TEACHING WITH EXCELLENCE Bible Study Lesson Schedule The Book of Hebrews Fall, 2014

Transcription

1 TEACHING WITH EXCELLENCE Bible Study Lesson Schedule The Book of Hebrews Fall, 2014 September 6-7 Lesson Passage: Hebrews 1:1-4 Hebrews is one of the greatest books of the Bible! You already have access to background material and an outline of the book. The writer starts with the subject of God and then goes immediately to the doctrine of revelation, that is, how God speaks to us. We cannot know spiritual truth unless God reveals it to us. There are awesome truths in these verses! Verse 1 God spoke He revealed His will to us through fathers (Patriarchs) and prophets men gifted supernaturally to make God s will known to men. Diverse: Many portions in many ways. God s truth was given progressively, little by little, because we could only take so much at a time. God s speaking to man culminated in His Son, Jesus Christ (verse 2). Verse 2 in these last days the times of the Messiah on earth. Old Testament revelation builds toward and points to Jesus Christ. What is said about Jesus Christ: a. Heir of all things possessor; proprietor; Lordship. Matthew 28:18 Jesus said, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. b. Through Whom also He made the world (v. 2). See also John 1:3; Colossians 1: c. The radiance of His glory He is the brightness of God s splendor and grandeur. Jesus Christ radiates in a visible way who and what the Father is. d. The exact representation of His nature 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; John 1:18. e. Upholds all things by the word of His power Colossians 1:17. f. Made purification of sins this powerful Person died for our sins! Purification means a cleansing, removal of guilt so worshippers are fit to appear before God. See also Titus 2:14. g. He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He sat down because His work was finished He paid for the sins of the world. He also sat down to rule. See Hebrews 1:13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2. Verse 4 this is a theme of the book of Hebrews: Jesus Christ is better the term better is used 13 times in the book. September Lesson Passage: Hebrews 2:1-4 Verse 1 - This is the first warning in the book the danger of drifting away! Because of who Jesus Christ is (better than the angels and OT revelation), we must pay closer attention to Him. His message is superior, so we must pay much closer attention to it. This means not only to turn the mind but also to act upon what one perceives. In the original language the present tense is used which means it is a continual, habitual action constantly pay closer attention. Not acting on something we know is true will be fatal to our spiritual lives. Consequently, we drift away, we slip away slowly.

2 Leon Morris, in his commentary on Hebrews said, One need not be violently opposed to the message to suffer loss; one need only drift away from it. Verses 2-3a Galatians 3:19 says that the Law was ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator. Stephen said the same thing in his sermon see Acts 7:53. Point: if the Law came through angels and was legally binding (there were consequences for not following), how much more respect and attention should we give to the message which came through Jesus Christ! The problem mentioned in verse 3a is neglect to pay no attention, to ignore. A great salvation is offered to us we need to respond to the offer! Verses 3b-4 He tells us 3 things about our great salvation: a. It was announced by the Lord Luke 19:9; Mark 1:14-15 & many other verses. b. It was confirmed or guaranteed to us by those who heard Him see 1 John 1:1 and 2 Peter 1:16 eyewitnesses! c. God Himself testified. He gave signs to authenticate the preaching of the apostles. Remember, at this time there was no written New Testament and there were many false teachers & false prophets. God also gave the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were different than the signs: words of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy and the discerning of spirits see 1 Corinthians 12: September Lesson Passage: Hebrews 2:14-18 Context: we have said that a theme of the book is that Jesus Christ is better. He is better than the angels. This section anticipates a question and answers it. The question is: How could Jesus be superior to the angels and at the same time become a man (lower than the angels) and die an agonizing death? General answer: Jesus Christ became a man so He could accomplish His work of redeeming man. Specific answer #1: Jesus Christ became a man so He could disarm Satan, verse 14. He would render the devil powerless. This means to make ineffective, inactive, to nullify. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren in Revelation 12:10. John Owen said, Satan first falsely accused God before man; then he accuses man falsely before God. He accuses us of being sinners, which we are, but his design is to paralyze us with guilt. Jesus nullifies that charge by paying the penalty for our sins on the cross. Specific answer #2 relates to disarming Satan: Jesus Christ became a man to deliver us from the fear of death, verse 15. The fear of physical death holds man in slavery and always has. John Stott in his book The Cross of Christ said, The fear of death is practically universal. The Duke of Wellington is reported as having said that man must be a coward or a liar who could boast of never having felt a fear of death. And Dr. Samuel Johnson added that no rational man can die without uneasy apprehension. (page 243) Jesus Christ set us free from this fear through His own death and resurrection! Specific answer #3: Jesus Christ became a man in order to become a merciful and faithful high priest in being tempted, paying for sin and coming to the aid of us when we are tempted to sin, verses So, when we struggle with temptation we can t say Jesus doesn t understand what I m going through. See also Hebrews 4:15 very clear!

3 September Lesson Passage: Hebrews 3:7-15 Context: Since Jesus suffered, was tempted and can come to our aid, we as believers must consider Jesus (v. 1). This means to direct one s whole mind to an object, to immerse oneself in it, to ponder, to grasp and to seek to understand. We can never study Jesus too much! Verse 3 gives us another example of the Jesus Christ is better theme He is better than Moses. Verse 6 speaks of His house whose house we are as believers, if we hold fast our confidence until the end. A mark of a true Christian is that we persevere in quiet confidence until the end. Verses 7-8 since we are His, Therefore do not harden your hearts. This is an application of the truths in verses 1-6. By the way, don t miss this in verse 7: the writer says as the Holy Spirit says and then he quotes from Psalm 95. He has a high view of Scripture! John Owen, in his commentary on Hebrews defines hardness of heart as A voluntary perverseness of mind, in not taking notice of, or not applying the soul unto the will of God as revealed, to do and observe it. In other words, we harden our hearts when we disobey Scripture. Psalm 95, some of which is quoted in verses 8-11, refers to when the Israelites tested God in the wilderness as recorded in Exodus 17:1-7. They continually tempted and provoked God through their murmurings and unbelief. God pronounced judgment on the unbelieving generation. Verse 12 he warns them and us not to fall away. This is consistent with the first warning in the book in 2:1 and 2:3: the danger of drifting away or neglecting the truths concerning Jesus Christ, salvation, the gospel, etc. So, how do we persevere and finish well? (1) Take care, verse 12 press on and watch carefully for temptations and avoid them. (2) Encourage one another, verse 13. (3) Learn a lesson from the bad example of the Israelites, verses October 4-5 Lesson Passage: Hebrews 4:14-5:6 The writer had already addressed the subject of Jesus being a merciful and faithful high priest in 2: He expands on that topic here. But first, we need to give our attention to verse 12, which Lifeway curiously left off in the lesson passage. Hebrews 4:12 is one of the great verses on the subject of God s word. It describes God s words as (1) living it continues from one generation to the next; is as true today as it was 1000 years ago. (2) active is effective, performing its work in us who believe; see 1 Thessalonians 2:13. (3) sharper than any two-edged sword. See Revelation 1:16. (4) piercing as far as the division of soul & spirit to the deepest part of our nature. (5) able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Point: we do not judge God s word, it judges us! This is another example of the theme Jesus Christ is better He is better than the high priest. The writer has already mentioned Jesus as our High Priest in 3:1. Think of it this way: if we were not sinners; if there was no sin there would be no need for a priest, tabernacle, temple, sacrifices, law, etc. But, there IS sin! The Jew asked, In light of our sins, how are we to be accepted by and relate to God? Answer: through a mediator, someone who comes between 2 parties in order to bring them together. In the OT that was

4 the priest and especially the High Priest who performed his duties on the Day of Atonement on behalf of the people (we won t go into all of those details). For us as Christians, our perfect High Priest is Jesus Christ, 4: He can sympathize with our weaknesses because He was tempted yet without sin; and He is the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Result: we can draw near to God with confidence, find mercy, grace and help. 5:1-4 the qualifications of the High Priest, humanly speaking: a. Verse 1 taken from among men to offer gifts & sacrifices for sins. b. Verse 2 is beset with weakness. c. Verse 3 since he has sin, atonement must be made for him before he could make it for others. d. Verse 4 called by God; does not take the honor for himself. 5:5-6 Jesus Christ is infinitely superior to the Levitical High Priest. Psalm 2, a Messianic Psalm, is quoted in verse 5. Psalm 110 is quoted in verse 6. Jesus Christ is presented as an eternal righteous Priest-King. He is our High Priest; His character and work are perfect! October Lesson Passage: Hebrews 6:1-8 First & foremost, know that this is a difficult passage, especially verses 4-6. Context: 5: the problem with the believers to whom he is writing spiritual immaturity. 5:14 they need to mature and in this verse he defines spiritual maturity. 6:1-3 the command to press on toward spiritual maturity. It is something that we must do. Christians are meant to grow and to produce spiritual fruit. There is no such thing as a no fruit Christian! 6:4-6 this is the difficult section. We can t go into a lot of detail here but there are 4 possible interpretations: a. These are believers who have fallen away and they lose their salvation. b. These are believers who have not fallen away this is only a hypothetical case. c. These are professing believers who fell away but were never saved in the first place. d. These are true believers who fell away and did not lose their salvation but lost their rewards in heaven 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 1 Corinthians 9:27. Choices most consistent with Baptist doctrine: c or d. Point: it is a command and a warning press on to maturity or you might disgrace the Lord and lose rewards in heaven. 6:7-8 the natural thing for a Christian is to be productive. Lesson: in the Christian life you are either making progress or you are slipping back; it is almost impossible to stand still. October Lesson Passage: Hebrews 7:23-28 Lifeway flags this lesson as an evangelistic lesson their title: Only Jesus Saves. The context/background is the mysterious character Melchizedek, who was a prototype of Jesus Christ. He was a priest before the Law was given and before the Levitical priesthood was created. Remember our theme: Jesus Christ is better. In this passage we are saying that Jesus Christ is superior to and better than the Levitical priesthood.

5 Verses the first comparison between human priests and Jesus Christ. Men who served as priests or as high priest were in greater numbers because they would wear out or die. At a certain age priests were forced to retire. Jesus because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. (v. 24) Wiersbe, in his commentary states, An unchanging priest means an unchangeable priesthood, and this means security and confidence for God s people. (page 79) See also Hebrews 13:8. Verse 25 Because He is an unchanging High Priest, He is able to save forever those who draw near to Him by faith. See also Romans 8:34. This is another stated reason why only Jesus saves! Also, in His present state He is praying for us before the throne of God. Verse 26 Another reason that He is superior is that in His present state He is separated from sinners and exalted (KJV made higher than ) in the heavens. Verse 27 He is superior to the priests because they had to offer sacrifices for themselves daily before they could offer sacrifices for the people. Jesus offered Himself once for all for our sins. See also Hebrews 9:12 and 9:28. Verse 28 another contrast with human priests; weak vs. strong, imperfect vs. perfect. See also Hebrews 5:9. The application is obvious: why turn away from such a superior, perfect High Priest? Only Jesus saves! October Lesson Passage: Hebrews 8:1-13 This chapter could be called If it s broke, fix it! It continues our theme of Jesus Christ is better. Verse 6 speaks of a more excellent ministry, a better covenant and better promises. Verses The Old Covenant was broken. The old system of performing in order to be accepted by God did not work. It s the old story of Law vs. Grace. Why did it not work? a. It was based on performance. b. It was confirmed by the blood of animals. c. It was a mere shadow of things to come pointed to the death of Jesus Christ. d. It was terminated with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The New Covenant began! It was the blood of animals vs. the blood of Jesus. Verses the promises of the New Covenant: a. Internal change, verse 10. b. A relationship with God, verse 10. c. An increasing knowledge of God, verse 11. d. Forgiveness of sin, full and final, verse 12. e. The old covenant passed away in 70 A.D. when the temple was destroyed. Applications: (1) Get off the performance treadmill. (2) Take sin seriously, don t trivialize it. (3) Receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the only solution to our sin problem. Welcome to the New Covenant!

6 November 1-2 (Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday fall back!) Lesson Passage: Hebrews 9:11-15 We continue the theme of Jesus Christ is better are you seeing a pattern here? In Chapter 8 we said that Jesus offers a better covenant with better promises. Here in Chapter 9 the writer says that Jesus is a high priest by a greater and more perfect tabernacle or sanctuary not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, verse 11. Verses 1-10 describe the earthly or temporary tabernacle. All of these elements are temporary but all point to a parallel in the NT and in Christ s ministry: (1) Lampstand Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12); (2) the sacred bread Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:48-51); (3) the veil (Matthew 27:51); (4) altar of incense the prayers of believers; (5) the ark of the covenant all 3 items inside related to some rebellion which shows the imperfection of the old system. Verses 12- the sacrifice of the New Covenant is by the blood of Jesus Christ having accomplished redemption for us, not by the sacrifice of animals as in the old covenant. The sacrifice of animals had to be repeated; the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was once for all see also Hebrews 7:27 and 9:23. Verses this contrasts ceremonial cleansing (old covenant) with the cleansing of the heart and conscience (new covenant). Verse a covenant requires a death. Under the old covenant it was the death of an animal. In the new covenant it was the death of none other than Jesus Christ. This verse also mentions Jesus Christ as a mediator see 1 Timothy 2:5. A mediator brings 2 warring parties together in this case, God and man. So, once again Jesus Christ is better. Through faith in Him we can have confidence that He has provided an eternal redemption (verse 12) and we are able to share in an eternal inheritance (verse 15)! November 8-9 Lesson Passage: Hebrews 11:1-7 Hebrews 11 has been called God s Hall of Fame of Faith. It is an awesome chapter filled with examples of godly individuals who have gone before us. We stand on their shoulders and in many cases they put us to shame. Since Lifeway rightly calls the lesson Faith Defined let s define it! This is crucial because there is so much fuzzy thinking today as to the meaning of faith. What it is NOT: blind optimism, wishful thinking or presumption (bragging, cockiness). Verse 1 there are 3 terms to focus on: (1) faith to trust in, rely on, lean on, put your full weight down based on God s word and the Lord Jesus Christ; faith must be in harmony with God s revealed truth; (2) assurance confidence, substance, settled in your mind; (3) conviction this is faith in action which affects your decisions, a demonstration of faith; obedience. Verse 2 we gain approval with God by faith just like the men of old did. Verse 3 example: creation! Verse 4 first Biblical example of faith: Abel (Genesis 4:1-8). Verse 5 second example: Enoch (Genesis 5:21-24). I like what the little girl said about Enoch, He went on a walk with God and didn t come back!

7 Verse 6 - This is a universal application. Whoever approaches God in worship seeking to please Him must believe 2 things: that God exists and that He rewards those who genuinely seek Him in faith. November Lesson Passage: Hebrews 12:1-7 Hebrews 12 is a call to perseverance. It answers the question, In light of the hall of fame of faith in Chapter 11, how are we to continue to carry the baton? Verses 1-2 This is a mountain peak of scripture dealing with living the Christian life. Therefore connects us with Chapter 11. A cloud of witnesses is a mass of people who have gone before us, our heritage; they attest to the good results of living by faith and the worth of faith. They have finished their race, we now are part of church history! Lay aside every encumbrance and the sin we do not know what hinders us until we are actually running the race. Then we lay aside anything that keeps us from running with endurance the KJV says patience. There is a course or a race laid out for every single Christian. Verse 2 how to run our race: with our eyes on Jesus our Leader, Captain, Supreme model of faith & obedience. He went to the cross out of obedience. Verses 3-4 consider Him don t blow your own trials out of proportion. We have not struggled against temptation nearly to the point that Jesus did. Verses 5-11 Part of the race involves submitting to the Lord s discipline: a. We will be disciplined, verses 5-6. b. Discipline proves we are sons, verses 7-8. c. Human fathers discipline their sons, verses d. Discipline produces righteousness, verse 11. Stay thirsty for the things of God you will never regret it! November Lesson Passage: Hebrews 12:18-24 This section deals with how to function in the New Covenant Community. This is a warning for them to not take lightly their privilege as NT believers and part of the Church, the New Covenant Community. Great privilege means great responsibility; they must hold fast their faith and profession of Christianity and oppose temptations to go back to Judaism, to lapse back into a system of works, rituals and traditions. Verses the writer presents it as a contrast between Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion, which represents Judaism vs. Christianity; Law vs. Grace; Old Covenant vs. New Covenant. All events mentioned were associated with what happened on Sinai God in His awesome and fearsome power. Because of His holiness they could not even touch the mountain. The application to them is: you are no longer under that rigid system why would you be tempted to go back? Verses the New Covenant realities. Notice the strong contrast at the beginning of verse 22: But you They are brought into eternal realities; all of this is your inheritance heavenly city, angelic beings, etc. Verse 24 Once again we have an example of why Jesus Christ is better. We as believers are sprinkled with His blood and are made clean; see also Hebrews 10:22. He mentions the blood

8 of Abel. Abel s blood cried out for vengeance and justice (Genesis 4:10). The blood of Jesus washes us clean we have a clean and clear conscience which is why it is better. November (Thanksgiving is Nov. 27) Lesson Passage: Hebrews 13:1-8 The last chapter of Hebrews could be called Final Instructions or Final Exortations. In light of the pressure and persecution they were under live this way. We have not truly learned something until it affects the way we live. He gives us a list of 3 lets. Verse 1 The first let : Let love of the brethren continue. The Christian life was never meant to be lived in isolation. John Calvin said, We can only be Christians if we are brethren. Jesus said that we prove we are His disciples if we have love for one another (John 13:35). Romans 12:9 says Let love be without hypocrisy. How? Verse 2 show hospitality to traveling preachers/evangelists/missionaries. Also, people under persecution who may have lost their homes. This goes way beyond just having someone over for dinner so they can return the favor. Verse 3 prisoners and those who are ill-treated. Love is costly in reaching out to these individuals. Verse 4 the second let. Marriage should be held up as an honorable institution. We can never let our guard down in the area of sexual immorality. Verses 5-6 the third let. The key is contentment vs. greed. To be greedy and covetous means that we are not thankful for what we do have. We want more, we want more! Verse 7 this could refer to former leaders who had died. Imitate their faith is a great command could someone say that about you? Verse 8 this is one reason why our faith should be in Jesus and not in human leaders who come & go, die, etc. Jesus never changes!