BELEAGUERED BOOK: BENIGN OR BECKONING
#494 BELEAGUERED BOOK: BENIGN OR BECKONING
Scripture Hebrews 3:7-19; 4:1-2, NIV Orig. 5/5/1968
Rewr. 1/4/1991
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Passage: Hebrews 3:7-19 7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”[a]
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. 15 As has just been said:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”[b]
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
Hebrews 4:1-2 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. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.[a]
Purpose: To share a word with my people encouraging them about the place of God’s Word in our lives for this new year.
Keywords: Bible Word of God Truth
Timeline/Series: New Year, Other
Introduction
In a final word relative to the just passed Christmas season, Martin Luther, in his writings, attributed to the Bible an additional title of “Manger of Christ.” In fact, the reformer stated that in the very same way that the shepherds and wisemen encountered God’s incarnate Word, His living, expressive Word, so are we to do. They journeyed to a Bethlehem stable to see the baby Jesus, but if they saw the incarnate Word, they did so through the eyes of faith.
Luther says so can we encounter this incarnate Word. The difference by his definition was that they (shepherds and wise men), encountered the Word upon a “manger of straw.” We encounter Him in a manger of paper and print that is called The Holy Bible.
The Bible is one of three things to every American today. Either, it is to be believed as the Word of God, or, it is a book of myth and is subject to disbelief, even ridicule.
I suppose it boils down to one simple question: When was the last time you opened the Bible for the Word of God to speak to you about the way you are living your life? If we are serious about our faith, we are committed to this Word regularly addressing the way we live our lives. We are not talking about the Daily Bible Reading here, we are talking about the impact of the revealed word upon the way we live. So, our text teaches us.
I. The Message of the Bible is First [a Confirmation] of Sin. V12, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”
It has been man’s most definitive struggle. Many have changed from the creation myth to the evolution myth to get away from the Adam myth. Myth, by the way, does not mean untruth, it means unproven, what is legendary. The Psalmist reminds us that there is no escape. Psalm 53:2 “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back, . . . there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” The cry of the prophets has been the same in every age. Isaiah 59:2, “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God.”
The New Testament defines this struggle in relation to Jesus. John 1:10, “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.” John 3:19, “This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light.” This verse expresses our contempt. We choose to say “better than light,” as if we enjoyed a polarity of good and evil. We do not walk a line between good and evil. Without God’s intervention, the very best we can do is evil, sin.
II. The Bible then Brings Us to the Declaration of Personal Guilt. V13, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
Clearly, it was the primal struggle as presented throughout the Old Testament. The Bible is the gradual unveiling of divine mysteries to carnal minds. For early man, so much was beyond him that gods were necessary, even those of his own making. For contemporary man, so much is beneath us, that these derived gods only complicate our lives.
I listened to debate about AIDS research. Why?? More is spent on this because of the homosexual lobby. Other needs more pressing. AIDS can be cleared up in one generation by obedience to God’s laws, standards, about human sexuality.
The word for evil, v12, is the origin of our pornography. It derives from the noun, ponos, meaning labor, pain, sorrow.
We are impelled in this struggle with personal guilt to help one-another. Interestingly, the word “exhort” is used. Exhorting to many of us is preaching. And, we don’t want to be preached to. We want to be consoled, not confronted. Some of you are in such a position of trust with others that you can exhort. It’s to share positive faith. It’s to call to mind a choice not taken. This is the verb form of the word designation given by Jesus to the Holy Spirit. John 14:16, “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.”
It is imperative that we take the Bible message seriously. Sin is more than a humanity thing, it is a people thing, a personal thing. I am to let it speak to me about my life. I am to be willing to let others draw from me wisdom if they will. [Overheard]: Customer “Why are you wearing that large cross?” Carhop “You think it’s pretty?” Customer: “Do you know what it means?” Carhop: “Well, no!” Customer: “2,000 years ago a man named Jesus died.” Carhop: “Huh! . . . I saw it and I liked it!”
III. The Bible Affirms Forgiveness as a Human Right. V7, “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
To whatever degree we have rebelled, repentance is an option. Not a derived right of time, place, position. A delegated right of mercy. To whatever degree we turn, exactly in that same degree we must return. The prodigal went to the far country, it was from the far country he turned. It was to his fishing that Simon went after crucifixion, from it he turned. What ever it is that we have taken up to leave Christ behind, we must put away.
A girl of about nine with small brother boarded a bus. “Two tickets to Hamilton and two to come back,” she said. The driver bantered, “So, you want to come back?” “Yes,” she said, “we want to come back!” “Then, why are you going away?” he asked as he punched her ticket.
Most of us want to come back, but many never make it.
We cannot read this book without that affirmation of forgiveness ringing out of every distress. I don’t remember whether it was Charlie Brown or Linus. It probably wasn’t Lucy. “We were singing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ when all of a sudden it hit me, Jesus loves ME, completely worthless ol’ me.”
IV. We Come Finally, then, to the Verification of Personal Salvation. V14, “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end . . . . Today . . . harden not your hearts.”
The difference in the lives of people in this room is at the point of personal faith. For Charlie Brown? The sudden discovery. The realization that we have left behind what is most important. We want it back.
Luther’s realization that he was holding in his hands the certification of the very BEING of God. Sure, it can be abused. The chances are far greater, that the real abuse comes in dispelling this book. Take it seriously, for a change. Read chapters 3 and 4 [of Hebrews] daily. Meditate an hour every Saturday or Sunday.
This book wants us to know that we can be at peace with God. If it doesn’t do that for you, find out why. If it does, share it with others: exhort.
Conclusion
The poet, John Masefield, does some exhorting in the poem, The Everlasting Mercy, about a simple Quaker girl who brings the gospel into a pub and shares it with a drunken poacher named Saul Kane. Masefield describes what next takes place in Kane’s new world. “O glory of the lighted mind. How dead I’d been, how dumb, how blind. The station brook to my new eyes, Was bubbling out of paradise; The waters rushing from the rain Were singing Christ is risen again. I thought all earthly creatures knelt From rapture of the joy I felt.”
Links:
Masefield: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/john_masefield/poems/15268.html
“YOU CAN IF . . .”
#752 “YOU CAN IF . . .”
(The Answer to the Question, “Can I Believe the Bible?”)
Scripture II Peter 1:19-21 NIV Orig. 8/17/1979
Passage:
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Purpose: To call my people to a high and holy awareness of the greatness of the Word of God, and to increase their awareness of its total truth.
Keywords: Belief Bible Word of God Redemption Christ
Introduction
It was 10 years ago this week. A killer storm raced ashore in southern Mississippi. Nearly 300 people were killed. Some 400 others were injured. The stories that broke out of the darkness of that night, and into the wire-services are legend. The combination of wind, water and darkness brought an unknown dimension of fear into the lives of the thousands who had chosen to stay and ride out the storm.
Unquestionably, sufficient warning had been given. The warning of land-fall, the intensity of raw power had been stated. Many people, however, felt that they had a hedge about their lives, and that the storm could not touch them. Some of them arrogantly planned, and invited their friends to, a so-called “Hurricane Party.” At least fifteen people lost their lives even though they had taken security inside the sanctuary of a church.
Many of those people listened carefully to all of the reports. They heard the forewarnings relative to land-fall and intensity. They allowed themselves, in blissful ignorance, to interpret the meanings of those storm warnings in any way they chose. Having interpreted wrongly, they suffered the ultimate indignity of a wasted life, a needless death.
The eternal God chose, through the pages of a book we call the “Bible” to give us the forewarnings of the dimension of the storms which occur when man tries unsuccessfully to live together in society. Many people continue to raise an age-old question, “Can I believe the Bible?” I would simply endeavor to answer that question this morning. “You can if!” And I would remind you at the outset that the Bible is not on trial here, we are. We can believe the Bible . . . if!
I. You Can Believe the Bible if You are Willing to Accept the Whole Bible. II Peter 1:21 “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The Bible is no Book of bits and pieces. It is a book of completeness. To deny any portion of it is to disclaim confidence in all of it. (Paul Harvey The Rest of the Story.)
The purpose of the Word has always been to heighten the intensity of man’s faith in God’s intent to make Himself known. It was a prayer that David prayed in Psalm 119:18. It was a prayer that his faith would not be chained in slavery to his doubt. “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of the law.” When I Peter 1:21 was written (“21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God”), there was no New Testament. In Luke 24 Jesus joined himself to those disciples on their way home to Emmaus. “We thought it would be he who would redeem Israel. But he was crucified. Even though those women went to the grave and found it empty.” Jesus replied, “You are so foolish. Why are you slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have said?”
Then, as God make Himself known, He determines to make His Word known. In a long ago dismal day, God’s people were under heavy siege in Jerusalem. The Babylonians were about. God’s principal prophet, Jeremiah, was in prison. Not at the hand of the Babylonians, but due to his own people. King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah. “Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jeremiah 37:17). Even then, there was a mandate from God. If they would believe, and if they would heed, the outcome would be different. They did not like Jeremiah’s message. They chose one more to their liking.
Voltaire wrote “God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.” God has given complete freedom, freedom to deny, to dispel, to disclaim. Jeremiah 34:17 “So now, I, the Lord, say that you have disobeyed me. . . . Very well then, I will give you freedom: the freedom to die by war, disease, and starvation.”
II. You Can Believe the Bible if You Are Willing to Accept it as a Book about God’s Redemption. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”
This is not principally a book of history. Certainly, it contains history. It is accurate history. It is interesting history. It is unbiased history. But [it is] a great deal more than history. Its purpose is not primarily philosophical, though it contains the highest ideals, the principal virtues, supreme social consciousness. It is not a manual of grammar, a textbook on sociology. It does not stand as a proof-text on the biology of creation, or the pathology of man.
It is the story of God’s loving effort to redeem man. It is, then, from the very first, an admission of man’s sin and his lostness. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” But it is the great, good news that God has done something about that lostness, when man could do nothing.
Word of God, across the ages comes thy message to our life;
Source of hope forever present in our toil and fears and strife;
Constant witness to God’s mercy, still our grace whate’er befall;
Guide failing, strength eternal, offered freely to us all.
III. You Can Believe the Bible if You Believe that it Points from Old Testament or New Testament to Jesus. II Peter 2:1, The damnable heresies of those who deny “the Lord that bought them.”
The ultimate message of the Old Testament is that God is going to bring His Redeemer in to the focus of man’s understanding. Isaiah 11:10, And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. Hebrews 4:1, Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
The supreme revelation of the New Testament is that the Old Testament message is fulfilled in Christ. Galatians 3:16, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, “And to seeds,” as to many; but as of one, “And to thy seed,” which is Christ.
Story of man’s wondrous journey from the shadows of the night;
Garnered truth of sage and prophet, guiding forward into light;
Words and deed of Christ our Master, pointing to the life and way;
Still appealing, still inspiring, ‘mid the struggles of today.
IV. You Can Believe the Bible if You Remember to Love, Worship, and Obey God Rather than a Book. II Peter 1:4, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.
Believing the Bible is not our goal. Believing the promises of God is our goal. The Bible is the instrument through which we discover the capability of God to communicate with man on man’s own level.
In the tongues of all the peoples may the message bless and heal
As devout and patient scholars more and more its depths reveal.
Bless, O God, to wise and simple, all thy truth of ageless worth
Till all lands receive the witness and thy knowledge fills the earth.
Word of God, Across the Ages: https://www.hopepublishing.com/find-hymns-hw/hw3904.aspx