Our scripture reading this morning will be from Hebrews 11. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, for by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous. God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death. And he was not found because God took him up, for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God. And without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. By faith, Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith. By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise. For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith, even Sarah herself received the ability to conceive even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore, there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promise was offering up his only begotten son. It was he to whom it was said, in Isaac your descendants shall be called. He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith, Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is unseen. By faith, he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land, and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been circled for seven days. By faith Rahab, the harlot, did not perish along with those who were disobedient after she had welcomed the spies in peace. And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. And others were tortured, not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others experienced mockings and scourgings. Yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were put to death with a sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us, they would not be made perfect. Join me in prayer. Our Father, we bow before you, the creator and sustainer of all things, the one to whom everything will wrap itself up. The first cause and the end for which everything exists. The one to whom belongs all glory, all praise. Father, we bow before You and we want to extol Your worth this morning. Had You never created, You are worthy. Had You never saved, You are worthy. God, You've done both of these things and You have brought us to Yourself and gathered us together on this Lord's Day. Father, we do give You praise. We're grateful to be known as the children of God. We're grateful, Father, to be the people in whom the Spirit of God dwells. We're grateful to be able to call You our God and to call You our Father. Lord, we love you. We love you for the love with which you've loved us. We love you for the salvation that you have purchased at the cost of your own son's blood. We love you, God, for the life that you have called us to, creating us again, making us to be born again. And the hope, God, of life yet to come eternally with You. A life with no sin, not just the power of it broken, but the presence of it gone. And the joy, God, of seeing our Savior without a veil between, of seeing Him not as in a glass darkly, but seeing Him face to face. God, we are grateful that because of your work in us, we can say that having not seen him yet, he is precious to us. But God, we do look toward the day when we will see him, not just with eyes of faith, but with sight. God, until that day, we ask that you would continue the work that you've begun and that you would do what you've promised, that you would bring us all the way to completion. Father, as we bow before You this morning, we also humble ourselves before Your Word. God, we want to listen and hear what You have to say, and to judge whether the things we're hearing is indeed the Word. But God, we don't want to sit in judgment of Your Word, as though we were the arbitrator of whether it's truth or not, or whether we get to decide to obey it or not. God, we ask that you would give us grace not to lean back as though we're above all this and we get to decide whether this matches what we like or not. God, we pray that you would help us to lean in as it were and to hear and to be gripped by the things that you say And God, that you would find hearts in us that are ready not only to hear it, but to receive it and to obey it, whatever that means for us. Father, we thank you for your church, your body, your purchased possession. God, we're thankful that as we saw in the prayer meeting that the statements that you make about your bride that are unbelievable if you didn't say them. God, we praise you for that. And God, we ask that you would help us to respond appropriately. Knowing that we've been bought with such a price and knowing the end for which you have saved us, God, we pray that you would give us grace to get up. and to pursue holiness. God, if we are slumbering, we pray that you would awaken us from our slumber. God, if we have compromised with sin, we pray, God, that you would convict us so that we would gladly put away sin in the pursuit of you. God, we ask that You would continue to shape us and mold us into the image of Your own dear Son, our Lord. And God, we pray that You would do that for our good, yes, but also, God, for Your glory and Your glory in this community. Lord, we ask that You would help us, that You would Give us boldness to speak true words to the people around us and give us lives that match our words. And God, we ask that you would, by your spirit, turn the hearts of many to believe. Father, we want to be faithful, to be bold in our witness. We want to be gentle in our conversation, even as we're bold. We don't want to make excuses. God, at the same time, we bow ourselves before you and we acknowledge that we cannot turn the eyes of anyone. We cannot stir the heart of anyone. So, Lord, we ask that you would do the work that you must do. And that you'd bring many to yourself. Father, we pray for some who sit here this morning. God, would you open their eyes? Would you unstop their ears? God, even this morning, would you make dry bones to live? We ask it in Jesus' name, amen. If you still have your Bible open to Hebrews, you might want to bookmark that. We will come back there. But I'd like to begin by turning to James chapter one. James chapter one over the course of the last year, one of the themes that I've been confronted with repeatedly in my own study has been the theme of joy. There's the joy that we looked at, the happiness of God from first Timothy, the good news of the glory of the happy God that we talked about. There's also the joy that the believer is to know. Philippians 4.4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I'll say rejoice. The believer has many reasons to give praise to God, many reasons to express joy. As the hymn writer said, ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, who like thee his praise should sing. And as we do that, surely we do it with joy. But strangely, at least on the surface, one of the reasons the believer is commanded to be joyful is when trials come. James 1 2 says, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Consider it all joy. It's a command. And in the command, it's not just a command to think about it, consider it, but it is a command to be joyful. As you consider this as a joyful thing, be joyful as the trial comes. Now, if you did not know God, would you not think that such a command was absolutely insane? How in the world can you command joy when you're going through something that's ripping your heart out? When you're going through something that's painful and terrible, how in the world can you say, be joyful? And yet that is exactly what James does under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Be joyful. James is not insane. He gives a very cogent, rational, argument for this statement. Before we get into his argument, though, first, I want to give you another one drawn from a few texts of Scripture. I want you to think with me for a second. If God is sovereign, and He is, Psalm 115.3, one verse among many, says, but our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. If He's sovereign, then nothing happens, including whatever trial you're facing or that I face, that's outside of His purview. If God is at work for our good, and He is, Romans 8, 28, then everything that happens in the believer's life, including trials, is sifted through the hands of a loving Heavenly Father for our good. And if God is working everything for His glory, and He is, for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever. Then everything that happens in the believer's life, including trials, is sifted to the hands of a loving heavenly father for our good, but also for his glory. And that is reason for joy. God is doing whatever he's doing. For my good may not feel good, but it is for my good. James explains that a bit, but he's also doing it for his glory. Because that's true, and one of the reasons I wanted to walk through that is because when trials come, there's certainly a way for a believer to respond so as to profit from trials and to glorify God. But there's a way to respond in which we rob ourselves of the prophet and rob God of glory that's rightfully his. We can crumble under the pressures of trials, We can endure in a way that says, I really hate this and God's really being mean to me right now. Or we can respond in obedience to God's command here. Now, how does James argue this? How can he command us to be joyful? There's two reasons that he gives us. The first is that he tells us to consider it all joy because the test to give your faith is going to produce something. It's producing endurance in you. That is a result that will come from these trials. That's an intended result. This testing that he speaks of, these trials, the testing of your faith, Producing endurance. The testing is a word that speaks of the process of refining silver or gold. It's put the metal in heat so that you can remove the impurities. And so, here's a crucible of suffering that's meant to purify faith. James speaks of the process of that. We're enduring this process. 1 Peter uses the same word in chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, and he speaks of the result. Peter writes, in this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. Why? So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So Peter speaks of the result. You endure trial, you go through this crucible and the proof of your faith, the evidence of it being more precious than gold is seen and it's demonstrated to be to the praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. James speaks of the process as you're enduring the trial. This is the purpose for it to create endurance. The word endurance comes from a word it means to under a load, to remain under. It's the idea of carrying a load for a long time. And so the idea here is that trials are training us to exercise faith and to sustain faith. It's spiritual fortitude. We might call it spiritual toughness or spiritual grit. Not outside the enabling of the Holy Spirit, not something we manufacture ourselves, but with the enabling of the Holy Spirit, as we obey, it's a spiritual fortitude. It's not something you're producing, so there's no source of pride here. It is a result of the trials, a gift of God, and it is a reason for joy. You stand in need of endurance. God is gifting you endurance. by sending you trials. But that's not all. There's something beyond that. It's not just that you get to learn, you know, to stick with it. There's a further result. Verse 4. Let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Now, a few things here. One, notice there's more to be gained again than just endurance. The testing of your faith produces endurance. Endurance can have another result, a perfect result. Though there's more than endurance, this is something that's gained through endurance. The trial itself does not produce this. The trial endured produces this. It is a perfect result. That speaks of a desired end. Here's the goal of this. Again, God producing something in us that we stand in need of. Endurance's perfect result is that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. The word perfect can be translated a number of ways. The idea includes that of maturity, growing up, becoming all that you should be. the character qualities of a believer growing to maturity in you so that they are everything that they should be. But it also carries the idea of rounding out our character as additional qualities are added so that we will be complete, lacking in nothing. I don't have time to develop that further because there's a lot of other ground I want to cover this morning, headed somewhere else with this. Ultimately, this result is that of being perfect and complete in the sense of glorification. God is bringing us to glorification, to the redemption of the body, to the full and final sense of our salvation. We'll talk more about that in a minute. So these trials do not produce maturity. Endurance or perseverance in trials produces maturity. What kind of trials? Well, verse two says various trials. So we can't pigeonhole it and say it's this kind, but not that kind. But when they come, however they come, consider it joy, because when trials come, they are God's appointed means to bring you completion, to completion, through endurance. So we could say, I think, that joy then is the response of faith. God's telling us that Trials come, they produce a couple of things. They produce endurance. When we meet the trial with endurance, it produces perfection. We're being made perfected. We're being brought to completion so that we lack nothing. How in the world can we Look at that and say, OK, I'm going to be joyful. We do it by faith. We believe that God's desired end is what he says it is and that he will produce that if we meet the trial that he sends in the way that he tells us to meet it. We believe him. And if that's true. Then not to meet the trial with joy is to meet it with unbelief. And disobedience. Because it is a command. The trial comes. There may be much about it that I don't understand about. But I do understand, and you should understand, believer, that a loving Heavenly Father is at work to bring us to completion, a completion that He has promised. He who began a good work in you will perfect it or complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. So to fail to meet our trials with joy at the fact that God is at work to accomplish his designed end in me is to meet the trial with unbelief. It is disobedience in light of James 1.2. So James tells us what we should do. Rejoice. Consider it all joy. James doesn't really spell out how. For that, I want you to turn back to Hebrews. The book of James and the book of Hebrews have some similarities in background. The book of James is written to Jewish believers who have been dispersed into Gentile lands, probably from persecution in Jerusalem. And so they've been scattered from persecution, and James, who's the pastor at the church in Jerusalem, writes to them to encourage them. Here's how you face these trials that have come. Face them with joy. The writer of Hebrews also writes probably to Jewish believers who are living in Gentile lands. They're also facing persecution. He writes later, 20, 30 years later, maybe. And he writes to people who are so under the load of suffering that they are in danger of quitting. They're in danger of throwing up their hands and just saying, I've had enough. And He writes to them to urge them to run. Don't sit down. Don't shrink back. Don't quit. In chapter 12 and verse 3, we're told to consider Him, Jesus, who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In chapter 10, verse 35, after reminding them of what they have in Christ. The writer of Hebrews says, therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. They're in danger of throwing it away. Verse 36, you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. What's promised? James says that endurance has a perfect result that we want. These Hebrew believers. are in danger of quitting. You need endurance so that when you have endured, when you've done the will of God, when you faced the trials that have come, you will receive what was promised. In verse 39, he says, we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, the alternative. But of those who have faith to the persevering of the soul, and then he gives us in chapter 11, verse one, a definition of faith, it is what? The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. What is it that we are hoping for, but we don't see yet? It is this final salvation. Faith is looking for that. It's looking toward to the redemption of the body. And it's clinging to that in the face of these trials. Then, we have these examples. Example after example of people who, by the testimony of God, faithfully endured trials. Chapter 12 in verse 1, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. There's a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. What are we being told with this therefore? I believe what he's saying to us is this. He's answering some questions. How can I know that there's value in enduring? In running this race that hurts, that's hard. Why should I not shrink back? Why should I press on and run hard? when I don't see the end in sight. He reminds us of something and then he tells us to look to something. He reminds us there is a great cloud of witnesses. When I was younger, I had a number of strange ideas about this. One was that these witnesses were in the clouds, you know, they're watching. This cloud of witnesses is a metaphor for a great multitude. There's a bunch of witnesses. I used to think these witnesses were observers, and they're watching, maybe cheering us on. And the encouragement is, I guess, kind of like the encouragement if you're running a literal race. And there are people along the path who are saying, come on, you can do it. If you get in a stretch where there's nobody, you're tempted to slow down a little bit, you feel it more. You get in a stretch where there's people all around and they're looking and, you know, you pick up the pace a little bit and you run harder. I used to think that's kind of what the idea was here. But these are not merely observers. These are finishers. These are people who have endured. They've run their race. They've crossed the finish line. And now they're standing, waiting for us to come, because they're still waiting for something. Verse 39 of chapter 11 says that these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised. Because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us, they would not be made perfect. What has been promised that they have not received? They've run the race. They're in heaven. Well, there's a salvation that's yet to be completed in the sense of there's a body that's yet to be redeemed. The price has been paid for it, but Christ hasn't come back to bring the resurrected bodies home. And they don't get that until we all get that, a glorified body. And so these finishers have finished and they're waiting for us. But what they're testifying of, they're not witnesses of what we're doing. They're witnesses of the faithfulness of God. And that it is worth it to endure. They're testifying to us. That if you endure, there is a finish line, there is an end and we will all inherit together. So don't shrink back. Don't lose confidence. Don't quit. Here are those who have endured testing, like Abraham, who's promised, you're going to have a son and you're going to have descendants so numerous you can't count them. When, God? Is it Eliezer, the servant in my house? Is it Ishmael? Who is it, God? Well, it's Isaac. Abraham. Take your son. Your only son, Isaac. He endured. He went to the mountain to worship. Believing that God can raise the dead. There are those who endured abuse. Moses. Who preferred to endure the ill treatment of his people rather than to enjoy the pleasures of Pharaoh's palace. And then when he had delivered the promised people from Egypt and starts on the way to the promised land, he endures many more years, doesn't he? Because it didn't suddenly get easy. He endured. There are those who endured terrible indignities. Sawn in two. Living in holes. And all of these are testifying. It's worth it. Don't quit. Don't shrink back. Run. They endured, they endured by faith. And in verse 38, God tells us his estimation of them. Men of whom the world was not worthy. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to run aware of these witnesses and encouraged by them to not shrink back, to not dawdle, but to cast off everything that would hinder us and to run. But though we're aware of this multitude, we're not to stare at the multitude. Rather, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus. The author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus. For the joy. Endured. What does enduring with faith look like? Joy. I'm not trying to be silly. I'm not saying we have to have a goofy grin. That we act like nothing's wrong. The Jesus who endures more than anyone has ever endured, with more joy than anyone has ever endured with, He is also a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. If Jesus can express the heights of joy in a way that no other human has expressed it, Jesus can also express the depths of sorrow in a way that no other human has ever expressed it, because he knew what sin was in a body that was not sinful, a nature that was not sinful, and he bore all that on himself. And so it's more joy than anyone knows and more sorrow than anyone knows. He can hold both of those and tell us in the face of trials, joy. James considered joy knowing or because there's a result, which ultimately is an endurance that brings us to completion. Hebrews 12 to Jesus for joy. Endured, he came to completion. He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. James gives us the command, consider it all joy. The writer of Hebrews gives us the how, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, the perfecter of our faith. The believer, is enabled to joyfully endure trials by fixing his eyes on Jesus. There is no other way. There's no other legitimate way. But that is the way. Look, away from everything else to him. Jesus, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross. The writer of Hebrews is saying to saints who are weary in their trials, who are threatened with despair, he reminds them of these witnesses as evidence of others who testify of having endured, and then he points us to the one who makes the endurance possible. Now, we're told here that Jesus ran his race with joy. How does that help us? Is it reasonable to think that his going to the cross with joy has anything to do with the joy that we're to know as we face trials? Does it mean that we're to follow in this way? I mean, can we beg off and say, but he's Jesus, right? He's deity. Do we get to excuse ourselves on that basis and say, he is able to do something here that I am not called to do, I'm not able to do? Well, there are differences. But the difference is one of degree, not of kind. Jesus is able to do things perfectly that we're not able to do perfectly. It is a difference of degree. But we have been commanded to consider it all joy. We are disciples. What do disciples do? They follow. We are to follow Jesus if we're disciples of Jesus. Jesus has left us an example. 1 Peter chapter 2. If you would keep your spot there, but turn, I want you to see this with your eyes. 1 Peter 2, 21. First Peter 2.21, for you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps. In other words, Jesus in his suffering is providing us an example. Here's a place where to follow him, follow in his steps. And then he describes These steps, he describes Jesus suffering, verse 22, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. And he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by his wounds you were healed, for you were continually straying like sheep. But now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. So we've been left an example. The example is an example of suffering as Jesus reviled, does not revile in return while suffering utters no threats. It is an example of faith because Jesus in his suffering kept entrusting himself to the one who judges righteously. By faith, Jesus endures suffering with joy. Here's the example following. Now, the necessity of following Jesus, does that necessity extend to emotional responses? Okay, so I'm to follow him in his steps, physical pattern, behavioral pattern. I'm not supposed to revile when others revile me, but does that mean I'm supposed to be happy? Supposed to know joy? Well, follow him, follow him. When he reviled, when he was reviled and did not revile in return, is he not reviling in return because he's biting his tongue? He really wants to let them have it, but he knows he's not supposed to, and so he doesn't. Or, in faith, can Jesus respond in a way that he would not otherwise possibly respond in? Or that you and I would not possibly respond in? Because we are entrusting ourselves to the one who judges righteously? Jesus faced the cross with joy. The writer of Hebrews specifically uses the name of Jesus to emphasize his humanity. Not fix your eyes on the Lord. Or fix your eyes on Christ. But fix your eyes on Jesus. The God-man. the man, Christ Jesus. He faced the cross with joy. Here is a human emotion flowing from faith, independence upon the Holy Spirit, independence upon his Father. So again, I say that Jesus ran his race the same way we must run our race, and the same way the saints of Hebrews 11 ran their race, he ran it by faith. We must run it by faith, and the difference is one of degree, not one of kind. Over the past, I guess, three months, there have been a series of articles in the Banner of Truth magazine on the emotions of Jesus. The first one was on the humanity, the humanness of his emotions. They were real human emotions. The second one was on the self-control of Jesus' emotions. The third on the permanence that the man, Christ Jesus, in heaven, seated at the right hand of the throne of God, still has human emotions. The second one, though, the self-control of Jesus. The writer mentioned that when we think of self-control, we typically think of restraint. which is one of the ways to be self-controlled. So I want to have this kind of emotion, I restrain myself. Or I want to do that, I'm not supposed to, I restrain myself. But he pointed out that self-control also was allowing a proper response to go to the degree that it should, even if that's a greater degree than we feel like. And so he gave some examples of how Jesus exhibited self-control in his emotions. When Jesus went to the temple and the money changers were there, and he ran them out, angry, Jesus did not lose self-control. He had an anger that demonstrated itself in a self-controlled way. His anger was not a rage that went beyond propriety, went beyond what was a proper response. It was everything that it should have been in that instance. We might think of self-control in that instance as, I want to do this, but I need a measured response. Or Jesus, turning to go to Jerusalem with the cross before him. Surely that is weighing on him and that's on his heart and his mind. And yet on the way, he runs into a widow whose only son is being carried to a grave and moved with compassion for her, he stops. and raises that boy from the dead. And so in an instance when it would have been very easy to be self-absorbed and concerned for self and what's before him, he has compassion, a proper response to the scene that unfolds there. There are other examples as you turn to the pages of the Gospels. Think about them. Jesus, Jesus's responses were always self-controlled, both when that meant not responding outrageously. So before Pilate, as he's being accused, he's being reviled. He doesn't revile in return. That's a proper response in that situation. but it also means feeling emotions to the fullest that they should be experienced, like at the temple when he runs out the money changers. When I think of self-control, emotional self-control for myself, it's almost always in the sense of not expressing emotion to the degree that I'd like to express emotion. But there are times When I have undoubtedly sinned by not expressing emotion to the degree that I should have expressed emotion, when I've given a measured response that should have been much greater because faithfulness to God would have been expressing it to a much greater degree. Well, James is telling us to express some self-control in the face of trials. What does emotional self-control look like in the face of a trial? Joy. Where does this come from? Where does this joy come from? Where does this self-control come from? One of the places that we could say, through Scripture is the Spirit, because the fruit of the Spirit is joy, and the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. And so as I walk with the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, these are fruits, qualities, that should be evident in my life. I should be able to respond appropriately because I'm not walking in the flesh. I'm walking in the spirit. I'm walking in submission and dependence upon him in the same way that I believe the man Christ Jesus walked in dependence upon the Holy Spirit for his emotions. So we are not called to manufacture something that's not real. We're not called to put on a face and play the hypocrite. What we are called to do is walk in submission and joyful submission to the spirit of Christ so that in the trials we can know some measure of joy, an appropriate measure of joy, the measure that he gives us. The author of Hebrews says it this way, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. The word, the new American standard translates fixing. Some translations may speak of looking. It translates a word that means to look away from. And then added to that is a preposition, the preposition to or into. So the idea is to look away from everything else to Jesus. It's not a glance at him. as I look at everything else, but it's to look away from everything else, to fix my gaze on Him, to look to Him, to look into Him. And as I look, I'm looking to Him, not just to, you know, where are you? But I'm looking to Him to gather direction by faith, by faith to gather strength, wisdom, guidance, support. fixing your eyes on Him. Why look there? Well, there's a whole host of reasons, but here are a few. One, no one has ever, again, no one has ever endured what Jesus endured. We're told that Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross. With all that that entailed, the physical agony, but also the spiritual agony, of taking sin into an innocent, imperfect being and carrying it for us, being made a curse for us. All of the agony of the cross, he endured that. No one has ever endured what he endured. If you reject Christ and you die in your sin and you spend eternity in hell, you will not endure what Christ endured. You cannot endure what Christ endured. An eternal, immortal, incorruptible person endured the wrath of God in a way that you will not be able to endure it. He not only endured the cross, the Bible tells us he despised the shame, the shame that was heaped upon him. The shame as he's crucified as a common criminal, the shame of the noble death of a cross. Everyone who hangs on a cross is cursed. The shame of being stripped naked and beaten and scourged and having his beard ripped out, all the shame of all of that that mocks the scorns. None of that deters him, he despises it for the joy that's set before him. And so we're told in your suffering, you're not suffering what he has suffered. And in your joy, you won't experience it to the degree that he experienced it. Look to him. He gave you an example so that you will follow in His steps. But Christ is more than just that. And the writer of Hebrews points to Him for more than just an example because He tells us that He is the author and the perfecter of our faith. That is, He is the author, He is the originator of it. He's the source of it. But the word means more than just that. The idea is that of being a forerunner or a pioneer. He is the one who's gone before us and blazed the trail for us. What trail? As a man, he has blazed a trail into the very throne room of God, a new and living way that he calls us to follow him into. And he's not just the one who's pioneered the way, he's the perfecter of our faith. He is the only one thus far who's gone all the way to completion and he sits in a body in the presence of God. that which the people of Hebrews 11 still wait for, and that which every other believer should long for, which creation groans for, Romans 8, and which the believer also groans for, the adoption of the body, the redemption of the body, that is what we're all working toward. Jesus, the first fruit of the dead, already sits there in a resurrected, glorified body, And one day we will all join him. Look to him because he's already been there. He's already blazed a trail. He's already run the race all the way to completion. And he's calling for all of the believers to come to him. Run to me. Fix your eyes on me. Here is where you find joy to endure trials. You look to the Christ who's already done it, who's already run the race and completed it. And has opened the way for us. perfect result that James speaks of, of enduring trials, is that we will be perfected, complete, lacking nothing. The testimony of the saints of Hebrews 11 is that they've enduringly run the race, but they wait for us so that we can all claim the prize, the prize that Jesus has already secured. This, I believe, is the joy that's set before Jesus. Yes, it includes saving us. It includes doing the pleasure of the Father, all of that. But when culminated all in, he's bringing many sons to glory. He's the first fruits of many that will follow. And he has completed his race. We know this because he has sat down. This is the joy that should draw the believer to put aside every entangling weight and every entangling sin so that you and I can run with endurance. Believer, look to him. Fix your eyes on him. Lay aside anything that slows you down, that keeps you from running with all your energy and dependence upon him. Be encouraged by him. Be strengthened by him. Submit to him. Submit to him and to his commands. Jesus said his yoke is an easy yoke. But a yoke is only easy if you're walking in submission. If you're fighting the yoke, it's not easy. Submit to him. Walk with him. Follow the footsteps that your elder brother has laid before you. Don't fight the yoke. In Isaiah 1, God said his people did not have the sense of an ox. Sometimes we still don't. We begin to walk with the Lord, you believers. We think we walk in joyful submission. Perhaps we do for the moment. A new wrinkle comes, a trial, unexpected. And we see that we have not thoroughly counted the cost. We learn that worldliness creeps in, a love of ease, and this doesn't feel so easy. We give way to an unbelief that is shocked to learn that Christianity is hard. But hear the words of Jesus. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward. And heaven is great for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Or in John 16, these things, I have spoken to you so that in me you may have peace in the world. You have tribulation, but take courage. I've overcome the world. You might think, well, my persecution, what I'm feeling isn't persecution. OK, does it feel like tribulation? You'll have tribulation in the world. Jesus said, take comfort, take courage. Peter writes, 1 Peter 3, even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. 1 Peter 4, if you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed. Paul writes to Timothy, indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Why are we surprised when trials come? Why are we surprised when trouble comes, when persecution comes, suffering comes? Whatever shape it is in, why are we surprised? Look again at the witnesses of Hebrews 11. Do you read names of people there who lived easy lives? Or do you read names of people who endured by faith, hard, difficult things? In Philippians chapter 1, Paul writes, from jail. Verse 12 of Philippians 1, he says, Now I want you to know, brethren, my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else. He goes on and describes his imprisonment and some of what's happening around him. And he says in verse 18, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. Joy. For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance. What kind of deliverance, Paul? Well, I think he's ultimately delivered from jail in this instance, but in Second Timothy, chapter four, he speaks of another deliverance. He's assured he will be delivered. And that deliverance looks like heaven. God will bring me safely home. Either way. Deliverance. Joy. Paul rejoices to know that he will be made complete when on the day of redemption, God gives to him and every other saint who's ever lived what he promised, full salvation. Do you understand the force of this text? The command to you and to me is to so fixedly look to Jesus that we're enabled in his strength to pick up our cross daily, to follow him with joy, to run the race on the course designed by a lovingly heavenly, a loving, Heavenly Father with joyful endurance. Now consider the alternative. What if you don't? To not run with joy is to not meet the trials with faith. It robs you of good. It robs God of glory. It means that you're not believing and without faith, it's impossible to please him. To not run with joy is to not profit by learning endurance. It's to not profit because you forfeit the perfect result of enduring trials, being made perfect and complete, liking nothing. To not run with joy is to be in danger of throwing away your confidence, is to shrink back. And that's no way to win a race. It's to grow weary and lose heart is to be paralyzed in disobedience. Where would we be? If Christ had chosen the alternative. If Christ had shrunk back. Do you think this race was easy? Easier than yours. unbeliever. This is how salvation is obtained. It's looking past the things you fear losing in the pursuit of a greater joy. In Matthew 13, Jesus told a couple of parables and he said, The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again. And from joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls. And upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Some of you are so afraid of what you will lose if you follow Jesus. Listen, there will be loss. You can't come to Christ with hands full of yourself and full of this world, but oh, if you will lay those things down, what you gain so outweighs whatever it is you lay down. The gain is so great that the Apostle Paul, considering what he had lost, said it's all dung, it's all rubbish, it all belongs on the trash heap. It's nothing if I can have him. If you've never seen this, it's not because it's not true. It's because you are blind. And like blind Bartimaeus, today, would you not cry out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me and cry until he answers. Some of you in your pride have squeaked out little whispers. And when Jesus did not come running to you, you've thrown up your hands and said, see, it doesn't work. Bartimaeus wasn't quiet. He didn't whisper and he wasn't proud when everyone around him told him to be quiet. He cried all the louder, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And when you want Jesus like Bartimaeus wanted sight. Your pride will disappear. And you'll stop counting the cost. Or worrying about the cost. When you see, when the Holy Spirit has convicted you of sin by instructing you through the Scriptures, so that you see what your state truly is, when He opens your eyes to the true beauty of this One, this Pearl of Great Price, then nothing else will matter but having Him. Believer, do you remember coming to Jesus? Do you remember gladly laying everything at His feet? Do you remember for love of Him, joyfully surrendering everything you have and everything you are, if only I can have Him? The way in is still the way up. Who has bewitched you to think that laying down your rights, you get to claim them again? Where did you learn that you get to tell God that the course He has designed for you is obviously flawed? And if only He would give you a different course to run, you could joyfully run with endurance. Not from the Bible. This is the way forward. And for you, for me, there's no other way forward. The writer of Hebrews is not speaking expressly to the unconverted. He writes to Christians who are in danger of sitting down and quitting. Christian, where's your zeal? Where is your holy determination to follow Jesus no matter what the cost? No turning back. And where do we get a faith like that, a faith that endures, that endures with joy by fixing our eyes on Christ? There is no other place. There is no other way. There's no other person. We look to him. There is a cost. Jesus said, If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Jesus said, He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who has found his life will lose it and he who has lost his life for my sake will find it. Jesus said, whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. You can't be my disciple because you're not following me. This is the pattern of the Christian life. Friends, are you following this pattern? If not. Brother. Sister, I beg you, repent. Repent. Get before Almighty God and confess your sin and repent. I can't run your race. You can't run my race, but each of us, each of us must fix our eyes on Jesus and follow him running the race he's given to us. You cannot fix your eyes on Jesus and aimlessly drift. This is a race, it's not a sightseeing tour. We don't get to wander about like tourists, observing the scenery. We're on a race. With eyes fixed on Him, we cannot be aimless. We may have questions, we may have uncertainties, but we cannot be aimless. We know where we're headed. We know where our eyes are fixed. You cannot fix your eyes on Jesus and cowardly avoid the cost. That is not the example Christ has given to us. And Isaiah 50 verse 7, the Bible speaking of Christ, I believe, says, For the Lord God helps me. Therefore, I am not disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like flint. I know I will not be ashamed. And Luke chapter 9, we're told that when the days were approaching for his ascension, he was determined to go to Jerusalem. Why is he determined to go to Jerusalem? That's where the cross is. for the joy set before him. He's determined. Does Jesus not know what is before him? Obviously he does. He keeps telling his disciples, I'm going to be handed over to wicked men and I'm going to die. They're going to put me to death. The disciples rebuke him. Don't say that. He knows. He's determined. He will not be turned aside. We. Are probably all guilty. At times of turning aside. We feel the temptation to avoid tension, to avoid confrontation, to avoid calls, to avoid hardship, to avoid discomfort of any kind. And we're so tempted to worship at the altar of ease. But Jesus is not tempted that way. He. Determined. I'm going to Jerusalem. You cannot fix your eyes on Jesus and casually amble along the race course. Have you ever seen a race horse lose its rider? It might finish the race. It might veer all over the place. It might turn around and run backwards. It might stop in its tracks. But if you fix your eyes on Jesus, then you won't do that. You will run the race to completion. You will not amble along the course. Why should we do this? Why should I count the cost? Why should I get up from ease and meet discomfort? Why should I look at my suffering and submit myself to God in a way that I can say I do no joy? Why should I do any of this? Well, really, it's a matter of obedience, but even more than that, you should do it because the Lord of glory, the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He served us and He saved us by giving His life a ransom for us, and we belong to Him. He's bought us with a price. And if you've been united to Christ and you you belong to him. And if that doesn't stir you, if that doesn't compel you to run and to joyfully endure, then go back to the cross and look at him and look at him until your soul is stirred at the sight of him and you're ready to follow him again with joy. Joy, because you have a savior, joy, because he has given you the privilege of following him. Such a privilege that you can say that when you are reviled, you are blessed and when people persecute you, you are blessed and you can know the joy of filling up what's lacking in the sufferings of Christ. For love of him. If I could change metaphors in closing, someone has said that. The believer will know that God's shaping them when they begin to limp instead of strut. If you strut, you get the glory. If you limp, He gets the glory. His strength is made known in weakness. If your trial is hard right now, God may be giving you a limp, removing a strut. Is there a cost? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes. We'll close with Jude's doxology. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling. And to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. To the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever.