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HEBREWS CHAPTER 13 KJV WEB See previous page Heb 13,1-3 (95i) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having an obedient attitude >> Attitude of a servant – The Bible says we should minister to our fellow believers who were wrongly imprisoned. We can minister to criminals, but we need to be aware that there is a high rate of narcissists, sociopaths and psychopaths in their populations, who enjoy feigning an interest in God just to manipulate us for selfish entertainment purposes, making us think we are reaching them with the gospel when really we're not. Usually, all the minister will get for his trouble is deceived. One of their favorite things to do is fill the preacher with hope of winning a lost soul to the faith and then dousing his hopes with actions of unbelief. We never know who has a genuine interest in salvation, since the only reason they come to Bible study is to vacate their cell for an hour, yet converts are often made in prison, and it is good that people preach the gospel to them, being possible they have never heard about Jesus until they went to jail, but it is just as important to understand that the Bible does not advocate using prisons as a mission field. There are far more effective ministries with people who are far more open to the gospel than prisons. When the writer of Hebrews advocated visiting people in prison, he was talking about visiting our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, who are incarcerated because of their faith. See also: Visiting prisoners; Heb 13-3; 246b (124e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Acts of love >> Do to others as you would have them do to you Heb 13-1,2 (14o) Servant >> Ministry of helps >> Position of helpers is anointed – The setting of hospitality is usually in the home environment or at church. This is one of the few verses in the New Testament that speaks about strangers. Usually Scripture uses the word “brethren,” which is different from “neighbor”. Our neighbor is someone we may or may not know, whereas a brother depicts a fellow believer in Jesus. The writer of Hebrews is saying that we should not “neglect to show hospitality to strangers, because some have entertained angels without knowing it.” In other words, we should treat strangers as though they were angels. That doesn’t mean we should throw caution to the wind and help everyone, because people can be dangerous and some of us don’t have the means to help. For example, we should be a wary of pulling someone off the street and having him a guest at our house for a Bible study, since we don’t know anything about the person. Heb 13-1 (92m) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Walk it for the sake of your brother Heb 13-2 (15d) Servant >> Ministering spirits >> Angels perform certain duties – There is such a thing as angels masquerading as people (strangers), mixing with the crowd, and bumping into us either to test our response to them in their condition, downcast, poor, hungry, or else they come to our aid. We know that angels made appearances during times of the early church, but what about nowadays? Angels are attracted to faith and come to help in times of need; they’re servants. Angels don’t visit people who show no regard for the things of God (Mat 25-29). Where there is a concentration of faithful people, angels may visit, but when the worshippers dwindle, angelic visitations become extremely rare, such as in an age of apostasy. If we are not serving the Lord, how can we expect an angelic visitation? Yet, endtime revival is coming, and angels will be a part of it. Whether we know it or not, if we have blessed them, it guarantees a blessing from God. (175l) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Lack of knowledge (215j) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> Suddenly >> The Kingdom of Heaven appears suddenly >> Angels appear without warning – According to this verse, angels occasionally visit us incognito to see how we will treat them, to help us in our dire circumstances and to encourage us in the faith. Angels have taken human form, making it impossible to discern who is an angel and who isn’t, so we should treat everyone with kindness just in case we cross paths with an angel. This is not a common occurrence, but it does happen, and how embarrassed would we be in heaven to discover that we treated an angel contemptuously? Whether we are ministering to angels or man, God has promised a blessing to those who are kind to strangers and to their fellow neighbor. (235g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Hospitality (providing a temporary home) >> Being a good host Heb 13-3 (131c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Brother depends on you >> To care for his needs (134d) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Composition of our bodies is from the earth >> We are physically subject to this natural realm (238i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachers "remind" their students >> Prevention against forgetting -- This verse goes with verse 7 (246b) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Literal bondage to Christ – There are many prison ministries where people go to criminals who are incarcerated, and they try to minister to them and get them saved, which is noble, but it’s not very fruitful, because it is not biblical. Interpreting this passage in its true context, the writer of Hebrews is writing about coming to the aid of our brothers and sisters in the Lord who are suffering in prison because of their faith. This passage is not encouraging us to develop a prison ministry for criminals. On the positive side, prisoners are bored; they might enjoy visitors; they have nothing better to do; they are not going anywhere, and they are they too busy to talk to us, and since it promises a little extra time from their jail cell, they might as well participate in a Bible study. On the negative side, this muddies their motive for attending Bible study. We talk to them until we are blue in the face, and when they are released, they go right back to what they were doing before they went to prison. The fruitfulness of a prison ministry among criminals is minimal, but a prison ministry among persecuted saints is both fruitful and biblical. We have an obligation to visit the saints imprisoned for their faith, and it is guaranteed to produce much fruit. See also: Visiting prisoners; Heb 13,1-3; 95i KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 13-4 (3d) Responsibility >> To the Family >> Marriage >> Advocating marriage (11d) Servant >> The law is our standard of conduct (48a) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment >> Consequences for sin (51f) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> God warns the immoral man (73h) Authority >> Respect authority in the family >> Respect the institution of marriage – Whether married or single, marriage is to be held in honor among all. Single people tend to get lonely, and their sexual desire is unfulfilled; married people can get lonely too, and sometimes they are not sexually fulfilled either, yet when two people love each other, they can usually find a way to make every aspect of their marriage work. (102g) Thy kingdom come >> Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Trustworthy >> Faithfulness (105e) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart >> Abstain from wickedness – The marriage bed can only be defiled by adultery, having sex with someone besides the spouse. Fornication pertains to the unmarried immoral person. According to 1Cor 6-18, all forms of sexual immorality are sins of a special class, one that directly defiles the flesh. All other sins are considered outside the body, “but the immoral man sins against his own body.” The writer of Hebrews is also saying that there is no law against the marriage bed except adultery, meaning there is no sexual activity they do together that is out of bounds, so long as they both consent. (135a) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Sexual perversion >> A mixed bag of impurities – To defile the marriage bed is to invite a stranger into it, but if we remain faithful to our spouse, whatever we do in bed is our business. God has no complaints, so long as it is consensual and it does not risk each other’s health and life. Other than that, there are no limits to sexual exploration between two heterosexual married couples. Heb 13-5,6 (21m) Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >> The love of money – The person who serves the Lord with all his heart can be kicked to the curb, and he will continue serving the Lord. Compare him to the person who has not made the Lord his provider; he is in store for some big changes that will negatively impact his life. Some people go as far as to commit suicide when their money dries-up, because it is traumatic to have looked upon the lowly with contempt and then to become lowly themselves. Those who consider themselves wealthy by the world's standard would rather have a disease and die a painful death than to lose their money, because they define their self-worth based on their possessions. (24d) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Pursuit of happiness creates anxiety (78k) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Conform to the word of God (96m) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about sin >> Having an attitude of greed (120j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Contentment >> Content with your standard of living >> Content with the means God gives you – Pursuing the almighty dollar instead of God does not guarantee we will have enough to live, but it does guarantee we will not serve Him as we should. If we made as much money as we thought we needed, we still wouldn’t serve the Lord, because the love of money contradicts the love of God. How can we say that God is our provider when it is not even in His will that we should live an extravagant lifestyle? Are we trusting in God while pursuing the almighty dollar? Is money really sustaining us and not God? Contentment is a shortcut to meeting our needs; all we have to do is come to the realization that we don’t need a lot of junk in our lives, and suddenly life becomes more manageable. If we trust God, we must trust Him on His terms. He promises to meet our needs, but not necessarily with all the bells and whistles attached. God promises to meet our needs through contentment. If we want God to be our provider, then we must come to personally know Him, which has always been His goal. Being our provider is one opportunity for Him to know us a little better, in that if our needs become an issue it causes us to seek Him. Just when the world is about to come down on our heads because our needs are not met, the Bible says, “What can man do to me?” That doesn’t mean the hammer will not fall; rather, it means when it does, it will have minimal impact on our lives. God is the one who is impacting us, not the world, for the more we allow God to influence us, the less others can. (141i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> Old Testament is for our instruction >> Teaching from the Old Testament (238g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> Jesus will never leave us (249b) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> True perception of wealth >> Do not trust the carnal perception of wealth >> Do not pursue wealth Heb 13-6 (122d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in God to keep you KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 13-7 (12a) Servant >> Examples of God’s people >> Good examples – This verse speaks of the indispensable service of mentors, who are benefited just as much by their own ministries as they benefit those the mentor, in that new converts remind them of their own fledgling faith that began so many years earlier. New converts should be discipled by someone who is experienced in the trenches of Christianity, who will come alongside and teach them about their newfound faith and encourage them to continue following Jesus, helping them on their feet and become established in the faith, rooted in the principles of the Kingdom of God and in their understanding of the Scriptures, guiding them to set proper priorities and values and teaching them the importance of becoming students of God's word and disciples of prayer, resulting in a relationship with Jesus. A mentor could be a pastor, but usually pastors are too busy to be a personal mentor. Every soul-winning church should prepare several mentors who can develop meaningful relationships with recent converts, introducing them to other faithful believers, creating positive experiences and warm memories with the brethren that will continue in eternity. Appreciation on both sides grows as they grow together in the Lord. The mentor intimates many experiences he has had as a Christian, telling his student what to expect and what to avoid. This has an immeasurably positive outcome, giving new converts personal attention, for no one knows what abuse they suffered in the world before Christ snagged them from the tumultuous waters they braved before they believed. Circumstances change; we develop relationships, and over time people grow apart, but the spiritual blessings that we have imparted and that we received from others remain forever. If we don’t have a good example in the person who first spoke the word of God to us, then we should lean on the examples of the Bible, which is rich in stories of faith by the founders of Christianity (Hebrews chapter 11), namely Jesus Himself and Abraham, who is the father of our faith, and many others who gave their lives for the things they believed, so we would not grow weary and lose hope. See also: Mentor; 93h (72c) Authority >> Transferring authority >> Men delegate authority by obeying the word (86c) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Repentance is the result of the resurrection (93h) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Through the leadership of men – In the early days of our Christian faith we were easily influenced by the word of God, and our mentor (if we had one) had an indelible impact on our lives. To our mentor, our newness of faith was precious and exciting, bringing their joy fuller into focus in the hope of eternal life. They clarified the gospel through their example, blessing us with their knowledge and experiences with God. Hopefully we too will become mentors to those who follow in our footsteps and shine extra bright for them, as we rejoice in the novelty of their faith, who have been given a new pair of eyes from the Lord, though needing a little help interpreting what they see. See also: Mentor; 12a (128i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Living a fruitful life >> Be fruitful and multiply >> Growing spiritually (149g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Preaching the word to the world >> Sowing the seed (150j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Speak the word >> Preaching the word to the Church (227b) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> God rewards us for obeying Him >> Rewarded for doing good (238i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachers "remind" their students >> Prevention against forgetting -- This verse goes with verse 3 Heb 13-8 (11e) Servant >> Jesus is our standard (43g) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Perfect (mature) >> Flawless – “For I, the LORD , do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3-6). The reason God does not change is that He cannot get better. He is like Fonzy on “Happy Days” (a TV sitcom from the 1970’s), who goes to comb his hair, looks in the mirror, sees he cannot improve his appearance and returns his comb to his pocket. Jesus is already perfect beyond man’s comprehension, and to understand the value He places on His own perfection is just as incomprehensible. God created a hell because of His perfection, for He cannot tolerate imperfection. He created man perfect, and He made us to live with Him. Man made himself imperfect, and now that we have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, we should not accept imperfection in ourselves, and though we cannot be perfect like God in this life, a day is coming when God will make us perfect as He is perfect. (94c) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective on this life >> This life is temporary (205a) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> God never changes – This verse is used in many ways and comes into play in various contexts, all to say that Jesus Christ never changes. He is always the same; He never changes His mind; He never comes into new and better truth like we do. Jesus Christ is God, who is the fullness of maturity in all things. There is no room for Him to learn and grow, yet Heb 5-8,9 says this: "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation." He fills the universe with His glory, being satisfied and happy watching us learn and grow. (214b) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God’s timing transcends our comprehension >> God’s time does not make sense to the natural mind – Jesus was the same in eternity past; He is the same today, and He will forever remain the same. This verse speaks of Jesus’ deity as an eternal Spirit in reference to “forever”. For this verse to be balanced, past, present and future must be equal lengths, with "today" being a single point on a sliding continuum. That is, we will forever experience every moment "today", and it will continually follow us. (253b) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the external qualities of the Father >> Son is infinite and eternal like the Father KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 13-9 (9d) Weaknesses strengthened (Key verse) (9f) Responsibility >> God strengthens us through our weaknesses – The teaching of how God strengthens us is a major trouble spot of many doctrines in the church today. We either hear that God alone strengthens us, or that we strengthen ourselves, or some combination of the two that does not coincide with the bulk of Scripture. The fact is, God requires us to tap into His strength and help ourselves to His blessing, unless circumstances overtake us, and we are no longer able to help ourselves, in which case God must help us, sowing His grace into our lives, so we may begin to help ourselves again through His grace. (32e) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Grace >> God gives grace to the afflicted (74c) Thy kingdom come >> The heart >> God wants you to protect your heart (116c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through worship >> Through our relationship with Him – Man has never ceased to add various and strange teachings to replace the grace of God, and the demons of hell are always behind it. People have often tried to find an alternative to serving the Lord in simplicity of faith, but in adding things they are actually subtracting the grace of God, making what they added all that remains, for once they add something, grace is no longer grace (Rom 11-6). God fills our cup to the brim with His grace; our cup can hold no more, so when we pour false doctrine into it, grace runs out and laces our cup with false teachings. The temptations and weights of some people’s flesh becomes oppressive, so they look for an easy solution and fabricate doctrines that would seem like shortcuts to accessing the grace of God, but the Bible encourages us to stay with Him, instead of concocting methods of accessing His grace impinged on doctrines of easy believism. Invariably, anything we put in place of God’s grace is an incantation using some kind of formula or device. Just as exercise is good for the heart, so is grace. This suggests that grace is aerobic, meaning we may have to work hard to walk in Him. The work involved is putting down our flesh, our taskmaster. It says in Heb 4-11 “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest....” Although the narrow way is long, rugged and straight, there is a reward, which spurs us to push harder to reach the goal of maturity that is invaluable to ourselves and others, but those who use shortcuts have no appetite for communion with God. One of the greatest rewards of being strengthened by grace is the opportunity to share our experiences with others and to encourage them to continue in the faith. (134e) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Composition of our bodies is from the earth >> We are physically excluded from the spiritual realm (159m) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit truth (161k) Works of the devil >> Satan determines the world's direction >> Carried Away >> Carried away by religion (162k) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> In bondage to the burdens of men >> In bondage to religion (197h) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> False doctrine is fruitless Heb 13,10-15 (8l) Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >> Preparing the sacrifice – See Jn 17-4 & Heb 9-6 for commentary. (187ab) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> The ministry of dying to self >> Die to self to minister to God >> Pick up your cross and follow Him – This passage is making one more comment about old covenant temple worship, saying that after the animal was sacrificed and its blood drained and used to sanctify the people, its body was taken outside the camp and burned. In the same way, after Jesus was scourged he was taken outside the city walls of Jerusalem and crucified at a place called Golgotha. He is using this as an analogy, beckoning us to follow Him outside the gate, “bearing His reproach.” Jesus said in Mat 16-24, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” God does not let us to stay in Jerusalem and live out our days, for the city (the world) no longer belongs to us, as it is written, “Here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (v14). Jesus paid the price to sanctify our flesh, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, as we carry our cross outside the gate, take on His purpose, invite the Holy Spirit into our heart and live for Him (Gal 2-20). Heb 13,10-14 (37g) Judgment >> Redemption of man >> His blood is the gift of His grace -- These verses go with verses 20&21 (81d) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Church is the altar of Jesus’ ministry (91m) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> The trail that Jesus walked (118i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Giving God your attention >> Resolutely focus on the glory of God >> Focus on the direction He is leading you (141f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ death (229i) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> Partaking of Jesus >> Partaking of Jesus’ suffering >> The sin nature partakes of Jesus' suffering – There was a wall that surrounded Jerusalem, and inside the wall was the city, so when we leave the city, we leave behind the religious establishment and all the false doctrines and teachings it believes, and we carry our cross outside the gate, setting ourselves apart from the world. We don’t do this on our own; we have been previously set apart by God through the blood of Christ, who has sanctified us and given us His Spirit (1Cor 6-11), bearing His reproach. Prior to Jesus’ ministry there is little known about Him; He blended into the world so that no one suspected anything about Him. Then His ministry began, and He fulfilled His purpose for being born. Jesus was a carpenter, He certainly participated in the world, but He never partook of sin. We too must participate in the world, hold down a steady job, but we don’t have to partake of its fruit. The fact that the Bible uses the word reproach suggests that anybody who refuses to partake of the world will be persecuted. We were born into this world, and for this reason we are expected to partake of it, as though invited to a dinner and seated at the table, but we are saving our appetite, as Jesus said in Jn 4,32-34, “I have food to eat that you do not know about,” clarifying, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 13,11-15 (189j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Fasting >> Fasting simulates dying to self – This life is a simulation of our future life in heaven, as fasting is a simulation of starving our sinful nature of its evil passions and desires. We have two natures that clash with each other; one doesn’t give a plug nickel for God's righteousness, and the other finds sin repulsive. They are in direct conflict with each other, often causing us to act in ways that we do not approve, as Paul said in Rom 7-19, “The good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” When we choose sin, our spirit is miserable, but when we choose righteousness, our flesh is miserable, so no matter what we do, we are discontent. We will never be truly happy until we get to heaven where body, soul and spirit are finally aligned with the will of God. Before that, though, we must anticipate heaven by living accordingly as Jesus said, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mat 6-10). We can do the things on earth as we will in heaven, but we cannot expect our flesh to be happy about it. The internal conflict of our faith in a fallen body and in a fallen world is an extremely difficult thing to reconcile. Everything we experience about God in this life is a mere simulation, which doesn't sounds very meaningful, but this life is just as important as the one to come, if not more-so, in the sense that this life will become the foundation of our lives in eternity. These are the days we have to collect rewards and develop a relationship with God while in conflict with our sinful flesh, our greatest opportunity to prove our faith and loyalty to Christ. Someone could approach the throne in heaven and tell God that he believes in Him, but it wouldn't mean anything compared to our faith that we show Him in this life. Heb 13-12,13 (191f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >> God sanctifies us through our devotion to Him – Whenever we read about the grace of God in the Scriptures, there is always something for us to do too, and in this way we are working with the grace of God (2Cor 6-1). Jesus sanctified us through our faith in His blood sacrifice; ‘therefore, let us go to Him outside the gate, bearing His reproach.’ When Jesus sanctified us through His blood, the person gets saved and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in him and sanctifies His people. The Spirit comes to us via the cross, so without the cross nobody could be saved. Jesus made a way for His Father to forgive our sin, so He could send His Spirit into our heart and set us apart from the world to become His children. Heb 13-13,14 (95l) Thy kingdom come >> Positive attitude about suffering >> Suffering under the hand of God Heb 13-13 (193k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to God to avoid running from Him Heb 13-14 (140b) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Worshipping God in His temple – It’s not Jerusalem that we seek that is in the world today but the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God (Rev 21-1,2), the city that Abraham sought, and we are prepared to suffer the death of our flesh to attain it. She is our eternal destiny, the city that houses myriads of angels and the assembly of the faithful who are enrolled in heaven (Heb 12,22-24). (224h) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >> Heaven is better than earth (226d) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven >> Reserved in heaven >> Our inheritance is reserved in heaven (234e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Set your mind on the glory of God KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 13-15,16 (81k) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> For the Church >> Giving thanks – There are times we break into praise and worship because we just can’t contain it. This pleases God, but it is not considered a sacrifice of praise, until we worship Him when we don’t feel like it, and there are many occasions like this. We worship God no matter how we feel. Our faith is based on the Bible, not on our emotions (thank God for that), for if salvation were dependent on our emotions, no one would be going to heaven. Remember the days when we sinned the most? We were saved on those days too! God feels the same about us on our worst days as on our best days. We don’t understand why He loves us at all, yet He does. We’re not so charming that God would love us for that reason; instead, the Father loves us because "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself" (Eph 1-5), having made us in His image. So in that sense His love is a reflection of His own self-love. God is in the process of transforming us into His image as a life-long process that will extend into eternity. The more we become like Him, the more we understand Him. (82j) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> Thankfulness >> Sacrifice of praise (129c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing the fruit of evangelism >> Feed the people with the fruit of your walk – This passage equates the sacrifice of praise to the sacrifice of giving at those times when we don’t feel like giving. It is not easy to discern the person who is most in need or would do most with what we gave him. We don’t want to waste our gift on drug addicts or on alcoholics to suffice their addictions. The one who has given to others and is now in need would be a good person to bless. We are indebt to our immediate family first, then to the Church and last to our neighbor, so if there is any process of determining who should receive our gift, it should follow that rule. Remember the story of the Good Samaritan, of those three the one he helped was his neighbor; therefore, how much more are we indebt to our immediate family members and the Church? (235d) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Tithing >> Offerings >> Help your weaker brother -- These verses go with verses 1-5 Heb 13-15 (67h) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> Sacrificing your life for the name of Jesus (77b) Thy kingdom come >> Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His presence – The Father has a completely different substance from the Son and the Holy Spirit. Most New Agers would say that the Father's substance is "power", but remember that God spoke the universe into existence, and that takes faith! We don’t really know what it means to be made of faith, but it is our best answer at this time. That answer also goes back to Moses at the burning bush, the name that God gave Himself: I AM. At its very core this name is a statement of faith, which means He exists through a sense of self-awareness. We all have self-awareness, but we don't exist because of it, whereas God does, thus being one of the many differences between us and Him. God has known about His own existence from eternity past, and He always will. God exists because He knows He does, and by that existence all other things came into being. Jesus said that God (the Father) is Spirit (Jn 4-24), yet we know the Holy Spirit is an entity in Himself and that the Father has a substance unique from the Holy Spirit and perhaps even more ethereal. We maintain there are three distinct persons within the trinity. The Father is a composite of both the Holy Spirit and the Son, plus one other trait that distinguishes Him from the other two, and we already said it is faith, but we don't know in what form it comes. Therefore, we say that the Father is an abrupt mystery. See also: Father; 96d / God's substance is faith; 1Pet 1-6,7; 192e (85h) Thy kingdom come >> Words that are spoken in faith >> Verbalize your faith (96d) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Positive attitude toward God >> Having a thankful attitude – We could say that if the Father wanted to save us, He could have done it Himself, instead of making His Son do it. In fact, the Father did save us through His Son. Jesus is just as much God as the Father, so the Father suffered with His Son. The Father didn’t have a party when He turned His back on Jesus while He was nailed to a cross and bleeding to death, after He heaped all our sins upon Him. Rather, He suffered with His Son to see Him hanging there, and so it was just as much the Father who saved us as the Son, and that is all the more reason to worship Him. The biggest reason we worship the Father is that He is the origin of our salvation. Imagine if it weren’t the will of the Father to save humanity; if the Father protested, where would that leave us? Heaven would certainly not be paradise! Therefore, we worship the Father because of His great compassion and mercy for us. See also: Father; 252f (115a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s grace through Christ >> Worship God through Christ – This is the definition of working the grace of God: doing something that we could not do without Him. This includes performing the gifts of the Spirit and consistently bearing the fruit of the Spirit and repenting from the bondage of sin that we could not break by our own power. Without the Holy Spirit, working the grace of God would be impossible. For this reason we affirm that the Holy Spirit is the grace of God. Admittedly, we could still raise our hands, sing our songs and wave our banners without the Holy Spirit, but God would not receive any of it, for it would then originate from the flesh from which God is trying to save us and is under a curse and hence cannot glorify God. Paul said in 1Cor 12-3, “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” Of course anybody could say the words, but nobody would volunteer them, though there are many imposters in our churches who think they are worshipping God, but then again God does not receive their worship. This is one factor that distinguishes us from unbelievers: God receives praise only from His children. (252f) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship God >> Worship God who is Spirit >> Worship God in the Spirit – We worship the Father through Christ. There is nothing wrong with worshipping Jesus, but when He lived in the flesh, He worshipped the Father. In fact Jesus said in Jn 5-41, “I do not receive glory from men.” That was then; in heaven it might be different, but the fact remains that all of Jesus’ teachings were meant to lead us to worship the Father, for example, according to the first line in the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name….” (Mat 6-9). The ultimate goal of Christ while living in the flesh was to glorify the Father; therefore, it should also be our goal. If we worship Jesus, the Father is glorified, and if it weren’t for the Father, none of us could be saved, for if He didn’t love us, He would not have sent His Son in the first place, but He does love us and for that we worship Him. If we think Jesus came on His own initiative, He didn’t. We worship the Father for His grace and mercy in sending His Son. See also: Father; 77b / Father sent the Son (Father honors the Son as the Son honors the Father); Mat 12,1-7; 141i KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 13-16 (128a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Doing good for the sake of your brother – Doing good and sharing describes the Christian, whose God is a giving person and who is called to be like Him. God is unimaginably generous and has shared with us all good things. He has not withheld anything from us, not even His throne that we might reign with Him. If we serve a God who is that generous, then we too should share all good things with one another. The biblical priority of giving is to our immediate family first, then the Church and last the world. We do good and share with unbelievers as a type of evangelism, hoping our generosity will inspire them to believe in Jesus, and we share with the brethren to encourage them to continue in the faith. Whenever we come together as a body of believers, we should always strive to outdo one another in our kindness and sharing. It is almost impossible to do good without giving, though not always much, if nothing else just a moment of our time. God views our giving as a sacrifice, because we have limited resources, though such things are not a sacrifice to Him, for He gives as an attribute of Himself, and we seek to reflect His nature. Heb 13,17-19 (73b) Authority >> Respect your leaders >> Those in charge of the word – God wants us to submit to our spiritual leaders, which makes their job easier and joyful, and if they don’t find joy in what they’re doing, they can’t effectively minister to us. In that sense we are in charge of our ministers as they are in charge of God's word. We control how effective they minister to us by the way we treat them. If we treat them with contempt, the word clots in their hearts, but if we love and respect them it frees the word of God to flow from them. Heb 13-17 (87k) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Obey authorities (95j) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Obedient attitude >> Positive attitude about authority – All things reduce to two matters: attitude and perspective; these two have the power to change everything. For example, if we have an accurate depiction of the Scriptures but a bad attitude, we won’t be able to do anything with our knowledge. Similarly, if we have a good attitude but an inaccurate version of the gospel, we will fail to meet God’s expectations. If we see in our pastor that he has both a good attitude toward God and the Church and an accurate perspective on the Scriptures, he is on course with an effective ministry. The Church is full of complainers, who think it is their duty to correct the pastor, but if we trouble him, it will be unprofitable for us. (125h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Joy >> Joy is the result of obedience (131a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Interdependent on each other to do the will of God (197e) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Fruitlessness >> A fruitless life offends God (239l) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Let not many of you become teachers >> Teachers incur a stricter judgment – Pastors and teachers will receive a stricter judgment (Jm 3-1), because there were human souls under their care. It is a huge responsibility, perhaps greater than any other occupation, for there is nothing more valuable than a human soul, being more valuable even than our physical bodies. All the secular things people do that the world considers important doesn’t hold a candle to the value of a single soul; multiply that by the number of people under his care and it shows a level of responsibility that is truly daunting. God will hold him accountable for his teaching and preaching and the direction of his ministry. (240b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Pastor (Shepherd) >> Pastor has a shepherd’s heart – There are some churches that go through pastors like a plate of chicken wings, and there are other churches that have the same pastor for life. There are denominational churches that cycle pastors and keep them moving only after a few years in one place; this is not particularly a good idea, since there is something to be said about pasturing a certain church for life, just like there is something to be said about being married to the same person for life. The best way to receive a pastor's ministry is to submit to him. Each person is different and each pastor has something unique to offer. Go to another church and we would find a completely different emphasis; there is nothing wrong with that, so long as their understanding of God remains within the boundaries of Scripture. A pastor should listen to his parishioners to see if there is any relevance to their complaints. Often, we can’t see ourselves as others do, and those who are contentious and persnickety don’t see themselves as they should either. Troublesome people are not really trying to serve the Lord, for bringing a couple relevant complaints to the pastor is sufficient for a lifetime of complaining. Circumstances change but people mostly remain the same, for God is the one who can truly effect change in people. After we have talked to our pastor about improvements in the Church, we should then pray; returning to him with our complaints would do no good since he has already heard us. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 13-18,19 (82a) Thy kingdom come >> Three elements of prayer >> Direction (Attitude) >> What to pray for – We are to pray for our spiritual leaders that they maintain a good conscience as they strive to conduct themselves honorably among us, praying for them to ensure spiritual fellowship with them. However, when they drop their conscience, prayer works as an anchor and plants them wherever they sinned so they cannot move forward until they repent. Like the person who gets pulled over by the police for drunk driving, wherever he was headed will have to wait, because the police have plotted him a new course to sleep off his drunkenness in the poky. Sin puts the breaks on God’s progress in our lives, hindering His agenda and taking us longer to finish the things He has called us to do. If we go on sinning, we may never finish what we were doing for the Lord or see His purpose fulfilled in our lives or be brought back to fellowship with the saints. Therefore, we should pray for our leaders and missionaries that they remain committed to their faith in Christ, so our fellowship with them may have a full reward. Heb 13-18 (76j) Thy kingdom come >> Desires of your heart >> Desiring to do the will of God – Missionaries in the days of the early church were faithful and willing to forfeit their lives for the sake of the gospel. Their likelihood of being martyred for their faith in a violent, predominantly pagan world, was high. Those who signed up to be missionaries during those days had already made the commitment of ultimate sacrifice to see the Lord's work fulfilled and the gospel preached to those who would believe. These are all prayer concerns in regard to our leaders and missionaries as we send them. Things are different now, yet in many ways they are very much the same. Missionaries sacrifice their lives still as martyrs, but they also sacrifice the opportunity to live a normal life like the rest of us. Nowadays missionaries must enter countries in pretense, often as English teachers, and attempt to spread the gospel covertly, which is borderline effective. However, the continent of Africa has been highly receptive to the gospel over the past few decades, and China is opening its heart to Christianity, not the government but the people, and they are becoming a vast field of souls waiting to be harvested for the Kingdom of God. See also: Instruction to missionaries; 2Cor 2-12,13; 105g (82c) Thy kingdom come >> Three elements of prayer >> Direction (Attitude) >> Who to pray for – When this passage says, “Pray for us, for we are sure we have a good conscience,” he was drawing from the spiritual principle, “To him who has shall more be given.” He was saying, ‘We have a great wealth of spiritual treasures from the Lord; therefore, pray for us, that we may accrue more.’ The Kingdom of God works the same way as the world when it comes to money: those who have billions find it easy to make millions more, and those who have millions make thousands more, but the poor man puts food on his table with difficulty. So it is with the realm of the spirit. It is good to have confidence, but overconfidence can mean we are merely assuming a good conscience if we are not monitoring our heart. We believe we have a good conscience, because we monitor our heart to make sure we are not doing anything with evil motives. When we sin, we repent, and when evil thoughts enter, we condemn them with the word of God and prayer. We are sure we have a good conscience based on the quality of our relationship with God, whom we serve in Spirit and truth, constantly serving the saints, and we are concerned more about others than ourselves. (92l) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Our holy conduct along the narrow way (155b) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> Conscience >> Having a good conscience >> Conscience bears witness of our good behavior (250d) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> In all things ... >> Be innocent of all evil Heb 13,20-22 (8k) Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >> Preparing for the ministry KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 13-20,21 (37g) Judgment >> Redemption of man >> His blood is the gift of His grace -- These verses go with verses 10-14 (39a) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of Jesus Christ (66c) Authority >> Lordship of Christ >> Jesus is Lord of His people (87e) Thy kingdom come >> Ministry to God through obedience >> Seeking the glory of God (104g) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart shall see God >> Shall see the Father >> God can see us – we are in His sight (115b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s grace through Christ >> We receive the anointing through Christ (116h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Our adequacy is from God (125k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> God is at peace >> The God of peace (127h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Rewards for doing good >> Doing good is the will of God – Tell two people to step closer together until they bump into each other, but God can take one step closer and dwell in us. It is commonly misunderstood how God has equipped us through Christ to do His will. We never physically met Him, though people frequently talk about Him. There is a book written about Him (the Bible), and there are thousands of other books written about Him, yet nobody has ever met Him or stood in His physical presence, except in His own day 2,000 years ago. So how could this man equip us to do His will? The answer is through the Spirit, but this brings up another similar problem; no one has met the Holy Spirit, except those who are born of God, and these are the ones who understand God and His mysterious will for mankind. Those who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them are equipped to understand God and do His will. The Holy Spirit is what makes the entire Bible make sense. (138g) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Exhortation >> Glorifying God in your exhortation (205f) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> New covenant >> The new covenant in His blood (213f) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> We are his instruments >> We are tools in the hand of God >> We are extensions of His body (228f) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> God is working in you to place you in His will >> To place you on the trail of good works – There are many people in the Church who are trying to find God, trying to please Him in some way but don’t know how to do it. Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (Jn 14-18), referring to the Holy Spirit, who is the Soul of Christ, as Christ is the exact representation of the Father (Heb 1-3). The Holy Spirit has equipped us as though Jesus Himself were directing us in the flesh, only better; His direction is within us. We don’t need the physical presence of Jesus; we have the Holy Spirit, who conveys the Father's will to us, specifically telling us what He wants us to do, but that requires us to develop a hearing ear, and not every Christian has tuned his ear to the voice of God. There are plenty of people who pick up whatever good works happen to be laying around and hope that somehow they are fulfilling their calling from God, but this is different from God choosing for us what He wants us to do. Doing good is the will of God, but doing the works that He has prepared for us is better (Eph 2-10). (240a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Pastor (Shepherd) >> Jesus is the chief shepherd (244c) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> There shall be no end to his increase >> Jesus shall be glorified forever (247i) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> Things that please God (250a) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> In all things ... >> Glorify God in all things (252e) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Worship the Father through Christ (253g) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Father and Son glorify each other >> Holy Spirit honors the Son through the Father >> Father glorifies Himself as He glorifies His Son KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 13-22 (86m) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the heart >> Internalize the word of God – This statement corresponds with a statement he made a chapter earlier, “For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm, the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which those who heard it begged that not one more word should be spoken to them” (Heb 12-18,19). We are not to be like them but endure his word of exhortation, for he has written to us briefly. We are not to be like the Israelites in Moses’ day, who wandered in the wilderness and died, not of old age but of weariness, their life ending in misery, frustration and unfulfilled hope, none of the promises of God coming to fruition, all the wonderful things they heard from Him scrapped. They were more miserable than generations before them that hoped in God but remained enslaved to pharaoh. They saw God’s outstretched hand at work on their behalf, but it wasn’t enough to give up their stubbornness, and they never ate its fruit, as it says in 2Kings 7-2, “Behold you shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” They should have internalized the word of God and recognized God’s authority, and developed an attitude of cooperation, as Paul said in 2Cor 6-1, “Working together [with Him], we entreat also that you do not receive the grace of God in vain.” (96c) Thy kingdom come >> Positive attitude toward God >> Good attitude about the word of God (99aa) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >> Enduring the word of God >> Endure Hearing the word of God – Many people are unwilling to bear the word of God when it comes to them in power; instead, they run from it. When the Holy Spirit convicts them of sin, they eschew Him and close the Bible. God wants us to pursue the truth, though the truth is often painful, like making our home in a prickly briar patch. We cannot expect to be friends with the truth unless we are willing to accept what He says about us and serve Him. We are of the flesh and are weak and limited in our faithfulness with sins that contradict the truth. We are friends with Him only if we are willing to admit these things and seek His strength to rise above them; then God will set us free from the fetters that hold us, and in this way bear this word of exhortation. (106j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Means of hearing from God >> Through the Bible (187f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Dying to receive the glory of God >> Die to self to know the revelation of God Heb 13,23-25 (123g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Ministry of the saints >> Emotional benediction toward helpers