|
|
|
|
 story is told of two artists
who were putting the finishing touches on a painting high
on a scaffold in a church. The younger artist stepped back
to admire the work and became enraptured with the beauty of
what he and his master had created. His master saw his pleasure
and realized that in the emotion of the moment the young man
was continuing to step backward, inching toward the edge of
the scaffold. In another moment he would plunge to his death.
Fearing he would frighten his student by a warning cry, the
master artist splashed paint across the painting. The young
man lunged forward in shock and cried out, “What have
you done? Why did you do that?”
Price of Following Jesus. The young painter quickly knew the reason for the disaster. But we usually do not know the reason for the difficult situations that come our way  -
persecution, death of a loved one, insults, hardships, marital
discord, and sickness. We easily become discouraged, change
our plans and our life, respond in anger, and we even wonder
if God is unhappy with us. Sometimes we think we have sinned
or we have made a serious mistake in some key decision. When
Christians become disappointed with experiences in life, it
is easy to wonder is “this Christianity thing” real?
This appears to be the response of the readers of Hebrews.
The readers had “paint thrown on the canvas of their
life.” They were suffering for being Christians, for
worshipping Jesus, and for believing in Him (Heb. 10: 32-34).
They were discouraged, disillusioned, and believing they had
made a mistake. Their spiritual life seemed to be wrong. They
were seriously thinking of returning to Judaism. That is the
reason the book of Hebrews was written. They did not understand
the price for following Jesus was war!Psalm 95:7-11. That is why the Holy Spirit used the message in Psalm 95:7-11 and explained it in the New Testament. The readers knew the passage. They knew that most of the Israelites in the wilderness did not believe God and as a result they did not enter the Promised Land. They knew that only the young ones under twenty years of age entered the land. So the Holy Spirit used that example of unbelief to warn them that they must believe in Jesus. To refuse to believe in Christ would mean living in a spiritual desert on earth and living in hell after death. God’s warning is clear. We must believe in Jesus if we want to be right with God. We must trust Jesus alone to forgive our sins. Only He can forgive sins. This was the second warning. It was hard, pointed, forceful, and long. Compassion Over Sin. How would these people respond? We have had experiences like this. Experiences where we were discouraged, confused and emotionally worn out, only to find that someone starts telling us how to live. They start preaching the Word at us. What did the Holy Spirit do? He preached at them and now He seeks to encourage them. So He says,
|
|||||
|
| Copyright © Like The Master Ministries. All Rights Reserved. | Book of Hebrews |