Come and Go Sunday School Lesson “God Has Spoken-What Do You Hear?” with Dr. Frank Carver & Dr. Herb Prince at First Church of the Nazarene in San Diego, California, United States

Come and Go Sunday School Lesson “God Has Spoken-What Do You Hear?” with Dr. Frank Carver & Dr. Herb Prince at First Church of the Nazarene in San Diego, California, United States

GOD HAS SPOKEN

What Do You Hear?

[(Deuteronomy 6:(A:vi, S: v) 4 “Sh’ma, Yisra’el! Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, Isra’el!Adonai our God, Adonai is one
Romans 10:14 But how can they call on someone if they haven’t trusted in him? And how can they trust in someone if they haven’t heard about him? And how can they hear about someone if no one is proclaiming him?]

(Hebrews Thirty Six)[The following outline is that of Kevin L. Anderson, Hebrews: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, New Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2013), 5-6.

I. Hearing the Apostle and High Priest of Our Confession: Hebrews 1:1—4:13

II. Jesus’ Superior High Priesthood: Hebrews 4:14—10:18

III. Call to Persevering Faith and Acceptable Worship: Hebrews 10:19--13:25

1. Exhortations to Persevere in Faith, 10:19—12:13
2. Exhortations to Offer Acceptable Worship, 12:14—13:25.

1. Receive the Unshakable Kingdom with Gratitude and Worship, 12:14-29
2. Instructions for Worship as a Way of Life, 13:1-25

1. Exhortation to Love, Purity and Trust, 13:1-6
2. Final Call to Commitment and Worship, 13:7-19
3. Benediction and Postscript, 13:20-25]

Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly friendship continue; 2 but don’t forget to be friendly to outsiders; for in so doing, some people, without knowing it, have entertained angels. 3 Remember those in prison and being mistreated, as if you were in prison with them and undergoing their torture yourselves.

4 Marriage is honorable in every respect; and, in particular, sex within marriage is pure. But God will indeed punish fornicators and adulterers.

5 Keep your lives free from the love of money; and be satisfied with what you have; for God himself has said, “I will never fail you or abandon you.”[Hebrews 13:5 Deuteronomy 31:6]6 Therefore, we say with confidence,

“Adonai is my helper; I will not be afraid —

what can a human being do to me?”[Hebrews 13:6 Psalm 118:6]

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke God’s message to you. Reflect on the results of their way of life, and imitate their trust — 8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever.

9 Do not be carried away by various strange teachings; for what is good is for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods. People who have made these the focus of their lives have not benefited thereby.

10 We have an altar from which those who serve in the Tent are not permitted to eat. 11 For the cohen hagadol brings the blood of animals into the Holiest Place as a sin offering, but their bodies are burned outside the camp.[Hebrews 13:11 Leviticus 16:27] 12 So too Yeshua suffered death outside the gate, in order to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Therefore, let us go out to him who is outside the camp and share his disgrace. 14 For we have no permanent city here; on the contrary, we seek the one to come. 15 Through him, therefore, let us offer God a sacrifice of praise continually.[Hebrews 13:15 Leviticus 7:12; 22:29; Psalms 50:14, 23; 107:22; 116:17; 2 Chronicles 29:31] For this is the natural product of lips that acknowledge his name.

16 But don’t forget doing good and sharing with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your lives, as people who will have to render an account. So make it a task of joy for them, not one of groaning; for that is of no advantage to you.

18 Keep praying for us, for we are certain that we have a clear conscience and want to conduct ourselves properly in everything we do. 19 And all the more I beg you to do this, so that I may be restored to you that much sooner.

20 The God of shalom brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Yeshua, by the blood of an eternal covenant. 21 May that God equip you with every good thing you need to do his will; and may he do in us whatever pleases him, through Yeshua the Messiah. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

22 Now I urge you, brothers, to bear with my message of exhortation; for I have written you only briefly.

23 Know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon enough, I will bring him with me when I come to see you.

24 Greet all your leaders and all God’s people. The people from Italy send greetings to you.

25 Grace be with you all.

Hebrews 13:8:   “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

The Church may wander far; but, even as Goethe said,

she must ever return to adjust her compass at the cross.[Peter Taylor Forsyth, God the Holy Father (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1957), 23. These sermons were first printed in three small books by Hodder & Stoughton in 1893. They furnish a key to his later thinking and writing.]

Introduction

Today we approach the 13th and final chapter of the always fascinating and sometimes difficult biblical book of Hebrews. Last Sunday Herb Prince led you meaningfully through the chapter. He approached chapter 13 as expressing a form of power and authority “in a responsible and caring manner in conforming with the understanding of the Gospel. The power set forth is intentionally graceful.” [Herbert L. Prince, ”Long Ago God Spoke: Part 36: Faith Communities Are Supposed to Work Like That”  (July 12, 2015), 1.] He summed up the chapter by stating that

Everywhere we have looked the writer has confronted us with his theological perspective. Even practices (especially practices!) are wrapped in theological garb, as they should be and as chapter 13 demonstrates. Christian practices are more than just what Christians do, as over against what a non-Christian might do. By their very presence, as it were, by their givenness, Christian practices are an invitation and imply judgment.[ Prince, “Faith Communities Are Supposed to Work Like That,” 8]

A profound concluding word worth reflection was that “Christian practices are similar in one respect to icons and sacraments: they are an outward sign of a deeper spiritual reality.”[Prince, “Faith Communities Are Supposed to Work Like That,” 9.] I take Herb Prince’s conclusion to mean that our Christian practices are the presence of the Kingdom in our lives and a witness to others. This is living meaningfully!

I want us to approach together chapter 13 somewhat as a wrap up of the entirety of Hebrews. We will read it as a lens through which we can look back through the whole of the book. We have printed out Hebrews 13:1-25 for your response to our full year of study. I am inviting you to read and reflect on it with three questions in mind.

First, What is old? What are the allusions to what the author has said and developed before? What terminology has he repeated and what has he done with it? How does he now climax his thought and appeal in a practical vein? This leads to a second question.

Second, What is new? Do you see anything you have not seen before in his exposition? What new twists has he put on his ideas and admonitions? Has he left out anything essential? What has he not said that he should or could have said? Now for the all-important question.

Third, What about you? What have you heard in your inner being? Has Hebrews made any difference in your thinking, your theology? Are you more informed in your faith than you were on August 2013? What changes are you making in your perspectives, in the attitudes you harbor, and in your manner of life as a result of your exposure to the witness and proclamation of the author to the Hebrews?

In addition to the biblical text, the brief outline, and the questions, we have included a few exegetical and interpretive quotations from our sources for the sake of clarity at certain points. For the most part we do not repeat Herb Prince’s interpretive clarifications.

The first interpretive note comes from our primary commentator on Hebrews, Kevin L. Anderson,[At the time of publication of his commentary on Hebrews, Kevin L. Anderson was associate professor of Bible at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky,] to whom we are much in debt for his excellent help throughout this study:

Hebrews 13 . . . is an intentional part of the author’s communication to his readers. The letter-like closing is designed to make the composition as a whole function as a long-distance sermon, delivered in written form rather than in person and sent like a letter. . . . “a word of exhortation.”[Anderson, Hebrews. 344. ]

Hebrews was most probably read aloud to the congregation to whom it was written taking forty-five to fifty minutes.

I.

A Holy Morality

13:1-6

What is old?

What is new?

What about you?

1Let mutual love continue. 2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. 4Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. 5Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” 6So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”

Hospitality:[Note the play on words: “mutual love” (philadelpia), “hospitality” (philoxenias), “love of money” (aphilargyros),] “Hospitality was a sacred obligation in the ancient world. It involved welcoming strangers or travelers as guests and offering them provisions and protection.”[Anderson, Hebrews. 346.]

II.

The Christ of the Cross

13:7-19

What is old?

What is new?

What about you?

7Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings; for it is well for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by regulations about food, which have not benefited those who observe them. 10We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent have no right to eat. 11For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.

“The acclamation Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever[Bold type in the quotations from Anderson indicate the NIV text on which he is commenting.] has a liturgical ring to it. Indeed, in Hebrews the full title Jesus Christ is used primarily in confessional contexts (10:10; 13:21).”[Anderson, Hebrews. 351]

“The declaration concerning ‘Jesus Christ’ is certainly solemn, . . . but its function . . . is to reassure the hearers that, although their leaders may pass away, the basis of their faith and hope remains the same.”[Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews (Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 346.]

“The altar . . . points to the high-priestly ministry of Christ.”[Anderson, Hebrews. 353.]

“Hebrews 13:12 suggests that the final action of the Yom Kipper ritual is a type of Christ’s death. . . . Christ’s sacrifice followed the scriptural pattern of the Day of Atonement.”[Anderson, Hebrews. 354. These two quotations from Anderson overlap Herb Prince’s presentation, but the significance of the theology involved merits calling attention again.]

13Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. 14For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. 15Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

17Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing—for that would be harmful to you.

18Pray for us; we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you very soon. 

”Their commitment to Christ outside the camp entails abandoning any attachment to the temporal and earthly order centered in Jerusalem.”[Anderson, Hebrews. 355]

“By identifying their sacrifice as one consisting in praise, ‘the fruit of lips confessing his name,’ Hebrews joins a broad stream of Greco-Roman and Jewish piety that regarded moral virtue and verbal praise as more appropriate offerings to the Divine than animal sacrifices.”[Johnson, Hebrews, 349.]

III.

Farewell

13:20-25

What is old?

What is new?

What about you?

20Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 22I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been set free; and if he comes in time, he will be with me when I see you. 24Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. 25Grace be with all of you.

God . . . who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus: “This is the most explicit reference to Jesus’ resurrection in Hebrews.”[Anderson, Hebrews. 361.]

The blood of the eternal covenant: “Only here does Hebrews call the new covenant the eternal covenant, echoing God’s promises through the prophets (Isa 55:3; 61:8; Jer 32:40; 50:5; Ezek 16:60; 37:26).”[Anderson, Hebrews. 361]

“Word of exhortation is an apt description of Hebrews. The phrase in Acts 13:15 designates a homily/sermon that Paul delivers in a synagogue.”[Anderson, Hebrews. 362.]

Briefly: “Hebrews . . . ranks among shorter ancient works (10,000 words or less). As written speech, it is between a third or fourth the length of Demosthenes’ longer orations.”[Anderson, Hebrews. 362.]

Conclusion

The second major paragraph of the Nicene Creed (325 A.D.) flows easily from the proclamation of Hebrews:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and our salvation

he came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,

and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven,

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

And his kingdom will have no end.[Second article, the Nicene Creed.]

By the road an ancient cross.[W. B. Keats, “Ben Bulben” in Last Poems (1938), Taken from Derick Bingham, The Eye of the Heart; Beyond the epitah of W. B. Yeats (Londonberry, North Ireland: TBI & KL Thompson Trust. The cross referenced is “the 11th century sculptured High Cross at Dumcliffe with its famous carvings in one of the finest left in Ireland.” Quotation is from footnote 26.]

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