"These are the times that try men's souls." This simple quotation from one of America's Founding Fathers, Thomas Paine, not only describes the beginnings of the American Revolution, but also the the increasingly crazy world of 2014. Many people may be distracted by such times but followers of Jesus must keep their eyes on Jesus and stay the course, not give up and run the race God has assigned to each of us till He calls us home or He comes back to earth. This message is a reminder of the high stakes of staying in the race until the end and not giving up.

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2. Pain Can be part of Gain
Corrie Ten Boom’s quote of Chinese Bishop: “I wish I had not
taught my people that they would not suffer, that they would
not go through the tribulation. Some turned back from Jesus
when the Communists confronted them with death for their
faith.”
Luke 2:34-35:” And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His
mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of
many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed-- and a sword
will pierce even your own soul-- to the end that thoughts
from many hearts may be revealed."
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3. Tribulation (Show)
John 16:33: ”These things I have spoken to you, so
that in Me you may have peace. In the world
you have tribulation, but take courage; I have
overcome the world.”
Matt. 24:21: “For then shall be great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world to
this time, no, nor ever shall be.
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4. Tribulation (Show)
"All men will hate you because of Me, but
he who stands firm to the end will be saved"
(Matt. 10:22).
Matt 16:24: “Then Jesus said to His
disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after
Me, he must deny himself, and take up his
cross and follow Me.
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5. Paul’s Instruction (Show)
2 Tim. 2:3: “…Suffer hardship with me, as a good
soldier of Christ Jesus.
2 Tim. 1:8: “…join with me in suffering for the
gospel, by the power of God.”
Danger of seeking a life without difficulty—
a life that avoids the price of following Jesus:
”Woe to those at ease in Zion" (Amos 6:1)
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6. Abundant Life Can Be Hard
A mother of five also has abundant blessings, but also
abundant challenges. Births are painful experiences—not
to mention the trials of raising five children.
Remember the seed that fell on rocky places in the
parable of Jesus about the four soils? The seed took root
quickly, but died after only a short time. That’s like a
person who believes with joy but when trouble or
persecution comes because of the word, he quickly
falls away.
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7. Salvation Can be Lost (Show)
MATT. 24:9-14 “Then they will deliver you to
tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all
nations because of My name. 10 At that time many
will fall away and will betray one another and hate one
another. Because lawlessness is increased, most
people’s love will grow cold. 13 But the one who
endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 This gospel
of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a
testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
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8. Salvation Can be Lost
(Show)
1 Tim. 4:1: “But the Spirit explicitly says
that in later times some will fall away
from the faith, paying attention to
deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…”
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9. Run the Race God Gave Us
With Endurance
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10. Heb. 12:1-3 (Show)
Heb. 12: 1-3: “Therefore, since we have so
great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance
and the sin which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance the race
that is set before us,
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11. Heb. 12:1-3 (Show
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of faith, Who for the joy set
before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God.…
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12. The Christian Life is a Race
(Show)
The Christian life is a spiritual race to heaven
We have to run it our entire life
God has set the course of our race
The race calls for physical and spiritual fitness.
Jesus is our model for running the race
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13. Our Life is a Race
The passage in question draws from the rich
imagery of the footraces of ancient Palestine,
Greece, and the amphitheaters of Rome. It
was written to encourage and challenge
believers to persevere in their faith,
especially in the midst of trials and
persecution (2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 10:36;
12:7).
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14. The Length of the Race
Endurance: It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and we
are called to stay the course our entire lives
and remain faithful to the end. Paul used this
same imagery near the end of his life: “I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I
have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).
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15. Endure Like they Did
Athletes in a race were surrounded by rows and rows
of spectators, pictured for us as “a great cloud of
witnesses.” The “witnesses” of the OT believers’ race
are listed in the previous chapter of Hebrews:
These OT saints persevered despite unimaginable
oppression and cruelty (Hebrews 11:33–38) and
were commended for their faithfulness.
They are examples of not giving up no matter what!
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16. For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered
kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut
the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of
the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war,
put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by
resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so
that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced
mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They
were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were
put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the
world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and
caves and holes in the ground. (Heb. 11:32-38)
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17. God Set the Course of Our Race
The race is “set before us”; we did not select the
course, for it is God who established it.
Therefore, we can be confident that the incredible
love God has for us will make all parts of our race
work together for good (Rom. 8:28)
This is the race we run for God. We stay the
course in spite of trials and persecutions (Hebrews
12:4–11).
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18. Jesus is Our Model
As we run, we must “fix our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
Jesus is our model for our race: He
perfectly finished His race. Therefore, He is
the focus of our lives. We look away from all
distractions so we can finish the race well like
He did—for the joy set before us—eternal
life!
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19. Eyes on the Joy
Heb. 11:27 of Moses: “By faith he left Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as
seeing Him who is unseen.
Acts 7:54: “Now when they heard this…they
began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But being
full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into
heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing at the right hand of God…”
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20. Eyes on the Joy
Experiences of God are critical to our ability to
endure under duress.
Our children need experiences of God. children
are under attack by our culture and now by large
portions of the American Church teaching
heresy about homosexuality.
Eyes on Jesus and our life as God’s chosen child
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21. Trails Await Us on Our Race
Jesus promised us that we would suffer to
follow Him: In this world you will have
tribulation.
He modeled the Christian life for us in His
own life of enduring the cross and shame to
run His race.
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22. Life-Long Disciplines
A marathon is a strenuous test of
fitness and endurance. The race set
before us requires faith, stamina,
commitment, and discipline in order to
live faithfully (1 Corinthians 9:25–26;
Philippians 3:12–14; 1 Timothy 6:12).
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23. Paul Exhorts
Paul himself said, "Train yourselves to be
godly. For physical training is of some
value, but godliness has value for all things,
holding promise for both the present life
and the life to come" (1 Tim. 4:7-8).
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24. Paul Exhorts
“I am focusing all my energies on this one
thing: Forgetting the past and looking
forward to what lies ahead, I strain to
reach the end of the race and receive the
prize for which God, through Christ Jesus,
is calling us.” —The apostle Paul
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25. Disciplines for the Race
Obey God in all things
Daily seek to enjoy God in prayer, worship and reading
His Word
Grow deep relationships with other believers
Seek to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit
Always love one another and our neighbors
Walk in humility, kindness and courage in all things
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26. Disciplines for the Race
Do something difficult each day
Think of heaven often
Sing and prayer to God throughout the day
Forgive quickly and fully
Confess sin quickly.
Ask others to help you with your spiritual growth
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27. Work To Run Well
“No one enters a race and then wanders off to play a game
of checkers or look for four-leaf clovers. They have a word
for that kind of person: loser.
If you want to cross life’s finish line as a winner, you need
to focus your energies and keep your eyes on the
prize.
This is a race you must win! And with God’s help, it’s a
race you can win with flying colors.” Pastor Greg Laurie
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28. Run to Him
As we run our race, keeping our eyes on
Jesus we will run straight into the arms of
Jesus.
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