Focusing on Jesus

i want to talk to you today about the letter to the hebrews i want to read from hebrews chapter 12. begin in verse 1. 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 let us run with endurance the race that is set before us 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 you and i are living in unprecedented times we've never been this way before in fact there's a verse in the book of joshua that's been on my heart for months it's when joshua said to the children of israel just as they were getting ready to come into the promised land he said to them keep your eyes on the ark of the covenant and as long as you keep your eyes on the ark and follow the ark you will be safe and then joshua added you've never been this way before you've never passed this way this is all unprecedented well what i'm talking to you about today i believe is very very relevant for this very moment we're living in unprecedented times none of us has ever been this way before uh precipitated largely by the coronavirus that has spread around the world places are in lockdown in britain in america in korea and we've never had anything like this well when joshua said you've never been this way before it's a tender word from god to us he knows he knows that this is new to us we've never been this way before now let me tell you how that verse keep your eyes on the ark is fulfilled in the new testament and the answer is in hebrews chapter 12 when the writer says looking to jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith here's my word if you know that you've never been this way before but the only hope is to keep your eyes on jesus this is the word just tailor-made for you because that's all we have to do keep our eyes on jesus you see he is a fulfillment of the ark of the covenant the ancient ark it was a symbol of the glory of god and you know the people had never seen the ark before it was always behind the curtain but now it's out in the open and it's being carried and joshua says just look to the ark just looked at the ark and it was high enough that they could see it they were far back enough that they couldn't run up to it and touch it or become overly familiar or anything like that there was a certain distance that they had to keep but joshua said if you keep your eyes on the ark you're going to be fine you've never passed this way before and so when you come to the jordan river you're going to find that we can cross the jordan river and go into the land of canaan and this was all new unprecedented now the letter to the hebrews is written about that generation of israel who had grieved the holy spirit in hebrews chapter 3. the writer talks about the generation of israel that had been in egypt they had gone through the passover of the sprinkling of the blood of jesus on both sides of the doors and on the top and god delivered them from pharaoh they cross the red sea on dry land and then they come into the land of canaan here's what happened they had an opportunity to cross over into jordan a short time after they arrived but what happened was that they sent spies over to test the land and when the spies came back uh ten to two was the vote ten we must not try to go in two votes joshua and caleb said well we can go in because god is with us but you know what the majority won and what happened they decided they wouldn't try and god swore in his wrath at that moment we will not let you enter into my rest that's what god says to them it's over he swore at his wrath they could not enter into god's rest god's rest was the word used to refer to the land of canaan well the children of israel now would be in that desert having crossed the red sea for 40 years 40 years and they could have done it after being there a year or two but they all died and now it's a new generation and that new generation god has chosen them to get to do what their fathers failed to do all right they're getting ready now to go into the land of jordan the epistle to the hebrews is a long warning lest they repeat what the children of israel had done of many centuries before the writer warns them here's what happened to them don't let this happen to you let me put it another way every christian is called to come into his or her inheritance some do some don't what is it going to be for those who do well they come into their inheritance they're the ones that enter god's rest they're the ones that keep their eyes on jesus those who don't are those who take their eyes off jesus they come short of god's rest and god will swear in his wrath i'm sorry that they will not enter into his rest and we're in the same situation we today are called to come into our inheritance now god has an inheritance for everybody in the ancient time of israel there were 12 tribes and in the land of canaan there were 12 areas all named after a tribe and it was out of their hands where they got to live we're told that they cast lots uh who would be in this part of israel who in that part and there were 12 tribes and nobody could decide for themselves where they got to live god told them by the casting of lots well we're told in psalm 47 verse 4 that god has chosen our inheritance for us let me put it to you as if i'm talking no one else one person god has a plan for you he wants you to come in to that plan he doesn't want you to tell him what his plan is he's already decided uh there are those who say we are supposed to change god's will that's a huge mistake don't ever think along those lines it's not our duty to change god's will it's our duty to find out what his will is and obey it well hebrew christians now we're talking about the 2000 years ago but 1300 years after the time of moses after the time of joshua and these hebrew christians were in much the same situation what would they do with the fact that they had come to faith in christ they had professed faith they'd been baptized they had tasted of the good word of god the powers of the world to come partakers of the holy spirit and they had done well so far so good but the writer warns them don't repeat the error of that generation of the children of israel who could have gone into the land of canaan but didn't because of unbelief and he warns them don't be like them god said of them i swear in my wrath they won't enter into my rest and they didn't and don't let that happen to you that's what the writer of hebrews is saying now it turns out that these hebrew christians were discouraged why were they discouraged well i can give three reasons one is of the church was born in a time of what we would call great revival of pentecost 3 000 people converted holy spirit comes in great power there were signs wonders miracles and uh it was a wonderful way to come into the christian faith because you are convinced you're in the right position you've done the right thing you're with the right people and with these miracles you know that god is with you and so the writer in chapter 2 refers to signs wonders miracles and that is the way the christian faith was born and there were many jews many hebrews that remember those days here's the problem we don't know the exact date that the letter of hebrews was written but it was while the temple was still standing we know that we know that it was before uh 70 a.d some think this letter was written around 65 66 a.d the point is the temple was still standing and that's one thing we know this these christians were probably 30 years old in the faith but there had not been the number of miracles lately that they used to see and so one of the reasons that these hebrews were discouraged is that from what we can tell whereas at one time there were signs wonders miracles and now 30 years later they're not saying many signs wonders miracles and they're discouraged they're wondering why can't we see the miraculous i'm not saying they saw no miraculous but it wasn't like it had been and they were discouraged and this can happen to a person when he or she is first converted converted there is a great sense of god and the miraculous and and you know you've done the right thing and you've got the seal of god it's a good feeling but what happens if god were to withdraw the light of his countenance the sense of his presence and not heal everybody as they had once experienced what do you do then well this is what happened these hebrew christians were beginning to wonder if they made a mistake after all they had proclaimed jesus christ the son of god he was israel's messiah he was the fulfillment of all the types and shadows in the old testament and they believed that but they're discouraged and so this is why the writer of hebrews addresses them and says look don't repeat the error of that generation when through unbelief they got discouraged and stopped trusting god and god swore in his wrath they would not enter his rest so the writers say don't be like them another reason they were discouraged i mentioned the fact that the temple was still standing that's why we know it was before 70 a.d around 68 or 70 a.d that's when rome came in and the temple was destroyed not one stone was lifted on another but at that moment the temple was still standing why would this discourage them it was the withholding of vindication you see when these jewish christians profess faith in christ their fellow believers uh made fun of them they laughed at them and there was an answer that every hebrew christian had well you wait and see that temple is going to come down as god's vindication of what we believe god's vengeance upon israel and jesus had made the comment this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled including the destruction of the temple and so they were hanging on to this they really believed that the temple would come down and that way they could say to all their critics see there we told you but that wasn't happening and maybe i'm talking to someone right now you are unvindicated what that means is you've taken a stand in a certain way and going in a certain direction you've upheld the christian faith and you believe that god is with you and but people are criticizing you and you're beginning to feel lonely and you think well could i have made a mistake after all well there's nothing more painful than the withholding of vindication let me tell you a personal story many years ago when i was a student in a college in nashville tennessee which by the way is where we live today we live in nashville tennessee um god had given me a fresh insight into scripture my theology changed the person of jesus was very real to me i could go into a lot more detail right now but the point being that i was so convinced that god was with me and in those days i had visions i did that one day god was going to use me i could see a revival go around the world i believed in what you may call an international ministry was coming down the road for me there was one problem my father my own dad godly man was not happy with my new insight into scripture i had come to see the sovereignty of god that we'd been chosen from the foundation of the world that we are secure in christ and i believe these things and my father said you have departed from the way we brought you up and it was very hard for me and my dad he meant well he said you have broken with god i said no no dad i'm closer to god than ever he said no you've broken with god then he said prove to me that you have not broken with god well i said something to him i shouldn't have said but it comes down to this that uh i'm gonna have an international ministry and uh god is gonna use me in a great way and my dad said when i said one year from now he said would you put that in writing i said okay so he got a sheet of paper irt kendall from this day forward will be an international ministry or words to that effect i signed it do you know what a year later i wasn't even in the ministry five years later i was actually a door to door vacuum cleaner salesman i knocked on doors and people come to the door and i try to get them to let me give a demonstration of my vacuum cleaner that they might buy that's what i was doing for a living and my father and i was totally convinced that i really was out of god's will and i had nothing that i could say that would make him feel better in fact i couldn't think of anything to make myself feel better because that's what i was doing in those days i didn't have a ministry uh not much of a ministry i'd preached here and there but those are very hard days what i wanted more than anything in the world was to be vindicated uh for god to affirm me and prove to my dad that i'd got it right do you know what that was in 1956 22 years later in 1977 or 78 it was that my father came to hear me preach at westminster chapel london and on a train ride from scotland into kings cross london my dad looked at me and said son i'm proud of you you were right i was wrong but i waited 22 years for that 22 years you see it's the desire to have your name cleared and maybe you are like that people have criticized you for the stand you've taken you can't prove that you've got it right but you know in your heart that you're following the lord well these hebrew christians they said when the temple comes down you will see that jesus words are fulfilled the trouble is the temple is still standing and they were criticized and the jews made fun of them those jews that did not profess faith in christ and that's why they were discouraged there was a third reason they were discouraged fewer people were coming to church if i may put it that way to worship together numbers were declining people just lost interest in meeting with one another that's why you have in hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is in other words they were so discouraged some of them they stopped going to church they stopped going to be with fellow believers and and then those who were still involved that did go to church uh every time they would go to church there would be less people there and it was discouraging uh let's face it uh we know that numbers aren't everything but when there are great numbers it certainly feels good it's good to see so many with you but what if you're almost by yourself and you think i've never had to live like this before i've always had people around me supporting me what is it like well you see that's why i go back to joshua chapter 3 where joshua said to them keep your eyes on the ark because as long as you keep your eyes on the ark you're going to be safe where the ark goes you go you follow the ark how does this transfer in to the christian faith hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 tells us that we are to look to jesus fix your eyes on jesus the author and finisher of our faith and as the old testament believers kept their eyes on the ark that is that group of people that were going into the land of canaan so we will keep our eyes on jesus now what is it that the writer has in mind for them well i can tell you he promised them that by coming into god's inheritance for them entering into rest there would be a sublime spiritual experience with god that would make god so real to them that they would not be so discouraged that entering into god's rest in chapter 4 verse 10 those that have entered into god's rest cease from their own works as god did from his i can tell you when you enter into god's rest you no longer worry about striving trying to impress people jesus is all that matters by keeping your eyes on him you know that you are safe now what the writer has done is given a history of old testament believers the 11th chapter of hebrews describes one person after another there was enoch noah abraham isaac jacob samuel jephthah all those people who did what they did by faith and so the writer of hebrews in order to encourage present day jewish believers said consider these people that have come before you you are in a great tradition because you've gotten a chance to enter into the big league being a part of that which motivated abraham isaac jacob and he says to them you can be in them i would put it to you like this in your own situation has it ever crossed your mind that maybe you could be like those in hebrews chapter 11. you see these were not extraordinary people they were ordinary people and god visited them and they believed the word they believed god and they became legendary but at the time they were nobodies and you may feel that you're the biggest nobody that ever lived well here is what the writers saying you can be like them and here's the irony some of those escaped the sword by a miracle they could have been martyred and they escaped the sword and then he turns around and said but then some didn't some had their heads cut off like isaiah the prophet that's the way he died and the truth is all we're supposed to do is keep our eyes on jesus for some if this will mean victory you escape martyrdom for others it means you may die for the lord and in these times that are so difficult it's one thing to have people around you that will encourage you but what if you are all by yourself and you're the only one left will you say well that shows there's nothing to it you know i heard of a person the other day who was led to jesus by a person that he looked up to so highly do you know what some years later the person he looked up to actually backslid and went back into the world and here's this poor man thinking well what am i to do do you know what he decided just to keep his eyes on jesus not on the person who led him to the lord this is something that i have discovered over the years every person that i have begun to admire a little bit too much sooner or later disappointed me i've had people i looked up to you could call them mentors uh who let me down uh people that i looked around i thought they were great men of god i saw them fall and so i began to think where am i going to be and one of the persons i admired most of all turned out that he greatly disappointed me and so i had to make a decision am i going to go the way of the world and give in to temptation whether it's to sex or to money or you're wanting to have everybody to clap their hands and and encourage you what if there's nobody well i'm telling you these hebrew christians were in that situation and they were discouraged and the writer now comes along we don't know who it was some think it was paul it wouldn't surprise me if paul wrote hebrews but we'll find out when we get to heaven but whoever wrote hebrews is writing to people like you and me and the torch has been passed to us i remember when i was at westminster chapel in london i was pastor there 25 years i said to my congregation one day i said why can't all of us be like those in hebrews chapter 11 just be like them because all they did is follow the lord and do what the lord told them to do and they became great and i thought wouldn't it be wonderful if if three or four hundred people just followed jesus and determined to be like those in hebrews chapter 11. interesting thing about those people in hebrews did you know that not a single one of them got to repeat what was done by the previous person well let's start with enoch we're told that enoch walked with god and then one day god took him he was translated to heaven well uh noah grows up almost certainly hearing about the legendary enoch and he thinks what was enoch like well he walked with god so that the bible says of enoch he walked with god it says of noah he walked with god and so noah begins to think well any day now i'm going to be taken to heaven but you know one day god said noah build an ark what built an ark uh did enoch build an ark no i just took him to heaven i've got to build an ark and you see he didn't get to do what enoch did but god used noah who built the ark and he became a legend well abraham he grows up hearing about noah what does it say about abraham he also walked with god and so noah may uh abraham may be thinking when do i start building the ark and god says no you don't do that that was for noah we're told that abraham just went out by faith didn't even know where he was going he didn't even know where he was going but he simply looked to god and abraham became a legend isaac jacob joseph moses all these people they did not get to do what was done before and you and i are in a situation whether you live in korea or in nashville tennessee we aren't able to find people around us always to to encourage us here's one thing we can do we look to jesus and say lord jesus i love you you're my god you're my savior you died on the cross for my sins you washed my sins away by your blood you've given me your holy spirit and lord jesus i'm going to serve you i'm going to follow you if nobody else does that's what these hebrew christians were in the situation the writer says to them in chapter 10 don't give up your confidence because it has great recompense of reward he says don't give up don't give up look how far you've come already and then he said in a little while he that shall come will come what does that mean god knows when to step in and relieve your burden and show how real he is because he knows how much we can bear i love the psalm 103 verse 14 where the psalmist says that god knows our frame he remembers that we are dust he knows that we're not perfect you're not required to be perfect we're all imperfect we've all fallen we've failed we've let god down in various ways but one thing is for sure 1 john 1 9 says if we confess our sins he god is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and i would say to anybody right now maybe you have slipped maybe you got your eyes off jesus maybe you are discouraged but you have an opportunity now to do what those in hebrews 11 did they didn't get to where they got to by following people as people might today want you to do do it as i do follow me do the things i do no they by faith trusted god they believed his word and you know what god knows as i said how much we can bear and he always steps in never too late never too early but always just on time and so the writer says in hebrews 10 36 after you have done the will of god you might receive the promise promise of what that is the promise of entering into this rest of faith where you cease from your own works as god did from his where god is so real to you jesus is so real to you and he is so precious to you that if everybody around you gives up the faith you're not going to give up the faith you're going to keep your eyes on jesus and that's what you have in hebrews chapter 11. all these people did what they did by just following the honor of god you see the ark of the covenant is a symbol of the honor and glory of god and the glory of god is fulfilled in the person of jesus who is the son of god and never forget he's referred to in the same book of hebrews as jesus the son of god hebrews chapter 4 verse 14 jesus the son of god why would he be described like that because he was a man as if he were not god and yet he was god as if he were not man we refer to jesus as the god man and he's referred to as our high priest that means he is at the right hand of the father father interceding for us and the reason that the apostle paul could say we live by the faith of the son of god is because at the right hand of god we have an intercessor he's faithful he prays for us and we live by his faithfulness sometimes i get discouraged that i may trip i may fall say something i shouldn't say but i know this that jesus is praying for me and i trust him praying for me and i have found it to be true i've watched others fall i've watched others give up the faith there are people who have disappointed me but i now 85 years old i am keeping my eyes on jesus yes we are in a crisis it's called the coronavirus crisis we are in lockdown we can't do the things we used to do and many are things say where is god in all this where is god in all this he's right in the middle of it god has allowed this to happen and it's a way of finding out who has the real faith those who fall those who give in are those who will come short of their inheritance don't you be like that god has his eye on you he has a plan for your life and you've got an opportunity to be like one of those in hebrews chapter 11 and if that chapter were still being written your name would be in it because you're doing what they did by keeping your eyes on jesus well that's what the writer says to do and this is my word to you today these are not easy times but all those in hebrews chapter 11 they all went through hard times but they kept their eyes on god and if you will do that you may be lonely it may be those around you aren't going to church it may be that you're not being vindicated maybe you're not seeing miracles as you'd like to but you know one thing god's word the bible by the way the holy spirit's greatest product you see he wrote this and in closing would you like to be on good terms with the holy spirit i can tell you how to do that get to know his word so well he wrote it he hasn't changed in his opinion jesus christ is the same yesterday and the day and forever and he is at the right hand of god i would urge you pray more than ever i would urge you to get to know the bible more than ever and he that shall come will come he's going to show up and you'll be so glad you didn't give up remember he's never too late he's never too early he's always just on time shall we pray heavenly father apply this word by your holy spirit i pray in jesus name amen

Channel: RT Kendall

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Length: 37min 8sec (2228 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 02 2021