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HEBREWS CHAPTER 4 KJV WEB See previous page Heb 4,1-11 (60c) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Unable to enter because of unbelief / Unable to enter because of disobedience (88a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> Relationship between faith and works >> Works establish your faith (92g) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> What kind of trail is this? >> Gate is small and few are those who find it (117c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Rest in His yoke by faith – God included the Sabbath in the Law of Moses for our benefit, so we wouldn’t get lost in our work seven days a week and forget about God. We should give our body a day of rest and that day should be devoted to worshipping God, but the writer of Hebrews is referring to far more than just keeping the Sabbath. Although it says to rest on the seventh day as God also rested from His works, he’s talking about it as an analogy for spiritually entering His rest. That word "spiritual" bothers some people, because it is so intangible, yet this is how we relate to God. Entering His rest is about coming to the realization that we can't save ourselves. It is about putting down the works of our flesh and resting on the finished work of the cross to find favor with God, and to receive the eternal life that Jesus promised to all who would believe in Him. He is saying that anyone who would try to work his way to heaven has every reason to fear. We have all experienced working hard and never achieving our goals. To not achieve the goal of heaven is the greatest travesty of all. We should think this is good news that God is not calling us to work harder but just the opposite, to rest in the grace of God. That sounds too easy, yet for many it is impossible. For example, what is the difference between salvation based on God's grace and simply asserting a set of doctrines to be true? The difference is the Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer! Many so-called Christians would prefer to work their way to heaven than to be a good host to the indwelling Holy Spirit. See also: Entering His rest; 172g (140b) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Worshipping God in His temple (172g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Hypocrites among the just >> Lazy among the prudent – How did they enter His rest if God swore in His wrath that they shall not enter His rest? The writer of Hebrews is saying that there are two kinds of people in the Church: the obedient and the disobedient, even as there were those in Israel who wandered in the wilderness for forty years though they trusted God, who were open to the direction of Moses. There are always victims among the disobedient; the Bible calls them the remnant (Jeremiah 39-9). See also: Entering His rest; Heb 4-1,2; 55b (174i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Form of a servant but denying God your loyalty (192b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Life for life >> Losing your life to gain God’s purpose (223h) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the mark >> Miss the will of God for your life (228d) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Comforted >> We are comforted in the presence of God >> God comforts us in His company Heb 4-1,2 (21b) Sin >> Disobedient to the call -- These verses go with verses 6&7 (55b) Paradox >> Opposites >> Be diligent to enter His rest -- This verse goes with verse 6. There are two sides to every coin. Entering His rest refers to resting in the grace of God for the salvation of our souls, but entering His rest also refers to putting ourselves in a position where we can believe in Him in the first place. For example, working at a brothel is not a good position to believe in God. If we are drug smugglers or hit men or sinners of any capacity while working on our faith to enter His rest, this too will not find success. As part of resting in the grace of God we must drop our sins; this denotes effort on our part, being diligent to enter His rest (v11). Going back to the drug smuggler, let’s say he gets caught, the cops surround him with guns drawn, and the chief says, ‘drop your weapon!’ What does the drug smuggler have to do in order to obey the cops? He simply has to relax his hand and the gun will fall to the ground, so there is really no effort involved. The effort comes in the fact that our flesh doesn’t want to surrender to the will of God; therefore we must force it. This is where the word “diligent” comes into play. So, it is our flesh that makes resting in Jesus seem like work. If we try to please Him, we're wrong; if we don't try to please Him, we're wrong; no matter what we do, we are wrong. This speaks both to the sinner and to the religious person to put down their works and surrender in the grace of God. See also: Entering His rest; Heb 4-6,7; 194a (96l) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about sin >> Having an attitude of unbelief -- These verses go with verse 11 Heb 4-1 (88g) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God >> Fearing God's judgment is the beginning of wisdom >> Fear the consequences of your disobedience (171f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Decorating the outside to simulate the inside >> Playing the part to be accepted by men (197d) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to enter His rest -- This verse goes with verse 6 (203j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from the narrow way -- This verse goes with verse 11 (205b) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> Promise of His rest KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 4-2,3 (86a) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believe the word by obeying it – A person can have doubts, but when he repents, he believes. In contrast, the person who never patterns his life after the doctrines he believes will find faith difficult, since his disobedience has carved channels of doubt in his mind that have hardened into unbelief, and now he can’t believe even when he tries. This does not mean God can’t help him, for faith is a miracle (Mat 19,24-26). The Bible teaches that unbelief is associated with demonic activity, just like faith is related to the Holy Spirit. If Jesus promised to help us obey Him, then the Holy Spirit will be part of our lives. It is the same with unbelievers; demons are a part of their lives, leading them into further darkness and unbelief. We live in a spiritual world; we like to think that everything is natural, but it isn’t; there are spiritual forces in this world. Just because we don’t believe they exist doesn’t mean they are not working on us, and just because we call ourselves Christians and walk in unbelief doesn’t mean those evil forces have no power over us. When we sin, the accuser of the brethren hopes he will discourage us from believing the truth and live accordingly. Heb 4-2 (110l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spiritual substance and truth >> Spiritual substance follows the truth (114d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Obeying the revelation from heaven >> Obeying the revelation of God’s word -- This verse goes with verses 7-11 (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 -- This verse goes with verse 6. The Bible speaks in terms of “us” and “them”. Try using that language in today’s touchy-feely society of political correctness and we will receive flack for being judgmental. In fact, this verse is judging people for their unbelief. They heard the word, but it didn’t benefit them, because they didn't pair the word with faith, by evidence that there was no sign of obedience. Obedience is one and the same with “believing” in that obedience is a physical manifestation of our beliefs, whereas faith is paired with obeying the Holy Spirit. Beliefs are generated as a function of human prerogative, whereas faith comes from heaven. When the writer of Hebrews used the word “faith” in this verse, he was referring to the obedience of faith, just as Paul intimated at the beginning and end of Romans (1-5; 16-26). We heard the word of God and believed its doctrines, demonstrating our beliefs through the deeds of the body, but those who did not benefit did not obey. They might concur with the doctrines they heard, but since they didn’t tailor their life after their beliefs, it was reckoned to them as unbelief. (168j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world has deaf ears to God >> Deaf from a hardened heart (171a) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Vanity >> Vain effort >> Vain religion (197f) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Fruitlessness >> Neutral is unfruitful (200f) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Excuses for rejecting Christ >> Selfish ambition >> Having more important things to do Heb 4,3-5 (45h) Judgment >> Of believer’s sin >> God will judge us if we don’t heed His word (217a) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God Is Independent Of His Creation >> No one can make God do anything Heb 4-3,4 (212c) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> He is the creator >> The creation glorifies God >> All things originated from God – There is good reason to enter His rest even in old covenant days when it meant keeping the Sabbath, because His works were finished from the foundation of the world (before He started) in the sense that He always knew from eternity past that He would never fail in anything He did. Since His works had always been finished, those of the old covenant had already received the blessing and the promise of the new, which came through the blood of Jesus that was shed from the foundation of the world. God knew He would not change His mind in the Garden of Gethsemane, and for that reason the cross transcends both covenants and time itself, reaching backward in time, saving the earliest of God’s creatures and forward to save the last man on earth. God encompasses His creation, and the cross is the emblem of His power. Heb 4-3 (44b) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Complete >> It is finished >> God has spoken KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 4-4 (151g) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> Adam Heb 4-6,7 (21b) Sin >> Disobedient to the call -- These verses go with verse 11 (194a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run the race that is set before us -- These verses go with verses 15&16. If we go to church and do no work on the Sabbath, it still remains for some to enter His rest, for this refers to another Sabbath. When we rest from our labors every week on the Sabbath and go to church and reconnect with fellow believers, we are only simulating the Sabbath rest that He has ordained for us. The true Sabbath is God working in us and through our good works, not through every good work, only through the works that He has prepared for us (Eph 2-10). To the extent that we do these good works is the extent that we have entered His rest. The divine works of God reverberate from the epicenter of our heart. God worked for six days creating the heavens and the earth, and then He sat down and rested; and since then the creation has been at work doing the things that God created it to do; likewise, we discover God’s rest after we realize that He is working in us and through us, exponentially accomplishing more than we ever could in our flesh. Consider the backhoe operator who digs holes in the earth with his machine; he accomplishes more in one day than he could in a whole month with just his back and a shovel. He goes home tired, but what he accomplished would have been impossible even with a whole crew of workers. The backhoe represents God, who makes copies of Himself through our efforts, His image being unique in each person. If we want a clear picture of God, we must fit the pieces together to get a composite image of Christ, a tapestry that every joint supplies, “according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Eph 4-15,16), thus establishing unity. See also: Entering His rest; 214j (214j) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God’s time is soon >> God’s time is always now – As God created the heavens and the earth and then rested on the seventh day, so He urges us to enter His rest. Notice God rested on the seventh day and He is still resting; the seventh day has not ended; we are still in God’s seventh day (Vs3-5). The word “today” is a very interesting one in this context. It says that He fixed a day… today, and this day has a perpetual presence; today never ends. Today is not a twenty-four hour period but has been lengthened to as long as God wants it. So far today has lasted two thousand years; the door is still open for anyone willing to be saved. The fact that the door is open means that some day it will be shut, and when that day comes, today will have ended, and then it will be tomorrow, another day, another era, a new chapter in God’s timeline. If we wait till tomorrow, it will never come and yesterday cannot be retrieved, so today is the only day we have to seek God. See also: Entering His rest; Heb 4-6; 55b Heb 4-6 (55b) Paradox >> Opposites >> Be diligent to enter His rest -- This verse goes with verse 11. There are other passages that use the word “unbelief” in place of “disobedience”, for these words are interchangeable. When it says God rested on the seventh day, He was referring to keeping the old covenant Sabbath, and then verse 5 it says, “they shall not enter My rest.” In one verse he ties the symbol of the Sabbath to the analogy of God resting from His works, and in the other verse it speaks of resting from the works of our flesh as it pertains to seeking God's favor. Therefore, we rest from our works that we might do His works (walking in the Spirit). When God rested on the seventh day, He sat down on His glorious throne, and it doesn’t say that He has gotten up since then, suggesting that God’s Sabbath rest is still in effect, meaning we should cease form our labors in the flesh and act like the creatures He has made us. God has made us in His image; therefore, our works should reflect His perfection. See also: Entering His rest; Heb 4,7-11; 114d (150j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Speak the word >> Preaching the word to the Church -- This verse goes with verse 2 (197d) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to enter His rest -- This verse goes with verses 9-11 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 4,7-11 (114d) Thy kingdom come >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Obeying the revelation from heaven >> Obeying the revelation of God’s word -- These verses go with verse 2. The voice of the Holy Spirit is the very essence of Christianity. We learn about God in the Bible, but we actually come to know Him through the Spirit. Once we acquire the hearing ear, we pick up the good works that God is calling us to do and run with them, and whatever we do according to His will we do in a state of rest. It will no longer be us doing it but God working through us. We will be doing His will and not ours, which is guaranteed to bear fruit. We will be inspirational to others and our works will have the effect that God intended. He wants every aspect of our lives to be a product of the Holy Spirit working in us. See also: Entering His rest; Heb 4,8-13; 46b Heb 4,8-13 (46b) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Subjecting your flesh >> Preparing for battle – The Israelites entered the promise land after wandering in the wilderness for forty years, and they built homes and settled there, but if this were the rest that God had in mind, "He would not have spoken of another day after that." Israel entering the promise land was their old covenant rest, suggesting there is also a new covenant rest. We could say it is heaven when we enter the sweet by-and-by, which is the ultimate rest that God has in mind for us, but the writer of Hebrews was alluding to a rest pertaining to this life. When we look at Israel and how they entered their promise land, it was through tremendous opposition and war. The Israelites came to usurp the current inhabitants of the land, not just to chase them off their property but to destroy them, whose practices were a plague to mankind, and if allowed to continue man would have adopted their ways and regressed to the days of Noah. God created Israel through Abraham and sent them into the land of plenty flowing with milk and honey and caused Israel to make war with its inhabitants. God is also calling us to spiritual warfare in our own day, not with guns and knives but with the good works that God has prepared for us. There will be opposition and there will be war, and we will have to fight these battles in order to enter His rest. See also: Entering His rest; Heb 4,9-11; 12d / Abraham; Heb 4-11; 6e Heb 4,9-11 (12d) Servant >> Father is our example through Christ – God wants us to rest from our works as He rested from His works by giving all our cares to Him, and resting from our works in the flesh. The Sabbath rest once a week is a ceremonial showing of that rest. See also: Entering His rest; Heb 4-11; 6e (197d) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to enter His rest -- These verses go with verse 1 Heb 4-9,10 (43b) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to the character of Christ >> Conform to His nature Heb 4-9 (213j) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> His will becomes our will >> As a master owns a servant KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 4-11,12 (102a) Thy kingdom come >> Ambitious to fulfill God’s calling >> To see God’s will in your life (113b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >> Protection >> Shelter (116e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through worship >> Entering His hiding place Heb 4-11 (6e) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Rest in Jesus’ yoke – The writer of Hebrews is alluding to two rests; one refers to Joshua leading Israel to the promise land and the other refers to the Sabbath rest. It says that neither Moses nor Joshua led them to a final rest, suggesting there is another rest that God's people must enter before they can be complete. God spoke Israel into existence through Abraham; therefore, Israel exists through faith, which no other nation can claim; he is the father of our faith. Israel may have entered the promise land and observed the Sabbath day, but they did not find rest for their souls. This rest is in reference to finding favor with God as Abraham did, not through tedious works of religion but through faith in Jesus blood sacrifice to cleanse us from all our sin. The many religions of the world feel they must do something to gain God's favor, and they use their own righteousness to seek Him, which the Bible says cannot find God's favor or wash away our sins. Paul commanded us to do good (1Tim 6:18), but our good works must be done in a state of rest. We must rest in Jesus before our good works can please Him. See also: Entering His rest; 55b / Abraham; Heb 4,8-13; 46b / Abraham never received what was promised; Rev 2-25; 232g (21b) Sin >> Disobedient to the call -- This verse goes with verses 1&2 (55b) Paradox >> Opposites >> Be diligent to enter His rest -- This verse goes with verse 1. “Diligence” comes by enduring our circumstances and persevering in the will of God. It seems ironic that the harder we strive to enter His rest the further we stray from it, but there is a diligence that enters His rest, in fact one that enters within the veil into the Holy of Holies and that ceases from our labors. God has called us to put down our works initiated by the flesh, and pick up His Good works that He has prepared for us from the foundation of the world (Eph 2-10). Although Paul said he worked hard (1Cor 15-10), he also said, “yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” This is what it means to rest in the works of God. See also: Entering His rest; 116k (96l) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about sin >> Having an attitude of unbelief -- This verse goes with verses 1&2 (98l) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >> Endurance invites the glory of God (100f) Thy kingdom come >> Diligence >> Diligence in working the grace of God (116k) Rest In Jesus (Key verse) – We work with the grace of God and rest in Jesus at the same time. If this doesn’t make sense, just remember the dual nature of the Christian between his flesh and his spirit. Our flesh is in rebellion against God, while the Spirit of God who dwells in us is in perfect union with Him. He only wants to do God’s will, whereas our flesh only wants to rebel, and so our flesh cannot take part in working with Christ; we must sit down and allow the Spirit to stand in our place. On the one hand, we are working with the grace of God to accomplish His will, and on the other, our only part is getting out of His way that Christ might work through us. (For further understanding about this read Romans chapters 6&7.) See also: Entering His rest; Heb 4,1-11; 117c (167k) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> The world’s unbelief (203j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from the narrow way -- This verse goes with verse 1 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 4-12,13 (5g) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your motives (40a) Judgment >> Jesus is the judge >> Jesus judges the world’s unbelief (40i) Judgment >> Judgment of Christ >> God’s word executes judgment by the Spirit – The word of God is both weapon of warfare and a surgeon's tool to cut in right places for healing to occur. Jesus Christ is the epitome of God’s word made flesh, who spoke grace and blessing to the people and cut the religious Pharisees to ribbons. His enemies did not overcome Him, but He willingly submitted to the cross as the Lamb of God. They sought to destroy Him, but all they could do was fulfill Old Testament prophecies. Had God allowed his apostles to die a normal death, people would have said the gospel was just another man-made religion, but the fact that almost all them were martyred adds credence to the gospel as God's truth. (68i) Authority >> Discernment >> Judging truth and error >> Perceiving wicked motives (78m) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> God renews your mind by His Spirit (110a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> Word of knowledge >> knowing their thoughts by the mind of Christ – In many cases we don’t know people's circumstances; we don’t know what they need to hear, but God knows and wants to speak to them through us. In 2Cor 12-8 we see this phrase: word of knowledge. Sometimes God will reveal to us what is happening in a person, and we address their need. Other times God will not tell us what is in a person, but gives us what to say through a word of knowledge from the Spirit. How these things happen we don’t know; we are not in total control of the gifts; we only control our obedience and willingness to work with God. (111k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Living and active word of God – God wants us to get involved in His works and walking in the Spirit. If we are doing the things that He has called us to do, He can speak to us anytime and we will hear and obey Him, but how can God use us if we are not listening to Him? (212g) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> God is all knowing >> Nothing hidden >> God knows your heart (255a) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Spirit of the word >> Words of His Spirit are life – When the writer of Hebrews said that the word of God is like a sword, He was talking about the Scriptures that He placed in our heart. The Bible is not alive or active but just sits there on the desk, inanimate. It contains the record of God’s word, stating that it is living and active. It is the goal of all Christians to come to a revelation of the Scriptures so that we understand God’s word by the Spirit. The Scriptures depict what God has said in the past, but God is still speaking, and it behooves us to come to the knowledge of what He is saying now. The current knowledge of God that is relevant to the moment is what Paul was saying in Eph 4-29, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” To do this is a mixture of various gifts of the Spirit: Discernment to know the need of the moment, and the word of knowledge to speak what is pertinent. Also it says, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Col 4-6). We are to have the word of God in us so when we open our mouth we invite God to speak through us and tell the hearers what they need to hear. The word of God doesn't always feel good; that is why the doctor puts us to sleep before surgery. When the operation is finished, we will awake to much pain, but it is all for our betterment and healing. When we speak to our enemies we hope they will get saved from their darkness and from the sentence of eternal damnation in hell. Heb 4-12 (74f) Thy kingdom come >> Heart is man’s central value system >> Where value interprets the man (75m) Thy kingdom come >> Having ulterior (hidden) motives (89k) Thy kingdom come >> God convicts us of sin >> Conviction makes us conscious of sin (150h) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Speak the word of the Spirit >> Speaking the words that God speaks Heb 4-13 (4b) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Being accountable to the Judgment of God (105d) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart >> Secrets of His heart are disclosed (117j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Seeing through the eyes of your spirit >> Acknowledging the presence of God (135k) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Abortion >> God loves the fetus >> God is aware of the developing fetus KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 4,14-16 (43k) Judgment >> Satan destroyed in the absence of sin >> Perfected in weakness – Jesus has passed through the heavens, meaning He originated from one end of His creation and came to us on the other; He knows the heights of God's glory and the humility of our suffering through personal experience. He can sympathize with our weakness, having “been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus didn’t have to commit a sin to experience its consequences, for He took on the consequences of our sin through death. Jesus experienced the temptations of his own flesh and never once surrendered to it. His absolute perfection in a human body was his greatest miracle, yet God turned His back on Him after wicked men nailed Him to the cross, which was the worst possible judgment He could receive from His Father. (80l) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Jesus ministered to people through His ministry toward God (83a) Thy kingdom come >> Receiving from God through prayer >> Prayer of faith (83g) Thy kingdom come >> Jesus intercedes for us >> He is our Great High Priest – God gives His grace to the humble and contrite of heart. The longer we live, the more experiences we have, the more we need God’s grace, the more we realize He has availed Himself to us, the deeper we know the extent He went to retrieve us from the depths of human depravity. God is able to pull anybody from some of man's deepest pits, but the person must be willing to admit that it’s all his own fault and that he made many wrong turns to get there, and that his whole way of thinking is wrong and change his life to avoid the pitfalls and addictions of sin. God’s grace is boundless so long as we are willing to sacrifice our egos to receive it, for He does not give His grace to the proud and arrogant. (173b) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Relationship between Jesus and His mother >> Jesus is our mediator, not Mary (or the apostles) Heb 4-14 (68h) Discernment (Key verse) (97k) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Rooted deeply >> Standing firm together in the faith (150ca) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Confessing Jesus to be saved >> Confessing Jesus as the Son of God – After Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended to heaven in a resurrected body as His disciples watched, so they would know He would no longer be with them in the flesh, and He sat at His Father’s right-hand on His throne. Where is heaven? Heaven is outside this present universe, existing in a different realm. Jesus was raised with a spiritual body, which is paradoxical in that Spirit and body are opposites, yet Jesus was able to enter heaven with a physical body, and heaven accepted Him. He was able to dwell in a physical place on earth in a spiritual body, and dwell in a spiritual place in a physical body, because He possessed both attributes. The question remains, where is heaven? Being that it is a spiritual place, which is different from the physical realm, we can’t positively say that it is in a certain location; we can’t even say that it is beyond the universe, as though heaven is located just after the last galaxy. The universe is infinite; no matter which way we point, the universe exists indefinitely, and there is no dead center, since its perimeter is undefined. The infinite emptiness of space dotted occasionally with galaxies does not allow us to say that heaven is in a certain location. Can we point in a certain direction and say with certainty that heaven is that way? We are spinning on a ball, so the direction we are pointing is constantly changing. Heaven is a spiritual place of a different realm; therefore, heaven could just as easily be right here. In fact, Heb 11-1 alludes to this when it says that there is a heavenly cloud of witnesses surrounding us; they are not so far away that the inhabitants of heaven cannot look upon the earth and see the activities of men. These various realms are like various logical formats of a computer hard drive, the old FAT (File Allocation Technology) that came with DOS, and NTFS (New Technology File System) that Microsoft uses today. If we formatted two physical drives each with one of these formats, the NTFS could see the FAT but the Fat could not see the NTFS hard drive, in the same way that heaven can see us but we can’t see it. We could put these hard drives side by side, even touching each other, and the FAT still couldn’t see the NTFS, because their ability to see is not based on their proximity to each other but on their formatting. The realm in which God lives can see this present universe, but our old tuckered-out world cannot see heaven. All we can see is the activities that are happening on our own hard drive, and since we cannot see God, we must believe in Him. So we have access to Him by faith, and it is good enough for now (Eph 2-18). We might not have direct access as we would like, but at least we know He is with us and can see us and is on our side. We can pray to God and He will hear us, and He will help us in the ways that He has designated by the covenant that He has made with us. See also: Creation is at war with itself; Rom 8,19-23; 24e / Analogy of atheism (Chess game, computer program is like creation); 1Tim 6-20,21; 212d (232g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Embrace (Jesus during the storm) >> Hold on to your faith (253e) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the Son of God >> Declared the Son of God by angels and believers Heb 4-15,16 (9g) Responsibility >> Strengthen us by the sword of His Spirit >> Through prayer (30e) Gift of God >> Prepare to receive from God >> We must first get His attention (32e) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Grace >> God gives grace to the afflicted (33n) Gift of God >> Believers are special to God >> God receives us (116b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through worship >> In prayer – We approach the throne of God through faith, seeking grace and mercy through the blood of Jesus' cross. The word of God and prayer are the means that God has given us to work His grace into our lives. We don’t lie in a puddle of our own filth waiting for God to do something for us; He has done everything He needed for us to seek Him and find Him, and now the ball is in our court, and He is close enough that we can take His hand. If it weren’t for the cross, the means of finding mercy and grace would be unavailable. We don’t know how much we are accomplishing in prayer, because God is creating His image and performing His will in us, so we can make a change in this world as people who know and love of God. We shouldn’t faint or shy from prayer. Many fine Christian people find prayer a great drudgery, as a compulsory Christian duty, but they do not understand that as a Christian prayer is the essence of our lives. We feel most alive when we are in prayer, for it is the channel by which God imparts His grace and mercy in us. If we understood the power of prayer, we would probably pray more often. If we are not anointed to pray, we should seek God until His anointing comes. If we sense God with us while we pray, He will stay with us throughout the day, and we will hear His voice. (160h) Works of the devil >> Temptation >> Overcoming temptation >> Jesus was tempted (194a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run the race that is set before us -- These verses go with verses 6&7 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 4-15 (41a) Jesus Is Without Sin (Key verse) (41d) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Jesus overcame sin Heb 4-16 (7k) Responsibility >> Use time wisely >> Get ready >> Make time to pray (122b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in God >> Through prayer See next page