The Story of Hebrews continues...
1 -- The Setting of Hebrews
2 -- The Cast of Characters
3 -- The Context at Corinth/Ephesus (13:22-25)
4 -- Closing Clues (13:1-19)
5 -- The Main Takeaway (4:14-16; 10:25-31)
6 -- Remember the Good Times (5:11-6:2; 10:32-39)
7 -- The Impossibility of Repentance (6:3-8; 10:26-31)
8 -- The Rhetorical Strategy of Hebrews
9 -- An Eternal Priest (Hebrews 5, 7)
10 -- The New Covenant (Hebrews 8)
11 -- A Better Sacrifice and Sanctuary (Hebrews 9-10)
_________________________
1. "Wow," Tertius said. "What profound truths you are sharing with the Romans!"
"And after we have shared this revelation about Jesus as high priest," Apollos said, "we will urge them all the more to stay faithful."
"Because they were once models of faithfulness, right?" Tertius asked.
"Yes. They once joyfully underwent the plundering of their possessions by the Romans (10:34). They underwent persecution (10:32-33). But they kept going."
"This is a difficult time," Tertius admitted. "All of the first apostles are dead. Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed. And Jesus has not yet returned as we thought he would."
"But they are not the kind of people who shrink back and are destroyed," Apollos said (10:39). "They are the kind of people who continue in faith and preserve their souls."
2. "So how will you urge them to stay faithful?" Tertius asked.
"In addition to the normal exhortations, I want to use two special arguments in the last part of the sermon. We'll start with an exemplum."
"A list of examples?" Tertius asked, "a catalog of faith?"
"Yes," Apollos responded. "We will bombard them with example after example of heroes from the Scriptures who either believed when they couldn't see or persisted in faith despite opposition."
"Why those who have not seen but still believed?" Tertius asked.
"Because things do not look good right now," Apollos replied. "We don't see Jesus returning. We don't see the kingdom being established on earth. Instead, we see Jerusalem and God's temple being destroyed. We see all the apostles going to their deaths.
"So I want to remind them," Apollos contined, "of all the holy ones in the Scriptures who persisted in faith even though they didn't see the promises come to pass--sometimes not even in their lifetimes" (11:13, 39).
"Wow," Tertius said. "That's rich."
3. "Even the world," Apollos said, "wasn't made out of materials that we can see. It was made out of raw materials we can't see. But we can see it now" (11:3).
"And Noah," Tertius picked up the thought, "how long did he work on the ark when he didn't actually see any rain?" (11:7).
"Yes," Apollos agreed.
"It's like brother Paul used to say," Tertius added. "his rightness with God came because of his faith" (11:7).
"And when you think of Abraham," Apollos continued. "God promised him all that land, but he never received the full promise while he was alive. Yet he still believed" (11:13).
"And, in a sense," Tertius said, "the earthly land was only the smallest part of the promise, right?"
"Yes," Apollos agreed. "The real homeland we are seeking is in heaven (11:16). We believers shouldn't be too upset about Jerusalem being destroyed because the real city we are looking for is in heaven, with foundations that were built by God" (11:10).
"In a sense," Tertius added. "We are all immigrants, foreigners in a strange land. We're not really earth people. We're people of heaven" (11:13),
"So the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple shouldn't be so upsetting. We were always just passing through."
"And Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac even though that must have made no sense to him" (11:17-18), Tertius said. "How could the promise come true if the one bearing it was dead?"
"Yes, and that's exactly how the apostles felt after Jesus' crucifixion," Apollos agreed. "How could he be the Messiah if he was dead?"
"Thankfully," Tertius agreed, "we have a God who raises the dead!" (11:19).
4. "Isaac and Jacob blessed their children," Apollos said, "even though they died before seeing them be blessed" (11:20-21).
"And Joseph foresaw the exodus centuries before it happened" (11:22), Tertius agreed.
"God keeps his promises," Apollos concluded. "More than once in the sermon, I want to emphasize that God is a God who keeps his promises" (6:13-20).
"It's a theme throughout the Scriptures, I can see now," Tertius said.
5. "Think of how Moses' parents hid him in faith" (11:23), Apollos said.
"How relevant an example that is," Tertius added, "since we now have the choice whether to submit to the Romans or defy the edicts of the king" (11:23).
"Yes," Apollos agreed. "Another set of examples in the chapter will allude to the fact that the Roman believers must ignore the shame that they are experiencing and be faithful to Christ even if it could mean persecution and death."
"Think of how easy Moses could have had it," Tertius offered.
"The pleasures of sin for a season" (11:25), Apollos remarked.
"What's that?" Tertius asked.
"If Moses had disobeyed God in order not to be persecuted, he would have enjoyed his sin for a whole."
"But not in the end," Tertius agreed.
"And so, the Romans might be able to avoid persecution if they obey the emperor."
"But it won't turn out well in the end," Tertius concluded.
6. "Think of all those in Scripture who were faithful in hard times," Apollos mused. "Gideon, Barak, Samson, David" (11:32).
"They conquered kingdoms, did what was right, received promises, survived lions, survived the fire, put armies to flight" (11:33-34), Tertius continued the thought.
"And they did all that because they continued in faithfulness. Isaiah was even sawed in half" (11:37), Apollos noted.
"Then there were the seven Maccabean brothers" (11:35), Tertius added.
"Yes, God rescues some. But others he lets die knowing they will have a better resurrection" (11:35).
"Which will the Romans experience?" Tertius asked.
"We don't know yet," Apollos answered. "God might rescue them, or they might face death. We have to be faithful either way."
7. "I also want to give some examples that allude to faith in the all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ," Apollos continued.
"Like what?" Tertius aasked.
"Well, Abel offered the right kind of sacrifice" (11:4), Apollos answered. "Jesus is the right kind of sacrifice."
"And Isaac was the right kind of sacrifice?" (11:17), Tertius asked.
"Exactly--Abraham offered up his son like God offered up his Son."
"And the Passover," Tertius continued. "The Israelites had faith that the blood of the lamb might save all the firstborn" (11:28).
8. "All of these died believing in the promises," Apollos summarized. "In a sense, they were all waiting for Jesus."
"They were waiting for us" (11:40), Tertius added.
"And now that Christ has offered himself for sins," Apollos continued, "we can all be made perfect together" (11:40).
"What a great cloud of witnesses!" (12:1), Tertius exclaimed. "It's like those of us on earth are running a great race of faith."
"And they are in the stands, cheering us on," Apollos agreed. "All the more reason for us to run with endurance the race that is set before us" (12:1).
"And Jesus is also an example of faith!" Tertius added.
"Indeed! He was the pioneer and perfector of our faith" (12:2), Apollos said.
"He endured the cross. He despised the shame."
"I like that," Apollos agreed. "He shamed shame itself. But he prevailed in the end."
"He is Lord, seated at the right hand of God!" Tertius exclaimed.
"So no matter what things look like now," Apollos concluded, "the Romans can also endure whatever cross they must bear."
"They can despise the shame they are enduring," Tertius agreed.
"And they will celebrate in glorious triumph in the end."
No comments:
Post a Comment