Hebrews Study – Lesson 6
Last week we were issued a challenge…Does anyone remember what it was…Heb. 3:1. The CHALLENGE in Heb. 3:1 was to FOLLOW the LORD Jesus the Apostle and High Priest of our faith/profession. We saw that the Children of Israel in the O. T. did not do this and got into trouble. We also saw that they not only got into trouble, but, more importantly, they missed out on God’s blessing for their life. They found NO REST. (How is our REST Quotient? Have we arrived? Have we given up?)
We looked at the plea from this author to DRAW NEAR to Jesus Himself, stating first that in Chapter 1:1-2(READ) that Jesus was/is the fulfillment of ALL prophesies that came before His arrival. Many references in the book of Hebrews will refer to Christ as being better than those things that we typically trust in or look to for our source of strength or encouragement. As we continue in this book, we will see that JESUS is very approachable. And, we do not need to be afraid to approach Him directly with ALL of our earthly concerns. He can not only identify with us in any state, situation or condition, but He can also PROVIDE answers and guidance while on our journey. Because He walked where we live, He is Patient and Compassionate in difficult situations. The Israelites in the O.T. were AFRAID of God. They stayed at a DISTANCE. Ex. Ch. 19-20. (If you have the time please READ) It is somewhat NATURAL FOR MAN TO STAY AT A DISTANCE from GOD.
· Why?
· Was man originally this way ?
· What happened?
I think that today we are also afraid of getting to close to God. Afraid of what He might think of us. The writer if the Hebrews will tell us differently. READ Jn. 3:17-8
However, as we will see, Jesus is not the Jesus portrayed by many. But as the writer of the Hebrews will show us, Jesus is a Friend like NO OTHER .He is not only VERY APPROACHABLE, but He IS THE FRIEND THAT YOU REALLYWANT. HE can dress your wounds…with COMPASSION …He can sober us up…He can SATISFY in a way that you will not want to give into temptation… He can support you and gird you up when you can’t go on, carrying you if need be. Like a close, close friend HIS DESIRE IS ONLY GOOD for you! Others have found this out. The writer of the Hebrews knew this. The writer of the Hebrews is going to show these Jewish believers, and US, that we CAN DRAW NEAR directly to Christ…AND BE SATISFIED. We do not need to be AFRAID.
There are many references in the Gospels that refer to Christ’s encounters with His own…They begin with “FEAR NOT”. Often these encounters occurred during Supernatural Events, Encounters with a Supernatural God that make us nervous. He held out His hand… beckoning us to come near. This same God is HOLDING OUT HIS HAND TO US…not in condemnation, but in FORGIVENESS of sin and healing. As we continue to progress through this book, the writer of the Hebrews is going to show us that Christ CAN be TRUSTED with the most intimate parts of our life and being. Heb. 2:12 says that He calls us Brethren. We will RECOGNISE Him as God yes and ALL that go with that, But, He is a FRIEND like NO OTHER. NEVER, NEVER leaving, nor forsaking. REPLACING your Fear and Pain with REST, PEACE, …FORGIVENESS and HOPE. It is A REST that we are not finding LIVING ACCORDING TO THIS WORLD, living life similar to the ISRAELITES IN EGYPT.
Heb. 4:1 (READ)says THAT WE SHOULD FEAR least we COME SHORT of ENTERING HIS REST. God had taken the Children of Israel out of the known World System, Egypt because they could not serve Him there. God had chosen Israel. However, the World WANTED THEM also. They were wrapped up in their daily affairs of Egypt. READ Ex 5:1-4 Notice the last part of V.4 It uses the word “burden”. Does this sound familiar?? It is used again in v. 5. They had been part of that world system. YOU WILL SEE THAT THIS ANNALEGY is SIGNIFICANT IN A MINUTE AND RELATES TO OUR PRESENT STATE IN OUR WORLD SYSTEM. Their world said, “If you cast in your lot with us we will take care of you. But at what cost.”The world system, then or now, was/is not God’s system. It is a system based on self achievement. We saw in Rom. Ch. 8:5-8 that the carnal mind is enmity against God and is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be. This World System does not serve God in any way…, and is Judged very severely as seen in the book of Revelation. Christ had redeemed these Hebrew Christians with a simple Gospel. Salvation by GRACE. He had REDEEMED THEM FROM THIS WORLD. It was LIFE CHANGING. It was God’s work. He had redeemed them from their current World System AND IT’S WAY OF LIFE.
Moses and other examples in Hebrews 11 figured this out. In doing so they were FREE. They were “in the world, but not of the world”. However, THESE HEBREW Christians were beginning to be once again entangled in a lifestyle of Law and Have to’s to please God. They were beginning to pick up and carry the BURDON that God had originally RELEASED them from. The BURDON was not only a spiritual BURDON, but also a LIFESTYLE BURDEN. In doing so, they began to lose their PEACE. Life became HEAVY. Jn 8:36 says “if the Son, therefore, make you FREE, you shall BE FREE INDEED.”
· What is this FREEDOM that He talks about?
· READ Ps. 46:10, then read the entire Psalm.
· How is their PEACE FOUND?
· It talks about peace in what context?
· Ps. 46:10 (READ) read by itself gives the impression of being out in the woods somewhere. But, it in actuality talks about KNOWING GOD in the context of GREAT TURMOIL.
· READ Jn. 14:27
This is the PEACE that we are looking for. This is the BATTLE that we fight! READ Jn 17:12-9 Finding and following God through this world that DOES NOT know God and is against Him. In a WORLD THAT CLAMMERS FOR OUR ATTENTION, GOD calls out to His children, (Jn. 10:27-29) saying, “My Sheep hear My Voice, and I KNOW THEM, and THEY FOLLOW ME. And, I give unto them eternal life; they shall NEVER parish, neither shall any man pluck them out of MY hand.” Our God is a Jealous God. He will not share US with ANYONE. Neither, will He allow us to worship any other part of His creation. The world wants us to marvel at its accomplishments. The writer of the Hebrews is going to say, Here is where you will find REST. Living in relationship with the Living God. Following His Voice. Traveling through this world, but LISTENING TO A DIFFERENT VOICE. He will also show us that GOD IS VERY APPROACHABEL…WE DO NOT NEED TO BE AFRAID!
Calling us out of this world does not separate us from this world. Actually our MISSION is to ENGAGE our world. ENGAGE it with our life while following God. We don’t need to be MISLEAD in thinking that following God means to be totally separated from the world around us. In Rev. 1:6 we are called a Kingdom of priests (READ).
· What is the function of a priest?
And, in 1 Pet. 2:9-15 it says that we are suppose to “Show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His MARVELOUS LIGHT.”.
As we continue through this study, we will see that living in relation with God will mean MAKING SOME CHANGES in our approach to this life and our lifestyle. Israel was not willing to make these changes. They wanted to go back to Egypt. Some of these changes will be DRASTIC.1 Peter 2:11 like Heb. 11:13 encourages us to LIVE AS PILGRIMS AND SOJOURNERS.
The book of Hebrews will give us a number of practical examples of those who understood God’s calling and transferred their trust from this world AND THE SPIRIT OF ITS WAYS and placed it FULLY on Him. We have already looked at the life of Moses, how he gave up the offer given him from this world for a life of following and walking with God. Hebrews ch. 11 is full of examples of people like this.
READ Hebrews 4:9-10 It tells us that God’s REST is avaliable, BUT WE MUST …DO WHAT? (Cease from our own works) It is work to battle the flesh with the Spirit. V. 12 shows us our WEAPON. (READ) The words in the bible are not just words on a page. Heb. 4:12 says that His Word is POWERFUL and LIVING and has a way of DIVIDING THINGS OUT so that He/we can DEAL WITH THEM. OFTEN we CANNOT SEE OUR WAY CLEAR enough to DEAL with the PROBLEM. It is frequent thatwe DO NOT EVEN REALIZE THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM. The Word of God is able to take ALL of the pieces and lay them out ON THE TABLE so that we can SEE it all MUCH CLEARER, DIVIDING even the soul and spirit. WE ARE EASILY DELUDED and deceived. Sometimes we say, “I have a feeling.” Or, “I just feel that this is right.”. The Word of God will either VALIDATE your perception, or it will show us the error in our thinking keeping us form harm.
v. 13 YOU MAY RUN, but you can’t HIDE. God sees all. READ Ps. 33:13-22. 2 Chr. 16:9. But, WE DO NOT NEED TO HIDE. Heb. 4:14-16 will tell us why. READ v. 14-6 V.14 Our High Priest has gone on before us! It tells us to Hold on to our Profession.
· What is our Profession? The simple Gospel. Heb. 2:1 (The first warning)
V.15 We do not have a high priest that cannot be touched with the FEELING of our infirmities. He felt the weakness that is in our bodies, but did not give in to temptation.
V. 16 Says that we should come BOLDLY, what does that mean? So that we may obtain MERCY. Do we NEED MURCY? You bet!
Hebrews 4:1 says that they did not enter in because of unbelief. God wanted to take them to a better place…a better life. But, they did not trust Him. They wanted to go back to what they had known, as bad as it was. At least they knew what the outcome would be…yea, right, miserable. They chose their outcome. We know what happened. The rest is history.
What about us? We MUST remember that to enter into God’s REST we must approach God His way, by faith, believing that He cares for us. Faith is the ONLY WAY TO UNDERSTAND GOD.
We had talked before that man’s thinking and ability to comprehend is finite. As smart as he is, he cannot fully comprehend God. God being infinite and we being finite means that the natural man is incapable of comprehending God, and therefore, incapable of comprehending His ways, I.e. His plans for our life. Faith is the tool that bridges the gap. FAITH opens the DOOR to God. FAITH allows us to SEE God. It allows us to UNDERSTAND Him. To COMPREHEND Him. Heb. 11:3 Through faith we see what God is thinking.
The natural man is incapable no matter how hard we try, to do this. FAITH IS THE ONLY WAY FOR MAN TO COMPREHEND THE VASTNESS OF GOD. God did not require faith just to play a game with us. FAITH is required because when we approach God it is practical. IT WORKS! BY FAITH we are able to Greatly BROADEN our ability to fully relate to God. WITHOUT FAITH we are LIMITED to man’s FINATE abilities…which is not much. It says in Heb. 4:2 that the O.T. Jews did not receive the BLESSING of entering into His REST. READ Heb. 4:1-9
This world wants to offer us so called answers. Some of them seem to work pretty well. However, God’s answers start with a QUESTION…DO YOU TRUST ME?
He is REACHING OUT HIS HAND TO US. He can BE TRUSTED with OUR LIFE. The writer of the Hebrews will tell us so. He took on a human body to fully know and identify with our plight. HOWEVER, THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO KNOW AND EXPERIENCE GOD’S FULL REST. Following God by FAITH. (READ Heb. 4:1-9)
We will also see that WE DO NOT HAVE TO DO IT ALONE. The things that He will ask of us will be difficult. We may at times have to stand ALONE, or be PERSECUTED for following Him. But, Noah did it…so did Daniel. These are our EXAMPLES. GOD IS FAITHFUL. WE CAN FOLLOW HIM OUT INTO THE WILDERNESS and WORSHIP HIM THERE. IT’S SCARY. But, Jesus as our example will show us how to do it. He is the PERFECT EXAMPLE.
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