OUR FATHER WHO TEACHES US THE WAY WE SHOULD GO Part 6.

The book of Hebrews chapter 13 verse 18 says this;

Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

The author of Hebrews, reaching the end of his letter, asks those to whom he is writing, to pray for him and his ministry team.

He tells them that he and his team are sure that their consciences are clear and they want to live honorably in every way.

The prayer request is for help in maintaining sincerity and a clean conscience and also the wisdom to be honorable in all the areas of their lives.

To sustain our lives in this way , supporting prayers of the saints  are needed so that the servants of the Lord are not tripped up.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO TEACHES US THE WAY WE SHOULD GO Part 5.

Hebrews chapter 13 verses 15 - 17 continues this way;

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

Keeping in mind that the Lord Jesus, by shedding His blood and suffering so greatly, qualified us for the eternal city, we are encouraged to continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise which the writer describes as the natural outflow of lips that publically identify with Jesus.

As for our conduct in our communities, we are reminded to do good and share what we have with other people because such sacrifices please God who Himself laid out so great a sacrifice for us.

As well, we are counseled to submit to the authority of the leaders the Lord places over us. They, by virtue of their callings, are accountable to the Lord for those they have been given charge over. Being in submission to them makes their responsibility over us a joy and not a tiresome burden. 

The writer, understatedly, makes it clear that being a burden to those who will held to account for us, would be of no advantage or benefit to us.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO TEACHES US THE WAY WE SHOULD GO Part 4.

Hebrews chapter 13 verses 11 - 14 continues with these words;

The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 

And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.

 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

This passage mentions the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle where the blood of animals was taken for a sin offering as defined in the old covenant but the writer brings our attention to the fact that the bodies of the animals from where the blood came, were taken outside the camp gate where they were burned.

He then draws the comparison between the bodies of the animals being burned outside the camp and the way that the Lord Jesus suffered on the cross outside the city of Jerusalem. This suffering in His body was the means provided by which people who trust in Him are made holy through His blood.

We are then exhorted to leave the city and be with Jesus outside the gate to share in His suffering and the disgrace which He bore. 

Whatever disgrace we bear in the city here, we must keep in mind that it is not an enduring city and our eyes are on the eternal city to which we go.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO TEACHES US THE WAY WE SHOULD GO Part 3.

Proceeding with Hebrews chapter 13, we take up verses 8 - 10 which read this way;

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 

We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

The author of Hebrews teaches us that the eternal Lord Jesus is forever the same. That the power that He had in the past is the same power that He has now and the same power that He will have for all eternity.

The Lord is therefore able to save, protect and sustain all those who are His through all time and in every place.

We are then advised not to get caught up in weird doctrines and theologies.

An example is given where the correct teaching was supposed to be that our hearts were strengthened by grace but it was going around that hearts could be strengthened by eating ceremonial foods from the altar in the earthly tabernacle which the writer says offer no advantage or benefit to those who ate these foods.

We are then shown a mystery where we, believers in Jesus, have a spiritual altar to which we have access and to which even those with the privilege of eating at the earthly altar have no right.

The case that the writer is making here is that those who have access to the high altar are strengthened and have no need of anything from the earthly altar and so teachings that lead us to seek such foods are strange and unprofitable.

Amen. 

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OUR FATHER WHO TEACHES US THE WAY WE SHOULD GO Part 2.

Continuing with Hebrews chapter 13 verses 5 - 7, we read this;

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 

The writer of Hebrews instructs us to expell the love of money from our lives.

He gives scriptural support for this position. 

First, he lays out Deutronomy chapter 31 verse 6 which says “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

This reference reminds us not to build security in our lives based on the accumulation of money because God's faithfulness is our security guaranteed by His promise to never abandon us.

Second, Psalm 18 verse 6 says, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?"

This verse speaks to the advantage of having God in our corner. Loving money for the protection and stability that it offers us is pointless when the Lord is with us. Money can acquire security systems and influence but even those can be thwarted by mortals. However, who can thwart the God of heaven and earth.

We are also encouraged to consider the lives of the leaders who brought the gospel to us and see how their way of life brought them outcomes of honor and   praiseworthiness because of their faith in God rather than in money.

If the Lord preserved them while they had little or nothing, He is eternally capable and He can certainly preserve us now.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO TEACHES US THE WAY WE SHOULD GO

The book of Hebrews chapter 13 verses 1 - 4 says this;

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 

Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 

As the author of Hebrews begins his concluding chapter, he touches on a few items to exort his audience.

He instructs  us to continue loving one another as brothers and sisters such that  we treat each other as members of our own family.

He reminds us to always welcome and show hospitality to all strangers and he gives some added incentive to do so by mentioning that of  the strangers we are gracious towards, some may prove to be angels as others have experienced.

We are encouraged to remember those in prison and those being mistreated by identifying with their imprisonment and their suffering as though we ourselves were undergoing the same conditions.

The institution of marriage is brought up as one to honor and we are to refrain from polluting it for the judgement of God shall be on those whose conduct is contrary to the purity of marriage.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO DISCIPLINES US part 2

Continuing with the book of Hebrews chapter 12, verses 6 - 7 say this;

because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

This passage in Hebrews starts with a reference to the book of Proverbs chapter 3 verse 12 which says;

because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in (NIV).

This proverb reveals that the Lord takes deliberate steps to discipline those He delights in as a means of training his children in the way they should go.

The passage also reveals that there is no one whom the Lord has accepted as a son who is exempt from the Lord's chastening.

The writer of Hebrews advises us to endure any hardship as the discipline of the Lord and to remember that it is evidence to us that the Lord has enfolded us into His family as children who are under the guidance of their Father.

 Amen.

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