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A practical guide to

understanding and applying

faith lessons from the Book of

Hebrews (#12)

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Take the quiz on what we know so far…

T or F How well you finish a Marathon has little to do with your training prior to the race.

T or F It was by luck that Joseph parted the Red Sea.

T or F The Old Testament patriarchs were judged as righteous in God’s eyes because of their

great works.

T or F It wasn’t by faith that David

slew Goliath (see Malcom Gladwell).

T or F God’s purpose in disciplining

a believer is to punish him or her for recent sins.

T or F It was by faith that Rahab was

spared execution after the siege at Jericho.

T or F Esau sold his birthright as a

firstborn to Jacob and then was able many years later to buy it back.

T or F We are to consider hardships as discipline.

T or F God does not love us because Christ died for us; Christ died for us because God loves

us.

T or F God met the people of Israel for the first time in a worship service at the foot of Mt.

Sinai.

T or F To finish the race well, we are encouraged to brace up and reinvigorate and set right

your slackened and weakened and drooping hands and strengthen our feeble and palsied and tottering knees.

T or F By faith, three women in the Bible -- Elijah’s

hostess, the Shunamite, and Dorcas -- all received their pet cats back from the dead.

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Training ideas for running a winning race --

Hebrews 12:12-17 (Amplified)

1. So then, brace up and reinvigorate and set right your slackened and weakened and drooping hands and strengthen your feeble and palsied and tottering knees,

2. And cut through and make firm and plain and smooth, straight paths for your feet [make them safe and upright and happy paths that go in the right direction], so that the lame and halting [limbs] may not be put out of joint, but rather may be cured.

3. Strive to live in peace with everybody and,

4. pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.

5. Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it—

6. That no one may become guilty of sexual vice, or become a profane (godless and sacrilegious) person as Esau did, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you understand that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected (disqualified and set aside), for he could find no opportunity to repair by repentance [what he had done,

no chance to recall the choice he had made], although he sought for it carefully with [bitter] tears.

How to do it:

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Two Mountains -- Hebrews 12:18-24 You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”

No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.

The book of Hebrews has spent significant time on covenants: the Old Testament is largely the story of the old covenant, and the New Testament is the story of the new covenant. Jesus came to put away the old covenant and enact a new and more glorious covenant. When the new covenant came, our once and future relationship with God changed. God’s people went from a law-based relationship to a grace-based relationship.

Why would someone choose to go back to Mt. Sinai if they had experienced Mt. Zion?

Aspects Old Covenant New Covenant

Symbol Mt. Sinai – dark, foreboding, judgment, fear

Mt. Zion – The new heavens

Where Desert mountain the heavenly throne room

Angels angels drive chariots of fire in judgment and in condemnation

angels sing with redeemed of God

Mediator law grace

Perfection keep all laws perfectly

claim by faith in Jesus death alone

Feeling fear joy

How our lives are viewed

broken resolutions, failed human vows, and empty reformations

as blameless for our sins and former lives are hid in Christ and we are new creatures

what’s happening

The Trial of the Century

celebration to end all parties

Other comparisons

Hagar Sarah

To what

have you

come?

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Hebrews 12:26-29

Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.

Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.

What might you say to someone

who insists on standing before God,

based on the merits

of their own good

deeds?

Warning #5

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How many of these Christmas villains can you name?

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In what ways is Jesus an Anti-Santa?

Hebrews 13: 1-7 -- Living by Faith

The writer of Hebrews has devoted ten chapters of the letter to the theme of the matchless person and work of Jesus. The previous two chapters have demonstrated the key to a close walk with Jesus – to live by faith. The writer concludes the letter with the practical implications of a life of faith in community. Christianity is faith in action and that means love at work.

Fill in the words for each of the verses:

1. Keep on loving each other as __________ and ___________. 2. Don’t forget to show hospitality to _______________, for some who

have done this have entertained ______________ without realizing it!

3. Remember those in __________________, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being ________________, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

4. Give honor to __________________, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

5. Don’t love ___________________; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”

6. Remember your former ____________________ who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.

Why do you think the writer selected these topics as points of admonition?

Insert the correct word

prison

money

mistreated

strangers

leaders

marriage

brother and sister

angels

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Hebrews 13: 8-16

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them. We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

What does it mean for a Christian to follow Jesus “outside the camp?”

Leviticus 16: 26-28

The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.

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Hebrews 13:17-19

Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.

How can Dorie or any other spiritual leader, watch over our souls?

Hebrews 13:20-25

The writer has finished what he/she has to say. This doxology and final greetings gather up themes that have carried throughout this letter: the blood of Jesus atoning death; the eternal and better covenant; the unsurpassed character of Jesus; and the response of faith with obedience by those who believe.

Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation. I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you. Greet all your leaders and all the believers there. The believers from Italy send you their greetings. May God’s grace be with you all.

What has this study meant to you?

What will you take away from this time spent in Hebrews?