Listen to the podcast: Hebrews 13, April 10, 2005
I can't believe it but on April 3, 2005, I forgot to bring my recorder for the last lesson of this Hebrews series on chapter 13. Arrgh! That really put me in a state of mild depression. I was having some health problems and my energy levels were already low so I just could not bring myself to do the lesson over for my dog at home (I've done that before when I forgot to bring the recorder; my dog is very attentive :-). Also, it did not seem appropriate to ask my Sunday school class to hear the lesson again. Anyway, it turns out that I did not have enough time to finish the chapter anyway. I had skipped the benediction at the end of the book. So, this is a reprise using the writer's benediction as an outline for the last lesson of this series. Actually I am pretty pleased with the way things turned out, because I think God perhaps knew we needed examine this benediction.
Anyway, here's the bottom line:
Listen to the mp3 podcast: Hebrews 12:11-27, March 20, 2005
Don’t mistake God’s Loving discipline in pain and suffering for cruel punishment. Otherwise you may become bitter. Suffering has meaning, purpose. It is for discipline that you endure; it hurts temporarily. Esau is an example of a bitter person and what a sad story that was. But even Jesus suffered and benefited from it:
Hebrews 5:8 (NKJV)
Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
This chapter ends with a discusion about a massive earthquake that is to come. We find out that everything we see here on this earth is just props that are not good things to hold onto in a shaking. But there is something that cannot be shaken and it will remain. It should be obvious as to what that is.
Listen to the podcast: Hebrews 12:1-11, March 13, 2005
Are you coasting through life? You need to be running. The point of this book of Hebrews is to endure, persevere, run, fight, don't drift, don't neglect. I used to run for exercise (wish I still could!). But I did not do it because it felt good while I was running. I did it because it felt so good when I finished. This chapter tells us to lay aside the weights which hold us back. Too many times we ask "Is it a sin to do this or that?" That's not the right question. Ask "Does it help me to run the race." Listen to find out why there is pain and suffering in this world and where it comes from and why.
Listen to the mp3 audio: Hebrews 11:20-40, February 27, 2005
You are reading through this list of heroes of the faith in Chapter 11 of Hebrews and you are amazed at the exploits of these people. By faith, they escaped the edge of the sword, raised the dead to life, fought back armies against impossible odds. Boy, let me in on that! But right in the middle of verse 35 the excitment turns on a period--by faith others were tortured, were slain with the sword, stoned, sawn in two. So what's the deal? Evidently faith is not the factor that determines whether you will suffer or not. Listen to find out what Who the determining factor is!
Listen to the audio: Hebrews 11:7-19, February 20, 2005
Did you know Noah was a preacher? Yep, says so in the Bible. Problem is, by our standards today, he wasn't too successful. Don't be too hard on him though, he is all of our great, great, great, great ... granddaddy. Anyway, his family did get saved. Noah must have been considered quite the nutcase, building an ark there hundreds of miles from any navigable water.
Faith will change your value system. If you are worried whether everything will work out when you take that next big step of faith and obey God, don't worry, it won't work out. You are not going to be satisfied with this world. It's not your home. You were made for another city, one whose builder and maker is God. Once you get your internal value system right by faith and trust in God's promises, your outward actions may seem a bit crazy to the outside world. Noah and Abraham did some pretty astounding things but they are models for the life of faith. Abraham believed God when he did not know where he was supposed to go or how God was going to keep His promise or when he would receive his promise or even why God would ask him to do such a thing as sacrifice his son.
We need some good heros and there are not so many good ones around today. Listen to find out whether Noah and Abraham might be some good hero candidates for you.
Listen to the Podcast: Hebrews 11:4-6, February 13, 2005
Ours is not a blind faith. Rather the Bible makes sound and logical arguments for the faith. The Bible is a book of truth, the truest book there ever was but it is not just a book of historical facts, stories, commands and truth assertions. It is a book of reason. I heard John Piper make this point and the excitement of such an idea makes me hunger to understand every sentence, even every word in the Bible. There is great reason behind why verse 6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith. The most marvelous truth is why God, by the logic of His complete and utter self-sufficiency, must be a rewarder--overflowing with Grace.
Listen to hear also about Abel and Enoch and about his kid Methuselah too.
Listen to the mp3 file: Hebrews 11:1-3, February 6, 2005
Hebrews chapter 11 is the faith chapter. We are going to work our way through this one carefully over several weeks. Faith is fundamental to the Christian life and you need to know what it is, how it works, and how you live by it. The first three verses of this chapter are monumental in importance, we find out what faith is, but with some very curious words. Faith is substance and evidence. How something as nebulus as faith have substance? And what about evidence, I thought faith was a result of evidence not the evidence itself. What we will find out is that faith is more real than everything else you can touch and feel around you. I hope I've got your attention on this one. This is going to be very interesting. Listen to it.
(Sorry about taking so long to post these.)
Listen to the Audio: Hebrews 10, January 23, 2005
There is a major shift in this chapter dividing the book of Hebrews between doctrine and application. The shift begins with five “Let Us” commands, the first being "Let us draw near to God." This is perhaps the main theme of the book of Hebrews, the idea that we have access to God. It is a blood bought priviledge. We are told that we should draw near with a sincere heart, full assurance, and a guilty conscience cleansed by the word of God. A guilty conscience is debilitating. It will separate friends, steal you happiness, and keep you from God. Psychiatrists know that a guilt complex is the main cause of mental illness. They try to cover the guilt by convincing their patients that they are not to blame. Such a tactic does not work—because we are to blame. The only way to remove guilt is to be forgiven. That is what allows us to draw near to God. It must be a just forgiveness however. If a judge were to forgive all guilty persons who come before him, he would not be just. There is a price and for us, the price was paid by Jesus once and final sacrifice of his body.
There is much more in this chapter. Listen to the podcast to hear more.
Listen to the Audio: Hebrews 9, January 9, 2005
The typical Christian worship service is very non threatening. A popular term among evangelical Christianity today is "Seeker oriented" worship services. You sure could not apply that term to how the Israelites worshiped. They sacrificed animals, lots of them. They say the blood would run like a river a times. We would be repulsed today at such a bloody religion. Yet, this was not their idea. They practiced their religion according to an exact set of specifications given to Moses. This was God's idea, and He was very serious about it. So how does this relate to us today? Hebrews chapter nine contains some marvelous truths about what Christ did for us in shedding His blood. Listen to learn more about how this chapter of Hebrews reconciles what the Israelites did for worship and how we worship.
Listen to the PodCast: Hebrews 7, December 12, 2004
Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus ever lives to intercede for us. What picture does this bring to mind for you? Is it that of a lawyer pacing the courtroom, arguing your case before the judge? That can't be right because the Bible says that Jesus is "seated" in heaven. This is a picture of completion, the work is finished. No lawyer sits while pleading his case. I don't think Jesus is interceding with words before the Father. I think Jesus himself is the intercession. It is his wounds and scars that serve as a witness of the work he has finished on the cross. When we get to heaven, there will always be that reminder of what he has paid for, our sin debt. Listen to the podcast to find out how Jesus role as our High Priest fulfills everything the Jewish priesthood foreshadowed.