The Field I Will Save With the Blessing of the Throne (Heb. 13:1-8)
Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. May the great blessing and power of God be all of the individuals and families that are worshiping in the church, in their homes, and especially out of state. We are racing towards the last chapter of Hebrews now. The audience of this message is the Jewish people who converted to Christianity. This was a message given to them because they were not certain in the absolute uniqueness of Christ.
If you have the uniqueness of Christ, everything is contained within that. The content of the message is to properly know, enjoy, and relay the message of Christ to the rest of the world. The world is being destroyed because they don’t know Christ; they’re being destroyed spiritually. The things that are visible to our eyes are being destroyed because of the invisible things. Even right now, people are destroyed because they’re separated from God, enslaved by Satan, into curses and disasters.
Physically, they look fine, but they are not fine. They are being destroyed, and they are destroyed. That’s why, if the churches are not able to restore the uniqueness of Christ, they cannot relay this gospel to Rome or the world.
We are receiving this gospel 2000 years later. By the grace of Jesus Christ, we are now going into the blessings of the throne of God. We do not receive salvation by our actions or behaviors; the law is the Word of God, however, through the law, we receive faith in Christ, and that is how we are regarded as righteous before God.
Now, in Hebrews 12:28, it says we have received an unshaken kingdom, but why do I keep on shaking? It’s because I do not know that I am inside of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. What is the kingdom that cannot be shaken? The Kingdom of God that is invisible to our eyes. The Kingdom of God where He is seated at the throne of heaven now, but is simultaneously controlling the whole universe. I can only go into the kingdom of the throne of God by the grace of Jesus Christ who lives as the mediator of a new covenant.
1. A kingdom that cannot be shaken (Heb. 12:28)
1) Blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 12:24)
(1) Mediator of a new covenant (Heb. 12:24)
(2) Sin – Die, Righteousness – Live (1 Pet. 2:24)
1 Pet. 2:24 says that “we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” I am no longer myself, I am now a “me” who is living with the faith of Christ in me. Without that faith, we cannot live a walk of faith. It is faith because it is invisible. We did not see Jesus 2000 years ago, and even if they did see Jesus, they didn’t believe him. Faith is not science; we have to have faith by God’s grace. Science isn’t about faith, you have to observe it. If you study the subject and get the answer logically and rationally, that’s science. However, faith is believing in a spiritual world that is invisible.
The basis of that is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and resurrected. That cannot be done by any goodness or actions of man. There’s nothing we can do. Only by the cross of Jesus Christ, all problems have been finished, and He is with me even now. He is seated at the throne of heaven and is with me as the Holy Spirit.
(3) Righteous – Live by faith (Rom. 1:17)
Now, the righteous people live by this faith. Without faith, we cannot please God, and we receive faith by listening to the words of God. If you’re going to get swindled, it’s because you listened to the words of the conman. If you’re going to get married to someone, it’s because you’re wrapped up by their words. That’s how important our words are. The words we hear, as we listen to God’s Word, we get faith. We cannot have faith in the world. We need to hold onto this faith and then go out into the world, but you cannot see this faith out in the world.
2) Where I belong – The heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22)
(1) Citizenship of heaven (Phil. 3:20)
Now, you and I are citizens of heaven, so our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God and now, everything we have comes from there. Even though I’m physically living on this earth, spiritually I’m in the kingdom of heaven. Our walk of faith is talking about the spiritual world, invisible to our eyes. A religious life is living for the visible life. We are believing in an invisible God, and my invisible spirit will come to life by faith.
(2) Receive grace (Heb. 12:28)
That’s why Heb. 12:28 says we must receive grace from God. Your actions can be done for physical things, but the world is better at doing that. That’s why the world is always running ahead because they’re centered on work, physical things, and actions. And that’s why the world was first to build the Tower of Babel. That’s not our standard, the Tower of Babel is not our standard, God is our standard. It’s not a standard of wanting to be like God, so that is why we must receive grace.
(3) Worship – Joy (Heb. 12:28)
That’s why we come to worship with joy. It’s possible that you just barely made it to worship today. What’s going to happen to you later? You’re barely going to survive and then you’ll fall. You must receive God’s grace. That’s something you can never change with any actions. Once you’ve received God’s grace, you’ll change. That’s impossible with our efforts. That’s why we come to worship with joy.
The reason God called us to worship is to bless us. God called us to worship so He can give us His Word and His grace, so you need to stake everything on worship. If worship is just a reference material for you, then you will be destroyed in the world, because the forces of darkness and the devil are controlling the world invisibly.
3) Blessing of the throne – My things
Now, we need to enjoy the blessings of the throne as my own, instead of enjoying the things we see with our eyes, we enjoy the invisible things.
(1) Triune God – With (Gen. 1:27, Matt. 28:18-20)
Even right now, the Triune God is with me through Jesus Christ. Invisibly, we cannot touch Him either, because God is spirit, but He reveals Himself through His Word and is with me through His Word. He is with me through grace. We must enjoy this blessing all the time. Because we were created in God’s image, we must enjoy His blessings, and the image of God is created to live by the will of God. The reason my life is failing is because I’ve become my own standard in life as if I’m God, but God is with us.
(2) Power of the throne – My things (Gen. 2:7, Ac. 1:8)
The power of the throne of heaven must become mine. The power of God is bound to be upon me. “But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and be My witnesses until the ends of the earth.” To what extent do you receive power? Enough to save the world. We must enjoy this blessing through faith and prayer.
(3) Power of the throne – Field (Gen. 2:1-18, Ac. 2:1-47)
The power of this blessing relayed to my field. These are invisible works. Daniel did this very well. Daniel moved everything while he was kneeling over in prayer. This is something religious people cannot understand, but people who understand the spiritual blessings of the throne of heaven will understand. He was moving every field through prayer.
How is that possible? Spiritually, so that the power of God’s spirit is upon that field. God’s power is upon the field of your family and job right now. If you don’t understand these words, you’re not a Christian. You’re a religious person. You just think of the Kingdom of God as a theory, and it’s just a theory because we’ve never gone to heaven before, and everything you focus on are “my physical things” and “my actions,” but you cannot win over the world with that.
You cannot win over yourself, either. You need to enjoy the blessings and power of the throne of heaven through prayer and faith, so that you have the power to save the entire world within you. God is with me. This power is relayed to the rest of my fields. God is working invisibly. That’s a Christian. The physical things come from the invisible kingdom of God. Just like when you think of something, you act accordingly. When the power of the throne of heaven is upon you, it will be revealed. But if you don’t understand this, you’re going to try to gain your own strength, and that may not be a bad thing, but you will be enslaved.
2. Field of the church
1) Loving as brothers – Keep on (Heb. 13:1)
For the people who love these blessings, it says in Heb. 13:1 to keep on loving one another. “Keep on” is not a simple thing. You can love people occasionally, but the Bible says to keep on loving. How can we keep on doing that? It’s only possible to keep loving by enjoying the blessings of the throne of heaven. First of all, there’s a lot of things I don’t like about this person, and first of all, there are so many things they are doing that are wrong. How could I love this person? It’s impossible.
(1) As I have loved you (Jn. 13:34)
That’s why in John 13:34, Jesus Christ told His disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus Christ loved us to the point of dying on the cross and never asked for any conditions. He never asked, “Did you do things correctly?” There’s no need to ask; you just save them. That’s love. Love saves.
(2) Love one another (Jn. 13:34)
Inside the church, you are saving your brothers and sisters. There’s no need to argue about what’s right or what’s wrong; it’s obvious to see. Anyone can know that if they have common sense, but that doesn’t work, so save them. If you argue about what’s right or what’s wrong, then you die. Save them, keep on loving your brothers and sisters.
Loving one another is not a simple thing. The more you enjoy the blessings of the throne of heaven, the more you go in the direction of loving the rest of the church. That’s God’s principle. God says the completion of the law is loving God and loving people. If you say, “I love the gospel but I don’t love my fellow brothers,” then it’s not your time schedule yet. You’re incorrectly enjoying the gospel.
It’s not about my diligence; I’ve received salvation by Christ’s grace, and the fact that I’ve received salvation means the blessings of the throne of heaven are mine, and I’m someone who can call God, “Father God.” God did not give us His grace while judging and criticizing our mistakes and failures; He gives it to us unconditionally, and Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you,” so don’t argue, just save.
All of these things didn’t happen out of nowhere, they were in progress for a long time. This problem is being revealed now because the longstanding imprint this person has is being revealed. It doesn’t matter whether you say, “it’s right,” or “It’s wrong,” or, “It’s a problem,” or not. You need to quickly help them so they can be planted with the right things. If they made a mistake and you say, “This is why you failed,” that’s not going to help them because this is simply a result of the things that left them no choice but to fail being imprinted in them for a long time.
You cannot change this with words; you have to change it for them through prayer, through the Word of God planted into them. That’s what you have to know. People are not simple creatures. People are very complicated creatures. For an animal, if an animal is happy, it’ll express happiness, but for a human, they may smile but it doesn’t mean they are smiling.
(3) Love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8)
1 Pet. 4:8 says that love covers over a multitude of sins. It’s not that they reveal sins, but they cover over a multitude of sins to save. There is a verse in the Bible where it says if you tell a person several times and they don’t listen, you should kick them out of the church, you should do that to someone who is aware of their sins and is consciously doing them. You tell them once, and if they don’t listen, you go with a few more people and tell them again, but if they keep harming the church, then you kick them out. That’s somebody who keeps doing the same thing, even though they have heard and are aware of their wrongdoing.
But if the individual knows they are doing something wrong but they don’t have the strength to stop themselves, then you have to cover them, help them, and wait for them. Do not love the world; love your brothers, love the church. It’s not talking about the church building; it’s talking about the community of believers. Have you received God’s grace? Then it’s normal that this grace will be revealed in the direction of saving your brothers and raising the church.
2) Hospitality to strangers (Heb. 13:2)
(1) Believers (1 Peter 4:9)
(2) Gentiles – World
Heb 13:2 says, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers.” At this time, there were a lot of evangelists that were wandering from city to city, being persecuted for the gospel. They didn’t have hotels, so don’t forget to be hospitable to strangers, welcoming those who are wandering for the sake of the gospel, and serve them.
(3) Hospitality to angels – Message (Gen 18:1-10)
In the Bible, there was a time when Abraham was serving some gentlemen, and they were angels. Abraham and his wife were serving these gentlemen that were visiting with all of their things and the food they had, but it turns out these men were angels, and God sent them to them. So, don’t forget to entertain strangers.
It’s the same for unbelievers, you shouldn’t be discriminating like that. That’s how you should run your business as well. Do not forget to be hospitable to your customers because that’s how the gospel goes in. Why do we run our business? We’ll talk about this later, but there are some people who fail because of their business and some people who benefit because of their business.
3) Suffering church members and leaders (Heb 13:2,7)
(1) Remember those in prison, those who are mistreated (Heb. 13:3)
It says remember those in prison because there are people who are being persecuted for the gospel. In these biblical times, if you were imprisoned, you have to figure out your own accommodations like food and clothing. Nowadays, the government is established enough where the government provides this, but in the Biblical times, you had to take care of your own things, so you had to receive help from outside of the prison. However, if someone goes to the prison to help, they will be marked as a Christian.
Remember this, go with them. Go with them as if you’re suffering with them. Why do we have to do that? This person is imprisoned for the gospel, so you should be with them. The Bible says there were people who actually went into prison with Paul. All these Christians were being revealed as they helped the Apostle, and don’t look down on that.
(2) Word – Remember your leaders (Heb 13:7)
In Heb. 13:7, it says, “Remember your leaders who spoke the Word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” What is this talking about? What is the church? God wants to raise the church. If there’s disbelief between the one who is giving the message and the one who is receiving the message, then they cannot relay the gospel. The devil focuses all his interest on the leaders of the church.
Even right now, every single day, the Muslims are praying to break down the leaders of Christian communities, so if possible, do not say a lot of things to the pastor. For you, it may just be one word, but if there are 100 people, those are 100 things I hear. If there’s something you really cannot resolve, yes, talk to me about it, but otherwise, try to resolve it with the Word of God. Because I’m human, if I hear too many words, I have no choice but to flow in that direction, because I may make a misjudgment. I should be focusing on the Word of God, but if I think about the words of people, I am bound to go a humanistic way. I’m not telling you to not talk to me, I’m just saying, don’t talk about futile things to me. You should receive all the answers to that through worship.
(3) Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith (Heb. 13:7)
There are some people who also feel tested when I tell them something personal, “Why is the pastor saying this thing to me?” Find the answer in the Word of God; that’s why the leader who relays the Word of God is important. And if that person’s actions are not incorrect, then follow their faith. This is how God is raising up the church.
Why is the church important? Because only the church has the gospel, only the church saves the world, so how important is the church? But if somebody thinks, “My business in the world is more important than the church,” then that person is already finished, then that person will continuously remain in suffering. This person has not received the full grace of the gospel. God told us to love our brothers and to love our church; He never told us to love our business. Yes, of course we should love our business as well, but it’s not what you think it means.
3. My field
1) Family
(1) Marriage should be honored by all (Heb. 13:4)
The third point, it says to honor marriage. Marriage should be honored by all, without exception. Marriage is precious, it means the family is precious. The first thing God created in the Garden of Eden was the family. It’s precious.
(2) Destroy families – Adultery (Heb. 13:4)
That’s why adultery and sexual immorality destroy families. Using your sexuality however you want is the way to destroy families. God has given you sexuality and you have to use it correctly, so honor marriage as precious. The family is precious. Why do you treat your family however you want? Because you don’t know how precious you are, and you don’t know how precious the future generations are. That’s why the future generations are all crumbling.
(3) Future generation – Relay the blessing of the throne (Ex. 20:6)
The family is the blessing of the throne of heaven being relayed through me to the next generation. “If I have a lot of kids, then they’ll feed me in my retirement years,” then that is a family you made for yourself, not for Christ. God promised He would relay His grace to thousands of generations, how does He do that? Through the family line, the next generations. We have the blessing to save the family.
But Satan will destroy the church and the family, that’s how he destroys everything. What must we do? If we’re enjoying the power and the blessings of the spiritual throne of heaven, then we will save.
2) Money – Field of finance (Heb. 13:5)
(1) Love money – Root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim. 6:10)
Next, it says, “Do not love money,” which is what you’ll love. I see the glint in the men’s eyes, because capitalism is what we learn in the world. They say things like, “You can succeed no matter what,” but those are lies. Because we’re listening to lies, we’re seized by Satan. Money is just a symbol, a token. In the past, we used to barter with goods, and the materials were too heavy to barter with, so they used money as a representative symbol. Money is a necessary tool. It’s a tool to buy the things I have to eat, then what are you going to live for? Are you going to live to eat? That’s not what it’s about.
Therefore, do not love money. I’m not saying money is bad; I’m saying, do not love money. We can work really hard and become wealthy, that’s a capitalistic nation. That’s why the more developed a capitalistic nation becomes, the more the mental problems will become severe. The capitalistic system cannot save people, but we’re so used to living in this system of freedom, we don’t give it much thought.
1 Tim. 6:10 says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. We need money, right? Simply put, we need food and we buy food with money, but the love of that money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
(2) Those who want to get rich – Temptation, trap, desires, destruction (1 Tim. 6:9)
What does it say in 1 Tim. 6:9? “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” The Bible says in Heb 13:5, “Be content with what you have.” What is money? The goal of money is not so you can become rich, powerful, and successful. You should be content with whatever God is giving you now.
There are some people who say, “Does that mean Christians should always be poor and not be rich? Christians should not become rich.” If you don’t understand what that means, then you’ll understand it as saying Christians should be poor, but you’re missing the point of the question. This is talking about greed for money. You’re not making money to fill your greed; you’re content with what you have now, why? Because God will help you. But why do you love money, then?
Why are you trying to be rich? You should naturally become wealthy, but if you’re trying to become wealthy, you’re destroying yourselves. What does that even mean? You should naturally become wealthy versus trying to become wealthy? If somebody is trying to become wealthy because of their own greed, then they will destroy themselves. But there are some people who naturally become wealthy in order to fulfill God’s needs. That’s someone who does not love money; they love God. If you’re not able to distinguish between the two, you’ll always be afflicted by money. You must be able to distinguish this well. You should have freedom from money.
(3) I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Phil. 4:11-12)
In Phil 4:11, Paul says, “I have learned to be content whether living in plenty or in want.” They are not living based on whether they have money or not. From the standard of God, if I don’t have money, I live without money. If I do have money, God is allowing me to have money because there is something for which God wants me to spend this money. “I have learned to be content in all situations.” It means he has freedom from money. God desires to give you this blessing.
If I’m enjoying the blessings of the throne of heaven through Jesus Christ, then these blessings should follow. Does that mean I should throw away all my inheritance and then believe in Jesus Christ? No, I’m saying Jesus Christ himself is the blessing. “Yes, fine, I do believe in Jesus Christ, but can you give me back the money I lost?” No. You have to have the reason why. God can do something even greater than restoring your money, but you need to have God’s reason why.
(4) Those who God helps – I can do all things through Him who gives me strength (Heb. 13:6, Phil. 4:13)
Phil. 4:13, Paul says, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” If this is within God’s plan, He can do something even greater than this. So, it doesn’t matter what happened in your past; if it’s within God’s plan, God can do something even greater, and therefore, God’s will, temple construction. There’s a reason for God to work upon your finances. World missions, there’s a reason for God to work upon your finances. Raising a church, there’s a reason for God to work upon your finances. Raising the next generations, there’s a reason for God to work, but if you’re living your life without any of these reasons, God is giving you the appropriate amount of money. If you’re an unbeliever, you may be able to make however much money you want, but that’s not how believers work, because God is alive and He is moving.
We are all practicing our economy and running our businesses. Is your business first or is the church first? What is your first priority? You need to conclude. If you do not resolve this, you will always suffer. The church is first, why? Because the church is the body of Christ and your business exists to save the church. The priority in everything is the church, then, God will work upon your business, too.
But if your priorities are switched, then you’ll always struggle. I didn’t run my own business, there was an extremely famous businesswoman, who’s elderly now, but she made so much money and donated it to the schools. She didn’t even get married. Later on, she was so sick that she needed someone to help her turn off the light, so she married one of her colleagues. She said, at the end of her life, that the result of running her business so diligently was getting cancer two or three times.
This person doesn’t believe in Christ, so of course, she is bound to get cancer. Because she had to run this gigantic enterprise with her own mental strength, of course she could not. She didn’t even speak for herself, but she said that everyone who is running a big business on their own is bound to receive cancer.” So, when she got older, she had to give all her business away, because she was so diseased that there was nothing she could do. What are you running your business for? All you have to do is eat and survive. Are you trying to become rich? That’s what kills you.
If you have a reason to use your wealth for God, then that’s what it means to love the church and love God. That’s what the Bible says. That’s why God is giving us His Word and guides us with His Word, so that He can give us these blessings, so we’re free from money. If you’re wealthy, this should happen naturally.
You should naturally become wealthy because you see a need for the Kingdom of God, but if you’re trying to become wealthy yourself, you will be destroyed as a result of that. You’ll make so much money but you won’t even be able to eat a proper meal because your digestive tract is messed up. What are you working so hard for? You have all the money to buy whatever food you want, but you don’t have the health to eat it. I believe everything is exactly according to the Bible.
3) Jesus Christ – Same forever (Heb. 13:8)
Heb. 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.”
(1) Hidden for long ages past (Rom. 16:25)
Romans 16:25 says the gospel was hidden for long ages past. This gospel existed for long ages past, because there was a problem even before humans were created. There was an angel who was corrupted and rebelled against God and fell to the earth, and that was a problem. And that problem burrowed into the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. That’s why this gospel was already prepared from long ages past; Christ was prepared long ages past.
(2) Now revealed (Rom. 16:26)
“Now revealed.” What does “now” mean? For people 2000 years ago, that was “now.” Even in the Old Testament where Christ was being revealed, that was also “now.” Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. The Christ of grace, the Christ Who has given us the grace of salvation, the Christ who gives us grace even today. The Christ who is with me even today. May you conclude in the uniqueness of this answer. This is a message given to the Jewish Christians on the uniqueness of the gospel of Christ.
Then, God will work so that the uniqueness of Christ is displayed through me to save people. When you look at a problem in the church, you pretend you don’t know it, but you pray for them and save them. If this was a court of law, you’d have to argue whether you did something right or wrong, but this is not a court of law. If you go into politics, you have to fight with one another in order to win. But the church isn’t a physical place like that. You need to save this long standing spiritual problem of this person.
There’s something long-standing, leaving them no choice but to be depressed. There’s a longstanding thing that makes them criticize the church and I was like that. I used to be so critical and pessimistic and I see it a bit in my daughter too. How is it that I never taught this to her? I’m not saying she wears her hat a little weird at school, but I’m saying her heart is very critical. I think it was imprinted while she was young.
Whenever she’d see someone wealthy, she’d judge them. When I was in college, I would go drinking and break the windows of all the luxury cars because I was so anti-capitalism. I was so judgmental, so pessimistic, and it was long standing in me. And it’s not easy to get rid of. It is simply that I didn’t show it in my expression. It doesn’t change because I’ve become a pastor, only when the new grace of God’s Word comes into me am I slowly changing.
That’s why the church doesn’t change the words, that’s why you should stop asking about people’s sins, and instead, cover it up and save them through prayer and the Word. If they need physical help, then save them physically, too. This is not something you can do in the hospital. The ones who can do this are the ones who are enjoying the uniqueness of the throne of heaven through Christ.
If someone is struggling, be with them. There are some people who try to not go deeply into church, it’s because they’re not deep in Christ. If you’re deep within Christ, you’re bound to be deeply connected to the members of the church. That’s the way to save yourself. If you’re only focused on “me and God,” after that you need to focus on saving other people. We believe in an invisible God, but to what extent must we love Him? You can tell how much you love Him by how You treat people inside of the church; the more you receive the grace of the cross the more you love people. That’s a healthy church.
(3) Glory forever through Jesus Christ (Rom. 16:27)
If you talk too much, those are just words and you cannot save people with just words. You can only save people, your family, the church, and the world, through the grace and the power of Jesus Christ’s cross. May you have this blessing throughout the week.
Conclusion
1. The blessing of the throne upon me through faith
2. The blessing of the throne to the field through prayer
3. My life that saves the field…
Prayer
Let us pray holding onto the answer, so we have no choice but to receive answers.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Prayer
God, we thank You. We return our material blessings as offering. We pray that You will receive our praise and our offering and work to save the field and the world. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. We pray that You will bless the newcomers today. We believe You will work upon them so they will have the faith in Jesus Christ and be the ones who save. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unlimited love of God, the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of the people of God who desire to save the world with the blessing of the throne, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.