Don't Shrink Back | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church

I was going to be preaching today out of Hebrews

12, and I will be in a couple of weeks, but I

had been preparing a certain segment of that,

and I felt the Lord put something else in my

heart. It was actually a verse I had read to

open worship last week, and I just felt Him drop

it right into me, and it's actually a couple

of chapters back in Hebrews. And so we're going

to be in Hebrews chapter 10 today. And for some

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

of you, you might be like, yes, this is going

to be great. Some of you are going to be like,

I don't know about this. This is not who I am.

But I'm just saying what the scripture says.

And in Hebrews 10, 39, it is this passage. And

it says, we, but we. do not belong to those who

shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who

have faith and are saved. But we do not belong

to those who shrink back. Listen, the Jews at

this time were in an intense persecution. They

were facing public and social pressure and shaming.

Financial loss. It wasn't just they were getting

made fun of on Facebook. It was affecting them

financially. They were being imprisoned for their

faith. They were facing some hard things. And

in Hebrews 10, he says, hey, but we're not part

of those who shrink back. And I've known believers

who, as soon as the going gets tough, wait a

minute, maybe this isn't what I wanted. And so

let's take a few moments and just look at the

context of this verse in Hebrews 10. Starting

in verse 34, you suffered long along with those

in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation

of your property. This is what was happening.

Your home could be confiscated. Can you imagine?

It's hard for us and even the wealth of our Western

to get that, I think. Because you knew that you

yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

So do not throw away your confidence. It will

be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so

that when you have done the will of God, you

will receive what he has promised. For in just

a little while, We sang it today. He who is coming

will come and will not delay. You know, it feels

like it's delaying, but there's going to come

that moment where you're like, that went really

fast. And but my righteous one will live by faith,

and I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks

back. But we do not belong to those who shrink

back and are destroyed, but to those who have

faith and are saved. I want us to take two things

away from this. And the first thing in this passage

that captures my attention and makes me sit up

is verse 38. I take no pleasure in the one who

shrinks back. I just have all the things in my

life that I desire. It is to know that the pleasure

of the Lord is upon my life. There's no greater

joy than knowing my life is pleasing him. More

than any other circumstantial outcome in my life,

if I know my life has brought pleasure to the

Lord, that is victory. As I was writing this,

I began to think about, just from the top of

my head, some people in the Bible that I think

probably brought pleasure to God because they

weren't shrinkers. And so I think of in 1 Samuel

14, Jonathan, the son of King Saul. This is one

of my favorite accounts in the Old Testament.

In 1 Samuel 14, they had been camped out, all

the soldiers. And one day, I don't know if he

was getting antsy sitting around, but Jonathan

said to his armor bearer, hey, come on. We're

going to go over to the Philistine outpost on

the other side of this pass. He did not tell

his father, King Saul. I think it might be one

of those situations better to ask for forgiveness

later. So I think he's afraid Saul is going to

be like, no, you can't do that, right? And so

he does not tell his father. And verse 6. Now

I'm going to be kind of jumping around in some

of these passages. In verse 6, Jonathan said

to the armor bearer, come, let's go over to the

outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the

Lord will act on our behalf. He doesn't go to

take this knowing that God has sent him. He doesn't

go into it knowing thus. Sayeth the Lord. He

says, perhaps, right? This is just this idea

that started to burn in him. I want to go take

out those uncircumcised men over there. But he

goes on, and here's where we see the source of

his confidence, though. Nothing can hinder the

Lord from saving, whether by many or few. And

so the armor bearer, he has just complete trust

in Jonathan. He says, do all that you have in

mind. Go ahead. I am with you, heart and soul.

He was fully committed to Jonathan in whatever

scheme Jonathan came up with. So Jonathan told

his armor bearer, climb up after me. The Lord

has given. So he did then in the passage ask

the Lord for a sign. He got that sign. So he

said, come on, armor bearer. The Lord has given

them into the hand of Israel. And so in verse

14, it says, in that first attack, Jonathan and

his armor bearer killed these two guys, some

20 men in an area of about half an acre. i love

the zeal of jonathan that says i'm not sitting

around anymore there are some uncircumcised people

over there let's go let's go do something about

it perhaps the lord will save i know that nothing

can hinder god i think that that kind of attitude

pleases the lord In 1 Samuel, just a few chapters

over 17, we have, you all know David and Goliath,

the account of David and Goliath. If you don't,

you should read the whole thing. But here's,

we're summarizing. Here we have the armies of

Israel against the armies of the Philistines,

and Goliath, who's the giant of the man, taunting

them. to come out and fight them. And so David

is the little guy of the family. He's been out

in the hills with the sheep alone, and dad sends

him to take some food to his brothers on the

battlefield. So David shows up at the battlefield.

And there's this description in verse 24 of Goliath

that says, Whenever the Israelites saw the man,

they all fled from him in great fear. This is

the armies of Israel. They were all fleeing from

Goliath in great fear. And so this is what David

arrives on the scene to find. Goliath taunting,

Israel hiding. And I love what David says. Who

is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should

defy the armies of the living God? Who do you

think you are? I love, I'm pretty sure the zeal

of David, this young, passionate, just rises

up. Who is this guy? He's uncircumcised. Why

are you fleeing? He's defying God. And so David

in verse 32 says to King Saul, so he has the

audacity to approach King Saul and say, let no

one lose heart on account of this Philistine.

I'm here. You're serving me. I'll go and fight

him. You, King Saul, none of the armies of Israel

have stood up to him, but I'm here now, so don't

lose heart. I'll go do the battle for you all.

Just like envisioning, like wanting to just flick

this little kid away, right? He's probably not

winning anything from any of the armies of Israel

at this point. But in verse 45, Saul suits him

up or tries to and send him into battle. He's

like, all right. And so David comes to Goliath.

And he says, you come against me with the sword

and the spear and javelin, but I come against

you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God

of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands,

and I'll strike you down and cut off your head.

This very day, I will give the carcasses of the

Philistine army to the birds and animals, and

the whole world will know that there is a God

in Israel. Hallelujah. I think that the Lord

found pleasure in the zeal of David, who said,

no, no, no. I'm not going to tolerate any of

this nonsense of defying the living God. Let's

do battle. Let's go to war. I think in the New

Testament, we often read some of these passages

and think, I just don't know about those disciples,

man. I think about in Luke 9, 54, when the religious

leaders were against Jesus. And it says in verse

54 that when the disciples, James and John, saw

that, They saw them being against Jesus. They

asked Jesus, Lord, do you want us to call down

fire from heaven to destroy them? I just envisioned

Jesus rolling his eyes at them. No, just calm

down. But I think that there had to have been

something that might have just delighted Jesus

in their zeal. Yeah, well, we know that Elijah

did it, so why can't we? Why can't we call down

fire? Can we call down fire, Jesus? I'm envisioning

in Matthew 14 the delight of Jesus when they're

in the storm, rowing, the disciples, and Jesus

walks on water. And Peter, which, by the way,

Reminds me, if you haven't checked out Weekday

Faith, be sure to do it, the podcast. But he

says, Peter says, tell me to come to you on the

water. And Jesus, did he say no? No. He said,

come. Come, Peter. And Peter got out of the boat

and began to walk on water. He didn't shrink

back. I think that that brought joy to the heart

of Jesus. I think it brought joy to the heart

of Jesus in Luke 7 when a woman who lived a sinful

life learned that Jesus was eating in the house

of some Pharisees, the religious leaders. And

she had the audacity to come into that house.

with her alabaster jar of perfume, and begin

to weep over the feet of Jesus, washing his feet

and pouring perfume on them. And the Pharisees

rebuke her. Well, no, they actually are in their

mind saying, doesn't Jesus know who this is?

Well, Jesus knows what's in our minds. And he

says, do you see this woman? I came, you didn't

wash my feet. She did with her tears. You didn't

give me a kiss, but she hasn't stopped kissing

my feet since she entered. You did not put oil

on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet.

The audacity to step into this religious home

and do this. She didn't shrink back in intimidation.

of these religious leaders. I think it brings

joy to the heart of Jesus. And you might say,

well, that's not my personality. Now, for some

of you, not being courageous and adventurous

and taking mountains and hills, yeah, let's do

it. Darren and I had this discussion the other

night about, and he's told me this before, when

he gets close to death's door, His plan is to

not recede into the shadows and quietness. His

plan is to buy a ticket to the Middle East and

go preach the gospel. If he gets shot, he gets

shot. Some of us, you know, because he's at the

end, he wants to go out with a bang. I'm telling

on you now. Okay, some of us, though, this is

our kind of personality, too. We're a little

bit more tended toward that. Some of us are a

little more timid. Now, I know this because I

have a grandson, Benjamin. And Benjamin, when

he was a toddler, like, you had to watch out.

If you were swimming, he didn't know how to swim,

and he didn't care if you were standing there

or not. He was going to jump into the pool. Benjamin

is just dying to be a martyr for Jesus. He's

just waiting for the day that he can rise up

and declare Jesus and be martyred for his faith.

This is the kind of kid that he is. No fear.

He jumps in with everything that is in him. That's

part of his personality. But see, what we're

talking about today is not something that is

personality -driven. Well, I'm more adventurous.

I'm more timid and cautious. That's not what

this is about. This is about not shrinking back

in faith. This is about something in you responding.

to the living Christ that lives within you. This

is about a heart that wants nothing more but

to bring pleasure to God. Now, I could see Benjamin

being one of the disciples, James or John, and

saying, yeah, let's call down fire. He would

totally be in for that. The disciples, in all

of their zeal, and Jesus had to bring much correction

in a lot of that zeal, but I've said it before,

almost all of them were martyred for Jesus. When

it's all said and done, it wasn't just a personality

thing. It wasn't just a zealousness. It was a

conviction of faith, and they were martyred for

it. And so today, the greatest driving factor

in not shrinking back is to bring pleasure. This

is, we had a wonderful time of worship today,

but there is no greater action of worship, I

believe, than to press forward, than to step

out and say, I'm not going to be a shrinker.

I think there's no greater act of worship in

the face of difficulty than to remain standing.

to not let your feet slip backwards, but to remain

standing and believing in faith. There's no greater

act of worship, for it brings pleasure to God.

And so that's our first takeaway from our passage,

is the pleasure of the Lord. The second is this.

These aren't ones we keep company with. You know,

we choose. who we keep company with. And I love

that the author of this passage has this basic

assumption of whom he is writing to. I know who

I'm writing to. We are not of those that shrink

back. We are part of this great company that

does not shrink back. This passage, verse 39,

is the last verse in this chapter. Now, we know

that originally there were not chapters and verses,

right, in the Bible. Those we added later. And

so often it's good for you to look at what came

right before or after a chapter. And so after

verse 39 that says, but we do not belong to those

who shrink back and are destroyed. But to those

who have faith and are saved, who is he talking

about? Who are those who have faith and are saved?

Who is he talking about? Well, let's just go

on to the next verse. Chapter 11, verse 1. The

great hall of faith. Now faith is confidence.

in what we hope for, and assurance about what

we do not see. This is what the ancients were

commended for. And so who is he talking about?

He's talking about all of those that had gone

before the ancients. All of those that had been

living under the old covenant. And even in their

partial understanding under the old covenant,

these are men and women who did not shrink back.

But with the partial revelation, the partial

understanding, they stood their ground. These

are the ones of whom we are a part. We are one

body of Christ, whether it is the body sitting

here currently, whether it is the body of the

past or the future, it is one body. And we are

a part of them and they are a part of us. It

is this beautiful, beautiful body. And so he

begins talking about those whom he commends.

And he begins with this foundational faith in

verse 3. By faith, we understand that the universe

was formed at God's command. And catch this,

because this is what is needed for faith, so

that what is seen was not made out of what was

visible. Right? When God formed it all, he formed

it out of material that was already there. And

he could see, oh, I'll pick up this Play -Doh

and make something amazing. No. He created it

from the invisible. And so when you're talking

about faith, your circumstances, It matters not

what you see or don't see. The living God who

lives within you does not need the seen. He is

the substance of the unseen, and that is faith.

When it looks like it doesn't make sense, when

it looks like nothing could change, nothing could

happen, that's where faith kicks in. That's the

moment that we say, I am not shrinking back.

I'm fixing my eyes on the unseen. And so he goes

on. And down in verse 13, he says, all these

people were still living by faith when they died.

Wow, how great would that be to say about you?

that when I died, I died in faith, believing.

They did not receive the things promised. They

only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,

admitting that they were foreigners and strangers

on earth. And people who say such things show

that they are looking for a country of their

own. If they had been thinking of the country

they had left, they would have had opportunity

to return. Instead, they were longing for a better

country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not

ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared

a city for them. This is how they stood in faith.

They saw and welcomed from a distance their future

home. They admitted that they were what? strangers

and foreigners on this earth. We spent Advent

talking about being pilgrims, about being sojourners,

that this world is not our own. We are headed

to a heavenly place, a place that he is currently

preparing for us. And here's what I heard the

Holy Spirit drop into my heart. There are some

here that are living nearsighted. To live nearsighted

means that that which is, if you're nearsighted,

that means that you can see clearly what's in

front of you, but everything in the distance

is blurry. And there are some of us living like

that. This world and the things of this world

are very clear to us. We see it. It is our reality.

And your future eternal home is very blurry.

You have no vision for where God wants you to

end up. And then there are those that are farsighted.

That would be me. You're all really blurry through

my reading glasses right now, but I can see my

notes. Right? Did I say that right? Yeah, I'm

nearsighted. No, I'm farsighted. I'm going to

have us all confused by the end. Okay. Farsighted

means you're seeing into the distance. You can

see clearly what is ahead. And right in front

of you is very blurry. This is what God wants

us to be. God wants us living. far -sighted.

And that is what enables us to not shrink back,

right? Because what we are seeing clearly is

the unseen realm. What we are seeing clearly

is our eternal residence. What we are seeing

clearly is heaven above. And this earth, there's

that old song, right, that said, Strangely dim.

We got to become farsighted people. We got to

become farsighted people. This world has to become

blurry to us and have heaven become crystal clear.

These people were all living under the old covenant.

And so the author is provoking them a bit. He's

provoking the Messianic Jews to some jealousy.

Look at how they lived. Look at their faith.

And they lived that under the old covenant. They

lived that never seeing the promise of the Messiah.

come to pass in their life. If they live that

way under the old covenant, we have no excuse.

We have no excuse for shrinking back. But we

do not belong to those who shrink back and are

destroyed. If we move on into Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

12, just another, I'm taking you kind of through

three passages. And we're actually going to be

in this chapter in a couple of weeks. But I want

us to look at the first few verses. Because this

is our strength. And this is why the enemy works

so hard to isolate you and get you to quit meeting

with believers. In Hebrews 12, 1, it says, therefore,

since we are surrounded by such a great cloud

of witnesses, he just got done in the rest of

chapter 11 listing example after example after

example of people in the Old Testament who did

not shrink back. And so now he's saying, hey,

you're surrounded by these men and women of God.

Since we are, let us throw off everything that

hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,

and let us run with perseverance the race marked

out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer

and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before

him, he endured the cross. scorning its shame.

And he sat down at the right hand of the throne

of God. Consider him who endured such opposition

from sinners so that you will not grow weary

and lose heart. We're going to be talking about

that verse in a couple of weeks. But what I want

us to get today is that we are not alone. The

one that runs alone is a weak runner. He has

called us to run in community. And there is a

finish line. See, I'm not a runner. I would not

just run with no end in sight. Forget it. I would

be done. If I didn't know there was an end to

the race, I would not be running. In fact, if

I'm running, I can't even fix my eyes on the

end goal. I have to look at the next telephone

pole if I can just get to the next telephone

pole. Oh, victory. I made it to that telephone

pole. If I can just get to the next telephone

pole. Okay, I made it. I need to know there's

end in sight. We are running a race marked out

for us. And there are those that have gone ahead

that have run it for us. And I just believe in

heaven. I think even as we were worshiping today,

and you could just feel the heavens open over

us, I think it's because we join with all of

those that have gone before that are worshiping

in the throne room. And it's this beautiful moment

of corporate worship, not just on earth, but

a corporate worship of those that have gone ahead

that are worshiping around the throne room. And

there is strength and there is power in that

great cloud of witnesses that surround us. It

is their example that causes me to say, they

did it. They didn't. They didn't. And in their

day, they could not come boldly into the throne

room like I can. In their day, the veil was thick,

and there was no going behind that veil. But

I can go behind the veil. I can go into the Holy

of Holies. I can go into the throne room. If

they did it, if they can finish their race and

not shrink back, I can do it. I can do it. There

is strength. And you need one another. You need

people on a Sunday morning to say, you can do

it. You need people to say, come on. I know it's

hard. I've been there. I'm in there. You need

people to help you not shrink back. He didn't

intend us to go it alone. We must not be shrinkers

when the going gets tough. We've had it fairly

easy here. We just don't know what the future

looks like. And so, this morning, I felt a call

of the Holy Spirit that says, I want my people,

I want them to be a little bit out there. I want

them to not be afraid to maybe step out into

some unknown things. I want them to not be afraid

to pray radical prayers. I want them to not be

afraid to, when the Holy Spirit whispers something,

to rise up and do it. He wants us to not shrink

back, but to step out in a boldness. Not only,

listen, not only are we able to go into the throne

room, But we have the Holy Spirit. They did not

have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. A few here

and there, the Holy Spirit would come upon for

something specific. But they did not have the

infilling of the Holy Spirit that we have. No

excuses. No excuses. We've been given everything

we need to not shrink back. To not shrink back.

And so I'm going to ask if the team would come

this morning. We're going to be closing, but

I want to encourage you with these passages.

We read it in Hebrews 10, and it said, In just

a little while, he who is coming will come and

not delay. Throughout Scripture, what we see

is that when he's encouraged, the believers in

hardship. He's doing it through the hope of the

second coming of Christ. He's doing it. He's

putting hope in them. Hey, look to the skies.

He's coming again. He will not delay. Stay the

ground. Stay the course. He's going to come again.

If we continue to read there in Hebrews 12, In

verse 22, after talking about the race, he says,

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city

of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You

have come to thousands upon thousands of angels

in joyful assembly. to the church of the firstborn

whose names are written in heaven. You have come

to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of the

righteous made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator

of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood

that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

This is our home. This is our reality. This is

what is crystal clear in our gaze. We heard it

prayed this morning. We sang it. But in the Lord's

prayer, and this is a prayer that I pray often,

your kingdom come, your will be done on earth.

As it is in heaven. I think that what God is

wanting his church to do is to begin to become

people. See, as a believer, you have access to

heaven. You have access to heaven. You have access

to the throne room. Your neighbor may not, but

you sure do. Your coworker may not have access

to heaven, but you sure do. And so why, why would

we not step up? Why would we shrink back from

being a people that has access to heaven and

thereby are able to partner with God in seeing

heaven on earth? Through you, through me. If

that's what we want, we cannot shrink back. We

cannot shrink back and see your kingdom come,

your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

That is not for the shrinkers. On earth as it

is in heaven. We live in this moment of time

where we're believing for the fullness and perfection

that will come. And while we wait, we have the

mysteriousness of heaven coming to earth. And

I think he wants to challenge us to just become

a little bit more courageous, a little bit more

bold in releasing heaven on earth. Listen, Jesus

came and he did it. And he left his body on earth.

You and I are his body, his hands and his feet

to release heaven on earth. This is how it comes.

Through you and through me. Not shrinking back.

Stepping up. Saying I have access to heaven.

I have access to heaven. I have access to heaven.

Our verse here at this church is Mark chapter

Mark 9:23

9 verse 23. All things are possible for one who

believes. All things are possible for one who

believes. We cannot quote that verse and be a

shrinker. We cannot quote that verse. What is

required for this verse? Belief. Faith. We cannot

be a shrinker. And believe that verse. All things

are possible for one who believes. Lord, help

us in our unbelief. Lord, help us in our unbelief.

And so this morning, as we close out today, I

wanted to just do this. Some of you need to listen.

If you can't. Find the courage to step out and

come to an altar in the safety of this place

of believers. That's probably the beginning point

for some of you that have never made your way

to an altar. To find courage and boldness to

step out and say, God. There's been some areas

that I have shrunk back in believing you. There's

areas I've shrunk back in proclaiming you. There's

areas that I have shrunk back because my faith

has not felt strong. But today, I'm declaring,

I'm making the declaration, I will not be a shrinker.

I will not be in the company of those who shrink

back and are destroyed. Today, I make my proclamation

that I'm going to be a part of those ancient

ones who were commended for their faith. And

if when I die, I did not see any of it come to

pass, it's okay. I died in faith, believing.

And that pleases you. And so I've asked Darren

this morning. He wrote a song years ago. And

I asked him to lead in this song. And so I want

to challenge you, because some of you have some

rough stuff happening, and I get that. Some of

you have some life challenges that aren't easy.

That is not the time to shrink back. That is

the time to press in. That is the time to stir

your faith, believing. All things are possible

for the one who believes. All things are possible

for the one. Are all things possible for unbelief?

No. All things are possible for the one who believes.

And so this morning, if life has been challenging,

if things have been difficult, or if you felt

even the pressure of being a Christian in a place

that is not welcoming Christianity, today, the

Holy Spirit wants to encourage you and fill you

and empower you. And you need to access it. You

need to access it. And so if you'll stand this

morning and we're just going to take a moment

to pray. And then as we worship, I want you to

just make your way to the altar and let it be

your first step in not shrinking back. When you

do that, what you are doing is allowing others

to come alongside you and say, we're going to

pray together. We're going to fan your faith

together. We're going to run on this race together.

You weren't supposed to sit and do it alone in

your pew. He wants you with the believers not

shrinking back. Amen? And so, Lord, this morning,

we bring all of our stuff, all of our questions,

all of our disappointments, All of our frustrations,

all of our impatience, we bring it all to you

and we lay it down. And we lay it down in trust

knowing you can handle all of that. You can deal

with all of that, Jesus. But God, what we're

saying today is we want to please you with our

lives. And we want to be of the company of those

that do not shrink back. set our hand, that put

our feet forward and move toward where you are

and move toward what we hear the Father doing.

And we line up our lives to what the Father is

doing. Give us eyes and ears to hear in Jesus'

mighty name, in Jesus' mighty name. Let's just

worship for a few moments. And if that's you,

man, begin to move and take your steps towards

the altar.