Casting Away
“Cast not away therefore your confidence which has great recompense of reward” (Hebrews 10:35).
1. Ifs and Maybes: Ifs and Maybes are what get us into trouble. What if God doesn’t do it? What if He won’t do it? What if He won’t do it for me? We never say God can’t do it because He is God. He can do it. It is just we don’t know if he will do it for me. That’s our problem. We don’t have confidence in the Word of God and apply it to our specific problem. Having done all to stand, but what do you do while you are standing? The old song says, “I’m standing on the promises of God.” Do we know what the promises of God are? It is said that most Christians don’t know more than 50 scriptures in the entire Bible. By his stripes ye were healed. If ye were healed, then ye are healed. Do you have confidence in this statement without tacking on an if or a maybe? By his stripes maybe I am healed. People say, “You never know what God will do.” We say, “It might not be His will” or tack on some other qualification. We need to learn what He will do. What He has promised to do. It is stated n scripture, “By His stripes ye are healed.” Do we put a period after that or tack on some other things. I know I’m healed, but I still hurt or but I just don’t know for sure. From that statement the confidence you need is just not there yet.
Hebrews 10:35 NIV versions says, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Don’t throw away your boldness, confident trust, or confident hope.
Cast not away reminds me of the action that Bartimaeus used to rip off his beggar’s garment. It was a hindrance to him. When Jesus was nearby, He flung it off and hurried to Jesus. I don’t think we have enough confidence in the Word of God. Confidence—belief that is is true and will surely happen. By his stripes ye are healed. Do you have confidence in that statement? We say maybe it will happen for some people. Maybe it will not happen for me though. Maybe I am not spiritual enough. Maybe He won’t do it for me. How do I know for sure? I used to say, “I’m just an ordinary run of the mill Christian.”
Hebrews 10:23 says “Let us hold fast the confidence of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful”—trusted to keep his promises.
I Thessalonians 5:24 says, “He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it.”
Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man that he should lie or a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said and will he not do it or has he spoken and will he not make it good?”
2. Our Rock Bottom Belief—that He Exists: That God is Really There.
Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is (exists) and that he is a reward of those who diligently seek him.”
Hebrews 11:1 “faith is the substance of things hoped for—the evidence of things not seen. NlT—Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. It gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”
James 1:6, “but let him ask in faith with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”
3. Our Faith: We not only have to believe that God Exists. We say, “How can I believe? I don’t have any faith or don’t hve enough faith. Scripture says, “God has given to every man (person) the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).
It is not scriptural to say we have no faith. We all start out with the measure not a measure, and it either grow from there or remains dormant. And we don’t need a ton of faith to believe for something. The Bible says, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed you shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible to you” (Matthew 17:20). The amount of faith has een supplied.
ILLUSTRATION: When I as in the Holy Land, our guide gave us mustard seeds and the thing that amazed me was that they were much smaller than I expected. They reminded me of a speck of pepper. How much power would there be in such a small seed? Faith as a mustard seed. I still have these mustard seeds in a paper cu nd that was 46 years ago. We have all the faith we need. Now cast not away or don’t throw away your confidence—a bold resolve, your faith in, your belief in, your certainty in the Word of God that has great recompense of reward.
Story: A woman found a black piece of plastic on the end table. She picked it up and looked it all over but didn’t know what it was for. She assumed it was just a piece of trash and promptly threw it away. Later that night she discovered that it was a piece off of the TV remote. Now where I that piece? The trash can had not been emptied and she rummaged through it until she found the irreplaceable piece and reconnected it. Our confidence in the Word of God is irreplaceable and needed when we are expecting a reward. Verse 36 continues by saying, “You need to persevere so that when you’ve done the will of God you will receive what he has promised) (NIV). The King James says, “Ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise”(Hebrews 10:36 KJV). It might be prolonged patience.
Conclusion: We need to do some housecleaning on our words. We all have if and maybes we need to get rid of. Come to the end of a sentence and put a period after it. That is hard to do for most of us. Practice saying the scriptures out loud. When fearful say, “no plague hall come nigh thy dwelling. When you can’t get to sleep at night ay, “I laid me down nd slept I awaked for the Lord sustained me” (Psalm 3:5). When we need healing say, “I am the Lord that healeth thee” (Ex. 15:260.
Take intentional steps to hold on to your confidence even if it is prolonged. Cast not away your confidence that it will happen, not if or maybe. God is there—he exists and can do it.
