Perseverance Under Pressure

Main Idea

Building well requires perseverance under pressure because Jesus is worth it!

Intro

The author of Hebrews is writing to what is likely a group of persecuted Jewish followers of Jesus. They face daily the threat of death or imprisonment. And because of this some have decided that life would be easier if they didn’t follow Jesus.

There are believers today who face these kinds of temptations.

A few years ago I brought some students to Salt Lake City to evangelize Mormons. We heard the story of a Mormon guy who was convinced that the Mormon faith was a lie. However, he could not walk away from it because if he did,

His wife would leave him and take the kids.

He would loose his job.

He would loose all his friends.

The price was too high for him.

Most of us don’t face the kinds of costs the the those Jewish Christians faced or the high cost that this Mormon man faced in order to follow Jesus.

But on one level we all must count the cost. Because following Jesus will cost you. There will come a time when you will ask yourself,

“is following Jesus worth it?”

Life is hard. How do I know?…because I’m breathing. And when life gets hard we tend to examine our priorities and question their true value.

Maybe you’ve lost your

job,

your health,

your marriage,

your child gets cancer

maybe you’ve a lost a child - whether by miscarriage or a tragic accident.

And you ask yourself on a Sunday morning…is it worth it?

Is it worth getting out of bed and gathering with the church?

Our text this morning will answer these questions for us.

And the answer to these questions will change the way you live in 3 vital ways.

So, turn with me to Hebrews 10:19-25

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Pray

So, why is continuing to follow Jesus better than the alternative?

The first 3 verses give us the answer.

We don’t have time this morning to unpack these 3 verses.

But you need to know that verses 19-21 are summarizing the arguments made in the previous 9.5 chapters.

To be brief - Some of these Jewish Christians were considering defecting and going back to Judaism because of threats of persecution.

But the author of Hebrews argues that if they do a cost benefit analysis of abandoning their faith in Jesus and going back to Judaism, they will loose in every way.

Because Jesus is the perfection of all that Judaism could only point too!

Judaism had a temple with priests and sacrifices

And the presence of God in the Most Holy Place of the temple.

But Jesus is now the supreme temple. (John 2:19).

Jesus is the ultimate high priest. (Heb. 4:14).

Jesus is the perfect sacrifice offered once for the forgiveness of sins! (Heb. 10:14).

The temple, the priests, and the sacrifices were mere shadows that only pointed to the real thing.

Years ago, I took a trip to England with some friends.

We could find a guide that could show us where Buckingham Palace was. But very few have the right and authority to bring my friends and I into the very presence of the Queen.

Unlike the shadows of the temple, priests, and sacrifices, Jesus alone has the right and authority to bring us to the very presence of God in himself.

In John 14, Jesus tells his disciples that he is the way, the truth, and the life — and that no man comes to the Father except through him.

One of his disciples, Philip, then asks Jesus to show him the Father.

But Jesus replies, “If you have seen me then you have seen the Father. — the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

You see, Jesus was not just a guide pointing people to the Father — Jesus is the very presence of God in human form!

So, these Jewish Christians would be foolish to walk away from Jesus because Jesus is the reality that the shadow of the temple, the priesthood, and sacrificial system only pointed to.

You may be here today or watching online and thinking well, I’m not considering defecting to Judaism so how does this relate to me?

Here’s how it relates to us...

To those followers of Jesus going back to Judaism represented what they thought would be easier and more satisfying.

Today it may seem easier and more satisfying to stay in bed on a Sunday...

But Jesus says come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest for your souls.

You may be tempted to work on Sunday to climb the corporate ladder for the satisfaction of knowing that you’re not a bum...

But Jesus died on a cross to make you acceptable to the only one who’s opinion of you really matters.

You may be tempted to abandon Jesus to pursue a relationship that doesn’t honor God because you have a deep need to be accepted and loved by another person.

But Jesus pursues you, knows you completely (warts and all) and chose to die for you so that you could be with him.

Not because he had to

Or because you were worthy enough

But because wanted too. He loves you.

Do you see, that anything our hearts desire, that the world promises to fulfill, are only shadows that cannot fully satisfy.

C.S. Lewis unpacks this idea in his classic book “Mere Christianity”

‘Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.

Lewis, C. S.. Mere Christianity (pp. 136-137)

Jesus is the real thing — in the fullest!

And it’s yours freely for any who ask by faith.

So if we know that when life gets hard that Jesus is worth it. Here are 3 ways we are to persevere and thrive as God’s people — the church...

Draw Near to God (v.22)

When life gets hard it can be tempting to just ditch your faith in Jesus and take the wheel for your self and take the exit for ME-ville, driving after what seems easier!

But knowing that Jesus is better: Let us draw near to God not push him away!

We are to draw near in full assurance of faith.

We draw near with confidence it says in verse 19.

Do you know what confidence means? It means to speak freely.

This means that we speak without thinking about what we’re saying.

Because we’re not afraid of rejection.

When you go into a job interview, you’re not speaking freely,

You’re thinking carefully about how every word will be received.

When you go to your teacher to ask them to consider giving you a different grade -

You tread with caution choosing your words very carefully.

My kids have very limited screen time. And there are times when they want to watch something but know they need to ask. They don’t speak freely. Instead they plot their request carefully. Usually this will involve commissioning one of the younger ones (maybe because they think the cuter the messenger the more likely we are to let our guard down and grant their request!

In Numbers chapter 10 Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the temple and fire from before the LORD consumed them.

There was a real fear that the priests had who had to enter the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement. So, there was a practice where they would put little bells on the hem of their robes and tie a rope around their waist so that if the LORD struck them dead, the other priests would hear the sound of the bells and had a way to draw back their dead body without having to enter themselves!

This is not the way we approach God now because of Jesus!

Because of Jesus we are to draw near to God — without fear of rejection!

Because Jesus was rejected in your place so that you can be welcomed and accepted.

How can we do this? — We do this with a true heart.

The author of Hebrews uses this adjective “true” elsewhere in his letter to differentiate between what is apparent and what is reality.

So, what this is saying is that we must not draw near to God under any false pretense or only appearing to be devout, but with a true heart for God.

The good news is that Jesus makes our hearts true!

V.19 says that our hearts are sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.

This is a clear allusion to Exodus when the priests sprinkled blood on the nation of Israel to ratify the Old Covenant God made with his people.

However, this act only declared them ritually clean.

It did not have the power to cleanse hearts. So this was yet another shadow.

But the blood of Jesus shed for you on the cross is the real thing and it’s applied to our hearts by faith and cleanses our guilty consciences.

But how do we draw near?

We draw near by abiding.

Jesus tells us in John 15 to abide in me as my words abide in you.

It is through the Word of God and prayer that we draw near to God.

He has revealed himself to us most completely in the scriptures.

And he invites us to come to him with confidence in prayer.

So, when life is beating you down draw near to God by running to his Word and calling out to him in prayer.

In John 15:11 Jesus says...

John 15:11 ESV

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

When your spirit is crushed by the reality of living in a world broken by sin, it is for our joy that we draw near him through the word and prayer.

Next, because Jesus is worth it, the writer exhorts us to hold fast to our hope.

Hold Fast our Hope (v.23)

If we linger too long on the waves of life that batter us we can be tempted to loosen our grip on the core truth of Christianity — the Gospel of Grace that we confess.

To this the writer to the Hebrews exhorts us to hold fast to our hope.

Hope reminds us that our salvation is not yet complete! There is more to come for which we hope.

The apostles taught that there is a reality in which we....

Have been saved.

We are being saved.

And we will be saved.

So, we hope for the fulfillment of future promises...

But biblical hope is not wishful thinking...

Biblical HOPE that is the confident assurance of things promised.

One day Jesus our savior, will return for us in power and glory and on that day our salvation will be complete!

It is this the confession of our HOPE that must drive our lives.

We’re to hold on to this hope without wavering.

If we’re honest and we look at our selves on our not so best days, we look pretty wobbly.

We’re not so sure we would trust ourselves to hold on to an antique vase without pulling a butterfingers!

So, how is it that we can do this without wavering?

Look at the end of verse 23 - FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL!

The ground of our hope is not in ourselves

No, we can hold on because our perfectly faithful God who is holding on to us.

It’s God’s character that enables us to hold on, not ourselves.

Paul begins his letter to Titus by telling him that he writes for the sake of the faith of God’s people who HOPE for eternal life…Why?...

The foundation of their hope is based on the fact that God who never lies promised before time began!

Lastly, because Jesus is worth it, we must stir up love!

Stir Up the Love (vv.24-25)

First we’re told to consider how to do this.

This implies intentional thought.

We’re to ponder, “how can I help the people around me to grow in godly character.”

This is not something that will happen in a vacuum naturally without intentionality.

This requires thought and intentionality.

Next, notice the word stir up.

This is an interesting word in the Greek because it's usually used in a negative way. It means to irritate each other.

It’s a word that means to provoke or to sharply disagree or confront.

So, this is saying that unless you have people in your life that you allow to sharply confront you, you’re not going to become a more loving person.

I love the story of Odysseus and the island of the Sirens...

He knows that the women of the island sit on the rocks and sing. And when male mariners hear their song, they are driven mad with desire and steer their ships into the rocks and everyone dies.

So Odysseus ties himself to the mast and commands his sailors to put wax in their ears. He tells them that he is going to go mad with desire but they are to ignore him and keep rowing until I come to my senses.

Odysseus is essentially telling his sailors to give me what I need, not what I want.

Do you have Christians in your life who you’ve given this kind of permission too?

Another way to think about this is that if you really believe what the Bible says about your sin, then do you know which sins can shipwreck you the easiest?

It’s the sins you don’t see.

The ones you minimize or rationalize.

Your biggest sins are the ones that you are self-deceived about.

This is why one distinguishing marks of mature Christian community is that its members realize this and are accountable to each other.

The challenge to this kind of community is the fact that we live in a society who’s highest value is expressive individualism.

A person steeped in this value system might say...

Only I have the right to decide what is right or wrong for me.

My life is nobody’s business but mine.

The problem with believing this and trying to follow Jesus, is that...

You can have that kind of individualistic freedom...

Or you can have a loving community, but you can’t have both.

Are you willing to give your friends this kind of warrant?

Are you willing to provoke one another to love and good works?

We’re also told to encourage one another.

This is almost the opposite of what we’ve just been talking about.

It’s a word that means to empathetically and sympathetically put yourself in someone else’s shoes and show that you are for them and that you support them.

We need both confrontation and support from others to grow in love and good works.

Some churches can be really good at one or the other.

Some are big on confrontation but are not very encouraging.

Others are big on supporting everyone no matter how they are living.

Neither of these approaches will produce love and good deeds.

Next we’re told not to neglect meeting together.

This word for meeting is a word from which get the word synagogue and it means congregation.

Do you know what the difference is between an aggregation and a congregation?

An aggregation is just a collection if individuals who come to hear a a speaker or who come to an event but it doesn’t go beyond that.

An aggregation is like a bag of marbles where the individuals are all slipping and sliding over one another.

But a congregation is like a cluster of grapes. In a cluster of grapes the members are all organically related to one another.

A congregation is a community who’s lives touch one another’s.

The key to understanding this kind of community is the word one another.

And it’s a word means mutuality.

With this understanding, church is not a place that you go to but a community that you gather with.

When we gather in this way, we have in mind not just what we are going to get out of an experience...

But we are intentional about what we give when we gather.

We gather to bear one another’s burdens

To weep with one another

To rejoice with one another

To eat together

To pray together

To learn together

To confront and encourage one another.

It’s mutual! This is New Testament Christian Community!

I hope you can see this…the writer to the Hebrews is telling us...

Following Christ is not just about praying by yourself or...

Having an individual devotional time to read the Bible.

He’s telling us that for us to really grow, for us to really experience life change we need each other.

In “Mere Christianity” C.S. Lewis describes the many means through which Christ works on us but then he says,

But above all, He works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or ‘carriers’ of Christ to other men.

And John Wesley would often say something like...

The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.

So, following Christ and growing in love and good deeds is so much more than merely attending a worship service like this one.

It means we must be a congregation that practices ONE ANOTHER-ING.

Yes this means we have an obligation to gathering on Sundays not just to consume but also to be an intentional blessing to others.

But this is so much more than a once a week gathering on a Sunday morning. — It’s so much more. We need to be involved in each other’s lives.

One way to do this is to be a part of a Life Group that meets regularly to practice one another-ing.

Another way to do this is by asking a more mature believer to come alongside you in a discipleship relationship. This is something we’re going to be promoting more in the days ahead — this idea of gathering in micro groups of 3 during the week.

Conclusion

I’ll close by looking to the last line of verse 25...

We’re to do these things all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The Day is a reference to the return of Christ.

This is a call to persevere to the end.

To not get comfortable and slide in to cruise control.

It’s also a call for urgency because none of us knows the Day of Christ’s return or the day of our final breath.

None of us knows the trials that tomorrow will bring but no matter the circumstances — when the pressure is on, let us persevere to ...

Draw near to God in FAITH

Hold fast the confession of our HOPE

And Consider how to stir up one another to LOVE.

BECAUSE JESUS IS WORTH IT!

PRAY

Lord Jesus, thank you that you satisfy perfectly every desire of our souls. This is because we were made by you and for you. You know us completely and intimately. And you save those who call on you in faith to forgive their sin and to make them part of your forever family. And your word says that none will snatch us from your hand. To know that your grip on us is more secure than any earthly bond gives us such great confidence to draw near in FAITH, to hold fast to our HOPE, and to stir up one another to LOVE and good deeds. And we desire to do these things not to earn any increased favor with you but in joy knowing that we already have perfect favor with you. Thank you Jesus, that no matter what this life may throw at us…that YOU ARE WORTH IT!

BENEDICTION

To all you we are weary from running after everything this world has to offer to satisfy your souls. Jesus is the real thing. Only he can satisfy completely and perfectly. He calls to you today...

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

(Mt 11:28–30)

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make is face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The LORD life up his countenance upon you and give you peace.