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As the Preacher draws this passionate sermon to its conclusion, it seems that his primary desire is to encourage and challenge the hearers to live out faith in the 'real stuff' of life. Christian faith is not simply a code of religious practices. If we really believe the truth of the preceding 12 chapters we will be shaped and changed to become more like Jesus. The instructions in this chapter help us to see exactly what this looks like! Two major contexts may be identified: 1) life 'in the street - here we are called to love each other, be hospitable, be compassionate, be sexually pure and be content; 2) life 'in the community of believers' - here we are called to pay attention to the relationship between leaders and the community, to watch for false teaching, embrace suffering, offer sacrifices of praise and good works. The Preacher then closes his letter with one of the most beautiful hymns of praise in all of Scripture. To Him be glory for ever and ever, AMEN!!
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In his ongoing efforts to spur the believers on to persevere in their faith, the Preacher in Hebrews 12 challenges them to lift their eyes to the bigger picture and place their very difficult circumstances in a larger picture frame. Only then can they make sense of the troubles they are enduring! They should:
Listen below or right click here to download the file The Preacher is drawing his discussion about Jesus, our High Priest, to a climax in this very profound chapter. We notice 3 sections in the chapter. Verses 1-18 contain Words of Truth - including statements like " when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God..." Verses 19-25 contain Words of Exhortation - "let us draw near to God; let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess; let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Verses 26-39 contain Words of Warning - the Preacher urgently wants all believers to know the consequences of 'trampling the Son of God underfoot'! in all of these we are challenged to know for sure that the gift of forgiveness and restored relationship with God is indeed the Most Valuable Gift!!
Listen below or right click here to download A 2-fold picture emerges from the text of Hebrews 9. The first part (1-10) is characterized by dim and dull colours. The detailed description of the Old Testament system of sacrifices is followed by the declaration - 'not enough'. They were not sufficient to deal the problem of sin which separates all of us sinful people from our Holy God. The 2nd part of the picture (11-28), however, is full of energy and vibrant colour as it describes the work of Jesus. Through His death on the cross, he paid the full price for our salvation; He now lives in the presence of God and invites us to join Him there; AND He will one day come back again to bring salvation to us in its fulness! The question is... are we ready for such a day? Are we looking forward to that day?? May we hear this text clearly!
Listen below or right click here to download In our passage today, the preacher summarizes the main point of this section and, arguably, of the whole book: "Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven" (8:1). After opening with some defining reasons why Jesus is the superior High Priest, he goes on to express how the covenant is so much superior to the old one - 1) it provides inward change; 2) it provides intimacy with God; 3) it provides knowledge of God; and 4) it provides complete and eternal forgiveness from sins. May we never lose sight of the privilege we have because of Jesus, our High Priest!!
Listen below or right click here to download Fully half of the book of Hebrews (4:14-10:18) is devoted to the idea that Jesus is our High Priest. This is a concept which is likely foreign to most of us in that interactions with priests are not a part of our daily life. So it is necessary to pay close attention to the words of the text. In this first half of the 'high priest section' (4:14-7:28), the main idea is that Jesus is the High Priest who is in the order of this rather mysterious Old Testament character called Melchizedek. We explore this idea today by asking 3 questions: 1) what are Jesus' qualifications to be our great High Priest; 2) what does He do as our High Priest; 3) how are we called to respond to the truth that Jesus is our High Priest?
Listen below or right click here to download. Hebrews Lesson 2: An Urgent Call to Hear and Respond Together to the Story of Jesus - Heb. 2:1-4:137/5/2015 Our preacher (author) uses language in this section of the book that implies urgency. There is no more important story in the history of the world than the story of Jesus. The preacher is anxious to know that all who read or hear this message will hear it clearly and also respond with a wholehearted response. May we be among those people!
Listen below or right click here to download the file Today we begin a 10 week study in the book of Hebrews. From our overview today we learn that the main idea of the book of Hebrews is 'Jesus'. It seems to be the main purpose of the author to bring back into focus a clear picture of Jesus - who he is, why he came to earth and what he accomplished by his life, death and resurrection. It is my strong desire that our study of this book will help each of us also regain a clear picture of Jesus so that we may love and serve him more wholeheartedly.
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