Hebrews 13:17-24

Hebrews 13:17-19 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

We must give our respect and obedience to those who are in authority over us. And we must pray for our leaders. I once heard this suggestion, “If you want a better pastor; pray for the one you have!”

Hebrews 13:20-24 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter. I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. Greet all your leaders and all God's people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.

The first 2 verses of this prayer draw a perfect picture of God and of Jesus. Each is in 3 parts.

1. God is the God of peace. Even in the worst of times God can bring peace to men’s souls. IT is only God that can put a man into a right relationship with Him, with other men and with eternity.

2. God is the God of life. It was God who resurrected Jesus. God gives us triumph over death. It was to obey the will of God that Jesus died. And it was the same will of God that brought Him back. For the man who obeys the will of God: death is conquered. The end is the beginning.

3. God shows us His will and He equips us to do it. God never gives us a task without giving us the power to do it. When He sends us out, He sends us armed and equipped.

The 3 things about Jesus are:

1. Jesus is the great shepherd of His sheep. This is a very familiar picture to us, though Paul never uses it and the author of Hebrews only uses it once. Sheep are foolish creatures and a shepherd puts up with that foolishness and has compassion for them. He watches them and has patience with them and goes after them when they stray.

2. Jesus established the new covenant. It was Jesus who showed us what God is like. It was Jesus who opened the door for us. It was Jesus who took away the terror and showed us God’s love.

3. Jesus is the one who died. Our relationship with God cost the blood of Jesus. He died to give us eternal life.

My application Bible wraps up the book well. It says, “Hebrews is a call to Christian maturity. It was addressed to 1st century Jewish Christians, but it applies to Christians in any age or of any background. Christian maturity means making Christ the beginning and end of our faith. To grow in maturity we must center our lives on Him, not depending on religious ritual, not falling back into sin, not trusting ourselves and not letting anything come between us and Christ. Christ is sufficient and superior.

Hebrews 13: 7-16

Hebrews 13:7-8 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Who does it say the leaders of the church are?

Those who spoke the word of God.

The leader draws attention to Christ, not himself. A saint has been defined before as a “man in whom Christ lives again.” The duty of a church leader or a pastor is not so much to talk to men about Christ as to show men Christ in his own life and actions.

“Consider the outcome of their life.”

They remain faithful to the end. So a church leader should be both an example and an inspiration. There have been thousands of church leaders in the past 2000 years; in all sizes, shapes and colors. They have been led by the same unchanging Jesus Christ.

And Jesus, who first chose 12 disciples to be with Him and do His work, is still seeking those who will bring men to Him and Him to men.

Hebrews 13:9-16 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

There were false teachings going on then. There are false teachings going on now. We need to stick to scripture. To know for ourselves what is true.

Back then the Christians were mainly Jews who had grown up with strict food laws. Leviticus 12 has most of these in it. For example, Jews don’t eat pork. But, the author is saying that it’s not what you eat or don’t eat that pleases God. Grace is what’s important. A lot of those food laws were given to keep the Israelites healthy in desert conditions.

Where the author says, Christ suffered outside the gates: criminals were crucified outside Jerusalem’s city walls. They were considered unclean. Jesus was considered a criminal, or as the Bible says, “He was numbered with the transgressors.” The author is telling Christians we need to expect and accept that too. We must be ready for separation, isolation and humiliation, just like Christ was.

Where it says, acts of praise and worship are considered sacrifices to God, we’ve heard the term of “sacrifice of praise” before. And in the next line, one commentator wrote “compassion shown to men by men is a bloodless sacrifice and holy unto God.” Jesus Himself said in Mathew 25:40 “In as much as ye have done unto one of the least of theses my brethren, ye have done unto me.”

Acts of kindness and sharing are especially pleasing to God even when they go unnoticed by others.

Hebrews 13

Hebrews 13:1-6 “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

My Bible calls this section “General Christian Obligations” and it’s full of well known phrases. Let’s look at the first one: brotherly love. The Bible tells us we are all brothers in Christ. We should be kind to one another: not look for faults or be unsympathetic.

The next part says we should practice hospitality. The ancient world loved and honored hospitality. Back then inns were nasty places. There used to be a system called “guest friendships” where families, even if they had lost touch years before, knew if they needed to, they could stay with each other. People were always being invited in for a cup of water or a meal. I think one of the reasons people looked forward to company like this was the lack of newspapers and TV. Talking to others, telling stories and spreading news, was entertainment.

In the early church, preachers and prophets needed places to stay and Christians needed to provide those places. Christianity should still be a religion of the open door.

Next we are told to have sympathy for those in trouble. Back when this was written Christians were often in jail; for their beliefs or their debt. The early church would go into action to supply for persons in need, or if they could, get the person out of prison.

Next: purity. Respect for marriage vows. The Bible couldn’t be any more clear, could it? Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

And then contentment. One commentator wrote, “The Christian must be content with what he has. And why shouldn’t he be? For he possesses the continual presence of God!
The author of Hebrews quotes 2 great Old Testament passages to show that the man of God needs nothing more than God’s presence and help.

Joshua 1:5 “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Psalm 118:6 “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

To be content we need to thank God daily for our blessings. Keep our eyes focused on Him and not TV commercials or the Jones everyone keeps trying to keep up with!

We would do our children an enormous favor if we could help them learn to be content. None of us needs as much stuff as we have!

Hebrews 12:25-29

Hebrews 12:25-29 "See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."

Moses relayed the law to the people. He was the one who warned the people on earth and those who refused to obey did not escape. Jesus is the one who warns from Heaven and the author says if the punishment is so severe for breaking the law; know that it will be much more severe for not listening to Jesus!

We are actually under a double responsibility. Those back under the law only knew part of the truth. Because of Jesus, we know God’s full truth and should have no excuse for not obeying Him. It’s like the saying, “To who much is given, much is expected.”

When the first law was given, the world shook!

(Exodus 19:18) (Psalm 114:7) (Psalm 68:8) (Psalm 77:18)

The author says, someday the world will shake again. Everything that can be uprooted will be destroyed. The only things that will remain will be what can’t be shaken: our relationship with God. Jesus spoke in Matthew about the importance of building on a firm foundation.

We must worship God with reverence. We must serve Him with fear. The author ends this passage by quoting Deuteronomy 4:24 “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”

Moses told the Israelite this, but it’s true for us too. God must be first in our lives. Having a relationship with Him, being able to approach Him now, doesn’t change that. If we put God first and our faith remains unshakable – when the end comes, whether Christ comes back in our lifetime, or we die of old age - we will be safe and secure. We have a choice!

Hebrews 12 Part 3

Hebrews 12:12-17 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

Most people can come through in a pinch. But it’s the day in day out of living our faith that can be hard. This section deals with a Christian’s daily life and struggle. The author tells us to strengthen ourselves so we can strengthen others. Christians have a duty to God, but they also have a duty to man: that they don’t mislead him.

Our example needs to make it easier for others to believe in and follow Christ. If we say one thing and do another it confuses people. And that’s wrong. Christians should live a life above reproach. One commentator said, “A man must offer his heart to God and his service and example to his fellow men.”

Where is says we should make every effort to live in peace means we should pursue it. It requires effort. Peace to the Hebrews was not just freedom from trouble. It meant 2 things. First, it was everything which makes for a man’s highest good: it meant the highest welfare man could enjoy and that (as the Hebrews saw it) could only be found in obedience to God. So the Christian must aim at that complete obedience to God in which life finds its highest happiness, its greatest good and its peace.

The second meaning is a right relation between men. Where man only seeks good for his neighbor. Love, forgiveness, service…no hatred. So, tying this together; the peace we strive for comes from obedience to God’s will, which enables us to live in and produce right relationships with our fellow man.

Going on in this verse we are also to aim for holiness. The intense pursuit of holiness is to be the predominant priority of every Christian. The pursuit is a spiritual mindset. If someone is spirit-filled, there will be a burning thirst to experience God’s holiness in every corner of his being. Daily, serious Bible reading and prayer are the primary means by which we pursue such purity and growth. In Matthew 6:20 Jesus said we are to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” The entire book of Leviticus was written so the Israelites would learn how to be holy. God tells us to “Be Holy because I am Holy. Remember that holy means to be separate, different and that the world’s standards are not ours.

Our ideal is different, our reward is different. We are not holy now, but holiness is our destiny. (1 John 3:2-3) Our lack of holiness is what causes most of our problems in life though and that’s why we need to strive to be holy now. Ask yourself, “What changes must I make to live a holy life?” That would be a good way to spend quiet time with God, a pencil and paper. Then check yourself on it everyday.

We’re also told not to let a root of bitterness spring up. Bitterness comes when we allow disappointment to grow to resentment or when we nurse grudges over past hurts. Bitterness is ugly and it causes jealousy, dissension and immortality. But the Holy Spirit can heal us from the hurt that causes it if we ask Him.

The author uses Esau in the next verse as a man who put his earthly comfort and pleasure above God and lost his inheritance. Any man who lives just for this world throws away his birthright – eternity. Remember how God promised Abraham that He would make him the father of a great nation and that people would be blessed through him? And that Jesus was the fulfillment of that? He was the one from Abraham’s lineage that would come and save people. The promises to Abraham were what Isaac was passing on to his eldest son. He didn’t have any land to speak of. His birthright was still in the future. In a previous post I wrote that the great people of faith who were listed in Hebrews 11 died without seeing all of God’s promises fulfilled, but they kept their faith. They kept God first so they, including Abraham (Esau’s grandfather), Isaac (Esau’s father) and Jacob (Esau’s twin) were listed in the “honor roll of faith” but Esau is in Hebrews 12:16 called a godless man. It says that later he sought his birthright, but was rejected because he didn’t repent. Remember Judas went back and tried to un-do the sin he had committed too. But saying you’re sorry and truly repenting (changing your action and your attitude and your life!) are two different things.

The author says that Esau despised his birthright. He deliberately rejected God. Therefore God rejected Esau. We too have a spiritual birthright. We may have been born into a Christian family, but we still, when we reach the age of accountability, must choose God. We may know the facts, we may know the promises, we may know the only way to receive eternal life is through believing that Jesus died and rose again for our personal sins. But if we are acting any other way then the way God calls us to be we are despising our birthright.

We live in a land where there are Bibles and we have the freedom to read them. If we don’t, we despise our birthright. We can belong to a church, but when we stay at home on Sundays to enjoy the weather, or whatever, we despise our birthright. We make daily choices whether we think about them or not. God wants us to take our birthright seriously.

Hebrews 12 Part 2

Hebrews 12:3-4 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
We need to realize that walking with God doesn’t guarantee we will be free from opposition. Otherwise we will become discouraged. Suffering does help us mature as Christians.

Where it says they “haven’t resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” The author’s readers were living in a time of persecution, but they were reading his words. They were alive. They hadn’t yet died for their faith like Christ and other saints and martyrs. And he was telling them to not give up. It cost other people their lives and a thing which cost so much cannot be taken lightly. A tradition like that is not a tradition a man can let down. We should show ourselves worthy of the sacrifices that men and God made for us.

Hebrews 12:5-11 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Does God discipline us? Well, it says right here in the Bible He does! The first part of this section is a quote from Proverbs 3:11-12. As parents do we show our love of our children by letting them run wild?

Even if it hurts us to let them bear the consequences of some action; we know we have to so they can grow. So they can become mature, stronger, better people; able to not only get along better in life, but to have compassion and wisdom for other people. All of these things come out of a good suffering!

This verse says God disciplines us so we may share in His holiness. And admits with us that disciple isn’t pleasant and we may respond to it in several ways:

1. We can accept it with resignation
2. We can accept it with self-pity (thinking we don’t deserve it.)
3. We can get angry with God or resentful
4. We can accept it gratefully – knowing it shows that God loves us like a Father and He is growing us.

Hebrews 12 Part 1

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The cloud of witnesses is the group of faithful people we just read about in Hebrews chapter 11. Remember the author wrote about them to inspire us, encourage us and remind us of our responsibility as a Christian. Many times in the Bible a Christian’s life is described as a journey or a race. Our goal is to someday be like Christ and be in His presence. And every night we should ask ourselves if we are closer to that goal. If we are going to travel far – we must travel light. And the author tells us to “lay aside every weight and sin that clings.”

Ask yourself what’s holding you back on your journey to be more like Christ? A bad habit, some sin you can’t repent from, some sin you have repented from but can’t forget? Selfishness? We can get rid of these things and we can finish our race, if we keep our eyes on Jesus.

He had trials, a lot more than most people ever will, but He got through them – not around them. And He was able to because He put God first and kept Heaven foremost in His mind. And that’s what we’re supposed to do. One commentator said about this passage: “Jesus is not only our goal at the end; He’s our companion along the way.

Hebrews Chapters 11 Part 7

Hebrews 11:32 -40 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

These verses summarize the lives of other great men and women of faith – some experienced great victories in their lives – some were mistreated and even killed. Steadfast faith doesn’t guarantee us a carefree life. On the contrary our faith almost guarantees us some type of trial or abuse from the world. While we are on earth we may never see the purpose of our suffering, but, we know God’s promises will come true in His time.

There are too many people listed in this section to talk about in a short post, but it is a list of people who faced incredible odds for God. Who were in God’s minority rather then the world’s majority. Men who accepted God-given tasks. And they are in Hebrews to be an example for Christians. The writer of Hebrews is seeking to inspire new courage and a new sense of responsibility by making his readers remember their past.

God’s power hasn’t grown less over time. What He did once, he can do again. The God of history is the same God we worship today. They died before the Messiah came. We may die before He returns, but someday these people of the Old Testament will stand with us before Christ. Old and New Testament believers will be glorified together.

Hebrews Chapters 11 Part 5

Hebrews 11:11-16 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

None of the people mentioned saw the fulfillment of God’s promises in their lifetime. They saw some – Noah did experience the flood – Sarah did have a baby. But not all. The point is: what we need to learn from them is: they never lost faith and the earth is not our forever home. We need to keep our eyes on eternity.

Foreigners are often looked down on. Look at the letters to the editor in the daily newspaper about illegal aliens! Abraham didn’t have a land of his own for the rest of his life. And the author is saying Christians are not really in their own land. Our home is heaven and we are foreigners on earth. We can expect to feel and experience all the things related to living in a foreign land. But, we are on a journey for God and because of that “God is not ashamed to be called our God.” He has prepared a city for us in Heaven.

Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

God had told Abraham he would be the father of a great nation, and yet now He tells him to sacrifice the very son this nation was supposed to come from! But, Abraham was willing to do it! Maybe he believed that if God took Isaac he would also raise him from the dead. The point is, he was ready to give up what was dearest to him – for God – and because of that he was blessed even more.

Hebrews 11:20-22 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

Remember Isaac had twins: Jacob and Esau, and it was Jacob’s 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. And one of those sons – Joseph – was sold into slavery by his brothers. But through that incident God was able to move His people, Joseph’s family, to Egypt where He wanted them until it was time to set out for the Promised Land. Joseph remembered God’s promise to Abraham about the Promised Land and when he died he requested that his bones be taken and buried there. He never doubted it would happen.

And 400 years later his bones were with the Israelites when they left Egypt.

But, again, all 3 of these men died without seeing the promises fulfilled. We may die before we see something happen, but we are a link in that fulfillment. We must live in a way to move things along according to God’s will. Christians have the task of helping God make His promises come true.

Hebrews Chapters 11 Part 4

Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Abraham, or Abram, as he was originally called, was of course a descendant of Noah and just one man among the tens of thousands of people who had repopulated the earth.

He lived in Ur of the Chaldees, the most civilized, progressive, magnificent city of his day. Ur was a seaport located on the Persian Gulf. It was an exciting place to live; highly sophisticated. There were universities there offering the best education in the world, international banking and shipping…and religious worship of a moon god and a moon goddess! The people had again turned from God.

Abram’s well-to-do family was idolatrous. But, increasingly his spirit became restless and uneasy. And while he was searching for the meaning of life, God leaned down and spoke to him.

Genesis 12:1-3 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

God promised to bless Abram, but he wouldn’t receive that blessing unless he left everything: family, home, friends, comfort – and set out in faith. Abram didn’t know where God would lead him – just that he was to follow. But, God’s command was clear. He was to put God first in his life if he was to receive God’s blessing.

God told him that He would make Abram, who had no children and whose wife was well past child-bearing age, the father of a great nation. Abram’s family became the chosen nation of Israel that provided the audiovisual aid of sacrifices and ceremonies that pictured for the world God’s terms for a right relationship with Him. It was also Abram’s descendants who recorded the revelation of God through the written prophecy, history, biography and poetry that we call the Bible. And it was Abram’s descendants who provided the human lineage for Jesus Christ.

God told him He would make his name great; and he’s in the honor role of faith in Hebrews 11. He told him that all the people on earth would be blessed through him. Jesus, born from Jews, was the ultimate blessing God was promising Abram. Jesus was the seed promised to Adam and Eve who would be the one to reconcile God and man, bridging the gap that sin and rebellion had created. Because of Abram the entire world would have a chance to get back in a right relationship with God.

If Abram accepted God’s call, his entire life would be changed. Even his name would change from Abram to Abraham.

And he did accept God’s call.

Genesis 12:4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.

He left his comfortable, convenient yet wasted life, in Ur and set out on a journey of faith. And it changed the world.

Hebrews Chapters 11 Part 3

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

The earth had become so wicked that God decided to destroy all, but Noah’s family. Jesus pinpointed the root of wickedness in Noah’s day as an indifference to God. Matthew 24:38-39 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Nothing was really wrong with any of the activities Jesus described, except God was left out of all of them. Many things in our world today aren’t criminal – as much as godless.

We need to ask ourselves: are we leaving God out of our decisions? Our activities? Our business? Our home? Our marriage? God needs to not only be present in our life – He needs to have first place in it.

Genesis 6:5 says “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on earth had become.” And Genesis 6:12 says, “God saw how corrupt the earth had become.”

Anne Graham Lotz wrote about this passage: God saw people gossiping. He saw the shady business deals going on, the preoccupation with perverted pleasure, the abuse of innocent children, the glory given to the obnoxious; the lies. God saw it all. And it broke His heart.

Genesis 6:6 says, “The Lord grieved that He had made man on the earth.” Grieve is a love word. You don’t grieve over someone unless you love them. The God who created the heavens and earth as an environment for man, the crowning glory of His creation, the God who created Adam and Eve because He wanted them to know Him and have fellowship with Him, was hurt by the indifference of Noah’s world.

I think He’s hurt by the indifference in our world too. What do you think He thought when we took prayer out of school? When we take the commandments off the walls of public buildings? His name out of the Pledge of Allegiance?

God is watching the world with patience. The Bible says Christ hasn’t come back yet, final judgment hasn’t come, because He doesn’t want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But, don’t mistake His patience for tolerance. There is a limit to His patience and we have been warned – just like the people in Noah’s day were warned through Noah.

God’s warning comes to us in the Bible, by our conscience or in the advice or rebuke from a Christian friend. It may be a challenge to us in a sermon or a Sunday school lesson or a Christian radio program. His warnings are there. He gave the people in Noah’s day 120 years. That’s how long it took Noah to build the ark. Noah’s neighbors thought he was nuts! Building a huge boat in the middle of dry land, talking about a big flood, when no one had even heard of rain before! Until the flood it had never rained on earth!

But, Noah listened to God. He believed Him and he was obedient. And his name is in the honor role of faith in Hebrews 11 because of it. In an age when men forgot and disregarded God – God, for Noah, was the supreme reality in the world. Noah was the one lonely man who stood for God in a day when all men were abandoning Him.

We all have the same choice that Noah did. We can live as if the message of God is of no importance – or we can live as if it’s the most important thing in the world!

Hebrews Chapters 11 Part 2

Hebrews 11:5 – 6 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Enoch’s story is in Genesis 5: 18-24. It seems that Enoch started his walk with God after his first son was born. Many times becoming parents brings people to church. All of a sudden we are given this awesome responsibility for someone else’s life and our priorities begin to straighten out.

If you walk with someone you have to go in the same direction, don’t you? If I were taking a walk with my husband and he went one way and I the other, we wouldn’t be walking together. Or if we started off together and I turned off and he kept going, we wouldn’t be walking together. Or if I walked really fast and he walked really slow.

We need to go in God’s direction and accept His timing. Not insist on our own. We need to ask ourselves what adjustments must we make to our schedules, to our attitudes, to our ambitions, our personal habits – so that we can truly walk with God. If we don’t know His pace or direction we can’t do it. We find this out (His pace and direction) through prayer and reading the Bible and spending time with Him.

God really wants us to spend time walking and talking with Him. He had that with Adam and Eve in the garden. He created us for fellowship. Enoch walked with God for 300 years and became increasingly aware of His presence and love. The Bible doesn’t say it was a drudgery or he got tired of it. What is keeping you from walking with God?

The second part of this (verse 6) is where we are told it is impossible to please God without faith. He says we need to believe in God and believe He is interested in us. Even the demons know He exists! We are called to have a relationship with Him. Where it says in that verse, “He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” my application Bible answers a question we ask all the time – using this sentence – “Sometimes we wonder about the fate of those who haven’t heard of Christ and have not even had a Bible to read. God assures us that those who honestly seek Him, who act in faith on the knowledge of God that they possess, will be rewarded. Those who hear the gospel are responsible for what they have heard.”

Less and less people today have not heard of Christ. His disciples have done a good job taking His message to all nations. What this says to me is, we don’t need to worry about babies that die or the mentally disabled, but anyone who has heard and is capable of understanding – either accepts or rejects Him.

A Study of Hebrews Chapters 11 Part 1

Hebrews Chapter 11 is called the faith chapter. It is to faith what 1 Corinthians 13 is to love.

Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

My application Bible likens this to an approaching birthday. Especially for kids. They look forward to it. They know they’ll get presents, but that there will be some surprises. Birthdays combine assurance and anticipation. And so does faith.

Faith is the conviction based on past experience that God’s new and fresh surprises will be ours. Faith is sure and certain. And when we believe God will fulfill His promises even though we don’t see those promises materialize yet, we demonstrate true faith. The word hope in the Bible is a certainty for Christians.

The Christian hope dictates our actions and dominates our attitudes. The whole Christian attitude is that in terms of eternity a man cannot lose by being true to God. We believe God’s promises are true and we act on that belief.

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

This next part I’ve heard called the honor role of faith and it begins with Abel. Remember back to Genesis 4. Cain was a farmer and Abel a shepherd. They both offered a sacrifice to God. Cain’s from what he grew and Abel’s; an animal. God preferred Abel’s and didn’t accept Cain’s. Cain was jealous and murdered Abel.

The Bible doesn’t say why God preferred Abel’s. It could have been their attitudes when presenting the sacrifices. It could have been that Abel picked a perfect animal with a lot of thought and care and Cain gathered up an armload of grain at the last minute.

Or it could have been that God had already showed them what He expected in a sacrifice and Abel did it and Cain didn’t. Some people say the first sacrifice was after Adam and Eve sinned and God killed an animal to use its skins to make clothes for them. This was the first time blood was shed in the Bible. We do know from the story, that Abel pleased God – that means he was obedient to God - and he was remembered forever for his faith.

Did Cain give God leftovers? Do we give God leftovers? Is what we sacrifice for God pleasing to Him? Is our service pleasing to Him? Or not?

If you weren’t too tired before you went to bed last night, or if you even thought of it, you might have prayed. If you weren’t too busy last week, you might have read your Bible. If the weather isn’t good enough for golf or the lake, you might go to church.

God refuses to be second place in our lives.

God rejected Cain’s apparently apathetic sacrifice. Cain could have had another chance. God told him in Genesis 4:6-7 “Why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?” If Cain just misunderstood what God wanted from him, he could have tried again.

But, he didn’t. The Bible says he got angry and he was jealous of Abel and killed him. His heart was wrong all along and God knows our hearts.

Do you ever feel like God is too hard to please? Do you ever wonder why He doesn’t lower His standards to yours? Do you ever get angry that a prayer of yours goes unanswered?

We’ll see in verse 6 that actually, God is impossible to please – if we don’t have faith – and if we don’t do things His way!

Christian Maturity

As we grow in God’s word and put it into practice, our capacity to understand it will grow. The writer of Hebrews says in 5:44 “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their facilities trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” We must learn discernment. We must train our minds to distinguish the correct use of scripture from wrong. Christianity can’t be learned in a day. It takes time to teach and effort to learn.

Most of the book of Hebrews is a call to Christian maturity, which means making Christ the beginning and end of our faith and to center our lives on Him. Chapter 6 of Hebrews tells us to go beyond the elementary doctrines of Christ; repentance, being saved by faith, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

It’s like children going through school. They learn the very basic things in kindergarten and first grade, but then move on, building on that knowledge. The 2nd and 3rd grade teachers don’t just reteach what they’ve already learned over and over again. If they did, no one would ever get out of grade school!

Christianity and our faith is a process. We need to be constantly growing, a little bit at a time and daily – like the manna in the desert. As we become more mature in our faith we need to think things out more for ourselves. We should eventually be able to answer the question, “What would Jesus do?”

As we mature we should reflect Christ more and more to others. We should get rid of old faults and put on new virtues. Sometimes we will go through dry spells and we’ll fail to mature. We’ll lose our enthusiasm, the sermons will bore us, service will seem a burden, but we need to keep doing the routines of a Christian life. And the joy will return.

The author of Hebrews considers our lives to be a journey to Christ. And it is the end of life that makes the process of life all important. A journey will often take us through deserts, along refreshing streams and up to the top of mountains. The Bible encourages us to hold firm and to finish the race. In other words – keep moving! God will complete His work in us. He will mature us.

Forgive us for living shallow in deep times.