The book of Hebrews reveals Jesus as Messiah and His New Covenant. This letter is about fighting for the reality of salvation in Christ as our High Priest and His offering. The writer exhorted readers with “let us”’ statements. We are to keep going, to fear God, to hold fast, to labor, to come boldly to Him. (Hebrews 4:1, 6:1, 10:22-24, Romans 9:4; Philippians 4:4, 6)

Speaker(s): Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12832
Date: 2024-12-3
Time: Wed 7:30pm

 

P. Schaller –

Thank you. Thank
you. That was so good, wasn’t it? Wow! That was great. Thank you. Good. All right. Our Bible
study tonight is from the book of Hebrews. This will be about a 20-minute message maybe. I
want you to learn a little bit about the book of Hebrews, and we’ll turn to actually Romans 9 for
a key verse. Romans 9, it helps establish a context for the book of Hebrews, one of my favorite
books in the Bible. P. Barry’s a teacher of the book of Hebrews. How many of you like the book
of Hebrews? Love the book of Hebrews? Oh, yeah. Wow. Okay. Okay. That’s great. All right.

Romans 9:4-5, who are Israelites? They are Hebrews or Jews? Vs. 4-5. I think we could write
down these words. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this. Adoption. Glory. What’s the next
thing the Jews have? They have covenants. What’s the next thing the Jews have? They have the
giving of the Law. And what’s the next thing? Service of God. We can put here priesthood,
service of God, the priesthood in the tabernacle and then the promises.

Wow! Do the Jews have a lot? They have a lot. The Jewish people had a lot given them from
God. They had the manifestation of God. This is Hebrews 1:1. Yes, vs. 1. Hebrews 1:1, the Jewish people
by the prophets. And we just put a list up on the board. What did he do? He took them as his
people. I brought my son out of Egypt. He brought the Jewish people out of Egypt. The
Shekinah glory was there. He had covenants with them, the Davidic covenant, Mosaic covenant.
The law was given to Moses. The priesthood, Aaron’s priesthood and promises.

It would be very hard if I was a Jew and I learned this and grew up in it and lived by it to shift to
the New Covenant. To accept the Christ as the Messiah. To say there are no more sacrifices
needed. Yeah, but all of our history is based on animal sacrifices. Yon Kippur and the priesthood
and the tabernacle and the city of Jerusalem and David and the covenant with David and all of
this is very confusing potentially for a new believer in Christ.

So, that’s what the context of the book of Hebrews is. It’s teaching the Jewish people what it
means to be a Messianic Jew. What it means to accept Christ as the Messiah. And it would be
very difficult to shift. I have to be honest. I mean I think you can grasp it also as you read the
book of Hebrews, because he is saying that we have to move on. We have to embrace. There
are, there are – let’s see. There’s eleven “let us” phrases in the book of Hebrews. Let us. So, I
have them on slides, these eleven and I want to go there in a second, but not right now.

I want to say a little more. If you were brought up as a Muslim and then you accept Christ as a
Messiah, that shift. Maybe you were brought up a Mormon or a Jehovah Witness or maybe
Catholic, and then the things that you’re learning. That you start to think about it and the Holy
Spirit is your teacher.

And you start to think, wow! I didn’t know it was like that. I’m going to draw back. If I believe in
Christ, if I believe in Jesus, that means then but I don’t think I will. I think I’ll draw back and just stay where I am because this is our family, uh tradition. This is what I learned as a child. We can
have a few things there. Tradition. There’s also guilt. You also have family relationships. I’m a
Muslim. I grew up as a Muslim let’s say and now I’m a believer in Jesus Christ and my family is
falling apart. And what are you going to say to them. You’re going to say, oh, I understand. I
know it’s very difficult. Oh, I understand. Like I don’t know what the answer is for that. The guy,
the man or the woman could say I’m drawing back.

There’s another problem that can happen to any one of us and that is laziness. I’ll put here
laziness. Isolation maybe. Isolation. I’m not going anymore. I don’t want to hear about it. I’m
drawing back. I’m withdrawing. I’m not motivated. I’m tired. I’m worn out and that happens to
us. That can happen to anybody. And so, I want you to just make a note of this in your heart,
because the fight that is in the book of Hebrews relates to us. Like the moving on. The
believing. Not withdrawal but going on.

Let’s look at those “let us” in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 4:1, That’s pretty strong. What’s the
context? The Jews in the wilderness and this is what’s so good about the book because it’s all
about Judaism. And when they came out of Egypt and went into the wilderness, they lived in
unbelief. And the writer is saying this in Hebrews 3. And then his conclusion of that is let’s not
let that happen to us. Let us fear that it could happen to us and let’s do something about it. I
like that. Let’s do something about it. Let’s have something in our hearts.

And of course, what’s so great about the book of Hebrews is that the motivation is very high,
because it’s rooted in the person of Christ. It’s very high seeing Christ. It’s contemplating the
reality that there’s a tabernacle not on the earth but there’s one in heaven that was built by
God. Let us then. Let us – let’s go to the next one.

Let us fear and the next one is Hebrews 4:14, is it? Let us hold fast our profession. Okay. So, this is
very important to a Jew. High priest passed into heaven. No, I have a high priest on the earth,
and the Jew is saying no. The writer here – maybe it is Paul – it could have been Paul or Apollos.
There’s a debate about it. Who wrote the book of Hebrews? And it’s not told who it is.
However, we know they know Judaism very well. They understood it real well. And to say that
our high priest has gone into heaven and let us then come boldly to him is an exhortation. It’s a
word of instruction. It’s a powerful argument for not withdrawing but coming and believing and
embracing.

Do we have the slides that we sent over to the A.V. Department? Okay. So, we have these.. We
did two of them. We have it’s 4:1 not 4:16. It’s 4:1, it’s just a typo. Hebrews 4:1 fear, Hebrews 4:11 let
us labor. Hebrews 4:16 let us come boldly. Next. Hebrews 6:1 let’s go on. Let’s turn there and look at
that verse. Let us go on unto perfection.

I wish I could couch this in the context of kind of getting very discouraged, very tired. Kind of
worn out. Maybe living in routine. Maybe as the Jews did live in legalism. Have their life kind of
mapped out in a legalistic way, and they just settled into legalism and that was enough. Like we
just live by law and that’s good enough for us. This new thing is a problem for us.

However, they know that the tomb is empty. I mean you can walk over to the tomb and check it
out and they never found the body. And they also were at Pentecost when Peter was
preaching. I mean some of them perhaps were or at least they knew about it, and the Spirit of
God moved and people were born again.

And in Jerusalem and this is written before the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. And in
Jerusalem, people knew about Christianity or that the Messiah, supposedly the Messiah came.
But the problem that it causes in my life in many practical ways causes me to withdraw. I’m not
coming. I’m not going to be part of it or maybe just passively. Playing it safe or just doing that.
And you can identify with these people and really kind of sympathize with them. But don’t do it
too much, because God is saying you’re accountable. He is. He’s saying it happened under your
nose.

The tomb is empty. The apostles are in Jerusalem. And you know how empty your life is
when you got this – what was it? This stuff going on in your life. When you have tradition but
you don’t have any power. You have guilt but you offer sacrifices but they don’t change your
mind, your heart, your conscience.

You have family relationships and maybe you keep your family together but then what if we all
go to hell? What if our whole family would go to hell? What if we’re missing the whole point?
What if Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the answer for our family? We need somebody in the
family to move on. Let us go on. Let us be believers. Let us embrace it. Let it come into my heart
and change my life and the people in my family. So, that’s what it’s about.

Go to the next one. Let us go on and that’s, just the slides. Okay. Draw near, Hebrews 10:22. Let’s
look at that. Vs. 22. Come on. Would that work? Would it work if I drew near to God with a
pure heart? Would that work for me? What would happen to me? How would it affect me?
What if the truth goes in my mind and affects my subconscious mind, so I have a tremendous
amount of confidence. What if the Holy Spirit brings the doctrine and the truth into my heart
like it did the Apostle Paul?

And when the Apostle Paul became a believer, remember he was blind for three days. And it
might be during that three days when he couldn’t look at anything that God was working in his
mind, and maybe – this is only me saying this. We don’t know. Maybe in those hours Bible verse
are coming to his mind and convincing him that Jesus is the Christ cuz he’d just seen him and he
went blind. And he was there for three days. And maybe this reality that the book of Hebrews is
saying to the Jewish people, don’t draw back. Go on. Moses went on and Caleb and David and they moved on. That’s Heb. 11. And Samson and many examples.

Like Sarah and Abraham and Jacob and Isaac and Japheth and Daniel and all of these examples in Hebrews 11 are really saying don’t draw back into your world. Go on because the Holy Spirit will affect your mind and
your heart and affect your subconscious mind and you’ll start to believe what these things are
saying, what God is saying, who Christ is.

Who is he? He’s a high priest that will never die. He is the blood sacrifice that is forever settled
in heaven. That there’s no more need for a sacrifice in Hebrews 10:14. There’s – by the way, the
writer said and pretty soon there’ll be no more temple. It will vanish. It will be gone. He didn’t
say it but God said it. Christ said, see these stones. Not one will be upon another within a
generation, and the Romans came in 69 and 70 A.D. and took it down. Now, there is no more
Judaism as it was known because there’s a New Covenant with the people.

Okay. Let’s finish up here. Let us draw near. Let us hold fast. And I love that little phrase. This
holding fast isn’t with my hands and my arms. It has to be in my heart. And I got a paragraph
just to highlight the power of the subconscious mind which I’m studying a little bit and thinking
about.

It says, “Your subconscious mind does not engage in proving whether your thoughts are good
or bad, true or false. But it responds according to the nature of your thoughts.” In other words,
if you have truth put in your conscious mind, your subconscious mind will go along with it. And
that subconscious mind is a very important part of your life. What you are thinking and what
you are believing in your subconscious mind.

That’s where depression comes from. Depression is when in my conscious mind it is so
negative, it affects my subconscious mind. And I kind of walk around maybe saying the right
things but deep inside I’m depressed. What’s the answer for that? It’s faith. It’s obedience. It’s
listening. It’s embracing the doctrine. It’s the Spirit working in my heart. It’s me starting to
believe what he said.

You know when you go to sleep at night, your subconscious mind – you have your dreams
coming out of there and imagine if we embrace the truth and move on what God will do in my
heart and in my life as I obey and I move on like he said. Let us. Let us draw near. What was the
other one? Let us hold fast. What is it? Vs. 23. The profession of our faith without wavering for
he is faithful that promised.

I honestly believe if we have this habit of being fed, we get this habit of being exhorted,
encouraged, and in our hearts we hold it fast, we embrace it, then it’s going to affect our whole
life. I mean it’s going to affect my life. Why would he say it to these people when they’re
drawing away and he’s saying, no. Do not do that but draw near, and this will have a big effect on your life. It’ll affect your attitude. It’ll affect your words, your actions. It’ll affect your life.
Come on. And they say, no. I can’t. I can’t.

Look at Hebrews 10:32. It looks like after they were saved and born again, they had a lot of
persecution. There was a lot of persecution against the Christians in Jerusalem, and that they
were made a gazing stock in vs. 33. Do you know what that means? You were the object of
spectators. Spectators were looking at you as if you were in the arena. Like in the Roman
colosseum. Not literally but figuratively like we’re all looking at you as we take your stuff out of
your house and throw it on the sidewalk. We set a fire to it. We burn your furniture. We burn
your clothes when we persecuted you because you were a Christian. You were made a gazing
stock.

Do you remember when that happened to you? This is what he’s saying. Do you remember
when you were persecuted when you were first illuminated? Yes, we remember and now we
are drawing back. Like we want to get away from it. And the writer is saying, vs. 33. There was a
group of you. vs. 34-35. You have confidence. What do you mean? You remember you handled
that well. Do you remember you went through the persecution. Do you remember you had
confidence. Do you remember that things were – God was with you in it. Do you remember the
glory of God that rested upon you in your trouble.

And he’s saying you have need of patience, vs. 36. Wow! He is not sentimental with these
people. He’s not giving them an excuse. He’s not saying I understand. You can draw away. You
can do that. And I mean I’m just preaching from the text. I’m telling you, I’m trying to tell you
what it’s saying. And let us not do that. Let us move on. This is what he’s saying.
You have to ask yourself the question, what is it that would make me go away? What would
make me lazy or legalistic or condemned or disturbed in relationships with people? P. Chris
Arman mentioned the church isn’t perfect but it’s beneficial.

And I always like that example when I go to the dentist and he does work. Drills. Fixes
something. I don’t say, is it perfect? I just say, did you fix it? Is it okay now? Yeah, it’s good.
You’re good to go. When you get your car repaired, you don’t say, is it perfect? They just say I
fixed it. It’s working. That’s life for us. Like fellowship with God is like God saying it’s going to be
beneficial. It’s going to be better and that’s another key word in the book of Hebrews.

Christ is better. The Covenant is better. The tabernacle is better. The sacrifices are better. The
priesthood is better. And by the way, your life is better. It’s a lot better. Our life is a lot better
being in the church. It’s a lot better listening to this book. It’s a lot better being with sisters and
brothers that worship God by faith. It's a lot better. God is with you and so therefore, let us. Let’s go to the last part. It’s there. The last one maybe. Let us lay aside the weights that easily
beset us. Let’s have grace to serve the living God.

Let’s go forth unto him outside the camp, and let us offer the sacrifice of praise. I think the book of Hebrews has a lot to say to us. And he’s saying, come on. Let’s go. Let’s believe it. Let’s embrace it and let’s not back off. Heb. 10:38.
So, here I am. I draw back. I play it safe. This is how I am. This is what I want. And then I say, no.
Samson lived by faith. David lived by faith. Moses lived by faith. He left Egypt by faith. By faith
Sarah had a child. By faith Noah built an ark. What about you? What about me? We go by faith.
Let us go. Let us learn these “let us” in the book of Hebrews. Have them in our hearts. Let us
not draw back but let us move on. Vs. 39.

And then, I just in finishing here just to say don’t get discouraged. God is with you. Be careful of
what goes on in your subconscious mind and how powerful that can me. Make an effort of
hiding the Word in your heart and waiting on God and praying and laughing a lot. Loving a lot.
Rejoicing a lot. Enjoying the small things in life a lot. Enjoying it all ’cause God is with you and God
is for you. And your mind will be kept healthy, Philippians 4:4. Let me read it to you. vs. 6-7.

You know, we just had a presidential election and many of us are very happy about it, but then
also keep it in prayers cuz you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. There are no assurances,
but we have in our hearts and in our minds the peace of God that passes all understanding. You
are rooted and grounded in the person who is the Prince of Peace, and he will keep your heart
and your mind.

One day you may be very disappointed. You and I may be very disappointed but God is saying
let us go on. God will keep our hearts and our minds. Whatever we go through in the future,
God will take care of us and we’ll be healthy in our hearts and in our lives with love and peace
in our hearts. Amen. Okay. Pray with me, please. (Prayer)

 

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