Stay With Us
Notes
Transcript
Quit Too Soon
Quit Too Soon
When Sara and I were first married and before I started seminary I was in the insurance business.
Life, health, and disability.
That was just when life insurance policies were beginning to be combined with Mufu investments.
So, I got licensed for both Insurance and to sell Mufu’s.
As part of that there were partnerships forming between insurance companies and investment firms. One might buy the other. Or, shared prospect information.
We’d all work together for our clients, insurance agents and financial advisors.
A residual of that would be we’d get information on funds but also stocks of companies that had the potential to take off or fall off.
This is when I learned I am terrible at guessing with the stock market.
You want to buy just before the stock takes off. And then sell just before it bottoms out.
Sara and I didn’t have much. But, anything we could make on an investment would help us out. I don’t think I ever made money on a stock like that.
Sometimes it wasn’t the stock or the company. I got a hot tip on an auto parts company that was about to take off. And, it did. Value went up pretty fast. I’m getting excited. Maybe I hit on one.
This September of 1987. Do you remember what happened in Oct of ‘87? The stock market ‘corrected’ itself. It lost 20% of its value.
This auto parts company went out of business. Lost the entire investment.
Sara’s grandfather in Tyler, TX had given Sara some oil company stock when she was just out of college to help her get started and encourage her to save and invest.
Again, early ‘80s. By the time we were married the stock wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on.
When to buy, when to sell, when to join, when to quit. Million dollar decisions.
There is a story about R.U. Darby, also an insurance salesman, only in the 1850s in Maryland.
He heard about the gold rush in Colorado, moved, staked a claim and went to work with a pick and shovel.
Before long, he found gold. There was a lot of it. He was excited. But he knew he couldn’t dig it up by hand, he needed heavier equipment.
He covered it all up, went back to Maryland, showed his friends and family a sample of what he’d found. He got them to invest.
He returned to CO, bought the heavy equipment he needed and went back to work.
The first carload of gold he mined proved to be a very promising find. In fact, it would only take a few more carloads like that one to pay off his debts entirely. Then, pure profit.
Every time they drilled down, his hopes went up. They doubled their efforts and right away had good results.
But, then, something unexpected happened. The vein of gold ran out. They couldn’t find any more. It just stopped. They drilled all around and it was nowhere t/b found.
They made the hard and disappointing decision to quit. They sold the equipment to a junk dealer and he returned to Maryland.
The rest of the story is the junk dealer hired a local engineer who knew more about the fault lines that ran thru the area.
The ground had shifted long before. The engineer calculated where the vein of gold could be picked up again, and he was right. They found it 3’ from where Darby quit drilling.
The junk dealer took the equipment he paid pennies for, mined the gold, and made millions.
R.U. Darby quit too soon. He went back east broke and broken, back to his insurance bsns.
But the rest of that story is, he learned he quit too soon and applied that lesson to his insurance sales. Never again did he quit trying just b/c he was told “no” once.
He built a successful business on the principle of never quitting after only 1 no.
When do you buy? When do you sell? When do you start up? When do you quit?
Decisions that have million dollar answers.
Don’t quit too soon.
This is also the message of rest of Hebrews 10.
There had been excitement, energy, power, peace, and joy when these Xians had first started up w/ this new org.
They left the synagogue and joined the church b/c they believed Jesus is the Savior.
Here they were years later and so much of the positive mojo had dried up.
They still believed it but were struggling to stay in b/c they expected things to go better.
But, where would they go? What would they do?
The preacher is going to implore them w/ this;
Jesus has already proved He is the Real Deal. Do not quit now.
If you quit now it will cost you. When He returns He will make it worth the investment of your life.
He is winding down a major section of his message. To start off, he’s going to review and repeat some of the things he’s already said that prove Jesus is the real deal.
Let’s Review
Let’s Review
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
This is all ground he has covered before. I have, too, as I taught thru it.
“Therefore...” When you see the word therefore...
Indicating he has built his case and now is coming to a conclusion.
We can enter the Most Holy Place thru the curtain.
The temple had a curtain that was about a foot thick and flexible that prevented ppl from going into the innermost room.
No one, except 1 priest, annually could go in.
But now, anyone can go in b/c when Jesus’s body was torn on the cross, the curtain was torn.
That was an undisputed fact. These ppl were 30 years removed from the events of that day.
It was a well-established fact that this curtain, which was impossible to tear, was torn in 2.
Jesus proved He is our high priest by making it possible for us to enter into the presence of God.
Before we can do that, we have to washed clean from the effects of the times we mess up and create a deficit, a problem between God and us.
Jesus’s death on the cross did that. Not only did he make things right by making up our deficit, he took away our guilty feelings.
Last week: Guilty feelings can wreck you, wreck you marriage, wreck your career, wreck you by messing w/ your ability to make better decisions, compounding the guilty feelings. Locked up and knocked down.
Jesus not only removes the guilt, but he will take away the feelings that wreck you, too.
We’ve been washed, like with the pure water in the wash basin in the outer court of the temple.
Our hearts have been sprinkled w/ his blood like when the priests would sprinkle the furniture and ppl w/ the blood of the animal they sac’d for their sins.
Jesus did this. He proved it. And they knew it.
It was a new and living way.
I remember the night, laying in bed, after I had accepted X that day, I felt different. I was alive in a way I had never been before.
My family had taken me to church, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day. I believed there was a God. I bel’d Jesus did what he did.
But for the first time, I accepted what Jesus did on my behalf for what I needed to do to be right w/ God.
I was different. I felt it. I knew it.
They did too. What they felt when they first came to faith and the changes that happened in them proved Jesus is the real dead and there is no better place to go.
They had the full assurance of what their faith brought them. Their faith was based on fact. It was just 30 years since Jesus’s death and res.
If they were not there personally, they knew somebody who was.
And the foundation of those facts allowed their faith to fill the cracks in what their head couldn’t get wrapped around.
A curtain that was impossible to tear, tore in 2. A man, crucified, died, 3 days later, walked out of his grave.
Assurance. Confidence. Since this is true, then do this.
Do (& Don’t Do) This
Do (& Don’t Do) This
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
The preacher is saying, I know life is hard right now. It’s not what God intended from the beginning. But b/c ppl make bad choices, good ppl have hard times.
Hard times do not nullify the truth of the events of the past.
Stay strong. Don’t quit now.
2 positives and 1 negative.
2 do’s and 1 don’t.
First “Do”
Hold unswervingly to the hope we profess.
In the Greek, hope is a certainty, timing is what’s in question.
No like a kid saying, “I hope I get a pony for Xmas.”
There’s no way a kid is getting a pony for Xmas. Besides, ponys are mean. Nobody wants a pony for Xmas.
We profess that our long-term future is secure and what comes w/ it will make us too wealthy to measure.
We know it’s going to happen. We just don’t know when.
So, hang on to the hope that we have. As hard as this life may get, financially, medically, relationally, mentally, emotionally, physically, whatever-ally.
Just like that teenage kid in driver’s ed who is holding onto the steering wheel so tight his knuckles are turning white.
Hang on to your hope like your entire life depends on it. It does.
2nd “Do”
Commit to urging all your friends to serve each other and the community. Get involved in the lives of other people helping them.
One fo the first reactions we all give when life gets too hard is we circle our wagons and become self-centered.
Un-circle your wagons. It helps you manage your life when you focus on helping others manage theirs.
The 3rd “Do” is actually a “Don’t do”
Don’t quit going to church. Don’t quit on God or the ppl.
We don’t go to church b/c we want to get something from God. We go to church to give ourselves to God again today.
As a result of giving ourselves to God, we get something good from God.
You will never leave an encounter w/ God, whether at a worship service, bible study, AA meeting, Bread Spreading, breakfast eating, fellowship gathering, whatever as long as you encounter God there; w/out getting something from Him and being changed by Him, maybe a little, maybe a lot.
B/C God is a priority, we give him the 1st hour of the 1st day of the week. There is nothing magical about being in the room.
Worshiping maintains a connection w/ Him. Letting Him speak into your life heals what hurts.
The regular connection, involvement, and investment in us by God give us resources that help us to manage the tough situations we are in until they are resolved.
And every tough situation gets resolved when Jesus returns.
That Day is coming. Judgment and reward will be handed out once and for all.
It’s been longer than we anticipated. Just b/c it hasn’t happened yet does not mean it’s not going to happen.
Hang on.
He reminded them of the facts, implored them to do what will help them persevere.
Next, he warns them of what will happen if they don’t.
4th Warning
4th Warning
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
There have been 3 warnings he gave in the first 9 chapters. This is the 4th.
What he is saying here is this; you’re a Xian. Don’t live like you’re not.
Jesus said, to be a follower of His, pick up your cross daily. That is an admission that you should have been the one who carried the cross, not Jesus.
It’s an admission that he did not deserve it, but got it anyway. You and I did deserve it, but don’t have to go thru it.
W/ belief comes a change in behavior. If a person’s behavior does not change, it probably means they don’t really believe.
That means they have rejected Jesus and there is no other option to get right w/ God.
There should be a clear difference between the lifestyles of a Xian and someone who does not believe.
To continue to do things that are wrong is disrespectful to Jesus for what He did.
And God will hold everyone accountable for any disrespectful behavior.
One of the things we find difficult as Xians is to understand how God deals w/ us when we are disrespectful.
He has so many more arrows in his quiver than sending ppl to Hell.
A believer who has a period in his life when he is walking away from God does not mean God is done w/ him and sending him to Hell.
God is a gracious and merciful God who can come up w/ some very creative ways to discipline those he loves to get them back on track.
There are many possible reasons why we face tough situations.
Direct consequences of our bad decision.
Shrapnel from someone else’s bad decision.
Maybe just b/c we live in a fallen world and bad things happen.
But some of the difficulties that come into our lives are from God to discipline us for our disrespectful behavior.
Saved ppl will won’t lose their salvation b/c they turn their back on God. God won’t turn His back on them but He will allow them to suffer until they return.
The preacher says, basically, you, however, are saved. If you are not getting what you want, something needs to change.
Your life is harder than you expected. Lean into your relationship w/ God, don’t walk away.
And change your expectations. Jesus did not die to bring heaven to you. He died to get you to heaven.
Until then, hard happens.
Don’t go back to your old ways hoping to find more peace and joy. It didn’t work then, it won’t work now.
Life is hard. They had made it harder by walking away from God.
Stay in the fight, stay faithful and obedient to Jesus. Your circumstances may not change. But your ability to stay positive will grow in the midst of them.
In fact, he reminded them that the one time in their life when they had the most prolonged period of joy even while they suffered was when the first came to Christ.
Remember the Joy
Remember the Joy
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, 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,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”
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.
He reminded them of the facts, implored them to persevere, exhorted them not to walk away, and now he encourages them w/ a reminder from their past.
Remember the joy you had. You can have it again.
You lost it not b/c God lost you, or even you lost God. You just lost touch w/ God.
When they were first saved, the persecution was real. The gov’t was confiscating some of their property, putting some of them in prison, and they felt honored to be mistreated b/c of their faith in Jesus.
Jesus did more for them than they ever could for Him.
But as time went along, they lost that joy b/c they lost touch w/ God.
Here he reminds them, when Jesus returns, and he is going to return, he will reward them.
Stay faithful. Live differently. No matter how hard it gets and how much it costs you, don’t quit. This is one investment that the only way to lose is to quit on it.
It will pay off in a big way.
Be like Jesus. And encourage each other to be like Jesus.
Don’t be like R.U. Darby who quit to soon, 3’ from the mother load.
Be like R.U. Darby who learned not to quit even when he was rejected and ended up with the sale and the reward of a successful business.
Applications
Applications
Facts
Facts
Remember your faith is based on facts. There is no more proven fact in history than the death and res. of Jesus.
There is no more evidence for any person or event in history than the message and miracles of Christ.
Your faith is on a solid foundation.
Where the facts leave cracks, your faith will fill.
Be encouraged by the facts behind your faith.
Do’s and Don’t’s
Do’s and Don’t’s
Do hang onto your hope no matter how hard your life gets.
Don’t let now obscure your future.
Let the the light of the future diminish the darkness of your present.
Do focus on serving others. Take your eyes off yourself and your own stuff and help other ppl w/ theirs. It will help you w/ yours.
Don’t quit church. Your investment in God here will pay dividends in your life there.
Don’t make matters worse
Don’t make matters worse
Life is hard. Our bodies break, relationships break, finances break. it happens.
We live in a fallen world.
We, and others make bad decisions w/ tough consequences.
Don’t make matters worse by walking away from God.
Walk toward him.
In fact, when your life is at its worst, he does his best work, and it requires the greatest strength and discipline but that is when we need to move the closest.
Don’t blame God.
Jesus didn’t die to bring heaven to you. He died to bring you to heaven.
Stay close, you’re on your way.
Jesus has already proved He is the Real Deal. Do not quit now.
If you quit now it will cost you. When He returns He will make it worth the investment of your life.