1. Hebrews 10:32-36 – Preserving Faith

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 30 June 2019

Intro:

• “It was a season of peculiar trial to the Christians in Judea.” Wrote the 19^th century Scottish pastor, John Brown, in his classic commentary on Hebrews, “Christianity was now no longer a new thing. Its doctrines, though they had lost nothing of their truth and importance, no longer were possessed of the charm of novelty; and their miraculous attestations, though to a reflect­ing person equally satisfactory as ever, were from their very commonness less fitted than at first to arrest attention, and make a strong impression on the mind. The long-continued hard­ships to which the believing Hebrews were exposed from their unbelieving countrymen, were clearly fitted to shake the stability of their faith, and to damp the ardour of their zeal. Jesus Christ had plainly intimated to them, that ere that generation had passed away He would appear in a remarkable manner, for the punishment of His enemies, and the deliverance of His faithful followers. But the greater part of that generation had passed away, and Jesus had not yet come, according to His promise. The scoffers were asking, with sarcastic scorn, “Where is the pro­mise of His coming?” and “hope deferred” was sickening the hearts of those who were “look­ing for Him.” The “perilous times” spoken of by our Lord had arrived. Multitudes of pretend­ers to Messiahship had made their appearance, and had “deceived many.” Many of the follow­ers of Jesus were offended - many apostatized, and hated and betrayed their brethren. “Iniquity abounded, and the love of many,” who did not cast off the Christian name, “waxed cold.” In these circumstances, it was peculiarly necessary that the disciples of Christ should be fortified against the temptations to apostasy, and urged to perseverance in the faith and profession of the Gospel... [Even as we do today!] [I]n order to gain [this] end, [the Apostle] calls on them… to pause and ponder before, by apostasy, they rendered useless all the labours and sorrows they had endured, and blasted all the fair hopes which they had once so fondly cherished...”

• {Read through whole passage first – 10 lines}

• “[A]fter he had shaken their souls, and pierced them with the recollection of Hell... and had said,‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God,” then, lest the soul despond­ing through excessive fear, should be swallowed up with grief, he soothes them by commen­dations and exhortation, and gives them zeal derived from their own conduct.” ~J. Chrysostom

I. Preserve Faith Through Remembering Past Providences

v.32 Now, y’all should keep remembering the earlier days (after y’all were enlightened), in which y’all endured much strife of sufferings.

• The recipients of this letter are commanded to “remember the early days,” when they first became followers of Jesus as their Messiah.

  • In ch.6, verse 4, we encountered the word “enlightened” where is was defined as “having tasted of the heavenly gift [that is, God’s grace in the person of Jesus] and having become companions of the Holy Spirit and having tasted the good word of God...”¹ (NAW)

  • The word “enlightened/illuminated” speaks of when they heard the good news about Jesus, and simultaneously, the Holy Spirit illuminated their minds to understand and believe it.

  • But when they became Christians, they were persecuted for it. The first several chapters of the book of Acts detail the events of those very days in Jerusalem: Acts 4:1 Now as [Peter and John] spoke to the people [in the temple], the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day... 15... they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, "What shall we do to these men? ... so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name." 18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus... 5:12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them... 17 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, 18 and laid their hands on the apostles [again] and put them in the common prison... 40 and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus… 7:59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."… 8:1 Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles… 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison... (NKJV)

• These early Jewish Christians had made bold stands of faith at first, but some of them fell back into Judaism in order to avoid further persecution. Christians were “on the wrong side of history” in the middle of the first century in Jerusalem, and some who had displayed initial enthusiasm that Jesus is the Messiah were now “playing it safe” and avoiding being so radical. Within probably 10 years of the writing of this letter, their world would be turned upside down. Those who remained in Jerusalem and identified with Judaism were utterly destroyed, but the Christians moved out of Jerusalem before General Titus destroyed it, and the Christians have gone on to become the greatest world religion ever.

• “Remembering” is a Biblical way of regaining an accurate perspective of where you’re at. What was your faith like when you first became a Christian? Has it cooled off a bit? Do you need to jog your memory to warm back up spiritually?

• I decided to apply this passage by looking up my devotional notes from over thirty years ago when I was reading through the book of Hebrews, and it was convicting to see the focus and zeal I had back then {Read excerpt from 30 April 1988: 15 lines}

• Verse 33 describes two “great strifes/struggles/contests/conflicts of sufferings” that these Hebrew Christians “endured.” These strifes are both introduced by a demonstrative pronoun in Greek which I translated “that” in English, and which other English versions translated “partly” or “sometimes.”

v.33 that [consisted], on the one hand, of y’all being made a public spect­acle of (with both insults and oppressions), and, on the other hand, that [consisted of] becoming partners with those who were being thus treated.

• So the first struggle was one of direct opposition against them for their faith.

  • They confessed faith in Jesus, and people began verbally insulting and reproaching them, and not just in private conversations but in public forums. The rabbis would point over to the group of Christians meeting over at Solomon’s porch and say, “Beware of those rabble-rousers! They are traitors to their government and they have betrayed the cause of our people. You can’t believe a word they say. Shame on them!”

  • And they didn’t stop with mere words. They started putting “pressure” on them, perse­cuting them, which resulted in real “tribulations/afflictions” for these new Christians.

    • There would be family pressure: “If you keep claiming that Jesus is the Messiah, we will not let you inherit the family farm. We will give it to another good man we know at the synagogue.” Or, “We need to find a good practitioner of Judaism to marry our daughter off to in order to cure her of her association with those Christian fanatics.”

    • But it also became public: “Every good Jew should boycott Steven’s bakery until he leaves that cult of Jesus-freaks, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll burn his bakery to the ground. And while we’re at it, we’ll circulate slanderous rumors about him in the daily news so that the public will turn against him and turn a blind eye to our indiscretions.”

  • And then there were the more physical forms of persecution mentioned in the book of Acts, where the police would go around town bullying Christians, throwing them into prison, brutally whipping them, harrassing them with frivolous court trials and false witnesses, and even killing them.

  • As I say these things, I can’t help but think of Christian acquaintances in my own lifetime who have experienced these exact same kinds of persecution. That direct opposition is one kind of struggle for Christians,

• but there is second kind mentioned in v.33 that is more indirect, and that is the fallout of per­sonal association with someone who is a social outcast: “that [consisted of] becoming part­ners/companions/standing side-by-side with/sharing with those who were being thus treated.”

  • In 1 Cor. 4:9-13, The Apostle Paul wrote, “I think God exhibited us latter apostles as men on death row because we became a spectacle [θέατρον] to the world – both to angels and to men... but we are dishonored. Even up to this very hour we continue to be hungry and thirsty, and we are poorly-dressed and beaten up and we are vagrants, and we labor hard, working with our own hands. When we are reviled with words we continue to bless; when we are persecuted we hold up. When we are slandered we continue to exhort. We have become like trash swept off the earth - everybody's scapegoat until now." (NAW)

  • Imagine having him for your pastor!

    • “Oh, you’re a member of the church whose pastor wears rags. Nice.”

    • “Oh you go to the church whose pastor has trouble staying out of jail. Yeah!”

    • “Oh, your pastor is the reason why they closed the market down today for security reasons and I couldn’t go shopping. Thanks!”

  • Imagine the feelings that would go through your mind if a friend from church showed up at your front door, all beat up, saying that their house had been ransacked by the police and their husband was in prison. Would you take them in, or would you say, “I don’t really want to risk the police coming to my house and doing that to me too! Besides, the space in my house is limited, and I only have so much food; I need it for my own family, I don’t want to share what little I have with others.”

  • No wonder Acts 5:13 says that everybody was afraid to become a Christian!

  • And that indirect social pressure - which comes after a Christian leader is made an example of - trickles down into other areas of life, especially in employment.

    • I was just this weekend reading an article² about some college history professors who were interviewed for the documentary, The Voyage That Shook the World. They didn’t realize, at the time of their interviews, that the moviemakers were opposed to the view of evolution which Darwin popularized, so when they started seeing their statements being used in anti-evolution propaganda, they panicked, because professors who have done those kinds of things have been fired before (as Ben Stein showed in his Expelled documentary), so these history professors published an article in the History of Science Society Newsletter entitled, “The Perils of Publicity³,” distancing themselves from association with Christians and creationists.

  • But that’s not what the Christians did in first century Jerusalem! Instead of distancing themselves from association with persecuted brothers, they invited them into their homes, gave generously of what they had to support them, and endured the rejection of being associated with social pariahs⁴. Verse 34 describes how they did that:

v.34 for y’all suffered together with my chains also, and y’all accepted the robbery of your possessions with joy knowing to have for your­selves a possession that is better and lasting!

• It’s what Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12 “Y'all are being blessed whenever liars insult you and hunt [you] down and speak every evil against you for my sake. Keep rejoicing and leaping for joy, because your reward is bountiful in heaven...” (NAW)

• Hebrews 10:34 has some of the biggest variants you’ll ever see in a Bible verse, depending on whether you are reading from the King James versions (which are based on the traditional Greek New Testament) or whether you are reading from the NAS, NIV, or ESV (which are based on the more-recent critical Greek text), and they don’t ultimately make a difference:

  • The former read, “you had compassion on me in my chains,” whereas the latter read “you showed sympathy with those in prison...”

  • I think the King James was on the right track because it’s supported by the vast majority of Greek manuscripts, including the two oldest-known manuscripts,

  • and it is another tantalizing insight into the author’s own endurance of persecution,

  • but either way, the main point is the same: instead of being afraid to help a prisoner, these Hebrew Christians, early on, went out of their way to show kindness toward those who were put in prison or chains, and our Apostle wants them (and us) to remember that history in order to bolster faith in Jesus at the present time.

• When Saul and the temple soldiers had come and ransacked their houses, they “accepted” this persecution and even experienced joy despite the hardship! Why? Because they knew that they had a “better and more lasting possession” (The KJV adds “in heaven,” but that appears to have been added in as an explanatory note to Greek Bibles around the year 1000, so it probably wasn’t in the original letter.)

• This has happened often throughout history. Eusebius wrote of the persecution of Christians in Alexandria in the middle of the third century, “Then all with one impulse rushed to the houses of the pious, andthey dragged forth whomsoever any one knew asa neighbour, and despoiled and plundered them. They took for themselves the more valuable property; but the poorer articles and those made of wood they scattered about thad burned in the streets… But the bretheren withdrew and went away, and took joyfully the poiling of their goods...”

• What is that “possession/goods/substance/property” which is “better & lasting/enduring/abid­ing” that made these early Christians able to rejoice under such abuse and injustice?

  • The way that the words “κρειττον/better” and “μενω/lasting/remaining/enduring/abiding” are used throughout the rest of the book of Hebrews “clue us in” as to what that posses­sion is:

  • Our “lasting possession” is Jesus and His priesthood for us:

    • Jesus is “better than the angels” (1:4), offers “better hope” (7:19), with a “better sacri­fice” (9:23) and is “the mediator of a better covenant… with better promises” (8:6)

    • Heb. 7:24 “He… on account of His remaining forever, has the permanent priesthood."

  • And our “lasting possession” is also citizenship with Jesus in a “heavenly city” in the world “to come:” Hebrews 13:14 “For here we don't have possession of a lasting city but rather we are seeking fervently the one which is about to be.” (NAW)

• Remembering God’s past providences to you when you were “on fire” for Him and you valued Jesus more highly than the things of this world – that will go a long way toward re-kindling and maintaining your faith, but there is more. We also...

II. Endure In Faith Through Bearing In Mind Future Promises

v.35-36 Therefore, don’t y’all throw away your open-access – which has a great payoff, ³⁶ for y’all have need of endurance in order that, after y’all have done the will of God, y’all may obtain what was promised.

• The verb “throw away” in v.35 may be an allusion to a passage in Deuteronomy (just before the Song of Moses), where God commanded that, when His people experienced the blessings of the promised land, they were to give their firstfruits to Him and remember that, in order to get the payoff of the land flowing with milk and honey they had to “throw away” life in Syria. Deut. 26:5 “and he shall answer and say before the Lord thy God, ‘My father aband­oned [threw away/ἀπέβαλεν] Syria… ⁸ And the Lord brought us out of Egypt… ⁹ And he brought us into this place, and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

• Back in the incident with the 12 spies, the Hebrews under Moses almost threw away their opportunity to get the Promised Land, but, throwing away our confidence in the reliability of a covenant relationship that gives us open access to God is a much weightier, eternal matter.

  • It’s the same “confidence/openness” that was mentioned back in v.19 “Therefore, brothers, having, by means of the blood of Jesus, open-access into the entryway of the holy places...” and in chapter 4:16 “Let us therefore keep approaching the throne of grace with open-confidence in order that we may receive mercy and find grace for the purpose of a timely rescue." (NAW)

  • The Greek Aorist verb in v.35 prohibits even beginning to throw away our faith in Jesus.

• Why? Because the “payoff” - the “promised” “reward” is so “great!” What is the “promise” or “recompense of reward”?

  • Hebrews 9:15 So, on account of death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions upon the first covenant, He [Jesus] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that the ones who have been called may receive⁵ the promise of the eternal inheritance."

  • The promise is Jesus, the presence of God, and the new covenant application of Christ’s death to the guilt of your sins, resulting in you entering into an eternal inheritance much greater than the physical possession of land in the Middle East; it is the possession of Jesus in heaven!

• So, what is the “will of God” that we must do in order to receive this promise?

  • I submit to you that it is the opposite of “throwing away your open-confidence.”

  • It is “persevering in approaching the throne of grace with trust in Jesus in order to get mercy and find grace” (Heb. 4:16),

  • it is in fulfillment of the very “will” of God outlined earlier in this chapter in verses 7 and 10, Jesus came “to do God’s will” so it is “by [God’s] will that we have been sanctified through the offering of Jesus once for all...”

• As we trust Jesus to make us right with God, we make good use of the access to God that He has bought for us as such a high price, we are set apart as holy to God, which it what God wanted all along, we keep persevering in coming to God with faith in Jesus, and we enjoy fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit now, and in the future, we will gain possession of Jesus in a new and wonderful way in heaven.

• During the Roman Catholic persecution of Protestant Christians in the sixteenth century, John Hooper wrote, “[T]here is neither felicity nor adversity of this world than can appear to be great, if it be weighed with the joys or pains in the world to come.”

• So, remembering God’s past providences in your life and looking forward to the future fulfillment of God’s promises in heaven - both will help you preserve your faith in Jesus, but that preservation is also reciprocal, because...

III. Bold Faith In Jesus’ Righteousness Will Preserve Your Soul

And that’s what we’ll look at next week, Lord willing!

Side-by-side Greek Text & English Versions of Heb. 10:32-36^A