We're moving along in our exposition through the book of Hebrews. We come today to chapter 12. In verses 3 and 4. Which is very much connected with our text for last week in verses 1 and 2. And you recall that from that message and that passage of Scripture.
We learned that our primary duty as Christians is to run the race that is set before us. That is, to finish well the course of life that God appoints for each of us. And to finish that course faithfully, obediently. trustingly, repentantly, and perseveringly. And so we run that race.
with determination and with purpose and with perseverance. looking, as we're told in verse 2, to Jesus. The author And finisher. of our faith. We look to him for enablement.
We look to him for guidance. But the author of Hebrews goes on to remind us that Jesus suffered greatly. In fact, he mentions that in verse 2. for the joy. that was set before him endured the cross.
despising the shame. That's part of it. It goes on to say, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. That's the conclusion of it. But there was a great period of shameful suffering, painful suffering.
that our Savior went through. to obey the Father's will. and to accomplish God's purpose for his life. And so Jesus, the point is, suffered greatly in order to fulfill the Father's will and.
So must we. And that's the part that doesn't get much attention in Christianity in America today If my observations are correct. The suffering of God's people The necessary suffering, the God-honoring suffering, the God-appointed suffering. is generally minimized, if not entirely denied, by some. As if that's not God's will for us.
If we'd trust God, if we'd believe His Word, if we'd have faith, we could avoid all these things. Whoever came up with that Terrible, erroneous gospel. is not reading the same Bible that I am. And he's not reading the texts that we have set before us today. We must understand this period of suffering in this world.
if we're going to be able to run the race well. Because if we don't, we're likely to drop out. We're likely to become weary in well-doing. and to not reap because we faint. And so we come today to the sufferings of faith.
The title of my sermon last Sunday was The Race of Faith. And it's followed today by this one. the sufferings of faith And we shall look for the following four items in chap in verses three and four. First, a requirement. Second, a reminder.
Third, a reason. And fourth, a reality. First, a requirement. Verse three. Four.
Consider Hill.
Now it goes on to say some other things, which we'll examine in a moment, but before we do, We pause right at that point. Four. Consider Here matt. That is certainly a recommendation. But it's more than a recommendation.
It is a command. It is a requirement. God's people must consider him. And as we are endeavoring to do that, to obey that command. And to consider him, what are we considering about him?
Well, surely. His love, His grace. His power. We think of all of those things as we consider Jesus. and what he did and what he means to us.
And so a general consideration of him in these areas that we are most inclined to think about. is certainly profitable. And particularly his sacrificial death for us upon the cross. That would be drawn specifically from verse 2. who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.
despising the shame. And so if we are to consider him, we are to consider him. in this element of his cross. his sufferings upon the cross. what he suffered there.
But And this is the point of our text, really. We're not only to limit ourselves to considering what he suffered upon the cross, and that I think. is generally emphasized by Christians today. but we are to consider carefully what he suffered during his life. and make proper application of that to us in our lives.
what he suffered. From the beginning of his life, and what he suffered, particularly from the beginning of his public ministry. And as the Bible is clear to tell us, how he endured great suffering. without complaint. without murmuring.
As a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth in this regard. That is to complain about the sufferings that he went through. And that right there is a first rebuke, I suppose, from this text to us. How prone we are to complain about our sufferings, even our slight ones. Yeah.
And how Jesus resisted complaining. about his sufferings, such great ones. And as we think about this, as we consider him, And think about the greatness of his sufferings compared to our own. Those sufferings that to us many times seem so large, so great, so insurmountable, so terrible, suddenly shrink into. What shall we say?
A molehill. We are inclined to make mountains out of molehills when it comes to our suffering. And we don't realize that very clearly until we compare it with our Savior. Consider him. Consider his sufferings.
Compare his. to our own. And so, what are we to do? We are to consider him. Why are we to consider him?
Because of the demands of the Christian race. This race is Arduous. This race is strenuous. This race takes determination. This race takes perseverance.
Remember that very word race in the Greek? is a w a word from which we grow our draw our word, our English word, agony. This is not supposed to be a wonderful waltzing through a trouble-free life. It is designed to be a strenuous, agonizing... exertion against sin.
and the sufferings of this world. It's a demanding race. And it must be an enduring race if we are going to finish well. And so, because of the demands of the Christian race, we must consider him. Because of the assaults upon our faith.
We need to consider him. The verse before us mentioned The sins. and the weights. which so easily beset us. How do we deal with those?
By considering him. Satanic deceptions that the Bible warns us about. Our adversary, the devil, is a clever, clever deceiver. He is the consummate liar. He is able to twist truth and to offer error as deception and pretend that it's truth.
And he's so clever at that. that many people are taken in, yes. at times even the elect of God. And so in order to deal with this aspect of our race. We must consider Christ.
We must consider our own Adamic weakness. And this is the greatest battle of all. Our greatest battle is not against sin against the world and the devil. Our greatest battle is against the sin that is within. Though all of these things are areas of battle for us, and all of them require that we carefully consider him.
Why do we consider him? because as the previous verses make clear He is our supreme example. Others are helpful examples. The heroes of faith in Hebrews chapter 11 are wonderful examples. They will help us.
if we learn from their lives. Christian history is filled With Show Stories of saints who endured incredible hardships faithfully without compromise. and honor their Lord in their lives. And those are wonderful examples for us. But the perfect example, the only one that has no flaws, no failures, no weaknesses.
No. Nothing that we can question rightfully, legitimately, It's Christ himself. He is the supreme example. the perfect one, and so we need to consider him. But now maybe more to the point of our text.
Is how are we to consider him? What exactly? are we called upon to consider about him? And let me Pause for a moment. Yeah.
Excuse me. We're to consider him. What are we to consider about him?
Well, we're con we're to consider What we know about him. And what do we know about him and how do we know what we know about him? And this gets down to a very important area of truth. What we know about Jesus It's what the Bible reveals about Jesus. We do not Consider him.
according to our imaginations and our ideas about him. We do not consider him according to Extra visions and dreams and extra biblical revelations that some people claim to have today. We don't consider him by our own thoughts. Our own Portrait of Jesus and what we think he's like and what he ought to be. We consider him in the way that he is presented to us in Scripture That's the only accurate information we have about Jesus.
In other words, Some of you are old enough to remember WWJD, what would Jesus do? That was rather popular several decades ago now. People would wear bracelets with WWJD on them. And the idea was Whenever you think about a problem or considering some issue in which you need to make a decision, Yeah. Think about what would Jesus do in this situation.
and make your decision accordingly. Excuse me. I don't doubt that there is some truth in that and some. help in that but It's also prone to a great deal of error. And why is that?
Because it opens the door for us to imagine things about Jesus that may or may not be true. We think Jesus might do this and What that turns out to be in many cases. Yeah. He does in our minds what we think he ought to do. And so we end up, as it were, considering ourselves instead of him.
Thank you so much. The real question is not what would Jesus do, the real question is what. What did Jesus do? And how do we know what Jesus did? We read about it primarily in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
That's what we know. About what Jesus did in his earthly life upon the Upon upon the earth. Beyond that, speculation not only won't help us, it will actually serve to deceive us. And so, how do we consider him? We consider him in scripture, we consider him in the biblical narrative.
We consider him According to divine revelation. And so that is the requirement: that we must consider him and consider him according to the truth of God's revelation. But that brings me secondly to a reminder. And here's what we are reminded of. Consider him, and now we continue reading, who endured Such hostility from sinners against himself.
What are we to remember about him primarily. In this text, we are to remember his earthly sufferings. Christ suffered greatly. Consider him. who endured such humility from sinners against himself.
We certainly will, in that, consider the agonies of the cross. They are the greatest sufferings. But we do not omit from that. In fact, we are to deliberately include in that the sufferings he had during his life. All the tauntings, all the abuse, all the dishonor, All the shame that was heaped upon him by those who did not like him.
They did not like what he said. They did not like what he did. They did not like who he was. He was He was accused of being an illegitimate Children. illegitimately born.
What? A shameful dishonor. He was accused at least on one occasion of being a glutton. Nothing could be further from the truth. He was accused on that same occasion of being a drunkard.
Nothing could be further from the truth. He was often accused of being an imposter, claiming to be the Christ. He was not. He was an imposter. He was accused on one occasion or more of being demon-possessed.
And performing the miracles that he did, not in the power of God, but in the power of Satan. There were plots against his life. There were assassination attempts against his life. And on and on and on it goes as we consider all the things that he endured during his life. Even before he came to the time of the cross and all of the abuse, physical, and otherwise that he endured during that time.
And the writer of Hebrews says, Now that's what I want you to consider and to consider very thoughtfully and very carefully. You need to think about this. We need to remember that Jesus suffered greatly and. That Jesus told us That we are going to suffer too, that we are designed to. And there are so many passages, I'll just read.
Three or four. that are a sampling. And again, how do people who claim to believe the Bible, preach the Bible, teach the Bible. guide people by the Bible. Miss text like this.
Matthew 10, 24 and 25. A disciple is not above his teacher. nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Be also Bub.
Satan or evil. How much more? Will they call those the Ruffi's household? This text in implies That Christians can, in some areas, suffer even more than Jesus did, at least in some of his sufferings. What were they saying about him?
Well, they were saying, far from being good, far from being wholesome, far from being righteous, far from being beneficial, he was evil. He was a Beelzebub. What he said, what he endeavored to do was a detriment to society. It was dangerous to society, rather. Than recognizing that this was the greatest good.
that could be bestowed upon society.
Now, if they did that to him, Why should we be surprised? If they do that to us, Jesus said, expect that. In other words, When we hurt hear people Turn truth upside down on its head and say, You Christians are the ones who are causing problems in society. You Christians are the ones who are dangerous to society today. What are we hearing?
We're hearing echoes of exactly what Jesus said here and told us to expect. Should we be surprised at this? Not if we read the Bible. Here's what is recorded in Matthew chapter 16, verses 24 and 25. Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone desires to come after me, Let him deny himself.
And take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake We'll find it. That doesn't sound like a Comfortable life of ease, does it? It sounds like A commitment.
to suffering Yes, even to dying for Christ's sake. or this in John fifteen. Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, Did they? Yeah.
They will also persecute you. If they kept my word, did they? Not very many did. Not to any great extent. If they did not keep my word, They will not keep yours also.
Are we surprised that Most people in this world don't want to listen to a true representation of the Bible. of the gospel. Are we surprised that those who are What should I say? More interested in gaining a big following and being popular will distort truth in order to make it. acceptable to people who otherwise Would reject truth?
Are we surprised that when we preach the Unadulterated word of God, that there aren't great hosts of people that say, Yes, yes, thank you, give me more of that. They didn't do that in Christ's Christ's time for him. He said, don't expect them to do that. for you either. And one more from Christ in John 17:14, praying to the Father.
He said to the Father, I have given them your word. and the world has hated them. Because they, the disciples, are not of the world. just as I am not of the world. If we are disciples of Christ, And we represent His Word.
We're not going to be popular in this world.
So why? Are so many Christians trying to overcome this truth, to reverse this truth. Two. become popular. acceptable to the world.
That's what we got to do. We're supposed to win the world.
Well, yes, we win the world by proclaiming the truth of the gospel to them, but unless the Holy Spirit convicts people of their sin, shows them their error, Makes them hate their sin and love the truth and repent and surrender to the truth, unless the Holy Spirit does that within them, the more truth we give them, the more they're going to hate us. Do we welcome that?
Well, no, nobody likes that. Do we accept that as part of the price? The cost? Of salvation, the cost of being a child of God, the cost. Having eternal life?
Yes, we do accept that. because this is the truth. And not only did Jesus tell us this, but the apostles told us the same. What did the Apostle Paul say in Philippians 1.29? For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him.
Amen. Glory. Hallelujah. but also to suffer for his sake. Not so much amen.
Glory, hallelujah. But that's just as much as part of it. as the other. Or take the Apostle Peter, who said this in 1 Peter 2. 21, 22, and 23.
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us. leaving us an example that you should follow his steps. Who, Christ, committed no sin? Nor was deceit found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return.
When he suffered, he He did not threaten. but committed himself to him who judges righteously. This um Emphasis of several decades ago that I referred to earlier. What would Jesus do is really just a and updating of something that took place around the turn of the 20th century. in a book entitled In His Steps.
Any of you ever read that book? It's one of one of the most famous books.
Okay, a good good number of hands. And the idea is that we should walk in his steps, and again, whenever we. in the words of Peter here, we should walk in Christ's steps. And that, whenever we're trying to consider which way to go, think about now what would Jesus do at this point and walk in his steps, follow in his steps. which again is is true to a to a point as far as it goes.
But in the context, This idea of following his example and walking in his steps is following his example of suffering without complaint and walking willingly in the steps of suffering and even death. That's the in his steps. that Peter's talking about.
Somehow we miss that part and we we take Part of the truth. And we sanitize it as it were to make it more lovely, more more um acceptable, more popular, more pleasing. And in the process we leave out. The foundation of the truth, and in some cases, the most important part of the truth. Not only did the apostles teach us these things, but they exemplified it as well.
As we read in Acts 5, 40, So they departed from the presence of the council, where they'd been beaten.
Okay. They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing. that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Would that be my reaction? Would that be yours if I was...
hauled into court and beaten. As a punishment. For whatever? And daily in the temple and in every house they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus. as the Christ.
Is there any noticeable difference between The sturdy Christianity that we're reading about in the first century in the Bible, and the prevailing Christianity that we I'll rub shoulders with day by day in 21st century America. Do they really look alike? In many respects, they do not.
So I move from. What was my second consideration? A reminder. Reminder that Jesus endured such hostility from sinners against himself, To number three, a reason. Why we should consider him in this regard.
That's again verse 3: lest you become weary and discouraged in your soul. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. What is the reason why we should consider his sufferings?
Well, number one, because we need to remember this reality, namely, that Jesus suffered because he was righteous. And his righteousness and truth angered sinners. And Jesus suffered because of his proclamation of truth. And therefore To the extent that we are righteous and to the extent that we represent truth, we are going to be reviled and will suffer like he did. Why do we consider this reason?
Because we are identified with Him if we are Christians. We are his people. We are robed in his righteousness. And we are Living. A righteous life to a lesser degree from him.
But to a real degree, of difference between ourselves and the average unconverted person in this world. And therefore, we can expect to suffer More as we become more like Christ. The truth is not as we get closer to Christ and And gain more faith, our faith grows. that our faith will enable us to overcome this kind of suffering in the world. The actual truth is The more we become like Christ, the more we become like the Christ.
the more suffering we are probably going to endure. Because Look at what they did to him. He did nothing wrong. He said nothing wrong. He truly offended and wronged no one, and yet he was reviled and pursued.
persecuted. and put to death in a shameful way greater than virtually anyone else. And so we need. We need To understand this. We need to understand that Christians suffering far from being an indication of something wrong is actually an indication that something is right.
The Christian suffering is noble. It's not a sign of divine judgment. But it is a badge of honor. If it was a sign of judgment, then Jesus was being judged. For his own sins, but he had none.
It's a sign of God's judgment upon an unbelieving, sinful world. And it's a badge of honor to those who by their Difference Anger and hostility From the world. And furthermore, we need to keep in mind that our suffering is temporary, as was his. Back to verse 2. Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and.
Now is set down. At the right hand of God. In heaven. He's ruling in heaven. That is the Final chapter.
That's the end of the race. That's the conclusion of a race well run. In the case of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the same is true of his people. As we run our race faithfully and well, we can know that we will have rewards that will so far.
outweigh any suffering that we have had. That in that day we'll see our suffering as being next to nothing. compared to the joy compared to the reward. compared to eternity. compared to sinlessness.
compared to perfect light and truth in our lives. And so we should keep considering him because. consideration of his suffering, strengthens our ability to suffer. And so that brings me number four to a reality. What have we had so far?
We have had a requirement Consider him. We have had, if I don't lose all my notes here. We have had A reminder. He considered hostility from sinners against himself We have a reason why we should consider him No. Lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
And we have this reality. You, says the writer of Hebrews, writing to Hebrew Christians. You have not resisted yet, have not yet resisted to bloodshed. Striving against sin, what does that mean? You haven't yet laid down your life.
That's what he's talking about, bloodshed. You haven't yet laid down your life for Christ. This is a reality. What is this telling us? Our suffering, no matter how great it may be, Is not as great as it could be, legitimately could be.
It's certainly not as great as his. He went all the way to the cross. It's not as great as some others, some in Hebrews 11, who died. Because of their righteous faith in Christ. Not as great in many respects as these Hebrews themselves that he's writing to.
I turn back a page to Hebrews 10. And look at verses 32 through 34. But recall the former days. He's talking about a. A previous period in the lives of these people that now seems to be.
largely passed. But recall the former days in which, After you were illuminated. The truth of the gospel changed your souls. After you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings. partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations.
and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated, For you had compassion on me and my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, Knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourself in heaven.
So these Hebrews had suffered pretty severe tribulations that Apparently are in the past for the moment. But the reminder of that and the possibility of their return is causing some of them to say maybe we should go back to the old covenant.
So we don't have to go through that again. And the book of Hebrews says, no, no, no, no, you've got to persevere. To the end, through whatever sufferings God sends to you, But they'd already suffered more than We have anybody here who suffered any significant loss of possessions? for the name of Christ. I'm sure there may be some occasions where that is true.
But it's pretty rare. We haven't suffered to that extent. Ridicule, shame. Loss of job, and that may get into the area of possessions. That kind of suffering, in our case, but nothing like to the extent that the Hebrews had.
And certainly nothing to the extent that many in Hebrews 11 had, and many down through history have, and certainly not to the extent that Jesus did. Our suffering is not as great. as it could be. because it's not yet to the point of death. If it were, they would They wouldn't be there to hear this epistle being read to them, would they?
Have it sent to them. They'd already be in heaven.
So our suffering is not as great as it could be. But I think this text indicates that we should be prepared to suffer even unto death. That's not a very... pleasant thought, but that is what we need to keep in mind. We need to be willing to suffer all the way to death if need be.
Like Christ did. Consider him. What if he'd said, okay, I've suffered enough, I'm going to. I'm gonna Pull the chain on this. No more.
No salvation. He had to go all the way. And he did, thank God. He went all the way to death.
So we need to be prepared to suffer death as Christ did, as other Christians have. Remembering, and this really sounds kind of strange, but it is something we need to. embrace and meditate on. If we are persecuted all the way to death. Then We've come to the end of whatever hostility, sinful people.
can direct against us. They've done their worst. There's no more they can do. And as bad as death may seem to us when we're only considering it on the human side. The moment we die, we're with the Lord in glory, and we're going to see it like Paul describes it.
To be absent from the body is better. Present with the Lord, to be with Christ is far better. In other words, When men do their worst to us by Putting us to death, all they're doing is opening the door of heaven. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Now, it's hard for us to. Embrace that, isn't it? But that's what this text is teaching us to do. Death is our entrance into glory and the end of all suffering. for believers.
So our suffering is not as great as it could be. We should be prepared to suffer unto death. But then this final thought. And this is in the text as well. Our suffering is the result of sin.
What's it?
Well, Sin is here personified as if it's the The the persecutor. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against. Samp. You'd think at that point it might be saying striving against sinners.
but striving against sin. And yes, in the first instance, we should think of the sin of sinners. The sinners who persecuted Christ, the sinners who persecuted many of God's faithful people down through the centuries. The sinners who will persecute us take today to the extent that they are able. Sin is here personified.
In our sufferings, are the result of sin. First, the sin of others, who hate righteousness, hate truth. But secondly, and maybe Something we need to keep in mind: all suffering is the result of original sin, back to Adam in the garden. And that's the condition that we are in in this world, and the Bible reveals that to us. The world is under a curse.
It's under condemnation. Waiting to be redeemed, waiting to be released, but that release hasn't come yet. And so all of the suffering, all of the injustice, all of the wars, all of the killings, All of the things that are wrong in this world, of which there are so many, All can be traced back to Adam in the garden. And if understood properly in the light of God's word, They're just an evidence that God's word is true. Sin's a terrible thing.
Sin brings death. What we need Is Freedom from sin. And how's that going to come? Not by crusading against this and crusading against that. We demand this, we demand that.
By embracing Jesus Christ and ultimately. It'll end when Jesus Christ returns. And until then... We need to have a biblical worldview. The suffering in this world, all of it.
Disease Injury. Pain of all kinds. Persecutions. All of it. It's because of sin.
And we are. striving Against Sin. More than striving against sinners. Sinners are just doing what sinners do. And we're not surprised at that.
But it's the sin. that we recognize as the culprit here. Sinful men who vent their sinful hatred against people who are now following Christ. But also we strive against inward remaining sin. this great enemy of our soul that is within us.
The traitor. That has not yet been removed. Even though we are redeemed, we still have this enemy within our souls. And we are striving against sin on every side. Remembering That Jesus won the victory over sin.
It's just a matter of enduring to the end, and we shall experience that great victory for ourselves.
So I conclude with several lessons. We see in this text the need to cultivate Robust Christianity. Not weak Christianity. Not effeminate Christianity, please. understand the the sense in which I'm using that.
But robust Christianity. There's too much sentimentalism in Christianity today. It is seen in so many of our evangelistic appeals, which so many times it simply appeals to. The flesh. Come to Jesus.
and you won't have these problems anymore. Come to Jesus and you'll be happy all the time. Come to Jesus, and all of these things will be no more. Really? Liar, liar, pants on fire?
Yeah, but that's what people want to hear. That'll make them come to Jesus. If they come that way, they probably aren't coming in repentant, saving faith. They're coming to get a better deal. It is a better deal after they die.
It's not a better deal. in this world. Too much sentimentalism in our evangelistic appeals. Too much sentimentalism in our ministry styles. Too much of sentimentalism in our Christian music.
Say, get off of that. Yeah, I will in a minute, but um indulge me. And I'll illustrate it not by. Um Some of the Obvious problems in sentimentalism and contemporary Christian music, though there's plenty of that. But I'll even go back to some what we might call traditional Christian music.
that in some cases is just as bad or worse. Do you know what is one of the most and I'm going to really Probably offends some of you, but I hope it'll be good for you in the long run. You know what is one of the most often requested hymns to be sung at funerals. In the garden. Beautiful.
I l I like it. But wait a minute, what does it say? You ever thought about the message of this? Popular, popular hymn. That May be one of your favorites, and probably if you come from a Christian, you know him was one of your parents' favorites.
And one of your grandfather's or grandparents' favorites. Listen to the words. I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear falling on my ear The Son of God discloses. I'm hearing Jesus speak to me with an audible voice. Is that what the Bible says?
Teachers? Does the Bible tell us? To expect that? Here's the second verse. He speaks.
And the sound of his voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing. And the melody that he gave to me Within my heart is ringing, and he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. Dear friend? That is as wrong as wrong can be doctrinally, theologically. It it stirs up wonderful um Emotions?
It stirs up wonderful Desires? And it Stirs up. Terrible Christianity. Because all we know about Jesus is not what he tells us when we walk in the garden. At the at the well the dew's still on the roses.
All we know about Jesus is what is revealed in the Bible. And if Jesus is Walking with me and talking with me in the Bible, it's the Holy Spirit, I mean, talking with me in the garden, it's the Holy Spirit bringing to my heart and mind the words of Scripture. That's how Jesus talks to me today. And this song As As as What should I say?
Well loved as it is. Is really very dangerous in what it teaches and causes people to think. is good and right. It's wrong.
Now, if you can see that example, I hope you can. Hope you didn't get so mad at me that you can't understand what I'm saying and and agree with it. If you see that in an old favorite, Just let that be a reminder. that you need to be evaluating new favorites in the same light. An awful lot of the music you hear on Christian radio stations, an awful lot of the music you hear in churches today, an awful lot of the music that is popular in our day is just as erroneous and misleading.
As in the garden. And If we're going to have a robust Christianity that is based upon truth, We're going to have to get out of our lives these things that push us in the opposite direction. We've got to Push against this sentimentalism. in Christianity and in our own lives. Consider the sturdy Christians who went before us.
Consider him. What else? The need to dig below the surface of Scripture. If we're going to consider him a right, We need to know what the Bible says about him. And that involves knowing The depth of the salvation which she procured upon the cross, not just the the surface truth, which is very true and Is Is enough for a child to believe it to salvation that Jesus died on the cross for sinners, and I'm a sinner, and if I trust Him, He will save me.
But To consider him the way we need to consider him, we're going to need to get way, way, way, way, way, way down below the surface of all of that. We're trying to We're trying to... elders and deacons this year to to uh wrestle through John Murray's book, Redemption. accomplished and applied.
Now that's getting us down deep. in the doctrine of salvation. Don't reject that. Don't Sniff at that. Don't Try to take the easy road that doesn't require any Study, any thinking, any wrestling in order to understand truth.
Consider Him. In all the aspects. of his vicarious death on the cross. As well as consider him in all of the aspects of his suffering during. his life.
And so I conclude with this thought, Jesus must become. The center of our lives if we're going to run this race successfully. We need to dig deep into the meaning of his death. We need to dig deep into the details of his life. We need to set him before us in our thinking.
We need to consider him. who endured such hostility from sinners against himself Lest you become weary. and discouraged. in your soul. Shall we pray?
Father, take this truth. and seal it to our hearts and lives. help us to become more robust in our Christianity. more determined in our faithfulness. more persevering.
and are running the race of life. more Christ-centered. in all that we do. As we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
