The scripture passage is in front of you on page 10 that I'll be utilizing today from Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, and then the other passages that we read earlier. I want us to think today about saints. Saints above and saints around. And in thinking about saints, one thing we have to do is to clear our head of false ideas about saints.

Because through the years, there has developed a cult of the saints. And I'm using the word cult in its ordinarily meaning, a dictionary meaning of being, of worship almost, of some kind of veneration that would exalt a special class of people into a category above all others and who have greater access to God. And therefore we can go to them and through them we can reach God. This is not what we mean, biblically speaking, when we talk about saints. And so we believe that the scripture should be the one who guides us about saints. And so we need to look at what the Bible has to say about saints.

But the Bible has quite a bit to say about saints, by the way. In fact, it's used a lot in the New Testament. I don't know if you're as familiar as I am because I've been studying it this week. But if you look in Paul's epistles, if you just open up like in Corinthians, Romans, Thessalonians, often he begins his letters this way. I'm reading from 2 Corinthians 1. Paul, who identifies who he is, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. Timothy, our brother, his associate in the ministry, a younger man who's his close friend, almost like a son to him. They're writing the church together. It's to the church of God that is at Corinth. Notice, it's to the church, the assembly of God that meets at Corinth. So it's the assembly of believers at Corinth. with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia. So not only is the church that meets in Corinth saints, but there are other saints in the whole region. As you can see, it's the people of God. It's those who belong to Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, I won't go through all of these, but in several of them, for instance, in Ephesians, Paul, an apostle to Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus. In another one, he addresses to the saints along with the deacons and elders. So there you see the whole assembly is called saints, and among them you have elders and deacons. Those are the ones who are the office bearers, the ones that do a particular task assigned in the church. And so, biblically speaking, from the New Testament, a saint is those who have been set apart for God. And in the New Testament sense of the word, they're set apart to God by their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So let me give you a definition of saints. The saints of God are those He has set aside for Himself. That's the more general term, even in the Old Testament. For instance, Israel, as we looked in Deuteronomy chapter 7, was set apart as a holy people for God, chosen by God. So they were saints, and yet, You know, they were definitely at times sending saints in a really bad sense, so much so that God disowned them at times and led them into great judgment. So the term was those that were set apart by God's own choice, by God's own action on their behalf to belong to Him exclusively in this covenant relationship. But in the New Testament, it's more specific. The saints of God are those that He has set aside for Himself through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and by union with Him through the operation of the Holy Spirit so that we share life. It's the life that God has given us, the eternal life that's found in Jesus Christ through belief in Him. So the saints of God then are a people set apart for God.

Now the saints of God are expected to live lives that are dedicated to God. They're expected to live holy, meaning in this way, separated out from the sinful world and society around. They're to be a people that reflect the character of their God. And in our sense, the character of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when people want to know, well, what does a disciple of Christ look like? Well, Jesus opened his Sermon on the Mount with what we call the Beatitudes, that is the blessings of God that are given to those who reflect the character of Christ that he exalts. that He exemplifies Himself. They are the way we are to live.

But saints, you know, do not always live saintly lives. But saints are called to live saintly lives.

Now, in the New Testament, for instance, in the book of Romans, it says to the saints, or to those who are called to be saints. Now, just taking a little quibble on the language here, the word called to be, to be is not in the Greek. It's simply to those in Rome who are loved by God and called saints. That's the literal rending, Romans chapter one in verse seven. To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called saints.

We're not called to be saints in the sense that if we behave in a certain way long enough that we can reach the exalted status of a saint. That's in the popular concept and in a religious concept in Catholicism and orthodoxy is that they are the special superclass. of Christians who achieve by their own merit, maybe God working with them, but by their own merit, they have received a special status and special access to God. This was rejected by the Protestant reformers rightly because we, not even the saintly, is among us, as we say. ever earn enough credit with God that we can be, you know, have the ear of God more than anyone else. That's an unbiblical concept, but I'm afraid it's in the generalized thinking.

But I want us to think more in terms of what the biblical message about saints is. And that means that I am a saint addressing you, and you are saints that I'm addressing. Why? Because I've been loved by God and I've been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is evidenced by the faith that I have in Him. Now, if I had no faith in Him, then that doesn't fit. One who has no faith in God as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ is not a saint. because a saint belongs by definition to God, set apart to God by the actions of God, his electing love and his redemption in history by Christ dying for us. And in time, the Holy Spirit bringing us to conviction of our sin so that we repent and turn in faith to our Lord Jesus Christ.

So to the saints who are gathered here in this location today, grace and peace to you through God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, I want us to go beyond that. What makes for a saint? Well, let's look at Hebrews chapter 11. And I commend the reading of all chapter 11 and 12 to you as a whole unit, but we're not gonna read all of it, but I'm gonna highlight certain sections. The ones that are before you in the worship God. It actually begins in chapter 10, which I didn't put in the worship God, so let me read it. In chapter 10, remember these chapter diversions are arbitrary in the scripture. It says, the Lord will judge his people. And it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Notice that that's addressed to the people of God.

But recall the former days, he's writing to these believers, when after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion of those in prison and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and at abiding them.

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance so that when you've done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. For yet a little while and the coming one will come and will not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

But we're not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it, the people of old receive their commendation.

By faith, we understand. Now, the rest of chapter 11 is gonna talk about what is accomplished by faith in certain individuals who believed in God and in His promise. It's belief in the God, not God general. Believing in God general doesn't count. It's belief in the God, the God, the real God, the living God, the only true God, Yahweh God, the one who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We must believe in that God. It's by faith in the God.

By faith we understand the universe was created by the Word of God. By faith, Abel offered to God an acceptable sacrifice. By faith, Abraham obeyed and went from where he was born to where God showed him. By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive in her old age and birth a man under the promise of God. They all died in faith. He's talking about Abraham and Sarah and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They all died in faith, not having received the things promised. but having seen them and greeted them from afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

For people who speak thus make it clear that they're seeking a homeland. If they'd been thinking of that land from which they'd gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that's a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He's prepared for them a city.

So what makes them a saint? What makes them a saint is faith in the God, and a God who loved them and called them and chose them. And God's not ashamed to be called their God because They have faith in him and he's prepared for them a city.

By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. By faith, Moses, when he was born, he was hidden by God. By faith, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh. By faith, he left Egypt. By faith, he kept the Passover. By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea. And then he goes on, he says, and what more can we say? And he gives a whole list of people who through faith conquered kingdoms, et cetera, and who were Tortured, some of them were tortured. Verse 35, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two. They were killed with a sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world is not worthy, wandering about in the deserts and mountains and dens and caves. All of these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. Let's run with endurance. The race that sits before us, 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. Consider him.

Now that's quite a passage, I didn't read all of it, but I commend it to you. But notice verse 39, because if you're following along in the narrative of the story, I think this verse 39 to 40, they simply should shout at you. Listen, and all these, all these people he's listed, these heroes of faith, we call them, all these, though commended through their faith, What made them special was their faith in the living God. They did not receive what was promised, not in fullness. They received partial fulfillment. They did not receive what was promised. Why? Because, since, God had provided something better for us. Now, how did we get in there? For us. That apart from us, they should not be made perfect. In other words, that they should not reach the fullness of the promise.

Why is that? Well, it's because, you see, all of the promises for these of faith before us were promises that are attached to the arrival of the Messiah. So only after Christ Jesus, Messiah Jesus comes, could all of these promises be fulfilled because he's the one who brings them. It was all about him. So he has come and now we're joined together with him. So we have received a greater portion of what's promised, though there is still something yet awaiting. and that is the consummation of the kingdom at the return of the Lord and the creation of the new heaven and the new earth. there has been this fulfillment. We've been brought in from the old covenant into the new covenant. So those in the old covenant could not be made complete without us because the old covenant was one of preparation. The covenants, old covenants is the way the scripture uses it. They're all true covenants, but they're covenants that point to the covenant that's to come, which is the covenant that our Lord Jesus Christ brought in with his own death and resurrection.

So this lays the foundation. We have saints. These are saints of old. And the saints of today are we who believe along with all the others around the world who believe in the living God revealed in Jesus Christ and trust Him for the fulfillment of His promises to forgive us of all of our sins and to bring us to the resurrection of the last day and establish us in the new heaven and in the new earth.

My title, though, was not Saints of Old, though I began with that, but Saints Above and Saints Around. Now, in our scripture lesson, we talked about the saints above. We read about them in Revelation 5 and Revelation 7. I want to read to you about one of the saints that are in heaven today. And I want to tell you just a little brief introduction of the meaning of All Saints Day.

All Saints Day. How did All Saints Day arrive in the church? It's not a divine command, by the way. There's nothing in the scripture that tell us you should keep a day in which you honor the saints. We are, in a way, honoring the saints and affirming that we are one with them. through communion in Christ. In the Apostles' Creed, it talks about the Holy Catholic Church, okay? Well, what is that? Well, the Creed is in a way defining it when it says, Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, because that's basically what constitutes the church. It is the communion of saints. It's a communion of those who believe in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, who share the eternal life that He gives to us. By His Holy Spirit, we come to living faith in Christ.

Well, the way this All Saints Remembrance came to pass is through the martyrs of the early church. Now, we're familiar with the fact that Jesus called 12 men to hang out with Him for three or four years. hanging out almost day and night, and whenever he made trips, and sometimes they might have little breaks, but they stayed with him. They went around, they traveled together. They were itinerant preachers, if you please. They're called apostles, meaning sent out ones, because he not only called them to be with him as disciples, but he sent them out to be his emissaries, his witnesses. Of those 12 men, one was a false believer. His name was Judas, who betrayed Christ, who had the idea of a political kingdom, a military kingdom, not the spiritual kingdom. And because Christ didn't measure up, he betrayed him and he committed suicide. He was replaced by Mattathias. We find that in Acts chapter one. So now we have the 12 apostles again, 12. Now we have a 13th one, one special apostle, his name is Paul. He comes later. But of these 12 men, well, we can count Paul as of these 13 men, all of them died as martyrs, except one. His name was John. Perhaps the youngest, by the way, when Jesus gathered them together, he's the disciple whom Jesus loved supremely in a friendship relationship. They had a closer relationship, as the Word of God testifies. But he's the only one that escaped martyrdom, though he suffered being put on the Isle of Patmos, exiled. He suffered.

So now we have 11 others. They all died as martyrs, including Peter. And then later, Paul. They all died. They were martyrs. And what was the first martyr? We read in the book of Acts. The first martyr was not any of these, but it was Stephen. And the first apostle to be killed was James, the son of John. So the brother of John, I'm sorry, James and John are brothers, the twin brothers, the sons of thunder. But James had his head cut off in Jerusalem. John lived to old age and died in his 90s or 100, whatever.

But I want to talk to you I give you the story of Polycarp. Because it's after Polycarp that we began to have an association of a day in which we remember those who suffer and die for their faith. And Polycarp is the first one of these. I'm gonna read from the account. When Polycarp heard certain things, He was not in the least bit upset that he might, you know, be killed. He was happy to stay in the city, but eventually he was persuaded to leave, to avoid being. He went to friends in the nearby country where, as usual, he spent the whole time. Three days before he was arrested, while he was praying, he had a vision of a pillow under his head in flames. He said prophetically to those who were with him, I will be burnt alive. And those who were looking for him were coming near. So he left for another house. They immediately followed him. And when they could not find him, they seized two young men from his own household and tortured them into confession.

The sheriff called Herod was impatient to bring Polycarp to the stadium so that he might fulfill his special role to share the sufferings of Christ while those who betrayed him would be punished like Judas. The police and the horsemen came with the young man at supper time on the Friday with their usual weapons as if coming out against a robber, you know, the big police force. That evening, they found him lying down in the upper room of a cottage. They found Polycarp. He could have escaped, but he refused saying, God's will be done.

When he heard that they had come, he went down and spoke with them. They were amazed at his age and steadfastness. And some of them said, why did you go to so much trouble to capture a man like this? You know, he's an old man about ready, you know. Immediately he called for food and drink for them and asked for an hour to pray uninterrupted. They agreed and he stood and prayed so full of the grace of God that he could not stop for two hours. He prayed for two hours. The man were astonished and many of them regretted coming to arrest such a godly and venerable old man.

And when he finished praying, they put him on a donkey and took him into the city. As Polycarp was being taken into the arena, a voice came to him from the heaven. Be strong, Polycarp. Play the man. No one saw who had spoken, but our brothers who were with him heard the voice.

When the crowd heard that Polycarp had been captured, there was an uproar. The proconsul asked him whether he was polycarp, and on hearing that he was, he tried to persuade him to apostatize, saying, have respect for your old age and swear by the fortune of Caesar, repent and say, down with the atheists. And polycarp looked grimly at the wicked, heathen multitude in this stadium, and he gestured toward them and he said, down with the atheists.

Swear, urged the proconsul, reproach Christ and I will set you free. Polycarp replied, 86 years have I served Him. And He's done me no harm, no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior? I have wild animals here, the proconsul said. I will throw you to them if you do not repent. Call them, Polycarp replied. It's unthinkable for me to repent from what is good to turn to what is evil. I'll be glad though to be changed from evil to righteousness.

If you despise animals, I'll have you burn. You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, it is then extinguished. But you know nothing of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly. Why are you waiting? Bring on whatever you want. It was all done in the time it takes to tell.

The crowd collected wood, bundles of sticks from the shops and public paths. The Jews, as usual, were keen to help. And when the pile was ready, Polycarp took off his outer clothes, undid his belt and tried to take off his sandals.

He's trying to help them. Sometimes it was not something he was not used to, He's maybe 90 something or a hundred. As the faithful always raced to do for him, each wanting to be the one touched his skin. This is how good his life was.

But when they went to fix him with nails, he said, leave me as I am, for he gives me strength to endure the fire, will enable me not to struggle without the help of your nails. And so when they simply bound him with his hands behind him, like a distinguished ram chosen from a great flock for the sacrifice, ready to be an acceptable burnt offering to God, he looked up to heaven and he said, oh Lord, God almighty, the father of your beloved and blessed son, Jesus Christ, by whom we've received the knowledge of you.

the God of angels, powers, and every creature, and of all the righteous who live before you, I give you thanks that you count me worthy to be numbered among your martyrs, sharing the cup of Christ and the resurrection to eternal life, both of soul and body, through the immortality of the Holy Spirit. May I be received this day as an acceptable sacrifice to you, the true God, have predestined and revealed to me and now fulfilled.

I praise you for all these things. I bless you and glorify you along with the everlasting Jesus Christ, your beloved son, to you with him through the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and forever. Amen.

And then the fire was lit. The flame blazed furiously. and we who were privileged to witness it saw a great miracle. This is why we have been preserved to tell the story. The fire shaped itself into the form of an arc, like the sail of a ship when filled with the wind, and formed a circle around the body of the martyr. Inside it, he looked not like flesh that is burnt, but like bread that is baked, or gold and silver glowing in a furnace. And we smelt a sweet scent, like frankincense, or some such precious spices. And eventually, when those wicked men saw that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded an executioner to pierce him with a dagger. And when he did this, and he goes on to describe these things.

Now, whether that story may have been a little embellished or not, I do not know. but he gives us the earliest account of a Christian martyr outside of the New Testament witness that was given to us. It was from such people as this that the early church, for its first 300 years of life, endured so many Christians were martyred. They came in waves. Sometimes it would be there, and then there'd be peace for a while. And then it would break out in certain areas. But the early church grew and multiplied exceedingly through the sea of the blood of the martyrs. And it was because of this, you see, that there arose in the history of the church, a desire to remember those who had so given their lives for the cause of Christ. And then it was expanded as the years went by to be for all the saints.

Well, I just wanted to let you have that glimpse in early church history and from the first account. that's given to us outside of the New Testament. And it's interesting, you see, that Polycarp was the pastor, the bishop of Smyrna. If you remember the letters to the book of Revelation, to the angel, the messenger of the church of Smyrna write, the words of the first and the last who died and came to life. I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you're rich. And the slander of those who say they're Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you're about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you might be tested. And for 10 days, you will have tribulation, but be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

I found this interesting because Polycarp was the bishop in Smyrna. Chapter six, the revelation. When he, that's Christ, who took the scroll, When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. And they cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

And then I'd read already from you, from Hebrews 11, that some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others mocking and flogged and put in chains, et cetera. all of whom mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy." That's the saints combined with the martyrs that's in the remembrance of the church.

So, yes, in a sense, we have those who are commended for their faith, a faith that would not waver or fail even in the face of death. They are saints like us, and they too had sins and struggles. And that's seen in the pages of scripture. When you look at our heroes of faith, this is what's unique about the Christian faith. We talk about those who were exceedingly blessed of God with great faith in him, and yet the scriptures do not hesitate to describe their weakness and their sin. that they sometimes were guilty of. But God always redeemed. He always restored. Even if it meant, at the end, their death.

I think about Samson, when you think about him, he was most ungodly in his life. He was not a saint in the New Testament sense of the term, but a saint in the Old Testament, but God has set him apart for a special service, but he didn't render that service actually unto God until his death, in which by bringing down with the power that God restored to him, the pillars of the temple that he was in, this pagan temple, it crushed in upon him, killing all the people, including himself. But he did so that God would deliver Israel from their bondage, which he did. So he glorified him in his death, though that was the only time he seemed to have glorified him.

A warning to us that as saints of God, he does expect us to strive to live in accordance with our status. And that's what Christian growth and discipleship is all about.

All right, we have saints. I've talked about saints in history. I've talked about the saints above, one of whom was Polycarp, and those that are mentioned in the book of Revelation. Well, there's one more group of saints that I want to talk about, and that's the saints around you. So I want you to look around you and look at the people here who believe in God and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, for these are the saints around us. And this is true throughout the churches, throughout the world. Those who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who have embraced the promises of God, they're the saints with whom we have communion, communion in our Lord God and Savior.

Well, I want to direct your attention briefly to What do we want to do about all this? What does scripture tell us? Hebrews 11, now all of these, though commended through their faith, do not receive what was promised since God had provided something better for us that apart from us, they should not be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witness, Let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let's run with endurance the race that's set before us.

So in the picture, we again have a common mistake. When it says, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, some picture this as if all the saints in heaven were like looking down from heaven on us while we're running our race on earth. And they're trying to say, oh, you're gonna stumble there. This is not the picture of the dead in heaven, knowing what's going on in earth. That is not true.

Those who have died, those who have passed through the veil, those who have crossed through the river, those who are in paradise, awaiting the resurrection of the dead. They are not aware of what's going on on earth. They have passed from this earth. They're passed from this time. They're not in our time zone, any of the 24 time zones. They are in eternity. And from the moment they died in Christ to the moment they're resurrected from the dead, when they're resurrected from the dead, it will be as if a blink of an eye had occurred.

But they are occupied in heaven with the things that God has, and they are there resting and waiting Their prayers are maybe in general for us in remembrance of where they had been. But we're never told to pray to saints. We're never told that angels or people that had passed through the veil, no matter how holy, have greater access to God. In fact, the scripture says the opposite. We all have the same access to God. And that is access through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And this was what the Reformation partly was about, is that we need to understand that we have one mediator between God and man, is the man Christ Jesus. There are not a gradation of mediators that we can go through the ladder trying to reach the boss man in heaven. God has come down to us in the person of his son. And the one who died for us and was resurrected from us and ascended for us is ever waiting as our high priest to receive our prayers and to present them to the father. And our worship, he takes and also presents to the father. So that our prayers and our worship are acceptable to God because they come to him through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

What made the saints of old saints? Faith is what made the difference. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, for by it the people of old received their commendation. The same is true today. It is faith. Faith must have an object though. What is the object? It's not faith in faith. That's another false teaching of today. Faith must be in the God. the living God, the true and living God, who's known to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And specifically, that faith is centered in and focused in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He is our access to God, and in him, we have eternal life. and through faith in Him, we will receive all the promises of God. We have received some of them, but we will receive all of them when it's all completed and consummated. Not one promise of God that He has made will ever fail. So faith in God is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. is that for which the saints are known.

It is that which constitutes them as saints. So, we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witness.

Now, looking at this in the context, the cloud of witnesses is the ones he's talking about in history. So, in what way are we surrounded by? We're surrounded by their testimony. we're surrounded by the witness of their life, the witness born to this in the pages of scripture that tells us about their faith in God. It's not that they're in heaven looking down on us, it's the fact that we have the witness, we have the revelation of their faith in God and what God did in their lives because of their faith in Him. How they were used by God to fulfill His promises and to bring Him glory, and to bring the line of faith all the way from the Garden of Eden unto us. And ultimately, we'll bring it all the way to the resurrection of the dead, when Christ Himself returns.

Since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, the witness of the Old Testament saints, the witness of the New Testament believers that we read about in Acts, who died for the faith, from the apostles, et cetera, Stephen, a blessed memory. But also, what? The witnesses in history. The witnesses of history whom Polycarp is the example I presented to us today. Of those who are faithful unto death.

You see, that's what God looks for us to do. He wants us to be faithful. Our belief in God, our faith in Christ does not automatically make us sinless. We are to strive to be sinless. What was Jesus? He said, be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. Now, we want to get ourselves off the hook sometime by saying, well, nobody can do that. So therefore what, excusing ourselves? Well, Jesus didn't excuse you, he didn't excuse me either. The standard is still there. This is what we're to strive for. And God is pleased. The closer we get to that standard, the more God is pleased and happy with us.

His acceptance doesn't vary because His acceptance of us is on what? It's in Christ. He accepts us in Christ. It is our faith in Christ that's connected us. So this is not a matter of God find us more acceptable. We are as acceptable to God the moment we believe as the moment we'll be resurrected from the dead because our acceptance is in Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless, we will be rewarded for our faithfulness and we will be recognized for our faithfulness of growing into maturity. This is what our goal is, to be as mature, as perfect as we can as Christians. We should never be satisfied to simply lag behind as the last runner on the course. We're to be striving as to be at the front of it, striving with all of our might. That was Paul's intention. This should be our intention as well.

God, give me the strength to lay hold of you with unfailing faith. so that no matter what the circumstances of life and no matter what heartaches and pains we must go through and that I must go through, that I will remain faithful with my eyes fixed on you.

Therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses in history of the Old Testament, in the history of the history of the church, in those we've known who died in Christ, who now await in heaven, who wait for the consummation of all things. Since we're surrounded by the witness of so great a cloud of witnesses, let's do two things.

Let's lay aside every weight, every weight. Now, as a runner, you see, You don't want weight on you. I think about the picture of Pilgrim's Progress, this poor Christian who's believed the message the evangelist has given to him, but because he's not yet received assurances of salvation, he has on him this heavy weight, this heavy weight. At first, he's just going toward the city. He's going toward the gate. But when he gets to the gate, you know, he enters in now. He enters in to redemption. He enters into salvation. But he hasn't yet come to recognize that he's free. until he gets to the K part where he sees the cross and then he sees the empty tomb. And when he sees, he realizes in his recollection, in his true understanding what Christ has done for him, the weight falls off. It rolls away.

You're slowed down by weight. If you run in a race, you're slowed down by weight. When the Olympic runners of old, they ran naked. or only with one little bitty cloth hanging around. That's it. Nothing else. Because every weight might slow them down. Now, I'm not encouraging you to be that kind of runner today, but okay. But lay aside every weight. What is the weight? These are the things that slow us down. They're the things that interfere. They're the things that drag us. They're the things that pull us away from Christ and pulls away from devotion, that pull us away from growth, that pull us away from being engaged in those things, which will bring glory to God and will bring increasing maturity to ourselves and will strengthen our witness for Christ.

Lay aside every weight. Get rid of it. Don't let it slow you down. They may be things that are in a way are harmless, except for how much time and energy they consume. They might even be things that are good, but they're things that are better. We're to go after the better. not the good, we're to go for the best. We're not to do what is liable to what's most pleasing to God, what's most encouraging to my faith and to my growth in Christ. So, lay aside every way. And sin, sin, clings so closely. Now, it could be interpreted that there's a particular sin, but I'm not so sure that the text says there's a particular sin. There are particular sins that we may be prone to. We certainly need to be alert to them and guard ourselves by never going in the way of temptation.

You know, if you're addicted to something, you can't give yourself any allowance. Because an allowance toward the thing of which you are addicted will immediately begin to latch on to you. And it will result in a re-addiction. You can mark it. You can mark it. You can't play with temptation. To play with temptation is to inevitably head toward sin. You know why we play with temptation? It's because we're intending to sin. Otherwise, we wouldn't play with it. If you want to avoid sin, you don't play with temptation, you run from it. Think of Joseph. I mean, he's a good looking man in the strength of life. And that woman who was part of his wife, she had her desire set out for him. She laid every trap for him. She, in fact, she was trying to rape him. And he took off leaving his clothes behind. He wouldn't let himself be called because he knew that if you went for the embrace, you're going to go for the whole tamale. So you just avoid, run away. That's what you do with sin. You get away from temptation. Don't play with it, no matter what it is. And don't think sex. Sex is not the only thing. You know, there's so many more sins we have. Sometimes that is low down on the list. We just don't recognize it's low down on the list. There's so many more. What about those attitudes of mind and heart? Or those sins of mouth? Or those sins of unforgiveness and bitterness? What about those things? They're horrible in the sight of God.

We must strive after holiness. That's what a saint does. He strives after holiness. He's marked by faith and he's marked by striving after holiness. And that's what it means to lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely to the body. Think about a wet garment, such as your T-shirt, after you've been out in the rain, it's soaking wet, clings, hard to get it off. sin clings.

So the first thing, what? Let's lay aside. Second, let's run with endurance. Run with endurance. The race is set before us. Now, it doesn't just have to be running like running, running. It means whatever the course is, whatever, we must endure if we're to win the prize. We must endure to reach the goal. Run with endurance the race set before you, the course that's set before you. Pursue it with diligence, with unflagging, be indefatigable. Even if you're stumbling, even if you're the last one on the course, even if you can only walk or shuffle, you keep on the course until you reach the goal.

And don't worry about those that are ahead of you. Our look is not to be to those who are ahead of us or those who are behind us or even one that may be beside us. Our look is what? Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. He's the founder and the one who begins it. Our faith comes from him and our faith is completed in him. He's the one who begins. He's the one who ends. He's the founder and the perfecter. the one who brings us all the way. He's the object of our faith. He also sets before us the prime example.

Looking to Jesus, now looking has this progressiveness about it. It's not a glance, it's looking, looking to Jesus. What am I looking for? I'm looking for Him. I see His face now. I see the haunts of Satan around Him, the demonic spirits that He encounters in various people, the opposition of the Jews, and even the misunderstanding of His disciples, the betrayal of Judas, all these things. He sees, and then He sees the darkness that will await Him in the garden of Gethsemane, when the beginning of the weight of the sin of the world falls upon Him. And on the cross, when our sins are transferred legally to Him, and He must endure the wrath of God.

This is Jesus, looking to Jesus who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. He endured the cross because he knew the ultimate goal, the glory and holiness of God, the justice and holiness of God is upheld. His love has come to its maximum and that he is paying the penalty of those who belong to him. He endured it all because he knew the goal, the prize was there. Return to the father. His ascension, His sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven, Him being seated at the right hand of the throne of God, He despised the shame.

You know, being put to death on the cross, we don't understand it because we've made it into a piece of jewelry. We've made it into the great symbol of our faith. But the cross to the Roman was the worst possible death anyone could ever, ever, ever, ever have. It was reserved only for the hardened criminals. If you were a Roman, you could not be put to death on a cross. It was so bad that it was not even conceived that you could do that. It was the most shameful death and you were stripped naked. You were beaten, you were nailed, you were taunted. All of this, our Lord endured, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him."

What's the growth? What joy did he have? Well, he had the joy of being restored to the Father at the completed of his mission. But what was the completion of his mission? It's the salvation of his people. Are you one he saved? Are you one he's called? Are you one that He's chosen and He's manifested that by bringing you to the acknowledgement of your sin so that you've embraced Christ in faith? Then you are part of the joy that was set before Him. He would go back to heaven in all the glory of His resurrected manhood, His humanity, But He would take with Him, in His heart, in the scars of His body, all who belonged to Him.

For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. May you have a blessed All Saints Day, recognizing that you are not alone in the faith and that you are part of Christ's joy.