Think Forward

Think Forward

“Think Forward”

(Hebrews 10:32-39)

Series: Captivated by Christ (Hebrews)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

  • Please open  your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10.

While you’re finding that let me say that our midweek services will be resuming soon as Summer is winding down.  We have taken a break during June and July and our midweek services on Wednesdays with our meal at 5 and ministries at 6 will resume August the 8th.  We’ve got a video testimony of how one family is blessed by Wednesday services.  Let’s check it out.

Video Clip—Midweek services; Patterson family 2:00 min.

That’s a week from this Wednesday on the 8th.  5 o’clock meal.  Classes starting at 6 PM, including a number of new classes for which you can register.  You’ll find that all in your copy of First Facts.

In a moment I’ll be reading from Hebrews 10.  Before we read the passage let me say thank you for praying for me as I have asked regarding my personal evangelism.  I asked you to pray for me as I prayed to have opportunity to share my faith each day.  I thought I’d provide the prayer again this morning if you’d like to write it down for your use.  Each day I pray this prayer at the beginning of the day:

“Lord, give me an opportunity to share my faith today. 

Enable me to recognize this opportunity when it comes. 

When it happens, give me the courage to proceed.” 

And the Lord has provided opportunity to do this.  I have been much more intentional about engaging others in talking about the Lord and I want to thank you for that.  I said to one person last week as she was ringing up my order: “Has anyone had the opportunity to tell you today that Jesus loves you?”  She smiled and said, “No, but I know He does…” and that opened a conversation where I was able to give her a tract and invite her to church.  She said, “I was just talking to someone here about wanting to go to church.”  God is good and He honors our faithfulness.  You keep praying for me to stay focused on sharing Jesus every day.

As we look Hebrews 10 you’ll recall from last time that we studied a warning passage, one of the five warning passages.  The writer warns people in the church there in verses 26 and following, warning about those who hear about Christ and follow Him outwardly for a time but ultimately turn away from him, rejecting Him as Savior.

And we noted incidentally that there are many people in the world today who are not Christians very largely because they think they are Christians.  They have made some sort of decision years ago, cozied up to the external things of the Lord and His church but never experienced true conversion.  And because they did not experience true conversion, when persecution comes, or riches and the cares of this world concern them, they fall away, turning away from Christ.  True believers, however, do not fall away from Christ.

If a person stops following Jesus it is evidence that he or she was never a true believer in the first place.  As the Apostle John writes in 1 John 2:19: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”  True believers continue following Christ, continue serving Him, living for Him.

The writer of Hebrews, unable to know the precise spiritual condition of every single person who reads his letter warns all of them.  He warns of the danger of rejecting Christ.  So we studied that last time and talked about the calamity of rejecting Christ, the severity of rejecting Christ, and the finality of rejecting Christ—it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  That was verse 31.  So we pick up now at verse 32, some encouraging words for true believers, true followers of Christ.  

I’m going to read verses 32 to the end of the chapter and this section, in a word, is about endurance, about enduring to the end, moving forward, keeping our eyes on Jesus no matter what struggles we face in this word.  Listen for that as I read beginning at verse 32.

  • Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 

33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 

34 for you had compassion on me in my chains [NU the prisoners], and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods [or possessions], knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven [NU omits in heaven]. 

35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 

36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

37 “For yet a little while, and He who [or that which] is coming will come and will not tarry [or delay].

38 Now the [NU My just one] just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition [or destruction], but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

  • Pray.

The title of this message came to me as I was sitting in the dentist’s chair Tuesday afternoon.  The television was on above me and a commercial came on for Spectrum Communication services—like our local internet.  And it concluded with this catchphrase: Think Forward.  At the time, I was thinking about this passage.  And so that title clicked with me.  So I’m stealing the title from Spectrum.  But I think that’s okay given the amount of time they’ve taken from me as I’ve waited for the internet to get fixed! 

This whole section—verses 32 to the end of chapter 10—is about thinking forward.  In fact contextually, the section continues on into chapter 11, the great “roll call of faith,” as we read about many people of God over the years who endured by “thinking forward,” living by faith, faith being “the substance of things hoped for,” looking ahead, keeping their eyes fixed on Jesus, looking to Him and the final salvation that comes through Him.

This passage provides three benefits of thinking this way, thinking forward.  First:

  1. Thinking Forward Gets You Through Persecution (32-33)

The writer reminds his hearers how they used to “think forward” back when they were first saved, when they experienced true conversion.  

32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 

“Illuminated” in this context describes those who are truly converted, having both received the light and becoming themselves the light of the world.  They began shining in the darkness.  They shined because they gloried in their salvation in Christ.  They kept their eyes on Jesus.  They were captivated by Christ.  They knew—as verse 34 says—that they had “a better and enduring possession” in heaven that far surpassed whatever struggles they endured through persecution for their faith now.  They didn’t allow their present problems to pull them down; they endeavored to think forward.

The word for struggle there is the Greek word a‡qlhsin, from which we get the English: athletics.  The writer is using the word metaphorically, describing persecution as a full-contact sport, as an action-packed struggle.  He says, “Remember your former days, not long after you were illuminated, converted, remember how you got through difficulties then?

How about you?  Do you recall how you were right after you were illuminated.  Remember the early days of your Christian walk, right after you got saved?  Remember how you felt?  How evangelistic you were!  You were so glad just to be saved.  Whatever trials you faced as a believer in Christ, it was like, “Oh well!  I know I’m saved!  I know I’m going to heaven!  This world is short, but I have eternal life!”  You were so fired up.  The writer is saying, “Get back to that.  Get back to how you were, howe you felt.  Get back to thinking forward.”  They endured a great struggle, verse 33:

33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 

That phrase “made a spectacle” connotes the idea of being made a public target for persecution; persecution because of their faith in Jesus. 

We must remember that persecution and suffering is a natural byproduct of being a Christian, living in a world that goes against the things of Jesus.  Recall that Jesus said in John 16:33: These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

See that word “reproaches” there in verse 33?  I believe it is the word “insult” in the NIV.  The word translated “reproaches” is also used by the writer in Hebrews 11:26 to describe the abuse Moses endured as he regarded his suffering for the Lord as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.  And the writer adds: “for he looked to the reward.”  He looked ahead to the reward.  Thinking forward gets you through persecution.

And the writer commends his readers in verse 33 for their “(becoming) companions of those who were so treated.”  In other words, when someone else was persecuted for their Christian faith, their fellow brothers and sisters stood with them.

So you see a friend at school taking heat for loving Jesus, standing for Jesus, talking about his or her faith openly, maybe in a classroom.  Your friend is teased for this and reproached for her faith.  And rather than your remaining silent or walking away to avoid confrontation, you go up and stand next to her.  And you’re like, “If you’re going to insult her, you’re going to have to insult me, too.  I also believe in Jesus.”  This is what Donald Guthrie describes as “fellowship on the deepest level.”

Thinking forward gets you through persecution.  

  1. Thinking Forward Gives You The Right Perspective (34)

Perspective.  Keeps you focused on things that matter, true and lasting riches in Christ Jesus.  Look at verse 34:

34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, 

That’s probably better translated, “You had compassion on the prisoners,” those who were jailed because of their faith in Jesus Christ; persecution.  The believers unashamedly identified with those who were being persecuted by imprisonment; locked-up for being Christians.  So these were fellow brothers and sisters who visited them in jail and brought food to them and so forth, not minding at all that their being so public about their faith meant that they too would suffer reproach and insult.  

and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods [or possessions], knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven [NU omits in heaven]. 

The “plundering of (their) goods” was the result of their identifying with fellow believers.  It was the persecution they faced for standing with their persecuted brothers and sisters.    Roman authorities ransacking their houses as if to say, “You’re going to stand with these Christians in jail?  Well, there’s a price to pay for that!”  

They were willing to lose their goods, their possessions, their houses, clothing, stuff.  That would require genuine faith in Christ, wouldn’t it?  That would require great strength.  

And the Bible says that it’s not just that they endured this, the plundering of their goods, but the writer notes the way in which they endured this—he says that they “joyfully” accepted the plundering of their goods.

So if the authorities broke into their homes and took every last item and then burned the house down, they could just smile.  Smile!  How?!  “knowing that they had a better and enduring possession for themselves,” their real treasure in heaven.

I was listening to John Piper preach this text and he said something like imagine after the worship service we all go out to the parking lot to get into our cars and find them all vandalized, smashed in, windows broken; someone has taken a can of spray paint and painted: Christians are bigots.  How would you handle that?  It’s a good question.  I’d like to think that after an initial and profound disappointment, that we would be free enough to carry on in joy knowing that our hearts are not bound up with our stuff, but that Jesus Christ—and our glorious inheritance in Him—is far better than anyone or anything.  

This is right out of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:10-12:

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 

12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven…

One of the reasons many Christians struggle to live a meaningful Christ-Centered life is because they seek their reward here—here, instead of in heaven.  They clutch to their material wealth here, holding on to it as though life were found in money and stocks and bonds and investments and retirement homes and lake houses and so on.  

We’re all susceptible to allowing money and material things to be life for us—whether we consider ourselves rich or poor.  Some of us may say, “Well, this isn’t a problem for me.  I don’t have hardly anything.”

This week a buddy of mine posted a quote on Instagram.  It read: “I grew up living paycheck to paycheck, but through hard work and perseverance I now live direct deposit to direct deposit.”

But possessions can pull us away from our “better and enduring possession” whether we have little or much.  Some have much.

Back in February I was leaving a conference in Dallas and my Uber driver pointed out the big Amazon Corporation as we drove passed it on the highway.  That led to our talking about the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, whose net worth was estimated at that time, I believe, at 500 billion dollars.  My driver said to me, he asked: “Do you know how much that is a minute?” I said, “No.”  He said, “ $231,000 a minute.”  Imagine earning $231,000 a minute!  It seems unfathomable, doesn’t it?

But what if it all goes away?  It could.  What if all your stuff goes away?  It could. Who really owns your stuff? 

I read about a Christian who was away from home and someone came running to him, saying, “Your house has burned down! Your house has burned down!” He calmly replied, “No, it hasn’t, because I don’t own a house. The one I have been living in belongs to the Lord, so if it has burned down, then that’s one less responsibility for me to worry about.”

That’s peace.  God owns all our stuff.

The word “enduring” there in verse 34, “you have a better and an enduring possession in heaven” reminds us that this possession in heaven lasts forever!  It abides and endures for all time.

Matthew 6:19-21:

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Thinking forward gives you the right perspective.

Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”  

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;

The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,

His kingdom is forever.

Thinking forward gets you through persecution.  Thinking forward gives you the right perspective.  Finally:

  1. Thinking Forward Grants You What God Has Promised (35-39)

This is the fulness of your reward in Christ Jesus, your glorious eternal inheritance in heaven.  Verse 35:

35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 

“has” great reward; present tense.  You live by faith then you actually experience something of your reward even now—now, though the fulness of the reward is still in the future.

True life is in Jesus Christ!! Life in Him!

36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

The next chapter is all about those who had faith to endure, those who lived to do “the will of God,” thinking forward so that they would receive the promise of their glorious inheritance in Christ.

Sometimes it’s the will of God for us to suffer and go through times of persecution.  It’s right for Christians to know this; to have a healthy theology of suffering.  You have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God—which often includes times of difficulty and challenge and suffering—you may receive the promise.  Think forward.  Don’t focus on the problems and the suffering.  Keep your eyes on the prize.  Thinking forward grants you what God has promised.

37 “For yet a little while (this is a quote from Habakkuk), and He who [or that which] is coming will come and will not tarry [or delay].

Thinking forward to Christ’s return encourages us in the present.

38 Now the [NU My just one] just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition [or destruction], but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

There is nothing more valuable than Jesus Christ.  Be captivated by Christ!  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith.  Don’t allow your present problems, struggles, and difficulties to pull you away from Jesus.  Don’t draw back to perdition, but go on believing “to the saving of your soul.”

What a powerful ending to chapter 10! “But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul (verse 39).”  Keep your eyes on the promise He grants you in Christ, your glorious eternal inheritance, “a better and enduring possession.”  Think forward!

Have you heard about the Flying Wallendas?  Do you know them?  The Flying Wallendas or the Great Wallendas?  They are a famous tight-rope walking family, circus and daredevil stunt performers of the high wire since the 1940s.  They are known for not using a safety net and several of the Wallenda family are still performing today.

I was reading this past week in my study; Kent Hughes writes about the tragic death of their leader, Karl Wallenda, who died in 1978, again tragically as he fell 75 feet to his death in an attempted high-wire walk in downtown San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Not long after his death, Wallenda’s wife was interviewed and she talked about the events leading up to that day:

She recalled: “All Karl thought about for three straight months prior to it was falling.  It was the first time he’d ever thought about that, and it seemed to me that he put all his energies into not falling rather than walking the tightrope.”  Mrs. Wallenda added that her husband even went so far as to personally supervise the installation of the tightrope, making certain the guy-wires were secure, “something he had never even thought of doing before.”—(R. Kent Hughes, Hebrews, Vol.2, An Anchor for the Soul, p. 54).

Focusing on the challenge of the difficulties, he lost his confidence.  The writer of Hebrews says, “Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward (verse 35).”  Don’t be overwhelmed by all the problems and challenges which you face.    Don’t allow the struggles and difficulties of this present world concern you, and engulf you, and pull you down.  Stay focused on what lies ahead.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  Be captivated by Christ.  Think forward.

  • Let’s pray.

In a moment I’m going to ask you to stand and respond through song.  Some of you need to repent of the sin of clutching onto material things, money, stuff, failure to give or tithe, failing to see that God is the true owner of your stuff.  Others of you need to repent of looking at your problems instead of looking at Jesus, repent of your failing to stand for Him while facing persecution.  Turn to Jesus this morning for forgiveness.

Some of you need to trust Christ as your Lord and Savior while there’s time.  When we sing you can come forward for prayer.  You may need to be saved, or you need to be baptized or join the church.  I’ll be up front here to receive you and I will pray with you after the service in the Response Room and give you some materials to take home with you.  As God moves this morning, you respond as you need to respond.

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