Letter to the Hebrews Volume 175

 Sacrifices Pleasing to God Part 2

Hebrews 12:2-3 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. KJV

In these next two verses, the writer of Hebrews details two sacrfices that we believers in our Lord Jesus Christ can and should do in order to be pleasing to Him and the first is to be hospitable to strangers, as it is written here, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2) (KJV). This word tells us that we are to be hospitable even to those persons that we do not know at all, that is, to be cordial and polite, and friendly to people that we do not even know and people we don't even know what their intentions towards us may be. The main reason why our Lord Jesus Christ wants to see each of His son's and daughters do this is that He may send angels (from heaven) in human form for our good and benifit, just as our Lord Jesus Himself appeared to brother Abraham, as it is written, "And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:" (Genesis 18:1-3) (KJV). The natural desire of each human being (even those of us who belong to Christ) is to be 😩 wary, that is, to be marked by keen caution and watchful prudence when we encounter or interact with strangers because we do not know their intentions towards us. We must be aware that just as our Lord Jesus Christ sends heavenly 😇 angels to us for our good, our enemy the 👿 devil will also send satanic demons in our path to harm or hurt us, therefore, we must be vigilante in prayer always that we may be able to stand against the enimies attacks while at the same time we honor the Lord Jesus Christ' will for us in this matter. Here is what the JFB Commentary had to say of Hebrews 13:2, "To obviate the natural distrust felt of strangers, Paul says, an unknown guest may be better than he looks: he may be unexpectedly found to be as much a messenger of God for good, as the angels (whose name means messenger) are; nay more, if a Christian, he represents Christ Himself. There is a play on the same Greek word, Be not forgetful and unaware; let not the duty of hospitality to strangers escape you; for, by entertaining strangers, it has escaped the entertainers that they were entertaining angels. Not unconscious and forgetful of the duty, they have unconsciously brought on themselves the blessing."

Next the writer of Hebrews reminds those Hebrew converts to Christ back then and we converts to Christ today and of every era and generation since His death, burial, and resurrection that we who are freely able to serve and worship our Lord Jesus Christ should always be praying for those brothers and sisters in Christ who are being fiercely, fervently, ferociously persecuted for their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, as it is written here, "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body." (Hebrews 13:3) (KJV). As of today, those of us who live in the United States of America are not suffering under the same circumstances as or brothers and sisters who live in Algeria or Libya or China or Russia or Iraq or Iran or Kenya or Sudan or many other countries in the 🗺 world, therefore, we as members of Christ Body should do what we can to bring relief, release, and resolution to their sufferings (with our prayers and material goods) knowing that we too may someday suffer in our physical bodies for our faith in Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Corithians 12:26). This was particularly important for the writer of Hebrews to declare in his letter to the Hebrew Christians because he was bound and persecuted by the ⛮ enemies of the ➕ Cross of Christ and he had already thanked these believers for their help rendered to him back in Chapter 10 of this letter with these words remember, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance." (Hebrews 10:32-34) (KJV). Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of Hebrews 13:3, "The duty - to remember those that are in bonds and in adversity. (1.) God often orders it so that while some Christians and Churches are in adversity others enjoy peace and liberty. All are not called at the same time to resist unto blood. (2.) Those that are themselves at liberty must sympathize with those that are in bonds and adversity, as if they were bound with them in the same chain: they must fell the sufferings of their brethren. The reason of the duty: As being yourselves in the body; not only in the body natural, and so liable to the like sufferings, and you should sympathize with them now that others may sympathize with you when your time of trial comes; but in the same mystical body, under the same head, and if one member suffer all the rest suffer with it, 1 Corinthians 12:26. It would be unnatural in Christians not to bear each other's burdens."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…




 

Letter to the Hebrews Volume 174

 Sacrifices Pleasing to God Part 1

Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue. KJV

The writer of Hebrews now begins his conclusion of this great letter to the new Hebrew converts to Christ Jesus our Lord the Messiah from their many years following the law of Moses by exhorting, encouraging, and explaining to them what is pleasing behavior to our Father in Heaven from His adopted sons and daughters. The writer begins by telling them to let brotherly love continue amongst them and then begins to list those things which would demonstrate that brotherly love 😍 between them in action in the verses 2-19, this first verse is written as such, "Let brotherly love continue." (Hebrews 13:1) (KJV). The English phrase 'let brotherly love' is translated by the Greek word philadelphia pronounced exactly the same as our American city 🏙, meaning fraternal affection: - brotherly love (kindness), love of the brethren. The English word 'continue' is translated by the Greek word menō A primary verb meaning; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): - abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry. The writer begins this concluding Chapter of this letter with this exhortation because God the Holy Spirit knew that it would be highly likely that the love of many of the brethren and sisteren would wax cold just as I Lord Jesus Christ warned us would be the case during these last days, as it is written, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matthew 24:12-14) (KJV). Note: "Love to our fellow man is good and noble, but this love to all mankind must never cloud us into thinking we can trust all of mankind. We must always be aware that just as the Spirit of Christ works on the earth, the spirit of anti-christ is fully at work as well as the Apostle John warned us with these words, 'Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.' (1 John 4:1-3) (KJV), for there are many very nice and kind people that claim to belong to God/Jesus, but they are of the spirit of anti-christ, therefore, we who truly belong to our Lord Jesus Christ must cleave, cling, and call to one another with this very fraternal affection/brotherly and sisterly love for one another being energized to it to please our first love and our primary love being our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. If we love Christ, then we should love those whom Christ loves so dearly and if we trust our Lord Jesus Christ, then we should be able to trust one another, for love and trust always go hand in hand with God, Amen!"  

Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of Hebrews 13:1, "To brotherly love (Hebrews 13:1), by which he does not only mean a general affection to all men, as our brethren by nature, all made of the same blood, nor that more limited affection which is due to those who are of the same immediate parents, but that special and spiritual affection which ought to exist among the children of God. 1. It is here supposed that the Hebrews had this love one for another. Though, at this time, that nation was miserably divided and distracted among themselves, both about matters of religion and the civil state, yet there was true brotherly love left among those of them who believed on Christ; and this appeared in a very eminent manner presently after the shedding forth of the Holy Ghost, when they had all things common, and sold their possessions to make a general fund of subsistence to their brethren. The spirit of Christianity is a spirit of love. Faith works by love. The true religion is the strongest bond of friendship; if it be not so, it has its name for nothing. 2. This brotherly love was in danger of being lost, and that in a time of persecution, when it would be most necessary; it was in danger of being lost by those disputes that were among them concerning the respect they ought still to have to the ceremonies of the Mosaic law. Disputes about religion too often produce a decay of Christian affection; but this must be guarded against, and all proper means used to preserve brotherly love. Christians should always love and live as brethren, and the more they grow in devout affection to God their heavenly Father the more they will grow in love to one another for His sake." Here is what Albert Barnes had to say of Hebrews 13:1, "Implying that it now existed among them. The Apostle had no occasion to reprove them for the want of it, as he had in regard to some to whom he wrote, but he aims merely to impress on them the importance of this virtue, and to caution them against the danger of allowing it ever to be interrupted." Here is what F.B. Meyer had to say of Hebrews 13:1, "We may not like all the brethren, but there is something in each of them that Christ loves. Let us try to discover it, or love them for His sake. We can love people with our mind and think for them, or with our strength and serve them, even though the heart is somewhat reluctant."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…




 

Letter to the Hebrews Volume 173

 Believers, We must Listen to the Heavenly Voice

Hebrews 12:25-29 See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.  KJV

Jesus Christ our Lord came down from Heaven to speak to all of humanity. He spoke, of course, by the many Words recorded for us by the writers of the Gospel's and the other letters in the New Testament like this one that we are currently in (the letter to the Hebrews), but He spoke more than just with His Words, He showed all of humanity what a life pleasing to God the Father looked like as He walked among us (John 1:14) living a completely sinless life in word, thought, and deed. Because we now see that complete sinless perfection is the only human life that is acceptable to God the Father, then each and everyone of us should see our total incompetency, insufficiency, and inadequacy to meet the requirements of a Pure, Perfect, and Powerful God in Heaven. This light bulb moment should not make us fret or frown or fear, but it should make us listen to the One that came down from Heaven to speak to us and do for us what we could never ever do for ourselves. On this Easter Sunday, we should rejoice in very solemn gratitude for the love that was poured out of Christ Body through His shed Blood for you and me and for any sinner who will simply, solemnly, and sweetly just call on His Name. The writer of Hebrews is now reminding those new Hebrew converts to Christ back then and to we converts to Christ today and from every era and generation to listen to His Heavenly Voice and not turn from Him who is speaking to us always, as it is written, "See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:25-29) (KJV). The writer of Hebrews has already warned us way back at the very beginning of his letter to not turn away from Christ Jesus our Lord through unbelief, for it is unbelief that keeps us from hearing the truth as it did with many of the people who came out of Egypt during the Exodus, as it is written, "Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." (Hebrews 3:7-19) (KJV). What was the damming sin of those in the wilderness? Answer: Unbelief. The writer of Hebrews declared to the Hebrew converts from Judaism to Christianity back then that those in the wilderness whom God was displeased with during the Exodus were preached the same Gospel as we have been, yet they simply did not believe, as it is written, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." (Hebrews 4:1-2) (KJV).

Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of Hebrews 12:25-29, "The Apostle, having thus enlarged upon the argument to perseverance taken from the heavenly nature of the Gospel Church state, closes the Chapter by improving the argument in a manner suitable to the weight of it. See then that you refuse not Him that speaketh - that speaketh by His Blood; and not only speaketh after another manner than the blood of Abel spoke from the ground, but than God spoke by the angels, and by Moses spoke on Mount Sinai; then He spoke on earth, now He speaks from heaven. Here observe, 1. When God speaks to men in the most excellent manner He justly expects from them the most strict attention and regard. Now it is in the Gospel that God speaks to men in the most excellent manner. For, (1.) He now speaks from a higher and more glorious seat and throne, not from Mount Sinai, which was on this earth, but from heaven. (2.) He speaks now more immediately by His Inspired Word and by His Spirit, which are His witnesses. He speaks not now any new thing to men, but by His Spirit speaks the same Word home to the conscience. (3.) He speaks now more powerfully and effectually. Then indeed His voice shook the earth, but now, by introducing the Gospel state, He hath shaken not only the earth, but the heavens, - not only shaken the hills and mountains, or the spirits of men, or the civil state of the land of Canaan, to make room for His people, - not only shaken the world, as He then did, but He hath shaken the Church, that is, the Jewish nation, and shaken them in their Church-state, which was in Old Testament times a heaven upon earth; this their heavenly spiritual state He hath now shaken. It is by the Gospel from heaven that God shook to pieces the civil and ecclesiastical state of the Jewish nation, and introduced a new state of the Church, that cannot be removed, shall never be changed for any other on earth, but shall remain till it be made perfect in heaven. 2. When God speaks to men in the most excellent manner, the guilt of those who refuse Him is the greater, and their punishment will be more unavoidable and intolerable; there is no escaping, no bearing it. The different manner of God's dealing with men under the Gospel, in a way of grace, assures us that He will deal with the despisers of the Gospel after a different manner than He does with other men, in a way of judgment. The Glory of the Gospel, which should greatly recommend it to our regard, appears in these three things: - (1.) It was by the sound of the Gospel trumpet that the former dispensation and state of the Church of God were shaken and removed; and shall we despise that Voice of God that pulled down a Church and state of so long standing and of God's own building? (2.) It was by the sound of the Gospel trumpet that a new kingdom was erected for God in the world, which can never be so shaken as to be removed. This was a change made once for all; no other change shall take place till time shall be no more. We have now received a kingdom that cannot be moved, shall never be removed, never give way to any new dispensation. The Canon of Scripture is now perfected, the Spirit of Prophecy has ceased, the Mystery of God is finished, He has put His last hand to it. The Gospel Church may be made more large, more prosperous more purified from contracted pollution, but it shall never be altered for another dispensation; those who perish under the Gospel perish without remedy. And hence the Apostle justly concludes, [1.] How necessary it is for us to obtain grace from God, to serve Him acceptably: if we be not accepted of God under this dispensation, we shall never be accepted at all; and we lose all our labour in religion if we be not accepted of God. [2.] We cannot worship God acceptably, unless we worship Him with godly reverence and fear. As faith, so holy fear, is necessary to acceptable worship. [3.] It is only the grace of God that enables us to worship God in a right manner: nature cannot come up to it; it can produce neither that precious faith nor that holy fear that is necessary to acceptable worship. [4.] God is the same just and righteous God under the Gospel that He appeared to be under the law. Though He be our God in Christ, and now deals with us in a more kind and gracious way, yet He is in Himself a consuming fire; that is, a God of strict justice, who will avenge Himself on all the despisers of His grace, and upon all apostates. Under the Gospel, the Justice of God is displayed in a more awful manner, though not in so sensible a manner as under the law; for here we behold divine justice seizing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and making Him a propitiatory sacrifice, His soul and body an offering for sin, which is a display of justice far beyond what was seen and heard on Mount Sinai when the law was given."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…




 

Letter to the Hebrews Volume 172

 We Believers Belong to A Kingdom that Can't be Shaken Part 5

Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. KJV

All that the writer of Hebrews has declared to this point of the New Covenant being a better one void of terror, but replaced with delight and void of the fear that was felt at Mount Sinai (A mountain peak in the southern Sinai Peninsula (7,500 feet high); it is believed to be the peak on which Moses received the Ten Commandments), but replaced with confidence in approaching God, as it is written earlier by the writer of Hebrews with these words, "But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:6-13) (KJV). The confidence we now have in approaching God the Father is because of what God the Son (Jesus Christ) has done on the Cross @ Calvary by taking upon Himself all of my sins and your sins and paying the penalty for sin which is death, as it is written, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23) (KJV). He died once for my sins so that I would not have to die twice. The only thing we had to give back to God the Father for our sinful lives was our physical deaths, but more importantly than that was our eternal deaths, that is, our separation from Him forever. However, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ stepped into each and everyone of our places who have called upon His Name for forgiveness of our sins and brought us back to God the Father as His adopted sons and daughters, as it is written, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) (KJV).

Therefore, we see now that the writer of Hebrews has concluded his discourse on how we believers belong to a Kingdom that cannot be shaken because of our Mediator and Intercessor Jesus Christ our Lord, as it is written, "And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." (Hebrews 12:24) (KJV). The New Covenant is better only because of our Mediator and the sprinkling of His shed Blood upon us and over us and our sins daily, which is why we read in the Old Covenant of all the slaying of animals and their blood being spilled and sprinkled for the sins of the Hebrew people, for as it is written, "And for this cause He is the Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Hebrews 9:15-22) (KJV). Note: "As we draw nearer to Easter Sunday, this is why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is so very important to all of sinful humanity. Not because there are good people on the earth and bad people, but because we all are bad people (Romans 3:10) and we all need the sprinkling of the Blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ to wash us clean from our sins before a Pure, Perfect, and Powerful God in Heaven. The man or woman and boy or girl who has placed their trust in Jesus Christ and His finished work of redemption on Calvary has the 'Blood of Sprinkling' continuously applied to them to wash them clean from their sins as they walk in repentance and faith."

Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of Hebrews 12:24, "This is none of the least of many encouragements there are to perseverance in the Gospel state, since it is a state of communion with Christ the Mediator of the new covenant, and of communication of His blood, that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. [1.] The Gospel covenant is the new covenant, distinct from the covenant of works; and it is now under a new dispensation, distinct from that of the Old Testament. [2.] Christ is the Mediator of this new covenant; He is the middle person that goes between both parties, God and man, to bring them together in this covenant, to keep them together notwithstanding the sins of the people and God's displeasure against them for sin, to offer up our prayers to God, and to bring down the favours of God to us, to plead with God for us and to plead with us for God, and at length to bring God and His people together in heaven, and to be a Mediator of fruition between them for ever, they beholding and enjoying God in Christ and God beholding and blessing them in Christ. [3.] This covenant is ratified by the Blood of Christ sprinkled upon our consciences, as the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled upon the altar and the sacrifice. This Blood of Christ pacifies God and purifies the consciences of men. [4.] This is speaking blood, and it speaks better things than that of Abel. First, It speaks to God in behalf of sinners; it pleads not for vengeance, as the blood of Abel did on him who shed it, but for mercy. Secondly, To sinners, in the name of God. It speaks pardon to their sins, peace to their souls; and bespeaks their strictest obedience and highest love and thankfulness."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…




 

Letter to the Hebrews Volume 171

We Believers Belong to A Kingdom that Can't be Shaken Part 4

Hebrews 12:23 To the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,  KJV

In this next passage of Scripture, the writer of Hebrews declares how wonderfully diversified are those who are in the heavenly Jerusalem, as it is written by the Apostle John with these words, "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy Blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:9-10) (KJV). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a message of joining a club or organization or fraternity or secret society or any other such thing, but instead it is a message of hope to every sinful human being on planet earth regardless of color of skin or age or social status or any other thing humanity uses to divide and separate people into categories that are uselessly defamatory, derogatory, and demoralizing. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of unity and uniting any sinful soul to God by faith through grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, we find the writer of Hebrews declaring to us what this Heavenly Jerusalem will look like and who it is that's responsible for bringing them all together to Himself in One Body the Church with these words, "To the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect," (Hebrews 12:23) (KJV). The English phrase that begins this verse 'To the general assembly' is translated by the Greek word panēguris (used this one time in the New Testament) meaning a mass meeting, that is, (figuratively) universal companionship: - general assembly; it speaks of the host or myriad of angels and redeemed believers who are now in heaven praising and glorifying our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. When the writer of Hebrews declares 'and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven', he means those Hebrews who lived before Christ coming to the earth and dying for the sins of the world on the Cross who looked forward to His coming, their names were written in heaven when they believed in the coming Messiah, just as our names were written in heaven the moment we looked back at the Cross of Christ and believed, for all now are together in heaven praising the Messiah King Jesus Christ who redeemed each and every one of them, as it is written, "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is My son, even My firstborn:" (Exodus 4:22) (KJV) and also as it is written here, "Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." (James 1:18) (KJV). When the writer of Hebrews says, 'and to God the Judge of all', he clearly means to all humanity (even those atheist who don't believe He exist), for His Judgement is gracious to those who looked forward to Christ/the Messiah's coming and to us who have looked back at His Cross/Sacrificial Death for us and all of our sins and believed on Him, but to all the rest of humanity who have resisted, refused, or rejected all together that Jesus Christ is the only way to God the Father, as it is written, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6) (KJV), there remains nothing God the Father can do for them in eternity but to give them what it is they themselves wanted and that is to be separated from Him forever, as it is written here, "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:11-15) (KJV). Finally, when the writer of Hebrews writes, 'and to the spirits of just men made perfect', he means the souls of each of the true believers from pre-Calvary and post Calvary who are now in heaven made completely perfect before God the Father through the Blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ, as it is written, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:53-54) (KJV).

Here is what Alexander MacLaren had to say of Hebrews 12:23, "Now the word rendered ‘general assembly’ has a grander idea in it than that. It is the technical word employed in classic Greek for the festal meetings of a nation at their great games or other solemn occasions, and always carries in it the idea of joy as well as of society. And so here the writer would have us think of one part of that great city, the heavenly Jerusalem, as, if I may So say, the dwelling-place of a loftier race of creatures whose life is immortal and pure joy; and that we, even we, have some connection with them. In an earlier part of this letter we read that they are all ‘ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation.’ But here the ministration is not referred to, simply the fact of union and communion. I am not going to enter at any length upon that subject, concerning which we know but very little. But still it seems to me that our ordinary type of Christian belief loses a great deal because it gives so little heed to the numerous teachings of the New Testament in regard to the reality of the existence of such beings, and of the tie that unites them with lowly believers here. All the servants of the King are friends of one another. And howsoever many they may be, and howsoever high above us in present stature any may tower; and howsoever impossible it be for us to see the glancing and hear the winnowing of their silver wings, as they flash upon errands of obedience to Him, and rejoice to hearken to the voice of His word, there is joy in the true belief that the else waste places of the universe are filled with those who, in their loftiness, rejoice to bend to us, saying, ‘I am thy fellow servant, and of them which worship God.’ Brethren, we have a better face brightening the unseen than any angel face. But just because Jesus Christ fills the unseen for us, in Him we are united to all those of whom He is the Lord, and He is Lord of men as well as angels. So if the eyes of our hearts are opened, we, too, may see ‘the mountain full of chariots of fire and horses of fire round about’ the believing soul. And we, too, may come to the joyful assembly of the angels, whose joy is all the more poignant and deep when they, the elder brethren, see the prodigals return. But the second group of companions is probably the more important for us. ‘Ye are come,’ says the text, not only to the angelic beings that cluster round His throne in joyful harmony, but also ‘to the Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven.’ And, seeing that the names are in heaven, that means, evidently, men who themselves are here upon earth. I have not time to dwell upon the great ideas which are here contained in the designation of the community of believing souls; I only remind you that probably the word ‘church’ is not so much employed here in its distinct ecclesiastical sense (for there are no ecclesiastical phrases in the Epistle to the Hebrews), as with allusion to the assembly of the Israelites beneath Mount Sinai, the contrast with which colours the whole of the context. It means, therefore, in general, simply the assembly of the firstborn. Can there be more than one firstborn in a family? Yes! In this family there can, for it is a name here not pointing to a temporary order, but to dignity and prerogative. The firstborn had the right of inheritance; the firstborn was sanctified to the Lord; the firstborn, by his ‘primogeniture, was destined in the old system to be priest and king. All Israel collectively was regarded as the firstborn of the Lord. We, if our hearts are knit to Him who is preeminently firstborn amongst many brethren, obtain, by virtue of our union with Him, the rights and privileges, the obligations and responsibilities, of the eldest sons of the family of God. We inherit; we ought to be sanctified. It is for us, as the ‘first fruits of His creatures,’ to bring other men to Him, that through the Church the world may reach its goal, and creation may become that which God intended it to be. These firstborn have their names written in heaven - inscribed on the register of the great city. And to that great community, invisible like the other realities in my text, and not conterminous with any visible society such as the existing visible Church, all those belong and come who are knit together by faith in the one Lord. So, dear friends, it is for us to realise, in the midst, perhaps, of loneliness, the tie that knits us to every heart that finds in Jesus Christ what we do. In times when we seem to stand in a minority; in times when we are tormented by uncongenial surroundings; when we are tempted by lower society; when we are disposed to say, ‘I am alone, with none to lean upon,’ it does us good to think that, not only are there angels in heaven who may have charge concerning us, but that, all over the world, there are scattered brethren whose existence is a comfort, though we have never clasped their hands. Such, then, is the scene, and such is the society, in which we may all dwell. Christian men and women, do you make conscience of realizing all this by faith, by contemplation, by direct endeavors to pierce beyond the surface and shows of things to the realities that are unseen? See to it that you avail yourself of all the power, the peace, the blessing which will be yours in the degree in which your faith makes these the home and companions of your lives. How noble the lowest life may become, like some poor, rough sea-shell with a gnarled and dimly coloured, exterior, tossed about in the surge of a stormy sea, or anchored to a rock, but when opened all iridescent with rainbow sheen within, and bearing a pearl of great price! So, to outward seeming, my life may be rough and solitary and inconspicuous and sad, but, in inner reality, it may have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and have angels for its guardians, and all the firstborn for its brethren and companions."
 
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…




 

 

Letter to the Hebrews Volume 170

 We Believers Belong to A Kingdom that Can't be Shaken Part 3

Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, KJV

The writer of Hebrews in the last two verses reminded the Hebrew converts to Christ back then and informs all of us today and of every era and generation who have now been converted to Christ of how the Hebrew people during the time of the Old Covenant with God were never able to fulfill the requirements of the Law of God and that made them terrified to come into the presence of Jehovah/Adonai/Elohim on many occasions because they witnessed the Great Purity, Pureness, and Power of God when He spoke to them directly and it exposed their own personal weakness and powerlessness. However, now the writer of Hebrews declares to those new Hebrew/Jewish converts of how much better this New Covenant with YAWEH truly is because of the Blood of the Lamb (Christ Jesus our Lord) that has been poured out for each one of us to draw nigh/near to God the Father without ever fear or dread, as it is written here, "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels," (Hebrews 12:22) (KJV). The little English phrase 'ye are come unto' is translated by the Greek word proserchomai meaning to approach, that is, (literally) come near, visit, or (figuratively) worship, assent to: draw near. The English word 'Sion' is translated by the Greek word Siōn meaning Sion (that is, Tsijon), a hill of Jerusalem; figuratively the Church (militant or triumphant): - Sion. When the writer of Hebrews says, 'unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem', he speaks of the place in heaven that every born again believer in our Lord Jesus Christ is a new citizen of (even those of us who are still making our way to that city as pilgrims here on the earth). It is 'The City' that our Heavenly Father will bring down to the new heavens and earth that He will make after the conclusion of all things as they now are, as it is written by the Apostle John with these words, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Revelation 21:1-8) (KJV). The English phrase 'to an innumerable company' is translated by the Greek word murias it means a 'myriad', that is, too numerous to be counted or indefinite number; a whole lot or large amount. It means a lot of people who were filthy rotten sinners are now saints of God. John Wesley put it this way, "But ye - Who believe in Christ. Are come - The Apostle does not here speak of their coming to the Church Militant, but of that glorious privilege of New Testament believers, their communion with the Church Triumphant. But this is far more apparent to the eyes of celestial spirits than to ours which are yet veiled. St. Paul here shows an excellent knowledge of the heavenly economy, worthy of him who had been caught up into the third heaven. To mount Sion - A spiritual mountain. To the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem - All these glorious titles belong to the New Testament Church. And to an innumerable company - Including all that are afterwards mentioned."

Here is what Alexander MacLaren had to say of Hebrews 12:22, "‘Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.’ There are two points here which carry us back to the topography of the ancient sacred city. In the literal Jerusalem, Zion was the lofty Acropolis, at once fortress and site of the king’s palace, and round it clustered the dwellings of the city. The two symbols are thus closely connected, and present substantially the same idea, and perhaps it is pressing a figure too far to find a diversity of meaning in the separate parts of this closely connected whole. But still it seems to me that there is a substantial difference of aspect in the two clauses. The first thought, therefore, that I would suggest to you is this, that the life of a man who has truly laid hold of Jesus Christ, and so is living by faith, is on its inward side - that is, in deepest reality - a life passed in the dwelling of the great King. All through this letter, the writer is recurring to the thought of access to God, unimpeded and continual, as being the great gift which Jesus Christ has brought to us. And here he gathers it into the noblest symbol. There, lifted high above all the humbler roofs, flash the golden pinnacles of the great palace in which God Himself dwells. And we, toiling and moiling down here, surrounded by squalid circumstances, and annoyed by many cares, and limited by many narrownesses which we often find to be painful, and fighting with many sorrows, and seeming to ourselves to be, sometimes, homeless wanderers in a wilderness, may yet ever more ‘dwell in the house of the Lord, to behold His beauty and to inquire in His temple.’ The privilege has for its other side a duty; the duty has for its foundation a privilege. For if it be true that the real life of every believing soul is a life that never moves from the temple-palace where God is, and that its inmost secret and the spring of its vitality is communion with God, what shall we say of the sort of lives that most of us most often live? Is there any truth in such exalted metaphors as this in reference to us? Does it not sound far liker irony than truth to say of people whose days are so shuttlecocked about by trifling cares, and absorbed in fleeting objects, and wasted in the chase after perishable delights, that they ‘are come unto Mount Zion,’ and dwell in the presence of God? Is my ‘life hid with Christ in God’? There is no possibility of Death being your usher, to introduce you into the house of God not made with hands, unless faith has introduced you into it even whilst you tarry here, and unless your habitual direction of heart and mind towards Him keeps you ever more at least a waiter at His threshold, if you do not pass beyond. ‘I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of wickedness.’ My brother! do we so knit ourselves to Him, by heartfelt acceptance of the good news of His loving proximity to us which Jesus Christ .brings, as that indeed we have left earth and care and sin at the foot of the mount, with the asses and the servants, and have our faces set to the lofty sweetnesses of our ‘Father’s house’? ‘Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house,’ and no less blessed are they ‘in whose hearts are the ways’ that lead to it. Then let me remind you how Zion contrasts with Sinai, and thus suggests the thought that a true Christian life, based upon faith, has a communion with God which is darkened by no dread, nor disturbed by consciousness of unforgiven sin. We have set against each other the terrors of that theophany on Mount Sinai, attendant on, or rather precedent to, the giving of the law - the mountain wrapped in smoke; in the heart of the wreathing blackness the flashing fire; from out of the midst of it the long-drawn trumpet blasts, the proclamation of the coming of the King; and then. the voice which, divine as it was, froze the marrow of the hearers’ bones, that they entreated that no words like these should any more fall on their trembling ears. That is the one picture. The other shows us the mount where the King dwells, serene and peaceful, the clouds far below the horizon; the flashing fire changed into lambent light; the blast of the trumpet stilled; the dread voice changed into a voice ‘that speaketh better things’ than were heard amidst the granite cliffs of the wilderness. And so in vivid, picturesque form the writer gathers up the one great contrast between the revelation of which the message was law and its highest result the consciousness of sin and the shrinking that ensued, and the other of which the inmost heart is love, and the issue the attraction of hearts by the magnetism of its grace. The old fable of a mountain of loadstone which drew ships at sea to its cliffs is true of this Mount Zion, which is exalted above the mountains that it may draw hearts tossing on the restless sea of life to the’ fair havens’ beneath its sheltering height, There is no dread, though there is reverence, and no fear, though there is awe, in the approach of those who come through Jesus Christ, and live beneath the smile of their reconciled God and Father. ‘Ye are come unto Mount Zion,’ the dwelling-place of the living God, from whose lips there will still into the ears and the hearts of those who keep near Him, gracious words of consolation, so thrilling, so soothing, so enlightening, so searching, so encouraging, that they which hear them shall say, ‘Speak yet again, that I may be blessed.’

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…