The Promised Rest
in the Gospel
2/5/2012
We have come to chapter four in our study of the book of Hebrews. In some respects, this is one of the most challenging books in the New Testament, with the exception of course of the book of Revelation.
Hebrews was originally written to Hellenistic Jews. These were Jewish people who lived in a Greek culture. They were also believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They were well acquainted with the Hebrew Scriptures, and they were learning how to incorporate their new faith as first generation Christians.
Some of you are first generation Christians. You came to faith later in life and you had no previous history with Christianity.
There are some of us here who were raised in nominally Christian homes. Your family would have considered themselves believers, but you were not well acquainted with the Scriptures and the faith seemed impersonal and abstract to you.
An evangelical understanding of the Christian faith is something far more personal.
You understand that one needs to be born again to enter the
The Gospel is the Good News of what Jesus did for us on the cross and what His resurrection means for our future. We are saved by grace through faith as our sins are forgiven and atoned for.
An evangelical perceptive of the Christian faith is essential to understand the message of the Bible. But if you are a first generation Christian, there are Biblical themes and concepts that you need to learn and absorb.
The advantage that the original recipients of the book of Hebrews had over other converts is that they knew their Bibles.
They understood the themes of Creation, Sabbath, Covenant and Deliverance. The main premise of the book of Hebrews is Promise & Fulfillment. They knew their Bibles, that made sense to them.
With that kind of foundation, the writer of the book of Hebrews could draw from that heritage, that history.
If you are a first generation believer and you’re just getting started in the Bible, the book of Hebrews is going to be a challenge for you.
It’s a good challenge and it’s worth the effort, but it will take time. Today we’re going to talk about the important theme of The Promised Rest in the Gospel.
We’ll break it down into three parts: The Promise; The Rest; and how the two tie together with the Gospel.
To understand Hebrews and the Jewish concept of faith, you must know something about Covenant Promises and their fulfillment.
The Covenant of Life made with Adam & Eve was simply this: Obey, and you will live.
He gave them all the freedom that came with the Garden of Eden, with but one command; don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
All the freedom you could ask for and just one command. Adam and Eve broke the Covenant of Life when they did exactly what God told them not to do.
It’s important to be reminded of something you’ve no doubt heard many times. When you break covenant with God, when you deliberately sin, there are always consequences.
You may not be immediately aware of them, you may think that it’s no big deal, but there are always consequences to sin.
Adam and Eve first felt embarrassment, then shame, then fear, then guilt, then alienation. They lost far more than they gained, and it’s always that way with sin.
There may be a brief period of time when you feel some elation after you’ve broken covenant with God, but it goes away rather quickly.
There may be a time when you defiantly defend your sinful actions, or you blame it on somebody else. But that too quickly goes away when you stand before the living God.
Nothing good comes out of sin, but the good news is that God’s grace is greater than our sin.
When the Covenant of Life was broken, Adam and Eve were judged for their sin, but another covenant was made; the Covenant of Grace.
The Covenant of Grace was a promise that God would save mankind from their sin through a Redeemer.
That promise is the common thread that runs from Genesis through Revelation. The Sabbath or entering the Rest promised by God is a key component of that promise.
The Bible mentions four distinctly different kinds of rests or Sabbaths.
God rested on the seventh day of creation. The seventh day later became a day of rest for the Hebrews who formerly knew no rest as slaves in
The Promised land of Canaan was a promise of rest for the people of
13And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
The common thread of these different types of rest is that God is at the center of them all.
The creation rest is the pleasure of God in what He has made. The Sabbath rest is now known by Christians as the Lord’s Day, a day set aside for worship and rest.
The Canaan Rest was meant to be a place where God’s people would find their deepest satisfaction in God.
The people would find their identity by loving God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. The Lord would be their King, their provider, protector and their greatest joy.
The eternal rest is when God’s people would find their ultimate rest in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Then our faith would be replaced by sight. There would no longer be any sickness, sorrow or death. We will finally be able to be at rest; separated forever from the affects of a fallen world.
But the promise of God’s rest isn’t just for the future. The promise of entering God’s rest is for you today.
Today, if you hear his voice, do
not harden your hearts.
There is a promised rest that is meant for you today; this day, this moment. If your heart is not harden, you can have rest for your soul.
Most of us think of a rest as either a good night’s sleep or a vacation. Some think of their retirement years as the time in their lives when they’ll finally going to be able to rest.
The Biblical promise of rest is so much deeper than that. The promise deals with the peace of God that passes all human understanding.
It speaks of a quietness and contentment of your soul. The 23rd Psalm gives us a word picture of that rest.
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
That is the Promised Rest. But our text today gives us a warning; the fear of not entering into that rest.
1Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
The
We’ve already talked about the fear of God; the reverent awe that we are to have before God.
This word fear in verse one conveys trepidation, dread, being frightened of something. In that sense, almost everybody fears something.
A child might be afraid of the dark. An adult may dread the thought of public speaking. A teenager might be afraid of ridicule or rejection.
What are you afraid of? Do you identify with any of the following kinds of fears?
The Bible says that perfect love casts out all fear. Jesus said that we shouldn’t fear anyone who can just harm the body, but we should fear the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
There is a healthy fear, and there is a neurotic unhealthy fear. We should fear no man, but it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God.
Here in chapter four it says that the promise of entering the rest of God still stands, but we should fear lest any of us should fail to reach it. There are several disclaimers that one could make here.
We aren’t to live in dread of God, but we should fear the consequence of unbelief.
I know a young man who thinks that he’s outgrown the Christian faith. He should fear the fact that he may not enter God’s rest.
I know a woman who thinks that the seventh commandment doesn’t apply to her. She should fear the fact that her disobedience may mean that she’ll be on the outside looking in on judgment day.
I know a person who doesn’t think that being a part of the Body of Christ is worth the effort. They should fear the fact that Jesus died for His bride, the church; and though they may call our Lord, Lord, they could very well hear the reply, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
What will happen to those who neglect such a great salvation? They will not enter God’s rest.
3For we who have believed enter that rest, as
he has said, “As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest…’”
That is strong language. What was the sin that caused an entire generation of Israelites to miss out of the promised rest? What is it that you and I should fear today?
Unbelief. Not trusting in the promises of God. Thinking that God can’t be relied upon in your time of need. Doubting His goodness, and discarding the value of the Law or the Gospel.
6Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,
It is one thing to struggle; to know that you’ve fallen short of where you should be and what you should do.
It’s quite another thing to set yourself above God by judging Him according to your standards. That’s exactly what we do when we shrug off God’s Law.
Then verse 11 is a curious passage.
11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
How do you strive to enter a rest? Is it like someone who works hard all their lives with the goal of a great retirement?
I don’t think so. I’m sure you’ve heard stories of those whose retirement just couldn’t come quickly enough, but then when it does come, they die.
Striving to enter the rest a matter of where your focus is. What is your ultimate goal, where is your hope?
I think the answer is found in the chapter that we’ll be memorizing this summer.
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Gospel is Good News because it takes the focus off of ourselves and places it on Jesus Christ.
It’s His work that brings us rest. It’s His sacrifice that brings us peace. It’s His love that takes away our shame.
Do you know what may be the most noticeable affect of rest is? Joy. When you are at rest in your spirit, you feel the joy once again.
Some of you are just plain bone tired. You’re weary, you’re worn out; you’re an emotional anemic. There’s very little if any joy in your life.
Jesus endured the cross for the joy set out before Him. The joy of knowing that all the righteous demands of the Law are satisfied; the joy of knowing that you are accepted by the only One who really matters in the end.
The Gospel is the good news of how sinful man can be reconciled to the only true God who is absolutely holy. In that good news, you will find rest for your soul. The children of
And he said, “My presence will go with you,
and I will give you rest.”
Jesus made that promise even more personal.
28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from
me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.”
This morning I ask you to lay your burden down and to find your rest in Jesus Christ. The prophet Isaiah put it this way:
28Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
The Gospel is the promised rest to those who believe. Strive to enter that rest. Put your focus on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith.
When you are weary; when your strength is gone, when you no longer feel the joy, that’s when you need rest. Not just a nap, but the Gospel.
In Christ, your sins are forgiven; your debt is paid; you can begin again, rested, and ready for the race set out before you.
The Faithfulness of God
In the Gospel
January 29, 2012
There are three issues that we’re going to focus on this morning. Hard hearts. The deceitfulness of sin. And the importance of exhorting one another.
All of that will eventually point us to the Faithfulness of God in the Gospel.
The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish believers who were admonished to fully embrace the Gospel and live God fearing lives in the midst of a suffering world.
The original recipients of this letter had reason to be discouraged and perhaps even give up. They were well acquainted with persecution and suffering.
From the very beginning of the letter the author emphasized the supremacy of Jesus Christ. He is superior to angels, the prophets, Moses and anything that this world has to offer.
Well, if that’s the case, why do believers suffer? Far from getting a break from suffering, being a Christian seems to intensify your suffering.
But God is faithful. His mercies are new every morning. The Gospel is Good News to those who suffer and put their trust in Jesus Christ.
There is a promised rest that awaits those who persevere to the end; not by gritting your teeth and begrudgingly holding on to the faith even if you see no benefit from it.
The Gospel gives us a hope that this world cannot even come close to. The suffering and death of Jesus Christ gives meaning to our lives especially when we suffer.
Jesus is not just an example, He is a substitute. In His suffering and His death, Jesus took on the full consequence of sin upon Himself (suffering, death and separation from God).
He did that so we wouldn’t have to. The penalty of sin is paid for. Sin still affects us, but it can’t exact its full vengeance upon us.
In the Gospel we confront the very worst that this fallen world can dish out and proclaim the supremacy of Jesus Christ.
That is our message to a suffering world. That is our message to the lost who don’t yet know Christ. That is our message to fellow believers who are going through the fire. That is the message to all of us here today.
Our text begins with the Holy Spirit speaking to those who are already believers.
7Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9where your fathers put me to the test…
Our first point deal with harden hearts; what are they and what do they do?
We first read about a heart that was harden in the book of Exodus when it says that God harden the heart of Pharaoh. That is an interesting study; what God does in the heart of an unbeliever.
Our passage is not dealing with the hearts of unbelievers. It’s a quote from
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
This was written about the people of
What does that mean?
Hardening your heart means that your faith and trust in the promises of God are blunted because of unbelief.
You believe, but you are no longer fully convinced. You know that God has acted in the past, but you’re not so sure that He’s with you now.
You believe that you’re still a child of God, but you suspect that you’re being left out of either earthly blessings, or maybe even your heavenly inheritance.
A harden heart is no longer convinced that God has your best interest in mind.
It’s more than a passing doubt. A harden heart is an indictment against the goodness of God.
It’s more than just crying out “Lord, why are you doing this?” It’s a clenched fist that says, “you have failed me once again. If this is the best you can do, then I need to take matters in my own hands.”
Hardening your heart means that your faith and trust in the promises of God are blunted because of unbelief.
What does a harden heart do? Certainly it breeds doubt, unbelief, and in the case of the Israelites out in the wilderness, bitterness.
Examples abound in the Bible but the Israelites illustrate this as well as anyone.
In the wilderness, just days out of being delivered from slavery and the parting of the
They experienced real thirst, they were in a bad situation, and they saw no human way out.
Now, just change a couple of particulars and see if you can relate to this.
You’re going through a prolonged period of unhappiness. Your needs are not being met. You don’t see anything changing. You feel deceived, misled, and very much on your own.
The Israelites concluded that God was mistaken in taking them out of
A harden heart will convince you that you know more than God does what you need in this life; it will prompt you to act independently from God’s will, and it will cause you to have a bitter and resentful spirit toward that which you used to be thankful for.
My friends, that is why marriages fail among those who call themselves believers. Jesus spoke of this when he was asked about the issue of divorce.
8He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
Do you have a harden heart? Do you think that you have a better plan for your life than God does? Are you resentful toward those you used to grateful for? Do you have plans to act independently from God’s will.
It isn’t just with marriage. Some of you are experiencing very real pain and suffering. It may not be physical, but your life is hardly going down a path that you would have chosen for yourself.
You consider yourself a believer, but you wonder if that really matters now. You know nothing of the abundant life that you hear others talk about.
If anything, it seems like the deck is stacked against you. You don’t have the resources that others have; you don’t have the charisma to charm your way with people. Nothing comes easy. How do you avoid having a heart that goes hard?
The first thing to do is to acknowledge the limitations of life. This is not the Promised Land. Our lives are very much like a journey in the wilderness.
There will be dry times; there will be times when every step is hard and every obstacle a challenge. But God is not absent.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He who has promised is faithful.
Don’t harden your hearts. Take that which you resent now and bring it to the cross of Jesus Christ.
“Lord, I used to treasure this. Now it’s the source of my unhappiness. Only you can change my sorrow back into joy. You suffered and died for me. You will not forsake me now. I trust you with my life. You will either change my situation, or you will change me through it.”
Do not harden your heart, for if you do, the deceitfulness of sin will overwhelm you.
12Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
13But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the Law of God.
Sin is missing the mark of God’s will for your life. Sin is rebellion against God, His law, or His character.
If the essence of God is love, then sin is the opposite of love. The opposite of love is not hatred, it’s the failure to be loving. Love is completely pure, holy, righteous and good.
There are no small sins; there are only sins that are more obvious than others.
Murder is pretty obvious. Anger is not. Adultery is observable, lust is not. You can be put in jail for theft, but not for covetousness.
The perception is that if the laws of men will not indict you for a sin, then surely God will not prosecute you either. That’s missing the point.
Sin is an affront to the holy nature of God. For example, it may only marginally bother you if someone uses profane language.
Yet, in the Ten Commandments, God says that He will not hold anyone guiltless if they take the name of the Lord in vain.
Does that mean that you have thicker skin than the Almighty? No, it means that you and I don’t know that much about the Holy nature of the living God.
Let me give another example. If a man would say that it’s okay to indulge in lustful thoughts toward another woman as long as they don’t act out on those thoughts; do you think that he might feel differently about that in another situation?
What if he took his little girl out shopping, and she went into the dressing room to try something on, and there was a man leering through the curtain at her. Just looking. What’s the harm?
The harm is that the love of a father toward his daughter is of a completely different nature than the leering of a lustful perverted man. You better believe that that father is greatly offended by that.
You may not see it, but sin is an affront to the holy and righteous nature of God. That’s what sin is.
WHAT DOES SIN DO?
Maybe I’m not as good or kind as I should be. Maybe I need to change my behavior in this or that area. If I can adjust my attitude a bit, that should take care of it.
If only sin were that trivial.
20I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
You can adjust your behavior, but your sin must be crucified for your heart to be changed.
Sin feeds on the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, and the appetite of the flesh.
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
The lies of Satan trump the truth of God’s Word.
The example of King David.
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
That takes us to our final point. God is faithful. He will fulfill all of His promises in the Gospel. Your sins can be fully forgiven, even if the consequences of that sin remain.
That is the gist of our exhortation to one another. God is faithful. You can trust Him.
13But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
I don’t think any of us are meant to try to live out our faith on our own. You and I need the support of our brothers and sisters in the Lord, probably more than we realize.
· In a world that claims autonomy from God, we need to hear from one another, “remember who you belong to.”
· In a world that seeks immediate gratification, we need to hear from one another, “there are things worth waiting for.”
· In a world that so quickly condemns those who fall and fail, we need to hear from one another, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
· In a world that will write you off the minute you can’t deliver what it wants, you need to hear the covenant promise of God, “I will never leave or forsake you.”
But the heart of God can also be provoked or moved in another way. When Jesus faced the cross, he asked if that might be taken from him. But in that same prayer, He said to His Father, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.”
When Jesus hung on the cross facing the jeers of those who surrounded him, He called out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
When the full impact of man’s sin was imputed to Jesus, and He was about to breath his last, He said, “It is finished. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
Is Jesus your Savior? Do you know Him as Lord of your life? When you come to the Father through Christ, He is provoked not to wrath, but to love, in compassion and faithfulness.
Jesus suffered God’s wrath against sin so you wouldn’t have to. Jesus experienced separation from God so that He would never leave or forsake you.
Jesus took your place on the cross so that you would find yourself in His grace and faithfulness.
Don’t harden your heart. Trust Him with your life. Jesus said, “Come unto me all ye who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
He is faithful. You can trust Him.
The Value of Suffering
In Christ
January 15, 2012
This morning we continue our study in the book of Hebrews. We’ll begin by asking the basic questions that ought to be asked every time you begin to read any book in the Bible. You ask:
Last week we noted that the name of the human author is not given to us; which is perplexing to Bible students, stimulating to scholars who write papers about such things, but it’s completely irrelevant to casual Bible readers.
But I want to challenge you to be more than a casual Bible reader. I want to challenge you to be more than a casual Christian.
The Bible is the Word of God. You can read it devotionally, but it’s more than a devotional book. You can read it for inspiration or motivation, but it’s really a God centered book.
Your story is found in the context of His story. The Bible is the drama of redemption found in Genesis through Revelation.
You don’t have to be a scholar to understand the message of the Bible, but it does take more than a glancing look at a verse here and there.
The book of Hebrews is a great book to help us understand the continuity between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
The OT was a shadow, the NT is the reality.
The OT was full of types that anticipated NT fulfillment.
Whoever the human author of Hebrews was, the Holy Spirit used him to point his readers to Jesus Christ. Who were the original readers of the book of Hebrews?
You could say that the title of the book gives us the answer. The book of Hebrews was written to HEBREWS; Jewish Christians.
That’s fine, but the title of the book isn’t really given in the text. It’s been called the Epistle to the Hebrews since the early church and that’s how we know it today.
The author quoted extensively from the Jewish Bible, and specifically from the Greek translation of the Jewish Bible. So these were Hellenistic Jews who lived in an urban area.
The author personally knew the people he was writing to and longed to see them again. He also knew Timothy, probably the same Timothy that was Paul’s disciple.
He sent greetings from believers in
Whoever the original audience was who first received this letter, it was assumed that they could relate to other believers who were suffering.
That’s an important point to understand the theme of this book. The main message is this: Jesus is superior to anything that this world offers.
Instead, look unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith.
This book is an exhortation to believers to keep the faith and to live God fearing lives in the midst of a suffering world.
An exhortation is stronger than a word of encouragement. It’s more than just a pat on the back and a benign “have a nice day.”
An exhortation is an authoritative warning against any action or disposition that would cause you to lose focus or stray off course. The Scriptures are full of such warnings.
They come in the form of admonitions, cautions, chastening, discipline, correction, and examples.
I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.
The author may not have been as brief as he thought he was but he certainly got his point across.
1Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Drifting away from the faith is far more serious than becoming sporadic in your church attendance.
3how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
My beloved in Christ, I must tell you with all earnestness that you will not escape if you neglect such a great salvation.
We’re going to spend time today talking about the value of suffering in Christ. The exhortation in Hebrews is to not drift away from Christ or turn back to your old ways when you go through times of suffering.
God is faithful. He will persevere along with you when you go through the fire. For some of you the fire is very hot right now.
The original recipients of this letter knew people who were imprisoned for their faith. They knew people who lost their property. They knew people who lost their heads. The author reminded them of others in times past.
...Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
36Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—38of whom the world was not worthy…
For these Hebrews, life might seem easier if they would go back to their old beliefs and their old lifestyles. At least they’d fit in better with the culture if they didn’t take their faith so seriously.
But the true Christian faith has always been counter-cultural. If you follow Jesus Christ, you will suffer. You will be called on to die to your sinful nature; be crucified with Christ, and to forsake the world.
Today we’re going to see how the person and work of Jesus Christ will sustain you in your suffering. First, the person of Christ.
Jesus is the focus of not only the book of Hebrews, but of the entire Bible. Hebrews presents Him as being superior to the angles, to Moses, and to everything the world has to offer. In chapter one He is presented simply as the Son.
1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…
It isn’t until chapter two that the author gives us the name of the Son.
9But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Then we have this very fascinating passage in verse 10. Up until this time we’ve been told that the Son is the radiance of the glory of God, who with the Father created the world.
So Jesus is the eternal Son of God who is of the same substance with the Father, equal in power and glory.
10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
In what sense was Jesus made perfect? How could a sinless person be made more perfect?
We’ve just celebrated the incarnation of Jesus during Advent and Christmas. The importance of the Word becoming flesh cannot be overemphasized.
God did not just made a cameo appearance on earth in order to save us from our sins. He became one of us.
*********
A good number of people today can’t afford to go to a doctor when they’re sick, so they resort to home remedies.
Sometimes people will search the internet for cures, others will call a medical hotline. They’ll describe their symptoms, and for a small fee, they’ll get “non medical” advice. That is virtual, not incarnational care.
The Bible is not spiritual advice or a self-help manual. It is the Word of God, given not just for information, but to point us to a person.
That person didn’t just talk to us online, He made the ultimate house call. For over 30 years He walked among us. He experienced what we experience. He lived as we live.
That’s why in verse 11 it says that Jesus was not ashamed to call us brothers. He identified with us in every way.
*************
Thirty years ago this week we celebrated the birth of our first born child. It was a time of a great mixture of emotions. There was joy that our baby had come; there was uncertainty about her future.
One of the first calls I made was to Pastor Bob here at Tyrone Church. We were so young, away from home, and scared to death.
I’ll never forget his pastoral words to me in the early hours of the morning of January 18, 1982. “Jim, no matter what happens, the Lord will provide.”
He did. We were in seminary at the time and the seminary community couldn’t have been more supportive.
Margie was taken to another hospital for her surgery so I spent a lot of time in that hospital, but
When I finally got back on campus, the seminary president whom I had only known from a distance, came up to me and gave me a big embrace and told me that he was praying for us. I didn’t think that he even knew who knew who I was. But he did, and I was very moved by that.
Everyone had been so kind and supportive, but the president of the seminary represented the whole institution. It felt like the entire seminary embraced me at that moment.
When you encounter the person of Jesus Christ, you will experience the full embrace of the Godhead. Jesus is not ashamed to call you his brother. That’s why the incarnation is so important.
You may think that your situation is insignificant to Almighty God. You may think that your life doesn’t matter that much in the big scheme of things.
If that’s how you see it, you haven’t thought much about the incarnation. By becoming one of us, Jesus didn’t just identify with the people of that day and age. He the now the God-man for all eternity.
He is made perfect because everything that we go through is known by Him. Jesus could have just made a short visit to earth, but he would not have been the perfect Savior.
10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Jesus is without sin, but He suffered. Much of our suffering comes about by our own actions. We do foolish things, we make selfish choices; we do things that we later regret.
Jesus didn’t make any bad or foolish choices. Jesus was never selfish; he never did anything that caused him regret or to be ashamed; but he suffered.
He was acquainted with grief. He knew physical pain. He understood sorrow. He suffered humiliation and rejection.
He did not bring on any of his own suffering, but he accepted suffering as part of what was needed to become our perfect Savior.
8Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Jesus was sinless but he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Suffering is the only way I know of to really grow in the spirit of obedience.
Some of you suffer in ways that very few if anyone knows about. You don’t wear your burdens on your sleeve and you don’t spill your guts out to just anybody.
But you can pour your heart out to Christ. Your suffering will not drive Him away from you but draw you closer to Him.
That is the kind of person that He is. When you are tempted to throw in the towel, He can handle that as well.
18For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Whatever kind of temptation you may be facing, and there are many varieties of temptation, you can trust Jesus Christ. You can learn about obedience through suffering.
When you suffer, it takes faith to trust in someone who doesn’t just step in and make everything right.
The only thing you know for sure is that you’re in a great deal of pain. That’s real; but so is God’s grace.
17Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
That takes us to the work of Christ. He became flesh and blood so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest. He is merciful. He is faithful. He came to destroy the one who has the power of death.
14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
The devil is your ultimate enemy. He would destroy you if he could, but he can’t if Jesus is your high priest.
The devil holds the power of death; that is the fear of death, the apparent victory of the grave.
Isn’t it ironic that it was the devil in the form of a serpent that told Eve that she would not die if she ate the forbidden fruit. And then it is the same devil that claims that death is final; that there’s nothing more after this life is over.
First it was “you will not die.” Then it is “you will not live”. The devil has the power of death only if you believe his lies. The work of Jesus is to destroy the work of the devil.
He does so as our merciful and faithful high priest. We are going to return to this theme several times during our study of Hebrews.
Jesus hold three distinct offices as our Redeemer. He is our prophet, priest and king.
As our merciful and faithful high priest, He makes atonement for our sins. The word propitiation means that the just wrath of God against sin is satisfied.
God is not angry with you and your sin if your sins are covered. Far from anger, Jesus lives to intercede on your behalf.
As a merciful and faithful high priest, Jesus is your advocate. He speaks on your behalf. He presents your case to the Father.
Do you have Jesus as your advocate? Does He speak on your behalf?
I close with this. Speaking of our daughter Margie, because of her special needs we had to hire a lawyer to represent her interest in court.
We hired a lawyer; he did what we asked him to do; he spoke for Margie before a judge last Fall, and things went the way they were supposed to.
But as things concluded, our lawyer made one more statement. He said, “your honor, the court should know what a very special girl this is…” He went on to talk about some of Margie’s gifts.
That meant so much to us, because he just didn’t process a legal matter, he spoke with affection about the child we love so much. How much more does Jesus do that for us as our merciful and faithful high priest.
Charles Wesley put it beautifully in the words of the hymn that we’ll sing in just a few moments. #199
Arise, my soul, arise
Shake off thy guilty fears
The bleeding Sacrifice
In my behalf appears
Before the throne my Surety stands
Before the throne my Surety stands
My name is written on His hands.
[surety means the security we have that a debt is paid]
[v2]
He ever lives above
For me to intercede
His all redeeming love
His precious blood to plead
His blood atoned for all our race
His blood atoned for all our race
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.
[v3]
Five bleeding wounds He bears
Received on
They pour effectual prayers
They strongly plead for me
Forgive him Oh, forgive they cry
Forgive him Oh, forgive they cry
Nor let that ransomed sinner die.
[v4]
The Father hears Him pray
His dear Anointed One
He cannot turn away
The presence of His Son
His Spirit answers to the blood
His Spirit answers to the blood
And tells me I am born of God
[v5]
My God is reconciled
His pard’ning voice I hear
He owns me for His child
I can no longer fear
With confidence I now draw nigh
With confidence I now draw nigh
And Father, Abba, Father cry
A Great Salvation in
the Gospel Part II
January 8, 2012
Back in December we began to go through the book of Hebrews without much of an introduction. We centered on Advent and the incarnation.
This year we’re going to spend a good portion of 2012 in the book of Hebrews, so we’re going to become familiar with this book before the year is done.
I’m going to give some brief introductory comments this morning and continue to do that over the next several weeks.
When you study or just read a book of the Bible, there are a number questions that you ought to be asking.
For most of the books of the Bible, the human author is given or implied. That is not the case with Hebrews. The human author’s name is not given.
That is perplexing to Bible students, stimulating to scholars, and completely irrelevant to those who read the Bible for only inspirational reasons.
For our purposes, it is enough for us to know that this book was written by someone who was thoroughly acquainted with what we call the Old Testament.
But the OT needs to be read through the lenses of New Testament theology. We interpret the OT in light of what we know in the Gospel.
In other words, everything in the OT was anticipating it’s fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Jesus chided the Pharisees for their outward conformity with the teaching of the Hebrew Scriptures, but they missed the point altogether.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me that
you may have life.
The author of Hebrews knew that everything in the Jewish Bible of that day pointed to Jesus.
Shadow Reality
Type Fulfillment
That’s how we need to read the Scriptures today. The Bible is the story of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. It is a drama of redemption.
1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…
The author of Hebrews saw Jesus as being one with the Creator who is also our great Redeemer. The human author of this book knew his Bible. He understood the Gospel; and he wrote to those who needed to know Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
In the end, it doesn’t matter if it was Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, Luke or someone we never heard of, the Holy Spirit pointed him to Jesus. That’s who the Holy Spirit points us to now.
It is my prayer that as we go through this book, you will better know how wide and long and how high and deep is the love of Christ, and that you may know this love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure with all the fullness of God.
I was raised in the church, but I didn’t know Jesus. I thought of myself as a believer, but only in a vague impersonal way. I knew Jesus Christ was an important person, but I saw him as an example for us to follow. The Gospel to me was a way for to become a better person so that I would go to heaven when I died.
In other words, I was missing the point altogether. I didn’t know the Bible. I didn’t understand the Gospel. I didn’t know Jesus.
As we study the book of Hebrews, Jesus will be the center of attention from start to finish. The Gospel will present itself in every chapter; and the whole of the Bible will consistently point us in the same direction.
It wasn’t until my freshman year in college that this hit home for me. The Word of God cut through my façade and pointed me to Jesus Christ. The Gospel became the best news that I ever heard, and it’s still that way today.
When you encounter Jesus Christ, the message and this Gospel will be relevant to your life as well.
We’ll continue with introductory issues next week, but for now know that the author of this book was writing to believers who are admonished to fully embrace the Gospel and live God-fearing lives in the midst of a suffering world.
If you are a believer, and you are acquainted with pain or suffering, this book is for you. If you’re not yet a believer, you’re going to see in this book the superiority of Jesus Christ.
That’s not saying that being a Christian makes you better than anyone else. It’s saying that there is no other person and no other message that comes close to the Gospel.
This morning we’re going to look at the glory of man, and the glory of Christ. First, the GLORY OF MAN.
5Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
7You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,8putting everything in subjection under his feet…”
Angles are mentioned often in these first two chapters of Hebrews. The are the messengers of God. They surround the throne of God. They played a prominent role in the announcement of the incarnation.
When angels presented themselves to people in the Bible, there was almost universal fear and trepidation.
Here in
How Majestic Is Your Name
A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,4what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
There is a glory given to man by the Creator himself. All of creation was called good. All living creatures are given life by God and are to be respected. The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the field. They are wonderful, but they are in subjection to mankind.
We alone are made in God’s image; male and female. We are given a capacity to reason, to create, and to relate to God like no other being who has the breath of life in them.
That includes angels, who were made by God but not born. They are created beings but don’t have the breath of life. They surround the throne of grace, but they are not the recipients of that grace.
Man’s glory is greater than that of the angelic beings, even though we are made a little lower than the angels.
When you watch a well behaved youngster, you might say that they were like a little angel. There is an innocence with children that endears them to us.
In fact Jesus said that unless we become like children, we cannot enter into the
The glory of man is that we are made in his image. We were made to be like God like no other creature on earth. Angels have access to God’s presence but they cannot share in His holiness.
The great salvation that we have in the Gospel is something that the angels long to look into, but cannot experience.
Our text quotes this profound question from
Why would God care about us? Why would God show any concern for you and your life both now and in eternity? You’ve been made in His image. There is a dignity and a value to your life that is intrinsic.
Your life, your fate, your eternal destiny matters to God. You have a significance that doesn’t have to be earned and cannot be taken from you.
That glory is distinct from our salvation. Every human being has dignity and importance. When I counsel non-believers who are struggling I remind them of that. When I run into rude and aggressive people who are obnoxious, I have to remind myself of that.
No matter how crass or damaged a person may be, they are clothed with a glory and honor being made in God’s image.
That’s true for everyone of you who are here today. Your life has far more significance that you realize. You are a descendant of Adam. You are crowned with glory and honor.
You have been given dominion over other creatures, not to abuse them but to benefit from them. You are to see the hand of God in all things knowing that they are there for God’s glory and your benefit.
When you see life from that perspective, you will see your place in the bigger picture. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
When God made the creatures of the earth, He said, “behold, this is good.” When God made man in his image, he said, “behold, this is very good.” When you came out of the womb, there was no reason to say anything different.
People forget that, and they begin to question their worth, they become harsh and critical to others, and they forget all about the glory of man.
A Humanist is one who ponders the human condition and tries to find value there. A secular humanist seeks to understand our value through our potential. A Christian humanist relates our value from our origin. We are dust, and to dust we shall return; but in that dust we also have the breath of life.
God is the giver and taker of life. He made you who you are. You matter to Him. He made no mistakes. Your past, your parents, your upbringing, your gifts and your limitations. They come from God.
Your glory comes from Him. You can know Him. You can be in relation with Him. You can know His Word and actually have His Word in your heart. Greatest of all, is that you can worship Him in Spirit and in truth. You can have what the angels envy us for. You can be a redeemed child of God.
I did a service a while ago where there was a good number of people there who did not know anything about the Christian faith. That’s not a criticism, they were fine, nice people, but they didn’t know the first thing about worshipping the only true God who is absolutely holy.
We stood up to sing a hymn of the faith, and most of the people just stood there, having nothing to sing about.
If you don’t know how to worship God, the Gospel is the best possible news that you could ever hear. The Gospel isn’t a list of things that you have to do in order to be right with God. That’s what religion is, but that’s not the Gospel.
The Gospel isn’t a self-help message of positive thinking so that you can win friends and influence people. The Gospel isn’t just a ticket to heaven so you don’t have to worry about the hereafter.
The Gospel is the Good News about Jesus Christ. He did what you couldn’t do. He lived the life we should have lived and died the death that we should die.
In all our talk about the glory of man, we’ve not yet mentioned sin and how man lost his glory. What separated those people who stood but didn’t sing praise to God wasn’t their lack of musical talent, it was the lack of righteousness.
The worship of God is a spiritual activity. We are to worship God in Spirit and in truth. But our nature as descendants of the first Adam is very different from God’s nature.
Sin separates us from God. We need a new nature to be able to know and worship the only true God who is absolutely holy. In one of the great understatements in the Bible, verse 8 states the obvious.
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. AT PRESENT, WE DO NOT YET SEE EVERYTHING IN SUBJECTION TO HIM.
We switch here from the first Adam; the glory of man, to the second Adam, the glory of Christ.
The world is under God’s sovereign control, but it is still subject to sin. Sickness and death are two of the most obvious signs of that, but human behavior is even more painful evidence.
Why is there separation between those who ought to love each other? Why are hearts that were once warm with affection now cold as ice?
Why do we do things that harm ourselves and hurt others? Why are we consumed in our selfishness and ignore the glory of God? It’s because not all things are seen as being in subjection to God. God is sovereign and in complete control, but sin is allowed to infiltrate every aspect of life.
9But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
The glory and honor of Jesus is untarnished by sin. Yet He took the penalty of sin upon Himself so that you would not have to endure it.
Some of you may be thinking, “this sounds fine, but why is my life so miserable? If God thinks so much of me, then where is He when I’m suffering?
That’s the best news of all. We don’t worship a God who has distanced Himself from our suffering, but He entered into it.
10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
We’ll deal more with this passage next week, but for now you need to know that when you suffer, when you are depressed, when you are fearful about the future, you have a perfect Savior.
Jesus is perfect not just because He was without sin, He is perfect because there is no suffering that He can’t relate to.
You have a Savior who knows every aspect of what you’re going through. He’s not just sinless, He’s the founder of your salvation made perfect through suffering. The word founder could be translated author, captain or champion. He’s not the one who sits back and watches your struggle from a distance, he enters into your suffering.
He knows what its like to be alone, to feel isolated, to be separated from what He loved the most. He knows physical pain. He’s experienced the limitations of life and the frustrations of having to deal with those who didn’t understand Him.
We are deeply troubled when people don’t love and appreciate us the way we think they ought to. Jesus was despised and rejected by men. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.
He had the power to make everything go His way, but He yielded that power so that you and I would benefit from His suffering. He was rich, but for your sake he became poor. He forgives your sin. He died so that you could live. He gives you hope when you’ve got nothing left.
He is the perfect Savior. He will welcome you with open arms and embrace you when no one else will. Come to Him in faith. Trust Him with your life. Repent of your sin and be made whole. Receive His grace, and know His love, which is beyond all human comprehension.
A Great Salvation
In the Gospel
January 1, 2012
News Years Day is our traditional day for resolutions, promises and true grit. This is the year (2012) that you’re going to do whatever it is that you think you ought to do.
Your goals and firmly set. Your will power is resolute, and your determination is strong.
By this time next year you’ll be 20 pounds lighter, your bank account will be 20% richer, and those home projects will be 100% finished. Yeah right!
New Years resolutions are easy to make fun of because they are so quickly set aside. We can laugh at them because they tend to be very superficial.
Google top ten new years resolutions and you’ll find a dozen lists, almost identical. They deal with outward behavior and surface level changes.
If you wanted something with some real meat to it, look up The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards.
There are too many of them to list, (70) but they can be outlined in seven different categories:
This is the preface to his 70 resolutions:
Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake. I shall remember to read over these resolutions once a week.
Let me suggest this. The Lord’s Day is the beginning of a new week. In 2012, don’t treat this day as if it’s the end of the weekend. Treat every Lord’s Day as a new beginning.
This is not a day for your self-improvement. This is the Lord’s Day; not a “it’s all about ME” day.
If the Lord is truly the focus, the goal, the end or telos, then this may be a day for a course correction. Where have I lost focus, where am I drifting away from the goal?
1Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
That seems to be the tendency of our nature. Drifting implies a life without direction and purpose. Yet in the Gospel we have both. So the writer of the book of Hebrews states this emphatically:
HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE IF WE NEGLECT SUCH A GREAT SALVATION?
Dear friends in Christ, I began this message with a light hearted look at our frailties. I go into the heart of this message with all the earnestness I have within me.
You will not escape if you neglect such a great salvation. If you drift away from the Gospel, you will do so at your own peril.
Picture a raft on the Niagara River drifting downstream toward the
You think I’m using hyperbole? You think I’m overstating the case? You think I’m just trying to use guilt to motivate you? Let’s look at the message that we are told not to drift away from.
2For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,
The Sunday after Christmas is a perfect time to remind ourselves of what we just celebrated. It was the angels that communicated the news to the shepherds.
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of
The culmination of centuries of promises, covenants and prophecies came to its end in the birth of Jesus Christ. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
The eternal God entered into time and space and so became the focal point of human history. God became one of us and so entered the fabric of your life.
God is not an impersonal force or a theoretical idea. He is a personal being who commands that we come to Him in faith and honor Him as Lord.
You have no excuse to say that you don’t know God because he seems off in the distance somewhere.
God incarnate walked this earth and knows everything about the joys and sorrows of your life. The only thing that separates you from Him is sin.
This message that the angels proclaimed affirms many things, we will list just three.
The Gospel is relevant to all people.
Many people will make the claim that Christianity, or religion is fine for those who think they need it, but it’s not necessary for them. They just don’t relate to it.
If the creator of the world made himself vulnerable by becoming a human being, and an infant at that, the Gospel is relevant to every person on earth.
The incarnation was necessary to deal with the problem of sin.
If there was another way to deal with the issue of sin and death, then Jesus would not have been born in
You may think that the biggest problem that you have to deal with is financial, or physical, or relational. Those are no small issues to be sure, but they are dwarfed by the issue of sin.
Jesus came into the world to save his people from sin. Sin separates you from your creator and the purpose for your existence.
The incarnation makes Jesus the reference point to the good, the true and the beautiful in the world.
If you think you are a pretty good person, at least better than most, you have the wrong reference point. The light of His righteousness will expose the underbelly of your sin and your need for a Savior.
The good, the true and the beautiful are all exhibited in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
That message that the angels proclaimed to the shepherds and to the world is true. Jesus himself said that every jot and iota in the Law and the Prophets is true and will come to pass.
Woe unto us if we neglect such a great salvation!
What are you thinking if you put away the Gospel like you’re putting away your Christmas decorations?
You’re too busy for Jesus Christ? You’ve got too much on your plate to focus on Him? You’ve got other things to do? Woe unto you, my dear ones in Christ.
The writer of the book of Hebrews gives us a warning against drifting from this message which is the Gospel.
The nature of God’s warnings
Who needs to be warned?
How does one drift away?
The Scriptures are filled with God lovingly, but firmly warning His people against drifting, wandering, or rebelling against His will.
They come in the form of admonitions, exhortations, chastening, discipline, correction, and examples. Speaking of the history of the Hebrews, Paul says in:
11Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
The nature of God’s warnings is that of a loving father or good shepherd. Any time God says to His people, “Don’t do that”, or “don’t go there”, it’s because He has no desire to see anyone bring harm upon themselves.
Who needs to be warned? There are two types of warnings given in the Bible. To the human race in general, and to God’s covenant people in particular.
The author of the book of Hebrews has a particular group of people in mind, which we’ll get into in the weeks to come.
For now it’s enough to say that he’s writing to believers who are admonished to fully embrace the Gospel and live God-fearing lives in the midst of a suffering world.
When I speak to non-believers, I will remind them of God’s Law and His ways. It is to their temporal benefit to keep their vows, to live with integrity and to do unto others as they would want done unto them.
If they live promiscuous and immoral lives, they will suffer for it now and in the future. That warning is true and sincere. But without the Gospel, it’s very incomplete.
The admonition that God gives to those who belong to Him is just as serious and just as true, but it’s a different nature altogether.
God admonishes His people as His children, as one who would die for the sake of his own. That kind of warning is stern and solemn, and filled with sacrificial, agape love.
17For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
If you don’t know God, it’s because you haven’t obeyed the Gospel. The Gospel is not an invitation to a good and happy life, it’s an announcement of what God has done to save us from sin.
Obeying the Gospel is believing this good news. It’s coming to God in faith through Jesus Christ.
For those of you who are believers, you too need to take heed to this warning.
45And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the
Jesus is the Word become flesh, and His words are to dwell in you richly.
Finally, how does one drift away from the faith? Slowly, over time, by increments.
Over time, you lose focus, you compromise, you stray off course, you lose your first love.
Institutions can forget why they exist. Denominations can drift away from their theological foundations. Marriages can drift apart.
God’s Word can be seen as an optional resource rather the Word of Life. Worship becomes routine. God’s people become a source of irritation rather than opportunities for service.
Those who once burned with fire for the Lord now smell of worldly smoke. Hearts that were warm with God’s Spirit become cold or lukewarm.
Gratitude is replaced by a spirit of discontent. You may not show it outwardly, but you resent those you used to cherish.
You wish that you could truly be in charge of your life because the Lord isn’t doing that good of a job.
You begin to live in your own fantasy world, with a different set of supporting actors around you, but you’re at the center of everything.
You drift away from your chief end in life. You no longer cherish the Gospel because that’s old news, not good news. It’s good to know that you’re going to heaven, but the Gospel becomes more of a nuisance than a source of joy and hope.
If what we celebrated last Sunday is true, then that defines reality, not your own dream world of your imagination. The Gospel is real, and your make believe compromised life is an illusionary escape.
Some of you prefer that over the truth of the Gospel. You are drifting. Your soul is in peril. You could make a shipwreck of your life. You need an anchor for the soul.
17So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul…
That’s a complicated passage that we’ll dive into later, but for now take the imagery of an anchor.
An anchor is to prevent you from aimless drifting along eventually heading into danger.
If your anchor is your family, that will be fine until your family changes. If your anchor is your own strength of character or integrity, it’s not as strong as you think it is.
You need an anchor for the soul. You need a hope that will show itself true even in the midst of a storm. You need to attach yourself to something that is stronger than the current of this world.
We drift away from the Gospel when we are carried along by the spirit of the age. The lust of the eyes, the desires of the flesh, the pride of life.
You can trace all sins back to these strong currents that run through our culture in infiltrate our hearts. You can hang on in resistance for a time, but not for long.
You need an anchor for the soul. That anchor is the person of Jesus Christ. Some people find safe harbor in legalism, like the Pharisees did.
They lived highly disciplined and moral lives, but they didn’t know Jesus. They were outwardly clean, but inwardly they were rotting.
Some of you smell that stench of a hypocritical life. You pretend to be one thing in public, but you’re rotting away in your soul.
Your spiritual eyes have become dull. You have ears that no longer hear. You need an anchor for the soul.
The Lord has given His people common means of grace, because He knows that we need them.
God’s Word. God’s people. The Lord’s Supper. Don’t take these lightly. They can save you from drifting.
As we partake of the Lord’s Supper today; focus on these words from the psalms.
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Do you see your need for a Savior? Do you see where your life is headed if you allow it to drift along without God’s grace?
Do you see that the anchor for your soul is found in Christ Alone?
Pondering the Birth of Jesus
December 24, 2011
The most meaningful times of the Christmas season are the quiet, serene moments when you have time to reflect upon it all.
The festivities of the season are wonderful, but they also wear us out. It’s the tranquil, peaceful times that make it all worthwhile.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered
them in her heart.
Like Mary, you ponder these things in your heart, and you consider what makes life meaningful.
Mary had much to think about on that night. Her long journey to
Mary experienced what every woman since Eve went through, but we celebrate this birth because it was different from all the rest.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God who was made man in the womb of the virgin Mary.
What does that mean for us tonight? That’s what we ponder on. Does God in flesh make any difference in how we live our lives?
Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of the virgin’s womb; veiled in flesh the God-head see, hail the incarnate deity. Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.
The birth of Jesus is the culmination of many promises and covenants that God made with the human race from the beginning of time.
When God created mankind male and female, listen to the very first command that he gave them.
28And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it…”
Every time a baby is born, that command of God to be fruitful and to multiply is being obeyed. It seems to be the only command that even unbelievers enjoy obeying.
The daughters of Eve have brought forth countless numbers of babies into this world, everyone of them special. But Jesus is called the first born over all creation. There’s something about his birth that takes us back all the way to Eve.
Mary may have thought about Eve on the night she gave birth to her firstborn son.
When the very first childbirth took place, sin had already come into the world. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden and lived east of
Gone was the security of paradise. Gone was the safety of walking daily with God without the barrier of sin. The familiar was replaced with the unknown.
Mary and Joseph left the security of their home town of
When Eve gave birth to her firstborn son, she did so only with the help of her husband. Joseph filled that same role on the night Jesus was born.
The pain of childbirth came as no surprise to either Eve or Mary, for after the fall of man into sin, the Lord spoke of that.
To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.
The curse of Eve is somewhat abated today with modern medicine. But no one is going to say that giving birth is easy. (Schultz family)
There’s a theological as well as a physical reason for that pain. We bring forth children into a fallen world where sin and death eventually take us all.
Physical pain points us to a spiritual reality. Life is a mixture of joy and sorrow; of laughter and tears; of life and death. But that’s not the whole story. It would be through the birth of a promised child that this world of sin and death would be overcome and redeemed.
When God pronounced judgment upon the serpent, he also gave Adam and Eve and the whole human race, a promise.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Satan would meet his match through an offspring of Eve. A child born of a woman would come forth and crush the head of the serpent.
One wonders why the Lord God didn’t stomp on the head of the serpent right then and there in the garden. Why let the affects of sin go on and on for so many years?
Part of the drama of the Gospel is the way it all plays out. From the beginning it was clear that salvation was no small matter of just getting rid of a pesky varmint like the serpent.
Sin separates us from the one true God who is absolutely holy. Being at peace with God is more than getting a free pass with a warning.
It was man who sinned, and it would be a man who would have to make things right. Yet no one born from the daughters of Eve could undo what the first Adam had done; until that night in
Mary pondered these things in her heart that night. Ever since Eve, the human race waited for the promise one to be born.
Eve’s firstborn son was named Cain. He certainly wasn’t the promised one, neither was Able or all the other children that Eve gave birth to.
But there were signs and hints of what was to come. Children born in unexpected ways.
Abraham and Sarah experienced a miraculous birth of their own. Decades past their child bearing years, an angel of the Lord told this elderly couple that they were going to give birth to a son.
When Isaac was born people laughed out loud in amazement. How could such things be? Yet Isaac was a shadow of that which was to come. He could not bear the sin of the world because like his father he too had fallen far short of God’s glory.
Same with Jacob, born of Rebekah. Jacob had twelve sons, none of which were without sin. The promised seed was yet to be born.
When Moses was born from Jochebed, his parents knew that he was no ordinary child, so they did what they had to do to save his life from the Pharaoh’s edict to kill Hebrew babies. Again, another shadow of what was to come.
Mary and Joseph would later have to flee
I don’t think that Mary was thinking about that on the night Jesus was born. Jesus was safe in her arms; how could anybody ever think of bringing harm to such a child as this?
But this is the world that we live in, the one that Christ was born into. Part of the pain of child birth is knowing that even the little innocent ones can be subject to peril. We shield our children as best we can from the evils of this world, but sin is pervasive.
Mary pondered these things in her heart. She knew that there was something unique about her son. He was no ordinary child. Long ago the prophets spoke of his birth.
6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Did Mary think about that prophecy from Isaiah on the night Jesus was born? The text doesn’t say, but about nine months earlier, she did say this:
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.
54He has helped his servant
Mary knew that her child was the fulfillment of a promise that went back from generation to generation. She pondered on that promise and what it meant now that she held her child in her arms.
I want to conclude by giving you three brief points to ponder on this Christmas Eve as we consider the birth of Jesus Christ.
The pain of childbirth is nothing compared to the trauma of being separated from God.
If the incarnation seems far fetched to you; if God becoming a man seem like an over-reach; then consider the alternative.
Childbirth is a painful process, but the joy of that new life is worth it.
Coming to saving faith is sometimes a messy, painful experience, but it’s worth it.
The travail of labor can last for hours, sometimes even for days, but all of that pain is forgotten when you hold that child in your arms.
Entering into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ can be a long drawn out experience as well. You fight, you push, you scream out in pain. But it’s worth it when the new birth takes place.
The alternative is to be separated from God for all eternity. Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the
To be separated from God is to experience a trauma far more severe than any kind of pain here on earth.
I visited a man in the emergency room who was passing a kidney stone. He was in quite a bit of discomfort. I told him that this was as close as us men get to the pain of childbirth. That didn’t bring him much comfort. At least with childbirth, you get something out of it.
Some of you are in quite a bit of pain right now. Not so much physical pain, but there’s an ache or suffering of your soul. You wonder if life is worthwhile if it’s so filled with pain.
I cannot imagine going through what you’re going through right now, and not coming in faith to Jesus Christ. He is close to the broken hearted. He will restore your soul. Call out to Him in faith.
Sin would be conquered not by the strength of man, but with the righteousness of God.
Jesus was born of Mary without sin. He was completely righteous. He could suffer pain, he endured the limitations of life, he had to put up with the insipidness of his disciples, but he never sinned.
Jesus was the lamb of God. He was born holy, he lived a holy life, and there was nothing He desired more than to please His Heavenly Father.
Jesus was the righteous one. He hated sin and He loved sinners. He was tempted, and he stood firm. He was falsely accused, but he asked for the forgiveness of those who knew not what they were doing.
So don’t target the people who don’t have a clue about the things of God as the enemy. Godlessness won’t be vanquished by any self-righteous animosity that we have toward those who disagree with us.
Righteousness is stronger than sin. A child wrapped in swaddling clothes grew up to conquer sin and death, not because he hated the wicked, but because He loved them, and died for their sins.
If you think that you have to be stronger, smarter, more aggressive and influential than those around you in order to make it in this world, you’re sadly mistaken.
It’s not the strength of man that wins in the end; it’s the righteousness of God. In the light of His righteousness, we see our sin, and our need for forgiveness.
Some of you think that you’re good enough to pass the grade and to be found acceptable in God’s sight. You don’t know Jesus.
His righteousness shines brighter than a thousand suns, and who can stand before Him?
Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God. Confess your need for a Savior. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is yours by grace through faith.
The hope of the world is found in the fulfillment of the promise made to our first parents.
The seed of the woman would come and crush the head of Satan. Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise but the promise of a redeemer was made. The promised seed finally came forth in the fullness of time.
All of the promises that God made to His people were fulfilled in Him. You too can trust Him.
Jesus was born to set you free. Free from what? Free from our self-delusional thinking that we know more than our creator.
Free from our self-centeredness, free from the façade of pretending to be something that we’re not. Free from the fear of death.
Jesus became one of us. He lived the life we should have lived and He died the death that we should have died. He did that because He loves you. Not a generic love, but He calls you directly to come to Him in faith.
He desire that you come to truly know Him, because He already knows you. Our hope is not that God will overlook our sins, but that He will forgive them, and separate them from us as far as the east is from the west.
Place your trust in the faithful promises of God in the Gospel. That’s why Jesus came. That’s what we celebrate tonight.
The Angels Proclaim the
Glory of Christ
December 18, 2011
If you have not noticed already, the running theme in this service is dealing with angels.
Angels We have Heard on High
Angels’ Carol
So what are we to believe concerning angels? Christmas cards and nativity scenes present them in one way,
The 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life, Clarence is the frumpy angel who has to earn his wings. He helps the good hearted but desperate George Bailey understand that his life is very much worthwhile.
Clarence is not exactly the Biblical picture of an angelic being, but there is something to the notion that they are heavenly messengers.
They play a key role in the incarnation but they have been around a lot longer than that. The Bible presents angels from Genesis to Revelation.
They are a part of the heavenly hosts; the great cloud of witnesses; or as it says in our text:
14Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
We do not pray to angels. We don’t knowingly interact with angels. We don’t depend on angels to save us in any way.
But they exist. They play a role in the Divine economy or Kingdom. They minister to those who are to inherit salvation.
One of the great creeds of the faith puts it this way:
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God and Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
That includes angels. Sometimes in the Bible, angels are visible; sometimes they are invisible.
The Greek word for angel is angelos, which means messenger. The Hebrew equivalent has the same meaning.
They are heavenly messengers; they carry out divine prerogatives; they are a part of God’s celestial entourage.
They are created, not born. They apparently can rebel against God, but they cannot be saved once fallen.
They are not presented in the Bible as cute little children with halos who dance on clouds.
The first time the Bible actually mentions an angelic being is in the book of Genesis after the fall of man into sin.
He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
That cherubim still remains on duty, guarding the tree of life, that no unredeemed man or woman may live in paradise.
Think about that for a moment. No one can sneak into heaven. No one can enter into the holy place who is still in their sin.
The cherubim is more than a Divine bouncer who guards the gates of glory. He carries the flaming sword of God’s judgment.
The writer of Hebrews quotes
Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and
his ministers a flame of fire.”
Jesus is the one who will judge the living and the dead, but His angels stand armed and ready to carry out that judgment.
During the reign of Hezekiah, one angel of the Lord came, not a legion of angels, but one angel of the Lord came and brought about God’s judgment.
And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
The Christmas season is a reminder of God’s judgment. The one who guards the tree of life is still on duty.
Christopher Hitchens died this past week. He was one of a handful of the new atheists who are very aggressive in their unbelief.
If Mr. Hitchens was right, and there is no God, then he has simply gone out of existence. That would be the best possible news for an unbeliever. But if Mr. Hitchens was wrong, well, he now knows it.
God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but mark these words,
THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH.
Pascal’s wager is not worth the risk. Like Mr. Hitchens, if you’re betting on the fact that there is no God or Divine judgment, you have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
But the fact that you’re here in church says that you probably do believe, or at least you’re not voicing your doubts.
It says in the Bible that even the fallen angels believe in God, but as it says in the book of James:
19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
Do you believe that God is holy and righteous, and that He will judge sin? Do you believe that you are saved by God’s grace through the merit of Jesus Christ? His death atoned for your sin and His resurrection gives guarantees the gift of eternal life for you?
What is true faith?
True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true, it is also a deep rooted assurance created in me by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, that out of the sheer grace earned for me by Christ, that not only others, but I too have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation.
If that is true for you, then you have nothing to fear of angels. They are ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.
In the Old Testament, angels where there to minister to Abraham, Joshua, Daniel, Isaiah, and the entire nation of
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
In the New Testament, angels ministered to Jesus in the wilderness and in the garden. They set the prisoners free in the book of Acts. They surround the throne in Revelation.
Jesus spoke of the preciousness of children and of their heavenly protection.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
Yet before you get too sentimental about guardian angels, note that they have not lost their role in God’s judgment:
This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Angels are ministering spirits to those who are to inherit a salvation that is granted to us by grace through faith. Do you have such a faith?
1Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? …
I plead with all of you to believe this Good News about the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is joy in heaven not when an angel gets their wings, but when a sinner is saved.
That was the Good News that the angels brought to a good number of people concerning the incarnation. It wasn’t easy for them to believe either.
First there was Zechariah, told that his wife Elizabeth was going to bear him a child in their old age.
On the other end of the spectrum, there was the young virgin Mary who was also going to bear a child even though she had not known a man.
Both Zechariah and Mary could hardly believe this message from the angel of the Lord. Both of them said essentially the same thing to Gabriel.
And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife
is advanced in years.”
Gabriel rebuked Zechariah for his unbelief or his questioning of this announcement. But things are different with Mary.
34And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
What’s the difference? The words themselves don’t tell us. The angel of the Lord somehow knew. There’s a difference between astonishment and doubt; between humility and skepticism.
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36And behold, your relative
Do you believe that statement from Gabriel? Do you think that your situation is impossible to fix or make right? Do you believe that the Gospel can make a difference?
Are you like Zechariah or are you like Mary? Don’t doubt God’s Word. Faith is accepting the fact the God can do what we can’t.
Apart from God’s intervention, nothing about the incarnation could have taken place.
The creator became a creature. The Word become flesh. The eternal One entered into time.
An elderly couple brought forth the one who would come and prepare the way. A young virgin supernaturally conceived and so brought forth the seed of the woman who would crush the head of Satan.
I find it ironic that God used angels to bring forth this announcement. Not just to Zechariah and Mary, but also to Joseph and the shepherds and the wisemen.
Angels made the announcement that the Messiah would be born in
Satan; a fallen angel with his minions would be defeated by the one of whom the angels proclaimed.
We don’t know much about the civil war in heaven, or how Lucifer was cast out of God’s presence. We don’t know what he looks like, other than he came in the form of a serpent in the garden.
We know that he can appear as an angel of light, insinuating that the evil one can come across as enticing and alluring.
In whatever form the adversary is portrayed, the unfallen angels were the first to proclaim his ultimate downfall.
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
The heavenly host did a victory dance that night. The shame that Satan brought upon the earth was being judged. The angel that disgraced their angelic line was now being dealt with directly.
They say that revenge is sweet. The Gospel is not God’s revenge on Satan and the fallen world. The Gospel is the vindication of God’s righteous rule.
That’s why the angels were singing that night. That’s why they came in great numbers. The One who would crush the head of the serpent was wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.