Hebrews chapter 12, we're going
to read the first four verses. Let's pray. Father, thank you
for giving us your word. What a great gift this is to
us to reveal your own will, your mind, your character, and your
work to us and your glory. And all of this in the Lord Jesus
Christ, your only begotten son, our Lord and savior. We pray,
Lord, that you would enable us now through the life-giving power
of Your Spirit, through Your Word, to hear the Lord Jesus
Christ and of His glory, and so worship You in Him. We pray
it be with all those who hear us today, all those who hear
Your Word, that You would not leave one in their sins, but
You would save them, quicken us, Lord, and cause us to trust
You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The book of Hebrews is a wonderful
book. I went to, as we were singing
that song a moment ago, O Christ, our hope, our heart's desire,
it occurs to me that, and maybe I'm prone to do this, that the
truth of God is not abstract truth. It's the Lord himself. Jesus said, I am the truth. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. What we read, what we hear from
the Gospel is about Him. It's about our Savior. We sing
to Him. We worship Him. We call on Him.
We trust Him. And what He has done for us in
the Gospel is the revelation of Himself to us. And this is
the reason that we so are compelled to come, compelled, constrained
to trust Him alone, because we need Him and we have no other
options, and He's made Himself abundantly. abundantly given
Himself for us and to us in the Word of God. What a treasure
this is. But as we think about these things,
never let us lose sight of the fact that we don't just think
about, but we call on the Lord. We meditate on Him. And these
things, drive us to Him in prayer, and supplication, and thanksgiving,
and worship. And that's the reason He's given
us His Word, to make known Himself, to make known His will, His mind,
and His work, and in all these things, His glory. And this directs
us away from this world, directs us away from all that we see
with our physical eyes. We live upon what God has said. We see the things that he says
are true, and we depend upon him for it. So when we look at
Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, what we're seeing here is the
unfolding of the fulfillment of all of scripture. Christ has
come, Christ fulfilled, and this was foretold in scripture, and
now it's revealed in what he did and accomplished. When you
read the Bible in the Old Testament, that's what's explained in the
book of Hebrews and in the rest of the New Testament as well,
but particularly here, particularly in the book of Romans and Hebrews
and Galatians and Ephesians and so on. These epistles, these
monumental gifts of God to his church, to make known Himself
to us in the experience of our life right now where we only
can see Him by this faith He's given us on His Word. This is
what he's given us. What more can he say than to
you he has said, to you who through Jesus, I can't remember exactly
how it goes, you've come to the Lord depending upon him and his
word and come to Christ through him. So think about these things. Now in the book of Hebrews, the
people written to here had heard the gospel, but they were accustomed
to the Jewish religion. They had grown up in it, their
fathers and their grandfathers, and for generations, thousands,
literally over a thousand years, they had lived in that system
of religion. And during that time, only a
few understood the truth of the gospel, and they looked forward
to it. They look forward to the coming
king, the one through whom God would speak, the one through
whom they would be brought to God by his high priest work in
offering himself to God for their sins. They look forward to that. And now he's come. Now he's come. The fulfillment of all of Old
Testament scripture came in time and did what he said he would
do and ushered in our salvation and sat down on his throne to
bring it to us now through the gospel. That's what Hebrews is
about. That's the ultimate importance.
Your life in this world is short. God has given you his word to
declare to you what's true, what's real, your salvation and everything.
Live your life looking to Christ. That's the message of scripture.
Look to him. Look to him. And so he writes
to the Hebrews in this way to teach us of the Lord Jesus Christ
and what he's done in order to direct the Hebrews away from
all of those outward practices of religion to the truth which
they would only be able to enjoy by faith. You're going to have
to live by faith. There's no visible evidence of
this except what God has said and what Christ has done. He
came, you saw Him, or maybe you were with those who did see Him,
and you heard of Him, and He's been revealed to you now through
His Word. Now live upon Him by faith. But
in their experience, the Hebrews were facing tremendous difficulties. Their nation was about to be
destroyed. This was before the destruction
of Jerusalem by the Romans. Jesus prophesied of this in the
book of Matthew and Luke and other places. And they were about
to be destroyed. Their temple was about to be
leveled. The worship of God in the temple
was about to be completely destroyed. It would never exist again. And
everything was going to be shaken. So that the only thing that couldn't
be shaken, which is the gospel and Christ in glory, would remain. And this great trouble that was
coming upon them at this time, they needed to be strengthened.
They needed to realize that their anchor was in heaven, not on
earth. That the temple was in heaven. that the altar was in
heaven, that the sacrifice had been made in heaven, given to
God for them. They needed to be directed away
from all that they could see to everything they could not
see, but that God had declared as true. Their eternal salvation
depended upon what God said that Christ had done and where Christ
was. And so they needed, like we do,
they needed patience in this life of faith. And so let's read
together in Hebrews chapter 10. First, in Hebrews chapter 10
in verse 32. Because he had just warned them
what would happen if they departed from Christ for the Old Testament,
the Old Covenant. And he follows up with that warning
with his exhortation in verse 32. Hebrews 10 verse 32. Listen
carefully. He says, but call to remembrance
the former days, in which after you were illuminated, what does
that mean, illuminated? It means that the light of the
world, Christ and him crucified, shined into your hearts through
the gospel by the Spirit of God. You were illuminated. The day
star arose in your heart. It dawned on you by the power
of God, raising you from the dead. You were illuminated. He
says, call to remembrance the former days in which after you
were illuminated, what did you do? You endured. You endured after that. You endured
a great fight of afflictions. Notice these words, endured,
and fight, and afflictions. Partly whilst you were made a
gazing stock by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst
you became companions of them that were so used. In those days
especially, there was an open afflicting of those who trusted
Christ, who believed Him, who professed Him to be the Lord,
Him to be the fulfillment of the old covenant. Now He was
come. He's the one that God had promised.
Not Caesar and not all the Old Testament saints. Christ had
come, the Son of God. And so when they heard this and
believed this and laid hold on it and confessed it, they were
made a gazing stock. And they were mocked and they
were afflicted and they suffered reproach at the hand and at the
voice of those who hated Christ and hated his people and hated
his gospel. They suffered for it and they
had to endure this affliction. And he said, when you were illuminated,
you endured this great fight of afflictions, partly while
you yourselves became the gazing stalk and suffered, and partly
while you were just companions of them who were so used. Not
everybody suffered the same. Some suffered death. Some suffered
property ruin or financial ruin. Some suffered being put outside
of all commerce and all worship in the temple. So what? You have Christ, he says. Verse
34, he talks about those who had compassion on them that were
so used. He says, for you had compassion
of me in my bonds, and you took joyfully the spoiling of your
goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better
and an enduring substance. This language, in my bonds, sounds
like the Apostle Paul, doesn't it? That's why I think, personally,
that the Book of Hebrews was written by the Apostle Paul.
But that's an aside. But it shows that the Lord Jesus
Christ was pleased to give the Apostle such an insight. He was
not only an Apostle to the Gentiles, but he wrote to his own brethren
that he loved so much after the flesh that they might hear the
Gospel of Christ. So he tells them, you have in
heaven a better and an enduring substance. What you have on earth
is not enduring, what you have in heaven is. Therefore, verse
35, cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense
of reward. Here you hope for what? At most,
a kingdom on earth. The afflictions you suffer now
are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall follow
when God makes known his sons at the end of time. He's gonna
reveal who his children are and they were gonna appear with Christ
in glory. Verse 36, for you have need of
patience that after you have done the will of God, you might
receive the promise. After you've done the will of
God, you receive the promise. So all of this is setting it
up so that we can see better what is coming in chapter 12.
You endured, there was a fight, there were afflictions, you suffered,
and you kept this in view, your hope in heaven. You're going
to endure now. There's going to be a great fight
now. After you have endured, then you receive the promises.
That was the pattern. He's setting it up in chapter
10. He goes and gives us the whole history of those who live
by faith in chapter 11. And then he's going to bring
us back to this in chapter 12. Let's read on. Verse 37. For yet a little while. And actually
it means a very, very little while. And he that shall come
will come, and will not tarry now. In this life, in this experience,
given all these things, what He has expounded to us about
Christ as the Son of God, the Son of Man, who came as Christ,
the prophet, priest, and king, offered Himself to God, sits
on Heaven's throne, has obtained the eternal redemption of His
people, put away their sins, perfected them forever, made
way into the holiest of all by His blood, and now we live on
Him by faith, under this great fight, this enduring, this patience
of faith, He goes on, he says, now the just shall live by faith.
That's the summary of it. Remember that and you remember
our life in this world. Now we live by faith on what
Christ did then. He goes on. But if any man draw
back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we, we who believe,
are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul. Once we believe, we go
on believing, because Christ, who gave us faith, upholds our
faith and perfects our faith. It's his work. Remember Philippians
1.6? He says, he who has begun a good
work in you will perfect it. He will complete it. He'll bring
it to its end in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who did
it. He's going to finish it. Now, chapter 12. That's the stage. It's a fight. It's an endurance. You need patience. You need grace
in this fight. It's a labor. And now in chapter
12, it's a race. All these things suggest many,
many pictures to our minds. And that's what he's going to
talk about here. Look at this in the first four verses. Wherefore,
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, chapter 11, let us lay aside every weight and the
sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us. Okay, so now we see it. The image
is an athlete. He is striving for the prize. What does he do? He's going to
run. It's going to be a long race. He wants to win. So what does he do? He takes
off his shirt. He takes off his shoes. He strips
himself down to the bare essentials so that he can run. He strives. He's expending an extreme amount
of energy over a long period of time with the prize in view
in order to obtain that goal. He wants to finish the race and
get the prize, you see. So he says, when we do this,
we consider those who have already gone before. How did they run? The same way we have to run.
What race did they run? The same way, the same race we
run. What did they obtain? The same
thing we will obtain. But after you have endured, You
see, after the patience of faith, as he says in chapter 10, I just
read it a minute ago. He says, you have need of patience
that after you have done the will of God, you might receive
the promise. The promise, eternal life. The promise, seeing Christ
in glory. The promise, being before the
Lord Jesus Christ in all of his glory with the saints gathered
in glory with him. And seeing him and hearing him. for all eternity with nothing. We just cannot give enough thanksgiving
and praise and worship to Him who gave Himself for us. That's
the goal. We want that prize. We want to
be completely free of sin. We do. God has put that in us,
but we can't do it ourselves. We cannot do it. Christ has to
do it for us. We have to depend on Him. His
strength, His wisdom in the fight is the only way we're going to
run and win. And so it's all by faith. The
race is the race of faith. The prize is seeing Christ in
His glory and being with Him. Having been delivered from our
sins, that's why He came. He ran. He completed. He has
the prize now. He sits in glory. How did he
run? How did Christ run? By faith. The Son of God is the Son of
Man who lived on earth by faith and now sits in glory in all
of the glory of the Son of God who also is our Redeemer. And
we look for Him. We look for Him now. And we wait
on Him now. We consider Him now. That's what
He's saying here. He says, so, he says, lay aside
every weight. Every weight. What are the weights?
What are these things that burden us? Our sin. God's law. Every time we read scripture,
we find things in there we've already failed to do. We find
things we cannot do. We want to, but we cannot. Because
this nature in us wants to go the opposite way. And our faith
is so weak. We don't see clearly. So he says,
lay it aside. Lay aside every weight. Lay aside
the sin. Christ, the guilt of it. Christ
has put it away. He took it. He bore it. It's put away. Lay it aside by
faith. Lay aside the burden of the law
and the curse of the law that's upon us. Christ has fulfilled
it. He endured the curse. Lay aside
every weight. Lay aside the cares of this world.
What are they for eternity? Lay aside the anxiety that comes
to mind in the sufferings in this world, because these things
are intended to bring us closer and closer in dependence on Christ,
to see how He suffered for us, and now our afflictions are but
light afflictions. Lay it aside. Lay aside every
care, and lay it all at Christ's feet. So he says, lay aside every
weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, that sin
that besets all of us, that burdens us so much, is that sin of unbelief. We cannot believe Christ as we
want to believe Him. Our faith is growing. We have
to have it increased. It's imperfect. And so we cannot
be justified by our faith if it's imperfect. We have to be
justified by the Lord Jesus Christ, you see. Lay aside every weight
and the sin which does so easily beset us, and notice, let us
run with patience the race that is set before us. The hardest
thing in exercising is patience, isn't it? Have you ever done
that? It's one thing to, I used to run at lunchtime at work and
I'd start out and half the time I'd go, you know, I think I'll
just turn around. It's hot, I'm tired. I have other
things I'd rather do, you know? And it's the same thing I've
noticed with exercise. As soon as you start in it, it's
like, eh, I'd kind of like to quit now. But that's not the
way you win, is it? It's kind of fun to run long
distance. When you get to the end, but during the process,
it doesn't really feel that good. I mean, sometimes it does. You
know, we have these, what are they called, endorphins? Some
things happen, they kind of spur you on. Maybe that's what faith
is, it's an endorphin. God gives it to us in this long
race. Patience. Patience, tribulation does what
to us? What does the tribulation God
give us in our life do? It works patience. Long enduring. We weren't the first ones who
had to do this. Look at the account from the
beginning of creation. All these people, men and women,
long endured believing God that His word was true concerning
Christ and their salvation in Him. That's their life. Some
lived, you know, like Enoch, he lived, what, 365 years? God took him. Abraham lived,
I think, 175 years. That's a long time. Aren't you
glad you don't have to live that long? Some of us live a short time.
May the Lord give us grace, whatever days he's given us, to live every
day redeeming the time. God has only given you a few
days. A few days. How many years do you have left? 10? 5? 50? It doesn't matter. It's few. It's like a wave of the sea,
a puff of steam, a vapor that appears over your coffee in the
morning. It's gone. The next time you look at it,
and that's the way your life will be, run with patience. Endure the long race. It seems
long to us. It's not long compared to eternity. The sufferings we have now are
not even worthy to be compared. They're not even worthy to be
compared. It's like a thimble of water compared to the ocean.
Not even worthy to be compared to it. So it's a long race for
us it seems, but it's short compared to eternal glory. We run looking
to Christ, the race set before us. And notice in verse two,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He
began and he ended. He finished the course. He ran
the same race, but it was for us. He ran for us. Who do we run for? Well, we run
to obtain the prize. We run by faith in Him that He
obtained it for us, trusting Him to give it to us. We don't
earn it. He earned it. He earned it for
us. So he goes on, looking to Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. And now, look at these
words here. How did he run? Why did he run?
He didn't have to run. For him, there was no need to
run. He already had glory. Why did he run? Well, he says
here, the reason he ran was for the joy that was set before him. And what was his race? He endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. All right, here we see something
about the meat of running this race. He endured the cross, despising
the shame. And why? For the joy set before
him. What was that joy? Ah, here is
the heart, the gold, the nugget of the gospel. What was Christ's
joy? It turns out that his joy was
absolutely unknown by all those who vilified him while he was
on earth. Remember, think about when the
Lord Jesus Christ went into the house of Matthew the publican,
for example. What was the first thing that
happened when he went to that house where Matthew the publican,
the tax collector, had been collecting taxes, and he tells him, follow
me, and Matthew takes him to his house. Matthew had invited
all of his friends there, and they were sinners just like him.
What happened? Well, the scribes and the Pharisees
immediately were indignant. Huh, he's in drinks with publicans
and sinners. And you know what they said?
They said that to his disciples. Not openly, but to his disciples
secretly, behind his back, because they wouldn't face him face to
face. So what was the point in their accusation? How could you
be anything? How could you claim any honor
to associate with publicans and sinners? And yet, here is the
gem of the gospel. That was his honor. It was His
honor. It was His joy. The joy of the
Lord Jesus Christ was to have a people despised by all, and
He has set His love on them from eternity. To others, they were
shameful. To Him, They were his own, and
he saw no spot in them. Why? Because they had no spot?
No, but because he would take their sins and bear their reproach,
and in bearing their reproach, cleanse them, purge them, purify
them for himself, a holy people in love, pure holy love. The Lord Jesus Christ did this
for those who were, by nature, his enemies. But he set his love
on them. When they had offended God, he
stepped in to honor God's law and justice by giving himself
for them. And it was that gift of himself
that was the very righteousness of God, because it exhibited
love for his enemies in order to save them from their sins.
and give them as sons of God to be heirs of God in glory with
the Son of God as the Son of Man on His throne. Immeasurable,
unspeakable, unfathomable love and humility substitution and
selflessness for a people who were despised. And that was the
joy set before him to have them for himself. And they see his
glory in all that he was in this righteousness that caused him
to love his enemies and give himself for them to save them
from their sins. Amazing grace. That was joy to
the Son of God. It sustained Him. It compelled
Him. It caused Him to endure the long
race. He was called to suffer for them,
to have them for Himself. Just like Hosea married a prostitute,
just like Boaz married Ruth the Moabite woman, just like Samson
loved the harlots, the Lord Jesus Christ unashamedly and openly
mingled with and drew sinners to himself so that they might
find their all in him. And you know what he did? That
obedience of submission unto death of himself for them to
God, with their sins, bearing their reproach, the reproach
of their sins, that obedience was the beautiful garment of
his own righteousness that he clothed them in. Not only did
his blood wash their sins, but it also fulfilled the righteousness
of God given to them. And God looks upon that and he
justified his son and all in his son. Now that is joy. He looked upon that in faith. He looked upon God's will that
he would do it, the race he would run to finish the will of God,
his father. It was in his father's heart
he would make known his father's heart and will and work in what
he did. He took great joy in that. He
was going to magnify God's law, and at the same time, he was
going to save sinners from their sins, saving them from the law
that he gave. He came, the one, the lawgiver
came and lived his life in obedience to that law. He bore the obligations
of our offenses against that law by shedding his blood, giving
himself for us. That was the joy, to have us,
to magnify God's law, to make known His Father in all of His
glory, and to have a people for Himself purified and holy. Christ
loved the church and gave Himself for it that He might sanctify
and purify it, a holy people to Himself. That's what the son
of God did. What a race, what a finish. And he did it for joy. Do you
think his joy was at all abated or diminished that he didn't
get the full joy of the race that he ran? Oh, no. He realizes
fullness of joy in his people's salvation because he ran and
succeeded. You see, what was that joy? It was to save a people for himself,
to purify them, to save them from their sins, and to the shame
of his enemies who stood against them, trying to murder them in
cruel and merciless, self-righteous arrogance, like the devil, like
Haman, like all of those who followed him. Accusing Christ
not only of mingling with sinners, but loving them. and giving himself
for them, that this was a shameful thing, and yet he would make
them honorable in his own cleansing blood and righteousness, and
he would show their enemies to know nothing about the heart
of God in his mercy towards sinners. And he would bring then upon
his enemies the very destruction they thought to bring upon him
and his church. He destroyed his enemies. in
what he did for his people, amazing grace, amazing victory, amazing
finish to the Lord of Glory who ran as the Son of Man, the Son
of God, sitting in glory, having finished this race, all of the
joy that he wanted, he now possesses because he actually finished
his race. He sat down on the right hand
of God. Now, consider him. Consider this. Consider this One who so ran
for us to save us from our sins. This is the way we endure. This
is the joy set before us to be with Him, to see Him, to take
from Him now by faith because that's what He desires. Live
upon Him by faith now. and then endure long the tribulation,
the chastening of God's hand that brings us to Him, and all
of the hatred of this world against those that love Christ because
He died for them, against His glory, against His Father's will,
against His Father's character and purpose. against all the
promises of God. The world hates it because they
know nothing of the mercy of God and His saving grace in Christ. And so it's a long race. We endure
shame. We endure mocking. In fact, we
consider it light affliction because we consider our Savior.
Look how He bore our reproach. Look how He did this for our
eternal salvation. Doesn't it inspire you to run?
Don't you want to find the grace of God given to us to look to
Christ and so run that we might lay hold on this prize of being
with Him in glory? To see the joy of the Lord Jesus
Christ that we would be with Him purified and holy and being
Like the woman who came behind Jesus and washed his feet with
her tears and dried them with her hair and poured the alabaster
box full of precious ointment on his feet. All of eternity
will be too short to lay at his feet our worship and thanksgiving
that he saved us from our sins by what he did. He gave himself
for us and loved us when we were sinners. and hasn't changed his
love. And he now sits in glory rejoicing
in his love. Zephaniah chapter three, let
me read this to you. It calls these things to mind,
doesn't it? The joy set before the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Zephaniah chapter three, he
says in verse 14, sing, O daughter of Zion. These are the ones the
Lord saves. Sing, O daughter of Zion. Zion,
just another name for God's elect, the redeemed of the Lord, the
church of God. Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout,
O Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all
the heart. The joy said before him, that's
the joy in our heart. He told his disciples that my
joy might be fulfilled, that you might have my joy fulfilled
in you. Listen, sing, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, be
glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Verse 15, the Lord has taken away thy judgments. He has cast
out thine enemy, the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in
the midst of thee, thou shalt not see evil any more." The Lord
Jesus Christ is God himself and he has come and he has taken
away our judgments. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Bring them forth. Who is he that
condemns? One for whom Christ died. Bring
them forth. It is Christ that died. And he
goes on. You won't see evil anymore. In
that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear thou not. And to Zion, let not thine hands
be slack. Don't be faint. Don't droop. Run. He says, the Lord thy God
in the midst of thee, that's Christ, is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing. What a picture. of the Lord Jesus
Christ, our God and Savior. Like Thomas, when he saw the
nail prints in his hands and in the side, he said, my Lord,
my God, my Savior, my all. You see, he saw the beauty of
Christ in giving himself for his people. And then he knew
that could only have entered into the heart of Christ to save
such a sinner as I am by the sacrifice of himself. And that
is not only my cleansing, but my clothing, what he has done
for me. I stand dressed before God in
his own beauty. I wear the same dress he wears
because I was in him." What a joy it is, isn't it? Therefore, we
can endure. We can praise God. Our hands
are not drooping down. When sin comes, when we're tempted,
or when we fall, what do we do? We endure by faith. God has made
my sin the object of his work to remove it from me and to glorify
himself in doing so. in all of His love, in all of
His justice, in His righteousness. What an amazing grace that is,
to deliver me from my sins, to stand before Him. He says, looking
unto Jesus in chapter 12 of Hebrews, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. How do we begin this race? Looking
to Jesus, considering Him. When God commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, That's what happened when he saved us. The light of the glory of God,
the knowledge of the glory of God, shined in our hearts in
the face of Jesus Christ. We saw Christ in what he did,
what he said, what he accomplished for us. And seeing Christ in
the beginning, What did that do? What effect did it have upon
us? It had a transforming effect.
We've thought of things completely different. God suddenly became
gracious and kind and loving. Not only just, but righteous
in saving us from our sins. It's amazing, amazing grace. When David sinned against God
in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah, you know what he prayed?
He said, deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, and my tongue
shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Amazing. God's righteousness
in delivering me from blood guiltiness. What God, what kind of, where
would this have ever been conceived of in the heart of man? It had
to be, it had to be born in the heart of God because that's where
it lay from eternity. This was God's nature and character,
his will and his work, his glory seen in Christ. And so we saw
him in the beginning this way, and that's the way we endure.
And it also says that when we see him, What was going to happen? When we see Him as He is, then
we'll be like Him. So our entire walk of faith is
in looking upon and considering the Lord Jesus Christ in His
person as God, in His person as the Son of Man, in His compassion,
in His humility, in his love, in his grace, in his mercy, to
the most ungodly, ill-deserving of sinners, the filthy and shameful. And he bore our reproach and
did it with joy to save us from our sins and have us for himself.
That's amazing grace. Who could have conceived it?
Who could even claim it unless God had given it in his word?
Amazing. So he says, given this, for the
joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising
the shame. It was a shameful thing to take
our sins. What could be more shameful?
It was a shameful thing to bear the reproach of men and the forsaking
even of God for the sake of our sins. And he endured it all because
of the joy set before him. He endured the inconceivable,
infinite wrath of God in justice against himself, and did so willingly
in love, and in honor to his Father, and in love for his people,
in mercy to us, and in righteousness toward God. And he did all this
for the joy set before him. And then he sat down. at the right hand of God. He
has the joy. He came. I want to read this
to you. I mentioned it earlier in John chapter 15. John 15. The Lord is talking
to his disciples, such an intimate conversation, and I'm sure they're
soaking it up because John, the Apostle John, wrote it down for
us here in John 15. He says in John 15 verse 9, Jesus is talking to his disciples.
Think of these words here. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now there
you go. Just let that roll around in
your heart. in your prayers, in your faith,
in your assurance, in your hope, as the Father has loved me, an
eternal love, an infinite love, so have I loved you. Continue
ye in my love, stay there, abide there, don't leave it. Christ
did. He ran. He didn't pull back. He didn't flinch. He set his
face like a flint. He gave his back to the smiters
and his face to those that pluck off the hair. He did not hide
his face from shame and spitting. He says, continue ye in my love. If you keep my commandments,
you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments
and abide in his love. How do we do that? by looking
upon what he's done for us, by looking on him who did it, by
running this race. He says, these things have I
spoken unto you, notice, that my joy might remain in you and
that your joy might be full. Amazing. The very joy that compelled
him, he wants to be in us. That's what it means to consider
him who endured this for us. and that your joy might be full,
this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have
loved you. Greater love has no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. When we
run this race, we experience trouble. And those troubles are
meant to draw our eyes and our affections, our praise and our
thanksgiving and our worship out of the troubles to Christ
in trust. and in assurance, in confidence,
and in hope. And that glorifies God because
it's God's work, a work of grace given to us to look to Christ.
Not only that, but all the trouble that we endure is part of running
that race, the patience of it, the fight of it, the labor of
it. But also, why did the Lord Jesus Christ do this? The joy
of saving sinners, his people. And what did he say in Luke 15?
That if one sinner, one sheep, one coin, one prodigal son, is
brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, there's more joy in heaven than
over 99 who needed no repentance. There's no joy in heaven over
99 who need no repentance, because there's no sinner in heaven who
never needed repentance. All those brought are the one
sheep, the one coin, and the prodigal son. And there are no
other in heaven, because they were all brought by the Lord,
the shepherd, or the one who swept the house, the woman who
swept the house with the lantern, or the father who received his
prodigal son and did all for him, and putting the ring on
his hand, and killing the fatted calf, and shoes on his feet,
and so on, and the robe. that was put upon him. That's
the joy. And in our race, what do we do? Our labor is for the sake of
Christ's sheep, isn't it? It's to have them brought to
him. John the Baptist said, my joy
is to see the bride brought to the bridegroom. That's it. And
so that's why he pointed out the bridegroom. to the bride,
to the people of God. Look at him, the Lamb of God.
And so we see this. In the disciples' labor, in all
of their suffering, it was not only for their own dependence
upon Christ, but it was also for the church. Look at 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. and see these words here. This
is not new, something that has just been hiding in the background. It's right out there in the open.
2 Corinthians chapter 4, he says in verse 5, We preach not ourselves, Paul
says, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for
Jesus' sake. That's what the believer is called
to, serving Christ. How? By serving his people, for
their salvation, for the body of Christ, for the church of
Christ, to direct them to the Lord Jesus Christ in love and
faith. He says in verse 7, for we have
this treasure and earthen vessels that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. This desire we have, the race
that we're running, is not of us, it's of God. Verse 8, we
are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed. And how often do you feel perplexed?
But not in despair. persecuted but not forsaken,
cast down but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body
the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our body. What did we see in the Lord Jesus
in his life on the earth? A suffering, a man of sorrows,
leading to the cross, the shame, the suffering, the pain, And
all of that is the dying of the Lord Jesus for our salvation. So the apostle says, so we also,
we suffer all these things, trouble on every side, perplexity, persecution,
always bearing about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
Don't be surprised when you're called to these things of suffering. That's exactly what Christ did.
It's for your children. It's for your brother and sister.
It's for your parents. It's for your friends. It's for
the salvation of sinners that Christ loved. It's for the magnification
of his greatness. Verse 11, For we which live are
always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life also
of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then
death works in us, but life in you. We, having the same spirit
of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore
have I spoken, we also believe, and therefore speak. The gospel
we speak, that light that shines into your heart, that's why we
do it. He says, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus
shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you
for all things are for your sakes that the abundant grace might
to the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. When we
hear the gospel through Paul or through whomever, What do
we do? Thank God for this gospel. Who would have ever imagined
it? Who would have ever thunk it? The Lord himself revealed
it. And he says that that redounding
of the thanksgiving from many is all to the glory of God, even
though it cost us our lives. Verse 16, for which cause? We think not. We don't think. It's a long race. But though
our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by
day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things
which are seen are temporal. but the things which are not
seen are eternal." You see? Run! Fight! Let me read one more
text of scripture to you. In 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse
1, notice what he says here. I'll read just the first ten
verses and we'll close. He says, Thou therefore my son, Paul talking
to Timothy, spiritually He had heard the gospel through Paul.
He had been, God had saved him and he was his son because he
also followed him in the gospel. He says, thou therefore my son,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things
that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit
thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.
Thou therefore, notice, endure hardness. as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ. One thing that you'll see portrayed
in movies, I've never been in that situation, I know Justin
has and Ramel, but a soldier, the thing you see is that they're
taught to endure hardness. You gotta go without food and
water and run up that hill with 50 pounds on your back or something
like that. And then you gotta carry these
buckets of You've got to be able to carry your buddy out of the
fight. You're going to get shot, you're
going to get wounded, but you're going to go on. You're going to save your
buddies, right? You're going to fight. You're
a soldier. You're going to endure hardness. Don't complain. He
says, no man that woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this
life. Why? That he may please him who has
chosen him to be a soldier. And verse five, so now we've
got the comparison of our life as a soldier. And now he's gonna
give it another comparison. He says, and if a man also strive
for masteries, an athlete, someone who runs and tries to win, someone
who strives for masteries, yet he is not crowned except he strive
lawfully, The athlete doesn't win if he breaks the rules. You can't take a shortcut, you
gotta go the whole distance. Verse six, the husbandman, now
he's a farmer, the husbandman that labors must be first partaker
of the fruit. Now consider what I say, and
the Lord give the understanding in all things. And notice he
goes on, remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was
raised from the dead according to my gospel. He's referring
now to our forerunner. wherein I suffer trouble, as
an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound.
So I suffer these things as a soldier, as an athlete, as a husbandman,
a farmer, And yet the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who was the
soldier, who was the one who ran the race, the forerunner,
and who was the husbandman of his vineyard. Verse 10, therefore
I endure all things for what? The same reason Christ did, for
the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which
is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Christ did it for us. And we do it to obtain it, looking
to Him, considering Him. It's a fight. It's a warfare.
It's a race. It's a long, patient, enduring
of trouble. And though we're perplexed, though
we're persecuted, Though we have all sorts of trouble,
we're not in despair, we're not cast down, we're not forsaken.
It's all that the life of Christ might be manifest in our bodies. The sufferings of this present
time are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that
shall be revealed in us. And that glory is obtained for
us by the one who ran the race for our salvation. Let's pray.
Lord, thank you for this race the Lord Jesus ran and for the
one who ran it. Thank you that our salvation
is bound up. He carried us. He brought us
to the finish line and he now sits in glory and help us to
run expecting to receive the prize he already won for us.
simply trusting Him, looking to Him, considering Him and all
that He did, what glory for this joy of having His people, who
the world hated, for Himself as His bride to purify them,
He laid His life down and magnified the glory of God in doing so,
and saved us from our sins. Help us, Lord, let us be found
in Him alone, and give us His grace to not only believe Him,
but to continue believing Him. and to lay aside every weight
and the sin that so easily besets us and help us to strive, help
us to run by this grace you've given. In Jesus' name we pray,
amen.