Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

works."
abide."
goal"
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The Race Before Us"
The Wednesday morning devotional address at the Grinnell Conference
Rev. Kermit S. Edgar
Hebrews 12:1, 2, "Wherefore, seeing
we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the
;"
author and finisher of our faith
Life is a race, in the sense of striving toward
an objective. The apostle Paul summed up his life in
these words: "I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith." His life
had been a race, characterized by effort and struggle
all the way, and he had not faltered. Hence the ex
hortation of this Epistle, beginning at chapter 10,
verse 19, is to hold fast to our hope in the New Cove
nant through the blood of Christ, and to help the
"brethren. The 11th chapter adds its list of illustra
tions of such faith. Then,
supported by examples,
the writer calls upon us to follow in their footsteps
of faithfulness. "Let us run with patience the race
us."
that is set before
I. We Must Run The Christian Race.
There are many kinds of races, races against
'competition and races against time. There are short
dashes and races of long endurance. The Christian
race is a relay race one in which others have run
before us, and still others shall follow us. It is now
our turn to carry the baton.
The stadium is filled with old grads, all of them
runners at one time or another. Some are terribly
battered and mutilated. But they are the most glori
ous company of winners the world has ever known !
Every one has received the crown of righteousness !
The list is not complete, for it numbers a great mul
titude which no man can number, from the days of
Abel down to the times of our fathers of whom we
have been most conscious during these days of cove
nanting. Each in turn has carried the baton, and
now it is passed to us.
It is most important that we appreciate the
heritage of truth we have received from the past,
and that we carry it as a sacred trust for the future.
The race did not start with us, neither does it stop
with us. Paul in Ephesians 2:19-22, uses another
figure, that of a temple, "built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone ; in whom all the build
ing fitly framed together groweth unto a holy tem
ple in the Lord : in whom ye also are builded together
for a habitation of God through the Spirit." Peter
speaks of us as living stones in this temple. So as one
stone is built upon another, we are built upon the
past,
and the future will rest upon us.
In our sixth Term of Communion we acknowl
edge that "Jesus Christ is Saviour and Lord of men
and of nations, and that in loyalty and obedience to
Him, it is our duty to follow the noble example of
the faithful confessors and martyrs of Jesus in their
372
witness for divine truth, and in their sacrifices and
labors to establish the Kingdom of God on earth."
That is what is handed us from the past, divine
truth and its application to every relationship of life.
Only as we are faithful to their example in witness
and labor, shall we be able to hand to those yet un
born this sacred trust.
In the 73rd Psalm, the Psalmist was having "a
rough time" until his faith wavered, and he was
ready to speak rashly from momentary surface im
pressions. But he checked himself: "If I had said,
been."
children false had
I thus will speak, I to Thy
Young people, in the moments of the trial of your
faith, do not lightly esteem the faith of your fathers,
verified through generation after generation of test
ing, and do not lightly discard it until you can re
place it with something that will yield the same
fruit of steadfastness! Moreover, you will be dis
loyal to God's children after you if you do not pass
on to them the conclusion of the Psalm, "I have put
my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Thy
"For Whom have I in heaven but Thee
None else on earth I long to know.
My flesh may faint and weary be ;
My heart may fail and heavy grow ;
With strength doth God my heart restore;
evermore."
He is my portion
II. We Must Run toward a Definite Goal.
It was said that Abraham "looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
In Hebrews 11:16 we read: "They desire a better
country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God: for He hath pre
pared for them a Psalm 107 expresses God's
leading, "That they might to a city go, wherein they
might Jesus said: "When ye pray, say, Our
Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it
is in heaven." The goal before us is a Kingdom of
righteousness, a world for Jesus Christ,
all of life for Him.
all life and
Therefore, ours is the goal of the ends of the
earth turning, repenting, unto the Lord. It is the
goal of the knowledge of the Lord covering the
earth, as the waters cover the sea. It is the goal of
that day when at the name of
Jesus, every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. It is the
goal of all
knowing Him, from the least unto the
greatest. For He "is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God." "He must reign, till He hath put
all enemies under His feet."
But we say, "That is too far away. It may
not
come when I am, running. What is my goal today"
That is it. There is no lesser. Our question should
be, "What can we contribute toward the attainment
of that The answer is in the Covenant we
COVENANTER WITNESS