Warning & Encouragement - Part 2
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[00:00:00] Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10
We will be reading from, uh, Hebrews chapter 10. We're gonna start in 25 because as I said last week, I think that's the pivotal verse, and then we're gonna read to the end of the chapter. So if you're able, please stand for the reading of God's Word, and please hear this for what it is, the living God speaking to us, the living God instructing us, the living God loving us.
So hear this for what it is, beginning in verse 25. "Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury [00:01:00] of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But remember, remember the former days when after being enlightened you endured a great conflict of suffering, partly by being made a public spectacle through the reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated.
For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted [00:02:00] joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the, to the preserving of the soul." May God add a blessing to the reading, the hearing, and most importantly, obedience to His Word.
Please be seated.
Chapter 10 of Hebrews is a bit of a translational, transitional chapter. As I [00:03:00] said, uh, I think the last couple of weeks, this is our third week on chapter 10, hopefully it'll be our last. But chapter 10 is the beginning of a transition where the author is going to, uh, stop focusing in. He's not gonna give it up, he's not gonna talk, you know, stop talking about it, but he's not gonna emphasize the doctrinal, the theological as much as he's going to transition to encouragement, to exhortation, to what we often call application.
Uh, in your, uh, bulletin handout, on the back of that half sheet, I've given you an outline of chapter 10. And just so you know, I've given you a couple of different outlines, and I'm not changing my mind or anything, I'm just giving you some different perspectives on how you can look at chapter 10 because it, again, it is pivotal and, uh, it, it actually captures the entire book.
But just look at the outline for a minute, and if you look at the outline, we'll see that, uh, the first four verses, uh, remind us that the law is but a shadow. The law always [00:04:00] pointed to something greater than itself. The law, and the emphasis here is the ceremonial law, the ceremonial law was always meant to be temporary.
And then in verses 5 to 18, we have been sanctified and perfected by the superior sacrifice of Christ Jesus. And so in verses 19 to 25, we're commanded to draw near and we're instructed as to how to do that, and then the chapter ends with warning and encouragement. But you might wanna add to that outline because again, I think chapter 10 captures, uh, the entirety of the book.
So number one, the law is a shadow. That's captured in chapters one through six, in addition to the superiority of Christ. And you'll note some overlap here, but chapters one through six. Number two, we're sanctified by the perfected sacrifice and the superior sacrifice of Christ. We find that in chapters six through nine.
This understanding Melchizedek and understanding that Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Then in chapters nine and 10, [00:05:00] we're commanded and instructed as to how to draw near, and then in chapters 10 through 13, we find warning and encouragement and exhortation But I want to make a point, and kids, this is on your outline, but moms and dads, this is every bit as important for you.
And kids, on your outline, I have this statement. I say complete this statement, and I have theology, and the fill in the blank is matters. Theology matters. And then the, the next sentence, theology guides how you live. Theology guides how we live. You see, moms and dads, theology gives us the context for life.
It gives us a worldview, a way of interpreting reality. Theology gives us the reason why we should do what we do. Theology provides us with the tools and the ability. You're indwelt with the Holy Spirit. You have been instructed in this book how to approach the throne. What are the things we need to be working on?
And we've covered all that. [00:06:00] So my next question, kids, on your handout is what does theology mean? And usually at this point, and you don't have to answer this, but I'll ask the congregation. Usually, I'll do this in a Bible study, so don't raise your hands, don't do anything. But how many of you consider yourself a theologian?
And oftentimes when I ask that question, few people will raise their hand, and it's, it's a kind of humility. But the answer to that question is all of you are theologians because theology simply means the study of God, and that's what we're doing right now. You've come to church to increase your theology.
You've come to church to be better theologians. You read your Bible to know God better. And theology matters. Theology is important. Number one on your sermon outline, encouragement, former perseverance
encouragement. He's going to remind the readers of their former perseverance. So look at verse 32, "But remember the former days when after being enlightened you endured [00:07:00] a great conflict of suffering." And there's just a few things I wanna say about this verse, but I wanna camp out here for just a minute at remember.
And we've talked about this before, but the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter often reminded their readers of things they needed to remember, often reminded their readers of things they knew they already knew. So just to give you an example, in 2 Timothy 2:14, Paul commands Timothy, "Remind them. Remind the congregation of these things.
Remind the congregation of these things that I've been spelling out in the first chapter, in the first half of the second chapter. Solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words which is l- useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers." Peter writes to his readers in 2 Peter chapter 3, "This now, behold, is the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring you up w- in which I am stirring your sincere mind by way of reminder."
So it's [00:08:00] important to be... to remember, to be reminded. And I just wanna stop there for just a second What do you remember? Do you ever go back and think about what it was like when you first became a Christian? The joy you experienced. You know, maybe you're going through something, and we're gonna talk a little bit about that today, but maybe you're going through something.
Maybe you're struggling with something. Maybe you're a bit melancholy. Maybe, and we'll come back to this subject, maybe you're fighting depression. Maybe it runs in your family. Maybe it's something you struggle with. How do you deal with that? And the author is gonna guide us as we go, and one of the first things we do is to remember, to remember our past, to remember what Christ has done for us, to remember what Christ accomplished on the cross.
If you're struggling in your marriage, try to remember what first made you fall in love with your spouse. Stacy and I have done a, a, a fair amount of, uh, [00:09:00] marriage counseling, which could be interpreted in more than one way. Okay, we've, we've done the counseling. We've done, you know, premarital counseling and counseling.
Now, Stacy says I need more counseling myself, but that's a different subject. Uh, but, uh, oftentimes, and Stacy's really good at this, she, she'll ask the couple, "Why did you fall in love with each other?" And it is amazing how often the thing that caused us to fall in love is the thing we're struggling with now, and so we need to remember.
Oftentimes at work, I would be counseling somebody, uh, you know, a discipline counseling or something, and one of the things I would, I would tell them is, "Remember when you first got hired? Remember when you were in the academy? Remember the joy and the excitement you had?" And the author of Hebrews is basically saying the same thing.
Remember when you first became a Christian? Yeah, it was rough, but remember the joy you had? Remember how you experienced that? How you were happy? Remember the former days when after [00:10:00] being enlightened, they had made a profession of faith. They had professed faith in Jesus Christ, and this word enlightened is often used in that sense.
So in Luke 1:79, and this is, uh, uh, Zachariah's prophecy, and he's talking about God visiting the people, and what is God going to do? He is going to shine, to shine a light upon those who sit in darkness in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. In Acts chapter 26, Paul encounters Jesus.
This is the, the third time he recounts his conversion experience, and what does Jesus tell him? That, "I'm gonna send you out. You're gonna be an apostle." And what are you gonna do? Open the eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light. So these people have been enlightened. They've heard the gospel.
They've made an initial response to the gospel, and listen to how he describes them. You endured. You endured a great conflict of suffering, and this idea of endurance, [00:11:00] it literally means you stood your ground. You stood your ground in the face of conflict, and the conflict was great. There was much to it, and this conflict comes from a word, and it literally means athlete, and it refers to a, a battle, a struggle, a contest, and you'll remember the Apostle Paul often compares the Christian life to an athletic event.
It takes training. It takes endurance. It takes struggle, and it's going to come with pain, and he reminds them, when you first became believers, you experienced all this. You experienced suffering, and literally the word there is passion or pathos, and the idea is suffering or misfortune. You had it rough when you first turned to Christ.
Remember those days because you did it with excitement. He continues in verse 33, and he's gonna kinda spell out the conflict and the suffering, but in verse 33 he says, "Partly by being made a public spectacle." You were publicly humiliated. You were [00:12:00] exposed in public, is what he writes, through reproaches, reviling, disgraceful words concerning your reputation and tribulations, and this is the same Greek word that we read in Matthew 24, we read in the Book of, uh, Revelation about the Great Tribulation.
This is the same word. They suffered when they came to Christ. And partly becoming sharers with those who were so treated. Not only did they suffer, but they came side by side. And, and this is where it gets important, and this is where I think the author is dropping a hint, 'cause the word here can be translated fellowship or sharing.
And remember, I told you the pi- pivotal verse, "Do not forsake the gathering together." You see, gathering together, and I, I'm, I made an argument. It's church. It's gathering together to worship. It's gathering together to break bread, gathering together to worship God, gathering together to encourage one another, and we need that.
And he uses words here that [00:13:00] remind us of that very thing. But remember when you were made a public spectacle. Remember how that felt. And I'm just... I'm curious, were you ever te- teased as a kid? Because in my mind, that, that comes close to what he's talking about, this, this idea of being made a public spectacle.
You know, I've seen a lot in my career. I've seen a lot of things that people shouldn't see, but the thing I remember most about my life is being teased about wearing glasses. Okay, I don't know if you can have PTSD from wearing glasses, but if anything comes close, that- that's, that's where I'm at, okay?
But have you ever been teased? Have you ever been... You know, kids can be mean, they say. The adults were doing the same thing, and the, the Hebrew Christians here were going through that. And Pau... Or not Paul, but whoever wrote this. Now, I tend to think Paul had a hand in it, but whoever wrote this is telling them, "Remember how you handled it because you handled it joyfully."
And here's [00:14:00] the thing that we need to remember, and this is really important not just for understanding our Bibles, but for under- understanding this book. It was Jewish persecution. Now, as I've said before, and nobody argues with the first part of this statement, this book was written to a Jewish congregation.
Clearly, this book was written to a group of Jewish, old covenant believers who came to faith in Jesus Christ, and now they're in the new covenant. And I've also argued, and I'm not alone in this, likely a large population in this congregation were likely priests, former priests and former temple officials because they had a great understanding of the law.
They had a great understanding of the sacrifices, and he talks to them as if they, they know this. It's secondhand to them. And yet it was Jewish persecution. Listen to Acts 8:3. "Saul began ravaging the church." And this word literally means he began to destroy. That [00:15:00] was his intent. He wanted to harm the church, to ruin the church, to destroy the church.
"Entering house after house and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison." You experienced that at the hands of your countrymen. Remember those days. Why? And he tells us in verse 34, "For you showed sympathy for the prisoners." You suffered with is what that word means. You suffered with the prisoners.
And I want to say something about prisoners. Um, and I am not against prison ministries. I think it's a good thing to do prison ministries. But oftentimes I've heard people ground it in passages. When prisoners are talked about in the New Testament, it's Christian prisoners. It's Christians who are put in jail because of their faith in Christ Jesus.
These were the people they suffered with. These were the people that they would have gone and visited. Last week, kids, if you remember, your [00:16:00] coloring page had a picture of kids in prison and kids outside ministering to them. This is what the author is talking about. You showed sympathy for the prisoners, and here's what blows my mind, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property.
Joyfully. Literally, the word means with gladness. How would you feel if the Bonner Ferry Police Department or the Boundary County Sheriff's Department came and took your house because you're a Christian? They came and seized your property, attempted to take your children because you're a Christian.
Would you accept that joyfully? These guys did. They accepted it joyfully because they were new to Christ, and they were excited about Christ, and the author is saying, "Remember those days." And so I exhort you, I plead with you, how did you feel when you first came to Jesus Christ? Have you lost that excitement?
Have you lost that fervor? Remember those days. [00:17:00] Remember what it felt like. And it's interesting that he talks about the seizure of their property, because hopefully you'll remember in the Book of Numbers as well in the Book of Joshua that the priests in the Old Testament did not get an inheritance.
They didn't get an inheritance like every other tribe. They were assigned property, and that property would have stayed in their family from the time of Joshua. And if these were priests, or if many of them were priests, it makes sense that that property would have been taken away from them. That property was given to you because you're a priest, because you serve at the temple.
You're not a priest anymore. You've gone to this Christ person, and so they take the property back, a home that your family has lived in for hundreds, thousands of years on that property And they took it joyfully, knowing, and this is why they took it joyfully, knowing that you have for yourself a better possession and a [00:18:00] lasting one
And I think of John the Baptist. I think of these Christians, I think of what they're going through, and I think of John the Baptist, and I think about their emotional state. 'Cause sometimes we can be hard on these people, and I think we need to give them some credit. Do you remember the story of John the Baptist?
And I wanna remind you of this, 'cause this is important. John was fearless. Jesus says, "John is the greatest who's ever lived. He's the greatest prophet." And John was fearless. He took on Roman soldiers fearlessly. He took on the Pharisees without fear. He took on King Herod, which eventually cost him his life, but he did it fearlessly.
But after he was in jail for a while, this fearless one, this fearless one who saw Jesus coming for baptism, and he stops and he tells the entire crowd, "Look, it's the Lamb of God. [00:19:00] The Lamb of God who will take away sins." And Jesus wanted to be baptized, and John's first reaction is, "No, I have need of being washed from you."
But Jesus says, "No, this is in k- this is in keeping with righteousness. You need to do this. I need to identify with my people." And so John baptizes Him, the fearless one. But now he's in prison, and he knows his life is on the line. And listen to the words of Matthew 11:2-3. "Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, 'Are You, are You really, are You really the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?'"
This is a man of great faith. This is a man that proclaimed to all people, "Here comes the Lamb of God," but he's in prison, and he's struggling. Most... I don't wanna read too far into the text, but I don't think it's hard to say he was depressed. He was saddened. [00:20:00] He was gloomy. He was melancholy, and he started to question his faith.
"Are You really the one? Have I hoped in vain?" You see, hope's important when we go through trials like this. And what did Jesus do? Jesus simply reminded him, "Go tell John what he's already seen. Go tell John the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk. Just remind him of what he already knows I'm doing." And the, the, the Bible doesn't tell us the outcome, but we can assume that it encouraged John.
But I, again, I wanna take a little bit of time, and I wanna talk about depression because I think it's important, and I wanna talk about hope. And most of you know this, the, the, you can find all kinds of studies on this online or, or anywhere. If you're sick, if you have cancer, if you have a terminal illness, hope can make the difference.
There [00:21:00] are multiple studies out there that talk about how hope can turn the last days of a terminal patient into something joyful, or it can make it, the absence of hope can make it daunting And depression is a real thing in our country, and sadly, it's a real thing in the church. And what the author of Hebrews is saying here is, "Remember.
Remember the former days and continue to hope." Now, he doesn't use the word hope here, but when we get to Hebrews 1, faith is the hope of things looked for, the assurance of things. So hope plays a big part in this. But according to multiple statistics, a little over 18% of United States adults suffer from depression, and more than that, about 28%, have reported being depressed in their lifetimes.
And here's the really sad things. Teenagers [00:22:00] experience depression more than adults. They suffer from sadness and depression. Women suffer from sadness and depression more than men do. Low-income households. And as I said, it is present in the church as well. The numbers are lower. In fact, the numbers tell us that 29% to 30% of those who attend church regularly have a less chance of experiencing depression.
So there's a lot less depressed Christians out there, but the number's there and it's in the church. And here's the important thing, and this is why I wanted to bring this up, and this is what brings us back to the text. There's this thing called attendance threshold, and what all of these studies will tell you is if you wanna avoid depression, go to church.
Studies demonstrate that those who go to church do not experience depression near the rate of those who don't go. And the, the interesting thing here, and the study comes out and says it, this is tied [00:23:00] to the physical act of attending church. Internet church doesn't work. And I'm not against you going home and maybe re-watching, re-watching the sermon or maybe watching somebody else's sermon, a, a former pastor or somebody you like.
That's fine. But it does not replace the physical presence of being here. It is not gonna give you what that gives you You see fellowship, spending time with one another, encouraging one another. What about confession? If you're struggling with depression, when's the last time you confessed your sins?
Often depression is caused by guilt. Not always, but it is often caused by guilt. Have you confessed your sins? It is amazing, even raising children, when you teach your children to confess, when they experience a consequence for their sin, it is amazing what it does for their conscience. We are commanded in Scripture to love the Lord our God with all of our minds, and [00:24:00] yet depression is often an ailment of the mind.
And I want to be careful here because there's a whole lot more to say, but I do want to say this. We tend to shoot our own. We-- We're okay if, if we're helping a fellow Christian and they fall off a ladder and they break something, we'll take them to the hospital, we'll get it fixed. But if they're suffering depression, we're so quick to call it sin and not examine maybe their mind is broken.
Maybe there's something going on inside. And one of the things that Stacy and I will do when we counsel couples, if they're struggling with depression, we'll tell them, "You need to go see your doctor. You need to have some blood tests and some, some workups done." Maybe there's something else going on, and we can't avoid that.
Medicine has a place, and we acknowledge it almost everywhere but when it comes to the mind
Pray honestly to God. If you're struggling with depression, pray honestly to God. Pray God's promises back to Him. Pray the Psalms. [00:25:00] Remember, the author of, of Hebrews says, "Remember and hope." You may wanna turn there. If you don't wanna turn there, just listen. But Psalm 42:5-6 In Psalm 42 is that famous psalm, you'll remember it, it begins, "As the deer pants, as the deer longs for water, so my soul longs for you, O God."
And the psalmist goes on to discuss his longing of God, and when we get to verse five, he writes this, "Why are you in despair, O my soul? Why are you in despair, O my soul?" So he asks himself this question, and this word for despair literally means depression. It means to sink down. And the Hebrew has this way, the Hebrew grammar and the He- Hebrew word construction can express intensity, and the author expresses intensity here.
I am down, and I don't know why. "Why, O soul, are you [00:26:00] depressed? And why have you become disturbed, disquieted? Why do you mourn? Why do you tumult?" And literally, this word can mean rage, because often depression brings anger with it. "Why do you rage within me?" You see, the psalmist begins by asking him- himself these questions.
But then he makes a turn. We're still in verse five. "Hope in God." Hope in God. Trust in God. Wait on God. "For I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence." And then in verse six, instead of asking himself the question, he turns to God, "O my God, my soul is in despair." I'm down. I'm sunk. I'm depressed. "O God, my soul is in despair within me."
And notice what he says, "Therefore I will remember. Therefore I remember You [00:27:00] from the land of the Jordan, from the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar." And the idea here is he's remembering the good things of God. And I don't expect this to be a, a cure-all, but these are steps given to us in Scripture. And we all struggle with this once in a while, some more than others.
Do you pray? Do you go to the Psalms? Do you remember? Do you hope? Do you hope in God? Do you remind yourself of the good things of God? Sing when you're by yourself. You know, often I've been asked, "What would you do?" And I, I, for whatever reason, God has prevented this from ever happening, but what would you do if you actually encountered a, a demon?
What would you do if you actually encountered a demon-possessed person? And I have to be honest with you, the first thing I would do, and this is from my heart, I would sing the doxology in the presence of the demon I would praise God. And then like Michael the archangel [00:28:00] did, rebuke him, "Yahweh rebuke you."
But I would deal with it biblically, but I would begin with song. And songs are s- even easier to remember than scripture, and if you remember the right songs, you sing scripture. Verse 35, "Therefore do not throw away your confidence." And that is literally what the word means. Do not throw out, throw away from you your confidence.
And this word confidence means fearlessness, boldness. I've talked about it a lot these last couple of weeks. We boldly approach the throne of grace. How dare you as a human being think that you can even talk to God Almighty? I mean, think about it. Who are you? And yet Jesus opened the way. And not only did He open the way for you to talk to Him, but to enter the Holy of Holies, to claim cleansing from sin, to claim relationship with Father, [00:29:00] Son, and Holy Spirit.
Don't throw that away. Don't throw away your privileges, your confidence, which has a great reward. Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul, "For I consider that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed for us." So not only do you remember backwards, but you remember forward.
And listen to these words from the author of Hebrews. It's in chapter 12. He says, "Fixing our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross," literally endured hell on our behalf. The joy set before Him, despising the shame, has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
But he begins this passage with something we need to spend a minute on, fixing our eyes on Jesus. [00:30:00] That's lasering our eyes on Jesus. That's directing our attention to Jesus without distraction. Do you do that? Do you do that in your, your daily living? Do you go to the Scriptures? Whether you start your day or you end your day so you start the next day, do you spend time in the Scriptures?
Are you laser-focused? Do you remove distractions? I often tell parents, "It's really important that you read your Bible in front of your kids, but you also need to train your kids when mommy or daddy is reading Scripture, I'm with God, and you need to respect that privacy." It actually helps teach discipline.
It helps teach them a lifestyle that they need to be in the Scriptures. But are you focused on Jesus? Is that your focus every day? You get out of bed and your first thought is, "Jesus is my Lord, and I will live today for you because I want to be focused on you. I don't want anything to get in the way of that because I don't want to throw away my [00:31:00] confidence."
For you have need of endurance, verse 36, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what has been promised. We have need of endurance. We have need of fortitude, patience, steadfastness. But it brings us roundabout to the thought of verse 25, and the reason I know that is he's gonna return to it in chap- or in verse 37.
So again, I wanna remind you, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, exhorting one another, comforting one another, urging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. We're to be in fellowship with one another, and we're to encourage one another, and he gives these first century readers something he's about to come back to in this odd statement, "All the more as you see the day drawing near."
And there was a part of me that really wanted to skip this part, [00:32:00] but one of the reasons you preach verse by verse is so that you don't skip anything. What did he mean by the day drawing near? What day is he talking about? And we touched on this a couple of weeks ago, and I'll simply say this, and anyone that wants to sit down with me and, and look at this in more detail, I would gladly do it.
But I'm not gonna turn this into a seminary class. I'll simply say this, to draw near means exactly what it means in English. If you do a word study, and I've done the word study, I'll gladly share it with you. It means it's close It's drawing near. It's within hand's reach. So what day is drawing near?
Well, look at verse 37, "For yet in a very little while." And again, this Greek expression, it's a euphemism, and it means a very small amount of time. Literally, it uses the, the word, and you'll know this from English, micron, in a, in a micro moment. And literally, that's what it means [00:33:00] if you translated it literally.
In a micro moment moment, He who is coming will come and will not delay. So what is being talked about? And we need to follow our hyperlinks if we're gonna understand this. And so the hyperlink there is Isaiah 26 and Habakkuk chapter 2, and the majority of it comes from Habakkuk, but you can go back and you can read the context of Isaiah 26.
That's where that phrase, "For yet a little while." And you'll see in the Isaiah passage, that's exactly what it meant. In a short period of time, something's gonna happen. But then he quotes Habakkuk, and I want to read to you the original of Habakkuk. I want to read you Habakkuk 2:4, verse 3 actually, and I want you to hear what Habakkuk's talking about.
Let me reread what the writer of Hebrews said, and listen to the pronouns. "For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay." [00:34:00] Now listen to the author of... Well, listen to Habakkuk. "For the vision," the vision, "is yet for the appointed time. It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it, for it will certainly come. It will not delay." And without going into all the, the detail, and again, if you want to talk about it, we can, but I believe that what Habakkuk is, or what God is talking about, what God is sharing with Habakkuk, is the vision that Habakkuk then writes down, and the vision that comes after God says this is the destruction of the Babylonians, the Chaldeans.
That's the word used in our reading before service or at the beginning of service. It was the destruction of the Chaldeans. And just so you know, when you put all the dating together, by the time the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC, they were destroyed in only 47 years. The kingdom only lasted another 47 years, and then the Persians and Cyrus took over, and the [00:35:00] Babylonians were no more.
A short period of time. Habakkuk was written around 605 BC. By the time we get to 250, 100 BC, when the Septuagint is translated, listen to how the Septuagint translates this verse, the Greek version of the Old Testament. "For the vision is yet for a time, and it shall shoot forth at the end and not in vain, though He should tarry.
Wait for Him, for He will surely come and will not tarry." You see, the writer, whoever translated the Septuagint, by the time we got to there, and we're talking about a little over 300 years, and by the time we get to the New Testament, they knew that the ultimate fulfillment, the ultimate fulfillment of God's enemies being judged was the coming of Jesus Christ.
And so the author quotes Habakkuk here and says, "In a very little while, he who is coming will come." Now, I want to assure you of something. I believe these words, and I'll just read them to you. I believe [00:36:00] these words wholeheartedly. "Jesus was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of the Father.
And He shall come again," future, "He will come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end." I believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. I just don't think that's what the author of Hebrews is talking about. He's talking about a soon coming. So if you look in your bulletins, I've given you a handout, and I've given you the two interpretations of this passage I've tried to do it fairly, and I'm just gonna run through this, but let me tell you why.
Because you might think, "Why are you going into so much detail?" This has apologetic import. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to debates between a Christian and a non-Christian, and it has to do with the existence of God or the veracity of the Bible, and they will bring up verses like this.
And [00:37:00] they will say, "The Bible says Jesus was gonna come in the first century, and he didn't, therefore it can't be true." I've heard this multiple times, and I will submit to you that multiple scholars of all versions of eschatology see this as a problem. It seems, and it seems to me, that there was an expectation running throughout the New Testament, not just of a second coming, but of a soon coming, a coming of Jesus on the clouds, which I believe took place in 70 AD.
So just looking at that outline really quick, the problem... If, if this verse refers to Jesus' second coming, the problem is the words used. All of the words used, and get any lexicon you want, it means a very short period of time. 2,000 years does not fit into that word meaning. And honestly, and, and I say this with humility, but you really have to play some [00:38:00] definitional gymnastics to stretch those words into that meaning.
They just, they, they don't mean it, and we don't translate them or understand them that way in any other context. The problem with my view, the view that sees Jesus coming in the first century to destroy Jerusalem, is often I'm accused of denying the second coming. I don't deny the second coming. I believe there's a future coming of Jesus Christ, but I also believe he came on the clouds in AD 70 and destroyed Jerusalem.
Now, let me spell out the argument. Jesus is Yahweh, correct? I don't think anyone here who is a Trinitarian Christian can deny that. Jesus is Yahweh. And in the Old Testament... And I did a very unscientific study. I just typed in some keywords to see what would come out. But no less than 29 times, we read of Yahweh coming on the clouds, coming in the storm to judge nations, including his people, Israel.
And we know, I don't think anyone denies that [00:39:00] Israel was judged in 70 AD. The people of Israel were wiped off. The temple, and Jesus talks about this in Matthew 24, not one stone will be left on another. The old covenant system is going to be taken away. So I believe with all of my heart, I don't know how you can deny it, Yahweh came in 70 AD, judged his old covenant people, obliterated them, and opened the path for the new covenant.
Jesus is Yahweh, ergo Jesus came in 70 AD. I think it fits the context without denying the second coming, without denying anybody's eschatological views of things. I think this fits the context. But even more important, look at verse 38. I mean, if you choose not to, you know, hold the view that I hold, that's fine.
Just understand you're gonna have to deal with the words, you're gonna have to deal with the timing, you're gonna have to deal with the expectation. Now, I will give some credit to that view, and I'll say this. Often the response is, "We don't know when [00:40:00] Jesus is coming, so we should always live in expectation."
And in one sense, I agree with that wholeheartedly. In fact, in a few minutes, I'm going to conclude my sermon with much the same words. We should always be in expectation of Jesus. I just don't think that's what's being talked about here, because this is meant to encourage The readers and the timing, I mean, the book of Hebrews is written in the mid-'60s.
Jesus destroys Jerusalem in 70 AD. It couldn't be more perfect. But look at verse 38. This is even more important. "My righteous one shall live by faith." My righteous one shall live by faith. And the author of Hebrews uses this slightly different than Paul does. Paul uses it when he speaks of justification by faith.
The writer of Hebrews is talking about true saving faith, ongoing, persistent faith, persevering faith, faith that hopes. He's setting up chapter 11, "And my righteous one, my [00:41:00] true covenant people will live by faith. You will trust me. I know you're going through persecution. I know you're hurting. I know you're going through things."
Some of you are struggling with children. Some of you are struggling with health. Maybe some of you struggling with marriage. Some of you are struggling with employment. Some of you are just struggling with health and melancholy. My righteous one lives by faith. We trust in Jesus. This life is so short compared to eternity.
I put my faith in Jesus, and I trust in Him, even if I have to struggle through it on a day-to-day because what I'm waiting for is forever, and what I'm waiting for is better than what I'm experiencing now. Even if you had the best life possible, it would look like hell compared to eternity. That's how good it gets.
My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, if [00:42:00] you walk away from the covenant, if you're one of those soils that turns away from Jesus Christ, my soul has no pleasure in him. And I don't have time to get into it, but it is interesting, God has a soul, and we typically understand the soul differently, but it's His entire being.
It's all of God. That's what it refers to. My being, my life, my presence, my character will have no pleasure in this. But then he ends the epistle with encouragement, verse 39, "But we are not those who shrink back from destruction." And you see, that's the alternative. You put your faith in Jesus Christ. You have a choice.
Either I will continue to believe in Jesus Christ and hope in Jesus Christ, or I will turn away from Him, and the outcome will be destruction, literally annihilation, hellfire.
But we are not, and I love this because we need to pay [00:43:00] attention to the pronouns. The writer of Hebrews includes himself with the readers. We. We, brothers and sisters, we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the persevering of the soul, of the life, of the inner man, of the entire being I urge you, I exhort you, 'cause we're gonna move on to the faith chapter next week.
So if you notice, we didn't get to number two on the outline, and that's okay. But we're gonna move on to the faith chapter. But I urge you before we leave chapter 10, do not forsake our assembling together. Do not forsake our assembling together as is the habit of some. It is far too common in evangelicals to miss church for any reason.
And let me just tell you something. There are some exceptions. There are some reasons to miss church. There is no good reason, if you're not sick, if you're not out of town, some- to miss [00:44:00] church. It has to be a priority. What, what could carry more weight than God? What could carry more weight than gathering with the people of God?
I urge you, do not forsake our assembling together as is the habit of some, but encourage one another. And let me unpack that for you, and we've unpacked it a little bit in the past. Love one another. Do you love one another? Do you look forward to coming to church 'cause you're gonna see your friends? I love that in the kids because you see that so clearly in the kids.
They wanna be here 'cause their friends are here, and that's a good thing. Love one another. Get to know one another. We're gonna have a potluck afterwards. I invite you all this day, sit by somebody you don't know. Get to know one another. Support one another. Hurt with one another. Who's hurting in this congregation?
Guess what? I know this is gonna sound really weird. If you're hurting and you're keeping it to yourself, you're in sin [00:45:00] because you're not letting the church be the church, and I am to hurt with you. I am to experience passion with you. I am to suffer with you. I am to help you, and you are to help me. So if you're struggling with something and you're keeping it to yourself, you are in sin.
Hurt with one another. Pray with and for one another, for the day is drawing near. And yes, I believe that applied especially to the Christians of the first century. I, I believe it applied to them in a very unique way. But Jesus... I'm sorry, scripture does speak of Christ coming at death. Scripture does speak multiple passages, I can share them with you later, but when we die, we stand before Jesus.
He meets us. He welcomes us. Will you hear those words? "Welcome, good and faithful service, servant." And know this, we don't know the day or the hour of our death. We don't know when it will [00:46:00] be Some of you know Jay and, and Kirsten. They used to attend this church. I got a phone call this week, and out of nowhere, their pastor died.
He was involved in a motorcycle accident, and I ask that you pray for him. His first name is Bill. And Jay was hurting. We don't know when Jesus is going to come calling, and in that sense, we should live in expectation. We should live with the expectation of seeing Christ at any moment, with the knowledge that He is always present, that He's always watching us, knowing, and these are my final words today, knowing that you have for yourself a better possession and a lasting one.
Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for these words. Thank you for this-
