Well, turn now to Hebrews chapter
11, sorry, chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. I'm going
to look at the first four verses with you this morning. The true
gospel, as it's clearly declared in scripture, is always treated
with suspicion. It is, always has been. It's
hated by the religious world, the true gospel. And it's as
plain as you can see in scripture, absolutely clear, but that truth
which is so clear there, you won't hear a word of it I could
say virtually with absolute confidence, anywhere in the Anglican church
of this country, the national church of this country, I doubt
whether you will hear one word of the true gospel as it's declared
in the scripture ever preached there in these days. Has been
in the past, but not today. You won't in the Roman church
or anywhere else. in the majority of what calls
itself evangelical. That which calls itself evangelical
is either blatantly Arminian, and as Cliff was showing us earlier
in the study on 2 Thessalonians 2.13, that is a complete contradiction
of what the scriptures teach. It's been tried and found guilty
of contravening what the scriptures teach regarding salvation, and
yet, that which is called evangelical is almost wholly gone over to
it. And even that which calls itself Calvinistic, scratched
beneath the surface. And you'll see the spirit of
Arminianism rampant there, in the practices that they carry
out, in the approach that they give, in everything that they
do. And all they can do is to people
who desire and aim albeit with failings, to preach the gospel
truthfully as we do, all they can do is they say, you're hyper-Calvinists.
That's the response to them. Well, don't be surprised at that. Don't be upset by it. We read
in Matthew's gospel, chapter 10, what Jesus said to the disciples.
Wasn't what he said exactly what we experience? What the saints
of God have always experienced? Don't be surprised by these things.
Anybody that tells you that you will tell whether you're doing
the work of God if you've got thousands of people coming from
the community to your services and if you haven't got thousands
coming then it's a clear indication that God isn't working. Read
Matthew chapter 10 again and just assure yourself that that's
not the case. Christ told his disciples, don't
expect that sort of thing. It isn't the case at all. No,
the religious world hates the true gospel. And you preach the
true gospel, as people have done, right down the ages, you preach
the true gospel as Paul did, as the fathers have done, as
people all the way down history have done, and you're regarded
as if you're peddling some new, oddball, anti-traditional teaching. and they'll say, that's some
weird doctrine, this is a religion that's unknown to our fathers,
we don't know anything about this. If you preach Christ-centered
grace alone, if you repeat the Scripture's declaration again
and again and again, you are not under law but under grace,
that you are free from the law, that you are to stand fast in
the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, if you preach
that, you're labeled an antinomian. You're immediately labeled an
antinomian. You're accused of peddling some
new brand of antinomianism. of being liberal and teaching
the people of God to disobey the law of God. Don't be surprised
by any of these things, it was always the case. And in the case
of the Hebrews, to whom Paul was writing, so it was the same
with them. You see, they thought that Paul's
gospel of Christ was a radical departure from the traditions
of the fathers of Israel. Yes, that's what they thought.
This new teaching of Christ, this new gospel of grace, you
know, that we've believed, but hold on a minute. What about
all the temple worship and the Judaizers that tell us that we
must have all the temple sacrifices and all those things still going
on? This is a radical departure from the religion of our fathers,
from the religion of Abraham. And what's the message of Hebrews
11? No, it wasn't. It wasn't a departure. It was
exactly the same faith and justification as them. That the believers in
the Lord Jesus Christ, those who are beloved of God, those
who have believed the truth through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, those who are true believers, They
have exactly the same faith, and justification, and righteousness,
in the eyes of God, as the fathers did, as Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and Joseph, and all of those that are listed in Hebrews
chapter 11. Hence we have this cloud of witnesses,
this great cloud of witnesses. These ones had the same faith. Now what is he saying here? In
these four verses, let's just read these four verses, wherefore,
he's just been through this chapter, 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, who, for the joy
that was set before him, endured the cross. despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For
consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have
not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Look forward,
he says. Where for? Why for? Well, you
have to look right back to the end of chapter 10, where he's
talking about needing patience to continue, and the just living
by faith, and not drawing back to perdition, but those that
believe to the saving of the soul. Think of this great cloud
of witnesses in chapter 11. Now, because of all of that,
seeing we're encompassed about by that great cloud of witnesses,
let's lay aside. every weight, the sin that so
easily besets us and let us run the race that is set before us.
In our own strength? No. looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. What he's saying is, don't harp
back to false notions of what constituted gold standard religion. That's what they were doing.
They were saying, look, you've come up with some newfangled
idea, but the gold standard religion is the religion of Abraham and
Isaac and our fathers. This is our tradition. We're
the children of Abraham. You know, in the days of Jesus
and his ministry, the Pharisees were so proud of the fact that
they were the children of Abraham who walked in the line of Moses
and all of the Old Testament teaching. They were so proud
of this and yet they completely missed the point that these were
they that spoke of Christ. They completely missed the point
that theirs wasn't what they thought wasn't the gold standard
religion because they'd missed the point that those patriarchs
had exactly the same faith as the faith of the gospel of Christ
that the apostles were preaching. So he says, don't harp back to
that, look forward, as that great cloud of witnesses were looking
forward. The great cloud of witnesses
were all looking forward to Christ. They were all looking forward.
They sought a city. which has foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. Zion, city of our God, the new
Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, that was their goal.
Eternity, glory, salvation, sinless perfection in the presence of
God, that was their goal. This was just a passing phase.
This was just a sojourn to teach us, to train us, as we're going
to see in the future verses in chapter 12. This was just a time
that we spend here for our training. You know, children often don't
like being children, because of the training, because of the
restrictions, because of all of these constraints. But it's
for your good. It's for your good, it's for
your future good, for your future development, and so it is with
the child of God. We're here for a while, in this
veil of tears, in this flesh, this sinful flesh, with this
war going on within, it's for our training, it's for our good.
Life in the flesh, for a true believer, is Hard. It's difficult. You see,
we're not to stand still, but we're to look forward and progress
forward, because this says, let us run the race that is set before
us. That's not talking about being
at ease and sitting back, is it? Let us run the race that
is set before us. It's a race. Life in the flesh
for a true believer is like a race in athletics. And it's aiming
for the finish line. And we each have to run, as it
says somewhere in Corinthians, as if only the one who's first
over the line wins the prize. But the truth is, as declared
by all of Scripture, is that it's everyone that crosses that
line. that wins the prize. All who finish the race win the
prize of the glory of God, who arrive there in glory. So what
I want to show you from these verses is first of all the race
that we're in, secondly how we're exhorted to run it, and thirdly
the object of that race that we must keep in view. Firstly
the race So the Christian life is a struggle. It is. The Christian
life in the flesh is a struggle. And the reason is? We have two
contrary natures. in one being. The flesh is nothing
but sin. Those that preach law, preach
the reformation of the flesh, they're trying to make that which
is fallen and corrupt in its nature into that which reflects
the image of the living God. I want them to see Christ in
me, you know, the pious thing, let the beauty of Jesus be seen
in me. I heard Don Fortner very forcefully
say, and some people got upset by it, very forcefully he said,
they say, let them see Christ in me. They didn't even see Christ
in Jesus when he walked this earth. Did they? They didn't
see Christ in Jesus. So don't go thinking that they're
going to see Christ in your flesh. Oh yes, you should bear the fruit
of the Spirit, but don't. The flesh is corrupt. Utterly
corrupt. The heart of man is deceitful
above all things. Desperately wicked. Who can know
it? That's what Jeremiah 17, 9 says. The heart of man is sinful. Nothing but sin. You know, again,
we must see the children of God know this. that in my flesh there
dwells no good thing, that I, as I am, however high an opinion
of myself I might have, however good a person I think I might
be, when I am judged at the bar of the justice of God, I am found
utterly, utterly wanting. There is not one a ha'penny of
currency I can bring in my flesh to do anything at that bar of
the justice of God. For I am altogether corrupt in
my nature. I am nothing but sin. But for
the believer, the Spirit of God has planted a new man. Unless
a man be born again, Jesus said to Nicodemus, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. He must be born again. There
must be a new man that is implanted in the heart, the man of the
Spirit of God. That must be there. And that
new man, according to John, cannot see. In the one epistle, 1st
John, he says in the first chapter, don't fool yourselves, if you
say you have no sin, you deceive yourself and the truth is not
in you. But we have an advocate with the Father if we sin, when
we sin, we have an advocate with the Father. And then in the third
chapter he says, that the one who is born of the Spirit of
God cannot sin. These two natures in the one
being, the flesh which is nothing other than sin, and that which
is born of the spirit of God which desires the things of God,
and the glory of God, and the heaven of God, and the sinlessness
of that state of being with God, and they're in conflict with
one another. Ephesians chapter 5, they're
contrary to one another, the spirit and the flesh, and they're
against one another, and they're constantly in tension, And we're
told to fight. The Christian life is a struggle.
We're told to fight the good fight of faith, Paul says to
Timothy. We're told that the Christian
life is a wrestling match. In a wrestling match, you know,
every muscle and sinew is put to the objective of subduing
the opponent. It's a struggle. It requires
strength. It requires determination. It's
regarded as a race. All these pictures, all these
analogies of what the Christian life is like. A fight. You know,
you don't go into the ring with your hands tied behind your back.
You'll just get punched on the nose and you'll be flat on your
back. First, you go in there ready to fight. This is what
the Scripture's talking about. There's a struggle. There's a
wrestling match. There's a race to be run. And
our opponents, the believers' opponents, in this race, are
Satan. The world. It's because Satan...
Look in Revelation, you see Satan pictured as the one who is constantly
trying to destroy the Christ of God and to destroy the people
of God with him. Satan is our enemy. The world
is against us. The flesh seeks to bring us down
to hell. The sinful natures and desires
of the flesh. You see, the believer's experience,
it isn't a bed of roses. Jesus said, Jesus warned, before
you embark on this, think of the cost. Count the cost. Which
of you sets out with a project without first counting the cost? You need to count the cost. And
what is the cost? If you believe this gospel of
grace, you'll suffer persecution. It might be physical, but it
might be psychological. Isolation. Alienation. Treating you despitefully. Even
martyrdom, it has been in the past, and is in some places even
in our day, in the extreme. There are those who are true
believers, living in Islamic countries, who have been put
to death for their belief of the truth. But you know there
are many professed believers, many who profess belief, who
experience no such struggle at all. And yet this struggle should
mark, you know, whatever it's like, you will know that by believing
this truth, you're suffering in some way for it. You're suffering
isolation, you're suffering misunderstanding, you're suffering rejection, all
sorts of things. That is the believer's lot. And
there's a fight to go on, straining muscles. In a race you get out
of breath. It isn't easy, you know? I always
used to envy those when I was at school, because I never liked
long-distance running. I could sprint a hundred yards
pretty well. I used to win sprints, but I had no stamina at all,
and I couldn't run very far at all. I'd very easily get absolutely
exhausted, and I used to envy those that seemed to never get
out of breath. They could just go on and on
and on. But it is a struggle. It is hard. But some are at ease
with the world. Some who profess to be believers,
they're at ease, they're comfortable with the world, they're happy
in its company, comfortable with the outlook of worldly acquaintances. Yes, we have acquaintances in
the world, yes, of course we do, and relatives who are in
the world. But if you're a true believer,
there are always situations where you'll say, gosh, I just don't
like the company here. I just don't like this. I remember you, Peter, coming
home and going out with your mates as you used to do, and
when you heard and believed the gospel, nobody had to tell you not to
go there, you just didn't like the company there, you just didn't
like the environment, you just didn't like the ambience of the
place. And so it is for the believer. Do you know, the fact that we're
here, Jesus said he was going to leave his disciples in this
world. Look at John chapter 17. This is his prayer on the night
before he died, the night before he went to the cross, and this
is the prayer that he prays. We won't read it all for the
sake of time, but look at verse 11. And now I am no more in the world. Because the next day he was going
to die, and then he was going to rise, and then he was going
to be taken up into heaven. But he says, these, my people,
are in the world, and I come to thee out of the world. Holy
Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given
me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in
the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest
me, I have kept. And none of them is lost but
the son of perdition, that was Judas, that the scripture might
be fulfilled. And now come I to thee, and these
things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. So Jesus is in the world and
he's telling his disciples these things that they might have his
joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word and
the world has hated them because they are not of the world even
as I am not of the world. You see, if you're in Christ
and you have the mind of Christ there will always be a tension
and a difference. with the attitude, the philosophy,
the loves, the desires of the world. Now look what he says,
verse 15. I pray not that thou shouldst
take them out of the world. We're here for a purpose. This
is God's will, that we be here in this flesh, in this world,
in this struggle with sin, in this struggle with opposition
to the truth. I pray not to take them out of
the world and put them in a monastery where they can be isolated from
it, or take them off to some environment where they can get
away with everything they don't like about it, no. But thou should
keep them from the evil. Keep them from the evil, for
they're not of the world, even as I am not of the world. You
see that? You see what he says? We're here
in this race for a purpose. It's all in the plan and purpose
of God that we're here. Now, you might be anxious to
leave this world. Paul was. He said, I'm in a strait
betwixt two to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
Oh, how I'd love to depart and be with Christ, which is far
better. But for now, it's God's will that we're still here. This
is his will. Be patient, for a while, you're
here. Serve him, live for him, honour
him, here, for this time. And it's a race that we must
run in accordance with the rules of the race. You know, the Olympics
is coming up and all the races will be run according to rules.
You know some of the track events where they run the first so many
laps in lanes, in the stripped lanes. And then after a while,
after they've been so far, the stagger is taken out and then
they break and they all just bunch up and run. But there are
rules to say when. And you know what happens if
anybody breaks before they've done the required distance? Disqualification. Immediately. You can't win the
race, you've run according to the rules. This is what Paul
says to Timothy. 2 Timothy 2 verses 3 to 5. Thou therefore... Now listen
to the words, listen to the language about the Christian life. Thou
therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth entangleth
himself with the affairs of this life. So the picture is the soldier. who's going off to Afghanistan
to fight the Taliban, but actually, he's got this great big DIY job
on at home that, you know, he's, no, no, in that situation, utter
single-mindedness, absolute single-mindedness, that he may please him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier. Sovereign grace. It's everywhere. Can't avoid it. Scriptures are
full of it. That he may please him who, not you didn't, Jesus
said you didn't choose me, I chose you and sent you. Please him
who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for
masteries, he's in this fight, he's in this race, Yet is he
not crowned except he strive lawfully. Must do it according
to the rules. The rules that God has set. The
word, the gospel, the truth that he has set. This is how we do
it, according to that. We seek to know his will, we
seek to know his truth, and to run this race according to the
truth that is revealed. We won't amend it, we won't adjust
it, so that we can be friends with a wider group of people
who call themselves Christians. They either believe this truth
as it's declared here, and we'll have fellowship with them, as
we will with everyone that will come to that conference. Everyone
that will come to that conference is coming to hear the gospel
declared as we declare it, that which others call hyper-Calvinism.
But it's the gospel being declared. How you can call that hyper-Calvinism,
I do not know. By its very nature, it's the
gospel declared. The messages will be recorded.
They'll go out on the internet. They're there for anybody who
will to listen, without distinction. God has decreed that for our
good we should spend time here in this race. Let us run the
race that is set before us. There are examples to be followed
if you turn over the page to chapter 13 and verse 7. talking about those in their
church situation which have the rule over you, remember them,
who have spoken unto you the word of God. Whose faith follow,
considering the end of their conversation? Follow their example. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11,
he says, be followers of me. Sounds a bit self-aggrandizing,
doesn't it? Be followers of me, but then
he says, even as I am of Christ. This is it. Follow the example. Follow the example. And you know,
only the redeemed run this race. There are many that pretend to,
but only the redeemed run this race. Those who are redeemed,
bought their sin debt paid by the precious blood of Christ.
And only they obtain the prize for finishing the course. That's
the truth of God. There is a race. We're in a race.
Let's run that race. Let's realize that the world
all around would seek to distract us. Yes, we must live in this
world. Yes, we must interact with everybody around us in this
world. But you know, if God has planted that new man And you know, I'm not talking
about men and women when I say that, I mean mankind. You know,
I'm talking about that creation of the Spirit of God within.
Then whatever you do, you try to be as wise as serpents and
as gentle as doves in all of your interaction, but you know
this, you know this, that you have the mind of Christ in you. You have the mind of Christ and
everything else all around has the mind of the world. And he's
not heading the same way. Just know that. Be aware of it.
Run this race that is set before us. Well, how should we run the
race? I need to speed up. How should we run this race?
First of all, look, wherefore seeing we are all so compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses. I don't know when
the Olympics start. Is it July or is it August? I
don't know. But anyway, later on this year, And imagine the
track and field events and the new stadium in the East End of
London. Guess what will be sitting in the seats? Crowds of people,
we think. Those that managed to get tickets
anyway. Crowds of people. And they'll be watching. The
runners in the races will be encompassed about with a great
cloud of witnesses. and the great cloud of witnesses
will be cheering them on and encouraging them, and encouraging
them to give the last ounce of strength that they've got to
be the winner, to achieve the prize, to win the medal, to win
the gold medal, the silver medal. We're encompassed about with
a great crowd of witnesses, a cloud of witnesses, the patriarchs,
the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, the brethren who've
gone before us, the ones that have reached the goal. Now, all I'm saying from this is that
we're given a picture here as to view it that those that have
gone before us, those that have lived the Christian life before
us, are looking down and encouraging us. That's the picture that he's
given here. I'm not sure about our eternal
state in terms of when Christ has come again and taken us to
be with him, because as Cliff pointed out to me, we saw a verse
in Isaiah 65 last week about this creation not being remembered
anymore. And the sins of this creation
would make me think, no, it won't be remembered, because those
sins would defile. that situation. But the situation
now, while we're here in this world, in this fallen world,
running this race, the picture that's given is of a crowd of
those that have gone before, the witnesses, the saints that
have gone before, and they're cheering us on. Come on, come
on, get to the line, get to the line, go and be with there, go
and be there with them. We get a glimpse of it when Elijah
and Moses come down on the Mount of Transfiguration and speak
with Christ in his transfigured glory. It's like they're there,
and they've come down to this earth, and they're speaking with
him. They're on the Mount of Transfiguration. So here we have
this view. Let's run this race conscious
of a crowd watching and encouraging and cheering us on. Secondly,
let us lay aside every weight Lay aside every weight. You know,
if we're in this race, there are things that would weigh us
down. There are things that would hold us back. Let us lay aside
the weights. Anything that would impede our
progress, lay it aside. You know, when there's a fire
alarm in a building, the instruction is get out. I remember once I
was in an office in Manchester, in the depths of January on a
very cold day. and I was, I and my colleagues
were at a set of desks I think on the fifth floor of the office
and it was lunchtime and so we left jackets and laptops and
went down to the canteen on the fourth floor to get something
to eat and while we were there the fire alarm rang. Oh I'll
just go back and get my jacket and my laptop. No you won't.
No way, out of the building. Fire alarm. Could be that you're
going to be trapped in here. What point is there having a
jacket on if you're burnt to death? What point is there carrying
your possessions out if you're burnt to death? You get out of
the building. And I remember we all spent a very uncomfortable
hour in the streets of Manchester with the snow coming down and
the wind howling down from the northeast. It was freezing cold.
But you see, that was the urgency. Lay aside every weight. Don't
hang around for those things. Get out of that situation. So
consider weights that would hinder you in your Christian life. Think
of situations that can become weights. Relatives who can be
such a discouragement to your Christian life. Your career can
be such a discouragement to your Christian life. Your worldly
possessions and the enticements of the world. The sins of the
world. We read earlier, in Matthew 10,
Christ saying about the need for his disciples to love him
above all other things. That's not selfishness, that's
just truth as it is. He must be first in everything. Every other relationship will
only be good insofar as he is first in absolutely everything. Christ must be loved and be preeminent
in all things. Not just preeminent in creation
and in the plan of God, but preeminent in your life and your choices
and your options as a believer. This is why he says it's so hard
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, because he's so encumbered
with these things that so buy up his affections. And don't
forget these weights are not just external things, but there
are weights in the heart and in the mind, internal things
that weigh us down. Lay aside those weights. Thirdly,
the sin which doth so easily beset us. Let's lay aside the
sin which doth so easily beset us. I used to be taught that
this was talking about, you know, everybody's got their own pet
sin. You know what yours is, and you know what yours is, and,
you know, yours might be, you know, a desire for chocolate
all the time, or something like that, but perhaps you can resist
that desire for chocolate all of the time. No, that's not what
it's talking about. Besetting sin is sin that trips
you up, and the sin that trips up the believer more than anything
else is the sin of unbelief. For unbelief is the opposite
of faith. You know, in Hebrews 4 verse
6, we read there, they could not enter in. Why? Because of
unbelief. It was why they couldn't enter
in to the promised land. There's an ongoing need to lay
it aside. It's not something you lay aside
once. You watch out, in the flesh, unbelief rises up. Unbelief rises
up. It's a constant thing that you
must constantly be suppressing. Don't be surprised, the flesh
doesn't like the sovereignty of God. The flesh doesn't like
the particular redemption of Christ. But this is what God
has revealed, and this is the truth. Believe His truth. Believe
His truth. Fourthly, with patience. Let
us run with patience the race that is set before us. With patience. With endurance. This is like
the long distance runner. This is the 10,000 metres or
the marathon. Run with patience the race that
is set before us. You know, many appear to run
well for a time, but then they fade away, like the analogies
in the parable of the sower, those that seem to grow well
for a while. Job 17 verse 9 says, the righteous,
the one made the righteousness of God in him, the righteous
shall hold on his way. Why? Because we read, Christ
prayed his father, Keep them in the world, and keep them from
the evil. Keep them. No man can take them,
pluck them, out of the Father's hand. My Father is greater than
all. The saints, true saints, keep on fighting the fight of
faith. They keep on keeping the true
faith. Because there's a goal in view.
The crown of glory. Now all of this is a tall order.
And as it stands, you think, how would I ever get the strength
to do that? Have you the strength of character
to do it? Not at all. Because how is it done? How is
this race run? Looking unto Jesus. Verse 2,
the author and finisher of our faith. What is it to look to
Jesus? Note it says, look to Jesus. particularly the name
of the man, the man, Jesus. Look to Jesus, the man, who is
the mediator between God and man. There is one God and one
mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. He is
the manifestation of God. Look to him, Look to Him in whom
dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That's who to look to.
Run this race looking to Him. Don't look at the holes in the
road or the distractions. Look to Him. You know, as Peter
walked on the waves, as long as he looked to Jesus, he walked
on the waves. And then he took his eye off
Christ and looked at the waves and began to sink. Lord, save
me before I drown. Look to him. Look to Jesus. He's the one in whom dwelt that
fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's the one in whose face the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God is revealed. He's
the one in whom are found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
He's the one who is man, but he's the one who is God. He's
the God-man. He became man. Why did he become
man? That he might shed his precious
human blood, his precious sinless human blood, to justify his people,
to pay the sin-debt of his people. Keep that in mind constantly.
This is why we're reminded in bread and wine, when we share
the bread and wine. This is why we have this regular
reminder. The basis of our acceptance with
God, the basis of our running this race of faith, is the broken
body and the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blood shed
to pay his people's sin debt. He's the author of our faith.
He is the author of our faith. You know, if you ask all those
that are of an Arminian persuasion, why are you a Christian? They'll say, they'll sing the
chorus, which we used to sing, I have decided to follow Jesus. I, I have done it. Everybody
else didn't, but there I decided to follow Jesus. Yes, he makes
his people willing in the day of his power. But he chose. He is the author of his people's
faith. He is the originator of it. Is
that not sovereign grace? And he is the one who will finish
that faith. Because he keeps his people to
the very end. And he will finish it. What is
it to be the finisher of his faith? Of your faith? Of my faith? Is it going to end? Is your faith
going to end? Yes. Oh, shocked, you're shocked,
your faith's gone. Yes it is. He will keep his people until
they need faith no more. When's that? When we're in glory.
Now remain faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is
love. Why? Because when we see him as he is, faith will become
sight. Faith will become sight, hope.
Why will we hope for that which we're seeing right before us?
It's there before us, we need no more hope. That's the reason
why. We need him to keep us. He said
without me you can do nothing. So we look unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. He is our faith. The faith of
Jesus Christ, you know that word is important, of. The faith of
Jesus Christ is the faith of his people in him. He is our
faith. He lived a life of perfect faith
as a man when he walked this earth. The life I now live in
the flesh, says Paul to the Galatians, I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. He's our example
of endurance in the face of opposition. Look at verse 3, consider him
that endured such, you think you've got contradiction. of
the world and of sin around. Think of what he endured against
himself, lest you be wearied. He, for the joy that was set
before him of saving his people, of going into glory, behold I
and the children whom he's given me, for the joy set before him,
he endured the shame of the cross. What was it? It wasn't just the
physical pain of the nails. It wasn't that. It was being
made sin for his people. And the justice of God being
poured out on him, that shame, he's now set down at the right
hand of God. Now consider him. Mimic his endurance, is what
Paul is saying here. Mimic his endurance in the strength
of his faith, and keep him. He keeps his people. Keep considering
him as the antidote to the weariness and faintness of mind. Look there,
you know, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. Keep
considering him as the antidote to that weariness and faintness
of mind in the long-distance race to heaven. And remember
what constrains the believer to faithful acts. What is it?
The love of Christ that constrains us. Not laws, not rules, the
love of Christ. So strive against sin, but especially
unbelief, and keep looking to Him with that object of glory
ahead, not to religion, not to tradition, but to Him alone who
loved us and gave Himself for us. And as we share this bread
and wine, this is why we do it, to remember Him, looking unto
Jesus.