Having said that, would you open up your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10.
! And we continue on in our series in the book of Hebrews.
! Hebrews chapter 10.
And I'm going to be reading verses 19 through 39.
Hear God's word.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
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.
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth,
there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
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?
For we know him who said,
Vengeance is mine, I will repay.
And again, the Lord will judge his people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened,
you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,
sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction,
and sometimes being partners with those so treated,
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.
Therefore, do not throw away your confidence,
which has a great reward,
for you have need of endurance,
so that when you've done the will of God,
you may receive what is promised for yet a little while,
and the coming one 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 and are destroyed,
but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
May God bless the hearing of his word.
Jesus said this in John 16 to his disciples.
In the world, you will have tribulation.
And so if you're a follower of Jesus Christ,
you will experience hardship as a direct result of following Jesus.
Maybe it's because we're claiming that Jesus is the only way to heaven,
and in so doing, we're saying that all other claims on all other religions are false claims.
That can be offensive to people.
Certainly unpopular.
When we claim that the Bible,
every word is God-breathed in all authoritative on all matters,
that can sound archaic to people.
We can catch some heat for that.
Particularly nowadays on issues of sexuality.
It is pride month.
And so when we make the claim that God's design for marriage,
biblically,
is only between one man and one woman for life,
that's starting to show up as hate speech for people.
We can catch heat for that.
When we say that there's a real hell
where people will experience eternal conscious torment
as a just punishment for their sins,
that can land you in some kind of charge of emotional abuse.
If you are a genuine follower of Jesus Christ,
seeking to live for Christ,
you will regularly experience hardship.
Whether it's from your family, extended family,
whether it's from your workplace,
whether it's from the school you attend,
on your team,
to be faithful to Jesus
will cost you
in the eyes of the world.
Now, the original recipients of this letter,
the book of Hebrews,
they were Christians
and they were experiencing hardship for Christ.
We get a sense of that in verse 32.
You endured a hard struggle with sufferings
in their former days.
They were becoming weary and faint-hearted.
And when you are regularly catching heat
for being a follower of Jesus from the world,
the temptation is to throw in the towel.
The temptation is to blend back in to the culture.
And for the original audience,
it was going back to Old Covenant Judaism.
That was a safe place to go.
So, for us,
the temptation is just to blend back into our culture.
Just to give in,
not stand against.
To give up,
instead of pressing in.
To check out,
instead of pressing on.
what we need,
brothers and sisters,
when we encounter hardship,
and we will,
we will need endurance.
Christian endurance.
Eugene Peterson wrote a book
with the title,
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.
It's a great definition of endurance.
A Long Obedience to Christ
in the Same Direction of Holiness.
It is a really good definition.
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.
Christian, you need endurance.
You need to persevere.
So there are three points this morning
from this text I want you to see
regarding endurance.
Christ is the foundation
of our endurance.
Apostasy,
number two,
is the opposite of endurance.
And three,
faith
is at the heart of endurance.
So we're going to look at
Christ the grounds,
apostasy the opposite of endurance,
and faith which is at the heart of endurance.
Brothers and sisters,
we need endurance.
Faith fueled endurance.
So if you come into the room,
you've been catching heat for Christ,
feeling a little burnt out,
on the verge of giving up,
maybe just want to blend in,
it's good that you're here.
So let's look at this first point,
Christ the foundation of our endurance,
in verses 19 through 25.
The writer begins this particular call
to endure with a reminder
that Christ is the foundation of our faith.
And he does it with what's called
a since-then argument.
He's saying,
since this is true,
then you need to do this.
So let me unpack that for you.
In verse 19,
we see the first since.
Therefore, brothers,
since we have confidence,
since we have confidence
to enter the holy places
by the blood of Jesus,
by the new and living way
that he opened for us
through the curtain
that is through his flesh,
what he's talking about
is the once-for-all sacrifice
of Jesus Christ,
his death.
Christ's death has opened up a way
for us, his followers,
to come into God's presence
all the time.
Since that is true,
so that's the first foundation.
There's a second foundational truth.
There's another since.
Verse 21,
And since we have a great high priest,
great priest over the house of God,
not a Levitical high priest
who needs to sacrifice sin for himself
and then die,
this is Jesus,
totally God, totally man,
the priest in the order of Melchizedek
who ever lives
to make intercession for us.
And so what we have here
in these two senses
are two foundations
that we will endure from.
The first is Christ's once
and for all death
which gives us access
to God's very presence.
And second,
Christ's ongoing priesthood,
his interceding for us
to give grace to us
in time of need.
These are two foundations
in which we live from.
When I was in high school,
I built decks during the summertime.
And I was the post hole digger
and I would take post hole
and dig down about 42 inches
and then I would mix concrete,
pour it in,
and we would come out with a footer
that you would build the deck on.
And oftentimes,
these decks had two footers
and you would build the deck
upon these foundations.
And so what we're being given here
are two foundations
in which we live out our lives.
Christ's once and for all death
that gives us access
to God's presence
and Christ's ongoing intercession
as our ever living priest.
In fact,
these are the two unique features
of the new covenant.
So now let's turn
to talking about
the since then.
If this is true,
if these are true,
then we are being urged
to live a certain way
in this section.
And they show up
as three let us statements.
You ready?
First one is in verse 22.
Because this is who Christ is,
because the new covenant
is the now covenant,
let us draw near
with a true heart
and full assurance of faith,
with our hearts sprinkled clean
from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed
with pure water.
In other words,
because Christ has done this,
let's draw near to God
because we can.
So the way that we live out
these foundational truths
is by actually drawing near
to God through Christ.
Now this is why
this matters for endurance.
You need grace
to endure.
And when you draw near to God,
you draw near to the throne of grace,
Hebrews 4.16,
to be given help
in time of need.
The second let us statement
is let us hold fast.
Verse 23,
for you hold fast
the confession of our hope
without wavering.
For he who promised
is faithful.
That word hope,
let us hold fast
the confession of our hope.
Hope is a forward-looking faith.
In chapter 11, verse 1,
if you just look over
to the next chapter,
we read this,
now faith is the assurance
of things hoped for.
The conviction of things
not seen.
Hope is being confident
of what God has promised
and being confident
in God's character
that he is faithful
to his promises.
The confession of our hope,
what's being talked about here,
is having to do
with a particular day.
You can see it down
in verse 25,
the last clause,
and all the more
as you see
the day drawing near.
The confession of our hope
has to do with that day.
Down the line.
If you turn back
in your Bibles
to Hebrews 9.28,
we get more clarity
of what this confession
of our hope is.
So Christ,
having been offered once
to bear the sins of many,
will appear a second time,
not to deal with sin,
but to save those
who are eagerly
waiting for him.
The confession of our hope
is the coming of Christ,
the promised return of Christ.
And then we see that
played out
in the rest of the passage
in Hebrews chapter 10.
We see it in verse 34.
At the end,
since you knew yourselves
had a better possession
and abiding one.
That's talking about
a future possession.
Verse 35,
at the end,
which has a great reward,
a reward that's going
to be given to us
at the coming of Christ.
Verse 36,
after you've done
the will of God,
you may receive
what is promised.
And then look at
verse 37,
get a little while
and the coming one
will come
and will not delay.
The confession of our hope.
There's a number of truths
we can confess
when it comes to our hope.
A number of promises.
I'm going to give you one
that is five words.
And this is Jesus speaking
at the end of your Bible.
Now,
surely I am coming soon.
That's a confession of hope
where you're saying,
yes, Lord Jesus,
come Lord Jesus.
We're confessing that
as our hope.
We are saying,
I believe that.
That Jesus is going to come
and he's going to return
and when he does,
he's going to judge,
he's going to make
all wrongs right,
he's going to reward
those who've been faithful
to him.
this hope
fuels endurance.
So grace,
we draw near
to the throne of grace
because we are in need
of grace to endure
and hope
puts something
in our hearts
that will help us
to endure
and the last let us
is in verses 24 and 25.
We need each other
to endure.
Let us hold fast
the confession of our hope
without wavering
for you promises faithful.
Then in verse 24,
That word stir up,
some English translations,
they translate it provoke,
just to spur on.
Have you ever been
at a stoplight
behind somebody
and you can see
that they're on their phone
in the stoplight
goes from red to light
to red to green
while they're on their phone?
What do you do?
Here's what I do.
I give them a honk.
I say,
let's go.
We got places to be.
It's gone from red to green.
I spur them on.
I stir them up.
I provoke them.
So this idea
of stirring each other up
is giving each other a honk.
telling us to move forward.
Let's go.
Stop drifting.
Press in
to encourage one another.
We can't lose sight
of that day.
The day that Jesus returns
and judges all
and gives out rewards
when we see him face to face.
We encourage one another
with that day.
We give each other a honk.
Surely,
I am coming soon.
It prods us on.
What's interesting
about this particular,
these particular verses,
we're told how.
And let us consider
how to stir one another
to love and good works,
not neglecting to meet together.
In other words,
we stir one another up
by gathering together
on a regular basis,
by coming together
every Sunday.
It is a way
we encourage one another.
It's a way we hold fast
to the confession
of our hope.
It's a way that we
draw near to God together.
This gathering
is an encouraging
gathering.
It's an enduring
gathering.
It's together
following Jesus.
It presses us on.
We need each other
to stir one another up,
to give each other
a honk from time to time.
Let's go.
Let's not get distracted.
Let's stay on target
with that day.
When we take these
all together,
when you see this,
let us draw near.
Let us stir up.
Let us hold fast.
When you take them
all together,
you realize
these are ways
of talking about endurance.
How we endure together.
And so we've seen
the since,
and now we've seen
the then.
Since Christ's
once and for all
sacrifice
and his ongoing
priesthood intercession,
then let us do this,
and let us do this,
and let us do this.
And we will endure.
Christ is the foundation
of our endurance.
But now,
let's talk about
the opposite
of our endurance.
It's called apostasy.
And we see this
in verses 26 through 31.
Apostasy
is something
that the writer
of Hebrews
has been talking about
all throughout the letter.
He's provided
a number of warnings.
This is the fourth
warning of five
in the book of Hebrews.
And apostasy
is a frightening
spiritual condition.
You can see it
in verse 31
where we read,
it is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands
of the living God.
It is a fearful thing
for someone
who is apostatized
to fall into the hands
of the living God.
If you're wondering
what apostasy is,
it's the phrase
in this section
talking about it
is if we go on
sinning deliberately.
And that word
apostasy
actually means
no faith.
It refers to
people who once
professed Christ
and then
deny Him.
it's the opposite
of endurance.
When Jesus spoke
the parable
of the soils
in Matthew 13,
He described
a sower
sowing seed
and that seed
falls on
four different soils.
One was
a path
and the birds
come and take up
the seed.
The next soil
was this kind
of rocky soil
that the seed
kind of roots
very shallow,
shoots up
and then the heat
just makes it shrivel.
Doesn't produce fruit.
The next soil
is weed soil.
It gets choked out.
Doesn't produce fruit.
The fourth soil
is the soil
where that seed
it shoots up,
lays its roots
and it produces
a harvest
30, 60, 100 fold.
That's the Christian.
Every other soil
is a non-Christian.
And in verse 26
through 31
what we have
is another kind
of an argument.
An if-then argument
where the writer
is saying
if this case
is true,
if you go on
sinning deliberately
after you receive
the knowledge
of the truth,
then this is
what is going
to happen.
This is going
to be the result
of that.
So let's look
at this
if-then argument,
this warning.
In verse 26
we read,
if we go on
sinning deliberately
after receiving
the knowledge
of the truth,
the knowledge
of the truth
of course
is the gospel.
The gospel
of Jesus Christ,
the new covenant
that's been established
in Christ
through His once
for all death,
sacrifice,
and His ongoing
priesthood.
sinning deliberately
is actually
not talking about
after you become
a Christian
you gossip
or you struggle
with lust.
It's not that.
What's being talked
about here
is going back
to an old covenant
sacrificial system
in priesthood
and tabernacle.
Going back
to something
that can't save.
Rejecting
rejecting
the knowledge
of the truth.
That's what the sinning
deliberately is getting at.
And it happens
uniquely
when there's hardship.
When we start
suffering,
people start suffering
for Christ
and they professed Christ,
that can just
shrivel them
and it shows
they were never rooted
to begin with.
Jesus actually
describes it Himself
in Matthew 13.
Let me read it to you.
This is Him
explaining,
interpreting
the second soil.
As for what was
sown on rocky ground,
this is the one
who hears the word
and immediately
receives it with joy.
Yet He has no root
in Himself
but endures
for a while
and when tribulation
or persecution
arises on account
of the world,
He immediately
falls away.
What we're talking
about here,
this warning
is somewhat
hypothetical,
describing someone
who has professed
Christ
but then the heat
comes
and they fall away.
Now,
they were never
a Christian
to begin with.
And what
results from that
is we see
in the rest
of the section.
there no longer
remains a sacrifice
for sins.
They remain
in their sins.
They've rejected
the once for all
sacrifice of Christ
and therefore
they're under
God's wrath.
That's why we read
in verse 27,
no longer remains
a sacrifice
but a fearful
expectation of judgment
in a fury of fire
that will consume
the adversaries.
God's wrath
poured out.
Did you notice
that the one
who professes
Christ,
who's received
the knowledge
of the truth
but goes on
sinning deliberately,
they're being
equated with
an adversary
of God here.
This is serious
business.
And in verses
28 and 29,
what the writer
does is he
compares,
makes a comparison
of punishments
from lesser
to greater
in order to
make his point
that the rejection
of Christ
is a terrible
thing
in God's eyes.
Here's how he
does it.
Verse 28,
anyone who has
set aside the law
of Moses
dies without mercy
on the evidence
of two or three
witnesses.
What he's saying
is this,
hey,
even back in
the Old Covenant,
if you rejected
Moses' law,
then you would
die without
mercy.
Severe
punishment.
And then he
goes to verse 29
and he goes
from lesser
to greater
and he says,
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?
Quote unquote
sanctified?
And has
outraged
the spirit
of grace?
You see,
what he's saying
is,
hey,
it was stiff
punishment
for the Old
Covenant.
It is even
worse
if you reject
Christ.
If you have
professed him
and reject him,
it is far
worse for you.
trampling
the Son of
God.
God,
totally God,
totally man,
trampling him
underfoot.
Do you know
what you
trample
underfoot?
Things you
don't care
about.
Profaning
the blood
of the covenant
that we're
profaning
just to make
common.
It's just like
anything else.
No big deal.
It's you're
making common
the blood
of Jesus.
The one
who's totally
God and
totally man
who shed
his blood
in order
to establish
this new
covenant,
you just
make it
into no
big deal.
And then
outraging
the Holy
Spirit,
the Spirit
of grace,
the one
we read
in 914,
we read
this,
how much
more will
the blood
of Christ
who through
the eternal
Spirit
offered himself
without blemish
to God
purify our
conscience
from dead
works to
serve the
living God.
It is
outrageous
to the Holy
Spirit.
to profess
Christ and
then reject
him.
We're moving
into the
category of
Mark 3,
a blasphemy
against the
Holy Spirit.
This is
terribly
serious.
Apostasy
is outrageous
to God.
God.
And just
to further
make his
point,
what we
see in
verse 30
is the
writer of
Hebrews
quoting from
Deuteronomy
32,
verses 35
and 36,
saying,
vengeance is
mine,
I will
repay.
Saying,
the Lord
will judge
his people.
And what
he's doing
there is
he's saying,
those who
claim to
profess Christ
and then
reject Christ
will be
judged by
Christ.
He can't
pull one
over.
He sees it
all and he's
going to keep
his people
pure.
more.
So we've
got to ask
the question,
why is this
warning here?
I believe
this warning
is here to
function like
it did in
chapter 6.
This is a
real possibility
but this
church was
not there
yet.
So he's
warning them.
Saying,
hey,
if you
continue down
this road,
it's like
a dad
whose
teenager
has started
spending time
with some
just outright
fools.
People who
just don't
fear God.
And that
wise dad
sits his
son down
and he
says to
his son,
son,
I love
you.
I don't
want you
going down
this path
with these
people because
it's only
going to
harm you
because the
scripture says,
he who is
wise walks
with the
wise but a
companion of
fools will
suffer harm.
So here's
this wise
dad saying
to his
son,
don't go
down that
way.
The author
of Hebrews
is doing
something similar
with that
church he
wrote to
in God
with us.
If you're
starting to
drift,
if you want
to throw
the towel
in,
if you're
starting to
feel kind
of like,
I'm not
sure if I
want to do
this Christianity
thing anymore,
this should
sober you
up.
Don't go
down that
road.
Here's the
obvious statement,
apostasy is
the very
opposite of
a long
obedience in
the same
direction.
It's the
opposite of
faith enduring
to the end.
It does not
please God,
it provokes
God.
And so we
can't think
lightly of
apostasy and
we can't just
write it off
quickly theologically,
we got to
take it
seriously.
The stakes
are high.
I mean,
we're talking
about trampling
the Son of
God.
Here's what
this should
do.
Here's how
this should
motivate those
who are
eagerly awaiting
the Lord Jesus
Christ.
It should
make you say
something like
this,
apostasy is not
an option.
no matter
how hard it
gets,
apostasy is
not an option.
I'm not
going to
trample my
Lord.
I'm not
going to
profane His
blood.
I'm not
going to
outrage the
Holy Spirit.
So if you've
been drifting,
if you've been
wanting to
blend in,
if you've been
thinking about
giving up on
Christ,
heed the
warning.
You don't
want to go
down that
road.
But instead,
instead of
letting
hardship for
Christ drive
you away from
Christ, let
hardship for
Christ drive
you to
Christ, to
press into
Him.
And that's
where faith
comes in.
Third point,
at the heart
of our
endurance is
faith.
And we see
this in
verses 32
through 39.
The opposite
of an
apostasy that
leads to
falling away
is a
faith that
endures to
the end.
And we
must endure.
What is
faith?
Just look at
11.1.
Now faith is
the assurance
of things
hoped for,
the conviction
of things
not seen.
Faith is
actively,
not
passively,
actively
trusting in
who God
is and
His promises.
You're
actively
trusting in
that.
Think of
your heart,
your inner
being,
that part of
you that
does your
thinking and
where you
trust from,
where you
believe from.
Think of
your heart
as an
engine of
endurance.
confidence.
And what
your heart
needs is
fuel.
It's like a
combustion
engine.
You need
gasoline.
And the
gasoline that
will fuel
your engine
of endurance
is the
truth of
who God
is and
His
promises.
But you
also need
faith,
trust.
It's a
spark.
When your
faith meets
God's
truth of
who He is
and His
promises,
it combusts.
strength is
given,
hope is
born,
and now
you're able
to endure.
So when you
think about
those five
words,
surely I
am coming
soon,
when those
in your
heart are
met by
faith,
you're like,
let's go.
This
explosion
this
combustion
is of
hope
and it
endures.
You know
what?
When you
are trusting
actively in
God's
promises,
you can
endure just
about anything.
There's a
then and
now to
this passage.
The then
starts in
verse 32
and goes
through
34.
The
writer points
this early
church to
something he
knows about
them.
He says,
but recall
the former
days when
after you
were enlightened,
after you
became Christians,
you endured,
you pressed
on.
A hard
struggle with
sufferings.
He knows
they've done
it before.
Sometimes
being publicly
exposed to
reproach and
affliction,
that means
they were
humiliated
publicly for
their following
of Jesus,
and sometimes
being partners,
the word is
koinonia,
sometimes being
partners with
those so
treated,
you just
weren't kind
of publicly
humiliated
yourself,
but you
were associating
with those
who were
being publicly
humiliated.
How so?
Look at
verse 34,
for you had
compassion on
those in
prison.
Here's what
was going
on in this
church.
They were
suffering.
There were
people who
were being
arrested and
put in
prison.
And so
now you
have some
church
members
visiting
other
church
members
in
prison,
and they
were starting
to catch
heat for
it.
It doesn't
end there.
And you
joyfully
accepted the
plundering of
your property.
You
joyfully
accepted
the
plundering
of your
property.
Their
hardship
and their
struggle
was reaching
to a
point
where
their
private
property
was
being
taken
from
them
because
they
were
followers
of
Jesus.
And they
joyfully
accepted
that.
How does
that work?
Since
you knew
that's
faith
language,
that
you
yourselves
had a
better
possession
in an
abiding
one,
that's
promise
language.
They
joyfully
accepted
the
plundering
of
their
property
because
they
were
exercising
faith
in
God's
promises.
They
had a
better
possession
and
abiding
one,
a
heavenly
one.
That
was
them.
And they
had been
suffering a
long time
and now
they had
grown weary
and discouraged
and they're
thinking about
throwing in
the towel.
And so
this writer
says,
hey,
I know
that was
true of
you.
Verse 35,
he moves
from then
to now.
Therefore,
do not
throw away
your confidence.
Don't
throw away
your confidence
in what
Christ has
done.
Don't
throw that
away,
which has
great
reward.
Promises
of God.
God.
He's
affirming
the
genuineness
of their
faith and
saying,
don't throw
it out.
Don't let
hardship for
Christ cause
you to give
up on
Christ.
Rather,
let the
hardship drive
you to
Christ,
to trust
more in
his promises.
What we're
learning here
is this.
What he
puts his
finger on
is 36.
Don't
throw away
your confidence.
You need
endurance.
That's what
you need.
To this
weary church,
he says,
you need
endurance.
You need
a long
obedience
in the
same
direction.
Don't
give up
on Christ.
Pressed
into
Christ.
Endure.
And what
he does
is he points
them to a
promise.
For you
have need
of endurance
so that
when you
have done
the will
of God
by faith,
you may
receive what
is promised.
And so
what he
does here
is he
shows us
how to
endure.
He quotes
a passage
from Habakkuk
2,
3 and
4.
And he
adjusts it a
little bit
to apply it
to Christ.
He says,
yet a little
while and the
coming one
will come
and will not
delay.
That's a
reference to
the coming
of Jesus.
But my
righteous
one shall
live by
faith and
if he
shrinks
back my
soul has
no
pleasure in
him.
In other
words,
here's the
promise.
Jesus is
coming back
and the
call is to
exercise faith
in that,
to believe
in that,
to trust
in that,
and you
will endure
as a
result of
that.
In
verse
39,
we have a
summary,
glory,
but we
are not
of those
who shrink
back,
those who
sin deliberately
after receiving
the knowledge
of the
truth and
go to
destruction,
but of
those who
have faith
and preserve
their souls,
those who
endure by
faith.
We trust
in God's
promises.
Here's a
pop quiz.
Can you
identify right
now in
your head
a promise
God has
made to
you that
you've yet
to receive?
Can you
name something?
Can you
say something
like, yeah,
yeah, yeah,
right there.
Resurrection
body, it's
coming.
I can bank
on it.
Or you
go, yep,
yep, yep,
treats of
gold, it's
coming.
I want to
give you
one.
I've been
giving it to
you.
It's a
five-word
promise.
Surely, I
am coming
soon.
Let that
promise
sink into
your heart
and meet
it with
faith and
let it
combust
so that
you endure,
so that you
press on to
the end.
God's
need it.
You will
need it.
You will
not be
able to
endure
hardship for
Christ without
regularly
reminding
yourself of
what is
true about
God and
his promises.
You need
it.
We need it.
And we do
this.
We do this
together.
There are a lot
of promises
you can tuck
away in your
heart.
Start with
that one.
How about
this week?
You just
spend time
this week
thinking of
those five
words.
Surely, I
am coming
soon.
As you're
walking into
your place of
employment,
as you're
walking in a
variety of
different
contexts,
!
Jesus said
it, in
the world
you will
have
tribulation.
As
followers of
Jesus, we
will suffer
for him
and we
must
endure.
Christ is
the foundation
of endurance.
Apostasy is
the opposite
of endurance.
Have nothing
to do with
that.
And faith
is at the
heart of
endurance,
trusting in
who God
is and
his promises.
Surely, I
am coming
soon.
And in
just a couple
weeks,
you're
going to
get to
see the
greatest
example of
endurance.
Jesus, who
for the joy
set before
him, endured
the cross.
Let's pray.
God in
heaven, would
you fuel our
hearts with the
truth of your
word and would
you stir up
faith in us
to endure
to press
on.
God, thank
you so much
for Hebrews.
Thank you for
your desire
for us to
hold fast to
Christ all the
way to the
end.
Lord, we
want to as
well.
Would you
help us this
week to do
just that?
To endure
by faith
for your
name's sake.
Amen.
amen.
Thank you so much,