The Epistle to the Hebrews part CXXIV

Hebrews 6:1a
"…the principles of the doctrine of Christ…."

I know I’m taking this slow, because I just reminded myself, don’t get in a hurry. Take this chapter slow!’ We’re going to take it slow. Because this is so important that people understand that here we have to see these Hebrews, to whom of course, the Epistle is primarily written, understand now that they cannot rest on the status quo. They certainly don’t want to be left slipping backward or become slothful. But rather they’ve got to move on ahead in their experience and their knowledge of the Word of God and there by grow in the Knowledge of God and the Lord Christ Jesus. Or as the Lord asked in Matthew chapter 11 “are you ready to take My yoke upon you and Learn of Me?” And the only way they could do that would be to "leave the words of the beginning of Christ." Now that just flies in the face of most of Christendom. Doesn’t it? What were the "words of the beginning of Christ?" What are the ‘principles of Christ?’ It’s in the Four Gospels! His earthly ministry to Israel!

Let's stop for a moment and ask what does the church of our day do? They ignore the words and warnings of Jesus by mixing the scriptures of the Old Testament in what could be called a slurry and then try to make a doctrine of them. Problem is that people no longer know what is truth from fiction and this is why there's no "power" in the church. Oh there maybe a form of power but in most cases its a power that man generates which does not last and causes great harm because it only leaves people wanting, starving and depressed and wondering in the wilderness of sin. Alright, let’s look at what Paul says concerning that in Romans chapter 15 verse 8. And again I imagine the vast majority of people who read their Bibles skim over this verse and never really understand what it says. But oh, it’s loaded! This says it all - of what we’re looking at now, that we’re going to have to move away from the first words of Christ, and His earthly ministry. Because, here’s the purpose.


Romans 15:8
"Now I say, that Jesus Christ was (past tense) a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers."

Just look at that! You know, I read in the Jerusalem Post from cover to cover off the internet. And, quite often, there’s an article in there with regard to these young Jewish men who are in Yeshiva. And of course, that’s part and parcel of Israel’s history. Now what do these young Jewish men do in a Yeshiva? Well, they’ll sit there day in and day out and contemplate maybe one verse of the Torah. And they’ve been doing it for centuries. And what do they still hope to do? Pull something out of there that some previous Rabbi had never seen. But for what purpose now that our and their Lord has come, died, was buried, rose from the dead and ascended back to the Fathers right hand, is my question. The only answer I can find is that they don't believe and so they remain in their sin. If they remain in their sin where are the churches that do likewise, they remain in the same sin, is the answer.

Alright, now I don’t expect anybody to do that. We’re not in Yeshivas but goodness sakes let’s take a verse like this now again, and pick it apart. What does it really say? Well it says that Jesus Christ was the ministry of the circumcision. Who is the circumcision? Israel, the Hebrews! So Paul that great Apostle of the Gentiles, is reminding us, that Jesus Christ in the "beginning of His words" here on earth was to what people? Israel.

You know we're always stressing every word that Jesus said in His earthly ministry with two exceptions was always to the Hebrews under the Levitical Law. Oh goodness, that rattles people. I get a kick out of how it does, because it just sort of makes me smile that people can get so shook up with truth. That reminds me, we had a couple from out east someplace send an e-mail. I’m not going to identify them. But anyway one of the clergy of their particular denomination was with them. When they were doing a reading of one of our blogs in their Bible studies.

Well, it didn’t take them two minutes to see that the guy was just enraptured with what he was seeing. Oh, he was just eating it up. So this couple said, "We’re going to make sure that he’s back." But he wasn’t there. And they said, "Well, goodness sakes, what happened?" "Ah," they said, "he didn’t want to be confused with the truth!"

Isn’t that right? People say, "Don’t bother me with facts. I’m satisfied with whatever flies." But listen, we’re going to look at this in Truth. Not what I say, but rather what does the Book say? "Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision." And then what’s the next statement? "For the Truth of God." Now that just nails it down. This wasn’t something that flippantly came off the lips of the Apostle Paul. This was in accord with the whole Sovereign working of the Creator God, that Christ should come to the Nation of Israel. And then what does the rest of the verse say? "To confirm the promises made to the fathers." Who were the fathers? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the rest of the Old Testament patriarchs. David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah you name them, He came to confirm all the promises, the Law and the Prophets.

They were all talking about the coming of this Messiah King. And that’s what Jesus came to proclaim. That He was the fulfillment of those promises made to the fathers of Israel, see? And that’s so hard for people to comprehend. They think that Jesus came - like I had one guy explode, "Ah," he said, "What do you do with John 3:16, throw it away?" No, John 3:16 was the fulfillment of Christ coming to His earthly people. And then when He was rejected, not once but six more times then yes, then He went to the whole world. And He had His man in the wings because he knew that Peter nor any of the others had the stuff He required for the job, so He had Saul of Tarsus. Besides what John declares is the same that the writer of this Epistle says in chapter 1 verse 5: "Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son?" and this is a quote from Psalm 2 verse 7 " I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten thee." which was written by King David as a conversation between the God the Father and Yhovah the Son.

But for three years, He was the minister of the circumcision, for the Truth of God to confirm the promises made to the fathers. Now see when you pick it apart and take it slow, doesn’t it make sense. Sure it does. Just as sensible as it can be that He came to fulfill those Old Testament promises. He never once told those twelve disciples, "I’m going to be going to the Cross and be crucified and then raise up another Apostle and send him to the Gentiles," - at least not in a way that they could understand it.

Before we go any further we'll look at what John reveals about the Truth and our main subject Grace in John chapter 1 verses 14 and 17. We'll begin with verse ten:
"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the will of God. And the Word was made (put on) flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of Grace and Truth.
John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that comes after me is preferred before me: for He was before me.
And of His fulness have all we received, and Grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came by (through, in) Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared (to unfold the things of, lead us to)the Father."

Now what we need to understand is this, that John is rehearsing what he had seen and heard first hand before and then from after the Lord ascended back to Glory or was taken up into Heaven. That's about as plan as it can get, He came to His own, the Hebrews, as they were the chosen people to whom and through whom the promised redeemer would come was made. As the end of the "everlasting" period of time or the end of the Hebrew only Age. The term "everlasting" only spoke of the Christ or Messiah of promise as the completion of this Age. The one to whom all the promises, covenants, commandments and Law pointed toward as their end. Christ come to bring Truth and Grace, the Will of God to bear on us all.


Now then, let’s go back and see some of those "words of the beginning of Christ." And let’s just jump all the way back to the Book of Matthew. We’re going to jump in first at Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17. And this of course, is the beginning of His earthly ministry. And Jesus said: