The Call to Endurance

Transcript

GR 1706
11/03/2013
The Call to Endurance
Heb. 10:32-39
Gil Rugh

We are in Hebrews 10. One of the great challenges for us as believers individually and as the church of Jesus Christ together is to persist in faithfulness to Him through trials and difficulties. I fear we live in a day when even the evangelical church, if I can use that umbrella word, those that claim to believe the Bible is the Word of God and salvation is by faith in Christ, we lose sight of what it means to be faithful in serving Christ. We live in a society that has been materially prosperous and in a country where Christians can live without much overt persecution, at least up to this point. And we can settle in after we have been believers for a time to the idea that it's good to be a Christian and fit in, be accepted by the world, even be admired by the world. And we sometimes view that as a mark of the success of the church, but the scriptural emphasis is, I'm afraid, the opposite of that.

Come back to John 15, some passages to prepare us for where we will be in Hebrews. We're going to be talking about the matter of endurance, endurance in the face of difficulty, trial, persecution, slander, particularly because of our testimony for Jesus Christ. And Christ set clearly the pattern that we should expect on this last night with His disciples in John 15. We'll pick up with verse 18. Just note the preceding verse because we'll be seeing that in our section that we'll be reviewing in Hebrews in a moment. “This I command you, verse 17, that you love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before you.” You'll note believers have a right and responsibility to be loving one another and expecting love from fellow believers. But that's not what we should expect from the world. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before you. The point being to summarize it is you should expect no better treatment or no different treatment from the world than I received. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of the world,” now note this, “but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

There is much naval gazing, as we sometimes refer to it, on the part of the evangelical church. Why are we not more loved by the world, appreciated by the world, accepted by the world? Maybe we are too negative. Why does the world see us as negative and narrow, self-righteous because we think that what we are teaching is the only way. And we get turned inward thinking it must be something wrong with us or our ministry that the world has a negative view of us. Now of course we want to be godly in our character, our goal is not to antagonize, not to be mean-spirited, not to be unkind, but to be truthful and follow the example of our Lord and Master.

He says, “I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” If you are a believer there is nothing you can do to change the animosity to the world. It is founded in the fact that you belong to Jesus Christ because of His sovereign choice. It is not a matter of changing this, changing that, trying to create a different image. It's founded in the fact that we have been blessed to be chosen by Christ out of the world. “Because of this the world hates you.” This is the foundation of all the opposition, all the persecution that comes to believers from the world. Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But these things they will do to you for My name's sake because they do not know the One who sent Me” Verse 23, ” he who hates Me hates the One who sent Me, My Father.”

So our identification with Christ is what stirs the opposition of the world. There is nothing you can do that will ever change that. Sometimes it is manifested more overtly, sometimes it is more subtle. But it is always there. And when the church determines that it is going to adjust itself in its ministry so that it has a better image in the sight of the world, it is in trouble. It is on the road to unbiblical compromise. When it is no longer acceptable to us to be treated like our Master was treated, then we are in danger of disassociating ourselves from Christ.

Turn over to 2 Corinthians 11. The Apostle Paul talks about his ministry and he contrasts his ministry and the ministry of other apostles with the situation the church at Corinth had come to be in. In 2 Corinthians 11 he talks about the sufferings he has gone through. Note verse 23, “are they servants of Christ?” And this has to do with some of the false teachers that came into the church at Corinth and we'll see their situation in a moment. “Are they servants of Christ?” Here is what Paul says it means to be a servant of Christ and what clearly marks him off from false teachers who had infiltrated the church and the genuine apostles. “Are they servants of Christ? I speak as if insane.” The very fact that he has to speak about his personal life as a support for his ministry concerns him. “I more so. Here is what it means to be a servant of Christ, and an outstanding servant of Christ. In far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death, beaten by the Jews. Five times he received 39 lashes, beaten by the Romans, three times beaten with rods, stoned, three times ship wrecked. Frequent journeys, dangers, labor.” Verse 27, “hardships, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, without food, cold exposure.” And those are just the external things. These mark me out as a genuine servant of Christ. These have come in with a gospel of accommodation and acceptance, I contrast the evidences of my genuineness. Are they servants of Christ? You see the evidence in me, and what is the evidence? Difficulty, trial, hardship and so on. That will characterize his life and ministry. We'll see the contrast, we'll wait and do that in a little bit with the situation at Corinth.

Come to Hebrews 10. Paul has gone through Hebrews 1-10:18 laying the foundation of clarifying the finality of God's revelation in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the One superior to everything associated with the Mosaic Law given through Moses. He is writing to Jews who have become believers in Christ, but in the fact of persecution and opposition and trial and difficulty some are contemplating whether a return to Judaism would be a possibility. He has explained clearly through most of the first ten chapters why there is no turning away, turning back from Christ because He is the only Savior.

With Hebrews 10:19 there is a transition in the emphasis of the epistle. He is going to stress more in this closing section of how the finished work of Christ and our relationship through faith to Him is to transform our conduct. And we're going to see that the faith that you place in Christ is not just something that occurs at a point in time, but the faith you place in Christ when you recognize your sin and guilt and come to trust Him as your Savior is the beginning of a life of faith. And life is never the same. That doesn't mean we don't stumble, that doesn't mean we don't sin, but it does mean our life now is lived in obedience to Him. And that is the characterization of one who is a believer, one who lives obediently to Christ.

In verses 19-25 which we've already looked at, he gave three exhortations based upon the high priestly ministry of Christ and the sacrifice He gave of Himself on the cross. He challenged them to “draw near,” verse 22; to “hold fast,” verse 23; to “consider,” verse 24. “Consider,” lay it on, “how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our assembling together.” How are you going to provoke and stir up fellow Christians to love and good deeds if you have no contact with them? But he puts a serious note in here—“not forsaking our own assembling together,” verse 25, “as is the habit of some.” As we noted there have already been casualties. Some within that congregation of believers have turned back from Christ, don't want to be identified with Christ and those who belong to Him because it brings difficulty and hardship to life.

That led him into the warning of verses 26-31. If we persist in our sin of unbelief, failure to recognize the finality of the sacrifice of Christ, there is nothing ahead of us but the certain expectation of terrifying judgment, the fires of hell. With that warning you might think, he thinks he is probably dealing with a congregation that is primarily comprised of unbelievers. But that is not the case.

So he comes back now to verse 32 and says, “but remember the former days.” So there is a warning about the seriousness of turning back from Christ and the fellowship of believers which he sees as joined together, but I am more confident about you.

Come back to Hebrews 6. This was a previous very serious warning passage. And you have the same kind of flow in this section in Hebrews 6. In verse 4 he says, “in the case of those who have been once enlightened,” we're going to talk about that again in the passage before us in Hebrews, “have tasted of the heavenly gift, have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, have tasted the good Word of God, the powers of the age to come and have fallen away.” They have turned back from Christ, they have become apostate, they no longer want to be part of the fellowship of believers, the followers of Christ. It is impossible to renew them again to repentance. All that awaits them is judgment.

Then there is that picture, the rain that falls on the ground sometimes produces thorns and thistles that aren't good for anything but burning, sometimes it produces good vegetation, verses 7-8. So the glorious truth of the gospel has fallen on this congregation, it can produce thorns and thistles, no genuine faith. People who just hear it but they don't respond in faith and are not transformed by it. Or it can produce the character of God in the life, the good vegetation, the good fruit.

Following that stern warning in Hebrews 6 he says in verse 9, “but beloved we are convinced of better things concerning you and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.” It's the same kind of pattern we're going to have in Hebrews 10. He has to warn them about the danger of failing to truly believe in Christ and have a life that manifests true saving faith. And that will involve a continued commitment to Christ in following and serving Him. But those stern warnings, recognizing there may be some who have not trusted Christ in the congregation, but for the most part he is convinced he is writing to believers. Like I address you as a congregation, I am convinced I am addressing primarily believers, but I am also aware that there may be some sitting here who have made a profession who have never truly trusted Christ. But I am convinced of better things concerning you, that you are a church of believers in Jesus Christ.

Then he goes on still in Hebrews 6, “God is not unjust so as to forget your work, the love which you have shown toward His name in having ministered, still ministering to the saints. We desire that each one of you show the same diligence to realize the full assurance of hope to the end.” You won't become sluggish but you'll continue on. That's the same thing he is doing in Hebrews 10. Here he reminded them of their past love shown to the saints, the work that they did in ministering to believers and so on. He wants them to continue on.

Come over to Hebrews 10. Following that stern warning in verses 26-31 he says in verse 32, “but remember the former days.” So he's going to take back when they initially were exposed to the light of the Gospel and professed faith in Christ, that kind of zeal and unreserved passion in serving Him, whatever the cost. So the challenge in this section as we close Hebrews 10 is to endurance. And this challenge is going to have two parts, he's going to challenge them in light of their past and he'll call them to remember. Call you to endurance by remembering your past. He'll cover that in verses 32-34. Then he'll challenge them to endurance by contemplating their future. Good thing for us. We've been a church for many years, fellowship of believers in this place. Many of you in this congregation have been a believer for many years. I have been a believer for many years. And we are reminded the battle is not over, the conflict is not done. The danger for these believers is they are wearing out.

Some of you watch the football games on the weekend and I'm not an intense fanatic but I did get in for the last play of yesterday's game. But you know sometimes as I watch you'll hear the commentator say, the offense or the defense has been on the field a long time. You can tell they are getting tired. But you know Paul is going to use an athletic or a battle metaphor here in the context we are in. His concern, these believers have been at it for some time and there is evidence they are wearing down, they are losing that passion. Sometimes you'll hear the commentator say, you can tell there is a change in their attitude, they are not manifesting that same edge and so on. His concern for believers, we can settle down as though we've been through conflicts and trials and difficulties, now it's time for someone else to go through them. But I can't step out. And that's his challenge to these believers.

“Remember,” verse 32, “the former days.” There is a pattern here that he is following that these Jewish believers can especially appreciate. You'll remember in verse 30 in the warning passage he said, for we know him who said. And then he cites a passage from the Old Testament, really one passage but there are two parts to it. It's a quote from the song of Moses, you'll remember, in Deuteronomy 32. And he quotes a statement out of verse 5 and a statement out of verse 6. “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” from verse 5; and then part of verse 6, “the Lord will judge His people.” But do you know how verse 7 starts in Deuteronomy 32? “Remember the days of old.” So he has followed that pattern from the days of Moses and the reminder of Moses is at the end of his ministry. These Jews understand they need to do what Moses challenged the people to do—remember the former days. What former days? Well, not way back, let's go back and talk about your childhood. No, the former days when after being enlightened. After being enlightened. We saw that word used in Hebrews 6:4 in that warning passage, “those who have been once enlightened.”

Come back to 2 Corinthians 4 and you'll note who chapter 4 begins. “Therefore since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy we do not lose heart.” What Paul is saying is I'm not discouraged, there are disappointments but I'm not discouraged. I've lost heart, I've not given up. Verse 3, “even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light”. There we are, “might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.” Verse 6, “for God who says light shall shine out of darkness is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” We're talking about the light of the Gospel has shown on these people, they have responded in faith. That light now shines in their hearts.

So when he writes to them, before you leave 2 Corinthians 4 pick this up, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels so the power is of God and not of ourselves.” Then note verse 8, “we are afflicted in every way, not crushed; perplexed, not despairing; persecuted, not forsaken; struck down, not destroyed. Always carrying about in our body the dying of Christ.” Their identification with Christ, they are experiencing the same rejection because it is Christ in them that is being rejected. That's the cause of the persecution.

Verse 11, “we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” So death works in us but life in you. And part of his criticism, and if we have time we'll look at it further in writing to the Corinthians, they were acting like they had arrived, that they could settle back now, they were acting like they were in the kingdom. Paul could say, I wish you were because then I'd be reigning, too. But it's not reality. Your compromise with the world that enables you to fit into the world and be accepted by the world is a mark of unfaithfulness to Christ. “Death works in us, life in you.” We're constantly being delivered over to death. That doesn't mean we always have to be courting persecution. That will come and go in our lives. But if avoiding any kind of difficulty or persecution for our testimony for Christ becomes the goal individually and as the church, we will compromise and wash out our effectiveness for Jesus Christ.

Come back to Hebrews 10. “Remember the former days when after being enlightened you endured a great conflict of suffering.” That word endured is the focal point of this section. He'll use it again down in verse 36, “you have need of endurance.” They are slowing down, they have endured great persecution. It says, “you endured a great conflict of suffering.” That can be an athletic metaphor, it can be a military metaphor. It's the word we get athletic or athlete from. We just transliterate it over into English, that's the basic Greek word. Athletic. They just made it an English word. It denotes a conflict, a struggle, a battle. It's used in the athletic arena or it could be used in a military kind of setting. But it's that struggle and it has the word great modifying it. “You endured a great conflict of sufferings.” This is the kind of conflict and struggle and battle that brought suffering to you. This is the same word he'll use a little bit later in Hebrews of the sufferings of Christ. This was real, it was intense. As Jews coming out of Judaism, when they placed their faith in Christ and were identified publicly with Him, that resulted in serious trials for them in their lives. And they endured through it, they stood their ground, they didn't retreat, so to speak. They were faithful.

He's going to talk about some of the specifics of this great conflict, verses 33-34, two sides to it, both at what they were willing to suffer personally and with what they were willing to suffer by being identified with those who were suffering. Not everyone suffers to the same degree at the same time. So here these believers were committed to Christ and the family of believers.

So verse 33 tells us, “partly, you endured a great conflict of suffering is the connection, partly by being made a public spectacle. Partly by being made a public spectacle.” That's another word we're familiar with in English, we transliterate it over into English. We get the word theater from it. And basically, initially the word meant to perform on a stage. Then it came to be used in a negative sense—to be made a spectacle, an object of mockery or derision. In other words you are on display before the world to be mocked, to be persecuted, to be opposed is the idea that he is emphasizing.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 4. We see the context here and then see Paul uses this word to be made a spectacle of himself. Chapter 4 opens up, “let a man regard us in this manner as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” Now note what is required of a steward—“that one be found trustworthy, faithful.” It would require a man to endure. You have to be faithful through all kinds of situations. Trustworthy.

Come down to verse 8. You see the attitude I referred to a little bit ago, “you are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us. Indeed I wish you had become kings so that we might reign with you.” You're acting you are in the kingdom. The kingdom is not here. I wish it were and you were reigning as kings because that would mean I would be reigning as a king and the other apostles would be reigning as kings. Remember in Acts 14 as Paul challenged the churches that he established on his first missionary journey he says, “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom.” Until Christ establishes the kingdom on earth believers will face persecution.

Verse 9, “I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all as men condemned to death. We have become a spectacle,” there is our word we have in Hebrews. These Jewish Christians in this congregation, he's writing a letter to the Hebrews, too, had been made a spectacle to the world, an object of derision and mockery and opposition, persecution. Paul says that's what we apostles have been, 1 Corinthians 4:9. “We have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we both hunger, thirst, poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless, toil, work with our hands. When we revile, we bless; persecuted, we endure; slandered, we try to conciliate. We have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things until now. I don't write these things to shame you but to admonish you as beloved children.” Something is wrong. Why has the church at Corinth settled into such a working relationship with the world that these Christians can live comfortably and at ease, when those who are boldly standing for Christ like the apostles are viewed as the scum of the world. And yet what happens to the church over time? It wants to fit in. We get tired of trials and tribulations and troubles. And these aren't people that haven't been faithful. Remember after you were enlightened you endured a great conflict of suffering. I paid my price, we've been through our battles and now it is time for us to let others battle and we . . . No.

So Paul is condemning the church at Corinth. Something is wrong here. You have a comfortable Christianity. As some joke—Christianity is light, easy, we've taken the edges off, we know what the world doesn't like, we're not here to antagonize the world. We want them to know we are nice people, we are loving people. We don't dislike people. We don't want to make an issue of sin. Why do we find ourselves treated so much better than our master was treated.

Come back to Hebrews 10. So part of the way that they endured a great conflict of suffering is they were made a spectacle before the world. What that involved—reproaches, tribulations. Reproaches, reviling, insults, slander. We wonder why as a believer you have a testimony at work, you try to do right and people say things behind your back to undermine you or pass over you for a promotion and give it to someone who is not nearly as . . . Well, we're in a spiritual battle here. That doesn't mean if I was not doing the best job that I should do and someone else was doing it better, I ought to be passed up. But there are spiritual foundations to the issues we have to battle and we want to avoid those. I don't know if I want to be part of Indian Hills…. that sort of has a negative.

You know, I shared the Gospel with someone in Omaha a little while back and this person was working in a restaurant and coming down to visit a brother who lived outside the city. I'm going to have my brother . . . I told him how to check our church and he said, I've heard about that church. I'll check on the internet. They told us this after. What did they report? Well, my brother said he checked on the internet, there were some negative things about you and your church. Oh, I can't believe that. Why are there things negative? Somebody asked me a while back, did you ever google your name? No, my name is Gilbert, not Google. No, google it. So I googled it, I'm not going to do that again. Not everybody says nice things.

When we get sensitive to that, when the focus of our life is we want to be liked, we want people to think well of us. Our focus as believers is we want our Lord and Master to think well of us. Well done, good and faithful servant. As I represent Him, I represent Him in a world that hates Him, that has rejected Him. And because I belong to Him, that's going to create a set of problems.

So they experienced reproaches, tribulations, the suffering and affliction that comes from it. Some of them may have lost their jobs, may have been cut off from family members, things like that. And it became public. They were made a spectacle. None of us like to be embarrassed, be put on the spot. That's not the only way they suffered. It was also partly becoming sharers with those who were so treated. In other words not only when they were particularly being singled out, but when a fellow believer was going through difficulty, they went and helped to encourage them. Specifics. He takes the two points, their own personal sufferings and their being willing to be identified with other believers who were being persecuted. Verse 34, first how they showed their faith in Christ by becoming “sharers with those who were so treated. You showed sympathy to the prisoners.” Well, here's an example. Not everybody in this local church got arrested, but when somebody did they went and visited them. Do you know what that does to you?

Years ago we were in China, visited with a pastor who had spent 20+ years in prison. It was a costly thing for people to visit him. And the authorities wanted to know, “why do you want to visit him? He's a bad person. Are you like he is? Do you believe the same thing he does?” You know what they're thinking, maybe you should be in here, too. But these, they stepped up. Not I'm glad they didn't arrest me, we'll just have to lay low for a while. No, we have to find where he is being imprisoned so we can go visit him and encourage him. They are willing to pay the price. Their #1 concern and commitment was faithfulness to Christ. And with that to their personal side, you accepted joyfully the seizure of your property. It was a costly thing materially. Your boss doesn't like you. Well in our days you can't be fired for your religious beliefs. But he can find a reason. In those days they didn't have the same kind of protection. Christianity wasn't even recognized as an accepted religion in the Roman Empire. So when you are fired because your Jewish boss now was offended, you are out for whatever reason. Costly.

Now we see in other countries Christians and their homes raided, their stuff carted off, they are beaten. And the authorities do nothing. At least these people became bitter. No, it says they are joyful, doesn't mean they were glad somebody stole the piano, or whatever they had. It means their joy in their heart, I belong to Christ, it is a privilege to be identified with him. They knew they had better things to look forward to. Knowing, the end of verse 34, “you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.” I thank God for the good things he has given me to enjoy. These believers could enjoy them while they had them, but when the Lord saw fit to take them away they hadn't really lost anything of true value because their focus was on what they have in Christ and what He had promised for them.

Turn over to 1 Peter 1. You could do a series just going through the different portions of the Word that challenge believers to faithfulness and endurance in difficulty and trial. And 1 Peter 1 is about that. Verse 3, “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again, now note this, to a living hope.” That is something future. “Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance imperishable and undefiled, will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials.” That doesn't mean they are not serious, but in light of who we are in Christ and what we have in Him, they are little in their light. Do you think the Apostle Paul reflecting back, when we meet him in heaven will say, I wish I had taken it a little easier, I wish I hadn't paid such a price and taken time to relax on the Mediterranean a little more, enjoy the waves, take in the sun. Have a more balanced life. I don't think so.

Now when he wrote to the Philippians in Philippians 3 do you know what he said? Everything I've lost for the cause of Christ goes on the dung heap. I count it as nothing because of what I've gained in Christ. When my focus gets off Christ, who He is, what He has done and all He has provided for me, what are the things of this life? They are nothing. The people that have given everything because of their testimony of Christ compared to what they have in Christ stored up for them in glory, they've given nothing. And that's true for all of us. We begin to balance our life, I want to be faithful to Christ but I want to be well respected in the world and I want to get the best job I can have. And I don't want my identification with Christ to be an issue so I just sort of cover it up. I'm in disguise. Churches go that way. Do we want to be the church in the city, or one of the churches, we are blessed to have many Bible-believing churches in our city, but if we begin to look like how can we be viewed. Churches are endlessly doing this. Maybe if we do more social work . . . The pope has come to this, Pope Francis. What are the people saying about him? We're not going to emphasize the doctrine so much. We're not denying the doctrine, we're going to emphasize helping people, loving people, caring for people. Well, the evangelical church pretty well goes that way, too. And then the world says good things about us—that's what the church ought to be doing, helping people, meeting people's physical needs. Where do the people call when they want some financial help? Call the church. That's fine, but you try to tell them about the spiritual help you can give, they don't want to hear that. No thanks. So the church begins to adjust itself and people begin to adjust.

Come back to Hebrews 10. These are people who have paid the price, they have a good history. I mean, they have battle scars. We're not just talking about people who have just floated in and life has been easy as a believer. These are people who have paid the price. They know what it is to lose their jobs, lose their possessions, lose their house. The problem is with the going on of time we can begin to wind down. You know, not another battle, not another battle. I don't want any more trials. And we begin to think we've paid our dues. Now we've lost our focus. How can we be faithful to Christ who gave everything when we say, I've done enough, I want to step back. This happens. I've actually had people who have been part of this congregation come in and sit in my office and say, Gil, we're leaving. Why? We just don't want to face any more difficulties. Tired of conflicts. Well if they are conflicts over biblical truth, can we avoid them? I know, I'm just tired of them, we're not going to go through that anymore. What can I say? Every Bible-believing, faithful church in this city, across the country and around the world is the object of the world's animosity and the opposition of Satan. And that is, I believe, perhaps his greatest tool. He doesn't wear down, he doesn't get tired. I mean, he is relentless. He comes again and again and again. And if he knocks you down, he's not done. If you get back up, he just looks for another chance to knock you down again. Pretty soon you say, how can I get away? You can't. Do you know why? Christ chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you, and the god of this world of course is opposed to you.

So verse 35, verses32-34 challenge you to endurance by remembering the past. You were faithful, think back to your early days as a Christian, the initial days and weeks and months, early years of your Christian life. You didn't care what people thought, you just wanted to tell people about Christ. And you weren't worried whether they thought you were some kind of nut because you were. I mean, you wanted them to come to know what you knew. And this will cost you. Well, that's all right. Then over time we settle in. He's going to challenge them to endurance by contemplating their future. We touched a little bit on this.

“Therefore, do not throw away your confidence which has great reward.” That confidence in Christ, commitment to Him. Remember verse 23, “let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He is faithful who promised.” Therefore, don't throw away your confidence. It has great reward. “You have need of endurance.” Keep going, the game is not over, the battle is not over, you can't quit. I mean, what would you think if you watched the game yesterday and we get into the middle of the third quarter and half the team is lying down, taking a nap in the middle of the field. You say, wait, the game is still going on. I know, but we've been at this for a while, we're tired. No. So you see the coaches on the sideline, stirring them up, challenging, the players stirring them up, stirring one another up. That's what we are doing, stirring one another up to love and good deeds, reminding one another the conflict is not over. But glory and the wealth of God has been stored up for us to enjoy for eternity. That's what we are moving toward.

The world has to plan its retirement and if you can retire at 25, that's the best of everything. We can live our whole life without a day of retirement because we never retire from the conflict the Lord has called us to. But have I missed anything? Not a thing. If I drop dead tonight, don't feel bad for me, I'll be enjoying heaven. I shared with you my brother-in-law who was a pastor for many years died of cancer just after he turned 60. When he knew that he had cancer we were talking one day and he said, “just remember, Gil, when you're down here struggling in battle, I'll be in heaven enjoying it.” I think of that often. Do I pity him? Oh what he missed out on. What did he miss out on? Walking streets of gold now, enjoying the presence of Abraham, Elijah, Moses, Paul, Peter, conversing in the presence of the throne of God in glory. And I'm saying, he missed out on so much, too bad he couldn't enjoy his retirement. Have I lost focus?

“You have need of endurance, note verse 36, so that when you have done the will of God.” Note here what he is telling them. You know what the will of God is—you endure, “you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God.” The trials, the difficulties, the problems that come into our lives as we are faithful to Him are part of His will for us. As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1, they are “what refine us like gold is refined in the fire.” Burns off the impurities. He is strengthening us, this is the will of God. We say, Lord, I want to do your will and difficulties and trials come in and we say, Lord, what is wrong? Nothing. Just do My will.

“That you may receive what is promised,” and there is a warning here. Those who don't endure won't receive. And that's where he is going. He quotes from Habakkuk 2:3-4. “For yet in a very little while He who is coming will come.” And the Coming One is a title for Christ. So a reminder what is promised will be realized. It seems like a long time, but you know it's been around 2,000 years since the writer of Hebrews wrote this. What is that compared to 200 trillion years? That's what I have. So He will come in a little while. I can look back now at 70 and say, life is short. Like the psalmist said, we spend our life as a tale that is told. You look back and say, wow. And when you experience it you look and say, wow, my kids are graduated from high school, my kids are graduated from college, I have grandkids. What happened? I look in the mirror and say, my dad is here. It's me. I remember celebrating my parents' 50th anniversary, I've had mine. I'm not going to have a second 50 I'm sure.

“A very little while He who is coming will not delay.” Note this, a very well-known verse, “but my righteous ones shall live by faith,” quoted in Romans 1 and quoted in Galatians 3. “The righteous shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” Reminder, there is no going back for the true believer. We may stumble, we may fall on our face, the true believer has to get up and go on. Can't go back, there is no going back. The righteous ones shall live by faith. That's where we started when I said, some people think of faith as a punctiliar, something that is just a point in time. My faith in Christ had a beginning, it has no end. That was the beginning of my life of faith, that's where we're going in Hebrews 11. That's why a true believer can't go back. He realizes the reality.

And the one who turns back, turns back to destruction, which manifests the fact that he never had true saving faith because true saving faith endures. So pick it up, believer. That's what he is saying. You can't go back. And you ought to go forward. That will mean conflict, trial, difficulty. We are not of those who shrink back to destruction, of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. That's where we get our ultimate salvation, in the presence of Christ.

The world presses in on us and the values and thinking of the world become our focus. And I lose focus on to the last breath of my life I am committed to faithfulness to Christ, to serving Him, to honoring Him come whatever may. We keep that as the focus and all the truths that have been unfolded in these preceding chapters of Hebrews. We realize there is no going back, there is no alternative. The devil will not stop coming after you, the opposition will ebb and flow. But the trials and difficulties will be there. But I see them in the light of what God is doing. He is preparing me so that I can enter in and enjoy the inheritance that He has stored up for me in heaven. That's what drives me on, that's what enabled them before to accept the loss of their possessions, to accept as being made a spectacle and an object of slander and derision and ridicule, because these things aren't what really matter. It's my relationship to Christ and what I have in Him. That puts everything in perspective.

My concern for myself personally, for us as a local church is that we will endure. We won't settle down, we've been doing this for so many years. But we're not done. Praise the Lord He still has ministry for us and we want to testify that we belong to Him.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the Savior that we have, for the sufferings He endured—going to the cross, paying the penalty for our sin so by your sovereign choice we could come to believe in Him, be identified with Him. Lord, may we count it as a privilege, not only to believe in Him but to suffer for Him as well. Use us as a congregation to join together with other believing congregations to be faithful until Christ comes. We pray in His name, amen.