Wrap-up from Sept. 27, 2009

One goal toward which I wish to strive this year in our class is to be less predictable.  To this end, expect the unexpected.  No - not in the matters of our non-negotiable commitment to Scripture and to Christ and his kingdom.  However, the means we use to learn about them can be varied and creative, even as the Scripture itself demonstrates.

Rather then post a discussion question for our forum, I want us to take up again the issue of the authority of the Scripture.  One of our small groups spent some time thinking about the attacks on the reliability of the New Testament documents by certain unnamed prominent persons (see a prior post), and thankfully seemed quite unshaken by the wag-tongues.  Let us spin the positive direction now.

Few people of history have championed the authority of Scripture more forcefully and influentially than John Calvin, whose birth occurred a half-century ago this year.  Here is an excellent presentation of the crux of Calvin's high view of Scripture.  The speaker is Doug Wilson, a person you should know as one of the leading thinkers of the church (those words do fit in the same sentence).  If you listen to this challenging address, you can forego any blogging this week.  (You have proven that you can forego blogging without any excuse, as well.)

What was the destiny of the Exodus generation?

Into what eternal destiny did the millions of people of the Exodus generation pass?  We know explicitly that God condemned them all to die in the wilderness prior to entering the promised land, due to their unbelief.  Can we be as confident about their eternal destiny?  Does the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews want these considerations to be brought before our eyes, and into our thoughts, as he bases an extended hortatorical (that is, exhorting) section on exactly their example?  Does the impact of the example depend upon the answers we give to the questions we have asked?

It is easy to multiply questions, as well as shallow answers.  Let us together think deeply about this topic, since the author of scripture, and by implication the divine inspiring Spirit, considered it to be so important that they dwelt on it in an extended passage.  What we must not do is to pass by without letting the impact of the section work its intended fruit in our lives.

I'm really not all that into this Exodus stuff.

One of our small groups will present their researches into this subject.  We will specifically see what the group has to say before your more-or-less esteemed moderator interjects his two cents into the discussion.  (Well, actually, it may be more like two quarters or even dollars.)

It is so valuable to develop the habit of posing questions to the Biblical text.  There is so much depth there, just waiting to be plumbed (plummed? meringued?).  If we just float around on the surface of scripture, we will never sample the riches and nutrition in the ecosystem down below.  (This last sentence serves as an example of a seriously mixed metaphor for you home-schooling mothers.)

We pride ourselves on not going too deep in this church!

Just to whet your appetite, here is a link to an excellent sermon on this generation by none other than the redoubtable Spurgeon ["The Census of Israel"].  This sermon represents a fine example of creativity, motivated by a census of Britain then underway.  As always, you can pick up any ten of Spurgeon's sermons, and you will conclude that nine of them are better than any others you have ever read.

Fool's Gold - preview of class on September 20, 2009

All that glisters is not gold;

Often have you heard that told.

Many a man his life hath sold

But my outside to behold.

Gilded tombs do worms enfold.

Thus did the great bard emphasize the deceptive appearance of so many of the treasures to which people of the world aspire. Pyrite ("Fool's Gold") looks like the real thing but lacks the value of genuine gold. Apparently some people have been fooled into thinking it was actually gold. (Can anyone explain why gold is considered to have such value?)

Our text in Hebrews 3:13 compares the allurement of sin to that of pyrite - it deceives its victim by an appearance of value that it does not truly possess. When all is said and done, the brief excitement or pleasure of the sin evaporates, leaving the sinner with only the inevitable consequences: "the wages of sin is death".

Things are not always as they seem to be.

One of our small groups will be considering the deceitfulness of sin.  It is crucial that we - as a committed group of Christian believers - learn to fight against this deceitfulness, and that we help each other in this fight (Heb 3:13).  One means of overcoming deceit is, of course, to expose its real truth.

Nice people do not try to fool others!

How do we help each other in this life-long battle?  Perhaps if it were easy, we would all be doing it more consistently.  Somehow, we must overcome the cultural inertia of individualism and apathy and consider ourselves to be seriously engaged in a real battle, with real winners and losers.  Another of our small groups will be glad to help us in this matter.

 Don't take the battle seriously - we'll just clean things up afterwards.

Summary of our class of September 13, 2009 - Heb 3:7-14

Question for discussion

There are always doubters, but we can all agree that more attacks, more venom, and more of the world's hatred is directed against Jesus Christ, his gospel, and the Bible than any other potential religious target.

Our discussion topic this week consists of two related issues: (1) Do you agree with the statement above? (2) If so, why might it be true? Does scripture itself give an answer to this question?

Let the comments fly.

Work groups from our class on September 13, 2009

We have been divided into four groups that will explore topics related to the apostacy example of the Exodus generation, and its relevance to us today. The groups will work on these topics next week and present the results of their investigations in the following week.

Group 1. Psalm 95 exercise. (1) Find differences between Ps 95 as in the Hebrew Old Testament and as quoted in Hebrews 3:7ff from the Septuagint version. (2) Does the fact that these differences exist interact with the doctrine of the inspiration of scripture? (3) How is the attitude of the New Testament writers toward prior scripture different from the attitude of Bart Ehrman? (Hint: Did they possess the original manuscripts? How did they view differences between manuscripts/translations?)

Group 2. How can professing Christian believers demonstrate an evil, unbelieving heart today? Brainstorm some specific signals. How can we obey Heb 3:13 in such cases? How might the person react?

Group 3. Discuss the "deceitfulness" of sin. What does this mean? How can we counteract it? From our lesson text, find two characteristics of the hardening of heart displayed by the Exodus generation. Do we perhaps do the same?

Group 4. Investigate the important question: Were the individuals in the Exodus generation eternally lost, or merely a typical example? What evidence exists in scripture?

Preview of class September 13, 2009

In this week's class, we will re-orient ourselves to our position in the text of Hebrews 3:7-14 using the first word therefore to summon up the context, and then begin to examine the quotation from Psalm 95. This quotation is taken from the Septuagint (Greek translation) version of the Old Testament, and displays some differences from the Hebrew version. We will use this fact to bring up the significant doctrine of the inspiration of the Holy Scripture, and discuss at least one current attack against this doctrine.

Bart Ehrman, a leading textual critic scholar, has publically questioned the reliability of the New Testament manuscript tradition. Many of us in the church watched his recent debate with James White. While we cannot address the issues in complete depth in Sunday School - and frankly we are not fully qualified to interact with the scholarly issues involved - we will see an enlightening contrast between Ehrman's view of the trustworthiness of prior scripture and the view of the authors of the New Testament. We will also highlight Ehrman's fatal inference that leads from his historical knowledge to his stated position of unbelief.

We are told in the text that we are to exhort each other daily to avoid the hardening of sin. Last year we admitted that we do not obey this text very well. Practice makes perfect! Prepare yourselves for some creative role playing.

All this and more. Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday...

Welcome to CCC Sunday School, 2009-2010

Friends -

Let me welcome back both returning and new participants to the adult/family Sunday school class at Clarkson Community Church! We are now entering into the fourth year of our study of the book of Hebrews under the theme "The Supremacy of Christ". We will pick up the study with the passage in Hebrews 3:7-3:14 whose content focuses on our absolute requirement to remain stedfast and faithful to our trust and commitment to Christ and his gospel so that we do not fall into the fatal error of an evil and unbelieving heart.

The Christian Church has always held to the necessity of perseverance in the faith as a distinguishing characteristic of genuine - that is, saving - faith. Certainly the author of our text held to that view! Unfortunately, there are today some schools of theology that downplay the importance of perseverance. The biblical text will guard us from embracing this error provided that we let it speak to us powerfully and authoritatively. It forces us to consider the apostacy of an entire generation of people who had experienced the signal deliverances and power of God in an undeniable manner, and yet still fell away from God due to unbelief.

I expect that we will experience some new and engaging aspects of learning and growing together during the 2009-2010 year, of which this blog and online forum will be one. All members and visitors of our class and church can posts comments, questions, and other discussion here. I will of course monitor things and ensure civility, politeness, and other requisite virtues. I invite all persons who participate at CCC to join us on this in-depth journey through the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is universally regarded as one of the grandest and most important portions of the entire New Testament.