A practical guide to understanding and applying faith lessons from the Book of Hebrews First Congregational Church of Hamilton 1
Match the person with the comfort object: What gives you comfort when you feel insecure? First Congregational Church of Hamilton 2
Eternal Security and God s Word: 1. John 5:24: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." 2. John 6:35-37: Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." 3. John 10:27-29: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father s hand." 4. John 17:12: "While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." 5. Romans 5:9: Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 6. Romans 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 7. Romans 8:35-39: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?... For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 8. Romans 11:29: For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 9. Ephesians 1:13-14: In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. 10. Ephesians 4:30: And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 11. Philippians 1:6: And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 12. 1 Corinthians 1:6-8:...even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 13. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 14. 2 Thessalonians 3:3: But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 15. 2 Timothy 1:12:...I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. 16. 2 Timothy 2:13:...if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. 17. 1 John 3:9: No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 18. 1 John 5:4-5: For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 19. 1 Peter 1:3-5: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 20. 1 John 5:11-13: And this is the testimony -- that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. How do you feel when you read these? What do you believe they are saying? First Congregational Church of Hamilton 3
Psalm 121: As pilgrims ascend to Jerusalem. I look up to the mountains does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. First Congregational Church of Hamilton 4
Look at Hebrews 6:4-8 one more time Matthew 13 and our security Once people have seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, once they ve personally experienced the sheer goodness of God s Word and the powers breaking in on us if then they turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can t start over as if nothing happened. That s impossible. Why, they ve re-crucified Jesus! They ve repudiated him in public! Parched ground that soaks up the rain and then produces an abundance of carrots and corn for its gardener gets God s Well done! But if it produces weeds and thistles, it s more likely to get cussed out. Fields like that are burned, not harvested. Jesus told them many things in parables, saying: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. First Congregational Church of Hamilton 5
Six other challenging NT passages 1. Romans 11:22: Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 2. 1 Corinthians 9:25-27: Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. 3. Galatians 5:4: You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 4. 2 Peter 2:20: For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 5. Colossians 1:21-23: And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. 6. Revelation 3:2-5: "Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels." Doesn t apply to you -- Hebrews 6:9-12 I m sure that won t happen to you, friends. I have better things in mind for you salvation things! God doesn t miss anything. He knows perfectly well all the love you ve shown him by helping needy Christians, and that you keep at it. And now I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish. Don t drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them. First Congregational Church of Hamilton 6
Take the quiz on what we know so far The writer of Hebrews wants his/her readers to move toward maturity and beyond basic doctrines like repentance from dead works and ceremonial washings. Jesus is a priest according to the Order of Aaron. The doctrine of eternal security says that our accidental bad behavior can separate us from the love of God. The Sabbath is only about rest for our body you work six days and you get a day off. The Exodus generation heard the Word of God for 40 years under Moses, but consistently refused to believe what they were taught. The repetitive tasks of the high priest 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. We naturally have the freedom to do what we want to do AND the freedom to do what we ought to do. God does not love us because Christ died for us; Christ died for us because God loves us. Jesus is said to be superior to the angels because no angel was invited to sit down next to God. The writer of Hebrews believes Jesus is superior to the Philistines. First Congregational Church of Hamilton 7
God Gave His Word -- Hebrews 6:13-20 When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, I promise that I ll bless you with everything I have bless and bless and bless! Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they ll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee God can t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek. When has a person s promise been a lifeline for you? "Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12:1-3 Which of God s promises do you repeatedly claim? How are the promises in the Bible like notes from loved one on the refrigerator door? First Congregational Church of Hamilton 8
Refresh my memory who was Melchizedek? Melchizedek was a real person who lived during the time of Abraham about 2,000 B.C. He was a righteous and Godly leader over a very special piece of real estate, the ancient city of Salem, the city of God's Peace, later to be known as Jerusalem. He presided over both the religion and the politics of Salem. He is a man of mystery and fore the writer of Hebrews, the archetype of the high priest that was fulfilled in 600 Jesus. Of the various theories for Mel s identity, the strongest is that he was Shem. Test your knowledge about Shem with the matching quiz: 1. Shem, one of Noah s three sons, was one of only souls saved from the world before the Great Flood. 2. Shem was years of age when God brought the great flood upon the earth. 3. Shem had seen and experienced the terrible end-result of unmitigated sin and evil, and because of this he was determined to preach and teach the of God to his descendants. 4. Noah had conferred a blessing on Shem with the words: Blessed be the Lord God of Shem which was Shem s identification with God s covenant name,. 8 5. Shem lived to be years old, which means he outlived all in his patriarchal line, with but one exception, down to and including Terah, the father of Abraham. 6. Shem lived on into the lifetimes of both Abraham and Isaac. He was years of age when Abraham was born, and 550 years old at the birth of Isaac. 7. Shem died just 10 years before was born. 8. outlived Shem by only 25 years. Genesis 14:18-20 (AMP) 98 Jacob Yahweh Abraham 450 Melchizedek king of Salem [later called Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine [for their nourishment]; he was the priest of God Most High, and he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth, and blessed, praised, and glorified be God Most High, Who has given your foes into your hand! And [Abram] gave him a tenth of all [he had taken]. First Congregational Church of Hamilton 9 righteousness
Melchizedek, Priest of God -- Hebrews 7:1-10 Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of the Highest God. He met Abraham, who was returning from the royal massacre, and gave him his blessing. Abraham in turn gave him a tenth of the spoils. Melchizedek means King of Righteousness. Salem means Peace. So, he is also King of Peace. Melchizedek towers out of the past without record of family ties, no account of beginning or end. In this way he is like the Son of God, one huge priestly presence dominating the landscape always. You realize just how great Melchizedek is when you see that Father Abraham gave him a tenth of the captured treasure. Priests descended from Levi are commanded by law to collect tithes from the people, even though they are all more or less equals, priests and people, having a common father in Abraham. But this man, a complete outsider, collected tithes from Abraham and blessed him, the one to whom the promises had been given. In acts of blessing, the lesser is blessed by the greater. Or look at it this way: We pay our tithes to priests who die, but Abraham paid tithes to a priest who, the Scripture says, lives. Ultimately you could even say that since Levi descended from Abraham, who paid tithes to Melchizedek, when we pay tithes to the priestly tribe of Levi they end up with Melchizedek. According to Genesis 14:18-20, the Melchizedek priesthood is: 1. a royal priesthood -- Melchizedek having kingly status 2. a righteous priesthood -- he is said to have been king of righteousness 3. a peace-filled priesthood -- he was also king of Salem, which is king of peace. 4. a personal priesthood -- not an inherited dignity, because he was without father and without mother; and 5. an eternal priesthood -- without beginning of days or end of life. Priest by the Order of Aaron Priest by the Order of Melchizedek The Ideal Priest Priest by election Priest by decree Priest by nature Imputed righteous Inherent Righteous Holy Sacrificial actions Peaceable actions prince of peace inherited dignity personal dignity un-assignable temporal role eternal role permanent First Congregational Church of Hamilton 10