The Legal Mind Chapter Thirteen

 Chapter thirteen ends the author's treatise. He has made his case, he has presented evidence and witnesses. Now, we come to his closing argument. He will suggest what all of it should mean to us. He will declare what reasoning minds should extract from the case, and the verdict they should render. We have heard the arguments, and the witnesses. We have seen the clear evidence. What should we do? How should we proceed? First of all, we are charged to give free rein to brotherly love. Not only so, but we should maintain it, as one who keeps a fire going. We are also responsible to stand between love and the enemies of love, to defend it for the common good. Succinctly, the author charges us that we should do all that we can as the caretakers of love.

The second charge is not to bury the talent, not to close ourselves in. We must be open to outsiders, sharing the light of love to all those who would come into our circle. The author refers to Abraham in verse two. Abraham received strangers into his company with gladness, offering help and refreshment. Lot took in the same strangers, offering protection. We are warned against overlooking the aspect of love that is service. Love is a higher calling, it connects us to the heavenly. Abraham and Lot shared the light of love with strangers, not knowing they were angels. They knew it was possible. They did not permit the opportunity to slip through their hands. Rather, they gripped the opportunity and held tight. Because of that, they were compensated, even though they sought no reward.

The third charge is found in verse three. We ourselves suffer adversity and know bonds. We didn't need the case, with its evidence and witnesses, to tell us that. Nonetheless, it follows from the case that we should remember our struggling brothers and sisters. To be with them in our hearts as if we are there with them in the flesh is the living definition of love. The spirit of love reaches out. It seeks to help. We know what the sufferer is going through, and we, ourselves, have received help. In the 1970s, when I was a hitchhiker, those kind people who gave me a ride did so in remembrance of kind people who had taken time to lend them a hand. They were paying forward the love because the light of it showed them how and why.

All individuals, even loners, are part of something. No one is unconnected. We are, therefore, called on to be stable, dependable, true, and loyal in our ties. Knowing that God will punish the untruthful and the unfaithful is not the first reason to be true in our relationships, but it is a very strong second argument. Be true because it is right and honorable. Be right and honorable because those who love you are doing the same. Don't overreach. When the author mentions our “conversation,” in verse five, that one word should be taken to cover all of our dealings with our loved ones. It covers not only our speech but our actions. It also covers our inward intent. Our conversation is who we are to other people, and foremost, we should be trustworthy. Covetousness should not be found in us. If we are true in our ties, we are also content with what we have in life. We are also faithful, remembering that God will not leave us, or forsake us.

In reality, the author is charging us, not with things that are outside of us. Nothing strange or bizarre here, just the stuff we already know. We are charged to carry on in all the common attributes of our lives and spirits. We already love. Continue to do so. We already are true and faithful. Continue to be so. Practice who you already are, the good person, helpful and kind. Grow strong in your natural traits so that you may boldly go. Let your conversation shout, “the Lord is my helper,” I am not fearful of what bad people do.

Continuing at verse seven, the author mentions “them which have rule over you.” These are the people who have come before us. These are the people who have believed before you did. They have suffered. They have practiced and maintained their faith in the face of suffering, temptations, and need. They, among all of us, are able to lead by example and teach from experience. They are steadfast and true. They are dependable and trustworthy. We are counseled to emulate faith, “considering the end of their conversation,” by which he means, the goal and outcome of their thoughts, actions, and intent. Where will their faith take them? What will it achieve in them? What light will it produce in them, that they may shine it on, and affect, their ties with loved ones?

Actually, the answer is given in verse eight. The goal and outcome, in them and in you, is Jesus. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” speaks not of Jesus sitting on the right hand of God, distant and apart. It speaks of Jesus in the ones who came before, and in us who follow, and those who follow us. It speaks of Jesus in our loyalties, faithfulness, dependability, hardships, and perseverance. It speaks of a Jesus who lives in our thoughts, words, and actions. He is the same in all of our connections and ties yesterday, today, and forever.

This goal and outcome require discipline among the ranks. As a driver, people who switch lanes annoy me the most. As a faithful Christian, I am required to pick the lane I want to drive in and stay put. The author of Hebrews delivers the truth most needful to Christians. That is, not to be “carried about” with strange doctrines that differ from the one we know works for us. We are counseled to know the doctrine in which we have been taught, and be faithful to it. A runner who suddenly lays down on the track to see if he can swim the rest of the way, will not be first across the finish line. We must be strongly established in what our hearts have learned to be most essential. That is not in the outward rigors of laws that only address the physical aspect of our being. The author mentions “meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.”

A big issue for Christianity then was that it broke custom with orthodox Jewry. The Jews exercise strict observance of outward ordinances such as which meats one was allowed to eat, the washing of hands, the attendance of Sabbath and how far one could walk, or the work one could perform on a given day. Rather, the author reminds us of the essential matters, those we know to be most effective. They are the grace of God and the practice of Jesus yesterday, today, and forever. That practice is our faith. Jesus living in each individual is our faith, for it can not be done with Jesus apart from us. Consider what Jesus, himself, said.

Jesus said, in Matthew 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” He said, in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” The way is not external but internal. Jesus must live within. When you speak, people should be able to say, 'he speaks just like Jesus.' When you act, people should be able to say, 'he does that just like Jesus.' The truth of Jesus is a personal character trait. God is looking to see Jesus in what you do and say. When Jesus said “by me,” he did not mean a Jesus outside of who you really are. Who you really are is the Jesus inside of you.

Returning to the Jewish connection, the author reminds his audience, in verse ten, that those who served in the Jewish tabernacle, and at the altar on which animals were sacrificed for sin, had no right to eat of the sacrifice. The bodies were burned outside the camp. In the new covenant, in order to sanctify believers with his spilled blood, Jesus, also, was crucified beyond the gate. Verse thirteen explicitly shows our individual, internalized connection to Jesus when it says, “Let us go forth therefore unto him” outside the camp, and also bear “his reproach.” We must be like Jesus. We must be where he is. The link between Christ and a Christian has to be an internal link. Outside the camp, and outside the gate represent a faithfulness to the Christian doctrine apart from Judaism and other doctrines, but a Jesus apart from the inner man just doesn't work.

The Christian, in this present world, is a transient, with no permanent home. We seek one to come. To be where Jesus is, outside the gate, that is sacrifice. That is an acceptance of our cross, and yet still praising God despite our suffering. We are not in this alone, we have each other. We should know that our loved ones stand ready to help us through. Our loved ones should know that we stand ready to help them through. We should recognize, and hold tight to the Jesus in each other.

The author returns to the topic of our spiritual rulers. They are those who have gone before, believed before, suffered before us, and are both able and willing to watch for our souls. We are exhorted to obey them, for they have not engaged lightly in their chosen task. They must give an account to the one whom they serve. Their job is another burden on top of an already burdened life. Let them have some joy in their work – they deserve it. Don't cause them grief, that would not profit you in any way, as they serve the Lord. The author asks for prayer, not for himself alone, but for “us.” The author was a part of something bigger than himself, one member of the body of spiritual rulers watching for the souls of their lambs. We see someone, not as an authoritarian icon, but as a real person with a real desire to do what is good and right. “We trust we have a good conscience” are the words of a genuine individual working toward the common good. “In all things willing to live honestly” paints the portrait of a humble and honorable man.

Whoever the author of Hebrews was, he knew and was known by his audience. Among the words of advice and exhortation may be found a genuine plea that, through their compliance, he may be returned to them all the sooner.

Continuing at verse twenty, the author concludes his letter. It has been laid out like a legal argument, in the hope, I think, that no stone would remain unturned. He has tried, at length, to be thorough, but, it is only a letter, and he must bring it to a close. He has written to people he cares deeply for, and the indication is that the author is known and loved by those to whom he writes. In our recent past, when we actually wrote letters, we might end them with something like 'sincerely' or 'yours truly.' The author of the letter to the Hebrews was not such a minimalist. It took him six lines to wrap up. That is an engaged spirit. Often, in phone calls, we find ourselves in the position of trying to say goodbye, yet, we continue to speak. It takes some doing to make the break.

The God of peace make you perfect. God is a God of many more things than peace, but this attribute is stressed because of the author's desire toward those he is writing to. The God of peace is the same God that brought Jesus back from the dead. I want you to focus on the word, 'that.' It is a word used to indicate God, to show God as the one who is and performs. It is a word used not once, but twice for the same entity. If you removed the second clause from verse twenty, it would read, “Now the God of peace, that great shepherd of the sheep.” Before your very eyes, is the conclusion that the one who raised Jesus is Jesus. God and Jesus are one. Jesus said, in John 10:18, “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

We often think of Jesus in relation to the 'new' covenant, or the new testament, but that is, in actuality, a refinement within an overall covenant. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was a thing accomplished “through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” I stress the word “everlasting” to show that the old and new covenants, the old and new testaments, are one and the same. It is a singular instance of blood that binds us, that makes us perfect.

I have heard far too many people make the false claim that man cannot be perfect. Even Christians entertain the notion that the nature of man is irredeemable, but it is not, and the caveat to the perfection mentioned in verse twenty-one, is not a set of superpowers, it is not a superhuman constitution that allows us to walk on water. Rather, it is the simplest of things. Our perfection is proven in “every good work” to do the will of God. Perfection is found in how we treat each other, it is found in what we do and say among ourselves. If it were not possible for man to be perfect, God would not have commanded that man make the effort.

In Matthew 5:48, Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” It is commanded that man be like God. But how, you ask? Jump up a few verses to Matthew 5:45. Jesus said, “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Perfection is found in fairness and justice within our relationships. It is not for us to pick and choose, but to do the right thing. Perfection is found in our behavior.

In the old testament part of the everlasting covenant, God said more than three times to mankind, 'be holy, for I am holy.' God commanded that we be like him in Leviticus 11:44, Leviticus 11:45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:26, and Leviticus 20:7. We may not say that perfection is out of reach. We can be like God. Peter tells us how in 1 Peter 1:15, “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” When we are perfect in our behavior, we will still have pains and maladies. We will not escape our problems of health or finances. We can bear our cross and be perfect at the same time. We will not accomplish godly perfection if we love some and hate others, neither if we choose our thoughts over his. How can anyone believe God is all-powerful while they engage in persecution of enemies? There should be no enemies.

The action of having and persecuting enemies robs God of his prerogative. Perfection in our behavior will glorify the one to whom glory belongs, it will accomplish the thing that pleases God. How? Because, in perfect behavior, we are like the son of God. There is no higher praise of another than to be that person.

Beyond that, the author asks that we do not tire of exhortation. When we care, we exhort. That does not always go down the way we hope it will. Those we exhort, sometimes feel challenged. They tell us to keep it to ourselves. The author says to the Hebrews that he has only written a few words. There will be more exhortations. They may seem like other people telling them what to do. It will feel like an infringement to those who are not inclined toward mutual support. Yet, in innumerable ways, we do just that in our common communications. We say, 'be well,' 'take care,' 'be careful,' or 'hang in there.' We do it all the time without really thinking about it. We hear it all the time from those we are connected to. When we come to the point where we tell them to mind their own business, we can be sure we will fail to grow in our relationships. One is either inclined toward mutual support, or one is an outsider.

There are the 'say hello for me' salutes, and news of Timothy, who represents one like the author, which the author may travel with to see the Hebrews. It is suggested that one's concerns be with spiritual leaders and saints, and those from Italy send greetings. The letter is done, and all that is left is the well-wishing. Grace be with you all.

The Legal Mind Chapter Twelve

 The author points to this, exactly, in the first verse of chapter twelve. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us” (also) “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us” (also) “run with patience the race that is set before us.” We are exhorted to do the thing our forefathers did and in the same spirit. They persevered, they endured, they made the deliberate choice to run the race. We, also, can and should choose to do the same. Just like those forefathers of faith, we should be “looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,” and who is now “set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus blazed a trail that we may follow in his footsteps and join him where he is. Not only ourselves, but those who came before us, all of us ordinary saints, and heroes of faith.

As for looking to Jesus, we are asked to “consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.” Nobody knows better than Jesus what it means to endure, to persevere, and to be patient. If we can keep that fact in our thoughts, we will not be wearied and faint in our minds. It is an obvious truth that the author of Hebrews brings up in verse four. In all of our “striving against sin,” we have not yet resisted unto blood, as did the author and finisher of our faith. We have really just begun. We are the newbies of faith, the untrained babes in the shadow of greater souls. Verse five calls to mind an exhortation that many of us have forgotten, those of us that at any time considered it. The exhortation speaks to the children that we are, saying, “My son,” (also daughter) “despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son ” (and daughter) “whom he receiveth.”

The author sums up in verses seven and eight. The hardships of growing up are common to all of us. Every child gets spanked and learns from it. This is part of being a child of the father. If you endure the chastening, learn, and grow, then the father deals with you as children. Chastisement is the seal of childhood. It is not some rare personal aggravation, it is common to all, removing the spirit of infractions and instilling the spirit of obedience. We have to ask, why would a father even bother? The answer is a feeling of love and a feeling of family unity. He bothers because you are a part of him. He will not expend the effort on someone who does not belong to him. For that reason, be glad in your chastisement, for it means that you are not an outsider – you really do belong.

The author makes a great case, but he is far from done. Continuing in verse nine, the author asks us to consider common worldly experience as the basis of his case. “Furthermore,” he adds, “we have had fathers of our flesh which have corrected us.” He points to our own Moms and Dads. Our parents, by no means, were experts in raising children. Neither of my parents, for example, had finished high school. As people, they had their own problems to deal with. With no special tools or abilities at their disposal, they had to play the hand that life dealt them. Then, after all their frustrations, and added on top of their grievances, their children came along with more setbacks in their daily struggles. Mom and Dad often spanked me simply because I annoyed them. In an attempt to maintain some meager amount of personal peace and sanity, they sent us kids away with a rosy bottom.

Yet, now, as a grown man, and like so many others of my age, I revere my Mom and Dad despite their drawbacks. I do not blame them for their faults – they did the best they could with all they had to work with. They are only memories now, but I honor their memories lovingly. Such is common to many of us, and the author points exactly to that shared experience. The comparison is laid out before us. Our fathers of flesh and blood “chastened us after their own pleasure,” and we honor them. How much more, then, should we revere and honor our heavenly “Father of spirits” and live? The difference between chastisements is that when God spanks us, it is for our spiritual benefit so that we can partake of his holiness. The word, partake, is a seldom-used expression in our day and age. Synonyms for the word include eat, drink, devour, and ingest. If we are to have anything to do with the holiness of God, it cannot remain outside of us, it must be absorbed into our very nature.

In verse eleven, the author addresses the nature of chastisement. It is two-fold. For the present, chastisement seems grievous. It is painful. It is a hardship. Then, after the tears, it yields the fruit righteousness. Righteousness flows from the “peaceable” spiritual core of a person's “exercised” nature. It is interesting that the author uses that expression. Chastisement is presented as the 'burn' in a person's spiritual workout. No pain, no gain. Every life is exercised thereby, and many of us find ourselves weary and exhausted. We can sympathize when we see others in our own condition. We should realize we are not in this alone. That is why the author gives this exhortation in verses twelve and thirteen. “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it be healed.”

In verses fourteen through sixteen, the author adds the argument of people who rage against their chastisement. We are all in the same club, feeling the same burn as we exercise our spirits. However, there are some people who find it all just a bit too hard. They give up and fail to show up on the following day. For clarity, those who quit are given a face. When we can identify that face in others, we can actively resist having the same face. Two descriptions and one name paint the portrait of that face. The two descriptions are 'fornicator' and 'profane.' Let us stop to consider the import of these two words. Synonyms for the word fornicator include, first, the word adulterer. That is a person who switches partners, a person who abandons, a person who is not loyal. The second synonym is related to the mental mechanics of being a fornicator. The second synonym is the word deceiver. Largely, one has deceived oneself as they never had it in themselves to begin with. The workout was all an act until they found out they bit off more than they could chew. The deceit ends when they fail to continue. A profane person holds that the good choice and the bad choice are equal alternatives.

I'll get to the name in a moment. Before I do, I must continue by saying, those who do not give up are the ones who “follow peace with all men.” They allow the fruit to mature. In company with like-minded practitioners, they follow the plan, employing self-discipline. They also continue with the “holiness” of God, realizing they have a piece of God inside themselves. It is a beautiful child within, and they are determined to nurture it and see it grow. The author states in verse fourteen that, in order to see the Lord at all, a person must have that holiness of God inside as a personal spiritual attribute. One must be diligent in this, otherwise, one will certainly fail to obtain the grace of God. What will cause a person to lose their diligence? Giving sway to any root of bitterness. Bitterness defiles the spirit within. It causes one to disavow loyalty to the goal of the workout, and choose a thing of immediate gratification.

That brings me to the name. The author, in verse sixteen, completes the portrait with a case study of the person, Esau. Esau owned a birthright that included all the real assets of his father, including the honors that went with it. It was a thing he had to wait to obtain. He wearied of the wait and turned to instant material gratification. He sold his birthright for a morsel of meat – so much for so little. The author shows that even people well aware of the great riches promised them grow weary and give up. I guess you can't have your birthright and eat it too. Later, Esau sought his birthright, eyes filled with tears, seeking any possible means to obtain the wealth that had once been promised to him. By then, there was no place where he might undo his earlier dereliction. There are no do-overs.

Continuing in verses eighteen and nineteen, the author alludes to the time when Moses led the children of Israel to the mountain. If you recall, Israel was terrified. The mountain was on fire, so much so that it was black. There was darkness overhead, and strong currents of wind buffeted them. The earth quaked beneath their feet, and they quaked within themselves. They were so scared, they could not approach much less touch it. It was a time when God spoke directly to the people, but they were so afraid, they asked that the words not be spoken to them. It was a case of conviction, cold turkey, and they found it all just a bit too hard. Alluding to that event in their recorded history, the author speaks to all of us when he says, “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more.”

The author continues in verses twenty and twenty-one by explaining how much more severe was that event above our present trials and fears. “(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: and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.)” Moses was the strongest and bravest of the bunch. Moses was the one most faithful and dedicated to the goal. If it was difficult for Moses, imagine the others. What these remarks of the author serve to illustrate is the point of turning away. The fact that if one of their animals touched the mountain, it was too holy for them, shows that the nature in man places a great distance between himself and the goal. Many people feel that perfection is unobtainable, out of reach. They may want to reach it, but when it comes to actually reaching, they give up.

Once before in history, man drew near and failed. Now, the time has come again. Where do we find ourselves? We have come, as the author states in verses twenty-two through twenty-four, “unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 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, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Where we have come is just as serious as the burning mountain, but we need not be afraid, only believe. We are in good company, we are not alone. There are many from which we may draw encouragement to continue in our trials. Hand in hand, we extend our reach toward the goal.

The author's statement about blood opens a new insight, as it appears there is a first and a last blood. Jesus is often mentioned in a first/last reference. He is mentioned as the Alpha and Omega, as the second Adam, and now, we see, he is mentioned in relation to the first blood. Abel was slain by his brother. Jesus was slain by his own people. Abel's blood called to God from the earth, and God responded. The blood of Christ, by which we are sprinkled, provides better things in that regard, for it calls to God from each and every spirit in man sprinkled thereby. Be assured that God will respond.

Therefore, the author, in verses twenty-five and twenty-six, gives each of us a charge and directs us to, “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall we not escape, if we turn away from him speaketh from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” On a previous occasion, people heard the voice of God, a voice that shook the earth. They turned away, they gave up, they failed. They said it was too much, too hard, too far out of reach. Now, the voice calls to us from heaven. What will we say? Will we say it is too much, or difficult, or unobtainable? Will we also turn away? We are shaken, what does that mean?

An explanation of shaking is offered in verse twenty-seven. The expression 'yet once more' is used. It signifies “the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made.” The author, indeed the word from God, seems to indicate 'made things.' That would be all of our constructs, all of our crutches, all of our affectations, rationalizations, and excuses. Once those are removed, what remains? The author finishes his statement with, “that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” What is unshakable in a man? His faith? His real connection to God? The blood of Jesus definitely speaks these things.

Chapter twelve concludes with verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine. In them, we find two truths and one charge. In the past, God spoke from the mountain. God was a consuming fire, setting the mount ablaze in a frightful manner. It is just as true that God is a consuming fire today. He sets minds on fire, consuming rebellion to expose obedience, consuming all our lies to expose the truth. The second truth is that God has shaken both heaven and earth, much will fall by the way. You and I will be left. What remains unshaken in us will allow us to serve God as we should – in the spirit of connection through the blood of Christ, in the mindset of grace, reverence, and respect for God. That is acceptable and will get us through.