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Hebrews 12:1-3 - Are the Saints Interceding for Us? · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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Speaker 1: Life Audio.
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Speaker 2: Well, hello there, Faith for listeners, and welcome to the
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Speaker 2: Bible Explain podcast on this.
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Speaker 1: Absolutely lovely Thursday morning.
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Speaker 2: So I hope that you all have been doing very
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Speaker 2: very well for this whole week. I was kind of
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Speaker 2: out of the loop there for a second because I
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Speaker 2: took a few days off, but otherwise I am doing
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Speaker 2: much better now, and so how have you all been.
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Speaker 2: I'd love to hear about all of you guys, and
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Speaker 2: what the weather's been like. This week for me has
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Speaker 2: been the most beautiful weather week I can remember in
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Speaker 2: a very very long time. It is not too hot,
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Speaker 2: it is not too cold, it is super sunny and
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Speaker 2: super beautiful. There's not too many bugs out yet because
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Speaker 2: it's the beginning of bug season, so I am happy
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Speaker 2: as a clam. So let me know what the weather
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Speaker 2: is where you live, and also how you found the podcast,
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Speaker 2: and of course whether or not you are a coffee
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Speaker 2: or a tea drinker. I'd love to hear about all
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Speaker 2: of that from you guys. And of course, if you
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Speaker 2: have a prayer quest, please don't hesitate to reach out
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Speaker 2: and contact me and I will pray for you for
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Speaker 2: the week. Now. Today we're in a brand new passage
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Speaker 2: of Scripture. We are in Hebrews chapter twelve today, and
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Speaker 2: this is the second to last chapter of Hebrews. I
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Speaker 2: can't remember if I said that Hebrews twelve was the
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Speaker 2: last chapter. I very well may have, so I apologize
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Speaker 2: for that. Now we do have one more chapter after
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Speaker 2: Hebrews twelve. There are thirteen chapters in Hebrews. But still
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Speaker 2: we are flying through the Book of Hebrews. We are
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Speaker 2: in Hebrews twelve today. We're only going to read three
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Speaker 2: little verses. But I'm telling you, like everything else in
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Speaker 2: the Book of Hebrews, these three verses are very dense
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Speaker 2: with content. So I'm certainly looking forward to talking about
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Speaker 2: this right after this first word from a sponsor. All right,
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Speaker 2: hopefully after listening to that sponsor, you have your Bible
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Speaker 2: ready and also your delicious cup of coffee or a
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Speaker 2: cup of tea for you crazy tea drinkers out there
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Speaker 2: that prefer tea over coffee. So let's go ahead and
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Speaker 2: turn it in our bibles. If you are able to
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Speaker 2: read the Bible with me to Hebrews twelve one, three, three, now,
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Speaker 2: even if you can't read it with me at this
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Speaker 2: moment in time, because you're driving or working or something
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Speaker 2: like that. I always encourage you guys to go back
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Speaker 2: later on and read it for yourself. It is very
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Speaker 2: important to delve into the world. Don't just take my
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Speaker 2: word for it. Read it for yourself if you are
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Speaker 2: able to do that. But for now, let's go ahead
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Speaker 2: and read Hebrews twelve one through three together. As always,
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Speaker 2: I'll be reading from the web or the World English Bible. Therefore,
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Speaker 2: let's also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a
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Speaker 2: cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin
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Speaker 2: which so easily entangles us, and let us run with
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Speaker 2: perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus,
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Speaker 2: the Author and perfector of faith, who for the joy
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Speaker 2: that was set before him, endured the cross, despising its shame,
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Speaker 2: and is sat down at the right hand of the
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Speaker 2: throne of God. For consider him who has endured such
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Speaker 2: contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don't grow weary
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Speaker 2: fainting in your souls. Before delving into a new portion
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Speaker 2: of scripture, it is always important to see what the
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Speaker 2: context of this scriptural passage is. Don't forget that this
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Speaker 2: was written as a cohesive letter to the churches. It
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Speaker 2: wasn't until like, what was it the fifteen hundreds. I
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Speaker 2: think it was that we ended up putting verse numbers
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Speaker 2: and chapter breakdowns in the Bible so that we personally
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Speaker 2: could find passages more easily. But of course, when the
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Speaker 2: authors of these letters were writing them, they did not
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Speaker 2: put verse numbers in with their writing. The author here
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Speaker 2: is describing the faith of the people from the previous
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Speaker 2: chapter in Hebrews eleven. So keeping that in mind, let's
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Speaker 2: read Hebrews twelve, verse one. Therefore, let's also, seeing we
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Speaker 2: are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay
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Speaker 2: aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us.
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Speaker 2: So the first three words of that verse are therefore,
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Speaker 2: let's also let's also what well, basically, the author is
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Speaker 2: telling us that we also should have faith like those
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Speaker 2: people did, because we are surrounded by so great a
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Speaker 2: cloud of witnesses. Now what is this cloud of witnesses?
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Speaker 2: Obviously this would be the individuals of the Old Testament
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Speaker 2: that had incredible faith. They had faith in the promise
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Speaker 2: of the Messiah, even though they never actually saw that
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Speaker 2: promise come to fruition. They died before that promise was fulfilled.
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Speaker 2: The author calls them a great cloud of witnesses, and
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Speaker 2: this was the question I had when I read this.
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Speaker 2: I said, what are they witnessing? Or what are they
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Speaker 2: witnessing too? Or who are they witnessing? The word witnessing
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Speaker 2: was really throwing me off here. And honestly, I'm not
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Speaker 2: the only one. There's a lot of debate about what
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Speaker 2: cloud of witnesses actually means. For example, the Catholics will
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Speaker 2: tell you that the cloud of witnesses are all of
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Speaker 2: the saints found in the Old Testament that are witnessing
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Speaker 2: your journey in life. They are witnessing it, and they
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Speaker 2: are cheering you on, and they are intercessing for you.
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Speaker 2: They're going to the throne of God, and they are
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Speaker 2: basically preying on your behalf. In fact, I found this
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Speaker 2: article from the Catholic Company written by Grace Thierfelder. I
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Speaker 2: believe is how it's pronounced. And this was just written
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Speaker 2: last year, actually almost exactly a year ago, and this
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Speaker 2: woman is talking about who the Catholics believe these cloud
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Speaker 2: of witnesses are. So she says, by calling these figures witnesses,
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Speaker 2: Saint Paul recognizes that these men and women are still
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Speaker 2: actively participating and concerned with our earthly lives. They are
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Speaker 2: more than passive observers. They are spiritual supporters, interceding for
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Speaker 2: us and encouraging us by their example. Imagine running a
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Speaker 2: marathon with a crowd cheering you on. Their encouragement fuels
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Speaker 2: your determination and gives you the strength to keep going.
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Speaker 2: They might hand you a water bottle or a high
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Speaker 2: energy snack right when you need it. Similarly, the Saints
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Speaker 2: cheers on from their in heaven. They have completed their
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Speaker 2: earthly race, and now from their celestial vantage point, they
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Speaker 2: inspire us to persevere in our own struggles. They pray
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Speaker 2: for us and send us quote unquote snacks of grace
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Speaker 2: when we need a boost. Interestingly enough, she says that
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Speaker 2: Saint Paul's the author of Hebrews, but that's not actually confirmed.
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Speaker 1: I digress, though. That does not matter.
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Speaker 2: The point that she's making is that the cloud of
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Speaker 2: witnesses are witnessing us. That is why they're called witnesses,
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Speaker 2: witnessing our journey, helping us along the way. And that's
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Speaker 2: actually one of the verses that the Catholics use to
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Speaker 2: pray to the Saints, because they say, oh, the Saints
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Speaker 2: they are viewing us, they see everything we're doing. They
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Speaker 2: are interceding for us, and so we can ask them
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Speaker 2: essentially to intercede for us. And so that is why
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Speaker 2: Catholics pray to the saints. We'll get back to that
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Speaker 2: point in just a second here, but moving to the
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Speaker 2: Protestant side, there are two camps of thought when it
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Speaker 2: comes to what the Protestants think the Cloud of Witnesses are.
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Speaker 2: The first camp says that all of this is figurative.
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Speaker 2: They're not actually spectating our lives or cheering us on
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Speaker 2: or anything like that, but it's all figurative. We should
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Speaker 2: act as if the saints are cheering us on because
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Speaker 2: they did such a good job before us, they had
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Speaker 2: the victory. So we need to act as if those
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Speaker 2: people can view us and use that almost as like
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Speaker 2: motivation to go forward in life. Here's what god questions
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Speaker 2: dot Org says about the Cloud of witnesses quote, we
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Speaker 2: are surrounded by the saints of the past in a
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Speaker 2: unique way. It's not that the faithful who have gone
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Speaker 2: before us are spectators to the race we run. Rather,
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Speaker 2: it is a figurative, a representation, and means that we
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Speaker 2: ought to act as if they were in sight and
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Speaker 2: cheering us on to the same victory in the life
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Speaker 2: of faith that they obtained. We are to be inspired
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Speaker 2: by the godly examples that these saints set during their lives.
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Speaker 2: These are those whose past lives of faith incur courage
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Speaker 2: others to live that way too. That cloud that is
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Speaker 2: referred to as great indicates that millions of believers have
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Speaker 2: gone before us, each bearing witness to the life of
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Speaker 2: faith we now live. So essentially that thought process is
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Speaker 2: that these people witnessed the life of faith. They didn't
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Speaker 2: witness our life, but they did witness the life of faith,
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Speaker 2: and so we should act as witnesses.
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Speaker 1: Also to the life of faith.
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Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie. This particular viewpoint confuses me a
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Speaker 2: little bit. I don't really see how it's a figurative
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Speaker 2: kind of thing.
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Speaker 1: I mean, maybe it is, I don't know.
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Speaker 2: But this is the last thought process when it comes
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Speaker 2: to who the Protestants think the cloud of witnesses is.
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Speaker 2: This is from Spurgeon's commentary on Hebrews. Here's what he says.
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Speaker 2: Quote the previous chapter Hebrews eleven gives us the names
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Speaker 2: of many of these glorious bearers of testimony. Who all
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Speaker 2: by faith achieved great wonders and so bore witness to
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Speaker 2: the truth of God unquote. So essentially, these people are
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Speaker 2: not witnesses of us, They are not figurative witnesses. They
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Speaker 2: are witnesses in their own day and age. And what
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Speaker 2: did they witness, Well, they witnessed the faithfulness of God,
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Speaker 2: the truth of God. And since they witnessed that in
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Speaker 2: their own day and age, they chose to have faith
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Speaker 2: in spite of some of the most difficult circumstances that
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Speaker 2: they could possibly go through. And we talked about all
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Speaker 2: of that when we discussed Hebrew's chapter eleven. And because
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Speaker 2: they had faith in that truth of God, they're actually
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Speaker 2: witnessing to all of us. So when we read the
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Speaker 2: Old Testament, these people their stories written down, they are
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Speaker 2: witnessing to us about the faithfulness and truth of God.
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Speaker 2: So they're actually witnesses of the Gospel. And this is
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Speaker 2: the kampathought that I tend to agree with the most.
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Speaker 2: I think is the most biblical, because there's a reason
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Speaker 2: that the author wrote all of those stories down in
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Speaker 2: Hebrews eleven, Like it wasn't to just go through the
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Speaker 2: history of the Jews. It was to specifically encourage the
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Speaker 2: people who are reading the letter so that they're able
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Speaker 2: to continue on in the faith when things get difficult,
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Speaker 2: knowing that there were people that came before them that
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Speaker 2: did the exact same thing. Basically, the author was putting
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Speaker 2: all of those quote unquote saints of the Old Testament
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Speaker 2: on the exact same level as any ordinary Christian, saying, look,
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Speaker 2: if they could do it, you can do it too,
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Speaker 2: and that's actually really really cool. A lot of people
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Speaker 2: look at the Old Testament figures and they think that
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Speaker 2: these people just floated on the surface of the earth
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Speaker 2: and that they did nothing wrong and that they didn't
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Speaker 2: have human emotions. That is so untrue. These people were
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Speaker 2: human beings who had the same exact struggles that you
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Speaker 2: and I do. The only reason they were special is
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Speaker 2: because of God's love and because they had faith in God.
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Speaker 2: You and I can have that exact same kind of thing.
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Speaker 2: So it's encouragement for us to keep on in the faith.
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Speaker 2: If they can do it, so can we. So I
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Speaker 2: found this commentary called Hebrews written by Thomas R. Schneider Schreiner.
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Speaker 2: I'm sorry, and here's what he says about the cloud
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Speaker 2: of witnesses. He says, they witness to the readers by
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Speaker 2: their faith and perseverance, and the readers should follow the
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Speaker 2: train of their example. The author emphasizes the large number
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Speaker 2: of witnesses. Perhaps he does so to impress on the
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Speaker 2: readers that many have run the race before them, that
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Speaker 2: they are not alone or the only ones to suffer
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Speaker 2: and endure. The ancestors of faith are far more than
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Speaker 2: can be counted. Unquote. I think that's really neat. You
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Speaker 2: know that there are so many people that came before us,
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Speaker 2: not even mentioned in scripture, that lived a life of
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Speaker 2: faith in extreme circumstances. And if they could do it,
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Speaker 2: so can we. And the author of Hebrews cantin and says,
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Speaker 2: because of this cloud of witnesses, let's lay aside every
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Speaker 2: weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and
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Speaker 2: let's run with perseverance the race that is set before us. So, yes,
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Speaker 2: because we have all of these wonderful examples of faith
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Speaker 2: and this encouragement that if they can do it, so
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Speaker 2: can we. We need to run the race with perseverance
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Speaker 2: that is set before us. So whatever race we are running,
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Speaker 2: we are to focus on that. We are to persevere,
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Speaker 2: We are to run it as best we possibly can,
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Speaker 2: and every single person's race is going to look a
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Speaker 2: little bit different. God does not call us to the
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Speaker 2: exact same path, but no matter where he calls us,
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Speaker 2: we are to do it to the best of our ability,
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Speaker 2: even if it's difficult, because if people in the past
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Speaker 2: can do it, then so can we. And this is
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Speaker 2: another reason, by the way, that we should be reading
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Speaker 2: the Old Testament. A lot of Christians don't understand what
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Speaker 2: the point of the Old Testament is. They kind of think, oh,
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Speaker 2: you know, it's just history, and that's really all it is.
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Speaker 2: And yes, of course, the Old Testament absolutely is history,
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Speaker 2: and it's been proven to be historically accurate many many,
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Speaker 2: many many times. But the Old Testament is not just history.
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Speaker 2: It's there for our encouragement. You know, when I was
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Speaker 2: a kid, I used to be terrified of persecution, like
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Speaker 2: actually had a phobia of it. So I was scared
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Speaker 2: to tell anybody that I was a Christian for a
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Speaker 2: very very long time, even into my early twenties, I
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Speaker 2: was scared. But one day I was reading my Bible
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Speaker 2: and I was going through the Book of Acts, and
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Speaker 2: I had never gone through the Book of Acts alone before,
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Speaker 2: and so I decided to read it and I read
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Speaker 2: Acts chapter fourteen, and it really encouraged me and kind
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Speaker 2: of started helping me get out of that mindset of.
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Speaker 1: Phobia of persecution.
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Speaker 2: It was Acts chapter fourteen, and that is the story
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Speaker 2: where Paul and Barnabas go into the city of Listra
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Speaker 2: and they actually heal this crippled man, and the people
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Speaker 2: are so impressed, like odd over the fact that Paul
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Speaker 2: and Barnabas healed this crippled that they start trying to
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Speaker 2: worship Paul and Barnabas, and they're like trying to sacrifice
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Speaker 2: offerings to them and stuff, and Paul and Barnabas, I
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Speaker 2: think they didn't quite understand what was going on at first,
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Speaker 2: and then they realized the people started to worship them,
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Speaker 2: and they freaked out and they're like, no, no, no, no, no, no,
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Speaker 2: do not worship us. You gotta worship God. He is
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Speaker 2: the one that actually healed this crippled man. Well, anyway,
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Speaker 2: Paul and Barnabas after that, they kind of stay in
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Speaker 2: the area and they're teaching people about Yahweh and some
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Speaker 2: judaizers come in and start, you know, whispering in the
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Speaker 2: people's ears about how bad Paul and Barnabas are and
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Speaker 2: that very weak. The same people that were about to
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Speaker 2: worship Paul and Barnabas stoned Paul, possibly to death. Okay,
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Speaker 2: Paul was dragged out of the city and everybody thought
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Speaker 2: that he was dead. All the disciples kind of gathered
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Speaker 2: around him. They probably all thought that he was dead,
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Speaker 2: and then he just sort of jumps up and walks
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Speaker 2: back into the city, says An Acts fourteen, verse twenty.
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Speaker 2: As the disciples I stood around him, he rose up
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Speaker 2: and entered into the city. Paul was so unafraid of
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Speaker 2: being stoned by those people that after being stoned, he
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Speaker 2: just gets up and walks right back into the city
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Speaker 2: with the people who stoned him. Just an amazing story
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Speaker 2: of faith. And that story actually helped me out a
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Speaker 2: lot for some reason. I don't know what it was
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Speaker 2: about that story, but it was so encouraging to me
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Speaker 2: that that was kind of like the trigger that helped
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Speaker 2: me get past my phobia of persecution. So yes, the
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Speaker 2: Bible is here to encourage us through these stories, through
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Speaker 2: these acts of faith that these people had. And again,
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Speaker 2: Paul is no better than anybody else. What did Paul
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Speaker 2: say about himself? He said, Man, the things that I
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Speaker 2: wish I did, I don't do, and the things that
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Speaker 2: I don't want to do are the things that I
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Speaker 2: end up doing. Paul was a sinner, and he recognized
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Speaker 2: his sin and his need for a sad savior. He
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Speaker 2: was no different than you and I. But going back
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Speaker 2: to Hebrews twelve, verse one, it says, let's run with
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Speaker 2: perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus,
16:10
Speaker 2: the author and perfector of faith. You know, when somebody
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Speaker 2: authors a book, we take that as something they created.
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Speaker 2: It's their story, it's their thoughts, it's their creativity, whatever
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Speaker 2: it might be, it is their book. So nobody would
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Speaker 2: come and take somebody's book and be like, oh, actually
16:29
Speaker 2: I authored it, this was my work, or change it
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Speaker 2: a little bit and say that they authored it. That
16:36
Speaker 2: would be considered plagiarism. And you can get in a
16:38
Speaker 2: lot of trouble actually in academic circles if you plagiarize something.
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Speaker 2: I remember when I was in high school, if you
16:44
Speaker 2: plagiarized anything and the teacher found out, you would get
16:47
Speaker 2: an automatic f. It is not tolerated. Plagiarism is not tolerated,
16:51
Speaker 2: and yet so many people try to redefine what salvation
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Speaker 2: and faith actually is, because Jesus is the author of salvation,
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Speaker 2: is what it says earlier in Hebrews, and he's the
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Speaker 2: author of faith as well. So we can't redefine what
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Speaker 2: Jesus created. He is the author of it, and we
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Speaker 2: are to look to Jesus, is what it says right
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Speaker 2: here in verse two, look to Jesus, the author and
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Speaker 2: perfector of faith. So we are not supposed to look
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Speaker 2: at anybody else when it comes to our faith. Our
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Speaker 2: faith is for Jesus and Jesus alone, for God and
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Speaker 2: God alone.
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Speaker 1: That's it.
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Speaker 2: Because Jesus is God. We look to Jesus. We have
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Speaker 2: faith only in Jesus, and we cannot redefine that faith.
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Speaker 2: So keeping that in mind, I want to go back
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Speaker 2: to the Catholic viewpoint about the cloud of witnesses. There
17:46
Speaker 2: are many Catholics who say that you can pray to
17:48
Speaker 2: the saints because they are the cloud of witnesses. They're
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Speaker 2: witnessing your life, they are up in heaven with Jesus,
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Speaker 2: they are interceding for you, and when you pray to them,
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Speaker 2: you're not really praying to them, you're just kind of
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Speaker 2: asking them to pray to the Father for you, essentially
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Speaker 2: kind of like how you would ask a friend to
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Speaker 2: pray for you. That is the Catholic viewpoint on praying
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Speaker 2: to the saints. But Hebrews twelve says that we are
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Speaker 2: supposed to look to Jesus. Let's say that the cloud
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Speaker 2: of witnesses truly are witnessing our lives. Let's say that
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Speaker 2: they are up in heaven they can see us. There
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Speaker 2: is nothing in scripture that tells us that we are
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Speaker 2: to pray to them. In fact, there are more passages
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Speaker 2: in scripture that say we should not pray to the dead.
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Speaker 2: For for example, in Deuteronomy eighteen ten through twelve, here's what
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Speaker 2: it says. A no one among you is to sacrifice
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Speaker 2: his son or his daughter in the fire, practice divination,
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Speaker 2: tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, cast spells, consult a
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Speaker 2: medium or a spiritist, or inquire of the dead. Everyone
18:48
Speaker 2: who does these acts are detestable to the Lord. And
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Speaker 2: the Lord your God is driving out the nations before
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Speaker 2: you because of these detestable acts. So God does not
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Speaker 2: like it when you inquire of the dead. Now, the
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Speaker 2: Catholics would say, oh, we're not in acquiring of the dead.
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Speaker 2: We are just asking the dead to pray for us,
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Speaker 2: the saints, because they're not really dead.
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Speaker 1: They are alive with Jesus.
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Speaker 2: But let's move to Isaiah eight nineteen and twenty and
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Speaker 2: see what Isaiah says about inquiring of the dead. When
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Speaker 2: they say to you, inquire of the mediums and the
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Speaker 2: spiritists who chirp and mutter. Shouldn't a people inquire of
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Speaker 2: their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf
19:25
Speaker 2: of the living, go to God's instruction and testimony. So
19:30
Speaker 2: that verse makes it very clear that there is a
19:32
Speaker 2: difference between somebody who is alive and somebody who is dead.
19:36
Speaker 2: Even if their spirit is alive, their body is dead.
19:39
Speaker 2: And that makes it very clear here, should people inquire
19:42
Speaker 2: of the dead on behalf of the living go to
19:47
Speaker 2: God's instruction and testimony, So, in other words, go straight
19:51
Speaker 2: to God. And here's another verse that differentiates between the
19:54
Speaker 2: living and the dead. This is Ecclesiastes nine, verse five.
19:59
Speaker 2: It says, for the living know that they will die,
20:01
Speaker 2: but the dead don't know anything. So essentially, when the
20:04
Speaker 2: dead are dead, they are dead. And that's not to
20:07
Speaker 2: say that their spirits aren't alive. Of course, their spirits
20:11
Speaker 2: are alive.
20:12
Speaker 1: Their spirits are.
20:13
Speaker 2: Alive with God up in heaven. But I think that
20:16
Speaker 2: Versus saying that they don't know what's happening here on
20:19
Speaker 2: earth when they die, they do not have any understanding
20:24
Speaker 2: of what's going on here on earth because they are
20:26
Speaker 2: at rest in paradise. They are not interceding on our behalf.
20:31
Speaker 2: There is only one intercessor, and that is Jesus himself,
20:35
Speaker 2: who sits at the right hand of God the Father.
20:38
Speaker 2: He is our high priest. He is the one we
20:41
Speaker 2: are to pray to. He is the one that is
20:43
Speaker 2: interceding on our behalf. Hebrews mentions nobody else that is
20:47
Speaker 2: interceding on our behalf. To God the Father, it is
20:50
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone interceding for the people.
20:55
Speaker 2: So no, I do not believe that it is wise
20:58
Speaker 2: or biblical to pray to the saints, even if you say, oh, well,
21:03
Speaker 2: the saints are kind of just like my friend. You know.
21:05
Speaker 2: I would tell my friend, hey, can you please pray
21:07
Speaker 2: for me? And just like that, I would tell the saints, hey,
21:10
Speaker 2: can you please pray for me? But here's why that
21:12
Speaker 2: doesn't quite work. I am not praying to my friend
21:16
Speaker 2: when I ask her to pray for me. For example,
21:19
Speaker 2: I have a best friend. She lives in Kentucky. I
21:22
Speaker 2: cannot just sit here in my room and cross my
21:24
Speaker 2: hands and say, Kelsey, will you please pray for me?
21:27
Speaker 2: That would be me praying to my friend. And obviously
21:29
Speaker 2: she would not hear me. Now, if she listens to
21:31
Speaker 2: this podcast episode, she might be hearing me. But if
21:34
Speaker 2: I wanted her to pray for me, I would reach
21:36
Speaker 2: out to her. I would call her on the phone,
21:37
Speaker 2: or I'd text her and I'd be like, Hey, Kelsey,
21:39
Speaker 2: can you please pray for me? That is the difference.
21:44
Speaker 2: I am not praying to my friend when I ask
21:47
Speaker 2: her to pray for me. We are not supposed to
21:49
Speaker 2: pray to anybody other than God alone. We are to
21:54
Speaker 2: look to Jesus, the author and perfector of faith. That
21:57
Speaker 2: is what Hebrews twelve, verse two says, continuing, who for
22:01
Speaker 2: the joy that was set before him, endured the cross,
22:04
Speaker 2: despising its shame, and it sat down at the right
22:07
Speaker 2: hand of the throne of God. And I apologize if
22:10
Speaker 2: you can hear my dogs in the background. But we
22:13
Speaker 2: are to look to Jesus for the ultimate encouragement. And
22:16
Speaker 2: here is why, because you know the people in the
22:18
Speaker 2: Old Testament, they had faith, they were looking for the promise.
22:22
Speaker 2: They kept going even in terrible circumstances. But Jesus is
22:26
Speaker 2: the ultimate example of that. It says for the joy
22:29
Speaker 2: that was set before him, he endured the cross despising
22:33
Speaker 2: its shame. Jesus did not look at the here and now. Instead,
22:38
Speaker 2: he was focused on the joy that was set before him.
22:41
Speaker 2: That is how he was able to endure the most
22:44
Speaker 2: shameful and excruciating death imaginable. You know, crucifixion was supposed
22:50
Speaker 2: to be a very shameful form of death. You were
22:52
Speaker 2: hanging up naked on a cross, and it was a
22:54
Speaker 2: very slow form of death as well, because you slowly
22:57
Speaker 2: would suffocate. Was very painful, very disgusting. You know, the
23:01
Speaker 2: Romans were excellent at torture, and that is what crucifixion
23:06
Speaker 2: was supposed to be. But Jesus did not look at that.
23:09
Speaker 2: He focused on the future. He focused on the joy
23:12
Speaker 2: that was set before him. Just like the people in
23:14
Speaker 2: the Old Testament were focused on the promise that they
23:17
Speaker 2: were supposed to receive, the promise of the Messiah. They
23:19
Speaker 2: looked for that and that is how they were able
23:21
Speaker 2: to have faith. Jesus is the ultimate example of continuing
23:26
Speaker 2: through when something is difficult, and he achieved that joy.
23:30
Speaker 2: It says he has sat down at the right hand
23:33
Speaker 2: of the throne of God. He was looking to grant
23:35
Speaker 2: salvation to the entire earth. And now that that is done.
23:39
Speaker 2: You know, Jesus set up on the cross right before
23:41
Speaker 2: he died. He said it is finished, meaning that the
23:43
Speaker 2: work that he came to do on earth it was finished.
23:47
Speaker 2: And then he died, rose again on the third day,
23:50
Speaker 2: gave salvation to the entire earth. And now he is
23:53
Speaker 2: sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God.
23:56
Speaker 2: And it says to conclude here that we need to
23:58
Speaker 2: consider him who is an endured such contradiction of sinners
24:02
Speaker 2: against himself that you don't grow weary fainting in your souls.
24:08
Speaker 2: So even Jesus was not exempt from problems and persecution
24:11
Speaker 2: here on earth, and yet he endured all of this.
24:15
Speaker 2: Referencing that Hebrews book again by Thomas R. Schreiner, here's
24:19
Speaker 2: what it is. Says, quote Jesus faced remarkable hostility of
24:23
Speaker 2: sinners against himself. Probably the author alludes to a similar
24:27
Speaker 2: hostility which the readers experienced, so he calls upon them
24:31
Speaker 2: to consider their brother and Lord, who was not exempt
24:34
Speaker 2: from the same opposition by sinners. The author is concerned
24:38
Speaker 2: that the readers will grow weary and lose heart, but
24:41
Speaker 2: by considering what Jesus suffered, they will have a fresh
24:44
Speaker 2: resolve in a world that remains unfriendly and opposed. So essentially,
24:50
Speaker 2: these three verses in a nutshell come down to encouragement,
24:55
Speaker 2: come down to why we should continue to persevere though
24:59
Speaker 2: they get really rough. For us Christians, we might have
25:02
Speaker 2: our faith get shaken if something bad happens to us,
25:05
Speaker 2: if a sickness in our family happens, if a death
25:08
Speaker 2: in our family happens, if somebody we love has been hurt,
25:12
Speaker 2: if we've been betrayed by somebody, if we're suffering through persecution,
25:17
Speaker 2: or any other issue that might pop up in our lives.
25:20
Speaker 2: We have many examples from the Old Testament of people
25:23
Speaker 2: who dealt with very similar issues and yet still maintained
25:28
Speaker 2: the faith and never even saw the promise that they
25:31
Speaker 2: were promised. And same goes for Jesus in the New Testament,
25:35
Speaker 2: who endured the most excruciating death imaginable, who endured the
25:40
Speaker 2: worst kind of persecution imaginable and still looked forward to
25:45
Speaker 2: the joy that was set before him. So we need
25:48
Speaker 2: to do the same thing as Christians. We need to
25:50
Speaker 2: look to the joy that is ahead of us, to
25:53
Speaker 2: the promises that God gave us, even if we are
25:55
Speaker 2: struggling through something really terrible.
25:58
Speaker 1: Right now, all right, faith.
26:01
Speaker 2: Listeners, Before I close out today's episode, here's one last
26:04
Speaker 2: sponsored ad to conclude this episode. I encourage you to
26:10
Speaker 2: take some time today and read the Bible, read a
26:14
Speaker 2: story of somebody in the Old Testament or in the
26:16
Speaker 2: New Testament that persevered through faith, or maybe you can
26:20
Speaker 2: even read some faith stories online. One thing I like
26:23
Speaker 2: to do in my personal time is listen to people's
26:25
Speaker 2: testimonies because they're very encouraging. And you can find all
26:29
Speaker 2: sorts of testimonies on YouTube if that's something you're interested
26:32
Speaker 2: in doing, or you can read a magazine like The
26:35
Speaker 2: Voice of the Martyrs, which is one that I like
26:37
Speaker 2: to read personally. These are all really good things that
26:40
Speaker 2: you can do to encourage yourself when you are struggling
26:43
Speaker 2: through something very difficult. And that is why testimonies are
26:46
Speaker 2: so important, by the way, because people can relate to
26:48
Speaker 2: what you are going through. So maybe try to look
26:51
Speaker 2: up some testimonies if you're struggling in your faith right now,
26:54
Speaker 2: look up some testimonies on YouTube, or maybe read an
26:58
Speaker 2: article online, or preferably go to the Old Testament and
27:01
Speaker 2: gain some encouragement there by reading the stories of these
27:05
Speaker 2: people who dealt with terrible things, or read the crucifixion
27:09
Speaker 2: story of Jesus, which is the ultimate example of endurance
27:13
Speaker 2: through persecution. Faithful listeners, I hope you all have a
27:16
Speaker 2: fantastic and wonderful rest of your day. I will see
27:20
Speaker 2: all of you on Monday, because tomorrow is for the
27:23
Speaker 2: faithful members. If you would like to become a Faithful
27:26
Speaker 2: Member and gain access to the Friday Podcast episode, you
27:29
Speaker 2: can find the link in the description that says Koffee
27:32
Speaker 2: and when you click on that, become a Coffee Tier
27:35
Speaker 2: member in order to gain access to the Friday Podcast
27:37
Speaker 2: where right now we are going through the Book of
27:40
Speaker 2: the Psalms. When you become a member, I will send
27:42
Speaker 2: you a private link where you can gain access to
27:45
Speaker 2: the Friday Podcast. So upgrade from being a faithful listener
27:49
Speaker 2: to a faithful member, and I will see all of
27:51
Speaker 2: you guys tomorrow or if not, I will see all
27:54
Speaker 2: of you on Monday for an episode from the Book
27:56
Speaker 2: of Ezra. Until then, happy weekend, happy listening, and God bless.
28:08
Speaker 2: I just want to take a second to thank the
28:09
Speaker 2: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
28:12
Speaker 2: the Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to
28:14
Speaker 2: lifeaudio dot com you will find dozens of other faith
28:17
Speaker 2: centered podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer,
28:20
Speaker 2: Bible study, parenting, and more.