Morning bible reading

November 12th

14: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16: Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17: For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 18: For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19: And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22: But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23: To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24: And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 25: See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27: And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28: Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29: For our God is a consuming fire.

The writer exhorts his readers to live in peace with all men and holiness, because without these things no man shall see the Lord. The Hebrews are to be extra cautious not to fall from the Grace of God. because this will bring in a root of bitterness and through it many are defiled. The Hebrews were in danger of hearing of the Messiah and springing up but when the sun rises they wither and die. Why is that? Because they are religious but have not Christ. They are outwardly religious but then they return to Judaism and the sacrifices and thereby reject Christ and fall from the heights of Grace into the ditch of Judaism. This is the main message of the whole Book. It is addressed to the Hebrews. This is what Esau did. He rejected Gods word and Gods man and then found he could not repent even though he sought it with tears. The mountain that we are coming to is not Sinai which was the place of lightening and fire but we are coming to the Sion The messianic mountain, the highest mountain in the world. The site of the Millennial Temple. This is where the Hebrew is coming. He is not coming to the Old Covenant but he is coming to the New Covenant. - and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23: To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24: And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. The Hebrews are coming to seven things. 1. The City – Jerusalem. 2. To the administration of Angels. 3. To the church. 4. To God the judge of all. 5. To the righteous in resurrection – in the kingdom. 6. To Jesus the mediator of the new covenant. 7. To the blood of the sprinkling. The writer then warns the Hebrews not to refuse the message of God which comes from heaven. The kingdom of heaven will be given to the Hebrews they are to receive it with grace. So that they might serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. The Hebrews are to serve God in the kingdom in reverence a godly fear because their God is a consuming fire.

Steve