In The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter 12, we are encouraged to fix our sight on Jesus who has run the race of life before us and resist the hardships that come with our running.

The people of Israel in the desert journey complained over their hardships and as a result, they forfeited their place of rest and security in the Promised Land. But our author has shown us the many men and women of the Old Testament who lived by faith and kept their hope alive in spite of many serious hardships. Grumbling and getting angry with God, losing faith in the only Name given to mankind to save, does nothing to help. That is a total waste of time and energy. Doesn’t move God one millimetre.

Where else can we run to, but Jesus? Tell me, where!

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.  See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.  Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. Hebrews 12: 14-17.

Though it is only by God’s grace that peace and holiness becomes our present experience, we cannot expect this without making every effort like an athlete preparing for the race and running it. The writer is emphatic: without holiness no one will see the Lord. Scary, eh? But let’s not pull this saying out of the context of this entire letter. Our author has repeatedly driven home the truth that we are holy by our determined participation in the Lord Jesus himself and his offering for us. What a joy! What a victory! What a Saviour!

So much the more ought we to cling to Jesus in faith and in him alone for entire holiness, and not throw away what has been wonderfully given to us, or lose what we have attained. We do want to see the Lord!

Look, this is serious. It’s your future we are addressing. Don’t you get it?

The next two or three exhortations are made to all in their community to care for one another: see to it that no one … Such responsibility is not left to an official, priest, or pastor (note here God’s great design for spiritual maturity of all, not just a few). No, they as a whole community were expected to ensure everyone among them knew the grace of God and that nothing was allowed to defile them—unforgiving hearts, disunity, disagreements, jealousies, envy, comparing people, gossip, etc. This is said to defile the many—to spread through the whole ‘loaf’, a condition endemic in many churches  today due to lack of one-another-ness. We each have a responsibility to care for one another, to watch over one another in love and tenderness and sometimes firmness. This the Lord expects! It’s not an optional extra. In most churches  it’s unheard of.

Then they are to see that no one is sexually immoral or godless! What a challenge this is! Earnest prayer at least is called for one another and especially for one who is entangled. The solution is not to disown that one, or to ignore such, leaving this work to some paid official. But to weep for that one, and bring that one without ceasing into the holy place of the Lord of which we have learned so much in this precious letter. That place is nothing like the old, terrifying, Mt Sinai and the Law of Moses. No!

 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm;  to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them,  because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”    But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.  Hebrews 12:18-24.

No. They are told they have come to a different mountain altogether! God’s full salvation belongs not under the law given at Mt Sinai but to a different mountain—the true, transcendent Mount Zion. Here is the great good news! This is the place to bring our tempted and faltering friends. We must plead with such to join with us in fellowship again with the Father and with the Son and with countless others who have gone before.

There is no other place in the spirit for us to be. It is the city of the living God! It is the true Jerusalem, of which the earthly Jerusalem was a mere shadow. Here we join in with millions of other created beings in an assembly of lasting, everlasting joy.  We join in now. You have come!

You have come! You have come to the church (ekklesia=assembly) of the firstborn ones. At this gathering are those of faith who have gone there before us, both Jew and Gentile, as one new nation. Here in this passage, is the second of two uses of the Greek word ekklesia in this letter (the other was in Heb 2:12), and neither has any correspondence whatsoever with the word church ­in common language use today.

The firstborn are those who inherit the Father’s kingdom, assembled before him, to God the Judge of all, and in the cheerful company of those having been made utterly complete! Who would want to pass up this altogether magnanimous offer—to stand before the Judge of all as acceptable. No more! even as royal offspring?

And the ultimate experience for them and for us as we participate, is the presence of Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant, the totally wonderful arrangement made by his sacrifice, the sprinkling of his blood, broadcasting to us a far superior offering compared to Abel’s, though that, too was acceptable to God.

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?  At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”  The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”  Hebrews 12:25-28

God is the God who speaks to be heard and we must take heed. This is the One who spoke and the universe was made! We hear him now, not just on earth as at Sinai, but everywhere in the heavens which declare daily his glory, his mercy, his compassion.

If those who ignored earthly warnings didn’t get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? (The Message, Eugene Petersen). There will be a greater shaking, a greater disclosure, a greater removal, a total removal, of the temporary. What will remain for us? Only the eternal.

What will be left in us at the End? Only what God has done in us. Nothing else.

So our response is to be thankful and to serve God (‘worship’ means ‘serve’) with reverence and awe. It is a fearful thing to remember that our service must be acceptable to God. Again from The Message:

He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

As we said, this is serious. It’s your future we are addressing. Get it?

In chapter 11, the author of The Letter to the Hebrews reminds his readers of the faith of their fathers and to follow their examples in the difficulties they face daily. He cites the faith of Noah, who knew the Almighty and heard and believed God’s warnings, resulting in him undertaking such a huge shipbuilding project, which without faith, seemed to others like the height of madness.

Then Abraham obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Abraham’s faith journey is a brilliant ‘type’ or pattern for that of each believer in God. We do not know precisely where we are going—so much is unchartered waters for us. We too are like strangers in a foreign country. We together also look forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.  We can only very poorly imagine what it will be like. However we can see all around us the altogether superb creation in the good Earth and the heavens. His design work, though spoilt by human greed, ignorance, carelessness and exploitation, enough beauty and grace remain for us to enjoy and give thanks for, to lift our sights to the day that is coming, the day of renewed heavens and a renewed earth. Fantastic architecture. Unmatched design. Can hardly wait.

Let this sink in. For Sarah, God’s promises seemed just as impossible for them as it was for Noah. Yet they were delivered as promised and we are reading this because those words from God were trustworthy. She is singled out as considering God faithful. Result? All around us, right through history, countless descendants of Abraham and Sarah.

And all these people were still living by faith when they died. So, they did not receive all the promised things, they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.

Right to the very end, they lived by faith, and so must we! Many of God’s promises may not be literally delivered before we pass on. Yet we can welcome them from a distance. God is not watching from a distance but keeps constant watch on our walk of faith—and boy, does that please him! Continuously.

Our author has highlighted Abraham’s traumatic and dramatic test of faith believing that God could raise his son Isaac from death, so sure was he of God’s trustworthiness to make a people of countless number. Imagine the trial of his faith! The agony the struggle against doubt!

And note the marvellous parallel here with God’s one and only Son and his steady, determined stride towards a dreadful and shameful death in Jerusalem and then, a raising to life, in a transformed and glorious body.

Our author then reminds us of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, patriarchs who believed God, often in the most dramatic circumstances, and changed the course of history.

In verses 24 to 29, Moses’ personal faith journey is then described in terms rather reminiscent of the calling of Jesus’ followers. And he could not leave out the Exodus story as a supreme example: a whole people group marching forward in faith through the sea. Moses could see and hear the invisible God and so he persevered. Nothing can beat perseverance. Press on!

He ends this long catalogue of men and women of faith, who all had a kind of knowing based on the character of their LORD God who speaks to his people, by reminding his readers, and us, that although these people were commended for their faith, yet many of the greatest promises were not received in their lifetime!

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,  who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,  quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.  Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.  These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Heb 11:32-40)

What a list of gallant, believing, persevering humans, continuing to the end in faith, despite the suffering, the opposition!

So also for us as well, much that God has promised remains as yet un-received by us. We wait in faith for his return, with suffering, and for the final consummation of his reign of his people on a re-newed earth, this wonderful world renewed in unimaginable delight and splendour for a renewed people who desire above all else that “your will be done!”

They, this great crowd of witnesses coming before us, will with us all experience sure completion in accordance with God’s perfect planning and design. We wait, as they did, living by faith.  God has not forgotten his Ancient people.

God’s planning, His timing : better for them and better for us.

We are making our way through the Letter to the Hebrews and we now look at chapter 11. This section is full of references to wonderful stories of real people exercising faith in physical and historical situations recorded in the Old Testament.

Though we have seen that in this new deal, the “New Covenant”, everything seems to have changed, God’s character and purposes have not changed. Faith, hope and love remain supreme as our means of hearing His voice, knowing His promises and understanding His plans. So our author digs deep into the past to encourage his readers to stick in there with active faith despite the difficulties they face.

The chapter begins,

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand (CEV ‘know’) that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Heb 11:1-3, NIV)

Faith is a way of knowing something, of being certain. The Contemporary English Version has faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see.

That’s because it is based on evidence of the integrity, the absolutely perfect character of the One who promises, who makes covenant with His people, the One who cannot lie.

The study of how we know is called epistemology. We have here biblical epistemology which is based on knowing a person—the living, speaking, listening God. We can know because the One who has spoken in geographical space and earthly time has given us revelation and is absolutely trustworthy. So here in chapter 11 of the Letter, we have a lengthy list of actual historical persons who had this kind of knowing in real situations.

The scientist has a different approach to knowing, based on evidence in the observed physical world, and she sets out to demonstrate by ‘proofs’. But even scientists have to start with faith that something unseen must be there to be discovered. In fact to do any science, they need to believe that something unseen is there, such as the ‘laws of nature’, in which they may place confidence even though there is no guarantee that these same invisible laws will be in force tomorrow.

But we know that God is unchanging and his promises are sure and without any danger of being revoked!  ‘Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will never pass away’, Jesus said.

We have now reached the end of the great teaching about the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and his high-priesthood for us presented by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. From chapter 11 to the end of the letter, he will deal with how his readers should then live in the light of what has happened. indeed everything has changed for these Jewish people who are encouraged to follow their Messiah. For next time.

So it is fitting that I end this section (chapters 1 to 10) with this illuminating message which my dear life-long friend Ruth wrote to me some time ago.

A message from Ruth

I wanted to share with you the wonder as I have been praying and listening to Joe Focht, from his commentary on Daniel, and as he spoke about the sacrifices made in Israel prior to Jesus Christ coming to earth.

He talked about how the person bringing the sacrifice was never examined, but the sacrifice was always examined!

It hit me. How often have I heard about the need for us to examine ourselves, and indeed Paul says that, and also King David in his ‘search me, oh God and see if there be some wicked way in me”.

But here I saw too, that in bringing an offering, the focus was on the sacrifice – would it be acceptable?

I thought of how, when I bring my sins to God, I need to stop and ponder if what I bring, is truly acceptable to God, and if so, as indeed it is, why would I, or anyone else who comes in the same way, ever be doubting that our sins are completely forgiven?

It highlights for me again the assurance with which we can tell others. They too can come to God through that perfect sacrifice, and know their sins are completely and perfectly forgiven.

More than that, it renewed to me that, that sacrifice, our Lord Jesus, was examined and was found perfect!

He was absolutely the only One who ever lived who could have been the sacrifice, for He alone was and is perfect.

Therefore the Word of God is perfect!

The living Word and the written Word, as God spoke it to be!

In my life I have had occasions when I have had to lay aside my doubts and questions and make a choice:

 1. To accept God and His salvation as offered, and sufficient for my sins.

 2. To know He has sent us His Holy Spirit to dwell in us, and His gifts are for today.

 3. To experience that His Word is perfect and I will choose to believe it – as we used to say as young people:  ‘His Word is true no matter what challenges it’.

What joy and liberty all three have brought to me!

And what cost, as others have been offended by this, especially Christians.

What untold confirmation He brings to these facts.

Tonight I rejoice again when I think, yes! it matters not what state I come to Him. What matters is this: Is the sacrifice perfect?

What a Saviour!

Ruth

Some more comments I want to add-on my posting The Sacred Cow of Going to Church which arose since that article especially about ‘sacred’ buildings.

I think any place or practice may become a sacred cow when we hold that thing somehow different to other things and kind of sacred, whether it be a building or an enclosed space or high mountains or deserts or ceremonies or rituals or whatever and we then treat them as important, even essential.

When we begin to think for a church to be authentic that it must be in a dedicated special place, that idea also becomes a sacred cow. But as Hebrews 10 shows, what authenticates real assembly in Jesus is encouragement and upbuilding of one another in love. But the practice of ‘going to church’ becomes a sacred cow. It’s untouchable.

In John 4 we read Jesus’ conversation with the woman of Samaria –he told her that the only true place of worship was not in Samaria or even in Jerusalem but in spirit and in truth. He went on to show that he was THE true place of worship. Remember also the Transfiguration episode when Peter wanted to venerate that place with 3 booths/ memorials but the solemn word from God was This is my Son—listen to him!

People talk about “the institutional church”. But what is this fictitious creature? However I think we can speak of institutionalism. Institutionalism has largely replaced the Holy Spirit. Shame.

Jesus did not intend his followers to copy the models of the world, of Judaism, of the Roman empire, or of any of the mystery or pagan religions. I believe he meant us to model faith communities on his example, like a family, a household, where everyone in his house were regarded as brothers and sisters. He taught them to love one another, forgive etc. He modelled and taught them the ways of the Holy Spirit. New wine demanded new wineskins. And a new outlook on the whole world.

I understand Jesus is present always with his people wherever they meet. However,

are we always truly present to him?

We can be present just to a group or meeting dynamic or to ‘worship’ or a ‘service’ or the often superb music or corporate singing, or great oratory or even an inspiring building –all of which can become an end in themselves. When the entertaining on-stage performances or dreary up-front ritualistic, repetitive program ends, everyone can then happily go home and get on with all the other (important?) aspects of their lives— compartmentalising which is encouraged by buildings and services, special places. God in a box. Worship of worship.

And we call it worship! Lord, help us.

I am not hung up on buildings. I think buildings can be very useful. After all as an architect I have designed many buildings and most of these were intended to provide hospitality, refuge, encouragement and kindness.

However, I am in agreement with Jesus, the apostles and the original followers who met wherever they could to teach and discuss the implications of the gospel. They avoided having special buildings for “worship”. That was not necessary when unselfish, Spirit-led believers opened their homes and Jesus’ family life was embraced in a new brotherhood with eating, drinking, thankfulness and encouragement.

Sure. I too know about some little home groups which can be as toxic and off-track as institutional set-ups with awful manipulation and leader domination of the people. Sadly. However these groups are invariably small in size and the damage is small and limited compared to the corporate, multi-national organisations with their huge budgets, marketing techniques and paid support staff. If the man at the top, the CEO, is in error or misbehaves, thousands are led astray. Wolves are common, but they do far more damage where there are bigger flocks.

There are huge drawbacks with having special religious buildings for ‘worship’, a concept unknown in followers of Jesus until the 3^rd century when the rot of Christendom really set in.

They are costly, they use valuable land, they are used wastefully and spasmodically, they shout ‘look at us’, they perpetuate a spirit of grandeur and triumphalism. They preach the wrong message –dominance instead of servanthood, the remoteness of God instead of his present love.  Their architectural form does not fit the function of one-anotherness everywhere emphasized in the New Testament. Their programs often encourage laziness, an attitude of being served, self-righteousness, exclusiveness, conservatism and mystery. Preaching? Well, that is another sacred cow.

Ekklesia (translated ‘church’ in most English bibles) in the New Testament means people gathered around Jesus to encourage one another. Buildings were irrelevant. Time and place were incidental. ‘Programs’ were unknown, except for those breathed upon them by the Holy Spirit.

How the Letter to the Hebrews reflects these concepts! Remarkable, because it is such a Jewish approach without Gentile influence.

Is it not from habitual adherence to dead tradition that we continue to desire holy places instead of holy people? Maybe it is even disobedience, not hearing what God truly wants for his gathered ones.

Father, your will be done here on earth just as it is in heaven.

This is the first day

This is the first day of the rest of your life!

It can be a new beginning.

He makes all things new

So

May this day you have been entrusted with and the day after and the day after that, and so on into eternity,

be fruitful in terms of the Kingdom of God,
Jesus’s movement of liberty, love, light and life.

Jesus said:

“whatever my Dad has not planted will be rooted up”