LIGHTHOUSE MINISTRY LEADER S STUDY GUIDE Jesus: Loud & Clear; Front & Center (Hebrews) Looking to Jesus (Part 4) Hebrews 12:12-17 R2R Distinctive: Love April 19, 2015 Week 23 of Jesus: Loud & Clear; Front & Center (Hebrews) This guide is designed to provide helpful hints in preparing and leading your Lighthouse discussion. If you need any assistance or further instruction on any part of this teaching lesson, don t hesitate to contact Chris at celler@ffclife.com. Announcements:! Fireside Chats are happening now. Your Elder should have contacted you to setup your time to meet with him.! Be sure to focus on building relationships within your group. Seek ways to engage people in discussion and be sensitive to the Spirit s leading.! If you have any newcomers to your Lighthouse, be sure to take time for introductions and to welcome them to your Lighthouse.! The 2015-16 Lighthouse season will come to an end May 22. Begin thinking and talking with your group about how you will stay connected throughout the summer months. Contents! Overview of this Lesson! Introduction! Read the Text! Digging Deeper! Concluding Thoughts Overview of this Lesson In this final warning passage from the book of Hebrews, we focus on the command to live at peace with one another and to live a holy (sanctified) life. The writer then warns us to be on guard for fellow travelers who may fall behind in the race, and fail to win the reward of God s grace, to watch for those who have a root of bitterness within the body and can poison the entire body with their evil venom, and to avoid the sin of Esau. Lighthouse Ministry Discussion Guide Spring 2015 Page 1 resources on this series are available at www.ffclife.com. This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
As with all of the warning passages, this week s lesson should challenge us to examine ourselves to be sure we are truly walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. We cannot pursue holiness apart from being born again by the Spirit. The picture Jesus drew that is a parallel to this week s text is found in Matthew 7:22-23, in which our Lord says, On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. These verses summarize the warning passages in Hebrews. We can strive to live holy lives, but if we are not born again, then our mighty works will prove to be meaningless, because we never knew Jesus as our Lord and Savior. May the Lord use this week s lesson as you challenge your Lighthouse members to live out their faith in Jesus Christ and to serve as a shining trophy of His immeasurable grace and mercy in our lives. Introduction 1. Looking back at your notes from this week s sermon, was there anything that particularly caught your attention, challenged or confused you? 2. Can you give an example of a time in your life when you were friends with someone who was a bad influence? 3. Why is it difficult, even impossible, to get along with some people? What makes them so difficult? THIS WEEK S TAKE HOME TRUTH Jesus, as the perfect picture of endurance, models for us faithful perseverance. Read the Text (Hebrews 12:12-17) In this week s text, we come to the fifth and final warning passage in the epistle to the Hebrews. The writer gives us two positive exhortations strive for peace with everyone, and for holiness and three negative warnings see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up; that no one is immoral or unholy like Esau. As you read this week s Scripture, may the Lord open your eyes to see how this cautious warning applies to us in 21 st Century America. Read Hebrews 12:12-17. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame Lighthouse Ministry Discussion Guide Spring 2015 Page 2
Digging Deeper may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. In this section, feel free to develop your own questions to help guide your group s discussion. Below are some suggestions. 4. As a Christian, how would you respond to someone who believes it s a dog-eat-dog world, and we need to fight for everything we want. The world system says it's a dog-eat-dog, but God s system says tum the other cheek and let whoever wishes to be great among you be your servant (Matt. 5:39, 20:26). This is very counter cultural. 5. Verse 14 encourages us to strive for peace with everyone. Is it possible to live at peace with everyone? The short answer is no. In a parallel passage in Romans 12:18, the Apostle Paul exhorts us to, If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Living peacefully is a two-way street. We must strive for peace, but if the other party is does not desire peace, then there will not be peace. For example, Jesus serves as the model of one who pursued peace, but the Pharisees did not want peace with Him. As a result, the relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees is one of constant conflict. Still, the writer to the Hebrews is exhorting us to strive for peace with everyone. The word translated as strive in our English Bible is dioko, and Vines defines this word as pursuing (as one would a calling). Living at peace with others is to be a calling in our life, a distinguishing mark that identifies us as a disciple of Jesus. Matthew 5:8-9 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see Lighthouse Ministry Discussion Guide Spring 2015 Page 3
God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. 6. How should we respond to others who live in opposition to us and to God? We are responsible for our side of the peaceful living equation. We can t control how others react to us, but we can pursue a peaceful lifestyle that glorifies God. Moreover, the actions by another person do not relieve us of the responsibility to pursue peace. As Christians, we should make the first move towards reconciliation, and not wait for the other. Between fellow believers, we should both move towards reconciliation, and we should be the first to take a step that leads towards reconciliation. Bottom line don t wait for the other person. Seek to resolve conflict and live peacefully with others. 7. In addition to peace with others, verse 14 encourages us to strive for holiness? How would you define holiness? The word translated holiness in v. 14 is also translated as sanctified. The Greek word is hagiasmos. Vines defines hagiasmos as (a) separation to God, 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; (b) the resultant state, the conduct befitting those so separated, 1 Thess. 4:3, 4, 7, and the four other places mentioned above. Sanctification is thus the state predetermined by God for believers, into which in grace He calls them, and in which they begin their Christian course and so pursue it. Hence they are called saints (hagioi).note: The corresponding verb hagiazo denotes to set apart to God. See hallow, sanctify. Holiness or sanctified living means being set apart for God. Swindoll notes, Regarding the pursuit of a godly standard, the world system says to conform to its own carnal ideas. God's system, however, tells us to be transformed (Rom. 12:2). The word the writer of Hebrews uses is sanctification. The term carries with it the ideas of separation Lighthouse Ministry Discussion Guide Spring 2015 Page 4
and difference. When we are morally separate from the values of the world, and when we operate by means that are different from theirs, we will stand out from them like daylight from darkness (see Matt. 5:1-16, Phil. 2:14-15). 8. In verses 16-17, the writer uses Esau as an illustration of the point he is making. What sin did Esau commit, and why is this significant? Esau is a perfect illustration of a worldly person one who values material realities over spiritual ones, one who lives by sight rather than by faith, one who lives for today rather than for eternity. Esau had come home from his hunting trip, empty-handed and famished. So famished was he that he traded the spiritual blessing of his birthright for a measly bowl of vegetable stew (Gen. 25:27-34). No doubt, his immorality and godlessness stemmed from the low value he placed on spiritual things, which amounted to the paltry sum of a hot meal. Esau's choice led to some serious consequences, as Hebrews 12:17 reveals. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. At a later time Esau, with a full stomach and full control of his faculties, realized how foolish he had been. He pleaded for a reversal of his fate, pleaded with tears, but the text is brutally final: "he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance." In his case the cost of worldly thinking sent him spiraling into spiritual bankruptcy. And no amount of repentance bought him a reversal of the fate he had bartered for himself. In a word, Genesis 25:34 tells us that despised his birthright. Considering that Esau s birthright was God s covenant with Abraham and Isaac, in essence, Esau despised God. We might be tempted to look at this and think, well, I would never despise God or trade my birthright, but is this not what we are doing when we look to the gospel with a careless attitude? Too often, we can find ourselves in a position where we think to ourselves, Yes, I know Jesus died for me and is offering me eternal life, but I want to do this instead. It is choosing the flesh over the spirit. It is seeking immediate satisfaction and pleasure rather than accept the promises of God by faith. Lighthouse Ministry Discussion Guide Spring 2015 Page 5
9. How are we guilty of committing the Sin of Esau? Whenever we allow the flesh to control us, to trade God s eternal promises for the temporary, meaningless satisfaction of a one-time meal, we are committing the Sin of Esau. The words the writer to the Hebrews uses are profaned and godless. Esau did not value the promises of God given to Abraham and Isaac. This was his birthright. In fact, Genesis 25:34 tells us Esau despised it. The writer to the Hebrews is warning us, Woe to the person who despises the gift of God, who is willing to trade the promise of eternal life with God in exchange for a mess of stew. The question to ask your Lighthouse members is this: what is your mess of stew? What desire of the flesh are you openly and often willing to trade in exchange for God s blessing? Concluding Thoughts In this section, feel free to develop your own questions to help guide your group s discussion. Below are some suggestions. 10. Is there someone in your life with whom you need to make peace? What can you do this week to take the first step? 11. Can you stand before God and others and know that you are striving to live a holy life? What areas would you point to where you stand apart from the world? What areas would you point to where you (unfortunately) walk in unison with the world? What do you need to do to live a holy, set apart life? We cannot suppress a natural sympathy with Esau in this scene between the two brothers. He seems as much sinned against as sinning, and in comparison with the cunning, crafty Jacob, he appears the better of the two. There is nothing of the selfishness, the trickery, that make his brother appear contemptible beside him. Esau s good qualities are evident bold and frank, free and generous, impulsive and capable of magnanimity, reckless and passionate. [But] being largely a creature of impulse, he was the plaything of animal passion, ready to satisfy desire without thought of consequences. Without self-control, without spiritual insight, judging things by immediate advantage, there was not in him depth of nature out of which a really noble character could be cut. This damning lack of self-control comes out in the transaction of Lighthouse Ministry Discussion Guide Spring 2015 Page 6
the birthright. Coming from the hunt hungry, he finds Jacob cooking stew of lentils and asks for it. Ungovernable appetite makes him feel as if he would die if he did not get it. The Bible writers speak of Esau with a certain contempt, and, with all our appreciation of his good natural qualities, we cannot help sharing in the contempt. The individual who has no self-control, who is swept away by every passion of the moment, who has no appreciation of higher and larger things, that individual is only a superior sort of animal and not always very superior at that. True self-control means willingness to resign the small for the sake of the great, the present for the future, the material for the spiritual, and that is what faith makes possible. Of course, Esau did not think he was losing the great by grasping at the small. At the moment, the birthright, because it was distant, appeared insignificant. He had no patience to wait, no faith to believe in the value of the [non]material, no self-restraint to keep him from surrender to present gratification. [Impulsive] passion has no use for a far-off good. Temptation allures the eye, whispers in the ear, plucks by the elbow, offering satisfaction now. The birthright is a poor thing compared to the red stew. It is the distortion of vision that passion produces, the exaggeration of the present that temptation creates, making the small look like the great and discrediting the value of the thing lost. Hugh Black Lighthouse Ministry Discussion Guide Spring 2015 Page 7