Bible Text: Hebrews 10:19-39 | Pastor: Eric Danielson | Series: Hebrews – Glory of Christ | When you face long term suffering it can feel overwhelming and doubt can creep in. The temptation to become bitter and turn away from God can be very strong. What can we focus on to give us hope so we can stand firm?

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Move Forward by Faith
Hebrews 10:19-39

This morning we’re coming back to a theme that’s come up often over the past few years, and it’s the theme of how to faithfully endure in the face of long-term suffering. It seems that at this point in the life of our church family, we can’t overdo this theme, because there are so many people suffering from ongoing trials. Many of you are suffering right now. Many are not here today because of the suffering they’re going through.

We are feeling the effects of living in a fallen and broken world that’s been corrupted by sin. That means our bodies are going to hurt. Disease and injury are going to take their toll. Things aren’t going to work right. It means our hearts and minds are going to hurt. We’re going to struggle with unbalanced emotions and psychological upheaval. Families are going to hurt – sometimes because of our own sin, sometimes because of the sin of others. Circumstances are going to hurt. Financial strain and the pressure of paying the bills can strangle us. Bad things are going to happen that don’t make sense – things that shouldn’t be but are because of living in a world that’s under the curse of sin.

In the midst of this suffering the enemy is at work trying to deceive and discourage and wanting nothing more than for you to abandon the faith. And the temptation to do so can at times be very strong. “Why isn’t God taking away your pain? If he won’t help you, maybe you should just give up on him.” When you’re going through suffering it’s easy to dwell on these things and hard to know what to focus on to give us hope. Doubt comes in and overwhelms, so we need to know how to fight so we can stand firm.

The people that the book of Hebrews was written to were struggling and tempted to abandon the faith, because for them, the very reason they were suffering was because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Christianity was not viewed in a favorable light in their society, so they were being persecuted and were tempted to throw it all away. And in today’s passage the author is going to remind them why it would be foolish to do that, but he also gives them two important things to keep their focus on to help them to endure. It’s those two things that I especially want us to see that will help us continue to have hope and press forward in faith through the times of suffering we endure.

We wrapped up a long theological section last week where the author explained in great detail the superiority of Jesus Christ over the other high priests. He now turns his attention to how his readers need to respond.

Read Hebrews 10:19-25.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 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. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 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.

He begins in the first 3 verses by summarizing the incredible things Christ accomplished for them that he wrote about in the preceding chapters, and he uses the imagery of the tabernacle once again. By bringing his perfect blood into heaven as a sacrifice on our behalf, Jesus completely paid the penalty we owed for our sin and reconciled us to God – we are washed pure and forgiven. So rather than cowering in fear of death, the author says in vs. 19 we can have confidence to enter the holy places to stand in the presence of God. Christ provided the only way in – a new and living way. What once was barred by a heavy curtain has now been opened to us by the offering of his flesh, giving us direct access to God. And Jesus is always there as our great high priest and mediator, guaranteeing that our forgiveness and reconciliation with God will last forever.

It is on the basis of these incredible things Jesus did that he goes on to tell them how to respond. He gives them three steps to take: Draw near… Hold fast… Stir up… In verse 22 he says: Draw near to God through faith in Christ. Don’t hold back. Through Christ alone your hearts have been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and your bodies washed with pure water, so draw near. In verse 23 he says: Hold fast… Hold fast the confession of our hope. Hold fast to the gospel of Jesus Christ that alone can save you. Know for certain that in Christ you will receive the promised eternal inheritance because he who promised is faithful. And in verse 24: Stir up… consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. They were feeling discouraged because of suffering for their faith and tempted to disband and disperse. Some had already given up meeting together. Don’t do that. Keep getting together for support and encouragement. Stir one another up to love and good works more and more as the Day of Christ’s return gets closer. Draw near, Hold fast, Stir up.

In these ways he was calling them to move forward by faith in Christ and he was doing so on the basis of all that Christ had done. This is the first thing I want us to see for what we need to focus on to fight against doubt and give us hope and encouragement in our sufferings. We need to focus on the incredible wonders of what Christ has done for us. So often when we’re going through suffering we focus on what we think God isn’t doing: “He isn’t helping me, he isn’t fixing my problem, he isn’t taking away my suffering…” Those lead to doubt. But do we remember all that God has done? God sent his Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, so we could be completely forgiven, adopted, and given an eternal inheritance in heaven… Think of that! Is there anything greater that God could do? No, he might not take away the suffering you’re going through, but he’s taken away your sin so you could be reconciled to him, and because of that he’s actually with you in your suffering and he’s given you everything you need to endure it to the end when he will give you eternal life and all your suffering will be over. In the midst of suffering we need to train ourselves to think about all we have in Christ so that we are able to stand firm.

So the author calls them to move forward by faith in light of all that Christ had accomplished for them – fully embrace Jesus Christ so that you will have peace with God and an eternal inheritance. And then he warns them about what will happen to those who don’t. Rejecting Jesus after everything they’ve seen and heard will mean exactly the opposite.

Read Hebrews 10:26-31.
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

This is probably the strongest warning in the book of Hebrews and you have to be careful about how you interpret and apply it. This warning is given on the heels of 10 chapters of detailed instruction about who Jesus was, what he did, why he did it, and what it accomplished for them. His readers were now fully aware of the undeniable glories of Christ and the overwhelming grace of God poured out on them through Christ and he’s telling them that if someone in their situation was now to deliberately go on sinning by refusing to move forward by faith in Christ and by choosing to throw it all away and reject Christ, this is what would happen to them.

They would be essentially calling Jesus a fake and a liar and one who deserved to die for being a false Messiah, and by rejecting his sacrifice for sins that alone can save – there is no sacrifice left. They’ve rejected and profaned the only sacrifice that could save them and the only thing they would have left is the fearful expectation of judgment from God. Judgment which he refers to as the “fury of fire” that consumes the enemies of God.

What they would do by rejecting Christ at that point is compared in vs. 29 to one who has “trampled underfoot the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which people are sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace.” It’s not stealing a cookie out of a cookie jar. It’s spitting on the crucified body of their only Savior and treating his sacrifice with contempt. He says in verse 28 that if people who rejected the law of Moses were put to death, how much worse punishment would there be for one who stubbornly rejects Jesus Christ? Not only would they have to stand before the living God with all their sin and guilt on their shoulders, but they would have to face his vengeance for how they ridiculed the death of his Son.

It’s a serious warning for their situation so they know the grave consequences for deliberately rejecting Jesus. But he is confident that won’t happen to them. And he quickly goes back to what he believes will be true for them.

Read Hebrews 10:32-39.
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

He reminds them when they first became Christians they endured through much suffering. Some of them were publicly denounced and humiliated by the Jewish authorities in their cities. Some of them had dear friends who went through the same thing. They helped them – they ministered to them in prison, even though that was a risky thing to do. Because of their faith they lost their possessions and property and were forced to relocate. The author says in verse 34 that they joyfully endured all this because they believed with all their hearts that in the end they would receive their eternal inheritance which was far beyond anything they lost in this life.

So now he’s calling them to that same kind of endurance. In verse 35 he says, “Don’t throw it all away. There’s a great reward waiting for you.” By moving forward by faith they will come to receive the inheritance God has promised. And he reminds them of God’s promises in the prophecy of Habakkuk 2 – Jesus will be coming back and those who live by faith will receive their reward, while those who shrink back will receive judgment. And he finishes by declaring what he believed would be true for them: “But we are not of those who shrink back in doubt and unbelief and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

In these verses we see the second thing we need to focus on to give us hope in the midst of our sufferings. We need to see that much greater things are yet to come when this life is over – a glorious inheritance is waiting for those who faithfully endure. When you’re suffering it’s easy to focus on the hopelessness of your present situation and think that the suffering is never going to come to an end – the sadness won’t go away, the depression won’t lift, the pain won’t end. But the truth is… it will.

Jesus is coming back again. And when he comes he will make everything new. He will put an end to all of your suffering – it will be less than a distant memory. And in its place will be your eternal reward. You will receive a brand new, pain-free body. Everything will work right and will always work right forever! Your thoughts and emotions will be in perfect balance. Every painful situation caused by the corruption of sin will be gone. You will experience joy and laughter and fulfillment in life that you never dreamed were possible. These are the things we have to look forward to and as we’re going through the struggle in this life we need to focus on them.

We focus on everything God has done for us in Jesus Christ, and we focus on the glorious inheritance that will soon be ours. This is how we continue to move forward by faith through our sufferings today so that we too will not be those who shrink back and are destroyed but will have faith and preserve our souls.