I Feel Like Going On
The Tokyo Olympics officially ended this week, and one of the most compelling stories of this Olympics was that of Simone Biles. The Olympic gymnast had an experience at the Tokyo Olympics that could have destroyed her. On the world stage, at the very worst time, she experienced a psychological condition called "twisties" and had to begin pulling herself out of her competition events. For days, the world watched and wondered whether she would compete in her scheduled gymnastic event each day. Opinion raged in the U.S. about whether she had let America down. But, Simone rallied around her team and encouraged them to compete in every event even though she couldn't. She wouldn't let them give up hope for realizing the rewards that they had trained so hard for. And because they also encouraged her, Simone never gave up. She returned to compete in her final event...and finished competition by winning a bronze medal! In the end, the team returned home to great celebrations. Jewish Christians had suffered through many trials and tribulations because of their faith. In Hebrews 10:23-36, the writer of Hebrews encouraged them to hold on to the hope of their faith, and to encourage one another so they too could persevere to the end. Why? Because for those who keep the faith, God is faithful to fulfill His promises and He will reward you!
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. (Heb. 10:23-25) The writer of Hebrews had a strong purpose for writing this letter to Jewish Christians. He felt the need to encourage these Christians who were becoming discouraged because of persecution. He exhorted them to keep their faith in Jesus and God's promised salvation through Him, because God is faithful. He told them to draw nearer to God (not further away) in their time of trial and tribulation. To that end, he instructed them to continue meeting together so that they could encourage one another to live in Christian love and good deeds, holding on to their faith even as they looked forward to the day of Jesus' return. The church is necessary and essential to teaching, encouraging and equipping Christians in their faith. When we are beleaguered we must draw closer, not drift further away from God and the church.
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. (Heb 10:26-31) Earlier in Hebrews, the argument had been made that Jesus was superior in every way to the Jewish faith. He was both High Priest and King forever. His sacrifice on the cross was once and for all time, the atonement needed to not just cover believers sins (like the OT sacrificial system did), but to take those sins away. Now the writer of Hebrews warned Jewish Christians not to return to Judaism and give up their faith. Having shown that Christ's sacrifice was superior to the law of Moses for salvation, the writer says that to turn away from their faith would be renouncing Jesus' sacrifice as sufficient to save them and subject them to a judgment of death instead of life. Having already known the truth of salvation through Christ's sacrifice, Christians who now rejected Him had "trampled the Son of God underfoot" and "insulted the Spirit of grace" and would be judged and sentenced to a merciless death by The Lord on Judgement day. In the pain of our trials, we must not renounce what we know to be true. Jesus sacrifice was and is sufficient to save us if we have faith in Him.
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. (Heb. 10:32-36) These Christians had endured everything from persecution, suffering, insults, confiscation of property and prison. They had endured all of it, because they believed and had their hope in Christ. They were reminded of all they had suffered, but they were assured that their salvation and eternal life (better and lasting possessions) were worth all the trials and tribulations they had been subjected to because of their faith. But after all that they had endured, some were questioning their faith. The writer of Hebrews encouraged these Christians to hold on to their faith and remain confident in it. He told them that if they persevered and did not give up, they would receive God's promised salvation and eternal life. When you are down I will lift you up and I pray that you'll do the same for me! I’ll pray for you, You pray for me… and together we will see God's glory!
We all face issues in life that take us through our own personal “valley experiences”. There are times when we may even get to the point where we look at all that is happening around us (and to us), and wonder where God is. We are human and doubt can creep into our thoughts. But in those moments, we can't give up and walk away from God and our faith in Jesus. Instead, God calls us to draw nearer to Him and to be surrounded by other believers who can pour into us, refreshing and restoring our faith so we can continue on. For the one we put our hope in is faithful to His promises and we will receive His reward if we just hold on!
In that spirit, here's some encouragement for your journey! Marvin Winans sings "I feel Like Going On". Be blessed!
Blessings,
Rev. Glenn
