Don’t Quit
Notes
Transcript
Do Not Give Up
Do Not Give Up
I saw a video the other day of some high school graduation somewhere.
The Valedictorian was giving his speech and he did a good job.
He had just the right mix of funny and serious.
The more I listened to him, the more I thought about the book of Hebrews.
He said a few years back, he realized he could be the valedictorian.
So he made up his mind to do it.
And he did it.
He studied.
He worked very hard.
And when the day came for the school to announce the valedictorian, they called his name.
He said when they put the valedictorian’s stole on him, he was elated.
…For about 15 seconds.
For 15 seconds he heard the cheers of his friends and family.
And people took his picture.
And then it was over - and he asked, is this all there is?
He went on to talk about all that he had given up to get there.
The relationships he said, he neglected making relationships like his friends did all during high school.
And he regretted it.
I get that.
I know what it takes to be the valedictorian - the number one academic performer in the school.
They do give up a lot.
And it is exceedingly tiring for them.
It wears them out - exhausts them.
And that’s the issue.
He was tired.
He watched his friends party and have a good time while his nose was stuck in a book.
He was plum worn out.
And in that moment, he wasn’t sure he had made the right decision.
That describes exactly what the Pastor is addressing in the book of Hebrews.
These young Christians had endured so much for so long
And it just didn’t look like it was ever going to be over
And they were just plum worn out.
They were sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Just like some of us are.
The Pastor has some good words for us today.
Our text is the end of chapter 10 of Hebrews, verses 32-39.
Go ahead and grab your Bibles - if you don’t have one, there are Bibles in the pews.
Hebrews is towards the end of the Bible, when you see a bunch of Bible books that start with the letter “T” you are very close.
If you don’t own a Bible, please feel free to take one of ours as a gift from us.
We’d love to know that we helped you a little bit to walk with Jesus.
Children, your three words to listen for that will help you listen to the message are One, Jesus and Life.
Everyone, with your Bibles open, hear now the Word of the Lord from Hebrews 10:32-39
But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,
sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
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.
Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;
but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Amen
Let us ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes
Dear Heavenly Father,
Some of our number are so weary, they can only see the pain they carry.
Open our eyes through your wonderful Holy Spirit, that we can see the prize again.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
He finishes chapter ten by telling them to
Look back and remember
Look back and remember
Now last week’s message was brutal.
The Pastor made it excruciatingly plain what we should expect if we turn our backs on Christ.
Remember, he ended by saying, Hebrews 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
If that doesn’t get your attention, nothing will, right?
But these last 8 verses have a very different tone to them.
He’s turned from fire and brimstone to compassion.
He wants them to look back at what has happened to them differently.
He’s helping them see their hardships, not as failure, but as victory.
Look at the very first part of verse 32, Hebrews 10:32 “But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened,
Remember what you know is true
Remember what you know is true
The word enlightened literally has the word light in it.
You were “lit up” by Jesus.
When we realize our sinfulness and that our sin required an eternal sentence in hell
And there wasn’t thing in the world we could do about it.
Then someone told us about Jesus, who lived the only perfect life, he died for our sins, was resurrected by the power of God
And He endured all of that so our sins could be forgiven
And the Lord becomes our God and we become His people and have everything that promises to bring.
That really does light us up.
We’re changed
Made new
We realize all of our guilt and shame are washed completely away in God’s eyes
That we are quite literally the apple of his eyes.
Some of us haven’t ever been the apple of anyone’s eyes.
Until we met Jesus.
That light’s us up.
That’s what gets us started.
Brothers and sisters, if you are going through a difficult time, start right there.
Remember what you know to be true.
Don’t argue with it yet - simply remember what you know to be true.
Claim it for yourself as the truth of all time - unchangeable - irrevocable.
As I’ve heard people say, “This is the God’s honest truth.”
Now that you have that firmly planted in your mind and soul,
Remember what happened to you AND how you survived.
Remember what happened to you AND how you survived.
I know you are like me
When you look back at your hard times and the times you failed
You see the bad stuff.
You think about what happened
And how you felt and how what those around you made you feel
We remember the pain and trauma
But we forget to remember something very, very, very important.
We are still standing.
The second part of verse 32 says, “Hebrews 10:32 “…you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,”
Hard literally means many
You’ve endured many struggles
But that word struggles - listen to the greek word and tell me what you hear - athlesis.
Athletics - that’s the root word for this word struggles.
Life is like a game
It literally has two sides
It if was played on a football field, the evil one and his team would be on one end and God’s children would be on the other.
The evil team does not play fair
There is no trick, no scheme, no foul play that they won’t use
And you and I are the targets.
You HAVE endured many hard struggles with suffering
But do you hear what the Pastor is saying to you.
You endured.
No listen to me - you endured.
As I was writing this, I kept hearing Elton John singing his song from a billion years ago, “I’m still standing.”
Isn’t that what Paul is saying in Ephesians 6:11-13
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
You put on the armor and take the field standing.
You wresting against things bigger than you, more powerful than you, way meaner than you.
But having on God’s armor when the smoke of the battle blows away.
They are not standing, you are.
My brothers and sisters, that’s exactly what the Pastor is saying.
In verse 33, publicly exposed to reproach means people laughed at you for following Jesus.
Publicly exposed to affliction means to face harsh opposition.
They not only laughed at you, but they argued against you
Told you you were crazy, abandoned you, severed family ties
In verse 34, some of them were thrown in prison
And everyone had at least some of their property stolen.
Imagine that happening to you relentlessly.
Day after day with no end in sight.
Forget the laughing and the opposition
But thinking that you are finally on the right path and then having the rug pulled out from under you.
A company up in Eatonton was hiring folks just a year or so ago
A few weeks back they notified all 130 of their workers - we’re about to shut down and close up shop.
Thanks for the memories, good bye and good luck.
Thought I had a job that would pay my bills
Now I don’t.
Marriages have done that.
Kids and parents
Parties that turned into addictions.
Lord please, you said you’d never leave me or forsake me
What’s up with this - why is this happening to me?
How long to you expect me to live this way?
But the Pastor wants us to see something else
You are still here.
You are still standing.
And look at how you stood.
Look at verse 34 Hebrews 10:34 “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.”
See that word compassion - these folks were Hebrews - they would have thought this way.
Back in the Old Testament, now stay with me here.
Back in the Old Testament, the word for a woman’s womb was rechem.
Now think with me - when a woman has a baby in her womb, how protective is she of it?
If she drank alcohol, even small amounts before she was pregnant, she stops.
She eats better - oddly maybe, but better.
She sees the doctor regularly to make sure the baby is doing fine.
That mom and by extension her husband and family, will do everything they can to protect and care for that baby.
Got the picture.
The word for womb is rechem - the word for compassion racham
If you took it literally, it means you “enwomb” someone.
Keep going with me here - you’ve heard of Compassion International and you can send x number of dollars a month to support a child
Yeah, that’s a very slight form of compassion.
But taking a foster child into your home
Adopting a child.
Visiting your friend in prison
Sending him or her books
Visiting their family
Back in their day, if you were thrown in prison, your family was expected to bring you food everyday.
If they didn’t, you’d starve.
They would “enwomb” you.
And listen now to what the Pastor says you did.
As hard as things were for you, you had compassion on other folks who had it as bad or worse than you.
When evil people stole your stuff, you joyfully accepted it.
Not that you sang and danced about it
But you took it for what it was
You saw it happen to your brothers and sisters and said, “Well, I guess it was my turn this time.”
And you moved on.
You. Are. Still. Standing.
We look at the hardship when we are plum worn out and we say, “I can’t take it anymore.”
We neglect to look at the fact that, yes it was hard and yes I am tired, but “I’m still standing.”
Why are you still standing?
How do I keep standing?
We focus on what is ahead of us
We focus on what is ahead of us
Look at the end of verse 34 Hebrews 10:34 “…since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.”
When you were first enlightened, the end was very real to you.
I’ve been changed.
I’ll go to heaven when this life is over.
You and I were very forward minded.
But like Jesus said happens to some folks
but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
We get plum worn out and we take our eyes off the ball.
The solution to this sounds all churchy, but it really works.
Meditate on the goal.
Look at verse 36 Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”
When you are plum worn out, what you don’t need is to go another direction.
You’ll get just as worn out chasing that rabbit down.
What you need is endurance.
Something to keep you going.
And what keeps us all going is to have a goal we are working towards.
And the goal - is that we receive what is promised.
This is where reading the Bible helps you.
If you are reading the New Testament through this year, you are going to hear the promises a little along
Until we get to Revelation - then we get a boat load all at once.
I want to encourage you to not think in terms of “going to heaven when I die.”
That’s kind of nebulous.
I don’t want to be a chubby little guy in a white robe floating on a cloud with a harp on my hand.
Think of a new heaven and a new earth where you are made new.
Sure, think of the things in Revelation about every tear being wiped from your eyes
No more mourning, no more pain, no more death.
Those are big challenges for us right now and they are going away
And that’s all good - and it’s good to think about - but it’s still not the best.
I want to suggest that you take 7 verses from Revelation and you ponder - meditate - mull them over as I say and see what the Holy Spirit does.
Revelation 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”
To the one who endures, to the one who conquers, Jesus will give them paradise, that’s a promise.
Revelation 2:11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’”
To the one who endures, though your sins on this earth caused you incredible pain, your sins won’t follow you there.
Revelation 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’”
To the one who perseveres, though you were so very lonely on earth, when you meet Jesus, He will give you a pet name that between just you and Him.
Revelation 2:26 “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,”
To the one who overcomes endless put downs and betrayals, eventually you’ll be recognized and given power to never be put down again.
Revelation 3:5 “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”
To the one who perseveres through countless people gossiping and telling stories about you, in the end, Jesus will talk with God the Father and the angels about how much He loves you.
Revelation 3:12 “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”
To the one who lives through being a nobody, who spent most of your life feeling invisible, you will become a leading citizen in the new church.
Revelation 3:21 “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”
To the one who overcomes all life has to throw at you, in the new earth, you’ll be able to sit down beside Jesus having endured it all.
Years ago, there was a charlatan preacher who would say that was “pie in the sky in the sweet bye and bye”
I pray he was saved before he died.
This isn’t pie in the sky.
It’s not an opiate for the masses.
It is the very promise of God.
Hebrews 10:37 “For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;”
Jesus is coming soon.
If ever we were seeing birth pangs like Jesus talked about in Matthew it is now.
Jesus may come at any moment
Or He may tarry for years yet to come.
But the simple fact of the matter is, He will come for each of us, one way or another.
Brothers and sisters,
If you have listened and honestly thought about your life, you know that you know that you know that the Lord has brought you safe thus far.
And you know that you know that you know, His grace is leading you home.
Dear Friend,
If you’ve never trusted Jesus, none of these promises save one belong to you.
Your one promise is when you die, you will fall into the hands of the living God.
You really, really don’t want that.
There are no words to express the horror of being separated from God for eternity.
You think your life is hard now - you ain’t seen nothing yet.
I implore you to repent.
Let go of your life - you haven’t done such a great job of controlling it already.
Give up being God and turn to God
Ask Him to forgive you of your sins.
Commit yourself to following Jesus for the rest of your life.
And then watch what the Lord does in your heart and mind.
You know you want everything we mentioned today.
There’s only one way to experience them.
Follow Jesus today.
Let us pray,
