He [Jesus] replied, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.'
— Luke 11:28
am reminded that one old saint was asked, "Which is the more important: reading God's Word or praying?" To which he replied, "Which is more important to a bird: the right wing or the left?" The writer to the Hebrews was telling his readers—and telling us—that Christians must believe all there is to be believed. They are to do all that the Word commands them to do. Those two wings take the Christian up to God! I sense a spirit of independence, if not rebellion, in the believer who states, "I am not going to bother with the doctrines and the teachings. I am just going to lean back and enjoy Jesus!" It is the path of least resistance.
Although I do not wish to scold anyone at this point, it is where many Christians need proper encouragement and godly example. God has purposefully given us a mental capacity with wide human boundaries. Beyond that, if we are justified, regenerated believers, He has given us an entirely new spiritual capacity. God wants us to believe, to think, to meditate, to consider His Word. He has promised that the Holy Spirit is waiting to teach us. He has assured us concerning all of our blessings in Jesus Christ.
thought
Hearing what God is saying in His Word and obeying it is the way we grow in Christ. To choose what we will obey is not an option! The Spirit teaches those whodo the Word, not just hear it.
prayer
O Lord, may I be a doer of the Word, not a hearer only.
For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.
— Ezra 7:10
There . . . is no ground for a thoughtful, thankful believer to deny that his or her salvation was wrought by the same eternal Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the whole emphasis of Hebrews 9:14. And it is what I want to emphasize, too. None of us can ever be fully pleasing to God if we are not willing to be well taught in His Word. I want to be sure that we know what being well taught in the Word means. It does not refer to being well taught in religion. Rather, it is being well taught in the basic concepts necessary to the Christian faith. One of these basic concepts is the insistence that the crowning achievement of New Testament revelation is the implantation within a believer of a force that impels him or her to act righteously.
God has promised this as confirmation that He is able to purge the human conscience from dead religious works, freeing the believer to serve the living God in joy and victory regardless of his or her circumstances in life. The writer was not suggesting that these early Hebrew Christians, in a time of crisis, lean on religious forms or depend on religious practices. He stressed their need to grasp what God had done for them in a New Covenant centered in Jesus Christ, Savior and Messiah.
thought
Ezra provides us with a superb model. He devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees. Commitment both to diligent study of the Word and to living it equips one to effectively teach the Word.
prayer
Deliver me, Father, from an obligatory or superstitious study of Your Word. May I seriously study it in order to practice it.
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unbleminshed to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.
— Hebrews 9:14
A person cannot be a Christian and deny that the living God has revealed Himself to our sinful race as the sovereign Father, the eternal Son and the faithful Spirit. Yet some professing Christians are so selfishly intrigued by their own expressions of "following Jesus" that they seem unaware that their lives are daily dependent on the promised ministration of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For such as these—and actually for all of us in the Christian faith—the writer of the letter to the Hebrews has set forth a compelling and revealing truth: "Christ . . . Through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God" (Hebrews 9:14). How do we effectively teach this to our "babes in Christ" who are prone to say, "I like what I know about Jesus. Surely it is not necessary for me to go beyond that." Our best answer, of course, is a simple statement of Christian doctrine: The Bible makes it plain that the redemption of our lost race was effected on our behalf by the eternal Trinity—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We cannot overestimate the full significance of that statement in terms of our redemption and God's atoning work.
thought
Recognition that all members of the Trinity were closely involved in the provision of our redemption is acknowledged in the words attributed to Ignace Franz: "Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit—Three we name Thee; though in essence only one, undivided God we claim Thee, and adoring bend the knee while we sing our praise to Thee."
prayer
I worship You, O God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
— Psalm 18:2
It is fitting that I close this chapter with a word of testimony. I trust it will be helpful. I came to Christ and was converted when I was 17. My testimony was just as dull as it is possible for a testimony to be. I had never been in jail. I did not use tobacco in any form. I did not know anything about the use of drugs. I had never taken to any kind of strong drink. I had never deserted my wife—I had never been married! If you have seen me in later life, you might not believe it, but I was a healthy, red-cheeked young man at the time the Lord found me. There were some who considered me good looking.
We had neighbors who said, "Aiden is a fine boy!" If I had had to get up and tell people what I was saved from, in the eyes of the curious world my testimony would not have been worth two lines of type. But I was a sinner in the sight of God and I have found Him faithful. What I was saved to is much more important than what I was saved from. I have had a lifetime of telling and retelling everyone around me of the goodness, kindness, mercy and grace of God. He has saved me to the uttermost. He guarantees an eternity of fellowship and rejoicing with our Lord Jesus Christ and the redeemed family of God. If you are doubtful or hesitant, I can only say: Do not make the mistake of trying to match your time on earth against the eternity that is your endless future. No matter who you are, all of your past is time; your future is eternity. On Christ the solid rock you stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
thought
He is our rock, our fortress, our deliverer. All other ground is sinking sand. It doesn't matter how filthy the mire or how deep or how long we have wallowed in it. Once we come to Christ we are on solid ground!
prayer
O Lord, once I have come to You it no longer matters what I have come from. What matters eternally is the one to whom I have come and the life I now have in You.
Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
— Psalm 32:1–2
Our Lord has given an invitation that excludes no one. "Whoever" is as broad as the human race. I do not believe God is concerned at all about where we have come from. He is concerned with where we are going. The decision we have made to go where we are going—to be with God forever—is what pleases Him and causes the angels to rejoice. Some Christian workers have made an entire career of dwelling on the negative aspects of the human, sinful life—"from the uttermost." "Let me tell you what a hopeless drunkard I was!" "Attend the services and let me share what it is like to be a helpless drug addict!"
"Come and let me relate the awful, tragic time in my past when I was a good-for-nothing wife-beater!" It is a gracious thing that God does for us in His mercy and love when we are forgiven, regenerated and converted. It is indeed a new birth! God saves us from what we were, whatever it was. But He expects us to spend the rest of our lives praising Him, telling about the wonders of Christ and His salvation. He wants us to spread the good news of the great eternal future He has planned for us. He wants us to tell others of the eternal habitation He is preparing for all who love and obey Him.
thought
The slightest sin condemns eternally unless by faith Christ's sacrifice is appropriated. Degrees of sin are not an issue. Spiritual transformation is a miracle no matter what our background.
prayer
Thank You for forgiving my sins, Lord, all of them.
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
— Hebrews 7:25
How different is our vision of Jesus Christ from that of the ones who put Him to death, saying, That is the end of him! Our vision is of a risen, victorious, all-powerful and all-wise High Priest. Quietly, triumphantly He pleads the worth and value of His own life and blood for the preservation and victory of God?s believing children. Just consider, if you will, the gracious implications of God's guarantee. He declares in His Word that Jesus, our Savior and Mediator, "is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." The King James translation reads "is able to save to the uttermost." There have been preachers who changed the preposition to and made it from. They preached a salvation with emphasis on what the individual sinner is saved from. I heartily disagree with that emphasis!
thought
The phrase translated "completely" is used only once elsewhere in the New Testament. Whatever our need, Christ is able now to save completely, entirely, utterly if we come to God through Him—with final culmination yet in the future.
prayer
Yours is the power, Lord, to save me completely. It is for me to surrender myself fully to You that I might experience salvation completeness.
Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
— Romans 8:34
All that I have been saying may seem complex and involved. This much we must understand: Jesus our Lord, God's Christ and our Savior, lives forevermore! As God is timeless and ageless, so also is Jesus Christ. And Jesus lives to intercede for us! His eternal interest is to be our surety. We sing of it with faith and joy: "Before the throne my Surety stands; My name is written on His hands." And then we continue with the rest of those stirring words from the vision and heart of Charles Wesley:
The Father hears Him pray, His dear anointed One; He cannot turn away The presence of His Son. His Spirit answers to the blood And tells me I am born of God. It is Christ's unfailing intercession that makes it possible for us to tell each other that we believe in the security of the saints of God. We believe there is a place of security, not because there was some technicality that John Calvin might have advanced, but because of the high priestly intercession of the eternal One who cannot die. Day and night He offers our names before the Father in heaven. No matter how weak we may be, we are kept because Jesus Christ is our eternal High Priest in the heavens.
thought
Christ is interceding for us. That verb is present tense. Right now He is interceding for you and me. That is ultimate security!
prayer
I stagger and often fall, Lord, but You are interceding for me before the Father. I can trust You fully!
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith . . .
— Hebrews 10:19–21
ope I will not be accused of anti-Semitism when I cite certain Bible truths indicating that even yet Jews do not really know why they worship. We evangelicals have no sympathy for those who hate the Jews. In our understanding of the Scriptures and God's great plan, we recognize the worth of our Jewish friends. We have a concern for their well being in an unfriendly world. Moreover, we believe strongly in the future glory of Israel. We believe that when God's Messiah returns, Israel will minister again in faith and worship in her own land. We believe in a day yet coming when a reborn Israel will shine forth.
The Word of God's righteousness will go forth from Zion and the Word of God from Jerusalem. But for the present, the living, beating life of Jewish faith is gone. There is no altar. There is no Shekinah glory and Presence. There is no efficacious sacrifice for sin. There is no mediatorial priest and no Holy of Holies for him to enter on behalf of his people. All is gone—eliminated as useless, powerless, without further authority. In its place God has instituted and accepted a new sacrifice—the Lamb of God, the eternal Son. He has confirmed a new and efficacious altar, this one eternal in the heavens, where Jesus ever lives to make intercession for God?s believing children. He has ordained and accepted a new High Priest, Jesus, the eternal Son, seating Him at His right hand.
thought
Leaving the old with its historical significance and rich tradition can be extremely difficult. But divinely instituted is the new, altogether superior to the old. Let's not treat the new as if it were merely form. Ours is a new and living way to God!
prayer
O God, what riches are mine in Christ Jesus!
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
— Mark 15:37–38
The priesthood, the priests, the old covenants, the altars, the sacrifices—all that had been involved in the Old Testament system of law—was done away with. God had eliminated it as useless, powerless, without authority. In its place He instituted a new Sacrifice, the Lamb of God, the eternal Son, Jesus Christ. God instituted as well a new and efficacious altar, this one eternal in the heavens, where Jesus lives to intercede for God?s believing children.
When the Temple veil was torn top to bottom, tradition has it that the Levitical priests determined they must repair that long-sacred partition. And they did. They sewed it together as best they could. Not understanding that God had decreed a new order, they took the earthly view by trying to continue the old system of sacrifices.
thought
The holy of holies which represented the presence of God could be entered by the high priest only once a year. The tearing of the curtain that shielded that holy place marks the abolition of the old system and the institution of the new. Now through our High Priest there is alwaysdirect access into the very presence of God!
prayer
Father, thank You. In Christ I have an eternal priest, a one-time sacrifice forever effectual and direct access into Your presence!