Hebrews 13:24 (KJV) Pastor, Don’t Skip This

Hebrews 13:24 (KJV)

Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.

I believe we have, in the book of Revelation chapters two and three, an example of how the letters of the New Testament were communicated. Jesus gave His message to John, who was then told to write seven individual letters to the angels (the word means messenger—certainly speaking of the pastors) of each of these churches. It can be expected, then, that those angels, or pastors, would pass the message on to the congregation.

Consider the various epistles of the New Testament written by Paul, Peter, John, and Jude. Some were written directly to individuals—such as 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Others were written to church congregations, such as 1 and 2 Corinthians. These letters, I imagine, were delivered to the messenger or pastor of the church, who then read them to the congregation. Likely, these readings were accompanied by exposition, explanation, perhaps even some pointed correction, and maybe questions and answers.

I assume something much the same took place with the book of Hebrews. A pastor has possession of this inspired material and is charged with passing the message down to his congregation. As we approach the end of the letter, the pastor is told to instruct his congregation: “Salute all them that have the rule over you… and all the saints.”

In other words:

• “Pastor, tell your congregation to salute their pastor and those who labor alongside him.”
• “Pastor, teach your congregation to show respect to you and those assembled to help lead the church.”

Of course, he is also to teach them to salute one another—to develop kind and Christ-honoring relationships within the body. But he is to do more than that. He is to teach them to maintain good, right relationships with their pastor and church leadership.

It can feel awkward—but many aspects of ministry are.

Pastor, don’t neglect teaching your congregation how to treat you and those who serve with you. They need that just as much as they need any other part of the Word of God.

#HonorYourPastor #BiblicalLeadership #ChurchOrder #ShepherdAndFlock #Hebrews1324

Pastor, Don’t Skip This—Are You Neglecting This Awkward but Necessary Truth?

What are your thoughts on Hebrews 13:24?
Drop a comment below—I’d like to hear how this truth has shaped your view of church and leadership.

For more Bible teaching, resources, and study materials, visit marvinmckenzie.org and stay grounded in the Word.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Hebrews 13:24 (KJV) Pastor, Don’t Skip This

Check out this comic version of the lesson

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkxu4tG_sKkMbsXVbk-W0zsgp-dviQ884R2?si=MS5-0FTADolN0H-q

Hebrews 12:16 (KJV) The Silent Killer of Faith

Hebrews 12:16 (KJV)

Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

I want to meditate for a few moments on the subject of the profane person.

First, we are admonished to look diligently—to beware of him.
The profane person can spoil our walk with the Lord as surely as anyone.

Second, he is associated with the bitter and the fornicator.
He may not be a bitter man, nor is he necessarily a fornicator, but he is not much different in the damage he can cause in our spiritual relationships.

• Bitterness is an attitude.
• Fornication is an action.
• Profanity is apathy.

Profanity is not religious. It is “open and accessible to all.” Profanity is to have no concern for the things of God or of eternal consequence.

We have an example in the text: “As Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.”
Profanity is to seek the pleasure of the flesh (I use this purposely instead of the word sin, to point out that the pleasure of the flesh is often sin) for a season.

Notice the Bible’s wording: “one morsel of meat.” It was a bite. It was barely enough to satisfy for a moment. Esau cared so little for the things that mattered that he gave them up for a moment’s pleasure.

Eternal things—things of weight and substance—are most often gained at great price. There is a separation from the world necessary for an appreciation and apprehension of those things of eternal value.

The profane—those who care nothing for them—will not only fail to possess them, but they will also encourage those of us who have them to let them go.

We cannot lose our salvation, but we can surely lose the joy of it.

Look diligently. Don’t let the profane person spoil your faith!

#Hebrews1216 #GuardYourBirthright #SpiritualApathy #EternalThingsMatter #LookDiligently

The Silent Faith Killer of Faith: Profanity Isn’t What You Think

Before you scroll past, take a moment—this truth deserves a response.

What stood out to you most from Hebrews 12:16? Have you ever seen how spiritual apathy can quietly creep in? Drop a comment below and join the conversation—I’d genuinely like to hear your thoughts.

If this helped you, there’s more waiting for you. Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, teaching materials, and resources designed to strengthen your walk with God.

👉 Don’t just read—engage, respond, and grow.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Hebrews 12:16 (KJV) The Silent Killer of Faith

View this cartoon representation of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkxkvtul_RMfXajOwh5IeAiH7MBIofAB4jr?si=aWXYuHg2va6Ktum_

Hebrews 10:12 (KJV) Struggling With Guilt?

Hebrews 10:12 (KJV)

But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Having pastored for many years, I have known a great many people who, though professing to be Christians, wrestle with what Hebrews 10:2 (KJV) calls a “conscience of sins.”

That’s the trouble with religion. It promises something it cannot deliver. It cannot free a soul from the guilt of sin.

I’ll confess that many a child of God struggles with this very issue, but it is because of the entrenched nature of religion. When we come to Christ, we cast off any hope of finding forgiveness in our own goodness, our hard work, or the rituals of religion. We come to acknowledge what Hebrews 10:4 (KJV) says:

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

But these ideas have been drilled into us from our youth. Everywhere we turn, we are given the same message: Do good works, go to church, give to charity, be kind to your neighbors (and there is nothing wrong with any of that), and do enough of it so that God will be pleased with you.

The problem is, we all know we haven’t done enough.

So much of the wrestling we experience between the flesh and the spirit is really a struggle to rest in Christ. We labor to let go of the religious idea of earning forgiveness and to rest in the forgiveness that Christ has already provided.

Picture that Old Testament priest. 

The worshiper approaches with a sacrifice, and the priest faithfully performs his duty. But before he can even catch his breath, the worshiper is back again.

The Bible says of Christ that He offered one sacrifice for sins forever. That’s final. Finished. Never to be repeated. Then He sat down at the right hand of God. The work is done. He will never again offer a sacrifice for you.

But He is at the right hand of God. What are we supposed to do when our conscience troubles us?

Hebrews 4:16 (KJV)
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

#OneSacrificeForever #RestInChrist #FinishedWorkOfChrist #NoMoreGuilt #BoldlyToTheThrone

Struggling With Guilt? Religion Can’t Clean Your Conscience—But Christ Can

Still wrestling with guilt or trying to earn what Christ already finished? This truth changes everything.

Leave a comment below—what helped you most, or where are you still struggling? Let’s talk about it.

For more Bible teaching that points you back to the finished work of Christ, visit marvinmckenzie.org and explore the resources there.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Hebrews 10:12 (KJV) Struggling With Guilt?

Hebrews 7:3 (KJV) Who Was Melchisedec?

Hebrews 7:3 (KJV)

Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

The Bible is both a supernatural book and one of great practicality. (Which I believe is also true of Christ. He is 100% God—supernatural in every way—but He is also man, and as a man did very manly things in His life on earth.)

One has to remember that the book of Hebrews speaks of the body and the shadow. In that respect, Melchisedec serves as the shadow, and Christ as the body. The Word of God seems to be very clear that Christ is a priest after the order of Melchisedec and that He is not Melchisedec in fact.

Melchisedec is said to be:

Without father and mother.
Simply, there is no record of them. The Jews attempted to maintain careful records of genealogies, but Melchisedec came before those records and, appropriately, is skipped in them—making him a type and foreshadow of the Lord.

Without descent.
Simply, he has no offspring. There are no descendants of him. He did not father a family of priests, as the family of Levi did. Truly, those priests “after the order of Melchisedec” (if I may place the New Testament believer in that camp) are not priests through blood, but through faith.

Having neither beginning of days nor end of life.
Simply, we have no record of his birth or his date of death. In the case of Christ, His birthdate is a matter of speculation (though I believe the December date is accurate, if not confirmed), and the date of His crucifixion is attached to the Passover, which in itself lends some obscurity to the exact date. But in Christ’s case, the real issue is that He literally has no beginning of days nor end of life.

Made like unto the Son of God.
Simply, he is set as a likeness to teach us the pattern—both of the Christian and of those who would follow after Christ in New Testament ministry.

Christ’s priesthood is continual, both in that He ever liveth to make intercession for us and in that 

He makes His disciples to be kings and priests.

John 14:12 (KJV)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

#OrderOfMelchisedec #ChristOurHighPriest #BibleDoctrine #ShadowAndSubstance #KJVTruth

Who Was Melchisedec? The Truth Behind Christ’s Priesthood

What do you believe Hebrews 7:3 is really teaching about Christ’s priesthood? I’d like to hear your thoughts—drop a comment below and join the conversation.

If this helped you see the connection between Melchisedec and Christ more clearly, you’ll find many more Bible studies just like this at marvinmckenzie.org—practical, Scripture-centered, and designed to strengthen your walk with the Lord.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Hebrews 7:3 (KJV) Who Was Melchisedec?

Hebrews 6:2 (KJV) Empty Religion?

Hebrews 6:2 (KJV)

Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

The Apostle, speaking to a Jewish audience (or rather, writing to Jewish readers who have trusted Christ as Saviour), desires to lead them out of the rituals of their old culture and religion. Jesus came, at least in part, to confront what had grown into the grievous errors of Judaism. The last thing that a Jewish believer ought to have done was merge faith in Christ with those old errors.

Jewish tradition all had sound roots:

• The ceremonial washings (he uses the word “baptisms” here—not to be confused with the singular “baptism” of the Christian faith)
• The laying on of hands
• The resurrection of the dead
• The eternal judgment

In this context, all referred to parts of Jewish teaching that had lost their true intent through the corruptions of current Judaism.

Paul’s great “crime” against the Jews—the one they hated him for, and the one people still resist today—is his insistence that faith in Christ demands separation from meaningless religion. A Christian believer is to leave those things behind, no matter how entangled one has become in them. No matter how many family members may be hurt by that decision. No matter how deeply rooted those practices are in one’s culture. The Christian is to lay them aside and move into a brand new, free relationship with Christ through a local New Testament (I am convinced) Baptist church.

Leaving those traditions is challenging, to say the least. In some cultures, it can even be life-threatening. I do not want to judge anyone who struggles with it. I understand, at least in some small measure, the weight of that struggle.

But it can be done by the grace of God.

That is the ultimate interpretation of Hebrews 6:3 (KJV):
And this will we do, if God permit.

#FoundationsOfFaith #LeaveDeadReligion #ChristOverTradition #BiblicalSeparation #GrowInGrace

Empty Religion? True Faith in Christ Demands Leaving Tradition Behind

What do you think—have you ever had to step away from tradition to follow Christ more fully? Leave a comment below and join the conversation. I’d love to hear your experience. 

For more Bible teaching, resources, and books to help you grow in your walk with the Lord, visit marvinmckenzie.org. 

Let’s keep moving forward in truth together.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Hebrews 6:2 (KJV) Empty Religion?