JESUS THE BETTER WAY:
JESUS PROVIDES BETTER POSSESSIONS
HEBREWS 10:32-39
Do you have your cell phones with you this morning? I have a text question for you. The phone number and question are on the screen and I will refer to your answers later in the sermon. Here’s the question:
“WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MATERIAL POSSESSION?”
Please answer with one simple word … no need to for clarification, etc. … just your favorite item.
This is not a trick or a trap. Mine would be my motorcycle. I really enjoy riding, cleaning, and maintaining my Harley Heritage Classic.
What’s your favorite possession?
INTRO
Have you ever noticed that you can tell what someone values – even what they trust in – by the way they spend their money? As I have said before; show me your checking account and I can give you a biography of your life. It tells me everything you value.
Have you ever spent time looking at your spending habits in light of your values? It might be a worthwhile use of your time. Try to do it from the vantage point of an objective bystander. What would someone who did not know you, assess about you by looking at your spending habits and money management?
In a manner of speaking that is what the writer to Hebrews does in verses 32-39. He makes an assessment of the Hebrews’ values by looking at how they manage their treasures and possessions. In doing so he is able to tell where their real treasures lie.
Listen to the Word of the Lord:
HEBREWS 10:32-39
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.
33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.
34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
It is easy to get attached to stuff isn’t it? Even temporal stuff can cling to us if we never stop to scrutinize our loyalties. I cannot help but notice that the understanding the Hebrews had of their material possessions governed the way they lived their lives. They held on loosely knowing they had “better and lasting possessions” awaiting them.
They had obviously assessed the landscape and chosen to live in light of eternity. You see, this was a church going through hardship because of their faith. They had to make some real and immediate decisions that were certain to affect the remainder of their lives – both here and in eternity. They counted the cost. They are an example of a church that understood the gravity of John’s words: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).
Just as your checkbook gives you a picture of where your values and loyalties lie; so this ancient church gives us a picture of what a people “holding on loosely” look like.
• They have transcended the immediate and are looking at things from eternity’s vantage point.
• They have said no to the offer of this world and yes to God.
• They are, to use a term the writer will use in the next chapter, “looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
Let’s see what a picture of church (or a Christian) that is “HOLDING ON LOOSELY” looks like?
1. THOSE LOOKING FOR “BETTER AND LASTING POSSESSIONS” WILL ENDURE THE MOCKERY AND RIDICULE OF THOSE BOUND TO THIS WORLD (32-33)
The writer says, “{Y}ou stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution.”
The world’s system has nothing to offer past this life. It is all they can live for. They literally have to live by the motto “you only live once so get all you can.” But followers of Jesus have been emphatically promised “better possessions.” The immediate does not have to govern our choices. That, of course, brings a clash with the world’s system and inevitable ridicule.
When the loudest voices you hear are saying you are foolish, you are inclined to be intimidated and inhibited. But these Christians were able to move past that. Holding on loosely liberated them to serve and love. Jesus’ words made complete sense to them: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).
There is a statement I often use with you. You know it well by now. I say, “Christ has risen!” You say “He has risen indeed!” Then we say “and the resurrection changes everything!” That is exactly what was underpinning these Christians’ faith. They knew the resurrection was real and it provided them with insulation from the jabs of the world. They were able to stand their ground (v. 32) being “sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
Their ability to endure public mockery led to the second element in our picture of a church holding on loosely to this world.
WHAT DOES “HOLDING ON LOOSELY” LOOK LIKE?
1. Those looking for “better and lasting possessions” will endure the mockery and ridicule of those bound to this world (32-33)
2. THOSE LOOKING FOR “BETTER AND LASTING POSSESSIONS” WILL PUBLICLY SIDE WITH CHRIST & HIS FOLLOWERS (33)
The writer says “you stood side by side with those who were so treated.”
That word, “side by side” can also be translated “companions.” The word carries the connotation of partnership, which shows the close relationship between the sufferers and those who assisted them in the hour of suffering. Like the ancient models of faith in the past, these Christians believed God “rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
Christians who have learned to hold on to this world loosely are less sheepish, less timid, about their faith. They are not ashamed to be identified with Jesus and His church. They understand the gravity of Jesus words, when he said “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:23-26).
This partnership with the suffering suggests they were actively and noticeably identifying with them. They were ministering to them freely and generously. This leads us to our third part of the picture.
WHAT DOES “HOLDING ON LOOSELY” LOOK LIKE?
1. Those looking for “better and lasting possessions” will endure the mockery and ridicule of those bound to this world (32-33)
2. Those looking for “better and lasting possessions” will publicly side with Christ & His followers (33)
3. THOSE LOOKING FOR “BETTER AND LASTING POSSESSIONS” WILL GIVE OF THEMSELVES – EVEN AT THE RISK OF PERSONAL AND MATERIAL LOSS (34)
The writer says, “You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”
We have received an unshakable kingdom (12:28) and, therefore, we can be generous in this life. In chapter 13 the writer will tell these followers “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
When we are holding on loosely to this world we can hold on tightly to the hope of the Gospel. It shows that we have learned the significance of Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-33)
Again, the next chapter of Hebrews gives us heroes of the faith who illustrate this well. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:15-16).
Such an understanding of God’s kingdom gives you inner resources that are hard to explain and yet filled with energy. Our last piece of the picture of one who is holding on loosely to this world addresses this.
WHAT DOES “HOLDING ON LOOSELY” LOOK LIKE?
1. Those looking for “better and lasting possessions” will endure the mockery and ridicule of those bound to this world (32-33)
2. Those looking for “better and lasting possessions” will publicly side with Christ & His followers (33)
3. Those looking for “better and lasting possessions” will give of themselves – even at the risk of personal and material loss (34)
4. THOSE LOOKING FOR “BETTER AND LASTING POSSESSIONS” WILL HAVE A SPIRIT OF JOY AND HOPE IN THE MIDST OF THE HARD TIMES (34-35).
The writer says: “You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.”
The attitude of the readers during their suffering is significant. They endured, with joy, the loss of material goods. These Christians did not become bitter over their loss. They did not look for “justice” or revenge. Later the writer tells them this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28).
The outward circumstance of life cannot determine joy for a follower of Jesus. What these believers knew was that possessions (or lack thereof) cannot determine our joy either. The last part of v. 34 gives the reason for their joy …they did not count the goods of the earth as all-important. They possessed within themselves knowledge of a heavenly treasure. Their confidence was not on earth but in Heaven.
You see, our knowledge of God’s coming Kingdom has the ability to transcend the immediate. As we look to these first century Christians we can indeed become more balanced in our faith.
WRAP-UP
So my phone has been chiming since we put the question on the screen. Let’s read your responses.
“WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MATERIAL POSSESSION?”
There is always a tension when Christians live in a materialistic society. We, by the very nature of the environment, have more possessions that we need … or even want. That requires us to ask ourselves some very important questions.
1. DO I HAVE THINGS OR DO THINGS HAVE ME?
The Scriptures give illustrations of people who loved this world more than they loved God. They serve as a warning of the snare of materialism.
• But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. (2 Timothy 4:10)
• “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. ...” (2 Timothy 4:10)
• Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:21-24)
2. DO I GAUGE MY WORTH BY MY NET WORTH?
In the next chapter the writer will use Moses as an example to fight off materialism’s allure: “when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26).
3. AM I HANDCUFFED TO THIS WORLD?
If God told you to walk away from your possessions would you turn around longingly as you are leaving like Lot’s wife did?
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24).
Jesus asks us, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)
4. DO I THINK MATERIAL POSSESSIONS ARE A SIGN OF GOD’S BLESSING?
Even Satan can offer you the things of this world. He offered jesus all the kingdoms of this world.
This first century church is a perfect example of a people who were possession-less precisely because they were doing God’s will.
Even our Lord, while on earth was a homeless man who did not even have a place to lay his head (Matthew 8:20). In fact, Jesus becomes our model of one who sought “better possessions.” Throughout this book we see Him seated at the right hand of the Father, and we discover all things will be laid at His feet. Jesus knew there were “better possessions” awaiting those who hold on loosely and do not exchange their hope and future for the here and now.
Hebrews 12:2-3 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
5. AM I MORE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT I AM LIVING ON OR WHAT I AM LIVING FOR?
The Bible says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).
As followers of Jesus we can have no firm hope or grip on earth; our only true treasure is in the presence of God. All earthly hopes can (and will) fail, but the abiding hope founded on the Gospel and the Word of God can never fail.
The greatest hope of all for the believer is found in v 37, “For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay.” That hope is the second coming of Jesus Christ. The important point is not when but the certainty of.
The doctrine of the Second Coming:
• Affects one’s personal conduct
• Encourages righteousness
• Serves to comfort those who are being persecuted.
So until that coming, let us live in light of “better and lasting possessions.”
Because “he who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.”
Let’s read our congregational prayer from Hebrews together.
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This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
First Church of the Nazarene
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
www.banazarene.org
Jesus: The Better Way
(A Congregational Prayer from Hebrews)
Leader: Heavenly Father, giver of all good gifts,
Leader: Because Jesus is better than our legends
All: We will look to Him for character
Leader: Because Jesus is better than our human potential
All: We will look to Him for strength
Leader: Because Jesus is better than our family pedigree
All: We will look to Him for identity
Leader: Because Jesus is a better mediator
All: We will look to Him for reconciliation
Leader: Because Jesus serves as a better guide
All: We will look to Him for direction
Leader: Because Jesus offers a better relationship
All: We will look to Him for communion
Leader: Because Jesus makes better promises
All: We will look to Him for assurance
Leader: Because Jesus ensures a better peace
All: We will look to Him for comfort
Leader: Because Jesus provides better possessions
All: We will look to Him for satisfaction
Leader: Because Jesus instills a better motivation
All: We will look to Him for purpose
Leader: Because Jesus establishes a better family
All: We will look to Him for belonging
Leader: Because Jesus awards a better inheritance
All: We will look to Him for our future
Leader: Because Jesus imparts a better life
All: We will look to Him for an example
Leader: In the name of Jesus, the Better Way, we pray.
