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Hebrews 12:1\u20133\nTherefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2\xa0fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3\xa0Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.\n\nHebrews 11\n11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2\xa0This is what the ancients were commended for. 3\xa0By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God\u2019s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4\xa0By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5\xa0By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: \u201cHe could not be found, because God had taken him away.\u201d\xa0 For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6\xa0And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 7\xa0By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. 8\xa0By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9\xa0By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10\xa0For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11\xa0And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12\xa0And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 13\xa0All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14\xa0People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15\xa0If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16\xa0Instead, they were longing for a better country\u2014a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17\xa0By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18\xa0even though God had said to him, \u201cIt is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.\u201d\xa0 19\xa0Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. 20\xa0By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21\xa0By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph\u2019s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22\xa0By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. 23\xa0By faith Moses\u2019 parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king\u2019s edict. 24\xa0By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh\u2019s daughter. 25\xa0He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26\xa0He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27\xa0By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king\u2019s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28\xa0By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 29\xa0By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 30\xa0By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. 31\xa0By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.\xa0 32\xa0And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33\xa0who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34\xa0quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35\xa0Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36\xa0Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37\xa0They were put to death by stoning;\xa0 they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated\u201438\xa0the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39\xa0These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40\xa0since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.\n\nHebrews 12: 1-3\nTherefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2\xa0fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3\xa0Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.\n\n2 Timothy 4:1\u20138\nIn the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2\xa0Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage\u2014with great patience and careful instruction. 3\xa0For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4\xa0They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5\xa0But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 6\xa0For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7\xa0I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8\xa0Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day\u2014and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.\n\n2 Corinthians 11:21\u201333\n21\xa0To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! Whatever anyone else dares to boast about\u2014I am speaking as a fool\u2014I also dare to boast about. 22\xa0Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham\u2019s descendants? So am I. 23\xa0Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24\xa0Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25\xa0Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26\xa0I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27\xa0I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28\xa0Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29\xa0Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 30\xa0If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31\xa0The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 32\xa0In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 33\xa0But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.