Colossians 1:24-27

If you will please take out your copy of God's Word and join me in Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

An astute observer would note that this morning on your bulletin says that I'll be preaching a sermon on Hebrews chapter 2 verses 11 through 16.

Hebrews 2:11–16

And that was correct up until 5 a.m. this morning.

So, the prominent theme of the book of Hebrews, which we are working through together normally on Sunday morning,

is the supremacy and the finality of Jesus Christ.

The letter written to the Hebrews by an unsure author, but a man certainly who was pastoral toward them,

was written to a group of Hellenistic Jews who likely had been expelled from the Roman center and are living out on the outskirts.

Likely a small group, likely a group huddled together in a home, opening up this letter to read it,

and they had been tried.

They had been hated for their devotion to Jesus Christ.

And we pick up on that as a secondary theme of the text.

That he's writing to these Christians to say to them,

Jesus is the superior way.

Don't be tempted in the midst of suffering to go back to Judaism or to turn to any of the Roman gods.

Christ is supreme and He is final.

He's the ultimate and final sacrifice.

Christ is the way that we are made right with God.

So, we're going to see this theme.

We're going to see it picked up again and again and again throughout the book.

And we are in the thick of it already here in Hebrews chapter 2.

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

And I just want another week to work out the implications of verses 11 through 16 and then probably on into verses 17 and 18 next week.

But, I do want us to also consider this idea of Christian suffering.

I want to take a little more time on it and then we'll dive into Hebrews 2 again next week, Lord willing.

To stop and to think in our American context.

Are we called as Christians to suffer?

And what does that look like?

We are sold often a bill of prosperity in our country as Christ followers.

And it is not the biblical gospel.

So, it's good for us to take some time to consider that.

In fact, most of my work this week was writing a massive introduction to that very end to get into the text.

And so, this will be a bit of an introduction in that way.

So, I want to look today at Colossians chapter 1 verses 24 through 27.

Colossians 1:24–27

And before I read it, I want to remind you, beloved, that this is God's Word to us.

It was written for His glory and for our good.

We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

And Paul writes to the church.

Colossae.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.

And in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body.

That is, the church.

Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you.

To make the Word of God fully known.

The mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to His saints.

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery,

which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Now there is so much good in these four verses.

There is so much to be mined out of them.

But, this morning I just have two points.

And they are, number one, the aim of Paul's ministry.

What was Paul working to accomplish?

The aim of his ministry.

And number two, the means of Paul's ministry.

So first, the aim of Paul's ministry.

We see this worked out throughout the text.

He became a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ to make the Word of God fully known.

He says in verse 26, it's the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to His saints.

Jesus Christ Himself, verse 27, Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Paul is aimed at God's purpose in the world, which is to make Christ known amongst all peoples everywhere.

The purpose of God in history is that the gospel of reconciliation spread to all the peoples of the world

and yield God-centered, Christ-exalting churches.

This is what he's working toward.

You want to know, what is God's purpose in the world?

It's this.

The gospel of reconciliation spread to all peoples of the world and yield God-centered, Christ-exalting churches.

People for His praise.

This was the promise of the Old Testament.

Psalm 22, verse 27 and 28 says,

Psalms 22:27

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

For kingship belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations.

This was the promise of Jesus to His disciples.

Matthew 24, verse 14, Jesus says,

Matthew 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations,

and then the end will come.

This was the design of God in the cross.

As heaven's worship proclaims in Revelation 5 and verse 9,

You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

This was the final command of our risen Lord found in Matthew 28, verse 18 and following.

Matthew 28:18

He says,

This was the God-given aim of Paul's apostleship.

Romans 1, verse 5, Paul writes,

Romans 1:5

Through Christ we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith

for the sake of His name, Christ's name, among all the nations.

This was Paul's holy ambition,

rooted not just in a unique apostolic call,

but also in the Old Testament promise that is still valid today.

In Romans 15, verse 20 and 21,

Romans 15:20

where he cites Isaiah 52 and verse 15,

Paul writes,

I make it my ambition to preach the gospel,

not where Christ has already been named,

lest I build on someone else's foundation,

but as it is written,

those who have never been told of Him will see,

and those who have never heard will understand.

Also in Acts 13, verse 47,

Acts 13:47

where Isaiah 42, verse 6 is cited,

Isaiah 42:6

So the Lord has commanded us, saying,

I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

Beloved, this was the purpose of the sending of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 1, verse 8, Jesus says,

Acts 1:8

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

and in all Judea and Samaria,

and to the end of the earth.

Again, the purpose of God in history

is that the gospel of reconciliation

spread to all the peoples of the world

and yield God-centered, Christ-exalting churches.

This was the aim.

This was the work of Paul

in the establishment of the Church of Colossae,

and in this church,

Paul's ministry necessarily,

some would argue it is.

We're not sure.

But this church that the book of Hebrews is written to

that we are in the midst of studying now,

that all peoples everywhere would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is Paul's aim,

and it is ours as well.

Secondly, the means of Paul's ministry.

Paul says this very peculiar thing

at the beginning of verse 24 in Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

He says,

Now I rejoice.

I find great joy in my sufferings for your sake,

and in my flesh I am filling up

what is lacking in Christ's afflictions

for the sake of His body, that is, the church.

The suffering of Paul

was not a consequence of His ministry,

but rather a strategy of it.

If it's clear in your mind,

it was not a consequence of His ministry.

And what I'm saying to you is

it wasn't an avoidable thing.

It wasn't a consequence of what He was doing.

It was a strategy of it.

It was part and parcel of His ministry.

Suffering was a primary means

by which Paul spread

the gospel of reconciliation

to all peoples of the world

in order to yield God-centered,

Christ-exalting churches.

And beloved,

nothing has changed.

If you believe that it has,

then you have failed

to believe the gospel rightly.

It is the error of much modern preaching,

and it is akin to the prosperity gospel

that would say,

rather believe in Jesus

and He will make you wealthy and healthy.

That's prosperity gospel.

And so many of us so quickly

and readily reject that.

But this more subversive prosperity gospel says,

believe in Jesus

and you can keep your wealth

and your health.

He may not make you that,

but what you have is still yours.

Add a little Jesus to the mix.

And change isn't really necessary

to follow Jesus.

Beloved, the way of Jesus

is the way of suffering.

If we are to follow Christ,

then we will suffer in this world.

And that is a broad suffering.

There's a lot that's involved

in such suffering.

We will have trouble in this world.

Let's look at the call of the gospel

of Jesus Christ a bit together.

Jesus said in Mark 8,

Mark 8:34

verse 34 and 35,

if anyone would come after me,

if we're going to follow Jesus,

Jesus says,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me.

For whoever would save his life

will lose it.

But whoever loses his life

for my sake and the gospels

will save it.

Beloved, the cross is a place of death.

The cross is a place

where we put aside ourselves

for the greater walk

of following Jesus.

It's where we begin to reorient

who we are toward Him.

It's where we treasure Him

above all else,

come what may,

because we have Christ.

Matthew 10, verse 16.

Matthew 10:16

Jesus says,

Behold, I am sending you out

as sheep in the midst of wolves.

Romans 8, verse 36.

Romans 8:36

Paul here cites Psalm 44, verse 22,

Psalms 44:22

where he says,

As it is written,

for your sake,

we are being killed

all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep

to be slaughtered.

And if you look just before that

in Romans 8, verse 35,

Romans 8:35

the portion granted

to those who are in Christ

is tribulation, distress,

persecution, famine,

nakedness, danger, and sword.

Jesus goes on in Matthew 10.

I just read to you verse 16.

This is verse 17.

And following,

Beware of men,

for they will deliver you

over to courts

and flog you in their synagogues.

And you will be dragged

before governors and kings

for my sake.

Why?

to bear witness

before them

and the Gentiles.

That people would know

that I am the Christ.

Which leads us to this

interesting thing

that Paul says,

In my flesh,

I am filling up

what is lacking

in Christ's afflictions.

We must be very careful

at this point

to not think

that the affliction

of the saints

is somehow

salvific.

That our suffering

has anything to do

with the remediation

of sin.

I do not atone

for anybody's sin

in my suffering.

Christ did that.

Christ accomplished that.

His death was perfect

to accomplish

that work.

Here are some examples

from the book of Hebrews.

We are going to see

this theme again

and again

in our study as well.

Hebrews chapter 7

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

and verse 27.

He, being Christ,

has no need

like those high priests

to offer sacrifices daily

first for his own sins

and then for those

of the people

since he did this

once for all

when he offered up

himself.

So we are not

sacrifices in that way.

Hebrews chapter 9

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

and verse 12.

Jesus entered

once for all

into the holy places.

not by means

of the blood

of goats and calves

but by means

of his own blood.

Thus,

securing

an eternal

redemption.

Having paid

for all of the sins

of the church

in his

suffering.

Hebrews chapter 9

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

and verse 26.

The second part of it.

Jesus

has appeared

once for all

at the end

of the ages

to put away

sin

by the sacrifice

of himself.

And then

Hebrews chapter 10

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

and verse 14.

For by a single

offering,

Jesus has perfected

for all time

those who are

being

sanctified.

So,

do not be mistaken,

Jesus' sacrifice

was not lacking

in its power

to redeem the church

from its sin.

Jesus' life

and death

was fully

sufficient

to save

for all time

those who have

placed

and will place

believing faith

in him.

How then

are Christ's

afflictions

lacking?

John Piper

wrote a little

book called

Filling Up

the Afflictions

of Christ

where he wrote

this,

What is lacking

in the afflictions

of Christ

is not that

they are deficient

in worth

as though

they could not

sufficiently cover

the sins

of all

who believe.

What is lacking

is that the

infinite value

of Christ's

afflictions

is not known

and trusted

in the world.

These afflictions

and what they

mean are still

hidden to most

peoples.

And God's

intention

is that the

mystery be

revealed to

all the

nations.

So the

afflictions of

Christ are

lacking in the

sense that they

are not seen

and known

and loved

among the

nations.

They must be

carried by

missionaries

and those

missionaries

complete what

is lacking

in the

afflictions of

Christ

by extending

them to

others.

How?

How do they

extend that

to others?

A man named

Epaphroditus

can help us

with this.

In Philippians

Philippians 2:25

chapter 2

verse 25

and following,

Paul writes

to the Philippian

believers,

I have thought it

necessary to send

to you Epaphroditus

my brother and

fellow worker and

fellow soldier

and your messenger

and minister

to my need.

he was sent

to Paul

as a minister

to his need

by the Philippian

church.

For he has been

longing for you

all and has been

distressed because

you heard that

he was ill.

And I just love

this attitude of

Epaphroditus.

He's concerned

because they heard

that he was

sick.

Wonderful

example of

self-forgetfulness.

Indeed,

he was ill

near to death,

but God had

mercy on him

and not only on

him,

but on me

also,

lest I

should have

sorrow upon

sorrow.

I am the

more eager to

send him

therefore,

that you may

rejoice at

seeing him

again,

and that I

may be

less anxious.

So,

receive him

in the Lord

with all joy

and honor

such men.

So,

you get the

story of

what's happening

here as Paul's

writing to the

Philippian church.

Verse 30,

For he nearly

died for the

work of Christ.

Because he was

sent,

he got sick,

and he almost

died.

Paul says,

risking his

life to

complete what

was lacking

in your

service to

me.

And this

phrase in

Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 is

the exact same

phrase that Paul

uses in

Colossians

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

What was

lacking in the

afflictions of

Christ,

lacking in your

service to

me.

And I think

this helps us

to understand

rightly that

the way that

we take the

affliction of

Christ to

others,

that they

might know

him,

is that we

suffer like

Christ suffered.

We have a

presence amongst

people, a

suffering presence

amongst people,

that we also

experience the

afflictions of

Christ.

And we display

those afflictions

to others.

And we walk

in those

afflictions with

a great faith

and a great

God who is

redeeming people

for his

name.

So suffering

was a

primary means

by which Paul

spread the

gospel of

reconciliation to

all the peoples

of the world

in order to

yield God-centered,

Christ-exalting

churches.

Beloved, this

is a divine

strategy, not

merely a

consequence.

suffering.

Now at this

point I have to

imagine that you've

got all kinds of

questions about what

suffering is.

I've spoken so

general and broadly

about it.

I think we suffer in

a lot of ways in

this world.

I think we suffer in

ways that are

common to all

people in this

world with things

like sickness.

Our bodies are

failing.

We are ever being

reminded that we

are headed swiftly

towards death.

Some of you are

young.

I think most

people in the

room probably

have that feeling

when you wake

up in the

morning of,

oh no.

The process of

getting out of

bed is painful.

I typically roll

onto a shoulder

and drop a knee

down to the floor

and start on my

knees.

And I wish it

was because I

was there in

prayer to the

Lord.

I'm just trying

to stand up

in the morning.

The pollen count

is up.

I felt like I

had sand in my

eyes.

Yesterday.

This is sin in

the world.

The world is

broken.

It is desperately

broken in very

normative ways.

We experience it

in deeper ways

as well.

We experience it

in the loss of

loved ones,

old and young.

Tragedy strikes

families all the

time.

We see it in the

broad suffering

of the world

around us.

People starving

to death.

People without

parents.

There is so

much brokenness

and pain in

this world.

And as

Christian people,

we ought to

rightly view

that through

the lens of

sin.

Look at the

curse and its

rampant nature

in the place

that we are.

I think we

ought to

experience those

things in a

way that is

unique amongst

peoples of the

earth because we

understand what

caused it.

sin.

But more than

that, particularly

within that, the

church throughout

the ages has

been persecuted

for righteousness

and we are not

those who get to

escape this.

We don't get to

live in America

and escape people

not liking us for

our faith.

And that's going

to take a different

shape where we live

than it does in

other places.

I am fully aware

that no one here

is going to be

beaten for being a

Christian leaving

this place.

I would be so

astoundingly shocked

if that were to

happen.

I probably shouldn't

be, but I would

be.

It's probably not

going to take that

shape.

But it might look

like you being

passed over for a

promotion because

your boss really

doesn't care for you

all that much

because you keep

telling him of his

wickedness and

calling him to

turn to God.

being a follower

of Jesus Christ

is going to press

you to speak boldly

to people about

their eternal

damnation.

It may look like

school teachers,

you not being able

to hold your

position any longer

because you can no

longer hold your

tongue and you

must tell these

children about this

Jesus that you

love so much.

I pray that all

of you have school

systems you can

carefully navigate

and preach faithfully

the gospel without

being fired.

It may mean that

your neighbor doesn't

want to talk to you

in the driveway

anymore.

That he very

quickly scrambles

inside or he

pulls in the garage

and closes the door

before he gets out

of the car because

he knows you may

come over and

want to tell him

that he needs to

repent and believe

in Christ.

I think that we

don't experience

enough suffering

in this world

because we're not

faithful enough

in our pursuit

of Christ.

I think we're

this weird blend

of Christian

in the world.

I think the way

we live as Christians

to other Christians

in the world

would be shocking.

It would be

strange.

They would come

over and want

to talk about

our experience

and we would

have no idea

what they're

talking about.

So much that

we do has been

Americanized in a

very unhealthy

way.

suffering is a

divine strategy.

And if you are

sitting there and

you're thinking

wait a second

I don't want to

suffer.

My impulse is not

to do this thing

there's a naturalness

to that.

That's normative

but you want to

love Christ more

and you want to

love the way of

Christ more

and you want to

live for eternity

and not for now.

If you would

forsake Christ

in order to

not suffer

then you are

not in Him.

You have not

experienced His

lavish grace

and mercy

to you.

Tertullian

who was a

Christian who

lived from

about AD

160 to

about AD

225

said

the oftener

we are

mown down

by you

Romans

the more

in number

we Christians

grow

the blood

of Christians

is seed

and this is

true in the

world today

if God were

to suddenly

gather together

the church

global

today

we

white

European

Christians

nominal

in our

devotion to

Christ

would be

the minority

and the

odd ones.

In the

world right

now the

fastest growing

churches are

growing in

places where

we don't hear

about because

they're

underground.

They're

highly

persecuted.

Places like

Iran,

China,

you hear

reports coming

out of China

because it's

a little bit

looser now

in these days.

As many as

10,000 people

a day professing

faith in

Christ.

We're the

minority.

We're the

strange ones.

The blood

of Christians

is seed.

John Piper

adds to

Tertullian's

quote,

for almost

300 years

Christians

grew in

soil that

was wet

with the

blood of

martyrs.

The

suffering of

God's

saints

ought to

be the

norm,

not the

exception.

It ought to

be normative

and beloved,

we ought to

be all the

more bold

because of

the place

we live.

What are

we afraid

of?

A little

derision,

being made

fun of?

Oh,

someone's

going to

call me

goody-two-shoes

because I

called them

to the

ways of

God.

I'm not

going to

be as

liked as

I would

like to

be.

We should

be more

bold.

We should

be astoundingly,

we don't

even really

have to be

all that

wise in

the way

that we

proclaim

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ

because we're

not going

to be

imprisoned

and we're

not going

to be

put to

death.

We should

press on

and press

in.

So let me

just ask

you,

are you

willing to

bear up

under

discomfort

for the

sake of

Christ?

I wonder

how we

would respond

if there

were

picketers

at the

front of

our

property

on a

Sunday

morning.

If people

were saying

hateful

things about

you claiming

to be a

Christ follower

as you

pulled in,

how likely

would you

be to

navigate

through

such a

throng

to be

able to

gather

with the

church?

Worse

yet,

what if

there were

threats made

concerning

our lives?

What if

someone called

up and

said,

if your

church keeps

meeting the

way it's

meeting,

I'm going

to show

up one

day,

would we

continue

to meet?

Would we

so want

to be

together

to praise

this God

that has

loved us

so much

that we

would be

willing to

risk

such a

thing?

Would you

all gather

at dawn

in a

secret place

because the

danger was

so high,

because you

are so

hungry for

Christian

fellowship

and the

preaching of

God's

word?

If I

sent out a

message and

said,

hey,

we had a

threat placed

on the

church,

and so

this Sunday

instead of

meeting at

1030,

we're going

to meet at

5am,

because we're

going to get

in and we're

going to get

out before

anybody would

ever show

up to our

property.

How many

people would

be here

on that

morning?

For so

many,

gathering with

the church

seems to be

a thing they

do when they

have nothing

else to

do.

Paul writes

in 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and verse 12,

Indeed,

all who desire

to live a

godly life

in Christ

Jesus

will be

persecuted.

And Paul

is not here

saying that

if we want

to be godly,

we have to

go to

dangerous

places for

the gospel.

Paul here

is saying

that the

gospel is

dangerous.

Pursue

Christ where

you are

and you

will be

persecuted.

This

shouldn't be

some far

removed

foreign

theory of

the Christian

life.

What is

missing in

your life

that prevents

your affliction?

What comfort

do you hide

behind?

What sacrifice

do you need

to make?

The contemporary

Romanian pastor

Joseph

San,

who has

suffered

greatly at

the hand

of Russian

communists,

stated,

Christ's

suffering

is for

propitiation.

Our

suffering

is for

propagation.

Love that.

The seed

of the gospel

is sown

through the

suffering

of his

people.

Jesus

said in

John

John 12:24

chapter

12,

verse 24

and 25,

truly,

truly,

I say

to you,

unless a

grain of

wheat falls

into the

earth and

dies,

it remains

alone.

But if

it dies,

it bears

much fruit.

Whoever

loves his

life loses

it,

and whoever

hates his

life in

this world

will keep

it for

eternal

life.

Jesus

here is

not just

referring to

the death

of the

martyr,

although he

certainly

is,

but also

to the

daily

dying

of

disciples

of

Jesus

who

take up

their

crosses

and

follow

him,

follow

the

example

of

his

life

and

death.

Our

Lord

was a

suffering

servant.

It is

insane

for us

to call

ourselves

little

Christs

and to

not

suffer.

Christ

suffered.

God

himself

made

flesh,

emptied

himself,

became

humble

as a

servant,

and he

suffered

on our

behalf.

Jesus

says,

John

John 13:16

chapter

13

verse

16,

truly,

truly I

say to

you,

a servant

is not

greater

than his

master,

nor is

a messenger

greater

than the

one who

sent him.

The

message

of Jesus

Christ

is that

he lived,

he suffered,

and he died

for us.

And his

messengers

are meant

to bring

that message

in.

Our

suffering.

The

proper

Christian

life

is one

of

daily

death.

And Paul

writes in

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:8

chapter 4

verse 8

and following,

we are

afflicted in

every way

but not

crushed,

perplexed

but not

driven to

despair,

persecuted

but not

forsaken,

struck

down but

not

destroyed,

always

carrying in

the body

the death

of Jesus.

so the

life of

Jesus

may also

be

manifested

in our

bodies.

For we

who live

are always

being given

over to

death

for Jesus

sake,

so the

life of

Jesus

also may

be

manifested

in our

mortal

flesh.

So death

is at work

in us

but life

in you.

There's this

impartation

of life

to those

who see

us suffer

and bear

up under

it for

the joy

of Christ.

Sam

Storms in

his devotional

book on

Colossians

entitled

The Hope

of Glory

wrote,

Suffering

for sin

is a

reproach.

Suffering

for suffering's

sake

is perverted.

Suffering

for the

sake of

Christ

and His

people

is grounds

for joy.

Peter

writes in

1 Peter

1 Peter 4:13

chapter 4

verse 13

and following,

Rejoice

insofar

as you

share

Christ's

suffering

that you

may also

rejoice

and be

glad

when His

glory

is revealed.

If you

are insulted

for the

name of

Christ,

you are

blessed

because the

spirit of

glory and

of God

rests upon

you.

But let

none of

you suffer

as a

murderer

or a

thief

or an

evildoer

or as

a meddler.

He's

saying,

don't be

dumb.

Your

suffering

for being

a bad

person

is not

suffering

for Christ.

Yet,

if anyone

suffers

as a

Christian,

let him

not be

ashamed,

but let

him

glorify

God

in that

name.

And all

of this

is why

Paul is

able to

say,

now I

rejoice

in my

sufferings.

Suffering

for the

name of

Christ

is to

join

him

in his

suffering,

to be

united

with him

in his

suffering.

in

Acts 5.

In

Acts 5,

we see

the

record

of

the

apostles

called

together,

verse 40,

and put

on trial.

It records

when they

had called

in the

apostles,

they

beat

them

and

charged

them

not

to

speak

in

the

name

of

Jesus

and

let

them

go.

Then,

they

left

the

presence

of

the

council,

rejoicing

that they

were

counted

worthy

to

suffer

dishonor

for

the

name.

And

every

day

in

the

temple

and

from

house

to

house,

they

did

not

cease

teaching

and

preaching

that

the

Christ

is

Jesus.

And

I

love

that

account

of

Luke.

Luke's

very

to

the

point

record.

They're

charged,

they're

beaten,

they're

charged

not

to

preach

about

Christ,

they're

so

happy

that

they

got

to

suffer

as

Christ

suffered,

and

what

do

they

do?

They

go

around

teaching

that

Jesus

is

the

Christ.

Again,

if you're

not

okay

with

this

teaching,

then you

do not

treasure

Christ

as

you

ought

to.

The

way

of

Jesus

is

the

way

of

suffering.

Now

I want

to show

you this

from the

book of

Hebrews

in

closing.

So

turn

with

me

if

you

will

to

Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter

10.

Beloved,

beyond

the

suffering

of

Christ,

there

is a

great

and

eternal

joy

that

awaits

us.

We

get a

taste

of

that

joy

even

here

and

now,

and

we'll

have

so

much

of

it

later.

And

the

writer

of

Hebrews

makes

this

case

across

the

text.

I'm

so

looking

forward

to

working

through

the

entire

book

of

Hebrews

and

picking

this

theme

up

again

and

again

and

again.

But

I

want

to

show

you

that

he

makes

the

argument

to

them

to

persevere

to

keep

on

in

their

suffering

and

he

makes

it

first

Hebrews

Hebrews 10:32–35

chapter

10

verse

32

through

35

with

their

own

experience.

He

reminds

them

of

themselves.

He

argues

!

them

with

their

own

case.

He

says,

but

recall

the

former

days

when

after

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.

So

they

themselves

are

suffering

right

they're

being

publicly

exposed

reproach

there's

evil

words

being

spoken

against

them

affliction

there's

likely

some

kind

of

physical

persecution

happening

and

at

times

they're

partnering

with

some

who've

been

imprisoned