United by Faith
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· 7 viewsBeing united to Christ and each other in Faith
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Proclamation of the Word
Proclamation of the Word
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Hebre
Hebrews 4:
Introduction
Introduction
Brothers and sisters doesn’t it seem that life itself is made up of overcoming one obstacle after another. From the time we leave the protection of our Mothers womb we start the process of conquering the obstacles we encounter like being able to take our first breath, to holding up our head, to crawling, to walking, to climbing and on and on, some obstacles bigger than others. The writer of Hebrews was concerned for Hebrew Christians and those who associated with them; who were facing obstacles that seemed too giant to overcome.
Christians were being persecuted, they were being thrown into prison and there possessions were being taken and some of those who were not yet believers but who were friends of the Hebrew Christians were also being persecuted because of their associations. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews was concerned that there were Christians who may be drifting from their trust in the word of God and in fellowship with other believers.
Obstacles that seem to big to conquer have a way of causing us to have tunnel vision where that is the only thing we can see. Or they cause us to be overcome with fear or if you are like me when I believe the obstacle is to large for me I just spin unable to focus or make a decision until something or someone shakes me out of the stupor I am in.
Listen to Morgan Lake’s Story
It is a day that she will never forget.
Early evening along the Chesapeake Bay can be a wonderful time of day, especially when the sun is just beginning to set; it’s simply beautiful.
As Morgan was driving across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, she was feeling the euphoria of having one of those spectacular moments in time. Then suddenly...calamity struck.
It all happened in an instant, in a blink of an eye, but it felt like an eternity.
Morgan had slowed her car to a stop on the bridge for a toll. In her rear view mirror, as she blinked her eyes, she could see a large tractor trailer truck approaching.
As she blinked her eyes again as the truck showed no sign of slowing down. After the third blink of her eyes…Bam!
Morgan heard the thunderous crashing as the truck rammed into the rear of her car. The momentum of the truck began pushing Morgan’s car forward. She could see the jersey wall and the water below.
Her mind was frantically racing with thoughts and prayers for her car to stop on the bridge. Please, don’t go over this bridge into the water, she thought. Morgan felt helpless and she reasoned in her mind, “this is it! I’m going to die!”
There was no way of escape. Morgan’s car was jerked like a rollercoaster. Her greatest fear soon became a reality.
After being pushed along, on the top of the barrier between the bridge and the water, Morgan’s car was now plunging into the treacherous waters below. As the car quickly submerged beneath the water’s surface, fear and panic gripped Morgan.
Her seatbelt was locked and would not open, her arms were now flailing about, and her mouth and body were filling up with water.
Morgan says; “I started to feel the drowning sensation. I didn’t like how it felt.” With that, she felt a rush of hope as she told herself; “I’m not going out this way -- I’m not dying.”
Then suddenly...
Morgan says in that moment of defying death she reached out to God. And she claims God turned her situation around; “I just felt as if God touched my shoulder and pushed me back against my car into my seat to relax me.”
Morgan says that divine intervention allowed her to unlock her seat belt and then pull herself out of the driver side window, swim to the surface, then swimming to shore where help arrived.
Morgan’s story is being told all around the world. It is being described as a modern day miracle.
Morgan explained to me that she knows some people don’t believe in God. But now, she says; “They can look at me. They can look at the video of the bridge and my car being pulled from the water.”
Morgan adds; “As long as you have God with you, he will be there to support you through everything; even going over a bridge.”
Morgan Lake’s Story
Morgan Lake’s Story
Morgan Lake’s Story
Morgan Lake’s Story
On Friday, July 18 2013 at 8 p.m., Morgan Lake was enjoying one of her best days ever. Everything was just going her way.
It is a day that she will never forget.
Early evening along Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay can be a wonderful time of day, especially when the sun is just beginning to set; it’s simply beautiful.
As Morgan was driving across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, she was feeling the euphoria of having one of those spectacular moments in time. Then suddenly...calamity struck.
It all happened in an instant, in a blink of an eye, but it felt like an eternity.
Morgan had slowed her car to a stop on the bridge for a toll. In her rear view mirror, as she blinked her eyes, she could see a large tractor trailer truck approaching.
As she blinked her eyes again as the truck showed no sign of slowing down. After the third blink of her eyes…Bam!
Morgan heard the thunderous crashing as the truck rammed into the rear of her car. The momentum of the truck began pushing Morgan’s car forward. She could see the jersey wall and the water below.
Her mind was frantically racing with thoughts and prayers for her car to stop on the bridge. Please, don’t go over this bridge into the water, she thought. Morgan felt helpless and she reasoned in her mind, “this is it! I’m going to die!”
There was no way of escape. Morgan’s car was jerked like a rollercoaster. Her greatest fear soon became a reality.
After being pushed along, on the top of the barrier between the bridge and the water, Morgan’s car was now plunging into the treacherous waters below. As the car quickly submerged beneath the water’s surface, fear and panic gripped Morgan.
Her seatbelt was locked and would not open, her arms were now flailing about, and her mouth and body were filling up with water.
Morgan says; “I started to feel the drowning sensation. I didn’t like how it felt.” With that, she felt a rush of hope as she told herself; “I’m not going out this way -- I’m not dying.”
Then suddenly...
Morgan says in that moment of defying death she reached out to God. And she claims God turned her situation around; “I just felt as if God touched my shoulder and pushed me back against my car into my seat to relax me.”
Morgan says that divine intervention allowed her to unlock her seat belt and then pull herself out of the driver side window, swim to the surface, then swimming to shore where help arrived.
Morgan’s story is being told all around the world. It is being described as a modern day miracle.
Morgan explained to me that she knows some people don’t believe in God. But now, she says; “They can look at me. They can look at the video of the bridge and my car being pulled from the water.”
Connection to the Word
Connection to the Word
Morgan Lake’s message to the world after overcoming the obstacle of being pushed off a bridge and nearly drowning is the same message as the writer of Hebrews, “As long as you have God with you, He will be there to support you through everything; even going over a bridge.”
The writer of Hebrews goal was to encourage the Hebrew Christians by reminding them that all believers in Jesus Christ become sharers of the very life of Jesus Christ when they were born again. That life in Jesus Christ, that trust and faith in Jesus is what allows us to overcome the obstacles we face.
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
The writer of Hebrews helps us understand the new life in Christ by connecting it to the promised land God had promised Israel after he delivered them from Egypt.
The promise to the believer of entering rest still holds true because the fulfillment has not yet arrived. The door is still open and the writer pleads for his readers not to turn away. God is true to His Word, and His promises still stand true to this day. It is the rest that believers have, a rest that Christ has provided through the shedding of his blood so that we can have peace with God in the free and full justification of believers from all their sins.
But the writer of Hebrews also wants us to remember, with the promise, comes a penalty, also, a warning not to miss God's rest
Jesus returns to Galilee after His wilderness temptation led in the power of the Holy Spirit. We see in (verse 14) of our focus scripture that everyone who heard Jesus speak and read the scriptures in the synagogues was filled with excitement and wonder because they all were glorifying Him. Brothers and sisters the Word of God is powerful. Listen to this scripture from the book of (Nehemiah).
Warning not to miss God's rest
ESVAnd all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
Just as all the people listening to Ezra read the Law of Moses and were enthralled by the hearing of God’s word. So were the people of Galilee. Word was spreading about this Jesus, who heals and performs miracles, but most of all he proclaims the word of God in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. Luke wants you and I to know that the same Holy Spirit who leads Jesus in saying no to the worldly temptations in the wilderness is the same Holy Spirit who now leads Jesus in saying Yes to a mission given to Him by God.
ESV“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
When Jesus reads in the synagogue in Nazareth, he is declaring that he is the promised Messiah of God as the prophet Isaiah describes. He has been given a ministry, anointed by God to spread the good news of the Gospel to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and to set free all of those who are oppressed. He is to proclaim that the year of the Lord’s favor is at hand. Not only that but in (verse 21) of our focus scripture Jesus is making the statement that God’s word is fulfilled in their hearing. That Jesus is the fulfillment of the word.
The common thread through all of the Letter to the Hebrews is that Jesus Christ is Superior to everyone and everything. in this fourth chapter we are told how Jesus is superior to Moses and the promised land, yes Moses was a leader of God’s people the giver of the law and the builder of the tabernacle. But, Jesus is also the leader of all of God’s people, God and creator of everything. So if it was important to pay attention to the good news of the Law of Moses, how much more important is it to pay attention to the good news of Jesus Christ.
ESVAnd he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Doesn’t that shed new light on these scriptures that we read in the beginning of the book of (John).
Warning not to miss God's rest
ESVIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Orientation: Living the Word
Orientation: Living the Word
For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
ESVSo faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God leading Israel into the promised land and the new life the believer has in Jesus Christ is all a continuation of the promised good news God made in Genesis that He would redeem his people.
Everyone, I think that Martin Luther hit the nail on the head when he began his thesis with “Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light.” What is that held the People in Ezra's time captive? What was it that held the people of Galilee captive? It was that the truth was being proclaimed. Prophesy we being fulfilled before their very eyes and light was shinning into a darkened world. All the world religions cannot be true. Christianity, through Jesus Christ answers all the questions of life more thoroughly, comprehensively and more consistently than any other world view.
The writer of Hebrews wants us to recognize that how we respond to the truth of God’s word and his promises matters. He want us to understand that it was the response of the Israel people that caused them to wander in the wilderness for forty years until an entire generation of Israel had all died.
For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
Hebrews
Two years after God delivered Israel from Egypt they now find themselves on the verge of entering the rest awaiting them in the Promised Land. But they missed it. They reached the threshold and drew back, because they thought the difficulties ahead were too great ()
They missed enjoying God’s rest because they were not united in faith with those who listened. How do you know someone is listening because of the actions they make after hearing what you say. Only Joshua and Caleb had the faith to say to the people lets go and take possession of the land. God promised it to us and God alway keeps his promises. However, the rest of the people could only see the obstacles and their view of the obstacles was greater than their view of God.
Don’t be like them! the writer says. God’s rest is still with us, to be entered and enjoyed in this life. It is the rest which comes with hearing, receiving, believing and living the gospel. It is the rest of forgiveness of sins and peace with God through Jesus Christ.
David mentions God’s rest ().
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
He assumes that God’s rest is still awaiting us, and we may enter it today. The only barrier is if, like the Israelites, we back away in disbelief. God’s rest is the real sabbath—the place where we relax in all that God has done for us, and accept completely his purpose for the future. Let’s be sure to enter it! God still has his arms open waiting for all his people.
David mentions God’s rest (). He assumes that God’s rest is still awaiting us, and we may enter it today. The only barrier is if, like the Israelites, we back away in disbelief. God’s rest is the real sabbath—the place where we relax in all that God has done for us, and accept completely his purpose for the future. Let’s be sure to enter it!
He assumes that God’s rest is still awaiting us, and we may enter it today. The only barrier is if, like the Israelites, we back away in disbelief. God’s rest is the real sabbath—the place where we relax in all that God has done for us, and accept completely his purpose for the future. Let’s be sure to enter it!
But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Closing
Closing
Unbelief was what prevented Israel from enjoying rest.
Disobedience and unbelief go together. Inside each and everyone of us there is some Disobedience it is part of fallen human nature.
Brothers and sisters, today's focus scripture is mission statement for Jesus’s ministry. Just as Jesus was dependent upon his God for life, faith, and mission we also must be dependent upon God. Are you captivated by God’s word? How much time have you spent in the word this week? How much time have you spent in prayer speaking to Jesus. Just as the Holy Spirit gave focus to Jesus’s life and mission; he does the same for you and me. Just as the Holy Spirit helped Jesus to see what was real through the truth of God’s word let Him do the same for you. Let Him help you say no to the temptations of the world and yes to the mission that he has for you. To bring good news to the poor, to liberate the captives, sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed of the world.
"We who have believed enter that rest." The word "entering" (eiserchomaetha) is present indicative and informs us the action was going on at the present time. It is a statement of present experience in which believers presently enjoy God's rest. At the same time, we look forward to our glorification at the consummation in the future when Christ returns.
Brothers and sisters, the message of our focus scripture is loud and clear. Do not be like those who did not unite in faith with Joshua and Caleb. Trust in the Word of God! Trust in the Promises of God! Trust in the Son of God! United in faith with other believers and enter the promised rest of God.
A person enters into that rest by simple faith in Christ.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John
The privilege to enter into that rest belongs to believers. The finished work of redemption by Jesus Christ on the cross has to be appropriated by faith if a person is to receive its benefits. What will you do with Jesus Christ?
For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (). "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (). The privilege to enter into that rest belongs to believers. The finished work of redemption by Jesus Christ on the cross has to be appropriated by faith if a person is to receive its benefits. What will you do with Jesus Christ?
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (). The privilege to enter into that rest belongs to believers. The finished work of redemption by Jesus Christ on the cross has to be appropriated by faith if a person is to receive its benefits. What will you do with Jesus Christ?
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" ().
Brothers and sisters, I do not know what obstacles you are facing today. I do know that we have a Lord bigger than any obstacle. Put your trust in Him and together you can overcome anything.
Let us pray!