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,
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