Heb 12:5-6 My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him: For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.
It is interesting that these scriptures come in the context of the race of faith. Discipline and obedience are part and parcel of what it means to be sons and how God treats us. How we react to such scourging seems to be the difference between those who are sons and those who are illegitimate. Gods sons and daughters see all things in the light of Calvary. We know we have not suffered like the Lord in the garden, we have not sweated great drops of blood under extreme pressure. Neither have we had to suffer for the sins of a guilty world. We have not been rejected like Jesus nor have we suffered as He did physically. In all these things Jesus was obedient to His Father’s voice.
The peaceable fruit of righteousness is produced in those who have been disciplined and chastened. When a piece of land is purchased, first the trees and the shrubs must be cut down. Then the back-breaking work of removing the stumps takes place. Stones are removed one by one and the clods of the ground are broken down into soil. Then the ground is ready to be tilled. We are the purchased ground. If we do not yield to the process then we produce no fruit and God only deals with potential fruitfulness. As we know, vines that do not produce fruit are cut down and burned in the fire. It is a similar concept here in chapter 12. There are two kinds of sons, one is good, the other is illegitimate. One honors is father no matter what, the other rebels against His discipline and disqualifies himself.
The son of God pursues peace, the other pursues war. The son of God lives in holiness, the other lives defiled by sin. The son lives in the grace of God, in the full knowledge that his favor is unmerited, the other believes himself to have position and has an entitled attitude. The son lives without bitterness, the other allows bitterness to take root in his unkempt field. The son stands upon an unshakable foundation that is Christ Himself, the other stands upon a foundation of his own making so that when the shaking comes everything that he has falls. The son knows and understands that His God is a consuming fire and that everything of this world shall be burned up, therefore he lives for the next world. They await their place in the city to come, the city of the living God. He knows that he is registered in heaven to God and that his company shall be that of innumerable angels and the general assembly of the Church. This is his reward.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Having heard all the magnificent stories of the faithful saints down through the ages, the author then turns to us and says, “what about you?” Are you not part of this precious group of faith? And if you are then shall you not lay aside “every weight.” What is this weight? Every burden, every hindrance, everything external that would keep you from your reasonable service to God and your reasonable service to God is everything. Your life is not your own, it was bought with a price. It is no longer you that live but rather it is Christ that lives in you. You are a special person, a called out one, a royal priest. You have a duty that is higher than any other duty, that is to serve the King. This you must pursue no matter the cost.
Internally you have the sin that so easily captures you. It might be your temperament, crucify it. It might be your politics, leave that to the world. It might be the personal bias that you grew up with, kill it by the cross upon your back.You would train night and day if you were an Olympic athlete. While others slept, you would be up before the sun. When others were eating anyway they pleased, you would be following a strict diet. You would not be smoking or drinking and in some cases just prior to your race you would refrain from lying with your spouse.The sacrifices we are willing to make in order to get a gold medal, to get fame and fortune in this world are without limit. Isn’t your calling to God so much higher than any athlete?
Are you not running the race of eternal life for a crown that will not perish? A crown that you will cast down before the Lord’s feet because He deserves all the glory!How can we do all of this brothers and sisters? How can we be sold out to God in our lives? “Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith.” His testimony was that for the joy of serving His Father and fulfilling His will, He willingly endured the cross, despising the shame and then sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Are we willing to endure? Are we willing to accept the discipline of the Lord? Jesus shall be our strength, the Holy Spirit shall be our guide. He shall be the lifter of our heads. He shall convict us and He shall give us the strength to follow Him, if it is our heart to follow Him. If it is our heart to run the race. If it is our heart to endure. If it is our heart to overcome. If these are our desires, He shall give them to us.
Over many many years Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel. You see, Absalom wanted what his father had. He wanted the exalted place among the people. He would rise up early and stand beside the gate and those who came looking for the king, he intercepted them and spoke to them. They were not his people, they were his fathers people but Absalom, falling foul to that most ancient of sins that caused Lucifer to fall down from the heavens, desired to have what was not his to have. And so he wooed the hearts of the people away from their King.
Is that not the very essence of religion? There is one mediator between man and God and His name is Jesus. How many men and religious institutions have sought to replace Jesus over all the centuries? One pretender after another, rising early in the morning, slowly and deceptively seeking to displace God and stealing the hearts of the people away from their rightful King. And all the worse is the fact that so many of these men and institutions knew something of the mercy of God, had been blessed in many ways by His goodness and His forgiveness. They had been touched by His love and by His word which only serves to make their deception and their desire to have what He alone has all the more treacherous.
And so finally David hears of this rebellion against him. Oh what a dagger must have penetrated his heart, to know that his very own had turned on him. One that he loved and had forgiven and had showed mercy too, and he repaid all of that with hatred and animosity and a heart bent on taking what was not his. It is hard to imagine the anguish of David, now no longer a young man, having suffered so much in his life and so much of it undeserved, now as an older man, having to flee from everything that had been his. The city of David, the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant would all be left behind and he and a remnant few would flee the jealous forces that were arraigned against him. They would flee into the wilderness.
Today there is a remnant few who have fled into the wilderness. They have left the city behind with all of its religious trappings. No walls, no tabernacle, no ark of the covenant. Stripped of all the religious trappings, they have something that David had. He had the presence of God with Him. Not that which represents the presence, but the actual presence of God. While religious men hung onto the trappings and rituals and icons, for that is all they have, David goes into the wilderness, the remnant go into the wilderness with God Himself. And as he ascended Gods holy hill he wept, he and the people with him wept. With tears the seed is sown brothers and sisters, tears of sorrow for what has become of something that should have been so beautiful and brought glory to God, but has been so thoroughly corrupted by men who desire to steal the glory of God and steal the hearts of the people.
Do not despair in the wilderness brothers and sisters. In God we have peace no matter what men think about us. In God we can rejoice despite the fact that the forces of Absalom are arrayed against the remnant few. Listen to some of the things that David says in this time and be comforted…… Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice…… because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee……….I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches……….From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I……………………. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
There is an inevitable end to the forces of Absalom, those who would attempt steal the glory of God and from His King. David speaks to this very thing and to those very forces in psalm 63……But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. Glory to God saints! Is the end we shall come out of the wilderness by the power of God. The soul that weeps, the soul that thirsts after God in the wilderness shall find joy and inexhaustible waters of life even in the driest deserts and when He comes again into His rightful place then all of God saints will rise up and cry Holy.
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made by things which are visible.
The world was made, this visible world, by that which cannot be seen! Now this drives men mad. They demand an explanation. They must know. They have to be able to explain their situation. It strikes at the very roots of science and all things natural, explaining our surroundings and how we came to be and what will become of us. And the Lord laughs. The wisest man who ever walked the earth is as a fool to God. Even that which they had was given to them. Yet before we as Christians smugly scorn the men of science who by their desire to understand and explain their natural surroundings and throw off God in the process, how do we operate? Do we trust in the invisible God for our lives? In verse 27 of this chapter we see that Moses endured, not fearing the wrath of the King , by having faith in “Him who is invisible.”
Can we walk as the great men of the Bible walked? Noah built a boat when there never had been a boat nor any rain had fallen from the sky. What he was doing was ludicrous and he was mocked constantly by the world. Could you do that? Abraham, the father of faith, got up and left everything to go …….where? He did not know. Could you do that? Moses, when he became a man, refused to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin and all the world could offer him,. Rather he chose “the reproach of Christ,” as opposed to all the treasures of Egypt. Shall we do that brothers and sisters. In the end faith is about following the invisible God and not knowing what is around the next corner. Faith is about choosing God over the riches of this world. Faith is about praising God whether we live or whether we die, in sickness or in health, in riches or in poverty. The one constant thing in the seeming madness of this world is the invisible God in whom we trust.
The word of faith folk need to be healed. They need to see their healing. They need to be wealthy, they need to be able to see their wealth and count their wealth. They need favorable circumstances, they need to be assured by them. And when they see all these things or desire all these things for themselves they call it faith but of course it is the exact opposite of faith. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Trusting in God is the evidence of our invisible God. And it enrages the enemy of our soul. For two thousand years he has sought out saints and in the tearing away of all the things that can be seen, he hoped to tear away the thing that could not be seen. The cry of faith and the heavenly song from amidst the flames of the martyr being burned at the stake is the trumpet call of victory and the death knell in the ears of the enemy of our soul. The final victory will come when all the saints are gathered to a place where God, by His own hand has built. It lies at the end of the narrow path that cannot be seen. Where the invisible cross upon our backs are removed and we see the invisible God in all His manifest glory and we know as we are known.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
This scripture is where two worlds collide. You have heard of the many paradoxes that are found in the New Testament. One has to die to live. One has to be a servant to lead. The heart has to be hungry or it can never be full. The paradoxes are many and it is because the Kingdom of God operates in an entirely different way than this world does. We as saints walk physically through this world but we already exist in the world that was and is and is to come. The Kingdom clashes with this world where flesh meets spirit. I live in Kansas and the jet stream is often right above us. The warm air from the south clashes with the cold air from the north. Canadian cold air verses warm gulf air. It creates violence. Dramatic storm systems that produce tornadoes that have such destructive power that literally no structure can stand against a direct hit.
The substance and the evidence of faith only exists in the Kingdom of God but it supernaturally manifests itself in our world. And when it does, all hell can break loose. Whether it is in the mind, as the flesh battles against the spirit, or whether it is actions we take directed by our faith, they are violently opposed by those who know nothing of it. Our blessed hope in Christ is only substance to those who have been born again. Only we can see it. The unsaved cannot see it and it cannot be explained to them, only demonstrated, and even then it is beyond them. It may draw them into the Kingdom and they can see it for themselves or it may cause them to violently follow after their flesh and everything they know to be real. We have faith in Jesus. He is our blessed hope. We cannot see Him with our human eyes but we can see the substance of Him through the eyes of our faith. We can come before the throne of God and see God high and lifted up and the Lord Jesus sitting at the right hand of glory.
And so, what is most real to us, the saints, and what we would die for because it is so real is the substance and the evidence of our faith. It is directly contradicted by a world ruled by what they can see with their physical eyes, what they can observe, measure and replicate. The evidence of things seen. The substances that can be observed. We saints are entirely different and should never be ashamed of that or make apology for it. Men of science are very much limited by what they can see. We see what they see but we also see beyond what they see. And so by believing we see Gods Kingdom. And by seeing we are convinced. Convinced of the invisible God who frequently violates the natural order of this world by the supernatural order of the Kingdom.
We are not of this world but we must be in it. And while we are in it the storm shall rage. It must rage for two entirely different forces are at work and something must give. Any man made structure, whether its an invention of his mind or a physical invention will fall when it meets it meets the supernatural. We who walk with God cannot be overcome even by the worse excesses of this word for we walk in the Kingdom reality. The most violent storm, the most violent clash of two elements the world has ever seen was when Christ Jesus stepped down into it. The vain imagination of their big bang theory pales in comparison to the collision of the seen and unseen world. Everything changed.
(Heb 10:19-20) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Jesus is our new and living way. He made a way for us to enter into the actual holy of holies. Now we all know that, we have read it a thousand times, but I want to ask you this. When was the last time you entered the holy of holies? Have you ever? The veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom thus revealing the shadow, the room within the temple. Jesus flesh was ripped and torn and sacrificed for us on the cross, outside of the temple, outside of the city, outside of the walls and by His death and resurrection He made a way for you and me to come before the throne of the Living God and cry our “Abba Father.’ So therefore, since the cost was so great, it is not an impertinent question to ask the question “have you come before the throne?” Have you entered the holiest? Have you drawn near to God with a true heart and in full assurance of faith?
In coming into this place, this place of glory and of majesty and of holiness we are reminded just who we are in comparison to who God is. Outside of the Blood of Jesus we could never come into this place. Outside of His sacrifice we could never come and fall upon our face. And cry holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty! Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. We here on earth are the Church militant and in heaven we see the Church triumphant. Yet I am afraid that much of the Church has lost its militancy. Our boldness. Our unwavering faith in the face of increasing hostility seems to be wavering. There is a reason we come before the throne, first and foremost Jesus made the way there and secondly we are emboldened in the presence of God, of His glory and His majesty and that translates directly in how we walk our walk. The Church used to talk in military terms all the time, they knew they were in a battle, and yet just as the greatest battle is looming, we waver. We do not want to offend the world. Some old hymns…………….
Stand up , stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross, lift high His royal banner it must not suffer loss. From victory unto victory His army He shall lead, till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed. Onward Christians soldiers marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ the Royal Master leads against the foe, forward into battle see His banners go. Soldiers of the cross arise and put your armor on. A mighty fortress is our God, the battle belongs to the Lord. There is power, power wonder working power in the Blood of the Lamb and the Blood will never lose its power for it reaches to the highest mountains and it flows to the lowest valley, this Blood , this precious Blood of Christ gives me strength for each new day. Like a mighty army, moves the Church of God, brothers we are treading where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one Body be, one in hope and doctrine, one in charity. So I’ll sing of the cross, that old rugged cross where I first saw the light, where the burden of my heart rolled away, it was there, right there, where Christ died for us it was there that He made the way.
Heb 8:13 In that he says, “A new covenant.” He has made the first old. Now that which is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
A new covenant! And in this new covenant He puts His laws in our minds and writes them on our hearts. We are infused by His desires for us and His commandments for our lives, the Word made flesh. We are now taught by the Holy Spirit for we know Him. We do not need an earthly priest to know Him. We do not need a teacher in order to know Him, we know Him because He knows us. We are known by God and in the knowing we walk in the beauty of His Holiness by the guidance and the direction of the Holy Spirit. Our hearts and our minds are illuminated by the power of God. Our knowing does not reside within the realms of our heads, rather we know Him in the innermost depths of our heart. In our unrighteous state we found mercy and our sins and unrighteous deeds? He forgave us of them all, praise Jesus.
Jesus became our mediator of a better covenant. The old covenant was fatally flawed and we were the flaw. The old covenant could never bring a man or woman righteousness, it could only show us how helpless we really were and how we were in desperate need of a Savior. And Jesus became our High Priest. He offered up Himself once, and for all time. His perfection became our salvation. We are saved by the perfect Son of God and by the Blood He willingly spilled for us. He is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. The true tabernacle. And so brothers and sisters we became a Royal priesthood and Jesus is our High Priest. We are His special people. A called out people. A chosen generation. We have no clergy/laity divide, that is purely a religious construct. It stands in defiance of the Word of God and the reality of our High Priest, Jesus. It is but a vestige of an old religious system that was swept away 2000 years ago. Let us fulfill our priestly roles as we minister to one another.
(Heb 6:19-20) Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence within the veil; where the forerunner has for us entered for us, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Hebrews chapter six is so dramatic and the contrast it presents could not be more stark. In the end, there is really only two kinds of people. Those who endure to the end and those who walk away. There are promises made by God and these promises are the blessings of God. As saints, we have this promise, we know that Jesus Christ our Lord is the anchor of our soul. Does the anchor hold? Yes He does! Now brothers and sisters, how many know that waiting upon the Lord in the midst of a storm can be very very difficult? We have our hope, we have our faith, we trust in Jesus. Then the wind blows from a category one hurricane to a category three. Then it intensifies again and now its blowing a category five. Anything not anchored down is getting ripped from its moorings and carried away by mountainous waves. Are we still with Him? Do we still trust? Where is our faith? Abraham was promised a son, and this would lead to the blessing of all the nations. There’s a blessing coming. There’s a blessing coming. Twenty years in, how is Abraham doing? Only after twenty five years did the fulfilment come. How about Jospeh and his dreams? Was he still enraptured by his dream at the bottom of the pit? How about when he is falsely accused of rape? How about when he was languishing in prison? Twelve years later comes the fulfilment.
Its easy to love God in the moment, in the first flushes of our relationships. When all is new and we have hopes and dreams and visions for our lives. Then life begins to play out. We have pressures at work, putting a roof over our heads. We have hard times in our relationship with our spouses. Children come along and we have hopes and dreams for them that often do not come to fruition. We suffer losses, disappointments, illnesses, and deaths come knocking at our door. Have we stuck close to Jesus the whole time brothers and sisters? Just in the world and by reason of my gray hair I have lived long enough to see two groups of folks in the world, whether Christian or not. I observed them go through really tough times and one group, by far the larger, begin to crack and to fracture under the pressure. They drink more, they smoke, they take anti-depressants, they begin to isolate themselves, they grow apart from their spouses and they eventually get divorced. It’s sad enough to see it in the world, its tragic when you see it in professing Christians. There is the second group. The ones who pull together. The trial brings them closer to God, it brings them closer to their spouses. Their love grows deeper as they face the battles together, back to back. They become seasoned like fine wine. They grow wise and mature and they empathize greatly with others and they are kind and patient, loving and forgiving.
The fact is, that in every storm, the saint has an anchor and His name is Jesus. We are out there in the roiling seas and He is the forerunner. He goes before us into the harbor and draws us in. In ancient times when the sea was too stormy to enter the harbor and giant waves would crash against the harbor walls and the ships would drag their anchors and be in danger of overturning and being swamped, they would lower a skiff, a forerunner. The anchor would be placed on the small boat and the boat would make its way into the harbor and the anchor would be dropped in calmer waters ,then the boat would be pulled into the harbor. Jesus is our forerunner, Jesus is our anchor and He has went before us and prepared a place for us. A place of peace and stillness, His very presence speaks to the storms, be still! When you flee to Jesus He shall be our Rock, our strong high tower. Come to Me, He says, and I will give your weary souls rest. God and His Word are immutable, that is to say unchanging over time, any time, eternity even. God is unchanging and the Words that He speaks are unchanging. He never lies and this immutability, the Word says, is so that we “might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” There it is, its right there, take a hold of it, grab onto to it, never let it go, let it take you into the still calm harbor of His presence so that you might survive the storm. Take hold of this brothers and sisters, and you shall not drown.
Heb 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost……………….If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
This maybe the most powerful warning in the New Testament to those who follow Jesus. The word impossible leaves very little wriggle room. And to whom is the author speaking ? He is speaking to those who were once enlightened. To those who had tasted of the heavenly gift. To those who were partakers of the Holy Spirit ( an associate or companion) To those who had tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. We, the saints, are clearly being spoken to. And of course these verses in Heb 6 are written in the context of the first five chapters. Take the most earnest heed, lest we drift away. (Heb 2:1) How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? (Heb 2:3) But Christ as a Son over His own House, whose house we are “if,” we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. (Heb 3:6) Beware brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the Living God. (Heb 3:12) For we have become partakers of Christ “if,” we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. (Heb 3:14) So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Heb 3:19) Therefore since a promise remains of entering His rest, “let us fear,” lest any of you seem to have come short of it.(Heb 4:1)
Multiple warnings climaxing in Heb chapter six. I would say along with brother Paul that I am confident that most genuine saints would never fall away. That not only are they saved but their lives demonstrate the fruit of the Living God who dwells in them by the power of the Holy Spirit. They are enlightened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, Christ being magnified in their hearts. They have and do taste of the heavenly gift of Christ their Lord who dwells richly in them. They have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, meaning that they have been baptized by the Holy Spirit and endued with power from on High which makes them very bold in their faith. The Word of God is a lamp unto their feet and light unto their narrow path. They rejoice in all things. They forgive as they were forgiven. They love as they are loved. They remain steadfast, they endure, they overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and they love not their lives unto death. Whether they live or whether they die they know that the main goal of their lives is to glorify God. This brothers and sisters, I would put it to you, is a very great contrast to the people that is spoken of in the first verses of this chapter. Those who crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame by their lives and by their words.
(Heb 5:8-9) Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
How can the perfect Son of God be made perfect? How can the perfect one, the one who never was disobedient, learn obedience? Jesus came down from the glories of heaven and took on flesh. Nothing was lost, He has taken on flesh. And in that flesh He would be called to die, not just to die, but to die the death of the cross. None of this would ever happen in the glorious of heaven. There would be no Gethsemane in the realms of eternity. There would be no rejection there. There would be no pain there. There would be no darkness there. And yet the Father called Him to this world where He would have to face all of these things. His will, being fleshed out by His obedience. Brothers and sisters, we have to flesh out His will for our lives and in doing so we learn to be obedient. In suffering we learn to glorify God quite apart from our circumstances. Our faith and trust in God is alive and it breathes. It is no mere philosophy. It is not an abstract construct. It is not a mere mental assent to abstract truth. Faith in God is tested like gold is refined in the crucible.
The crucible of life is the fire of our circumstances. God is looking for gold. We learn eternal lessons in the fires of life. We are schooled, as students, in the classroom of suffering. Most will reject this, which is why many are called but few are chosen. Its the narrow way of the cross as opposed to the broad highway of the world. For as much as Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves brothers and sisters with this same mindset and when you do, you will walk in the beauty of holiness. And in doing so we no longer live the rest of our lives in the flesh and by the flesh and for the flesh, and for what it lusts after, but rather we shall live our lives according to the will of God. (I Pet 4:1-2) Is there another way? No, No. Its the way of Jesus. It is the way of the cross. Your sufferings that you are going through brothers and sisters at this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory, the gold, that shall be revealed in you. (Rom 8:18) Our afflictions are light and but for a moment in the context of eternity and they add weight to the eternal glory. (2 Cor 4:17) We have been called to suffer for His sake (Phi 1:29) and take up the cross in order to be counted worthy of Jesus (Matt 10:38)
And so brothers and sisters, Jesus is the example for us in His sufferings and we have been called to follow His footsteps. ( 1Pet 2:21) Shall we follow as obedient sons and daughters? Shall we love and forgive those who so terribly mistreat us? Shall we cry out to God to forgive them for they know not what they do? If the Lord Jesus Christ Himself had to walk this path and “learn,’ the things that He learned, surely it must be obvious to you and I that we must walk the same path? We can never suffer as He did. We did not begin perfect. Sin was something common to us all. Yet not the Lord. His suffering was on such a higher plane because of His perfection. And if in that state, the Lord was obedient and learned through the fires of His afflictions, then how about you and me? He is our glorious High Priest who walked through every fire of hell on this earth and therefore is well able to intercede for you before His Fathers throne. Let us walk worthy of our calling, not to live our best lives now but rather to enter into His sufferings and by our obedience to Him we shall become that for which we were empowered to be, a witness to His eternal truth and glory.
(Heb 4:9-11) There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he that has entered into his rest, he has also ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
How many entered the promised land from the original 1.5 million who escaped slavery? Two. Joshua and Caleb. Ponder that for a moment brothers and sisters. Disobedience and unbelief was the order of the day among the rank and file of the Jewish people. Yet, this is not the rest the writer of Hebrews speaks of. There remains a rest for the people of God and we have been called to labor and be diligent to enter into that rest just as God rested on the Sabbath. In that place we have ceased from our works, it is an eternal Sabbath. Every day is as unto the Lord. Can anyone fool God? The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword we are told. It pierces even to the division of soul and spirit, joint and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Can we work our way to heaven? Can we construct Jacobs ladder and ascend into the heavenlies? We cannot. For those who believe, who actually believe and are obedient to that heavenly calling, they have ceased from their works and now rest upon the works of Jesus, so meticulously carried out in His walk on this earth and ending at the garden cross and the tomb and the resurrection.
If we have truly ceased from our works then what is the labor? What are we to be diligent about? But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. Heb 11:6 Weary souls are called to rest in the holiness of Christ and in His finished work. The religious spirit roams around like a lion, waiting to tear into anyone who thinks they, by their own works, can enter into His perfect peace. We rest in Him brothers and sisters. Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden (who carry heavy burdens) and I will give you rest. When the striving ceases and our hearts and our souls perpetually long after Him, this is the diligence, this is our work. And His presence is our exceeding great reward. In His presence there is rest and fullness of Joy. See the open arms of Jesus. In order to take hold of them we must lay our burdens down. We must not be anxious nor must we take care for tomorrow. Was not that the sin of the children of Israel? They did not continue to believe that the one who feeds them today, would feed them tomorrow. They did not believe that the one who sent a cloud by day and a fire by night would continue to do so.
To put it simply, trust, they did not trust God and when we do not trust God then we strive to do everything for ourselves. Lack of trust must lead to the taking up of burdens, there is no other way. Trust God for tomorrow and you will sleep well tonight. If we do not trust God then we walk in a certain wilderness. We look back to the world. Even although it is bondage, we tie ourselves with cords of misery to the ways of the world. By our own bootstraps we seek to pull ourselves out of any number of situations. And when we do this, the manna melts away, the water ceases to gush forth from the Rock. The night is cold and fearful and the heat of the day wears us down in its unrelenting oppression. Without leadership we rise up and play. We begin to raise up idols in a vain empty effort to replace God. Drink? Drugs? Men? Women? Money? And all the while the burdens increase and in some kind of crazy vicious circle we do more of the same expecting that it will bring relief. It will not. Lay it all down brothers and sisters. Come, come to Jesus and lay it all down and you will find rest for your weary soul. And the rest you will find is a greater treasure than all the wealth of the world.
Heb 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
This is such a dire warning. It comes in the light of what has just been told to us in chapter one. The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The majesty of His person. How He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.He is the brightness of the glory of God and the express images of His person. Brothers and sisters, this is who we serve! This is the pearl of great price whereby a man should sell everything he has in order to attain this. This is high and lifted up. This is our grand obsession, this is Jesus. How could we drift away from such glory? Paul says in 1 Cor 9:27 that he “disciplines his body lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.” I think most of us know what it means to be disqualified. And so, one way to slip away is not to discipline or mortify the flesh. Most of us know that there is a battle that takes place between the flesh ans the spirit. Ignore that battle at your peril.
What would be an example of this? David. He looks at Bathsheeba from across the rooftop. The flesh, every part of his flesh, wanted her. Its called a distraction. If the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Remember, a third of the angels fell and where did they dwell? In the glories of heaven. Now brothers and sisters, if we could slip away from glory due to negligence and distractions and disobedience, what then sharpens our spirits to keep our mind on God? “To make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and he who is being sanctified are all one.” Listen brothers and sisters, we who enter into His sufferings shall rule and reign with Him. Our sanctification is life itself. That is our life in Christ, being sanctified by the one who sanctifies. Sons and daughters take up their crosses daily. It’s the cross that kills the flesh. When you bear a cross upon your back, you will nor be distracted by the flesh but rather you will cry out to God above. We are told that Jesus was made “perfect through sufferings.” Shall we not enter in and go the same way as our Lord?
Heb 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
There is a name which is above every other name, that name is Jesus. He is the brightness of God the Father and His express image. He upholds all things and He purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty. His name is exalted above all others. Its at the name and in the power of Jesus that the worlds came into being. The stars shine in the heavens above and the sun burns with such intensity by the hand of the Lord Jesus. He is so high and lifted up that even a single tear from the Masters eye causes the oceans to blush. The sun is a mere flickering candle in the brightness of His glory. He holds the whole universe in the palm of His hand and by His power alone it is all held together. He is begotten of the Father and the Son of the most High. The angels all bow down and cry Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty.
Lord Jesus, you laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hand. Hide your face and the whole world is troubled, hold your breath and we crumble and die, look away and the world falls to pieces, we exalt you oh Lord on high. Everything that exists shall be rolled up and burned up in that day, but You Oh Lord remain forever. You are eternal, Your Word is eternal and you have invited us into the eternal Kingdom of our God. Tears of joy and wholeness rise in me, water from the saints that are deeper than the deepest sea. Only in this place of eternity do I truly belong, where the saints all gather around the throne and sing a glorious song. As far as the eye can see, like wheat gently blowing as one in the wind, you are surrounded by millions upon millions of those who had formerly sinned. Redeemed by Your glory and Majesty, redeemed by the Blood that you shed, we should have dwelt forever in the depths of darkness, but here we are before You instead. We shall sing of Your glory forever, and forever and forever and a day. And here where Your glory fills the temple, is the place we shall eternally stay.
1Ti 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of sincere faith.
Love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom 13:8-10) The whole purpose and fulfillment of the law was found in Christ! So why then was there so much trouble at Ephesus? Why would young Timothy be under pressure and from whom? The same old suspects, the Judaizers and those who desired to be teachers. Teaching their own ideas of what the Law was and what it meant and what its purpose was. A myriad of teachings that were from their own vain imaginations, causing disputes rather than causing unity in Christ. Desiring to be a class of teachers, priests, rabbis. A clergy class. Desiring to be supported because of their “knowledge.” And yet this desire to be teachers of the law, when they had no real understanding of the fulfillment of the law (if they did they would desire to be servants, as Paul was, working with his own hands)
We know from Scripture that those who knew Jesus, the fulfillment of the law, walked in love from a pure heart, from a good conscience and from a sincere faith. And those who did not know Jesus in this way, turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers and lacking understanding. In America today, there are roughly 30,000 salaried “pastors.” That is 15,000 “pastors for every state. My brothers, let there not be many teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation (Jas 3:1) The clergy/laity divide has only served to increase the desire to be teachers. There is not the same desire to be servants of all. Jesus washed the feet of servants, do clergy, for the main part wash feet? Ever notice in the sacramental systems of denominations, there is no feet washing? You will not find it in non-denominations either.
Timothy is exhorted by Paul to fight the good fight. Paul knew, from sore experience, just how difficult it was to deal with those who considered themselves teachers. This is why he prayed so fervently for Timothy. He likened it to waging warfare. The same warfare has been waged by the remnant saints down through the ages. The Hymenaeus’s and Alexanders have always been entrenched in religious activities much like Diotrephes. Men who love the preeminence. Men who know nothing of the fulfillment of the Law but rather became laws unto themselves, passing themselves of as teachers of the law and becoming the deadliest enemies of the twice born man. Brothers and sisters let us walk in love with a pure heart from a good conscience and from a sincere faith. Trusting in God and His Word and having discernment to identify those who simply desire to be teachers, who desire to be kept, who will not work with their own hands. We shall know men by their fruit. Do men serve or do men desire to be served?
I remember I was involved in some meetings in Scotland and Wales. The first one in Scotland was a large outreach to the community over several nights, the second one was a revival meeting in Wales. A dear brother, one of my dearest friends, a pastor from Oklahoma was going with me. He got a call from one of the moderators telling him in no uncertain terms not to have anything to do with me and that if he did, things would not go well for him. The problem? Apparently I was a Pentecostal. This man caused all kinds of problems and in his self righteousness did great damage to the meetings in Wales. Many , many years before that he had been involved in a “revival,’ therefore he “qualified,” to be in the revival industry. And believe me brothers and sisters, so much of it is an industry with books and conferences and so on. Revival in and of itself was worshiped. Where was Jesus? Why was His name not high and lifted up? Rather than pursuing Jesus, so many were simply pursuing ghosts of a bygone age, seeking to replicate it and any deviation from what they understood about it caused major problems.
There is a lot of talk about revival right now. I’ll tell you why I do not like that word. It competes with Jesus. If a move of God supposedly happens there are two broad groups of people who immediately respond. Group 1 says “It is definitely a revival.” Group 2 says “It is definitely not a revival.” And in these two groups are all manner of bias and that bias comes immediately to the fore. Somewhere in the middle is a group of people who would love to see God move, yet, because of the horrendous history of so called revivals in the past or churches who claim to have a revival every Sunday, they wait. They wait hopefully. They do not attack anyone. They do not make assumptions. They do however long to see a mostly religious Christendom actually encounter the Living God in ways that mean they can never return to the world from which they came.
If all you are talking about is revival, then you are talking about the wrong thing. If you are running with the crowd then you are most likely running in the wrong direction. It is Jesus first and last. It is His Word and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit that we rely upon. Without either, we can do nothing. If you are a cessationist then you have much greater problems than whether some meeting somewhere is of God or is not. This frenetic activity from the two broad groups of folk underlies a fundamental lack of Godly wisdom. In the days ahead, with the world coming to its end, and with gross darkness falling all around us, we will desperately need discernment and patience and wisdom from God above. Delusions, lying signs and wonders, angels of darkness appearing as angels of light, they are all going to increase with an alarming speed. Drawing close to God and His Word will be a vital aspect of our walk, and should always be, but all the more so as darkness descends. Draw close to Jesus brothers and sisters. Only by His name being lifted up will men and women be drawn to God. All other names, all other words, have no power.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Deception is never very far away. In all ages, unscrupulous men, men who typically do not work by their own hand but rather are “supported,” by others, have spread falsehoods and deceptions, selling themselves as ones who “know.” Paul addresses this very thing. Certain men had told them Thessalonians that Christ had already come back, that somehow they had “missed the boat,” so to speak. Paul gently reminds them of what he actually taught them. He reminds them that first there must be a great falling away from the faith. He reminds them that “He who now restrains,” will do so until He is taken out of the way. The lawless one must be revealed. There will be lying signs and wonders that will fool those who are not saved. This strong delusion will be sent by God Himself but it will not affect those who have “received the love of the truth.” The lawless one will be consumed by the breath of His mouth and the brightness of His coming, His second coming. Brothers and sisters, do not be deceived by preterists, so called or partial preterists and others who tell you that Jesus already came back, that all of this was fulfilled in 70ad. It is amazing to me that the same men, of the same character, who lied to the Thessalonians are still with us today and still deceiving foolish people who have not “received the love of the truth.”
It is one thing to hear the truth. It is even another thing to accept and agree with the truth, it is entirely another thing altogether to love the truth, to such an extent that one would suffer the loss of all things for it. Jesus is the truth. To be a lover of Jesus is to be a lover of the truth. It is like a mighty shield wall that stands immovable against all lies and lying signs and wonders. Receiving the love of the truth is to be marked eternally. It is to have rivers of molten lava flowing through our veins. It burns at the heart of who we are.It burned in the heart of every single martyr down through the ages, and there were millions of them, who could not and would not deny the truth that was revealed to them. Those who receive the love of the truth are dismantled piece by piece and rebuilt in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are strong in the Lord and the power of His might. They speak in a way that is beyond their capacity for they speak by the power of the Holy Spirit who leads them and guides them into all truth. Paul says, in the starkest terms, that term being “we command you,” (he rarely commanded anything) “withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly,” according to the things Paul has just said. Have you received the love of the truth?
2Th 1:5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
Paul is thanking God for the Thessalonians. And he is thanking God for the evidence that they are indeed saints. What is the qualifications that Paul is speaking of? 1. They have growing faith. 2. That growing faith leads to an abundance of love for their fellow saints. 3. They had patience and faith and love and endurance even as they suffered greatly through tribulations and persecution. And then Paul says this, he says that all of this was “manifest evidence,” of the righteous judgement of God that these Thessalonians were counted worthy of the Kingdom of God. Manifest evidence is translated “indication.” There was every indication to God that these saints by their faith and by love and endurance in the midst of great trials , stood strong.
Is there every indication in my life and your life brothers and sisters that you and I will be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God? Do we love in abundance, especially those of the faith? Are we patient in persecution and trial? Does our trust in God hold firm? Does it compel us deeper into the heart of God? Matthew Henry says that if our faith is worth anything it is worth everything! Everything we have, every part of our hearts, every part of our lives in service and devotion to the One that we love. And the proof of it of course does not lie on the mountaintop, but rather in the depths of the valley in the midst of trials and sufferings. This is where the “evidence,” comes to light. Under heat, under duress, in the crucible of life. Let us aspire to be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God and let this be evident to all who observe our lives.
1Th 5:5 Ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Praise the Lord we are children of the light, not of the darkness and not of the night. While the world sleeps in darkness, the sons and daughters of the Lord are vigilant. Even now the world is being swamped with darkness and yet it is entirely unaware. Place a frog in tepid waters and it will be quite comfortable, then slowly turn up the heat and it will allow itself to be boiled to death. The world is at ease in Babylon yet quite suddenly, destruction will begin to rain down upon it and increase dramatically like “labor pains upon a pregnant woman.” It is pregnant with sin and its time is at hand. Yet we are told in the Scriptures that by virtue of the light that we walk in that none of these things shall overtake the children of God. We shall not be surprised when we see the destruction unfold because we can “see,” these things by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We know that whether we live or whether we die that we shall eternally be with our Lord. This is the comfort that Paul speaks of to the Thessalonians. No matter what kind of persecution we face, no matter how hard the trials or how great the suffering and tribulation, we walk in the light as He is in the light and we have fellowship one with another. This is our strength, this is our peace, this is our comfort when all hell breaks loose. Hell may break loose but praise the Lord we have been delivered from hell. Let us test all things and hold fast to what is good. And may the God of peace Himself sanctify us completely and may our whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for He alone is faithful. (1Thess 5:23-24) Let us pray without ceasing.
Another thing about the early church worth meditating on was a sharp separation between them and the world. In fact the world refused to associate with the church because of the convicting power being exercised among them. There was absolutely no compatibility between the church and the world in those early days (A.W.Tozer)
Maybe you some clips of the Grammy’s the other night? Maybe you were very fortunate and you did not. It was all out pornographic filth and evil, where multiple men were portrayed as urinating on the singer in a men’s bathroom. And that was just a small part of it. Oh how the crowds lapped this up. A deep dive into pure evil and all our perversity celebrated by the world. And one might say well that’s just the world.” If only that were true. The following list of so called “Christian artists,” were there, and apparently there were many more.
Toby Mac
Phil Wickham
For king and country
Brandon Lake
Rebecca St James
Chandler Moore
Maverick City Music
Kirk Franklin
Chris Tomlin
This is the secular world and the world of so called Christian entertainment intertwined. The fact that they were even there tells us all we need to know, let alone the fact that none of them walked out. Men and women, dazzled by lights and fame and fortune, sitting in perfect harmony with filth, perversion and satanic inspired entertainment. What fellowship has light with darkness? What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? Unequally yoked with unbelievers or can we say its all just unbelievers? The chasm grows wide brothers and sisters and no man can straddle it, those who try will fall headlong into the abyss.
A Call To The Remnant 