Last week's warning was pretty stiff. As you hopefully recall, our sermon title was "Be Afraid" and the point of the sermon was that it is a fearsome thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The downside of apostasy is epically catastrophic. You cannot imagine a fate worse than that which will befall the exvangelicals and the lapsed Catholics and the rest of those who once knew the power of the truth and then turned from it. The wise see this, and they fear it more deeply than you fear driving through the guardrail of the bridge or sticking your hand into the meat grinder. But our chapter does not end with the warning. Instead, the writer speaks of the upside of faithfulness. He does that in this section by appealing to our own experience of suffering for Christ, and in the next by appealing to Habakkuk's testimony of God's quick help for His faithful people. Then he spends an entire chapter talking about all the ways in which faithfulness under fire has paid off for the people of God in the past. In other words, yes, there is a real warning. If you choose to go be an exvangelical, you are playing with fire and you are going to get burned. But if you keep on walking with God, remembering what He has done for you, you will find that His love, peace, and promises bring a reward greater than you can imagine. Thus, the writer urges us to remember how we have suffered for Christ, and to keep what we have until He comes and rewards us.
Featuring a sermon puts it on the front page of the site and is the most effective way to bring this sermon to the attention of thousands including all mobile platforms + newsletter.
Text-Featuring a sermon is a less expensive way to bring this sermon to the attention of thousands on the right bar with optional newsletter inclusion. As low as $30/day.
Caleb Nelson grew up in Ft. Collins, CO. Born into a Christian home, where he eventually became the eldest of 11 children, he has been a lifelong Presbyterian. He professed faith at the age of six, and was homeschooled through high school. He then attended Patrick Henry College...
