Hebrews 11:7a
"By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear,…"
What is it talking about? What did God tell Noah? "Hey, I’m going to destroy the earth with water. The whole shebang is going to be covered with water. It’s going to rain forty days and forty nights." Had it ever rained before? No. It had never rained a drop. They had never even had a thundercloud. So how did Noah know it would rain enough to cover the earth? By first hearing God speak to him, then taking in what was said for he believed it and then received it, then he had to trust it. What was first required? He had to first know God and His voice and the crisis was the warning which caused faith in what was spoken. God said it, and when God said, "Noah, I’m going to destroy the earth with water. Build an ark." What did Noah do? Built an ark! How long did it take him and his sons? Five years, though God gave this man one hundred twenty years.During which he was given a ministry of being an evangelist to preach the gospel of their repentance but they all laughed at him, what is rain?
Now you know he felt as foolish as a three-dollar bill out there where it had never rained. There never been a flood of any kind. No river had overflowed. And he starts building this huge box. Have you ever thought how foolish he must have felt? Have you ever realized how he was scorned and ridiculed? But what kept him going? God said it! And he believed it! And forget the scornful if God said it, it’s going to happen! Now it took a hundred and twenty years if I read my Bible right, 120 years before it happened. He or rather the people were given 120 years to have a change of heart but all they did was to make fun and point the finger and shake it at Noah and his sons. Can you hear those people saying, Noah you and your son are foolish, how can you take El seriously, what is rain? For don't forget that the ground was watered by a mist that came up through the dirt and that mist moistened the ground. But, Noah never gave up on his faith because God had said it. The crisis was in his standing fast on what he had been told in the face of over whelming opposition.
Hebrews 11:7b
"…prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world."
I hope you all realize that at Noah’s flood, the earth probably (I say probably, I can’t prove it, but I think it’s quite likely) could have had anywhere from four billion to up to where we are today, six billion people. Because if you want to just take your computer someday, you that are math nuts. Just start with two people and let them reproduce for nine hundred years like Adam and Eve did. Let all those kids reproduce for nine hundred years like they all did. And they had multiple births. You know that because there is ample evidence of twins in the Old Testament and man, you have no problem at all coming to four-five billion people after 1,600 years of human history. And don't forget that many men had more than one wife in those days.
So the earth was highly populated. And in the midst of all of that activity, as I’ve said earlier - they had tremendous technology. And the more their technology exploded the more wicked they became. Does that ring a bell? Today’s the same way. The faster our technology grows, the faster our moral fabric is rotting away from under us.
All right, this whole race of humanity, with exception of those eight people on the ark are going to disappear. They’re going to go. Now when I talk about this present day population totally disappearing from the scene by the end of the Tribulation, people probably think I’m nuts. I wouldn’t doubt it a bit, but just about all will be gone. They’re going to be gone because there’s only going to be a small remnant surviving (1/3rd of the earths population). Well, if they say, "Well how can it be that small?" Then I have to ask how small was eight compared to four billion people? Pretty small. So Noah had the faith:
Hebrews 11:7c
"…and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
All right, Noah by faith built the ark and then he became the "heir (again which faith always prompts) of (what?) righteousness." Righteousness. God didn’t look at Noah like a vile old sinner because of his faith, God now looked at Noah as a righteous man. Because he trusted God more than the world and the people around him, he knew God. Now if you want to use the term righteous as right standing with God, I’ve got no problem with that. That’s what righteous implies. We are now in a right standing with God. As sinners, we’re aliens, see? And we need reconciliation.
Hebrews 11:8
"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing whither he went."
Friday, December 7, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
The Epistle to the Hebrews part CCLX
Before we proceed we should come to an understanding as here in out lined by James A. Fowler of "Christ In You Ministries" in his Commentary of this Epistle on pages 311-316 as follows:
“The faith of the old covenant people of God was established on the promises of God and the faithfulness of the One Who had promised (I Cor. 1:9; 10:13; Heb. 10:23; 11:11). Anticipating these promises in hope required their endurance through many obstacles and difficult circumstances, which Paul sets out to review. Jewish eschatology involved a forward-looking faith that sought the promises of God in a hope that was ultimately focused on the coming Messiah. Paul encourages the Jerusalem Christians to maintain a faith that continues to be forward-looking to the future fulfillment and restoration of all things in Jesus Christ, “unto the end” (3:6,14; 6:11). Such a “theology of hope”1 is a continuing necessity for Christians, contrary to the assertions of some “full preterists” who eschew all future expectation of Christian hope. Paul connects Christian faith and hope with its Jewish precedent, but simultaneously explains that “God has provided something better for us” (11:40) in the radically new Christocentric object and dynamic of faith and hope. Christian eschatology begins by looking back at the historical establishment and basis of Christian faith and hope in the “finished work” (John 19:30) of Jesus Christ, when (and where), by the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the victory over the counter force of evil, sin, death and destruction, the victory of God was won for eternity. This does not consign Christian eschatology to only historical categories, but grounds the “last” and final work of God in Jesus Christ in the historicity of Jesus, allowing Christian eschatology to develop a dynamic understanding of faith and hope in the continuous present of the lives of Christians in all ages. Christians are to have a dynamic expectation of hope in God’s continued faithful action in the present and unto the future. By a dynamic receptivity of the activity of the living Lord Jesus within, the Christian responds to God in faith, having the divine dynamic provision of God’s grace to endure and persevere whatever may transpire. There is no promise in the Christian gospel of exemption or immunity from the tribulations of life; of escape or deliverance from problems, hardships, or disease; and no allowance for inertia, inaction, passivism, resignation or acquiescence. Christians are responsible to endure and persevere in their faith – the very point that Paul sought to drive home to the Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem. The only alternative, in Paul’s mind, to such faithful endurance that expected to receive the promises of God in Jesus Christ was an abject apostasy that absolutely rejected the Lord Jesus Christ (3:12; 6:4-8; 10:26-31,35-39).
Paul masterfully wove several objectives into the argument that he employed in this passage. [1] He wanted to connect the Jewish Christians with their Jewish heritage of faith in a recitative listing of historically attested examples of promise, hope, faith, and endurance. [2] While so doing he would contrast the unfulfilled promises (13,39) of the old covenant with the better promises (8:6) of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. He does this by interspersing a commentary of interpretive analysis within the review that posits the better city (10), the better country (16), the better riches (26), the better resurrection (35), and better provision (40) that are eschatologically fulfilled in the new covenant. [3] Throughout, his objective is to convince the Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem to endure the trials that were confronting them as the conflict with the Roman army loomed on the horizon.
The entire recitation of the old covenant heroes of faith is distinctively formulated in a context of Jewish Christian thought patterns. The Greeks regarded “faith” in opposition to reason. “Faith” was the response of the simple and uneducated to what could not be explained rationally and logically. Greeks would have conceived of these old covenant characters as “dupes of faith” or “fools of faith,” rather than “heroes of faith.” They would have been intrigued, if not astonished or appalled, at the willingness of Jews and/or Christians to suffer adversity with an unreasonable certitude in an indemonstrable cause. This makes Paul’s comment all the more pertinent when he wrote, “He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (6).”
Hebrews 11:5a
"By faith (by taking God at His Word) Enoch was translated that he should not see death;…"
Now we don’t know an awful lot about Enoch because the book which is a compilation of several writings ie..chapters, of Enoch has been removed from our Bible. His writings have been quoted by many but the references have been withdrawn from scripture. Because the translators consider his writing to mystical in nature as they like those of John's Revelation are scenes of dreams seen in Heaven. He’s back there in the genealogies, and back there before the Flood, but that’s about as far as we can go, but the Scripture here tells us that it was by trusting that Enoch was translated. In other words, he was here one moment and gone the next, which I think is a preview of the departure of the Church and so he was "…translated that he should not see death." Enoch didn’t die. They never buried him. He was translated, they did not find his remains anywhere. He was here one second; gone the next. Again why? Because he knew God he walked with Him in the cool of the day. How do we come to know this by what the Bible does not say....it says that he walked with God for three hundred sixty-five years, so do to this he knew God intimately.
Hebrews 11:5b
"…and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."
And before his translation, before he was snatched off the planet "he had this testimony." This is what his life told everybody around him. "...he pleased God." But you’ve got to go into verse 6 to find out what Enoch did to please God. What was it? He was a man of deep trust which God credited as faith! See how it follows? Enoch pleased God. If we could write a formula it might look like this: trust+belief+crisis+receptivity+faith=(righteous), where the last two items can be interchanged or switched with each other.
Hebrews 11:6a
"But without faith it is impossible to please him (God):…"
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Why? Think about it, what are we placing our trust in? Our knowledge of God and the fact that He is trustworthy or faithful in all matters. How do we get to know Him in order to acquire this knowledge of Him? We have to be able to walk with Him and develop a relationship of communication. So you put two and two together and get four. What does that mean? Enoch was a man of faith. That’s all. He took God at His word! Heard through dreams or by revelation of Him who is faithful.
Notice that doesn’t say anything about his works. Doesn’t say anything about practicing religion or sacrifices. All it says, he was a man who believed God. Now we don’t know how much God told Enoch (though there is a book bearing his name but like Jasher, no one knows who's the author of it and that is why its not in the Bible, its a book that is shrouded in mystery or is mystical). You know I’m always trying to impress on people, faith isn’t necessarily knowing that 2,000 years out into the future God, in the Person of the Son, God would go to a Roman cross and die. That’s wasn’t revealed back there. They had no concept of a Roman cross, as it was hidden. My goodness, crucifixion was invented by the Romans. And so you have about twenty-six, twenty-seven hundred years of human history before crucifixion comes into the picture. It had to be some thing that we could not accomplish through our own hands and therefore took the hands of many in this case. Both Hebrew and Gentiles hands were required. Because of the link between those two ethnic groups going back to Noah and then to Adam. Besides all of the Hebrew history spoke of future evens as being futuristic and that has carried over to our understanding of events as well. This is the problem that I see in peoples not coming to an understanding of scripture as God intends us, we carry the stigma of only looking-forward as if all is yet to be. Take Daniel and John's Revelation as having already happened and then see what is. For God alone IS.
So they didn’t know anything about a cross. But whatever God said to them, they believed it! And when they believed it, God counted them righteous. It’s so simple isn’t it? All right, so "without faith it is impossible to please him." You can give millions. You can NOT work your fingers to the bone. You can be in that church building seven days a week, and if it’s not based on faith, you’re spinning your wheels. It’s all for nothing! We HAVE to believe His IS, a rewarder of those who trust Him!
Hebrews 11:6b
"…for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
And "he that cometh to God." For redemption leading to salvation, and then as a believer, we come to Him constantly with our needs, with our petitions, with our praise; but we do it all how? By faith. The word diligently is of interest also because it denotes careful diligent effort to search for or seek Him. And that without it, we have nothing. Now let’s move on down to verse 7.
Hebrews 11:7
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
“The faith of the old covenant people of God was established on the promises of God and the faithfulness of the One Who had promised (I Cor. 1:9; 10:13; Heb. 10:23; 11:11). Anticipating these promises in hope required their endurance through many obstacles and difficult circumstances, which Paul sets out to review. Jewish eschatology involved a forward-looking faith that sought the promises of God in a hope that was ultimately focused on the coming Messiah. Paul encourages the Jerusalem Christians to maintain a faith that continues to be forward-looking to the future fulfillment and restoration of all things in Jesus Christ, “unto the end” (3:6,14; 6:11). Such a “theology of hope”1 is a continuing necessity for Christians, contrary to the assertions of some “full preterists” who eschew all future expectation of Christian hope. Paul connects Christian faith and hope with its Jewish precedent, but simultaneously explains that “God has provided something better for us” (11:40) in the radically new Christocentric object and dynamic of faith and hope. Christian eschatology begins by looking back at the historical establishment and basis of Christian faith and hope in the “finished work” (John 19:30) of Jesus Christ, when (and where), by the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the victory over the counter force of evil, sin, death and destruction, the victory of God was won for eternity. This does not consign Christian eschatology to only historical categories, but grounds the “last” and final work of God in Jesus Christ in the historicity of Jesus, allowing Christian eschatology to develop a dynamic understanding of faith and hope in the continuous present of the lives of Christians in all ages. Christians are to have a dynamic expectation of hope in God’s continued faithful action in the present and unto the future. By a dynamic receptivity of the activity of the living Lord Jesus within, the Christian responds to God in faith, having the divine dynamic provision of God’s grace to endure and persevere whatever may transpire. There is no promise in the Christian gospel of exemption or immunity from the tribulations of life; of escape or deliverance from problems, hardships, or disease; and no allowance for inertia, inaction, passivism, resignation or acquiescence. Christians are responsible to endure and persevere in their faith – the very point that Paul sought to drive home to the Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem. The only alternative, in Paul’s mind, to such faithful endurance that expected to receive the promises of God in Jesus Christ was an abject apostasy that absolutely rejected the Lord Jesus Christ (3:12; 6:4-8; 10:26-31,35-39).
Paul masterfully wove several objectives into the argument that he employed in this passage. [1] He wanted to connect the Jewish Christians with their Jewish heritage of faith in a recitative listing of historically attested examples of promise, hope, faith, and endurance. [2] While so doing he would contrast the unfulfilled promises (13,39) of the old covenant with the better promises (8:6) of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. He does this by interspersing a commentary of interpretive analysis within the review that posits the better city (10), the better country (16), the better riches (26), the better resurrection (35), and better provision (40) that are eschatologically fulfilled in the new covenant. [3] Throughout, his objective is to convince the Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem to endure the trials that were confronting them as the conflict with the Roman army loomed on the horizon.
The entire recitation of the old covenant heroes of faith is distinctively formulated in a context of Jewish Christian thought patterns. The Greeks regarded “faith” in opposition to reason. “Faith” was the response of the simple and uneducated to what could not be explained rationally and logically. Greeks would have conceived of these old covenant characters as “dupes of faith” or “fools of faith,” rather than “heroes of faith.” They would have been intrigued, if not astonished or appalled, at the willingness of Jews and/or Christians to suffer adversity with an unreasonable certitude in an indemonstrable cause. This makes Paul’s comment all the more pertinent when he wrote, “He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (6).”
Hebrews 11:5a
"By faith (by taking God at His Word) Enoch was translated that he should not see death;…"
Now we don’t know an awful lot about Enoch because the book which is a compilation of several writings ie..chapters, of Enoch has been removed from our Bible. His writings have been quoted by many but the references have been withdrawn from scripture. Because the translators consider his writing to mystical in nature as they like those of John's Revelation are scenes of dreams seen in Heaven. He’s back there in the genealogies, and back there before the Flood, but that’s about as far as we can go, but the Scripture here tells us that it was by trusting that Enoch was translated. In other words, he was here one moment and gone the next, which I think is a preview of the departure of the Church and so he was "…translated that he should not see death." Enoch didn’t die. They never buried him. He was translated, they did not find his remains anywhere. He was here one second; gone the next. Again why? Because he knew God he walked with Him in the cool of the day. How do we come to know this by what the Bible does not say....it says that he walked with God for three hundred sixty-five years, so do to this he knew God intimately.
Hebrews 11:5b
"…and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."
And before his translation, before he was snatched off the planet "he had this testimony." This is what his life told everybody around him. "...he pleased God." But you’ve got to go into verse 6 to find out what Enoch did to please God. What was it? He was a man of deep trust which God credited as faith! See how it follows? Enoch pleased God. If we could write a formula it might look like this: trust+belief+crisis+receptivity+faith=(righteous), where the last two items can be interchanged or switched with each other.
Hebrews 11:6a
"But without faith it is impossible to please him (God):…"
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Why? Think about it, what are we placing our trust in? Our knowledge of God and the fact that He is trustworthy or faithful in all matters. How do we get to know Him in order to acquire this knowledge of Him? We have to be able to walk with Him and develop a relationship of communication. So you put two and two together and get four. What does that mean? Enoch was a man of faith. That’s all. He took God at His word! Heard through dreams or by revelation of Him who is faithful.
Notice that doesn’t say anything about his works. Doesn’t say anything about practicing religion or sacrifices. All it says, he was a man who believed God. Now we don’t know how much God told Enoch (though there is a book bearing his name but like Jasher, no one knows who's the author of it and that is why its not in the Bible, its a book that is shrouded in mystery or is mystical). You know I’m always trying to impress on people, faith isn’t necessarily knowing that 2,000 years out into the future God, in the Person of the Son, God would go to a Roman cross and die. That’s wasn’t revealed back there. They had no concept of a Roman cross, as it was hidden. My goodness, crucifixion was invented by the Romans. And so you have about twenty-six, twenty-seven hundred years of human history before crucifixion comes into the picture. It had to be some thing that we could not accomplish through our own hands and therefore took the hands of many in this case. Both Hebrew and Gentiles hands were required. Because of the link between those two ethnic groups going back to Noah and then to Adam. Besides all of the Hebrew history spoke of future evens as being futuristic and that has carried over to our understanding of events as well. This is the problem that I see in peoples not coming to an understanding of scripture as God intends us, we carry the stigma of only looking-forward as if all is yet to be. Take Daniel and John's Revelation as having already happened and then see what is. For God alone IS.
So they didn’t know anything about a cross. But whatever God said to them, they believed it! And when they believed it, God counted them righteous. It’s so simple isn’t it? All right, so "without faith it is impossible to please him." You can give millions. You can NOT work your fingers to the bone. You can be in that church building seven days a week, and if it’s not based on faith, you’re spinning your wheels. It’s all for nothing! We HAVE to believe His IS, a rewarder of those who trust Him!
Hebrews 11:6b
"…for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
And "he that cometh to God." For redemption leading to salvation, and then as a believer, we come to Him constantly with our needs, with our petitions, with our praise; but we do it all how? By faith. The word diligently is of interest also because it denotes careful diligent effort to search for or seek Him. And that without it, we have nothing. Now let’s move on down to verse 7.
Hebrews 11:7
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The Epistle to the Hebrews part CCLIX
Picking up with our thought in Genesis.
Genesis 4:4a
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:"
In other words, Abel brought the very best and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain he had no respect. Why? Because it wasn’t what God had instructed. That’s all. And you find this all the way up through Scripture. Example: Jacob and Esau. I have no doubt that Esau might have been a nicer guy than Jacob, because otherwise why would Isaac have had such an inclination to Esau? I think he was a good son. But what was Esau’s problem? No trust. He didn’t believe a word God said. IT Never registered with him. He was just to earthy, materialistic or practical for his own good. This has been Israel's problem as a nation of people but the individual is different. As an individual they have the right to accept God or to reject God and in this case its God in Christ as the greater than all others.
So Jacob, even though he may have been a rascal, he was a man who could believe what God said, and God honored his trust and counted it as faith. Do we See IT? All right so now as we go back to Hebrews chapter 11, we have to realize that it’s by trust and then crisis that faith is developed, so its faith alone that everyone has been brought into a relationship with God. And then, based on their faith, yes, Abel brought the animal sacrifice. You get up into the system of Law; it was faith that prompted a believing Hebrew to keep the Law, especially in the first few years. Faith. Nothing else.
All right, I guess on our way back to Hebrews, let’s just stop in Romans chapter 4; in fact I think I alluded to this, that we would turn back to Romans chapter 4 where Paul is using Abraham as the epitome of a man of faith. Now again you have to get the background. What was the culture of the man Abram? Pagan. Idolatry. Mythology. No knowledge of the One True God was manifested by the peoples around him. And yet when God spoke to Abram out of the no where, what did Abram do? He believed God. Why? because he had been taught to know Him the Most High God by Shem and Eber while he stayed with them, also Isaac was taken to them for training in the ways of the Most High God. Again as said to believe means that he received what had been spoken to him by God. Now that’s faith, why was it faith? because as Abram he had his trusting stretched through crisis after crisis until it became faith in God's utter faithfulness. How? he knew God!
Romans 4:1-2
"What shall we say then that Abraham our father, (now Paul writes here as a Hebrew, so Abraham is the father of the Hebrew Nation who were supposed to become a nation known as Israel, notice the “el” faith of God) as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abram were justified by works, (by doing something) he hath whereof to glory; (or brag) but not before God."
No human being will ever put God in his debt, and that’s what a works religion does. A works religion tells God, "I’ve earned it, and you owe me." If you work for someone, at the end of the week, you can go to your employer and in so many words what can you tell him? "You owe me, until you’ve paid me." Well you see that’s what a works religion does to God. It says, "God you owe me. I’ve worked for it." But God won’t have any part of that. And so, it says that Abraham could never glory, because he’s dealing with the Holy, Omnipotent God. There's another secret revealed here that ties all this into a neat package for us if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, do you get it? Now verse 3.
Romans 4:3a
"For what saith the scripture?…"
That’s my favorite guideline! What does the Book say? Well, does the Book say, "Abraham believed God" and brought a sacrifice? No. "Abraham believed" and was baptized? No. "Abraham believed" and spoke in tongues? No. "Abraham believed" and joined the church? No. Doesn’t say any of that.
What did he do? Believed plus nothing! Abraham believed God, and put his trust in what God said therefore he received from God. What does God do the moment He sees our trusting of Him who we can't see? He declares us righteous. Now that’s not being big-headed, or egotistical. It’s just simply a matter of trust that when we become a believer, we are then enabled to receive from Him and God declares us righteous. Not because of what we’ve worked for but because of our trusting His faithfulness. Faith! By faith and faith alone! Peter also tells us this in 1 Peter 2:24 and Isaiah 53:5 where he uses the word heals by His stripes, the word “heal” means to become separated to God to be put into wholeness, made compete, to free from err, to bring about ones salvation. Paul just screams it all through his epistles, see? Verse 4.
Romans 4:4
"Now to him that worketh (for salvation) is the reward not reckoned of grace. (God’s benefit, where God takes over) but (rather it is reckoned) of (what?) debt."
You’ve worked for it so God owes you. It won’t fly. God will never be in debt to any human being! No matter his station in life. Not even Abraham, and so this is the whole admonition of Scripture then that it’s by trusting alone. In fact, I can’t go back to Hebrews without reading verse 5. Oh my goodness, I don’t know how many people we’ve led to the Lord by showing them what Romans 4 verse 5 says:
Romans 4:5
"But to him that worketh not, but believeth (again nothing else follows it) on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
God can’t justify someone who says they’re good enough. God can only justify the person that says, "I’m a sinner and bankrupt take me as I am." I can go back to the hundred little sheep out on the desert. Ninety and nine went out, lost and never knew it. The Savior didn’t save any of them, but which one did the Lord save? The little fellow caught in the crevice bleating his little heart out because he knew he was lost and sickly. And that’s the teaching of Scripture, that you cannot be saved until you know that you’re lost and sickly an in darkness. Oh, people don’t want to admit that, because to admit that you’re lost and sickly an in darkness is a blow to your what? Pride an ego!
Pride is the biggest enemy of mankind because pride says, "Don’t you admit that you have a need. You’re good enough, and God will accept you." No He won’t. The Scripture says: we have to be lost before we can be saved. All right so, "To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifies the ungodly." Now I pointed out that to be ungodly doesn’t mean that you’re a drunkard and you’re down on skid row and all these horrible pictures that we get of lower humanity. No. You can get the best person in Chattanooga or Cleveland and they can be ungodly. Because the term "un" simply means "without." So if you are without God, you’re ungodly. It’s that simple. And our churches are full to overflowing with an ungodly humanity.
And so you can have the highest elite in society, as good as they can be; but if they haven’t got God in them or in their life, they’re what? Ungodly. And that’s the kind of a person that God wants to save.
All right, so here it is, "To him who worketh not but to him who believes on him who justifies (declares absolutely forgiven and sinless) the ungodly." And then, "his faith is counted for righteousness." Now back to Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews 11:5
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."
Genesis 4:4a
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:"
In other words, Abel brought the very best and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain he had no respect. Why? Because it wasn’t what God had instructed. That’s all. And you find this all the way up through Scripture. Example: Jacob and Esau. I have no doubt that Esau might have been a nicer guy than Jacob, because otherwise why would Isaac have had such an inclination to Esau? I think he was a good son. But what was Esau’s problem? No trust. He didn’t believe a word God said. IT Never registered with him. He was just to earthy, materialistic or practical for his own good. This has been Israel's problem as a nation of people but the individual is different. As an individual they have the right to accept God or to reject God and in this case its God in Christ as the greater than all others.
So Jacob, even though he may have been a rascal, he was a man who could believe what God said, and God honored his trust and counted it as faith. Do we See IT? All right so now as we go back to Hebrews chapter 11, we have to realize that it’s by trust and then crisis that faith is developed, so its faith alone that everyone has been brought into a relationship with God. And then, based on their faith, yes, Abel brought the animal sacrifice. You get up into the system of Law; it was faith that prompted a believing Hebrew to keep the Law, especially in the first few years. Faith. Nothing else.
All right, I guess on our way back to Hebrews, let’s just stop in Romans chapter 4; in fact I think I alluded to this, that we would turn back to Romans chapter 4 where Paul is using Abraham as the epitome of a man of faith. Now again you have to get the background. What was the culture of the man Abram? Pagan. Idolatry. Mythology. No knowledge of the One True God was manifested by the peoples around him. And yet when God spoke to Abram out of the no where, what did Abram do? He believed God. Why? because he had been taught to know Him the Most High God by Shem and Eber while he stayed with them, also Isaac was taken to them for training in the ways of the Most High God. Again as said to believe means that he received what had been spoken to him by God. Now that’s faith, why was it faith? because as Abram he had his trusting stretched through crisis after crisis until it became faith in God's utter faithfulness. How? he knew God!
Romans 4:1-2
"What shall we say then that Abraham our father, (now Paul writes here as a Hebrew, so Abraham is the father of the Hebrew Nation who were supposed to become a nation known as Israel, notice the “el” faith of God) as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abram were justified by works, (by doing something) he hath whereof to glory; (or brag) but not before God."
No human being will ever put God in his debt, and that’s what a works religion does. A works religion tells God, "I’ve earned it, and you owe me." If you work for someone, at the end of the week, you can go to your employer and in so many words what can you tell him? "You owe me, until you’ve paid me." Well you see that’s what a works religion does to God. It says, "God you owe me. I’ve worked for it." But God won’t have any part of that. And so, it says that Abraham could never glory, because he’s dealing with the Holy, Omnipotent God. There's another secret revealed here that ties all this into a neat package for us if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, do you get it? Now verse 3.
Romans 4:3a
"For what saith the scripture?…"
That’s my favorite guideline! What does the Book say? Well, does the Book say, "Abraham believed God" and brought a sacrifice? No. "Abraham believed" and was baptized? No. "Abraham believed" and spoke in tongues? No. "Abraham believed" and joined the church? No. Doesn’t say any of that.
What did he do? Believed plus nothing! Abraham believed God, and put his trust in what God said therefore he received from God. What does God do the moment He sees our trusting of Him who we can't see? He declares us righteous. Now that’s not being big-headed, or egotistical. It’s just simply a matter of trust that when we become a believer, we are then enabled to receive from Him and God declares us righteous. Not because of what we’ve worked for but because of our trusting His faithfulness. Faith! By faith and faith alone! Peter also tells us this in 1 Peter 2:24 and Isaiah 53:5 where he uses the word heals by His stripes, the word “heal” means to become separated to God to be put into wholeness, made compete, to free from err, to bring about ones salvation. Paul just screams it all through his epistles, see? Verse 4.
Romans 4:4
"Now to him that worketh (for salvation) is the reward not reckoned of grace. (God’s benefit, where God takes over) but (rather it is reckoned) of (what?) debt."
You’ve worked for it so God owes you. It won’t fly. God will never be in debt to any human being! No matter his station in life. Not even Abraham, and so this is the whole admonition of Scripture then that it’s by trusting alone. In fact, I can’t go back to Hebrews without reading verse 5. Oh my goodness, I don’t know how many people we’ve led to the Lord by showing them what Romans 4 verse 5 says:
Romans 4:5
"But to him that worketh not, but believeth (again nothing else follows it) on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
God can’t justify someone who says they’re good enough. God can only justify the person that says, "I’m a sinner and bankrupt take me as I am." I can go back to the hundred little sheep out on the desert. Ninety and nine went out, lost and never knew it. The Savior didn’t save any of them, but which one did the Lord save? The little fellow caught in the crevice bleating his little heart out because he knew he was lost and sickly. And that’s the teaching of Scripture, that you cannot be saved until you know that you’re lost and sickly an in darkness. Oh, people don’t want to admit that, because to admit that you’re lost and sickly an in darkness is a blow to your what? Pride an ego!
Pride is the biggest enemy of mankind because pride says, "Don’t you admit that you have a need. You’re good enough, and God will accept you." No He won’t. The Scripture says: we have to be lost before we can be saved. All right so, "To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifies the ungodly." Now I pointed out that to be ungodly doesn’t mean that you’re a drunkard and you’re down on skid row and all these horrible pictures that we get of lower humanity. No. You can get the best person in Chattanooga or Cleveland and they can be ungodly. Because the term "un" simply means "without." So if you are without God, you’re ungodly. It’s that simple. And our churches are full to overflowing with an ungodly humanity.
And so you can have the highest elite in society, as good as they can be; but if they haven’t got God in them or in their life, they’re what? Ungodly. And that’s the kind of a person that God wants to save.
All right, so here it is, "To him who worketh not but to him who believes on him who justifies (declares absolutely forgiven and sinless) the ungodly." And then, "his faith is counted for righteousness." Now back to Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews 11:5
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The Epistle to the Hebrews part CCLVIII
Hebrews 11:4a
"By faith…"
Now here’s the great faith chapter which explains how trust works. Hebrews chapter 11. "By faith." By simply taking God at His Word by trusting Him. Paul here strengthens his stand on the fact (chapters 8-10) that all of the old Jewish custom, rituals, ceremonies and traditions of man are now defunct because the death and blood of Christ as sin's forever offering of Himself is far superior to that of animals blood as it had NO effect on the internal condition of man. All the animal blood did or could do was administer to the flesh or outward condition, it was powerless. It could not clear ones conscience as Christ's blood can and in deed does, it even opened the door to the presence of God Himself for all mankind. Not just some limited few of a so called predestination.
Hebrews 11:4b
"…Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. …"
By trusting God's faithfulness has always prompted God to declare that believer righteous. That’s been the case ever since Adam and Eve back in Genesis chapter 3; and so Abel’s trust prompted God to restore Abel into fellowship and He declared him now, a righteous individual. When or how was Abel's trust in a crisis, when Cain first showed signs of resenting him because he was a herdsman and not a dirt farmer. For they both know the secret of sacrifice because they were taught it by their mother, so they both knew God. See how that’s Paul’s primary example of Abraham. That when he became a man of faith, God declared him what? Righteous!
In Hebrews chapter 11, and verse 4. All the examples are of people of trust which have gone through a crisis onto faith so its known as the faith chapter; and remember from Adam until the end of the human experience, faith is always the number one criteria for a right relationship with God, as we’re going to see in this lesson. When we've put our trust in God as limited as our knowledge of Him is at that time He begins the working of our salvation which demands a crisis of some kind as a trial of our trust. With the idea that that crisis will be credited to us as His Faith then from that point on we depend upon God through that faith to be our sufficiency in all things. This is the spiritual Life or the resurrection Life which moves us into the Endless Life unknown to us before.
Hebrews 11:4a
"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,…"
We have to go back to Genesis chapter 4 for that account. I’m not going to do it with all of these faith people in Hebrews but only for some. But let’s come all the way back to Genesis chapter 4 where we have the account of this first bringing of an offering by these two brothers Cain and Abel. Now we don’t know how old they were but they were old enough to have already established their own lifestyle and remember that they've each been trained by their mother and father to know the God of Creation. This is what the Bible doesn't say in so many words, all the way through it, that there is a thin line of people who are taught to know the God of Creation. For before any one can trust some one they have to know them then they will believe them/him. Then they will receive form them/him, when receptivity is birthed in us we're moved to faith. The faith of Abraham or children like of Israel so called because Jacob wrestled with God (the crisis), but all requires a crisis in each step of development. A secret now revealed to us that was meant for our learning of Him. (Matthew 11:29) Christ is and was our prototypical example.
We know that one was a sheepherder and the other was a farmer. And, that’s about as far as we can go with their occupation. But, the clue to all of this is verse 3.
Genesis 4:3a
"And in the process of time…"
That is more or less implied, I think, from the Hebrew that it was a time of instruction it may have been 20 or 40 years we just don't have enough information that tells us. Now remember, God is never unfair. God would not expect these young men, Cain and Abel, to do something that He had never told them to do. If that was the case then it wouldn’t be faith. But He had instructed them and no doubt knowing the God of this Book, He instructed them explicitly on how to approach Him with the blood of sacrifice, that which He did with their parents after they chose to fall from Grace into sin and death. Which is already set as an example in Genesis 3, with Adam and Eve.
In that chapter, God killed the animal and so He no doubt instructed them on exactly how to kill the animal, and how to present or sprinkle the blood. It wasn’t haphazard. It was intrinsically instructed. Now we know this because from here now it says that they left the presence of God which means there was a crisis of some kind. All right, so both young men have the same Word from God on how to approach Him. If you’ll notice in Scriptures, we have the natural man first. So we deal with Cain first, the natural. And so, Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, whatever it was. To begin with, there are two major points here.
Number one, it was a bloodless offering. Number two, he was bringing that from the ground that from which one day Abel’s blood would be spilled and it was cursed. Now it hadn’t happened yet, but it will and so Cain now is stepping off on the wrong foot by bringing a bloodless offering. In an act of defiance to that which he already knew was required and defiance is what lawlessness. It is this same defiance which Israel the nation will one day find themselves in again. Through its instituting of animal sacrifice and temple worship.
I have to emphasize that because, that is the reason Cain wasn’t accepted. It was because he didn’t bring a blood offering, it wasn’t Cain’s attitude, although that was certainly involved in the fact that he had no trust or faith! He didn’t take anything that God said into account. And so he rationalized and he said, "Well surely, if God knows how much sweat I have already dropped on all this, He’ll accept it. I don’t have to go over and barter with my brother to get a lamb." And so Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, whatever it was. It was bloodless. Remember one of the absolutes in Scripture that we learned in Hebrews 9:22?
Hebrews 9:22b
"…and without the shedding of blood is no remission."
And so "God had no respect unto Cain’s offering." So by trust which becomes faith through crisis of sacrifice and the working of obedience to that which is known, as Hebrews chapter 11 reminds us:
Genesis 4:4a
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock…"
Well now you don’t have vegetables called flocks, so what’s implied? Sheep or goats. More than likely a sheep. And God had instructed them on how to present that animal sacrifice. And so Abel, because he believed what God said, did it as God instructed and he was accepted, and for that act of faith, will have eternal life.
Now whenever we were in Genesis, I made this statement. Cain may have been a nicer guy than Abel. Cain may have been an easier guy to get along with in everyday things than Abel, we don’t know. But that wasn’t what counted. What counted was that Abel did what God said to do and he was accepted. Cain went his own way and he was rejected, see? All right, so read verse 4 again.
Genesis 4:4a
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:"
"By faith…"
Now here’s the great faith chapter which explains how trust works. Hebrews chapter 11. "By faith." By simply taking God at His Word by trusting Him. Paul here strengthens his stand on the fact (chapters 8-10) that all of the old Jewish custom, rituals, ceremonies and traditions of man are now defunct because the death and blood of Christ as sin's forever offering of Himself is far superior to that of animals blood as it had NO effect on the internal condition of man. All the animal blood did or could do was administer to the flesh or outward condition, it was powerless. It could not clear ones conscience as Christ's blood can and in deed does, it even opened the door to the presence of God Himself for all mankind. Not just some limited few of a so called predestination.
Hebrews 11:4b
"…Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. …"
By trusting God's faithfulness has always prompted God to declare that believer righteous. That’s been the case ever since Adam and Eve back in Genesis chapter 3; and so Abel’s trust prompted God to restore Abel into fellowship and He declared him now, a righteous individual. When or how was Abel's trust in a crisis, when Cain first showed signs of resenting him because he was a herdsman and not a dirt farmer. For they both know the secret of sacrifice because they were taught it by their mother, so they both knew God. See how that’s Paul’s primary example of Abraham. That when he became a man of faith, God declared him what? Righteous!
In Hebrews chapter 11, and verse 4. All the examples are of people of trust which have gone through a crisis onto faith so its known as the faith chapter; and remember from Adam until the end of the human experience, faith is always the number one criteria for a right relationship with God, as we’re going to see in this lesson. When we've put our trust in God as limited as our knowledge of Him is at that time He begins the working of our salvation which demands a crisis of some kind as a trial of our trust. With the idea that that crisis will be credited to us as His Faith then from that point on we depend upon God through that faith to be our sufficiency in all things. This is the spiritual Life or the resurrection Life which moves us into the Endless Life unknown to us before.
Hebrews 11:4a
"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,…"
We have to go back to Genesis chapter 4 for that account. I’m not going to do it with all of these faith people in Hebrews but only for some. But let’s come all the way back to Genesis chapter 4 where we have the account of this first bringing of an offering by these two brothers Cain and Abel. Now we don’t know how old they were but they were old enough to have already established their own lifestyle and remember that they've each been trained by their mother and father to know the God of Creation. This is what the Bible doesn't say in so many words, all the way through it, that there is a thin line of people who are taught to know the God of Creation. For before any one can trust some one they have to know them then they will believe them/him. Then they will receive form them/him, when receptivity is birthed in us we're moved to faith. The faith of Abraham or children like of Israel so called because Jacob wrestled with God (the crisis), but all requires a crisis in each step of development. A secret now revealed to us that was meant for our learning of Him. (Matthew 11:29) Christ is and was our prototypical example.
We know that one was a sheepherder and the other was a farmer. And, that’s about as far as we can go with their occupation. But, the clue to all of this is verse 3.
Genesis 4:3a
"And in the process of time…"
That is more or less implied, I think, from the Hebrew that it was a time of instruction it may have been 20 or 40 years we just don't have enough information that tells us. Now remember, God is never unfair. God would not expect these young men, Cain and Abel, to do something that He had never told them to do. If that was the case then it wouldn’t be faith. But He had instructed them and no doubt knowing the God of this Book, He instructed them explicitly on how to approach Him with the blood of sacrifice, that which He did with their parents after they chose to fall from Grace into sin and death. Which is already set as an example in Genesis 3, with Adam and Eve.
In that chapter, God killed the animal and so He no doubt instructed them on exactly how to kill the animal, and how to present or sprinkle the blood. It wasn’t haphazard. It was intrinsically instructed. Now we know this because from here now it says that they left the presence of God which means there was a crisis of some kind. All right, so both young men have the same Word from God on how to approach Him. If you’ll notice in Scriptures, we have the natural man first. So we deal with Cain first, the natural. And so, Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, whatever it was. To begin with, there are two major points here.
Number one, it was a bloodless offering. Number two, he was bringing that from the ground that from which one day Abel’s blood would be spilled and it was cursed. Now it hadn’t happened yet, but it will and so Cain now is stepping off on the wrong foot by bringing a bloodless offering. In an act of defiance to that which he already knew was required and defiance is what lawlessness. It is this same defiance which Israel the nation will one day find themselves in again. Through its instituting of animal sacrifice and temple worship.
I have to emphasize that because, that is the reason Cain wasn’t accepted. It was because he didn’t bring a blood offering, it wasn’t Cain’s attitude, although that was certainly involved in the fact that he had no trust or faith! He didn’t take anything that God said into account. And so he rationalized and he said, "Well surely, if God knows how much sweat I have already dropped on all this, He’ll accept it. I don’t have to go over and barter with my brother to get a lamb." And so Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, whatever it was. It was bloodless. Remember one of the absolutes in Scripture that we learned in Hebrews 9:22?
Hebrews 9:22b
"…and without the shedding of blood is no remission."
And so "God had no respect unto Cain’s offering." So by trust which becomes faith through crisis of sacrifice and the working of obedience to that which is known, as Hebrews chapter 11 reminds us:
Genesis 4:4a
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock…"
Well now you don’t have vegetables called flocks, so what’s implied? Sheep or goats. More than likely a sheep. And God had instructed them on how to present that animal sacrifice. And so Abel, because he believed what God said, did it as God instructed and he was accepted, and for that act of faith, will have eternal life.
Now whenever we were in Genesis, I made this statement. Cain may have been a nicer guy than Abel. Cain may have been an easier guy to get along with in everyday things than Abel, we don’t know. But that wasn’t what counted. What counted was that Abel did what God said to do and he was accepted. Cain went his own way and he was rejected, see? All right, so read verse 4 again.
Genesis 4:4a
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:"
Monday, December 3, 2012
The Epistle to the Hebrews part CCLVII
Paul is using the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk 2:4 and 10:38 as the spring board for this next teaching on living by faith as he uses the list of those ancient or the forefathers who endured through tribulations, trials and death (and how they lived by faith as he wrote in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:13, “the just or righteous ones shall live by faith” paraphrased). The Lord being the personification of what faith is and how faith is to work.
Hebrews 11:1a
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,…"
Do you know what I think of when I think of substance? I think of the core of something that holds it all together. In other words, just picture a wheel, just a simple wheel. What is the substance of that wheel? The hub. Because the hub is that which goes out to all the rest of that wheel. You take away the hub and you’ve got nothing. And that’s substance. Now the candlestick is as we shared before a picture when looking down from above it, it is a wheel within a wheel. Now I suppose you could take it into almost any other area of life. What is substance? That which counts? The only answer is Christ in His eschatological state and the eschatological inheritance of all the blessings of the New Covenant “in Christ.”(cf. Ephesians 1:3-4, 5:9)
Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Not seen. So how do we know they’re for real? By the Faith of Christ. God said it, and we know it’s true because Jesus through His life showed us and the Hebrews of the old or ancient days, that it is true. As our forerunner or chief lead in this walk towards our salvation by way of obedience through the sufferings and loss along the way, for our hope and trust is that of Abraham’s. As our prototypical type as are those of the list here in found. All right, verse 2.
Hebrews 11:2
"For by it the elders obtained a good report."
We’re going to see, that "by faith the elders (the Old Testament patriarchs) obtained a good report." Now verse 3.
Hebrews 11:3
"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
He didn’t have to go into His chemistry workshop and put some things together and then throw it out. All he had to do was speak the Word and out of nothing the universe began to appear. I don’t think the whole universe exploded at one time. I think the universe has been exploding and going out and going out and going out over the period of time. But whatever, it was done by the spoken Word and all of Scripture substantiates this.
"So that things which are seen (our universe, everything around us on this planet) everything that is seen were not made of things which do appear." Now you see, the scientist can’t accept that. Can he? He just has a hard time with that. And so they spend billions and billions of dollars trying to figure out the origin of the universe and if they found out what good would it do them? Nothing. It’s not going to change anything. Not one wit.
You know I’ve said that with geologists; they go through all the conflict of geology and everything that they’ve learned – is that going to change where the oil is? Of course not. That’s not going to change one iota. And so we have to accept the fact that when God spoke the Word, the universe came into being. And I don’t care when it was. I don’t care if it was 6,000 years ago or six billion years ago. Makes no difference. Again, I’ll use my word – it’s moot. What difference does it make? And so all Paul says is that we are believers. This we know that the universe was framed by the Word of God and the God Who spoke was Jesus the Christ. He is the One Who is given credited for speaking everything into view. For the old testament saint knew Him as Yehovah in His many titles including the Ancient of Days or the Most High God. All right, now I guess we’d better go on into Abel at least.
Hebrews 11:4
"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh."
Hebrews 11:1a
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,…"
Do you know what I think of when I think of substance? I think of the core of something that holds it all together. In other words, just picture a wheel, just a simple wheel. What is the substance of that wheel? The hub. Because the hub is that which goes out to all the rest of that wheel. You take away the hub and you’ve got nothing. And that’s substance. Now the candlestick is as we shared before a picture when looking down from above it, it is a wheel within a wheel. Now I suppose you could take it into almost any other area of life. What is substance? That which counts? The only answer is Christ in His eschatological state and the eschatological inheritance of all the blessings of the New Covenant “in Christ.”(cf. Ephesians 1:3-4, 5:9)
Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Not seen. So how do we know they’re for real? By the Faith of Christ. God said it, and we know it’s true because Jesus through His life showed us and the Hebrews of the old or ancient days, that it is true. As our forerunner or chief lead in this walk towards our salvation by way of obedience through the sufferings and loss along the way, for our hope and trust is that of Abraham’s. As our prototypical type as are those of the list here in found. All right, verse 2.
Hebrews 11:2
"For by it the elders obtained a good report."
We’re going to see, that "by faith the elders (the Old Testament patriarchs) obtained a good report." Now verse 3.
Hebrews 11:3
"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
He didn’t have to go into His chemistry workshop and put some things together and then throw it out. All he had to do was speak the Word and out of nothing the universe began to appear. I don’t think the whole universe exploded at one time. I think the universe has been exploding and going out and going out and going out over the period of time. But whatever, it was done by the spoken Word and all of Scripture substantiates this.
"So that things which are seen (our universe, everything around us on this planet) everything that is seen were not made of things which do appear." Now you see, the scientist can’t accept that. Can he? He just has a hard time with that. And so they spend billions and billions of dollars trying to figure out the origin of the universe and if they found out what good would it do them? Nothing. It’s not going to change anything. Not one wit.
You know I’ve said that with geologists; they go through all the conflict of geology and everything that they’ve learned – is that going to change where the oil is? Of course not. That’s not going to change one iota. And so we have to accept the fact that when God spoke the Word, the universe came into being. And I don’t care when it was. I don’t care if it was 6,000 years ago or six billion years ago. Makes no difference. Again, I’ll use my word – it’s moot. What difference does it make? And so all Paul says is that we are believers. This we know that the universe was framed by the Word of God and the God Who spoke was Jesus the Christ. He is the One Who is given credited for speaking everything into view. For the old testament saint knew Him as Yehovah in His many titles including the Ancient of Days or the Most High God. All right, now I guess we’d better go on into Abel at least.
Hebrews 11:4
"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh."
Sunday, December 2, 2012
The Epistle to the Hebrews part CCLVI
Hebrews 10:37
"For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry."
Don’t ever doubt it. He is coming again. And He will not tarry. When it’s time for Him to come nothing is going to prevent it.
Now verse 38, you know, I stress that Paul shifts gears. Just all of sudden, he just shifts from one gear down to the next and then almost without warning up again. What he's doing is showing the practical, earthy side and then the heavenly and spiritual side in many cases, as it's within the spiritual side that our attention is to be. For since Christ's finished works and ascension all things are of the spiritual and His activity within those who have become receptive ones is in the spiritual, as He develops His (God's) character and nature within those who are His. All right, now here we have a shift.
Hebrews 10:38a
"Now the just (the believers) shall live by (what?) faith:…"
Just because he’s writing to Hebrew-Christians doesn’t change it one iota because he says the same thing back in Romans and Galatians. "That the just shall live by faith!"
Hebrews 10:38b
"…but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."
If they or we do not embrace these things by trusting Him (Christ), then God says – "my soul shall have no pleasure in him." Because God, as we’re going to see when we get into chapter 11, looks first and foremost for only one human attribute. And it’s not goodness, it’s not kindness, it’s not love, it defiantly not in Religion; what’s the first thing He looks for? Our obedience to His Faith! Can you take Him at His Word!
When you’ve got trust, all of the other things fall in place. But trusting has to come first. All right, so "The just shall live by faith. But if any draw back from that faith, then God has no pleasure in him." Now verse 39.
Hebrews 10:39
"But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition: but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."
Paul writes: "We are not of them who draw back unto perdition." We’re not turning our back scornfully and going back into a religious system of the soon coming destruction of Judaism and the holy city of Jerusalem, that will make us miss Heaven’s glory. But, he says, "We are of them that believe." John would write of the great harlot and the mystical city of Babylon as these allude to the now out of God's mind Jerusalem and Judaism and in deed all religious forms as they are but works of mans imagination.
To recap what has been covered within the last four chapters we'll quote from James A. Fowler of Christ In You Ministry, and his "Commentary on Hebrews" pp 215-218 from chapter 7:11 of Hebrews the following as a way of summation:
"Paul begins by denying that the Aaronic and Levitical priesthoods, integrally connected, as they were, with the old covenant Mosaic Law, could achieve God’s ultimate and eternal intent to mankind to be redeemed and restored to function as intended. “If indeed perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for the people have been given it on the basis of Law), why was there yet a need for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not designated according to the order of Aaron?” Paul is not questioning whether the system of the Levitical priesthood was a perfect system, or whether it achieved the purpose that God intended for it. Instead, Paul is noting that “if (as is not the case) the perfection of humanity could have been achieved so that mankind could have been restored to their created end-objective via the Levitical priesthood and the old covenant Mosaic Law to which it was integrally connected, there would have been no need for the eschatological expectation (in accord with Psalm 110:4) of an effectual and eternal priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek’.” The Judaic priesthood and the old covenant Mosaic Law (cf. 19) could not make mankind function in the perfection of the end-objective that God intended. They were but an imperfect, preliminary and provisional measure – a stop-gap system that foreshadowed the “Son, made perfect forever” (cf. 28), the perfect sacrifice and the perfect dynamic by which mankind can be restored to their perfect purpose. The Levitical priesthood and the Mosaic Law are integrally connected and mutually dependent. The old covenant priesthood was established by the Law, and the Law governed the regulations of the Levitical priesthood. On the other hand, it can be stated that the inevitable violation of the Law necessitated the Levitical priesthood for temporary expiation and reconciliation, and the Law was established to expose the need of the priesthood of Jesus Christ which was to operate through divine grace rather than through legal performance. The Mosaic Law and the Judaic priesthood are inseparable. The failure of one to achieve God’s purpose implies the failure of the other (cf. 12). When one is invalidated and cancelled (cf. 18), the other is likewise nullified and abrogated.
The Mosaic Law and the Judaic priesthood were insufficient and inadequate to achieve God’s objective of the restoration of human function to the glory of God, for such required the sacrifice of the God-man in order to allow for the grace provision of deity within humanity. If the Law and priesthood had been adequate there would have been no reason for the eschatological expectation of a Messianic priest “according to the order of Melchizedek” (cf. Ps. 110:4), rather than in the existent traditional and legal order of Aaron."
Now all the way up through Paul’s epistles that’s been the precise instruction for a right relationship with God – to believe what He has said. And the synonymous word of course is faith. So "to them who believe to the saving of the soul." Well, I think we can just go into chapter 11 – I’m amazed that the chapter didn’t start up there a couple verses when we started talking about trusting in His faithfulness. But here we have it now, this whole system of believing, trusting or faith.
Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
"For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry."
Don’t ever doubt it. He is coming again. And He will not tarry. When it’s time for Him to come nothing is going to prevent it.
Now verse 38, you know, I stress that Paul shifts gears. Just all of sudden, he just shifts from one gear down to the next and then almost without warning up again. What he's doing is showing the practical, earthy side and then the heavenly and spiritual side in many cases, as it's within the spiritual side that our attention is to be. For since Christ's finished works and ascension all things are of the spiritual and His activity within those who have become receptive ones is in the spiritual, as He develops His (God's) character and nature within those who are His. All right, now here we have a shift.
Hebrews 10:38a
"Now the just (the believers) shall live by (what?) faith:…"
Just because he’s writing to Hebrew-Christians doesn’t change it one iota because he says the same thing back in Romans and Galatians. "That the just shall live by faith!"
Hebrews 10:38b
"…but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."
If they or we do not embrace these things by trusting Him (Christ), then God says – "my soul shall have no pleasure in him." Because God, as we’re going to see when we get into chapter 11, looks first and foremost for only one human attribute. And it’s not goodness, it’s not kindness, it’s not love, it defiantly not in Religion; what’s the first thing He looks for? Our obedience to His Faith! Can you take Him at His Word!
When you’ve got trust, all of the other things fall in place. But trusting has to come first. All right, so "The just shall live by faith. But if any draw back from that faith, then God has no pleasure in him." Now verse 39.
Hebrews 10:39
"But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition: but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."
Paul writes: "We are not of them who draw back unto perdition." We’re not turning our back scornfully and going back into a religious system of the soon coming destruction of Judaism and the holy city of Jerusalem, that will make us miss Heaven’s glory. But, he says, "We are of them that believe." John would write of the great harlot and the mystical city of Babylon as these allude to the now out of God's mind Jerusalem and Judaism and in deed all religious forms as they are but works of mans imagination.
To recap what has been covered within the last four chapters we'll quote from James A. Fowler of Christ In You Ministry, and his "Commentary on Hebrews" pp 215-218 from chapter 7:11 of Hebrews the following as a way of summation:
"Paul begins by denying that the Aaronic and Levitical priesthoods, integrally connected, as they were, with the old covenant Mosaic Law, could achieve God’s ultimate and eternal intent to mankind to be redeemed and restored to function as intended. “If indeed perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for the people have been given it on the basis of Law), why was there yet a need for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not designated according to the order of Aaron?” Paul is not questioning whether the system of the Levitical priesthood was a perfect system, or whether it achieved the purpose that God intended for it. Instead, Paul is noting that “if (as is not the case) the perfection of humanity could have been achieved so that mankind could have been restored to their created end-objective via the Levitical priesthood and the old covenant Mosaic Law to which it was integrally connected, there would have been no need for the eschatological expectation (in accord with Psalm 110:4) of an effectual and eternal priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek’.” The Judaic priesthood and the old covenant Mosaic Law (cf. 19) could not make mankind function in the perfection of the end-objective that God intended. They were but an imperfect, preliminary and provisional measure – a stop-gap system that foreshadowed the “Son, made perfect forever” (cf. 28), the perfect sacrifice and the perfect dynamic by which mankind can be restored to their perfect purpose. The Levitical priesthood and the Mosaic Law are integrally connected and mutually dependent. The old covenant priesthood was established by the Law, and the Law governed the regulations of the Levitical priesthood. On the other hand, it can be stated that the inevitable violation of the Law necessitated the Levitical priesthood for temporary expiation and reconciliation, and the Law was established to expose the need of the priesthood of Jesus Christ which was to operate through divine grace rather than through legal performance. The Mosaic Law and the Judaic priesthood are inseparable. The failure of one to achieve God’s purpose implies the failure of the other (cf. 12). When one is invalidated and cancelled (cf. 18), the other is likewise nullified and abrogated.
The Mosaic Law and the Judaic priesthood were insufficient and inadequate to achieve God’s objective of the restoration of human function to the glory of God, for such required the sacrifice of the God-man in order to allow for the grace provision of deity within humanity. If the Law and priesthood had been adequate there would have been no reason for the eschatological expectation of a Messianic priest “according to the order of Melchizedek” (cf. Ps. 110:4), rather than in the existent traditional and legal order of Aaron."
Now all the way up through Paul’s epistles that’s been the precise instruction for a right relationship with God – to believe what He has said. And the synonymous word of course is faith. So "to them who believe to the saving of the soul." Well, I think we can just go into chapter 11 – I’m amazed that the chapter didn’t start up there a couple verses when we started talking about trusting in His faithfulness. But here we have it now, this whole system of believing, trusting or faith.
Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Saturday, December 1, 2012
The Epistle to the Hebrews part CCLV
Hebrews 10:35-36
"Cast not away therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."
Now here's another warning, part of the forth for our consideration and understanding. That of casting aside our confidence and patience after having done the Will of God, which will we've revealed throughout this study. Of course, to a Hebrew, the ‘Promises’ were everything, I guess, from Abraham on up through the Old Testament and flowing on into Christ’s Kingdom reign not in the future but active now. How? Because within His resurrection and ascension He inaugurated and instituted the New and Better Covenant in Himself as the God Man and Son of man.
Hebrews 10:37
"For yet a little while, and he that shall come (what?) will come, and will not tarry."
Now Paul expected it in his lifetime. And he didn’t have any idea that it was going to go 2,000 plus years now. But here we are now, some 2,000 years after the fact and what can I stand here and say? "He that is coming will come!"
Don’t you ever doubt it for a minute. Let the scornful scoff all they want. In fact, I can show you a verse - if that isn’t exactly what we’re seeing today. Go forward a few pages in your New Testament to II Peter chapter 3, and let’s drop down to verse 3.
II Peter 3:3a
"Knowing…"
See this is what I like about Scripture. There are things that we are supposed to know. Not guess or hope so. For the truth of the matter is that in Christ our hope is made complete and through Him we realize its reality. In fact God requires it of us to know and then to do. Peter says:
II Peter 3:3a
"Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days…"
Remember, when Peter wrote of the last days, what was he talking about? Within the next ten years. Now I say ten because they knew there was a seven-year tribulation or Jacob's troubles ahead of them. So within ten years they expected all of this to be consummated. Why? Because of Israel's nationalistic, superior attitude, solidarity of religiousness, and rebellion to Roman rule and authority over them. The apostles could see that soon there would be a major shift and military squelching of the insurrection ahead. Just as the Lord Jesus had told them would happen.
II Peter 3:3b
"…that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lust," (or desires) We’re in that world, they’re all around us and they're fleshly practical and earthy. Now this is what the scoffers will say. Does it ring a bell?
II Peter 3:4a
"And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep,…"
Remember who are we dealing with here? Hebrews. So who were the fathers? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets, see? And so these Hebrews of Peter’s day and Paul’s day are saying the same thing. Why, ever since the fathers they’ve been talking about the Lord’s coming. And they had. Every Hebrew that had any knowledge of the Old Testament was looking for the Messiah. The Hebrews today that have any knowledge of their Scriptures are looking for the Messiah. All right, so this is what the scoffers said then, "Why you’ve been talking about the Lord coming, the Messiah coming, ever since Abraham." Israel as a nation and because of its religious leaders rejected their Messiah and therefore are still looking for His appearing for their anticipated redemption and salvation from their enemies. Not knowing that they are the enemies onto themselves. Now finish the verse.
II Peter 3:4b
"…all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."
Isn’t that exactly what people are saying today? Oh, I read articles almost an average of once a week where some writer, some editorial writer who scoffs at our idea of apocalyptic judgments and so forth, and they just scorn it. Hey, they’ve been talking about this for centuries. Nothing different has ever happened. The world’s going to keep going. This isn’t just the end. Religion and those of a Jewish persuasion are blinded, Paul says in Romans chapter 11 and verse 25 that a partial blindness has over taken Israel. Why is it only a partial blindness on God's part? Because she has chosen not to believe on her part so He just adds to the partial His partial so it is a complete blindness and therefore He has given them up to a deceiving spirit to believe the lie.
Well, I’ve got news for them. This is the beginning of the end. We’re seeing it; but with God, of course, His wheels grind slowly. All right, so come back to Hebrews 10 again. Verse 37, repeating it.
Hebrews 10:37
"For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry."
"Cast not away therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."
Now here's another warning, part of the forth for our consideration and understanding. That of casting aside our confidence and patience after having done the Will of God, which will we've revealed throughout this study. Of course, to a Hebrew, the ‘Promises’ were everything, I guess, from Abraham on up through the Old Testament and flowing on into Christ’s Kingdom reign not in the future but active now. How? Because within His resurrection and ascension He inaugurated and instituted the New and Better Covenant in Himself as the God Man and Son of man.
Hebrews 10:37
"For yet a little while, and he that shall come (what?) will come, and will not tarry."
Now Paul expected it in his lifetime. And he didn’t have any idea that it was going to go 2,000 plus years now. But here we are now, some 2,000 years after the fact and what can I stand here and say? "He that is coming will come!"
Don’t you ever doubt it for a minute. Let the scornful scoff all they want. In fact, I can show you a verse - if that isn’t exactly what we’re seeing today. Go forward a few pages in your New Testament to II Peter chapter 3, and let’s drop down to verse 3.
II Peter 3:3a
"Knowing…"
See this is what I like about Scripture. There are things that we are supposed to know. Not guess or hope so. For the truth of the matter is that in Christ our hope is made complete and through Him we realize its reality. In fact God requires it of us to know and then to do. Peter says:
II Peter 3:3a
"Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days…"
Remember, when Peter wrote of the last days, what was he talking about? Within the next ten years. Now I say ten because they knew there was a seven-year tribulation or Jacob's troubles ahead of them. So within ten years they expected all of this to be consummated. Why? Because of Israel's nationalistic, superior attitude, solidarity of religiousness, and rebellion to Roman rule and authority over them. The apostles could see that soon there would be a major shift and military squelching of the insurrection ahead. Just as the Lord Jesus had told them would happen.
II Peter 3:3b
"…that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lust," (or desires) We’re in that world, they’re all around us and they're fleshly practical and earthy. Now this is what the scoffers will say. Does it ring a bell?
II Peter 3:4a
"And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep,…"
Remember who are we dealing with here? Hebrews. So who were the fathers? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets, see? And so these Hebrews of Peter’s day and Paul’s day are saying the same thing. Why, ever since the fathers they’ve been talking about the Lord’s coming. And they had. Every Hebrew that had any knowledge of the Old Testament was looking for the Messiah. The Hebrews today that have any knowledge of their Scriptures are looking for the Messiah. All right, so this is what the scoffers said then, "Why you’ve been talking about the Lord coming, the Messiah coming, ever since Abraham." Israel as a nation and because of its religious leaders rejected their Messiah and therefore are still looking for His appearing for their anticipated redemption and salvation from their enemies. Not knowing that they are the enemies onto themselves. Now finish the verse.
II Peter 3:4b
"…all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."
Isn’t that exactly what people are saying today? Oh, I read articles almost an average of once a week where some writer, some editorial writer who scoffs at our idea of apocalyptic judgments and so forth, and they just scorn it. Hey, they’ve been talking about this for centuries. Nothing different has ever happened. The world’s going to keep going. This isn’t just the end. Religion and those of a Jewish persuasion are blinded, Paul says in Romans chapter 11 and verse 25 that a partial blindness has over taken Israel. Why is it only a partial blindness on God's part? Because she has chosen not to believe on her part so He just adds to the partial His partial so it is a complete blindness and therefore He has given them up to a deceiving spirit to believe the lie.
Well, I’ve got news for them. This is the beginning of the end. We’re seeing it; but with God, of course, His wheels grind slowly. All right, so come back to Hebrews 10 again. Verse 37, repeating it.
Hebrews 10:37
"For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry."
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