Well, we are thankful to the Lord that we can be together this morning. During our time together, I wanted to share a brief overview and introduction to the book of Hebrews.
We will be starting to study Hebrews on Friday nights, so we want to use this time to stop and consider the book as a whole.
Let us turn to Hebrews 1. We will begin with Hebrews 1:1-4.
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.
When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
Then let us turn to the final chapter, Hebrews 13, beginning with verse 20. My Bible has a caption here: “Benediction to the Letter.”
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.
Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I shall see you.
Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.
Grace be with you all.
Let us pray.
Lord, we are thankful that we have again had this wonderful privilege and honor to remember You at Your table. Lord, we are thankful, too, that we can continue in Your presence.
We are thankful, Lord, for Your living Word that You have given unto us. Lord, we look beyond just the words written on this page. We look unto You as the One who has those words of life, that, Lord, we could really taste of You this morning.
We are thankful for this letter to the Hebrews. Lord, there are many challenges throughout this letter. As it says, it is an exhortation. There are many beautiful—just beautiful—pictures and testimonies of Who You are and the vastness of Your ministry.
Lord, as we consider this book, we come with teachable hearts. We open our hearts unto You, Lord, that Your Spirit would be able to work within us.
Lord, as we find ourselves in these last days, we see this letter becoming more and more relevant to us, to encourage us on. Lord, we are thankful that we can declare, as we gather, that Jesus Christ is Lord over this time. We put everything else aside. We look unto You in a wonderful and very precious way.
In Thy name we pray. Amen.
As we mentioned, we will be starting to consider Hebrews on Friday nights, and we are thankful for that. We will have some other helps available as the time approaches.
We were also reminded in an announcement that all the messages from CFC are on the website, both in audio and now in PDF form. Much of CFC, with the theme coming out of Hebrews, addressed many things in Hebrews. It would probably be helpful if we went back and considered some of those messages as we go through this book.
As we look at this book of Hebrews, there are a lot of things we do not know about it. We do not know exactly when it was written, but more than likely, most people you respect would say it was written in the late 60s. It was written before the temple was destroyed.
The temple was destroyed in AD 70, and evidence from the letter shows us that the temple was still in existence. So, we are looking at it as having been written in the late 60s.
Also, we do not know the author. If you start going through commentaries, you will find that somebody has taken up the argument that about every prominent figure in the New Testament wrote the letter.
One of the most interesting suggestions that I found was from Brother Christian Chen. We just read from Hebrews 13. After thirteen long chapters, it says, “I have written to you briefly.” So that shows him that it was written by a sister—Priscilla.
Okay, that is the joke for today.
But we do not know. There are many thoughts out there, and we do not need to be distracted, because we know the true Author is the Holy Spirit. It does not matter whether somebody thinks it is John, somebody thinks it is Paul, or somebody else. It does not change the message of the letter.
The message of the letter is the same. It is written to us for the days in which we find ourselves living.
We do know that the recipients of this letter were Jews who had converted to Christ. They had been brought up in Judaism, but when they heard that glorious gospel—when they heard of so great a salvation—they gave themselves to the Lord, entered into Christ, and were following Him.
We do not know exactly where these ones were living, or to whom this letter was specifically written. The two most popular thoughts are Rome and Jerusalem because, at that time, there were large Jewish populations both in Rome and in Jerusalem.
Most people have a tendency to lean more toward Jerusalem because of the nature of the letter, the temple, and everything addressed throughout it. But we cannot be absolute on that either. Again, it does not really matter. It does not change the message of the letter.
But why was this letter written? As we look at this letter, we have to ask why it was written. There are really two primary reasons.
First, those who had given themselves to the Lord and had been saved were starting to drift back. They were drifting away from Christ and returning to Judaism.
Throughout this letter to the Hebrews, we see ones drifting away and neglecting things.
Second, this letter is a warning, because there was a great shaking coming in the near future. Things in which people were putting their trust—in particular, the temple and the sacrifices—were going to be shaken.
So this letter was preparing them for what lay ahead. We could say that the two reasons this letter was written were corruption within and persecution from without.
The corruption within was that ones were drifting away from Christ. They were substituting other things for Christ, and that brings about corruption within.
These believers were returning to Judaism because, with persecution beginning, it was becoming more comfortable and safer to be identified with Judaism than with Christianity.
The persecution without was this future shaking that was coming to shake everything that could be shaken, so that only those things which could not be shaken would remain.
The Lord was jealous for His testimony. Everything that did not measure up to the testimony of Christ was going to be shaken away. But that which had the solid and sure foundation of Christ would be able to withstand the shaking that was coming.
When Christianity was first born, when the church was birthed on the day of Pentecost, the Roman government simply viewed Christianity as a sect of Judaism. Since Judaism was legal, Christianity was legal.
Thus, ones were very comfortable during the early days of the church. There was not any outward persecution going on.
But later, it became clear to Rome that Christianity was very different from Judaism. Even the Jews were trying to disassociate themselves from Christianity.
Christianity was declared an illegal religion because Christ was King, not Caesar. If you were going to be a Roman citizen, you had to declare who was king. Christians could say, “We have one King, and it is Christ.”
Therefore, Rome looked down upon those who were Christians. As you read through Paul’s letters, you see how he suffered persecution: he was imprisoned, tried, and suffered at the hands of the Roman government.
Later on, shortly before this letter was written, Paul and Peter were both martyred. We see the intensity of persecution growing after this letter, when John was exiled on the Isle of Patmos for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
That was all John was there for. He believed the Word of God and stood for the testimony of Jesus. Because of that, it was illegal, and he was persecuted and isolated on that island.
Right about the time of this letter—we do not know the exact date—in AD 66, there was what was called the Jewish Revolt.
Here is a little history lesson. Sharing history lessons in front of history professors is always a challenge, but I step out in faith.
In AD 66, the Jews within Jerusalem rose up against the Roman government over the issue of taxation. It really was not over religion; it was over unfair taxation.
The Jews revolted, and they were actually successful in retaking Jerusalem. King Agrippa and the Roman leaders fled Jerusalem and that area. So, for a moment in time, they had retaken Jerusalem.
But Rome obviously was not going to put up with that. Rome sent one of its generals, Vespasian, and he was partially successful in recapturing the area. He captured the regions around Jerusalem and was getting ready to take Jerusalem itself.
But the current emperor, or Caesar, in Rome died. Vespasian was called to Rome, and he became the next emperor of the Roman Empire.
Then Vespasian left his son Titus in charge of the army that was surrounding Jerusalem. Titus completed the job very successfully.
He soon went back in and retook Jerusalem. He destroyed the temple in AD 70, the Jews were dispersed, and the revolt was fully quelled at that time.
This is the period in history in which we know of the battle of Masada. All of these things occurred in the early 70s, as Titus retook Jerusalem and Rome firmly reestablished its control.
So, we see that this letter was written to warn people of the shaking that was coming. Sadly, many did not open their eyes. Some did.
We see this letter as a foretelling of things that were going to come. I believe that, in this very fact, we can see how relevant it is for us today.
We know that some things are coming. We have heard the call: Are we ready? The question is whether we are ready, or whether we have simply learned a new phrase to say: “Are we ready?”
The challenge for these dear ones in Jerusalem, as they received this letter, was whether they would respond to it in a living way. Some did, and some did not.
Under this persecution and all that was going on, it was vital for these ones to come back to the Lord. Because Christianity was illegal, many were drawing back into Judaism.
Again, we can relate that to the days in which we are living. If you are out there declaring that Jesus is Lord in your workplace or in your school, you may be persecuted. You can find a tendency to draw back and shrink back.
We see again the relevance of this letter in the challenging times in which we live. When times get difficult, we are not to shrink back from testifying of the Lord, but to see Him in a new and full way and press on unto the fullness of what He has called us into.
This letter, like all of God’s letters, is a love letter written in the first century to wake these dear ones up.
As they returned to Judaism, they were putting their trust in things that were going to be destroyed: the temple and the sacrifices. That was where they found their security.
They looked at the great temple of the Lord. They were looking at the outward things: the stones and the grandeur. They were putting their confidence in it.
But this letter says, “Oh, that is going to be destroyed.” When the things in which you are trusting are destroyed, what are we going to do?
Oh, brothers and sisters, this is why, in the hour in which we are living, our trust and confidence must be in Christ and in Him alone.
If we are trusting in anything else—even our religious heritage or our religious good works—those things will be shaken. We have one thing that holds us steady, and that is Christ.
That is what we see throughout this entire letter, over and over again: Christ vividly presented to these dear ones.
Would that we allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and see whether there is anything in which we are trusting that would be shaken. Praise God, we still have the opportunity; it is still called today.
I remember one of my favorite phrases that Ed Miller used to share. I am sure he still shares it, but when I heard it, he said, “How can you expect to welcome the King of glory in the future if you are not welcoming the King of glory in your heart today?”
How can we expect to be ready for tomorrow, if the Lord delays, if we are not ready today—if we are not living faithfully to Him today?
Many people say, “How do you get ready?” Well, you live today. You live faithfully for Him today with what He puts in your hands.
As we come under Him, He trains us and guides us. That is all He is asking these dear Hebrew ones to do: simply return to Christ and allow Him to show them the way through the crisis they were going to face.
It is wonderful that, in any time of declension, the Lord always has the same answer, and it is always Christ.
Remember the end of the first century. Paul concluded 2 Timothy—his last will and testament to Timothy—with this word: “Remember Jesus Christ.” That is the call.
John, on the Isle of Patmos, received a revelation. What was the revelation of? It was the revelation of Jesus Christ.
It was not a new teaching. John, in all of his writing, does not give us new teachings or new doctrines. John simply shares Christ with us and brings Christ back to us.
That is what those at the end of the first century needed: coming back to Christ. That is what we need today—a living relationship with Christ.
These Hebrews were warned not to find their security in outward things. This is very similar to what Paul wrote in Timothy: in the last days, ones will hold to an outward form of godliness while denying the very power of it.
What is the power of it? It is the life. It is holding to His life and knowing His life. This is what we are called to.
In the first century, we can use the term Christianity in a positive sense because it was really showing forth the life of Christ. Sadly, over the years, Christianity has evolved into simply a system.
Much of what is called Christianity today is actually opposing Christ. If you look at what Christianity preaches and what you see in much of it, you see how much is taken away from the authority of the Word of God, the person and work of Christ, and the value of the Holy Spirit.
There is always a battle. Throughout the ages, the battle has simply been, as Brother Sparks said, a battle for life. It is a battle over the life of His Son being real in us.
We allow so many other things to come in. Throughout Hebrews, this is the battle of life. They are looking at sacrifices, angels, Moses, and Melchizedek, and the letter says, “No. There is a life you need to be looking at.”
It is drawing us back to Him.
As you look through Christianity today, tragically, things that we know are living testimonies have turned into ceremonies and rituals.
We had a baptism a couple of weeks ago. Praise God, what a living testimony. But sadly, how much has baptism become a ceremonial exercise?
Even the Lord’s table is a living thing, a testimony. There are many other things like this.
In this day and time, there is a great battle over not just going along with simple mental knowledge and acquaintance with the Lord, or focusing upon dead doctrines, but allowing the reality of Christ to be lived out within us.
Simple knowledge will not carry us through unless it is living knowledge—the experiential relationship of knowing Him and the all-sufficiency of Who He is.
We have such a tendency to substitute so many things for life. This letter calls us: Do not substitute anything for Christ. Allow Him to be our all in all.
Sadly, we can hear so many of these things and nod our heads in agreement, but in reality they go right over our heads and do not capture our hearts.
Brothers and sisters, we need to be aware. We cannot think we have a place of security in this gathering simply because we are not a so-called denomination.
Our security cannot be found in this assembly. We are thankful for it. We are thankful for the brothers and sisters. But our security is not in the assembly; our security is in Christ.
Our security cannot be found in merely coming to meetings and going through an exercise every week. It must be a living relationship with Christ expressed in life.
This is what He is after: not our production, not our works, and not our efforts on our own, no matter how good they might be.
In this letter, we see that there is a better way. This is what we are looking for as we see Christ.
The word better is used repeatedly in Hebrews. We need to be clear about what the writer means when he uses it.
He is not merely comparing old and new. The word better is used in the sense of contrast. These two things are different.
What you had before is not simply being improved upon. This is something totally new. This is the new and living way. It is a contrast with the old, not merely an improvement upon it.
When we get saved, our old person—our old man—is not improved. We are brought into a better life. There is a contrast there.
We need to be careful that good does not become the enemy of better. We can do good things and good works, but when the source is ourselves and not the life of Christ, it all burns away as wood, hay, and stubble.
The issue is our individual hearts. This is what it comes down to.
At the end of Hebrews, the writer speaks about going outside the camp. Throughout history, many have gone outside the camp, and the camp refers to a religious system.
We are thankful that ones throughout history went outside the camp, but then they became a camp themselves. Then another call comes, and ones keep coming out of the camp.
But when you think about the camp, that camp is actually within our individual hearts and lives. It is not merely a group; it is in your individual heart.
We cannot say that we, as an assembly, have come outside the camp. In our individual hearts, where are we gathered?
It comes down to every one of us being clear before the Lord: “Lord, I do not want to be part of a system. I want to be part of a living relationship with You.”
This is what the writer of Hebrews is trying to repeat and establish in our hearts over and over again.
Over and over throughout Hebrews, we see this simple cry: “Consider Jesus.”
The Lord is challenging them, and He is challenging us, to return to that place of simplicity and purity: a relationship with Him, a living and vibrant relationship with Him every day of our lives.
As we go through Hebrews, may we not simply do a mental exercise. May the Holy Spirit be working within our hearts.
May we prayerfully and meditatively go through this book, allowing this letter written on pieces of paper—the living letter—to be written upon our hearts, impacting and changing our lives.
As I said, it was a love letter written to these ones in the first century, and it is a love letter written to us in the days in which we live. We want to respond to it.
If you want to assign a theme to the book of Hebrews in a very simple way, we can say that the theme is “Consider Jesus.”
The letter is focusing and turning the eyes of our hearts back onto Him, allowing Him to come in and meet us in a clear and special way.
There are many detailed outlines of Hebrews. Some take three pages to complete. I like snapshot outlines.
Under the theme of considering Jesus, Hebrews 1-4 may be viewed as considering Jesus as the Apostle.
Jesus is the Apostle, the Messenger. God has spoken to us in His Son. He is the divine Messenger.
From Hebrews 5 through Hebrews 10:18, we consider Jesus as our great High Priest.
We see Him as the High Priest, far above all the earthly priestly functions that had been going on. We see Him in a living way, exercising that priestly function, and we need to know Him today as our great High Priest.
Finally, from Hebrews 10:19 to the end of the book, we consider Jesus as the Author and Finisher of our faith.
The whole book is about Him. We consider Him as the Apostle, as the High Priest, as the Author, and as the Finisher of our faith. We find our all in all in Him.
When we look at a book, it is always good to consider key words. We use that term because a key unlocks something.
Each writer has certain words that are used to express what is on his heart—words used to unlock to our hearts what is truly being written.
As I looked through Hebrews, I came up with eight key words. At first, I tried to come up with seven, because seven is the perfect number. Then I came up with eight.
I looked up what eight means. Does anybody know? Resurrection life. All right. You have the perfect, and then the new beginning. Eight is resurrection life. So that is good.
The first word is perfect or perfection. Some translations use the word maturity at times.
This simply refers to growing in Christ and experiencing the riches of His life. Perfection here never means sinless perfection. It means growing in Christ, the maturing of His life, and experiencing more of Him.
Hebrews 6:1 says:
Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to perfection.
Or, we could say, let us press on to maturity. There is a growing in Christ, putting elementary things behind. Those things are vital; they are our foundation. But we are growing in Him to experience more and more of Him.
In that growing, as this letter mentions, we also have to learn to endure the growing pains. Not only our own growing pains, but the growing pains of our brothers and sisters around us.
As ones grow, they may go through that adolescent stage of knowing everything in the world and being unable to be told anything. Us older ones have to keep our mouths shut for a while.
I always say that one of the amazing things about my father was that the older I got, the smarter he got.
When I was a teenager, I used to think he did not know much. But when I was in my forties, he got smarter and smarter all the time.
This is part of growing and enduring, and it can be hard. But it is part of the process through which we go.
That is why it is so wonderful when we have such diversity: young ones, middle-aged ones, and older ones. Each one has a unique strength, and each one has a challenge.
Some of us older ones are hard to change. We get set in our ways. Thank the Lord, we have younger ones who can help keep us pliable in the hands of the Lord.
Would we all be pliable in His hands? That is what we are looking for. There is this goal of perfection—growing up unto maturity.
This word is used about ten times in this letter. I am going to say “about ten times,” because when you start looking at Greek words, English words, and translations, nobody is ever exact.
Somebody says a word is used exactly eleven times, and the next commentator says it is used exactly twelve times. I am not a scholar, so I will just use a broad range of about ten times.
In thirteen chapters, if it is used about ten times, that is almost once per chapter. That shows us its significance.
Another key word is eternal or forever. This speaks of the abiding and permanent life we have with the Lord.
So much today is in the here and now, and we go by sight. But the eternal—the forever—that is going by faith. That is looking up. That is seeing beyond the seen.
By faith, the eyes of our hearts are opened to see this eternal salvation into which we have been brought.
An example is Hebrews 9:12:
Through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
He obtained eternal redemption for us—not just redemption. The Holy Spirit wants us to see the beauty, the fullness, and the glory of it. There is an eternal redemption, not just for now, but for all eternity.
Praise God for what He has brought us into. This is the perspective for which we need the eyes of our hearts to be opened.
The next key word is heaven or heavenly. Dana mentioned this at the conference. It is used about seventeen times in the book of Hebrews.
We know that Judaism was earthly. Everything was upon this earth. But Christ lifts us up and brings us to a higher plane.
We have the truth of being seated with Him in the heavenlies. Praise God for that. We do not have to live according to this world, but may be in the world and not of it. He has lifted us up.
Dana reminded us that we all have that curse of the earth touch. We touch this earth, and it is as though we become dirty. There is this curse in living on the earth. But praise God, He has set us free from that.
Hebrews 3:1 says:
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.
Brothers and sisters, He has made us holy brethren, and we are partakers of this heavenly calling. It is not merely an earthly calling. He has called us beyond, called us to Himself, to live with Him and live for Him.
Related to that, the next key word is partakers. It is used about nine or ten times.
This speaks of our continual fellowship and companionship with Him. The question we must ask is: What are we partaking of in our daily lives? What are we really taking of? What are we sharing in?
We should be those who are partakers of a heavenly calling. That is what we feast upon. That is what we share in: the life we have in Him.
We are not to dwell upon this earth and partake of the things here, but to find our sufficiency in Him.
The next key word, which I have already mentioned, is better. Better is the superiority of the life of Christ—the superior life of Christ.
It is used over thirteen times in this letter. It speaks of a better hope, a better covenant, a better sacrifice, and a better country.
There is this looking for the better, and it is not merely a comparison. It is a contrast. Jesus—there is no alternative to Jesus.
Sadly, at times we can make Jesus an alternative. I have been considering the life of Elijah.
Remember when Elijah gathered all Israel before him, with the prophets of Baal and King Ahab? He called the people of Israel and said, “Choose today whom you are going to serve. Are you going to continue going between these two opinions?”
He said, “If Baal is God, serve Baal. If the Lord is God, serve Him.”
At that point, the Lord had become an alternative. Ones were looking one way and another, actually trying to serve both.
The Lord is not an alternative. We have been called into an absolute better way, and there is such a contrast with this world.
The sixth key word is let us. It is used over thirteen times. In general, it is a word of encouragement.
It speaks of the vital necessity of appropriating what we possess in Him. He has given us this possession, and we need to respond: let us respond to that.
The seventh key word is a little word: lest. It expresses a fear lest these great and glorious realities be lost.
The Lord has given us so much of the reality of Himself, and we need to be careful and aware lest we let these things drift away.
Finally, the eighth key word is if. This shows our responsibility to respond by His grace.
It speaks of the responsibility we have to respond by His grace. It is used over fifteen times—not merely as a preposition, but in a way that presents a message and a choice.
As we consider these key words, particularly the last three—let us, lest, and if—they reflect the style of this letter.
The style of Hebrews is unique. There is nothing else like it. None of the other letters in the New Testament are like it, because Hebrews is an exhortation.
We read this in Hebrews 13:22. It is a letter of exhortation.
A letter of exhortation is two-pronged. It is used for encouragement, but it is also used as a warning.
There is always encouragement, but with encouragement comes warning. We have the let us, which is the encouragement, and the warnings, which are expressed through lest and if.
Throughout the style of this letter and the way these words are used, this exhortation in Hebrews contains two interrelated thoughts.
First, the writer of Hebrews presents the supremacy and all-sufficiency of Christ. Over and over again, we see the supremacy, superiority, and all-sufficiency of Christ.
Then, second, by the grace of God, there is a call upon man to respond to Him. Now that you have seen the all-sufficiency and superiority of Christ, there is a call upon us to respond.
There is this two-pronged theme throughout the letter. Yes, Christ is presented, but then the question is brought to us: “You have seen this now. What are you going to do with it?”
Let us look at a few examples. We read the beginning of Hebrews, Hebrews 1:1-4, and we will read it again.
Many call the way Christ is presented here the sevenfold nature of His glory.
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.
When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
All through this chapter, we see this magnificent picture of Christ presented. It brings us up to the heavenlies, where we look at Him in all His majesty and glory.
But then we come to Hebrews 2. How does it start? After Christ is fully presented to us in this sevenfold glory, Hebrews 2:1 says:
For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
“For this reason” refers back to Hebrews 1. This is Christ. Therefore, for this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
That is the warning. We have heard all this about Christ. Praise God for all the years we have been hearing and all the teaching we have received concerning the life of Christ.
For this reason, we have to give heed. This is a strong word: we must pay much closer attention. It does not simply say, “Pay attention.” It says, “Pay closer attention.”
Perhaps you have been looking at Him only briefly. Focus upon Him. Consider Him, lest we drift away.
When you think about drifting away, I was thinking about my time in the Boy Scouts growing up. One of the merit badges I received was probably canoeing—maybe rowing—but I remember tying the canoe up at the dock.
You would tie the rope to the dock, and then you would go around the campfire, cooking dinner or doing whatever else.
If you did not securely tie up that canoe, the current would slowly carry it away.
The thing about drifting away is that it is not sudden. You can look over and see the canoe sitting there. Perhaps you do not notice that the rope has come untied.
You go back to whatever else has distracted you. Then the canoe starts to drift just a few feet away. From your perspective, it still looks close, so it does not alarm you.
You get distracted again, making s’mores over the campfire and enjoying them perhaps too much. Then you look back, and the canoe is gone.
Things do not drift away suddenly. It is a slow process.
That is the corruption within. It is like rust that comes from corruption. Rust does not pop up overnight; it is a slow oxidizing process.
This is why it is so vital to consider Christ daily and stay fresh with Him, so that drifting does not begin, so that the rust process does not begin, and so that corrosion does not begin within our hearts.
The second warning is found in Hebrews 2:3:
How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
These were ones who had heard the Word of God. They had met the Lord, and they were beginning to neglect so great a salvation.
I was thinking about this word neglect. You cannot neglect something about which you know nothing.
Neglect is used for something within your possession that you know needs to be taken care of.
I remember growing up at home and not taking care of things. My mother would say, “Why did you neglect that?” I would say, “I did not know any better.”
I did not know you were supposed to wash the bathtub after taking a bath or shower. I did not know you were supposed to rinse a toothbrush. I did not know those things. You are taught these things.
At first, it is not neglect. But once you learn about it and you do not do it, that is neglect.
So, when we speak about neglecting so great a salvation, we are speaking of ones who have experienced and known the greatness of salvation, then make a choice to start neglecting it and not entering in.
Brothers and sisters, we live in such a wonderful, free country. The life of Christ within us can be expressed with one another so freely.
Yet, with a blessing can come that odd tendency to take things for granted and not hold on to them.
In persecuted countries, ones who are going through difficult times hold to the Lord. In many ways, if you understand what I am saying—and do not take me wrong—we may feel that we do not need to hold to the Lord as fast in this country. We can coast along.
In reality, we cannot. We need to hold to Him. I think you understand what I am trying to say.
We need not subtly begin neglecting something, but enter into the greatness of this salvation.
You see these two interrelated thoughts. There is a full provision: the fullness of Christ is presented. Then there is a call for us to respond, to be diligent, to press on, and not neglect what He calls us to.
Praise God, brothers and sisters, He never calls us to respond, calls us into action, or calls us to follow Him unless He first presents Himself and the provision to us.
After He gives us that provision, then He says, “Go.”
We see this again in Hebrews 3:1:
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.
Would that these words would ring in our hearts rather than merely becoming familiar.
Then, in Hebrews 3:6, we have the exhortation and warning:
Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
It is only because He is the Apostle who has given us His Word and the High Priest who is praying for us that we can hold fast. It is only by His grace.
The Lord is not looking for us, in ourselves, to reach out and hold fast. We simply respond to Him for Who He is and what He has done.
Again, Hebrews 3:12 says:
Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God.
He presents Himself as the living God. He presents Himself as the all in all, and then He says, “Do not fall away. Take care.”
Do not allow that unbelieving heart to begin questioning things. Keep your eyes upon Him.
The passage continues: “Today if you hear His voice.” He is speaking. The question is: Are we hearing His voice?
We are thankful that all the promises and fullness He has given us—all His precious and magnificent promises—are yes and amen in Christ.
The promises of God are sure and steadfast. The if in Hebrews is related to our response. It is a condition upon our hearts to respond to His grace.
One final example uses the beginning and end of the book. Hebrews 1:1-2 says:
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.
He has spoken to us in His Son.
Now turn to Hebrews 12:25. We spoke earlier of a shaking. Hebrews 12:25 calls upon us to respond:
See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking.
It does not say, “Him who spoke.” He is still speaking today. It is present tense: Him who is speaking.
And the warning is not to refuse Him. That is a strong word. When you refuse something, you make a willful choice. You hear what has been said, but you say, “I am not going to listen.”
We have all gone through that in our lifetime. It is sad. The Lord is saying, “Look, this is My Son. I have spoken to you.”
You come to the end of Hebrews, and it is as though He says, “Look at all that I have spoken to you in these chapters about My Son. Do not refuse Him.”
The verses continue:
For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.
And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”
This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
for our God is a consuming fire.
There is this great shaking that is coming. These ones were being warned, and we need, in this day and time, to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us.
For the things that are not of Him, we need to put those things away now, because one day there will be this shaking. What is not of Him will be put aside.
But praise God, what is of Him will remain.
We are thankful that we have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken. The wonderful thing about that kingdom is that we have the kingdom now, because the King lives within us.
There is a future aspect of the kingdom, yes, but we also enjoy the beauty, blessing, and riches of His life now. That is the kingdom to which we look.
The question again is: Are we ready? We see over and over the serious nature of this letter and how vitally relevant it is for this day and time.
As we speak about these shakings, let us be very clear: in the letter to the Hebrews, the writer is never speaking about losing our salvation.
Some phrases in Hebrews are difficult, but it never speaks of our losing salvation.
Hebrews is speaking of entering into and experiencing the riches of Christ in this age and in the kingdom age to come.
He wants us to experience the kingdom now, the riches of Christ now, so that we may also enjoy the kingdom of Christ in the future.
The warning concerns the possibility of missing out on these things. It is not a warning of losing salvation; it is a warning of missing out on the riches of Christ, both now and in the kingdom to come.
We want to be those who enter into the fullness of this and the greatness of our inheritance in Him.
We are thankful for these times on Friday night, and we want to redeem them.
Just as this letter begins with the sevenfold glory of Christ, it ends with Christ. We read what is called the benediction in Hebrews 13:20-21.
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I think it is so gracious of the Lord. He has spoken about a shaking that is coming. He has given warnings. He has said that God is a consuming fire. Yet how does He conclude? “Now the God of peace.”
The God of peace is bringing you peace. He is with you throughout this day. He does not describe Himself here as God Almighty or the Lord of hosts. No—He is the God of peace.
There is comfort in this. He brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord.
He equips us in every good thing to do His will. He works in us that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ.
He is the One who has equipped us. It is not ourselves. He is the One enabling. He is the One working in us.
This is very similar to what Paul wrote to those in Philippi in Philippians 2:12-13:
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
If that verse stopped after “work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” we would all be terrified. But praise God, it continues: “For it is God who is at work in you.”
Brothers and sisters, the Lord is simply asking for our availability and our cooperation with Him. As He speaks to us, may we, by the grace of God, yield to Him and allow Him to lead us through in a triumphant way.
The Lord is preparing us. The times ahead are going to be difficult.
But He says, “I urge you, brethren.” There is this plea, this cry: “I beseech you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation.”
Take heed to this word. Do not neglect it. Consider and meditate on all that He has shared with us concerning what He has done for us in His Son, our response, what we are going to go through, and the relationship He desires.
Bear with this word of exhortation. Do not simply throw it off as too hard or too difficult.
Many people do not like the book of Hebrews. They say it is too hard a letter. They would rather go to one of the soft, lovey-dovey letters.
But this letter speaks volumes of the love of Christ because He knows what we are going through. He shows us the fullness of the provision we have in Him, and He encourages us to press on in that way.
That is why He says, “I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.”
Then, in verse 25, there is that final benediction—the all-inclusive provision we have in Christ:
Grace be with you all.
Or, Christ—the life of Christ—be with you all.
This is the conclusion. It is not merely a cute little salutation at the end. It is a cry from the heart.
He is saying, “Grace be with you. All that I have written to you—the grace of God, the life of Christ—be with you.”
Brothers and sisters, as we consider this book, may we allow the Holy Spirit to work in a fresh way.
In these difficult days in which we are living, and in the challenges we face both individually and as the people of God, may we allow this book to penetrate our hearts.
May we work our way through this book reverentially, that He might speak to us and that we might be transformed.
May we be those who are made alive in Christ, and may we be all that He desires us to be in this day.
Would that, out of this, there would come a strengthening of the testimony of the Lord—a strengthening of our individual lives and of our lives together.
The Lord is jealous for the life of His Son to be expressed. That is why He wrote this letter. He saw ones through whom the life of His Son was once being expressed.
But when difficulties came, they started shrinking back, and He did not see that life being expressed anymore.
He was calling them again. They had the life within them, but it was not being expressed. He was calling them to step forward.
Allow that light to shine. Allow that life to be expressed.
This is what He is jealous for in the days in which we are living. I pray that, as we go through this letter to the Hebrews, the Lord can use it in each and every one of our lives to bring forth more of Christ and that wonderful expression of His life.
Let us pray.
Lord, we are so thankful for the various ways that You speak to us. But most of all, we are thankful that it all gets summed up: You have spoken to us in Your Son.
Lord, there is that one voice. We pray simply that we would have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches in this hour.
Lord, as we freshly consider this book of Hebrews, we pray that we would see more and more of the manifold nature of Christ.
May we see the magnificence of the supreme One. May we see You in a way we have not seen before.
Or perhaps may we see You in a way we saw You some time ago, when it has become dull. May the vision of Christ be refreshed within all of our hearts.
Lord, work within us. We do not want to casually go through the motions of doing a Friday-night study. We want to redeem the time so that it can be used for Your sake and for Your glory.
In Thy name we pray. Amen.