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Encouraging the Jewish Believers to “Stay on the New Path” Great to have you join us for out devotional writing this week. Before we dive in let me remind you to get your tickets and join us on TUESDAY November 18th from 6-8pm at the MEMPHIS Christian Church for our FALL GATHERING with our special guest, Neal Windham! And while I’m remembering it, here is the link to another one of the songs we’ll be singing that night…..a new one that you’ll love…and the more familiar you are with it, the better we’ll sound singing it when we get together! “SURE BEEN GOOD TO ME” So let’s dive in with a brief overview of the book of Hebrews as we work our way thru some simple highlights of the Bible this year, along with a few special holidays and words from our guest writers from time to time. Hebrews is absolutely fascinating! It’s an all-out encouragement to keep the people who grew up Jewish to remain faithful to this new way of living that Jesus had brought to them when they accepted Him as the Promised Messiah. Now they were up against a lot of persecution and needed to be reminded that Jesus is who He said He was and is “far superior to any sacrificial system” they had grown up with as Hebrews. It’s unclear as to who the author of the book is. Many scholars attribute it to Paul, even though the author never mentions their name. Many of the Early Church Fathers seemed to agree w/that assessment, but others had speculation it might have been someone else, since Paul was always under attack and consistently acknowledged it when he wrote. Tertullian felt it could have been written by Barnabas who was a great encourager and a short-time mission partner of Paul. Martin Luther, however, thought it could have been written by Apollos, since he was mentioned as a powerful communicator of the gospel in Acts 18. Some scholars consider other possible writers, such as Luke, Silas, or even Priscilla. But the letter was certainly accepted as Scripture by the Early Church. I lean a little towards Barnabas, since I believe the book is consistent with his perceived humble character in the book of Acts, but also because he was a “drill-down-deep” type of discipler, as seen in his mentoring of his relative, John Mark, who was the first gospel writer to “turn in his homework”, so to speak. Another early Church Father, Origen said, when it comes to the authorship of the book of Hebrews, “only God knows”, and I guess that’s where we all should respectfully land! Well that’s our quick intro. Now let’s look at a KEY PASSAGE in each of the 13 chapters this week. And I’ll try to be clear & brief in hopes we all might take a phrase or key thought & tie it to each chapter, giving us a little tighter grip on these powerful verses! Chapter 1… “a Final WORD from God” Verse 2…”But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and thru whom He made the universe.” There is something “climactic” in the intro of how God spoke to forefathers thru prophets thru the years, but now has SPOKEN by His Son. Michael Card’s song “The Final Word” captures this verse well in his chorus…. He spoke the incarnation and then so was born the Son. His final word was Jesus, He needed no other one. Spoke flesh and blood so He could bleed and make a way divine. And so was born the Baby who would die to make it mine.” Other phrases are extremely memorable in chapter 1, such as “the Son is the radiance of God’s glory”, “He sat down”, and the articulation of the roles of angels in verse 14, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” But the phrase that I remember most in this chapter is that God has spoken thru His Son. He has given us a definite focal point to gaze upon and stare at if you will. Jesus. Chapter 2… “a Great SALVATION we dare not IGNORE” Verse 3…”how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation that was first announced by the Lord was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” That is very much our message to the world today. Don’t ignore any longer this act of love and mercy demonstrated on the Cross! Later in the chapter we’re reminded that “He suffered death so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” And because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” The gospel today is getting harder to ignore. The spiritual temperature in our nation is elevated! The Hebrew writer felt the intensity of the spiritual battle in that day and their message was DON’T LOSE YOUR FOCUS on the Savior of the world! Chapter 3… “a Final WARNING to Finish Well” Verse 13…”But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Do you notice the solemness of that verse? It has a sense of the song by The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. There is a strong call to “take care of each other”. Our ministry is based on us wanting to “HELP one another FINISH WELL”. We are to be our brothers’ keeper” & the Old Testament people who allowed their hearts to become hardened were used as examples in this chapter. All the Jewish folks had heard of the “40 years in the wilderness” and knew quite well the list of “bad kings” who failed to “tear down spiritual strongholds” in their culture. They just needed to be reminded one more time….as do we! Chapter 4…. “the PENETRATING Word of God” Verse 12…”for the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitude of the heart.” Whoa! Now I know that is a touch of “hyperbole”, which is a literary term describing a form of “acceptable exaggeration to make a point”. But make no mistake, God’s Word will cut deeply into your heart and expose us as we are on a deep level! In 2 Samuel, the prophet Nathan confronted King David with a parable that caused him to “unexpectedly pass judgment on himself”. His heart was broken by the Word of the Lord. The words of Jesus to Saul on the Damascus Road, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me,” were words that penetrated deeply! (anytime God calls your name TWICE you know you’re in for it!). His heart was broken as well, by the Word of the Lord. Again, this is a passionate book of the Bible pleading with Jewish believers to not turn back to legalism, despite the pressure by their fellow Jews who had also become believers, but wanted the Gentiles to “become Jewish” culturally in order to be saved! Chapter 5….. “A Call to STEP UP” Verse 12 “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” OK, I feel embarrassed. As most all of us do from time to time thru our spiritual journey. For a lot of us a nightmare would be a “surprise game of Bible Trivia” at someone’s house where we’re exposed for not knowing as much about God as people think we do or ought to. None of us has the handle we wished we did on Scriptural understanding. But the Scriptures here are telling us we need to ASPIRE to those kinds of things. I love to hear about new groups or studies in some of our area churches that dive in and help equip people with a little better grasp on the Word of God. That’s where we can HELP each other, not EMBARRASS each other. Meet one another where we are and MOVE TOGETHER in understanding. Stepping up. It’s more “body building” than “bulking up”. Learning together. Not letting “things that divide”, divide us anymore. But building truth upon truth, which is carried on into chapter 6, if you’ll notice. Even the list is mentioned of the “basics”, which are repentance, baptisms, laying on of hands, the resurrection and the judgment. These Jewish people had a WEALTH of background information that was being fulfilled into maturity as they grew in the grace and knowledge of the Lord…together! Chapter 6… “Another WAKE UP Call” Verses 4-6 “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace.” We could take a long time on this one, my friends. Suffice it to say this was an all out plea to the people to NOT TAKE THIS LIGHTLY! We’re not talking about someone who just quits Sunday School class. There is the implication in the language itself that this is “not a momentary indiscretion, but a seared conscience/could care less” state of heart & life by a person who appears to have been a believer at some point. The spiritual life of this person has become for all practical purposes a “mockery” of the compassion of a holy God. Chapter 7… “Who’s the NEW GUY with the funny name?” Verse 25… “Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God thru Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” In this chapter an eternal priest named, Melchizedek, is mentioned who was a prelude for the people to see ahead of time in the torty of Abraham, that would be seen fully in the life of Jesus. Now the story stands out quite a bit and many folks just scratch their head… But after the writer of Hebrews establishes Jesus is our high Priest and no other is like Him, he mentions that He “lives to INTERCEDE for us”! Let that sink in a moment. That’s what Jesus does. Satan accuses while Jesus defends. Now He doesn’t defend our BEHAVIOR as much as He defends our BELIEF. Mark it down. Highlight it. Remember it. That’s what a High Priest does. He alone is worthy & able to defend us before our Father in Heaven. Chapter 8… “A Whole NEW COVENANT” Verse 10… “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” That was what God had in mind ALL ALONG! From the very beginning. Intimacy between the Creator & His creation. Love & respect. Devotion. Perfection. Out with the old covenant of the Law as it was “fulfilled” by Jesus & in w/the new covenant that was purchased by His blood on an old rugged cross! God gives us a major DO-OVER. We are to keep moving forward and continue to let Him write His law on our hearts! Chapter 9… “It’s a ONE TIME Thing” Verses 27-28… “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” For the Jewish people who had centuries of following the sacrificial system reminding them they were sinful, this was too good to be true. No more killing sheep, goats and doves? No more grain & sin offerings over & over? The sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah took care of that FOREVER? All in one horrible day at Passover on Calvary from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. And by the way, He’s coming back, so “people get ready”! And also by the way, did you notice the mention of “reincarnation”, rather I mean the “absence of reincarnation”? Verse 27 clearly states that we “die once and then face judgment”. No “return trips”. No 2nd time around. Apparently, no former life where you were someone or something else. Just making sure you caught that. This verse foundational in defending the truth against the false teaching floating around our world seemingly harmless. Remember, we’re to grow up and step up. Just want you to be equipped. It is a battlefield out there. I’m so thankful for the “peace” God seems to have allowed our world to experience this past week, but make no mistake, we’re still in the unseen spiritual battle of Ephesians 6 & will be ‘til the Lord puts Satan under His feet! Chapter 10… “the NEW and LIVING Way we now have access to” Verse 22… “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart with full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” When Jesus died on the cross an amazing thing physically happened in the Temple. The curtain separating the “Holy of Holies” from the rest of the Temple, tore right down the middle, from top to bottom, signifying EVERYONE now, not just the High Priest annually, but the People of God continually had ACCESS to the presence of God thru Jesus Christ! What an incredible privilege! What a honor! And what a frightening thing for those who treat this holy opportunity in a disrespectful, flippant, & insulting way as mentioned in verse 29! We dare not take this for granted and treat it with entitlement on our part, thinking we’ve earned any part of this privilege! It is a gift that needs to be guarded, revered and entered into with the deepest of gratitude for the One who gave His life for us! Chapter 11… “the HALL of FAITH” Verse 6… “But without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him”. So many verses to choose from in this chapter! It literally is the SHORT LIST of Old Testament heroes! None of the readers of this book are having silly discussions about who the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) was! They knew it wasn’t the GOAT, but the LAMB of God who takes away the sins of the world! But they had to be REMINDED of their heritage of incredible faith! There were some heavy hitters on this roster! And while it was MOSTLY men, there were a couple of ladies who God would not leave out…..Moses’ Mom and Rahab….you go, girls! All the heroes were DEFINED by their FAITH. And so are we. And they laid down their lives for the work of God to be done that would lead up to the coming of the Messiah! Everyone played a part. And so do we. (I seem to be repeating that phrase a lot lately). But we do. Our legacy will most likely be a combination of “nice job and nice try”. And that’s why faith is so important. It’s our response to the amazing grace of God. He never lets up or leaves us behind. And neither should we let up or forsake Him! Chapter 12… “RUN your Race, Don’t Lose HEART, and Expect a Little Discipline!” Verse 3… “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Boy, do I LOVE that verse. Boy, do I NEED that verse. While have a great CROWD cheering us on in chapter 11, we also have a great STRUGGLE holding us back. We are to shake off those things as we attempt to live an UNHINDERED life (as our good friends, John Walker and his daughter, Charity Byers put so well). But our strength is determined by our FOCUS. Are we GLANCING at Jesus or are we STARING at Him? It’s all the difference in the world! May we help each other REGAIN our focus on Him as we engage together. Chapter 13… “and Before I Forget….” Verse 17… “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give and account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” The author of Hebrews gives final encouragement covering a range of topics. In this final chapter we’re encouraged to keep loving each other, entertain strangers (who might be angels), keep marriage pure, don’t love money & be content, make sure we imitate our spiritual leaders, go in with eyes wide open & avoid bad theology & practices, always offer a “sacrifice of praise” to the Lord, & share with others. I know. Quite a list! But they all lead up to verse 17 above us in print. Now as a retired pastor, you would rightfully assume I would highlight that verse! Thru the years in every church our family has served in, we’ve discovered that UNITY is not overrated. That’s why it was the heart of Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in John 17. And unity always begins with respect and cooperation. The Bible says here we are “not make it difficult for our shepherds”. We’re not to make their work a “burden”. In other words, we’re to be ALL IN at our place of fellowship. And when we are, God empowers His People as they find meaningful moments & relationships in helping one another serve Him wholeheartedly and eventually….. finish well together! God bless you this week. May we be a joy to our Father in Heaven and to those we are in fellowship with on earth this week. And make sure and get your tickets for Nov 18th! Love you guys, george
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