HEB. xii. 2. “Who for the joy that was set before Him.”
EVERY rational being has an object set before it. The
creatures that are not rational live and exist for an end,
but the end is not set before them. It is important for
us very often to ask, for what end are we made and re-
deemed? We have here one view of the goal to which
our Saviour ran, or of the prize for which His course was
pursued.
I. What was the joy set before Jesus Christ?
1. It was the blessedness of redeemed men. Their joy
is the joy of coming out of darkness; and the production
of this joy was the prize of Jesus.
2. The joy which redeemed men may diffuse as well as
the joy which they inherit. How many tears may the
hand of a true Christian wipe away!
3. The joy which the redemption of every sinner gives
to the unfallen creation of God.
4. The joy of Jesus was the joy of God Himself in the
salvation of the lost.
5. The joy was the joy which must be awakened in
Jesus as the great joy-giver to a multitude of men which
no man can number.
II. The characteristics of the joy of Jesus. The joy of
love, not the joy of the miser; the joy of holiness, not the
joy of iniquity; the joy of conscious sufficiency of power
—in all respects a full, perfect, and Godlike blessedness.
III. Such blessedness, dear brethren, is won for you.
You can spread Divine joy; you can please God. If your
joy be Christ’s joy, and if you run your race with patience,
the day will soon come when you shall find yourself, not
worn and weary on the course, but sweetly resting at the
goal.
Samuel Martin