Ready To Follow | Sunday Sermon

Our scripture reading today is going to be from Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Could you guys bring your Bibles?

You don't have to because we put it on the screen for you, huh?

If you'd like to know where it is in your Bible, turn to Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

We're going to read the first three verses of chapter 12 today.

It says, 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 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.

Consider him who endured from sinner such hostility against himself, so that you will not grow weary or faint-hearted.

Church, this is the word of the Lord.

Amen.

Well, uh, when we left off last week, we were in the city of Miletus, which is a little ways about 30 miles from the city of Ephesus.

And Paul had stopped after traveling through the churches of uh uh sorry, of um, let me think for a second.

Macedonia.

Yeah, traveling through the churches of Macedonia and went down to Greece and he spent some time in Corinth, and he came back up again through the churches of Macedonia.

He crossed the Aegean Sea and he came back over.

He didn't stop in Ephesus because he didn't want to get stuck there, but he stopped at Miletus and he had called the elders to himself because he wanted to say farewell to them.

And he let them know that when I was traveling through all the churches, the Holy Spirit was saying that chains and imprisonment awaited me when I arrived in Jerusalem.

And so he says, I know that you're not going to see my face again.

And so this was sort of a final farewell to the elders of the Church of Ephesus.

Um, you know, Paul had said, you know, chains and imprisonment await me.

But he said, you know what, I don't hold my life, I don't count my life of any value, nor do I count it dear to myself, if only I may finish my course.

If I just may finish the ministry that the Lord Jesus Christ has given to me to proclaim the goodness of his grace in the gospel.

And as I thought about Paul's journey this week, as he's going to continue on toward the city of Jerusalem, I was reminded of another man who set his face to go to Jerusalem where he knew he was going to suffer and die.

Can any of you think about who, think maybe who that might have been?

Yes, a few of you know who that is.

You've heard the Bible before?

Weird.

In Luke chapter 9, the Bible says this when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he, Jesus, set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

So when the days drew near for him to be taken up, when he was to be taken up, that means to be taken back up, to ascend back to the glory that he had with the Father before the world began.

Okay?

So Jesus was from heaven.

He is the second person of the Godhead.

He is God the Son.

Okay, but he put on human flesh and he came to this earth and he took on our flesh so that he could live a perfect life on our behalf and redeem us.

Okay?

But when he had almost run his full course, and it was the time was nearing for him to be taken up, it says he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

See, the cross was always God's plan.

Jesus knew where he was going, that he was going back to the Father, and yet the path back to the Father led to Jerusalem.

It led through pain, it led through suffering, it led through death back to the Father.

He knew that he was going to suffer for the sins of humanity.

He knew that he would be lifted up upon a cross to bear the sins of the world.

He knew that he would receive God's punishment for our sins upon himself, upon the tree, and he knew that he was doing it all for our redemption.

So it says, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

In other words, he faced his task like a man.

He looked death square in the eyes.

He set his feet upon a path of obedience to his father, and he set out for Jerusalem.

And in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, it says, From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

And Peter took him aside and he began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you.

But he turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan, for you are a hindrance to me.

For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

And so Jesus, as he begins to make his journey toward Jerusalem, he's telling his disciples about what's about to happen.

He says, Look, I'm going to Jerusalem to suffer.

I'm going to Jerusalem, I'm going to be killed, I'm going to be raised from the dead.

And Peter hears what Jesus is saying.

He doesn't like any part of it.

He's like, I don't think so, Jesus.

Far be it from you, Lord.

And he tries to talk them out of going.

This is never going to happen to you.

And I'm sure his intentions are very good.

He just loves Jesus, right?

He doesn't want Jesus to have to suffer.

He doesn't want Jesus to die.

But what Jesus knows, and Peter hasn't realized yet, is that this exact scenario, this whole thing, was a part of the Father's plan for the redemption of Peter.

And for the redemption of you.

And the redemption of me and all of humanity.

If Jesus didn't go to the cross, we would all be lost forever.

And so Jesus turns to Peter and he says, Peter, you aren't setting your mind on the things of God.

You're thinking about the things of man.

And then Jesus goes a step further, and he actually rebukes the spirit that's behind Peter's words.

He says, Get behind me, Satan, for you're a hindrance to me.

Stop trying to stop what you know you can't stop.

Stop trying to stop the thing that's going to crush your head.

That's going to cast you out.

He says, Get behind me, Satan.

See what Peter didn't realize is that in opposing Jesus' plan to go to Jerusalem, he's opposing God the Father's will.

He's opposing God the Father's literal purpose for why he sent his son into the world.

He's opposing God the Father's plan and mission for his son Jesus on the earth.

And in doing that, Peter is actually speaking not for God, but for the enemy of God.

And I wonder if in our own lives there aren't moments when we might do the same thing.

Because we love and we care for the people in our lives, we don't want them to have to go through hard things, do we?

Does anybody want your loved ones and friends to go through hard things?

Just lift up your hand if that's you.

We don't want them to go through hard things.

We don't want them to suffer, especially like our kids.

Like we don't want our kids to suffer.

We don't want to have to see them have to make hard decisions that are going to be painful.

And so sometimes those of us, you know, like that's that's real, right?

Like sometimes those of us who are followers of Jesus, we have to choose a path of pain.

Has anybody discovered that?

Sometimes we have to walk through something that's hard, and we do it out of obedience to the Lord, not because we want to go that way.

But we don't get to take the easy path.

There are times when obedience to God requires us to set our eyes on Jesus and just simply obey Him, to trust Him with our future, but we don't like it when we see our loved ones have to do the same thing.

Amen.

And so we give them bad advice sometimes.

We tell them things that are contrary to God's will.

Anybody ever in here ever have a friend going through marital problems?

You see your friend going through marital problems, and you've been in church for a long time, right?

You know what the Bible says.

God hates divorce, for it covers one's garment with violence.

But that's my friend, you know?

I mean, they're going through stuff and he ain't treating her right, and she's not treating him right, and I don't think so.

And girl, you just gotta dump that man because he ain't treating you like the queen that you are.

Man, you gotta get rid of that lady because she is just like, you know, she's she just thinks she runs the roost or whatever.

Like your life's gonna be so much easier.

Just dump them, move on.

There's a million fish in the sea, and we give them this bad advice.

In our love and concern for our friends, sometimes our minds aren't set on the things of God, they're set on the things of man.

Or a friend or a family member feels a call to missions and ministry, and we're like, no, don't go, don't go.

Don't do that, don't go there.

It's dangerous.

It's gonna be expensive, it's gonna suck.

There's like bugs and stuff there, it's gross.

Like you don't wanna, just don't go, just stay here.

Where it's easy.

Where the Starbucks are everywhere, right?

You just get a coffee, get a croissant.

Ham and cheese croissant.

That's what I'm missing this morning.

Or a loved one chooses a lifestyle, maybe, that's harmful to them.

They start doing something that's harmful to them.

You know that that path leads to their destruction.

But we want to be loving and supportive of them, right?

I mean, we don't want to tell them anything mean, we don't want to hurt their feelings, we don't want to make them mad at us.

And my point is that we we always need to be careful that in our love and concern for the people in our lives, we aren't opposing the actual plan and will of God for their lives.

Does that make sense?

It's easy to do.

Luke says, and he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.

And when he came to the place, he said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation.

And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if you're willing, remove this cup from me.

Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples, and he found them sleeping for sorrow.

And he said to them, Why are you sleeping?

Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

See, Jesus' suffering was real.

I think sometimes we've watched the old Jesus movies, right?

And Jesus walks around like he's like a robot or something, like there's no emotion.

He's like, Blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor in spirit.

Father, if you are willing, let this come past from me.

Nevertheless, not what I will, but yours be done.

No, Jesus' stress was real.

His pain was real, his suffering was real.

He was facing real, actual pain and suffering.

His anticipation of it was making him feel agony in his soul.

Jesus didn't want to have to be beaten and killed.

Would you?

He didn't want to have to be separated from his disciples and from his family.

This wasn't a mechanical walk in the park for him.

We treated him like this.

Oh, of course, he was God, no big deal.

No, this hurt.

And he had to choose against his own desires for his own comfort and his safety and his own benefit to obey the Father despite his own desire not to have to suffer in this way.

Does that make sense?

So the question is, what made him go through with it though?

So Hebrews chapter 12 tells us.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

It says looking into Jesus, the author and the 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.

What made Jesus go through with it?

Well, it was the joy that was set before him.

What was the joy?

That's part of it, yeah.

I think there's two things.

I think there's two things that that would sum up the totality of what that joy was.

You know, as much as we can know, right?

Because, you know, he's got his own soul, his own desires, his own loves and stuff, but I think the first one was obedience.

I I think it was the joy of pleasing the heart of his father.

That he loves his father so much.

In John 15, he says, if you keep my commandments, he's talking to his disciples here.

He says, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide, remain in his love.

These things I've spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

He says, I derive joy from keeping my father's commandments.

I have joy in my heart by pleasing the heart of my father by obeying him.

He's like, if you keep my commandments, you're gonna abide in my love just like I abide in my father's love by keeping his commandments.

And if you keep my commandments, your joy is gonna be full, just like my joy is.

I get joy from just obeying and pleasing the heart of my father.

But the second one, I think, is just love.

It's love for his church, love for his bride.

Galatians 2.20 says, the life I now live by, I live by faith in the Son of God who gave himself.

He loved me and he gave himself for me.

He got pleasure from obeying the Father.

He got joy from it, and also the joy that was set before him was knowing that he was gonna redeem the people that he loved.

That it wasn't just pointless pain and pointless suffering.

There was a purpose to it.

He was gonna gain something that was more valuable than his life.

Amen?

It was worth the cost.

You know, I'm a dad to three daughters, okay?

And I love those girls and my wife more than anything else on this earth.

Okay?

There's nothing that could make me ever stop loving them.

And if I were ever to be in a situation where I was given the choice, they said it's either your life or your child.

There would be no hesitation, not a moment.

It would literally be my great joy to take the place of my child, to take their pain and suffering off of them, to take the consequence off of them and put it on me.

I would love it.

I would take great joy to give my life for the children, my wife, for the people that I love.

And it wouldn't mean that the pain wouldn't hurt, does it?

It doesn't mean that like it wouldn't hurt to die.

It doesn't mean that it wouldn't be sad, it doesn't mean I want to die.

It just means that those things would be nothing in comparison to the joy of being able to save my kids.

Right?

Imagine looking at your little one and going, nah, I think I'll just keep my no.

Well, that that is the picture of the love of Christ for those who are saved by his blood.

And then Paul follows his example.

Okay?

So this brings us back to our text in Acts chapter 21.

Acts 21 · chapter mention

And so Paul says farewell to the elders in Ephesus, and he sets off from Miletus, and he makes his way across the Mediterranean Sea, and he comes to the city of Tyre.

And just as is in the other churches, he comes in and he meets the believers that are in the city of Tyre, and through the Holy Spirit they're warning him: don't go up to Jerusalem, because chains and imprisonment await you.

And so evidently they're hearing the same message as all of the other churches.

And so Paul stays there with them for seven days, and then they depart, and he goes to another city, and then finally he ends up in the city of Caesarea.

And they go into the house of Philip the evangelist, and verse 10 it says, While they were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea, and coming to us, he took Paul's belt, and he bound his own feet and hands, and he said, Thus says the Holy Spirit.

This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt.

Deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

And when we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

And so this prophet comes in, and he's like this Old Testament style prophet, right?

In the Old Testament, the prophets always gave you like an object lesson.

You know?

There was a prophet that, Isaiah, I think it was.

Is it Isaiah or Ezekiel?

I can't remember.

Anyway, he stripped off his whole clothes and walked around naked for three years.

He was like the world's first streaker.

There was one who made a model of the city of Jerusalem and he like showed, this is what's going to happen to your city, you know?

This one comes and he takes Paul's belt and he ties it around his hands and his feet.

He says, This is the way that the Jews in Jerusalem are gonna find the man that owns this belt.

And then Paul, Luke says, when we heard this, we all were urging Paul, don't go, don't go, Paul.

See, all along Paul's been telling him, I'm going to Jerusalem.

When I get to Jerusalem, there's chains and there's imprisonment that's awaiting me.

I don't know what's going to happen to me.

He tells the leaders of Ephesus, you're not going to see my face again.

I'm never going to be able to pass this way again.

I know that what's waiting for me there is going to be hard.

But I'm ready to give my life, I'm ready to give up my freedom, I'm ready to give it all for the ministry, for the goal of just finishing my course that God has given me.

And so he's been telling them all along, but maybe it just didn't feel real until this prophet shows up.

And when he gives them the prophecy, they all start begging him to stay.

Don't go, Paul.

He's like a spiritual father to them.

He's their mentor, he's their pastor.

They care about him.

They don't want him to suffer.

They don't want him to die.

And so, verse 13, Paul he says, What are you doing?

What are you doing weeping and breaking my heart?

You knock it off.

I'm ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

See, Paul, of course, is moved by their emotion.

He's moved by their tears.

But he tells them, stop trying to dissuade me from going.

I've made up my mind.

And I'm not only willing to be imprisoned, I'm willing to die for the name of my Lord Jesus.

His love for Jesus comes out of his understanding of Jesus' love for him.

And it makes this decision simple for him.

It's not that Paul doesn't fear the chains, it's not that he doesn't fear the imprisonment.

It's not that he doesn't feel dread at what he's about to face.

It's that he loves Jesus more than those things.

The cost is worth it to him.

And this is the same attitude that all the apostles had.

Remember in Acts chapter 5?

Acts 5 · chapter mention

They were preaching in the temple, and then the high priests and all them and the temple guard, they came and they arrested him, they threw him in prison, and then the next day they brought him out and they were standing before the Sanhedrin, and they said, You gotta stop preaching in this name.

They're like, Well, I never chalk chalk.

I'm never gonna stop preaching in that name, you know, and they're having their little face off and they're preaching the gospel.

And then the leaders have them beaten.

And they warn them some more, and it says, As they left the presence of the council, they were rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

And one of those who was rejoicing was Peter, the same one that had tried to talk Jesus out of suffering.

Philippians Paul, the apostle, talks about his own desire to know Christ.

He says that I may know him.

Okay?

That I may just know him.

I just want to know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in death.

And I don't want you to get it mixed up here.

It's not like this masochistic desire, just I I just want to hurt.

I want to find ways to just have pain in my life.

I'm gonna seek out, intentionally seek out suffering.

That's not the message here today.

If that's what you're getting, uh, I mean I'm not teaching it right.

The willingness and the joy with with which the apostles approached suffering that they endured for Christ flowed from their understanding of what Jesus had done for them because of his love for them.

And so in verse 14 of our passage it says, And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and we said, Let the will of the Lord be done.

After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem, and some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Nason of Cyprus, an early disciple with whom we should lodge.

So the disciples urge him not to go, but after they realize he's not going to change his mind, they just decide, you know what?

Fine, let's just go with him, let's just support him.

We're going to just go with them to Jerusalem.

And so the question now is: what about us?

Because we've watched Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem.

When he knew what obedience would cost him, but he also knew what he was going there to accomplish through his suffering.

That we would be forgiven because of his suffering, that we would be redeemed because of his death.

And Jesus obeyed the Father and was willing to go because he loved the Father and because he loved you and me.

Hold on one second.

And we watched Paul.

We watched Paul follow his Lord.

All the way to Jerusalem.

Even though he knew that when he got there, chains and imprisonment would await him in Jerusalem.

But he also knew he was giving his life to something greater than his own safety.

Because Jesus had called him to carry the gospel to the Gentiles and to kings and to the children of Israel.

Jesus had called Paul to strengthen and encourage his church, both then and now, right?

There's a big chunk of the New Testament that's Paul's letters.

We're being encouraged right now, today, through the life of Paul the Apostle.

He hadn't called Paul to suffer just for the sake of suffering, to hurt for the sake of hurting.

Paul's suffering was part of a life that was given to a greater purpose, and now it's our turn.

And so the question for us this morning is: what are we living for?

For those of us who are followers of Christ in this room, we know that Jesus loved us.

We know that he gave himself for us.

We know that he's brought us into his own family, that he's given us a reason to live for him, that he's given us a purpose in this life in this world.

We know that we're not in this world and in this life right now for our own benefit.

You know those dung beetles?

You ever seen those?

Changing the subject here.

You know the dung beetles.

Like they they literally they go find poop and they just roll it up and roll it up and roll it up, throw it in the pan.

No, I'm just kidding.

They they they roll it up until they have this big ball of poop and they're just pushing that thing around and like I don't even know what they're doing with it.

Like, where are they taking that thing, right?

But they're so proud.

I got this big ball of poop.

Well, that's what it's like when we're living for the stuff of this world that's all gonna burn.

You know, Paul said, Paul said, everything that I had, all the gain that I had, I counted as a loss for the sake of Christ.

In fact, I counted it all as a loss.

I counted it as rubbish or refuse or dung is the word, compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.

For his sake I've suffered the loss of all things and I count them as dung, he says.

And yet we just go through life just rolling up our stuff.

I got my house, I got my car, I got my bank account, I got my investment accounts, I got it all, and at the end of our life we got this big ball of poop.

It's worth nothing.

Because this whole world's gonna burn, right, Abby?

She's back there trying not to laugh at my childish humor.

And so we're not in this world to pile up a big ball of stuff.

The time that we've been entrusted to on this earth is for the purpose of glorifying our God, for making Jesus known, for loving and serving the people he's placed around us.

And the truth is that Jesus has redeemed us through his cross, and our lives now belong to him.

In Luke chapter 9, verse 23, speaking to his disciples, it says, He said to all, if anyone, how many are all?

Luke 9:23

All is everybody?

Are you guys awake?

I'm sorry I'm so boring.

Are you awake?

How many is all?

Everyone.

Okay, he says, okay, so he says, he said to all, if anyone, how many is anyone?

All he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself.

Take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

When Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, what he's calling us to is surrender.

To surrender the right to make everything all about us all the time.

My comfort, my preferences, my plans, my little kingdom, my little ball of stuff?

As the Holy Spirit begins to shape our hearts, we should start asking different questions.

Lord, how do you want to use my life to glorify you?

Lord, what would I, what could I do that would please you?

Who have you placed in my life to love?

How do you want to use what you've given me to help someone else to know you?

Sometimes God's answer to those kinds of questions might involve a cost, right?

Because sharing Jesus with someone might cost us their approval.

Maybe they won't think we're cool anymore.

But it also might lead them to Jesus, right?

Making time to be there for someone who's struggling might cost us time.

But that might just be just the thing that helps them experience the love of Jesus firsthand.

Setting aside time to be with Jesus might mean we have to let go of other things that we would rather do.

But it's how we grow spiritually.

It's the only way we get to know Him in a real way instead of just in a theoretical way, right?

I don't have to pray.

The pastors and the elders do that.

I'll just show up and let them tell me what God says.

No, you have a relationship with God.

Being generous might mean there's less for ourselves.

Mentoring might take a lot of time.

The point is that obedience to Jesus very likely will cost us something, but there's a purpose in it.

And there are people on the other side of our obedience.

We might not always see everything that God is doing, huh?

But we can trust that he's doing something good.

You think Paul could see that everything that God was going to do through his sacrifice?

Do you think he knew that we'd be sitting here 2,000 years later growing and learning from his story?

Of course not.

But he knew Jesus.

He knew that the Lord loved him, and he trusted him enough to just follow him, and we can trust him with our lives too.

Paul told the Ephesian elders, he said, I don't count my life as valuable, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish the course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Paul wanted to finish his course well.

And there's a race that is set before you and me too.

Let's go back to our scripture reading.

Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, Hebrews 11 is the hall of faith.

It's Abraham, it's Moses, it's Gideon, it's Barak, it's all these heroes of the faith who denied themselves in this life and looked forward to the promise of eternity.

And we looked at Jesus today, who denied himself in this life, who walked in obedience, who kept his eyes fixed on the prize.

We looked at Paul, who kept his eyes fixed on Jesus.

And they finished their course.

He says, let us also, since we're surrounded by that great cloud of witnesses, let us also, it's our turn to run now.

We're at the starting gate of our course that God has set before us.

He says, lay aside every weight.

Have you ever been trying to run through the airport from one plane to the next, trying to catch the next plane?

Maybe you landed late?

And you're like, oh, I gotta get there, and you got your bags in your suitcase and you're doing this whole thing and you're running.

Have you ever seen an Olympic runner try to do that?

Anyone?

You've never seen an Olympic runner do that, huh?

Of course not.

He says, lay aside every weight, lay it all down, set down all the extra weight.

Stop rolling around your poop ball.

Okay?

And the sin that clings so closely.

Runners don't race like in a parka, do they?

They don't put on an inspector gadget coat and then they go run their race.

Lay aside the sin that clings so closely and run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Some of us are tired in this room.

And maybe it's because you've been serving faithfully for a long time.

Maybe it's because it's time for some others to step up to the line and begin to run as well.

Amen?

But some are also tired because you're carrying too much stuff.

You're trying to follow Jesus and hold on to your life at the same time.

And I want to encourage you today, just lay it all down.

Put your eyes on Jesus and run.

Like run, run with everything that's in you, every single thing that you have.

We get one chance in life, one opportunity to truly live our lives all out for Jesus.

We get one chance to run our race with all of our hearts.

And you don't have to know what's ahead.

You don't have to understand what God's going to do through your suffering or through your joy.

What he's going to do with your obedience as you trust him through the good times and the bad.

You just got to keep your eyes on Jesus.

Just keep looking at him.

At the one who loved you and gave everything to save you.

Remember what his obedience did for you and then ask him, Lord, what do you want me?

Who do you want me to love?

What are you asking me to do?

What do I need to let go of in order to run my race?

Well, and then just run.

Believer, run.

Run.

Give him your life, follow where he leads.

Let him use you for his glory and for the good of the people around you.

I can't believe I didn't hear one single amen to that.

I was waiting.

Man, you guys left me hanging.

Just my rap your like rapt attention, huh?

Let me try this again.

Give him your life.

Follow where he leads.

And let him use you for his glory and for the good of the people around you.

There we go.

Beautiful.

Would you like to say more?