HEBREWS STUDY – Lesson 11
Heb. 9:15-22 (READ) First notice in v. 15 that it says that the New Testament is also for the redemption/payment of the transgressions that were under the 1st Testament. It goes on to tells us that He, Christ, is the mediator of the New Testament. The New Testament is also referred to as the New Covenant. However, the word testament also has the meaning of a will, as in last will and testament. If this, the bible, is a record of the will left to us for a description of our inheritance, do we know what is left to us/you? Do we know what we have inherited?? We see this in his explanation of his use of the term New Testament in 9:15-18. IN ESSENCE, this IS HIS WILL TO US! Are we claiming our inheritance? Examples:
· Heb. 4:1God gave us a promise of “entering into His rest!” Have we been steadfast in laboring to claim it?
· Heb. 4:9-10 To enter into this rest we must cease from our own works.
· Heb. 6:12, 13-15 Promises are inherited with faith and patience.
· Heb. 8:12 and 10:17Their sins and iniquities remembered no more. Do we know forgiveness?
· Heb. 11:7 Noah condemned the world and became the heir of righteousness by faith.
· Heb. 11:11 Sarah received strength to conceive.
· Heb. 12:10 Chastened to be partakers of His holiness.
· Heb. 12:11 After chastened receive righteousness.
· Heb. 13:5 Life without covetousness; content.
· Heb. 11:15-6 &13:14 Promised another country…better than this.
· God promises Peace. Jn 14:27, Rom 5:1, 10:15, 14:19(need to follow after the things which make for peace), Eph 2:14(He is our Peace)
· Lk. 6:38
· Prov. 3:5-6
· Prov. 3:13-8
· Many, many others…yours to find.
READ Heb. 10:1-18 The writer of the Hebrews brings us out right where he brought us at the end of chapter 4 (READ). 5 ½ chapters later he again brings us to our life’s destination, the throne room of God. He is inviting us to walk through the DOOR…which is CHRIST…WITH BOLDNESS into the PRESENCE of GOD. But, Heb. 10:19 makes it clear that there is a condition to get in .And, this condition that is required to pass through this DOOR is ESSENTIAL! CHRIST HIMSELF will examine us. Because of His PROVISION we can pass FREELY. NO waiting! EASY access! WELCOMED! We enter into this place ONLY by His BLOOD.
In the OT sacrifices were by blood looking forward to what was to come…Christ. Again, the sins of the priest and the people were stored up and covered over until actual payment was made by Christ. Once payment was made in full, further sacrifices were not necessary. We will see later that some of these Hebrew Christians may still have been involved in the ritual of observing these sacrifices. Heb. 10:10-14 tells us that Christ died ONCE making FULL and COMPLETE PAYMENT FOR ALL SINS. There was nothing missed and nothing left over or left out. The ACT and the INTENT of the sin or offence were all paid! But, it makes clear that even though the DOOR is open to all who will come, we can only enter one way. This is why Cain was rejected in his offering. Entry is ONLY by the shed blood of Jesus.
Heb. 10:22 (READ)refers to the cleansing and complete restoration…the freeing power… that actually occurs when the Gospel is applied. It says that our hearts are actually sprinkled with the blood of Christ. Whether our hearts are in actuality sprinkled or this reference is symbolic I do not know. But, it is clear that we can actually be forgiven and cleansed from guilt and shame. Guilt and shame can often keep us from entering into the Presence of God. The writer of the Hebrews says “Let us Draw NEAR…in a true heart…with FULL ASSURANCE. There is no way to do this if we hold onto a guilty heart. Forgiveness with God is true FORGIVENESS.
Sometimes we get mixed up between bearing the consequences of our sins and guilt and shame from our actions. Consequences of our bad decisions can and often do continue to affect our lives for years after our conversion. But guilt and shame does not need to plague us. Ultimately ALL OF OUR OFFENSES were AGAINST CHRIST….And, He has FORGIVEN us. It says so right here! (READ) V. 17… And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. God offers us COMPLETE cleansing from guilt and shame. There is no feeling in the world like forgiveness. It is hard to DRAW NEAR to God without being washed with real forgiveness. We can draw near with the FULL assurance that we are forgiven through Him.
v. 23 He is FAITHFUL that PROMISED! Is this all that is really necessary? Will this ACTUALLY work when we reach this point in our life? The writer of the Hebrews tells us to “Hold fast…to the profession of our FAITH…without wavering” because He IS FAITHFUL. He is the GOOD SHEPERD. His Promise means something.
Hebrews 10:24 & 25 are 2 of the most important verses in the bible. We discussed in a previous lesson about how when we come through the door into God’s Presence that when we first come through the door at first we only are aware of the Presence of God/Christ. However, once we begin to look around the room so to speak, we begin to see that the room is full. Others are there also. As a matter of fact the ENTIRE CHURCH, Christ’s bride is there. Not one is missing. It is IMPORTANT to Christ that we are ALL there. The parable of the 99 gives us insight as to how important each one of us is to Him. Yet, how do we treat each other? Have we set this as high a priority as Christ has.
When we think about the picture of what this would be like I get the picture of the FAMILY reunion. You walk through the door and there you see those that you know. And, then you see those you know, but not too well. As you look around there are those that you really don’t know at all, twice removed on your mother’s side that you have never met, but they are still a part of the family and you have been looking forward to meeting and getting to know them. When we look around at each other on a Sunday morning is this what we are thinking? Or, are we just doing our obligation for the week, can’t wait to be done and get home to our real family.
In the heart of v. 24 we see the truest form of Fellowship”. Yes, fellowship. The words “consider one another” has the same tone as “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Verse 24 does not have the tone of judging or holding someone else accountable for their works, as important as that may be, but rather support and encouragement to succeed in our call as a Christian.
In our church I can truly say that we do hang around after the church service enjoying being with each other. But, our time together is brief! If we are to “Provoke one another to good works” (10:24) we need to have more time with each other. We need to be part of each other’s lives. This verse can only be fulfilled with deeper relationships as found in a family environment. That being said, most of us truly would like to develop these deeper relationships with each other, but we face several major and very real obstacles. The first and biggest is time. It is odd that a day is still the same number of hours, but there is much less of it available to us today. There is no way to succeed at developing deeper relationships unless God directs us through the process into a new and different lifestyle making relationships the priority, not the affairs of this world. Making the changes necessary to MAKE THIS A REALITY the Christian Church will have to “step out of the FAST lane” and set its own pace and trend for living, choosing only those things that God deems necessary for our lives.
V. 25 says that we should get better at this as the day approaches. This does not seem to be so in our current society. The early church met together regularly. And, not just for mid week and Sunday morning services. They hung out together. It really mattered what was happening in each other’s lives. Love was not only thought about, but was expressed. V. 24 gives us insight as to this love. It says to consider one another…instead of ourselves…now there is an insightful verse. Looking to someone else’s success in the Christian life instead of mine…interesting thought. It appears that we are getting swept away along with the world concerning our relationships. Twitter, Facebook, emails may have some value, but do not satisfy in developing these relationships. They may be more convenient ways to connect, but by nature they are choppy when concerning meaningful relationships. It is like a radio signal that is full of static. I even heard of one family that communicated with each other on line. What do you think about that? There is NOTHING like “Doing Life Together”.
The Assembling of yourselves together meant more than just Sunday morning. In our present society it appears IMPOSSIBLE to take the time necessary for these relationships. And, it is…without God’s SUPERNATURAL intervention. It means that we live by faith…believing that this is the way God wants us to live.
It has been said that people today…and always, are looking for 3 things:
· How to manage their money
· How to manage time, and
· Developing meaningful RELATIONSHIPS
This next section (READ Heb. 10:26-39) is one of those sections of scripture that after reading seems hard to understand, but inside you say that this is an important message here, but what is it? Referencing Vernon McGee’s Thru the Bible Radio commentary on Hebrew, Dr. McGee says THIS IS THE MOST SOLOM WARNING OF ALL of the Hebrew warnings. In fact commenting on this section, Dr. McGee makes the comment that it is so frightening that it makes your hair stand on end. He goes on to say about this passage:
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! Simon Peter said, “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:21). The warning is to the Hebrew believers because many of them were continuing to go to the temple and some were actually offering sacrifices there. They were keeping up a front, pretending that they were still under the Mosaic law. In so doing they were also making it clear that the sacrifices prefigured Christ’s sacrifice, now that Christ had died on the cross, all of that was fulfilled. Therefore, what before had been done in obedience to God’s command, now has become willful sin. To continue to offer blood sacrifices which had been fulfilled by Christ was a frightful, terrible thing. They were acting as if the temple sacrifices were going on forever. The writer to the Hebrews is telling them that they cannot look to the temple anymore, because there is no longer a sacrifice for sin. If a person rejects the truth of Christ’s death for sin, there is no other sacrifice for sin available, and there is no other way to come to God. They are to look to Christ now rather than to the temple. If they refuse to do this, there is nothing left for them but judgment. The Word of God is very expressive in this connection.
Throughout this book the writer of the Hebrews has given his readers several warnings. This is the 5th warning that he gives them. As we have seen so far each warning in reality can also be directed to us. The warnings:
· The first warning was given in chapter 2:1-4 and was the warning of DRIFTING. They were beginning to DRIFT from the SIMPLE GOSPEL into what was then called Legalism. Today we see forms of this rooted in Church ETIQUETTE. Legalism takes many forms. Adding ANYTHING to the Gospel as a requirement for SALVATION is DANGEROUS.
· The second warning was given in chapter 3:7 to 4:2 which was the warning of DOUBTING or UNBELIEF. Israel did not enter into God’s Promises because of DOUBTING or UNBELIEF. Are we doing the same.
· The third warning was given in chapter 5:11-4 and warned them of DULL HEARING. Like today the Power of the Gospel had become to them common place and because of this they had become APATHIC toward the Gospel. They heard the TRUTH but made no effort to apply it.
· The fourth warning was the warning of DEPARTING found in Hebrews 6:1-20. Because they had watered down the Gospel message it began to become unproductive in their lives and had considered leaving it behind.
This is the fifth warning and is probably the most severe warning given so far. It is the warning of DESPISING. It was the warning of once encountering Christ going on with life doing the exact same things that you did before your so called encounter. In the case of these Jewish believers, some of them were still routinely performing the rituals of the temple. It gives the inference that some were even still involved in the OT sacrifices. It gives the impression that some of these believers were giving the Gospel message a head nod and that was it. No heart. As a matter of fact they went on with life as if the message of Christ had no real application and by their very actions saying Christ’s death had no meaning! This in essence is despising the Gospel that has very SEVERE consequences.
Last week we talked about God being JUST and that His judgment has to be JUST. EVERY transgression must be accounted for…every sin paid for…in its entirety or God would not be JUST. As Heb. 10:31 says “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God”. Like many who make a commitment to Christ today, these Hebrews were not taking their commitment serious. They gave accent to the message, but then just went on with life as it was before their so called commitment.
This area concerning God is taken way too casual by us today. There is no real “fear” of God today. I think that in the past we had pressed the “fear of God” thing so hard that many became numb to the whole concept. Today we are way too casual about this, even in the church. Some may respect Him, but few, very few actually fear Him.
Frequently when I am with or around people and they say something inappropriate, or do something that is blatantly wrong, or dressed inappropriately I am struck with the thought “do they not fear God…at all…” Usually if someone is around someone else will refrain from saying something, or doing something just out of respect. However, in most circles in our culture of our society today there is very little respect let alone fear for God. Even inside the Church it can be said that we seldom actually fear God’s Person. Proverbs 1:7 & 9:10 declares that “the fear of the Lord IS the BEGINNING of knowledge”. Notice that the word used is “fear” and not “afraid”. Being afraid of God may have some real benefit also, but “fear” of God has GREAT benefit to our life. Many verses in the bible speak to the benefit of “fear” of God. However, in the bible the attitude in the term fear actually means reverential TRUST. Prov. 1:7 is just one example of its benefits of fearing God.
· Prov. 19:23 says that “the fear of the Lord tendeth to life
· Prov. 14:26 says “in the fear of the Lord is STRONG CONFIDENCE.
· Prov. 14:27 tells us that “the fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life.
· Prov. 10:21 the fear of the Lord prolongs days…
· And, fearing God and His judgment has benefits too. Fearing God and impeding Judgment can motivate one to receive forgiveness.
Understanding the Attribute of God’s Justice is ESSENTIAL if we are going to reverence and respect Him for who He is. We are way too casual on this. Heb. 10 :29-31 warns of the consequences of not heeding this warning. It IS a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the Living God. Thank God for Jesus! I know that God is FAIR. His Justice proves it to me. That everyone is judged by the same criteria and that He is no respecter of persons gives me comfort that I know where He stands. The blood is all that is required. READ Isaiah 53:1-12
Doctrinal statement:
· God is completely JUST
· God is Sovereign over death
Matt. 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom…
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