2970.) Hebrews 13

WHAT WE HAVE SEEN in HEBREWS:

Christ is greater than Prophets (1:1-3)

Christ is greater than Angels (1:4-2:18)

Christ is greater than Moses (3:1-19)

Christ is greater than Joshua (4:1-13)

Christ is greater than Levitical Priests (4:14-7:28)

Christ is greater than the Tabernacle (8:1-5)

Christ is greater than Old Covenant (8:6-9:22)

Christ is greater than Sacrifices (9:23-10:39)

Outworking of Faith in Christ (11:1-40)

Outworking of Hope in Christ (12:1-29)

Outworking of Love in Christ (13:1-17)

Final Exhortation and Salutations (13:18-25)

_______________

Hebrews 13 (NIV)

Concluding Exhortations

¹Keep on loving each other as brothers. ²Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

³Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

⁴Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. ⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”

⁶So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?”

⁷Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

from Daily Readings from Luther’s Writings,
edited by Barbara Owen

In God’s sight this principle stands firm and unshakable:  all saints live by the same Spirit and by the same faith, and are guided and governed by the same Spirit and the same faith, but they all do different external works. For God does not work through them at the same time, in the same place, in the same work,  or in the sight of the same people. He moves at different times, in different places, in different works, and in different people, but he always rules them by the same Spirit and the same faith.

And each one is compelled by the work, place, time, persons, and circumstances, previously unknown to him, to follow God as he rules and guides him. This is the true knowledge of faith in which all saints are instructed, each one in his own vocation.

⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Yesterday He died for me . . . this is history.
Today He lives for me . . . this is victory.
Tomorrow He comes for me . . . this is mystery.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “Oh, I Want to Know You More” — the cry of our hearts as we grow in loving Jesus, who shows us perfectly the Father’s love, yesterday, today, and forever.

The wonderful Cadet Sisters.

Just the time I feel that I’ve been caught in the mire of self, just the time I feel my mind’s been bought by worldly wealth, That’s when the breeze begins to blow, I know the Spirit’s call, and all my worldly wanderings just melt into His love.

Oh, I want to know you more, deep within my soul I want to know you, oh I want to know you. To feel your heart and know your mind. Looking in your eyes stirs up within me cries that say I want to know you. Oh I want to know you more.

When my daily deeds ordinarily lose life and song, My heart begins to bleed, sensitivity to Him is gone. I’ve run the race, but set my own pace and face a shattered soul, now the gentle arms of Jesus warm my hunger to be whole.

And Oh I want to know you. And I would give my final breath to know you in your death and resurrection. Oh I want to know you more. Lord,  I want to know you more.

_________________________

⁹Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. ¹⁰We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

¹¹The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹²And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. ¹³Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. ¹⁴For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Psalm 103:1-5 (The Message)

O my soul, bless God.
From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
don’t forget a single blessing!

He forgives your sins—every one.
He heals your diseases—every one.
He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.

¹⁶And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. ¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

¹⁸Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. ¹⁹I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

²⁰May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹equip 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 for ever and ever. Amen.

from The Daily Study Bible,
by William Barclay

i)  Jesus is the great shepherd of His sheep. There is a lovely legend about Moses. It tells of a thing that Moses did when he had fled from Egypt and was keeping the flocks of Jethro in the desert. A sheep of the flock wandered far away. Moses patiently followed it, and when he found it, it was drinking at a mountain stream. Moses came up to it and put it upon his shoulder. “So it was because you were thirsty that you wandered away,” said Moses gently, and, without anger at the toll this sheep had caused him, he carried it home. And when God saw it, He said, “If this man Moses is so compassionate to a straying sheep, he is the very man I want to be the leader of my people.” A shepherd is one who is ready to give his life for his sheep. He is one who bears with the foolishness of the sheep and who never stops loving them. That is what Jesus does for us.

ii)  Jesus is the one who established the new covenant. That is to say, Jesus is the one who made possible the new relationship between God and man. It was Jesus who showed us what God is like, and who opened the door. He took away the terror and showed us the love of God.

iii)  Jesus is the one who died. To establish that new relationship, to show men what God was like, to open the way to God, cost the life of Jesus. Our new relationship to God cost the blood of Jesus. He died to bring us to God and to life.

_________________________

2 Corinthians 1:20  (NRSV)

For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.”  For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God.

²²Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter.

²³I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.

²⁴Greet all your leaders and all God’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.

²⁵Grace be with you all.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Supremacy of Christ.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/13-supremacy-christ-jpg.jpg

verse 2, calligraphy by Michael Noyes.    http://www.michaelnoyes.com/images/products/product_86_copyright.png

one Lord, one faith.    http://www.seghea.com/pat/bible/onelordwebring.gif

hands lifted in praise.    http://www.spirituality.org.za/uploaded_images/worship-747692.jpg

Jesus the Good Shepherd.    https://themasterstable.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/jesus_shepherd.jpg

yes.    http://olabajing.co.uk/images/yes_and_no.png

2969.) Hebrews 12

Hebrews 12 (NIV)

God Disciplines His Sons

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “For All the Saints.” This has to be in my Top Ten List of Wonderful Hymns! The words were originally written (1864) as a processional hymn, and the hymn tune, written by Ralph Vaughan Williams and known as Sine Nomine, is considered by many to be one of the finest hymn tunes of the 20th century.  It is performed here by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. Can you see the “cloud of witnesses” marching towards the Throne of God accompanied by this piece?

_________________________

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.

from Whispers of His Power,
by Amy Carmichael

Hebrews 12:1 — Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

Hebrews 13:5-6 — He  hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear.

Watching an obstacle race made me think of the race we are called to run. While we are in the middle of loops and tires and ladders and sacks we may be tempted to forget that they did not put themselves there. They are there on purpose. What would be the point of an obstacle race if there were no obstacles? It would be foolish to say, “Couldn’t you clear these obstacles off the field, and make the race nice and easy?”

And yet that is exactly what we often ask God to do for us. “Please make it a bit easier, it’s too hard for me.” That is a poor sort of prayer, and there is not a single promise in the Bible which we can take and spread before our Father and say, “See, my Father, You promised to make the race easy.” So it cannot be the kind of prayer He likes His runners to bring to Him.

There are many promises that we can bring. Here is one. It was written in a letter to people who were running in an obstacle race, and the obstacles were simply tremendous. The author wrote about being properly prepared for the race, and about running with patience. He wanted to give them a strong word of comfort too, so he wrote:  “God has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So you may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear.”

Next time we feel like giving up as we jump our bars, or scramble up our ladders, or dive through our rings, or struggle through our old tires, or stagger along in our sack, let us listen and we shall hear that word, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

²Let 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 at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

⁴In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
⁶ because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

⁷Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ⁸If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. ⁹Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! ¹⁰Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

“Refiner’s Fire,” watercolor by Jana Winters Parkin, 2007.

Suffering for the believer is a privilege, because suffering is a refining. Why do the godly suffer? They suffer that they may be purified and cleansed. Such is the message of God’s Word. It is a refining process. How clearly that is brought out in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews.

Suffering is a refining process, and even as heat is applied to precious metals to bring all the dross to the top in order that the pure metal might remain, so your life and mine are often subjected to the heat of suffering by the great Refiner who knows just how much heat to apply.

We read in Zechariah 13:9, “I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried.” God thus gets rid of the dross and we become partakers of His holiness. That is a great promise and a great  privilege!

–Rev. Dr. Robert W. Lazear
in Stones of Remembrance

_________________________

2 Corinthians 1:20 (The Message)

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident.

¹²Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ¹³“Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Warning Against Refusing God

¹⁴Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

from Experiencing God Day-by-Day,
by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

Bitterness has a tenacious way of taking root deep within the soul and resisting all efforts to weed it out. Bitterness occurs for many reasons. It might come from deep hurts you received as a child, hurts you cannot forget. Time, rather than diminishing the hurt, only seems to sharpen the pain. Bitterness can result from the hurtful words of a friend or co-worker. Often the person who hurt you is unaware of the extent of your bitterness. You find yourself rehearsing the offense over and over again, each time driving the root of bitterness deeper within your soul. Bitterness can derive from a sense of being unjustly treated.

Bitterness is easy to justify. You can get so used to a bitter heart that you are even comfortable with it, but it will destroy you. Only God is fully aware of its destructive potential. There is nothing so deeply embedded in your heart that God’s grace cannot reach down and remove it. No area in your life is so painful that God’s grace cannot bring total healing. No offense committed against you is so heinous that God’s love cannot enable you to forgive.

When you allow bitterness to grow in your life, you reject the grace of God that can heal you. If you are honest before God, you will admit the bitterness and allow God to forgive you. God will replace your bitterness with his peace and joy.

¹⁶See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

¹⁸You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”²¹The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

Do not be afraid . . .

²²But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.  You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, ²⁴to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a BETTER word than the blood of Abel.

. . . for you have come home.

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our “God is a consuming fire.”

from this Day with the Master,
by Dennis F. Kinlaw

Our God is a consuming fire.  –Hebrews 12:29

Sin has a transcendent character. It rises above natural law and personally affronts the Holy One. God is holy, he is the Almighty, and the difference between right and wrong begins and ends in him. If you do not have the triune God, it is impossible to distinguish truth from error, and everything blurs together in a great gray mass of confusion. We tend to be frightened of the holiness of the Father, Son, and Spirit, but in reality his holy nature provides the security of the world. We want God to be angry when a child is hurt or when a person is discriminated against because we do not want evil to win. We are glad that God gets upset when rich people take advantage of poor people. God finds sin offensive because he is holy and he does what is right—always.

When the Holy Three-in-One comes into our midst and begins to make us like himself, we should be filled with ecstasy because his holiness offers the only chance for our crooked world to ever be made right. God’s holiness is the dream of all the utopian philosophers, whether they acknowledge it or not. He is the One in whom there is no falsehood, no wrong, no pollution. He is the Just One:  absolutely true, completely good, and always right.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

cross window and verse 2.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/12-cross-window-and-v21.jpg

runner and verse 1.    https://www.heartlight.org/gallery/audio_race.html

sack race.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/12-sack-race.jpg

woman’s face with beautiful eyes.    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/192/514545523_0aa2f8ed2e.jpg

Parkin.   http://wordsfortheyoung.blogspot.com/2010/11/refiner-of-silver.html

Yes stamp.    http://media.photobucket.com/image/yes%20stamp/Errchy/yes_stamp_sm.jpg

fire on the mountain.    https://www.english.op.org/godzdogz/pentecost-a-new-and-lasting-covenant-in-the-holy-spirit

heavenly Jerusalem.    http://gbcdecatur.org/files/NewJerusalem.jpg

God is good.    http://mailynshari.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/god-is-good-logo.jpg

2968.) Hebrews 11:23-40

Hebrews 11:23-40   (NIV)

²³By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

baby Moses and his mother

²⁴By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. ²⁶He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

²⁷By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

²⁹By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

” . . . and the walls came a-tumbling down!”

³¹By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

Rahab

³²And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

David, in particular, subdued kingdoms. Samuel (not excluding the rest) wrought righteousness. The prophets, in general, obtained promises, both for themselves, and to deliver to others. Prophets also stopped the mouths of lions, as Daniel; and quenched the violence of fire, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. To these examples, whence the nature of faith clearly appears, those more ancient ones are subjoined, (by a transposition, and in an inverted order,) which receive light from these. Jephthah escaped the edge of the sword; Samson out of weakness was made strong; Barak became valiant in fight; Gideon put to flight armies of the aliens. Faith animates to the most heroic enterprises, both civil and military. Faith overcomes all impediments effects the greatest things; attains to the very best; and inverts, by its miraculous power the very course of nature.

–John Wesley

³⁵Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a BETTER resurrection. ³⁶Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. ³⁷They were stoned; they were sawed in two;

They were sawn asunder — As, according to the tradition of the Jews, Isaiah was by Manasseh.

–John Wesley

they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

For every one of God’s promises  is “Yes” in Him. Therefore the “Amen” is also through Him for God’s glory  through us.

⁴⁰God had planned something BETTER for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

“God has no problems. Only plans.”

–Corrie ten Boom

_________________________

Music:

HERE,  again, is a version of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”  Mimi Fox is a jazz guitarist par excellence!  (How many times do you think she has practiced until her fingers bled?!)

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Faith is . . .     http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/dramadiva_photo/Life/Faith_hopefor.jpg

Moses’ mother places him in the river.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/11-baby-moses-river.jpg?w=450

Passover.    http://inbeulahland.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/passover1.jpg

Crossing the Red Sea” by Daniel Erlander.    http://danielerlander.com/uploads/images/catalog/crossing-the-red-sea_f_1_600_1.jpg?ac=64123

walls of Jericho fall.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/11-jericho-walls.jpg

Rahab hiding the spies.    http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/Pictures/StandardBibleStoryReadersBook5/target5.html

yes.     https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/11-yes.gif

2967.) Hebrews 11:1-22

Hebrews 11:1-22   (NIV)

By Faith

¹Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

What is FAITH?

Hebrews 11:1 (King James Version)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Henry David Thoreau:

“The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness.”

from The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupery:

Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified Bible)

NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

²This is what the ancients were commended for.

³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

⁴By faith Abel offered God a BETTER sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

Abel — and Cain

.

⁵By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God,

It is IMPOSSIBLE to please God without faith.

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Noah

.

⁸By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

THE TRUE MEANING OF THE PROMISED LAND
by David Wilkerson

God gave our forefather Abraham the land of Canaan “for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). In Hebrew, the word everlasting means never-ending. You might think, “Abraham had to rejoice over this. God promised his descendants a permanent homeland, as far as they could see, and it would last into eternity.” However, the New Testament tells us the world will be destroyed by fire, burnt completely out of existence, after which the Lord will bring about a new heaven and earth.

You may wonder: How could God’s “everlasting possession” to Abraham be a mere piece of real estate? How could it be eternal? The fact is, this land of promise was symbolic of a place beyond the earth. I believe Abraham knew this in his spirit. The Bible says that as Abraham moved about in Canaan, he always felt alien: “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country” (Hebrews 11:9). Why was this so? It was because Abraham’s heart longed for something beyond the land itself.

“He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). Abraham could see the true significance of the land blessing and he realized, “This place isn’t the real possession. It’s just an illustrated sermon of the great blessing to come.” Abraham grasped the true meaning of the Promised Land; he knew Canaan represented the coming Messiah. Jesus himself tells us, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56).

The Holy Spirit enabled this patriarch to see down through the years, to the day of Christ. He knew that the meaning of his Promised Land meant a place of total peace and rest. And, as Abraham knew, this place of rest is Jesus Christ himself. That’s right, the Lord Jesus is our promised possession. We are his, but he is ours as well. And God invites us to obtain our everlasting possession by simple faith.

¹¹By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹²And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Abraham

¹³All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. ¹⁴People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶Instead, 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.

This is a full convincing proof that the patriarchs had a revelation and a promise of eternal glory in heaven. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: seeing he hath prepared for them a city – Worthy of God to give.

–John Wesley

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” ¹⁹Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

Abraham and Isaac

from Whispers of His Power,
by Amy Carmichael

Hebrews 11:19 — Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.

Is there someone who is dead to the call of God and to all you have tried to do for him or her? Is there something in your own heart that seems dead—hope, faith, courage, gladness, patience, love? These words meet that condition. God is able to raise up even those from the dead.

Think of the infinite love of God. God so loved the world—not the good and lovable, but all the people in the world, just as they are. God loves that ungrateful patient, that difficult child, that car driver who doesn’t care, that careless workman. God loves those who have disappointed you again and again. Most wonderful of all, God loves you and me.

There are many sorrowful people in the world today, some who have lost their dearest on earth, or who have parted from them. Everywhere there is anxiety. But the power of Calvary suffices for all needs as well as for all sins.

O Love eternal, Love divine,
In wounded hearts pour oil and wine.
Where darkness broods like moonless night,
O Light of Life, let there be light.
And Thine the praise, the glory be
When Thy beloved come home to Thee.

²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

²¹By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Jacob

.

²²By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “O When the Saints Come Marching In.” Well, if you can’t sing this song with this chapter, when on earth can you sing it?! With Louis Armstrong, of course.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Faith is.   https://reversingverses.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/hebrews11-1.jpg

Faith.    https://olayemirichard.wordpress.com/2016/05/13/his-power-through-my-weakness/

Abel and Cain.    http://scripturelady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Post-cain-abel-pic.jpg

Noah.    http://www.oneil.com.au/lds/pictures/noah.jpg

map of the Promised Land.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/6a00e55043abd08834011570af5a73970b-320wi.jpg

Abraham and stars.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/11-abraham-starsjpg.jpg

Abraham and Isaac before the Sacrifice (by Jan Victors, 1642).    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Abraham_and_Isaac_before_the_Sacrifice,_Jan_Victors,_1642.jpg

Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons (by Benjamin West, 1766).    http://hoocher.com/Benjamin_West/Jacob_Blessing_Ephraim_and_Manasseh.jpg

2966.) Hebrews 10:19-38

Hebrews 10:19-38   (NIV)

A Call to Persevere

¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (Amplified Bible)

For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.

____________________

BOLDNESS TO ENTER GOD’S PRESENCE
by David Wilkerson

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil…. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith”  –(Hebrews 10:19-20, 22).

There are two sides to Christ’s work at Calvary. One side is to the benefit of man, and the other side is to the benefit of God. One benefits the sinner, while the other benefits the Father.

We are well acquainted with the benefit on the human side. The cross of Christ has provided us with forgiveness of our sins. We are given the power of victory over all bondages and dominion over sin. We are supplied with mercy and grace. And, of course, we are given the promise of eternal life. The cross has given us the means of escape from the terrors of sin and hell.

I thank God for this benefit of the cross to mankind, and for the wonderful relief it brings. I rejoice that it is preached week after week in churches all over the world.

Yet there is another benefit of the cross, one that we know very little about. And this one is to the benefit of the Father. You see, we understand very little about the delight of the Father that was made possible by the cross. It’s a delight that comes to him whenever he receives a prodigal child into his house.

If all we focus on about the cross is forgiveness—if that is the end-all of our preaching—then we miss an important truth that God has meant for us about the cross. There is a fuller understanding to be had here, and it has to do with his delight. This truth provides God’s people with much more than just relief. It brings liberty, rest, peace and joy.

In my opinion, most Christians have learned to come boldly before God for forgiveness, for supply of needs, for answers to prayer. But they lack boldness in this aspect of faith—an aspect that is just as crucial in their walk with the Lord.

The Lord has great joy that the cross has provided us with open access to himself. Indeed, the most glorious moment in history was when the temple veil was rent in two, on the day that Christ died. It was at this very moment that the benefit to God burst forth. In the instant that the temple veil—separating man from God’s holy presence—was torn asunder, something incredible happened. From that point on, not only was man able to enter into the Lord’s presence, but God could come out to man.

²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Reflections on encouragement:

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
~Richard Bach

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.
~Ivy Baker Priest

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined.
~Henry David Thoreau

Risk more than others think is safe.
Care more than others think is wise.
Dream more than others think is practical.
Expect more than others think is possible.
~Claude Bissell

When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.  When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.
~Acts 11:22-23  (NLT)

²⁶If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. ³³Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. ³⁴You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had BETTER and lasting possessions.

³⁵So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

Cast not away therefore this your confidence – Your faith and hope; which none can deprive you of but yourselves.

–John Wesley

³⁶You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

³⁷For in just a very little while,

“He who is coming will come and will not delay.
³⁸ But my righteous one will live by faith.

Habakkuk 2:4 (NKJV)

But the just shall live by his faith.

As a monk, Luther had become deeply aware of his sin and knew that he fell short of the standards set by God’s law. The words of Habakkuk 2:4 struck Luther as the key to his problem, but it was some time before he grasped that his sins were forgiven by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, apart from any works of his own. Luther’s son wrote:

“As he repeated his prayers on the Lateran staircase, the words of the prophet Habakkuk came suddenly to his mind: ‘The just shall live by faith.’ Thereupon he ceased his prayers, returned to Wittenberg, and took this as the chief foundation of all his doctrine… Luther himself said of this text, ‘Before those words broke upon my mind I hated God and was angry with him because not content with frightening us sinners by the law and by the miseries of life, he still further increased our torture by the gospel. But when, by the Spirit of God, I understood those words – “The just shall live by faith!” “The just shall live by faith!” – then I felt born again like a new man; I entered through the open doors into the very Paradise of God.'”

_________________________

Music:

Rich Mullins (he of “Awesome God” fame) wrote and sings “The Just Shall Live.” I love this song.  HERE.

I know the just shall live
I know the just shall live
I know the just shall live
By faith

‘Cause You won’t let Your Holy One
No, You won’t let Your Holy One
You won’t let Your Holy One
See corruption in the grave

Because He put His trust in You
Because He put His trust in You
Because He put His trust in You
Many shall be saved

And I know that You will raise them up
I know that You will raise them up
I know that You will raise them up
On the last day

For the Lord looks down on the sons of men
To hear the cries of the innocent
And the guilty will not stand
For the day of reckoning soon will come
And the whole world will see justice done
By the Lord’s almighty hand

So I’m telling you the just shall live
I know the just shall live
I know the just shall live
By faith

And You will raise them up
I know that You will raise them up
That You will raise them up
On the last day

And the prayers stand where the fighters fell
And time testifies with the tale that it tells
That the meek shall inherit the earth
And the Church advances on the gates of hell
And she clings to a light that will not be quelled
By the kingdoms of this world

I’m telling you the just shall live
I know the just shall live
I know the just shall live
By faith

And You will raise them up
I know that You will raise them up
You will raise them up
On the last day

_________________________

And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.”

³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

clouds and verse 23.    http://wallpaper4god.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Free-Wallpaper-Christian-Chirstmas-Hebrews-10-23.jpg

yes.     http://think.faesthetic.com/wp-content/uploads/yes2.jpg

the veil is torn.    https://scripture-for-today.blogspot.com/2013/05/psalm-181-20-i-call-to-lord-who-is.html?m=1

butterfly.  https://www.desicomments.com/butterfly/brilliant-pic-of-butterfly/

fog and verses 35-36.    http://www.4catholiceducators.com/graphics/Hebrews10_35-35.jpg

Martin Luther.    http://godwordistruth.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/martin_luther.jpg

2965.) Hebrews 10:1-18

“The Sacrifice of Isaac” by Caravaggio, 1602  (Uffizi, Florence) points to the required daily sacrifices in the Tabernacle and Temple, and to the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice of Christ.

Hebrews 10 (NIV)

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

Sacrifice:

To sacrifice something is to make it holy by giving it away for love.

–Frederick Buechner in Wishful Thinking

¹The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. ²If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. ³But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, ⁴because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

It is IMPOSSIBLE that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin.

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
⁶ with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”

Instead of sacrifice, God desires an obedient heart.  Can you give God that?

1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV)

And Samuel said,
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.”

⁸First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). ⁹Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.

Instead of sacrifice, God desires a contrite heart. Can you give God that?

Psalm 51:16-17 (KJV)

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

¹⁰And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹²But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs”  from Handel’s Messiah, performed by the Royal Choral Society.

Isaiah 53:4-5  (King James Version)

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

_________________________

¹³Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, ¹⁴because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Instead of sacrifice, God desires a humble and merciful heart. Can you give God that?

Micah 6:6-8 (NLT)

What can we bring to the Lord?
What kind of offerings should we give him?
Should we bow before God
with offerings of yearling calves?
Should we offer him thousands of rams
and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins?

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.

¹⁵The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
¹⁶“This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”

¹⁷Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”

¹⁸And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

from Everyone’s Guide to Hebrews,
by Neil R. Lightfoot

The author has placed before us, with consummate skill, Jesus as our eternal high priest. As priest, especially when compared with the candidates from Levi, he has no rival. He exemplifies the perfect type of priesthood, what God had in mind from the beginning. He is the real thing!

1.  His incarnation was real. He descended to earth and fully shared in flesh and blood. He was not ashamed of his “brothers.” In every respect he had to be made like them (2:11-17).

2.  His suffering was real. As the author will go on to say, he “suffered outside the gate” (13:12). He “endured the cross” (12:2). He was made “perfect through suffering” (2:10). Son though he was, he “learned” obedience through his suffering (5:8).

3.  His offering was made in the real place—heaven itself. The difference between an “earthly sanctuary” (9:1), the tabernacle, where the Jewish high priest officiated, and the sanctuary “not made with hands (9:11), where Christ ministers, is infinite. As high priest for us, Christ gloriously entered heaven. What could he offer? Certainly not the blood of bulls and goats! Through his own eternal spirit and through his own blood, he went before God. There he sprinkled his blood on the mercy seat in heaven.

4.  His forgiveness is real. This, of course, follows, if Christ’s offering of his blood before the Father has secured “eternal redemption” (9:12). An ancient king customarily had a special attendant to remind him of this or that which had occurred in the past. The attendant kept notes and chronicles in case something had to be recalled. He was a “remembrancer.” But because of Christ, we do not have a “remembrancer” to bring up our offenses. God said, “I will remember their sins no more.”

So it is Christ who turns shadows into reality. His blood can wash away our sins. Instead of “woe is me, woe is me, woe is me,” with confidence and great joy we can say, “thank God, thank God, thank God!” for Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

sacrifice.   http://digitalrightsmanifesto.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/the_sacrifice_of_isaac.jpg

multi-colored heart.    http://pictures.4ever.eu/love/hearts/heart-166811

real thing.   http://rlv.zcache.com/jesus_is_the_real_thing_t_shirt_tshirt-re5831315f1cb4a6392022fdf8f00e6bf_va6px_324.jpg

2964.) Hebrews 9

Jesus as our “mercy seat” mediates between God and all humanity. He paid the awful price of sin and fulfilled all the law’s demands, was raised from the dead to be our great eternal High Priest, and now offers us the true bread (manna) of everlasting life.

Hebrews 9 (NIV)

Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle

¹Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. ²A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. ³Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, ⁴which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. ⁵Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

Furniture of the tabernacle: inside — the ark of the covenant, the lampstand, the altar for incense, the table for bread; outside — the laver of washing, the altar of sacrifice.

⁶When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. ⁷But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. ⁸The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. ¹⁰They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

The Blood of Christ

¹¹When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. ¹²He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

The work of redemption being the work of the whole Trinity. Neither is the Second Person alone concerned even in the amazing condescension that was needful to complete it. The Father delivers up the kingdom to the Son; and the Holy Ghost becomes the gift of the Messiah, being, as it were, sent according to his good pleasure.

–John Wesley

Not All the Blood of Beasts
by Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience peace
Or wash away the stain.

But Christ, the heavenly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they.

My faith would lay its hand
On that dear head divine
As penitently here I stand,
Confessing guilt is mine.

My soul looks back to see
The burden you did bear
When hanging on the cursed tree;
I know my guilt was there.

Believing, we rejoice
To see the curse remove;
We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice
And sing his bleeding love.

¹⁵For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (GOD’S WORD Translation)

Certainly, Christ made God’s many promises come true. For that reason, because of our message, people also honor God by saying, “Amen!”

¹⁶In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. ¹⁸This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. ¹⁹When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” ²¹In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²²In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

_________________________

Music:

“The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power” is a wonderful old Andre Crouch song, sung  HERE  by Chrystal Washington at a Gaither gathering. “The blood that Jesus shed for me / Way back on Calvary / The blood that gives me strength /  From day to day / It will never lose its power.”

_________________________

²³It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with BETTER sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

.

Here is the eternal principle—Forgiveness is a costly thing.  Human forgiveness is costly.  A son or a daughter may go wrong; a father or a mother may forgive; but that forgiveness has brought tears; it has brought whiteness to the hair, lines to the faces, a cutting anguish and then a long dull ache to the heart.  It did not cost nothing.  There was the price of a broken heart to pay. 

Divine forgiveness is costly.  God is love, but God is holiness.  God, least of all, can break the great moral laws on which the universe is built.  Sin must have its punishment or the very structure of life disintegrates.  And God alone can pay the terrible price that is necessary before men can be forgiven.  Forgiveness is never a matter of saying:  “It’s all right; it doesn’t matter.”  Forgiveness is the most costly thing in the world.  Without the shedding of heart’s blood there can be no remission and forgiveness of sins.  There is nothing which brings the effect of his sin on someone with such arresting violence as to see the effect of his sin on someone who loves him in this world, or on the God who loves him forever, and to say to himself:  “It cost that to forgive my sin.”  Where there is forgiveness, someone must be crucified on a cross.

–William Barclay

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

ark in the heavens.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/6a010536b482b6970c0120a599ad74970b-320wi.jpg

tabernacle furniture.     https://www.thinking7.org/resources/the-tabernacle/

Jesus carrying a lamb, “The Lamb and the Lion,” by Glenda Green.   http://www.jarheadsforjesusoorah.com/663cscd.jpg

Yes.    https://isaiah43site.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/a-yes-1.jpg

Jesus on the cross, painting by Simon Bisley.    http://simonbisleygallery.com/art/2525.jpg

2963.) Hebrews 8

Hebrews 8 (NIV)

The High Priest of a New Covenant

¹The point of what we are saying is this:  We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ²and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

from This Day with the Master,
by Dennis F. Kinlaw

It is essential for us to understand the role of the priests in the Old Testament because it will enable us to understand Christ’s role in our redemption. The priests were the mediators between God in his holiness and human beings in their unholiness. Has God’s holiness changed? Has the sinfulness of people decreased? Hardly! The same need for mediation exists today, but it is met in a different way. It is no longer met through the ministry of earthly priests. We have a great High Priest who does not need to make atonement for himself as the priests of Israel did. Our High Priest is the sinless Christ Jesus.

A second thing to be learned about the priestly role is that God is not to be approached lightly. In Old Testament times God placed barriers between the people and himself in order to protect the people. Only members of a special tribe could minister in the house of worship, and only members of one family from that tribe could offer sacrifices. Further, only a single member of that family could  come into the presence of God behind the veil in the Holy of Holies, and he could go there only once a year. The priest had to make atonement for his own sins before he made atonement for the people. If he did not, the penalty was death.

The holiness of our God remains pure and powerful, but we no longer approach him through an earthly and sinful priest. We have access to the Father through Jesus, who in his death rent the veil of the temple and made access for all persons to come boldly to God. But we do not come alone. We come through Jesus, so our boldness is not presumption. It is based on the atoning work of Christ. In the institution of the priesthood we see a picture of what Christ came to do. He did away with the Old Testament priesthood, but the ministry and reality of that priesthood he took upon himself and performs for us even today.

So “approach the throne of grace with confidence” through Christ (Hebrews 4:16).

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is Charles Wesley’s wonderful hymn  “And Can It Be,” — first published in 1738 — sung by the Altar of Praise Chorale. I especially like the last verse, which begins with these words:  “No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in him, is mine.”

_________________________

³Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. ⁴If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. ⁵They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

⁶But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on BETTER promises.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV)

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

⁷For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. ⁸But God found fault with the people and said:

“The time is coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
⁹ It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.

¹⁰ This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.

Psalm 119:2 (NLT)

Joyful are those who obey his laws
and search for him with all their hearts.

I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
¹¹ No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

from the least to the greatest — In this order the saving knowledge of God ever did and ever will proceed; not first to the greatest, and then to the least. But “the Lord shall save the tents,” the poorest, “of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David,” the royal seed, “and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,” the nobles and the rich citizens, “do not magnify themselves,” (Zechariah 12:7).

–John Wesley

¹² For I will forgive their wickedness
and I will remember their sins no more.”

Romans 8:1-4 (NLT)

So now there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

We are told that God remembers our sins no more.  But we remember our sins! — either because of our good memory or some other person’s good memory. So we cannot help but believe that God still remembers our sins. This is a lie. God has chosen not to remember our sins, so that He will not hold us guilty for our sins. God has chosen to forgive all of our sins. This is the only reason for Jesus to be on the Cross. Therefore:  we have a choice. We can choose to keep track of our sins, strain under their oppression, and (in effect) live as though God lies . . . or we can take God at his everlasting word and say, “Thank you for forgiving my sins. Thank you that I am no longer condemned. Help me today to live lovingly, mercifully, honorably, justly, kindly — for you.”

¹³By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Hebrews 8:12.    http://www.believetrust.com/bible/tag/who-sat-down-at-the-right-hand-of-the-throne-of-the-majesty-in-heaven/

High Priest.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/8-high_priest.gif

Yes!    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/d1d7f-screenshot2014-01-28at1.42.30pm.png

laws in mind and heart.    http://donstephens.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/self-government.jpg

white cross.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/8-black-and-white-cross.jpg

new and improved.    http://weelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/weelicious-new-improved.jpg

 

2962.) Hebrews 7

Byzantine icon of Melchizedek

Hebrews 7 (NIV)

Melchizedek the Priest

¹This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High.

Melchizedek prefigures Christ, who also is a king and a priest.

He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, ²and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. (See the full story in Genesis 14.) First, his name means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” ³Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.

⁴Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! ⁵Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, their brothers—even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. ⁶This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. ⁷And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. ⁸In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. ⁹One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, ¹⁰because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Jesus Like Melchizedek

“Jesus Christ, The Great High Priest” — digital art by Mark Lawrence.

¹¹If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come—one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?

What farther need was there, that another priest — Of a new order, should be set up? From this single consideration it is plain, that both the priesthood and the law, which were inseparably connected, were now to give way to a better priesthood and more excellent dispensation.

–John Wesley

¹²For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. ¹³He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. ¹⁴For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. ¹⁵And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷For it is declared:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless ¹⁹(for the law made nothing perfect), and a BETTER hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

from The Epistle to the Hebrews,
by F. F. Bruce

The declaration “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” thus announces the abrogation of the earlier law which instituted the Aaronic order. It was inevitable that the earlier law should be abrogated sooner or later; for all the impressive solemnity of the sacrificial ritual and the priestly ministry, no real peace of conscience was procured thereby, no immediate access to God.

This is not to say that faithful men and women in Old Testament times did not enjoy peace of conscience and a sense of nearness to God; the Psalter provides evidence enough that they did. The psalmist who cried “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered; blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity” (Ps. 32:1f.) knew the blessedness of a peaceful conscience; and his colleague who said “it is good for me to draw near unto God” (Ps. 73:28) knew that access to the divine presence was always available to the man of faith.

But these experiences had nothing to do with the Levitical ritual or the Aaronic priesthood. The whole apparatus of worship associated with that ritual and priesthood was calculated rather to keep men at a distance from God than to bring them near. But the “hope set before us” in the gospel is better because it accomplishes this very thing which was impossible under the old ceremonial; it enables Christians to “draw nigh unto God.” How it enables them to do so is explained in later chapters, but the fact that the gospel, unlike the law, has opened up a way of free access to God is our author’s ground for claiming that the gospel has achieved that perfection which the law could never bring about.

²⁰And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, ²¹but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:
“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
‘You are a priest forever.’ ”

²²Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a BETTER covenant.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (GNT)

For it is he who is the “Yes” to all of God’s promises.  This is why through Jesus Christ our “Amen” is said to the glory of God.

²³Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

That is, he ever lives and intercedes. He died once; he intercedes perpetually.

–John Wesley

Jesus is praying for you!

²⁶Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

_________________________

Music:

A blessed truth:  “What can wash away my sins?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”  HERE  it is sung by Leah Mari. The hymn was written in 1876 by Robert Lowry, a Baptist preacher who served churches in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. Other hymns of his include “Shall We Gather at the River?” and “How Can I Keep from Singing?” Lowry was a friend of another famous hymn-writer, Fanny Crosby.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Byzantine icon of Melchizedek.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/7-byzantinelmelchizedek.jpg

“Jesus Christ, the  great High Priest” — Verse Visions by Mark Lawrence.    http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61c%2Bxt4%2Bm-L._SY300_.jpg

Draw near to God, by Mary Engelbreit.   http://annkroeker.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/drawneartogod.jpg

yes.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/7-yes-jpg.jpg

2961.) Hebrews 5:11 – 6:20

It is IMPOSSIBLE to build a crate like this, keeping all the angles at 90 degrees. In the book of Hebrews, we are told that four things are impossible, and two of them are found in this chapter.

Hebrews 5:11-6:20 (NIV)

Warning Against Falling Away

When I was a child . . . but when I became an adult . . .

¹¹We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. ¹²In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is Paul Simon (in 2006) and “Slip Slidin’ Away” — a song full of short stories about people who are burdened by the things they never did, or the things they wish they could take back . . . and life is short. Maturity seems far away, while the destination is getting nearer . . .

_________________________

Hebrews 6

¹Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, ²instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³And God permitting, we will do so.

from Echoings:  From the Bible in Literature,
by J. Ruth Stenerson

“Let us go forward then, to mature teaching . . .”
— Hebrews 6:2

One can hear a note of impatience behind the writer’s words as he tells these Hebrew Christians how difficult it is to explain spiritual truths to them because they are so slow to understand. If they had responded to his teaching as he had expected, they should have been teachers by now, not still busy with their spiritual ABC’s. Paul had the same experience with the Corinthian Christians—“I had to feed you milk, not solid food, because you were not ready for it” (1 Corinthians 3:2).

Parents are soon alarmed, as are doctors, by a growing child’s inability to take solid food. Teachers find it easy to sympathize with Paul and the author of Hebrews because they are so often frustrated by what seems to be total indifference on the part of some students to basic skills needed for further learning.

Analysts ponder what keeps the church from the kind of effectiveness it might have. Is it lack of leadership? lack of money? lack of facilities? Is it not rather, in part at least, that too few in the church have any deep concern about spiritual growth? that so many who have lived all their lives in the church are almost totally inarticulate about their faith? that they have little ability to apply what they have heard in hundreds of sermons to distinguish between good and evil—or little desire to? Many congregations operate at starvation level as far as their adult education programs go.

Which are we—the adult Christians who know their need of spiritual growth, or the “babes of Christ” who “still need someone to teach [us] the first lessons”? “Let us go forward!” pleads the author of Hebrews.

We find food in the bread and wine of the communion table. We find the divine Word opened to us in the Sunday sermon. But we also need to come to that Word in individual study, with the Holy Spirit as our teacher, and to study it with other believers, sharing our insights with each other.

“There has been time enough for you to be teachers.” Is that what we are?

⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to return to God if one continually goes on sinning and refuses to repent.

⁷Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

⁹Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of BETTER things in your case—things that accompany salvation. ¹⁰God 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 them.

from Whispers of His Powers,
by Amy Carmichael

For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
–Hebrews 6:10

This is the special word for all who do the business of a household:  housekeepers, cooks, room-cleaners, and others. It is a word also for those who plan pleasure for others, givers of flowers, writers of letters, all unseen unsung office workers, and all who serve in any way. The only thing that matters is that our service should not just be something done because it has to be done, but what the Spirit of God calls a labor of love.

Among the myriad of things held in the memory of our Heavenly Father are those little inconspicuous things, your work and labor of love.

¹¹We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. ¹²We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.”

¹³When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NCV)

The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ, and through Christ we say yes to the glory of God.

¹⁶Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. ¹⁷Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.   ¹⁸God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie,

It is IMPOSSIBLE for God to lie.

That by two unchangeable things — His promise and his oath, in either, much more in both of which, it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation – Swallowing up all doubt and fear.

–John Wesley

we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

impossible crate.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/6-impossible-object.jpg

baby drinking milk from a bottle.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/5-baby-drinking-milk.jpg

ABC blocks.    https://patch.com/connecticut/westhartford/an–bloomfield-discovery-program-awarded-grant-by-wil3c9ad8151a

giving a flower.      https://www.chitalnya.ru/work/447634/

anchor.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/6-anchor.jpg

Yes.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/6-yes.jpg