"A Call to Continuance"
Hebrews 10:32-39
We are living in difficult times. They are difficult economically. For the first time ever Americans have been paying over $4 per gallon for gasoline, foods prices have shot through the roof and the dream of home ownership has become a nightmare for thousands of families. It is difficult socially. What we believe is being attacked on every hand. We've lived to see the day when faith, family, marriage, life, and Biblical values are being attacked and eroded and in times like these there is the temptation to give up and return to a lifestyle that seems "easier" than the Christian life. Paul writes to these believers and challenges them to patient continue in the faith. He makes this appeal based on three very important truths.
I. An appeal to the past.
a. Recall your conversion -- v. 32 enlightened is the same as chapter 6:4 and refers to the time of their salvation, probably about 15 years earlier in Rome during the reign of Nero who was especially cruel in his persecution of these Jewish believers.
b. Recall your conflict -- v. 32b-33a Endured (GK- "to stay under") speaks of a successful completion of a time of persecution. Fight is a GK word from which we get our athlete and describes a fight or a struggle. Great speaks of the intensity of the struggle. Afflictions are sufferings. They suffered in two different ways. First, there was public exposure. They were like the apostles in that they were "made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men" 1 Cor. 4:9. This experience occurred over a long period of time (present tense). This public exposure was "by reproaches and afflictions." The former speaks of "verbal abuse, mocking, reviling whereas the latter speaks of abuse of the physical sort like beatings and imprisonment. Second, they were companions with others who had suffered. The language indicates an instantaneous decision to become not just sympathetic with them but to participate with them in suffering.
d. Recall your courage -- v. 33b-34 It takes great courage to publically identify with those who were awaiting execution. They had come to the aid of those who were in prison, they had suffered the "spoiling" of their possessions and the amazing thing was that they had done so "joyfully." They could do this with joy knowing that there was something better waiting on them in heaven, ("a better and enduring substance." Dr. Stanley Outlaw writes in the FWB Commentary on Hebrews, "The best of what we have on this earth wears out, but what we have in heaven will last forever." These believers could take comfort from our Lord's Beatitude:
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." Mt. 5:10-11
II. An appeal for perseverance.
a. Be positive about the promises of Christ. ("Cast not away," means to abandon like a garment considered worthless, no longer useful.") Don't abandon the assurance that you already manifested in the promises of Christ.
b. Be patient like you have been in the past. (GK -- "stay under" the difficult circumstances you are facing, like you did before. Have the same attitude that you did before (as in the verb form in v. 32)
c. Be purposeful in doing the "will of God," for those who remain faithful throughout their lives, seeking to grow in grace and consistently obeying His teachings will one day "receive" the promise which in this case is eternal life.
"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive a crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him." James 1:12
"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. "Isaiah 40: 28-31
"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." James 1:3
"But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing. " James 1:4
"... Having done all, to stand." Eph. 6:13
"And the servant of the Lord must not strive: but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, PATIENT." 2 Timothy 2:24
III. An appeal to principle -- It does make a difference what we believe
"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." Hebrews 10:38-39
The statement "It doesn't matter what you believe so long as you are sincere" is infinitely more dangerous in one's spiritual life than in the physical world in which we live. Having a wrong belief in the physical world may lead to injury, sickness or death but in the spiritual world it ends in eternal death.
Years ago, in a high school chemistry class, a little humorous poem was making the rounds. It went like this:
Alas for little Willie,
We'll ne'er see Willie more,
For what he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4.
Now we can scarcely imagine anyone making such a ridiculous misjudgment as mistaking sulphuric acid for water, but far worse a fate awaits those who accept a nebulous, convictionless religion instead of experiencing a life-changing faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The scripture concludes: "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 14:12.
a. What we believe makes a difference.
In our physical life, it matters in regard to food, drink, medication, or environmental exposure. Our ignorance of the consequence does not minimize the danger. How often have we said: "I thought it was good"; "I thought it was safe"; "I really didn't think it mattered"; "I really thought that it was a good investment", etc. only to find out that it really did matter.
b. What we believe affects our destiny.
Its temporal consequences:
The religious zealot who believes that only his little group shall be saved to the exclusion of every other believer:
The irresponsible sectarian who permits his child to die (or suffer) rather than take him to a doctor...or permit him to have a blood transfusion:
The haughty and proud who manifest a "holier than thou" attitude.
Its eternal consequences: eternal damnation upon oneself and upon others who look to them for instruction, advice, leadership or example.
c. What we believe should be determined by God's Word, the Holy Bible, which is our only sure and certain guide.
„Ï Be sure you have the right belief concerning God! (Hebrews 11:6)
„Ï Be sure you have the right belief concerning yourself! (Romans 3:23)
„Ï Be sure you have the right belief concerning God's plan for your salvation! (John 3:16).
Paul reminds the believers at Rome that they have an "...enduring substance, a great recompense of reward, and a promise that awaits those who do the will of God." All of these things await those who finish. There is no prize for those who quit!
W.A.Criswell, long-time beloved pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, told a story about an evangelist who loved to hunt. The man bought two setter pups that were topnotch bird dogs. He kept them in his backyard, where he trained them. One morning, an ornery, little, vicious looking bulldog came shuffling and snorting down the alley. He crawled under the fence into the backyard where the setters spent their day. It was easy to see he meant business. The evangelist's first impulse was to take his setters and lock them in the basement so they wouldn't tear up that little bulldog. But he decided he would just let the creature learn a lesson he would never forget. Naturally, they got into a scuffle in the backyard, and those two setters and that bulldog went round and round and round! The little critter finally had enough, so he squeezed under the fence and took off. All the rest of that day he whined and licked his sores. Interestingly, the next day at about the same time, here came that same ornery little bulldog--back under the fence and after those setters. Once again those two bird dogs beat the stuffing out of that little bowlegged animal and would have chewed him up if he hadn't retreated down the alley. Would you believe, the very next day he was back! Same time, same station, same results. Once again after the bulldog had had all he could take, he crawled back under the fence and found his way home to lick his wounds.
"Well," the evangelist said, "I had to leave for a revival meeting. I was gone several weeks. And when I came back, I asked by wife what had happened. She said, "'Honey, you just won't believe what's happened. Every day, at the same time every morning, that little bulldog came back in the backyard and fought with our two setters. He didn't miss a day! And I want you to know it has come to the point that when our setters simply hear that bulldog snorting down the alley and spot him squeezing under the fence, they immediately start whining and run down into our basement. That little, old bulldog struts around our backyard now just like he owns it.'"
-He got the prize he so long awaited, the backyard of those Irish Setters.
