← Back to sermon library

Please turn in your Bibles to 
Hebrews 12. Hebrews 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 bloodshed, striving against sin. 
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons. 
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged 
when you are rebuked by Him. For whom the Lord loves, He chastens 
and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, 
God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a 
father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, 
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 chastened us as 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 it 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 may 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 
fall 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. For you know that afterward, 
when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for 
he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently 
with tears. Amen. Well, 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 have 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, 
as 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, that you 
would wash us in that fount of blood that is open for sin and 
uncleanness. We thank you, Lord God, for these 
mercies. We thank you for your graces. 
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. Well, last week we looked specifically 
at Hebrews 12, verse 1. We noted the specific command 
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 writes 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 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 He 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 incitement perhaps might be 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 
where Abel and Enoch and Moses and Abraham are all up there 
sort of rooting for us 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 outlined 
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 we'll 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 on Abel. 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 unto 
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, or 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 on to 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 instructed to look 
at Jesus. John Owen says, and therefore 
their, speaking of the witnesses in verse 1, and therefore their 
faith is only proposed unto us for our imitation. His person 
is proposed unto 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 praying. You're struggling 
in your church attendance. You're struggling in maintaining 
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 fought and won. It's as we look unto Christ, 
as not only an example, as Owen points out. It's not just a mere 
example, but He is the object of our hope. He 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. You can look at 2.9. Hebrews 
chapter 2, verse 9. But we see Jesus, who is 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 4.14, 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 10, 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 sight, 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 sin. 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 flesh. He goes 
through everything we go through. And in fact, that's one of the 
emphases in our passage. He had shame. He had to endure 
a cross. He had issues. He had challenges. 
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 and a difficult home 
life. You say, well, we live in a godless society and it's 
so challenging to be holy. It's so challenging to be upright. 
It's so challenging to be godly. Well, 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 head. Isaiah the prophet 
tells us he would be identified as a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. You see what the author's 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 1. It was told that you 
shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who 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, 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 onto 
the author and the finisher of our faith. So there is something 
radically different about Jesus. The great cloud of witnesses 
testify to the faithfulness of God, and they ought not to be 
shunned. But we ought 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 unto 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. OK, 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 sin 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 it to heaven. 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. Wouldn't that help you run a 
physical race if you knew you were going to win? Wouldn't it? I mean, if you knew you had the 
competition B, you're all up on the starting line, everybody's 
doing their 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 a faith for us that arrives on Sunday, only 
to be lost on Thursday. He is both author and finisher. He is both the originator and 
the completer. Because of what Christ has 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, unto 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 and 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. He 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 
were the instrumental means, and we know the Jews 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 in 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. Does everybody understand 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 
encouragements. I don't know what brother put 
ice in there, but that was very, very nice. I told you about Pastor 
Downing one time preaching at an outdoor meeting, and it was 
about 100 degrees out, and everybody's out 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 I've 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 has 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 exhorted 
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 in 
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 endures, He perseveres, 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 
and the salvation of His people. In other words, Jesus comes from 
heaven, He takes on our flesh, He identifies with us in all 
the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, He 
identifies with us, and for the joy that is set before Him, He 
endures all that He goes through. He presses on. He sees the reward. In 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 in 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 endures the suffering, He endures the shame, He endures 
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 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 text unfolds 
before our eyes. But listen, Owen says, herein 
is the Lord Christ, our great example, in that He was influenced 
and acted in all that He did and suffered by a continual respect 
unto the glory of God and the salvation of the church. Isn't 
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 did he endure 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 and the 
salvation of the church. C. H. 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. We'll 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 wear the cross as 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 during the post-Second World 
War, you would decorate your house with pictures of Dachau 
or Auschwitz. You just wouldn't do that. I've 
never visited someone's home and saw 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. Philip 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 foulness and degradation. preaching a 
sermon on Hebrews 12, 2, which as I remember when I read it 
originally, the author, rather the editor, said that C. H. Spurgeon 
couldn't finish the sermon. The title of the sermon was The 
Suffering Servant or The Shameful Sufferer, and he deals with Hebrews 
12, 2, and he couldn't finish the sermon because he was let 
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 preaching. But he highlights several aspects 
concerning the shame involved in the crucifixion. He says, 
first, his shameful accusation, and 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 made 
fun of Him. They slapped Him on the face. 
They said, if you think you're a king, they rip off His garments, 
and they put this purple robe, and they give Him this reed, 
and 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 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. Just imagine the shame involved. 
I'm not trying to 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 savior 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, there He hung, the naked 
Savior of a naked race. He who had clothed the lilies 
had not wherewith 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 those poor fig leaves 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 also learn 
that Christ was stripped of His garments, that He might clothe 
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. A.W. Pink, the sinful first Adam 
was clothed by God. The sinless last Adam was unclothed 
by wicked men. See, I think we don't ponder 
that, do we? You know, we think, wow, I just 
had a rotten day. Four people didn't, you know, 
celebrate me. They didn't throw me parties. 
They didn't smile at me and say how wonderful it is to see you. Brethren, we haven't even begun 
to enter in to what our Savior went through on our behalf. He 
endured 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 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 ripped the clothing off our Savior, 
and they hung Him naked there in 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 ironies is that He was saving in the very act, or 
in the very moment that they are contemning 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. Kroll told me this morning when 
he was visiting in Haiti, brethren met in 40 degree weather in a 
tin hut. I mean, even if we didn't have 
air conditioning, we ought to be thankful campers that we're 
not in a tin hut. And he said they were happy to 
be there, clothed 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, we're 
just 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 finisher of our faith, the 
One who not only originated it, but the One who has purpose to 
bring it unto 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, 
be a 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 doctrine, you 
look at the particular exhortations, 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, or not always, but most times. It's 
from D.A. 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 is 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 pulpy weakness. You've got to 
remember, Jesus was beaten twice. There were two scourgings. After 
the decision was made to crucify, then the brutal scourging began. Remember, when Pilate had him 
initially scourged, it was to appease the mob. Pilate thought, 
if we whip him, they'll be satisfied, they'll see some blood, they'll 
get their bloodlust indulged, and off they'll go. 
Well, once the decision is made to crucify, then the beating 
begins. Does everybody know that? There 
were two whippings 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 the ensign 
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 pulpy weakness, the victim could hang in the 
hot sun for hours, even days. To breathe, it 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 prolonged the agony. You 
see, the method of death on the cross was asphyxiation. And so 
as long as you could adjust yourself a little bit, you could gasp 
in gulps of air. So that little piece of wood, 
the sedecula, 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 and gasp some breath to sustain 
their lives so that they could go on and suffer. He says, "'Terrible muscle spasm 
wracked the entire body, but since collapse meant asphyxiation, 
the strain went on and on. This is also why the sedecula 
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, fulfills 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 legs. So you see what the author is 
telling us. And again, put it in the larger context of the 
book of Hebrews. Several times in the book, you 
need to press on, you need to endure, you need to 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 has 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, your worst life now. In other words, 
when you identify with the Lord of glory in 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 a people that despise God and His Christ, 
do you actually think they're going to like you? Do you actually 
think they're going to fawn all over you? Do you actually think 
they're going to approve of you? When you stand up and you say, 
I think abortion's 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 substitutionary thing 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 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 king of England? I mean, no, you don't need endurance. 
The whole emphasis 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 endurance still, and they need to look unto Jesus. 
They need to realize that the cross always precedes the crown, 
but the crown is always a reality. There is always the benefit and 
the blessing and the glorification that God gives to His people. The allusion here is to Psalm 
110, verse 1. It's alluded to in Hebrews 1, 
3 and 13, Hebrews 5, 6, Hebrews 5, 10, 6, 20, 7, 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 till 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. Run. 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've got 
to hear Abel. You've got to hear Enoch. You've 
got to hear Abraham. You've got to hear Moses. You've 
got to listen to them, and their consistent, unanimous testimony 
that God is faithful. But you've got to look unto Jesus. How do you do that? Is it an 
actual physical race? Do you go to the local park 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 by learning more of Christ. You do it through 
prayer. You do it through the public 
means. You do it by taking the bread and the wine. This is how 
you look unto 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 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 coast for a while. 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 in all of his glory. Until that time, run. 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, It's getting a little rickety now, I might drop you. 
But the point is, your parents can't run for you, your spouses 
can't run for you. You need to run. Why have we 
accepted this sort of, so lazy Christianity? I'll 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, yea, 
He tells you what to do. You don't have the prerogative 
to say, I don't feel like running anymore. Get up and run. Do it with endurance, listen 
to the witnesses, and look unto Jesus. 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, or 
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 and His majesty. Somebody told you, I have met 
the One who is chief among ten thousand, 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 too. There's no more excellent thing 
than to gaze with faith upon this Lord who is described for 
us in Hebrews 12, 2. Well, 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 and chief among 10,000. Where else ought our 
eye of 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 and the dead. He will 
come to take his bride into that eternal Sabbath. He will come 
to take his bride into that new heavens and new earth. And our 
Father, may these things encourage us as we run this race. And we 
praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.