Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Hb 6.1 and following. Indeed, let’s move spiritually towards the adult state. Let’s not be content, like those Christians who came out of Judaism, to know some elementary truths. Jesus wants to be for us more than a Savior of dead works: a Lord, a Model, a Supreme Friend… the children of God. In reality, it is notthe children of God who are talking here but those who have a Christian only in name. In the moral state thus described, one would search in vain for the divine life communicated to the soul of a true believer. But it is possible to live in the midst of the privileges of Christianity without having actually been converted! This was true of some Jews; this is still true today of some children of Christian parents. As for true believers, they cannot lose their salvation. But they are still in danger of slackening. Alongside the works of love that God does not forget, faith and hope must not be neglected. They are nourished by divine promises. The Christian knows his home port still invisible; he dropped his anchor there. However restless the sea of this world may be, faith is the “mooring” that firmly connects the redeemed to the heavenly and immutable place where the object of his hope is found.
This is again an exhortation. The author reproached the Hebrews for having remained in the state of small children in terms of knowledge and experience, when they should have been doctors; he now exhorts them to leave this state of childhood and to move towards “perfection,” or the state of men made. “The word of the beginning of Christ” is what belonged to childhood, to the state of the Jews before Christ, the Messiah announced by promises and prophecies, came (Gal 4:1-5). They were about Christ, but the revelation was obscure: it was “the word of the beginning of Christ,” not his full revelation as glorified in heaven. It was not necessary to reject the things that related to this state of childhood: for they had had their place and their importance; but Christ having come and occupying his glorious place in heaven, they had to be left for the things which belong to this position of Christ and which derive from it, those things which constitute Christianity and are the prerogative, the privilege of the state of men made, of those who have grasped the glory of the Person of Christ, for this is “perfection”.
“The laying on of hands” was practiced not only in sacrifices (Lev.1. 4; Lev 4. 15), but also in respect of persons (Nb 8:10; Nb 27:18, 23). The doctrines of “the resurrection of the dead” and “eternal judgment” often recur in the Lord’s teachings and were generally received among the Jews, except the Sadducees. Thus these things which are the beginning of christ’s word were known to the righteous of the Old Testament and to the disciples who followed the Lord in his career here on earth. They were important, but they had to be left to tend to more excellent things. It was a foundation laid and to which there was no need to return. The disciples had known Christ according to the flesh; but as a result of his death, his resurrection, his glorification in heaven, the Holy Spirit came and revealed glorious things that are added to the previous ones. This new revelation makes the Christian a heavenly being who walks towards glory. He is aware of his union with Christ above, as well as of the care to which he is the object of this glorified Christ, high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
The most excellent having been rejected, not out of ignorance, but with full knowledge and willfulness, what renewal could there be to bring the soul to repentance? There were none, for to do so was, for their part, voluntarily and after knowing the privileges he brought, to crucify the Son of God and expose him to opprobrium, a sin all the more terrible because one could not say of them: “They do not know what they are doing”.
So what was left for them? Nothing but judgment, and the sacred writer employs a striking picture to show it. He compares them to a land that has often received rain – figure of blessings from above (Isa 55. 10-11), and which produced only thorns and thistles, useless and harmful plants. It is reprobated, rejected, destined to be cursed, and has to wait only for the fire of judgment. But on the contrary, the earth which receives the blessing from above, which drinks it, and produces fruit, proves that life is in it; these fruits are useful for those for whom it has been ploughed; thus the soul in which life is received from God the blessing and manifests life by fruit. But these were the ones to whom the author is addressed. From there, the assurance he expresses to them: And so that supported by the promise and oath of God, the Hebrew believers had a firm consolation. They had fled from the earth system destined to perish, to grasp the hope proposed, Christ in glory and returning in glory to take and introduce them into it. They were guaranteed God’s unchanging counsel, his promise and the oath, but now here is another fact that comes to give their hope perfect stability. Christ himself entered into the veil, into the heavenly sanctuary, and he is there as a precursor of his own.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Terrible consequences of abandoning the faith:
- Spiritual progress, characteristic of the righteous.
Ps 84:8 Their strength increases during the walk, and they present themselves before God to Zion. Ps 92:13 The righteous grow like the palm tree, They rise like the cedar of Lebanon. Pr 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the resplendent light, whose brilliance grows until the middle of the day. 1 Tim 4:15 Take care of these things, give yourself entirely to them, so that your progress may be obvious to all.
- Repentance, Promises to those who repent
Answer to prayer 2 Ch 7:14 if my people, on whom my name is invoked, humble themselves, pray, and seek my face, and turn away from their evil ways, I will answer them from heaven, forgive them for their sin, and heal their country.
-Forgiveness of sins Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked abandon his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; May he return to the Lord, who will have mercy on him, to our God, who never tires of forgiving. Jer 3:12 Go, cry these words out to the north, and say, Come, unfaithful Israel!” said the Lord. I will not cast a stern glance at you; For I am merciful, says the Lord, I do not keep my anger forever.
-Life Ez 18:21 If the wicked man returns from all the sins he has committed, if he observes all my laws and practices righteousness and righteousness, he will live, he will not die. So Be 1:3 Say to them, then: Thus speaks the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
-Comfort Mt 5:4 Blessed are the afflicted, for they will be consoled! Luke 15:7 Likewise, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven for a single sinner who repents, than for ninety-nine righteous who do not need repentance.
-Gift of the Holy Ghost Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
- Wasted privileges
-By the Gerasenians Mk 5:17 Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their territory.
-By the Nazarenes Mk 6:4-5 But Jesus said to them: A prophet is despised only in his homeland, among his parents, and in his house. 5 He could not do any miracle there, except that he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them.
-By the inhabitants of northern Galilee Lk 10:14 Therefore, on the day of judgment, Tyre and Sidon will be treated less rigorously than you.
-By the inhabitants of Jerusalem Luke 19:42 If you too, at least on this day given to you, knew the things that belong to your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
-By Israel in different times Hb 3:17 And against whom was God irritated for forty years, if not against those who sinned, and whose corpses fell into the wilderness?
- Safety of the Saints
Ps 91:5 Thou shalt fear neither the terrors of the night, Nor the arrow that flies by day, Ps 112:7 Thou shalt not fear bad news; His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. Hb 13:6 So we can confidently say: The Lord is my helper, I will fear nothing; What can a man do to me? 1 Pet 3:13 And who will mistreat you, if you are zealous for good?
From all of the above, we note thatthere is a stark contrast between the position of the believing Hebrews and that of Israel. The first had as a refuge the heavenly sanctuary where Jesus was their precursor, the high priest of Christians, always alive to intercede for them. Their hope was there, in heaven near God, established on an unshakable foundation. What happiness and security for the soul to be so attached to heaven, to Christ in heaven! Israel, guilty out of ignorance of christ’s murder, is instead kept in the midst of the nations until the expiration of the present priesthood of Christ, when then Israel will come into possession of the inheritance. “An anchor of the soul, sure and firm,” was the hope of the Hebrew believers, because it was fixed within the veil where Christ was their precursor. Faith, like the chain that connects the ship to the anchor, crosses all the space that stretches between the rough sea of this world and the heavenly and immutable place where the Object of our hope is. “Having become high priest for eternity according to the order of Melchizedek”; this is how the author enters into the subject of the priesthood. He has led us, through His exhortations, to once again consider the high priest of our profession as having entered heaven; it brings our thoughts back to this glorious and heavenly system. From the moment Jesus is in this sanctuary, he became high priest for eternity according to the order of Melchizedek. It is no longer just his present priesthood that we are talking about. This statement also ensures the glorious fulfillment of future blessings concerning the remnant of Israel and the millennial land, when Jesus will be the true king of justice and peace, and the true priest of the Most High God, of which Melchizedek was the type. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “Melchizedek above Abraham.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.