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let's begin our worship by turning in our Bibles please to the Book of Psalms book of songs we're going to read from Psalm 22 not the entire but Psalm 22 beginning at verse 22 the word of the Living in true god psalm 22 verse 22 I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly I will praise you you who fear the Lord praise him all you descendants of Jacob glorify Him and fear Him all you offspring of Israel for he has not despised nor aboard the affliction of the afflicted nor has he hidden his face from him but when he cried to him he heard my praise shall be of you and the great assembly i will pay my vows before those who fear him the poor shall eat and be satisfied those who seek Him will praise the Lord let your heart live forever all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nation shall worship before you for the kingdom is the Lord's and he rules over the nations all the prosperous of the earth shall eat in worship all those who go down to the dust shall bow before him even he who cannot keep himself alive a posterity shall serve Him it will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation they will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has done this amen let's stand and sing in your red Trinity salter if you'll stand with me and turn their to Psalm 103 at Psalm 103 and will sing verses 12 13 please be seated another announcement of course it is the lord's supper this evening so we will be taking of the bread and the wine after this evenings preaching let us go to the Lord in prayer Heavenly Father we rejoice second time this day that we can gather together in this place to worship you the Father Son and Holy Spirit we come into this place to render unto you the praise and honor that is due your name we ask again that you would help us to do so in spirit and in truth we would pray that you would help us to approach you in that manner that is befitting the Saints of Christ we would approach you in a manner worthy of our calling by grace and we would give you all reverence and all proper aw we thank you that you've called us from out of darkness into marvelous light by virtue of the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that in your appointed and accepted time you brought us forth unto life in Christ and we know that it is solely alone because of his perfect work we rejoice in his life of obedience unto unto your law in the stead of all those who believe we rejoice and we sing the praises of that mighty workup on Calvary's tree where he took the punishment that was due for all who believe in his name that he bore your wrath that he board the curse for us on that curse sutrium we rejoice at his cross work perfected the salvation of a multitude that no man can number we rejoice in the reality that he did rise again the third day as promised in the scriptures and from the lips of the Savior himself that he did rise again on the third day that he ascended to your right hand where he does now ever live to intercede for his people to rule over the nation's and we rejoice in this blessed truth and we would ask that you would help us daily to rejoice in this we thank you that in a special way we can come tonight to observe the Lord's Supper to remember our Lord's death till he does come again we pray that you would prepare our hearts and our minds for that blessed ordinance and we just thank you that we have the freedom to gather in this place we've noted before we have brothers and sisters around the world do not have this Liberty so we pray that you'd help us to call it a high honor to gather and freedom in this place with full Bibles to worship our triune God and to observe the Lord's Supper we thank you for this opportunity and might we cherish it we do pray that you would be with all those who are unable to join us those who are unwell that you would watch over them that you would guard them and that you would restore them to strength that they might be able to be well enough to join us here we do ask Lord that you would strengthen each and every one who are physically unwell that you would return to them strength and just cause them to grow day by day in health and in the midst of affliction that they might rejoice in their God and we do pray again for those around the world who suffer under persecution those Saints of Christ and various nations where they endure those things that are far from us or that we just don't know of we would just pray that you'd be near to them strengthen them comfort them Lord God we pray that in the midst of awful things you would cause them to look with great strength of faith upon Christ Jesus and find in him courage and comfort we do pray that you would deal with those who oppressed them take them out of the way just cause your Saints everywhere to know the grace of their God the comfort of their God and to endure in the face of hot adversity we do pray Lord that you would be with those who rule over us as we are commanded in the scriptures exhorter din the scriptures to pray for those who rule over us we would pray for those who do rule over us in this nation and who rule over our brothers and sisters in the United States and in various nations around the world Lord we do pray that you would cause them to no longer rule after a rule of wickedness and tyranny and we pray that you would raise up leaders and that you would change the hearts of even current leaders and cause them to rule in a manner that is conducive to the law into the word into the will of God we do pray that you would be with us as we worship we again require the Holy Spirit given from on high that we might have our spirits stirred on to proper worship we long to worship you when we gather biblically and rightly we would pray that you would help us and not only to observe the Lord's Supper and these aspects of worship with with a solemnity and a seriousness that ought to mark Christians gathered together to worship their God but also that we might be marked by a high joy as we rejoice in the salvation of a triune God and as we rehearse that Lord's death till he comes again we do pray that you would give the preacher aid in the pulpit we know that the preacher requires this that he cannot preach based upon human efforts and human strength but that ministers of the gospel require aid from on high to proclaim the rich things of biblical truth and we do pray that you would give pastor Butler this as he comes up here to preach mighty know the aid of God as he grips the wood of this pulpit we do pray Lord that your Saints gathered here tonight would be nourished and fed and strengthened by the proclamation of the word and by having gathered together for worship strengthen your people feed us well that we might leave this place rejoicing in you and seeking to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ and we would pray finally Lord that you would save tonight that you would save whether young or old those who came into these doors outside of christ in damning unbelief that you would buy your sovereign and victorious grace cause them to leave this place singing along with all your saints hallelujah what a savior and it's in the name of christ jesus that we do now pray amen let's stand and sing our next team before the preaching will be him for 40 let's stand and sing for 40 you please turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 12 Hebrews chapter 12 I'll start reading in verse 1 therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls you have not yet resisted to the to bloodshed striving against sin and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you is two sons my son do not despise the chase inning of the Lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him for whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourge as every son whom he receives if you endure chase inning dog deals with you as with sons for what son is there whom a father does not chasin but if you are without chasing of which all have become partakers then you are illegitimate and not sons furthermore we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live for they indeed for a few days chase and assess seemed best to them but he for our profit that we may be partakers of his holiness now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful nevertheless afterward yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it therefore strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame not be dislocated but rather be healed pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord looking carefully lest anyone falls short of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau who for one morsel of food sold his birthright you know that afterward when he wanted to inherit the blessing he was rejected for he found no place for repentance though he diligently sought sought it diligently with tears a man will let us pray our Father we thank you again for this Sabbath day we thank you for the rest that you provide to us this down payment of the eternal rest to come and how we praise You God Almighty for the gospel of our Lord Jesus we thank you for so great a salvation we thank you Lord God that though we were dead in our trespasses and sins you made us alive together with Christ we acknowledge it is by grace we have been saved we thank you for the gifts of faith and repentance and we thank you for everything necessary for our salvation as Paul says you've blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ and in this we greatly rejoice we ask now that the Holy Spirit would guide us as we look to Scripture we pray that we would understand these things and that it would be a great source of blessing for our hearts as we ponder the Lord Jesus Christ so we hear from the apostle the necessity to run with endurance all the while looking unto Jesus we ask that you would forgive us now for all of our sins and our transgressions she would wash us in that that fount of of blood that is open for sin and uncleanness we thank you Lord God for these mercies we thank you for your Grace's we thank you God for these times that we can spend together in your presence in your court and we ask now that you would be glorified and honored that the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit would be exalted in this meeting here tonight and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen last week we look specifically at Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 we noted the specific man or the specific duty stated the Apostle tells us in the middle there let us run with endurance the race that is set before us this is a recurring emphasis throughout the book of Hebrews the apostle rights to those who are suffering persecution those who are suffering trial and tribulation and he wants to encourage them to run with endurance the race that is set before them they are also being pressured i believe it was this morning pastor Porter had referenced the reality that there was pressure placed upon the Jewish Christians in the first century you need to understand that if I am a Jew and I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that doesn't mean the entirety of the Jewish nation has done so the temple was still standing the sacrificial process system was still in play and so there would be a lot of pressure placed upon the Jewish Christians to come back to the temple to come back to Moses to come back to the Levitical system that's what the apostasy passengers are dealing with primarily certainly it deals with sin and an utter defection because of other lusts or whatnot but it's those persons who had tasted something of the sacrificial work of the Lord Jesus and then had abandoned that had turned from it and went back to those Old Covenant shadows and pictures or types so in this section he engages or he tells or exhorts the people to run with endurance the race that is set before us he gives a series of incentives we looked at the first incentive last week or an incitement perhaps might be in a better word he says in verse 1 therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses that's an incentive for us and as we pointed out it's a cloud of witnesses it's not a cloud of spectators it's not as if there's an amphitheater we're able and Enoch and Moses and Abraham are all up there sort of really rooting for us and and urging us on in this race they're not spectators watching over the people of God on the earth but rather they are witnesses and the thing that they witness is that God is faithful in each of the instances outline in Hebrews chapter 11 in all of the various circumstances the sufferings the trials the persecution the people of God in Old Covenant times stood fast and ran with endurance because God is faithful so we are to run with endurance the race that is set before us because we have this great cloud of witnesses but then the second incentive is what will look at this evening looking unto Jesus so we've got this amphitheater with all these witnesses who maintain a faithful testimony concerning the faithfulness of God but our focus is not unable our focus is not on Enoch our focus is not on Abraham or on Moses when we run with endurance the race that is set before us we are to do so looking on to Jesus that's where the Apostle directs our gaze that's where the Apostle has us to find strength and aid and power and endurance for the race that is set before us so we'll look at two things particularly this evening first the specific activity involved and then secondly the particular focus of the things that we ought to observe concerning this looking unto Jesus but in the first place he says looking and this means to look away from one thing and concentrate on another to look away to so it's not just stop looking at yourself that's a good thing but you also must look unto Jesus looking away to Jesus gets the focus off of self and on to Christ where it belongs in other words the strength that we find for the Christian race that is set before us does not come from within it's not a willpower it's not a knuckle under it's not a tighten up your shoelaces and do a better job that's not where we derive strength for the Christian race we derive strength for the Christian race from the Lord Jesus Christ himself and that is the emphasis the believer is surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who continually testify to him that God is indeed faithful but the believer is instructed not to look at them but he is instruct to look at Jesus John Owen says and therefore they're speaking of the witnesses in verse 1 and therefore their faith is only proposed unto us for our imitation his person is proposed on to us as a ground also of hope and expectation he adds wherefore the Lord Jesus is not proposed here unto us as a mere example to be considered by us but as him also in whom we place our faith trust and confidence with all our expectation of success in our Christian course without this faith and trust in him we shall have no benefit or advantage by his example so in other words if you are struggling and this chapter deals with those who are struggling notice verse 12 therefore strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be dislocated but rather be healed the fact that he exhorts them this way indicates that this was a problem the fact that there are several repetitious exhortations to be faithful to maintain fidelity to have confidence to have boldness would indicate that they were suffering would indicate that they were having trials and difficulties so if you find yourself in like circumstances you're struggling in the Christian race you're struggling to run with endurance the race that is set before you you're struggling to be faithful you're struggling in your Bible reading you're struggling in your prey you're struggling in your church attendance you're struggling and maintaining that that enduring run then what's the recommendation or what's the exhortation of the prescription it's not to look deeper into your own soul it's not to ponder your strengths it's not to consider those things that you're really good at rather it is to be looking unto Jesus that's where the Christian race is won and fought and won it's as we look under Christ as not only an example his own points out it's not just a mere example but he is the object of our hope is the object of our expectation he is ultimately the object of our faith so we run with endurance looking unto Jesus now note the particular focus and there are five things we ought to tease out with reference to the particular focus five things he states concerning Jesus so you say okay I'm looking unto Jesus now what well you ought to ponder you ought to consider you ought to contemplate you ought to meditate upon you ought to roll over in your head the various things that the apostle draws out in this one brief verse in the first place we are to focus upon the person of Christ notice he says looking unto Jesus Jesus is referenced by name several times in this epistle can look at 29 Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9 but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the Angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone notice in 414 seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God notice in Hebrews 7 verse 22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant and then again in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19 therefore brethren having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh this leads O'Brien to make this observation the use of this name Jesus emphasizes his humanity particularly his endurance of pain humiliation and the disgrace of the cross and all of that will follow after he references here looking unto Jesus so you see there is joy in the site or there is joy by looking at christ in his humanity in the Incarnation in what he took on in terms of our essential properties and our common infirmities yet except said it is good for the soul of a man to identify with the Lord Jesus Christ in his person that blessed reality that God the second person of the Trinity comes down he takes on our nature he takes on our flat he goes through everything we go through and in fact that's one of the emphasis in our passage he had shame he had to endure a cross he had issues he had challenged as he had trials remember last week when we looked at the various persons in this great cloud of witnesses you say well I have such a difficult home life look at Abel he witnesses that God is faithful in the midst of trials in a difficult home life you say when we live in a godless society that's so challenging to be holy it's so challenging to be upright it's so challenging to be godly will look at Noah Noah testifies that God is faithful even in the midst of a godless society you say well nobody really knows the sufferings and the trials and the difficulties I have the Lord Jesus Christ does the Lord Jesus Christ has gone through worse than what we go through the Lord Jesus Christ identified with us fully and the Lord Jesus Christ lived as a man in this world he says the foxes have their holes and the birds of the air have their nests but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his hand ahead Isaiah the prophet tells us he would be identified as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief you see what the authors great intention is here run with endurance the race that is set before you listen to those great cloud of witnesses as they in concert and with unanimity continually testify that God is faithful but your eyes of faith must be rooted upon Jesus you must be looking to the one that identified with us who has gone on before us and is now sat down at the right hand of the majesty of God on high as well the name Jesus not only points to his humanity but to his specific role as Savior remember the announcement concerning the birth of our Lord in Matthew chapter one it was told that you shall call his name Jesus for it is he will do what it is he who will save his people from their sin you need that brethren as you're running with endurance the race that is set before you you need to focus upon Jesus you need to think about that blessed son of God that blessed son of man you need to ponder the reality that this Christ is the one who saves us from our sins notice secondly he highlights the work of Christ in a way that perhaps we may not have and or at least the way I'm categorizing it but notice he says looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith Owen again says from our companions in believing the great cloud of witnesses he leads us on to the author and the finisher of our faith so there is something radically different about Jesus the great cloud of witnesses testified to the to the faithfulness of God and they ought not to be shot we are to be looking unto Jesus and what is ascribed to him he is the author and the finisher of our faith the lord jesus christ is the forerunner he is the example for his people in the life of faith the lord jesus by his work as Owen says procured this grace for us in other words he is the author of the faith that we presently have that means it comes from him it doesn't come from us when that thief on the cross gazed at Christ and he said Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom it wasn't something inherent in the thief it wasn't something good that was bubbling up from his heart it was a gift of God it was a blessing from God it was a grace given to him so that he would see with the eyes of faith the glory of the Messiah and we need to appreciate that we need to understand the crucial emphasis Christ gave us faith and Christ will bring that faith under completion look at the text he is the author and the finisher of it what do you think that means have you ever gotten to say Oh Thursday and thought I'm never going to make it to heaven oh not me i only have strong confident faith okay well i'm preaching to the few of us that struggle i don't know if i can run with endurance the race that is set before me i don't know if i can continue to fight sand and resist temptation i don't know if i can continue to deal with the people in my life that are very difficult to deal with I don't know if I'm going to make a to have it the Apostle tells us you're going to make it to heaven and it's not because of grit it's not because of determination it's not because of goodness in you but it's because of him who began this good work in you he will complete it unto the day of Christ he is both author and finisher would not help you run a physical race if you knew you were going to win would be I mean if you knew you had the competition be you're all up on the starting line everybody's you know doing there you know last stretches before they actually start off on the run and you know you've got it in the bag what's that going to do for you when you're running you're going to run with endurance the race that is set before you with this confident expectation that you are going to win this is what you have in Christ Jesus this is what we have as believers it's not a temporary faith he doesn't author of faith for us that that arrives on Sunday only to be lost on Thursday he is both author and finisher he is both originator and the completer because of what Christ is accomplished and the benefits he has secured and the grace of God that has come to us it is in the bag run with endurance the race that is set before you looking unto Jesus who both not only brought your faith into existence but has secured that faith and will secure that faith on to the day when he returns again you see believers need that encouragement we need to come to passages like these especially on the Thursday when we're having the struggles and the difficulties in the trials we need to come to passages like these when it feels as if our faith is wavering we need to get a renewed sense of the reality that Christ gave us this to begin with and Christ is not going to take it away Paul argues in Romans 8 in a similar manner doesn't use the same terminology but he says that God who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us how shall he not also with him freely give us all things in other words Paul's argument in Romans 8 is that if God put Christ on the cross which is the specifics of the situation right I mean we know the Romans where the instrumental means and we know the Jews were were the ones that were crying out crucify him crucify him but who was ultimately responsible for Christ going to the cross the prophet Isaiah tells us that Yahweh was pleased to bruise him the servant of the Lord the Apostle Peter in Acts chapter 2 tells us that the cross was according to what the predetermined plan of God most high so if Christ was going to go to that length on our behalf if Christ would do this as author and finisher for us then we need to be encouraged by us so Paul uses that Romans 8 if God did the greater if God delivered up his son then God's going to give you what you need on Thursday so everybody understand that that that should encourage you the Lord God who begins this doesn't leave you to your own resources the Lord God who begins this doesn't leave you on your own Owen draws this implication concerning Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith he says it is a mighty encouragement I like that phrase we need mighty encouragement I don't know what brother put ice in there but that was very very nice it told you about pastor downing one time preaching an outdoor meeting and it was about a hundred degrees out and everybody's up there sweating and sweltering and he just slowly empties this glass of water everybody's standing there sitting there just gazing at that so I didn't mean to do that with you but never had ice before and that's a good thing Owen says it is a mighty encouragement unto constancy and perseverance in believing that he in whom we do believe is the author and finisher of our faith he both begins it in us and carries it on unto perfection so run with endurance the race that is set before you looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith if he has created it in you if he has gifted it to you if he is originally originated it in your heart he will see it to the very end this ought to help promote a faithful running of the Christian race the third thing we ought to observe about Jesus is his resolve his resolve isn't that what we're being exerted to in this chapter aren't we essentially being told to resolve to endure to suffer the hardship to go through it manfully to go through it in a manner that is consistent with God's will for his people he tells us concerning Jesus who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross there's a resolution there there's a resolve there's a determination there's an endurance built it to Jesus work he has this joy set before him and as a result of having this joy set before him he endures the cross he indoors he persevered he runs with endurance the race that is set before him some say that this means that instead of enjoying the glory of heaven and living comfortably in this world he endured the cross I don't think that's what's in view I think it means that he endured the cross in order to obtain the joy set before him specifically the glory of God in the salvation of his people in other words Jesus comes from Evan he takes on our flesh he identifies with us and all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof he identifies with us and for the joy that is set before him he indoors all that he goes through he presses on he sees the reward and this he is like Moses remember Moses he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to endure the passing pleasures of sin why because Moses saw there was virtue and suffering no he looked to the reward he considered the esteem of Christ as much greater he considered the reality of heaven as far more excellent and the same is the case with our Lord he indoors the suffering indoors the shame he indoors all of these issues because he knows there is joy at the end of his race what's the pattern in view there's a cross prior to the crown we are to endure the Christian life or endure the run with endurance the Christian race because we note that pattern there is a cross but then the crown comes and that's how the tax unfolds before our eyes but listen Owen says here in as the Lord Christ our great example in that he was influenced and acted in all that he did and suffered by a continual respect under the glory of God and the salvation of the church that beautiful why did Jesus do what he did for the glory of God and the salvation of the church why did he endure the shame why did he endure the suffering why do you endure the the roman hand slapped on his face why did he endure all that because he had an object in view he saw the glory of God in the salvation of the church CH Spurgeon says this concerning this passage he says now this is the joy which Christ felt it was the joy of feeding us with the bread of heaven Spurgeon certainly was beautiful with the language this is the joy which Christ felt it was the joy of feeding us with the bread of heaven the joy of clothing poor naked sinners in his own righteousness the joy of finding mansions in heaven for homeless souls of delivering us from the prison of hell and giving us the eternal enjoyments of heaven you need to look at Jesus in that light you need to consider the reality that for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross and that brings us fourthly to consider his suffering the reference to cross the reference to shame ought to suggest to us the sufferings of our Lord Jesus will take up the shame in the first place we see that in our text despising the shame the shame associated with the cross you know today people where the cross is an object of jewelry people decorate their Bible covers with crosses people decorate churches with crosses you wouldn't have done that in the first century any more than you know during the you know post-second World War you would decorate your house with pictures of Dachau or or OSH wits you just wouldn't do that and I've never visited someone's home and saw you know a picture of an electric chair on their wall people don't do that well had you decorated your buildings with crosses in the first century it would have felt something like that the cross was a shameful thing the cross was reserved for the most notorious criminals in the Empire in fact the cross was not used for Roman citizens without special authorization from the Emperor because it was such a shameful thing the death of Christ involved extreme suffering but it also involved or it included rather great shame Phillip Hughes reminds us it is important to recognize that the shame of the cross where Christ bore the sins of the world is infinitely more intense than simply the pain of the cross others have suffered the pain of crucifixion but he alone has endured the shame of human depravity in all its foul pneus and degradation preaching a sermon on Hebrews 12 to which I remember when I read it originally the author rather the editor said that CH Spurgeon couldn't finish the sermon the title of the sermon was the suffering or the the suffering servant or something or the shameful sufferer and he deals with Hebrews 12 too and he couldn't finish the sermon because he was led out so I understand that he couldn't continue because he was so gripped with the reality of it all and he was in tears and he couldn't keep reaching but he highlights several aspects concerning the shame involved in the crucifixion he says first his shameful accusation I didn't get this from Spurgeon just using his heads here but consider the reality that a righteous man a perfect man a lawful man was accused of having violated the law this is a shameful accusation to say that he forbid paying taxes to Caesar I mean it doesn't even make sense with the gospel narratives because Jesus did say whose inscription is on the coin give to Caesar what is Caesar's give to God what is God's it was a shameful accusation he then says there was a shameful mockery the shameful mockery of our beloved Lord they they made fun of him they slapped him on the face they said if you think you're a king they they rip off his garments and they put this purple robe and they they give him this Reed and they're they're beating on him they're mocking the Savior they're mocking the son of god they're mocking the darling of heaven I mean we don't like it when somebody doesn't smile at us we have a bad day if we think just for a moment somebody didn't esteem us as we are fit and worthy and yet he's mocked by vile men and then he highlights his shameful crucifixion the reality that he bore the suffering on the cross but one part in particular I want to draw our attention to because I think it goes unnoticed by by us most of the time it's in the gospel record it's in the narrative it's in the passion narrative specifically in John 19 it tells us they ripped Jesus clothes off of him this is just imagine the shame involved I'm not trying to you know work on emotions i'm just trying to bring out what the author means here in despising the shame Spurgeon says the person of Christ was stripped twice and although our painters for obvious reasons cover Christ upon the cross there he hung the naked Saviour of a naked race I don't think our painters should paint Jesus in the first place but what he says is accurate whenever you see a picture and I don't encourage you to go out and look for them there's always something covering the Lord Jesus and this is what he highlights in this respect although our painters for obvious reasons cover Christ upon the cross their young the naked savior of a naked race he who'd clothed the fling to clothe himself he who had clothed the earth with jewels and made for it robes of emeralds had not so much as a rag to conceal his nakedness from a staring gazing mocking hard-hearted crowd he had made coats of skins for Adam and Eve when they were naked in the garden he had taken from them poor those poor fig leaves which wit with which they sought to hide their nakedness given them something wherewith they might wrap themselves from the cold but now they part his garments among them and for his vesture do they cast lots while he himself exposed to the pitiless storm of contempt hath no cloak with which to cover his shame Calvin and pink make this observation in John 19 as well Calvin said let us learn or let us also learn that Christ was stripped of his garments that he might close us with a righteousness that his naked body was exposed to the insults of men that we may appear in glory before the judgment seat of God aw pink the sinful first Adam was clothed by God the sinless last Adam was unclothed by wicked man see I think we don't ponder that doing you know we think wow I just had a rotten day for people didn't you know celebrate me they didn't throw me parties they didn't smile at me and say oh how wonderful it is to see you president we haven't even begun to enter in to what our Savior went through on our behalf he adored the cross despising the shame he goes through this for the glory of God and for the salvation of his church you see when the Apostle tells us to lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us when he tells us to run with endurance the race that is set before us we need to do so looking unto this Jesus and when we get our noses bent out of shape or when we think persons haven't have an esteemed us as they ought let us reflect upon the man of sorrows and the one acquainted with grief let us reflect upon the passion narratives where they rip the clothing off our Savior and they hung him naked there the sunshine they hung him naked there and they spit on him and they mock him and they say things like oh he saved others but he can't save himself irony among irony is is that he was saving in the very act or in the very moment that they are contending him brethren we need to get our eyes off of ourselves our eyes off of our little problems our first world problems I mean when you think about it brethren the sorts of things that we have to suffer mr. crawle told me this morning when he was visiting in Haiti brethren met in 40 degree weather in a ten-hut I mean even if we didn't have air conditioning we ought to be thankful campers that were not in a tin hot and he said they were happy to be their clothes for the Lord's Day celebrating the glory of God most high boy if something happens to us where our creature comforts aren't met and exceeded which is thrown off we have a miserable time at it we just can't worship when it's 40 degrees why not who do we think we are we need to run with endurance the race that is set before us we need to get our eyes off of ourselves and our problems and we need to look unto Jesus the author and issue of our faith the one who not only originated it but the one who has purpose to bring it under completion we need to look at the one who for the joy that was set before him brethren be reminded there's joy at the end of your course when it comes to Thursday or when it comes to Tuesday and there's some sin presenting itself bo Moses be a Christ don't engage in the passing pleasures of sin in the thought that this is going to satisfy me this is going to make it all nice and well and comfortable and warm no resist it esteem the riches of Christ far more excellent than anything that this world has to offer this is how you use the book of Hebrews you draw out the doctor and you look at the particular exhortation and you get your mind rooted upon these witnesses in terms of what they bore up under and yet their unanimous consent is that God is faithful but you look unto Jesus who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame we look at the shame a little bit now what about the cross it's a quote I always read not always but most times it's from da Carson's commentary on the Gospel of John just a description of what the cross is all about again on Thursday when you have a pity party for yourself and you think that nobody's being nice to you as they ought consider what Jesus went through on your behalf in the ancient world this most terrible of punishments is always associated with shame and horror it was so brutal that no Roman citizen could be crucified without the sanction of the Emperor stripped naked and beaten to pulp e weakness you got to remember Jesus was beaten twice there were two scourging after the decision was made to crucify then the brutal scourging began remember when Pilate had him initially scourge dit was to appease the mob pilot thought if we whip him they'll be satisfied they'll see some blood they'll get their bloodlust gretas indulged and off they'll go well once the decision is made to crucify then the beating begins so everybody know that there were two whipping he's involved in our beloved Lord and that whipping consisted of a leather strap with bone and rock and jagged things in it so that when it went into the flesh it caught and it was ripped out to leave those stripes remember the prophet Isaiah said by His stripes we are healed that wasn't you know the inside on his collar in his military service it was that back that had been opened up and plowed up for his people he says stripped naked and beaten to pulp a weakness the victim could hang in the hot Sun for hours even days to breathe that was necessary to push with the legs and pull with the arms to keep the chest cavity open and functioning this is the purpose for that little piece of wood at the base of the feet that wasn't a mercy that prolong the agony you see the the method of death on the cross was asphyxiation and so as long as you could you know adjust yourself a little bit you could gasp in gulps of air so that little piece of wood the sudoc eula at the bottom of the feet was not there to be a mercy for that person so they'd have a fighting chance no it was to prolong the agony so they could push off of it gasps some breath to sustain their lives so that they could go on and suffer he says terrible muscle spasm racked the entire body but since collapse meant asphyxiation the strain went on and on this is also why the Sioux dacula prolonged life in agony it partially supported the body's weight and therefore encouraged the victim to fight on that's why they didn't have to break his legs you know why they broke the legs of people to finish it they broke the legs so that they could no longer gasp for air when they come to Jesus they see that he's dead there was no need to break his legs and this obviously fulfill scripture but that's the purpose they break the legs to bring about death to get on with their day not with Christ prolonged suffering he ultimately dies they don't need to break his leg so you see what the author is telling us and again put it in the larger context of the book of Hebrews every or several times in the book you need to press on you need to endure you need to go faith be faithful you need to run with endurance the race that is set before you what's the best thing to do when you're running with endurance 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 but he doesn't end there notice fifthly he speaks of the exaltation of Christ and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God this helps runners this helps runners who are looking unto Jesus to remember what happened to Jesus yes he died yes he was buried yes he rose again on the third day and now he's enthroned at the right hand of the majesty of God on high that's what you need to keep in your focus this may be a miserable life for you you know when Joel Osteen says your best life now the more accurate depiction from the New Testament would be to say you're worse life now in other words when you identify with the Lord of glory and a God hating world it's going to hurt to some degree or other there is going to be suffering there's going to be pain there's going to be hardship when you live amongst the people that despise God and His Christ you actually think they're going to like you you actually think they're going to fawn all over you you actually think they're going to approve of you when you stand up and you say I think abortions murder it's wrong it's godless it's wicked do you think they're going to congratulate you absolutely not they hate God they hate all that God stands for and as a result they hate the people of God as Edward said the idea of martyrdom is simply this sinners cannot ascend the throne of God and take him from it and throw him to the ground and murder him so they murder his people it's a substitution errything for them they can't get God so they'll get God's people but you need to realize that after the suffering comes the exaltation and he has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God so run with endurance the race that is set before you realizing there's a cross involved in that race realizing that it means pain that it means suffering that it means hardship why would he tell us to run with endurance you see if the Christian life was our best not life now why would we need endurance do you need endurance to be happy do you need endurance to be you know catered to do you need endurance when you go out at the restaurant and they're just bringing dish after dish after dish and serving you like you're the the King of England I mean no you don't need endurance the whole anthesis in our passage the whole emphasis in the context is suffering and persecution and trial and he says to them in chapter 10 you have joyfully received the plundering of your goods these people knew what it was to suffer they need to run with endure and still they need to look under Jesus they need to realize the cross always precedes the crown but the crown is always a reality there is always the benefit than the blessing and the glorification that God gives to his people the illusion here is to Psalm 110 verse 1 it's alluded to in Hebrews 13 and 13 Hebrews 56 Hebrews 5 10 6 27 3 17 21 8 1 10 12 and 13 what do you think the author wants them to consider Yahweh said to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool run with endurance the race that is set before you remember the fact that he endured the cross but realize that he's been exalted to the right hand of the throne of God so brethren I leave you with this run right you have to run you have to run you have to run you have to do it with endurance you have to listen to that great cloud of witnesses you gotta hear able you got to hear Enoch you got to hear Abraham you got to hear Moses you got to listen to that and they're consistent unanimous testimony that God is faithful you gotta look unto Jesus how do you do that is it an actual physical race do you go to the local park and and run around the block and hey I'm looking you do it through scripture you run with endurance the race that is set before you buy learning more of Christ you do it through prayer you drew do it through the public means you do it by taking the bread and the wine this is how you look under Jesus what does the bread and the wine remind you of he endured the cross this is a means by which runners are refreshed so they'll continue to run don't absent yourselves from these means don't absent yourself from the house of God do not miss or do not make it a habit or a practice of missing morning or evening services you ought to be in the presence of God's people because we are all running this race with endurance and we help it encourage one another to look unto Jesus you need to hear these reminders you need to hear the word of God and you need to run I know what it's like at times to say you know it's only been running I want to I want to coast for a while I want to I want to chill I mean isn't that what everybody in Canada and America want we want to chill no this isn't the time for chilling this is the time for running the time to run with endurance the time to look unto Jesus the time to press on you will have chill enough in the eternal state when God wipes away every tear from our eyes when there's no more sorrow no more pain no more hunger no more thirst and when these eyes will gaze upon the Son of God and all of his glory until that time right I can't run for you I can yell at you and tell you to run but I can't run for you if I see you fall I can try and pick you up and maybe for a moment put you over my shoulders I probably could have done it for a few more moments a few years ago but get a little rickety now I might drop you but the point is your parents can't run for you your spouse's can't run for you you need to run why have we accepted this sort of so lazy Christian go to church if I want I'll do this if I you don't get to want you have signed up for the army of the Living God you have given your rights over to the master and he commands he dictates yay he tells you what to do you don't have the prerogative to see I don't feel like running anymore get up and run do it with endurance listen to the witnesses and look on to Jesus what what better thing to look upon anyway I love that description in the Song of Solomon in chapter 5 when the bride describes the bridegroom he's altogether lovely he's chief among ten thousand it's a beautiful explanation of the glory of the God of Israel the bridegroom describes of the bride rather describes it in such a way i love the response of the daughters of Jerusalem I've often wondered if we as God's people actually viewed Christ in this way if the daughters of Jerusalem today would ask us the same question they say where is your beloved that we might find him too because she has described him in his glowing terms she has described him in his beauty in his majesty somebody told you I have met the one who is chief among 10,000 the one who is altogether lovely you might be provoked like those daughters of Jerusalem to say tell us where he is that we might find him to know more excellent thing than to gaze with faith upon this Lord who is described for us in Hebrews 12 to will let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for this beautiful description of our beloved Savior and we do confess that he is altogether lovely in chief among 10,000 where else ought our faith go than to him god help us to run with endurance the race that is set before us help us to consider this Jesus this author and finisher of our faith this one who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame god help us to remember that he now sits enthroned at the right hand of God most high help us to remember that he will come again in glory to judge the living in the debt he will come to take his bride into that eternal Sabbath he will come to take his bride and that new heavens and new earth dar father may these things encourage us as we run at this race and we praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord amen as we observe the Lord's Supper you can turn your Bibles to Matthew 26 please Matthew chapter 26 there we have an account retelling of the occasion where the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed instituted his supper will pick up reading verse 17 will stop reading at verse 25 before we get to the taking of the bread and the wine so let's read from Matthew 26 beginning in verse 17 now on the first day of the feast of the unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus saying to him where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover and he said go into the city to a certain man and say to him the teacher says my time is at hand I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples so the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the Passover when evening had come he sat down with the twelve now as they were eating he said assuredly I say to you one of you will betray me and they were exceedingly sorrowful and each of them began to say to him Lord is it I and he answered excuse me he answered and said he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me the son of man indeed goes just as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed it would have been good for that man if he had not been born then Judas who was betraying him answered and said rabbi is it I he said to him you have said it amen well just before we get to the observation itself a few comments on the Lord's Supper here we have in Matthew 26 the Lord Jesus Christ himself instituting the supper that would remember him remember his death and he's doing it in the context of observing the Passover meal a good biblical theologian and by that I mean a Christian can reflect upon the reality that the giving of the Passover in the Old Testament in the book of Exodus is not a giving of an ordinance that only remembers the exodus that only remembers when they were delivered from the Angel of Death and saved by God for motive bondage in Egypt it is a remembrance of that but the Passover was something that as well look forward to in typifies the Lord Jesus Christ and the giving of his shed blood upon Calvary's tree the Passover ultimately and finally was something that pointed forward to Christ who Paul says is our Passover sacrifice so it's a very interesting thing here that Jesus is instituting a meal in the context of a meal that looked forward to him that looks forward to him and he is changing if you will instituting a changing of the guard in the sense of a sacrament the Passover would be brought to an end and he would Institute in its place the meal that would remember his precious and glorious and Victoria's death we come now to the observation of the Lord's Supper and we're engaging in an ordinance that finds the bread not changing and the wine not changing remember that the Roman Catholic Church observes or recognize and not recognizes they believe blasphemously that the bread literally and truly changes into the body and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and that the line literally changes into his blood our confession with the support of the scriptures no doubt says that that is repugnant both the scriptures and common sense and the foundation of manifold idolatries and superstitions the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine they are emblematic they are symbols of his body broken in his blood shed and Protestant churches have crosses but they're not crosses of wood and they're not crosses of bejeweled metal Calvin and looking at the landscape of a Roman Catholicism dominated you know Church church at Rome a Roman Catholic dominated Europe would say that would say things like they would no longer have these crosses of wood and bejeweled metal if the gospel of Jesus Christ was faithfully proclaimed there be no need you see we have church we have crosses in this church but those crosses are faithful proclamation of the gospel and the ordinance of the Lord that is where Calvin said Christ Jesus is as it were crucified before our eyes before our years when we observe the Lord's Supper and when we hear the gospel of Christ and the cross of Christ faithfully proclaimed those who are here tonight if you're taking the Lord's Supper that means that you are a Christian this is an ordinance for believers only if you're not a Christian here tonight you are not to take of the bread and you are not to take of the wine as well if you are a Christian though you are harboring unrepented sin you are not to take you are not to take while you are living in sin and have not found have not found a forgiveness in the Lord by repenting of those harbored sins what's the answer then to go on for three months and just you know feel sorrowful and feel bad about yourself and figuratively whip yourself and and those sorts of things know the answer is to repent and find forgiveness in the blood of christ and the mercy of our God there is no Protestant Hmong curry or Protestant flagellation we do not need to you know climb Mount sham with tires strapped to a bag you need to go to the Lord flee quickly and find forgiveness in the Lord of lords and in the king of kings reminder that when the bread when the wine comes around there's juice in the outer ring so if you do not want to take the line which is on the inside you can take the juice which is on the outer ring with those things said then if I could have the brothers come up and grab the bread to pass out the bread again the bread symbolic of our saviors body broken for us as they are doing that you can turn in your hymn books to him 129 him number 129 you can remain seated and we'll sing that together you you in Matthew 26 said verse 26 we read and as they were eating Jesus took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body amen let's go in prayer Heavenly Father we thank you that we can now partake of this element of the Lord's Supper the taking of the bread we rejoice in this that you've given to us and we do pray that you would help us as we take to reflect upon the giving of our saviors life upon Calvary's tree we thank you that his body was broken for the sins of his people we know that we have time and again a breach upon breach broken the law of God and our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ took in his body breach upon breach that he might give himself for guilty sinners we do pray that as we eat we would reflect upon his sacrifice given before the sons of men for his elect and that we might rejoice that were counted among the number saved by the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ and it's in his name that we pray amen let's take together you can stay seated and turn in your hymn books to him number 357 you can stay seated and we'll sing that together as the brothers come and pass out the wine a reminder that the juice is in the odor ring in verse 27 we find the following narrative then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you now that we can partake of the wine we rejoice in what this represents the shed of the blood of our set the shedding of the blood of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you knowing that without the shedding of blood there is no remission and we have in the shedding of our the blood of our Savior we have the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life and we do rejoice in this and we reflect upon his death with great joy with with joyful Christian hearts and we do pray that the stuff of this reflection would occupy our minds throughout the week that we would be reflecting upon our precious Savior and his doing his dying his rising again and the perfection of his Redemption so do bless us now as we take and might you by your spirit strengthen us in our walk of faith and we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's take together well let's all stand together as a church in our hymn books will sing 175 Man of Sorrows 175 let's stand together the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace Heavenly Father we pray that you would go with us now into this upcoming week we rejoice in this lord's day Sabbath and you having met with us and the worship of our God and in the preaching of your word and in this sacrament we rejoice in these gifts given to us and we do pray that by the strength of God by your strength given to us we would go into this upcoming week we would reflect upon you our glorious God that we would daily reflect upon the doing in the dying of our Savior and Lord we do pray that you would help us by your grace and for your glory to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of grace and it's in the name of the Savior we do pray amen we'll have a brief time of prayer and then you're dismissed you