I know I told you you can sit down, but if you will take with your Bibles and open to Hebrews chapter 2 and stand with me. Yo sé que les dije que pueden sentar, pero si pueden buscar en tu Biblia Hebreos capítulo 2 y paran conmigo, we will read verse 10. Vamos a leer versículo 10. Hebrews 2.10, Hebreos 2.10. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, and bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. Porque convenia aquel por cuyo causa son todas las cosas, y por quien todas las cosas subsisten. Que habiendo de llevar muchos hijos a la gloria, perfeccionarse por aflicción el autor de salvación de ellos. Amen. Let's pray. Oramos. Father, life is difficult. You have, in your great providence, given us all things, and you've called them good and perfect, even afflictions. God, you have decided that you would perfect your people through suffering, through hardships, that you use that to chisel away everything that's not of you. God, we are frail and weak, egocentric. God, we forget your providence, we forget your design, your purpose. We're so internally focused, Father, that we can't fathom that we would have to go through hardships, and yet they're promised as part of your great grace and mercy and providence. And God, as we look this morning, as we begin to look at this passage, we see the suffering of Christ and Him setting an example God, I pray that you would humble us. That God, that you would teach us through paradox that the way down is the way up. That in the valley, we is the place of vision. God, I pray that. And that you would help teach your people that even though we walk through the valley of shadow death, we have no reason to fear for you're with us, to guide us, to lead us. And even in the midst of that valley, in the midst of this society that we live in, you set us a table amongst our enemies and you cause us to lay down and sleep because of the hope we have in you. God, reveal to us your great providence and goodness this morning. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. You may be seated. I want to share with you a phrase that I left out of the sermon last week in introduction to this sermon. Quiero compartir una frase que yo dejé la semana pasada. I forgot to mention it. Olvidé a mencionarlo. We looked at the humility of Christ in verse nine. Vemos la humildad de Cristo en versículo nueve. That he was made a little lower than the angels. Que él fue hecho un poco menor de los ángeles. We merely just said that speaks of his humiliation and his incarnation. Meramente hablamos de esta, habla de su humillación y su incarnación. And I want to let you know this. Y quiero que sepan esto. Although he was made lower than the angels. Aunque el fue hecho un poco menor de los ángeles. He is still preeminent. El is preeminente. He is king. El is rey. He is seated on the throne and he holds everything together by the word of his power. El está sentado en su trono y el mantiene todo por el poder de su palabra. Now we come to what I would consider a difficult verse. There's so many doctrines that have sprung wrongly out of this verse. It's actually, this is one of the verses that caused a problem in church history. For centuries, por siglos. The church had councils and debates, la iglesia tuvieron concilios y debates, speaking of the humanity and deity of Christ, hablando de la humanidad y de la dieta de Cristo, in part because of this verse, in parte por este versículo. So I want to clear a lot of that up by one phrase. Quiero aclarar mucho de esto por una frase. I want you to look at our text this morning. Quiero que veas nuestro texto de esta mañana. And I want you to look at the last phrase. Y quiero que veas la última frase. Perfect through suffering. Perfeccionarse, dice aquí, por aflicciones. So the question then comes, what does it mean that Christ was made perfect? We're going to deal with that in a few weeks, in a couple of weeks. But I want to start on the front end here and tell you what it does not mean. It does not mean he gained anything through his suffering. No quiere decir que él ganó nada por su sufrimiento. It does not mean that he was prepared to be a sufficient sacrifice. No quiere decir que él fue preparado para ser un sacrificio suficiente. He was born a sufficient sacrifice. Él fue nacido un sacrificio suficiente. I want you to look at his baptism or think on it. Quiero que tú pienses en su bautismo. When God spoke from heaven, cuando Dios habló de los cielos, and he said, this is my son whom I'm well pleased. Y dije, ese es mi hijo quien me tengo placer. before miracles or before suffering. Antes de milagros, antes de sufrimiento. It's because it's Christ. Es porque es Cristo. He is sufficient in and of himself. Él es suficiente en sí mismo. He is a sufficient sacrifice. Él es un sacrificio suficiente. He did not gain anything. él no ganó nada. Nothing was added to Christ that made him more acceptable to God. Nada fue añadido a Cristo que lo hizo más aceptable a Dios. We're hearing this on Sunday evenings right now. Estamos escuchando esto domingos en la tarde ahorita. He was with God in the beginning. Él era con Dios en el principio. He is God. Él es Dios. Colossians 1.20. The fullness of deity of God was pleased to dwell in him. La plentitud de la dieta de Dios habitó en él. That's who was born. So, the only way that this would mean that he gained perfection, if he was not born God. However, I do want you to see the importance of what's written here. Quiero que veas la importancia de lo que es escrito aqui. This is a very important verse for the church then. Esto es un versiculo muy importante para la iglesia ahi. And this is a very important verse for us now. Es un versiculo muy importante por nosotros ahora. Suffering. Sufrimiento. It's a concept today that's seen as evil. It's a concept that's seen as evil. If you suffer, it's because you lack of faith. If you suffer, it's because you lack of faith. Suffering is somehow wrong. Suffering is a form of evil. That if I suffer, it's because I've done something wrong. If I suffer, it's because I've done something wrong. Today in church society, today in the society of churches, You want to grow your church? You want to have to build a new building? All you have to do is come up with a doctrine that promises people not to suffer. And it'll fill up. If you don't believe me, just look down the road. We have bought into an idea that suffering is contrary to the will of God. I want to read you what we read in our catechism this morning. What are God's works of providence? God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions. ¿Qué son las obras de la providencia de Dios? Las obras de providencia de Dios son aquellos con los que, de manera santa, sabia, poderosa, preserva y gobierna todas sus criaturas y todas las acciones de estas. Everything that happens, John Flavel said, todo lo que pasa, dijo Flavel, is the providence of God, is the providence de Dios. So everything you go through in life is based on the wisdom and knowledge of God. Todo lo que tú pasas en la vida está basado en la conocimiento y sabiduría de Dios, including suffering, incluyendo el sufrimiento. To suffer is not evil. A sufrir no es mala. It does not mean that you're more sinful than you were before. No quiere decir que eres más pecaminoso que era antes. Suffering in any context, sufrimiento en cualquier contexto, is the providence of God, is the providence of God to bring about his purpose. Atraer su proposito. It is the way, as the confession says, or the catechism says, es la forma, como dice el catecismo, that he governs and preserves all of his creatures and their actions. Que el gobierne y preserve todas sus criaturas y sus acciones. I want to make a few clarifications before we really get into this. Quiero hacer unas clarificaciones antes que metemos en esto tan profundo. Now, if you left before this point in the sermon, si saliste antes de este punto de sermón, you might could accuse me of ill will. Tal vez me puedes acusar de mala voluntad. But listen to my clarifications. Escuchas mis clarificaciones. No one wants to suffer. Nadia quiere sufrir. We do not wake up in the morning, no despertamos en la mañana and say, man, I hope I suffer terribly today. Y decimos, ah, yo quiero que sufro terrible hoy. That is not biblical, no es biblico, and it's actually contrary to the scriptures. De hecho, es contrario a los escrituras. There are some who discipline their self physically to gain holiness. That's wrong. That's a false practice. I do not want you to leave this message thinking that I like suffering. I do not. I have suffered before. I suffer at times. I do not like it. A mí no me gusta. And I do not like it like green eggs and ham. Y no es que no me gusta como los huevos verdes y jamón, como el libro de niños. I've tried it and I don't like it. Lo he probado y no me gusta. I don't like suffering. And I don't want anyone else to suffer. I don't wish that anybody would go through a hard time. Second. When I'm speaking of suffering today, I'm talking about suffering for righteousness sake. Not for stupidity. If you go and ride really fast on a motorcycle, si tu vayas y manejas muy rapido en un moto, and you fall down and you're hurt, y estas caido y te lastimas, I feel bad for you. Lo siento. That's not the suffering we're talking about. No es el sufrimiento de que hablamos. You're suffering because you made a decision. Estas sufriendo porque hiciste una decisión. And I'm also not referring to self-inflicted suffering cloaked in righteousness. Tampoco estoy hablando de autoinfligido sufrimiento cubierto en justicia. For example, por ejemplo. Well, I knew the law, so I was rude to the cop. I knew the law, so I was speaking badly to the police. He gave me a big ticket, and so I'm suffering for being right. I'm suffering to be right. Or if you go preach on the street, And you're offensive just to be offensive. Estás ofensivo solo por ser ofensivo. And someone punches you in the mouth. Alguien te pegó en la cara. You didn't have to be offensive in that way. No tuviste que ser ofensivo en esta forma. So the question I want to pose this morning, the pregunta que quiero poner esta mañana, why do we hate suffering so much? Why do we hate suffering so much? The people who this is written to, the gente que está escrito esta carta, they ran out to the regions. Ellos corrieron a las regiones because they were trying to escape persecution. Estaban tratando de escapar la persecución. They were suffering. Estaban sufriendo. And they wanted to escape the suffering. Y querían escapar el sufrimiento. They saw the suffering as not the will of God. Ellos vieron el sufrimiento no como la voluntad de Dios. And so a letter is written to them To console them. Why do we hate suffering so much? We have a very interesting text this morning. We'll see it over the next couple of weeks. The writer of Hebrews here just made it so clear, el autor de Hebreos acaba de hacer tan claro, that Christ is reigning in this world. Que Cristo esta reinando en este mundo, that everything is subjected to him. Que todo esta sujeto a el, that in subjecting everything to him, en sujetando todo a el, he left nothing outside of his control. El no dejó nada afuera de su control. He is king. El is rey. He's not becoming king. No va a llegar a ser rey. He is king now. El es el rey ahora. We can say amen to this. Puedo decir amen a eso. However, There's a strange phrase that we looked at in verse 8. You do not see it. You do not perceive it. You don't understand it. You look out your window and you say, how? It's a very important phrase here. It's evident that the writer here has shown us that he's king. He has spoken to us through his son, who is the heir of all things, through whom he created the world, quien el crea el mundo, who sustains the world by the word of his power, quien sostiene el mundo por el poder de su palabra. He's the exact image of the invisible God. El es la imagen del Dios invisible, the radiance of his glory, la esplandor de su gloria. He's the exact imprint of his nature. El es el huello exacto de su naturaleza. And after making purification for sins, he sat down, the right hand of the majesty on high. Después de hacer purificación del pecado, él se sentó a mano derecha del majestad en las alturas. I want you to look at chapter 1 again. Quiero mirarmos capítulo 1 de nuevo. Starting in verse 8. Empezando en el versículo 8. But of the son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Versicle 8. Mas del hijo dice, tu trono, O Dios, por el siglo del siglo, centro de equidad, es el centro de tu reino. Has amado la justicia y aborrecido la maldad, por lo cual te ungió Dios, el Dios tuyo, con odio de alegría más que tus compañeros. Here we see Jesus called God. Aquí vemos Jesús llamado Dios, seated on the throne, sentado en el trono, anointed by God, ungido por Dios, and given the blessing of God y dado la bendición de Dios. Verse 10, verse 6 it is. And you, Lord, lay the foundations of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain. They will wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment that will be changed. But you are the same, and your years have no end. Empezaron en 10. Y tú, oh Señor, en el principio fundaste la tierra, y los cielos son la obra de tus manos. Ellos perseveran, mas tú permaneces. Y todos ellos envejeceron como una vestidura. Como un vestido los envolverás y serán mudados. Pero tú eres el mismo, y tus años no acaban. Here we see King Jesus. The exaltation of the author to Christ. The author in verse 8 of our chapter. This is the truth of Christ. This is the truth of Christ. Because of who he is, why he is, you might not understand it. Maybe you don't understand it, but this is true. But this is the truth. Remember that in verse 8, to see is to understand. Remember in verse 8, to see is to understand. He sat down at the majesty on high. Él se sentó en majestad en las alturas. So why does he tell us this? ¿Por qué nos dice esto? True. It's verdad. Why does he come and say, he upholds the universe by the word of his power, and he's seated at the right hand of God? Por que dice que el sostiene el mundo con palabras de su poder, esta sentado en la mano derecha de Dios? And then he comes back and says, everything is subjected to him. Y regresa y dice, todo es sujeto a el. What is his point? Cual es su punto? It's because of their current situation. It's por su situación actual. They are suffering. Están sufriendo. They're suffering for righteousness sake. Están sufriendo por la justicia. And they're beginning to have doubts. Están empezando a tener dudas. They're starting to say, man, this is hard. Están diciendo, esto es difícil. How are we going to make it? ¿Cómo vamos a llegar al fin? He reminds them of King Jesus. You see, these people had a wrong concept of the Messiah. You remember Jesus is talking about him going to the cross and dying. And in Matthew 16, he tells the disciples, it's necessary that I go and die. And Peter says, uh-uh. And he rebukes Jesus. There's no way I'm gonna let that happen. No hay forma que voy a dejar esto hacer. The Messiah is not dying. El Mesías no va a morir. Matthew 17, 22, and 23. Mateos 17, 22, 23. They were gathering in Galilee. Jesus said to them, the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him. He will be raised on the third day. And they were greatly distressed. Dice, While they were in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. But on the third day he will rise again. And they were greatly surprised. They were sad. Estaban tristes. Because he said he was going to die. Porque el dijo que iba a morir. If you look at Luke. Si ves a Lucas and they're on the road to Emmaus. Están en camino de Emmaus. They were sad. Estaban tristes. Why? The Messiah is now dead. El Mesías está muerto. That's not who the Messiah should be. That's not who the Messiah should be. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a kingdom. The Messiah is to come and overthrow Rome and establish a I can hear Isaiah yelling. Did you not read my book? I wrote to you. How can you be so duped? I told you he was going to suffer. These people had a false concept of suffering. Why? They loved this world. The reason they see suffering as evil is because they love what's offered here. No, I would rather Jesus go to Rome and conquer the emperor than to save me of my sins. Because we love this world. They could not grasp the idea of Messiah's suffering. No podían captuar la idea de Mesías sufriendo because suffering was evil. Porque el sufrimiento era malo. Matthew 27, 39, and 40. Mateo 27, 39, 40. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads saying, you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. And those who passed by swore at him, shaking their heads and saying, You who destroy the temple, in three days you will rebuild it. Save yourself. If you are the Son of God, descend from the cross. If you truly are the Messiah, get yourself down from there. If you are the Messiah, get down. The Messiah can't be suffering in front of the world. The Messiah can't suffer in front of everyone. Come down from there if you are the Messiah. Get down from there if you are the Messiah. This was their concept of the Messiah. This was their concept of the Messiah. We see the same thing here in our text. Vemos la misma cosa en nuestro texto. The writer is encouraging the brothers and sisters to suffer for righteousness sake. El autor está escribiendo a los hermanos y hermanas de animarnos a sufrir por la causa de justicia. And he's telling them, you might not see the reign of Christ now. Está diciendo, tal vez no lo veas el reino de Cristo ahora. But he's on his throne. And everything that happens is his providence. He upholds the world by the word of his power. Why do you worry? Everything is his providence. Remember, there's two kingdoms. Recuerda que hay dos reinos. There's the kingdom of this world. Hay un reino en este mundo, and we're pilgrims living here. Estamos peregrinos viviendo aquí. I've been thinking on Psalm 23 so much lately. He pensado mucho en Salmo 23, últimamente. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Dice, aunque anda por el valle de sombra de muertes, I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't belong there, I'm just going through it. I don't Did Christ not give us this same call to suffer? Cristo no nos dio esta misma llamada para sufrir? Take up your cross and follow me? Toma tu cruz y me siguen? What do you think is going to happen there? Que crees que va a pasar ahi? What do you think he meant from that? Que crees que el quiere decir esto? That we're going to Disneyland carrying the cross? Que vamos a ir a Disney cargando la cruz? That everything's going to be roses? Que todos van a ser rosas? I love a quote from Leonard Ravenhill. Me encanta una frase de Leonard Ravenhill. He said, él dijo, if you see a man leaving a town carrying a cross, si ves un hombre saliendo de un pueblo cargando una cruz, you can be assured of this. Puedes asegurarte de esto. He's not coming back. No va a regresar. Jesus says, take up your cross daily. If you were here on Wednesday, you heard about living sacrifices. Jesus says, you set your hands to the plow and don't look back. And if you do, you're not fit for the kingdom of heaven. What do you think is going to happen plowing the field? ¿Qué crees que va a pasar ahorrando tierra? The son of man has nowhere to lay his head. El hijo de hombre no tiene lugar de acostarse. And you think you're going to? ¿Y crees que tú vas a tener? Why do you think he said that? Why do you think he said, count the cost? Because it's gonna happen to you too. He said, if they hated me, they're gonna hate you. I know what you're thinking. Why are we talking about suffering and this here? I want you to look at the end of verse nine. He might taste death for everyone. Para que por la gracia de Dios gustase la muerte para todos. I want to remind you last week. Quiero recordar de la semana pasada. This tasting of death. Gustarse la muerte means to know. Quiere decir conocer. That he might know death. Para que él conoce la muerte. And then he's going to come in verse 10 and say it was fitting. Y después va a llegar en el versículo 10 y dice It was right. That he would suffer. I want you to know what the implication there is. Because you're going to suffer. So in chapter 2 verse 9, that he might taste death, the Messiah, the one who created the world and everything in it. In verse 10, he reminds us of that. That he suffered, the one who made everything. The one who cheated at the right hand of the majesty on high. He came and died. So he comes into conflict with this idea of the Messiah's death and the Jews. And then he explains in verse 10, it was fitting that he died. He explains in verse 10, it was fitting that he died. As we look next Sunday more deeper in what this means, it's fitting. As we look next Sunday more deeper in what this means, it's fitting. As we look next Sunday more deeper in what this means, it's fitting. I want you to see what the author is saying. He set the standard for us. We cannot copy his blood. But we are to walk and follow after him. And we are going to suffer, the text says. Paul writing to Timothy. There's two verses that I love. He's writing to him to invite him to come on mission with Paul. And his invitation is this. Come suffer with us. Vengas a sufrir con nosotros. You want to be involved in missions? Come suffer with us. Quieres estar invocado en misiones? Vengas a sufrir con nosotros. And then he says this, después dice esto. You can be assured of this, Timothy. Puedes estar seguro de esto, Timothy. Everyone who wants to live godly will suffer persecution. Todos quien quiera vivir piedosamente van a sufrir persecución. It's a promise. Es una promesa. So why would it be evil? ¿Por qué será malo? I want to answer two questions in closing here. Quiero terminar haciendo dos preguntas aquí. Number one. Número uno. Why has God chosen suffering for the church? ¿Por qué Dios escogió sufrimiento por la iglesia? Now, I need to clarify my question. Tengo que clarificar mi pregunta. My question assumes something. Mi pregunta hace una asumpción. That God has chosen suffering for the church. Que Dios ha escogido sufrimiento por la iglesia. I'm making that assumption. I can look back on 6,000 years of church history, and I can see everyone who desired to live godly suffered persecution. Let me give you one example. Jeremiah. called to be a prophet before he was even born. No one ever listened to him. And every time he began to preach, they persecuted him. They nailed him to the floor. They threw him in a cistern. They denied him food and clothing. He comes to one place and he says, I don't even want to speak anymore. He says, because every time I open my mouth, I'm saying wrath, wrath, wrath. And I'm tired of it. He said, but I can't stop. He said, because God's called me to this. And then there's a gleam of hope for Jeremiah. He's down in the cistern. And it's muddy and nasty. There's no bread in all the city. He's dying from hunger in the cistern. And a man named Ebed Melech goes and asks the king, we got to save Jeremiah. He goes and he lifts him out of the pit. Jeremiah's got a chance to escape. He continues to preach, let Babylon come and conquer. He continues to preach, let Babylon come and conquer. The commander of the army of Babylon, the commander of the army of Babylon, comes and tells Jeremiah, we've heard your prophecies, they're great. We've heard your prophecies, they're great. We like that Babylon's gonna win. We like that Babylon's gonna win. So the king has prepared a retirement for you. You're going to come and live in the king's presence your whole life. And you'll eat the best food. You'll have the best clothes. You can stay if you want, but we want to take you. You know what Jeremiah did? He stayed with the same men who beat him. You know why he did that? The providence of God. The providence of God. So when I look back, I'm making the assumption God has chosen suffering for the church. That is the providence of God. So our question is this. Why is that? Isaiah says something so profound. We are refined in the furnace of affliction. The school of sanctification is the school of affliction. On Wednesday nights, we're looking at James right now. In Miraculous, estamos mirando Santiago. He's writing to this same group of people. Esta escribiendo a este mismo grupo de personas. And he says that count it joy when you suffer. Cuentas con gozo cuando sufres. Not only count it as joy, but that suffering is good and perfect gifts of God who gives everything from above. Pero este sufrimiento son bueno y perfectos dones de Dios quien da todo. Puritans said this, to bear the cross is to wear the crown. Amen? God has called us to conform to the image of Christ. And it's suffering that conforms us to that image. So why suffering? Because God is purging our lives of sin. And he does that through suffering. The question today shouldn't be how can I escape suffering. The author of Hebrews is saying, it's fitting that the one that went in for you suffered and died. And listen to his end. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Dice en versículo 18, pues en cuanto el mismo apareció siendo tentado, es poderoso para socorrer a los que son tentados. Do you see what he's saying? You look at the world and you don't see his reign. He's reigning but you don't see it. But you see him. Pero ves a el, who is he? Quien es he? Quien es el? He's the one who suffered and died for us. El es quien sufrió y murió por nosotros and put the standard that we're to suffer as well. Y puso el standard que nosotros sufrimos también. And so the question shouldn't be how can we escape suffering. La pregunta no puede ser como escapamos de sufrimiento. The question to the church today is this. La pregunta de la iglesia hoy es esto. How can I suffer rightly? ¿Cómo puedo sufrir correctamente? Not, how can I remove the burden of suffering? No, ¿Cómo puedo quitar el carga de sufrimiento? How can I suffer to the glory of God? ¿Cómo puedo sufrir a la gloria de Dios? The answer is so clear in our text. La respuesta es tan clara en nuestro texto. Stop loving this world. Dejas de amar este mundo. The reason that our minds are so cloudy. Because we love the things of this world. When we realize that we are pilgrims, When we realize that we are pilgrims, that this world isn't my home. I'm passing through. That Christ is king. And he's my king. And he's seated on the throne. And one day he's coming back for me. When that reigns in our life. Suffering doesn't look so bad. I know what you're thinking. Brother, how can you say that? Don't you know it hurts? Paul says, I rejoice in my sufferings. Why? Why is Paul so glad that he's suffering? If you're reading the Bible reading plan, they went and rejoiced because they were beaten. Why? Because they learn of Christ. Our prayer should be God if it is suffering that is the means to show me Christ. Bring it! I love Christ so much that I want to know of him more. And so I want to suffer. In the providence of God. There's a quote from John Flavel I want to share with you this morning. Una cita de John Flavel que quiero darles esta mañana. If thou consider thyself a stranger in this world, traveling for heaven, thou hast then as much reason to be delighted with earthly things as a weary horse has to be placed with a heavy burden. Si te consideras un forestero en este mundo, viajando al cielo, entonces tienes tantas razones para estar encantado con las cosas terrenales como un caballo cansado que tiene que estar complacido con una carga pesada. So think about this, piensalo. Think about a horse that is just wore out from carrying stuff. Piensas en una caballo que es tan cansado de cargar cosas. John Flavel says, you have the same motive to be happy, tienes el mismo motivo de ser feliz, of things in this world, de cosas en este mundo, than if we took a huge burden and put it on the wearied horse. Y ponerlo en la caballo cansado. What do you think that horse is going to do? You put a burden on him when he's tired. ¿Qué crees que va a hacer si pones una carga sobre este caballo cuando está cansado? He might just lay down. He's going to be sad. John Flavel says that's the same thing that you should do when you see things in this world. We don't have a reason for them. Why? We are going to Christ. We must regard Christ as the King of our hearts. So hear the author to prepare these people to walk in holiness. Tells them that Christ died, the King of the world. And it was right. So that he could be an example to you. That ought to give us great hope. I want to show you how I know we love the things of this world. We see the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And we hear of his suffering. And we want to say, because he suffered, I don't have to. And in a sense, that's true. En un sentido, es verdad. Because He suffered, I will not suffer the eternal judgment. Porque Él sufrió, yo no voy a sufrir el castigo eterno. But Christ told us. Pero Cristo nos dice. You are going to suffer many things. Vas a sufrir muchas cosas. For my name's sake. Por causa de mi nombre. If we see Christ as King, we should see His example. And that's what the author is doing here. The one who founded your salvation suffered. Don't think you won't. And he's gonna walk us through these texts. And he's gonna show us. How the earthly things can't be in sight. That you must set your gaze to heaven. And that's why he closes it out in chapter 12. You have not come to what may be touched, but to the heavenly Jerusalem. No has llegado a lo que puede ser tocado, pero a Jerusalén, Jerusalén de los cielos, to the assembly of the brothers, al asembleo de los hermanos, so that we would suffer rightly, para que sufrimos correctamente, we would rejoice in suffering, regocijamos el sufrimiento, and we'd keep our eyes fixed on Christ, y que mantenemos nuestras miradas puestas en Cristo. That is the hope of the church. Esa es la esperanza de la iglesia. So our text, nuestro texto, there's this word for, esta palabra para, porque, connects this idea. Hace conexión con esta idea. The one who died to redeem us. El quien murió por redimirnos. Perfected by suffering. Perfeccionarse por sufrimiento. Somehow he showed himself in suffering. Church, you will show yourself in suffering. He reminds him a couple of verses later. that He delivered us from the fear of death. Que el nos libró de la miedo de la muerte, temor de la muerte. If your life is hid with Christ, why do you worry? Si tu vida está escondida con Cristo, ¿por qué tienes miedo? There's nothing in this world that can affect us. No hay nada en ese mundo que pueda afectarnos. Some received their husbands sawn in two and stoned. They were thrown to the beast. Algunos recibieron sus maridos cortados a la mitad, apedrados, tirados a los bestias. And these were some whom the world was not worthy. Estos eran unos que el mundo no era digno de ellos. So just think about this. Solo pienses en esto. They got to a place in faith. Ellos llegaron a un lugar en fe, and the hope of the return of Christ, y la esperanza de regreso de Cristo, that they lived in such a way, que vivieron en una forma, the spirit working in them, el espíritu trabajando en ellos, that God said, I'm bringing these brothers home. Que Dios dijo, yo voy a traer a ellos a casa. So they suffered. Entonces sufrieron. and they received the crown of righteousness. It's the one who endures to the end who will be saved. That implies suffering. Church, let us suffer together for the glory of God. If you hear this morning, you don't know Christ. He suffered and died. To bring about redemption. And I can't tell you everything will be easy. I just preached a whole sermon saying how it's going to be very, very difficult. but you can have a hope, a sure and steady anchor. Puedes tener una esperanza, un ancla de verdad in Christ, en Cristo. Let's pray, oramos. Cristo, gracias por poner ejemplo, gracias por venir a sufrir por nosotros, gracias por dar tu vida en rescate de muchos, atraer muchos hijos de la gloria. Dios, yo pido que en este momento haces fuerte tu iglesia para que nosotros podamos pasar las pruebas, podamos ver el sufrimiento que está prometido a nosotros como un don, como un regalo a un mayor fin. Help us, God, to put all of our trust completely in You. In the name of Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.