Text: Hebrew 11
In recent times, the Lord has been unveiling the book of Hebrews in an unusual manner. We are in the company of that Hebrew church that have been journeying by the faith of the Son. The journey of faith is that which prepares us to be able to hear and inherit God. God wants to give ‘gifts of sons’ to Jesus this is why it is important that the people become spiritual sons. The journey of spirituality must not be handled with levity because flesh and blood cannot enter into the realm of God. The program of God is to cause men to migrate from flesh into spirits. This migration from flesh to spirit can only occur by the teachings of faith. It takes a spiritual person to hear the sayings of God. The spiritual walk and journey begins with the opening of the eyes of the understanding.
God wants to teach us knowledge because it is by knowledge that we are raised. Priests are not carnal people but those who have are journeying. This knowledge is that of the person of Christ. One must begin at knowledge of Christ and the things that make Him up because it is this knowledge that will constitute Christ in a man. God begins at the communication of the doctrine and the knowledge of Christ and proceeds to the speakings of the knowledge of God. The present speakings of God are doctrines. God intends that we conform to the image of the firstborn, because the first born is where God is. The sayings of God are to the end that we arrive at where He is.
We must journey by faith before we can arrive at perfection. It is as a person journeys that he/she acquires a status in the spirit different from what he had before. The shocking thing about the Hebrew 11 patriarchs of faith was that God was not ashamed to be called their God. Take Abraham, for instance, who was not born again and was not baptised in the holy ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues was able to journey with God till God became his God. God swore to Abraham because he laid down everything he is and everything he has by obedience to the commandments of God. God will not swear to a man except he lays down his all. The Hebrew church came to a place where they knew they had an enduring substance. This knowledge comes by revelation and leading acquired in the place of obedience (Heb. 10:34).
The reason for the new birth is to begat us to an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled and fades not away (1 Pet 1:3). The present speakings of God is to equip us to inherit Him. When God is inherited, salvation is inherited. If the sayings of God have nothing to do with salvation then it is not the present speaking of God regardless of who this speaking may be coming through. Everyone who is born again must obey the commandment of faith. The commandment of faith is revealed to us as Christ and the things that make Him up are unveiled. The sayings of Christ changes us from flesh to spirits and closes the gap between us and God. The more we transact with faith, the more our values change.
Faith comes by revelation of God's values and ways. This value system, when obeyed, overhauls the value system of the natural man and conforms him to the image of God. Abraham and his value system changed as he obeyed the speakings of God. When we journey for some time, we begin to understand and comprehend differently. This is because ignorance is removed as we obey. The purpose of revelation being administered will not be achieved if changes in us do not occur, it would just be head-knowledge. If a man is not changing and just has knowledge he will end up scattering the camp.
By faith, Abraham obeyed though he did not understand. It is important to obey even when we do not understand. When revelation comes, it comes with responsibilities and commandments. It does not come just to excite us but to introduce a life. Revelation should make us sober, it should show us where we are as against where we are meant to be. It takes faith to journey to the land of promised, if one is not moving , he would not see beyond the natural. Abraham journeyed to a point and had a knowing and hunger for something more than a carnal city (Heb 11:10). You can come to a place of comfort in the place of journey and want to relax but by mercy God shows us that there is more than that which meets the eye.
Abraham got to a place where he could have stopped journeying but by reason of journey, his value system had changed. A child given birth to at the age of 100 could be an idol. However God demanded for the very child which He gave Abrahm at a very old age. Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac because he had come to understand that Isaac was not the true reward. If it were some of us, we would have been offended at that point. There will be a lot of reward on the way but we must purpose in our hearts not to stop until we lay hold on the promise--God. The natural reward can stop one from making progress but we must esteem the reward (God) more than any other reward that will be attached on the way to God. On the journey of obeying God, there will be ample opportunities to turn back. God was not ashamed to be called their God because Abraham gave all in the quest for God.
Obedience of faith is obeying God’s commandment and must be done to the point of charity. Charity when obeyed, qualifies a man for the point of swearing. Charity brings a man to the point where his life is placed on the line and ultimately taken away from him. For a man to be qualified for swearing such a man must not live by or for anything else even bounties gotten on the way to the reward. This is because it is very easy to settle with earthly things. These earthly things also have the capacity to make a man turn from the pursuit of God. God asked Abraham for the very child that Abraham had gotten as a result of his walk with God. This was to prove what Abraham esteemed in his heart. Jesus followed this same pattern. God could not declare Him as a Son until He had obeyed to the laying down of His life.
Jesus obeyed faith to the point that His father swore to Him. The end of the journey is when God becomes our God and we become His sons and daughters. What qualifies us for the inheritance is full obedience to Faith. Faith must be done meticulously. The holiest place cannot be accessed but by the blood of Jesus. The blood here signifies the life of Jesus. This implies that we cannot enter into the holiest place without the life of Jesus. This Life is accessed by the preaching and teaching of Christ. Mount Zion is the holy place, where we are sprinkled by the blood. The blood speaks the constituents of God in the Son. By journeying we come to the place of sprinkling. The speakings communicate commandments to us which we must obey.
We turn away and refuse Him that speaketh when we do not obey what we hear. The voice of God confronts mountains of wrong configurations in us and delivers divine nature to us. The substances given by sayings increase as we journey. What we place premium on is changed as a result of obedience. The blood speaks death to the flesh, it teaches how to lay our life down. It is only by the blood that a true heart can be consecrated. “Let us draw nigh with a true heart…” (Heb 10:22) implies that we draw near to God by hearts not by our legs. There is no way the configuration of the heart can be known by someone’s facial expression. It is men that look at the face but God looks at the heart. Everybody was born with an evil conscience but when knowledge comes, a demand is placed on our consciences to upgrade it. We must pay attention to our hearts,motives and intentions in these times and at this intensity of light. This is because as God shines HIs light, there is a demand placed upon the conscience to change or be upgraded.The way conscience is upgraded is by obeying light. We are in a very sensitive time where we need to be sincere with ourselves. We let go of an evil conscience as we obey light as it comes.
Revelation takes care of the heart. As we hold on to faith, the heart is being sprinkled from an evil conscience. As the heart is being sprinkled, commandments are given. There is the need to consider one another as we approach the most holy place. This entails considering the frame and infirmities of one another in order to prevent stumbling and hindrance. One of the commandments of charity is that it does not behave itself unseemly. This means being considerate of one another.
The place of considering one another requires sensitivity, tenderness, endurance and longsuffering. The nature of the most holy place which we have been called to enter is quite different from our natural configuration. When we obey commandments our configuration changes. We must finish the commandment of faith and of charity for us to enter. We must give attention to instructions prior to entrance so that we do not get disqualified from entrance. We must fulfil the conditions of getting God as He opens it up to us.