Enduring unto the End

“Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” —Hebrews 10:32

THE Greek word here translated “promise” is the same as that used in chapter 6, verse 15, of the same epistle, where Paul tells us that Abraham, after he had “patiently endured,” obtained the “promise.” God made a promise to Abraham before this, even as he has made promises to the church; but after he endured Abraham received something more real than the mere statement of a coming blessing through his seed; that is, the guarantee that the oathbound covenant made with him by the Lord would be fulfilled.

The apostle declares that we have need of patience, that after we have “done the will of God” we might also receive the promise. This can properly be understood to mean that after our consecration the Lord tests us for awhile, and, enduring these tests, we then receive a confirmation of the divine promises; a sealing by the Holy Spirit of promise. Not that the Lord then makes special promises to us which did not apply from the time of our consecration, but rather, that after we have endured certain tests, and have successfully passed through some of the heat of battle, we realize that there is a greater cause for full assurance of faith that we will be able, by divine grace, to “endure unto the end.”

A king in Israel said, “Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.” (I Kings 20:11) And it is true that not until we have endured faithfully even unto death, having fought the good fight and kept the faith unto the very end, will we receive the full fruition of our hopes. The Master said, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life,” (Rev. 2:10) and there are no shortcuts by which we can reach the goal and receive the crown. We must follow the Captain all the way into death, enduring cheerfully as he endured, else we will not receive the complete fulfillment of the promise.

The words of our text seem to have been peculiarly appropriate to the Hebrew Christians. Apparently at the time this epistle was written they were not enduring as faithfully as they should have been. In chapter five the apostle explains that they had been in the truth long enough to have made much further progress than was evidenced by them; that by now they should have been teachers. But instead of this they had need that even the first principles of the oracles of God should be taught to them again. It is regrettable when any Christian loses sight of the importance of the first principles of the Gospel.

Again, in the beginning of the second chapter of this epistle, there is a hint that possibly the Hebrews had to some extent “let these things slip.” At any rate, chapter 6:1 indicates that they needed to lay again the foundations of the truth; and the apostle warned them that it was unprofitable to be so lax in holding the position gained that they should need, over and over again, to lay the great foundations of the Gospel.

“Let us go on to perfection,” continued the apostle. Surely Paul did not mean that they were to leave the foundation as though they had no further use for it. Rather, as he indicates in chapter 5:12, they had need of the foundation. But he did want them to use the first principles of the Gospel as a foundation upon which to build a superstructure of faith that would stand the trials and storms that must come upon all who would follow the Master. Toward the end of the 6th chapter the apostle reveals the state of “perfection,” or the ideal condition of a Christian, as being one in which the soul is anchored by “the hope set before us” in the oathbound covenant with Abraham.

As Abraham obtained that oathbound covenant after he had endured, so we need to endure and, through endurance, obtain the promise. “Hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering,” is another of the admonitions of this epistle. (ch. 10:23) If we waver we are not properly enduring. If we have wavered, then we should take the apostle’s advice given a few verses later in the chapter (32-39), and seek to return to the blessings enjoyed in “the former days” when we first learned of the truth, and knew that it was the truth, and were rejoicing in all the rich assurances of the Lord which he gave to his people through the truth.

While the Scriptures speak of progress through the truth, and the light of our pathway becoming brighter—which should be true in the experiences of every Christian—they also lay great stress upon being rooted and grounded, and anchored, and holding fast, and not letting these things slip. All of these expressions, from one standpoint or another, emphasize the importance of endurance. We are not to be “tossed about with every wind of doctrine,” nor should we allow ourselves to be swept off our feet, as it were, by the allurements of the world, the flesh, or the Devil.

Satan will endeavor in every possible way to turn us aside from the narrow way. He will attempt to ensnare us with “new light.” If he can, he will see to it that we become overcharged with the cares of this life, and the deceitfulness of riches. He will attempt to trip us up through the weaknesses of our flesh, or discourage us through persecution. To withstand all his onslaughts, we will need to put on the whole armor of God, and to keep it on. Yea, that armor of truth will need to become a very part of us, if we are to be able to endure all the way to the end. Let us resolve with Paul that we will not be “of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”—ch. 10:39

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