Comments on Hebrews
This article is on the Book of Hebrews.
It contains some historical information about the book and its acceptance.
It also quotes every verse in that book as well as sometimes other scriptures and commentary.
This article also includes comments on the Book of Hebrews given by the late Pastor General of the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong in a series of radio broadcasts. Here is a link to a related sermon: Hebrews 1-2 & Angels: An Introduction.
The Book of Hebrews looks to have been written 64-68 A.D. It has traditionally been believed that the Apostle Paul wrote or dictated it.
A lot of modern scholars dimiss that, because of certain grammatical differences in the Book of Hebrews from Paul's other writings in his epistles.
It could be that the Book of Hebrews was initially written in the Hebrew language and then translated into Greek.
The 4th century historian, Eusebius, reported the following claim from Clement of Alexandria of the 3rd century:
2. He says that the Epistle to the Hebrews is the work of Paul, and that it was written to the Hebrews in the Hebrew language; but that Luke translated it carefully and published it for the Greeks, and hence the same style of expression is found in this epistle and in the Acts.
3. But he says that the words, Paul the Apostle, were probably not prefixed, because, in sending it to the Hebrews, who were prejudiced and suspicious of him, he wisely did not wish to repel them at the very beginning by giving his name.
4. Farther on he says: “But now, as the blessed presbyter said, since the Lord being the apostle of the Almighty, was sent to the Hebrews, Paul, as sent to the Gentiles, on account of his modesty did not subscribe himself an apostle of the Hebrews, through respect for the Lord, and because being a herald and apostle of the Gentiles he wrote to the Hebrews out of his superabundance.” (Eusebius. Book 6, Chapter XIV)
If this is accurate, it explains why Hebrews is of a different style than other writings from the Apostle Paul.
We have references from the Book of Hebrews in Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians. Hence, that helps demonstrate that the true Church of God accepted Hebrews as canonical from the beginning.
Yet, the Greco-Roman Catholics, as well as later Martin Luther, did not want to accept it (more on that is in our free online book Who Gave the World the Bible? The Canon: Why do we have the books we now do in the Bible? Is the Bible complete?).
Early Greek Orthodox leaders had questioned it. Origen of Alexandria called it a contested writing (in his Homologoumena, as cited in Reid, Canon of the New Testament, The Catholic Encyclopedia). However, Origen also stated it was long believed to have been written by the Apostle Paul:
So if any church regards this epistle as Paul's, it should be commended for so doing, for the primitive Church had every justification for handing it down as his. Who wrote the epistle is known to God alone: (Eusebius. History of the Church, Book 6, Chapter XXV, verses 13-14)
So, while the "primitive church accepted it, within Greco-Roman Catholicism its canonical status was often doubted.
For example, Cyprian of Carthage’s “first Latin Bible”of the 3rd century fails to include Hebrews:
St. Cyprian, whose Scriptural Canon certainly reflects the contents of the first Latin Bible, received all the books of the New Testament except Hebrews, II Peter, James, and Jude. ... Cyprian's testimony to the non-canonicity of Hebrews and James is confirmed by Commodian, another African writer of the period. A very important witness is the document known as Mommsen's Canon, a manuscript of the tenth century, but whose original has been ascertained to date from West Africa about the year 360. It is a formal catalogue of the sacred books, unmutilated in the New Testament portion, and proves that at its time the books universally acknowledged in the influential Church of Carthage were almost identical with those received by Cyprian a century before. Hebrews, James, and Jude are entirely wanting. (Reid, Canon of the New Testament. In The Catholic Encyclopedia).
Euebius mentioned that the Church of Rome had not accepted it in the 4th century. Augustine of Hippo said Hebrews was still disputed in 393.
Even as late as 405 A.D., Pope Innocent I left Hebrews out of his list of the New Testament 5th century canon he sent to Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse (Bruce, The Canon of Scripture, p. 234). This is despite the claim that in:
382 … The Damasan catalogue presents the complete and perfect Canon which has been that of the Church Universal ever since”, while in 393 “St. Augustine … acknowledged that many contested this Epistle … Carthage in 419--found it necessary to formulate catalogues ... As for Protestantism, the Anglicans and Calvinists always kept the entire New Testament. But for over a century the followers of Luther excluded Hebrews, James, Jude, and Apocalypse. (Reid, Canon of the New Testament. In The Catholic Encyclopedia).
The West began to realize that the ancient Apostolic Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch, indeed the whole Orient, for more than two centuries had acknowledged Hebrews and James as inspired writings of Apostles, (Reid, Canon of the New Testament. In The Catholic Encyclopedia).
Som clearly the Church of Rome did NOT give the world the Bible. It, along with the Greek Orthodox, eventually accepted the Church of God view that Hebrews was part of the true canon.
Regarding Protestants, notice also something written by Martin Luther:
Up to this point we have had the true and certain chief books of the New Testament. The four which follow have from ancient times had a different reputation. In the first place, the fact that Hebrews is not an epistle of St. Paul, or of any other apostle (Luther, M. Prefaces to the Epistle of the Hebrews, 1546)
Martin Luther really did not believe in sola Scriptura and he did not want taught certain matters in the above books. That is right, Martin Luther had issues with accepting many books of the Bible, including others in the Old Testament (details are in our free online books Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism and Who Gave the World the Bible? The Canon: Why do we have the books we now do in the Bible? Is the Bible complete?).
If the Greco-Roman Catholics and Martin Luther would have accepted the Book of Hebrews as authoritative from the beginning (and in Martin Luther's case, the beginning of his reformation movement), the churches related to all of them would have had a New Testament command to keep the 7th day Sabbath. But by questioning it for as long as they did, the Greco-Roman Catholics had not seen it as an impediment for them to adopt Sunday. And if Martin Luther would have accepted it and really believed in his sola Scriptura rallying cry, then perhaps the bulk of Protestants would have switched to the seventh day Sabbath.
So, we see that the delay that those related churches took in accepting the Book of Hebrews, definitely changed them.
After he asked people if they have proved that the word of God is true, Herbert W.
Armstrong stated the following in his introduction to the Book of Hebrews:
And, my
friends, once again, that brings us down to this, the reason that you don't
really believe, the reason you don't get an answer to prayer is because you don't know Christ's present office. You don't realize that Jesus Christ is on the job right now, that He
has a job, an office; and He is in that office and that He is alive and that He
is active night and day and in your behalf, but you're not taking
advantage of it.
Where Is Christ Now And What Is He Doing?
The entire book
of Hebrews is called the priesthood book. Perhaps it's
the most neglected book in the New Testament. We hear a great deal about the
crucified Christ, about the death of Christ; and a lot of people seem to think
that the Savior is a dead Savior. Don't you know that the Savior is a living
Savior, that He rose from the dead, and that He does His saving work right on
the inside, that He comes within you in His spirit, and that He does the saving
within and not from without?
Now,
Jesus Christ is very much alive. He went up to heaven. The heavens received Him
until the times of restitution of all things, as you read in the third chapter
and nineteenth verse of the book of Acts of the Apostles. Why did He go to
heaven? Two reasons: one, to get for Himself a kingdom and to return. He is
going to come as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He's going to come ruling all of this earth, every
nation on earth. And the kingdoms of this world are at that time going to
become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.
But He is
not the King of Kings now. Not at all! Neither is He the lowly Lamb of God
anymore now. He was 1900 years ago, but He rose from the dead. And I want to
picture to you that Jesus as He exists now.
Perhaps you have pictures
hanging on the wall. You have pictures in your Bible, supposed to be pictures
of Christ. Oh, my friends, do you think that He ever did look or does now look
anything like those pictures? You better realize that is not the Christ at all.
That's another Jesus that
you have a picture of. That's not the Christ.
There were no photographs ever taken of Him. There is no record of exactly what
He did look like then and He does not look now exactly like He did then and I've explained that before. Now let's get into it.
Here is the one passage of this whole book,
and it's about time that we looked into this book of Hebrew and
understood the present mission, the present office, the present activity and
job of Jesus Christ, Himself, because He's on the job right now, and it's
because you don't realize that that you really doubt. And you do have doubts
because God has made an absolute promise, and He has made thousands of them in
the Bible that He'll do certain things that He has absolutely promised He will
do in His word if you perform two things yourself - if you really obey Him and
if you really believe. Well, very few of you really obey Him in the first
place; but in the second place, very few of you really believe. And you say,
"Well, I, I know He could if it were His will."
I want to
tell you, my friends, I don't have any doubts. I have seen the answer come so many times
that I believe. Now, that isn't going to convince you. It isn't intended to. That just convinced me, but you can convince
yourself if you would really believe. And the reason, my friends, you don't believe the Word of God, you don't have that faith to believe. If you can really believe that
the Bible is the Word of God, if you have ever had it proved to you that the
Bible is the Word of God so that you know it and can really believe it, well,
you'll get an answer to your prayer provided you obey God every time and
provided you ask according to His will as it's expressed in the Bible and you
ask something He has already promised to do.
My
friends there are two great portions of the Bible that are almost wholly
neglected. You almost never hear about them. That nearly one-third of the
entire Bible, that is devoted to world conditions today, to our lives today, to
the prophecies of those things that are taking place on earth now, and are going to take place in the very next few years. Almost
nobody understands the prophecies. And then, that matter of what Jesus Christ
is doing now. What has He been doing since He ascended from this earth to
heaven over 1900 years ago? Where's He been all these 1900 years and what has
He been doing? My friends, He's been on the job night and day for you as your
High Priest. And that's an office that
He's been given divinely, an office to help you, that you need.
Now, everyone of you are having your troubles. You know, we see a little baby and he'll begin to try to talk and make a few little sounds, and one
thing and another and we think it's a lot of fun. You know, we tell it now, "Come on, tell us your troubles." Yes, he
has his little troubles and a little child has his troubles that are just about as serious to the
child. But when you grow up, you still have your troubles. And there isn't a one of you listening, that doesn't have problems and
troubles and discouragements and
disillusionments and all that sort of thing. You meet a lot of problems that
you don't know how to handle. Sometimes, you are in real trouble. You
get into real deep water. And what
you don't seem to realize is that there is a supernatural power, that there is
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is not hanging dead on a cross, but who rose from
the dead and ascended to heaven and is there now to help you, and God Almighty
has assigned Him to that job and He's busy on the job. But it's a free moral agency proposition and you're not going to get
that help unless you go after it.
It is
something you have
to ask for. Jesus himself said repeatedly, "Ask, and it
shall be given..." (Matthew
7:7). He
gave parables to show that if we would ask and be persistent and not give up,
we would get the answer. But, He just isn't real to many of you, is He? God isn't real. Christ isn't real. He's seems to have gone way, way off. Now, how far off He is in actual
distance of miles or light years or whatever measurements you want to use to
measure distance, I don't know! No scientist knows. And no Bible student knows.
There are three heavens mentioned in the
Bible. The first one is the one where the airplanes fly, and where the clouds
float around. Then there is the second heaven, mentioned in the Bible where we
find the stars, the planets at night. The heaven where you find the moon,
circling around the earth. And where we find the Sun
and Mars and Jupiter and then all the galaxies and the Milky Ways.
Then there is what is called the third heaven. And apparently, that is where God's throne is. Is it clear beyond this universe?
Is it farther away in light years than this universe? I don't know, but divine power such as God has, annihilates
distance and the other things of the sort. That isn't described. The things that are revealed belong to us, we
can know — the things that are not revealed, we don't know. No scientist knows, no theological professor knows,
so those things just aren't known.
But we do
know that God is close. Because His spirit is operative everywhere, as you read
back in the Psalms. You can go to the depths of the oceans and behold, God is
there. You can go up to the highest mountain pinnacle and He is there (Psalm
139). It doesn't make any difference whether you're in Europe, whether you're in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, North America,
here in the United States; wherever you are, God is there in Spirit. God's
Spirit is there. I wonder if you can realize that?
God's
Spirit projects itself from wherever God is in person, because man is formed in
the image of God and the form and shape of God. And God is in a definite form
and shape and He must be in a definite place. But God is a Spirit and
God's Spirit emanates from Him everywhere. I don't think your mind can conceive that because we are composed
of matter and matter is something that occupies space and has weight. Matter is
confined to a definite space or location, spirit is not. God's Spirit emanates
from Him, and just as your eyesight will emanate from you to translate
knowledge into your mind from something that is millions of light years away. So God's Spirit not only transmits knowledge to Him, but it
translates thoughts and sounds, smells, tastes, whatever you might have,
anything that we know in the physical sense, but much more.
Through
God's Spirit, He can act on those bodies or on the things that He sees and
hears and that He knows. You can see a star that is so large that it becomes a
mere speck in the sky because it is so far away -- millions of light years as I
say. And you can see it with your eye but you can't act on that star, you can't will to do something to it and say I want that star to divide in
two, and half to go one way and half to go the other, and produce it. You have no power over the star, your mind
cannot exert any force or energy that will act on that distant star. But God
can see you and He can act on you and cause anything to happen. That's what God powers
are like. Now, Christ has those God powers. Christ is the one by whom and
through whom God created the heaven and the earth. By whom He thought out and
designed you, and the intricate mind and the intricate body that is you. He is
the one who designed and thought out and created and brought into being every force and every energy and every law that
we know anything about (Colossians 1:1).
Chapter 1
Let's start of Chapter 1, Verse 1:
God, who at various times and in various ways
spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
God communicates through prophets through dreams, the passing of the mantle, sometimes with a double-portion of His Spirit. Those would be consistent with the "various ways" God spoke in the past.
Back in 2006/2007, I translated Melito's Greek text from H. Paulsen Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1.5. Und Die, commonly referred to as Melito's On the Prophets. I submitted the following as to support a koine Greek class I took as a rough translation of the first part of it:
You give the gift of prophecy through your spirit in your way ... (Melito, On the Prophets. Translated by Bob Thiel from the Greek from the H. Paulsen Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1.5. Und Die)
Notice again that Melito sees God giving prophecy HIS (God's) way.
Melito was a second century Church of God leader who Christians considered to be a prophet. Like the CCOG, Herbert W. Armstrong considered to be Melito of Sardis a true and faithful Church of God leader.
Sadly, many people think God needs to give the gift of prophecy according to THEIR (Laos) Way/Judgement (Dike) (Laodicea). Since Melito was considered as a prophet, he may have written what he did to remind his critics and supporters that God decides how to give the gift of prophecy, not humans.
Now after reading the first verse in Hebrews, Herbert W.
Armstrong stated:
Now,
it proceeds here and the rest of the chapter to show us how great
Christ is, how great is your High Priest. That's the first thing you need to know. You need to know about
Him. You need to know about His Greatness. How great is Christ? Far greater
than you have ever dreamed or even imagined at any time.
Consider that God communicates through prophets through dreams (Numbers 12:6; Acts 2:17-18), the passing of the mantle (2 Kings 2:13-15), sometimes with a double-portion of His Spirit (2 Kings 2:9). Those would be consistent with the "various ways" God spoke in the past.
Sadly, many people think God needs to give the gift of prophecy according to THEIR (Laos) Way/Judgement (Dike) (Laodicea). Since Melito was considered as a prophet, he may have written that first line to remind his critics and supporters that God decides how to give the gift of prophecy, not humans.
Verse 2:
has in these last days spoken to us by His
Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the
worlds;
We have the words of His Son throughout the New Testament. In the CCOG, we have intentionally and systematically had sermons covering each and every verse in the New Testament that it is recorded that Jesus said (for a list, go to www.cogwriter.com).
Why did we intentionally do that?
Because Jesus said:
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)
Certainly, the most faithful church would teach everything Jesus said, and we in the CCOG have.
Chapter 1, Verse 3:
who being the brightness of His glory and the
express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,
when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high,
HWA stated:
The
Moffat translation has that that "He is the heir of the universe,"
that He sustains the universe with the word of His power. He sustains, He
upholds all the laws that are in motion, all the laws that our scientists know
and deal with, that the physicists and the chemists know anything about - every
force, every energy, every power. My friends, who is it that sustains
these laws, these forces, these energies that causes grass and vegetation to
spring forth and to grow, that gives us the air we breathe, that causes it to
rain on the just and the unjust alike? That is your Savior. He is alive. He is
at the right hand of the Father. He's sitting right there with God Almighty, the Father. He's
there to intercede for you and to see that your needs are supplied and to see
that when you really ask, if you are surrendered to Him, if you've given your
life to Him so He can live your life for you in your stead, that every need of
yours will be taken care of, that you will be divinely led into the way that
you should go, given wisdom, that everything will go right for you, as we say,
that you'll get the breaks, and everything that you really need, not everything
you want. Well, we've been seeing just how great He is. Just think of that -
upholding the universe by the word of His power.
Verse 4:
having become so much better than the angels,
as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
So, Jesus is now so much better than the angels and has a more excellent name.
Verse 5:
For to which of the angels did He ever say:
"You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will
be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"?
HWA stated:
He's begotten of the
Father as a human being here on earth, now He is born of God and a born Son of
God by a resurrection from the dead. Now, here again: "... Now, here
again: "... unto him I will be a Father" He didn't say that to any angel “... and he shall be to me a Son”
Chapter 1, Verse 6:
But when He again brings the firstborn into
the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."
Notice that He says 'let all the angels of God
worship him.”
Verse 7:
And of the angels He says: "Who makes His
angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire."
HWA stated:
He's begotten of the Father
as a human being here on earth, now He is born of God and a born Son of God by
a resurrection from the dead. Now, here again: "... unto him I will be a Father... [He didn't say that to any angel]... and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he brings the
first born into the world, he says, 'let all the angels worship him.' And Who
makes his angels [spirits]..." Listen, He is very God, because it would be
breaking the very first commandment to worship anyone who is not God.
"Thou shall have no other gods before Me. And thou shall not bow down to
nor worship any that is not the real and the true God," the first two
commandments. (Exodus 20:3-6) Now, if angels worshiped Him
and He is not God, that would break the first two commandments. It would be
idolatry. But it says here right in the word of God, in the Bible, let all of
God's angels worship Him. (verse 6)
My
friends, what do you know about angels? Did you ever see an angel? You probably, never did. Did you ever hear a sermon
on angels to explain what angels are? Who are angels, are there any such
things? Do they exist, or it is a superstition? What are angels? Why are angels? If there
are any, what's their function?
What do they do and how do we know? Now, I'm quite sure that no scientist every caught one in his laboratory and I don't think any astronomer ever saw one in a telescope. And I don't think you could see one under a microscope. If fact, I
think science would probably smile at the idea of an
angel. But we hear about angels and demons, now certainly when you read the
Bible; you read a lot about angels because there's a lot in the Bible about angels.
Now,
is it silly? Is it a superstition? Is it just a figment of imagination? Or, are they such beings and what are they? And
why are they and where do they come from? And why do we have them if we do? You
know, you might say that the beginning point is to find out; first
of all, whether you can prove that the Bible is inspired by an
Almighty living God. Is it just a superstition, is the Bible just a religious
writing of an ancient little despised race of Jews that were grouping in the
dark trying to find their concept of God, like a lot of other people have, only
they were perhaps were backwards and didn't know very much and this is just their religious literature.
Is that what you think? Well, that's what a lot of people think. Or, is the Bible the very word of the Creator that created not
only us but created the earth, the heavens, the galaxies the milky way. Our
solar system that created force and energy and every law that exists that can
cause every power, every law that exists today because He created it.
Is
there such as God? Well, I have made communists that thought they were Atheist
at least admit that God exists. I can prove that by the laws of science. You
can prove it too if you want to, if you know what
they are. Can you prove whether the Bible then is inspired by such a God? Well,
I think I can prove both there is such a God and that the Bible is inspired by such a God just by the
prophesies in the Bible. You go back to what is written in the Bible, hundreds
of years before it happened, about Egypt, about Babylon, about Rome even before
Rome had grown great, about the coming of the great Roman Empire, about its
fall, about its various resurrections. Yes, and even what the Bible says about
the United States of America because we're in there. And it tells all about us today. And exactly what has happened to us and how
great we are and why and all about it. There are prophesies in the Bible that
no human being could have written and made them stick and bring them to pass.
But they have happened. And those very events and the very train of history
since these words were written absolutely prove it.
You
know, I remember one Sunday night up in Eugene, Oregon. That was way back in the days
when I had to go on the air on Sunday morning in Eugene, and then drive all the
way to Portland for Sunday afternoon broadcast. And then drive back to Eugene again for a night service in the church
there and when I got down the church was packed we'd just barely had time to get there. And, I was speaking that night on the longest prophecy in all
the Bible which is the eleventh chapter of Daniel, actually
the tenth, eleventh and twelfth chapters all go together but
the tenth chapter is sort of an introduction and the twelfth is a, you might say a prologue or epilogue
or something. And, anyway, the
main prophecy is the eleventh chapter. And it's the longest prophecy in
the Bible. And I was expounding that, you know, it's absolutely
marvelous. That prophecy there; how he starts out telling about the kings that existed at the time that Daniel lived and they were to, he said, they shall stand up three kings in Persia after
that and were just three dominant kings. They were more but the others were
scarcely noted and then a mighty king shall stand up. And then it begins to tell about what was going to happen. His kingdom will be divided
to the four winds of heaven. Well, that happened, that was Alexandra the Great. Then after that,
it tells about his end and how he would come to his end and then the king of
the south would do this. And then the king of the north would do that. And
verse after verse.
Well,
I took up the history of the time and right out of authentic histories, I would
read first a verse of this prophecy. And then there it was in history it
happened hundreds of years after it was written. Then here's
the next verse of something would happen that says many days after that. Here
it is in history fifty years later. This happened. Even a marriage between the
daughter of the king of the south, who was the king of Egypt and the king of
the north or the king of Syria, and that wedding and how it happened and about
the train that accompanied her and what
happened to them. All
of the details prophesied down to the minute detail; years and
years and even in some cases here, hundred of years in advance.
Coming
on down to the time of 168 BC and then skipping on down to our time and
something that was happening that very year, in the year of 1934 A. D. when I was preaching that
sermon. You know, there was a young lady there, who was secretary of the
Communist party in that city. I didn't know anything about it but she came to my wife. She had another atheist unbeliever
with her, she wanted to know if she could have an appointment with me. She
said, I'm an atheist or at least I thought I was, when I came in here and she says to tell you the truth, we came out here to have a lot of
fun. We've been taught that religion is the opium of the people and is
a lot of ridiculous nonsense. She said I heard your husband on the air and I thought he would be a good one to come out and have a lot of sport with. We would laugh at what he said in his
ignorance. But she said, he has said things here tonight that have me sort of floored, I don't know to account for it. And, she said, after all, I haven't been an atheist
just because I wanted to be wrong or any thing of the kind because it seemed like it was right. But she
said, now I'm bewildered and I don't know what to think, I'd like to have an appointment. Well, she dropped her atheism
and the communist party and a lot of other things. And so, my friends, if you
go into the prophesies of the Bible you can prove whether the Bible is inspired and whether God
inspired it.
Now,
I would say that's the first thing
before you can know anything about angels, because you have no evidence. I don't think you know anyone that has literally seen an angel and I don't think any scientist can give you any definite information
about it. He says he can tell you something about gravity but he can't see it and you can't hear it and you can't smell it and you can't taste it but we do see what it does and we know it exists. And there are some things that we have
to accept that we cannot explain. And so, the only authority
that you have on anything about angels is you either accept what the Bible says
about it or you must throw up your hands and say, I'm ignorant. And you can prove that the Bible is inspired by
one who was able to foretell the future of specifically to nations of empires
and bring it to pass. No man could do that, no combination of men could do it.
Now,
I can tell you what the Bible says about angels. It's
up to you whether you believe the Bible but you can even prove that. But I say this: Either you
accept what the Bible says or throw up your hands and say, well I'm ignorant. You can't refute it. You can't prove that there are no angels so less let it go at that.
Well, it might seem a little ridiculous to some because a lot of people believe
only what they see. Now we had been coming here in the chapter in your Bible
that tells you where Jesus Christ is now, what He's been doing these 1900
years, and what He is doing now.
We
had come up to the place where He's talking about the fact that in ancient Israel they were a material nation, they came
to the material mountain, Mount Sinai, God dealt with them in a material and
physical manner. He manifested Himself with flashes of lightning with peels of
thunder that they could hear, they heard His voice. They didn't see God Himself but they saw great manifestations. And he made physical
manifestations that the people could see. He dealt with them in a physical
manner because they were a physical people. Well, were a physical people too. But we are a people who can receive the spirit
of God. And God is letting the rest of the world just go by.
God has assigned a 6,000 years period during which He is permitting people to make their own decisions. And He permits them to cut themselves off from God, and to cut them off from all spiritual knowledge. Spirit, my friends, is something that you can know nothing about normally or naturally. The only way that you receive any knowledge in your mind naturally, is through the five senses, just the five channels, the five sense that transmit knowledge into your mind. Spiritual knowledge cannot come that way. Because you can't see anything spiritual and you can't hear it and you can't taste it, you can't smell it and you can't put your hands on it or feel it. And so, the only way you can know anything about spiritual things is to let God reveal it. And you have to accept it on faith or you not even going to know.
Now here He said that we, if we're Christians, and the world is not included, are come unto the mount Zion, that means always the Church, the spiritual mount, not the physical mount like Mount Sinai, and enter in the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. In other words, if you are a Christian, you have come to an innumerable company of angels. And God has set angels with a certain function and duty to guard Christians. And if you are a Christian, you are come to an innumerable company of angels and yet you can't see them. How you going to know about them, and I think it about time that we do know something about them. So, listen.
They're revealed in the Bible, the Bible speaks about angels a great deal, what does it say about them? Now, in the first place, remember the Bible was written in different languages. There was no English language at that time. The Old Testament was written almost altogether in the Hebrew language and the New Testament in the Greek language. The Hebrew word for angels, and I don't speak either Hebrew or Greek, so I don't know how to pronounce them, but the Hebrew word Malak I presume: Malak. And it means a messenger or agent. And the Greek word, Angelos, how ever you pronounce it, it means messenger or agent. Same meaning precisely in the English language. Alright, now what are angels?
In
the one hundred and fourth Psalm, and the fourth verse, you read this:
"Speaking of God, who stretch out the heavens like a curtain, who laid the
beam of His chambers in the waters, who makes the cloud His chariot and so on,
who maketh His angels spirits" — (104: 3-4). He has made
His angels spirits. Now, in the first place, no place in your Bible can you
find any statement that says "who made man spirits." God did not make you a
spirit. He did not make me a spirit. We are not spirits, we are mortals. We are
made of the dust of the ground. God says you'll return to the dust too — (Gen. 3: 18). God says you are mortal and eternal life or
immortally is a gift of God — (Romans 6: 23). And a lot of
people don't believe that today, either. "Who makes His angels spirits,
His minister a flaming fire, who laid the foundation of the earth and so on,
showing the creator." Now, He made His angels spirits you find that same
things exactly
the same words quoted in the New Testament, if you want the new,
some of you people don't believe in the Old Testament. Well, here it is in the new. And of the angels, he says, "Who makes His angels spirits."
Alright, the fact that says God made
them means they were made, therefore, angels are a creation of God. Notice, it says
who [meaning God] maketh, the fact that He made or maketh means he did make;
means they were created. So angels, then, were a creation of God and God is the one who
created them. Now, what were they created or out of what? It says spirits! That
what they are then. They are spirits, therefore angels are not mortal. Angels are not matter. Angels are not made of the 16 or any other
number of elements of the ground or the elements of the earth. Now, spirit is
not material. It has nothing to do with matter. Just what is matter? Actually, the scientist don't even know what matter is. Oh, we have the old definition matter is anything that
occupies space, and has weight but that's a rather old definition. You
know, scientist aren't even sure about that today. They aren't sure actually
whether matter is some form of electricity and rapid vibration or
whether electricity is some form of matter, or what! They're just a little bit
mixed up on it. They have a lot of theories about matter. And they got
down to the atom as the smallest particle of matter and then after the
discovery of Radium and radioactivity, they discovered there are electrons. Now
I've seen these little particle flicking off radium under a magnifying glass in a dark
room. It looks just like you looking up into a great sky with thousands or millions of something
of the sort of..., stars, falling stars, fleeting off and down all around you. But, I couldn't count them. And I don't know any scientist that ever counted them.
Nevertheless, spirit is not matter and it has nothing to do with the elements of matter. Therefore, it is clear beyond the range of material science. So, no scientist knows anything about it. Now the Old Testament in the Bible says nothing whatsoever about the origin of the angels further than the scripture that I read to you that God made them or created them. The Old Testament assumes the existence of angels. And I think that most people today do, they just assume..., well the Bible talks about it. But they never look into it, they never look into to see if it true, or to see what God says about angels or are there angels? Listen, do you suppose there could be an angel right there in the room with you this very second? Would you know it? There might be an angel there and you wouldn't know it. You wouldn't know anything about it.
Now,
there is the book of Jubilees and there's ... Enoch which
are not inspired or part of the Bible. Which describe the creation of angels,
however, probably, they were written by men who had received some of that knowledge
even though their book were not inspired. They seemed to know that and wrote of them as being created and creation of
God. Now, I think we find that they are
created. When you turn over here in Colossians, the first chapter, well we
begin, oh, there's a long sentence here and a good many verses, all one long
sentence, breaking it in the middle up here in the twelfth verse,
""Giving thanks unto the Father," and the thirteen verse
"Who has delivered us and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear
son," [now, it's speaking of Christ,] In whom [That's Christ or the son]
"In whom we have redemption through his blood," "Who is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him [verse
16, now here it is, get it] by Him [speaking of Christ] by Him were all things
created"" — (Colossians 1: 12-16). Well then, since
angels are created beings, they were created by God through Christ, in other
words, God created all things by Jesus Christ. He is the Word, He spoke; it was
done, they were created by God then. "By him were all things created, that
are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, [Well He those are
generally invisible, and so He created them.] whether they be thrones, or
dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and
for him. And He, Christ, is before all things" — (Colossians 1:16-1). "He's the
head of the body of the Church. The first born of the dead" — (Colossians 1:18).
The first to be born of God. In other words, when it comes to what you call a
real born again experience, Jesus Christ is the first one to have that experience.
And a lot you need to study your Bibles, a lot more, you've got a lot of
surprises coming when you get your eyes opened.
Now then, the angels are revealed in the Bible as a part of the government of God. And there's something, my friends, it's mighty important. This is something that needs looking into. You know, we are down here on this mundane, cold earth, this material earth, conscious generally only of material things not realizing that the earth and all that's on it and all the forces and energies and powers were created by the great spirit being, God Almighty. Not realizing that God is the Supreme governor of all the universe. Not realizing anything about the government of God and that God is governing the universe. And the way He's governing this world is a part of the universe is that He made man a free moral agent. And He said to man, you choose. Whether you will come under my government or whether you want to rebel and set up your own. And so, God allowed man to choose and commanded him to do it, and by that very process, God has allowed man to choose the wrong way. By which he cuts himself off from God.
God can intervene though in the government that man has set up on this earth, whenever He pleases and there are times when He has done it and there are times when He's going to do it again, very soon, and you're going to see the effect of it because most of you are certainly going to live into that day, it's not very many years from now. Now, this government of God, the headquarters are in the heaven of God's throne. The heaven of God's throne, that's were Christ went. And you have no conception of the kind of government that God has there and the organization that functions around God's throne and around that headquarters, from which He rules the entire universe. We speculate and wonder is there any life on any of the other planets? Well, I don't know, I don't know anymore than your astronomer does. He doesn't know either he's never been able to find it out or see. But God knows. It certainly seems there must be something more than just this earth, doesn't it? But, I don't know, God hasn't revealed it. No scientist can determine it and I have no source of knowing except that God would reveal and He hasn't. But I know this, there must be a great deal for God to govern. And he has a tremendous organization that you don't even dream of spirit beings, not human beings but spirit beings at His throne and His high heaven. My friends, we certainly have been in ignorance. There's so little that we know. We know a little bit in our little tiny sphere on this mundane earth. We don't know very much though. I tell you, all space, the whole universe is a mighty big place. We don't know much about it.
But
these angel are a part of the Government of
God. And they are untold millions of them. Millions upon millions upon
millions of angels, so God says. So your Bible says, the same Bible that tells you what is
going to happen to these governments and
states and nations. And it tells you what is going to happen to
the United States and you're going to see it
happening in your lifetime. But even foretold and being here now and the
prosperity we have and the fact that we would be winning the wars that we've won in everything about it, it all in your Bible and you
never saw it. Listen! You need to write in for our booklet The United States in Prophecy {we have available the free online book Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America?}. Because you probably
don't even know where the United States is mentioned in the prophesies of the
Bible and it's mentioned, listen now, its mentioned hundreds of times.
Yes, hundreds of times more often than any other people in the whole Bible. And
you have never known, have you? You've got a lot to learn, haven't you. Well, so have I only I've learned that much, already. We all have a lot to learn, let's confess it, then. No, we don't any of us know it all.
Now, these angels are a part of the government of God, they are messengers, they are spirits, not flesh and mortal, they are servants and they are superhuman, they are not human; they are superhuman. They are spirits but they are subordinate beings that is they are subordinate to God. They are not as high as God but they are superhuman. Angels are ministers of God. And as I said, they are part of the government of God. They are His messengers, the Hebrew and the Greek word both mean the same that are used in the original writing of the Bible, a messenger or an agent. And they are God's messengers or agents used in the divine government by which God rules the entire universe. Not only this world, but the entire universe. They're superhuman; spirits, subordinate beings. Subordinate to God. But they're higher than men. And angels, because they are obedient to the laws of God, because they are not in rebellion against God, they are always pictured as being happy. And joyful. They radiate joy and enthusiasm and happiness and peace and all that sort of thing.
Now, there were some angels, apparently angels have had free moral agency, because there were angel that sinned. And in one scripture they are called angels, the angels that God spared not the angels that sinned. Well, if didn't, take heed that He spare not thee as the admonition there. But, they are not angels now, they were angels up till time they sinned. A sinning angel, however, technically and Bible language is called a demon! Now demon are fallen or sinning angels that are rebellious to the government of God. And I have seen the working of demons. I wonder if you every have. You probably have seen it and didn't recognize it. After all, its material realm has.., has nothing compared to the spiritual.
Alright, now let's look into more of it in the Bible. When were the angels created? The Bible doesn't tell you when but it does give one little inkling, it was before this earth was created. And there is every evidence not only geological but in the Bible also that this earth was created a lot more than 6,000 years ago. Now, we can actually figure that the creation of Adam and the start of human life on this earth that you read of in the first and second chapters of Genesis was approximately 6,000 years ago. There is Biblical evidence and also geological evidence that the earth has been here a lot longer than that. And, I think you can find plenty of geologist that think it's been here for millions of years. Now, I don't know about that and frankly I don't think they do either. Because I've learned that scientific gentlemen, while they're very cautious in their test tubes and their actual observations and measurements they are generally, a good many of them, at least very careless and very extravagant when it comes to flinging around a million years here and there and the task in accounting for things.
Nevertheless,
we know that angels were created before the earth was created, because you read
here in the
thirty-eight chapter, of Job, where God is speaking and bringing Job down, He's
whittling Job down to his own size here. The Eternal spoke and answered Job out
of a whirlwind and said, "Who is this that darkens up counsel of words
without knowledge and so on." He said to Job, "Where were you when I
laid the foundation of the earth? Who has laid the measures thereof if you
know?" [Speaking of His creating the earth now.] "Whereupon are the
foundation thereof fastened? Who laid the corner stone thereof?"
[Apparently, Job had just completed the building of a great building. And so,
God is comparing that to His creation of the earth and He using an earthy building as a symbol here for the creation of the
earth.] "Where upon are the foundation thereof fastened? Who laid the corner stone thereof? When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy" — (Job 38: 4-7).
He's speaking there of the angels, now stars are symbolically use there and in the first chapter of the book of revelation, you'll find that stars
are plainly identified in plain language
as meaning the angels. And so the angels then were created before the earth was created.
Now they're called sons of God
in the sense of creation of God they are. And yet, they are not begotten sons
of God, as you read in the first chapter of Hebrews.
Verse 8:
But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O
God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your
kingdom.
Jesus will usher in the Kingdom of God.
Verse 9:
You have loved righteousness and hated
lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness
more than Your companions."
What is righteousness?
172 My tongue shall speak of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness. (Psalm 119:172)
What is sin?
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. (1 John 3:4-6)
Yet, most who profess to being a follower of Jesus do not keep the commandments. They either believe that they are done away, changed, and/or have traditions that allow them to violate them.
Verse 10:
And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid
the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
Verse 11:
They will perish, but You remain; And they
will all grow old like a garment;
The "they" looks to have been a reference to contemporaries when Jesus walked the earth--called companions in verse 9.
Verse 12:
Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they
will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail."
Chapter 1, Verse 13:
But to which of the angels has He ever said:
"Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"?
Angels did not receive the same promises from the Father that Jesus received.
Verse 14:
Are they not all ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
HWA stated:
Now, then, the first
chapter, as I say, is devoted to showing us how great Christ is. Now, take this
last verse, the fourteenth here, speaking of these angels; " Are they not all ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Or in the King James translation, let me read it for you here; "Are
they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them that shall be
heirs of salvation?" Well, we're already the heirs; but we shall inherit salvation. I tell
you, my friends, very few know what salvation is. Very few people know what it
is or anything about it. Now, coming to the second chapter, it comes to man.
The first chapter is devoted to Christ, our High Priest.
The Bible speaks of angels, archangels, chreubim, and seraphim--so there are between 2-4 different types from what we know. The old WCG taught :
Cherubim are associated with God's throne, either transporting it about or carrying out directives from that throne, such as guarding the tree of life after Adam and Eve sinned (Gen. 3:24). Lucifer, an anointed cherub (Ezek. 28:14), was given, before Adam was created, authority to administer God's government over the earth and millions of angels.
The best description of cherubim is found in the book of Ezekiel. In chapters 1, 9 and 10, we read of cherubim transporting God's throne. They are large, powerful, apparently four-faced creatures with four wings.
The seraphim seem to bear a general resemblance to the human figure and have six wings, whereas the four "beasts" or, better translated, "living creatures" appear to have the combined features of cherubim and seraphim. (Sedliacik R. MINISTUDY: The Role of Righteous Angels Today. Good News, May 1982)
More on angels can be found in the free online articles:
Angels, Cherubim, and Seraphim
Chapter 2
Verse 1:
Therefore we must give the more earnest heed
to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
Yes many angels left. They perhaps drifted at first, but so far away that Satan pulled a third of them with him:
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. (Revelation 12:3-4)
Verse 2:
For if the word spoken through angels proved
steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,
The just reward for the angels who went with Satan will include future punishment of some sort. Christians will be involved in figuring out their reward as the Apostle Paul wrote:
3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? (1 Corinthians 6:3)
Verse 3:
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a
salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed
to us by those who heard Him,
We are not to neglect the opportunity for salvation we have been given. As far as judgment goes, our judgment is on us now as the Apostle Peter wrote:
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now
"If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. (1 Peter 4:17-19)
Yes, we need to remain faithful--God will remain faithful.
Chapter 2, Verse 4:
God also bearing witness both with signs and
wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His
own will?
Those signs and gifts of the Holy Spirit, being dreams and prophecies in the last days:
17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. (Acts 2:17-20)
Notice that verses 17-20 come before the great and awesome day of the Lord.
And that verses 17-18 come before the signs in the heavens of verses 19-20.
You would think that end time Christians would accept dreams, for example, as from God's Spirit in this age, but most will not.
For those who are interested, we have an article: Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18?
Chapter 2, Verse 5:
For He has not put the world to come, of which
we speak, in subjection to angels.
Angels do not have the promise to rule like true Christians have.
Verse 6:
But one testified in a certain place, saying:
"What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take
care of him?
HWA stated:
Now, you might say if
there is a golden text here that sums up the second chapter, it is here along
in the sixth verse. When it comes to seeing how great Christ is, then the
question comes, well, now, what's a mere man, a little speck of a weak, anemic man, a man
that has a natural, carnal mind unless or until he is converted, that is
hostile towards God. And mankind has devoted everything he could trying to disprove that God
is the ruler, rejecting the rule of God and trying to represent God as a harsh,
stern monster of some kind, an egotistic, vain creature, like Herbert Spencer
pictured Him. What is man that
one as great as Christ and as great as the Father should be mindful of him? Or, the son of man You take care of him?
I
am going to show you about man, and I am going to show you why He cares about
us. And I'm going to show you, my friends, what a great thing is in store for us
and why you need this High Priest sitting up there and what you're neglecting and
what you're passing up. Oh, my
friends, you don't realize what opportunities you have. You don't realize the vast glory that is in store for you. And there's something you need
to be working at that you're neglecting.
Christ's
Present Position
And
it is recorded in the first book of Hebrews that tells us about Christ and His
present position. He has a job and He is on the job and He's very
industrious and very busy on it and it tells
us in the first chapter that Jesus Christ has so much power that He sustains
this entire universe by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3)
He upholds and
sustains and keeps in force and in motion, all
of the laws; such as the law of gravity, all
of the laws of physics, all of the laws of
chemistry. Now, how much help could He be to you?
And I wonder if you realize that God not only has created man in His own image, God the Father so loved this world of sinners that have voluntarily rejected Him, because God who is the supreme ruler and God who rules the universe by His power and through the Laws that He has instituted, has ruled that you must choose whether you will obey Him or reject Him. And by so doing, He allows you to reject Him. He does not force you to be obedient to Him.
But, God's laws are good for you. And if you go your way that seems
right to you, that is contrary to the way of God, "...because the carnal
mind is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be." (Romans 8:7 paraphrased)
The carnal mind seems to think that God is wrong and God's ways are wrong and if you go the way that seems right to a man; the way that has seemed right to human beings on this earth; the way that human beings have built up in a human society on this earth; and you go along like one of the dumb sheep. Yes, sheep on the way to the slaughter, those ways are not good for you. That's why this earth is suffering (Proverbs 16:25).
People
write and ask me, "Why does God allow so much suffering in the
world?" Because God allows you to go your own way and because your way has
brought that suffering, that's why. The only way God could stop the suffering would be to
stop you doing the ways you want to do. To stop you doing as you're doing — well,
following impulse, blind desire, vanity, pride, passion, your own self-will,
your own greed and all
of those things in human nature that are wrong and that are
constantly punishing you and punishing others. When you do wrong, you not only
punish yourself, you punish others too. And so we're all suffering, one from another. Where we should be helping
one other and we should be making things better for one another.
Now, to come under the law, and the Government of God, is to come under the blessings of that law and that government. And to have the help of God. One listener writes in and wants to know, where did this saying originate, and where did it begin, that 'the day of miracles is past'? Well, the day of miracles is not past. The day of miracles is not past at all. It is only past for those who do not know God because God hears not sinners, but the minute you repent of your sin and turn to God through Jesus Christ you're not a sinner any longer; then He begins to hear you (John 9:3).
And
Christ came to pay the penalty of what you've done, that you may repent, that you can turn around, that
you can be conquered and that you may surrender wholly and unconditionally to
God and voluntarily come to Him and under His government. And then you're reconciled to God
through the death, through the blood of Jesus Christ. It makes sense when you
understand it.
And then,
my friends, you have a direct connection with God. And then you'll find that the day of miracles is not past if you really
believe. Because God will intervene on your behalf; even with private
independent miracles, if you please. God
has not only set laws in motion that are inexorable and that act automatically,
either for good or for bad, according to whether you use them or violate them,
conform to them or whether you break them. But God also will intervene especially on your
behalf. The day of miracles is past for those who do not know God. But the day
of miracles is not past for the real believer.
And so,
Christ is there and He's our High Priest, and He's there to help you, but all
of that help is of no avail unless you avail yourself of it.
And you can't do that until you surrender to God. You can't do that until you decide you are willing to live by every
word of God and every law of God instead of by every way and every tradition
and every custom of man and the latest fads and the way that all the other dumb
sheep are going to the slaughter. And the aches and pains and heartaches and
suffering which this world is undergoing.
Chapter 2, Verse 7:
You have made him a little lower than the
angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works
of Your hands.
Yes, right now angels are above humans as we were made a little lower than angels. And that God put humans over some of the work of His hands, which we read about starting with Adam and Eve in the first few chapters in the Book of Genesis.
Verse 8:
You have put all things in subjection under
his feet." For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing
that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.
Ultimately, humans who are converted will rule over the universe.
Verse 9:
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower
than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that
He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
Notice that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels. Hence, He was NOT fully God when He became born through Mary. But trinitarians do not seem to grasp that.
Verse 10:
For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all
things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the
captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Notice that Jesus suffered. And He did so in order that we will be granted salvation and brought to glory--that glory is deification (see also What is Your Destiny? Deification? Did the Early Church Teach That Christians Would Become God?).
Verse 11:
For both He who sanctifies and those who are
being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call
them brethren,
True Christians are sanctified, set apart from the world.
Furthermore, yes, Jesus is the true brother to those who are truly Christian.
Verse 12:
saying: "I will declare Your name to My
brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You."
We can sing praises to God now, and do so with various of the songs in The Bible Hymnal.
Verse 13:
And again: "I will put My trust in
Him." And again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given
Me."
True Christians are God's children.
Verse 14:
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of
flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He
might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
The time will come when Jesus will destroy the devil. Watch also the sermon: Destiny of Satan.
Verse 15:
and release those who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Jesus came to set us free. Yet, when Jesus said He had come to do that, He was not believed and people wanted to toss Him off a cliff:
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,Because He has anointed MeTo preach the gospel to the poor;He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captivesAnd recovery of sight to the blind,To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." 22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"
23 He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'" 24 Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."
28 So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30 Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. (Luke 4:16-30)
Jesus came to help humans, but few really believed Him.
Verse 16:
For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but
He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
Notice that Jesus did not "give aid to angels," even though they are a little above humans now. But He does give aid to the seed of Abraham?
Does that only mean the Jews?
No!
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
4 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 3:26-4:7)
So, we see that the promises to Abraham were not just for Jews, but for all Christians to be heirs to those promises.
Notice, before going further, something else about angels:
1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. (Hebrews 13:1-2)
That reminds me something else that Jesus said:
31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
44 "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' 45 Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:31-46)
Basically, Jesus is saying that many how claim to be Christians are lying to themselves. Jesus understood that if people thought He needed something, they would provide it. But what they do not understand is that by helping poor and hungry brethren, they are giving Jesus what He really wants.
Sadly, most end time Christians do not see the needs of the poor and hungry in places like Africa as important. They need to understand Jesus' words.
They could, as Hebrews stated, be entertaining angels.
Verse 17:
Therefore, in all things He had to be made
like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in
things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Notice that in all things Jesus had to be made like us. We are not fully God. But also notice that Jesus is a merciful High Priest and mercy looks to have been one of the concepts Jesus wanted to impart to His followers when He said what we read in Matthew 25.
Verse 18:
For in that He Himself has suffered, being
tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Chapter 3
HWA
stated:
My friends, very few of us know
anything about the world tomorrow. We don't know too much about the world today
and the why of it and what's causing all of the eruption in this world today.
You know, it's amazing when you come to understand — why this world could be in
such darkness today and looking upon the Bible as a book of superstition;
because they don't know what it says. The Bible doesn't say what most people
believe it says. It doesn't say what a great many are teaching that it says at
all. Very few people know what salvation is. Very few people know the way of
salvation. Very few people know why they're here on this earth. Very few people
know the great purpose being worked out here below. And why God put humanity on
the earth. And what salvation really is.
Now, coming to the third chapter
of Hebrews, in this great priesthood book, understood by almost no one, that
explains what our real ultimate destiny is. Although God has made us free moral
agents, God has said, "I set before you life on
the one hand; death on the other." (Deuteronomy 30:19 paraphrased) On the
one hand, is a way of life that leads to blessings and everything good, a full
abundant life, a happy life that is free from fears and worries, and on the
other hand, the kind of life, disobeying laws that are in motion, laws that are
living, moving, spiritual principles. Spiritual energies. And bringing curses
upon ourselves. Until, this world not knowing that, has come to a place where
it is miserably unhappy, where lives are barren and desolate of anything
worthwhile, they're empty. And the things that seems so good, and that people
devote all their time and energy chasing and trying to achieve and trying to
receive and trying to participate in, even when they achieve the kind of
success or the accomplishment that they desire and spend a lifetime trying to
gain; it leaves them empty. They find it didn't pay after all.
And so this life, my friends, and
a great deal of which looks upon Christianity as a superstition, is itself an
empty life. And chasing after the things that the world is in this life that
most people think are practical. The things that are supposed to be the real
practical things, and supposed to be the things that pay off, when you find
them, you're just like Solomon said he was. And I don't know of any man today
that has rolled up the big fortune or has really lived the life like old
Solomon did way back there.
The Result Of Solomon's
Achievements
He built great works. Great
public works. Perhaps not quite as great as some of the public works that the
President of the United States is able to at least initiate and through the
power of this great nation, which is greater because there're more of us and than there were in ancient Israel, and yet I don't
know, frankly, whether even the United States government today is able to build
great works any greater than Solomon did. He built great works. He built for
himself magnificent gardens and beautiful things. He built that great marvelous
palace. If that palace that he built, or rather the temple that he built, which
was recognized then as the very house of God if that building existed on the
earth today, it would probably be the showplace of all the earth today.
Solomon worked hard. He
accumulated a great fortune. He lived in luxury and splendor such as perhaps no
man ever did. And, mentally, he had a great mind and he was a man that has been
rated as the wisest man who ever lived. And there's great satisfaction in
mental accomplishments and in having wisdom. Having wisdom to make right
decisions. Think of the vanity that the man can puff himself all up with and
swell all up with when he has it. But after Solomon went in for all of those
things, you know my friends, it left him empty. And he said that it was just
like chasing after a handfull of wind and catching up
with it, that's about all. It was just like looking for some wind. And devoting
your whole life, and you got a hand of wind and what is it? Take your hand away
and where is it? "Vanity of vanities," [he said] "All is
vanity... What does the man gain by all the toil... a generation goes and a
generation comes, but the earth remains forever." (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3) [RSV throughout unless
otherwise specified]
You know, you hear a lot about
the end of the world. Is this world coming to an end? Yes, it is! But, here in
the Bible it says the earth remains forever. Is there any contradiction? Not at
all. Because what's coming to an end is not the earth, but the world and world
is merely the system and the way of life that men have built up on this earth
that is making millions of lives miserably unhappy. Now listen, if you want
something that is real practicality, listen just a minute. Here's something
that is practical. Let's get down to this thing and see what does pay off and
what does make life worthwhile.
Solomon wrote here in
Ecclesiastes. He had a lot of wisdom. He knew more than you know so don't think
you know more than he did, because you don't, I don't care who you are. He knew
more than anybody that's lived, there's none of you listening to me that knows
more than old Solomon. He was a wise old owl, or wise old man anyhow. What has
been, he said, is what will be. What has been done, is what will be done.
There's "nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9) You
understand that? That's true if you understand what he meant. Now, he said,
"I applied my mind, to seek and to search out by wisdom, all that is done
under heaven;" (Ecclesiastes 1:13) He wanted to know all about life. But
he concluded all is vanity and the striving after wind.
What Are You Striving For?
What are you striving after, my friends?
You're working hard at something or else working hard at being lazy and lying
around. Of course, the idea now is to encourage everyone to think that heaven
is a place of bliss, you're go to be like a little dog looking up at his
master. You won't have anything to do. You'll go up there and look on the face
of the savior and think how wonderful it is. Now, that isn't what God offers
you at all, but that's what a lot of people think. And nothing to do; you might
go around playing on a harp once in a while. But you'll be living in the
master's palace, it'll be, you know, a great castle in the air or wherever
heaven is supposed to be. A lot of people have that idea it's idleness and
ease. Now that's the idea we have now. The idea seems to be that the state we
all want to get into is a state of inactivity, a state of stagnation, a state
of complete idleness and ease but we want luxury. We don't want to give
anything, we don't want to do anything, we want to just lie around and I think
I should say lay around, and be a little ungrammatical, I think it would be
more expressive perhaps, but we want to have everything.
Now do you know that very
principle is contrary to the law that God Almighty set in motion? And when you
try to do that and try to live that kind of life, you're cracking and breaking
a law that's going to break you. That law is there. That law is inexorable,
it's invisible, you don't see it. You don't see the law of gravity either that
pulls anything down to the ground if you hold it up and then let loose. But
it's there. And that law works. And this law works.
You know, I knew a man that at
least admitted himself that he was a great philosopher, and some of the great
and the near great of the United States thought he was, Elbert Hubbard. I was a
young man then, of course. He went down on the Lusitania before World War I,
but I knew Elbert Hubbard quite well. I spent a lot of time talking with him.
He said, "Get your happiness out of your work." Well, he didn't know
anything about the spiritual laws that had been set in motion, he knew
absolutely nothing about them but he was pretty wise along material lines only.
And, he did know that you get your happiness out of your work. Fact I was
visiting him over at his place in East Aurora, New York, one time. And, he put
me to work, wrapping up what he was selling then at a very fancy profit; he
knew he was selling it for more than they were worth. He got a big kick out of
that, as a matter of fact. And, he called them goody boxes for Christmas
presents. He had a lot of Irish potatoes. Well, they were very select potatoes.
But he wrapped them up in tissue papers to make them look nice and fancy so he
could charge about three or four times the price they were worth for them. And
make them look like a nice gift box. He put me to work wrapping potatoes in
tissue paper. He wanted to know what I thought, of a man that would have
another man come visit him as a guest and he had his hotel or his inn there and
I was a paying guest. He charged me a very nice price for a very good lunch,
tried to get me to stay all night and pay for a nice room or nice suite or
something, which I didn't do, I had to get back to Buffalo that night. But we
spent most of the day together and he said, "I charge you for everything
you get around here and then I put you to work and I don't pay you any wages
now what do you think of me as a host?" Well, I said who was that
philosopher that said, "Get your happiness out of your work!" And he
had a good laugh at that.
Well, my friends, that's the only
way you're ever going to get happiness is out of accomplishment. And out of
active effort, but active effort that is spent in a direction where it's going
really to accomplish something and not just chasing after wind. Now, there's a
lot of sense in this if you can just get it. Here Solomon said "I said to
myself, Come now, I will make a test of pleasure." (Ecclesiastes 2:1) Enjoy yourself, he said to
himself. Then he said, "I made great works. I built houses, and planted
vineyards for myself." (Ecclesiastes 2:4) Oh, he was looking out for
number one. He didn't care about the other fellow. He was looking after number
one. He taxed the people, he was the King. He had the ability to tax the
people. He taxed them until they couldn't bare their burdens any longer. They
rejected his son, when his son refused to lighten their tax burdens. People
didn't like taxation then anymore that you like it today. But nevertheless, it
costs money to keep government going and it did in those days too. But, Solomon
not only kept the government going, he taxed them so much that he could have a
lot of pleasures for himself, but went clear beyond that of any king on earth
at the time.
He says "I made great works,
I built houses and planted vineyards, for myself; [not for his kingdom, not for
his people, but for himself.] I made myself gardens and parks, I planted in
them all kind of fruit trees. [and beautiful trees] I made myself pools from
which to water the forest of growing trees." (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6) See, he
knew something about irrigation, way, way, way back there, hundreds of years
before Christ.
Solomon's Pursuit Of Happiness
"I bought male and female
slaves. I had slaves that were born in my house. I had also great possessions
of herds and flocks. More than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also
gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasures of kings and provinces. I
got singers, both men and women. Many concubines; man's delight."
(Ecclesiastes 2:7-8)
Wine, women and song. You know,
Solomon had one thousand women. (I Kings 11:3) Now, God set a law in motion, my
friends. God intended a man to have one wife. And God set a law about this
thing of male and female and being joined as husband and wife. That if a man
will just take the one wife that he is in love with and be true to her, she
becomes a great joy to him. And he loves her more and more as the years go by
if they understand God's laws and if they are true to one another and
exercising the laws of God and the laws of marriage as God intended.
But you know, when a man thinks
well, I believe I'd be happier with a lot of women. And I've known men in my
lifetime who had beautiful wives they were very much in love with. But they
think they want to begin to play around, as they say. They want to, as they
say, cheat on the wife and the wife doesn't know it. That's one of the things
that human nature somehow seems to think would be nice to some men and it's
part of the forbidden fruit. They seem to think God is a monster and God's laws
are bad for us and of course they know that God's law says that adultery is a
sin. But naturally a lot of men that are foolish and silly and have no sense in
their heads, begin to think that's just some decree God wrote on a piece of
paper. And maybe He won't catch 'em at it. They don't
realize that's the law that God set in motion that is going to break you if you
break it.
Alright I've known men, who
thought that was an alluring thing and that the forbidden fruit was sweeter and
so they thought it would be nicer to have several women instead of just one.
Course, the wife didn't know it but they were stepping out with other women.
They were committing a lot of adultery. And then all of a sudden those men
would come to me, they used to in my earlier years when I knew some men of that
sort, and they would say, "Well, you know... I don't know what's happened
but my wife is... well she's just repugnant, repulsive to me. She doesn't seem
like she used to any more. I don't know why. But, she's not attractive; I don't
love her anymore." Well, they didn't love any of these other women they're
chasing around with either. Except they thought they did. Until they had
committed adultery with them. And then they didn't. Then they were an unclean
thing just like an old filthy dirty rag. And there wasn't any women that was
really attractive in their eyes.
Well, those men divorced. They
married and then they divorced. I met one of them not so many years ago that I
had known just like that. He'd had two or three wives. He was very unhappy, his
life had never been happy, and he had missed the joys that God has given me. I
talk about it, once in a while. But it is one of the laws of God and I want to
tell you my friends, it pays off. And I want to tell you my friends that God
has given us some wonderful laws if we'll go according to them, they'll pay
off. They can make you very happy. Oh, I know, there are some thorns on the
beautiful rose bushes sometimes. And, I suppose most marriages have their
little unpleasant parts. That's only because of human nature; we let our own
natures get in the way, that's all. But God has set laws in motion that if
we'll observe them we'll get over all of those things and you'll go along and
marriage can be very happy. Marriage can be very beautiful. And love is
something that can just deepen and deepen as the years go by. Oh, don't throw
it away.
I tell you, these people that say
that the laws of God are done away, the laws of God are nailed to the cross.
The law against adultery, the law that says you must be true to one wife.
That's a very good law. Why don't you practice these laws of God. That's just
one of them. Everyone of them, my friends, they
really mean something. This is a practical way of life. A lot of people that
think things that are practical that just means how can you get money, how can
you take it away from the other fellow. Or, how can you get the things that are
illicit and they're inordinate and that God has forbidden. Things that are
illegal according the laws of God.
Now, here Solomon had his
thousand women. What wonderful happiness Solomon threw away. In all of this
thing, of all of his extravagances, in all of his great position and his
wisdom, Solomon didn't have enough wisdom to even understand to know about the Law
of God. Now, Solomon wanted wisdom, God gave it to him. Wisdom is the ability
to apply knowledge and make decisions in certain cases. But, I don't know
whether Solomon had such great wisdom after all.
Wisdom And Understanding
Now, when I was a young man
beginning age sixteen, I began to crave something a little different; just a
shade different in meaning. I wanted understanding. And I began to ask God for
it. You know, if you ask God for some of these things, if they're right, He'll
give them to you. And God has given me a little measure of understanding. I
certainly wouldn't begin to say that I have more of that than any man that ever
lived. But, I've had a little measure of it. Perhaps I've had my share. Well,
I'll tell you one thing, you pay a price for it. The more understanding I have,
the more I see that we shouldn't put our trust in men, where most people do,
and then get away from God, but we should put our trust in God. And have
charity toward men. Because you have to have if you're going to get along with
them. The more you know about men, the more disappointed you're going to be in
them. But God intended we should have love and charity towards people. And
people need it. You need it, too. So, you better have it for others so they can
have a little for you.
Now, Solomon said, "So I
became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom
remained with me." (Ecclesiastes 2:9) You know, I almost question that.
But he said that. Solomon said it, he said it under inspiration. That doesn't
necessarily mean though that God who inspired him to say it, endorsed what he
said. I think that him having a thousand women here and all these concubines,
he didn't have as great wisdom as he might have had because God's law pays off
if you observe it. God set the laws and they are laws that are living and
they're in motion. And when you break them, I want to tell you, they're going
to break you. Now, they don't always break you just, you know, the first second
or the first day or the first year or two but sooner or later they're going to
break you.
I know a man, a man that I knew
pretty well. He wasn't getting along with his wife. I spent years trying to
show them the way. To heal that breach that they could be happy. They weren't
able to meet each other half way. Each one said, let the other one do..., it's
the other one that's wrong. Oh, it was about fifty-fifty, one was about as
wrong as the other. Each one could see the wrongs of the other, there was
plenty wrongs to see. And each one could see only the wrongs and the faults of
the other. She said, "Let him correct himself, then maybe I'll think about
it." He said, "Let her get right and let her correct what's wrong
with her. Let her control that sharp, snappy tongue of hers", and all that
sort of thing." Well, finally he ran off. My friends, you can't cheat
these laws of God and get away with it. Nobody does. Maybe you don't believe
that.
Learning Life's One True Purpose
Well, God put us here to learn
lessons by experience; that's why we live this three score and ten. That's why
God has given us this life. A lot of us are so rebellious, so stubborn, so
stupid; we can't believe God when He says anything. The things that God says
are practical. Only, most of you don't know what He says because you don't
understand your Bibles. You just know what's been purported to be the Word of
God. Know the truth about it as you've never read it or heard it or understood
it before. Then open your own Bible and that's where you really find it and
believe what you see in your own Bible.
Now, Solomon said here, "So
I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Whatever my
eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure."
(Ecclesiastes 2:10) He just gave himself every pleasure. "For my heart
found pleasure in all my toil..." (Ecclesiastes 2:10) A lot of people
don't have the wisdom to know that there's pleasure in good honest hard work.
But he knew that. He even got a pleasure there that a lot of you people haven't
ever learned how to get. "...and this was the reward of all my toil. Then
I considered all that my hands had done, and the toil that I had spent in doing
it." (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11) When he got to be an old man, now and here
were years of efforts, here was a lifetime of a man that became great so that
was none like him in the earth, "and behold, all was vanity and the
striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."
(Ecclesiastes 2:11) Nothing more to be gained. Just vanity and a striving after
wind. What did he have, maybe a hand full or a box full of wind. What is it?
There's plenty of it around anyhow, you can catch it without going too far.
"So, [he says] I turned to
consider wisdom, and madness and folly; for what can the man do who comes after
the king? Only what has already been done." (Ecclesiastes 2:12)
Isn't anything more for him to
do. My friends, until you find the real values of life, until you come to
recapture the true values. That incidentally is the slogan of Ambassador
College here in Pasadena, California. "Recapture True Values". Until
you come to do that, you don't know what life's all about and you don't know
how to live it. You don't know how to make it happy. Life can be mighty
precious if you learn how.
Well, Solomon finally says
"So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me;
for all is vanity and the striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:17)
Striving, striving, striving, what are you striving for, my friends. You're
working hard. You've got some goal, what is your goal? If your goal is anything
less that to attain to the resurrection of the dead in the Kingdom of God, as a
glorified divine son of God, born again into the Kingdom of God; if you have
any goal less than that, you're striving after wind. And when your life is
over, and when all of your effort has been expended, you'll look back on it and
realize that you've had an empty life. You had a fruitless life. You are a
miserable failure. And, someday your conscience is going to catch up with you.
You're going to realize you've had this one life to live; this one mortal human
life and you've thrown it away. And you've wasted it. What good is it?
Very few know what God has in
store for us. Listen, if I have or I don't have time for very much more,
Solomon said, "I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun,
seeing that I must leave it to the man that will come after me." (Ecclesiastes
2:18) And that's the way you will be if you are just looking at material
rewards and selfishness and greed and vanity and puffing yourself up. Where
will you be?
Listen I knew the president of
the biggest bank in the United States outside of New York. A great bank. Also,
I knew the man who was two steps higher than the president of the biggest bank
in New York that became the biggest bank in the world, before a California bank
out here got bigger in recent years. I was in the city of each of these banks.
I went into each one of them and I asked officers, what about so and so and
what happened to him. Why, they didn't even remember that he'd ever existed.
Greatest men in the United States. They spent their lives building great banks!
Big ones! World known! Today, they aren't even known in the institutions they
built.
There is no reward under heaven
worthwhile but to obtain salvation in the Kingdom of God when you learn what it
is. The very purpose for which you were born was to learn that lesson. And to
come to surrender to God as living ruler over your very daily life. To receive
the very divine nature of the Eternal God. And to yield to permit God to
develop in you His righteousness, His very character so that you shall be born
of Him. God help you to understand.
Why Were You Born? — Booklet
Now, listen, I want you to sit
down right now and write in for the booklet on Why Were You Born? I
think of all the booklets that we have written, that we've published that I've
been announcing on this program for years and years, that there has never been
one more important than this. This lays down before you the whole purpose of
life. It lays down the whole of the why's and wherefore's
of this thing that we call salvation. Why do we need it? And just what is it?
What do you get and how? Why does God permit wars? And so much human suffering
and heartaches, fears and worries and all these type of things. Empty lives,
why does God allow such suffering in this world? And what is the purpose being
worked out here below? You know that mankind seems to have failed utterly to
understand. He has lost his way, he has lost sight of the very purpose of life.
And yet, there's a reason why, not only why the world was put here, not only
why God put mankind here in general but listen, there's a reason why God had
you born as an individual. There's a reason why you as a person, as an
individual, were put here on this world and most of you don't know what it is.
And you're failing to realize that very purpose. Now, naturally, it has to do
with the plan of redemption. But even that plan is not very widely understood
today. Nor, rightly preached.
As a matter of fact, very few
understand the plan. Very few understand the purpose. Very few understand what
redemption is, what salvation is, where we go, what is the condition, what are
the terms, how do we get there, why do we need it; all of those things. You
know, we should ask and we should understand. Why does man need any redemption
anyway? Why do we need it? The popular teaching is that, one is saved at the
time he accepts Christ as personal savior or when he professes Christ or makes
his decision for Christ or in some churches when he's baptized, or when he
joins the church or whatever the way of initiation might be. Well then, listen
my friends, I'd like to ask you this, I want you to think about it. Why is it
then that God does not right then and there in that moment, remove the man if
he's already saved? Why does not God right then and there remove the saved
Christian from this unhappy world of suffering? Why does he have to go on and
suffer? And then again you read in the Bible "It is through much
tribulation we must enter the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22 KJV paraphrased)
Why?
Why doesn't God take a person
immediately to his reward and remove him from all of the pains and the
heartaches and the suffering of this world if he is then and there saved? Why
is there such a thing as sin? Why? Now we hear that it came from the original
fall of man. Will you understand about that original fall? Was there any
original fall after all? You know, my friends, we've heard about it, we take it
for granted but did you ever look into it? You will if you read this book. It
will explain it. It will explain all about it. Now, this is a booklet, my
friends, that, well you just can't understand about life, you can't understand
about salvation, you can't understand God's purpose unless you understand what
is in this little booklet. The name of this booklet, Why Were You Born?
Today, we're living in the most frightening, the most terrifying, the
most momentous days of the history of this whole earth. Never
before has any previous generation lived in times like these. Never has there been
a time of world eruption, of world trouble, of world chaos such as we're living in today. And there is no peace, and there is no
hope of peace and the future outlook is dark indeed, if it were not for the good news of 'The
World Tomorrow!' But in the meantime, mankind is bringing
himself to total oblivion. If God Almighty didn't intervene, there would no flesh be saved alive on this
earth, so said Jesus Christ 1900 years ago. So say your world famous scientists today. And that's official.
Now we've been seeing in this most neglected and one of the most
wonderful books in all
of the Bible, the book of Hebrews which is the Priesthood book, we've been seeing how
Jesus Christ is on the job today and has been for nineteen hundred years and
more; night and day, on the job. As I've said before, in this series, you've heard a lot about Christ's ministry of 3 1/2 years, over
1900 years ago, we talk a lot about that, you've heard a lot about Christ hanging on a cross dead; you see
pictures of Him hanging on a cross dead. You hear a little, about once a year,
about the resurrection of Christ on Easter time, because Easter is supposed to
celebrate the resurrection, actually it doesn't, believe it or not, startling as that
may be. If you don't believe that, write for our booklet on Easter and it'll certainly startle you, it will shock you, but it's factual and it's absolutely truth and you can prove it.
Very few people,
however, ever give a thought to what has Jesus Christ been doing since, and so
we've been looking in this Priesthood book. He's on the job for
you and me and if you don't know what He's doing, and if you don't realize the
connection between His work, His job now, and you... well, I wouldn't give you
very much for your chances of the salvation that a lot of you think you have.
And a great many people are deceived and don't have what they think they have today, it's about time we begin to wake up and get our eyes open to the
truth.
Chapter 3, Verse 1:
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession,
Christ Jesus,
Notice that Christians are being called holy. Understand that ours is not a physical material calling and that Jesus is our high priest.
Verse 2:
who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as
Moses also was faithful in all His house.
God the Father appointed Him, and Jesus was faithful. Consider also that although Moses was flawed, he is considered faithful in the same context as Jesus.
Verse 3:
For this One has been counted worthy of more
glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the
house.
Yes, Jesus was sinless and, yes, accounted for a lot more glory than Moses. But this also suggests that Moses, too, was worthy of glory.
Verse 4:
For every house is built by someone, but He
who built all things is God.
There's an old joke that there was a contest between God and an evolutionist to make something. The evolutionist went to grab something physical, like soil, and in the story God says, no you have to first make your own dirt out of nothing. The evolutionist was stunned. But God made everything and that is also a point in Hebrew 3:4.
Verse 5:
And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house
as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward,
It was probably because Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant that God used Moses like He did. God has great things in store for you in His kingdom, and perhaps even great things in this life.
Verse 6:
but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose
house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm
to the end.
Jesus is a Son of the House of God, but if we Christians are faithful, we are part of the house if we endure to the end.
Verse 7:
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you will hear His voice,
Verse 8:
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
HWA stated:
Now, here we've been, in
this third chapter, and we've come to the place where Paul, the Apostle Paul,
in writing this for us, had quoted from one of the Psalms, he had quoted from
the Psalm 95, verses seven to eleven, where David in David's day had written, "To day if ye [that's those in David's day] will hear his voice
[now, that was hundreds of years after Moses. So, he said to them at that
time], harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation
in the wilderness [as they did back in Moses' time]:"
At the time they were
being led by Moses out of Egypt and on over to the Promised Land. That, my
friends, was the picture, the type of our being led out of the slavery of sin,
which is the transgression of God's law, in other words, going the ways that have
seemed right to man and contrary to the ways of God. And being led out of the
slavery that that has imposed. In other words, the way that seemed right to a
man has only brought curses upon us and it's bringing final
death. And so, their being delivered out of Egypt was a
type of our being delivered out of sin. And their journey through the
wilderness on to the Promised Land was the type of our journey through this
life. And the Promised Land, the Palestine that they were to enter
into then was the type of our entering into the kingdom of God
and the final rest from all
of the curses that we've brought on ourselves by defying God and the way of God. And
so David was saying to those people, "harden not your
hearts as they had done back there when, he said, your fathers tempted me,
proved me, and saw my work for forty years."
Verse 9:
Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And
saw My works forty years.
The fathers had hardened their hearts. They were sure they were right. They found fault with God's government and felt that they were fine in their rebellion.
Verse 10:
Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, "They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known
My ways.'
Verse 11:
So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not
enter My rest."'
HWA stated:
and so God said, He
swore on His wrath that... They shall not enter into my rest." And
that generation did not. Everyone, except two of that generation died; never
got into Palestine.
Now then, the
warning of David was, that if they did not continue to obey God, if they
continued in unbelief and in disobedience, they would never enter
into any final rest from all of these troubles of
this life, and the curses that we bring on ourselves.
Verse 12:
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you
an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
HWA stated:
Verse
twelve, to us says, "Beware
brethren [now he's speaking of course to those who are already Christians,
brethren are those who have been begotten of God, that have received the Holy
Spirit of God, the ones that are already brethren, not to the people in the
world, this is not an evangelistic appeal to get converted, this is a message
to those who are converted]. Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you
[that is already converted Christians], lest there be in any of you an evil
heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."
Now how did they depart from God? That is
used as a type for the way we can depart from God. Back
in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus we find that the Eternal had said unto Moses
before the Old Covenant was given, before any of the law of Moses was given,
before the Old Covenant had been made with Israel, He said, when they were
grumbling because they had nothing to eat, and they were hungry, and God said,
"Well I'll perform a miracle, I'll rain bread from heaven for you. And you
shall go out, the people shall go out, and gather a certain rate every day that
I may prove them whether they will walk in My law or not."
And, it shall come to pass [God said], that on the sixth day
they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as
they gather daily." (Exodus
16:5)
There would be
enough each day for that day, God only gave them today's bread today but on the
sixth day He gave them bread for two days. Twice as much. Well, then on the
sixth day, Moses said, no "This
is that which the Lord hath said [He said that they went out and gathered twice
as much each man, there was twice as much falling from heaven on that day and
he said], This is that which the ETERNAL hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the ETERNAL [so]: bake
that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning." (Exodus 16:23).
Do your baking, your boiling and all of the preparation
today. Today is a preparation, tomorrow is a Holy Sabbath. So, they laid it up
until the morning and it did not breed worms and stink whereas every other day it
had and here God was revealing whether time had been lost. (Exodus 16:22-24)
If you have any
doubt about time having been lost and maybe we don't know which day God rested on at creation, write for our
booklet, 'Has Time Been Lost?' That will give you seven lines of positive proof
as to whether
or not time has gotten mixed up. Have we gotten the calendar mixed
up? Do we know which day is the same seventh day God rested on at creation? Well He was revealing to the Israelites there. Now, on that day
it didn't breed worms and
stink and every other day it did.
"And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the ETERNAL: to day ye shall not find it in the field." (Exodus 16:25)
Well, some of them thought it didn't make any difference. Some of them thought time might have
gotten mixed up. So, they went out on this day to gather and they said we'll wait until the next day, the first day of the week; we'll rest on that day. We'll make that our rest day.
"And
it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for
to gather, and they found none. And the ETERNAL said to Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" (Exodus 16:27-28)
The
Sabbath Given by God
Here were God's
commandments, here were God's laws, before the Old Covenant, before the Law of
Moses had been given. This
is no part of the law of Moses, they didn't know there ever would be such a
thing as the law of Moses, in fact there wasn't any such thing; it'd never been given. But God was saying how long will you
refuse to keep My commandments and My laws and here was one of them that
antedates the Old Covenant. Now the Old Covenant then couldn't take it away, the
Old Covenant didn't bring it, it couldn't take it away. Here
was the law of God, my friends, that the Law of Moses didn't bring and that the
Law of Moses can't take away.
"The ETERNAL
said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" (Exodus 16:28)
"See,
for that the ETERNAL hath given you the sabbath," He didn't say that Moses gave it to you, he said, 'the Eternal has
given it to you.' Now, listen my friends, most of you have always heard that
Moses gave it to them. You know you have, open your Bible, Exodus 16:29 and see it.
"See,
for that the ETERNAL hath given you the sabbath [not Moses], therefore he
giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his
place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day [after that stern
rebuke]."Exodus
16:29-30
Now then, next, I wanted you to turn over here to Exodus 32
now, and the first four verses
"And when the
people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount..." Now, this is after the Old
Covenant had been made and Moses was up getting some of the Laws from God on
the mount. He was up there for forty days and forty nights and what did the
people do while Moses was away from them forty days?
Just let God
send a leader; people will follow the leader. They want to follow a man instead
of following God. And they'll follow the man, and if the man is a man of God, they're following God
because they follow the man, but just let that man go away about forty days,
and the people forget all about him. And they get back into their own ways
again. My friends, most of you are like that; that's human nature! And my
friends listen, that's the thing you were put on this earth to overcome! That's the thing you were put here to eradicate out of your nature! Why don't you begin to really follow God?
Now,
Moses delayed to come down, yes, God kept him up there for forty days and then
"...the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said to him,
Up, make us gods [make some idol gods, in other words], make us gods which
shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of
the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him." (Exodus 32:1)
You know,
my friends, in my personal experience I've learned that's exactly the way people will act. I've had a little flock that had been raised up; people had been
brought to God, which God had brought to Him, through my efforts. I hadn't done it, God had
done it but He'd used me. But the people looked to me, and as soon
as the work began to expand and I was taken to Hollywood and New York and
Chicago and different places in order to get the work of God going on radio
stations; coast-to-coast and all over the nation, I only needed to be gone
about forty days and the people would say, "Oh, as for this Herbert W
Armstrong, we wot not what's become of him, let's go off into some other
doctrines and let's get off into others, and let's throw away this truth."
I have seen it happen! What kind of human beings are we, anyhow?
And I
found that they'd only been looking to a man in the first place. My friends, I'm not trying to get you to look at me. I'm trying to get you to look at Jesus Christ; He's your
savior! HE'S ON THE THRONE OF GRACE and HE'S THERE NIGHT AND DAY! And you can
go direct to Him anytime! Don't you know that? He is there, I'm merely a... just another human being to sort of help you a little, that's all. But God is
the One that does it; I haven't any power. I just
have a little faith and God has given me faith and I know He hears.
Well
anyway, let's go on with this real rapidly now, in the seventh verse, this is
in Exodus 32, "And the ETERNAL said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy
people... have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of THE
WAY [now I want you to notice what they did, they had turned away quickly out
of THE WAY] which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have
worshipped it," (Exodus 32:7-8)
Now, what was it
we read here in Hebrews? David had written of these
people, "they do always err in their heart" as God had said. He was
"...grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their
heart; they have not known MY WAYS." (Hebrews 3:10)
How
Did They Turn Away From God?
Now, in what general
manner did they turn away from God? There were two things above all other
things that they turned to their own way and away from God's ways and that was:
In breaking the Sabbath and in worshipping idols! Here, they had made an idol.
And God said, "They have not known my ways! They have quickly gotten out
of THE WAY which I commanded them." God has commanded us a way, and that
is why you are put on this earth is to learn that way and live it! Now, next, I
want to read Leviticus 26 here. Here was what God had said through Moses in the
day of Moses to those people. He said to them:
"Ye shall make
you no idols nor graven image... to bow down unto it: for I am the ETERNAL your
God [then He said]. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the ETERNAL." (Leviticus
26:1-2)
Just
those two commandments He stressed. Why? Because those were the two that they
seem to disobey more than any other. Now, listen, it doesn't make any difference, my friends, which command you break; if you break any one, you're guilty of all. You're guilty if you
break anyone of them! Because it's like... and there are the ten general principles, the ten
general broad principles of the ten commandments, and all the law hangs on
that, and its all on the one word love, and on the two great commandments; love to God and
love to neighbor.
And the
first four commandments tell you how to love God and the last six tell you how
to love your neighbor and all the Bible is merely an elaboration and
magnification of that; the whole way of God is summed up in those ten spiritual
principles, not moral code, but spiritual principles of life. It is the way of
God! Now, it's like the ten links of a chain and you break any one link, you've broken the chain.
But these are the two that Israel was continually breaking. These are the two
then that God stressed. And He said:
"If
ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give
you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase [you'll have crops the year around]. And I will give you peace in
the land...And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight." (Leviticus 26:3-4, 6, 8)
They
would have become the greatest, mightiest, most powerful nation on the face of
the earth. If they would keep His commandments!
"But
[He said] if you will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these
commandments... I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, the burning
ague [or fever], that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye
shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it...and ye shall be
slain before your enemies [and]: they that hate you shall reign over you."
(Leviticus 26:14;16-17)
And, it was a 2,520-year punishment that God pronounced on them.
If they didn't keep His
commandments and He mentions two: Idolatry and Sabbath breaking, as the two sins that
they were to avoid. Now, they were divided into two nations; and first Israel
and then Judah, broke both the Sabbath and the command against idolatry. Those
were the two commandments, my friends, for which they were driven into the
greatest punishment that God Almighty has ever meted out to any race or to any
people; his own chosen people because of those two great commandments. That's the way they didn't walk in his ways, that's the way they didn't have faith in God,
that's the way they departed from Him.
Sabbath
An Identifying Sign
Now,
here in the twentieth chapter of Ezekiel, God says beginning in verse 10:
speaking of the House of Israel now:
"Wherefore
I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them my
statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover also [now in addition
to that] I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they
might know that I am the ETERNAL that [does] sanctify them." (Ezekiel 20:10-12)
He gave
them the Sabbath as a sign by which they would know whom the true God is and be
kept in the true worship of the true God. And the God that sanctifies or sets
them apart as His people that would, in other words, identify them to the world as the people of God. It was the
identifying sign, it identified God so they would
know who God was. It identified them as His
people. So, He gave them this particular badge of identification, as the very sign of God for that
purpose. But, what happened?
"But
the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in
my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths [not the Jew's
Sabbaths, these were not Jews, these were Israelites. And they were never Jews,
never called Jews, the first place the word Jews in your Bible is mentioned, II
Kings, 16:6 (read it after the broadcast is over, II Kings, 16:6) and there you
will find these Israelites, Israel at war against the Jews and the Jews against
Israel. A different nation altogether. The Jews were merely those of Judah that
split off and seceeded and formed a new
nation; the kingdom of Judah. Now] and my sabbaths they greatly polluted [not the Jewish
Sabbaths, God says, My Sabbaths]: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon
them in the wilderness, to consume them. But [he said] I wrought for my name's
sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I
brought them out." (Ezekiel
20:13-14
But, He talked to their children a generation later, verse eighteen.
"But
I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their
judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: I am the ETERNAL your God;
walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; And hallow my
sabbaths." (Ezekiel
20:18-20)
My friends,
can you see, that their fathers that had walked in the ways of the Gentiles
around them had kept a different Sabbath. And God says, don't hallow their ways, don't hallow their Sabbaths, but hallow my Sabbaths. There's a great difference.
I want to
tell you my friends, this thing is more important, with God, than you even
remotely dream of. Now, a carnal minded man will say, "Well, I can't see
where it makes any difference." Well, neither did those people back there in the wilderness.
They didn't know God's ways, the ways of God they had not known and you were born without knowing the ways of God and if
you haven't been taught the
ways of God, you don't know them, my friends. It's about time we realize that. You didn't know anything the day you were born! You've been brought up in
this world, learning the ways of the world: not the ways of God. You've got to unlearn the
ways of the world and begin to learn the ways of God if you're ever going to be
able to walk in them. Now, I must hurry, I want to cover this ground this time,
so, He said,
"I
am the ETERNAL your God; walk in MY statutes, and keep MY judgments, and do
them; And hallow MY sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that
ye may know that I am the ETERNAL your God. Notwithstanding the children
rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments
to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I
said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against
them in the wilderness." (Ezekiel
20:19-21
And, verse twenty-three:
"I lifted
up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter
them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries [why? Here they
were driven out in 2520 years of slavery as God had said back there in
Leviticus 26. Now, why?]; Because they had not executed my judgments, but had
despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths [had polluted God's
Sabbaths], and their eyes were after their fathers' idols." (Ezekiel 20:23-24
Idolatry
and Sabbath breaking, the two great sins of Israel, that's why they'd been driven out,
my friends, into slavery and captivity for 2520 years.
What
About The Jewish People?
Now,
what about Judah, the Jewish people? Alright, Jeremiah seventeen gives that,
now here it is, the very last verse, the twenty-seventh verse, Jeremiah
seventeen, and here was what Jeremiah was inspired to say...well, in the
twenty-first verse,
"Thus saith
the ETERNAL; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day,
nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of
your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the
sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined
their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive
instruction." (Jeremiah 17:21-23)
Are you willing
to receive instruction? Listen, my friends, all your life you have been receiving the instruction of this world. And maybe of some of this world's religions. And not the religion of God
in your Bible.
And if
you haven't heard it before it's because you've been brought up in this world. You've been reared in it,
the world that does not know the ways of God, that has departed from the ways of
God. Your Bible says, "Prove all things!" You think you have proved
it? No, you haven't. You haven't really proved
these things, because your Bible says things that you don't believe it says. And you believe things that the Bible doesn't say but just
exactly the opposite. You know, I know you don't hear this kind of preaching, do you? Well, it's going to stir you up and make you think a little bit! But I
still say, don't believe me; I'm not going to mislead you. I'm just trying to get you to look into your Bible. Now, here are the ways of God. It's in your Bible. Open your Bible and read it with your own
eyes. Now, verse 27,
"But
if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day [says God], and not to
bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day;
then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces
of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." (Jeremiah
17:27)
And you
turn over to the very last chapter in Jeremiah, the very last chapter now, in the
book of Jeremiah, and you will find where that absolutely happened: And here it
is, the fifty-second chapter of Jeremiah and the thirteenth verse:
Where
Nebuzaradan, the general of the army of King Nebuchadnezzar entered into
Jerusalem and, verse 13 "[he]
burned the house of the ETERNAL, and the king's house; and all the houses of
Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire." (Jeremiah
52:13).
Now, my friends, let's get back to this and see. Here in David's day, "Harden not your hearts, as in the
provocation, in [the same way they did] in the day of temptation in the
wilderness [your fathers]:...have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest." (Hebrews 3:8-11)
Now, that's quoted from David, in the Psalms, 95: Verses 7-11. But now,
Paul, speaking to us in this time now, and that's for us in this
twentieth-century because all those things are written for our learning and
admonition, and here it now is in the New Testament, in Hebrews 3:12,
"Take
heed, brethren [that's brethren in Christ, in this day of grace], lest there be
in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living
God." (Hebrews 3:12)
That's
the way they departed and that is given as an example for you and for me. So,
while it is said today, in this day of the twentieth-century, this most crucial day, this most terrifying day of all the
history of this world, "To day, if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts as in
the provocation," I have shown you how they did it. God says for us not to
do it as they did it.
Verse 13:
but exhort one another daily, while it is
called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness
of sin.
Exhorting one another daily suggests that Christians should strive to have positive interactions with other Christians.
Some, however, have been hardened by deceit and do not think that they need to have interactions beyond their family. That is wrong. Hebrews 3:13 is another reason why all should physically attend the Feast of Tabernacles if at all possible.
Verse 14:
For we have become partakers of Christ if we
hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
Yes, Christians are to endure to the end.
Verse 15:
while it is said: "Today, if you will
hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."
Verse 16:
For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was
it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?
Well, today, most of those who have rejected true Philadelphian era governance have hardened their hearts and rebel now. They will not enter the rest of the protection Jesus promised the Philadelphians in Revelation 3:10 if they do not change (see also There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Near Petra). Three times in the Book of Hebrews, the Apostle Paul is warning Christians not to harden their hearts through rebellion. This is a generation those admonitions are pointing to.
Laodicean Christians, like the ancient children of Israel, discount how God's Spirit worked and rebelled against God's government. In this time, Laodicean Christians refuse to sufficiently humble themselves and accept that God's Spirit has been clearly working in the Continuing Church of God--the COG which has the confirmed signs of the Holy Spirit that were prophesied for the last days in the Book of Acts. For details, check out the article: Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18?
But, oddly, Laodiceans discount that God has given and confirmed numerous dreams associated with the CCOG (see also Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God).
The Apostle Jude prophesied that there would be people who reject authority and be complainers:
8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. (Jude 8)
11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; (Jude 11-12)
16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. 17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. (Jude 16-19)
There are certainly a lot of people who reject authority--proper church government as well as being complainers these days. And yes, grumblers and complainer tend to be divisive. Of course, the reality is that those grumblers and complainers do not normally believe that the passages actually apply to them.
Sadly, many this century have hardened their hearts. Look, when Pharaoh hardened his heart, he thought he was doing what was best for Egypt. When the children of Israel hardened their hearts, they apparently thought that they were the people of God, hence they were doing the right thing--yet they had rejected one-man rule under Moses. According to Herbert W. Armstrong, the rebellion Hebrews 3 referred to was "in the days of Moses" (Armstrong HW. Law and Grace. Radio broadcast) The children of Israel thought committees of leaders (cf. Numbers 16) or simply trusting themselves was proper (cf. Numbers 16:3)--but they were wrong. Sadly, most end time Christians are Laodiceans and are like that.
While Jesus only promises to keep the Philadelphian Christians from the "hour of trial" there is a warning to other Christians not to harden their hearts like happened with the Israelites in their "day of trial." Yet, the bulk of the non-Philadelphian Christians have hardened their hearts related to supporting true hierarchical governance (see also The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government).
Verse 17:
Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it
not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
Verse 18:
And to whom did He swear that they would not
enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19So we see that they could not
enter in because of unbelief.
Chapter 4
Verse 1:
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering
His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.
HWA stated:
And the rest promised us
now, is the rest of the very kingdom of God. A spiritual rest when this mortal
shall become immortal, this human shall actually be made divine; by a
resurrection from the dead or by an instantaneous changing from mortal to immortal.
Verse 2:
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as
well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Many people hear at least part of the message.
But most reject important parts of it.
Most do not have the faith they should.
Verse 3:
For we who have believed do enter that rest,
as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My
rest,"' although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
True Christians have been begotten as children of God and are now hiers to that rest.
Verse 4:
For He has spoken in a certain place of the
seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His
works";
Now we clearly see with the reference to Genesis 2:2-3 of the seventh-day Sabbath.
Verse 5:
and again in this place: "They shall not
enter My rest."
There are most who in this age will not be willing to obey God and even have the true weekly rest.
HWA stated:
Now
that is the Greek word katápausín, which means spiritual rest
Verse 6:
Since therefore it remains that some must
enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of
disobedience,
Verse 7:
again He designates a certain day, saying in
David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said:
"Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts."
Verse 8:
For if Joshua had given them rest, then He
would not afterward have spoken of another day.
HWA stated:
if
they had had rest then, there wouldn't have to be another
day today now for us to get salvation.
Verse 9:
There remains therefore a rest for the people
of God.
HWA stated:
And here the word is sabbatismos, not the Greek
word katápausín but the Greek word
sabbatismos which means the
literal keeping of a seventh day Sabbath. There it is. And that's for us today.
Notice what the New Testament Book of Hebrews teaches using five Protestant (including three 'literal'), one Eastern Orthodox, and three Roman Catholic translations:
3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." 5 And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." 6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience...9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:3-6,9-11, NIV).
3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just 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. 4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS”; 5 and again in this passage, “THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.” 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,.. 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:3-6,9-11, NASB)
3 for we do enter into the rest — we who did believe, as He said, ‘So I sware in My anger, If they shall enter into My rest — ;’ and yet the works were done from the foundation of the world, 4 for He spake in a certain place concerning the seventh [day] thus: ‘And God did rest in the seventh day from all His works;’ 5 and in this [place] again, ‘If they shall enter into My rest — ;’ 6 since then, it remaineth for certain to enter into it, and those who did first hear good news entered not in because of unbelief ... 9 there doth remain, then, a sabbatic rest to the people of God, 10 for he who did enter into his rest, he also rested from his works, as God from His own. 11 May we be diligent, then, to enter into that rest, that no one in the same example of the unbelief may fall, (Hebrews 4:3-6,9-11, Young's Literal Translation)
3 For those having believed enter into the rest, as He has said: “So I swore in my wrath, ‘they shall not enter into My rest.’” And yet the works have been finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken somewhere concerning the seventh day in this way, “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.” 5 And again in this passage. “They shall not enter into My rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter into it, and those having received the good news formerly did not enter in because of disobedience, ... 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one having entered into His rest, he also rested from his works, as God did from the own. 11 Therefore we should be diligent to enter into that rest, so that no one should fall by the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:3-6,9-11, Berean Literal Bible)
3 for we enter into the rest—we who believed, as He said, “So I swore in My anger, They will [not] enter into My rest”; and yet the works were done from the foundation of the world, 4 for He spoke in a certain place concerning the seventh [day] thus: “And God rested in the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and in this [place] again, “They will [not] enter into My rest”; 6 since then, it remains for some to enter into it, and those who first heard good news did not enter in because of unbelief ... 9 there remains, then, a Sabbath rest to the people of God, 10 for he who entered into His rest, he also rested from his works, as God from His own. 11 May we be diligent, then, to enter into that rest, that no one may fall in the same example of the unbelief, (Hebrews 4:3-6,9-11, Literal Standard Version Bible)
3 However, we who have faith are entering into that rest, even as God said: As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest. And yet, the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 Somewhere [else], God said this about the seventh day: God rested on the seventh day from all his works. ... 9 There must still be, then, a Sabbath rest for God’s people, 10 and anyone who has entered into his rest has also rested from his [own] works, just as God did. 11 Therefore, let us do our utmost to enter into that rest, for fear that anyone should fall according to the same pattern of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:3-4, 9-11. THE EASTERN / GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE NEW TESTAMENT. The EOB New Testament is presented in memory of Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos † 2007 https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/assets/uploads/books/18204/Eastern_Orthodox_Bible-New_Testament.pdf)
3 We, however, who have faith, are entering a place of rest, as in the text: And then in my anger I swore that they would never enter my place of rest. Now God's work was all finished at the beginning of the world; 4 as one text says, referring to the seventh day: And God rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing. 5 And, again, the passage above says: They will never reach my place of rest. 6 It remains the case, then, that there would be some people who would reach it, and since those who first heard the good news were prevented from entering by their refusal to believe … 9 There must still be, therefore, a seventh-day rest reserved for God's people, 10 since to enter the place of rest is to rest after your work, as God did after his. 11 Let us, then, press forward to enter this place of rest, or some of you might copy this example of refusal to believe and be lost. (Hebrews 4:3-6,9-11, NJB)
3 For we, that have believed, shall enter into their rest; as he said: As I sware in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: and truly the works from the foundation of the world being perfected. 4 For he said in a certain place of the seventh day thus: And God rested the seventh day from all his works … 9 Therefore there is left a sabbatisme for the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, the same also hath rested from his works, as God did from his. 11 Let us hasten therefore to enter into that rest; lest any man fall into the same example of incredulity. (Hebrews 4:3-6,9-11, The Original and True Rheims New Testament of Anno Domini 1582)
3 For we who believed enter into [that] rest, just as he has said: “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter into my rest,’” and yet his works were accomplished at the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this manner, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works”; 5 and again, in the previously mentioned place, “They shall not enter into my rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains that some will enter into it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience,... 9 Therefore, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God. 10And whoever enters into God’s rest, rests from his own works as God did from his. 11 Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience.(Hebrews 4:3-6,9-11, New American Bible)
Thus, the New Testament clearly shows that the command to keep the seventh day Sabbath is in the New Testament. It also shows that only those who will not observe it because of their disobedience argue otherwise. And that is why Paul observed it.
Even Origen of Alexandria understood some of this as he wrote:
But what is the feast of the Sabbath except that which the apostle speaks, "There remaineth therefore a Sabbatism," that is, the observance of the Sabbath, by the people of God...let us see how the Sabbath ought to be observed by a Christian. On the Sabbath-day all worldly labors ought to be abstained from...give yourselves up to spiritual exercises, repairing to church, attending to sacred reading and instruction...this is the observance of the Christian Sabbath (Translated from Origen's Opera 2, Paris, 1733, Andrews J.N. in History of the Sabbath, 3rd editon, 1887. Reprint Teach Services, Brushton (NY), 1998, pp. 324-325).
As it turns out, at least 20 Protestant translations make it clear that Hebrews 4:9 is pointing to the weekly seventh-day Sabbath (ASV, BLB, BSB, CSB, DBT, ERV, ESV, GNT, HCSB, ILB, ISV, JMNT, Jubilee 2000, NASB, NETB, NHEB, NIV, WEB, WNT, YLT).
Yet, one reason that many today do not understand this is that certain translators have intentionally mistranslated the Greek term sabbatismos (ςαββατισμóς) which is actually found in Hebrews 4:9 (Green JP. The Interlinear Bible, 2nd edition. Hendrickson Publishers, 1986, p. 930).
The Protestant KJV and NKJV mistranslate it as does the CHANGED version of the Rheims New Testament, also known as the Challoner version (changes in the 18th century)--all three mistranslate the word as 'rest,' whereas there is a different Greek term (katapausin), translated as 'rest' in the New Testament. Sabbatismos clearly refers to a 'sabbath-rest' and honest scholars will all admit that. Because of the mistranslations, many today do not realize that the seventh-day Sabbath was specifically enjoined for Christians in the New Testament.
If you are Roman Catholic, consider the following:
Codex Amiatinus The most celebrated manuscript of the Latin Vulgate Bible, remarkable as the best witness to the true text of St. Jerome ... (Fenlon, John Francis. "Codex Amiatinus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 21 Apr. 2012 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04081a.htm>)
Here is the Latin from the Codex Amiatinus:
9 itaque relinquitur sabbatismus populo Dei (Hebrews 4:9, Codex Amiatinus. http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=1&b=19&c=4 accessed 10/22/15)
It is clear, even to non-Latin readers that Hebrews 4:9 is definitely talking about the Sabbath.
Decades ago, a Protestant told me that the reason he did not keep the seventh-day Sabbath was because it was not taught for Christians in the New Testament. I handed him an RSV Bible) and read him Hebrews 4. He then looked at the verses himself. After doing so, he said because his grandmother was a "good Christian" in his view, and because she did not keep it, he felt that he did not. He failed to truly rely on the Bible, but instead on false tradition (see also Tradition and Scripture: From the Bible and Church Writings). Sadly most who profess Christianity do not keep the seventh-day Sabbath and rely mainly on improper traditions, whether they realize it or not.
Notice something from the Jehovah's Witnesses translation of scripture:
9 So there remains a sabbath-rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9, NWT, 2013)
For those interested in another source, here is a translation of Hebrews 4:9 from the, Eastern Peschitta, which is an Aramaic text (Roth AG, Daniel BB. Aramaic English New Testament, 5th edition. Netazari Press, 2012):
9. For there remains a Shabat for the people of Elohim.
Here is a claimed translation from a 'Hebrew' New Testament (which some call the Brit HaHadashah):
9 There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God.
Whether we look at translations from the Greek, the first Latin Vulgate, Aramaic, or Hebrew, it should be clear that the Bible does enjoin Sabbath-keeping for Christians.
Professor Andrew T. Lincoln stated:
“The use of sabbatismos elsewhere in extant Greek literature gives an indication of its more exact shade of meaning. It is used in Plutarch, De Superstitione 3 (Moralia 166A) of Sabbath observance. There are also four occurrences in post canonical literature that are independent of Hebrews 4:9. They are Justin, Dialogue c. Trypho 23:3; Epiphanius, Panar. haer. 30:2:2; Martyrium Petri et Pauli cap 1; Const Ap. 2:36:2. In each of these places the term denotes the observance or celebration of the Sabbath. This usage corresponds to the Septuagint usage of the cognate verb sabbatizo (cf. Exodus 16:30; Leviticus. 23:32; 26:34; 2 Chronicles. 36:21), which also has reference to Sabbath observance. Thus the writer to the Hebrews is saying that since the time of Joshua an observance of the Sabbath rest has been outstanding” (“Sabbath, Rest and Eschatology in the New Testament,”in From Sabbath to Lord’s Day, Carson DA, editor. Wipf and Sotck, 1982, p. 213).
The Apostolic Constitutions uses it as follows:
You shall observe the Sabbath, on account of Him who ceased from His work of creation, but ceased not from His work of providence: it is a rest for meditation of the law, not for idleness of the hands. (Apostolic Constitutions 2:36:2)
The Greek word the above verse translates as "observe the Sabbath" is ςαββατισμóν (Funk F.X. editor/translator. Didascalia et Constitutiones apostolorum. Panderbornae : in libraria Ferdinandi Schoeningh, 1905, p. 121), which in English is transliterated sabbatismon.
Although the Sabbath is refreshing rest, many ignore that and consider it a burden. God says it is His holy day and should be considered as a delight:
13 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, 14 Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 58:13-14)
Notice the following prophecy that seems to apply to those who do not keep the Sabbath:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue
He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, "This is the rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,"
And, "This is the refreshing";
Yet they would not hear. (Isaiah 28:11-12)
Will you hear?
But because the Greco-Roman churches, and then later Martin Luther, declared they had doubts if Hebrews should be in the New Testament, they accepted Sunday, even though the Greek and context make it clear that the Sabbath is on the seventh-day of the week--the day we now call Saturday.
I have wondered if the reason that the Greco-Roman Catholics questioned Hebrews, and later Martin Luther, was because they found it was supportive of Saturday over Sunday.
Now, back to Hebrews 4, Verse 10:
For he who has entered His rest has himself
also ceased from his works as God did from His.
God rested from His works on the seventh-day (Genesis 2:2-13). True Christians rest each week on the Sabbath as well.
Verse 11:
Let us therefore be diligent to enter that
rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
Instead of being diligent to enter that rest, the Greco-Romans 1) switched the day and 2) do not teach that one actually should rest an entire day from sunset to sunset each week. Protestants have basically gone along with that.
Verse 12:
For the word of God is living and powerful,
and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to
the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Verse 13:
And there is no creature hidden from His
sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must
give account.
God is omniscient and omnipresent--He is everywhere and sees everything.
Verse 14:
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest
who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession.
HWA stated:
As I have said, if there is a golden text to the book of Hebrew, it is here in the fourth chapter. ...Well, here's the real golden text, now, of this book which shows Christ in His present office. Do you see that you have such a High Priest? Do you ever take advantage of it? My friends, Christianity is a very practical religion; but the way most people understand it and the fact they don't understand it, they don't know what real Christianity is. I'm not talking about the popular kind of religion falsely called Christianity. I mean the real thing of Jesus Christ. It's the most practical thing in the world. There's no superstition about it, and it really pays. You really get the answer.
Yes, we have Him there but you're not going to get any service from Him my friends unless you go after it. It's there waiting for you! Now, Jesus Christ is on the job, night and day, but He's on the job for those that come to Him. Now there are people coming to Him, and He's keeping busy. But He's has plenty of time to look after you too. He has plenty of time to see that you get the right breaks. You know, very often two football teams, two basketball teams, are going to meet in a great contest. They're evenly matched. How's it going to come out? Oh, the speculation you read a lot more in the sport pages about it before the great game and the great battle than you do afterward. Speculation as to who is going to win — very often they say it all depends on the breaks. It all depends on the breaks. Call it luck, what ever you will. Do you know there's one on that throne up there as your High Priest that will give you the breaks? He has power to interfere even with nature. And the day of miracles are not past, they are past only for those who don't know God, who separated themselves from God and God has a way of performing miracles for His own people in such a way that the doubters and the skeptics never can see it. They don't get in on it. They don't get these blessings, they don't get these benefits.
No,
God set before us blessings on the one hand and curses on the other. And God
Almighty said to every man, women and child in this
world: Choose! You have
to choose whether you're going to want the blessings or the cursings. You know while we're on it, back here in Deuteronomy 30, remember where God says
"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, [that's on one hand]
and death and evil." [on the other] (Deuteronomy 30:15)
Now that's in Deuteronomy 30, verse 15 and then in verse 19. And you
hear me quote this quite often. You're going to continue to hear me quote this a great deal. Don't think it's a repeat broadcast, because I use this in so many, I want
you to get this. I want you to understand it.
God
made us free moral agents. And God says, "I call heaven and earth to
record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing: therefore choose life..." (Deuteronomy 30:19)
Verse 15:
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin.
This verse, like Hebrew 2:17-18, disproves the trinitarian assertion that Jesus was 100% man and 100% God on the earth. Yet, God cannot be tempted with evil (James 1:13), yet humans can be.
HWA stated:
Why, He lived in the human
flesh! He had physical weaknesses. Listen, a lot of you people may doubt it,
but I can prove it to you by the very Word of God that Jesus Christ, after He
had been beaten, after He had taken your infirmities and your sicknesses and
paid the penalty in your stead and then He was sent out to Golgotha, the Place
of the Skull that is called Calvary in a good many places, because they wanted
to take a pretty-sounding name instead of the ugly name that is the real name
of the place - they started Him out carrying His own cross. He was weak enough,
my friends, He sagged down and was unable to carry that cross; and it was put
on another man to carry it for Him. Christ even knew what physical human
weakness is. And He grew in strength, spiritually and mentally and emotionally,
morally and in ways of that sort. He learned obedience by the things that He
suffered. He didn't know it all. He learned, yes; and He grew in knowledge. And
He grew in these things. He has been human. He can be touched with the feeling
of your infirmities because He was tempted like you are in all ways, in all
points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
I
can look forward just like the Apostle Paul, forgetting the things that are
behind that are unpleasant and I can look back on, well let me tell you — I know there are
thousands of you people listening right now whose lives have been changed
because God has used this voice and poured out His message through it and I've
merely been an instrument but I've had a little part in it, haven't I? I get a
lot satisfaction out of that and changing your lives. And
bringing many sons to glory, as Jesus the captain of our salvation has been
leading. He uses some of us as instruments. Well, there I go getting off the
track again, listen: "...we have a [this] great High Priest, that is
passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, therefore he says, let us hold
fast our profession." (Hebrews 4:14)... and
our confession.
And
it is a profession, it's a vocation, it's a life occupation if you know what it
is, it isn't just something to join a church, it isn't just something to, well,
to shed a few tears on an altar, or to say before people "I've made my
decision for Christ" or "I've received Christ" or something like
that. Oh, it's a great deal more
than that, it's your life, it is your life; it's a changed life! It's a life filled with God Himself and all
of His fullness and His power. Filled with wisdom, filled with
knowledge, filled with a sense of the right values instead of the wrong that
you always cherished before.
Our
High Priest Guiding
And
it's a life where you have
this High Priest up there guiding you. Where you have this counsel. Now, just
in a material sense, we keep an attorney who has all of the legal
knowledge for advice, and counsel. Now we keep a man like that here in our
staff. Well, that's just for some
material things, one thing or another that might come up; many decisions of
that sort. But listen, I have one counselor that I go
to above all others! Now, in a multitude of counsel there's safety, and I have
various groups here on our campus and here at the headquarters of this great work that goes around
the world now and I have different groups that I call in to counsel with on different problems.
College problems, I call certain groups. Business problems, I call in certain
other men. And in a multitude of counsel there's safety.
But there's one counselor above all and that's this counselor that sits up there on the throne of grace. He's my High Priest. And I go to Him continually. And He tells
me through James, if I lack wisdom, and I ask of Him and He will give it! (James 1:5) And I expect to get it when I ask and
I do! And He's prevented me from making many a wrong decision that might have
cost this work and the co-workers who make sacrifices and are loyal with their
tithe money that isn't theirs but belongs to God and who are liberal with their
free will offerings that make all this possible for you. And makes it possible
for me; broadcast after broadcast after broadcast to give you this message,
offer you things absolutely
free and to emphasize it's free and there's no subscription price, and there's no charge and never say a word about money. You don't find me asking for money and this is no request for money either I'm just explaining something.
Well, I'll tell you, I would have lost a lot of their money, many a
time if God hadn't given me enough
wisdom to prevent making wrong decisions. And it's God's money after all and we have to be very careful about it. "Now we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, and yet without
sin." (Hebrews 4:15)
That
means He never made a mistake. Because sin is a great mistake, it is the
biggest mistake you can make! Sin is the transgression of God's law; God set
laws in motion! A lot of people today think they have religion but they don't believe in the laws of God. They don't believe in obedience to God, they believe in the ways of
man, of this world. This world is coming to an end and soon. But this world is the pattern of society that's been built on the
earth that is damning the souls of men. It is making people unhappy. God calls
us out of this world and to be separate. He tells us about the happy, peaceful
World Tomorrow and it's coming and it's coming soon! "...consider [it
says here], the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Jesus Christ."
(Hebrews 3:1)
Well, the knowledge about
Jesus Christ is a very wonderful thing. But you know what I teach our students here at
Ambassador College? They come here to gain knowledge. But they also come here
to gain experience. And to learn how to apply knowledge because I tell them
that knowledge is of no value except as you put it to work. As you apply it. It's the result that counts. Not just getting knowledge — it may
be pleasant to have knowledge come into your mind. Some people enjoy it and some don't. But, nevertheless, it is very practical if you put it to
use. If it is right knowledge and if it works and if it produces the result. That's the thing that
counts!
And so, my friends, it's wonderful to consider Jesus
but you need to know what He is there for! And you need to go to Him when you
need help. You're carrying a lot of
worries, a lot of fears for the future. You don't need to fear the future. It took me years to learn that.
Why don't you learn it? Why don't you just turn it over to Him? Why don't you
realize that you do have a High Priest? And I talked to you a minute ago about
coming across the room and picking up this watch that I might leave on the desk
and say it's yours. But, you wouldn't get it if you didn't come and pick it
up and get it! And you are not going to get all that help from the throne of
grace if you don't go for it! And so it says here, notice again, here's the wording:
Verse 16:
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Yes, we can boldly pray to the throne of grace. We are not cut off. Yes, if we do so, we can obtain mercy and grace to help in the time of need.
HWA stated:
Well, it's up to you. It pays off my friends. It's a very practical thing. You know, real Christianity is a
living thing and it's going to change your life and it's a different life all together. A life in Christ Jesus. How often do you go to
that throne of grace? How often do you take advantage of this? How often do you
claim the promises that God has made on your behalf, to fight your battles for
you, bring you out of all your troubles, to solve every problem and trouble
that comes along and show you the way out, to guide you, to lead you, to give
you wisdom, to heal you when you are sick, to provide every need if you are in
real need? Of course, He didn't say every want; and we think a want is a need quite often
when it isn't, I know.
Chapter 5
Verse 1:
For every high priest taken from among men is appointed
for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and
sacrifices for sins.
So, the Hebrew high priest offered gifts and animal sacrifices for sin.
Verse 2:
He can have compassion on those who are
ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.
Yes, since he is human, he can have compassion and understanding for all the others who are not the high priest.
Verse 3:
Because of this he is required as for the
people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.
Notice that the high priest needed the sacrifice for sins as did the people.
Verse 4:
And no man takes this honor to himself, but he
who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
The high priest was called by God.
Verse 5:
So also Christ did not glorify Himself to
become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today
I have begotten You."
Notice that Jesus is the High Priest and was given that role by th Father.
Verse 6:
As He also says in another place: "You
are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek";
Jesus was also Melchizedek. More on that later.
Verse 7:
who, in the days of His flesh, when He had
offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who
was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
Yes, God the Father heard Jesus' prayers, but the Father still allowed Him to be put to death.
Verse 8:
though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience
by the things which He suffered.
Jesus learned through things He suffered. We learn through things we suffer.
Verse 9:
And having been perfected, He became the
author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
Notice that this verse does not teach that Jesus is the author of eternal salvation for those who simply call Him, Lord.
Jesus, Himself, taught:
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' (Matthew 7:21-23)
Jesus is saying that His actual followers are those who obey the law of God.
While one does not earn one's own salvation, both the writer of Hebrews and Jesus make it clear that real Christians are obeying God.
The original apostles realized this as well:
29. But Peter and the apostles answered and said, 32 “... we are His witnesses of these things, as is also the Holy Spirit, which God has given to those who obey Him.” (Acts 5:29,32, A Faithful Version)
However many Protestants, as well as people who have fallen away from the true Church of God, ignore these plain teachings.
Hebrews 5, Verse 10:
called by God as High Priest "according
to the order of Melchizedek,"
Verse 11:
of whom we have much to say, and hard to
explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
Verse 12:
For though by this time you ought to be
teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the
oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
Paul is disappointed that the Christians he was communicating with had not grown more in knowledge.
I, too, feel that way as only very few of you seem to grasp the importance of many teachings from a historical perspective.
However, those of you who do, are likely to be among the ones that God will use within a decade or so to "instruct many" (Daniel 11:33, see also Preparing for the 'Short Work' and The Famine of the Word).
Verse 13:
For everyone who partakes only of milk is
unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
Verse 14:
But solid food belongs to those who are of
full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to
discern both good and evil.
31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. 32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. 33 And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. (Daniel 11:31-34)
Now is the time to learn so you can be used by God to instruct many.
Chapter 6
HWA stated:
Why
is it my friends, that so many people say, "I just can't understand the
Bible?" The Bible is full of mysteries to so many people. And indeed it is full of mysteries. Many mysteries
of God have been closed and sealed until now, and that's one reason so many
people do not understand the Bible. Some of it is cloaked in mystery. As a matter of fact, I wonder if you
ever notice how much, even the gospel, is spoken of in New Testament language
as a mystery. It has been a mystery to so many people. But do you know that we
have now come to the time when these mysteries can be cleared up? When the curtain
can be pulled back, and we can see these things as they are because all
of the symbolic or the allegorical language in the Bible is
explained in plain language either in the context or in some other place.
Now, back in the
twelfth chapter of Daniel, and I've quoted this so many times I'm not going to turn to it just now, the prophet Daniel, one
of the great prophets of the Bible; who wrote a whole book. He didn't understand what he wrote, because He was not its real
author, he was only the secretary. He was only, well like we would say today, a
stenographer only he probably didn't have a typewriter in those days. Nevertheless, Daniel
finally said that he heard and he wrote what he heard but he said "...I
understood not." And he had been spoken to by an angel and the angel said,
"...Go thy way, Daniel: these words are closed and sealed up until the
time of the end [until our time]." (Daniel 12:8,9)
Now Jesus
had explained over 1900 years ago, to His disciples, that many of the prophets
of old that were as Peter describes them, 'holy men of old', that were inspired
of God. (II Peter 1:21) And yet Jesus told
His disciples that many of those men had desired to know some of the things He
was explaining to them, but they had not been able to understand them, because
the time hadn't come. (Matthew
13:17)
This knowledge is being opened up and revealed progressively as we go along.
Now, I
wonder if you realize that about a third of the Bible, that was written for us
today, refers directly to world conditions as they're taking place now in the twentieth-century and as they will take place in the next five, ten years.
This living, moving, pulsating present in which we live. This fantastic world
that we're living through today. That is the one-third of the Bible
that is practically never quoted; never
preached from; never mentioned. As a matter of fact, one man, that was a very prominent church man, once said
to me when I was quoting from some of that portion, as a matter of fact, I was quoting
from Daniel and the book of Revelation which are two of the books that refer to
our time now. Why, he looked at me in astonishment, and he said, "Well,
you don't preach anything like that, do you?" He'd never heard anything like that preached in his church.
Well, why is it, my friends, why do we neglect those portions of the Bible?
Well, primarily because men have not been able to understand them.
But there
are keys to understanding. One of the keys is where is the United States
mentioned in the Bible prophecies. You can't understand that whole third, well perhaps a portion, but a very small portion let us say, is all
that you could understand unless you understand our identity and where we're mentioned in the Bible prophecies. But very few people
would know. Well, all you have to do is write in for
our booklet, The
United States in Prophecy.
It is what was written originally in the original manuscript to be quite a
large book, in very plain language so that any of you could understand it. Of
course, you'll have to do a lot
of reading in your own Bible if you're going to get it thoroughly because this tells you where can
get it, it tells you where you can see it in your own Bible and it's the most fascinating interesting study you ever went into.
It will tell you who you are, and who we are, and then you'll begin to
understand a lot of the prophecies that you could never understand before. That's one of the keys.
It is not the only one, but it's perhaps the major key that has
been lacking, without which the prophecies cannot be understood.
Well,
another one of these mysteries has been the identity of Melchizedek. Now, we've been going through this book of Hebrews, the book that tells what Jesus Christ has been doing this
last nineteen hundred years. We haven't heard much about what Christ has been doing. Where did He
go? What's He been doing? Has He been idle or has He had a job to do? I want to tell you, my friends,
Jesus Christ has been busy. Jesus Christ is busy this minute. Jesus Christ this
very minute is the head of His Church. Where is that Church? The Church He
heads, the Church that He is the active leader of and the active head of. He
only works through human agencies in that Church. But, no man is the head of that Church. And it exists, it's here, alive today and on the earth today. Do you belong to
that Church? Or some other church. And how do you know? I'm not going to answer that question on this program. But it's about time you look into some of these things, my friends. These are vital things.
Jesus Christ said, "I will build my church." (Matthew 16:18)
The Bible
shows you that Church is called, of course in twelve or thirteen places, the
Church of God because it is God's Church. God's group, God's crowd, God's
people, they're the people that are begotten of God. They are the begotten
children of God. They're God's own
children. By an actual begettal of God's Spirit that comes out from Him. And
so, they belong to Him. And the Church of God means the Church God owns. It's God's Church. It belongs to Him. And it is made up of those
people that belong to God. And it is also called the body of Christ. (I Corinthians 12:12) It is the body that
does the work of Christ. But Christ is still the head of that body. And He is
still the leader, the dynamic living leader, who is leading it today, actively.
Yes, I think we need to investigate some of those things because the
gates of hell have never prevailed against that Church, it's still alive and going and still doing the work, of Christ,
on this earth. You need to find it.
Chapter 6, Verse 1:
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the
elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again
the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
Verse 2:
of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of
hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
These elemental principles, called the fundamental doctrines in the New Jerusalem Bible), are covered in an article: Elementary Doctrines of the Church: Hebrews 6.
Verse 3:
And this we will do if God permits.
Verse 4:
For it is impossible for those who were once
enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of
the Holy Spirit,
Verse 5:
and have tasted the good word of God and the
powers of the age to come,
Verse 6:
if they fall away, to renew them again to
repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him
to an open shame.
Verse 7:
For the earth which drinks in the rain that
often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated,
receives blessing from God;
Verse 8:
but if it bears thorns and briers, it is
rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
Verse 9:
But, beloved, we are confident of better things
concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this
manner.
Verse 10:
For God is not unjust to forget your work and
labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered
to the saints, and do minister.
Verse 11:
And we desire that each one of you show the
same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,
Verse 12:
that you do not become sluggish, but imitate
those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Verse 13:
For when God made a promise to Abraham,
because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
Verse 14:
saying, "Surely blessing I will bless
you, and multiplying I will multiply you."
Verse 15:
And so, after he had patiently endured, he
obtained the promise.
Verse 16:
For men indeed swear by the greater, and an
oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.
Verse 17:
Thus God, determining to show more abundantly
to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an
oath,
HWA stated:
Now, if you have really
repented, if you have been conquered by God Almighty, your will, your spirit
conquered by Him, until it's yielded to Him, and you have come under His
glorious government until He rules and governs your life, and you are living by
every word of God, as you diligently study that word and as you pray earnestly,
continuously to God, that He will open it up to your understanding that you can
understand it and realize that the Bible is the revelation of God. It is
revealed truth, the way of life. It's revealed to show
you how to live, and you live by it, every single thing that you can find in the Bible and by its principles. Well,
if you through Jesus Christ have been reconciled to God and received His
spirit, with Christ as personal savior, then you become one of the heirs of the
promise. And Christ is the heir of all things but you become a co-heir with Him. That's what its been showing us all the way through Hebrews. Christ, is very God, by a resurrection from the dead, and made a
son of God and therefore, God, in the spiritual sense by a resurrection from
the dead but, He is the firstborn of many brethren. (Romans 8:29)
And we're to be like Him. And He is pictured as, in a sense, our
elder brother, because He is the first born of many brethren. Again, He is pictured as the
bridegroom and the whole Church, the body of Christ is pictured as the bride to
be married to Him. (Ephesians 5:31,32) But, it's a bride that will obey the husband. We will obey Christ as
Christ in turns obeys God. Now, the promise was made
originally to Abraham and his seed. But Christ is that seed primarily, but we
also become Abraham's children through Christ and co-heirs with Him of the
promise. Now if we are the heirs of the promise;
Verse 18:
that by two immutable things, in which it is
impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for
refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Verse 19:
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
HWA stated:
So many people will
quote that and they don't know anything at all about what it is speaking of. Well, that is the 'hope', when we are born as children of God with Christ as even He was.
Verse 20:
where the forerunner has entered for us, even
Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Chapter 7
HWA stated:
Well, who then is
Melchizedek? Now, we've been going through Hebrews, we've come up here to the seventh chapter, and we find
in the latter part of the sixth and in the beginning of the seventh, a strange
character mentioned here by the name of Melchizedek. Who is this Melchizedek?
We read here in the latter part of the sixth chapter; where does the sentence
here begin? You know, so many of these verses in the Authorized Version of the
Bible, they're all indented with
a number just like they were each one a paragraph; but they're not. Now here this
twentieth verse, you look back at the end of nineteenth and you see a semicolon
there. Which means it wasn't the end of the
sentence even and you go to the beginning of the nineteenth and look just ahead
of that and you find a colon at the end of the eighteenth verse.
Which means the eighteenth verse was not complete, it's still carrying on. And then you look at the end of the
seventeenth verse and there's another colon. And
you have
to go clear back to the end of the sixteenth verse to find
where a sentence ended.
Now, one of the
mysteries of the Bible, that very few have ever understood is the identity of
this mysterious man; Melchizedek. Who is or who was Melchizedek? We've been going through this wonderful but little
understood and little read book — Hebrews — the Priesthood
Book that tells about the job that Christ is doing right now.
Jesus Christ has a very high office,
He has a mission; a job; a profession; a high office and He is laboring there. He doesn't sleep you know, He's not physical, He's not human, He's
been made divine. He has been made God. He was made flesh and dwelled among us.
But now, He has been made God, He is born a son of God by a resurrection from
the dead as you read in the first chapter of Romans. And He is the firstborn of
many brethren. And He's at the right hand of God the Father sitting on His
Father's throne.
He isn't yet sitting on His own throne, He is sitting on the
Father's throne. And He is there as your High Priest. To minister for you. And
to see that if you conform to the terms and conditions which are very simple; that you repent,
that you obey and that you believe. And He is there to see that your prayers
get answered! There's a reason why they aren't answered. One
reason is that you don't repent and you don't obey! Another reason is that you don't come boldly to that throne of grace. That you can find
help; grace to help in the time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) No, you neglect this great salvation and it means a whole lot, it's a very practical
thing and in your everyday life to deliver you out of all your problems and
troubles, to give you wisdom to help you along. Yes, even give you the breaks and see that things work out right for you.
Well, in
the sixth chapter of Hebrews, we came down to the
place where we read about Christ having entered within the veil, in other words
into the very throne of God up in heaven. "Whither the forerunner is for
us entered, even Jesus [that is the very throne of God], made an high priest
for ever after the order [or of the same rank as] Melchisedec." (Hebrews 6:20) Because that is what it means.
Now, who
is this Melchizedek? Now, first, Melchizedek was God's High Priest. It was way back at the time of Abraham, He'd always been a High Priest but we only find matter recorded during the time of
Abraham. Now incidentally there's a little something — let me stop and explain. In the Bible,
there were many, many, many centuries prior to Abraham, but you don't read of very much in the Bible before Abraham. You begin to
find Abraham introduced here in the twelfth chapter, well he's introduced first in the eleventh chapter in his genealogy.
And these first eleven chapters of the Bible cover a great long period of time. But not
very much is revealed to us about that time. Very little is revealed to us about what happened back before the
flood. Of course, the flood is something that is very fashionable today to
laugh at and sneer about.
I wonder
if you realize that if our geologists would just wake up and be willing to
confess any of their errors and really look for the truth, that there is ample
evidence in geology and in the rock strata of the earth that proves there was a
flood. But, of course, since they decided there wasn't a flood, they can't admit that kind of evidence. Well, I can produce evidence
that geologists cannot refute. Of course they can laugh, they can sneer, they
can jeer, they can turn and run the other way, but they can't refute it. And of course when you can't refute anything and you are unwilling to admit it, too much
human pride to ever admit we'd ever been wrong, isn't there? The way to get around the
thing is just to sneer at it and ridicule it. That makes other people think
that it's insignificant and it isn't true. That's the way to get around truth and get away from it, if you don't want to accept truth. There's a lot of that going on in this world.
Well, there's very little back here in these
first chapters, in other words, God reveals very little of the history of what happened in that time and there are
no profane records of history about it, at all. A lot of men not knowing
anything about it and not having any historic record, add a good many thousands
or millions of years that they think went on there. There's no evidence, there's no proof. They've
never given you any proof, you've never seen any proof, of course, because
learned men looked dignified and maybe grow a beard to look very dignified, and
pronounce that they're scientists and tell you that a certain thing happened
and most of you just like a lot of dumb sheep just believe it and follow it,
swallow what ever they want to tell you; hook, line and sinker. God's word
says, "Prove all things." (I Thessalonians 5:21) Did you ever stop to prove some of these things? You're going to get
your eyes open when you do.
Well,
there isn't very much given about anything until you come to the time
of Abraham, of what happened; very, very little. And the prophecy is merely history written in advance.
And, when we get up to the time of the coming of Christ, there is very little written about what's going to happen way off there in advance,
in the future that hasn't come yet. You have
to remember, my friends, that the Bible is peculiarly the book
of Israel and about Israel and Abraham is the father of Israel. Abraham is also
the father of the faithful. And if you don't become an Israelite, you have no salvation. A Gentile is
without God, without hope, without Christ and without any salvation. He's cut off from salvation. But, through repentance and through
Christ, he's pictured as a branch on a wild olive tree. He can be cut
right off
of his nationality or his wild olive tree and grafted contrary
to nature onto the natural olive tree which is Israel. You read of that in the
eleventh chapter of Romans.
Now the
Bible is the book of Israel and although salvation is opened up to Gentiles
spiritually, they become Israelites through Christ. And they become Abraham's
children. If ye be Christ's, [said Paul, to the Gentiles at Galatia] then are
you Abraham's children and heirs according to the promise made to
Abraham." (Galatians
3:29
paraphrased)
Melchizedek
In The Time Of Abraham
So, the first you find about this Melchizedek was in the time of Abraham. Now He'd been a priest prior to that time, but as I say, we don't find much recorded about what happened before that time.
So, He was God's priest. Now, it was during a war between a
number of ancient city-states. Abraham's nephew Lot had been
captured, he and his family and his goods carried off. One of their number
escaped, came and told Abraham. Abraham armed 318 of his own soldiers,
they pursued them clear up to the northern part of Palestine, clear beyond Dan,
and they rescued Lot and his family. They returned with them and their goods,
and incidentally with a lot of spoil because, in those days and even yet, except America and perhaps Britain whenever you win a
war, you take the spoil. In other words, you just loot and rob the people you've conquered of
whatever they have and whatever you want. And, even Abraham apparently did that. And it says here in Genesis fourteen, beginning with
verse eighteen: "And Melchizedek
king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God." (Genesis 14:18)
Now, this was before the Levitical priesthood.
This was more than 400 years before the time of Moses. "And he blessed him
[Abraham], and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth [that is, God is the
possessor of heaven and earth]: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And
he [Abraham] gave unto him [Melchizedek] tithes [that is ten percent] of
all." (Genesis 14:19-20)
Now, notice, Melchizedek was the king of
Salem. Salem is the original Jerusalem. It now is called Jerusalem but that's just Jeru-Salem. They prefixed
Jeru on the front of it and they call it Jerusalem now. Now, Hebrew words have
meaning; the meaning of the name Melchizedek is 'king of righteousness.' Now,
if we would translate that Hebrew word into English, we wouldn't say Melchizedek we'd say 'king of righteousness' and that would be His name. And, Salem means 'peace,' or Jerusalem means 'peace.' It's the city of peace. Only it hasn't known peace because of the ways of mankind, but it will yet
know peace forever.
So this
Melchizedek, whose name was 'king of righteousness' was 'king of peace.' Why?
The king of righteousness would also be king of peace because righteousness
produces peace. Righteousness is the way to peace. It's unrighteousness
that provokes and produces war, my friends. So, naturally, He was the king of peace and He was the king then of the town called Salem, that
became the city of Jerusalem. And it is stated that He was the priest of the most high God! Now, Melchizedek is mentioned again in Psalms
110:4
and that is quoted in Hebrews five, six and seven.
Well, now we've
come up here to the seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews telling us about
Christ and His present job to help us if we would only come to Him for that
help. And that's private help and that's private power and that's the help of
the One who has the power that I've been describing.
Who upholds the entire universe with the Word of His power. And one who can
help you and can give you the breaks and can make things turn out right for you
but not to your own selfish ends.
You know, James says:
"We ask, and we receive not, because you, [he says] you ask amiss, that
you might consume [what you're asking for] on your own lusts" (James 4:3) Now God won't answer that kind of a request or a prayer. But, "...whatsoever we ask [of Him] we receive because we
keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."
(1 John 3:22)
And you must only ask
according to what God has promised and what is according to His will and His
will is expressed is His word, the Bible. And so, if you study it and
read it enough. Yes, you have twenty-four hours a day, you have enough time to
do it, what are you doing with all your time? Throwing most of it away if you
just stop and think and be honest about it. You're awfully busy, aren't you — going around
in circles — awfully busy — on a treadmill
getting nowhere. Here we are, traveling, so rapidly. Oh, we're in a hurry getting places alright, but where are we going? We are not really going any place
when you stop and think about it. We just have to hurry, we're all in a nervous fidget. We've got twenty-four hours a day and most of our time we throw
away — we're not getting anywhere with it.
Now,
here we've come down to this seventh chapter, and in the preceding
program, we were going through this mystery about Melchizedek, who and what is
Melchizedek? Well, Melchizedek was the divine, high priest of God before the
human priesthood during the time of the earthly, mortal, human, fleshly nation
of Israel, from the time of Moses until Christ when they had the Levitical
Priesthood. Now why does God here in His Holy Word introduce this Melchizedek?
And why does He talk about Abraham? Notice, He begins here speaking in the very
second verse of the seventh chapter speaking of Melchizedek. Who, well in the
very first verse, of the seventh chapter,
Verse 1:
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of
the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings
and blessed him,
HWA stated:
Why does he mention
Abraham and why does he mention Melchizedek? Let's read on, I want to
show you why it's mentioned here. It's a very important thing that most of
you don't know. You aren't conforming to God's laws and you aren't getting the blessings of those laws and you aren't getting the
blessings of the priesthood of Jesus Christ that you could. You could be a lot happier, you could have things a lot better, you could be in a lot
better economic and financial circumstances than you are, and you could have
better health that you have. And you could have things a lot happier and a lot
more pleasant than they are. And, I'm going to show you how you can and why you don't have it now. So, listen.
Verse 2:
to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all,
first being translated "king of righteousness," and then also king of
Salem, meaning "king of peace,"
HWA stated:
Now, why does he mention
that? This is in your New Testament and this direction is for you, my friends
today! Don't read over this and think, 'Oh, but that is dead stuff way
back there.'
"All scripture
is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable...to correct us, to reprove
us, and to instruct us in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works "(2 Timothy 3:16-17 paraphrased). That
means the Old Testament as well as the New but this is over near the end of
your New Testament. Will you open your own Bible to the seventh chapter of Hebrews and read it, my friends? Now, why does it mention this? Abraham
was a tithe payer. He paid a tenth! And we know from other scriptures because
it isn't all in one scripture always, that he gave the first tenth
because that is the tithe that God demands. Not the second, not the last, but
the very first tenth of your money — the first tithe. So Abraham gave the tenth, and it was the first tenth as we
read from other passages.
Verse 3:
without father, without mother, without
genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the
Son of God, remains a priest continually.
Verse 4:
Now consider how great this man was, to whom
even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
HWA stated:
My friends, do
you know what worship is? If you worship anything or anybody except God, that
is a capital sin, and let me tell you right here, very few people know what
worship is! Most of you people are worshipping things or people other than God
and you're sinning and you don't know it. Because you don't know what
constitutes worship. Now, a Bible definition of worship, is in Revelation
chapter thirteen and verse four. And here it's speaking about the Beast which
is the Roman Empire and as it is to be resurrected. And it says, our people
here are worshipping the Beast! And it says that they will worship the Beast;
how did they worship? Saying, "Who is like unto the Roman Empire? Who's
like unto this Beast? Who is able to make war with it?" (Revelation 13:4 paraphrased) Now my friends, a certain amount
of the right kind of patriotism is a good thing. Patriotism, if it is
worshipped is all wrong. But patriotism if it is mere loyalty is alright. Oh my
time is up, I didn't realize it. Well, anyhow, that is worship and here the
Bible actually pays worship to this Melchizedek and so He is greater than any
archangel — He is Christ! Now, I'll just have to bring it to a close.
Why, you read
over here how human beings will be worshipping this symbolic beast which merely
means a revived Roman Empire, a resurrected Roman Empire and its Fuhrer or its
Emperor or leader. When they say, "consider how great this empire is, who
can make war with this great empire," (Revelation
13:4)
that is called worship. It says, they worshipped the Beast in that manner
saying that. Well then, when the Bible says, "Consider how great this man
is," it is paying worship to Melchizedek. Therefore He is worthy of worship and is God and very God, but not God the
Father. He is the priest of God the Father. He not only was the priest of God
the Father in Abraham's day but He still abides a priest. And yet Christ is the High
Priest and there's only one High
Priest, well now it seems inevitable. There's only one High Priest: Melchizedek is that High Priest.
Christ is that High Priest! Then my friends they are one and the same person exactly!
Melchizedek
Is Christ
Now,
one question that I've had from a businessman in New York. And
one of the questions was, 'Why do we read back in Isaiah a virgin shall
conceive and bare a son and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is God
with us?' This man's question was, 'Why didn't they call His name Jesus?' Well,
if you read in the first chapter of Luke in one place His name shall be called
Immanuel which is God with us and in another place His name shall be called
Jesus. Now, Jesus means 'God is savior'. It means
that His name is God, it comes from Yah or Yahweh of the Old Testament with the
words added in the Hebrew language 'is savior' or
'saves'. In other words, 'God our savior'. Now,
Christ as savior is called Jesus. But Christ, in the
form of God in the human flesh, was called, He was there called Immanuel, which
is 'God with us'. Now, you find that He was called back in the fifteenth
chapter of Exodus, 'Yahweh-Rapha' (Exodus 15:26) which is our healer. God our healer. He is
God our healer. He has many names. And the answer is, my friends, Melchizedek
is another of the names of the one who became Jesus Christ, that we know as
Christ the savior.
He existed from
eternity. Was He less than a High Priest then way back there? Of course not! Who was the Rock that followed the
ancient Israelites that you read, let me see, isn't that in the tenth chapter
of I Corinthians, is it? The rock that follow them in ancient Israel, yes, the tenth chapter and the fourth verse, of I Corinthians.
Back there in the time of Moses, "They did all eat the same spiritual
meat; they all drank [the children of Israel all drank] the same spiritual
drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock
was Christ." (I
Corinthians 10:3-4). And
you'll find back there that that rock was also the one falsely
called Jehovah, because Jehovah is not the correct word, that's what I mean. Not
falsely called but, I should say, falsely pronounced Jehovah. Yahweh is the
Yahweh — we don't know how to pronounce it — the Hebrew word and it means the
Eternal and I prefer to use the word Eternal because we have the example of the
Holy Spirit in translating the names of God as they are found in the Old
Testament in the Hebrew language into the Greek language in the New Testament
as it was inspired in Greek. And so we speak the English language today and it should be
translated into the English language today. God's
names have meaning. And the meaning of the name that you find 'LORD' in the
King James translation and in most places in the Old Testament is merely the
Eternal or the self existent one or the ever living. That is His name showing
immortality and eternal life and the fact that He has life to give and life
inherent to impart to us. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord." (Romans
6:23). Now,
that spiritual Rock that followed them, that Rock was Christ. Christ was the
God of Israel. He was the personal God of Israel, not very many people seem to
know that. Most people think it was God the Father. No, it was
Christ, and one of His names back there was Melchizedek. Now there's one of the very
mysteries of God at last cleared up and made plain. Well, now let's go on.
"...of
all; being first [that is Melchizedek] King of righteousness, and after that
King of Salem, which is, King of peace; He was without father, without mother,
without descent, he didn't have any beginning of days [in other words, He has
always existed from eternity which your mind cannot even conceive neither has
He any end of life. He's still alive then,
isn't He? He never died] ... but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest
continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch
Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils." (Hebrews 7:2-4
paraphrased)
Now it pays Him
homage and worship. How great He was. And again it mentions Abraham was a tithe payer and paid Him tithes
before the Levitical priresthood. Now Abraham obeyed God and the promises on which your
salvation rests my friends, were made to Abraham because Abraham obeyed God. That's why they were
made. You read back here in Genesis 26th chapter. Let's see, this promise was made here as you read in the first
verse... "...Isaac
went unto Abimelech the king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the [Eternal]
appeared unto him and said... unto thee and to thy seed will I give all these
countries [that He had promised to Abraham Now why? Verse 5]...Because that Abraham, [who was Isaac's father], obeyed my
voice, kept my charge, my commandments, my statues, my laws." (Genesis 26: 1-5 paraphrased). My
friends, that opens up two things that you probably don't believe, that you have not been taught. Why don't we
believe those things today? One thing is, you're taught today that there were no commandments of God until
the time of Moses and yet this was four hundred and thirty years before Moses
and Abraham kept God's commandments, God's laws, His statutes. Where do they
come from if they didn't exist until four
hundred and thirty years later? Oh, yes, they existed. Sin, you read in, I
John 3:4
in your New Testament, says that "...sin is the transgression of the
law" (I John 3:4). And
you read also that — as in Adam all sinned — Adam was the first man and
Adam sinned! And sin entered this world by one man, Adam. Then sin, the
transgression of the law, started with Adam and Adam transgressed God's law.
Do you know that he broke four of the ten commandments in the original sin? He had another God before the true God when he obeyed Satan. God is ruler. And who you obey becomes your God. He coveted or lusted for what he found on the wrong tree, or he wouldn't have taken it. So, he broke the tenth commandment. He and his wife Eve, reached forth and took it or stole it — what was not theirs. It was stealing; that broke another and they dishonored their only parent who was God because they had no human parent. You read in the genealogy of Christ, it goes back to Adam, who was the son of God. Speaking of each one being the son of so and so, He was the son of God. So God was his only father (
Luke 3:23-38). Now, the commandments then began from the time of humanity on this earth. Those commandments are a way of life and God gave them to our first parents. And Abraham kept God's commandments.Now the other thing is that today the teaching is, you don't have to obey God. We call Jesus "Lord". He says, "...why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things [that] I say?" (Luke 6:46
). A lord is one whom you obey. That's what a lord is. A lord is your master. The Lord is the one you obey. Today, people call Jesus Lord but they don't obey Him. Why, it just doesn't make sense. Abraham obeyed God. Today the idea is that you get salvation, you get everything good but you give nothing, you don't give obedience, you can just disobey God with impunity. You can do what you please. God isn't concerned with what you do, well God is. Every action is followed by a reaction and there's a cause for every result. And there's a reason for the sickness and the sin and the suffering and the sorrow on this earth today. And that is sin and Jesus came to save us from our sins and not in our sins. Oh, my friends, when will we wake up? And when will we realize that your Bible says that you are deceived today. Because this whole world is deceived. We are living in a deceived world today. It's time to wake up.Also from another
sermon HWA said:
King
of Righteousness
Now,
since God names people or things what they are, that was His name, King of
Righteousness. Now, I want you to pause and think of that for just a moment,
King of Righteousness. Jesus said there is none good but one: That is God.
(Matthew 19:17)
And we find that human self-righteousness before God is nothing but filthy
rags. (Isaiah 64:6) None can be righteous but God or one who has been made
righteous by God's power. You can be made righteous if you will yield and
surrender to God and have faith — faith in Christ. And also faith in God, for that matter. Until Christ is in you. You can be made
righteous. Now,
certainly none but one of the Godhead could be called King of Righteousness.
The King of Righteousness is the one who is the head of it and the one who
rules over righteousness. Such an expression applied to any but God would be blasphemy. No human being could be King of
Righteousness because all human beings have sinned and therefore, my friends,
you began to see immediately that Melchizedek
was not and could not have been human, because His very name was King of Righteousness. And that's no name that God
could ever apply to any human being. Now, I want you to notice too that this
man was King of Peace, naturally. Salem, from which Jerusalem was named means
peace. Remember, that Jesus is called, 'the Prince of Peace.' He
is coming as the King of kings, the Lord of lords but also as the Prince of
Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) But here's a man
called the King of peace. Now that's certainly a title that's equal with that of
Christ. And Christ is God, very God, He has been made God by a resurrection
from the dead. Now, I want you to notice further in verse three:
Melchezedek was, in the King James, "Without father, without
mother, without descent..." And in the Revised Version; "He is
without father or mother or genealogy and has neither beginning of days, nor
end of life;" (Hebrews 7:3). There
never is a time when His life began because it has always been! He is from
eternity to eternity just like Christ and just like God the Father. Now, we
know that God is a person. We know that Christ is a different person. While
Christ was on earth, the Father was up in heaven. And Jesus prayed to the
Father, Jesus is a person, He was a self; He said,..."of myself, I can do nothing..." (John 5:30) "...the Father that dwelleth in me, He
doeth the works." (John 14:10) Jesus said, "The Father that sent me
gave [Him] a commandment of what to say and to speak." (John 12:49
paraphrased). They
were two different persons. Now here is Melchizedek. Back in the beginning of your
Bible, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis
1:1)
Now what is the Hebrew word there for God? The Hebrew word was Elohim. And it
means, the Almighty, the Ever-living, it means the Supreme One, but Elohim, my
friends, is in a plural, a plural number. It's plural and it is a word similar
to a word like family as I've explained so many times, a word like church. Now you read
about the Church — it is one Church, not two churches, not five churches, not
hundreds of churches; one Church, one body of Christ but many members. Many
members but the one Church. And that one Church infused with and led by the one
spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, yet many members. Your human body, one body,
but many members. You have or should have, ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes, a mouth and a nose; two ears. Hope that we all have all of those
because those are very important. And, so my
friends, God is really a family or a kingdom of persons.
Now here is one
of the persons of the very Godhead, this Melchizedek. That's becoming more and more plain as we look
into it. King of Righteousness, think of that. Also King of Peace. Now notice without father, without mother;
without descent. He was never born, like humans are, He had no descent from
another, He is self-existent, has always existed. Course your mind can't contain that. Now your
mind can't image anyone that never came into existence. But, if He had to
come into existence, what power, what force, what person brought Him into
existence? Your mind can't conceive that either, can it? You just have
to admit your mind can't go that far. It goes clear to eternity. Think of it. God has always existed. My mind won't quite grasp that. I don't think yours will either.
God always
will exist and you, my friends, too can have eternal life. And live for ever
and ever from this time on, the only difference is that there is a time when
you and I began to exist. And there was a time prior to that when you and I did
not exist but there has never been a time when God did not exist. And there has
never been a time when this Melchizedek did not exist. Having neither beginning
of days nor end of life therefore He has always existed — from eternity to
eternity. Now He wasn't created like angels, angels are created beings and there
was a time when no angel ever existed. Then there was a time when they came
into existence when God created them.
Melchizedek
— Priest Of The Most High God
But here is not
an angel, here is someone very superior to an angel. Yet, Melchizedek cannot be
God the Father, because He was a Priest of the Most High God. Now, scripture says no man has
ever seen the Father, but Abraham saw Melchizedek. Saw Him and talked with Him.
So, He can't be God the Father. Now we also read here in this third
verse, let me read it to you, "...having
neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually." (Hebrews 7:3 KJV). Not the
Father but made like unto the Son of God. Now here in the Revised Version,
"...but resembling the Son of God he continues [that's present tense] a
priest for ever." (Hebrews 7:3 RSV). He has
always existed. Now, He is now priest, He continues as High Priest. Yes,
Melchizedek continues High Priest right now. Now, we're coming to a little more. There's only one High Priest, there can't be two High Priests. One higher than the other, that would
be like the movie that Charlie Chaplin made here a good many years ago.
If you remember, I think it was called 'The Dictator' and he had Hitler and Mussolini there. Now, let me see, he acted the part of Hitler, didn't he? I forget who acted the part of Mussolini. Anyhow, they got into a barber shop and there were two chairs in the barber shop, and one of them I don't remember which, he sort of jacked the chair up, you know how you can a barber chair, to make it a little higher, he wanted to be a little higher than the other. Well, I think probably Mussolini did that and Hitler wasn't going to stand for it. He was going to be on top of Mussolini, so he jacked his chair a little higher. And they kept going and of course, these trick barber chairs in the movie scene, kept going until they hit the ceiling. And of course we all screamed with laughter and it was so true the nature anyway how those men had so much egotism; each one wanted to be higher than the other.
Well, now if you had two High Priests, my friends, then that's probably about what would happen. Which one going to be the highest? And, each trying to get higher than the other. No, there's only one High Priest. Because there's no confusion in God's Kingdom like... it was funny to look at, of course, in a crazy slapstick comedy of the kind. But, there's only one High Priest. Now, this says that He abides, that is He remains, continues, permanently, continuously the priest and a High Priest, because He wasn't any low priest. God the Father is not the priest of God, but Christ the Son is. And yet in the days when the Apostle Paul lived and wrote shortly after Jesus had ascended to heaven, Jesus became our High Priest.
And scripture states that even then Melchizedek abideth and this was long after Christ had become High Priest and here the Apostle Paul is writing that Melchizedek remains still and is now High Priest, because that's what that word abideth means. Does now "abide a priest continually." (Hebrews 7:3) And the Moffat translation says "...continues to be priest permanently." And this other Revised translation, "...continues a priest forever." Now, they all mean the different words there but different translations, they all mean the same thing. And so, Melchizedek is still the High Priest today and will be forever. And at the same time, Christ then is today and shall be forever, High Priest, same rank. My friends, it begins to become unavoidable that they are one and the same person. Are there two high priests? Why, it's impossible.The conclusion
then is inescapable. Contrary to many a cherished men-thought idea, and men
have ideas. Now a lot of people that have had a pet idea, they love their idea
— they wouldn't give it up, not for anything in the world. No, they may
face the choice of giving up their pet idea about something like this or giving
up their life for eternity, but they'll give up their life before they'll give up an idea that they treasure. They'll write in and tell
me that I'm ignorant, that I'm wrong, that I don't understand, but they'll never admit that they are wrong. It reminds me, you know,
of the man that was drunk and someone told him he was drunk and he kicked a little bit and said, "I know it, so am
I." In other words, he thought the other fellow was too. And they usually
think it's the other fellow. They can't turn that looking glass around and look
into it and see who the one is that's really
wrong. I tell you, my friends, human beings seem to get
everything twisted and everything upside down, until they think black is white
and they think East is West and they think that right is wrong. And they seem
to think that wrong is all right, yes, "There is a way that seemeth right unto man...the ends thereof are the ways of
death." (Proverbs
14:12)
Priesthood
Of Levi
Now
Abraham paid tithes, and that was part of God's law for that time. And Abraham obeyed
God and kept His laws and His commandments. And one of the laws that Abraham
obeyed and kept was that of tithing to God. Now, that wasn't
any part of the law of Moses — this is four hundred and thirty years before
Moses and the law of Moses. So, listen, "...verily
they that are of the sons of Levi..." Now,
his sons were the priests and the High Priests from the time of Moses until
Christ. Now, it's speaking of the Levitical Priesthood and the Mosaic
dispensation which was a temporary one that began four hundred and thirty years
after Abraham and ended with the time of Christ; when He died on the cross. So,
listen.
Verse 5:
And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi,
who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the
people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have
come from the loins of Abraham;
HWA stated:
Now from the time of the
Levitical Priesthood in the days of Moses until Christ, we had a different
priesthood and we had human high priests. You see Israel, my friends, was not a
spiritual nation. It was God's church but it was not a spiritual church. Why, you read back here, let me see, that's the
church in the wilderness, spoken of in Acts, the seventh chapter of Acts and
the thirty-eighth verse; here again, "This was he, that was in the
church in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him in the mount Sina
[speaking of Moses there and how the angel spoke to him at mount Sina] and with
our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:" (Acts 7:38). Now there it's called the church in the wilderness, but in
Old Testament language, Israel was called the congregation of Israel. And
congregation is just a synonym for church, assembly, church, congregation, they
all mean the same thing. You can call a church the Church of God or the
Assembly of God or the Congregation of God. Any one of those names are correct
and proper according to the Bible, is the name of God's True Church today.
Well, that church was merely a flesh-born church. They didn't have the Holy
Spirit and so they had a mortal human High Priest; Aaron was their first High
Priest. And, so there was a High Priest all the time down to Christ but after
the crucifixion of Christ and His resurrection, Christ was resurrected to
become the High Priest and once again the spiritual ministry was restored. And
we have a High Priest who is very God Himself in the person of Christ of the
same rank as Melchizedek, as a matter of fact since Melchizedek still continues to be High Priest they are one and the same!
So it was the law, but
now the law was not to pay tithes to Melchizedek, during that time the law was
to pay the tithes to the priests, the sons of Levi or the Levites, the
Levitical Priesthood, because it was an earthly church, it was an earthly
nation, a purely human nation without the Holy Spirit of God. They didn't know anything about being born again in those days. They didn't have the Holy
Spirit. You entered the church by being born into it or being naturalized as a
citizen, and by a fleshly ordinance, not by spiritual ordinances or ways at
all. And so the law was changed so that the tithes were now paid to
this human, this material, physical priesthood of Levi, when they had been paid
to the spiritual priesthood in Abraham's time according to the law, of
Melchizedek. Now, notice, that there was a change that lasted up until the time
of Christ in the law, so that the tithes were paid then to the purely mortal
and human priesthood of Levi.
Verse 6:
but he whose genealogy is not derived from
them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
HWA stated:
Now then, it says,
"...that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of
Abraham: But he whose descent is not counted from them [that is Melchizedek]
received tithes of Abraham... [Abraham obeyed God's laws and Abraham paid the
tithes to Melchizedek, then that must have been God's law in those days,
certainly. Alright, and Melchizedek] ...and blessed him that had the promises
[that is Abraham]. And without all contradiction the less [that's Abraham] is
blessed of the better [which is Melchizedek]." (Hebrews 7:5-6). Now then, he's comparing
two tithe-receiving priesthoods, the one back before the time of Moses, the one
that antedated Moses to run back there in the time of Melchizedek, and
also the much lower and human priesthood of Levi, the Levitical
priesthood. Now which was the greater? Which is the greater? Which has
precedence? He's going to show you which has precedence today.
Verse 7:
Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is
blessed by the better.
HWA stated:
I want you to notice “..without
all contradiction the lesser [that's Abraham] is blessed of the better [that's
Melchizedek]." Showing that Melchizedek was much
higher than the sons of Abraham who are Levi in the Levitical priesthood. Now
notice,
Verse 8:
Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he
receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
HWA stated:
Why, they are just,
merely mortal, they die, and they were receiving the tithes from the time of
Moses until Christ
Verse 9:
Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes
through Abraham, so to speak,
Verse 10:
for he was still in the loins of his father
when Melchizedek met him.
Verse 11:
Therefore, if perfection were through the
Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further
need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of
Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?
HWA stated:
Christ now is High
Priest, after the order or of the same rank as Melchizedek which is so much
higher, which is the divine priesthood and ranked so much greater and higher
than the mortal human priesthood of the Levites. Isn't that plain? Isn't that
simple? Now, once again the priesthood has changed. Back
there it was changed from the divine Priesthood of Melchizedek down to the
lower human priesthood of Levi. But, now, once again, the priesthood has changed. And once again
the spiritual priesthood is inaugurated. And under Christ we have the promise
of the Holy Spirit and eternal life and salvation which they did not have prior
to the time of Christ. They didn't preach the gospel to the world in the times of Israel, they
were forbidden to have anything to do with the rest of the world. There were
Gentiles in those days. Oh, my friends, let us get our eyes opened. Let's see the truth. No
wonder, we've been blinded. What we've heard and what we have come to believe has just blinded our
eyes to so much of this wonderful truth. Here it is in your Bible. Open your
own Bible, see it with your own eyes in your own Bible. Believe what you see in
the very word of God. Listen,
Verse 12:
For the priesthood being changed, of necessity
there is also a change of the law.
HWA stated:
I'll show you it was changed back there at the time of Levi, a
Levitical priesthood under Moses but now that's all gone. The Mosaic dispensation is gone. All this time of
the rituals of Moses has gone. There's another change and the Priesthood of Christ is here. A
change being made in the priesthood. It doesn't say that the law is abolished. A change is made in it, why?
Why, he's been arguing all the way through here to show you which is the greater priesthood, which has precedence,
which should receive your tithes now! Why, tithing is an eternal command!
Abraham paid tithes four hundred and thirty years before Moses. Before the Old
Covenant, before the law of Moses, before that Levitical dispensation. But now
the Priesthood is changed and once again, the Melchizedek Priesthood under
Christ is back in force and effect once again and there is a change also
in the law; so that the tithes are now paid to Jesus Christ.
What
hope is that hope? The Apostle Paul tells about that hope when he was on trial for
his life. He mentioned that this whole thing had arise because of what he was preaching of his great hope; the
hope of the resurrection. Of being raised from the dead, of being changed from
mortal to immortal, from human to divine, exactly, precisely as Jesus Christ
was. Because Jesus Christ, born a son of God and therefore very God by
resurrection, from the dead as you read in the very first chapter of the book
of Romans, was merely the first born of many brethren, he is the pioneer of our
salvation, as we've been reading here in this book of Hebrews and we're supposed to follow Him. That is we will follow Him, if, we have completely yielded to Him, if we believe in living
faith, and if we overcome and we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him. His
knowledge and in spiritual things. In other words, if we develop and grow in
character more and more like Him until we
really imbibe and receive within of us so much of Him. So much of God; of God's
thoughts, of God's character, of God's ways of His power, of His spirit, of His
love, all
of His character and attributes which He will instill within us if we yield and if we wanted and seek after it enough that we finally become Holy. Because God
Himself puts that holiness within us! Holiness can come only from God, not from
you, you cannot originate it, you can't create it, there's nothing Holy about you. And yet, you must become Holy
because without Holiness none can see the Eternal. Now then, that is the hope, that we
shall be born like Him and be co-heirs with Christ who is the heir of
everything. (Heb 6:19) "Which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which
enters into that within the veil; [Now of here it's speaking of course the vale
in the typical tabernacle that they had in the wilderness in the days of Moses
on this earth, way back when the children of Israel were on the way between
Egypt and Palestine. And then in the temple as it was built by Solomon; in
Jerusalem later. And there was the Holy of Holies that was the picture, the
symbol of God's throne in heaven. Just a picture or two. But out was the Holy
Place, outside and there was a vale or a great curtain between. No one but the High Priest could ever could go into the Holy of Holies and he even once a year on the
day of Atonement in the fall, every year. It was the ten day of God's seventh
month as God counts time but that's not according to our calendar. It wasn't July which was the
seventh month of the calendar that we're going by which is merely a Roman calendar or is really a
pagan calendar but the whole world uses it today.
Now,
then this hope we have is an anchor of the sole both sure and steadfast and
which enters
into that within the vale. In other words, to the very throne of
God,] "Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, [Now you see
High Priest entering into, behind the vale, that is into the Holy of Holies,
which is a type of entering into the very throne of God which literally is up
in heaven, was merely the type of Jesus Christ, our High Priest after He arose
from the dead ascending to heaven to the very throne of God. And He ascended
into the very intimate throne of God which was pictured by going into the most
Holy or the Holy of Holies. The Holy place by the tabernacle that they had in
the temple in Jerusalem back in the Old Testament times. Christ has entered
there, at the very throne of God, now notice it, "Whither the forerunner
is for us entered" on our behalf to serve us. He is our servant. He is our
helper.
You
know, in God's Kingdom, my friends, in God's form of government it's quite different from that that we know on this earth and
our human civilization. Here, the one who rules is the master of the people and he lords it over them. Doesn't make any
difference whether he's in a position of government or whether he's merely a boss in a place of business or whatever or it's a women who employs servants in her household. Such a women will
give her servants orders. And she's very stern, she expects them to obey her and she not only expects them to obey she expects them to
serve her and to wait on her. She doesn't serve them. She has to pay them wages
because she isn't going to be able to hold them if she doesn't. And, perhaps many of these stern
women that have had servants in their homes would not have paid any wages at
all if they could have gotten out of it. Such is human nature. We haven't had a chance to
see human nature work in that way because competition and the fact that they
could have gotten a job elsewhere has prevented. But that is human nature. A
man in business who employee others, usually expect them to serve him and wait on him and do his bidding
and do what he wants done. But is not so in the Kingdom of God, Jesus said, He
that will be greatest among you, in other words, the ruler shall be the servant
of all. Now, God Himself carries that out and Christ is now carrying it out.
Christ Jesus is our Lord and Master, but He also is our servant. And He is
there not only rule us, but to rule us for our good and to serve us as our
greatest servant. Now, I'm speaking to you here from the radio studio at Ambassador
College. It's in, certainly one of the most beautiful sections of Pasadena, California.
I don't know of any more beautiful city anywhere than Pasadena. It's a cultural city. It's a lovely city. And here we are in this famous beautiful old
south orange grove avenue section. Beautiful grounds, everything is beautiful
here. Some of these fine stately old millionaire mansions are still standing
and some of them are still in very fine shape up and down South Orange Grove avenue here in Pasadena.
Now,
practically everyone of these homes has
its servant's quarters. But, my friends, they're finding it very difficult to get servants anymore. Wealthy people today aren't building these big
eighteen and twenty and fifty room homes anymore; these great mansions. They
just don't build them like that anymore. And one of the primary
reasons why you find the wealthy people of America, the people that have made
their millions or have inherited them, one or the other, why they are building
these great mansions like they use to, at least not as much, in fact I don't believe I know of
any great mansion that have been built recently, oh, I know there have been
some, I just don't happen to know where they are. But the reason, my friends,
is because they can't get servants anymore. And they want a job where they are
more independent and where they can make more money.
But
the point I want to come to, my friends, is this: There is one servant, a
supernatural divine power, that everyone of you can have
and you don't have to pay any wages, any salary or anything. Well, you do
have a price to pay, you price you have to pay is the
subjection of your own will and your own mulish stubbornness. You'll have to give up a
little bit of that and the wanting of your own way where your own way is wrong.
As a matter of fact if your way is right then it's God's way too you would have to give that part up but it's that part of your way that we all seem to crave and want
and it's wrong and you'll have to give that up. And you'll have to let the Christ who is own this throne of God in
high heaven rule you, but He's going to rule you for your good because He is
your servant. I don't believe that our minds can quite grasp what I'm trying to get over. What I'm trying to say is that He not only is the ruler and when He comes to rule this world He's going to rule it with a rod of iron. There isn't going to be any no or yes anyway at all except just the way
He says. And yet He is going to rule for the good of all the people and in love
and in charity, and in mercy and nothing else.
You
know, human nature is not like that and we humans don't rule like that, do we? I wonder if we can realize how
Christ is going to rule when he comes? Well, that's the way He's ruling now, in heaven on the very throne of
God, ruling over those who will voluntarily submit themselves to that rule. Who will really repent and who
come to see how filthy and rotten and sinful and evil and wrong they have been
and abhor themselves until they're willing to want to change and go the other
way and they want to come to that Christ who is own that mercy seat which is
also the ruling seat of God the Father in heaven. Where he is our High Priest
and let Him be your ruler but also as your Priest He's there to intercede for you. And He's there as your
helper and He is there as your servant. And He's there to give you wisdom where
you lack it. And wisdom is merely ability to make a right decision in the right way and that always means best for you.
Well,
now Christ is made a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And
then Melchizedek is introduced and we've been going through that. Melchizedek was without father,
without mother, without descent; He has always existed. He is immortal. He has
an endless life which means He is immortal. He will never die. He is a High
Priest continually and yet, during the time from Moses until Christ, we had a
nation Israel and they had a High Priest who was a human High Priest, a
son of Levi. Now, during that time, there was a change made in the Priesthood.
Now, since Melchizedek abides a priest continually, He was the real High Priest
over and above but the people, well they didn't have the Spirit of God and they
didn't have a spiritual contact except the prophets and the except through the
prophets and so they had to have a human High Priest they could see here on the
earth. Even though Melchizedek when actual fact did continue to abide a High Priest, there was a human High
Priest set over the physical human nation of Israel. The tithes went to that High Priesthood. Prior, the tithes had gone,
by God's law as Abraham had obeyed God's laws and he paid tithes to Melchizedek.
But
now they went to this human priesthood that had a physical type of mission to
perform. They didn't preach the
gospel, they didn't have a spiritual
ministry, they had a physical ministry of killing lambs and goats and one thing
and another for sacrifices of carrying on the various rituals, the carnal
ordinances, the meat and drink offerings, the rituals of the law of Moses. Those rituals, my friends, were given as hard work to be performed
and they did a good deal of that work. They were a constant round of duties;
morning, noon and night, every day in the year with special things on every
Sabbath. Other special duties and sacrifices and meat and drink offering on
every time there was a new moon up in the sky and others on every annual Holy
Day that God gave to His people. And so it was a constant round of physical duties to instill in those Israelites the habit of obedience.
Now,
they had The Ten Commandments which is a spiritual law but they were not able to keep that law in
the spirit. All they could do is to keep it according to the letter. And in
order to help them to keep it according to the strictness of the
letter in a physical manner, they were given these physical duties. And, the
Priesthood, the ministry was not preaching spiritual sermons of salvation or
anything of the kind. They didn't go the world and preach the gospel. They were forbidden to
go to other nations in the world, they merely ministered in this physical
manner and all
of the patriarchs of the men who had large homes, had Levites
or priests, ministers right within there own estate. In their own homes, ministering to that large
family.
Well,
now from the time of Christ the priesthood has changed again. Jesus Christ
brought the Gospel. Jesus Christ said to the apostles, it is expedient for you
that I go away. He foretold the fact that He would die to pay the penalty of
our sins. And no one could be reconciled to God, no one could receive the Holy
Spirit except in some manner that is not explained how the prophets did,
otherwise the Holy Spirit of God and salvation was not offered as it is today.
And Jesus Christ said the it is expedient to you that I go away. If I
go not away, meaning to His Father's throne in heaven, the other
comforter, the Holy Spirit, would not come. In other words, no one could become
converted. No one could really become a Christian. Because no one is a
Christian until they have been changed, converted, received the Spirit of God
and are now being led by the Spirit of God that, in a sense, really, literally comes within and changes
and totally changes the mind. Changes the whole direction of the mind and of
their concepts and of their thinking in every way. And so, we're not carnal, but now we're spiritual. Well, that was a complete change.
That's the difference between The Old
Testament Church and the New Testament Church of which Jesus Christ is the
head. Christ said, I will build my Church - then it hadn't been built when He said it, when He was no earth! That is a
different church than the church of Israel or the congregation of Israel that
it is called in the Old Testament. Church of Israel; same thing. You might as
well call it the Church of Israel but that was a flesh born church. People were
born into that Church by a physical birth. Now, how did the Priest come? They
came by a physical birth. But, now Christ, by a re-birth being born from the
dead by a resurrection, made a Son of God, and is now elevated to the very rank
of Melchizedek. Now, since Melchizedek abides a High Priest continually.. actually Melchizedek is the one who was made flesh and dwelt among
us and who was God with us and was the Son of God in the fact that God was His
only Father and Mary was His mother. He was human and yet He was of divine
origin too, and He was the one by whom God made the worlds and He gave His life
for us and God raised Him from the dead. Now, there you are. And it's just that simple and yet it's seem quite complex too.
Now,
the Priesthood being changed, in verse twelve, of chapter seven. There is also of necessity made a change in
the law, for He of whom, continuing on now, (Hebrews
7:13)
"For He of whom these things are spoken pertains to another tribe, of
which no man gave attendance at the altar." In other words, not the tribe
of Levi as if had been for Moses to Christ. (Hebrews 7:14). For
it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; [He was of the tribe of Judah,
not the tribe of Levi.] of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning
priesthood. So this has nothing to do with the Mosaic dispensation, it supersedes it. It replaces it.
(Hebrews 7:15)
"for, it is yet far more evident, that after the similitude of
Melchizedek, there arises another priest," [Now notice after the
similitude of Melchizedek, back up here at the beginning it said Melchizedek
had] "neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the
Son of God; abides a priest continually" that was verse three (Hebrews
7:3). So you see the similitude or the likeness, "there arises another High
Priest," after the rank or order or similitude of Melchizedek, "who
is made not after a law of carnal commandment, but after the power of an
endless life." — (Hebrews
7:15,
16). Let me read that in the Moffat translation, that fifteenth verse, this become all the more plain when another priest emerges resembling Melchizedek, one who has become priest by the
power of an insolvable life and not by the law of an external command. For the
witness to Him is, now, you see the Levites were made priest by the law of an
external command and by a flesh birth. But, Christ is not made a Priest by that kind of a law. Now,
notice what law it is now speaking of. The witness to Him is the "thou are
a Priest forever with the rank of Melchizedek" — (Hebrews 7:17).
A previous command is
set aside. Now what command? Why, that the High Priest had to be made one, by
this command or this law that the Priest would be a son of Levi, because Christ
is not of the tribe of Levi but of the tribe of Judah. So that previous command,
the law of an external command, as it is in verse sixteen (Hebrews 7:16) there, is set aside on account of its
weakness and uselessness, for the law, now referring to the whole law of Moses,
the ritualistic law, the law of rituals, and of sacrifices and meat and drink
offerings, the physical law, that was given to instill within them a habit of
obedience.
The
law made nothing perfect! It was a
schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. And there is introduced a better hope, by means of which we can draw
near to God. That hope is the hope of the resurrection. They had not hope of that, my friends, under the Old Testament. But we
have that hope now. Because we can repent and we can be reconciled to God because Christ has now died
to pay the penalty of our sins and in our stead. They had,.. didn't have a savior who had died to pay the penalty of their sins until
that time. But we have! We can be reconciled to God, we can be receive His Spirit, we can be begotten of His children and we can have that high hope of being born into the very
family of God. That's a hope, my
friends, that was never extended to the people under the Levitical Priesthood
or in the times of Moses. So that we can grow near to God. A better hope, verse
20, (Hebrews
7:20), "because
it was not promise apart from an oath." Previous priests became priests apart from any oath (Hebrews 7:21), "but He has an oath from Him who said
to Him, The Lord has sworn, and He will not change His mind, Thou art a priest forever, [and as it has said in
previous verses here,] of the rank of Melchizedek." And this makes Jesus surety for a superior covenant. The New Covenant which is so much superior to the old because it has eternal
promises; the promise of eternal life, the promise of salvation, which they did
not have under the Old Covenant.
Now,
haven't you always
heard the teaching that they were saved by works, in the Old Covenant and we're saved by grace. Oh, my friends, what Poppycock! When will
we wake up, when will we learn the truth? We had no salvation! He merely had physical, material promises that would become the greatest nation on
earth if they had obeyed God. We have the promises of an endless life, eternal
life in salvation.
Verse
13:
For He of whom these things are spoken belongs
to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
Verse 14:
For it is evident that our Lord arose from
Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
Verse 15:
And it is yet far more evident if, in the
likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest
Verse 16:
who has come, not according to the law of a
fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
Verse 17:
For He testifies: "You are a priest
forever According to the order of Melchizedek."
Verse 18:
For on the one hand there is an annulling of
the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,
Verse 19:
for the law made nothing perfect; on the other
hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to
God.
Verse 20:
And inasmuch as He was not made priest without
an oath
Verse 21:
(for they have become priests without an oath,
but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The LORD has sworn And will
not relent, "You are a priest forever According to the order of
Melchizedek"'),
Verse 22:
by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a
better covenant.
Verse 23:
Also there were many priests, because they
were prevented by death from continuing.
Verse 24:
But He, because He continues forever, has an
unchangeable priesthood.
Verse 25:
Therefore He is also able to save to the
uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make
intercession for them.
Verse 26:
For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who
is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than
the heavens;
Verse 27:
who does not need daily, as those high
priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the
people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
Verse 28:
For the law appoints as high priests men who
have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the
Son who has been perfected forever.
Chapter 8
Verse 1:
Now this is the main point of the things we
are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the
throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
Verse 2:
a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true
tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
Verse 3:
For every high priest is appointed to offer
both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have
something to offer.
Verse 4:
For if He were on earth, He would not be a
priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;
Verse 5:
who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly
things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the
tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the
pattern shown you on the mountain."
Verse 6:
But now He has obtained a more excellent
ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was
established on better promises.
Verse 7:
For if that first covenant had been faultless,
then no place would have been sought for a second.
Verse 8:
Because finding fault with them, He says:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—
Verse 9:
not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land
of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them,
says the LORD.
Verse 10:
For this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in
their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people.
Verse 11:
None of them shall teach his neighbor, and
none his brother, saying, "Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the
least of them to the greatest of them.
Verse 12:
For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no
more."
Verse 13:
In that He says, "A new covenant,"
He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old
is ready to vanish away.
Chapter 9
Verse 1:
Then indeed, even the first covenant had
ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.
Verse 2:
For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part,
in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the
sanctuary;
Verse 3:
and behind the second veil, the part of the
tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,
Verse 4:
which had the golden censer and the ark of the
covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had
the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
Verse 5:
and above it were the cherubim of glory
overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Verse 6:
Now when these things had been thus prepared,
the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the
services.
Verse 7:
But into the second part the high priest went
alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the
people's sins committed in ignorance;
Verse 8:
the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way
into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle
was still standing.
Verse 9:
It was symbolic for the present time in which both
gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the
service perfect in regard to the conscience—
Verse 10:
concerned only with foods and drinks, various
washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
Verse 11:
But Christ came as High Priest of the good
things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with
hands, that is, not of this creation.
Verse 12:
Not with the blood of goats and calves, but
with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained
eternal redemption.
Verse 13:
For if the blood of bulls and goats and the
ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the
flesh,
Verse 14:
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Verse 15:
And for this reason He is the Mediator of the
new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under
the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the
eternal inheritance.
Verse 16:
For where there is a testament, there must
also of necessity be the death of the testator.
Verse 17:
For a testament is in force after men are
dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.
Verse 18:
Therefore not even the first covenant was
dedicated without blood.
Verse 19:
For when Moses had spoken every precept to all
the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with
water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the
people,
Verse 20:
saying, "This is the blood of the
covenant which God has commanded you."
Verse 21:
Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the
tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
Verse 22:
And according to the law almost all things are
purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Verse 23:
Therefore it was necessary that the copies of
the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly
things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Verse 24:
For Christ has not entered the holy places made
with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us;
Verse 25:
not that He should offer Himself often, as the
high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—
Verse 26:
He then would have had to suffer often since
the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Verse 27:
And as it is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment,
Verse 28:
so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of
many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart
from sin, for salvation.
HWA stated:
Well now, He said
that to Adam. But Adam chose cursing. Adam chose death. Now, my friends, you know, we assume and I think that even I have, that that means that mankind chose the wrong
way. Well, that's true. But I wonder
if you realize that that same thing is setting before you. And on the one hand, if you will choose the way
of God and it is a way from Genesis to Revelation, all the way through the New
Testament, all the way through the writings of the Apostle Paul; it is a way of
life! And if you choose that way, it leads to blessings. It leads to life —
life eternal. But on the other hand, if you choose the other way, it leads to
curses while you live and finally ending up in death! Now, you're making your
decision.
Have Faith In God
I made a decision here, years ago. And I was willing to give up my
life, you know if you seek to save your life, you're going to lose it. But, if you give your life for Christ's
sake, He says you shall find it. Well, I'd come to the place — I won't take any credit — God had brought me to the place where I
thought my life was nothing but a burnt out hunk of junk. There wasn't anything worth anything in it, and I said to God, "It
isn't worth anything to me anymore, I'm all disillusioned." I was
frustrated, I was a failure, after I'd thought I was a great success, but I began now to think I was a complete failure. I had
totally lost all self-confidence. And so, I said to God, "If you want this
life of mine, you can have it. It isn't worth anything." I didn't feel I was giving
Him anything. I didn't feel I was really
making any great sacrifice, I guess the sacrifice had already been made. I'd been brought to the place where there wasn't much there. But I said, "If you can use this life, you can
have it." Well, you know He took me up on it. And He's been using it. Now,
I didn't realize then I was choosing the way of blessings. I didn't do it in
order to get blessings, I didn't do it for that reason at all. It just seemed there was nothing else I
could do at the time. Now, I came to a new kind of confidence, I never did regain that self-confidence. I haven't got much of that today. But I came to have faith in God!
And that's the kind of
confidence, if you will give your life to Him, if you place it in His hands, if
you know you are only an instrument in His hands; you're the clay, He's the
master potter. You come to God and you be willing to live God's way, you come
to this High Priest and let Him guide you, let Him live your life for you, let
Him live His life in you by His spirit which is in you, or will be, could be,
should be and my friends you get blessings! But you say, "well, I'm sufficient unto myself. I
don't believe in God's ways. I don't like that law of God. Besides, some preacher told me that
law is all nailed to the cross. And God is a hard, stern master. I don't think He loves me. He just wants me to be miserable and
unhappy." So you say, "I think I know a better way" you go
your own way, and you're just going the way
of the curses. And you're going to reap those curses. Now, that's the way with the skeptics, the scoffers, the doubters. Oh, they may have
fine minds, they may be even scientific gentlemen, but if they are hiding their
minds from God, they're under a curse, that's all. And they have
plenty of fears and worries. And they make plenty of wrong decisions. And they
get plenty of bad breaks.
You
know, my friends, I began learning years ago how to get the right kind of
breaks. And I get them. Now, that's doesn't mean that God
never lets anything happen to me to teach me a lesson. We've had some reverses, we had some things that weren't just pleasant. But we've come to see later that it was all just to teach us a lesson.
Chapter 10
Verse 1:
For the law, having a shadow of the good things
to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same
sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach
perfect.
Verse 2:
For then would they not have ceased to be
offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more
consciousness of sins.
Verse 3:
But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of
sins every year.
Verse 4:
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls
and goats could take away sins.
Verse 5:
Therefore, when He came into the world, He
said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have
prepared for Me.
Verse 6:
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You
had no pleasure.
Verse 7:
Then I said, "Behold, I have come-- In
the volume of the book it is written of Me-- To do Your will, O God."'
Verse 8:
Previously saying, "Sacrifice and
offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had
pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law),
Verse 9:
then He said, "Behold, I have come to do
Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the
second.
Verse 10:
By that will we have been sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Verse 11:
And every priest stands ministering daily and
offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
Verse 12:
But this Man, after He had offered one
sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
Verse 13:
from that time waiting till His enemies are
made His footstool.
Verse 14:
For by one offering He has perfected forever
those who are being sanctified.
Verse 15:
But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for
after He had said before,
Verse 16:
"This is the covenant that I will make
with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their
hearts, and in their minds I will write them,"
Verse 17:
then He adds, "Their sins and their
lawless deeds I will remember no more."
Verse 18:
Now where there is remission of these, there
is no longer an offering for sin.
Verse 19:
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter
the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Verse 20:
by a new and living way which He consecrated for
us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,
Verse 21:
and having a High Priest over the house of
God,
Verse 22:
let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure water.
Verse 23:
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Verse 24:
And let us consider one another in order to
stir up love and good works,
Verse 25:
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as you see the Day approaching.
Verse 26:
For if we sin willfully after we have received
the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
Verse 27:
but a certain fearful expectation of judgment,
and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
Verse 28:
Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies
without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Verse 29:
Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose,
will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted
the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and
insulted the Spirit of grace?
Verse 30:
For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is
Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge
His people."
Verse 31:
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God.
Verse 32:
But recall the former days in which, after you
were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings:
Verse 33:
partly while you were made a spectacle both by
reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those
who were so treated;
Verse 34:
for you had compassion on me in my chains, and
joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better
and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
Verse 35:
Therefore do not cast away your confidence,
which has great reward.
Verse 36:
For you have need of endurance, so that after
you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
Verse 37:
"For yet a little while, And He who is
coming will come and will not tarry.
Verse 38:
Now the just shall live by faith; But if
anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
Verse 39:
But we are not of those who draw back to
perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
Chapter 11
HWA stated:
Now in the past broadcast, my
friends, we've been going into the question where did Elijah go? Did Elijah go
to heaven and what about Enoch where you read that Enoch was translated; that
he should not see death? And God took him and he was not. Did he go to heaven?
Now, I have been going into that matter because we've been going through this
book in the New Testament that covers the whereabouts of Jesus Christ now,
where is Christ now, what is he doing? And what's he been doing for 1900 years?
Of course, anybody that know any thing about the
Bible at all, knows that the Bible says that Jesus Christ was resurrected from
the dead after being three days and three nights and still everybody doesn't
seem to know that, they seem to think that the grave only one day and two
nights but actually, it was three days and three nights and that He ascended to
heaven. Now everybody seems to know that if they know anything about the Bible.
Perhaps, a lot of people just don't believe it. But, what did he do up there or
did He just go way off? Has He just sort of disintegrated? Or, is He still
around someplace. Has He had anything to do? What has He been doing all this
time?
And we've been going through the
book of Hebrews, that tells us the mission of Christ now. Now, we had
come up to the faith chapter, we found here in the fifth verse explaining by
some case histories and certain personal experiences of some of the ancient
prophets; well it had started out in about the fourth verse of Abel offering a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain, obtaining witness that he was righteous,
but he did it by faith. And then Enoch was translated that he should not see
death and was not found because God had translated him but before his
translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith it's
impossible to please Him for He that cometh to God must believe that He is and
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him — (Hebrews 11:6).
Well, we came into this matter of
Enoch here, in this chapter on faith, and so it brought up the matter; where is
Enoch? And then, since Elijah is a similar character you might say, God took
him up in a whirlwind, as you read in 2 Kings, 2:11, that Elijah went up by a
whirlwind into heaven and so we covered that. Now did he go to the heaven where
God is? Is Elijah up there now? I read you what Jesus Christ had said hundreds
of years after Elijah had gone up in a whirlwind and even still more hundreds
of years, of course, after Enoch had been translated and Jesus Christ said, No
man has ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even He
Himself — (John 3:13). Now, I also read to you, where Jesus had come from
heaven, from the very Father's throne in heaven. That's where He had been all
those hundreds of years. Now, if Elijah was there, He would have seen him. If
Enoch had been there, He certainly would have seen him, but He said they
weren't there [John 3:13].
Well then, what about it, wasn't
Enoch translated? Wasn't he made immortal? And, didn't Elijah go to heaven when
it says Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven? Now, of course, I've
explained that, some of you perhaps didn't hear it. Those of you did perhaps
you'd like to have it in print. Where did Elijah go and what happened to Enoch?
Was he made immortal and where are they now? What happened to them and where
are they now. I think that you would like to have that in print so that you can
study it in your own Bible. Is there a contradiction when Jesus said, "No
man has ascended up to heaven" and yet you read that Elijah went up by a
whirlwind into heaven. And you read right here in Hebrews 11 that
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death. And was not
found because God had translated him." Now, I've given you the truth
about it and the correct Bible explanation. But if you would like it in print,
just write in for the booklet about Elijah and Enoch. We'll get it to you as
quickly as we can; and there's no charge, I do want you to just do this, tell
me the station to which you are now tuned. Write the station call letters of
your station to which you are listening,.. first. Write that down first then
tell me that you want the booklet on Elijah and Enoch. We'll get it to you as
rapidly as we can. Of course now, there's no charge. So, I'm sure that most of
you are going to want that, write in for it. And, I'll have it ready.
Now then, I want to get back into
this faith chapter. Here is one of the most important, practical chapters in
all of the Bible. You know, so many people say, well, I just can't understand
the Bible. Let me tell you, you don't know what you're missing. Because you're
missing something that you need in your own practical everyday life. Now, are
you someone that never has any difficulties, any troubles or problems of any
kind? For instance, you don't have any financial worries of any kind? You may
be, but if you are, let me tell you, you don't have very much company. Nearly
everybody I know have their financial troubles.Now,
in the Bible, you have a promise that there is a supreme being, God Almighty,
that says He will deliver you out of every trouble, that He will supply your
every need. Maybe you're having trouble making ends meet. Maybe you do worry a
little bit about where, maybe not tomorrow's bread and butter is coming from,
but maybe you're worrying about where next week's or next month's bread and
butter is coming from. A lot of you are. And I've seen the day when I did too.
Maybe, you need to have a little faith once in a while. God has promised to
supply all your needs. But if you ask Him, do you ever get the answer? Do you
get the answer? Now, it all depends on faith. "According to your faith be
it unto you," said Jesus — (Matthew 9:29). Now, why is it so few people
have faith to get answer to prayer? You know, this is a practical thing, you
need this in your everyday life. You need guidance and wisdom. And, we read back here in James,
if any man lack wisdom, and you do lack it, let me tell you that, you do lack
it. Now, I came to the point where I realized how much I lacked wisdom. I told
you about that before. And, how I just took God up on what He says back here in
James. He said, ""If any man lack wisdom, let him asked of God that
gives to all men liberally and upbraids not, and it shall be given. [But next,
did you notice the next verses, this in the first chapter of James, and in the
sixth verse he says,] But let him ask in faith! Nothing wavering, for he that
wavers is like the wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Let not
that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord"" —
(James 1:5-7). If you ask in prayer for anything from God and you waver, in
other words if you don't have absolutely perfect faith you're going to receive
it, well, don't you think that you're going to get anything at all.
So, this thing of faith is so
important, my friends, it's a practical thing. God has things you need. God
will deliver you out of all your troubles, He'll show you the way, He'll give
you wisdom, He'll supply all your need — (Philippians 4:19). Why I tell you one
time, for this work, we were in a position where we had to have,.. I didn't
know that I needed so much,.. Now, just to show you how it works, I thought
that we needed about 15 or 20,000 dollars. And it worked out that what we
needed was fifty thousand dollars in one month's time. And, in those days, we
didn't have anything like that amount of money coming in. And, consequently, I
had to rely on God Almighty. Now, I talked to God about it, and I said that
this it your work; you've started it and you called
me to do what I'm doing, I'm merely an instrument in your hands. It isn't my
work, I said, God, this is your work. And we were going to lose this college
and all of the property here. The work was going to be stopped! As a matter of
fact, at the time, because of the financial situation, we had been off of the
air practically for about six or eight months, and it was a frightful
situation. Actually as I say, I thought we needed 15 or $20,000 and,.. I told
God to send our need and we needed fifty and that's what God sent. Now there's
he sent a lot more than we needed. Usually, you ask God for the $50,000 and He
knows you maybe need fifty cents, that's what He'll send. I've told you about the time when
I had to ask God to send a dime and send it right away and I thought I would
get at least a dollar. And I tried to get the dollar but a dime is what I got
and it was on the way. Well, I was praying and I had it inside of five or ten
minutes and I asked God in that case to send it to my house, because we were in
such conditions we had to have a dime. Now, believe it or not. Well, a man
didn't give it to us but we had something that he wanted to buy and the man
came to our door right at that second. And the dime came. I tried to get a
dollar but I couldn't. I could only get a dime. And, you know, God has promised
to supply your need. Now, if you overestimate, and ask God for more than you
need, He's probably want give you what you need. But, here was a case where I
underestimated and needed a lot more than I asked for, and God sent it. He
certainly did. Now, I know by personal experience this thing is practical, my
friends, it really pays. It pays off. It gets results. There isn't any make
believe about it and I've been in circumstances where I've had to asked God for
this, that and the other thing; not once, not twice not even five or ten times
but literally hundreds and hundreds of times. And God has never denied me
anything I needed at any time. If it was real need, I want to tell you, I've
always had it but I've learn to asked in faith.
Well now, most people say, I just
can't get any faith. What do you mean, you can't get faith? What is faith, and
how do you get it? Now, we started in this faith chapter and I want to go right
on with it now. You know, we've covered the first few verses here. Faith is the
substance [or the margin is the assurance,] the assurance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen — (Hebrews 11:1). Someone was telling, oh, I
didn't bring it down, I... should have brought it down to the studio; there's another
translation of the Bible that makes that a little plainer that just things
'hoped for'. Anyway, faith is your assurance that you have. You don't hope for
anything after you've got it. I was explaining that on a reason program here,
perhaps a week ago, I remember when we started on this and if you hope for
something, you don't have it. Because you don't have to hope for it after you
already got it. Then you know have it. You're not hoping for it anymore. And, faith then is your evidence
or your assurance of what you hope for. That you are absolutely certain of
having it. And faith is a real knowing. I don't know,.. altogether how you know
except that you just know that God is and you know that He is trustworthy; He
is reliable. You know, I want to tell you reliability is one of the most
important things in the world.
What is your word worth? When I
find a man whose word is not trustworthy and that he misrepresents,.. maybe he
thinks that it's just a white lie, maybe he thinks, well, it would hurt my
feelings to know something so he's careful to guard the truth and sort of
misrepresent a little bit and lead me to believe something different. Now, when
I find it out, I don't have confidence in that man anymore. A man whose word in
absolutely true and you can depend on it; a man who is dependable and if he's
going to do a thing he says he will or promises; you'll know he'll keep his
word. Now, there's a man you can trust and how much is that worth? But when a
man begins to lie, and you've caught him in a lie two or three times; I don't
think there is any worse sin than that. Because, if you've found that he's lied
two or three times, he's willing to lie, then you never know when to believe
him. You can't have any confidence in such a man. None whatsoever.
Trustworthiness, there's is nothing more important in your character than that.
Now, God is trustworthy. And when
God has promised to do something, can you trust Him? Now, I know, God is no
liar. And I know, God is able. And I know God is trustworthy. And I can place
confidence in Him. He tells us not to place our confidence in men. Because men
are likely to disappoint you. Instead, God tells us we need to have a lot of
charity for men. And love them, even your enemies. That's hard, isn't it. But,
if you're a Christian, that's, well,. the love of God in you
heart will enable you to do it, I don't think you have the kind of love that
will love your enemies. But that the kind of love Christ had. His own enemies
crucified Him, He looked up on the cross and said, "Father, forgive them,
they know not what they're doing" — (Luke 23:34). That was the love of
God. Now that's the love you get from God! Now in the same way that you get
that love from God, you get faith from God because faith is one of the gifts of
God. You read of it in the chapter about the gifts of God; in the twelfth
chapter of I Corinthians. And how God gives faith. Faith is a gift from God.
And if you'll trust God and you believe Him, and if you obey Him, He will give
you faith. And then you can really have faith.
Well, Faith is trusting that what
God has said, he will do! One reason we don't have faith you expect God to jump
at the crack and do it the second you ask Him. And if you don't get it right
away, you don't have faith, in other words, you don't want to have faith you
just want to have the possession. Well, you'll have to have faith until you get
it, after you got it you don't need any faith anymore. In other words, now you
have faith, you don't have what you've asked for. But, it'll be replaced, the
faith is the substitute then in a way, and it'll be replaced by the very thing
you asked for because God will send it if it is promised it in His word. The
first thing to know is whether it is God's will. Now, it is God's will to do a
lot of things. Your Bible has thousands of promises that God has given you. He
has promised these things. And God is really a.. God is a being or a family of
beings,. actually. And, God is the supreme ruler and being of all the universe.
And He really is. And he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him —
(Hebrews 11:6). And He will do what He has promised. Now, some people will find
that God is really there, I found it.
And then a time comes,.. someone
is lying very desperately ill and you can find a promise in the Bible that God
has promised to heal them. Now, if you want to know, what the Bible does teach
about it and whether God heals; You know that Christ healed the sick when He
was on earth, and does He still do it today? Or was that just something for the
time then and is it all a thing of the past?
Write in for our book on healing
I mention that every little while on this program and if you don't understand
that write in for our booklet on healing and you will,.. it'll make it plain if
you., you should read a lot of it in your Bible besides and you'll see right
there in your own Bible that God has promised to heal you.
Of course you have to obey Him
and you'll have to believe and trust Him, that's true. Well, I've learned that
and I believe it and therefore I get the answer. It isn't any hocus-pocus or
any hooey about it or anything of the kind, it's real. The answers are real
when I get them. I've had a dime when I asked for it and I've $50,000 when I
asked for less and thought I didn't need that much but God sent it. He's always
sent what we need. Maybe not as quickly as we wanted it either and another
thing you can't tell God when. That's a mistake people get. When they don't get
right away they lose faith; well I didn't get it. Why your faith must endure.
You must be patient in your faith. But the trying of your faith works patience,
as James tells you — (James 1:3). So, God often delays the answer a long time,
just to try your patience and see if you'll still believe Him. Now through faith we understand
that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. He's the Word that spoke and it
was done, you know. So that the things which are seen were not made of things
which do appear — (Hebrews 11:3). In other words, matter didn't come out of
matter. Matter actually came from something that doesn't appear. Perhaps from
spirit, that God created matter. "By faith, now Abel, offered unto God a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was
righteous," [He, shed the blood of an animal which was a substitute
showing his belief and faith in Christ, it was done in faith. So it's explained
here in this faith chapter] "by it he being dead, yet speaks" —
(Hebrews 11:4). By that he speaks, not that he is alive and speaking, and its says he being dead. It doesn't say he's alive, does it?
Now, people think Enoch went up
to heaven; by faith Enoch was translated. Well, I showed you what this word
'translated' means. It doesn't mean what a lot of you think. That he should not
see death, not that he did not see death but that he should not see death. And
was not found because God translated him. That's why he wasn't found too. You
write in for this article and that'll explain all of that. And if you didn't
understand it fully, what I did explain it on the program here, one or two
broadcasts back, write in for that booklet on Enoch and Elijah, and it will
explain it. "For before his translation [Enoch] had this testimony, that
he pleased God" — (Hebrews 11:5). Why? Well, he walked with God. Now, you
can't walk with God unless you agree with Him, because you find in the
scripture the question, its put in the form of a question, "Can two walk
together except they be agreed?" — (Amos 3:3). You can't walk with God
very far unless you agree with Him. And He's not going to agree with you where
you're wrong, you aren't going to change God or His Opinion or impression at
all. But you have to agree with God if you're going to walk with Him. Well,
Enoch did. And to agree with God that means He obeyed God.
But without faith it is
impossible to please him: [Now there again, you're certainly not pleasing God
and in another place you read that] "Whatsoever is not of faith is a
sin" — (Romans 14:23). [For whatsoever not of faith is a sin! So, my friends,
you are committing sin,.. if you don't have faith. "And the wages of that
sin is death" — (Romans 6:23). It's going to cost you your very salvation.
Well, how are we saved? ""We're save by grace through faith. And that
not of ourselves, if that faith is the gift of God. Not of works less any man
should boast. Why, because we are His workmanship, created in true
righteousness and holiness unto good works which God before had ordained that
we should walk in them"" — (Ephesians 2:8-10) [That's Ephesians 2,
verses eight and on to about the tenth or eleventh verse; if you read all of
it].
So, you see, you're saved by
faith, and whatsoever is not of faith, is of sin. And sin, has a penalty and
that's death and that'll cost you your salvation. So this thing of faith is
mighty, mighty important. Without faith it's impossible to please God.] "for
he that cometh to God must believe that he [God] is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him" — (Hebrews 11:6). Do you believe that?
Are do you just still say, Well, I know God could do it, but I not sure He
will. I know He could if it's His will but I don't His will. My friends, in the
Bible, in Ephesians, you read that we're to be not unwise, but understanding
what the will of the Lord or the ETERNAL is — (Ephesians 5:17). Now, He tells
us what His will is. Do you read your Bible, do you study it to find out? Well,
it's there, that's Ephesians 5:17, "Wherefore be ye not unwise." We
surely lacking wisdom, if you don't know that. And what is the will of God? And
if you lack wisdom asked of God and He'll tell you. I just quoted that scripture
a minute ago. You can understand what the will of the Lord is because the Bible
is the expression of His will. If you don't have a Bible, I, I'll tell you, I'd
go without a few meals, if necessary. Now,
By faith Noah, being warned by
God of things not seen as yet, [Now he didn't see it, he didn't see this flood
coming, he was warned of things not seen as yet. My friends, on this program,
I'm warning you of things that are coming that are not seen yet. I'm warning
you of a terrible drought and an epidemic of disease that's coming that is
going to take 1/3rd of the lives of all of the people of the United States and
I want to tell you that it's coming in a very short time. Now, I'm not setting
the date because the date isn't given. But, it's coming in a very short time.
Now, that's something that is impossible for you to see, but it's based on the
same prophesies from God and come from the same God that told Noah; a flood is
coming. He couldn't see it! But he believe it. You can't see this drought
that's coming. I'm telling you there is an invasion coming on the United States
with the Hydrogen bombs and our cities are going to be blown off the map. God
Almighty says so; its in your Bible whether you've
seen it or not, my friends. That's something not seen. Do you have any faith in
it; to act on it? God told Noah a flood was coming. Everybody else on earth but
Noah scoffed. "Noah was a preacher of righteousness" — (2 Peter 2:5).
That means he preached obeying God.
And you prove your faith by your
obedience and he obeyed God and built this ark. The rest of them said, 'look at
that old crackpot'. Building that ark, thinking a flood is coming. Why, there's
never been anything like that. Well, we believe in evolution; everything
continues just like it always was, just by resident forces and by the laws of
nature that are in action, its always gone that way
and it always will. There isn't going to be any flood. 'Look at that crackpot
Noah'. He believes in some superstition. He believes in that God and that that
God said there's going to be a flood. Look at him, building that great big ark.
What's he going to do with that big monstrosity when he gets it built. They
ridicule him. Noah didn't pay any attention, he kept right on building. You
know, finally that flood came. They were all drown like a lot of rats.
And I want to tell you something,
my friends, this drought and this disease epidemic is coming. You just count
the people you know; every third one of them is going to die. And then, there's
going to be an invasion and every third one is going to be taken in that and
that only leaves one out of three. Now that means you and your children, if you
don't come under God's protection, but God has promised you safety and divine
protection if you believe, if you prepare. Noah prepared and it didn't hit him.
The rest of them scoffed and it did drown them like rats. Now, what about you,
my friends, you and I are facing these living things that are going to take our
lives in our generation. "Without faith it's impossible to please
God!" By faith, Noah being warned of God. As you're warned of God in the
Word of God in your Bible. And I'm bringing these things out. Do you really
believe these things that are in your Bible. I tell you, don't believe me,
don't take my word. Believe God, believe your Bible. Will you search it and
find out and see it with your on eyes in your own
Bible? That's all I asked you to do. And then have faith in God, not in me. Not
in your preacher or me or any body. Don't put your
faith in men, but listen: Listen without prejudice. Listen to your preacher.
Listen to me. That what I asked you to do. That God's way, my friends, and
that's written in your Bible.
"Noah being warned, of God,
of things not yet seen, moved with fear, [You better move with fear, my
friends,] He prepared an ark for the saving of his house" — (Hebrews
11:7). And you can saved your house if you will listen. God help you and to
heed and begin to have a little faith.
Verse 1:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen.
Verse 2:
For by it the elders obtained a good
testimony.
Verse 3:
By faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of
things which are visible.
Verse 4:
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
Verse 5:
By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did
not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for
before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Verse 6:
But without faith it is impossible to please
Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of those who diligently seek Him.
Verse 7:
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things
not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his
household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness
which is according to faith.
Verse 8:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to
go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out,
not knowing where he was going.
Verse 9:
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in
a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him
of the same promise;
Verse 10:
for he waited for the city which has
foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Verse 11:
By faith Sarah herself also received strength
to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she
judged Him faithful who had promised.
Verse 12:
Therefore from one man, and him as good as
dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude-- innumerable as
the sand which is by the seashore.
Verse 13:
These all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Verse 14:
For those who say such things declare plainly
that they seek a homeland.
Verse 15:
And truly if they had called to mind that
country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to
return.
Verse 16:
But now they desire a better, that is, a
heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He
has prepared a city for them.
Verse 17:
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered
up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten
son,
Verse 18:
of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed
shall be called,"
Verse 19:
concluding that God was able to raise him up,
even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
Verse 20:
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
concerning things to come.
Verse 21:
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed
each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
Verse 22:
By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made
mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions
concerning his bones.
Verse 23:
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden
three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and
they were not afraid of the king's command.
Verse 24:
By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
Verse 25:
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
Verse 26:
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
Verse 27:
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the
wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
Verse 28:
By faith he kept the Passover and the
sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Verse 29:
By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by
dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.
Verse 30:
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after
they were encircled for seven days.
Verse 31:
By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with
those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.
Verse 32:
And what more shall I say? For the time would
fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and
Samuel and the prophets:
Verse 33:
who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Verse 34:
quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle,
turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Verse 35:
Women received their dead raised to life
again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain
a better resurrection.
Verse 36:
Still others had trial of mockings
and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
Verse 37:
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were
tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—
Verse 38:
of whom the world was not worthy. They
wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
Verse 39:
And all these, having obtained a good
testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,
Verse 40:
God having provided something better for us,
that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
Chapter 12
HWA stated:
One of the reason
that we don't have better news today, is simply because we have so much
juvenile delinquency in the United States today and one reason we have that is
so much parental delinquency and some rather wacky psychological ideas of a
modern psychology perhaps I should say, falsely so-called, that has been
permeated some of our school systems and a good many of our parents in this
country in the last thirty or forty years. Now, whether you realize it or not,
a good many of the psychologists and the experts are about ready to return child rearing back to the home and to get
back to the idea that if you spare the rod; you'll spoil the child.
Now, let me tell
you a little something about what a man named Howard Whitman has said. He
quoted this, from a boy just 17 years old, he said, my father, he's a 'Beaut.' He
just a low down so and so. My dad! He don't give a darn if I live or die. Now, that boy, his name was
Bud, is only a 17 years old, wearing a faded purple jacket, gray
denim slacks. And, Mr. Whitman says, he stopped me as I was entering the hotel
in New Orleans, and asked for money to get something to eat. The boy had been
on the bum for three weeks, sleeping in flop houses, washing dishes, and pan
handling for money to buy food. He had quit High School in Chicago, and had
struck out for Miami, in hopes of striking it rich, as he put it, in vacation
land. When this failed, he started bumming and hitchhiking back with nothing
but the clothes on his back. He'd been washing his clothes at night, but his one pair of
socks wouldn't take it any
longer. They gave out and he'd thrown them away the day before.
Now, Mr. Whitman
says, before I took him to a local family agency to get him back on the track, Bud told me a story. His mother, he said,
had died three years ago. She was the only person who ever gave a darn for me,
said the boy. I'm just quoting it as exactly as Mr. Whitman wrote it. Bud's father had divorce her three years earlier and had gone off and had married
another woman. And so, Bud was kind of an orphan. Staying with grandparents and hating life, for the
raw deal it had given him, running away now and then, to get revenge. He was
bitter when he talked about his father. With a choked and a sullen voice, he
said, they ought-ten to let him walk out like that, he's just for himself. Looking out for his own self and for a good time. What happens to
me doesn't matter, he never
sends any money, he never even writes to fine out if I'm alive.
Now, if Bud were
the next boy to turn up on your front page as a delinquent, would you wonder
whom to blame? The next day, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, so it continues Mr. Whitman, I visited the juvenile
detention home and met Charley, age 15 and his brother
Leonard, 16. Charley also was a runaway from Kansas City. He wore the blue jeans and the tee shirt, of a teenager, and had a mop of sandy hair, which was three
weeks over due at the barber shop. Charley had run away to join the
merchant marines and been pick up as a vagrant. We sat down together in the green living
room of the new detection home.
Len and me,
Charley said, Len and me left home because we couldn't stand it any
longer. All mom cared about was card games. She played cards and bingo five and
six nights a week. She even use the money that Len and me made working after school. Then, Leonard added, when she
got mad, she'd curse at us and tell us that we were just in the way, that
if it weren't for us that she
could be free and have a good time. The boys describe
the professional card games, to which there mother was addicted. She would pay fifty-cents or a dollar for a seat at the table, and then play cards
until she was either broke or intoxicated with winnings, which she would take
back and lose the next night. You know, that's one thing about gambling, incidentally I'm going to break in here since that's been mentioned.
I don't know whether you read the article by the owner
of one of the biggest, I guess the biggest gambling house up in Reno, one of
the biggest gambling houses in the whole United States, of the whole
world. And of course, gambling is legal up there. But anyway,
this gambling house owner said, he want to answer the question, 'do we cheat or is it straight or
is it crooked in our gambling house'? No, he said, we don't have to cheat. It's absolutely
straight. And that's the truth in these gambling houses. They don't have to cheat. Not at all. It's fixed in a certain way. For instance, the roulette tables
and things of that sort. By the law of average it's fixed that the house is going to get a certain slight break
on it and a profit provided it breaks even as it does of course over thousands
of plays or thousands of dollars, or however you want to rate it. But here's the way he
explained it. They don't have to cheat and they don't have to keep anything hid or crooked or anything of the
sort. They're piling up money
and they're making themselves
millionaires running these gambling houses without it. And here's why, it's a matter of human nature.
A man comes in to gamble. It gets into his blood. If he begins to
win a little bit, he wants to win more. And he can't stop. He can't stop when he's ahead; he hasn't got sense enough to stop because he all intoxicated with the
whole thing by that time. He's got to win more. Just a little more and then I'll quit. But before he gets that little more, where he willing to quit, at least before he comes to the time where he's willing to quit, he begins to lose. Well, if he loses a
little bit, now he got to keep on long enough to get that back. But probably he goes on losing more and more. Now he's got to get that back. Well, if he gets a little of it back,
he has got up where he
wanted, so he keeps on. Pretty soon he gets down even and now he's got to get back again up on top. Well, then he begins to
lose and go under. Now, he has less than he came in with. Well, now he got to continue to play until he gets at least even with the
game. He can't quit behind that game. So he keeps on and it goes up and down; up and down and of
course it goes back and forth and then there's a good many games that's an even 50-50 break between him and the house but, you know
first he winning and then there're winning. But the thing is when he winning he never can stop until he gets just a little more. He hasn't won quite enough
to stop. And when he's behind he can't quit until he gets back up ahead again. And so what does he do? Well, he continues until he's broke. Now, the thing is, the house never goes broke. The
house has enough money, they don't have to stop. They have more money than the customer and
the customer continues to gamble until he's broke. Now, one of them has got to go broke because they wont quit. And it is always the customer who goes broke and so
the house gets their money.
Now, actually, as
this man said, and they have cards all over as you're driving anywhere
in the western whole third of the United States you'll see the cards of
this house or their billboards up all over the highways in every place. And, it was an article in one of our largest popular national
magazines, I think, where this was written. I think it was some years ago now but not too long it comes back to
me, I remember. Now, he says, supposing a man does win 10,000 dollars or
something at gambling at his house? Do they hate to give it him? Why no, they're perfectly glad to give it to him. Not only that, they want to publicize that, they want everybody to know how
much this man won because that makes everybody else want to come and win. Of
course, the others aren't going to win most of them are going to lose. Now, in the law of
averages, once
in a while a man wins and has enough sense to quit when he's ahead.
As a matter of
fact, I had business over in Las Vegas one time, and I was over there to see a
man, who I had been informed wanted to make a donation to Ambassador
College. And, we were staying in a certain hotel, and we were to see the man as
we drove over and got there in the evening or late at night and we were to see
him the next morning. Well next morning, the man who was, well our agent and
taking care of this matter for us, came to see me and he said, well, he said,
you know something that you maybe didn't know, this man has a part interest in
one of our casinos here and he said there were two or three men from Hollywood
that were over here last night and took the thing for I think for was over a
hundred thousand dollars, I believe it was something like a hundred and ten
thousand dollars. And they quit when they were ahead. Now, that was such a lost; that really hit the gambling casino, that hit the owners
and the management and they said that he had such a headache, that he wasn't going to feel like donating anything today and
so we didn't see him. Well, of
course I didn't know that he was
in the gambling business or anything of that sort because this man had a very high reputation. And, one of the best thought of men in the state, as far as that
is concerned.
Now, what actually happened
to those gamblers, did they quit a hundred and ten thousands dollars ahead? I think that was the amount. Maybe it was more. It might
have been over two-hundred thousand; I did,.. it was a terrific amount, I don't just remember. I believe it was! Come to think about it, I believe it was over two-hundred thousands dollars. And I believe it is in what they call a 'crap' game; that's shooting dice, you
know. I don't know much about it, cause I've never done it. Never in my life have I ever gotten into
such a game and I don't understand it. I'd seen it, when I'd been over there, you have to walk past those
places to get to the dining room. But, I never stopped long enough to have it explained and I don't understand the game and I don't care to understand it.
But nevertheless,
here's what happened to those fellows. They went over
to another gambling casino from there, where they lost a big share of their
money. And then they went to another one where they got cleaned out and lost
all the money they'd come with and in addition to that hundred or two hundred thousands dollars they'd won. And so, this one gambling casino lost but the others
made it up, and that's the way it goes.
You know, you might just as well realize, my friends, you just can't beat it. There's no use of trying. Too many people in America are just trying to get
something for nothing. They're trying to get
money without earning it.
Now, I've heard of a lot of people who will go to Reno or
to Las Vegas to gamble. And, will make a trip
once or twice a year. And, they set aside a certain amount of money. And they say its their pleasure and they enjoy it. They go there with a
certain allowance, a certain amount of money. They know they're going to lose it.
But they feel that's their way of
spending that much money for pleasure. So they gamble, and it may last two, three or four days, they
take enough money to let it. They win, then they get behind then they get ahead and then they get behind. But they keep
on until they're behind all the
money that they set apart that they come with; there to gambling. And, when it gets to that point, they quit and go home.
Now there are people that go to Las Vegas every year who do it just that way.
But what fun they get out of that; I never could see.
You know, some
people can get dope in them. They start out with marijuana and then they go
into heroin. And they get to the place they crave it and they have to have more. Well,
it just isn't healthy. Don't ever get yourself to the place where you crave that sort of
thing. Now, I've never been inoculated with it. What fun they can get out of
it, I've, I've seen them in gambling dens, I've had to walk past those places. And, I don't see them looking really happy. They don't have their faces wreathe and smiles and happiness and just exuding joy and seeing how much good
they can do for everybody and everything in that sort,..
No, the best you
can say is there just came for excitement, but most of them have
a worried look. And I've seen some that had a terrible worried look before they
got through and I've heard of many cases, in Las Vegas, for instance, and
places like that, where people come in there, they lose all they got and where
men will gamble away all of the money they had and they'd plan on something
that the family needed and was going to do but they thought they could run it
up just a little more money. Well, they don't do it, they lose
all they had. If they do run up a little bit they haven't got sense enough to quit when they're ahead. Course you think probable you'd quit when you're ahead, oh no, you wouldn't, you're human just like
everybody else. Very few ever do. And if they quit when they're ahead in one
place, why they lose it later. And it's just like this boy said, if his mom got a head tonight, she'd lose it tomorrow night. Now that's human nature. You know
that sort of thing just does not pay.
You know, my
friends, I read in the Bible there is a personage quoted as if He existed, of
course a lot of people think He doesn't exist, because He doesn't seem real,
not even as real as Santa Clause because a lot of people dress up like Santa
Clause and, I guess a lot of little children really think that they've seen
Santa Clause. But, not very many people think God is real. Because
they haven't seen Him, but I read in the Bible where one is quoted,
saying, "I am God. And there is none beside me." And where this God said that He had sent
one called Jesus Christ to this earth. And that Jesus Christ is not just an
ordinary man, in the same since as you and I are, that is that He was not born
from two human parents like us but from one human parent and from God. But He
was born of a virgin. The virgin Mary and God was His only Father. And, that
this Christ who came, from this one who calls Himself God and says He's God in
the Bible. That He said that if we would seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; that all
these material benefits and everything would be added to us — (Matthew
6:33).
You know, I have
found, that if a man will try to improve himself, if he will study, if he will
think about what he is doing, if he will work diligently at what he does, and
think about it and study about it, and always try to improve himself and to get
ahead, if he will honestly seek the Kingdom of God and if he seeks the Kingdom
of God and God's righteousness he's going to be doing those things. He's going to be diligent in his business, he's going to be honest in it though, and he's going to give a dollars worth of service and the effort for every dollar that he receives
in pay. He's not going to try and get something for nothing. He's not
going to try to cheat the other fellow, he's not going to try get rich quick at
all, and he's going to be honest and industrious and studious and you know,
I've found he may have some ups and downs, he may have some financial worries,
but in the end he's going to come to a confidence, in the end he's not going to
have to worry, and when he comes past sixty years of age, he's not going to be
in the position that I understand, let's see, it either 95 or 98 percent of all
people past sixty in the United States are dependant on their children.
Rather he'll be able to be in the position to help his children instead of having them having
to help him. And, he want have to worry about where his bread and butter comes from, he's going to be alright because he'll find that these material things have been added. It really
pays off. It really pays off and I can give you any number of experiences where
that has worked out and where it's true. It certainly does.
Well, to get
back, and since I've started this I'd better finished this little story and show you exactly what happened. Now
this Leonard added that when this woman got back home, she was mad, she'd curse at us and tell us that we're just in the way and if it weren't for us she could be free and have a good time. The boys describe the professional card games. Only, I guess I was a little farther along, I'm reading this, of course, something that I whip out. I was
down here where she would lose the next night, whatever she'd win one night if she did win gambling. Well, that's the way it goes.
Now, the boy's father, as they described him was well intentioned but weak and unable to do anything
about it. When, their mother, isn't that the common idea today, yes, just as I told you, now that's in the Bible too.
A lot of things
are in the Bible that makes sense. Only, most of you say, I just don't understand the Bible. And you some how got it in your head that the Bible doesn't make any sense.
So, let me tell you it does. If you think that, you just haven't understood it. Now
the Bible foretold our condition today. That women will be the masters over their husbands. And that the children will really rule
the rouse and that's what's happening today.
And so here was one of there sickly, weakly husband that was more a mouse than a man.
So, he was weak and unable to do anything about it. When their mother used the
household's money for her card games, it was bad enough. But when she insisted
that they turn over, the boys now, turn over the money that they made, working
after school, they decided to light out. Bud, Charley and Glen, were living illustrations of what judges in a
dozen juvenile courts had told me. That ninety percent of the youth problem is
irresponsibility of parents. Now listen, my friends, that coming from dozens of judges and juvenile courts that have these problem brought before them. That isn't from just one case, that probably coming from many, many hundreds of case in the experience, the voice of experience from these
judges.
That ninety
percent of the youth problem is irresponsibility of parents and the main
trouble, my friends, is that we do not teach respect for authority. We do not
discipline anymore. And children are not taught to obey authority; from the
beginning of the Bible to the end. The first chapter of Genesis, of course,
deals with creation. About God's teaching to man, of what God began creating
but you begin to find God's teaching in the very second chapter of Genesis. And
there you find God commanding the man saying, do so and so, I, am the supreme
ruler. And it will go well with you and everything is going to break right for you and
you're going to prosper and going to be happy if you obey. But if you don't, the wages of sin is death.
Why do you need
salvation? It because you have sinned! Because all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God — (Romans 3:23).
What is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law of God. That law is love, it's a great overall law of love. Love is the
principle of righteousness. God is love. God showers His love upon us. How much
love do you have? Love is the fulfilling of God's law and that is the right way
and that is righteousness. But sin is the transgression of that law. And the
law is basically
love. But now, we define it a little bit. God doesn't leave it up to you
to decide what love is. Because, you'll read back here in Proverbs, in the fourteenth chapter and
the twelfth verse, "There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the
ends thereof are the ways of death" — (Proverbs 14:12).
There is a way that seems right. Now if God leaves it for you to decide which
is the right way, to express love, in the way that seems right to you, you're going the wrong way. So, God goes on and tells
us how,.. to express love. What
this love is. And it is next sub-divided into two great principles: Love
towards God and love towards your neighbor or man.
And the first is love to God because, my friends, we are helpless human beings.
Just as a little baby is helpless and needs its parent. So are we helpless and we need our spiritual parent, God
Almighty, there's so much we need
that we can only receive from God. And when you're cut off from God, you're cut off from all of those blessing, all
of those benefits that you need. And so, the very first two
commandments of God's law when He defined how to love God, if He leaves it to
you to decided how to love God, you're going to do the way that will seem right to you. You're going to love God
in the way that seems right to you and that' going to end up in death which is
the wages of sin and therefore, it will be sin in the wrong way. Now, we need
God! Very few people ever turn to God until they come to a plight where they realize
their need of God.
And you find that
very thing explained as God was explaining it to the very first man in the very
second chapter of the Bible. And, did you ever turn over and see what is in the
very last chapter in the Bible? And it's all the way through, it's through the
Psalms, it's all through the writings of Moses, it's all through the prophets,
it's all through the teachings of Jesus; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, it's all
through the book of Acts, it's all the way through the letter of James and the
letters of Peter and letters of John, it's all through the book of Revelation;
clear to the end of your Bible where you read here in the very last chapter in
the Bible. Where Jesus Christ Himself is saying, "I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end, the first and the last: Blessed are they that do His
commandments; the Father's commandments that they may have a right to the tree
of life and may enter in through the gates into the city" — (Revelation
22:13-14).
What's your
passport into the Kingdom of God? You have to have a passport to
get through and that is obeying God; God's commandments. God's commandments are
His law. And sin, is the transgression of that law. And that law is active,
that law is in motion, that law was set there to make you happy. That was set there
to give us peace; world peace and happiness; and joy and everything good. But
we violated it. Nation violate it. Men and women violate it and we have nothing but family troubles and we have families and homes broke
up, we have juvenile delinquency, we have wars between nations and what do we
have, my friends? Nothing but troubles and
headaches and sorrows and suffering because we break these laws of
God.
Let me tell you there's nothing more important in life; to learn, than respect for authority and obedience. How much
authority does the Bible have in the average home today? You tell a person,
well the Bible says so and so that you ought to do so and so and they'll say, well yes, I
know the Bible says, but then look, now here's the way I look at it. Yeah, they want you to know how they look at it. When the Bible
say so and so that's God speaking and that is God's law. When you violate it I don't care how you look at it, when you violate it you're going to suffer
but the unfortunate thing is you deserve that. But what you don't deserve or someone else doesn't deserve is, that you're going to make other people unhappy along with you. And ever one of us is suffering because of the wrongs and the sins
of other people besides ourselves as well as from our own sins. That's one of the
terrible things about disrespect for the authority of God. We make others
suffer.
But, not only
that, your Bible teaches that we must respect the authority
of man where he has authority over you. And the laws of the government. God
Almighty has set all authority and law in motion. Now, actually, what do we have in this
world. We have a system
where man is usurped authority from God. And this world is not God's world as
most of you have suppose it was. It isn't at all. But nevertheless, God is allowing it. And there
could be no authority that God didn't allow. And He is allowing it because He made us free moral
agents. You don't have to obey God. And He has allowed man to set up man own
ideas and systems of government and that sort of thing. But God has allowed it and God tells you and me to pray for those that have the
rule over you. Are you doing it? Do you have respect for the traffic laws? You'd save a lot of lives if you did. Do you have respect for the
laws of the land? Well your Bible teaches you that you should. Or does that make
sense to you? A lot of you think that the Bible doesn't make sense. Well, it does and that one of the things it says and if we'd do it, we'd all be a lot better off.
Well, here's the thing, there's been a psychology
that you never punish a child. You must never say no. You must never say don't. Well, let me tell you, my friends, the leading
psychologists are beginning to wake up and realize that was a wacky idea. That
was not right. And they are beginning to admit they've been wrong. And they're beginning to find out, that what God says is right.
Now we're coming down near the close of one of the most
interesting and yet neglected and least understood books in all the Bible. The
one that tells us where Jesus Christ has been these last 1900 years, where He
is now, what's He's doing. What's He'd been doing. What is His job? As I've mentioned so many times before, we usually think of Christ
either as someone who was here, over 1900 years ago, who spent 3 1/2 years in
the ministry, or we think of Him and see Him pictured so often, as a dead
Christ hanging on a cross. And, it seems that almost nobody thinks of
Christ as being alive today. As having an absolute mission today, and as being
on the job today.
Now I know that
some people seem to have the idea, the impression somehow, they
certainly didn't get it out of the scriptures, that when Christ was going to
heaven, He was having to bow out so far as having any connection with anything earthly is concerned.
He had said, I will build my Church. Jesus Christ had called His disciples and
He had trained them for 3 1/2 years, in other words, it was just like going to
school, or to college, it was certainly not the kind of colleges that we seem
to have today. They went around from place to place with the disciples went right around with Him and there were, as far as we
know, at least fourteen of them. At time there were a great many more who followed with Him but I mean fourteen who followed constantly from the
beginning to the end of His 3 1/2 year period of ministry. And, they were under His training. Getting experience as He
taught them and as they learned. After which, they were ordained as.., not only ministers, but they were ordained as Apostles.
That is ambassadors for Christ and an ambassador is one who carries a certain
authority, and an apostle is 'one sent' but sent with authority representing the Church, the
Kingdom, the government.
And so, the
common conception has been by a great many, that Jesus just said, well, now,
I'm going away and I wont be able to look after this any longer so that He
turned it over to the Church and to the Apostles and told them to run it best
they could; suit themselves. That He wouldn't be able to help them anymore; He was going way off, where He would be
completely out of the picture. He wouldn't any connection with it anymore at all. He had started it
and now it was up to them to carry it on. And so, I think that you find in a good
many quarters that we have religion organized, where they look to men or a man
or a board of men as the head of the Church.
Now in your
Bible, my friends, you'll find that Jesus Christ is the head of the body;
the body of Christ, which is His church. He is the living active head of it yet today! A lot of
people don't seem to realize that. A lot of people don't seem to realize that Jesus Christ has been just as busy for
1900 long years as He was that 3 1/2 years that you read about in Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. And if
you want to know what he has been doing for all these 1900 years, the main book
in your Bible, where you find it, is the book of Hebrews.
The book of the priesthood. Jesus Christ is the High Priest at the present
time. Now, what is a priest. Well, a priest is a minister. The priest under the
Old Testament or the ministers. Their ministry at that time was a physical
ministry. They took care of the physical round of duties under the rituals of
the law in the law that God gave to Israel as the nation, and they were also a
congregation or a church. There were rituals, ceremonies; they were all
physical in nature.
Now He gave them too His great spiritual law, that law is
eternal. Sin it the transgression of that law — (I John 3:4).
That is a spiritual principle, it's a
spiritual law and it regulates your relationships with God and with you neighbor. That is the law that regulates whether
or not you're happy. That's the law that
regulates how you get along, whether we have peace, whether our lives are really
abundant and full and enjoyable and happy and
whether its good to be alive or whether you're having heartache and headaches and all kinds of
disappointments and frustrations and you're living a rather empty fruitless life and wondering why you're not happier. Well,
the thing that determines that is the law
that God set in motion. It's a spiritual law.
A lot of people don't realize that, but God also gave to His Church
and His nation, they were both church and state united, beginning with Moses,
he gave them a set of physical laws that were church rituals, so to speak. Now, they
embodied sacrifices, animal sacrifices, because the Messiah had not yet come.
The Messiah had not come to be born as a babe, to be born of a virgin, to grow
up as a man and to be despised and rejected of men; to bring His message from
God and to die for them, to give His life, the life of their very maker. Born
now as a human flesh so the he could die and to die for the sins of the world. That had
not happened and so they took a substitute; animals. They had goats, and bulls
and lambs and one thing and another. Now they were merely a substitute. And, as
you read here in this very book of Hebrew, it's impossible for the blood of
animals to remit sins, (Hebrews 10:4),
they were merely a reminder of sin, they were merely a reminder that they
should look forward to the fact that a living messiah, a man who was divine,
who had been the divine maker of them all, who had been God, had been with God
from the beginning and who was God and was with God. And who would come in the
human flesh, born of a virgin, and yet human because He was born of a virgin
and born of God so he was divine
too. But born human so that He could die. But He would pay the penalty of their
transgressions because if there is a law, there must be a penalty and if there's no law, there's isn't any penalty.
That's another
thing, a lot of people think there isn't any law today,
well if there isn't then, then there isn't any such thing as sin. There isn't any penalty. You don't have anything to worry about. You don't even need a saviour if there isn't any law. If you haven't broken the law of God, you don't need a saviour. You don't need shed blood for the remission of your sins. You don't need anything of the kind, if you're alright and if there's no law. You know,
if some policeman would come barging
in here, break down the door of this studio, and come in here and say, Mr.
Armstrong, I'm placing you under arrest. I'd say, what for? What law have I broken. Well, you haven't broken any law but
I'm placing you under arrest for preaching the gospel to these
people. Well, I would say, if there any law against preaching the Gospel. We
have any such county ordinances or laws, is there any state law, any government
law. Am I violating any law? No, no you're not violating any
law. Well, you know, if he placed me under arrest under those conditions he never could get a conviction, he couldn't do anything but I certainly could sue him for false arrest, could I?
Yes, and how long do you think a policeman would last that would do a thing like that. He'd be fired right off the force right away because the police
department doesn't countenance a
thing like that; they don't go around arresting people unless they have broken a law or
at least they believed they've broken it. And
they can't be convicted unless it's been proved either through a judge in court or by a jury
that they have broken a law, according to man's way of proof. It isn't always absolute proof either, is it? But, you know with God's laws, you don't have to be caught by men, you don't have to be judged by men; the law is automatic. Yes, its spiritual and you can't get around it, it sees you! You can't ever beat it. It's always there.
Well, now, they
had these physical rituals though, because my friends, we have the spirit of
God, the very power of God within us to give us the power, the strength, the
love to fulfill the law, the ability to keep the commands of God, to obey God,
to live God's way according to His law. They didn't have that
then. And so God gave them a substitute
to help them to be obedient. And what He gave them was just a whole series of
rituals. Of things to do, morning, noon and night. Different washing and carnal ordinances,
rituals, things of that sort. Besides these animal sacrifices. Burning of candles, meat and drink offerings, all sorts of things.
Now, it was a ritual, it was a round of duties, it was all physical labor. Things they had to do morning, noon and night. Why? Well to keep them in the habit of obeying
what they were told to do. That was a physical law of God, they're physical beings
and at that time, God was dealing with a physical people; a physical nation.
God had to manifest Himself to them physically as He did at Mount Sinai when He
came down they heard His voice, they saw the lightning and heard the
thunder; they heard His voice. The could touch the mountain, it was a physical mountain they
could see. Also then, He gave them a physical law because they were not
spiritual minded. They couldn't understand
spiritual things. God knew that, He didn't expect them to.
So, they didn't have the spiritual
love that would fulfill the law. So, He gave them a constant round of physical duties by a physical
law to teach them obedience to that physical law that would help them to be
obedient to the letter of the spiritual law. That's the only way they could keep it was in the letter, but we
can keep it according the spirit today because God has given us His spirit; His
Holy Spirit.
And so, as we
were seeing here in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, while, they at that time, in the days of Moses, they had
come to Mount Sinai, something that could be touch, something they could see
and feel and they heard the voice of God, and they heard the cleft of the
thunder, and all that sort of thing. And they were quite frighten, but He said, we
are come to Mount Zion, — (Hebrews 12: 22), that's the spiritual
mountain, not a physical mountain you can see, but the invisible mountain which
is really the Church, and then the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and the heavenly Jerusalem is the Church and the Church while it's
here, the members of the Church are ambassadors for Christ, we're like as if we
were in a foreign country now. Our country then, is the Kingdom of God. Our
citizenship is reserved in heaven. Jesus Christ will bring it with Him when He
comes. His reward will be with Him when He comes. This isn't what most of you have been taught. This is what
the Bible teaches. How contrary have we been taught to the Bible. Why the Bible
itself says that "all nations would be deceived at this time" — (Revelation 12:9 &
Revelation 18:23). Many false prophets would go out and they're very probably sincere. I'm not accusing
anybody of any dishonesty in any place. But I do know that the Bible says and
Jesus Christ Himself said the "many false prophets would arise, deceiving
and being deceived themselves," but He said that "when the blind lead
the blind that they both fall in the ditch." — (Matthew 24: 11 &
Matthew 15:14).
You know, how do
you believe what you believe. Primarily because you've always
heard and been brought up to believe a certain thing. You've read it, you've been taught it and
you've accepted it, you've taken it for
granted. That's the way we come to
believe things. We've been born in this world, the world has been deceived a
long, long time, long before we were born. And, what's our school system? Why, just to teach you to memorize what
the book says. And we grow up believing what ever religion is palm off in its day. We suppose it's the truth.
Well now, I think
it's wise, my friends, to look into the Bible and see
and prove it. The Bible itself says "prove all things!" God
challenges you to "prove all things" — (I Thessalonians 5:
21)! I say listen to me. Some people think because I don't preached just what you've grown up
believing, what you've assumed, you've absorbed it, you've been taught it,
you never proved it, you never looked into it to see whether it was true. You take it for granted.
What we believe what we think is true we're very indignant if anyone say anything else. We're willing to fight at the drop of a hat. We're willing to contest whatever he says, we're think he's all wrong if he doesn't agree with us. It never would occur to us that we could be
wrong, not would it?
Well, you know, I
had quite an awakening when I found that the things I had grown up believing were not what the
Bible says but in many cases
exactly the opposite. Why, my head was whirling around and I didn't know what to think? Yes, it made me a little mad, for a
while, as it's making a lot of you people as you listen this program, I know. I've gone through that same experience. But, the Bereans listened to the Apostle Paul without any
prejudice. But, they searched the scriptures then daily whether these
things he preached were so and yet, without prejudice. Well, that's all I ask, just
listen, my friends, without prejudice. But, prejudice is a barrier that will just close
down the door of your understanding so you won't be able to understand at all. So listen, check up. Read your own Bible. Study your own Bible. And search the
Bible whether these things be so.
If the Bible is
true, then all nations are deceived today! And they've gotten
away from "the truth that had once been delivered to the saints" — (Jude 3).
They have turned grace into lasciviousness or license, which is license to
disobey God. Now, if the Bible is true, then the doctrines that are deceiving
the people today, and what is popularly called Christianity today, will be
something that makes the grace of God of no effect by tradition and something
that is giving license to disobey God on the grounds that you shouldn't obey
God and therefore, absolutely taking grace away from the very people that
promises grace to. Now, that's
something to think about. Because if that's true, my friends,
millions upon millions are deceived in our beloved America today. You know, I
know that my eternity is at stake and yours is too. Well I found that I had to look
into this thing and I was just so shocked that.., I was angry for a while, my head was in a whirl, I was
bewildered, I was all mixed up, but, you know, pretty soon; it all cleared up. And it began to make sense.
And for the first
time in my life I saw that there's no superstition in the Bible. Oh, no, there's
sound, common sense; it makes sense! And it is true! And it's consistent.., every bit of it and it is the truth! Well, now here, you are come to Mount Zion, and the heavenly Jerusalem. And so,
those that are in the Church and the heavenly Jerusalem is the Church. It the
Jerusalem above which is the mother of us all, and it is the Church as other
scripture very plainly explain.
And the heavenly
Jerusalem, well are, our citizenship. I've been
explaining that, is on reserve up
there but we're here as in a foreign strange land like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They dwelt in the land of Palestine, over there,
but it didn't belong to them
then. They died not having received the promise, and yet God promised to give
them to for an everlasting eternal possession. But He never gave it to them
during their lifetime. They were there, it says, as foreigners, as strangers
and pilgrims in the earth. Just like a pilgrim way off in a far away strange country that's foreign to him. He's not a citizen there, at all. His citizenship is in another
country. Well, my friends, maybe that's where your citizenship ought to be if you're a real Christian.
Your citizenship should be up in heaven. But you're not going up there to it. It's going to come down here to you when Christ comes because He
going to bring the reward with Him. That's what your Bible says.
So, we are come into this spiritual mount, not a visible one
that you can see. You can't go up and touch it like the children of Israel could Mount
Sinai. It's the heavenly Jerusalem then to an innumerable company of
angels. Now, I wonder, if you understand that? You know, many sermons could be
preached on this one twenty-second verse here, this twelfth chapter of Hebrews
— (Hebrews 12: 22). We are come then, if we are
Christians, and this is speaking of Christians not only to Mount Zion which is
the Church, spiritually speaking, not only to the heavenly Jerusalem which is
the mother. Now, let me explain that a little further before we get then into
the matter of these angels.
We are begotten
of God if we're Christians. We're like the unborn
babe; begotten, conceive, not yet born. It must be nourished and fed. And it is
protected, it is cared for, nourished and fed by the mother until it grows large enough to be
born. Every one of us, my friends, started from a little nucleus smaller than a pinpoint. And we had to grow large enough to
be born before we were born. But yet, we existed. We
were conceived. Our life actually existed. About the size of a pinpoint. And there were all
of the characteristics that we have inherited by heredity from
our parents, our father and our mother, actually
within that little tiny nucleus, so small that scarcely visible to the human eye. In fact, the nucleus itself would
not have been visible to the human eye.., actually. And, the mother's job was to protect and to nourish and to feed.., until it was born. And even then, to take care of it. The
baby after it was born for some time, finally we grew up where we can take care
of ourselves.
Well, it is so
spiritually speaking and that is an exact type. Once we are conceived or once we are
begotten of God, the very nature of God, His life impregnated within us, that's the Holy Spirit, the power of God, the nature of God, the
very life of God Almighty within us and we're already born even naturally in the flesh in God's image;
same form, same shape. Jesus was! He looked like the Father and he looked like other men, too. And then, my friends,
the Church is the mother and the job of the Church is to feed spiritually, to
protect, to preserve, to nourish and to feed.., these members in it that are
spiritually begotten and must grow spiritually until we're spiritually
developed enough to be born of God into the Kingdom of God. And we're finally
born of God into His Kingdom.., why then as you read over here in I John, let
me see, is that the second or the third chapter, I John and the ninth verse:
Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, His seed [meaning God's] remains
in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. In other words, God's
nature abides in him and he cannot sin because the human nature is gone by that
time. And there's no human nature in
him, only the divine nature, and he cannot sin. Because there's nothing any longer
to tempt him to sin. Now, when Jesus Christ was here, He partook to the nature
of men. It says, He didn't take on Himself
the nature of angels, He took on the seed of Abraham. A human nature, and He
was tempted in all points like as we. But Christ is not tempted now.
By a resurrection
from the dead He is a divine son of God and He is very God. And
He isn't
tempted now. Neither is God tempted. God isn't even tempted. Christ was tempted while He was here in the
human flesh on this earth just as we are. Yet He was without sin. He is our
High Priest who can keep us free from sin now.
Now the Church
has been given two great commissions or two functions: The first one that is
stressed first is go ye in all the world and proclaim the Gospel — (Mark
16:15). And that's
the message that God sent in this world by Jesus Christ. That the message the
world has rejected. The world accepted Christ. The world talks about Christ.
The world preaches about His person. It exalts Him, it tells about how great Christ
was but the message He brought, oh, no, that must be ruled out. Because that
message was primarily a message about the government of God. Surrender, repent,
obey, and receive God's Spirit. That was the message of Christ. And it was a
message of surrender to God and people don't want to surrender, they want their own way. We are in a
world in rebellion against God. God has given us our choice and He said, Choose
and we have chosen: Rebellion; not obedience.
Christ came with
a message of obedience. A message of repentance.., as well as a message of faith. And the
two go hand in hand. And it a living faith
that is proved by our obedience. That's what He taught. And the message about obedience to God and
the message about what it really means to be born again, to be born into the
Kingdom of God; that message has been stamped out. Now we hear a lot of the
message about being born again but they teach you that you're already born again
if you,.. well in some churches they shake the preacher's hand and in
others you're sprinkled in water
or by water and in others you just receive Christ, as they say, or acknowledge
Him before men and what ever it may be just like different forms of initiation into some
secret lodge or something. And that's actually, my friends, what a lot of men have made of it. But, that isn't what I find in the Bible. That's just some kind of man made religion when you have those things.
Now, actually, my
friends, when you have really repented of your sins, when you've really been conquered by God and your will is conquered,
and till you ready to say to Jesus Christ, not my will, but thy will be done!
When you have decided now that you will obey God, changed your mind about this
thing until you are now no longer going the wrong way but seeking God's will
and wanting to do it, no matter how hard it may seem cutting against human
nature. Then when you come to God through living faith in Christ Jesus as your savior, then He says you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. Now, He says you should be baptized under Christ too. And then you
shall received the gift of the Holy Spirit. That God's promise. Now, God can't go back on His promise, He'll keep His promise. Don't misunderstand me. It's alright to cry some tears
at the alter and I think if we've really come to ourselves, I think we will be so broken up, we'll feel like crying a lot of tears
too. But it should be sincere and from the heart and really mean something. And
it's certainly alright to profess Christ before men and it's certainly alright to receive Christ. I don't say those things are wrong. I just say those things though,
as a physical ritual, are not going to save anybody. Because salvation is
something that is an experience and it really take place right down deep in your heart. And it takes a real
repentance. It takes a real being conquered by God and a real living faith in
Jesus Christ. Then you'll receive the faith
of Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit which comes as God's gift to you. That's the kind of faith
that finally will justify and save you.
Alright, now we're come unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem. That's the true church.
The first commission of the Church is go into the world and proclaim the gospel. The second is,
Jesus said, well feed my sheep, or feed my lambs as some translations have it.
So, one of the functions of the Church is to feed those in it. Give them the
spiritual food, the nourishment by which they can overcome and help them to do
it by which they grow in grace and in knowledge of Christ. The spiritual
knowledge. The knowledge and understanding of the Bible. Until their character
becomes more and more like His.
Now, next, you are come to an innumerable company of angels. That is
so many you couldn't count them. You can't number them. That means more than a million, I can tell you
that. Now, do you understand that. I would, have to, my friends, take
the next five or six broadcasts of thirty minutes each just to explain what
that means.., to explain to you what angels are, and the mission of
angels. I wonder, if I just shouldn't stop right here before we go to the next verse and spend
three of four broadcast to tell you about it. You know, I asked our group of people in a
service that we were holding not so long ago how many of you have ever a sermon on the subject of angels. Have you ever heard a sermon explaining what angels are;
what are their function? What are they? Why are they? Why did God create angels?
What do they have to do with us or what do we have to do with them? And only
one person held up his or her hand. I don't remember which it was now.
Verse 1:
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,
Verse 2:
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of
our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Verse 3:
For consider Him who endured such hostility
from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your
souls.
Verse 4:
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed,
striving against sin.
Verse 5:
And you have forgotten the exhortation which
speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the
LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
Verse 6:
For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And
scourges every son whom He receives."
HWA stated:
Over here in Hebrews, a little further you will read that God, who is this
living God and Jesus, as our High Priest, living right there at the right hand
of God, that He punishes or chastens ever son that He loves. And He says that
you're not one of His sons unless you are getting some of this
chastening. And, this chastening, this punishment, it isn't very pleasant at the time, you don't like it, not a bit. No, it doesn't seem a bit nice. "...whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son that he receiveth." (Hebrews 12:6)
Now, if you are going to come to Him and get all of these benefits and
these breaks, He's probably going to punish and pin
your ears back a little bit once in a while because you need it. Just like any loving parent. And you're the kind of a
child that's going to get out
of hand once
in a while and you won't be listening often enough and well maybe that's the thorns on the
rose bush but these thorns are good for you. They aren't going to give you
any blood poisoning. They're good for you. You've loved your fathers
of the flesh that have corrected you, if they did and I hope they did, for your
own sake.
God Gives
Blessings
But, I started in I've been
punished that's true, but I've always had the breaks. Let me tell you, everything has
broken just right. And God has made
certain promises that in the end things will turn out a certain way and they've turned out that
way. And I've found what it is to be happy and I can look back over a life now without regrets. Oh, I've had plenty of regrets as I've looked back over my past life. If it weren't that everything
that would come in the regret column has gone, as our fundamental friends say,
right under the blood of Christ in other words, Christ Himself took every one
of those things on Himself and He paid the penalty in full and I don't have to pay it. But I had to repent of it and I had to be so sorry I'd turn around and go the other way and not make that mistake
again and I had to confess it. And, well He paid it and I don't have to do it, and I don't have to worry about that end of it. But, because I've relied on Him, because I've trusted Him, because I've known there was a High Priest there, because I've gone boldly to this throne of grace so many hundreds of
times I've had the breaks.
I've got a lot of enemies, I've got a lot of people that scoff and sneer, they would accuse
of any and everything. But, listen, God Almighty hasn't been my enemy, He's my friend, He's given me the breaks! He's given me everything that a man could possibly want and desire in this
life to make him happy; I've got. I've tried to serve Him well in spite of what enemies might say. God knows a man's heart, you know.
And God looks on the heart.
I don't know what enemies
see in me, but I do know what God sees. I know that He sees some wrong and then
He punishes me. And He straightens me out and makes me right. Doesn't have to do it as
often now as He used to. On the other hand, He has kept every promise. I
started out wanting material blessings. I had to give all that up. I had to
give it all up because I had to find the spiritual blessing are more important,
and so then, my wife and I got the spiritual blessings. Oh, we've spent some of the happiest hours till it just seemed like
there was...I don't know how to explain it, it was like brilliant sun light,
like jewels of silver and of sparkling diamonds and things around; just sort of
sensing there were angels present. That's just something you experience and it isn't any fanaticism. This thing seemed pretty real, I've always been rather practical.
And just studying the Bible and getting understanding that was so
precious with humble people, without much education and living in a one room
shack with the beds over in one corner or two and the dining table and a cook
stove. And no rugs on the floor, but where the floor was kept clean and everything was immaculate and neat and in place. Even
though they had practically nothing and perhaps some of the chairs with
old bailing wire tying them up
to keep them from falling apart or something. You know, I've been in homes like that and spent hours with people like
that and we've been happy. And we've known what it is to go hungry ourselves and still find
happiness. Well, God has never made us rich or wealthy; He doesn't promise any such
thing. But we don't have to go hungry anymore. We have everything that anyone
could want or need. What is there more than having enough clothes to wear and
enough food to eat, and shelter and a nice roof over your head. What I know and when I tell you, my friends, that these
things pay off, I know what I'm talking about. I've been putting it to the test. I don't have to look back with regrets.
Now, in the twelfth
chapter of Hebrews, we come to some of this. I want have time to begin at the first and go through it and I'll try to do that in the next program. But God says here,
"my son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor think when thou
are rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loves, He chastens." What? Not who
he hates but whom He loves, He chastens. Notice that. "And scourges every
son whom He receives" — (Hebrews
12:5-6).
Verse 7:
If you endure chastening, God deals with you
as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
Verse 8:
But if you are without chastening, of which
all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
HWA stated:
God has punished
me, and oh, I thank Him for it. It wasn't pleasant.
Oh, no, I didn't like it at the time. I would have done anything to escaped it. But I know the good that it's done me. And now, I'm thankful. "If you endure chastening God deals with you
as sons. For what son is whom a father chastening not? But if you be without
chastisement, where we're all partakers, then you are bastards and not sons" — (Hebrews 12:7-8). I'm reading that out of the Bible. That's a word I wouldn't use on the air except I reading it out of the Bible. And that's what God says and "thus says the Lord", my
friends. He goes on to say that if were without chastening, we just don't love our children if we don't punish them. And God says, you don't love your children and in another passage, he says that you're just about like a murder if you do
not punish your children.
Let me tell you
something, my friends, God Almighty is the supreme ruler of the universe and we have the kind of teaching that doesn't want to acknowledge any authority, doesn't want to obey; submit to any obedience.
We don't like to submit to law. Why do we have more lawbreaking in the United
States than any nation on the face of the earth? It's because we have this kind of teaching. We don't even believe in punishing our children. We don't even believe in causing our children to have to obey their
parents. And you know what God says. Back here in Isaiah, about how women
dominate the men and they certainly do today and the children rule the rouse. That my own language for
it but it's been read to you a good many times and that precisely the
way it is today. That just the way things go on. As for my people, God says, their
children are their masters and the women wear the pants. That's modern language for it. Well, we've got a lot of wrong psychology and that's the way it's working out. We've produce a generation of puzzled parents.
Verse 9:
Furthermore, we have had human fathers who
corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in
subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
Verse 10:
For they indeed for a few days chastened us as
seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His
holiness.
Verse 11:
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the
present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Verse 12:
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang
down, and the feeble knees,
Verse 13:
and make straight paths for your feet, so that
what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
Verse 14:
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness,
without which no one will see the Lord:
Verse 15:
looking carefully lest anyone fall short of
the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and
by this many become defiled;
Verse 16:
lest there be any fornicator or profane person
like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.
Verse 17:
For you know that afterward, when he wanted to
inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance,
though he sought it diligently with tears.
Verse 18:
For you have not come to the mountain that may
be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and
tempest,
Verse 19:
and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words,
so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them
anymore.
Verse 20:
(For they could not endure what was commanded:
"And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or
shot with an arrow."
Verse 21:
And so terrifying was the sight that Moses
said, "I am exceedingly afraid and trembling." )
Verse 22:
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of
angels,
Verse 23:
to the general assembly and church of the
firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits
of just men made perfect,
Verse 24:
to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and
to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Verse 25:
See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For
if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we
not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,
Verse 26:
whose voice then shook the earth; but now He
has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also
heaven."
Verse 27:
Now this, "Yet once more," indicates
the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made,
that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Verse 28:
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom
which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably
with reverence and godly fear.
Verse 29:
For our God is a consuming fire.
Chapter 13
HWA stated:
Now, we're coming to the concluding chapter, of this book
that is showing us, what Jesus Christ has been doing these last 1900 years. What He doing today, where did He go? Has He had anything to do or
has he just gone way off and forgotten all
about this world. Did Jesus Christ
at the time He left say to the Apostle Peter, now look Peter, I've got to go away, I can't be around here and I.., built my church. I've established
my church but I can't be here to be the head of it, I can't run it any longer
so I'm going you the head of it and I wont be the head any longer I can't have anything whatsoever to
do with it now, I'm going to,... well perhaps be busy elsewhere way off with
something else or perhaps He didn't have anything to do. What was the story
about it? Now, is that what happened, my friends? A lot of people believe it.
Now, there's only one way that we can know what did happen. I don't think that I could believe just the tradition of men. In the
first place, I played a whispering game when I was young. I've mentioned that some before on this program and that's a good
illustration of tradition just handing things down by word of mouth from one
generation to another. And, incidentally your Bible tells you not to believe tradition
and Jesus Christ said so. He said that by following the traditions of men, we
make the law of God of no effect and we worship Christ in vain. He said that. So, that's what He said about
tradition; you can make your worship of Christ absolutely in vain. It isn't going to get you anywhere. It's in vain, it means nothing.
But in this
whispering game, there might have been we'll say, oh,
from fifteen to thirty people, young people around at the party. They would sit
around all the room, one next
to another, sort of a circle around the
room. Or, a horseshoe curve or something of a sort. Now, at one end, one
person would write down a sentence. Just a short sentence. It's nothing but perhaps a ten or twelve words, something that you could easily hear and memorize and pass
on, perhaps six or eight words.
Then, that person who had written down that sentence would whisper it to the
one next to him. And, that person then in turn would whisper what he heard, or thought he had heard to the one next to him or to her, and
so it would go each one whispering what he had heard to the one next until it
went clear around to the end of the line. And the last one at the end of the
line, maybe the thirtieth person,
would then write down the sentence that he heard or thought he heard from the
one just before. Now that's carrying it down
like thirty generation of traditions. And then they would read it and it would
ever make sense and they would compare it with the original writing as it
started out and it would be quite different.
And you know, my
friends, when we rely on tradition for things like this that's precisely
what happens. Let me just give you an example or two, you have always heard,
according to tradition, that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Sunday morning,
haven't you? You have heard, according to tradition, that He was crucified on
Friday which they call Good Friday, and according to all of the accounts in the
Bible, Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, He was buried just before sundown, because
one day ended at sundown and another began at that time until several hundred
years after the Bible was written, and it's a Roman thing that's set up by the
Roman Empire that began days in the middle of the dead night, a dark night,
usually dark anyway. So, you have heard by tradition, that Jesus Christ was
buried just before sundown; just before the dark period or just about the time that the dark
period of one day began, and that He rose while it was yet dark, at the rising
of the sun, at dawn on Sunday morning. Now that's what you always heard; that what tradition tells you. Well, now figure that! That would be all of Friday night, that's one night, and all
day on Saturday, that's one day and all
Saturday night, that's two nights, and then He rises from the dead. Now, that's
one day and two nights in the grave. But Jesus Christ Himself said that the
only divine supernatural, miraculous proof of His identity, the only sign which
is a supernatural miracle proving identity that He would give, that He was the
true Messiah that was to come was that He would be three days and three nights
in the grave. You'll find that in
Matthew, the twelfth chapter and the fortieth verse; the thirty-eight to the
fortieth verses you should read.
Now, that shows
you right there about tradition. You know one man I remember back here in fifty
years ago. This man was not yet at that time converted either but he had heard me preach this and it's like a problem in about second grader arithmetic, you know,
it just that simple and he'd come to believe it. And a brother of his that was a
prominent church member and had been in church all of his life, had
taken all
of these so-called traditions that come down from Christianity
and it is tradition. You know that most of what we believe and what we think we
have had, that we believe that is Christianity, my friends, is not
Christianity, it is human tradition and we don't know where it came from. It came from the heathens. It came
from pagan superstitions. It came from pagan doctrines and we have swallowed it hook, line and sinker because we're at the end and perhaps about this so-called thirtieth generation. And we believe what
been whispered in our ears and we haven't looked at the original writing which is the Bible. And when
you compare what you have got, if you write it
down, but what was written originally before this little whispering game that
tradition started out, you find it's ridiculous. It doesn't make sense. And it isn't the same thing at all. Back to the faith once delivered
unto the saints in you're Bible and you find that Jesus was three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth because angel's testified that he rose as He said. And He said he would be
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth or in the grave.
Now of course,
one man said I don't think that the heart of the earth means the
grave, it means in the hands of Roman citizens. Is that so? As Jonah was three
days and three nights in the whale's belly or in the great fish's belly. And
you turn back there and he was actually
three literal days and three literal nights. Another man says,
well you know, I think in the Greek language is an idiomatic expression of
three days and three nights doesn't mean that and in facts with some theologians with doctor's
degrees after their names will say this. And some of the higher critics, that it's an idiom, which it isn't, that meant three parts of nights or days no matter which,
so you see, you have the three parts, two nights and one day, and that's three parts of
days. That isn't what it means at all. Now, one man came to me, he was a
minister, and he had studied at college in a Bible college and he'd gotten all of this information.
He came to me and he said that's what it was and in fact, he didn't come to me privately either, he came to me in an
evangelistic service that I was holding with an audience there. And, he said
this in the whole audience. Well, I said, what about the Hebrew
language? In the Hebrew they don't have a similar idiom, now do they? That would just mean
that..., an idiom is peculiar to one language. Yes, he said, that's true. Well, I
said, if you could find a statement three days and three nights in the Hebrew
that would mean literal days and literal nights, would it not. Yes, he said, in
the Hebrew but then this written in the Greek language and in the New
Testament. Well, now Christ said, "as duration of time shall Christ be in
His grave. So we turn back there in Jonah, and there you find it in the
book of Jonah, the last two or three verses of the first chapter and the first
two or three verse of the second chapter you get the whole story, and Jonah was
three literal day periods that we call light. Now in the Old Testament, if you
want to know how much is a day and how much is a night you get that defined if
you want to let the Bible interpret the Bible instead of putting in your
interpretation on it and read your meaning into it, you turn back here in the
very first chapter of Genesis and it says here that God saw the light, that it
was good, God divided the light from the darkness. Now we know what light is
and what darkness is. Light is something today we call it day and darkness we call night.
Now, how about it
in the Bible. Well, God called the light day. That's what God
called it and that's what we call it today. That's one thing. it's a wonder man hasn't change it. He tries to change everything God ever gave him.
And since God calls the light day, man ought to call it something else. Well, I think they are trying to in
this particular
case. And the darkness God called night. And the evening,
meaning the dark period in the morning of the beginning of the light period were the first day. And here, now..., that's one light period
that we call day and one dark period we call night and that was the first day.
Now, here, the next night period called evening and the day period call day or morning is the
second day. And the third night period of approximately twelve hours in a day
period of approximately twelve hours as it is especially at the spring time of the year when Jesus was crucified right near the spring
equinox. That constituted the third day and there's the Bible definition of the third day and it means three
days and three nights.
Now, the Bible
interprets the Bible. It just interprets it itself. Where was it, I was hearing
it on radio or television here something about men interpreting something,.., it wasn't the Bible but it was something that men put their interpretation on
something, and someone was very angry about it. About how men put their interpretation, in other
words, meaning they changed the meaning to suit themselves and that's what people have
been doing about the Bible. You know, you should never interpret the Bible. It
interprets itself. Let the Bible do its own interpreting and so, there you have
night and day and three days and three nights in the Hebrew language is just three
light periods that we call day and three dark periods we call night and that's what it is in Matthew
12:40.
Well, you see how
that knocks tradition in the head? When you check up at the end of the line on
this little whispering game of tradition, it doesn't jive
with the way it started out. Now if you want the truth, if you'd like to go further on that, because I'm going to leave that part of the subject right here and now.
if you want the truth about that let me just announce once again as I have many
times in the past that I have for you a very special booklet about the
resurrection and that will show you how Jesus was three days and three nights
in His grave and He did not rise from the dead on Easter Sunday morning and
Easter does not celebrate the resurrection of Christ, believe it or not. Now, I
don't think I could make much more of a staggering, astonishing
statement for you. TIME: 12: 06 M/S — 13: 00 M/S (BOOKLET ON THE RESURRECTION)
But,
nevertheless, today we have a lot that Christ has never called. Well, they say,
well I'd like to be a preacher. Another man says I want to
be a dentist so he goes to a
college of dentistry. Another, I want to be a physician. So, he takes premed and he goes to medical school in some big university and so
on. Then he becomes an intern and finally get a license and he hangs out his shingle and began to practice. And another man goes
to Law school to become a lawyer. And so, some of them go to a theological
seminary; they graduate from college and then they go to theological seminary
and so they become ministers. Now, how are we taught? How's a doctor taught? How's a lawyer taught? The same way that our system of education
teaches everyone in the United States and the system is this. You start in on the first grade and you're taught and you
just swallow what you're taught. The
teacher says so and so. The book says so and so and it's just like that funny photograph record, it's in the book you, know. Of course, some of the things that the book says are
ridiculous sometimes and I'm not talking about the book; the Bible. Some people may have
taken that to be an off shoot of the Bible, but actually he didn't take the Bible, he
took this one about little Bo Peep. Well, it's in the book. The book must know. Well, anyway, whatever's in the book we
swallow it. And, our system of education is merely a system of memory
training. You are expected to memorize and to believe what the book says and
when final exam comes along, you're graded on whether you write down what the book said,
whether you memorized it. Now, the book might be wrong. Well, I was an
advertising man for twenty years before I became a minister back in my earlier
years, and I learned this: It's a psychological fact that every advertising man knows,
advertising is turning the wheels of industry in these United States. Why I
developed businesses, I was able to double and triple the volume of business of
many of my clients just by writing what I thought, at least, clever
advertising. Well, the proof of the pudding, they said, and in the eating and
another old expression that brought home the bacon as we use to say and my advertising did get results and consequently we thought it was good. But, I know now I couldn't use a lot of the methods I used then.
But here's one principle, that I always knew; that every
advertising man knows, "You tell the people a thing long enough and often
enough and continuously enough and they believe it." Why do people believe
what they do? It's because it's what they've always heard. It's because what they've always read. It's because they have just assumed and taken for granted
without thinking and without questioning and without proof, without
investigation. Now, my Bible, which comes from God Almighty, says "prove
all things" and I've proved whether or not God wrote the Bible. Whether it's inspired, and I can prove it is inspired. I have proved it
over the air. And I can prove it to anybody who has an open mind and who isn't going to reject truth just because of his reluctance to accept it. It can be
absolutely proved that what the Bible says is true. Well, there you are,
Now, alright let's get back some of these loose ends. Now then, if you want
the proof about and the actual proof about whether Jesus was crucified on Good
Friday, which he was not, and if you're not afraid of accepting truth and
finding that Good Friday is an absolute pagan tradition, and Easter Sunday the
same way, because the resurrection was not on Sunday morning, that pretty
astonishing isn't it? Alright, I just challenge you to get that booklet on The
Resurrection and to check your Bible. And, just don't be offended about it. It's a little upsetting, it was to me, when I learned this, it
was a little upsetting. But sometimes it's good to be upset because we're not getting turned upside down, we're getting turned right side up and a lot of us have been
going around upside down a long time and we didn't know it. And it's about time we got straighten out.
Now, listen, did
Jesus Christ just turn the Church over to one of the apostles? Did He bow out
and say I can't run it any longer? My friends, went to heaven to the headquarters of the whole universe to
run His church from headquarters. Headquarters is the throne of God. That's headquarters of the entire universe. And Jesus Christ is the head of the
Church. Your Bible says so. No man is the head of the Church! Jesus Christ is
the head of the Church. He calls men and makes them His instruments. But He
never appointed any man the head of any church, of His Church that is. I don't think He did of any Church because the other churches He doesn't have very much to
do with in that sense. Now, Christ is the head of the Church. He's been in heaven running the Church; His Church. But what is
His Church? A lot of people don't know what to look for. A lot of people think His church
would be a great big politically organized body, respected and powerful in the
world, and that the object and function of Christ' Church was to save the world
and to reform the world and make the devil world a better world; to reform
Satan in other words. Your Bible teaches that this world belongs to Satan, that
he's the God of this world; he the God this world worships. This
world has its religion. This world, and one of its religions or another,
worships its god. And the God this world worships according to your Bible if
you blow the dust off
of it, is Satan the devil.
You know, you
hear a lot of things that are rather astonishing if you listen very much to this program.
Because you get the plain truth. And you haven't been getting it. You've been swallowing
and you've been assuming what ever you have read, what ever was in some book written by man, whatever has been taught
by men, whatever has come down by tradition. And it's rather ridiculous sometime and it's about time that we wake up. Now here, we find, what Christ
has been doing and we've been going through it in the book of Hebrews,
and we come to the very last chapter. Now, let's go through
this last chapter. "Let brotherly love continue," thirteen chapter,
and it isn't unlucky either. Men wrote these chapters numbers in here,
incidentally, they weren't inspired. It isn't lucky or unlucky but it mighty good for you if you get the truth. Now, this comes
to the conclusion of this letter about Christ and what He has been doing for
1900 years, what He's doing now, the living resurrected Christ, the head of the
Church. Your High Priest and mine who is there to help us when we need help, to
give us wisdom, to give us guidance, to pull you out of every kind of trouble,
to relieve you of fears and worries, to see that it is possible for you to make
ends meet. Now, you'll have to have
patience sometimes. God doesn't answer you prayers immediately.
Perhaps you're
having a lot of financial troubles. Well, that doesn't mean that God's
going to pull you out of it immediately but He promises to supply every need. Your needs are not
always your wants, it isn't everything you think you want. You may misjudge what your
needs are. But if you'll trust God and
begin to live His way, if you will repent and turn to Him, if you'll let Him conquer
you, He'll put you out of all your financial troubles. Now, He doesn't do that immediately, sometimes He
tries your patience; to develop patience in you. Tries your faith, I should say, to develop patience. But He will
do it. Perhaps you have a lot of
sickness in your home. You know, when I say sickness in the home, and financial
troubles in the home, I speaking to nearly everybody. How many of you
have neither any sickness, nor any financial troubles? Not very many. Well, I
tell you, we've had plenty of both in our home but God has ridded us of both of them. Oh, we have some financial concerns in conducting God's
work don't think we don't, we do. But that's only a concern and I cast that over onto Christ and trust
Him. And He always takes care of it. And this work keeps growing bigger an bigger every year, because we trust Him. We trust the living Christ, not some man at
the head of the church but Jesus Christ, the divine head of the Church.
Now, here He
concludes this wonderful book or a letter to the Hebrews. "Let brotherly love continue." Now in the Moffat
translation that's "Let your brotherly love continue" because if
you're in the Church, you have it. You already have brotherly love, "Let
your brotherly love continue," don't stop it! Never forget to be hospitable, for by hospitality some have entertained angels unawares. That's in the Moffat
translation and in the Authorized, "Do not be forgetful to entertain
strangers, it says, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. "
Now we've seen a lot about angels, and angels are put here
to help you and me. There are invisible messengers; agents of God. They are a
part of the government of God from which He governs the world. And He puts them
around Christians, real
begotten children of God to help them; to protect them physically.
You don't see them, you don't hear them. You don't feel them. You probably don't even know they're there and yet God has angels there to help you. I want to
tell you, my friends, you haven't the slightest, infinitesimal percentage of an idea of how
much you have
to thank God for. You don't realize how much God is doing for you. If you're a real Christian,
He keeps.. and if you're not one there's an angel just waiting to come and take up his station to help you and to safeguard you as a
bodyguard and a help in everyway the minute you surrender completely to God and come through
Him through Jesus Christ as your personal savior. That's just one of many
things of the blessings and benefits that God pours out on Christians.
So, "Let
brotherly love continue, be not forgetful to entertain strangers." Now I've shown you angels sometimes appear; they manifest themselves, the process isn't explained in the Bible, I don't know how it is. But, they have appeared, as you read in the Bible, and they
appear like men, and you might think that it is a man when actually
it might be an angel. You know, I remember a man that came to
our home one time and he seemed like the most perfect human being I had ever
known. And, he was doing some preaching, and he preached before a lot of us
and.., well, he certainly knew how to put his best foot forward but we didn't realize that at the time, and we thought here was a man who
were too perfect to be human. This was the most saintly, the most wonderful man; why he had spiritual phraseology,
the way that he talked, Oh, he seemed so good. And actually, my wife and I wondered if we were entertaining an angel
unawares; this man seemed so perfect. Well, actually he turned out to be a long, long way from an angel. We found a
lot of thing wrong with him, a lot of deceit and he was living in an
adulterous condition and well, for one thing, he tried his best to break up
this ministry. And he wanted to replace me. But of course, God didn't let him do that.
And there was some schemes and one thing and another that were very deceitful but God seem to always show us and we knew more than he thought we knew about it and its
pitiful the end he finally came to and..., well God takes care of those things but you might be entertaining an angel unawares. So,
nevertheless, you'd better be careful.
Now, another
thing, one of the qualifications for a minister is that he must be hospitable;
given to hospitality. And God will not call one that isn't. And a
minister is to set an example as you're going to find a
little later in this chapter and you should copy the minister if he is the
right kind and he should be the kind that you can copy. A minister
should practice what he preaches and he should perhaps only what he practices so that he can show you an example. And
he should say like the Apostle Paul, "Be ye followers of me, [or copy me]
as I am a follower of Christ [or as I copy Christ]." However, don't follow a minister any further than that. And I say listen
to your minister, listen to me, just weigh carefully what he says and check it
with your Bible and believe the word of God. Believe what you find in your
Bible. On these things I've told you, don't just judge that I don't know what I'm talking about. You get that booklet on the resurrection.
And you believe what you believe in your Bible that the place where you can
believe.
Now,
"remember them that are in bonds," or let's get that,
now remember, prisoners, as if you were in prison yourself, is a better
translation in the Moffat rendering, "and them which suffer adversity, as
being yourself also in the body." And that King James translation isn't always very clear. Let's read that in the Moffat translation, "remember those
who are being ill treated," suffering adversity, or it might mean having
financial adversity or something or being ill treated, "since you too are in the body." In other words,
my friends, God says that the body of Christ, the Church is the body of Christ
and it's like the human body and it is compared to it and if one
member suffers, they all suffer; if you're in the true body. You're not really in if you're not experiencing that. If one member, maybe it's a finger, in your
body has been cut or bruised and it's very painful, you know, you suffer in your mind and you
seem to suffer in your feet and every part of your body. The other members of
the body seem to suffer right along with it.
Now, here come something next, "marriage is honorable in
all and the bed undefiled" and that is not the correct translation. And I
remember that some people bring that up that believe that God made a great
mistake when he created sex and made us male and female and said that a man
shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife and it's true that the
correct translation is "let marriage be held in honor by all and keep the
marriage bed unstained." Now, their idea of keeping the marriage bed
unstained was that you stain if you follow God's command when He said be
fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. In other words, that married
people ought to live a continent life and that sex is a very..., well a very
impure thing and that God made a great mistake when He created sex. My friends,
God didn't make any mistake but a lot of human beings are making a big mistake. The way
you defile a marriage bed is by adultery, my friends, not in marriage.
Verse 1:
Let brotherly love continue.
Verse 2:
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by
so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.
Verse 3:
Remember the prisoners as if chained with
them--those who are mistreated-- since you yourselves are in the body also.
Verse 4:
Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed
undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Verse 5:
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be
content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will
never leave you nor forsake you."
Verse 6:
So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my
helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
Verse 7:
Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken
the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their
conduct.
Verse 8:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever.
HWA stated:
Yes, Jesus
Christ, as we read again, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Now, He went about doing miracles and doing good to
everybody 1900 years ago or a little over when He was on the earth. He's
just the same today and He's still living and His present job is to do good for you and to help you.
Yes, He is the
mediator. My friends, you don't need to pray to some dead woman. You don't need to pray to any dead saint. You can pray directly to
the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of God, the living Savior.
I want to show
you how great He is. I just want to show you now how great He is. I would like to have you now look back
here for just a moment to Romans the first chapter and the fourth verse. He was
made a Son of God by a resurrection from the dead. Now, here it is.
"Paul, the
servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle... Now, concerning [verse 3]
concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power, according
to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans
1:1-4)
Yes, He died; but He didn't remain dead. God
the Father was living, and God raised Him from the dead after three days and
three nights in His tomb. You don't understand that? Three days and three nights between Friday
evening and Sunday morning at sunrise? Write in for our booklet about the
resurrection, and you'll get an eye-opener that will really
astound you. There's no charge for it
either.
Well, now, I want to run right along here. I want you
to notice, though, that after Jesus was resurrected and after He ascended to
heaven that He was then glorified.
Now, if you turn back to John the seventh chapter and
the thirty-ninth verse, you will read this, during His earthly ministry, He had
been saying if any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink and he will get
the Holy Spirit. He spoke of it as living waters, but the living waters;
"...this spoke he of the Spirit, which
they that believe on him should receive; for the Holy [Spirit] was not yet
given [not at that time. Why?] because that Jesus was not yet glorified." (John
7:39)
My friends, He was glorified after He went to heaven.
He was glorified after He went to heaven. And after He was glorified, how did
He appear? Now, after His resurrection, He appeared just still like a mortal
human man, because you know that doubting Thomas would not believe that He was
the Christ. He thought that He was just some other man until Jesus said,
"Just put your finger here right in the nail prints where the nails were
driven in My hands and feet and see that it is I, even Myself." Then
Thomas had to believe. (John
20:25-28)
Now, after He ascended to heaven, however, I want to
show you what He looked like. It's over here in the
first chapter of Revelation, showing Christ at the right hand of the Father in
heaven and what He looks like now.
Think how great Christ
is. Why, you read back here in Ephesians that God created all things by Jesus
Christ, (Ephesians 3:9) and in John the first
chapter that He is the Word, the Word that was made flesh and dwelled among us,
that the Word was God, and the Word was with God, and all things were made by
Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And then again in Colossians we
read, if you remember that, All things were created by Him, this dear Son of the Father in
whom we have redemption through His blood, who is the image of the invisible
God, the very image of God, the firstborn of every creature. And I'm coming to that again later. "For by him
were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, or principalities, or
powers." (Colossians 1:16)
What
Christ Looks Like Now
Verse
fourteen, first chapter of Revelation. Here's the
Son of Man verse thirteen and in verse fourteen; "His head and his hairs
were white like wool, as white as the snow; and his eyes were as of flames of
fire;" (Revelation
1:13-14)
Is that the way
He looked on earth? No. Is that the way your picture shows Him, that you have
of Christ? Oh, no. He doesn't look like that
picture. That picture, my friends, if you'll pardon my saying so and I don't mean any offense to anyone. Maybe you've idolized that picture. But that's just what it is, an idol. It's a fake, and it's an idol. And I don't mean to offend anyone at all. And your pictures usually
show Him with long hair, don't they?
But your Bible says and He is the
living Word, and the Bible is only the written Word, that it's a shame even nature ought to teach you, it's a shame for a man to have long hair. (I Corinthians
11:14)
Now; "...his
feet were like unto fine brass, his voice as the sound of many waters... and
His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." (Revelation 1:15-16)
Did you ever look
right at the sun, when there's no clouds, no
haze, no fog, no smog and you don't have any colored glass or anything, just look right at the
sun, can you do it? I don't know. I'm not going to try holding my eyes on it very long, I'll tell you, because I'm afraid it would put my eyes out and blind them.
That's the way God looks,
my friends. That's one reason that
the Bible says no man can look on God and live. And that is the way Jesus
Christ looks now, today, His face shining like the full strength of the sun!
You can't have a picture like that. It couldn't be shown in a picture. You can't get that dazzling brightness that will blind your eyes when
you look at a picture.
Why don't you do
what I did? I've thrown away all
such pictures. Now, I'm going to have charity to you no matter what you believe, even if you don't believe the truth. God gives you that right. He gives you
that ability, and He allows it. And I can't cram any ideas of mine down your throat. I'm not trying to do that at all. I'm just preaching the truth. And I ask you to prove all things
and believe what you see in your Bible, and you'd better prove whether the
Bible is the Word of God.
We're
Children And Joint Heirs
Well,
now, Jesus has been glorified; and I showed you right there what He looks like.
Now, just one more passage before I go back to Hebrews; and that's back in Romans 8 now, the eighth chapter of Romans, and,
well, the sixteenth on to the eighteenth verses here.
"The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God: And if children, then heirs [now, we can become heirs of God. Get this]
and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may
also be glorified together." (Romans 8:16-18)
What? Why, does that mean
what it says, that we can be glorified? Now, when Christ was glorified I just read to you what He looks like and I read to you the power that He has and we're to be co-heirs with Him.
Now, wait a
minute. Let's get this. Surely this can't mean what it says. Why, you've never believed this, have you? I didn't believe it either
for a long time, but here it is. What are you going to do with it? That we are
the children of God, and if children, then heirs. We are only heirs now. What
are you going to do when we're possessors? What about when we come into the inheritance
and are no longer heirs?
You're just in the mortal
flesh now. You look now like Jesus did. Yes, I don't think He was quite as pale and anemic and sallow as most of us are. He probably had red, rosy cheeks
because of plain health; and He didn't paint it on like a lot of you women do, either. It was just
real vigorous health. But we're heirs now "... heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ and if so that we suffer with Him [and He suffered] that we may be also
[that's in the future] glorified together." (Romans 8:17)
Paul said "For I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that shall be revealed in us." (Romans 1:18)
That's in the
resurrection. That's when we're made like Christ.
Verse 9:
Do not be carried about with various and
strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not
with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
Verse 10:
We have an altar from which those who serve
the tabernacle have no right to eat.
Verse 11:
For the bodies of those animals, whose blood
is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside
the camp.
Verse 12:
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify
the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
Verse 13:
Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the
camp, bearing His reproach.
Verse 14:
For here we have no continuing city, but we
seek the one to come.
Verse 15:
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the
sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to
His name.
Verse 16:
But do not forget to do good and to share, for
with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Verse 17:
Obey those who rule over you, and be
submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account.
Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for
you.
Verse 18:
Pray for us; for we are confident that we have
a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.
Verse 19:
But I especially urge you to do this, that I
may be restored to you the sooner.
Verse 20:
Now may the God of peace who brought up our
Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant,
Verse 21:
make you complete in every good work to do His
will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Verse 22:
And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the
word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words.
Verse 23:
Know that our brother Timothy has been set
free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly.
Verse 24:
Greet all those who rule over you, and all the
saints. Those from Italy greet you.
Verse 25:
Grace be with you all. Amen.
Thiel B. Comments on Hebrews (c) 2025 COGwriter. https://www.cogwriter.com/hebrews.htm 2025 0104