olodia was a Russian Christian. He was in his last year of medical school, when school officials discovered that he was a Christian. Volodia was threatened with expulsion from the school. “You choose - either God or a diploma,” was the demand. They tried to convince Volodia, the best student in the class, to choose graduation. For several months they conducted indoctrination sessions designed to force him to renounce his faith. One day, unannounced, a Communist party official visited Volodia’s class and declared, “Strange things have been happening in our university. There is a rumor that some students are trying to believe in God. We want to know if this is true.” the official said. Volodia understood. He was being given a final chance to renounce his faith. For twenty minutes Volodia told his fellow students about Christ. Volodia was soon expelled from the university.      Avoiding It. Would you have been willing to be expelled from the university? How do you handle suffering? Does it cause you to want to escape your situation? The group of people to whom the book of Hebrews was written wanted to escape. They were physically and verbally suffering. They had suffered because they called themselves Christians. They had suffered     . . . a great conflict of sufferings . . . made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated . . . accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. (NASB) Heb. 10:32-34 But now they wanted to avoid the suffering. Pain motivated them to think they must have made a mistake in leaving Judaism and that Christ was a mistake. When suffering comes, most of us wonder what we did wrong. Do you?      Eyes of Faith. But they were wrong in their conclusion, and God responds by warning them that leaving Jesus would be a tremendous mistake. Jesus was the true God, their only Savior, and their eternal, faithful High Priest. He reminds them the obsolete Mosaic law, sacrifices, priests, and the tabernacle were predicted to pass away.      In Hebrews 11 we saw that God also reminded them of some men and women who were examples of great faith. These are Old Testament saints who trusted in the invisible, had confidence in His Word, knew that God is, sought after Him, and suffered for Him. Their eyes of faith were not just looking at Jesus; their eyes of faith were fixed on Jesus. These Old Testament saints suffered more than you and I have or even the readers of Hebrews had. Here is what happened to them.     Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated . . . (NASB) Heb. 11:35-37        They knew that the invisible God and the unseen heaven existed. They had no doubts. But that was true of the readers of Hebrews. The main message that God has sent these readers for eleven chapters is that their faith in God was weak or missing. That is the message for us. Faith is the key to surviving suffering. Confidence in Jesus. Confidence in our future home - heaven - is real. How do you react when problems come to you as a Christian? Most of us doubt God.         < Back   Next >
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