Bible verses about "homecoming" | WNT

¹ Therefore, surrounded as we are by such a vast cloud of witnesses, let us fling aside every encumbrance and the sin that so readily entangles our feet. And let us run with patient endurance the race that lies before us, ² simply fixing our gaze upon Jesus, our Prince Leader in the faith, who will also award us the prize. He, for the sake of the joy which lay before Him, patiently endured the cross, looking with contempt upon its shame, and afterwards seated Himself-- where He still sits--at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Therefore, if you would escape becoming weary and faint-hearted, compare your own sufferings with those of Him who endured such hostility directed against Him by sinners. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted so as to endanger your lives; ⁵ and you have quite forgotten the encouraging words which are addressed to you as sons, and which say, "MY SON, DO NOT THINK LIGHTLY OF THE LORD'S DISCIPLINE, AND DO NOT FAINT WHEN HE CORRECTS YOU; ⁶ FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES: AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE ACKNOWLEDGES." ⁷ The sufferings that you are enduring are for your discipline. God is dealing with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ And if you are left without discipline, of which every true son has had a share, that shows that you are bastards, and not true sons. ⁹ Besides this, our earthly fathers used to discipline us and we treated them with respect, and shall we not be still more submissive to the Father of our spirits, and live? ¹⁰ It is true that they disciplined us for a few years according as they thought fit; but He does it for our certain good, in order that we may become sharers in His own holy character. ¹¹ Now, at the time, discipline seems to be a matter not for joy, but for grief; yet it afterwards yields to those who have passed through its training a result full of peace--namely, righteousness. ¹² Therefore strengthen the drooping hands and paralysed knees, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put entirely out of joint ¹⁴ but may rather be restored. Persistently strive for peace with all men, and for that growth in holiness apart from which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ Be carefully on your guard lest there be any one who falls back from the grace of God; lest any root bearing bitter fruit spring up and cause trouble among you, and through it the whole brotherhood be defiled; ¹⁶ lest there be a fornicator, or an ungodly person like Esau, who, in return for a single meal, parted with the birthright which belonged to him. ¹⁷ For you know that even afterwards, when he wished to secure the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no opportunity for undoing what he had done, though he sought the blessing earnestly with tears. ¹⁸ For you have not come to a material object all ablaze with fire, and to gloom and darkness and storm and trumpet-blast and the sound of words-- ¹⁹ a sound of such a kind that those who heard it entreated that no more should be added. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order which had been given, "EVEN A WILD BEAST, IF IT TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, SHALL BE STONED TO DEATH;" ²¹ and so terrible was the scene that Moses said, "I TREMBLE WITH FEAR." ²² On the contrary you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the ever-living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels, ²³ to the great festal gathering and Church of the first-born, whose names are recorded in Heaven, and to a Judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus the negotiator of a new Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks in more gracious tones than that of Abel. ²⁵ Be careful not to refuse to listen to Him who is speaking to you. For if they of old did not escape unpunished when they refused to listen to him who spoke on earth, much less shall we escape who turn a deaf ear to Him who now speaks from Heaven. ²⁶ His voice then shook the earth, but now we have His promise, "YET AGAIN I WILL, ONCE FOR ALL, CAUSE NOT ONLY THE EARTH TO TREMBLE, BUT HEAVEN ALSO." ²⁷ Here the words "Yet again, once for all" denote the removal of the things which can be shaken--created things--in order that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, receiving, as we now do, a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us cherish thankfulness so that we may ever offer to God an acceptable service, with godly reverence and awe. ²⁹ For our God is also a consuming fire.

¹ Let brotherly love always continue. ² Do not neglect to show kindness to strangers; for, in this way, some, without knowing it, have had angels as their guests. ³ Remember prisoners, as if you were in prison with them; and remember those suffering ill-treatment, for you yourselves also are still in the body. ⁴ Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be unpolluted; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. ⁵ Your lives should be untainted by love for money. Be content with what you have; for God Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER, NEVER LET GO YOUR HAND: I WILL NEVER NEVER FORSAKE YOU." ⁶ So that we fearlessly say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER; I WILL NOT BE AFRAID: WHAT CAN MAN DO TO ME?" ⁷ Remember your former leaders--it was they who brought you God's Message. Bear in mind how they ended their lives, and imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day--yes, and to the ages to come. ⁹ Do not be drawn aside by all sorts of strange teaching; for it is well to have the heart made stedfast through God's grace, and not by special kinds of food, from which those who scrupulously attend to them have derived no benefit. ¹⁰ We Christians have an altar from which the ministers of the Jewish Tent have no right to eat. ¹¹ For the bodies of those animals of which the blood is carried by the High Priest into the Holy place as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. ¹² And for this reason Jesus also, in order, by His own blood, to set the people free from sin, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, sharing the insults directed against Him. ¹⁴ For we have no permanent city here, but we are longing for the city which is soon to be ours. ¹⁵ Through Him, then, let us continually lay on the altar a sacrifice of praise to God, namely, the utterance of lips that give thanks to His Name. ¹⁶ And do not forget to be kind and liberal; for with sacrifices of that sort God is greatly pleased. ¹⁷ Obey your leaders and be submissive to them. For they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give account; that they may do this with joy and not with lamentation. For that would be of no advantage to you. ¹⁸ Keep on praying for us; for we are sure that we have clear consciences, and we desire to live nobly in every respect. ¹⁹ I specially urge this upon you in order that I may be the more speedily restored to you. ²⁰ Now may God who gives peace, and brought Jesus, our Lord, up again from among the dead--even Him who, by virtue of the blood of the eternal Covenant, is the great Shepherd of the sheep-- ²¹ fully equip you with every grace that you may need for the doing of His will, producing in us that which will truly please Him through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory to the Ages of the Ages! Amen. ²² Bear with me, brethren, when I thus exhort you; for, in fact, it is but a short letter that I have written to you. ²³ You will rejoice to hear that our brother Timothy has been set at liberty. If he comes soon, I will see you with him. ²⁴ Greet all your leaders and all God's people. The brethren from Italy send you greetings. ²⁵ Grace be with you all! Amen.

¹ James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: to the twelve tribes who are scattered over the world. All good wishes. ² Reckon it nothing but joy, my brethren, whenever you find yourselves hedged in by various trials. ³ Be assured that the testing of your faith leads to power of endurance. ⁴ Only let endurance have perfect results so that you may become perfect and complete, deficient in nothing. ⁵ And if any one of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives with open hand to all men, and without upbraiding; and it will be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith and have no doubts; for he who has doubts is like the surge of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed into spray. ⁷ A person of that sort must not expect to receive anything from the Lord-- ⁸ such a one is a man of two minds, undecided in every step he takes. ⁹ Let a brother in humble life rejoice when raised to a higher position; ¹⁰ but a rich man should rejoice in being brought low, for like flowers among the herbage rich men will pass away. ¹¹ The sun rises with his scorching heat and dries up the herbage, so that its flowers drop off and the beauty of its appearance perishes, and in the same way rich men with all their prosperity will fade away. ¹² Blessed is he who patiently endures trials; for when he has stood the test, he will gain the victor's crown--even the crown of Life--which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when passing through trial, "My temptation is from God;" for God is incapable of being tempted to do evil, and He Himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But when a man is tempted, it is his own passions that carry him away and serve as a bait. ¹⁵ Then the passion conceives, and becomes the parent of sin; and sin, when fully matured, gives birth to death. ¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my dearly-loved brethren. ¹⁷ Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from above, and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all Light. In Him there is no variation nor the slightest suggestion of change. ¹⁸ In accordance with His will He made us His children through the Message of the truth, so that we might, in a sense, be the Firstfruits of the things which He has created. ¹⁹ You know this, my dearly-loved brethren. But let every one be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to be angry. ²⁰ For a man's anger does not lead to action which God regards as righteous. ²¹ Ridding yourselves, therefore, of all that is vile and of the evil influences which prevail around you, welcome in a humble spirit the Message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. ²² But prove yourselves obedient to the Message, and do not be mere hearers of it, imposing a delusion upon yourselves. ²³ For if any one listens but does not obey, he is like a man who carefully looks at his own face in a mirror. ²⁴ Although he has looked carefully at himself, he goes away, and has immediately forgotten the sort of man he is. ²⁵ But he who looks closely into the perfect Law--the Law of freedom--and continues looking, he, being not a hearer who forgets, but an obedient doer, will as the result of his obedience be blessed. ²⁶ If a man thinks that he is scrupulously religious, although he is not curbing his tongue but is deceiving himself, his religious service is worthless. ²⁷ The religious service which is pure and stainless in the sight of our God and Father is to visit fatherless children and widowed women in their time of trouble, and to keep one's own self unspotted from the world.

¹ Dear children, I write thus to you in order that you may not sin. If any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and He is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. ³ And by this we may know that we know Him--if we obey His commands. ⁴ He who professes to know Him, and yet does not obey His commands, is a liar, and the truth has no place in his heart. ⁵ But whoever obeys His Message, in him love for God has in very deed reached perfection. By this we can know that we are in Him. ⁶ The man who professes to be continuing in Him is himself also bound to live as He lived. ⁷ My dearly-loved friends, it is no new command that I am now giving you, but an old command which you have had from the very beginning. By the old command I mean the teaching which you have already received. ⁸ And yet I *am* giving you a new command, for such it really is, so far as both He and you are concerned: because the darkness is now passing away and the light, the true light, is already beginning to shine. ⁹ Any one who professes to be in the light and yet hates his brother man is still in darkness. ¹⁰ He who loves his brother man continues in the light, and his life puts no stumbling-block in the way of others. ¹¹ But he who hates his brother man is in darkness and is walking in darkness; and he does not know where he is going--because the darkness has blinded his eyes. ¹² I am writing to you, dear children, because for His sake your sins are forgiven you. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the very beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the Evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the very beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and God's Message still has a place in your hearts, and you have overcome the Evil one. ¹⁵ Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If any one loves the world, there is no love in his heart for the Father. ¹⁶ For the things in the world--the cravings of the earthly nature, the cravings of the eyes, the show and pride of life--they all come, not from the Father, but from the world. ¹⁷ And the world, with its cravings, is passing away, but he who does God's will continues for ever. ¹⁸ Dear children, the last hour has come; and as you once heard that there was to be an anti-Christ, so even now many anti-Christs have appeared. By this we may know that the last hour has come. ¹⁹ They have gone forth from our midst, but they did not really belong to us; for had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they left us that it might be manifest that professed believers do not all belong to us. ²⁰ As for you, you have an anointing from the holy One and have perfect knowledge. ²¹ I have written to you, not because you are ignorant of the truth, but because you know it, and you know that nothing false comes from the truth. ²² Who is a liar compared with him who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He who disowns the Father and the Son is the anti-Christ. ²³ No one who disowns the Son has the Father. He who acknowledges the Son has also the Father. ²⁴ As for you, let the teaching which you have received from the very beginning continue in your hearts. If that teaching does continue in your hearts, you also will continue to be in union with the Son and with the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise which He Himself has given us--the Life of the Ages. ²⁶ I have thus written to you concerning those who are leading you astray. ²⁷ And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains within you, and there is no need for any one to teach you. But since His anointing gives you instruction in all things--and is true and is no falsehood--you are continuing in union with Him even as it has taught you to do. ²⁸ And now, dear children, continue in union with Him; so that, if He re-appears, we may have perfect confidence, and may not shrink away in shame from His presence at His Coming. ²⁹ Since you know that He is righteous, be assured also that the man who habitually acts righteously is a child of His.

²⁷ Peace I leave with you: my own peace I give to you. It is not as the world gives its greetings that I give you peace. Let not your hearts be troubled or dismayed.

⁹ After this I looked, and a vast host appeared which it was impossible for anyone to count, gathered out of every nation and from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in long white robes, and carrying palm-branches in their hands. ¹⁰ In loud voices they were exclaiming, "It is to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, that we owe our salvation!" ¹¹ All the angels were standing in a circle round the throne and round the Elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces in front of the throne and worshipped God. ¹² "Even so!" they cried: "The blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanks and the honor and the power and the might are to be ascribed to our God, until the Ages of the Ages! Even so!"

¹¹ He went on to say, "There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, "'Father, give me the share of the property that comes to me.' "So he divided his wealth between them. ¹³ No long time afterwards the younger son got all together and travelled to a distant country, where he wasted his money in debauchery and excess. ¹⁴ At last, when he had spent everything, there came a terrible famine throughout that country, and he began to feel the pinch of want. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself to one of the inhabitants of that country, who sent him on to his farm to tend swine; ¹⁶ and he longed to make a hearty meal of the pods the swine were eating, but no one gave him any. ¹⁷ "But on coming to himself he said, "'How many of my father's hired men have more bread than they want, while I here am dying of hunger! ¹⁸ I will rise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you: ¹⁹ I no longer deserve to be called a son of yours: treat me as one of your hired men.' ²⁰ "So he rose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and pitied him, and ran and threw his arms round his neck and kissed him tenderly. ²¹ "'Father,' cried the son, 'I have sinned against Heaven and before you: no longer do I deserve to be called a son of yours.' ²² "But the father said to his servants, "'Fetch a good coat quickly--the best one--and put it on him; and bring a ring for his finger and shoes for his feet. ²³ Fetch the fat calf and kill it, and let us feast and enjoy ourselves; ²⁴ for my son here was dead and has come to life again: he was lost and has been found.' "And they began to be merry. ²⁵ "Now his elder son was out on the farm; and when he returned and came near home, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ Then he called one of the lads to him and asked what all this meant. ²⁷ "'Your brother has come,' he replied; 'and your father has had the fat calf killed, because he has got him home safe and sound.' ²⁸ "Then he was angry and would not go in. But his father came out and entreated him. ²⁹ "'All these years,' replied the son, 'I have been slaving for you, and I have never at any time disobeyed any of your orders, and yet you have never given me so much as a kid, for me to enjoy myself with my friends; ³⁰ but now that this son of yours is come who has eaten up your property among his bad women, you have killed the fat calf for him.' ³¹ "'You my dear son,' said the father, 'are always with me, and all that is mine is also yours. ³² We are bound to make merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and has been found.'"

¹⁴ And over all these put on love, which is the perfect bond of union; ¹⁵ and let the peace which Christ gives settle all questionings in your hearts, to which peace indeed you were called as belonging to His one Body; and be thankful.

² In my Father's house there are many resting-places. Were it otherwise, I would have told you; for I am going to make ready a place for you.

¹ For we know that if this poor tent, our earthly house, is taken down, we have in Heaven a building which God has provided, a house not built by human hands, but eternal. ² For in this one we sigh, because we long to put on over it our dwelling which comes from Heaven-- ³ if indeed having really put on a robe we shall not be found to be unclothed. ⁴ Yes, we who are in this tent certainly do sigh under our burdens, for we do not wish to lay aside that with which we are now clothed, but to put on more, so that our mortality may be absorbed in Life. ⁵ And He who formed us with this very end in view is God, who has given us His Spirit as a pledge and foretaste of that bliss. ⁶ We have therefore a cheerful confidence. We know that while we are at home in the body we are banished from the Lord; ⁷ for we are living a life of faith, and not one of sight. ⁸ So we have a cheerful confidence, and we anticipate with greater delight being banished from the body and going home to the Lord. ⁹ And for this reason also we make it our ambition, whether at home or in exile, to please Him perfectly. ¹⁰ For we must all of us appear before Christ's judgement-seat in our true characters, in order that each may then receive an award for his actions in this life, in accordance with what he has done, whether it be good or whether it be worthless. ¹¹ Therefore, because we realize how greatly the Lord is to be feared, we are endeavouring to win men over, and God recognizes what our motives are, and I hope that you, in your hearts, recognize them too. ¹² We are not again commending ourselves to your favour, but are furnishing you with a ground of boasting on our behalf, so that you may have a reply ready for those with whom superficial appearances are everything and sincerity of heart counts for nothing. ¹³ For if we have been beside ourselves, it has been for God's glory; or if we are now in our right senses, it is in order to be of service to you. ¹⁴ For the love of Christ overmasters us, the conclusion at which we have arrived being this--that One having died for all, His death was their death, ¹⁵ and that He died for all in order that the living may no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and rose again. ¹⁶ Therefore for the future we know no one simply as a man. Even if we have known Christ as a man, yet now we do so no longer. ¹⁷ So that if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old state of things has passed away; a new state of things has come into existence. ¹⁸ And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and has appointed us to serve in the ministry of reconciliation. ¹⁹ We are to tell how God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not charging men's transgressions to their account, and that He has entrusted to us the Message of this reconciliation. ²⁰ On Christ's behalf therefore we come as ambassadors, God, as it were, making entreaty through our lips: we, on Christ's behalf, beseech men to be reconciled to God. ²¹ He has made Him who knew nothing of sin to be sin for us, in order that in Him we may become the righteousness of God.

¹⁹ But He would not allow it. "Go home to your family," He said, "and report to them all that the Lord has done for you, and the mercy He has shown you."