Is religion a good thing or a bad thing?  Now there’s a question that cuts both ways.  Many people today would answer with some variation of: “It’s good for the individual but bad for society.”  That is, religious belief may offer significant psychological benefit, but when religious belief is forced on others it’s bad for society as a whole.

For many, Christianity has become sort of the opposite of the American Express card—whatever you do, leave home without it.  A generation or so ago, Christianity was much more prominent in our social landscape.  But in today’s post-Christian America, Christianity has become virtually synonymous with intolerance and oppression.  So much so that non-Christians lament the power that Christianity has tried to exert in the political and social worlds.  In a recent article by Frank Bruni, he affirms the right to religious liberty all the while asserting that such liberties should not extend beyond the doorsteps of the church:

“I respect people of faith. I salute the extraordinary works of compassion and social justice that many of them and many of their churches do. I acknowledge that we in the news media, because we tend to emphasize conflict and wrongdoing and hypocrisy, sometimes focus more on the shortcomings of religious institutions than on their positive contributions. And I support the right of people to believe what they do and say what they wish — in their pews, homes and hearts. But outside of those places? You must put up with me, just as I put up with you.” (Frank Bruni, “Your God and My Dignity: Religious Liberty, Bigotry, and Gays,” in The New York Times, January 10, 2015)

Now that Christians are collectively viewed as the problem, not the solution, it’s tempting to feel discouraged by this collision of values.  Christianity has sparked centuries of progress: think of all the art and charitable work inspired by Christianity over the years.  Yet today such advances are glossed over in favor of condescending reminders of Christianity’s darker expressions, namely the Crusades or the (selective) defense of slavery.

In a pivotal scene from Saving Private Ryan, a German tank is bearing down on Captain Miller’s (Tom Hanks) position.  Worn out, deprived of his primary weapon, he pulls out a pistol, and starts taking shots at the tank—with obviously no effect.  If you seek to live out your faith in today’s world, if you seek to share the good news of the gospel, then you may begin to feel a bit like Captain Miller vs. the tank.  Your every word returns ineffective, and in return you’re only further embattled by those who reduce your faith to a position of bigotry and intolerance.

As we’ve noted previously, the readers of Hebrews occupied a world dominated by the competing values of honor and shame.  In such a world, Christian faith was looked down upon.  So when the author of Hebrews issues a “warning” about the possibility of falling away from the faith, he does so also with the encouragement that yes, despite all appearances, their faith matters.

9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:9-12)

His message remains clear—if not repetitively so.  Endure.  Why?  Because while there are plenty who fall away, there are many more reasons to keep pursuing Godliness in an ungodly world.  We have the assurance that while our words may seem wasted on our friends and neighbors, God does not “overlook [our] work” or our “love…shown in his name” (v. 10).

If you’ve ever worked out—whether running, lifting weights, etc.—you know the physical feeling of resistance.  Resistance builds strength as your body works against it.   I discovered not long ago that as much as I enjoy running, I enjoy everything about it except the actual “running” part.  I love thinking about my next goal.  I love the feeling of accomplishment I get after.  But during an actual run, it’s hard to think of those things when you’re just trying to make it up another hill, or the next mile.  Spiritual resistance is like that.  We experience it.  We feel it.  But we also have the assurance that when we persevere God blesses our efforts.  And that’s an important distinction—that is, allowing God to bless our efforts rather than expect our efforts to “work” on their own.  After all, this whole section has been something of an interlude in a larger passage talking about the superiority of Jesus.  If our efforts have any impact at all, it’s not because of our greatness, but the power of the gospel.

Notice as well that we are encouraged to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (v. 12).  We need each other.  We need the church.  The impact we have won’t be a result of a spiritualized Lone Ranger routine.  We need a band of brothers and sisters, men and women to come along side us and share their stories, their frustrations, their successes, their failures—all so that we, too can be assured that the gospel has an impact larger than any one of us.  In short, we need to replace our idol of “efficiency”—that my efforts will routinely “work”—with the promise of “effectiveness”—that God will bless my efforts through His power.

In Saving Private Ryan, Miller’s pistol rounds do no damage to the exterior of the tank.  It’s only when an allied plane flies overhead and destroys the tank from above that Miller is spared from the tank.  If you’re feeling much like Captain Miller, armed with only your pistol against a raging culture, then you have two truths you can lift from the Hebrews passage above.

First, God has placed you with a whole team of friends and family who wish to share this journey with you.  You neglect your church family only to your own peril, and you nurture your church family only to your mutual benefit.

Second, try to hang on.  The battle isn’t over yet.  God’s promises will one day explode before you—before all of us—and reveal truth in a great firestorm of restorative justice.  And on that day we can confidently say that we, too, have had a part in the building of this great Kingdom, though only through the power of God working through us.

Just a few weeks ago the popular website The Gospel Coalition posted a quote to their Facebook page.  The quote was from pastor John MacArthur, who said: “If you could lose your salvation, you would.”  The quote sparked a firestorm of debate.  Some of the comments were firm, yet respectful.  Other commenters fell significantly short of loving.

It’s an important question, one whose responses could easily fill whole libraries.  And it’s also the sort of question that defies a middle ground—we must either answer “yes” or “no.”

Why should this matter?  For some, these sorts of questions might seem to only elicit the kinds of in-fighting that makes you wonder if Christians really have any love at all (!).  To be fair, it’s certainly true that well-meaning Christians can get in fights over points of theology.  If I ever needed proof that the devil is real, it’s that theology students can get in fights over the definition of “love” (no, seriously).  Yet the way we answer this question reveals our view of God’s character, and it also sheds light on personal situations we all may have witnessed.  Because surely you may have known someone who seemed such a strong believer—growing up in youth group, serving on missions trips, listening to worship albums, etc.—who now seems to have abandoned their faith as they’ve grown older.

The question is raised by today’s passage from Hebrews—a passage that appears as part of the larger warning expressed in Hebrews 5:11-6:14:

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.  (Hebrews 6:4-8)

Does this passage teach that a Christian can lose his or her standing with God?  Let’s explore both positions.

YES WE CAN

First, let’s admit that this is the most natural reading of the Hebrews text.  John Wesley—who strongly believed that losing one’s salvation was possible—called this a “plain relation of fact.”  The various descriptions used here seem hard to separate from someone who really, truly is a Christian.

Yet if we examine the text more closely we can see that while this might be the case, it’s not really a necessity.  The word “enlightened,” for example, has a range of meanings in both Jewish and Greek culture.  The Greeks might have associated it with their own mystery religions, while Jews would have understood it in light of God’s provision of light in the desert.  Other evidence suggests it might only have referred to Christian baptism.  So it’s hard to connect this word directly to Christian salvation.

But what about having “shared in the Holy Spirit?”  This seems perfectly clear: only a believer can share in God’s Spirit, right?  The Greek word (metochos) can indeed mean a direct connection, as it does in Hebrews 3:14 where believers are said to “share in Christ.”  But the same word is used elsewhere to refer to Jesus’ earliest followers—some of whom were fishermen by trade—working together on their boat (Luke 5:7).  So the word may refer to close intimacy, but it may equally be used to describe work associates.  In other words, there’s no conclusive evidence in this passage to indicate that the people referred to are, in fact, genuine Christians.

Further, Wayne Grudem notes that the image that follows in 6:7-8 seems to also indicate that these folks were less than true Christians, because they never bore actual spiritual “fruit:”

“When we recall the other metaphors in Scripture where good fruit is a sign of true spiritual life and fruitlessness is a sign of false believers…we already have an indication that the author is speaking of people whose most trustworthy evidence of their spiritual condition (the fruit they bear) is negative, suggesting that the author is talking about people who are not genuinely Christians.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 796)

NO WE CAN’T

Those who say “no we can’t” have approached this passage from several different perspectives, which we’ll address in reverse order of their popularity:

• The situation in Hebrews was historically unique. No one outside the first century culture can commit this type of sin—whatever it exactly was.  But the sin doesn’t seem terribly unique.  People wander from the faith all the time.  And besides, why should we assume this position when we assume other letters (such as Philippians, Colossians, etc.) do apply to us today?  It’s not surprising, then, that few hold this position today.

• It’s purely hypothetical. The writer of Hebrews must be saying: “This is what could happen in you could lose your salvation.”  This is a little better, but for one thing, that’s pushing your theology into the Bible, rather than letting the Bible speak for itself.  Further, if it’s merely hypothetical, it really takes away the force of this warning, does it not?

• Loss of rewards. The writer of Hebrews is referring to those whose loss of conviction leads to a loss of future, heavenly rewards, as well as the joy of fellowship here on earth.  This is a more popular position, but it’s hard to quite fit “rewards” into the passage as it stands.  Still, this view takes the warning quite seriously.

• They were never saved to begin with. This is the most popular view, one that simply says: “The people in view aren’t necessarily Christian, therefore if they ‘fall away’ from the faith it just proves they never really were Christians to begin with.”  This view harmonizes well with other scriptures, such as when John tells his readers that some “went out from us but were not of us” (1 John 2:19).  What sense might we make of the warning, then?  That our only true assurance of salvation is a lifetime of faith.

I personally take the latter view, though I’m sympathetic to those who see a “loss of rewards” here.  Wesley, of course, hated this idea, calling it “fallacious reasoning.”  And I must admit, if this passage in Hebrews was all we had, I might be inclined to agree with him.  But thankfully we can measure this passage against the entirety of scripture, where we find other passages that read:

• I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29)
• For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)
• he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 4:6)
• For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

I believe these passages clearly teach something called “eternal security.”  Does that mean I believe “once saved, always saved”?  The answer is a resounding “no.”  Why not?  Because I agree with the “always saved” part—I just disagree with the “once saved” part.  The term “saved” is a carryover from our revivalist heritage, particularly of the 19^th century.  In scripture, salvation is something that takes place over a person’s lifetime—beginning in justification (being declared righteous) but proceeding through sanctification (being made righteous) and culminating in glorification (being totally righteous).  God extends mercy to a variety of people—just think of the thief on the cross.  But the Hebrews warning seems to stress that our surest sign of salvation is a diligent, lifelong commitment of faith.

IMPOSSIBLE?

But wait, doesn’t the text say that restoration is “impossible?”  What do we make of that?  Even if you believe that salvation is something you can lose, you have to wrestle with a God that does not welcome his children back—and that’s a harsh warning indeed.  In his commentary on Hebrews, Peter T O’Brien writes:

“What is meant by this?  It does not imply that God does not have the power to bring back an apostate, since he is the one ‘for whom all things and through whom all things exist’ (2:10), and his word is able to shake the foundations of the universe (12:26).  But he may refuse to restore an apostate.  To say that it is ‘impossible’ for God to lie (6:18) does not suggest that he lacks the power to lie, but that he refuses to do so….By not restoring those who commit apostasy, God allows their firm decision to stand.  He does not force men and women against their obstinate resolve but allows them to terminate the relationship.”  (Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Hebrews, p. 225-6)

If this sort of thing makes you nervous, then the warning in Hebrews has had its effect.  I realize we can’t solve this difficult question in so short a space, but you may already be aware of the dangers of both extremes.  If you believe that yes, salvation can be lost, then you face the danger of judging others—particularly their outward behavior—under the guise of “inspecting their fruit.”  The end result can turn into a works-righteousness, which is ultimately the opposite of what Hebrews is trying to convey.  If you believe that no, salvation is forever, then you face the danger of taking your spiritual life too lightly, taking God’s mercy for granted, and treating salvation as a form of insurance to cover your behavior.

Both extremes are alien to the text of Scripture, and both are alien to the character and mercy of God.  One thing is for sure: we live in a world where it’s both easy and tempting to stifle our growth by abandoning our faith.  What Scripture is saying here is that your life—your character, your actions, your decisions—matter in the grand scheme of eternity.  What impact are you leaving?

A funny thing’s happened in recent years.  It seems as if people have shifted away from eating their food in favor of taking pictures of it.  Through the magic of the “smart phone,” we can take a snapshot of our meal and upload it to the social media platform of our choice.

Why?  Good question.  Among the reasons for the trend is the promise of receiving “likes” on your pictures—confirmation that your meal (or at least its digital likeness) caught the attention and envy of all your followers.

Technology isn’t a bad thing.  But some forms of it—or some uses of it—cater towards a form of expression without reflection.  And without reflection we stunt our ability to grow.  We’re left instead to find new and better forms of self-expression: How can I “edit” myself to fit in with others?  How can I manipulate you into liking me?  Psychologists tell us that “emotional maturity” is defined by the ability to give and receive love.  But in a culture of “likes,” our penchant for self-expression not only halts our forward progress; it shoves us back into emotional immaturity.  In an op-ed piece for The New York Times, Jonathan Franzen tells us that such forms of self-interest are ultimately counter-productive:

“…liking, in general, is commercial culture’s substitute for loving….But if you consider this in human terms, and you imagine a person defined by a desperation to be liked, what do you see? You see a person without integrity, without a center….If you dedicate your existence to being likable, however, and if you adopt whatever cool persona is necessary to make it happen, it suggests that you’ve despaired of being loved for who you really are….The simple fact of the matter is that trying to be perfectly likable is incompatible with loving relationships. Sooner or later, for example, you’re going to find yourself in a hideous, screaming fight, and you’ll hear coming out of your mouth things that you yourself don’t like at all, things that shatter your self-image as a fair, kind, cool, attractive, in-control, funny, likable person. Something realer than likability has come out in you, and suddenly you’re having an actual life.” (Jonathan Franzen, “Liking is for Cowards; Go for What Hurts,” in The New York Times, May 28, 2011)

 

In our series we’ve been emphasizing the ongoing need to “endure,” to hold fast to the gospel in a world that is open to spirituality in general yet hostile to Christianity in particular.  If you were with us last Sunday, we looked at two passages (4:14-5:10; 7:1-28) that illustrated Jesus’ superior ability to unite us with God—something no human priest could ever do.  Yet sandwiched between those two passages is another “warning” section.  At first it seems out of place—why interrupt his flow of thought like this?  But remember the genre: yes; Hebrews is a letter, but the letter contains content from a sermon or perhaps a collection of sermons.  Those who study ancient speeches note that many times speakers would vary their content like this just to keep their listeners’ attention (I guess this was before Power Point was invented).  By inserting this warning passage here, the author is reinforcing the need to keep going in a culture that mocked their beliefs.  So now the author of Hebrews turns his attention to the concern for spiritual growth:

 11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is fa child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:11-14)

What was happening?  Apparently the readers of Hebrews were guilty of measuring their growth by the surrounding culture—the ancient equivalent of finding their worth through Facebook “likes.”  Notice the metaphor he uses here: of milk and solid food.  The author is saying that spiritual development—like all human development—is about improvement and transformation.  Yet how is spirituality anything like food?  It’s simple, really.  With food we have only two real possibilities: we are nourished, or we starve.  There’s nothing in between.   Likewise, we either grow in Christian maturity, or the soul shrivels.  Our ability to love God and neighbor shrinks.  We slide backward into immaturity.

Yet I’m sad to report just how much contemporary Christian culture can serve as an enemy to this process.  In the late 90’s, Gary Burge wrote an article for Christianity Today called “The Greatest Story Never Read.”  He laments the loss of Biblical literacy across all age groups—particularly our nation’s youth.

“I have asked youth leaders whether their students were learning the content of the faith (solid theological categories) or the stories of the Bible (the chronology, the history, the characters, the lessons).  One remarked, “It is hard to find time.  But I can say that these kids are truly learning to love God.”  That is it in a nutshell.  Christian faith is not being built on the firm foundation of hard-won thoughts, ideas, history, or theology.  Spirituality is being built on private emotional attachment.” (Gary M. Burge, “The Greatest Story Never Read: Recovering Biblical Literacy in the Church, Christianity Today, August 9, 1999). 

The last line says it all: “private emotional attachment.”  Only a few years later social analysts would give this a slightly more descriptive (though elaborate) name: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.  That’s kind of a mouthful, but it’s really as simple as this: it means that I believe God exists, but he’s not terribly involved in my life other than to make me feel better when I’m down, teach me right from wrong and—if I obey well enough—make my dreams come true.

If this attitude truly characterizes today’s young Christians, it should come as no surprise that they would abandon their faith.  For some, it’s because Christianity failed to provide them with personal fulfillment.  For others, if God is here to make my dreams come true, then why not find some other way of making that happen?

So how do we respond to the warning here in Hebrews—or in our own backyards?  We could tighten our grip.  We could become more disciplined.  In many cases, a renewed focus on the text of Scripture could be a welcome remedy.  But we must be careful that we don’t replace a faulty view of God (he offers me fulfillment) with another (we must live up to his standards).

The writer of Hebrews writes this:

“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits.”  (Hebrews 6:1-3)

I’m sad to say I could find extremely few English translations that reflect the Greek grammar here.  A better translation would be to say: “let us…be carried on to maturity…”  Do you see the difference?  In the first translation (“…go on…”) it implies personal effort.  In the second translation, it implies something that happens.  Spiritual growth is something that happens not by me, but in me.  Growth isn’t a product of good works and sweat equity—it’s an incredible work of grace.

Yet let’s not take that to mean that you and I are wholly passive—just passengers along for the ride.  On the contrary; the writer emphasizes that as we grow in faith, God “permits” us to apply the gospel to every aspect of our lives.  It might not be too far a stretch to say that God does all the work, but we reap the results by responding in faith.

Getting “likes” on tonight’s dinner is no substitute for love.  Nourishing yourself with the feast of God’s word provides far greater satisfaction.  Personal expression is an unending quest for acceptance.  But personal transformation is an unfolding life of joy.

After mankind fell into sin and condemnation in the Garden of Eden, God, in grace, made a road back to himself. This plan and pathway would involve representatives who could appear before God only in very strict and precise ways. To violate such would be to bring down the just judgment of God.

This method involved blood payment as substitutionary sacrifice—it being ultimately (in the nation of Israel) accomplished on a particular day by one particular representative of the people. This was the role of the high priest. And all of this was a foreshadowing of the perfect sacrifice of Christ who brought all of the elements together in one person—the perfect sacrifice and perfect priest in one package… the son of God.

More details will come later in subsequent chapters, but the writer in chapter five begins to talk about the role of a high priest … looking back to Israel’s history in the Old Testament economy.

5:1 – Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.

The 12 tribes of Israel are named after the 12 sons of Israel (Jacob). Although there is no tribe of Joseph, as he received a double portion in his sons Ephraim and Manassas. And we recall that there is no tribe of Levi, at least not in terms of the acquisition of land and numbering of the 12. Rather, Levi’s family was to serve throughout the nation as spiritual leaders and priests. Moses was of the tribe of Levi, therefore also his brother Aaron—and the family of Aaron was selected by God to be appointed as the high priest. Thus there was always one from this lineage who had this role of particularly representing the nation, especially on the Day of Atonement, that we will discuss in great detail later in this series. So, God selected who was the one particular person who could come and represent the people before Him.

The priest, being a sinner himself, was able to “deal gently” because he understood the weaknesses of the people, having the same inherited problem. So he had to offer sacrifices also for himself. This is the point: the high priest who represented the people needed a high priest for himself, because he was a sinner as well!

All of this is to say that, though Aaron was rightly chosen by God and he did not set himself up, the system was inherently flawed. This introduces the following argument that a better priesthood was needed and that this is what Christ fulfilled.

5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”

6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Like all high priests, Jesus was called by God to the role; he did not set himself up for this. Quoting from Psalm 2, the writer says of Jesus as a priest that he was the son of God. Nothing like this had ever been true of any other priest, so Jesus was unique in this regard.

Specifically beyond that, the writer (in quoting Ps. 110) says that Jesus was of a category of priesthood that was not Levitical, but was rather of a higher order called that of Melchizedek (Jesus was of the tribe of Judah, and all of this gets greater detail in chapter seven.).

But just because Jesus was of a higher order, and though he was perfect and thus qualified as the perfect sacrifice and priest, this did not mean he could not sympathize with those whom he represented. Like all mankind, he suffered the weakness of the human condition, yet did so without sin. He learned obedience, meaning he submitted in obedience to the Father to the point of death, carrying the sins of the world through his work on the cross.

So in looking to Jesus as our mediator with God, he embodied the best of all worlds. He is the superior high priest who is able to understand our weaknesses and needs, and is qualified and able to perfectly represent us before God in a way no other priest could.

So don’t throw away confident faith in such a prefect and great resource. And the warning against such immediately follows in chapter six, before the writer returns to greater details about how Christ is the ultimate high priest as was merely prefigured in the Old Testament system.

The application for us today is to know and trust that we are never cut off from God. We have perfect access to Him through Christ Jesus.

My son Benjamin and I have an old 1990 Chevy pickup truck that is … well … very old. I gave up on it years ago, but Ben has a sort of romantic attachment to it as his first truck and simply could not let it go. The truck has been sitting around for a couple of years, used very little; and now Ben has decided he wants to get it going and put historic plates on it.

There was one big problem recently though, and it was something to do with the steering mechanism. So he took it upon himself to try to fix it himself by reading and listening to an instructional video on what I heard as “a notoriously difficult problem in Chevy trucks.” After a while, he had the steering wheel off and the entire column disassembled to get down into the very inner workings to replace a part that was broken. Then there was the challenge of putting it all back together in proper order! It is still a work in process, but the end is in sight … we hope.

When something goes wrong, be it mechanical, or with a computer, or even with the workings of the human body, it is often necessary to dig down inside, taking it apart by the use of tools and devices to expose the inner problem. It can be complicated.

But those illustrations are all material and of the physical world. What tool or device can be used to probe into the immaterial realm … into the metaphysical world of the soul and the spirit? What truly can expose the true nature of thoughts, desires, passions or spiritual values and realities?

There is only one thing able to do this. It is God’s eternal word.

Hebrews 4:12-13

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Within the warning passage given to the Hebrews here in chapter four, they are reminded that it is serious business to not trust truly in God and prioritize his values. And there is wisdom in that for us in 2015 as well.

The picture in this passage is twofold: the word is able to penetrate to the very heart and core of things, and it also opens to the light – particularly the eyes of God – the true nature of what lies in the center of the human heart.

Verse 12 list three pictures as to how accurately penetrating is the truth of the word. Each item is something that is unimaginable in terms of how two things could ever be divided.

What is the difference between the soul and the spirit – two components of the immaterial part of man? The soul is usually defined as the intellect, the emotions and the will … but how do we talk about them apart from the spirit of man – that which is the essence of life and relationship with God?

Likewise, the dividing of joints and marrow. In modern science, these are certainly distinct. But the idea here is to not be anatomical or physiological, but rather to picture that which goes together on the inside as a unified working mechanism of the body.

And finally, how are thoughts and intents to be surely divided? The Scriptures elsewhere speak of the deceptive nature of the heart – that it can fool even an individual himself, who can be sincerely wrong about the genuine nature of a thought or intent that underlies an action.

And then verse 13 speaks of how the divisions and surgery that takes place at the deepest levels lay open – literally “naked” is the term in the Greek language – the true underlying realities at the core of the heart. It opens one fully to God to be judged for what it really is.

There is no way around seeing and understanding this passage in a very sobering way. I often wonder how people who read such a clear statement as this, and yet don’t prioritize and value their connection and relationship with God due to other values of life, can find any comfort or peace in this life. Even if you can fool others, there is no possibility of deceiving God.

Yet at the same time there is encouragement in this passage. For those who do value God, and who in spite of human frailty in this world strive toward genuine faith and love for the Lord and genuine service to others, there is comfort in knowing that one’s labors are not in vain. And the writer will specify this thought a bit later, saying in 6:10 …

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

That is a good truth to know, especially when you know truly of your genuine heart in serving God and others. Though that may be misunderstood by others, God is the good and just ultimate judge.

The crazy weather of recent weeks that caused us to cancel church last Sunday has me taking a bit of a different order of writing these devotionals than the original plan I set out for Chris and me to follow. I try not to just repeat what was done in the Sunday sermon corresponding to a particular passage as it comes up in this online resource. Chris and I attempt to not just remind you as to how it fits into the flow of our overall study, but to also include some other material and angles.

But with Sunday being cancelled, I have been sharing with you over the past couple of days what you would have heard if we were able to have met together.

Our topic was to speak of how Christ meets and provides the true contentment of the heart. To know him and be restored to relationship with him is the goal and outcome of it all. This is satisfaction that fulfills.

So how does this come about?  I was to mention three points of instruction on how to endure in the faith – from chapters 3 and 4 of Hebrews. Here are the points:

Tools for Endurance

What to do – Fix your eyes and thoughts on Jesus – the Son of God (3:1-6)

What not to do – Follow the foolish example of those who lacked faith (3:7-19)

How to do it – Obey God through the resource of His Word (4:9-13)

So this past Sunday I was going to skip the early portion of chapter 4 and close with the big idea that it leads to in verses 9-13. I will write on the earlier portion of chapter 4 on Monday, but let me first continue the final of the three points from last week.

Here is the passage from Hebrews 4:9-13…

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Chapter 4 talks about a rest for the people of God, and this is the goal toward which we strive in life. We experience it in fractional form in the peace of Christ that sufficiently rules and reigns in our hearts and lives as we yield to him in spite of the circumstances of this life, and we realize it in its ultimate reward eternally.

We all like to rest, especially after a period of labor. I’m writing this in my easy chair at home, having spent too much of my day shoveling snow!!

The ironic truth is that entering into God’s rest does not come from taking a break from work but rather from working hard. It calls for full seriousness and intensity of application on the part of those who wish to enter into its enjoyment. And so our need is to strive for it like the Apostle Paul, to stretch out for what lies ahead and press toward the goal of God’s heavenly rest (Phil. 3:13ff).

But we are not left to struggle alone or in ignorance with no resources. We have the incredible gift of the Word of God – which is so effective as to cut between the thoughts and intents of the heart. Can you do that? About others? NO!  About yourself? Not even there with certainty – I am often second-guessing my actions and decisions, checking and double-checking to see that they are sourced in God and not some selfish desire or idea.

So, fix your mind on Christ, don’t be foolish like those who lack faith, and use the resource of God’s Word. This provides long-tern endurance in the faith. And when we do these things, we find that our true heart’s home is only ever going to be found in Jesus.

One of the baffling features of human nature is how so many people can see and have experiences living around the foolish choices in the lives of others, but rather than learn from it, they go out and do the very same things. That is just being stupid. And to quote Forrest Gump: “Stupid is as stupid does.”

As we wrote yesterday about the entire background of the book of Hebrews, these Christians from a Jewish background were on the cusp of doing something very stupid – of walking back to that system from which they had previously departed.

We finished yesterday by giving the first of three points that would have been in last week’s snowed-out sermon. It was to say to those contemplating giving up the faith (and by application to us), here is what to do – Fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Son of God.

So today, as a contrastive second point, here is what not to do: Don’t follow the foolish example of those who displayed a lack of faith. Of course, the writer was talking about their Jewish ancestors who comprised the generation that came out of Egypt 1500+ years earlier under the leadership of Moses and God’s miraculous deliverance.

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’  11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 

15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

On one hand we can sort of understand the small-minded nature of the roughly two million people who comprised the nation of Israel at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. They had been slaves for over 400 years – think of that as comparable to the period of time from Jamestown/Plymouth Rock until now. They were a defeated and oppressed people.

But on the other hand, consider what they had seen happen. They witnessed the powerful hand of God in the plagues brought upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians that resulted in securing their release. After that they saw the waters of the sea open, the army of Egypt swept away, the cloud by day and the pillar by night, manna falling from the sky and water out of a rock … among other things. Clearly God was with them. They were unconquerable.

As they approached the Promised Land at Kadesh-Barnea and sent the spies into the land, the nation (apart from Moses, Joshua and Caleb) failed to act in faith upon what they had seen. Instead of going forward into the good land of God’s promise (called also in this passage “entering God’s rest” – more on that in future writings), they were ready to go back to Egypt.

Get the theme? Going back … to Egypt … and then, for the Hebrews, to the old system of faith. There is only one word for that:  Stupid!

And so it is for you when you have had Christ’s truth come to your life – you’ve understood the Gospel – you’ve begun to walk in it – you’ve seen the good that comes of it – but some troubles come your way and God doesn’t seem to be riding shotgun when you need him – so you head back to your own personal Egypt!  You know what that is?  That’s being stupid … you’re going to end up being a slave again – a slave to sin and the stuff that is never going to survive this fallen world.

And the passage today contains as well some practical advice: to encourage one another “daily, while it is today.”

There is an endless and ongoing need for encouragers in the body of Christ. If we all commit to this with each other and do it for others, we’ll find joy in helping and resources for our own needs when we face the inevitable discouragements of life. Some days you’re the giver, other days you’re the receiver.

Being an encourager and remaining faithful is being smart. Giving up and going back from trusting God is, in a word, stupid.

In our first seven readings and devotionals of this series, Chris has gotten us off to a great start. The passages he covered in the first two chapters of Hebrews were related to his sermon theme of week #1.

Now, as we turn into chapters three and four, I will be sharing with you over the next seven writings about this material – most of which was going to be included in my sermon this past Sunday that got snowed out!

Let us recall again the critical necessity of understanding the background of this letter. The original audience receiving this writing were first century followers of Christ, and they were now out of step with their Jewish brothers and background, as well as with the Roman authoritarian world.  Life was easier before they got into this “Jesus following” thing.  After all, it now involved a lot of faith. In Judaism there was a real temple with a real priest … and all of that was at least tolerated by the Romans.  The Jesus thing was leading to such hatred and conflict as to incite real persecution.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what may have caused this hostile condition, but it may have been the events of 49 A.D., when it was written in an ancient historical account that “Claudius expelled the Jews because “they were constantly indulging in riots at the instigation of Chrestus.”  Perhaps it was the preaching of Jesus in synagogues may have led to disorder … Romans hated disorder … the Christian Hebrews were blamed, abused and forsaken … many may have lost homes and been persecuted in various ways (all of which is hinted at later in the letter).

So for these early Christians, there was an ever-widening gap between the promises of God and their fulfillment. And that is exactly what a lot of people are feeling today, especially newer and younger Christians who have to function more actively in a very hostile and secular world.

And so it is that the book of Hebrews holds, I believe, a tremendously practical message for a time such as we live in (and may increasingly live in) where we are totally out of step with the rest of the culture around us.  And we are out of step as well to the extent of being even hated by that culture.

The writer’s admonition throughout is to tell his readers to “hang in there” … to look to Jesus and run to him as the greater answer to their life circumstances. And in the process the writer is pulling the readers to understand just exactly how great Jesus is. The early chapters of Hebrews contain one of the great teachings of the Bible on who Jesus is. Up to this point it has talked about how Jesus was greater than the angels, and that’s pretty awesome, because angels are very, very cool. But, they’re just God’s messengers and servants.

Today in chapter three the writer turns to describe how Jesus is greater than Moses – the #1 hero of the Jewish people. And it was a big deal to say that anyone was greater than Moses. In Exodus 33:11 it says that “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.”  (Don’t miss our children’s musical program on the 22nd that I’m putting together. There is a song on Moses that I am actually singing – rapping even! – with the kids, and it repeats this “friend” idea over and over in the song.)

We could maybe think of it this way, Jacob as the father of the Jewish people was sort of like George Washington; and Moses, who led the people out of Egyptian slavery and to the gates of the Promised Land, was kind of like Abraham Lincoln. So, to say that Jesus was better than Moses was really a big, big, deal. And that is what the writer does:

3:1 – Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

Notice that the readers are called “brothers and sisters who share in the heavenly calling.”  These folks were true believers – secure in Christ (there is nothing here or anywhere in Hebrews that teaches any sort of works toward earning salvation or losing genuine salvation by throwing it away. Rather, it is all about how to be faithful in the salvation one possesses without throwing away its rewards and benefits).

The writer tells them to fix their mind, their thoughts, their eyes on Jesus. Why? Well, let me ask you this – why are you not supposed to text message on your phone while you are driving?  If you crash while doing so, is it the road’s fault?  Is it a lack of signs and directions?  No, it is because you took your eyes and attention off where they should be fixed! Do you think that might have any application to your spiritual life? What are the root causes of spiritual failures?  Is it because the Scriptures aren’t clear? Not at all; it is because we don’t look to Jesus.

Jesus is called the apostle and high priest – the one who brought the message of truth with authority, and the one who is the high priest. This latter concept is going to get several chapters written about it later in the book. The high priest was a big deal to the Jews, and the writer would prove that Jesus is the ultimate high priest.

Jesus was faithful like Moses, thus bringing Moses into the equation. Moses, the father of the very system of worship they were thinking of going back to!

But why do that? The author argues that Jesus is greater than Moses. How? In a variety of ways as pointed out in these verses – which are not to degrade Moses, but to exalt Christ as unbeatable …

• Moses was a temporary servant, whereas Christ is the eternal
• Moses was a witness, whereas Christ is the revelation itself.
• Moses was a faithful steward in the house, whereas Christ is its owner.
• Moses loved God, but Jesus IS God.

The implication is plain. To forsake the way of Christ for the way of Moses is to go from the greater to the lesser. It is to abandon the permanent in favor of the temporary. It is to reject the fulfillment and accept the foreshadow.

Why would anyone want to do something so stupid as that? That is a timeless question! Why would anyone walk away from the only thing that fills the heart with contentment?

Fix your attention on Jesus; that is the thing to do. (And that is point one of three – come back tomorrow for point two.)