Posts Tagged ‘Hebrews’

God does not always work miracles and acts of providence for our deliverance from suffering

Posted: September 20, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Hebrews, September
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    Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. —Hebrews 11:35-38 ESV

John Piper, in a sermon on Hebrews 11:29-38, “Faith to Be Strong and Faith to Be Weak”

God does not always work miracles and acts of providence for our deliverance from suffering; sometimes by faith God sustains his people through sufferings.

That’s the point of verses 35b-38. Or another way to put it would be to say that having true faith in God is no guarantee of comfort and security in this life. Now it is absolutely crucial for you to see that the miseries God’s people sustained in verses 35-38 come by faith, not because of unbelief. See this in two ways. First, in verse 33, notice that the list begins with “. . . who by faith conquered kingdoms . . . etc.,” and without a break continues into all the miseries of verses 35-38. It is by faith that “others were tortured . . . and others experienced mockings and scourgings, etc.” All this misery is received and endured by faith.

The other way to see this is in verse 39 which looks back on all the sufferings of verses 35-38 and says, “And all these [that is, all suffering people], having gained approval through their faith, did not receive [yet in this life] what was promised.” In other words the suffering and misery and destitution and torture of God’s people in verses 35-38 are not owing to God’s disapproval. Rather God’s approval is resting on them because of their faith. The miseries and sufferings were endured, not diminished, by faith.

Let’s be specific, so we get the full impact of what this is saying. Verse 35b: “Others were tortured.” God does not always turn the hearts of torturers away from their torture of his people, though he could. Someone might say, “Well, the torturers have free will and God cannot intervene. He has limited himself.” That is simply not what the Bible teaches. The Bible frequently portrays God restraining and channeling the evil of men’s hearts. For example, in Genesis 20:6 King Abimelech almost committed adultery with Abraham’s wife, but didn’t. Why? God says to Abimelech, “I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.” God restrained the evil intent of Abimelech’s will. If God can do that to Abimelech, he can do it to the police chief who is about to torture a Christian in the back room of a Mozambique jail. But he doesn’t always do it. That is what verse 35b says. And when he doesn’t, it does not mean that the suffering Christian does not have faith. Nor that God doesn’t love him, as we will see in chapter 12.

Another example: God does not always lessen the agony of his children, but permits them to experience not just suffering, but horrific suffering. Verse 37: “They were stoned, they were sawn in two.” Now this is almost too horrible to think about. It is the way tradition says that Isaiah died. Imagine how forsaken you might feel if death lies in front of you, and a person devises a way for your death to be as horrible as possible. That has happened and it has happened to people of whom the world was not worthy (as verse 38 says). God could stop that – without nullifying any human responsibility. That is the point of verse 29-35a – God can and does do miracles and acts of providence to relieve his people and deliver them, but not always.

This is perhaps clearest by contrasting a phrase in verse 34 and one in verse 37. In verse 34 the second clause says, “escaped the edge of the sword.” So some by faith “escaped the edge of the sword.” Then in verse 37 the fourth clause says, “They were put to death with the sword.” So in one instance by faith they escaped the edge of the sword, and in another instance by faith they died by the sword. Acts 12:1-2 says, “About that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword.” But the next verses tell the story of how he arrested Peter for the same purpose, but God intervened and miraculously delivered Peter. One died by faith. The other escaped by faith.

So the second point is: God does not always work miracles and acts of providence to deliver his people by faith, but sometimes by faith God sustains his people through horrendous sufferings.

To read or listen to the rest of the sermon, click here:

September 20 Hebrews 11:17-31

Posted: September 20, 2012 by Pam Larson in Bible Passages, Hebrews, September Bible Readings
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September 20 

Hebrews 11:17-31 (ESV)

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

By faith we understand and by grace we see

Posted: September 19, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Hebrews, September
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Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. —Hebrews 11:1-3

John Piper, in a sermon “What Faith Knows and Hopes For”

3D hidden imageHere is an analogy at the physical level. A few years ago one of the rages was hidden 3-D images. These are pieces of art that, on one level, are one thing, but at another level are something quite different. At first glance all you see is the surface presentation. But if you let your eyes focus more deeply, or more distantly, you may see a train or a boxing kangaroo or a globe not only appearing, but actually standing up off the page. Now some people stare at these pages for several minutes and see nothing but color and chaos. But others almost immediately see the head of Beethoven or a lamb. If someone says, “How do you know a lamb is there?” the answer is, “I see it.” Your seeing is the evidence. They may not see it, but that won’t change your mind.

Now this is what it is like for some to look at God’s creation. Some see color and chaos. Others have a deeper view and suddenly God’s fingerprints come into focus. What evidence can they offer? They see it. It is as undoubted as a lamb in a 3-D image. No one can talk you out of it.

You may ask, “Should that be called faith?” Didn’t Paul say (in 2 Corinthians 5:7), “We walk by faith and not by sight”? How can faith be “sight”? Paul meant that Christ is not present physically on earth to see with physical eyes, but is in heaven. He did not mean that there is no spiritual perception of God’s reality. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the conviction – or better, the evidence – of things not seen.” And then the writer illustrates this in verse 3 when he says that “we understand by faith” that God created the world. In other words, faith is not just a responding act of the soul; it is also a grasping or perceiving or understanding act. It is a spiritual act that sees the fingerprints of God. This does not mean that you believe them into being. That would be wishful thinking – the power of positive thinking. That is not authentic faith. Real faith is based on real Truth. It looks deeply at the world God has made – looks through it, so to speak – and by the grace of God, it sees the glory of God (as Psalm 19:1 says) standing forth off the creation like a 3-D image.

To read or listen to the rest of this sermon, click here:

Piper: He is Real and He is a Rewarder

Posted: September 19, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Hebrews, September
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And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. —Hebrews 11:6 ESV

Here’s a sermon excerpt from John Piper:

Let’s put them into our own words. God is pleased by us when two things about him are reflected in our relation to him. One: that he is real; and the other: that he is rewarding.

Behind these two assertions about God are two great facts:

1. God exists absolutely. He did not come into being and will never go out of being. He is not becoming or growing or changing. He said, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). That is his name. He absolutely is. Therefore, he is pleased when this absolute existence is known and embraced. He is pleased when what he is is reflected in our lives.

2. Behind the assertion that God is rewarding is the fact that God is so full and so completely self-sufficient that he overflows. Rather than needing our service, he is like a never-ending Spring of life and energy and joy and beauty and goodness and power. Therefore it pleases God when we come to him in a way that affirms this and delights in it – when we come to him as a Rewarder.

Now the writer of Hebrews simply asserts that this is what faith does: faith comes to God with the confidence that he is, and faith comes with the confidence that God will be a generous Giver. He is not arguing that faith is this way because he finds it defined in the Old Testament stories. He is saying: given the absolute reality of God’s being and God’s fullness, this is what faith has to be. This is the end of the argument. This is the bottom of the reasoning.

We could say it like this: what pleases God is that our hearts and minds display God’s being and God’s beauty. That we display God’s existence and his excellence. That we display how real he is and how rewarding he is. This is what pleases God, and this is faith.

September 19 Hebrews 11:1-16

Posted: September 19, 2012 by Pam Larson in Bible Passages, Hebrews, September Bible Readings
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September 19 

Hebrews 11:1-16 (ESV)

By Faith

11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Piper: THe KEY to Joy

Posted: September 18, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Hebrews, September
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For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

John Piper, in a sermon, “The Present Power of a Future Possession”

keySo Hebrews 10:34 is saying that the key to the indomitable joy that releases love and good works and that embraces suffering with those who suffer is knowing that you have this better and abiding possession. “Knowing!” Here’s the key! You must have this confidence. It’s this deep confidence about your future that frees you from the fear and greed that kill love and make you into a cookie-cutter human who has to have security and safety and ease and comfort.

So where does that “knowing” come from? That confidence? The answer to that is what this whole book is written to supply. Our confidence comes from Christ – what he did perfectly on the cross and at the resurrection, what he is doing now for us in heaven and what he will do for us at the second coming and to all eternity. Christ is the one who destroyed the power of death (2:15). Christ is the High Priest who opens the way to the throne of grace (4:15-16). Christ is the one who ever lives to make intercession for us (7:25). Christ is the one whose blood cleanses our consciences (9:14), and obtained an eternal redemption (9:12). Christ’s death is the single sacrifice that perfects us for all time (10:14). Christ will make all his enemies a footstool for his feet (10:13). Christ will come again a second time to save all who are eagerly waiting for him. Christ is the mediator of a new and better covenant that insures the forgiveness of our sins, and the writing of the law on our hearts, and the presence of God in our midst forever and ever (8:6-11).

All that we ever hope for is owing to Christ. We receive it not by earning it or meriting it, but by banking on it. If we love it above all that earth offers, it is ours. So when verse 34 says that the key to indomitable joy in the face of suffering and earthly loss is “knowing that we have a better possession and an abiding one,” it means that we know this because of Christ. Christ is the seal and the guarantee of our hope in all the promises of God.

September 18 Hebrews 10:19-39

Posted: September 18, 2012 by Pam Larson in Bible Passages, Hebrews, September Bible Readings
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September 18 

Hebrews 10:19-39 (ESV)

The Full Assurance of Faith

19 Therefore, brothers, [1] since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For,

“Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
38 but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Christ has perfected once and for all those who are being perfected.

Posted: September 17, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Hebrews, September
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For by a single offering he has perfected for all time
those who are being sanctified. —Hebrews 10:14

We come to yet another passage of Scripture where we see the work of Christ in our lives as “already/not yet”

  • He HAS perfected those who are being perfected….
  • He HAS sanctified those who are being sanctified…

John Piper, in a sermon “Perfected for All Time by a Single Offering”

Now we come to our focus in verse 14: “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Turn your eyes upon Jesus here and see two things about Jesus that relate directly to your life today.

1. First notice that Christ has perfected his people, and it is already complete. “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” He “has” done it. And he has done it “for all time.” The perfecting of his people is complete and it is complete forever. Does this mean that Christians don’t sin? Don’t get sick? Don’t make mathematical errors in school? That we are already perfect in our behavior and attitudes?

There is one clear reason in this very verse for knowing that is not the case. What is it? It’s the last phrase. Who are the people that have been perfected for all time? It is those who “are being sanctified.” This is why the tense is so important. Now “those who are being sanctified” are not yet fully sanctified in the sense of committing no more sin. Otherwise they would not need to go on being sanctified. So here we have the shocking combination: the very people who “have been perfected” are the ones who “are being sanctified.” Besides, you can also remember from chapters 5 and 6, that these Christians he is writing to are anything but perfect. For example, in 5:11 he says, “You have become dull of hearing.” So we may safely say that “perfected” does not mean that we are sinlessly perfect in this life.

Well what does it mean? The answer is given in the next verses (15-18). The writer explains what he means by quoting Jeremiah again on the new covenant, namely, that in the new covenant which Christ has sealed now by his blood, there is total forgiveness for all our sins. Verses 17-18 “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” So he explains the present perfection in terms of forgiveness. Christ’s people are perfected now in the sense that God puts away all our sin (9:26), forgives them, and never brings them to mind again as a ground of condemnation. In this sense we stand before him perfect. When he looks on us he does not impute any of our sins against us, past, present or future. He does not count our sins against us.

2. Verse 14 tells us plainly: “By one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” So notice, secondly, for whom Christ has done this perfecting work on the cross. You can put it provocatively like this: Christ has perfected once and for all those who are being perfected. Or you could say (and the writer does say as much in verse 10): Christ has fully sanctified those who are now being sanctified. Or Christ has fully accomplished and guaranteed the holiness of those who are now being made holy.

What this means is that you can know that you stand perfect in the eyes of your heavenly Father if you are moving away from your present imperfection toward more and more holiness by faith in his future grace. Let me say that again, because it is full of encouragement for imperfect sinners like us, and full of motivation for holiness. This verse means that you can have assurance that you stand perfected and completed in the eyes of your heavenly Father not because you are perfect now, but precisely because you are not perfect now but are “being sanctified“, “being made holy”, that, by faith in God’s promises, you are moving away from your lingering imperfection toward more and more holiness. (See Hebrews 10:32-35; 11:24-26 etc. for examples of how faith in future grace sanctifies.)

September 17 Hebrews 10:1-18

Posted: September 17, 2012 by Pam Larson in Bible Passages, Hebrews, September Bible Readings
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September 17 

Hebrews 10:1-18 (ESV)

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10:1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Consequently, when Christ [1] came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ [2] had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”

17 then he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Why does the heavenly holy place need to be cleansed?

Posted: September 16, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Hebrews, September
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Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God FOR US.  Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,  for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,  so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. —Hebrews 9:23-28 

John Piper, in a sermon “What Christ Did at the End of the Age”

This is troubling at first and then tremendously comforting. It’s troubling because it raises the question why the heavenly holy place would need to be cleansed You see verse 23 says that the copies of heaven must be cleansed with the blood of animals, but “the heavenly things themselves [have to be cleansed] with better sacrifices.” Why is that? Is heaven defiled? Is there sin in heaven? Some have suggested that it’s because Satan has been there. Others have suggested that it’s because there are “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Maybe. But I think the most important thing to see is what verse 24 focuses on. Why did Christ enter [that heavenly] holy place with his better sacrifice the sacrifice of himself? It was “now to appear in the presence of God for us.” The words “for us” give the key to why there has to be cleansing in heaven. We are going to be there.

Here is a great comfort and encouragement to us. It is not complimentary. But it is wonderfully hope-giving. If you want to be made much of, rather than having the mercy of God made much of, you will not want to listen to this. But if you love the mercy of God and admit the misery of your own condition, you will love this. Verse 24 says that Christ enters the holy place of heaven with his better sacrifice “to appear in the presence of God for us.” This means that he will cleanse us there. We are what needs cleansing. And to the degree that we might defile heaven, Christ in that sense cleanses heaven.

Now listen to this. He is speaking to those of you (all of us, in our clear moments) who feel so dirty and so deeply bad that you would only pollute heaven if you got there. O how many people are kept away from Christ because of this! I pray that you will see what an invitation this is. This is God’s way of saying: “Come, you dirty ones. Come, you defiled, you deeply evil ones. Come, you who have soiled yourselves and who have been stained by others. Come to my heaven! For my Son is there. And he has not died in vain. He stands guard over my holy place, not to keep you out, but to make you clean so that you can be with me in perfect holiness forever. Come.

This is why he died. I did not send him to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners (Luke 5:32). Come.” Underline those words at the end of verse 24 “for us.” “Now to appear in the presence of God for us.”

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