Hebrews 13v1-8

Let the family continue to care for one another. Don't forget to be hospitable; by that means, some people have entertained angels without realizing it. Remember people in prison, as though you were in prison with them. when you think of people who are having a difficult time, remember too that you live in a frail body.

Let marriage be honored by everyone; let the marriage bed remain undefiled. God will judge those who sleep around or commit adultery.

Keep your life free from love of money; be content with what you have. He himself has said, after all, 'I will never, ever, leave you or forsake you.' That's why we can be cheerfully confident, and say , 'The Lord is helping me; I'm not going to be afraid; what can anyone do to me?'

Remember your leaders, who spoke God's word to you. Look carefully at how their lives came to complete fruition, and imitate their faith. Jesus the Messiah is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

The author of Hebrews has taken us on a fantastic journey in seeking the Messiah from the days of the old covenant, through the leaders and hero's of the faith, to the present outworking of this new and fragile body and sent our hopes for justice and peace and shalom into a frenzied bit of undeniable rest in His plans, His arms.

As we enter the last chapter we have come to see Jesus is his eternal glory and if we have been so blessed to have taken that road directly to the Father who is full of mercy and faithfulness and justice.

So how then shall we live? This is a hope and trust that manifests itself, this is the Word made flesh. Here. Now. Today. Care for one another. You can't get much more other-worldly than that simple command. Show hospitality always...look what happened to Abraham in Genesis 18, that could happen to you.

Get rid of the romanticism, this is a hard road. Abel suffered and was vindicated, Moses suffered and was vindicated, the prophets suffered and were vindicated, Jesus suffered and was vindicated, the church can and should expect to suffer at the hands of the world. We are now called to a higher standard, empowered by the Holy Spirit to love them in return.

Certainly don't forget your brothers and sisters in prison for their faith and we can even extend this to so many suffering in prisons today for all sorts of reasons that are the result of living in a fallen, but redeemed world. If we've adjusted our lenses enough to have a biblical view of who Jesus is and what he is about, the Father' business then we ought to be able to see that self-giving self-sacrificing love is at the core of what it is to be image bearers, individually and corporately. Care for the weak, they are part of your own body, honor marriage, do not get caught up in the love of money, or sex or power. These above all things are areas where Christians are called to be separate from "the world". The abuse of things created to be good gifts is deadly on multiple levels. When used in improper context these are some of the most deadly idols and carry with them judgments. When something is taken out of context, it is abused and that abuse has short and long term consequences that affect not only individuals, but whole communities. Praise God He heals, but better to be on guard in the first place.

Look at the Christians you know who fully trust God and depend on Him for everything. The Christians whose faith has them both resting and hastening the day of redemption through compassion and self giving love. Look to them and imitate their faith. It is these people who's hope and faith is firm who will be least likely to find themselves enslaved to would be gifts, but rather show themselves to be sons ad daughters of the Most High God. It is that faith that helps them to defend themselves and those around them against evil in its many forms. It is that kind of faith that is to be celebrated with thanksgiving to the Father.


By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Jesus the Messiah is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

Messiah didn't just happen at one point in history, He happens, He is. Glory be to the God who was and is and is to come

Hebrews 12v25-29

Take care that you don't refuse the one who is speaking. For if people didn't escape when they rejected the one who gave them earthly warnings, how much more if we turn away from the one who speaks from heaven! At that point, his voice shook the earth; but now he has issued a promise in the following words: 'One more time I will shake not only the earth but heaven as well. The phrase 'one more time' shows that the things that are shaken (that is, the created things) will be taken away, so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain.

Well, then: we are to receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken! This calls for gratitude! That's how to offer God true and acceptable worship, reverently and with fear. Our God, you see, is a devouring fire.

After a lot of contrasts the author now wants to remind us that we are still dealing with the Creator God. While Jesus has established a new way for us to interact with and come to have intimate relationship with this God, even calling Him Father, that this God is not a pushover Dad who is no longer concerned with holiness and the ultimate resurrection of all things.

It is one thing to rebel against external commands given by angels, Moses, prophets and those who warned against idolatry and other dehumanizing activities; it is a whole other ball of wax when God himself is speaking, when his law is written on your heart, when you are part of a body being constantly prepared to be used by Him.
What torment must one endure in such spiritual turmoil. He is not only going to shake the very foundations of the world they know, but the heavens themselves are going to be shaken. God is doing these things in order that anything that is not meant to be in His New Creation, New Heavens and New Earth will be taken away. Temples and their regimes that have become idols and spirits and demons that have used created things and even the things of God as a front to control, manipulate and oppress through physical and spiritual violence.

The kingdom left after this turmoil, after this great act of new creation. This is God saying enough, we are going to get this sorted out both systemically and individually. God the Father is saying in this promise which doubles as a warning to all forms of evil and corruption, you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee! I AM a consuming fire!

This is where God's kids say ...my Dad will kick your dad's a$%^&. This is where we have an astounding promise of the whole cleansed, resurrected and Shekhinah covered new creation from Hebrews 2v5, Isaiah 65, 1 Corinthians 15, Revelation 21/22. Now is the time to worship God for all He is worth!!! Now is the time see our Father for who He is...faithful and true.

They answered him,"Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God."

Hebrews 12v18-24

You haven't come, after all, to something that can be touched - a blazing fire, darkness, gloom and whirlwind, the sound of a trumpet and a voice speaking words which the hearers begged not to have to listen to any more. (They couldn't bear the command that 'if even a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned'.) The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, 'I'm trembling with fear.'

No: you have come to Mount Zion - to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to where thousands and thousands of angels are gathered for a festival; to the assembly of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God the judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people who have been made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which has better words to say than the blood of Abel.

If God's will was not being done on earth as in heaven because of the fall then the earthly manifestations of the heavenly realities must have been all out of whack. We must have had gotten some crazy ideas about the nature and character of God. Not because Torah was bad, not because the Law in ordinances was bad, but because man's heart and creation was that out of tune. Something better was to come, something better is here, to give us a clearer picture and to draw us to God in trembling awe and wonder.

A journey toward something better is always progressive that means things ought to be changing and that ought to be an unchanging feature. The closer we get to Zion the further we get from Sinai (Exodus 19), the closer we get to the law of grace the further we get from the redundant law in ordinances. The more faithful we are to the new covenant the more pointlessly the old seems. The closer we get to the Father the further we get from the things of the flesh. Not because these things aren't included in the story, but because the story has moved through its climax at the cross and onward towards its finale. For the recipients of this letter the judgment on the regimes and systems that murdered the Son of God and then continued to refuse His Lordship and the Way through persecution. For everything Torah, Land, Race and Temple did to mark out God's Holy people it never created image bearers. They couldn't do it they were merely shadows of Messiah and couldn't accomplish what was and is being accomplished in and through Messiah. These people are going to have to let go and move on and not be dragged into fear and loss of hope when a building gets destroyed or a land is overrun, as we discussed this path leads to destruction, but when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me" A people to carry His image and purposes into all the world.

What GREAT NEWS!!! Live by Faith and Hope!!! And so NOW WE HAVE COME to the New Creation, if anyone is in Christ that is. If we are in Christ then we can go to the Father for his wonderful judgements. The living God has a dwelling and Zion is her name.

Zion was the central part of Jerusalem, the first royal city of David and eventually the site of the temple. We are the temple, we are the royal city, we are the new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven, ambassadors of New Creation, hosts to myriads of angels, the spirits of the holy ones made perfect in and through our faith and yes in our very midst, the King of Kings, Jesus Christ our Lord ruling and reigning over us and through us and in and upon us. The Lord of Hosts is who he is. How wonderful for those hungering for justice and mercy and faithfulness that God is here to judge and set things right, that the blood of the Son cries out forgive them, rather than vengeance! (Genesis 4v10). How wonderful are the feet of them who bring Good News! What wonderful things are there to be found in Zion!

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.

For behold, the kings assembled;
they came on together.
As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.
Trembling took hold of them there,
anguish as of a woman in labor.
By the east wind you shattered
the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God will establish forever.
Selah

We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
As your name, O God,
so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!

Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever.

Hebrews 12v12-17

So stop letting your hands go slack, and get some energy in your sagging knees! Make straight paths for your feet. If you're lame, make sure you get healed instead of being out out of joint. Follow after peace with everyone, and the holiness which is necessary before you can see the Lord. Take good care that nobody lacks God's grace; don't let any 'root of bitterness spring up to cause trouble', defiling many people. No one must be immoral or worldly-minded, like Esau: he sold his birthright for a single meal! You know, don't you, that later on when he wanted to inherit the blessing he was rejected. There was no way he could change either his mind or Isaac's (literally, he did not find a place of repentance), even though he wept bitterly in trying to do so.

This verse alongside 6v4-8 and 10v26-31 coupled with Jesus statement regarding the unforgivable sin, blaspheming the Holy Spirit hold me firmly in fear of the Lord our God. What does falling from grace look like? Let's just take our central hope: Jesus. That is to say God's New Creation has been birthed in and through Jesus by the power of resurrection, that the separation between Creator and Creation, God and man, heaven and earth has been taken away. This new reality is breaking into the midst of the old, consuming it by the fire of the Holy Spirit and everyone is invited to participate by the blood of the Lamb which purchased eternal forgiveness and reconciliation. This new world is always forward looking, self-giving love is the "dynamic currency" within this eternal kingdom. This kingdom will one day cover creation as the waters cover the sea then God who is self-giving love will be all and in all. If you've been born again into the royal priesthood by water and spirit then this is your eternal inheritance, the glory of God himself, grace fully manifest, the very face of God which we have seen in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Falling from grace...lose the hope, character infestation and degradation, endurance crumbles and spiritual weakness overcomes, leading to pain in suffering and looking for the easy way for temporary relief, start trusting (having faith) in the parody or the idol over and above the true and living God.

We have some magnificent promises and a faithful God, but let us not be so bold as to test the Lord our God. If there is something spiritually wrong in us seek the Lord's council and accountability with brothers or sisters that we trust and find healing through confession and repentance, if we need to be reconciled to someone, go to that person. Lack of shalom between us and others results in lack of shalom between us and God and it is a slippery slope. It may be hard and it will most of the time be very uncomfortable, but when you come to the Father through the Son with such issues you can be sure to find mercy in time of need. Just don't sell out for anything less than the real thing because it can not only take you out, but many others can get dragged down too...everything in God's world is interdependent.

Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

Reading for today... Isaiah 35...be blessed and a blessing!

Hebrews 12v4-11

You have been struggling against sin, but your resistance hasn't yet cost you any blood. And perhaps you have forgotten the word of exhortation which speaks to you as God's children:

My child, don't make light of the Lord's rebuke,
or grow weary when he takes issue with you;
For the Lord disciplines those whom he loves,
And chastises every child he welcomes.

You must be patient with discipline. God is dealing with you as his sons and daughters. What child is there that a parent does not discipline? If you are left without discipline (we've all had our fair share of it!), you are illegitimate, and not true children. After all, we had earthly parents who disciplined us, and we respected them; shouldn't we much rather submit ourselves to the father of spirits, and live? Our earthly parents disciplined us for a little while, as they judged best; but when he disciplines us it is for our advantage. It is so we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems to bring joy at the time, but only sorrow. Later, though, it produces fruit, the peaceful fruit of righteousness, for those who are trained by it.

As a dad disciplining your children takes some getting used. My two boys personalities are near polar opposites. If I'm too light with Ayden he is off jumping off the roof or something within five minutes of being corrected for jumping on the couch. Sebastian on the other hand is very sensitive and it just takes a stern word and "the eyes" and he's in tears with remorse. Sometimes I want to throw my hands up in the air other times I have a hard time not just laughing my head off.

Either way discipline is a touchy subject and there are a million schools of thought on how best to do this (if at all given some strategies). As I said before I am not an expert at it, I'm not even really good at it. What I do know is that I learn more from my mistakes than from my successes and the times my father disciplined me as a child, I knew I had it coming. Even if I was mad at him for a little while.

If we are too firm with our kids they get the idea that whoever is the strongest or hits the hardest is the one with power, well that is not the mentality that I want to send my child out into school, work and marriage with. If we ignore the area of discipline they end up knowing no limits and getting themselves and others in bad situations. This is particularly an issue when dealing with children from previous marriages which come from entirely different backgrounds, the bond of holding the child through the night at infancy is most likely not there and a million other things that make it hard to discipline from a place of genuine love and compassion. There are a million other social and psychological things that come into play.

So what does all this have to do with our relationship to our heavenly Father, the Father of Spirit's who disciplines us so that we may truly have life and life more abundant? It has to do with resistance to the things "of the world", the things that we see Jesus battling with throughout the gospels and the things we see the early Church being persecuted over. We see both the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness after his baptism and the never ending barrage of groups trying to get him to stumble in word or action so that they can put him and his Kingdom message that threatened their power down.

We read earlier in Hebrews 5 of Jesus who, "In the days of his flesh, offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek."

So we have this common theme of discipline through suffering that leads to a learned obedience being the marks of one who is truly loved by God, truly a son or daughter of God...one who is being made perfect servant rulers and a nation of priests. Such privilege is not gotten without discipline from a loving Father. This goes beyond getting saved and gets us firmly into the territory of regaining our image bearing personage that was lost at the fall. You're in the family by grace and grace will empower you to suffer well and learn obedience. If we are taught by the discipline. We ought to test ourselves often to see if we are indeed walking in the true faith and discipline in the form of suffering for the sake of the Kingdom is key as it is a characteristic of every glorified child reflecting Jesus own character.

"Suffering can be the trowel which digs deeply in the soil of our lives, so that the plant of peaceful righteousness - a life of settled commitment to live as God's new covenant people - may have it's roots deep in the love of God."

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

and again...

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known.

and again...

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

"If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

AMEN

Hebrews 12v1-3

What about us then? We have such a great cloud of witnesses all around us! What we must do is this: we must put aside each heavy weight, and the sin which gets in the way so easily. We must run the race that lies in front of us, and we must run it patiently. We must look ahead, to Jesus. He is the one who carved out the path for faith, and he's the one who brought it to completion.

He knew that there was joy spread out and waiting for him. That's why he endured the cross, making light of it's shame, and has now taken his seat at the right hand of God's throne. He put up with enormous opposition from sinners. Weigh up in your minds just how severe it was; then you won't find yourselves getting weary and worn out.

Those are some great points Pastor, but what about us? I'm comfortable in my current job. My kid's go to good schools. My wife is accustomed to a certain type of lifestyle, nothing too extravagant, but she is looking forward to a nice easygoing life. I know God is moving and I've tasted the torment in my soul of what He must have endured with these weights those he loved were bearing and the sin laid out in his way to trip him up. I know all this and yet I want to get in the fight right away. I want to bring the love of Jesus everywhere I go and that's ALL I want to do. It's simply complicated though. Pastor, my family thinks I've lost my mind, but I'm just worn out from battling the enemy, the man's got me down. My friends are praying for me, but they don't know what to think. I feel like a caged lion who just needs to seek after the Kingdom with my all. Everything about me wants to domesticate me and stick me in a pew, but there is something else that just won't go down that road. It's wearing me down. Nothing else matters but the King and the Kingdom.

Patience.

There is a long race ahead and many have run it and are running it with you. This is not a race to be first, but to finish and to help others along the way to finish as well. You are right all the temporal stuff will come and go, but you do not want to be like the seed that came up too quickly and had no depth of root. There will be hurdles of sin to overcome, things put in your way to obstruct the path or constrain you, as a matter of fact the first thing to do is lay down any baggage you've been carrying about and all the Lord to heal those wounds and show you His power so that you will be able to run without hindrances. Keep looking forward to the New Heavens and New Earth, the joy and righteousness...you are surrounded by those who have gone on before you and they are cheering you on and in the center of that cloud is Jesus himself indwelling you and empowering you to not only run the race, but to heed these words of wisdom. He is the one who blazed the trail we now run so stick close to the path and keep your eye's forward. They will all be there waiting for you at the end. Let's not forget all that our King patiently suffered and endured, really think about it - daily, that you could even run this race. At the end of the day if everything came crashing down, just keep running in His wisdom and His power. They are all with you. He is with you. Keep the faith, keep the pace.

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Hebrews 11v32-40

What more can I say, then? I've run out of time to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. It was through faith that they overcame kingdoms, put justice into practice, received promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were strong where they had been weak, became powerful in battle, and sent foreign armies packing.

Women received their dead by resurrection; others were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might receive a better resurrection. Others experienced painful derision and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were put to the sword, they went about in sheep skins or goat-hides, they were destitute, they were persecuted, they were ill-treated - the world didn't deserve them! - and they wandered in deserts and mountains, in caves and holes in the ground.

All these people gained a reputation for their faith; but they didn't receive the promise. God was providing something better for us, so that they wouldn't reach perfection without us doing so as well.

If God really loves me and He's really there why is this happening to me? Has anyone ever been there? Yes, says the author the very best have suffered at the hands of evil and they didn't even have what you have! So we run into the problem of evil in the world.

In other religions there is a circular pattern, that is to say that things go round and round and whatever you did in a previous life will either be rewarded or punished in the current life. They would assert that the physical world is of little concern and what was really important was just the life inside you. This is true in the cases of Buddhism and Hinduism which see circumstances and the physical body as bearing very little importance. Gnosticism and certain strains of Platonic philosophies and myths from the Hellenized Greek and Roman cultures saw the physical world as a place to be escaped from forever and the physical world to ultimately be done away with. Certainly not to be re-made or resurrected...such a thought would be absolutely ludicrous...foolishness.

However, in Judaism and Christianity we see the spiritual world and the physical world, heaven and earth, as essentially good, but fallen having become separated by sin only to be re-attached at the point of Jesus on the cross. So for us evil is a parasite on creation, both parts, heaven and earth, that are coming together in such a way as to eradicate evil in all it's forms. The point is that Jesus has already gone ahead of us into that future and is working everything out so that those who love God and are called according to His purposes will arrive there safely, even if the getting there is straight through death and hell themselves. It is then that all the suffering for the faith, all the torture and endurance required of us in real life...it is then that His people will be ultimately vindicated as we take possession of creation.

Don't worry about all this turmoil, keep the faith, remember the teachings of Jesus , stay the course, don't be discouraged look forward with hope and passionate expectations. You are not the first to be called by God to endure for His name's sake. He who promised is faithful. Evil will lose and besides look at this great cloud of witnesses showing forth the glory, the weight, the majesty of the Lord! They surround you! He indwells you! His law has been written on your hearts His Spirit has come upon us! Abide! Abide! Abide in His Love! They could not reach such perfection without us standing strong in the promises!

'I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land'

...and again...

The Kingdom of Heaven is like this! Once upon a time a man sowed good seed in his field. While the workers were asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds in among the wheat, and went away. When the crop came up and produced corn, then the weeds appeared as well. So the farmers servants came to him.

"Master," they said,"didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?"

"This is the work of an enemy," he replied

"So," the servants said to him, "Do you want us to go and pull them up?"

"No," he replied. "If you do that you'll probably pull up the wheat as well, while you're collecting the weeds. Let them both grow together until the harvest. Then when it's time for harvest. I will give the reapers this instruction: 'First gather the weeds and tie them up in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn'"

This is the word of the Lord and we see both progressive and final victory over the corruption of evil. Blessed be the Lord, who can fathom the depths of his wisdom?
Amen