THE CROSS OF CHRIST, PART ONE

THE WORD OF THE CROSS

The heart of Christianity is the Bible. The heart of the Bible is the Cross. The heart of the Cross is the heart of God. (James Smith)

The heart of God is a heart that is full of compassion for the one who is lost and living without hope. When we think about God’s concern for those living without Him, our minds go immediately to a verse of Scripture almost every Christian knows by heart:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Imagine the depths of love that compelled the Heavenly Father to offer His Son in atonement for our sin and guilt. The Cross is, at the same time, the most glorious and the most awful object ever seen by angels or men. 1 Corinthians 1:18 tells us what the Cross is all about:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The “message of the cross” isn’t found in any single verse of Scripture, but throughout the fullness of God’s Word. This is why so many Christians don’t really understand the true “message of the cross.” It’s simply because they’ve never really heard it. Modern preaching has so fragmented it that, at best, the average church-goer has only heard bits and pieces of the great “message of the cross.” Even at that, there isn’t a Christian anywhere in the world who doesn’t grasp the eternal significance of the Cross of Christ. They may not grasp it in its entirety, but what they do know has resulted in their salvation. Such is the awesome power of the Cross!

It is a sign that you are perishing if you cannot see the infinite wisdom and power of God on display in the Cross of Jesus Christ. God’s word concerning the Cross is God’s message of love and grace to us through the Cross.

Let’s look at God’s word concerning the Cross and what that great word means to us today.

1. Holiness and sin

One message of the Cross is God’s own opinion concerning holiness and sin; that is to say, the holiness of the Son of God who suffered on the Cross and the utter wickedness of sin for which He suffered. The true wickedness of sin is revealed in what Jesus said out it John 8:34—

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

What an awful thing sin is! It seduces you, tricks you into becoming your friend, then it never, ever lets you go. James, the earthly brother of Jesus, understood all about sin:

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:15)

Back to John 3, after stating bluntly that sinners are enslaved by sin, Jesus poses a question a few verses later:

Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? (John 8:46)

Jesus’ teaching on sin is plain: sin and slavery are inexorably linked. No human being can be free if they are not free from sin. The only free people are those who have placed their full faith and trust in Christ; who have broken the hold sin had on them.

However, Jesus Christ was completely sinless—He was guilty of no sin—for if He had slipped but a single time, He would not have been fit to be the Messiah; He would have been in the grip of sin. But our Lord knew what His mission was and He remained unfettered and out of sin’s grip.

Jesus Christ was holy, harmless, completely separate from sinners, even while living among them, revealing the invisible God to them. Thanks to the Cross of Christ, we are given a clear picture of our Heavenly Father’s love for sinful man. The holiness of God and the sinfulness of man collided on the Cross, in the Body of Jesus Christ. In the Cross, we see God at His best and man at his worst. Even while the vilest of sinners plotted to crucify Christ, our Lord bore their sins in His body.

But that is the only time holiness and sin have met together in one Person. The truth is, darkness cannot exist in the light. The unrenewed spirit of a man cannot have any fellowship with God on any level. The Word of the Cross is the word of victory because the holiness of Christ crushed the sinfulness of man.

2. Love and sacrifice

John 3:16 tells us that God gave His only son to save the lost. God gave His Son with no expectation that He would escape His death on the Cross. God the Father had no hope of saving sinful man apart from the awful death of His Son. Therefore, man has no hope of salvation without the Cross.

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

God loved us so much that He offered His Son’s life in exchange for the ours. Imagine that kind of love! And the Son of God, loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice Himself as an offering for us. Remember what Jesus taught:
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)

The message of the Cross is not only a message of holiness and sin, but also a message of love and sacrifice.

…Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:2)

Only God the Father could love us so much as to give His one and only Son over to the terrible death on the Cross to save them. Only God the Son could love us so much that even while we were still enslaved to sin; even while were were still His sworn enemies, He offered Himself as the prefect sacrifice for our souls.

As one scholar has observed:

The sufferings and sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the irrefutable proof and expression of the intensity of the love of God.

3. Righteousness and peace

There is aberrant theology that has been floating around since the days of the early church that teaches the redemption price offered by Christ was paid to Satan in order to free the souls of man. However, Satan has never had the right to any soul. In fact, we are told in Scripture that Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice to God. The Cross, then, contrasts the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man, stands for love and sacrifice, but it also makes possible peace with God through righteousness.

...and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:20)

The requirements of righteousness are infinite, and they are met only by the infinite value of the life and blood of Jesus Christ, who Himself is infinite.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13, 14)

Before Christ, everything stood between us and God and everything stood against us. The work of Christ took it all away! Every single thing that stopped us from approaching God, summed up in one word: unrighteousness, was taken to the Cross and removed from us as far as the east is from the west. Because our unrighteousness has been taken away and replaced by His righteousness, we are now completely free to approach God without any fear.

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. (Psalm 85:10)

On the Cross, righteousness and peace have met!

…by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:15, 16)

There was no other way to make peace between God and man except by way of the Cross. Only Christ’s righteousness could accomplish this. There is no other way for any human being to be at complete peace with God except through the Cross of Christ.

4. Salvation and power

When we began this study, we quoted Colossians 1:18. Refer briefly back to that verse:

For the message of the cross … is the power of God.

The Cross is a magnificent symbol of God’s power to save. All who believe in what was accomplished on the Cross and all who understand the message of the Cross, are conscious of the saving power of God.

In the Old Testament, during the Passover, the Israelites were safe only as long as they remained in a house whose door posts had been sprinkled by the blood of the lamb. Similarly, as Christians we are safe only as long as we live within the shadow of the blood-sprinkled Cross of Christ. At the Cross Jesus gave His life for ours, so we must lose our lives in that same Cross if we are to truly live for Him.

The word of the Cross is the word of salvation to all who believe. It’s the way to a new life in Jesus Christ. The Cross is God’s instrument by which any sinner may be made a new person. There is not a sinner anywhere in the world who is beyond the shadow of the Cross. Anywhere and everywhere to anyone is available the power of the Cross.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The only way to experience new life in Christ, is by way of the Cross. The Word of the Cross makes no sense to those who are already dying. But to those who are looking for hope and purpose and salvation, the Cross is the power of God.

SPIRITUAL GIFTS, PART 4

Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano. Awesome, but God’s power unleashed is greater!

THE GIFTS OF POWER

We call this group of spiritual gifts “the gifts of power,” but we need to remember that they function like all the other spiritual gifts. The “power” at work is God’s power, working through a believer.

This group of gifts includes the gift of faith, working of miracles, and gifts (plural) of healing. It is probably significant that faith is included in this group since it is fundamental to the operation of all the gifts, but especially to the gifts of power. The gift of faith is also the least spectacular of all the gifts.

1. The gift of faith

It should be pointed out that there is a world of difference between “faith” and the spiritual gift of faith. We are told that “faith” is absolutely essential if one is to serve the Lord:

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

No faith, no salvation! One of the foundational statements about the Christian life is this: the just shall live by faith. So at the outset, we know that all believers have a measure of faith. Interestingly, even that “ordinary faith” is a gift of God:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God… (Ephesians 2:8)

And yet, Paul makes it clear that there is a very special manifestation of the Holy Spirit involving a supernatural “injection” of faith.

This “gift of faith” is really a special quality of faith given to an individual during times of crisis or opportunity when they are endowed with a faith that is beyond what they may be used to. The Holy Spirit gives this individual a sort of divine, unshakable certainty that God’s promise to them—whatever it may be—will be fulfilled no matter what it looks like.

A truly classic example of this gift of faith is seen in the life of the prophet Elijah. In 1 Kings 18, there is an incident when, in the face of tremendous odds, Elijah went about his appointed task for the Lord with a strangely calm assurance that he would be triumphant. In fact, Elijah is so sure that sure things will work out in his favor, he actually mocked those who were against him. Finally, when it came time for the Lord manifest His presence, all Elijah did was pray a calm prayer, already knowing what would happen:

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” (1 Kings 18:36, 37)

Of course, we know the story. God’s power was manifested exactly as Elijah knew it would be.

The question may arise, “Maybe Elijah just had a lot of faith.” He certainly was a man of faith, but he also had his doubts; he didn’t have that special faith fall the time. In the very next chapter of 1 Kings, that special gift of faith seems to be completely absent in the prophet’s life.

It seems that Jesus was referring to this special gift of faith when He spoke these famous words in Matthew 17:20—

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

We don’t always have that kind of faith. In fact, most of the time we probably don’t. Jesus’ point was that just wee bit of that divine faith—which is part of God’s nature—injected into the soul of a believer can produce wonders.

2. Gifts of healing

It seems that ever since the birth of the Church, believers clamour for this supernatural ability. Often we want to be able to heal those who need healing out of a genuine sense of sympathy. Sometimes there are those who wish to heal the sick for other, less altruistic reasons.

One of the great misconceptions surrounding this supernatural ability to heal the sick is that one who has it always has it; that they can walk through any crowded hospital ward, any time, touching people, and healing them. It is historically provable that there were people in the early church that did possess the ability to heal the sick, but there is no evidence whatsoever that these individuals went around healing every sick person they came in contact with. In the days of the early church, as today, some people are healed, the vast majority are not.

Jesus was one who definitely possessed this gift in full measure. While He often healed the sick, and at the height of His ministry we are told that He “healed them all,” it should be noted that the “all” were those who were sick in a certain locality. Other times the Bible makes it clear that Jesus did not heal everybody. The manifestation of the gifts of healing in no way suggests the unlimited power to make all the sick well.

As we read the New Testament, particularly of the expansion of the Church, it seems this spiritual ability to heal the sick was very common. This seems to indicate that the gifts of healing served a purpose other than the obvious one. It seems to be connected to evangelistic or missionary activity, where such a demonstration of divine power would open a door for or draw attention to the Gospel as it was being preached. This remarkable demonstration of God’s power would serve to attest to the authenticity of the Gospel.

One final observation: we are discussing the gifts of healing, not the gift of healing. The use of the plural seems to indicate a variety of forms of this particular gift.

Is there a connection between the work of medicine and science and the gifts of healing? The short answer is NO. This is a very specific ability granted a believer whereby the power of God flows through him to the benefit of the Body of Christ. It is absurd to think that God would allow His Spirit to work through a godless doctor to affect the healing of someone. The gifts of healing have nothing to do with medical science, psychology, positive thinking, mind control or anything explainable.

There is a longer answer, however. All healing comes from the Lord. No man can heal another man any more than a farmer can make seed grow. Whether one is healed immediately as the result of the manifestation of God’s power or whether one is gradually healed through medicine and science after having been prayed for, it is still God at work and God should be glorified in either case.

3. Working of miracles

In the Greek, it’s not “the working of miracles,” but rather, “works of power.” The Greek word used is dunamis, which refers to the power of God. Jesus made a distinct promise to His disciples that they would be able to perform the same miracles that He had:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12)

Not long after that, He promised them this:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

And certainly did! Peter raised Dorcas back to life in Acts 9:40. Paul raised Eutychus back to life (Acts 20:10) and we are told this Acts 19:

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. (Acts 19:11—12)

We even read about the time Peter’s shadow worked a miracle (Acts 5:15)!

These are outstanding incidents we know about. This gift seemed to have been fairly common in the very early church, and it’s likely not all of its manifestations were this incredible. As with the gifts of healing, it’s the power of God working through a believer, not a native talent or ability on display.

That God gifts individuals with His gifts sometimes raises eyebrows. We are told that the gifts are given as God’s decides. Sometimes, we may wonder why a certain member of the church has been gifted with a certain gift but we were not. Samson is classic example of one who had been given a gift, probably this gift of working miracles, that never fails to raise eyebrows. Here was a man—a buffoon—who was a total failure in his most of his life, yet he consistently manifested God’s power. This helps us understand the importance of 1 Corinthians 13:1, 2—

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

In other words, we, like Samson, can be weak-willed, buffoon-like Christians and still manifest the gifts of the Spirit. This is a problem in the church today as much as it was a problem in the Corinthian church of Paul’s day. The solution is to exercise our spiritual gift or gifts, whatever they may be, for the love of God and the Body of Christ with the goal of glorifying Jesus Christ, not self.

NEHEMIAH, ANOTHER MAN OF PRAYER

Remnants of part of the walls of Jerusalem restored by Nehemiah,

Nehemiah was a man of prayer, but he wasn’t perfect. When God’s people began their Babylonian captivity, God’s Word to them through the prophets was that it would eventually come to an end; eventually they would be allowed to return to their land. Seventy years after the Captivity began, Cyrus, king of Persia, ended it. By royal decree throughout his empire, all Jews were permitted to return to Judah and rebuild their homes. However, while there were millions of Jews scattered throughout the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, very few wanted to leave and go back home. In fact, there were probably only 65,000 Jews who were obedient to God’s will and chose to go home. The vast majority chose to remain in Persia, where they had built their lives and were enjoying safety and prosperity. One of those who decided to say put was Nehemiah. Clearly, he was living outside of God’s will.

Having said that, we can understand why it would have been so difficult for Nehemiah and others to go back home. He was part of the generation that had been born in Persia; he had no connection whatsoever to Jerusalem. Nehemiah and those other captivity babies had never seen Solomon’s Temple. They may have heard the stories from their parents and grandparents, but the only world they knew was the world of Persia. Nehemiah had been born to educated, wealthy parents and he had a good job: he worked in the palace for the king! He was a high government official.

In spite of that, Nehemiah was not aloof from his people. Though he was outside of God’s will, Nehemiah still loved God and was faithful to Him as he lived and worked in the palace. Nehemiah was also empathic to the those who chose to go back home. There were a lot of problems with resettling in Judah and Jerusalem. Those who chose to go back encountered problem after problem, set back after set back. Nehemiah felt their pain and their burdens were his. God moved on Nehemiah’s heart and Nehemiah decided he needed to do something to help his people, and the very first thing he did was to pray. His prayer is magnificent and we may learn a lot about the nature of prayer as we study his.

1. Concern

Before Nehemiah prayed for the exiles and their return to Jerusalem, he was made aware of just how bad things were for them:

The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” (Nehemiah 1:1—3)

The picture Nehemiah’s brother painted of life in Jerusalem was not a pretty one. Things were tough and getting tougher. Now Nehemiah, hundreds of miles from Jerusalem, living in luxury, could have spoken any number of cliches when he heard the news. However, Nehemiah was a man of honor and this bad news moved him:

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven… (verse 4)

Nehemiah was so concerned about the plight of his people back in Jerusalem, he couldn’t work and he couldn’t eat. He fasted and prayed for days and days. It took a while, but Nehemiah got a heavy burden for his people.

This is a rare thing in the Church these days. We are very quick to take our needs to the Lord in prayer, as we should, but most of us rarely have a burden for a particular need or situation like Nehemiah had for those who went back to Jerusalem. Do you know what a “prayer burden” feels like? Don’t be ashamed if you don’t; not many Christians do. A “prayer burden” feels like a spiritual weight you can’t shake. It’s a heaviness of heart, a drag on one’s emotions, a spirit of mourning, or a feeling of restlessness that arises because you can’t seem to get your mind off a certain need. This comes directly from the Lord; it doesn’t originate in you or in your emotions. A burden of prayer is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work in a believer.

2. Intercession

Praying for the needs of others, or on behalf of others, is arguably the highest form of prayer. Paul stated the importance of the prayer of intercession like this:

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18)

Notice that serious prayers “for all the saints” are part of praying in the Spirit. What is praying in the Spirit? It’s a prayer that is prayed by the Holy Spirit through an individual. Like Nehemiah, we are not perfect. We don’t always have a lock on God’s will even though we are supposed pray for God’s will to be accomplished! Romans 8:26, 27 helps us understand what it is to pray in the Spirit:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Nehemiah began his prayer with a sense of reverence:

Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God… (verse 5a)

His was a prayer prayed with the understanding that God was far, far above the world He created. Nehemiah’s view of God was impressive and “awesome.” And yet, as huge and as mighty as God was, He wasn’t so far away as to miss one word of this prayer:

...let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying… (verse 6)

So, Nehemiah’s big and busy God was “attentive” and “open” enough to hear Nehemiah pray. This tells us that as far as Nehemiah was concerned, God may have been the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” and the “national God of Israel,” but He was still a personal God who listened to a persona prayer. This is a pretty significant attitude for an Israelite, living in Persia, to adopt. No formal, liturgical prayers for Nehemiah! He slaughtered no animal and made no offering.

That’s not to suggest this prayer was easy an easy prayer to pray.

...let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. (verse 6)

Notice three points. First, Nehemiah prayed “day and night.” In other words, this royal cupbearer didn’t just pray about this situation in the morning before he wen to work or at night before he drifted off to sleep. He literally prayed all the time as he went about his daily duties in and around the palace. He prayed not only from his lips but also from his heart. This is something the great apostle Paul would pick up on in his letter to the church at Thessalonica:

…pray continually… (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

This is a two word (or three word in the KJV) verse that should form the basis of the Christian lifestyle! A mature believer is one who “walks in prayer” all the time. It’s an attitude of prayer; it’s a burden of prayer that is always “in the back of your mind,” wherever you are, whatever you are doing.

The second point is that Nehemiah recognized Israel—all Israelites including himself—had sinned. Sin is something we don’t hear much about in church these days. It’s a very unpopular subject; it is not a topic that draws the crowds. Who wants to hear how bad they really are? The fact is, God wants you to admit how sinful you are; it’s important that when we approach God, we recognize His perfection and our sinful state. However, Nehemiah didn’t stay there, and neither should we:

Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’ (verses 8, 9)

The third point of Nehemiah’s prayer is an important point. He acknowledged God’s will concerning the Israelites and he acknowledged God’s promises concerning Israel. In Israel’s case, His will and His promises were two sides of the same coin. The nation had sinned and as God said would happen, they were exiled from their homeland. However, God promised that exile wouldn’t last forever; it would come to an end, and Nehemiah reminded God of that great promise. It’s important to remember God’s promises and to claim God’s promises concerning you.

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

It’s good to remind God of what He said; it can lead to salvation!

3. Submission

This prayer of Nehemiah’s was remarkable and it certainly got God’s attention. But Nehemiah was moved to pray about a particular situation. His prayer was not the end of his burden. He acted upon his prayer; his prayer led him to do something about those he was praying for:

Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man… (verse 11b)

What is this verse referring to? Who is the “this man” referred to? The last sentence of chapter one tells us:

I was cupbearer to the king.

In other words, Nehemiah was about to and speak to the king about the situation. He didn’t just pray about, he was going to do something about it by going right to the top on behalf of his people. The cupbearer will talk to king about how he may be able to help the Israelites who went home.

How many of us pray about something or pray for somebody but then leave it there? Now, sometimes we may not be able to do anything, but, sometimes was can. For example, have you ever prayed for the salvation of a family member or friend or co-worker? That’s a good prayer to pray, by the way. But have you ever approached them about the subject? Have you ever actually shared the Gospel with them?  It’s fine to pray for them, but there are times when “doing” is better than praying.

We all know what Jesus said in Matthew 9:38—

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

But a lot of us don’t what He said a few sentences later:

Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. (Matthew 10:6)

Our Lord said to pray and ask God to send missionaries out to save the lost, then He told those same people to go and do that very work! This is exactly what Nehemiah did:

…and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” (Nehemiah 2:5)

So our cupbearer asked his boss for a “leave of absence” to go and help his people rebuild their city. Nehemiah not only prayed but he did. He submitted to the will of God and went to a part of the answer to his prayer.

(c)  2012 WitzEnd

HEBREWS: THE FOUR WAYS, CONCLUSION

Real serenity. Not a worry in sight.

The Way of Submission and the Way of Peace, 13:17—21

Our letter writer is getting back the thought he began in verse 7:

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

The intervening verses, 8—16, may be considered parenthetical in that they are more or less doctrinal. With verse 17, the writer switches back to the practicalities of holiness. Christian leaders have a solemn responsibility to live a life that reflects the faith they preach. Eventually, these Christian leaders must give account to God, not only for themselves, but also for those under their care—the members of their church. The readers of this letter needed to keep this in mind, so as not to make their job any more difficult.

1. Submit to church leaders, verse 17

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

In addition to imitating the life of faith of the spiritual leaders who have passed, Christians are to “obey” and “submit” to their present spiritual leaders. In all likelihood, this admonition was given in response to a specific occasion or incident which was known to the writer. We know, for example, that some of these Hebrew believers had given up gathering together for corporate worship and that others were being influenced by false teaching. Their true Christian leaders needed the support and encouragement of their people now more than ever!

Some in our cynical society, and indeed some of the original readers of this letter, may wonder whether or not their pastoral leaders really had God’s authority or whether they had invented their own authority. It’s not uncommon for people to seek a career in the ministry because they, frankly, like the power it gives them. So, how do you know if your pastor or Sunday School teacher has Christ’s authority as they do their work? If a spiritual leader is genuinely committed and dedicated to the Word of God, both professionally and personally, the odds are very good that they preach and teach with Christ’s authority.

Why is it so important to respect the authority of your spiritual leaders? It’s because they have a responsibility to care for you, but also they will have to answer to God for your spiritual condition. Yes, leading the flock of God is a great privilege, but with that privilege comes a very heavy responsibility. The phrase “they keep watch over you” really means, “the keep watch for your souls.” What a powerful thought! A true spiritual leader knows well the word of the Lord to Ezekiel:

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. (Ezekiel 3:17—18)

J.B. Philips in his translation of Hebrews renders the last sentences of verse 17 like this:

Try to make their work a pleasure and not a burden—by so doing you will help not only them but yourselves.

The task of the pastor is heavy enough at the best of times. When members of his congregation engage in spiritual mutiny, his job is even harder. The fact is, as we honor and respect our spiritual leaders, we not only bring them a measure of joy, but we also help ourselves in the process.

However, our submission to our spiritual leaders must be predicated on their submission to God. A spiritual leader must be called of God to do the work of God in watching over the souls of his people. If he’s all about playing golf and taking vacations and feathering his own nest, he has no claim to the divine rights of his position. Sometimes we forget the the position of “clergyman” was not invented by the Church, it was established by God.

2. Pray for one another, verses 18, 19

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

These two highly personal verses are like the flip side of the coin. Preachers are not supermen. They need supernatural help to do their work. They need prayer. The man of God not only has a right to be obeyed by his people, but he also has needs. One of those needs is for the prayer support and the loving encouragement of his people.

As we read this verse, it’s almost pathetic. There is almost a sense that the writer, whoever it was, had a fear of rejection, or being taken the wrong way. It may well be that in addition to caring for the souls of his readers, he’s also combating scandalous accusations made against him by false teachers. But his conscious is absolutely clear; both his work and his conduct were in line with God’s Word.

It may seem strange that the writer of this letter—a mature, thoughtful, and obviously spiritual individual—should ask for prayer from those reading this letter—people who needed his help, people who were struggling in their faith. How odd it seems for the greater to be asking something of the lesser. However, there is a great lesson here for us. The idea that I, an average or maybe below average Christian, one who has his own lapses of faith and is riddled with doubt, should think it’s possible for me  pray for another seems like the height of presumption! Surely I am the one in need of prayer! That kind of thinking is probably more common than we think. When it comes to spiritual superiority and power in prayer, those things don’t rest in any particular individual but in God Himself! We do not pray and intercede for others out of our own spiritual resources, but out of God’s infinite grace administered through His Holy Spirit. The fact is, God has created us as individuals, yet bound together as the Body of Christ by His Spirit. And each one of us, members of one Body, while dependent on the other, also offer our own talents and abilities to the whole. When it comes to members of the Body of Christ, it’s never a matter of superiority or inferiority, but of working together in complete harmony. Paul comments on this:

…those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12:22—26)

This is why we are all called to pray for one another. Each of us has been created by God. We are different from each other; we are distinct from each other but each of us has a place in and a role to fulfill within the kingdom of God. We have a responsibility to each other and if we are unfaithful in carrying out that responsibility, it will go undone and somebody will suffer. It won’t be the one you should be responsible for because God’s grace will look after him. It will be you. If you are a lax or lazy Christian who is so self-centered you don’t realize your responsibilities as a member of the Body of Christ, you will miss out the best God wants for you.

The writer of this letter understood this, and in humility he is giving them a chance to be blessed by giving them the opportunity to pray for him.

3. The way of peace, verses 20, 21

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What a beautiful title: the God of peace! These verses form a benediction but it’s a deep thought in these two verses. Our God is a God of peace, and He makes that peace available to us all. That title brings a number of things to mind:

a. We live in a hostile world.

While Christians are called to “be in the world but not of the world,” we realize that the world is hostile toward God, the things of God, and to the people of God. The world exists to frustrate the purposes of God. Not only is the world in which we live hostile, but there is a spiritual world that is also hostile to the Christian. There is spiritual warfare going on all around us; we can’t see it but we may frequently see its results. But God’s peace transcends the upheavals of the world we see and that which we can’t. The peace of God has been called “the peace that passes understanding” because it sometimes doesn’t make any sense! How in the world can a person be at peace when their lives are so topsy turvy? In reality, that peace can be ours; that peace is available to any and all believers. If you don’t have it, it’s not God’s fault!

b. There are struggles in the church.

Yes, it’s unfortunate but true, but sometimes the atmosphere inside the church is just as toxic as it is outside the church! Imagine never finding relief from the stresses and struggles of the world because your church is a mess. There are churches like that and there are Christians who don’t know what unity and harmony looks like because their church is full of divisions and strife. For you unfortunate believers in that boat, the Bible has a word of advice for you:

… come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord… (2 Corinthians 6:17)

You may think you should “bloom where you’re planted,” but sometimes the best thing is to be uprooted and transplanted so you will flourish. Once again, if you get stressed out in your church, don’t blame God. You need get yourself in a position to receive His peace, and that might mean a new church.

c. Peace with God.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… (Romans 5:1)

Thanks to the work of Christ, we are no longer at war with God. The conflict between man and God is over! Those who have named Christ as Lord and Savior have found the peace of redemption and reconciliation with God. As we yield ourselves to God’s will and accept His forgiveness, we are immersed in a supernatural peace. We rejoice that God took the initiative in making peace with us and we are blessed as we open ourselves up to Him and receive it.

The writer’s benediction comes swiftly after asking to be remembered in prayer. It’s personal and to the point. He mentions his “short letter,” although if Hebrews is a short letter in his estimation, we’d hate to see what a long letter looks like! He mentions Timothy, which as led some scholars to thing the writer is Paul. He mentions Italy and God’s people living there. Then he wraps up his letter by wishing them God’s grace:

Grace be with you all. (verse 25)

Without question, God’s grace is man’s summum bonum. It is the greatest gift available to any human being: God’s grace.

(c)  2012  WitzEnd