They gave their hearts to Jesus, were filled with His
Holy Spirit, experienced His fruits, His gifts, His Powerful Presence. Their
daily Bread was the Word of God. They felt with Jesus they could walk on water.
The Christian life was easy compared to where they’d
come from. No more burdensome sacrifices. No stringent Sabbaths. No ridged religious
rituals.
Perhaps, for you it might be, no more going to the
priest for confession. No more penance, beads, Our Father’s, Hail Mary’s.
Following Christ was liberating, Life giving.
But then, life happened. Storms blew. The newness faded.
The enemy attacked like they’d never felt before.
Why? What’s going on?
The current of the world is headed downstream toward
the lake of fire.
The moment you get out of that boat and start walking on
water, toward Jesus, upstream, the whole world presses against you.
The pressure isn’t from God. “My yoke is easy,
burden light” Matt. 11:28-29.
The world pushes you to go against God.
Mark 4:17. Persecution arises for the Word’s
sake.
2 Timothy 3:12. All who live Godly in
Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Perhaps the best thing to tell a new believer is, “Buckle
your seatbelt.”
Hebrews 10:32. But call to remembrance the
former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of
afflictions.
Some take their eyes off Jesus, stop walking toward
Him, start looking at wave after wave pounding against them.
They figure they’ll just float in place a while in the
world.
But there is no floating in place. The moment you stop
walking toward Him, you’re drifting away.
The Lord calls through Hebrews, Take heed lest you
drift away! How will you escape if you neglect so great a Salvation! (Heb.
2:1-3).
You keep drifting further, put your head under water, pull
the pillow over your head, don’t listen to His Voice.
He keeps calling. Today hear My Voice! Harden
not your heart, lest you depart from Living God and never enter His rest. (Heb.
3-4).
It doesn’t take long until you can barely hear Him. The
gurgling world drowns the sound of His Voice.
If you willingly abandon, the Son of God, the only Way
of Salvation. It’s impossible to restore you if you fall away. (Heb.
6:4-6).
Over the falls into the lake of fire.
Galatians 5:4, sums it up:
You have become estranged from
Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen
from grace.
Once close, once in grace, now fallen from grace.
Which is where we pick up our study in Hebrews.
Hebrews 6:.7-8
For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon
it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from
God; 8 but if it bears thorns and
briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose
end is to be burned.
Jesus pours His Word, like rain, without fail, right
here twice a week, year after year.
Isaiah
55:10-11. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not
return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may
give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that
goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall
accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which
I sent it.”
When the rain falls the grass knows to grow, to the
point of needing to mow twice a week.
But what about hearts?
What about souls?
All know the rain falls, the Word pours.
Only a few come to hear, receive and grow.
The others bear thorns and briers; call them flowers, and
drift toward the lake of fire.
Matthew 7:13-14. “Enter
by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the
way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because
narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which
leads to life, and there are few who find it.
9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning
you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this
manner.
At this point, after hammering home a hard message, the
Hebrews preacher must’ve paused, looked them in the eyes and said, “Guys, you’re
better than this.”
You might be headed downstream and thinking of
quitting, but wait, stop, think, you know, you’re better than this.
In The Lion King, Mufasa (Swahili for king) appeared
to Simba, his son and told him, “You are more than you have become.”
Simba was supposed to be king, but instead, because of
fear and hurt, he was hanging out with a warthog and meerkat singing, Hakuna
Matata, (Swahili for: no worries).
He was floating downstream with a warthog.
But was destined for kingship.
So are you.
Rev. 1:5b-6. To
Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and
has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to
Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 2:9.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may
proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light.
10 For God is not
unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have
shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the
saints, and do minister
Your work
and labor of love does not
go unnoticed.
Don’t be discouraged.
God knows your good work, the extra effort.
Keep it up.
Matthew
25:40. And the
King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did
it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Even though no one
else may notice, God sees and won’t forget.
Colossians
3:17. And
whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
11 And we desire that each one of you show
the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that
you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises.
Notice the words: diligence, until the end...patience.
Christianity is a marathon not a one-night stand.
Galatians 6:9, weary not in well doing for
in due season, you shall reap if you faint not.
In other words, if you don’t quit you win.
13 For when
God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one
greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely
blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” (Gen.
22:16-18).
15 And
so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained
the promise.
16 For men
indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for
them an end of all dispute.
17 Thus God,
determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability
of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that
by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God
to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge
to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Speaking of faith and
patience, the Lord points to Abraham.
After he
patiently endured...
There’s almost always
an interval between promise and prize. Abraham was seventy-five when God gave
him the promise. Genesis 12:3. “I will bless those who bless you, and I will
curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed.”
Twenty-five years later,
Isaac was born, Abraham was 100. Gen. 21.
Hebrews
10:36. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have
done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
James 1:2-4. Count
it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing
that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But
let patience have its perfect work, that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
This text in James has
been compared to a marathon runner when he reaches the “wall”. He reaches the
place where everything hurts, his energy is spent, he can’t take another step.
But, if he pushes through, his body releases endorphins, that produce a
burst of energy that carries him to finish strong.
Likewise, when you’re
about to give up, pressing through will produce faithful patience, that carries
you through to finish strong.
Why did God swear an oath to
bless and multiply Abraham?
Context is king when interpreting this. It comes from Genesis
22.
All was going great, Isaac
had grown into a fine young man, and then, God told Abraham to go to a place He’d
show him, and there, offer his son Isaac, as a sacrifice.
Whoa!
Abraham obeyed.
Double whoa!
It was a three days
journey. On their way up the mount, to offer the sacrifice, Isaac said
something like: “Dad, we’ve got the wood and the fire, but where’s the lamb?”
Abraham, at first told Isaac that God would provide for Himself a lamb. But then told him, “You
are the lamb.”
Amazingly Isaac
allowed old dad to bind him to the altar.
More amazingly,
Abraham lifted the knife to kill his son (believing that even if he did, God
would raise him from the dead).
Just in the nick of
time God stopped Abraham.
So, after Abraham offered his son to God.
God provided a ram caught in the thicket, and then, on
that same mount, two thousand years later, God offered His Son, The Lamb of
God that takes away the sins of the world.
That’s why God swore to multiply and bless Abraham.
19 This hope we
have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where
the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having
become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Why did God ask Abraham to offer Isaac?
We cannot fully grasp the answer this side of heaven.
But please know that God abides by His own Divine Eternal Justice System.
Somehow, by willingly offering his son, Abraham opened
a door of faith, allowing God to justify inserting His Divine plan of Salvation
into the lineage of Abraham.
Abraham had Isaac.
Isaac had Jacob.
Jacob had the twelve tribes of Israel.
Israel delivered the Babe in a manger.
That Babe in a manger delivered the world.
This Hope, this Refuge, this Anchor
of our soul, this Forerunner who entered the Heavenly Holy of Holies for us, is
that Babe in a manger, even, Jesus.
He told us plainly that He’d be going Home, but He’d
come back to take us there too.
John 14:1-3, “Let
not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My
Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I
go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be
also.”
This chapter ends with Melchizedek.
Which is really just the beginning.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank You for illuminating Your
Word to us, so we can see You more clearly. Thank You for helping us to see
ourselves as You see us. Thank You for showing us that we are more than what we
have become. Thank You for teaching us to be who You want us to be, soul
winners and disciple makers.
Come quickly Lord Jesus.
We love You, forever.
Amen.
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This was feed for you to read. Now it’s
Seed for you to sow.
Thank you for sharing.
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