Bible Study - February 3, 2021

Okay, so last week we didn't meet, but two weeks ago we got through most of chapter 10 as we've been progressing through the book of Hebrews. And since we've been apart for a couple weeks here, thought I might just refresh us again what the book of Hebrews is as we come to the end of it, or coming closer to the end of it. During the book of Hebrews we have been refreshed, we've had our minds refreshed about many things.

We've come to understand Jesus Christ as just, again, reminding us how important his sacrifice was and how it really literally means everything to us. And maybe as we've gone through this it's even opened our eyes to just the magnitude of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made. It's enough that he was willing to come to earth and to die, that our sins could be forgiven. But with his death and with his resurrection we have access to the God of the universe to be able to rewrite in God's throne room when we pray to him to know that he is our mediator and that he has gone through everything, that he set the example for us as our forerunner, as we've talked about, to know that he is our captain and that he is in Scott the Father, so very interested in us being in his kingdom, that if we will just yield to him and just give ourselves to him and follow and surrender him, that he would give us eternal life.

All the while we remember that, you know, everything, the opportunity we have to live in New Testament times and to see the whole panorama of human history from Adam and Eve all the way up until now and even as we look into the future, you know, as we can begin to see what the world has been prophesied to look like, that we're beginning to see come about in our lives now what it will be like before the return of Jesus Christ, that we live in a magnificent time, that we can honor God and we should praise him even more for his plan for mankind, for his attention for mankind, and for giving us the knowledge that he has.

You know, we've looked in Hebrews, we see that Jesus Christ is better than flesh and blood, his ministry is better than the earthly ministry, our eternal High Priest is better than the earthly High Priest, the New Covenant, we're told, is better than the Old Covenant. We're gonna see the word better again as we go through chapters 10 and 11 and into 12 this evening. But as we progress through Hebrews, what God wants us to do is have a deep appreciation for Jesus Christ and his entire way of life that he has called us to and reminded us to, and have us be committed and energized to follow him, especially, you know, as we live here now in the end time.

So as we've gone through the book of Hebrews, you know, when we came to chapter 10 and verses 22 and 23 last week, we talked about how that was, you know, ending the doctrinal phase of what God would have us understand in this book and refresh our memories on. And then as we hit verses 24 and chapter 10 and on through the rest of the book, God teaches us how to apply this into our lives because it's great to know things, but we have to apply it into our lives.

We have to become what God draws the picture of who he wants his people to be. So let's go to chapter 10 and verse... we'll just look at the first... the last three verses we talked about last week, verses 23, 24, and 25 as we get into a related but sometimes difficult for people to read subject as we get into verse 26. You know, we've been reminding all these things, and the author here of Hebrews tells us in verse 23, look what we've learned, look what we reminded ourselves, look what's been stirred up in us. Let's hold fast.

Let's hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Let's not doubt.

Let's have the faith in God that we should have. Let's believe. We have every reason to believe. He's done everything he said along the way, and he's given us all the proof of everything that we need to know to believe him and to march with him into the future. Let's hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let's consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. You know, as we read through Hebrews, I hope it's stirred us up to love and to good work. Stir it up our, you know, commitment to God. And as we head toward Passover here in less than two months now, that we find ourselves really energized to recommit, to examine our lives, and to look at our calling and look at our lives, and pattern them more after Jesus Christ and commit to God, and asking him to mold us and develop us into who he wants us to become. But as we do that, and as God does it, you know, he has put us in bodies, you know, Jacksonville, Orlando, wherever your local church is, there is a reason God put us in his body and that he works through his church, because we are here to help each other be stirred up and to generate the good works as well. So let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. That's part of our responsibility. We have a responsibility to God to live his way of life, but we have a responsibility to each other. Now we have, you know, we have to be accountable people, and when God puts us in a body, he expects us to be there so that we can grow in the way that he wants us to grow. And that's in a place that he puts us and expects us to be there, expects us to be there. And the things that we learn as we follow him, and as we work with each other, and become one body, one in mind and spirit, as God would have us be, and as Jesus Christ tells us to be. Verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. You know, that we, it's an important thing to God, as is the manner of some, but exhorting. That word exhorting, it does have some energy behind it. You know, not just a pat on the back, but exhorting one another, encouraging one another. Stick with it. Don't neglect.

Don't drift away. You know, if we see someone drifting away, exhorting them, come back. Don't let go of the most precious thing that you've ever, could ever possibly be given in life. But exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching. And so we're certainly in that time where we can see the day approaching, only God knows when that day will be. But certainly it should motivate us to draw closer to God, draw closer to each other as we follow Him. And then as we get into verse 26, you know, we find ourselves being reminded again that this calling that we have, you know, and as we have, you know, as God calls and as we repent and as we're baptized, you know, the world would have us believe that once we commit to God and are baptized, that we are sealed, we're saved, and that we have salvation and eternal life, you know, just as a result of that. And the Bible doesn't say that anywhere, as we know. It is a precious calling that we have, and God's Holy Spirit is the most precious thing that we have in our lives. It is the tool that will lead us to eternal life as we yield to Him and follow the, you know, the example and the stirring of His Holy Spirit in us. But in verse 26, it tells us that we can lose it. If we don't heed the warnings that we've seen in Hebrews about not drifting away, about not guarding ourselves against the heart of unbelief, about not taking things gradually or casually, but putting our heart, mind, and soul into the calling that God gives us. If we allow those things to happen, you know, we will drift away and leave and lose what God has given us. So here in verse 26, you know, we're reminded of that. Back in chapter 6, we saw some of the same type words, but this in chapter 10 is a little, it gives us a little bit more of a word picture of just how important Jesus Christ is to God and how important it is to Him that we follow once we commit to Him. Verse 26, it says, if we sin willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains to sacrifice for sins. When we talked about that the last time we were together, Christ died once for our sins.

And we have the opportunity, as God opens our mind, to claim that sacrifice, of His paying the penalty for our sins. But we have one opportunity to do that.

We can't go back and forth. We can't be, you know, walking with God at one time in the church, then go back into the world, you know, forgetting God and then coming back again. There's not a multiple sacrifices that Jesus Christ made for us.

There's one. And if we sin willfully, and it doesn't mean the one time we sin, we've all been in a situation where we've been weak and we've yielded to self and we could look back and say, man, I did I willfully sin to God and realized how weak we were. We repent and He forgives us. He knows that we're frail and that, but we pick ourselves up and we determine we're not going to do that again. And it takes a lifetime to overcome the sin and the sinful nature that we have. But this is something that we, that we, it begins and then after a while we just give up. We just give up and we just turn back to the world. We go back to the things that God called us out of. You know, Peter so, so, so well describes it when he says, when he talks about the dog returning to his vomit. When we realize that we do those things, that really what it is. How could we ever return to what God called us out of? It means that we have, we have forsaken Him and we have turned back and He does take His Holy Spirit away from us at that time, the salvation that, that He's offered. There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. You know, we want to be conscious of that. We want, you know, this is where we help each other too. And, and, you know, we can talk about attendance at, at church services. We can talk about staying in contact with each other, but we are each other's helper. We are our, we are our brother's keeper.

And we should keep in contact with each other. And if we see someone or miss someone for two or three weeks, then, you know, it's good to pick up the phone.

It doesn't, you don't have to wait for the pastor to do it. Pick up the phone and see where they are. Sometimes people, it just bolsters them just getting a phone call or an email from someone to say, how are you? What are you, how are you doing?

We've missed seeing you and things like that. And it can spur them to come back because we all can find ourselves drifting and with the cares and concerns of life and what we go through. But we're here to help each other stay on that path and help each other along the way.

Well, if we, if we, if we go back, if we go back to our old ways, or if we forsake God, if we stop following Him and stop doing the things that He wants us to do, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins that tells us in verse 26. In verse 27, He describes it.

He goes, but what does remain for us is a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. You know, we've all, we all know what the lake of fire is. We know at the end of, you know, the white throne judgment when people are resurrected and some will be given eternal life and some will be thrown into the lake of fire. That's what, that's what God is talking about here. There's this fiery indignation. If we turn back from God, we don't have eternal life and we can lose it and have it replaced instead with eternal death. But knowing that God is powerful, He holds the power of life and death, and He's offered us, as it says in Deuteronomy 30 verse 9, He's offered us life. And He says, choose life.

Seems like such a, such an easy choice. But when we choose life, it means we follow Him with all our heart, mind, and soul, and we deny self and we give up the things that, you know, that we might want to do if they are, if they're contrary to what God wants us to do.

At verse 28, it draws us back to the old, old covenant. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. And as we look back at the accounts in the Old Testament, and we can see, you know, people like the man in Exodus 16 who was out picking up sticks on the Sabbath. In his mind, he might have thought, that's not that big a deal.

I'm walking through the woods, pick up this stick for a fire and whatever. But he was acting contrary to God's will. God said, don't do on the seventh day what you can do the other six days of the week.

Prepare on the sixth day and keep the everyday activities out of the time that I've reserved for you to be with me. And that man died. He died, you know, and that's what it's talking about here.

Anyone who's rejected Moses' law dies without mercy. You know, he didn't have this fancy trial.

He didn't bring witnesses to say, well, what a good guy he is. He just messed up this one time. And, you know, and on and on and on what we do today, it was he, you know, it was that he transgressed the commandment and the determination is, you die. You die. That's how important it is to God that we follow him implicitly and explicitly and that we're careful about what we do. We don't make a little allowances for ourselves and think for God because he makes it very clear, he makes it very clear what his law and his what his way is. In the Old Testament, they pay for it with their lives if they transgress the law and two or three, you know, would provide the witness for that. That's a serious thing. Verse 29, he draws the comparison of how much worse punishment do you suppose? Will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot?

Now, none of us, none of us could ever see ourselves just taking Jesus Christ so casually or just trampling all over him. I mean, none of us would do that consciously. But looking at it through God's eyes and looking at it through the eyes of his word in Hebrews, when we don't follow him, when we willingly transgress his law, when we willingly and make the choice to not trust, not rely, not follow, to do things our own way and think that it's good enough God knows our heart and we're pleasing him, even though it's a little different than what his commands say, he looks at it as if we're trampling on Jesus Christ and on his example. And we've seen through the book of Hebrews how and really the entire Bible, how all of creation and all the heavenly hosts give Jesus Christ glory and honor. You know, this book is a tribute to Jesus Christ.

It's opened our eyes to just how much he's done for us. As we read through Revelation, you see the heavenly hosts praising his name as the day grows closer. He is the one who has, you know, sacrificed himself that God's plan would be advanced, that mankind could achieve the purpose for which God created him. You know, that the plan of God can go on beyond this physical earth and beyond the white throne judgment into eternity and that God's will would be done. An extraordinarily important thing, and God said to Jesus Christ, I give you all authority in heaven and earth.

So for us as human beings who he has offered everything, you know, to count his sacrifice so common, as it says here later in verse 29, that we would just do whatever we want to do.

Kind of, well, I read those words, but God is okay if I do it this way. Even though the meaning in the Bible is clear, even though we've heard it, even though our wives may be telling us things, our husbands may be telling us things, our friends may be telling us things, we may hear it in sermons, hear it in Bible studies, do our own reading. If we consistently don't follow, God looks at it as we're trampling his son underfoot. How much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, a common thing? How important is our calling to us? How important is the forgiveness of our sins and the reconciliation to God that Jesus Christ made possible? How important is that to us? Do we see that as holy? Do we guard that part of our life?

Or do we just make it common? You know, the world around us, they, I mean, they make God's name so common, it's embarrassing. Everywhere you go, you listen to TV, you can be walking down the street in with other people, and what do they do to God's name? It's on everyone's list. It's probably the most common form of expression. Oh, I'm surprised. I'll take God's name in vain. Oh, I'm upset. I'll take God's name in vain. And so they've made God's name a common thing contrary to the commandment of God, that don't take his name in vain. Don't make his name common. Reference it.

Think about what you're talking about, yet the world around us is to ingest the opposite.

You know, we might as God's people, we need to be very cognizant of that, and I'm sure we are.

We also have to be cognizant of using those euphemisms that are the same as taking God's name in vain. When we say things like golly and gosh and gee, that is trampling on God's name.

The world has thought, oh, I'll just take this name and I'll just do this instead and replace it for God and think they're doing okay. No, it's the same meaning. It's the same thing to God.

It's making his name and something that he's sanctified by which he has set us apart. He's made this a common thing. We don't make the things of God common. They're holy and they're special to us, and we hold them in high reverence as we fear him. A couple weeks ago when we were talking in Daniel 5 about Belshazzar and the fall of Babylon, remember that what he did was he went into the storerooms of Nebuchadnezzar and took those wine glasses out, those glasses of gold, that Nebuchadnezzar never used. They were fashioned in accordance with God's orders, fashioned with his materials. Nebuchadnezzar just kept them there as he took them from the temple, but Belshazzar made them a common thing. No longer a respect for God, and we saw what happened to him. You know, the kingdom of Babylon fell, and he died. He died that night. We don't want to be common. We don't want to be guilty ever of, in our minds, allowing anything of God to be common, but always keeping it holy. The Sabbath holy, his name holy, the things of God holy. God says, if you do this, how much worse punishment than these people in the Old Covenant?

And how much worse punishment if, as God sees it in his eyes, that we have insulted the Spirit of Grace? Can you imagine yourself insulting Jesus Christ if you were face to face with him and just throwing it out and insult with him? None of us would do that, yet by the choices we make and the way we behave ourselves, sometimes God looks at that and says, you know what, you've insulted the Spirit of Grace by the way you live your life and the calling that you say you are, you've taken my name, but are you living it the way that you should be? Understanding that none of us are perfect, but we're all supposed to be growing toward that perfection or that blamelessness and that spiritual maturity that God wants us to have. So, you know, here in verses 26 through 29, God is painting the picture. You know, he's given us all this inspiration and all this all this this hope has been renewed and our our faith has been renewed and we're excited about everything we've learned in this, but he says don't let it go. Now you got to live. Now you've got to live it. You can't just know it. Turn the excitement and turn the knowledge into action.

Verse 30 then, he says, for we know him. We know him who said vengeance is mine.

You know, if God begins to see us as adversaries, you know, because of what we do, because we turn from him and we make the same choice that Adam and Eve made when they rejected God in the Garden of Eden, he says, vengeance is mine. I'll take out my vengeance on you. You've become my adversaries.

Like Satan is an adversary, you chose him by your actions. You chose to follow him rather than me.

That's quite a thing for us to do and quite a thing for us to be aware of when we make decisions to remember. You know, later on we're going to see this this word recall.

And that's one thing is we're doing things. Recall, remember what God has given us. The book of Hebrews reminds us of that so that we continue to follow him. And even though it's really tough sometimes to call on God and his Holy Spirit to give us the strength to say no to self and yes to what he would have us do. For we know him who said, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. And again, God will judge his people. It's not for you and me to judge.

God judges. You know, we can fool each other, I often say, and I know sometimes when I'm counseling for baptism, I'll tell people, you know, you can fool me. People can fool me all day long.

Can't fool God, though. When we're saying we repent and when we're saying we're ready to be baptized, you know, let's, let's, and what we're, when we're walking our way through life, let's be sure we're doing things God's way and not thinking we're just fooling people by the things we say or whatever excuses that we make. Because it's God who's our ultimate judge, not any human.

Verse 31, he tells us, it's a fearful thing, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. You know, the New Testament or back in Matthew, it'll talk about weeping and gnashing of teeth for the people who realize they've forgotten God along the way and it'll allow themselves to drift, take things casually, you know, neglect the life that God has given us.

It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. You know, we haven't, we haven't seen it, but when you read through the book of Revelation and when the world is living through that, they will see just how powerful, just how powerful God is. There's the word recall.

I was just talking about verse 32. Recall, you know, where we're coming close to the days of unleavened bread. Remember, you know, remember is one of those days of unleavened bread words that we talk about. When God says, remember, I brought you out of Egypt. Remember what I did at Passover.

Remember how I saved you. We would say the same thing in the New Testament. Let's remember what God has done for us. The book of Hebrews has been reminding of that, but he also says, recall the former days in which after you were illuminated, once God opened your minds and once the light shined, you know, shown in your mind and you understood God's truth. Recall the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings.

You know, as we, I think if we look back to the time after we were baptized, most of us, if not all of us, would see that we did have a struggle. Something came our way that, you know, made us maybe think things were just different. And as we began to walk with God, maybe there were trials that came our way. Maybe our co-workers looked at us differently. You know, maybe as we had to say, no, we're not doing that anymore on Friday nights, or no, we're not doing that on Saturday, or no, we're not going to that party, or this party, or no, we're not going to run with you the way we used to run with you. You know, some things that happened in us, there can be a number of things.

Some people lost their job as they came into the church. When they said they would no longer work on the Sabbath, they lost jobs. Some people lost spouses. Their families fell apart because spouse wasn't willing to live the way that they wanted to live anymore. And there was a great struggle with sufferings, whatever that suffering might be. And I often remind people who are being baptized that after you are, don't forget that Satan will do whatever he can to interrupt your life. He'll do whatever he can to throw you off, because he is going to always attack the younger to see if he can kill them when they're very young. And so we can remember back to those things and think, yeah, it was tough there. And maybe we have our scriptures that we go back to.

Romans 6, 7, and 8 is always an inspiring one to see how Paul struggled. And if Paul struggled, we struggle, but we come to remember it's God who gives us his strength. It's not us. This is the life we were called to. Jesus Christ struggled throughout his life. He was tested, he was tried, he was mocked, he was hurt physically in ways we can't even imagine. And yet he survived, and he walked right through it all. Now we have to be committed to the same thing and realize God didn't promise us a garden of roses. He makes promises that when we endure to the end, what life will be like. But through this life, it's going to be difficult. We are going to have to learn to say no to self and say no to some friends and endure some things that aren't so pleasant along the way. So the author here tells us, recall those former days. Think about those things, about what you did. You were committed at that time. You wanted, you were grasping onto God's promises, you were grasping onto his law, you were getting, staying close to him, and you were willing to go through those struggles. Verse 33, partly while you were made a spectacle, both by reproaches and tribulations, sometimes we can feel in the spotlight. Sometimes people would make a spectacle of us and try to embarrass us by what we wouldn't do.

Christmas time always comes to mind because that was always a trying time. You're not going to go to the Christmas party. You're not going to do this. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. There's nothing wrong with it. Nothing's wrong with it. You don't believe in Jesus Christ and you find yourself year after year explaining, yes I do, yes I do. You do feel in the spotlight, but you stand your ground. Those are very mild things compared to what Jesus Christ went through, both by reproaches, tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated.

We left our world behind us. Sometimes we had friends in the world, and once we came to the church and we were baptized and God's Spirit was in us, it was like we no longer want to do the things we used to do. Those friends could sense that. 1 Peter 4, verse 4 tells us, our former friends might say, what's wrong with him? He doesn't run with us anymore. He doesn't do those things anymore. But then we do find ourselves developing friendships in the church. We want to be with people of like mind. These are the people we want to be with because that Spirit of God binds us together and separates us from the world. So we went through all those things, and sometimes we have to remember what we went through to become part of this body that God has placed us into and that we meant something to us. We don't want to let go of it. We don't want to slide back to the world. We want to keep getting closer and closer to God and to each other.

And the author here in verse 34, he says, you know, look, you had compassion on me and my chains.

You know, being in prison can have its negative connotations. And, you know, people would say, well, if he's in prison, you know, he's an enemy of the state. He's done this. He's done that.

But Paul said, look, you even had, if Paul is the author, whoever is the author here, he obviously was in in prison at some times, you had compassion on me. You didn't look down on me.

You didn't say, well, he must be there must be something wrong with him to be in prison.

You had compassion on me in my chains. And you joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods.

If you had to give off some things along the way, if you had to take a lower paying job, if you had to, you know, move to a smaller house because you can no longer afford the one you did before. You were okay. You were okay with that. You were doing it for God because your life and the life that you forged that God was giving you in concert with him was okay. You know, maybe maybe some of you have some experiences, you know, that you you can share and that we can share with people who are coming into church to let them know that's okay, you know, but they do that as well.

Just stay loyal to God. Knowing, you know, you were willing to do all this stuff, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. You did it because you looked ahead. You realized whatever the world this world has to offer, it has absolutely no comparison to what God is offering. If you can't compare anything in this physical world to eternal life, the wonders that God has prepared for those that love him, as it says in 1 Corinthians 2.9, you keep your eyes focused on that and no amount of pain, no amount of embarrassment, no amount of being a spectacle, no amount of losing money or having to take a lower job or whatever it might be that comes in our way. None of it, none of it is worth trading that off to become part of the world. Now, he says, use that tool of recall. Now, the Holy Spirit, it brings us to remembrance, right? One of the things that the Holy Spirit does is it leads us into truth, it leads us into understanding. It brings to remembrance those things. We can call back and as we look at our lives, we can find ourselves energized by that. And sometimes just talking with each other about what happened at the times that we came into the church, the things that we did, that can be energizing as we speak with each other and we see how God worked with all of us. Never discount going back and remembering. God tells us to do that and to rekindle that first love that we had that it talks about in Revelation 2 as well to the church in Ephesus. Don't lose that first love.

Sometimes going back and looking at what we did, we remember why and we remember the emotion and the commitment that we had at that time. Sometimes as marriage is struggle, we do the same thing, right? Go back and think about what it was that attracted you to each other. Think about what marriage was like those early days. Sometimes a life has a way of just piling garbage on us and over and over and over. We don't know how to, you know, maybe as much as we try to shovel it off, it just keeps adding on. We got to go back and remember and get rid of the garbage and get back to the love and get back to the commitment, you know, with God and with each other as well sometimes.

So he says as he's talking about all these things, you know, look at the fruits of what you have done.

Look at who you are in verse 35. He goes just, you know, looking at all these things, there's that word, therefore, don't cast away your confidence. You had confidence in God. You were willing to give up all these things along the way. Don't now, later on as you've been following God and maybe getting feeling a little weary, don't cast it away. Don't throw it away. Don't give it up because of this or whatever other roadblock might come up our way. Instead, cast those roadblocks away and keep marching forward. Therefore, don't cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

Now we know what that reward is. Verse 36, he tells us something, and it's a key verse, you know, for Christians who have been around for a while and looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ, for you have need of endurance. You have need of endurance, Christians. You know, we've learned that we have to have an appreciation, the right and reverent appreciation for Jesus Christ, for our calling, for the law of God, for committing and continuing to obey the law, because we learned that there was never anything wrong with the law. The problem is always with the people, and so we have to be aware of that and continue to be with. But he says you need faith, you need commitment, you need zeal, you need to remember, you need endurance. You know, these remember, Hebrews was written sometime in the early 60s AD, some 30 some years after Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, and as they've been there 20-30 years, you know, the author says you need, you need endurance.

We need endurance. Some of us have been around a lot longer than 30 years, and we had, you know, this word endurance is an important word to keep in mind. We've seen it in the Bible studies before. We saw it a few times in James. We've seen it in Revelation.

You know, it's the Greek word kupamoni. I'm going to share a screen here with you.

Share a screen here with you to remind us of what that word is.

I gave you the Greek spelling right from, from, uh, strongs there. Said kupamoni is spelled a little bit different there. It's Greek number 5281.

Means we need a steadfastness, a constancy of endurance. So look at, look at A under, under number one there. In the New Testament, this kupamoni, endurance, is the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings. You know, no matter what, no matter what comes our way, we keep marching forward. We keep our eyes on the goal. We keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, our captain. We keep our eyes on the pr—on God and follow him and not allow pain or even the good times. As I often say, you know, the good times, sometimes it's harder to stay committed to God during the good times than it is when we're battling trials and, and, and pain and everything.

It's a per—this is the mark of a man who endures it all to the end.

Jesus Christ had kupamoni. Jesus Christ had endurance. He doesn't ask us to do anything that he hasn't done himself. That's why he's our mediator. That's why he's our forerunner.

All the things that we talked about a few weeks ago as we talked about Jesus Christ, he had that endurance and his—through his Holy Spirit, he will give us that as well. But we have to, we have to want it. We have to choose it. We have to be conscious of it and not allow ourselves to just be people that are cast to and fro about by whatever comes our way. But I've got—I will stay strong till the end. God help me that I stay strong till the end. You know, just as we—you know, just as a reminder, I've got some verses there. Let's go back and look at James since we studied the book of James. We—well, a couple. Well, we did James then Revelation, then Hebrews.

But let's look at James 1 again and remind ourselves about what we talked about back several months ago. James 1, the next book over. James 1, verse 2, he says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Always remembering that when God gives us these trials in our lives, it's not to punish us. He's not up in heaven thinking, Great, I'm just going to kind of see how they go through this. He does it to strengthen us. And there will be those times of strengthening in our lives. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces, here it's patience, but produces hypomony. It's the same Greek word here translated patience and Hebrews translated endurance.

God gives us those times and he gives us the opportunity to grow it a little by a little by a little. You know, through this COVID crisis, we've learned some things about ourselves. We've learned some things. This is a trial that somewhere down the road we'll look at and say, boy, that was really mild compared to what we had to go through. But God gave us the time to set our minds on him to not fall back, but to keep going forward and resolve that we will obey him, follow him, rely on him, trust him, have that endurance, have that coupomony developed in us that will see us through to the return of Jesus Christ. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

We can go, you know, he also mentions it again at the end of the epistle here in James 5 and verse 11.

5-11, it says, indeed we count them blessed who endure, those who have the hypomony, those who endure to the end. Jesus Christ said, you know, he who endures to the end will be saved, not he who makes the 75% of the way there but dropped out in the last inning of the game, but he who endures to the end. Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. Job endured, he had the coupomony to stay in through his trial. God showed him a great lesson about himself if we go forward to the book of Revelation. To a few of the churches in the book of Revelation, you know, Christ talks about hypomony. Of note to us would be the Philadelphia Church in Revelation 3. We, you know, we would all aspire to have the attitude of the Philadelphia Church, the commitment to God. Verse 10 of Revelation 3 says, because you've kept my command to persevere, because you've kept my command, not my suggestion, but my command to hypomony, I'll keep you from the hour of trial which will come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth, because you've done that.

The book of Hebrews, the author says, you have need of this. Hebrew Christians, he would say to us in the 21st century here as we look down the road and see the time of the end quickly approaching, you have need of endurance. Take the time now to be developing that over in Revelation 14.

Now verse 12, it's one of the marks of the saints, you know, those who will be as part of the first resurrection, the first fruits, Revelation 14 verse 12. Here's the patience, here's the hupomony of the saints, they're the ones who endure to the end. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And we could go, you know, we could go on and on. I've got some other, you know, number 5278 I have marked down there is the the verb form of hupomony.

Let's do go back to Hebrews because as he mentions the word endurance here at the end of chapter 10, it shows up again in chapter 12 on a number of occasions.

So let's go back to Hebrews 12 and read through some of the verses there. You know, we'll look at Hebrews, we'll go back and we'll go through Hebrews 11. But at the end of Hebrews 11, where we are reminded of all these men and women in the Old Testament who never received the promises but always kept looking for them afar and who died never having received those promises and the faith that they had, the faith that we must have, he also tells us that they had endurance. Chapter 12 verse 1, therefore, after we talked about all these people, we also, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, they're a part of the family of God that you and I, that he has made you and I a part of. They've already gone before. They completed their race. We also, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight. Don't let that weight on your shoulders. Jesus Christ said if your burdens cast it on him. Don't let it, don't let it weigh lay you. Don't let it be an obstacle to you. Let us lay aside every weight. Let's lay aside the sin which so easily ensnares us. Or I like the way the old King James says that the sin that does so easily beset us. Let's put that aside. Let's determine that with God's Spirit and his, the conscience he gives us, that we will work hard at overcoming that carnal nature that we all have.

And the things that we just find ourselves before we even know it, we're there. You know, whatever it is, whether it's language, whether it's anger, whether it's anything that we fall into, that sin that does so easily beset us, and before we know it, we're right there back in it again. And God says that's not us. We have to take the time and we have to make the commitment and be conscious of it that we will not go back to those things that do define us in so many cases.

Let's lay aside the weight. Let's lay aside that sin that does so easily beset us, and let's run with endurance. Let's run with hoopomony, the race that's set before us.

Just like all these men and women in the Old Testament that we'll talk about here in a few minutes, just like men and women in the New Testament that we read about that, you know, aren't listed in Hebrews 11, but we know who they are, just like Jesus Christ who ran his race with hoopomony, with hoopomony, looking unto Jesus, always keeping our eyes on our captain, looking unto him. The author, you know, back in Hebrews, made a cause for us, our captain, looking unto Jesus, keeping our eyes on him, our captain, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, he knew what it was like to be in heaven. He knew the peace, he knew the joy, he knew that that that what went on, and God's way produced so much more than the world ever could possibly offer, you know. He endured, there's 52-78 again, there's the the verb form of hoopomony.

He endured the cross. He despised the shame, and now he has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him. Now think about it sometimes. Look at everything he did. It's kind of mind-boggling to us. We'd sometimes take it for granted. Yes, Jesus Christ gave up being God. Yes, he emptied himself of being God. Yes, he lived as a human, but that was his mission in life. But he did it for us, and he was a human. He felt all those things. Consider him who hoopomonyed, who endured such hostility from sinners against himself. Lest you become weary and discouraged in your soul. You know, when we get tired, when we get discouraged, think about what Jesus Christ did.

Think about what he went through, and let that inspire us to keep going and ask God, help us keep going, help us to keep looking to you, and not allow these things of the world to interrupt our progress. Consider him who endured such hostility. Lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. It reminds us in verse 4, you haven't resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. Our job right now, in our calling, in our physical lives, you know, you and I haven't gone through any of the things that Jesus Christ did. No matter what our tribulations have been, they haven't been anything like Jesus Christ has been. And nothing like the Bible prophesies is going to happen between now and the return of Jesus Christ.

Saying those words might, you know, might scare us a little bit, but now is the time to be asking God to give us the courage, the strength, the mindset to follow him no matter what. No matter what. And to replace whatever fear with the agape that it tells us in 1 John 4, cast out fear.

That we would do it for him and we're committed to him, just like these people in Hebrews 11 that we'll talk about. You haven't yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin, and you've forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons. We'll come back to that a little bit.

You know, part of every training program, you get pats on the back, you have your lessons, you also get correction, and sometimes you get harsh correction, and sometimes it can be an embarrassing and a painful correction. But it's so necessary if you're going to become what you need to become that that training program has in mind for you that we are all part of. Verse 7, if you endure, there's cupomony again, the verb form of it, if you endure this chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father doesn't chasten? He does it out of love, not just because he's mad, not just because he's angry, but because he wants us to learn what we need to learn. So, you know, when the author here says in Hebrews 10 verse 36, you have need of endurance, you and I have need of endurance, and now's the time, you know, for us to be looking at that endurance and asking God to help us develop that. You know, as we go through the trials, we do and the twists and turns of life that we, you know, experience together, but sometimes experience individually. Keep in mind and ask God, help me to develop that endurance.

I need that endurance. We need that endurance if we're going to receive the promise, as it says in verse 36. You have need of endurance so that after you've done the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet a little while, he says in verse 37, and he who is coming will not will come and will not tarry. Yeah, just a little while in God's own time, he will come and will not tarry.

The just will live by faith. Endurance and faith go hand in hand. You know, we have to believe what God said. We have to believe he will see us through. We have to believe that Jesus Christ is there by our side through whatever comes our way. We have to believe in the kingdom of God and the promises that he's given us if we're going to endure these things. And times, as we'll read here, as he's preparing us and going to give us the examples of men and women from the Old Testament here, you know, they lived by faith. They didn't cave when the time came. The just will live by faith. But if anyone draws back, God says, my soul has no pleasure in him. I want him to keep marching forward. I want him to keep going toward the kingdom of God. I don't want his own sin. I don't want trials. I don't want tribulations. I don't want threats. I don't want mankind to cause you to draw back. I've given you time to be prepared and ready for those things, and that no matter what happens, you would keep your focus on God. Verse 39, I look at verse 39 as one of those commands and one of those encouraging and call-to-action statements of our captain. We, that's you and me, we are not of those who draw back to perdition. That was what God has called us to.

He's called us to go forward. He's called us to be in his kingdom. He wants us to be there. We are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Keep going is what he's saying. He didn't call you to go back to the world. He didn't call you to start and not finish. He called us and he says, I've started it with you and I'll finish it with you, but you've got to stick with me and you've got to give me your life increasingly as you go through time. That's, you know, a bad memory verse and to remind ourselves, we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but we are those who believe. Remember that Greek word believe in his is apostolio. It means that it changes the core of who we are. It's such a deep belief that we we change the way we act, think, react, and live our lives because we so believe and have such faith in God and Jesus Christ. And then we, you know, then we come to chapter 11.

You know, I know in Jacksonville last week, I said we, you know, maybe we wouldn't read through chapter 11 since many people know that, but I know as I thought about it, I thought, you know, we would do the book of Hebrews and the study of the book of Hebrews and disservice if we didn't go through Hebrews 11. It's one of those chapters in the Bible that should encourage us. You know, there's a lot of chapters in the Bible that we might go through based on times that we're at that can encourage us and bolster us and encourage us to go on. Hebrews 11 would be one of those when we see the examples of what people lived like back then and how they gave their life to God, and now they're resting, now they're sleeping, waiting for the return of Jesus Christ. You know, we might go back to the creation chapter and see what God has done when he prepared this world, this earth for you and I to live in. We can go to Revelation 21 and 22 to remind ourselves of how wonderful it will be when Jesus Christ is on earth and the earth that'll be there at that time.

You might look at 1 Corinthians 15, Psalm 23, chapters that just kind of rivet us and that kind of can bolster us, and Hebrews 11 is one of those. So, you know, in keeping with what it says Romans 10 and verse 17, faith with this chapter is about, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. You know, let's read. Let's read and hear God's word here together tonight. We'll go, we'll get through chapter 11, but now just point out a few things, but as we go through this, think about what the men and women here were like. They did live by faith. They did endure to the end.

They did what God is asking us to do. They've completed it. They did, and we can do it too, if we're committed to God and we use the tools that he gives us to follow him.

Chapter 11 and verse 1, the definition, faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for.

You know, we don't see it, but it's the things that God has told us he's going to do. We believe him, and we march forward with it. We have that faith of things that we hope for but haven't seen.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders obtained a good testimony. How they lived their lives, how I looked at it, and he said, The just shall live by faith. By by faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

God created things out of nothing. By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. Now we can go right back to the first two children on earth. And Abel, when he brought his offering before God, he did it out of a righteous heart. He believed God, and he wanted to bring God that offering to please God.

Cain, on the other hand, he was told he needed to bring an offering, and he did it grudgingly.

Okay, God wants an offering. I'll put together an offering for him. I'll check the box, but my heart's not really in it. I'll do it, but I'm not doing it in spirit. I'll do it. But Abel did it with a whole heart. When God looks on the heart, when God looks at what we do, by faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he, Abel, obtained witness that he was righteous. Remember, God even said about Abraham, you know, through his faith. God, you know, that he looked at him, and that produced his righteousness. Through which he obtained witness that he was righteousness, God testifying of his gifts. And through it, he, Abel, being dead still speaks. He had the right attitude. That's what God is looking for in us. We do it because we love God, and it affects our heart, mind, and soul. Not just, I do it, I did it, and that's enough. And then we go on with our lives the way they had before. By faith, Enoch was, Enoch, we talked about Enoch not too long ago, by faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death.

And we remember as we read in Jude, you know, Enoch was talking the same gospel that we preached today. Jesus Christ is going to return with 10 millions of his saints. He was preaching that before the flood. And we know the whole world back at that time was against God. They didn't want to hear that message. They wanted to quell that message. They didn't want to hear anything about God. You know, who knows it may be that God took Enoch away at a point where they were about to kill him. Who knows? We'll find out when when Christ returns. By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he didn't see death. And he wasn't found because God took him. For before he was taken, he had this testimony. He pleased God. We need to please God by what we do and how we do it and how our heart is in it. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. For he who comes to him must believe there's that Greek word, pistoio, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. By faith, Noah. Noah, remember, of all the people on earth, Noah was the only one who was living God's way. And God asked him to, commanded him to build an ark in the middle of nowhere. Think about what a spectacle he was as we harken back to the end of chapter 10. He was made a spectacle as he was doing God's will and following his command. And the whole world was probably jeering at him and laughing at him about what he was doing. By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world. Well, he didn't, I mean, he condemned the world as an I choose God. I will not follow the world. I will not go back to the world. I disavow the world. The world is not the way to salvation and the things of God. The world is wrong. I will not follow them. I will follow God no matter what the cost by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith. By faith, Abraham.

Obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.

And he went out not knowing where he was going. He didn't try to bargain with God. God said go.

He went. By faith, he dwelt in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

Never had a home like you and I have. He faced some trials along the way. God blessed him, but he never had a home like you and I go home to every night. And he went out not knowing where he was going. Verse 10, for he waited. He waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Now, the last time we talked about waiting, waiting for God and how, you know, people, the things that we learned from waiting. We talked about David and how he was anointed king, but it wasn't until several years later that he became king. He never gave up. He never ran away from God. He never said, well, I give up. Apparently, God has changed his mind. I'm not sick of waiting for, say, sick of waiting for what God said would happen. He endured it all. He endured and he waited. Abraham waited his entire life for what God had told him. He told him he would have descendants. He didn't see it in his lifetime, but he never lost faith in it. He waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God, the same city that you and I wait for. By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age because she judged him faithful who he promised.

You know, we read things about Sarah, and, you know, she made some mistakes along the way, but if she didn't believe, if she didn't believe that God could give her a child in her old age, probably God would not have given her that child. She believed, despite her age, and despite some of the things that she might have thought earlier, she knew that God would.

Remember that when Jesus Christ, he said, because of their unbelief, I couldn't work some of the works that I wanted to work in that city. They didn't believe. Now, he could have worked those works, but he didn't. Sarah believed, it says. She was 90 years old, well past childbearing, but she believed, and God did allow her to conceive, and Isaac was born.

Therefore, from one man, verse 12, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky and multitude, innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. And all these that we talked about so far, and all these in this chapter, they all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. What we say about these people in this chapter, we have to have that written as our mantra for you and I today.

Some of us will die before Jesus Christ returns. Will we die in faith? Continue with not having, in this physical life, having received the promises or seen Jesus Christ returning, but will we die in faith, enduring to the end? But having seen them afar off, believed in them, had faith in God, counted him worthy that he's doing, he's willing, he's capable of doing everything, allowing him to build in us the endurance and the character, everything that we've talked about that we need to have in God. Do we embrace his promises? Do we confess that we're strangers and pilgrims on the earth, that we've come out of the world and that we embrace the things of God and look to him as our king, our lord, our master, our savior?

For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.

Are we, through our lives and our choices, do we say plainly, we're seeking that homeland, the same one that Abraham and Sarah and the people, Abel and the people we've talked about so far, declared by their lives and their choices that they declare? Truly, in verse 15, if they'd call to mind that country from which they'd come out, they would have had opportunity to return, just like you and I do. If Abraham decided somewhere along the line, I'm tired of it.

You know, I'm tired of it. I'm just going to go back to the land of Ur. I'm going to go back to my old life. God would have allowed him to do it. He was a free moral agent like you and me.

If Noah had said, you know, forget it. I'm just going to go back to the world.

Forget all this, you know, I'm not going to build this ark. I'm not going to do it the way God said.

I'm going to... the world is a kind of a good place. I can look past some of the errors in it, and they got some kind of good things there. If he would have been able to do that, they would have had an opportunity to return, just like you and I can have an opportunity to return. If we decide, give it all up. I'll trust in the world. I'm going to say I still have my faith in them, that everything is going to be the way it is, and no matter what happens, the United States will survive. They have all these great things that the world should just be thankful that it is.

Who wants to rely on God when we have the things of the world?

You know, if we want to go back to the world, God will let us, just like these people would, but they didn't. Those who say, or truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had an opportunity to return, but now they desire a better. That is a heavenly country. Same thing you and I should be desiring. Same thing in our life as we look around who we are and what we're doing and the choices we're making and what we're telling God through those choices and the way we live our lives and what we do and what we don't do and what sacrifices we're willing to make in our ideas and our lifestyles and what we do and where we go and how we do it.

Therefore, God is an ashamed to be called their God. He's prepared a city for them.

Now, we're part of that city as well. We're part of this group of people that God has worked with and is working with us today, but these people that he's worked with, they're sleeping, waiting for the return of the promises that God made them. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, he offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, in Isaac your seed shall be called. You know, in verse 19, shows us just what thought processes Abraham might have gone through. God made me this promise. At a hundred years old, and Sarah at 90 years old, he gave us Isaac. He said that through Isaac, I'm going to have this multitude of descendants, and now he wants me to kill this child.

But he didn't ask. He didn't say, what are you doing? He believed God. That if God, you know, if God wanted him to kill him, I'm going to do what God said. And God's able to raise him up.

Verse 19, concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

You know, God, if God says, do it, do it! Don't apply human reasoning. He's capable of doing everything, anything. Just learn to follow him. By faith, Isaac, blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come, and by faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leading on the top of his staff. Now we can look at Genesis 48 and 49, and we read it, and we see the prophecies of Jacob and what he said concerning the sons, his sons. What would befall them in the last days? They never saw that happen. We see it happen. We have the benefit of seeing all that history and seeing that here in the last days, those blessings that Jacob gave to Israel and his sons coming about exactly is what God said. God is faithful to do it in his time.

By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones. There was Joseph, a hero in Egypt, second in command in Egypt, had a good life. You know, he was there in Pharaoh's court. He had a good life. And yet, even when he was dying, he said, you know, I know there's a promised land. God is going there. Take my bones, take my bones and get me out of Egypt and take me to where God would leave. He never forgot God's promises. He didn't allow the cares and the blessings and the riches of Egypt to cloud his judgment and to cloud his commitment to God. Neither should we. Verse 23, same thing with Moses.

By faith, Moses, when he was born, he was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they weren't afraid of the king's command. God is the one who led them.

Don't let this baby die. And in the face of their own death, if they were found out, we will keep this baby alive and look at what God did and how he worked, you know, to have Moses reared in the court of Pharaoh. By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had a good life. Riches living in the greatest, living in the household of the greatest country on earth at that time. But when he learned who he was, he wasn't content to do that. All those riches in the world meant nothing compared to being who God wanted him to be and being identified in the heart of the body that God had made him be, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. You know, we can look at some of these.

Some came from tough lives, others came from very, very wealthy lives, if you will. But they were willing to give it all up to follow God and to be with God's people and come out of the world.

I'm going to leave that behind. Verse 26 is steaming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he looked to the reward. He kept looking forward. I'd rather be reprimanded by Christ than to have all the things that the world has to offer. Quite a statement there, because when Jesus Christ works with us, he's got a future that we can't even imagine in mind. The world has a very temporary future. And that's it. By faith Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. For he endured, as all these people did and as we must, for he endured seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. They might have said when God said, kill that lamb, take the blood of the lamb, smear it on your doorposts, like what is that going to do? They might have said, what? You want us to do that? They didn't do that. They just believed God.

You said, you said to do it. You said you'd protect us from it. We're going to do it.

And they did it by faith. They hadn't seen the example before. It's the first time God had asked them to do that. By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. They saw the power of God. They marched right through those, those, if it wasn't God holding the walls of water up, they would have all perished just like the Egyptians did. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.

Two would think you could conquer what's the most, the best fortified city in the promised land just by marching around seven times, blowing the trumpets and shouting. Yet they believed it.

They believed God and they did it. Do we believe God, or do we make our own things and say, really?

Is God going to do that? By faith the harlot Rahab. She wasn't even an Israelite. By faith the harlot Rahab, seeing the power of God, she didn't perish with those who didn't believe when she had received the spies with peace. What more shall I say? Time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, who through faith worked righteousness, who through faith obtained promises, who through faith stopped the mouths of lions, who through faith quenched the violence of fire, who through faith escaped the edge of the sword, out of the weakness were made strong, out of faith became valiant in battle and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Look at all those things that we've seen God do that would be impossible to do, you know, by man. They saw God and they saw him come to their aid time after time after time after time. They believed him and they did it and he came through.

Women, verse 35, received their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Again, we have the word better here in the book of Hebrews. Jesus Christ is better than flesh and blood. Jesus Christ is better than the earthly ministry. Jesus Christ is better than the earthly physical high priest. The new covenant is better than the old covenant. The first resurrection it tells us in Revelation 20 as well is a better resurrection than the second resurrection.

And you and I were given the opportunity to be in that better resurrection. All these men and women and more besides that we read about in Hebrews 11, it should be an encouraging chapter to us, an inspirational chapter, as we look at it and say they did it. They were just humans like you and me. They had the same tools God gives us. God gives us not only His Holy Spirit, but He's given us churches and bodies that we're part of. That we can do the things that some of these people were they were the only ones on earth who were doing God's will. You and I have each other. You and I have Jesus Christ there at our side who is our mediator, our mentor. We can go right to God's throne and we can ask Him and we can be honest with Him and we can tell Him when we're weary. We can tell Him when we're tired. We can ask Him to give us the strength to trust Him, the commitment to obey Him, to show us where we're falling short of what His will is or what His standard is. All those did that and they did it. They did it or were able or willing to endure it that they might obtain a better resurrection. The same thing that you and I have the opportunity to do. 36 still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yasts and of chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were slain with a sword.

They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, and tormented.

They had tough lives as they followed God. It wasn't a bed of roses. To date, for many of us, it has been comparatively a bed of roses. We've been very blessed to be able to live in a land that God has given us freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly. He's allowed us to live in a land that has been blessed with plenty of food, plenty of the comforts of life. We have jobs. We have homes. We have the ability to go and come as we please. It's been a good life.

It's been a good life that God has given us to, different than what many of these people who passed before us endured. But in many ways, it can be even a tougher life because, as I've said so many times, it can be a greater triadle to have much than it is to be in pain and always facing the enemy.

We have to remember that even in the good times, not let ourselves drift away, not to trust in the things of the world, but to trust in God and to stay close to Him.

Because there will be trials that are coming that are more like the things that we read about in Hebrews 11 there. God will give us the time to be ready, just like He gave these men and women.

Abraham, the first trial that God gave Abraham, wasn't go out and kill Isaac. There was every do this Abraham, and Abraham developed the pattern of obedience and trust. And so he gives the same thing to us. The pattern of obedience, the pattern of trust, the pattern of reliance. More and more as time goes on, rely on him. And he will have us ready for whatever it is that faces us between now and the return of Jesus Christ if we stay close, if we let Him, if we use the tools He gives us, if we use the opportunity to go before His throne and be honest with God and ask Him to give us what we need and what He wants us to be. You know, he says in verse 38, the world wasn't worthy of these people. They did, you know, with the tools that God gave them and the spirit that God gave them. You know, they overcame the world, and they sleep and wait.

They wait for Christ's return. They wandered in deserts. They wandered in mountains. They wandered in dens and caves of the earth. And all of these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, didn't receive the promise. Having obtained a good testimony through faith, they just believed God.

To all their lives, they never saw what God had promised, and now they just, they will see it when they're resurrected. They had tamed a good testimony through faith, but they didn't receive the promise.

They didn't give up along the way. God having provided something better, there's that word for us, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

You know, he could have said, he could have said at the time of Jesus's death, he could have said at the time of Jesus Christ, you know, it's enough. It's enough. We have Noah, Abraham, all these people we talked about, you know, just to end the world at that time, have Jesus Christ return, set up his kingdom. He had you and me in mind. All these people, they've been, they've been, they've been asleep for all these years. God having something more in mind for us, that they without us wouldn't be made perfect.

That's, that's something special that God has done for you and me. I hope we always remember that and take that to heart and commit to him and allow and don't count it as common or, or not as important as it is. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. So they look forward to the first resurrection, that's the same resurrection that you and I should look forward to. So that's a very encouraging chapter. And when we see that these are, these are our brothers. They did it. These are just human, you know, flesh and blood like you and I are. If they were able to do it by having faith in God and commitment to God, so can you and I. We just have to commit and do the same things that they have. So we go into chapter 12 then and he's got to, therefore, look at everything that we've just talked about. Look at the examples of these people. Look what they did. Therefore, we also were included in this number.

This is our family. This is our body. This is who's going to be part of the first fruits that you and I are going to be part of if, if we have that endurance and develop that endurance that'll see us through the end. Therefore, we also, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let's lay aside the waste. Let's lay aside the sin. Let's not count that sin that we, you know, we've got to have it our way. We've got to do things our way. God will see it my way. Let's lay aside those things. Let's commit to overcome. Let's commit to being who he wants. Let's let him show us what it is we need to change and let's run with hupomony, the race that sits before us. He's given us the courage. He's built us to a crescendo. Let's go. Let's get motivated. Let's do the things of God.

Let's look unto Jesus, the captain and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. He despised the shame, but he sat down at the right hand to the front of God.

We were told earlier in the book of Hebrews the inheritance he gives us. We, we are, we will be Christ's bride. We will inherit the things that God has said. Do we think of that? Do we count on that when we're making our choices of what to do and what's the important things in our life? Are we looking to what God promised or what benefits us today? What are we holding on to? What are we, what are we doing? What's holding us back from being what God wants us to be? Consider him. Stop and think about what Jesus Christ did. He's the one. He's our forerunner, as we talked about.

Consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself. Lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You know, there's nothing wrong when we get tired, when we get discouraged, going before God and just being honest with him. I'm feeling tired. I'm feeling a little discouraged. Help me. Help me to get my energy back. Help me to get my spiritual energy back. Open up the Bible. Read it. Make sure you run to God and not away from him when you get fear or feeling discouraged or tired. Never run away from God. Always run to him. That's the source of life. That's the source of light. Too many people, they get discouraged and they run away from God. They stop talking to each other. They stop coming to church. They stop coming to Bible studies. The exactly wrong thing to do. Run to him. Never, never, never run away from him. And when you feel like yourself, you don't want to do it. Make yourself go to God and where his word is.

Verse 4, you've not resisted the bloodshed striving against sin, and you've forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to signs. Verse 5 and 6, for those of you in Orlando and Jacksonville a few years ago, we talked about Pihadea. And the Greek word, pihadea, is all over you know, verses 5 down through about 11 here in chapter 12. And pihadea, if you remember, is the Greek, God uses that word because it was the Greek system of training the youth of Greek who they wanted to become the elite members of society. They would have the young men and they would train them in body, mind, and spirit. And there was a disciplined area, a disciplined training program that they were taught in every aspect of Greek life. And it was a rigorous program, but when they emerged from it, if they were committed to it, they became the leaders in Greece. And that's exactly what God is comparing our training program in. You know, the time that we are in the church, the time that we have between the time of baptism and we die or the return of Jesus Christ, whatever comes first. You know, so in verses 5 through 11, it's the Greek word pihadea there. They call about chastening because it wasn't an easy program that these Greek youth were in. And it's not an easy program we're in. It's not for the faint-hearted. It's not the ones for the ones who are going to give up. It's for the ones who have character that are committed to run the race and win the race, looking to Jesus Christ, you know, because He's the one through whom we are going to do it and only the way that He said to do it. In verse 5, it says, My son, don't despise the chastening of the Lord. That's the Greek word by pihadea. P-a-i-d-e-i-a.

Don't despise it. Don't look down on it. Don't think, I don't want to hear about that anymore.

I don't want to be told I have to do it better. I don't want to hear that I have to do it different than I did. I think I do it well enough. That's not the goal of pihadea. The goal of pihadea is you do it perfectly. You grow during the time that you're a child growing up in that way.

That's the same thing that God expects of us. So when the Greeks would read these words, they know exactly what pihadea was. God has called you and me to be first fruits, to be kings and priests with Jesus Christ. I mean, how much more of a calling, greater calling than we have. He's not looking for people who are going to be 75% of the way there. He wants us to become blameless and mature. And we can do it. If we submit to Him, and if we trust Him and obey Him and have faith in Him, my son, don't despise the pihadea of the Lord. Don't be discouraged when you're rebuked by Him. Don't run away and say, I don't want to do it.

Be glad He's showing you what it is because it means He loves you and wants you to be where He wants you to be. For whom the Lord loves, He chases, and He scourges every son whom He receives. We're going to stop in verse 7 here. If you endure this training program that God has us in, if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father doesn't chasten? So let me start there. Next week we'll pick it up in verse 8. But let me open it up for any discussion. I hope you all remembered that if you have a comment along the way, that you were able to hit your microphone and talk whenever you wanted. So let me open up for any discussion or any questions or anything that anyone would like to talk about.

Okay, I've worn you all out. Sorry. While you're thinking, again, let me remind Jacksonville services at 1130 this week, Orlando services at 1130 this week. For those of you in Jacksonville, I sent out the announcement earlier in the week about Oliver Jones. Remember, if you were going to go to his funeral, his funeral is tomorrow in Jacksonville at 1 o'clock. If you need the information on that and you wanted to go, let me email me and I'll send you the location again.

It's over in the Gulf Air Boulevard area of Jacksonville. So I think that's all the announcements that I have for tonight. But if you, if there's anything anyone else wants to talk about, we certainly can.

Thanks for the Bible study.

Okay, well thank you all for all for joining. It's been a pleasure being with all of you and seeing all of you. You've made my day. So, so you all have a very good evening, a good rest of the week. We'll see many of you with a Sabbath and all of you have a good, good Sabbath, wherever you'll be this week.

Thank you.

Be in the Sabbath!

Bye!