Community Compass

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:13-16

In Hebrews 11, we find that many were looking for a place far better place than this world. They were looking for a “city whose builder and maker is God.” Can you imagine ? Think of their trust in the fact that the world, as they knew it, was not their home. Their faith caused them to obey God even when it was difficult – even when it cost them greatly. They firmly grasped the reality of heaven (see 11:1) and acted in obedient submission to God. It was not their obedient works that secured heaven for them, it was their faith in the Lord.

We live in a hard world. Even America, the Land of freedom, opportunity and prosperity, is filled with sin, sorrow and suffering. Yet, if we know Christ, we are aliens to this world. Our home is heaven. Fix your eyes on it, believe it and keep busy for Christ. We are not done with our work. Keep looking forward to the day when your home, but keep your “hand to the plow.”

If you are not sure that heaven is your home, you can be sure. 1 John 5:13 states:

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

How can you trust Christ? 1. Admit to him that you are a lost sinner in need of forgiveness and you cannot save yourself from His punishment . 2. Believe (trust) that Christ died for YOU PERSONALLY. Trust nothing else like good works, baptism, etc. 3. Call on Him to be your Savior. Invite Him to be the Lord of your life.

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 gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Hebrews 4:1-2

In Hebrews chapter 3, the writer used the wandering people of Israel as an illustration of unbelief (3:16-19). He warns the readers not to be like the murmuring crowd that was lead by Moses. They were being lead to the Promised Land. Finally, they were going to have a country that they could call their own- a place of rest.

You would think they would be excited. They were – for a short time. The journey started off Okay, but as the Lord tested them with trials and they chafed and complained and rebelled. All of their lamenting and whining was nothing more than evidence of a hardened heart of unbelief (Hebrews 3:7-11 quotes Psalm 95:7-11). They didn’t enter into God’s rest for them.

Similarly, God has a “rest” for those who believe. It is a place of acceptance and favor. It is the place where we cease from our own works and trust in Him to save us. Yet, unbelief is what keeps people from this blessed state of rest.

In our text (4:1-2), the writer of Hebrews inspired by the Holy Spirit, warns people who, seemingly are on the verge of God’s rest, to be very careful to believe the message of the Gospel of Christ. He points out that the wandering Israelites had the message of God’s Word preached to them, but they wouldn’t believe . By pointing out that they didn’t believe, he shows us that they were not saved from their undesirable fate.

In the same way, the Gospel of Christ is given for us, not merely to know, but to trust. Do you trust that you are the sinner for whom Christ died and that you are not worthy of His deliverance? Have you placed your faith in nothing but Christ’s death on the Cross for your sinfulness? Will you let go of trusting in yourself (good works, baptism, church membership) and simply trust Christ to forgive you and make you new? If so, trust Him now. Don’t wait. You must respond to God’s call of rest. Invite Him to be your Savior. Ask Him to forgive you and make you new. Turn your life over to Him.

Believer, we act so much like those who don’t believe. If you look at when Christ was most aggravated with His disciples, you will find that it was when they didn’t trust Him. God’s word is not enough just to know, you must believe it with your mind and heart. That will translate to action. You must respond to God’s call of obedience.

God gave us His Word… we must respond.

A Civil War soldier, who had lost his bayonet, whittled one from wood so that he could pass inspection. He hoped he would not be discovered until the regiment had gone into battle, where he planned to pick one up from a dead soldier.

At inspection, an officer asked to see his bayonet. The soldier stated, “Sir, I promised my father I would not unsheathe my bayonet unless I intended to kill someone with it.”

The Officer insisted that the soldier hand over the bayonet.

Taking it out, the soldier looked skyward and said, “May the Lord change my bayonet to wood for breaking my vow.”

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*
http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

Link is here. This is not an endorsement, it is for your information.

 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great 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 gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.  Hebrews 2:1-4

It’s too easy to let New Year’s resolutions come and go.  To resolve to go on a diet, can easily be demolished at one meal.  Then once we are demoralized with our failure, we just give up.   The consequences of giving up are not very pleasant.  We pay a high price for our neglect and ignoring our resolve.

Though we may have to live with (or die by) the consequences of our neglect here on earth, there is one area of neglect that will have eternal consequences: Salvation.  The writer to the Hebrews urges his readers to not think lightly of, nor neglect, salvation through Christ.  He asks the question “How shall we escape, if we ignore such a great salvation?”

Sadly, too many people try to ignore the state of their condition before God. If someone brings  up anything about Christ, immediately they are subject to dirty looks, arguments or a change of subject by those who don’t want to hear.  The truth is that we won’t escape God’s notice of our sinfulness. We won’t escape His eternal judgment of our sinfulness. Proverbs 5:21 states  For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD,
And He ponders all his paths (NKJV).

You can be spared His judgment by letting Christ forgive you of your sins.  How?  Realize your sinfulness before God.   “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  That means you.  Your sin deserves punishment by a holy God “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a)  You cannot earn your own salvation.  Next, trust that Christ Died for you personally.  God put your sin on him when He was on the cross.  He took your punishment that you deserved.   Then He rose from the dead after three days.  Now He wants to save you and forgive you. Stop trusting in being a good person or going to church.  It is by his grace that we are saved. Nothing more. Nothing less.   Ask Him to forgive you and make you His Child.  He will.

You can try to ignore Him, but, mark it down, He will not ignore you.

So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.  5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,  “You are my Son;
today I have become your Father”?  Or again,  “I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”?  6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,  “Let all God’s angels worship him.”    7 In speaking of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,  his servants flames of fire.”    Hebrews 1:4-7

It’s hard to imagine the ability of the beings we know as angels (messengers).  Throughout the Bible God used them to do powerful things such as kill armies, slay the firstborn of nations, deliver the nation of Israel from being wiped out,  deliver  strong messages for God.   They are innumerable (Hebrews 12:22), and they (the good angels) constantly do the will of God (note verse 7 also Psalm 103:20)

These there are several types of these amazing creatures.  The Seraphim stand in the Presence of God.  They are the six-winged creatures who are engaged in worship around the Throne of God seen by Isaiah.  The Cherubim seem to be the guardians of God’s things.  They guarded the Garden of Eden,  The images of the Cherubim were carved out of gold and placed upon the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle/Temple of the Old Testament as if they were “watching over” the Ark.  Representations of these angels were also found embroidered on the curtains of the veil of the temple (Exodus 26:31).  There are other created beings listed.

What beautiful and powerful beings these angels must be.  It’s mystifying isn’t it?  Some people even have worshiped angels, but God expressly forbids it (Colossians 2:18).  Why? Because of our text.  Christ is supremely superior to them.

1.  He is the declared Son of God (v. 5 – see Psalm 2:7).  He is eternally the Son of God. He is unique (John 3:16 – only Begotten) Son of God who had no beginning nor end (John 1:1)

2. He is worthy of the worship of angels (v.6) because they are HIS angels and He is overt them (1 Peter 3:22).

The humble Jesus Who walked our turf,  is the Lord of Heaven. He is worthy to be worshiped by us,  obeyed by us, loved by us.  Do you know Him?  Do you worship and obey him?  Do you love Him?  If you answered “Yes” to these questions, then HOW do you do it?  Think about it.  If angels obey, love and worship him?  Shouldn’t we?

In the past God spoke to our forefathers 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 he made the universe. 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.   Hebrews 1:1-3

Every so often we hear in the news something like a person who found a tear in their living room couch that looks like Jesus or Mary.  One grilled cheese with “the virgin Mary’s image on it” was sold to a casino for $28,000!  I’m sure that some people just think that it is neat to have such a sandwich, but others believe that somehow God (or Mary) is talking to us by means of a sandwich (or whatever!)

Other people assume that God speaks through dreams and revelations today in addition to the Bible.  So how has God spoken to us?  While God did speak through the prophets in times past (v.1) , our passage says that God spoke to us in these last times  by means of a Son — Jesus (v.2).

Think of the privilege that we have to live in this time so that we can see God’s prophecy fulfilled through Jesus Christ.  Is Jesus just a person like us or is He different or unique?  Note the passage

1.  He is the Heir of all things – He owns everything in existence (2)

2   He is the Creator of all things. Through Jesus, God created everything that exists — visible and invisible (2)  John 1:1-3

3.  He is the exact representation of  the Father – meaning He is equal to the Father (3)    He is like the ray of the Sun in relationship to the Sun meaning He shares the same nature as God.  He is the carbon copy of God.  He is the die cast of the Father.  He is so because He is God, very God and man, very man.

4.  He is the upholder of the universe.  By his command, all things hold together.  He is the force which keeps the universe, seen and unseen, coherent.

5.  He is the Savior – He Himself (no one else could do it)  purged (cleansed) our sins by His own blood.  He died so that our sin could be forgiven and so we could be reconciled to God.

6.  He is the victor – After accomplishing His work on the Cross,  He ascended and is in heaven today!  Hallelujah!  What a Savior.

God has spoken to us through Christ.  It is only through Him that we can know God.  He is the One Who died, rose again, and is coming back again!  Has he spoken to you?  Do you know Him?

A minister in a little church had been having trouble with the collections.

One Sunday he announced, “Now, before we pass the collection plate, I would like to request that the person who stole the chickens from Brother Martin’s henhouse please refrain from giving any money to the Lord. The Lord doesn’t want money from a thief!”

The collection plate was passed around, and for the first time in months everybody gave.

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*  http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

Link is Here

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NKJV)

As missionaries, Paul and His team went into some hostile areas in order to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse two in this chapter mentions that they were shamefully treated in Philippi (see Acts 16:19-24) and even in Thessalonica, Paul and his team were persecuted (Acts 17:1-9). How could they keep going?

1. They knew it was God’s message to proclaim, not theirs – they were entrusted with the Gospel of Christ

2. They felt it was a privilege to proclaim – God entrusted them with it. To entrust something to someone is to have confidence in them. What a privilege that God trusts us with his message!

3 They had been tested by God and found worthy – they were approved by God. Since was not their message, they needed to be checked out and tested. Adversity does that. Do we love the message enough to endure the persecution that goes along with it?

4. They wanted to please God and not man – Only eternity will reveal for whom we lived. Did we live for ourselves or for God? It has been estimated that only two percent of Christians share their faith with others on a regular basis. Do you?

You might say that it was Paul’s job to tell others because he was a missionary. After all, isn’t that what missionaries do? Note verse 14. The Thessalonian church was receiving persecution for sharing their faith.

For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, (NKJV)

Are you sharing your faith?

Do you know Christ? You can. Go to www.clarkstonfirst.com and click on “Question” to leave me a question. I’d be happy to write to you how you can KNOW that your sins are forgiven.