Love One Another As Brothers

Hebrews 13:1-25

Key Verse: 13:8

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

We have no come to the closing of this great Book of Hebrews which we have been studying for a whole year. It was a truly remarkable journey of learning new truth, a journey of self reflection, of warnings and encouragements. Most of all, it has been a journey to know who Jesus our High Priest is and to embrace what he has done for us. We have come to see that Jesus is superior to everything and everyone in heaven and on earth— superior to angels— to Moses—  to the priesthood— to the temple sacrifices and much more. Our Great High Priest is exalted above all to the right hand of God. He is … Read the rest

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You Have Come To Mount Zion

Hebrews 12:18-29

Key Verse 12:28

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”

We are called to live in peace with everyone. We are also called to be holy because we live in the presence of the holy God. And in his presence we honor his grace by allowing no bitter root to grow and to fester in our midst. Bitterness damages our character. It also damages the body of Christ and infests the very community of believers Jesus died to rescue from this sinful world. Bitterness is a cancer that needs to be rooted out the moment it raises its ugly head. There is also another cancer that if not rooted out … Read the rest

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Make Every Effort To Be Holy

Hebrews 12:14-17

Key Verse 12:14

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

We are still talking about the race the apostle told us about at the start. We’re still talking about the Christian life we are called to live and experience suffering in the process. But if we suffer for living the Christian life, the apostle reminds us that our sufferings are neither a punishment, nor a mistake nor a misfortune, but rather they are the love of God for us expressed in holy discipline of those he considers sons and daughters.  He told us: “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons … No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but … Read the rest

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 Endure Hardship As Discipline

Hebrews 12:4-13

Key Verse 11

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

There’s a lot of good wholesome advice here in those verses, advice that can really change our attitude and life all together if, as Jesus once said: We consider carefully what We hear, and how we listen. (Mark 4:24; Luke 8:18) Simply speaking, here’s a truth that we ought to consider carefully. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time , but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (11) He’s talking about God’s discipline. He’s talking about suffering. And he’s talking about attitudes of how … Read the rest

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Fix Our Eyes On Jesus

Hebrews 12:1-3

Key Verse 3

“Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

We have finished the long chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews and reviewed, at times even in detail, the lives of the various men and women who have lived by faith and accomplished many heroic deeds by faith. However, if we were to summarize their lives, we can do so when we look at the reason the apostle wrote this whole chapter on faith and the men and women who lived by faith. The last words of the apostle in Chapter 10:35-36 before he took a break to write chapter 11 were these: “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. … Read the rest

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The World Was Not Worthy Of Them

Hebrews 11:32-40

Key Verse: 11:40

“God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

As we went through this chapter, the apostle showed us many things about the character of faith. He used the example of many a great men and women of faith. He also showed us the power of community faith. In this last section of the chapter, the apostle moves on to tells us something else about faith— mainly the “victory of faith”. What does God almighty consider to be truly a “victory of faith”? According to the Holy Spirit who inspired the writing of this chapter, the “victory of faith” is seen at times in a glorious outwardly visible triumph of the missions God entrusts to … Read the rest

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Community Of Faith

Hebrews 11:29-31

Key Verse: 11:31

“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

So far we have seen the faith of individual people in this chapter, such as Abel or Abraham or Moses or Joseph. But we move on now to the faith of a community of people, with the exception of one woman “Rahab” whose faith seems to have put her on the spiritual map of God’s history. Even then, we can say that her faith is within the community sphere.

Let’s see what mean by community faith, verses individual faith. They are both important, so we need to closely look at them. Read verses 29-31. “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when … Read the rest

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Looking Ahead To His Reward

Hebrews 11:22-28

Key Verse 11:26

“He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.”

There is faith and then there is faith. There is the faith by which you conduct yourself as you live by faith and rely on faith in all your circumstances, and you do so in order to honor and glorify God. For example, the word of God tell you to “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) whereby your faith compels you to put God and his interests first above you’re your own interests, believing that God would provide you with all that you need, as you engage yourself in his own interests first. Or there’s the faith … Read the rest

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The Blessing Of Faith

Hebrews 11:17-21

Key Verse 11:20

“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.”

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. We have in these the ancestors of our faith, the patriarchs of faith in whom God Almighty set aside for himself a nation of obedient, God fearing and faith driven people, and through whom he promised to bless all nations of the world. Although God made many promises to Abraham, this was God’s foremost promise to him, the promise that his Seed (or Offspring)— the Messiah, would come to this world to save all who believe in him. And God maintained this promise to Abraham in the successive generations of his descendants, first to Isaac, then to Jacob, then to Jacob’s children and so on until the promise was … Read the rest

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By Faith Sarah Herself

Hebrews 11:11

(NIV) “And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she.”

(ESV) “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.”

It’s not often that we have a chance to speak of the faith of women in the Bible. For the most part that’s understandable since God in his wisdom has instituted the family and appointed the man to be the head and shepherd of the family. This is neither an offensive statement nor an outdated viewpoint in regards to women or wives in general— as any woman born to Lord Jesus Christ would gladly testify. In truth it is the way God set order to the … Read the rest

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By Faith Abraham

Hebrews 11:8-19

Key Verse 11:13

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.”

We last spoke of the faith of the ancients in verses 1 through 7, tracing the beginnings of faith to Abel, Enoch and Noah. Noah marked a new beginning for humanity after God destroyed the world through a world wide flood but saved Noah and his sons. He became the heir of righteousness that is by faith. (7) What that means is that Noah became righteous in the sight of the Lord through his faith. God counted him righteous not because he was a morally uptight man, but … Read the rest

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By Faith We Understand

Hebrews 11:1-7

Key Verse 11:6

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

The apostle in this chapter describes faith to us— what faith is— what faith does. It’s mostly a list of the great men and women of the Bible whose lives of faith have written history and have also inspired all who reflect on them. What a glorious chapter this is! Amazingly we see how God the Holy Spirit sees them— how the Holy Spirit saw their lives and actions from the heavenly perspective as men and women of faith. Most of them lived ordinary lives, and struggled with very much the same things we all struggle with. They … Read the rest

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Faith Is…

Hebrews 11:1-7

Key Verse 11:2

“This is what the ancients were commended for.”

This whole chapter is about faith. First let’s look at what the last thing the apostle said to these people. After warning them about giving up what they have in Christ and looking back to what they left behind, he tells them in 10:36 that they need to persevere so that when they had done the will of God, that is, when they had fulfilled their purpose in serving God in their lives, they will receive what was promised them. He then reminds them of the Lord’s return, and the Lord Jesus will surely return! The apostle then encouraged them to continue living by faith as the Lord says: “My righteous one will live by faith” (10:38) for God isn’t pleased with those … Read the rest

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The Righteous Will Live By Faith

Hebrews 10:19-39

Key Verse 10:35

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.”

This letter has for some time now been increasing in tension and right here is where the apostle seems to explode with a stern warning that ought to, as the saying goes, curl our hair, make us stop and take stock of where we stand. Are we really standing on Christ and in the gospel, or are we wishy-washy Christians who don’t care much about what we believe and what will become of us. What the apostle says here must have startled the early Hebrew Christians, those who were teeter-tottering between the all sufficient Redeemer Christ and a piece of their heart which was still attached to the temple and the blood sacrifices they were … Read the rest

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The New And Living Way

Hebrews 10:19-25

Key Verse 22

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

We have now come to the end of the first part of the letter to the Hebrews, which is the doctrinal part, and to the beginning of the last part of the book of Hebrews, which is the practical or application part. If Paul is the author of this letter, and there’s much evidence that he is, then this pattern of writing is common, that is a doctrinal part first and then a practical part to his letters. And this is where he begins this beautiful second part of his letter … Read the rest

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Here I Am

Hebrews 10:1-18

Key Verse 10:10

“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

The theme of the writer at the moment is that Christ’s sacrifice was once for all. That means that when Jesus offered himself as the sacrificial lamb to atone for our sins, he did so once for all— once for all time. His sacrifice was wondrous. It was sufficient. It was perfect. It completely atoned for our sins once for all. Look what the author says in the last verse we looked at in the previous chapter. “So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to … Read the rest

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Christ Was Sacrificed Once

Hebrews 9:16-28

Key Verse 26b

“But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

When Jesus sat down at the last supper and had the very first communion service with his followers, he was about to put the new covenant God makes with us into effect. So he said: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:20) And that’s what the author is talking about here in verses 16-22. The word covenant also carries with it the idea of “a last will and testament”. The new covenant itself is Jesus’ own last will and testament to all who believe in him and follow him. His will was … Read the rest

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The Blood Of Christ

Hebrews 9:11-15

Key Verse 14

“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

As we had been discussing all along, there are two tabernacles, one on earth and made by the hands of people, and one in heaven, untouched by human hands, which is the sanctuary of God. One is the replica of the other, and there are major differences. The earthly tabernacle or sanctuary is limited and imperfect. But listen to what the apostle says of the other in verse 11. “When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more … Read the rest

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The Conscience Of the Worshiper

Hebrews 8:13-9:10

Key Verse 9:8

“The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.”

Now we’re talking about covenants. A covenant as we said before is an agreement made between two parties, each holding some sort of promise towards the other. It’s like signing a lease with your landlord. You promise to pay him so much a month for a year’s stay, and he you get the privilege of living on his premises. And if anyone should break the lease, they were liable and would be held responsible. In the same way, God made a covenant with his people Israel when he first adopted them as his own people. They … Read the rest

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Hebrews 8:6-12

Key Verse 8:6

“But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.”

The author has been telling us so much about our High Priest Jesus. And he’s really keen on some words he uses frequently throughout his letter; and one of them is the word “better” which he uses in relation to our Lord Jesus. Better hope (7:19) Better covenant (8:6) Better promises (8:6) Better possessions in heaven (10:34) Better country (11:16) Better resurrection (11:35) Blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (12:24). What the Jews had before Christ came was beyond any of our imagination— what they had in dignity as human beings … Read the rest

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