Greater Than: Greater Endurance PART 1
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Alright welcome everyone, my name is Brad. A have the priviledge of pastoring CA Church: Town Centre Campus. And I have loved continuing our Greater Than Series albeit from my home / sermon studio.
We have been unpacking the book of Hebrews and what I love is the way the Letter to the Hebrews in the NT, is a great way of crossreferencing the OLD T with the New.
The old Covenant literally given by God, through Moses, with the New Covenant proclaimed by Christ on the night he would be betrayed, and given up to be crucified.
After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
wow I mean for those of you who have followed through in this series you should see the amount of meaning packed in these words - the weight of these words.........this should bring to mind the OT sacrifices, the blood spilled to atone for sins, it should point to the fact that Jesus was the ultimate message of God that all these things were pointing to.
Today we are going to look at Heb 10:26-39 and ask a very difficult question...
So go ahead and open your bibles to Heb 10:26
and here is the question we are asking today.....
What price are we willing to pay for being associated with Christ?
think of all the arenas in your life, [i know those have been narrowed right now]
Christianity has always been meant to be lived out publically —it is a kingdom!!!!!! It is a community and a movement.
that means work, school, family, living rooms, zoom calls and social media are all effected and brought into the framework of our faith.
What price are we willing to pay for being associated with Christ?
Becasue here is the thing…There is not such thing as a private faith.
Not authentically anyway.
Christianity is proclaimed publicly and shamed publicly.
And so the ongoing concern of the author of Hebrews is to hold up Christ so worthy of your time and ttention and devotion that the thought of drifting is unthinkable!
For 9 chapters he built his case of Jesus as the best God has to offer, his ultimate gift and word to humanity, and in chapter 10 has moved to how this should play out in the lives of those who have devoted themselves to him.
And he gives Warning, Reminder, and Encouragement. and I think this is useful becasue..at any given moment in our lives of faith, in the circumstance the church finds itself in .....we will need to apply one of these.
warning, reminder, and encouragement—some people do not need warning over and over, they live in compete knwoledge of theior sin, and danger of drifting, and what they might need is reminder of God’s faithfulness, some need to be encouraged to not give up in spite of diffciulty. But at some point we all need one of these.
He starts in vv26-31 with a warning...
I. WARNING (VV. 26-31)
26 Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. 27 There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. 28 For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.
Now, when you and I read a passage like this, our main way of interpreting is to take in all of the stuff in here that sound so negative and wonder how we can change it to be more palatable. We wonder man if there are non-Christians listening this it’s so hard to standby. There must be a way to explain it away.
But we need to remember that the audience of this letter had no problem believing these things. And didn’t have a problem with these things. Those who were listening to this letter completely believed that there was a living God who had the right to make judgment. Who had a right to bless those who followed him faithfully and bring wrath on those who did not.
Most of modern issues with this topic of judegement for those who were first hearing this letter.
“deliberately” (hekousios). This adverb communicates the idea of willing participation in an action, something done with a clear mind and firm step, and is important to our interpretation of the passage.
If a person keeps on sinning in this way after receiving a knowledge of the gospel’s truth, no sacrifice for this kind of sin remains. The distinction between those who sin in ignorance, wandering off the path (5:2), and those who radically rebel against the Word of God may be seen in Numbers 15:27–31,
The new covenant is better than that covenant (8:3–13), the new covenant priest greater than the priests of old (7:1–28), and the new covenant sacrifice superior in every way to old covenant sacrifices (9:11–10:18). Therefore, it is logical that those who reject the superior workings of God through his Son deserve even greater punishment than those who rebelled under an older revelation. Inherent to the argument is the assumption that those who have heard the message of the gospel have had a greater opportunity and greater resources for a response of obedience (2:3–4).
Rejection of Christ- Chosen One of God.
The issue here is not you made a mistake. It is a full out rejection of Christ. and goes beyond just I dont buy it, but oves beyond that to push beyond rejection to ridicule.
It is a warning for those who have.... says in verse 29...
1. trampled on the Son of God
2. treated the blood of Christ as common
what God has labelled the most holy sacrifice they have labelled useless and common and uneeded. so go ahead and judge me.
3. insulted the Holy Spirit
It is not the sense of weghing the truth of the argument and not being convinced, it is a hubris that looks to insult and make fun of the gospel.
Quoting Deut 32. and the words of Moses,
the author here says…do not think that the very revelation of God himself in human flesh and the sacrifice he made is sokethign to be mocked..
God will not put up with it!
AND.....as it says in v 31..
31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
We do not tend to put that on our coffee mugs and frame it above our dinijng room tables, but the author seems to thik it is an important thing to remember when we think we are self sustaining and answer to no-one.
An uncomfortable aspect of who God is that does not go away becasue we are uncomfortable with it or wish it was something we didnt have to contest with.
Sometimes we need a warning.
Other times we need a reminder....
II. REMINDER (VV. 32-34)
It is obvious as we read this letter that the persecution the church was facing was not the first and that many in the congregation had been through this before.
He is saying remember that.....you were amazing as you persevered and held onto Christ…do the same thing now..
32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.
The kind of persecution they had experienced.....
publicly exposed
theatrizo - to bring up on stage
2. constant fear of it happening
3. the solidarity with those who had suffered these things
4. confiscation of their property
(which the author says they accepted with “joyful acceptance”)
Remember that, your faith was shown to be authentic and deep.
And the reason is....
You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.
becasue you had a vision of reality and a kind of spiritual fruit that grew in and out of season.
you were tested and came out on top
your were refined by fire and came out more pure and sanctfied.....
Remember that faith…Maybe there are some in the congregation that were not a part of the church at that time…look at those who went through it and learn from them..
Do not retreat from a public identification with Christ-
Do not shun from being a public spectacle for the who became for you and I a public specticale suffering public shame on his journey to and on the cross.
in the past you have done this and this and this continue to do so.
Because
The finite stage of your persecution and suffering is being played out on the larger eternal infinite stage of God’s soveriengty.
So the church is given both a warning and an invitation to remember..
And also encouragemnt ...
III. ENCOURAGEMENT (VV. 35-39)
35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
Fundamentally the auther was asking his readers and you and I …what drives you?
Who or what has authority over your life?....
It is our default to allow immedite internal and external circmstance to have authority over our lives.
To allow modern oppinion pushed by social media statements and arguments and constant newsfeeds circling the same news over and over and over - to have authority over us.
The author of Hebrews says that is not the way Christ followers are meant to opporate.
When suffering, like the dark shadow of COVID, or cancer, or loss, or the threat of loss is at the door, Who has authority over our lives makes all the difference!
When we reverse authoirites in our lives and the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ are relagated to the back, we are steered by fear and circumstance.
But if the Gospel and the resurrection of Christ which declared his power over the power of sin and death is in the front seat— then even if we do not know where the car is going all the time we know can trust God for the destnation.
PAUSE
Hey I would love to know wy God would allow the CORONA VIRUS to have such power over our world right now.
I would love to know why God is allowing cancer and disease to hit so many close to us.
I do not know!! And there is no promise I ever will.
But I do know that cancer does not get the final word, and therefore it does not get to steer the car, it sits in the back seat.
I do not know why COVID exists, but I know it doesn’t get the final word, so it does not get to steer the car!
It does not get authority.
We will alway be walking through different seasons in our faith...
Seasons where things are diffciult and seasons where things are a little easier.
Times when the presence of God seems so real, its as real as the presence of a friend or spouse.
Other times it feels dormant. fragile, dead, where we make desicions not becasue we feel it but becasue we we know we ought to. And that feels shakey..
George Guthrie in his commentary on Hebrews says..
A time of crisis, such as that being faced by the original addressees of Hebrews, may catch us at a point in life in which our spiritual resources are running low. Such a time may serve as a wake-up call that shakes us to our senses.
It was common even under durress and persecution for even the persecutors to wonder at the faith and devotion of the Church.
To follow Christ has always had public consequences.
and association with Christ has always been costly- Peter felt this when he was cornered on thge night Jesus was taken into custody.
The public calling out of Chrisitians to be shamed by religous leaders in Rome.
The parading of Chrstians before the crowd to cheers on as they were torn by wild beasts in the colussum.
None of which was a surprise to the early church and because it was something Jesus made very clear was a part of the package.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.
Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Here is why...
The Chrsitian faith is fundamentally in opposition to any ideaology that makes humanity the center of the universe, tells us to follow our hearts wherever they lead us, or that we shouldn’t answer to anyone outside of ourselves......so can you see how this could cause friction.
Our Christian understanding of reality is in conflict with our culture and that conflict is be played out the news, in living rooms, in coffee shops and in schools, and on zoom, but it does not occur in a closet. It is a public confession.
So the question we need to ask BEFORE HARDSHIP COMES is .....what price are we willing to pay for this association?
in work, goverment, friendships?
Becasue God will not conform to us. If he would he is not much of a God.
We adjust to him and his kingdom.
We do not like the idea of sin and judgement........it is the means he has ordained and so our opinion is of little consequence on how things are.
We will associate ourselves with him or we will not. We will receive his salvation or we will try to figure out our own.
PAUSE
When I was in high school in the 80s, I remember there was an emergence of gangs in the east Vancouver, and they were making there way into our school.
I remember one day after school walking home and coming to a large gathering of teenagers.
Some I knew as ones you do not mess with.
In the middle of this group were about 5 or 6 girls taunting and pushing another girl to the ground.
A girl who was a little different and therefore unworthy of their respect.
I watched for awhile, and felt a pain in my stomache at the lack of justice going on.
But I didnt get involved.
I saw the danger of being associated with her, of saying anything.
Not just what would people think of me, but what would it mean for me even physically in that moment.
PAUSE
I have often thought back to that moment in my life as a real sign of cowardice.
Someone was in need and I walked away. Someone I refused to publically associate myself with for fear of what it would mean.
Reading through this text this week, I was reflecting on the names and faces that I have seen over the years who have privately and publically walked away from the faith.
Who saw what the name of Jesus was suffering at the centre fo the mob, and so swallowed hard and moved on.
That was the situation before this church in Rome.
It has always been the situation of the church in history that chooses to publically profess faith. The public ridicule of the mob.
And the temptation to leave Jesus there.
Christianity is proclaimed publicly and shamed publicly.
But the beauty is always that Christ is always ready to associate with us.
I mean that is essentially what the cross was, a public association with you and I as sinners in need of saving, and rather than remaining with the safety of a throne, Jesus said…I’m with them.
When I arrived home from school that day, I remember looking up the girl’s name in the previous year’s yearbook and tracking down here number in something called a phonebook!!
I remember calling, in tears myself feeling so guilty and ashamed for not standing up for her in front of the mob.
I asked her mother if I could speak to her and I confessed my cowardice and desire to be forgiven.
The next day as I was walking into the school, the door burst open and this girl came running up to me to hug me and tell me all was forgiven. The last time I had seen her face it was full of fear and shame for some unnamed crime the crowd was punishing her for.
But this morning it was full of tears and joy.
I do not know where you have been in the middle of this virus.
I cannot as your pastor keep tabs on where you have denied Christ in your relationships, your work, your zoom calls.
I would rather not spoend all day on social media discovering it.
But I would want to say this......
regardless of how you have denied Christ, he awaits your words of repentance with anticipation
With arms ready to embrace forgive and strengthen.