Hebrews
Pastor Rod Thompson
Midland SDA Church
February 2, 2019
A husband and wife were arguing one day. She was a Christian who came to a great understanding of the health message. Her husband was not a Christian, more aptly put he was a man of ill repute. And she was telling him that he needed to quit drinking alcohol. She opened her bible and showed him
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Then she told him he need to quit smoking cigarettes, and she pointed to
1 Corinthians 6:19 which says that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
She told him that he needed to stop drinking coffee. At this he got upset. He said now you have gone too far. There is nothing wrong with drinking coffee, in fact I’m pretty sure that God approves of my drinking coffee. To this his wife responded, show me one verse in the bible where God approves of your drinking coffee. The husband responded, give me your bible. So, she handed it to him. He started flipping through it and suddenly he stopped. And pointed to it. He said, SEE! Right here it says He Brews.
It’s a sad day when you see someone twist the word of God to fit whatever they want it to say, isn’t it? He Brews
Read 2 Peter 3:15-16
Peter tells us that the Apostle Paul, was a learned man, a highly educated man, a wise man, a sound theologian and some of the things that he says in his epistles are hard to understand, and many times, people, not understanding them correctly, twist what he says. And Peter says it is to their destruction.
Hopefully you understand that the book of Hebrews is not about drinking coffee. It is an epistle. Epistle is a Greek word that means letter. But it is more than a letter. It is actually a sermon that was written down in the form of a letter, so that it could be distributed to the various churches of that day. But there seems to be a great debate that has gone on for centuries as to who is the author. Some theologians say that it is Paul and others say no, it must be somebody else.
Well, the writer gives us a few clues perhaps as to who he is.
Hebrews 10:34 for you had compassion for me in my chains
Hebrews 13:23 Know that our brother Timothy has been set free
In looking at those two verses there are many who say, see it is Paul who is the author.
In a book called “In Absolute Confidence” by William Johnsson, on p28 He quotes Origen a Christian Scholar of Alexandria, Egypt, born in 182 AD. In talking about the authorship of Hebrews Origen is quoted as saying, “The thoughts are those of Paul and this has been handed down from the ancients, but only God knows.
Well that’s interesting, but sometimes tradition gets it, wrong don’t they?
Great Controversy P347
As used in the Bible, the expression "kingdom of God" is employed to designate both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory. The kingdom of grace is brought to view by Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Great Controversy P411
In their investigation they learned that there is no Scripture evidence sustaining the popular view that the earth is the sanctuary; but they found in the Bible a full explanation of the subject of the sanctuary, its nature, location, and services; the testimony of the sacred writers being so clear and ample as to place the matter beyond all question. The apostle Paul, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, says:
Brothers and sisters, I don’t know about you, but that pretty much settles the debate for me. If we truly believe that Ellen White is a prophet and her writings are inspired than I believe, based on her words that the Apostle Paul is the writer of Hebrews.
The book of Hebrews is a jewel. It is a master piece because it’s all about Jesus.
Desire of Ages p83
It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross.
What a powerful statement. We should contemplate the life of Christ. I’m going to suggest to you that the book of Hebrews helps us to do that.
Question? To Whom is the book of Hebrews written?
The obvious answer is that it is written to Jews who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah. But now they are being persecuted for their faith. Persecuted by the Romans, persecuted by the Pharisees and Sadducees. And they are in danger of falling away from Christ. They were in danger of going back to the empty formalism of Judaism.
Read Hebrews 10:19-23
Here we see a summary of why Paul is giving this sermon. Faith, hope and love – that we have in Jesus
Put yourself in the place of the first century Christians. It is not too difficult to understand a frame of mind that would have lured the Hebrews either to revert back to Judaism or to seek to hold on to both Judaism and their Christian faith.
After all Christianity could offer no parallel to the magnificent ritual of Judaism. In the place of the apparently still standing Temple, with all its glory, Christians assembled in homes, without even a central meeting place.
Beyond that, the infant Christian movement had no earthly priests or sacrifices. The book of Acts indicates that the earliest Christians still participated in Temple activities, to some extent. So, it is only natural that some of them would feel the pull back to Jewish rituals, especially as the felt increasing persecution for their faith
In such circumstance we can understand why believers would regard the Old ways as more and more attractive. In light of that the Apostle Paul gives this sermon, and notice what he says
Read Hebrews 2:1 & 3
Paul is telling the Hebrews don’t drift away. Don’t ignore such a great salvation as you have in Christ.
What did we read a little while ago in the Desire of Ages? It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. In other words, we should think about His righteousness
Counsels to parents, teachers and students P341
Those who are seeking the righteousness of Christ will be dwelling upon the themes of the great salvation. The Bible is the storehouse that supplies their souls with nourishing food. They meditate upon the incarnation of Christ, they contemplate the great sacrifice made to save them from perdition, to bring in pardon, peace, and everlasting righteousness. The soul is aglow with these grand and elevating themes. Holiness and truth, grace and righteousness, occupy the thoughts.
This is exactly what the book of Hebrews helps us to do. The Hebrew Christians were in danger of falling away or drifting away from Jesus. Notice that this was not some great apostacy or deliberate deviation from the truth. It was very subtle, they were drifting away. Mostly because of persecution
In response, the Apostle Paul, does what any good pastor would do. He writes a sermon and argues that Christianity is in fact better in every way than Judaism.
It has
A better sanctuary
a better priesthood
a better sacrifice
a better covenant
and a better promise.
Beyond that Paul demonstrates a theological reason for the absence of the old rituals. Why? Because Jesus, who died once and for all, transferred the priestly ministry to heaven and put an end to the old order. As a result, Paul warns them about the seriousness and consequences for those who deliberately turned their backs on the new and superior way.
You see brothers and sisters Hebrews is a book that is rich in sanctuary language
Psalm 77: 13 Your way, Oh God, is in the sanctuary
So, if we want to understand God, if we want to know the righteousness of Jesus, then we need to understand the sanctuary. And nowhere else in the bible do we get a clearer picture of the heavenly sanctuary and the priestly ministry of Jesus than in the book of Hebrews.
I have read through the book of Hebrews several times and if you have a correct theological understanding of Jesus superiority to the rituals of Judaism then it would take about 1 hour and twenty minutes to give the sermon that we know as the book of Hebrews. But if you truly want to understand the depth and magnitude of the sanctuary service, priestly ministry, sacrificial system, old and new covenant based on better promises then it might take a little longer.
So why am I telling you this, because I think the book of Hebrews is exactly what we need for our time. It is present truth for our time.
But the book of Hebrews has proven to be notoriously difficult to outline. It is deep, deep, deep theologically. It appears that Paul follows two lines of thought throughout his sermon. On the one hand, is a strand of theological arguments that focus on the supremacy of Christ, especially of His high priestly ministry.
On the other hand, the book provides a series of practical applications. The two approaches alternate throughout Hebrews. And the two thoughts are not separate, but united. They have a common purpose.
And you see as we are in the last days are there two things that the Spirit of Prophecy tells us are import for our time. Contemplating the life of Christ and righteousness by faith. And if we can truly grasp the theology of the book of Hebrews we will understand to things. The mission of Christ and righteousness by faith.
In his commentary on the book of Hebrews, George Knight has divided the book of Hebrews up into 52 parts. And my plan for this year (and next) is to write 52 sermons (53 counting this one) on the book of Hebrews.
Why? Because it is exactly what we need for our time.
You see these two lines of thought (theological argument and practical application) build towards the goal of challenging the hearers to endure in their Christian walk.
They were first century Christians who believed that Jesus was the Messiah and they were being persecuted for it. And the natural tendency when persecution strikes is to fall back to a more comfortable position
We saw that in Chapter 2: 1 & 3 Paul said, don’t drift away and don’t ignore such a great salvation
But you might say, but what does that have to do with us?
Read 1 Corinthians 10: 11-12
You see the book of Hebrews was written for first century Christians who were being persecuted for their faith. But more than that, the book of Hebrews was written for the remnant.
Those who keep the commandments of God and have the Spirit of Prophecy. Those who, like the first century church, will be persecuted for their faith. So, as we are heading into that time of Jacob’s trouble, I feel convicted that nothing can prepare us better than a thorough understanding of the book of Hebrews. And mingled in with that we will see the mission of Jesus and why Christianity is so much better than Judaism.
And we can understand why can’t we? Because the rituals of Judaism were only types and shadows designed to point us to the sacrifice and the superior ministry of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary.
And as we find ourselves facing persecution for our strong stand on the side of scripture, the natural tendency, if we are not prepared, will be to fall back to a more comfortable religion.
I believe with all my heart that Jesus is saying to us today, get ready.
Read Romans 15:4-6
Brothers and sisters, is that the desire of your heart. Do you want to learn about a more excellent ministry?
Through the patience and comfort of the scriptures are looking for hope in these last days of earth’s history?
Do you want to be like minded with Christ?
Do you want to glorify your father in heaven?
Do you want to be prepared for the coming of Jesus?
Is that the desire of your heart?
Let’s pray!