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that throughout the songs that we sang um throughout the liturgy as well. Uh just this idea and so there there is response to to the word that is cast out the word that is sown within our hearts. There there is a response to that. There is proof of that in our lives and that's what we want to be able to look at today. And so let me start off with Luke 8:15 and then we'll uh continue on. as for that in the good soil.

They are those who hearing the word hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience. And so again, last week we talked at length about what it means to have good soil, what it means to have a good heart. And so if if you are still kind of wrestling with what does that look like? Like how do I become a Christian? What is that process? How do how does one believe in Jesus?

go back and listen to uh last week's sermon because that's what it's all talking about is what is good soil? How do we end up having good soil? This week then moves into this idea of once we have good soil, once the word of God has taken root in our new hearts that God has given to us, how then do we hold it fast in the honest and good heart and also bear fruit with patience? And so those are the two things that I want to look at today is holding a fast and an honest and good heart and then bearing fruit with patience. And so that first idea there, what does it mean to hold fast in an honest and good heart? Well, it is us being able to abide in Jesus.

To abide in Jesus in this new heart, this new identity, this new soil that he has given us. uh the idea is that we can only hold him if he is holding us that he has to be the foundation of it. He he has to be the soil in which the word itself has come and embedded itself into it. Is this new identity that is it is Christ in us that is holding on to the father as the father is holding on to him and we just become the vessel of this relationship between the father and the son that becomes a part of us as well. Uh I I wish I would have gone the route and actually did the illustration. Uh but I used to have this illustration that I would show.

So I want you to visualize my visualation my illustration that I'm about to um give to you. But I used to have this picture um of water and I used to have this glass and I would take this glass and the glass represented you and me and the picture represents God and and the water represents everything that is Jesus. And and the idea is that we would always come to church, whether it was on Wednesdays or whether it was on Sundays, and we would come in order to be filled up with Jesus and then we'd go back out into the world and we would take our water and we would sew it into the lives of others. And so we would take it, we'd sprinkle it on our friends or on our co-workers or on our family or whoever it is that we're interacting with. But as we do that, as we're working for the Lord and as we're uh living out our ministry on a weekly basis, what happens to the water every time we do that in the cup?

Well, it goes down and it goes down and it goes down and we start to feel empty and we start to feel weary and we start to grow tired and we're like, "Well, we need to be renewed. We need to be restored. We need to have more of this." And so, we keep coming back to church and we keep coming back to to Jesus. We keep coming back to God. But the reality is is is is in an incomplete illustration.

Like that's not how Christianity is actually supposed to function. And it's it's not that you come to God and you get something from him and then you go back out and you work for him and you exhaust yourself and then you come back to him. The reality is is to be in God and to have God in you is to take the glass and the picture with the water and to drop the glass into the water so that you are in Christ and Christ is in you and anywhere you go, God is going and you are constantly relying on God to fulfill the ministry that he is fulfilling in and through you. This is why again we use this language of John 15 of abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in you because wherever you go he is working through you. He is living through you. He is doing his work to redeem the world through you and you get to enjoy him in that exact process.

And that's why he says things like this in John 15 3-4. And think about this with the lens of what we had last week. He says already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. That's what we talked about last week of of the new heart that was given to you. You you are you are now new soil like it's already been given to you because of the word that was spoken that you being regenerated and receiving a new heart that loves Jesus. Therefore, verse four, abide in me and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. You cannot live the Christian life in order to earn your Christian status. We we've always talked about this is not a worksbased religion. There there is, as I said last week, there is nothing you can do to earn new soil. That that is given to you by God. And likewise, after you become a Christian, you cannot live the Christian life unless Christ lives it through you.

Christ makes all of the difference. Bottom line, you cannot bear fruit by yourself. Jesus saves you and Jesus multiplies you by Jesus living and abiding in you. You're like, where do we get that? Well, we get that from scriptures like Galatians 2:20 where it says, I have been crucified with Christ. So, just think about that for a second.

That's that's a weird phrase. I have been crucified with Christ. You're like, well, I was not there 2,000 years ago. So, h what does this mean? This means that again you and your identity, your spiritual deadness at the bottom of the ocean has to be brought to Jesus at the cross. This is a supernatural spiritual work that God does.

He brings your identity to Jesus and what was dead, he kills it again. and he kills it in Jesus at the cross so that so that as Galatians 2:20 continues to say, it is no longer I who live but Christ who now lives in me. The only reason why we're able to have life is because when he killed our identity at the cross, he then resurrected Jesus three days later and resurrects us in Jesus with that exact same power by the Holy Spirit in order for us to now live and to live eternally in Jesus. He is life. So we can't earn life. We can't work for life.

We can't establish life. We can't breathe into our own selves. He has to do it in and through us. And that way it then goes on to say, "The life I now live in the flesh, I live only by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." You don't earn the Christian life. And even when God does save you, Christ himself completes the Christian life for you through you in this abiding relationship.

This is the idea of what it means to hold fast to him in this new heart that he's given us. The only reason why we're able to hold fast to him is because of Christ in us holding I it's it's how everything has been created through Jesus. And not only that, but all things are upheld by Jesus. And so you maybe have heard me use the language before. It's why water remains water because Jesus says so. Grass remains grass.

It doesn't like become something else. It's because Jesus says so. What he creates, he upholds. Same thing with us as Christians. New creatures that are in Jesus, he upholds, he keeps. And therefore, because he is keeping us, and because he is holding us, we are able to hold fast in this new heart that we have, in this new relationship that we have.

And I'll talk about what that functionally looks like in a moment. But let me show you the second part of this response to hearing the word of God that leads to holding fast and bearing fruit. What does it mean to bear fruit with patience? There are actually a few ways to break down the this idea of patience. And I believe each of these are are practical for us. But the main idea is endurance or perseverance.

And I'll talk about that one in a moment. But going with our first translation here of patience. Anytime patience is mentioned, it simply means that it's going to take some time. It's going to take some time. And we don't like that, right? Like we are a fast food culture.

All right? We're a microwave culture. We want things now. All right. As uh Veruka Salt says in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, like we want it now. And when she doesn't get what she wants, what does she tell her father?

I won't talk to you ever again. You're rotten, mean father. You never give me anything I want, and I won't go to school till I have it. What that sounds like to me is the people who are in Christianity deconstructing it because they're not getting the Christianity that they want. And so they're not the problem. God's the problem.

He's the mean father. He's not He's the one that again they're not actually holding fast to. They're holding fast to their own ideology. But it's actually revealing this idea that they're not bearing fruit with patience, with endurance, with perseverance. When out of a heart that has heard the word of God and believes in the salvific work of Jesus, we trust his process and we patiently wait for its completion. Its completion.

It's in his timing. Again, more on that one in a moment. The idea of bearing fruit, as we just read a few moments ago, John 15:8 says, "By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." It does not say, "So earn to be my disciples, but prove to be my disciples." It it it is proving that there has been a transformation that there has been a change of heart that there has been a salvation that has taken into effect that there are new desires versus old desires. There are new passions versus old passions that there is an actual change that has happened.

And so when it comes to bearing fruit and proving to be his disciples from Luke 8:15, let's see what that looks like through Jesus's continued parable in verses 16- 18. This is what Jesus says. He says, "No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest. Nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear.

For to the one who has more will be given. And from the one who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away. Now when it comes to verse 16, the lighting of the lamp in this situation is representative of a sinner becoming a saint. A sinner becoming a saint. But if someone were to believe that they were a lamp or believe that their lamp was lit and then cover it up or hide it, they really prove to be a lamp without a flame. That's what they're proving is to be a lamp without a flame.

If you've ever seen the movie uh Sling Blade, um there's a scene where there's a guy trying to fix a lawn mower. And the scene stuck out to me because I used to have a lawn business and enjoy lawnmowers and whatnot. But um there's a guy who's working on a lawn mower and he's trying to get it start and and he even says in the in the scene he was like everything looks like it's all put together right and then he asks Carl Childers who's played by uh Billy Bob Thornton. He's like can you take a look at it? And he just looks at it and he responds with does anybody know? Oh, come on.

It ain't got no gas in it. Now, he says it in a way deeper southern accent, but it ain't got no gas in it. It's the same idea that we're talking about here is if there's a lamp and it is trying to be hidden or put under a bed or hidden under a jar, at the end of the day, it ain't got no gas in it. Like the light is not lit. If we are going to be believers who profess to be believers, who are professing to say that we trust in Jesus and that we believe in Jesus and that we love Jesus and that we are abiding in Jesus, we will not hide it. Instead, we will put it on display so that others may be able to see it.

may be able to see it. For the one who continues to say that they're a lamp and kind of like the lawn mower believe that we have everything put together in the right way. In some way, that's kind of how we've westernized Christianity by attaching it to our version of the American dream. We think that a good Christian is one who has everything put together, who has a great job, who has a family, who has a great house, who has the white picket fence, who has a dog, who has all of the things that look like on the outside we are Christlike. And I don't know at what point that we kind of hijack what it means to be Christlike by westernizing it and making it look like the quote unquote American dream, but that is not what it means to be Christlike, to be Christian, to trust Jesus. Actually, what it more represents are the other three soils in the story.

Well, today is showing us how having true faith actually produces some things in your life. No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or put puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand so that those who enter may see the light. When the seed of the word of God has taken root in your new heart that God has given to you, it lights a flame in you. It lights a flame in you. And this isn't a flame that is kind of like Grant was talking about. It's not just this um overly excited uh like fervor that I'm just going to always be on this mountain high.

Like that's not the kind of like flame that we're talking about. But what we're talking about is a way of life that is proving the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. It is a way in which we are living that when others see it and hear it, it is connecting them to the way, the truth and the life. It is connecting them to Christ. Warren Wearsby a late theologian professor and pastor who attend he actually attended Indiana University for a while. He said, 'When you learn the joy and the privilege of Bible study, you don't have to be paid to do it.

You don't have to be pushed at doing it and scolded. No, no, no. It's a privilege. It's a marvelous, glorious privilege. You may not see it. You may not know it, but others will know that you're walking in the light.

Blessed is the man that God blesses from the word because that is going to last forever. the word, the seed that comes and and and takes root in this new heart that God has given us, it changes things in our life. It changes how we steward our time, how we steward our relationships in such a way that we're not hiding Christ, but that it is revealing Christ to everyone who is around us. It changes our speech. It changes our our social media. It changes our money habits.

It changes our our our the way in which again we we spend our time on a daily basis. It changes things so that as people see this, they're not just seeing it in a way of like, well, you have everything together. No, they're seeing it in a way that you treasure Jesus. You treasure Jesus. In the context of the parable of the sewer, the sewer is someone who is spreading the seed. It's meant to be a process for multiplying and leading towards a harvest.

Others being able to see this. Others being able to get to reap what we are sewing this word of God that is going out. No sewer hoards their seeds or keeps them in a pocket or stores them away. They spread them. No one who lights a lamp then covers it up so that the purpose of the lamp is no longer being fulfilled. Rather, they light the lamp and they place it on the stand so that those who enter the house or come into relationship with you, they may see the light, may experience the light, may catch the word of God and see it or hear it for themselves.

Listen to Matthew 5:14-16. This is the the parallel of the same passage of the swer. Matthew provides a bit more detail here. He says this, "You are the light of the world." And this is Jesus referring to the disciples. You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven. Have you ever seen a lighthouse before? If you haven't, that's weird. You need to travel a little bit more.

But I love lighouses. Um, but what are their purpose? What's the purpose of a lighthouse? According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, lighouses serve to warn mariners of dangerous shallows and perilous rocky coasts, and they help to guide vessels safely into and out of harbors. Is that not the job of the swer when it comes to the light of the world? The light of the world.

Is that not the word of God and what it does in our lives? Is the word of God not warning us of the dangers of sin? And is the word of God not also guiding us into the safe harbor that is God in order to find rest and renewal? This is the word of God. And and for us, not only are we like the lighthouse that we should not cover it, but we are also like the vessels that are in the water that are going out and spreading and taking the word of God to those who are outside. When you become a Christian, you are both vessel and lighthouse.

You carry the word of God that has been lit in you and it is warning those around you again of the dangers of their sin in their life and it's guiding them to the harbor of God. What does Jesus say next? For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear. For to the one who has more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. In these two verses, Jesus does a few uh what I just like to call will statements.

All right? Some guarantees, some absolutes that he's providing for us here. For the one who is truly holding fast to the word of God, abiding in Jesus and by faith understanding and believing it, for that person, it cannot be hidden. It cannot be hidden. For the word of God will be made manifest. It will be seen in the way in which we speak and in the way in which we live our lives.

Again, Luke 8:10, he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God." And we get to then manifest these secrets of the kingdom of God to those who are around us. These secrets that have been granted to the disciples of Jesus to know and to treasure will come to light in their lives. Luke tells us that this will happen. For the seed that takes root doesn't just grow up into a beautiful tree, but it grows up into a tree that bears fruit. It's a tree that bears fruit.

Not one that might bear fruit, not one that decides when they want to bear fruit, but one that will bear fruit. The parallel passage of the sewer in Matthew even adds that the seed in the good soil grows up to produce 30, 60, and 100fold. And a lot of times people are like, I don't I don't know what that means, 30, 60, and 100fold. In a typical harvest setting, anywhere from five times whatever you sold sewed is sort of the the good target. All right, it's kind of just five times your investment, 500%. Well, this is looking at 30 times your investment, 60 times your investment, 100 times your investment.

What he's saying is that you may not be able to see it as you are casting the seed. Remember, as we talked last week, we know we don't know how it grows. We don't even know necessarily when it's going to grow. But what we do know is that as we cast out the seed and as it grows, it produces fruit that will far exceed anything that you can think or imagine. Far exceed it. Remember there was um this man named Dawson Trotman.

Has anyone ever heard of Dawson Trotman? All right, one maybe two. Um Dawson Tropman put together this ministry that was sort of following the the Billy Graham crusades because what he saw was there was a lot of people coming to know Christ but then didn't know what to do. All right. They they kind of would have like a list at the end of the Billy Graham crusades of some local churches that you could kind of connect into. But he was putting together teams of people that would go into um these cities where people were getting saved and just disciple people for months, sometimes years and then be able to connect them into churches.

it was kind of church planting before there was really church planting in that type of scenario. And what Dawson Tropman um was able to do in this was to be able to connect people in such a way that he was like, I I want to be able to get to heaven. And and I think at some point someone asked him like, how many people do you think that you've been able to connect and disciple? And he was like, I don't I don't know on a grand scale how many, but I know me personally, I've maybe discipled six to 12 people. But what he's going to realize when he gets to heaven is that he might be able to see those 6 to 12 people and then the seed that continues to multiply from there on out. And if not anything else, that is probably one of the greatest desires of any believer is that right now you might not be able to see it, but to be able to get to heaven and treasure Jesus by seeing what he was able to do in the seed that you participated in sewing.

Again, that'll be a reward that we get to joyfully worship Christ in when we get there to be able to see the effects of the ministry of sewing the seed and the fruit that was produced from that. He goes on to say, "For the one who does not have ears to hear, even what he thinks he has." And that's kind of saying, even if he thinks he is a lamp, even if he thinks he is a Christian, kind of like one of the three soils versus the one good soil, even what he thinks he has will be taken away. James, in other word, puts it in puts it this way in James 1:23-2. If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, if anyone thinks he's hearing the word but it's not bearing fruit, it's not producing fruit. He is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

For he looks at himself, but then he goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, again, same word as patience, being no who forgets but a doer who acts. He will be blessed in his doing. What he's saying there is there are people in their context who were saying that they've heard the word, that they have faith, and that they're abiding in Jesus. They're like the person who looks at themsel in the mirror, but then when they walk away, they forget what they are. If you're not truly good soil abiding in Christ, you can't remember that you're in Christ.

You can't remember that you are like Christ. You don't know the good fruit that's going to be coming out of your life. You're not going to do because there is no faith that actually produces it. This is the lamp that is trying to hide itself. At the end of the day, it's really not a lamp. It's not a lamp that's been lit.

The main idea is this. If you are abiding in Christ, holding fast to him, you will bear fruit. You will bear fruit. You will do what Jesus has done. John 14:12 says this, "Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. Whoever's lamp has been lit will also shine the light just like Jesus did.

You see in John 8:12, Jesus says, "I am the light of the world." And then in Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, "You are the light of the world." How can that be possible? If Jesus is saying, "I'm the light of the world." But then he's saying, "You are the light of the world." Is he saying you are Jesus?

Yes. in the sense that he has given you his identity and that he is in you and you are in him. And because his light is in you, therefore your light is him shining for everyone around you to be able to see Jesus. You carry the word of God in you and it produces it bears fruit for others to see. And as I said earlier, functionally speaking, what will that be? What does that look like?

What light shines so that others may see and enter it? What fruit is produced? Well, honestly, when you look throughout the scriptures, hundreds of different examples that we could utilize for what fruit is produced out of you. Warren Wearsby also provides a brief list of what we can expect when we bear fruit. And I like that wording of what we can expect. I think sometimes we we treat fruit of the spirit as kind of like a all right, let me go to the grocery store and get some patience.

Let me go to the grocery store and get some gentleness. But the reality is is we don't have to go. It's already in our pantry. Like it's already in us. It just needs to be stirred up. It just needs to be matured in us.

It needs to be grown in us. It needs to be produced in us. It's already there, not yet. It comes out of us. And so, here are the things that we trust in Christ to continue growing in us and producing in us. And these are just a couple of examples.

Colossians 1:10 talks about the idea of the fruit of good works. So, as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work. and increasing in the knowledge of God. This could look like I mean the Bible oftentimes gives us generalities so that we don't limit the the fruit of God. Good work can be thousands of different things. It could be us doing uh Dana for example is helping to organize a time in which we're going to bless the teachers at school 91 um on April 5th in which we're just going to provide breakfast for them, provide um some notes of encouragement for them to be able to finish out well uh their their schooling because guys it's in case you want it's hard to be a teacher.

It's hard. And so we want to encourage. It's a good work that we get to do that we get to shine a light and show the love of Jesus and encourage them. And so if you're interested in helping, talk to Dana about that. I've seen another family in our church who um just out of their own desire didn't have to do this from a sanctioned thing. We didn't put this together or program this, but as a family, they put together uh bags that when they're driving around and their children have asked, "Why is that person standing on the corner asking for food?"

They then give them bags that have just essentials in there. They're loving and and pursuing good works. Another one is disciplehip. Romans 1 11-12, Paul says this to the people in Rome. For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. That is that we may mutually be encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

Just the fruit of disciplehip. And if you're like I I think one of those questions that we hear often in in our church is that we we want to be discipled. We don't know where to start. We don't know what that looks like. Just take Romans 1 11-12, copy it, and just text it to somebody and say, "Can we do this?" Like, "I I long to see you that that I might impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you.

I I I have something I might be able to share with you. It might encourage you. I don't know. But that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. Can we just do that together sometime?" and just start there.

Another one is righteousness. Romans 6:22 says, "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification, leads to purification, leads to righteousness, and its end eternal life." Another one is genuual just genuine spirituality, Christlikeness. We read this earlier with Galatians 5:22-23. the fruit that comes out of you that's already within you. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.

Against such things there is no law. Again, personality types do not excuse away the fruit of the spirit. Like I've heard people say like, "I'm a jerk because I'm an eight." No. No, you can be gentle because of Christ. Period.

You can be kind and assertive. Period. Evangelism. Romans 1:13. I love this. Paul's talking about to the Romans.

He says, "I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you, but thus far have been prevented in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles." I mean, this just rolling with the fruit of Paul's life here. When was the last time that we are going to visit some friends in another state or going on vacation or whatever and had the mindset, hey, while we're there, let's just cast some seed. like let's just share some Jesus with someone while they're maybe maybe we'll win some people while we're there just hanging out like it's he's always looking for the opportunity to be able to share Christ wherever he is. He never wants to lose or miss out on the opportunity. Why?

Because he's abiding in Jesus. And it's what Jesus cares about. It's what he cares about. It changes our perspective on how we're stewarding our time. Praise and worship. Hebrews 13:15.

Through him, then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. So when we come in here and we sing, that's you bearing fruit in the praise and worship of God, giving, contributing to the ministry. Romans 15:24-28. David Platt actually believes that the entire book of Romans is him fundraising. Is Paul just fundraising?

He literally believes that you've got the the entire just one all the way to 15 is him with this mindset of just teaching the people in Rome all of these incredible beautiful truths of the entire redemptive work of what God is doing in all of the world. And then he gets to Romans 15 and he says this. I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while. Teaching them this whole thing and then essentially says, "Hey, but you're just a pit stop for me." And that I hope that when I get there, you help me get to Spain to continue actually spreading the gospel. And then he even gives an example.

At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem, bringing aid to the saints, for Macedonia and Aaya have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. His whole purpose was actually never to just get to Rome and stay. He was intending on getting to Spain by way of them and by way of support of them.

Again, this is not an exhaustive list, but that gives you plenty to let the light shine. Let the light shine so that others who enter may see it. John 14:15-16 says, "If you love me, you will do this. You will keep my commandments. If you love Jesus, if you abide in Jesus, believe in Jesus, trust in Jesus, hold fast to Jesus, you will. You will.

And that's encouraging. Like this isn't us beating our heads like us trying to figure out how do we produce this? You will. We trust that. We trust that I'm skipping some sick time. What James, John, and Luke are all saying to us through this is that no one after lighting a lamp.

That is no one after hearing the word of God and believing in Jesus will cover it up or hide their affection for Jesus. It will be made manifest in you. As you abide in Jesus, you desire to joyfully obey his commandments and you generously and sacrificially do the works that Jesus has done. That is you bear fruit with patience. It's the proof. It's the proof that you have been saved.

Now, as I said earlier, I'm going to come back to that word patience. And I want to come back to it one more time as we come to communion. In Greek, the term for patience is hoopane, which is actually better translated as patiently enduring or persevering. Those who believe in Jesus will desire to obey his word and do his works and it will never stop. It will never stop. It's their greatest desire because it is Christ's desire.

It's Christ's desire. Just like I said, the one of the reasons why we can hold fast is because it's Christ holding on to the father as the father is holding on to Christ. And it's this identity that we have with his relationship. The same thing is with the desire. The reason why we desire to to endure and to persevere in the faith is because Jesus does. Jesus does.

With the parable of the swer in mind, the devil will not come down and snatch the word from you. You will not find it fascinating for a brief time and then walk away from it. You will not let the passions and pleasures of this world lead you away from it. If Christ is in you, you will hold fast and you will endure to the end because Jesus is keeping you so you can keep him. Jesus is holding you so that you can hold him. And when it comes to patiently enduring, there's no greater example than Jesus himself.

There's no greater example than Jesus. This is what he says in Hebrews 12 1-3. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, that is the whole chapter 11 of all of these saints of old. What I love about this is that it's not looking at them as though they are um just these the these kings of faith or that they did it perfectly. I mean, we know David messed up. We know Abraham Abraham messed up.

We know Noah Noah messed up. It's not what they did that made them a great cloud of witness. It's who they believed in and trusted in that made them a great cloud of witness. It's them acknowledging that they were sinners in need of a savior that makes makes them a great cloud of witnesses and then invites us to do the same. Let us also, as they did, lay aside every weight and send which cling so closely. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Now, that sounds a little bit exhausting, right? Like running a race. If you run, first of all, I don't. But if you do, it's exhausting. It's tiring. This sounds exhausting and tiring.

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector. You can actually translate perfector as finisher in its original language. The founder and finisher of our faith. How can we run this race with endurance?

How can we bear fruit with patience? How can we do that? Because Jesus started the race for us and he's already finished the race for us and he's in us as we are running the race completing it for us. Which means you can't quit the race. You can't quit the race and you've got all the endurance already within you to finish the race. And so we hold fast to him as he's running the race in us so that we can get to the end which is taking hold of our eternity with Christ, treasuring him who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross.

Honestly, that was the first race we were on, which is who can get to hell fastest. Like that was our race. But instead, he went and endured that one for us as well. He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. And what we're going to do now is we're going to consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself so that so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. And that one preaches to my soul.

as we've looked at just the last couple of weeks for those who believe in Jesus