Hebrews 4:11-13

Click here for the Hebrews 4:11-13 PODCAST

11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. ~ Hebrews 4:11-13

The writer of Hebrews has focused our attention upon God's rest which has a dual nature to it. It is both present and future, and, involves our justification, and, our sanctification. This rest is a bi-product of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin which makes possible a personal relationship with God for all humble enough to believe and to be vulnerable to Him.

As we mentioned last time, God has through Christ completed our justification through the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross. This made it possible for us to not only have a personal relationship with God, it also, positioned us to experience His sanctifying work in us as we yield our lives to Him daily, by faith. The more we yield, the deeper our intimacy will be with God. Remember, it is justification that gets us into heaven and it is sanctification that gets heaven into us, right now. 

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience."

The sentence, "make every effort to enter that rest" means to diligently seek to enter into a personal relationship with God, and if we have done this, we desire and choose to diligently seek the Lord as often as we can in a given day. In this pursuit, we forsake the grind of working hard in order to earn God's favor. God's rest enables us to see that we have arrived in the eyes of the Lord God through our faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. We can not improve our position in the eyes of God through Christ. We are seen by Him as perfect through the Lord Jesus Christ. And, in addition, this rest reveals to us: in our flesh there is no good thing.

The problem, the Jews to whom the writer of Hebrews wrote, had, was they had become intimate with the means to knowing God, instead of God Himself. Their security blanket had become their Jewish traditions. Their hearts were not engaged with God. And, they were "beat down" by their unbiblical theology. 

We, like them, may gain great knowledge about God and still not know God in His greatness. If we only desire more information about God to shore up our doctrinal knowledge, we will be vulnerable to pride puffing up our self-righteousness. However, when we humble ourselves before the Lord in order to know Him, for the sole purpose of knowing Him, then our knowledge renounces our self-reliance and we get to know Him more intimately. 

The word "perish" in v.11 literally means to be "beaten down" which is what happens when we try to earn God's favor through our efforts. The goal the Lord has for us is to experience the life the Lord Jesus died to give us. In Matthew 11:28, the Lord Jesus said, "Come to me." He didn't say come to a ritual.  He didn't say come to a religion. He didn't say come to a church.  He said come to me. Our salvation is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, "Come to me all you who labor". He describes the exhausted, those working hard "and are heavy laden."

The word heavy laden was written as a perfect passive participle which means the reason we are heavy laden is because somebody had come along at one time and laid upon us a burden and made us heavy ladened. The Lord Jesus was talking about religion which says we have to confine ourselves to certain practices and rituals, in order for God to accept us.

Then the Lord Jesus said, "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you." 

To understand this invitation of the Lord, we must understand that those to whom He was speaking were crushed beneath the weight of the Mosaic Law. The Lord Jesus addressed those who numbered themselves among the disciples of Moses and who were the disciples of the Pharisees. Neither Moses nor the Pharisees could give rest from the pressing burden or offer release from the oppressive load that the Law had brought. Coming to this end of self is hard because it is the product of sin. But, when we let go of this faulty default mode, we experience true freedom.

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

Freedom in Christ enables us to embrace vulnerability with God. The Word of God is one of two primary means by which God deepens our personal relationship with Him. The other is the Holy Spirit. God uses His Word to pierce down to the inner most part of our hearts in order to free us from the awful effect of sin on our psyche. The Word of God will always be faithful to diagnose the condition of your hearts and our souls. It is the knife God uses to penetrate the most vulnerable parts in our innermost being and lays bare our truest thoughts and intentions. 

When God led the children of Israel across the Jordan river into the promised land, it was a picture of the deepening of our relationship with God right now. Most of the people who heard Moses' messages while in the wilderness only heard the messages. They were not diligent to mix the hearing with faith. When we do not mix our hearing of God's word with our vulnerable trust to His way of thinking and living, we do not enter into God's rest, even though we are on our way to heaven through Christ's finished work on the cross.

The word for "sword" in Hebrew 4:12 is a "dagger" which makes the most accurate cut in the most accurate place. This is the nature of the Word of God for the believer in Christ. God’s Word is penetrating and accurate, and, like a knife, penetrates the innermost part of the heart and soul of those willing enough to allow such. It frees us from our faulty ways of thinking which are the product of souls influenced by the very thinking of Satan himself. This is what the Bible calls "the flesh."

When it is allowed to do its work, the Word of God becomes a "divider" or a "discerner." In the Greek, the word "dividing," in v.12, is the word from which we get our word "critic." God's Word will always be critical to our hearts this side of heaven because we will never be perfect this side of heaven. And, as a result, God's Word will always reveal to us who we really are. He lays bare to us our insides. Once He reveals to us our true condition, He then offers to us His sweet remedy, Himself.

In v.13 of today's passage we read, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

Due to the incredible power of the Word of God, all created things are made naked to God. This means all our disguises are ineffective in the eyes of the Lord. God always sees us as we are. In fact, He knows things about us that we do not know about ourselves. The Greek word that is used and translated, "uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him," is used to describe a wrestler seizing an opponent by the throat in such a way that he can not move. This means no one can run from the omniscient God of the Bible. For everyone who has ever lived and ever will live, there comes a time when God grabs us and confronts our lost estate. This is why we can never say everybody has not heard the gospel.

At the end of time, we will all give an account to God. God will never base His judgment upon us on the basis of any of our good works because our good works will never be enough to measure up to the critical eye of the truth. God will judge us on the basis of His Son who is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE. My friend, I trust you have placed your trust in His finished work on the cross. If you have not cried out to Him, let me encourage you to invite Him into your life right now. And, if you just prayed that prayer, send me an email. I would love to know about it. My email address is byoungministry@gmail.com

Hebrews 4:3-10

Click here for the Hebrews 4:3-10 PODCAST

3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ~ Hebrews 4:3-10

Today, we return to our study of Hebrews 4 wherein the writer of Hebrews is addressing the second of five warnings that he gives in the book of Hebrews. The second warning is found in Hebrews 3:7-8 which reads, "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness."

In v.3-4 of today's text we read, "3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, 'So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: 'On the seventh day God rested from all his works.'"

Every Christian who has trusted the Lord Jesus as our Savior has entered into the rest which was long ago promised to us by God Himself. God’s rest has, is, and will always be accessed by faith in the God of the Bible. It is through faith that we accessed justification which is a one point in time event when we trusted the Lord Jesus to be our Savior. It is also through faith that we access our sanctification which is a process whereby God begins to change us from the inside out. Sanctification is a process whereby God is changing us from the inside out for our good and for His glory in the lives of others. The point of our justification is to bring us into right relationship with God, whereas, the point of our sanctification is to bring us into right fellowship with God. Relationship is the beginning of our personal interaction with God, whereas sanctification is the continuation of that interaction with Him.

God’s rest is not a rest of inactivity but a bi-product of His finished work in our daily lives. God has finished the work of justification on our behalf, making us right with Him through His Son's death on the cross. He is finishing His sanctifying work in us as we yield our lives to Him daily by faith. It is justification that gets us into heaven and it is sanctification that gets heaven into us, right now. We could say that sanctification is the acquisition of God's wisdom into our lives, right now.

The last sentence of v.3 and v.4 provides unique insight into the scenario of the Fall of man and God's remedy: "And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: 'On the seventh day God rested from all his works.'"

Before sin entered the world, God’s rest began right after the sixth day of creation. God was infinitely satisfied and He rested. It was at that moment that man could enter into God's rest. God had made man a perfect world wherein man could trust God for everything he needed. The criterion was faith. But, Adam and Eve chose not to believe in God. In fact, they chose to believe Satan. They were for the first time defined by something other than God. They were defined by Satan’s lies. Immediately, unbelief forfeited the rest of God in man's life. As a result, Adam was made restless. Adam and Eve spent their entire existence trying to avoid God. And, the history of the Bible is the effort of God wooing man to Himself.

In order to do that, God had to do for man what was impossible for man to do for himself: God had to render man's sin null and void. And so, the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth and addressed mankind's sin problem at the cross. And, through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, mankind can enter into God’s justification rest. And since, everyone who has not received the free gift of forgiveness through Christ has not entered into God's rest, are told these words: "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Once we are justified, it is then that we benefit by God's sanctification rest. The confusion of these two is what creates most false teaching in this world.

In v.5-7 we read, "5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

We, having trusted in the finished work of Christ on the cross, are saved because God designed to redeem us before the world was ever created. There is always, this side of eternity, a "today," with God. There will always be those opportunities, on this side of eternity, to respond to God's voice of justification and sanctification, and to access His grace, we must be vulnerable enough to believe that He is just and He is the justifier of all who believe.

In v.8-10 of today's passage we read, "8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his."

God's rest confronts man's performance based religion, the idea that if we do not perform well enough, He will not accept us or bless us. The greatest salve to this faulty way of thinking is Click here for the Hebrews 4:3-10. The writer of Hebrews wrote to a group of people who were quite legalistic. It was Spurgeon who once said, "Grace puts its hand on the boasting mouth, and shuts it once for all." And, it was Jerry Bridges who brilliantly once wrote, ""Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."

The Sabbath-rest found in v.10 is the rest that ushers us to the place where we cease from all our labors to earn God's favor. In fact, this type of rest causes us to want to do for God. This type of rest causes us to want to pray, read our Bibles and share the good news with others. These Christian practices, once we have experienced His grace, become "get to things" not "got to things." 

In Revelation 14:13 we read, "Then I heard a voice from heaven say, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' 'Yes,' says the Spirit, 'they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."'

Hebrews 4:10 is a reference to that final day when we cease from everything and enter into the presence of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. So, you see, God's rest is two-pronged: it involves His justification and His sanctification. And, the good works that follow us will be the works produced by Him. In that day, we will look back and recognize that it was by God's grace that He sought us in our sin, and it was by His grace that we experienced His life, His definition of all things. Then we will proclaim, "It is all by His grace. All of it!"

Hebrews 4:1-2

Click here for the Hebrews 4:1-2 PODCAST

1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. ~ Hebrews 4:1-2

Today, we enter Hebrews 4, right in the middle of a warning that began in the previous chapter. You will remember the book of Hebrews was written around five warnings to guard us from backsliding in our faith in the Lord Jesus. The first, we considered in Hebrews 2:1-4, where God urges us to give the most aggressive attention to our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, so that we do not drift away from Him. 

The second is found in Hebrews 3:7-8 where we read, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness."

Hebrews was written to a group of young believers who, like us, struggled in their young faith in the God of the Bible. Due to persecution and social pressure, these young believers were being tempted to turn back to Judaism, and away from the Lord Jesus Christ. The real issue the Lord was addressing in these young believers lives was the danger that their hearts could be so hardened to the Lord that they would have backslidden away from Him.

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

Having used an illustration out of the book of Exodus when the children of Israel did not enter into the promised land, the Lord uses the writer of Hebrews to help us understand what it means for us to enter into His rest. Without mentioning Joshua and Caleb who were the only ones of the twelve spies sent in to spy out the promised land, who had faith, the writer of Hebrews clearly tells us our ability to enter into this rest is always available to us. The problem the Jews who did not enter the promised land faced was their over magnification of the problem rather than the solution. Their problem was not unbelief, they could not enjoy what God promised. Their problem was their unbelief in the promises made to them by the God of the Bible.

God's rest means the believer comes to the place where we cease from depending on self. It means to stop from self-dependence and self-labor. This means we no longer are trying to please God by our feeble, fleshly works. And the moment we enter into God’s rest, works cease as a way to please God. Our good works have never please Him, because we can not do enough good to be perfect and acceptable to Him. And so, rest, then, involves a cessation from legalistic self-activity. It is a rest in His free grace.

As we mentioned before, the Jews entering into the promised land is a picture of our sanctification which includes the ability to be free from that which we are trusting in rather than the God of the Bible. The land of Canaan doesn't represent heaven, as some suggest, it represents the life the Lord Jesus died to give us, now. Canaan speaks of the victorious life of the one who is actively placing his trust in the Lord Jesus, now. Canaan could not represent heaven because the lessons learned from Israel going into the promised had to do with God changing them from the inside out. It had to do with their sanctification, not their justification. Plus, no man can earn the favor of God through the changes in his life. No, it is only through the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ that we will spend eternity with God in heaven and that we experience His work of sanctification, now.

Being forced to live by faith in the God of the Bible is hard, yet, it is the exercising of our faith that softens our hearts and keeps them soft toward the Lord. His rest guaranteeing heaven is automatic and complete the moment we trust the Lord Jesus' finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin. His sanctification rest that renders the life God wants to give us, right now, is not automatic. In the same way that the promised land was not automatically Israel's, our sanctification is not ours automatically. It requires submission and faith and obedience on our behalf.

In v.2 of today's passage we read, "For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed."

Our sanctification does not work without our faith in the God of the Bible to deliver in and through our yielded lives. There are times when we all find it most difficult to rest because we are not willing to come to the Lord Jesus and allow Him control over our lives. We are like the guy who is drowning, when our rescuer gets to us, we try so hard to save ourselves that we are in danger of drowning ourselves and our rescuer. The key to entering into God's rest is to let go, to go limp and allow our Rescuer the responsibility and opportunity to bring us into His rest. God’s rest simply means to possess the perfect peace that He gives. It means to be free from guilt, worry, and anxiety. It means we have been freed to observe Him working in the world and in and through our lives. The vantage point from this posture is most amazing and most rewarding.

A part of our sanctification is that we are being given the ability to see God for ourselves with our hearts. And, somehow, our hearts ability to see Him now will impact our eyes ability to see Him tomorrow and when He returns. The Lord Jesus is calling us to a level of intimacy that can only be sustained by His constant presence in our lives, and, our willingness to trust Him enough to allow Him to call all of the shots in our lives. To enter into His rest means to enjoy, right now, the security the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus has brought us already. From this angle, fear is so removed that we are learning to exercise absolute trust and absolute confidence in God’s care and charge over our lives.

Hebrews 3:12-19

Click here for the Hebrews 3:12-19 PODCAST

12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. ~ Hebrews 3:12-19

Today, we continue our study of Hebrews 3 which contains the second of five warnings regarding backsliding spiritually. Hard heartedness is the threat that we are considering here in Hebrews 3. Hard heartedness is the product of not hearing God's voice, which enables us to experience fellowship with Him. "To hear" in Hebrew includes the nuance of not just hearing sounds, but also of being defined by what we hear. And, this word clearly shows us that it is much more about a relationship God than it is just about obeying Him.

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God."

This warning is a warning about the condition of our hearts. You see, it is the spoken word of God that keeps our hearts in check. The greatest evil in the world is unbelief in the God of the Bible. That’s the greatest sin we could ever commit for it is out of a heart of unbelief that all sin comes forth. And, the preventative measure is the word of God which leads us into an interactive fellowship with God whereby He speaks with us and we speak with Him. It is a relationship that facilitates communion between us and God. And, turning away from Him in this manner ushers in the unbelieving hard heart that is spoken of in this chapter.

In v.13-15 we read, "13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called 'Today,' so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."'

Part of the remedy for hard heartedness is to come alongside one another. The word translated "encourage" in v.13 is the Greek word paraklētos which is the name of the Holy Spirit, the One called alongside to help. 

The word "deceitfulness" at the end of v.13 means trickery. Sin is so tricky, it always masks itself. Sin deceives us to believe it is good and if we are not walking close to the Lord, we will be tripped up. This is why we must come alongside one another daily, making sure we are walking with the Lord. 

In v.14 we are reminded that having come into a personal relationship with the Lord, we will persevere in our walk with Him. Whereas our justification or rightness before the Lord is solely based on what the Lord Jesus did on the cross, our sanctification is largely dependent upon us hearing His voice and having that vibrant walk with Him. This is why in v.15, the writer of Hebrews repeats the admonition that He first gave in Hebrews 3:7-8.

In Ezekiel 36:26 we read, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." All along it has been about a personal relationship with God enabling us to experience fellowship with Him whereby we are gaining the confidence to entrust our hearts to Him.

In v.16-18 of today's passage we read, "16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?"

God delivered Israel from their slavery to the Egyptians by doing all sorts of amazing things through Moses. Once the people were free, and were traveling through the wilderness, they constantly gave in to an unbelieving heart, even though God did many amazing things on their behalf. In resisting God's definition of and for their lives, the Israelites resisted the process of sanctification whereby God was trying to give them His culture. And, because they rejected His culture, they suffered from not having the life God desired for them and they suffered from not being useful to God in the lives of others. You see, this is the point of our sanctification, influencing others eternally for their good and for His glory.

Before entering the promised land, Israel sent in some spies to see what they could expect to encounter upon entering because, after all, it was not a vacant land, it was inhabited by all sorts of peoples. The spies completed their recon trip and upon returning, with a couple of notable exceptions, they informed the people that there were giants in the land and they had no hope whatsoever of being able to successfully take the land.

The blessings the Lord has in store for our lives each day, we can not fathom unless we are connected to Him in obedience and fellowship daily. Our relationship is based solely on what the Lord Jesus did on the cross, but, our fellowship God is largely determined by our diligence in practicing His presence. There is one commodity that is demanded if we are to know these blessings, and that is, faith, which is a bi-product of His spoken word.

Everybody lives by faith, even the atheist. In fact, while driving a car, no-one drives in constant fear that in their lane around the next corner there will appear a 40-foot concrete wall out of no where. We trust the people who made the highway. But, if we can put our faith in the Highway Department, we can put our faith in the God of the universe. We will never enter into His rest, in this life, unless we give safe haven to a soft, pliable heart that is daily vulnerable to Him and His leading. From this vantage point, life becomes a positive adventure. Yes, it will be scary at times, but, this type of faith keeps our hearts from returning to stone.

This is why God ends this chapter with v.19 which reads, "So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief."

Hebrews 3:7-11

Click here for the Hebrews 3:7-11 PODCAST

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” ~ Hebrews 3:7-11

There are five warnings in the book of Hebrews, and the warning in today's passage is the second of the five. The warnings are given to guard us from backsliding in our faith in the Lord Jesus. The first, we considered in Hebrews 2:1-4, where God urges us to give the most aggressive attention to our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, so that we do not drift away from Him.

The book of Hebrews was written to a group of young believers who, like us, struggled in their young faith in the God of the Bible. These were in danger of falling back into Judaistic ritualism which is a set form of worship involving rituals. Ritual-based religion is most daunting to our walk in the Lord because it does not naturally allow the heart to enter into worship. Biblical Christianity is not rules or ritual-based. Rather, it is relationship-based. The God of the Bible, through the Lord Jesus Christ, has made believers in Christ His own children, and now we relate with Him, accordingly.

In v.7-9 of today's passage we read, "7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did."

In v.7, with just six words, "So, as the Holy Spirit says," the writer of Hebrews gives a great commentary on the identity of the author of the Bible. God did not simply reveal truth to the writers of Scripture and then depart in hopes that they might communicate it accurately. In 2 Peter 1:20-21 Peter wrote that in the very communication of the Bible the writers were carried by the Holy Spirit. The making of the Bible was not left to merely human skills of communication; the Holy Spirit Himself carried the process to completion. The Holy Spirit so pervaded the minds of each human writer that He chose out of their own vocabulary and experience precisely those words, thoughts and expressions that conveyed God's message with precision.

So, in v.7-8 the Lord warns us of hard-heartedness. This admonition begins with "Today, if you hear his voice." These words remind us that during each moment of each day God is communicating with us. And, our awareness and sensitivity to Him will determine how much we hear Him. The Bible has always placed a premium on hearing God’s voice. "Happy are those who listen to me" is the promise of Proverbs 8:34. When John wrote to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, they were addressed in the same manner: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." In John 10:3-5 we read, "The sheep recognize his voice…" His sheep follow Him because they are familiar with the shepherd’s voice.

Our ears, unlike our eyes, do not have lids. They are to remain open, but how easily they close. In Romans 10:17 we read, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ." The Greek word the Apostle Paul used in Romans 10:17 for "word" means "the spoken word." And, when we abide with the Lord by reading His word and praying and fellowshipping with others who walk with Him, we will more readily recognize His voice in a given day. But, when we do not abide with Him, we will be in danger of being out of earshot from Him and we will become more and more hardened in our hearts toward Him.

Now, in order to get this warning across, the Holy Spirit used a real life Old Testament example. He did this because He was addressing Jews, so, He used an example out of their own history with God. And, since Moses is already the subject in this context, He used an illustration from Moses and Israel wandering in the wilderness while on their way to the promised land.

The words "rebellion" and "testing" in Hebrews 3:8 take us to Exodus 17 where God allowed certain trials in the lives of the Jews so that they would look to Him and believe. And, as a result, their faith or their heart's ability to see God would more readily grow. But, the people gave into their flesh or the evil desires that we all know to be in us all. Feeding the flesh led them to blame God for their condition. They did not have the ability to recognize that all things work together for their good. In fact, they jumped to a conclusion which locked God out, preventing them from going deeper in their relationship with Him. Their sanctification was short-circuited due to their hard-heartedness.

Interestingly, after Moses cried out to the Lord, the Lord caused water to miraculously start gushing out of a rock. God, in fact, was giving Israel a peek at the Rock of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Himself. But, due to the fact that their hearts were hardened, they missed God, yet again. I wonder how often I miss God in a given day.

Interestingly, Moses called that place in the wilderness "Massah" and "Meribah" which means testing and striving. In the context of their rebellion, the children of Israel tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?" God had just delivered Israel from Egypt, miraculously, and they ask a ridiculous question, "Is God among us?" By the way, the development of our faith does not depend upon us testing God. No, the development of our faith depends upon Him testing our faith.

This is the character of unbelief, it will never have enough proof. The fact is we do not need more proof about whether God is real. What we need is to come to the place in our lives where we are more and more vulnerable to Him to the point that we are more and more convinced that we need Him. It is always that out of our desperation that we depend upon Him best and most. And, sadly, most often it takes trials in order to convince us of this great truth.

In v.10-11 of today's passage we read, "10 That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest."

The word "angry" in v.10 means "aggravated." God is rightfully aggravated at our sin because of what it does to us. It does not alter Him one bit, it hurts us, and He knows it best. Sin is deceiving. Sin calls darkness light, bitter sweet, and, bondage liberty, and, wrong right. Sin deceives the heart and the heart is always the problem. Ultimately, it is all about what or whom do we trust.

In v.10 we read, "Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways." These Jewish believers just didn’t have faith, they had hearts that did not trust. They were given over to evil in their hearts, and they had served the flesh for so long, they did not know the truth.

The Lord Jesus said in John 8, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." Most people believe, as these Jews did, that freedom is the ability to do what we want, when we want, where we want. This, of course, is faulty thinking, for we were made with certain specifications, and when we do not operate accordingly, we malfunction.

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest."

The word "rest" implies resting from wandering. But, due to their hardened hearts, they were unable to enter into God's place of rest for them. They continued in their rebellion against God, and God let them go their own way. Their sanctification was stunted and they missed out on all things God-defined.

When Israel was delivered from the bonds of Egypt, God garnered their deliverance by the blood of the lamb applied to the doorposts of the people's house. This was a picture of our justification. When Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years, it was a picture of our sanctification. The main teaching today is that we must listen to the Lord and heed His word so that we might enjoy His definition for our lives, today. Otherwise, we malfunction.

Hebrews 3:4-6

Click here for the Hebrews 3:4-6 PODCAST

4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. ~ Hebrews 3:4-6

We return today to our study of Hebrews 3 where we have been implored to be preoccupied by the One who is our Creator and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The infinite and indisputable supremacy of the Lord Jesus is of paramount importance because if we lose sight of Him, we will drift further and further away from the very source of life itself.

In v.4-5 of today's passage we read, "4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future."

Having established the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is God, the writer of Hebrews uses a metaphor to get his point across to us. Earlier the writer of Hebrews brought our attention to Moses who was chosen to begin building the house of Israel, but, all the while, God alone is the One who builds the house. All along, it has been the Lord Jesus, who being the exact image and representation of the invisible God, who made all things, especially the house.

Moses may have been the faithful servant whom God used to construct the Tabernacle and to build up the house of Israel into a great nation but it was God who laid out the plans for Moses. He gave His servant the blueprint in the Law of Moses. And, Moses faithfulness was used of God to build the long promised house of God in the nation of Israel.

In like manner, there was a day when someone shared the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with you and me. That somebody introduced us to the possibility of a personal relationship with God through His Son. When we trusted in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we, through Christ's identity, became children of God. And, those who shared the gospel with us were faithfully responsible, in a human sense, for building our house. God really built the house. And, this, is the point of the writer of Hebrews: Moses played a part in the building of the house, but, it was the Lord Jesus who built the house. 

Moses is God's servant whereas the Lord Jesus is God's Son. And, as a servant, Moses was a faithful steward of God. In Exodus 40, we read eight times of Moses’ obedience to all that God commanded him. And, in our text for today, the writer of Hebrews compares Moses successes to the successes of the Lord Jesus. But, he never compares the Lord Jesus with the failures of Moses because the Lord Jesus never had one failure. And, due to this the Lord Jesus is greater than Moses.

According to v.5 of today's text, "Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future." Moses wasn’t the end, he was a means to the end.  And the end is the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 10:1 we read, "For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make those who come to it perfect." 

The law of Moses was a shadow of the perfect that was to come. And, if we reject the perfect, the shadow doesn’t mean much of anything. And so, the old covenant was just a shadow of the real life that burst on the scene. In John 5:46 the Lord Jesus said, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." Then, in Luke 24:27 we read, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." The "he" here in Luke 24:27 is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In v.6 of today's passage we read, "But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory."

Here, God gives a guarantee that we’re the spiritual house, " if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory." 

Many come to this verse and claim that our good works factor into our salvation. Be assured, we can not save ourselves nor can we keep ourselves saved. Continuance in the faith is the proof of reality. We can always tell who the real believers are, because they continue in the faith. The one who doesn't continue in the faith, never belonged to the faith in the first place. After we first believed in the Lord Jesus, we continued in the faith due to His abiding presence in our lives, via the Holy Spirit. You see, when we were "born again," God made His residence in us, and that is the reason we persevere in the faith.

This is why the Lord Jesus said in John 6:39, "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day."

This is our confidence and hope: the Lord Jesus Himself. The Lord Jesus has never lost any of those whom the Father has given Him, and, He is not about to mess up His record on you and me. True believers in Christ remain and continue in the faith, despite the many peaks and valleys in our spiritual journeys. We persevere in the faith because of the sustaining work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our wills. We persevere in the faith because of His presence in our lives. We are safe, secure, assured, and protected by God’s grace because of the person of Christ who will remain in us throughout all of eternity.

Hebrews 3:1-2

Click here for the Hebrews 3:1-2 PODCAST

1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. ~ Hebrews 3:1-2

Today, we make our transition into Hebrews 3. The book of Hebrews was written to a group of believers who had come out of Judaism. They had been born again and had become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And, as a result, they were learning to live with having been rejected by their own people and thrown out of their Jewish culture. In addition, they were being regularly persecuted relentlessly. Given all of this, their faith was very weak and they tended to lapse into the rituals of Judaism. They were fighting religion and struggling to enjoy their newfound relationship with God.

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest."

In every passage in the book of Hebrews, the theme is always the absolute supremacy of Christ. The believer in Christ need nothing in addition to Jesus Christ for salvation, including our justification and sanctification. The pattern of this book is we are always brought back to the sufficiency of Christ., in spite of our insufficiency. This is most important because we will fail in our walk with the Lord.

Hebrews 3:1 sums up the whole book with the words "fix your thoughts on Jesus."

We have already seen the Lord Jesus is superior to the prophets in Hebrews 1, and we have already seen in Hebrews 2, He is superior to the angels. Now, in Hebrews 3, we shall see the Lord Jesus is superior to Moses. And, yet again, we are admonished to focus on the Lord Jesus, not ourselves.

Although we did not come out of Judaism, like the first recipients of this book, we do find ourselves very often lured into believing that our good works earn or maintain the favor of God. And while we accept God’s free grace complete in Christ, we kind of hang on to an artificial kind of legalism rather than live the positive Christ-controlled, spirit-energized life the Lord Jesus died to give us. 

The statement "holy brothers and sisters" in v.1 is very instructive. We are brothers and sisters with Christ, due to the fact that we have received Him as our Savior. We are brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus by position because we are partakers of a heavenly kind of existence. Subsequently, we are sharers in the very presence of Christ. And, since we have received the very presence of God into our lives, we focus on His presence on a daily basis. Focusing on His presence in our lives is a large piece to the relationship we have with God. The actuality of this relationship means we do not need religion or the rituals which come along with the religion. No, we need Him because He is the answer.

The word "consider" in v.1 of today's text means "to gaze intently" on the Lord Jesus. The reason we are weak and worried, is we really do not know the depths or the riches that are afforded us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus said, "Learn of me." He did not say, "Learn about me." This is why we are exhorted here to fix our attention on Him. It's a relationship.

Then, at the end of v.1, the writer of Hebrews reminds us the Lord Jesus is "our apostle and high priest." "Apostle" means "one who is sent." So the Lord Jesus is the one sent from God to earth with the revelation of His heavenly calling. "High priest" means the Lord Jesus is the go-between, who offered Himself as a sacrifice so that there can be reconciliation and communion and relationship between God and man. The Lord Jesus was the one who built the bridge from God to man. In fact, He is the only bridge to God. Our goodness factors not into the equation. The Lord Jesus came because there was no stairway to heaven. The Lord Jesus is the bridge divine.

In v.2 of today's text we read, "He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house."

Here, the Lord draws a comparison between Moses and the Lord Jesus. The comparison is they were both faithful to God. Moses carried out faithfully God’s plan. He came out of Egypt, into the wilderness, and while there, God refined Moses. It took 40 years for God to change Moses from the inside out. Then God used Moses to lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt to the promised land. Though there were times when Moses was unfaithful, for the most part Moses was faithful. 

In somewhat of a comparison, the Lord Jesus was faithful for He always did the father’s will. To be "faithful" here brings understanding to what faith looks like throughout the rest of the book of Hebrews. In John 6:38, the Lord Jesus said, "For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will who has sent me: That of all that He has given me, I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day."

When we trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we shared, once and for all, in His faithfulness. Faith in Christ means entrusting ourselves to the person of the gospel, who through His cross delivered us from the penalty of our sin. Without the faithfulness of Christ, there would be no point to our faith in Him. In John 13:1 we read, "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end."  Oh, the blessed assurance of the Lord Jesus' faithfulness to the hardest task ever known. It was His faithfulness that led Him to lay down His life for His friends.

I close with a quote from Charles Spurgeon, "The glory of God’s faithfulness is that no sin of ours has ever made Him unfaithful."

Hebrews 2:14-18

Click here for the Hebrews 2:14-18 PODCAST

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. ~ Hebrews 2:14-18

Today, we complete our study of Hebrews 2 where we have been considering the fact that when the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He procured the right of the believer to be accepted into the family of God. This ultimate act of love set the Lord Jesus apart from all others to be our Savior, and the believer has been set free from the domination of the devil. In addition, this one act of love proves the Lord Jesus to be God, otherwise, He would have never been able to raise from the dead after conquering the effects of sin and death upon all of His creation. At the cross of Christ, God accepted His own unbreakable terms of justice.

In v.14-15 of today's passage we read, "14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

Having established the acceptable payment made by the Lord Jesus on the behalf of all believers, the writer of Hebrews, in these two verses, informs us of the two purposes for this greatest act of selflessness. The Lord Jesus died so that He could destroy the devil and release the willing in heart from our lifetime bondage to sin and death.

God designed every person who has ever been born to live forever. As a result, we will all live forever either in heaven or in hell. When anyone who has not received the free gift of salvation through Christ, dies, that person immediately is plunged into eternal punishment. And, the devil knows if he can keep people from trusting in the finished work of Christ on the cross, he will maintain his hold on them for eternity. This is why man fears death.

Even for those who deny the reality of God, death is terrifying. This means that they are enslaved by the fear of death to find ways not to feel the intolerable fear that is there. The fear of dying is so natural for sinful people who are not ready to meet God, that it rules them like a silent master. In fact, this is what causes them to embrace the dream world of denial. Most people simply do not let themselves think about what is absolutely inevitable, namely, their own death. They are driven, consciously or unconsciously, to shut their eyes and close their ears and shut down their minds to every thought that they are going to die and give an account to God one day.

The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth as the God-Man, in order to "break the power of him who holds the power of death." God never had any plans for death in His original plan for creation. Death only came when Adam rebelled against God and went the way of the serpent. Satan’s dominion comes in the form of death. He was a deceiver and a murderer from the very beginning. This is why the Lord Jesus had to come to earth, in order to die for damned mankind. And by dying as a man, the Lord Jesus entered into the realm of sin and death. And through dying, He conquered sin and death, He destroyed the dominion of Satan forevermore.

When Christ died on the cross, He conquered the devil, but the devil did not cease to exist. Christ's victory over sin and death has rendered the devil powerless in the lives of all who have ever believed in the God of the Bible. Adrian Rogers once said, "God grades on the Cross not on the curve." Aren't we all grateful for that.

The word "break" in v.14 literally means "to cause something to come to an end." Satan has long been known to use fallen man's "fear of death" to enslave us to his will. Often people make wrong moral choices out of their intense desire for self-preservation. Here, we are reminded that we are no longer subject to such "slavery" and we are positioned by Christ to see death in a whole new light. So now, for the believer in Christ, death has taken on a whole new role. Death is an entrance into heaven. This is why the Apostle Paul said, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain."

In v.16-17 of today's passage we read, "16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people."

Angels are mentioned 273 times in the Scriptures, and were created by God to do His bidding. When God created angels, not any of the angels were fallen and evil. It was later that there came into existence fallen angels which we know as demons. Therefore, angels do not need a Savior because they were unaffected by the fall of man. I did not say "demons" because their story is different. Angels are the messengers of God who live in eternal perfection. They are perfect beings and are in no need of salvation. 

The phrase "descendants of Abraham" when translated literally, means "Abraham’s seed." This phrase refers to anyone, Jewish or Gentile, who has ever trusted in the God of the Bible for salvation. The writer of Hebrews may have used this phrase because the recipients of this letter were primarily Jewish believers. But, in context, the writer was pointing out that Christ came to the aid of Abraham’s children, not the angels.

According to v.17 of our passage today, "Christ was made like His brothers, human in every way." This means Christ embraced our suffering so that He could be sympathetic to our plight. Here, for the first time in the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews introduces us to the priesthood of Christ. Here, the writer of Hebrews presents Christ's identification with "His brothers" making it possible for God to show His mercy and faithfulness to us. God was and is able to do such due to the fact that the Lord Jesus made Himself the atonement for our sin, and, He is also our priest before God.

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted."

In this verse, the writer of Hebrews focuses on the fact that the Lord Jesus took sin and death head on. In so doing, the Lord Jesus, also, took on temptation. He experienced the lure of sin, but He never sinned. The Lord Jesus knows what it is like to be fully human in that He was tempted like us. Therefore, He is able to assist us when we are being tempted. And, due to the fact that He has defeated and disarmed the enemy, He is able to give us the grace that we need to overcome temptation.

The Lord Jesus took on a weak and vulnerable human body not only so that He could experience death, but also that He could  sympathize with the temptations that come with suffering and dying. "He himself suffered when he was tempted." 

The writer of Hebrews isn't referencing the temptation of lust or greed here. This is the temptation to get angry or to be resentful or to be self-pitying or to be despairing or unbelieving in the goodness of God. This passage teaches us that not only are we free from the slavery to the fear of death, we can also be confident that when we are tempted to despair or to be self-pitying or to be resentful or to be anger or to embrace unbelief in the goodness of God, the Lord Jesus is always there to help us. The Lord Jesus does this out of His own agonizing experience as the God-Man. And, He will give us what we need to endure in a heart-attached relationship with God to the very end of time as we know it.

Hebrews 2:10-13

Click here for the Hebrews 2:10-13 PODCAST

10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. 12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;  in the assembly I will sing your praises." 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” ~ Hebrews 2:10-13

In our last blog and podcast, we considered how man, through his rejection of God, lost his authority over the earth to Satan and his demons. But, the Lord Jesus Christ chose to take on a human body, never ceasing to be God, so that He would be able to bare the punishment of God for our rebellion. Today, the curtain is pulled back just a little bit more so that we will be able to understand God's great cosmic plan behind our salvation.

In v.10 of today's passage we read, "In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered."

At the heart of the Christian gospel is: the Lord Jesus Christ faced sin and death head on and garnered the forgiveness of God on the behalf of all humble enough to believe. In so doing, the Lord Jesus Christ became our substitute. As a result of paying our penalty, believers in Christ are now viewed by God as "sons and daughters" of God. Not only that, now that the Lord Jesus has died in our place, we are positioned to know God in the deepest possible way.

Notice the last phrase in this verse, "should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered." 

The word translated "pioneer" is a reference to someone who is an author. As the Lord Jesus died on our behalf, He became the author of our salvation. The Lord Jesus, alone, authored our salvation. "Pioneer" also describes someone who has opened up new land so that others could follow. It is a word that could refer to a trailblazer, someone who blazed a trail on which others could travel. To the extent to which we are willing to blaze this trail to God will be the extent to which we get to know God and His ways for ourselves. 

Our salvation is not just the forgiveness of our sin, it is a new life, it is being in a new family. The Lord Jesus blazed the trail into this new life, and He did it by enduring the cross and its shame. God sent His Son to earth, so that He could do what no angel could ever do: He died the death that was ours. And by His death, He became the perfect trailblazer who opened the path of salvation to all who would believe. It wasn't that He was perfected, it was that the pathway to God for anyone who would believe was perfected by the Perfect One.

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters."

In addition to having our sin forgiven, this verse reminds us we have been sanctified which means we have been made thoroughly righteous in the eyes of God. The Lord Jesus Christ  literally made the believer holy by making it possible for His righteousness to be applied to us. This does not mean that we are sinless now, it means God treats us as if we are Christ Himself. While the Lord Jesus hung on the cross, God treated Him as if He lived our lives, so that He could treat us as if we lived His. 

The result of all of this, according to v.11 is, "So Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers." 

We, having believed in the Lord Jesus, share the same privilege as sons. Having believed on the Lord Jesus, we are joint heirs with Christ. He is the Son of God, and we have become sons of God covered by His very righteousness, and in that sense, we are His perfected brothers and sisters.

In v.12-13 of today's passage we read, "12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;  in the assembly I will sing your praises." 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me."

These two verses are quotations from the Old Testament, one from Psalm 22 and the other from Isaiah 8. The writer of Hebrews consistently quotes the Old Testament because his readers were very familiar with the Old Testament and they trusted it. The writer of Hebrews uses the Old Testament to help his readers understand the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

Hebrews 2:12 is a quotation from Psalm 22:22. This verse describes the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, talking to His Father; saying, "I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters." He said this, indicating, He, the Messiah, knew there would be those who would trust in His finished work on the cross for the payment for sin, and be called His brothers. In Psalm 22, He was speaking to the Father about us. It is because of His death on the cross that He can call us brothers.

Interestingly, before the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He never called His followers "brothers." He called them "disciples," "friends," "sheep." He did not call them "brothers" until after He died and rose from the grave. The first thing He said when He came out of the grave to Mary was, "Go to My brothers." That was the first time He called them "brothers" and it was only possible because He paid the penalty for our sin and His righteousness could have been credited to the account of the willing.

Hebrews 2:13 is a quotation from Isaiah 8:17-18 which reads "17 I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him. 18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion."

Again, here is another text from the Old Testament showing that Messiah would accept the children of God given to Him as "brothers." When the Lord Jesus came into this world, He trusted the Lord during the time of His incarnation, His death, His burial, and His resurrection. It was the most difficult choice as indicated during His time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. And, we who have trusted God through Him, have been given the identity as His brothers.

Hebrews 2:5-9

Click here for the Hebrews 2:5-9 PODCAST

5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? 7 You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor 8 and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. 9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. ~ Hebrews 2:5-9

Today, we return to our study of Hebrews 2. Having established the utter importance of the necessity of the believer in Christ to pay the most careful attention to Him on a daily basis, today, we peak into the background of this argument already established by the writer of Hebrews.

In v.5 of today's passage we read, "It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking."

In this verse, the writer of Hebrews, yet again, makes the point that the Lord Jesus is superior to the angels. When man sinned or rebelled against God, we lost our authority over this world. As a result, we lost the meaning of our existence. God never promised the angels authority over this world. According to Hebrews 1:14, angels were sent by God to minister to all who will ever believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. In fact, in the world to come, angels will be servants, not rulers. But, due to man's rebellion, temporarily, God has given angels authority over this world. The word used for "subjected" in this verse is a military term used for arranging soldiers under a commanding general.  

The word translated "world" in v.5 means "inhabitance." There will be an inhabited earth to come, and it will be different than the earth we live on now. The book of the Revelation tells us it will be the millennial kingdom of Christ. It will be a new inhabited earth, and all who will go into that new inhabited earth will be totally different. The animals will be different, and even the people will all be redeemed people that will go into the newly created world. Redeemed man will be sovereign in that new world earth, and the angels will serve man.

Currently, Satan, an angel, is the authority over this world. And, right now, his followers, the fallen angels, rule with Satan over this world. According to Ephesians 6, this world is ruled by demons. They’re called principalities that rule over the darkness of this world. Demons are the ones that are ruling the world, right now, along with Satan. That explains a lot, doesn't it?

We see this spelled out in in Daniel 10:20 which reads, "20 So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; 21 but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince."

Then, in Daniel 12:1 we read, "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered."

Clearly here, the angel, Michael, provides protective service to the nation of Israel. And, currently, the earth is subject to angels. And, the only reason the earth is currently under the authority of angels is because man lost the sovereignty that God gave us in the beginning. But, in the millennial kingdom of Christ, after the Tribulation, the sovereignty of man over the earth will be restored. The Lord Jesus, as the God-man, is greater than angels, because He came and died to conquer sin, even though the angels rule the world currently.

In v.6-8 of today's passage we read, "6 But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? 7 You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor 8 and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them."

In these verses, the writer of Hebrews quotes King David who wrote Psalm 8 wherein David asked, "What is man that you would be so good to him, that you would give him so much bounty and so much blessing?"

David, in Psalm 8, went on to establish that God’s original design and destiny for man was that man was to be the king of the earth. Everything in existence was to be in subjection to man. And, David asks, "In comparison to the vastness of this world, what is man in comparison to such greatness?"

In v.7 we learn that man was created a little lower than the angels. So, currently, the chain of command is God, angels, man, and earth. And, David asks, "What’s the big deal about man that God is mindful of us and He has made us kings over the earth?" 

God made man lower than angels in the sense that we are physical and angels are spiritual. Angels are heavenly, and man is earthly.  Man is confined to a physical body, and angels are spirits. Man has been confined strictly to the earth. Man, for now, can not ascend into the supernatural. Angels were not confined to the supernatural. They could move down to the earth any time they wanted; so they have options that man does not have.

God in the very beginning knew that the ultimate destiny of man would not be something lower than angels. This chain of command is temporary. And, God has a destiny for man that rates him as a king in God's millennial kingdom. And, it is for a little time that God has made man to be lower than angels. 

But, in Daniel 7:18 we read, "But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever."

Those made holy, in the eyes of God, by the Lord Jesus, will rule in God's kingdom, forever. In Revelation 3:21 we learn, "We will sit with him on his thrown and rule." In Ephesians 1:20 we learn, "He will reign in the kingdom over principalities and powers." Since Christ will reign over angels in His kingdom and we will sit on His thrown with Him, we will reign over angels for all of eternity.

Man, who was made lower than angels for a little while, in innocence was king over the undefiled earth. But, man’s destiny was restricted by sin. According to v.8 of today's text, man rebelled against God, and lost his authority over the earth. Man was designed by God to have dominion over the earth. And the earth was subjected to man, and the earth supplied all of man’s needs without man doing anything. All man had to do was just to accept the earth as it provided our needs. And then man sinned. Satan usurped man's authority over the earth, and, at that moment, God's chain of command was interrupted. 

Man was no longer a master of himself. We are totally sinful, and we have become slaves to sin. No longer is man king over the earth, we have become slaves. When man sinned, the animal kingdom was made subservient to man in the sense of fear, not love and trust. 

And, the ground, instead of yielding good things easy to take and to eat, now, produces thorns, weeds, and other harmful things. Not only that, extremes of heat and cold, poisonous plants, and reptiles, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, hurricanes, disease, an army of billions of bacteria have been released upon man. Everything broke loose to make man no king any longer, but a slave fighting all his lifetime to exist. And man has been fighting a losing battle ever since. 

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."

The Lord Jesus came to earth as the God-Man to regain man’s dominion. After coming to earth, the Lord Jesus faced death head on at the cross. The Bible clearly states the wages of sin is death, and the only payment for sin is death. So, man must die to remove the curse. The only way we can ever be the kings God created us to be is to have the curse removed. The only way we can remove the curse is to pay the penalty. So, if we are to be restored, we must die, and we must be resurrected a new man with sovereign possibilities. This is where the Lord Jesus entered into the scenario.

In Romans 6:10 we read, " The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God." 

In context, the subject is the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross of Calvary, on the behalf of anyone who would be willing enough to believe on Him. And, the moment we put our faith in the Lord Jesus, we were identified with Him. His death, burial and resurrection became ours. And now, having trusted in His finished work on the cross for the payment for our sin, we walk in newness of life. The moment we received Him, we were identified with Him, and the curse was removed. And now, we are His kings awaiting His soon return and His eternal kingdom.

Hebrews 2:1-4

Click here for the Hebrews 2:1-4 PODCAST

1 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. ~ Hebrews 2:1-4

Today, we begin our study of Hebrews 2 where the writer of Hebrews attempts to help its readers to understand that the Old Testament or covenant was fulfilled and completed by the Lord Jesus Christ. As we have mentioned before, Hebrews is an epistle that was addressed to a group of Jewish Christians who were struggling with their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away."

The "therefore" in this verse indicates this verse is predicated upon what was said in Hebrews 1 which informs us the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law. He has done something sinful mankind could never do: earn the abiding favor of God.

Here in Hebrews 2:1, God gives us the first of five warnings about backsliding. In this first warning, God urges us to give the most aggressive attention to what we have heard about the Lord Jesus, so that we do to drift away from Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only One who is perfect enough to absorb the punishment of God for our rebellion. 

No one backslides as a result of one giant leap away from God. No, we backslide through a series of small, dinky steps away from God. In order to grow spiritually, we, as believers in Christ, must pay very close attention to our personal relationship with God through His Son the Lord Jesus. In order to do this, our hearts must be involved. When we hear and do not give a heart response to the teaching that we have heard, we are in danger of drifting away. Neglecting our personal interaction with the Lord Jesus on a daily basis can and will lead to drifting away.

As we learned in Hebrews 1, the Lord Jesus is the One who purged our sins and who is seated at the right hand of God. The Lord Jesus is the One whom the angels worship. He is the One whose angels are His servants. He is the One who is God. He, therefore, must be the object of our worship. He is the One who must define us on a daily basis.

In v.2-3 of today's text we read, "2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him."

Here, God argues from the lesser to the greater, and He uses the two testaments to make His point. The first testament was the revelation of the law, which came by angels, and any breach of that law, the Old Testament law, or any disobedience to it, was followed by a strict, severe, and just punishment. Every single time, in the Old Testament, an angel spoke, if a person did not respond to it in obedience, they were punished by God. Nobody got away with breaking the old covenant brought by angels. 

The second revelation came through the Lord Jesus Christ who fulfilled the first revelation. And, if we do not receive the Lord Jesus and depend upon Him for our salvation, we stand condemned by our sin which has not been dealt with if we have not trusted in the Lord Jesus. 

This is why the Lord Jesus said in John 3:17-18, "17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."

The word "disobedience" in v.2 of today's text means imperfect hearing, like a deaf man. This is the deliberate shutting of the ears to the commands, warnings, and invitations of God. This is the sin of neglect. This is standing there doing nothing when you should do something. There is one thing that gets us into heaven and there is one thing that keeps us out of heaven, and they are two sides of one coin. They are believing in the Lord Jesus and not believing in the Lord Jesus.

In v.4 of today's text we read, "God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."

When the Lord Jesus preached the gospel, He also performed signs, wonders and miracles to make it more believable. He confirmed his own ministry by His own miracles. There is no excuse for any of us to NOT believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, the believer in Christ is infallibly secure in the work the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross. Given that we are prepared for an eternity in heaven with God, let's live daily so close to the Lord Jesus that His imprint is made obvious to all we relate to on a given day. Let's walk so closely to Him that they regularly ask us for an explanation for the difference He is making in our lives.

 

Hebrews 1:10-14

Click here for the Hebrews 1:10-14 PODCAST

10 He also says, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 11 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. 12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” 13 To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? 14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? ~ Hebrews 1:10-14

Today, we close out our study of Hebrews 1. As we have noted before, the writer of Hebrews, in this chapter, quotes seven different Old Testament passages to establish the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ as greater than that of the angels. We have considered the first five of the seven. Today, we will consider the last two.

In v.10 of today's passage we read, "He also says, 'In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands."'

Hebrews 1:10-12 is a quotation from Psalm 102:25-27. These verses remind us the Lord Jesus existed before He created this world. The Lord Jesus was there in the beginning. He existed before the beginning. The Lord Jesus is without beginning. In John 1:1 we read, "In the beginning was the Word." He was already there before the beginning began. 

The Lord Jesus "laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of His hands." Once again, we are reminded the Lord Jesus is the eternal Creator. He is above it all, and He is immutable meaning He is unchanging.

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment."

All that are created will perish. Those who know not the Lord will spend eternity in Hell, if they have never trusted in the free gift of God through the Lord Jesus. And, for those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we will spend eternity with God in heaven. This means death awaits us all, especially those who have no personal relationship with God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We will all die, but the Lord Jesus will remain. Here, yet again, the writer of Hebrews reminds us of the eternality of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, he goes on to write, "...they will all wear out like a garment."

The Lord Jesus was not created. He is eternal and immutable, He will forever remain the same and He will not change. The second law of thermodynamics informs us that all things left in isolation will deteriorate. And, sin, has separated us from God. So, we suffer from the law of entropy. This is why the Lord Jesus came to die and be raised again. He came to reunite us to the eternal and and be rescued from the grip of sin and entropy.

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."

In the book of Revelation, we read, "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places." 

The heavens, on the last day, will roll right up, like a scroll. The stars will fall out of the sky and they will come crashing to the earth. Every island and every mountain moved out of its place. The whole world will fall apart. And, those who know not God will experience what the earth will experience. Total collapse.

But, the Lord Jesus will not be affected by these events. In fact, He will create a new heaven and a new earth. Creation, as we know it, is subject to decay. Jesus Christ is not subject to decay and He will never change. And thus, we have His superiority over the angels.

In v.13-14 of today's passage we read, "13 To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet'? 14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?"'

This is the seventh Old Testament quote, and it’s from Psalm 110:1, and it climaxes the full superiority of Christ to angels. In these two verses, we see the destiny of Christ and the angels. The destiny of Jesus Christ is that ultimately, everything in the universe will be subject to Him. 

In v.13 the words "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet" gives unquestionable indication that Christ controls all things. At no time in Scripture do we ever find an angel doing that because their work is never done. Fortunately, Christ has completed His work which yields our salvation. The Lord Jesus sits down because He reigns. 

In v.14, we learn of the destiny of the angels. Interestingly, it was the angels in the garden of Eden who kept Adam and Eve in their sinful state from having access to the tree of life. What a compassionate choice on their behalf, because had Adam and Eve had access to that tree, mankind would have never been saved. I can only imagine that in their sinful state, Adam and Eve wanted access to that tree. Given their condition as sinners, they probably lacked the proper theology that would have enabled them to see the actions of the angels as gracious.

In this final verse of Hebrews 1, we learn the destiny of angels which will be to "serve those who will inherit salvation." The angels are going to serve the saved forever. God made the angels to serve Him. I find it quite humbling that in eternity, their role will be to serve those of us who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus.