Heb 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
Heb 5:2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
Heb 5:3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
Heb 5:4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
Heb 5:5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
Heb 5:6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him
Every single high priest taken from among sinning man needs an offering for his own sins. High priests called by God, not by each other.
Our great High Priest Christ did not glorify Himself- God glorified Him.
Our great High Priest-- encompassed in flesh offered up prayers and supplications with STRONG crying and tears to God.
Our great High Priest reverenced His Father, believed in His Father and because of His belief in His Father He was heard by the Father. We think it's a given that the Son would be heard of the Father, but the Son as He was encompassed in flesh did not have the same access to the Father as He'd had before taking on flesh. The Son needed to pray. Think about it for few moments. The Son needed to pray. IF the Son needed to pray how much more do WE need to pray? If the Son was heard of the Father because He reverenced, because He feared, because He believed do we need to do no less? The Son worshipped and honored the Father. Even though he was a SON, He learned obedience how? By the things He suffered! We suffer. We bemoan just how much we suffer. We dare to say we've suffered too much, that the suffering is more than we can bear. The Son suffered. The Son wasn't pampered and spoiled, the Son wasn't given favoritism. If the Son had given been given favoritism Satan would have been quick to point it out and claim that Jesus did not suffer as a man at all. The connection that the Son had with the Father is the connection WE need to have with the Father as adopted sons.
The Son suffered and learned from His suffering, He learned obedience. Being made perfect… He BECAME the author of eternal salvation to all of US who obey HIM.
It's so easy for us to imagine that the Son of God just instantly knows everything and so He wouldn't need to learn obedience. It's equally easy for us to imagine that the Son of God wouldn't need to suffer to learn anything at all. Suffer to learn. We are under the false impression that suffering is for sinners, we suffer because we sin. Then we come face to face with the innocent suffering and we cannot comprehend why. We hear of babies and young children suffering and we know they are innocent of any gross, willful sinning, and our hearts just ache for them. Christ, the Son of God knew no sin and He suffered.
'Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered'
We know Christ didn't like what He had to go through.
Mat 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
Mat 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
IF it be possible…let this cup pass from me. This from the Son of God!
We suffer and often believe we don't deserve the suffering, at least not to the extent we are called to suffer and we are sinners truly deserving of death, let alone suffering.
What obedience can a child who suffers learn? Perhaps none, but perhaps the lesson if for another and the suffering inducing another's suffering. We cannot understand all the ways of God. We can know that ALL things will eventually work for good to them that LOVE Him.
By the grace of God may we learn obedience and if we are called to suffer let us remember the most Innocent of all suffered so that He might learn obedience and we learn obedience through Him. We can't let the lessons be lost, we must realize that the suffering will be for our good some way, some how and that God be glorified in all!
In His amazing love!
Amen.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
God will not condone evil
Psa 50:21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
Do we do this? Do people do this? Do we imagine God to be one like ourselves? We who have so many flaws, we who are filled with the results of sin have the audacity to imagine that God is anything like us?
In this passage the wicked are being talked of…
Psa 50:16 'But unto the wicked God saith, …'
God is not a man.
Yes, God's Son became man in all ways without sin, but God is Spirit and not man. We are made in God's image but the image of something is not necessarily anything like the composition. You can decorate a cake to make it look like a *real* car but in the end you can cut into that cake and eat it while you can't cut into a real car eat it. The composition of cake and metal are completely different. The image might look the same, but the substance is not. Am I saying we in our sin depreciated state are anything like the first man created out of dust? Yes. We are like the first man but not in the newly created state. Made in the image of God and yet God is not altogether one like we are- either in a physical state or any other.
The wicked imagine God to be like themselves, that God condones their actions but He doesn't. Many wicked people live healthy and happy in themselves and the godly suffer painfully. The wicked and the godly might associate this fact with having God's favor or not. The wicked might go on believing that God understands them and is like them and that is why they are allowed to prosper, never fully realizing that is far from the truth. On the same token, the godly might believe God has abandoned them when He hasn't. God's ways are not our ways. To even imagine believing God is 'altogether such an one as the' wicked is ludicrous and yet the arrogance of the wicked blind them.
Lucifer imagined Himself as God and has been proven wrong and he is an angel. The wicked imagine God like themselves and they will be proven wrong as well. God does not agree to anything evil.
Psa 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
Psa 50:17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
Psa 50:18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
Psa 50:19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
Psa 50:20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.
The wicked HATE instruction.
The wicked cast God's words behind them.
The wicked consent to evil.
The wicked partake with evil.
The wicked give their mouths-their tongues to evil.
The wicked speak against their own flesh and blood.
God is NOTHING like the wicked and will not accept the wicked. The wicked can imagine God to be like them all they want. The wicked can delude themselves and will delude themselves, believing God understands their evil and accepts them anyway- they don't know God at all. God will not accept evil.
We can let ourselves be fooled into believing God will accept us when we refuse His instruction, when we ignore His words, when we consent to evil and partake in it. We need to seek repentance and forgiveness from God, believing in His words fully, knowing that He will NOT consent to evil even if the most supposedly God-fearing person believes He will. People are led astray when they bring God down to their level and imagine Him to be like them. God will NOT consent to evil in any way, shape, or form. Evil must be confessed. Evil must be repented of. Evil will be destroyed never accepted. Our sins, by the grace of God, will be forgiven and this is the plan of salvation offered to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior.
As I think about what I've just written it strikes me once again that this is on point with the theme introduced with C.S. Lewis' writing on excusing sin… I'm going to copy it once again here.
Excerpt from Weight of Glory - "On Forgiveness" C.S. Lewis
'I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to EXCUSE me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing.
Forgiveness says--
"Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it against you and everything between us two will be exactly as it was before. "
But excusing says--
"I see that you couldn't help it or didn't mean it; you weren't really to blame."
If one was not really to blame then there is nothing to forgive.
In that sense forgiveness and excusing are almost opposites.
Of course, in dozens of cases, either between God and man, or between one man and another, there may be a mixture of the two. Part of what seemed at first to be the sins turns out to be really nobody's fault and is excused; the bit that is left over is forgiven.
…. But the trouble is that what we call "asking God's forgiveness" very often really consists in asking God to ACCEPT our excuses.
What leads us into this mistake is the fact that there usually is some amount of excuse, some
"extenuating circumstances."
We are so very anxious to point these out to God (and to ourselves) that we are apt to FORGET the really important thing; that is, the bit left over, the bit which the excuses don't cover, the bit which is INEXCUSABLE but NOT, thank God, UNFORGIVEABLE . And if we forget this, we shall go away IMAGINING that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our OWN EXCUSES. They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied about ourselves. '
End excerpt.
We really are to blame for our sins and God- who is NOT like us- will not excuse our sins. Let's stop fooling ourselves. Let us not be afraid to speak out against sin and the inexcusability of it. Yes, we sin- and we can be forgiven of our sins, but NEVER excused for them.
By the grace of God may we never, ever try to place God on our level, never!
In His love, in His mercy, only by His grace and love!
Amen.
Do we do this? Do people do this? Do we imagine God to be one like ourselves? We who have so many flaws, we who are filled with the results of sin have the audacity to imagine that God is anything like us?
In this passage the wicked are being talked of…
Psa 50:16 'But unto the wicked God saith, …'
God is not a man.
Yes, God's Son became man in all ways without sin, but God is Spirit and not man. We are made in God's image but the image of something is not necessarily anything like the composition. You can decorate a cake to make it look like a *real* car but in the end you can cut into that cake and eat it while you can't cut into a real car eat it. The composition of cake and metal are completely different. The image might look the same, but the substance is not. Am I saying we in our sin depreciated state are anything like the first man created out of dust? Yes. We are like the first man but not in the newly created state. Made in the image of God and yet God is not altogether one like we are- either in a physical state or any other.
The wicked imagine God to be like themselves, that God condones their actions but He doesn't. Many wicked people live healthy and happy in themselves and the godly suffer painfully. The wicked and the godly might associate this fact with having God's favor or not. The wicked might go on believing that God understands them and is like them and that is why they are allowed to prosper, never fully realizing that is far from the truth. On the same token, the godly might believe God has abandoned them when He hasn't. God's ways are not our ways. To even imagine believing God is 'altogether such an one as the' wicked is ludicrous and yet the arrogance of the wicked blind them.
Lucifer imagined Himself as God and has been proven wrong and he is an angel. The wicked imagine God like themselves and they will be proven wrong as well. God does not agree to anything evil.
Psa 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
Psa 50:17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
Psa 50:18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
Psa 50:19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
Psa 50:20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.
The wicked HATE instruction.
The wicked cast God's words behind them.
The wicked consent to evil.
The wicked partake with evil.
The wicked give their mouths-their tongues to evil.
The wicked speak against their own flesh and blood.
God is NOTHING like the wicked and will not accept the wicked. The wicked can imagine God to be like them all they want. The wicked can delude themselves and will delude themselves, believing God understands their evil and accepts them anyway- they don't know God at all. God will not accept evil.
We can let ourselves be fooled into believing God will accept us when we refuse His instruction, when we ignore His words, when we consent to evil and partake in it. We need to seek repentance and forgiveness from God, believing in His words fully, knowing that He will NOT consent to evil even if the most supposedly God-fearing person believes He will. People are led astray when they bring God down to their level and imagine Him to be like them. God will NOT consent to evil in any way, shape, or form. Evil must be confessed. Evil must be repented of. Evil will be destroyed never accepted. Our sins, by the grace of God, will be forgiven and this is the plan of salvation offered to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior.
As I think about what I've just written it strikes me once again that this is on point with the theme introduced with C.S. Lewis' writing on excusing sin… I'm going to copy it once again here.
Excerpt from Weight of Glory - "On Forgiveness" C.S. Lewis
'I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to EXCUSE me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing.
Forgiveness says--
"Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it against you and everything between us two will be exactly as it was before. "
But excusing says--
"I see that you couldn't help it or didn't mean it; you weren't really to blame."
If one was not really to blame then there is nothing to forgive.
In that sense forgiveness and excusing are almost opposites.
Of course, in dozens of cases, either between God and man, or between one man and another, there may be a mixture of the two. Part of what seemed at first to be the sins turns out to be really nobody's fault and is excused; the bit that is left over is forgiven.
…. But the trouble is that what we call "asking God's forgiveness" very often really consists in asking God to ACCEPT our excuses.
What leads us into this mistake is the fact that there usually is some amount of excuse, some
"extenuating circumstances."
We are so very anxious to point these out to God (and to ourselves) that we are apt to FORGET the really important thing; that is, the bit left over, the bit which the excuses don't cover, the bit which is INEXCUSABLE but NOT, thank God, UNFORGIVEABLE . And if we forget this, we shall go away IMAGINING that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our OWN EXCUSES. They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied about ourselves. '
End excerpt.
We really are to blame for our sins and God- who is NOT like us- will not excuse our sins. Let's stop fooling ourselves. Let us not be afraid to speak out against sin and the inexcusability of it. Yes, we sin- and we can be forgiven of our sins, but NEVER excused for them.
By the grace of God may we never, ever try to place God on our level, never!
In His love, in His mercy, only by His grace and love!
Amen.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Words of truth- fitted to thy lips
Pro 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
Pro 22:18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
Pro 22:19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
Pro 22:20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
Pro 22:21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
I read this passage the other day and it just jumped out at me. I love this…
'They shall withal be fitted in thy lips'
What shall be fitted to our lips? The words of the wise, knowledge of the Lord, the words of truth.
Why shall they be fitted in our lips? That we might answer the words of truth to them that send us. Who sends us? Any that call unto us. We have to be ready to answer don't we?
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear
Answer words of truth. The words of truth are of God. The words of truth are of salvation and even before Christ they were still of salvation- all things pointed to salvation in our Lord- before, during, and after His coming. Life is our Savior. Life is the truth in our Savior.
To have the words of God fitted to our lips is amazing! They can be fitted to our lips if we KEEP them within us. If we trust in the Lord. If we have faith. If we believe. If we apply our hearts to the knowledge of God, the knowledge of salvation.
I'm still feeling the sadness of the recent announcement about Stephen Hawkings touting that God isn't in creation. Oh, I know there will always be people who don't believe in God and I've known that for a long time. I also know that for as many as Hawkings might seduce to his man-made theories he'll also make others believe even more in God. God allows what He allows for reasons He alone can understand at times. We often wonder how and why things are allowed especially bad things, and that's when our faith has to be strong. We have to believe that the reasons are just even when they make no sense to us. This is where a lot of people start to waver. This is where faith is required and faith wavers. This is where so called people of science and logic jump in and say not to believe. I've had it happen to me in the past. Someone I admired too much started to work their intellectual wiles on me to convince me that the Bible was just man's invention to give order to society and it's like a fairy tale that keeps attracting the weak minded, giving them a crutch to fall back onto rather than admit that none of it is true and life is what it is without any of the Bible. Of course their words were much more seductive and convincing and I was at a low point in my spiritual walk when I was listening to these things. Only by the grace of God have I been brought back to Him fully and not captured by those lies. Without God there is no sense in the world at all whatsoever. Existence without God is heartbreaking, meaningless, and hopeless. I will NOT live without hope in salvation, without hope in our Savior. Tell me whatever you want to tell me. Give me your theories, give me your logic, give me your facts even undisputed facts, prove away by science any and all things in the Bible, I don't care! Satan, who is smarter than the smartest human being will use his powers to influence mankind and make their intellect persuasive to the faithless, to those who waver, to the weak. People of intellect don’t like to be called weak and will swear up and down that they are very strong-minded without a single mental weakness, but they are the weakest minded ever when it comes to faith.
I want to have the words of God fitted to my lips! I want to be able to speak and make known the truth of God to any and all that might ask me the reason for my faith. I want God to use me for His will in all things. And I hope to give ALL glory to God, always!
Pro 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
Pro 22:18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
Pro 22:19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
Pro 22:20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
Pro 22:21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
For it is a pleasant thing IF thou keep them within thee- they shall withal be fitted in thy lips- that thy trust may be in the LORD.
By His grace now and forever! In His love, through HIS righteousness!
Amen.
Pro 22:18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
Pro 22:19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
Pro 22:20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
Pro 22:21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
I read this passage the other day and it just jumped out at me. I love this…
'They shall withal be fitted in thy lips'
What shall be fitted to our lips? The words of the wise, knowledge of the Lord, the words of truth.
Why shall they be fitted in our lips? That we might answer the words of truth to them that send us. Who sends us? Any that call unto us. We have to be ready to answer don't we?
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear
Answer words of truth. The words of truth are of God. The words of truth are of salvation and even before Christ they were still of salvation- all things pointed to salvation in our Lord- before, during, and after His coming. Life is our Savior. Life is the truth in our Savior.
To have the words of God fitted to our lips is amazing! They can be fitted to our lips if we KEEP them within us. If we trust in the Lord. If we have faith. If we believe. If we apply our hearts to the knowledge of God, the knowledge of salvation.
I'm still feeling the sadness of the recent announcement about Stephen Hawkings touting that God isn't in creation. Oh, I know there will always be people who don't believe in God and I've known that for a long time. I also know that for as many as Hawkings might seduce to his man-made theories he'll also make others believe even more in God. God allows what He allows for reasons He alone can understand at times. We often wonder how and why things are allowed especially bad things, and that's when our faith has to be strong. We have to believe that the reasons are just even when they make no sense to us. This is where a lot of people start to waver. This is where faith is required and faith wavers. This is where so called people of science and logic jump in and say not to believe. I've had it happen to me in the past. Someone I admired too much started to work their intellectual wiles on me to convince me that the Bible was just man's invention to give order to society and it's like a fairy tale that keeps attracting the weak minded, giving them a crutch to fall back onto rather than admit that none of it is true and life is what it is without any of the Bible. Of course their words were much more seductive and convincing and I was at a low point in my spiritual walk when I was listening to these things. Only by the grace of God have I been brought back to Him fully and not captured by those lies. Without God there is no sense in the world at all whatsoever. Existence without God is heartbreaking, meaningless, and hopeless. I will NOT live without hope in salvation, without hope in our Savior. Tell me whatever you want to tell me. Give me your theories, give me your logic, give me your facts even undisputed facts, prove away by science any and all things in the Bible, I don't care! Satan, who is smarter than the smartest human being will use his powers to influence mankind and make their intellect persuasive to the faithless, to those who waver, to the weak. People of intellect don’t like to be called weak and will swear up and down that they are very strong-minded without a single mental weakness, but they are the weakest minded ever when it comes to faith.
I want to have the words of God fitted to my lips! I want to be able to speak and make known the truth of God to any and all that might ask me the reason for my faith. I want God to use me for His will in all things. And I hope to give ALL glory to God, always!
Pro 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
Pro 22:18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
Pro 22:19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
Pro 22:20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
Pro 22:21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
For it is a pleasant thing IF thou keep them within thee- they shall withal be fitted in thy lips- that thy trust may be in the LORD.
By His grace now and forever! In His love, through HIS righteousness!
Amen.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Discerner of thoughts
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
God's word- quick, powerful, sharp, piercing, a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart.
We might argue that a lawyer, a very smart and savvy lawyer is like that, right? They get in court or sit at a negotiating table and when they open their mouths every word that comes out seems quick, powerful, sharp, piercing… sometimes it even seems as if they can see right through a person, doesn't it? Have you ever met a person like that, maybe not a lawyer, but someone who just seemed to be brilliant and in an almost frightening way able to get into your head? Yes? No? Maybe? As I sit here writing this I'm trying to recall if I've ever met someone like that. Part of me wants to say I have, but I'm not sure. Yes, I've met brilliant people- you know- people who just seem to have an edge on the logical side in the smarts department- whose I.Q. is a tad bit above normal. And yes, I've met people who seem to understand where I'm coming from. But I’m not so sure I've really ever met anyone who has been able to discern my thoughts and the intents of my heart. Once in a blue moon someone might teasingly say 'I know what you're thinking' and then because of already seeing outward responses leading up to that declaration they might be able to guess right. That's all it is though, a guess based upon clues they've seen moments before. They might be sitting next to me as I watch a Dairy Queen commercial on television and then pop up and say, I know what you're thinking, you want ice cream. Or maybe because they know me better they might determine exactly what sort of ice cream I might be wanting. It's not true discerning of my thoughts. Though some people claim to be mind readers can we trust their mind reading? They use tricks and who is not to say they don't have a head's up through the spiritual realm but not in a good way. Discerning our thoughts and intents of our hearts is for God, not for man and if Satan can get to us by seemingly working the works we attribute to God, he's deceived us.
God's word is quick, power, sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, joints and marrow, a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart.
Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
God sees us in a way NO other can see us. Angels, both good and bad (Satan included), can only see so much. Yes, they can witness ALL our actions every secret action, but they cannot know our hearts, they cannot discern our thoughts perfectly. They may think because of our actions that they know us perfectly- but they don't- not like God can know us. We are fully manifest in his sight- every imperfection, every sin, every good deed, every pain, every heartache, every joy, every thanksgiving, every prayer we are naked not only physically, but spiritually to God. Every doubt, every belief, every hope, every despair, God knows. We are known. You may have thought from time to time that no one understands you, that no one can possibly understand you. You may have even believed that you're not sure you even understand yourself. We can rest in the knowledge that God does know us- every bad bit and every good bit, and we can praise Him for being able to take our filthy hearts and clean them.
*
1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous
Today there are people who go to other people seeking to use them as their advocates with God. It's great to have an advocate - someone to plead our cause- isn't it? Some times we turn to friends or family to stick up for us, to plead our cause to others around us. You know what I'm talking about, you've had an argument with someone before and gone to a third party for their opinion on the matter hoping they'll choose your side and defend your position- take up your cause- be your advocate. When you have an advocate then feel supported, you feel defended, you feel hope.
A priest, and a high priest in the days before Christ's death and resurrection held the position of an advocate. The priest helped a person reunite with God. Without the priest to intercede by taking the blood of the sin sacrifice a person made and offering it to God in the various ways- a necessary step in the process of forgiveness instituted by God was lost. The sanctuary service used all pointed to the one ultimate sacrifice that could cover our sins, and eventually blot them all out . The priests on earth were priests that had to be cleansed themselves of sin- they were imperfect advocates. The perfect advocate- the perfect High Priest came in Jesus Christ. We have a perfect Advocate! The One who knows us like know other is our High Priest, our Advocate with the Father.
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Our Advocate, Jesus Christ, Our LORD and Savior! An Advocate like no other! An Advocate who took on humanity and felt every temptation a human can feel. Our Advocate was touched with the FEELING of our infirmities. He understood, He FELT every temptation, the powerful pull of temptation. Our Advocate knows exactly what it means to be tempted in ALL ways just like we are tempted. Our Advocate never fell victim to temptation, never. Our Advocate relied on His connection with God the Father, ever trusting in Him.
We are sinners, we NEED and Advocate, we NEED the Great High Priest , Jesus the Son of God. Without our Advocate we have no hope. With our Advocate we can BOLDLY go to the throne of grace to obtain mercy, and grace to help us when we need that help-which is always! I never ever want to be without my Advocate. I never want to be without my High Priest. No human being can intercede for us. Yes, we can pray for one another, but we cannot offer any sacrifice of our own and find forgiveness for our sins, or sins of another. Our High Priest in Heaven alone can go before God and plead His innocent blood. No man on earth can hand out God's forgiveness. We can forgive a person, but we cannot tell anyone they are forgiven by God- that their sins are forgiven by anything we've done, they must seek that forgiveness from God personally. We can tell another that God will forgive them if they repent and ask for forgiveness from Him, but only that person knows whether they repent, only that person can make that personal connection with Christ. We can tell someone their sins are forgiven by us, but our forgiveness is NOT God's forgiveness- they need God's forgiveness and must go directly to their Advocate, directly to their High Priest in Heaven who will intercede for them with the Father.
By the mercy and love of our High Priest, through His grace may we come before Him seeking the mercy and grace He alone can give to us.
Amen.
God's word- quick, powerful, sharp, piercing, a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart.
We might argue that a lawyer, a very smart and savvy lawyer is like that, right? They get in court or sit at a negotiating table and when they open their mouths every word that comes out seems quick, powerful, sharp, piercing… sometimes it even seems as if they can see right through a person, doesn't it? Have you ever met a person like that, maybe not a lawyer, but someone who just seemed to be brilliant and in an almost frightening way able to get into your head? Yes? No? Maybe? As I sit here writing this I'm trying to recall if I've ever met someone like that. Part of me wants to say I have, but I'm not sure. Yes, I've met brilliant people- you know- people who just seem to have an edge on the logical side in the smarts department- whose I.Q. is a tad bit above normal. And yes, I've met people who seem to understand where I'm coming from. But I’m not so sure I've really ever met anyone who has been able to discern my thoughts and the intents of my heart. Once in a blue moon someone might teasingly say 'I know what you're thinking' and then because of already seeing outward responses leading up to that declaration they might be able to guess right. That's all it is though, a guess based upon clues they've seen moments before. They might be sitting next to me as I watch a Dairy Queen commercial on television and then pop up and say, I know what you're thinking, you want ice cream. Or maybe because they know me better they might determine exactly what sort of ice cream I might be wanting. It's not true discerning of my thoughts. Though some people claim to be mind readers can we trust their mind reading? They use tricks and who is not to say they don't have a head's up through the spiritual realm but not in a good way. Discerning our thoughts and intents of our hearts is for God, not for man and if Satan can get to us by seemingly working the works we attribute to God, he's deceived us.
God's word is quick, power, sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, joints and marrow, a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart.
Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
God sees us in a way NO other can see us. Angels, both good and bad (Satan included), can only see so much. Yes, they can witness ALL our actions every secret action, but they cannot know our hearts, they cannot discern our thoughts perfectly. They may think because of our actions that they know us perfectly- but they don't- not like God can know us. We are fully manifest in his sight- every imperfection, every sin, every good deed, every pain, every heartache, every joy, every thanksgiving, every prayer we are naked not only physically, but spiritually to God. Every doubt, every belief, every hope, every despair, God knows. We are known. You may have thought from time to time that no one understands you, that no one can possibly understand you. You may have even believed that you're not sure you even understand yourself. We can rest in the knowledge that God does know us- every bad bit and every good bit, and we can praise Him for being able to take our filthy hearts and clean them.
*
1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous
Today there are people who go to other people seeking to use them as their advocates with God. It's great to have an advocate - someone to plead our cause- isn't it? Some times we turn to friends or family to stick up for us, to plead our cause to others around us. You know what I'm talking about, you've had an argument with someone before and gone to a third party for their opinion on the matter hoping they'll choose your side and defend your position- take up your cause- be your advocate. When you have an advocate then feel supported, you feel defended, you feel hope.
A priest, and a high priest in the days before Christ's death and resurrection held the position of an advocate. The priest helped a person reunite with God. Without the priest to intercede by taking the blood of the sin sacrifice a person made and offering it to God in the various ways- a necessary step in the process of forgiveness instituted by God was lost. The sanctuary service used all pointed to the one ultimate sacrifice that could cover our sins, and eventually blot them all out . The priests on earth were priests that had to be cleansed themselves of sin- they were imperfect advocates. The perfect advocate- the perfect High Priest came in Jesus Christ. We have a perfect Advocate! The One who knows us like know other is our High Priest, our Advocate with the Father.
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Our Advocate, Jesus Christ, Our LORD and Savior! An Advocate like no other! An Advocate who took on humanity and felt every temptation a human can feel. Our Advocate was touched with the FEELING of our infirmities. He understood, He FELT every temptation, the powerful pull of temptation. Our Advocate knows exactly what it means to be tempted in ALL ways just like we are tempted. Our Advocate never fell victim to temptation, never. Our Advocate relied on His connection with God the Father, ever trusting in Him.
We are sinners, we NEED and Advocate, we NEED the Great High Priest , Jesus the Son of God. Without our Advocate we have no hope. With our Advocate we can BOLDLY go to the throne of grace to obtain mercy, and grace to help us when we need that help-which is always! I never ever want to be without my Advocate. I never want to be without my High Priest. No human being can intercede for us. Yes, we can pray for one another, but we cannot offer any sacrifice of our own and find forgiveness for our sins, or sins of another. Our High Priest in Heaven alone can go before God and plead His innocent blood. No man on earth can hand out God's forgiveness. We can forgive a person, but we cannot tell anyone they are forgiven by God- that their sins are forgiven by anything we've done, they must seek that forgiveness from God personally. We can tell another that God will forgive them if they repent and ask for forgiveness from Him, but only that person knows whether they repent, only that person can make that personal connection with Christ. We can tell someone their sins are forgiven by us, but our forgiveness is NOT God's forgiveness- they need God's forgiveness and must go directly to their Advocate, directly to their High Priest in Heaven who will intercede for them with the Father.
By the mercy and love of our High Priest, through His grace may we come before Him seeking the mercy and grace He alone can give to us.
Amen.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Our Creator's Rest
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Let us therefore fear…let us be AFRAID…lest a promise being left us of entering into HIS REST- ANY of you should seem to come short of it.
You know what a promise is and so do I. You know what it means to keep a promise and what it means to not keep a promise. You know what a conditional promise is- a promise given based on certain conditions being met. When we don't meet the conditions we fall short of receiving the promise. The promise could be something simple as keeping your room clean and receiving a treat. Don't keep your room clean- don't receive a treat. That isn't life altering, but losing out on God's promises are life eternal- threatening. We need to be AFRAID of not being able to receive God's promise. Fear isn't always such a horrible thing- fear teaches us to be cautious in a lot of potentially harmful situations. Constant fear, irrational fear can be very harmful, but not all fear is harmful. We should be alarmed not terrorized.
The fear here in Hebrews 4:1 is the Greek word that can mean being 'alarmed'.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
The word fear in 1 Jn 4:18 means exceeding fear-terror.
These two verses aren't contradicting one another- one saying to fear the other not to fear. One verse is telling us we should be alarmed, we should be concerned that we don't enter into the promised rest. The other verse is telling us that God's perfect love has no room for terror, but His love cast out terror, that to live in terror is not living in His perfect love.
Fear-- be afraid of losing out on God's rest.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
The word of God is preached- and it is ONLY profitable when it is believed, when there is faith to believe in that word of God, in the plan of salvation through our Savior. The plan of salvation means nothing to the person who hears it and chooses not to have faith in it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Faith brings the promise of rest, God's rest. God rested on the seventh day after creation- He blessed that day of rest. God emphasized the importance of that seventh day of resting by giving us every seventh day to enter into the rest He created for us. When He led His captive people out of Israel He pointedly had them entering into that rest every seventh day. TODAY God's people enter in His Sabbath rest every seven days.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
David said that, in worshipping the LORD! Read it for yourself--
Psa 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
Psa 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Time set aside to worship our Lord, to worship our God, to give thanksgiving and honor, all praise to our Creator-- one day we will enter in God's rest perfectly. Some might wonder why God would give a Sabbath rest to people newly created. Did they work? Isn't that something that should be done away with in the perfect world, no work, absolutely NOT! Adam was to tend the garden, to tend the animals, but one day out of seven there was a rest. Just as GOD Himself would not NEED to rest, yet He created a day of rest after creation why? For mankind the Sabbath was created. A day for us to ever remember our Creator, a day to worship our Creator for the gift of life. A day that would bring us into closer communion with our God, rather than day after ceaseless day of living just for the sake of living for self. We are created beings, blessed in our creation and we can never forget this, never.
Heb 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Jesus observed the Sabbath day like all Jews did. The only out of the ordinary thing He did was remind God's people that the Sabbath was made for them and not them for the Sabbath, that the severe strictures and rules the priesthood had placed upon the Sabbath were manmade rules not God's. Jesus NEVER stopped observing the Sabbath. Even after He was dead His followers asked that His body be taken down off the cross before the Sabbath.
Mar 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
Mar 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mar 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Mar 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
Surely if Jesus had instituted a NEW rest this wouldn't have happened.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
There REMAINS a rest to the people of God. Praise God!
A Sabbath rest- ceasing from our OWN works! Could we, should we do any less?! God ceased from His!!!
Labour to enter into that rest! Unbelief will keep us from that rest. Unbelief will take God from us.
Right now as we have worldly men of prominence claiming that God had nothing to do with creation, we need to fall on our knees before our Creator and beg for His mercy, for His forgiveness, and for the blind to see. We know especially in the last days more and more will turn from God - even those caught up in false gods, false worship believing they are worshipping the true. We know that there will be all sorts of evil on levels we can scarcely imagine. We have to pray always! We have to enter into God's weekly Sabbath, His seventh-day Sabbath with hearts ready to be created new in Him, with our filthy rags ready to be replaced by the robes of HIS righteousness! We have to cease from worshipping self and worship- really worship our CREATOR, our GOD!
May God bless us on this Sabbath evening and into the Sabbath day, bless us with His amazing love, washed in the HOLY SPIRIT so we may see, rich in his faith, gold tried in fire, clothed with His white raiment- His righteousness!
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
By His grace!!!!
Amen.
Let us therefore fear…let us be AFRAID…lest a promise being left us of entering into HIS REST- ANY of you should seem to come short of it.
You know what a promise is and so do I. You know what it means to keep a promise and what it means to not keep a promise. You know what a conditional promise is- a promise given based on certain conditions being met. When we don't meet the conditions we fall short of receiving the promise. The promise could be something simple as keeping your room clean and receiving a treat. Don't keep your room clean- don't receive a treat. That isn't life altering, but losing out on God's promises are life eternal- threatening. We need to be AFRAID of not being able to receive God's promise. Fear isn't always such a horrible thing- fear teaches us to be cautious in a lot of potentially harmful situations. Constant fear, irrational fear can be very harmful, but not all fear is harmful. We should be alarmed not terrorized.
The fear here in Hebrews 4:1 is the Greek word that can mean being 'alarmed'.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
The word fear in 1 Jn 4:18 means exceeding fear-terror.
These two verses aren't contradicting one another- one saying to fear the other not to fear. One verse is telling us we should be alarmed, we should be concerned that we don't enter into the promised rest. The other verse is telling us that God's perfect love has no room for terror, but His love cast out terror, that to live in terror is not living in His perfect love.
Fear-- be afraid of losing out on God's rest.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
The word of God is preached- and it is ONLY profitable when it is believed, when there is faith to believe in that word of God, in the plan of salvation through our Savior. The plan of salvation means nothing to the person who hears it and chooses not to have faith in it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Faith brings the promise of rest, God's rest. God rested on the seventh day after creation- He blessed that day of rest. God emphasized the importance of that seventh day of resting by giving us every seventh day to enter into the rest He created for us. When He led His captive people out of Israel He pointedly had them entering into that rest every seventh day. TODAY God's people enter in His Sabbath rest every seven days.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
David said that, in worshipping the LORD! Read it for yourself--
Psa 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
Psa 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Time set aside to worship our Lord, to worship our God, to give thanksgiving and honor, all praise to our Creator-- one day we will enter in God's rest perfectly. Some might wonder why God would give a Sabbath rest to people newly created. Did they work? Isn't that something that should be done away with in the perfect world, no work, absolutely NOT! Adam was to tend the garden, to tend the animals, but one day out of seven there was a rest. Just as GOD Himself would not NEED to rest, yet He created a day of rest after creation why? For mankind the Sabbath was created. A day for us to ever remember our Creator, a day to worship our Creator for the gift of life. A day that would bring us into closer communion with our God, rather than day after ceaseless day of living just for the sake of living for self. We are created beings, blessed in our creation and we can never forget this, never.
Heb 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Jesus observed the Sabbath day like all Jews did. The only out of the ordinary thing He did was remind God's people that the Sabbath was made for them and not them for the Sabbath, that the severe strictures and rules the priesthood had placed upon the Sabbath were manmade rules not God's. Jesus NEVER stopped observing the Sabbath. Even after He was dead His followers asked that His body be taken down off the cross before the Sabbath.
Mar 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
Mar 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mar 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Mar 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
Surely if Jesus had instituted a NEW rest this wouldn't have happened.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
There REMAINS a rest to the people of God. Praise God!
A Sabbath rest- ceasing from our OWN works! Could we, should we do any less?! God ceased from His!!!
Labour to enter into that rest! Unbelief will keep us from that rest. Unbelief will take God from us.
Right now as we have worldly men of prominence claiming that God had nothing to do with creation, we need to fall on our knees before our Creator and beg for His mercy, for His forgiveness, and for the blind to see. We know especially in the last days more and more will turn from God - even those caught up in false gods, false worship believing they are worshipping the true. We know that there will be all sorts of evil on levels we can scarcely imagine. We have to pray always! We have to enter into God's weekly Sabbath, His seventh-day Sabbath with hearts ready to be created new in Him, with our filthy rags ready to be replaced by the robes of HIS righteousness! We have to cease from worshipping self and worship- really worship our CREATOR, our GOD!
May God bless us on this Sabbath evening and into the Sabbath day, bless us with His amazing love, washed in the HOLY SPIRIT so we may see, rich in his faith, gold tried in fire, clothed with His white raiment- His righteousness!
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
By His grace!!!!
Amen.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Unbelief is deadly
Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Compare-
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Compare-
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness
These verses are being repeated with slight variations in the same chapter- why? We have to note it, we have to ask ourselves why and the only real answer to that is the usual one. Something is repeated for emphasis, right? When you repeat an instruction you're doing so in hopes the one you are instructing won't forget what you're saying and understand its importance.
We are PARTAKERS of Christ, PARTAKERS of the heavenly calling. This is something so amazing we don't appreciate what it really means. We've been so jaded that we can scarcely comprehend this let alone feel the joy, or the importance of what it all means. How can we lightly say or even think- I am a partaker of Christ, I am a partaker of the heavenly calling? How can we read these words and not understand how incredibly blessed and honored we are by having this opportunity? We're so jaded, so incredibly beaten down spiritually that we can't truly comprehend what this means. It's deliverance! As surely as God's people were enslaved in Egypt we are enslaved today to Satan in so many ways. We need to be set free in Christ. We need to look forward past the here and now. We need to understand that this life is so very temporary. It weighs on us though. Life with all its problems weigh us down heavily- the 'cares of this life' can be so heavily they over come us if we let them. Satan would blind us to our heavenly calling at every opportunity. We are called to remember we are partakers of Christ. We are called NOT to harden our hearts. How does a heart become hardened? Through disbelief, through forgetfulness of the heavenly calling, through letting this world and ALL it's awful problems be overwhelming and consuming.
Heb 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Again, compare--
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Unbelief is deadly.
We have to believe in our Hope, Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR! We have to believe in our HEAVENLY CALLING and make that heavenly calling our life, our reason for living- Jesus! Living for our Savior, NOT for ourselves.
By the grace of God may we do this before our hearts become hardened, before we lose faith and unbelief overtakes us.
In His Love
Amen
Compare-
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Compare-
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness
These verses are being repeated with slight variations in the same chapter- why? We have to note it, we have to ask ourselves why and the only real answer to that is the usual one. Something is repeated for emphasis, right? When you repeat an instruction you're doing so in hopes the one you are instructing won't forget what you're saying and understand its importance.
We are PARTAKERS of Christ, PARTAKERS of the heavenly calling. This is something so amazing we don't appreciate what it really means. We've been so jaded that we can scarcely comprehend this let alone feel the joy, or the importance of what it all means. How can we lightly say or even think- I am a partaker of Christ, I am a partaker of the heavenly calling? How can we read these words and not understand how incredibly blessed and honored we are by having this opportunity? We're so jaded, so incredibly beaten down spiritually that we can't truly comprehend what this means. It's deliverance! As surely as God's people were enslaved in Egypt we are enslaved today to Satan in so many ways. We need to be set free in Christ. We need to look forward past the here and now. We need to understand that this life is so very temporary. It weighs on us though. Life with all its problems weigh us down heavily- the 'cares of this life' can be so heavily they over come us if we let them. Satan would blind us to our heavenly calling at every opportunity. We are called to remember we are partakers of Christ. We are called NOT to harden our hearts. How does a heart become hardened? Through disbelief, through forgetfulness of the heavenly calling, through letting this world and ALL it's awful problems be overwhelming and consuming.
Heb 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Again, compare--
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Unbelief is deadly.
We have to believe in our Hope, Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR! We have to believe in our HEAVENLY CALLING and make that heavenly calling our life, our reason for living- Jesus! Living for our Savior, NOT for ourselves.
By the grace of God may we do this before our hearts become hardened, before we lose faith and unbelief overtakes us.
In His Love
Amen
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Deceitfulness of Sin
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
The definitions of deceitfulness and deceit…
Deceitfulness
DECE'ITFULNESS, n.
1. Tendency to mislead or deceive; as the deceitfulness of sin.
2. The quality of being fraudulent; as the deceitfulness of a man's practices.
3. The disposition to deceive; as, a man's deceitfulness may be habitual.
*
Deceit
DECE'IT,
1. Literally, a catching or ensnaring. Hence, the misleading of a person; the leading of another person to believe what is false, or not to believe what is true, and thus to ensnare him; fraud; fallacy; cheat; any declaration, artifice or practice, which misleads another, or causes him to believe what is false.
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Job 27.
2. Stratagem; artifice; device intended to mislead.
They imagine deceits all the day long. Psa 38.
3. In scripture, that which is obtained by guile, fraud or oppression.
Their houses are full of deceit. Jer 5. Zeph. I.
4. In law, any trick, device, craft, collusion, shift, covin, or underhand practice, used to defraud another.
*******
Misleading, catching, ensnaring.
Sin. We think it's so incredibly easy to point out sin and know it for what it is but it's not. Satan the great deceiver takes truth and mixes it with fallacy which no longer makes it pure truth, unadulterated. He corrupts truth just enough to deceive and people EVERYWHERE believe in the corrupted truth. People everywhere believe so much ISN'T sin. Why should they believe sin is sin, because then they'd realize they are leading a life of sin and that isn't something anyone really wants to believe, is it? When we examine our lives by the Lord's word we are allowed to see the sin in our lives. When we seek God with all our heart and soul then we will be allowed to see our truly sinful state. People don't like hearing these words, they like to be lulled and told that nothing matters but what they secretly believe in their hearts, having a good heart, the Lord knows, the Lord understands why I'm the sinner I am and why I can't stop sinning and shouldn't even try. The Lord knows that I love Him.
We love to console ourselves with those thoughts and because they contain an element of truth they are easy to latch onto and forget that our God is a consuming fire, it's easy to forget that we are told to exhort one another DAILY, we believe weekly will suffice, right? It's easy to forget that God gave commandments and Jesus confirmed that those commandments were still in effect, still just, still good, that He didn't come to do away with the law. It's easy to believe that when Jesus said to love God and love your neighbor and that this encompasses the entire law that he meant as long as we SAY we love God and love our neighbors we're doing alright. That's not the truth-that's Satan's lie and it's a good one- good if you are evil. We are told what loving our neighbors means, we are told what the fruits of the Spirit are, we are given ALL the truth, but with Satan ever ready to distort the truth we become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. We don't want to look too closely at our lives or at God's word, we want the superficial salvation and the problem with that is it won't ever reach our hearts. It's better to have all our sin exposed and feel the weight of that sin, the horror of that sin, the despair of that sin and turn our hearts fully and completely to our Savior than it is to allow ourselves to be deceived.
It's amazing how this study of Hebrews seems to have tied in with the excerpt from C.S. Lewis we looked at the other day. God works in such wondrous ways, ways beyond our comprehension.
C.S. Lewis talked about 'excusing sin' rather than 'truly repenting and seeking true forgiveness'. He discussed that what we might actually think is asking for forgiveness is really us just asking to be excused for our actions. What he said holds A LOT of truth. The deceitfulness of sin is just like that.
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
We have to read these words and believe in them or we will be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin… OUR SIN! We aren't hardened by someone else's sin. We have to exhort one another…which means we have to urge one another daily not to depart from the living God, to not depart from the faith. This is what we are called to do. By God's grace alone are we saved, and we must keep God in our lives in all things, repenting, not excusing, enlightened not deceived, truth not lies and deception.
May God open our hearts and minds, our eyes, our understanding to know His will in all things so that we are not deceived. May the blinders satan would have us wear until the day we are fully his, be ripped away and by the Lord's grace and mercy may we in all our filthiness fall at the feet of Jesus in true repentance seek true forgiveness no matter the cost to our comfortable deluded existence.
In our Savior's amazing love!
Amen.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
The definitions of deceitfulness and deceit…
Deceitfulness
DECE'ITFULNESS, n.
1. Tendency to mislead or deceive; as the deceitfulness of sin.
2. The quality of being fraudulent; as the deceitfulness of a man's practices.
3. The disposition to deceive; as, a man's deceitfulness may be habitual.
*
Deceit
DECE'IT,
1. Literally, a catching or ensnaring. Hence, the misleading of a person; the leading of another person to believe what is false, or not to believe what is true, and thus to ensnare him; fraud; fallacy; cheat; any declaration, artifice or practice, which misleads another, or causes him to believe what is false.
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Job 27.
2. Stratagem; artifice; device intended to mislead.
They imagine deceits all the day long. Psa 38.
3. In scripture, that which is obtained by guile, fraud or oppression.
Their houses are full of deceit. Jer 5. Zeph. I.
4. In law, any trick, device, craft, collusion, shift, covin, or underhand practice, used to defraud another.
*******
Misleading, catching, ensnaring.
Sin. We think it's so incredibly easy to point out sin and know it for what it is but it's not. Satan the great deceiver takes truth and mixes it with fallacy which no longer makes it pure truth, unadulterated. He corrupts truth just enough to deceive and people EVERYWHERE believe in the corrupted truth. People everywhere believe so much ISN'T sin. Why should they believe sin is sin, because then they'd realize they are leading a life of sin and that isn't something anyone really wants to believe, is it? When we examine our lives by the Lord's word we are allowed to see the sin in our lives. When we seek God with all our heart and soul then we will be allowed to see our truly sinful state. People don't like hearing these words, they like to be lulled and told that nothing matters but what they secretly believe in their hearts, having a good heart, the Lord knows, the Lord understands why I'm the sinner I am and why I can't stop sinning and shouldn't even try. The Lord knows that I love Him.
We love to console ourselves with those thoughts and because they contain an element of truth they are easy to latch onto and forget that our God is a consuming fire, it's easy to forget that we are told to exhort one another DAILY, we believe weekly will suffice, right? It's easy to forget that God gave commandments and Jesus confirmed that those commandments were still in effect, still just, still good, that He didn't come to do away with the law. It's easy to believe that when Jesus said to love God and love your neighbor and that this encompasses the entire law that he meant as long as we SAY we love God and love our neighbors we're doing alright. That's not the truth-that's Satan's lie and it's a good one- good if you are evil. We are told what loving our neighbors means, we are told what the fruits of the Spirit are, we are given ALL the truth, but with Satan ever ready to distort the truth we become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. We don't want to look too closely at our lives or at God's word, we want the superficial salvation and the problem with that is it won't ever reach our hearts. It's better to have all our sin exposed and feel the weight of that sin, the horror of that sin, the despair of that sin and turn our hearts fully and completely to our Savior than it is to allow ourselves to be deceived.
It's amazing how this study of Hebrews seems to have tied in with the excerpt from C.S. Lewis we looked at the other day. God works in such wondrous ways, ways beyond our comprehension.
C.S. Lewis talked about 'excusing sin' rather than 'truly repenting and seeking true forgiveness'. He discussed that what we might actually think is asking for forgiveness is really us just asking to be excused for our actions. What he said holds A LOT of truth. The deceitfulness of sin is just like that.
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
We have to read these words and believe in them or we will be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin… OUR SIN! We aren't hardened by someone else's sin. We have to exhort one another…which means we have to urge one another daily not to depart from the living God, to not depart from the faith. This is what we are called to do. By God's grace alone are we saved, and we must keep God in our lives in all things, repenting, not excusing, enlightened not deceived, truth not lies and deception.
May God open our hearts and minds, our eyes, our understanding to know His will in all things so that we are not deceived. May the blinders satan would have us wear until the day we are fully his, be ripped away and by the Lord's grace and mercy may we in all our filthiness fall at the feet of Jesus in true repentance seek true forgiveness no matter the cost to our comfortable deluded existence.
In our Savior's amazing love!
Amen.
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