Turn with me to Hebrews, Hebrews
chapter 10. The Apostle Paul is writing to
these Hebrew brethren. They were believers in Christ
of the Jews, and he's writing to encourage them, encourage
them in love, in hope, and in faith, and this is what the Lord
does for his people. And he writes, we're gonna begin
in verse 23, I just wanna say a few things on this. He says,
let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering,
for he is faithful that promised. Our hope, our confidence is not
in ourselves, but in him. who has promised us in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together. And what he's saying there is
not abandoning this hope that we have, that we share in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Don't turn from Christ as the
manner of some is, but exhorting one another in so much the more
as you see the day approaching. And so what was occurring here
is that there were believing Jews who were suffering persecution
and there were some who were drawing back from Christ. They were turning from Christ
and going back to the practices of the law because they were
being persecuted. And so they thought, well, we'll
just go back to the law of Moses here and work a righteousness
for ourselves under that law of Moses. But this was a spiritually
deadly thing to do. This was a foolish thing for
them to do because no man is saved by the deeds of the law. Even the Jews that were saved
under that covenant were saved by the blood of Christ. They
were saved looking to the hope of the Messiah, the promised
Messiah, not by the law. They saw Christ and worshipped
him. Paul adds, verse 26, for if we sin willfully, after that
we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for
judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. Now understand, this verse gave
me a great deal of trouble. This is one of the things that
I came under the terrors of that verse in seeing the willfulness
of my sin. I understand something though,
that all of our sin has a degree of willfulness in the commission
of sin. And he's not speaking of sin
in general here. What he's describing is those
who are drawn back from Christ under persecution. Those that
are turning from Christ, apostatizing from the Lord Jesus Christ to
go back to Judaism in the practice of the law of Moses for righteousness. They were turning from Christ,
who is the truth of God, of whom the law and the prophets were
speaking of to try and deliver themselves from persecution and
the afflictions of their countrymen who hated Christ. And so here
in this chapter, Paul is describing the sacrifice of Christ, who
he is, what this means, that the Lord Jesus Christ has come,
that the Son of God has come in the flesh to fulfill all those
things promised and spoken of in the law, seen in the types
and the shadows and the pictures of the law. Wasn't the law saving
them? It was him of whom those things
spoke, of him of whom those things pointed to, showing us our need
of the Savior, the promised seed who should come from the garden,
made there in the garden. And it says back in chapter 10,
verse 12, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for
sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Because, verse
14, by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified,
separated by the Holy Spirit of God unto this salvation in
and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Understand that Christ's blood
is the only blood that atones for sins. In Hebrews, we're told
it's not the blood of bulls and goats that covers sin. That's
looking to the blood of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
His blood atones for sin, and only His blood. not our sacrifices,
not our doing, not our deeds, not the blood of bulls and goats,
but the blood of Christ. We come in the blood of Christ,
trusting that he has prevailed and availed for me, that he has
put away my sin, that I am righteous before God, because of Christ,
for Christ's sake alone. He's all my hope, all my confidence. He is salvation, brethren, and
there is not salvation in another. And so all who look to Christ
have forgiveness, have the forgiveness of sins, have life in and an
inheritance, an eternal inheritance in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is made known to us
through the preaching of the gospel and by the giving of the
spirit that testifies of these things to your heart. that Jesus
is the Lord and Christ, that he is the Savior, that he came
and put away sin, accomplishing perfect righteousness under the
law, that he gave himself willingly for his people on the cross,
that he died, that he suffered and died and was buried and rose
again the third day, just as God declared he would. And that's
our righteousness. That's our hope. And this is
made known to us through the gospel. And by the giving of
the Spirit who testifies of these things in our hearts, and these
people here, these Hebrews, they heard it. And there were many
that were baptized and confessed Christ. And they walked in that
way for a time and were persecuted for it. And so Paul's saying,
for a man to receive this revelation, to hear this word, to confess
Christ, and to believe him, to walk by faith in him, only to
turn back to the weak and beggarly elements of the world, to go
back to the law, thinking that this will do. It's hot over there
in Christ. I suffer too much persecution.
I'll just go back to where it's cooler under the law and just
try and work a righteousness there, that that'll be good enough.
Paul's saying, no, not so, not so. If you turn from Christ,
there is no sacrifice for sins. That's what he's saying. When
you sin, you've got no covering, no help, no deliverance from
Almighty God then. And so, that sin, you'd have
no covering for your sin outside of Christ. And that's what he's
saying there. Now having said that, Paul believed better things
of them to whom he was writing. He had a better hope that their
profession, their confession of Christ was true and wrought
in them of the Spirit of God. And so he writes to encourage
them in their faith. And he says now in verse 32,
and this will be our text at the end of the chapter, he says,
but call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated,
ye endured a great fight of afflictions, partly whilst ye were made a
gazing-stock, both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst
ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had
compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling
of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better
and an enduring substance. So our focus today is on the
perseverance of the saints. The perseverance of the saints,
which is founded upon the preservation of God. It's God that preserves
us. We persevere because God preserves
us in his grace. And that's what this is really
a testimony of. It's God that finishes that work
which he has begun in us. He's keeping us, brethren. Recall what Paul said to the
Philippians in Philippians 1.6, that we are confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Christ Jesus. That's our hope and confidence. That's how we persevere is because
God purposes to finish that which he started in us, to carry us
through it. It's his preservation that guarantees
your perseverance. Now as we persevere in Christ,
because it feels like we're going to fall away. There's times where
it feels that we're not going to make it, that we're not going
to last, that we're going to fall in the way. But we persevere
in Christ against all manner of opposition, things that arise
from without and things that arise from within, that oppose
the truth of Christ. But it's in those oppositions,
in those afflictions that we see and begin to understand the
promises of God. And that's where we learn of
His grace. That's where we learn of His
power. That's where we learn of the truth and dependability
of His word and promises made unto us. They're proved to us
through these trials and tribulations, through the difficulties, through
the darkness, through the hardship. That's where we learn that God
is faithful and true to his word, that he's faithful and true to
us, that just as he said, I will never forsake you nor leave you,
and I will return for you. That's where we learn the dependability
of God. because whatsoever is born of
God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith, which is given unto us,
brethren. Who is he that overcometh the
world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. And so that faith is testified
to, that it's of God. If this faith is of the flesh,
you will fall away under persecution. You will dry up and shrivel up
under persecution and the heat of the persecuting sun. You will
die in the way. But if the Lord's hand is in
that work, you will be delivered from great dangers, which he
purposes and brings in to prove that work. And if there be no
proving, if there be no chastening, then are ye bastards and not
sons at all. But if there be a chastening,
it's because the Lord chastens those whom he loves. And he proves
that work for your good and for your salvation to cause you to
persevere in him. You will not fall away. You'll
feel yourself falling away, but you won't because he'll put that
cry of faith in you, Abba, Father, save me. Deliver me. Have mercy,
Lord, please. He gives that because he loves
his child. And he does that. He draws us
to him. And so he gives us that confession
of Christ. And it's a real living confession. It ain't dead. It's not just
dead letter religion that we just come and practice and do.
That's dead. That's not our salvation. Our
hope is Christ. Christ. And we're going to know
who he is, why he came, what he accomplished for me, for me. He gives, he shows each one of
his children that very truth and hope. So rather than drawing
back and turning away, we persevere and we grow in Christ. There's
a growth there. Peter exhorts us, but grow in
the grace and knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Grow in these things. That's the purpose of God for
us in Christ. You that have children. They don't just come forth and
then stay little babies that just shrivel up and go away,
and that's it for their whole, no. You nurture them, you train
them, you teach them, and they grow to be productive, hopefully
productive citizens. It's a picture of how the Lord
grows us in Christ, strengthening us, nourishing us, teaching us. Don't do this, do this. Don't
go that way. To death, go this way. This is
life here. The Lord teaches us. He keeps
us ever looking to him. And he brings us through various
trials to teach us those things that are useful to us in our
growth. In the same way you give your
children good food to nourish them, to strengthen them. You
give them exercise. You put them through things to
help them grow. And you teach them. You spend
time with them to grow them. And so that's what the Lord does
for us. We grow. We don't just stagnate. We grow
and grow. So I want to bring out three
ways from this text here in which our Lord grows us in Christ to
fix in us a perseverance in him to keep us growing and ever pressing
toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And we see that here in this
text. He's strengthening us in the
love that he gives us for our God, for our brethren, in the
hope that he gives us, and in the faith which he's given to
us in Christ. He's doing this work for us,
brethren. So first, our Lord gives us life. He makes us alive in the Lord
Jesus Christ. All were dead in trespasses and
sins, and all, as in all in Christ, shall be made alive. All shall
live in him. Every man born in the flesh is
dead in sins. We must be given life. We must
know Christ. We must hear Christ and believe
him. And so he describes this here
for these Hebrew brethren as being illuminated. Verse 32,
but call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated. Christ is the light of the world. He is that light, brethren. He's
that light, and He separates the light from darkness. He drives
that darkness away, which is in our hearts and in our minds.
He shines that light and brings us into the light and understanding
of the true and living God. Apart from Christ, we don't know
the true and living God. We might claim to be spiritual
and tangle with spiritual things, but it's in complete darkness.
It's in utter darkness and wickedness. Only Christ is the light, and
he shows us the Father. He reveals the true and living
God to his children. And he gives his Holy Spirit
that gives us a new birth. I've said it many times. I'll
say it again. We come forth born of the corrupt
seed of Adam, and we are born again of the incorruptible righteous
seed of the Lord Jesus Christ. which cannot be lost, which cannot
be ruined. That new man cannot sin against
the light of Christ. All he can do is believe Christ
and trust Him. That's all he can do, because
it's Christ. It's Christ's work. It's of His work and glory. And
so, right away, the second thing, the Lord begins to prove that
work. He begins to grow you. As a child
coming into the world begins to breathe, right? And they get handled and swaddled
and cleaned and rubbed and pushed and it's all just that part of
that life that they're given. And the Lord proves this work.
He firms it up, which he's begun in us, using various temptations,
various afflictions, various troubles, various things that
come against us to immediately firm that up. To firm it up. And we see that in many, many
things, many applications where putting pressure on things, putting
resistance on things firms them up. It strengthens those bones
and muscles and sinews. It happens in plants all the
time. It's a picture of what the Lord does for us. And that's
what the opposing wind and the afflictions do for us. It firms
us up. It proves the work is the Lord's
and not of this flesh. And so there in verse 32, after
ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions. And these afflictions look like
this, verse 33 and 34. In some ways, they individually
were made a gazing stock, a spectacle. Both by reproaches and afflictions,
because they looked to Christ, they trusted Christ, they heard
Christ, they followed Christ in faith. And they endured afflictions
and reproaches for that. In other words, in other ways,
they became companions of them that were so used. So when a
brother or sister suffered loss, They came and were made partakers
in that loss by helping them, by giving of their own selves,
and saying, they took that from you. Here, I've got something
for you. I'll put that in its place. So they suffered together. They bore that together. And
they were companions of Paul and his bonds. And Paul was a
hated man in the world, not only by the Jews, in many ways, or
even in the cities, where uproars were started to get at Paul,
as we saw our brother read there in Acts 17. But also, even it
seems like, when you read it, from those that profess to be
believers in Christ, that still look to the law for righteousness. They opposed Paul. And so if
you were a friend of Paul, You suffered the reproaches that
Paul bore. They didn't like you just because you were a friend
with Paul. And so the Lord does this because in our heart, naturally,
we love this world. We're partakers of this world.
And by these reproaches, he separates the love in our hearts for the
world, and he separates the love of the world for us. He puts
a division between that and gathers his people in one in him. Our Lord tells us, he was telling
his disciples before he went to the cross for them, In John
15, verse 18, he said, If the world hate you, ye know that
it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the
world would love his own. But because ye are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have
kept my saying, they will keep yours also. And so there's afflictions. There's afflictions for identifying
with Christ. There's afflictions for identifying
with brethren. And if a brother like Paul, his
thing was he was in bonds. And I'm sure there are people
who said that Paul brought that upon himself. He just kept talking. He could have just kept quiet,
but he kept talking, and he got thrown in jail. He got what he
deserved. And they didn't like Paul. He
would stir up trouble when he came in and preached. It stirred
up trouble for them. And there were people who didn't
like that. And you identify with a brother with a weakness, and
you're going to be a partaker in the reproaches that he receives
for standing with him. You're going to identify. You're
going to feel that, too. In that, there's manifest love.
There's a manifestation of the love of God in our hearts and
that. We learn what it is to love our
brethren. We learn what it is to be partakers with our brethren,
to care for our brethren, to care what they're going through.
to just stop what we're doing for a time, to be mindful of
them. As many of you were, when the
storm hit our house and we lost branches and power, there were
many of you that I spoke to that cared. and wanted to do what
you could do to help in any way that you could. And that's what
the Lord does. He gives his people a heart and a love for his brethren,
to rejoice with them that rejoice, to weep with them that weep.
And that has many manifestations, many ways in which that is made
a reality to us for one another. And John said, we know that we've
passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. That's
one of the ways the Lord reveals that you're His, because of the
love and care He gives you for your brethren. And it's manifested
through many afflictions, many hardships, many difficulties. right, that we see it. And so
attacks come, and another thing that we see through afflictions
is it shakes in us. It can shake us to our core,
and it brings down those confidences that we have in ourselves, in
our flesh. in whether it be in our righteousness,
our strength, our wisdom, our abilities, our stores, whatever
it is that we're trusting in, the Lord has a way to shake those
things and to bring them down so that what remains are eternal
things. And so we see that what cannot
be shaken is what Christ has laid. He's the foundation that
cannot be moved. And what's built upon him are
things such as gold, silver, and precious stones. If it's
hay, wood, and stubble, it'll come down. It'll burn up or fall
apart because it's not eternal. Peter says it this way in 1 Peter
5, verses 8 through 10. He said, be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil has a roaring line walketh about
seeking whom he may devour." And this is speaking of the enemy
who opposes all that is God, all that is of God, all that
are of God, he opposes them. Whom, Peter says, resists steadfast
in the faith. That's our weapons, not carnal
weapons. faith, spiritual weapons given to us of God, knowing that
the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren throughout the
world. And we're all partaking of this. When you're having a
rough day, there's many brethren having a rough day too. But the
Lord always has someone that cares. and reaches out. I can't tell you how many times
where I've been down or going through some difficulty, and
the Lord just sends a brother or sister, someone, who just
says something, and I have no idea just how much I needed to
hear that. And I know, Lord, thank you. Thank you. I'm on my pity pot,
thinking bad and horrible things about myself, and the Lord just
says, you're not forgotten. You're not forgotten. You have
brethren. your mind. And so I'm thankful for those
things. Knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. He only
permits what is for our good. But the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, settle you. And that's the Lord's growing
us in Christ. Don't you ever think back and
wonder how any of us survived childhood? The dangerous things
we did, but it all strengthened us, settled us, and we've grown
up, and the Lord does that through these afflictions. And that we
may look back and give him thanks, and then also encourage and comfort
our brethren who are going through things that we've gone through
before. It's a living faith, brethren.
And we have an eternal weight of glory promised to us in Christ. And you that look to him and
continue in him, you'll not come short of it. You'll not come
short of it because of his preserving grace. And he's going to keep
you persevering in it because you know that he is faithful
who promised. And you know that because he
gives that to you. And he keeps reminding you of
it through the faithful preaching of the gospel, to hear that promise,
his promise, over and over again. Keep looking to Christ. Keep
looking to Christ. Don't turn away. Don't turn back,
as some do. Don't you do it. So we see these
manifest tokens of his grace. We're illuminated by his spirit
and grace. There is a giving of afflictions
that prove his work in you, to the end that you be established
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than that of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. And so the sovereign
hand of God who gives these things, he's the one preserving it. He's
preserving it. It's his preserving grace unto
the end, giving us that hope in him, that we endure these
sufferings, endure these afflictions to the praise, honor, and glory
of his name. Now, look at verse 35. Paul says, cast not away, therefore,
your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. He's talking
about a payment, not that we pay or that we've earned it.
This is a payment settled by Christ, our surety. He paid it,
called the spoils of the victory. He's the mighty one who divides
the spoils with us. The inheritance that he's obtained,
he gives it to us also. For ye have need of patience.
And that's the third thing, the need of patience. Trials were
patience. And enduring these patients,
patiently enduring the trials, works experience. And experience
gives rise to hope. So we see the love that the Lord
forms in us for our brethren, for our God and for our brethren.
And he forms that hope in us, that hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. For ye have need of patience,
that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the
promise. Whatever God has called you for
unto his family, unto himself, you shall fulfill that purpose
of him. You just keep looking to Christ.
You keep moving in Christ, looking to him. For yet a little while,
and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Right? So that's the promise that we
have. We're the sons of God now. And
we don't see what we shall see. We don't always feel it. We don't
always see what we think we should see. But when he returns, we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. He shall fulfill
this promise word unto us, brethren. And so that being the case, that's
our hope. And that being the case, with
the love we have for brethren, the hope we have of his promised
eternal inheritance, let us hold fast our profession of faith. Faith. Look at Hebrews 10, 38
and 39. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, If
any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But
we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, unto death, but
of them that believe to the saving of the soul. And so, with all
these oppositions mounted against you, all these troubles and difficulties
opposing the way, which is Christ, The only way through it is to
just keep looking to Christ and going forward in Him by faith,
trusting Him, not looking at the trials, not looking at your
flesh, look to Christ. Trust Him, cry out to Him, call
upon Him. for he hears the cry of his children.
He delights to hear the cry of his children. Paul said, I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. That's what we do, brethren.
We trust him who's called us. We don't turn from him. We've
been justified by the Lord Jesus Christ, and we don't turn away
to other things for help, for solace, for peace, for comfort.
It's found in Christ alone. Paul said, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before." And what Paul is saying is, in Christ were
made new creatures. Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things are become new. So we don't draw back to
the things of this world. The things that we've been called
out of from sin and death and wicked works and wicked things,
nor do we draw back to the law of Moses for righteousness to
try and improve upon what Christ has done for us. We don't draw
back to the weak and beggarly elements of this world. Whatever
it is that our hope and confidence was in before Christ came, don't
go back to those things. When Christ called you, when
he illuminated you, when he began to afflict you and to prove his
word to you, don't turn back to those things that the Lord
has called you out of. Press forward to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Rest in him. And that's where
you'll bear fruits of love and hope and faith in Christ, is
looking to him. Believers won't come short of
that. They won't turn back. They won't fall away. They continue
in Christ. And Paul said, I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. Persevere, brethren. Persevere
in Christ, and you'll persevere because of his preserving grace. Amen.