Being ungodly is not easy! Being godly is not easy! There is no lifestyle that completely by-passes the reality of struggle! No matter what life a person chooses to live, the element of struggle will be involved! Any level of rejection of God will not make life easy! Any level of following God will not make life easy!
Following the ungodly principle and value of pleasure will not produce a lifetime of "fun and games". There surely is pleasure in some forms of evil (see Hebrews 11:25). The Bible does not deny that fact. What the Bible declares and illustrates is the fact that such pleasures are temporary. What God offers is a pleasure that occurs without end. The choice is not between pleasure and no pleasure. The choice is between a form of pleasure that is temporary and ends in destructive consequences, and a form of pleasure that is permanent and ends in eternal blessings. It is a choice between immediate, temporary gratification that results in destructive consequences, and delayed gratification that results in eternal blessings.
As an illustration, consider the area of recreational addictions. From the testimony of many, it is intensely pleasurable to "get high." The adrenaline/chemically induced rush in addictive highs are, at first, incredibly fun. However, often that pleasure disappears rather quickly. That which goes up must come down. The going up and reaching the high is a pleasurable experience. The coming down is horrible, and "hitting bottom" is a grotesque experience. Have you ever heard anyone talk about how wonderful their hangover experience was?
While the "highs" are temporarily fun and often involve an accompanying "thrill" atmosphere, there is a horrible down side. Anyone who actually watched a person "hit bottom" and witnessed that despair [saw the problem from the inside] knows the down side is so bad it defies a word description. What began as "innocent fun" commonly ends as an unthinkably bad experience.
The realities of the down side need sober consideration. (1) If you have something to contribute, you are welcome to be part of the party. However, when you have nothing to contribute [youth, money, an attractive body, valued connections, etc.] you are not welcome to be part of the party. (2) What began as fun, enslaves. No one likes a slave! Who needs a walking, talking reminder of what can [and likely will] happen? (3) There are the problems of deception, loss of money, loss of health, or loss of the company of friends. Is there any comparison between the desirability of a party scene and the loneliness of a "flop house" experience? Many addictions that began in the deceptive thrills of the party scene end in a "flop house." (4) It is common for there to be thefts, pretenses, and the sale of one's body. (5) There often is the self-loathing and self-contempt. (6) There often is the chase of the impossible "high" that is only a memory. Often more and more does less and less. (7) What began as the pursuit of fun often ends in a desperate attempt to escape from the induced reality. (8) That does not even begin to deal with sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and the lost personal hope for a future that includes a secure marriage and home. (9) Nor does it deal with the prices to be paid in recovery if the recovery experience is even an option.
Are there prices to be paid in living a godly life? Yes! Do those prices sometimes include significant physical losses? Yes! Can a commitment to be godly become depressing? Yes! Can godly people decide godliness "is not worth the cost?" Yes!
Consider today's text. This lesson accepts the following to be the background of the text: The statement [as well as the book] is directed to Jewish people who decided early as Christianity developed to become Christians. Their faith that Jesus was the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham initially produced incredible commitment. However, the cost was not paid all at once. The price of no longer being a part of one's people was "too much" to pay.
First you are asked to note the actions of those troubled Christians in their "former days" as converts to Christ. The fact that they were "enlightened" is taken to mean that they were genuinely converted to Jesus Christ. They understood that he came from God and was the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. As an evidence of the genuineness of their conversion to Jesus Christ, they "endured a great conflict of suffering."
What kind of suffering did they endure because they placed their faith in Jesus Christ? (1) They endured the ridicule of being a public spectacle through public humiliation and abuse. (2) They were unashamed of their ties with the abused. (3) They showed sympathy to those imprisoned for faith in Jesus Christ. (4) They endured the confiscation of their property with joy. These people had been seasoned, committed, sacrificial Christians!
Second, note they were not yet abandoned by God! In fact, they are encouraged to realize (1) their confidence in Jesus had great reward; (2) they needed to endure; and (3) God's promises were still theirs. These were Christians who were no longer assembling with Christians (10:25)! They were not "run off"! They were encouraged to come back!
Third, note the confidence expressed in them. "You are not the kind of people who quit and give up! You are the kind of people whose faith will not quit!" The objective was to redeem them, bring them back, encourage them, renew them. Christians do not destroy Christians who disappoint them! Instead, Christians challenge struggling Christians to renew faith in Christ. Christians seek to make struggling Christians want to be a part of the Christian community! If God will forgive and save, who are we to discourage?
Do not fail to note the motives of the faithful or the renewal of motives in those who had been faithful but were struggling. God's commitment is to salvation, not to destroying! (Remember 1 Timothy 1:15; 2 Peter 3:9.) In the same way, God's people seek to encourage the struggling rather than to alienate the struggling. God supplies our motive. It is the motivation to save, not to destroy.
For Thought and Discussion:
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 10