Bonney Lake Community Church

Transcription

1 Bonney Lake Community Church Adult Sunday School Jesus, Our Sanctification Scripture: The Letter to the Hebrews, Key Verse: Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28 29, ESV) Objective: To understand salvation and sanctification, and the work of the godhead in each. The build on our faith by finding faith heroes to emulate, and learn how to stand firm against attack until Jesus return. Overview/Context: As we close our study in Hebrews this week, let s look back on what we ve seen so far. We looked at Jesus, the Living Word, Jesus, Our High Priest, and Jesus, the Perfect Sacrifice. This week, we ll close by looking at Jesus, Our Sanctification. We should be able to draw courage from the list of faith heroes in Hebrews 11 and prepare to not be shaken. We ll see some final thoughts on sacrifices and I hope, take to heart the closing benediction in Hebrews 13: To understand the lesson this week, we need to know, What is sanctification? It is a unique work of the Holy Spirit in each believer (1 Cor. 6:11, 2 Thess. 2:13). It follows our salvation, made possible by Jesus shed blood and finished work on the cross. It is the process of becoming more and more holy; that is, more and more like Christ. It extends to the whole man or woman, and is described throughout the New Testament (Rom. 6:13, 2 Cor. 4:6, Col. 3:10, 1 John 4:7, 1 Cor. 6:19). Although the goal is to become perfect, like Christ, we cannot accomplish it in this life. However, God calls and challenges us towards the goal as long as we live. Paul described it this way, Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own,

2 because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12 14, ESV) Hebrews 11 contains what should be a familiar list of Faith heroes. The first two verses of Hebrews 12 answers the question, What does it mean to us? Faith is the essential foundation of our salvation. Faith in the truth of the gospel message. Faith that Christ s sacrifice alone can cleanse us of our sin. Faith that Jesus will hear us at the right hand of God the Father and take us as His own. Faith that the Holy Spirit will indwell us and regenerate our spirit. Hebrews 12 explains that our faith walk is really a race, one that requires endurance and strength. The kind of endurance shown by the heroes of faith. The kind of strength that keeps us from growing weary. All with the goal of a kingdom that cannot be shaken; God s kingdom. Hebrews 13 tells us about the kind of sacrifices that alone are pleasing to God. As noted in the homiletics section, several examples are given. We should not take them as a sort of checklist, but rather a starting place for where the Holy Spirit will lead you as an individual child of God in your faith race. This then is how we are sanctified. Faith. Endurance. Sacrifice. We cannot do it ourselves, but we can as we recognize the interdependency of four roles: Jesus Role Jesus paid the ultimate price so that we are made clean from our sins. This is not the end, but the beginning of our faith race. Our faith in His prefect sacrifice, offered as the perfect high priest, brings us as adopted sons and daughters into the family of God. The Holy Spirit s Role As we allow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives, He guides our training and running in the race. He gives us endurance and opens to us the mind of Christ as we grow more and more like Him. He teaches us as we spend time in God s word and relationship with God. He guides us on the path. The Father s Role God the Father disciplines us because He loves us as His beloved sons and daughters. He alone disciplines perfectly, with the goal to bring about the peaceable fruit of righteousness in the believer (12:11). Our Role As sons and daughters of God, our role is to learn from the discipline and run the race. We are tempted to rebel against God s discipline, take shortcuts, and drop out from weariness. However, in reliance upon the work of God in our lives, we learn to bring a suitable sacrifice to lay on the altar with love and gratitude. 2

3 The anonymous letter to the Hebrews is a rich source of nourishment to the growing Christian. In it, we find encouragement to the church and the individual believer to endure. We see God encouraging the church and the believer to be faithful and loving, using examples from the Old Testament to show the New Testament believer how to live. Homiletics: Who Is God? What Has He Done? What Will He Do? What Does He Expect From Us? Verse Summaries with Principles and Truths: Hebrews 11:1-12:2 These verses provide a Hall of Fame for faith heroes. After an initial list, we see why they exemplify faith. Each one had faith in God s promises even though the promise was not fulfilled in their lifetime (11:13). Because they did not waiver and, as with Abraham, did not turn back from the promised land, but journeyed where God led him until he came to the promised land. Even more, when one part of God s promise was fulfilled in Abraham s old age through Isaac, Abraham believed God s promise concerning the boy and offered him up in obedience. After more examples in the Biblical narrative, we see how these heroes suffered unjustly, yet held on to their faith in God s promises. The application for us comes in the first two verses of Hebrews 12, where God calls you and me to endure to the end. Run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus (12:1b- 2a, ESV). Hebrews 12:3-17 Now that we see how we re to run the race, we see in this passage how not to grow weary. It is to accept God s discipline. God explains the importance and benefit of His discipline against the experience we have as our fathers disciplined us. There s even a hidden challenge for us as fathers to discipline by God s model. Earthly discipline may seem harsh or unfair, but God s discipline is necessary to make us more and more holy and righteous. To taste the fruit of righteousness, we must learn discipline. Hebrews 12:18-29 Here, the author offers another lesson on perseverance. His readers would have been familiar with earthquakes and the devastation they bring. 3

4 They would have also connected deeply to the author s reminder of the terrifying appearance of God on Mt. Sinai as God revealed His covenant with Moses. The message then bridges to the new covenant, mediated by Jesus, and closes by contrasting the Sinai experience under the old covenant with a kingdom under the new covenant that can t be shaken. Don t be shaken. Be stirred by the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 13:1-26 The letter closes with a description of how to bring pleasing sacrifices before God the Father. The author uses a model seen in Romans 12-15, where he summarizes the teaching in the letter with specific applications. They include brotherly love, hospitality, remembering those in prison, honoring marriage, keeping sexually pure, contentment with what we have, obedience and submission to our leaders, and identification with Christ s reproach. The author contrasts the old system of sacrifice with the new one that instead brings an offering of praise to the Father. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. (Hebrews 13:15, ESV) Passage Summary: Our salvation is only the start. The Holy Spirit leads us in sanctification, summarized as living daily to become more and more like Christ. Sanctification requires faith, endurance, and sacrifice, but the goal is joyful citizenship in the one kingdom that cannot be shaken. Application: In the reading thoughts for this lesson, I suggested finding two or three faith models in chapter 11 that meant the most to you. Expanding on this, seize the opportunity while the lesson is fresh to adopt a faith model (or two). Read about that person or persons to learn about the challenges to their faith and how they were victorious. Then apply the lessons to your own faith life. Review the list of sacrifices in Hebrews 13. Find one or two to apply through the end of the year, and look for the fruit of your prayers and activities. Consider extending them, or perhaps picking different ones, for the new year. Activities for the Week Ahead: This week, we leave our study of Hebrews and turn to James 1:1-2:13. The theme is Faith s Lifestyle. 4

5 Sunday School Reading Thoughts November (Week 12): James 1:1-2:13, Faith s Lifestyle Read these 40 verses each day this week. Improve your understanding by using a different translation or paraphrase each day, repeating if you need to. Use a Bible Encyclopedia or Bible Handbook to learn about James. What was happening to the churches he wrote to at the time? How would you compare the teaching on faith seen in Hebrews 11 with that in this portion of James? Verses 1:9 through 11 contrast the lowly with the rich. How can you apply the teaching to your life today? From verses 1:22 through 25, why is it important to be a doer as well as a hearer? How do we actually avoid the partiality described in verses 2:1 through 13? Challenge: Briefly summarize how we live out faith s lifestyle according. Then see if there are any changes you need to make in your lifestyle.