Sunday School Lessons: Acts 5 Pt. 1

Lesson 9

Review Acts 4:32-36
Review Barnabas’ offering and the state of the church as described in Chapter 4.  Chapter 5 starts with the ominous word, But. . .
Ananias and Sapphira

Acts 5:1-5  But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

There was nothing wrong with keeping the land for themselves, or, having sold it, keeping some money back for themselves.  As Peter said, it was their own and it was “at their disposal.”  They had the right to do with it however they saw fit.
What was wrong, then, with what Ananias and Sapphira had done?  (read Acts 5:3-4)
They lied to the Holy Spirit.  Notice, Peter says the Holy Spirit is God in vs. 4.
Who struck Ananias dead?
Read vs. 5  Do you think Peter knew what was coming?  Why or why not?
Everyone who was there was afraid.

Read Acts 5:6-9
6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

This time Peter knew what was going to happen.  And the great fear came upon the whole church now and upon all who heard what happened.
Ananias and Sapphira had been disciplined for their sin, but the whole church was made aware of what had happened.  It was a sad day for the church because up until that time, they had had all things in common.  We will see how it affected the church in Chapter 6.

Read Acts 5:12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

Who did the signs and wonders?  
Why didn’t the people join the apostles on Solomon's Porch?
Ananias and Sapphira’s death cause the church to fear, but vs. 14 says “more than ever believers were added to the Lord.”
The people also desired to see miracles and to be healed.  Notice that verse 16 said they were ALL healed.  This was the power given to the apostles by the Holy Spirit for the early church.  The gifts were given to them to demonstrate the fact that they spoke with God’s authority.
What is our authority today?

Assignment:
Next week we will finish Chapter 5.  Please read the rest of the chapter which describes the second persecution of the church.  Review Chapter 4 and see if you can find similarities between the two accounts.  Pay special attention to Peter’s reaction and to his preaching.

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students.  You can find lessons for previous chapters here.

Sunday School Lessons: Acts 4 Pt. 2

Lesson 8
  

23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

Who are “their own companions?”

When they heard what had happened, what was their response?

This is a meeting of the church.  We can learn a little about them by how they prayed. They began with Jesus (Lord) and acknowledged that He is God, the Creator of all things.

They included Old Testament scriptures in their prayer:

Read Psalm 2 (discuss Messianic Psalms)

25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:


     ‘ Why did the nations rage,
      And the people plot vain things?
       26 The kings of the earth took their stand,
      And the rulers were gathered together
      Against the LORD and against His Christ.’(Annointed One)

Psalm 2 was beginning to be fulfilled with Christ’s crucifixion.

Notice that they were in one accord (vs 24) which means they were in agreement.  They began their prayer with Christ—who He is and what He has done (The person and the work of Christ).(vs 24)  They acknowledged the authority of the Old Testament scriptures.

27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. 29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

Again, the understanding is that while it was God’s determined purpose that Christ, the anointed One would go to the cross, the blame is laid on whom?  Matthew Henry says that “. . . sin is not the less evil for God's bringing good out of it.”

Did they pray for the persecution to cease?  Did they ask God to deliver them from their enemies?  No, they asked for boldness to speak His Word. They asked Him to do miracles as a sign through Jesus’ name.

31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

God answered their prayers, for He helped them to preach the Word of God with boldness and courage.
  

32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.
36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37 having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Here is a description of how the early church lived and worked together.  What are some of the things you notice that is different from the church today?  Why was the early church able to share everything equally?  What quality did they have that allowed them to live in this way?

Vs 36—This is the first mention of Barnabas, who plays a very big role in the book of Acts.  Barnabas is a Levite.  (discuss the meaning of Levite)  He was from Cyprus, not Jerusalem.  He is called the Son of Encouragement.  The first thing we see Barnabas doing is letting go of worldy wealth and possessions.  This prepared him for the work that God had prepared for him.

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students.  You can find lessons for previous chapters here.

Sunday School Lessons: Acts 4 Pt. 1

Lesson 7
Chapter 4
Theme:  The results of Peter’s second sermon, the first persecution of the church and the power of the Holy Spirit
Summary:  5000 people were saved as a result of Peter’s sermon, the apostles were arrested and thrown into prison by the Sadducees because they preached the resurrection of Jesus.

 1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

The Pharisees were the religious rulers who arrested Christ and had him crucified.  Jesus was a threat to them while he was on earth because they were the teachers of the law and He was a threat to them.  Now that Christ was risen, the church begun and the Apostles were teaching, the enemies of the church were the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection.  They did not want the Apostles to teach the people that Jesus had risen from the dead.

3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

This was happening after Peter’s sermon on at the Beautiful gate and the people believed what Peter had preached.  Only the men were counted.  There were women and children among those who had heard the sermon, too.
  

5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

These are the two men who had condemned Jesus to die. (Read John 18. starting in verse 13)  Peter had been there when Jesus had been brought in front of Annas the High Priest. It was then that Peter denied Jesus from fear of these men.  Now Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit and unafraid before them.

7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”

What had they done?  And in whose name had Peter done “it?”  Do you think they knew what had been done and said the day before?
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?  When did the Holy Spirit come? When do we receive the Holy Spirit?  What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Here is Peter preaching again!  Peter was the disciple who denied Jesus but now the Holy Spirit is helping him to be bold. Let’s read verses 9-12 and identify the truths that he is preaching.  This is the Gospel—the Good News of the Person and the Work of Jesus Christ!

Who is the stone that was rejected and become the chief cornerstone?

Read Matthew 1:21 together.  The angels proclaimed His name as a fulfillment of the prophesy that God had promised a Savior.  Yet again, Peter is pointing out to them that they should have known that Jesus was the Messiah.

Jesus is the only One who can save you.  The religious rulers thought that keeping the law would save them.  But Jesus is the only one who COULD keep the law and He kept it on our behalf.  When we trust in His life and death and resurrection, we are saved.
  

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”

Peter and John were simple men but they had been with Jesus and He had changed them.  The religious rulers saw this and they had the healed man right there in front of them so they couldn’t really say anything against it.  Remember, all those people had seen and 5,000 had believed!

They knew they couldn’t convince people that no miracle had happened, so they decided to try to shut up the Apostles.

18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. 22 For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

Notice that the Sadducees were untouched by what they had seen and heard.  They did not believe.  They knew it was true because the man was healed, but that did not convince them. Their hearts were hard.  Instead, they tried to figure out a way to make them quiet.  Peter and John were not afraid to tell the truth about Jesus.

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students.  You can find lessons for previous chapters here.

Sunday School Lessons: Acts 3

Lesson Six

Acts Three (in Jerusalem)
Theme of Chapter Three: The first miracle of the Church (the healing of the lame man, 3:1-11) and Peter’s Second Sermon (3:12-26)
Review:  Jesus is still at Work by the Holy Spirit through the Apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 1:8)
What happened on the day of Pentecost? (church and coming of Spirit)
Where is Jesus now?
Where is the Holy Spirit now?
What is Jesus doing?
What is the Holy Spirit doing?
The Healing of the Lame Man
Today we will see the Work of Jesus through the Apostles in the healing of a lame man:

 1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.

This was the time of evening prayer, so the temple would be full of people gathered to pray.

2Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.

Notice, the man was crippled from birth.  He had to be carried there because he could not get there by himself—he could not help himself.  He was there to beg for alms.  This was the way he managed to provide for himself.

3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

The beggar was asking for Peter and John to give him money to take care of his daily needs for food and shelter.  The Apostles gave him their attention.  

 6Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."
Instead of giving the man money for food that would soon disappear, the Apostles understood his true needs—the need for physical healing and the need for Christ.  He could not heal himself, he could not save himself.
7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong.

Luke, the Doctor, is writing this account and he gives us details about the man’s healing—his lameness was in his feet and ankles.

 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.

He was healed immediately and began to praise God, not Peter and John.  Did you notice?  Peter healed him in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  There was no question in anyone’s mind that the power of healing came from God.
The Jewish people would have recognized this as a fulfillment of scriptures:  Isaiah 35:6:
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
The people understood the significance of this lame man leaping and praising God!  The kingdom was at hand!  How do we know this?
The beggar was there every single day. What made this day different?  Why would this have seemed significant to the other people who had gathered for prayer?

9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Remember; these people knew about Christ’s miracles, His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.  They knew about the coming of the Spirit.  They were already wondering about whether Jesus truly WAS the Messiah.  The scriptures were being fulfilled right in front of their eyes!

 11While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade.
The people followed Peter and John, just as they had followed Jesus. They were amazed!

Peter’s Second Sermon

12When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

As on the day of Pentecost, Peter tells them that his should not come as a surprise to them. Why not?  Notice, Peter does not take any credit for the healing power or even holiness.  He gives God all the glory!  He again reviews what has happened, their responsibility, and reveals the answer to how the man was healed:

13The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

 Notice he doesn’t allow them any room to argue.  They were all witnesses. They all saw what had happened.  What had they all seen?  What was Peter referring to?  And Peter begins to teach them through his preaching that they needed to believe in Jesus as their Messiah by faith.  

 17"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

Peter preaches again that even though they had acted in ignorance and had some responsibility in what had happened to Jesus, it was God’s plan, foretold by the prophets.  It’s as if he is saying “You know this already.”
He calls them to repent and turn back to God for the forgiveness of sin.  He tells them that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.'
 24"Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.' 26When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."

Peter is calling the nation of Israel to repent and be saved from coming judgment.  God had sent His Savior!  But would they listen and repent?
Israel was judged in 70 AD when Titus, the Roman General, destroyed the city, killing over a million and carrying away others as slaves.  
We’ll see the result of Peter’s sermon next week when we study chapter 4.

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students.  You can find lessons for previous chapters here.

Sunday School Lessons: Acts 2 Pt. 3

Lesson 5

Acts 2:14Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!

Who was with Peter?
To whom was Peter speaking?

These were all Jews; the church was made up of all Jews on the day of Pentecost.  (Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, ends of the earth—eventually the church would expand to include Gentile believers)

Acts 2: 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

He is saying “this is LIKE what was spoken by Joel.  How do we know this?

Acts 2: 17" 'In the last days, God says,
      I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
   Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
      your young men will see visions,
      your old men will dream dreams.
 18Even on my servants, both men and women,
      I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
      and they will prophesy.
 19I will show wonders in the heaven above
      and signs on the earth below,
      blood and fire and billows of smoke.
 20The sun will be turned to darkness
      and the moon to blood
      before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
 21And everyone who calls
      on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

Peter is quoting this as a reminder that the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was foretold.  The men were mocking the Apostles, suggesting they were drunk.  In this way, Peter is letting them know that this is nothing strange—they should have been expecting it!  We know that this isn’t a complete fulfillment of the Joel passage, though, because not everything that Joel predicted happened on that particular day.

Acts 2:22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

After Peter has just told them that what happened that day should not be surprising, he goes on to say two important things.

1. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection was not a surprise to God, nor did it happen outside of His control.  He determined it and He knew it would happen just the way it did.

    2.  Even though He planned it, that did not take the responsibility away from those who were responsible for bringing it about historically.

Who was responsible for bringing it about?
    Religious rulers
    Crowds
    Judas
    Roman government
    All of us, because of our sin

We needed a Savior!  Jesus went to the cross “for the joy that was set before Him (He) endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

The people that Peter was speaking to may have been part of the crowd that cried, “Crucify Him!”  

The theme of the first sermon preached in the newly formed church was about Christ—His life, His death, His burial, His resurrection!  Peter was telling them the Good News—the Gospel!

Acts 2:25David said about him:
   " 'I saw the Lord always before me.
      Because he is at my right hand,
      I will not be shaken.
 26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
      my body also will live in hope,
 27because you will not abandon me to the grave,
      nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
 28You have made known to me the paths of life;
      you will fill me with joy in your presence.'

Peter is quoting Psalm 16, where David is speaking about the resurrection of Christ.  It was a prophecy that has now been fulfilled:

29"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
   " 'The Lord said to my Lord:
      "Sit at my right hand
 35until I make your enemies
      a footstool for your feet." '
 36"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Peter was reminding them that David could not have been talking about himself because he had died and they all knew where his grave was!  And in vs. 32, he reminds them that they were ALL witnesses of the resurrection.
Peter quotes Psalm 110 to let them know where Jesus is now and what He is doing.  He is in heaven, seated at the right Hand of the Father, and He is both Lord and Savior.  

37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

This message convicted them of their sin.  They wanted to know what they should do.  Notice, these men are no longer mocking the Apostles, they are calling them “brothers.”

Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
 40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
 42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Peter tells them they must repent and be baptized.  
Review the Great Commission.  Jesus had told the Apostles to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and now He is here.  He will be given to all believers—those present that day and every believer that God adds to the church—all whom the Lord our God will call.
Salvation belongs to God!
Peter continued to preach and warned them against going back to their old ways.
The hearers believed Peter and were baptized that day.  Three thousand!    
These new believers’ lives were changed!  They “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread (communion) and to prayer.  
What else did they do?
How did all this change effect their lives?
Who did the signs and wonders?
Who added to the church?

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students.  You can find lessons for previous chapters here.

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 11

Hebrews by John Brown  p.189

This statement—‘Almost all who came out of Egypt with Moses, after having heard the promise and command of God, provoked Him, by refusing to believe the promise and obey the command’—was well fitted to excite a salutary fear in the minds of the Hebrew Christians.  It cautioned them against resting in privileges, and thinking themselves safe merely because they had by profession forsaken Judaism, and had heard the promises and commands of God made known by Jesus Christ and His Apostles.  All who left Egypt did not enter Canaan.  All who by profession leave the world lying in wickedness do not, of course, enter into the heavenly rest.  Men may hear the Gospel, and yet not believe it.  The grace of God may come to them and yet come to them in vain.  But this is not all.  The great majority—almost all who came out of Egypt with Moses, almost all who heard the promise and command of God—were unbelieving and disobedient.  Was not this a most striking demonstration of the strength of the natural tendency to unbelief and disobedience in the human heart? and was it not reasonable and right that the Hebrews should take heed lest there was in any of them “and evil heart of unbelief,” when it was so plain that there was such a heart in the great majority of their ancestors?  Every new proof of the tendency of human nature to unbelief and disobedience should make us the more “jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy.”

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 10

Hebrews by John Brown  p. 181

“Exhort one another,” says he, “daily, while it is still called To-day.”  The food of faith is truth and its evidence.  All that man can do to produce faith, and maintain faith, is just to place these before the mind.  It is the duty of every Christian, knowing that there is in him “an evil heart of unbelief,” often to turn his own mind to a serious consideration of the truth and its evidence, as contained in the Volume of Inspiration; and it is his duty, too, knowing that in every fellow-Christian there is also “an evil heart of unbelief,” and especially if he perceives this evil heart manifesting itself in anything like a tendency to apostasy, to bring before his mind the truth and its evidence, that he may continue “stedfast and unmovable,” rooted, and grounded, and stablished in the faith wherein he has been taught.  This is, I apprehend, the mutual exhortation to which the Apostle refers.

    It deserves notice that the word rendered exhort is the same word which is often translated ‘comfort;’ and it is very probably used to suggest the idea, that nothing is better fitted to prevent apostasy than bringing before the mind the truth as to the “exceeding great and precious promises,” made to those who “hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”  It is the good news –the consolatory message of a free and full salvation through Christ Jesus—it is this, believed, which binds the heart to the Saviour and to His law.  It is quite right to imitate the Apostle in placing before the mind of the backslider the awful results of apostasy; but such statements alone will produce but little effect.  The voice of a reconciled God behind him, proclaiming, “Return to Me, thou backsliding child, for I have redeemed thee,” when heard, will do more to prevent apostasy, and induce him to turn his feet to God’s testimonies, than all the terrors of the tenfold damnation which awaits the apostate, though presented to the mind in the most striking and alarming form.

    The duty of public exhortation forms an important part of the duty of Christian pastors; but it is plain from the passage before us that it is the duty of all Christians, as they have opportunity, privately to exhort and admonish one another, lest they be “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”  It is too much the practice of professors of Christianity in our times, when they perceive in one of their brethren a tendency, as they think, to “depart from the living God,” to speak of it to every person rather than to the one to whom alone in the first instance it ought to be spoken of—to lament over it in the presence of others, instead of endeavoring to remove the evil by friendly exhortation to the individual himself, and earnest prayer to God to render the use of the means prescribed by Himself effectual for the purpose for which He has appointed it.

    This mutual exhortation the Apostle enjoins to be engaged in “daily, while it is still called To-day.”  They were to exhort one another daily, i.e., frequently, and without delay.  Whenever we observe in brethren what appears to us an indication of departure from the path of Christian truth and duty, we are to use the means prescribed by the inspired writer for bringing them back.  Every step they take in the downward path makes their recovery more difficult; and yet a little while, and they will be removed beyond the reach of our exertions.  If any of us have a friend whom we think in danger of that greatest of all evils, the loss of the soul, let us be speedy, diligent, earnest, whether by instruction, admonition or prayer.

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 9

From Hebrews by John Brown  p. 178

    To “depart from the living God” is just an expression for apostasy from Christianity,--in the case   of those whom the Apostle was addressing, the renouncing the profession of the faith of Christ and returning to Judaism.  Those who did so, no doubt, flattered themselves that they were not departing from, but returning to God; but the Apostle presses on them this truth, that they could not abandon Christ without abandoning God.  There is but one God, --He is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”—He is “God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself;” and, of course, he who renounces Christ abandons God.

    The appellation living God is emphatic.  Some have supposed it just equivalent to the true God; as if the Apostle had said, ‘In apostatizing from Christianity to Judaism, you as really depart from the living God as if you were becoming the worshippers of idols.’  I am rather disposed to think that the expression “living” is intended to convey the idea of power.  ‘Dead’ is often equivalent to powerless; ‘living,’ to powerful.  This is remarkably the case in two passages in this Epistle:  “The word of God is quick (living) and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of the soul and spirit.”  “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  It is quite safe to depart from dead gods.  No spiritual advantage can be obtained by adhering to them; no danger is incurred in abandoning them; they cannot punish the apostate.  But it is otherwise with him who apostatizes from the living God.  He departs from Him “with whom is the fountain of life,” and who alone can make him happy; He departs from Him who can execute all the threatenings which He has denounced against those who forsake Him.

    There is need of constant watchfulness on the part of the professors of Christianity, lest under the influence of unbelief they “depart from the living God.”  “Take heed,” says the Apostle.  There is nothing, I am persuaded, in regard to which professors of Christianity fall into more dangerous practical mistakes than this.  They suspect everything sooner than the soundness and firmness of their belief.  There are many who are supposing themselves believers who have no true faith at all,--and so it would be proved were the hour of trial, which is perhaps nearer than they are aware, to arrive; and almost all who have faith suppose they have it in greater measure than they really have it.  There is no prayer that a Christian needs more frequently to present than, “Lord, increase my faith;” “deliver me from an evil heart of unbelief.”  All apostasy from God, whether partial or total, originates in unbelief.  To have his faith increased—to have more extended, and accurate, and impressive views of “the truth as it is in Jesus”—ought to be the object of the Christian’s most earnest desire and unremitting exertion.  Just in the degree in which we obtain deliverance from the “evil heart of unbelief” are we enabled to cleave to the Lord with full purpose of heart, to follow Him fully, and, in opposition to all the temptations to abandon His cause, to “walk in all His commandments and ordinances blameless.”

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 8

Hebrews by John Brown  p. 168

This figurative view of the state of believers in Christ Jesus as the family of God, under the management of His Son, suggests many very important truths in reference to the relation in which they stand—to God, to Jesus Christ, and to one another—to the privileges which they enjoy, and to the duties which are incumbent on them.  The idea which the words of the Apostle seem intended to bring before the mind, is the honour and happiness of the situation of the believing Hebrews as members of this family of God.  God is their Father; the incarnate Son is their Elder Brother; angels are their ministers; the heavenly Canaan is their inheritance.  They are “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus.”  This is the truth in reference to all genuine believers, of every country, in every age; but it is the truth only in reference to genuine believers; and the only permanently satisfactory evidence of the genuineness of their faith, is their continuing to manifest by their conduct that they are under the influence of this faith.  Accordingly, the Apostle adds, We are the family of God, “if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”

These words are not intended to suggest the sentiment, that persons may belong to the family of God under the government of His Son—in other words, may be the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus—and yet not “hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope stedfast unto the end;” for this is plainly inconsistent with many plain declarations of Scripture.  While their inheritance is “reserved for them in heaven,” they are “kept to it by the mighty power of God through faith.”  But it is intended to teach us this important truth, that none but those who “hold firm to the end the confidence and rejoicing of their hope,” really belong to the family of God which is entrusted to the care of His Son Jesus Christ.

The hope here spoken of is what by way of eminence may be called the Christian hope—the expectation of everlasting happiness through Christ Jesus.  This is the hope which has been brought to us in “the word of the truth of the Gospel,” and which is awakened in every heart into which the faith of the Gospel enters.

But what are we to understand by the “confidence of this hope,” and “the rejoicing of this hope?”  The primary and ordinary meaning of the word rendered “confidence,” is freedom and boldness of speech, as expressive of full conviction and the absence of fear—opposed to silence and hesitation, as expressive of doubt and timidity.  The force of the word is illustrated by the following passages in which it occurs:--John vii. 26, xviii.20; Acts iv.13; 2 Cor. iii.12. vii.4; Phil. i.20; 1 Tim. iii.13.  Open , unhesitating, fearless profession of the Christian hope, seems to be the Apostle’s idea.  The Apostle Peter exhorts Christians to be “always ready to give an answer to every one who asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them.”

This constant readiness to state and defend those truths and their evidences on which rests our hope, is what is here termed “the confidence of the hope,” the free and fearless profession of the hope.  This was indeed dangerous in the primitive times, and the Hebrew Christians were exposed to very strong temptations to desist from it; but it is absolutely necessary to the continuance and progress of the Gospel in the world, and it is very plainly enjoyed by our Lord, Matt. x. 32, 33.
   

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 7

Hebrews by John Brown  p. 156

    It now only remains that we inquire into the import of the exhortation, “Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.”  The phraseology is peculiar.  The usual order of the names, Jesus Christ, is reversed.  Michaelis is probably right in thinking this was intended to bring out this thought:  ‘Consider the Apostle and High Priest whom we acknowledge—the Messiah, Jesus.’  Some have supposed that the exhortation here is just equivalent to that in the beginning of the second chapter.  To “consider the Apostle of our profession,” and to “give heed to the things spoken by Him,” if not the same, are very closely allied; but to “consider the High Priest of our profession,” is obviously a very different thing from “taking heed to the things spoken by Him,” though it is only by taking heed to the things spoken by Him that we can consider Him as our High Priest, as He alone, by His Spirit, has revealed the truth respecting His priestly office and functions.  To “consider” our Lord as “the Apostle and High Priest of our profession,” is just to make the truth revealed to us in His word respecting Him, as the Great Prophet and the only High Priest whom we acknowledge, the subject of deep habitual thought, that we may understand it and believe it, and be led into a corresponding course of affection and conduct in reference to Him.

    This is a duty of radical importance to Christians.  It is because we think so little, and to so little purpose, on Christ, that we know so little about Him, that we love Him so little, trust in Him so little, so often neglect our duty, are so much influenced by “things seen and temporal,” and so little by “things unseen and eternal.”  If the Apostle could but get the Hebrew Christians to “consider the Apostle and High Priest of their profession,” his object of keeping them steady in their attachment to Him was gained.  It is because men do not know Christ that they do not love Him; it is because they know Him so imperfectly that they love Him so imperfectly.  The truth about Him as the Great Prophet and the Great High Priest well deserves consideration—it is “the manifold wisdom of God.”  It requires it; it cannot be understood by a careless, occasional glance.  Angels feel that even their faculties are overmatched with this subject.  They are but “desiring to look into” it, as they do not yet fully understand it. It is only by “considering” the truth about Jesus Christ as “the Apostle and High Priest of our profession” that we can personally enjoy the benefits of His teaching as a Prophet, and of His expiation and intercession as a High Priest.  We cannot be too deeply impressed with a conviction of this, that all spiritual blessings come to us through the faith of the truth respecting the Apostle and High Priest of our profession.  Truth must be understood in order to its being believed, and it must be considered in order to its being understood.  The consideration of Jesus Christ is not only necessary to the production of faith, but to its continued existence, and to its gradual improvement.  An inconsiderate man is never likely to succeed in life.  An inconsiderate Christian is necessarily a very unsteady and a very uncomfortable one.  The grand radical duty of the Christian is “looking to Jesus;” and the sum and substance of the message which the ministers of Christ have to deliver is, ‘Behold Him, behold Him.’

    We all acknowledge Jesus Christ as “the Apostle and High Priest.”  Let us treat Him accordingly.  Believe nothing but on His authority.  On His authority believe everything that He reveals.  In religion acknowledge no other ultimate authority but His.  Expect pardon and salvation in no other way but through His atonement and intercession; and confidently expect them through this medium.  You equally do Him dishonor when you trust to anything but His sacrifice, and when you refuse to trust implicitly and unsuspectingly to that sacrifice.  In the New Economy, Jesus Christ is “all in all”—Prophet, Priest, King,Saviour, Lord.  Let us then seek all from Him; let us receive all that He is appointed to bestow—knowledge, pardon, sanctification, eternal life; and let us cheerfully ascribe to Him all the glory.

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 6

Hebrews by John Brown   p. 134

    The Apostle’s assertion is, that it “behoved” the Divine Saviour “to be made like unto His brethren in all things.”  The expression, “in all things,” though in itself universal, is plainly to be limited.  It is to be limited, plainly, to the whole of those things necessary to the end in view.  And even with regard to these the conformity is not necessarily a complete and perfect conformity.  It plainly was not necessary that He should be conformed to His brethren in personal guilt or depravity.  This, so far from conducing to the gaining of the object in view, would have completely obstructed it.  The conformity referred to includes a conformity of nature.  They were men; and it was necessary that He should be a man, possessed of a body capable of suffering death, and a soul endowed with all the faculties and affections of human nature.  But the conformity was not complete.  His human nature was formed in a miraculous manner, and did not subsist by itself, but in union with the divine.  These particular differences were as necessary as the general conformity in nature was to the great end of His being a successful Saviour.  He was conformed to His people not only in nature, but in condition.  They are in a suffering condition; and He, when on earth, was in a suffering condition—exposed to the same kind of sufferings as those to which they were exposed; though these sufferings produced very different effects on His innocent and all-perfect mind from what they do on the minds of guilty, depraved men.

        This conformity both of nature and condition was becoming and necessary.  “It behoved Him.”  On the supposition of His being divinely appointed to save men as a high priest, this conformity was absolutely necessary.  He could not have made “reconciliation for the sins of His people”—He could not in the same degree have executed the duties of a Saviour—had He not been “in all things made like unto His brethren.”
The language here, as well as in the preceding context, seems intentionally so fashioned as to convey the idea that our Saviour was not originally conformed to His brethren:  “It behoved  Him to be made like” to them.

    The great object to the gaining of which this conformity of Christ to His brethren is necessary, is His being “a faithful and merciful high priest,” “to make reconciliation for the sins of His people.”  The object is twofold:  that as a high priest He might “make reconciliation for the sins of the people;” and that, in the discharge of His duties as high priest, He might show Himself at once “faithful and merciful.”  We have already seen that His conformity to His brethren implied two things—participation of their nature, and fellowship with them in their state of suffering.  The first of these was necessary to His being a high priest, and “making reconciliation for the sins of the people;” the second was necessary to His being “a merciful and faithful high priest,” in the way and degree in which His people stood in need of mercy and faithfulness.

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 5

From Hebrews by John Brown  p. 136

Every high priest for men must be “taken from among men.”  Expiation is not a work for angels, nor even for God, merely as God.  The duty which He had to perform as the Great High Priest, who was to “give Himself a sacrifice, the Just One in the room of the unjust,” made it necessary that He should be conformed to His brethren by assuming their nature.

    And as He could not have been a high priest at all, as He could not have made reconciliation, without being conformed to His brethren as to nature, so He could not, in the degree and manner in which they required mercy and fidelity, have been “a merciful and faithful high priest,” if He had not been conformed to His brethren in His condition.  It is finely observed by Dr. Owen, “that in a perfectly holy human nature He should exactly discharge the will of God, was all that was required in order to His being a high priest.  But this was not all that the estate and condition of the brethren required.  Their sorrows, tenderness, weakness, miseries, disconsolations were such, that if there be not a cotempering of His sublime holiness and absolute perfection in fulfilling all righteousness, with some qualifications inclining Him to condescension, pity, and compassion, and tender sense of their condition, whatever might be the issue of their safety in the life to come, their comforts in this life would be in continual hazard.”

    To be a “merciful high priest,” is to be a tender-hearted, compassionate manager of all our religious interests—to be ever ready, under the influence  of a tender sympathy, to support, and comfort, and deliver.  To be a “faithful high priest,” does not, I apprehend, mean, as some interpret it, a true, a legitimate high priest; nor, as others, a high priest who is generally faithful to God and man both in the discharge of his duties; but a high priest who is trustworthy, exact, constant, and careful in attending to his people amid all their varied temptations and sufferings.

    To be such “a merciful and faithful high priest,” it behoved the Divine Saviour not only to be conformed in nature, but in condition, to the brethren.  There is a kind and degree of compassion and fidelity in giving comfort and relief which nothing but fellowship in suffering can teach.  Suppose two friends, equally benevolent in their temper, equally attached to you; the one, a person who had never suffered under the afflictions to which you are exposed; the other, one who had experienced the same, or at least a very similar course of trials; would there not be a tenderness, a suitableness, and a minuteness of appropriate attentions and consolations experienced from the latter, which, in the very nature of things, it is impossible that the former, however kindly disposed , should yield?  Who is not struck with astonishment and delight at observing in the plan of salvation such an intimate knowledge of all the peculiarities of our nature, and such a benevolent use made of this intimate knowledge, in securing for man not only the great substantial blessings of salvation, but their being conferred on him in the way best fitted to soothe and comfort him amid the remaining evils of the present state?

    This idea of the capacity of the Saviour to sympathize with and relieve His people under their trials, in consequence of His having Himself been tried, is very beautifully amplified in the verse with which this division of the Epistle closes.  18.  “For in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.”

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 4

John Brown quote from Hebrews  p. 107-109

To secure that the “many sons” shall be brought “to glory” under this “Captain of their salvation,” God saw meet to “make Him perfect through suffering.”  Interpreters are by no means agreed as to the significance of the word rendered by our translators, make perfect.  It is plain that, in the sense which the English term most naturally suggests, it is not applicable to Jesus Christ.  The character of Jesus Christ was perfect; He did not stand in need, as good men do, of a course of discipline to cure them of their faults, and to improve their virtues.  It is indeed said, that “He learned obedience by the things which He suffered;” but the meaning of that expression is not that He learned to obey, but that He learned by experience what obedience is.  To avoid this difficulty, some have represented the word as signifying ‘to consecrate, to set apart to.’  There can be little doubt that the word is employed in this way, as the consecration of a priest was an intimation that he was fully possessed of the qualifications the law required in those who filled that office, and in that sense perfected, accomplished for the discharge of its functions.  Others consider it as signifying ‘to glorify, to bring glory, to crown with glory and honour, to render perfectly happy and glorious.’  I am rather disposed to understand the word as equivalent to ‘to accomplish—completely to fit or qualify for the discharge of His office as the Captain of salvation.’  This is a common use of the term: Heb. vii. 19, ix. 9, x. 1, 14.

To perform the office of a Saviour of lost men, three things were necessary—merit, power, and sympathy.  It pleased the Father that the incarnate Son should, as the Saviour of men, obtain all these by suffering.  The Saviour of men must deserve so well of the Moral Governor of the world, as that He, in consistency with the perfections of His character and the principles of His government, may on the Saviour’s account reverse the sentence of condemnation passed on those in whose behalf He has interposed, and bestow on them blessings to which on their own account they have no claim.  The Saviour of men must be possessed of “all power in heaven and earth”—He must have the command of those divine influences which are necessary to make ignorant, foolish, depraved, miserable men, wise, good and happy; He must, too, have the control of all events which, directly or indirectly, bear upon their interest.  And, still further, the Saviour of men must, to fit Him for the discharge of His office, be able to enter into the feelings of those whom He is to deliver.

All these accomplishments are necessary to His being a perfect Saviour; and all these accomplishments were obtained by our Lord Jesus “through suffering.”  It was the patient, cheerful endurance of those penal evils which the law of God had denounced against sinners by the incarnate only begotten of God, that “magnified the divine law and made it honourable,” and made it not merely consistent with, but gloriously illustrative of, the righteousness as well as the mercy of God, to pardon and save the guiltiest of the guilty believing in Jesus.  The power and authority bestowed on Jesus Christ as Mediator are uniformly represented as the meritorious reward of His voluntary obedience unto the death.  “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief; when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.  He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied:  by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.  Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death:  and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”—“And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name.”  The power and disposition to sympathize with His people were obtained, and indeed could be obtained, in no other way but suffering.  If our High Priest can be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” it is because “He was in all things tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”  Without suffering, sin could not have been expiated; without the expiation of sin, the Saviour could not have obtained all power to give eternal life to men; and, from the very nature of the case, without suffering He would have been very imperfectly capable of sympathizing with the sufferers.  But by suffering He expiated sin; by suffering He obtained for Himself the control both of that inward influence and that physical power which are necessary to the salvation of His people, and He also acquired that experimental acquaintance with trial which peculiarly fits Him to succour them who are tried.

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 3

Hebrews  by John Brown  p. 105

    Let us examine this interesting passage somewhat more particularly.   Ver. 10.  “For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect though sufferings.”
    The first thing to which our attention is naturally called, on looking at this verse, is the appellation here given to the Supreme Being.  He is styled, He, “for whom are all things, and by whom are all things.”  The expression, all things, is one as comprehensive as language can furnish.  It includes all beings and all events.  All beings and all events are for God; i.e., the ultimate reason why the one exist and the other occur, is the manifestation of the glories of His character.  All beings and all events are by God; i.e. the one exist, and the other occur, in consequence of His will—they all originate in His appointment and in His agency.  His glory is the end, His will is the law, of the universe.

There is a beautiful appropriateness in the descriptive appellations given to God in the inspired writings.  They have almost uniformly a peculiar reference to the statement in the course of which they occur.  When the Apostle prays that the Roman Christians may be “likeminded one towards another,” he addresses the prayer to “the God of all patience and consolation;”  when he speaks of spiritual illumination, he describes God as “Him who commanded the light to shine out of darkness.”  We see the same appropriateness in the appellation here given to the Divinity, as will appear more distinctly when we come to show how the dispensation here referred to had a congruity with the character of God as “Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things.”

    This glorious Being, in the exercise of His high sovereignty, had formed a purpose of mercy with respect to a large portion of the human race, all of whom had by sin forfeited every claim on His kind regard, and rendered themselves the fit objects of His judicial displeasure and moral disapprobation.  It was His determination to “bring many sons to glory.”    He “predestined them to the adoption of children,” having “chosen them before the foundation of the world.”  Though in any past age of the church they have formed a very small minority of mankind, yet, considered collectively, they are “a multitude which no man can number, out of every kindred, and people, and tongue and nation.”
    

John Brown, Hebrews Quote 2

Ver. 16  “For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels;  but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.”
The meaning of these words, as they stand in our English version, is sufficiently obvious:  ‘The Son of God assumed into connection with His divine nature, not the nature of angels, but the nature of man;  and He did so by becoming a descendant of Abraham.’  This is an important truth, but it does not appear to me to be the truth intended by the inspired writer.  A careful reader will notice that our translators have inserted a very important word—the nature—in the first clause of the verse, to bring out the sense;  which, indeed, would have been required to be repeated in the second clause--‘but He took on Him the nature  of the seed of Abraham,’ as the expression ‘seed of Abraham’ never in Scripture means anything but the descendants, either natural or spiritual, of that patriarch;  and, in strict accuracy, perhaps the words on HIm should have been marked as a supplement also.

The words as they stand in the original are:  “For verily He took not angels, but He took the seed of Abraham.”  The word rendered “took” never, in either sacred or profane writers, is used to signify, ‘to assume, or to put on;’  the ordinary and primary signification is, ‘to lay hold of.’  The sense given in our version, though conveying an important truth, does not well suit the context.  The words seem a reason assigned for the statement made in the 14th and 15th verses.  The leading statement there is, “Inasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also took part of the same.”  Now, surely the Apostle would never assign as the reason of this,  “For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but that of man;”—that were just to say ‘He became incarnate, for He became incarnate.’  It is not in this way that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews reasons, though his translators and interpreters have sometimes made him appear to reason so inconclusively.  (see note at bottom)
The real connection is:  ‘He assumed human nature, not angelic  nature;  for He is the Saviour not of angels, but of men.’  The word properly signifies ‘to lay hold of, to lay the hand on a person or thing.’  I may lay hold of a person for different and even opposite purposes.  I may lay hold of him to punish him.  I may lay hold of him to help