A practical guide to understanding and applying faith lessons from the Book of Hebrews (#5) First Congregational Church Hamilton 2016 Page 1
According to Parents.com, which of the following should you never feed to an infant. Match the reason why: Check which apply Foods Cow's milk and egg whites. Sticky foods (peanut butter, marshmallows). Raw veggies (grapes, carrots) or whole pieces of canned fruit. Nuts, popcorn. Honey. Anything caffeinated, such as soda or iced tea. More than 4 ounces of fruit juice per day. Unpasteurized cheese Bacteria that can cause botulism High in mercury Allergic reactions Keeps awake Risk food poisoning Can cause eczema and tummy troubles Shellfish like shrimp, lobster, crab, scallops. Swordfish, shark, tilefish or king mackerel. Choking hazard diarrhea First Congregational Church Hamilton 2016 Page 2
Take the quiz on what we know so far God s promise of rest to Ancient Israel was fulfilled during their Sinai wilderness wanderings of the Exodus Generation. The historical waters of Meribah ( arguing ) are located along the Merimack River in Northern Massachusetts. According to the writer of Hebrews, Jesus is a perfect mirror of God s glory and the exact imprint of his image. The Exodus generation heard the Word of God for 40 years under Moses, but consistently refused to believe what they were taught. The writer of Hebrews warns that unbelief can lead to a hard heart and deaf ears. The Exodus generation witnessed extraordinary miracles during their wilderness wanderings and immediately abandoned their own plans and their own sufficiency. According to the writer of Hebrews, Jesus sustains everything by the mighty power of His command. According to Ray Stedman, rest is the secret to human fruitfulness. The writer of Hebrews thinks that Sabbath rest is only about rest for the Body. The Exodus generation passed every one of the ten tests that God had designed to prepare them to enter the land of promise. When referring to the Exodus generation in Hebrews 3, God uses meek and mild language to express His disappoint with them. First Congregational Church Hamilton 2016 Page 3
Pick a Priest When there was a vacancy in the position, the 71 member Sanhedrin would appoint a successor. According to the Talmud, the ideal high priest (Kohen Gadol) differed from his priestly brethren in several ways: in wealth, in physical strength and fitness, in wisdom, and in good looks no kidding! But primarily, the high priest was chosen by virtue of his spirituality and holiness. If he was worthy of the mantle, the son of the previous high priest inherited his father s position. Worthiness was determined by piety and fear of God, not charisma, scholastics and/or intelligence. If there was no son, or if the Sanhedrin deemed the son unworthy of the high post, the next-in-line heir of the previous high priest was considered. Only if none of the heirs were suitable did the Sanhedrin canvass the general Kohen population to find the most worthy candidate. The high priest was inducted by being anointed for seven consecutive days with the special anointing oil made by Moses. 1 This anointing oil was hidden, along with the Ark, before the destruction of the first Holy Temple. From that point onwards, and throughout the entire Second Temple era, the high priests inauguration consisted of his donning the High Priestly vestments for seven consecutive days. His repetitive tasks included lighting the lamps of temple, burning incense, placing consecrated bread on the table every Sabbath, offering a meat offering twice daily for his own sins of ignorance, performing the service of the Day of Atonement, and offering the sacrifices on Sabbaths, new moons, and yearly festivals. A Peerless High Priest Hebrews 4:14 5:10 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealing s with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, You are my Son. Today I have become your Father. And in another passage God said to him, You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. When did Jesus pray during his earthly ministry? While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. First Congregational Church Hamilton 2016 Page 4
Compare what you know of the Catholic pope with that you learned about the Jewish high priests 1. How elected 2. Gender 3. Minimum age 4. Qualifications 5. Vestments 6. Extent of rule and realm 7. Tenure in job 8. Kind of authority over people 9. Original role model 10. Religious role First Congregational Church Hamilton 2016 Page 5
Not the basics again Hebrews 5:11-6:3 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. How did you get training in right and wrong? So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from dead works and placing our faith in God. You don t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. How would you explain these six basic teachings? Topic Repentance from dead works Faith Teaching Baptism laying on of hands resurrection eternal judgment First Congregational Church Hamilton 2016 Page 6
Lose your salvation? Hebrews 6:4-8 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame. When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God s blessing. But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it. Briefly summarize on the right each instruction in your own words Basic teaching 1. Repentance from dead works -- a discovery that our goodness doesn t qualify us for heaven, a mourning that we relied on our own efforts, a resolution to trust God alone for our salvation. It is a change of mind which makes us love whom once he hated, and hate what once he loved. 2. Faith believing the right information, being persuaded that it is true, and putting my life in the hands of Him in whom I believe. 3. Baptism -- a rite of washing with water as a sign of religious purification and consecration. Baptism identifies the believer with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. It s a public confession of an inward experience and our identification with the Lord. 4. laying on of hands a symbolic act that sets individuals apart and signifies the imparting of spiritual blessings, authority, and/or power. In the NT, a newly baptized person had hands laid on him for the receiving of the Holy Spirit. It also accompanied prayers for healing and for ordination of deacons. 5. Resurrection -- when Jesus returns to earth, he will physically raise all those who have died, giving them new bodies, replacing those lost at death. Our new bodies will not die and will be transformed into a glorified state, freed from suffering and pain. 6. eternal judgment -- God decides a person's reward or punishment for all eternity. There are four major phases of the Judgment: 1) The Judgment of The Elect, 2) The Judgment of The Other Saints, 3) The Judgment of The Nations, and 4) The Judgment of The Great Day. In other words that means. First Congregational Church Hamilton 2016 Page 7
1. Total Depravity 2. Unconditional election 3. Limited atonement 4. Irresistible Grace 5. Perseverance of the saints Eternal Security St. Augustine of Hippo taught that all whom God chooses to save are given, in addition to the gift of faith, a gift of perseverance (donum perseverantiae) which enables them to continue to believe, and precludes the possibility of falling away. This doctrine of so called eternal security also is one of the five points of Calvinism. The traditional Calvinist doctrine of perseverance is a natural consequence to predestination. According to Calvinists, since God has drawn the elect to faith in Christ by regenerating their hearts and convincing them of their sins, and thus saving their souls by His own work and power, it naturally follows that they will be kept by the same power to the end. Since God has made satisfaction for the sins of the elect, they can no longer be condemned for them, and through the help of the Holy Spirit, they must necessarily persevere as Christians and in the end be saved. Calvinists believe this is what Peter is teaching in 1Peter 1:5-- that true believers are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation". Calvinists also believe that all who are born again and justified before God necessarily and inexorably proceed to sanctification. Failure to proceed to sanctification in their view is considered by some as evidence that the person in question was never truly saved to begin with. Proponents of this doctrine distinguish between an action and the consequences of an action, and suggest that after God has regenerated someone, the person's will has been changed, that "old things pass away" and "all things are become new", as it is written in the Bible, and he or she will therefore persevere in the faith. Some Calvinists admit that their interpretation is not without difficulties. One apparent consequence is that not all who "have shared in the Holy Spirit"[Acts 10:44-48] are necessarily regenerate. An example is King Saul who had the "Spirit of God" in some sense and even prophesied by it,[1sam 19:23-24] but was not a follower of God. And nowhere is it more challenging than here in Hebrew 6. He says it again in Hebrews 10, predicting grave punishment for one who "has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace."[10:29]. The debate over these passages centers around the identity of the persons in question. While opponents of perseverance identify the persons as Christian believers, there are several other options: These passages are not clear enough to describe a saved person and thus they do not describe the situation of a true believer. Instead, the persons in question may well have been part of the church community and had the advantages of membership without being truly "saved" as with King Saul. These passages refer to a saved person, but what is described is not a loss of salvation (because they believe other scriptural passages say that this is impossible), but instead a loss of eternal rewards. The author is employing hyperbole to effect positive change in his audience's behavior, possibly referring to Christians leaving fellowship or to Jewish Christians who were reverting to Judaism. The passages refer to the rejection of the covenant community as a whole, not to individual believers. These are unbelievers who are convinced of the basic truths of the gospel but who have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. They are intellectually persuaded but spiritually uncommitted. The passage is written about Christians, and describes only those who temporarily backslide in their faith, and does not address the issue of the loss of salvation. This position maintains that the Greek word used for "repentance" in verse 6 refers to "salvation repentance" rather than "repentance to restore fellowship." This table summarizes the classical views of three different Protestant beliefs. Lutheranism Calvinism Arminianism Falling away is possible, but God gives assurance of preservation. Perseverance of the saints, once saved, always saved Preservation upon the condition of persevering faith with the possibility of a total and final apostasy. First Congregational Church Hamilton 2016 Page 8
Hebrews 6:9-12 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God s promises because of their faith and endurance. First Congregational Church Hamilton 2016 Page 9
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