Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10
For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11
And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12
so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Right before we moved into our house our realtor discovered that there was a septic problem. She did her job quite well and the seller agreed to have it fixed and
the seller hired a company that came in and destroyed our back yard and put in a new septic system.
All was great until we learned that the company agreed only to tear up the yard, replace the system but would NOT be returning the yard to its former condition, which
was quite nice. But now, it was a disaster.
We worked here and there but were never able to restore it to its original condition. So, during the pandemic, I had some renewed energy to give this a go. I cut down
a couple of trees, well, Nate Spearing cut them down, he thought it was a gift to my wife to not allow me to play with a chain saw…probably a wise decision.
Cleared out some brush…put together a pretty nice fire pit, with a walkway from the gazebo to the pit itself. We enjoyed a number of evenings by the fire that Spring.
It is pretty cool…and then…well…then I found my enthusiasm, my energy, my zeal for the ‘back-yard’ project…let’s say…waning. I just didn’t have the umph to get out there and continue reforming the rest of the mess.
Has that ever happened to you? You start a project, make a good beginning, maybe even an exceptional beginning. You have passion for this project and then…over time…you
lose all enthusiasm for it.
I have met people in the church like that. They are quite excited to begin ministries, projects, good things…but they are not so good at the trudging along required
to see the project through. They soon lose steam and turn their attention elsewhere.
Our short passage is an admonition to us that we not let this happen in our Christian lives…for it can be a real temptation. The Bible is filled with people who started
well and ended poorly.
Sadly, it is not always the case that Christians grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and so come to a mature godliness, a deeper devotion, a more beautiful
humility, and a deeper love for God and man by the time their pilgrimage is over.
Those of us who have been Christians for any length of time may know someone who in his or her older age, were not much more, in fact perhaps even less of a Christian
than when he or she were younger.
More concerning of course, is that we may often wonder if we ourselves have lost some of our zeal for the things of the Lord than we used to have.
I read a book some time ago by William Bennett who was looking at the best colleges in the United States. One of the things he pointed out was how many universities
and colleges that used to be very prestigious and were consistently on every list of “the best” colleges and universities, were now, in truth, not even close to being the best. What they were good at was doing all things necessary to manipulate the criteria
so that they could get on the list of being one of the best. So, they were good at looking like they were tops but in reality, they were not.
That is a real danger for Christians…for you and me…we can do all kinds of things that make us look holy, but the question is, are we truly holy? The Bible acknowledges
this reality in the lives of many we consider heroes. Think of David who certainly finished his life at a lower level of spiritual accomplishment than had been true of him when a younger man. His son Solomon even more so. Or think of Isaac or Gideon or Asa
or Hezekiah. All of these men started well; but finished…less well and in some cases finished poorly.
I am not making any judgments about their being the Lord’s, only that their example, recorded as it is in the Bible, gives us reason to pause and consider. And in
the New Testament we have the same. Think of the man of whom Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3: he does his work poorly and so his work is burned up. He himself is saved, but as through fire.
There are Samsons in our day even as there were in the church’s past! I know some Christians who seem to have learned nothing over the course of their many years of
walking with God. They continue to make the same obvious mistakes of judgment they made when they were young. And at times, I have wondered about myself.
A lot of needless contention in the church is caused by people like that; people who never learn how to manage differences of opinion, or to let love cover over sin,
or to live humbly in light of their own faults and weaknesses.
Before we get to those issues let’s remember the context. Over the last few days we have had it made clear that there is a category of people that begin in the Christian
life and then throw it out altogether. The beginning of this chapter has some sobering things to say to the man or woman who commits apostasy.
Remember, apostasy is not mere backsliding, or struggling with sin. It is a willful, in your face rejection of Jesus Christ after having all manner of God’s mercies,
kindness and love experienced. The man or woman who commits the sin from which there is no return, does not worry afterward that he might have done so, he does not worry about it for he has rejected the very basis of such a concern and he couldn’t care less!
As I mentioned, I have spoken with a number of Christians over the years who fear they have committed this sin. I have seen the fear and the confusion in their faces. They
don’t doubt their guilt but they are terrified that now there may be no way to remove it. They know there is a judgment and they are frightened because they think they may have forever cut themselves off from the only way a man or woman can stand in that judgment,
namely by the grace of God through faith in Christ.
But I can tell you confidently; If you are frightened, if you are terrified that you may have committed this sin that leads to death,
in the nature of the case this means that you have not committed it. People who commit this sin don’t worry about it afterward because the sin itself is the rejection of the very idea that it is only by a living connection to Jesus Christ that we can
be at peace with God.
With that comes verse 9 and the preacher’s confidence of better things for those to whom he is speaking!
To be continued…
Prayer: Father, forgive my unholy yawning…living as though Your grace, mercy and love mean so little for surely this is the path for taking Your gifts for granted.
Open my eyes to see more clearly so that I might have a great desire for holiness and to set my life to its pursuit that I would not end poorly. Holy Spirit of God, give me sight to the unseen, to the promises that a living hope makes to seem seeable and touchable.
Help me, that I would not be ashamed at the coming of my King and Savior, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Song: Nunc Dimittis
