Author: missionspaul

I know a person who once walked with God, they spoke of Christ, they encouraged others to be filled with the Holy Spirit, though never perfect and they did sin, they were seen as a very spiritual person. The person was in Bible College. They ministered in churches and brought blessing to many because they submitted to the divine power moving through their life.

Today they have rejected everything they stood for and everything they proclaimed. It is as if they are a complete different person.

It would appear that for the Pastor writing to the community of believers they are aware that some have left. Despite the encouragement of the community to spur one another on in love and good deeds; despite making sure that each one of them were holding on to what they have believed and confessed: some have decided to reject the Christian life and return to Judaism.

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10 v 26-31)

This is not those of us who continue to lapse into sinful ways but it those who purposely reject Christ and they reject His death and resurrection. They once accepted it but now no longer believe, they have walked away from community, they are like the person I describe above.

The result is because there is no other substitutionary sacrifice; there is no other place other than the cross to go to; there is no other person other than Jesus Christ then all that is left to wait for is their judgment. Their actions are an insult to the ‘Spirit of grace’. Remember the words of Jesus regarding the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3)?

The author is adamant. If we turn away from all that God is, has done and offers to us then it is to turn into something that is ‘a dreadful thing’.

Use these words and warn those who are on the edge who are thinking of abandoning the faith and turning to other religions or none.

It is an appropriate title for a Sunday don’t you think?

In calling us to draw near with boldness the author gives 3 instructions that will enable us to do just that. We have seen the first 2.

1. Make sure you we are all holding on to what we have believed and confessed.
2. Make sure we are all living a life of Agape
3. Make sure you get people to Church meetings!

“ … not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10 v 25)

A survey published only 5 years ago said that out of the then population of 61 million people in the UK, 35 million were Christian. Isn’t that amazing?!!

However out of the 35 million Christians only 9 million went to Church!

Do you ever wonder why people have stopped attending Church?

How sad it is when Churches have declined because people stopped going there.

“Personalities united can contain more of God and sustain the force of his greater presence better than scattered individuals.” Dallas Willard wisely said.

Transformation requires community. It is how and why we were created. But also hearing God, guidance, healing, His glory is better seen in community.

There are many in prisons of persecution today who would view it an anathema that there are 26 million Christians in the UK who are not in a construction called the Church.

It would appear that these 1^st century Christians were beginning to miss from the church gatherings. We don’t know why but maybe they were under pressure from people not to attend. Was this the daily meetings (can you imagine that commitment?) or was it now the Sunday gatherings? Whatever it was the Pastor was calling the people to make sure they encourage one another to not give up attending.

Is there someone you can encourage with this today?

Agape love. The pinnacle and the foundation of everything. Without it nothing makes sense. This is not a feeling towards the person you are loving but it is a strong commitment that will not let go until that person understands, receives and prospers from the purpose of your love. It is the highest form, of sacrificial commitment love. The cross is how God demonstrated Agape to the world.

In calling us to draw near with boldness the author gives 3 more instructions that will enable us to do just that.

Make sure you we are all holding on to what we have believed and confessed.

Secondly, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10 v 24)

2. Make sure we are all living a life of Agape

Keep an eye on one another. That’s what is needed then and now. Not negatively, not with a critical eye highlighting failings, but to spur each other on. This is not that the pastor is teaching the church to love and to do good. But rather we all are encouraging one another. Love will not just happen we have to work at it, we have to stand for it and defend it. This agape is the highest form of love. It is the agape that God has for us and the expectation that we should have for each other. We love each other how God loves us. It isn’t easy. That is why we need to think of ways to spur each other on. People can be difficult. However agape isn’t based on what we get back in return. We show kindness, speak kindness, respond kindly, we agape every person we come into contact with. Why? Because He first showed agape to us.

How is it seen? Through good works. Agape is seen through acts of kindness. Not holding back but freely, generously, sacrificially helping, blessing and honouring others above yourself.

In calling us to draw near with boldness the author now gives 3 more instructions that will enable us to do just that. Here is the first one.

Don’t let go of what you have believed and confessed.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10 v 23)

Here we have another ‘let us’. Not only should we draw near but now ‘let us hold’.

Find someone. A helper, a friend, do not struggle alone. This is a call which clearly shows that the author wants the whole of the community to do this. Do not idly sit back and let someone’s faith to waiver. Don’t watch people walk from your community. Speak up.

If there is one major threat upon the Church it is that they choose not to lean as much upon Christ.  Maybe through disappointment or failure and discouragement or perhaps through temptation of wanting what others seem to have there can be a tendency for our faith in Christ to take a back seat. Community prevents this. Community encourages us to not move from our position, we hold fast to our confession of hope in Jesus Christ. We do it because He has given us promises and He is faithful in delivering on those promises!

Who can you help today to hold on?

Like these believers there are many reasons why at times we feel we cannot come to God confidently. This community seemed to have lost or were in danger of losing their close relationship with Jesus. They were facing pressure to return to their culture of Jewish duty. Like us they could blame many reasons for this. Today we face so many problems and difficulties that in the end they can become enemies to us for experiencing the presence of God. They become barriers and then on top of that we are sinners and our guilty consciences drain any confidence we might have to draw near. However, we must tell ourselves that we are not the only one. Everyone feels this way at some point but we all need to learn how to lean on Jesus and what He has done and less on ourselves and what we have done or not done. Above all we must never return to religious duty or performance and that is the heart of what this Pastor is writing to this community.

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10 v 19-22)

The pivotal moment of this letter, the pastor (I call him simply because he shows so much pastoral care for the community of believers, they are his brothers and sisters, a description of love) summarising all that had been said and making this the crux of the letter calls them to draw near to God. Their culture was once a year and only the High Priest. Not even ordinary priests could draw near never mind the people. They were always at a distance.

So if you feel like that today, at a distance, then something is not quite right. It has to be you. It cannot be God. He has done everything that needs to be done. He has made you holy in His sight. Jesus has come and been the once for all sacrifice. His blood was shed. It was more than enough so that we can draw near. So shake off the lies and the doubts. We never gain access to God by our own efforts and qualifications. It is always His! So lift up your head and don’t come dragging yourself or embarrassed to do so but come with boldness, with confidence and with energy:-

• Because it is a ‘new and living’ way – every moment is like it is the first time moment, Jesus isn’t sacrificed again and again but this event 2,000 years ago is as powerful every day as the first day, it is living, it is not old and stale, it doesn’t need reviving, it is powerfully as new as the that last hour of His death.
• Because His body is the curtain (that separated you from the Holy presence of God) that is now ripped open to let you in. The separation can never happen again. The curtain will never hang there saying you cannot come near to God. It isn’t there because of the crucified body of Jesus.
• Because we have our great priest, our High Priest, Jesus Christ, who gives us the confidence based on what He has done and never on our performance. We don’t prepare to come into His presence; what could that preparation be? It would never be enough if we had to prepare. But we draw near because our High Priest has opened the way and has already prepared us.
• Because what prevented us from doing so has been settled. The inner transformation of the heart and the outward baptism which is the sign of what has happened within (the baptism isn’t the emphasis but what it signals).

If you cannot perform anymore because trying is tiring and if you realise all your efforts to be that good Christian are not enough then these verses are what will save you from a life of working hard to be someone you already are.

“The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” (Hebrews 10 v 15-18)

If ever anyone says the Bible is not written by God then these verses along with many others prove He did. The author again quotes Jeremiah (31) and quotes not from a distant past that has no connection to us but as something that continually impacts our lives today. It is this one thing: the work of the Holy Spirit is working within our hearts and minds to do what the law could not do which is the transformation of who we are.

So our part is

1. To remember this inner work of the Holy Spirit in us.
2. To copy what God does and not keep beating ourselves up because of past behaviours. He remembers no more.
3. To enjoy the forgiveness of sin.
4. To live in a way that demonstrates that Christ’s sacrifice is enough, all other efforts as a means for acceptance or approval is unnecessary.

Ever said those words? I have.

I’ve seen manipulation, lies and deception and I’ve said how is this possible? It is because of the waiting period which we are in right now. Read these next verses:

“But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10 v 12-14)

This sitting down at the right hand is imagery of supreme authority, finished work, Christ does not have to do anything more, it is a once for all sacrifice.

And yet there are still enemies, though we are not given any more detail who these people or beings are, we just know they are there. And in the waiting time these enemies are there but they will eventually submit to Christ, they will surrender, every knee shall bow.

An example of one of those enemies could be simply our struggle in this sinful world. In v10 we read that we have been made holy. Here in v14 ‘he has made perfect forever’ so Christ has completed the work in us, we are holy before God. And yet in this waiting time here on earth, ‘we are being made holy’, this is so helpfully pastoral, an understanding that as we look in the mirror this morning and as we wake with so many thoughts (and not all are holy ones), we realise we are still in the struggle, we are being made holy, it is not over yet, this is our waiting time. How could that happen? We are a finished work in progress.

In what reveals some thought about the dating of this letter being when the Temple was still in operation (pre AD 70) the author reminds the community that, “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” (Hebrews 10 v 11)

Day after day, again and again, the same performance and yet it never satisfies completely.

Look around today and though you won’t see the Temple sacrifices you will see the hamster wheels of life, scurrying to be and to achieve, to please and perform to perhaps a god they do not know or friends who are following them on socials.

Yesterday I had a beautiful moment of leading someone to Christ and I was able to say to that person that there is nothing they could do to make themselves a better person. They had come from a false religious background which knew much of duty. I told them of Jesus who gave the once and all sacrifice and who now by His Spirit will come and live within and alongside their life and as they simply let Him by submission then He will do the work of keeping them as a new creation in Christ. That is our gospel.

So let’s look at that verse again but differently:-

Day after day we stand ourselves, we don’t need a priest to do it for us and we worship our God. Again and again we dwell with complete assurance of the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ that our sins are washed away. We are clean before God. We are free.

We all are in a battle for the will, our will. We want what we want. We are followers of Jesus but we come with an agenda. That agenda is us. Within all of this battle is the temptation to say No to the Father and Yes to us. The only way through is prayer. That is where we lay down what we want and our ideas and say we are not going to do it my way but YOUR way.

“First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10 v 8-10)

The multiple sacrifices were set aside for the one. The setting aside was the destruction of the old system for this one act of obedience to the will of God. That act was accomplished first by prayer. Do you remember that prayer?

Jesus knelt down and prayed. We think of this with Western eyes. But Jesus kneeling to pray was shocking. He only knelt once and this is it. The battle for his will has begun and he demonstrates by choosing a posture of surrender.

His prayed. We can never understand the full weight of the burden he was carrying knowing that the next day he would not only endure an excruciating death but he would take the weight of the sin of the world. On top of this he brought to the surface what he wanted, his will in this ordeal, then he surrendered it, he said that’s not what is going to happen, there is no greater prayer than that! Above all in this painful prayer time he knew he would be separated from his Father which had never happened before.

This prayer of Jesus is not only beautiful and powerful it leads us to pray the same.

Here I am, I have come to do your will.

The multiple sacrifices were set aside for the one. The setting aside was the destruction of the old system for this one act of obedience to the will of God.

God’s will is good, pleasing and perfect: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12 v 1-2)

God’s will, will prosper: “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makeshis life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:10)

God’s will can be understood: “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Ephesians 5 v 17)

God’s will is to be desired: “I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8)

“First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10 v 8-10)

A letter from God

I AM is here right now. I am here. With you. I will be all that I will be. All that is needed for your life I AM.

I left everything to come. I lowered myself down into human form. I incarnated myself into flesh. The same as you. I know all there is to know about being you. I came for a reason. It was to end the performance religion. It never worked it only cried out for a better way. I came to abolish it completely. My prayer changed everything. ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will’ has made it possible for you to pray the same. I AM said HERE I AM.

So stop striving to please. My sacrifice made everything right for you. I was obedient to the Father and in doing so I have made you holy. It is not something that you have to keep achieving. It is a done deal. You are holy. You are right before God. There is nothing you can do about that. I won’t have to do this again. It is done. I did it once for you and that is it. The moment I cleansed you and came into your life by my Spirit that was it. The moment you surrendered your life to me that was it. It was declared in heaven and earth. Holy. Set apart for me. Mine. I did it once and I won’t do it again. It is once for all.

I have heard the many ‘Here I am’ prayers from you. None are wasted. Some are desperate prayers and some are based on failure. Lift up your eyes. Lift up your hands. Look to the power of the cross. Gaze on the empty tomb. See the ascended exalted Christ. Failure, sin, death has no power over your life. So let the HERE I AM prayers be glorious loud and filled with hope.

You are worried and troubled about many things; trust me with all your heart. I know how to rescue godly people from their trials. My Spirit helps you in your distress. Let me strengthen you with my glorious power. March on, dear soul, with courage! Never give up. I will help you. I will uphold you.

Trust in me always. I am the eternal Rock, your Shepherd, the Guardian of your soul. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

I will make you fruitful in the land of suffering, trading beauty for ashes, joy for mourning and praise for despair. I live with the low spirited and spirit crushed. I put a new spirit in you and get you on your feet again. Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning. If I am for you, who can ever be against you?

You sometimes say, “The Lord has deserted me; the Lord has forgotten me.” But can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? Even if that were possible I would not forget you! I paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, my sinless, spotless Lamb. No one will snatch you away from me. See, I have written your name on my hand. I call you my friend. Why, the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are valuable to me.

Give me your burdens; I will take care of you. I know how weak you are, that you are made of dust. Give all your worries and cares to me, because I care about what happens to you.

Remember, I am at hand. Come to me when you are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. I delight in you, and I can be trusted to keep my promises.

HERE I AM

“May the will of the Lord be done”

Amen

I AM