Or if you'll take your Bibles
and turn with me to Ephesians chapter three. Ephesians chapter
three. We'll be looking at verses 13
through verse 21. I do not expect to make that
this morning, but I would desire to read them for you and we'll
get as far as we can. The scripture says in verse 13,
wherefore I desire, that you faint not at my tribulations
for you, which is your glory. For this cause, I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man. that Christ might dwell in your
hearts by faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we are able to ask or
think according to the power that worketh in us, unto him
be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen. I've entitled this message,
A Message for the Fainthearted, a message for the faint hearted. Now the scriptures are very clear
in these exhortations and encouragements many times. The apostles desire
here is what? That you faint not. Believers,
we know this by our own experience in this life, we are prone to
faint. We are prone to weariness. We are prone to wax fat. and kick against our God. We are prone to murmur and complain
and then faint because of our troubles. And so Paul here, he
says this, wherefore, wherefore I desire that you faint not at
my tribulations for you. Paul says wherefore, he's saying
because, because of the gospel that has been given to me by
the grace and power of God for you. Because God has made known
unto me, Paul says, the mysteries that have been hid before the
world was. God made manifest to me that
this, of his sovereign election of grace. God made manifest to
me that Christ is, we were put in union with Christ before the
foundation of the world. God made manifest to me that
salvation It was only through His blood, His righteousness,
and the power of the Spirit of God to quicken us to life and
faith in Christ. That's the message Paul had.
That's the message he delivered unto them. And he says, because
of this message, because of this message, I desire this, that
you faint not, that you faint not at my tribulations. Because
of what I've written and preached to you, I desire you faint not.
Now this church was no doubt in pain. They were in trouble. They saw the apostle whom they
loved now in prison in Rome. He was in great tribulation and
they, because of his tribulation, began to faint. You look at the
church now. Does it not cause your heart
to faint at times? To see how small the church is?
How few there are that believe the gospel? how the wicked prosper
and the righteous suffer. God's saints are always been
this way. We've been prone to faint because
of tribulation. You remember Asaph, he fainted.
In Psalm 73, it said, truly, this is what he believed. He
believed in the election of grace. He said, truly, I believe God's
good to Israel. He believed in the goodness of
God toward the elect. He said, even to them that are
of a clean heart, he believed in redemption, the redemption
of Christ. Only way a man's made clean is
through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ. And yet he said
what? But as for me, now I know God's
good to you, but as for me, my feet were almost gone, my
steps had nigh well slipped. He was faint. He was faint, his
faith, his faith began to wane. He was faint to believe that
God's goodness and redemption was sufficient for him. Why? For I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Many times, God,
people, we look around us, we see that evil in this world prospers. They gain while the righteous
suffer persecution. The saints fall into many troubles
and we become faint. We see our brothers and sisters
in pain. We see the evil men abuse and
misuse them, but they seemingly walk about with no guilt or shame
at all. And yet God's people, we're constantly
burdened with guilt, constantly burdened with the shame of our
sins. God's people are constantly cast
down and abased, constantly in trouble. But remember, you child
of God, remember this, our Lord Jesus Himself promised this would
happen. Are you faint-hearted because
of what you see? Are you faint-hearted because
of your experience in this world? And yet, don't we have the promise
of Christ concerning this? Go to John chapter 16. John chapter 16. Look at verse 31. Jesus answered them, do you believe,
do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, and
now is come, when you shall be scattered, every man to his own,
and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone because
the Father is with me. These things have I spoken unto
you that you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." He said,
do you now believe? Now these disciples at this time
were very confident in their faith. They were very confident.
They said, we would die with you. Jesus said, guys, the hour is
coming where your faith is going to wane. Your faith is going
to be nothing but unbelief and you'll be scattered. You'll be
scattered like sheep and I'll be left alone. They will come
and they will crucify me and I will die, but I am not alone.
See his faith? The Father is with me. And these
things I tell you that you might have peace when it happens. that
you might have comfort even in the midst of your unbelief. You
might have peace. Here's a maxim for you. In the
world, you shall have tribulation. You shall have tribulation. This
is a promise of God that we should have tribulation. Now the promise
of God is that we not have the best life now. That's not the
promise of God, is it? That's the promise of false preachers.
That's the promise of a false gospel, is that God wants you
to be happy here. God wants you to be happy. That's
what the world says. Now friends, the happiness that
God desires for his people is not in the things of the world.
The happiness of God that he desires for his people and gives
to his people is that that is eternal, not temporal. And so Christ promises tribulation
in this life, pain in this life. He promises suffering that would
come as a result of faith in Him. He tells us that this world
will hate us because it hates Him. So why would we expect a
different result? Isn't this why we're faint at
heart? Because we expect a different result? Because we expect prosperity
in this life? Isn't that why we're so downcast?
When it happens to us, when tribulation comes, when sickness comes, when
affliction comes, when people hurt us, we expect, why did that
happen? I told you it would happen. But
that you might have peace, listen to me, I've overcome these things. These things are not happenstance,
they're in my power to do. Dear believer, if this world
loves you, then our message is wrong, isn't it? If we preach the gospel of Jesus
Christ or right this world will hate us because they hate Christ. Our Lord promised us troubles
but gives us his word that we might have peace in the midst
of our troubles. Trouble will come simply because
he ordained it. But it is my desire that you
faint not at your troubles, because therefore you're good. Therefore,
Paul says, I desire. Let me go back to my text just
a second. Paul said in verse 13, wherefore
I desire that you faint not at my tribulations for you, which
is your glory. It's for your good. These tribulations,
these trials. All troubles in the lives of
believers are never meant to destroy us, but rather to refine
us, to refine us. Over in Zechariah 13, it says
in Zechariah 13, Verse eight, and it shall come
to pass. After the sword awakes, after the shepherd is smitten,
after Christ has put away our sins, he says, it shall come
to pass in all the land, saith the Lord. Two parts thereof shall
be cut off and die, but the third part shall be left. He's talking
about the elect. He's talking about his people.
He said, I will bring a third part through the fire. and will
refine them as silver is refined and try them as gold is tried
and they shall call on my name and I will hear them. I will
say it is my people and they shall say the Lord is my God. We see what God is doing with
your trials, with your troubles. I know they make us faint in
heart, but God has a purpose in this, to refine us. not to destroy us, but rather
to burn the dross. Isn't that what refining is?
You take a lump of gold and it's mixed with all this dross, and
you put it in the fire, and you think, well, that's gonna hurt
the gold. No, it's not gonna hurt the gold. It's going to
refine it. It's going to burn off the dross.
What do you think God is doing but weaning us from this world? Those things you would have never
let go of, now you gladly release. He's burning those things, showing
us these things are temporal. These things have no lasting
value. And the only value is the gold.
Christ, Christ. Things that are eternal, so our
troubles in this life are meant to burn the draws of sin and
unbelief that we might grow in the grace and knowledge of God.
Our trials and troubles are intended that we should set our affections
on eternal things and not the things of the world. Our troubles
are meant to draw us closer to Christ, not separate us. Paul said that the trying of
your faith is more precious than gold. Though it be tried with
fire, nobody's denying the intensity of your troubles. They're painful. No doubt the pains of this life
are overwhelming and cause us to faint. Are you faint because of your
troubles? Are your trials that you stand
in, are they, they seem like mountains and all the world to
storm against you? Does Satan cast accusations at
your heart so as to bring you down to the pits of hell? Does your flesh overwhelm you
and bring you into such vile affections and lusts? Even in
these times of darkness, Jesus said this, be of good cheer. I have overcome them. How? By the blood of His cross. He's
overcome them. He is a friend that sticketh
closer to a brother. Oh, you faint-hearted. What then
is the remedy? We know the cause. The cause
is our sin. The cause is the afflictions
of this life. The cause of our faintness is
the trials and tribulations that we must face in this life. It
causes us to faint. We have no strength in ourselves. Isn't that what it proves? It
proves what we thought we had strength to endure, we don't
have any strength. What's the remedy? Look to Him. Look to Him. Look to him who moves mountains.
Look to him who causes the sea to be calm with a simple word,
peace. Be still. Go to Psalm 62. Look what David did in his trouble
when he was fainthearted. Psalm 62. And look at verse seven. David was in great trouble in
this Psalm. Psalm 62 and verse seven, it
says, in the midst of his trouble, this is what he said, in God
is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is, where? In God, in God. What's the result then? Trust
in Him. At all times, you people, pour
out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Oh, you faint-hearted saints,
where does your salvation lie? In whom is your salvation? David said, my salvation is in
the Lord. It is in The Lord. What do you mean by that? Is
that not our union with Christ? Speaking of His union with Christ. My salvation. Believer, is that
not the foundation of our salvation is our union with Him? It is
in Christ. And because of our union with
Christ, we may say He is my rock. my strength and my refuge. Remember, believer, this speaks
of our foundation, my rock. Isn't that what he's talking
about? The foundation of my salvation is upon Christ, my rock. The
foundation. He says the endurance of my salvation
is in Christ, my rock, my strength. And it speaks of my shelter,
my refuge. Now refuge is in Christ. Believer,
yes, it was the Father who loved us, and by sovereign election,
put us in union with Christ. That's why our salvation's in
Christ, because God put us in Christ. Who put you in Christ?
You? That's what the world would tell
you. Well, you just gotta put yourself in Christ. No, that's
not what the scripture says. Paul said, wherefore? He said,
because I've already told you about this. God put us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. Father put us in union with Christ. And it was by our union with
him that we have been given all spiritual blessings in an eternal
covenant of grace. You know, I love to always see
it that way. Salvation is something done totally outside of us that
we had nothing to do with whatsoever. God, in an eternal covenant,
before there was anything was made, God covenanted in himself
to save us. Purposed it. He planned it. He said that Christ should be
the one that should make us holy and without blame before him.
He purposed it and planned it. And then Christ, without us,
came into the world. Our rock, our strength, our refuge
came into this world as a man and died in our stead. Where
were you? By what merits did he do this? What merits of yours did he come
into the world and die? We didn't have any merits at
all. We didn't have any good or bad then. We weren't even
born. And yet he came and he did this.
He accomplished our salvation. It was by our union with him.
we've been given these spiritual blessings in that covenant. It
was Jesus Christ that God laid to be the foundation. You know,
I didn't lay this foundation, God did. The foundation of my
salvation was laid by God. Behold, I lay in Zion a stone,
a sure stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. Jesus
Christ is that rock, that foundation. It was Christ that was made our
refuge in that He endured the wrath of God for us. Always the
ark is the most wonderful picture in my mind of that, that God
in justice rained down on the whole earth and yet Noah and
his family were secure inside the ark because the ark endured
the storm. The ark endured the wrath. See,
Noah didn't escape the wrath of God. He was just sheltered
in it. That's us. God put us in union
with Christ, and there was Christ, our ark, made sin for us, and
God and wrath poured out on him. Where were you? I was in him. I was in him. And you listen
to this. When God in the appointed time
came and revealed this to us, that we were in Him. We by faith received Him and
received strength to believe. Have you received strength to
believe? Why is it that you, after all
this trouble, have not abandoned Him? I say with Peter, Lord, where
shall I go? There is no place else to go. Now, why do you have that thought?
Why do you have that strength? Because Christ is my rock. Christ
is my refuge, but Christ is also my strength by which I endure
in the faith. You know, Jesus said this, he
that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. How is it that you've endured?
And how will it be that you faint hearted, weak and wounded believers
should ever continue to believe? Simply this, because you are
kept by the power of God through faith in Christ, you're kept.
Kept by the power of God. Therefore, let us who are faint
hearted do what? Trust in Him. That's what David
said, trust in Him. When do you trust in Him? When
did David say it? Look at it. At all times. You just trust in Him when everything's
going well? When you're prosperous? When
there are no troubles. Oh, I trust you. It's easy. It appears easy. But listen,
in prosperity, if you're trusting him, it's the same power keeping
you trusting him in prosperity that keeps you trusting him in
affliction. Trust in him at all times. And
do what? Don't lean on the arm of flesh.
You know why we're fainthearted? Because we've leaned on ourselves.
We've trusted in what we see and what we feel rather than
trusting Him. So believer, let me ask you this
morning, are you fainthearted? Are you fainthearted? Then trust
God. Trust God. Though you would fall,
it feels as though we would fall at any moment. Trust God. And
then in trusting, what are we to do? What is the result of
trusting Him? What would we do when we are
trusting in the perfect salvation of the accomplished work of Christ?
Now Paul loved these believers and he knew that they could not
do anything that he couldn't do personally do anything for
them. He saw their hearts were faint. He knew they were faint. He desired that they would not
faint. So what did he do? Look at verse,
go back to your text. Look at this, go back to your
text. We see that Paul desired that they faint. We know that
believers are capable of fainting. We faint. Our unbelief is so
great in the midst of our troubles. Look at this. For this cause,
Paul said, because you faint, I bow my knees unto the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I desire that you faint.
And for this cause, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna bow down
and pray. I pray to the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ for all the power to keep you belongs to him. Is there any trouble for you
in life? Is the trials caused you to be faint of hearted? Have
you been cast down seeing there's no hope? Here's the remedy. Here's the remedy. Take it to
the Lord in prayer. Paul has stated in no uncertain
terms that every believer has free, continual, uninterrupted
access to God. Look at that in verse 11. He
said, according to the eternal purpose, which God purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord. What is that? Your salvation.
God purposed your salvation. Christ accomplished your salvation. In whom, listen, we have boldness
and access with confidence by trusting Him, faith in Him. You see, believing in Him, we
have what? Access, continual access to God. You pay attention, are you washed
in the blood of Christ? Are you clothed in the righteousness
of Christ? Then you have access to God.
Listen to me, continual access. with confidence. Access, continual
access to God. That Pharisee, you remember when
he prayed? He prayed thus with himself.
This man who trusted in himself, you trust in yourself, you're
praying to yourself. You have no access. You're not
in Christ, you have no access. Guess what? We who are in Christ,
though faint of heart, though our belief is small, grace is
seemingly low, listen, we have access unto God by faith in Christ. All of us by nature are sinners,
but by the grace and power of God, the Holy Spirit, we have
believed and we are accepted. Jesus Christ, through the offering
of his blood and flesh, did what? Rent the veil in Twain. You remember
that old tabernacle? They had those two rooms, that
holy place where they would do all the work all the time, those
priests would go in there. The showbread and the candle,
the laver, that was all in there. But in that other room, there
was a place only one person had access. And he could only go
in there with the blood of bulls and goats, the blood of that
goat, he could only bring that in there once a year. But when
Christ died, listen, that veil was rent from the top to the
bottom. The access was made open so that
not only the high priest could go in there, listen, all those
the high priest represented could go in there. You who believe,
you have access continually unto God. Jesus Christ, that veil rent
in twain, he has made the way of the holiest place open. Therefore, all who are in Christ
have better promises based on a better covenant, not of works. Now then, if you're not going
to God, do you not realize this? That it's because you're going
with your merits. You don't think God's going to
accept you. Why? Because you're bringing something
of your own. Well, of course not. He should
never accept anything we've done. Matter of fact, He won't accept
anything we've done. The only way this access is granted
is through the merits of another. And if we by faith could see
the merits of Christ, we would, if fainthearted, bow our knees. because God alone can cure this
faint heart. Paul recognized that. He said,
that's why I go to God, because he's the only one. He said, I
bow my knees that I might go to him. Therefore you faint hearted,
listen to what Paul says in Hebrews four, seeing then we have a great
high priest. Listen, this high priest has
passed into the heavens. Jesus Christ, the son of God,
let us hold fast our profession. Hold fast without wavering. Why? We have a high priest. If we
didn't have a high priest, we wouldn't have any confidence
at all. But this high priest has entered
into the very holiest of holies with his own blood. He's been
accepted. Hold fast this profession for
this reason. Our high priest, we have a high
priest that cannot be touched with the, we have not a high
priest that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
but in all points was tempted as we are. Here's the reason
why we should not let go of our profession. He was without sin. Yes, he was a man, touched with
the feelings of our infirmities, but listen to this, he was a
man without sin. You see, only a spotless offering
was sufficient to make the way open. A friend of mine and I were talking
about this the other day, what a glorious thing, this matter
of Christ being made sin. He says, the scripture says,
for God hath made Him to be sin for us. Now that wouldn't be sufficient
had not the next verse been in there. Who knew no sin? You see,
He knew no sin. And yet He was made sin. What a mystery. And while he
was made sin, guess what? He still knew no sin. He still
was a spotless lamb of God, even though he was made sin. What
a mystery. What a mystery. Yet that's what
happened. And you know what flowed out?
Sinless blood. Spotless blood flowed out of
his veins. And God saw the blood and said,
accept it. Accept it. See, he was without
sin. Let us therefore, listen, come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. Is that not, when you're
fainthearted, is that not a time of need? Then what must we do? We must,
by faith, bow our knees unto God in prayer. We must come boldly
before him, boldly, but reverently. This idea that is passing through
our generation is that God is some kind of buddy, some kind
of pal. I'll tell you this, Jesus Christ
is my friend. He's a friend that sticketh closer
than a brother. But you get this, he is also
king. I thought of Esther. Esther,
that king was her husband. And yet she reverenced him and
knew that if he did not yield the scepter to her, she would
die. And so it is with us. We come
reverently. We may come boldly because the
scepter is yielded, but we come reverently. We bow our knees. This is necessary. Reason we're
fainthearted is most likely because we haven't bowed the knee. We're
still kicking against the pricks. Bow the knee. What is this? It means this, bowing the knee
means that we are bowing to God's sovereign hand in our providence,
in our troubles, in our tribulations. We are recognizing this, that
all my troubles are not by chance. All these afflictions are by
the sovereign hand of our God. Paul wanted this church to have
strength, but he knew that only that God could give it. And so
then as we come, we recognize this, bowing our knees. Father,
I need mercy. I need mercy. I need help. And I know that it can only come
from your hand. He said, for this cause, I bow
my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because only
Christ could grant this. When we come before our God and
desire to be free from our troubles and trials, let us be mindful
that God knows what is best for us. He knows what we really need. You and I think we know what
we need. How often have you proved that
to be, he proved that to be wrong? Well, I need this. Maybe you
do, maybe you don't. Bow the knee and see what God
gives. what God requires, what God provides
is what we need. Let us by faith remember God's
purpose to do us good and not evil. You know, you can bow your knee
just like Christ and say, Father, Thy will be done, not my will,
and you may rest comfortably to know it will be best. It will
be best because God desires You're good. God said this, I know my
thoughts that I think toward you. Do you know his thoughts? If you would read his word, you
would know his thoughts. I know my thoughts that I think towards
you. Say it the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give
you an expected end. There's no surprise what is going
to be the end of the believer. God doesn't leave that to our
imagination. You know what's going to be your
end? Eternal life. You know what's going to be your
end? Eternal joy. You know what's going to be your
end? forever worshiping God in the kingdom of heaven, rejoicing
with all the saints. Why? Because that's the purpose
of God. That's the thoughts of God toward you. And all of these
things that are taking place in time are working toward that
end. Our Lord purposed everything in this world for
our good. You see, we by nature were captives
to sin and bondage to Satan, and yet what? God purposed our
deliverance, didn't he? He purposed it. In a covenant
of grace, he purposed it. Then Jesus Christ, what did he
do? He came and accomplished it. And in the grace and power
of God, the Holy Spirit came to you at the appointed time
and gave you life and peace. Gave you faith in Christ. And so now in our trouble and
afflictions, is it not true that God gave these as well? That
God purposed these as well? And so then if you're faint in
heart, what do we do? Bow the knee and wait. Wait. For what? Deliverance. Deliverance. Let this word of God then fall
fresh on your ears When you call, God says. When you pray, when
you seek God with all your heart, He will be found of you. That's
a promise. That's a promise. Look at this next verse. Maybe
this will give you comfort if you're faint in heart. It says,
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Don't you
know this? You are a son of God. You see, your union with Christ
has provided something that nothing else could ever provide, the
adoption. You are the sons of God, of whom
the whole family is named. Paul said that according as he
had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy without blame before him, in love, having
predestined us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself. Why? According to the good pleasure
of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
he hath made us accepted. He hath made us accepted in the
beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of his grace. What an amazing
inclusion that we have been made sons of God. All the elect are adopted sons. All of us were purposed to be
holy and without blame. All of us were given to Christ
and in him possess all spiritual blessings. And therefore, as
our high priest, Jesus Christ has saved and redeemed all of
his elect. So then in Christ, we have redemption. We all have the forgiveness of
sins. Isn't this what Asa was saying?
He said, I know God's good to you, but as for me, well, doesn't
that take care of that? Listen, if you're a believer
in Christ and are the son of God, guess what? If I'm a believer,
I also am a son of God. What is the evidence of that?
He said, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will. This is
how you know that you are his elect. This is how you know you
are a son of God, is that in the providence of God, the Spirit
of God gave you life and you believed on the Son of God. John
said this, as many as received him to them, only to them have
you received him. What is it to receive Him? It
is to believe Him. To receive Him is simply, I love
the way Don illustrates it. We have a man who's thirsty and
there's a glass of water. If he grabs the water and he
pours the water down his throat, he has received the water. and
his thirst is abated. That's exactly what it is to
receive Christ. We are in the drought of sin without any righteousness,
and to receive Christ is to believe on Him, and as we believe on
Him, we are made righteous in the new nature. He has given
us a new heart. He says, as many as received
Him, to them gave He the right. Talk about rights. You know what,
I got a right. I got a right to be called the
Son of God. I have a right. Now that was not based on any
merit in myself. My right has no basis on my own
merit, but the merits of the one I have received, Him, Christ. And how did you receive Him while
others have not and will not, which were born? Not of blood,
not of kinship, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will
of man, but the will of God. That's how you were born again.
And if you were born again to receive Him, guess what? In Him,
you're part of the family. Now, if you're faint in heart,
does that not give your heart a lift to know this? You're His
child. You are his son. And if sons, then heirs, joint
heirs with Christ. Yeah, but I don't feel it. What
in the world does have to do with it? Feelings come and feelings go. Feelings are deceptive, aren't
they? The only thing that matters is
Christ. If you're fainthearted or you're
strong in the faith, does that have anything to do with your
relationship to God? Not one thing. Though I'm fainthearted and you're
strong in faith, we are still sons of God together. I still
have the same forgiveness and redemption you do. I still have
that uncorruptible inheritance that you do, even though I'm
faint. Does that not exalt you? Does
that not lift you up to know that we are named in the family
of God? And listen, Paul says in verse
16, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to
be strengthened with might, How? By His Spirit in the inner man. How are we strengthened if we're
faint? Only by His Spirit. Now listen, I can encourage you
and I should. You should encourage me and you
should. That's what we do. We encourage
one another. We take the Word of God together
and look, look Scott, this is what God's Word says. And I seek to find you, I seek
for you to have comfort. I desire that you faint not. but you know it's not up to me
to give you that might. To lift you up is not my business. I can't lift myself up. How could
I lift you up? I can't encourage myself. How
can I encourage you? I need something stronger than
you and you need something stronger than me. You need the Spirit
of God and that's what we pray. We bow the knee because He is
the Father of us all who believe. In Christ, we are made sons.
Now, we need to be strengthened with all might. Now, where is
this strength going to come? In the flesh? In the inner man. In the inner
man. How then does this strength come?
In the same way I told you before, looking to Christ, looking unto
Jesus. Paul said, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, sat down on the throne
of God. Friends, looking unto Jesus is
the way we are strengthened, and that, friends, comes by the
Spirit of God. Isn't that the way it first came
to you? How did you, were you strengthened in the inner man
at first by your own might or the might of someone else? No,
it was the spirit of God that gave you that. To look unto Jesus
Christ, to run the race set before us. How many of us are looking
at our brother's race? Isn't that a fallacy to look
at their race and say, well, man, I wish I had their race.
We probably couldn't even endure their race. The encouraging thing
is we're all running the same way. Christ, looking unto Jesus. Listen, here's your comfort,
the author and finisher of our faith. Over in 2 Corinthians,
Paul said this, all things are for your sakes. All things are
for your sakes. That the abundant grace might
be through the thanksgiving may redound to the glory of God,
for which cause we faint not. Though the outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed." What? Day by day. You see, when
God grants you strength, it's not going to be in the flesh.
It's always going to be in the inner man. And the inner man
is always doing what? Looking to Christ. You see, this
is how the faint heart is restored. This is how the faint heart is
refreshed by the Spirit of God. It is by faith, looking to Christ. And what do we see when we see
Christ? What do we see? Look at verse
17. That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, That being rooted and grounded in love, you may
be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and
length and depth and height to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge. You see what it is that faith
gives us? It gives us a view of his love. Now how, you fainthearted, you
listen. I'll close with this. How deep
is his love? How high is his love? How wide is his love? How broad is his love? You can't find an end to that,
can you? His love is past knowledge. Because it doesn't change, even
when you're fate. His love was the same for you
as when you were strong. His love was the same for you
as when you were in your sin. Isn't that something? So then, what is the conclusion?
Who then shall separate us from the love of God, sin, Christ,
Jesus? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, peril, nakedness,
sword, no. Nothing shall separate us from
the love of God, said Christ Jesus. Now may God, the Holy
Spirit, strengthen you with all might in the inner man to show
you his love by faith, that you may look at it, oh, fainthearted,
examine it, we can be refreshed. Then we'll
be strengthened and comforted. I pray that God would do this
for us, that we would bow our knees to his providence, trust
in him, look to him, that he would grant us these things,
that he would show us by faith the love of Christ.