Hebrews
10
Hebrews 10:1-39 says:
1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are
coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same
sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near
to worship. 2If it could, would they not have stopped
being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and
would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But
those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because
it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5Therefore,
when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in
the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.' "[a] 8First he said,
"Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not
desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to
be made). 9Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to
do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the
sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11Day after
day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he
offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But
when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down
at the right hand of God. 13Since that time he waits for
his enemies to be made his footstool, 14because by one
sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
15The Holy
Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16"This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds."[b] 17Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more."[c] 18And where these
have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19Therefore,
brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of
Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through
the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a
great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed
with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope
we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let
us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the
habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see
the Day approaching.
26If we
deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful
expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of
God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without
mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How
much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled
the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the
covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will
repay,"[d] and again, "The Lord will judge his
people."[e] 31It is a dreadful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32Remember
those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground
in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes
you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood
side by side with those who were so treated. 34You
sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your
property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting
possessions.
35So do not
throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You
need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive
what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38But my righteous one[f] will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him."[g] 39But we are not of
those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are
saved.
1. THE OLD COVENANT WAS A
SHADOW OF THE GOOD THINGS TO COME BECAUSE ITS ULTIMATE PURPOSE WAS TO POINT FORWARD
TO THE COMING OF THE NEW COVENANT. V.1
·
The Old
Covenant Law was only a shadow of the good things that did not come until
Christ brought in the New Covenant. V. 1
·
Because the
Old Covenant Law was only a shadow, a witness to the real reality, it could
never by repeated annual sacrifices make perfect those who approached God.
·
God’s law is
only a reflection of God’s holiness – we must discipline ourselves to go after
the real McCoy and not a cheap imitation.
·
“Made perfect”
means that God’s people are cleansed from sin within, given a new heart that knows
and obeys God’s law, and thus enabled by God to live in obedience.
·
Those old
repeated sacrifices could never help people move forward – their repetition
proves they could not.
·
If the
sacrifices worked then, they could have stopped being offered.
·
If the
sacrifices worked, they would have no longer felt guilty for their sins.
·
The
repetition of the sacrifices showed that God’s Old Testament people did have a
continuing “consciousness” of sin.
·
They did
continue to feel guilty and to sense the power of sin in their lives.
2. THE
OLD COVENANT SACRIFICES WERE LIMITED IN WHAT THEY ACCOMPLISHED BECAUSE THEY
NEVER CLEANSED A PERSON’S CONSCIENCE NOR CHANGED HIS/HER HEART. Vs.1-3
3. THE OLD SACRIFICES
WERE A REMINDER THAT A NEW AND BETTER COVENANT WAS NEEDED TO TAKE AWAY SIN AND
CHANGE THE HEARTS OF SINNERS ONCE AND FOR ALL. VS. 3-4
·
The only
thing the sacrifices accomplished is that they served as an annual reminder of
sins and pointed forward to the sacrifice of Christ which would effectively
deal with sin.
·
The repeated
sacrifices of the ceremonial law remind God’s people that human beings are
sinful unless they have been cleansed through Christ’s sacrifice.
·
God never
intended for the blood of bulls and goats or of any other animal to take away
sin – that would be impossible.
·
There’s no
way such blood could really cleanse human hearts of sin and enable them to live
above temptation.
4. THE “BODY OF CHRIST”
REPRESENTS THE COMPLETE AND PERFECT OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST IN BECOMING HUMAN,
LIVING A RIGHTEOUS HUMAN LIFE AND DYING FOR SIN. Vs. 5-10
·
In Vs. 5-7,
the author quotes Psalm 40:6-8 which differs in several ways from that passage
in the English Old Testaments.
·
Some of these
differences occur because he used a Greek translation of the Old Testament
instead of the Hebrew test from which our Old Testaments are translated.
·
Some of the
differences may come from the preacher quoting the Psalm from memory and
paraphrasing its words.
·
Dug signifies
the piercing of the lobe or the opening of the ear so that one can hear, and
obey.
·
“The body”
God prepared for him probably signified the means of obedience, the means of
doing the will of God.
5. WHILE GOD REQUIRED
SACRIFICES TO BE MADE, HE WAS NOT PLEASED WITH THEM BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CHANGE
THE WORSHIPPER’S HEART FOR GOOD. Vs. 5-8
·
Hebrews 10:6
reads, “you were not pleased”, while Psalm 40:6 says, “You did not require.”
·
In one sense
God did not require them, for in the Law of Moses He commanded that they be
offered.
·
Through this
Psalm Christ completely rejects the Old Testament sacrifices as the means of
pleasing God or gaining access to His presence.
·
The preacher
is still careful to state that the Law required these sacrifices to be made. V.
8
·
These
sacrifices did not please God because they did not cleanse from sin and bring
people into God’s presence. V. 6-8
·
The
sacrifices gave a picture of the sacrifice of God’s Son which would “please”
God by effectively accomplishing these purposes.
·
Christ our High
Priest continues to be the One who can help us to be victorious because He has
done the will of God. V. 7
6. JESUS CAME TO GIVE A
BETTER AND LASTING SACRIFICE THAT WOULD CHANGE THE HEART, MIND AND SOUL OF THE
WORSHIPPER FOREVER! Vs. 9-10
·
HE SETS ASIDE
THE FIRST TO ESTABLESH THE SECOND V. 9
·
The preacher
stated that these sacrifices were required by the Mosaic Law, the ineffective
Old Covenant.
·
The first
system was removed only so that the second could be established.
·
BY CHRIST
DOING THE WILL OF GOD, WE CHRISTIANS HAVE BEEN MADE HOLY, FORGIVEN, CLEANSED
AND EMPOWERED TO OBEY.
7. ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE
BEEN MADE HOLY BY RECEIVING THE NEW COVENANT SACRIFICE CAN COME INTO THE PRESENCE
OF GOD AND HAVE INTIMATE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM. Vs. 9-10
·
THE EVIDENCE
THAT PROVES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICE IS: HE SAT DOWN AT GOD’S
RIGHT HAND.
·
The priests
continually repeat the same sacrifices to no effect.
8. UNLIKE THE OLD
TESTAMENT SACRIFICES, THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST MADE THE BELIEVER HOLY AND
RIGHTEOUS FOREVER. Vs. 11-14
·
These
sacrifices, no matter how many times they are offered, cannot effectively deal
with sins.
·
Christ’s
“sitting down” demonstrated the once and for all character of His sacrifice
because He does not have to get up to offer it again.
·
His sitting
at the Father’s right hand continues until that time when His enemies have
become His footstool.
·
He presently
waits for that time, just as His faithful followers eagerly await His return to
bring them into the full blessings of “salvation”.
·
Hebrews
4:14-16 tells us that during this period of waiting – Christ Jesus is
interceding for us.
9. JESUS’ MINISTRY HAS
CHANGED FROM A SACRIFICIAL ONE TO THAT OF BEING AN INTERCESSOR. Vs. 12-14
·
Jesus is no
longer engaged in sacrificial ministry because by one sacrifice He has made
perfect forever those who are continually being made holy.
10. GOD DEALT WITH SIN IN
THE HUMAN HEART BY PUTTING HIS LAWS IN THEIR HEARTS AND WRITING THEM ON THEIR
MINDS - HE DOES THIS THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT WHO
REMINDS US OF GOD’S LAW AND GOD’S PROMISES. Vs.15- 16
·
The terms
heart and mind reinforce each other and show that the entire inner being of the
human heart is conformed to the will of God.
11. UNDER THE NEW COVENANT
GOD FORGIVES AND FORGETS OUR SIN – IT IS DONE…IT IS OVER….IT IS FINISHED! Vs.
17-18
·
Although the
Greek word for forgiveness in v. 17 is often translated “forgiveness” the New
Kings James translates it “remission” or “release”.
·
Since under
the New Covenant Christ has dealt with sin decisively and effectively, there is
no longer any sacrifice for sin that needs to be offered – IT IS FINISHED! V.
18
·
In
12. CHRISTIANS ARE URGED
TO LIVE IN THE PRIVILEGES JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST HAS PROVIDED FOR THEM. Vs. 19-39
·
The preacher
warns them of the grave danger if they reject these benefits which he has now
explained, and in
·
From the
beginning to the end the preacher expresses his urgent concern that his hearers
enter into the grace their High Priest makes available.
·
He wants them
to live lives that demonstrate an appropriate response to that grace.
·
The fact that
Christ has cleansed us from sin gives us confidence to enter the heavenly and
true
·
The blood of
Jesus is a symbolic way of describing Christ’s completely obedient human life
and death as a sacrifice for humanity.
·
He has opened
up a new living way.
·
Here the word
living means that the power of the eternal living God has opened the way.
·
Some have
suggested that instead of understanding the curtain as a barrier, we should
understand it as a point of entrance.
·
Christ’s body
was the entrance into Heaven.
·
WE HAVE A
GREAT HIGH PREIST WHO IS NOW IN HEAVEN MINISTERING GRACE TO US EVERY DAY.
13. SINCE THE BARRIERS TO
INTERACTING WITH GOD HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY CHRIST’S SACRIFICE, THE CHRISTIAN IS NOW
URGED TO DRAW NEAR TO GOD BECAUSE NOTHING STANDS IN THEIR WAY ANYMORE. Vs. 19-22
·
By drawing
near to God they leave all that is sinful and unholy.
·
Their
thanksgiving, praise, and acts of love are the “sacrifices” that they bring
when they draw near to God.
·
THE CHRISTIAN
IS TO COME WITH A SINCERE AND TRUE HEART. V22
·
This heart is
the exact opposite of the hardened and rebellious hearts evidenced by the Old
Testament wilderness generation.
14. THE CHRISTIANS TRUST
IN NEITHER THEMSELVES OR IN ANY SACRIFICE OTHER THAN CHRIST. V. 22
15. THE PHRASE “HAVING
OUR HEARTS SPRINKLED TO CLEANSE US FROM A GUILTY CONSCIENCE” MEANS THAT WE HAVE
ALLOWED CHRIST TO CLEANSE OUR INNER BEINGS FROM SIN – WE SURRENDER OUR PAIN TO
HIM AND RECEIVE CHRIST’S PEACE OF MIND AND REST FOR OUR SOULS.
Matthew 11:28-29 says:
28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls.
16. THE PHRASE “HAVING
OUR BODIES WASHED WITH PURE WATER” INDICATES THAT WE HAVE ALLOWED CHRIST TO CLEAN
UP THE OUTSIDE OF OUR LIVES FROM THE INSIDE - OUT BECAUSE OUTWARD ACTIONS FLOW
FROM OUR INWARD HEARTS. Vs. 22
·
CHRISTIANS
MUST BE TRULY HOLY THROUGH CHRIST IN ORDER TO LIVE THIS LIFE OF WORSHIP TOWARD
GOD.
17. A CHRISTIAN WHO FOLLOWS
THE NEW COVENANT MUST BE DURABLE AND GRITTY. V. 23
“LET US HOLD UNSWERVINGLY
TO THE HOPE WE PROFESS”. V. 23
18. WE CAN BE SURE THAT
THE SALVATION FOR WHICH WE HOPE WILL BECOME A REALITY
BECAUSE GOD GUARANTEES IT. V. 23b
“FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS
FAITHFUL.” V. 23b
·
GOD IS
FAITHFUL AND HE GUARANTEES IT!
·
EVEN WHEN WE
ARE FAITHLESS, GOD IS STILL FAITHFUL AND CANNOT DENY HIMSELF.
19. THE CHRIST FOLLOWER
IS EXPECTED TO ENCOURAGE OTHER CHRISTIANS TO STAY TRUE TO THE FAITH. V. 24
·
LET US
CONSIDER HOW WE MAY SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON TOWARD LOVE AND GOOD DEEDS.
·
Let us
consider means that we give attention to this matter.
·
The Greek
term behind “spur on” has the same connotation as the English phrase “stir up”.
·
Ancient
writers usually used it for stirring up people in the wrong way for irritating
and angering others.
·
Christians
should practice the same zeal in stirring up people to love!
·
This love
expresses itself in good or appropriate deeds.
·
These deeds
meet the needs of and bless those who receive them.
·
V.25 offers
specific examples of how Christians should love each other.
·
First of all
their love keeps them from giving up meeting together for worship,
encouragement, and Christian fellowship.
20. SKIPPING CHURCH SERVICE
IS NOT AN OPTION FOR THE AUTHENTIC “CHRIST FOLLOWER” - WHEN A CHRISTIAN CHOOSES TO STAY HOME AND NOT
GO TO CHURCH, NOT ONLY DO THEY MISS OUT BUT SO DOES THE ENTIRE CHURCH BODY –
YOU ADD SOMETHING TO SUNDAY SERVICE THAT NOBODY ELSE CAN BRING.
“LET US NOT GIVE UP
MEETING TOGETHER, AS SOME ARE IN THE HABIT OF DOING, BUT LET US ENCOURAGE ONE
ANOTHER – AND ALL THE MORE AS YOU SEE THE DAY APPRAOCHING”. V. 25
·
BECAUSE THE
DAY OF JUDGEMENT IS COMING, CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT PLAY AROUND.
21. IN HEBREWS 10:19-25,
THE AUTHOR URGES CHRISTIANS TO PUT INTO PRACTICE THE PRIVILEGES THEY HAVE
RECEIVED THROUGH CHRIST’S HIGH PREISTHOOD.
22. IN HEBREWS 10:26-31,
THE AUTHOR WARNS AGAINST REJECTING THOSE PRIVILEGES BY PERSISTING IN DELIBERATE
SIN.
“IF WE DELIBERATELY KEEP
ON SINNING AFTER WE HAVE RECEIVED THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH, NO SACRIFICE FOR
SINS IS LEFT, BUT ONLY A FEARFUL EXPECTATION OF JUDGEMENT AND RAGING FIRE THAT
WILL CONSUME THE ENEMIES OF GOD”. Vs. 26-27
·
Verse 28-29
show the severity of this punishment by comparing it with the punishment for
violators of the Old Covenant.
·
If their
punishment was severe, how much more serious will be the punishment of those
who violate the new?
·
Apostasy is
the total and complete rejection of God.
·
If Apostasy
were impossible for the believer, the preacher would have no reason to discuss
it at all.
23. THOSE WHO DELIBERATELY REJECT CHRIST WILL BE CUT OFF FROM GOD
BECAUSE THERE WILL BE NO SACRIFICE LEFT TO COVER THEIR SINS – IT IS POSSIBLE TO
USE UP ALL OF GOD’S GRACE BY BEING SPIRITUALLY LAZY. Vs. 26-31
Hebrews 10:26-31
·
The Mosaic
law was only a shadow and copy.
·
Yet those who
set it aside deserved death.
·
How much more
severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has violated that
shadow’s reality – the New Covenant.
24. THE PUNISHMENT FOR BREAKING THE OLD COVENANT
WILL BE EVEN WORSE THAN BREAKING THE NEW COVENANT BECAUSE UNDER MOSAIC LAW
PEOPLE SUFFERED PHYSICAL DEATH, BUT THOSE WHO REJECT CHRIST WILL SUFFER
SPIRITUAL DEATH AND ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD. V. 27-28
25. TO REJECT CHRIST IS
TO INSULT GOD’S GRACE AND SLAP HIM IN THE FACE AND GOD WILL REVENGE THAT
OFFENSE. V. 29-30
·
The one who
perseveres in persistent rejection and disobedience has treated this precious
blood of Christ which makes us holy as if we were unholy, profane, a common
thing.
·
There is no
other way into God’s presence but through this blood that he has rejected.
·
Those who
persist in deliberate disobedience in the face of grace grossly insult Him.
·
Persistent,
willful, knowing disobedience does all of this!
·
Apostates
have deliberately chosen to:
1) Reject Christ
2) Abandon the people of God.
3) Return to the world from which the blood of Christ
separated them.
26. TO MAKE WHAT IS
COSTLY AND HOLY, UNHOLY AND CHEAP, ANGERS GOD BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION. Vs. Vs.
26-31
·
GOD JUDGES
THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN HIS AND APOSTATIZED, BUT HE VINDICATES HIS FAITHFUL PEOPLE.
·
Under the Old
Covenant “two or three witnesses” were responsible to initiate the punishment
of execution – under the New Covenant, the living God is the executioner.
NOTE: THE AUTHOR DID NOT
GIVE THIS WARNING TO TROUBLE THE PERSON WITH A SENSITIVE AND SOFT CONSCIENCE,
BUT TO WAKE UP THE PERSON WITH A HARDENED AND COLD HEART TOWARD GOD.
·
Those who are
concerned about the spiritual state have not turned away in apostasy.
·
THE CHRIST
FOLLOWER WITH A SOFT CONSCIENCE WILL TURN BACK TO GOD, THEREFORE THE HARDENED
HEARTED ARE URGED NOT TO TAKE GOD’S
GRACE FOR GRANTED.
·
The preacher
does not write the history because he is interested in ancient times.
·
He uses it to
show us how to live as God’s people today.
·
This
introduction in Hebrews 10:32-39 is an invitation for his original hearers, and
for all who will obey God’s voice, to take their place in history of the
glorious and faithful people of God!
·
In Hebrews
10:32-35, he encourages his hearers by reminding them of their past
faithfulness.
·
He asks them
to remember their earlier days after they first received salvation.
27. A CHRISTIAN IS TO
PONDER THE ZEAL THEY HAD FOR JESUS AS A NEW CONVERT AND REKINDLE THE JOY OF
FOLLOWING JESUS! V. 32
Hebrews 10:32-39 says:
32Remember those earlier days after you had
received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face
of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to
insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who
were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison
and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that
you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35So do
not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You
need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive
what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38But my righteous one[a] will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him."[b] 39But we are not of
those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are
saved.
·
CHRISTIANS
MUST PUT THEMSELVES BACK INTO A
·
These
Christians who converted from Judaism were persecuted and suffered well, but
now have grown apathetic and lazy.
·
They helped
those who were in prison by bringing them food and supplying their needs such
as encouragement and prayer.
·
These early
Christians had their property confiscated.
·
They joyfully
suffered persecution.
·
They joyfully
accepted the confiscation of their property because they knew they had better
and lasting possessions that could not be taken from them if they persevered in
the faith.
28. AN AUTHENTIC
CHRISTIAN WILL JOYFULLY SUFFER FOR FOLLOWING JESUS. Vs. 33-34
29. THE CHRISTIAN IS
ENCOURAGED NOT TO THROW AWAY THEIR CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST BECAUSE IT WILL BE
RICHLY REWARDED. Vs. 35-36
·
CHRISTIANS
ARE TO PERSEVERE AND SUFFER WELL!
·
IN VERSES
35-37 THE PREACHER QUOTES HABAKKUK 2:3-4
Habakkuk 2:3-4 says:
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it [a] will certainly come and will not delay.
4 "See,
he is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous will live by his faith [b] -
30. CHRISTIANS ARE
ENCOURAGED TO PERSEVERE TO THE END BECAUSE THE END IS ALMOST HERE - JESUS WILL
COME SOON AND NOT DELAY. V. 37
·
Habakkuk
looked forward to God coming to deliver the righteous and to judge the wicked.
·
The preacher
urges his readers to endure until Jesus’ certain return.
·
He will not
delay beyond God’s appointed time.
·
In v. 38, “my
righteous one” is the one who pleases God.
·
THE PERSON
WHO PLEASES GOD IS THE PERSON WHO ENDURES, CONTINUING TO DO THE WILL OF GOD
UNTIL CHRIST RETURNS.
31. THE
__________________(RIGHTEOUS) LIVE BY __________(FAITH). V. 38
·
He/she is
able to endure because he/she will live by faith.
·
The preacher
portrays a clear contrast between faithfulness that leads to life and of
unfaithfulness that leads to destruction.
·
He bases this
contrast on his understanding of his continuity between the Old Covenant and
the New Covenant, of which Christ is the Mediator and the Guaranteer.
·
Both
covenants are based on God’s absolute faithfulness.
·
Both lay down
clear options that lead to life or death.
·
But under the
New Covenant the stakes are much higher, because the greater privileges
available through Christ mean greater responsibility.
32.
THE AUTHOR CONFIDENTLY CONCLUDES, WE ARE NOT OF THOSE WHO SHRINK BACK IN
APOSTASY AND ARE DESTROYED AT GOD’S JUDGEMENT, BUT OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE AND ARE
SAVED. Vs. 38-39
TO KEEP ON KEEPING ON IN
CHRIST…
1) WE MUST SURRENDER OUR
EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE OF THE PAST SO THE BAD HISTORY DOES NOT KEEP REPEATING ITSELF
IN THE FUTURE.
A. SURRENDER THE HURTFUL
PAST TO GOD.
B. SURRENDER THE ANXIOUS FUTURE
TO GOD.
Philippians 4:4-8 says:
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again:
Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The
Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things.
2) WE MUST DISCIPLINE OUR
MINDS TO STAY PRESENT IN THE NOW – THIS IS WHERE THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS!
Matthew 11:28-29 says:
28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls.
Psalm 46:10 says:
10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
3) WE MUST READ THE NEW
COVENANT ON A REGULAR AND DAILY BASIS TO KEEP OUR CONSCIENCE SOFT TO PREVENT OUR
HEARTS FROM GROWING HARD.
Hebrews 4:12-13 says:
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper
than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must
give account.
4) WE MUST FORCE OURSELVES
TO FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS, THOSE FRIENDSHIPS WILL COME BACK TO
PROTECT US FROM DRIFTING AWAY FROM GOD.