FOR YOU HAVE NEED OF ENDURANCE: hupomones gar echete (2PPAI) chreian:
(He 6:15; 12:1; Ps 37:7; 40:1; Mt 10:22; 24:13; Lk 8:15;
21:19; Ro 2:7; Ro 5:3,4; 8:25; 15:4,5; 1Co 13:7;
Gal 6:9; Col 1:11; 1Th 1:3; Jas 1:3; Jas
1:4; 5:7, 8, 9, 10, 11; Re 13:10; 14:12)
This was the call of the hour then as now.
(Lk 21:19; He 12:1)
Endurance is spoken of by the writer as a necessary prerequisite to
receiving the promise of God, namely, salvation through faith in the blood
of Messiah.
You have need
- note "have" is in the
present tense
indicating that you never outgrow this need.
Dave Guzik...
The toughest and most discouraging
trials are when we are called to obey God’s will when the fulfillment
of His promise seems so far away. This is why we need endurance.
Faithfulness during the time when the promise seems unfulfilled is the
measure of your obedience and spiritual maturity. This endurance is
built through trials, the testing of our faith (Jas 1:2, 3, 4).
Need (5532)
(chreia
from chraomai =
to use, make use of or chreos = a debt) means a necessity, what
is needed or the occasion of need.
Chreia - 49x in the NT -
Mt 3:14; 6:8; 9:12; 14:16; 21:3; 26:65; Mk. 2:17, 25; 11:3; 14:63; Lk.
5:31; 9:11; 10:42; 15:7; 19:31, 34; 22:71; Jn 2:25; 13:10, 29; 16:30;
Ac 2:45; 4:35; 6:3; 20:34; 28:10; Ro 12:13; 1Co. 12:21, 24; Ep 4:28,
29; Php 2:25; 4:16, 19; 1Th 1:8; 4:9, 12; 5:1; Titus 3:14; He 5:12;
7:11; 10:36; 1Jn 2:27; 3:17; Rev 3:17; 21:23; 22:5.
Endurance (5281)
(hupomone
[word study]
from hupo = under + meno = stay, remain, abide)
is literally abiding under. The root idea of hupomone is that
of remaining under some discipline, subjecting one’s self to something
which demands the acquiescence of the will to something against which
one naturally would rebel. It portrays a picture of steadfastly and
unflinchingly bearing up under a heavy load and describes that quality
of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or
succumb under trial. The picture is that of constancy and endurance
with a forward look and the ability to focus on what is beyond the
current pressures. The writer sets before us our Perfect Example of
Endurance, our Lord Jesus Christ...
"Who for the joy set before Him
endured [verb form hupomeno] the
Cross despising the shame" He 12:2-note).
And so hupomone does not
describe a grim resignation or a passive "grin and bear" attitude but
a triumphant facing of difficult circumstances knowing that even out
of evil God guarantees good. It is courageous gallantry which accepts
suffering and hardship and turns them into grace and glory.
The Jewish audience is
being exhorted to
remain under the persecutions and not seek to escape them by renouncing
their professed faith in Messiah. Those that remained under the persecution
and thus under the chastening hand of God, maintaining their faith in the
Messiah, did not earn salvation but proved themselves to be true sons of God
(He 12:7, Mt 13:21). Those who did not remain under this persecution, but
renounced their profession to return to the sacrifices, proved themselves to
be professors and not possessors (He 12:8, He 3:6-note;
He 3:14-note)
R C H Lenski notes
hupomone...
is bravely remaining under a load
and holding out. That is exactly what the readers need; having this
virtue, they will not let continued affliction induce them to throw
away their assurance and to think of turning from Christ because of
persecution in order to seek ease and safety in the old Judaism.
John Owen...
The apostle does not accuse them of
lacking perseverance, but reminds them about the necessity of
continually exercising patience. Perseverance is the grace of
suffering Christians (Jas 1:4-note;
Jas 1:5-note)
and the correct reaction to all tribulations (Ro 5:4, 5-note).
SO THAT WHEN YOU HAVE DONE THE WILL OF GOD
YOU MAY RECEIVE WHAT WAS PROMISED: hina to thelema tou theou poiesantes (AAPMPN) komisesthe (2PAMS) ten epaggelian: (He 13:21; Mt 7:21; 12:50; 21:31; Jn
7:17; Acts 13:22,36; Ro 12:2; Ep 6:6; Col 4:12;
1Jn 2:17)
(He 6:12,15,17; 9:15; Colossians 3:24; 1Peter 1:9)
So that (hina)
introduces the result/benefit of maintaining one's endurance.
This is an essential prerequisite to the exercise of
patience and to obtain the promised blessing. There is no promise to those
who keep on doing wrong. (Note association of faith and obedience when you
compare He 3:18, 19-see notes
He 3:18;
19)
and obtaining of the promises (He 6:12-note)
The will of God - Paul
explains how believers can do the will of God, writing that it takes a
voluntary whole hearted presentation of ourselves to God and then continual
choosing to turn away from the world's way and allow the Spirit to
renew our mind with "Godward" thoughts. Paul puts it this way...
I urge you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy
sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of
worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that you may prove (test and approve after
examination) what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect. (Ro 12:1, 2- See notes
Romans 12:1;
12:2)
Receive (2865)
(komizo
from komeo =
tend, take care of) (Click
word study on
komizo)
means receive back, recover, receive back what is one's own, to be
recompensed or rewarded. As A T Robertson says "This is a general
law of life and of God and it is fair and square." Komizo
conveys the thought of getting something for oneself and carrying it
off as wages or a prize. The verb implies, not mere obtaining, but
receiving and carrying away for use and enjoyment. Peter is teaching
that in that coming Day of Judgment at the
bema seat of Christ
these faithful
shepherds will joyfully carry away as their own “the unfading crown of
glory.” Komizo can describe a reward for good (1Pe 5:4-note,
Ep 6:8-note,
Col 3:25-note),
not a penalty for wrong (as in 2Peter 2:13
[note]
referring to the false teachers).
Promised (1860)
(epaggelia from epaggello = announce upon) originally
meant a favorable message or an announcement. It was primarily a
secular legal term denoting summons and thus was a promise to do or
give something. In the NT it refers only to the promises of God
(except Acts 23:21). Epaggelia is the thing promised or the gift
graciously given. God is a covenant keeping God and therefore He never
breaks His promises, for they are yea and amen in Christ Jesus, Who
Himself is the Covenant Messenger. This grand truth should encourage
you to "Hangeth thou in there" and you will receive the ultimate
promise of everlasting life in His presence.
Phil Newton comments that...
These believers needed to see
endurance as a necessity for persevering in the Christian life. To
endure does not imply a grim resignation of your circumstances so that
you keep a "stiff upper lip," as the expression goes. It is "a blazing
hope; it is not the spirit which sits statically enduring in one
place, but the spirit which bears things because it knows that these
things are leading to a goal of glory" [Fritz Rienecker and Cleon
Rogers, The Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, 705].
Endurance must accompany the believer daily, bearing up under the
threats of the world with joyous confidence in Jesus Christ.
Endurance sustains you in devotion to obeying God's will: "so
that when you have done the will of God." To practice endurance
will always lead you to walking in the revelation of God through the
Word. We need not be confused about the will of God for our lives; it
is found in the Word of God. We need only follow in obedience.
Endurance ends in a heavenly
reward: "you may receive what was promised." Here is not reward based
on our merit but it is the eternal reward that is ours through the
merits of Christ. It is the proof of Christ's righteousness in our
lives made plain through endurance that ends with the heavenly
reward. (Sermons
from the Epistle to the Hebrews)
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Charles Simeon
PATIENT
FORTITUDE
REQUIRED
Heb. 10:35, 36.
THERE have been, to the Church of Christ, seasons of bitter
persecution, and seasons of comparative tolerance and peace: but in
whichever of these states we be, it becomes us not to yield to
dejection on the one hand, or undue security on the other. We are
soldiers on the field of battle, and must be ready to encounter our
enemies whensoever they may advance against us. It will be time enough
to put off our armour, when we have received our dismission from an
earthly warfare, and are crowned with laurels in the realms of bliss.
There had been to the Hebrew Christians seasons of severe trial, which
the Apostle called to their remembrance: and it is probable, that when
this epistle was written to them they enjoyed somewhat of tranquillity:
but he bade them not to cast away their confidence: since they would
still have need of it, as long as they should continue in the body.
In this apostolic injunction we see,
I. What state of mind befits the Christian—
The “confidence” here spoken of is a holy boldness in confessing
Christ—
[This is essential to the Christian character. Not even faith itself
will avail for our salvation, where this is wanting: “With the heart,
man believeth unto righteousness; but, with the mouth, confession is
made unto salvation.” “If we are ashamed of Christ, and deny him, he
will be ashamed of us, and deny us.”
This holy fortitude we should maintain, under all circumstances.
Never, for a moment, should we “cast it away.” If trials increase, we
need it the more: if they abate, or even cease, we still need this
divine quality; because we know not how soon it may be called for, or
to what an extent it may be required.]
And it will bring its own reward along with it—
[It will keep us from all that disquietude and distraction which the
menaces of the world might occasion in an unstable mind. It will
induce a consistency of conduct, under all circumstances; and will
bring into the soul, stability and peace. It will be to him who
exercises it an unquestionable evidence of his own sincerity; and will
doubtless be honoured with peculiar manifestations of the Divine
favour. If more than ordinary supports are called for by reason of the
augmented troubles that assault us, they shall be vouchsafed to us;
even as they were to the Hebrew Youths in the furnace, when the Son of
God himself condescended visibly to appear in their behalf]
To every Christian is this requisite, because of,
II. The occasion he will have for it—
Different as may be the path of different persons in some respects, in
their great outline they are all the same. In their progress, all
these different steps may be clearly and distinctly seen:
1. Duty—
[Every Christian “does the will of God.” To believe in Christ, to
receive every thing from Christ in the exercise of faith and prayer,
and to give himself up to God without reserve; this is the one habit
of his mind, and the one labour of his life. From day to day he does
not his own will, or the will of an ungodly world; but the will of
God, as it is revealed in his blessed word.]
2. Suffering—
[This will always more or less attend a faithful discharge of our duty
to God. There will now, as formerly, be seasons of comparative peace:
but it is not possible for unregenerate men to love the light, whether
it be set before them in the word, or be exhibited before them in the
conduct of God’s faithful servants. “The servant cannot be greater
than his Lord:” if they called the Master of the house Beelzebub,
those of his household must assuredly expect some opprobrious
designation at the least. And though, in comparison of imprisonment
and death, this may be regarded as a light matter; yet is it not
light, when we consider, that the names with which the godly are
designated, are a signal for the world to load them with every species
of obloquy and contempt.]
3. Patience—
[Our blessed Lord was “as a sheep led to the slaughter,” and, in the
midst of all the indignities that were offered him, “opened not his
mouth.” And in this manner his faithful followers also “possess their
souls in patience.” They expect that they shall “have need of
patience;” and it is their endeavour so to demean themselves under
their trials, that “patience may have its perfect work; that so they
may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”]
4. Glory—
[This is the object of their pursuit; and to this they press forward
with all their might. They know, that “if they draw back, it must be
unto perdition;” and that it is by believing only, and maintaining
their faith with steadfastness, that they ever can be saved. They
are well assured, that the means must be used for the attainment of
the end; and that if used aright, the end shall be attained. They are
well aware, that duty must be performed, suffering expected, patience
exercised: and in this way they have no doubt but that glory shall be
ultimately secured. “By a patient continuance in well-doing, they
seek, and will obtain, eternal life.”]
Application—
1. Let us be thankful for the peace that we are privileged to enjoy—
[These are days of extraordinary toleration and candour. We cannot
indeed say that “the offence of the cross has ceased:” for it never
can cease, as long as the ungodly constitute the great majority of the
world. But persecution, except in private circles, is but little
known. The flames of martyrdom are no longer kindled amongst us, as in
the days of old. Let us, then, make a due improvement of this great
mercy, for the more abundant edification of our own souls, and for a
more active advancement of Christ’s kingdom in the world.]
2. Let us, however, stand prepared for other days—
[No one can tell how soon the face of things may be changed. If Popery
were to gain an ascendant again, it would, in all probability, bring
with it all its attendant horrors. But even in private life we may be
called to make severe sacrifices, and to suffer the loss of all our
prospects upon earth. But let us remember, that Heaven will richly
repay us for all that we may either lose or suffer: and if only we
“receive at last the promise” of eternal life, we shall never have
reason to regret the “patience” we exercised, and the “confidence” we
maintained.]
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A Timely Letter-
Young William Wilberforce was
discouraged one night in the early 1790s after another defeat in his
10 year battle against the slave trade in England. Tired and
frustrated, he opened his Bible and began to leaf through it. A small
piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the floor. It was a letter
written by John Wesley shortly before his death. Wilberforce read it
again: "Unless the divine power has raised you up... I see not how you
can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that (abominable
practice of slavery), which is the scandal of religion, of England,
and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing,
you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God
be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger
than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing. Go on in the name of God,
and in the power of His might."
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How Many Times Have Your been
Throwed? - The story is
told that Andrew Jackson's boyhood friends just couldn't understand
how he became a famous general and then the President of the United
States. They knew of other men who had greater talent but who never
succeeded. One of Jackson's friends said, "Why, Jim Brown, who lived
right down the pike from Jackson, was not only smarter but he could
throw Andy three times out of four in a wrestling match. But look
where Andy is now." Another friend responded, "How did there happen to
be a fourth time? Didn't they usually say three times and out?" "Sure,
they were supposed to, but not Andy. He would never admit he was beat
-- he would never stay 'throwed.' Jim Brown would get tired, and on
the fourth try Andrew Jackson would throw him and be the winner."
Picking up on that idea, someone has said, "The thing that counts is
not how many times you are 'throwed,' but whether you are willing to
stay 'throwed'." We may face setbacks, but we must take courage and go
forward in faith. Then, through the Holy Spirit's power we can be the
eventual victor over sin and the world. The battle is the Lord's, so
there is no excuse for us to stay "throwed"!
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Let's Keep Digging -
Scottish physician A. J. Cronin (1896-1981) was forced by illness to
take a leave of absence from his medical practice. He then decided to
write a novel. But when half done, he became disheartened and threw
his manuscript into a garbage can.
Totally discouraged, Cronin was walking the Scottish Highlands and saw
a man digging in a bog, trying to drain it for use as a pasture. As
Cronin talked with him, the man said, "My father dug at this bog and
never made a pasture. But my father knew and I know that it's only by
digging you can make a pasture. So I keep on digging."
Rebuked and remotivated, Cronin went home, picked his manuscript out
of the garbage can, and finished it. That novel, Hatter's Castle, sold
three million copies. Cronin left his medical practice and became a
world-famous writer.
At times, you and I may feel trapped by circumstances that demand
patience and persistence. Are we willing to keep digging away at
whatever "bog" God has assigned to us?
The book of Hebrews tells us that we have "need of endurance" (He 10:36),
and that we must "run with endurance the race that is set before us"
(He 12:1-note). How? By "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith" (He 12:2-note). With Christ as our example, let's keep on digging!
—Vernon C Grounds (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Whatever you're doing for Jesus today,
Be sure to keep at it—don't stop or delay;
If you are discouraged, don't give up your place,
For God will sustain you by His matchless grace. —Hess
In serving the Lord,
it's always too soon to quit.
