My Morning Meal

Left to myself . . . going with just my natural inclination, I’m not really a “swim upstream” sort of person. I don’t like to make waves . . . pretty content to go with the flow. Despite what sometimes appears otherwise, I’m actually pretty content to just blend in and go unnoticed. But I’m reminded this morning that following Christ is not really a “go with the flow” type of calling.

I’m reminded this morning in Hebrews 13 that in order to make the way for my salvation . . . that in order to “sanctify” me or “set me apart” for Himself . . . that Jesus, like the sacrifices of old, had to suffer “outside the gate.” Just as the bodies of Old Testament sacrifices were burned outside the camp (13:11), so too, Jesus was taken outside of the religious camp of the day to die. He was crucified outside of Jerusalem’s gates . . . He was outside the accepted religious practice of the day . . . He went against the flow . . . willingly He suffered the reproach, the reviling, and the rejection of swimming upstream.

And that’s the place He calls me to . . . outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.  
                                                                              (Hebrews 13:14 ESV)

Not a very comfortable place . . . outside the camp. But where else would I go? Who else has the words of eternal life? He is the Way, the Truth, the Life and no one comes to the Father but through Him. If He is outside the camp, then that’s where I need to be too. Willing to put it out there . . . willing to be misunderstood, or misrepresented, or maligned.

And one of the reasons this isn’t such a “bad move” on my part is that here I have “no lasting city.” Instead, I’m already seeking the city that is to come. Swimming upstream maybe becomes a bit easier when I realize that going with the flow only leads to a cesspool compared to what I have waiting for me “upstream.” Feeling like I’m standing alone outside the camp becomes easier to do when I realize that everything “in the camp” is perishing and will one day pass way. But the enduring, continuing, lasting, city in heaven is coming . . . and soon!!! That’s why saints who get this sing, “This world’s not my home, I’m just a passin’ through!!!”

I can be the round peg in the square hole because I’m searching after the city to come . . . I wish for it . . . I crave it . . . sometimes I can taste and touch it!!!

And so, as I fix my eyes on what is to come, being outside the camp doesn’t really become the focus . . . rather I end up outside the camp because my eyes are turned to the One who is the Light and Glory of Heaven itself, my loving Father!!

Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.   (Hebrews 13:15 ESV)

Outside the camp, standing with Jesus, with Him as my enabler, I’m exhorted to continually, without ceasing, offer the sacrifice of praise to God . . . the fruit or offering of my lips . . . acknowledging or confessing His Wonderful Name.

It’s not just swimming upstream for the sake of swimming upstream . . . it’s coming to the blessed Savior . . . it’s being ushered by Him into the very presence of Almighty God . . . whatever sacrifice it might mean for me, it pales against the privilege and joy of offering the sacrifice of praise to the Father.

Let’s go . . . swimming upstream . . . boldly acknowledging His name . . . joyfully offering abundant praise . . . by His grace . . . for His glory!

Hebrews is the book that just “keeps on giving.” Just when you think you’ve reached the apex . . . there’s more mountain to behold . . . just when you think you’re stuffed from all the food you’ve taken in . . . out comes the dessert . . . just when you’re heart is flying high, the afterburners kick in and it soars. And then . . . there’s more!

The writer to the Hebrews has taken me on an incredible journey, presenting the excellencies of Christ and how much better He is than any of the Old Testament prophets or practices which pointed to Him. This culminates in the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith” which showcases that the substance of the hope presented in Christ is faith . . . that faith is the evidence of the things not seen . . . that faith is what pleases God.

And then the “so what?” starts in Hebrews 12 — so what does all this mean for me the believer today? And the focus is turned to how believers should live . . . that we should look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, and run with endurance the race set before us (12:1-2). The writer says, Get a grip . . . strengthen those legs . . . get on track . . . pursue peace with all people . . . pursue holiness . . . be careful to not fall short of the grace of God . . . don’t let anything grow up inside you which will spoil God’s work in you and defile you (12:12-15).

And as if what has come before isn’t motivation enough for determining to “step up” to this salvation we’ve been given, the writer builds further perspective in 12:18-24. He places the struggles of their “here and now” in the context of the glories of their “there and then.” He reminds these Jewish believers that this isn’t about coming to Mt. Sinai anymore . . . its not about cowering in fear before an unapproachable God . . . its not about the law . . . but that it is about something, not to over use the word, so much better . . .

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.   (Hebrews 12:22-24 ESV)

Behold your salvation, Pete!!!

By the grace of God and through the blood of Jesus I have been made alive to the spiritual and entered the eternal . . . coming to a heavenly city inhabited by an innumerable company of angels. I’ve been registered in heaven as part of “the church of the firstborn.” The way has been opened and I have been ushered before God, the judge of all . . . escorted in by Jesus the Mediator, and the Assurance, of this new and living way . . . all through the blood of a once for all sacrifice offered by the Lamb of God, come to take away the sins of the world.

So get your eyes off the ground!! There’s more!

Look heavenward and behold your salvation! Strengthen your hands . . . make straight your paths . . . be healed as you march under Zion’s banner.

And then, worship saint, worship!

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe . . .   (Hebrews 12:28 ESV)

For His glory!

One of the first things we did when we got our GPS was to program the “HOME” function . . . not because we don’t know where home is . . . but because we know that no matter where we travel, we’ll always want to get back home. Most times we’ll know our way . . . sometimes we’ll need help at least getting us back to familiar territory . . . many times we don’t need to “push the button” at all . . . but there’s a certain comfort in knowing that we’ll always know how to get home. This morning, I’m kind of thinking it should be that way with our “inner GPS” . . . that our internal guidance system should always be anchored to home . . . and when that’s in place, there’s a “homeland security.”

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.  
                                                                              (Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV)

Faith is the fuel of endurance (see yesterday’s post). It is the assurance of things hoped for (11:1) . . . it is the means of comprehending the incomprehensible (11:3) . . . it is the “secret sauce” to pleasing God, “for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (11:6) . . . and it is the driver for programming the “HOME” function on our spiritual GPS.

The “hall of faith-ers” I’m reading about this morning desired a better country . . . they coveted a land unseen . . . they strained and stretched, reaching out to touch a city whose designer and builder is God (11:10). It became their context for doing life.

Because of his “HOME” function, Abel offered a better sacrifice . . . because he was aligned to true north, Enoch pleased God and bypassed death . . . Noah built an ark trusting God had charted the course and would captain the ship . . . Abraham ended up going without knowing, confident that his tracking system would lead to the land of promise . . . and Sarah bore life from a dead womb, considering “Him faithful who had promised” (11:11). And at the heart of such trust . . . propelling an obedience which often times defies human wisdom . . . was a homeland security.

How they lived here was influenced by their confidence in what existed there . . . their actions declaring loudly “that they are seeking a homeland.”

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.    (Hebrews 11:16b ESV)

He has prepared a city . . . and even now His blessed Son is putting on the finishing touches . . .

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” – Jesus   
                                                                                      (John 14:2-3 ESV)

And by faith, I’ve desired to set my “HOME” function to that “better country.” Not saying I won’t have times when perhaps I wander a bit . . . maybe stray off course . . . possibly get turned around . . . but there’ll always be the security and confidence of knowing which way is home . . .

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

So often, the New Testament writers were corner men. You know, those guys with the towels on their shoulders and the water bottle in their hands who wait for the bell to ring between rounds of a boxing match and then go into action trying to get their fighter ready for the next round. Sometimes their guys come back pretty beat up . . . their job is to patch them up and get them back in the fight . . . 10% attendance to the physical . . . 90% focus on the mental. That’s what comes to mind as I read the last half of Hebrews 10 this morning . . . the writer is a corner man trying to encourage his readers not to give up the fight. And the “secret sauce” for endurance? Faith.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming One will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.   
                                                                                 (Hebrews 10:35-39 ESV)

These Hebrew believers had been “enlightened” (v.32). They had grasped something of the “new and living” way that God had opened up to them through Jesus the Great High Priest . . . they had tasted something of the confidence to “enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (v.19-21). They had also suffered for their allegiance to the Christ . . . they were regarded as rejecters of the law of Moses . . . they had been “publicly exposed to reproach and affliction” and the “plundering of their property” (v.33-34). And as such, many were now wavering . . . the fight was tough . . . they were feeling somewhat beaten up . . . thinking about throwing in the towel. Enter the Corner Man . . .

For nine-and-a-half chapters the Corner Man has been painting a picture of the superiority of Christ over those things that foreshadowed Him in the law. A better minister than angels . . . a better mediator of a better covenant . . . a better builder of a better house of God . . . a better high priest in a better tabernacle . . . a better sacrifice for sin opening a better way into the most holy place. And then, to those who are reeling from going round after round with opposition and trial, the Corner Man says, “The just will live by faith . . . and we are those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

Not to be overly simplistic . . . not to minimize suffering . . . not to think lightly of trials . . . but, at the end of the day, when you’re kind of feeling beat up, doesn’t it come down to what we believe that propels us to get up again the next morning and enter again into the fray? Isn’t it with an eye to the sky, owning by faith that “the coming One will come” (v.37) that we determine, as much as lies in us and by the power of the Spirit upon us, to keep on keepin’ on? When we seem to be losing everything around us, isn’t it because we believe that we have “a better possession and an abiding one” (v.34) that we press on towards the finish line . . . believing that we will “receive what is promised” (v.36)?

Faith is the fuel of endurance.

And so the Corner Man whispers in our ear as He strengthens the inner man, giving us living water to drink . . .

. . . let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith . . . let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful . . . let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works . . . encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  
                                                                                   (Hebrews 10:22-25 ESV)

The righteous . . . those declared righteous through the work of the cross and their place in Christ . . . the righteous will keep on keepin’ on by faith . . . by really believing what they say the believe . . . by not relying on their own ingenuity, strength, and abilities, but in His finished work and in the power of His resurrection . . . by not trusting in “horses and chariots” to win the battle, but trusting in the name of the LORD our God (Ps. 20:7).

O’, that by His grace we might walk by faith. Let us fight the good fight . . . by faith alone in God alone . . . for His glory alone. Amen?