We have enjoyed our studies in Hebrews on Wednesday evenings, deepening, as it will, our understanding of what we have come into as believers.
In chapter 10 we are encouraged to draw near to the Lord ‘in full assurance of faith’ (Hebrews 10:22). Because of the faithfulness of God we can ‘hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering’ (Hebrews 10:23). When we doubt it is because we are resting on ourselves, rather than Him. We are commanded to encourage one another to love which will produce fruit i.e. good works, and to keep meeting together in the assembly. (Hebrews 10:24 –25). That is the pattern for the believer today.
Hebrews 11 takes us back to the Old Testament and the great examples of men and women who suffered and endured for their faith. The chapter describes what faith did for them and what it can do for us. They lived by faith and died in faith. Even after death, their lives and voices continue to have impact. (Hebrews 11:4) They are our ‘cloud of witnesses’. (Hebrews 12:1) Through faith we understand the past: creation, resurrection, divine power; we understand the present: our sufferings and what we have to endure; we understand the future, we see the bigger picture, we look forward to the completion of the Divine Plan, the eternal state. (Hebrews 11:10)
In Hebrews 12, we are exhorted to lay aside every distraction as well as the daily sin which stumbles us, to press forward, to contemplate ‘the author and finisher of our faith’, the blessed Man, the centre of our gathering. We are encouraged to follow the faith of godly men who care for us in the assembly in Hebrews 13:7. The foundation of their faith is our foundation: ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and for ever’ (Hebrews 13:8) Paul Bannister
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said.
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
‘Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
‘The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I cannot desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake
I’ll never, no, never, no never forsake.
G.Keith