We could turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews 10. Figured it would be a good idea to finish that chapter, Hebrews chapter 10. Our focus this evening will be verses 32 to 39, but I do want to begin reading in chapter 10 at verse 19. Hebrews 10, beginning in verse 19, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
But
The Command to Recall
recall the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle, both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. For you had compassion on me and my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
Do Not Cast Away Confidence
Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you again for the word of God.
We thank you for this section in the book of Hebrews and the great encouragement and emphasis upon endurance and perseverance in the Christian faith. God, I pray that we as people, the people of God in this particular church would receive these things. We would take them to heart, that we would be challenged, that we would be exhorted, that we would be encouraged. God, we confess at times we grow weary and at times we have these need for reminders of what you've done in the past and our responsibility now in the present.
And God, we just pray that your Holy Spirit would gird us up, would strengthen us in this way. For new believers, God, I pray that this would be an encouragement for them. And for older believers, those who have been at it for some time, I pray that it would just stir each one. up to love and good works and to faithfulness before our holy and our gracious God. Do forgive us now for our sins and please fill us with your Holy Spirit and guide us according to your blessed providence that we may glorify and honor you in this world and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Introduction
Remember that this section is the practical application of all that has gone before. The apostle here in verse 19 says, therefore, he starts to flesh out the life of the Christian, the way that they are to respond. And here specifically in chapter 10, there is this encouragement. and exhortation for the people of God to use the resources that they have been given. There's this warning concerning apostasy tucked in the middle in verses 26 to 31, and then he comes back to this emphasis on endurance and perseverance in verses 32 to 39.
I just told my wife I need to beef these up that's not as strong and I don't see as clearly as I ought. So from 32 to 39, he re-exhorts, re-encourages to perseverance. And then in chapter 11, the great hall of faith, he displays the persons that have gone before and shows that the things they did were by faith. Chapter 12, he then points the people of God to Jesus as a constant prod for us to go forward.
If we are not going forward, if we are stagnant in our faith, likely we will be to fall back, to fall into the apostasy that we are warned about in verses 26 to 31. So, a bulk of this practical section, beginning here in 1019 and continuing through chapter 12, or at least halfway into chapter 12, is all about the people of God persevering, enduring. Do not give up. Do not grow sluggish.
Do not grow complacent. Do not be lazy. In this particular context, do not kowtow. to the pressures around you, but rather continue to run with endurance the race that is set before you, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. As we look at this particular section, the basic theme is the past as a present reminder.
The apostle points them back to their history and to the things that they had gone through not to show them initially how strong and mighty they were and how they need to get back to that point, but rather to highlight the faithfulness of God. This is not new ground for them to suffer these pressures, to suffer these issues, to engage with these hardships. They found this at the very beginning of their Christian faith, and God was there. God was faithful to sustain them and to give them the grace to persevere.
And here now, that's the reminder. that same God that was present at the beginning is present with you now and has purpose to be so in the future. So
Reminder of Former Days
let's look first at the reminder of former days in verses 32 to 34. And then secondly, the exhortation to persevere in verses 35 to 39. Notice what he says there in verse 32. This is unimperative, it is a command, it is something the people of God are supposed to do.
Recall the former days. Recall the former days. Think back to God's faithfulness in your life. Think back to how God has sustained you in the past.
Think back to his presence among you in the midst of trial and suffering and affliction. Do not forget the proven faithfulness of God for the present. He goes on to highlight these former days in which after you were illuminated. And this illumination or enlightenment recalls the reception of the Christian gospel, their conversion, their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
And it is intriguing that oftentimes when people come to the Savior, the immediate effect is some sort of trial in their lives. It is some sort of hardship or difficulty in their lives. That's not always the case. Certainly there have been those who have been born again, and it goes for a time until they hit some affliction or some difficult thing.
But think back to King David. When David is anointed by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16, what immediately happens when the Spirit comes upon him? His life is changed and not for the better. David is then hunted by Saul.
He is persecuted by Philistines. He has trouble all around. Think about our Lord Jesus Christ. He is baptized.
The spirit of God comes upon him. And then in chapter four, verse one in Matthew's gospel, the spirit drives Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days. In Acts chapter 14, the apostle Paul is preaching and he says, we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of heaven. This is the common lot of the people of God.
If you are wondering why bad things are happening to you, That's really an inaccurate thing to wonder. The idea isn't that I can't believe that bad things are happening to such a great guy like me. The reality is, why do any good things happen to the sorts of people that we actually are? I've told you before.
C.S. Lewis wrote that little booklet, The Problem of Pain. John Gerstner wrote The Problem of Pleasure. The issue isn't the problem of pain.
In a world filled with sinners, pain is a legitimate sort of corollary. The problem is is that sinners actually get to enjoy good things. That is what is problematic. But in the Christian life, there will be tribulation.
Our Lord promised that. Our Lord exhorted his disciples in the upper room concerning that. And here the apostle tells them, Recall the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings. The apostle calls on them to remember their attitude when they were first converted and the perseverance that they engaged in at that particular time.
Calvin says the remembrance then of past warfare, if it had been carried on faithfully and diligently under the banner of Christ, is at length useful to us. Not as a pretext for sloth, as though we had already served our time. In other words, it's not the case that, you know, Lord, I've already served. I've already had a hard duty.
I've already had this suffering. I should be able to just skate now. I should be able to just soar into heaven or skip my way in. Calvin says, no, it's not supposed to be a pretext for sloth as though we had already served our time, but to render us more active in finishing the remaining part of our course.
In other words, he wants them to remember the faithfulness of God that they knew at that time when they had been illuminated and when they had endured a great struggle with sufferings.
Sufferings Endured as a Spectacle
He then indicates the sort of sufferings that they had suffered in the next phrase. Notice what he says, partly while you were made a spectacle, both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. That's an amazing statement. These persons that had received the gospel had been made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations.
It shouldn't take us much to consider in terms of what this means. It means what we see in the book of Acts. Remember, unbelieving Israel, the Jewish leadership, and the people of Israel that denied and rejected Jesus Christ made life difficult for the people of God. We saw that in the reading this morning.
The apostles are arrested. The apostles are beaten. The apostles will ultimately be executed for the cause of God and truth. And the believers likewise suffered these sorts of things.
And if we ask the question,
Why God Ordains Suffering
why does God do this? That's a question that I don't doubt has arisen in the hearts, perhaps, of some here. Why does God do this? Why is it that we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of heaven?
Why was it necessary for these Hebrew Christians to have gone through the things that they go through? or the sorts of things that you and I have endured, or the things that you and I have persevered through. We ask the question, why? Well, I think the Bible affords us an excellent answer, and I think John Owen has sort of summarized it well. He says, it is usual with God thus to deal with his people in all ages.
He knows sooner calls persons to himself, but he leads them into the wilderness. He knows sooner plants them, but he shakes them with storms that they may be more firmly rooted. He goes on to say he does it one utterly to take off their expectations from this world or anything they're in. In other words, we don't want to be too attached to this world, so God in his mercy and grace brings these afflictions so that we don't count this as our eternal home.
He says, secondly, for the trial of their faith. Remember Abraham, take your son, your only son, the son that you love, take him up on Mount Moriah and sacrifice him. Three, for the glory and propagation of the gospel, such that when we are going through these sorts of things, we don't whine or grumble or complain. Persons around us say, how in the world can you maintain composure and stability in the midst of everything collapsing around you?
Because it's for the glory of God. It's for the exaltation of Jesus Christ. It is to bring honor to his great name. He says, fourthly, for the exercise of all graces, if we were not tried or afflicted, all the graces God has supplied would not be exercised.
He says, fifthly, to breed us up into the military discipline of Christ as He is the captain of our salvation. He finally says, they who pass through their first trials are Christ's veterans on new attempts. That's an excellent sort of compendium or summary statement as to why the people of God go through these sorts of things. Go to other portions of Scripture, 2 Corinthians chapter 1.
Why do you and I go through hardship and affliction? In that context, it's to encourage and to comfort other persons that go through those things as well. In other words, those veterans who've been tried and proven by God are able then to speak to the younger among us and to encourage them to faithfulness and diligence in the light of the various afflictions and trials that people suffer. So these Hebrew Christians had been made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and as well, they had partnered with those who were so persecuted, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated.
They didn't abandon them, they didn't jump ship from them.
Partnering with the Persecuted
Go back to Philippians chapter 1 for just a moment. Philippians chapter 1, I think there's an illustration of this in the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. Philippians chapter 1 at verse 12. He says, I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happen to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.
If I were to ask you, where was Paul when he wrote Philippians? You might say, well, he was in a hotel, and he was, you know, didn't have Wi-Fi, and he had some time on his hands, and he couldn't play Angry Birds, and he just thought he'd pen this epistle. Paul was in jail. This is one of the prison epistles.
Philippians is a prison epistle. The apostle had been in jail on two occasions. But in this instance, the first time, he says, I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happen to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. See why he says that.
Persons would say, well, Paul's in prison. This must stop the kingdom of God. Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, is in prison. That means there's no more progress.
See, we can do this or be tempted to do this when there is a man or men that we think are very successful in terms of gospel ministry, we begin to put them on pedestals and we begin to think that the kingdom of God depends upon that. Paul says that's not the way it is. Jesus is building his church. He says the things that have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.
Now, for Paul, concretely, it meant this. Verse 13, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. So Paul is chained and the guards are asking him, what's he in for? He's not saying, well, you know, I've been framed.
I was, you know, shortchanged in the courtroom. I have these people that just don't like me. I'm here because of Jesus. I'm here because of the Nazarene.
I'm here because of the God man who took on our humanity, who lived and died and rose again on our behalf. So in terms of the palace guard, they've got the gospel. Verse 14, he says, And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. A whiff of persecution is a good thing in the life and context of the church of Jesus Christ.
That helps us to shake off slothfulness and to be diligent with reference to our service to God. Now notice in verse 15, Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preached Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains." There were those who didn't like Paul. There were those who didn't respect Paul.
There were those who held Paul in contempt, and Paul understood that and knew that. He was a spectacle as far as they were concerned. He was somebody that they had, in fact, abandoned, but there were those who supported him. He goes on in verse 17, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.
And I love verse 18, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. Comparing this with Galatians 1, Paul condemns anybody that twists or distorts the gospel. If anybody changes the gospel, if anybody twists it, if anybody adds a nuance or tries to supplement or try to take away from it, Paul says, may the wrath and fury and judgment of God be upon their heads.
In this context, Paul knew there were people out there preaching that didn't like Paul. Perhaps they were doing it to spite Paul, but nevertheless, they were preaching the truth. And as far as Paul was concerned, he didn't care about their motivation if they were upset with Paul or they wanted to sort of needle Paul. Paul was concerned with the gospel being propagated, even if it was from men who had contempt for Paul.
But this happens, brethren, it happened in 2 Timothy with reference to the apostle as well. Turn to 2 Timothy 1. Just making the point, there are those who suffer for the cause of Jesus Christ, and there are those who abandon those who suffer for the cause of Jesus Christ. These Hebrew Christians, recalling the days, the former days when they were illuminated, they endured reproach and tribulations on their own part, but they also partnered with others.
They didn't abandon those who had need of them. Notice in 2 Timothy 1, at verse 13. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
Here's an exhortation for Timothy to faithfulness and to perseverance. Now he gives examples of those who are ashamed of the gospel, who are ashamed of Paul. Look back for just a moment to verse 8. Paul says, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.
He then exhorts Timothy to faithfulness and perseverance and to hold fast and to keep by the Holy Spirit that good thing which is committed to you keep. Now he gives these examples in a negative sense in verses 15 and following. "'This you know, that all those in Asia "'have turned away from me, "'among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. "'The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, "'for he often refreshed me "'and was not ashamed of my chain.
"'But when he arrived in Rome, "'he sought me out very zealously and found me. "'The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy "'from the Lord in that day. "'And you know very well how many ways "'he ministered to me at Ephesus.'" So these Hebrew Christians were like Onesiphorus. They were not like Phygelus and Hermogenes, but rather they stood by not only when they themselves suffered persecution, but they stood by others as they suffered persecution also.
In other words, they remembered the prisoners. In other words, they had compassion on the prisoners. They were concerned for their fellow saints that were under pressure. And then he gives specific examples of that.
Compassion and Joyful Acceptance
Notice the manifestation of their conduct. Verse 33, partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. And then he says, first, for you had compassion on me and my chains. Now there's a reading that says, on the prisoners.
There's no fundamental difference. The idea is, whether it was Paul or whether it was Christian prisoners at large, they had compassion. Now, compassion doesn't simply mean a sympathy toward them, but a compassion that we find in the New Testament is a compassion that is filled with good works. It's not only to remember them, but it's also to pray for them.
It's also to assist them and aid them and help them. Typically prison system back then wasn't three hots and a cot. If you were gonna eat, your friends brought you food. And so Christians demonstrated faithfulness to their brothers and sisters by bringing them food.
If you continue on in the book of Philippians, Paul commends the church and specifically Epaphroditus for having brought gifts to Paul. Again, that wasn't a good wifi connection. It wasn't, you know, slippers for his feet in that cold cell, but it was rather food. It was the sort of thing that would have kept him alive.
And so he commends the church in Philippi for having sent Epaphroditus to alleviate his need for food. So he says, you have had compassion on me in my chains, and then notice, joyfully accepting the plundering of your goods. They joyfully accepted the plundering of their goods. Now, that's a kind of an interesting statement.
Does that mean that the feds come in and they start carting everything off and you got a big smile on your face and you say, take it, take it. I don't know that that's necessarily what it means. This could have been state sponsored, but it was most likely mob violence directed against the people of God. I think the joyfully accepted isn't praising and applauding while your stuff is heading out the door, but it's that resolute composure under these trials, knowing that God most high is over this, that God most high is sovereign, and that God most high has orchestrated even that for my good and for his glory.
And then notice what he goes on to say, knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. So all of this is recall the former days. All of this is how you lived in the past. This should serve to fortify you in the present and prepare you for the future.
Past Faithfulness Steadies the Present
Dale Ralph Davis in his commentary, one of the commentaries on the former prophets says, we stand in the present but dwell on the past in order that we can be steadfast for the future. I think that's the thrust of many of the Psalms in the Psalter. It is to recall what God has done in the past, especially the Psalms ascribed to Asaph. Asaph was a sorrowful fellow.
Asaph was a melancholic man. Asaph certainly knew suffering and hardship and pain. but Asaph continually rehearses the faithfulness of God. And oftentimes throughout the Psalter, the psalmist points back to the Exodus. While there may not be the sort of manifestation or demonstration of God's power in the present, we know the Exodus and we know what he did in terms of bringing out the children of Israel from that Egyptian bondage.
That would stabilize and steady the soul in the present when those sorts of manifestations of God were not occurring. And that's the emphasis of the apostle in this instance. But one of the ways or one of the means by which they were able to enter into the lives of, to their own suffering, the way that they were entering into the suffering of others, the way that they could joyfully accept the plundering of their goods is because they had this heavenly orientation. Notice that that's exactly what he says at the end of verse 34, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
Turn to 11, chapter 11. and verse 24. Chapter 11, verse 24. Notice, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. Such a recurring emphasis in this epistle.
You need to consider heaven. You need to ponder glory. You need to realize that our citizenship is there. We're simply pilgrims in this particular land.
Look at chapter 12 at verse one. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him." See that future orientation? Same sort of thing in chapter 10. You joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods knowing that you have this eternal possession in your future.
Moses was able to suffer reproach for Christ with the people of Christ. because He esteemed the greater riches in the future. Same with the Lord Jesus, who for the joy that was set before Him, the glory of God, and the salvation of manifold souls, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So back in our text in chapter 10 verse 34, knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. He's calling them to recover that.
He's calling them to revive that. He's calling for them to stir that back up in their hearts. If when they were first illuminated or enlightened, if when they were first born again, they suffered these various hardships, they were able to do so by considering God, by considering that future inheritance, the emphasis of the apostle is to do that right now. Do not recant, do not go back, do not leave the Lord Jesus Christ.
This passage is parallel with what we see in 2 Corinthians 4, 17 to 18. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, that doesn't make sense to us when we're in it, does it? We walk by faith, brethren, not by sight. And I realized that some people go through years, seasons, extended, prolonged times of hardship, affliction, and suffering.
It may not seem like a momentary light affliction. That's why Paul wrote it, because he wants us to ponder the specific issues that dot the map here versus eternity to come. When we've been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. And we're certainly not going to be thinking back to, you know, 1998 when somebody said such and such about me.
That's not going to be on the horizon. Or we're not going to think back even to that season wherein we suffered great affliction except maybe to praise God for having brought us through it. So this momentary light affliction doesn't seem like it at the time, but that's why we need to come to texts like this to inform our minds and hearts. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. So you see, we have these emphases in scripture because they're contrary to the way that we typically function. We get into a mess and that consumes us.
We get into a trial and everything collapses around us. We have some hardship and we forget everything the Bible ever said. That's why in so many instances, this theme is replete. How many times in the Old Testament does God tell his people, do not fear?
Is it just because God wants to tell them, do not fear? Or is it because the default mechanism in the heart of man is to fear? Why do you think we have to be reminded and encouraged to look beyond the affliction to that exceeding weight of glory? Because it is contrary to what we typically do.
We need these emphases, we need to be preached to, we need to read, we need to listen to sermons on, we need to have this fortification in our hearts. And notice what he says, you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. It endures. What we face now is momentary light afflictions.
In the sovereign providence of God, it isn't typically the case that somebody is born again and then they face constant, nonstop misery until the day they die. Unless, you know, they die 15 minutes later and they, you know, have a rough spot there. But God in his grace, for the most part, the sun looks like it might be shining, right? My brother prayed that way.
The rain comes and then the sun comes. That's pretty much the way the ebb and the flow of the Christian life is. I have yet to meet somebody that has said, ever since I confessed faith in Christ, my life has been a zero. It has been a goose egg.
It has been nothing but hardship, trial, and affliction. Now, sometimes we say that in a hyperbolic manner, but then we need to recount that, yeah, we had a good steak last week, we got to smile or laugh at the grandkids. There's something, right? There's something that isn't affliction.
With reference to the eternal weight of glory, it's enduring. So whatever we face now, it is a momentary light affliction. It is vanishing. It is going away.
It's not going to be our lot in eternity to suffer reproach, to suffer tribulation, to be called upon to partner with those who do. No, it is going to give away to a place where there is enduring bliss, blessing, and the presence of God Almighty. to continually cheer the believer's soul. That's a reminder of former days.
Exhortation to Persevere
Now notice the exhortation to persevere in verses 35 to 39. Verse 35, therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. See, he calls them to remember the past, and now he tells them to continue faithfully in the present. Brethren, this to me seems to be one of the areas that we need to visit a lot.
I think that there is a tendency or a temptation in us to throw up our hands and say, I don't want to keep going forward because this is tough. You know, the idea of not sinning. How well does that work for us? We're called to be holy as God is holy.
We're called in Matthew 5.48 to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect. So we wake up on Thursday morning, we say, we don't wanna sin, we wanna be holy, we wanna be perfect. That lasts how long in your experience? Not typically a long time.
If you wake up at six and you make it to 6.01 in that frame, that's probably an accomplishment. That could be discouraging, can't it? We're told to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. And yet we find this principle in us, vis-Ã -vis Romans 7, where we're not putting on the Lord Jesus as we ought, and we are not putting to death the deeds of the body as we ought.
And it can be discouraging. Everybody's looking puzzled. That doesn't discourage you? You're called to be holy and you're not?
That's a big fat discouragement in my life, but nevertheless, this is the sorts of things, or these are the sorts of things, we need constant reminder of. And he tells them, therefore, do not cast away your confidence. Do not cast away your hope. Do not cast away your soul ultimately, but rather you go forward because it has great reward.
The book of Hebrews is punctuated throughout by reward. You've already seen it with Moses. You see it with Jesus. You see it encouraged upon or by the apostle encouraging the people of God.
There is great reward. Just back to 11. Ponder the emphasis in the Moses section. Verse 23 of chapter 11, by faith Moses when he was born was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command.
By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Notice, brothers and sisters, I don't want to discourage you further, if you're already in that sort of morass, but there is an appeal to sin. When we sin, it's because there's something desirable in us. We don't sin because we hate it and we want nothing to do with it.
There's something there, enticing, something there that sort of gets its hand around our throat and draws us in. And the text acknowledges that. There's a pleasure associated with sin, but we need to recall that it's a passing pleasure. And then Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ.
Interesting choice of terms, the reproach of Christ. That's what Moses was enduring during that era, during that age. Christ, the reproach of Jesus Christ, greater riches. What God holds out is far more excellent than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward.
Verse 27, by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. You see, we walk by faith and not by sight. We have these momentary light afflictions, but there is this exceeding weight of glory in our future. We need to consider and ponder that reward.
See, Christianity isn't monkery. It's not suffering for suffering's sake. You know, the monks did things like put ashes in their soup. Did you ever do that, kids?
Mom serves you a nice, heaping, steaming hot bowl of good soup, and you put ashes in there, because you're not really supposed to enjoy it. My wife's probably saying, that's what you would do, Jim. You're not supposed to enjoy it. Or they'd wear hair shirts, because we shouldn't have any comfort.
I mean, after all, we're sinners and hair shirts, you know, not cashmere, but hair that afflicts you. And then some would, you know, sit on these big tall poles. suffering for suffering's sake. That's not Christianity. That's not what Moses did.
Moses was looking forward to the reward. It's more like this, suffer now with the people of God and enjoy the blessing of heaven, or have the passing pleasures of sin in Egypt and end up in hell. It seems a simple option, doesn't it? It seems a simple transaction, and it's something that the people of God need to ponder.
We need to consider our heavenly state. We need to think through the implications of glory. We need to consider the reality that one day we shall see Him as He is. Notice in verse 36, after the exhortation given in verse 35, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
The Need for Endurance
Verse 36 gives the reasons why. First of all, they need to endure. You have need of endurance. This is for every Christian.
It's every Christian's need to endure or to persevere, to not give up, to not throw up their arms, to not act like a child having a tantrum at Walmart saying, no, I don't wanna do it. You've been called to do it. God graciously supplies the resources for you to do it. Now get up and do it.
That is our mandate. And then he goes on to speak concerning the will of God. For you have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God. It's not intriguing.
The will of God includes suffering. The will of God includes trial. The will of God includes affliction. The will of God includes hardship.
I've said it many times before, Romans 8, 28. We know that God causes all things to work for good to those who love him, to those who are the called according to his purpose. He wouldn't need to tell us that for good things, would he? We know that God causes job promotions to work for good.
Of course, it's a no brainer. We know that God causes obedient children to work for good. Do you see the sign on the church on the corner? Children, I forget what it was.
Something about children is the way of sanctification for people. It's actually a good. a good sign on that particular church. The bottom line is, with reference to this particular issue, we need to understand that with reference to the will of God, there is suffering, there is hardship, there is affliction, and He has purposed it, according to Paul in Romans 8.28, for our good. All things work for our good.
Look at 1 Peter chapter 4 to see this very clearly by another apostle. 1 Peter chapter 4. Basically how to deal with persecution. how to engage when you are being persecuted. Verse 17, for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Now, if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God, commit their souls to him in doing good as to a faithful creator. Now, brethren, that's a tough statement in some sense. It's not tough if you're reformed.
It's not tough if you're Calvinist. It's not tough if you understand theology and doctrine. It's not tough in that sort of a context. It is tough when you're laying on your sickbed.
It is tough when you've been hit by a car. It is tough when you've contracted something. You know disease it is tough when your family collapses around you it is tough to remember this but we need to commit our souls to him in doing good as to a faithful creator because hardship and affliction and trial and car crashes and the dissolution of family and diseases and all those sorts of things are are under the sovereignty of God. It's one thing to acknowledge this as a five-point Calvinist.
It's another thing to submit to that providence when it doesn't necessarily go our way. And that's the emphasis of the apostles in the New Testament in a context where the people of God were suffering in a way that you and I aren't. They had the unbelieving Jews initially persecuting the church. I've mentioned before that the Roman Empire didn't mess with the church at the first, because they saw the church as a subset of Judaism.
Judaism was tolerated in the empire. For the most part, the empire left Judaism alone. Therefore, Christianity pretty much got a pass. But the unbelieving Jews certainly persecuted the Christians.
And as time went on, specifically under Nero, we see more antipathy from the state against the people of God, against Christianity. And you see that throughout history. But in this New Testament context, much of the documentation is like orders for the battlefield, because it was precisely that. They were in a spiritual battle that had physical ramifications, and the apostles were their guides, encouragers, exhorters, and helpers to keep them going.
Back to Hebrews chapter 10, for you have need of endurance so that after you've done the will of God, you may receive the promise. Again, he's interlacing that theme of reward and promise all along the way. It's not suffering for suffering's sake. There's no nobility or virtue in just suffering.
That's not what scripture teaches. There is this mindset out there that if I suffer and I'm miserable, then that's true piety and true holiness and true godliness. No, it isn't. It's faithful steadfastness and perseverance in the midst of that with a disposition of joy, not because you're in the midst of suffering, but because of what God has for you in the future.
And then
Faith as the Ground of Perseverance
notice finally in this section, he appeals to scripture. In verses 37 and 38, there is this appeal to scripture. Now the emphasis, we'll look at the particular text in just a moment, but the emphasis is on faith. It's on faith.
Look at it. for yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now, the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. Now, in terms of faith, we look at this context, and I've already mentioned on several occasions, perseverance, endurance, steadfastness, going forward. How do we do that?
By faith in the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself for us. In other words, we don't just persevere and we don't just endure devoid from the Christian gospel. We don't do it apart from the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and who gave himself for me.
Brethren, Christian perseverance is Christian perseverance. There are Stoics and Spartans that can endure and persevere through a whole lot of misery. Look at the U.S. Navy SEALs.
I mean, their training alone shows a degree of steadfastness and perseverance that I don't typically see in the church. But that doesn't mean they're godly. That doesn't mean they're righteous. That doesn't mean that some of them aren't, but you get the point.
Christian perseverance is Christian perseverance. We draw strength by faith in the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself for us. John Owen makes the observation. Now, this is a bit of sort of Owen.
The way that Owen writes is a bit difficult, I think, for modern readers. But if you get the content of what he is saying, it is profound. it is absolutely spot on. He says, unto this end, he commends unto them the necessary use of confidence and patience as those graces which would carry them through their difficulties and support them under them. But these graces are not the root whereon constancy and perseverance do grow.
They are all branches of it. They do not give strength unto the soul to do and suffer according to the mind of God, but they are the way whereby it doth exercise its strength, which it hath from another grace. He says it is faith from whence alone all these things do spring. So what's the answer for Christian perseverance and Christian endurance?
Read your Bible. attend church, pray to God Almighty, say with that man, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. The way of perseverance is not you're stronger and more powerful and more mighty than your fellows, but because you have faith in a God who is stronger and more powerful and mighty than any fellows there could ever be. It is faith in Christ that is the primary means by which we fulfill what God has given to us. And then the two texts, it's what's called a conflation.
He takes two texts, brings them together to present one idea. It's Isaiah 26, 20 and 21 and Habakkuk 2, 3 and 4. And essentially what these two texts together does is it communicates a contrast between the righteous person who lives by faith, and the wicked person who shrinks back from doing the will of God. I think you'll appreciate the connection in light of the context.
Notice what he says. For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. The drawing back, conditioned by the context, means those who commit apostasy.
The drawing back are those described in verses 26 to 31 who, when it gets tough, give in. Who, when it gets hard, give up. Who, when it becomes challenging, say, no more. And so the Apostle here collects these two verses and highlights or emphasizes this particular lesson.
The just shall live by faith. Isn't that Habakkuk's passage? Isn't that invoked by the Apostle on several occasions in the New Testament? Typically in the context of justification. but it has its use in sanctification.
Because we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ initially, we're justified freely by his grace, but it doesn't mean we stop believing. We continue to believe for the life of sanctification, and that's the emphasis of the apostle in this instance. Essentially, we could sort of translate Habakkuk 2 this way. The justified by faith shall live by his steadfast trust in the promises of God Almighty.
So this is where he sort of brings this exhortation to bear, and then as I said, he amplifies it and displays it, or rather develops it, in Hebrews chapter 11. There is the closest of connections between chapters 10 and 11. Sometimes that number 11 there throws us off. Sometimes we put a disjunctive sort of a break in between chapters that are supposed to go together.
Sort of a salt and pepper thing. It just goes together. You don't use one without the other. You shouldn't read chapter 10 without chapter 11.
You should see them in their continuity and the emphasis of the apostle to underscore all that he has said in terms of the people of God enduring and persevering and not giving up their confidence based on what? Faith in the living Christ. And then he points back to all of the heroes of the faith and history and says, this is essentially how they lived. This is how the patriarchs did it.
We've been going through Genesis in our Wednesday night studies. How does Abraham do the sorts of things that Abraham does? It's by faith. How does Isaac do the things that Isaac does?
By faith. How does Jacob do the things that Jacob does? By faith. How does Moses do the things?
You get the point? That's what he does. He goes from the patriarchs, he goes to Moses, he goes to the pre-monarchy, he goes to the monarchy, and he emphasizes the faith of God's people to endure. In fact, he sort of encapsulates it all at the end of chapter 11.
Notice what he says in verse 32. What more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. God, having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us." You see the emphasis in the section. You're not going to persevere and endure because you're mighty.
You're going to endure and persevere because Jesus is mighty. And you need to get your faith on Him. for the present battle. You need to recall what happened in the past when you had these sufferings, when you had these hardships. Who was there to deliver you?
Who saw you through? As you look back at your life, let's say you've been a Christian for years, and you've gone through some difficulties and some hardships. How did you get to this point? Because of your grit and determination, most of you would say, well, I hope all of you would say, it wasn't my grit and determination.
It certainly wasn't my grit and determination. If these walls could talk, Boy, they tell you this guy collapsed over in that corner one time and didn't think he was going to get up. How'd I get up? It wasn't my grit and determination.
My wife will tell you, I didn't have that kind of grit and determination. It's God. It's Christ. It's the power of the Christian gospel.
And then he applies this specifically to his hearers in verse 39. We are not of those who draw back to perdition. We are not the apostates of 26 to 31. We are not those people.
We may have remaining corruption, we may not live according to the light that we have, we may falter, we may fumble, we may sin, we may do this, that or the other, but we are not those persons, those apostasies that draw back unto perdition. He says, rather, we are those who believe to the saving of the soul. The saving of the soul is connected with the belief of the truth and not to our perseverance and endurance. So while he gives this warning, while he surrounds it with exhortation, he has confidence in his audience that they are not apostates, that they by grace will go forward, that they will evidence and demonstrate that they have in fact had faith in the Son of God who loved them and who gave himself for them.
Application
In terms of some concluding thoughts, the first thing is based on the first section in our passage, the necessity of remembering the past. The necessity of remembering the past. Now you might think that brings us into conflict with Philippians chapter 3. Paul says, I forget the things that are past and I reach forward to the things that are ahead.
I don't think that's the way we ought to understand that. We forget the past in terms of our sin, in terms of our, you know, so-called religious accomplishments, whatever it was that kept us from Christ. Paul wouldn't say don't recall the past when God vindicated you, when God delivered you, when God brought victory to you in the midst of great suffering. So we need to recall where we've been in order to steady us in the present to equip us for the future.
See, I really want to encourage all of us. I want to encourage the young people, the children. I love it when, you know, the young people, they want to get baptized. They want to make that confession of faith.
I get to meet with somebody else, God willing, next Saturday to talk about baptism. That's a thrill and a joy to see kids that have grown up and then they own the Savior. You know, you hear this all over. All our kids are leaving the churches in mass.
And I'm not saying no kids have ever left our church. But it is encouraging when kids don't leave, and when kids do confess, and when kids do get baptized. Kids means anybody under 53. And when they want to go forward with our Lord God Most High.
So I want to encourage you that Christianity is everything. It's not a Sunday sort of thing. It's not, you know, just a few moments of each day. Christianity is all-encompassing.
Christianity is an orientation. Christianity is all-consuming and it's glorious because Christ is glorious. He's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. And God willing, you'll sign up by grace in your early days.
And God willing, by grace, you will persevere to the very end. I think it was Wesley that said, our people die well. Now there are exceptions. Sometimes you have a Robert Robinson or you have a William Cooper, you have a Solomon, you have these guys that don't necessarily, I don't know, Cooper might have died well, but he certainly had some issues while he was alive.
But for the most part, the people of God die well. That's because our God is faithful to see us to the very end. And that is the recurring emphasis of Holy Scripture. We need to recall how God has faithfully sustained us.
John Owen again. But the apostle would have them so call to mind as to consider with all what supportment they had under their sufferings, what satisfaction in them, what deliverance from them, that they might not despond upon the approach of the like evils and trials on the same account. It makes sense, doesn't it? Something happens to you tomorrow, and I don't want this to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Everybody goes out and has a miserable day tomorrow, but let's just say something happens like that. Again, I'm not a prophet of the Son of the Prophet. I have no ability for performative speech, but let's just say that. Do you lose it?
Do you just freak out? Do you throw up your hands? Do you go, you know what? I had something happen like this similar back in the day, and you know, God was there, and He sustained me, and He upheld me, and He saw me through. not to promote or produce complacency or laziness or sloth, but to produce a resoluteness to persevere, knowing that it's God's fight. and He will keep you in it by His grace." That's what Owen is saying, if I could sort of read between the lines.
He goes on to say, if we remember our sufferings only as unto what is evil and afflictive in them, what we lose, what we endure and undergo, such a remembrance will weaken and dispirit us as unto our future trials. In other words, if all we do is look back at the misery associated with it, we look back at the terribleness of it, it's not going to help us. But if we are at this state, if we have gone through those trials, it is because God is faithful, and that is what we are to ponder. And then finally, I would suggest all of us need to consider our future in heaven.
I find this to be a challenge. I don't know if you're like me, but I find it to be a challenge. The Bible calls us to this. The Bible tells us to think about that reward, but we are here on earth, aren't we?
We have the news. We have commitment. We have jobs. We have responsibilities.
We have relationships. And they're not bad. It's good stuff. I mean, news typically is bad, but all that other stuff is good.
But it's very easy to sort of be tied to the earth. And I'm not suggesting we shouldn't think about jobs. We shouldn't think about, you know, thinking about heaven while you've got your arm near machinery probably isn't wise. You should think about machinery and keeping your arm at a safe distance.
You know, think about the glories of heaven. No, no, no. Maybe that's a time where you should really be tied to the earth at that particular moment. But it is a difficult challenge to consider and ponder how glorious it's going to be.
And the Bible tells us that. We have no conception. We have sort of no framework to quantify what it's gonna be like. We can't begin to enter into the reality of a place where we will see him as he is.
Our altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, we will see him with our eyes? We can't even begin to ponder a place where we won't sin. We'll stand before the throne of God day and night, worshiping and praising and glorifying, and that forever and ever? Brethren, that is hard to conceptualize on this side of it, but Scripture invites us to ponder and consider those things for the encouragement of our heart and for the perseverance in our lives.
We need to think in terms of the great and glorious things that God has for his people. The presence of affliction oftentimes hinders the consideration of better times. We need to overrule that. The presence of affliction must be managed with a consideration that it's temporary and that heaven is eternal, 2 Corinthians.
And the consideration of heaven is ultimately the believer's privileged duty and great joy. John Owen again says, in the times of suffering and in the approaches of them, it is the duty of believers to look on the glory of heaven under the notion of a refreshing, all-sufficient reward. He just says it so easily, and it's so easy to read, and it's so easy to exhort on. Man, I know when the afflictions and the trials come, it's so tough to gain that orientation.
Perhaps we need to spend more time in Hebrews chapter 10. He goes on to say, the glory of heaven is an abundant recompense for all we shall undergo in our way towards it. In other words, whatever we suffer, whatever hardship we have, God is going to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think when it comes to that future glory.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this section in Hebrews 10 and for the emphasis on perseverance. And I pray for each and every one of us here that you would grant us growth in grace, growth in faith, help us to see Christ that great captain of our salvation as the one in whom we have everlasting life.
And may that faith by grace cause us to press on, to endure, to go forward, I pray for the young people and the children here, God. It is a delight when they confess the Savior. It is a delight when they are baptized and added to the church. I pray that each of them would take seriously the demands of the discipleship and that by your grace they would go forward in the fear of God for the long haul.
And for all of us older folks, I pray that we too would not lose heart. that we would not end like a Solomon, but we would be faithful to the end because you are faithful and you uphold and you sustain us. I pray that you would go with us now, watching over us in this week, granting us the grace to bring honor and praise unto you. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.