HEBREWS 10:19-39 TEXT: v23 HOLD FAST YOUR PROFESSION 5/8
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised;
This is the second time in this epistle where Paul exhorts the Hebrew Christians/us to hold fast to our profession (4:14/10:23)
Repetition always suggests a few things:
[i] GREAT IMPORTANCE:
We repeat that which is most important
Not to diminish any other things/Bible…but the point still holds
[ii] GREAT DULLNESS ON OUR PART:
For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. (Job 33:14)
How many exhortations/examples/warnings/promises etc., has God for us
in His word…and yet we fail to pick up on the basic lessons?
That's why we need and we get the help of God's Spirit to aid us
Then he [Jesus] said unto them [His
own disciples], O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken: (Luke 24:25)
Because we are dull of hearing…then the Lord repeats the lesson
Repetition, repetition, repetition
[iii] GREAT JOY:
We love to repeat certain things again/again
What joy there is in having a profession of faith and although the
immediate context here is of believers, at least, contemplating turning
back (how sad!) yet there was still a profession there and these words
can be used to invoke great joy if preached: those determined/go on
Implication is that we have a profession worth holding unto
Many things we have that are not worth holding to
Not necessarily wrong, but they have little value and to let them go would not rob us of any thing worthwhile - no great loss
But hold unto your profession/faith in Jesus Christ
What unsearchable riches we have in Him
Therefore it brings us great joy to speak about this profession and the exhorting of folk to hold it tight
[iv] GREAT DANGER:
If I tell you to hold unto your wallet - especially in crowd/people- you know what I'm getting at! Pickpockets!
Someone who wants to leave you penniless
If I keep telling you, especially in the context of others having been
robbed- being able perhaps to point some of them out - you'll heed the
message, especially if I employ other words/same theme
4 points as we look our text (2nd: Hold fast to your profession/faith)
1) HOW WE MIGHT WAVER IN OUR PROFESSION OF FAITH:
That such wavering is possible may be proved from Scripture alone, or
from church history … or even from our own up/down experiences
It's fine being all kick/rush about this matter as if there was no real
danger. What we ought to be for God, in the light of Calvary, and what
we are can sometimes be poles apart. How might we waver?
A/ Ult. we waver when we take our eyes off/Lord (Hebrews 12:2)
We were saved by looking with the eye/faith to Jesus (Isaiah 45:22)
I looked and, Lo, from Calvary's Cross a healing fountain streamed…
We do not waver when we keep our eyes upon the Lord
If we take our eyes away, then we will stray away - not follow Him
There is still the old man in us that hankers after the world
It takes a fully conscious effort for us to keep following the Lord
Doesn't come naturally - need to keep our eyes/goal or we'll drift
Classic example of this: Peter on the water (Matthew 14:25-31)
B/ We turn our eyes towards the world
We must look somewhere and if our eyes are not on God, they will
invariably and naturally stray towards the world and so waver/faith
This world does not enhance the faith/Christians
Aping the word (as the modern church is wont/do) is not a good idea
If ye were of the world, the world
would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (John
15:19)
Again: Friendship/world is enmity with God (James 4:4)
Have to live in the world, but we can do that without being part of it
Very difficult - but remember there are thousands/saints who do it
It is the expected norm for every Christian
But if we listen to the world's propaganda, then we will waver
If we begin to (say) envy the world's wicked men who are rich or
powerful or popular/influential…then faith is going to waver
C/ We waver when we neglect the word/God i.e. the Bible
It is this that helps keep our eyes/Lord
Keeping our eyes on Christ is not staring at a crucifix/"holy" picture
It is filling our mind with what we know of Him via His word
Letting the Bible saturate our hearts and influence our thoughts
If we do that…then the world will be seen for what it is
Not be hard to see beyond the bright lights/empty pleasures etc.,
Be able to analyse the rhetoric of the worldly philosophers etc., and
not only locate the flaws, but answer them and refute them
But if we neglect the Book, then the defence systems won't work
D/ We waver when we neglect the throne/God i.e. in prayer
Having a knowledge/Bible etc., is not enough in itself
Knowing what to do (Men/Issachar: 1 Chronicles 12:32) does not
automatically lead to the doing of it - Night/day we need to be
in that prayer spirit crying out/God for strength to prevent wavering
We must needs be ever in ongoing contact with "base"
If we don't…then we will certainly waver
The whole system of faithfulness is dependent on contact
E/ We waver when we neglect the people/God i.e. the fellowship
If we think we can go it alone/God, then we have higher views of
ourselves than we deserve. In fact, we are wiser than God, who has
rightly decreed that God's people should fellowship together:
Hebrews 10:25 Even in days/revival: Acts 2:42
God's people are good for one another - we learn from one another
- we can help one another and so (indirectly) help ourselves
Those who forsake the meetings waver and crash
2) WHEN WE MIGHT WAVER IN OUR FAITH:
Such can happen at any time
If the antidotes to such wavering are the word/God and praying etc.,
then note how the Bible exhorts us to do these things without ceasing
However, there are times when the wavering becomes more apparent
A/ It often happens during persecution (context/Hebrews)
While the church often grows in persecution - yet it is only the strong Christians who hold the line -
Not necessarily loud Christians or the most forthright Christians in more peaceful days
Again: Peter is the best example here: Matthew 26:35 etc.,
Maybe to us persecution seems along way away - but things can change and do so pretty quickly - It can be a time/wavering
B/ During times of personal trials/pressures
Sickness - exams - work commitments - financial worries
All these can take a toll upon the strength/Christian
Cause the hitherto bright light to dim
We fail to hold the line and we start to waver
C/ Prosperity is another occasion
Many folk hold the line bravely in the hard times
Such seems to drive them/God - but prosperity saps/spiritual strength
Begin to move in different circles - get to like the taste/money etc.,
Not willing to be content with what they have
Got their eyes of the true riches which last forever
Forget the lonely Man/Sorrows - the daily burden/His Cross
Apt to think: prosperity is a time/strength - Not so!
Double danger - We misread the situation:
I said in my prosperity, I shall not be moved (Psalm 30:6)
Yet David did move - quite radically at times
3) THE DANGER OF SO WAVERING:
A/ Greek word wavering only here, but the English word elsewhere:
James 1:6 But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind and tossed.
Pretty graphic picture: A storm tossed sea at the mercy/wind
That's not peace like a river stuff
B/ If we waver, the danger is that we might apostatise altogether
Objection: No true Christian can ever apostatise
Answer: True - but true Christians ever seek not even to waver
There is no security for anyone/Bible who does not actively take action to employ the God given means secure it
C/ The danger in Christians wavering is that it causes men to doubt God's glory: 2 Samuel 12:14/Romans 2:23
Flip side of folk glorifying God through the faithful witness/Christian
D/ It can wreck your testimony for God, especially if you fall
Can such be rebuilt? Yes…but it takes much time/effort/patience
E/ It will greatly discourage other Christians: How do you think Paul took Demas' defection? Colossians 4:14/2 Timothy 4:10
4) THE NEEDLESSNESS OF SUCH WAVERING:
There is no reason why we cannot go through all the minefields
out there … persecution, affliction, prosperity etc., and not
waver!
A/ Question is not, if we waver, what we doubt…but Whom?
To waver is to doubt God who has revealed Himself/Bible like this:
[i] God who cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13)
[ii] Similar idea, only more explicit: God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2)
As our text puts it: He is faithful who has promised
B/ What has He promised?
[i] Ever to be with us (Matthew 28:20)
Never to leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)
Not just to watch as a spectator or even as a helpless sympathiser
But with us to help us overcome any/everything designed to fell us
[ii] Promised that the gates/hell shall not prevail against His church (Matthew 16:18)
Not plain sailing…but ult. every last redeemed soul will, sooner/later, battered/bruised perhaps, make it home/heaven
Nothing out there which, if you mean to go on with God, can stop you
Not spoken to have us presume - but to trust with a Bible based faith that always seeks to obey what is written/Bible
This keeps us from being reckless, while assuming we are safe
C/ What can we say of the promises/God?
[i] They are deposited in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20)
[ii] Not one good word of His promise has ever failed: (1 Kings 8:56)
[iii] We can so trust these promises, that we need not even waver
We can hold the line by the power/God and face down the enemy so that
he wavers in his attack leaves the scene confused/defeated…not
us: Resist/Devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7)
THE END