“By faith Moses…”

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Don Merritt

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

Hebrews 11:24-28

In these few verses, the author of Hebrews reveals something truly incredible: Moses knew about Jesus!

That knowledge accounted for some of the actions that Moses took, and the author cites the fact that Moses made a choice to be numbered among the Hebrews rather than to continue in his place of privilege in the household of Pharaoh.  Moses “regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt” and so he left the slave masters and joined with the slaves. Moses placed his priority in line with God’s covenant purpose, not because the New Covenant was in effect, for it was centuries in the future, but because God’s covenant with Abraham was in effect, and it contained a promise that the people would be set free from bondage in Egypt, a promise that was made over 400 years before the time of Moses.

In this, Moses was forward-looking, to his reward, to the exclusion of his current peril on the earth.  How might that have inspired the original recipients of the letter?  How might that inspire us?

It was by faith that he both left Egypt and incurred the anger of Pharaoh, and later that he applied the blood of the Passover.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

Hebrews 11:29

The people Moses led had their moments of faith too, as when they crossed the Red Sea, but sadly they more often drifted away from their faith, and never received God’s land promise; even Moses rebelled and could only gaze upon the Land. But Joshua and Caleb never lost their faith:

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

Hebrews 11:30-31

The story of faith is an amazing one indeed, and it is a story that you and I are part of. What role will we play?

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Priority

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Don Merritt

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

Hebrews 11:17-19

What an amazing thing Abraham did when God told him to sacrifice Isaac!  The author brings this out in these verses, and let’s just stop and think about it for a moment.  God’s big promise to Abraham was that he would have offspring greater in number than the stars in the sky and the sand on the shore, pretty amazing considering his age.  The greatest promise of all was that through his seed, all nations of the earth would be blessed, and when the son of promise finally comes along, nothing short of a miracle in itself, God tells Abraham to sacrifice him… and Abraham was about to do what God had told him to do; now that is putting faith into action!

I can’t imagine what Abraham must have been thinking… I really can’t; but our author tells us, and apparently it occurred to Abraham that if God made this promise, and then told him to kill the boy, God must have a plan to raise Isaac from the dead. His faith was so strong, he wasn’t thinking that God had changed His mind. So, in a way, he did receive Isaac back from the dead, for at that critical moment, poor Isaac was a dead boy walking.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

Hebrews 11:20-23

Take a close look at these “by faith” verses…. very close.  What do they all have common, other than “by faith”? It’s no trick, there is a clear pattern…

Each one of these “by faith” incidents is directly related to covenant faithfulness.  The main things mentioned about Abraham related to the land promise. In the verses above, it’s the son of promise. Isaac and Jacob verses are referring to their covenant birthrights. Joseph was concerned about the exodus, also a promise of the covenant. Moses was no ordinary child, because God would make another covenant with him… and later we’ll see more about Moses.

All of these people were imperfect, and the truth is that some of them were very imperfect.  All, however, placed their priority on their covenant relationship with God, over all else, and when things were tough, that’s where their hearts were to be found.  The really big question is this: What does that tell us about God’s priorities in relation to our sins?

In case I haven’t made this quite clear enough, let’s go about this in a slightly different way.  None of the patriarchs was a saint.  A few of them were a mess, and I’m including Abraham in this group.  How many times did he allow Sarah, the woman who was to bear the son of promise, go into the harem of a pagan king?  Not once, but twice!  Now I haven’t been so perfect in my lifetime, but I most certainly have never done anything like that, have you?  Probably not… Yet Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, because Abraham, in spite of his faults, placed his highest priority on his covenant with God; in this area, he was faultless.  The same can also be said of his son and grandsons.

Back to the original recipients…  Everything in this letter is in the context of covenant. Just think about all of the amazing things we’ve learned about the New Covenant in Hebrews. Think about what we’ve learned about our relationship with God in Hebrews.  With all of that in mind, can you see what an insult it would be to God if we, after all He has done, and after all He has given to us, would turn our backs and walk away from this covenant relationship when the going got tough? You see, these warnings aren’t so much about our petty sins which are already forgiven anyway, they are about protecting and maintaining our covenant relationship with God.

It’s something to reflect upon, I should think.

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Do We Really Need Jesus?

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Don Merritt

 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:12-13

In this brief statement Jesus makes a really interesting point: God desires that people seek Him and surrender to His mercy; He doesn’t just reward those who follow all of the rules.

That isn’t to say that we should behave badly; far from it.  It is to say that many people become so proud and self-righteous that they forget where they came from and entirely overlook the fact that they too need God’s mercy.  The result is that they forget the idea of forgiveness and repentance because it doesn’t occur to them that they need it.

All of us need forgiveness from God.

In quoting Hosea 6:6 in verse 13 above, Jesus calls our attention to a passage in which God is reminding Israel that their love for Him has been fleeting at best, that they have frequently turned away from Him and gone their own way.  (Just like we might tend to do). He points out that God’s priority is that we repent and depend upon Him rather than on ourselves. Our reliance must not be upon our ability to keep the rules and regulations, for we will inevitably stumble; our reliance must be upon God alone.

As we go through the day today, let’s place our reliance in God.  Let’s be thankful for His mercy and seek His forgiveness, humbling ourselves before Him.  Will this result in a better day?  Yes it will, for it will be a better day with eternal results.

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Sunday Sermon Notes: April 11, 2021

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Don Merritt

Title: Created in God’s Image

Text: Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NASB)

One thing is very clear from the start; Man was created in God’s image, His likeness; there isn’t anything hidden in this is there?

It doesn’t appear so at first glance, the English of the New American Standard Bible is clear, concise and fairly literal in its translation. Even so, it is a translation from ancient Hebrew, and particularly when we are basing a study on a specific word, we need to check the original language to verify the translations. When I checked, I found that the Hebrew word translated “image” in the English is tsehlem, and for good measure, the Hebrew word translated “likeness” is demuth. Here are the definitions:

tsehlem:  from an unused root meaning to shade; a phantom, i.e. (figuratively) illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol:—image, vain shew. (Strong’s H6754)

demuth: resemblance; concretely, model, shape; adverbially, like:—fashion, like (-ness, as), manner, similitude. (Strong’s H1823)

When we look at these two definitions, we might be slightly confused with the first one, since there can be a connotation with an idol, and in fact this word is used multiple times in the Old Testament to mean just that; an image, an idol. Yet when you think about it, “image” is exactly the point, and not all images are images of false gods. A photograph is an image, which is why we go to Google and do an “image search” when we want a picture of something or someone, for the image looks just like the real thing. A photographic image of you bears your likeness, and so it would appear that Man bears the likeness or image of God; we look like Him, or at least, when humans were first created, we looked like Him.

There are some leads in these two verses that we will need to follow up on, but first, it seems to me that we need to ask ourselves a question:

Knowing what happens in Genesis 3 when the woman, and then the man chose to eat from that one tree they were forbidden to eat from, did the resulting fall, and its consequences cancel out this image factor? We need to look into this now, because if it cancelled out God’s image within

us, then what’s the point of going forward? Our questions would be answered; the fact that we were created in the image of God at the beginning really makes no difference now. However, if the image and likeness of God were neither cancelled nor revoked after the fall, then we have a great deal of exploring left to do.

So, here’s what I did to find out: I went to Bible Gateway and searched for “image of God” (with quotes) and I got three hits: First, I got Genesis 1:27 (above) and then I got Genesis 9:6, and finally 2 Corinthians 4:4. Here they are:

Whoever sheds man’s blood,  By man his blood shall be shed,  For in the image of God He made man.

Genesis 9:6 (NASB)

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Cor. 4:4 (NASB)

It would appear that we have something of value here, but without looking further, we only have a couple of “proof texts” which may or may not prove anything, so I’d better follow my own rules and check out the context…

Genesis 9:6

Holy heart attack! I looked this verse up, and I found that it falls within the context of Gen. 9:1- 29, which falls within the overall context of Gen. 7-9 – the Flood. Chapter 9 is God making His covenant with Noah, whereby God promises to never again destroy the earth by a flood, and gives Noah some terms to follow, one of which is found in vv. 5-6; that stipulation is that we are not to shed man’s blood (murder), and if we do, our blood will be shed by man, and God gives His reason for this: We are made in His image. In Genesis 9:6, God Himself is speaking to Noah; it is an imperative command of God. Thus, this confirms that the image of God is still intact in us after the fall.

2 Corinthians 4:4

This verse falls within the larger context beginning in 2 Cor. 2:12 and running through chapter 5 about the ministry of reconciliation. Throughout this section, in various ways, Paul makes the point that Jesus is the source of our message, of our resolve and of our calling as Christians, not ourselves, for Jesus is the exact representation of the Father, and we, as ministers of reconciliation, are vessels of clay through which He ministers in this world. God is seen in Jesus (image, likeness) and Jesus is seen in us (image, likeness).

Of course, Paul didn’t write this in Hebrew, for he wrote in Greek, and the word he was using was eikon (from which we get our English word “icon”) and guess what it means? Yes sir, it means “image, likeness”. 

Therefore, not only is the image of God present in Man after sin entered the picture, it is present all the more with us in Christ.

I don’t know about you, but I would have to say that our exploring is just getting started, and we have some leads to follow up on. Certainly, there are two that I can’t wait to get into: First is, who is the “us” and “our” we found in our verses, and second is this: Are women created in the image of God, or is it just men? 

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NASB)

If we decide that humanity is made in God’s image, and we cite a text in which God speaks of Himself as “us” and “our”, which is to say in the plural, then we need to consider what this plurality refers to so as to ensure that our understanding of this “likeness” is correct. One way to work this out would be to look at the other “In the beginning” passage in Scripture, which is found in John 1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-5, 14

In John’s account, which actually begins before the Creation, it is clear that at least 2 Persons of the Godhead are present, for the Word that became flesh and was with God, and was God from before the beginning of Creation, is quite clearly a reference to the Son, Jesus. So, it would seem that Father and Son were very much involved in Creation; I wonder if we can find the Spirit as well…

Returning to the Genesis text, I found this:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (1:1-2)

Thus, we find all three Persons of the Godhead present and at work in the Creation, and we humans are made in the fullness of the image of God; that appears to me to be the meaning of the “Us” and the “our”.  

The next lead found in our text (Genesis 1:26-27) is that of male and female:

in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Thus, we can surely say that both male and female forms contain the image of God and indeed, we may well find even more significance as we continue our study.

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Becoming Strangers

Posted on April 10, 2021 by Don Merritt

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:13-16

“These people,” Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their families, lived in a time and place where the fullness of God’s promises to them had not entirely come to pass, and they looked forward to complete fulfillment to their dying days, but they did so with joy, for the fulfillment of God’s promises was never in doubt; they lived by faith. They saw from a distance, but they held on. You’ll recall that our author said that the Old Covenant worship was but an illustration, a shadow of the reality to come. Here the author uses the words “at a distance” to describe the same thing, for the reality of all of God’s promises came in the person of Christ.

There’s something really interesting developing in these verses, something that is very relevant for the original recipients of the letter, and very relevant for us as well.  Did you notice that the author keeps pointing out that they were foreigners? They were strangers in a strange land when Abraham and his household entered the promised land, for there were already people there with a different culture, different language and different values.  Abraham had followed God to a place he didn’t know, and where the inhabitants didn’t know him. But that isn’t the point the author is making. Notice verse 13, “…they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” It wasn’t just that they had left Ur and travelled to Canaan, they had left the kingdom of this earth, and entered a covenant with God. They were no longer like the other people in a way that is much more significant than mere language and culture, for they have become people of God, in an environment that was in rebellion against God. Returning to Ur wouldn’t bring them home, for they were no longer citizens there, their orientation was now a heavenly one, and they could only look forward to the day when it became a reality.

Now, consider the implications of this upon the Jewish Christians in Rome during Nero’s persecution.  Even if they had lived in Rome all of their lives, even if the State recognized them as Roman citizens, they had been transformed into citizens of a different realm, for in Christ they had become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.  They were now strangers in a strange land, a land that was in open rebellion against God… and Rome was acting the part.  Rome persecuted them because they were of God now; that’s what the world does and it should surprise no one. Yet through this trial, they had thus far remained faithful to their new Kingdom, and in the course of that, they had declared a testimony for Christ, and as we now know as we study the past, the Gospel spread rapidly by their testimony of faith in Jesus even in the face of terrible persecution.  Thus, God was not ashamed to be their God.

The historical context of this is very interesting, but it also cries out to us in an important way.  What is it telling us…?  It tells us that we, too are strangers in a strange land, for no longer are we citizens of an earthly nation; we too are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, and we too have a role to play in its development. As Paul tells us, we are its Ambassadors here on earth; what will our testimony be?

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Active Faith

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Don Merritt

Chapter 11 of Hebrews is a discourse on active faith; interesting when you consider that it comes right after the warnings of chapter 10 against losing our faith.

Who said faith and works were mutually exclusive?

That faith and works were somehow in opposition to one another is a presupposition of men, not a Biblical concept, for in the Bible, the two go hand in hand.  This is not to say that we can ever earn our salvation by works; of course not!  Salvation is by grace through faith. Yet, there is a definite linkage in the Scriptures between faith and action that many seem to miss.  I think they might miss this connection because they consider salvation the end of the story, but as we have seen time and time again, it is the beginning.

In this chapter, the author begins with a very brief discussion of what faith is:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Hebrews 11:1-3

Of course, we all know verse one as the classic definition of faith, and it is this faith that the Old Testament heroes were commended by God for having. It is also the faith that we have in Jesus Christ, for we are certain of His Truth even though we have neither seen nor touched Him. Verse 3 gives us an example of faith in the creation of the universe at God’s command. The universe is made of what was not seen, for no one saw Him give the command, and the universe came into being where before there was nothing at all.

Verses 4-7, which you can refer to at your leisure, refer to several Old Testament characters, and reminds us of their active faith, and then the author comes to Abraham:

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Hebrews 11:8-12

When God called Abraham to pack up the household and leave his homeland, he had no idea where he was going, but he went because he had faith (Action). When he finally arrived in the promised land, he made his home there even though he was a stranger in that place and knew no one, because he had faith in God and His promises (Action).  Abraham and his descendants were confident in God’s promises of a great nation, and they acted accordingly. Abraham believed God actively, and as a result Sarah bore him the son of promise and because of Abraham’s active faith, God fulfilled His promises, in spite of Abraham’s mistakes and miscues.  This is what faith can do when coupled with God’s covenant promises.

Why do you suppose the author took this detour from the rest of the letter, and why here?

Let’s consider the structure of the letter first.  In chapters 8-10:18 we saw an amazing recitation of all that God has done for us in Christ, with the superior high priest, superior sacrifice, bringing about a superior covenant with superior promises. We also saw how all of this replaced the old shadows of the old ways.  This was followed by a section of warnings, and now faith.  This all makes perfect sense, because all that the author has been sharing was there to help the recipients of the letter hold onto their faith in terrible times of trial. At such a time, more than in normal times, it would have been critical for them to understand that their faith is active rather than passive, for none of the characters discussed in this chapter were mentioned because of the way they clung to their faith while sitting at home on the couch.  They are all heroes of faith because they put their faith into action.

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Challenging, Yet Amazing and Wonderful

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Don Merritt

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

Hebrews 10:32-35

We continue now with the warnings in chapter 10. Remember the context;  Hebrews 10:19-39 is the section context in this letter written to Jewish Christians in Rome during the persecution of Nero to encourage them to hold on to their faith in severe trial, and following right after a section on the superiority of the New Covenant.

The author refers to an earlier persecution, a time of trial almost as difficult as the present one, when these Christians had come through with their faith intact, and then he urges them to continue to hold on through the present crisis promising them a rich reward.  We might ask ourselves what this reward is to be, is he referring to a temporal reward or an eternal one?  In context, it must be an eternal one- why? Because that is the reward that has been under discussion leading up to this section; there has been nothing in the text to tell us differently, thus that context remains in place. If we attempt to impose a different meaning here, then we might satisfy our doctrinal need to reinterpret this section, but we will have the wrong application for the text.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,

“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”
And,

“But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”
But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Hebrews 10:36-39

Verse 36 keeps the last three verses of the chapter in context as an exhortation; this is critical to our understanding of 37-39.  Verse 37 tells us that Jesus is surely coming soon (so hang in there, hold on to your faith). Verse 38 tells us that the righteous will hold on to their faith, and yet some will shrink back and lose out, and verse 39 encourages us all to continue in our faith and not shrink back, for to shrink back will result in our destruction.  Notice that “destruction” is contrasted with “saved.” We are only left with one last question: What is destruction?

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Hebrews 10:39

It would seem entirely consistent with the context of this passage within the letter to the Hebrews, and within the New Testament, that our author is telling us that we could lose everything we have in Christ.

This chapter falls at the high point of the letter.  We’ve seen that our superior high priest has brought a superior sacrifice to establish a superior covenant based on superior promises.  We’ve seen that the old Law is gone, and that the New has come, and that the New is the reality that was only illustrated by the Old. We have learned that we can enter the Most Holy Place, the very presence of God with confidence, and we have been warned to hold on to what we have in Christ, even in very difficult times, because what we have is so great and so wonderful that nothing can compare with it.

This is a message of love and encouragement, not a threat or a warning about a God who wants to zap you!  Some have suggested that this passage is too harsh, others have suggested that it must be adapted to fit a doctrine:  Why? Too harsh- Really? Would we have God hide things from us and then fall away out of ignorance?  That would be the actions of a God looking for a “gotcha” moment, not a God of love.  Doctrinal traditions… would we really rather use this for an argument to be “right” about something that may or may not be right, when it is a message of encouragement?  Really?

All we have in the passage is a message that our hope is awesome, so hang on to your faith come what may, and you will be in an amazing place for all eternity… this strikes me as wonderful! You know why? Because I can do it, and so can you. This is not a burden, at least not until we make it one.  This isn’t negative; it’s positive… until we make it negative… and it certainly isn’t complicated until we impose our doctrines upon it and make it complicated… so why do that?

Here’s a challenge for you, just for fun: Forget everything you’ve heard and everything you’ve read, including what you’ve read here.  Then go back and read chapter 10 over again, verses 1-39. Don’t think about anything it doesn’t say… and then see if you haven’t just read the most amazing and encouraging thing ever!

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Photo of the Week: April 8, 2021

Posted on April 8, 2021 by Don Merritt
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Warnings

Posted on April 8, 2021 by Don Merritt

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:26-31

Our author gets off to a very candid start in this paragraph, coming right to the point of his warning.  You will recall no doubt, that this letter was written to Jewish Christians in Rome during the persecution of Nero for the purpose of encouraging them to hold firmly their faith through a time of severe trial, and this is not the first such warning in this letter. (see Hebrews 8:1 ff.)

I would call your attention to the word “we” in verse 26; “If we deliberately keep on sinning…”  Surely the word “we” does not mean the same thing as the word “they.”  Thus, in a context of a letter written to encourage Christians, “we” is not referring to those who are not in Christ, and to suggest otherwise requires the suspension of the rules of context, grammar and vocabulary.  If we would go further and suggest that “after we have received the knowledge of the truth” would refer to an unbeliever, saying that to receive the knowledge of the truth is not to have accepted it and been born again, because they knew but didn’t believe, would also seem to be a contention in utter disregard of the rules of context, grammar and vocabulary; a parsing of words worthy of a politician. Must I really comment on the words “enemies of God”?

How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? Can you think of any context in the New Testament that asserts that an unbeliever is sanctified by the blood of the Covenant?  Take a look at the next verse, v. 30, and consider what it means to know God; hey didn’t Jesus have something to say about that in John 8:55? Notice here that “we” are they who “know” him who said…  Who is this “we” again- unbelievers? Hardly.

Look, I know I’m laying it on more thickly than I normally do here, and I’m doing so for a reason: If we want to merrily go on down the road with the idea that these warnings are for “them” and not “us” then how can we learn from them? What is the point of giving these warnings to Christians, if they apply only to non-Christians? What would be the purpose of these warnings, if we have nothing that we can lose- the whole letter would be almost meaningless to the people it was written to.

Are these warnings uncomfortable? Yes they are, and yes they should be. Would I rather not think about them? Yes, but how could I learn and grow if I only did what I want and only thought about the fun stuff?  Can you see why I keep saying that Hebrews is often quoted and seldom taught?  It gets messy!

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Unswerving Faith

Posted on April 8, 2021 by Don Merritt

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:19-25

After the wonderful news of the last couple of chapters, the author is moving us toward another series of warnings, and his transition in these verses is as inspiring as any appeal in the entire New Testament.  We have a confidence gained from the previous discussion of the superior high priest who has brought us a superior sacrifice to bring about a superior covenant based on superior promises, and as a result we can ourselves enter the Most Holy Place.

Imagine how this would have sounded to the original recipients… Remember, they were Jewish Christians living in Rome at the time of Nero’s terrible persecution, tempted to give it all up to avoid the Emperor’s wrath, but after reading these chapters and now coming to this incredible assertion… how can they turn their backs on Jesus?

Yes, we have an entirely new way, a way right into the holy presence of God, a way that their ancestors couldn’t have imagined, and it is here now… and yes, here it comes: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” How could they let all of this go? They have in their hands the keys to the Kingdom, what could Nero do to them to make this worth giving up? Then the author takes the next step, a very dangerous one…  Not only should they hold on, they should seek out ways to encourage others, and as if this weren’t enough, they should not give up meeting together.

Let’s stop and consider this point.  It was dangerous enough to simply be a Christian in those days, but meeting together was infinitely more dangerous than that.  A group of believers in worship can bring attention, can be noticed. It can result in somebody reporting that they saw you with the others; guilt by association could result.  Some had apparently quit meeting for these reasons, but our author urges them to continue, to persist no matter the cost, for what they had in Christ was so worth it.  Even more as the Day approaches…

The Day, as we saw earlier, refers to Jesus’ coming again, and as we know, He didn’t come in their lifetimes.  We can also reasonably infer that we are about 2,000 years closer to His return in our day, yet we still don’t know when His return will happen.  Most of you who read this are not in places where there is persecution. For us this should be so easy, it shouldn’t even be an issue, and yet more and more have forsaken the assembling of the believers together.  Even among those who have not forsaken it, how much do we really encourage others?

Since I can only answer for myself, I guess we’ll leave that as a rhetorical question…

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