Pastor Billington's Blog

Hebrews 11

Here is a succinct definition of faith based on our passage:

• Faith believes in God.
• Faith trusts in God.
• Faith hopes in God.
• Faith obeys God (which is one reason for the examples).
• Faith is rewarded by God.

The examples of faith in chapter 11 are like a who’s who of the Old Testament. Abel. Enoch. Noah. Abraham. Sarah. Isaac. Jacob. Joseph. Joshua. Rahab. Even more! And beyond that, those who didn’t conquer kingdoms, escape the sword, put armies to flight, or receive the dead back to life. Those who were poor, ill-treated, tortured, and murdered. You see, we don’t just exhibit faith because of what we get out of it. We are faithful because we trust and believe. We are faithful because of the promise of what is ahead. All of these Old Testament saints were looking ahead to a promise in the future. They were willing to give their all because they knew a heavenly home was waiting for them. They are our examples, even though it’s a little different for us. We know Jesus, so we receive a portion of that promise when we believe! However, we are still waiting for the full realization of that promise in the future. We are citizens of the kingdom, but we haven’t fully entered that kingdom yet. That makes the words here in Hebrews 11 even more important. They show us that experiencing suffering in this life is still a reality. It’s not all roses and daffodils, blessing and victory. The full kingdom isn’t here yet! And if we do suffer for the kingdom, we should see it as an honor. Moses is our example here. He was looking forward to the reward, even while he experienced reproach.

Thought for the day: In a real sense, all suffering experienced for being Godly can be seen as suffering for Christ.

Hebrews 11:26 (WEB) “considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”

Hebrews 10

Hebrews 10 is a commentary on Paul’s words in Galatians: “So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (3:24). Hebrews 10:5-7 echoes Psalm 40:6-8. God desires obedience (Psalm 40:6), but we continually disobey. The law reveals what we do wrong, and we stand guilty before God. The sacrificial system was a way to temporarily cover sin, but mankind needed a permanent solution. Jesus Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin (Psalm 40:7-8), ascended to heaven, and we are waiting for His glorious return (where all His enemies will be defeated). His perfect sacrifice makes it possible for us to be forgiven, holy, and righteous!

Psalm 24:3 poses the question: “Who may ascend to Yahweh’s hill? Who may stand in his holy place?” There are two possible answers to that question. Jesus, since He is holy and righteous, obviously can ascend! But, because Jesus has cleansed us of our sin through His sacrifice, we can now draw near with confidence because we have had our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. So, we need to hold fast to our hope, help each other live out our faith, and encourage each other by meeting together. As the day of Jesus’ return draws closer and closer, and persecution increases, we need each other more and more!

Hebrews 10:26-31 is sobering indeed. Is it possible to lose your salvation? What is the cost involved with apostasy? Is it total rejection, or just punishment? The passage continues and reminds the readers that they have already endured suffering and persecution without wavering in their faith or throwing away their reward. The quote from Habakkuk 2:3-4 admonishes them to continue to persevere, even while encouraging them that “we are not of those who shrink back to destruction.”

Most understandings of this passage will depend on theology. Can you lose your salvation? Or perhaps you were never saved in the first place? Were you playing a role, and finally stopped pretending? You could even argue that the author of Hebrews offers the loss of salvation only as a theoretical possibility, since those reading the letter obviously wouldn’t be the ones falling away! Here is the bottom line: at the very least this passage is a warning about the punishment believers will face if they backslide in their faith. Don’t do it!

Thought for the day: Worshipping together is important, and the entire Bible assumes that we understand that point!

Ephesians 5:19-21 (WEB) “speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.”

Hebrews 9

Hebrews 9 reminds us of two things: (1) the need for the priests to continually offer sacrifices, and (2) the inability of those sacrifices to permanently take care of sin. In contrast, Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary and offered a single sacrifice for eternal redemption! His sacrifice can “cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Sin is deadly and demands a serious consequence. That’s why “apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.” It was true in the old covenant, and it’s true in the new. Christ died to initiate the new covenant. He presented His blood in the heavenly sanctuary so that we could have an eternal inheritance. It only needed to be done once, which should give us pause when certain denominations claim to be perpetuating His sacrifice through the Lord’s Supper. His sacrifice took care of our sin, and with His return we’ll enter our eternal reward!

Thought for the day: The whole reason we engage in communion is to remember God’s great love for us shown through Jesus’ sacrifice, and we are supposed to do that until He returns!

1 Corinthian 11:26 (WEB) “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Hebrews 8

We are so tied to this life and this earth that it’s sometimes hard to believe that there is something else that is eternal and true. What we experience here is only a shadow of reality, whereas true reality is spiritual. The Jewish sanctuary teaches us an important lesson since it’s a sketch of the true sanctuary in heaven. Jesus entered that heavenly sanctuary to offer himself as the final and complete sacrifice for sins. He has a superior ministry and a better covenant with better promises, just as was promised!

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (WEB) ” ‘Behold, the days come,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ says Yahweh. ‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ says Yahweh: ‘I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, “Know Yahweh;” for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,’ says Yahweh, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.’ “

Thought for the day: We should praise God because we have received a better covenant, we have a better high priest, and we have a better home waiting for us!

2 Corinthians 5:1 (WEB) “For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.”

Hebrews 7

Using Melchizedek, the author of Hebrews shows that Jesus’ priesthood is superior to that of the Leviticus priesthood.

• Melchizedek was a superior priest. Since Abraham paid a tithe to him, it was like the entire Levitical priesthood paid tithes to him. He just appears (Genesis 14:18-20), he has no beginning, no end, and no genealogy. He was both a king of righteousness and peace, as well as a priest. That makes him a foreshadowing (a type) of the coming eternal priest-king, Jesus, and explains the use of Psalm 110:4 (“you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek”).
• Jesus is from a different tribe than the priests. He is from the tribe of Judah.
• Jesus is the author of a “better covenant!” The Levitical priesthood was temporary, because the law and sacrifices were temporary. They couldn’t bring perfection.
• Jesus doesn’t offer up the blood of bulls and goats for sacrifices.  He offers up Himself.
• He can do this because He is holy, innocent, undefiled, and sinless.
• And His sacrifice is “once for all.” It doesn’t have to be repeated.
• He is the perfect, exalted Son, forever!

Thought for the day: Jesus isn’t only responsible for our salvation; he also has an important part to play regarding our Christian walk too!

Hebrews 7:25 (WEB) “Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.”

Hebrews 6

The author of Hebrews knows that in order for faith to mature, his readers will have to move beyond the basic principles of salvation and baptism. Although there are many disagreements as to what exactly Paul is saying in 6:4-7, I think that the best understanding is that Paul is addressing those within the congregation who have not yet believed. They participated in the community, experienced the preaching of the Word, and observed the presence of the Spirit at work around them. Even after all that, they refused to believe. They never truly embraced the gospel and displayed genuine faith, love, and service. If they had, then they would have persisted and become “imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises.” While there are many other understandings of this passage (believers losing their faith, believers losing rewards, believers being warned by the use of hypotheticals), the argument itself seems geared to those who are genuine believers and will stay that way: “But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things for you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak like this.” The challenge for us is the same as the challenge to them: to grow and mature, and to make sure that we move from milk to solid food (5:12)!

The Jews would argue about the significance of oaths, and which oaths meant more because of what you were swearing them by (Matthew 23:16-22). What can God swear by that is greater than Himself? He can’t lie. He doesn’t change. He made a promise to Abraham, and He makes a promise to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus went behind the veil and offered Himself as the eternal sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 9:6-7). He is “a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Thought for the day: Our perseverance and growth are signs that God is with us, and a reminder that we will inherit His promises!

Ephesians 1:13-14 (WEB) “In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.”

Hebrews 5

If a high priest sinned, he was required to bring a sin offering to the temple (Leviticus 4:3-12). He could relate to the people because he was subject to the same frailties they were, even though he was called by God. Jesus was also called by God to be our high priest, as Psalm 110:4 shows. Even though He Himself was without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), He struggled and suffered and wept and prayed, which is why He can relate to us (Hebrews 4:15).

Luke 22:39-46 (WEB) “He came out and went, as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives. His disciples also followed him. When he was at the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you don’t enter into temptation.’He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and he knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. When he rose up from his prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping because of grief, and said to them, ‘Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ “

In fact, He was heard because of His devotion! But we note that this hearing didn’t mean that He escaped the cross. The whole purpose of the incarnation was for the cross. Jesus took on humanity and suffered as a result of His obedience.

Philippians 2:6-9 (WEB) “who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name,”

God incarnate, the second person of the divine Godhead, learned perfect obedience through the cross, and He “became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation.” If that doesn’t blow your mind, nothing will!

Thought for the day: This can be difficult to understand, but it’s important for us to get. It’s the “solid food” that we should be chewing on as adults in the faith. This “solid food” teaches us the magnificent truth about the incarnation and the price that was paid for our salvation. It also teaches us that suffering has role to play in our lives, and we become better and more mature, or “perfected” as a result of it.

James 1:2-4 (WEB) “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Hebrews 4

Hebrews 4 reminds us to persevere in our confession and not miss the promised rest of God, like others did (4:11)! Here is the flow of the argument:

• God entered into rest at the time of creation and His rest continues (Hebrews 4:4-6).
• This rest was available to the Israelites at the time of the Exodus, but they did not enter it because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:8-11; 4:2, 6).
• This rest was still available in David’s time, but it could only be entered into through faith (Hebrews 3:7, 13, 19; 4:7).
• This rest is called a “Sabbath-rest,” and is identified as a cessation from individual works and an entering into God’s finished work (Hebrews 4:3, 9, 10).
• This rest is available “today” (4:3), and we can enter it through Jesus Christ!
• We know about our need through the Bible, because it judges “the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” We all stand condemned before God as a result of its judgment (4:11-13).
• Jesus is not only the great high priest who offers his own life for our salvation, He is also the great high priest who lived life on this earth and experienced what we experience. When we need help or understanding, we can go to Him (4:14-16).

Thought for the day: Have you put aside the idea that you can work your way to God? Have you entered into the rest that is only available through Jesus Christ?

Ephesians 2:8-9 (WEB) “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”

Hebrews 3

Chapter 3 continues to extol the greatness of Jesus!

• We are partners in the heavenly calling, all because of Jesus!
• So we should follow Him. He is our example of how to be faithful.
• He is greater than Moses!
• We are the house that Jesus built. We show that we are His by holding firm to our confidence and hope.
• We shouldn’t be like the Israelites, who rebelled (with a quote from Psalm 95:7-11).
• We need to encourage and challenge each other in order to stay faithful and focused.

Thought for the day: It’s all about Jesus!

Philippians 2:9-10 (WEB) “Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.”