Scripture

Now may the God of peace – who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood – may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him for ever and ever. Amen.

Observation

In his concluding thoughts, the writer prays a blessing on his readers. May the God of peace, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, may He equip them (us) with everything we need to do His will..

The book closes with the formal greeting, “May God’s grace be with you all.”

Application

The blessings of God rely on our personal relationship with Him. He is a real God, described here as the God of peace.

The peace of God comes from our dedication to following the Lord Jesus. The term does not mean that God owns peace, so to speak, but that He is the source of peace. When we submit ourselves to Him, He shares his shalom or peace with us.

God was the one who raised Jesus from the dead, and he ratified a new covenant, a better covenant, in the blood of Christ. This covenant is eternal and will never be done away with.

God calls us to live a life of holiness and good works. We are not saved by our good works, but we are saved in order to produce good works.

Even these good works are not our efforts alone. We need God’s grace and power in order to do every good thing that is pleasing to him.

Prayer

Hallelujah! You are an awesome Father, Lord God. Thank you for saving me by your grace and for equipping me to do the things you want me to do. Amen.

Scripture

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus continual sacrifice of praise to God proclaiming our allegiance to His name.

Observation

In the old covenant, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the temple, and their bodies were burnt outside the camp. Jesus died outside the city to make us holy. We need to go where He is and bear his disgrace.

This world is not our home. We are passing through on our way to a permanent dwelling place.

We should offer a continual sacrifice of praise to Jesus. This is our oath of allegiance to Him.

We should obey our spiritual leaders, so that they can rejoice in their responsibility.

Application

The Old Testament sacrifices are gone. Under the covenant of Christ, the only sacrifice left is the sacrifice of praise.

Our sacrifice his to be continual. Just as the animal sacrifices were offered night and day, so we must learn to be so full of joy and thanksgiving the praise almost leaks out of us. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul tells us to “Rejoice always, pray constantly and give thanks in all circumstances.”

It is easy to praise God when our lives are going well. The sacrifice of praise comes when we learn to praise God when things are going badly for us. God is still the same god when we are enjoying green meadows as when the flood waters are raging around us. He is worthy of praise always. The sacrifice comes when we praise Him anyway even if it is hard to see His hand at work.

Praise must come from the heart and not from the lips only. I know someone who uses the phrase, “praise the Lord,” almost as a swear word. Bang your shins, and it’s “Praise the Lord.” This is not the sacrifice of praise. When we say, “Thank you” to God from a joyful heart, then we have learnt to offer the sacrifice .

Prayer

Please help me Lord to remember to praise you even in the difficult times. Amen.

Scripture

Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Observation

We should continue to love one another, entertain strangers, and remember those in prison.

Marriage must be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure. God will judge those who are immoral. We should keep our lives free from the love of money, and instead trust the Lord.

We need to be wary of strange teachings, remembering our hearts are strengthened by grace and not by eating the right foods.

Application

Our culture has elevated sexual depravity to an art form. What was once, just a generation ago, considered contemptible and disgusting is now celebrated as desirable.

Marriage is seen as a more or less temporary affair with cheating and divorce expected as the norm.

Scripture teaches us that God has a very high view of marriage. In Ephesians, Paul says that marriage is a picture of the covenantal faithfulness of Christ to the church. The intimacy of husband and wife is analogous to the intimacy between Christ and His own Bride.

Marriage is not a light thing. It is no light thing. It is not a mere human convenience. It is God’s idea, God’s plan for the ordering of a civil society.

It is no wonder that the devil hates marriage and tries to undermine it in every way possible.

Christians must honour marriage and try to encourage every husband and every wife to rejoice in their relationship.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for marriage. Thank you for my wife whom I love more than life itself. Amen.

Reflection on Hebrews 12:14-24

Scripture

But you have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.

Observation

We should make every effort to live at peace with the people. We have to be holy, or else we will not see the Lord. Avoid bitterness and sexual immorality.

Mount Sinai was the place where the Israelites met with the Lord Yahweh. It was a frightful place – burning with fire and covered with smoke, with loud trumpet blasts. Not even an animal was allowed to tough the mountain.

We have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God. We meet with the angels, but above all, we meet with God and with Jesus.

Application

When Israel was passing through the desert, the Lord invited them to meet with Him at Mount Sinai. But they were afraid, and Moses went up alone. Moses was afraid, but his passion to know the Lord overcame his fear.

We have come to a better place, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. This is the place where, together with the angles, we meet to worship our God and His Son our Lord Jesus.

It is not that the Old Testament religion is better than faith in Christ. No, the reverse is true. The Jews worshipped at a physical mountain, but we worship at a heavenly mountain.

It does not matter where we worship or how we worship. What does matter is that we worship with a holy and sincere heart.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for meeting with me at any time and any place. Help me to seek you often and to learn to live in awareness of your presence. Amen.

Scripture

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not disabled, but rather healed.

Observation

We are to endure hardship as discipline. Every father disciplines his sons. If you are not disciplined, then you must be illegitimate children, not true sons.

Human fathers discipline us as they see fit, and we respect them for it. But God disciplines us to make us holy. We don’t enjoy any discipline at the time, but it produces a harvest of righteousness.

Therefore, we must strengthen our feeble arms and knees so that the lame may be healed.

Application

In our happy clappy styles of worship and our feel good therapeutic sermons, we forget or overlook the fact that God is a good father.

Good parents discipline their children in order to shape their interactions with the world and other people. When children are not disciplined, they grow up to be selfish, bullies and thugs.

God wants the best for His children, and that includes allowing the difficulties of life to mould us into the people He wants us to be. The kingdom of God is meant to be full of people who know grace, mercy and empathy; not with overgrown babies demanding their own way.

The writer to the Hebrews is telling us to grow up and get over ourselves. We are to strengthen our arms in service and our weak knees in prayer. We are to help the lame similarly become mature in their faith.

Tough words from a God who loves us more than any earthly father,

Prayer

Lord, please train my thinking so that I learn to see you at work in my life in every way. Help me to welcome your discipline. Amen.

Scripture

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders us, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run the race marked out for us.

Observation

We are surrounded by the witnesses, the heroes of the faith, who are watching us and cheering us on in this race. So we should throw off the sins that entangle us and everything that might slow us down, and run the race that God has set for us.

To do this, we should set our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. If we keep our eyes on Him, we will not grow weary in the face of opposition.

We have not yet endured to the shedding of our blood. We must consider any hardship as discipline from the Lord, and rejoice that He loves us as sons and daughters.

Application

The heroes of faith mentioned in the previous chapter should spur us on to greater faith. None of them was perfect, yet they walked faithfully with God.

It is important to throw off the sins that hold us back. Some sins are easily overcome, but others are much harder to get rid of. The trouble with most sins is that we enjoy them. So we need to discern what God is saying we must let go of.

An athlete will arrange their whole life around their training. They will eat foods that build up strength, and avoid those that detract from their goals. For christians, our whole life must revolve around what God wants for us.

For some people, there are things in life that are totally acceptable to the Lord. For oterh christians, these same things are not what God wants for them, and for them they are sinful.

We must run the race God has set for us. A swimmer must be at the right pool in the correct event. A pole vaulter will not win a medal if they run the 100 metre race. I must run the race God has marked out for me, even if someone else’s looks more appealing.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for the knowledge of your love. Please show me the things I need to let go of in order to run the race you have set for me. Amen.

Scripture

All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.

Observation

It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho, and by faith Rahab gave a friendly welcome to the spies.

There are many other examples from Scripture of people who, by faith, overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised.

But there were others who were tortured and killed. These were too good for this world.

All of them earned a good reputation through their faith, but none received all that God had promised. God had something better in mind.

Application

All of the people mentioned in Hebrews 11 are honoured because of their faith,Some we honour because they overcame evil, and others we honour because they refused to submit to evil.

But all of them had this in common – they did not receive the fullness of God’s promise. That was left for us.

God’s intention for all of history was that people move into full relationship with Him. What the patriarchs and prophets saw dimly was fully revealed in Christ. We now have the privilege to receive salvation by faith and to hold within us the Holy Spirit. They experienced God at a distance, as it were, but we know Him personally and intimately.

We were made for fellowship with God. Every human desire points to a higher fulfilment in Christ.

You and I have the privilege of being able to relate to God person to person, whenever we want.

This is the consummation of faith.

Prayer

Father God, I thank you for this awesome privilege of being called your child. Thank you for salvation in Christ and for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Amen