Grow In Faith

We’ve come to the last chapter of this book of Hebrews. Chapter 13. And it is set up by the last part of Chapter 12--verse 28 in chapter 12 tells us to be thankful and worship God. As it says in the Message paraphrase: Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God.

We are looking at chapter 12 in Hebrews and today we are going to focus on second half of this chapter where were find a bunch of “See to its”.

We are in Hebrews 11 and looking at the challenge and encouragement we are being given in the first few verses:  We are to throw off every sin and start running—and don’t quit! We’re to focus on Jesus.  Do what Jesus did—because he never lost sight of where he was headed!

On the heels of the hall of faith in Chapter 11 in the book of Hebrews, the very next verse in Hebrews 12 tell us this: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” and here comes the encouragement to look to greatest example of fait...

We are talking about faith, which is defined in chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews.  And we are trying to understand biblical faith. There are actually several other things that people get faith confused with, including the fact that faith is not belief. These two words are very similar. But technically belief is intellectual. It lives in the mind. To believe is to agree in principle. And that is f...

Today we are looking at one of the great chapters of the Bible—the section that is often called the hall of fame of faith.  Chapter 11.  Having moved out of the doctrine section of Hebrews which ended with some great promises about God’s work in our lives, and having moved through a call to action: To draw near to God, To hold onto our hope, To spend consistent time together, encouraging one anoth...

We ended the last devotional in Hebrews 10:26 and following looking at a warning—a warning that says to us—draw near to God with every ounce of your being because if you fall into a terrible sin pattern, you can fall out of favor with God. Or, as some would argue--Have a relationship with God and then lose it.

We have been making our way through the letter to the Hebrews and we have transitioned between the first three-quarters of the book which is designed to help us lay a foundation for right thinking, which is where right living starts, to the last three and a half chapters of the letter, which focuses more on application.

We are studying Hebrews and we are in Chapter 10 starting with verse 19. In a very real sense, all the wonderful things that have been stated in Hebrews 1:1 – 10:18 – all the wonderful truths about Christ, all of the life changing doctrine – is all there to lead up to this point – a plea to draw near to God. In light of what God has done for us we need to live for him today.

One of the surprises of my life – and I don’t mean to be cute when I say this – but one of the surprises of my life is that wherever I go, I’m there.

We continue our journey through the book of Hebrews, and we are, in a sense, in the home stretch as we have hit chapter 10 and there are only 13 chapters in the book.  However, there’s still much to learn from these final chapters. So, let’s continue to dig in.

Our study of Hebrews, which now brings us to chapter 9, has brought us to a very sobering passage.  In this chapter are being told that it is: appointed to man once to die and after that comes judgment. 

We are getting ready to launch into the second half of the book of Hebrews, but today I just want you to think about Jesus. After all, the book of Hebrews is a celebration of Jesus. It highlights the fact that he is:  Better than the angels, Better than the prophets, Better than Moses, Better than the law, Better than Aaron, Better than the Levitical Priesthood, Better anything and anyone.

We are journeying through Hebrews and towards the end of chapter 6 we are encouraged to have faith that God will do what He says He will do by looking at the story of Abraham and, we see that God takes an oath.

God has promised that our destiny is secure. That in the matters that matter most: The next million years; The final resting place for our soul; Which side of the great divide we are going to spend forever; That He will deliver. And what we get here are two reasons to trust that promise: The first ties back to Abraham. The second rests on an oath.

We are in Chapter 6, and we are talking about the fact that trying to be good enough isn’t good enough. If your image of what it takes to get into heaven is a balance--The scales of justice-- then if there is anything on this side, you fail. If we want to enjoy fellowship with a perfect, holy, and righteous God – then we must be perfect, holy, and righteous. And we’re not. Not even on a good day. ...

Hebrews 6 has some very hard words. And the very first question we must answer is – can a Christian lose their salvation?  Some say yes. Those in this camp typically reach the conclusion that the problem the writer was addressing was the problem of Christians who denied Christ, probably under Nero’s persecution. There are some who think that the writer of Hebrews is addressing the question – What...

The theme is that Jesus is greater than anything and anyone. There isn’t another viable option. And He is greater than all the distant seconds. Having gone through all that the writer arrives in chapter five only to take a time out. And after chastising the readers for not being mature enough to learn what he’d really like to teach them He delivers a very sober warning that sure makes it appear as...

Today we move into Hebrews 6 where the writer is continuing to tell us that we need to prioritize our faith journey. That we need to press on towards spiritual maturity.

We’ve been riding a roller coaster through our journey through the book of Hebrews. One that alternates between some very harsh statements demanding that we get our act together, and some very encouraging promises about what Christ has done on our behalf. The last weeks we have been encouraged by the explanation that Jesus Christ is our Great High Priest and that He has destroyed the barrier that...

Hebrews 5:7-9 says that “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death (i.e., God the Father) and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son of God though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey h...

As we are working our way through this great book of Hebrews, we’ve already established that Jesus is greater than the prophets and greater than the angels and greater than Moses and greater than Joshua. And we’ve established that Jesus is greater than Aaron, which is another way of saying that he is greater than the Old Testament priesthood.

We are parked in Hebrews 4, verses 14-16 because it is such a remarkable gift to us. That Jesus is our great high priest. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”  Don’t give in. Don’t back down. Don’t be shy. Don’t be timid. Don’t live in sin.

We are journeying through the book of Hebrews every Monday-Thursday, and we are now in Chapter 4 and talking about the incredible fact that Christ is our high priest. And today I want to forward us to Chapter 5—then double back.  I do this because Chapter 5 does a great job of describing the role of the High Priest and setting us up for Hebrews 4:14 which a few days ago I said in some ways, is the...

We are in Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 and following, and we are talking about the incredible fact that Jesus is our high priest. And we are talking about the significance of the priesthood.