Daily Inspirations

  Good morning. For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Under the old covenant every time a sin was committed the death of an animal had to occur. With the new covenant there was a one-time offering for sin – Jesus. As a result, we who have been called receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. If we inherit something from someone while we are alive, the inheritance lasts only while we're still living. This inheritance lasts even after we die. Where there is a covenant there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never enforced while the one who made it lives. While they are alive, they don't need a covenant. It is only after that they are dead that you need a document stating t...

  Good morning. If that first covenant has been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. It was not enough, because man could never live up to his part of the covenant. God told them in Jeremiah that there were days coming when He would have a new covenant with the house of Israel. In this one God would put His laws into their minds and write them upon their hearts. They would not be written on stone tablets which could never help mankind to live by them. It would not be just a set of rules that mankind had to live by in his own power - out of fear of being judged. Under this covenant, mankind would want to live by them. And all would know God. He then goes through all of the things that were in the tabernacle of Moses. He then talks about the blood of goats and bulls and ashes of a heifer sanctified for the cleansing of the flesh; so how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse you...

  Good morning. Talking about Jesus our high priest: He does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. This repeats what we've said before. And so we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. Everything on earth concerning the law was a foreshadow of what was to come in heaven. As great as it was, it was nothing compared to what was to come. They served a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. But even though everything was a copy, Moses could not be sloppy in his creation of them. God told him to make it according to the pattern that He had...

  Good morning. We will sort of quickly go through his discussion about Melchizedek. He was king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. Abraham gave him 1/10 of the spoils. His name meant king of righteousness; and he was king of Salem which means king of peace. No father or mother no beginning nor end of life. He was made like the Son of God - a priest perpetually. He received tithes and is witnessed that he lives on. Tithes were given to the priests, who were from the tribe of Levi. Melchizedek was not from the tribe of Levi. The one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe. It is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah. I know that is a lot, but there is a lot more that I skipped. From these comments (along with God saying that You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek), and the ones I skipped, it seems like the writer of Hebrews was saying t...

  Good morning. God, desiring even more to show the heirs of the promise (that means us), the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. The moment God promised us something, it was certain. That's because He cannot lie, and He would not change His mind. He then also swore by Himself that He would bless Abraham and his descendants. Therefore we can be certain when we lay hold of the hope set before us. Because of this we should not be tossed to and fro. This hope is an anchor for our souls. This hope enters within the veil, where Jesus entered for us as a high priest. Once a year the high priest would go inside the veil to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. Only he could go inside and no one else. Inside the veil above the Ark of the Covenant is where God manifested Himself. No one...

  Good morning. Continuing about those who have fallen away: he talks about vegetation receiving rain. Those that bring forth useful things, receive a blessing from God; those that have thorns, are worthless, close to being cursed, and are burned. But we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation. God won't forget your work in ministering to the Saints. Show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. In other words don't give up doing the good deeds you have been doing, just because you become tired or discouraged. That you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Just like it's all too easy to become sluggish in your everyday life like doing household chores etc.; it is all too easy to become sluggish in doing good deeds for the kingdom of God. Notice that it is not only through faith, but also patience that you need to inherit the promises. ...

  Good morning. Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God (this would be salvation- part of the milk he was talking about), of instruction about washings (baptisms), laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. These are the things they learned about when they first became Christians. They are the foundation upon which everything else is built. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. Whoa! How could someone do that? It says that they are partakers of the Holy Spirit. If you have done that, how could you turn your back on God? But people do that all too often. It ...

  Good morning. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation. Because of His suffering and learning obedience He saved us not just for a while, but for all eternity. As we said before He was designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, not Aaron. The writer of Hebrews wanted to talk more about Mel, but they had become dull of hearing; and so it was hard to explain to them. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. Got expects us to grow - not to stay where we are. Remember that Paul told Timothy to teach others what he had taught Timothy, and that they should teach others also. By this time they should be on a solid diet. They did not get a solid foundation. They needed to tear down everything and start all over again. For everyone who partakes only...

  Good morning. So what should our response be to what we've heard so far? Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need. Remember that those who are of the light come to the light. And we come with confidence – not in fear and trembling. We don't have to fear that our request will be rejected. He then talks about the human high priest who offered sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant since he himself also is beset with weakness. Therefore he has to offer sacrifices, not only for the people, but also for himself. Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest. God is the One who designated Him a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek; not according to the order of Aaron. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus requested that the cup be taken from Him. He was heard because of His piety. He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. None of ...

  Good morning. Continuing: and there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. You can't sneak one past God. He knew you were going to do it before you even thought about doing it. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. As our high priest, He offered the greatest sacrifice ever – Himself. And He is not here on earth – He is in the heavens. If He were here on earth, He could only be with a few at a time. As it is, He can be with all of us all of the time. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. He suffered temptation just like we do. We would have yielded many times over to temptation, if we had been in the garden like He was. He knows how hard it is for us to resist temptation. That does not excuse us when w...

  Good morning. So we have seen that the children of Israel had good news preached to them, and they failed to enter because of disobedience. Centuries later God spoke through David: today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart. For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience. Some people are still working for their salvation. Salvation is by grace not by works. However, if one is saved, one should be doing good works. You don't have to "work up" your works. It should be a naturally supernatural thing. We do not want to follow the disobedience of the children of Israel. How will we be judged as to whether or not we obey the word? For the word of God is...

  Good morning. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. Just hearing the good news is not enough. People hear the good news every Sunday; but there is no change in their heart or in their life. It does not profit them. It's like the seed sown on rocky soil. The devil snatches it away. The word has to be united by faith. The word translated united is an interesting one. It means to be blended together to form a compound. It is like taking carbon and iron and blending them together under heat and pressure forming steel. You cannot tell where one leaves off and the other begins. It does not form a new element, but the characteristics of the finished product are different from the two separately. So it is with the word and faith. They are blended together to form something much stronger than each by itself. Each one by itself is not enough to save you. The I...

Good morning. Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me. For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. The reason people disobey is because they don't believe God's word. When God says not to do something or else ... , He means it. Or if He says to do something or else ... , He means that also. And so they were not able to enter into God's rest – they died in the wilderness. If they had entered into the Promised Land, they would not have entered into His rest; and they would've kept all of the others from entering into His rest also. Sadly the same thing is true today. There are those who are in the chur...

  Good morning. Hebrews then quotes from the book of Psalms: today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as they did when they provoked Me in the wilderness ... tested Me ... 40 years... always go astray… shall not enter My rest. Take care, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. They saw God perform miracles for 40 years in the wilderness; and yet they still did not believe Him. The fact that they had manna for 40 years did not phase them. They had a miracle every day, and what did they do – complained! We need to be careful to not be like them. We get miracles all the time, and yet we do not acknowledge or even see them. It's like a picture on the wall. After a while, we don't even notice it's there. We get discouraged and think that God does not even care. But encourage one another day after day as long as it is still called today, lest anyone of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Sin ...

  Good morning. Speaking of Jesus: Since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. We know that Jesus suffered tremendously; not only during His scourging and on the cross, but also in the garden before He was arrested. Remember the song – He could've called 10,000 angels. And yet He endured all for us. The situations in which we are tempted pale by comparison. Therefore, holy brethren (yes he's talking about you), partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. An apostle is one who is sent. And the high priest intervened between man and God. Jesus is both through our confession. He was faithful to Him who appointed Him as Moses also was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. Moses was faithful as a servant – but Christ was faithful as a Son over His h...

  Good morning. Speaking of Jesus: since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself   likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. God did not just go "poof" and make us His children. He actually became flesh and blood. As such, He experienced what unredeemed man experiences when he dies. Through death He made the devil powerless. Before that, the fear of death controlled mankind. He experienced death so that He might deliver those who through the fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Remember that through faith we are also children of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. The high priest once a year had to sprinkle...

  Good morning. Yesterday we talked about not seeing all things subjected to mankind. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. He suffered death so that we would not have to. The real "us" never dies. He was greater than the angels in heaven; and then He came to earth as a man. It was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. It took the sufferings of the cross to bring everything to completion. Without it we would not be sons and daughters of God. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Jesus is the One who sanctifies, and we are those whom He sanctifies. We are set apart to God thr...

  Good morning. Yesterday we talked about paying much closer attention to what we have heard. After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. Jesus spoke to the disciples. They then passed along what they had heard and seen. These were eyewitnesses. It wasn't just someone who heard someone who heard someone say something. That can be far from what was really said. So how did we know that it was accurate? God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. God is the One who bore witness to what they said with convincing proofs. Also, they did not conjure up things on their own. Everything came through the Holy Spirit, and it was by God's will. Back to the angels: He did not subject to angles the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. Quoting from Psalm eight: "what is man… You have put all things in subjection under his feet...

  Good morning. Continuing: when He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. Jesus finished the work that He was sent to do. In Acts chapter 7, Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. There are some groups today that are really big on seeing angels. That is what they are looking for when they go to various meetings. We are not to seek or worship angels. The writer of the book of Hebrews then points out how much greater the name of Jesus is than angels. To which of the angels did He ever say "You are My Son, today I have begotten You?" He then goes on with a lot more verses showing how the Son is so much greater than the angels. And of the angels he says: are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? There are some who think that this means that we can c...

  Good morning. I am just going to look at one verse from Philemon. I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake. Too many Christians today do not even know what good things are in them. We received a lot from God when we became Christians. A person is ineffective when they do not know what they have available to them. Now on to the book of Hebrews. Some of these verses we have talked about before. God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. God used the prophets in the Old Testament to speak to the people about His ways. But when Jesus came, God spoke to us through His Son, Jesus. The prophets spoke of the coming of the Messiah. Even though the people had those words to direct them towards Jesus, they still did not b...

  Good morning. We were talking about the Holy Spirit last time – whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Remember that John the Baptist said that the One following him (Jesus), was the one who is going to baptize in the Holy Spirit. We were justified by grace not by our works. Why – that we might be made heirs. Paul wanted Titus to speak confidently so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. God did not pour out his Holy Spirit upon us for us to just sit around singing worship songs. We are to get out and do good deeds. We don't attract men to Christ by what we do in church; we attract them by what we do in the world. I'm not aware of this happening at church, but with one that big I would not be surprised that it goes on in secret - reject a factious man after a first and sec...

  Good morning. Paul then tells Titus to remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. In other words, listen to those in authority and be a good neighbor. We need to be understanding because: we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and in envy, hateful, hating one another. In other words we were bad dudes like they are now. Does not mean we permit them to do what they want nor to approve the things they do. We were lost and without hope. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. God so loved that He gave. And it was not because of any of our "righteous...

  Good morning. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. But sadly not all will accept it. Instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age. It's not just to not do bad things. It is to live your life as if God were watching you in your presence. We are to live this way because we are to be looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. We would not want to be caught doing those bad things when Jesus appears. However if you say He's not coming for a long time, it is easy to slack off, thinking you can make things right before He comes. However that is unlikely to happen. The longer you feel that way, the harder it is to change. We should behave properly even if He does not come in our lifetime. After all, He gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possessio...

  Good morning. Paul just got through telling Titus about all these bad speaking people. Instead Titus was to speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds. We are to lead by example. People will do what we do, not what we say to do. We are to have purity in doctrine, dignified (that does not mean with your nose   stuck in the air), sound in speech which is beyond reproach (Watch that tongue ). Why – in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. You lose the argument before you even get started, if your speech is not beyond reproach. Paul's instructions about bondslaves is good for all of us: to be well pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. Of course you dare not be argumentative with your boss. The not pilfering goes along with what Pastor talked about Sunday. It says e...

  Good morning. Paul left Titus in Crete to set in order what remained and to appoint elders. He then goes through a list of what is required of one to be an elder. The last two were to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. And like before: for there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach, for the sake of sordid gain. Of course today it is not about circumcision versus uncircumcision. We've talked about this before. If you are not grounded in the word, you can be deceived by others. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They were worried about fulfilling the Law of Moses. There was a lot of touch not, taste not - that would defile you. That does not mean that there are not some things that we shou...

  Good morning. We are now in Titus. Paul said that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago. Today, sadly, we have people who are apostles of men, not of Jesus. The church I was attending before was involved with a group of so-called apostles. Without Paul we would have all kinds of people giving their opinions as to how to live the Christian life. Paul wrote truth for our faith. Notice that it says in the hope of eternal life. Remember: if it is seen, then it is not hope. It also says that God cannot lie. Mankind chooses whether to tell the truth or a lie. God cannot tell a lie even if He wanted to – which of course He does not want to do. Eternal life was not a last-minute promise – God made it ages ago. But people could not see it, even though it was in the Scriptures. Those that did see it did not underst...

  Good morning. Paul tells Timothy to: be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. I'm sure he does not mean to not get drunk. We should not turn away from what God has called us to do, even when things go bad - hardship. Even if you are not called to be an evangelist, you should still do the work of an evangelist – bring others to Jesus. Paul tells Timothy that the time of his departure has come. And then those famous last words: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. He persevered and completed the assignments God had for him. He had every good reason to turn back, but he did not. Most of us would have concluded that it was not God's will because of all of the complications Paul went through. We would have given up. In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, we will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also t...

  Good morning. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead (all are to be judged) at/by His appearing and His Kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. We have to be ready at all times. The opportunity will come when we least expect it. It's not the unbelievers that will listen when we reprove, rebuke, or exhort. We are to help steer believers in the right direction. After all they will be judged too. It doesn't mean they won't go to heaven; it does mean their actions will come under judgment. But we are to be patient. It's hard to do that when you know what is right and that they are supposed to know that also. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears...

  Good morning. All these bad things that people today do that we talked about before: but evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse deceiving and being deceived. How could they get any worse? Deceiving and being deceived - when you deceive others, you open yourself up to further deception. What are we supposed to do? We are supposed to continue in the things we have learned and become convinced of, knowing from home we have learned them. Because of the lives of the pastor and other teachers, we know we can trust the word that they have given to us. Then Paul tells Timothy: from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. It is the uniting of our faith in Christ Jesus with the word of God that brings us to salvation. It is not just some emotional feel good situation. It has to be based on the word. That does not mean that you have to quote chapter and verse. It does ...

  Good morning. Continuing from yesterday: treacherous (definition – guilty of or involving betrayal or deception - better watch your back. They will pretend to be your friends just to deceive you and stab you in the back), reckless (they don't care who they hurt - the thrill is more important than safety), conceited (they are not just confident - this goes along with arrogant), lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (pleasure is paramount – and who cares about God, even if He did exist), holding to a form of godliness (of course they are the ones who define godliness – they may even go to church every Sunday), although they have denied its power (religion can't change your life – and never mind this healing stuff; it doesn't exist). So what are we to do? One thing is to avoid such men as these. Sometimes though they won't let you avoid them. They "come after you". They are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. There are...