Be attentive as God reveals himself in Jesus, Bible

May 20, 2002

BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for June 9

Be attentive as God reveals himself in Jesus, Bible

__Hebrews 3:1-6, 12-4:1, 6-13
___^3:1Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. ³Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. ⁶But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. ...
___¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."
___¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
___^4:1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ...
___⁶It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. ⁷Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." ⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. ¹¹Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
___¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

____By Gerald Aalbers
___I met Martin in South Vietnam in 1971 when the two of us became roommates at Phu Bai. Martin was a Mormon.
___Just out of high school, he had gone at his family's expense on a two-year mission to New Zealand. He was well-versed in his religion and strongly desired to share it with everyone.
___Martin had almost five months left to serve in Vietnam when I caught the freedom bird home. He followed me to Fort Hood, and then chased me down in California. He even gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon, expressing his hope that I would one day believe in "its truth and light."
___In his missionary zeal for the Mormon Church, he contacted the Mormon missionaries in the Monterrey area to supposedly convert my wife and me. After hearing all of their six flannelgraph presentations and coming dangerously close to believing it, with the help of a Baptist pastor in Carmel, Calif., we told them "no" in the spring of 1972.
___They didn't take well to that, and were anything but Christ-like in our refusal. Martin caught up with me later, and after continued persistence finally said, "Whenever you find what you are looking for, Gerald, I hope you hang on to it for dear life."
___I did. And I have. But far from basing my eternity on my own spiritual efforts like a Mormon, it's more like the words of the old hymn, "Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to thy cross I cling." By the power of God's spirit, not our own strength, we are to abide in the vine and walk humbly with our Lord Jesus.
___Focus on Jesus
___In Hebrews 3:1, the writer calls the readers his "holy brothers" or his brothers in the faith. Those fellow believers share in the heavenly calling. Judaism was an earthly calling with an earthly inheritance. Christianity is a spiritual calling with a heavenly inheritance. The readers knew and accepted God's free grace complete in Jesus. Rather than hang on to a form of legalism, they needed to live a positive, spirit-filled life. So should we.
___Christians should fix their thoughts on Jesus. Why? Simply because every one of us is far from fully discovering all there is to know about Jesus. Our gaze ought to be on Jesus. He is sufficient for everything. You don't need anything else.
___At the end of life, Paul told the Philippians he just wanted to know him (Philippians 3:10). Even Paul, at the end of life's road, felt he still lacked knowledge about his Savior. Jesus said, "Learn from me" (Matthew 11:29), not about me, but from me, and we do that by immersing ourselves in his teachings.
___Along those lines, Jesus is the apostle and high priest. He is the sent-one from God. He is powerful, sympathetic, merciful, faithful, saving, reconciling, protective, helpful and brotherly. Everyone should focus on the absolute sufficiency of Jesus and drop everything else. He is all anyone ever will need.
___The writer points out that Jesus is superior to Moses. In the last lesson, we learned Jesus was superior to angels. The Jews esteemed Moses far above any other Jew who had ever lived. God had protected him as a baby and had personally buried him.
___In between, there is miracle after miracle. He spoke with God face to face. He led the Hebrews out of Egypt. He brought the Ten Commandments and wrote the entire Pentateuch. Some Jews even believed Moses to be better than the angels. God's word is saying, "Moses was indeed great, but Jesus is far greater."
___Years ago, my wife dragged me to see Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. I pouted. I protested. I just knew it was going to be a waste of my time. I sat and sulked. I did my best to feel miserable and to make her miserable.
___To some extent, I succeeded, but something happened. I began to gaze upon the orchestra and the master conductor. The longer I gazed, the more impressed I became. I was amazed by Bernstein's piano playing ability during "Rhapsody in Blue," while simultaneously conducting his orchestra. When he played his final encore, "Stars and Stripes Forever," I was so engrossed that mentally I was eating the spinach and swinging my fists just like Popeye.
___Do you feel distant from Jesus? Gaze upon him. Feast your eyes upon him until you enjoy him. Stay with him until your Christian life is one thrill after another.
___Encourage one another
___In verses 7-11, our writer cites Psalm 95:7-11. The first part of that psalm calls for worship and praise to God. Then there is the warning about hardening one's heart. When God speaks, we can either comply or rebel. The Holy Spirit had our writer repeat the warning three times (3:7, 15; 4:7). God wants us to hear his word and become obedient through faith. Should we fail to do that, he gently warns us not to harden our hearts.
___In verse 12, he addresses his racial brothers and urges them not to have an unbelieving heart. The greatest sin in the world is unbelief. It's the greatest offense against God and brings the greatest harm to us.
___In essence, the Spirit is saying to everyone who hears the gospel, respond to Jesus while your heart is still pliable to hearing his truth. Wait too long and you will find yourself getting hard and insensitive.
___I can barely contain myself when I read we are to encourage one another daily in verse 14. It costs so little to say a word of encouragement. It takes so little time, and it means so much for the recipient.
___Joseph of Cyprus (Acts 4:36) was apparently so gifted at encouraging that the disciples nicknamed him Barnabas. The idea of encouragement is to get alongside each other and help one another.
___The enemy is well disciplined in the means of dividing and conquering. "United We Stand" is far more than a political rallying cry. The more we stand firm together, then the more our united resolve will be correspondingly strengthened.
___When you read those words "if we hold on" (3:6), "if we hold firmly" (3:14), "let us be careful" (4:1) and "make every effort" (4:11), you might find yourself tempted to produce an obedient faith in your own strength. You may find yourself trying to rustle up a bunch of resolve to "hang on for dear life."
___The Christian life is more than just getting a fire insurance policy to keep you out of hell. Our Lord told us to "remain in me, and I will remain in you" (John 15:4). What we need is Christ's power, not will power.
___The first step to appropriate his power is to admit your own helplessness. I know how wonderful my life in Christ has been since I made the discovery that Jesus wants me to abide in him. That's it. First and foremost, he wants me to have a personal relationship with him. I've anchored my soul in him, and he keeps me safe.
___That anchoring was a once-and-for-all done deal, but for my spiritual growth it is a daily renewal process. His Holy Spirit convicted me, he saved me, by his power I am being sanctified, and one day I'll be glorified. In the meantime, his spirit testifies with my spirit that I am God's child.
___Like Paul, I just want to know my Jesus. Like Anne Graham Lotz, I can say, "Just give me Jesus." A person who is truly saved will demonstrate by his life that he knows, loves, walks with and serves his Lord. There won't be any doubt in the minds of his friends and acquaintances about to whom he belongs.
___We have faith, and by that means we persevere. We don't persevere so we can have faith. Anything short of a genuine faith demonstrated is a lack of faith demonstrated.
___Don't underestimate God's word
___It shouldn't surprise us that we are to "make every effort to enter that rest." "That rest" is an experience of salvation we enter by faith in Jesus Christ. Isaiah said, "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near" (Isaiah 55:6). Our Lord told us, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). We boldly proclaim Jesus who is the only one who can deliver that rest--that salvation.
___We quickly learn "the word of God" (4:12) is alive, active, sharp and piercing. Although the word of God can refer to Jesus, here it is a general reference to God's message to human beings. God can communicate with people in a variety of ways, but today our primary contact with God is through his written word, the Bible. We should heed the warnings contained therein.
___That word is alive. God is a living God. His word contains promises for the believer, encouragement for the faint and warnings for the disobedient. It is not a dead message.
___It also is active. It will work in our lives and motivate us into action. It is sharp. It is sharper than the keenest instrument ever devised. It is double-edged. It never fails to cut; there is no blunt side to it. It pierces to divide the indivisible; to penetrate the impenetrable. It discerns and passes judgment on our feelings and our thoughts. God's word doesn't need me to defend it. Like a lion, it can take care of itself. It just needs to be proclaimed.

Questions for thought and discussion
___ Are you usually early or late getting to places, even to Bible study? Why? What does that indicate to you about your focus?
___ Why was and is Moses so esteemed by the Hebrew people? What would you say were his greatest strengths? His biggest weaknesses?
___ What was one of the most rebellious times in your spiritual life? What resulted from it? Who or what helped to bring you back?
___ What role does the Christian community play in keeping us true to God (3:13)?
___ What are some practical ways that your church or small group could put 3:13 into practice? How can that help you? What apprehensions does it cause?
___ How do you tend to react when you are warned about a potential danger? Do you typically respond with disbelief and contempt, or are you usually inclined to heed the words of caution?
___ What evidence do you have that the word of God is living and active in your group study? What works of God (3:9) in your life should prompt a deeper and more consistent daily walk of faith?
___ Take some time to examine your own heart and life. Have you entered into God's rest through faith?
___ Think of someone you know who has heard the message of the gospel but has not yet entered God's rest. How can you encourage him or her to trust fully in Jesus Christ?

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