Hebrews Lesson 3 February 24, 2005
NKJ Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall
mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall
walk and not faint.
Tonight we will work our way
through the 13 chapters of Hebrews in a brief overview. What is the plan or approach? The early church would have received it as an
epistle and the pastor of the church would have read it in its entirety as one
piece on a Sunday morning. That is how they initially heard it. You can see the kind of concentration they
had in the early church.
What is being said here? I want you to have a frame of reference so
that when we look at the bits and pieces they will be significant to the
whole. Most of the time when we look at
a book in the Bible we look at a verse or a clause or a small piece of the Word
and we pick it apart and compare it to other verses. Somehow we lose how that
piece fits in the whole picture. It is
like picking up a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, studying that one piece and never
seeing the whole picture.
This book was written as a
word of exhortation. It is a challenge
where a certain amount of information is given in the message and then the
volition is challenged to apply the information. The Bible does not teach raw
information. Its purpose is to change
your thinking. There is an embedded
challenge for you to respond to God’s teaching so that we can respond to the
world biblically. Hebrews is structured
around 5 sections or warning passages.
They are called problem passages because they seem to some to suggest
that you can lose salvation. Or, maybe
you aren’t really saved if you didn’t stick with it. But the truth is that it is really a warning
passage to stick with it or there may be serious consequences at the Judgment
Seat of Christ and in the millennial kingdom.
The structure of this sermon is built around five points. Each section contains a doctrinal exposition
followed by a challenge that is a sobering warning to believers.
This is the opening
section. The writer has an opening salvo
in 1:1-4. It is a tour de force
introducing the central themes of his message.
Like any good writer he has a thesis statement embedded here.
NKJ Hebrews 1:1 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.
The first 4 verses are one complete sentence
in the original Greek. If you chop them
up you lose the thrust. In the opening
prelude he introduces us to the central theme that God has spoken. It is very important to trace this idea
through Hebrews. Because He has spoken,
there is an implied necessary response from the creature. He introduces the superiority of Jesus Christ
the Son. The Son is the future heir of
all things. Then we see His
qualifications of the Son. He is the
creator. The Son by Himself cleansed us
from our sins. He ascended into heaven
and is now at the right hand of God the Father above the angels with a name
higher than theirs. The implications of
His ascension over the angels and His present session will be developed
throughout the entire epistle to challenge Church Age believers to press on
with their spiritual growth in preparation for the future.
I would say that the theme of
the whole epistle is the implications of the Savior’s session on the current
sanctification of the saints and their future service in the kingdom.
To summarize it even more, it
is living today in the light of eternity.
That is what he is talking about.
It is a sobering warning to believers not to give up, not to fall by the
wayside, and not to treat your salvation or your future destiny lightly. Hang in there.
The opening sentence presents
the main idea of the epistle. Christ by
virtue of His victory in His humanity is qualified to be elevated above all
creatures. As a man He is to rule over
all creation. As Church Age believers we
are united with Him and have the promise of future and final victory over sin,
evil, and the enemies of God. He has by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. The idea of inheritance points us to the
future realization of inheritance when He assumes His position as the
king. He has not inherited the kingdom
yet. That is yet future. As the second person of the Trinity in His
deity, He is eternally the Son. In His
humanity He had to have victory over sin and suffering and temptation as He
grew in His humanity so that in His humanity He also earned the title of Son
that is declared at His ascension. So we
will spend some time understanding the sonships of Christ. What does it mean that He is the Son of God? And more importantly in this epistle, what
does His title Son of David mean?
This is immediately related
it to His Messianic rule and millennial rule emphasized in verses 5-6. It is understood to be related to the Davidic
sonship. It takes His sonship in Psalm
2:7 and connects it to the Davidic Covenant.
It is a profound theological statement.
There is so much in this first chapter.
What we see here in the first four verses is the major thrust of Hebrews
- a challenge to press on to spiritual maturity because your present decisions
and growth will determine your future position and responsibilities in the
millennium. Your continued walk by the
Holy Spirit and application of doctrine consistently will eventually result in
rewards and privileges in the coming kingdom.
He develops these themes as he goes through the five sections.
Verses1:5-14 develop the idea
that though He is eternally begotten and is superior to angels in His deity, He
is also elevated above them in His humanity.
In these verses, the writer quotes 7 Psalms and one verse from Isaiah to
substantiate his argument. The emphasis
is on Jesus Christ as the Davidic Son.
At the ascension He is declared begotten. He held this position in eternity in His deity
and qualifies for it in His humanity.
This qualifies Him to take the throne for a righteous rule in the kingdom. This reflection upon His sonship and His
future reign in verse 5-9 leads to a praise related to God’s character.
Note that a key word
throughout this book is son.
Another word to watch is the
word companions. It is the Greek word metochoi
meaning companions or partakers. There
are two concepts we will run across in Hebrews and Revelation 2-3 that we will
tie together. Revelation uses the word overcomers. His friends as it were. They are roughly analogous to David’s band of
mighty men in the Old Testament. These
are the ones who will rule and reign with Christ. Metochoi is one of the New Testament
words for Church Age believers who are victorious in the Christian life and
qualify to rule and reign with Him in the kingdom.
Pay attention to the word
‘speaking’ and the idea of communication.
Above all, this is the most important word to watch. We will see this throughout our study. “After God spoke in time past”. That He spoke is a key concept in this
epistle. That God speaks demands a
response from us. His speaking is
through His Son. He is qualified because
He is elevated above the angels. This is
the theme of the first chapter.
The chapter comes to a close
talking about the angles.
NKJ Hebrews
Salvation is another word to
watch. There is a tremendous debate
here. Is this talking about being saved
from the eternal penalty of the
Then the first warning comes
in Hebrews 2:1-4.
NKJ Hebrews 2:1
Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest
we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved
steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first
began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with
various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
NKJ Hebrews 1:2
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;
What did we hear? We heard what was spoken by the Son. God has spoken by the Son in Hebrews
1:2. So we must take heed to what we
have heard according to Hebrews 2:1.
They are connected. The word
spoken by the angels was the law. You
see how the warning flows out of the prelude.
It is connected. If there was
retribution for disobeying what was spoken by the prophets, how much more
retribution and punishment would you expect if you did not pay attention to the
word spoken by the Son? Remember the Son
is the heir of all things and is elevated above the angels. That is the message of the first part.
In this section we learn that
God sent His eternally begotten Son to qualify for the Davidic sonship in the
incarnation to the end that He would establish His kingdom on the earth. So He made the Son lower than the angels as a
human so that He can fulfill man’s original purpose given in Genesis
1:26-27. God said to let him rule. Yet Adam failed. So what is happening is that in the
incarnation He takes on humanity and enters human history lower than the angels
so He can fulfill what Adam failed to fulfill and be crowned with glory and
honor and elevated above the angels to rule all creation as a man. That is the important thing to realize. We come right back to what was emphasized in
the prelude – the ascension and session of Christ. In the ascension you have a man ascending to
heaven. In His humanity He is over the angels and at the helm of the universe. This is the emphasis of this next
section. It is all for the purpose of
bringing many sons into glory. We move
from Him being higher than the angels in the first chapter to how the process
took place in the second chapter. The
process is sanctification as introduced in verse 10.
NKJ Hebrews 2:10
For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all
things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings.
Jesus Christ had to go
through the process of sanctification just like we do. We usually think of sanctification in terms
of being divested from sin. But Adam had
to learn to obedience. You don’t have to
commit murder to learn that murder is wrong.
You do not have to do wrong acts to learn that they are wrong. You learn obedience by the things you
suffer. Sanctification had to take
place. Christ is matured through
suffering. We are one with Christ in the
process of sanctification. This has
tremendous implications for the Christian life.
He went through the same process we go through.
NKJ Hebrews
That is the metochoi
concept again. It is a special class of
believers who have consistently obeyed and moved forward in the Christian
life. Revelation has the same
declaration in the letter to
NKJ Hebrews 2:17
Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might
be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to
make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He
Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
This tells us that He is now
able to aid us in the process of sanctification. Therefore the challenge is given in vs.
1.
NKJ Hebrews 3:1 Therefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High
Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2
who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in
all His house. 3 For this One
has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the
house has more honor than the house. 4
For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. 5 And Moses indeed was faithful
in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be
spoken afterward,
6 but Christ as a Son over His own
house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of
the hope firm to the end.
We have the word metochoi
again. Consider means we are to learn
all we can about the apostle and high priest of our confession, Christ
Jesus. The thrust of verses 1-5 is that
just as Moses was faithful over the Jews in the house, Jesus is faithful as the
One over the house. We need to be firm
in the faith for phase 3 rewards and special blessings in the millennial
kingdom.
Then there comes a warning
starting in verse 7.
NKJ Hebrews 3:7
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His voice,
This is the practical
exhortation and warning section. One
verse is repeated three times.
NKJ Psalm 95:7 For He is our God, And we are the
people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His
voice: 8 "Do not harden
your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the
wilderness,
This verse is quoted in 3:7,
NKJ Hebrews 4:1 Therefore,
since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem
to have come short of it. 2 For
indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which
they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Doctrine better be mixed with
faith in your life.
We see the constant idea that
God has spoken. It calls upon us to
respond in a certain way or there will be consequences. It does not mean that there is no
forgiveness. That causes great confusion
among believers. If I go out and commit murder
and confess it, I am forgiven, but there are still consequences. I can still go to jail. God forgives, but there are still
consequences.
There is in this section a
promise of rest here. That is the
parallel. The Jews in the Exodus
generation forfeited their rest because they didn’t trust in God. The rest is analogous to our future
millennial blessings and rewards.
NKJ Hebrews 4:8 For if Joshua had
given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.
Even the conquest generation
under Joshua entered the land, but they did not have the full rest that was
spoken of. There is a rest for us, and
that is our position in the millennial kingdom.
Will you respond with positive volition, learn and apply the Word today
so that you will be prepared to rule and reign with Christ?
This brings home the final
exhortation.
NKJ Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore be
diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of
disobedience.
Verse 11 exhorts us to be
diligent to enter that rest. Work hard
at living the Christian life.
NKJ Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
We see again the principle
that God has spoken. That verse if
familiar to all of us. Note the
context. Be diligent because the Word is
alive and powerful. See the emphasis on
what God has spoken. The Word lays bear
your life. And no creature is hidden
from His power! This is not a verse
just about inspiration. All things are
naked before him. This drives us right
to the judgment evaluation at the Bema seat.
There will be an evaluation for rewards.
The High Priesthood of Christ
is now emphasized in the third section.
NKJ Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a
great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let
us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High
Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need.
He immediately takes us back
to grace. As soon as you get the
hardcore punch that we should wake up because we will be evaluated, we get a
reminder of grace. There is a reminder
that there is grace because we have a Savior that went through the same things
we did. He sympathizes with us. He aids us in our suffering and testing. He gives us everything we need to surmount
these tests and move forward. If we
fail, we confess it. We have forgiveness
and we move on.
Then we shift to His high
priesthood of Christ. He saw that He was
created lower than the angels and that he is created lower than angels and
elevated above man. He was created lower
than angels so that He can go through the sanctification process. His diligence qualifies Him to be our high
priest. Now he develops the priesthood
of Christ. He has to do something to
explain it because Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. He is not qualified to be a priest by
birth. He is not a Levite. He is from the tribe of Judah. How can he be a high priest? He did not glorify Himself to become a High
Priest.
NKJ Hebrews 5:1
For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining
to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2
He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he
himself is also subject to weakness. 3
Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer
sacrifices for sins.
NKJ Hebrews
5:5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it
was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You."
6 As He also says in
another place: "You are a priest forever According to the
order of Melchizedek";
Now we connect Psalm 2:7
given in Hebrews 1:5 and Psalm 110:4 (Melchizedekian priesthood). He picks up a thread from chapter 1. See what happens in the flow of the
author. In the first chapter we see
Christ as the David Son. He is the royal
Son. He is the royal human Son. Now he
is the royal human Son, high priest. We
tie all these things together. This is
building a case for what Christ can do in the millennial kingdom. Because we are identified with Him, we will
be there if we go through the process that He went through. The writer comes back and develops the idea
of the Melchizedekian priesthood. It is
not a Jewish priesthood. It is a Gentile
priesthood. It was a royal
priesthood. Melchizedek was the
king-priest of Salem.
The writer now has to break
off because he sees that they are dull of hearing. They are on the edge of dumping their
Christianity completely and tubing it almost irretrievably. He stops and tells them that by now they
should be teachers. But, you need
someone to teach you the basics of the oracle of God. What is the oracle of God? It is what He has spoken. Once again we are back to the theme that God
has spoken. That requires something from
us in a response.
NKJ Hebrews 5:13
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word
of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who
by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
They are unskilled in the
message of righteousness. Why? Because he is a baby. Solid food belongs to the mature. That is the mature believer.
The great warning passage everyone
knows follows.
NKJ Hebrews 6:1
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of
Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of
repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
They may be babies but he is
going to press on anyway. You need to
hear this! He almost rams it down their
throat despite their disobedience. This
is a sensitive pastor! He makes sure
they understand the doctrine. He will
not allow the Word to be “dumbed” down.
He does not lower his expectation of them because they are carnal. In fact he will ratchet it up a few degrees
and really drive it home. If you don’t
do this, there is a warning.
NKJ Hebrews 6:4
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted
the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of
God and the powers of the age to come, 6
if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again
for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
We see the word metochoi
again. If you keep on the downhill slide
you will reach the sin unto death and lose your rewards at the Judgment Seat of
Christ. You need to confess your sin,
get back in fellowship, and move on. The
warning goes on down through Hebrews 6:20.
He continues to emphasize key ideas such as salvation.
NKJ Hebrews 6: 9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things
concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this
manner.
NKJ Hebrews 6: 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who
through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The whole idea of special
blessing for the overcomer is emphasized.
Review
Section 1 1:1-2:4
Doctrinal Exposition 1:5-14
Practical Exhortation and
Warning 2:1-4
Section 2 2:5-4:13
Doctrinal Exposition 2:5-3:6
Practical Exhortation and
Warning 3:7-4:13
Doctrinal Exposition 4: 14-5:10
Exhortation and Warning 5:11-6:20
Doctrinal Exposition 7:1-10:18
Exhortation and Warning 10:19-10:39
This is the lengthy
section. In this section he returns to
his theme of the High Priesthood of Christ that is according to the order of
Melchizedek.
NKJ Hebrews 7:7 Now beyond all
contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
The principle in verse 7 is
that the lesser is blessed by the better.
Since Abraham is blessed by Melchizedek (Abraham is the lesser,
Melchizedek is the greater) by implication all of the descendents of Abraham
would also be lesser than Melchizedek’s.
One of Abraham’s descendents was Levi.
Abraham gave birth to Isaac who gave birth to Jacob who gave birth to
twelve sons one of whom was Levi. The
Levitical priesthood comes from the loins of Abraham. If Abraham is subordinate to Melchizedek,
then a fortiori the priesthood that comes from Abraham is inferior to
the Melchizedekian priesthood. So, Jesus
Christ is after the order of Melchizedek.
His priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood. To the Jewish audience the writer says that
it is a tragic mistake to return to temple or tabernacle ritual. These are dead works. If you go back to that, you are going back to
an inferior system. It is analogous to
going back to the prophets of the old times rather than the full and complete
revelation given by the Son.
Then in verse 11-19 the
writer argues three things. First there were limitations in the old covenant so
there has to be a better priesthood. The
point is that there has to be a better priesthood. That meant there had to be a change in the
law. The Levitical priesthood was a
codicil in the Mosaic Law, to change the priesthood you had to change the
covenant. A change of the covenant would
annul the commandments related to the Mosaic Law. He concludes by saying that on the one hand
the former commandment is annulled because of its weakness. Other passages in the New Testament say that
the Law is holy. It is holy and good and
right, but it couldn’t save you and it couldn’t make you mature. That was not its purpose.
NKJ Hebrews 7:19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there
is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
One the other hand there is
the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God. Then he goes on to argue that a new covenant
demands a new priesthood, an unchangeable priesthood related to Jesus
Christ.
NKJ Hebrews 7:26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the
heavens;
What doctrine is that? It is the ascension and session. All the themes of the opening prelude keep
coming back. He weaves them
together. Then he talks about the new
High Priest. He unpacks everything
related to the ascension and session of Christ and what it means to us and our
future destiny to reign and rule with Jesus Christ. A new high priest demands a new
covenant. He talks about the fact that
if the first covenant had been faultless, then there would have been no need
for a new one.
Then he quotes Jeremiah
31:31-34. He quotes them for one reason.
This is typical of New Testament writers.
Peter does the same thing in Acts 2.
New means the old has to go. New
is new and old is old. With a New
Covenant, He made the first obsolete.
That is a simple argument.
Because the Bible says it is a New Covenant, it shows that the Mosaic
Covenant was not going to last. It was
going to be replaced.
In chapter 9 he argues that
the first covenant had a protocol of the tabernacle. He talks about the tabernacle and tabernacle
worship. He relates this to Christ’s
role. He is the mediator of a New
Covenant. He is able to enter the most
holy place in heaven by virtue of His substitutionary spiritual death.
In chapter 10 he goes back
and shows that the Law was perfect, but it did not make those who approach God
perfect. That was not its role. The Pharisees screwed it up. But the Law was holy and perfect. It could not save or mature anybody. So there had to be a replacement of the old
law.
Then we have one of the most
serious warnings in the New Testament.
The challenge is that if we sin willfully after we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there is no longer a sacrifice for sin. That sounds scary. A lot of people think that this means you
lose your salvation. This says that if
you don’t stay in fellowship and don’t mature then you have treated the
sacrifice of Christ lightly and there will be consequences at the Judgment Seat
of Christ. If you confess your sins and
keep going, there will be rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Section 5 11:1-13:25
Doctrinal Exposition 11:1-46
Exhortation 12:1-29
Warning 12:25-29
Chapter 11 is the familiar Hall
of Faith chapter. It is a favorite of
many people. It is a development of the
heroes of the faith from the Old Testament.
But is not simply a rehearsal of great believers in the Old
Testament. There is a theme around
it. The theme is faith. It is a trusting in what God has revealed and
living out of what God has revealed. It
focuses on the future. Each of these
heroes lived in their present time in the light of future promises of God. That is the theme of Hebrews. Live today in the light of eternity. They understood a future.
NKJ Hebrews
11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he
was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And
he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a
foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise; 10 for he
waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God
He is trusting God. Abraham looked to something in the future. He never saw it. He never realized it. They understood future rewards that are still
unrealized. Moses made decisions in his
time in light of the future reward and blessings. It was the future rewards of God that were so
tangible in their minds that it affected their day-to-day living. By their faith, they trusted in what God had
spoken to them in times past through the prophets. Of course the ultimate example of one trusting
in the light of future expectation was the Lord Jesus Christ.
NKJ Hebrews
12:1 Therefore we also, since we are
surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God
The writer now builds to a
conclusion. Notice how he comes back to
these things again and again. Again we
have the doctrine of the session. He is
doing something today. He is waiting for
the kingdom. He is preparing a cadre of metochoi
who will rule and reign with him.
There is a warning to
endure. He will discipline
believers. He warns us not to be like
Esau because he was willing to sell out everything for present
gratification. He wanted that bowl of
lentil soup. The challenge is to
maintain your walk with the Lord today and be disciplined and be willing to put
off gratification in light of future blessings and rewards.
NKJ Hebrews
If the Old Testament
believers did not escape, much more we will not escape. A shaking is coming. When that happens we want to be companion
believers.
Chapter 13 ties things together. He challenges them to continue in Christian love. It is impersonal love and application from that. It encourages them to have personal love for each other. He challenges them in marriage. He challenges their personal conduct. He prepares us to be rulers with Christ. We need to understand where God is taking us. The desire of godly leadership is to prepare the congregation to be rulers with Him. This is the message of Hebrews. He wants us to get to the point so that this is such a reality that it affects our daily decisions and attitudes.