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THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – CONCLUSION

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Hebrews 13:1-3 NIV
[1] “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. [2] Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. [3] Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”

Having concluded his masterful explanation of the gospel of Jesus in the Old Covenant, our writer dumps his readers into the middle of New Covenant living…loving one another because God loves us! There is no better way to show the world that we are citizens of another realm than to love one another.

When we identify with each other and stretch out a helping hand in the worst of circumstances, we are echoing what God did in Christ for us. We demonstrate, in this way of life, that we understand what grace is and what grace does. Instead of running from faith in Jesus because of the cost, we dig in there and stand together in our suffering because we believe in a great future.

Hebrews 13:4-6 NIV
[4] Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. [5] Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” [6] So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

Not only are we, as believers, characterised by our love for one another but also for our faithfulness to God’s standards.

Marriage and money…two requirements that separate God’s people from the world. The world has made a mockery of sex and marriage. From the world’s point of views, sex is for entertainment and marriage a noose! When things go wrong and the consequences bite, it’s all God’s fault!

And as for money…it’s a good servant but a terrible master. Fascinating that Jesus made a significant point. It’s not that we love we serve but that we serve what we love. Just like marriage! The world says, “Marry the one you love (and get out when you don’t love her any more).” The Bible says, “Love the one you marry. You’ll stay faithful if you do.”

When we keep these two requirements in their correct perspective, remembering that God had promised grace to obey, we build our lives on a solid foundation…confidence in the promise of God’s presence. This should be enough to steady us no matter what happens.

Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT
[5] “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” [6] So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”

So, if stuff happens, and stuff did happen to these readers, (and stuff will happen to us), God is still there. The Roman government imposed impossible restructions on them to force them to quit their faith. For example, Rome demanded that they confess that Caesar was Lord before they could buy or sell at the markets. They stood firm and took the consequences.

As Father, God was committed to their care over and above anything humans could do to them. All they had to do was to remain in that realm of faith and obedience. God would take care of the rest.

So, how would they remain in God’s realm of promise and care?

Hebrews 13:7-14 NIV
[7] “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. [8] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. [9] Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. [10] We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. [11] The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. [12] And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. [13] Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. [14] For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Remember! How easy it is to go astray when we forget the things that hold us steady and on track!

Remember your leaders. Sheep are in danger without a shepherd. People get lost without leaders. Some leaders take their followers to hell, others are worth following because their destination is heaven. Follow and imitate those who are leading you in the right direction.

Remember Jesus. He never changes. If you stick with Him, you’ll be okay.

Remember what Jesus did. Animals didn’t take away sin, Jesus did. By offering His own blood, He did what no animal could do. Although He was disgraced and died outside the city like an outcast, He is the one who made atonement for our sins. Let’s go to Him because He is the only one who can save. No matter what the world does to us, our eternal destiny is safe if we hold onto Jesus even in suffering.

Remember our destiny. Jesus promised to take us to the Father. When we follow Him, we can be sure we’ll reach the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the home of the Father.

How do we say on track?

Worship!

Hebrews 13:15-17 NIV
[15] “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name….”

There is only one we are to worship. Praise, thanksgiving, and gratitude keep us focused on the object of our true worship.

Serve!

[16]”And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased…”

Serving God’s family is serving the Lord Himself.

Follow!

[17] “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.”

Spiritual leaders have great responsibility. They are the earthly representatives of our heavenly model, Jesus.

Our writer concludes with miscellaneous instructions and greetings and a magnificent benediction which wraps up the gospel in a great prayer…

Hebrews 13:20-21 NIV
[20] Now, may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, [21] equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

That’s is, dear readers! God has done it all for us and He will keep doing in us whatever we need in this life to take us to our eternal destination.

Fear, gone! Sin, gone! Judgment, gone! Only hope, promise, and joyful celebration for what is past, is now, and is yet to come!

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 17

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For the rest of this letter, the writer urges, encourages, and supports those who continue in their faith in Jesus.

Hebrews 10:32-34 NLT
[32] “Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. [33] Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. [34] You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.”

He begins his exhortation with “Remember…” A good place to start. They had a history. Everyone has a history.

I learned, a while back, from Jeff Benner, an expert on the language and culture of the ancient Hebrews, that they had a unique perspective on the past and future. Where we, in our western philosophical perspective, view our past as behind us and our future before us, ancient Hebrews saw their past in front of them because they could “see” it in their memory whereas the future, yet unknown and unseen, lay behind them.

“So”, our writer urges, “look at your past. Remember! When you believed in Jesus, you willingly suffered with your fellow believers because you had a hope that better things lay ahead for you.” Despite their suffering, they identified with fellow sufferers because they were in it together and because they had an eternal hope beyond their present.

Hebrews 10:35-39 NLT
[35] “So, do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! [36] Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. [37] “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. [38] And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” [39] But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.”

“Stay with us,” he pleaded. The reward for faith and patience are “out of this world.” Although the future lies behind us and we cannot see the details of our reward for faithfulness… we have God’s infallible promises. Tied in with Jesus’ promise that He will return is the expectation of all that He said would happen when He comes back to set up His kingdom and establish righteousness, justice, and peace on the new earth.

Why would they forfeit (understood), participating in this new eternal order by trying to escape a time of temporary suffering now? What they needed was patient endurance. Push through to the end. Don’t give up. The characteristic of a true child of God is perseverance. Suffering is not intended to destroy but to refine our faith in God. Suffering strips away our dependence on people and things that will fail us. God’s grace alone will hold us steady until we are through the flames of testing and into the realm of eternal bliss. As Paul declared, what we are enduring now pales into nothing when we compare our suffering to what is yet to come.

There is a “table” awaiting those who endure, and a lavish anointing of favour and blessing when we pass through the dark valley. Jesus Himself, the Good Shepherd, is with us to accompany and support us with His authority and power.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT
[16] “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. [17] For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! [18] So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

To be continued…

MASTERS CARRY THE GREATER LOAD

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Colossians 4:1 NLT
[1] “Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that YOU ALSO HAVE A MASTER —in heaven.”

This short verse is a summary of what Paul has already fleshed out in his counsel to masters/employers in his letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:9 NLT
[9]”Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.”

“In the same way”? To what “way” is Paul referring?

Ephesians 6:5-8 NLT
[5] “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely AS YOU WOULD SERVE CHRIST. [6] Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. AS SLAVES OF CHRIST, do the will of God with all your heart. [7] Work with enthusiasm, as though you were WORKING FOR THE LORD rather than for people. [8] Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.”

Perhaps he is talking about the foundation of the relationships between masters and slaves, employers and employees. Both are, first, SERVANTS OF JESUS and obligated to live under His authority and to follow His example.

This fact influences both perspective and attitudes to one another. If the spiritual eyes of both masters and servants are on Jesus first, a new perspective and attitude regulate their behaviour. Slaves will see their obedience AS TO JESUS, not to volitile human behaviour. No matter what demands a master/employer may make, “Just do it!” without resistance.

There is something even more significant about the role of masters /employers in this work environment. Power! Masters have power to enforce their instructions if the slave/employee resists. It’s this aspect that Paul specifically addresses to masters because it’s power that creates bitterness and resentment in the hearts of the abused.

God gives power to those in authority, but it’s power to benefit, not harm those under them. Authority and power go together. Just as Jesus used His power to bless and lift up the downtrodden, so masters must use their power to respect and honour the dignity and humanity of slaves.

The trouble is that, so often in the modern workplace, because resistance is condoned, even encouraged, workplaces become war zones. As in the family, so in society, when those under authority resist authority, chaos erupts.

Once again, peace is the goal, and peace is only possible when God’s order is obeyed. So, unruly hearts must come willingly under Jesus’ authority for the sake of the harmony God requires on all levels of human life, and those who wield power must do so under restraint and for the good of underlings.

This takes us back full circle to the power and possibility of harmony in place of clashes in every area of human interaction. God’s inner peace, monitoring our attitudes and behaviour, is the only way to keep us on track in the home, the workplace, and in the church, the home of God’s family. CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY! This is the guarantee that the end result will be just what God planned…

Romans 8:29 NLT
[29]”For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Since Christ-likeness is God’s purpose and goal for all His chosen ones, whoever we are and whatever we do, submission to Jesus as Lord is our priority.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – DON’T LOOK BACK

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DON’T LOOK BACK

“‘When the Day arrives and you’re out working in the yard, don’t run into the house to get anything. And if you’re out in the field, don’t go back and get your coat. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you’ll lose it, but if you let that life go, you’ll get it on God’s terms.'” Luke 17:31-33.

Jesus issued a warning about “looking back”. ‘Don’t do it!’ He said, ‘because it has serious implications.’ Of course, here He is speaking both literally and figuratively, Literally, it would be as impossible to go back into the house for anything as trying to retrieve possessions from a house that had just been hit by a bomb. The implication is – don’t leave decisions regarding your eternal destiny to the last minute because there will be no ‘last minute’.

Secondly, in the life that awaits us after the present order of things has changed, there will be no need for coats and other precious possessions. Who will need identity documents, bank cards, investment policy numbers, digital and electronic equipment or any of the other things that are a vital part of our present lives? Everything that makes life easy in this present order of things will go up in a ball of fire.  The life that Jesus promised is life in a different dimension altogether.

‘Looking back’ has spiritual implications as well. The letter to the Hebrews addressed this problem to a group of Jewish believers who were tempted to abandon their faith in Jesus for their old way, to evade the persecution that threatened their lives. Jews were tolerated in the Roman Empire at that time, but not Christians, because they challenged the supremacy of Caesar. Going back might save their skins but not their souls.

The writer pointed out, firstly, that to go back was to abandon the truth that Jesus alone is supreme over angels and even over Moses who was the man they revered the most in their religious lives. Jesus was perfectly qualified to be both High Priest and sacrifice.

Secondly, to return to the types and shadows of Judaism was to exchange reality for rules and ritual and, by implication, to renounce the efficacy of Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice of atonement for animal blood that had no power to forgive sins. That would be a backward step from the spiritual reality of removal of sin forever by the blood of the Lamb to the promise only symbolised by animal sacrifices.

This is a serious reversal of status from the kingdom of God back to the dominion of darkness under the rule of Satan; from life back into death; from light to darkness; from freedom to slavery. It would be a considered decision that living in bondage to the devil and in the fear of death is better than being a beloved and treasured member of the family of God with all its blessings and privileges. Who, in their right mind, would make a choice like that?

And yet there are many who make that decision by default – what the book of Hebrews calls ‘neglecting so great salvation’. Neglect – doing nothing. When tough times come, instead of holding on to the promises of God in spite of suffering, as did the great heroes of the faith recorded in chapter 11, people ‘neglect’ to stay in the Word, to believe what God says rather than what circumstances say, to trust in God’s love and faithfulness and to wait patiently for His plans to be fulfilled. They look back to what they think is the security of being in charge of their own lives.

Some even foolishly look back to the ‘pleasures of sin’ which are both temporary and unfulfilling, and abandon life for the futility of pleasure that eventually leads to death.

In order to gain and experience the life of God which can never end, we must let go of this selfish, self-centred and self-controlled temporary existence and follow Jesus because He is ‘the way, the truth, and the life’, and He alone can take us the Father.

The Disposition Of A Man Of God

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THE DISPOSITION OF A MAN OF GOD

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3-6.

Don’t you just love Paul! God could not have chosen a better way to record His word for us than in stories and letters about real people, people we can relate to because they were just as ordinary as we are. With all his accomplishments, Paul reflects sanctified humanness in his letters.

 

Thankfulness, joy, confidence – these are the attitudes and emotions of a man who had walked a long and difficult road with Jesus. Even more telling was the fact that he was penning this letter from inside the royal palace guard in Rome, probably shackled to a Roman soldier, or at least under heavy guard as a dangerous criminal.

 

Why would Paul be regarded as a dangerous criminal? Because of his influence. It would have been well known that this one man had traversed a large section of the Roman Empire, sowing seeds of subversion against Nero Caesar, undermining his claim to be Lord, Saviour, the Son of God and the Prince of Peace. These were all false and arrogant claims, of course, because he was no god at all, only a deranged and ruthless despot. He murdered at will, including his own mother and innocent believers in Jesus because they would not honour him, Caesar, as Lord.

Was this really what Paul was doing? Was it his intention to undermine Rome’s authority and destabilise the empire? Of course not! Paul was preaching the message of another kingdom, superimposed upon Rome that would bring people under God’s authority once again, and transform them into model citizens of Rome. Yes, he stood against cruelty, injustice and lawlessness, but not to undermine Caesar’s rule. His aim was to reconnect people to the living God through the cross of Christ so that society would be transformed by people who lived righteously and at peace with one another.

The message of Jesus had first of all changed him. He himself had been a ruthless killer – hunting down Christians and dragging them off to Jerusalem to be condemned and executed by the Jewish high court for their faith in Jesus. But the risen Christ had intervened, and one encounter with Him had changed his life forever. His walk of faith in this Jesus, “through many dangers, toils and snares” as the hymn describes it, had taught him to trust Him and to rejoice in every good thing and in the worst of circumstances.

So now, incarcerated in a top-security prison in Rome, Paul was full of gratitude and joy, because he had left a trail of Jesus-followers who would perpetuate his work where he was no longer free to go. He was delighted with the transformation in their lives, from pagan idolatry to faith in the living God, and from lawless and ungodly living to chaste and upright lives because his message was powerful, able to change men’s hearts.

He was confident that the change in them because of their faith would continue and be completed when Jesus came to receive them home. Why? Because it was not about a one-sided effort. They were in partnership with the God of the universe and the Holy Spirit who resided in them. This was the guarantee that what God started in them He would finish.

Unfortunately, Jewish and Gentile unbelievers didn’t see it that way. Believers in Jesus were counter-culture traitors who should be hounded and exterminated as vermin. However, the very torrent of persecution they unleashed against them produced even stronger faith, courage and hope in the followers of Jesus because they looked beyond this life to a life to come in the very presence of God. The hotter the hatred against them, the more secure they became in God.

Paul was able to revel in these beloved believers in Philippi, and to praise them for their faith and loyalty through difficult times. He encouraged them with his persistent prayers and expression of confidence that they would persevere, not matter what, until God completed what He had begun because they were not alone in their struggle.

We can also take heart from Paul’s declaration of confidence in God. We may not be in the same circumstances as these Philippian believers but we have our own adversities to contend with, and our own tests and temptations to endure. Will we give up in the struggle or will we hold on to the hope that, when it’s all over, we’ll still be on the winning side, purified in our faith and full of thanksgiving and joy because we made it to the end?

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.