Hebrews 10:32-39 New Living Translation
32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ.[a] Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.
35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
37 “For in just a little while,
the Coming One will come and not delay.
38 And my righteous ones will live by faith.[b]
But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”[c]
39 But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Imagine that we wish that success would be ours every moment of everyday.
Imagine ourselves in a world where the word failure was never inserted into Webster’s Dictionary, than in all the history of mankind failure did not exist?
Imagine God withholding failure from the knowledge and awareness of man?
Imagine that our ever vigilant God never allowed the Serpent into the Garden?
Imagine your own existence where everyone knew success 100% of the time?
Its great that we can imagine ourselves successfully living in such moments.
Never thinking, even realizing, that there was never another way to live life?
I can allow such fights of fancy to run through my imagination from time to time when I am being cascaded and marauded by all of the negative moments.
The biblical reality is, of course, that the serpent did slither into the Garden of Eden and the serpent did open its mouth and speak alternative words to Eve.
Then the knowledge of good and evil and of failure and sin entered Webster’s.
The reality which we have now is that failure is a very common experience and very defeating experience, with God’s help we can keep failure from being final.
Bob Hope, when asked about his early failures in stand-up comedy, said, “I would not have had anything to eat if it wasn’t for the stuff the audience threw at me.”
Do you consider President Abraham Lincoln’s life a life of success or failure?
a. Abe Lincoln once said, “I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so.”
b. Abraham Lincoln’s life is the best example of his own words, because he experienced more failure than success in most of his life.
c. Abraham Lincoln failed twice in business and had a nervous breakdown.
d. Abraham Lincoln was soundly defeated in elections 8 times for the seats in government that he ran for, and only won in the elections 3 times.
e. Two of those elections Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States.
The truth of the matter is that failure, even repeated failure, doesn’t have to be final or fatal because with confidence, endurance there can be success in failure.
1. Malcolm Forbes said, “Failure is success if we learn from it.”
2. Marilyn vos Savant said, “Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.”
Here’s a poem about failure that contains many truths:
Failing does not necessarily mean you have accomplished nothing;
It may mean you have learned something.
Failing does not necessarily mean you have wasted your time;
It may mean you have an opportunity to start afresh.
Failing does not necessarily mean you are inferior;
It does mean you are not perfect.
Failing does mean you are perfectly human;
All of us have felt the anguish and sting of failure, even repeated failure.
The ironic thing about failure is that “hindsight is 20/20 vision,” and with that hindsight we see very clearly how we could have done, should have done, would do things differently if we could go backwards in time and do them over again.
But since God did not put anyone else in charge of time, that is one more failure we repeatedly place in our path – that we know we can not change time, but we will certainly expend a great deal of effort to rent out space in our souls trying.
There are many different ways that we experience failure.
a. We make mistakes, we make bad decisions in good times and bad times.
b. We let ourselves down and we let others down and hurt those we love.
c. We don’t see or find success, we don’t live up to our goals and expectations.
d. We always successfully fail to live up to the life God intends for us to live.
But despite all of the ways we convince ourselves we have failed, the most important question we must answer is: What can we do about our failures?
Gaining Confidence Through Failure and Suffering
Hebrews 10:32-39 The Message
32-39 Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse—some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn’t touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.
It won’t be long now, he’s on the way;
he’ll show up most any minute.
But anyone who is right with me thrives on loyal trust;
if he cuts and runs, I won’t be very happy.
But we’re not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We’ll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.
But We Are Not Quitters Who Lose Out ….
Oh, No!
We Will Stay With It and Survive, Trusting [God, Jesus, Holy Spirit] All The Way!
Here is a word of encouragement for those who grieve and for those who seek to comfort them.
Perhaps you or someone you know has faced personal tragedy recently.
Cannot get that tragedy out of their minds – walking through wet concrete.
Perhaps you yourself have unexpectedly lost a loved one, and the pain of the loss is so great, so catastrophically overwhelming, that you’re ready to quit.
Perhaps you’re feeling helpless, hopeless and burdened as you watch your brother or sister in Christ walk the painful road of failures and suffering.
Steady state, steady flowing and prolonged failure and intense suffering often causes us to stop our Christianity cold and question our faith and commitment.
But the author of Hebrews encourages us to remain steadfast as we call to mind our endurance through former hardship.
“Recall,” he says, “the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.”
And in light of this recollection, we must also avoid the temptation to “throw away … confidence,” knowing that our perseverance will be greatly rewarded.
The longer we go on in the experience of Christian life, the more trials we come through strengthened by God’s grace, and the more we can look back on them and think, “If I persevered through that, then I can keep going through this.”
You may be thinking, though,
“This is too much all at one time—perseverance is beyond me this time.”
If so, know this: acknowledge the feeling, then acknowledge it is in moments of great weakness that the Spirit strengthens us and helps us (Romans 8:26-28).
T often overlooked reality which is seldom recalled, taught or preached is that even when we do not know what to pray for or how to endure, the Holy Spirit of God simply intercedes for us and enables us to do the will of God (Romans 8:26).
The anonymous writer to the Hebrews exhorts us, as members of God’s family, united in Christ, to stand side by side and partner with those who are suffering.
Indeed, we are called by God, covenanted by God, to actively extend empathy and sympathy as we identify with our brothers and sisters in their affliction.
Proverbs 17:17 English Standard Version
17 A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 18:24 English Standard Version
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 27:6 English Standard Version
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 27:9 English Standard Version
9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.[a]
Proverbs 27:17 English Standard Version
17 Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.[a]
Such biblical partnerships may come at a cost of resources; early believers even had endured the “plundering of … property” as a result of their compassion for those already distressed, imprisoned-yet we must not let its costliness deter us.
In sorrow and in sympathy, we persevere because the Lord stands by us to strengthen and uphold us with His righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10).
As you and I successfully or in total failure, face life’s toils and troubles, don’t shrink from nor throw away your confidence or shrink back into the shadows.
Fix your eyes, and encourage those around you to fix their eyes, on a “better possession and an abiding one”: the true glory of eternity with Christ, who has walked the path of suffering before us and now beckons us on, on toward home.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 40 English Standard Version
My Help and My Deliverer
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
40 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is the man who makes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.
6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open ear.[a]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance[b]
in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12 For evils have encompassed me
beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!
14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 