Saints’ Endurance

They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. – Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 17, Section 1, Of the Perseverance of the Saints

We often start projects with great eagerness, but soon become weary and give up. We then live with the guilt of not finishing for the rest of our lives. We needed endurance to finish the project.

Some people consider the Christian life to be like a hundred-meter dash, requiring a brief burst of energy. The Christian life, however, is a race that lasts one’s lifetime and requires strict training. A true child of God will endure to the very end. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1). Paul exhorts Timothy to endure hardship like a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer (cf. 2 Tim. 2:3-6).

A large part of modern evangelism is synthetic, tailored to today’s superficial atmosphere: “Accept Jesus, and all your problems will go away. No obedience or suffering is necessary. You will have health, wealth, and power here in this life and eternal happiness in heaven.” True Christianity, however, is following Christ and suffering with him. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up the cross daily, and follow him. Why the cross? Because the world will do to us what it did to Jesus because we belong to him.

In Hebrews 10:26-31 the author warned against turning away from Christ and turning to a false gospel. Now in verses 32 through 39 he speaks of our need for patient endurance in the midst of severe trials. He encourages his readers by telling them to remember Christ’s sufferings for them and their own past sufferings, to know God and theology, to hold on to their confidence, to recognize that endurance comes through suffering, and to continue doing God’s will.

1. Remembering Past Faithfulness

The first point is found in verse 32: “Remember those earlier days, after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face 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 sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”

The Hebrews were in danger of apostasy-of rejecting Jesus for Moses, of rejecting the gospel for the rituals of Judaism-to avoid suffering. To help them remain firm in their faith, the author now exhorts them to remember their own past faithfulness and suffering for the gospel. He exhorted them similarly in Hebrews 6:10: “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help.” In the past these people loved the gospel and sacrificially helped God’s people who were suffering for the gospel. Now the author exhorts them to remember this past faithfulness (Heb. 10:32).

Remembering the past helps us in the present. I remember God pouring out his Holy Spirit when I was a young boy. I saw the saints loving God and one another and joyfully suffering persecution for the sake of Christ. This memory encouraged us when we started this church according to the biblical pattern. We preach the gospel and live the life the gospel dictates. We also endure persecution in the power of the Holy Spirit and follow Christ on earth until death brings us to the presence of God. We are ever-mindful of the words of Jesus to the saints to the church at Smyrna: “Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10), and those of Paul to Timothy: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will reward to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7-8).

We must remember the past, as Jesus exhorted the Ephesian church to do when they fell from their first love: “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first” (Rev. 2:5). Married couples should remember the love they first had for each other, and let that help them live in love now. So also we should remember our first love for Jesus and let that help us live in love for him now. We love him because he first loved us, and he loves us still.

The Hebrew Christians experienced great sufferings as soon as they were converted. In A.D. 33 Stephen was stoned to death; ten years later, James, the brother of the apostle John, was beheaded by King Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great. Around A.D. 62, during the reign of the high priest Annas II, James the Just, the pastor of the Jerusalem church and the brother of Jesus, was stoned to death. Believers were made a public spectacle through many reproaches and tribulations, both from the world and from the Jews. Some were even thrown to the lions as entertainment for the Romans.

Not only were these Hebrew Christians to remember how they personally suffered for the gospel, but they were also to remember how they suffered and sympathized with those who were persecuted and imprisoned for their faith. In those days, prisoners were punished, not pampered. They were given little provision and depended on others for help. These Hebrew Christians helped their brothers in prison, grieving and praying with them, and bringing them clothing, books, food, and other necessities. It was dangerous for them to do these things, for they themselves could also be arrested and tortured. Yet they were ready to suffer for the gospel.

Paul wrote several times about experiencing such kindness from his fellow believers during his imprisonments: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. . . May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day . . . When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas and my scrolls, especially the parchments” (Rom. 16:3-4; 2 Tim. 1:16-18; 4:13). In Hebrews 13:3 the author exhorts, “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Jesus also spoke of this aspect of the Christian life: “The King will say . . . ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me'” (Matt. 25:34-40).

The Hebrew writer also urges his readers to remember how they joyfully accepted the confiscation of their properties for the sake of the gospel. The public baptism of the Hebrew Christians invited Jewish persecution, for the Jews saw these people as traitors and outlaws, without any legal protection. Their houses and properties were taken, and many lost their businesses, for no one wanted to do business with Christians. No wonder the Jerusalem church always remained poor and in continual need of help. Yet they accepted the loss of all material things with joy. Joy is the fruit of the Spirit. Because they were filled with the Spirit, they rejoiced in such deprivations and persecutions.

Jesus spoke about such joy to his disciples: “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you, insult you, reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven” (Luke 6:22). The apostles experienced it: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:41). After they were beaten up and thrust in the Philippian prison, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God in the middle of the night (cf. Acts 16:25).

Christians should expect sufferings and endure with joy. Paul writes, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, character hope-hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:3). Suffering teaches us to depend, not on ourselves or on the world, but on God. Paul says the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). So suffering is not a surprise for us; it is our life, due to our union with Jesus Christ.

The Hebrew church joyfully endured physical suffering, psychological suffering, economic deprivation, and rejection by family and friends. The church historian Eusebius referred to this passage from Hebrews 10 when writing about the condition of the Alexandrian church in the middle of the third century: “In addition to much more brutal assaults and tortures, the following incident is narrated: Then all with one impulse rushed to the houses of the pious and they dragged forth whomsoever anyone knew as a neighbor and despoiled and plundered them. They took for themselves the more valuable property. But the poorer articles and those made of wood they scattered about and burned in the streets so that the city appeared as if taken by an enemy. But the brethren withdrew and went away and ‘took joyfully the spoiling of their goods like those to whom Paul bore witness.'”

A true Christian, born of God and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, will endure sufferings with joy to the end of his life. Ours is the way of the cross as it was for Jesus: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run withperseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him whoendured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (vv. 1-3, italics added). Let us remember the sufferings of Jesus for our salvation and our own sufferings in the past that we may continue in the way of suffering to the end.

2. Knowing God

The second point is knowing. We must know God, know the Scriptures, and know theology so that we can joyfully endure suffering and persevere in the Christian life. The Hebrew Christians joyfully accepted the confiscation of their property because they knew they had better and lasting possessions.

Christians endure suffering through knowledge, not feeling. They exercise their minds to know the true gospel and their covenant God. They are inspired to endure sufferings because they know that even now they have better and everlasting possessions. They know that God is their portion and they are God’s. Because their spiritual eyes have been opened, they know who God is, who man is, and the nature of the world and the devil. They know there is a heaven and a hell.

Those without knowledge will not last long in the Christian life. Jesus tells us, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them” (Matt. 13:11). Knowledge of God helps us to hope, to believe, and to endure our sufferings with joy. Unbelievers are morally incapable of knowing God, but Christians are those who have received the full knowledge of the truth (cf. Heb. 10:26). So Paul writes, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4-6).

What is the result of knowing God? “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces patience, patience character, and character hope” (Rom. 5:3). As Christians, we are not confused when faced with trials, persecutions, and suffering. Our knowledge of God results in our loving God more and not trusting in ourselves or in the things of this world. James, the brother of the Lord, spoke of this: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2-3). God has a plan and a purpose. He has chosen us to be holy and blameless in his sight, and he is going to achieve that by whatever means he chooses to use.

In Psalm 73 we find the author unhappy because everyone else was prospering, but he was not. He went to the temple and changed his mind. Pay attention to what God is trying to achieve in our lives through sufferings: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:25-26).

Through sufferings God teaches us that only in his presence is there fullness of joy and on his right hand, pleasures forevermore. Through sufferings he shows us that we have no permanent home here, but we are on our way to the heavenly city and country that Abraham and others yearned for: “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God . . . Instead they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Heb. 11:10, 16).

Brothers and sisters, our treasure is God, not gold. We possess the pearl of great price; no thief can steal it, no moth or rust can destroy it, and nothing in all creation can separate us from it. If we have such knowledge of God, we will rejoice in sufferings.

Paul writes, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph. 1:18-19). We must exercise our minds to understand God and his plan for us and for this world, so that we may endure hardship with joy, knowing that we possess eternal life.

3. Do Not Throw Away Your Confidence

The third point is found in verse 35: “So do not throw away your confidence.” The writer was encouraging his readers that because God had saved them and they had already suffered so much for the gospel, they should not foolishly throw away their confidence. Rather, they should persevere, fearlessly holding fast to their confession, because they were closer to their salvation than when they first believed. Apostasy only proves that such people never truly were regenerate citizens of heaven. True Christians shall persevere to the end.

The writer had already spoken of this in Hebrews 3: “But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house, and we are his house, if we hold on to our encouragement and the hope of which we boast . . . We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first” (vv. 6, 14). Now he exhorts them to not cast away their precious confession of Jesus and their confidence to come to the throne of grace with a good conscience to receive mercy and to find grace. They must not quit their Christian walk because of suffering and the enticement of sin, or be like Esau, who sold his birthright for a cup of soup.

My grandson has confidence in approaching me because it is his right to call me “Grandpa.” So also we have confidence toward God and his Son Jesus Christ: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).

God is our heavenly Father. Listen to the language of Paul: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights as sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit that calls out, ‘Abba, Father'” (Gal. 4:4-6). The word “Abba” in Aramaic means “Daddy.” That is why Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father,” or “Our Daddy.” This intimate relationship is our confidence.

Do not become weary in well-doing, and lose everything. We are warned against becoming weary in our marriage, in our job, and in our Christian life. Heed the words of Hebrews 12:3: “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” We must not quit and cast away our confidence as something that is worthless. When God regenerates a person’s heart, that person will never lose his salvation. God will change him from glory to glory to the perfect glory of the eternal state. Such a person will endure to the very end.

Jesus himself spoke of this: “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved . . . At that time many will turn away from the faith and will be betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:21-22; 24:10-13).

A true Christian is sealed with the Holy Spirit as a sign of security, ownership, and value. The Holy Spirit himself guarantees our final perseverance. So Paul writes, “Being confident of this, . . . he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). People may quit, but Christ will not. He continues to work in us, we work out, and finally he will bring us safely home. No matter what happens-our spouse may walk out, our children may reject us, our employer may abandon us, we may be full of disease-look to Jesus. He alone gives us grace that we may rejoice in the midst of all troubles.

Rocky soil and thorny soil Christians are unregenerate (cf. Matt. 13:1-23). Though they may simulate spiritual graces for a while, they shall not persevere and receive the great reward. In time they cast away their simulated confidence and prove themselves to be like Judas and Demas. They demonstrate who they really are-unregenerate covenant-breakers, mere synthetic Christians. But by God’s power, the regenerate persevere and endure to the end of their lives. Only those who endure to the end are truly regenerate.

Jesus himself keeps the regenerate from falling away: “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forevermore” (Jude 24). Jesus himself told Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked permission to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32). Jesus prays for his people, that our faith may not fail. We will be brought into the very presence of God without fault and with great jubilation. He saves us from beginning to end.

Peter writes, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are [being] shielded by God’s power until the coming salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3-5). It is a present participle: even now we are being shielded by God.

We must make our calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:20). Are you merely simulating Christianity? Is your faith external only? If you are unregenerate, you will find it hard to love and obey God. You will fight every inch of the way. But if you are born of God, your joy will be to do the will of God.

4. We Need Endurance

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (v. 36). Modern people do not have much patience. We pamper our children and they grow up without patience. But here the author is telling us that we need endurance to live the Christian life.

Those who become Christians through false evangelism shall not endure the hardship of the Christian life. Expecting a life of ease and prosperity, they are shocked by trials and persecutions. (PGM) They did not expect to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Eventually such people quit, but true Christians expect and endure trials.

Scripture is very clear about how we may obtain the endurance we need. We lack endurance because we do not experience suffering. God provides us with the virtue of endurance: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces endurance” (Rom. 5 3). I do not pray for suffering, nor should you. But whether we pray or not, God’s commitment to us is to make us holy and blameless so that we can be presented to God without fault, in all glory. Therefore, he will ordain sufferings to produce perseverance: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (Jas. 1:2).

Do not be surprised when suffering comes. Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Since Paul was a true evangelist, he was careful to let the people know about this hard truth: “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). We may not like suffering, but no matter. God’s plan is to glorify us through suffering.

No one is exempt from suffering: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). I have been persecuted all my life and still am. If we do not live godly lives, we will not experience persecution. It is our difference from the world that causes persecution to come. The world hates holy people; darkness despises light. Paul writes, “We sent Timothy . . . to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them” (1 Thess. 3:2-3). Trials are the destiny of every Christian.

Endurance is the ability to stand under severe pressure by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:13). We want to make our experiences unique, but they are not. However, God will give us grace sufficient to stand up under all pressures.

Christian history is replete with examples of those who endured suffering. Stephen and James the Just endured stoning, Peter endured crucifixion, and Paul endured beheading. Some were torn asunder and eaten by wild animals in the arena, while others were covered with pitch and set ablaze to give light in the garden of Nero. True people of God have suffered much throughout history, and still suffer and die today in many parts of the world. They endure because God is with them and in them. If you are tempted to self-pity, read about the trials Paul endured (2 Cor. 4, 6, 11, and 12). Yet he writes, “I can do all things through [Jesus Christ] who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13, NASB). Elsewhere he says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Cor. 12:9). As we go through suffering, we must be aware that our trial is not the only thing that is happening. The power of God is also resting upon us so we can stand up under it.

How do we obtain endurance? Study the Scriptures and pray. Draw near to God to receive mercy and find grace for the time of need. Remember our past faithfulness. Read histories of God’s martyrs. Cultivate strong fellowship with God’s people. Keep in mind what is awaiting us at our death, or at the soon coming of Christ: “You yourselves had better and lasting possessions” (Heb. 10:34). We are very rich in Christ because we have indestructible spiritual possessions. “Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded” (Heb. 10:35). We must keep this in mind as we go through the valley of the shadow of death. Either we are going to fix our eyes on our pain, or we will fix them on Jesus. When we do this, we will leap for joy when we are persecuted.

Verse 36 says, “When you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” When God promises, he fulfills what he promised. How many people make vows, only to walk out of them later! Never trust man and his promises, but always trust God, who cannot lie nor die. He is truth and we can count on him. He promised us eternal salvation and will give it to us.

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved” (v. 39). The idea of suffering and physical death should not throw us into confusion. The saints who die enter into the saints’ everlasting rest. It is not a theory that heaven is a better life; it is a better life-much better than life in the United States, in spite of all its riches.

I pray that we will seek God and his promises, not the riches of this world. Hebrews 11:6 says “Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” God richly rewards those who diligently seek him, whether young or old. What does it profit if we fling away our confidence out of fear of the world and due to the seduction of sin? What does it profit if we gain the whole world and lose our souls? We lose everything. The just shall live moment by moment by faith in God’s promise.

A saint is a person who experienced a spiritual Copernican revolution of center change from self to Christ, from death to life everlasting, from earth to heaven. Christ lives in him, and he follows Christ into a new heaven and a new earth, along with all the saints of the past, present, and future, to enjoy forever life everlasting.

5. We Need to Do God’s Will

The final point is also found in verse 36: “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (italics added). It is not when we have promised to do the will of God, but when we have done it that we receive our reward. God wants us to finish the race, fight the good fight, and keep the faith. It is like a Christian husband and wife vowing to love one another. They make a covenant, and must continue to perform that covenant until death separates them.

The unregenerate will not do the will of God. He may promise but he will never do it. He is a synthetic, plastic Christian who experiences no interior change. He is a pagan sitting in the church. It is like a lawnmower in the garage pretending to be a Lexus 460L-sheer pretension.

Jesus always did the will of God: “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. And once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:7-9). He said to the Father, “Here I am-it is written about me in the scroll-I have come to do your will, O God” (Heb. 10:7). Hebrews 1:3 speaks of Christ doing the will of God by his atoning death: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had providedpurification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven”.

As God’s children, we also must do the Father’s will. Then we will receive our reward after we have done it. It is a beautiful thing to see the death of God’s saints. One who has lived a godly life can declare, upon death, “It is finished; I have done the will of God,” as he is ushered into the presence of God to receive his inheritance.

God will help us to do his will: “May the God of peace who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus the great shepherd of the sheep equip you with everything good for doing his will. And may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20-21).

God works in us his will, and we work it out. The One who is in us is greater than the devil, who is in the world. God is in us and we are in God. The Christian journey is a journey with our triumphant Christ. He says, “Follow me,” and we his sheep follow him all the way-some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood of Jesus. We all travel with Christ the victor in the way of the cross, and he shall bring all his elect to the presence of our heavenly Father.

Jesus Christ is conqueror par excellence, having conquered hell and death, the world and the devil, on our behalf. In him we are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37). We are the justified who live by faith in our Christ who “was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). Therefore, we shall persevere as long as we do not become arrogant and self-reliant.

In Hebrews 38-39 the writer is quoting Habakkuk 2:4, which says, “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright-but the righteous will live by his faith.” In the Hebrew text “See, he is puffed up” is speaking about Babylon and the wicked Jews. The word means “puffed up,” or “swollen.” It is the word used for hemorrhoid. A wicked, arrogant, self-sufficient person is seen by God as a hemorrhoid. We find the same word in 1 Samuel 5-6. The Philistines took the ark of God to Ashdod, to Gath, and Ekron, and God brought upon them tumors. These mighty people could not sit down without pain.

An arrogant, self-sufficient Christian, as far as God is concerned, is a hemorrhoid. The fear of God is the hallmark of godliness. The just shall live by faith. The opposite of hemorrhoids are the just, the saints, the people of God. Such people are humble. They are always dependent, not on themselves or on their supposed achievements, brilliance, and beauty, but on God.

After all this exhortation, the writer says in verse 39, “But we are not of those who shrink back, and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved” or we could say, “We are not of those who swell up.” Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ saves us from beginning to end. He prays for us and we will endure till the end. We will be able to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7-8).

May God help us to make our calling and election sure. May we be humble and Christ-centered, quick to hear and do the will of God exactly, immediately, and with great joy. In the days ahead, may we prove by our lives that we are truly more than conquerors in Jesus Christ, a people who have nothing to fear, even though we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Trials may multiply, but we know God’s design and purpose to produce perseverance, character, and hope, not in ourselves, but in the glory of God. Jesus Christ is coming again, and he will bring us into a new heaven and a new earth, to enjoy joy celestial and happiness eternal.