Ceaseless Love

July 7, 2024 Background Scripture: Lamentations 3:16 - 24; Psalm 30; Jeremiah 52:1 - 30 Lesson Passage: Lamentations 3:16 - 24 Psalm 30 is David's song of praise to the Lord for His deliverance of him from an illness that he thought would be terminal. After his recovery, David declared his praise for the Lord and called for others to do the same. In Psalm 30, David described an interesting characteristic of God's divinity: God's anger is short-lived, but His favor lasts forever. That is good news for mankind! This means that those who put their trust in the Lord may find occasion to shed tears, but they can be assured that God will turn their crying into happiness. This knowledge of God's favor was invaluable to future generations of Israel long after David's death. They would suffer greatly because of being led by wicked kings who would turn their backs on the Lord. The prophet Jeremiah recorded the atrocities that befell the nation of Israel at the hands of the Babylonians. Jeremiah wrote the book that bears his name along with the Book of Lamentations. Those books depict some of the darkest days in the nation of Israel's history. Jerusalem was the seat of Israel’s human government and the ceremonial location of its divine governance because of the Temple. The Temple was an integral part of Israel's religion. A nation is in great distress when its capitol city is destroyed. The political leaders of the nation spend much time there if it is not their place of residence. Jeremiah recorded an eyewitness account of the Babylonian siege and destruction of Israel's capitol city of Jerusalem. The temple Solomon dedicated to the Lord and the king's house were both burned. All the houses of Israel 's leaders were burned. The Temple specifically and the city of Jerusalem in general were plundered as spoils of war. All the religious artifacts and the precious metal were taken to Babylon. Many of the Jewish leaders were killed and many of the Jews were taken into captivity as slaves. Some of the poor were left to tend the vineyards and fields. The walls of the city were broken down and burned. At this low point, Jeremiah recalled God's faithfulness--perhaps because of meditating on the Psalms of David. The Psalms declare that God is too merciful to allow His people to perish. God's love for His people is renewed continuously. In suffering at the hands of the Babylonians, Israel was receiving the just reward for her trespasses against the Lord. However, the Lord's character is not changed although His people's behavior is abhorrent to Him. This is the seed of hope within every child of God. This is the stuff God's grace consists of. No one is deserving of the Lord's mercy. No one is deserving of the Lord's kindness towards us because of our wayward behavior. Yet, God is faithful because His favor lasts forever despite the wickedness of His children. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean one? God is the only one who can do it. Only God can remake us into His own image. God's love never fails. His love is not motivated by any goodness or righteousness on our part. God's love for us is motivated by the many needs we have. God's greatest display of love was not a response to some great act of humanity. God's greatest display of love was prompted by mankind's greatest need. Our sin had separated us from God and destined us to eternal damnation. We needed to be saved from our sin. Nothing else God did would have mattered if He had chosen to leave us in our sin. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. It is the unfailing love of God that we celebrate in this lesson. Robert C. Hudson June 26, 2024

Full Assurance

June 23, 2024 Background Scripture: Hebrews 6:9 - 20 Lesson Passage: Hebrews 6:9 - 20 There are many unanswered questions about the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is not critically clear who the author is or to whom it was addressed. There are not enough clues within it to support or eliminate any specific person or group. Many of the subjects addressed in it are similar to those addressed by the Apostle Paul in the epistles credited to him. Assuming most congregations at that time faced similar situations, that would place the time of the writing around the middle of the first century. The initial evangelistic work was to Jewish communities. Therefore, the Christian church began as congregations of Jews with Jewish leaders. Much of the presentation in this epistle uses the Old Testament writings as the basis. That certainly supports the thought that the letter was addressed to Jewish Christians who would have been familiar with the Old Testament writings. Furthermore, the author encouraged the recipients to continue to mature as Christians without becoming discouraged by the challenges they faced in their society. Two of the teachings of the Old Testament were used to persuade them. First was the matter of how debates were settled by the patriarchs—or at least how they reached a point of agreement. It occurred when one of them took an oath. That solemn act of basing their commitment on something greater than themselves satisfied the other party. Secondly, the writer used the example of Abraham waiting for God to fulfill His promise to him. God vowed an oath to Abraham based on Himself. God's word and His being became the assurance that He would perform that He had promised Abraham. Because of God's oath, Abraham waited patiently for twenty-five years for the fulfillment of God's promise. Abraham had no reason to doubt the promise would be fulfilled because God vowed an oath that was based on His very person. God's oath is His guarantee. Christians also have God's oath concerning our salvation in Jesus. God has placed all hope of salvation in Jesus to all who put their faith in Him. Despite the challenges a Christian might face, God's oath gives an undying hope that anchors our souls. It was important that the first century Christians understood this. Many of the Hebrew Christians in the first centi11Y faced persecution from their community as well as from the Gentile political leaders. They needed something to help them survive those challenges without them giving up. Our challenges of today are often pacified by the hope we have for a future that is free of such challenges. Where there is hope, there is a clear determination to get through, or beyond the present difficulties. Our topic today is derived from Verse 1 1 of our Lesson Passage that mentions "full assurance of hope". A person without hope can be liken to a ship on a stormy sea without a rudder or sail. The conditions of the sea will toss the ship in seemingly random directions while the storm lasts. The ship's last resort of self-control is its anchor. The anchor provided enough drag to stabilize it. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews refers to the hope in Christians as an anchor of the soul. The unfriendly environment that Christians faced in the first century' became the storms they had to endure. The writer of this epistle reminded them of the anchor God had provided to give them full assurance of the hope that was within them. They couldn't adjust their sails or steer a rudder, but they could drop their anchor, which is the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. This hope allowed them to survive those storms. Robert C, Hudson June 6, 2024