THE KING’S BUSINESS
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H e is now “ set down at the right hand of the throne o f God.” Because He humbled Himself and made this choice, God highly exalted Him and gave Him a place at His own right, hand (cf. Phil. 2:6-11), and if we run with endurance and choose the cross instead o f the joy, and despise the shame, we too shall sit down with Him on His throne (cf. Rev. 3:21). The exhortation in this verse is a most stirring one, and it was never more needed than today. Our day is a day o f an easy-going Christianity, o f raptures and ecstasy and joy, rather than a Christianity o f self-sacrifice and hardship and hítense effort. Our modern Christian ity is a Christianity o f songs, and socials and jollity and “ having a good time,” but that is not the Christianity o f the Bible. “Make it as easy and pleasant and hilarious as possible for the young convert” is our twentieth century slogan. Do not ask them to give up anything more than is abso lutely necessary. Bring in tableaux, and socials, and amusements (even cards and dances), is the cry o f the present day. “ Not so,” says the Holy Spirit, “ let them lay aside every weight,” that covers the dance question, the theatre question, the movie question, and the card playing question, and a host o f other questions. “ Let them endure the cross as Jesus did,” the Holy Spirit continues. A h ! “ the cross,” the experience o f shame, reproach, dishonor, pain, agony, death, not the place o f applause and honor. How “the modern Christian” shuns the cross! The note o f these verses jars terribly on the spirit o f the times, but God says, look at Jesus, who is our pat tern (cf. Matt. 16:24). He “ endured the cross,” so must we. But there is another side. He received an abundant reward: so shall we if we do as He did. But what will the average professing Christian o f today receive, in whose - experience is no cross, no shame, no sacrifice? As a result o f the cross Jesus is now in the place o f “all power” (cf. Matt. 28:18), He “hath sat down at the right hand o f the throne of- God.” Where shall we sit?
The thought in this verse is not that Jesus is the One who develops our faith and brin'gs our faith to perfection, but that He is the One who is the supreme example of- faith, the One who exhibits faith in its perfect form, therefore we should fix our eyes upon Him in order that we may attain unto a faith like His. The moment we take our eyes off from Him we will stumble in the race. Here is why many do stumble and fall in the race, they get their eyes on some one else than the Lord Jesus, they select some man who they think is a worthy leader, but no other man, not even the most perfect o f men is a safe leader, and if we get our'eyes upon any one else than upon Jesus the supreme example, the only one who has brought faith to its perfection, we are bound to fall in the race. W e must fix our eyes upon Him, and Him alone. The word translated ‘‘looking unto"- is a very expressive word, it sets forth the thought o f looking away from everything else and everyone else, and looking at Jesus and Him alone. Most people read this verse as meaning that Jesus, because o f the joy that was set before Him after the agony o f the cross was over, endured the cross. But that is not the thought at all o f the verse, as is evident from the Greek. The thought is that “instead o f the joy that lay before Him He endured the cross,” i. e., He had His choice between the joy o f heavenly glory and honor, and the suffer ing o f the cross, and ‘‘instead o f the joy,” the joy o f equality and fellowship with God and participation in His glory, He chose the suffering o f the cross, the same thought that is set forth in Phil. 2 : 6 - 8 . And the implied thought is that we must choose the cross"instead o f the joy if we would win jthe race. Jesus not only chose the cross instead o f the joy, but He despised shame. He regarded with utter contempt the shame that lay in the path o f absolute loyalty to God, and there always will be shame in it (2 Tim. 3:12). As the result o f the Lord Jesus choosing the cross instead o f the joy that lay before Him, and as the result o f His despising shame,
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