Hebrews Chapter 6: A Serious Warning and Powerful Promises

The sixth chapter of the book of Hebrews can be a real head-scratcher.  It has also been the source of disagreement and discord between believers.  So when we got to this point in our study, I wondered if anyone would notice if we skipped past it into chapter seven.  However, the feeling passed and we all headed into these deep waters together with a great spirit of brotherly love and grace.  

The main point of contention centers around this question: who is the person described in verses 4-8?  Is he a believer or a nonbeliever, or is this maybe just a hypothetical question?  I won't give away my feeling on this, you'll have to read the notes to find out.  I have friends whom I respect very much with whom I disagree about this, and I intend to continue to be friends with them and continue to study and let the Lord help clarify my thinking.  This is not an issue over which contentious argument would be worthwhile.  However, answers to hard questions like these should be pursued vigorously.  We mustn't let the possibility of extra thinking and studying discourage us from taking a text of scripture and squeezing it for every bit of truth that is there for us.  Holy Scripture rewards those who diligently mine its depths.  

One thing we can say with certainty is that this passage about one who can't be restored to salvation is not meant to be used as a template by which to measure each other and make judgments.  The fact is that only God knows precisely to whom this passage applies.  It is meant for us as a caution and as another reminder to not let our faith be idle, casual, or nominal.  We must continue to be faithful through the empowerment of the Spirit.  If we desire a relationship with Jesus, He is faithful to make us known as His children and seal us with the Holy Spirit for salvation.  And we should continue to pray for any brother or sister who seems to have made shipwreck of their faith, knowing that God is faithful to redeem.  
It is so encouraging that this chapter ends with this great promise of the assurance of our salvation:
Heb 6:19  We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
Heb 6:20  where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. 

God is so good to not just redeem His children and leave us to wait on Him in this world of sin, but to guarantee our salvation by His own mighty hand, anchoring our very souls to Heaven through the work of Jesus.  

The study notes for the first part of the chapter are here.   The study notes for the second part of the study are here.

When God Calls Your Name

When I was about twelve years old, it seemed like God called out my name. It was not an audible voice, but He spoke to me through another young boy who asked me if God had called me to be a pastor.  I knew that God had used an eleven year old Gary to talk to me that day.  In 1980 the church licensed me, and then the following year ordained me to pastor a struggling country church. God has not often called me out of a burning bush like he did Moses, but He did speak to me through some very trying circumstances. Sometimes it seems like I hear His voice most clearly in those moments when I least expect it.

Peter Marshall was a popular preacher in the 1940's and 1950's, pastoring in Washington, DC.  He served two terms as the United States Chaplain.  He grew up in Scotland and one day as a young boy Peter walked the road to a friend’s house who lived some distance away from him. He lost track of time and suddenly realized it was soon going to be dark outside.  To save time, he took a short-cut across the open fields.  Lost and terrified in the darkness, Peter began to run. Suddenly he thought he heard a voice call his name, "Peter!" He ran even faster. Again the voice called, "Peter!" Turning to see who was calling as he ran full speed ahead, he stumbled and fell to the ground. Reaching out front to lift himself up, Peter’s hands touched nothing but air. Suddenly he knew where he was . . . at the edge of an old stone quarry. A few more steps and he would have fallen to his death. Peter Marshall always felt God had saved his life for a divine purpose by calling out to him that day! In some mysterious way that ground in Scotland became holy ground to Peter.

Sometimes God has strange ways of getting our attention. We're just moving along in life, minding our own business, everything is going normally. . . and then something happens that just doesn't fit into our plans. Something happens that doesn't make sense. Something happens that we simply can't figure out. And then, if we are listening, God has our attention.

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” (Exodus 3:4)

Moses was simply doing his job that day when God came to talk with him out of an ordinary bush that became extraordinary.  Isn't this how God reaches out to us, too? It would be nice for us to think that we all hear the voice of God mainly in the church house! But God speaks to us everywhere, not just in church. And sometimes God can reach us most powerfully when we are simply going about our day-to-day tasks; when we are simply doing our job. Because in church, we expect there to be a lot of talk about God and heaven and hell and all that stuff. And we tend to think that the rest of our lives out there in the work world are somehow more distant from God's presence, but that is just not true.

When God spoke to Moses that day, Moses did not want the job that God wanted him to do.
After all he could easily have rationalized, “I’m 80 years old; let the young people do this job!”  We are not that different from Moses. We may make excuses, too, when we have a plan in mind for our life and God tells us to do something else. We may have had it all figured out as to what we were going to do with our life that day. And all of a sudden God throws a monkey wrench into our plans. When that unexpected event happens; when things just don't go the way they were supposed to; when something happens that is just plain strange, listen for God's voice calling your name.  You too will be glad you responded when He calls your name.

Al Yoder

In the Lions Den

As a young boy, I went to the barn and crawled over a wall into the bull pen’s feeding trough. Next I crawled onto the floor with the bull standing in front of me. Taking a stick I would poke the big bull that snorted and made me feel like I was the ringmaster in a circus. The crowd was made up of my brother and sisters who were standing in the walkway outside the pen.  In a moment’s time the bull suddenly picked me up with his head and slammed me against the wooden wall of the pen. If it had not been for my brother Wilbur’s quick reaction to scare the bull away, it may have been my death. The bull dropped me and I felt like God had sent Wilbur to pull me off the floor and into the safety of that manger.  For about an hour I was unable to stand on my legs to walk.  God spoke to me in a powerful way through that experience and probably also to my siblings who were watching. This experience came back to me as I was reading through the book of Daniel.

Daniel had a similar experience in the Bible when he was probably in his early eighties.  King Darius had chosen Daniel to be one of three administrators who kept an eye on 120 bureaucrats so they would not try to cheat the king out of tax money they were to collect from the people. Now Daniel was an exceptional administrator. Even though he was eighty, he was very healthy and wise. The king intended to make Daniel the Prime Minister and it angered those other leaders. They envied him, so they tried hard to find out where Daniel had done something wrong, but were unable to find anything. They initiated a ridiculous law that said everyone had to pray to the King or be thrown into a den of hungry lions. To obey that law would have meant that Daniel would violate his conscience in praying to the living God. In spite of the law, Daniel went to pray in his customary place facing Jerusalem. His fellow workers saw this and reported it to the king. The king had no choice but to follow through with the law he had signed with his own signet ring. So Daniel was thrown into the hungry lion’s den.  King Darius regretted having made the law and could not sleep all night long. Early the next morning he came to see if Daniel was still alive.

The King called out in an anxious voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"

Daniel said, "O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king."

(Daniel 6:20-21)

The king had Daniel pulled out of the den, and then the King ordered the men that instigated this law to be thrown into the den along with their entire families.  Before they even hit the floor, the lions devoured them.  God had truly shut the lions mouths for an innocent man, and brought vengeance on the evil minded men who opposed him.
Unlike Daniel, I was not entirely innocent entering the bull pen, but God sent an angel to deliver me with my brother’s quick reaction. However, let’s not crawl into the den intentionally! If you happen to find yourself being taken advantage of by some people in your life, remember Daniel and cry out to our God.  He is still able to send an angel to shut up the mouths of the lions when we get thrown into the den or even as in my case, when having crawled in on our own volition!
Selah…
Al Yoder
1/26/2011

When God Shows Up

Many years ago a group of Christian men came to this community to establish a mission outreach church in a community where a church house had been closed years earlier.  They purchased the facility and had a wonderful response from the people surrounding the rural church house.  Sometime later, an overseer from another part of the state required all those members to conform to the rules and regulations of the other part of the state and there was a mass exit from the local people to other churches. This is when Rose and I moved to this community to help with Sunday School and Vacation Bible School where we had up to 65 children come and participate. In spite of great effort and care for the people, there were internal problems in the church and it seemed like our labor seemed to have been in vain.  The day came when we closed the door to that church house, and wondered if we had misunderstood God’s call to come here.   Just as we were at one of our lowest ebb in our search for God to give us direction, a door opened for us to work with another couple in hosting suppers and having a time of fellowship afterwards.   These people came from differing church backgrounds and some with no church affiliation at all. Through these times we had numerous people come to faith in Jesus Christ.   Later those who had no home base wanted us to begin a Sunday morning gathering that would have the same warmth and closeness they experienced in the suppers.  Bob and Sherry Campbell led out with that new adventure, and today we are experiencing the wonderful blessing of a church family that reflects everything we had asked God to do for us and more.

For the eyes of Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him….   (2 Chronicles 16:9)

When God gives us a vision, we can assume from his working with other men and women in the Bible that there will be the death of that vision before that vision is fulfilled. Moses, Joseph, King David, Daniel, and Jesus himself were examples of how God showed up just when it seemed like the end had come.

Robert Strand said the Dallas Theological Seminary was at the very point of bankruptcy. Creditors had filed suit against them.On the morning of their foreclosure, the faculty and board gathered in the president's office with Dr. Chafer for prayer that God would somehow provide a financial miracle.  They formed a circle and each man prayed in turn.

When it came Dr. Henry Ironside's turn to pray, he prayed: " Lord, we know that the cattle on a thousand hills are Thine. Please sell some of them and send us the money."  While they were in the prayer meeting, a tall Texas Cowboy walked into the business office and said to the receptionist, " I just sold two train car loads of cattle in Fort Worth. I've been trying to make a business deal go through and it won't work and I feel like God wants me to give the money to the seminary and I don't know if you need it or not, but here's the check!"

The secretary reached for the check, and knowing the critical nature of the moment, immediately headed for the prayer meeting. She timidly knocked, not wanting to disturb the prayers, but eager to get their attention. She kept on tapping till Dr. Chafer, came to the door. He took the check, looked at the name and recognized it as the cattleman from Forth Worth.  He turned around and interrupted the prayer meeting. Turning to Dr. Harry Ironside, he almost shouted, " Harry, God sold the Cattle!!"

Just when it seems that the curtains are closing on a project or dream God shows up and once again the miracle continues!  Let’s not underestimate what God can do with an impossible circumstance. That is His specialty. That is when He usually shows up!

Selah….

Al Yoder

1/22/201

Hebrews Chapter 5: I Don't Want to be Dull

The writer of Hebrews had a problem.  There was so much he wanted to share about the priesthood of Jesus, so much that would make a difference in the lives of his readers.  But he was stopped short because of "dullness of hearing."  

Heb 5:11  About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 

We shouldn't assume that this was a problem only for the first century readers of this epistle.  This is a sobering reminder to examine ourselves.  Have we stalled in our Christian walk?  It's okay for babies to live on a diet of milk, just as it's okay for a brand new Christian to need the basic teachings of the faith.  We are instantly changed from dead in our sins to alive in Jesus, but the growth from new Christian to a mature believer able to eventually teach and disciple others is a process.  We must let God's word sink down deep into our hearts and do it's transforming work, helping us to discern right from wrong.  

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

But when we stall out and begin to be sluggish and dull, we become overgrown babies.  It would be embarrassing to see a forty-year old man wearing a diaper and sucking on a bottle.  It's embarrassing and tragic to see a believer who has known Christ for years still failing to let the elementary principles of the faith inform his daily walk.  Sadly, I see more of myself in the dull folks to whom Hebrews 5:11 is addressed than I care to admit.  I don't want to be dull.  So what do we do?  We take the spiritual milk and let it help us grow up so that we can move on to spiritual solid food.  Let's leave dullness to the dullards.  Let us be vigilant that we don't stall out at spiritual babyhood but long to grow up in Christ.  

The notes for our last Hebrews study, chapter five, are here.  I am greatly indebted to two John Piper messages on this chapter.  You can read them at the Desiring God website.  He is the Source of Eternal Salvation for All that Obey Him, and By This Time You Ought to Be Teachers.

Fear is Contagious

As a teenager, I remember walking down a country road after dark. I read quite a few mystery books that were somewhat scary and it was close to Halloween time.  As I started home from a neighbor’s house, it seemed like there were strange voices coming from the ditches beside the road.  It was almost like my mind had become infected by the fears projected from those books I had read and the stories related to the holiday.  I found myself walking faster and faster and finally running at breakneck speed, arriving home totally winded.  At other times, I had walked that same road at night without a single thought of fear and even marveled at the beauty of the starlit sky and the sound of whippoorwills along the way.  What made the difference?  Maybe it was the same thing that caused the Depression of the 1930’s…FEAR.

Fear is a debilitating sin.  It is very contagious, which means: “easily spread” “infectious”. No wonder the Bible instructs us over and over to not be afraid. In Deuteronomy 8:20 the army officials were instructed to send the fearful men home.

 “Is there a man here who is wavering in resolve and afraid? Let him go home right now so that he doesn't infect his fellows with his timidity and cowardly spirit."  

Deuteronomy 8:20 (MSG revised)

Let’s reflect on the story of Gideon in Judges 7.  God instructed him to destroy the Midianites which had an army of 135,000 skilled swordsmen.  Gideon’s army numbered 32,000 at that time.  God told Gideon to command all the fearful men in his army to go home.  22,000 men left the army and went home. That left only 10,000 men to fight an army of 135,000 Midianites. But wait, God was not yet finished with getting rid of fear in His army. He kept giving them more tests to eliminate every man with even a trace of fear till the army was reduced to a handful of 300 men.  Now, I doubt that many of the 300 were elite fighting men, the strongest or fittest; they may not even have had the best equipment.  These men may have been weak, with no confidence in themselves.  These were the ones who most trusted God in their hearts; and when victorious they would give God the credit.  Gideon said, “The LORD is going to defeat our enemies”, and that is exactly what took place. 

“Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith.”

I John 5:4 MSG

God is looking for that kind of faith in us.  He wants us to have the courage to trust Him alone. The Christian life is not about our abilities, our talents, our position, our power, or about our numbers.  It’s about men and women who say no to their fears and trust in the Lord’s power to defeat our spiritual enemy. Fear cripples, paralyses, and cripples us and everyone around us. It’s very contagious and that’s why we must deal with it ruthlessly.  Faith is also very contagious and empowers everyone around us. Would you rather be known as a person of fear or a person of faith? Would you like to be known as a person who infects everyone around you to doubt God, or to trust God?  The choice is ours. We can choose to give in to our fears and go home, or stay and fight the good fight of faith.

Selah….Al Yoder

1/12/2011

Hebrews Study

We have been studying the book of Hebrews in our Wednesday night meetings.  This book is such a gift to us, a soaring narrative of the work and person of Jesus.  It is bold in its high view of Christ, helping us come to a better understanding of His role as Prophet and High Priest, Savior and Mediator.  It is truly a unique part of the New Testament scriptures, and it is hard to imagine the loss to our understanding of Christ if this epistle had been lost or excluded from the canon of scripture.  I don't mean to suggest that the Holy Spirit would have suffered His Word to be lost, but the hypothetical notion of our not having it makes us thankful for the way that God, in His sovereignty, has preserved His written revelation for us in exactly the form in which we have it today.  


John Calvin, in the introduction to his commentary on Hebrews, said:


There is, indeed, no book in the Holy Scriptures which speaks so clearly of the priesthood of Christ, so highly exalts the virtue and dignity of that only true sacrifice which he offered by his death, so abundantly treats of the use of ceremonies as well as of their abrogation, and, in a word, so fully explains that Christ is the end of the Law.

All of that to say we are being blessed by our time spent in studying Hebrews.  We invite anyone who is able to join us every Wednesday evening at 6:30.  The youth (all ages less than adult and more than infant) are also studying along with us at the same time, with lessons focused on their understanding and including, from what I can hear, much more boisterous input and possibly some physical exertion.

I will try to post a link to the notes for the class, at least shortly after it takes place if not sometimes a little before.  You can find the notes for Hebrews chapter 4:11-16 here.  These notes are by no means definitive or exhaustive, but you may find them helpful and if you're not able to attend, at least you can see some of what we've been talking about.  Your comments and input are invited and appreciated.  But ideally, you would make them at the Bible study itself. 

Wade Stephenson

The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail

Gates and walls are designed to bring protection against unwanted intruders and enemies. Their purpose is to discourage anyone from trying to barge in and hurt those who live behind those gates and walls. Years ago entire cities would have walls surrounding them for this purpose. I was reading in Joshua 6 that the children of Israel were facing some walled cities in The Promised Land that were difficult to overcome. God had told them to destroy those enemies and take the land for themselves.  He gave them some very unique instructions as to how they were to overcome the walls of Jericho. Joshua led the people just as the Lord had instructed him to take the city.  The first day they marched all the way around the city and returned to camp. They did this once a day for six days in a row.  On the seventh day they marched around the walls of Jericho seven times. Then as the priests blew their trumpets, the soldiers shouted as loud as they could in unison and the walls of Jericho fell flat!  Once the walls came down, the children of Israel were able to go right into the city and destroy their enemies. God teaches us in the New Testaments how to overcome the gates or walls that keep us from having victory over the spiritual enemies that try to intimidate and keep us from having victory in our lives.

“And I (Jesus) say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 16:18 (KJV)

As we face a new year, there will be some spiritual cities that God wants us to destroy in our lives. Cities of sin named: Laziness, Apathy, Worry, Immorality, Gossip, Stubbornness, Pride, and Selfishness, Love of money, or Bitterness to name some of them.  Though we can’t see them with our physical eyes, they have evil spirits that form walls around them so they can’t be destroyed easily.

As a friend Kurt recently said, “Walls & gates don’t attack people, they are just trying to protect what is behind them.  We as a Church must go on the offensive and attack the walls”.  That is exactly what God has instructed us as Christians to do throughout the Bible.  Jesus in this passage is telling us to attack the powers of hell. He is saying those walls cannot prevail against us.  He is saying that we as a Church must rise up and march boldly around the “walls of those cities” like He tells us to.  We must not allow these evil forces to continually bring havoc into us and our loved ones lives.

“Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory.

No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.”

I John 5:4, 5 (CEV)

It’s time for us as Christians to “blow the trumpets” and “shout” what God says about these defeated enemies….”they shall not prevail!”  Then we will begin seeing those walls and gates begin to fall flat all around us. Be courageous and take the offensive. God’s Word will never be proven wrong. You will prevail against these gates of hell one city at a time!

Selah…

Al Yoder

01/03/2011

Faith as Looking at God

Hello out there!  Thanks for reading.  I want to welcome you to the Salem Agape Ministries blog.  I hope that we will be posting in a somewhat regular fashion and that we can have a conversation that is uplifting, stimulating, and that always glorifies God.  We at Agape Ministries are striving together to go deeper into a life-changing relationship with Jesus, to know Him more, to surrender all for His sake, to treasure Him above all else, and to proclaim God's glory in every setting in which He places us.


For your consideration, a quote from A.W. Tozer's great little book, The Pursuit of God:
Tozer is writing about the fundamental aspect of faith, which he describes as a spiritual looking at or focus on God.  He writes of the joy and simplicity of this act, which is engaged in by all believers, not just an elite few monks or ministers, but common men who have been transformed by a vision of God.  "Many have found the secret of which I speak and, without giving much thought to what is going on within them, constantly practice this habit of inwardly gazing upon God.  Even when they are compelled to withdraw their conscious attention in order to engage in earthly affairs, there is within them a secret communion always going on.  Let their attention but be released for a moment from necessary business and it flies at once to God again."

May we know something of this ability to commune with God in everything, always enjoying the fellowship of the Holy Spirit throughout our days and nights, in work or in play.  As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

May God bless you,

Wade Stephenson