How to live in a world that hates you part 6
Love your enemies, live in a spirit of forgiveness, rely on the Word of God, make disciples, expect to be rejected, and today…trust in God
Hebrews 10: 35 Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward. 36 For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
37 “In a
very little while,
he who
comes will come, and will not wait.
38 But the righteous will live by
faith.
If he
shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”Habakkuk 2:3-4
39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. 2 For by this, the elders obtained testimony. 3 By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
We are in that world
The Principle, the narrative, the reason
Under the principle; What does it mean to trust God, and what is the temptation?
What does it mean to trust God?
We trust with our heads (belief), our mouth (words), and our hands (actions)
Everyone lives by some measure of faith—get car brakes—explosions
Ibuprofen—I have a headache, pain after surgery “Take this, it will lesson, or get rid of your pain
If I trust faith—I have to believe, results in words, Prescription for Bruce Hays
Actions—trust in God is the same
Trust God—even more profound than that –belief in ibuprofen is based somewhat on experience—someone can tell me their experience—statistics
But trusting God—
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
Assurance, substance, conviction of things hoped for.
What do we hope for—heaven, reward, reuniting with loved ones, peace that passes understanding, love of God
We hope for it—we can’t see it—it’s not a pill with a statistical track record—9 out of 10 who put their faith in Jesus
Proof (evidence) of things not seen
We didn’t see
Hebrews 11:3 3 By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
Creation—our faith—gives it substance
What does it mean to trust God?
Head/mind
1. Faith begins in your head/mind, what you believe, we hear a statement—we believe it
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved
Genesis 15:6 Abram believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.
2. It not always easy to believe
Jesus said—all things are possible to those who believe. I believe, help my unbelief. You believe because you have seen—blessed are those who believe having not seen.
It is a struggle in our world.
So, trust is first- believing
Mouth/words
It is expressed in words
And it’s a little more difficult
Romans 10:9 9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation.
He who confesses me before men, him will I confess before my Father in heaven.
Hands/actions
No resulting actions—demonstrates the absence of true belief
Faith without works is dead
All three are present—trusting God, as we live in this world, means all three
What you believe—the Bible
What you say—its truth
What you do—its commandments
But when you live in a hostile world—what is the temptation—to shrink away—that’s why I chose this passage—the people that Hebrews is to are like us—tempted to shrink away
37 “In a
very little while,
he who
comes will come, and will not wait.
38 But the righteous will live by
faith.
If he
shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”Habakkuk 2:3-4
39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
Hebrews 10:25 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Who are they?
They are tempted to shrink back—starts with beliefs
But the Word of God to us is Trust God—despite circumstance
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will direct your paths.
I know that this series has been somewhat of a downer. It some ways it was meant to be. We can see certain realities growing around us, and we need to be shaken out of a stupor.
You see, at least in my life-time, the true church in this country has been in a state of decline. When we think about the glory days of the church, they are always behind us. Preachers tell stories about revival…back then, not now. The Great Awakening of the 1730’s and 40’s, the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades began in 1947, and reached their greatest impact in the U.S. in the 50’s and 60’s. That was the time of the Church’s greatest influence in our country. Billy Graham became the nation’s pastor, and met with every president from Harry Truman to Donald Trump. During this time, in 1954, “under God” was added to the pledge of allegiance. “In God we trust” which had appeared on our currency during the civil war, but was later removed, was put back by law in 1957.
According to the Gallup poll organization Church membership hit its highest point around 1947 and 48, at 76%, and it now sits at 50% overall. And more alarming than that is that, among millennials, it is at 42%, and declining.
And that doesn’t really show us the whole picture, it’s one thing to have your name on a church membership roster, but do you actually attend? Gallup started tracking church attendance in 2008. Among all age groups, the average who said that they attend church weekly, was 42%. Just nine years later that percentage has dropped 4 points to 38%
And we know that the Gallup’s definition of “church” is much more broad than ours. It takes in Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Charismatic, and many denominations who have essentially joined the world in its definition of right and wrong, and God, and who Jesus is, etc.
So, we should understand why there is a national turn away from Christianity and a growing hostility toward Christian values.
I personally see it in the school system, in the news media, and on practically every program or movie that is currently being produced out of Hollywood.
So, how do we live in this world? Well, first, we need to understand that we are arriving late to this notion that the world will hate us. We’ve been living in a bubble in history, and in the world. For most of the world’s history, God’s people have been hated and persecuted. In most of the world around us today, Christians are suspect, or hated.
But, what we must do, is recommit ourselves to the values of the book of Acts. The values of that 1st century of believers who were all alone in the world; love, forgiveness, the Word of God, expecting persecution, discipleship, and today we consider our trust in God.
In order to remain sane in a world that hates you, you have to have a radical trust in God. And today we are going to follow the same outline we’ve followed with each of our previous sermons; the principle, the narrative, and the reason.
Let’s pray.
We begin today with the principle; Trust in God
Have faith in God. Put your trust, not in political movements, or in getting the right people elected, or in the justice from courtrooms or legislatures, but in God alone. That doesn’t mean that we don’t try to influence our world and it’s institutions, we just don’t put our hopes in that basket.
I. The Principle
I chose the passage we read a moment ago, Hebrews 10 and 11, because it defines our faith, our trust in God. So let’s go back to it.
A. The recipients of this book are like us.
In short, the book of Hebrews was written to Hebrews. To Jewish people who had become a part of the Church. They had come to believe that Jesus was their promised Messiah. Now to understand the book of Hebrews better, you need to understand that these Jews, who believed in Jesus, are divided into two groups. One group have come all the way over to a public commitment to Christ. They professed their faith, they were baptized. But, they struggled with all the ceremonies, feast days, and legalism of their old Judaism. They are tempted to go back to some of it.
Now there’s also a second group. These are Jewish people, who have come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but because the don’t want to lose their families, their jobs, their culture, they keep that belief silent. They choose to believe, but to blend into their society.
Both groups have a similar temptation. “Go along to get along.” “Don’t make waves.” “Sometimes you have to compromise.”
And the author of Hebrews jumps back and forth between these two groups. But the message is the same. “You need to decide what you believe, and in whom you believe, and stand up publicly for your faith, your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
They are like us in our society today.
In our country today, you can be a Christian, just don’t be bold about it. Don’t be emphatic. In fact, keep it to yourself. Don’t preach that Jesus is the only way. Don’t say that the Bible is the only Word of God. Don’t proclaim that the only way to be made right with God is by faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Keep that to yourself.
But the author of Hebrews says, “Don’t throw away your boldness.”
They are like us.
B. Their hope is like our hope.
Look at verse 35 again.
“You need endurance so that…you may receive the promise.” What promise, verse 37
“In a very little while, he who comes will come.” They were living in hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Things were getting tough in the world around them. Many Jews came to believe in Jesus, but most did not. And those who did not were still in control of the synagogues which had some civil and religious authority over Jewish people. They were still under the authority in Israel, of the Sanhedrin, and the temple system of Levites and priests. But, those systems had rejected Christ, and had become hostile to Christianity. In fact, around 90 AD, there is evidence that a benediction was added to some synagogue services. This benediction asked God to curse the followers of the Nazerene.
Those gathered would have to repeat this curse as part of the service.
So time is marching on, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for a Jewish Christian to live among Jewish people. They were in a society that hated them.
So, they were hoping for the return of Jesus.
C. Their temptation is like our temptation.
They are tempted to “Shrink back.”
You know what this means. When an uncomfortable conversation starts about religion, or morality, it’s easier to slink back into the shadows. To avoid the conversation because you know that your faith, or any statement of your faith, or of Biblical standards will make people angry, and put a target on your back. So you just keep your mouth shut.
These 1st century Jews were in a similar circumstance. If they wanted peace in their family gatherings, if they wanted to continue attending synagogue services with the community, if they wanted the community to continue doing business with them, they had to keep their mouths shut about Jesus.
And that’s where we are today. Living in a hostile society that will jump all over you if you say anything contrary to the accepted “truth.”
Now, I’ve said this before, but in order to make my point, let me repeat it. If you doubt that our world is hostile to Christianity, try presenting any Christian truth in a public forum, and see what the response is. I’ve talked about facebook and social media, but think instead about this; You go to your local school board meeting and stand at the microphone.
As you know, the public is often invited to ask questions, and those meetings are televised. Go to one of those meetings, and make any of these 3 statements;
1. The Bible says that there are only 2 genders, male and female, so we shouldn’t allow boys on the girls basketball team.
2. The Bible says that the world was created in 6 days by God, so evolution shouldn’t be taught as anything more than a theory.
3. The Bible teaches that children must be trained with the “rod of discipline.” So our schools should strictly punish students who refuse to follow rules.
Just try that, and see what happens to you. If you did that, I think your life could potentially be in danger. Now I’m not recommending that you do that. But I am pointing out that we are in a world similar to the one that 1st century Jews lived in. It is hostile. And we are tempted to shrink back. So, since our world’s are the same.
D. So our faith must be like their faith.
Our trust must be like their trust. We must put our trust in God. And trust is manifest in both thoughts and actions.
Look at what the author of Hebrews said to his audience.
Our faith is “the assurance of things hoped for”
“The proof of things not seen.”
In sum, what the author of Hebrews is saying, is that we believe in things that we cannot see. Our faith/trust makes real what cannot be proven. And he illustrates it. He says, we understand that God made the world, but none of us were there to witness it.
So, let’s take that and look at it for a moment. If we are to live in a world that is hostile to us, we must trust God. What does that trust look like? Take this example. We believe, trust, have faith that God created the world. The world around us is hostile to that truth. They don’t want you saying it. It is not accepted in any classroom on the secular university campus. It will not be expressed on the news, except as a point of ridicule. Those who believe it will be portrayed as idiots and buffoons on most T.V. programs and movies.
So how do you live in that faith? By your mind, and words. You hold on to that faith in your mind, you express it by your words when the opportunity presents itself.
Despite ridicule, despite consequences.
Do I have to say anything? That’s what the whole book of Hebrews was written about. It was about a Jewish Christian people who wanted to shrink back into the shadows. To have a private faith, away from the public eye.
It is impossible to be salt and light, if the salt stays in the shaker, and the light is hidden under a bushel.
II. The narrative
Where, in the book of Acts, do we find people acting of their faith? They believed and acted on something that they could not see.
a. Jesus said go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit.
b. 3000 people heard Peter’s sermon, believed, and were baptized in the name of the resurrected Jesus, who they had not seen.
c. Peter and John proclaimed the resurrected Christ to the Sanhedrin, and continued to do so even under threat of death and imprisonment.
d. The rest of the Christians ended up scattering from Israel because of persecution, but they kept on preaching the Word everywhere they went.
e. Jewish Christians, beginning with Peter, took the gospel to the Gentiles, because they came to understand that Scripture foretold it. They believed the Bible, not their own thoughts.
f. Think about this, these early Christians went out into a world that had never even heard of Jesus, had little knowledge of Judaism, believed in multiple gods, whose morals were far afield of Scripture. Some of these societies had temple prostitution, left unwanted babies out in the open to die. Had slavery where a master could kill the slave like he would kill his own cattle. They had multiple wives. They were involved in every sort of sexual deviancy. But these Christians came to town, without a supporting missionary agency, and preached Jesus, knowing that they would be arrested, beaten, and possibly killed.
g. That’s what it means to trust God. Believe what He says, and proclaim it, and leave the aftermath to Him.
III. The reason
He is all that can be trusted.
We seek to please Him.
We wait for the reward that He will give.
Let me close with three examples; Abel, Enoch, and Noah.
These are great examples. Because sometimes we think that having faith, trusting God means that “everything is going to be okay.”
Have you ever said that? “Everything is going to be okay. Trust God.” Sometimes what we mean is that God will make it all better for us in this life. Like Enoch. Enoch walked with God and was not because God took him. He lived out his life in close fellowship to God. He believed God’s Word, acted on it, spoke it, He lived into old age. We have no indication that any major crisis struck his life, and then God just took him home to heaven.
Most of us could have faith if that was the promise.
But before Noah, Hebrews example of faith is Abel. He to believed God’s Word about an appropriate sacrifice. He acted on it. And I suspect that he talked about it with his brother. They were out in a field together. Maybe they were talking about the sacrifices that they each had brought to God, and how Abel’s was accepted, and Cain’s was not. And Cain, in anger and hatred, killed his brother, in the prime of his life.
You see, trusting God is not trusting that you will not suffer, or experience hostility. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Noah is a third example, and you may say, “Well Noah was saved from the hostility of the world. Was he? For 100 years he was building a boat, and Scripture says that during that time he was a preacher of righteousness. He endured the ridicule of his neighbors. And then he had to see all of the earth die. And after he came out of the ark, he cursed his own son for an act of immorality and disrespect. Noah did not escape the hostility of the world.
And there you have it. As Christians live in the world, they must all trust God. Some will escape any major difficulties, but they must still faithfully believe and proclaim the truth. Others may die, standing for the truth. Some will live long lives under the shadow and ridicule of the world.
But we must trust God with which we will be.