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 ne Sunday an evangelist came to our church when I was a teenager.
He came to challenge us about our relationship to Jesus -
our souls and our commitment. Our pastor had evangelists come
to the church almost every year. The Holy Spirit had used
one of them to draw me to Jesus. As a teenager most messages
seemed boring, but this one had my attention. The Holy Spirit
was using his words in my life. The speaker was calling us
to serve the Lord in ministry as an adult. It was near the
end of the service when he asked us to express our feelings
about Jesus. A number of people shared how special Jesus was
to them and after awhile a young man raised his hand and said,
“Jesus is faithful.” The evangelists stopped. He
looked at him and said, “Now that is the mark of a pastor.”
Faithfulness is the mark of believing men and women whom God
has greatly used. Men and women who believe in Jesus and who
are faithful to Jesus!
What Kind of Faith.
Faith is the mark of those who are involved in effective ministry
for Jesus. But we must not forget that faith is how we start
as a Christian, and it is the mark of one who continues to
live the  Christian
life. Many view Christianity as a social club. Membership
on the church rolls is all that is required. Getting people
involved in doing something in the church is all that is required
to keep them. That is the new mark of faithfulness for some
- involvement in the church!
But
that is not what the book of Hebrews is talking about. The
message of Hebrews is not about keeping people involved in
the church. It is about a man and a woman believing in Jesus
- a trusting, dependent relationship. It is a call to believe
in Jesus! It is about starting in and continuing in the faith.
That is the message of Hebrews 3:6.
Biblical Interpretation.
In Hebrews 3:7 the Holy Spirit quotes Psalm 95:7-11 to make
the point that true Christians are those who have a pattern
of life that is marked by belief, trust, and dependence in
God.
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For
He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture,
and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear
His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness; “When
your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they
had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed
that generation, And said they are a people who err
in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore
I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into
My rest.” (NASB) Psalm 95:7-11 |
This
passage is talking about the Israelites' continued pattern
of sinning during the wilderness journey from Egypt to the
Promised Land. They had seen God’s miracles - plagues
on Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, drowning of the Egyptian
army, manna from heaven, water from rocks, clouds of smoke
and fire, and so forth. Yet they did not believe. They had
seen God’s miracles - “My works” - for forty
years. God says they always went astray. They did not know
God; yet they had seen God’s wonders. Should we be surprised
when men and women do not believe? Miracles and wonders may
cause people to believe, but there is no guarantee. Jesus
said,
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“Woe
to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the
miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred
in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. (NASB) Matt. 11:21 |
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