Sabbath School Class Week 14
This passage can be divided into four sections.
1. Personal Confidence
2. Lift up one another
3. Warning
4. Strength of remembering
Personal Confidence
Hebrews 10: 19-23
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
What a beautiful picture of how personal this is. There is no longer a physical curtain, a most Holy Place that we are not allowed to enter, or a priest that stays in the temple, we have a Savior. A Savior who allows us to draw near to God. It is because of His blood, His body, His sacrifice that we can have a faith that brings peace. It is because of what He did that we can relish in this intimate relationship that was previously only available in the Garden of Eden. His sacrifice was so much more than a future moment when we are saved and reunited with Him, it is different now. It is personal NOW!!!
His part was making it possible, but we have a part too... "draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings..." He gives us this opportunity. Because of His gift we can draw near...but do we?
Draw near with confidence. Recently I failed to complete a task that I knew would be disappointing to a coworker. I dreaded talking with her, I dreaded seeing her. I was prepared to apologize but I still dreaded the moment. It was a combination of fear and shame, disappointment, and so much more. Finally the moment came and she walked in my office. I immediately started into my apology and she cut me off mid apology to assure me that it was no big deal.
I had no confidence going to her, I had no confidence in her coming to me. There was this awful feeling of dread and shame to face her. It is not that way with our heavenly father. Though all our sins should keep us from him, they have been paid, cleared, put into the depths of the sea, we can draw near to God, with confidence, knowing everything has been forgiven, there is nothing, no curtain, nothing, no priest, nothing to keep us from going to him, fully confident to connect with him. The next time I saw this coworker, it was a completely different experience, I wasn't dreading it, I wasn't fearful, I was ready to get to work on the projects we had to accomplish, the other "stuff" was gone. What a difference.
Remember the end of last weeks lesson, in verse 17, “Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
We can go before him, knowing he is receiving us as His son, spotless, and clean. He took care of it all, He gave His son for us. He did this all because He wants us to be able to connect with Him. He yearns for us to come close to Him, to "draw near". It was a gift given to us by our Heavenly Father, His son and the Holy Spirit, all so that we can draw near. What a beautiful gift!!!!
Let's continue..
Lift One Another Up
Hebrews 10: 24-25
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Remember the author is writing to a group of people who have accepted Jesus Christ, but now are wanting to return to the traditions and life they once had. Everything has changed for them, and many are not sure they like the change in their lives. One of these changes is the reason, the need for going to the temple. I am sure if going to the temple, see the priest, and then giving your lamb for the sacrifice because all about the sacrifice, once that was taken away, it would be easy to say, "what is the point:". It would be easy to just stop worshiping together, to stop fellowshipping together and loose the community you once had. Here the author gives us all one of the most important reasons for meeting together. Meeting together, not to tear each other down, to point out the sins of one another, but to what? The closer and closer we get to the Day, we need to be encouraging one another toward love. What is love? The word used here is for Agape love. Typically refers to divine love, here it is referring to our love for God. We could say, we need to be spur one another toward God, and then good deeds. The good deeds here, according to Strong's Concordance are speaking of that which is "required and approved by God." Can you imagine if we would really come together to encourage one another. Encouraging one another does not include tearing each other down. It does not include pointing out each others faults but encouraging each other to live the life we have been freed to live.
When I dreaded my coworker walking into my office, I was not free to work on the tasks ahead of us, or the collaboration that was going to produce something great. Instead all I could think about was my failure. We have all failed. We have all disappointed and come short of what God has in mind for us. The good news is that because of what has already been done, we don't have to let that be our focus. We should be encouraging each other to simply accept his gift, and then to draw near to God, to enter into a productive intimate relationship that moves toward Him and His great love, and that transforms us into a being who serves Him in a way that is pleasing to Him.
Warning
Hebrews 10: 26-31
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[e]31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Sometimes we don't like warnings. In fact as a little girl, my mother repeatedly warned me to stop standing up in the rocking chair on our front concrete floored porch and rocking back and forth, back and forth. She warned me that I would fall and heart myself. I ignored her warning and after three falls on the concrete with no apparent change in my resolve she decided she had to just remove me from the temptations. I was determined to not head her warning. I was way to stubborn. My three year old stubborn head was willing to crash on the concrete repeatedly because I refused to listen to the warning.
Here is a warning for us. It is not about a mean spirited God, it is about the natural consequence if we don't accept His gift and let Him come in and transform us. We know the wages of sin is death. Here the author is clearly defining the result of sin. When we come before God with confidence it isn't that we are clean it is that we know we are clean in His eyes because after accepting Christs robe of righteousness that is all God sees. Without that robe we are but filthy rages.
Strength of Remembering
Hebrews 10: 32-39
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
38 And,
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
The strength of remembering is incredibly strong. Chris and I were once working with a couple who were on the brink of divorce. One of the exercises we had them do was to write down all the things drew them to each other. All the reasons why they married each other. We asked them to think back on favorite moments when they met, dated and first married. The good times. The times they were working together. Remembering can change your perspective on the current moment. Here the author is asking them to remember a difficult time but a time when they were willing to fight, to lay it all down for Christ. When they first accepted Him, they were persecuted, saw others being persecuted and yet they stuck with it. They were willing to go through all that for this new relationship with Jesus. Now years later they were willing to give it up not because of persecution but just because they missed how things had been. They had lost their passion for Christ, they had lost their drive to be with Him at all cost. The power in remembering is not in the persecution but in their willingness to go through the persecution. The power is in remembering the drive they had to serve Him. The passion they had for this new found love.
This week we have four very important points.
1. Personal Confidence : Have a confidence that Jesus Christ has forgiven you, he doesn't remember your sins any more and that when we go before God he sees nothing but the robe of Jesus Christ. You are covered. Now God wants to have the relationship with you that you were created to have. He wants you to come to Him without the filthy rags that you keep talking about and thinking about. No he wants you to come to him knowing there is nothing between you. He wants you to come to Him ready for a relationship!
2. Lift up one another: Give each other the confidence to do the same. Encourage each other, don't discourage each other. Come together to worship and to draw closer to God, come together to serve others. Let that be our collective focus.3. Warning: Heed the warning. If we go back to how things were before Christ, those filthy rags get in the way. Those sins will cost us eternal life.
4. Strength of remembering: Remember the joy that comes from the new relationship with Jesus Christ and hang onto that. Be willing to give it all up for him. Be willing to remember who He is and what He has done for you. Remember!
Challenge:
This week I challenge you to each day look at these 4 points. Study them, do them. I know if we are willing to have the confidence and faith in what Christ has done, if we are willing to lift each other up, to heed the warning, and to find strength in remembering, your relationship with God will soar. God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit have all done and will continue to do all that is possible to have a vibrant and intimate relationship with you. That is what all this is about. They want you to know them, and to know you. They want you to know how incredibly special you are to them. Are you willing to dive into this relationship, head first, fully confident that, "He who began a good work in you will complete it" ? Are you willing?
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