A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

Introduction

Winston Churchill once said, when you find yourself going through hell, the best idea is to keep walking. However, we all know that endurance through trials is easier said than done. Many of you have asked about my pastor friend in Ukraine. On top of shepherding his own flock, every other week he drives aid supplies into villages rav- aged by the war. I recently saw him at a conference. He looked around the room, filled with Slavic pastors, and told me that in many villages, the residents stayed. Homes destroyed, sleeping in hovels. But the question he gets asked is this: will you stay, and be our pastor? Why? Because their pastors had left. Some of whom, my friend said, with hushed voice, were walking around in that very room, eating American food. You may have heard of Augustine, an early church father. His books continue to in- form us. But what many do not know is that when the fall of Rome became inevitable, he stayed with his people. He endured to the end. Today, like with Rome, our culture teeters, hollowed out by our own corruptions. And we are asking, what shall we do? Last week we saw that worship is the nuclear reactor of all that we are to do. In worship we gain a vision that empowers us to do HIS will, on earth, as it is already in heaven. But what IS His will? Hebrews 10 tells us: We are to ENDURE, by FAITH. God commands His soldiers to stay at their post, BY trusting in HIS promises. 1

Therefore today I want to look at Hebrews 10, because it also tells us HOW we en- dure. Then I want to look more closely at one of its themes, and then apply it to our everyday lives. 2

1. The Passage

The writers of Hebrews - Paul and Luke I think - are writing to Jewish Christians, who are going through trials, and those trials just keep on. No half-hour sitcom ending in sight. Thus, in a book of great theological complexity, Paul can boil everything down to v. 36:

Hebrews 10:36 (ESV): . . . you have need of endurance . . .

And in the verses surrounding this verse, the writer gives four motivations to EN- DURE, no matter the situation or the cost. We endure by recalling these four realities.

Recall the FEAR of the Lord, v. 31.

First, by remembering the FEAR of the Lord. The FEAR of the Lord, v. 31.

Hebrews 10:31 ESV

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” I quote this verse as short hand for an argument that has come before - that while there is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus - Romans 8:1

Romans 8:1 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

the reality is that God also JUDGES His people. Why? To demonstrate WHO is ac- tually, IN Christ. As Jesus taught in his parable of the wheat and the tares, not all who are AMONG His people are actually OF His people. Not everyone who comes to church every week and says Lord, Lord is actually saved. But when the Lord judges those who ARE in Christ, there IS therefore NO con- demnation for them, not because they are without sin, but because their sin was nailed to the cross.

Now, you can’t SEE faith, just as you can’t see, for instance, GRAVITY. But just as with gravity, you can see evidence that it’s there and it’s working. And here, the au- thor’s point is that one of the chief evidences of the existence of faith is the power to ENDURE to the end. So we need to understand the role of a warning like this, to an authentic Christian. It’s like a warning sign on the road. Those who are in Christ SEE the sign, and HEED it. It’s not crushing to hear this warning of coming judgment - it’s actually grace. Yes, there IS a coming judgment. But the warning is only crushing if you are still depend- ing on yourself for salvation, for being good enough in the end. But it’s grace if you’ve thrown yourself on Christ. It’s simply a call to not give up, but to endure to the end, by faith. Now, the second motivation for endurance is this, to

Recall the FORMER days, v. 32-34.

For these folks, their former days involved a “hard struggle with sufferings”, v. 32.

Hebrews 10:32 ESV

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,

Some of them, v. 33

Hebrews 10:33 ESV

sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.

, were exposed to public humiliation. Some of them were afflicted physically, either by torture or imprisonment, or losing their livelihoods. And some- times, they simply stayed close with those who were afflicted, which is a form of afflic- tion itself. When their friends went to prison, v. 34

Hebrews 10:34 ESV

For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

, they weren’t embarrassed to be identified with them, visiting them. And when their property was taken, they actually REJOICED in it. Why? Because as the governing authorities drove off with their stuff, they knew that that moment would be brought forward in God’s final judgment as EVIDENCE that they really were the rightful possessors of a more lasting treasure - the kingdom 4

of God itself. A treasure that’s better than 401k’s and that would abide - that would last longer than a two-week vacation in Kawaii. But now perhaps they’ve entered a period of monotony. Sometimes that’s harder than the dramatic. So Paul says, RECALL these former days, and ask yourself, if you re- ally want to throw that away, if you want to give up the ground you gained then. Ask yourself, which version of YOU is closer to the heart of God. Perhaps God has just as specific purposes in the monotony as he does the dramatic. So remember the fear of the Lord, and at the same time, RECALL the former days. Because of the third motivation:

Recall your FUTURE. V. 35-38

You remembered something then that you’ve forgotten now, he says: that there IS a great REWARD, v. 35

Hebrews 10:35 ESV

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

, on the other side of faithful endurance. When it is all over, v. 36

Hebrews 10:36 ESV

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

, and you have done the will of God, you WILL receive what God has promised. That day is just a little while away, v. 37

Hebrews 10:37 ESV

For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;

. He will come, just as he left, in the clouds. He will not delay one second. Jesus wants to return more than we want him to. And when he returns, he WILL reward those who have endured by FAITH. Not by AWESOME faith, but weak faith, that rests on an AWESOME savior. Imper- fect faith, that bets everything on a Lord that was so perfect, God raised him from the dead. If your faith is on Christ, and then HIS GRACE will sustain you, and you will endure. Then at judgment, v. 38

Hebrews 10:38 ESV

but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”

, He will take pleasure in you, v. 38. He will see HIS fingerprints all over your little faith, and he will delight to say, Oh good and faithful servant, enter into your reward. 5

But if there is not enduring faith, he will take no pleasure in you, because He won’t see His own grace. Depart from me, I never knew you, he will say. That’s a stark word. And yet the writer closes this section in his customary fashion. After having given the warning, he gives reassurance, and the last motivation:

Hebrews 10:39 ESV

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

(ESV): But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. I put the last point this way:

Recall your own FACE. V. 39

After having given us stark warnings, he reassures us. He wants us to walk in restful as- surance. Therefore he says, Christian, if you’ve put your faith in Christ, then look at yourself in the mirror, with the eyes of Christ. Remind yourself who you are, because of Christ. Because in his resurrection, you ARE someone new. You ARE someone who does not SHRINK back. Because in him you have all you need to press on, by faith, and preserve your soul. Who you are is no longer in question. You are NOT destined for destruction, but for reward. You are not a citizen of the dying kingdoms of this world, but a citizen of the kingdom of light and life. You already have a new name, written on a scroll in heav- en. Remember who you are, by faith. Your identity is not defined by your present- tense situation or struggle. Not by what others say about you. Not by the pains you feel. Not by scorn they heap on you. 6

Though enemies slander you. Though your friends deny you, remember: you’ve been bought by another, at the cost of his own blood. Therefore HE is the only one who gets to say WHO or WHAT you are. And if you are IN Him, by faith, He says, you are MINE. You are a son or daughter of the Most High. You are heaven’s nobility. You are a prince of the kingdom. You are on the first line of God’s last will and testament, the inheritor of it all. In Christ, the first- born from the dead, you are a firstborn son of God. So to endure, Paul says,

Recall the fear of the Lord.

Recall the former days.

Recall your future.

Recall your own face, your own identity, in Christ.

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2. ”Partners with Those So Treated”

Now, that’s the passage. I want to think it about it more deeply, by thinking about the phrase at the end of

v. 33 - “. . . sometimes being partners with those so treated.”

The word there for “partners” is the same word translated FELLOWSHIP in other places in the Bible. As the Spirit worked in them in the past, they became PARTNERS, they CHOSE to join in deep fellowship with others who were being mistreated. Which, we like to say to ourselves, well, of course I would be that. And yet, quite commonly today, when one of our own is jailed unjustly, or persecuted, or they lose their job, what I hear or read from other Christians is some variation of “That happened because you did it wrong.” You violated the 11th commandment: you should have been nicer. You should have been more winsome. Certainly there was some third way, some threading the needle, that I would have followed. You de- serve what you got. Perhaps we do this because we have trouble processing our own government persecuting godly living, right before our eyes. Or perhaps we critique our brothers and remain distant from them as a cover for our own cowardice. But perhaps it’s because we love our own reputations and comforts much more than we realize, and that love has the power to change even our theology, and to twist the Bible to justify treating our brothers so coldly. 8

Yet as Paul wrote in 2 Tim. 3:12:

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

ALL who desire to live godly lives WILL be perse- cuted. By WHOM? Well, throughout this age, from the first century onward, the worst of it has come from governments, but also from the general spirit of the age. And the reason why Paul tells Timothy this is because, like you and me, he proba- bly had trouble processing, as you might today, why his own government would slan- der Christians, and make them political prisoners. But Paul tells him to expect it. Why? Because it is always the tendency of man, when he rejects God, not to just walk away and go play golf. When mankind rejects God, he then sees a job opening. And century after century, the way that sinful man acts on that impulse, to be god and dominate others, is through government. And the tyranny that results is always directed at those who seek to live godly lives. Because godly living, at its heart, says Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. And in our day, when we only critique our brothers and sisters, we are playing into the enemy’s hands. Because, here in California, the reality is that we’re all probably breaking two or three laws right this moment. It’s by DESIGN, that if you seek to live a godly life, you will be going against the grain of the government’s intrusive tentacles into everything. And every year, more and more intrusive legislation is passed. We are the prover- bial frog, boiling slowly in the pot. I belabor this for two reasons. First, the question of Do you leave California? Maybe. The trouble is that if you move to Idaho, there’s a bunch of Californians there, who haven’t dusted all the insani- ty off their boots before they settled there. And thus you will have need of endurance THERE, too. The point is, no matter WHERE you live, you WILL be swimming against the cur- rent. You will be cutting across the grain. 9

Maybe move, maybe don’t. But either way, in our time, we have need of EN- DURANCE. There is no threading the needle and avoiding resistance and persecution. But I belabor this because of the overlooked secret sauce, our super-power in en- during to the end: that is, EACH OTHER. The church is a hospital for sinners, AND it is also a platoon, a band of brothers. Therefore we don’t shoot our wounded, but nurse them back to health. And we don’t leave our brothers and sisters behind, for fear of our reputations getting dirtied by theirs. We get dirty with them. We allow OUR repu- tations to get stained, right along with theirs. We are KOINONOI - partners in Christ, and therefore partners with each other. Which means we share both in the BLESSINGS of Christ, and in filling up the SUFFER- INGS of Christ. Together. Marxists, communists, socialists, feminists - these all eventually eat their own, be- cause these are cancers. But we are Christ’s body. And he charges us to endure, in car- rying our own load, all the while helping our brother or sister carry theirs. Now, this leads us into several of practical applications for our endurance through suffering, the first of which is this: 10

3. Practical Implications

We learn to endure the big things through enduring monotonous nuisances.

Recently I’ve been reading John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. He wrote it while impris- oned for years for his faith, away from his wife and daughters, as they struggled to sur- vive. At one point the main character Christian is asked if he can REMEMBER the ways that deals with what we would call NUISANCE lusts - those desires and thoughts that are more daily, more monotonous. And he replies with four things he remembers: A. “Yes. When I think about what I experienced at the cross, that will do it.” At the cross his burden of guilt and shame fell off. B. “When I look at the embroidered coat, that will do it.” God gave him this coat at the cross, as a reminder of his new identity, as a noble, royal son of the kingdom to come. C. “When I read the scroll that I carry in my coat, that will do it.” Here he speaks of the Bible. D. “And when my thoughts turn to the place to which I am going, that will do it.” As he reflects on the promises of God of reward, he is able to endure. Learning this is crucial, because so much of life is lived down in these details. Not the big dramatic moments, but in dealing with the more monotonous nuisance temp- tations and lusts. And we learn to endure these more mundane and common distrac- tions by nurturing faith in these four truths, which are strikingly similar to what the writer in Hebrews speaks of. 11

Which tells us something else: that the way we learn to endure the big, dramatic trials is by enduring the little and the monotonous. Thus God is doing more than you realize, in your day-to-day. Those little moments of temptations and trials are not so lit- tle. They are the training ground for greater responsibilities and greater glories. That’s how sovereign God is: He uses even nuisance lust, which the devil means to harass us with, to shape us into soldiers who can take even greater hills. So I implore you: learn these four truths. Make them portable to yourself in your life. Live on them, in the little moments, which are not so little after all. Secondly,

Nurture mutually-encouraging relationships with the people of God.

By en- couraging, I mean that literally - courage-building. Which utterly REQUIRES talking much about heaven, and the promises of God.

Do the next thing that Christ the King demands.

Do the next thing. Mow your lawn. Kiss your wife and listen to her. Fight porn like it’s a dragon invading your home. Respect and honor your husband. Work hard, from morning till night, fall- ing asleep as you hit your pillow. Plant a garden. Be here on Sunday. Read the Bible with your family. Talk about the country to come as much as you do this one. Have a delicious meal with friends. And gossip Christ wherever you go. 12