 We're going to be looking at verses 26 through 39 as we continue our verse by verse study here in the book of Hebrews. So I'll begin reading to you at verse 26 and read and then we'll get into our studying. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 26, the writer writes, if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the spirit of grace. For we know him who said vengeance is mine I will repay sayeth the Lord and again the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But recall the former days in which after you were illuminated you endured a great struggle with sufferings partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. For you had compassion on me in my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven therefore do not cast away your confidence which has great reward for you have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God you may receive the promise for yet a little while and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith but if anyone draws back my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. And so we have a very cheerful Bible study that we are going to be going through tonight. As we look at this I want you to notice that in order to interpret this or to get the flow of it the first thing we have to do is to remember where we have been. What has the writer been saying up to this point and what he's been saying up to this point in chapter 10 is related to the finished work of Jesus Christ. And he has made it clear that Jesus is one time for all time offering has satisfied his father completely and that has obtained salvation for those who call upon him in faith. You can see that here in chapter 10 at verse 10. Notice verse 10 how it says here by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Notice verse 12. This man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down at the right hand of God. Notice verse 14 for by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. And so he's been speaking concerning that and he's been emphasized in the relationship that we have through Jesus Christ who completed the work. Now as a result of this believers are to draw near to God with a full assurance of faith. He said that in verse 22 when he said let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. And again as a result or a fruit of that what occurs now is we provoke one another even as he had said in verses 24 and 25. We provoke one another to love, to good works as well as to fellowship. Now that's what he's been speaking about as we arrive now at verse 26. And so interestingly enough at verse 26 he gives a warning and it's a warning related to somebody drawing back after they have heard what the gospel has to say. And he says in verse 26 if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. As is true in many churches the people who are congregating there who are Hebrews well those people include those who have heard the message but have never fully embraced it. That's true in every church. Not every person who goes to a church service has a confidence in Jesus Christ. Not every person who goes to church services has a full on relationship with him. If you know that perhaps you were one who would go to church as a non-believer. Perhaps you were somebody who would enter into the doors and listen to the message and then leave. You know that happens quite commonly here. I mentioned that recently. How I spoke to a gentleman in our fellowship who had approached me and had said to me that he had been coming to the church for a year and he introduced himself to me and as we were speaking and all is very very nice guy and all. He says let me share something with you. He said the first six months that I came to church here he said I was unsaved. He said I wasn't right with God. I would just come and listen. He said and then you would give invitations and I would be there when you gave an invitation and you would say we're going to wait for you and he said to be honest with you when you did that he said I thought you were really corny. He said I thought it was really a corny thing for you to do. He said and I would watch you do that and you'd say we're going to be waiting for you. He said about six months later he said I realized it was me you were waiting for so I came forward and gave my heart to Christ. And so there are numbers of people who can come to churches just like this. You know we do have people who come to this fellowship who come for a variety of reasons and it's not always because they embrace fully the message of the gospel. There are a variety of reasons why people will go to churches and this church in particular some people will come and they will listen but they don't fully embrace what's being said and that's true with what is taking place here. There are people who are aware of the message they've heard it clearly presented. To some degree they've understood it. They've understood that there is sin. They've understood there's a savior. They've understood that embracing Jesus' Messiah is necessary for salvation. They understand that but they have not received it. As a matter of fact they understand that well enough to know that they don't want to receive it and they're rejecting that message. Again I've seen that many times in my ministry here. That there are people who will listen, can repeat the things that have been said but will say, but I'm not interested. That's not for me. I don't want that for myself. I see that quite often in this fellowship to be honest with you. And so some have willfully remained in sin understanding to some degree the message and yet rejecting that way of forgiveness. Now how can we explain something like that where people will go to church, hear a message, understand it to some degree and yet won't embrace it? Let's turn to Matthew 13 and see if we can find an explanation as to how that is possible. Matthew chapter 13 and in Matthew chapter 13 we have a parable there, a parable of the soils. And I believe that that gives us some insight into what is taking place. Matthew chapter 13 gives to us a particular parable. I'll read it to you. It's found in verses one through nine. And then we'll look at Jesus' explanation, his explanation concerning this and see if we might apply some of that to what the writer of Hebrews is saying in Hebrews 10, 26. Matthew records in chapter 13 of his gospel beginning at verse one, on the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea and great multitudes were gathered together to him so that he got into a boat and sat and the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then he spoke many things to them in parables. Saying, behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they were scorched and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop, some 100-fold, some 60, some 30. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. When you go to Israel, you'll see these kinds of soils. When you go to Israel, you will actually see the kinds of soils that Jesus is discussing because those soils obviously continue to exist there in the nation that he spoke about. You have the wayside, which is basically like this. If you were in a field here in Chino or Ontario and you were walking through the field, you would see that there are paths that have actually been just through the constant foot traffic or flow of traffic there that have actually made it into a road and it's hardened and it becomes hard over time. And so obviously that's a hardened place of the road and everything. And so if somebody were to come and they were to sow some seed and some of the seed were to fall on that wayside there, well, it's not going to take root because the dirt has been compacted. It's just too hard. And as a result, it remains on the top. And as it remains on the top, then the birds will come. And you've seen this. Many of us have seen that before the birds will come and they feast on the seed. And that's what Jesus is speaking about. So he's using an illustration that everybody is familiar with. He speaks about that particular event there where some seed fell by the wayside and the birds came and devoured it. There is also in verse five that is which is called the stony places. Now, when you think of stony places, you might be thinking in terms of just rocks. But that's not what he's talking about. He's talking about rock that is actually below the surface of dirt. And so you'll have the dirt and it has all appearance of it being something that has depth of dirt. But in reality, there are rocks and everything that are underneath it. And so that's the kind of stony place that he's referring to. And that's why it says they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. In verse seven, he speaks about the thorns. And that's just throwing it into a patch of thorns. And the thorns obviously are going to be overtaking the seed and all. And so he uses that as an illustration. So basically what Jesus is speaking about is the type of soil that is being referred to. It's not the seed because we know that the seed ultimately is the word of God. Because Luke, when he gives the same parable in Luke, chapter 18, verse 11, makes it very clear that the seed that is being referred to in this story is God's word. Now, we know that Jesus Christ is the one who goes forth and sows because in verse 37 of chapter 13 here, it says, he who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. And so you have Jesus Christ who's being spoken of here in Matthew 13 as the sower. The seed that is being sown by Jesus Christ is his word. And so what we're seeing here are four types of soil and they're response to Jesus' word that is being sowed towards them. Now, as he speaks concerning this, he actually gives us an interpretation. In the same chapter, verses 18 and 19, Jesus makes it very clear, and this is what he says, hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and doesn't understand it, the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. So you're in church and a message is going forth. And Jesus would describe our hearts. Your heart will say, as like the wayside, it's been trodden and it's hardened. So this person will hear a message, but immediately they just reject it. They want nothing to do with it. It's not something that applies to them. They have no desire to hear it. Again, after the years of ministry that I've had, I've been teaching the word for 33 years, I can tell you I have seen that response many times in this church and in other places where people are there, they're so bored out of their mind, they really don't want anything to do with what it is being said. Maybe they were invited to come by somebody else, but you can see it all over them and they don't want anything to do with it. Why? Because their heart is hard. They've got their stereotypes of what the church is and what they expect me to speak about. I mean, some people come into churches like this and the first thing they think I'm going to speak about is money. They're expecting that. You know, they come in with their stereotypes. They're filled with distraction. Sometimes they're just filled with their own pride or their own religion. I've had people walk in in a religious persuasion who don't want to hear a word that's being said. Sometimes they're bitter. Sometimes their love for the world that they have is so intense that it just hardens them and that's the kind of heart that Jesus is speaking about. It's a hardened heart that doesn't want to receive a thing that's being said. And it's sad. I've seen that numerous times. It's sad to admit that. I wish that I had never seen that. I wish that I would be shocked, but I'm not. Because I have seen that so many times where people are doing something else, writing. You know, we have found the notes that people are writing to one another during church services and things like that. I mean, I've seen that numerous times. But Jesus speaks about the heart. He says it's hardened. He said, and the word doesn't have a place of root in them because they're just too hard for men. He says in verse 19 that the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. So they reject it. They have no desire to hear it. Now the second, the seed that was sown in stony places has its interpretation in verse 20 and 21. He will receive the seed on stony places. This is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. It has no root in himself, but endures only for a time. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word immediately, he stumbles. And so here's the second kind of soil. Now this represents an immediate but shallow reception of the gospel. This is the one who responds immediately. There's no resistance whatsoever to what they've heard. Now sometimes people will respond immediately like that, but you never know why they are. You never know. See, it's not my place to judge anyway, but sometimes I have seen people who will receive and immediately, oh yes, I want that. I want that desperately. I've had conversations in the past with people who say, I'll do anything I need to get her back. What is it that I need to do? And I'll say, well, I'll be honest with you. Your girlfriend doesn't wanna go out with a guy who doesn't have a relationship with God. Well, then okay, I'll have a relationship with God. How do I go about that? Pray with me. And whatever you say is just perfect for them because they're not really wanting to get saved. They're just wanting something immediate. They want something that's gonna maybe change them right now or get them out of problems. I've had people who approach and say, I'm going before the judge this week and I don't know what to do. And in conversation, I might say, do you have a relationship with the Lord? And they'll say, well, no. I said, well, you know, you really need to cast your curse on him. Well, how do I go about doing that? Because they're thinking that if they get saved that when they stand before the judge, apparently they'll have some halo over their head and the judge will look at them as a righteous guy and won't put them in jail. Well, the fact is that's not true. What happens is they get happy. They wanna receive and say, yeah, whatever it is I need, I'll do. There's no resistance. But at the same time, they fall away. There's no true conversion. The funny thing about that though is sometimes it may even take years for that shallowness to be revealed. He says in verse 21, when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. You know, sometimes people might say, yeah, I wanna be a Christian and all I wanna receive Jesus Christ. I don't want the things that have been offered to me and all. But they think that that's gonna be the end of their problems. And so when they have, they discover that that's not really taking place, that they actually have a problem, especially even more now that they're saved, they take offense. Now, sometimes it may take years to show. I've had a few friends over the years who have, you know, claimed to be Christian and they've had even an outside appearance of walking with the Lord. Sometimes they have been involved in church and sometimes they witness and they do a variety of things. But after a while, they just fall away. They just walk away and they're never recovered. If a person's profession of Christ does not involve a deep conviction of sin, a genuine sense of lostness, a strong desire for the Lord to cleanse and purify, a hungering and thirsting for righteousness and a love for his word, along with the genuine willingness to suffer for his sake, there's no root to his spiritual life. And it will be only a matter of time before his religious house falls. So there needs to be a genuine conversion. Jesus is speaking of somebody who does not have that. Then the third seed among thorns in verse seven is interpreted for us in verse 22. He who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, choked the word and he becomes unfruitful. So his first love remains the world, his pride, his position, his material possessions, his reputation, all of those things matter a lot more than following the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a materialist and his concern is not for spiritual things at all. Now Paul in 1 Timothy chapter six verses seven through 10 said it this way. He said, we brought nothing into the world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Having food and raiment, let us be there with content. But those who desire to be rich will fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of monies, the root of all kinds of evil which while some coveted after they have aired from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. And so the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. They don't really have a desire to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. They just think that he's gonna make it better and easier for them. And sometimes gospels at our preach today I have to be honest with you, give them every impression that that is what Jesus intends to do. Is to make them rich and happy. But the bottom line is the love of the world and the love for Jesus Christ cannot coexist. We have been called by God to make a decision. We are commanded to make a choice concerning the one that we will serve. Jesus himself in Matthew chapter six, verse 24 said that. Guys, he said, no one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. You can't serve two gods. You have to make a choice. And so if you'll notice with me, the first three seeds, rather soils that Jesus speaks about, every one of them represents somebody who's never truly converted. And then you have the last one, the one who receives, the receptive hearer. And Jesus in verse 23 says, he who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word, understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some 100 fold, some 60 and some 30. So turning on back to Hebrews chapter 10, that will help us to get an idea of what the writer is speaking about here in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 26 and 27. You see, the one who received the seed is the one who took to himself God's word. It's the person who had heard the truth, was acquainted with it and has received it. In verse 26 here, though, when it says, if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there's no longer remaining a sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. This person that is being spoken of here is the individual who has taken to himself have heard what it says, yet has remained in sin. He heard the truth, became acquainted with it, yet rejected, and here it is, rejected what he knew was true, what he knew was true. That's what makes it dangerous. It's not the person who just, I want nothing to do with it. This is describing a person who listened and said, that's true, but I still don't want anything to do with it. After all of these years, I have encountered people like that, and it's really an amazing thing where they'll say to me things like, yeah, I know that, I believe that. Do you believe that? Yeah, I do. I believe these things. I mean, I believe they're accurately transmitted to us. Yes, I think the Bible's a word of God and all of that. I just don't embrace it. I just don't want that. I'm not ready for that. I've had a lot of, some of you have two conversations with people who do that. I have talked to people like that. Why don't you want to embrace the Lord? Because I'm a young person. I got a lot of sinning to do. I was on the beach in Newport in 1966 when the beach was just being formed. 40 years ago, 40 years ago, I still remember it. A friend of mine named Bill and I were there at the beach. And here comes a Jesus freak. And he's talking to me about God. And I'm on the beach with all these bikinis. That's when only women wore bikinis but that'll be another message some other time. And he's telling me about God loving me and he's telling me about the Bible being the word of God and that there's a place called heaven and Jesus. And as he's talking to me, he's saying, you know, you can receive Christ as your Lord and Savior and you can have your life right with God and he's witnessing to me and I'm looking at him and I can still remember as a 16 year old kid respecting him because I respected men like that. I respected that. I didn't mock them. I didn't think they were fools. I just wasn't ready to embrace that. And I remember thinking that I'm a young man. I've got a lot of sinning to do. I remember that. I'm looking at a beach full of beautiful girls and you're asking me to become a monk. You've got to be kidding me. I'm serious. Some of you thought the same kind of way. I'm sure I've got some sinners like me out there. I just, I knew it was true, but in my mind and I honestly remember thinking this, I'm only 16. I've got a lot of sinning to do. I'll become a religious person when I get all this sin out of my system. My mom used to say that she used to say, you got to get it out of your system. And so that's how I thought. I'd say I'm just going to get this out of my system. There's just too much out there. When I'm an older person, when I get married, when we start having children, I'll take them to church and get them baptized and put them in catechism and all of the stuff that happened for me, I'll do that. But are you telling me that I need Jesus Christ? Well, I can't, I was just like that. I can't do that. I understood. I understood I was a sinner. I understood that Jesus Christ saves sinners. I understood that there's a place called hell and I did understand that there's a place called heaven. I understood that the Bible is a word of God and the message of the gospel has been committed to us so that we might be saved. I knew that, I'd been taught that. I just wouldn't embrace that. And there are people in church like that all the time, all the time in every church service you'll have at least one person like that. And so that's what he's speaking about. This is a person who knows what is being taught, even will acquiesce to it being true, but he willfully rejects what he knows is true. And so notice how he says, if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, that word knowledge is a word that is translated precise and correct. It's a full knowledge, it's an understanding. In other words, he understands the implication of the gospel message, yet rejects it completely. He also says sins willfully, now that word willfully has the idea of deliberate intent that is habitual. It's voluntary, it's of your own accord. It is established, it's his way of thinking and behaving and it's the result of planning and considering. He makes choices to continue in sin, like I did. Makes choices to do that. I knew that I could turn from my desire to drink and be with the girls and do the things that I was doing. I knew I could do that, but I made a conscious choice not to do that. I knew what was being told to me. So I thought what I had at that moment was a lot more fun than what was being offered to me in the salvation through Jesus Christ. And so that's what he's speaking about. It's a person who deliberately continues in that habit. Now, Christians can lapse. Christians can get to a place that we like to use the term, they can backslide, they can lapse. They might've been going forward and the Lord has blessed in their life, but they can lapse into sin. They can sometimes return to the old way of life for a while. But a genuine believer will repent and return to the Lord. You can fail, you can fall. I'm not asking you to do that and I'm not giving you permission to either. I'm simply saying that happens. I have, where I was a sincere, genuine Christian who made some choices to do things that I used to do and as a result, reap the consequences. But the thing about it is, as a believer, I returned to the mud that I had been washed from. I returned as a dog to the vomit, but I couldn't remain there because I became miserable because I had tasted of the living water and I knew the difference between that and gutter water. And so I got to the point in my life where I said, I can't remain here, I've got to get out of here, I've got to get back to God. Now, some people though, unfortunately, hears, knows it's true, but remains in that way of life and they're even aware that they are condemned. So what's the result? Well, he says again in verse 26, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. By denying the only one who can save him, he is left to die without forgiveness. His hope for salvation is forever forfeited. You're not willing to take the offer that God gives and so God allows you to remain in your sin. There remains no sacrifice for them. Now the result of rejection, verse 27, is a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. His point, simple, judgment is certain for this person. That's what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 13 verses 49 and 50, it shall be at the end of the age, the angels will come forth, sever the wicked from among the just, shall cast them in the furnace of fire and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Judgment is certain. I think one of the biggest lies that Satan has foisted on American people. Boy, I don't know if you, I think the number one thing that concerns me that really does concern me guys and I'll say this briefly, but I want you to see what the scripture says. I want you to see verse 27. Look at it again please. It says a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. The United States is very guilty of one major sin and that is to foist upon the consciousness of people who gather all of the religious information from TV and magazines, to foist on their conscience or consciousness, a belief that everybody automatically goes to heaven. That is a very common thing. Anytime you see a celebrity die, you will hear some apologist up there saying, oh this guy was a member of this band here and he loved to party and everything and now he's in heaven partying with everybody else. They say it all the time. This person here is well known for this and this and this and we know them as notorious sinners, but they want people to believe that they're really good inside and that everybody goes to heaven and that is a very dangerous belief. I can still remember back in 9-1-1 when all of those people died. What a tragedy that was and we still reel from the reality of that. We haven't forgotten, at least I haven't, what took place then. And yet I still remember with sadness how that people were saying that these people are all in heaven. I mean it's an automatic pass because they died in a terrorist kind of thing and that's not what the Bible teaches and that's what makes Christianity difficult for people to swallow because we will say that. We will say no, Jesus Christ taught that unless you receive him as Lord and Savior, you don't enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus taught that, Jesus said that. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father, but by me. Now we did not invent that. Jesus said it, all we do is say what he said. Boy, I'm telling you, that gets you in a lot of trouble when you do that. But the Bible says there is a certain fearful expectation of judgment. Now he goes to illustrate this in verse 28 by saying, anyone who has rejected Moses' law, the law of Moses, dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the spirit of grace. And so he's speaking about the law of Moses found in Numbers chapter 15 verse 30. Now, what that refers to is the abandonment of true worship because in Numbers 15 verse 30 it says, anyone who sins defiantly, whether native, born or alien, blasphemes the Lord and that person must be cut off from his people and that's what he's referring to there. So he's saying that these apostates, individuals who rejected God were judged and so he goes on in verse 29 to say, of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the son of God underfoot. If apostates from Israel's worship suffered physical death as the penalty, how much greater would be the rejecters of the son of God? Now he speaks concerning trampling, that word trampled it means to reject and treat with contempt. He says that the blood is looked at as being common and so that's, it's like saying Jesus' blood is unclean, it's non-cosher and so his death they're saying is no more special than any other man's death and they insult the spirit of grace and that speaks that they're rude to the Holy Spirit and so if apostacy from Jesus occurs he's saying there is no hope. He's the only way to God. For he says in verse 30, we know him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay say at the Lord and again the Lord will judge his people and it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. A few years ago there was a young lady in our area. Some of you might remember who was asked to no longer attend one of the local Christian schools here based on the fact that her, the people that were raising her to women, lesbians were just openly lesbian and this particular school has standards and the standards included that you needed to have a covenantal relationship with the Lord in a marriage between a man and a woman and boy they got upset about that. Some of you might have remembered that it was just a few years ago and they were quite upset and the young lady was interviewed by our local newspaper and she said something as I recall and perhaps I'm maybe not recalling it in proper order but somebody said, God is my judge concerning this. I do remember that phrase, God is my judge and I remember writing a letter to the editor about that and I said something to the fact that to glibly say God is my judge is to misunderstand the holiness of God. Instead of using that as an excuse for sin that ought to cause you fear in your heart to refrain from it. The fact that God is our judge is something that we ought to be concerned about. That's why he says in verse 31 it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. I mean some of us in this room were afraid when we had to go to see the principal. I got kind of immune to that but at first I was afraid you have to go to see the principal and you would be out there in the lobby they're waiting until the door opened up and then they would bring you in and then they would chew you out and do whatever it is that they're gonna do and you were nervous. How much more so if you're gonna be standing before God the God of the universe who's the judge and that's the point he's making here. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And so God may be patient and loving but if somebody turns his back on his grace then only judgment remains for him. That's the point he's saying. We know him who said is what Moses spoke of. The God who spoke through Moses was no stranger. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So if any Jewish Christians thought they could escape the consequences of apostasy they're wrong. In the Old Testament Jews were not saved by outward identification with Israel. If there's no relationship only judgment can result. And so I says to them in verse 32 and 33 recall, recall the former days in which after you were illuminated you endured a great struggle with sufferings. Partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. Carefully reconstructing your mind what happened when you were saved. Remember how you endured a great struggle with suffering which resulted in your depth. One of the things that you will discover when you suffer, when you go through heavy things is it deepens you as a person. It deepens you tremendously when you go through hard times. When you go through the valley of the shadow of death it actually deepens you, it strengthens you. It gives you something that you didn't have before. And so it's making it very clear that you need to understand that you went through struggles, you went through difficulties but the result of that was you grew stronger in the things of the Lord. Notice what he says, you endured a great struggle with suffering, you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. You suffered and so what happens is you develop compassion and understanding and a rejection of the things of the world. It's one of the ways by the way that the Lord removes our fascination in the things of the world is through suffering. There's hardly anything that I've ever experienced or endured or been part of that sobers you up. There's hardly anything that sobers you up like the death of a friend or a loved one. Hardly anything. I can tell you over the years I've seen that happen prior to being a Christian. I had a friend of mine named Ray Kazata. Ray Kazata and our very good friends we'd known each other and been very close friends since we were five years old. And Ray and I had drifted apart but we're still friends. He was 19 and I was 18. And he had gone away in a different direction than I but we still saw each other and on occasion hung around. And on one occasion there was a party that was going on right across the street from my house and my mom said to me, son, please don't go to the party. And for the first time in a long time I actually obeyed my mom and I decided not to go to this party. And so I went to visit a friend of mine and their family when I got a phone call. It was my mom because I had told her I'm gonna go and see this person. So she called me. She said, honey, you didn't go to the party across the street, did you? I said, no, mama, I've been over here. She says, I gotta tell you something, honey. She said, Ray got shot tonight. Ray had an ongoing feud with a guy named Pete. Pete showed up at the party. Ray and he started giving each other a bad time. A friend of ours named Mikey ran home, got his revolver, returned to the party. Ray and Pete went outside into the back. We're about to fight. Ray was one of these guys who used to wrestle and so he was gonna take him down to get him onto the ground. When Mike leveled his revolver and fired at Pete, instead of hitting Pete, he hit my friend Ray in the head. And when he shot Ray in the head, Ray went down. After hearing the sound of that weapon firing, Pete started running and Mike leveled on him and shot him too. And so my mom said, Ray's in the hospital. He just got shot. I was 18 years old. The next day, Saturday, three friends and I went to Studebaker Hospital. They're in Norwalk and they wouldn't allow us in. But we knew what room he was in. And I still remember going into the parking lot and I remember us clasping our hands and allowing one friend at a time to climb on our hands as we held him up. And as we climbed up to the window and we looked in and we saw our friend and he was hooked up with all of these tubes and everything. And I still remember looking at my friend Ray as he was laying there and then a day later, Ray dying. I still remember that. And it sobered me up at the age of 18. He wasn't the only friend I lost. I had another friend named Dave who drove his motorcycle into a back of a parked pickup truck. He died. I had another guy he used to party with to overdose and they found him dead in his father's workplace. And I started seeing people die. I can still remember how those things sobered me up. How that, I used to deliver flowers for a place called Whittier Florist. And I remember going to Rose Hills and I looked at the card on this funeral wreath because part of my job was to bring the funeral wreaths in and place them on the caskets. And I can still remember reading the name that was familiar to me and I said to myself, no, that's a friend of mine. That's his name. What a coincidence, same name. And I remember bringing that wreath in and walking into the funeral home there in Rose Hills, putting the wreath on top of that casket and looking down into the face of a friend of mine that I had been partying with just the week before. And those were the things he had overdosed. Those were the things that began to sober me up. And then finally, a friend of mine and I and another guy that I didn't even know decided to go out to party and we went to a particular house in Norwalk and my friend Angel and I, I was driving Angel with shotgun and this guy, Freddie, was in the back seat. And as we were there, some girls walked by and Angel said something to them. They got insulted by what he said, went in, grabbed some guys from the party and came back out. And those guys started exchanging words with us and I say, you know what? We're not here to fight you guys. You know, we're on our way out. We'll leave. There were all these guys at this party. There's no way we're gonna get out and get into something with, you know, 40 or 50 guys. So the guy throws his wine in Angel's face and I take off and he throws his glass at my car and hits the back window and I got angry. So we went to a party where we had some friends who were in the Majestic's car club in Santa Fe Springs. We got seven car loads of men and we came back to the party. And when we showed up at the party, we were walking down the street, there were 50 of us and we went back to the party because we were angry. And Angel sees one of the guys who was acting all bad and he just jumped on him. And as he started fighting him, we surrounded him and Freddy says, Angel, and he had a switchblade and he popped it, opened it and Angel stabs this guy. And Angel stabbed him in the stomach. The guy starts staggering around, starts to yell, you know, and he comes and grabs hold of me and he starts bleeding all over my shirt. And so I grab him and I throw him and I say a few things to him and some guy comes out with a shotgun and it was on. It was just an interesting thing. And after it was all over, I remember driving home and my brother coming and talking to me and saying, what's with you? I said, look at this. And I told him what happened. I was 19 years old and I said, I can't do this. I can't go this route. I'm going down and I can't take this anymore. And it was shortly after that that I was invited to go to church to hear the gospel. It was shortly after that that I got saved. And I can tell you that going through deep things deepens you as a person. I can tell you, I have seen those things and so many others. And what happens is you will develop a sense especially after God will take your testimony and tie it into a saved life that gives you an understanding. And you ultimately will say, I can understand some things that not that God intended these things to take place but that God will take those things that were meant for evil and turn them around for that which is good. And that's why when people will speak to me sometimes and will say, well, I just did this or I came from that, that's why very few things will shock me because I understand that. Because I've been there in some ways. I've had friends who've been there in many ways. I understand that, I don't get real shocked but I can also say I know that God can take those things and transform your life and can give you a depth and an understanding that comes because you went through hard times. Now as you get saved, you continue to go through difficulties and the difficult things that you go through, God continues to work in your life so that you actually are created in his image and have a depth. And what's interesting to me is how he points this out and I find it really interesting how he makes it very clear that they joyfully, joyfully endured the struggles and all the plundering of their goods knowing that they had a better and an enduring possession for themselves in heaven. In verse 34, the thing is as you went through so many things and you've gone through so many things but you need to remember that the things that you're enduring right now, that's not the end of the story. That these things are just part of what takes place in your life because you've got something that endures and that's heaven. That's why in Matthew 6 verses 19 through 21, Jesus said, don't store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Store up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. Where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. And so you have these things that you've gone through and you actually understand that you're just passing through. So in verse 35, do not cast away your confidence which has great reward. For you have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God you may receive the promise yet a little while and he is coming, will come and will not tarry. The just shall live by faith but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. We are not of those who draw back to perdition but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. So what is he saying? Do not cast away your confidence. It has great reward. Hang in, hang in with the Lord. That's the point. There are some people who they've heard, they don't want to embrace, they go through their life and they end up dying and enter into judgment. You have embraced, remain firm, faithful to him even though you're going through hard times because ultimately what happens is the Lord is returning soon and he will reward your faithfulness to him. That's what Jesus says in Revelation 22, 12, I'm coming soon, my reward is with me. I'll give to everyone according to what he's done. Hang on. It's just a little while and it's gonna take place and you'll see him face to face and then everything that you've gone through, the various things that you've endured, you're not gonna think of those things in heaven. You're not gonna think that you, you know how you suffered anymore. All of that is done away with when you get to see the Lord face to face. My mom, I went to see my mom recently. My mom went through an operation, pretty serious one. And she has an open wound in all and she couldn't walk for a while and she has to walk, she gets up and she walks but it's just real uncomfortable for her and it's pretty difficult and mama's gone through a lot of illnesses and things I was sharing with somebody just the other day that I'm 56 years old and my mom has had one illness after another for the last 52 years of my life, 52 years of her life from the time she was 24 years old until this point, she's not had very good health and that's just been her lot in life and so I was talking to my mom the other day and my mom said, you know people are asking me if I ever say to God, why me? Why me? And she says, you know what honey? I do, I'll say why me. She says, you know when I say that? She says, when I see you and your brother Frankie and Madeleine and Becky laughing and enjoying yourself and loving each other because my brother and my sisters and I are very, very close, we're a very close family. We took a family photo a little while back and the guy had to wait patiently because we kept making each other laugh before the photo was taken. Now we're old people, we're not like 16, you know my brother's two years older than me, he's old and ugly and as we're standing there taking these pictures with my sisters, my youngest sister's 50 years old, so we're old but I'm over there poking my brother and teasing my sister and my mom's looking at her like when are you guys gonna stop this? And she's 76 years old looking at these old people. We're grandparents and you're still messing around and laughing and we have all these pictures of us laughing because that's what we do when we're together. I'll make my brother laugh and we just have a great time. So my mom says, people will ask me, she says, do you ever say why me? And she says, yeah I do, when I see you and the family laughing and loving each other and kissing each other and embracing each other and she says, yeah, she says, I will say that. I'll say God, why me? Why have you been so good to me? Not that I have illness, mama said this to me the other day, she said, why not me? When it comes to illness, why not me? What I say why not, why me is because I've been overly blessed by God and that makes me ask that question. Not my illnesses but my blessings because she said, I don't deserve the goodness that God has shown me in my life. Now that's Christian faith. That's the faith that God would have us to have. We've endured, yeah, but there's a good reason because ultimately God is forming us in the image of his son and preparing a place for us so we remain faithful to him and as we do, we enter into the joy of our Lord.