Hebrews 10:32-39

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.  For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.  Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.  For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”  But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Endurance in the face of suffering can be very difficult.  Especially when persecution lasts for long periods of time.  The admonition of Scripture is to endure hardship with joy, faith and confidence in the Lord’s sovereign control over our lives.  Because endurance is hard and, as we saw in the previous passage, the consequences of apostacy are grave; the author wants to encourage his readers to remember some vital truths.  When we are in pain it is easy to fall into unbiblical and destructive thinking.  These reminders promote endurance in the face of suffering and temptation.

REMEMBER THE PERSECUTION WITH REJOICING IN THE PAST: When a person is first “enlightened” to the amazing love of God demonstrated on the cross of Christ; it brings about feelings of gratitude and dedication.  This initial “enlightenment” is not, in itself, salvation from sin.  It often leads to salvation but not always.  However, even being sympathetic to the Gospel can bring about grave consequences like suffering and persecution.  The original readers had faced exactly that.  They had been ridiculed publicly, beaten, imprisoned, expelled from their homes and places of work.  Those who did not suffer those things themselves were serving and helping those who had.  They visited them in prison, welcomed them in the homes and at their tables.  Their earthly possessions came to mean very little to them because their eyes were focused on the joy eternity.  However, this reality had now extended over years.  The people were becoming “weary in well doing.”  Some seem to be considering dropping out and going back to their traditional roots.  The author is simply reminding them of all they had been through and yet how much joy they had in suffering.  He is striving to fan the flame of perseverance and renewed commitment. 

REMEMBER THE PLEASURE OF REWARDS IN THE FUTURE: The exhortation is to endure and not throw away the confidence in Christ that brought them to this place.  It was a confidence that the rewards of Christ where far superior to the comforts of this world.  It was a conviction that pleasing God was more important than pleasing man.  All of those rewards are still real, and all those promises are still true.  They are just harder to see than the suffering that is in their face right now.  Present pain is always easier to see than future rewards.  The admonition of this passage is to look harder and longer at the promises of God.  It is easy to value the present because it is right in front of us.  However, the rewards God has promised are of inestimable value that far exceeds anything this world has to offer.  They are just harder to see now.  We must strive and strain to fix our eyes on them so we can be properly motivated by them.

REMEMBER THE PROMISE OF THE RETURN OF CHRIST IN THE PRESENT: Living with the expectancy of the return of Christ is vital to our ability to stand firm in the face of suffering.  For us, it almost seems silly to read the phrase: “I will not delay.”  Two thousand years seems like a significant delay to us.  What we must remember is that, in light of eternity, two thousand years or two million years are the equivalent of a blink of an eye.  Are we going to live for the “blink” or for the “bling” (inadequate word but I couldn’t resist) of an eternity in the presence of Christ?  All who are saved, are saved by faith in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We stand before God in His righteousness and not our own.  The author simply reminds us that those who truly stand in the righteousness of Christ will continue to live by faith.  They will fix their gaze on Him and look forward to His return when we will all be with Him forever.  That faith will keep us from shrinking back in the face of hardship and suffering.  God takes no pleasure in those who may be enlightened by the facts of the Gospel but fail to place their faith fully on Him.  Their souls will be eternally separated from God just as all who reject the Gospel outright.  Only those who stand in the righteousness of Christ will persevere and be preserved in God’s presence where there is joy in holiness forevermore.  

APPLICATION: Remember the incredible joy of our salvation when we first came to Christ.  Never stop being astounded by the love of God who sent His Son to die in our place.  Don’t allow the glitz and glitter or the pain and suffering in the world become more significant to us than the eternal rewards He has promised us in His Word.  Know that the return of Christ is closer today than ever and that what seems like a long time right now is really only the blink of an eye.