Wednesday, May 13, 2020

"Let us hold fast..." - Hebrews 10:23-25 (Darby)

One of the things we have to be protective of is our confession that Jesus is Lord of all! 

The writer of Hebrews is making a strong point in today's verse that we must hold fast to that confession like glue, not only because we have the potential to be weak, but because we have an enemy who possesses a powerful glue remover.
  
“We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.” 
Romans 10:10-11 (NCV)

The enemy uses our minds to work against us to try and convince us that Jesus will not perform, nor will He be there for us when we need Him the most. That has always been the enemy’s tactic to cast doubt so that we are overcome by worry and fear. 

It takes minimal effort for the enemy to make us turn our focus away from Jesus and draw our attention on everything else but our confession of hope. 

It is when we see our circumstances before us, which seem daunting or unsurmountable that our profession of “Jesus is Lord of all” builds us up to recognize that we serve the God of the impossible, and He can do anything.

Those of us who have been Christians for more than fifteen minutes realize that our confession means everything.

“My dear friends, you have always obeyed God when I was with you. It is even more important that you obey now while I am away from you. Keep on working to complete your salvation with fear and trembling…” 
Philippians 2:12 (NCV)

Paul tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (not because we need to be afraid or fearful of God), this is a reverential fear (respect) that is due God for who He is. 

The Greek word trómos is translated “trembling,” it has an interesting definition - “it is used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his own ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfill his duty.”  It describes the utmost reverence and respect for God. It also realizes at the same time that we do not have within us the capacity to meet all the requirements that God demands, so we lean heavily upon Jesus to be what we cannot be, upright in God’s eyes. Paul says this in the next verse:

“…because God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases him.” 
Philippians 2:13 (NCV)

Paul is saying In the verse above that God is the one that gives you the desire and means to do what pleases Him; we present our bodies as an empty vessel, and then He fills it with Himself. If it were about us just attempting to please God on our own, we would never measure up to what He requires on our own without Jesus. 

One thing that does pleases God is us preferring one another, which means we always look for God’s best in each other. If we can be an encouragement to someone else, we fulfill the purposes of God to demonstrate love and affection to one another, which can, in turn, rub off on others and encourage them to do the same things to more people with whom they come in contact with. It can be passed on to others.

The ‘good works’ that Paul mentions comes from this love and affection that God puts in our hearts for one another, not just something we think up and do on our own. Like I said earlier: "God gives us the desire and the means to accomplish what pleases Him."

“So, brothers and sisters, what should you do? When you meet together, one person has a song, and another has a teaching. Another has a new truth from God. Another speaks in a different language, and another person interprets that language. The purpose of all these things should be to help the church grow strong.” 
Corinthians 14:26 (NCV)

When it comes to us meeting up together, it has become a hotbed of controversy, with social distancing being the current norm in our society. Paul saw meeting together of most importance to make room for the Holy Spirit to minister to us through the gifts God has given us. 

The purpose is to mature and grow the Church body to become more dependent upon Jesus through the lives of our fellow believers. No one person has everything they need to become fully developed in Christ apart from other brothers and sisters of faith. The Lord has designed His body to become interdependent to create the mature body of Christ; each person is an essential part of that body to make up the whole.

So whether meeting together is through physical meetings, letters, phone calls, or zoom meetings, it is about sharing your portion of Christ that we may grow up together into the fullness of Christ, we can’t do it without each other.

“When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by everyone, like lightning flashing from the east to the west.” 
Matthew 24:27 (NCV)

The day of the Lord's return is rapidly approaching, so we must continue to communicate with one another and share our portion of Christ so that we are all are hearing what the Lord is saying to each of us individually and corporately.    

One of the things I have been sensing recently is there is a sound from heaven that previously could only be heard in heaven and is now beginning to be heard among God’s people. It is a sound of praise beyond anything that we have yet experienced, for it is the victory sound of the lamb of God Himself. 

It is a sound that can be sung and carried on the voices of believers who hear these sounds from heaven. It is a song that resonates in the spirit of those who hear it; it declares that our Lord is coming and is even at the door.

“Then I heard a sound from heaven like the noise of raging water and the noise of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like the music played by harpists. They were singing a new song in front of the throne, the four living creatures, and the leaders. Only the 144,000 people who had been bought on earth could learn the song.” 
Revelation 14:2-3 (GW)

I find it exciting to know that this is the song of the redeemed, and all who know the sounds of heaven will usher in the kingdom age with their songs from heaven.  

We need to gather together and share our hearts and our songs.

Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett

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