Tag: Hebrews

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“So that we may boldly say…” Hebrews 13:5-6

On By Ben JenningsIn Devotional2 Comments

5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Hebrews 13:5-6

Explanation:

Conversation here means “manner” or “disposition”.  It speaks to lifestyle which would include our words but does not exclude the way we act.  The preacher says that our manner should exclude covetousness.  Greed should not be a part of our lifestyle.  Rather than greed, or covetousness, our manner should be contentedness.  We should be satisfied with what God has given to us.

Look at the argument he makes for contentedness.  He quotes God the Father who said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  Why is this an argument for contentedness?

  1. We do not have to worry that we will not have enough, because God has promised to be with us.
  2. If we have the Lord, and find our satisfaction in Him, we have enough.  Stuff goes away.  Stuff will let us down, but God never will.

If this is our disposition, to depend on and lean on the Lord, we will be able to say two things.

  1. “The Lord is my helper.”  I don’t have to be merely self reliant.  I can be reliant on the Lord.  
  2. “I will not fear…”  We don’t have to be afraid of men.  Fear of man can be debilitating.  Greed makes us dependent on people, and people can harm us.  When we are dependent on God we know our destination.  We do not have to fear.

Application:

It seems as if fear of man showing up in our lives may be a signal that we are not depending on the Lord as we ought to do.  Our manner in that moment may be that we are not content.  In a culture where we have everything available to us, we should stop and ask ourselves the question “do I really need that?”.  It’s not wrong to have things, but it is wrong for things to “have” us.  Will we be content in our relationship with Jesus Christ?

Response:

Heavenly Father, It’s amazing what I can depend on beyond you.  I can find my hope in technology, my home, my car, my money.  Help my stuff not to have me.  Help me to be contented with what I have, and to find my contentment in you.  You are my helper.  Amen.

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Marriage is Honorable! Hebrews 13:4

On By Ben JenningsIn Devotional2 Comments

4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Hebrews 13:4

Explanation

Over the weekend I was able to perform a marriage between two people who are attending our church.   It was a beautiful thing.  Many things happened during the whole event- a rehearsal, a ceremony, and a reception.  Families and friends gathered, some as old friends, and others beginning life long relationships where they might share children and grandchildren.  The event was many things, but at its fundamental essence it was the bringing together of two lives into one in a covenant with each other.  There was the exchanging of vows:

I, [Groom], take you [Bride], to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.

There is also the exchanging of rings that sets forth the symbol of that covenant.

This ring is a token of my love for you. With this ring, I pledge my life and all I have to you. With this ring I thee wed.

Marriage is a covenantal.  It is by necessity a covenant between a man and a woman.  If it is a covenant between any other parties it is by definition no longer marriage.  Marriage is God’s idea.  He set it forth in the garden.  Read with me in Genesis 2:18.

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Genesis 2:18

The word “meet” is the word for “appropriate for”, or “compatible with”, and must needs be woman.  It takes a man and a woman to become one and reproduce.  This is the idea.  Look at how God revealed how he created woman and brought them together in Genesis 2:21-25

(21) And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; (22) And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. (23) And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 

Genesis 2:21-23

In Genesis 2 we are told that this is how God made woman for man and man for woman.  We are told the reason why- “It is not good that man should be alone.”

Genesis 2 also tells us what it means for us today.  The author goes from telling us what happened, to giving us explanation as to the fact that God’s decision in the garden with Adam and Eve is the foundation of what happens today in marriage.  With the first “therefore” in Genesis we are told this:

(24) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 

Genesis 2:24

Mom’s and Dad’s produce children.  They raise children.  Then the children are sent to find a help “meet” for them.  This is God’s plan.  This is the pattern He set up.  He created it.  He ordained it.  He calls it good.

In our passage today, the scripture says that  when it comes to marriage “the bed” is “undefiled”.   This means that sexual pleasure in the exclusive context of marriage between that man and that woman is God’s gift to the married couple.  This has a basis back in Genesis 2 as well.

(25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:25

There should be no shame in a man and a woman in covenant of marriage enjoying each other in the way God created.  God ordained and defined sexuality between a husband and a wife is a beautiful amazing thing.  It should be done in love, with the Husband thinking exclusively about His wife, and the wife considering her husband.  Mutual submission to each other in every way is the essence of marriage, and in this area is a beautiful gift of God.  There is no shame in it.

Conversely, there should be a shame in nakedness between people who are not married.  There are parts of our bodies that are reserved for our spouse.  They are not for everyone.  They are for our husband or our wife.  

Back to Hebrews, God promises something to “whoremongers and adulterers”.  People who trample on this intention about sexuality, not viewing it or treating it with the sacredness and exclusivity God intended, will be judged.  

God’s view of human sexuality is clear.  Marriage is the domain for sexual expression.  One man and one woman in covenant relationship for one lifetime is the definition of marriage.  It is a beautiful thing.

Application

The implications are clear and vast.

We should avoid anything that is sexual with anyone other than our spouse- our husband or wife.

We should give ourselves to our spouses emotionally, relationally and physically in selfless love.

We should define marriage the way God defines it, one man and one woman for a lifetime.

We should not let the culture define differently for us what God has already clearly defined.

We should flee fornication.  This includes every kind of sexual sin outside of marriage:

  • Lust
  • Pornography
  • Adultery
  • Co-habitation
  • Unbiblical Divorce and Remarriage
  • Homosexuality
  • Transgenderism
  • Beastiality
  • Polygamy 

There are people who say, “That stuff is all over the Bible, especially the Old Testament.”  The truth is that the Bible is often descriptive rather than prescriptive.  It is not describing what should happen, but rather what did happen.  In fact, when you see these things happening in the Old Testament,  you often see the pain and heartache that comes with doing things outside of the boundaries that God set.

Response

Lord, help me protect my eyes and my heart in this area of my sexual life.  Help me to have a heart, and a body exclusively for Megan and no one else. Help me to love you and serve you in this way.  Amen!

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Remember those in bonds. Hebrews 13:3

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Hebrews 13:3

Explanation

The connection between verse 2 and 3 is there. Being hospitable to those who need hospitality, especially because of persecution seemed to be an emphasis in verse 2. He has people two situations in mind.

People in Bonds and People in Adversity

In verse three we are reminded to remember those who are “in bonds”, meaning shackles. This speaks to people in prison, especially because of their faith. This would have included people like the apostle Paul. He related all of the persecution that he experienced in his letter to the Corintians.

21 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. 22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

2 Corinthians 11:21-28

How do we remember them? The preacher tells us- “as bound with them.” The idea is that we make it as prevelant an issue for us as it is for them. He speaks to the same with those in adversity- “as being yourselves also in the body”.

How would you pray if you were in chains? Intensely and constantly.

How would you pray if you were being persecuted? The same way.

This is how we should pray for them.

How would you seek relief in those situations? We would do everything we should and everything we could. This is the way we should help those in these situations.

Application

Here are three situations where these kinds of things happen in my experience today.

  1. Missionaries on foreign fields.
  2. People in our church who are experiencing health, relational, or financial challenges.

We are not yet in the place where there is prominent religious intolerance in the states that leads us to prison. That may yet come. 

It does happen prevalently all over the world. We must do what we can to help those in need.

Response

Lord, help me be open and caring when it comes to those in this kind of need. Give me the opportunity to help. Amen

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How did we get here? Hebrews 12:24

On By Ben JenningsIn Devotional4 Comments

24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that ofAbel.

Hebrews 12:24

Explanation:

We are not come to Mount Sinai, left with just the law and our condemnation by it. (Hebrews 12:18)

We are come to Mount Sion, to the festal celebration gathered together, and the church of the living God- Jesus Christ in heaven. (Hebrews 12:22-23)

How are we at this second mountain?

The preacher let’s us know how we have come to this incredibly joyous status! We are come by Jesus who is the mediator of a new covenant. The old covenant given to us at Mount Sinai was mediated by priests who shed the blood of bulls and goats. This could only point to the coming effective and permanent solution for our sin, and could not cover our sin itself. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin! 

The blood of Christ speaks better things than that of Abel. Abel’s blood cried from the ground for justice. The blood of Abel’s sacrifice was pleasing to God because of his obedient faith, but it had no atoning power. Christ’s blood alone can cleanse us from sin and brings alone redemption and forgiveness forever. 

Application:

I sure do like Mount Sion. What an incredible thing we will experience when we get to heaven with those innumerable angels, the saints of the Old Testament, and the assembly of saints from the church age. All of us will be there, not because of our works, but because of the work of Jesus Christ in keeping the law on our behalf, and dying the death that we deserved, shedding his blood for us to be cleansed.

  • We should believe in Christ alone.
  • We should be thankful to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the wonderful work of salvation.
  • We should tell everyone we can. Invite everyone to the feast! There is plenty!

Response:

  • Thank you Lord for the gift of your Son.
  • Thank you for the hope of an incredible future with you.
  • Help me to give this Gospel truth to someone today!