All Through Jesus

Hebrews 13:15-25, “All Through Jesus”
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As we finish this study of Hebrews, it’s worth noting how we began: [BIBLE: Hebrews 1:1-4] Here, we find the argument & theme of the entire letter! Yes, God did speak through prophets & priests & angels in the past. Yes, God did give various ways & sacrifices & systems by which His people could worship Him. But in these last days (right now) God has given us Jesus Christ – His only begotten Son! Jesus is God & Jesus is the glory of God & Jesus provided the propitiation of God & Jesus is in the presence of God. He’s infinitely better than anyone or anything that has come before! And because He is better, we have nowhere else to turn. No previous sacrifice was ever enough – no previous covenant was ever eternally sufficient. The only One that has perfectly fulfilled everything God required due to our sin is the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him, we have no hope of any covenant relationship with God (either here or in eternity), so we ought to hold fast to Him & walk by faith.

Over & over again, that has been the writer’s one argument. Whether he was talking of the role of Jesus as the perfect priest and perfect king (foreshadowed through Melchizedek) or warning the readers away from a final apostasy (falling away from the faith), he’s always come back to the idea that Jesus is better than all the rest, and we have no one else but Him.

That’s how the letter comes to an end as well. As we can expect, there are a few random things thrown in here at the close – an appeal for prayer, updates about other ministers, personal greetings, etc. – but there are two things that form a conclusion to everything that has come before in the letter. The 1st looks at our response to the Lord Jesus & this great salvation He offers us. The 2nd is a beautiful benediction prayer that shows how we’re equipped to respond to the Lord at all. The bottom line? Everything we have & everything we do is all because and through the Lord Jesus Christ!

Context: the author had been describing how we have a better altar than the best Hebrew priests. To those believers who may have been pressure by others to go back to Judaism because of the grand solemn sacrifices, the writer points out how not only is our sacrifice better (because it was made by Jesus), but Jesus bore reproach in making it – so we ought to expect to join in His reproach as long as we are alive.

BUT – although Christ Jesus has already provided the perfect sacrifice for sin, that doesn’t mean there are no sacrifices to be made…there are! Our sacrifices are far different because our sin has already been dealt with by Jesus at the cross. Thus our sacrifices are a response to HIS sacrifice.

Hebrews 13:15-25 (NKJV)
- How do we respond to Jesus? Through 2 sacrifices…
15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

A. 1st sacrifice: “the sacrifice of praise…the fruit of our lips.” This ought to give us a different perspective on worship. When we sing to God in praise and worship, it’s not a time for us to be focused on ourselves worried about how in-tune we may or may not be; it’s a time dedicated to giving God the praise that He alone deserves. When we sing in worship, it is a sacred service to the Lord – we are bringing a sacrifice to Him. … Obviously, this goes far beyond singing. When we fellowship with one another, we can offer the fruit of our lips to give God praise. When we’re talking with friends & we have the opportunity to give God the glory for something He’s done, we’re offering the sacrifice of praise. When we’re driving to work & we remember the salvation we have in the Lord Jesus, we can offer Him the sacrifice of praise right where we are.
__a. This also ought change our perspective on how we should be using our lips. Too often Christians say things that are definitely NOT the sacrifice of praise. We’ll fall in line with our culture & start uttering blasphemies (“OMG”), or spreading rumors & gossip, or using foul language & curse words. Why waste the time? We could be offering the sacrifice of praise!

B. How? “giving thanks to His name”. Greek for “giving thanks” is interesting – compound of “same/together” & “speech/words”; normally translated “confess/profess.” (AMP), “Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.” By agreeing with God that He IS God (specifically that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh), we are offering praise and thanks to Him.

C. When? “continually” – there’s never a time that is not a good time to give God the sacrifice of thanks and praise! He deserves it because of Who He is & what He’s done. He is the everlasting & eternal Creator God – perfectly holy & perfectly loving. When we rightfully deserved everlasting death and judgment, He sent Jesus Christ to pay the price we owed & He called us to Himself, made us right in His eyes, sealed us with the Holy Spirit, gave us new life, a new relationship with Him, and an eternal inheritance. Christian – you always have a reason to praise the Lord! Even if that was all God had done (and it’s not), you could easily spend all day praising His name! (Newell) “If God’s creatures in Heaven constantly, gladly, serve and worship, His saints on earth, for whom He gave His Son, should respond to His unspeakable kindness with the utter devotion which befits it, devotion to God such as no other beings have!”
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16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

A. 2nd sacrifice: the sacrifice of deeds… The 1st sacrifice was with our lips; the 2nd sacrifice is with our hands as we do good works and demonstrate the love of Christ through our actions. Whether that’s taking part in the nursing home or rescue mission outreaches, or helping your next-door neighbor mow his yard, or giving food to someone who needs it, this is also a sacrifice we bring to the Lord. You may be helping someone in need, but ultimately you are doing it as unto the Lord & giving praise to His name & God is well pleased with these things!

B. Notice when these sacrifices come: AFTER we are saved…after we’ve partaken of the sacrifice of Jesus for sin (vs. 12). Before we place our faith & trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, we cannot truly offer God the praise of our lips…our sin is always in the way. Nor is God ever pleased with our good deeds, prior to repenting & trusting in Jesus. Our attempts at good works are like filthy rags in His sight at that time (Isa 64:6). Only AFTER we are washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ are we able to offer sacrifices of praise & good works to God!
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17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

A. Seems like a random thought – but goes in line with doing good. Part of doing good is avoiding confusion, and one way to do that is to respect the rulers/elders/pastors of the church. Be careful here! This is NOT saying that congregation members have to bow to the whim of their pastors, bend down & kiss their rings, or take orders on every little aspect of their lives from church leadership. (Shepherding Movement got this very wrong!) Both “obey” & “submit” have the idea of yielding to someone, to not resist them, or (on the positive side) to be persuaded by them. That’s a good kind of submission…

B. Why? Because pastors are charged with watching over the flock of God. “they watch out for your souls.” Pastors & elders want the best for the people God has placed into their care. They want to see them grow in knowledge & relationship with the Lord Jesus – they want to protect them from unhealthy (or dangerous) doctrines – they want to warn people away from sin. And pastors are accountable to God to do exactly that! Pastors will be held in account for what we taught (Jas 3:1), but we will also give an account for our people.
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18 Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. 19 But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

A. Personal request for prayer. Perhaps the author was in prison & wanted to be “restored” – perhaps he was just travelling. Wherever he was, he wanted to honor God with his life & actions…a really good prayer request for any pastor!
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- the benediction prayer…
20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

A. This is the basis for the prayer request. Everything that the writer is asking for on behalf of the church is all because of Jesus! Because it’s His work and His will, everything we do is based in the marvelous attributes of God…Who He is.

B. God is the “God of peace”: WE were not always at peace with God. In our sin, we rebelled against Him & we were at enmity (war) with Him (Rom 8:7). But God sought out peace with us & made provision for our peace – even when we were not seeking peace in the slightest.
__a. What glorious good news this ought to be to anyone who has come under the conviction of his/her own sin! When you realize that you have truly sinned and rebelled against the God who gave you life – when you understand that you have used the breath God allowed you to have to use His name as a curse word, the eyes He’s given you to lust after other people, the heart He’s given you to love idols instead of God – at that point you understand what kind of judgment and wrath you so utterly deserve & at that point you understand your crushing need to have peace with God. And the wonderful news in response is that God HAS offered you that peace! He’s already made provision for your peace…Jesus Christ Himself IS our peace with God! If today you come seeking peace with God, know that He is offering it to you today; God is the God of peace!

C. The God of peace is all-powerful; He “brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead.” Although the author of Hebrews never used the word “resurrection,” this has been one of the major assumptions in the book. Jesus could only be a priest forever if He lives forever, and He does so because He’s risen from the dead. Jesus sits at God’s right hand forever because He’s risen from the dead. The covenant He offers lasts forever because He’s risen from the dead. Everything we have in Christ Jesus, we know we have because Jesus is risen from the dead! We do not serve a dead Savior – we do not speak of Jesus being in heaven in the same way we speak of our loved ones who have passed away. Jesus is in heaven because He physically went there…His actual body ascended to God’s right hand. This very day, Jesus is ALIVE!
__a. There are several things that could be considered “non-essentials” about the faith (the gifts, the end-times, the order of salvation, etc.). We can have passionate disagreement on these things, but at the end of the day we can still view someone who differs from us as a brother/sister in Christ. The resurrection is NOT one of them! The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a non-negotiable. Either someone believes that Jesus Christ really did die on the cross and rise again from the grave, or that person is NOT a Christian. And if Jesus did not rise again, we’ve got zero reason to be a Christian. 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 (17) And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! (18) Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (19) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. [] But He IS alive & resurrected from the dead!
__b. Because of the resurrection, we can know that Jesus is indeed LORD! It is the declaration He is the Son of God (Rom 1:4), and has been given all authority in heaven & on earth (Matt 28:18). And by His glorious invitation, He is OUR Lord!

D. Who is Jesus? “that Great Shepherd of the sheep.” Truly the Lord Jesus is the Church’s “Senior Pastor” – He is the Great Shepherd & every other minister is simply an under-shepherd to Him. What a wonderful thing it is to have the Lord Jesus as our Shepherd! He is our Lord & King; but He’s not only our Lord & King. He rules over us, but He doesn’t do so coldly; the Lord Jesus cares for us as our Good Shepherd. He provides for us & leads us in righteousness (Ps 23) & calls us & laid down His life for us (John 10:11, 14). He loves us as His own, and cares for us as the best shepherd would ever care for His sheep. (Spurgeon), “While we rest in the covenant of grace we should view our Lord as our Shepherd, and find solace in the fact that sheep have nothing to do with their own feeding, guidance, or protection; they have only to follow their Shepherd unto the pastures which he prepares, and all will be well with them.” The Lord Jesus is our Great Shepherd; follow Him!

E. How was He made our Shepherd? In “the blood of the everlasting covenant.” The book of Hebrews has already gone into depths about the need for our Great Shepherd to shed His own blood for us. This is not something that can be watered down or ignored…the price for our sin is costly, and it required the blood and death of the very Son of God. Hebrews 9:11-12 (11) But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. (12) Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. [] The other sacrifices could only point to the need for the one sufficient sacrifice – and the only One Who could provide it was none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There is no more precious substance than the blood of God’s very Son, and He willingly gave it for your redemption to the glory of God!
__a. What did that blood purchase? An “everlasting covenant”! Christian – when you believed the gospel & received Christ Jesus as your Lord & Savior, you entered into a covenant with God that will never end. NEVER. Our Bibles are divided into two major sections: the Old Testament & New Testament. The OT speaks of the salvation to come in Christ Jesus; the NT shows it taking place. But the NT could just as easily be called the “Everlasting Testament”…the promises & relationship we’ve been given in God will not ever be replaced or supplanted. It will last forever!
__b. BTW – ‘forever’ started back when Jesus walked out of the tomb. ‘Forever’ is right now. Sometimes we get the idea that our everlasting covenant with God is something that we’re only looking forward to in heaven. We will have it in heaven (to be sure!), but we have it right now as well! Every Christian has life in the Spirit available to them every single day. Every day you wake up is a day you can celebrate your covenant relationship with God – made certain by the blood of Jesus Christ. … Do you understand that every single day you have the privilege of walking in peace with God the Father, in fellowship with Jesus Christ the Son & empowered by the Holy Spirit? What a marvelous privilege! What a beacon of hope! What joy! And it all starts right now for every believer!
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21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

A. What is the actual prayer request? That God would enable the church be “complete” & “do His will.” In a sense, this is exactly what the whole book has been about. It’s only through the work of God in Christ Jesus that any of us can be made complete at all! Through the better testimony of His Son – through the better priestly work Jesus offers – through the better sacrifice He provides…only through Christ Jesus do we have anything! So it only makes sense to pray that God would equip the Church to continue to live for His glory. And we do so, as the Holy Spirit continues to work within us – transforming us by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2), conforming us to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). Our lives are completely changed by the work of God!
__a. What is one of God’s primary tools to do this in our lives? The Bible! 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (16) All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. [] This is why it’s so important for us to be in the Word every day! God uses His breathed-out Scripture to teach us, mold us, and equip us to do His will. The Scripture is living & powerful & sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb 4:12), God uses it in our lives to mold us into men & women who act in ways well-pleasing in His sight. Like skilled surgeon, God uses His word to discover & cut out sin in our hearts, as well as bring healing and growth in the areas He treats. But we’ve got to be in the Word!

B. Sum up the benediction? God called us by His grace in Christ Jesus, saves us by His grace in Christ Jesus, equips us by His grace in Christ Jesus, and empowers us by His grace in Christ Jesus… Everything that we have in God is because of Jesus; everything that we do for God is based in Jesus. He is everything we have, and without Him we have nothing. Because of all this, Jesus Christ is deserving of “glory forever and ever!” (So offer Him that sacrifice of praise & good works!)
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22 And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words.

A. There were 13 chapters & over 5330 actual words in Greek…that’s a few?! Guaranteed whoever the author was, he was a pastor. This is his final appeal for the church to pay attention.
B. Keeping things in perspective, the author has written about the superiority of Christ Jesus over the angels, prophets, priests, covenants, and sacrifices. There could easily be 13 books written; not just chapters. These are deep waters we’ve been swimming.
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23 Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly.

A. Some point to this as evidence that Paul wrote the letter, since Paul mentioned Timothy so often. I’d argue the opposite: this is one indication the author wasn’t Paul. When Paul mentioned or wrote to Timothy in the other epistles, Timothy is free & able to travel or ministering in one place (Ephesus)….he isn’t behind bars. Vs. 23 implies that Timothy had been behind bars for quite a while, but Paul never mentions it in his letters. Also, the writer labels Timothy as a “brother”; not a son. Paul always gives more attention to his relationship with him than that. … Bottom line, knowing who actually wrote the epistle doesn’t really matter as long as we recognize it as the inspired word of God.
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24 Greet all those who rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. 25 Grace be with you all. Amen.
A. Final greetings…

Conclusion:
So ends the book of Hebrews. Can you imagine what it would have been like to have been one of the 1st readers of the letter? You’re part of a local church in a highly Jewish area…your family for generations have been faithful Hebrews, taking part in the sacrifices & feasts, and doing your best to keep the Law of Moses. You’ve memorized vast portions of the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets in a way to show your devotion to God. You praised God the 1st time you realized that Jesus of Nazareth was none other but the long awaited Messiah – the Son of God! You trusted in His sacrifice at the cross & resurrection from the grave & you rejoiced as a newly born-again Christian! But along the way, you were cast out by your former friends & proclaimed a fool & a heretic by the local synagogue. Family members have long stopped speaking to you, and there was pressure every day from the community to leave that “Jesus stuff” behind & return to Judaism. You remembered the days of bringing sacrifices to the temple with longing, and there was a growing part of you that wanted to go back to the way things were.

Then your church received a letter from an apostle…and what a letter! In it, he affirmed that the Lord Jesus really is the Son of God, and that He brought a better testimony than the angels, the prophets, and the priests. It showed how Jesus is the only one who perfectly kept the law & that He Himself is the fulfillment of it. It showed how all the other priests needed sacrifice themselves, and that Jesus is the only perfect eternal priest of God for all time. It showed how Jesus brought a better sacrifice than any of the other sacrifices in the Law; Jesus’ sacrifice never had to be offered again! It showed how the covenant Jesus offered was superior than any covenant ever offered through Moses. And it showed how Abraham, Isaac, Moses, and many other fathers walked in faith with none other but Christ Jesus, and we ought to do the same!

What an encouragement this would have been! And what encouragement this should be to us as well! Today we face the exact same pressures and temptations that the 1st century Jewish Christian faced. We may not be tempted to go back to Judaism, but we’re certainly tempted to leave Christianity & join the so-called “reasonable” people of the world. There are days we wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to not have our faith & we could just live like everyone else. But then we’re reminded about the Lord Jesus! Where else could we turn? He alone has the words of eternal life!

So hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ! No matter what comes your way – stay close to Him. Everything we have is because of Jesus… Everything we do is based in Jesus… It’s all through Him & all for His glory. You have a firm foundation in the Lord, the King, the Son of God! …

Jesus is worth it!

Hebrews 13:1-14, “Jesus is worth it!”
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[Wall Street Journal] Christians are openly mocked for our faith today. We have numerous temptations to leave Jesus & go to the world for approval. What do we do about it? That’s exactly the dilemma that faced the 1st century Jewish Christians & exactly the reason why the book of Hebrews was written. This has been the subject of the entire letter.

Closing thoughts on general topics: brotherly love (in practical ways), marriage, contentment with Christ, church leadership. It’s when the author gets to this last topic that it brings him back to the general theme of the book: Jesus is better! Jesus is better than anything that has come before – so if there’s some reproach to bear while serving Him, so be it. Jesus is better, so Jesus is worth it!

Hebrews 13:1-14 (NKJV)
1 Let brotherly love continue.

A. Define “brotherly love” (φιλαδελφια): Compound word = friendship/fondness + brother… [eros vs. phileo vs. storge vs. agape] Agape is the supreme goal of Christians, but it doesn’t mean that the other types of “love” are bad. Every marriage ought to have eros – families ought to have storge – and friends ought to have phileo. Christians of ALL people ought to be able to demonstrate brotherly kindness and affection towards one another!

B. How would it “continue”? It keeps on going – it’s present & active in the lives of believers. IOW, it doesn’t work for a Christian to say, “Well, I was kind to that person in the past; I’m glad that’s done & over with now!” It ought to continue among us.

C. Two practical examples of brotherly love in vs. 2-3.
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2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

A. 1st example of brotherly love? Hospitality/entertaining strangers… It’s possible that the context of “brotherly love” implies that this is a specific instruction to be hospitable to other believers. At the time, missionaries & traveling evangelists would often stay in homes of the local church… At the same time, “strangers” doesn’t seem too restrictive. That’s not to say we need to feel obligated to let anyone off the street stay in our house for the night – but we ought to be friendly & welcoming to all.

B. Why do we need to be reminded not to “forget” doing so? Because it’s so easy to forget! We get so involved with the things of our own immediate circle of friends that it’s easy to forget to look up at those around us…

C. Sometimes we might be surprised at who these strangers are! Some people “have unwittingly entertained angels.” Ask Abraham (Gen 18)…
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3 Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.

A. 2nd example of brotherly love? Remembering those in prison… For us this might include the natural: visiting them & writing them. But most importantly, it includes the supernatural: praying for them. There are people in prison that you & I would have absolutely zero access to in the flesh – whether they are in a different country or under massive guard. But through prayer, we can visit all of them! Through prayer, we can join with them in support “as if chained with them.”

B. Originally the writer was most likely speaking of those imprisoned for their faith (re: Ch 12). Make no mistake that there are Christians who are behind bars. Some deserve to be there; others do not. In either case, a brother in the Lord is still a brother in the Lord. We ought to show them brotherly love (if for no other reason) because they “are in the body also.”

C. Keep in mind that in both of these examples, when we show love to those in need, we’re ultimately showing love to Christ Jesus. [hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, prison] Matthew 25:40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ [] Why remember to continue in brotherly love? Because when we do, we’re serving our King! Serving others in love can sometimes be hard, but be careful not to consider it a burden; it’s a privilege when we realize we’re serving our Lord God…
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4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

A. Not only do we love others; we love our spouses in marriage. What does God’s Word say about marriage? That it is honorable! Not every believer in the Lord is equipped for marriage (per Paul in 1 Cor 7); but those who are have every reason to give glory to God in their marriage because it’s “honorable” (esteemed/valuable). Why is it honorable? Because it’s a picture of the relationship between Christ & the Church… (Eph 5) (FYI: note the italics on “is”…there’s actually no verb in the Greek, so the verb is supplied by the translators. Some translations insert “be held in” due to the warning against fornication & adultery. The actual text is silent here – simply associating marriage with honor. It both “is” honorable & ought to “be held in” honor.)
__a. To the original audience, the writer was upholding & even exalting marriage. Some thought that the “truly spiritual” abstained from marriage altogether. Like other forms of asceticism, they would go to great lengths in an attempt to deny themselves in order to make themselves more worthy in the sight of God. Three problems here:
____i. At the heart of it, this is a works-righteousness system.
____ii. By spending so much time “denying” themselves, they ended up concentrating on nothing BUT themselves. NOT true humility.
____iii. God ordained marriage in Genesis 2 (before the Fall) and declares it to be honorable. Since God approves it as honorable, we should as well.

B. Without wanting to get too political – this gives Christians a Biblical justification on why marriage ought to remain between one man & one woman. Marriage isn’t honorable merely among born-again Christians; it’s proclaimed by God to be “honorable among all.” The marriage bed is a holy place – it is undefiled among those whom God has brought together. To take the marriage relationship & apply it to homosexual partners (which is by definition included in “fornication”) is to take what God has called “honorable” & make it dishonorable. … It is to declare what God has already labeled as sin & declare it sanctified… …
__a. Understandably, this is a touchy subject. People want to try to demonstrate compassion & brotherly love towards one another & say, “But the loving thing to do is to let 2 people get married! What’s the harm?” But to whitewash sin & turn a blind eye to what God so clearly has defined for us is NOT loving. The loving thing would be to take someone to Jesus Christ & see them born anew! Not to find a way to help them justify their own sin…

C. Is the only application of this to homosexuals? Of course not! That may be the current political topic, but the primary application in the text is regarding any sexual perversions. “Fornicators” in Greek has an original meaning of “male prostitutes” – in the NT, it’s used to refer to people who engage in all kinds of sexual immorality (which shows us how God views sexual immorality: as prostitution!). “Adulterers” is obvious in its meaning; and far too common among people within the Church. Adultery is not only sin against one’s spouse & family; it is sin against God (the 7th commandment) & destroys the entire picture marriage attempts to illustrate (between Christ & the Church)… These are actions that God WILL judge. For the non-believer, it confirms their sinful nature. For the Christian, it will mean a loss of reward. For those who attempt to sit on the fence, it may mean that if their lifestyle is characterized by these sins, it confirms they’re not born-again at all!
__a. We often hear: “Homosexual marriage is wrong because it destroys the family.” That is a very tough argument to make when Christian homes are destroyed by fornication & adultery FAR more often than homosexuality… ANY sexual act outside of husband & wife is sin in the sight of God. We ought to be very careful how we address the sins of others – especially if we’re not willing to address sins of our own. We ought to take a firm stand on the truths of the Bible, while also addressing any logs that may be in our own eyes.
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- Not just others and our spouses; the author turns attention to ourselves…

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

A. Covetousness is addressed in the 10th Commandment… [gimme, gimme, gimme!] Instead of covetousness, what should we as Christians desire? Contentment! Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim 6:6)…

B. Christians of all people have the best reason to be content: we have Jesus Christ! What reason do we have to seek after the material things of the world? What reason do we have to seek after fame & fortune? As born-again believers, we have the most valuable relationship in the entire universe! Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us… We don’t need to worry about hobnobbing with the President or see what names we can drop among people to make them jealous; our relationship is with our Savior and our God! We know the Creator of the Universe & He knows us!

C. OT quote: most likely a loose quote of God’s promise to Joshua in Josh 1:5, “…I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” The idea is repeated throughout the Scriptures – and what was spoken to Joshua is applied to us here by the Holy Spirit. There’s a triple negative in the Greek – (Weust) “I will not, I will not cease to sustain and uphold you. I will not, I will not, I will not let you down.” Think about it for a moment: GOD will never forsake you. What assurance! What a foundation for our faith! The Lord is with us – the Lord is on our side – who can be against us?!
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6 So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

A. Direct quote of Ps 118:6 – amen! If God is for us, man can do nothing in comparison!
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7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.

A. Referring to church leadership… Do pastors/elders really “rule over” the congregations? In one sense of the word, yes…leaders ‘lead’ by definition. But this is not a recommendation for a heavy-handed leadership; true leaders model their leadership after the Lord Jesus who served those around Him. (foot-washing)

B. Why “remember”? It’s possible the writer was referring to former pastors/elders or other church leaders (maybe even some apostles who had died). Like the OT saints in the Hall of Faith (Heb 11), they lived lives that were good examples to those who came after them.

C. Does this mean we’re supposed to remember anyone who waves around the title of “pastor” (or evangelist or apostle or prophet…)? Absolutely not – and in fact, he’s going to warn of false teachers in vs. 9. Just because someone claims a title doesn’t mean they are God-ordained leaders in the Church. Certain qualifications here:
__a. They taught the word of God…
__b. They had a faith worth following…
__c. Their conduct had a God-honoring outcome…
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8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.

A. Much could be said about verse 8! (And we will!) But keep it in context. The author of the letter has just commended the Church to remember those pastors/elders who rule well & teach the word of God. One of the ways the Church can tell whether or not the pastor in question teaches the truth is if he starts teaching some new strange doctrine. Jesus is the same & never changes. Thus His word & doctrine never changes either. …

B. For the church in question, the danger was getting caught back up in legalistic Judaism. The Judaizers spent much time on the minutia of the Law & things like the various dietary restrictions. (Don’t eat pork – don’t eat various birds, etc.) The Law is profitable in that it demonstrates the holiness of God & takes us to Christ (Gal 3:24). BUT the legalistic requirements imposed by people don’t profit anyone! It doesn’t matter how obsessed someone might be about keeping pork off their plate; it isn’t going to make one hill of beans (or pork & beans ) worth of difference when it comes to salvation!

C. Don’t miss the theology here: the Lord Jesus never changes.
__a. He’s the same yesterday: Back in the Garden of Eden as He walked with Adam & Eve, Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life just as now. He’s always been gracious & compassionate – He’s always condemned sin & has been predestined to defeat it at the cross.
__b. He’s the same today: Whether it was the “today” of 90AD or the “today” of 2009, the Lord Jesus is the same! He’s the awaited Messiah of Israel & our Hope & Savior of the world. The same Jesus who walked on water & worked miracles on earth sits enthroned in heaven today – THIS is the Jesus who saved us & this is the Jesus we serve!
__c. He’s the same forever! He will always be the same. When we’re worshipping Jesus in heaven in 2000 more years (or in 20,000 more years), He’ll still be eternally worthy of worship! We’ll still be amazed by His glory & His grace! He is the Rock & He never changes.

D. BTW – Christ Jesus doesn’t change, but He can change us! We NEED to be changed by Him & turned from sinner to saint…
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10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp.

A. Changing gears a little bit here. The writer had mentioned how false Judaizing teachers had tried to impose certain diets upon the Jewish Christians. He’s going to use this as a teachable moment.  The ancient Hebrew priests mostly ate of sacrifices that were brought to the tabernacle/temple; but the current priests had no right to “eat” of the sacrifice of Christ, because they weren’t born again! In addition, there were certain offerings that they had NO right to eat – such as on the Day of Atonement (which is the primary metaphor here).

B. What would happen to these animals, whose blood was offered on the Mercy Seat? Their carcasses would be taken outside of the tabernacle area & burned (Lev 16:27). I.e., treated as completely unclean…
__a. That’s what sin does to us. It utterly defiles us… That’s why when Jesus was made a curse (Gal 3:13) – He actually became sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. [] The defilement that belonged to us was placed upon the Son of God… THIS is the grace that has been shown to us!

C. So come to that altar!! Those who try to attempt to partake of the goodness of God through legalistic methods & ritualistic means have no right to eat there. But WE partake by grace through faith… Jesus took our defilement upon Himself, so that we can come freely to Him by His grace. Obviously come for salvation – but don’t come only at your salvation. Come to the altar of the Cross daily to receive of Him! Praise Him for your forgiveness – praise Him with the sacrifice of your lives…
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12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

A. The crucifixion didn’t take place on the temple grounds. It was not only considered improper; it was sickening & defiled. It had to be done on the outside of the “camp” – the city. Jesus “suffered outside the gate” as the atonement sacrifice…

B. What was the result of His suffering? Our sanctification…our being made holy & being set apart by God. We cannot make ourselves holy; we can only be holy after GOD has made us holy…and that only happens through the Cross!
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13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

A. Because He bore reproach, we ought to expect to do the same…

B. Would there be consequences to ignoring the false teachers? Would there be consequences for denying the Judaizers? No doubt. But the Lord Jesus is better than anything/anyone who came before; so the Lord Jesus is worth it! They (and we) ought to go to Him – because He’s worth pursuing, no matter what the cost!

C. Our problem is that too often that instead of pursuing Christ, we pursue anything else but Him. We want the career, the car, and the cottage in the country. Give us the American dream; not the reproach of the Lord Jesus. Understand this: the Son of God already came to us when He came in the flesh. Surely once we receive Him as our Lord, we can go to Him where He is & leave the world behind to follow Christ.
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14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.

A. ‘Huh?!’ Seems like a weird break to us Gentiles – but to a Jewish mindset, this makes perfect sense. For the 1st century Jewish Christian, the primary temptation they faced was to abandon Jesus to go back to Judaism. If they felt pressure to obey the false teachers & Judaizers, that’s exactly what they would have done. In doing so, they would have been slapped on the back & welcomed among their peers – congratulated for leaving that strange “Jesus sect.” They would have experienced prosperity in their city & been good Jews. To hold fast to their faith in Jesus Christ would mean to abandon the approval of the world around them – but that’s exactly what Jesus did. He bore the world’s reproach & went outside the city; so ought we do the same.

B. This world isn’t what we’re looking for. People look to experience the fullness of the Kingdom right here & right now, but they’re mistaken. This place is not where we’ll enjoy an everlasting city; heaven is! We wait for the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12 – Rev 21)…

Conclusion:
Tough place to stop – but we just don’t have time. The author is going to conclude this thought with how we respond back to Jesus: through the praise of our lips & the praise of our deeds.

Jesus is worth it. Whatever the subject or context – whatever it is that we face, Jesus is worth it. Are you bearing reproach among your family and co-workers because you’ve become one of those “born-again evangelical-fundamentalist” Christians? Jesus is worth it. Has it been difficult to love someone as a brother – they’re just one of those “sandpaper” people? Jesus is worth it. Are you weary in the spiritual battle of resisting sin? Jesus is worth it.

To the 1st century Jewish Christians, there were temptations galore to leave the faith. They could have the respect of those in the community – they could have sacrifices they could see with their eyes – they could have legalistic loopholes to find ways to fit in their favorite sin. But Jesus is better than ALL of that. Jesus is better than anything the world or religion has to offer – so Jesus is worth it!

21st century Christians face a similar issue. There are no lack of people who would rejoice to see multitudes of believers abandon the faith – we would be applauded & pat on the back & upheld as people of “reason.” But Jesus is better and Jesus is worth it. We who once were defiled are defiled no longer because of Jesus. We who once could not help but sin have been sanctified and made holy because of Jesus. Every single thing we have as Christians is because of Jesus – Jesus is worth it! So go to the altar – bear the reproach – love those around you…if for no other reason, because of Jesus.

Maybe you’ve never been to the altar of the Cross – today is your opportunity. You’ve heard how Jesus died because of your sin. You’ve heard how He took the punishment you deserved upon Himself. You’ve heard how He offers you grace & new life through His resurrection. Now is your chance to respond. Without Jesus, we have nothing – only a destiny to see God in His terrible holiness at the Great White Throne and be judged for our sin. In Jesus, we have everything: forgiveness, new life, the love of God & fellowship with the God who never changes for all eternity! [Believe Jesus died for your sins & rose from the dead… Repent by turning away from your sins… Receive Jesus as Lord & Savior by faith…]

Which is Your Mountain?

Hebrews 12:18-29, “Which is Your Mountain?”
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A common technique for preachers when bringing a sermon to a close is to turn to an illustration of some sort, which demonstrates the main points of the teaching itself. The author of Hebrews is no different. After spending the better part of 12 chapters showcasing how everything about Judaism was simply an introduction to the fulfillment in Christ Jesus: how Jesus is better than any angel, prophet, priest, sacrifice, and covenant – culminating his letter in a passionate plea to hold fast to Jesus through faith – he turns to a vivid illustration to bring it all home.

Considering that the audience he was writing to was 1st century Jewish Christians, it only makes sense to look to Jewish history, and that’s exactly what he does, going back to the time & place where the Hebrew tribes became a Hebrew nation: Mt. Sinai & the giving of the 10 Commandments. With all due respect to Cecil B. DeMille, Scripture does a far better job of describing what took place & the author of Hebrews holds back none of the drama.

As dramatic as the events of Mt. Sinai were, they are overshadowed by the events of Mt. Zion – which is the author’s whole point. The 1st century Jewish Christians were being tempted to go back to Mt. Sinai (that was everything that they knew), but they needed to be reminded that they were no longer there. Anyone who is a believer in Jesus Christ has (figuratively) gone to a different mountain – Mt. Zion. Why? We don’t go to God through the Law; He brings us to Himself through grace.

Hebrews 12:18-29 (NKJV)
18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.

A. Description of Mt. Sinai… [BIBLE: Exodus 19:16-20] Awesome! Fire – smoke – earthquakes – trumpet blasts! Keep in mind this is many centuries before fireworks & pyrotechnics…we get a small taste of this at some football games (we’d be desensitized) – but no one on earth had ever seen ANYTHING like this before. (And no doubt our best showmen pale in comparison with God’s display!) There were some paradoxes (opposites) here:
__a. A “mountain that may be touched” with strict instructions not to touch it or come near it.
__b. It was “burned with fire” but they saw “blackness and darkness” – it wasn’t a bright glorious light to gaze at; it was something to turn your eyes away from.
__c. There was a “sound of a trumpet” that called people to attention to where they couldn’t bear it any longer & “the voice of words” giving people direct communication from God, but they “begged” not to hear it longer than they had to.
__d. In essence, this is what the Law does. The Law is great & grand & glorious – but it’s also terrible (in the original sense of the word). In Romans 7, Paul no sooner gets done proclaiming that the law is holy & just & good than he shows how the law points out our sin which brings death to us. Through the Law people see the glory and holiness of God, but the moment they do, they understand their own sinfulness & realize they cannot approach God without death.

B. Brings up a good point. Why did the Hebrews beg not to hear the voice of God? Those in darkness do not wish to enter the light, lest their evil deeds be exposed (John 3:20)… To hear the voice of One so holy, so righteous, and so pure surely must have terrified them and caused them to understand how truly sinful they were, and how deserving they were of judgment… …
__a. Skeptics often wonder about the logic of Hell. “If God is so good and so loving, how could He possibly allow people to spend an eternity in torment?” First of all – that God is truly good & truly loving is beyond debate when considering what He did through Jesus Christ… Secondly, an eternity of Hell makes perfect sense (even though it is truly horrendous) when we consider the perfect and eternal holiness and righteousness of God. [difference between lying to a child & a judge] …
__b. When we come to this realization, it only makes sense why people in the OT (and NT) respond the way they do when they understand they are encountering Almighty God. He is GOD!
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20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.”

A. OT quote: Exodus 19:12-13 (Loose quote – Hebrew has man or beast being struck down or shot). Again, this serves to emphasize the holiness of God. Not even an animal (who doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong) could approach the mountain without death. … How much more would the people be held into account for their own sin?
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21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

A. OT quote: Seems to be a reference to Deut 9:19, but the context is different. In Deut 9, Moses is reviewing the various rebellions of Israel – one of which being the golden calf idolatry at the foot of Mt. Sinai & Moses recounts that he was afraid for them because of the hot wrath of the Lord. But that was at least 40 days after the giving of the 10 Commandments, and that’s the event the author of Hebrews is referring to. It’s possible he had access to Jewish records we do not – but whatever his source may be, we can trust his application of the verse to Moses’ fear at the 10 Commandments is accurate due to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

B. Even Moses was terrified by the sight! He had already seen the Lord and heard His voice on several occasions – yet even he was taken aback by the display of God’s glory on the mountain…
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22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

A. Amen! We didn’t come to Mt. Sinai under the covenant/relationship of the Law; we came to Mt. Zion under the relationship of grace! Paul makes the exact same analogy – Galatians 4:24b-26 (24) For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— (25) for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— (26) but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. [Hagar vs. Sarah] Sinai = law/legalism… Zion = freedom/grace…

B. How did we come to Mt. Zion (heaven/the new Jerusalem)? Through another hill: Mt. Calvary – where Jesus died on the cross. We are invited to draw near! (“Come to Me…and I will give you rest” – Matt 11:28) Unlike the ancient Hebrews at Sinai, we didn’t stand on the outside of the mountain, guarded by boundaries, covered with fire, afraid to step foot near it. Instead, through the grace of God, we came to the foot of the cross, fully dependent upon Jesus’ death & resurrection & promise.
__a. What’s at Mt. Zion? Everything! All our inheritance – every promise we look forward to in the future & every benefit we have as a child of God today! Go down the list:

C. “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem”: The present tense is interesting when mentioning the heavenly Jerusalem, because that is obviously a future place (Rev 21:2). That’s the city of the Bride of Christ in which we’ll dwell for all eternity with the Lord Jesus after the Final Judgment has taken place. So how can we come to it now? Because that’s where our eternity lies. Every born-again Christian has his/her reservations for the table of the wedding feast of Jesus – and from the spiritual perspective of eternity, it’s as if we’re already there.

D. “an innumerable company of angels”: Obviously people are not the only ones who populate heaven; an almost limitless company of angels and angelic type beings will be there as well. Scripture just gives us a glimpse of a handful (and the names of only a very few!), but there are apparently multitudes upon multitudes of angels who will join with us in eternity.

E. “church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven”: Whether or not “general assembly” is supposed to refer to the angels or the church is a matter of scholarly debate – it doesn’t change the meaning at all; just describes one other the other. In any case, we’re part of this church of the firstborn. Not that we were born 1st, but we’ve been given the rights & privileges of the 1st born because we’ve been made to share in the inheritance of Jesus Christ Himself! We can be assured of that because our names have been written (registered) in the Book of Life & we’ve been given the Holy Spirit as a seal/ assurance that we are His.

F. “God the Judge of all”: At first glance, someone might wonder, “Why not write that we come to God our Father? Why mention Him as a Judge?” Good question.  At Mt. Sinai, the Hebrews saw God as the terrifying righteous judge, and absolutely could NOT approach Him. But because our sin has already been dealt with at the cross of Christ – because Jesus bore the punishment we deserved, we CAN approach God as Judge. His justice has already been meted out, and there’s no more judgment left for us other than blessing! (The Bema Seat…)

G. “the spirits of just men made perfect”: This refers to the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us in the faith. We’ll not only join with the rest of those from the Church age, but we’ll join with all those who have been saved by grace through the centuries. They are “just” because Jesus justifies them; they are “made perfect” because they are made complete in heaven – nothing more is lacking.

H. “Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant”: Praise God that our Bridegroom will also be there! Today, we walk by faith when we fix our eyes upon Jesus, but one day we will actually see Him with our very eyes! Moses was the mediator of the old covenant, but Jesus is the (one) mediator of the new covenant – and forever He’ll remain our mediator. Every single thing we have in God is based upon His work.

I. “the blood of sprinkling”: Remember that the blood of Abel cried out from the ground for justice. The blood of Jesus Christ “speaks better things”! It offers forgiveness, mercy, love, eternal blessing, and new life. It is through the blood of Jesus that we’ve been put into this company of God, angels, & saints. (We certainly have no other reason to be there! It’s only because of the blood of Christ!)

J. The blessings we have in Christ Jesus can be somewhat overwhelming to consider – and that’s exactly the point of the author of Hebrews! What could never be attained through the Law at Mt. Sinai has been freely offered to us via grace at Mt. Zion & the cross of Jesus!
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25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,

A. We’ve been given so much in Christ! We’ve received so much at Mt. Zion! How could we possibly turn away? … Don’t “refuse Him who speaks.” This was precisely the problem that the audience to which this letter was written had. They had heard the gospel & followed Jesus for a bit, but got caught up in their old religious ways of Judaism – they started to trust their own rituals rather than the Lord Jesus. To do so was to refuse the God who was speaking to them & calling them to salvation from the cross!

B. Interesting comparison here. After all, both groups (whether at Mt. Sinai or Mt. Zion) would be refusing God – either in His glory given through the law, or His grace given through the gospel. Yet the author of Hebrews warns us “much more” if we refuse the voice of God through Jesus Christ. Why? Because we’ve been offered something so much better! Through the Law, the people were condemned. They got a glimpse of the holiness of God, but ultimately it served their death sentence. Through the cross, we’re offered forgiveness! We’re offered a new birth! We’re made into new creations free from sin & the law! We’re offered eternity with Christ Jesus! Oh how much more we turn away from when we turn away from the gospel of Jesus!

C. Be careful not to refuse Christ! Many people reject Jesus outright. They refuse to recognize their sin for what it is because ultimately they desire to be their own God… With others, it’s much more subtle. Others hear the call of Christ, but slowly turn away. In their mind, they know the right answers, but they never truly cast themselves upon Jesus…too many other sins & distractions & rituals get in the way (they are ensnared – vs. 1). Whatever the case, don’t refuse the Lord who calls you! You will stand before Him face-to-face one day & there is no doubt that you will see Him for Who He is. NOW is the time to come to Mt. Zion through the cross of Christ; at that time it will be too late & there is no escape.
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26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

A. OT quote: Haggai 2:6 (sandwiched between Zeph & Zech) Haggai 2:6-7 (6) “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; (7) and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. [] Speaking of the end-times… The Jews had come out of captivity & rebuilt the temple & were disappointed with it compared to the original temple built by Solomon. God was telling them, “You ain’t seen nothing yet! Wait until I shake up the entire world & they see Jesus for who He is!”

B. Earth can be shaken. The heavens can be shaken. This whole universe can be shaken and done away with (and it will be, when it is made new!). But the inheritance offered to us through Jesus Christ will never be shaken! …
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28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

A. Our response to receiving such a glorious gift of grace? Our response to being made citizens of the heavenly kingdom? “let us have grace…” Let us show our gratefulness to God by holding fast to the grace He offered. We didn’t refuse Christ, so likewise, we should never let go of His grace.

B. What does the grace of God allow us to do? That which the Law commanded, but never enabled us to do: “by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” This is only possible through grace!
__a. When we live in the grace of God, we “serve God.” What a privilege! We have been invited to serve the King & Creator of the Universe! (Ps 84:10 Doorkeeper house of God…)
__b. When we live in the grace of God, we “serve God acceptably.” What I love about this is that our service is not in vain! Prior to our salvation in Jesus Christ, any service we rendered unto the Lord was useless – it was all tainted by our sin (filthy rags – Isa 64:6). Through Jesus we can serve God acceptably – and this is exactly what happens when we live in & demonstrate His grace…
__c. When we live in the grace of God, we serve Him “with reverence and godly fear.” “But I thought fear was the stuff of Mount Sinai!” True, but even as we approach Jesus at Mount Zion, we still reverence Him. We still show Him the respect He deserves as our Lord, King, Savior, and God. We still fear Him in that we recognize who He is at all times & remember His holiness. Is God still our Abba Father? Of course! But He is still GOD. Fear in this sense is a good thing. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10) – the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7).
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29 For our God is a consuming fire.

A. OT quote: comes in the midst of a warning to Israel against idolatry – Deuteronomy 4:24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. [] When God claims to be jealous, it’s not because He can’t stand the competition from other gods…there ARE no other gods! It’s that He’s righteously jealous for His people’s sake. Our Creator God (being God) is simply deserving of worship from those He created – and He’s jealous for that, pictured in His being an all-consuming fire.

B. One of the attributes of God is that He is “immutable” = God does not change. (“I do not change” – Mal 3:6) (Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy) “For a moral being to change it would be necessary that the change be in one of three directions. He must go from better to worse or from worse to better; or, granted that the moral quality remain stable, he must change within himself, as from immature to mature or from one order of a being to another. It should be clear that God can move in none of these directions. His perfections forever rule out any such possibilities.” You may ask, “So what?” So if God does not change, it means that our God who is a consuming fire of the OT is still a consuming fire in the NT! God lost none of His holiness when Jesus came in the flesh; in fact He showed us the very demonstration of His holiness through Jesus’ death on the cross! … …
__a. Our God is a consuming fire! We dare not take Him lightly – we dare not take Him for granted…

Conclusion:
So which mountain is your mountain? There are no lack of groups (and even whole denominations) that attempt to tell people that we need to go to God through the Law at Mount Sinai. “You need to do ___; you need to pray ____; you need to give ____; etc.” But the problem is we CAN’T go to God through the Law! People weren’t even allowed to set foot on Mt. Sinai while God was there, under penalty of death. All the law could do was show them their own sinfulness for what it is… … (Which is truly the wonderful thing about the law & why God gave it!)

Instead of Mt. Sinai, we go through Mt. Calvary so we can come to the inheritance of Mt. Zion. It is only through the Cross of Jesus Christ that we receive the grace and forgiveness of God! There is no better way, and there is no other way. Nothing compares to what we are given through Him & His grace. So don’t refuse Him who’s speaking to you. If to this point, you’ve been rejecting Jesus – if you’ve found plenty of reasons to play church & not be made part of it, then let this be the day that everything changes. Today is the day of salvation – Jesus is calling you to turn away from your sins & receive Him as your Lord & Savior. Don’t reject Him & harden your heart – trust Him today!

Not only do we receive Him there, but that is where we ought to stay! Too many Christians start out at the foot of the cross, only to crawl back over to legalism & Mt. Sinai. Don’t fall into the trap of going back to the Law – don’t refuse the One who called you by His grace. He offers you so much more than what we could ever achieve on our own (because on our own, we can do nothing!)

Sufferings that Strengthen

Hebrews 12:5-17, “Sufferings That Strengthen”
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“This is going to hurt me a lot more than it hurts you.” How many of us ever heard that phrase? How many ever believed it at the time? Yet when we get older & have children of our own, we may find ourselves actually repeating the same words & meaning them because they are true. No one likes spankings: neither the kids nor the parents (or sometimes, nor our neighbors!) So why do we give them (or whatever form of discipline you use)? Ultimately, it’s because we love our children. We want them to mature & learn right behavior – and many times firm discipline is necessary for the process to take place.

If it’s so obvious with our own children, then why is it so hard for us to understand with God? The very moment some of us experience a bad day (I’ve been there), we cry out: “WHY God?! I thought You loved me & would protect me from these things!!” If there is one thing every single born-again believer in Jesus Christ can be assured of in the midst of their sufferings, it is that God DOES indeed love you. And He loves you enough to sometimes allow you to get spankings – and sometimes to suffer for reasons we don’t understand yet. But because God does love us so much, we can leave ourselves in His trustworthy hands as He molds us into the image of His Son.

Keep our context in mind: Jesus has been proclaimed & proven to be better than any angel, any prophet, any property, any priest, any covenant, and any sacrifice that was ever shown in the Old Testament. He is superior to all & He perfectly fulfills every promise ever given by God, so the Jewish believers (and us) have been challenged to hold fast to our faith just like the many Old Testament saints who have gone before us. From the moment we are saved, we are placed into a long-distance marathon of faith where we need to fix our eyes on Jesus as our motivation and example – despite any shame or suffering that pops up along the way.

Ended with the encouragement that the Christians who were able to read this may have suffered, but they hadn’t suffered till the point of death. The author is going to transition a bit here – showing how God uses suffering…

Hebrews 12:5-17 (NKJV)
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”

A. OT reference – Proverbs 3:11-12… (LXX) Hebrew text a bit different: Proverbs 3:11-12 (11) My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; (12) For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. [] We tend to think of discipline as being “bad” – something given when a child displeases his/her father. Let’s correct that idea: discipline is given by a father who delights in his child. True, discipline is often (not always) brought about by some form of disobedience, but a parent who delights in his/her child loves them enough to bring rebuke when it is needed.
__a. Sometimes it’s not always due to disobedience. (Contextually, those who had been persecuted hadn’t done anything wrong…to the contrary, because of their obedience to Christ Jesus, these Christians suffered!) Gk “chastening” = “child-rearing.” The idea runs the gamut from everything dealing with spankings due to disobedience all the way to simply teaching & instructing a child in the things of life. For believers, sometimes God allows us to suffer as a part of the process of making us more Christ-like – to help us continue to conform to the image of Christ. [Example: Job] Job hadn’t done a single thing wrong! Why did he suffer? Because God in His sovereign love & wisdom allowed Job to suffer – and in the end, Job learned so much of God’s holiness, he couldn’t even question God in the slightest.
__b. God wants us to be more like Jesus! And because Jesus suffered, sometimes that’s what we are going to endure as well. Paul lost everything when he gave his life to the Lord Jesus in repentance…he suffered in innumerable ways But it was worth it: Philippians 3:10-11 (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, (11) if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. [] … Are you enduring suffering right now? If you’re a Christian, than you can rejoice! Why? Because God will USE that suffering for His glory & to help you fellowship even more with your Lord & Savior…

B. The Lord will discipline us. It may take many different forms, but we can be assured He’s going to do it to His children. Chasten = “child-rearing” (noted already)… Rebuke = “convict/admonish” (as in the conviction of the Holy Spirit)… Scourge = “whip/beat” (as in a spanking. We are not to spare the rod with our own children, and God neither spares us.) Keep in mind that even when God does “scourge” us in some way, to be in the hands of our Father is certainly more desirable than being left alone to the world. (David’s sin with the census – 1 Chr 21:13)
__a. Keep in mind there’s a difference between the discipline of the Lord & the wrath of God. A born-again Christian will never experience the wrath of God because that’s exactly what Jesus took on at the Cross on our behalf (1 Thess 5:9). When God allows us to suffer (as harsh as that suffering may be), it is nothing compared to His righteous wrath! Praise God for Jesus!

C. What are we to do with God’s chastening? Receive it! Don’t be discouraged by it… Don’t faint or become despondent under the weight of God’s hand – don’t think that God’s stopped loving you (on the contrary!). Also – don’t despise it (count it as worthless) by thinking God can’t or won’t use it in your life. As believers, we can be sure that God will use all things to work together for good (Rom 8:28)! … Too often we treat God’s working with us according to our circumstances. If we’re having an easy time, God is blessing us. If we’re having trials, then it’s all due to the devil. Not necessarily… Sometimes our trials are due directly to God; it may be His chastening to help us mature and grow in our character…
__a. What about the really bad stuff? Can’t we be assured that at least that stuff is of the devil? Again, not necessarily. Just ask Job.
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7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

A. Verse 6 tells us that God chastens us out of His love for us. Verse 7 tells us to what extent God does love us: as His own children – as His sons.
B. We see this same thing in our own parenting…
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8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

A. It’s not those who are chastened of God that have to worry (we’re not to despise it); it’s those who aren’t disciplined by Him! If you’re always getting away with sin, never experiencing any conviction of the Holy Spirit because of rebellious actions, etc., be concerned! Take the time to examine yourself to see if you’re in the faith. Some people think, “God really blessed me! Can you believe how much I got away with? I just got off with a slap on a wrist. Let’s go do it again!” Are you sure that was a blessing from God? Or simply an indication that you don’t belong to Him? God’s children are chastened by Him in some form… A true Christian is grieved by his/her sin because that is why Christ suffered & died.

B. Question: does it matter what kind of children we are? ‘So what if we’re legitimate or illegitimate, we’re all children of God, right?’ In the sense that we’re all created by God, yes that’s true. But legitimacy comes into play in regards to an inheritance. Culturally, it was common for men to have a wife for child-bearing, and one (or several) mistresses/concubines on the side. Any children that the concubines bore were provided for by the father, but they weren’t properly considered members of the family – they were illegitimate. Thus they had no right to receive anything as an inheritance from his father; it’s the legitimate children that get the privilege. You bet it matters what kind of sons we are in the sight of God! Through the work of Jesus Christ, we are legitimate children! We’ve been adopted by God as His own legitimate sons & we all receive the privilege of being co-heirs with Christ throughout all eternity! …
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9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

A. Argument from the lesser to the greater – contrasts the fathers of the flesh with the “Father of spirits.” The discipline of parents is good & done for the good of their children… And children (most of the time) know to respect their parents (much more so after they become parents themselves!). Family discipline doesn’t always work perfectly, but it’s the best we can do. Not so with God; His discipline is always perfect!

B. God chastens us for our own good. … Specifically, “that we may be partakers of His holiness.” One way in which we share in the holiness of God is through His loving discipline towards us. Those trials that we hate to go through are the very things God uses to shape our character more & more like Christ.
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11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

A. I haven’t yet met the child who is happy to be grounded, or welcomes the spanking, but it is still necessary. Why? There is a benefit of discipline: the “peaceable fruit of righteousness.” After the chastening is complete & we’re experiencing peace, hopefully we’ve learned our lesson. As when a child calms down after having their mouth washed with soap, they’ve hopefully learned not to use filthy language.
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12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

A. Nice poetic way of putting it – probably in reference to Isaiah 35:3, where it says almost the exact same thing. Trials can beat us down or strengthen us. Go back to the analogy of the race: athletes grow stronger by actually breaking down their bodies… [resistance training] This is exactly what Paul found out regarding his thorn in the flesh… 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (9) And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. [] It’s when we have no strength in & of our ourselves that we’re forced to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Too often, we think that we’ll go to Jesus when everything else fails – that’s the exact opposite of what should happen! Jesus should be our 1st response, the 2nd response, the 3rd response, etc.

B. Basically, the author is saying, “Buck up! Get back into the race! You didn’t let sin or weights ensnare you from running; don’t let suffering keep you from the race either!”
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14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

A. Continues on with the same thought. As we’re enduring the race, as we’re strengthening our hands & knees, once practical way of doing this is to “pursue peace.” As we’re fixing our eyes on Christ in our race, one of the characteristics we’re trying to run after & ‘catch up to’ is peace. This implies effort – and thus to the best of our ability (being empowered by the Spirit) we’re to try to live at peace with those around us.
__a. With whom? With all people. Even the people who persecute us? Yes! Keep in mind that this is one of the primary contexts of this passage, from vs. 4… The Jewish believers of the 1st century were being persecuted for their faith among their former brethren & many had been tempted to cast their faith aside to go back to the old ways of doing things. Now that they had been convinced to hold firm to Jesus above everything else, they were not only to be prepared to endure suffering from other people (passive response); they were to actively pursue peace with them as well…

B. “Pursue…holiness”: Just as peace was something to chase after in our race of faith, so is holiness. This is NOT the idea of being able to achieve a state of “sinless perfection.” The person who claims to be without sin is deceiving themselves (1 John 1:8). The only time we will be forever & completely without sin is when we stand before the Lord Jesus… So what IS this saying? Simply that we’re to pursue ongoing holiness. As we’re being continually sanctified (set apart/made holy) by the Lord, we’re to actively pursue the things that go along with being sanctified. I.e. we don’t engage in sinful lusts, we don’t follow after temptations – but we do seek the Lord, we do worship Him…
__a. Why is holiness so important? Because without it, “no one will see the Lord.” The NT agrees fully on this point. In Galatians 5, Paul writes up a long list of sins that are grouped as “the works of the flesh” & summarizes it by saying, “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:21). Those sins were the things we used to do; not the things that we as born-again believers ought to be doing. That is not to say that we are saved by our actions or our own good deeds (we’re not!) – but a good indicator of whether or not we belong to Christ is whether or not we’re following after Christ & His holiness.
__b. Praise God that Jesus makes us holy! Ultimately, the ONLY way we will see the Lord is because we’ve been clothed in His righteousness. (2 Cor 5:21)
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15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

A. Watch out! What happens when someone despises the discipline of God & isn’t strengthened for the race? What happens when professed Christians reject peace & holiness? Three warnings here – 2 in vs. 15.

B. “lest anyone fall short of the grace of God…”: Not that God ever withholds grace from those who come to Him through Jesus Christ (He gives it freely & abundantly!). Rather, this refers to those who started running the race & dropped off along the way. Like those in the Parable of the Sower who received the word, but had no root & withered – these are people who professed Jesus, but were not firmly rooted in Him. Thus trials & sufferings come along & they give up altogether.

C. “lest any root of bitterness” spring up: It’s often been said that trials either make us better or bitter. For those who despise God’s sovereignty & goodness (and thus His discipline), suffering can definitely leave them embittered. Why ought the Church to watch out for it? Because bitterness can be contagious: “many become defiled.” Especially if the trials we go through are caused by another person! The one who is hurt & bitter starts backbiting to another who passes it on to another, etc…
__a. So what do you do if you’re the person that’s been hurt? How do you stop from being embittered? How can God use that for His glory in shaping you to be more like Christ? Go back to vs. 14: “pursue peace with all people.” If you’ve been wronged against (even by someone within the church), the best thing is to be reconciled to them & forgive them as Christ forgave us. When we don’t, the person we hurt is ourselves.

D. 3rd warning: beware of the fornicator or profane – see vs. 16…
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16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

A. OT context: Genesis 27. Esau sold his birthright for some lentil stew… Jacob deceived Isaac & Esau wept with “an exceeding great and bitter cry” (Gen 27:34) when he figured out what happened… (And to think that some people believe that Biblical families were never dysfunctional! )

B. How does Esau apply? Esau despised his trials (and thus discipline of the Lord), and the result was he didn’t value what had been given to him (his birthright)… We don’t know for sure that he was a fornicator (though he was definitely a polygamist), but he was certainly profane in that he had absolutely no value for the things of the Lord (as seen through his birthright). Afterward Isaac confirmed the blessing to Jacob, he could ever accept the result & continued in bitterness to the point of wanting to kill his own brother…

C. Is Scripture saying that Esau had no opportunity to repent from his sin? That he was past the point of repentance if he would truly humble himself before God & his father & turn away from his profane ways? No…simply that his tears came too late. The consequences of his actions were set & there was no opportunity to reverse it. Of course it’s worth noting that Esau simply did NOT repent. He was sorry (no doubt!), but it was a worldly sorrow & not a Godly sorrow… (2 Cor 7:10) Even in his sorrow, Esau demonstrates he didn’t value the things of God because he didn’t understand what he had lost. His sorrow was over the earthly blessings Jacob had tricked him out of; not over the covenant with God he had so casually thrown away.
__a. Esau is a good example of what NOT to be. We want to value the things of God! Whether unfettered blessing, or loving discipline, we want to receive what God gives us for the purposes He wants to do in us.

Conclusion:
So what do you do with trials? How do you handle suffering? Do we fall into the trap of thinking, “If it’s good, it’s from God. If it’s bad, it’s from the devil.”? The truth of the matter for every born-again believer in Jesus Christ is: if we’re going through it, God is allowing us to go through it. God will use whatever it is He allows us to go through for His glory & to make us into the men & women He wants us to be.

That’s not to say that we don’t come under attack by the enemy. That’s not to say that trials are not truly trials. That’s not to say suffering isn’t painful. But we can be assured that God uses ALL of these things for His purposes in our lives. God (in His wisdom) uses suffering. Don’t allow suffering to stop you; let is strengthen you! … Especially when the trials we face are the chastening & discipline of the Lord! Those who receive God’s discipline are strengthened; those who reject it are embittered. May we be the ones who receive it & allow those things to produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness in our lives that God desires to bring forth.

Enduring for Christ

Hebrews 12:1-4, “Enduring for Christ”
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Introduction:
[Starting to run again…] These things take time & work, but after a while we do see some changes & progress. [2+ miles, almost 3] The NT often uses a similar analogy when it comes to our life in Christ. Granted, many times it’s called a walk – but it’s also often referred to as a race…it was one of Paul’s favorite analogies to his own life in Christ. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (24) Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. (25) And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. [] (Go for it!) During his ministry, he didn’t want to run in vain (Gal 2:2). At the end of his life, he said he had finished the race (2 Tim 4:7)

We don’t know that the author of Hebrews was Paul – but the author definitely took up the same analogy here in Hebrews 12. Although our life isn’t a sport or a game, we have a race to run. We’re to run with focus – we’re to run by faith – we’re to run with endurance. We have an example of how to endure: it’s in Christ Jesus! We endure for Jesus in faith because He endured for us.

Hebrews 12:1-4 (NKJV)
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

A. This could have been placed easily at the end of Ch 11. The whole point of the Hall of Faith was to show us how the saints of the past endured in faith, by holding on to Christ & looking forward to the future…

B. And it’s not just those listed in Ch 11. We are “surrounded” by so many…a huge “cloud”! Whether they are recorded in the pages of Scripture, or simply etched in our memories – all of us know of many instances of believers who truly demonstrated their faith. If there’s one thing we cannot claim, it’s that we have a lack of examples of how to walk!

C. “witnesses”: Are they witnesses of us, watching our walk? Some have suggested that’s exactly what’s being portrayed here. Like a giant sporting arena, they think the saints of the past are spectators of the main event for what’s going on down on earth. No doubt, that’s part of the analogy the author of Hebrews is painting – but is that the point of what is being taught? No. More properly, the saints of the past are “witnesses” of Jesus Christ. Literally they are “martyrs” (Gk μάρτυς). Original meaning of the word was just “a witness/someone to testify” (not “spectator”). Took on a different meaning over time with more persecution. But the past saints witnessed of God to the world in their faith & demonstrated their witness through their deeds. We have numerous examples of being witnesses for Christ through the great cloud of former witnesses that went before us.
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…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

A. When you run, you don’t want a lot of weight. You wear loose & light clothing so that nothing trips you up or holds you back from continuing on. (In ancient Greece & Rome, they didn’t even wear ANY clothes!) But the idea is that you don’t want anything getting in the way of your run. Taking off in boots & jeans isn’t very conducive to running multiple miles! It’s no different in our spiritual race with Christ!

B. Is the weight different from sin? Yes – the Greek makes a clear separation. Sin does ensnare us (as we’ll see), but sometimes there’s other stuff that just gets in the way. Maybe it’s a job with too many temptations – maybe it’s an act which you have freedom to do, but tends to get in the way of your witness. Whatever it is, we ought to lay it aside. There are some things in which we have liberty to do – but in the end, just aren’t worth it. (Newell quoting Ridout) “We often hear, alas, the question: What is the harm or the sin in my doing this or that thing… The question is answered just here. Is the thing a weight, or is it a wing? Is it that which speeds you on your course, or does it hold you back?” Don’t let anything hold you back!

C. How does sin get in the way? It “easily ensares us…” Like a vine climbing a tree, it easily encircles us. Imagine trying to run & having something tied around your legs holding you back…that’s what sin does in our race for Christ. And it’s not just one sin (as in our own particular besetting sin) – it’s sin in general. What do we do about it? We put it aside…we get rid of it.
__a. Dealing with sin can sometimes indeed be a huge struggle. We’re at war with sin where our flesh fights against our mind (Rom 7:23). The process may be a struggle; the solution is simple: to not let sin get in the way, we lay it aside & we don’t go back to where we placed it & pick it up again. As Paul writes, we reckon ourselves dead to sin (Rom 6:11); we don’t leave it open as an option to return to. We say “no” in our mind first…if we don’t do that, we’ve already lost the battle against the temptation.
__b. It’s simple (not complicated); but not easy – we do it through the power of the Holy Spirit!
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…and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

A. Laying aside weight & sin is the negative command. What’s the positive? To run! Whether or not we realize it, we’re in a race & we’re to run it. The starting whistle has blown – and we’re off!

B. We’re not just to run; we’re to “run with endurance.” Most anyone can run for a short amount of time; athletes are trained to run for long amounts of time and/or long distances. They run with patient endurance pushing through tiredness, thirst, and trials to get to the goal. Actually, “endurance” is often translated “patience” throughout the NT – the idea is one of perseverance, doing what it takes to remain firm in your goal (in this case: running).
__a. Why do we need endurance? Because we have many temptations along the way. Those same weights and sins we laid aside earlier have a habit of popping back up as temptations later (which is why to say “no” in your mind!). We need endurance to be able to pass them by without being pulled aside in the midst of them & becoming ensnared all over again.

C. The fact that we need endurance tells us that our Christian race isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. There are many who can show a little change over a short period of time – but they lack the endurance to continue with Christ. [Parable of the Sower: birds, rocks, thorns, good soil] Matthew 13:20-22 (20) But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; (21) yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. (22) Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. [] We don’t want to be those who only endure for a while, or get choked up & entangled… We don’t want to quit the race early or ‘burn out’ along the way. Instead, we want to run with endurance for as long as Jesus calls us to run…
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2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

A. When the author of Hebrews writes “look,” he’s not writing in a general sense. The Gk word indicates an intentional act: to look away from one thing & set our attention upon something else. I.e., we were looking at ourselves, our selfish desires, and our sinful gratifications; but now we’ve been born again and we’ve been made new creations – now we’re looking at something (someone) different! Who are we looking to? The Lord Jesus!
__i. Look to Jesus! He is our motivation… Why ought we lay aside sin & run? It’d be much easier to indulge in sin & our flesh & just stay still! Because we’ve been saved! Because we have a new Lord: the Lord Jesus Christ! We look to Him & because of what He’s done in our lives, we want to run!
__ii. Look to Jesus! He is our goal… [Mom teaching me to swim – had to keep looking to her] Jesus is waiting at the end of our race & we want to see Him face to face!
__iii. Look to Jesus! He is our example…as we’ll see from the rest of vs. 2. Jesus knows what it’s like to endure because HE endured.

B. Who is Jesus? “the author and finisher of faith.” Note the “our” is italicized…it’s assumed by the translators to make it easier to read in English. Literally, Jesus is the chief leader/source/author & finisher/perfector of faith…i.e., not just our individual faith, but faith itself! Salvation finds its existence in Jesus Christ & no other. He is the Alpha & Omega – the beginning and the end (Rev 1:8). Regarding our faith, Jesus: loved us before we loved Him (1 John 4:19) – foreknew us & called us (Rom 8:29-30) – was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) – came in the fullness of time (Gal 4:4) – humbled Himself and became obedient unto death (Phil 2:8) – rose again in victory & took away the sting of death (1 Cor 15:56-57) – ascended to heaven & sat down at God’s right hand (Mark 16:19) – gave the Holy Spirit to the Church (Acts 1:8) – awaits to receive the Church to Himself (John 14:3) – will return in might & power, defeating the devil (Rev 19:15) – will reign for 1000 years in righteousness here on earth (Rev 20:4-6) – will be forever glorified throughout eternity (Rev 22:1). Whew!  Which part of that did any of us accomplish? Nothing – zip… ALL of it is dependent upon Jesus Christ. From eternity past to eternity future, everything about the glory of God & salvation of man is utterly put upon Jesus Christ. HE is the author – HE is the finisher. It’s all about HIM.
__i. Do you understand why we are to gaze upon Him? It’s not an egotistic thing for Jesus…He certainly doesn’t need anything that we can give Him. It’s because we’ve got nothing better in the entire universe to gaze upon! Nothing compares to Christ Jesus! For the work He did for us, why wouldn’t we gaze upon Him to run the race set before us?!
__ii. Again, Jesus is the ultimate example! He offered a far better sacrifice than Abel – showed infinitely more righteousness than Noah – obeyed God to a far fuller extent than Abraham…etc. To go down the list in Heb 11, Jesus outdoes them all. There’s no better example of holding fast to God in faith than what we see in the Lord Jesus!
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…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

A. If anyone knows what it means to endure suffering, Jesus does. The cross was nothing BUT suffering! Remember that Jesus had already been tortured prior to actually being nailed to the cross – the Roman whips would have shredded His back & the crown of thorns surely didn’t help Him retain any blood. The nails for His hands/wrists would have crushed His medial nerves – the drop of the cross in the ground would have dislocated most (if not all) His bones – He would have needed to push His entire body weight upon the nail in His feet (and scrape His shredded back against the wood) in order to breath. And in this midst of all this, wait as shock & asphyxiation caused Him to experience a massive heart attack. This was mind-numbingly awful suffering that Jesus endured.

B. But Jesus did it. WHY? Because he had “joy…set before Him.” What joy? What could possibly be joyous in a situation when He was wracked with pain & taking on the sin of all mankind throughout all history?
__a. The joy of glorifying His Father: In John 4, the disciples left to go find food in Samaria. Meanwhile, Jesus has been ministering to the Samaritan woman who’s now convinced He’s the Messiah… Tells the disciples He doesn’t need to eat because His “food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.” (John 4:34) Jesus delighted to do the Father’s will! Psalm 40:7-8 (7) Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. (8) I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.” [] As it was the Father’s will to bruise Jesus & make Him a sin sacrifice (Isa 53:10), it was Jesus’ joy to willingly submit & fulfill it.
__b. The joy of purchasing our salvation: Jesus didn’t go through the Cross because He enjoyed pain. He didn’t take on the wrath our sin deserved because He was a masochist. He went to the Cross as a demonstration as His love for us. We did not deserve His love – but He desired to give it (Rom 5:8)
__c. The joy of defeating the enemy: We can only imagine what kind of motivation it was to crush the head of the Devil at Calvary’s cross! But make no doubt, that He DID defeat the enemy. Not just Satan – but the result of Satan’s most effective lie in history: death. Death has no more sting because Jesus went to the cross & rose again.
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…despising the shame,

A. When thinking about the cross, we often think of the physical suffering – but Jesus endured much more than that. It was a shameful experience – stripped naked and left exposed to the world in your weakest moment. Dying on the cross was a cursed death, yet Jesus became that curse to redeem us from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13).
__a. It was shameful because He died the death of a common criminal. This wasn’t some glorious death because of battle, like a warrior would crave. Although there was much heroism in Jesus’ death, it certainly wasn’t recognized at the time. People hit Him – spit at Him – pulled out His beard… This wasn’t the way to treat a King; it was the way to kill a despised, traitorous criminal.
__b. It was shameful because He was rejected by the very people He came to save. Those who ought to have received Him gratefully as King turned their backs upon Him & refused Him.
__c. It was shameful because the Father turned His back on Him. The fellowship Jesus enjoyed with God from before time began was somehow mysteriously broken because of the sin He became. Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” [] When Jesus cried out from the cross, it wasn’t because He was trying to enforce some symbolism & provide a teachable moment from Psalm 22…it was because He meant it! Undoubtedly, this was some of the worst suffering that Jesus had to endure – we cannot even imagine the depth.

B. How did Jesus deal with the shame? He “despised” it – He hated it & looked upon it as worthless. Not quite the same thing as “ignoring” it. Sometimes we get the idea that we can just pretend like the suffering doesn’t exist & go on with our lives – but it DOES exist. Jesus wasn’t pretending anything when He cried out from the cross! Jesus hated the shame; but He didn’t let the shame stop Him. He didn’t let the shame and suffering become of greater value than the joy that was set before Him. He pressed on to endure despite all the shame He had to walk through in the process.
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…and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

A. Jesus may have walked through shame, but He sat down in victory! Saw this image earlier in Heb 10:12 when He offered one sacrifice for all time & then sat down. What’s the importance of sitting? Jesus sat down because there was no more work to be done.

B. The right hand? Place of honor… Place of power… There’s no more honorable position than the right hand of God Almighty – and that’s where Jesus is. Notice the contrast here. Jesus went from deep shame & terrible suffering, to the most magnificent place imaginable: the “throne of God”! This is the same contrast Paul makes in Phil 2 when he shows Jesus humbled Himself to come as a man, was obedient to the cross, and as a result God highly exalted Him & gave Him the name that is above every name! (Phil 2:8-9)
__a. There’s application here for us, too. For the Christian, all suffering is temporary. Jesus endured immense suffering, but not any longer…today He sits in victory. We may endure immense suffering as well (though not to the extent of Jesus) – there may be terrible things we have to endure that even last us the rest of our lives. But even if it takes our dying breath, we know that our suffering is strictly temporary, because we’re going to see Jesus! We’re going to be in His presence where He is at the right hand of God…and that’s going to last & last & last!
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3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

A. Do you ever feel weary? It seems that the author of Hebrews expected that we might from time to time… We don’t want to grow weary in doing good (Gal 6:9)… We don’t want to grow weary in our love for God & one another – yet sometimes we do… “Weary” & “discouraged” are synonyms & could be defined as “sick – fainthearted.” Like the runner who is overheated and weakened from the sun… The longer we suffer, the more likely we’ll feel weary. That’s natural – that’s to be expected. It doesn’t mean you’re somehow “less” spiritual; on the contrary – it means you’re actually running the race!

B. How does Scripture tell us to deal with that soul-weariness? By considering Jesus! Verse 2 challenged us to gaze upon Jesus; vs. 3 challenges us to “consider” Him – to think upon Him in contrast with other examples (such as ourselves). He endured much hostility & opposition – yet He still did what God sent Him to do. Jesus knew what it was like to be weary & tempted to throw in the towel & in fact was precisely tempted to NOT endure (both in the wilderness temptation & Gethsemane…). Yet He pressed on! He desired to do His Father’s will & He patiently endured.

C. If Jesus endured, we can endure. “Wait a second. Jesus is God. Of course He can endure.” True, but Jesus is also man. Hebrews already made it perfectly clear that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin (Heb 4:15)… Thus if Jesus was tempted in our same ways, we can be sure that if it was possible for Jesus to endure hostility & soul-weariness, we can as well. How? Look to Christ – Remember the joy – Despise the shame – (not listed here) Be filled with the Spirit.
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4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

A. We may understand the weariness of the soul; but it’s unlikely any of us have shed blood in our walk with Christ… For the readers of the letter, the fact that they were actually reading the letter meant that they had not yet been killed for the sake of the gospel. (“striving against sin” best thought of striving against the sinful people who would try to persecute believers…)

B. This is one of the few verses in the Scripture that don’t apply to everyone. There ARE some within the Church that have “resisted to bloodshed” – there are as many (or more) martyrs in the 20th-21st centuries than the centuries before. Brothers & sisters in Christ today (even as I say this) are dying for their faith. They need our prayers for endurance – and we can learn from their example.

C. Even though we’re not being killed for our faith, are our struggles still a struggle? Yes. And God uses those things in our lives to continue to shape our character (as Ch 12 will go on to explain).

Conclusion:
Bottom line, we have a race to run – and it’s not going to be over any time soon, so we need to be prepared to run with endurance. It’s not always going to be easy, but we have a perfect example of what to do through Jesus Christ: fix our eyes upon Him, remember the joy, despise the same, and run.

Not only do we have the perfect example, we have the perfect motivation: Endure for Christ for He endured for us! What better reason to we have to persevere in our faith than knowing that Jesus is not only with us here & now, but that He’s waiting for us at the end? Like a child who runs past everything to jump into the arms of his/her daddy, so we have our Savior waiting for us at the end of our race. Let us press on & endure until we see Him face-to-face!

What Faith Helps Us Do

Hebrews 11:23-40, “What Faith Helps Us Do”
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Introduction:
We’ve been looking at a museum of sorts in Hebrews 11: the famous Hall of Faith. After a brief definition of what faith is, we launched into a description of how faith works in the lives of believers. All the way through the OT, God provided example after example of men & women living in faith: from Abel to Abraham… All of them looked forward beyond their circumstances to something better… They relied on the promises of God at the time – but they also looked forward to the hope of God in the future.

We’ve covered the patriarchs & now Ch 11 finishes out by looking at the prophets (beginning with Moses). If the patriarchs only had the promises of God, the prophets (and judges & kings) saw the beginning of the fulfillment, but they still looked forward to something else as well. They experienced mighty victories – they went through terrible affliction, yet they endured. How so? By faith!

Hebrews 11:23-40 (NKJV)
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.

A. Obviously this is about Moses, but this isn’t a reference to Moses’ faith; it’s a reference to his parents’ faith. The Hebrews were under an edict from Pharaoh to have all the male children killed & Moses’ parents refused to do so upon Moses’ birth. Why? Because he was “beautiful” & they had faith in God. Did they just save him cuz he was cute? No – thinking your baby is beautiful isn’t faith; it’s bias.  Besides – Scripture consistently tells us God looks at the heart as opposed to our physique. Most likely, Moses’ parents looked at him & just knew that God had something more in store for him…so they saved him from death.

B. Question: did Moses’ parents break the law by keeping his birth a secret? Yes…no doubt. Was it right for them to do, knowing that we’re expected to honor those in authority over us (Rom 13..)? Yes…without question. When we’re put into a position of obeying God vs. obeying man, we ought to obey God every time…
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24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

A. Moses chose identification with God. Keep in mind (unlike movies you may have seen) Moses knew his Hebrew heritage from an early age. His mother Jochebed was hired by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse the baby. Jochebed would have surely told Moses of his background for the 1st several years of his life. Tradition suggests that as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses was actually in line for the throne of Egypt. The point of the writer of Hebrews is that Moses actually renounced the claim to the throne because of his faith in God.

B. Moses chose affliction over sinful pleasure. As Egyptian royalty, Moses would have had access to everything that the most powerful empire at the time had to offer. Instead of choosing to indulge in those things as an Egyptian, he chose to suffer affliction along with his Hebrew brothers and sisters. This led to Moses murdering an Egyptian… Moses obviously didn’t handle it well, but it was faith that led him to suffer affliction with Israel.

C. Moses chose reproach over treasure. Again, Moses had it all. Stephen affirmed that Moses “was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds,” (Acts 7:22). He had wealth, power, & pleasure all at his fingertips. Instead, he chose the reproach (insult, abuse) that came with being a servant of God.
__a. Note: his reproach was “the reproach of Christ” – 1500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The sufferings Moses endured belonged to Christ – and ultimately found their fulfillment in Jesus at the Cross. Just as we can know the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings (Phil 3:10) 2000 years after the cross, Moses joined in the same fellowship millennia prior.

D. WHY? What would cause Moses to choose affliction over pleasure & prestige? Moses “looked to the reward.” Jumping ahead a bit to Ch 12. Moses was looking forward to the author & finisher of our faith. He looked around at Egypt, compared it with the promises of God, and Egypt came up severely lacking! Nothing compares to the glory & goodness of God!
__a. When we look to Jesus in faith, it becomes incredibly easy to choose Him over sin…there’s simply no comparison. I suggest that in those times when we do slip & choose sin for a season that we’ve taken our eyes of Christ & forgotten Who He is. During those times that we shake our fist in rebellion, we haven’t for a moment thought logically about Who God is & what He did for us in Jesus Christ & what we’ve been offered & given in grace. There’s simply no other response than to choose Him in faith!
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27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

A. Usually we think of acts of faith as being huge & heroic, but notice a key difference here. “By faith he forsook Egypt…” IOW, Moses fled in faith. Remember the context: Moses had just killed a man & Exodus 2:14 makes it clear that Moses was afraid. “So how is THAT faith?” Moses may not have acted in faith in Exodus 2:14, but he did in 2:15. Exodus 2:14-15 (14) Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” (15) When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. [] Moses didn’t sit around in Egypt waiting to see what would happen to him. He didn’t try to use his influence with Pharaoh or try to find someone else to blame for his crime. Instead, he chose to leave Egypt (Greek implies he “abandoned” Egypt – he left it behind for good), and according to Heb 11:27 this was an act of faith as Moses put himself completely in the hands of God.
__a. Sometimes the most least likely actions turn out to be tremendous acts of faith. Joseph had faith enough to flee Potiphar’s wife, knowing the likely consequences. Moses fled Pharaoh. Maybe to hold fast to Christ in faith you need to flee a job that’s tempting you to sin. Maybe you need to abandon people who would tempt you with sinful pleasure in order that you can remain pure to your family. To deny these things is foolishness to the world; but it’s a solid proclamation of your faith in Christ Jesus!
__b. BTW – there is some debate whether or not this is a reference to Moses fleeing Egypt or the Exodus itself. With all due respect to those who claim this is the Exodus, the context makes it absolutely certain this is a reference to fleeing Egypt. Chronology of events… “forsook” = “abandon”… “wrath of the king” vs. the command of God… etc.

B. How could he make this choice in faith? Moses feared God more than he feared Pharaoh. He saw God in faith as “Him who is invisible.” This is the very definition of faith from Heb 11:1! … [READ]
__a. ‘Wait a second. Moses did see God – or at least an appearance of Him in the burning bush. How can we say Moses saw the one who is invisible? His faith must not have been that great.’ On the contrary. When Moses fled Egypt, this was before he got to Midian…the burning bush didn’t come until 40 years later! Moses had faith in the God of Israel before he ever met the God of Israel…
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28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

A. Keeping Passover was an act of faith… Not just a ritual; it took faith to put the blood on the doorposts… Keep in mind that even though God had performed many miracles & given 9 plagues to this point, that nothing like Passover had ever been experienced by the Hebrews before. Why was faith necessary? Because if they didn’t keep the Passover the way God commanded it, even the Hebrew firstborn children would have been destroyed…

B. Faith was necessary for that original Passover especially for what it represented. Passover looks forward to the Cross of Calvary! We don’t come to Jesus except through faith. No religious ritual can bestow faith upon someone…
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29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

A. Does it take faith to walk through the Red Sea when God has already piled up the waters as a heap (Ex 15:8)? You bet! If we were walking through, there’s no doubt we’d wonder when the waters would come crashing down – how long would the miracle last? Would the Egyptian soldiers catch up to them? The whole event took faith – even in the middle of God’s active miracle…

B. Note the primary reason that the Egyptian army drowned: the Hebrews had faith; the Egyptians didn’t. Their bloodline didn’t matter when it same to the miracle – there was a mixed multitude among the Hebrews. Their presence didn’t matter when it came to the miracle – the army saw the exact same thing Moses & the Hebrews did. What made the difference was that the Hebrews trusted God’s person, power, promise, and provision; the Egyptian army just saw slaves running away under the power of “just another” God. When it comes to God, there is NO other! They didn’t have faith in the One True God & they drowned in the Red Sea as a result.
__a. Red Sea vs. Reed Sea…
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30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

A. Moves from Moses to Joshua… 1st major battle after crossing the Jordan River was Jericho… God’s battle plan was absolutely ridiculous from a military standpoint… But it was GOD’s plan (and He’s a better strategist than Gen. MacArthur any day)! By faith, Joshua followed through with it…

B. Can’t look at Jericho without looking at Rahab the harlot… … Even her act of hiding the Hebrew spies was an act of faith in the one true God…
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32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:
__A. The interesting thing about this partial listing is who we’d normally think should NOT be included. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and David are one thing. Their exploits of faith are what fill our children’s Bible storybooks & Sunday Schools. It’s the judges that surprise us. These guys weren’t exactly profiles in godly character:
__a. Gideon: He was hiding out in the threshing floor when God called him to be a warrior… And even then he wouldn’t go to battle until God performed the miracle of the fleece…
__b. Barak: He wasn’t even the hero of the battle…or the reigning judge at the time. The prophetess Deborah was the judge; Barak was just the general. And he was too scared to go to battle unless the woman went with him.
__c. Samson: He had courage, but he was a scoundrel. He constantly broke his Nazirite vows – he lusted after numerous women – he went looking for troubles & fights.
__d. Jephthah: This guy experienced a huge military victory, made a rash vow & (most likely) ended up sacrificing his own daughter. Doesn’t sound a like a man of faith!

B. So why ARE these judges included in the hall of faith? We wouldn’t judge them faithful at all! But that’s the problem. It’s not up to us to judge whether or not they were faithful; that’s left up to God. And God in His grace and mercy sees them as faithful even where we do not. Even what little faith they had is commended by God because it was faith in Him.
__a. That’s the power of the cross! That’s exactly what happens to us through Jesus Christ. Because NONE of us are faithful on our own! NONE of us deserve to be found worthy of God’s blessing! But because of what JESUS has done on our behalf, God can look at us & call us “faithful!” … That’s how much we have been washed & cleansed by Christ. We, who were once stained by sin have been declared by God to be white as pure snow…
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33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.

A. Huge overview of the prophets & kings here. Touches everything from military victory to miraculous interference by God. With Daniel, God stopped the mouths of the lions. With Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego, God quenched the violence of fires. With Samson, God made him who was weak in the captivity of the Philistines strong again to bring down an entire stadium. With Gideon & Jonathan (on different occasions), God used a handful of men to set whole armies to flight… With Elijah & Elisha, God raised people back from the dead (in anticipation of the greatest resurrection to come in Jesus!)… God healed the sick, destroyed armies, and showed His righteousness throughout the OT! (Not just a NT thing…)

B. These were all things seen because of faith – which emphasizes that these were all things done by the power of God. Faith shows us God’s power! Luke 17:5-6 (5) And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” (6) So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. [] That’s not something that we can get cocky about… Faith is a gift from God (1 Cor 12:9), the power we see is the power of God – all we did was apply what God gave us to apply & saw what God wanted to do. But we don’t see these things without faith. Peter never would have walked on water if he didn’t have faith – even if it was just a little.

C. Not only does faith help show us the power of God through victories; it also shows us the power of God to endure during suffering and tribulation. See the rest of vs. 35…
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…Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.

A. Which prophets were tortured? Possible reference to martyrs during the Maccabean time. (“tortured” describes being stretched & distended over a rack to be beaten) Certainly many prophets were mocked & jailed – Jeremiah being a prime example. Jesus made a point of chastising Jerusalem as being the city that killed the prophets & stoned those who were sent to her (Matt 23:37). Experiencing persecution as a prophet wasn’t the exception; it was the norm!

B. Could those who were being tortured found relief? Apparently, yes – if they recanted. But they chose to stay faithful “that they might obtain a better resurrection.” Which resurrection is the better resurrection? The one provided by the Lord Jesus! The one in which we’ll all be transformed in the twinkling of an eye…
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37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

A. Horrendous executions for some of these saints! Zechariah was stoned to death (2 Chr 24:21) – as was the NT deacon Stephen (Acts 7:58). Isaiah is thought to have been sawn in two… James was killed by the sword (Acts 12:2), as was the OT prophet Urijah (Jer 26:23). Others wandered about destitute with no place to live & only animal skins to keep them warm (Elijah & John the Baptist).
__a. Of course martyrdom didn’t stop there. Animal skins were used for something worse under Emperor Nero. (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs) “Nero even refined upon cruelty, and contrived all manner of punishments for the Christians that the most infernal imagination could design. In particular, he had some sewed up in skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs until they expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axletrees, and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them.”

B. Key point: having faith in God does not guarantee an easy life. Having abundant faith in God does not mean we experience what many would label as “victory.” Sometimes people think that to “live in victory” means to never have a bad day, to command away illnesses, and to have a full bank account no matter how much money is spent (like the widow of Zarephath & her oil)… As long as everything is fine, they’re in victory, but the minute a trial comes along, they’re no longer blessed by God. Not true! Many of God’s faithful prophets suffered immensely. Does this mean they were not victorious? On the contrary! These people were sawn in two, yet held tightly to their faith in God! They certainly were victorious in the sight of God!

C. Does the fact that these men were demonstrating faith mean that what they experienced was right judgment? Of course not…they were sinned against. They (like us) serve the only righteous & just God. The “world was not worthy” of them; but God obviously commends them as His saints. The ironic thing here is that the world didn’t think the prophets were worthy to be received (otherwise they wouldn’t have been persecuted); according to Scripture, it is the world that wasn’t worthy to receive them!
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39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,

A. What did the patriarchs & prophets receive through all their sufferings and victories through faith? “A good testimony.” No medal…no Academy Award statue…not even a winning lottery ticket. But I submit to you that a good testimony in the sight of God is worth far more than anything the world has to offer! The Holy Spirit thinks well of these people (even people like Samson & Jephthah) – and He records their actions here for us as a good testimony of what God does through people via their faith in Him.
__a. How good is a good testimony? If you’re a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, what’s the 1st thing you want to hear from your Lord & Master when you see Him face to face? “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” !!

B. For everything that these people endured, we’d naturally think, “Well surely they would at least see the fruit of their suffering.” No…apparently that wasn’t the case. They “did not receive the promise.” Or we’d think, “But they did receive many promises from God. God promised to bring them through the wilderness & He did. God promised to give them the land, and more.” True – God was faithful to many of His promises throughout the entire Old Covenant (per vs. 33)…but those promises aren’t what the author is looking at here. Note the singular number: “the promise…” There’s one particular promise in view here. There’s one event that God had been leading up to throughout history. What was the promise? See vs. 40…
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40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

A. WE received the promise because we saw the incarnation of Jesus Christ! HE IS THE PROMISE!! …

B. We’re only made perfect through Him. Their sufferings didn’t make them perfect in the sight of God. Their victories didn’t make them perfect. Their choice to follow God over pleasure didn’t even make them perfect. ONLY Jesus Christ!

Conclusion:
So many examples here! No wonder it’s called the “Hall of Faith!” But just like any museum exhibit, there’s a great diversity in what’s being shown, even if there’s an overarching theme that groups them all together. There aren’t too many listings that would name men like Abraham and Moses along with guys like Barak and Jephthah. That alone underlines and demonstrates the grace of God. Even a little faith is commended, because even a little faith has us relying on Jesus.
A. Faith helps us choose the things of God…
B. Faith helps us to experience the power of God…
C. Faith helps us to endure sufferings with God…

So which is God going to equip you to face with faith? The victory or the sufferings? From a temporary perspective, that’s all left up to God…no doubt God will be faithful to equip you for whatever you face at the time that you’ll go through it. But from an eternal perspective, every single born-again Christian has been equipped to experience victory!

That’s the whole point of the author of Hebrews. These great men & women in the past had (sometimes) huge expressions of faith & saw miracles took place – yet even the greatest of those miracles didn’t make them perfect. They received a good testimony, but they didn’t receive the promise. The promise wasn’t fulfilled until Jesus came in the flesh, died on the cross, and rose from the grave! But that’s often what we forget. We look for the temporary miracles: we want mountains to be moved & oceans to be parted for us & miraculous healings to be commonplace. There’s nothing wrong with any of those things – and we should be faithful to ask for them. But ALL of those things are only temporary! Yet in our salvation, faith in Christ Jesus accomplishes the eternal. Thus it’s not the temporary miracles we need to be fixated upon; it’s Jesus. He’s the ultimate promise of God & we’re to have our faith in Him. For our temporary circumstance and the eternal ones.

Looking Forward in Faith

Hebrews 11:8-22, “Looking Forward in Faith”
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Introduction:
There’s a hall of fame for just about anything you can think of nowadays. There’s the Baseball Hall of Fame – Football Hall of Fame – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – Gospel Music Hall of Fame, & more. Most of that is pretty trivial, but sometimes you run across a Hall of Fame that actually matters – and that’s exactly what we find in Hebrews 11. The Hall of Faith…or perhaps the Faith-in-God’s-promises Hall of Fame.

We began Ch 11 with a definition of faith & the beginnings of its description. According to Heb 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” IOW, it’s not blind imaginings of a person when they have a complete lack of evidence; instead faith is the evidence itself – it is what God gives a person to get a foretaste on those things that can not yet be seen. [sense of smell: aroma; sense of taste: spice] Faith helps us interpret the evidence of creation – faith makes us righteous before God & gives us acceptable worship – faith makes us pleasing to God & He rewards it – faith makes us obedient to God & God delivers us.

Understand faith is absolutely essential to a pleasing walk with God; without it, it’s impossible to please Him at all. That’s important to remember…a lot of people would try to substitute that with knowledge. Knowledge is important (!), but there are many men & women with only the barest knowledge of the Scriptures that have infinitely more faith than some “pastors” & Ph.D’s who even doubt the resurrection of Christ. There are many who can recite the creeds word-for-word, but have zero faith… We must have faith! So it behooves us to examine what faith “looks like” in those who have gone before us.

This time we continue the Hall of Faith with the grand patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (and one “matriarch”: Sarah). It’s not the author’s intent to do an in-depth study of each character (he’s writing to Hebrew Christians, who were well educated in Torah); but rather he hits some of the high points here, specifically in regards to how they showed their faith…and for all of them, it included believing the promises of God – having faith in His covenant & His word.

Keep in mind that the time of the patriarchs was a unique time in Israel’s history. There were many promises given about a nation, a land, and a Messiah – but although the foundation was laid for these promises to come about, nothing was actually answered. It’s not until after their slavery in Egypt & through their instruction at Mt. Sinai that the Hebrews actually became a nation…and that was well over 400 years from the time that the covenant was made with Abraham! Thus the faith shown by the patriarchs was demonstrated by how they took God at His word & how they looked forward in faith.

Hebrews 11:8-22 (NKJV)
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

A. At the time, he was 75 years old and his name was Abram (Gen 12). Abram had heard the call of God, and brought his father & nephew out of Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran. For some reason Abram delayed there until his father was dead, and then picked up & left for Canaan. However long it took him (and for whatever reason he waited), Scripture affirms that Abraham “obeyed” God when he did this. In the grand scheme of things, it seems pretty minor. Moving is rarely “minor” in personal inconvenience (much less when U-Haul won’t be invented for several thousand more years!), but it’s not like Abraham had to build an ark or anything… Yet this “minor” step of obedience was the 1st step to bringing forth the Messiah Jesus! Obeying in faith is anything but “minor”!

B. How did he do it? “By faith”. Faith was the means by which Abraham obeyed God. Faith with his left foot – faith with his right foot – repeat. The point? Abram didn’t do this on a whim (it would have seemed crazy); he did it because God told him to do it. He believed that God told him to do it – he believed that God would keep His word to make Abram a great nation (Gen 12:2), and thus faith left him no other choice than simple obedience to God’s word.
__a. Faith moves us to action. … James wrote the same thing – James 2:17-18 (17) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (18) But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [] If Abram had responded back to God, “I believe you spoke to me & promised me a wonderful covenant – I really do! I just don’t feel like doing anything about it. How about giving it to me right here in Ur?”, obviously he wouldn’t be showing he believed God in the 1st place. If I’m told, “Lightning is going to strike right here in 2 seconds,” & don’t move – then obviously I don’t believe the report. Faith will always move us to action.
__b. If you say you believe the gospel – that you have faith that Jesus is the Son of God, then there better be some action taking place in your life. What it is may look different for every person (for Abraham, it was walking), but no doubt it’s there. There will be repentance away from sin – there will be a desire to please God – there will be grief when we fail & receiving God’s forgiveness. If that’s not in your life, you need to re-examine whether you have “faith”…

C. The result of his obedient faith? Abraham followed God – not even “knowing where he was going.” We don’t go to new Starbucks without plugging it into our GPS (or at least looking it up on a map)! All Abram had to go on was God’s promise that God Himself would show Abram the land – and he started walking. … Is this “blind faith”? Not really. Blind faith implies unreasonable foundations for questionable actions. Abraham had an informed faith. How so? Even though he once was a pagan (likely moon-worshipper), Abraham eventually had an encounter with the Living God who spoke to him & gave him very clear directions. Thus Abraham’s obedience was not unreasonable at all – God spoke to him & he obeyed!
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9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

A. What else did Abraham do by faith? He lived in the land of promise as a foreigner… Keep in mind that God had promised the whole thing to Abraham’s descendants – from the river of Egypt to the River Euphrates (Gen 15:18). If Abraham had acted like some real estate moguls today, he’d have started forcing people to move & built himself a giant building right in the center of Canaan. Yet he didn’t own a lick of land – the only piece of property he bought (bought it outright – he didn’t demand it by right of ownership!) was a burial plot in which to entomb Sarah (Gen 23).

B. Instead, what did Abraham do? He waited for a city he never saw… (Going to be referenced in Heb 12-13) What was the city? Some believe it’s a reference to the New Jerusalem (Rev 21 – the church), others believe it’s a reference to heaven. But considering that the New Jerusalem is God’s provision for the Church for all eternity, to parse “heaven” beyond the general term is probably splitting hairs. Either way, Abraham wasn’t consumed with the “right-here-right-now” mentality; he had eternity in perspective – he was heavenly-minded.
__a. Some have criticized folks in the church for being “so heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good.” With all due respect – that statement should be rejected. Granted, we need to be responsible with what God has given us to do here & now – but if all we’re focused on is the here & now, we won’t be any good for anyone! Keeping heaven in view keeps other things in perspective…
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11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

A. At 1st glance, it may not seem like Sarah had much faith. (Gen 18:9-15) But apparently she did! After initially doubting the Lord, she placed her faith in His promise & she conceived Isaac via a miracle of the Lord. Where she once chuckled in doubt, she now laughed in joy – and named her son “Laugher” as a result!

B. Did she have reason to doubt? Yes! She was at least 90 years old by the time God told them that Isaac would be born. … This was an impossible thought…yet as God told them both, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen 18:14) Just as it was possible for God to bring a son to a 90 year old woman, it was possible for Him to bring a Son to a young virgin in Bethlehem – because with God all things are possible!
__a. It’s in those times when we have reason to doubt that we have even MORE reason to have faith in God! It’s easy to trust God in the good times…and as a result often we end up trusting ourselves. It’s when things look impossible & we’re forced to trust in God’s faithfulness & goodness that it becomes even more important to cling to Him in faith!

C. What helped Sarah overcome her doubt? “She judged Him faithful who had promised.” God is faithful! God never lies! Every word God has spoken, He will accomplish. There’s no being in all creation that is more faithful than God – we can trust Him completely! Deuteronomy 7:9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; []
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12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

A. Talk about faithfulness! Not only did God deliver His promise to bring forth a child; He delivered on His promise to bring forth an entire nation! And not just one nation or people group! Ishmael brought forth 12 princes – Abraham’s sons through Keturah brought forth several more nations (inc. Midian, Sheba, Dedan, etc) – his grandson Esau brought forth the Edomites. God’s name change from Abram to Abraham was accurate! But in addition, all those who have faith in Jesus Christ are children of Abraham because we have been grafted into the promises of the covenant (Rom 11:20), and because of that we are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:26). That takes us far beyond the Hebrew nation & to all those who received the grace of Jesus Christ by faith – truly an innumberable multitude of people!

B. Keep in mind the main reason this is a miracle. One man bringing forth a nation isn’t all that unusual (we see a lot of examples of it in Genesis); it’s the fact that God brought forth abundant life from one considered dead… And from that abundant life, God also brought forth in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ – the One who gives life to those who once were dead!
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13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

A. Who are “these”? Actually looking ahead a bit here to all the patriarchs – who all died without “having received the promises.” IOW, they had been given promise of the land, nation, and Messiah, but they hadn’t yet seen any of it prior to their death… Abraham of course just had the grave site deeded to him – but that didn’t change over the next few generations. Isaac wandered through the land digging wells & was continually a pilgrim. Jacob spent a minimum of 14 years away from the land growing a family, and then wandered from place to place upon his return – and then ended up leaving during a famine & dying in Egypt. All of them were pilgrims.

B. Faith gave them assurance of the promises… Faith enabled them to embrace the promises… Faith helped them confess they trusted God’s promises despite their circumstances… Through faith, they trusted the covenant of God which had been passed down to each generation & they believed God was going to do as He promised, and deliver a land, and nation, and a Messiah to bless the world.
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14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.

A. The proof of their faith? They didn’t go home… They were certainly seeking a permanent homeland, but never had one; they wandered all their lives. Did they have to do so? No – each generation had the opportunity to pack up their bags & move somewhere else where they could have put down roots. But instead, they chose to trust God & place their faith in His promises.

B. Another term for it? They persevered in their faith! Remember, this is basically what the author of Hebrews was warning them about in Ch 10. There were some who had cast aside their faith & gone back to what they had previously come out of…only what they had come out of didn’t offer them any hope. Just as if Abraham had gone back to Ur, he would have been rejecting the promises of God – so would be those who left the sufficient grace of Christianity to go back to Jewish sacrifices & rituals…they would be rejecting the promises of God. But that wasn’t the example given by the patriarchs – they persevered!
__a. So ought we to persevere! Each of us likely has people in our lives who would rejoice the minute we tossed Christianity aside for some other substitute (even atheism being the substitute). But we need to persevere in faith. Just like Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, we also have a homeland – and we’re just pilgrims passing through until we get there. So keep on passing on!
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16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

A. Faith helped them not settle for less than what God had for them. They desired what was “better…” What’s interesting about the context is that not even earthly Israel was the “better” country they desired. If they had set up a city in Canaan prior to God’s timing, it would have been a work of the flesh; not a move of faith as they waited upon the Lord. And God had something FAR better in mind for them – so they waited for the “heavenly country” God had prepared for them. They weren’t going to settle for anything less than seeing God face-to-face and worshipping their covenant God for all eternity!
__a. It’s no different with us. Jesus has prepared a place for you & me! John 14:1-3 (1) “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. [] THAT’s our home! THAT’s the place we’re looking forward to – being with our Lord Jesus! Why bother getting so consumed with the things of this life that will perish away? (Always the better house – the better car – the better TV – the better…) There’s nothing inherently wrong with “stuff”; but there is something wrong when we forget its place in our lives. The best any of us own here is just motel furniture [] – we’re leaving it behind for what is far “better.”

B. How did God respond to their faith? He was “not ashamed to be called their God…” Interesting choice of words. As believers, we want to be able to join with Paul & not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:16)…we want to not be ashamed to testify of Christ when given the opportunity & not deny Him (Matt 10:33)… Yet we never really think of it going the opposite direction. Not that the Scripture declares that God ever feels shame about anything. He is surely angry with His people many times (just read the minor prophets!), but in their sin (and ours) they bring shame upon themselves; not God. God will discipline His disobedient people, but He Himself is always glorified. That said, there is an implication here that God would not want to be known as their God if they weren’t walking in faith towards Him.
__a. Takes us back to vs. 6. If God is not ashamed of us; then conversely – He’s pleased with us. And without faith it is impossible to please God! Faith makes all the difference. Because the patriarchs showed God, God took on as His title, “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” – that’s exactly how He introduced Himself to Moses, because God wasn’t ashamed to be their God.
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17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

A. [Genesis 22]

B. Was Isaac really Abraham’s “only begotten son?” What happened to Ishmael? Yes – in the sight of God, as a result of His promises, Isaac WAS the only begotten son of Abraham. Ishmael was born out of a fleshly attempt to ‘force’ the will of God by Sarah giving her handmaiden Hagar to Abraham… Isaac was the son of the promise & Isaac was the 1st born son of Abraham & Sarah… Why? The promise was directly related to Isaac (quoting Gen 21:12), because Isaac was the genealogy that God would use to lead to Jesus!

C. So how did Abraham show faith here? Wouldn’t faith have kept Abraham from putting Isaac on the altar? After all – he would have been proclaiming his faith that this son was the son of the promise & Abraham wouldn’t compromise that promise for anything. … Of course, if he had withheld Isaac, he would have been put in a position of direct disobedience of God, thus disproving his faith. … Double-bind – catch-22? No. The only way Abraham could demonstrate his faith in both God’s promises & God’s direct command was to turn his son over to God & trust God to work a miracle. Thousands of years before Christ, Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead – and he believed it long before he even put the boy on the altar! Genesis 22:3-5 (3) So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (4) Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. (5) And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” [] Abraham trusted God’s promise that Isaac would be the seed of promise, so he knew that whatever God told him to do, God will still make Isaac the seed…even if it meant raising him from the dead.
__a. Will God ever test your faith like that? Probably not to the same extent – the picture that was painted of a father offering his only son for sacrifice has been perfectly fulfilled in Christ Jesus. … But no doubt, God will allow you to get into situations where your faith is tested. Not that God will ever tempt you with evil (He doesn’t! – Jas 1:13), but God might allow your faith to be proven. That’s not something to fear; but rather rejoice in! God often glorifies Himself in the most unlikely of circumstances: an Egyptian prison cell with Joseph – closed in at the Red Sea with Moses – in a Babylonian fiery furnace & lion’s den – and most obviously at a Jerusalem tomb. Every one of these situations looked absolutely bleak & hopeless at one point – but then God moved & people saw the glory of God!
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20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

A. Even in Jacob’s dishonesty, when he tricked his father Isaac into thinking the blessing was being given to Esau (Gen 27…) – Isaac still displayed faith in God’s word. God had told Isaac & Rebekah that the younger child would be the blessed one (Gen 25:23) & after Isaac realized he’d been tricked, he reaffirmed that the blessing had been given to God’s chosen descendant & Isaac blessed him again as Jacob was leaving to find a wife (Gen 28:3-4).
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21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

A. By his own admission, Jacob lived his life primarily as a carnal, evil man (Gen 47:9). Yet after the night he wrestled with the Angel of the Lord (the Lord Jesus), he showed flashes of immense faith, including when he blessed the sons of Joseph: Ephraim & Manasseh. It wasn’t by accident that Jacob had switched his hands to give the younger son the greater blessing; it was according to the leading of God – and prophetically absolutely accurate.
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22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

A. Joseph had spent only the 1st 17 years of his life in Canaan; yet after a lifetime in Egypt in which he experienced all the blessings of royalty & influence, he still desired that his bones rest forever in the land of the covenant. Egypt – as good as it ended up being for him – was not his home. It was never his home. His faith was squarely in the promises of God, and he wanted his bones to be a witness to God’s faithfulness according to His promise.
__a. Which is exactly what happened! 440 years (+/-) after Joseph died, Joshua honored this promise & buried his bones in Shechem – smack dab in the middle of the promised land. (Josh 24:32)

Conclusion:
These men & women of God had faith! They acted upon God’s call – they trusted God’s word – and they looked forward to God’s promises.

But it wasn’t always that way! With the exception of Joseph, all of them experienced great lapses of faith at some point. Abraham had his deception in Egypt… Sarah laughed at the promise of God… Isaac had his deception with Abimelech… And Jacob was just a scoundrel – he has too many failures to mention! Yet how did God reveal Himself? As the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even more so…with what name did He label His people? Jacob = Israel. God is most definitely NOT ashamed to be called their God! The Holy Spirit tells us that each of these people (even with their failings) are people of faith & they are people that pleased Him.

Have you failed in faith lately? Do you feel as if God has tried to prove your faith as gold & you’re coming up as aluminum foil? Don’t give up…it’s not over yet. … Keep walking in faith – keep persevering in the power of the Holy Spirit! No doubt there are days when faith seems impossible, and those days are many…don’t give up faith! You may not know this side of heaven why you’re going through what you’re going through – BUT keep in mind that as a born-again child of God you’re going to heaven! You’re trusting in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on your behalf. He’s promised to be with you till the end of the age – He’s promised to endue you with power through the Holy Spirit – He’s promised to receive you to Himself when He returns. Whatever it is you’re going through, keep your eyes on Christ Jesus! That’s how you look forward in faith…

Faith That Pleases God

Hebrews 11:1-7, “Faith That Pleases God”
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Introduction:
[Hebrews 11:1-7] To this point, the author of Hebrews has argued that Jesus is indeed the Son of God Who is superior to every angel, every prophet, every priest, every covenant, and every sacrifice that came before… Now that he’s proven that to any (honest) 1st century Jewish Christian, what does that person do with it? By this point, this person knows to hold on to Christ & not to cast off his faith for anything (because there’s absolutely no substitute for Jesus – no other option). But what would it look like practically to hold onto Christ? Keep in mind that Judaism by this point wasn’t so much the faith of Moses & David as it was a highly technical & legalistic derivative of it. All the 1st century Jewish people knew to do to please God was to bring offerings, sacrifices, and do other good deeds (ritual washings, fastings, etc.). What was a Jewish Christian to do once he/she was convinced that Jesus’ work is the only sufficient work to be done?

Answer: have faith! Believe God through faith – worship God in faith – walk with God through faith. The ONLY way to please God is through faith in Jesus Christ, and that’s what the Scripture teaches in this chapter. What’s one of the best ways to teach? By example! And that’s what the author of Hebrews does throughout Ch 11. 1st he defines faith; then he describes faith by using examples that stretched through the gamut of the history of Israel. We’re not going to get too far into the examples today; just the 1st three. But those 1st 3 demonstrate MUCH about faith! Faith in God makes us righteous to God. Faith in God makes us pleasing to God. Faith in God makes us obedient to God.

Hebrews 11:1-12 (NKJV)
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

A. When it comes to a definition of “faith”, this is the opposite of what many people would expect to find! After all, to many people’s point-of-view, we only make a leap to faith when we don’t have hard evidence to hold on to. The atheist often argues that because science has not found conclusive evidence of the existence of God, that the believer is forced to “retreat” to faith in order to believe that God is real. … (There are many things wrong with that idea – if nothing else to say that Creation is itself one of the most powerful & prevalent evidences of a Creator that can possibly be found. Simply because the atheist chooses to ignore the obvious doesn’t mean that evidence doesn’t exist.)

B. Scripture claims the opposite. Not only is faith NOT a retreat away from evidence; but faith is the evidence itself. Just as our sense of smell verifies the perfume of a rose & our sense of taste verifies the sweetness of sugar, so faith is like a “sense.” But instead of sensing & verifying what can be seen, it’s a verification of what cannot yet be seen. We do not yet see the scars in Jesus’ hands, but faith tells us one day we will see Him face-to-face. We do not yet see heaven, but faith tells us that we have a confident hope that heaven is exactly where we’ll be for eternity. God tells us these things through His Scriptures – we believe His word & promises, and thus our faith informs our mind of what we would not otherwise comprehend.

C. Question: if faith is itself the evidence, then what stops other religions/cults from claiming the same argument? Mormons typically claim a “warming” in their spirit – and they place their faith in the writings of Joseph Smith. On the other side of the spectrum, there seems to be no lack of supply of Islamic terrorists willing to strap on explosives & become suicide bombers. Say what you will about their doctrine, the one thing we cannot accuse them of is to say they don’t have faith… What makes the difference for the Christian? Answer: the difference is the object of our faith! This isn’t a he-said-she-said argument where we can randomly choose which religion is correct. Truth is truth. Either Christianity is correct, or some other religion is correct, or NO religion is correct…but one of those options MUST be true. So can the Christian know that our faith is a well-informed faith? Yes!
__a. We have the testimony of Creation (which we’ll get to in vs. 3)
__b. We have the testimony of the Law, written on our hearts (Rom 2:15)
__c. We have the testimony of the Resurrection, without which our faith would be futile (1 Cor 15:17)
__d. We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit, Who is our seal & guarantee of eternity (2 Cor 1:22)
__e. We have the testimony of the Church gone before us (which is one of the points of the rest of Ch 11). How else would Peter have gone from denying Jesus to bold proclamation? Would murderous Saul have become the apostle Paul? Would the apostle John be dipped in boiling oil & still willing to rejoice & write of Christ in exile? Would Polycarp (the Bishop of Smyrna) be willing to be burned solely because he would not deny his Lord? And the list goes on.
__f. We have a well-informed – a well-attested faith!

D. Faith is described in 2 ways here:
__a. “substance”: Gk word is actually a compound, “under” + “stand/establish”… Could think of it as “undergirding” or the “essence” or “substance” of something. (Same word “hypostasis” comes into play later with the Nicene Creed showing that Jesus is of the same essence/substance as the Father). With that in mind, we think of the things “hoped for” = salvation, heaven, etc. and our faith is THAT substance. It’s the foretaste & assurance of what’s to come.
__b. “evidence”: Other translations may have “convictions.” The Gk has the idea of “proof” – as in the proof in an argument or debate. There are many things about our salvation that remain unseen, and our faith is the convicting proof/evidence that those things exist.
__c. Put these ideas together, and we have faith being the substantive sense – the logical evidence that the unseen things are true. It’s not talking about proof as in “I gotta prove it to someone else,” but rather, “How do I keep walking in Christ, even though I’m dealing with unseen things? What do I have that is solid to hang onto during unsure times?” The answer: FAITH!
____i. What this looks like exactly is the same question most of this Chapter is concerned with! We get example after example of what faith looks like in real life…

E. What is this NOT saying? [Word/faith – positive confession] Just because we might really want to believe something to be true doesn’t mean that it IS true. Our faith/belief doesn’t make it reality. You can ‘declare’ yourself wealthy all day long, but if you’re not working for extra, there won’t be another penny in the bank when you go to bed. The problem people get into here is that (just like the cultists) they put their faith in the wrong object. Instead of trusting Jesus & simply putting their faith in Him, they’re putting their faith into their own faith. It’s what THEY proclaim – it’s the words THEY say – it’s how much THEY believe that matters. None of that has anything to do with Jesus. Our faith must be in HIM; not ourselves.
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2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

A. “Elders” = those Hebrew believers that had come before. The rest of Ch 11 outlines the testimony of these elders in the faith…

B. Brings up an interesting point: to the author, the elders of the OT Hebrews are also the elders of the Church. Obviously he’s writing to Jewish Christians, so we’d expect him to pull examples from their cultural heritage. But don’t miss the fact that he’s (via the Holy Spirit) is pointing to them as examples of people who had genuine faith that pleased God (vs. 6). IOW, he’s talking about people in the OT who were saved. … We tend to think that people just were saved after Jesus went to the cross – but keep in mind that Jesus was slain for our sin from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). Thus for OT saints, they could look to the sin sacrifice of the Messiah just as we can. They may not have understood everything as well as we do – they were dealing with types & shadows – but just as we look back to the Cross, they looked forward. … (Eph 2:8-9)…
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3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

A. What’s the 1st thing we understand by faith? Creation… [no excuse] Romans 1:20-21 (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, (21) because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [] Believers & non-believers alike should be able to look at the visible world & understand it has an invisible Creator. Christians then know by faith that its Creator is the God of the Bible. “The worlds” = Gk αἰών (“eons”) – sometimes used as a reference of time, but contextually here speaking of everything in the known universe. The planets, stars, cosmos – even time itself. All of it was created by the word & the will of God. And we understand that by faith.
__a. “But I thought you said Creation was ‘evidence’; not faith!” It is evidence, but it takes faith to draw the conclusion from the evidence to understand that God created everything. Despite its protestations, evolutionary science is no different. They start with the presupposition (faith) that there is no God & no supernatural & then proceed to interpret the known evidence in light of that presupposition. That is an act of faith; only their ‘god’ is glorified human knowledge & Darwin is its prophet.

B. What do we understand about the worlds? That they “were framed by the word of God.” Not random chance – not carbon atoms randomly combining in a primordial mess. God had a specific design & that specific design came into being by His word. How specific is our universe? Very! Just looking at planet earth, we find that life could not exist if the planet was 2-5% closer to the sun or 2-5% further away – if the oxygen/nitrogen ratio in the atmosphere was changed at all – if we got any less than a 1% change in the amount of sunlight that reached the earth (changing the global temperature), and more! And that’s only the macro scale – if you take it down to the micro, it becomes even more astounding. Dr. John Marcus (biochemist), “If the DNA of one human cell were unraveled and held in a straight line, it would literally be almost one meter long and yet be so thin that it would be invisible to all but the most powerful microscopes. Consider that this string of DNA must be packaged into a space that is much smaller than the head of a pin and that this tiny string of DNA contains enough information to fill almost 1,000 books, each containing 1,000 pages of text.” (In 6 Days, pg 174, ed. Ashton) We have been framed/designed/created by God!

C. How were the worlds framed? “By the word of God.” Gk ῥῆμα – specifically the “spoken word” of God (per Gen 1). The things that are visible came into existence via invisible means: the sheer will and word of God. Even today, we are dependent upon the will of God: “in him we live, move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28) – Jesus is “before all things & in Him all things consist” (Col 1:17)… God spoke, and that’s all it took!

D. Not only is His spoken word invisible, the word of God brought all matter into being using building blocks which are virtually invisible. On the face of it, science backs this up completely. The universe is not made up of visible fire, air, earth, and water (per ancient scientists, including Aristotle), but rather all matter is composed of atomic particles far too small to be seen by the naked eye (and vast amounts of space in-between). Truly the Scripture is amazingly accurate (especially for its day) by proclaiming “the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
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- We have two major categories of testimony regarding God, demonstrating Whom in which we should have faith. One is obviously what we see around us: creation. The other is a great cloud of witnesses, which is the subject of vss. 4-40.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

A. We often speak of Stephen being the 1st martyr of the church, but in one sense, the 1st person ever killed for his faith was Abel. Genesis 4 tells us that both Cain & Abel (the 1st sons of Adam & Eve) brought sacrifices to God, but that God respected Abel’s offering & did not respect Cain’s (Gen 4:4-5).

B. Genesis is silent on the matter, but here we’re told why was Abel’s sacrifice “more excellent” than Cain’s. Many people speculate that it had to do with Abel bringing an animal & Cain bringing what he grew from the ground – or that Abel brought the prime of his flock & Cain gave what was left over. Certainly some of that may be true – but specifically we’re told that Abel’s sacrifice was accepted because “he was righteous.” IOW, it wasn’t what Abel brought that made him righteous; his sacrifice was acceptable due to his righteousness. Jesus affirmed that Abel was righteous (Matt 22:35)…that was simply how God saw him.

C. Question: “Don’t the Psalms (and Rom 3) tell us that none is righteous, no not one? How could Abel be righteous?” That’s the point of the passage. Abel wasn’t righteous in & of himself; he was made righteous through faith in God. That was the lead-in to Ch 11 – the just shall live by faith… Because Abel had faith in God (probably the promise of the coming Messiah given to his mother – Gen 3:15), it was exemplified by the offering he brought to God. The fact God received Abel’s sacrifice is a witness that God had already made him righteous by faith.
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5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

A. Enoch was a larger figure in Jewish culture than he is today (several apocryphal books written by or about him). NT affirms that Enoch was indeed a prophet, but the church did not recognize his books as inspired Scripture. Our account for him is virtually all in Genesis 5:21-24. He was the father of the oldest man in the Bible (Methuselah) & the grand-father of Noah. Other than that, all we know is that he missed his appointment with death because God took him. (1st rapture in the Scripture!)

B. Again, we get more information here than what’s found in Genesis (best commentary on the Bible is the Bible!). In the Hebrew version of Genesis, we’re not told why God took Enoch; but in the LXX, it says it was because “he pleased God.” “And Enoch was well-pleasing to God. And he was not found, for God transposed him.” (Gen 5:24, LXX) Obviously the NT affirms that thought here in Hebrews. What work could Enoch possibly have done to please God? None. The only thing Enoch had was faith! His faith alone was pleasing to God.
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6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

A. Don’t miss out on this; this is a vital part of the gospel! When it comes to ‘religion,’ this is where many people fall short, including many professed ‘Christians’. To some, they think that as long as they walked forward at an evangelistic meeting, and prayed a prayer, that they could be pleasing to God if they walked as moral, upstanding citizens from that day forward. Hear me carefully: that is not the gospel. … When someone is grieved over their sin, and they throw themselves upon the mercy, grace, and love of God because of the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ, it’s because they are placing all their faith & trust in HIM – in Jesus alone for forgiveness from sin & new life. It’s not about trying to do enough good deeds to try to please God – that’s works-righteousness. It’s all about pleasing God through faith in His Son. And when we do that, then our lives & actions are changed as a result… Do you understand the difference? We’re not pleasing to God because of our work (ever!); we’re pleasing to God because of faith in Jesus’ work. … This verse makes it perfectly clear: without faith in Jesus Christ as a foundation, pleasing God is not just a difficult task; it’s an impossible one.
__a. Does this mean that works are useless? Absolutely not! Works borne out of faith are a powerful testimony to our faith (as we’ll see with Noah). James affirms that without works, our faith is dead (Jas 2:17). But faith is the starting point! And without faith, it is impossible to please God.

B. So what does faith in God look like? Knowing that we come through Jesus Christ (the door – the way, truth, & life), how do we come to God? Two aspects:
__a. 1st, we “must believe that He is” – seems pretty basic & it is. We must believe that God exists. But this is far more than mental assent that ‘there is a God somewhere – any God’; this is a belief in the One True God – the God of the Bible revealed through Jesus Christ. We must believe that God is the I AM.
__b. 2nd, we must believe “that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” I.e., we must believe that God is a God of His word – that He is faithful to His promises & does what He says He will do. Jesus told us to ask for the Holy Spirit & God would give Him (Luke 11:13) – Jesus told us that all who come to Him for salvation, He will by no means cast out (John 6:37). God is absolutely faithful! We can trust Him to be true to His promises, so we can seek Him diligently.

C. But what about Romans 3? Romans 3:10-11 (10) As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; (11) There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. [] The fact that no one seeks God is an essential part of Paul’s argument that all (100% of mankind) is in need of salvation. Is this a contradiction in the Bible? No – quite the opposite. Romans 3 & Hebrews 11 go hand-in-hand on this point. Left to ourselves, we don’t seek God. We are born with a sinful nature & go on sinning day by day. But through the grace of God, we are convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment through the Spirit (John 16:8) – through the grace of God someone is sent to share the gospel with us (Rom 10:15) – through the grace of God, the Father draws us to Jesus (John 6:44) – and THEN we respond in faith, by seeking the Lord Jesus in repentance…
__a. In addition, notice that faith is not a one-time event for any of the men & women listed in the Hall of Faith. The author isn’t only writing of the act of justification from sin; he’s writing about our ongoing walk with Christ Jesus. And the only way our walk with Him can be pleasing to God is through faith. Through faith, we continue to seek after God day by day: in prayer, worship, & the Scriptures… We continue to seek His face in faith receiving the grace He offers us for daily life.
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7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

A. Noah picks up in Gen 5 & lasts through Gen 9. Hebrews just hits the bare highlights.
__a. Should we believe the Genesis account regarding Noah? Jesus did, and referred to it in literal terms & a parallel to how people would act in the end times (Matt 24:37-39). If you consider yourself a Christian, that alone should take away any doubt whatsoever!

B. What was “not yet seen” by Noah that he was warned about? Obviously the destruction of the earth through global flood – but this could even be a reference to rain itself. To this point, there seems to have been no rain on the earth; just a mist that arose every morning to water the ground (Gen 2:5-6). Talk about having faith in the word of God! Before any rain existed, God told Noah to build a boat on dry land. Imagine the ridicule Noah must have endured…it took faith to follow through!

C. Why did Noah build the ark? To save his family, for sure – but most of all because he was “moved with godly fear.” Not talking about terror & shaking in his boots for what was coming, but Noah had a reverent, pious awe of God. He believed that God was, and that God kept His promises. God promised to destroy the earth, so Noah acted upon that promise, per the word & enabling of God.

D. In the end, what is Noah known for? Obedience. Noah’s obedience demonstrated his faith in God. He “became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Because of Noah’s faith, he built the ark – and through the events on the ark, he became a physical heir to the promises in that God delivered him through the flood.

Conclusion:
There are many more people to see in Ch 11 – but we get started with three:
A. Abel: His faith made him righteous in the sight of God & his worship was acceptable.
B. Enoch: His faith made him pleasing in the sight of God & God rewarded him.
C. Noah: His faith made him obedient to the word of God & God delivered him.

What do they all demonstrate? Walking with God in faith. There is simply no other way possible to approach Almighty God other than faith – specifically faith in Jesus Christ. So let’s take it back to where we began today: are you like that 1st Century Jewish Christian who’s lost on how to approach God if you can’t do it through good deeds? So many people get the idea that someone’s a “good Christian” if they do XYZ, and as long as you do XYZ, then that’s what makes you a Christian. Wrong. Someone’s not a good Christian because they help old ladies cross the street & bake an apple pie for their neighbors. That’s something a Christian might do; but that doesn’t make them a Christian. Baking a pie will go a long way to please your neighbor, but without Jesus, it won’t do anything to please God.

The ONLY way to please God is through faith. We must believe that He is: that He is truly the God of the Bible who sent His only begotten Son to the world to die for our sins & rise again from the grave… We must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him: that He is true to His promises & those who seek Him by placing their faith & trust in Jesus Christ will be born again of the Holy Spirit & will spend eternity with Him in heaven. THAT is pleasing faith in the sight of God.

Christian: you know you believe that; now what? Keep walking in faith. Keep worshipping God in faith. Keep obeying God in faith. Keep on believing – keep on trusting – keep on knowing that God is faithful to His word.

Don’t Cast it Off!

Hebrews 10:26-39, “Don’t Cast it Off!”

Introduction:
The 1st time many people read the end of Hebrews 10, they end up quaking in their boots! All the time, people read it with terror & start wondering if they’ve reached the “point of no return” in their walk with Christ & spend many sleepless nights in worry. There’s a big problem in all of this: that reaction is exactly the opposite of what this passage is meant to teach. There is indeed a major warning here (and having some healthy fear about it is good!) – but moreover, there is much assurance! The writer is not wagging his finger at the 1st Century Jewish Christians & accusing them of having already denied Christ & fallen into complete apostasy. Instead, he’s warning them of some very real danger for some among them, but rejoicing over the very real faith that they’ve already demonstrated.

3 major sections here: The warning (vs. 26-31) – The assurance (vs. 32-34) – The exhortation (vs. 35-39).

Hebrews 10:26-39 (NKJV)
- The warning…
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

A. This is a pretty fierce warning! There are some pretty severe consequences being listed out here – thus it’s important to look at this statement very carefully. It’d be easy to take it out of context & be left with something pretty awful (and very incorrect)… As with any passage (especially the difficult ones!), we want to be diligent in our Bible interpretation. After all, we want to be an approved student, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15). It’d be easy to take a verse out of context & make up a powerful teaching surrounding it – but we would be rightly dividing the word… So let’s walk through our Bible study method: Observation – Interpretation – Application…
__a. Always (ALWAYS) in context! Verse, paragraph, chapter, book, testament…
__b. Why take the time to walk through this together? Because YOU need to know how do to this; not just hear it from a pastor up front… (Bereans – Acts 17)

B. Observation: This is a conditional statement (if – then). The result (the “then”) is pretty straightforward: (1) there’s a loss of sin sacrifice, (2) there’s an expectation of judgment. Considering everything the author of Hebrews has been looking at in regards to the sin sacrifice in Jesus & the satisfaction of God’s righteous wrath (thus fulfilling His judgment), it’s easy to understand what the author is referring to from context… What all the results hinge upon is the actual condition:
__a. What? “if we sin willfully” (action)
__b. When? “after we have received the knowledge of the truth” (1st action is based upon this previous action)
__c. What does that all mean? Move to interpretation…

C. Interpretation: 1st let’s look at the meaning behind our “what” & “when”:
__a. What? “if we sin willfully”: What makes this interesting is that the Greek makes it plain this is present, ongoing action. Obviously the person’s will is involved (indicating a conscious, purposeful act) & that purposeful act is to go on engaging in sin. IOW, this is a reference to someone who’s deliberately engaged in wanton sin.
__b. When? “after we have received the knowledge of the truth”: “received” = “to grasp/seize/take” What is it we are to have taken hold of? “the knowledge of the truth.” “knowledge” is that precise & correct knowledge we’ve seen before. Not a vague idea; but something specific & correct. “truth” is simply “truth.” That makes “truth” fairly important here. This what has to be rejected before the sacrifice for sin is lost.
____i. Do you see how we’re narrowing it down? We have a difficult passage, so we’re looking for the crucial parts to help us in our interpretation, in order to avoid jumping to conclusions. 1st we saw the whole sentence – we took it down to the conditional phrase – defined the terms – and now see it hinging on what this “truth” refers to.
__c. So what does “truth” mean here? This is the only time the word is used in the whole epistle, so we need to look at our overall context…and to do so, we’ve got to go back to the very beginning of the book, where the author laid out his entire theme for the letter. [BIBLE: Hebrews 1:1-4] That’s the truth that the author has been stating throughout the book thus far! God did speak through the ancient angels, prophets, and priests, but now God has spoken to us through His Son, Who is indeed God Himself, and provided the perfect all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins, offering us true forgiveness & life.

D. Application: So put it together… If someone had a precise & correct understanding of Jesus being the Son of God who died for our sins & offered us new life – If that person received that truth at one time, but then ignored that truth to go on sinning willfully & spitefully in the sight of God. Then that person would no longer have a sacrifice for their sins. They would have rejected outright the message of the gospel, but yet they have no other options for salvation. Thus they are left with a fearful expectation of the righteous judgment of God to come.
__a. Does this mean this can happen to someone who is truly born again? Great question. There are some who truly seemed to be saved prior to rejecting Christ & then never turned back to Him again (Charles Templeton). Were they truly saved to begin with? Doubtful; but only God knows. Others seemed to be saved, walked in a period of flagrant disobedience & then truly repented and are walking with Jesus to this day. Had they ultimately & finally rejected Jesus as Savior? Obviously not. In the end – I’m not sure we’re supposed to be able to put this warning in such a nice little box. When we do, we end up taking the ‘teeth’ out of it (we get self-confident & trust in our own abilities rather than the grace of God). It was given as a warning not to reject Christ, so let’s leave it at that & take it to heart: don’t reject Jesus Christ!
__b. Also – what is it NOT saying? It’s NOT saying that the 1st moment we commit a sin after receiving Christ that we lose our salvation. … It’s NOT saying that Christians can bounce in & out of their salvation depending on their works (that’s actually the opposite of what’s being said here). Question: can we be sure? Because the NT says the opposite so very clearly! This is where context in the whole of the NT comes into play. Paul mourns over his ongoing sin in Romans 7 & then thanks God there is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus in Romans 8. John declares that if a Christian says he has no sin, he’s a liar – but then affirms that if we confess our sins, God is faithful & just to forgive us our sins & cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). And the list could go on. There’s no other option for the author here other than referring to continual, ongoing, apostasizing sin where the person actively rejects Jesus as Lord & Savior.
____i. Interpret difficult passages in light of plainer ones!
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28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

A. As seen in the OT law’s dealing with apostasy (Deut 17:2-7)… This is what the mock trial with Jesus had a hard time with – they couldn’t get 2 witnesses to agree (Mark 14:56)…
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29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

A. Sobering question. If breaking the covenant of Moses meant dying without mercy, then what would it mean to treat the Son of God as garbage? How much worse?! Those who apostasize from Christ commit a far greater offense. They:
__a. “trampled the Son of God underfoot”: The greatest gift ever given to mankind, they have treated with utter disgust and disdain. The One Whom God exalted to the highest place & gave the name above every name (Phil 2:9), the apostate treats as the lowest of the low – and ultimately claims to be that much better than Christ Jesus.
__b. “counted the blood of the covenant…a common thing”: This is the blood by which we are sanctified! We have NO covenant with God outside the covenant of Jesus’ blood. As Gentiles, that’s obvious. As a 1st century Jew, this would have been pretty eye-opening. He had a covenant with God through Abraham & Moses, but neither promised salvation & being made holy in the sight of God. That only comes through Messiah Jesus. To commit apostasy away from Christ & go back to temple sacrifice was to call the blood of the Son of God worthless.
__c. “insulted the Spirit of grace”: Two of the primary reasons God sent the Holy Spirit after the Resurrection of Jesus was to testify of the Son (John 15:26) – to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). To deny the Holy Spirit’s testimony (esp. to walk away from it!) is to insult the Holy Spirit of grace.
____i. It’s possible this is part of Jesus meant when He referred to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. [Jesus had just cast out a demon; Pharisees blamed it on Satan] Matthew 12:31-32 (31) “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. (32) Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. [] It’s one thing to have been confused about Jesus’ identity & miracles; it’s another thing to be convinced of His Deity through the witness of the Holy Spirit & to deliberately cast it aside.

B. The point? There is no more serious offence against Almighty God. To reject His marvelous (undeserved) offer of grace – especially after hearing it – is to spit in the face of God & tell Him, “I know You sacrificed Your only begotten Son for me, but I don’t care. Let Him die.” … All vengeance God would pour out at that point would be utterly deserved!
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30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

A. This is a side of the Lord we don’t often want to consider. Is God loving? Yes. Is God merciful? Yes. Does God desire that all men repent & that He can bring them salvation? Absolutely! But, God is GOD. He is just – mighty – all-powerful – jealous for righteousness – and there is none more powerful that ought to be feared…

B. Ought we fear the Lord? Yes! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Pro 1:7); the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10)… There’s no wiser thing than for us to be reconciled to God. We are His creation – we were born of His will – we breathe His air – we were made to give Him glory; but instead we lived in rebellion & sin against Him. We were His enemies & were servants of His enemy, the Devil. You bet we ought to fear the Lord! Our present lives & eternities rest in His hand…

C. What about those who belong to Jesus? Ought we still fear the Lord? Yes! But our fear is based in reverent awe of Who God is & what He’s done for us… … Hence the warning to keep the faith & keep walking with Christ Jesus. See vs. 32…
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- The assurance…
32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

A. What assurance! The writer of Hebrews was convinced that his readers had NOT fallen away from the faith…he was sure that they were believers walking with Christ. At some point they had been “illuminated” – enlightened (i.e. they received the light of Christ & were born again). Even though they had their doubts, they had proven their faith through their persecution for the Lord Jesus & their care for others…
__a. Brings up the question: are doubts sinful? [] Scripture never indicates that doubting is helpful, but neither does it condemn it as directly sinful either. The problem we have with doubt is when we are content to dwell in it. Instead of going to Scripture & finding the answer to our doubt – instead of trusting the word of God & His promises, we’ll just dwell in doubt & allow it to infect our entire walk with Christ. That’s not what Jesus would have us do! He would have us walk in abundant life with Him!

B. Note that the abundant life isn’t always an easy-going prosperous life. The Hebrew Christians had their assurance of faith proven through their persecution. What had they endured?
__a. “a great struggle with sufferings”: We’re not talking about 1 or 2 bad days here; they had an ongoing struggle. Like an ongoing wrestling match, the 1st Century Jewish Christians knew what it was like to struggle everyday among their own people who viewed them as heretics & cultists. And they suffered for it.
__b. They had been “made a spectacle”: Gk θεατρίζω (~ “theater”) They were drug out into the open & scorned. KJV “gazingstock” is very descriptive!
__c. They shared in the sufferings of others when they had “compassion” on them. Even if only some of them within the church had been jailed and/or ridiculed, the rest of the congregation publicly associated themselves with them (taking them food in jail, etc.) & opened themselves up to persecution.
__d. They “joyfully accepted…plundering”: Even their possessions were stripped from them; for no other reason than they were believers in Jesus Christ.

C. The point? Apostates wouldn’t do this sort of thing! They wouldn’t put up with it – what would be the point? Why sacrifice your health, livelihood & families for something you don’t believe? But these Jewish Christians obviously DID believe, because they were willing to endure. Their persecution showed that they did indeed belong to Christ. John 15:19-20 (19) If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (20) Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. []
__a. ‘What if I’m not being persecuted?’ If you belong to Christ Jesus, you ARE hated by much of the world; you just don’t know it. The United States is the exception to the rule in most of the world, where believers are persecuted daily for their faith. Even though we may not directly experience it here (yet), we can still stand with those & support those who do.
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- The exhortation…
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

A. Therefore? Keep the faith! Don’t throw it away! There’s nothing more valuable… Like the pearl of great price, it’s worth more than the value of everything we have. No matter what is being offered that may seem “more attractive” than walking with Christ (and a LOT is offered that way!), nothing is worth it. What profit is it to even gain the entire world, yet lose our soul? (Mark 8:36) Nothing compares to salvation in Christ Jesus!

B. What’s needed to keep the faith? Endurance…to stand fast/persevere in the face of opposition. Will there be doubts along the way? Sure…that’s why faith is so necessary (as we’ll see in Ch 11). We must be willing to endure in that faith. Specifically here, they needed endurance to do the will of God. What’s the will of God? It could be to walk in the midst of persecution (per vs.32-34 ). But considering the “promise” & “reward” mentioned here, it seems more likely we’re looking at the much broader context of the warning: not casting away the faith & turning to apostasy. Thus the will of God would be to persevere & keep walking with Christ! To believe that Jesus really is the Son of God who died for our sins, shed His own blood for our sacrifice, rose again in victory & lives today at the right hand of God.

C. To those who do that will (believe on Jesus & are saved), they receive the promise. What’s the promise? See vs. 37-38…
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37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

A. LXX version of Habakkuk 2:3-4. Originally, the Lord was speaking to the prophet about a prophecy concerning the Chaldeans (Babylonians) who were going to come & take Judah into captivity because of their sin against God. Here, the writer of Hebrews changes the thing that’s “coming” (Hab = the prophecy) to God – a reference to Jesus’ coming for His Church.

B. The point? If we endure & abide in Christ, we can be assured that Jesus will be faithful to His word. He won’t tarry; He’ll come back again for us. This is a direct promise He gave the disciples! John 14:1-3 (1) “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. []

C. In the meantime, we need to walk by faith…
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39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

A. The conclusion? Those who continue in Christ have not been the ones who apostasized away from Him… We can be sure of our salvation!

Conclusion:
Three things today:
A. The warning: Don’t be one of those who cast Jesus aside! Outside of Christ, there is NO hope for salvation, and the alternative to eternal life with God the Father through God the Son is unthinkable. God is just & righteous & He will by no means spare those who have rejected His grace.
B. The assurance: Praise God that those reading were not of the apostasy! They had shared in the sufferings of Christ & comforted those who were afflicted. Their faith had fruit; it had been seen in action.
C. The exhortation: Don’t cast your faith aside! Walk in faith with Christ trusting His grace & in His return…

If you’ve doubted your salvation – if you’ve even doubted the gospel – the Scripture here does not condemn you. But it does exhort you to keep walking with Jesus. [Billy Graham’s crisis of faith in 1949. Accepted God’s Word “by faith!”] If you prayed a “sinner’s prayer” at one point, but from then on have been walking in rejection of Christ Jesus – the fact that you’re still breathing means God has given you one more opportunity to repent. Don’t waste it. If you reject His offer of forgiveness, all you’ve done is proven there’s no further sacrifice for sin. If you receive it, you’ve shown you hadn’t finally rejected Christ in the 1st place.

To the rest of us: keep walking with Jesus! Take the warning for what it is: a sober look at what it would mean to reject Christ – and then let it further your resolve to walk in faith. Not trusting upon our own works or abilities, but simply throwing ourselves upon the grace & mercy of our Lord & Savior.

Great Exhortations

Hebrews 10:19-25, “Great Exhortations”
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Introduction:
For 5 chapters now, the writer of Hebrews has been systematically showing that Jesus is superior in every way to Aaron as our true High Priest. In Ch 5, he laid out the qualifications for a high priest. In Ch 6 he took a break for a bit, warning of the need to keep walking with Jesus, but showing that He is our sure anchor who goes behind the veil as our High Priest. In Ch 7, he lays out the basis for Jesus’ priesthood (foreshadowed in Melchizedek). In Ch 8, he compares the covenants establishing the priests, demonstrating that God was going to provide a new & better one. In Ch 9-10, he looked at the location of priestly service & what happened during the priestly service, demonstrating that Jesus is again superior in both His place & what He brings as a sacrifice.

That’s a lot! For the Jewish Christian struggling with whether or not the Old Covenant priests were still necessary, this was a powerful argument addressing every area of doubt they could have possibly brought up. Jesus is superior in every respect.

So now that we know all that, what do we do with it? Surely there must be some way in which we respond? There is. Wrapping up the priestly comparison with a nice bow, the author gives us a promise & 3 exhortations. The promise is the privilege we have through Christ (complete forgiveness & access to God); the 3 exhortations are how we apply those promises – in faith, hope, and love…

Hebrews 10:19-25 (NKJV)
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,

A. The result of that fact (of Jesus’ superiority to Aaron) is that we have “boldness” (confidence) to spiritually enter the Holy of Holies alongside our great High Priest. The average Jew probably would never even dream of doing such a thing! Before Christ Jesus, we would never have had that boldness! Nadab & Abihu (the eldest sons of Aaron) came ‘too’ boldly into the tabernacle, offering strange fire (unsanctified fire) before the Lord & God killed them on the spot (Num 10:2). King Uzziah tried to be bold in coming before the Lord God & was struck with leprosy (2 Chr 26:19). Why? Their sin was in the way! For Nadab & Abihu, they were invited into the tabernacle, but offered something tainted by sin. For Uzziah, he had not even been invited & still thought his position was all that was needed to remove his sin. Sin taints everything we do! [] All of that changes in Christ Jesus! When we are covered by His sacrifice – when our sins are completely forgiven through Him & we have Jesus’ righteousness imputed to us – NOW we can go boldly before the throne of grace to find mercy in our time of need.
__a. Are you starting to grasp the privilege & invitation we’ve been given? Even Queen Esther feared for her life when entering the throne room of her husband uninvited. Through Jesus’ work on the cross, we have a constant invitation! Thus we approach God in reverent awe, but we can approach Him in bold confidence – knowing without a doubt that when we ask for grace in the name of Jesus Christ, God is faithful to grant it because of the sufficiency of the work of Christ on our behalf.

B. By what means do we enter? 2 main ways – 1st is “by the blood of Jesus.” Picks up the context from the end of Ch 9 & beginning of Ch 10. We needed a sufficient sacrifice of blood given for our sin. Bulls can’t do it – goats can’t do it – nothing is sufficient other than the blood of Jesus Christ. Even our blood would take an eternity in Hell to atone for our sins – it’s never fully atoned for through our blood. Only the blood of Jesus is sufficient. So sufficient that He offered one sacrifice & sat down. What would take us eons upon eons to pay & still never come close to paying was paid by Jesus in one fell swoop. Praise God for the blood shed by His Son for us!
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20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,

A. The way into the Holy of Holies is “by a new and living way.” There’s a play on words here that we don’t quite get in the English. “new” = “fresh” comes from a compound word originally meaning “freshly slain/newly butchered.” The Gk word is not always associated with sacrifice (hence, “new”), but considering the context of sacrifice, the idea is tough to escape. Jesus’ blood is not some old worn-out sacrifice given for us; our sin sacrifice is new & fresh. Yet Jesus doesn’t stay dead; He’s alive. It’s as if Jesus just died for our sins right now, but yet already is resurrected in power & glory.

B. His sacrifice is new & living, but it’s also the “way.” Exactly what Jesus tells us in John 14:6 – He is the way! This way is the “consecrated” way – the way made holy & dedicated by God for this very purpose of salvation.

C. The 2nd means is by the veil. Just like the old way (covenant) had a veil in the tabernacle, so we have a veil in the new covenant Holy of Holies. Only this time is the veil is the “flesh” of our Lord & Savior, His body which was broken for us. Be careful here – the text isn’t saying that Jesus’ body separates us from God (as was the primary purpose of the OT veil). On the contrary, Jesus came to declare the Father to us (John 1:18) & he who had seen Jesus had seen the Father (John 14:9). But just as the only way back to the Holiest sanctuary was through the veil, so we only come to God the Father through the broken body of Christ the Son.
__a. Interesting tie to Communion here. We come through Jesus’ blood. We come through Jesus’ body. This is exactly what we remember & celebrate when we take part in the Lord’s Supper. It’s only through His body that we are received into the presence of God & it’s only through His blood that our sins are forgiven & we are given a new covenant with Him.
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21 and having a High Priest over the house of God,

A. In all of this we have the promise of our Jesus being our Great High Priest. Jesus provides the sacrifice – Jesus prepares the sacrifice – Jesus IS the sacrifice… Everything that was unattainable to us in the old covenant is now open & available to us in the new. Jesus is over the “house of God.” What more would we need?

- Now that we have boldness to enter the Holy of Holies through the blood & body of Christ Jesus…now that we have this new way & our great & wonderful High Priest, what do we do with all this? The writer gives us 3 exhortations:

- Exhortation #1: Draw near in faith!
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

A. “Let us draw near”: takes us directly back to vs. 19. We CAN enter the Holiest through Jesus, thus we SHOULD draw near to God through Jesus. Christ has made the way possible, so we ought to take full advantage of what He’s making available to us as His church.
__a. God doesn’t want a long-distance relationship with His people. He wants us to be near to Him. What does it mean to say we “draw near” to God? It means we boldly & readily come before God our Father in worship, prayer, adoration, thanksgiving, etc. WE come. We have a wonderful & great High Priest, but in our new covenant, we don’t send the priest into the tabernacle to worship on our behalf; WE come unto God through Christ & worship Him ourselves.
__b. What’s your worship like? Not talking about singing; we have a tendency of reducing worship down to the music… [Music is a tool for worship; not the worship itself] But when you’re singing (or praying or somehow otherwise consciously praising & worshipping God), are you drawing near to Him? Are you actively engaged? Are you truly ascribing to God His worth? Or are you going through the motions. It’s easy to fall into a rut… God is worthy of worship! Draw near to Him to give it! Psalm 29:1-2 (1) Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, Give unto the Lord glory and strength. (2) Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. []

B. What state are we in when we come before our King? We bring a “true heart.” “true” = “genuine/sincere/real.” This is not a state of emotions; it’s a spiritual fact. IOW, you can fake out a lot of people, but you can’t fake out God. There are many many people who know the right words to say, who can put on the right attitudes around other people, and everyone thinks they’re such a wonderful Christian by the things they say. But God knows the truth. When we come before God through Jesus Christ, we have to come before Him in truth & genuineness. There simply is no other way.

C. How do we know we have the freedom to draw near to God? Because we know this “in full assurance of faith.” … We have faith in the work of Christ Jesus on our behalf. Ch 11 is going to describe and define that faith for us. Suffice to say for now, we know that we don’t draw near to God because of our work (all those things we do that makes us good ol’ American Christians)… The only way we draw near is by trusting Jesus’ work.

D. What happens through Jesus’ work? Not only are our hearts made true, but our consciences and works are washed and made clean. Everything that was only symbolized through the numerous sprinkling of blood & ritual washing is spiritually accomplished through Christ Jesus. Unlike the brazen altar & other tabernacle instruments, our hearts have been sprinkled with the blood of Christ for cleansing & sanctification. Unlike the laver which was there for the priest’s physical washing, we’re made spiritually clean through Jesus. As we saw in Ch 9, that was the symbol; this is the true. We are truly cleansed, made righteous, and set apart as holy in the sight of God because of the Lord Jesus.
__a. Do you see what’s happening here? Any objection we might bring up as an excuse for us not to draw near to God is exposed for what it is. We say, “I know Jesus did all that for me, but I really can’t draw near to Him in prayer; I’m not worthy.” Of course you’re not worthy; that’s why Jesus died for you! If you were worthy, the cross wouldn’t have been necessary. But because Jesus went to the cross for you & He’s called you to Himself & made you a new creation, then He’s MADE you worthy to draw near to God because it’s not your worthiness; it’s His! When we dole out excuses to make us feel better about not growing nearer to God through prayer or the word, all we’re doing is exhibiting our own pride. Jesus has already done the work; we simply trust in Him & what He’s done.
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- Exhortation #2: Hold fast to hope!
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

A. Once we place our trust in Jesus’ work via faith, then we are to “hold fast the confession…” Keep in mind that this was the problem the Jewish Christians were having. They trusted Jesus initially, but they weren’t holding fast to Him…as if Jesus were optional to their relationship with God. Jesus is never optional! What does it mean to “hold fast”? “To possess or occupy.” Like one man holding another & not letting him get free… We are to hold to our confession steadily; without wavering or faltering. As if we were holding on to a lifejacket in the middle of an ocean, so we hold on to our confession of Jesus Christ…there is no other option.

B. Note we’re not just holding fast to anything; we’re to “hold fast the confession of our hope.” IOW, we’ve got to hold fast to the gospel of Jesus Christ by which we are saved. Paul said the same thing (repeatedly) – 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 (1) Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, (2) by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. [] We need to be firm in our conviction & confession that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the 3rd day in victory according to the Scriptures & will of God. This is what we stand upon! When everything else in your life falls apart, you can know that Jesus died for you & rose again.
__a. ‘Well you keep holding fast. That’s good for you; it works for you. I’m glad you’re sincere in your beliefs; I’ll be sincere in mine.’ No! What we hold fast to is important! People are often sincere in Russian Roulette & people often die from playing it. Faith is important, but faith means nothing without a credible object to entrust with your faith…

C. So the obvious question is: is the subject of our faith credible? Is our confession trustworthy? YES! We can trust everything about the gospel of Jesus Christ because it’s about Jesus Christ. “He who promised is faithful.” That’s why this confession is a confession of hope. (KJV incorrectly has “faith” – translates the exact same word 53 other times as “hope.”) Through Jesus we have a true hope – a hope of eternal life. Because we’ve believed the gospel & received Jesus as our Lord, we have a confident assurance that what do have faith in is true, because He is faithful
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- Exhortation #3: Consider one another in love!
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

A. IOW, we’re to take note of one another. None of us are “lone ranger” Christians. Just as we are concerned to hold fast to our confession of faith, so we ought to be concerned about one other – that others are also holding fast to Jesus & growing in their walk with Him.

B. This is part of being the Body of Christ. We are to bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:1), to weep & rejoice with those among us (Rom 12:15), to love one another as Jesus loved us (John 13:34), and to be unified with one another as in the Lord (John 17:21). This is all part of considering one another… To some extent, we ARE our brother’s keeper. We’re all members of one Body and what one person does affects the rest of us.

C. What do we do in considering one another? Two things here – joined by one action: stirring up one another. Gk: παροξυσμός (paroxysms). English refers to a sudden action (like a physical convulsion or outburst) – similar in Greek: it’s stimulation to action…usually with some sort of intensity. Loving one another & doing good works are not things that come very naturally to us (people are naturally selfish!) & part of what Jesus calls us together in one body is to help spur us on to do these things.
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25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

A. How do we go about considering one another? How is it done practically? Partially by meeting together regularly. It’s tough to stir up one another to love & good works if we never see each other. There’s a lot that can be done over internet, TV, & radio ministries, but this isn’t one of them! The early church made a habit of meeting together from the very beginning, and God blessed it. Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. [] (Goes on to say that they continued daily in one accord – vs. 46)

B. Some might argue that meeting together isn’t necessary. ‘We have a personal faith in Christ Jesus, so why bother tying ourselves down to one particular congregation? All Christians are part of the body of Christ, so why not float from congregation to congregation?’ That’s not what the Bible says! We need to continue meeting together. “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” Apparently some people had already quit coming together as a church body. They had left the faith & gone back to the temple &/or Old Covenant method of sacrifices. In the process, they stopped meeting with the local church altogether. BAD idea! It’s not just a bad idea for the ancient Jewish Christians; it’s a bad idea for us too! Yet some people who claim to be Christ continually try to argue that being part of a local church isn’t necessary… Why is it important to be part of a local congregation?
__a. We’re told to do so (from this passage). The word for “assembling” is only used twice in the NT. 1st in 1 Thess 4:17 regarding the Lord Jesus catching us up & meeting Him in the air (the Rapture). 2nd, here…but the assembling is not done by Jesus, but by us. Obviously not speaking of mass meetings of the entire church, but local gatherings of believers. (Gk is actually a plural form of ‘synagogue.’) If for no other reason to come together as a local church body, we do so because the NT tells us to.
__b. The Body hurts when you’re not there (1 Cor 12:15-19) – we all have need of one another. Jesus formed us together as His body with Himself as the Head. Each of us are called by Him & each of us are necessary.
__c. Jesus expects us to minister to each other (Rom 12:6, 1 Cor 14:26; 1 Pet 4:10). The Holy Spirit has given us spiritual gifts in order that we would use them within the body of Christ for our mutual edification. It’s tough to do that if we’ve been hopping around from church to church.
__d. What happens when WE fall somehow? (Gal 6:1-2) We need other people in the Body of Christ just as much as they need us. I am grateful for the men who have pointed out areas where I’ve messed up & helped me overcome it…

C. One specific reason to continue the assembly: we need to be “exhorting one another.” We have an exhortation to exhort. Goes back to stirring one another up. We can’t do it unless we’re around one another & building relationship with one another.

D. Especially in these last days! Some think that at the time this letter was written, the handwriting was on the wall about the coming destruction of Jerusalem & the temple. It’s possible…but even if that’s the case, it’s likely that they were anticipating Jesus’ return at that time (just as we expect Jesus’ return at any time). The idea here is that the church was to be doing these things, exhorting one another & worshipping God until the day Jesus comes back. What better way to be caught up in the Rapture than either proclaiming the gospel or worshipping God & building up His people?

Conclusion:
One glorious promise & three great exhortations. The promise? We have a great High Priest in Christ Jesus Whose work is absolutely sufficient for our every need. He has made the way to God open and available to those who come by faith through His body & blood sacrificed at the cross. What do we do as a church in response?
A. Draw near in faith
B. Hold fast in hope
C. Consider one another, stirring up love & good works.

How are you doing in these areas? Are you drawing near to God in worship, trusting that Jesus is truly sufficient to allow you to come before God in praise? … Are you holding fast to your profession of faith in Christ Jesus, having a solid hope for eternity? Every day Christians come under attack and ridicule for holding to the gospel, but there’s nothing that gives us more hope than the faithful promises of God. … Are you considering others in the body of Christ – not merely looking for what you might receive, but how you might minister to them? To exhort them & comfort them in Christ & stir one another up to love & good works? …

What a marvelous privilege we have in the Lord Jesus! We’ve been given access to intimate worship of God, promises of eternal salvation based upon His sure word, and a family of fellow-believers through which we can help one another in our walk with Christ.

The way into all this? The body & blood of Christ. The privilege to draw boldly near to God in worship goes out only to those who repent from their sins & trust in the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross. The invitation to be saved goes out to the entire world, but the only ones that have access to worship are those who ARE saved. Jesus has already performed the work. He’s already paid the price for your sin; but you must respond.