Gary Gleans

Christ is all that we need.   He has accomplished all that is necessary for our salvation and He continues to work in our lives to prepare us for all that God has planned for us in this life and the next.   His work is complete and permanent.   We would be foolish to look to or for something of someone else. CHRIST IS THE WAY OF FULFULLMENT OF THE LAW: Christ was able to perfectly keep the Law and in so doing He fulfilled the Law.   The Law had been given to show mans need of a Savior.   No man could ever completely keep God’s perfect Law until Christ came and did just that.   But Christ fulfilled the Law in that He provided the sacrifice for sin that the Law required.   He obeyed the Law perfectly but He also gave Himself to meet the just requirements of the Law.   Christ accomplished that which the Law and the priests could never do.   Because of His death we can rest in the hope of eternal life for the Law has been fulfilled in Christ and we can have true, lasting and complete forgi

The temple and tabernacle along with the sacrificial system practiced by the priest were beautiful illustrations of what Christ would eventually do.   However, they were not the ultimate plan of God, rather they were copies of God’s plan intended to prepare the hearts of man for what Christ would accomplish in full.   The sacrifice of Christ is superior to the sacrifices of the Old Testament for the following reasons. THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST WAS SUPERIOR IN PURITY: Christ offered Himself as a pure and holy sacrifice.   The priest offered animals that were chosen for their perfections, but there is no way that the purity of any animal could be compared with the purity of Christ.   The priest who offered the sacrificed animals was also an impure person who had to make sacrifices for both himself and the rest of the congregation.   The sacrifice of Christ was for the forgiveness of the sins of others for He was completely without sin in every way.   God would have us to live in purity fol

Too often we have the habit of preferring that which is good over that which is best.   The Hebrews were still giving preference to the traditions, laws and rituals revealed in the Old testament.   These were very good and served a vital purpose in the program of God.   However, they had been replaced by One who is far superior.   Christ must be the object of our adoration and our affection. CHRIST IS THE PERFECT PRIEST: The Old Testament Priest was an imperfect man who did his best to represent man before God through the sacrifices and rituals that he offered in a temple that was built by man.   The tabernacle and temple were designed by God, passed through Moses and then executed by men.   It was a wonderful and important work, but it was imperfect.   Christ, on the other hand, is God made flesh.   He is the perfect Priest in that he is completely without sin but beyond that, He serves in the very throne room of God the Father in the heavens.   Heaven is a place that was not made by

We are often tempted to take that which is good over that which is best.   The Hebrew people had been given a very good blessing from God in the priesthood and in the Law.   This was truly a blessing from God, but it was meant to prepare them for the even greater blessing of Christ.   Unfortunately, many of them do not “get it” and ended up clinging to that which was good while rejecting that which is best. CHRIST IS SUPERIOR TO THE PRIESTS: The author of Hebrews proves this point through the face that Abraham, the man through whom the priestly line came, paid tithes to Melchizedek.   The argument is that the lesser is blessed by the greater and the lesser pays tithes to the greater.   So even Abraham recognized his inferior position compared to Melchizedek.   Since Christ is a priest descended, not from the line of Levi, and is declared to be a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, that makes Christ’s priesthood superior to that of those descended from Levi and Aaron.   The real

There are many different types of people who surround the teaching of God’s Word.   For that reason there are many different responses to God’s Word.   Like Christ’s parable of the soils and the seed, this chapter presents to us a variety of people and their responses to the Gospel.   We must be very discerning of our own lives to make sure that we are being diligent to respond correctly to the Word of God. SOME FAIL TO GROW IN FAITH: The author of Hebrews wants to move into the meat of the Word, but he knows that some people are addicted to milk.   They are forever stuck in the elementary aspects of their faith.   Because they do not mature in their faith they must constantly go back to the foundation of repentance from sin and faith in Christ.   The Gospel is a precious foundation for all of our Christian life and we will do well to reflect on the glory of the Gospel every day that we live.   However, we must also move forward to a deeper understanding of God and His Word that we mig

Dealing with sin has always been a very difficult thing for the people of God.   Sacrifices, confessions and vows are all means by which man strives to deal with his sin.   These attempts are all flawed and inadequate but man has been bound to strive in this way to deal with sin.   Thankfully, those days are behind us because of Christ.   Sin has been dealt with and we are set free from the rituals that are meager attempts to do that which we are unable to accomplish apart from Christ. THE IMPERFECTION OF THE HUMAN PRIEST: Priests had a very special and important function in the plan of God for the redemption of men.   However, their work was not a complete work.   It was merely a foreshadowing of the ultimate work that Christ would do on our behalf.   Priests were appointed by God and they offered sacrifices for the sin of the people but they also had to offer sacrifices for their own sin.   This is obviously an imperfect system but it was God’s way of preparing men for what Christ wo

The book of Hebrews presents for us some very challenging passages to interpret.   Since I am writing this blog with only my Bible and not consulting commentaries, dictionaries or other resources, I ask you to bear with me on potential theological issues that we may face.   I am trying not to make this a theological debate but rather look at more practical devotional applications that we should take away from the text.   Today’s passage talks about “rest” we all know what it means to rest, in fact we all wish we could do more of it.   As we look at the idea of rest, I think the best way to interpret this thought is viewing it as ceasing from working for our own salvation and simply resting in Christ and His work for our salvation.   Christ said “come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”   In that sense we are all called to rest in Christ how.   However, there is also a future view of a “rest” that is yet to come.   That rest can be viewed as a rest t

Knowledge and revelation that come to us from God is a blessed but dangerous thing.   It truly is a blessing to know what God requires of us and the fact that He has revealed Himself to us through His Word is a blessing for which we should be forever grateful.   However, it is also a very dangerous thing in that our failure to respond properly to His revelation brings upon us severe judgment.   Privileges always come with responsibilities.   The children of Israel were give revelation and experiences with God that were far superior to any of the other nations of that day.   However, their unfaithfulness resulted in suffering that, to this day, continues to exceed that of other nations.   Here are a few tips from the author of Hebrews that should help us be faithful to revelation with which we have been blessed. RECOGNIZE THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST: One of the problems that the Jews to whom this letter was originally written had was the fact that they were enamored with the great men of

The work of Christ on our behalf has resulted in rich and immeasurable blessings for which we should be eternally grateful and to which we must pay very close attention.   Christ has provided for our spiritual needs in every conceivable manner.   We truly stand before Him without excuse because of the richness of His grace and the generosity of His sacrifice on our behalf. WE ARE RESPONSIBLE BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S REVELATION: Christ not only revealed the Father to us through His incarnation, He has graciously recorded this revelation for in the form of the Scriptures.   We are responsible to pay very close attention to what God has revealed to us through Christ.   One day we will be held accountable for how we responded to that revelation.   Revelation is a tremendous blessing but it also results in tremendous responsibility.   We must be faithful to respond to what we have been taught from the Word of God.   We must be diligent to study God’s Word that we might know Him more.   We are re

There are times when we get confused about the priorities that God has established in and for this world.   We become easily impressed with the things of this world that have been created.   We even get excited and impressed by angels and special men that God has also created.   The author of Hebrews wants to make sure that we don’t become distracted by these wonderful things and people to the point that we lose sight of Christ. CHRIST IS THE SOURCE OF REVELATION: God has graciously revealed Himself throughout the history of the world.   He revealed himself through the creation of the universe.   The moon, starts, and all of creation proclaims the glory of God.   Besides creation, God has revealed Himself to us through prophets and the authors of Scripture.   As impressive as all of those sources of revelation are, there are two things that are very important to remember.   First of all, all of that revelation came to us through Christ.   Second, the greatest revelation of God is the i

This short little book gives us some keen insight into the ministry of Paul and his relationship with other people.   It is obvious that Paul and Philemon were close friends, yet Paul shows great respect for him while at the same time feeling free to challenge him to obedience.   It is obvious that Paul’s ministry was all about people and there were many of them in his life.   I think that we can all learn from the relational skills of Paul.   As I look at this book there are several key words that I think are important to consider as key lessons from this brief book. REFRESHMENT: I love Paul’s description of Philemon’s ministry when he says “the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.”   Philemon was obviously wealthy enough to own slaves and had a big enough home that it the church met in his home.   He was faithfull to use his resources to refresh the lives of his brothers and sisters in Christ.   Apparently, Paul had stayed in his home in the past and I would

We all suffer from selective memory loss.   There are certain things that we all want to forget but there are other things that we must never forget.   Unfortunately, we have a tendency to let that which should constantly occupy our minds, fade from our memory while we recall that which should be forgotten.   If we are to have an intimate and obedient walk with Christ we must be careful to remember the right things and let other memories fade away. REMEMBER WHAT WE WERE WITOUT CHRIST: As time goes by, it is easy for us to take our salvation for granted.   We tend to forget the hopelessness of our sinful state before Christ forgave and freed us.   I think that this is a grave mistake.   There are those who would teach that we should never look back on our past sins.   Certainly, it is not productive to relive our sins, but we must never forget how desperately we need the work of Christ in our lives.   I think it is healthy and biblical for us to consider where we would be apart from the

Titus, like most ministers, had a large variety of people under the influence of his ministry. This can be a huge blessing but it can also be a challenging task to minister to each group according to their needs.   Paul encourages Titus to be faithful and to persevere in his work in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. GIVE SPECIFIC HELP TO OTHERS THROUGH INSTRUCTION: Titus had people who were older than he was that were under his leadership.   He also had younger people that he needed to serve.   Each age group, each gender and each working class of people had specific needs and required specific instruction.   Paul challenged Titus to recognize these different groups and to minster to them accordingly.   I think that it is significant that Paul did not tell Titus how to minister to young ladies other than to challenge the older women to teach them.   I think that this is very wise advice.   As a young man, he was not to compromise his testimony or to expose himself to temptation.   We

Paul begins this book with a greeting of gratefulness for the hope of salvation that he has in Christ as well as the blessing that both he and Titus have of serving the Lord and spreading the message of the Gospel.   He then paints a stark contrast between two types of people that Titus must be keenly aware of.   These two types of people are unusually represented in every group and they require vastly different treatments.   We must also be aware of and seek to identify these people so we can take the proper actions towards them. LOVING LEADERS: Paul tells Titus to be on the lookout for godly men that will faithfully lead the church with integrity and a loving spirit.   These are the men that must be the focus of our ministry and we should invest time in training them and helping them to grow in their character as well as their service for the Lord.   Unfortunately, since these people rarely cause any trouble they are often ignored.   Sometimes only the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

This is the last chapter of the Bible that Paul wrote.   The book of Titus follows this book, but it was written before this final letter to Timothy.   I think there is great value in paying close attention to the final words of great men like this.   These words might not necessarily be more important than other teachings, but I do think they merit special attention as we consider what the Spirit inspired Paul to write in this final chapter.   We will be well served by following this advice. PREACH THE WORD: Of all the responsibilities that a young minister must fulfill, this one cannot be over emphasized.   We must be men of the Word.   We must know the Word and we must make the Word known to others.   People do not always want to hear the Word, but we are called, not to give men what they want, but to give them what they need.   This world, like the world in Paul’s and Timothy’s day, needs the Word of God.   The public and private proclamation of the Word of God is the primary respo

Preparation is vital to the success of any venture whether it be in the business world, an athletic competition or in the spiritual realm.   We must be sure that we are prepared for whatever might happen to the world in which we live.   It is especially difficult for us to prepare for many things in life because we are not able to predict the future so we are really not sure exactly how we should prepare.   Fortunately, as believers, we do know someone who does know the future and He has revealed many things about the future to us.   We must be sure to take these revelations under consideration as we prepare to face the world in which we live. SIN WILL PROLIFERATE: One thing that we do know for sure is that the spiritual condition of this world will continue to degenerate as men run further and further from God.   Men will continue to seek to satisfy their own fleshly desires; they will continue to love themselves and their possession more than they love God and others.   The prolifera

We all want to be successful in what we do.   Nobody wants to fail in their job, their family or their math test.   Most of all, we should not want to fail in our service for the Lord.   Paul longs to see Timothy be successful in his ministry and be able to carry on the baton of truth that Paul had carried so far.   I consider this, Paul’s final letter, to be a sort of passing on the baton for Timothy to carry on, and as he does so, Paul is shouting out some final words of Instruction that will help Timothy and us be successful in ministry. BE STRONG: This ministry is not for the faint in heart or the weak in faith.   If we are going to be successful we must learn to depend upon the Lord in every situation of life.   We cannot be strong in and of ourselves but as we learn to look to the Lord for our strength, He will empower us to be successful in the Work that He has called us to do.   That work is basically to make disciples.   God has called us to impact the lives of other people wh

Mentors are very important to the spiritual growth of every believer.   There are times in our lives where it is hard to find a mentor, but if we are truly interested in growing spiritually, we must be faithful to look for people who are willing to invest in our lives and help us become more like Christ.   Timothy was a very fortunate young man in that he had the Apostle Paul as his mentor.   We are also very fortunate in that the most important subjects in Paul’s discipleship of Timothy are recorded for us in this book and the book we just finished.   These are a few of the principles that Paul considered to be vital to Timothy and to us as well. STIR UP YOUR GIFT: We all have two tendencies that I believe are very detrimental to our spiritual growth and our ministries.   The first is our tendency to forget the preciousness of our faith, the second is our tendency to become distracted from that which is of greatest importance to God.   Paul wanted Timothy to remember the heritage of f

Ministers have certain responsibilities before God.   There may be parts of the minister’s job that he does not like and there will usually be certain parts of his job that other people will not like.   It is not really important what we like or what others like.   What is important is what God likes and what He has commanded that ministers do, how they are to act and what they are to teach.   At any rate, we will do well to follow these principles ourselves as well as be faithful to teach others to do them. BE CONSCIENTIOUS IN OUR WORK: Believers should make the best employees.   Unfortunately I have heard many Christian employers who do not like to hire other believers because they expect preferential treatment and they become easily offended when corrected.   Just the opposite should be true.   As employees who work for other believers we should be even more motivated to be productive out of love for a brother and a desire to help his business so that he can be better able to furthe

Different groups of people require different types of treatment.   That does not mean that we are to discriminate any group but we are to discern how the Scriptures instruct us as we deal with a variety of different people in a variety of different situations.   Leaders are to pay close attention to those who are following them in every effort to meet the needs of all in a way that is consistent with the teachings of Scripture. CORRECT OTHERS TACTFULLY: It is inevitable that leaders will have to correct those who are under their care.   This can be very difficult especially when we are called to correct those who are older than we are.   I think that tact is vital in these and all situations in which we find ourselves needing to correct others.   Leaders must have the courage to confront sin in the lives of their followers but they must also have the humility to confront in a tactful manner.   Paul suggests that we speak to those under our leadership as if they were members of our fami