Category Archives: Hebrews

Do You Love Jesus?

I was reading an article on “The 3 Misconceptions That Many Muslims Have About Christianity” the other day. I love to read, and learn much by it. One of the largest problems in witnessing Christ to Muslims is that they believe the West is “Christian”. Muslims regard their faith – Islam – as both a religion and a state. If I had never been exposed to Christianity and was told “America is a Christian nation”, I’d have some serious problems with that. If you brand America as “Christian”, then you must believe that sexual immorality, shedding of blood, and celebration of drug and alcohol use are endorsed by Christ. That’s not true. Neither America nor the West are Christian. The bloody “Christian” Crusades endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church are not “Christian”.

Do you know what “Christian” is? It is to love Jesus. It is to obey His Commands, regardless as to what anyone thinks. That’s “Christian”. Anything else is fake.

Being “Religious” does not make you “Christian”. You can know all the songs in the Baptist hymnal by heart and be lost. Jesus’ greatest critics were the Pharisees, who were extremely religious. God turned the tables on the Pharisees when He knocked down the one called Saul of Tarsus (Acts 23:6 & Philippians 3:5) on the Damascus Road, converting him to Christianity. After Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle he often spoke against those who …

“had a form of godliness, but denied the power of God”
(2 Timothy 3:5).

Illustrate: Have you ever seen a Rubik’s Cube? I owned one years ago. The Rubik’s Cube has 43 quintillion (a quintillion has 18 zeros), 252 quadrillion, 3 trillion, 274 billion, 489 million, 856 thousand likely patterns that you have to overcome to unscramble it. I figured out how to unscramble a Rubik’s Cube in about 10 minutes. I peeled off the little paper colored squares, and re-pasted them where they were supposed to be…. Continue reading

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Without …

God hates sin. Sin calls for death, separation from God. God despises sin because it causes His creation (us) to be far from His embrace. Sin separates us from God (Colossians 1:21). Evil is sin’s outworking.

BEFORE THE CROSS the ONLY place you could receive forgiveness for sins was at the Temple.

BEFORE THE CROSS the ONLY way you could receive forgiveness of sins was by sacrifice of animals via the priests of Israel.

What Animal Sacrifices Teach Us

Only by the shedding of blood is there remission of sin. Why was it shedding of animal blood? Because a sinner cannot pay for the sins of another sinner. Man is fallen. We are all broken, all sinners. Innocent animals were sacrificed to cover man’s sins, but this covering was temporary and insufficient.

A perfect Man was needed to make proper payment for our sins. There were no perfect Men, so God made one!

The broken cannot make a perfect Man – so God decided to do so. God Himself entered into His creation as Jesus Christ. The Book of Hebrews tells us that it is only Jesus that can make purification for sin (Hebrews 1:3). It is only Jesus Who – among all humans – entered this world without sin. It is Jesus that the Father said,

Hebrews 1:8 (ESV) “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom”

Jesus Christ is God the Son, Who came into this world to save us from our sins. The Scripture says:… Continue reading

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The Apostle’s Prayer

What can we learn from this prayer?
1. A prayer does not have to be LONG to be effective – but it must glorify God. There are many short prayers in Scripture that God answered. There is the Prayer of Peter, when he was walking on water and started sinking:

“Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30)

Jesus answered that prayer, for He reached out His hand to catch and keep Peter from drowning. There is the Prayer of Blind Bartimaeus, who asked Jesus,
“Lord, let me receive my sight.” (Mark 10:51)

Or the Prayer of the Ten Lepers,

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13)

Jesus Christ is LORD. He is MASTER. The Bible says:

Philippians 2:8-10 And being found in fashion as a man, {Jesus} humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted… Continue reading

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Baptist Distinctives #3: Jesus Is God Our Brother

During our “Snow Day” last Sunday, I listened to an online preacher talking about the Dangers of Idolatry. It was a very interesting sermon/ teaching, and very much enjoyed it. In the sermon the minister noted that “everybody worships something”, and that when God took His people out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership, one of the first requirements that God gave His people was:

Exodus 20:2-3 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

God identified Himself as Israel’s Savior, and Israel as a people saved. God commanded that His people have no other gods before the God Who saved them. God identifies Himself frequently throughout the Scripture, using the same terminology He uses in Exodus 20:2 ..

Deuteronomy 5:6 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt …

Psalm 81:10 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt …

Isaiah 43:3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior: I gave Egypt for thy ransom …

Hosea 13:4 Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no savior beside me.

God identifies Himself as Israel’s Savior.
God identifies Himself as OUR Savior.

When we make an idol of anything, if we worship anything or anyone outside of the God of the Scripture, we demean God our Savior. It is God Who saves us, and not we ourselves. When the commercials today say “Keep on doing YOU”, they are bidding us to follow idols. … Continue reading

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Eternal Security or Eternal Loss

Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

When I first came to the Lord, it was at a wonderful assembly of believers called The Church of God of Prophecy. These were sweet believers in Christ, and I loved them – and still love them – dearly. The Lord led me to salvation through the preaching of Pastor White. I was saved about 30 days before I went into military service.

The Church of God of Prophecy is but one of a group of Churches that believe in Arminian theology. Arminianism is a branch of the Protestant faith based on the theological teachings of Dutch Reformed pastor Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609). He led a group of followers known as Remonstrants to split from the Dutch Reformed Church. One of the signature beliefs of the followers of Jacobus Arminius (or the Arminians) was “The Conditional Preservation Of The Saints”.

The followers of Arminianism believe that salvation is conditional upon the believer remaining in Christ. … Continue reading

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According To The Pattern

Hebrews 8:1-6 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. 4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: 5 who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. 6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

In this wonderful text, God is showing us the difference between the OLD Covenant and the NEW Covenant. When God gave the OLD Covenant to Israel at Mount Sinai, God told Moses – and this is the text I want to focus on:

Hebrews 8:5 See, saith {God}, that thou {O Moses} make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount

When God established the Old Covenant of the Law to Israel, He gave Moses and His people a pattern to follow. God said to Moses:

“Poieō pas kata typos”… Continue reading

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For A Bowl Of Lentil Stew

Turn with me in your Bibles to:

Hebrews 12:14-17 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Life is all about the choices we make. If we make the right choice, the God honoring choice, then God will bless us. But if we make the wrong choices it can have a lasting and permanent impact on our lives.

In our text today we see a reference to Esau. Esau’s name in the Hebrew means “he that acts or finishes”. Esau made decisions, and acted on them, without thinking “down the road”. Esau would be like the chess or checker… Continue reading

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Harden Not Your Hearts

I want to talk today about hardening of the heart. I’m not talking about
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a hardening of the physical heart. We have had people in our Church afflicted with congestive heart failure. I myself take statins to keep my cholesterol levels down and so protect my physical heart. When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries (this is called atherosclerosis), which hurts that muscle in your chest that they call “the heart”. The “heart” I’m talking about today is not the pump in your chest that causes your blood to flow, but the spiritual center of your soul. Continue reading

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Bitter Root, Bitter Fruit

In the days before medicine had found a cure a certain man was bitten by a rabid dog. As a result the man contracted rabies, at that time a fatal and incurable disease. The Doctor told the man as solemnly as he could to “Get your affairs in order – there is nothing we can do”. The man asked for paper and pen, and began to write furiously. The good Doctor left, and came back a while later.. Continue reading

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Exhort One Another Daily: A Message For Business Meeting Night

I was listening to a broadcast from John Piper, the Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church. It was a Monday morning. Mondays are usually down days for pastors. We all look back at our Sunday and count the numbers that came. We ask ourselves “What should I have said”? We worry about those who missed the services. Some of us – I do this every week – send bulletins or call missing members. What particularly made me hurt … Continue reading

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