Endurance at All Cost

Introduction:

We have seen that the writer of Hebrews has been challenging these first century Christians to look to Jesus who is the founder and perfecter of our faith.

He is the one who shows us what it means to endure hardships in the world while maintaining joy by being focused on the eternal plans and purposes of God.

Our joy must be rooted in eternity and the temporal aspects of the world are not a lasting substitute. It will only be a matter of time before we will become disenchanted and disappointed with the material world.

This is why when we finally get the things that we think will make us happy, in a short time we are joyless and looking to something else in the world to cultivate a sense of joy in our lives again.

The pursuit of eternal joy is not like that. Because the plan and purposes of God are unchanging.

When our sanctification leading to our glorification in Christ is the primary objective then we look at trials in the world completely different. We see the suffering that we know God is sovereign over and we know that the suffering is producing a glory factor where we are being changed and Christ is being glorified.

Last Sunday Hebrews 12:1-2 directed us to see Jesus as our example and in verses 3-4 the writer of Hebrews doesn't point us elsewhere. Instead he calls us to contemplate Christ and His example even deeper but in a way that challenges us in our battle against sin. Look back at verse 3 where we are challenged to Consider Christ as we face trials and suffering in the world.

I. The Consideration of the sufferings Christ (3a).  Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself,

The term consider is calling us to go beyond a casual reflection. We are being called into careful deliberation concerning Christ and His suffering.

Specifically in the way Christ suffered at the hands of sinners. He who could have called upon legions of Angels to deliver Him. With a single word He could have obliterated all those who were inflicting the hostility upon Him, but he endured it.

When you think of the cosmic power and the absolute justice by which He sovereignly rules and then you contrast that with the sinful defiance of the ones who were hostile towards Him and actually contributed to His crucifixion it defies all logic that such an event could take place.

An event where the creature actually exercises hostility of such magnitude of crucifying his Creator. That must rank in the top tier of the most absurd criminal injustices for all time.

And yet, like a sheep before his shearers is silent the Lord of glory uttered not a word (Isaiah 53:7).

This theological understanding of the sufferings of Christ is what Hebrews calls us to think deeply about. Because there is a practical benefit of application to us that serves to encourage us as His children in the world.

Look at the end of verse 3 through verse 4.

II. The Application of the Sufferings of Christ (3b-4). so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

The in depth theological focus on Christ and His suffering has a practical purpose tied to it. So that you may not grow weary or fainthearted as you live out your faith in the world.

The two terms, weary and fainthearted cover both the physical and the emotional challenges that we can face in our Christian life as we live in the world. Christ pursued suffering out of a quest for eternal joy but our tendency is to grow weary and fainthearted when we suffer through trials.

It is so true that if you follow Christ as Scripture details your will run into opposition in the world. If you believe and proclaim that Jesus Christ is full deity and the exclusive and only way that sinful man can be reconciled to a Holy God, you will encounter opposition in the world.

And if you are looking for the world’s approval you may be tempted to just disregard what the Bible teaches about the exclusivity of Christ in order to fit in and to avoid the opposition.

If you hold to the exclusivity of Christ you can bet on it that hostility is coming in an ever increasing measure and the tendency to become weary and fainthearted will increase as well.

But it seems to me that Hebrews is not primarily directing us towards our struggles at the hands of others here. Certainly, it is coming and many are rightly concerned about it but it is not the front lines of the battle for a Christian in a sinful world.

The front lines of our battle with sin is with the sinful impulses that we struggle with inside of each one of us. If you just read on in Hebrews 12 it becomes very apparent which battle here is being emphasized. Lord willing we will see more clearly next Sunday but as for now just refer to the instruction in verse 4.

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood (4).

Even the external opposition that we can encounter in the world can be for our good in bringing to light our own sinful tendencies that we love to believe are not a big deal and we like to pretend that God feels the same way about our sinful indulgences as we do.

Christ shed His blood for our sin. Our resistance has not yet risen to the height of what Christ was willing to do on our behalf. Christ endured it for us and the fact that He did should drive us on in our battle against our own sin in the world.

We do not make atonement for sin in our battle, but pursue sanctifying holiness to the glory of God in Christ. Christ did not die for sin in order to enable you to continue on in that sin. He died to liberate you from the bondage of it and empower you to live victoriously over it.

He died to justify you before a Holy God and to reconcile you to Him. But He also died to liberate your will and empower you to be free to walk in righteousness.

It is popular today in so called Christian circles to embrace what Martin Luther referred to as antinomianism. Which is a big word that means anti-law and the idea is that someone can profess Christianity and live as they please. The moral law demands are seen as unnecessary and are often labeled as legalistic directives that are obsolete in the New Covenant. This view was also present in the early Church but it was largely being promoted by the gnostics who argued for a radical distinction between soul and body.

In such circles today, there is an emphasis on free grace but the effectual nature of grace is largely denied. Salvation by faith is necessary but repentance is not. One can profess Christianity but turning from sin is optional.

For the antinomians preaching against sin is seen as a negative and unnecessary thing to do. So in the end, what gets interpreted as Christianity is not really Christianity. Real Christianity and the real gospel gets preached and it sounds like law because repentance is preached and sanctification is preached and the antinomian ears pick up on it and they slanderously call it legalism.

The idea of resisting sin is not a popular notion in a society that has as its highest end to live for its own comforts and pleasures in the world. Those in the world prefer a Church where such things are accommodated.

An antinomian mindset infects everyone in its path as long as the true gospel is kept from being preached and lived. It fits so well with man’s nature and it is very affirming in a religious sort of way.

Christian, resolve it in your heart to know the real gospel. And if you do then you know that the appeal is not that law is rejected but that the law is fulfilled in Christ and the moral aspects of the law still confronts us and directs us to the gospel again and again.

It does this to not only to confront our sin but to bring us to the fountain of God’s grace revealed in the gospel. And this dynamic is sanctifying us as the children of God by weaning us off of self reliance and on to faith in Christ.

The real gospel is initiated in the hearts of men by a Holy God by Sovereign grace. Though arguments are sometimes made in evangelistic conversation or preaching, the work of regeneration is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit of God initiated by divine grace.

It is not culturally savvy arguments that appeal to the sinful comforts and pleasures of men that bring people to the point of salvation.

It is the gospel that is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16) and that gospel calls us to believe by faith alone which produces repentance of our sin in obedience to God as fruit of it’s effective work having been done in us. Grace is effectual, it brings change and transformation. It produces good works and the fruit of the Spirit in us.

The problem is that taking our sanctification seriously and believing that the gospel produces the fruit of repentance is hard work. And it can be very tiring in an already difficult and draining world.

We want a refuge for our lives where the cares of the world are dealt with. Sort of like that old commercial where the woman comes home at the end of a hard day and she walks through the door.

And the dog is barking and the kids are screaming and the phone is ringing all at the same time and the bottom of her grocery sack burst open. And in the midst of all of that she screams “Calgon take me away”. And in the next scene she is in a Calgon bubble bath quiet with soft music in the background.

And we all think in our minds, Yes! Pastor Brett that is what I want out of my Christianity! I want a bath that does that very thing for me. It takes away all my difficulties and hardships in the world! It makes everything better and allows me to be able to function in a way that manages all my problems.

Christian your biggest issue and problem is not your stress level in a hectic world but it is your contentment with your sin and the life challenges are exposing prideful elements in you and in me that are an offense to a Holy God. That is our big issue! And it is hard for us to see when we live out what is relevant to us and not relevant to God. And being in denial about that is not helping us, at all. A Calgon bubble bath as good as it might feel is not going to address the problem on the inside of us.

Conclusion:

Christian it takes a bath in the blood of Christ to cleanse us of that stain. It takes the real gospel applied to confront sin at the depth of our prideful hearts.

It takes the blood of Jesus when trials reveal the depth of our depravity when we would rather be in denial and embrace antinomianism to keep us depending on the provision of God’s grace.

Antinomianism might make you more comfortable but it is not the gospel of the Bible. It isn’t the power of God for salvation but a generic adaptation to fit with the expectations of fallen man. You might as well be taking the bubble bath in Calgon.

The law may expose you but the love of Christ has all you need to deal with anything you got going on even at the deepest levels of your heart.

Christian He knew you and He knew about all the skeletons in your closet and He calls you away from your sin, to confess it to God and to find your rest in His grace.

Sinners need the blood of Christ. Unbeliever you need this bath in the finished work of Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross. Put your faith in Christ

Let’s pray!