The book of Hebrews teaches us to live through difficult times in a way that pleases God and grows us and those around us. As we struggle through extraordinary circumstances we can learn how to do the same. The solution is to live by faith and not to “shrink back” (cower). Living by faith rather than fear is something that many Old Testament Saints were commended for. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews begins by showing us five people who pleased God by faith and gives us five ways to fight fear and find purpose.

How do you survive a pandemic? The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians to teach and encourage them to survive intense suffering by living by faith rather than sight. Living by faith pleases God and grows us and the people we love. But what is the faith that pleases God? There are multitudes of counterfeit versions of faith even in our churches. We need to understand what genuine faith is and what it is not, so that we can discern beliefs and practices that draw us away from God - and avoid them. Living by true faith gives meaning and purpose to our suffering and glorifies God.

The letter to the Hebrew Christians is structured around five exhortations. These exhortations are encouraging warnings written to Jewish Christians who were tempted to abandon their faith in Jesus Christ and return to their old religious traditions. The tenth chapter ends with the fourth exhortation of the letter, don’t deliberately disobey God’s Word. The previous warnings are expose failures that lead to this destructive rebellion. This warning urges us to hold onto our faith in Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. The author gives three reasons: avoid the wrath of God, don’t waste all your precious previous suffering and finally remember that He is returning soon to deliver us. Delivery day could be at any time. Perhaps you know the excitement of waiting for a delivery, anything from a gift or online purchase to a precious infant birth? Remember that the delivery day we’re being reminded of is far more precious and infinitely more worth waiting for.

When the author of Hebrews wrote his letter, there were recipients of his message that considered themselves Christians. They worshipped with Christians, ate with them and fellowshipped with them. Yet when they were away from the Christian community and back in their Jewish communities, they continued in the Jewish ritualistic customs. They were closed Christians! This is what the book of Hebrews refers to as moral apostasy. Apostasy is the act of renouncing one’s faith and turning away from God.

On Fathers day we get to think about our fathers and about how we are glorifying God through our role as fathers. We also get to think about how our relationship is with our Heavenly Father, and think about His love for us. Hebrews 10:19-25 gives a summary of the content we’ve covered in the last couple of chapters and comes just before one of Hebrews’ several warnings. It also sums up Christian doctrine in three words, faith hope and love. We can journey through our relationship with our earthy father, our Heavenly Father and the purpose for which He created us in this short and powerful passage.

There’s so much talk about vaccines. What would the perfect Vaccine look like, according to medical thinking it should be safe, ethical and effective. Hebrews 10 shows how Jesus sacrifice for our sin was not just a remedy for sin (in that it takes away the punishment of sin) but also a vaccine which changes us and makes us less and less likely to sin. His perfect sacrifice changes us from rebels to worshippers.

The Old Testament sacrificial system was a reminder to people about their sin, and way for those who had faith in God to be saved from the eternal consequences of their sin. The sacrifices were offered repeatedly year after year and were done in obedience to God, but they were not God’s ultimate plan. Like a broken dishwasher can conceal the dirty dishes inside, but not clean them - the old system was not able to heal and clean the conscience, take away the sin and empower the faithful to obey God. Jesus cam to offer Himself in obedience to God, and provided the pure and perfect sacrifice that could do everything that the old system was pointing to, but unable to accomplish.

Have you ever attended the reading of a last will and testament? In Hebrews 9:15-23 the Holy Spirit inspired author compares the New Covenant of the Gospel of Jesus with a last will and testament. It is not something we earn, and in it God rewards us by His grace. We must of course receive this will by faith, though we cannot earn it, we could choose not to accept it. In this will, God gives us His Holy Spirit and a promise of an eternal inheritance kept in heaven. On Pentecost Sunday we praise God for His unspeakably wonderful gift.

Have you ever attended the reading of a last will and testament? In Hebrews 9:15-23 the Holy Spirit inspired author compares the New Covenant of the Gospel of Jesus with a last will and testament. It is not something we earn, and in it God rewards us by His grace. We must of course receive this will by faith, though we cannot earn it, we could choose not to accept it. In this will, God gives us His Holy Spirit and a promise of an eternal inheritance kept in heaven. On Pentecost Sunday we praise God for His unspeakably wonderful gift.

Keeping our mind on the present is a valuable skill that helps us make the most of our opportunities. Putting past failure behind us helps us to focus on the present and work towards the future. Putting past failures behind us is a skill that we can learn, putting our moral failures, or sins behind us is another story entirely. In Hebrews 9:11-14, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins should be the only way we deal with our guilty consciences. It shows how we move away from idols to worshipping the One True God as we trust in the power of the Gospel to save us.

The Holy Spirit shows us in Scripture how Jesus got hungry, thirsty, tired, angry, grieved and joyful. In Luke 22 we read that Jesus “earnestly desired” to eat the Passover meal with His disciples. He longed for it, He looked forward to it with strong emotions. He invited them to the most meaningful meal of their lives, one they would never forget. The meal didn’t fully make sense to them until after His death and resurrection, but then it became so central to their lives that we are still celebrating it as a Church almost two thousand years later.

The Holy Spirit shows us in Scripture how Jesus got hungry, thirsty, tired, angry, grieved and joyful. In Luke 22 we read that Jesus “earnestly desired” to eat the Passover meal with His disciples. He longed for it, He looked forward to it with strong emotions. He invited them to the most meaningful meal of their lives, one they would never forget. The meal didn’t fully make sense to them until after His death and resurrection, but then it became so central to their lives that we are still celebrating it as a Church almost two thousand years later.

The covenant with Moses, that relied on works of the law and was broken by Israel, has been replaced. The covenant that relied on God’s faithfulness (with Abraham) has been fulfilled by the new covenant of Jesus Christ. This covenant, mediated by Jesus Christ inscribes God’s laws in our heart by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This covenant brings us into relationship with Him. It puts to death our sinful flesh, washes us of all our sin, and raises us to eternal life. When we are baptised, we declare what God has already done for us. Who should be baptised then?

The book of Hebrews was written just before the Temple in Jerusalem and all the ways people worshipped there were removed by the Romans. It prepares Jewish Christians for change, change that had already happened but that they were not embracing. They were longing to return to how it was before, comfortable and familiar. We’re called in the same way to keep moving with God’s plan for the Church. The Church will never be destroyed, but big changes come from time to time. We can chose to embrace them, or end up clutching the remains of what we grew accustomed to.

The Holy Spirit encourages them in the letter of Hebrews with the truth that God is in control and bringing about change for the better. He shows them that although they may not have had an earthly High Priest to minister to them, intercede for them and mediate for them - they had someone way better. Their High Priest, and ours, is a King as well as a Priest. He rules all priests, and rules all Kingdoms. He is seated at the right had of God, having finished His mission and secured our eternal future through His loving sacrifice. From His throne, right now, Jesus intercedes for us, He mediates between us and God and He rules over all the universe. Embracing this perfect present is far better than longing for an imperfect past.

The Holy Spirit, through the author of Hebrews carefully shows how Jesus is superior to all the messengers and mediators of the Old Covenant recorded in the Scriptures. One by one, the angels, Moses, and Aaron the High Priest are shown to be inferior to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Through detailed argument and reasoning, we are show the stark contrast between the perfection of Jesus and weakness of all other human mediators. The life, teaching and resurrection of Jesus prove that He is indestructible, that His words are indestructible and that His works are indestructible.

What’s the difference between serving and working? Is it that we are paid to work and we serve without reward? When a company surveys it’s customers to evaluate their levels or service, they’re not trying to find out if the job was done, but rather how the job was performed. It seems we can get the job done without serving. Serving implies working for a higher purpose than merely completing the work for payment. When we encounter good service it feels like people have gone above and beyond what’s required - why would anyone go above and beyond what is required?

Jesus warns the Church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7) that serving God is built on a loving relationship with Him. When we neglect our personal relationship with God, the foundation of our lives, we begin to lose focus and risk serious spiritual injury. The answer is to continually revisit the basics, and build up our spiritual core in acts of love toward God, for the sake of loving Him. A healthy, disciplined life focused on Scripture, Prayer and meditation on God’s Word aligns our lives and provides a genuine and devoted motivation to serve God and His Church in truth and with love.

The Bible tells us that we’re living in the last days. The last days is the period between when Jesus rose into heaven and will last until He comes again. In his letter to Timothy, Paul warns that in these last days we will experience difficulty. Paul goes on to explain the state of the Church during these times. As we examine the scripture for this week, we can see some of the challenges Paul was warning about, 2,000 years ago! Do they sound familiar to you?