Hebrews 10:34-11:7

Hebrews 10:32–39 (NLT)

Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.

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.

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 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.

“For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

Hebrews 10:34 (NASB95)

For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.

At the Root of “Sympathy” is the Idea of “Suffering With”

The Hebrew Christians Used to Suffer With Their Siblings Who Were Imprisoned for the Faith

They Had Compassion on Them

Imprisonment Under the Roman Empire was Harsh

The Prisoners Were Given Very Little Food and Were Treated Terribly

To Suffer with a Prisoner Would Be to Visit Them and Care for Them

But This Would Bring Shame Upon You and Associate You with the Prisoner

This Could Possibly Lead to You Being Arrested as Well

Instead of Ignoring Their Siblings Who Were Imprisoned…

Which is What Society Encouraged Them to Do…

They Risked Their Own Lives to Care for Them

They Accepted Joyfully the Seizure of Their Property

“Accept” = To Receive Something in a Friendly Manner

“Joyfully” = To Be Glad

They Were Happy to Have Their Possessions Stolen Away By Authorities Because of Their Faith in Jesus

Why?

Because They Know They Have a Much Better Possession Stored in Heaven…

That They Will Never Have Taken From Them

Can We Say that We Have the Faith that These Hebrew Christians Once Had?

Look Within Yourself and Ask:

Am I More Like the Past or Present Hebrew Christians?

Hebrews 10:35–36 (NASB95)

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 was promised.

Confidence in Hebrews has to Do with Being Bold, Frank, and Blunt

They Were Throwing Away Their Confidence

Because of the Persecutions They Were Facing…

They Didn’t Want to Be Bold, Frank, Blunt About Their Faith in Jesus

They Wanted to Quietly Keep that to Themselves

But There’s Not Reward for Those Who are Willing to Deny Jesus to Save Themselves

They Needed Endurance

The Ability to Be Steadfast Through the Difficulties They Faced

The Rewards God has Promised to His Faithful People…

Will Only Be Given to Those Who Have Done His Will

Hebrews 10:37–39 (NASB95)

For yet in a very little while, He who is coming 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 to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

The Author is Quoting From Habakkuk 2:3-4

He’s Reminding His Audience that Jesus is Coming

Those Who Want to Inherit the Promises and Blessings Must Keep the Faith

God is Not Pleased with Those Who Shrink Back (Are Hesitant and Timid - No Boldness)

Shrinking Back Will Only Lead to What?

Destruction

But What Will Happen to Those Who Keep the Faith?

Their Souls/Lives Will Be Preserved/Protected/Saved

If We Hope to Have Life in the Age to Come…

We Must Be Content in Being Publicly Shamed for Our Faith in Jesus

We Must Be Outspoken About Our Faith in Him

Chapter 10 Ends with the Author Telling His Christian Audience:

“We Don’t Belong with Those Who are Timid, Hesitant, and Doomed for Destruction”

“We Belong with Those Who are Faithful and Will Live Forever”

In Chapter 11, He is Going to Give Us Familiar Examples of Such Faith

But First, He Gives Us a Simple Definition of Faith

NKJV: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

NASB: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

LEB: Now faith is the realization of what is hoped for, the proof of things not seen.

NIV: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

NLT: Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

NET: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.

Our Hopes are the Things We’ve Been Promised By God…

But that We Don’t Yet See/Experience

Faith is Trusting God to the Extent that We are Confident…

That We Will One Day See/Experience Those Things

Hebrews 11:2 (NASB95)

For by it the men of old gained approval.

Hebrews 11:2 (NIV)

This is what the ancients were commended for.

The Author is About to Remind His Audience of Their Faithful Ancestors

These Examples Will Not Only Reveal to Us What True Faith Looks Like

But it Will Encourage Us to Follow in Their Faithful Footsteps

The Faithful of the Past “Obtained a Good Testimony” Because of Their Faith

We Recognize Them as the Good Guys/Heroes of History Because of Their Faith

God Approved of the Way They Lived Their Lives…

Because They Lived By Faith in Him

The Author Will Use this Word 4 More Times in this Chapter

Hebrews 11:4 (NASB95)

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

Hebrews 11:5 (NASB95)

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

Hebrews 11:39 (NASB95)

And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,

According to Hebrews Chapter 11…

How Do We Gain God’s Approval?

Through Living By Faith/Trust in Him

Hebrews 11:3 (NASB95)

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

It is By Faith that We Understand that the Ages Were Created By God’s Very Words

From the Beginning of Time, Everything that has Been Seen and Continues to Be Seen…

Was Made Out Things Unseen

Some in Apologetics Try to Make this Passage Talk About Atoms and Cells

Things We Can’t See with the Naked Eye, But Which Make Up Everything in the Universe

This is Not What the Author Meant

Faith is About Believing Despite Not Being Able to See

We Didn’t See the Creation of the Universe We Can Now See/Experience…

But We Believe God Created it Despite Having Not Seen Him Do So

Hebrews 11:4 (NASB95)

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

Abel’s Faith Still Speaks Today

It Still Teaches a Wonderful Lesson

Those Who Act in Faith Toward God Will Be Considered Righteous By God

And the Righteous are Those Who Await the Resurrection

Why was Abel’s Offering Accepted By God and Cain’s Wasn’t?

Abel Offered the Best of His Flock and Cain Offered the Fruit of His Garden?

Abel Offered His Offering By Faith and Cain Didn’t?

We Aren’t Given Much Explanation, But it Doesn’t Matter Anyway

We Know Abel Trusted God and Acted Accordingly

And Because of that, He was Justified By God

Justification has Always Been Attained Through Faith

Hebrews 11:5 (NASB95)

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

Because of Enoch’s Faith, He Never Experienced Death as Everyone Else Did

In the List of Descendants of Adam in Genesis…

Everyone’s Story Ends with “And He Died”

Everyone Except Enoch

Because He Lived a Life of Faith, He was Pleasing to God, and God Took Him

Hebrews 11:6 (NASB95)

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Enoch Had Faith and Therefore Pleased God

Without Such Faith, it’s Impossible to Please Him

The Author Gives Us 2 Areas Where Our Faith Must Lie

We Must Believe/Have Faith that God Exists

Though We Can’t See Him, We are Confident that He Exists

We Must Believe/Have Faith that He is the Rewarder of Those Who Seek Him (Seek to Live for Him)

Though we Can’t See the Rewards He has Planned for Us…

We are Confident that He Will Keep His Promises

Hebrews 11:7 (NASB95)

By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Because of Noah’s Faith, He Believed in Something He’d Never Seen

God Warned Him that a Flood was Coming that Would Destroy the World

He had Never Seen Such a Thing, But He Believed it Because He Trusted God

That Trust Led Him to Build the Ark that Would Lead to the Salvation of His Family

His Faithful Obedience in Building the Ark “Condemned the World”

The Very Act of Faithful Obedience Condemns Those Who Refuse to Faithfully Obey

Noah Inherited Righteousness Through Faith in God

Again, Justification/Righteousness Has Always Come Through Faith

We are in the Same Position as Noah

We Have Also Been Warned of a Coming Destruction

We are Expected to Believe it Though We Haven’t Yet Seen it

We are Expected to Obey God’s Instructions on How to Survive this Destruction

We are Expected to Condemn the World By Choosing to Live in Open Faithfulness

And We are the Inheritors of Righteousness if We Continue in Faithfulness

2 Peter 3:3–14 (NLT)

Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood.

And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.

But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

Just as Noah had Faith in Something He’d Never Seen…

We are to Have Faith in Jesus’ Return and Destruction of the Wicked

And We are to Live Holy and Godly Lives of Faith

Invitation

James is Talking About Being Doers and Not Just Hearers of the Gospel

James 1:26 (CSB)

If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself.

This is a Topic that James Thought was a Very Important One:

The Tongue/Our Speech

How We Use Our Words has Powerful Effects on Our Spiritual Lives

If You Think You’re a Religious Person:

You Study Your Bible

You Assemble with the Church and Worship on Sundays

You Feel that You’re an Overall Good Person

But You Don’t Control Your Words…

You are Deceiving Yourself, Because Your Religion is Useless/Empty

Christians are Notoriously Good at the Outward Showings of Devotion…

While at the Same Time Having No Control Over Our Mouths

We are Only Deceiving Ourselves

Our Religion is Empty

We are Only Hearers and Not Doers of the Gospel

The Gospel Teaches Love for Our Neighbors and Self-Control

But an Uncontrolled Mouth Often Tears Down Our Neighbors

True Religion is Looking in the Mirror of the Gospel and Changing Ourselves From the Inside Out

Such a Transformation Will Be Proven Through Our Speech

Love Others and Prove it with Your Words