Wednesday, February 26, 2014

PODCASTS now up through week/chapter #11 of Hebrews!

If you need to catch up, re-listen or are following along but not in the class, the Podcasts are an invaluable tool for you! Take a look back through the weekly notes to follow along as you listen:



Monday, February 24, 2014

HEBREWS 11 Notes


WORD OF FAITH - Hebrews finishes with faith!
Because Jesus is the Word of Power:
   ·      Because Jesus is the exact representation of the Father…
   ·      Because Jesus is better than all of God’s messengers and leaders…

Because Jesus is the Word of Righteousness:
   ·      He became a better covenant, priest and sacrifice, so that we could become the “righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5).”
   ·      Because of the covenant of Knowing God intimately with NO sin problem (Jeremiah 31)…

Because of all of this we should have FAITH (Hab. 2:4)
   ·      10:19ff Go into God’s presence with confidence! (faith)
   ·      10:23-25 Build each other up with confidence! (faith)
   ·      10:26-38 Don’t lose your confidence and try and do it yourself! (faith)
   ·      10:39-11:1 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

WORD OF FAITH - He shows us a better reward!
Notes
   ·      The Nature of Faith
o   Paul in Colossians 1:5, sees faith and love as flowing out of the hope awakened by the gospel.

   ·      The Qualities of Faith
o   Abel’s faith waited.
§  Abel’s heart was made righteous by faith.
§  Abel’s faith was one of trust.
§  Able was faith worshipping.
§  11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
§  11:7b By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
o   Enoch’s faith grew in intimacy.
§  Enoch turned after 65 years because of faith.
§  God’s revelation changed his life.
§  Enoch was faith walking.
o   Noah’s faith persisted.
§  Noah’s faith shown through his obedience.
§  This made Noah an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
§  Noah was faith working.
   ·      The Activities of Faith
o   Abraham
§  Anticipated that God would fulfill His promises.
§  Abraham was ready to do the ridiculous with Isaac.
§  Romans 4:19
§  11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
o   Isaac, Jacob, Joseph
§  They were faith waiting.
§  God is not ashamed to be their God! (“I will be their God” J31)
o   Moses and the Israelites
§  Moses’ parents received a revelation from God
§  Moses identified himself with God’s people, not his earthly household.
§  They had faith God will provide a way out/through it (1Corinthians 10:13).
§  Moses was faith warring.
§  11:26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
o   Jericho
§  Rahab was a woman in a man’s world, but faith accepts no distinctions.
§  Joshua was faith winning.
§  (NTW) At Jericho we see the march as an act of faith, a dramatized prayer for God to act; and act God did.
o   The Faithful
§  Helped some govern.
§  Helped others triumph.
§  Helped others be mighty in battle.
§  Faith was for both men and women.
§  Faith helps us see victory in the midst of earthly defeat (God’s heroes are often unrecognized while they are still alive).
§  11:39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
o   Nowhere in Hebrews 11 will you find a record of any failure because of unbelief. Faith only records the victories.
  ·      The writer of Hebrews is determined that his readers should be thoroughly grounded in the long story to which they have fallen heir.
   ·      They didn’t in fact receive the promise, because it only came true in Jesus.

Parallel Passages:
   ·      The scope of the OT.
   ·      Revelation 21 and 22 “The City of God”

(WW) Without faith it is impossible to please God (11:6). But this kind of faith grows as we listen to His Word (Romans 10:17) and fellowship in worship and prayer. Faith is possible to all kinds of believers in all kinds of situations. It is not a luxury for a few elite saints. It is a necessity for all of God’s people.

(NTW) Look back at the great crowd because they were looking forward to reality we now enjoy!

H-12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Week #10 - NOTES on Hebrews


REVIEW:
THE WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
   ·      A better promise
   ·      A better priest/priesthood
   ·      A better covenant
   ·      A better tabernacle/temple
   ·      A better sacrifice.

Jesus’ sacrifice is better because it reaches to the depths of the personality. Jesus has gone into the very heart of the presence of God, into the place where God lives in light and holiness.
So, the effects of His sacrifice shouldn’t just be felt on the outside and a bodily sense for us. But, it’s felt in the inward depths of who we are… in our holy of holies at our core… where we are who we really are.
We will lots about the “conscience” in 9:14, 10:22, 10:22 and 13:18. Each time stressing the fact that under the new covenant there is purification which goes to the very center of things. Your “guilty conscience” is a tool of the enemy and not a work of the Holy Spirit!
Now, God’s people can serve Him gladly and joyfully without even the slightest shadow or blemish on our consciences.
We are free from fear and guilt. We can love, serve, encourage and work with joy!

Jesus is the WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: He’s a better sacrifice! (9:9-10, 9:14, 9:26, and 10:1)
   ·      Read 10:1-18
   ·      The idea is, that under the ancient sacrifices there was an imperfect representation: a dim outline of the blessings which the Gospel would impart to people.
   ·      Mirror 10:17 “This is final: I have deleted the record of your sins and misdeeds. I no longer recall them.”
   ·      (STEDMAN) To put it simply, we must see what we already ARE by God's grace, in order to manifest that fact by godly behavior.
   ·      Sacrifices
o   Christ’s sacrifice takes away sin
o   Christ’s sacrifice needs to happen only once
o   Sacrifices under the old covenant could not deal with the problem of sin and guilt in the consciences of the worshipper.
o   In fact, God doesn’t really want our sacrifices (1Samuel 15:22, Isaiah 1:10-17, Hosea 6:6, Mathew 9:13 and 12:7). They point to something better… something God himself will accomplish. (Hebrews 10:5-10)
o   The law cannot be regarded as the final word. What Jesus has done is.
o   Everything keeps coming back to Jesus. He is as we humans were intended, he is the high priest, he is the perfect sacrifice, and he is the new covenant. All these things belong together.
   ·      (NTW) The result of discovering, with the help of the OT, what Jesus has achieved is to realize that he has fulfilled God’s purposes as set out in Scripture, so that the only wise place is to be with Him, rather than with those who cling to the signposts instead of the reality.

Leviticus 1-7
   ·      Burnt, Peace, Guilt, Sin and other offerings.
   ·      Walked through these particularly chapter 4.
   ·      Conclusion in 7:37-38

(STEDMAN 105) The writer also declares the death of Jesus, by fulfilling the will of the Father, completely replaces the provision of animal deaths, which had provided some degree of forgiveness before. Finally, he announces the only possible conclusion: it is by the fulfillment of the will of God in the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we have been made holy. The Greek expression for MADE HOLY indicates action with a lasting effect. We have been made holy by the death of Jesus, and we remain holy even though we struggle with the daily weakness and sin. It is a holiness obtained by faith, not by self-righteous effort, and it is not lost by momentary failure. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” (Romans 8:1)
   ·      Looked at Romans 8:1-11

FINAL ACT: WORD OF FAITH - Hebrews finishes with faith!
Notes
   ·      Read 10:19-11:3
   ·      Provisions of Faith
o   We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place since everything rests on the blood of Jesus.
o   We have a competent high priest who advocates for us.
   ·      Privileges of Faith
o   Drawing near to God – nothing separates (Romans 8)
o   Sharing in hope
o   Spurring one another on
§  Love
§  Good deeds
§  Meeting together
§  Encouragement
§  Mirror 10:24 “Good actions give voice and volume to the love of God.”
   ·      Another warning against those who deliberately keep on “deliberately” sinning even after they fully understand the truth of the gospel.
o   There is no other sacrifice than Jesus who will take away their sin.
o   They have trampled Jesus under foot.
o   They have treated the blood of Jesus as less than it is.
o   They have insulted the Spirit of grace.
o   Galatians 2:18-21 – Law practice spits in the eyes of grace.
   ·      (NTW) This passage, then, is a warning about a more specific danger: that someone who has come close to Christian faith, and perhaps shared in the life of Christian worship, will then turn around and publicly deny it all. As we noted when looking at 6:1-8, this seems to relate to a quite specific situation of persecution, coming from the direction of non-Christian Judaism, directed (as that of Saul of Tarsus had been) against fellow Jews who were embracing Jesus as Messiah. …WE should be all the more eager that there will never come a time when we might give in to the temptation to declare the whole thing was worthless.
   ·      Internal and external persecution can cause us to focus on that which is familiar instead of our actual freedom in grace.
   ·      SIDE NOTE: these verses give clear indication of terrible persecution like in Acts 8 or 1 Thessalonians 2… this also gives indication that an author like Silas is probable as part of the Jerusalem church and an author of the letters to Thessalonica.

Parallel Passages:
   ·      Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11
o   The righteous shall live by faith
o   Romans emphasizes righteous/ness.
o   Galatians emphasizes shall live or our new life
o   Hebrews is centered on by faith.

(WW) True faith is confident obedience in spite of circumstances and consequences. God speaks and we hear his Word. We trust his Word and act on it no matter what. The world fails to realize that faith is only as good as its object. And the object of our faith is God himself. This is not a feeling it is our total response to His revelation. As a result, faith enables us to do what others cannot do!
   ·      Faith in HIS power
   ·      Faith in HIS righteousness

Sunday, February 09, 2014

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Fun news on the horizon?


Started the conversation today to possibly produce our Galatians class in CD format. Pray for favor and planning to go well friends!