Hebrews 11:13-16

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13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. ~ Hebrews 11:13-16

We return to our study of Hebrews 11 wherein we discover the nature and utter necessity of faith in the God of the Bible. At the beginning of this chapter the writer of Hebrews gave a twofold definition of faith: "the confidence in what we hope for" and "the assurance in what we do not see." Hebrews 11 is filled with examples of Godly men and women who "lived by faith" and here in today's text the writer of Hebrews takes us on a slight detour highlighting those who "died in faith." 

In v.13 of today's passage we read, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth."

When  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob died, they were still believing in the God of the Bible and in the promise He had given to them. The Covenant promise that Abraham would be the Father of a multitude was never realized by him while he lived on this earth. This did not detour Abraham, he continued by walk in the confidence that God existed and was a rewarder of those who seek Him. As we are in this sinful world, the patriarchs were foreigners and strangers because they were defined by God's culture, as communicated in His Word. His culture is and will always be contrary to the cultures of this world because His culture is the truth.

The Apostle Peter reminds us that he and the other disciples did not follow cleverly devised myths but they were eyewitnesses of the majesty of the Lord Jesus. And, the Apostle John reminds us that he and the other disciples followed the Lord Jesus because He manifested eternal life before them. Through these and others God has given us His Word through which we are reminded that we are foreigners and strangers in this world. His word gives the absolutely correct definition to all things and His word can and must be trusted.

Biblical faith reminds us of a greater future hope that often we see from a distance. It is this faith in the God of the Bible that reminds us that nothing in this world will satisfy us and we must be careful to avoid the lie that it will. When we begin to believe the lie that this world can satisfy us, we are positioned to have our hearts captured by the enemy of our souls. Living as foreigners and strangers in this world frees us to enjoy the father heart of God and His culture instead of being enslaved by chasing the empty promises of this world. It is quite helpful to remember that this world is under the control of Satan himself, and he is not out to lead us to wholesomeness.

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own."

The patriarchs and all who choose to live by faith in the God of the Bible are tendered to be foreigners and strangers in this world which is being run by the evil one. Through the way the patriarchs lived their lives, they made it clear that they belonged to another place in a different dimension. This is the story of all who have believed on the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Our longing for God's country began the day we trusted Christ as our Savior, and it has grown with intensity as we have come to know our Savior's heart for us. Faith in the God of the Bible is patient to endure the lack of fulfillment in this life because it has its focus on the promise that lies ahead. 

Hebrews 11:14 ends with the word "own" which literally means "fatherland." Once our hearts were captured by our Father in heaven, we have never looked back. God reveals Himself in the Bible as a gentle, forgiving Father, intimately involved with each and every detail of our lives. It is not only a beautiful picture, but a true one. However, every person seems to have a different idea of what our Father in heaven is like, because they unconsciously tend to attach the feelings and impressions that they have of their own earthly father to their concept of their Heavenly Father. Each person's own experience with human authority is usually transferred over to how they relate to God. Good experiences bring us closer to knowing and understanding God, just as bad experiences create distorted pictures of our Father's love for us.

There is one attribute of our Heavenly Father that not even the best parent can hope to imitate, that is His ability to be with us all the time. As parents, we cannot give constant attention 24 hours a day. We are finite beings who can only focus on one thing at a time. Not only is our Father with us all the time, but He gives us His whole attention. Our Heavenly Father is constantly thinking an uninterrupted stream of loving thoughts toward us as though nobody else in the world exists. 

In v.15 of today's passage we read, "If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return."

So bright was the promise of God, so trustworthy was His Word that the patriarchs anchored their endurance and their perseverance in the future and this gave them a positive faith to endure anything. This was all made possible by the Lord Jesus Christ who left the perfect fatherland in heaven, and willingly became a foreigner and a stranger while on this earth, so that our hearts could be captured by the father heart of God. In fact, the Lord Jesus took upon Himself the punishment of God for our sin. As a result, the Lord Jesus has given us His perfection that we do not have to face God as our judge anymore. When the Lord Jesus began His ministry He began to speak to weary foreigners and strangers, like you and me with the language of forgiveness and acceptance. It was He who presented to us the father heart of God.

In v.16 of today's passage we read, "Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

The longing of the believer for an eternity with God invites the favor of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 2:11 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 order for God to not be ashamed to be called the believer's God, the Lord Jesus had to go to the cross to destroy the work of the devil. And, for all who choose to believe in the Lord Jesus and invite Him into their lives to be their Savior, He is not ashamed to call them His brothers and sisters.

Hebrews 11:11-12

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11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. ~ Hebrews 11:11-12

Today, we continue our study of the book of Hebrews wherein faith in the God of the Bible is the paramount subject. As we have pointed out before "faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." These two elements make up the belief and trust in the God of the Bible that provides the assurance of the fulfillment of God’s promises. This faith is bolstered by the many promises that God has given and has already fulfilled.

After giving us the definition for biblical faith at the beginning of this chapter, the writer of Hebrews then commences to highlight the lives of Old Testament saints who lived by faith in the God of the Bible. Having considered Abel, Enoch and Noah, the writer of Hebrews has turned our attention toward Abraham. And, today, we return to the example of Abraham whom we considered a little in our last study.

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise."

Abraham and Sarah were 90 and 100 years of age, yet they conceived and gave birth to a son. A total impossibility, humanly speaking, but God masters the impossible. And, this life of faith that God calls His people to demands a break with everything that is familiar in our lives. It also demands a break from everything that is old, as well. It starts with a willingness to separate from everything that is familiar and visible. This is where every Christian’s pilgrimage begins, when we choose to separate ourselves from our dependence upon everything in this world that we have always been defined by.

Biblical faith is transformative, and, the more we exercise it, the greater the transformation we will realize in our yielded lives. We see this transformation here with Abraham and Sarah as it became evident that Sarah was with child. Abraham is a man of faith who separated himself from the world to go toward an inheritance which God promised but which Abraham would not see or inherit until a future that was at that point unknown to him. 

We can also see this great transformation in Abraham when he offered up his son Isaac to God on Mount Moriah. His reason could see no solution to his predicament. God had promised, "Through your son, Isaac, your descendants will be named." And now, God was telling him to sacrifice Isaac. Reason could never figure that out, but Abraham was not walking by reason, he was learning to walk by faith. He believed that God's promise would prevail. He believed God would raise Isaac from the dead, if need be, to fulfill His promise. As a result we have this amazing account of how Abraham, as it were, received Isaac back from the dead, for in Abraham's mind he was as good as dead. Abraham's faith triumphed and God gave him back his son, Isaac.

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. "

When God gave to Abraham this promise, God turned his attention to the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea and reiterated the promise to Abraham. God had to do this because Abraham was 75 years old when he first received the promise. And, when God used the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea to illustrate His promise to Abraham, Abraham was 86 years old. So, for 11 years Abraham and Sarah waited, sometimes patiently. 

Interestingly, at the age of 99, God changed Abrams name to Abraham. Abram means "exalted father" while Abraham means "father of a multitude." In addition, God changed Sarai's name to Sarah. Sarai means "my princess," while Sarah means "mother of a ruler of nations." God added "ha" to Abram and He added "ah" to Sarai. God gave to both Abram and Sarai a portion of His name. Their name change signified a new birth experience for both Abram and Sari. Their previous behavior of lying, deceitfulness and cowardice as revealed in the birth of Ishmael is not the behavior of one following God. The addition of God's name signifies new life.

Take a breath and breathe it out. In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs. In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst. In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down. When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage. When a baby is born, he takes his first breath. In so doing, the baby speaks the name of God. Breathing, therefore, is akin to praying. When Moses asked God His name, God said, "YHWH," which represents breathing sounds. The name of God is the sound of breathing. How generous of God to choose to give Himself a name that we can’t help but speak every moment of our lives. 

The point of giving Sarai and Abram a part of His name was a subtle reminder that YHWH was the secret behind their success. The same is true for you and me. Biblical faith is the ignition switch to spiritual power that makes us useful and allows God through us to do His work in this world. The emphasis in the Scriptures in not on what man does for God in this world, the emphasis is on what God does for man and through the man of faith. God releases power to do what seems to be impossible.

Hebrews 11:8-10

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8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ~ Hebrews 11:8-10

Today, we return to our study of Hebrews 11 where the writer of Hebrews is illustrating faith by recounting certain aspects of some of the lives of Old Testament believers. There are really only two ways to live our lives on this old earth. One is to live by sight and base everything on what we can experience empirically. The other is to live by faith and base everything on what God is doing in our lives. Which approach has the better track record, man's ability to live empirically or the abilities of the God of the Bible? Having consider Abel, Enoch and Noah, today we consider Abraham.

In v.8 of our text today we read, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

Abraham was a man who left home without a road map. When his story begins, he lived in a place called Ur where the people were polytheistic. And, the main God of the people of Ur was the God of the moon. It was good that God called Abraham out of that context. In fact, God called him out because Abraham knew there was much more to this life than the many gods of his people who had fashioned them by their understanding. And, Abraham did not know where he was going, but God did. Not knowing where we are going is always better than going in the wrong direction.

Abraham was righteous because he was a man of faith in the God who he was yet to know, and God imputed righteousness to him because of his faith. Abraham was declared righteous because of the faith he demonstrated in the God of the Bible. And all through his life, Abraham acted on his faith. Abraham is therefore the pattern of faith in the God of the Bible. The extent to which we enjoy our new life will always be determined by how much we leave our old lives.

The writer of Hebrews wrote this book to call these young Hebrew Christians to leave the old covenant and all of the religious trappings of Judaism. He did this because the Jews had turned Judaism into a legalistic religion. In fact, by the time of the writing of this book, the Rabbis were teaching that Abraham was righteous due to his good behavior. This is why the writer of Hebrews established that even Abraham was justified only by His faith in God.

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise."

When Abraham obeyed God and went to the land of promise, he never got the promise. In all of Abraham’s life in the land, he never owned the land. During the whole time Abraham was in the promised land, he was "a stranger in a foreign country." The writer of Hebrews used a Greek word here translated "stranger" which means one who doesn’t even have the rights of a citizen. He was a foreigner in the land, and he is the perfect picture of the believer in the God of the Bible. This world is not our home, we are just passing through.

Faith dares us to pay no attention to the impossible. The man who is not walking by faith in the God of the Bible, one who operates on his reason alone, invariably misinterprets the evidence incorrectly. The cause of this was the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. When Man refused to be defined by God, he forfeited his ability to see and to discern correctly. Man has been separated from the eternal dimension as a result of his rebellion. And, faith in the God of the Bible is the absolute ingredient if we ever expect to have God to solve our problems. The emphasis in the Bible is not on what we do for God, but what God is doing for us.

Now, the revelation of God centers in Jesus Christ, therefore, the life of faith begins by an acceptance of Him as our Savior. Faith, as we have already seen, is a desire for something better and it starts with hope. Then it is an awareness of the unseen God who is nevertheless very real. Then faith involves an assurance resulting in obedience that the Unseen One will bring us to the something better. Without faith, life is a blind march into mystery. The future is an imponderable enigma to those without faith in the God of the Bible. Therefore there will always be a sense of anxiety in them in trying to look ahead without God.

Biblical faith believes that God has revealed something about the future. And what He has revealed is quite enough for us to know. Faith seizes upon a revealed event and begins to live in anticipation of it. As a result, faith makes exciting the mystery, and it gives life purpose and destination. Abraham obeyed God and went to a foreign land, really not knowing where he was going. And, God led him. The reason Abraham did this is explain in the next verse.

In v.10 of today's passage we read, "For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

It is amazing how far ahead Abraham could see. Abraham lived about two thousand years before Christ and he looked forward by faith, believing what God had said would take place. He looked across these forty centuries of time and beyond to the day when God would bring to pass on earth a city with eternal foundations. Biblical faith believes in permanence. And, Abraham saw what John saw in the book of Revelation, a city coming down out of heaven onto the new earth. Faith anticipates the fulfillment of the promise, and, Abraham was patient because he knew where he was going. Those who really live by faith in the God of the Bible are patient people. Abraham hung in there and waited till God did all things in His own time. 

God is the best architect not only of the city that is to come, He is the best architect of our lives. Necessary for the promise of God to Abraham that he would have an heir was a son. And, God turned a nursing home into a maternity ward. Just when it looked hopeless, God miraculously made it possible for a 90 year old woman and a 100 year old man to conceive a baby. 

Hebrew 11:3-7

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3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. ~ Hebrews 11:3-7

Today, we come back to our study of Hebrews 11 where we are given an outstanding definition of faith which has two inseparable parts. The first is "what we hope for" and the second is "the assurance in what we do not see." 

Faith is "what we hope for." 

Our faith in the God of the Bible is what we hope for and our faith gives substance to that which we hope for the present time. Faith starts with a sense of dissatisfaction with the way things are now, and faith causes us to long for that which God has promised in advance. 

Faith also is the "assurance in what we do not see." 

The word "assurance" means the conviction that the unseen exists. Assurance is banking our lives on our hope in the promises of the God of the Bible. Biblical faith in the God of the Bible actualizes the truth for the future and commits to that actualization. And, it makes sense to do so given the history of the God of the Bible with the people of Israel. A careful reading of the Old Testament blows away the idea that faith is blind and is not based on fact.

As we come back into Hebrews 11, we are given several examples of people who lived by faith. Today, we will consider three of these examples: Abel, Enoch and Noah. As we will see, Abel illustrates worshipping faith. Enoch is the example of walking with God kind of faith. And, Noah is the example of working kind of faith.

Before we get to these three, let's consider v.3 of today's text which reads, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."

Biblical faith values understanding more than sight, and it puts us immediately in touch with reality. When we trust our sight more than God's understanding, we have perched ourselves on the throne of God. Faith in the God of the Bible enables us to be patient with our reason to catch up to what God has promised and performed. Faith deals with facts but it also helps us to see reality before the facts arrive on the scene.

For example, science cannot tell us how human history is going to end, but by faith we know how it will end because God has already told us in His word. This is why faith pleases God, because it comes to grips with reality and God is the ultimate reality. Those who trust Him and His word, all the while ignoring the mocking taunts of those who think they know better, will enjoy for time and eternity the favor of the One who is best trusted with our hearts and our lives.

Now, let us look at the first three examples given in v.4-7 of today's passage. In v.4 of today's passage we read, "By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead."

The world's first brothers were Cain and Abel, the first sons of Adam and Eve. They lived when the world was young, when everything was much different than it is today. Yet, though they enjoyed a life less hectic than we, they longed for something better, they hungered after God. This explain why they one day went to God with their own sacrifices. Their lives illustrate the fact that we will never be satisfied without God. And, that which we worship most is that which defines us most.

Abel worshipped the God of the Bible when he brought his sacrifice to God, but Cain chose not to worship God because his sacrifice did not fall in line with God's definition of how it should have been offered. God had required that the sacrifice had to involve the blood of an innocent animal. We cannot have God's ability until we are prepared to recognize the poverty of our own. That is what a blood sacrifice teaches. There must be a life laid down before one can have the life of God. We cannot have God's ability for our problems until we are first ready to lay aside any dependence upon our own. And, Abel was the first man to learn this truth, and we do well to follow his example of worship.

In v.5 of today's passage we read, "By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God."

Enoch was the seventh man from Adam and he is the first human after the Fall who is said to walk with God. At 65 years of age, Enoch began for the first time to enjoy the continuous presence of the unseen God of the Bible, and he related his life daily to Him. In doing so, Enoch found a fellowship that death could not interrupt. Enoch never died. God took him to heaven before he physically died. He was one of two men in the Bible of whom it is recorded that they never died physically, Elijah was the other. 

The phrase "he was commended as one who pleased God" has to do with receiving approval. God approves of us when we operate on faith, when we lack the ability to make sense of a situation and we rely on the Lord to work things out. And, when we believe in Him we will walk with Him, we will operate believing He is our companion who actually guides us through life.

In v.6 of today's passage we read, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

Pleasing to God kind of faith believes that He exists and He rewards those who seek Him diligently. This kind of faith moves us to come to God on a regular basis. We do not go to any special place, no, we come to Him in our hearts as we live our lives. As we make decisions, we reference the Lord before we do so. When pleasing God becomes the determining factor for our decisions in life, life becomes easier. When we seek Him first, all other things in this life will be added unto us.

In v.7 of today's passage we read, "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith."

Noah believed God when God told him that it would rain even though Noah had never seen rain. And, Noah believed God so much that for the next 120 years he worked at building a very large floatation device. Through the ridicule of all of his friends and acquaintances, Noah believed and worked on that Ark. He did this because God told him what would happen in the future, even though it did not make sense to Noah in the present.

To be able to bank our lives on someone who is invisible looks like the most preposterous thing imaginable to those who do not. The unsaved cannot comprehend this kind of spiritual faith because the Holy Spirit has not awakened them to the God of the Bible. All people live by faith, the difference is the object of our faith. We all ride in cars that cross over man-made bridges and we all ingest foods and medicines believing they are good for us. But, even though all people have natural faith, we don’t all have the ability to perceive God because believing in the God of the Bible is a spiritual kind of faith. Stay tuned tomorrow as we consider a few more of those who demonstrate what it looks like to believe in the God of the Bible.

Hebrews 11:1-2

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1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. ~ Hebrews 11:1-2

In Hebrews 1-10, the writer has labored to prove that the New Covenant ratified in the blood of God is in every way superior to the Old Covenant. Four times to this point in the book of Hebrews, the writer has warned these young Hebrew believers not to go back to the religion that had been twisted by man into a works system. The problem with Judaism developed over time because the Jews had added all kinds of human rules to it resulting in a legalistic religion. It had lost the purity and vulnerability of faith in the God of the Bible, and, it became a system of ethics which taught salvation by works.

In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for."

Faith is "confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." This sentence includes two aspects of faith that are indivisible. The word "faith" means belief, trust, or confidence. It is the substance of "what we hope for." That which we believe in is what we hope for and our faith gives it a present substance. And, when we live by faith, we will be looked upon by others as different because of God's definition of things. Henry David Thoreau, once said, "If I seem to walk out of step with others, it is because I am listening to another drum beat."

In Old Testament days there were many who had nothing but the promises of God to rest upon. God had told them there was coming a Messiah. They knew there was coming One who would finally take away sin. Many of those Old Testament believers believed this promise but they never saw it come to pass here on earth. Yet, they hoped for it. And, that is what faith is, it is living in a hope that is so real it gives substance to the hope in the present. Faith is not positive thinking nor is it a hunch to be followed. Faith is not hoping for the best, hoping that everything will turn out all right in the end. Faith is not even a feeling of optimism. 

Faith commences with "what we hope for." It starts with a sense of discontent. We can never have much faith unless we are dissatisfied with the way we are now, and are longing for something better. If we do not feel dissatisfied with the way we are, it will be impossible for us to exercise much faith in God. This is why, all through the Bible, the great enemy of faith is complacency. 

The promises that came to the Old Testament people were so real that even though they never saw them, they based their lives on them, sight unseen. Our faith is only as good as its object. All of the Old Testament promises related to the future, but the people acted as if they were in the present. They simply took God at His word and lived on the basis of His promises. They had reason to due to His track record. They had seen His promises come to fruition. They were people of faith, and faith gave substance to what was yet in their future.

So, faith in the God of the Bible is not sort of a wishful, longing, that something’s going to come to fruition. Faith is an absolute, utter certainty, and, it defies everything that is normal. Biblical hope is the belief and trust in the God of the Bible whose ways are contrary to this world's normal way of thinking. I must admit it is different to follow the culture of this God I’ve never seen with my eyes or heard with my ears. But, this is the nature of faith, to believe before we see.

Faith is rejecting our senses for the sake of our hope, it is our souls being informed by His Spirit through our spirits. This is hard to understand until we have had the experience of Nicodemus. This world says believe in that which we can taste and touch and smell, and experience empirically. God says the opposite. He says don’t believe your senses, believe in the One whom you primarily see with your heart.

Now, the word "confidence" only appears two other times in Hebrews. It is a satisfying conviction. This word is used in Hebrews 1:3, to speak of Christ as the very essence of the Father. It is also used in Hebrews 3:14 where it speaks of a guarantee of assurance. Faith, then, provides the firm ground on which we stand, waiting for the assurance of the fulfillment of God’s promises. Our faith is best bolstered by the many promises that God has given and has already fulfilled. Some say faith is believing without evidence. This is wrong due to the many promises God has given throughout history to His people. And, He, the God of the Bible, has quite an inspiring track record. If you doubt this postulate, let me encourage you to read the Bible from beginning to end. As you read it, you will discover some 7,147 promises given by God. And, most of them have been realized.

Faith believes God and banks on Him. This promised assurance has essence and reality. In Romans 8:24 we read, "For we are saved by hope." Our salvation is real right now because we believe God's promises to be true in the future. We continue to read in Romans 8:24, "But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?" And since, we really believe that the future that God has promised is for real, then we wait patiently for it. This is faith in a future reality, and it gives to its reality a present substance. 

Faith is "assurance in what we do not see." The word "assurance" means the conviction that the unseen exists. Assurance is banking our lives on our hope in the promises of the God of the Bible. When Thomas saw the Lord Jesus, the Lord said, "Thomas, you have seen, and you have believed; blessed is he that has not seen and yet believes." Biblical faith in the God of the Bible actualizes the truth for the future and commits to that actualization. Again, the value of faith is measured best by the object of that faith.

Everybody operates on the principle of faith. The difference is the object of our faith. Thomas Aquinas once said, "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible."  

The ability to perceive God is a spiritual kind of faith. Biblical faith is a supernatural gift from God. In fact, biblical faith, according to Romans 10:17, comes by hearing by the spoken word of Jesus Christ. If a person hears with a willing heart prepared by the Holy Spirit, God grants him the faith to respond. I close with a pertinent quote from Augustine who once said, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."

Hebrews 10:36-39

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36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” 38 And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” 39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. ~ Hebrews 10:36-39

Today, we complete our study of Hebrews 10. The writer of Hebrews wrote to a group of young Jewish Christians who were persecuted so much they were tempted to throw in the towel of their faith in the Lord Jesus. They were under tremendous pressure and they were tempted to go back to their old religion and their old way of life. But, the special thing about faith in the God of the Bible is that it points us beyond now. Faith does not claim that everything’s fine now, that we have nothing to worry about. Faith points us to a better future than the present we experience. The person with faith in the God of the Bible can endure almost infinitely more than a person without it, because this faith connects us to Him and His viewpoint of eternity. 

Having reminded these young believers of their early days when they were so in love with the Lord, the writer of Hebrews underscored the fact that they endured incredibly bad treatment from non-believers and accepted the plundering of their possessions with joy. This is what happens to the one who goes from the darkness to the light. The light is turned on and we are finally enabled to see what is really real. In the midst of darkness, light persists, and the blind man not only gains physical sight, but he also grows in spiritual light.

In v.36 of today's passage we read, "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."

The word "persevere" means patience. It is always most difficult to live by faith in the God of the Bible when we are going through the most difficult moments in our lives. This is especially difficult when we know not what it means to walk in the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit is to be led by Him essentially to worship God by thinking His thoughts and choosing according to His ways. 

This is what it means to worship God in the spirit. And, when we come to these most intense moments, if we practice patience, we will give God the time needed to give us the perspective we need to persevere in our faith in Him. And, once we have taken a step back to gain that perspective, we will realize the promise of God still awaits us. Interestingly, when we have persevered, we will look back to see the reason we persevered was due to His presence through the Holy Spirit who is at work in our lives.

No believer in Christ wants to lose heart. No believer in Christ wants the heart for living for Him knocked out of us. On the contrary, we all want to be on the cutting edge of usefulness to God regarding that which He is doing in this world. We all know that those good feelings that were associated with our young faith in the God of the Bible tend to drain away. If we are going to be strong on the inside and have hope and joy and resources to love, we are going to have to be renewed day by day. 

Life is not static. It is up and down and up. It is a life where we are filled one day and depleted the next. Daily we learning to be renewed, then expended, only to be renewed and expended again and again. This is how our faith in Him grows. As our faith in Him is stretched and we are forced to look to Him, then, we will more clearly see Him with our hearts. And, the harder the trial that is endured, the greater the view we gain of Him.

In v.37 of today's passage we read, "For, 'In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.'"

Having told these young Hebrew Christians to look back over their former days when they endured by faith, he now encourages them to look forward in faith to the promise of the Lord's coming. They just had to avoid the trap of looking at their problems. I am convinced that when we get to eternity, we will look back on time and space as we know it and we will say, "That was such a short blip in comparison to eternity." Lacking the perspective of eternity often damages our faith which God wants to bolster so that we can now see how insignificant the things of this world truly are and how significant He and those things of His world truly are.

In v.38-39 of today's passage we read, "38 And, 'But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.' 39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved."

The writer of Hebrews closes this great passage with a simple challenge to live by faith. Being made "righteous" precedes the ability to live by faith. These believers had come a long way, they had endured a lot of difficulty, they just needed to be reminded to choose to believe all the way. And, the unction behind our ability to believe is His righteous presence at work in our lives. True Christianity is not living for God, it is allowing God to live through us. The issue is not us becoming more righteous, it is dying to what we think is right and yielding to what He has already determined to be right.

It is not by sight that we live because we are of another world. We are the abiding place of God, and we have been infused by the Eternal One. He has infused us with the eternal and our confidence is growing in Him. And, it is through faith in Him that we gain His pleasure. Sadly, those who do not believe in the God of the Bible will be destroyed.

Believers in Christ are not those who shrink back; no, we are of those who see from the vantage point of eternity. Enduring trials is how we are galvanized in our trust in the One who gave His life for us. And, it is through our trials that we learn to look to Him and see Him and His goodness with our hearts. This is how our faith is strengthened in Him to the point that we do not turn back to what isn't really real.

Hebrews 10:32-35

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32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. ~ Hebrews 10:32-35

Today, we continue our study of Hebrews 10 which is relevant to all believers because who has not at one point or another considered going back to our old way of living because the Christian life is racked with difficulties?

In today's text the writer of Hebrews clearly believed those to whom he wrote this letter were believers. The evidence came from the fact that their early Christian years were marked by their love and joy and hope, despite their hardships and persecutions. They clearly were being defined by the Lord Jesus. They clearly had entered into a personal relationship with Him wherein they were being defined by Him. They cheerfully accepted persecutions, trials, and hardships that came their way. They were living by faith in the One who gave His life for them.

In v.32 of today's text we read, "Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering."

The writer of Hebrews was trying to persuade these young Hebrew Christians from throwing in the towel of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He reminded them of their early days with the Lord Jesus. The only way the believer in Christ can endure this type of suffering these endured is by having received and by being led by the light. The "light" is analogous of the Lord Himself. In fact, He once said, "I am the Light of the world."

These young Hebrew Christians had invited the Lord Jesus to not only be their Savior but also their Lord. It is only after we have entered into a personal relationship with God as evidenced by being born again of His Spirit that we can endure the pain that these young Hebrew Cristians had endured. They had been driven from their homes, separated from their families and had been kicked out of their culture.

The word the writer of Hebrews used here for "conflict" is the word from which we get our English word athletics. Their lives were likened to an epic contest between two powerful forces wherein the battle was defined by whether to maintain their confidence in Christ or let the opposing forces prevail. While God’s grace had genuinely worked in their hearts, they were at a point of exiting the battle.

This type of temptation obviously does not come from God. Even the Lord Jesus underwent this type of temptation. We are told in Matthew 4:1 that He was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. In James 1:13 we read, "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone." We must recognize these are the tactics of the one who wants to steal, to kill and to destroy us. To stop following the Lord Jesus is to give to win to the enemy of our souls.

In v.33 of today's text we read, "Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated."

Many point to the first recipients of this letter as cowards. I beg to differ when I consider what they went through due to their faith in the Lord Jesus. The words translated "publicly exposed" come from the Greek word that means "theater." They endured public humiliation while on the stage of life for their faith in the Lord Jesus. This humiliation was actually a blessing from God for "God opposes the proud but gives great to the humble." God did not cause it but He allowed it. Early on these young Hebrew believers had evaluated their lives through the lens of the truth of God, and now, they are being tempted to allow the lesser to define them.

In v.34 of today's text we read, "You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions."

These to whom the writer of Hebrews wrote were losing sight of the fact that according to God's economy adversity is not our most vicious enemy; it is often a very valuable ally. This kind of adversity or persecution reminds us that the perishable things of this world matter little. It is when we invest in the imperishable that matters most. But, if we evaluate worth according to this world's temporal way of thinking, we will invest in the lesser because it is easier to do so.

In v.35 of today's text we read, "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded."

Every day we all are tempted to look to the wrong things to define us. It is also easy to be captivated by the negative and the unwanted things of life that bring us pain and trouble. We must be wise to look at the negatives as means to the end that the Lord has in store for us. There have been many times in my life where I had to remind myself to quit looking at my problems. There are times when looking at our troubling persecutions just is a win for the enemy, for in doing so we lose our focus on what is really real. The focusing of the lens of our faith is what is needed in these situations. But, integral to the development of our faith or our hearts ability to see God are trials. Tune in tomorrow for more on this most fascinating subject in our walk with the Eternal One.

Hebrews 10:26-31

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26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. ~ Hebrews 10:26-31

We continue today in our study of Hebrews 10 where the writer of Hebrews has established the fact that the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of all of the Mosaic Law. Through the blood of His sacrifice on the cross, the believer in Christ has been freed from the very wrath of God. Not only that, the Lord Jesus now is living His life in and through the believer. This is the exchanged life. The apostle Paul once said, "For me to live is Christ." In essence, the Lord Jesus is the believers justification and sanctification.

In v.26-27 of today's passage we read, "26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."

Many come to this passage and assert a believer in Christ can lose his salvation. That makes sense if we ignore the context. The writer of Hebrews wrote these words to people who had a thorough understanding of Judaism. His readers knew that in the Old Testament there were sacrifices for all sorts of sin, but there was no sacrifice for willful deliberate sin. If someone was caught sinning deliberately and egregiously, they were put to death. 

It was into this understanding that the writer of Hebrews wrote these words. And, he wrote them to these young Jewish Christians who were having a hard time pulling away from the religion they had always known. 

The essence of his message to them was: Why go back to Judaism, knowing what you know about the Lord Jesus Christ and all He has done for you? This does not make sense. And, you do know there is no sacrifice for willful sin in the system of Judaism?

The "fearful expectation of judgment" spoken of here was the end result of those who were caught in willful sin, they were killed. This is why in v.28 the writer of Hebrews wrote, "Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses." 

Then, in v.29 of today's passage we read, "How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?"

Again, the writer of Hebrews was reminding his readers of the seriousness of rejecting the free gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Our only hope is in the Lord Jesus, alone. You see, it is the blood of Christ, not the blood of any Old Testament sacrifice, that sanctifies us. Rejecting God's only solution for sin results in us going to Hell. The Gospel means good news, but the flip side of the Gospel means facing the wrath of God on our own.

Insulting the Spirit of grace comes on the heels of a person rejecting the free gift. The job of the Holy Spirit is to draw us to faith in the Lord Jesus who did every ounce of all that was needed to wash away our sin forever. It is an insult to the Lord Jesus to think that we must add to His sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin. The writer of Hebrews wrote to these young Jewish Christians about the new covenant of grace and to enjoy this new covenant which made them holy. By entering into the new covenant through faith in Christ, they had yet learned to rest permanently from sacrificing animals and depending upon the blood of animals to temporarily forgive their sins and to make them holy. And, by maintaining that mindset, they were hindering the grace of God from doing what it was meant to do ... to liberate them into a deeper relationship with God.

In v.30-31 of today's passage we read, 30"For we know him who said, 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people. 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."'

Again, the writer of Hebrews was writing to people who were tempted to go back to trusting Judaism and not trusting in the Lord Jesus. Spurgeon once said, "Think lightly of hell, and you will think lightly of the cross. Think little of the suffering of lost souls, and you will soon think little of the Savior who delivers you from them." The person who rejects the free gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus will in terror face God. Although some prominent evangelical leaders deny the doctrine of hell, we need to remember that the Lord Jesus spoke more about the terrors of hell than any other subject.  

Jonathan Edwards got his title for his infamous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” from today's text. In that sermon, Edwards hammered home with frightening force the terrors of God's impending judgment, and also the refuge of the cross. I trust, my friend, that you have trusted solely in the One who hung on that old rugged cross. If not, invite Him into you life right now and begin to enjoy His matchless grace that He freely extends to you.

Hebrews 10:19-25

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19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ~ Hebrews 10:19-25

Having taught extensively on the Old Testament Tabernacle and the limited ministry of the Mosaic Covenant, the writer of Hebrews now turns our attention to the true tabernacle, the spirit of the believer in Christ. Pictured in the Old Testament Tabernacle is the whole being of the born again believer in Christ. The outer court represents the body, the holy place represents the soul, and the Holy of Holies represents the spirit. It was not until we came into a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ that we were able to know God through our spirits. According to Ephesians 2:1, our spirits were "dead in trespasses and sins." But, when we became believers in Christ, our spirits were made alive to God.

In v.19-21 of today's text we read, "19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God."

When we trusted in the work of Christ on the cross and invited Him into our lives, we became tabernacles for the living God. This is proven in Hebrews 3:6 where we learn that the believer in Christ has become the dwelling place of God. Unlike what many believe, Christianity is Jesus Christ living His life in and through us in all circumstances.

Therefore, we should have the greatest confidence in all of life because we are not only right with God, but He is actively performing His will in and through our lives as we yield to His leading. This means everything that happens in our lives comes through His will for our lives. Since, we have been made alive to God in our spirit, the only acceptable worship to God is worship which takes place in our spirit. We enter this, the writer says, by the blood of the Lord Jesus. 

In v.20 a very rare word is used, and, it is the word "new." It means "freshly slaughtered." We have confidence to enter into the very presence of God by the blood of the Lord Jesus by a freshly slaughtered Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ was freshly slaughtered so that the way to God would be opened to us. And, no man or thing will ever be able to close this way to us. All of the old sacrifices could not accomplish this great thing which yielded to us this "living way."

In v.22 of today's text we read, "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." 

In v.22-24 we have three "Let us" statements. The first "let us" statement has to do with faith, the second has to do with hope and the third has to do with love. That is the three pronged cord of the fullness of our salvation through the Lord Jesus. 

To "draw near to God with a sincere heart" means to live in the recognition of His presence in our lives right now. And, when we understand more fully the acceptance we have before God in Christ, we will draw near to God more so with a sincere heart.  The Greek word used for "sincere" describes a heart that has been gripped by the truth. This sincere heart has seen the truth and has been liberated to the point of being defined only by God. And, the opinions of others and the circumstances in life are increasingly not budging this one who is being granted a life that is being defined by God.

This "full assurance of faith" means living out of Christ's adequacy. This means we have discovered a source of supply which never runs dry. Our dependence is no longer upon our weak abilities, our dependence now is upon the flowing power of the Spirit of the living God who dwells in us. And, He is the river of living water, the supply that never runs dry. This enables us to meet any circumstance with the confidence that He who is in us is greater than any enemy we may encounter.

As our faith in the God of the Bible grows, we begin to understand that we may come to God at any moment, even when we have purposely failed miserably. This is possible because "our hearts (are being) cleansed from a guilty conscience."  You see, God has already hurled His wrath onto the Lord Jesus Christ on the behalf of all who have and who will believe. Nothing should keep us from daily running into the arms of this God who loves us to the point of slaying His only begotten Son on our behalf.

At the end of v.22 we read, "having our bodies washed with pure water."

This is symbolic language taken from the Old Testament priests duties in the tabernacle. The bronze laver was one of the furnishings required by God in the outer courts of the tabernacle. It stood between the temple and the altar, and it held water for the priests to wash their hands and feet before they entered the tabernacle. God wanted His people to understand the importance of practical purity. This refers to our sanctification wherein God is changing us from the inside out. This is about an outward life which has been cleansed, rearranged, changed by our new life in Christ. 

In v.23 of today's text we read, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

The second "let us" has to do with hope. We are not only to draw near to God, but we are to share the gospel with all who will listen. We can be confident that in Christ we are perfected through His death, burial and resurrection. As our confidence grows in His salvation, we then will be freed from those things which would prevent us from sharing the Gospel in the first place. 

In v.24-25 of today's text we read, "24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

The third "let us" has to do with love. Here, our love is expressed in two ways: "spur one another on toward love and good deeds" and "encouraging one another." As believers in Christ, we are never judged by the confessions we make, or the creed we recite. We are always judged by our deeds. Our meetings are to be essentially encouraging times, and this is one way we stir up one another to love and good works.

These young Jewish Christians were having a hard time breaking with the old covenant. They were still holding on to legalism, and they were tempted to go back to the temple, the priests and the sacrifices. This is why the writer of Hebrews wrote these words of encouragement to one another.

As we get closer and closer to the end of time as we know it, and it becomes more and more difficult to tell the difference between truth and error, good and bad, and, right and wrong, we must be diligent to gather together and encourage one another by sharing the truth with one another that God is sharing with us. It is in the sharing of His life with one another, that we grow in this "new life" He is giving us. We must be diligent to do this as we see the Day of His return approaching.

Hebrews 10:11-18

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11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. ~ Hebrews 10:11-18

Today, we continue our study of Hebrews 10 where the writer has been reminding us that daily the Old Testament sacrifices brought a reminder of the people's sin. With each sacrifice the people were reminded that the sacrificial system did not procure permanent forgiveness from God. This preceded their downward spiral into religion and ritualism wherein their hearts were less and less captured by God.

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins."

In this verse we are reminded yet again of the insufficiency of the Old Covenant sacrifices. Underscored was the fact that throughout the entire Old Testament period, there was a clear distinction between conditional and unconditional covenants. Only the unconditional covenants made only by God endured. And, at the heart of the conditional Mosaic Covenant was the Levitical sacrificial system which was incapable of completely removing the people's sin and bringing permanent forgiveness. 

In v. 12-13 of today's passage we read, "12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool."

The priest here is the Lord Jesus Christ who came in the order of Melchizedek which is an eternal system. Here, the permanence of God's forgiveness of our sin is accentuated through the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. And, once we recognize this issue is over, that we are completely forgiven, we can focus on that which is most important: learning to give our hearts to God.

Once again, we are reminded the Mosaic system could not render a heart change in the human heart. But, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was made once and forever. His sacrifice is so unique that it could never be repeated, so, He sat down at the right hand of God. His sacrifice was the masterpiece of the ages. It accomplished everything it was ever intended to accomplish. His sacrifice was complete and there isn’t anything that needs to be added to it. 

All of the sacrifices in the Old Testament didn’t do a thing to get rid of Satan. And, when the Lord Jesus died on the cross, the devil and His values were destroyed. And now, the Lord Jesus is merely waiting until all of His enemies are under His feet. The image given here is that of a king who sits on His throne and His subjects are beneath Him. He is the preeminent One because of His cross. All of the enemies of God throughout all of the ages gathered together all their strength, and the best thing they could come up with was to crucify Him. 

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."

In this one verse we see justification and sanctification. Justification is seen in the phrase, "he has made perfect forever." And, sanctification is seen in the phrase, "those who are being made holy." Christ has fully accomplished and guaranteed the positional and the practical holiness of those who trust in Him as our Savior. And, of course, our positional holiness is our justification and our practical holiness is our sanctification.

The Greek word used here in v.14 for "perfected" is the very same word the Lord Jesus spoke while He was on the cross: "tetelestai" or "IT IS FINISHED!" The Lord Jesus did not just make us perfect until our next sin. He didn’t bring us into access with God until we blew it and deserved to get kicked out of God's presence. No, He brought us into God’s presence "forever." Those who say the believer in Christ can lose His salvation are sorely mistaken and this verse proves it.

The Old Covenant forgiveness was as good as the last sin. It covered yesterday, and when we sin today we have got to perform another sacrifice. This merely underscores man's complete inability to save himself. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ covers the believers sin forever. And so, there is a permanent state of completeness in salvation brought about by His one act of ultimate love.

In v.15-16 of today's passage we read, "15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 'This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.'"

The permanent nature of this unconditional covenant based solely upon the person and worth of the Lord Jesus Christ was foretold in Jeremiah 31. The New Covenant is only realized in and through the Lord Jesus. It is not written on stone, but in the hearts of the willing. As a result of sin being removed, the very presence of God can now come into the once dead spirit of the believer in Christ.

The covenant keeping God of the Bible has chosen to make His home in the life of the believer in His Son. Through the presence of God in our hearts, God is writing His truth in our hearts and minds. As a result, the believer in Christ now has the ability to recognize truth from error. We have assurance that we stand perfected and completed in the eyes of our heavenly Father not because we are practically perfect now, but precisely because we are not practically perfect now.  

In v.17 of today's passage we read, "Then he adds: 'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.'"

The law of Moses prescribed repeated animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin. And the very repetition of the sacrifices showed that the sacrifices never perfected sinners. Because if the sacrifices had perfected the people once for all, the sacrifices would have stopped being offered. There would be no need for them.

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.'"

We do not go to the temple every day to make more sacrifices because the sacrifice of Christ was most effective. It has removed our sin from us for eternity. The cross of Christ has destroyed the enemy and his work in our lives forever. It has eternal security built into it. It is so perfect, we can’t add anything to it. The realization of these truths is now based on our willingness to believe in such a scandalous idea as this: undeserved forgiveness.

Hebrews 10:5-10

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5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’” 8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ~ Hebrews 10:5-10

Today, we return to our study of Hebrews 10 where the writer of Hebrews is convincing us of the total efficacy of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross for the payment of our sin. Pictured for us in the sacrifices made in the Old Testament tabernacle is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. In the smallest details, everything in that tabernacle screams to us the life, death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Interestingly, more attention is given to the tabernacle than any other subject in the Old Testament. In fact, fifty chapters in the Bible are devoted to the Tabernacle.

In v.5-6 of today's text we read, "5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased."

It is clear God did not delight in sacrifices and offerings. All of the Old Testament sacrifices point us to the Son of His love, the  Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus came to earth to be the one time sacrifice fulfilling all of the righteous requirements of God for our salvation. The Father's love is made evident through the Son's willingness to go through hell to get us into heaven.

According to v.5 of today's passage, God prepared for the Lord Jesus a human body in which there was a willing soul. Through the many choices the Lord Jesus made, He consistently demonstrated dependence upon God the Father while He obeyed His written word! 

In the womb of a virgin a human body was formed by God for the Lord Jesus. God didn’t need a human father to accomplish this task. And, within that body was placed a human soul with the capacity to reason, to feel and to choose. The Lord Jesus, while in that human body, never once acted on His own, and, never once did He act in independence of His Father. This was the desire of God from eternity past.

The Lord Jesus has no interest in ritualistic religion which is motivated by routine. He desires a heart that is engaged, a heart that responds to His heart. The desire of the Lord Jesus led Him to the cross, and there, He laid down His life out of His love for the Father. 

In v.7 of today's text we read, "Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God."

In Isaiah 50:5-6 we read, "5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. 6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting."

Seven hundred years before Christ came to be our Savior, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote those words the Lord Jesus would realize. Only the Lord Jesus Christ could measure up to the Law of Moses, therefore, it is only through Him that we have access to God. If He had not been willing, we would be dead still to God in our trespasses and sins.

In v.8 of today's text we read, "First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law."

The righteousness of God has never been satisfied by the sacrifices of the Old Testament because they never included access to His presence for the people. All of those sacrifices merely covered up sin, they never could remove sin. That elaborate system was given to us by the God who wanted to be discovered. And, the Lord Jesus came to declare His Father to the world.

In v.9 of today's text we read, "Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second."

The Lord Jesus took away the first covenant by fulfilling it. He didn't render the truth null and void, He substantiated it. He did this in order that He may establish the New Covenant, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 1:17 we read, "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."  

In v.10 of today's text we read, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Those who choose to believe the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world are made perfect in the eyes of God. The word "holy" means "to put to the proper and intended use." God saved you and me to know Him for ourselves, but, He also saved us to be helpful to Him in sinners coming to know Him as we have. 

This one word, "holy," is a perfect participle with a finite verb. And, when there is a perfect participle with a finite verb, we have a tightly sealed argument that always wins. This is the strongest way for God to describe the permanent and continual state of salvation the believer in Jesus Christ enjoys. This one word, "holy," describes our position in Christ, as well as our purpose in this world.

Hebrews 10:1-4

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1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ~ Hebrews 10:1-4

Today, we transition into Hebrews 10 where the main topic continues to be our faith in the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ. The effect of all of those Old Testament sacrifices didn't last very long. One had to bring a fresh sacrifice every time he sinned, and once a year the whole nation had to offer the same sacrifice, year after year. The Old Covenant required repetition. But, the New Covenant is beyond time and space. The sacrifice of Christ was offered at one point in history, but its effects are eternal. As we transition into Hebrews 10, we find the characteristics of the death of Christ, which supply all that was lacking in the old sacrifices.  

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship."

The sacrifices of the Old Testament were so massive that the blood would often run down out of the temple into the Brook Kedron. Daily the priests performed sacrifices on the behalf of the people. But, as we have been pointing out for some time now, the Law of Moses just covered sin. It was not sufficient to have impact into eternity. Neither could it change the heart of anyone.

Annually, the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies once a year, bearing with him the blood of the sacrificial lamb. The people waited outside in fear, wondering if the sacrifice would be acceptable before God. If not, the high priest would die in the face of the judgment of God. And, if it was acceptable, the people would rejoice and give great thanks to God for His unfathomable forgiveness. 

Each year, pictured for Israel was the eventual coming of Christ who endured the very wrath of God and turned it away from us who believe. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was to remind the people that judgment awaits everyone when we die. 

The ceremonial rituals were merely a pale shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek word translated "shadow" here means a silhouette or a form without reality. Shadow is the best translation because it was a form without any substance. The many sacrifices of the Old Testament sacrificial system were only a form of Christ and was without substance in comparison. It portrayed something that was real but itself was not that real.

The death of Christ is that ultimate real sacrifice which accomplished for eternity what an eternity of the other sacrifices couldn’t accomplish. The case of sin that's long hung over mankind is over, and we can close the books because the New Covenant is eternal, it is beyond time and space, and, is therefore most effective at reaching the human heart. 

The word "perfect" means to come to its complete end or to come to its full completion. The completed end of any kind of a pattern that God establishes is that man might come into a full relationship with Him. That’s possible only through the Lord Jesus Christ, not through the Law of Moses.

In v.2 of today's passage we read, "Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins."

The Old Testament sacrifices had a shelf life, they had to because they could not fully cleanse sin nor could they cleanse someone's conscience. In addition, daily they returned to the place they were before where the people never really got any relief and/or freedom from sin. 

If, at any time along the way, the Old Testament sacrificial system had actually removed their guilt and actually brought them into fellowship with God, it would have ceased to be necessary because it would have accomplished its perfect end, but it never did. And so when they were doing this, not only did it not remove their sin but it constantly reminded them that it did not remove their guilt.

The Lord Jesus died in order that I might be free to die with Him, and He rose again in order that I might be privileged to rise with Him. And, we will never know the rising without the dying. This is the marvel of the Christian faith. When we truly see His heart for us, we will truly be willing to lay down our lives to bring Him glory.

In v.3-4 of today's passage we read, "3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

The great cry in the human heart has always been to be in the presence of God. But, the sacrifices of the Old Covenant could not bring the people to God. Even the priest at his best on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, could not take the people inside the veil. The veil always remained and the people could not access God. All those sacrifices, even those on the Day of Atonement, couldn’t bring access to God.

Rather than the Old Covenant removing sin, it stood as a constant reminder that sin was not removed. This merely underscores the fact that the sacrifice of animals is powerless to remove sin. To purify a man, to free a man from the conscience of guilt that binds all of us, much more was required. The perfect and the eternal sacrifice of the perfect Son of God was required. 

All of the blessings and privileges which come to us in the death of Christ were foretold in the Old Testament sacrifices. When John the Baptist first saw the Lord Jesus, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Clearly, the last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist, identified the Lord Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of all the Old Testament pictures. 

We were ransomed, bought and paid for by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. It is not because of anything we have done, but because He poured out His life for us so that we might live. Just as the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts kept the destroyer from killing all of the firstborns of the Israelites in Egypt, so also the Lord Jesus’ blood saves us from God’s wrath.