In
this letter our spiritual ancestors receive commendation for a faith exemplified
by their common attitude towards their earthly status.
By
faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear,
prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world
and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
By
faith Abraham obeyed when he was called
to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went
out, not knowing where he was going.
By
faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in
a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise;
By
faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a
child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had
promised.
Therefore
from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude--innumerable as the
sand which is by the seashore.
These
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar
off were assured of them, embraced them
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For
those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
These great
saints realized and accepted their true status on the earth. They were pilgrims, strangers and exiles who did not consider
the earth their home. Instead they
diligently pursued a better country, a heavenly country, a country that was not
of this world. Even the thoughts or memories of the country they came from were
put out of mind so they would not be tempted to return. Instead they turned
their backs on the many pleasures and trappings of this world in order to stay
on the nobler journey of apprehending God and manifesting His purposes in the
earth. They were pressing on to lay
hold of that for which they were laid hold of by Christ Jesus (Philippians
3:12). These saints stayed true to
the course even though the promise eluded their grasp. Please note that to walk by faith is to go out and walk upon this earth as Abraham did. It is a life of
seeking a heavenly city that God has prepared, a city that has foundations, even
Jesus Christ. (See Isaiah 28:16, 1Corinthians 3:11)
Now we have
entered the same race and the purpose of this race is to finish!
We have been mobilized. All believers ought to be mobile--migrating from
glory to glory in diligent pursuit of the fulfillment of God’s global purpose.
We are compelled to once again live as resident aliens on the earth.
God used the
death of Stephen to start the church on its outward trek once again. Until then
things were getting pretty cozy in Jerusalem. Even the temple priests were
beginning to believe in the faith (Acts 6:7). There was no sign that the
apostles were taking to heart the command of Jesus to take His gospel to the
uttermost ends of the earth. Stephen spoke of a continuous exodus of God's
faithful, and his death brought it to pass for this infant church.
We are not
called to be city builders, denomination builders, or church builders We are
called to be pilgrims in this earth as we follow the upward call. The early
church knew this. They did not build a single church building for almost 300
years. They met in homes and kept moving outward with the Good News. They
constantly referred to themselves as sojourners and pilgrims in the earth.
The opening
words of the first Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, supposedly written
during the lifetime of John, gives us an indication of the mindset of the
churches at the close of the first century. Clement begins as follows. "The Church of God which sojourns
at Rome, to the Church of God sojourning
at Corinth, to them that are called and sanctified by the will of God, through
our Lord Jesus Christ." Polycarp’s
letter to the Philippians was addressed to
"the Church of God sojourning at
Philippi." By this we see the mindset of the late first and early second
century believers. They saw themselves as pilgrims and sojourners in a strange
land. (See1Peter 2:11) They saw themselves as tent dwellers, not city builders.
The ambition to settle and build cities for God came later with the full-blown
apostasy of the church, which led to the present disorder.
The church
is rife with denominations founded by and on the visions of mere men, each one
claiming his handiwork to be the true city that we should give our money and
devotion to. Instead of answering that upward call, they end up playing the
harlot with the world and giving birth to spiritual mutations that must be
attended to like any deformed and disabled child. These offspring have no innate
mobility and lack the ability to thoroughly mature without a release of
miraculous power to reactivate their dead limbs.
The cry of God's Spirit is for the church to once again arise and walk!
We are
called forth to take up membership in ONE heavenly city and let our whole hearts
be anchored there and there alone. This causes us to not seek His blessing on
OUR city or movement, but draws us onward to His.
By
faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because
they saw he was a beautiful child; and
they were not afraid of the king's command.
By
faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter,
By
faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as
seeing Him who is invisible.
By
faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed
the firstborn should touch them.
By
faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land,
whereas the Egyptians, attempting to
do so, were drowned.
Those who
walk by faith cut themselves off from the success the world and its church
system offers. They are single of
focus like Moses, not content until they have seen the Living God face to face
(Exodus 33:11). Sometimes this involves laying aside legitimate blessings. God
will most assuredly demand that you put a knife to whatever has come between you
and that heavenly city for your own sake.
Women
received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain
a better resurrection.
Still
others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and
imprisonment.
They were stoned, they
were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They
wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted,
tormented--
And
all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the
promise,
Therefore
we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
If we are
going to walk by faith, we must expect to be rejected by the inhabitants of this
world and its systems, religious or otherwise. In modern churches today, time
and attention is given to making the church palatable to the world. They attempt
to remove the offense of the cross.
We must be
ready for the long haul and keep focused on Jesus. He has not only called us to
a life separate from the world, but to a life of suffering and rejection as
well. From a worldly standpoint, this is not a selling point. Jesus came to His
own and His own received him not, and we must expect to have fellowship with
Christ in His sufferings. Jesus not only called us out of the world, but has
promised to see to it that those who endure to the end get that heavenly reward.
But
you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
See
that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused
Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we
not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks
from heaven,
Now
this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being
shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may
remain.
Therefore,
since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by
which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
The writer
of Hebrews draws our attention to the heavenly Jerusalem where Jesus sits as the
Mediator of this present new covenant. As
Paul wrote the Colossian believers, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek
those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.
Be mindful of things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:1-2 MKJV)
We are
called to listen to HIS voice in order to escape the wrath of our God, who is a
consuming fire. He warns us that all these created things that so easily
distract us in this life will be removed and all that will remain is God's
kingdom, which cannot be shaken.
We don't
need another church growth seminar. We need a migration to the place where God
is now. We need to be faithful to
press on towards the ultimate finish, and to bring the purpose of God for this
age to completion. We must return
to the journey, to apprehending God and manifesting His purpose as a living
organism. We are called to follow Jesus outside the camp of established
religion, bearing His reproach.
Paul had a
vision that was instilled in Him by the Lord like no other apostle. This vision
went beyond any earthly institution. His vision was "in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus," among that great cloud of witnesses. He wrote to the Ephesian
church,
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Here we see
that Paul had something further in mind when he spoke of us as being in Christ.
He first points out that EVERY spiritual blessing is in heavenly places in
Christ. What? Doesn't God want to bless us here on earth? Doesn't He want us
to live like a King's kids with all the riches that the world has to offer?
No, I think that Paul has greater riches and blessings in mind than the things
of this world that perish (Matthew 6:25).
Paul
continues, "He chose us in Him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before
Him." Here he reveals that we were IN HIM before the foundation of the world!
Wow! Paul, do you really mean that? Could it be that God has made a body of
spiritual cells, a body that pre-dates the universe as we know it? Were those
same cells in that body fore-ordained
to be manifest on this earth as HIS body, the body that shows Him to a lost and
dying world? Are you still with us? It gets even better.
Paul taught, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20, KJV). Here we see that we were in Jesus' physical body on that cross outside the gates of Jerusalem. We also see that we walk out our spiritual lives by His faith, not ours. I find that very liberating. It is ALL JESUS! It is His faith, His death, His life and His love in us.
God is now
calling for a new exodus from this weak and unworthy mixture. Those who embrace
Christ's sacrifice are called to bear His reproach by going forth unto Him
outside the camp. The word camp indicates an encampment, a mass gathering,
and in this context refers to the city of Jerusalem, which was once a place of
God's habitation. This city was once known as the city of the great King, but
had become steeped in traditions that make void the commandments of God and had
stopped living for His glory. They had stopped progressing with Him. When they
discovered that Jesus would not fortify their existing institutions, the
inhabitants of this city cried, "Crucify him, crucify him." It is the same
today. Those who cling to the old wineskin, crucify Christ "afresh, putting
Him to open shame." They make void the bidding of the Holy Spirit by clinging
to their traditions. In an attempt to avoid His reproach, many have turned back
in their hearts to the traditions of the past. They deny that Christ's
sacrifice was intended to accomplish a continuing exodus from the things of this
world and an ever-growing love for what is heavenly.
Jesus did
not come to endorse the old temple order. Instead, He prophesied its end. (See
Matthew 24:1-2) In 70 AD, Titus the Roman conqueror laid it in utter ruin. It
had already outlived its usefulness by about 35 years. Just as Jesus had said,
not one stone was left upon another--a testimony of its temporary Nature.
In that
moment atop Calvary's hill, when Jesus uttered the words, "IT IS
FINISHED," a great shift in heaven and earth occurred. The TIME that Jesus
spoke of when true worshippers will worship God in Spirit and in truth had come.
The Father can no longer be worshipped in this mountain nor in Jerusalem. From
that time on, there is a new altar that those serving the earthly tabernacle
have no right to eat from. Those who worship in Spirit and in truth are those
who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
(Revelation 14:4) They are the true Pilgrim Church. They have no continuing
city here but look for one to come.
Paul also
teaches us that we were resurrected with Christ. "Therefore we have been
buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised
from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness
of life. For if we have become united with Him
in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." (Romans 6:4,5, NASB). Yes,
our bodies will be raised just like His, but in the spiritual sense, we are
already there at the right hand of the Father dwelling in His resurrected power.
The book of
Hebrews is an appeal to Jewish believers to exit the old order. Its author gives
powerful witness to the fact that the old order has been made obsolete by a new
and better Covenant. In God's economy the old
system of temple worship has vanished away. In the closing chapter of Hebrews is
an exhortation that can never make sense to those who cling to the old order,
who have stopped journeying and have camped along the way, who lay stress upon
earthly tabernacles.
We have an altar of
which those serving the tabernacle have no authority to eat. For of the animals whose blood is brought by the high priest into the Holy of Holies concerning sins, of these the bodies are burned
outside the camp. (See Leviticus 16:2, 27)
Indeed, because of this, in order that He might sanctify the people by His own
blood, Jesus suffered outside the gate. So let
us go forth to Him outside the camp bearing His reproach. For we
do not have here a continuing city, but we seek the city
coming. Then through Him let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God
always, that is, the fruit of the
lips, confessing to His name. (Heb 13: 10-15 LITV)
Allegorically
there are two altars today. One altar is of the earthly sanctuary or old order
where worship is chiefly attached to observable places and events. The other is
the heavenly tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man (Hebrews 8:2),
where worship is in Spirit and in truth. Those who cling to the former order
have no right to eat of the heavenly altar. Only those who go out to Him,
leaving the old religious forms behind, may truly eat of it. Only those who
suffer the reproach of Him who bore our sicknesses, carried our sorrows, was
wounded for our transgressions, and bruised
for our iniquities may eat of it. Those who go outside the camp unto Jesus can
also expect to bear the same rejection and reproach that He did at the hands of
the religious leaders, for this altar is often found in the presence of our
enemies (Psalms 23:5).
By
attempting to store new wine in old wineskins, Christianity today has become
exactly what Christ warned against--a powerless mixture of the old and the new,
unable to contain or sustain God's glory.
In Luke
5:36-39 Jesus explains the dire consequences of this mixture.
No
one puts a piece of a new garment on an old garment; otherwise both the new will
tear, and the old does not match the
piece from the new. And no one puts new wine into old skins; otherwise, the new
wine will burst the skins, and it will be poured out, and the skins will perish.
But new wine is to be put into new skins, and both are preserved together. And
no one drinking old wine immediately
desires new; for he says, The old is better.
(LITV)
How often
has the Father poured the New Wine of His Spirit upon His children but the old
wineskin couldn't contain it and the glory was short-lived? How often have we
heard the stories of great revivals where God poured out His Spirit upon certain
groups of people, but, in the end, things were worst off than before? Why is
this? It is simple. Old wineskins cannot contain new wine. New wine will always
burst old wineskins and the wine will spill out. I believe this is why sustained
revival is so rare. The old obsolete religious system is too fixed and frail to
contain the glory of the New Covenant. Contrary to Christ's advice, religious
man is determined to mix the two.