Our great Father in heaven, as we come again to your holy word, we just ask, Lord, you might be pleased to send your Holy Spirit, as you have promised to do so when your children ask. Oh Lord God, please send your Holy Spirit that you may teach each one of us in our situations. May you hear this prayer, even for the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. And tonight, as the Lord helps us, we'd like to look at these first two verses of Hebrews 12, and we're considering the subject of Christian endurance or patience. And I wonder how you envisage your Christian life, what you think the Christian life is like. Sometimes we can fall into the trap as a young Christian, it's like being in an elevator or a lift, and you press the button and then one day you arrive in heaven. Now whilst that's true, between your conversion and when you arrive in glory, be one of the Lord's people, the Lord has promised, hasn't he, that he'll be with us, but through much kingdom, through much tribulation, we enter the kingdom of heaven. And this two verses is very much about that, what our Christian life is like, and how the Lord wants us to deal with it. Now the concepts of this in Hebrews, the author is unknown. Some people say the Apostle Paul has all sorts of various theories, but the author's not important, but it's God's word. He's writing to Jewish believers, and they're going through two trials. One is there's some false teaching around the importance of angels. Some secular records say that some people were claiming that they're even more important than the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. But the other is this. Because they were Jewish believers, they'd come to see the need of the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. That the old Levitical system of sacrificing animals to atone for their sins, that the Lord Jesus had accomplished that on the cross. And no more sacrifices were to be made, and that they could just trust in him. But other Jews that weren't believers would say, no, you can't stop doing that. We've always done that. And God won't be happy. And they would give them real persecution, say, no, that's wrong. That's false, what you're doing. You've got to keep offering up these sacrifices. And they're under intense persecution, not for the first time. So the author here is writing to them. Now today, we have plenty of false teaching, don't we, around in the church. I think of evolution, I think of same-sex marriages, I think of the transgender situation that's creeping into some so-called churches, and on the fringes of some evangelical churches even, where people are twisting scripture. And you can just feel the net closing in as a Christian, if you're wise. We homeschool our children, so we pay a lot of attention with education. And once you're out of the mainstream system and you're going against that, you really can feel it. And generally, the net is closing in. And I think it's really going to cost something to be a Christian. It's something I regularly tell my children. We encourage them in the Lord, but say, look, as you grow up, it's really going to cost you something unless the Lord intervenes. It's going to really cost you something to say you're a Christian. And people find out that you believe that God created the world, they might sneer and laugh at that. But when they hear you stand up for the rights of marriage between a man and a woman, that boys are meant to be boys and girls are meant to be girls, then you'll be called as a bigot and narrow-minded and nasty. And thus, good is called evil and evil good. So it's a pertinent passage to look at. The writer here, he uses an illustration, if you think of the old-time Olympics, and he's thinking of an athlete here, and he's about to compete in these games. And he's going to be lightly clad, he's got to get rid of everything, he's got to be focused, and he's got to run with a degree of patience or endurance. This race is set before him. That's what he's looking at. We're certainly not in our lift going up to heaven. And the first thing the author draws them to is wherefore. And he's referring back to the preceding chapter, number 11, because of what's just been said. Of all these witnesses that had faith, what is faith? It is believing what God has said, trusting it to be true, and acting upon it. We have saving faith, so we've just been thinking about the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way a man, a woman, a boy or a girl can be right with Almighty God, the Father. Trusting in him, in God's wonderful offer, which he issues again tonight, to forgiveness to any that will come to him. Turning from their sin, just trusting in Christ. wanting him to be the Lord of their life and just believe in his promise to come as you are and he's promised he will not turn anyone away that comes to him. That's saving faith. But we're called to walk by faith until we get to heaven. In heaven we won't need faith. All our hope will be realised. So it's very important and he's coming up with some examples. And examples, they inspire us, don't they? I think of, I used to be into my running, I remember years ago, the history of the four minute mile, Roger Bannister. And people said it was impossible. And then Roger Bannister ran a sub four minute mile by a second or whatever it was. And if you look at the running records after that, they then swiftly tumbled because people thought, well it can be done. Now this is what this preceding chapter is about. And just a few sort of examples briefly, it'd be a wonderful chapter to look at in detail, but just a few examples how it helps us as Christians. Perhaps the Lord is calling you to pastures new or to a new situation or a new sphere of service and you feel completely alien. Well, we think about Abraham who was called to a land he didn't know and he heard God's call and he went. Perhaps you feel very alone in your circumstances as a Christian, and you're very conscious of the world around you, that you're a kind of, you feel like a lone pilgrim, that your work colleagues aren't Christians, that your neighbours aren't Christians, and you can feel the antagonism and the hostility where we look to Noah and his family, the only Christian family on the face of the earth. Imagine that. I don't know what the population was back then, but the only one. Look how faithful he was. Perhaps you're struggling to deny yourself. You feel the pull of this world. You feel it's going to cost you something to be a Christian. You feel it might miss out on opportunities. It might cost you friendships. You think, oh, just to walk on that broad road for a minute, just not to be on the straight and narrow road, that might be easier. And then we think of Moses. It said he left the palace, didn't he? Forsook the palace. He was the son of Pharaoh's daughter. And all that to be with the people of God. Perhaps the Lord is calling you to fight something that seems an impossible battle. It might be in your own individual life, some temptation which the devil whispers is too hard for you to deal with, or it might be he's calling you to an act of service which to you seems impossible. Well, there's a whole list of people, aren't there? But we think about Gideon, Barak, and the famous event of David and Goliath, who for the honour of God was the only soldier in the army that stood up, purely for the honour of God. And lastly, in some parts of the world, and who knows, it might come to us one day, perhaps the Lord is calling you to make the ultimate sacrifice. Perhaps one day, because of the lies we live as Christians, the governments will turn against us, we might lose our houses, be separated from our families. Perhaps in extreme circumstances, you might not think it possible now, even our life might be called to giving up for the Lord. Well, look at those last few verses of the preceding chapter in 37. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and ghost skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. And then moving on it says, and these all having obtained a good report through faith. Had a good report through faith. So these are examples. And think of the fumes you've attempted, attended of Christian people. Each one of those is a testament to God's faithful provision. Sometimes as a Christian you feel overwhelmed, don't you? You think, will I make it to heaven? As an early Christian I felt that. Even as a mature Christian, a satanic assault. Will I be kept? Will I fall away? Will I give in to temptation? Will I really make it to the end? And look at those funerals, and the Lord has kept them all. I remember my father, who was a pastor for many years, been a minister for many, many years, and he said it's been remarkable. Some of the Lord's weaker Christians, the sort of the timid people, and they've come to face death and they've been terrified of it and then at the moment approaching death they felt such assurance and a sense of moving from this realm to another. He said it's been quite remarkable seeing the Lord's deliverance. And others that have been very strong in the faith have been called to be greatly tempted. But each one has been kept. So the big message here is don't give up. It has all happened before. The Lord wants us to take note of this. Wherefore we are compassed about by this great cloud of witnesses. Now the next thing the author says is that we need to lay aside every weight and sin. Imagine if you're an athlete, you're in this arena, you're going to run a race or fight a contest. You want to be able to move lightly and fastly. You don't want anything to be weighing you down. You wouldn't expect to see someone in the 100 metres with a rucksack on their back. You'd look ridiculous. And he's saying, look, there are things in your life which are lawful, but they're not helpful. And they can be lots of different things, can't they? There can be certain friendships. You have to be careful, you have to be friendly to unbelievers, help them in times of need. But friendship with the world is enmity with God. And certainly as a younger Christian, I remember getting in all sorts of trouble with that. Because, what's the old adage? If I was trying to pull Edward up here, he'd find it easy to pull me down for me to pull him up here. And that's what happens. We have to be careful with our friendships. It can be businesses, hobbies, holidays, pleasure, reading, TV, a whole host of things which are all lawful. God gives us all things richly to enjoy. But they can get so big in our minds that they become more important to God. We're thinking more about them. If you're like one brother I know that was thinking about the golf swing in the middle of the sermon, your golf has probably got a little bit too big. But it can be easily done, can't it? I was speaking to a businessman recently. He said, oh, it's a temptation, a snare to me. I'm thinking about business sometimes, worries, cares, even things, pleasures. It can happen to us all. He says, look, be very careful. But there's another weight as well. You see, These people are being tempted to reconsider the Levitical sacrifices. The Lord Jesus Christ has paid the debt of all his people in full. It's a wonderful thing, isn't it? It's a simple thing to understand, but not so easy sometimes to put the full benefits of that into practice in your Christian life. And they were tempted to say, well, I better be doing this extra thing as well. And the author said, you mustn't do that. Just trust in Christ. The sacrifice is paid. There's nothing more to be done. Now, legalism in the Christian life can very, very easily creep in. You see, when you feel the Lord's favour on your life, and when you feel his smile and his blessing, and you feel his love inside your heart, and the sun is shining, well, there's no doubts, is there? There's no fears, there's no worries. But if he calls you to go through a trial, and perhaps he just turns his face away for a minute, or a cloud comes between us, or you disobey him, as we all do, then the only route back is the cross. But what we can tend to do is good things, which are intended to help us, can become works. I need to read my Bible more. Well, we do need to read our Bible. If I read my Bible more, and if I make sure I attend every single meeting, if I'm helping that person there and there, there's some brownie points there, and God is sure to be pleased with me again, then I'll know I'm going to heaven. You might say, oh, I'd never do that. But it's very, very easy. Legalism. And it can weigh you down because then instead of becoming all about the Lord Jesus Christ becomes all about you and what you're doing. There's someone here tonight, you need delivering from that. That's what this is teaching you. Remember the error they'd fallen into. Keep it simple. It's very humbling when you've fallen in your walk before the Lord, fallen badly sometimes, And you realize, actually, the Lord Jesus Christ has already paid for that sin. I must go to my father in heaven as a child and ask for his forgiveness. But as a child to a father, I have six children and I would be heartbroken if they base their relationship with me. They're standing, if I heard them saying, well, I'm not sure if I'm his son because I've been so naughty today and I need to tidy up my bedroom and do some gardening and be really polite for a week and then I'll be his son, I'll be heartbroken. Now, their disobedience might affect the relationship between us until things are put right, but it would never affect the standing. I would not disown them. I would not say, you're not my child anymore. But as Christians, we can subtly fall into that trap. The devil says, it's not that simple. You can't just come just like that. But you can. The world doesn't understand that, so surely you could abuse God's grace. Well, you could, but you wouldn't, because you're his child. So please, if someone's struggling here tonight with that very thing, do go to the Lord, do confess your sin, do ask for his forgiveness, do plead the blood of Jesus Christ, and just say, Lord, for his sake, please forgive me. Sometimes say, Lord, I cannot believe you had to die for that sin again. I've committed it so many times, please forgive me. Put that weight aside. But then we have sin, don't we? Behind the house, the bungalow where we live, there's a very large field. It's 40 acres. And there used to be a lovely beaten track all the way around it. And you used to walk around it and run around it. And then the farmer shut off one side of it. And now, less people use it. And it's all entangled. And the beaten track is all overgrown. And you're trying to find your way in. The weeds trip you up. And the corn trips you up, whatever they're planting. And our Christian life can be like this. The sin we've just been speaking about, which means confessing, there's some things we do willfully, there's some things we do carelessly, and it trips us up in our relationship before God, doesn't it? And you know the sort of things, each one of us have different sins in our life right now, which we're struggling with. Perhaps some very obvious, but some more subtle, deeper than our heart, our attitudes. And they're tripping us up, the Lord sees everything. And the Lord is saying to us, look, make your race easy for yourself. Lay aside these sins. You're tripping up, you're falling down, you're falling into doubt and confusion. You're spotting your garment, if you like, your witness. Stop tripping up. And the devil will say, you can't do that. You've been like that nearly all your life. You can never change that. Don't bother. But by faith, trust in the Lord, we can. Some things you have to really wrestle with the Lord and beg for deliverance. Don't set up a second best in your Christian life. It's very easy to do that, isn't it? Just say, well, this is me. This is who I am, like it or lump it. Someone said that to me once. We were talking to them. I said, well, is it right to do this? I said, I have my problems in this area. And you're like, well, that's just me. People take me as they find me. And they're born again Christian. We'll be in heaven together. But we can all subtly be like that. Lay that sin aside. Cast it away. He then moves on. to endurance or running with patience. The very word run is a clue, isn't it? If you were to look in the original Greek, it's describing an athleticism. It's a purpose. It's an intense desire. It's making progress. So straight away that signifies it's not an easy thing, is it? It's not meant to be easy. It's not just a nice little chug away to heaven. It's going to be difficult. And we're told that we're going to need holiness and we're going to need patience. Now that word patience in some versions is endurance and it's a perseverance, it's a steadfastness, it's a keeping on in difficult circumstances, it's having the right mindset. One illustration I found very helpful is this. If you were to undergo, let's say, a selection, they have a thing called the jungle phase. And there's only about 15% of the troops that are left at this stage. And the jungle, I forget where they go now. I think Borneo or Belize, somewhere like that. But it's not a nice sunny jungle. There's a thick canopy. You don't see much sun. And the vegetation, from the guys that have done it, it's so thick. And it's very, very hilly. And you have a man, he'll have his weapon, and he'll have his machete, and you have to steadily cut your way through it. Now the ones that fail the course are this, they attack the jungle. where they think, right, I've got to do this, bang, bang, bang. Well you can't keep that up day after day. And of course they're trying to attack the jungle in their minds, they're trying to patrol, they're being tested, they're being ambushed and eventually after four to six weeks of this, well some of them just don't make it or their skills aren't up to scratch and they've failed anyway. But the ones that pass are this. I'm here for six weeks. It's going to be difficult. I've got this jungle. I can't beat the jungle, but what I've got to do is just accept this and steadily work my way through this." Now, the author here is saying that's the mindset as Christians. We need this mindset for the race, which we'll look at in a minute, which is set before us. Yes, we walk by faith. Yes, we You can overcome anything, mountains, by the Lord's help, but the mindset has to be right, otherwise you're going to be easily discouraged. Now this word race is very interesting. I was only studying this, I learnt this. In the Greek it comes from the word agon, which we get the word agony. Now if you start to put these pictures together, you've got the the athlete, focused, intense desire to compete, to run, he's committed now to all sorts of difficulties, to go through the agony that is set before him. Now that starts to put a different perspective on our Christian life. You see what the devil does to you and I, is he says, the Christian life should be easy, should know peace all the time, just keep looking to the Lord, peace, and you'll be in heaven soon. But it is an agony. We have these three enemies, don't we? We have our own flesh, which we have that new life which is within us, God the Holy Spirit who is sanctifying us, but then we have our flesh that wants to sin, that doesn't want to serve the Lord, that wants to take the easy way out, that gets fed up with the grind of the Christian life. Then we have the devil that's trying to entice us and lead us astray. As one preacher vividly said, I heard him say three years ago, the devil says this, come on, come on, do this, do this, and the Christian falls. Look what you've done. How can you call yourself a Christian? We have the devil and the evil angels trying to lead us astray, and then finally we have the world around us. So if you're a Christian here tonight, you're on that straight and narrow path. You're a fish that's swimming upstream. The whole culture around us is against God. Now we've had it, I don't want to say easy, we've had it a lot easier than other generations for many, many decades. And now the tide is turning, and the world is starting to focus more on the church and what we stand for, and they don't like it. and we're going to find this swimming upstream, it's going to become more and more and more apparent. And if you are not inside, have the right attitude, understand your environment, the trials that come along are going to throw us. And bearing in mind the Lord, as we'll look at in a second, sets trials for us. So it's very important as a Christian that we understand this. I remember a chap I met when I had my office in Tentendon and I'd see him running round the town and I'd see him running for half an hour. He wouldn't be sprinting but I could tell the pace he was running at. He was running at his maximum effort for that distance. And he was probably seven or eight years older than me and he was trim as a butcher's dog as the old saying goes. He was dressed in black and he was focused. One day, I took the opportunity to speak to him. So I see you running five or six times a week. I said, you know, I said, you don't mind me saying, you never do any slow runs, which are part of a good runner's training. You need to mix it up. And this is his story. Tommy, his name was. And he'd been a cameraman or something in Afghanistan, working in Afghanistan. But he was working when there was a military conflict. And he had his security team with him and other people. And he got out there, and he said, oh, it's such a beautiful place. And for a time he forgot he was in this place of conflict. And he was sort of, his mind was switched off to it. And he was trundling along and he was looking at the mountains and the lakes and the things. And suddenly they were ambushed and he was captured. And he was only captured for 45 minutes and then they were rescued and let go. And not a hair of him was harmed, but he really thought he was going to die. He wasn't a believer. And it traumatized him and it's left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. And this is the thing he said which struck me. He said, the other guys that were with me, these military guys, they were fine because they realized they could get into these conflicts. They were just relieved to be out of it. He said, my mind was so open, I'd completely switched off to the environment I was in. It just did me such damage. And as a Christian, we can be like that. We can go along and something comes along and say, why is this happening to me? And then another thing comes and, what's happening? I don't like this. And we're upset. And then, when am I going to be in heaven? I can't cope with this. The Lord says, look, I want you to run with patience. I want you to realize the environment you're in. One day there's going to be a rest for you. But in the environment you're in at the moment, it's going to be difficult. Not every day, we have tremendous blessings. But be aware, you could get ambushed. I may well set something for your good. It's only in the trials we grow, isn't it? Now the race that is set before us, set, that means appointed, destined. I take great comfort in that word. that above our life is Almighty God, our great Father in heaven, and he looks down, and each race is different, and he says, that, my child, is set for you. I've appointed that for you. And I found that to be, and many Christians over the years, a source of great comfort. This isn't some random, perchance, haphazard event. This is something the Lord has appointed for us. And when we've been able to pray sometimes, Lord, thank you for this. I don't understand it, but thank you for this. I know it's for my good. Please help me to honor you. Please help me to be your child in this trial. You can get a great sense of peace. So tonight, if you're in a great trial of mind, or body, or soul, it's not random. The Lord isn't going to suddenly notice it and say, oh, I better deliver you. He has set that for us, for our eternal good. Now, he then moves on to the great example, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, looking unto Jesus in verse 2, the author and finisher of our faith. The word look there isn't just a casual glance like I might do at the clock. It's a very, very attentive gaze. It's a fixed gaze. If any of you have run, you've been in a race, and you're coming in the bit where the pain's really kicked in, you're trying to do a good time, one of the things you do is you'll fix a runner that's better than you. You think, I've just got to keep with that person. And when your lungs feel like they're trailing behind you on a piece of spit, and you just look at the back of that person, that can help you over the line. It's that kind of attention. looking at Christ. Now, we're to look at him in this manner. He's the author and the finisher. The word author there, often people can think, well the author and finisher, it's the truth that he has begun a good work and you will complete it. And that truth is absolutely right and a great encouragement to us. But it's got a slightly different slant on it in the original. It's more like the author is the leader, the founder, the very first one. And the finisher, he's the perfect example. Sometimes soldiers, they look back at things that other people have done in military battles and they say, well look, if those people did that, if that man did that, then we've got to be able to do this. He has that. He says, look at the perfect example. He's the founder, the number one, the leader of our faith. Unless he'd lived the perfect life and offered the perfect sacrifice, we would have no faith. Look at him and look at his finishing, his perfect example. So some examples of this. And there's a whole range of them you could go through. You could preach a whole sermon just on that one bit. But just some simple examples to encourage us. Perhaps tonight you feel like you're lacking in the temporal blessings of this life. You feel like you've missed out. And we have a sense of entitlement, don't we? We think, well, sure, at least in life I deserve this. Well, what about the Lord Jesus Christ reigning in glory in heaven before he came to this earth? And as we were thinking about this morning, he gave up that treasure of heaven and came to earth and laid it all aside. And he had nowhere he could call home. He could have come and lived in a great palace and still been just as marvelous. He could have done all sorts of things, but he just laid it all aside. He gave it all up. And he was the one that deserved everything, didn't he? Perhaps, and this can sting, you've been really disrespected by someone, utterly humiliated. Pride is a terrible thing, isn't it? And you think, I do not deserve to be spoken to like that. It can be in the church, which is very painful, but it can be in the world. Yet we look at the Lord of glory, the one who could have just, with a glance of someone, brought their life to an end. the one who deserved all awe and reverence when he was here. And look how he was argued with, and people tried to humiliate him, and people spat in his face. That can be very helpful if you're, it could be helpful to anyone. But as a man, and perhaps you've been a man's man, and you look at that, and so he was the ultimate man. And yet he let people treat him like that. What about if you're feeling just totally tired tonight, totally overwhelmed by life, and you know the Lord's calling you to give in your service? But what about the Lord Jesus Christ? He always had the cross before him. He always knew he was going to have to face the infinite anger and judgment. of his great father in heaven for things he'd not even done. That was always before him. But look how he lived his life. Sometimes we have problems, they consume our minds and we don't think we can even speak to anyone, deal with anything, we've just got to lay everything aside till we get our mind right. But look at Christ, how he was. And he was here in his humanity. It's a great mystery, God in the flesh. But he felt tiredness, he felt pain, he felt hunger. Look how he was carrying the cross and he couldn't carry it, could he? He asked Simon of Cyrena, they ordered him to help him. And yet he still gave and gave. And even when he was dying on the cross, undergoing that dreadful agony, he still was looking out for his mother, wasn't he? He put John and his mother together. Perhaps tonight you feel really unappreciated and let down by others. Utterly unappreciated. You say, I've done all of this, I just feel so let down. What about the Lord, the people he healed? and his disciples, and they besook him. All of them fled. They'd had that three years of intimate communion and fellowship, and he'd taught them so much, yet they left him till he was on his own. What about when ministry seems to go so well, and then it goes so wrong, and you get so frustrated as a church and say, well, what's happened here? The devil's got in here. I come back to Christ and his many followers and they followed him and they loved his teaching and amazing things were happening. If we could see one of those Bible times, thousands of people pressing in, there was an urgency, a need. And everyone thought, this is it, the Messiah's come, it's going to be wonderful. And then because he wasn't going to be a king through power and set up this earthly kingdom, they turned against him. What about if you're tempted tonight? You feel really, really tempted. Sometimes as a Christian, you feel at your absolute limits, don't you? But look at the Lord Jesus Christ, weak, alone in the wilderness. For forty days, the devil himself came to tempt him, twisting scripture. Not many people can say they've had the devil himself tempt them. Or perhaps tonight, you feel really far from God, you feel that The Lord has turned his face away from you. Your happy days of communion are just a distant memory. You almost wonder if you imagined them. And you say, but does the Lord Jesus know what that's like? Well, I don't know what it's like to leave heaven to be in perfect communion with the Father and come here to the sinful world. But bear in mind this, when the Lord hung on the cross, before he came to earth, he'd had, for an eternity beforehand, perfect communion with his Father. All he'd known is love, perfect love of the Trinity. And yet on the cross, that was broken, and all he knew was his Father's wrath and anger. So much so that he cries out, my Father, my Father, why hast thou forsaken me? And lastly, perhaps tonight there's something in your pathway and you say, I just cannot cope with that. I know I should do. I know I should trust the Lord, but I just can't cope with that. Well, let's go to Gethsemane. And when our Savior said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass before me, but nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. And our Master, he's not like us as men when we've done great things. We love to tell people about it and someone tells us a story of their woes and we say, oh, that's nothing, I did this or I went through that. No, he says that he's our great High Priest and he sympathizes with our weaknesses. He was tempted in every point as we are. and we're to come boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy, to help in the hour of need. The Lord Jesus has great compassion for his people. The devil wants you to think you can't go to him. You're not a failure. You're a failure with your faith, your walk, your example, your service. But you go to him. You confess your situation. You ask for help. Scripture teaches us the word of God. He cannot help but sympathize with us. Now, just briefly, because our time's nearly come to an end, what was Christ's perspective? Well, it says, the author, Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God. There was a great joy in the Lord's eyes, which is why he did what he did. It was the restoration of creation. Everything that was made was made through Christ. How much it must grieve a maker when you see something, you've made it and it's not right. The joy that it was all going to be made perfect, there's going to be a new heavens and a new earth. When he looks at us and sees what's going to become of us, we're his jewels. He looks at us now in our fallenness, in our folly, he says, oh my child, the joy I have looking of what you're going to be. And what about this, the joy? When you love someone, you like to give them something, don't you? You look forward, oh, I've got this present for this person, and I just, oh, the joy I'm going to see when I open that, they're going to be so happy. Well, my friends, do you not think the Lord feels that about us? When he knows how happy we're going to be in heaven, with him? That joy that sin is banished, of a new heavens and a new earth with men and women and boys and girls in their new glorified state forever and ever and ever. It's wonderful, isn't it? But we have a joy set before us. That is the joy set before us, the joy of heaven, being with our beloved Saviour in our new body. And because of that joy, He endured the cross and despised the shame. People spat at Him, they mocked Him. He said, this isn't shame to me. He didn't think, I'm the son of God, I shouldn't be treated like this. He said, men and women of the flesh, you think this is shame. I despise that. This is nothing to me. You don't realize what I'm going to accomplish. I will go through this. This is not shame to me. It's something I must go through to get what I need. I must bring this joy home, if you like. Now in this life, we're going to be sneered at, humiliated, mocked, tempted. Some countries, even right now, they're losing their life. And so people say, why would you put yourself through that? We say, well, why not? The future for us, my life. One old monk said this. He was trying to reach out to a king. And he said, King, eternity is like this. In this winter hall, it's medieval times, it's this great big hall. He said, I noticed a sparrow. It flew in. For a brief moment, it paused in the warmth of the fire, and it flew out the other side. He said, our life is like that. A monk was threatened with the lions by an emperor. I was reading early church history recently when he found he was a Christian. He said, bring the lions. He said, all right. If the lions don't frighten you, I'll burn you. And this monk, a true Christian, said, I'd rather burn for an hour than burn for eternity. The right perspective. We need to be looking to the future and truly trusting in the Lord that our eternal future is there for us to truly be enjoyed. I'm not sure we often do that as much as we should. And then lastly, The Lord Jesus now, he's sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. That joy has been realised for him. Part of it has. He's now waiting, bringing his many sons and daughters home to glory. How many believers do you know? You've conversed with them and had fellowship with them. The Lord's taken them to glory. Their race has been run. One day, this is the big message Christ wants us to understand. One day, we will enjoy that joy. Well, may God give each one of us a heavenly perspective in our race of faith. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Amen.