Hebrews chapter 12, and let's
begin reading in verse 1. If you've got a pew Bible, it's
on page 1313. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
1. Wherefore, seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, Let us
lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endeared the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God." For consider him that endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your
mind. You have not yet resisted unto
blood, striving against sin." I want you to consider with me
this morning about running the race, running the Christian race. I'm not for sure who's the author
of this book. Nobody knows. Sometimes out of
habit I attribute it to the Apostle Paul, but I don't know that.
I doubt really if he wrote it. But we know who he was writing
to. We know something about the people
that he was writing to, these Jews, the Hebrews, who had made
profession. Most of them, many of them, were
good professions of Jesus Christ. They'd been enlightened. Christ
had been revealed to their hearts. They'd believed on Him. And they
had suffered for that profession. We're told in the tenth chapter
of this book that after they were illuminated, after the Spirit
enlightened them, they suffered a great fight of affliction. They had their goods confiscated,
their houses taken from them. They were made a laughing stock
by reproaches. Not only reproaching themselves,
but because they became companions of other Christians. So they
suffered for their professions of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But something had happened to
these Christians. Something had happened to these
believers. They were told in the fifth chapter that they had
become dull. in their hearing. That often
happens to us, doesn't it? And it should scare us. It should
concern us. Their affections become dull. Their understandings become dull. They have reached a place they
couldn't discern between good and evil, between the truth and
error. Some of them have begun to miss
the worship. They began to neglect public
worship. And we find out in the tenth
chapter that that's one of the first signs of the beginning
of apostasy. So this church was in a critical
situation. And some of the most fearful
warnings to professing Christians we find written in this epistle. to the book of Hebrews. I don't
know of any and all of the other epistles of these apostles and
writers where we find such awakening statements made to professing
Christians as we find in this book. Let me read some of the
statements that's made by the writer of the book of Hebrews.
He says in the third chapter in verse twelve, he tells them
to take he, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief in departing from the living God." What a warning! What an awakening statement!
If you and I got a letter from someone who was inspired to write,
and he wrote it to the Sovereign Grace Church in Newcastle, and
we opened it up, and it made this statement to us, to yourself, lest there be in
any of you an evil heart." What is an evil heart? It's where
unbelief reigns. It's where people depart from
God and deny their profession of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
He went on to say, "...but exhort one another daily, while it is
called today, Lest any be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our competence steadfast unto
the end." It's not just beginning the race. It's running the race. It's finishing the race. Hold
the beginning. And then he goes on in the fourth
chapter and he says this there in verse 1, Let us fear, lest
a promise be left to us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. And we know there in the third
and fourth chapter, a whole generation of Jews missed the promised land,
the cause of unbelief. And he goes on there in that
third chapter and he says, Let us labor, therefore, to enter
unto that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief. The Jews were not an example
of how we should never be. We must not be. And then in the
sixth chapter and the tenth chapter, if you've read the book of Hebrews,
I tell you the debate that's been about these two chapters
through the church history. I don't know for sure what it
means. I read one man like John Gill and I think, yeah, that's
right. Then I read Charles Spurgeon and I say, no, he's right. But he's talking about in the
sixth chapter those who were once enlightened and have hasted
the heavenly gift and the good word of God and so on, been partakers
of the Holy Ghost, if they shall fall away, it's impossible to
renew them again unto repentance." Who is he talking about? Well,
it's debatable. We talk about these things. We
don't know sometimes. But isn't it a serious warning? It's a scary thing, isn't it?
And he writes it to this church. And he goes on in the tenth chapter
and he talks about sinning willfully. Not just any willful sin, but
denying Jesus Christ to be the only Savior. Trampling underfoot
His blood. Doing despite to the Spirit of
grace. And he says it's a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God. Those who commit
this sin, there remains no more sacrifice for them. Beautiful
warnings. But he comes here to the twelfth
chapter, and he lets us know that there is also encouragement. Boy, he encourages them. All
kinds of encouragement through this book. And we find it here
in chapter twelve. The Christian life, he says,
is like a race. It is like a race. There is a
starting point. On track and field, there's a
line and across the line, next to the line, it says start. That's
where we get in the race, isn't it? It's against the law. They'll have security to take
you off the field if you're not there registered on the starting
line. It's not lawful to go jump over
the fence and get through security and start in the middle of the
race. There's a starting point. And we all know what that is,
don't we? You must be born again. Except we're born again, we cannot
enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We're not in this race unless
we're born again. You have be quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sin. This is the record that God hath
given to us eternal life. Dead men can't run, can they?
I know there's people that would commend us if we tell people
to lay aside every way and the sin as we run this race. They say, oh, the pastor, he's
such a good pastor. He's exhorted men to be faithful
Christians and to lay aside the way. But some of those same people,
when you said, yes, but you must be barned again first, You must
have the life of God in your bosom before you begin to run
the race. A lot of people wouldn't like
that, would they? Memorialists wouldn't like that.
A lot of people love you if you'll tell them to live good. But boy,
tell them to start good. And they don't like that, do
they? So there's a starting line in
the race, and there's a finish line. And oh, thank God for the
finish line. There it's laid up for me. a
crown of righteousness. Oh, what a finish! The Lord shall
give me in that day. I have a desire to depart and
to be with Christ, which is far, far better. That's the finish
line, isn't it? It's glory. Grace begins here
at the start, and glory is at the finish line. And it's in
between these two points that the writer is concerned with
in our text here this morning. And that's what I want to talk
to you about just for a few minutes. This great encouragement and
instructions in running this race. And the first thing he
tells us here is something I'm sure that will get a person's
adrenaline running and flowing as we run this race. Look at
it in verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we also are
compassed about," that word means to enclose, surround, "...with
a great cloud of witnesses," seeing we have this great cloud
of witnesses looking on, spectators surrounding us as we run. Now, he's talking about all of
those here in chapter 11. beginning at Abel and going all
the way through those Old Testament saints. Many of them were martyrs. This word witness, one of the
meanings of it, is martyr. One of the words is those who
bear testimony of God. And he is speaking of these Old
Testament saints who Many of them gave their life. All of
them bore testimony to God's glory. And now he says here that
they are surrounding us. They are compassed around us,
watching us run the race. Now, I don't know, brothers and
sisters, if this is speaking figuratively or if this is reality. I don't know. But I wouldn't
be surprised And many learned men would not be surprised if
this is speaking in reality. How near is heaven to earth? I know in distance to travel
it, it's a long way. I saw just this last week where
they launched one of these rockets, these things that they launched
back in the late 60's or something. And I think now it's right on
the edge of our galaxy. It took a long time to get there,
hasn't it? Heaven is a long way. It's high. But I just wonder, really and
honestly, how near the church in heaven is to the church upon
this earth. I bet it's closer than we realize.
I just wonder if there's any lapsed time. when a dear saint
dies and he winds up in the presence of our Lord. I don't think it
takes him a month to get there, do you? Paul said to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord. Could it be in
all reality that those saints who have left this life and who
have finished their course are indeed watching on as we run
our race. I thought it was very interesting
here in the context here in verse 22 through verse 24. Look what the writer says here
about it. He talks like we've actually
come into this heavenly city. That it's near. He said in verse
22, but you, you're not coming to Mount Zion. that mouth that
shook and trembled. But you come into Mount Zion.
You come into the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to that innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven, and to
God the judge of all. And look at this, and to the
spirits of just men made perfect. and to Jesus the mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of Spranklin that speaketh
better things than that of Abel." You are coming to these people. Could it be that they indeed
are on the sidelines, as it were, watching us run our race? Well, that's an encouraging thought,
isn't it? However He means it, He means
it to encourage us. Can you imagine? I remember this.
If you've watched sporting events, we've all seen this. I've been
in them, I've participated in them, and I've watched them.
You go down to the last minute of a close game, or the last
shot, or the last volley, or the last pitch, everybody's on
their feet, aren't they? With bated breath, they're watching,
they're waiting, and they're cheering. And boy, you talk about
those who are participating in that event. It gets the adrenaline
flowing. You'll play through pain. You'll
leave everything you've got on the field, as they say. And can you imagine all these
old saints watching us run? You go to the track and field.
I love the track and field. When some of the runners, they
have finished all their events, and there's just two or three
events left. Or my son, I go watch him sometime
when he plays tennis. And some have finished their
matches, and there's just two or three matches left, or one
match. And boy, it's a close match. And everybody's finished
theirs, and they're watching this last one. And can you imagine Abel? Abel? Remember Abel? The race
he ran? Boy, he had a tough race, didn't
he? He gave his blood, didn't he?
He stood and told his brother, it's by grace. It's by the blood
of the Savior. He lost his life. But here he
is. Here Enoch is. who walked with God, and now
he is watching us walk with God. Noah, who suffered persecution
in his day, no doubt was lacked and mocked, but he built an ark,
and now he is watching us. Abraham that left his father
and mother's house and all of his land, and Sarah that went
with him, they are there watching. who did not fear the wrath of
the king, went out into the desert with the Lord's people because
he chose the sufferings of Christ and valued them more than all
the pleasures of Egypt." There is Samson Oh, my deception, can
you see him? He's finished his race. He put
his hands to those pillars and pushed until more of God's enemies
in his death than he did in his life. He's finished his race.
Can you imagine him, Glenn, watching you run yours? Don't that put
some adrenaline in your spiritual veins? And there's sweet Hannah that
sought the Lord in the bitterness of her heart for a son. There
is David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, and all the old prophets.
Oh, and look there. Look there, what a line of people
down the fence. Oh, there are some people that
God approved of. That is those who lived in the
caves and dens of the earth. That is those who were soulless
thunder, were slain with the edge of the sword. Lost everything
they had, even their lives, that they might accept a better resurrection. All of these old saints, there
they are. Paul said, the writers said,
they contagious you about. They're watching you run the
race. Oh, when you think about that.
Doesn't that cheer you? Doesn't that encourage you? You're
being watched. You're being observed by those
who finish their race and by those who love you. Wherefore,
sin we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witness."
And in the light of that, look what he says. He gives us something
here, some instructions to help us run the race. In the light
of this, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily
besets us. Lay aside every weight. You know,
one of the things that always impressed me about some of these
scriptures, they don't go into detail, do they? We want him to mention some of
the weights, don't we? We always want that. He doesn't
mention a single weight, and he doesn't mention the sin that
so easily besets us. Because that's left to us to
determine. What is a weight to me may not
be a weight to you. But it would be silly for us
to get into a race with these weights on our ankles and waist
bands around our waist that's heavy that would hinder us. I
don't know what Jay would think if his dad got
up in the morning and he went down to Jay's little shed got
a 50-pound sack of chicken feed. And Jay asked him where he's
going. I'm going to work. You're going to work with a 50-pound
sack of feed on your back? You'd never think of such a thing,
would you? What would you think if sometime
you who liked tennis turned your TV on and you watched one of
the Williams sisters playing tennis in the Wimbledon championship
and she had a long, beautiful gown on? You say, woman, that just don't
make sense. What does people do when they're in a race? They
dress appropriately, don't they? They make sure they've laid aside
anything and everything that would hinder them from running
in this race. Now, we could go other places
and we could see what some weights are, weights and sins. Peter tells us to lay aside all
malice and all guile and all hypocrisy. and all evil speaking,
and all envy and all jealousy. Our Lord says, take heed and
beware of covetousness. Boy, that's a weight, ain't it?
You ever have any problems with covetousness? Boy, poor Lot,
don't you think about poor Lot? He saw those well-watered plains
and he said, that's what I want. And oh, how it hindered him from
running his race. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't
for the New Testament, we'd even wonder if he's in a rash, wouldn't
we? What a weight. What a weight. Take heed to yourself,
the Master said, that your heart be not overcharged with surfeiting
and drunkenness, excess, and with the cares of this life. Riches. Pleasures. I don't know what your weight
is, brothers and sisters. I know some weights that I have.
And it's anything that would weight our heart down, would
weigh down our affections, our wills that would hinder us from
running the race that's set before us. Anything from our hearts
going out to heavenly things and sincere and honest prayers. Anything that would hinder us
from our private study and private worship and private seeking the
Lord. And you'll have to determine
what that is, because it doesn't say. There are ways we can't
lay aside. There are cares that we have,
that we have them by virtue of being in this world, and you
can't lay them aside. They're responsibility. If you're
in this world, you have to work, don't you? You have to work. You've got families to raise.
You've got obligations to meet. And that's some cares that it
would be sinful for you to lay aside or neglect. But I tell
you what we can do with these types of weights, these cares,
we can cast them on the Lord. Casting all your care upon Him,
for He cares for you. David said, bring your burdens
to the Lord. and cast them upon Him, and He
will sustain you. And He will not suffer the righteous
to be moved. We can do that with the weights
that we can't lay aside and not meet a response. We can lay them
on Him, and He will help us with them. That's for sure. But sins,
I was looking at this word, easily beset. Lay aside the sins that
easily beset us. I thought this was a very interesting
word. And after you've looked at this
word and its definition, you realize why this writer didn't
mention what sins these were. Easily beset. It means well standing
around in every direction. That sin that is likely to be
most present and prevalent. and easily insinuates itself. See, your sin that besets you,
I have no problem with. I have a problem with sin that
you may not have a problem with. It is always there. You always
have to deal with it or them. It's the besetting thing that's
always present that comes into your heart so easy. I know what
Peter's was. I know one of his besetting sins,
and that was the fear of man. He denied the Lord, denied the
Gospel, and both times it was because of the fear of man. I
don't know what yours is. I ain't going to tell you what
mine was. But you've got them. Haven't
you got them? I bet some of them is coming to your mind right
now. John Bunyan wrote a book, Grace Abounded, to the Chief
of Sinners and told his life story. In that book, he mentioned
seven abominations that was in his heart. That's what these
are. Seven sins that so easily insinuate themselves into your
heart, your thinking. You know what two of Bunyan's
was? Forgetting the love of Christ for my soul." Ain't that amazing? Is that a
sin? Oh, that's one that will get you down. That's an awful
sin. Forgetting the love of Christ.
Another was straying in prayer. He said, when I'm praying, my
understanding goes and I'm all thinking about something else.
And he said, what awful idolatry. What an offense and an affront
to my God. Another was, was leaning towards
the works of the law. Oh my goodness, seven abominations. But I ain't going to tell you
about some of mine. I ain't going to do it. You'd probably try
to dismiss me as your pastor. You'd say, I never dreamed. I
never dreamed. I was listening to a preacher. He was telling
me about one night where you woke up from an awful dream.
He said he got out of bed, was on the side of his bed confessing
it, and his wife woke up and said, Sweetheart, what's going
on? He said, oh, I've had an awful dream, awful dream, and
I'm asking God to forgive me. She said, what was it about?
He said, I ain't telling you. She said, you telling the Lord?
He said, yeah, he'll forgive me. You probably won't. So my
besetting sins are mine, and I have to deal with them, and
you have yours. But boy, we know them, don't
we? We know them. Lay aside those weights and sins
which are beset. And look here at the instructions
he gives. And run with patience the race
set before us. Run with patience. Well, you've got to be patient
if you run this race. Do you remember the little story
about The hare and the tortoise, the rabbit and the turtle. Remember
that little book? We used to read that little story.
The little rabbit and turtle was going to have a race. And,
well, the rabbit, boy, he took off. Man, he took off as hard
as he could go and here comes the little turtle, you know.
The rabbit runs and he wears himself out and lays down and
goes to sleep. And here comes the little turtle and passes it.
He just got it, you know, he's got this little stride. Oh, the
rabbit wakes up and he gets alarmed. He takes off again. Boy, he gives
it everything he's got. He wears himself out. He lays
down and goes to sleep. Here comes the turtle. Rabbit jumps up and finally,
the next time he goes to sleep, the turtle passes him and crosses
the finish line and wins the race. Patience. Patience. You know, there are
some hills in this race that are very difficult to get over.
If you've ever done any kind of mountain climbing, you know
that, buddy, sometimes in steep places, you skin your knees.
There are some rocks that slip. You almost fall back. And there
are some mountains that we climb that you're not going to get
over in a day. And if you're not careful and
you're not patient, instead of going up, you may go down. There's
valleys. There's long, deep, dark valleys
that has pits. And if you fall in one of those
pits, I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to
sit there. You're going to be stuck there
until the Lord delivers you from it. David got in one of those. And he said, I had to wait patiently. for the Lord. This Christian race is like running
through a dry, desolate desert. You better set your pace. If
you get to running hard and think you're going to cross it that
quick, I'll tell you what you'll do. In this blistering sun, you'll
faint. You'll faint. Run with patience
the race set before us. Patience. You and I know, if
we've got any understanding at all, that almost anything worth
having in this lifetime, you have to wait for it, don't you?
That's what's the matter with so many now of our young people.
We see it all the time. They want a big house, and they're
going to get it now. They want a new car, and they're
going to get it now. They want this, and they want that, and
they're going to get it now. And what happens? Get themselves in trouble. Anything
worth having, Usually we have to wait to get it. Patience. Oh, listen to this. I have a
desire to depart and to be with Christ. Is that worth patiently
running for? Listen to this. Our conversations
in heaven from whence we look for the Savior who shall change
our vile bodies. Oh, ain't that wonderful? But
I tell you, that's something you're going to have to wait
patiently for. He'll give us that in His own time. To Him that overcomes will I
grant to sit with me in my throne. To Him that overcomes shall be
clothed in white raiment. Oh my goodness, that's worth
waiting for, isn't it? That's worth being patient for. That's why the Hebrew writer
says, Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and
patience inherit the promises. Faith and patience. You have
need of patience, patience and endurance, that after you have
done the will of God, you might receive the promise. Isn't Jesus Christ a perfect
example Himself of patience? You remember when he was 12 years
old, and for three days they lost
him, and he was in the temple preaching and discussing the
kingdom of God with those doctors. And they found him and said,
you've worried us sick. Why are you doing this? He said,
don't you know I must be about my father's business? But you
know he went. from 12 years old to 30 years
old before he preached his first public message, before he did
his first public miracle. Patience. That's why we read
of the patience in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Run
with patience. And look in verse 2 right quickly.
Looking unto Jesus, here's the way we must run. We've got all
these people watching us. I don't encourage it. Can't quit
with so many spectators. Instructions on how to run. Lay
aside the weights and the sin and run with patience. Don't
get in a big hurry. Don't think you're going to run
the whole race in a day. Be patient. You've got to be
patient. And now we run this race by looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith. And I tell you, I can't say this
any better than John Gill said it. Listen to what he said on
this portion of this verse, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. He says, Not with bodily eyes,
for at present he is not to be looked upon in this manner, but
with the eyes of our understanding, or with the eyes of faith. For
faith is a seeing of the Son. It is a spiritual sight of Christ
which at first is but glimmering, afterwards it increases, and
is of a soul humbling nature. It is marvelous, it is surprising. It is surprising when you see
it. It transforms into the very image
of Christ. and fills us with joy unspeakable
and full of glory. A believer should be always looking
to Christ and awe of every other object, as the word here used
signifies. Christ is to be looked to as
Jesus, a Savior, who being appointed and sent by God to be a Savior,
came and is become the author of eternal salvation and to Him
only should we look for it. He is able and willing to save. He is a suitable, complete and
only Savior, and whosoever looks to Him by faith shall be saved. And He is to be considered and
looked unto as the author and finisher of our faith. He is
the author or efficient cause of it. All men by nature are
without it. It is not in the power of man
to believe of himself. It is a work of power, of omnipotence. It is an instance of the exceeding
greatness of God's power. It is the operation of Christ
by His Spirit, and the increase of this faith is of Him and from
Him, and He is the finisher of it. He gives Himself and the
blessings of His grace to His people to maintain, to strengthen
it. He prays for it that it may never
fail. He carries on the work of faith
and will perform it with power and brings to and gives that
which is the end of faith, which is eternal life, the salvation
of the soul. Now, I could never say that like
that. But that's wonderful. That is wonderful. Looking unto
Jesus. The beginner of our faith, the
one that carries the looking on, and the one that will finish
it. And I've said this so many times,
and I love to say this, we've got ourselves into this mess
by looking away from Him and looking to ourselves. Looked
away from Him and His rule, His Word, His goodness, His love,
His mercy. And look what a mess it's got
us in. And the only way out of this mess is look away from ourselves
to Jesus Christ, the only Savior. And not just a one-time looking,
but continually looking unto Him until we've looked ourselves
right into heaven. That's the way we'll get there,
by looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher. of our faith. Let me hurry so I can finish
so I won't worry you out. Look here in the last portion
of verse 2. This is the fifth time in this
epistle the apostle uses this term. Who for the joy that was
set before him endeared the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. Five times he
uses this word, he's sat down on the right hand of the throne
of God. Let me show them to you right quick. Take your Bibles
and look in chapter 1. Every time he uses this phrase
concerning Jesus being sat down, he has a different meaning to
it. Look what it is in chapter 1. Here's the first time he used
it. He used it two times in chapter
1. Here it's obvious why he uses it. Look in chapter 1 in verse
3, speaking of Christ, who being the brightness of God's glory,
and the expressed image of His person, and upholding all things
by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our
sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Here it is obvious why He uses
This phrase, he sat down on the right hand of God. Because he
did what no priest under the ceremonial law ever did. He purged sin away. He atoned for it. He put it away
upon the cross. The Levitical priest never did
sit down because the blood of bulls and goats never did purge
away sin. But Jesus purged away sins, so
He says it's finished. There's nothing else to be done.
Sin is purged. So what does the Apostle say
he does? He sits down. The work is done. He sits down. And while you and I are here
burying the guilt and the shame and confessing our sins, isn't
it a wonderful thought that our sins have been purged? And the
evidence of it is there upon the right hand of God. Jesus,
our faithful Savior, is seated. He uses this same phrase in verse
13, but he uses it for a different reason here. Not to show that
the work is finished, but when he is seated at the right hand
of the Majesty on high, it tells us that the Father set him there
because the Father favors him. above all His creatures." Look
what he says in verse 13, "...but to which of the angels saith
he at any time, Set on my right hand, until I make your enemies
your footstool." In verse 4, look, "...being made so much
better than the angels." How do we know that God favors Him
above the angels? Look where the Father has set
Him, on His right hand. My Son, My Son, You are more
lovely than any creature. I favor You and exalt You above
them all. Sit on My right hand." No angel
will ever sit there. Only the Son of God. Look, it's
the third time he mentions it over in chapter 8. Here's the third time he mentions
it. This is a wonderful thing here
to think about. Chapter 8 and look at verse 1.
Now the things which we have seen, now the things which we've
spoken, here's the sum of it. We have such a high priest who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which
the Lord pitched and not meant. What's he doing on the right
hand of the Father? He's a minister. He says, I didn't
come to minister. I didn't come to be ministered
unto. I come to minister. And lo and behold, he's seated
in heaven on the Father's right hand. And what's he doing there?
He's ministering. In what way is he ministering? Well, look here with me someplace.
Look back in chapter 2. Just let me read these to you.
Here's the way he's ministered. He has ministered and he is now.
Look in verse 17 of chapter 2. In all things it behooved him
to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered,
being tempted, he is able to secure them that are tempted."
What's he doing up there? He's ministering. What's he doing?
Securing his people. Upholding them. Helping them
when they're tempted. Look in another place. Look here
in chapter 4. Look here at this. Look in verse
14, "...seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed
unto the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession. We have not a high priest which
cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need." What
an encouraging passage when we are told to lay aside the weights
and the sins. How do we do that? We have a
faithful high priest who is ministering for us at God's right hand in
heaven, and we are to come to Him, and with Him is mercy. Mercy. You've got weights. You've got sins. Bring them with
you. There's a throne of grace where
He sets to minister mercy. I pity these people that deny
they even have any weights and sins. I pity these people that
say they're running this race faster than anybody. They never
struggle. They never run up on any hills. They never get in
any pits. I pity them. They don't need a minister in
heaven. They don't need mercy. But we've got to minister, and
there he sits, sovereignly and wondrously ministering to all
of those who are in need of mercy, and they need grace to run this
race. I always love chapter 5. Look
at chapter 5. Every high priest taken from
among men, they're ordained for men. and things pertaining to
God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin, who can
have compassion on the ignorant and on those who are out of the
way." Can you imagine what it was like
to be a priest under Levitical law? You had to have a heart
of compassion, boy. You talk about hearing some confessions. This man brings a sacrifice and
he's fallen. And the poor man is ignorant. And here this priest is. He has
some understanding of how people should walk and how they should
do it. And here comes this poor fellow and he has messed up big
time. And he's done it before. And
here he comes again. What's a priest going to say
to him? I'm going to turn you over to Moses. They ought to
stone you, you scoundrel. If you've got that attitude,
you can't be a priest, you see. A priest had to be a man who
was full of compassion, who could have compassion on who? The ignorant,
on those who were going astray. Is that not us, brothers and
sisters? We have a high priest that knows
we are ignorant. He called his disciples fools,
didn't he? And called them evil. If you
have been evil, you know how to get rid of them. Yes, he knows
us, doesn't he? There's no sense of us trying to whitewash ourselves
and pretense and put on a show he knows us. And he's a minister
and there he sits and he says, come to me. I'm full of compassion. I'm full of mercy and grace and
I'm ministering on your behalf to my Father. I'll give you what
you need. I'll help you to run the race.
I'll help you off with these burdens. And those you have to
bear, I'll give you grace and strength to do it. Oh, a minister. And he went on in the 7th chapter
to say he's able to say to the uttermost, completely and forevermore,
those who come to God by him, seeing he ever lives to make
intercession for us. He's a minister of the sanctuary. In the last place, you're in
chapter 12. And he has another, chapter 10. Look at chapter 10
right quickly. He adds something to this. It
seems almost like the first one we looked at, he purged our sin,
but he mentions something else here. In chapter 10, and look
in verse 11. Every high priest stands daily,
ministering and offering all times the same sacrifices which
can never take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expect until his enemies may make his fist
do." And he adds this. He set them because our sins
were purged. Nothing else could be done. But
he adds verse 14 to it now. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever. When he says it's finished, he
laid the sure foundation for the eventual perfection. of every elect soul. You're not perfect, do you know
that? No, I see you're not perfect. I ain't perfect. But I tell you,
the foundation has been laid yonder at the cross, and the
evidence that it's a sure foundation for our eventual perfection,
He's seated there. He's seated there. And as sure
as he was raised from the dead and he entered that place in
his glorious body, so will every elect soul. And then he comes
here to the last place, and this is used here in chapter 12 and
verse 2, and he has another meaning to it. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him, He endeared the cross, he despised the shame, and he sat
down at the right hand of God. This tells us something different.
Before, it's what he did for us. He purged our sin. Before, it's what he's doing
for us. He's the minister there in heaven
for us. But here, here, it's what he
did for himself. Here it tells us about something
that He craved for Himself, something He wanted. What was it? The joy. The joy. Who for the joy set before Him. There is a joy that Jesus Christ,
the Mediator, could never have experienced if He had not Himself
run this race. and finished his course, as difficult
as it was, he craved that joy of saving his people. That's it. We think sometimes,
boy, the Lord, He is so fed up with me, He's just ready to write
me off. I don't think it's that way.
We feel like we should be wrote off. He never thinks of it that
way, brothers and sisters. As hard as it is to grasp and
understand, He loves you. The greatest joy Christ as mediator
has ever experienced is saving you. Come, rejoice with me. I have found my sheep which was
lost. The joy of sending the Holy Spirit
back to them, giving them life, revealing Christ to their hearts,
teaching them of His love, bringing them to heaven at last to be
with Him. Oh, that's His joy. That's His joy. And He finished
that and sat down at the right hand of the Father. And He says,
Consider Him. Consider Him now. Consider Him. Consider who He is. Oh, we're
told in chapter 1 of it, He's the very expressed image of God. Oh, the one dear old preacher,
he said, he's not like God at all. He is God. He is God. When you've seen me, you've seen
the Father. Consider who He is. He's the Son of God, the High
Priest, the Sacrifice, our Access, our Forerunner, our Life, our
Hope. He's everything. Consider Him. Consider what He endeared against
Himself. Oh, what contradictions! They
denied his deity, did they not? I and my Father are one. They
picked up stones to stone him. They said, You are making yourself
God. You are a blasphemer. They denied him as a prophet.
He is a liar. Do not listen to it. They denied him as a king. We
will not have this man to reign over us. And I tell you, they
despised him as the high priest. Even there when He was offering
Himself upon the cross. If you be the Son of God, save
yourself and come down. You're shameless. They denied His miracles. They
said He cast out devils by the prince of the devil. They denied
His ministry, His preaching the gospel. They said all you're
doing is encouraging these harlots to live in sin. You're freely
forgiving them? You're encouraging these publicans
to cheat people? You're telling them it's okay?
You're just forgiving them freely? Oh, everywhere he turned, he had
this contradiction of sinners that he had to endure. Paul said,
consider him. Look at his race that he ran. You've not yet resisted unto
blood, striving against sin, but he did. He did. In the garden, He sweat blood.
In the judgment hall, they poured it from His back and His cheeks.
And on the cross, they put a spear in His side and He poured out
all of His blood. He gave His blood. What is our race as far as the
difficulty of it compared to His? And yet, He has run His
race and finished it. And He sat down on the right
hand of God. And can we not finish ours? By
His grace, can we not finish it? Yes, we can. Let us finish
our race, brothers and sisters. And don't be discouraged and
don't faint. Take these instructions and the
race. I don't say it will be any easier.
But I do say this, it will be more joyful. It will be more
joyful. The Lord bless this world. Let's
pray.