Nine Meditations and a Sermon...from Armenia

Nine Meditations and a Sermon… from Armenia

On my teaching visit to Armenia, the first half of October 2012, I shared a small "meditation" each morning, for nine mornings, with the students and staff at the seminary, and also preached a few times, in churches on Sundays as well as the seminary's weekly chapel services. So I thought I'd share with you here (just as if "you were there!") some of what I regaled the Armenians with. First, the morning meditations, all on the Epistle to the Romans. Before that, however, a word of clarification: In some of these meditations, I use a phrase, "Israel-fanatics". By this term I intend nothing in the least connection to today's state of Israel or political controversies over it. I am talking strictly about the "judaizers" of Paul's time, the faction of Hebrew-Christian "missionaries" from Jerusalem who insisted on a Law-and-Israel-based Gospel, relegating Jesus to the status of mere channel to the "higher good" of perfect Law observance and, thereby, inclusion in the family of Abraham. I believe the term "Israel-fanatics" fairly well sums up what was ultimately wrong with their "gospel" and their theological "horizon".  

1. ROMANS  10:1-13

Today and in the coming mornings I want to take a look at the thinking of the apostle Paul, how he saw everything "fitting together" in the great, theological, universal scheme. We'll be looking specifically at the things Paul writes from chapter 10 to nearly the end of "Romans".  Let's begin by reading Romans 10:1-13 (read).

Here Paul is talking about what I'll call the "categorical Gospel". Salvation is for all, but only on one basis: the Gospel. The Gospel is the message of that salvation. A definite message requiring a definite response (read vv. 9-10 again). If you respond right, you will be saved. God won't accept a different response—no, not even zeal for the law (v. 4), because "Christ is the end of the law…."

There is one cross, one Savior, and so there is one Gospel, and it is a powerful Gospel (v. 13)… "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Powerful enough for everyone.

Redemption required the accomplishment of a feat that we would have to call impossible—that one man could carry all the world's sin and destroy it by his own death. And rise from the dead. Impossible! But Jesus Christ really did it. He did the impossible. That is why we cannot do any great feat to accomplish our salvation: in the first place, it's impossible for us; in the second place, He already did it. An already realized salvation can't be realized again.

So what's left? What's left to us who are incapable of realizing salvation, and wouldn't have to even if we could (because it's already been done)? What can we do? Believe. It's not only what we must do; it's the only thing we can do. And this is what Paul's talking about when he emphasizes the "word" in verse 8, the "word" that is near and living and strong and saving, the word that is Christ Himself.

Usually in the NT, "the word" means the Gospel, what we preach. But here it seems to have two meanings: it is the word of faith that is proclaimed but it is also the "word of faith" that is confessed (read v. 9). The only thing you can possibly do in response to God's accomplishment of the "impossible" is… believe, accept, concur, confess and embrace it.

The Gospel is categorical, absolute, leaves no room for other options or alternatives. There's no "third way". Paul is categorical: God has done this; now, you choose. I realize this is an unfashionable message in a "postmodern" world, but this categorical Gospel is the supreme revelation of God's absolute love. "Absolutes" are anathema to postmodernism, but God will never apologize to anyone for His absolute love and what He did in that love. Postmodernism prides itself on "inclusiveness" and the quest for "justice".  Well, like nothing else in heaven or earth ever could, the cross of Christ has included us all in the justice of ultimate atonement, and his Gospel presents all the free gift of life. This is the "Categorical Gospel" that Paul knew as coming from the Throne of heaven itself and ultimately defining all people and all times with a single, piercing, perfect light. This is the same Gospel, the same order of reality, that we take our stand on today, for the Lord Jesus Christ and His glory.

2. ROMANS 10:14-21

(First, read vv. 14-15) 

Usually, the preacher reads these two verses with the goal of stimulating Christians to share the Gospel. That, of course, is a valid application of the verses. But it's worth it to examine the context more deeply. Remember that, here, Paul is discussing the spiritual condition of the Jewish nation, and the question is: is God fair? Has He abandoned His chosen people? Or has, even, the Jewish nation's rejection of Jesus shattered God's plan of redemption? In this context, Paul asks this whole series of questions (read 14-15 again).

What do these questions mean in this context? I think Paul is saying that, in a certain sense, nothing has changed. That's why he quotes Isaiah! The "plan of redemption" hasn't changed but been consummated in Christ. The "Word" was always preached, in one way or another. It was preached by the prophets who called Israel to repent and return to God. Now, the prophetic word has become the Word of Christ, which is preached to all people, both Jews and Gentiles. By God's wisdom, now all people have the opportunity to make a choice, for or against the "Word of faith", the "categorical Gospel".

So it's no longer a question (you see what Paul is getting at?) of God's relationship to one nation; the witness is universal. That's why Paul quotes Psalm 19 here in verse 18: (read Psalm 19:1-6) And God warned about all this and foretold the reaction of the nation (read v. 19). Through the prophet Isaiah God foretold the revelation of his majestic, magnanimous grace and redemption to the whole world (read v. 20). And finally Paul applies stern words from the prophet Isaiah to the Israel of his own day (read v. 21).

And that means what – a final judgment? End of the story? Absolutely not. Even these severe words reflect grace, because they remind us that God was working with this "disobedient and obstinate people". When the text says "disobedient and obstinate people", that's a realistic assessment of human beings, but when it says "All day long I have held out my hands", that's a powerful revelation of the grace of God, a grace that has now exploded onto the universal stage and included us all in one, all-embracing appeal. We are all in the same boat.

For the Israel-fanatics of Paul's time, however, that wasn't good enough. They still wanted Israel to be the focus and aim of the Gospel. But for Paul, the fact that all of us, Jew and Gentile, are in the same boat, with the opportunity to know Christ, Who really is the focus and aim of the Gospel—for Paul, that was grace and glory!

3. ROMANS 11:1-15

Revolutionary events in history bring confusion and fear and many other reactions. Paul lived at such time. The historical "Jewish" faith suddenly exploded into a universal Gospel, embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. It's hard for us now to really feel how new and shocking this was.

Yesterday I mentioned "Israel-fanatics"—these were Jewish believers in Jesus as Messiah, but they understood Messiah's task as converting the world to Judaism, as they understood it. These were the preachers who caused so much trouble in Galatia.

And, probably, they were accusing Paul of insulting the Jewish nation and blasphemy against God's law. And, probably, when Paul writes this epistle, he is to a large degree refuting those accusations.

In verse one, we read a categorical "no"! God hasn't "rejected" Israel. But the fundamental reason is, God hasn't "rejected" any  nation. The Gospel isn't a Gospel of rejection; it's a Gospel of reconciliation! God's faithful remnant comes from all nations, including the Jews.

(Read verses 1-5)

But no matter which nation we're talking about, the conditions are the same for all (read v. 6).

And this truth was especially difficult for the Jewish nation at that time to  accept (read verses 7-10)

Paul talks about a "spirit of stupor" (v.8). I think this is true of any nation, of every nation. Each nation has that certain thing of its own that blocks the Gospel's light, that fights against the Gospel's force and authority. For one nation, it might be religion; for another, fear; for another, money; for another, hatred.

But, there is always a remnant for God. And in everything God is pursuing His redemptive purpose. This is what Paul is saying in verses 11-15 (read). He sees God's redemptive purpose even in Israel's stumbling. Salvation itself was purchased at the price of rejection! Man can't do anything that will stop God from going ahead with His glorious intention. This is why their falling is "riches" to the world—not because we rejoice at their unbelief. No, it's because the living God always overcomes evil by making it the opportunity for His greater glory.

4. ROMANS 11:13-24

When I was reading verse 13, my eyesight "slipped" and I saw it wrong, and the result was rather comical. Paul says (in the NIV), "I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I…." But what I saw was, "I am talking to you Gentiles inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles"! I confess to laughing. As if Paul were saying, "You know, I'm only talking to you because that's my job (and if I had my druthers, I wouldn't be)." Of course, that's not what Paul said at all, and it was just a momentary visual slip, probably due to bad lighting (I can't imagine what else it might be).

But you know what? There is truth in the "mistaken" version I first saw there. Paul really is communicating with the Gentiles, in Gentile language, using Gentile terms, because he's the apostle to the Gentiles. I know that seems a simple, obvious statement, but I don't think we even begin to understand what kind of emotional, psychological effort was required of Paul to do that. Loving his own nation and grieving over their disbelief, Paul nevertheless invested his life completely in the Gospel to the Gentiles. That means, in a way, Paul was always a foreigner, a stranger, never completely "one of them", always exiled from the environment that formed his earliest attachments and joys. A man without a homeland.

Yes, indeed, Paul is talking to the Gentiles because he's an apostle to the Gentiles. He died to himself and became anything that Christ wanted him to be.

Most biblical scholars say that we don't know who wrote the epistle to the Hebrews. They say it can't be Paul because the whole style of the epistle is radically different from Paul's epistles. But for myself personally, having studied "Hebrews", having reflected on its theological horizon, its fundamental vision, I've come to the conclusion that Paul could have written it. And the explanation for the radical differences in style can be put this way: "I'm writing to you Gentiles as a Gentile; I'm writing to you Hebrews as a Hebrew." I believe Paul was capable of that—even to sound like two different men in his style and terms, but always communicating one, unchangeable (categorical!) truth about the new life and world of the Spirit which we have entered by Christ's grace.

(Read vv. 14-16) 

Yesterday, or the day before, I talked about how God's plan always moves forward. You can't stop it. But it would be a terrible mistake to think this means God is continually leaving the past in the past, like a trail of bread crumbs: separate, isolated pieces fading and disappearing in the distance behind us. No. Time and God's purposes aren't like that, like a trail of bread crumbs. They're more like a train—a train that has a front, middle and caboose, but all the parts are moving together, constantly connected, to their destination. Today, you and I are moving on to our destination in God's plan. The day of Pentecost is moving to its destination, the resurrection, the cross, the birth of Christ, the exile in Babylon, the vision of Isaiah, the songs of David, the Exodus from Egypt, God's covenant with Abraham, the Great Flood, the death of Abel, the Fall in the Garden, the day of Creation, all, all are moving together, like a great connected train, to their destination in God's plan.

(Read verse 16 again)

If the root is holy, so are the branches. It's all one tree. What God did in Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Ruth, David, Esther, Jeremiah, all of that is here, right now, in us, growing in its meaning and moving toward its realization in eternity.

And that's why it was just crazy, ridiculous, to accuse Paul of anti-Semitism. I mean, besides the fact that he was a Jew himself (!), but even more importantly, Paul recognized "Israel's" true meaning in Christ. And I don't need to tell you how Paul felt about Christ. Paul loved God's Israel immeasurably more than the "Israel-fanatics" did, because he understood the meaning of Israel better than they did. And he knew that the meaning leads, finally, for all of us, to this: (read 2 Corinthians 3: 17-18).

5. ROMANS 11:17-21

 (Read the text)

Faith in Christ is incompatible with arrogance.   Verse 20: "you stand by faith". You don't stand by your works, you don't stand by your education or your history or social status—you stand by faith. 

Therefore, do not be arrogant… but be afraid.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

As soon as we are arrogant, two things happen: 1) we are putting our faith in ourselves, and that is not the faith that saved us, and 2) we are not fearing the Lord or hoping upon Him. To put it in simple terms, we're not living like Christians!

And that, essentially, is what Paul's talking about here: if a Christian life doesn’t bear any resemblance to the source and root of a Christian life, something is wrong. This is the historical lesson for us from Israel (read Romans 10:3). 

There is a principle here that is universal, that is much bigger than simply the question of Israel. Paul's talking about Israel, of course, because that was the question at the moment. But the spiritual principle applies to all people at all times. It's not only Israel that can be cut off, so that the Gentiles might be grafted into the tree. Europe can be cut off and Africa grafted in. America can be cut off and China grafted in. The Orthodox world can be cut off and the Hindu world grafted in. South Korea can be cut off and North Korea grafted in! (Read Romans 10:20)

"Do not be arrogant… but fear."

Now, you might say all this sounds like we're saying the Kingdom of God is a little room somewhere with only so much square footage and any time somebody new wants to come in, somebody else has to get out! No, of course not. We're simply recognizing, as Paul seems to, that, in history, it seems each nation has its "time", its "shot at it". We certainly see this in terms of empires and various nations' "golden eras"; the same can be true spiritually.

Europe was the first geographical recipient of the Gospel after the Near East; the entire continent was ultimately transformed as a result. Today, the great cathedrals of Europe are simply money-making tourist sites. Yet the Gospel is sweeping powerfully through Africa, and, I think, through China, too.

"Do not be arrogant, but be afraid."

"Remember, you were bought with a price."

Salvation is salvation, not a birthright.

But let me correct the last statement: Salvation is  a birthright. Salvation is the birthright of the Firstborn from the dead, the Head of the Church, the firstfruits of the new creation, Jesus Christ. It is His birthright, his treasure by right… and ours as long as we remain in Him….

"Do not be arrogant, but be afraid." 

"For God has bound all men over to disobedience, so that he may have mercy on all." (v. 32)

6. ROMANS 11:25-32

(Read text)

Today I want to talk about a mystery.

Israel has experienced a partial hardening until the full number of Gentiles come in. Then the apostle says, "And so…." That is, "therefore", "consequently", "as a result": SO all Israel will be saved. All Israel will be saved because the full number of Gentiles will come in. How can we understand this?

There's only one way. We have to understand it in agreement with what the apostle says elsewhere. Remember, we're trying to understand Paul's way of thinking here; we want to see Paul's theological horizon. So, when Paul says, "All Israel will be saved", this doesn't contradict his thought perfectly well expressed elsewhere; all of it expresses one theological horizon. 

In Romans 9:6-7, for example, Paul says (read verses). In other words, this Israel which will "all be saved" is defined by the heart, not by genealogy. 

In any case, common sense tells us Paul can't possibly mean that mere Jewish descent constitutes a get-into-heaven-for-free ticket; otherwise, that would include Judas, and Caiaphas, and, by the way, all those false gospellers from Jerusalem who were causing so much trouble in Galatia, the ones Paul pronounced "anathema" on. 

It would automatically include, too, the Hebrew Christians addressed in the epistle to the Hebrews, who were teetering on the edge of rejecting Jesus and going back to their traditional Judaism. Yes, it would include them regardless of their final decision on this presumably critical question—which would make us doubt why the issue was so critical…. Why all the fuss, warning these Hebrew-Christians not to abandon Jesus when, anyway, "all Israel will be saved"? Doesn't "Hebrews" then become a meaningless epistle?

But of course we understand that that can't be the sense of Paul's words. Paul never preached a Gospel that said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved… or, if you're Jewish, you're automatically in, anyway, so it doesn't matter." You can study the New Testament "24/7" and you won't find that "gospel" there.

What Paul is thinking when he says "All Israel will be saved" is quite obvious. We see it first, right here in this statement that all Israel will be saved because the full number of Gentiles must be saved. We see it secondly in Paul's teaching in chapter nine, that they are not all Israel who are born from Israel. In God's final plan the word "Israel" denotes a state of heart, not a genealogy. And, thirdly, we see it intrinsically in the revelation of Christ: we see it when the Magi from the east come to worship the King of the Jews, foreshadowing the ultimate fulfillment of the prophet's words, that all the nations will flow to Jerusalem to worship the Lord and be fed by His teaching.

At the end of "Galatians", after Paul's fiery argument against the judaizers, after his passionate theological demonstration that all who are in Christ are now Abraham's spiritual children, the apostle closes with these words (Gal. 6:16), "Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God." "Even"—that means, "specifically"… "to wit". You know what "Israel" Paul is talking about here; it can only be the "Israel" he has just spent his tears and sweat and blood to defend against the false gospellers, the Israel that lives in Christ—in Christ who, above all, has fulfilled in Himself everything that Israel means; in Christ, who finally became the faithful Son, who endured the temptation in the wilderness, who demonstrated perfect "khesed ve emet", love and faithfulness, towards His Father.

He is the SON, the ISRAEL whom the Father called out of Egypt; He is the Vine and we are the branches; He is the mystery, and He is the only star on Paul's theological horizon. And He is the reason why, in Him, "all Israel will be saved".  

(Conclude by reading 11: 33-36).

7. ROMANS 12:1

(In this morning meditation there was a collision, happily anticipated by me, between three languages: English, Armenian and Russian, leading to a sorting-out I did not in the least shy away from; indeed, I took the bull by the horns and ventured my own, slightly radical solution. Yes, it did raise a few eyebrows….)

 (Read verse)

Again, we're trying to get inside the thinking of Paul. So, when he says, "Offer your bodies as living sacrifices", why does he say that? Let's look at the immediate context and try to catch Paul's train of thought, what's led him to say this just now. In other words, why is this the right thing to say right here, right now?

I see three elements coming together that ignite, that spark such a passionate appeal from Paul. The first element is very simple. Paul has just said (11:36), "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen." So, all  things belong to God. So, of course offer up your bodies, your lives, because they belong to God! He knows best what to do with everything He has made; that includes, of course, us. And He will  do it, to His glory and our joy.

The second element is a little less simple: "in view of God's mercy". It's in light of God's mercy, which Paul has painstakingly explicated and unfolded for pages and pages already. It's in view of this mercy, in response to this mercy, we should offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. God's mercy spared us the wages of sin—by not sparing His only Son. God's mercy gives us His Son and, with Him, freely gives us all things. God's mercy grafts us into the holy tree, and makes us a people who were not a people. God's mercy will bring us into a new creation, into the glorious freedom of the children of God and the redemption of our bodies. This is all what Paul has just been thinking about for pages and pages now. And now the most instinctive and spontaneous and sanest thing the apostle can possibly say is, "in view of all that…" what's left—except to surrender yourselves unreservedly to God's glorious will?

The third element is the least simple of all. Why ought we to offer our bodies as living sacrifices? Because it's our "spiritual act of worship". Yes, I know that in your Armenian Bibles it's says "verbal" [in Armenian, it's a word that looks something like "word-ly"] where my English Bible says "spiritual". And as you know, the Russian Bible says, "reasonable," or "rational," service of worship. Now isn't that intriguing? "Verbal", "spiritual" and "rational". Why in the world would three languages translate the same Greek text so differently? Surely Paul used a word there that has one meaning!

Well, here's the problem. The Greek adjective there comes from the noun "logos", which, as you know, means "word". That's why your Armenian Bibles say "word-ly". Now, this adjective can mean "logical" (notice logos?) or "reasonable" or "rational", but fundamentally it refers broadly to that which makes us human and not animals; it's our capacity to think, to respond to God, to choose the good; it's our human capacity to know the divine source of our existence. It's the Latin ratio, the Greek logos, that makes us man.

So, while the Armenian translation says "word-ly", and the Russian says "rational" and my English version says "spiritual", I will dare to suggest my own translation, and I will say "human".

Offer your bodies as living sacrifices because it's the human thing to do.

It is the human thing to do in the highest sense of the word "human". It's the human thing to do because, as Paul says elsewhere, we are being raised to the stature of a new man in Christ—in Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us. The perfect, ideal Human Being, Jesus of Nazareth, expressed His humanity through total self-surrender. Now Paul says, "You, too, offer yourselves completely to God, because it's the perfect human thing to do." It's rational, it's spiritual, it's what makes you a child of God and not a tree or a butterfly… even though trees and butterflies are very nice. But trees and butterflies are not the lords of creation. Only the lords of creation can freely surrender themselves and everything they have to the Supreme Lord, in joyful reflection of the Supreme Lord's own self-surrender for them.

I think Paul would have loved to start this epistle with this, for "12:1" to have been "1:1" in the Epistle to the Romans. But for his readers and their "issues" he had to work through a lot of other stuff first. This, however, is where Paul lived. This is the starting point and the destination of the Christian life:

"Be real people and joyfully surrender yourselves to the Lord of all in gratefulness for the indescribably wonderful thing He has done for you."

8. ROMANS 12: 2-21

Yesterday we were talking about a Greek adjective, "logikos", which the apostle Paul used to characterize our rational, spiritual, human act of worship, i.e., to surrender yourself to the will of God.

Now, I take what Paul says next as a confirmation of my interpretation (read verses 2-3).

Notice the emphasis on the mind? Your mind must be renewed. Earlier, Paul said that a new life  is the whole purpose for our baptism into Christ (read Romans 6:4). This renewed life must start in the mind, in the part of us that carries God's image—the logos. And then our whole life will be transformed, from the inside out. Notice the process that Paul describes in these first verses of chapter twelve. You sort of have to read it backwards to follow the progression: if your mind is renewed, then you will be transformed; if you are transformed, then you won't conform to the world anymore, and then you'll really be living out the full sense of your humanity, which is to worship God in love and holiness.

And that is why, as a mature child of God, you can begin making choices.

Choices. That's what the apostle is talking about when he says, "then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

And here I want to bring together various things I've been talking about in Armenia, whether in my sermons or my lectures. In our course on the Gospel of Matthew, we've been looking at the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus calls the nation to give up everything they're used to, not to depend anymore on the social, religious trappings that shape their world, and, figuratively speaking, to get on Jesus' ship, where He is the captain, and the power that moves that ship is a new kind of righteousness, a righteousness that exceeds even the righteousness of the Pharisees, because it's a transcendent quality of righteousness. Yesterday, in my chapel sermon, I talked about the people, or assembly, of Jesus—they are born by the power of Christ's resurrection, and the eyes of their hearts are illuminated by a revelation from the Father in heaven.

Okay, this is wonderful. But how do they live? What do they do? What are their rules? What is the structure of their society? What is the format for their interrelationships as the people of God?

In a certain sense, there are no rules. That's what it means that we're not under the Law. That's what it means, in Romans 8:14, that "those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." Instead of rules, there is a new power to know and choose the way of life. "Then you will be able to test and prove what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." In chapters 12, 13 and 14, Paul gives not so much a set of rules as much as a description, a description of those who really have offered themselves as living sacrifices to God, who have been transformed, whose righteousness comes from the new world of the Messiah and His Spirit. In short, he tells us, this is what the life of the Kingdom will look like, if you are really living it.

(Read Romans 12:3-21)

9. Romans 12-15

I see from the clock that we have about 20 minutes, which should be enough for us to do a deep study of chapters 12, 13, 14 and 15! J Well, not really. We're going to take a quick  look and try to encapsulate what Paul is saying here….

In chapter 12, verse 3, Paul says, "by the grace given to me", and these are very significant words. It is by the grace given to him that the apostle commences to draw a portrait of the "Jesus people", showing how the inner life of the Kingdom manifests its own order and laws through them.

In chapter 13, the key concepts are "debt" and "expectation". With intense anticipation of meeting Christ, our priority is to define what we owe to whom, and not to waste time or energy on what's useless and meaningless. Our highest debt is love.

In chapter 14 (see, I said we'd be moving quickly), Paul describes the strong believer. The strong believer isn't the one who keeps the longest list of rules, but the one who does everything with a pure conscience before God and a heart of love towards people. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God", and, seeing God, and seeing what God is doing, the strong believer will be able to do what God does, just as Christ said, "The things I see my Father doing, those I do."

God never wastes His time, so Paul says in chapter 14: Don't waste your time on meaningless, trivial controversies, but (14:19), "…make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification."

And now, in chapter 15, Paul continues to discuss the strong believer. He addresses the strong believer directly (each of us might wonder, "Is he talking to me?"). And Paul doesn't flatter or molly-coddle the strong believer. Quite the opposite, "to whom much is given, of him much is required." Paul orders the strong believer to reach for still greater heights of self-sacrifice.

(Read 15:1-4)

In verse 3, Paul quotes Psalm 69:9. Let's read it in the psalm (read). You notice, of course, that this is the same verse quoted in the Gospels, about Jesus' cleansing of the Temple. Everybody knows about the first half of this verse, but fewer know about the second half. If we want to embrace one half of that verse, however, and know the "zeal of your house", then we have to embrace the other half, receiving the insults that fall on our Lord. Great zeal comes at a great price. A high calling offers high rewards, but it demands complete sacrifice… which is, of course, what Paul was talking about way back in 12:1. If the truth of 12:1 isn't fundamental to our lives, then we almost shouldn't waste our time reading chapters 13, 14 and 15, because they present an impossible standard.

But, as the epistle to the Hebrews says, "we think better things of you, brethren!", and Paul, in verses 5-13, radiates hope and positive expectations. He talks repeatedly about hope… and glory. After all, it is Jesus Christ who is building His Church. (Read 15:5-13).

Our hope is in Christ who is in us, who dwells in us by the Spirit of God. We have every possibility of being strong. And Paul points to the fruit and outcome of our strength, which will be praise and exultation in the glory of God and His kingdom.

SERMON: "Where is the harvest?"

This sermon was delivered in the Baptist central church in Yerevan at their "Harvest Holiday" service.

 (Read Matthew 16:17-18)

The word "church" appears rarely, quite understandably, in the Gospels. I say "understandably" because, basically, it's too soon to be talking about the Church, in any post-Pentecost sense, certainly in any way that we think about it now. When Jesus mentioned His "Church" to twelve disciples on the dusty roads of 1^st-century Palestine, what could that have meant to them?

The word Jesus used was most likely a Hebrew, or Aramaic, word that sounded something like "q'hal", a word denoting an assembly, a congregation of people. This word had a history  to the Jewish people, a history Jesus' disciples would naturally and immediately have thought of, a history and meaning that Jesus knew his disciples would think of, and, therefore, a meaning that Jesus actually wanted them to "get". And that's why I think we need to "get" that meaning, too.

When Jesus' disciples heard, "I will build my 'q'hal'", they must have associated the word with God's work in Israel's past. There are very specific, deep, powerful lessons from this word in biblical history.

"Q'hal" referred to the people of God, the congregation or assembly of God. The people of Israel in the wilderness, when Moses was leading them—they were the q'hal of God. In other words, the first "church" of God was the Israelite nation. The disciples knew that. And Jesus knew that they knew that. Therefore, the Lord chose this word in order to say something amazing, something theologically explosive to them.

When this man, Jesus of Nazareth, says, "I will build my q'hal', my congregation, my people-of-God," immediately in the minds of these Jewish men the question comes up, "Who is this? How can he say such things? Who can the people of God belong to but… God?"

Yes, the statement "I will build my church" derives its sense and power, first of all, from the Old Testament and, precisely because of that, reveals Jesus as not only man, but God.

And we can understand very well why the Lord speaks such powerful words at just this moment: because this is a powerful moment. Peter has just recognized Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, and Jesus has said to him that it's not flesh and blood but the Father in heaven who showed this truth to Peter, and for that reason, Simon Peter will be called the "rock". What has happened here? A revelation from heaven has illuminated a man's eyes of faith, so that he knows and receives his Savior and Lord. This truly is the rock and foundation of Christ's Church. This is how every living stone is added to the spiritual temple of the living God.

And what more does the Lord say about this people, His Church? He reveals, in powerful terms, the amazing thing God is preparing to do with this new "q'hal", this new people of God. Jesus says, "And the gates of hell will not prevail against it."

Once, Joshua led God's people through the river Jordan into the promised land. And the walls and gates of Jericho came tumbling down before the power of God. But now, the Lord Jesus Christ says He will lead His people, the nation of God, across the river of death—He will go first, tasting death and the judgment of sin, and before the power of His resurrection the gates of death itself will come crashing down, and He will lead His q'hal into the promised land.

In the words which Christ uses at this moment, there is deep meaning, a meaning which reaches into the past, into what God has done, and applies it prophetically to the future, to what God will do. Now, the nation of God is not Israel in the wilderness, but the disciples of Jesus. The enemy is not Jericho but death. And the power that destroys this enemy doesn't come through the blast of trumpets and the people's shout, but through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the gates of death cannot stand before this greater Joshua, and they will not stand before the nation following Him into the promised land.

But who are these people, this "q'hal", which Jesus will "build"? Well, to begin with, they are nonbelievers! Did you know that God's people are nonbelievers? Of course, you'll tell me, "No, God's people are believers!" To which I'll say, "Yes, of course they are. But they're also non-believers."

Why? Because God, in His eternal foresight, knows all the non-believers today who will be believers, who will be members of His holy nation. The final, ultimate Church, in all her fullness, includes many who are today unbelievers.

Who are they? Where are they? What are they doing right now? Well, they're everywhere. At the moment they might be walking in the park, or drinking at a bar, they might be laughing with friends, or fighting with their spouses, they might be weeping at a funeral or celebrating a wedding, they might be sick in a hospital, they might be dreaming about their future, or regretting their past. They might be thinking about God, or trying not to think about God. But wherever they are and whatever they're doing, they are part of the Church that will be, part of God's great harvest.

Where is this harvest of God, the total "q'hal", Jesus' congregation who will finally march in victory over the shattered walls of death? Let's quickly look at some biblical portraits of God's "harvest" waiting to be found.

(Read Acts 3:1-8)

The harvest of God is waiting, like this crippled man, waiting for help—maybe hoping for money, or medicine, but waiting for some kind of answer, never imagining the ultimate answer God has for them….

(Read Acts 14:8-10)

The harvest of God is waiting, already with a kind of faith in their hearts, waiting for the light of the Gospel to bring that faith to life….

(Read Matthew 8:5-13)

The harvest of God is waiting for the word of power and authority, and when they hear that voice, they'll know it's the Lord. But they've got to hear it first….

(Read Luke 19:1-10)

Sometimes the harvest of God is waiting in a tree… like an apple, or a peach, or a plum, or… Zacchaeus! Waiting to hear the voice that says, "I know you; I've always known you, and now it's time for you to let me into your house, into your heart…."

(Read Luke 7:36-39)

The harvest of God is waiting with tears, waiting to repent and to hear the words that mean everything, "Your sins are forgiven…."

And now let's look at just one more biblical "portrait" of the Church, a portrait that doesn't seem very flattering at first, but be patient. (Read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) "Such were you", the apostle says. The emphasis is on the past tense: you were such people. But now, in the present, "you have been washed, you have been sanctified, you have been justified." What kind of power could do a miracle like that? It is the resurrection power of the second Joshua, the power that tears down the ramparts of sin and death and opens a new world to the people of God.

A final glance today at a biblical picture of God's harvest, His church. (Read Revelation 22:17) Today's people of God, the Bride, invites the future people of God to come, to come in and complete the number, to fill the ranks of the Church that Jesus Christ is building. We issue the invitation in the power of the Spirit and the power of the resurrection. We don't know who they are, the harvest still out there waiting today, but we know they will come, because Christ will build His Church, and our labor in this harvest cannot, will not be in vain.

"Stones or Faith?" - the interpreters' version

This is a revision of "Stones or Faith?", specially for preaching across the language barrier, i.e., through live interpretation. You'll notice that the phrasing is quite different from the "original" version-- which wasn't actually original, since it was my translation into English of my Russian original, but anyway, neither the "original" Russian or English versions were designed to be preached "in stereo", i.e., me, then interpreter, then me, then interpreter, etc.  This version reduces the thoughts to bite-size chunks, to make for a relaxed, smooth exchange between me and the interpreter. The key is "concise, full thoughts". The two things an interpreter can't stand are, 1) run-on sentences, and 2) fragments of a thought. Those who are speaking to an audience through an interpreter for the first time often make both mistakes - the first, because they get carried away with their thoughts and forget the poor interpreter has to remember everything and translate it for the audience; the second, because the speaker gets over-cautious (indeed, sometimes virtually paranoid) and, trying not to overload the interpreter, offers a "sentence" like, "Because of which, we'll most likely"-- then gives the interpreter an okay-you-can-translate-that look, to which the exasperated interpreter replies with a you-haven't-actually-SAID-anything-yet look.  

So, here it is: 

Stones or Faith? 

Read John 10:24-31

In verse 23 the people press Jesus to speak openly, "When will you tell us who you are?", and Jesus responds, "I have told you".

When did Jesus tell them? Well, look at verse 7 in this chapter: "I am the door". And verse 9: "Whoever enters through me will be saved". And verse 10: I have come that they might have life". Also verse 11: "I am the good shepherd". And one more, verse 15: "The Father knows me and I know the Father".

Has Jesus really been hiding the meaning of his mission? Not at all! He is openly announcing the meaning and purpose of his coming. Nevertheless, the people continue asking, "Who are you?" Jesus answers, "I have told you, but you do not believe". And that really is what this is all about. If the people are unwilling to believe, then no matter what Jesus says, their next question will be, "Who are you?" Because they don't believe, they don't hear. So words become useless. Even miracles hardly help. Jesus says (read vv. 25b-26a), "The works that I do in my Father's name testify of me, but you don't believe". So neither words nor miracles make any difference. Why? The Lord explains why: (26b) "You don't believe because you are not of my sheep, as I have told you."

"Not of my sheep"—there is the crux of this issue. Again and again, Jesus has talked about this special relationship, a relationship in which the sheep know the shepherd; they know his voice. As in verse 3 (read), and verse 4 (read), likewise verse 14 (read), and verse 16 (read). To those who "have ears to hear", Jesus makes it quite very clear what he means. Standing here in front of the people is not only a teacher, not only a prophet, and (listen very carefully now), not only Christ as the people expected Christ! Instead, standing here in front of them is Christ as he really is. It turns out that the real Messiah cannot be defined according to human understanding. The critical element is not whether Christ meets our expectations; the critical element is whether we will hear what he's saying. Do his words reveal truth and life to our hearts?

Jesus cannot tell the crowd, "Yes, I am everything you've been waiting for", because they haven't been waiting for Messiah as he really is. In fact, the Lord did them a kindness by not telling them such a thing, for they would surely have misunderstood. Actually, it was only on the rarest occasions that Jesus spoke so plainly, that he told a person directly, "I am the Christ". When did he do this? It wasn't when the people and their leaders were demanding an answer from him, especially when they were doing so aggressively. No, it was when a person's faith was just being born and needed assurance.

We see such an instance in chapter 9. Let's read 9:35-38. This man had been blind all his life and Jesus gave him sight. Imagine that! And this man refused to denounce Jesus for the healing, even when the Pharisees threatened to throw him out of the temple forever. What a day in this man's life! He received sight which he had never had in his whole life. And he was excommunicated from the most sacred place in his religion. All on the same day! Imagine the emotional earthquake this was for him. And in the middle of this earthquake, Jesus walks up to him and asks, "Do you believe in the Son of man?" The poor man answers in desperation, "Who is he, Lord, so I can believe in him?" And Jesus gives this man the answer he wouldn't give to society's bigshots when they demanded it. He says, "You've seen him; you're talking to him."

Christ spoke similarly to a woman at a well one day in Samaria, to a woman who was disgraced for her sin and shunned by society. When she was just beginning to see, she let the half-hoping words slip out: "They say that… when Messiah comes… he'll tell us everything…." Jesus looks her straight in the eye and says, "The one talking with you now is he."

The key element in these cases was this: the person's heart was starting to open to the deeper reality of Jesus' identity. The person wasn't ordering Jesus to conform to some list of requirements. Jesus offers the gift of life to those how receive him just as he is. He shows his true glory to the ones who accept him in faith. When people accept Christ just as he is, then he accepts them just as they are.

But why didn't the Pharisees and crowds understand? It was because they didn't believe. But why didn't they believe? (read 10:26-27) What makes a person not Christ's sheep? It's the absence of any desire to meet God, of any desire to know and love the Creator. It's the attachment to self that won't admit any possibility of God's changing you.

The sheep belongs to the shepherd; it is his and it totally trusts him. But the bystander, the stranger, doesn't belong to him, and doesn't want to! Do we desire encounter with God? Are we ready to trust Him? If so, God will reveal truth to our hearts. Jesus said to the people, in John 7:17: "Whoever is willing to do [God's] will, that one will know whether my teaching is from God or whether I'm just speaking for myself." If a person has the desire and is ready to receive, then the Lord will find him.

While we're in chapter 7, look at the next verse, verse 18. This verse made me meditate further on these things (read).

Jesus says about himself that he doesn’t seek his own; instead, he seeks the glory of the one who sent him. We can make a parallel here to Jesus' followers: the good shepherd's sheep also don't seek their own; they seek what will glorify God. In this way they're like the good shepherd—maybe not perfectly, but they have his calling in their hearts. Christ desires above all the Father's glory. So, this is what Christ's sheep desire, too. They hear him and grow like him; they follow him and he knows them. And he can say anything to them and they'll receive it. Christ can even say something like this to them (read 10:28-30).

Here is Christ just as he is. Who can receive such words? Who can receive a Messiah who says such things--who says such things as "I and the Father are one"? The people demanded, "Tell us plainly!" So Jesus told them plainly: "I and the Father are one." It was obvious from the beginning, wasn't it, that it would all come to this. Who could have the right to say something like, "I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved"? Or, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me"? Or, "I have the power to lay down my life and take it up again"? Who can say such things? Only the one who can say, "I and the Father are one". This is he who promises eternal life—and really fulfills the promise! He holds believers in his hand, which is the hand of God, and he guards them from the enemy. Jesus didn't come to the world in order to obey people's definition of "Christ". He came to define the word himself! To define by his own being what and who God's Christ is. Through his words and works, through his love and sacrifice, through his power and authority, Jesus did define "Christ", and "Christ" is everything that Jesus is.

When Jesus Christ made it very clear who he was, what did the people do in response? Did they say, "Thank you very much"? No. (read 10:31-33)

There's the difference between the ones who are Christ's sheep and those who aren't. We see here the response of those who aren't his. The true sheep hear and receive, they contemplate and submit to his word. They look at the one who is saying these words and think: "If such a person as this says such words, a person who does such miracles, a person who radiates such truth and grace—if such a person says such words, then they are true words. Our true Shepherd and God has visited His people."

But those who only wanted to judge Jesus, not to know him, they of course picked up stones. Stones or faith—these are the two responses to the Good Shepherd's revelation. Stones or faith. Anger or love. Rejection or embrace. The response we make will show whether we belong to him. He gave his life for his sheep. He gave his life and he took it up again, not because the people expected it, but because that's who he is! "Tell us who you are!", the people shouted. But just look at Jesus, listen to him, with a sincere heart towards God, and you'll know who he is. More importantly, he'll know you.

Crisis in the Early Church, Part Three: Hebrews

This is the last of three sermons which I wanted to give concerning a key crisis in the earliest days of the Church of Jesus Christ. Let's quickly review what we examined in the first two sermons.

In Paul's epistle to the Galatians, the apostle practically begs the Galatian believers not to leave the true gospel and pure teaching about Christ which he brought them. Notice and pay strong attention, because this element of the crisis happens to come to a climax in today's sermon, to wit: "will they leave the true gospel of Christ?"

Will who leave? Well, that's what we'll see today.

But first, to review the first two sermons….

Paul wrote to the Galatians to contradict and refute a distorted gospel brought by a certain faction from Jerusalem. We called them the "Jerusalem missionaries", as you may recall. And you remember that their so-called gospel declared: "Messiah came to lead us all to perfect observance of God's holy law. He opened the door to us all to come in to the holy nation Israel. Therefore, to be saved, fully become children of Abraham through circumcision and obedience to the whole law of Moses."

You remember that I encapsulated the difference between their gospel and Paul's gospel this way: according to their gospel, at the end of the road of redemption stands the Law, as "goal". But in Paul's gospel, at the end of that road stands Jesus Christ, with open arms, to receive the children of God—whom he himself has made such. As Paul said to the Romans, the end of the law is Christ, for all who believe. And the word Paul uses there, that we translate "end", means both "end" and "goal" or "aim". For Paul, Christ himself is the Law's "ultimate destination". But for those Jerusalem missionaries it's vice versa: the goal of Christ is the Law!

There cannot be a starker contrast.

I won't repeat all of Paul's argumentation in Galatians; otherwise I'd have to repeat the whole first sermon! I want simply to emphasize this one, central, key, essential, indispensable (!) argument Paul makes to them. Basically, he says, "Dear Galatians, did God give you His Spirit or not? Did He or didn't He? If He did, then you are His children and… those people cannot add anything good to the word of life you already received by faith." That's all of Paul's argument in a nutshell, along with the logical corollary that goes, "So if you live by the life of the Spirit in you, then no law will be able either to increase your holiness before God or  judge you." Let me repeat that: if you walk in the Spirit, then there's no law that can, 1) make you "better", or, 2) prove you’re "bad".

That's an interesting thought, isn't it? What's the use, ultimately, of a law incapable of both justifying and condemning? Christ is the end of the law. For whom? For all who believe.

"Now there is no condemnation, to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1)—so, the law cannot condemn.

 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:11)—so, the law cannot justify.

Can't condemn, can't justify- for whom? For those who believe. For them, there's no role left for the Law, now.

Well, I'm already quoting Romans so much, I suppose we'd better review, in brief, what I said in the second sermon.

I suggested the possibility to you that the continuing crisis in the early Church prompted Paul to write also to the Romans. There is persuasive evidence in this epistle that Paul continues to challenge both the false gospel of this faction from Jerusalem and their false charges against him personally.

In Romans, Paul proves that, 1) he does not profane God's holy law, 2) he does not hate the Jewish nation, and, 3) he does not preach an immoral, unholy way of life. It's clear from his arguments what kind of rumors were circulating about him, and it's clear why: in order to discredit Paul and his gospel. It's also clear, historically, that the Jerusalem missionaries and their message couldn't, finally, prevail over the gospel of grace, faith and the Spirit. We do not see Paul, in his later and final epistles continuing to wrestle with these heretics in anything like the way he does here. History itself testifies that this movement could not finally survive within the Christian Church.

And that, it just so happens, brings us to the epistle to the Hebrews. Let's read Hebrews 1:1-2....

¹ In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

First, who is the writer speaking about? About Jesus Christ—yes.

Secondly, he's writing about how God has spoken:

…in the past: "at many times and in various ways";

…"in these last days: by his Son".

Thirdly, to whom is the writer speaking? Notice: "God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets…." He is writing to the descendants of those "forefathers"; he is writing to the children of Israel. These three nuances are critical: who the writer is writing about, how God has decided to act, and to whom the writer is addressing his arguments.

So from the very beginning, three key elements of the epistle become clear: 
a) the center of attention is Jesus Christ, who he is;

b) the deciding factor  in everything is what God chooses to do;

 c) the first "audience" for this epistle is Jews, Hebrews who at some point came to faith in Jesus as the Christ.  


These three things decide the whole sense and purpose of Hebrews.

We don't know who wrote this epistle, and many commentators and scholars say it can't be Paul because the epistle itself doesn’t sound like Paul. The style, the general approach and method of argumentation don’t  sound anything like what Paul writes, for instance, to the Corinthians or Ephesians, etc.

Well, that may be. I readily admit that the epistle doesn't sound like Paul's epistles. But I have to say two things: first of all, the theological horizon, or "eschatological construct", if you will, of this writer is identical to that of the apostle Paul; secondly, if Paul chose to undertake the composition of a profoundly argued theological letter specifically and precisely to the people of his own nation, then I, for one, would expect nothing other than "The Epistle to the Hebrews" we have in our Bibles today. It's exactly the language I'd expect him to adopt and exactly the argument I'd expect him to make, and, indeed, if you read his other epistles with careful "theological" attention, you will find that he is, rather often, arguing like our "Hebrews writer"!

I am not prepared to underestimate the capacities of the apostle who said, "For the Greeks I became a Greek, for the Jews I became a Jew". The writer of this epistle has clearly "gone for broke"; he has written nothing less than what had to be written in order to speak to Hebrew Christians (on the verge of apostasy) in language they would get, at the deepest, felt levels. The writer does everything short of writing in Hebrew! (Who knows, maybe he did that, too, in a separate copy.) By the way, he writes so passionately, shows such agonized concern over the possibility that his readers will abandon Jesus, that I cannot help being reminded of Paul's words in Romans 9:1-2: ¹ I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

Therefore, my personal position is this: first, even if Paul wasn't the writer of Hebrews, someone closely associated with him and his way of thinking, someone who drank at the springs of Paul's teaching, was. Second, I'm convinced that, in this epistle, it just so happens we're confronting the climax of that crisis in the early church in which Paul played such a key role, the crisis Paul himself did address in Galatians and Romans. So for these two reasons, I consider Hebrews to be Paul's ultimate answer— at least the ultimate "Pauline" answer—to those Hebrew-Christians who dared attempt to obscure the Person of Christ by means of The Law.

Which brings us back to the beginning of the epistle, in which, I'm convinced, we come face to face with the very essence of what this whole crisis was all about right from the beginning. Those who placed the Law higher than Christ are the very ones who, when all was said and done, simply couldn't bring themselves to submit to the deity  of the eternal Son of God, the Lord  Jesus Christ. That's why the writer of Hebrews asserts at the very start the supremacy and transcendence of the very Person of the Son.

(Heb. 1:3-4) ³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. ⁴ So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

 If the Hebrews to whom this was written had only embraced this one single truth (as they should have) the crisis would never have happened, and there'd have been no need for this epistle. 
"...As much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs." "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me"…. This is both who Jesus is, and what God has done.

I said that, here at the beginning of the epistle, the writer specifically, intentionally, compares how God spoke to the nation in the past, i.e., through the prophets, and how He has spoken "to us" in these recent days, i.e., through His Son.  The former was God's act, and the latter was God's act. We are talking about God's choice here, the prerogative and acts of the Almighty. It's God who has spoken to us through His Son, God who has made him heir of all things, God who created all worlds and ages through Him. If God has chosen to act through His Son this way, then who among human beings, who in the whole universe, will tell Him that He can't? If this is really God's act, right here on earth among us, manifested and accomplished for the world's redemption, who has the right to opt for a different scenario? 


"No-o-o, thanks, but I like the old way better; I'd prefer to stick with the Law. Thanks, really, but how 'bout you go on believing in Jesus if you want while I just listen to Moses and the prophets, okay?"

And who, precisely, has God offered that choice to? Nobody! In Moses' time, too, there were those in the nation who said, "No, thanks, we'll stay here in Egypt. Sure, it's hard sometimes, but we're used to it." Moses had to convince them that the Lord God "I AM" wasn't offering them a range of options; He was revealing the Way. And God's Way knows only one direction: forward.

Clearly, this epistle is written to those who thought they had "options" to choose from. They had tried the "Jesus option" and been disappointed. Why? I strongly suspect that among the Hebrew-Christians addressed by this epistle, there were those had been horribly offended when their so-called gospel was overwhelmingly rejected by the churches and their missionary work came to nothing. They believed in the supremacy of the Law so much that, when it became obvious there was no place in the Congregation of Messiah Yeshua—that is, the Church of Jesus Christ—for their "gospel", they opted to reject Jesus altogether, and they pressured the other Hebrew-Christians to do the same.

I can imagine their argument…. "Well, brother, take a look around you and see what's happening. You and I are nobodies now in this little 'society'. The Gentiles don't honor us or our Law, and dare to call themselves children of Abraham! And our brothers in the flesh, the people of our nation, spurn us because we confess the name of Jesus. Where in the world have we wound up, brother? Come on, let's go back, let's go home, to the prophets, the temple, the holy city, the Law. Our people will forgive us and take us back, and we'll start serving God the way we used to again. As for this so-called gospel of Jesus, well, it obviously hasn't worked out. We were wrong."

And to precisely those who are thinking like that, this epistle is written, to those who were on the verge of the most terrible decision a human being can make.

We don't have time here today to examine the whole epistle in detail. I would suggest that, when you go home, you try and read the whole book of Hebrews in one sitting. Keep fixed in your imagination the people the letter's written to: those who considered it a simple thing  to just change their minds and go back, as if Jesus had never even appeared on the scene. And look at what the writer, this servant and evangelist of Jesus Christ, has to say to them. I think you'll see the sense and power of this epistle in a whole new light.

In a whole new way, you'll appreciate what the writer is talking about when he says (2:1-4)

¹ We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, ³how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. ⁴ God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

God has acted. It's not up to you whether God has acted right. Your job is to submit. And speaking of submission:

(3:5-6) ⁵ “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,”bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. ⁶ But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

This is the "surpassingness", the transcendence, the supremacy of Christ. How can you go back to Moses, and think you're embracing Moses, when you're rejecting the Master of the house in which Moses serves? You're totally deceiving yourselves! Consider what it means to turn away from Christ….

(3:12-14) ¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

To fall away from Christ is one and the same as falling away from the living God. Think about that, and what it says about Christ.

(4:1) ¹ Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

God's way is only forward, never back. There is no going back. Entering the rest that God offers, the fulfillment of His promise, is possible only by embracing what God has done. What He has done, what He has accomplished, is communicated in its full perfection in the Person of Jesus Christ.  

And it is about precisely that "communication" that the writer says the following: 

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (4:12)

I hope that, in light of all we've said so far, in light of the concrete, historical context, you have a better feeling for what the term "word of God"  means here. This is not simply the Bible. Rather, it's precisely what the epistle's first readers were preparing to reject. It's the "word", the "news", the "message" of what God has now done. Again, this "word" is not simply the Bible; it's the very fact itself of the historical manifestation of Jesus Christ and what God did by him. This feat, this revelation, this message, the whole redeeming power of his death and resurrection, all of this is contained in the phrase, "the word of God". This is the same thing Paul talks about in Romans 1:16-17:

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. ¹⁷ For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Precisely this word, this message, this manifested salvation is now the whole criterion by which the whole world is either justified or condemned.

¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:17-18)

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.  (Acts 4:12)

Yet the first readers of Hebrews thought they could just change their minds and forget about Jesus. That's chilling.

Nevertheless, the writer hopes for better. He tells them:

⁹ Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. ¹⁰ God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹ We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. (6:9-11).

And from the seventh to tenth chapters, the writer assiduously demonstrates how the whole sense of the Old Testament revelation is ultimately realized by Christ. Melchizedek, the king of peace, the king of righteousness, whom Abraham, and in him all Israel, worshipped—this is Christ; the High Priest, not in an earthly temple erected by man, but the eternal intercessor in the true tabernacle made by God Himself—this is Christ; the very blood that enters the heavenly Holy of Holies, once and for all, in perfect sacrifice for sins—this is Jesus Christ.

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God,²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (10:19-23)

With love, but also categorically, the writer warns them:

³² Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. ³³Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. ³⁴ You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. ³⁵ So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.  (10:32-36).

It's not too late yet, but they have to make the right, necessary choice. They have to hold on to the faith that the whole 11^th chapter talks about. And this whole chapter tells us yet again about how God's plan, always, unceasingly, unstoppably, goes forward. There simply is no way back.

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.(12:1-2)

God will never bring us back to what has already passed, not to the temple Solomon built, not to the mountain where Moses met Him. No.

²² But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. ²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? (12:22-25)

And with these words of encouragement, warning, hope and deep love, the writer brings his letter to a close. Those who agonize over becoming "nobodies" in the Church, those whose "gospel of Law" has been rejected, who are offended at not predominating by right of blood and heritage, who feel like they've been cheated out of their proper due, to those the writer says:

¹¹ The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹² And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. ¹³ Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. ¹⁴ For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. (13:11-14)


In the final, loving, hopeful words of the epistle, the writer again does what he did at the beginning: he exalts the Person of Christ, God's supreme authority and the consummate covenant of redemption in Jesus' death and resurrection. Which is what the whole crisis was about from the beginning. And it's what the whole crisis of man and his relationship to God is all about today: will I acknowledge who God is and what He has done for me? Who God is-- that's Christ; and what He has done for me-- that's Christ.    

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (13:20-21)