Hebrews 4

Hebrews 7

In the first section on the book of Hebrews (this letter written to Jewish Christians) we heard the evidence laid out that confirmed Jesus was superior to all the figureheads of Judaism and the angels • And once we got to 4:14, there was a more significant focus on Jesus not just being greater than or superior to the most prominent pillars of Judaism, but coming as a replacement to the Levitical Priesthood and the Law- which will be prominent through chapter 10 But there are 2 additional themes I want to point out to you that become very prominent where we will pick up today, and should be looked for throughout the rest of this book 1. The first being the things which Jesus and the New Covenant were a fulfillment of, because all of Judaism, including the priesthood, the law, and the temple system, were simply “copies or shadows” of things to come • And what we will see, if we are looking for it, is that Paul will repeatedly explain what they had been given (which is described in 8:5 as copies and shadows), • and then tell them how Jesus coming brought forth the understanding of the true substance of what these shadows were pointing to (we will see some examples in today’s study) 2. Second, we should pay attention to the word “promise”, which we will see throughout the book in one form or another, referring to the promises of God • And just as there were shadows and types in Judaism that found their fulfillment in Jesus, • so too we find there is a focal promise through Abraham which pertained mainly to things on earth, and then a “better promise” (Heb. 8:6) which came with Jesus work of salvation And I encourage you to read ahead to the end this next week, looking for these 3 focal points (Jesus our High Priest, the shadows and their fulfilments, and the promises), and in doing so this book will really minister to you • But by way of review, lets pick up in verse 9 today 9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. So, in last week’s study Paul again sternly warned them from turning away from Jesus to go back to Judaism, and then shifts here to encouraging them by stating his confidence in their future with Christ • And he starts by talking about those things that accompany salvation, or, as we might say in other areas, things that are part of the package of the salvation plan • And part of that “package” is that God rewards those who are His, for the things they do for Him (1 Cor 3:15) (not only are we set free from the righteous charges against us, we are rewarded with inheritance) • And immediately after pointing out this benefit that accompanies salvation, he moves to one of our 3 focal themes, and that is that they keep going forward with Jesus in order that “through faith and patience you they might receive the promises” And as we come into verse 13, he will follow this theme of the promises, starting with the promise God made to Abraham after he, through faith (Heb. 11:17), was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac in obedience to the Lord • And we will see this is just a starting point to his revealing a better covenant and a better promise 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He (God) could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he (Abraham) had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable (unchangeable) things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. Now it was 25 years earlier that God had made this promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-4), but after Abraham had shown in faith that he fully trusted God, by being willing to offer up Isaac, then God added to His promise an oath- which in essence became a double promise to multiply Abrahams descendants • Which, being that he would not see this in his lifetime (11:13), was certainly a great assurance Now we know God’s word is 100% sure, so it seems silly for Paul to have to make these obvious statements, but in context it makes perfect sense, because they were considering turning away from Gods promises • Now they didn’t see it that way for they thought they would just hop back into Judaism, and go back to the Mosaic law, but what they were missing is that all of Judaism was pointing them towards their Messiah (10:7), whose coming had annulled that system • And the hope set before them, was the refuge they had found in Jesus Now being these individuals once lived under the law, they knew they could not keep it, for when the law came, it revealed their sin in spades, and an honest individual would have to know the law actually busted them • So when they had heard the good news of Jesus taking their sin upon Himself in order to provide eternal atonement, this was real hope and strong consolation, just as it was for us when we heard and believed • And so Paul continues, declaring; 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. They would have been very familiar with this reference to the veil, for it is what separated the Holy of Holy’s where the Ark of the Covenant was placed, and where God resided, from the rest of the temple (9:3) • But again, as we will see in chapter 8, their understanding of the veil and the temple was an understanding of the shadow only, for when we get to 10:20 we see that the veil represents in its fullness, Jesus flesh, • Through Him is not only access granted to us into the very presence of God, but his point is that since Jesus has taken the position of the perpetual High priest, if you are tethered to Him, you are secure • For although we may drift, and indeed do, He is immovable Can you imagine the picture they would have had in there head as it was described this way? • What they would have remembered is when the high priest did go in on Yom Kippur, that a rope was tied around his waist in case he had some uncleanness and therefore perished in God presence and they had to yard his corpse out • Now instead of tying a rope to the one going in for his possible retrieval, they were given the image of being tied to Jesus, who was in the real Holy of Holy’s, in order to keep them secure. o That had to be quite the vision in their heads! But he also knew they would spot a problem, being that from their perspective, Jesus couldn’t be a priest unless He came from the Levites, and couldn’t be a High priest unless he was of the family line of Aaron, • But again, that perspective was from looking at the shadow of the priesthood and not the substance, • Which is where Melchizedek comes in again; 7:1For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. 4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. There are varying opinions about who Melchizedek is, based on this description of him and his lineage, or lack there of. Some believe He is a pre-incarnate Jesus, being that He appears on the scene 2,000 before Jesus came, • Others believe He is a type or shadow of Jesus, but not Jesus Himself. Others like the Ascenes believed He was an angel- I will leave it to you to decide for yourself • But I will tell you I believe the plainest reading of this text is where I would lean, and the text makes some pretty powerful statements We see here that He is both a king and a priest, which was forbidden for the kings of Israel- Uzziah tried this and was immediately struck with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:18), but Jesus is both King and High Priest We see here that His name means King of righteousness, and that he was king of Salem (meaning peace), made Him the King of Peace- both of these clearly being descriptive of Jesus • And if we take it literally that He has no genealogy (which the OT is significantly focused on), no parents, and that He has no beginning of days nor end of life- then we’d know He is not a created being But what we know for certain is Abraham Identified Melchizedek as a priest and as being greater than himself • And since Abraham was the Father of the nation, and therefore all the tribes would come through him, including the Levites, who were not even in existence at this time (meaning the law had not yet come), • Melchizedek’s priesthood predated and was superior to the Aaronic priesthood which the law and sacrificial system were tied to And I can just picture that lightbulb moment for them, for being Jews, the passages regarding Melchizedek would have been familiar to them, but the light had to just go on for them as they were reading this- and I get excited for them in reading this because I know what that feels like ? • But he’s just getting started, and now goes on to explain why there needed to be another priesthood; 11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. At this point these guys should have been getting real excited, for as we discussed, they already had to know they couldn’t keep the law and where therefore were in trouble if it was the only way, • But with a new priesthood which came with a new law (a New Covenant of grace), there was knew hope And Jewish or not, we can relate to this for we have seen or attempted to try ourselves, by religious practices, to be right with God, knowing we could not succeed- and then we heard of the law of grace administered by Jesus our High Priest (I remember few things like it was still currently happening, but I will never forget that) 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” And again, being from the tribe of Judah would not qualify Jesus to be a priest, but don’t look past the point that Melchizedek was not from the lineage of Judah either, meaning this priesthood did not come from among men • For this priesthood has at its foundation something the Aaronic did not, and that’s an endless life, meaning Jesus priesthood would never come to an end • And God left this priesthood in a kind of dormant mode until Jesus came to assume the position forever 18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. The law did its job perfectly, for Romans 3:20 tells us “therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” • The law is like a thermometer, it can show you your sick, but it has absolutely no power to heal you, it was never intended to be used for that purpose • And so the law did its job of exposing sin, in order that the need for a savior would also be revealed • But what’s really important to pick up here is that God brought about another priesthood, and with it a new law (the law of grace), because He wanted to repair the separation that sin had caused between Himself and the people He created o He wanted to make a way for us to draw near to Him again o That would be quite a change for those who moved from the Mosaic law to receiving Jesus 20 And inasmuch as He (Jesus) was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they (speaking of the Levites) have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’”), 22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. 23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. We started this study with Gods oath given to Abraham and here we come to God the Fathers oath that Jesus is and will always be the High Priest, which would have solidified two things here, 1) there will not be a change of the priesthood, and therefore the law, again, as had just been revealed here. It was a once and forever change. • And, 2) because Jesus would never leave that office and will not Himself change, He also is the guarantor of the immutability of this new covenant of salvation, for all who will receive Him, • Even declaring to these Jewish believers, and to us also, that He will see us all the way through this life and into eternity, which is what “save to the uttermost” means • But there is a catch, for this promise is only to those who come to God through Jesus, which is another reminder to these Jewish Christians that turning back would be a horrific decision 26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners (meaning although He was with them, He did not join in their sin), and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. He was exactly what humanity needed in order to liberate us from our condition, being that He was free from the condition of sin and death we were in. Only someone outside of our condition could save us from it • Those who came through the Levitical priesthood, were in the exact same boat each of us where in I must admit that I still have to shake my head when people who either know I’m a pastor or suddenly discover it in a conversation, then operate as though I have arrived at the point of sinlessness • For we all have weakness; that is all except one! • And as He became higher than the heavens, means He was raised into His glorified body which was the final stage of perfection in regards to Jesus life And although I am not going to take the time today to expound upon any of chapter 8, I want to conclude by reading verses 1-6 to you, in order to again set your focus on 3 themes that flow throughout the rest of this book, and will tie together what we have studied today, 1. That Jesus came to replace the Levitical Priesthood and the Law with a better Priesthood and covenant • Which is exactly what we were delving into today 2. That the priesthood of men, the law and temple sacrifices all prefigured, or where shadows of the ultimate fulfillments which began to be revealed when Jesus came and will be fully revealed in heaven 3. And finally, that God who made a promise to Abraham, and will not turn away from it, has established even better promises to come So now, with that, lets preview where we will be jumping back in next time; 8:1Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One (Jesus) also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He (God) said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. And just like these Jewish believers, we too can lay hold of these better promises by Imitating those who though faith and patience inherit the promises (6:12) • Sometimes it’s hard to be patient when you see what’s going on down here, and the pressure is mounting, • But God is faithful to keep His promises as we patiently wait in faith

Hebrews 6

As we finished our last study which started in Hebrews 4:14, we started digging in to what it means that Jesus is the High Priest, which is focal now through chapter 10 • And whether you believe the author is Paul or someone else, right from the get go you could see the passion behind this letter in the way the position and perfect nature of Jesus are spoken of • What has been written here is not just a conversation based on deep study and research, but a matter of his whole heart • Yet we will see that it is not only a matter of the heart, but also a matter of such importance to him that he dug in to search to understand more of Great High Priest and Savior he spoke of – it was both! o And by way of review, we will pick back up in the middle of verse 9; 9b He (Jesus) became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” 11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. He wanted to tell them more but they had not listened earnestly (2:1 warning). But even though they had become lazy/slothful with the word, he tried to get them back on track and just kept on teaching anyway • Just because these believers were not listening as diligently as they should have, didn’t mean he stopped teaching, or started cutting or watering it down for them • And as we will see, it didn’t mean he went on to self-help and motivational speaking in order to keep the audience • And that becomes more evident as we continue through chapter 10, for what he wanted to tell them about was either Melchizedek or Jesus or both (using the pronoun whom), o and as we will see, that is what he does, speaking further of both Melchizedek and Jesus And just like Paul, we must simply keep pressing in for those who will awake as the word goes in (Rom. 10:17) • and so he continues on, saying to them; 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. The people Paul was addressing were Jews, meaning they would have had an amazing foundation, that once illuminated by seeing Jesus as the Messiah, should have catapulted their understanding of the word, bringing everything that was veiled in the law, into technicolor • Yet that’s apparently not what was taking place. Those ah-hah moments weren’t coming to them as they should have, because they had not invested the fullness of their hearts and minds to their belief in Jesus • And with all they had been given by means of an advantage over the gentile converts, there was a real disappointment on Paul’s part that they had not moved past the most basic understanding of their faith Now lest we think this does not apply to us being that we are not Jews, therefore not having the foundations of Judaism on our side, Paul also speaks in a similar way to the Corinthians, • because they had been given special tutoring in the basics of the faith directly from Paul, yet also had not progressed to maturity (1 Cor. 3:1-3) • And I think it’s very apparent what we have been given as 21st century Americans, in terms of our ability to search the scriptures to gain a greater understanding of our faith, is at least equal to Paul’s personal tutoring to the Corinthians at that time And Paul here makes it clear that the immaturity of these believers is because they were unskilled in the word of righteousness and then goes on to make the point that maturity comes to those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil • Now when we were back in 4:12 we were told that the word of God could cut to the truth, “and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” • And because they were immature by reason of not digging into the word, their discernment was diminished • Now if that doesn’t stand out to someone as the same situation many believers are in today, they might be living in a bubble o But again, Paul is not going to leave them here; he is going to press on with instructing and encouraging them in the word But before we jump into chapter 6, it is so vital for us to remember yet once again that this letter is written to Jewish believers who their entire lives were steeped in Judaism • for in the beginning of this letter the argument is made that Jesus is superior to all the things the Jews had placed at the top of their list in relating with God • But from here through chapter 10, it is not just showing that Jesus is superior to the Levitical priesthood, but was replacing it (7:11-22) o Which also comes with a replacement of the Old Covenant with the new one • And the reason this is so vital to keep in view is that all the warnings in this book are against departing from Jesus to return to Judaism, and apart from that backdrop we can come to the wrong conclusions So with that, lets jump into chapter 6 as Paul addresses these Israelite Christian’s; 6:1Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection (maturity), not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. So again, Paul is wanting to take them to maturity, and in the process, he states that their discussions cycle around 3 primary understandings that are by his estimation all equivalent to learning our ABC’s; and they are 1. repentance from dead works and of faith toward God 2. the doctrine of baptisms and laying on of hands 3. resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment And what we should see in these items is that each of these can relate to Judaism, and yet after Jesus had come, more fully to Christianity, • for in the gospel accounts, which these Jewish believers should have been very familiar with (but apparently were not), Jesus again brought to light the deeper meaning of each of these items o and as such, many churches will use these verses in their New Believers classes in order to lay the foundations of the faith • But I believe the point being made here is these believers, due to persecution and failure to plant themselves in the teachings of Jesus, began reverting to the Jewish interpretation of these basics Guzik comments on this saying; “Of course, these Jewish Christians did not want to abandon religion, but they did want to make it less distinctively Christian. Therefore, they went back to this “common ground” to avoid persecution.” The obvious implication being that the law and sacrificial system could not save a single soul, so their going back to it posed a real danger, • So Paul now moves to give them the next warning based on the possibility of them go back, • But before we jump in, I want to tell you there are so many different views on these next 3 verses, which are usually derived by certain groups having to defend their theological systems • It is my intent to just let the word speak for the word, and if you disagree, this will give you a chance to practice grace ?, for truly these are not matters to divide over 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. So, here are the two common areas that bring about debate on this passage; 1. Are the people being spoken of here true believers or had they come short? 2. And, is this saying that for some people it is impossible to repent? o That’s a foundational question, regardless of who it is that would not be able to repent Now I think the best way to approach these two questions is to add some more information that comes from the next warning to these Jewish believers, which is found in 10:26-29, • Which after Paul exhorts them to hold fast to their confession of Jesus as their savior, he says; For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has 1) trampled the Son of God underfoot, 2) counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and 3) insulted the Spirit of grace? • And we see here this group not only heard the knowledge of the truth (which the text makes clear is regarding Jesus), but they received it • And in our text today, I am not sure how anyone can say that someone who was once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, could be anything less than a believer • So I find that there is no honest way to draw any other conclusion than that this is speaking of those who have truly come to Christ (yet again, to be fair, some good people do take that stance) So, moving on to the next debatable piece in regard to the question of what it means that for these it would be impossible to repent if they fall away, lets again look at context • Chapter 10 says there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin while chapter 6 says it’s impossible to renew them again to repentance o And it should be noted that the word “impossible” means exactly that • But what is the circumstance for which it is “impossible” needs to be the question, and the answer is if they go back to Judaism in order to try and be justified before God • For once Jesus came and instituted a better covenant, the old one passed away, meaning that the old system was forever retired and that there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin under it o Which also meant if you were trying to use the blood of bulls and goats to to renew them again to repentance, it was impossible o and as a side note, it would be just a few more years until their temple would be destroyed by Titus, making it impossible to offer sacrifices as proscribed by the law- it was over! But what we also get from each of these texts is that God did not look kindly upon them rejecting the work of salvation that He brought through sacrificing His Son, which is very well highlighted in 10:29; 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has 1) trampled the Son of God underfoot, 2) counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and 3) insulted the Spirit of grace? And again, I think Guzik hits it home here in summarizing what I think is the companion piece to these verses in our main text, saying “Their forsaking of Jesus is tantamount to crucifying Him all over again, especially if they were to express their repentance in traditional Jewish forms: especially animal sacrifices, which denies the total work of Jesus for them on the cross.” Ok, so now that we have that out of the way, let’s go back to the question that is likely kicking around in your minds, and that is if it would be impossible for those who had followed Jesus, and then turned back to Judaism, to turn back to Christ? • Because if it is impossible for them to do so, then what would keep it from being impossible to turn away from Christ to anything else and not be able to return??? • Well, Warren Wiersbe rightfully points out that “the words “crucify” and “put” in Hebrews 6:6 are, in the Greek, present participles (being better read) “while they are crucifying…and while they are putting Him to an open same”. • He goes on to say “The writer did not say that these people could never be brought back to repentance. He said that they could not be brought to repentance while they were still treating Jesus Christ this way.” And you and I have heard directly from the words of Jesus that the only sin that would never be pardoned if it were sought in repentance is that of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which occurred when the Pharisees claimed the spirit working in Jesus was Satan and not the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:32) • And this was not that, but here’s the rub; • The text also makes it clear that they could turn back from Christ, and even with Warren Wiersbe wonderful observation, the truth is they were still considering turning back, • and no matter what you do with the text, it was obvious that if they did, and if they afterward did not repent and return to Jesus, they were going to be lost What the text does not say is that you and I can, by result of making some stupid decisions, lose our salvation • For if they could repent of what is described as, trampling the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulting the Spirit of grace? • and, of crucifying again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame, • do you really think you can exhaust the grace of God more than these, if you come to Him in repentance? But the real way to be victorious is to simply stay so connected to Jesus though His word and through our walk, that when we do get tripped up, it looks more like tripping on a door jamb than falling out of a third story window ? • And now Paul uses a word picture to bring home his point, saying; 7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. Paul’s point; mature in the faith and keep cultivating your relationship with Christ, and you will be blessed, • things will grow in your life that are useful for you while traveling through this earth, • but pull back and return to the dead works of the law (or anything else), where nothing good can grow, and you will certainly suffer loss to one degree or another, depending if you stay there or not And now Paul turns the corner from warning to encouragement, saying; 9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His (Jesus) name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. There is no doubt that parts of this letter were difficult for those who received it to read, for out of love, God was speaking to them in a very raw way about what they were considering doing • but in His stern warning, He also shows His great desire for these believers, and for us, to receive the inheritance and promises Jesus procured for us on the cross • And so, he starts in a warning and concludes with taking the position of being our greatest supporter and cheerleader of our faith o There’s a great pattern for us to observe and copy in the places we have been assigned leadership and in our parenting- finish the correction with being on their team • I can receive His correction because I know the plans He has for all His children are plans of peace and not of evil, to give us a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11), o And I like you, plan to stay in His plan by placing all my faith in Him o If you are not sure that’s where you’re at today, I hope there’s a little tension going on inside of you, because that tension might just be Jesus calling you to return in repentance before He returns for us

Hebrews 5

Last week we finished with verses 12-13 telling us that the word of God was sharper than a double edged (sided) sword that cuts straight through what was of the flesh or of the Spirit, and discerns between the thoughts and intent of our hearts, • And that nothing and no one has ever concealed a single thing from the sight of God, • And if it ended there, that would be one of the most disquieting sections of scripture in the entire bible • For although I know we all appear on the surface to be an incredibly wonderful group of people, o the truth is that beneath the surface, and at certain instances, even right on the surface, we have some issues ▪ It’s about this time that Jeanne points at me and hollers “issue” ? ▪ And she’s right, but with 3 fingers pointing back at herself of course But in all seriousness, the bible makes our condition fairly clear, and that’s inside of each one of us resides the potential to both think and do some pretty un-Christ like things • And when we were in our study in 1 John we discussed that some people believe as followers of Jesus we can arrive at a state of “sinless perfection”, • But 1 John 1:8 clears that right up by telling us “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” • Now that’s a pretty vulnerable position being that nothing is hidden from the all powerful and completely righteous God But then comes the rest of the story as we pick up in 4:14, and from here through 10:27, as we get a detailed description of Jesus as our High Priest • And remembering that a priest represents the people before God, we know this means we have an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1) • And for these Jewish Christians who were considering turning back to the law and sacrifices, they are going to be reminded that the law which could not bring them into the land, nor could cause them to have rest once they entered the land, • had been replaced by the grace of God in Jesus as their High Priest, and it was such a better deal! And now verses 14-16 display to them the superiority of Jesus as their (and our) High Priest 14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Israel received its first High Priest when it was appointed to Aaron to hold this office, but there had never been a High priest with these qualifications, • Especially that of being the Son of God, which we have already discussed is a declaration which makes Jesus equal with God • And one who had passed through the heavens, speaks of His resurrection and ascension which placed Him at the right hand of the Father, • meaning when He is tasked with their/our intersession, He is seated in the proximity and with the power to acquit them (and us)! o Folks, you can’t get better representation than that, and so again he says, don’t go backward 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Now from verse 12 we see the focus of what constitutes sin was not limited to outward actions, but also thoughts and intents • This says a lot about Jesus, for the fact that He never sinned inwardly or outwardly even once, displays the substance of His heart is 100% purity o Can you imagine what it would be like in your life if you even had 1 day without sin? • And yet, even in His perfection, He understands that we are not Him, and therefore He exhibitions such great compassion towards us because He knows how hard it is for us in this fallen world we live in o And you can’t say to Jesus, “you don’t know how hard this is for me”, because He does • And being that He is perfect, the only sin He has ever experienced was our sin, and it all came upon Him in one moment at the cross And this had to reach right into their hearts, because until Jesus came into their lives, they would have to depend on the priests of the temple to mediate between them and God on a daily basis, • And for the high priest to go into the temple once a year to make atonement for the nation • But based on this better covenant, mediated by Jesus as their high Priest, Paul says to them; 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And here the point is they could enter boldly into the presence of Jesus the High Priest because His throne was not one of judgement, but of Grace • For to obtain mercy means they would not receive what they deserved • And to find grace to help in time of need meant that what they didn’t deserve, they would receive anyway, based on the goodness of God This is one of those pieces of our faith that is so marvelous, and I for one never want to abuse it • To be able to have such unlimited access to God has caused some to make it so casual that it has removed the reverence due to Him • While others have made approaching God so scary and legalistically limiting • But in a healthy balance between remembering who He is in comparison to who we are, and yet understanding the intimate and grace filled relationship He desires with each and every one of us, We can have confidence that when we enter into His presence, we will find grace! Now coming into chapter 5, verses 1-4 switch our focus to the frailty of the priesthood operated under mankind, • Displaying again to these Jewish Christians, the contrast between having Jesus (as just described) as their High Priest, or a man from the tribe of Levi 5:1For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer (better- “offer continually”) both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. Now the picture here of the high priest taken from among men is the ideal, for although God had wanted them to have the heart for the people as described here, that had not always been their experience • But for illustration of how superior Jesus was to the high priests taken from among men, he uses what God had intended for the high priest to be, if he would in fact serve God and His people well • And the high priests job was to help people in their relationship to God; or in spiritual matters • And it was Gods desire that the high priest would have compassion on the people, so much so that when God gave Moses the design for the garment the high priest was supposed to wear, it had 12 stones on the breast plate, placed over the heart, with each of the names of the tribes engraved on one of the stones And God’s desire was for the high priest to be a man of humility, with the awareness that even in his position, he was no less in need of a sin offering than the rest of the people • For in Leviticus 16 we find that on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), where the high priest was to enter into the Holy of Holies (the place where the Ark rested and God resided), o to make atonement for the sin of the nation, o he first had to offer a bull for his own sin and then make an offering for the people And the mention here of those who are ignorant and going astray might not seem to stand out too much to anyone who does not know the law, but for these Jews, they would not have missed this reference, • for it spoke of the fact that under the law, the sacrifices for sin were only for unintentional sin (Num. 15:22-29) • but for sin committed intentionally, there was no sacrifice to cover them. They were to be separated from the people indefinitely (Num. 15:30-31) • which is in complete contrast to the New Covenant under the New High Priest, who did not need to make provision for His own sin, and who was the offering for all their sin (and all of ours too) And so now in verses 4-10, the author makes the case for the greater position they are in with Jesus as their High Priest 4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He (the Father) who said to Him (Jesus): “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” In 4:14 we saw that Jesus is their (our) advocate, but now we see that it’s the Father who appointed Him to that position, meaning that if you have a bad image of the love of the Father for humanity, you need to erase that • The Father appointed the High Priest that He knew without a doubt could set all mankind free, • For only God could appoint someone to this position, and just as He had appointed Arron and the succeeding first born of the lineage, He now appointed Jesus His Son • God set everything in the perfect order for their (and our) reconciliation and freedom in Jesus Now the last part of verse 5 has been quoted by some groups to say that Jesus was a created being, but this verse which comes from Psalm 2:7, is repeated and explained in Acts 13:33, where it makes it clear this is speaking of God the Fathers act of raising Jesus from the dead • Which leads into his next point; 6 As He (God the father) also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”; There are two main points here but let’s start with the fact that Jesus is a priest forever, which is only possible if the High Priest never died, • And since Jesus took this position after being raised from the dead & then passing through the heavens, • there will never be a need for a successor because He is not going anywhere o For them and for us, that meant they/we can rest, because there was no potential of the next guy coming in being a tyrant, or malicious, or uncaring, for there was no next guy- only Jesus But I am betting these Jewish converts, who were very much attuned to genealogy, being that it was of great importance nationally, must have been confused as to how Jesus, who was from the tribe of Judah and not Levi, could serve as any kind of priest, • But here they are reminded of an event that happened long before the priesthood or the law was ever established, by taking them back to when Abram (not yet Abraham), when returning from rescuing Lot, was met by Melchizedek king of Salem (Jeru-Salem)…and priest of God Most High (Gen. 14:18) • And in that account, we saw that Abram gave a tithe of all that he had, again, long before the tithe was instituted • And here it’s made clear that Jesus came from a superior priesthood than that of the Levites, which we will look into in much greater depth when we come to chapter 7 But now, we come back to Jesus in verse 7, where, speaking of Him it continues; 7 who (being Jesus), in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him (the Father) who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” So now, this is taking us back to a starting point of before the crucifixion, while Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and was agonizing in prayer over carrying the weight of all of our sin on His body to the cross, • cried out “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:36) • And some would say, “but how is it that its says God heard Him, being Jesus still went to the cross?” • But that is answered in looking at Jesus prayer, for although Jesus would have chosen another way if it was available, His ultimate goal wasn’t to get out of it, but to do the will of the Father o And because the only way our salvation could be purchased was by a one time perfect sacrifice, Jesus submitted to suffering for all of us And remembering that Jesus is fully God and yet also became fully man, we know that His suffering truly began as He stepped into humanity, for prior to this point there was no way for Him to know experimentally what suffering as a man would be like • So when Jesus obeyed the Fathers instructions to endure suffering, this is the pattern He set from the beginning of His coming bodily • And we see that demonstrated throughout the gospels in that Jesus would do nothing apart from receiving instruction from the Father, which is here referred to as His godly fear, or reverence • And we must see that if Jesus learned obedience by the things which He suffered, then Paul’s message to these believers (and to us) would be that we should expect suffering to be a normal part of our lives in Christ also But that’s not the end of the story either, for the result for Jesus was that what He suffered, brought Him to perfection, speaking of His being resurrected into His glorified body and resuming His rightful place in heaven • And these believers, and you and I might say, well that’s great, but how does that help me when I’m going through the suffering I experience down here as a believer? • Well, it helps in every way, for in Jesus being perfected, He was eternally seated as our advocate, and 1 Cor. 15 tells us, He was the first fruits of those who are raised from the dead, and not the last • For in that He because the author of our salvation, means that He paved the way for us to follow Him o And the book He wrote is the Book of Life Now Paul laid all this out for these Jewish believers to show them the foolishness of turning back to a dead system that had been replaced by this glorious and ever living relationship with God • And he so marvelously spells out how complete Gods plan for their salvation was crafted, all that they might be saved • And the lengths that God had extended Himself, • And he wanted to explain more about who this Priest of the Most High God and King of Salem named Melchizedek was, but then concludes by pointing out the sad truth, in saying; 11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. Folks, they stopped pressing into Jesus and digging in to discover more about who He was and what He wanted for them, and consequentially, they became dull in the things of God • And this can happen to us too if we become lazy, or apathetic in our pursuit of God • Let that never happen to you or me • Let us keep pressing into the depth of the relationship Jesus is perusing with us, by being people who seek Him out in his word, in prayer and in our walk with Him We will come back to this next time when we pick but us in verse 12, but until then let us pursue the One who has done some much to pursue us

Hebrews 4

Last week we went through chapter 3 and I told you that was part 1 of a 2-part message, with the obvious conclusion that starting in chapter 4, we are now in the 2nd part ? • so if you missed that and want to catch up, go to our website and you can get it there In our study in Hebrews we have seen the theme that “Jesus is greater”, as the author (who I believe is Paul) speaks to these Jewish Christians that were considering turning back to Judaism and the law • And because of that, Paul has shown them in chapters 1 & 2 that Jesus is greater than the angels • And in chapter 3 we saw that Jesus was greater than Moses- who represents the law • And today in chapter 4 we will see that Jesus is greater than Joshua • And as a sneak peek, starting in Chapter 5 we will see Jesus is superior to the Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial system And what is so vital for us to see in this study is there are two primary parties mentioned in a back and forth type of ping-pong game here, and both are represent the Jewish people in different time periods • One is the group that God brought out of the Egyptian captivity, and who arrived at Kadesh Barnea and after 10 of the spies gave a negative report about them being able to take the land God had promised them, then chose in unbelief to not go in. So they wandered the dessert 40 years and never went in • The other group are the ones to whom this letter is written, and that is to these Jews who had come to trust in Jesus, but now were considering going back to Judaism to avoid the pressures they were facing o But both are Jewish This is so vital in our reading of these passages because God had made a covenant with the Jews (Mosaic Covenant), and even though they would not keep their end, God refuses to break His end of the deal • They are His people and He will continue to do all He can to bring them in • In the first group, or those who came before Jesus was born in the flesh, came into salvation the same way we do today, by faith in God (Genesis 15:6 & Romans 4:3, Habakkuk 2:4 & Gal. 3:11) • And this second group had seen God come in the flesh (as we discovered in chapter 2), and from this point forward all would come into salvation by trusting Jesus alone, by faith alone! o And this is obviously true not only for the Jew, but also for the gentile- so we will see some application for us here But there’s more, for although the Jews came in one by one through faith (as we will see in chapter 11), God has a covenant with the nation! And since Hebrews is to this nation and is addressing them also as a nation here, we need to understand what’s going on • Romans 9-11 is addressed to Paul’s fellow countrymen, the Jews, and 11:16-24 makes a distinction between the Jews and the gentiles by calling the Jews the natural branches and the gentiles wild branches- so Gods covenant with the Jews is not done away with by the entering of the gentiles • And Zechariah 12:10 Says of the Jews “And I (God) will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. o Obviously speaking of a time after the tribulation and when Jesus returns to rule and reign • And Romans 11:26-29 declares; And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;(this rebellious nation) 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (this is still to come folks) Now I know that is a long introduction, but we must see that chapter 4 deals not only with individual faith in God, but also the nation of Israel and Gods covenant with them with He intends to fulfill in the very near future! • With that understanding, this will make a lot more sense, so let’s jump in by backing up to 3:19 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. This again is a reference to those who came out of Egypt, as we saw last week, and we saw there they could not enter into the promised land (Canaan) because they refused to trust God rather than the 10 unbelieving spies • Which now brings us to chapter 4 and the back and forth between these two groups of Israelites 1Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. So, we see that the promise of bringing rest to the nation of Israel was not void because this generation didn’t enter in; it was still waiting for a generation to take hold of that rest • And now Paul transitions from speaking about the generation that couldn’t enter the land, to the people in his day, to who this letter was written • And the message is clear that they needed to take a serious look at what going back to the law, found in the Mosaic covenant and therefore Judaism, would bring themo or in this case, would cause them to lose, or “come short of ”, and that is rest And the language is not casual, for he tells them to “fear…coming short of it” • Now there would appear to some to be a conflict here, for the word says again and again that the believer is not to be afraid (fear not-365 times), • And we discovered in Hebrews 2:15 that Jesus had delivered those who would place their faith in Him even from the fear of death, which we were told had held them in bondage all their lives o So, He doesn’t want us to be in fear of anything but unbelief • But it must be understood for anyone turning back, or away from faith in Jesus, to have fear of failing to enter into God’s rest is a wise fear to have (Romans 11:20) But he goes further than that by diagnosing the problem that caused the generation that came out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, instead of entering Gods rest, • And it was that although they had heard so clearly from God, and saw all His works, they chose not to mix faith with what they had heard and had seen • 1) This was true of that generation that came out of Egypt as they saw Gods mighty works in their escape and again in the wilderness wandering o 2) It was true for this group of Jewish believers Paul is now writing to, o 3) And it’s true for every believer of any time And we can see so many today who have tried to hitch themselves to Jesus salvation by human reason alone, apart from faith, and their eternal destination is grim • One such group that really stood out was “the Jesus seminar”. A group who decided they would vote by display of hands as to which parts of the bible to except and which parts to dismiss • And in the end pretty much determined to dismantle the historical Jesus • And although they are the extreme of this failure to mix faith with the good news of rest in Jesus, there are many who have chosen this approach to Jesus even today And not only will it profit them less; it will profit them nothing without placing their faith in Him And now verse 3 again makes the comparison again between these two groups of Jews, saying; 3 For we (these current believers) who have believed do enter that rest, as He (God) has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They (those who came out of Egypt) shall not enter My rest,’” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Now He is first addressing these believers, making it clear that Gods rest is already with them being that they had taken what they heard (being the good news of Jesus Christ) and applied faith to that message, • And since these Jews were still alive, we know that he was not simply referring to the rest they would have when they died and as it is said in the OT, “so and so went to rest with their fathers” (Dan. 12:13), o which we could refer to as Salvation rest • But was also referring to submission rest, meaning they had placed all of their lives in Jesus hands and would no longer depend upon their own works or striving to earn Gods favor o The work of their salvation was already done and they could rest in that • Folks, that’s rest now and for all eternity- for them and for everyone who will enter in by faith!!! But then he continues by again quoting from Psalm 95, like he did last week, to represent this past group who followed Moses but refused to put their faith in God, and therefore could not enter into Gods rest 4 For He (God) has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” Here Paul takes us to the creation account in Genesis 2, to show that God had always intended to provide a rest for His creation, which includes every living thing And for the Jew, God established a specific day to be their Sabbath as part of the Mosaic covenant, because He wanted to give them rest, but the nation struggled with this since its inception • For they were always striving to get ahead in the world, and God would have to remind them to trust in Him and not forsake the Sabbath • And we saw in Daniel that they did not listen and so God sent them into captivity for 70 years to make up for them not giving the land its Sabbath rest as prescribed in the law (2 Chron. 36:21) • And during the time the Jews were out of the land to give it it’s rest, they then went and turned the Sabbath rest that God wanted to give them into a fiasco o They added so many ridiculous rules and regulations to the Sabbath that it became a major burden and not the blessing God had intended at all Folks, we can’t add anything of value to the finished work of Jesus Christ, and He wants us not just to have Salvation rest, but submission rest- which only comes when our faith is in His work and His word! • And in the Old Covenant God had established a Sabbath day for the people • But in this New Covenant He has established a Sabbath life- He wants us to rest in Him 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. Now some of the Jews who were pressuring these Jewish Christian converts to return to temple worship, would argue they had entered into the rest when Joshua had taken them into the promised land, but here we find around 500 years later, that David (Psalm 95) declares they had not yet taken hold of it • And that immediately speaks to me as an American, for when they entered the land, there was nothing lacking for them in it; it was flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 33:3) • Yet being in the land with all that it had, did not provide them rest, for again, they did not do what God had instructed them to do, but instead hardened their hearts towards God, o thinking they knew better than He did in terms of what they needed for success in life o and of course, that doesn’t describe any of us ? o and in the words of that great theologian, Dr. Phil- “How’s that working for us” • And since the past generations did not enter into the rest God wanted them to have when they entered into the land, Paul reminds them that the law can’t give it to them or anyone else now, or in the future And now he ties it together in verse 10, saying; 10 For he (any person) who has entered His (Gods) rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Its not that the creation work exhausted God, He simply finished it and therefore, being there was nothing more to create, He simply rested and desired to enjoy it • And the idea is that if we want to enter Gods rest, we will have to acknowledge that He also completed the work He has done on our behalf 11 Let us therefore be diligent (or labor) to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. Now this again might stand out at first as being contradictory saying that we need to labor to rest, yet we saw in 2:1 the warning against drifting away from the faith, which was a problem then and is today • But an unattended faith is a dilapidating faith, just like an unattended home is a dilapidating home o Once you build or buy a home, if you cherish it, you maintain it, clean it & even decorate it o And when we enter into a relationship with Jesus through faith, you maintain that relationship by being with Him in prayer and through the word o And in being with Him you won’t drift from Him • Warren Wiersbe summed it up in saying, “Diligence is the opposite of drifting” And so the Holy Spirit then moves right into the part that our study of the word does in helping us maintain our faith and relationship with Jesus, saying; 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is so much good stuff in here that it could be its own message, but I will try to be brief- right ? Now the double edged sword as a picture of the word of God here gives the understanding of being able to be driven wherever the person wielding it desires, being able to make sharp turns in any direction • And here it’s a picture of the way God uses the word in a liberating way in the believer’s life • And 1 Thes. 5:23 tells us that man is comprised of body, soul and spirit (1 Thes. 5:23) o The soul being our individual personality, feeling and emotions, o while the spirit is our connection to God (and before we received Jesus, the word tells us we were spiritually dead) (Eph. 2:1-5) o And we see that the word of God can cut right through those two parts • And one of the ways we can begin to drift is to allow our walk with Jesus to simply become religious activities that entertain us or meet our emotional needs (which isn’t wrong in itself, but if we allow that to become our main focus then we can begin to drift) o But when we are diligent to stay in the living word, which discerns (or better “judges”) those thought and intents of the heart that we might not even be aware of, o then as the word reveals them, it also can heal them, by cutting that rotten stuff away And that word “powerful” in the Greek is the base word of “energizes”, and when we allow God’s word to do its perfect work the result is indeed energizing freedom 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. When Jesus went to the cross at Calvary, we are told that at that time He bore the sin of the whole world upon Himself, meaning He had full knowledge of all our sin; past, present and future • And therefore, we can’t hide anything from God, or surprise Him with something foolish we might do • He knows before we will ever get there, and because of that its senseless in trying to conceal something from Him • And it’s likely Paul was bringing this up to these believers in order to reveal to them that God was already aware of their contemplating walking away from Jesus o And where we pick up next week, he will tell them that although they will have to give an account before God for all that they had ever done, if they would stay with Jesus, they would have an advocate with the Father who has paid their debt in full so they can rest now and forever God wants us by faith in Jesus to enter into salvation rest, wear we truly are not held in bondage by fear of death. And He wants us to have submission rest, where we place our trust in Him so fully that we stop striving and worrying about the cares of this world now. • Enjoy His rest in faith of the finished work of Jesus Christ!

Hebrews 3

Jesus is greater. That’s what we have discovered so far in the first 2 chapters in our study • In chapter 1 we heard that Jesus is creator God, who give us life and all created things • In chapter 2 we saw Jesus as the perfect sinless man who provided reconciliation with God and restored the position of dominion over the creation, by coming as sinless man to take it back o Although as we discovered last week, we don’t see the fullness of this yet • Now in chapters 3-4, we see Jesus returning to us another very valuable item, and that is rest! But we have to remember the context, for again, this was written to Israelites who had received Jesus, • therefore, He is using the Jewish foundations (which were shadows and types) to make this point • So we will see theses passages deal with 3 things the Jews held as sacred; 1) Moses and the bringing of the law, 2) Joshua leading them into the promised land, and 3) the Sabbath rest of God after the creation And, because Hebrews was written to Jewish believers in danger of turning back to the law and temple sacrifices, we will again find further warnings against turning back in unbelief • So let’s jump in Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling (he’s talking to believers here), consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. Now in our last two studies it was discussed that a prophet represented God in speaking to the people, and a priest represented the people before God- • this is making the same point, and the main point is that Jesus was sent to do both, for the word “Apostle” means “one who was sent in order to represent the One who sent Him”. This was the Father. • And so the reader is immediately drawn to the comparison between Jesus and Moses, and although Moses was faithful, and was a prophet, and even on occasion played the role of a priest, • He was never a high priest, for that position was filled by Aaron o And although there is certainly no diminishing of Moses position, the point is clear that Jesus is greater than Moses (yet in Judaism, Moses is still considered the greatest prophet), o But Jesus is our High Priest who forever makes intersection for us (7:25), and the message He brought from the Father was the last one ever needed, for it accomplished what the law could not 3 For this One (Jesus) has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. So again, we are drawn back to chapter 1 where a clear profession of Jesus as Creator God was made, and the logical outworking of that is that Moses was made by Jesus, who is God • And because of that, Jesus the creator is worthy of more honor than the creation- Moses Now when Moses was up on Mount Sinai He had an encounter with God and a limited amount of His eternal glory, and when Moses came down it says his face shone (Ex. 34:29), • But we understand Jesus has always had that glory & Moses only received it after coming before God • God is the causeless first cause, meaning no one built Him, but He built all things • And just as you don’t praise a painting for creating itself, but instead praise the painter who brought that work to life, o Paul is now reminding them to give the honor to Jesus, who made Moses and gave him the limited portion of glory that Moses then displayed before the people 5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His (Gods) house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Now “house” here is better understood as “household” or “a people”, and Moses was a servant of the household, but Jesus is the Son • And those things which would be spoken afterward is again a reference to the law brought by Moses simply being a shadow of the substance, which is Jesus • And thank goodness, the fullness of what God wants with each of us in not a formal or legalistic relationship under the law, but a personal relationship under the New Covenant of grace! • For the household of God during Moses time spoke of the Tabernacle where God resided, but now with the coming of Jesus, the home of God became the heart of His followers- (Eph. 3:17) o you can’t get much more intimate than that! And so, he would say to these believers, “if you are of Christs household, hold fast, or “don’t pull back from 1) the faith in what you have received (confidence) and 2) the faith in what He has promised is still to come” • And I personally like that he mentions that for the believer, this is to be done in rejoicing of the hope, • for, the great desire of the believer isn’t to hold on to what we have here, but to be with Him there • and that confidence that our hope is not in vain, but secure in Gods promises, should cause rejoicing to be the default setting of the believer, even when life’s circumstances appear contrary to that hope o Persecution was coming and yet these are Paul’s words in light of that But there is one more thing we have to see in verse 5, that makes this study challenging to commentators, and that’s the word “if”, and again it reads whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end • Now I told you when we started this study that Hebrews is a book that some have chosen to avoid due to passages like these, because we know Paul is speaking to believers, and this “if” makes many uncomfortable, even dividing church’s (which I think breaks Gods heart) • So, if this “if” makes you uncomfortable, buckle your seat belt, for there is another in verse 14, and when we get to chapter 4 next week, (which through verse 13 is a continuation of this line of thought) o we are also told to “fear lest we come short of entering Gods rest” (not contradictory) Now depending on your theological stance, you might make a case that “once saved is always saved”, or vice versa. And many great theologians and commentators have (even those of the same theological positions) had many deeply reasoned opinions to back their view – yet coming out with different conclusions • and much of the reasoning is based on what it is that one could miss “if” they didn’t hold on to, or come short of something • now I won’t pretend to have this all worked out, but we do get from this text that God wants to give us rest (for that word is used 10 times and inferred another 4, in just 19 verses) • and that to enter that rest requires faith o which is why the warning found in this text is to against unbelief (the enemy of faith) So, before we dig in any deeper, let me tell you that I am not worried about my position with the Lord at all, because I am not letting go or backing away from Jesus!!! • and if there are some here today who are not invested I their relationship with the Lord, or are drifting away, or have used salvation as a get out of jail free card and nothing more, • I don’t want to give you a sense of false security, for truly only the Lord knows your position eternally • But on the other hand, if you love the Lord, then no matter what happens or has happened, in faith (not in you, but in Him), you stay right by His side, and He will stay right by yours (James4:8) Now he is going to review the history of the nation starting with Moses, by quoting from Psalm 95:7-11 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” Now we remember God had called Israel out of the Egyptian bondage, to bring them into the promised land, but once they came to Kadesh Barnea, they sent out 12 spy’s and 10 of them came back in unbelief that they could take the land God had already told them was theirs, (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb) (Num. 13:28…) • And so, because of their unbelief, for 38 more years God had them wander in the desert • But notice that although the people rebelled against God, He took great care of them those 40 years o Their clothing and shoes didn’t wear out, they had food and water, there was a pillar of fire by night and a cloud to shade and lead them by day… o These were all miracles, and yet this generation hardened their hearts in unbelief o And although they could see Gods heart for them, they never understood His ways because of unbelief ▪ Moses knew His ways, but they only knew His works & this is still prevalent to this day • And the result then was this generation could not enter Gods rest Now, next week we will get into a greater discussion in regards to the topic of this Rest But today we are going to move on as he makes application from the failure to believe during the wilderness wandering, to these Jewish believers who would receive this letter, saying; 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” Now you might have caught that verse 15 is a repeat of verses 7-8 above, which is that admonition not to harden our hearts as the wandering Israelites had. And when we get to chapter 4:7, it will be repeated a 3rd time • Now I’m not the sharpest guy, but I think he is trying to make a point about the perils of hardening our hearts ? • and verse 12 contains the word departing, so again, you can’t depart from a position you are not in, meaning this is speaking to these Jewish believers o And the warning is against allowing unbelief in God and His promises into their hearts ▪ For a heart that begins to doubt God, begins to divide from God • And that division can come about by thinking that since God doesn’t do things as we might expect Him to (in our infinite wisdom), then it would be reasonable to declare Him unfaithful or untrustworthy o This is what happened at Kadesh Barnea, when they apparently expected God to give the land in a way that was different than He did, o the result for them being each time they did harden their hearts, they felt less and less in terms of a connection to Him ▪ and a hardening of the heart went deeper and deeper And before we shake our heads at them, we should make sure we aren’t doing the same, for when it comes to believers in the church today (and at any time in church history), there are so many areas of belief held back from God • I have individuals actually declare to me what parts of the bible they will accept and which ones they won’t • 1) Some won’t believe the miracles, 2) some question the accuracy of its history, 3) some question if the promises pertain to them, 4) and some even question Jesus actual position in the trinity • And that’s no less crazy that what those who came out of Egypt had done o So we would be wise to apply this same truth and warning in our walk with Jesus But verse 13 also provides us with instruction to protect each other, and in truth protect ourselves, and it is to exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today • Now to be an encouragement to each other daily, this means we must share more than a casual “passing by” with each other on Sunday mornings • This is a calling to share genuine life with each other, and to use that time to encourage one another to continue in the faith and to not only speak of the gospel, but to live it with out with each other o Now honestly, you can’t be besties with everyone in the church, but there should be a group of believers that you both give and receive from, pertaining to life and spiritual matters o And in my opinion, there should be a group of fellow believers you serve alongside, for this is one of the greatest encouragements in the Christian life, to see and be Jesus displayed in flesh • I am so greatly concerned for the roaming church, who never commit to one group of people, because it shows a heart that’s just not like Christ, who committed so deeply o And many choose this way because they don’t want community or accountability, o They don’t want to serve and share life together o But folks, that’s simply unbiblical, and dangerous- for a Lone Ranger Christin misses the mark And although the vast majority of what should come out of our mouths should be encouragement to keep pressing on, and to be reminded that its by God’s grace we have been saved and are sustained, • I am reminded of when Nathan brought the tough reality to King David after his sin with Bathsheba • It didn’t drive a wedge between them, but instead, through the courage and discernment of Nathan, it brought David to a place where He sought restoration with God • Folks we need each other, and all the more as Satan knows his time is short and is stirring things up And now we come back to the history of the nation of Israel wandering in the wilderness And we find here 3 rhetorical questions that follow right after the exhortation to not harden their hearts as in the rebellion, • And the first is found in verse 16; 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? And the point is that if Moses is the foundational and greatest prophet of Judaism, and it was Moses that led them out of Egypt, and if it was Moses that delivered the law, then why did they rebel? • And again, we know the answer is because of a hard heart of unbelief And he continues; 17 Now with whom was He(God) angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. As we have already seen, God had gone to such great lengths in displaying His faithfulness to that generation, • And yet they would not place their faith in Him • And we should understand that unbelief leads to disobedience, for why would you follow the ways of a God in whom you refuse to trust • But we should also see that the consequence for those who would not mix faith with the word they had heard and the experiences with God that they had had, meant that they would never know His rest Folks, I might not be able to make the final ruling on the question of if you can jump out of Gods hand or not (although I do have my own opinion about this matter), • but I can tell you that unbelief and a hard heart towards Jesus go hand and hand, o and in that place, the rest He offers, will at the very least be diminished, if not forever lost • And more importantly, I can tell you faith in His works which purchased our salvation, o and in the ways He has worked in our lives both before and after, o has given those who believe, all we need to have rest from striving now and rest eternally thereafter We will pick back up in this study next week as we jump into chapter 4 and part 2 of this cliff hanger ? • until then, I pray that each of you would enjoy your rest in Jesus, our Great High Priest and Gods final word on salvation