I want to echo the words of my brother and express my appreciation for the invitation to come and to be with you, especially, brother, for your preaching ministry. It enriches the soul. We thank God for you and for the work that he is doing through you in Africa. I want to talk to you today about sermons. This is not a homiletics class. talk about how to put together a sermon. But you know, the Bible contains many sermons. Most of the book of Deuteronomy is a sermon. You read the first few verses and it reminds us that these are the words of Moses, which he spoke to the people on the plains of Moab after defeating those two kings we've already met this week, Sihon and Og. Much of the prophetic literature is a record of the sermons, the words that they spoke to the people of Israel. The New Testament almost begins with a sermon. You think about the Sermon on the Mount. On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached to Jewish pilgrims, and we have at least a summary of his sermon, though Luke tells us that there were many more words with which he spoke to those who were present on that day. We can read these sermons and we can know what was said to the different audiences. But sometimes scripture only gives to us the briefest of summaries. One of these briefest summaries, I won't call it the shortest sermon in the Bible, but it is a summary of a preaching of a sermon, is found in Acts 14.23. Now that's right at the end of Paul's first missionary journey with Barnabas. They were commissioned by the church in Antioch, and they set off by boat and on foot, and they traveled hundreds of miles and planted churches in at least seven different cities. And then when they came to the end of that journey, they retraced their steps returning to these fledgling churches before they headed home to report to the church back in Antioch. And Luke tells us what Paul and Barnabas preached at each congregation when they returned on their visit. And this is all that he says. Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. All we have is this summary. Imagine these small churches having just been planted, maybe only months or perhaps a year or so old. Paul and Barnabas return to them and they say, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. There are many times when I've read those words and I've wished that I had the rest of the sermon to read. What are these tribulations, Paul, that you tell young Christians, young churches, that they must endure in order to enter the kingdom of God? Well, these young congregations faced great difficulties, probably even things they couldn't anticipate at the time. If Luke had recorded more than a summary We might know just what these tribulations were, but he didn't do that. All we have is the theme for the sermons delivered in the churches. And perhaps like you, like me, you've wondered what kind of difficulties were in the minds of these preachers. What trials did they know were facing the new believers? Well, we don't know, but we can make an educated guess as to what it was that they may have heard. Because all that we need to do is think through the context of the book of Acts itself and notice the trials and difficulties that the early Christians encountered. Because these give to us good possibilities of the things that Barnabas and Paul had in mind when they spoke to these newly planted churches. Think about this with me. Here's a rapid summary of the first 14 chapters of Acts. In chapter 1, we have Jesus ascending into heaven, but then the necessity of choosing a successor to Judas, a traitor in their midst, one that they knew well. Their hearts must have been broken at his apostasy and his suicide. In chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit comes upon them on the day of Pentecost, and they burst into the premises of the temple in Jerusalem, speaking in 15 different foreign languages the glories of God, people look at them and they accuse them of being drunk. Because as our brother said in the last hour, being drunk causes you to say and do things that you normally wouldn't do if you were sober. And that was the accusation. They took the words of God which were to be spoken in the holy language and spoke them in profane languages. Only drunks would do this. So there was an accusation against the church that at nine in the morning they had spent their time in drunkenness. In chapter 4, we find Peter and John being opposed by the religious authorities, being arrested and placed in prison. In chapter 5, we encounter that famous story of a husband and a wife, Ananias and Sapphira, who deceitfully come before the Lord and offer up a gift as if it were the fullness of what they had when it wasn't. And the ultimate church discipline was enacted on them by the Lord who caused them both to die. Already we've seen tribulations, but there's much more. In chapter six, there's a dispute over food. How will the widows be served? One group of widows is not receiving the distribution, at least perceived to be receiving the distribution that is equal to the other group of widows. And so a dispute arises in the church. In chapter 7, the end of chapter 6 and throughout chapter 7, Stephen, one of the deacons and one of the preachers in the early church, is arrested, placed on trial, and martyred in perhaps what is one of the worst ways to die. He's stoned to death. Imagine watching someone that you love being killed by stones being thrown at and heaped upon his body. In chapter 8, We read about a new and powerful enemy, a man named Saul. And Luke uses the language telling us that he was ravaging the church. He was capturing people and imprisoning them. In fact, many of them had to flee from Jerusalem and go forward. Likewise, in chapter 8, we have the account of a false profession of faith, a man named Simon. who thought that he could with money buy the power of the Holy Spirit and do the works that the apostles were doing. In chapter 9, chapter 9 begins with Saul, the great enemy of the church, to use Luke's language, breathing threats and murder against them. Even extending his reign of terror beyond Jerusalem, and it is only when he encounters Christ on the road to Damascus, that he suddenly is converted and becomes part of the church. But even then, the difficulties continue, because when Saul, who now becomes Paul, returns to the church in Jerusalem, the members of the church are unwilling to welcome him. And Barnabas has to bring him to the elders of the church, and the elders of the church have to speak to the people and say, this man has changed, this man is no longer our enemy, he's now our brother. Another trial that comes to the church in Jerusalem in chapter nine is the death of one of their beloved church members. Her name was Dorcas. Maybe you remember that circumstance. It deeply wounded many of the people. In fact, the account tells us that when the widows were gathered together, weeping, saddened because someone that they had loved so much had been lost. Of course, we know that she was raised again to life, but still there was that moment of tribulation when someone that they loved had been lost. In chapter 10, Peter has his encounter with the Spirit of God, three visions, as he's on the roof of Simon the Tanner's house. And the first two times that the vision comes to him, these unclean foods coming down from heaven in a sheet or a blanket of some kind, he says, Lord, you know that I've never eaten anything that is forbidden in the law. And three times the sheet has to come down. Peter is troubled by this. What is happening and what is going on, and the Lord uses it to tell him. that he can go to a Gentile's house. He's been struggling with the propriety of entering into the home of a Gentile. and so Peter goes in chapter 10 and he preaches to the household of Cornelius and he comes back to Jerusalem rejoicing but in chapter 11 this leads to more internal disputes in the church because the stringent Jewish Christians in the church of Jerusalem confront him because he has gone into Cornelius house and Peter has to explain what happened when he went and preached telling these Jewish Christians that the Holy Spirit had come down upon Cornelius and the Gentiles in the same way that he did on the day of Pentecost and it was only then that the dispute in the church was resolved. They gave thanks to God that Gentiles had found salvation. In chapter 12, James is killed by King Herod and Peter is imprisoned again And then in chapter 13, the first missionary journey begins. Now, you know, we read these things, and we can read them in a couple of minutes, and they seem very easy to us. Did you ever pause to think about what this missionary journey was about? They traveled by boat to the island of Cyprus, and then they traveled on foot across Cyprus. It's a hundred miles. from one end to the other, but they went on foot and they did this. Then they took another boat and they traveled up to what we now call Turkey, Asia Minor, and there they walked again on foot. The journey could have been as much as a thousand miles walking on foot. These men were dedicated to the cause of Christ. They In the midst of their journey, they were opposed by a false prophet named Elimas, who stirred up people against them. They saw the departure of one of their own company, John Mark. They face persecution by the Jews and the leading citizens in Pisidian Antioch. In chapter 14, while they're still on the outward-bound leg of their journey, Paul is stoned and thought to be left for dead. They were mistaken as pagan gods. They thought that Barnabas was Zeus and Hermes, or Paul was Hermes, by the idolatrous priests in Lystra. And there was another stoning in Lystra, so that the criminals thought again that Paul was dead. That's a lot of tribulation, isn't it? And then, Luke says, when they went back to the churches, their message was, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. That's a lot to deal with, isn't it? But that gives us some sense from their own experience, or what they had known, of what could happen to Christians. Everything from the loss of a loved one, to being stoned to death. Many things in between. Many difficulties. Many things that would trouble the soul. Those words, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God, are full of meaning, aren't they? Because the life of believers in this world is a life of trouble, both personal and congregational. My friends, we must say, this is the reality of the Christian life. Now let me get controversial or polemic for just a moment. There are those who don't like to hear this. They ignore the universal testimony of the Bible, and they teach that God's intention for people here and now is only blessing. You say the right words, you do the right things, and you will be abundantly rewarded. Let's call that what it is. It is a lie. A lie from the pit. There is no gospel of any kind in the prosperity preachers. And I refuse to call it the prosperity you-know-what, because there's no gospel in it at all. It's a lie and it leads people to hell. I fear that these deceivers have been so widespread that even we as American Christians, though we see through the falsehoods of the self-important charlatans who seek to make profit from religion, and that's what it's about. It's filling their purses. We have in one way or another not purged this damnable doctrine from our minds, and we must resist. That's what the Bible teaches us. We must resist it. Is God a good God, full of mercy and grace? Yes, as we've seen, His steadfast love endures forever. And He shows His eternal love to His people in the midst of the tribulations of this life. He calls us to trust Him, whatever our circumstances may be. In fact, our confession of faith uses wonderful word pictures to describe this to us. It says that we will face many storms and floods which arise and beat against us. To put it another way, the weather forecast for the Christian life is challenging. But we may know that we will be kept by the power of God unto salvation. Or as the apostles preached, Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. If we were all to take a few moments and talk about our lives, we could all say that we have endured challenges, and difficulties, and opposition. And none of these experiences have been pleasant. We don't remember them with happiness, nor do we look forward to the next occurrence, and I'm not saying that we should. But the life of the believer is a life of faith. So what I would like to do now is look at another sermon in the Bible, not a brief summary of a sermon as we have in Acts chapter 14, but rather an entire sermon that comes to us from the apostolic era, and that is the book of Hebrews. Please turn to the book of Hebrews with me. Now this book, this sermon, is addressed to a community of Christians who are enduring just such experiences. Now I'm very boldly calling it a sermon. That is the consensus of scholarship on the book of Hebrews. And there's a really strong basis for that. In chapter 13, verse 22, we read this. I appeal to you brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. Now that little phrase, word of exhortation, is very important, especially when you recognize the Jewish context of the book of Hebrews. Because if we were to go back to the first missionary journey, as recorded by Luke in Acts 13 verse 22, we would encounter the exact same phrase when Paul and Barnabas visit a synagogue. And they are recognized as preachers and they are invited to come and to give to the people in the synagogue a word of exhortation, the identical terms. This was a technical phrase that was used among Jewish synagogues and among Jewish Christians to speak about a sermon. That's why the book of Hebrews takes the form that it does. It doesn't have the typical introduction, the greeting, and all the rest. It starts out in the way that a sermon would begin. And so when you read through the book of Hebrews, you need to think about it as a sermon. It was intended to encourage perseverance in the face of dark and difficult circumstances. Now what I'd really like to do is to read the entire book to you. Let that stand as the sermon. You know, I teach a first-year course that we call theology of ministry. It's intended to be the first course that our men face in the pastoral theology curriculum. And one of the assignments that I give to them is to read aloud the book of Hebrews three times, about a week apart each time, and to record the length of time that it takes them to read it. And they come in between 38 minutes and 42 minutes. So I know that reading the book of Hebrews out loud would take about 40 minutes, more or less. That would take up all my time. it might be a better way to take up my time than me preaching, because it's the Word of God. But I'd like you to read it sometime, all the way through, and read it as if you're hearing the voice of an apostolic-era preacher. I have my opinions as to who it was, but I won't get into that right now. Maybe Paul, but anyways. Read it as a sermon. Think about how it's structured. I want my students to think about an apostolic sermon and to become like an apostolic preacher. If we have an example in the Word of God, let's use it and let's follow it. I'm not saying that every sermon has to follow the pattern of the book of Hebrews. But still, if that's what it is, it says something to us. Now, what is it? It's a sermon that is addressed to Hebrew Christians who had patiently suffered, but who were being tempted to give up. Was it to go back to Judaism? Was it to abandon their faith altogether? Well, this preacher wants to help them, and he tells them how to be helped. Now, the Book of Hebrews, or the Sermon of Hebrews, like all of the Bible, is ultimately a sermon about Jesus Christ. Think about the way that it's put together. It's really fascinating. The key person in the first two chapters of Hebrews is our Lord Jesus. And chapter one presents to us Jesus in his deity. It lays out for us the fact that he is true God, the express image of the Father in heaven. And chapter 2, based upon a citation from Psalm 8, is about his true humanity. It brings together his deity and his humanity in anticipation of the argument that is to be made, beginning in chapter 3, that he is a high priest who knows our needs and is able to meet all of our needs. God becomes man and he is, you know it's interesting, you read in chapter 4 and you read again in chapter 11 about him as the great high priest but actually literally translated it is he's the great great priest because he's the priest of all priests he's the greatest of priests and the writer to the Hebrews, the preacher to the Hebrews I should say that, the preacher to the Hebrews is saying to them, think of Jesus, consider Jesus, put Jesus before your mind. Because that's how you can succeed, be steadfast in suffering. Look to Him. So that's what I hope to do this morning. Now the book of Hebrews is structured not only in the beginning by presenting to us Christ, but it's structured as doctrine and then warning. Doctrine and then warning. That's the way that it's put together. There are famous warning passages scattered throughout. And the longest doctrinal section of this sermon begins in verse 9 of chapter 6, and it goes through verse 18 of chapter 10. That's where I want you to go right now. Now, in the same way that our brother wanted to read long sections of the book of Ephesians, I'd like, even though I can't read the entire book, I'm still tempted to read long sections, but I'm going to have to summarize them for you. So forgive me for that. I hope that you'll look at them later on. 6.9 through 10.18 is the longest doctrinal section, but it's summarized for us beginning in verse 19 of chapter 10. Therefore, brothers, sin... Now, you notice the therefore. Based upon this long doctrinal section, therefore, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh. And since we have a great priest, a great, great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near, the day approaching. Here is a summary. Let's look a little bit more closely at it. It seeks to speak directly to Christians based on everything that has been taught. The summary is verses 19 through 21. We may have confidence to come to God, The access to the throne of God in heaven is open to us, and we may come confidently, because we come by way of the blood of Jesus, better than any other sacrifice, better than anything that belonged to the system that was given to Moses. And we have a great, great priest. We have the greatest of priests. As a result of this, we may come to God. Then follows a warning passage. Because remember, he's preaching to people who are struggling because of their difficulties. Let's pick it up at verse 26. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the son of God, has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the spirit of grace. For we know him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing. Fall into the hands of the living God. Yahweh, I am that I am. Verse 32, but recall the former days, when after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, sometimes being partners with those so treated, for you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Had they been through some suffering? Yes, indeed, they'd been through some suffering. But they're wavering. They'd endured all this time. They'd faced all these difficulties. They had been able to live with them and live through them. And yet, they were tempted to go back. You had compassion on those in prison. You joyfully accept. Verse 35. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. For yet a little while, and the coming one will not come and will not delay. But my righteous one, the just, shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." And then I want you to read chapter 11. This is one place in the New Testament where the chapter divisions are unhelpful. Because chapter 11 is intended to support the doctrine that has just been presented, the application that has just been made at the end of chapter 11. The just shall live by faith. Faith is an essential characteristic of God's people. Everyone who has ever lived as a child of God has done so by faith. All justified people live by faith. Chapter 11 of Hebrews is not a hall of fame of faith that has misled God's people. You know what it is? It's an example for us, telling us that everyone who has ever lived in the circumstances that they face has been steadfast by faith. Faith has been the means by which they have overcome all of the opposition of life. Chapter 12, which we'll get to, calls them a great cloud of witnesses. That's another phrase that's been terribly misunderstood. It's not that they are seated on bleachers in heaven looking down upon us, cheering for us, that we might win the race. That's how this has often been preached. As if it were an athletic event, and there they are saying, go, go, go, go! You know, clapping their hands and doing all those things. That's not the case. By being witnesses, that means they testify to us, as a witness would at a trial. Their lives witness to us about the endurance of the life of faith in the midst of struggling and difficulty. And that's what chapter 11 is about. That everyone who has known justification has lived in this world by faith and endured whatever difficulties they come. There's no single pattern of difficulties. Some endure more, some endure less. Some endure these and some endure those. But whatever the case, whatever circumstance you face, you pass through them, you persevere by the faith that God has given to you. Verse 11, I'm sorry, verse 1 of chapter 11 defines faith for us. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen. Now, I don't want to trivialize this, but I have what I think is a really helpful illustration. And probably every year in December, you encounter this illustration. It's from the movie, The Santa Claus. The first one. Now, maybe you remember, early on in the movie, after Scott Calvin ends up being Santa Claus, and the sleigh and the reindeer take him to the North Pole, He's on a balcony outside of his bedroom. He's looking out upon the scene in the North Pole Village, and he turns around and he says, I see it, but I don't believe it. And the elf, the female elf, says, you don't understand. She says, seeing isn't believing. Believing is seeing. Every time I watch that, every year in December, I say, that's exactly right. That's what the Christian faith is about. Believing is seeing. We don't see right now. Although, what's curious is the language of looking that we see in this passage. But we believe, not because we have seen these things. If anybody's from Missouri, don't take offense. But the Christian faith does not show me. Right? It's, I will hear. And because God is real, and because God has revealed himself, I will believe. I will believe these things. This is an important point to recognize. Chapter 11 is all about the life of faith. Now, of course, there are some people, some of the great men and women of the Bible are here. Abraham, and Sarah, Isaac, and Joseph, and Jacob, and Moses. They're all here. But have you ever noticed that there are others who are present as well? Rahab the prostitute, Jephthah, Samson, both of whom, though they were true believers, had very weak faith. They struggled. Sometimes, in fact, we just heard some excellent teaching about Jephthah. And our brother who taught the lessons had to talk about how difficult it is to put Jephthah into Hebrews chapter 11, because much of his life seems to be unbelief. And yet here he is. a man of the weakest faith, and yet he persevered. Their stories, Jephthah and Samson, end in tragedy rather than triumph. And as we continue to read chapter 11, we learn of many unnamed men and women who faced great tribulations, and yet they persevered, even though they did not receive on earth the promised reward. Let's pick it up in verse 32. What more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms and forced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated. Of whom the world was not worthy. Wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised. since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. These are the cloud of witnesses of chapter 12 and verse 1. They testify to us. And this is how they witness. We read the Old Testament. We see that these men and these women, whether strong in the faith or weak in the faith, bear witness to us. They're not watching to see what we will do, Rather, their lives, as recorded in Scripture, speak to us that just shall live by faith. We believe because we believe, we see. The Hebrew Christians who are struggling must be reminded of this so that they might live like this. When troubles come, persevere by faith and look forward. Now, again, all that we've done is summarize. But let's pick it up in chapter 12. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking, there's the looking, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. The object of faith for everyone, the strong and the weak, they persevered by setting before them the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what they did. And that's what these verses are about. Jesus Christ. Notice the parallel in verses one and two. Set before and set before. We run the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus for the joy that was set before him. as the race is before us and we see the prize at the end. Life in the presence of God forever. That's the best thing about heaven. There's a gospel song that I've come to hate. What a great day in heaven, your first day in heaven when you stroll down the golden avenue, there'll be mansions left and right. And you know, it goes on and it talks about all the things that are great for you. And it's not true. Because what's true about heaven is being in the presence of the eternal God. And seeing the beatific vision and enjoying Him forever and forever. That's what's at the end of the race. Jesus looked and He saw that. He knew what the prize was. And this preacher calls us to do the same. the holy son of God, the creator and sustainer of the universe, the one who was and is and is to come, the author and the finisher of our faith is the one who personally gives us life, who sustains us, who brings us to heaven. And he did this through the greatest suffering, suffering that's far greater than anything that you and I will never know, because he endured the cross and he despised its shame. Theologians speak about the two states of Christ, the state of humiliation and the state of exaltation. When we read about His life in the Gospels, it is a life of humiliation. The Holy Son of God takes upon Himself human nature. Even the story of His birth in Bethlehem is a story of humiliation. because he's not born in the finest and cleanest place. His mother has to be sent out to where the animals are. And the first ones who come to worship him, you remember there were shepherds, you know that shepherds were, according to the law of Moses, unclean. It's astounding that the first visitors were shepherds who came and bowed down before him. And the first evangelists were the shepherds who went out and told others about the baby who was born. And the rest of his life was a life of being a human like us and facing all of the realities of our lives. We read the Gospels and we see him tired. We see him hungry. We see him thirsty. We see him rejected by his loved ones. He endured as a man. And then he went to the cross. And at the cross, the physical exertion that must be involved in dying the death of a crucifixion is horrible. The Romans were masters of torture because death by crucifixion was really torture. You know how you die when you're crucified? You die by asphyxiation or suffocation. It's not by the loss of blood. That's what we think. But the reason that they nailed his feet, they would make the knees bend just a little bit. So every time that he had to breathe, he would have to push himself up and feel the pain of pushing against the nails in his feet in order to take a breath and then he would drop down again. And this is what crucifixion did. You die of suffocation in the open air. Because ultimately you don't have the strength to push yourself up. Your body collapses on your lungs and you can't breathe. That must have been a horrible thing. The wounds, the crown of thorns, the endurance of the cross, but that wasn't the worst thing. The two criminals on his sides also endured those things. You know what was the worst thing? When the wrath of God from heaven came down upon him. And for your sins and my sins, he drank to the dregs. That was the worst part of the crucifixion. You and I will never know that. You never, if you trust in Christ, you never have to face the wrath of God. But he did. He did. He endured it. The writer, the preacher here speaks about shame. He endured the shame of the cross. What is shame? Shame is the response given to humiliating circumstances, and it may result from two sources, from ourselves and from others. We experience shame when circumstances humble us or our actions trouble us. A child grows up in poverty or he knows family trouble. Perhaps one of his parents or both of his parents are alcoholics and that gets out and his friends or so-called friends make fun of him. Maybe it's the remembrance of sinful actions. As our brother said in the last hour, you get drunk and the next day you wake up and you're ashamed of the things that you said and did because of your drunkenness. Others express shame as disdain or dismissal. Jesus' entire earthly life was a cause for heaps of shame. He's born in a stable. Go read John chapter 8 and notice the escalating conversation between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees who are saying to Him, You are illegitimate. Your mother, out of wedlock, had sexual relations with a man, and that's who you are. You're of the lowest class of society. That's the inference of their words. They're trying to heap shame upon him. He had no home. He had no funds. But as I said, the worst shame was the shame of the cross. Fatigue, being kept up all night and dragged from Pilate to Herod and back to Pilate, and then having to carry his own cross and stumbling from its weight. The curse of dying on a tree, the physical pain, and the shame of enduring the wrath of God against sin. His holy soul, pure and undefiled, faced the full measure of God's righteous judgment for our sake. He endured for us. But he endured because he knew what was on the other side. On the other side was resurrection. and life, life for his people. This did not make the endurance easy, but it made it possible. As a man, he knows what it is to face deep and profound suffering and to struggle with it. Remember him in the garden of Gethsemane? When he cries out to his Father in heaven, that man Jesus is struggling with what is before him, and yet he endures. It doesn't make endurance easy, but it makes it possible. And as verse two ends, this one who endured the shame is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Language throughout the Bible that is intended to say he's at the place of greatest honor in all of the moral universe. The one who was mocked by his enemies as he hung upon a cross. Come down from the cross if you are the son of God. Did you ever think about that? If he had come down from the cross, it would have proven that he wasn't the son of God. The fact that he stayed there was a demonstration of who he is. He was mocked by that, but now he's at the greatest place in all of the universe. Jesus looked forward. He's at the place of greatest authority. Looking to Jesus here, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, is not about seeing with our eyes. But it's seeing with the eyes of faith. Believing is seeing here, you see. It's taking the Word of God at face value. And believing what that Word says. And knowing, as He endured, so we may endure. Because He gives of us His Spirit. Now think about this whole book and the flow of thought and the trouble that faced the Hebrew Christians. The remedy for their trouble is the same as it was for all of the witnesses who are set before them in Hebrews 11. Receive and believe the promises of God. They looked forward. All of those in Hebrews 11 looked forward. The cross hadn't happened yet. We look back to the cross and to the empty tomb. and to the account that we have in the Bible of his ascension to the right hand of God. And we look forward to the reward that is set before us, eternal life with Christ. As he is a son who learned suffering, or learned through suffering, so also must we. Let me read a little bit more here. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. The Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, We had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best for them, but he disciplines us for our good that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Verse 11. reminds us that discipline is never pleasant, but the result of that discipline is great, because the result of that discipline is the reward of eternal life. It's the proof to us that we are the children of the Heavenly Father. Whatever struggles, tribulations, sufferings you endure, they are a proof to you that the God of heaven and earth loves you and is molding your character so that you become like the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about it like this. Suffering is of the essence of the Christian life. It doesn't surprise me at all that when Paul went back to these young churches and preached to them, all we have is the summary that says, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. When tribulation comes to you, Remember that now, at this moment in your life, this is God's will for you. And there is no believer who is exempt. The suffering may be the common difficulties of life on this earth, the death of a loved one, or serious illness, or financial hardship, or it may be the result of opposition to your faith. There are many Christians around the world today who are imprisoned, persecuted, and perhaps even being martyred for their faith. The enemies of the gospel are many and are strong in the strength of this world. By identifying with Christ, you have a target on your back. Don't be surprised in any of these circumstances. Purge the lies of the prosperity preachers from your mind and know this. The good God of heaven and earth uses tribulation to prune you. It helps us to mortify sin and to trust him in all of our circumstances. The writer here is telling us that suffering is divine chastening. It's a proof of our sonship. We have an earthly illustration of this that helps greatly. Fathers who love their children mold their character, and they do this in many ways. Discipline is a word that covers all that a father does. He instructs his children in the things of God and in the ways of the world. He allows them to do what is appropriate and prohibits them from doing things they are incapable of, even when they want to. He seeks to bring them to maturity. And when they disobey, He chastises them. They face punishments. These are not works of atonement, but rather penalties. But they reinforce the point. Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land. That is literally true. If you don't want punishment, do what your parents tell you to do. We must also say that perseverance, though, is not suffering with gritty tenacity. It's not gritting our teeth, standing up straight and saying, I will do this, whatever. Enduring suffering is difficult. That's why we call it suffering. No one likes to sit in the dentist's chair. Forgive me if we have any dentists or dental assistants in the room. No one likes to sit in the dentist's chair, but we all need to go there sometimes. And we endure. Likewise, none of us enjoy the experience of tribulation, but as we endure, another good word, we are to consider the outcome. When the discomfort of a toothache is removed, you're glad that you sat in that chair, even if it took an hour or two. As you endure, you contemplate the fruit. The pain will go away when the dentist does his work. In the Christian life, you're being trained. We may have the Tokyo Olympics in a few weeks. The Olympic athlete has endured many hours of sometimes torturous preparation for her event. But when she stands on the podium and receives her medal, all of that is forgotten because she's won the prize. For the believer, perseverance in suffering is continual faith in Jesus. That's what it's really all about. You are a Christian because of the Lord Jesus Christ. In eternity, The triune God elected you to salvation through Jesus Christ. In history, the second person of the Holy Trinity assumed human nature. He became one with us in our humanity. As a man, he lived a life of perfect obedience to the law of God, and then he suffered the wrath of God as he hung upon the cross. He endured the necessary penalty that is due to sinners so that you might have free access to God's heavenly throne. And in your life, at just the right time, God's spirit brought you the word of Christ. You confess your sins. You rejected your own righteousness and every human way of salvation. And you trusted in Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness and eternal life. His Spirit began a work in you, and He will continue it until the end. And so trust Christ today, and trust Christ tomorrow, and trust Christ every day of your life. And when difficulties come, trust Him. Know that He is good. Know that He sympathizes with you. He is God and He is man. He has endured suffering and is fully able to understand your tribulations. You are not alone. This is His promise to you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Now, as you walk through this world, remember these facts. Salvation is about light, both in this world and in the world to come. Trusting Jesus is not simply praying a prayer as a fire escape from eternal life. It is something we are called to do throughout this life, both in the blessed times and in the difficult times. You've been saved by Christ. You are being saved by Christ. you will be saved by Christ. The just shall live by faith. So how can you be steadfast in suffering? Look to Jesus, founder and perfecter of your faith. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, you have called us to be pilgrims, sojourners, exiles in this world. We travel and face danger, opposition, sadness, difficulty. This is the lot of the Christian believer. And yet you've given to us your spirit, you've provided to us your holy word, you've called us to look by faith to Jesus, our Savior, thinking about him and what he endured, knowing that the prize set before him was so great he was willing and the prize set before us is great, we must be willing. By faith, help us to persevere, help us to be steadfast in the suffering that we endure, and to do this for your glory, so that if the book of Hebrews, or if Hebrews chapter 11 were to continue to be written, it might be that our names would be included there, the just who live by faith. So help us in these things and glorify yourself in our lives. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.