1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:02,720 A reading from the letter to the Hebrews. 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:08,080 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,800 God. But recall the former days when, 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:15,400 after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:20,080 sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and 6 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:24,120 affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated, 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,800 for you had compassion on those in prison. 8 00:00:28,340 --> 00:00:31,460 And you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, 9 00:00:32,020 --> 00:00:35,180 since you knew that you yourselves had a better 10 00:00:35,180 --> 00:00:40,060 possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your 11 00:00:40,060 --> 00:00:44,140 confidence, which has a great reward, for you have need of 12 00:00:44,140 --> 00:00:47,540 endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may 13 00:00:47,540 --> 00:00:52,460 receive what is promised for yet a little while, and the coming 14 00:00:52,460 --> 00:00:54,500 one will come and will not delay. 15 00:00:54,980 --> 00:00:57,380 But my righteous one shall live by faith. 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,360 And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. 17 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,080 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, 18 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:11,000 but of those who have faith and preserve their souls, the word 19 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,360 of the Lord. Good morning, Emmanuel, and 20 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,880 welcome to the first sermon in our Hebrew series, Walking By 21 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:25,730 Faith. When I was a kid, I remember one 22 00:01:25,730 --> 00:01:29,610 time hanging out in a mall bookstore back when malls were a 23 00:01:29,610 --> 00:01:33,490 thing, waiting for my mom to finish running her errands, and 24 00:01:33,490 --> 00:01:37,050 I came across a book with a title that I thought was boring, 25 00:01:37,490 --> 00:01:39,970 but an author's name I thought was interesting. 26 00:01:40,890 --> 00:01:44,810 The author's name was Watchman Knee, and the book was called 27 00:01:44,850 --> 00:01:48,890 The Normal Christian Life. But I had some time, so I 28 00:01:48,890 --> 00:01:52,850 flipped to the front of the book and I read What is the Normal 29 00:01:52,850 --> 00:01:56,000 Christian Life? The object of this study is to 30 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,760 show that it is something very different from the life of the 31 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:03,520 average Christian. Indeed, a consideration of the 32 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,880 written word of God should lead us to ask whether a normal 33 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,400 Christian life has ever in fact been lived upon the earth, saved 34 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:17,160 only by the Son of God Himself. The Scriptures are not stating 35 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:22,480 something special or peculiar, a high level of Christianity. 36 00:02:23,190 --> 00:02:26,790 They are presenting God's normal for a Christian. 37 00:02:28,670 --> 00:02:31,390 And I was really intrigued by this idea that there was a 38 00:02:31,390 --> 00:02:34,750 difference between kind of the average Christian life and the 39 00:02:34,750 --> 00:02:39,230 normal Christian life, that the life of faith as presented in 40 00:02:39,230 --> 00:02:44,510 Scripture is somehow something totally extraordinary but also 41 00:02:44,830 --> 00:02:49,430 completely normal. And as we journey on in Hebrews, 42 00:02:49,430 --> 00:02:52,350 we're going to be confronted with a whole list of Saints. 43 00:02:53,090 --> 00:02:57,330 Men and women, we are not asked to admire but to imitate. 44 00:02:58,250 --> 00:03:02,170 We're not asked to imitate their fame or to copy their noteworthy 45 00:03:02,170 --> 00:03:05,970 deeds. We're only asked to live by 46 00:03:05,970 --> 00:03:09,450 faith and to die by faith as they did. 47 00:03:11,490 --> 00:03:15,090 And in today's Hebrew passage, two particular qualities of 48 00:03:15,090 --> 00:03:18,290 faith are highlighted again and again. 49 00:03:19,390 --> 00:03:21,910 And it seems that these two qualities are not highlighted 50 00:03:21,910 --> 00:03:27,390 because they are markers of special faith or rare faith, but 51 00:03:27,390 --> 00:03:32,070 actually because they are basic necessities for every follower 52 00:03:32,070 --> 00:03:35,430 of Jesus. These are qualities that you and 53 00:03:35,430 --> 00:03:39,990 I need to call upon Jesus to develop in us as we follow Him, 54 00:03:40,630 --> 00:03:45,790 qualities without which we will not be able to complete the 55 00:03:45,790 --> 00:03:49,070 journey of faith. What are these qualities? 56 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,360 Please look in your Bible or your bulletin at verses 35 and 57 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,080 36. Therefore do not throw away your 58 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:02,360 confidence which has a great reward for you have need of 59 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,440 endurance so that when you will have done the will of God, you 60 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:11,400 may receive what is promised. So what is it that we must not 61 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:20,540 throw away anyone confidence? And what is it that we have need 62 00:04:20,540 --> 00:04:25,340 of endurance? Yes, confidence and endurance. 63 00:04:26,380 --> 00:04:29,140 Now confidence can also be translated as boldness. 64 00:04:29,980 --> 00:04:34,460 But this is not boldness. That's bravado, which is a show 65 00:04:34,460 --> 00:04:38,700 of boldness designed to impress or even to intimidate. 66 00:04:39,900 --> 00:04:42,620 It's not arrogance. It's not presumption. 67 00:04:43,060 --> 00:04:46,060 It's actually not even healthy self-confidence. 68 00:04:47,090 --> 00:04:51,450 It is nothing more or less than taking Jesus at his word and 69 00:04:51,450 --> 00:04:56,410 moving through life in the assurance that his promises are 70 00:04:56,410 --> 00:05:00,970 true. Now, Hebrews is kind of an odd 71 00:05:00,970 --> 00:05:03,010 book. It's kind of a letter and kind 72 00:05:03,010 --> 00:05:05,690 of a sermon, and nobody knows who the author is. 73 00:05:06,010 --> 00:05:09,010 We do know that he wrote to a group of Jewish Christians with 74 00:05:09,010 --> 00:05:12,690 whom he had a close and I think a very pastoral relationship. 75 00:05:13,220 --> 00:05:15,100 And just for the sake of convenience, I'm going to be 76 00:05:15,100 --> 00:05:17,660 referring to the writer of Hebrews as their pastor. 77 00:05:18,940 --> 00:05:22,780 So in today's passage, the pastor is exhorting the Hebrews 78 00:05:22,780 --> 00:05:26,980 to walk by faith, with boldness and with endurance. 79 00:05:28,020 --> 00:05:31,780 And what's interesting right away is that it's clear that the 80 00:05:31,780 --> 00:05:36,380 Hebrews have done this before The pastor is act, asking them 81 00:05:36,380 --> 00:05:40,700 to actively draw on the memory of how they have trusted Jesus 82 00:05:40,700 --> 00:05:44,090 in this way in the past. Verse 32. 83 00:05:44,810 --> 00:05:49,730 But recall the former days when after you were enlightened, you 84 00:05:49,810 --> 00:05:53,850 endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being 85 00:05:53,850 --> 00:05:58,290 publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being 86 00:05:58,290 --> 00:06:03,530 partners with those so treated. The Hebrews, to whom this letter 87 00:06:03,530 --> 00:06:07,330 was directed, lived in a time and place where Christianity was 88 00:06:07,330 --> 00:06:10,810 super unpopular, both politically and socially. 89 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:13,560 Christians weren't actually being killed. 90 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,120 They weren't martyred. But it was open season on 91 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:20,880 Christians for mocking, for hassling, for property theft, 92 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:24,200 and even for a sort of religious profiling by the law enforcement 93 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,680 of the day. And the phrase you endured a 94 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:33,640 hard struggle with suffering in the Greek, is meant to evoke the 95 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,280 rigors of an athlete in training. 96 00:06:38,260 --> 00:06:41,740 They this picture likens the faith, the life of faith, to an 97 00:06:41,820 --> 00:06:44,780 obstacle course that is strewn with suffering. 98 00:06:45,940 --> 00:06:50,860 It takes effort to overcome. Now, some of us here today may 99 00:06:50,860 --> 00:06:54,620 have experienced long periods of time when we were able to kind 100 00:06:54,620 --> 00:06:57,980 of glide along in faith without too much trouble. 101 00:06:58,540 --> 00:07:01,940 Maybe belief in Jesus was the status quo where you grew up, 102 00:07:02,260 --> 00:07:05,700 and walking in faith was a little like sailing smoothly on 103 00:07:05,700 --> 00:07:07,700 untroubled waters, maybe even with the current. 104 00:07:08,750 --> 00:07:12,830 But for anyone who experiences significant obstacles to the 105 00:07:12,830 --> 00:07:19,990 life of faith, please know that suffering and obstacles, not 106 00:07:19,990 --> 00:07:23,710 ease, is the norm for those who follow Jesus. 107 00:07:24,390 --> 00:07:27,270 The vast majority of the New Testament was written to 108 00:07:27,270 --> 00:07:30,950 churches who were struggling with all kinds of threats and 109 00:07:30,950 --> 00:07:34,950 obstacles to faith. Some specific hardships are 110 00:07:34,950 --> 00:07:37,660 listed here. You were sometimes being 111 00:07:37,660 --> 00:07:42,540 publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being 112 00:07:42,540 --> 00:07:47,060 partners with those so treated, where you had compassion on 113 00:07:47,060 --> 00:07:51,660 those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering 114 00:07:51,660 --> 00:07:56,380 of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better 115 00:07:56,380 --> 00:08:01,940 possession, and an abiding one. Now the Greek word, translated 116 00:08:01,940 --> 00:08:06,560 as public exposure is. Theatre zome. 117 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:11,920 The early believers weren't just being subtly insulted or snubbed 118 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,360 in one-on-one encounters because they were Christians. 119 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:19,160 Walking by faith meant they were popular targets for ridicule and 120 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:23,280 mockery on the scale of theatrical entertainment for the 121 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:27,080 masses, as if it were a group sport to make fun. 122 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:33,360 Now I feel like imagining the horrors of this degree of public 123 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,370 shaming is. Easier than ever these days, has 124 00:08:37,370 --> 00:08:40,090 anyone here happened to witness someone being taken down 125 00:08:40,090 --> 00:08:45,170 publicly by a mob or trespassing against the spirit of the age? 126 00:08:46,250 --> 00:08:48,570 And I'm not talking about someone being held responsible 127 00:08:48,570 --> 00:08:50,330 for wrongdoing. I'm talking about someone who 128 00:08:50,330 --> 00:08:55,210 voiced a faithful but extremely unpopular opinion that then 129 00:08:55,210 --> 00:08:59,810 triggered a dog pile of indignant ridicule and insults 130 00:09:00,250 --> 00:09:04,180 and jeering. Maybe, like you, like me, have 131 00:09:04,180 --> 00:09:08,420 seen it and have gotten a little sweaty and squeamish at the 132 00:09:08,420 --> 00:09:10,620 realization that that could be you. 133 00:09:13,500 --> 00:09:16,700 Our Hebrews brothers and sisters didn't have to imagine it. 134 00:09:17,300 --> 00:09:21,260 They lived it. Not only had they suffered 135 00:09:21,260 --> 00:09:25,900 insults and mockery in the public eye, they took financial 136 00:09:25,900 --> 00:09:27,820 hits because of their bold faith. 137 00:09:28,580 --> 00:09:32,440 Some lost their property. Some lost their freedom when 138 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,720 they were falsely accused and imprisoned. 139 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:40,760 Nonetheless, the Hebrews had held on to their faith boldly 140 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:47,040 and endured even when they could have escaped notice by standing 141 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:49,880 quietly by when their brothers and sisters were taking the 142 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,880 heat. They opted instead to publicly 143 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:57,240 partner in ministry with those who were being pilloried. 144 00:09:59,830 --> 00:10:03,590 I'm kind of in awe of these believers and these obstacles 145 00:10:03,590 --> 00:10:06,150 that they overcame so gracefully. 146 00:10:07,390 --> 00:10:10,870 For any of us who might be tempted to feel anxious or 147 00:10:10,870 --> 00:10:14,710 indignant about the possibility of, say, losing friends or 148 00:10:14,710 --> 00:10:18,150 losing income or even facing legal problems because of our 149 00:10:18,150 --> 00:10:22,710 faith, it is really wonderful to know that we can do something 150 00:10:22,710 --> 00:10:25,270 other than cry foul and clutch her pearls. 151 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,720 Sure, it may be unjust, and yes, those losses are real. 152 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:36,120 But the response of bold and enduring faith is not only to 153 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:40,240 accept the sufferings of injustice, but to accept 154 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:45,200 joyfully. The Hebrews lived out their 155 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,040 confidence that Jesus was providing a better possession 156 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:52,720 and an abiding freedom greater than anything they might have 157 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,910 held in life. This is the bold faith of a 158 00:10:56,910 --> 00:11:01,350 people who took Jesus at his word when he said, blessed are 159 00:11:01,350 --> 00:11:04,670 you when people hate you, blessed are you when they 160 00:11:04,670 --> 00:11:07,630 exclude you. Blessed are you when they revile 161 00:11:07,630 --> 00:11:11,110 you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man 162 00:11:11,910 --> 00:11:17,070 rejoiced in that day. For behold, your reward is great 163 00:11:17,070 --> 00:11:26,340 in heaven and yet and yet. The reason for this letter is 164 00:11:26,340 --> 00:11:30,340 that these same amazing Saints have come to a point in the 165 00:11:30,340 --> 00:11:35,460 journey of faith where they seem to be in danger of abandoning 166 00:11:36,060 --> 00:11:41,140 their confidence in Jesus. The language of verse 35, Do Not 167 00:11:41,140 --> 00:11:45,740 Throw Away Your Confidence refers to the act of casting off 168 00:11:45,740 --> 00:11:50,900 something useless or flinging away garbage from context. 169 00:11:50,900 --> 00:11:54,110 Clues throughout this letter. It seems that they've begun 170 00:11:54,110 --> 00:11:57,670 flirting with the idea of turning back, of stepping away 171 00:11:57,670 --> 00:12:01,350 from Jesus, thinking about loosening their grip on the 172 00:12:01,350 --> 00:12:05,750 promises of God in hopes of avoiding criticism, avoiding 173 00:12:05,830 --> 00:12:08,630 conflict that was becoming more and more appealing. 174 00:12:09,990 --> 00:12:12,750 And they were toying with adopting a new approach to 175 00:12:12,750 --> 00:12:18,430 faith, not walking in confidence with endurance, but shrinking 176 00:12:18,430 --> 00:12:22,420 back, laying low. Keeping their heads below the 177 00:12:22,420 --> 00:12:29,380 parapet, lying under the radar. The trouble was, this strategy 178 00:12:29,380 --> 00:12:32,980 was not nearly as sensible as it might have sounded. 179 00:12:34,220 --> 00:12:37,740 In fact, it was the beginning of a trajectory that, if it went 180 00:12:37,740 --> 00:12:44,620 unchecked, was going to result in catastrophe bit by bit, their 181 00:12:44,620 --> 00:12:47,660 healthy, robust fear of the Lord alone. 182 00:12:48,540 --> 00:12:52,740 Would be replaced by an ugly, self-serving desire to please 183 00:12:52,740 --> 00:12:57,900 and appease powerful people. Instead, love of God and love of 184 00:12:57,900 --> 00:13:01,740 neighbor would be sacrificed to be replaced by love of 185 00:13:01,740 --> 00:13:04,540 reputation and love of social status. 186 00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:08,420 But they didn't see it this way yet, and it seems they were 187 00:13:08,420 --> 00:13:11,300 willing to justify this approach even from scripture. 188 00:13:12,910 --> 00:13:16,310 Better theologians than I am have decoded the message of the 189 00:13:16,310 --> 00:13:20,710 Old Testament prophets that we see quoted in verses 37 and 38, 190 00:13:21,350 --> 00:13:24,270 which points to the possibility that the Hebrews have been 191 00:13:24,270 --> 00:13:27,830 digging through the prophets to rationalize a new tactic, this 192 00:13:27,830 --> 00:13:32,750 new tactic of shrinking back. In these verses, the author has 193 00:13:32,990 --> 00:13:36,110 Frankenstein together some snippets from the prophecies of 194 00:13:36,110 --> 00:13:40,590 Isaiah and backup. There's a passage in Isaiah that 195 00:13:40,590 --> 00:13:44,430 begins yet a little while, which is quoted in verse 37. 196 00:13:44,790 --> 00:13:48,070 And the balance of that passage counsels the people of God to 197 00:13:48,070 --> 00:13:50,550 withdraw and conceal themselves through danger. 198 00:13:52,430 --> 00:13:55,030 And they were applying that by applying that counsel to their 199 00:13:55,030 --> 00:13:57,710 current circumstances. They might have thought that 200 00:13:57,710 --> 00:14:01,670 they'd found kind of a respectable rationale for laying 201 00:14:01,670 --> 00:14:06,270 low. But the writer of Hebrews. 202 00:14:06,730 --> 00:14:10,250 Knows that this is actually an abuse twisting of Scripture. 203 00:14:11,050 --> 00:14:14,450 And so he takes that snippet from Isaiah and then he pairs it 204 00:14:14,450 --> 00:14:17,810 with a passage from Hebacic. That sort of turns that strategy 205 00:14:17,810 --> 00:14:21,250 on its head and instead gives the strongest possible 206 00:14:21,250 --> 00:14:26,450 encouragement to live by faith boldly in the power of the 207 00:14:26,450 --> 00:14:30,970 Messiah. Who would come 37 for yet a 208 00:14:30,970 --> 00:14:34,610 little while, and the coming one will come and not, will not 209 00:14:34,610 --> 00:14:37,010 delay. But my righteous one shall live 210 00:14:37,010 --> 00:14:42,050 by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in 211 00:14:42,050 --> 00:14:46,130 him. Brothers and sisters, we are not 212 00:14:46,130 --> 00:14:51,130 meant to live the life of faith slumped inside on the couch with 213 00:14:51,130 --> 00:14:55,130 the strades drawn. We are meant to walk by faith 214 00:14:55,690 --> 00:15:00,570 outdoors among the people, with cheerful acceptance of any 215 00:15:00,570 --> 00:15:02,330 suffering that might come our way. 216 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,400 Pressing on toward the day when Jesus has promised to turn the 217 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:09,280 world right side up again and right side out again. 218 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:14,800 A day when we receive the reward of faith and we can bask with 219 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:18,160 our brothers and sisters in the glorious sunshine of the Father 220 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:24,720 and the Son in the Holy Spirit. Faith that is hidden, that is 221 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:31,520 kept covered, is faith that weakens and dies because. 222 00:15:31,860 --> 00:15:36,260 Paradoxically, one thing that seems to really, really help to 223 00:15:36,260 --> 00:15:41,260 strengthen faltering faith is engaging in an environment that 224 00:15:41,260 --> 00:15:44,060 provides a lot of resistance to faith. 225 00:15:45,540 --> 00:15:48,900 As Christians, we tend to kind of interpret suffering as 226 00:15:48,900 --> 00:15:52,420 punishment, and sometimes suffering is correction, But 227 00:15:52,420 --> 00:15:56,460 here we're taught that suffering is often simply resistance 228 00:15:56,460 --> 00:16:00,290 training. It's the type of training that 229 00:16:00,290 --> 00:16:04,050 Jesus himself was perfected by. Isn't that amazing? 230 00:16:05,170 --> 00:16:09,210 Heber states earlier that it was fitting that the Father, in 231 00:16:09,210 --> 00:16:11,730 bringing us to glory, should make the founder of our 232 00:16:11,730 --> 00:16:16,730 salvation, Jesus make him perfect through suffering. 233 00:16:18,570 --> 00:16:22,370 To grow in endurance, we have to exercise our faith. 234 00:16:23,690 --> 00:16:27,610 When we tackle physical challenges, oxygen pumps in and 235 00:16:27,610 --> 00:16:32,410 out of our lungs and blood pumps in and out of our hearts, and 236 00:16:32,410 --> 00:16:35,530 our bodies are strengthened by this exertion. 237 00:16:37,170 --> 00:16:40,770 When we tackle spiritual challenges that come in the form 238 00:16:40,770 --> 00:16:44,130 of suffering, one of the basic things that we can do is we move 239 00:16:44,570 --> 00:16:48,610 in and out of the church doors regularly and with a vigor. 240 00:16:49,270 --> 00:16:51,790 One big critique of these Hebrews is that they were 241 00:16:51,790 --> 00:16:55,350 neglecting the regular gathering of the Saints for word and 242 00:16:55,350 --> 00:16:58,270 sacrament. They weren't heeding the call to 243 00:16:58,270 --> 00:17:01,470 come into church, and they weren't heeding the call to go 244 00:17:01,630 --> 00:17:07,030 out forth into the world in the power of the Spirit to survive 245 00:17:07,030 --> 00:17:09,270 and thrive in the midst of suffering. 246 00:17:09,550 --> 00:17:15,990 Nothing extraordinary is required of us to stay healthy 247 00:17:16,270 --> 00:17:19,950 and to grow. We simply heed the basics of 248 00:17:19,950 --> 00:17:24,349 quiet obedience, moving into the church for worship and moving 249 00:17:24,349 --> 00:17:28,790 out into the world in mission. In and out. 250 00:17:29,270 --> 00:17:33,590 In and out. We learn to walk in faith, as 251 00:17:33,590 --> 00:17:38,950 Jesus himself did. The measure of endurance is 252 00:17:38,950 --> 00:17:43,510 obedience to God. That's what verse 36 is getting 253 00:17:43,510 --> 00:17:45,110 at. You have need of endurance. 254 00:17:45,550 --> 00:17:50,630 So that when you have done the will of God, you may receive 255 00:17:50,670 --> 00:17:57,230 what is promised. Now in this fallen world, broken 256 00:17:57,230 --> 00:18:01,390 by sin in a million ways, every human being, Christian or 257 00:18:01,390 --> 00:18:04,110 otherwise, will undergo suffering. 258 00:18:05,270 --> 00:18:10,950 We're all born not only into suffering, but also into sin and 259 00:18:10,950 --> 00:18:14,350 into death, and this is our natural state. 260 00:18:15,510 --> 00:18:21,270 But Jesus, the coming one, the one who has come, made a way 261 00:18:21,590 --> 00:18:26,270 through suffering that actually leads us out from under sin and 262 00:18:26,270 --> 00:18:29,110 death. Suffering is a given, but the 263 00:18:29,110 --> 00:18:34,590 promises of God in Jesus are for freedom and deliverance from sin 264 00:18:34,910 --> 00:18:39,790 and death, and we can, by the grace of God and the ministry of 265 00:18:39,790 --> 00:18:43,670 Jesus and the power of the Spirit be saved. 266 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:49,000 All that is required is that we throw ourselves into His arms. 267 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:53,920 In faith, we hold to the promises of Jesus and walk 268 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:58,680 faithfully with him and toward him one step after the other, 269 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:05,080 without turning back. Now, when I think about the need 270 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:08,960 to persevere in faith, even when things look like they are going 271 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:13,400 horribly wrong, I think about what it's like to pull on. 272 00:19:13,750 --> 00:19:17,790 A tshirt. So a long time ago I went 273 00:19:17,790 --> 00:19:20,830 swimming at a classmates house. This was when I was maybe eight 274 00:19:20,830 --> 00:19:23,150 or nine years old. And when we were done swimming, 275 00:19:23,150 --> 00:19:26,990 somehow I was assigned the task of helping my classmates, 3 year 276 00:19:26,990 --> 00:19:30,230 old sister, change out of her swimsuit and back into her 277 00:19:30,230 --> 00:19:33,310 clothes. Now she was not the most 278 00:19:33,310 --> 00:19:37,230 cooperative little kid I'd ever met, but to be fair, she wasn't 279 00:19:37,230 --> 00:19:41,630 too pleased that I, a virtual stranger, was put in charge of 280 00:19:41,630 --> 00:19:45,530 her. But she did OK until we got to 281 00:19:45,530 --> 00:19:48,170 the part where I asked her to raise her arms so I could get 282 00:19:48,170 --> 00:19:51,530 her into her tshirt. We started the procedure. 283 00:19:51,970 --> 00:19:54,970 She raised her hands, but suddenly she started screaming 284 00:19:54,970 --> 00:19:57,170 her head off and refused to cooperate. 285 00:19:57,810 --> 00:20:02,490 I had no idea what was going on, but it turns out she was mad 286 00:20:02,490 --> 00:20:05,210 because she thought I was trying to trick her into putting her 287 00:20:05,210 --> 00:20:09,480 shirt on backwards. So you picture a tshirt. 288 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,760 There's a Unicorn or a pony or something printed on the front 289 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:14,280 of her tshirt. But of course from her 290 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:18,800 perspective looking up into it, it's as if I'm trying to pull 291 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,480 the shirt over her head. The pony's all wrong. 292 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,560 It was inside out and backwards and she was just not having any 293 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:29,120 of it. I tried so hard to explain how 294 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:31,080 this worked. Yes, I tried to reason with a 295 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,440 toddler. I told her sure, things are 296 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:36,360 going to look and feel crazy and wrong. 297 00:20:37,030 --> 00:20:40,150 Pulling a shirt on just for a minute, but in the end her 298 00:20:40,150 --> 00:20:43,190 really cool pony would be right side out, just the way she 299 00:20:43,190 --> 00:20:45,750 wanted it for the whole rest of the day. 300 00:20:47,030 --> 00:20:50,190 She would have to suffer momentarily, but if we kept 301 00:20:50,190 --> 00:20:52,590 moving forward, salvation was at hand. 302 00:20:55,110 --> 00:20:58,070 Tragically, she was not willing to endure the suffering. 303 00:20:58,950 --> 00:21:01,910 I tried to shorten the period of pain by wadding up the shirt so 304 00:21:01,910 --> 00:21:04,510 it was just a ring of cloth. She couldn't see the pony inside 305 00:21:04,510 --> 00:21:06,740 or outside. I was just going to pop it over 306 00:21:06,740 --> 00:21:11,380 her head a real fast, but Nope. She clung to her disbelief. 307 00:21:12,780 --> 00:21:15,100 She crossed her arms and she shrank back. 308 00:21:15,940 --> 00:21:19,540 She decided that she would rather remain damp and cold and 309 00:21:19,540 --> 00:21:24,180 clammy, then accept the warm beautiful clothing that have 310 00:21:24,180 --> 00:21:27,860 been provided. Now I know this is a goofy 311 00:21:27,860 --> 00:21:32,020 analogy, but the reality of this is really sobering. 312 00:21:33,270 --> 00:21:37,910 There is suffering in this world that we do not understand and 313 00:21:37,910 --> 00:21:43,310 that we cannot avoid. We are born wet and naked and 314 00:21:43,310 --> 00:21:47,670 cold, and we are going to die of it unless someone clothes us. 315 00:21:50,710 --> 00:21:55,110 But there is suffering too, in being clothed with righteousness 316 00:21:55,110 --> 00:21:58,870 and salvation. Things are upside down and 317 00:21:58,870 --> 00:22:02,390 inside out and backwards, and it requires faith. 318 00:22:03,140 --> 00:22:10,260 To persevere, trusting the Lord for salvation involves voluntary 319 00:22:10,380 --> 00:22:15,060 suffering, the type of suffering that we might be able to avoid 320 00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:19,420 for a season if we turn back. Opening our arms up to the Lord 321 00:22:19,420 --> 00:22:24,700 in faith is vulnerable and uncertain and scary. 322 00:22:25,660 --> 00:22:30,740 We are exposed in a way that we don't have to suffer if we 323 00:22:30,740 --> 00:22:35,410 shrink back. But if we shrink back, we never 324 00:22:35,410 --> 00:22:40,050 get to the promise. If we stop living in faith, we 325 00:22:40,050 --> 00:22:45,090 don't reach the end and the reward of faith. 326 00:22:47,050 --> 00:22:51,450 Now, let me be very clear here, the Hebrews addressed here. 327 00:22:51,610 --> 00:22:56,250 We're not frightened children being punished for not trusting 328 00:22:56,250 --> 00:22:58,970 a stranger. That's not the analogy. 329 00:22:59,750 --> 00:23:03,150 These were grown, experienced men and women who had already 330 00:23:03,150 --> 00:23:05,510 been met by the faithfulness of God. 331 00:23:05,510 --> 00:23:09,590 In their suffering they had already tasted the salvation of 332 00:23:09,590 --> 00:23:12,710 God, and they were already actively receiving the 333 00:23:12,710 --> 00:23:15,070 compassion of Christ. In their weakness. 334 00:23:15,910 --> 00:23:19,990 They knew from experience what they are reminded of repeatedly 335 00:23:19,990 --> 00:23:23,230 in this letter that we do not have a high priest who is unable 336 00:23:23,230 --> 00:23:27,830 to Sinner with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has 337 00:23:27,830 --> 00:23:31,480 been tempted as we are. He can deal gently with the 338 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:35,800 ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with 339 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,640 weaknesses. The kind of shrinking back that 340 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:45,080 leads to destruction is not the natural, hesitant response to 341 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,240 threat. The Lord has infinite patience 342 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,120 for our native weaknesses. He knows some, he understands 343 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:55,000 some. The type of shrinking back that 344 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,720 leads to destruction is willful abandonment. 345 00:23:59,390 --> 00:24:02,950 Of the walk of faith. It is the gradual but 346 00:24:02,950 --> 00:24:06,990 intentional turning away from the love of God to embrace 347 00:24:07,390 --> 00:24:11,830 unbelief and sin. Instead it is a deliberate 348 00:24:11,830 --> 00:24:15,230 throwing away of a confidence already possessed. 349 00:24:16,030 --> 00:24:19,950 It is a defiant closing of the ears against the wise calling 350 00:24:19,950 --> 00:24:23,710 voice of the Savior. It is a hardening of the heart 351 00:24:23,990 --> 00:24:27,900 against the salvation. So freely offered and the one 352 00:24:27,900 --> 00:24:35,220 who offers it, these Hebrews were in the very early stages of 353 00:24:35,220 --> 00:24:39,420 rejecting God. Discouraged by the prospect of 354 00:24:39,420 --> 00:24:42,340 continued suffering, they were tempted to let go of the wheel 355 00:24:42,340 --> 00:24:44,020 and just start drifting with the current. 356 00:24:44,860 --> 00:24:49,020 And they didn't need comfort in this moment or advice to just 357 00:24:49,020 --> 00:24:50,780 relax. They needed to wake up. 358 00:24:51,450 --> 00:24:54,610 And remember that in Christ Jesus, salvation is already 359 00:24:54,610 --> 00:24:58,170 close at hand and it's time to press on in face. 360 00:24:59,930 --> 00:25:02,370 Now, I never succeeded in getting that little girl's shirt 361 00:25:02,370 --> 00:25:07,170 on, but when her older sister finally came over to help, she 362 00:25:07,170 --> 00:25:10,290 was dressed in like 10 seconds. Why? 363 00:25:11,690 --> 00:25:15,170 She couldn't trust the promise, the process, and she didn't 364 00:25:15,170 --> 00:25:18,050 trust me, no matter how truthfully I promised her that 365 00:25:18,050 --> 00:25:21,380 it was going to work out OK. But when her own sister showed 366 00:25:21,380 --> 00:25:27,100 up and said the same thing, she was able to trust the process 367 00:25:27,100 --> 00:25:32,020 because she trusted the person. When your faith is not only in 368 00:25:32,020 --> 00:25:37,380 the promise of the reward, but in the one who promises, it 369 00:25:37,380 --> 00:25:40,940 turns out you can not only endure suffering, you can 370 00:25:40,940 --> 00:25:47,820 receive it with joy. Now, later in my life, I learned 371 00:25:47,820 --> 00:25:53,970 that watchman knee. Was born NI Chutsu in 1903 in Fu 372 00:25:53,970 --> 00:25:57,570 Chao, China, and he took on the name Watchmen in both English 373 00:25:57,610 --> 00:26:00,050 and Chinese when he became a follower of Jesus. 374 00:26:01,170 --> 00:26:05,890 For 30 years, he led a beautiful, fruitful ministry in 375 00:26:05,890 --> 00:26:10,810 China and in Southeast Asia, and he persevered through all kinds 376 00:26:10,810 --> 00:26:15,610 of suffering, poverty, multiple chronic illnesses. 377 00:26:16,210 --> 00:26:19,490 Infighting from political factions inside his own church 378 00:26:21,050 --> 00:26:25,330 and after the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949, Watchmen 379 00:26:25,330 --> 00:26:29,530 Knee returned to China from his work in Hong Kong in order for 380 00:26:29,530 --> 00:26:32,730 the churches he had planted there, which were now in 381 00:26:32,730 --> 00:26:36,850 distress and suffering because of political opposition to their 382 00:26:36,850 --> 00:26:41,930 faith. Knee was arrested in 1952 and 383 00:26:41,930 --> 00:26:45,290 spent the rest of his life 20 years. 384 00:26:46,140 --> 00:26:51,420 Imprisoned in a labor camp where he died, one of his biographers 385 00:26:51,420 --> 00:26:54,740 wrote. Humanly speaking, he died in 386 00:26:54,740 --> 00:26:59,620 misery and humiliation. Not one relative or brother or 387 00:26:59,620 --> 00:27:03,340 sister in the Lord was with him. There was no proper notification 388 00:27:03,340 --> 00:27:09,180 of his death and no funeral, but he died with this note under his 389 00:27:09,180 --> 00:27:13,460 pillow. Christ is the Son of God. 390 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:18,040 Who died for the redemption of sinners and resurrected after 391 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,080 three days? This is the greatest truth in 392 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,600 the universe. I die because of my belief in 393 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:26,560 Christ. Watchmen Knee. 394 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:34,280 So in some sense, Watchmen Knee was not an average Christian. 395 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,080 Because of his boldness and endurance, approximately 400 396 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:42,960 churches were raised up in China. 397 00:27:43,340 --> 00:27:48,380 In the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Highland Indonesia. 398 00:27:51,020 --> 00:27:54,540 But in another sense, Watchmen Knee was surrounded by a Gray 399 00:27:54,540 --> 00:27:59,180 cloud of witnesses. Ordinary, normal believers who, 400 00:27:59,180 --> 00:28:05,180 like thee, simply persevered obediently in faith and during 401 00:28:05,180 --> 00:28:08,900 the Cultural Revolution, overlapped that same time 402 00:28:08,900 --> 00:28:14,230 period. 1966 to 1976 the communist regime undertook a 403 00:28:14,230 --> 00:28:19,830 plan to eradicate Christianity, and yet millions held fast to 404 00:28:19,830 --> 00:28:23,710 their confession of faith. The Christian Church in China 405 00:28:23,710 --> 00:28:28,310 held a firm with Catholics remaining at 3,000,000 and 406 00:28:28,310 --> 00:28:32,550 Protestants growing from 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 during 407 00:28:32,550 --> 00:28:36,550 this 10 year period. And we won't know. 408 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:41,640 The stories of these individual believers until we meet them in 409 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,600 heaven. But we share the same promises 410 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:52,120 that they held fast, and with them we can testify that He who 411 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:58,000 promised is faithful in the name of the Father and the Son and 412 00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,920 the Holy Spirit. Amen.