For a call to worship comes from Hebrews chapter 12, verses one and two. Says this, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. In many ways, I believe those two verses are the centerpiece, the application of everything that the author of Hebrews is trying to say, everything he's been saying for the first 11 chapters. His original audience were a people who loved the Lord, who knew the Lord, and yet they had begun to drift away. The problem was they didn't realize they had drifted away because if you're in a boat that's untethered from its dock, the currents began to slowly move it away so much so that you can be laying down in the bottom of the boat and not even know you're drifting. And suddenly you sit up and realize you're a long way from harbor. And these were people who were drifting. They weren't drifting through open rebellion. They weren't living in lawlessness. What was marking them was just their apathy. They had left their first love. And because of it, they didn't realize just how dangerous their situation was. And so the writer is writing to them to wake them up and help them understand their condition and the seriousness of it, that you are veering close to apostasy and you don't even know it. But here's the thing about it. He doesn't give them a 12-step program to get out of their problem. His method, his tact is very different from that, and I'll get to that in just a moment. I think it's embodied in the verses I've just read. By the time we arrive to these verses in Hebrews 12, the author's just finished giving us an example after example in Hebrews chapter 11 of godly saints of old, men and women, who were able to endure in this present age. They ran well and they finished well. And how did they run well and how did they finish well? The emphasis is they did so by faith. It's the hall of faith, as it were, rather than a hall of fame. By faith, they were able to overcome their adversaries. By faith, they were able to endure trials and hardship and even face martyrdom because they kept their eyes fixed upon God. And what the writer is saying here, whoever it was, whether it was Paul or Apollos or whoever, whoever wrote the book, what they're saying now is, we're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. That is, we have a lineage, we're involved in a sacred relay race, as it were, and we've received the baton of the gospel from those who went before us. And we have literally thousands upon thousands of brothers and sisters who ran well and finished well, and we need to imitate their example so that we can run well, and so that we can finish well. It's faith that caused them to set aside every hindrance, every weight, and to put to death the sin that so easily besets us. And what did they do instead? They fixed their eyes upon Jesus. The gaze of their soul was fixed upon Him. And that's why they were able to endure. I would submit to you, that in so many ways, this is what the author is saying. He's saying, do you want to overcome your apathy? That I'm not gonna give you eight steps or 12 surefire ways to overcome apathy. I'm gonna exalt Jesus so high that you are compelled to look upon him. And if you will gaze upon his majesty and contemplate his glory, I won't have to worry about apathy in you anymore. because that will cure it. I'm indebted to a man named Joe Novosin, who was a pastor. He gave this insight. He pointed out that when, remember when the Lord, Jesus himself, it seems, appeared before the tent of Abraham's door? And he's there at his tent door. He's got two angels with him. Abraham was 99 years old at the time. Do you remember his response when he recognized that Yahweh himself is standing in the door of my tent? He said, please eat with me. Let me show you hospitality. And you know what the Bible says next? A 99-year-old man ran. He ran. And what Pastor Noveson said was this. He said, here was an old man who suddenly found a spring in his step. Why? Because God had drawn near. And when God draws near, you're going to push it to the limit because he's going to fill you with animating zeal to serve him. And that's what the writer of Hebrews is saying, get your eyes on Jesus. Brothers and sisters, the hardest discipline of the Christian life is keeping your eyes fixed upon Jesus. Because just like Martha, we are busy about so much stuff. We've got so many things to do, legitimate things that need to be done. And with those things we're doing, those responsibilities, we get distracted. We're just a perpetually distracted people because life is busy for all of us. And the busyness is not all sinful or bad, it's just reality. But it's so hard to keep the main thing the main thing when you got so many mundane details to worry about all the time. And yet here is the author saying, sit and be still. Be like Mary for a little while. Come aside and set aside the busyness and sit at the feet of Jesus and receive from him because that's what's most needful for your soul. Why does God give us the Lord's day? so that we can set aside those distractions, and we can give the whole day to getting our eyes fixed upon Jesus. He's given us the means of grace this morning that not everybody gets to have, or everybody gets to enjoy in all the world, because there's places where there is no witness for Christ. But here we've been given this privilege, brothers and sisters, this morning and this day. Don't squander the privilege. Take advantage of it, use every means to set aside the cares and distractions of this life and fix your gaze upon things that are to come and to fix your gaze upon Jesus this morning. Because what is the thing you most need? Is to get your eyes upon Christ. So fix your eyes upon him and set aside all those distractions. You need manna from heaven and you need to drink of the water of life and that is Christ himself. So we need to exalt him and fix our minds upon him and pray that indeed he would be exalted in the praises of his people this morning. May he grant grace that it will be so. Let's pray. Father, please help us. It is so hard for us to get our eyes off this present age and on to the age to come, but your Spirit can help us to do this. So I pray that the Spirit of God will be poured out this morning and that you would exalt Christ so incredibly high that we would get our gaze fixed upon Him and it would stay fixed upon Him throughout the entire week. and indeed throughout our entire lives. Exalt your son, glorify yourself, edify your people, and save the lost. And do it not only here, but also throughout all this world. May this day be a great day of kingdom advance for the glory of God. And we ask in Jesus' name, amen.