Heb 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
The promises of God are sure. The promises of God are everlasting. The promises of God are given to us- all of us- and they are promises that won't be broken, that can't be broken.
Promises can take a long time to fulfill. The trouble with us we want instant fulfillment. Or, maybe we aren't expecting instant fulfillment, but we expect our promises to be fulfilled in a timely fashion. We set dates on our promises a lot of time. A promise isn't really broken unless there is a time limit attached to it, right? I'm not saying it's bad to make time limited promises, we almost have to don't we? I promise to get that room clean. It's no good to make that promise and not keep it in a timely fashion. Thirty years later and the room still isn't clean, well that's just crazy, right? I promise to love you. Now there's a promise we want to go on forever, don't we? I promise to be good. Another promise that hopefully won't ever end. We can promise things that might take a while though, can't we? I promise we'll go on vacation in Europe someday. What happens if that promise isn't kept in say ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years? People stop believing as time goes on that promises will be kept. They lose hope that it will be kept. Maybe at forty years later finally it's possible for that vacation and the promise is kept- all is good. But that's not always the case with us and our promises. We sometimes make promises that are not kept, in fact we do it ALL the time. Why though? Why do we make promises we don't keep? Good intentions? Mostly likely it is good intentions although some times promises are made that are made with no intention of them being kept. A promise made to pacify someone. Yes, I'll love you and stay with you forever. Then the next day they're gone.
Promises.
Abraham was promised that his seed would be multiplied - that he would have many, many descendents. And upon having received that promise it is logical to imagine that he believed the promise would be fulfilled in a timely fashion. Years go by, years and years and years. And Abraham wasn't without fault. He did doubt… He did. So when we read that 'he had patiently endured' it doesn't mean he didn't have his doubts. He took Sarah's maid to have children with her at Sarah's request. People sometimes try to lay the blame for that on Sarah, but would Abraham have agreed to take Hagar and have children with her if he wasn't doubting at all?
We have our doubts in our walk with Christ, even as we hope for Salvation and have faith, we do sometimes doubt. Can we doubt without wavering? You can. You know what I’m talking about don't you? You keep doing something, you keep at it even though you aren't sure it will work out. You might even voice your doubt but you keep on keeping on as the saying goes. Your actions say you are in it until the end no matter the outcome. You are in it until the end, you know you are, but that doesn't keep you from wondering, it doesn't keep you from doubting that you're doing the right thing.
Life is tumultuous at best. We have hope in our own lives because we know that some of God's beloved had doubts, that some of God's beloved were blatant sinners who repented- giving us hope. We have our examples of faith, faith that believes even if doubts are apparent.
Have you ever trusted in someone but doubted in them at the same time? I know I have. That desire to trust them is there, the hope to trust them is there, but doubts rear up their ugly heads and while we continue to trust we doubt. We have faith even through all the doubts, doubts Satan will play on hoping that we'll lose faith, that we'll stop hoping, that we'll stop believing.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
He patiently endured. He endured through the doubts. He persevered through the doubts. He didn't waver- He didn't turn his back on God even though he tried to work out how God was going to do as He promised, believing that maybe he had to help God out.
We have to endure through all our doubts. We can't waver though we doubt. We have to keep on through all the turmoil life throws at us. We might question but through all the questions that faith has to remain. Through all the misunderstanding, we have to remain in love. Love is a choice and we have to choose love always in Christ!
By His Grace! By His Love! In Him Always!
Amen.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Hope unto the end
Heb 6:9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
Heb 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
*******
In the past few days we've read about the admonition spoken of to those who should be spiritually growing, but aren't. Those same spiritually stunted people were also admonished to realize that they need to bring forth good fruit, not thorns. Spiritually growing is a necessity and if we think otherwise we're very wrong. The admonitions are necessary to wake us up to realize our state of being. We have a God who loves us, a God who cares for us more than we can ever imagine and He will give us warnings, He will let us know when we err, He will point us in the right direction but He will never force us to do anything, we choose our own course.
Having delivered these admonitions the message goes on to say- BELOVED (such a wonderful term of endearment) Beloved we believe that there is better in you than what you've shown us, things that accompany salvation- things that people who are truly under the saving grace of the Lord will have in their lives- even though we've admonished you, we believe in you. God will NOT forget your work and labors of love that you've done in His name. God will not forget that you've helped others that are His. We want EVERYONE to show their sure HOPE to the end and not to be neglectful, but followers of others of faith and patience inheriting the promises.
Admonished but not cast down. Admonished so that we awake to the peril of losing hope, of losing patience, of being neglectful, of losing faith. When we lose hope, when we lose patience, when we are neglectful, when we lose faith there is NO salvation. Christ is our hope. Christ has to be alive in us, alive through faith, through the belief that He is.
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.
Our Savior is real and we have to live as though He is right beside us- not as if He is far away in some other country, some other state, another city, across the neighborhood, right next door. He has to live with us, live in us.
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
If we don't believe Christ is in us, that we are that close to Christ then do we even truly want salvation in Him? If we're content to just visit our Savior at a distance, go to see Him -so to speak- when we want something, or feel it's our duty to visit Him as one would a great grandparent in a nursing home, then we are not living with Christ in our lives, we are not truly living with the hope of salvation. We can't live as if our Savior is someone we see from time to time, someone we acknowledge once or twice a day, once a week, once a month… once a year. Our Savior is alive always and must be with us always. We shouldn't have to go look for our Savior as if He exists only in a church building, or only in our prayer closet, He lives always and closer than even a twin- He is with us in all things.
2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
By the Spirit of the Lord we must live. We must behold the glory of our Lord always- from glory to glory- being changed so that Christ's righteousness is all that is seen by His amazing grace and mercy and not our own image- His image in us.
We have to spiritually grow ever growing in Christ, we have to keep the hope, the faith ALWAYS.
By His LOVE now and forever!
Amen.
Heb 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
*******
In the past few days we've read about the admonition spoken of to those who should be spiritually growing, but aren't. Those same spiritually stunted people were also admonished to realize that they need to bring forth good fruit, not thorns. Spiritually growing is a necessity and if we think otherwise we're very wrong. The admonitions are necessary to wake us up to realize our state of being. We have a God who loves us, a God who cares for us more than we can ever imagine and He will give us warnings, He will let us know when we err, He will point us in the right direction but He will never force us to do anything, we choose our own course.
Having delivered these admonitions the message goes on to say- BELOVED (such a wonderful term of endearment) Beloved we believe that there is better in you than what you've shown us, things that accompany salvation- things that people who are truly under the saving grace of the Lord will have in their lives- even though we've admonished you, we believe in you. God will NOT forget your work and labors of love that you've done in His name. God will not forget that you've helped others that are His. We want EVERYONE to show their sure HOPE to the end and not to be neglectful, but followers of others of faith and patience inheriting the promises.
Admonished but not cast down. Admonished so that we awake to the peril of losing hope, of losing patience, of being neglectful, of losing faith. When we lose hope, when we lose patience, when we are neglectful, when we lose faith there is NO salvation. Christ is our hope. Christ has to be alive in us, alive through faith, through the belief that He is.
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.
Our Savior is real and we have to live as though He is right beside us- not as if He is far away in some other country, some other state, another city, across the neighborhood, right next door. He has to live with us, live in us.
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
If we don't believe Christ is in us, that we are that close to Christ then do we even truly want salvation in Him? If we're content to just visit our Savior at a distance, go to see Him -so to speak- when we want something, or feel it's our duty to visit Him as one would a great grandparent in a nursing home, then we are not living with Christ in our lives, we are not truly living with the hope of salvation. We can't live as if our Savior is someone we see from time to time, someone we acknowledge once or twice a day, once a week, once a month… once a year. Our Savior is alive always and must be with us always. We shouldn't have to go look for our Savior as if He exists only in a church building, or only in our prayer closet, He lives always and closer than even a twin- He is with us in all things.
2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
By the Spirit of the Lord we must live. We must behold the glory of our Lord always- from glory to glory- being changed so that Christ's righteousness is all that is seen by His amazing grace and mercy and not our own image- His image in us.
We have to spiritually grow ever growing in Christ, we have to keep the hope, the faith ALWAYS.
By His LOVE now and forever!
Amen.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
That which beareth thorns and briers is rejected
Heb 6:7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
When the earth gives us food, we are blessed. Try depending upon a garden and have that garden ruined by drought. The devastation for those who depend upon the earth, the rain, to bring forth their sustenance is life threatening. We who go to grocery stores to fill our cupboards with food have little concept of depending upon the earth for our very lives. I might be disappointed that my tomatoes were ruined, that my beets never took, that my zucchinis produced only one deformed zucchini and my carrots were a complete wash out but that disappointment is short lived when I know I can go to a store and get what I need to live. Someone who depends upon the ground around them, someone who depends upon the rain and the sun to give them a full garden of food so they can canned and store that food for the winter months because they have NO other food, truly understands the blessings that God gives to them when their gardening is a success. When all a garden bears is thorns and briers, weeds and deformed fruits and vegetables that garden is a failure and worth NOTHING. That garden might as well be burned because it has nothing of value in it what so ever.
Again we're reminded of the parable of the sower. Seed is sown and various things happen to the seed to ruin it, but seed sown correctly brings forth good fruit.
If God's word is the seed being sown it will bring forth good fruit IF it is sown correctly. The ground that receives it has to be tilled correctly- the rocks removed, the seed planted deeply enough, the thorns dug up. If we HEAR the word of the Lord and RECEIVE it, then the result is good fruit unto God.
We have to HEAR and RECEIVE, you can hear without receiving. I can hear you tell me a story but not really listen and be able to only tell you bits and pieces of what you said. Or I can hear you tell me a story and really listen and be able to repeat that story back to you. If I truly receive the words you are saying they will stay with me, I will remember them for a long time. We have to HEAR and RECEIVE.
Heb 6:7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
The result of not growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord, the result of not growing up from spiritual babes to spiritual adults, the result of hearing but not receiving the word of God is a painful death that is eternal in its results.
We have to receive, we have to constantly grow, we have to live our lives for our Savior in word and deed, in all we do.
Satan wants to stop us and he will use every trick in his book to do so. If he can't stop you from being God's with an outright attack he'll change tactics and sneak in to slowly degrade your walk with Christ- the end result will be the same. He doesn't care HOW it's done, as long as it's done. He doesn't care if his methods meet any stereotypical actions he's supposed to use- he's just as pleased to see you stop growing and stagnate as a babe forever drinking milk and never growing in knowledge, growing in grace as he is to see you brought down with one fell chop of disappointment in life and have you blame God for it. Sometimes we can see people brought low- people who have walked with God and grown with Him are suddenly and with great spiritual violence wrested from Him and we can cry out against Satan's blatant attack. Other times we barely notice it happening.
We have to constantly grow in grace and knowledge. If we're not growing we're dying and quite possibly dead.
Mar 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
Mar 4:4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
Mar 4:5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
Mar 4:6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
Mar 4:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
Mar 4:8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
Mar 4:14 The sower soweth the word.
Mar 4:15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
Mar 4:16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
Mar 4:17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
Mar 4:18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
Mar 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Mar 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we become spiritual adults and keep spiritually growing in HIS grace and knowledge, bringing forth good fruit.
In His love! By His forgiveness, In His righteousness!
Amen.
Heb 6:8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
When the earth gives us food, we are blessed. Try depending upon a garden and have that garden ruined by drought. The devastation for those who depend upon the earth, the rain, to bring forth their sustenance is life threatening. We who go to grocery stores to fill our cupboards with food have little concept of depending upon the earth for our very lives. I might be disappointed that my tomatoes were ruined, that my beets never took, that my zucchinis produced only one deformed zucchini and my carrots were a complete wash out but that disappointment is short lived when I know I can go to a store and get what I need to live. Someone who depends upon the ground around them, someone who depends upon the rain and the sun to give them a full garden of food so they can canned and store that food for the winter months because they have NO other food, truly understands the blessings that God gives to them when their gardening is a success. When all a garden bears is thorns and briers, weeds and deformed fruits and vegetables that garden is a failure and worth NOTHING. That garden might as well be burned because it has nothing of value in it what so ever.
Again we're reminded of the parable of the sower. Seed is sown and various things happen to the seed to ruin it, but seed sown correctly brings forth good fruit.
If God's word is the seed being sown it will bring forth good fruit IF it is sown correctly. The ground that receives it has to be tilled correctly- the rocks removed, the seed planted deeply enough, the thorns dug up. If we HEAR the word of the Lord and RECEIVE it, then the result is good fruit unto God.
We have to HEAR and RECEIVE, you can hear without receiving. I can hear you tell me a story but not really listen and be able to only tell you bits and pieces of what you said. Or I can hear you tell me a story and really listen and be able to repeat that story back to you. If I truly receive the words you are saying they will stay with me, I will remember them for a long time. We have to HEAR and RECEIVE.
Heb 6:7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
The result of not growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord, the result of not growing up from spiritual babes to spiritual adults, the result of hearing but not receiving the word of God is a painful death that is eternal in its results.
We have to receive, we have to constantly grow, we have to live our lives for our Savior in word and deed, in all we do.
Satan wants to stop us and he will use every trick in his book to do so. If he can't stop you from being God's with an outright attack he'll change tactics and sneak in to slowly degrade your walk with Christ- the end result will be the same. He doesn't care HOW it's done, as long as it's done. He doesn't care if his methods meet any stereotypical actions he's supposed to use- he's just as pleased to see you stop growing and stagnate as a babe forever drinking milk and never growing in knowledge, growing in grace as he is to see you brought down with one fell chop of disappointment in life and have you blame God for it. Sometimes we can see people brought low- people who have walked with God and grown with Him are suddenly and with great spiritual violence wrested from Him and we can cry out against Satan's blatant attack. Other times we barely notice it happening.
We have to constantly grow in grace and knowledge. If we're not growing we're dying and quite possibly dead.
Mar 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
Mar 4:4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
Mar 4:5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
Mar 4:6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
Mar 4:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
Mar 4:8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
Mar 4:14 The sower soweth the word.
Mar 4:15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
Mar 4:16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
Mar 4:17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
Mar 4:18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
Mar 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Mar 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we become spiritual adults and keep spiritually growing in HIS grace and knowledge, bringing forth good fruit.
In His love! By His forgiveness, In His righteousness!
Amen.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Crucifying the Son of God
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Crucifying the Son of God. Putting the Son of God to open shame.
As sinners we sin.
As sinners we are faced with numerous temptations and often temptations we ultimately find too hard to resist and fall prey to. There is a certain sense of despair of ever being sin-free, of ever being able to overcome the sins that easily beset us. We cry out how wicked we are doing things we don't want to do. We even sometimes lose some hope and slowly fade away from our walk with Christ letting sin reign in our lives trying not to care any longer because we feel hopelessly lost to that sin. Is this the falling away talked about here in Hebrews 6:4-6? No.
What is talked about here is this…
Falling away-
G3895
parapiptō
par-ap-ip'-to
From G3844 and G4098; to fall aside, that is, (figuratively) to apostatize: - fall away.
APOS'TATIZE, v.i. To abandon one's profession or church; to forsake principles or faith which one has professed; or the party to which one has been attached.
You can backslide into sin without believing Jesus is NOT the Son of God.
You can sin knowing that the Son of God was crucified for You, and not have fell away.
To repent you have to believe you are in need of repentance.
Those who become fully apostate have no desire to repent, they believe in their hearts they have NOTHING to repent of, that there is NO repentance found in the Son of God, that the death of the Son of God was meaningless. You can not be renewed to repentance when you- like those who put the Son of God to death, having Him crucified- do not believe He is the Son of God.
To -
Crucify the Son of God. Putting the Son of God to open shame is what keeps those-- who have had the knowledge and experience of the Son of God as their personal Savior, having once believed in Him as the Son of God, knowing Him in that way-- from being renewed. They knew the Son of God, they believed the Son of God, and then they choose to no longer believe. If you don't believe, if you don't have faith, you are lost.
This isn't talking about a situation like Peter denying Christ three times… if it were we could say Peter believed and then turned around and denied Christ, he fell away. We could say it's like Paul talking about what a wretched man His is- doing things he doesn't want to do, but it's not like that either! This is denying Jesus' God-hood. This is denying Jesus' power. This is denying Jesus' divinity and returning to a state of belief that God's Son never came to earth, God's Son never died for You, this is denying the Son of God in every way- and you can't be renewed to repentance ever if you believe that there is no Son of God, no innocent Son of God crucified. It truly is crucifying Him all over again and like the Pharisees who had the Son of God killed it's NOT believing that the Son of God was truly here on earth and died for you, to take away your sins. This is a falling away that cannot be renewed because the heart is set against the Son of God entirely.
Remember this parable--
Luk 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
Luk 8:6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
Luk 8:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
Luk 8:8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Luk 8:9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
Luk 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Luk 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Luk 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Luk 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Luk 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
Luk 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
THEY- hear and the devil takes away the word out of their hearts LEST THEY SHOULD BELIEVE AND BE SAVED! NOTE: They DON'T believe.
THEY - hear, receive the word with joy, and they have no root, which FOR A WHILE BELIEVE AND IN TIME OF TEMPTATION FALL AWAY. NOTE: FOR A WHILE BELIEVE- obviously after a while they NO longer believe.
THEY - have heard and go forth and are CHOKED with CARES and RICHES and PLEASURES of this life, having NO fruit. NOTE: They heard and their belief is killed, they cannot flourish, the belief is dead-choked.
THEY - hear and KEEP believing!
Only through belief in the Word of God- the Son of God and Him crucified for our sins are we kept from falling away into apostasy.
When belief is gone, when hope is gone, then logically… there can be no believing, no hoping, and no renewing.
As long as there is hope, as long as there is belief in that hope, as long as we truly accept the Son of God as our Savior there is hope no matter that hardship you've been going through, no matter how far you've slid back into sin there is hope if you believe in the Son of God as Your Savior. You might think you are UNWORTHY of being saved and you know what? We are ALL unworthy of being saved! Being unworthy isn't what keeps you from being saved, not believing, having no hope in the Son of God is what keeps you from being saved. We can't hope in ourselves, there is NO hope in ourselves. All our hope must be in the Son of God.
So yes, there will be those who have once believed who choose to no longer believe and there is nothing a person can do to restore that belief to them and they will perish in their unbelief. I pray to God that I am NEVER counted among those who fall away and find it impossible to be renewed to repentance.
When these people were being talked to about not being perpetual spiritual children but growing up into spiritual adults if God willed, they were then told this very, very, very adult information. They were not given milk at this point. The meat was on its way and if God permitted they would spiritually grow as they listened to these words and studied them. We have to grow in Christ. We have to keep spiritually growing and never be satisfied with stagnating with the milk only fit for babes.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Crucifying the Son of God. Putting the Son of God to open shame.
As sinners we sin.
As sinners we are faced with numerous temptations and often temptations we ultimately find too hard to resist and fall prey to. There is a certain sense of despair of ever being sin-free, of ever being able to overcome the sins that easily beset us. We cry out how wicked we are doing things we don't want to do. We even sometimes lose some hope and slowly fade away from our walk with Christ letting sin reign in our lives trying not to care any longer because we feel hopelessly lost to that sin. Is this the falling away talked about here in Hebrews 6:4-6? No.
What is talked about here is this…
Falling away-
G3895
parapiptō
par-ap-ip'-to
From G3844 and G4098; to fall aside, that is, (figuratively) to apostatize: - fall away.
APOS'TATIZE, v.i. To abandon one's profession or church; to forsake principles or faith which one has professed; or the party to which one has been attached.
You can backslide into sin without believing Jesus is NOT the Son of God.
You can sin knowing that the Son of God was crucified for You, and not have fell away.
To repent you have to believe you are in need of repentance.
Those who become fully apostate have no desire to repent, they believe in their hearts they have NOTHING to repent of, that there is NO repentance found in the Son of God, that the death of the Son of God was meaningless. You can not be renewed to repentance when you- like those who put the Son of God to death, having Him crucified- do not believe He is the Son of God.
To -
Crucify the Son of God. Putting the Son of God to open shame is what keeps those-- who have had the knowledge and experience of the Son of God as their personal Savior, having once believed in Him as the Son of God, knowing Him in that way-- from being renewed. They knew the Son of God, they believed the Son of God, and then they choose to no longer believe. If you don't believe, if you don't have faith, you are lost.
This isn't talking about a situation like Peter denying Christ three times… if it were we could say Peter believed and then turned around and denied Christ, he fell away. We could say it's like Paul talking about what a wretched man His is- doing things he doesn't want to do, but it's not like that either! This is denying Jesus' God-hood. This is denying Jesus' power. This is denying Jesus' divinity and returning to a state of belief that God's Son never came to earth, God's Son never died for You, this is denying the Son of God in every way- and you can't be renewed to repentance ever if you believe that there is no Son of God, no innocent Son of God crucified. It truly is crucifying Him all over again and like the Pharisees who had the Son of God killed it's NOT believing that the Son of God was truly here on earth and died for you, to take away your sins. This is a falling away that cannot be renewed because the heart is set against the Son of God entirely.
Remember this parable--
Luk 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
Luk 8:6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
Luk 8:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
Luk 8:8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Luk 8:9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
Luk 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Luk 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Luk 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Luk 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Luk 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
Luk 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
THEY- hear and the devil takes away the word out of their hearts LEST THEY SHOULD BELIEVE AND BE SAVED! NOTE: They DON'T believe.
THEY - hear, receive the word with joy, and they have no root, which FOR A WHILE BELIEVE AND IN TIME OF TEMPTATION FALL AWAY. NOTE: FOR A WHILE BELIEVE- obviously after a while they NO longer believe.
THEY - have heard and go forth and are CHOKED with CARES and RICHES and PLEASURES of this life, having NO fruit. NOTE: They heard and their belief is killed, they cannot flourish, the belief is dead-choked.
THEY - hear and KEEP believing!
Only through belief in the Word of God- the Son of God and Him crucified for our sins are we kept from falling away into apostasy.
When belief is gone, when hope is gone, then logically… there can be no believing, no hoping, and no renewing.
As long as there is hope, as long as there is belief in that hope, as long as we truly accept the Son of God as our Savior there is hope no matter that hardship you've been going through, no matter how far you've slid back into sin there is hope if you believe in the Son of God as Your Savior. You might think you are UNWORTHY of being saved and you know what? We are ALL unworthy of being saved! Being unworthy isn't what keeps you from being saved, not believing, having no hope in the Son of God is what keeps you from being saved. We can't hope in ourselves, there is NO hope in ourselves. All our hope must be in the Son of God.
So yes, there will be those who have once believed who choose to no longer believe and there is nothing a person can do to restore that belief to them and they will perish in their unbelief. I pray to God that I am NEVER counted among those who fall away and find it impossible to be renewed to repentance.
When these people were being talked to about not being perpetual spiritual children but growing up into spiritual adults if God willed, they were then told this very, very, very adult information. They were not given milk at this point. The meat was on its way and if God permitted they would spiritually grow as they listened to these words and studied them. We have to grow in Christ. We have to keep spiritually growing and never be satisfied with stagnating with the milk only fit for babes.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Let us go on unto perfection...
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Most of us have gone to school and because we've gone to school we know how education works don't we? In Preschool the foundation is laid for the next level- Kindergarten. In kindergarten the ground work is laid for first grade and so on. You wouldn't teach a five year old algebra when they've not even learned to add 2 + 2. You have to lay the foundation of mathematics before you can build upon that foundation, right? How frustrating would it be if you laid the foundation only to find out a short bit later that the foundation was forgotten? Could you go on to teach the next level without the foundation being in place? No. You could try but with out understanding of the basic foundation you would be building upon nothing and the result would be nothing. You couldn't learn without the foundation and without each level that builds upon the last level. This is true for MANY things we learn in life. A child can't walk until they have learned to pull themselves up, they can't pull themselves up until they learn to sit themselves up, they don't sit themselves up until they've the ability to turn themselves over and so on. Learning is a process. If you can't read there is a whole world of knowledge you are not able to access. Once you can read there is so much more you can learn. So why should things be any different spiritually? Why should we imagine we can learn without a solid foundation? And why should we imagine the foundation is all there is and we are not to learn any more?
Let's think about it, really think. The principle doctrine of Christ is necessary but going onto perfection is also necessary. The principles of the doctrine of Christ are-
Repentance, which is having a true understanding of our guilt, of our sin-filled selves and an understanding the we need to be otherwise in Christ. Repentance is understanding that sin is something to be despised and hated, not something cherished and held on to.
Repentance from dead works- understanding that works do not save us, but our Savior alone can give us eternal life.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Faith towards God. Faith is believing without seeing, hoping in salvation unseen.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Baptisms- repenting and being baptized. The old life being buried and the subsequent rising up into new life in Christ.
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Laying on of hands- being blessed with the gifts of the Spirit.
Act 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Resurrection of the dead- a reality at Christ's coming and after the 1000 years. A blessed resurrection for those who are called from the grave at Christ's coming. A resurrection of judgment to those called from their deaths 1000 years later.
Eternal judgment- a final judgment where all are judged.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
The principle doctrines- the foundation- the blocks to be built upon- the milk before the meat. We are to leave these principles once we are established in them and go on to perfection, we are to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord… 2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
By the grace of our Lord, our Savior we will grow in grace knowledge of Him in all ways. In His mercy! In His love! By His forgiveness forever!
Amen.
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Most of us have gone to school and because we've gone to school we know how education works don't we? In Preschool the foundation is laid for the next level- Kindergarten. In kindergarten the ground work is laid for first grade and so on. You wouldn't teach a five year old algebra when they've not even learned to add 2 + 2. You have to lay the foundation of mathematics before you can build upon that foundation, right? How frustrating would it be if you laid the foundation only to find out a short bit later that the foundation was forgotten? Could you go on to teach the next level without the foundation being in place? No. You could try but with out understanding of the basic foundation you would be building upon nothing and the result would be nothing. You couldn't learn without the foundation and without each level that builds upon the last level. This is true for MANY things we learn in life. A child can't walk until they have learned to pull themselves up, they can't pull themselves up until they learn to sit themselves up, they don't sit themselves up until they've the ability to turn themselves over and so on. Learning is a process. If you can't read there is a whole world of knowledge you are not able to access. Once you can read there is so much more you can learn. So why should things be any different spiritually? Why should we imagine we can learn without a solid foundation? And why should we imagine the foundation is all there is and we are not to learn any more?
Let's think about it, really think. The principle doctrine of Christ is necessary but going onto perfection is also necessary. The principles of the doctrine of Christ are-
Repentance, which is having a true understanding of our guilt, of our sin-filled selves and an understanding the we need to be otherwise in Christ. Repentance is understanding that sin is something to be despised and hated, not something cherished and held on to.
Repentance from dead works- understanding that works do not save us, but our Savior alone can give us eternal life.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Faith towards God. Faith is believing without seeing, hoping in salvation unseen.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Baptisms- repenting and being baptized. The old life being buried and the subsequent rising up into new life in Christ.
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Laying on of hands- being blessed with the gifts of the Spirit.
Act 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Resurrection of the dead- a reality at Christ's coming and after the 1000 years. A blessed resurrection for those who are called from the grave at Christ's coming. A resurrection of judgment to those called from their deaths 1000 years later.
Eternal judgment- a final judgment where all are judged.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
The principle doctrines- the foundation- the blocks to be built upon- the milk before the meat. We are to leave these principles once we are established in them and go on to perfection, we are to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord… 2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
By the grace of our Lord, our Savior we will grow in grace knowledge of Him in all ways. In His mercy! In His love! By His forgiveness forever!
Amen.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Dull of hearing...
Heb 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Heb 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Have you ever had a lot to say to someone but you dreaded it because you know that someone isn't a very good listener? How many people are dull of hearing? There are books written on the subject of becoming a good listener. Just a quick check with google came up with these three titles-
Becoming a Good Listener
The Value of Being a Good Listener
About Being a Good Listener
If anything this tells us that people aren't good listeners and NEED to be taught to be good listeners. Shouldn't we be raised to be good listeners? Isn't this something we should teach our children? That old listen to your elders and so on? People have LOST the ability to be good listeners because our minds are just churning with thoughts and no sooner than we think them we believe those thoughts need to be voiced out loud because what we think is important, right? We want to be heard. We want to tell OUR side of the story, we want to get OUR point across. Our ideas are valuable aren't they? We are so darn busy being concerned about OUR selves that we don't listen, really listen. We might skim listen and we might skim listen a lot! What's skim listening? Just what it sounds like. We skim the talking of others by just listening to bits and pieces while we concentrate also on our replies to what they're saying EVEN if they're not finished speaking. We get the gist of what someone is saying and that's enough, right? We think on our feet, we're ten steps ahead of the next person, we're on the ball, we are multi-taskers and we're good at it, proud of it! We award people that can talk around others, that can get people to do what they want as they talk to them. Sales people, con artists, scammers all have this ability and we applaud them when they're legit sales people who break no laws when they're using their ability to persuade. We feel cheated when we are unlawfully conned. What people don't always realize is that a con artist and sales person while they talk a great game are also listening to us for various clues so they can use their scheming ways in a personal manner. They listen.
Heb 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Hard to be uttered, why? Because you are dull of hearing.
Why speak if no one is going to listen? Why talk if you have no one to hear? It's like talking to no one if you talk and talk and no one listens, isn't it? Have you ever seen the glazed eyed look of others when you're going on and on as you talk? Or do you get that glazed look right when you start to speak, because people are instantly UNINTERESTED in anything you have to say. They assume before you even get going that you're not going to have anything to say that will interest them. They won't have to care about what you're saying, so why bother wasting time listening.
Hard to be uttered, because you are dull of hearing.
Do you ever get to the point where you don't want to bother speaking because you know others are DULL OF HEARING, that they don't want to listen to what you're saying, that they could careless about what you have to say- no matter how important?
Here we are being told that they want to talk of MANY things about our Savior. There are MANY THINGS to say but they don't want to say them because those they are wanting to speak to don't want to listen. How tragic, how very, very tragic to know that people don't want to hear many things about their Savior. Today we could go on the crowded street and try and take a poll asking people if they want to hear about Jesus their Savior and how many people would really want to stop and listen? We don't really know do we but we can imagine, can't we? Not many. Then or now, it's the same. We are DULL of hearing.
Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Babies are unlearned and can't eat solid food. Babies are unlearned and while babies have an excuse for their behavior, we don't. Adults who are still drinking formula and not solid food are oddities, it's unheard of (outside of illness and such). We are expected to drink our milk as babes and then as we grow start eating solid food. We are not expected to just keep on drinking milk and never transition to solid food. Spiritual milk is for babes, those new to the knowledge of the Lord and in need of much learning of the very basics of Salvation through our Lord and Savior. Spiritual meat is what comes next. We aren't expected to continue just drinking the spiritual milk endlessly, but we are expected to learn the deeper things. We are to live our entire LIVES devoted to our Savior and we have an amazing book of learning to guide us, a book that is miraculous that offers us milk to start with and meat as we continue on in our spiritual life. People like to ignore the meat and just keep taking in the milk, they don't want to have to chew, just be fed the easy liquid with no chewing involved, no energy expended, no more than what they believe is necessary to stay spiritually alive. We need strong spiritual meat to live spiritually if we are to grow spiritually at all and not remain babes, stunted in our spiritual growth.
Strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age- even those who by reason of USE have their senses EXERCISED to discern both good and evil.
Yet…
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
You are old enough to teach others and yet you now need to be taught again. This isn't a good thing! We can't endlessly be taught and never learn enough to teach. All through our maturing years we are required to be learning in some sort of learning environment, school, homeschool, as we are growing up we are to be learning to become knowledgeable adults expected to LEARN things. When we encounter adults that don't have the knowledge they were supposed to have been taught when they were young we don't look upon them favorably do we? You should KNOW better by now. And maybe, just maybe there is an excuse for their not knowing, but what if there isn't one?
We must read this…
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
We don't want to be unskillful in the word of righteousness- that word is JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, OUR SAVIOR! Salvation is found in the RIGHTEOUSNESS of our Lord! If we are unskillful in the word of righteousness we know little of salvation. We need to exercise our senses, our spiritual senses need to be exercised - we need to constantly be learning and growing in knowledge of our LORD and we will be able to DISCERN good and evil. We NEED this ability to discern because there are way too many people who have lost the ability of discernment and they honestly believe that evil is good, and good is evil. It's an honest belief to them because they have NO ability to discern, they've not grown in the knowledge of our Lord's righteousness but they just keep drinking the milk of their spiritual youth, their growth stunted their spiritual life no longer truly living.
Please Lord, please help us to grow in Your word of righteousness! Help us Lord to eat the spiritual meat You offer to us. Help us to grow in knowledge of You. Help us LISTEN and not be dull of hearing.
By Your grace, Your mercy, Your Love!
Amen.
Heb 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Have you ever had a lot to say to someone but you dreaded it because you know that someone isn't a very good listener? How many people are dull of hearing? There are books written on the subject of becoming a good listener. Just a quick check with google came up with these three titles-
Becoming a Good Listener
The Value of Being a Good Listener
About Being a Good Listener
If anything this tells us that people aren't good listeners and NEED to be taught to be good listeners. Shouldn't we be raised to be good listeners? Isn't this something we should teach our children? That old listen to your elders and so on? People have LOST the ability to be good listeners because our minds are just churning with thoughts and no sooner than we think them we believe those thoughts need to be voiced out loud because what we think is important, right? We want to be heard. We want to tell OUR side of the story, we want to get OUR point across. Our ideas are valuable aren't they? We are so darn busy being concerned about OUR selves that we don't listen, really listen. We might skim listen and we might skim listen a lot! What's skim listening? Just what it sounds like. We skim the talking of others by just listening to bits and pieces while we concentrate also on our replies to what they're saying EVEN if they're not finished speaking. We get the gist of what someone is saying and that's enough, right? We think on our feet, we're ten steps ahead of the next person, we're on the ball, we are multi-taskers and we're good at it, proud of it! We award people that can talk around others, that can get people to do what they want as they talk to them. Sales people, con artists, scammers all have this ability and we applaud them when they're legit sales people who break no laws when they're using their ability to persuade. We feel cheated when we are unlawfully conned. What people don't always realize is that a con artist and sales person while they talk a great game are also listening to us for various clues so they can use their scheming ways in a personal manner. They listen.
Heb 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Hard to be uttered, why? Because you are dull of hearing.
Why speak if no one is going to listen? Why talk if you have no one to hear? It's like talking to no one if you talk and talk and no one listens, isn't it? Have you ever seen the glazed eyed look of others when you're going on and on as you talk? Or do you get that glazed look right when you start to speak, because people are instantly UNINTERESTED in anything you have to say. They assume before you even get going that you're not going to have anything to say that will interest them. They won't have to care about what you're saying, so why bother wasting time listening.
Hard to be uttered, because you are dull of hearing.
Do you ever get to the point where you don't want to bother speaking because you know others are DULL OF HEARING, that they don't want to listen to what you're saying, that they could careless about what you have to say- no matter how important?
Here we are being told that they want to talk of MANY things about our Savior. There are MANY THINGS to say but they don't want to say them because those they are wanting to speak to don't want to listen. How tragic, how very, very tragic to know that people don't want to hear many things about their Savior. Today we could go on the crowded street and try and take a poll asking people if they want to hear about Jesus their Savior and how many people would really want to stop and listen? We don't really know do we but we can imagine, can't we? Not many. Then or now, it's the same. We are DULL of hearing.
Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Babies are unlearned and can't eat solid food. Babies are unlearned and while babies have an excuse for their behavior, we don't. Adults who are still drinking formula and not solid food are oddities, it's unheard of (outside of illness and such). We are expected to drink our milk as babes and then as we grow start eating solid food. We are not expected to just keep on drinking milk and never transition to solid food. Spiritual milk is for babes, those new to the knowledge of the Lord and in need of much learning of the very basics of Salvation through our Lord and Savior. Spiritual meat is what comes next. We aren't expected to continue just drinking the spiritual milk endlessly, but we are expected to learn the deeper things. We are to live our entire LIVES devoted to our Savior and we have an amazing book of learning to guide us, a book that is miraculous that offers us milk to start with and meat as we continue on in our spiritual life. People like to ignore the meat and just keep taking in the milk, they don't want to have to chew, just be fed the easy liquid with no chewing involved, no energy expended, no more than what they believe is necessary to stay spiritually alive. We need strong spiritual meat to live spiritually if we are to grow spiritually at all and not remain babes, stunted in our spiritual growth.
Strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age- even those who by reason of USE have their senses EXERCISED to discern both good and evil.
Yet…
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
You are old enough to teach others and yet you now need to be taught again. This isn't a good thing! We can't endlessly be taught and never learn enough to teach. All through our maturing years we are required to be learning in some sort of learning environment, school, homeschool, as we are growing up we are to be learning to become knowledgeable adults expected to LEARN things. When we encounter adults that don't have the knowledge they were supposed to have been taught when they were young we don't look upon them favorably do we? You should KNOW better by now. And maybe, just maybe there is an excuse for their not knowing, but what if there isn't one?
We must read this…
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
We don't want to be unskillful in the word of righteousness- that word is JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, OUR SAVIOR! Salvation is found in the RIGHTEOUSNESS of our Lord! If we are unskillful in the word of righteousness we know little of salvation. We need to exercise our senses, our spiritual senses need to be exercised - we need to constantly be learning and growing in knowledge of our LORD and we will be able to DISCERN good and evil. We NEED this ability to discern because there are way too many people who have lost the ability of discernment and they honestly believe that evil is good, and good is evil. It's an honest belief to them because they have NO ability to discern, they've not grown in the knowledge of our Lord's righteousness but they just keep drinking the milk of their spiritual youth, their growth stunted their spiritual life no longer truly living.
Please Lord, please help us to grow in Your word of righteousness! Help us Lord to eat the spiritual meat You offer to us. Help us to grow in knowledge of You. Help us LISTEN and not be dull of hearing.
By Your grace, Your mercy, Your Love!
Amen.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Called of God- An High Priest
Heb 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Melchizedek
King of righteousness, the king of Salem (q.v.). All we know of him is recorded in Gen_14:18-20. He is subsequently mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in Psa_110:4. The typical significance of his history is set forth in detail in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb. 7. The apostle there points out the superiority of his priesthood to that of Aaron in these several respects,
(1.) Even Abraham paid him tithes;
(2.) he blessed Abraham;
(3.) he is the type of a Priest who lives for ever;
(4.) Levi, yet unborn, paid him tithes in the person of Abraham;
(5.) the permanence of his priesthood in Christ implied the abrogation of the Levitical system;
(6.) he was made priest not without an oath; and
(7.) his priesthood can neither be transmitted nor interrupted by death: “this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.”
The question as to who this mysterious personage was has given rise to a great deal of modern speculation. It is an old tradition among the Jews that he was Shem, the son of Noah, who may have survived to this time. Melchizedek was a Canaanitish prince, a worshipper of the true God, and in his peculiar history and character an instructive type of our Lord, the great High Priest (Heb_5:6, Heb_5:7; Heb_6:20). One of the Amarna tablets is from Ebed-Tob, king of Jerusalem, the successor of Melchizedek, in which he claims the very attributes and dignity given to Melchizedek in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Heb 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Obviously Melchisedec was unique. Christ was and is unique as well. Not High Priests from the established priesthood but rather High Priests uniquely called to be so of God.
Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Gen 14:19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Gen 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Before God established the priesthood, there were priests. Most of the priests were worshippers of false gods. Priests that would offer sacrifices of all sorts to their gods, priests that had their own ranking orders. The idea of priests was not foreign and newly introduced. Priests were those who offered sacrifices.
What made Melchizedek unique was HIS God. The God He sacrificed to. He didn't sacrifice to false gods. He knew of the ONE TRUE God, the Most High God above all others. He knew of the reality of God in a world teeming with false gods. Not looking to any man, to any king, to any other to work his office of priesthood for, Melchizedek looked solely to God. The priesthood He embraced was for God and God alone, doing God's will. He didn't need to be ordained by any other because He was accepted by God- His priesthood was accepted by God. When He sacrificed to God His sacrifices were accepted. God ordained Him just as God ordained His Son- accepting His, the greatest of sacrifices.
We choose to follow the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We accept Him as our High Priest, the One who sacrifices for us, His sin-filled people.
People were instructed by God to live under the sacrificial system so that even though they were sin-filled they could be forgiven of those sins and no longer be separated from Him by those sins. When Melchizedek offered a sacrifice His sacrifices were accepted by God- His heart was pure, He made atonement for His sins that separated Him from God. Jesus was accepted of God, Jesus was without sin, the sacrifice He made was for OUR SINS, sins He took on Himself willingly so we could be at one with God again. No sacrifice we could make on behalf of ourselves would be accepted- the sacrifice of the innocent Lamb, the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice EVERY lamb offered, every bullock, every dove, every single sacrifice offered pointed to the ultimate sacrifice--
Christ the Great HIGH PRIEST ordained of God, not of man.
Let us contemplate this as much as we can, understanding how blessed we are to have such a High Priest, a pure, incorruptible High Priest, a High Priest forever ordained by God Himself. When people are searching for acceptability by God they often seek for it in many, many ways but there is only ONE way for us to be accepted by God and that is through His Great High Priest- Jesus Christ. We can only go to our High Priest and seek His intervention with God on our behalf, only then can we be accepted- because HE is accepted and HE loves us and willingly offered Himself for us. We need to trust FULLY in Him and what HE'S done, HE alone saves.
By His mercy!
By His grace!
By His love!
By His sacrifice!
By His righteousness now and forever!
Amen.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Melchizedek
King of righteousness, the king of Salem (q.v.). All we know of him is recorded in Gen_14:18-20. He is subsequently mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in Psa_110:4. The typical significance of his history is set forth in detail in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb. 7. The apostle there points out the superiority of his priesthood to that of Aaron in these several respects,
(1.) Even Abraham paid him tithes;
(2.) he blessed Abraham;
(3.) he is the type of a Priest who lives for ever;
(4.) Levi, yet unborn, paid him tithes in the person of Abraham;
(5.) the permanence of his priesthood in Christ implied the abrogation of the Levitical system;
(6.) he was made priest not without an oath; and
(7.) his priesthood can neither be transmitted nor interrupted by death: “this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.”
The question as to who this mysterious personage was has given rise to a great deal of modern speculation. It is an old tradition among the Jews that he was Shem, the son of Noah, who may have survived to this time. Melchizedek was a Canaanitish prince, a worshipper of the true God, and in his peculiar history and character an instructive type of our Lord, the great High Priest (Heb_5:6, Heb_5:7; Heb_6:20). One of the Amarna tablets is from Ebed-Tob, king of Jerusalem, the successor of Melchizedek, in which he claims the very attributes and dignity given to Melchizedek in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Heb 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Obviously Melchisedec was unique. Christ was and is unique as well. Not High Priests from the established priesthood but rather High Priests uniquely called to be so of God.
Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Gen 14:19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Gen 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Before God established the priesthood, there were priests. Most of the priests were worshippers of false gods. Priests that would offer sacrifices of all sorts to their gods, priests that had their own ranking orders. The idea of priests was not foreign and newly introduced. Priests were those who offered sacrifices.
What made Melchizedek unique was HIS God. The God He sacrificed to. He didn't sacrifice to false gods. He knew of the ONE TRUE God, the Most High God above all others. He knew of the reality of God in a world teeming with false gods. Not looking to any man, to any king, to any other to work his office of priesthood for, Melchizedek looked solely to God. The priesthood He embraced was for God and God alone, doing God's will. He didn't need to be ordained by any other because He was accepted by God- His priesthood was accepted by God. When He sacrificed to God His sacrifices were accepted. God ordained Him just as God ordained His Son- accepting His, the greatest of sacrifices.
We choose to follow the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We accept Him as our High Priest, the One who sacrifices for us, His sin-filled people.
People were instructed by God to live under the sacrificial system so that even though they were sin-filled they could be forgiven of those sins and no longer be separated from Him by those sins. When Melchizedek offered a sacrifice His sacrifices were accepted by God- His heart was pure, He made atonement for His sins that separated Him from God. Jesus was accepted of God, Jesus was without sin, the sacrifice He made was for OUR SINS, sins He took on Himself willingly so we could be at one with God again. No sacrifice we could make on behalf of ourselves would be accepted- the sacrifice of the innocent Lamb, the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice EVERY lamb offered, every bullock, every dove, every single sacrifice offered pointed to the ultimate sacrifice--
Christ the Great HIGH PRIEST ordained of God, not of man.
Let us contemplate this as much as we can, understanding how blessed we are to have such a High Priest, a pure, incorruptible High Priest, a High Priest forever ordained by God Himself. When people are searching for acceptability by God they often seek for it in many, many ways but there is only ONE way for us to be accepted by God and that is through His Great High Priest- Jesus Christ. We can only go to our High Priest and seek His intervention with God on our behalf, only then can we be accepted- because HE is accepted and HE loves us and willingly offered Himself for us. We need to trust FULLY in Him and what HE'S done, HE alone saves.
By His mercy!
By His grace!
By His love!
By His sacrifice!
By His righteousness now and forever!
Amen.
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