From Heavens View - A Blob-Fetus-or Unborn Child

Hebrews 7:1-10

When it comes to the priestly order of Melchizedek, the first three verses of Hebrews 7 give us some of the best insights into his personality.  “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything.  He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is king of peace.  He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.”  I believe there is enough information on Melchizedek to agree that he is not like you or I.  It can be said that Melchizedek is a type of Christ, and that he is part of an eternal order, to say anything else would to be guessing.

I was drawn to verses 9 and 10, “One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.”  You must ask the question, was Levi a surprise to the Most High God?  And the answer is no, God saw him in the loins of Abraham and yet it was over 500 years before he set foot on this earth.  Levi was part of God’s plan, he was in God’s thoughts, before the creation of the world, and so were you.  We often listen to men, and not to God, and that is to our shame.  I am often confused; some say to an expecting mother, you are with child, while others call it a blob or a fetus. The dictionary defines fetus: “As an unborn vertebrate at a stage when all the structural features of the adult are recognizable, especially an unborn human offspring after eight weeks of development.”  And in another dictionary it gave this: an unborn offspring of a mammal, in particular an unborn human baby more than eight weeks after conception.

Now, that is what the world has to say, that’s the best scientists can come up with, and the world’s wisdom is that from conception it is some kind of a blob, and then it turns into a fetus that looks just like a human baby, but if it has defects or is unwanted, it not a child, it is a fetus; now that’s strange.  But we dare not call it a baby, because it may bother the person or their family who want to get rid of this embarrassment, this blob that is inconvenient.  But it is somewhat confusing to me that the same culture, the same social order, will get all excited if the blob is wanted and they never refer to it as a blob, or a fetus, they call it a baby, they name it, and they show pictures of what it looks like in the mothers womb.  How can that happen?  I must say a little more on this subject: It make one wonder, has what the Abortionist calls a blob, ever came out anything other than a human baby?  It is a simple answer; when the one who is carrying it does not want the child, they put a spin on what it is called, and God calls that murder.

One thing is for sure, many in the church are on both sides of this confusion, it seems as if what God has said means nothing to them, and if that is so, you have been taken captive by the schemes of the devil.  When I read Psalm 139:16, I have no other question on when life begins, it began in the heart of God long before I was.  “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.”   For my Christian brothers or sisters who are open to the killing of the inconvenient baby, O’ I know you do not call it a baby, but God does, how can you read this and say that is not what I believe.  Has God given you a choice on what part of Scripture you can believe, I think not, it is written, what happens to the person who does that, and it is not about heaven.  I also know that many a young lady has gone the abortion route, only to have great guilt later, that also is not God’s doing, ask and you will be forgiven, and it then becomes the past.  And if it is still coming into your mind, it is not coming from God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Forerunner

Hebrews 6:13-19

Do you remember someone whose word was unchangeable, that a promise was always fulfilled, if so, you know someone who has the character of God.  Most of us have known a person who keeps their word, but few of us if any have met a person who has never broken a promise.  The smallest of things like a promise to bring home a gallon of milk or missing a child’s ballgame, or forgetting an appointment would be all that is needed to remove us from being a person that always keeps their promises.  But it is refreshing, when you come in contact with a person who is known for being a promise keeper. 

That is not the world of 2011, our leaders have a new word for being promise breakers, they call it spin, and they put the spin they want on the outcome of their actions.  Now the question that each one of us must ask, has God changed, is God faithful to what He has said, does God still call sin, sin, has He changed the word liar to spinner, or do we have the certainty of God’s promises?  Have we foolishly tried to make God in our image, have we foolishly believed that God is in agreement with our sinfulness, just because we change the meaning of words, or because we no longer believe what God has said.  If that is where you find yourself you will want to keep reading.

For just a moment give some thought to what it is like to be God, Geneses 1:1, “In the beginning God,” and the prophet Isaiah recorded this statement in Isaiah 43:13, “Yes, and from ancient days I am he.  No one can deliver out of my hand.  When I act, who can reverse it?”  King David had this observation in Psalm 139:8, “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”  In Proverbs 15:3, the same message; “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”  The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 4:13, that nothing is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  It is the certainty of God’s promises that has always been the issue, it has always been the unchanging authority of God, and Hebrews 6:13, and the verses that follow make clear that He is not like us, both His thoughts and His ways are higher than ours.  Verse 13, “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 

When Paul the apostle stood in Areopagus, (in ancient Athens) a hill on which he met the highest governmental council, he began to address them in this manner; “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.”  (Acts 17:22)  He was addressing people like us, religious people and many were like the majority in our world, after he had spoken they mocked him, but a few wanted to hear more and a few believed.  Verses 29-31, Paul is making the case of the certainty of God’s promises.  “Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.  The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 

Because of the certainty of God’s promise, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A very Personal Letter

Hebrews 6:9-12

What if you got a personal letter from your senior pastor, it was written in long hand, and you knew it was not a form letter sent to the congregation, and it was not asking for money, or wanting you to serve in VBS.  It began in this way,

Dear ______,

“For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.  And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who though faith and patience inherit the promises.”

As you read the letter the second or third time, you grasp that though it was written in long hand, the pastor had sent this same letter to others in your church body.  You also realize that your pastor is not only giving you encouragement, he also is telling you to stay in the race, to keep seeking the will of God, to not lean on your own understanding, to stay in the word of God, and to keep your prayer life seeking the will of God, and His kingdom. 

To whom is the writer of this letter to the Hebrew Christians referring to when he uses the word imitators; would it not be somebody that they had the greatest respect and admiration for?  Someone like Abraham, Noah, Jacob, or Joseph, all of these inherited what had been promised to them.  The writer did not have to assign names, these names were etched into their minds, these names and their actions, their faith, were taught to these Hebrews from a very early age.

The writer is once more saying your Creator has chosen you before you were conceived.  Your Creator designed you with a plan, you are like no one else, He values you and He understands that you will become tired, and that the race is often difficult, and it is sometime awkward to do or achieve.  Often others in the race are cruel, and the race is full of difficulty, many times when you need sympathy or gentleness it seems as if no one cares, and there is always that voice that sounds like you; it says no one really cares if you finish the race, surly God would not require this of you.

For all who are in the race and you who will in the future enter it, I have some great news, the letter did not have it’s origin with your senior pastor, it came direct from the heart of God.  Yes, it was written to some Hebrew brothers and sisters many moons ago. God put into the hearts of men to assimilate all that we needed to live life on planet earth and put them in a handbook on life, God refers to it as His Word, and we call it the Holy Bible.  You will find what you need for each part of the race hidden in the pages of His handbook on life, it is required reading if you hope to stay in the race.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What does it mean to be enlightened

Hebrews 6:1-6

My friend Ken Ryan called me the other day and said, (note: this was written in February 2011)“it will be interesting to see how you handle chapter 6 and especially verse four.”  My first thought was no problem, I’ll just leave that for someone else to explore, but the question is what do I believe, and I believe the Holy Spirit will teach me what I need to know about these verses.  Verses 1-6 “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washing, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.  And this we will do if God permits.  For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.”

It is so important to remember that when “Therefore” is used we must go back and read what came before the therefore.  In this case, he is warning against apostasy.  What is the apostasy?  In this case it was a falling away from Christ, not the renunciation of Christ.  Is this the only time in Scripture that we find this addressed?  The answer is no.  The church of Corinth had become infected with the evils that surrounded that city and was a very immoral place.  This is how Paul addresses that church in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready.”  Two very important facts, Paul is calling them brothers, and he is using the same example of milk that he used in Hebrews 5:12, when he was warning against apostasy. 

Did Jesus address the subject of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and the falling away and rejecting the message and becoming an unbeliever?  The answer is found in the gospel of Mark 4:16-19, and in the verses that follow Jesus is referring to a sower of seeds, and the seed is the word of God.  Beginning in verse 16, “And these are the ones sown on rocky ground; the ones who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.  And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.  And others are the ones sown among thorns.  They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for others things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Note: Jesus is making reference to himself, as the word. (John 1:1-5)

In both of these examples we have people who were converted, as one is a convert to a church, but as Jesus states there were not any roots, they were not part of the vine, they never bowed their knee, they never did what is required in Romans 10:9&10 for salvation.  After writing this paper, I looked to see what John Mac Arthur Jr. had to say on the subject.  He asks this question: O.K. Basic question, how long does salvation last?  And the person he asks answers, forever, and John replied, O.K. So now that we got that settled.  I did feel that Mac Arthur added clarity and I’ve added some of his comments.

“Now look back in verse four for a minute. What does it mean to be enlightened…basically? What is enlightenment? Intellectual understanding, right? What does it mean to taste the heavenly gift? Who’s the heavenly gift? Really the Holy Spirit? How could these people have tasted the Holy Spirit? If you ever sat in a church and heard the Word of God preached with power, you’ve tasted the Holy Spirit. If you have ever seen a life changed, you’ve tasted the Holy Spirit. If you ever saw a miracle done by Jesus you’ve tasted the Spirit because He did everything by the power of the Spirit, right? And you are a partaker of the Holy Spirit if you stood on a hillside when Jesus fed 5000 and ate a fish and a little piece of bread, you partook of the power of the Holy Spirit.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Acts of Righteousness

Hebrews 5:11-14

As a younger man, I heard the following message by Peter Lord; “We do more acts of righteousness, than we think or understand.”  Peter was speaking at the Baptist church in Odem, Texas, to people of whom the majority practiced Christianity.  As he delivered the message, I was blown away with this new insight, that anytime we choose to serve others, even the smallest act, like making the bed, or washing dishes, or changing a diaper, with the right heart attitude it is an act of righteousness.  I’m not sure that is Baptist, but it sure is biblical.  When you and I entered into Christ, we entered into a body, we became a living spirit, and the apostle Peter wrote these words under the authority of the Holy Spirit: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)

I wonder what happens to any group of people who are not trained, reminded, and told often that they are filled with God’s divine power in all things that pertain to living life.  What happens if they are reminded often that they are dirty rotten sinners, which is not true, at least that is not what God calls them?  I‘m not saying we do not sin, but when we do, it should bring sadness to our hearts.  I believe Peter’s message is on target, we do more acts of righteousness than we choose to sin.  But I also have experienced that many in the body of Christ do not seem to understand the intensive nature of the spiritual battle they enter.  Scripture is very clear that a Christian has a daily battle with their flesh, and with demons and rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers over this present darkness.  So if we remain untrained, we become easy targets, accepting the message of this world system, of the flesh, and the schemes of the devil.  Yes, we believe that voice we hear, the voice that sounds just like our voice, the voice that says you are a failure, or have little or no worth, or you deserve better; it may be stuff, like a house, or job, or husband or wife.  But on the authority of God’s word, none of those messages, are from God.

Yesterday, our pastor, Ray Still said in his message that it seems as if there is an eraser that removes all that was taught in the message as we exit the building.  My friend, Carroll Ray Jr. said that we all have a preacher filter, and that filter does something like this; “that’s just preacher talk, that is what he is suppose to say.”  It is that voice that sounds just like your voice, and to the untrained, to the one who has no understanding of the attack on your soul; you become an easy target, you are taken captive.  Now the bad news is that voice never stops, and it hits me when my emotions are at a high or low, and if I am not on guard and asking for discernment, it will take me on one big flesh trip.

In these verses 11-14, Paul is warning us against apostasy, he is referring to the eraser that Pastor Ray mentioned in his sermon, or the preacher filter.  It is listening to the wrong voice, and not believing that you are filled with God’s divine power in all things that pertain to living life.  So in verse 11, Paul states that we become “dull of hearing” and just quit listening to the message or teaching, and let our minds think on what needs to be done, when we get through with this religious activity.  In verse 12, Paul states that we should be teachers, but we still need to be taught the basic principles of the oracles of God.  We are told in verses 12-13, that we need milk, and milk is being referred to as what you give a beginner in Christ, it is beginner material, not solid food.  He goes on to state that those who stay on milk are unskilled in the word of righteousness, since they are children.  And we all know that a child must be trained to put others first or they will throw a fit when they do not get their way.  Verse 14, “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”  I believe a warning is needed; the battle never ends, not while there is breath in your body.  The devil is not in a hurry he has no problem with you studying the Bible, if he can keep you from practicing and applying it to your life. In fact, he loves self-righteous religious folks they make his job easier.  But when we apply and abide in those truths, when we look to our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, and put no trust in self, when we learn to take all thoughts captive, when we learn to seek the Lord in prayer; a praying Christian is mighty in this world, then we become more than conquerors.  That is living in victory in all things, in good times and in calamity.  Jim Daly had this to say on prayer in his new book “Stronger” page 160, “When prayer is a regular habit we’re more likely to depend on Him for the solutions to our problems.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

“Faith it"

 

Hebrews 5: 7-10

We earth people or as my friend Bill calls us “time critters” can only grasp so much.  How can the finite (subject to measurable limitations) understand infinite  (without any limits that can be measured or realized)?  It is clear that it is impossible to grasp the fullness of God, and yet it seems that some folks come across as if they understand the totality of God or some take the stand that because they cannot measure or realize the Creator they deny His existence.  Each is extreme, each will lead to a life of self, and both are looking for followers that will revere them.  That is why we often read pass segments of the Bible that we call deep waters, and often forget to ask the Holy Spirit, our teacher, to show us the truth that we need to live and bring glory to our Father in heaven.  I believe Hebrews 5:7-10 is one segment that is not what any of us finites would do.

It is telling us that when Jesus was in His earthsuit, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.  Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.  And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.”  If your mind works anything like mine, and let us pray it does not, you might have a few questions invade your thinking that are not enjoyable.  First, let me state that the Bible is very clear that Jesus is our Creator, Genesis 1:1, Colossians 1:15-17, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

But these questions arise from Hebrews 5:7-10, first was Jesus less than God when He took on flesh?  We find the answer in Philippians 2:5-11, beginning in verse 5 we are told to have the same mind as Christ, and it is clear we can have the mind of Christ, (1Cornthians 2:16).  In verse 6-11 we are told the answer to my question: “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

As a finite, this part of Scripture is some deep, very deep water; “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.  And being made perfect” It is clear that Jesus though being God chose to conform to the limitation of being a man, and run to His Father for everything.  Is that not the message, the theme of the entire Bible, we are to run to God for everything.  I believe Hebrews 10, covers the question that filled my mind, but only in the presence of God in heaven will I begin to grasp the majesty of God, for His ways are higher than my ways, His thoughts are higher than mine.  Now getting back to Hebrews 10:5-7, “Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

So my fellow searcher, what should we take away from Hebrews 5:7-10?  Questions that  cannot be measured or realized, and so we “faith it;” choose to believe God and to act on the will of God.  Jesus had these words for us in John 15:9-10, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Run if they have all the answer

 

Hebrews 5:1-10

Over the years I’ve grown wise to those who seem to always have an answer to every mystery.  The Bible is full of mystery, and many seem to have no understanding, they seem to be without any reasoning, any equation, it seems as if we must choose to believe or not believe.  Is it possible to explain God by anything but faith?  Some might say yes, we see God in creation, in the order of the universe, and in the birth of a child, and I would agree with that, but that still does not explain God.   God has stated clearly in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”   And if that was not so you would not need faith, and you would not need God.  Today I am looking at one of those mysteries found in Hebrews 5:1-10, who can explain this person Melchizedek?

Melchizedek is addressed in Scripture ten times, and seven of them are in the book of Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1,10,11,15,17.  He is also referred to in Genesis 14:18; and Psalms 110: 4.  Beginning in Genesis 14:18, you find Abram, long before God changed his name to Abraham, coming back from rescuing his nephew Lot, and the women and the people and the kings of Sodom when out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh.  Verse 18, “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)  And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”  So we have this information, Melchizedek was a king of Salem, a priest of God Most High and he blessed Abram.  He also makes it clear that Abram with 318 men did not defeat this army of kings, but it was the unseen God who delivered them into his hands.

In Psalm 110 we have king David giving a prophetic statement about Christ and verse 4 injects this insight; “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”  It is noteworthy to mention that the time line from Abraham to Moses was about 540 years and it is over 80 years from that time before we see Aaron being appointed by God as a priest.  So we add to the puzzle this fact that Melchizedek is a priest of God, some 620 years before a priestly line was established on the earth.

In fifth chapter of Hebrews we have this introduction of how and why a high priest is chosen.  “For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”  Moving to verse 5, “So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you;” as he said also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”  Verse 10, referring to Jesus, “being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.”  So what is the order of Melchizedek?  Chapter seven gives some light on the subject, but you will never understand Melchizedek any more than you will God unless you address it by faith.

Hebrews 7:1-3, “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything.  He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.  He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.”  After reading that you must come to the understanding that this Melchizedek is not a created being, he had no beginning or end, he is like God, and there in opens a can of worms that is impossible to understand using logic, it will require faith. 

I do not have to understand nor do you these deep truths of God, but we do have to choose by faith to believe this; “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice