Persevere in Jesus LESSON XXII

REVIEW Let Us Persevere in Christ – Three main questions 1.Christ – Who is He? – Who is He not? 2.Us – What is our relation to Christ and God? – What should we do? 3.Persevere! – What does that look like?

REVIEW God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (Hebrews 1:1-4 NKJ)

So Far... All things made NEW. – In Chapters 8 & 9 the author introduces the New Covenant the Old Covenant is still in the background – New Covenant, New service for God In a NEW Place: a Heavenly Tabernacle; not made with hands (9:24)—not of this creation (9:11) – (that is: new for ministry on our direct behalf in that place) A NEW sacrifice A NEW Testament: a will, not one that creates a nation, but one that opens the Kingdom—creates a Church. A NEW way to offer the new Offering (Christ); one time. A NEW way to understand the OT figures in light of Christ. and NOW, pressing forward in the NEW way!

For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: "And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow." 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.") 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 27 Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:18-29 NKJ)

Hope We have come to the Mountain – This section follows on the conclusion of the section 3 “lest(‘s)” – Lest someone falls short – Lest bitterness infect you (all) – Lest someone is a fornicator among you This outline is a process of falling away that the Author very much wishes to avoid But at vs. 18 we have a “For”

Hope FOR we have come to the Mountain – This section, v. 18 ff., begins the positive reason behind vss BECAUSE.... – then he again starts with the negative: you’re not here... (and he goes on later)... you’re here. Moses was scared, and he’d seen a few things by this time. – The Author alludes here to Sinai, and the giving of the Law.

Hope BUT We have come to the Mountain... Mt. Zion – This place isn’t just another terrifying mountain; – This is our home. The place God had always wanted to bestow on His people – Where He will be with us – Where He will wipe every tear away – Where we will eat from the Tree of Life With the multitudes of Angels – John’s Revelation – Here they’re singing joyfully! – Remember we spent a lot of time talking about Angels

Hope BUT We have come to the Mountain... Mt. Zion – Not just angels dwell here, – But God also... and with reference to His being the ‘judge of all’ the significance being that He dwells with “the spirits of just men made perfect” In Gen 3 man was cast from God’s presence because of sin. – The registered firstborn What is it about the firstborn? In Christ (through Whom we are accounted “firsborn”) we inherit

Hope What do we inherit? – A heavenly dwelling place in this company – The forgiveness of sins – The cleansing of our lives that our souls also will be made perfect. – That God will be our God and we will be His people. We have come to Jesus the New Mediator – What did Abel’s blood do/say? – What does Christ’s blood say? Again, we’re being referred to Exodus 24. – Moses is in the background here, just as in Heb. 8:5-6

Hope Again, the Desert Wandering is in the background. – God’s word had shaken Sinai. – There was no escape for the Lost Generation, – and that was just a temporary covenant. As the Author has done throughout the epistle, he holds up the two ways— – The New way in Christ VS. – The old ways of Judaism (or what reduces to) any other way.

Hope Whole lot a’ shakin’ goin’ on – the earth shook before Sinai – now also heaven will shake What did Jesus say again? – Destroy this temple and in 3 days I will rebuild it. Our hope is unshakable – This is our inheritance

Hope So since we have hope, let us serve Him. This is, in fact, the beginning of love. – The command to love and serve God crops up about 10 times in Deuteronomy Love is the central Biblical command. – It’s what the whole Bible is all about – (and so we need to take our definition of “love” from the whole counsel of God) Here the service aspect is emphasized in light of the priesthood of believers that our Author has outlined. – but again, to love and to serve almost always come together in Deuteronomy Love

The Holy Spirit and the Author tell us: there’s no going back. – The former things have passed away – For the Hebrews, they cannot go back to trying to keep Torah and the traditions of their people in order to please God. – For us, we all know what we were before, we know God has changed our lives. We’re not yet the people we’re supposed to be, but thanks to Him we’re not the people we used to be either. So today and tomorrow and forever, let us persevere in Christ by better making our whole lives an offering to Him.

Homework Read Chapter 13. Check a couple different translations if you can