re lost or saved, if your eyes are anywhere other than on Jesus, they’re in the wrong place and you are destined to be disappointed today. If you’re lost, that means you’ve never become a Christian. you’ve never trusted Christ.

Can I invite you today to make the most important decision you’ll ever make in all of your life? And that is to put your eyes on Jesus as your savior. He loves you. He died for you. He was raised from the dead for you. And if you will put your eyes on him in faith, he will save you, forgive all of your sins, take you to heaven when you die, and give you a brand new life that really is worth living. I invite you today to make that greatest of all decisions.

Maybe you’re here today and you are a Christian. I have a question again. Where are your eyes? Oh, I know that there was a time in your life when you put your eyes on Jesus to save you. But are your eyes on Jesus today? Are your eyes on Jesus today as you run in the race? I mean, are you really running well? Are you really just rejoicing and enjoying all that God makes available for us in Christ? Or are you missing out on God’s best because you’re distracted and your eyes are in the wrong place?

I’m going to pray, and we’re going to sing. Pastor will be here at the front. These steps now become also a place of prayer. And maybe what you need to do today is leave the balcony. We’ll wait. Or come from the lower floor and put your knees and face on the carpet and say, Lord Jesus, I know I’m in the race because I know I’m saved, but I’m not running as well as I know I could. And you know, the Christian life, though it has a place in my life.

Jesus is not preeminent in my life. And I really want to be a radical, radical, radical follower of yours. I want to be dangerous for Jesus now. I want to be willing to go and do whatever it is you call me to do, even if that means picking up and moving to Africa or moving to China or moving to South America or moving to one of the central asian countries.

Lord, I want to be where you want me to be, because I understand there’s no place in all of life like being in the center of God’s will. And there isn’t, brothers and sisters, I promise you, there’s no better place. So that invitation is also for you. You respond as the Lord speaks to your heart.

Heavenly Father, I thank you so much that you save us. And then you call us to run in a race. What a great picture of the Christian life. And, Lord, we need encouragement because we can get tired and discouraged in a marathon. Lord, we sure need to have an understanding what this race is like, because it’s long, not for a moment.

It’s for a lifetime. It’s for a lifetime. And then, Lord, we really need someone who can inspire us to stay in the race. And, oh, my goodness, you’ve given us the greatest inspiration of all, the Lord Jesus. And so, Lord, I just pray that our hearts and minds today would be saturated with him, totally focused on him.

And that, Lord, we would more radically love you than anyone or anything in this life, knowing that you will be honored by that, and we will be blessed. So, Lord, that’s our prayer. We ask for your will now to be done during this invitation. And might men and women, boys and girls, respond as you speak to their heart? All this for the glory of king Jesus, in whose name we pray, Amen. And amen. Let’s stand our feet and we sing. Brother Todd’s here at the front. Receive you.

You need to come and pray, and you step out, and you come right now. Me the mission a poison for me. What is my labor and where it shall be? Master, thou callest, and this I reply, ready and with Lord, here am I, willing, my savior to take up the cross, willing to suffer reproaches and loss will lead hash to follow if thou wilt but meet. Only support me with grace in my knee. Master, thou callest, and this I reply, ready and willing. More near am I living or dying, I still would be thine.

Yet I am mortal, while thou art divine. Pardon, hash. I turn from the right pity and bring me again to the light, master thou callest, and this I reign. Ready and release. Hash one Lord, here am I, living or dying. Living or dying, I still would be dying. Yet I am forceful as God’s moving in this place, you sense he’s calling you, drawing you to his side. You come while there’s time. When I have Jesus, I have all I need. Thou callest, and this I reply, ready and willing. Tell him glory. Amen. Amen.

Boy, what a wonderful message. What a wonderful reminder that it’s all about the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not I need the Lord plus, or I’ll take Jesus, so long as it’s. I’ve got everything I need in him. Amen. Doctor Aiken shared with us the most important business we’re after today. As God’s creation, we glorify him. It’s all about him, man. I want that. I want to live a life radically committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, available, ready for him wherever he calls. He says, do this and we go.

Because we’re not seeking satisfaction in anything else but in Him, He is the fulfillment of our greatest desire, hope, and expectation: Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. And to that end, may we live this week and the days ahead.

I want to share with you some things going on around the church you can be in prayer for, and then your support, too, before you go off to Sunday school. Okay? Let me remind you that the Marshes Place Banquet is March 13. All right? If you’ve never been, you’ll be encouraged when you go.

Marsh’s place is Henderson’s local pregnancy crisis pregnancy resource center, founded by our own Jean Marie Parrot. And if you haven’t signed up and you say, well, I’m not really sure, I don’t see anything at the doors. I’ve heard a little bit about that, but I can’t seem to find out how to sign up. Just call the church this week, okay, for more information. But that’s March 13. It’s free, but you do need to make a reservation for that banquet. Then this Tuesday, ladies, right here at First Baptist Church at 06:30 p.m., is the WMU associational meeting.

And Violet Hardison is the featured speaker. She’s going to be talking about this incredible bikers ministry for folks coming all over the place to Seabree every year, and she’s going to be talking about that. So, WMU associational meeting this Tuesday right here at First Baptist at 6:30, by the way. Also on Tuesday, I’ll be speaking over at the restoring our heritage meeting, and I’ll be sharing about spiritual disciplines and the faith of our founding fathers.

And that’s over in Evansville at the Newburgh Central Library at 06:00, so if you want to make the crossover, the bridge to go, that would be an encouragement to me as well. Now, let me share with you this, too. In the weeks ahead, beginning March 30, the six Sundays between Easter and Mother’s Day, we’re going to have a special focus here at First Baptist Church in both our worship services and in our small group Sunday school classes. It’s a 40 days pursuit celebration. We’re going to be answering questions why?

Like, why should I trust the Bible? Or why is the world so messed up? Why am I here? Okay, we heard a little bit about that today, didn’t we? Why we’re here, why Jesus? Is he the only way? And we’re going to talk about questions like that. We’re going to look at six questions to strengthen our faith and to invite lost people to come and celebrate with us and get answers to some of the most basic questions in life. So it’s going to be a wonderful campaign. It’s called why answering life’s biggest questions.

You’ll be hearing more about that in the weeks ahead, but begin praying now and inviting people the six Sundays between Easter and Mother’s Day. All right, what else is going on? Well, tonight we are going to be after God’s own heart again in 2 Samuel in our series. I’m going to be preaching tonight, making possible the impossible. And right after the message, we’re going to have a vision team report.

It’s been about a year since we’ve heard from the vision team, and so we’ll have a report about what’s going on and ways that we can be involved intentionally in praying for God to guide us in the days ahead. Amen. Sound good? All right.

Hey, weren’t you glad to hear Doctor Aiken today? Praise God. Let’s thank him again for being here. Thank you, Doctor Aiken. Amen.

In a moment, I’m going to ask Doctor Aiken to join me, and we’ll be right outside out here.

As you’re going off to Sunday school, you might want to come by and give him a word of encouragement. Or if he hasn’t signed your theology book, you might bring it by and he’ll sign it real quick for you, too. All right, let’s go. Lord in prayer. And Alan, I’m going to ask, if you will, to lead us in prayer. Church family, I love you. God bless you. I look forward to seeing you this evening.

Father, we thank you for what Doctor Aiken has shared with us this morning, and we thank you for our eyes that we can see you if we would just remember to focus, Lord Jesus, and keep our eyes upon you always. Thank you for your faithfulness to us, your love for us, your care, and your grace in our lives. In your name, we pray as we leave this room. Amen.