Thu, Mar 7th - 7:06PM
STUDIES IN HEBREWS
CHAPTER 12 VS 4-5
Brothers and sisters, let us both Jew and gentile as the holy
family of God our Father, made one through God the Son Jesus Christ give Him
our love, blessings, thanks and praise offerings, for He is good and His mercy,
love and truth, endures forever.
One day I went bargain shopping, and while I was in the store,
a young Asian woman desperately asked me if I was a Christian. I answered yes,
and she fell into me so happy. She was from Japan and had come to see America
on the fly having heard so much about it. My city was the last leg of her journey to see before
going back home that day.
She said she became desperately lonely for other Christians,
and felt spiritually wizened, dried up like she was starving spiritually, but
would be o.k. if she could just fellowship with one Christian. It was early
afternoon when I met her at the store. We fellowshipped and prayed together
until we were interrupted by the store’s closing bell that rang that evening,
and she rushed off feeling refreshed to catch her flight back home.
I didn’t get the chance to shop the bargains and the sale was
done, because God had a better reason for me to be at that store that day. The
young woman and I looked nothing like each other physically, but we are the true
spiritual family of God our Father, His people of all nations in this present evil world and the future world of God, united as one in the body and blood of God His Son
Jesus Christ.
Although I have worshipped with Christians from many nations,
I had never thought of Japan as having any established Christian churches, how
wrong I was! We always need our God, and we need our brothers and sisters in
Christ too as He has given us one to another. Our walk as Christians cannot be
fully expressed apart from relationship with God and His people.
Jesus Christ has built the only church that will last for all
eternity: 1Co 3:16
Know ye not that ye
are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17If any
man defile the temple of
God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of
God is holy, which temple ye are.
CHRIST’S ONE
SACRIFICE ONCE FOR ALL
Heb 8:10
For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the
Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I
will be to them a God, and they shall
be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every
man his neighbour, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall
know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to
their unrighteousness, and their sins and
their iniquities will I
remember no more.
The fact that all of our sins past, present, and future, are
permanently forgiven, dearly beloveds, is something that some new believers and
even some who have been saved a long time-even in the pulpit struggle with, not knowing God nor His
power , but only rudimentary that somehow Jesus Saved them and in error
believing that somehow and/or in some way it is up to them to keep themselves
saved thereafter or be lost.
Now, we know, brethren, all of us start out ignorant-
spiritual babies and some among us remain babies, even some in the pulpit a
long time. These spiritual babies left to their own, adlib their own ideas of
the gospel. Some Christians get angry when they meet an ignorant believer, or ignorant
pastor/teacher whom they discover didn’t understand the full message of
salvation. Initially I got angry too. I repented when I read in the scriptures,
which makes it obvious, that with the exception of the apostles/prophets, none
of us automatically know the gospel, it has to be taught. Therefore, God
assigned pastors, teachers, elders and the body general to teach believers.
Those taught are to continue to study, live, obey the scriptures, share it with other believers even as they
received and also in the world.
I heard a pastor say
that there are some churches where the New Covenant is neither taught nor
mentioned. This is tantamount to sending children out into the wilderness
without any means or knowledge of how to survive. In another sense it is like
sending soldiers to war without training/combat skills, nor weapons to fight a
well armed highly trained adversary.
The scriptures and here Paul at the get go of the Book of
Hebrews teaches us of the great unlimited power of Jesus Christ by which His
atonement saves all who believe forever apart from any works of the flesh.
THE
POWER AND AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHRIST
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds;
Heb 1:3 Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by
the word of his power, when he
had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;c
Rev 1:8 The
power of Lord Jesus Christ is equal to that of God the Father, seeing that
Jesus is God the Son of God. Every breath that we take, our allotted time of
life to be on earth is through God the Son Jesus Christ, by the will of God the
Father. Everything that exists has been created by the power of Jesus and
maintained by Him whether flesh, spirit or the universe. Therefore, dearly
beloveds, we understand His power, that it is unlimited, not bound by time,
distance, nor space.
The ignorant aka spiritual baby frets, not understanding
forgiveness is permanent. They omit the New Covenant entirely to look past it
for ways to get back in God’s favor each time he or she sins. Rather than
turning away from any sin in repentance to do God’s will as evidence of their
love and trust in Him the ignorant believers work is never done. Like the
priests under the mosaic law their lives are fraught with fear as they work
constantly to keep short accounts confessing sins so they will not lose their
salvation and/or fellowship with God.
They share their ignorance too in witnessing, telling people
to confess all their sins or they cannot be saved, not knowing that the all powerful Saviour/HIGH
PRIEST Jesus Christ already knows all the sins a person will commit in their
entire lives. Therefore, what the penitent person confesses after they
hear the gospel is that they believe Jesus is the Saviour who died to pay for
their sins and rose again and that He forgives the sins of all who believe in
Him. This is the simple eternal truth of the New Covenant with its guarantee
from God: Heb 8:12 For I will
be merciful to
their unrighteousness, and their sins and
their iniquities will
I remember no more.
JESUS TEACHES
US THAT BOTH HIS BODY AND BLOOD WAS NECESSARY TO MAKE AND COMPLETE
THE ATONEMENT.
The
New Covenant is an absolute, eternal unchanging blood covenant, is finished for
all time, Jesus Christ its Word, Saviour, Mediator, High Priest, HEAD OF THE CHURCH, and Absolute
Supreme Standard. He is the absolute gospel with all of His doctrines,
principals, and boundaries which are rooted, ratified, unchanging, and set for
all time, by and in the will of God the Father. Holy brethren, we know that we
must keep this fresh and not let it slip. This is all a part of our spiritual
food, eat it all.
CURSED ARE
ALL WHO ADD TO OR TAKE AWAY FROM THIS NEW COVENANT: Gal 1:8-9.
We know, dearly beloveds, without a doubt
that God always tells the truth. In fact, He is truth, and it is impossible for
God to lie. Therefore, we know absolutely that we can have complete confidence
and competence in learning, sharing, and living His word. Let us gather often
at our Lord’s table for He lives in us and is our spiritual food wherein we
shall be comforted, strengthened, and greatly aided in Him, in the indwelling
presence of God our Father, and God our Holy Spirit.
Attend many Bible studies everywhere you can, not just our little group, hold Bible studies, interactive Bible studies are important too and we should not neglect them, read Bible studies in blogs, listen to them on audio, iPod, radio, tv broadcasts, satellite, short wave from other countries etc. Let be mindful to get our full reward by sharing the gospel at every opportunity, and doing all the good works that we can especially in ministering to the saints, the needy, and the sick.
We, saints (G40 hagios), don’t need any
degrees nor an advanced degree to interpret/ understand the scriptures, it is
opened only to believers without cost and never natural men without the Spirit.
Jesus made disciples from uneducated men and some who were well educated: Act 4:13. Note, we only found out Luke was a physician
because Paul mentioned it: Col 4:14. Luke used his profession to treat others, not
to weaponize it to rank himself above/superior to his brothers and sisters in
Christ. Paul was a very learned man, and we know how he valued it: Phl 3:8. Regardless,
of what level of knowledge we possess in the world, our work as Christians is
to exalt God, not ourselves: 1Co 8:1;
1Co 13:2.
I state this with love, saints (G40 hagios), anyone
is free to attend any religious school of their choice, and men may require
such; but that is never, never a commandment nor requirement of God for His
people. No one has any authority from God to promote themselves above
Christians based on mere human works. Scriptures interpret scripture without
error or contradiction within the whole context of scripture.
We turn to the Lord’s table, where Paul
continues to reteach and warn these Hebrew believers the gospel that they had
once known but allowed to slip away due to failure of ongoing study. Brothers and
sisters, we know that it’s important for us to connect, to comprehend that we
are a part of the long line of Christians that must continue in same path that
God laid out for them. So, we don’t see this as just stuff that happened to
people a long time ago, or merely an interesting read.
Let us, holy people, recall the apostle and
our brother Paul has taught us, that tribulation, and persecution are never
punishment from God. Therefore, we can never see persecutions/tribulations as
being sent as chastisement or punishment from God.
Some might say what about Job. Job was not punished, God
allowed him to be severely tested to a certain degree, afterwards he was found
faithful, and God rewarded him on earth and in heaven. This has been the pattern
throughout scriptures. God is with us even in us through it all and is our
victory and will reward us for our faithfulness and trust in Him.
What is the chastisement of God then if it is not punishment?
First of all, holy brethren, you, me, us, know that we have to dump any notion
that God’s people are free to live however they want, as if no one is in charge
of the body as a whole. We know that all who hold an office and the body
general have been purchased and are owned by Lord Jesus Christ and made the
children of God through Him. Our Salvation and inheritance is permanent as a
gift and can never be lost. However, as believers we understand that we are all
accountable and responsible to God and one another to align with His will and
His Word, out of love and trust in Him: Jhn 14:21; Jhn 14:24.
We fully understand chastisement as God’s way, not to punish
us but to correct/discipline us out of love to help and keep us set on His
straight path. God will not allow any believer to live sinfully, which hurts
themselves, and the body: 1Co 6:19What? know
ye not that your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye
have of God, and ye
are not your own?
1Co 6:20 For ye
are bought with a
price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Heb 12:1…"let us lay aside every weight, and the
sin which doth so easily beset us”,
We are all in the same race as the Saints (G40 hagios), who came
before us. The message is the same to/for all of us- keep on running and put off
every weight and sin which the flesh attracts and adheres to with ease.
Perhaps some might argue that God
knows we are but flesh and expects that we will sin from time to time. Some might
say it’s impossible to live without sinning. Even so, the real issue is that we are commanded by God never to continue or practice any sin.
In a sense Paul follows up and addresses such assumptions in
this manner: Heb 12: 4Ye have not
yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Paul is forthright, not concerned about hurting the feelings
of those who might deal with their sins delicately. Certainly, God knows we
will all sin from time to time after salvation. Dealing with our sins especially those that are pleasurable can be
very uncomfortable, disturbing, troubling, even appalling. However, the process
of doing it, no matter how painful it seems to us, does not require us to die
as those who have died under terrible persecutions, and trials, who still
overcame their sins and remained faithful out of love and trust in God.
Saying no to continuing in any sin leads to victory, saying yes
leads to death: Rom
8:13
For if ye
live after the flesh, ye
shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
See Romans chapter 8.
Raise your hand, brethren, if you have ever avoided these
verses because it scared even confused you: 1Jo 3:6
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
1Jo 5:18 We
know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he
that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that
wicked one toucheth him not.
I raised both of mine, until in study I understood that Christians
do not have to practice any sin, and that any sin I commit I can’t blame on the
devil. See, if we could blame the devil for our sins, God would have to abolish
hell, and that is never going to happen. God has given us many ways to not be
trapped in sins: an indwelling God who guides, guards, convicts, allows or restrains
us; a new Conscience that restrains/convicts/filters acceptable from unacceptable,
a new heart of love that hurts us to hurt God; a new mind like that of Christ with knowledge
and the power of self -examination/self-control all through the Word of God,
there is more. In addition to all of this God has a fail- safe in place for all of
us. Some, who do not know God nor His power might say in error that since we still sin after being saved, we are still sinners who need to continually confess our sins to stay saved and in fellowship with God. Again, when we hear someone say this, we know they do not know God nor comprehend His power, in addition this error entirely omits the New Covenant esp. Heb 8:12.
Love and
truth forever, serola
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Mon, Feb 26th - 12:20AM
STUDIES IN HEBREWS
CHAPTER 12 VS 3
Brothers and sisters, holy family of God, priests under our
eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, Saviour, Mediator, Deliverer and great
Shepherd of the flock of God- both Jew and gentile made one in Him; let us come
bringing to Him our offerings of sweet sacrifices of love, praises, thanks, and
blessings, for He is worthy.
Much love, peace and blessings to you holy brothers and
sisters, whom God our Father has received as His very own dear children,
through faith in God the Son of God Jesus Christ His only begotten Son.
From the moment we believed in the atonement of Lord Jesus,
the Holy Ghost witnessed, (Eph 1:13; 1Jo 5:10), before
God the Father that we are His and sealed us unto the day of redemption. Therefore, in the mouths of Lord Jesus, (Mat 10:32), and
the Holy Ghost believers are confirmed before God our Father, for in the mouth
of two faithful witnesses is a thing proven true before Him.
Knowing who we are in Christ, dearly beloveds, let us speak
as the spiritual oracles of God in the world and not as natural men and women
any longer: Jhn 4:24; 1Pe 4:11. We are in the world, but no longer of this temporal world. We belong to the eternal kingdom of God.
Let us get a full reward by sharing the gospel in the world
and also within the body of Christ, along with any good works as we have the
opportunity. Let’s keep in remembrance that although a multitude of believers
know the word through being taught it and living it, there are some new and old
believers-even some in the pulpit a long time that do not know it: Rom 10:14-15; Rom 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.
Be wary of those who in error utilize the teachings of mere
men, or themselves alone to verify, prove, and/or interpret scripture. These
are those, without the Spirit, who are intellectually religious and love to
debate/dispute with others to show their superior intellectual acumen:
1Co 2:14-16 But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they
are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned. 1Co 1:18-23.
CHRIST’S SACRIFICE ONCE FOR ALL
THIS IS THE NEW
COVENANT OF JESUS CHRIST
Heb 8:10
For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will
put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I
will be to them a God, and they shall
be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every
man his neighbour, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall
know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will
be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and
their iniquities will
I remember no more.
Never addressing apostates here, holy brethren, but we
know that there are spiritual infants and/or the ignorant in Christ amongst us
that run to 1 John 1: 9 in error to confess sins each time they sin as those
under the Mosaic Law, dismissing
entirely the New Covenant, knowing not the power of God, nor understanding
eternal PERMANENT forgiveness OF ALL SINS FOREVER gained by Christ’s sacrifice
of His sinless body AND BLOOD FOR WHOMSOEVER WILL BELIEVE IN HIM.
JESUS TEACHES
US THAT BOTH HIS BODY AND BLOOD WAS NECESSARY TO
MAKE AND COMPLETE THE ATONEMENT.
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins. SEE Mat 26:26-28; Act 20:28;
Heb 9:12; Heb 13:12; Rev 1:5.
The New
Covenant is a blood covenant, is finished for all time, Jesus Christ its Word and Absolute Supreme
Standard. He is the gospel with all of His doctrines, principals, and
boundaries which are rooted, ratified, unchanging, and set for all time, by and
in the will of God the Father.
CURSED ARE ALL
WHO ADD TO OR TAKE AWAY FROM THIS NEW COVENANT: Gal 1:8-9.
Now we know, saints (G40
hagios), that there are some who in ignorance “plead the blood”, and/or “confess
their sins” after being saved to restore fellowship, or get right with God again,
or to get saved again and again each time they sin by their confessions.
We know most certainly this is gross ignorance seeing that
our eternal Saviour and High Priest alone can atone for sins. Sins can absolutely
only be forgiven by His body and blood offered once by Him, absolutely no one else has
any authority from God or power to use His blood or get their sins forgiven by
their own righteousness or works.
When Jesus said
“IT IS FINISHED” it really means just that for all eternity.
God has given the church all
the gifts to put the body on the same page, preaching and teaching the same
truth. We need all the gifts and when any of them are left out it hurts the
body. Ignorance in the body occurs if there are no teachers or if the teachers
are incompetent teachers. Thanks be to God, although all of us are ignorant at
some point in our faith, we do not have to stay that way.
The Bible is over abundant
in teaching us how God commands us to live after salvation in daily repentance towards God and holiness: see Romans chapter 8; Rom 13:12; Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:10; 1Pe 1:15-16; Heb 12:14.
The New Covenant, dearly
beloveds, can be shocking to the long time ignorant who might even be in the
pulpit. Some of them might initially be defensive thinking in error that no one
can be perfect in the scriptures or in any spiritual matter. However, the many mature amongst us know
absolutely that God perfects us through being taught the gospel and
living the Word out of love and trust in Him: 2Ti 3:16-17. Let us be gracious whenever we find any who can benefit from hearing the gospel, just as we ourselves have also received.
Dearly beloveds, I give our God
thanks for you, and for your patience in this study. We know that God forbids
the cherry picking of the gospel, we must share the whole gospel just as Jesus
did and commands us also. We return to the study confident in Lord Jesus, that
the inerrant scriptures interpret scriptures, backs up, validates and proves
scripture without error, within the whole context of scripture. All who bring interpretations of
scriptures that contradict the inerrant truth of scripture are never, never
acceptable to God and His church.
Heb 12:3For consider him that
endured such contradiction of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in
your minds.
Endured: to remain i.e. abide, not recede or flee; to
persevere under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one's faith in Christ; to
endure, bear bravely and calmly ill treatments.
Wearied: To tire, to grow weary, be weary.
Faint: to weaken, exhaust; to be enfeebled through
exhaustion, to grow weak, grow weary, be tired out; to despond, become faint
hearted.
God our Father has given us our Lord Jesus as the supreme
example of love, humility, service, trust, and faith under fiery persecutions such
as no other human being ever faced. We must meditate, thoroughly deliberate,
keep in remembrance that despite the temptation by the adversary, the mockery, threats,
blasphemy, stalking, envy of Him for His power, rebellion against Him and numerous
plots to kill him by wicked religious leaders, along with other unbelieving Jews
and gentiles, betrayal by one of His own, abandoned by His disciples and
finally put to death unjustly to bear the sins of His enemies on the cross, Jesus remained faithful and finished His race always looking ahead to see His Father's pleased face at the end.
God required His Son’s humility before exaltation and a crown
of thorns before a crown of gold. Lord Jesus knew all of This before the
beginning, but still voluntarily chose to come and save us because He loved us
even though we were His enemies and not worth the dirt under his sandals. He
experienced all the hardships, difficulties and even death that people have to
face so that He would know from His own experience how to help all who will
believe in Him as only a faithful eternal High Priest can.
Jesus, again, dearly beloveds, was not forced to endure against
His will. He did so voluntarily out of love and trust in God and for all men even His
enemies. Jesus stayed focused on doing God His Father’s will, knowing God
always wins it was just a matter of time, God's timing.
It is important for us all to keep focused that persecution is not punishment
from God: Act 14:22; 2Ti 3:12; 1Jo 3:13.
Lord Jesus Instructs us: Luk 6:22; Jhn 16:33;
Jhn 15:18If the
world hate you, ye know that it
hated me before it hated you.
Jhn 15:19 If ye
were of the world, the world would love his
own: but because ye
are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you.
Jhn 15:20Remember the
word that I said unto you, The
servant is not greater
than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they
will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they
will keep yours also.
We understand, therefore, the nature of persecution, dearly beloveds, and that God allows
us to be tested, tried, and proven and will bring us through it, for Jesus is
our victory. God our Father, our God the Son of God Jesus Christ, our God the Holy Ghost is in our spirits, we are not alone. God is always there with each of us every step of the way. Let us run this race seeing our God waiting for us at the end. We, all the people of God have a divine appointment where we will all meet dressed in white with palm branches in our hands beholding and adoring God our Saviour Jesus in the presence of God our Father and God our Holy Ghost, and the angels.
Jesus preached the whole gospel never a sugar coated, warm and
fuzzy, touchy-feely, wishy-washy pack of lies. He trusted in God His Father knowing God
always wins. No matter how big and bad the enemy seems, no matter what they do
or how many they might be God always wins. No man, devil, nor any creature nor
anything can ever beat our Almighty, All Powerful, Invincible, Indestructible God:
Rev 20:10.
Love and
truth forever, serola
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Tue, Feb 6th - 6:18AM
STUDIES IN HEBREWS
CHAPTER 12 VS 1-2
Brothers and sisters, let us thank and praise our Father God
for His everlasting mercy and love, who has given us His Son our Saviour and
Lord, so that we can have fellowship with Him and one another as the holy
family of priests under our Saviour and High Priest Jesus Christ Mediator
of the New Covenant.
We know absolutely, dearly beloveds, that Lord Jesus finished
His work, praise His Name. His atonement is forever done, wherein we are
delivered through faith in Him from the power of darkness, and the kingdom of
the devil: Col 1:13; Act 26:18.
We gratefully and rightfully acknowledge that our Saviour paid in full to God His Father
for all of our sins, past, present and future. We know
that it is gross error to see Christ’s atonement as merely an exchange or
substitution for this is found nowhere in the absolute inerrant scriptures.
Those who claim in error that Christ’s atonement is an
exchange or substitution do not know the scriptures nor the power of God. This
error robs Lord Jesus of the honor, praise, and worship due Him for His mercy/love
in voluntarily
sacrificing Himself to pay in full to God His Father for ALL of our sins. Seeing the atonement of Christ in error as merely an exchange or substitutionary wrongfully exalts sinners who see themselves as so precious and minimizes God
as so needy of them that He gave His only biological Son Jesus to save them.
While it is true that God so loved the world that He gave His only biological
Son, His love never kept Him from seeing the truth that we were sinners, even
enemies of God not one of us worthy on our own merits of His mercy and grace;
for God needs no one, He is totally sufficient in and of Himself.
Those in error become arrogant, proud wrongfully seeing God
as so needy of them He had to save them. True worship of God the creator and
Maker of all flesh is lost as such persons elevate themselves instead of the
only Saviour worthy of all worship, honor, glory, and praise.
THIS IS THE NEW COVENANT OF JESUS CHRIST
Heb 8:10
For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the
Lord; I will
put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I
will be to them a God, and they shall
be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every
man his neighbour, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I
will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and
their iniquities will
I remember no more.
Mat 26:28
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins.
God through Paul has spelled out to all believers for all
time the absolute and only kind of faith that can please God in blunt explicit, exhaustive, exclusive and
absolute eternal terms. Furthermore, those of faith must also trust that God
will never do them harm, but good, always resting confidently in the truth of
His love, mercy, kindness and goodness, knowing that He is a rewarder of all
who come to him. NO ONE CAN PLEASE GOD WITHOUT THIS KIND OF FAITH.
Without faith in God all of
our knowledge of Him is worthless and we have no valid claim of belonging to
Him.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it
is impossible to please him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Dearly beloveds let us go into the study again to eat and
drink into Christ our Lord who will always feed us well and cause us to be
strengthened/comforted in His word. We confidently look to inerrant scripture
within the context of scripture to validate and give us the correct
interpretation of scripture. the Bible ensures us that the very Christ who
redeemed us has given us the ability to comprehend and have full and complete
knowledge and faith in Him
End notes on Heb. Chapter 11: Paul, dearly beloveds, could
have simply told these Hebrew believers that we all have trials, so none of them
should be surprised and quoted a few verses of scriptures and left it at that.
However, he does not.
They had gone through great trials, but still loved one
another and had lovingly, gladly, shared what they had with Paul when he was in
need in bonds. Paul thoroughly takes them through time to expound meticulously
on the many trials that God’s people have faced. He wanted to connect them to
understand- to see themselves as a part of the continuum of that long line of
suffering faithful and to understand/grasp/ to see that they were not alone in
their sufferings, and neither are we.
He does not paint a fairy tale life for those who choose to
believe in Jesus and live holy lives under the New Covenant in this present
evil world.
We leave Heb. Chapter 11 with the understanding that our
trials are not
punishment from God for sins, but due
to being righteous in an evil world that hates God and His people. Our
suffering has a purpose, is part of God’s plan, allowed by Him, is not in vain
for Jesus is in us through it all with God our Father and God the Holy Spirit
who will cause us to prevail and have victory in it out of love, faith, and
trust in Him.
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think
it not strange concerning
the fiery
trial which is to try you, as though some
strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch
as ye are partakers of
Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall
be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
I.Fiery trial: a burning
A. the burning by
which metals are roasted and reduced.
B. by a figure drawn
from a refiners fire.
i.calamities or trials that test the character.
Strange: unusual;
to surprise, shock or astonish by the strangeness and novelty of a thing.
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked.
Leaving chapter 11 of Hebrews we cannot fail to understand
the only kind of faith that pleases God.
Heb 12:1Wherefore seeing
we
also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the
sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us,
Patience: steadfastness, constancy, endurance; in the NT the
characteristic of a man, or woman who is not swerved from his deliberate
purpose and his loyalty to faith and devoutness by even the greatest trials and
sufferings; patiently, and steadfastly; a patient, steadfast waiting for; a
patient enduring, sustaining, perseverance, derived from facing trials resting in trusting a faithful God
Luk 8:15;
Luk 21:19: Rom 5:3
Ro 5: 3 And not only so, but we
glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation
worketh patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope
Glory: joy, rejoice in an absolute sense without any form of
shame. Rom 5:5
Paul had been given the full gospel completely by revelation personally
received from Lord Jesus Christ: Eph 3:3; Gal 1:12. Although Paul had the full power and authority
of an apostle, he never failed to present himself as a brother, and servant
leader to the church. He does not come to them as a scholar wanting perpetual
students to honor and glorify himself, but as a loving teacher who wants his
students to grow up to maturity and go forward to glorify God by living godly
lives privately, publicly, while sharing the message in the world.
We note that Paul includes himself along with everyone of us
in declaring that the race we are running, holy brethren, is set by God for us.
It is not impossible to run this race because we see clearly from God’s record
that we have an overwhelming number of witnesses that have done so out of
faith in God to please Him, and so can we.
Therefore, none of us have any excuse. God empowers and
commands us to lay aside, put off every distraction, every type of sin that easily causes us to lose sight of God’s eternal perspective, if we allow it to do so. Call to remembrance, holy
people, this world is only temporary, will never be permanent. During the
course of our allotted time only what we do for Christ will last for all eternity.
Carrying out God’s will does not mean living like an ascetic,
neglecting our earthly duties to our families and not caring about our fellow
men in the world, not enjoying any earthly pleasures. However, it does mean not allowing besetting sins or the
pressures of life to deter us from following after our faithful Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Despite all of these things we never put God on the back burner,
but keep Him as the Head and First in all matters, while living godly lives in
this present evil world:
Heb12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith; who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God.
It is Lord Jesus the Faithful and True One, Son of God who in
order to bring salvation to the lost and dying world ran His race set by God,
keeping His eyes on His Father. He ran it with joy knowing He would bring many
sons and daughters to glory. The wicked tried to shame Him, He wouldn’t stop
running, the devil tried to trip Him up by tempting Him, Jesus wouldn’t stop
running, the nation sent Him to death Jesus kept on running, death tried to
hold Him in its grip, but early one Sunday morning Jesus rose to life again
from the grave, forever having finished His race, having abolished death and holding the keys of hell and
death with all power and authority and having brought forth His Eternal New Covenant.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, I am fully persuaded,
convicted and convinced that all the people of God through the power of our
Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ know: Rom 8:37Nay, in all these
things we are more
than conquerors through him that loved us.
Phl 1:6 Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a
good work in you will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ:
Phl4:13I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.
Love and
truth forever, serola
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Mon, Jan 22nd - 5:19PM
STUDIES IN HEBREWS
CHAPTER 12
Brothers and sisters let us, the holy family of God, give our
sweet sacrifices of praises, blessings, and love offerings to our Triune God of
power, love, truth and mercy for His everlasting salvation, who has made us priests
under our High Priest and Lord, God the Son of God Jesus Christ.
Holy brothers and sisters, much love and peace to you always,
I give our God thanks for you, and for your fellowship in this study. May our
God of everlasting power and eternal life bless you mightily in body and spirit
in resting confidently in Him in rightly dividing His word:
2Ti 2:15 Study to
shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works.
Therefore, do not allow anyone to teach you anything about
God exclusively from books written by mere men. Some books can be helpful but
never, never as the sole source of understanding the Bible.
We know brethren, there can be no unity in the church apart
from the absolute truth of the Bible- finished in the New Covenant of God the
Son of God Jesus Christ. Every Christian
is commanded by God to Study and know the Bible for themselves after we are
taught it by pastors, elders, teachers. Let us also attend many Bible studies,
hold Bible studies, interactive Bible studies promote more rapid spiritual
growth.
With the exceptions of the apostles that Christ opened up the
Bible to ensure their ministry in establishing the church:Luk 24:45,
God commands that it be taught to believers who must habitually keep studying
it also on their own to live by it as well as to aid other believers and to
share it with the lost. Therefore, we should not assume that Christians know it
automatically.
Sadly, amongst the many mature Christians, we will find those
who are ignorant of scripture, not just new believers, but some in the pulpit
many years.
There is no need to hunt for the ignorant for they are
obvious in their speaking, writings, and teachings. There are many examples of ignorance. Most certainly,
when anyone tells the Christians welcome to the church, instead of church
welcome to the building- then we know the person has no knowledge that the
church is the people of God not the building they gather in to worship. Other indicators are usage of special lingo and terms about Christ's atonement as "substitutionary". They may also teach that salvation can be lost permanently or temporarily i.e. "backsliding", having no understanding of Christ's absolute promise of eternal salvation, eternal life, His indwelling, and promise of never leaving nor abandoning the believer.
We also know that someone is ignorant when we hear them
preach that only certain books of the Bible were written to/for Christians and
the rest only to/for the Jews when the Bible makes it abundantly clear: Rom 15:4 For whatsoever
things were written aforetime were
written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might
have hope.
Again, and again, dearly beloveds, we know that the Bible
makes it clear that the Word of God is the spiritual food for the whole of the
church and is absolutely necessary for every believer to grow to maturity and
live lives pleasing to God. We are the Lamb's sheep with swords, coming in peace, however, well able to defend the gospel and protect the flock.
We know, dearly beloveds, that the Bible is not a read once
and forget it book. Neither has God appointed nor commanded any so-called
spiritual elites, gurus, pundits, experts or scholars that the body general must depend upon alone to know the Bible. The Bible is for all Christians to be taught and come to know
God for themselves, no special training is necessary nor commanded by God. Without
the Holy Spirit given through faith in Lord Jesus no one can understand nor
obey the scriptures: 1Co 2:14.
We recall, again, holy people, that Paul had previously
taught these Hebrew believers the scriptures and afterwards they had in ignorance
laid it aside and went on with their lives-spiraling into spiritual decline,
having no teachers, no guidance under trials, and having grown impatient, tired
of trials, not wanting to wait any longer for God to reward them.
We note how gracious Paul is, not rebuking them, but
reteaching them and finding them highly receptive to go forward retaining and
living the word. Let us be gracious too should we find any
ignorant amongst us.
The Holy Spirit speaks out to all flashing spiritual neon
signs from the beginning, middle and end of this book and the whole of scripture
that all of our knowledge and works are worthless to God without faith that works by
love: Heb 11:6
But without faith it
is impossible to please him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Brethren, find laid out chapter 12 of Hebrews to study
personally on our own that the Word of God would minister to our personal needs.
Let us take time to carefully dine upon, feast upon, meditate, reflect, looking
to apply the word in living daily out of trust in our Lord, to please Him above
all.
We know that God our Father, God our Saviour, and God our
Holy Spirit is always right there in and with us working together to help us
understand the word, to comfort and to
guide us into all righteousness, for His glory and our good.
Heb 12:1Wherefore seeing
we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the
joy that was set before him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3For consider him that
endured such contradiction of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in
your minds. 4Ye
have not
yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
5 And ye have forgotten the
exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto
children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of
the Lord, nor faint when thou art
rebuked of him: 6For whom the
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he
receiveth.
7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with
you as with sons; for what son is
he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye
be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are
ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of
our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall
we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits, and live? 10 For they
verily for a few days chastened us after their
own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might
be partakers of his holines.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to
be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it
yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby. 12 Wherefore lift
up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13And make straight paths for your feet, lest
that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let
it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men,
and holiness, without which no man shall see the
Lord:
15 Looking diligently lest any
man fail of the grace of
God; lest any root of
bitterness springing up trouble you,
and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane
person, as Esau, who for one morsel of
meat sold his birthright. 17
For ye know how that afterward, when he would have
inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he
found no place of repentance, though he
sought it carefully with tears. 18 For ye are not come unto the
mount that might be touched, and that burned with
fire, nor unto
blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the
voice of words; which voice they that
heard intreated that the word should not be
spoken to them any more:
20 (For they could not endure that which
was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the
mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a
dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I
exceedingly fear and quake:)
22 But ye are come unto
mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of
angels, 23 To the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are
written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to
the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to
the
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better
things than that of Abel.
25 See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape,
if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the
earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once
more I shake not the
earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once
more, signifieth the removing of those things that are
shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which
cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let
us have grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear:
29 For our God is a
consuming fire. Love and truth forever, serola
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Sat, Jan 13th - 8:24PM
STUDIES IN HEBREWS
CHAPTER 11 VS 35-40
Brothers and sisters, much love, peace, power (Jhn 1:12But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name),
and blessings to you in the wonderful Name of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, God the Son of God, High Priest, Mediator, and Head
of the church His body, the royal priesthood of all believers, whom He
has made His living temple to indwell with Himself, and God our Father, and
God our Holy Spirit. In earlier chapters Paul revealed that most of Israel under the Mosaic Law did not enter into the kingdom for although they received the promises, they chose not to BELIEVE it, and therefore could not enter into it.
All thanks and praises be to our Triune God, our Guard
and our Guide into all truth in Him. It is not acceptable to God to just
receive His gospel, He commands that those who receive it believe and obey it also.
As we continue spiritually dining on the Word in this
study, dearly beloveds, in this new year let us also keep in remembrance
aways the
absolute authority, and unchanging eternal New Covenant of Jesus Christ: Christ's
Sacrifice Once for All
Heb 10:16This is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I
will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17And
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18Now
where remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin. Isa 43:25;
Jer
31:34; Psa 103:12.
Holy brethren, we
know how greatly God is offended by blasphemy against His gospel message of
grace and truth that He sent down with the Holy Ghost - guarantee of His
absolute truth/eternal power, that He declares: Mat 12:32And whosoever speaketh a
word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but
whosoever speaketh
against the
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world,
neither in the world to
come.
Blasphemeth: to vilify; specially, to speak
impiously:—(speak) blaspheme(-er, -mously, -my), defame, rail on, revile, slander: 2Pe 2:12;
1Co 12:3;
Gal 1:8-9;
1Ti 4:1
-2.
Speaking lies: speaking
(teaching) falsely, speaking lies-mendacious, i.e. promulgating erroneous
Christian doctrine:—speaking lies.
Remember,
the heretic rejects the inerrant absolute
truth of the Bible to pervert the gospel to deceive and turn people away
from God to themselves.
Rev 22:19
And if any man shall take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God
shall take
away his part out of the book of life, and out of the
holy city, and from the things which are
written in this book.
Gal6:7Be not deceived; God is not
mocked: for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap.
I.Mocked: to
turn up the nose or sneer at
II.to deride.
Brothers and
sisters, Paul continues to take these Hebrew believers, and us too, holy
brethren, on a journey of understanding of faith-that God allows/commands
that our faith be tested, tried, and proven through sufferings/persecutions/trials.
Our brother and apostle Peter encourages us all: (See this whole chapter) 1Pe 1:7
That the trial of your faith, being
much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be
found unto praise and honour and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
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Heb 11:35 Women received their dead raised
to life again: dearly beloveds, God is not silent about godly women. Here we
find women who did not lead an army to
battle as Deborah did- see judges 4. However, we see the power of faith
revealed that dwells in the heart and spirit of the believer who takes God at
His word without wavering or doubting resulting in the receiving of loved ones
from the dead to life.
AND OTHERS
And others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might
obtain a better resurrection:
Heb
11:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of
bonds and imprisonment:
Heb 11:37 They
were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were
slain with the sword: they wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38 (Of
whom the world was not worthy:) they
wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of
the earth.
Dearly beloveds, we have an abundance of sermons about mighty
men in battle fighting victoriously in faith for the Lord, and rightly so.
However, God commands, that these others not be left out, who
were not delivered, some lost everything, were killed, tortured, devalued/brutalized
as human beings, some had to run for their lives, were tempted in it-this too
is normative in the lives of believers as God allows, however not to all.
What does God have to say about these saints (G40 hagios)?
Heb 11:39 And these all, having
obtained a good report through faith, received not the
promise:
Dearly beloveds, we see that our God concluded them too in
His record of the faithful. This message is for us too, not just the saints (G40
hagios) of old. There are times, dearly beloveds, when we have to fight and
there are times God gives us the wisdom to know when we have to flee or even to
die. Nevertheless, all of these remained faithful, although the promise of the
New Messianic Covenant was to be manifested in the future, not to the faithful of the
past, nor those under the Mosaic Law.
Heb 11:40 God having
provided some better thing for us, that they without us
should not be made perfect. We know that Christ delivered the saints of old that had died
and were kept waiting for Him in the bosom of Abraham. Christ died bodily, but His spirit did not die. In fact immediately after Christ's bodily death/atoning
work on the cross He descended into the lower parts of earth with all power and
authority having the keys of death and hell taken back from the devil, and
released/freed these faithful believers, along with the faithful thief on
the cross, wherein they had been held captive in death: Psa 49:15; Hos 13:14; Jhn 11:25; Mat 27:50-53;
2Co 5:8; 2Ti 1:10.
Brothers and sisters, we know that God from the beginning
made His promise of permanent
salvation and
eternal forgiveness of ALL
sins through the eternal power of the future Messiah to come to all the
seed not just the Jews:
Jhn3:15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Jhn 3:16For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life..
Gen
26:4; Hos
2:23; Isa
56:7; Mar
11:17; Rom
3:29; Rom
9:25; Gal
3:8.
Rev 7:9
After this I beheld, and, lo, a
great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands;
Why do some say in error that the New Covenant is not for the
whole world but saves only those whom God has predetermined to be elected,
and everybody else will be lost?
We know, brethren, that this is a gross misinterpretation of:1Pe 1:2
Elect according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto
you, and peace, be multiplied.
Those who believe in error that Christ’s atonement is limited do not know
God, neither His unlimited eternal power, nor that His New Covenant is absolute, cannot be changed, abolished, or annulled-not even by God Himself as this is what God intended and is for all who will believe in Him for all time.
Scripture without error validates, proves, and interprets scripture within the
whole context of scripture completely within the whole context of both the O.T
and also within the whole of the final, finished and complete New Covenant of Jesus
Christ.
Through the inerrant scriptures we can easily answer the question
of who are the elect?-Whomsoever believes in Jesus
Christ. Christ is not bound by time, distance, nor space. He created it and
controls it, for we know one day He will cause it to cease.
At the
moment one believes in Lord Jesus Christ,
by the power of His atonement in which He paid for all of
our sins forever-He blots out, removes, demolishes, purges, destroys
absolutely/completely away All sins of the believer past, present, and future
for all time as though
they never happened, this is clearly declared absolutely in His New
Covenant as well as the O.T. Therefore, this means absolutely that all who come
to God through faith in Him are the elect- so say His inerrant New Covenant, in
full agreement with the many O.T verses: Isa 1:18
Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool. See Jer 31: 34.:
The New Covenant of Jesus Christ can never be nullified, abolished or changed in any way or manner for
all eternity-not even by God Himself, for that is His intent that it is a
forever covenant. Jesus is His eternally living High Priest forever and
unchanging: Heb 7:21;
Gal 3:17.
Brothers and sisters, we know that this does not mean that Christians
are free to live lives of sinfulness as we did before being saved, for the
scriptures gives an overabundance on how believers are to live after salvation
according to the Spirit not the flesh. This takes time, our ongoing study, and practice/living which is aided by the church as a whole not just the pastors, elders and teachers.
God’s Word is our spiritual food. Let us keep in remembrance,
dearly beloveds, that man cannot live on bread only, but by every word that
comes from the mouth of God.
Love and
truth forever, serola
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