Sabbath School Class Week 8
INTRODUCTION: Happy 4th of July! This fourth of July I sat out on our front lawn with a group of people, new and old friends, as we shared our view of freedom. Or, what we think of when we think of freedom. It was an inspiring way to bring in the Sabbath. Listening to people talk about freedom of country, freedom of life with Christ, it was inspiring. This week as we continue in Hebrews the passage is titled in my bible, "Warning against unbelief." I can't help but think of last night. So many times we see God as a restrictive, limiting God, who tethers us. Yet truth be told, He is what frees us. Can we warn against unbelief. If we really believe that unbelief is imprisonment, is death, than wouldn't we do all we could to warn against it. The devil has done everything he can to make us believe that God's way enslaves and his way frees us. Lies...lie...lie.
Warning Against Unbelief
Read Hebrews 3:7-11
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”[b]
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”[b]
"Today, if you hear my voice."
1. What does this question imply?
2. What is the rest that we miss out on?
Continue Reading:
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
This passage is incredibly important. How we hear this passage is pivotal.
First, see to it... what. Is this for me to see to it that others or that I? "None of you" makes me think of the military, where all are there to support each other, no one is left behind, they are a team, an important team. Yet at the same time one of the best ways to contribute to the entire team is to make sure you are doing your best. Being part of this group that encourages each other keeps you going, but it is also motivating to keep you focused on making sure you are doing what you need to so that you are not the one who drags everyone down.
Encourage...
Encourage after the but implies something different from the verse prior. So the prior verse is calling us to not have sinful unbelieving hearts, but then what we are to do is encourage. See it is not our job to make sure they don't have an unbelieving heart, that is what we are to make sure we are doing for our self. What we should do for others is encourage them. The little "But" is very important. It gives us clarity between us and others.
Maybe I'm splitting hairs but stick with me for a second. I'm afraid too often we skip the first step...
So that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
So that who?
NONE OF YOU. This implies you and others.
So the encouragement is for both you and others.
Is it possible that encouragement of others will also be a safe guard us, the encourager against sin's deceitfulness?
Continue reading:
We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.15 As has just been said:
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
This whole passage is about choice, the freedom to choose and choosing to believe, choosing Christ, choosing to encourage, choosing the rest. This entire passage implies there is something for us to do in this walk. It is not just about what Christ has done and is doing in our lives but we have to...
1. Listen to the Holy Spirit
2. Not harden our hearts
3. Accept his rest
4. Make sure we don't have a sinful unbelieving heart
5. Encourage one another
6. Remember the journey through the wilderness and don't be like them but learn from them.
All these things are things we choose to do. The beauty is we have the freedom to do that. Freedom to really live, to encourage one another and to listen to the words of the Holy Spirit. Don't let the devil deceive you. Jesus is not the one who enslaves us but the one who frees us. He is not the one who restricts us but the one who gives us choice. Jesus is our freedom. Believe it!
This whole passage is about choice, the freedom to choose and choosing to believe, choosing Christ, choosing to encourage, choosing the rest. This entire passage implies there is something for us to do in this walk. It is not just about what Christ has done and is doing in our lives but we have to...
1. Listen to the Holy Spirit
2. Not harden our hearts
3. Accept his rest
4. Make sure we don't have a sinful unbelieving heart
5. Encourage one another
6. Remember the journey through the wilderness and don't be like them but learn from them.
All these things are things we choose to do. The beauty is we have the freedom to do that. Freedom to really live, to encourage one another and to listen to the words of the Holy Spirit. Don't let the devil deceive you. Jesus is not the one who enslaves us but the one who frees us. He is not the one who restricts us but the one who gives us choice. Jesus is our freedom. Believe it!
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