“See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.” -Hebrews 12:25a

A very somber warning comes to the Hebrew believers: do not neglect the salvation that God has worked for you through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Just as Abel was killed, and his blood spoke from the ground, (see Genesis 4:10), so too the blood of Christ—the Son of God, and the spotless Lamb of God—speaks unto us today.

What He is saying today

“Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” -Hebrews 12:26

God is saying that in the past, at Mount Sinai with the giving of the law, He shook the earth with His words, yet the time is coming that God will not only shake the earth, but the heavens also. That is, that God is totally and completely shaking all nations and peoples, and is removing the temporary things that were in place to give way to His everlasting gospel.

“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.” -Hebrews 12:27

What we ought to do

In listening to the voice from heaven—which speaks from the blood that was shed on the Cross of Calvary—we hear a warning and an exhortation from God: He is pleading with us to walk in faith.

God is encouraging us to continue on in faith—nothing doubting—as seeking a heavenly country which shall never pass away. God is pleading with us to keep on the straight and narrow path despite hardships and struggles.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” -Hebrews 12:1-3

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” -Hebrews 10:25

Here the Bible tells us that we are not to forsake the assembling of God’s people together: as would be the case in a church. In Hebrews, the book is filled with solemn and somber warnings against apostasy and falling away from the faith; and so we get a helpful bit of advice to help keep us on the right path, and the basic message is this: go to church!

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. . .” -Hebrews 10:23-25a

It was as if Paul was writing to the Hebrews, “we’re all in this together, and this great struggle of Christian life is too difficult to go it alone: you need help from your spiritual family to strengthen you through tough times, and likewise they need you to encourage them and set a godly example.”

Yet just as it was in the early church, even so too today there are still those that claim to be followers of God, but refuse to gather with other Christians. Whether it is out of pride and self-sufficiency, or out of fear, or perhaps a certain grievance that has been committed against them in the past: whatever the reason, if we are not gathering together with other believers in fellowship, then we are not living in obedience to God’s word.

The apostle John says that those that are truly born again will love their brothers, and it would make sense that those who love their new spiritual family would desire to be with them. And yet, John also comments that those that are of the devil are those people who only love the world, and serve their own selfish lusts. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

If we are truly born again, then we ought to let go of our selfishness and pride, and come into fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ on a regular basis.

“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” -1 John 3:14

“The very plants turn with a joyful transport to the light.” -Schiller

If you’ve ever seen a sunflower, you might have noticed that there is a very good reason that it is called a sunflower. As with other flowers and plants, a sunflower will reorient itself throughout the day to always be pointing at the sun.

Sunflowers follow the sun.

Why would a sunflower want to follow the sun? Because the sun’s light is life-giving, and the more sunlight it can get, the healthier it will be.

Imagine if a flower or plant hated the sun: what would happen if the sunflower bowed down its petals away from the light of the sun, and turned its leaves so it would get as little sunlight as possible? How would this affect the health of the plant, and what would it tell you about the nature of the plant?

A spiritual comparison

In our souls, God is the sun, and His truth is as the rays of sunlight that beam down upon our hearts. The truth of God’s gospel is life-giving, and of critical importance to our spiritual well-being.

Yet what would you say if you saw a person that shunned the truth, and loved darkness instead of light? What might be the spiritual condition of that person?

Just as it seems self-defeating and foolish for a plant to not want to take in every ray of sunlight that it possibly can, so too are we all with our souls, when we try and hide ourselves from God, and live in darkness.

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” -John 3:19-20

Coming to the light

Why would we allow ourselves to be shaded out from God? Usually, it is because we have sinned, and we let this sin separate us from God. We are ashamed of something that we have done, and we want to hide it from God. Perhaps it is out of pride: we don’t want to admit that we’ve made a mistake, and we don’t want to own up to the consequences.

Yet when we sin, we put ourselves under the shadow of sin. When we do a dark deed, we ourselves are shaded out from God’s goodness. It is not that God’s grace is no longer there, or no longer available to us, but simply that we hide ourselves from it, as a sunflower would foolishly hide itself from the sun.

Yet, we ought heed the lesson of the plants, and see how absolutely vital sunlight is to sustain life. We cannot expect to live in darkness, and still prosper spiritually—that would be as if we put a plant in complete darkness, and still expected it to sprout up and grow strong. Only in acknowledging our faults, and coming to the light of God’s truth can we have the strength of God’s nourishment for our soul.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” -1 John 1:8-9

“Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.” -Ezekiel 3:1-2

In other places in the Bible, God’s words are compared to bread, and manna, but here in the book of Ezekiel, the allegory is laid bare. God gave to Ezekiel a roll (what was basically the equivalent to a book in old times) that contained the words of God. Then, as we see in the verses above, Ezekiel is commanded to literally eat the roll.

God’s charge

Next, God gives Ezekiel a charge.

“And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.” -Ezekiel 3:3-4

In so eating God’s words, Ezekiel takes unto himself the message that God has for His people, and becomes His messenger.

Today, as Christians, we have this very same charge from Jesus:

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” -Matthew 28:19-20

Notice that Jesus said that we are to teach people “whatsoever I have commanded you.” That is to say, we are to take Christ’s words into ourselves, and share them with others.

In using the analogy of Ezekiel and the roll, we are to take Christ’s words, and “eat” them up, and let them become a part of us. We are to seek God’s words, and hear them, and chew on them, and consume them until they are “digested” and we understand them, and they become a very part of us.

In reading and meditating and praying over Scripture each morning, we are to let it enter into us, and there, as food, let it be disseminated and distributed throughout our entire spiritual body. We are to take in the purity and wholesome soul-truth of God’s words, until our very substance, and our very constitution is sustained and strengthened by God’s word.

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” -John 15:7-8

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” -Lamentations 3:22-23

The prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of his lamentations over the sin and captivity of his nation, realizes that God has been very merciful. It is one thing to look at the bad and see things from the perspective of all that we don’t have, or all that God has taken away, yet in truth, we, like Jeremiah in the verses above, ought to recognize that it is of God’s mercy that we are not all consumed in God’s anger.

We ought to be thankful that God shows us mercy and compassion with each new day. Every morning that we are given from the Lord ought to be seen as a gift, and that He has been very faithful in showing us new mercy and patience each new day, as surely as the sun rises.

“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. . . . The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” -Psalm 103:1-5, 8-14

“Next to God, thy parents.” -William Penn

Recently I wrote about the need for spiritual mentors for those that were newly born in the Lord. But what about those that are both young spiritually, and also young physically (children)? In these critical years, God has given us all representatives to help shape and mold us into who we will end up being in the Lord.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” -Ephesians 6:1-3

You may be familiar with the commandment: honor thy father and mother. But what most never consider is what it does not say: the Bible doesn’t say: honor your father and mother only if you feel that they are truly worthy of honor. Regardless of who they are, or what their shortcomings are, we are to give them honor.

Like it or not, whomever our parents are, and however they’ve chosen to raise us, they are shaping us for the future. God can bring goodness and use out of all situations.

I recall the story of a missionary to Africa named Mary Slessor. When she was young, her father would come home drunk many nights, and he treated his family poorly. No doubt Mary developed many street-smart ways of dealing with these hardships, and learned valuable lessons. And it seems quite amazing, that later in her life, Mary would need such instincts in dealing with tribal leaders in the mission field of Africa, where the leaders of the people were often drunk and unreasonable—a flashback of her childhood years. She fearlessly stood up to countless dangers, and saw God’s hand of protection every time.

Now, imagine if Mary had grown up on a bed of roses, and had been pampered her whole life through. Perhaps God could use such a background for other purposes and callings, (He has a plan for everyone), but can you imagine what it would be like for Mary to be called into Africa and go up against such tribal barbarians? Without the street lessons that her father inadvertently taught her, she would be utterly unprepared, and unsuited for the work that God had called her to do.

Whether we have wise parents that instruct us in the Lord, or troubled ones where we can learn from their mistakes, we ought to thank God for our parents, and recognize that God is using them to shape our very lives. We ought to honor them and obey them, as we would God, because we know that God has orchestrated all things, and arranged for us to be in such a place at such a time, for His good purpose.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28

“It is folly to punish your neighbor by fire when you live next door.” -Publilius Syrus

Although the above quote may be somewhat obvious, and perhaps a bit humorous, we would do well to take the words to heart regarding the body of Christ. Syrus is essentially saying that if your neighbor lives close to you, then you would not be wise to set fire to his house since your own house may very well be burned down also.

“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” -Romans 12:5

And in the body of Christ, the apostle Paul writes that we are all members of each other in Christ. In essence, we are neighbors, and it would be folly to try and destroy or injure a member of our own body. It would be akin to having the hand get mad at the foot, and to punch it and damage the body.

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” -1 Corinthians 12:25-26