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316 is that correct? Yes.
00:05:35
Rice.
That's described in much more detail in Hebrews chapter 12.
I suggest we take up that chapter, the rate that's set before us, that we're in the process of running, that we might learn some lessons from it and find the encouragement as well as we.
Are in that path that leads to glory.
Neighbors, Chapter 12.
Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, 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, looking unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself.
Lest she be wearied and faint in your minds.
If not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourge with every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not, if he be without chastisement, Whereof all our partakers? And are ye ******** and not sons?
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we have, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our prophet, that we might be partakers of His Holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless. Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them.
Which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lain be turned out of the way. But let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness bringing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau.
Who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright for ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. For you not come under the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness, and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they had heard and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
But they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But here come on to Mount Zion, and on to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, into the Saints of just men made perfect.
And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel, See that you refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape not, who refused him that spake on earth much more Shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven?
Whose voice then shook the earth, But now he have promised, saying Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved.
00:10:14
Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
A little context to the chapter. The book in which the chapter comes was written to Jews.
It was written to those who have been brought up in Judaism and had embraced what we call Christianity had it what their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. And so they are be given, they're given instructions for putting behind them that which had been their life.
Up to that point, the life in Judaism or something?
Much, much better. The Jew had hope on earth. He looked forward to a Kingdom on earth, but he didn't have any heavenly hopes per SE, as promised to him. And yet in the Hebrews we find that he opens up to them that now they have an opportunity to draw nigh to God that they had never known before. God dwelt in thick darkness in the Tabernacle.
And man didn't come near him at all. Aaron once a year was able went in with fear and trembling that he wouldn't come out alive if he went into the very presence of God. But to the Hebrew and to us we have this wonderful joy that we cannot draw, draw near unto God. And we have that in chapters one all the way up to chapter 10, where we are brought nigh to God. And it says in chapter 10, let us draw near.
With a true heart in full assurance of faith. But we're not in the Kingdom that in its form, that's given in the last verse of the chapter that we're started with, where it says we have a Kingdom which cannot be moved. And so we're going on toward that which will be stable and be ours forever and never be moved. But what in this world today can't be moved?
As far as man's things, everything is in a constant state of change and uncertainty, and that's the day we live in and it's not going to change. It doesn't matter whether you've been on the journey a long time or just begun is the character of the world and its instability is not going to get different. And so in Chapter 11, he gives us many witnesses who live.
In their day, in a life of faith brings before us Abraham, who left his own country to go out, not knowing where he was going to end up. But God said go, and so he left his country in faith and he lived that character of life. And all the people in Chapter 11 were people brought before us as characterizing a life of faith. And that's your life and mine. We have to live the same character of life.
And so in chapter 12, it begins by giving us the perfect example of the life of faith. We can have Chapter 11 and all the worthies of faith, but then we can turn in chapter 12 to the one perfect example of the life of faith, and that's verse two, looking unto Jesus. And that verse is not about the atonement. We can make application that way.
But the intent of the verse is to show us look to the man who lived the life of faith.
Perfectly, be encouraged by it and follow his example.
Sometimes follow verse by verse, but sometimes it's also good to the jump ahead of it to see what is saying so we can look back to the verses what is implying. So if I may, I'm going to jump ahead to verse three and I trust that you can see my thought there. Verse three sets 4. Consider him that endure such contradiction of sinners against himself.
00:15:14
Now the part of my heart is the following part.
Lest ye be weary and faint in your minds. Now those two verses before that is important, but I want to state here that this is the result. I believe we can say if we don't look unto Jesus, and I'll let other comment on that in a minute. So what would happen when we don't look unto Jesus?
Well, it says less EB weary. How many of us sometimes find that this Christian pathway is a weary one? Do we feel persecution? Do we feel that we're losing our Christian right? By the way, Christians have no right in this world. But it makes us weary, doesn't it? And to make it even worse and faint, you know, when we see someone fainting.
Is a natural reaction to go help that it's I'm not trying to be funny, but I do remember seeing at least three times in my life that someone actually passed out in meetings and the reaction is often very great and you see someone is obviously will go up trying to help. In fact, you may laugh. One time I got up to speak. I was younger. I stood up. I said no more than 10 words and the brother fainted. I guess the speech was not bad, but regardless, it was it wake you up.
You want to help, but now here it doesn't talk about just fainting. It faint in your mind. How many here can even say that? You know, I was in such great distress before when nobody saw it. We're good at hiding that, don't we? So do we want to faint in our mind? I share that with a brother one time and he he lost his wife many years ago and he said to me, he said David.
I know exactly what this means because I fainted in my mind and no one really knew because I was able to cover it up. So going back to that now, do we want to fade in our mind or be weary? Now we have to pay attention to the previous verses.
I suspected that we would have a book like this before us from the hymns that were given out this morning.
They're very much what we call wilderness.
Hymns. Wilderness songs.
And by that what we mean is that.
Different portions of the Word of God look at us in a different way.
Some portions in the New Testament look at us has already arrived, already complete as to our standing. For example, the Epistle to the Ephesians were seated in the heavenlies. In Christ we possess all spiritual blessings. We're all set. And the challenge is to understand that and to enjoy it and walk in the good of it.
In the wilderness epistles, like Hebrews is in the Epistle of the Philippians, we're looked upon as out there in the wilderness without resources in ourselves. We need something or someone outside of ourselves and we need to get through, and we're not through yet. And that's what the book of Hebrews falls into that category. And so the context determines so much. We read the word salvation. What does it mean? Is it the salvation of my soul? Is it my circumstance?
The context determines eternal life. In John we possess it now in Paul it's the end. And so here in Hebrews we need to get through and these as as Don has already put before us, this mixed company of some that really had genuine faith from God and had put their trust in Christ as Messiah and they were on their way and others. The writer of this epistle was not so sure about. They had started out, they had made profession. What are they going to turn back or are they not.
00:20:16
Is it real or is it not? For example in in Hebrews 10?
A verse.
35.
Cast that away, therefore your confidence which hath great recompensive reward for you have need of patience, or really endurance.
And so all through Chapter 11 That that has been referred to, we see men and women of faith who also look for something they did not yet have, and the vision of it out in front of them as an object sustained them, motivated them, preserve them, and they are put before us as examples. And then we get to the beginning of chapter 12, and we have the example of Christ himself.
You'll often hear in Hebrews brothers refer to the Lord Jesus seated.
At the right hand of the throne of God in verse two, we have and earlier in Hebrews, he's seated there because of who he is. He's seated there because of his work and etcetera. Here he's seated there as the one who made it through, who endure. And in that sense he's our our model.
As one the author and finisher of faith. So that kind of context, I find that helpful to understand where I am and and what the what the situation is in this specific versus when I'm in an epistle that's wilderness based like the children of Israel for 40 years. They're in the wilderness, not yet in Canaan. For us as believers, we are looked upon as both in some places we're looked upon as in the land.
And other places we're looked upon is on our way through.
As you look at all the examples without witnesses of faith, I'm sure we can find a lot of failure in their lives. But the chapter doesn't focus, Chapter 11 doesn't focus on their failures. It focuses on their faith and as we go through life.
Living our lives for the Lord Jesus. We're going to have a lot of failure, but don't live with your failure. Live by faith.
Maybe you have something that you've been.
Feeling you need to do for the Lord, but you say, well, I can't because there's failure in my life. Well, there's there's a remedy for failure. We can confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
This first, the first verse we said have here says let us lay aside every way. Let us lay aside anything that's going to hinder our walk of faith so we can live a life that gives honor and glory to the Lord Jesus. Let us lay aside the sin which does so easily beset us. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. So let's rather than be limited by our failures, let's confess our failure and and move on.
And and live by faith.
Every aspect of the Christian life is faith, and so if they allow failure to control me, then faith is hindered.
The examples is nice to see example of faith because as we go through this example to encourage our hearts, yes, we see how they were weak, we see yes we see failures, but we see the faithfulness. But then here too we have to also notice is each one of us is different. The Lord put us through different circumstances, we receive different gifts, we have a different life.
So here is.
Really what how are we to walk before the Lord, So it's give us some hint regardless of what it is so we find in verse one and a brother towards the other readily aside every weight. Don't look at the failures, but look toward the goal and while we are walking in the scene it says let us run Tristan gay not just walk in this case.
Let us run with patience. I don't know if this word means much to many of us. I know it doesn't mean much to me. Patience is not a good word for me because I like to have patience quickly and it doesn't work that way. It did, but here is that to run. So you got to run, not walk, but with patience.
00:25:24
The race that is set before us. What is that race?
And I know that many young people here that have various sports event. Well, every goal is different, isn't it? So I sometimes say to people jokingly, I don't do much sports. I have played a little bit of golf and I have bowl a little bit and my bowling score and golf course score is about the same. So does that mean I'm a good golfer or my lousy bowler? What You need to know what the goal is in order to be done.
So how do you know? Well, it's between you and the Lord. But then second verse give you further inning. For example, is the looking unto Jesus. That's the best example we can have. He's the beginner of faith. He's the completer of faith. And what did he do to complete his faith? All through humiliation, humbleness, willingness to follow the will of God.
That's the path that he has chosen, an obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
I wonder if you could just look for a minute at the Lord Jesus in Matthew 11.
Because he has set a perfect example for us in the path of faith. You know, if we're going to walk the path of faith, we have to have the confidence. We have to have confidence in the one that our our faith has been put in. And the Lord Jesus has set a beautiful example.
Of of faith in this chapter just to get Matthew 11 starting at verse 20, he speaks about those who had rejected His works and the blessing that had come through him. He was here to represent the Father and He had brought many works of kindness.
To these cities that he pronounces a woe on, he had actually been rejected.
Because he had brought blessing and but what I wanted to focus on in my comment is that his attitude in his path of faith was 100% confidence in God. So if we were to read verse 25, it says at that time Jesus answered and said.
I thank the old Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. So the Lord Jesus here gives us a perfect example of His absolute confidence in God His Father. He was able to take the circumstances of His.
Path of faith and receive them because he knew that they were from the.
The will of God and so even though they were extremely difficult for him to bear, the rejection, the.
Ill treatment that he received, yet he had perfect confidence in his path of faith.
That God was in control and that He could accept the difficulties of the path. And if you were to look at each one of those ones in Chapter 11, you would find the same thing, that there would be an element of confidence in God's word. Faith is always based upon the Word of God. And so the Lord Jesus here gives us a beautiful example.
Of one who has absolute confidence in his father, he could say, you know, if you come and you crawl into the yoke with me, you will find that.
00:30:08
My yoke is easy and my burden is light because he was in perfect subjection and submission to the will of God.
And so we will find that if we have that same.
If if, if we have a sense of that same confidence in the in the goodness of the heart of God, we will find that the path of faith is 1 Where are you is easy. You know the the the weights that we might have a tendency to carry.
Around with us, we will come to realize that they're just a hindrance from us enjoying the path of faith with God our Father. And as we get on into the rest of the chapter, we're going to find that the relationship to our God is so important to be able to pass through the what He allows from His hand for our blessing. We'll be able to endure that easier.
If we have that, that confidence in God our Father. So I just wanted to share an example of the Lord expressing in His path of faith complete and total dependence and confidence in what God was allowing.
So I have a question.
My question is this.
In the 11Th chapter.
If we go back there.
To first 30.
Verse 29 rather.
It says by faith they passed through the Red Sea.
As by dry land, which the Egyptians are saying to do were drought and then the next verse says by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days in between those two verses is the entire wilderness journey the entire journey. But here we have a wilderness book. I realize it's pick it up elsewhere, but.
The two verses that I've read we have half of Exodus.
Not touched on Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, part of Joshua completely eliminated which was the wilderness journey. And I realized that the wilderness journey was not because of the faith, it was because of a lack of faith. But maybe someone could help us as to the elimination of the whole wilderness journey in the previous chapter.
With with regards to what we have in this chapter.
I hope, I hope.
The chapter here is a race and even the question just asked is connected with it. The.
It's a race. A race has a goal line. A race has a character.
It's not 100 yard dash, 100 yard dash doesn't require endurance. Let's described in this race, it's a marathon and when you're going to start out with a marathon, you don't see the people that are getting ready at the starting date put on two or three extra pounds of lead to wear around their waist, their waist, their hindrances they have in view.
Not simply the journey itself, but the end of the journey. And that's what's in view before them. And so there are things that hinder the running of the race. One is weight, those things that have already been described that will hinder us. Another one equally significant. I'm going to read the new translation that it says let us lie aside every weight and.
Sin which so easily entangles us, and when sin comes into our life, it is a hindrance, a serious hindrance to making progress in the race.
00:35:03
But the Lord Jesus.
In verse two, who was running that race, ran it with something that encouraged his own soul all the way along. And what was it? Who for the joy that was set before him? He wasn't going through it as it were. Oh, I've got to endure. Someday all these problems will be over, and someday I'll get to go to heaven. That was not the character of the spirit.
On the Lord Jesus, when He ran the race, He ran it in view of the joy that was set before him when He completed the race. And we have to do the same. If we do not go through it with the end in view, then everything that comes in between will ultimately tend to defeat us. And so the children of Israel in the wilderness started out.
And almost immediately they had the opportunity of 12 of them to go into the land and see the end of the race.
Caleb and Joshua had faith and as a consequence, they made it. And Caleb, when he gets there, he says all I want that land that I saw.
And I believe in the verses in the previous chapter, it is for such that even the conquering of the land is part of the race here. It's a race. It's not precisely the wilderness as such. We tend to divide it that way. The first verse is leaving the world, but the race itself involves, yes, passing through a wilderness, but it also involves for us getting into and faith.
Enjoying the fruit of the land itself.
And so when they got in to the land, when Caleb got into the land, when Joshua got into the land, there were still those who were hindering them from entering into the fullness of what it was that was promised to them. The joy set before them was for them the land, and they needed the faith to continue to break down the opposition that was there.
So that which they was a hindrance to taking their inheritance. And so the walls of Jericho were hindrance and faith conquered them. That is, I really don't want to say faith conquered them, but the Lord conquered them in honoring their faith. The Lord is really the one that exercised the power that they went down with. But again, I just say it's, it requires endurance, patience.
The Starburst translation is endurance and one other comment about the the worthies of Chapter 11 and the fact that their failures aren't particularly mentioned, which is to give us encouragement in their faith. Brethren, sometimes we're in the race and we get into a spot in our life and we say.
I've ruined it, I've sinned and I can't go on anymore.
I don't think you'll find hardly a single soul in the word of God who ran the race who doesn't have failure recorded about them, if we know anything much about their life. In David, one of the greatest kings that ever was, we see very serious sin. In chapter 10 or Chapter 11. We have Rahab who was a harlot and so on. That is, God gives us the examples of faith.
That we might.
Learn from them, but that we might also recognize that we have to have our eye not on them, but on the goal. But they're also something that will help us when we get cast down by failure or the other side when there's a wait. Sometimes our heart says nobody understands.
Nobody realizes what I'm going through and we are discouraged or we're depressed with the circumstances of our own lives, and consequently, to help us with that in chapter 2 and verse 2, endure.
The cross. Endure the cross. Are you ever Have you ever passed through something in your life that exceeds that?
00:40:04
That would be more discouraging. They hated me without a 'cause he could say.
They rejected me.
And all I did was show love and kindness and good to man. And consequently, the perfect model of, of the, of the race is he even endured the cross. And if we stop and look at him that way, we'll realize there's never a circumstance in our lives.
That he has not passed through something rightly more difficult than we.
Suggestion to that question.
Often we look at things relating to our experience. If it's something joyful, time seems to pass by quickly. It is something terrible. It seems to drag on and on. So for example, if we were to come down here, when we come down here, someone may say to me, what did you have a good trip? Yes, it was nice. It was joyful. We look forward to be here now, if on the way here my radiator blew up, the tire blew up and the car caught on fire.
Well, that story will change a little bit, wouldn't it? Now I'm talking, I'm not trying to make light of scripture. We have to remember this is about faith. This is about endurance by looking upon Jesus. So this verse begins by saying, hey, they left Egypt. Oh, the next verse says they cross onto the promised land. It's done. Now keeping in mind too, if you go back to the first chapter of Deuteronomy.
It was only a seven days journey. What's the big deal? Oh, the rest, they got side, they got detoured, they got lessons to be learned, but it was only a seven days journey, so it's done. They have to learn what faith is. So the important part is to not look at that brother already mentioned, at the failures along the way. They went out by faith and by faith they were brought into the promised land.
There were no purchases of during those 40 years in the wilderness. They began looking at themselves instead of looking at God, and so they went into failure.
I think of Peter. Peter had faith to walk on the water, but when he started looking at himself in his own circumstances, he began to sink and he failed.
As you live your Christian life, you live by faith. As long as you keep your eyes on Christ, don't look at yourself. If you look at yourself, there will be failure. You'll begin to sing, but keep your eyes on Christ and walk by faith. Even the example you gave of Peter is a pretty good model. Nobody else got out of the boat.
Even in his failure.
He turns and reaches out. There's a hand to catch him. How many times is a hand reached out and caught you? How many times in our experience, in our Christian lives that we may be taking a step and we have failed like Peter, but there's that hand that comes out. My brother said that we should keep our eyes on Jesus. And sometimes this is even quoted that way, but it's really telling us. Look at his example.
Of something he did, that joy here is us. He saw us on the other side of what he was going through.
That little word joy is all about the redeem all of us. If that was going to be the result of what He endured, everything He endured, all the things that mankind did to Him, all the evil that was done to Him, all of that kind of thought thing. And He must needs then go to the cross and He must then take the wrath of an Almighty God against sin and suffer there. But He saw the other side, what was coming on the other side, and there was joy there. That was us, His Bride.
He saw that.
I dare say that every woman in this room who's had a child has gone through her pregnancy and had a difficult time sometimes. But I'll bet there's been encouragement in that when they thought about the joy on the other side when the child came, I'm seeing some heads nod Amen. And that's the idea is that it is worth it because on the other side, even if now it's very difficult.
00:45:05
There's joy that's coming. Why do you think groups of men?
Dare to try to become Navy SEAL. It's one of the hardest, excruciating, painful experiences they can. Now, it's personal and there's pride and all of that involved, but there's a satisfaction and a joy they have of making it when no one else can. And the only way they can get through it is by seeing on the other side of what they're going through that it will be worth it. Well, how much more is it worth it?
What we have set before us and if we get distracted, our brother was talking about this is running a race and it's talking about an athlete. I remember one brother years ago in talking about this passage said you don't see pockets on track stars, people running track, they don't have pockets. Why would they? You don't need any extra weight. And in that I believe he applied that the sin that might so easily be set as maybe a great athlete who doesn't follow the rules all the time.
And he gets disqualified.
Well, don't put extra weights on and follow the rules. Stay in the lane or whatever it is and the great athlete can can then win the prize and get to the other side. Well, we have a far better prize than any athlete ever had set in front of them and we can run this race and be reminded that there are things that are hindering us along the way and the Lord can point that out. We might even not even understand or realize what is hindering us.
They had a quick comment.
Key sauce is very important to be reminded, but in the new translation, emphasize it even more. Is that locking steadfastly unto Jesus? We look to Jesus, don't we? I can't see anyone in this room to say, no, I don't turn to him, but do we look steadfastly unto Him? And when we do, we'll find even our language change.
Have we ever find we say to the Lord with a language like this, starting with the word? Why? Why Lord? I believe that's a bad way to begin your conversation with the Lord. Even if you begin with that word. How? Lord? I don't think that is a faith neither. Or even adding on when Lord No, we need to look at Him steadfastly.
And wait patiently. And that goes together as we run that race that is set before us.
I was just thinking, we must enjoy that's in that journey too. I've mentioned about this boy, but it was on the other side of the cross. And I think also another aspect of that joy was the fact that he had joy in doing the will of the Father. And when he did the will of the Father, it included suffering and shame and pain and sorrow. He was the Man of Sorrows. Now put it. Put this into your life and my life.
You want to live a life of faith. There's going to be pain, there's going to be suffering, there's going to be disappointments. And I'd like to look at Philippians chapter one and verse 29.
Bring both the faith and the suffering together. The Lord Jesus is willing to do the will of the Father, and it brought him joy. And if we're going to do the will of the Father.
We'll find joy as well, but we also will find suffering. Philippians one verse 29 For it is given in the behalf of Christ, for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him. That's faith, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake and so.
You can look forward to perhaps some suffering as you do the will of the Father.
But in the midst of that suffering, there will be joy.
Unbelief and why it's so important in the 11Th and 12Th chapters.
In the script in Scripture, faith and sight go together.
00:50:03
Just like the ears and the will go together, there are certain physical things where the moral teaching of them is fundamental really in many places to understand the scripture and faith and seeing. If you don't have faith, you don't see.
You're spiritually blind. To use the example again of Caleb and Joshua, they had faith and they could go 40 years of endurance.
With the joy that was set before them because of their faith, but those in the wilderness who did not have that joy set before them because they didn't see it, because of unbelief, they weren't running a race, they were wandering.
And it's possible for us as a believer to spend our life wandering in a desert without entering into the truth of the joy that God sets before us. And the root difficulty in US may be unbelief. What happens if I don't have? That is, I may be a true believer and have faith in the Lord Jesus for salvation, but I'll spend my life trying to make myself as comfortable and as happy as I can in the world in which I live.
And know that someday I'm going to leave it and go to heaven, and then I'll be even more happy. But if the focus of my life is trying to have joy here.
Then there's a problem in the matter of faith. And so the Lord Jesus, who perfectly understood and saw what was ahead of him, because there was no lack of faith, could enter into that joy.
And in the measure in which we enter into it, we also will.
Endure in the race, go back for one more verse in Philippians, which as is similarities to Hebrews, it's already brought out if you go back to Philippians chapter 2.
You see an example in the Apostle Paul.
Of what motivated him and his life.
Individual if I can get the Philippians too.
No Philippians chapter 3. I'm wrong. Philippians chapter 3.
What verse seven? What things were gain to me? Gain where? Gain here or gain in the race?
These I counted loss for Christ.
Yeah, doubtless, without a doubt, I count all things but loss. Why? What was his joy that kept him going in the path? It was, he says, the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.
That for whom I have suffered the endurance, the pain and suffered the loss of all things. And to count them but dung you counted them as useless, wasted, not valuable to him. Why that I might have when Christ, that's that's the goal line.
The end result of winning the race, individually winning the race. What did he want to win? He wanted to have Christ. He wanted to have him completely.
As the overriding joy at the end of the race of his own soul. And in the measure in which that's true of us is the measure in which we will run the race with faith and endurance.
There's 14.
Apostle Paul says I press toward the mark for the prize at the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
What's the prize? I believe it's Christ himself.
And so the Apostle Paul, he had his eye on the prize.
On Christ himself.
At the end.
Of the race, if I could put it that way.
The high calling of God in Christ Jesus. But the thought of pressing toward the mark is the thought of energy.
00:55:03
Of purpose. Purpose of heart.
And it just makes me think of.
You know the fish that swim upstream. We live close, in fact, right across the road from a river, the Saint Croix River. And I know the young people at school, they would raise these salmon fries. And when the salmon arrived at a certain age, they take them out into the woods.
And let him go into a stream.
And he would apparently swim all the way out into the ocean, even all the way to Greenland, and then make their way back and actually swim up the Saint Croix River. But they had to swim against the current. And you can imagine what that must have been for a salmon to swim all that way against the current. And there's this fish way right beside the dam.
Across the road from where we live and these damn fish, they jump up through the dam into the river or I should say the lake. But the thought of pressing toward the mark, This is, I believe, what God looks for in you and me and.
I was thinking too in Proverbs it speaks about how a jest man fallout. Now this is proverbs 24 and verse 16 it says for a just man.
Falling seven times.
But does he stay down after he falls?
No, it says. He rises up again.
And so I believe this is so important to realize that even though we may fall.
Failure isn't fatal. Failure is when we don't rise up again and keep on going.
And there was failure in the Apostle Paul's life. He didn't do everything perfectly.
But somebody has said he did fall down in the path, but he stayed in the path.
And how important, though, to keep our eye on the board and to realize that.
He is the God at the end of the race.
And as we look to him.
Day by day and the challenges of life, He empowers us. I think that's what we have here in in Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus. It's that which empowers us to continue on in the race.
And this is thinking of the proportion that the job.
That empowering you know I think it's kind of encouraging how it starts out here in verse one look at this is the Lord speaking to Joshua after Moses is dead and this is what he says after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord he came to pass that the Lord spake into Joshua the son of nun Moses minister and you know he says if you know it's not really said here but it makes you wonder if.
Here is Joshua getting ready to take on something that would be.
Great, a great task and it's as if the Lord is going to give him a word of encouragement. And this is what he says here in verse six or in verse five. Look at how it says there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life, as I was with Moses.
So I will be with thee, I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Be strong and of good courage, for under this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance, for the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them. And again, it's a reiterated only be thou strong and very courageous. It's as if you know if you were in Joshua's shoes and you were thinking about the task, and you think.
You wouldn't. You feel very weak, wouldn't you?
But the Lord is giving him this encouragement to empower him and look at what it says.
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In verse nine, this has really been an encouragement. It's as if the Lord is saying, have not I commanded thee be strong and of good courage, Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee. Wither, surrender thy voice.
Gone over multiple times, I think endured the cross. But it also says despising the shame.
Sometimes when we're in a difficult circumstance in life, perhaps there's sickness in the family or even death. There are others that come around and our real health and comfort and the circumstance we're in and the pressure that it brings to our soul of being in that circumstance.
But here is an example of the path of faith taken to its ultimate extreme.
He endured the cross.
Did he have comfort?
And what he had to endure.
All men forsook me and fled. I'm alone.
He hung on that cross.
Despised and he didn't even have the comfort of those that truly did love him but were afraid at that point until after.
The atonement was made. Some of them did come up to him and his mother and Mary and so on, After the three hours of darkness were with him briefly, but his.
He had to endure the shame.
As it were, he had to go through it without any human assist or comfort for what he was passing through.
And I believe it's it's put here to give us to understand the one whose faith we are to follow, endure the ultimate extreme hindrances to walking through that path of faith. And it's here for us to find encouragement. And even if we fail, to at least learn to worship him for what we see in his life. That was such a wonderful example to us, even though it's a contrast perhaps to our own lives.
To be able to see the one that endured, despising the shame.
Boss is the picture across is very different to different people. So for many of us here perhaps can sing and say the cross of Christ all glorious tree. But yet to many in this world the cross stand for something else at the cross. That's when man in the sands were fully united, but they will not want they will not want this man to reign over him.
Away with Him, crucify him, I believe, when we present Christ.
When we present the cross, when we tell others that we believe in the cross, that's the cross that's going to give you this despising effect from the world. If you're going to be a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, they are going to give you the same treatment they gave our Lord, unless you compromise and turn that cross to many people, symbol of joy.
But here it is the cross where one who was despised and rejected of man, he became a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs. We as follower would expect that. And what we even have the same honor? Do we acknowledge the despise and rejection as an honor that this world look at us as a follower of Christ?
Possible Paul could say at the end of Galatians verse 14, God forbid that I should glory saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says from henceforth, let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. He could say I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Well, you know, I'm sure many of us, perhaps most of us in this room.
Very marks.
From things that have happened, sorrows, troubles, difficulties, and they leave a mark.
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Their difficulties, it says in our chapter. So great a cloud of witnesses. So great a cloud of witnesses in Exodus chapter 13. Just read a few verses in Exodus 13.
Verse 15.
Verse 17, Exodus 13, Verse 17. And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God LED them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near, for God said less per adventure. The people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt. But God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up harnessed.
Out of the land of Egypt, and Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had straightly swore that children of Israel saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. And they took their journey in verse 21. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them in the way, and by night.
In a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. So there was a cloud there that they had to follow. There was a cloud. It was the presence of the Lord, and He wanted to lead them. And they took the bones of Joseph and those I'm sure in this room who've lost a loved one, they know the only way they will ever see that loved one.
Is in the very presence of the Lord.
So there is a day when we will be reunited with that one. There's a day when He will change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, when we are with and like our Savior. So when we have the loss of a loved one, our eyes are pressed forward. We're looking to Jesus, and there's a day when we will be with him. We will as John fell at his feet, as dead Mary was at the feet of Jesus, and throughout the gospels, whenever somebody was found.
At the feet of Jesus.
There is a blessing, there are sorrows, But the thickest clouds, a brother once said, will have the heaviest, the greatest showers of blessing, the thickest clouds will carry with them the greatest showers of blessing. So God may take something to grab our hearts and to turn our eyes to look to Him.
So in the wilderness, there I was on that pillar of fire in the cloud, but now our eye is on the one who's already entered the end of the sixth chapter.
Our forerunners already entered. He's already there. And so our eyes look forward to where he already is. And there's three throw at least three Thrones in this book. There's a throne in Chapter 4, there's a throne in Chapter 8, and there's the throne here in our verse two. And in each case, that's where the object of our faith already is.
But I was often struggled a little bit with the Thrones in this book, because to me a throne was always the one you hear in the gospel meeting. It's the one in Revelation chapter 20, and it's a great white throne and its administration and its righteousness and its justice. But in the book of Daniel, I believe Daniel had meditated thoroughly on the book of Deuteronomy and his life there in captivity, and he suddenly gets a chance in chapter 4 to speak to Nebuchadnezzar.
I mean, he speaks to Nebuchadnezzar and helping Nebuchadnezzar is he's about to understand his place as the now the one administering here on the earth. Daniel suddenly gives him some spontaneous advice that I think actually really helps with our chapter. And since I can't quote it, I'm trying to turn to it. Daniel chapter 4, and I believe it's verse 27.
It gives a clue, but I think is very helpful. And Daniel chapter 4 and verse 27 is really the spirit of the book of Deuteronomy. But in verse 27 he says to Nebuchadnezzar, Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee. He just brought him a word from the Lord, an interpretation of his dream. And here he gives him his spiritual wisdom, gathered and believed in the book of Deuteronomy. Be acceptable unto thee, and break off the sins by thy sins by righteousness.
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That was one important characteristic of the throne and the iniquities, by showing mercy to the poor.
There's the other aspect. It's mercy. Both of those things were what were to be administered in the land. And so in this book of Hebrews, our forerunners already entered. He's there, he's at the throne, and what does he do? There's mercy that he dispenses in chapter 4, and he's there as already entered the harbor. And it's like this throne here in chapter 12, he finishes the race.
He turns around and then from his place there in the glory, he winches us into where he is. He reaches back to give us his hand, if you will, to pull us over that goal line to be with him. It's a throne, but it's a throne where mercy is being dispensed to the ones that he loves and he's he's acting for. And so it comes up three times in Chapter 8. It's related to character on the throne of the majesty, the beginning of Chapter 8, the throne of grace in Chapter 4, and hear the throne where our object sits to reach back and help us across the goal line at the end of the race.
Our objects already there.
I.
Perhaps we've absorbed as much as we can absorb in one session. I'm going to suggest we stop at this point.
290.
And.
Him but the second verse says gold ashore we hope to land on.
Only by reporters known.
Yet we freely all abandoned.
Led by that report of all.
As of Jesus.
Through the track of speed.
#219.
Wah.