Download Hebrews 10:38 1/4/15 Sunday Morning WE have been looking at

Hebrews 10:38
1/4/15
Sunday Morning
1) WE have been looking at the Hebrew believers who were about to defect &
go back to Judaism b/c of the persecution & disillusionment they were
dealing w/.
2) V.32 & following give us a picture of what they went thru
3) The writer is encouraging them to not give up. The battle is worth it!
4) For us – we need to remember that the battle is worth it – there is a payday
some day
Heb.10:32 But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you
endured a great conflict of sufferings,)
V.33 partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and
partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated.
V.34 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 an abiding
one.
1) “accepted joyfully the seizure of your property”
a) They had everything they owned taken away from them
i) This happened to Jews in Germany & Austria
(1) Kristallnacht – night of broken glass
ii) We could have that happen to believers in our lifetime
b) How would anyone remain joyful having their property taken away?
c) The answer is found in latter part of verse
2) “knowing that you have…a better possession and an abiding one”
a) “…a better possession and an abiding one”
i) “better” – in every way
ii) “abiding” – in eternity rewards don’t wear out
V.35 (NP)
b) It has been my experience that keeping an eternal outlook
helped me get thru rough spots of all kinds
i) Focusing on the unseen puts the seen in its proper place
2 Cor.4:18 while we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen; for the things which
are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
c) Song
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
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V.35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
1) “do not throw away your confidence”
a) Scripture tells us there are things we are to discard & things to keep
i) We are to work at discarding
Col.3:8 But now you also, put them all aside:
anger(disposition), wrath(emotion), malice(ill will), slander(injurious
speech), and abusive speech(obscene language) from your mouth.
ii) We are to make effort to keep – confidence in God’s promises
(1)
Sometimes you have to give yourself a talk
Ps.42:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And
why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in
God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His
presence.
V.11 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why
have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God,
for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my
countenance, and my God.
Ps.43:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And
why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I
shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance,
and my God.
iii) Never discard your trust in God
(1) Where does trusting God come from?
(2) From knowing His Word!
b) They were on the verge of stampeding
i) The world is always on the verge of panic – don’t follow them
2) “which has a great reward”
a) Means – payment of wages due – good or bad
i) Trusting God is a work that pays well
b) Word only used 3 times in N.T. all in Hebrews
Heb.2:2 For if the word spoken through angels proved
unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense,
Heb.11:26 considering the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the
reward.
V.36 (NP)
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V.36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God,
you may receive what was promised.
1) “you have need of endurance”
a) Steadfastness –
i) The root word - to persevere, endure, sustain, bear up under,
suffer – to have tenacity
2) “you may receive what was promised”
a) Third class condition of assumption – maybe they will / maybe they
won’t
b) The Christian life we live has a lot at stake!
i) Don’t live it carelessly
V.37 FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL
NOT DELAY.
1) “YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME”
a) By eternal standards it will only be a minute until He comes
b) It will be worth it all when we get home!
38 BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY
SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.
1) “MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH”
a) A quote from Hab.2:4
Hab.2:4 "Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right
within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.
b) It is also quoted in N.T. in 2 other places
Rom.1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith to faith; as it is written, " BUT THE RIGHTEOUS
man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
Gal.3:11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before
God is evident; for, " THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY
FAITH."
c) IN each book the emphasis is on a different part of the verse
i) Romans – who is righteous – only righteous “by faith”
ii) Galatians – how to live – to live “by faith”
iii) Hebrews – great accomplishments – “by faith”
d) We are not just saved by faith – our lives as believers are to be lived
by faith
Col.2:6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk in Him,
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38 x BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY
SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.
2) “IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM”
a) Third class condition – might shrink
b) Can a believer shrink back from God – yes Peter did
Gal.2:11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him
to his face, because he stood condemned.
12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he
used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he
began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party
of the circumcision.
13 And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with
the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their
hypocrisy.
14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about
the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of
all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like
the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like
Jews?
c) It is a daily battle to not shrink back
39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith
to the preserving of the soul.
1) “we are not of those who shrink back to destruction”
a) The word “destruction” has several meanings
b) Can mean literal destruction
c) Can also mean waste – as is used here
Mt.26:6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of
Simon the leper,
7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very
costly perfume, and she poured it upon His head as He
reclined at the table.
8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and
said, "Why this waste?
9 "For this perfume might have been sold for a high price
and the money given to the poor."
d) A life not lived by faith is a wasted life
i) Israel is the perfect example of a people not living by faith &
thereby wasting their lives
ii) They didn’t believe God – didn’t trust Him
iii)For 40 years they wandered in desert until they all died – wasted!
2) “but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul”
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a) “Preserving” – is literally “possession” of the soul
Eph.1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message
of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed,
you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view
to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise
of His glory.
1 Pet.2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal
PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN
POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of
Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous
light;
b) The idea here is obtaining your soul
i) Very few believers ever take possession their souls –
ii) To live drawing back from God is to waste a life –
iii) To live trusting Him is to possess / (obtain) his life
iv) Dr. G Campbell Morgan; “Life is to be mastered by faith, and
not by doubt; it is to be forevermore illuminated by hope, and
not darkened by despair; and in its activity love is to be practiced
in fellowship.”
v) The principle of obtaining life is laid down in Mat.25
Mt.16:25 "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it;
but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.
vi) The children of Israel were given the promise land –
(1) It was their possession
(2) But unbelief kept them from ever possessing it.
vii) Trusting God w/ reckless abandonment is the only way to live
viii) There are no chapter breaks – and we have already started the
11th chapter by now – One of the greatest chapters in all
Scripture
Heb.11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen.
1) “faith is the assurance of things hoped for”
a) WE have here a short definition of what “faith” is
b) Faith has been high jacked by the world and their definition is fuzzy
c) To understand what biblical faith is – must know what it is NOT!
d) What faith is not (NP)
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e) First – faith is not the object of itself
f) Faith must be pointed toward something
i) When you drive cross a bridge, you put faith in that bridge
ii) But listening to celebrates talking of faith makes faith the object
of itself
iii) Faith must be in something – having faith in faith doesn’t make
sense
g) Second – faith is not a feeling or emotion
i) Naaman was supreme commander of Aramean military & had
leprosy. Went to Elisha for healing. Elisha didn’t even go to the
door – but sent his servant. Made Naaman mad!
ii) Naaman had no feelings or emotion that were positive <<<
2 Kings 5:9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and stood at the
doorway of the house of Elisha.
10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, " Go and wash in the Jordan seven
times, and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean."
11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely
come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his
hand over the place, and cure the leper.'
12 "Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of
Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage.
13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, " My father, had the
prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more
then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?"
14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the
word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he
was clean.
iii) Naaman didn’t believe with emotion – but he acted & was
healed
h) Thirdly – faith is not hope – both are mentioned in this verse
i) Faith and hope are 2 distinct entities<<<
Heb.11:1 x Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
not seen.
j) Another example:
1 Cor.13:13 But now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
k) To understand “faith” you must know the biblical meaning of
“hope”
i) Biblical hope – is not the emotion of desiring a certain
outcome in the future (which may or may not be)
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ii) “Biblical hope” is desiring an outcome that is a sure thing –
(guaranteed)
Rom.5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love
of God has been poured out within our hearts through the
Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Rom.15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was
written for our instruction, that through perseverance and
the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Heb.6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a
hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within
the veil,
*Biblical hope is a guarantee!
Heb.11:1 x Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen.
1) x“faith is the assurance of things hoped for”
a) The word assurance made up of 2 words under & to stand, to place,
to set – “to place under”
i) It means to make firm; fix; establish; to be steadfast
ii) It can speak of a foundation or a contract or promise
iii) Faith is the substance of what is guaranteed
iv) Biblical faith is God’s promise to us – It God says it – that is the
end of discussion
b) Faith = taking God at His word – Acting upon His promises
c) The strength of your faith isn’t measured in how much you believe
i) The measure of faith is based on 2 things
(1) Your actions
(2) Where the faith is directed / aimed
ii) When you put your faith in what God said – that is as good as it
gets
2) “the conviction of things not seen”
a) This is a legal term
b) It means conviction; that by which a thing is proved, or tested
c) Used 23 times according to Plato in the trial of Socrates
d) God has never failed a test – so the conviction is based on truth
2 For by it the men of old gained approval.
1) “For by it”
a) It is impossible to be approved w/out faith
2) “gained approval”
a) Life is to be mastered by faith
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5)
CONCLUSION:
1) Biblical faith is anything but a leap in the dark
2) It is knowing what God has promised & moving accordingly
3) It is seeing that God true to His word
a) If your are not a believer – it isn’t an intellectual problem – it is a sin
problem
b) God has proven Himself too many times for that to be a real issue
4) If you are a believer – Your life here is for the purpose of learning that it is
always safe to trust the Lord
Master life – learn to totally believe what God has said3
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