Hebrews chapter 12. We'll consider
verses 1 and 2, primarily verse 2. I'll give you the title of
my message at the very beginning. Joy at the finish line. How's
that sound? Joy at the finish line. The life
of a believer in this world is often, quite often, compared
in scriptures, especially the writings of the Apostle Paul,
is compared to a race. Now a race has a starting line,
and a finish line, and a prize at the end of that finish line.
In contrary to popular religious opinion, the prize is not obtained
by those who begin the race, but to those who finish the race.
That's what Christ taught. That's what Christ taught. Except
ye endure to the end, ye shall not be saved. It is not to those
who begin and run for a little while and then decide to quit,
but those who finish. Listen to these scriptures that
make mention of this in 1 Corinthians 9 verse 24-25. Know ye not that
they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain
a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. Philippians chapter
3, you're familiar with these verses. Verses 13 and 14, Paul
says, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forth like that runner in the Olympic games, reaching forth
unto those things which are before. I pressed toward the mark for
the prize, the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And then sometime after Paul
wrote those words, he said this, I'm now ready to be offered.
His last words. For I'm now ready to be offered,
and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good
fight. I have finished my course. I
have kept the faith. Paul says, my race is just about
over. I see the finish line. I'm just
about ready to cross over where hands forth there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous
judge shall give me at that day. This great cloud of witnesses
that we read of in chapter 11 or read a portion of are pictures
of those who have run the race. These witnesses are certainly
not the object of faith. You know that. Christ Jesus alone
is the object of faith. They're examples of those who
look to Christ, and I believe we're being exhorted here in
verse 1 of chapter 12. We're being exhorted to look
with them, not at them, but with them as they look to Jesus Christ. I referred to, I don't know,
10 or 12 commentaries just to see what they had to say on this
verse, especially this great cloud of witnesses. And the majority,
the majority of commentators that I referred to all said that
these witnesses were now spectators. Those witnesses in glory, there's
no question that's where they're at, but that they were like spectators
watching the rest of us who are still running the race. Now that
might sound pretty, that might sound romantic, but that's just
contrary to scripture. Rooting, and one even said they're
leaning over the rails of heaven and they're watching us in the
race and they're rooting us on, and if we stray off course, it
causes them to weep. That just doesn't jive. That
just doesn't jive with God's word, does it? Because there's
just no weeping in heaven. Once the day we enter heaven,
weeping is done. Weeping's done, Billy. Weeping
is here. Weeping endures for the night.
There's no night there. Joy comes in the morning. But
we must remember that as for some reason as tempting, and
perhaps you've thought that or read that, as tempting as it
might be to take these words to mean or give the idea that
the saints whose warfare is now accomplished, look down on our
struggles here. There's just no support for that
in the Word of God, and that's not what this verse is teaching.
Actually, the contrary of that is true. The word here, witnesses,
is not used as meaning spectators, but means exactly what Paul gave
us in chapter 12, example after example of. They are attesters,
or testifiers to God. That's what it means. Not that
they look down on us. They are not witnesses of us,
but to us. Now, that's worth repeating.
That right there is the meaning, I think, of this great cloud
of witnesses. They're not witnesses of us,
but to us. Witnesses, attesting by their
own case the faithfulness of God to His people. They affirm. Actually, they are
themselves affirmations of that glorious fact of God's faithfulness. Hebrews 6 and 12, they are of
them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. They are
witnesses to God the Father's faithfulness in His everlasting
love to the church. They bear witness to that. They
testify of that. They witness to the redemption
accomplished and attained by the Lord Jesus Christ. They wouldn't
be there otherwise. These were redeemed from among
men. And they witness to the glorious
Holy Spirit of the Triune God, His regenerating, soul-quickening,
soul-sustaining, soul-comforting power. That's what they testify
to. They are examples of the Triune
God's reigning grace. Are they not? How would they
be? How would any child of God, how
would any believer, how would any sinner be in heaven otherwise?
They're examples of the triune God's reigning grace and faithfulness
to His people. Each and every child of God now
in glory bears witness by their very presence there, without
speaking a word, provides testimony to this glorious truth that what
God Almighty promised, He's able to perform. What he says he will
do, he's able to do. What he promises to do, he will
do. There's just no question about
that. If that's not so, he's not God. and he's not worth trusting. They are witnesses not of us,
but to us. They are examples of God's reigning
grace. Each and every child of God now
in glory bears witness, provides testimony to this glorious truth,
that Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost all that
come unto God by Him. Everyone in heaven, every redeemed
sinner, every saved sinner, bears witness to that. Isn't that what
the redeemed in heaven did for the Apostle John? After all,
did the sight of them not testify and attest to John the blessed
reality that Jesus shall save his people from their sins? I
don't see in that great multitude that the angels showed John,
the elders showed John, any evidence that that multitude before the
throne saw John. They didn't see him, they didn't
observe him, but John did them. And they bore witness to the
fact that Jesus Christ is mighty to save. He shall save his people
from their sins. John saw them. John saw them,
and the very fact that glorious vision was evidence, witness,
a testimony, the Lord Jesus' saving grace. After this, Revelation
7, verse 9, John writes, After this I beheld and lo a great
multitude, which no man can number. Of all nations and kindreds and
people and tongues, O our Lord Jesus Christ shall have a glorious
crown. stood before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands,
and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God,
which setteth upon the throne and to the Lamb. The elder answered,
saying unto me in verse 13, John, who are these which are arrayed
in white robes? Where did they come from? And
here's their witness to John and to us. John said, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said, These are they.
John, look at them. There's the proof. There's their
witness. There's the testimony. They came
out of great tribulation, and they washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, therefore, are
they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in
his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among
them. They are testimony to the sufficiency
of God's mighty reigning and ruling grace. This cloud of witnesses
is not the object on which our heart is fixed. No. They testify
of faith. And we thank God for their witness.
Our eye, however, our eye, however, is fixed as we come to verse
2. Our eye is fixed not on the many cloud of witnesses, but
on this one. Just one. Not the army, but the
leader. not the servants, but the Master. We look not at the sheep as the
object of our faith, but on the Great Shepherd Himself. We behold
Him in all things, in all things. Christ has the preeminence, and
He is placed here not among the other racers, but as that one
who, instead of exemplifying certain characteristics of faith,
is He Himself the object of faith, the beginner and the finisher
of faith. Behold Him. Look to Him, O the
Lamb of God, as that old hymn that Rupperford wrote puts it.
The bright eye's not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face.
I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of grace. Not at the
crown He giveth, not on His pierced hand, but on His pierced hand.
The Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's land. Billy, I can't imagine what it's
going to be like to be where there'll never be pain or sorrow
or any reason to weep or any sin. I can't reach that high
right now. But oh, I declare, my soul, that
doesn't compare as glorious as those things are. They don't
compare to this. We shall see the king in his
beauty. We shall see the face of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We shall know him. We shall know
him. That brings us to verse 2. 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. Our text presents the Lord as
the supreme example for runners, as well as the great object of
their faith. The word here, author, The same
Greek word is used in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10, and there
it's translated, Captain. Captain. The captain of our salvation. It became him, for whom are all
things, Hebrews 2 and 10, and by whom are all things, in bringing
many sons into glory, to make the captain of their salvation,
perfect through sufferings. going before us as their originator,
that's another meaning of the word, their originator of our
faith, and the leader whose matchless example we are to follow. In
this he's distinguished from all those others mentioned in
Hebrews 11. And not only is he their originator
of faith, our text tells us he's the finisher, the perfecter is
the meaning of the word, the perfecter. He's the Alpha and
Omega. He's the first and the last.
He's the beginning and the end. Christ is the pioneer, is another
shade of the meaning. Christ is the pioneer of faith.
He's the way, and He prepared the way, and He went that way.
And He'll bring all His own to be with Him at the end of the
way. Revelation 14, we read one of
the descriptions of those before the throne of God. We're told
that these are they which follow the Lamb. The Lamb. Nobody else. Nobody else. They follow the
Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. Oh, joy at the finish line. Our text speaks of the joy of
Christ. We're told that Christ looked beyond. He looked beyond
the shame and the suffering of the cross. He looked past that
to what He knew. what he knew. Preachers talk
iffy. Talk about a possibility of redemption,
a possibility of atonement. Christ never did. They talk about
the possibility of salvation. Jesus Christ, who himself is
the Savior, he ought to know, he never talked that way. He
always talked matter-of-factly. Before he went to the cross,
he said, this is why I'm going. I'm going to do this. I'm going
to accomplish this. He looked beyond the cross, past
the cross, to what he knew would be the outcome of his sufferings,
the unspeakable joy that was sure to follow. That's what our
text tells us. Remember the night before he
went to the garden where he was betrayed, where the mob took
him, where he allowed himself to be taken. He told his disciples
just before that, Verily, verily, I say unto you that ye shall
weep and lament but the world shall rejoice. Ye shall be sorrowful,
but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is
in travail hath sorrow, because her hours come. But as soon as
she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish,
for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore
have sorrow, but I will see you again. And your heart shall rejoice,
and your joy no man taketh from you. Christ did the very thing
that he told the disciples to do. Look beyond. Because of that joy set before
him, the Lord Jesus Christ, this text tells us, endured the cross. The joy that sustained him in
all his soul's trouble and sorrow and agony was the joy of knowing. that he was magnifying God's
law and making it honorable, that he was glorifying God his
Father. The glory he had with the Father
before the world began was after the sufferings. The glory promised
him as the reward of his obedience. The glory he now enjoys upon
the throne of God, the joy of doing everything God Almighty
sent him into the world to do. what he agreed to do, what he
promised God his Father he would do, why God his Father sent him
into the world in the first place. Turn back a page here in Hebrews,
the chapter 10. Look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse
4. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. Wherefore, when
he cometh, who is he? Well, that's the Son of God.
That's the God-man. That's our surety. That's our
representative. This is our substitute speaking.
When he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice, speaking
to God that sent him, he said, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest
not, but a body hast thou prepared me. And burnt offerings and sacrifice
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. And it gave him joy to do so. And when he said, above when
he said, sacrifice and offering and burn offerings and offering
for sin, thou wouldest not, neither had pleasure therein, which are
offered by the law, then said he, lo, I come to do thy will. O my God, he taketh away the
first, that he may establish the second, by the which we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. The joy of satisfying all the
claims of God's holy law. The joy of obtaining eternal
redemption for all of His people. That's the joy Christ looked
to as the result of His sufferings. He would not go back. He would
not give up. He would not quit until He had
poured out His life's blood unto death for all of His people.
He would not. Listen to these words in John
chapter 12. Jesus answered, said unto them, the hour has come
that the Son of Man should be glorified. Speaking of the approaching
death, that he should suffer. Now is my soul troubled, he said.
And what shall I say? John 12 and 27. What shall I
say? Father, save me from this hour?
Oh, no, no, no, no. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. I remember years ago, I was listening
to one of these TV preachers. I was at someone else's house
and they had it on, but he was talking about Christ going on
the cross. And this is what he said, oh, if I'd have been there,
I wouldn't have allowed that. I wouldn't have let Jesus go
to the cross. And I thought, you know what?
He needs to put a sign on his back that says stupid. Because
one thing, if Jesus Christ hadn't went to the cross, every sinner,
every one of us would be going to hell right now. And that also
implied that he had the power to do what nothing else could
do? Stop Jesus from going to the cross? Why would you want
to and how could you anyway? What a stupid thing to say. Christ
says, the cup which my father giveth me, shall I not drink
it? Judas. We read in John 18, Judas, having
received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
cometh hither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus, therefore,
knowing. Jesus, therefore, being taken
by surprise. Jesus being caught off guard.
Jesus being put in a perplexity, not knowing what to do. Oh, poppycock. Jesus, therefore, knowing all
things that should come upon him. He knew it from the foundation
of the world. He knew it. He's the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. This thing didn't take him by
surprise. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon
him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? Simon Peter,
having a sword, drew it, and smote the high priest's servant,
and cut off his right ear. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put
up your sword into the sheath, Peter, the cup which my father
hath given me. Shall I not drink it? Shall I
not drink it? And glory to His name, that cup,
that cup of the wrath of God Almighty that He looked at when
He sweat great drops of blood in the garden, He now takes that
cup and He drinks it to its very dregs and now He hands us a cup
full of grace and mercy and truth. That's our Redeemer. That was
the joy set before Him. Shall I not drink it? The wrath
and justice of God. The agony of my soul, the crushing
of my heart, the shame heaped upon me, the shame of being made
a curse, being made sin, the shame of being forsaken by God,
the shame of imputed guilt, and shame, our guilt, our shame,
the shame of being abandoned by God. We can understand why we would
be abandoned by God. We deserve it. But the Son of
God? God? God forsaken by God? Can you
explain that to me? I can't explain that to you.
The shame of that. He bore the cross till the cross
bore Him. And then He bore it until He
cried, It is finished. It's done. Glory to His name. It's done. The great transaction's
done. Let me share a portion of what
Tommy had to say on this verse, Hebrews 12 and 2. In all his
life he had a holy determination that would not be denied. Whatever
the price, whatever the cost, he must accomplish the covenant
purpose made with his Father from everlasting. He would not
be denied the glory and the joy of that accomplishment. That
joy set before him was to glorify God in finishing to perfection
the great work of the redemption of those whom they, Father and
Son, love with an everlasting love. Tommy went on and dropped
this nugget in. He is no less determined that
for all whom he endured the cross, despising the shame, shall endure
to the same end and be with him forever to share in that joy. As determined as He was to redeem
His people, He's just as determined that they be with Him where He
is. I go to prepare a place for you.
I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I
am there ye may be also. Christ saw more than the sufferings,
more than the cross, more than the shame. He saw the joy. The joy set before him that would
be the sure outcome of his suffering. Jesus Christ didn't die for a
maybe. He didn't die for a perchance.
He didn't die for a hoped so. He died to save his people from
their sins. Isaiah chapter 42. God says. He says to you and I, you need
encouragement. You need lifted up. You need
hope. You need some peace. You need
some assurance. I'm going to tell you where to
look for that. Don't look in here. Don't look out there. He says, behold, my servant.
I'll tell you where to look. You want some sweet assurance?
You want to lay your head down tonight and sleep with the sweet
sleep of God's beloved? He says, well, now look at this.
Behold, my servant whom I uphold. Mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth,
I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised wreath
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quince. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail." Wow,
that's encouraging. Oh, that gives me peace. That
gives my heart rest. He shall not fail. He's the captain
of my salvation. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he has set forth judgment in the earth and the isles that
wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth
the earth and he which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath
unto the people upon it and spirit unto them that walk therein.
And now God, now Christ speaks, rather. God has spoken and says,
Behold Him. And now God speaks to Christ. He spoke to us, now He speaks
to Christ. I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness,
and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for
a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open
the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am
the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another."
Isaiah chapter 53. You are familiar with these,
aren't you? Verse 3, he is despised, that's
our redeemer. That's the shame our text speaks
of. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. and we hid, as it
were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him strict and
smitten of God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace
that was upon him, and with his strife we are healed. All we,
like sheep, have gone astray. Oh, but God says, Awake, O sword,
against the shepherd, smite the shepherd. The sheep have gone
astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed. He was afflicted. Yet he opened
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. Who shall declare his generation? He made his grave
with the wicked and with the rich in his death. Because he
had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him
to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.
Now, the outcome of all that, what would that produce, was
what gave Christ joy of knowing, that he shall see his seed, the
prophet went on to say, and he shall prolong his days, and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the
travail of his soul, and shall be set aside, By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the small with the
strong, because he had poured out his soul unto death, and
he was numbered with the transgressors. And he bared the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors. And our Lord himself
said, in John 12, I referred to this a moment ago, Jesus answered
and said unto them, the hour is come, that the Son of Man
should be glorified. Verily, verily, truthfully, truthfully,
I say unto you, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. It brings many sons to glory. It brings before the throne of
God a multitude that no man can number. have an opportunity to see the
article, that brief article by James Hervey in your bulletin
today. Jesus says concerning his people, if they have sinned,
I have taken their sins upon myself. If they have multiplied
transgressions as the stars of heaven, my father hath laid on
me the iniquities of them all. They are my redeemed ones. I
have bought them with my blood. I cannot lose my purchase. If
they are not saved, I am not glorified. His success was proven
by this very fact. These last few words of our text,
he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Psalm 21,
the king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord. This is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And in thy salvation, how greatly
shall he rejoice. Thou hast given him his heart's
desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. For
Thou preventest him with blessing and goodness. Thou settest a
crown of pure gold on his head. He asked life of Thee, and Thou
gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. His glory
is great, his glory is great in Thy salvation. honoring majesty
has thou laid upon him, for thou has made him most blessed forever,
and thou has made him exceeding glad with thy countenance, the
joy. He now sits on the throne of
absolute sovereign majesty." That's what the text says. Why? Why? Because his work is finished. He's entered into rest. His glory
is full. His soul is satisfied. Satisfied. I hear people talk
about a savior, so-called savior, wanting to save people, but he
can't. He just can't because they won't cooperate. They just
won't let him. Oh, what a frustrated being that
would be. What a frustrating God, Savior,
that would be who wants to save people but he can't. That's not
the great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus has saved. He is
saving. And he shall yet save his people,
all of his people, from all of their sin. If he can't, if he
can't, if he didn't, why did he even bother to come? My soul
that represents the triune God is being less fickle than me,
being like me. And Christ heard the God said,
you thought I'm just like you. I'm not like you. No, Christ
knew. He knew without a doubt the outcome
of his sufferings. What possible joy could there
be if there was a possibility that any of his redeemed ones
should perish after all? Know again, Tommy's article,
Christ is no less determined that all for whom he endured
the cross, despising the shame, be with him where he is. He's determined. I watched, as
I mentioned earlier, the recording. Friday night of the service that
had been earlier that day at the funeral of Joke Crabtree,
her husband and Donnie Bell performed or did the service, and Bruce
spoke on, God has taken my wife. God's taken my wife. And Bruce
said that what had given him, I think of that very morning,
early that morning, the most comfort with his heart breaking. Bruce looked over at her body
in that casket and he said, I'll never hug her again. I'll never
kiss her, I'll never see her in this life again. I'm going
home, she won't be there." He said, by a heartbreak. But he
said, I'm not going to be overwhelmed with sorrow. He said, let me
tell you what the verse by which God spoke comfort to my heart.
I've used this verse several times when I preach funerals
from folks who have gone from among us. This is the verse,
Father, I will also This is our great high priest's prayer. The
Lord Jesus says, Father, I will also that whom thou has given
me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory. Bruce
said, oh, that gives me comfort. My Jo is beholding his glory.
She's with my redeemer. That gives me comfort. Robin
has a link she'll give you to that site if you want to listen
to it. Let me wrap this up. Zephaniah chapter 3. Listen to
this. Zephaniah 3 verse 14. Sing, O
daughter of Zion. Shout, O Israel. God's church
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Why? The Lord hath taken away your
judgments. He hath cast away thine enemy.
The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee.
Wow! Thou shalt not see evil any more. In that day it shall
be said to Jerusalem, Fear not, fear thou not, and to Zion let
not thy hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. Verse 17, He will save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. He will rest in His love. He
will rest in His love. If the victory makes the returning
soldier joyous, how joyous must have been the return of our conquering
hero, the captain of our salvation, when he led captivity captive
and received gifts for men. How the conquering Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, must rest in His love. The last part of
that verse, Zephaniah 3 and 17, and He will joy over thee with
singing. Wait a minute. Is that what that
said? He will joy over thee with singing? Man, we rejoice over Him. We rejoice to know Him, we rejoice
to be going to be with Him, but it says that He will rejoice
over us. Imagine that. I'll tell you what,
I needed help with that. And let me share with you what
old Robert Hawker had to say, his comment on that verse, on
that phrase that He will rejoice over thee with singing. He wrote,
have you ever seen in a summer's day that sweet bird of the air,
the sky lark as it is called, mounting over her little brood
and rising into the air to a great height, still singing as she
ascends while looking down on her darlings in the nest below.
Until at length, descending again, she drops upon them and rejoices
over them in all the expressions of delight. So the Lord thy God
will joy over thee. with singing. Yes, there is joy
at the finish line. There was for him, there will
be for you and I, for Christ and his church, for both the
bride and her bridegroom. May God enable us to think of
the captain of our salvation, the originator and the finisher
of our faith as we observe the Lord's Supper. God bless you.
God bless you.