Our section of Scripture, verses 32 through 39,
has a different feel than our Scripture in the
section last week. Last week, if you recall,
there was a very strong and a very stern warning
regarding forsaking the gospel. regarding forsaking
Christ and what ought to be expected for those
who do forsake the gospel and those who do forsake
Christ. This week, notice that the author begins
by saying, but remember, and he's signaling a
change in the mood, a change in the tone of the
text. The author now comes to this scripture
in this section seeking to encourage and strengthen
the people of God to encourage them in faith
and endurance and perseverance to encourage them
in the midst of their suffering. And it's always
helpful to remember why the author is writing
this letter. The Hebrew Christians are suffering
because of their Christian faith and confession.
They are suffering at the hands of the Jews most
likely because they have professed Christ as
the Messiah and they embrace new covenant truths
and realities. So most likely the... recipients
of this letter are in the midst of suffering,
hardship, and trial. And he's writing to encourage
them and to spur them along in their faith to
endure with patience and not to forsake, but
to press on. That's exactly why he writes this
section. To encourage suffering Christians In
this life. We're going to consider three things
today. The reality that suffering Christians
must remember their past. We see this in verses
32 through 34. But we're also going to consider
the fact that suffering Christians must continue
to endure in the present. No matter the situation
or the circumstance, the author encourages them.
He says there's a need for endurance, for perseverance
in the life. And there's always going to be a
need for perseverance in life. But we see thirdly,
the third thing that we'll consider, that suffering
Christians must firmly fix their faith on future
promised realities. And we'll see this really
in verses 36 through 39 at the end of this section.
Beginning with the first, suffering Christians
must remember their past. Specifically, they
must remember the time near and following their
conversion or when they came to Christ. Notice
in verse 32, but remember the former days. When
after being enlightened, so immediately the author
is turning the hearts and the minds of his recipients
to look back in time. And to look back in time
and to remember the work that God has done in
their lives. He starts. with the gospel and their
conversion. He starts with the reality that God
has, in fact, changed them. That he has given
sinners repentance and faith. That God has made
men to be new creatures in Christ. That God has
done a work to transform undeserving sinners.
And he wants... the recipients to turn back and
look at that time when God had done that work
in their life early on, the time when they were
full of zeal and passion for the Lord, the time
when it seemed like they could conquer any opponent,
when they could climb any mountain, not in their
own strength, but in the strength of the Lord.
He wants them to remember back in time and see
the work of God in their life. But more in particular
than that even, he wants them to look back and
see how God sustained them and worked in them
and through them in the midst of prior suffering
in their life. The author says, You endured a
great conflict of suffering. And then listen
to what he says. He describes the suffering in
verse 33. Partly by being made a public spectacle
through reproaches and tribulations. So that's
one part of their suffering. And partly by becoming
sharers with those who were so treated. So this
is the other part. of the suffering that the
author wants them to recall and remember. So
he doesn't want just to look back and see the
work of God in their life. He wants them to look
back and see the reality that even early on in
their faith, they endured suffering. That even
early on in their Christian life, they were dealing
with difficult and hard things in their life.
And it wasn't just some little thing. He says
a great conflict of sufferings. When he says
partly by being made a public spectacle, what
this is referring to is public persecution, public
abuse, public humiliation. In the Greek, it's
the word where we get the word theater. There's
a public element involved in it. publicly humiliated
because of their Christian faith. And what accompanied
the public humiliation? Reproaches and tribulations.
So it wasn't just public, but it was verbal abuse
and slander on the Christian church, on the people
of God. And it was followed by physical tribulations
and trials. Now, we don't know a lot about this
persecution, the nature of it, the character
of it. Who was the primary leader in it that
was bringing it about? We don't know a lot of
those things, but we do know that it was most
likely state -authorized or government -authorized
persecution in the life of the church at this
time. How do we know that? Because a little bit
later, he says that... their properties were
seized. Their properties and their belongings
were taken away. So it was persecution and opposition
that was aimed, that was focused on the church.
Most likely, it was involving the Jews in some
way, as it does now in the life of the recipients.
It was a very difficult time in the life of these
Christians that the writer is directing his letter
to. He wants them to remember that it was difficult,
it was hard, and it was trying for them early
on in their faith. And it wasn't just that they
were made a public spectacle. That's not all
that was involved. Some of these believers that
the author is writing to willingly, volitionally,
chose to endure persecution and suffering and
hardship in their lives. How do we know that?
Because, he says, partly by becoming sharers
with those who were so treated. He's referring
to the reality that in the first century, jails
were jails. They were not places that were pleasant.
They were not places that were encouraging. They
were not places where comfort was given and comfort
was aided. Brothers and sisters, first century
prisons and jails were terrible places to exist.
Terrible. If you were to eat, if you were to
survive, if you were to have belongings, if you
were to have clothes on your back, It would be
because friends, family, or your fellow believers
gave them to you. This is what the Lord Jesus
talks about in Matthew 25, where he says that
if you've done it to the least of them, you've
done it to me. He's talking about caring for
persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. So
he's saying that some of his readers, willingly
identified with the people of God by caring for
them in prison and thus bringing upon themselves
the persecution, the suffering, the hardship.
When if they would have just simply overlooked
the prisoners, overlooked their fellow brothers
and sisters in Christ, They could have avoided
the public identification and affiliation with
the church, potentially. But they didn't. They
chose to care for their brothers and sisters
in Christ who were suffering. And the result
was the seizure of their property. They were
persecuted. intensely and severely in their lives.
How were they able to endure this and continue
this? And how did they suffer? Were they suffering
with anger in their heart? How was this suffering
in their life received? How did they endure the
persecution? What was the character of their
sufferings? Well, the author says this. He says,
accepted joyfully the seizure of your property.
Somehow, these early Christians, somehow these
early believers were able to suffer in such a
way that the trials and tribulations and the
difficulties did not squash out their joy, their
peace, their hope, their satisfaction in life.
Somehow, they were able to say, you want my property?
Take it. And to keep a semblance of happiness
and joy and peace and contentment in their hearts.
They were men. They were men. They were not robots.
So they had feelings, brothers and sisters. They
struggled with these things as we would struggle
with these things. But they were able to do it
with joy in their hearts. So that leads us to
the question of how in the world were they able
to do such a thing? How were they able to suffer
joyfully? In their lives. Where the text tells
us this. Also. Knowing. That you have for yourselves.
A better possession. And a lasting one. The way
that they were enabled. To suffer joyfully in
their lives. And to give up their belongings.
And to let their belongings be taken. And to
suffer humiliation and shame at the hands of
sinful men and opponents and the hands of those
who hated Christ in the church and the persecuting
Jews. The way they were able to do that was because
of what they knew about the gospel. Because of
what they knew about the promises of God in the
gospel in Christ. Because they knew the reality
that the possessions of this world are not it.
They knew the nature and character of earthly
possessions. They are fleeting. They knew the
reality that they have in their grasp, in their
possession, because of Christ and his gospel,
because of his life, his death. and his resurrection,
because of redemption which God himself has accomplished,
they have an eternal possession which no man
can take from them. They have an eternal possession
which no man can lay their filthy, grabby hands
on and steal and rip away from them. And they
had a confidence built on that. Their faith rested
on the reality that there are eternal truths,
that there are eternal realities which are unchanging
and that are only given by God himself and they
are irrevocable. That's how they were able to
endure suffering joyfully. Now, in the midst
of suffering, Things get difficult and hard.
Things get weighty and burdensome. In the midst
of suffering, oftentimes things seem bigger,
scarier, more severe than they are in reality
at times. Now, think about the author. Why is
he... turning the minds of his readers back in
time. Why does he want them to look back at the
sufferings they've already endured because of
the gospel? Because he wants them to see that
those were terrible times. He wants them to understand
that that was a great conflict of sufferings.
And he wants them to consider the reality that
they have, in fact, endured hard things in their
lives. He wants them to compare the sufferings
of the past and their faithfulness in those sufferings
with their current situation and the sufferings
of the present and their current faithfulness
in those situations. For Christians, There's
always going to be an aversion to suffering and
hardship. There's always going to be that, brothers
and sisters. That's natural. It's going to be
with us. We don't want to suffer. We don't want
to go through hardship and trials. Nobody in
their right mind wants to suffer. Nobody in their
right mind, brothers and sisters, goes out looking
for persecution and opposition in life. But for
the Christian brothers and sisters, though there
is going to be an aversion in our life, there
must also be a willingness to suffer in this
life. There must be. For the believer in Jesus
Christ, there must be. A willingness to submit
ourselves to trials and difficulties in this
life. Do you know why? Because it's part of being
in God's blessed, eternal, spiritual kingdom.
In Matthew chapter 5, remember the Beatitudes,
the blessings that the Lord Jesus pronounces,
where He describes His kingdom. And he describes
those people who are a part of his kingdom. You
remember he says, blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You remember
how he says, blessed are those who mourn. Blessed
are those who are gentle. Blessed are those who
are hunger and thirst after righteousness. He's
characterizing and he's describing those who
are in his kingdom. Those who love him. Those
whom he has saved. But what happens at the end
of the Beatitudes? What does the Lord Jesus Christ
also include? Blessed are those who have been
persecuted for the sake of righteousness. For
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
you when people insult you and persecute you.
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you
because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your
reward in heaven is great. For in the same way
they persecuted the prophets who were before
you. Part of being a member of Christ's kingdom
is suffering in this life, brothers and sisters.
It is an essential element. to being a faithful
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. There must
be a willingness to suffer as our Lord did. Christ,
the perfect God -man, the one who never sinned
and had perfect, sinless integrity, the one who
always obeyed the law of God perfectly to the
T, and he always wanted to. The one who went
to the cross on behalf of sinners who don't deserve
it. The one who died in the place of those who
are rebellious sinners and enemies of God. The
one who rose from the grave in the flesh in a
glorified body. The one who sits at the throne
in heaven right now and the one who will return
one day. That one suffered. That one He endured
great conflicts of suffering in his life, did
he not, brothers and sisters? Did he deserve
any of it? Did he deserve one ounce of it? Did
he deserve one second of the pain which he was
inflicted? No. But he endured it faithfully.
It was necessary for the completion, the fulfillment,
and the accomplishment of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. The reason that Christians must be willing
to suffer in this life at times is because faithfulness
often requires it, brothers and sisters. Faithfulness
necessitates hardship in this life. We're going
upstream in this life, brothers and sisters.
We are anti -worldly culture. We are counter
-cultural individuals because of the gospel and
its work in our lives. We are opposed to the
flesh and carnality and the lust of the flesh
and the pride of life and the devil. We have
enemies. We have opposition in this world, brothers
and sisters. At times, we must suffer in order
to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
At times, we must gird up our loins and say,
do your worst. Lord, help me stand. Lord, be
with me. Lord, have your hand upon me. Lord,
sustain me. Lord, preserve me. But do your worst,
I will not compromise. the gospel, or the truth
of the scriptures. And it's possible, brothers
and sisters, in that suffering, to be joyful.
It is possible to suffer with joy in our hearts
and joy in our life, even at the darkest, most
difficult moment in all of the suffering. But
the only way that's possible Is through knowledge
of the superior. Knowledge of the superior. Nature
and excellence. Of the Christians eternal possessions
in Christ. The only way. Brothers and sisters.
That you can suffer well. The only way that you
can suffer with joy in your heart. Is by understanding
that there are eternal realities that are true
in Christ. And that they are unchanging. And
that God has made promises that are yet to be
fulfilled and find their realization in this
life. That there are certain things that are
true of you as a believer in Jesus Christ that
cannot be changed. That cannot be destroyed.
That cannot be crushed. That cannot be taken
away. And it's only by clinging to those realities
by faith that we will be enabled to faithfully
suffer with joy and peace in our hearts. So we
see that suffering Christians must remember their
past. But we also see that suffering Christians
must continue To endure in the present. The author
turns their mind to the past. He turns it back
to God and his work and back to their prior sufferings.
But he also wants them to firmly plant their
feet in the present. And to be faithful in the
here and now. And he wants them to endure in
their current circumstances. He encourages endurance
in their present situations and present circumstances.
Now, there's a variety of circumstances and life
situations that are present here and now in this
building, in this congregation, in this gathering.
But I dare say, friends, that every single person
in this room needs to be reminded that they need
to persevere and endure in their current situation.
That there's something in your life that you're
struggling with. That there is something in your
life that you're wrestling with. That there is
something in your life that is weighing upon
you. And I'm here to tell you, with the author
of Hebrews, press on and endure here and now.
Take your stand now in this life. Don't wait
until ten years from now. Don't wait two weeks
from now. Do it now. Determine in your heart
to be faithful in your present circumstances
whether or not they change or not. Resolve in
your soul that you will be faithful to the living
God regardless of how difficult and hard your
life might get here and now. The author encourages
them to endure in two ways in particular. He
does this first by encouraging them not to throw
away their confidence. He says this in verse
35, Therefore do not throw away your confidence.
But he's also saying, conversely, on the other
end of that, don't throw it away, implying it's
in your possession, implying you have confidence.
You have boldness in your faith. He's conversely
saying, retain your confidence. Maintain your
boldness. Maintain the confidence you have in
Christ. Now this is a really unique word. And
it's really unique how the author is using it
in this context. It's the same word that's used
throughout the New Testament for boldness or
freedom, openness, plainness in speech, or confidence
in general. And it's interesting that the author
uses this word in this context because... He's
referencing these public scenarios. He's referencing
these public and corporate realities throughout
this section. He's referenced earlier on the
need for these believers to not forsake their
own assembling. He references the fact that they
were made public spectacles in the past, previously,
in their Christian lives. And so he's saying,
don't give that up. Don't throw it away. Don't
forsake it. And it's interesting that he uses
the word confidence in the context of persecution
and opposition. Why do you think, brothers and
sisters, it's interesting that the author would
say, stay confident in your current situation.
In the midst of persecution, opposition, and
turbulent times. It's because suffering, persecution,
and opposition in particular, they have a unique
and a distinct way of stripping man of their
confidence. Troubling times, hard times in life,
opposition, persecution, and directed suffering
has a way of making good in godly men who are
once strong in the things of God and strong and
bold in their convictions for the truth of the
Scripture. It has a way, brothers and sisters,
of causing them to cower under the forces that
might be. It has a way of making men crumble
with regards to the truth of the gospel. It has
a way of making good and godly men, should we
say, cowards with the truth of God. Suffering
and persecution have a way. Of making men lose
their grip and have second guesses with regards
to the authority of God's inerrant word. That's
what suffering and persecution and opposition
do. So now we know, now we understand, now we
can see why the author says don't throw it away.
Keep it up. Maintain it. Preserve it. But we
have to understand, this is not talking about
self -confidence, brothers and sisters. This
is not talking about confidence in one's own
ability. This is not talking about confidence
in one's own righteousness, as Pastor Dustin
mentioned earlier. This is not talking about...
one's confidence in their own intellect, their
own mind, their own wisdom, their own wit, or
anything else. This is talking about confidence
in the truth of Holy Scripture. This is talking
about confidence with regards to the things of
the living God and the people of God. This is
talking about one's relationship to the truth
of the Gospel and one's confession or profession
of faith. He's saying stay confident in those
realities. Stay confident in the truth. Stay
confident in what you have believed for so long
and you have professed for so long. Stay confident
in the people of God and the truth of the Scripture.
Hold fast the confession of your hope. Consider
how to stimulate one another to love and good
deeds. Draw near with a sincere heart and full
assurance of faith. That's what he's saying,
brothers and sisters. He's encouraging them not
to throw away their confidence, but to retain
it, maintain it, and even strengthen it in the
midst of persecution, opposition, and trials
in their lives. But he also does this by reminding
them of the need for endurance. There is an ever
-present, always -present need in the life of
the believer. The author says, for you have need
of endurance. Why does the author say that? Why
does the believer always need to be patient?
Why does the believer always need to persevere
in life and endure and press on? Because there's
an ever -present supply of difficulty and hardship
that they will always be encountering and experiencing
in their lives. The only way the believer will
ever make progress and grow in grace, the only
way the believer will ever work and find success
in their Christian life and progress and progressive
renewal in their life, the only way they will
make their way near to glory is if they endure
through the trials. And they press on. And we'll
see a little bit later. This is not some fleshly
or carnal endurance. This is an endurance that
is born in faith. This is an endurance that is
motivated and driven and compelled by faith.
It's faith which preserves our souls. There's
always a need for endurance in our lives. Some
might be bigger needs. Some might be more insignificant
or lesser or less severe. But every believer
in Jesus Christ has the need to press on and
to persevere unto the end toward glory. Somehow,
As we grow and mature and as we progress in the
Christian life, oftentimes I feel, and I think
we see, that we tend to grow a little bit more
lax in things. Oftentimes we don't think as sharply
or clearly about truths and realities as we once
did. We can easily just get into a pattern. In
our lives. We can even, as we progress in life,
start to think things like this. Why is this
happening to me? I don't deserve these things
in my life. This isn't fair. This shouldn't be
happening to me. This shouldn't be happening
to my church. This shouldn't be happening to
my family or my soul. This shouldn't be my experience
in life. I deserve better. That's erroneous,
false, sinful thinking, brothers and sisters.
Do you know what we deserve? You know what every
single one of us deserve? Every single one of
us deserves the wrath of God. Every single one
of us deserves to suffer under the wrath of God
for our rebellion against His holy character
and transgressing His law. When you start to
think, I don't deserve my sufferings and my hardships,
start to remember, brothers and sisters, that
you are loved unfairly. God does not owe you
love or grace. That's the nature of grace. That's
the nature of mercy. His love ought not to be
on us in Christ. What is fair and equitable is
punishment and wrath. We want grace and mercy.
And because of that grace and mercy, we must
suffer in this life. But we can do it by God's
grace with joy in our hearts, brothers and sisters.
We can endure by faith. We can endure in this
life. We need to think rightly about suffering
and about our lives. The Bible presents the picture
that suffering is actually not an exception,
but it is the normative experience and reality
of the Christian life. That we shouldn't be surprised
when hardship and fiery trials come upon us.
But we do get surprised. Because we're forgetful
people because of the dullness of our hearts,
brothers and sisters. But remember, there's grace.
There's the grace of God which forgives you of
your sin and your dullness of heart and your
forgetfulness of the truth and the reality of
the Scriptures. There's always forgiveness in
Christ for His people. We have need to endure.
This means for us, when we go through difficulties
in our lives, we must maintain our confidence
in the Lord and in His Word. In particular, that
necessitates and that requires that we don't
shy away from the Word of God or neglect the
Word of God, but it means that we read and we
give ourselves to the Word of God. Not just in
the normal way. But when trials and difficulties
and hardships come upon us, we ought to give
ourselves to the Word of God more. We ought to
lean into the Scriptures more. We must maintain
our confidence. It also means that we must give
ourselves to prayer. I do not... that there's
any better way of finding relief from burdens,
struggles, difficulties in life, anxieties and
stress, concerns. I do not believe that there's
any better way than striving with the Lord in
prayer. And brothers and sisters, I don't just
mean a 15 second or 30 second prayer. I mean
that you seek God's face and you strive in prayer
with Him until He takes your burden. Until you
find relief from the things in your soul. Cast
your cares at His feet, brothers and sisters.
He cares for you greatly. He's evidenced this
in Christ. If God sent his son to die for sinners
who don't deserve it, will he not aid them in
their times of difficulty? Will he not be present
for those same sinners that he's given his blessed
son to? Will he not lift their burdens? Will
he not lift their struggles? Will he not take
their anxieties? Freely and willingly. But the
problem is we so often don't try to give them
to the Lord. We don't go to the throne of grace
to find help. We must seek Him out in prayer.
It's the best means, brothers and sisters, that
God has ordained to take away the burdens and
struggles in their lives. And don't underestimate.
The importance and the significance of spiritual
grit in this life. Sometimes we need to remember,
I just have to get up another day. I have to
press on one more day and trust the Lord. There
are times when it's difficult to pray. That's
just the nature of it. There are times, brothers
and sisters, when it is difficult and it is hard
to read and study the Bible. There are times
it's hard and difficult to focus the mind. But
listen, even in those times, you can trust Him
day by day. You can trust His providence. You
can trust His sovereignty. You can trust His
purposes and His plans in your life. You can
trust. Even when you can't pray, you can trust.
Even when you're struggling to read, you can
trust, brothers and sisters, in the Lord Jesus
Christ and the reality that God says He will
work everything for the good of His people and
for the glory of His name. Don't underestimate
spiritual grit and fortitude and resilience in
this life. Press on. and resolve in your hearts
that no matter how difficult or hard life gets,
you will not cower under the pressure to wiggle
out from under the authority of God's Word. Life
is full of opportunities to create wiggle room
with regards to the Scriptures. Life is full
of opportunities to give you just the right moment,
just the right time to wiggle out from under
what God has really said on this issue. I think
there's an enemy in the world that hates God's
people that loves to provide opportunities such
as that. Isn't that how the fall really came
about? The devil comes to Eve and he provides
her with this opportunity to wiggle out from
under the authority of God's word. No matter
how difficult or hard or trying, no matter what
sacrifice may be required of you, no matter what
persecution or suffering comes upon you, don't
give way to the truth of God's word. Don't cave,
don't crumble, and don't cower. Maintain your
confidence. So the author wants them to remember
the past. But he also reminds them and encourages
them to press on in the future. And we also see
that suffering Christians must firmly fix their
faith on future promised realities. As we've
mentioned already, in trials and hardships, it
is often difficult to focus our thoughts. It
seems as though everything's pulling at us. It's
hard to focus everything in and put the blinders
on, and it's hard and difficult to sustain that.
The temptation... is to be consumed with everything
else. The temptation is to be consumed with the
problems, the persecution, the burdens, the sufferings,
the issues at hand. But listen, brothers and
sisters, that does nothing at all to contribute
to your endurance in this life. Don't give yourself
to everything just to free yourself from having
to think about the hard thing. Fixating ourselves
on the suffering only contributes to despair
and hopelessness and the flesh and carnality.
So what ought we to think about in trials? What
ought we to think about in sufferings? What ought
we to place our mind firmly upon in the midst
of opposition and trials and difficulty like
the readers were going through? The author tells
us that we ought to fix and set our minds upon
The better and lasting possessions that we have
in Christ. The eternal realities as a result
of salvation. The eternal realities as a result
of the gospel. He tells us that we ought to fix
our minds on the future reception of the promised
great reward. We see that. In verse 35, which
has great reward. We also see him referring to
that which is promised in verse 36. These unseen
future realities that God has promised to his
people. These are the things that we ought to
be placing our minds on in the midst of tumultuous
times. We have to rein in our thoughts, focus
our minds, and think about the things of God,
and think about eternal realities, and think
about the blessings in Jesus Christ, and the
grace of God that has been abundantly bestowed
on us as undeserving sinners. We have to focus
our hearts and our minds on the reality that
a good, faithful God oversees, superintends,
and works our lives for our good and for His
glory. That all that we have and all that we
are is His. We are in His hands. He is good and
He is faithful. His Son came into the world to
die for us, for sinners. And we can entrust ourselves
to Him over and over and over. This is the only
way that we will ever persevere in this life.
If we, by faith, set our minds on these realities
and what is to come. Those who refuse to do such
a thing, and they fail to do so, and they reject
those realities and those promises. are described
in this text. But we are not of those who shrink
back to destruction. Born -again believers are
those with faith. Born -again believers are those
that God has given faith to. And they will put
their faith on these promises and these realities.
Those without faith will shrink back to destruction.
They will prove themselves to be the enemies
and the opposers of the living God, and they
will receive the fury and the wrath that we spoke
about last week. But the people of God, those
with faith, are those who move forward toward
glory in spite of trials and sufferings. And
they will find great pleasure at the reception
of the Lord Jesus Christ when he returns. Brothers
and sisters, press on and endure. Put your mind
and your heart on the things of God. Remember
that life is hard and difficult. But this is
the road. to glory. This is the road to eternity
and the fullness of Christ and the fullness of
His grace, the new heavens and the new earth.
So what ought suffering Christians to do? They
must remember their past, they must continue
to endure in the present, and they must firmly
fix their faith on future promised realities.