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The agony of defeat
The agony of defeat
Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport!
The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat!
The human drama of athletic competition.
This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!
The Red Sox, leading the New York Mets 3-2 in the series, held a 5-3 lead at Shea Stadium with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 6. All they needed was one measly out to clinch their first World Series championship since 1918. After three successive singles and a wild pitch tied the game, and then Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson hit a ball that dribbled through Bill Buckner's legs, allowing Ray Knight to score the winning run. The Mets then overcame a 3-0 deficit in Game 7, taking the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh on a home run by Knight.
There are worse things!
In Hebrews 3, the writer is comparing Jesus to Moses showing the superiority of Jesus.
Moses was a servant but Jesus is the Son.
Then the writer of Hebrews starts meddling, because he compares the Jews in the desert with us as Christians.
Talk about the Agony of Defeat!
The Jewish people, languishing in Egypt as slaves, cry out to God and God sends them Moses. Moses, leads God’s people out of Egypt because of the miraculous works of God. They witnessed
water turning to blood
frogs
lice
flies
livestock pestilence
boils
hail
locust
darkness
The killing of firstborn children
Two years after being miraculously saved from Egypt they find themselves at Kadesh Barnea about to enter the land of Milk and Honey, but they become afraid and rebel against God, Moses and Aaron. They proposed to promote someone to take them back to Egypt.
The entire generation is doomed to wonder the desert until every last one of them died, never entering the Promised Land.
The writer of Hebrews warns us then, not to be like those people.
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.
13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,
15 while it is said,
“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.”
16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?
17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?
19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.
Hear the Word
Hear the Word
The writer quotes from Psalms 95 when he said:
15 while it is said,
“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.”
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
The question isn’t have you heard. The question is DO YOU HEAR THE WORD OF CHRIST?
Do you think of your salvation as a Vaccination by Christ or a Relationship with Christ?
Believe the Word
Believe the Word
Verse 12 tells us that It is the unbelieving hear that falls away.
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us the the Word of the Lord is Living and Active.
So if your faith is not living and active they you may be able to claim that you believed, but not that you believe.
Obey the Word
Obey the Word
18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
Faith without Works is dead.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Share the Word
Share the Word
13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Are you saying that you can lose your salvation?
NO:
You can’t fall away if you never were a believer.
22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
How do we know and enjoy the security of our eternal salvation:
1: Take Care.
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.
5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?
10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
2: Encourage one another.
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
If we are saved, why do we have to keep encouraging and keep being vigilent.
You cannot coast into Heaven.
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
