Manuscript – SYLLABUS – 12 WEEK COURSE ~ 9.30-08 – 12.15.08
Dr. Carl Johnson and Rev. Floyd Nicholson ~ Fall 2008
Hebrews Commentary by F.F. Bruce (read entire book)
Hebrews – Read through Hebrews once per week
Journal (10 min. meditations from the above daily reading)
Min. once during course, read thru Hebrews in one sitting
Know the outline of the Sevenfold Superiority of Christ
Sermon Manuscript (8-10 pages) due January 15th.
Memorize the following Verses (all need to be written out by hand at final exam.
Week 1-Memory Verse: Hebrews 1:1-2 – In the past God spoke to our forefather through the prophets at many times in in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he created the universe.
Week 2 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Week 3 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 3:13 – But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Week 4 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 4:15,16 – For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace in confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Week 5 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 6:19 – We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.
Week 6 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 7:25 – Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Week 7 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 8:10 – This then is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel in days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their heart, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Week 8 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 9:27 – Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Week 9 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 10:14 – because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Week 10 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Week 11 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 12:1,2 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and le us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Week 12 – Memory Verse: Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
Heb.13:5a – Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have …_____
This paper was prepared as if a sermon.
Theme: taken from Hebrews 2:3a – How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation.
Note for Pastors: Paragraphs are numbered for ease of editing and/or your comments.
_________________ Am I ignoring God? __________________
(P1) Do I get up in the morning and purposefully exclaim … “I think I’ll ignore God today!” Perish the thought that any self-respecting man or women who call themselves a believer would utter those words. And yet, as I read the words in Hebrews 3:1-6 I am struck by the thought that these days our thoughts seem to be on anyone and anything but Jesus. We all seem to be so preoccupied with so many things. Some things are good, some are necessary, but some, and if truth be told probably many things more than likely hurt the heart of God, and of course don’t help us either.
(P2)I wonder how many of us, if given the chance would ignore an invitation by the President of the U.S. or some celebrity figure we admire. Why is it then that we ignore the constant invitation given by the King of the world and the creator of the universe and as scripture points out “the heir of all things”. I believe this is one of the central themes of Hebrews. Namely that most of us are choosing to ignore the only way of salvation and the only way of true rest. We are a people who are worried about so many things like what we’ll eat; wear, where we will live, our investments. It seems that these are things that Jesus told us NOT to be worried about. In Matthew 6:28-34 Jesus told us specifically not be worried about our life, what we would eat, drink, about our body and what we would wear. If that doesn’t describe us today, I don’t know what does. He even tells us that this is what characterizes the pagans.
(P3)Do I hear God today, or am I ignoring him? We are a people who are like Martha, careful about so many things. I remember seeing something recently on TV about a designer who was showing people how to become organized. This man was over the top in the organization department. While it’s true that we serve a God of order, we don’t serve an obsessive compulsive Creator. God knew how to rest. How this man could ever rest being “careful” about so many things is beyond me, and yet he is being held up as a model to follow. I’m not against keeping an orderly home, office, car, etc., but I’m thankful that my Heavenly Father gave me permission to sit at his feet rather than having a “perfect” environment to live in. And so I ask myself … Do I hear him today? Or have I been guilty of ignoring him when he welcomes me to rest in him. Am I passing the little tests he sends my way? The times when I feel afraid, as if I might panic, do I run to him, or do I run after some other comfort to calm me. Today I see people everywhere basically ignoring God. Many people are never able to enter into God’s rest, not even for one hour or day for lack of belief in what God provided.
(P4)I am a Real Estate Broker and as such the legal instrument referred to as the “Title Deed” is a regular part of my life. When I negotiate and/or facilitate the purchase or sale of a property, the new owner receives a Title Deed from the original owner. The dictionary defines title deed (noun) as: a deed or document containing or constituting evidence of ownership. In my reading from the commentary accompanying our study of Hebrews the author writes (1) ‘Faith is the title-deed of things hoped for.’ Naturally, given what I do to earn income, those two little words got my attention.
(P5)Faith = my title deed. Hmmmmmmmmmm . . . how fitting, how appropriate for a realtor to grab onto the reality that faith is our title deed. What would happen if the new owner of a property simply ignored the fact that they had a title deed? What if they were careless with it and it never was recorded? What if they simply walked away from the closing table without taking ownership of what was rightfully theirs? The law makes provision for ownership when documents are written and then recorded in the “books” at the county clerk’s office. It is interesting to me how we are all so careful to secure our earthly dwelling, and yet we seemingly ignore the wisdom of God as to how to secure our heavenly and eternal home. Hebrews is full of warnings in this regard. If we are not guilty of ignoring God then many of us are guilty of ignoring his instructions about salvation. For some it’s because they have never truly heard the good news, for others it’s that they feel they don’t “need” God, for others it may be they have unknowingly embraced a faulty believe system, but for all who ignore the rest provided by God and spoken about in Hebrews it is the same. They are in danger of perishing should the Lord decide to return today.
(P6)In these days all of us are viewing headlines focused on our financial markets. In addition we see people running here and there after every manner of material goods. As a Realtor, I continually hear virtually everyone around me talking about the housing market. I see people (1) ‘regulating the whole course of their lives in their light’. But in this case the light they are following is NOT God’s light, it is a counterfeit light produced by the angel of light. All around us we see people everywhere “running” after the things of this world. I see people running after houses, others see people running after stocks/bonds, some run after designer clothing, and on and on it goes. Like the Romans who went before us we miss and ignore the most important thing. God said that we would be saved by grace, through faith, and that is would be a gift from God. (Eph 2:8, 9) How can so many people be missing this? How can so many who during their lives, at one point or another who heard this good news ignore such a great salvation as this? For many, they know about it, but sadly choose to ignore it.
(P7)Let’s go back to the Title Deed scenario. I am confident that if I walked up to anyone on the street and I gave them a “title-deed” to the best house in my town that they would at first say “what you’re kidding?” C’mon, what’s the catch? But after I persuaded them that no, it’s for you, you did nothing to earn it, it’s free, it’s my gift to you”, they would then exclaim “thank you, thank you, thank you”. What can I do for you? Well then I would reply . . . you did nothing to earn it, it’s yours to do with as you please. You owe me nothing! I would hope, however, that they would cherish the gift, that they would take care of the property, that they would maintain it in an orderly fashion, that they would not “ignore it” and let it go into disrepair. I certainly would hope that they would be thankful for the gift and show it by taking care of the gift freely given to them. Nevertheless, the title-deed would be theirs. Of course this analogy pales with faith as our title deed, but you get the idea don’t you? How can we ignore such a great salvation where our title deed is not merely to an earthly treasure which will inevitably one day depreciate into worthlessness? Rather we’ve have the opportunity to extend our hand to receive a free (by faith) title-deed to a mansion in heaven that Jesus himself said is being prepared for us. God has told us to encourage each other (even daily) as long as it’s called Today with these words. And God tell us further that the reason we need this daily encouragement is so that we won’t be “hardened” (emphasis mine) by sin’s deceitfulness.
(P8)What is sin’s deceitfulness? I believe it’s anything that makes us miss the truth and/or twist the truth of what God has taught us in his word. But for the purpose of this sermon let us fix our thoughts and our eyes (Heb. 12:2) on Jesus whom God says is the author and finisher of our faith. God has gone into great detail in Hebrews in giving us the background of ancient Israel’s believers. He has instructed us in the way of Melchizedek, the belief system of the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and further on in history the great cloud of witnesses of the New Testament. God knew ahead of time that we, like sheep would be highly insecure and we would need a solid hope, an anchor for our souls so that we could know for certain that our salvation is completely safe and secure. God knew ahead of time that the laws of ancient Israel would be written in our minds and on our hearts. God knew we would need a high priest who would be without sin and yet who could sympathize with us and who was readily accessible to help us in our time of need. God knew that we would strive in our efforts to rest. He knew that savage wolves would come in amongst the flock (Acts 20:29) to distort the truth that God has laid out in Hebrews (and throughout the entire Bible) in order to draw away disciples after them.
(P9)A few days ago I saw a T.V. commercial that showed a big sign. The sign said “obey your body”. Boy that got my attention. They even have a website http://www.obeyyourbody.com/. How ironic it is that these products come from Israel, from the Dead Sea area. It’s called the Dead Sea because nothing lives in it. But God has gone to great lengths to have our minds understand what our bodies must obey. This type of advertising is, to me, further evidence that our world and even our American culture have now gone the way of hedonism. To believe that we must obey our body runs counter culture to how God has intended us to live. God has told us that our bodies must obey our minds, not the other way around as this commercial states. God says that without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6) because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. God has told us to renew our minds (Ro. 12:2). Do I think it is sinful to take care of our bodies … of course not, but, again, like the ancients before us, we see an abundance of attention being given to the body while our spiritual man dies.
(P10)I’d like to focus for a few moments on a man named Enoch who was so pleasing to God that scripture says “God took him”. Enoch Gen.5:24. Yes, God took him. Took him where? God actually took Enoch out of this life without Enoch tasting death. God took Enoch straight to Heaven. Can you even imagine that? Imagine one day being here, and the next day NOT being here. Imagine God being so pleased with you that he decided you didn’t have to go through death? Not even Noah, Abraham, Moses or Jesus was blessed in that way. I wonder what it was that God was so pleased with. We may never know (until eternity) the whole story, but we can learn from scripture what is pleasing to God, or put another way, what it is that gives God pleasure. I believe that we can all know without a shadow of a doubt what gives God pleasure. That thing is Faith. But Faith in what? It is faith in what God has said is true. It is faith in the promises of God. The ancients looked forward to the promises of God, we are living in a time of the fulfillment of what God promised Abraham.
(P11)God’s Promises to Abraham (2) Genesis 12:1-3. God made a twofold promise to Abraham. The first was a material promise that he would be the father of many nations and that kings would descend from him. God promised him that his progeny would inherit the land of Canaan, an expanse that He defined as stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates rivers. The second, but more important, promise was spiritual. God promised Abraham that in his Seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This promise encompasses the life and work of Abraham’s best known and most revered descendant, Jesus Christ. This promise was later extended to include the inheritance of the whole world (Romans 4:13). Abraham’s physical descendants, the nation of Israel, inherited the land of Canaan. This was a type of Abraham’s spiritual descendants inheriting the earth.
(P12)And so, like ancient Israel, our faith is also in believing what God has said is true. Our faith is in the promises of God and the “finished” work of Jesus on the cross. It is faith in his son, Jesus Christ, and believing and fully trusting not in our own works, but his “finished” work on the cross. So … for the time when Enoch walked the earth, it was also Faith. There were no bibles back then, no churches and/or all the trappings we have today. It seems to me that during his lifetime, Enoch simply loved God and obviously adored him, worshiped him and obeyed whatever light God gave him. It must have been that Enoch’s singular desire was to seek God. Again, Hebrews 11:6 says that … without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
(P13)I believe that the reason Enoch was so pleasing to God is that he gave his whole heart to God. We know from scripture that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, and therefore we know that Enoch had no less temptation or struggles in the flesh than we do. Something must have taken place in Enoch’s heart that caused a moral change in his life (1). Somehow, even before the law was given Enoch fell in love with God, wanted to please God and placed his whole heart in God’s hands.
(P14)Patrick Henry Reardon (touchstone ministries) writes: Living before both Noah and Moses, Enoch was participant in neither of the covenants associated with these men. Not a single line of Holy Scripture was yet written for him to read. Much less did Enoch ever hear the message of salvation preached by the apostles. Yet, he was so pleasing to God by his faith as to be snatched away before his time, not suffering that common lot of death from which the Almighty spared not even his own Son.
(P15)What, exactly, did Enoch believe, then, that he should be such a champion of faith for the Church until the end of time? The Epistle to the Hebrews explains: “But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (11:6). This was the sum total of all that Enoch’s faith told him-God’s existence and his own duty to seek God to obtain the singular blessing that Holy Scripture ascribes to him.
(P16)And so once again we are reminded of the warning we find in Hebrews . . . warnings about ignoring salvation, warnings to believe in the TRUE God and his promises. Bruce writes that it is not belief in the existence of a God that is meant, but belief in the existence of the God who once declared his will to the fathers through the prophets and in these last days has spoken by his Son. (Heb.1:1,2). Therefore, in these last days the “way” to be pleasing to God is to believe his Word, which encompass His promises and to give evidence that we believe God’s word is true. The evidence? To embrace, rely upon and testify about his son, Jesus. To “consider our ways” as Haggai the prophet has written, (Haggai 1:5) God indubitably wants our obedience as an outward evidence of our inward faith. Today, I believe I have my answer as to why God was so pleased with Enoch. Enoch believed that God existed; he was a lover of God and a seeker of God. Enoch’s faith was rewarded with his translation from this earth to Heaven. As far as I know, God has never repeated for any other person what he did for Enoch. I don’t know, but perhaps it was God’s way to showcase an unforgettable lesson for us about true faith.
(P17)So . . . I have to ask myself: How am I pleasing to God? What proof could I give as evidence to that end? What is my faith based on? Do I think I can be pleasing to God and go to heaven apart from a faith in Jesus? Is my faith based on what I “do” or rather a sound and firm conviction that Jesus paid it all? Enoch’s life is a powerful reminder to us of what truly pleases God. Let us go back to this thought of ignoring God.
(P18)Hebrews 3:14 – We have come to share in Christ if (emphasis mine) we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. What confidence?
The confidence that:
what God said in his word is true.
there is one perfect sacrifice for the sin (and sins) of the world.
God has made a way for us.
we can rest in what God has told us.
by the Holy Spirit’s power we can have victory over sin
if I ignore God’s promises I am promised eternal death and
… finally, that we can be sure of what we hope for and confident of what we do not see (Heb. 11:1).
(P19)But if I go the way of so many wayward sheep before me. I will drift. (Heb. 2:10) I can drift in a many different ways. I can drift away from my hope and rest in the finished work of Christ and slip back into thinking I have to “be good enough” to work my way into Heaven. I can drift into worry about the daily cares and anxieties of this life. There are so many ways to drift. Today I see many, no multitudes of people losing hope, losing courage and losing sight of the fact that we don’t have to take these worries upon ourselves. We, as believers, need to keep at the forefront of our minds that we are His house. If I don’t believe that Jesus suffered death so that I wouldn’t have to taste death (Heb 2:9), I will stand before God one day and pay sins’ penalty myself. Would the divine builder leave us without protection from the storms of this life? It seems He gives us the choice to walk backward toward that which could never save us or the better choice to walk forward in the truths He has revealed to us, namely the confidence we have in Christ. I do not want to be like those Israelites of whom God said (Heb. 3:16) would never enter His rest. God did not just “say this” he swore it.
(P20)And so we are reminded yet again that our confidence is not in the job I hold, the amount of money in our savings (or not in our savings) account, whether I am healthy or sick . . . our confidence is not in our circumstances…. nor the amount of “good works” we store up in our lifetime. No our confidence, and the one thing that will assure that I am accepted by God is that hold onto my courage and the hope with which (1 Cor. 1:31) I boast in Christ”.
(P21)
At the beginning of this article I asked the question “Am I Ignoring God”? Are we ignoring God today, or any day? The first question begs a second. How would we feel if God chose to ignore us for even one single day, hour, minute or second. I believe that experience is what Jesus suffered on the cross for us, namely the effect of a God who looked away. We know from scripture that Jesus’ pain no doubt was excruciating in his physical body, but the suffering He endured when the Father looked away was indescribable. Hebrews instructs us (Heb. 2:9) that even Jesus, the perfect one, who was made a little lower than the angels, had to suffer an humiliating and horrific death to pay for the sin of the world. And so, I believe this is a good reminder for us that God will not ignore sin, and we are in grave danger when we begin to or choose to ignore God. How do I know that everything I’ve written down today is true? I have God’s word on it because God has said that in Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. And so one day in Heaven, I will never have to think about sin again. I will never ignore God again, and I/we will all see the fulfillment of all that he has promised. Will we see the fruit of our love for Jesus, the man whom God has said fulfills the better covenant and the only means of access to God and Heaven, or will we pay the penalty for having ignored God while we walked on this earth?
The choice is ours.
1) (pg.285) Bruce.
2) From the Forerunner commentary at Bibletools.org
3) Reardon – http://www.touchstonemag.com/
4) (pg.286) Bruce