Sermon #85                                                       Hebrews Notes

 

     Title:            Consider Him

     Text:            Hebrews 12:3-4

     Readings:     Buddy Daugherty & Rex Bartley

     Subject:       Encouragement in the Way

     Date:            Tuesday Evening—June 11, 2002

     Tape #         X-5b

     Introduction:

 

(Hebrews 12:1-2)  "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

 

First, the Holy Spirit tells us that we must lay aside every weight and the sin that easily besets us. We must lay aside every weight of carnal care and the horrid sin of unbelief, if we would run with patience the race that is set before us.

 

Second, in verse 2, he tells us how to run this race with patience and how to run to the end.

 

·        Looking unto Jesus

·        the author and finisher of our faith;”

·        who for the joy that was set before him

·        endured the cross,”

·        despising the shame,”

·        and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

 

Looking unto Jesus” is not merely an occasional glance in his direction, or an occasional thought about heavenly things. What he is telling us to do is this.—Fix your eyes on Christ exclusively, looking away from everything else, ever focusing your heart and mind upon him.

 

That is not too difficult, as we begin to run the race. But after a while we tend to get distracted, obstacles arise, the cross-country race gets difficult, and we get weary of the race. You see, the race we are running is not a sporting event, but a warfare. It is not a race for a crown, but for life, and the race set before us carries through hostile enemy territory.

 

In addition to all the other things that might hinder us in our pursuit of Christ, we meet with opposition on every hand, from within and from without. So Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to use yet another motive to inspire our steadfastness in faith. He has told us…

·        That the Lord Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith.

·        That he looked upon the saving of our souls as the joy of his own soul.

·        That he, in order to obtain that great joy, endured the cross, despising the shame.

·        And, having finished the work of our redemption, sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

Now, in verse 3, he calls for us to “consider him.” That is the title of my message tonight. May God give us grace ever to “consider him.”

 

·        How many mistakes I have made because I did not “consider him!”

·        How often I have behaved recklessly because I did not “consider him!”

·        How often I have needlessly hurt others because I did not “consider him!”

·        How often I have hesitated when I should have run because I did not “consider him!”

·        How often I have run when I should have waited because I did not “consider him!”

 

(Hebrews 12:3-4)  "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin."

 

Let’s look at these two verses line by line.

 

For”—This connects these two verses with the race. This little word connects this matter of considering Christ to looking to Christ.

 

consider him”—Paul has called upon us to consider Christ throughout this Epistle, ever holding him before us as the example we must follow, after whom we must pattern ourselves, by whom we are constantly inspired to faith, obedience and perseverance. But he uses a different word on all three occasions.

 

(Hebrews 3:1)  "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus."

 

·        The word translated “consider” here means to observe fully, to behold, observe and perceive.

 

(Hebrews 7:4)  "Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils."

 

·        The word translated “consider” here means to look closely, like a spectator at a boxing match, or better as a spectator in court who has an intense, personal, experimental interest in the affairs of the court.—You and I are only spectators in the affair of redemption. But we are spectators with an intense personal interest.

 

·        But the word translated “consider” in our text is altogether different from the words used in chapters 3 and 7. Here the word is really a mathematical term. It is the word from which we get our word “analyze.” It means to weigh proportionately, to compare, to consider again intensely.

 

When you begin to think that faith in Christ costs to much, that your opposition is to great, that obedience is too costly, that the cross is too heavy, the Holy Spirit here says, “Think again! Consider Him!” And he does not leave us to guess about what he means.

 

consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself

 

1.     First, let us ever consider Christ himself, who he is.

 

a. He is the mighty God.

b. He is the infinitely Holy God-man, our Mediator.

c. Our Lord Jesus Christ is both our omnipotent Savior and our sympathizing Savior, able and willing to save us.

 

2.     Second, the Spirit of God would have us constantly consider our Savior’s mediatorial offices.

 

·        Everlasting Surety

·        Prophet, Priest, and King

·        Advocate in Heaven

 

3.     Third, we should constantly consider his mission.

 

He came into this world for the singular purpose of saving his people from their sins for the glory of God. He had no other aim, no other purpose, no other motive, no other goal.

 

4.     Fourth, we should especially remember and consider the patience with which he endured all that he suffered for us. What relentless contradiction, what never-ceasing opposition he suffered from sinners and for sinners!

 

·        He was opposed by His own people according to the flesh (John 7:5).

·        He was opposed by those very sinners for whom he suffered.

 

That opposition began at His birth, when there was no room for Him in the inn. He was not wanted. It was seen again in His infancy, when Herod sought to slay Him, and His parents were forced to flee with Him into Egypt. There is very little else known about His childhood, but there is a messianic prophecy in Psalm 88:15, which shows that even then He suffered.  There our Savior says, “I was afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted!

 

From the commencement of his ministry until its end He endured the unbroken, relentless, “contradiction of sinners against Himself.”

 

·        He endured Satan’s temptations.—The Wilderness—Gethsemane.

·        He endured the betrayal of a friend.

·        He endured the mockery and slander of Pilate’s judgment hall.

·        He endured the horror of Calvary.

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ felt keenly that contradiction. Never imagine otherwise. He was the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Psa. 69:20).

 

(Psalms 69:20)  "Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none."

 

Go to dark Gethsemane,

Ye that feel the tempter’s power;

There your Savior’s conflict see,

Watch Him there (O bitter hour!)

Turn not from His griefs away,

Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

 

Follow to the judgment hall,

View the Lord of Life arraigned;

O the wormwood and the gall!

O the pangs His soul sustained!

Shun not suffering, shame, or loss,

Learn of Him to bear the cross.

 

Calvary’s mournful mountain climb,

There, adoring at His feet,

Mark that miracle of time,

God’s own sacrifice complete;

“It is finished,” hear Him cry,

Learn of Jesus Christ to die.

 

Early hasten to the tomb

Where they laid His breathless clay;

All is solitude and gloom,

Who hath taken Him away?

Christ arisen meets our eyes,

See Him seated in the skies!

 

In the midst of all that our blessed Savior suffered, any man might be expected to collapse, but the God-man set His face as a flint, until the work was done (Lk. 9:51; Isa. 50:7).

 

(Isaiah 50:7)  "For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed."

 

(Luke 9:51)  "And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,"

 

5.     How are we to consider Him? That is to say, how can we proportionately analyze him? How can we rightly calculate him?

 

·        We must consider him in the Scriptures (John 5:39).

 

(John 5:39)  "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

 

·        Let us consider him in humble prayer and meditation.

·        Oh that God will give us grace to consider him experimentally (Phil. 3:8-10).

 

(Philippians 3:8-10)  "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death."

 

6.     Clearly, it is the intention of God the Holy Spirit that as we consider him, we should constantly bear in mind the infinite contrast between his sufferings and ours!

 

·        Yes, as long as we are in this world, we must suffer (John 15:20; Heb. 5:8). We must hrough much tribulation we shall enter the Kingdom of God (1 Pet. 4:13).

·        But our sufferings fade into insignificance when we consider Him.

 

Consider Christ, always consider Christ. Before you make any decision, -- Before you do anything, -- Before you go anywhere, consider Christ. Throughout your race, thoughtfully consider

 

·        who he is. – Your God, your Savior, your merciful and faithful High Priest.

·        what he has done for you.

·        what a debt you owe to him.

·        what his will is.

·        what is best for his glory, the interests of his kingdom, the service of the gospel. The welfare of his people.

 

Consider Himlest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

 

If we but consider Christ that will prevent us from being wearied and fainting.

 

1.     In the world we have tribulation, but faint not, Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33).

 

2.     We must constantly consider him in faith, believing him, and His promises, and we would not grow weary (Rom. 8:18; 1 Cor. 4:16-18).

 

3.     If we faint not, Christ must be

 

·        The Object of our faith.

·        The Food of our faith.

·        The Supporter of our faith (Phil. 2:5-16).

 

(Philippians 2:5-16)  "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain."

 

Now, look at verse 4, and you will see that this contrast between our Lord’s suffering and ours is, indeed, what the Holy Spirit intends for us to bear in mind.

 

"Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin."

 

Our trials, temptations, and troubles, our conflicts against sin, the enemies of grace and trials of life have cost us very little. We have not resisted to the shedding of our blood. Our Lord did, and so did!

 

Let us ever calculate and count the cost (Luke 14:28). And, counting the cost, as we “consider him,” we will run with patience the race that is set before us. And soon, we will win the prize (Gal. 6:9).

 

(Galatians 6:9)  "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

 

(Romans 8:18)  "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

 

We are in a battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil (Gal. 5:17; Rom. 7). Let us be willing to pay with our lives, as our Lord was and as Paul was (Acts 20:24; 21:13).

 

(Acts 20:24)  "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."

 

(Acts 21:13)  "Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

 

If you cannot stand now what will you do in the swelling of Jordan? (Jer. 12:5).

 

Awake our souls, away our fears,

Let every trembling thought be gone;

Awake and run the heavenly race,

And put a cheerful courage on.

 

True tis a strait and thorny road,

And mortal spirits tire and faint;

But they forget the Mighty God,

Who is the strength of every saint.

 

Swift as an eagle cuts the air,

We’ll mount aloft to Thine abode;

On wings of love our souls shall fly,

Then we shall be at home with God!