I. Introduction
A. It’s been three years since we took a book of the Bible and marched through it, and that series (on Acts) took 6 years.
B. I have committed to getting through the extraordinary book of Hebrews in 2015.
II. The Epistle to the Hebrews
A. You might think: Why are we going through another LONG book? It’s one of the longest epistles in the NT! Why can’t we go through the four chapters of Colossians or Philippians or the three chapters of 2Thessalonians or Titus?
1. Well, the author, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, disagrees. Hebrews is a brief book.
2. Yes, it’s 13 chapters. But it is brief. That what Heb.13:22 says, “I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.”
3. In other words, there’s much more he could have said, but he kept it brief.
B. Who is the author?
1. We’re not told who wrote it, so I see no reason to spend a lot of time speculating.
2. Some have said it is Paul. But there are three reasons to assume Paul did not write it:
a. The literary style is very different than Paul.
b. All of Paul’s other letters he begins by clearly identifying himself as the author.
c. Hebrews 2:3 refers to this “great salvation...was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard.” Whenever Paul talks like this he includes himself among the eyewitnesses who heard from the Lord and attests to others, not among those to whom the truth is attested by the apostles.
C. The original audience
1. Why has it traditionally been called Hebrews? (The names of the books of the Bible should not be considered as inspired. E.g. Paul didn’t name his own letters.)
2. It is traditionally called Hebrews because it seems evident from the content of the book that the intended audience was made up of Jews (we don’t know where) who had converted to Christ even though it involved much persecution. At first, like Job, they had handled the persecution well (Heb.10:32-24). But, like Job, as the persecution wore on, it began to wear on them, and their newfound faith began to wilt, and they began to be tempted to leave Christianity and return to some form of Judaism.
D. The singular focus of Hebrews
1. Hebrews is a book with one point, 13 chapters of argument and exhortation focused on one theme.
2. So what is this one purpose or theme of this epistle? It is summarized by Heb.10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
a. The whole books is a series of arguments against turning away from Christ.
b. There is much said exalting Christ, but it is all for the purpose of convincing them not to abandon Him.
c. This is the main point, and everything is marshaled to bring it home.
3. What if you told a friend that you were thinking about doing something: like get engaged or quit your job or change churches or the like. And what if your friend went off and wrote you a 20 page letter listing 57 reasons you shouldn’t do it. Well, that’s the Book of Hebrews.
a. It is one argument after another for 244 verses, drawing from all over the OT, drawing from many different aspects of Christ’s person and work, all arguing against leaving Christ.
b. This is why RC Sproul says that Hebrews is his favorite book because it contains the whole Bible.
4. We should not think of the order of the Bible as divinely inspired, but in some ways Hebrews has a special place in the NT as the final statement of the apostolic church - Now, keep the faith, do not look back, do not give up.
III. This book is not easy.
A. It’s not going to be easy to preach through it. And even though I will try to make it as easy as possible, at times it’s not going to be easy for you either.
1. E.g. this is a very Jewish book. That means in order to grasp it we need to learn about Jewish things, OT things to be sure, and yet things which are unfamiliar to most Christians.
2. Pray for me. Pray for yourselves. We all need God’s help in this.
3. I also need your help in this. I need you to meet me halfway. I can’t make this book easy. I’ll make it as easy as I can, but it’s going to take some effort on your part.
4. We need to head into this study motivated by the knowledge that Hebrews says things we need – & will need – to know.
B. I am going to try to steer this into a series of practical, understandable and inspiring messages, as opposed to a class on Hebrews. However, I think it will work best for you if you approach it somewhat as a class:
1. Try not to be spotty in your attendance.
2. The more consistent you are, the more engaged you are, the more effort you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. And I’m talking about a lifetime of benefit.
C. The original readers didn’t find it easy either. And the original author knew it wasn’t. The author exhorts them in 5:11-6:3 to put on their thinking caps and get to work. (Read Hebrews 5:11–6:1.)
1. It then goes on to say, “And this we will do, if God permits” – Hebrews 6:3.
2. Here the author puts his finger on a Christian disease: a disease which results in stunted growth. What is the nature of this disease? It is a neglect of Bible instruction which results in a lack of spiritual maturity and preparedness for spiritual crisis.
a. People have questions but are so immature in their thinking that they can’t understand the answers.
b. All along they should have been growing mature, so that when the time came when they had a crisis in their thinking, they would be ready to grasp the theological answers and explanations which addressed their questions and issues.
c. To put it bluntly, they were lazy because they didn’t feel the need for grappling with the meatier things of Christian truth. And then when the time of crisis came they didn’t have the mental muscle to grapple with the issues that needed to be dealt with. And so they’re vulnerable to deception. They didn’t have the discernment to see what was wrong with the lies they were being told.
3. E.g. anyone who’s taken college classes knows about the student who doesn’t really engage in study during the semester, and then isn’t ready for the exam.
a. The problem isn’t that he’s got a bad attitude at exam time, the problem is that all through the semester he had a bad attitude toward learning and now he’s so far behind that it’s hopeless.
b. Some of those my age still have nightmares like this about college classes.
c. When I was in college I took an honors chemistry class. The first day of the class the professor told the class: “You need to memorize the periodic table, which is the chart of all the elements: their abbreviations, their order, their composition, etc. If you fail to memorize the chart you will be lost.” At that time in my life I wasn’t about to make the effort to do that. And I was lost, completely lost. Some others in the class loved the class and learned so much. The only thing I got out of the class was a sermon illustration.
4. The author is frustrated with the Hebrews. He’s got good answers for the things they’re struggling with, but because of their neglect, they’re not capable of understanding what he’s talking about.
a. “We have a lot to say about this, but it is hard to explain, since you are dull of hearing. By this time you ought to be teachers, but you need someone to go over the basic principles with you again.”
5. One symptom of this disease mentioned here in Hebrews is the kind of food eaten. Whereas an adult should be eating solid, grown-up food, those with stunted growth can only handle baby food.
a. Part of having stunted growth and eating baby food is that you are unable to think about the word of God from an adult perspective. To a childish mind God’s word is just simple do's and don'ts, and absolutes, and ‘God loves you’s. But the parallels and the puzzles fitting together and the subtleties & nuances, and the one thing qualifying another, etc. are lost.
6. And there’s an epidemic of his disease in the evangelical church in America, it seems to me.
7. Jesus said to build your house upon the rock while the sun is shining so that you are ready when the storm comes. (Matt.7:24-27)
a. The Hebrews had been spiritually and mentally lazy in the sunshine and were not prepared now that the storms of crisis had blown in.
8. Since there are no exams at church, it is very possible to hear a thousand teachings and learn very little while the person next to you is getting a real Bible education.
9. Don’t let the same thing happen to you. Make the most of your days of preparation & learning, of spiritual & Biblical & theological development, necessary to prepare for days of crisis ahead.
a. Right now you have the choice of whether to devote yourself to learning God’s word or not in this series on Hebrews.
b. Is it possible you’re going to face a crisis in the future that you will be sorely ill-prepared for, unless you prepare for it now before it comes?
IV. Application
A. We can see from what was happening to these Hebrews that the pressure to abandon Christ sometimes gets very intense! There might come a time in your life when the pressure on you to abandon your faith in Christ seems more than you can bear.
1. There’s nothing better to prepare you to hang on than an in-depth study of Hebrews. This may be the investment of a lifetime! After all, this letter was not just written to the Hebrews. It was written to you.
2. Turning away from Christ may seem like the last thing in the world you would ever consider doing. But it’s foolish to think it’s not possible you’d ever be tempted in this direction. And if you don’t think it’s possible, you won’t do anything to prepare for the possibility.
B. And finally, how great Christ must be to spend all this time and effort to say, Don’t leave Him!