Lesson 441 - Junior

Memory Verse

"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward" (Hebrews 10:35).

Notes

We learned in our previous lesson that the Blood of Jesus, shed on Calvary, took the place of all the blood of bulls and goats that had been shed through the centuries when the Israelites were under the Law.

Willing and Obedient

Those sacrifices had not pleased God because the people continued to commit sin. The Prophet Isaiah once wrote to the Israelites: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats" [ISA:1:11]). He went on to say that all their solemn feast days (days which had originally been appointed by God) were all abomination to Him because of the terrible sins the people were committing. God also told the people: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it" [ISA:1:19-20]). Obedience pleases the Lord; disobedience brings His wrath.

Jesus proved that He was a perfect Son, because He was wining and obedient. He wanted to please God. There was such love between the Father and Son that Jesus wanted to do His Father's will, even if it cost Him the tremendous sacrifice of shedding His Blood to ransom the sinners. In a sense, He suffered punishment for the sins of all men when He became the Lamb of God. Because He paid that price, we do not have to suffer punishment if we repent of our sins.

The prophets had written hundreds of years earlier that Jesus would come to do the will of God; in fact, David even wrote in [PS:40:7];[PS:40:8], the very words Jesus quoted: "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God" [HEB:10:9]). The Law of God was His delight. If we truly love the Lord, we will also delight to do His will.

The Jews were always finding fault with Jesus, and they refused to believe that He was the Son of God. On one occasion Jesus told them: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" [JHN:5:39]). The Jews read the Scriptures, and thought they had eternal life; but Jesus told them to look again. In those very Scriptures Jesus was described. They said that they believed Moses, but Jesus said, "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me" [JHN:5:46]). And at that time He said, "I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" [JHN:5:30]). Another time He said, "I do always those things that please him [God]" [JHN:8:29]).

If we are to be like Jesus, we will also strive to please God. Jesus said: "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother" [MAT:12:50]).

Jesus was put to the supreme test in the Garden of Gethsemane, and there He cried: "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done" [MAT:26:42]). And the will of God was that He die for sinners -- so Jesus died, and in dying made His will, or testament, effective.

The New Will

Now we have the New Testament, or new will. "He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second" [HEB:10:9]). Through this new will, which Jesus made effective through His death, once for all, we are not only saved, but also sanctified. The priests in the Old Testament had to offer sacrifices every day, but Jesus did once, and no more blood need be shed.

After Jesus finished His work of redemption, He rose again from the dead, and after walking on the earth for 40 days He went back to Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. He is waiting until the time of the Great Tribulation, when He will come again to send judgment upon the people of the world who have refused to worship Him. That was predicted in Old Testament times.

God's Judgment

One vivid description of God's judgment is given in Psalm 2. The Psalmist says that the kings of the earth set themselves against God and Jesus, His anointed. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision" [PS:2:4]). Can you imagine how horrible it will be for those who have refused God's mercy, when He rises to shake terribly the earth? The earthquakes we have had around the world have, no doubt, panicked many people. What will it be when the mountains are moved out of their places, and the stars begin to fall? And when God laughs at their fear!

God the Father promised Jesus that the time Would come when Jesus would destroy the sinners: "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" [PS:2:9]). All the earth will then be under the dominion of Jesus, and all men then alive will have to obey Him, whether they want to or not. All the nations will be His "footstool" -- He can step on them if He wants to.

Law on the Heart

God had promised that "afterward," after the Jews had been punished and some had turned to Jesus and saved their lives, He would write His law on their heart. That means the people would be born again as we are now when we give our heart to the Lord. When we pray until we know our sins are forgiven, Jesus writes our name in Heaven -- and also gives us His law in our heart. Our sins are washed away, never to be remembered against us again. God forgets the sins we repent of. If we should backslide and again commit sins, those sins would doom us to hell; but the sins that have once been forgiven are gone, buried in the sea. Of course, God does require us to make right and confess the past wrongs, such as thefts, lies and slanders.

Illustrations

In our study of the different compartments of the Tabernacle we learned that the outer court pictured the experience of justification -- or being saved. The Holy Place is a good illustration of sanctification. There the holy incense was burning continually on the golden altar, as our prayers and praises rise continually from our hearts when we have been sanctified and made holy. A curtain kept all but the high priest out of the Holy of Holies, the third compartment, where the Ark of the Covenant stood under the golden cherubims. When Jesus died, that curtain was torn from the top to the bottom, opening the way so all could go in. It pictured that the baptism of the Holy Ghost can now be enjoyed by all. No one had that experience before Jesus died and rose again. He said before He went away that it was needful that He go so that the Comforter (or Holy Ghost) could come. His promise was that He would baptise us with the Holy Ghost, and give us power for service for God.

Boldness Through the Blood

When the high priest went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, he always took the blood of the sin offering with him. Jesus, when He died outside the walls of Jerusalem, fulfilled the type of the sin offering; and with His Blood which we have over our heart when we are sanctified, we have "boldness to enter into the holiest": in other words, when we are sanctified we can boldly ask the Lord for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This was something the Old Testament prophets foretold, and even angels desired to look into. It is the "new and living way," which Jesus made for us by dying on the cross and rising again, and then sending the Comforter.

Attending Church

Think how great has been God's plan of salvation! He did all He could do; now it is our responsibility to measure up to it. We must hold fast what the Lord has given us, because we can lose our salvation through neglect. Paul warns us not to become careless about attending church. We can encourage one another in the faith as we meet to worship God; and the sermons teach us more of the will of God. We need to pray at home in our daily devotions, but it is also encouraging to pray together in the House of God.

Fiery Indignation

If one turns away from what he once had, the Blood of Jesus no longer covers him; and God warns that He will send "judgment and fiery indignation." We have learned much about how much greater is our part in the plan of salvation than the people had under Moses' Law; and at that time people could be condemned if two witnesses appeared against them when they disobeyed. And their punishment might even be death. If God was that strict under the Old Law, what punishment would a person deserve who sinned again after Jesus, through His shed Blood, had once washed his sins away! "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" [HEB:10:31]). God is a God of love, and He has promised that: "no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly" [PS:84:11]). But He is also a God of judgment, and will send judgment on the sinner.

Treasures in Heaven

God is noticing how His people are taking the persecution that comes to them. Paul told the Hebrew Christians that they had taken joyfully the spoiling of their goods. They did not worry too much about it if they lost some of their worldly possessions, because in Heaven the true Christians have eternal riches -- treasures that nothing can destroy.

Our confidence and faith in God will be rewarded. God's people will all have trials in this world, but if we overcome those trials we will receive a glorious Crown of Righteousness. Paul encouraged the Christians to have patience, to hold fast a little longer to their faith, to not let Satan discourage them by the wayside.

Then he goes back to the first step in the Christian walk: "The just shall live by faith" -- not by feelings. We may feel discouraged and troubled, but if we hold fast our faith, Jesus will bring us through and again give us the feelings that make us happy. Let us say with Paul that we will not draw back. We are those who want to make sure that our soul will be saved; then we can live eternally in Heaven with Jesus.

Questions

1. Why was God displeased with the sacrifices of the Israelites in Isaiah's time?

2. Who will "eat the good of the land"?

3. What did Jesus say was His reason for coming to earth?

4. Who did He say were His mother, His brothers, His sisters?

5. When will Jesus bring judgment upon the sinner?

6. Who will rule the world during the Millennium?

7. How can we become bold to seek the baptism of the Holy Ghost?

8. What did Paul say in this chapter about attending church?

9. How do the just live?