Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Read (and listen!) through the New Testament in 8 weeks with your small group or on your own.
Immerse: Messiah is the first of six volumes in Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience. Messiah takes the reader on a unique journey through every book of the New Testament. Each section of Messiah begins with one of the Gospels, and together they combine to provide a life-changing reading experience centered on Jesus. This fresh arrangement of the books highlights the depth of the New Testament’s fourfold witness to Jesus the Messiah. The Son of God, who fulfills all the longings and promises of the collected Scriptures, can be experienced in Messiah through the rich variety of lenses provided by the books of the new covenant.
The Immerse Bible Series is the proud winner of the prestigious Bible of the Year award from the ECPA Christian Book Awards. Immerse: The Reading Bible is specially crafted for a distraction-free listening and reading experience, helping you dive in and get immersed in Scripture. You’ll have a great experience using Immerse by yourself. But for an even richer experience, try reading with friends.
Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience is an invitation to a different kind of community interaction with the Bible. Less like a Bible study, more like a book club.
- 8 or 16-week Bible listening plans take you through a large section of the Bible like the New Testament or the Torah
- Meet once a week for a free-flowing discussion about the text
- Wrestle with questions and celebrate ‘aha!’ moments together
Nothing impacts spiritual growth more than spending time in Scripture. Immerse removes many of the barriers that make Bible reading difficult and invites communities to become transformed together through the power of God’s word.
Welcome to the saddleback church anchored life challenge which can also by found on the saddleback companion app or by purchasing the immerse messiah book from tyndale.
The anchored life challenge includes speakers such as Andy Wood, Rick Warren, and Stacie Wood.
Immerse Messiah 31
===
Andy Wood: [00:00:00] Welcome to Immerse Messiah Reading for week seven, day 31,
Rick Warren: immersed in Hebrews. Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Remember those in prison as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
Rick Warren: The book of Hebrews was sent to Jewish believers who were facing persecution for their faith in Jesus. Some were tempted to leave the believing community and return to Judaism in order to escape their mistreatment and pain. It's likely that the recipients of this letter lived in Italy, perhaps even Rome.
Rick Warren: The author, whose name is not given, sends greetings to them from the believers from Italy. [00:01:00] That is, people they would likely have known but who were now living abroad, probably displaced from Rome by persecution. This also makes it likely that the terrible suffering they had experienced earlier was instigated by Emperor Nero, who was known for persecuting Christians, especially in and around Rome.
Rick Warren: It was probably Nero who ordered the executions of the Apostles Paul and Peter. Since these Jewish believers may have lived near the center of power in the Roman Empire, they would have been prime targets for the next wave of persecution. But in this new wave of persecution, Christians who were also Jews seemed to have an easy way out.
Rick Warren: The Roman authorities had recently begun to make a distinction between followers of Jesus and Jews. Judaism was a legal and protected religion in the Roman Empire. Jews who had come to believe in Jesus could return to that protective [00:02:00] umbrella if they identified themselves as Jews only, walking away from their faith in Jesus.
Rick Warren: In response to this situation, the author of Hebrews argues that there's no going back. All of Israel's history was leading up to the great salvation that had now finally appeared in Jesus. The author insists the old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come.
Rick Warren: Through Jesus, believers could participate in a far better covenant with God based on better promises. In fact, the Lord Jesus himself announced this great salvation of the new covenant, and the old covenant was now out of date. So believers need to stand firm in their faith, hanging on to everything that had come to them through Jesus.
Rick Warren: The author makes the case for all this by using a specific literary form. The book of Hebrews consists of [00:03:00] four messages, much like ones given in a Jewish synagogue. In fact, the author calls the book an exhortation, the same Greek term used for the word of encouragement given by Paul and Barnabas in the synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia.
Rick Warren: In this form, the speaker would first bring a teaching from the scriptures and then apply it to the present day situation of the listeners. So Hebrews alternates back and forth four times between teaching and application, first explaining truths about Jesus from the scriptures, and then urging the people to respond to these truths.
Rick Warren: Since the recipients were familiar with the scriptures and traditions of Israel, the author's message presents four key themes. Each built on a Jewish tradition, God's son is greater than the angels and the messages they delivered the laws of the old covenant. Jesus is God's greatest messenger, [00:04:00] superior, even to Moses and Joshua, and he offers an even greater rest and peace than they offered.
Rick Warren: Jesus is our true High Priest, superior even to Aaron and his priestly family. The followers of Jesus must be faithful, just as God's people of old were faithful, even in the face of suffering. These messages were collected and then sent out like a letter. So Hebrews ends the way any ancient letter would, with personal news, greetings, and information about when the sender next hopes to see the recipients.
Rick Warren: Of course, the sender also hopes that when that time arrives, the recipients will all still be following Jesus together, proclaiming our allegiance.
Andy Wood: The book of Hebrews. Long ago, God spoke [00:05:00] many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, He has spoken to us through His Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance. And through the Son, He created the universe. The Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God.
Andy Wood: And He sustains everything by the mighty power of His command. When He had cleansed us from our sins, He sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave Him is greater than their names. For God never said to any angel what He said to Jesus, You are my Son, today I have become your Father.
Andy Wood: God also said, I will be His Father, and He will be my Son. And when he brought his supreme son into the world, God said, Let [00:06:00] all of God's angels worship him. Regarding the angels, he says, He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire. But to the son, he says, Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
Andy Wood: You rule with a scepter of justice. You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else. He also says to the Son, In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever.
Andy Wood: They will wear out like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same. You will live forever. And God never said to any of the angels, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your [00:07:00] enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.
Andy Wood: Therefore, angels are only servants, spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation. So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished.
Andy Wood: So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself, and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders. And various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.
Andy Wood: And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. For in one place the scriptures say, What are mere mortals that you should think about them? Or a son of man that you [00:08:00] should care for him? Yet for a little while you made them a little lower than the angels, and crowned them with glory and honor.
Andy Wood: you gave them authority over all things. Now, when it says all things, it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority. What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position a little lower than the angels, and because He suffered death for us, He is now crowned with glory and honor.
Andy Wood: Yes, by God's grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory, and it was only right that He should make Jesus, through His suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. So now Jesus and the ones He makes holy have the same Father.
Andy Wood: That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them His [00:09:00] brothers and sisters, for He said to God, I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people. He also said, I will put my trust in him, that is, I and the children God has given me. Because God's children are human beings, made of flesh and blood, the Son also became flesh and blood.
Andy Wood: For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. We also know that the son did not come to help Angels. He came to help the descendants of Abraham.
Andy Wood: Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful high priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice [00:10:00] that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
Andy Wood: And so, dear brothers and sisters, who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and high priest, for he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God's entire house.
Andy Wood: But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself, for every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God. Moses was certainly faithful in God's house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later.
Andy Wood: But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God's entire house. And we [00:11:00] are God's house if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ. That is why the Holy Spirit says, Today, when you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts, as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.
Andy Wood: There, your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. So I was angry with them, and I said, Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them. So in my anger I took an oath, they will never enter my place of rest. Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.
Andy Wood: Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still today, so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, [00:12:00] trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.
Andy Wood: Remember what it says, Today, when you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled. And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard His voice? Wasn't it the people Moses led out of Egypt? And who made God angry for 40 years? Wasn't it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?
Andy Wood: And to whom was God speaking when He took an oath that they would never enter His rest? Wasn't it the people who disobeyed Him? So we see that because of their unbelief, they were not able to enter His rest. God's promise of entering His rest still stands. So we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.
Andy Wood: For this good news, that God has prepared this rest, has been announced to us just as it was [00:13:00] to them. But it did them no good, because they didn't share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter His rest. As for the others, God said, In my anger I took an oath, they will never enter my place of rest.
Andy Wood: Even though this rest has been ready since He made the world. We know it is ready because of the place in the scriptures where it mentions the seventh day. On the seventh day, God rested from all his work. But in the other passage God said, They will never enter my place of rest. So God's rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God.
Andy Wood: So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later, and the words already quoted. Today, when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts. Now, if Joshua had [00:14:00] succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come.
Andy Wood: So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. For the word of God is alive and powerful.
Andy Wood: It is sharper than the sharpest two edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. So then, since we have a great high priest who has entered heaven, Jesus, the Son [00:15:00] of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.
Andy Wood: This high priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God.
Andy Wood: He presents their gifts to God, and offers sacrifices for their sins. And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people, because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor.
Andy Wood: He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become high [00:16:00] priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, You are my son, today I have become your father. And in another passage God said to him, You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Andy Wood: While Jesus was here on earth, He offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue Him from death. And God heard His prayers because of His deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God's Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered. In this way, God qualified Him as a perfect High Priest, and He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him.
Andy Wood: And God designated him to be a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don't seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you want to be teaching [00:17:00] others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God's Word.
Andy Wood: You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food, for someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn't know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again.
Andy Wood: Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely, we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don't need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Andy Wood: And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding, for it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened, those who have experienced the good things of [00:18:00] heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit. Who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come, and who then turn away from God.
Andy Wood: It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance. By rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing Him to the cross once again and holding Him up to public shame. When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God's blessing. But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless.
Andy Wood: The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it. Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don't believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him, and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do.
Andy Wood: Our great desire is that you will [00:19:00] keep on loving others as long as life lasts in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and endurance.
Andy Wood: For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying, I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number. Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it, and without any question that oath is binding.
Andy Wood: God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. [00:20:00] These two things are unchangeable, because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
Andy Wood: This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High.
Andy Wood: When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the Kings, Melek met him and blessed him. Then Abraham took a 10th of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melek. The name Melek means King of justice, and King of Salem means king of peace. There was no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors.
Andy Wood: No beginning or end [00:21:00] to his life. He remains a priest forever resembling the son of God. Consider, then, how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham.
Andy Wood: But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed. The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on.
Andy Wood: In addition, we might even say that these Levites, the ones who collect the tithe, paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their [00:22:00] ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. For although Levi wasn't born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham's body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him. So, if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?
Andy Wood: And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.
Andy Wood: This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who was like Melchizedek, has appeared. Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the [00:23:00] power of a life that cannot be destroyed. And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Andy Wood: Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside, because it was weak and useless, for the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence and a better hope, through which we draw near to God. This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron's descendants became priests without such an oath.
Andy Wood: But there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow. You are a priest forever. Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God. There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office.
Andy Wood: But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. [00:24:00] Therefore, he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. He is the kind of high priest we need, because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.
Andy Wood: Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first, and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all, when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people's sins. The law appointed high priests, who were limited by human weakness.
Andy Wood: But after the law was given, God appointed his son with an oath, and his son has been made the perfect high priest forever. This concludes today's Immerse Reading Experience. Thank you for joining us.