Please turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. If you were here on Wednesday night, this will be a bit of repetition, a bit of review. I think it's a very fitting portion of Scripture that demands attention from all of us.
Hebrews chapter 10, verses 19 to 25 is what we'll be focused on this morning. But I do want to begin reading in chapter 10 at verse 1. For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered.
For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when he came into the world, he said, Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I have come. In the volume of the book it is written of me to do your will, O God. previously saying, sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not desire, nor had pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law. Then he said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God.
He takes away the first, that he may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till his enemies are made his footstool.
For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. The Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after He had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put My laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write them. Then He adds, their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.
Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil that is His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Our Father, as we come to consider your word, we pray now for the ministry of your Holy Spirit. We acknowledge our absolute dependence upon you, Lord God. Jesus taught us that apart from him, we can do nothing. And we acknowledge that the reception of the Word of God is a spiritual work.
We know that flesh and blood did not reveal blessed truth to Simon Bar-Jonah, but Jesus Father who is in heaven. We pray even now, Lord God, that you would reveal things to us, that you would move us and shape us and conform us to your Word, conform us to your beloved Son. We ask that you would forgive us for all of our sin and unrighteousness, and for any here that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, We would pray that today would be the day of salvation, that You, by Your power and by Your sovereignty and in Your glory, God, You would bring forth sinners for the praise of Your great name and for the good of their never-dying souls. And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, here the main doctrinal section of this particular letter ends. It began in chapter 5 at verse 1, and it goes all the way to chapter 10, verse 18. And the primary emphasis in that section is on the priestly office of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have rightly observed, not us alone, but throughout the history of the church, that Jesus fulfills three offices for His people.
He is a prophet. That means He speaks to the people on behalf of God. He is a King, as is indicated here in Hebrews 10. He sits down at the right hand of the Majesty on High, where He must reign till all of His enemies are made His footstool.
As a King, He protects us. He defends us. He rules over us. And He governs us.
And then the other office that Christ fulfills is that of priest. And what a priest does is he goes to God on behalf of the people. And he goes to God on behalf of the people in two specific ways. The first is by sacrifice.
The priest does not come empty handed. Well, the glory of this letter to the Hebrews is that Christ is both priest and victim, that He is both the One who offers and the One who offered up Himself as a sacrifice for sinners. But then also the priest intercedes. He makes intercession for his people.
And in Hebrews 7, it indicates that Jesus always lives to make intercession for us. So chapters 5 to 10 are primarily dedicated to presenting Jesus as the great High Priest of the New Covenant. And then notice in verse 19, after engaging in this theology, He then says, therefore brethren, and He begins to apply all that He has taught. And this is a familiar pattern in the Scripture.
We have the doctrine of the cross, or the gospel, and then we have application. We often hear today that if we aren't doing those things that Jesus did, then we're in bad shape. And I would agree with that. Our Christianity has to be vibrant.
It has to be alive. It has to be moving. We have to love God and love our fellow man. But we also run the risk of trying to engage in application without first getting the doctrine.
Without first understanding Christ and Him crucified. Without first understanding just what the Gospel is all about. In the early part of the 20th century, this was called the Social Gospel Movement. The men involved in that, theologically liberal, were engaged in trying to remedy all of the evils in society. with this major defect.
They were trying to do it in their own strength and by their own power without being attached to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the author spends chapters 5-10 to set forth the glory of Jesus as priest. And we need to get that down if we're going to let our Christianity be biblical. If we're going to live in the manner by which God has called us.
When we look at chapter 10, verses 19-25, it is structurally parallel to what we've already seen in chapter 4. You may go back there. Chapter 4, verse 14, before he starts this explanation of the priestly office of Christ. He says in chapter 4, verse 14, seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Now notice what he wants us to do in this passage. Verse 14, let us hold fast our confession. Verse 16, let us therefore come boldly.
These are called exhortations. He wants his readers, he wants his audience to do something with the doctrine that they have received. But surrounding these exhortations are encouragement. Not only do these things, but think about these other things.
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God. He highlights the fact that Jesus is a sympathetic Savior in verse 15. These are the encouragements that we need to focus upon so that our Christian lives can be lived victoriously.
So that we can persevere the way God has called us. In other words, we need to keep an eye on the cross as we live the life of sanctification. And that is precisely what is in view in chapter 10, verses 19 to 25. There are three exhortations.
Very simple to understand. Notice in verse 22, let us draw near. Verse 23, let us hold fast. And verse 24, let us consider one another.
Those are the three exhortations. This is what the apostle wants from the church in light of the fact that Jesus is our High Priest. But before he gets to those exhortations, he's got two encouragements. That brings us beyond introduction to the message itself.
We have two encouragements and three exhortations this morning. Two encouragements. You need to think before you try to live the Christian life. Paul sets this forth very clearly in Romans 6.11.
He says, likewise, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Based on that gospel reality, he then says, therefore, do not let sin reign in your body. Do not present your instruments or your members of your body as instruments of unrighteousness. You see that?
The Gospel and what God has done to us and for us through the finished work of Jesus Christ is the power, the motivation, and the way that we comply with the biblical commands. If we reverse that, we engage in a works righteousness. We just try to let, let, let, and do, do, do without any virtue being drawn from the cross work of Christ. We're going to be frustrated, we're always going to be defeated, and we're going to show ourselves to be in bad shape.
So,
First Encouragement: Boldness to Enter
let's look at these two encouragements. The first is that we have boldness to enter the holiest. Now, when he sets forth these encouragements, he goes right to the heart. These are great things.
He says, therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Earlier, in this section, he has described the Old Testament worship system. Remember the tabernacle in the temple? It was a big rectangular building and there were two primary rooms.
The one room was the holy place, and the next room was the holy of holies, or what he calls here, the holiest. There was a veil separating these two rooms. Each and every day the priest went in to the holy place. But there was one day out of the year, the day of atonement, that the priest, or the high priest rather, went in to the holiest.
Went in to that most holy place, and it was for atonement. And hear what the author is saying to us. We currently, right now, constantly and continuously have boldness to enter into the presence of Almighty God. We don't have to wait for the high priest who shares our weaknesses.
We don't have to wait for the Levitical priesthood to come on that one day, that Yom Kippur. And to enter into that place, he says, having boldness. This is a continual and a perpetual possession that the believer in Christ has. You see how he's going to encourage you.
You already possess this. It's something that God, by virtue of Christ's finished work, has given to you. And so when he says to draw near, it's a no-brainer, brethren. You have that boldness.
You can enter in beyond the veil. You have One who is a forerunner that has preceded you. And He has granted to us bold access to the very throne of grace itself. So, Christian, when you feel this distance between you and God, it isn't God's fault.
It isn't God's problem. You are not acting consistent with what God has already given to you. Isn't this the admonition that James and Peter issued to us too? Draw near to God.
Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. How can we do that? Because we have boldness to enter the holiest, not because we're good, not because we've performed well, not because we've satisfied the law of God, but by the blood of Jesus. That's the access.
That's the way. That's the means to penetrate beyond that veil into the very presence of God Himself. That high priest on the Day of Atonement probably made four trips into the most holy place. He would bring the blood of another.
He would lay it on the mercy seat. He would come out. He would gather some more and go back in. But He didn't hang out there.
He didn't sit down there. He didn't chill out there. But rather, what we find is that Jesus has sat down. By virtue of His priestly office, we have access to that throne.
It's by His blood. Never for a moment think you have access to the Father because you performed well. Never think for a moment that you have access to the Father because you've done good. We must look at it like a reward sometimes.
Sometimes we treat the Lord's Supper like that. Well, I've been pretty good this week. I read my Bible every day. I was able to check off the list.
This is a fruit or a reward given for my obedient faith. No, it isn't. This is a visible reminder of God's grace meeting your sin. We have access into the presence of God by virtue of the blood of Jesus.
He says, by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us through the veil that is His flesh. That veil blocked access to the very presence of God. He speaks of Christ's flesh as being the means of access to the presence of God Himself. All those truths associated with Christ's first coming, His incarnation, His being born in a lowly state, His living a life of perfect obedience to the Father.
These are Jesus' words in Hebrews 10, verse 7. Behold, I have come. In the volume of the book it is written of Me to do Your will, O God. He was born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law.
He fulfilled it perfectly. Because we needed righteousness. We needed an alien righteousness. So Christ obeys the Father on our behalf.
Notice, it's a new, it's a living way. And it's been consecrated for us. Through the veil, that is His flesh.
Second Encouragement: A Great High Priest
And then the second encouragement is in having a high priest over the house of God. You see, the Apostle here is going to tell you what you need to do. He's going to tell you what you need to think about. Can I just say, by way of an aside, this is where most problems come in our lives as Christians.
We forget the cross. We're going to slug it out in our own strength. We're going to look at somebody and see how they perform so well. And we're going to do likewise.
But lo and behold, we never do likewise. We get frustrated. We get upset. We begin to doubt the very power of God.
Well, the primary issue is that we haven't first considered Christ. How do you live as a Christian without Christ? This isn't a system of morality. Well, there's morals to be sure.
There's duties to perform. But Christianity, first and foremost, isn't about an agenda. It is about belief. on the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is about the doing and the dying of the Savior.
The rising again. We need to get our minds wrapped around that. We need to be fully assured of what the Bible says concerning Jesus before we ever try to engage in these activities. And so he says, we have access to the presence of God.
And we have a High Priest over the house of God. Now for the sake of those who have not been with us, just rehearsing a few of the aspects of Christ's priestly ministry as set forth in Hebrews 5-10.
Christ's Priesthood Contrasted with Aaron
Christ is not like Aaron. Christ is not like Aaron. Remember Aaron, the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. He had to go into that holy place to make atonement first for His own sin.
And then for the sins of Israel. Jesus isn't like that. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the one alone in whom there is perfection.
He's not like Aaron. Chapter 6 tells us that He is of the priesthood of Melchizedek. That's why we sang Psalm 110 this morning. Psalm 110, given in the context of Old Covenant worship.
Given at a time when the tabernacle and the temple were in place, and there was a priesthood operative. When the high priest would go on the Day of Atonement, the people of Israel were taught, there's another priest coming. Not from the tribe of Levi, but of the order of Melchizedek. The author spends a great deal of time in chapter 7 showing us this reality.
Jesus is not from the tribe of Levi, but He is perfectly qualified and fit for the office of priesthood. Not only was He appointed to office, but according to Hebrews 7, He was appointed by oath. The others were born into it. If you were a Levite and you were born, you assume the office of priesthood.
Now, out of those Levites, some would ascend to the office of the high priesthood. Not so with Christ. He is placed in position by divine oath. Hebrews 5 all the way to chapter 10 tells us that He offered Himself as a once-for-all sacrifice that secures eternal redemption.
You might be wondering, why don't we just get to the practical here? Because if you don't get this, you're not going to do the practical. It's that simple. And if you do, it's not going to be Christian.
You might fit into the Kingdom Hall. You might fit into the Mormon Tabernacle. You might fit in with the Elk's Lodge or the Moose Lodge or the Rotary Club or the whoever. But in order to be a genuine Christian, you've got to be attached to the Christ of Calvary.
And that's why he spends so much time developing the priesthood. See, we sometimes get it all backwards. We come to the Bible and say, just tell me what I need to do. And while that is important, we need to know what to believe.
We need to understand first and foremost how we stand before the living God. It's not by virtue of our performance. It's by virtue of Christ's. Over and over again in this section, he highlights The perfect work of Christ.
Notice in Hebrews 5, 9. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. The author of eternal salvation. Not a partial.
Not a for today only and the rest is up to you. He secures eternal redemption according to Hebrews 9, 14. We see that He offered up Himself at Calvary, as I've already mentioned. Notice in verse 26 of chapter 7.
For such a high priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, and undefiled, separate from sinners." I think the implication is because we're so unholy, we're so full of harm, and we're so thoroughly defiled. We need one to answer to God on our behalf who is the exact opposite. He is fitting for us because we're so bad. He is fitting for us because God is so glorious and demands absolute perfection.
So Jesus provides that. It says in verse 27, "...who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the people's. For this he did once for all when he offered up himself." That's repeated several times from here on out to chapter 10. Once for all.
See, we don't come at the Lord's Supper and re-crucify the Son of God. We come to remember God's grace. Later in Hebrews 10, He's going to say, in those sacrifices associated with the Old Covenant cult, there is a reminder of sins daily. You know what the Lord's Supper is?
It's a reminder of God's grace. The author wants you to think of your priest. Not the man who sits in a box that you go and tell your sins to. But the man enthroned at the right hand of the Majesty on high, who is not only king and prophet, but is priest.
He not only wears a crown and wears the prophet's mantle, but he is both victim and sacrifice in that grand act of calvary on your behalf. Brethren, get your minds wrapped around that. Let's just suppose for a moment you were out somewhere and you saw somebody who professed to be a Christian do something wrong. You might conclude, what manner of Christian is he or she?
They did something wrong. Might be a good conclusion. Might be a horrible conclusion. You don't know that they repented.
You don't know that they sought God's mercy. You don't know that they sought God's forgiveness. But how often do we meet professing Christians that couldn't give even the barest simplest explanation of what transacted at Calvary. We've become performance-based.
As long as you do what we think you ought to do, you're a good Christian. But you can't define justification by faith alone. You don't have any inkling whatsoever of blood atonement. You don't understand what Luther called the great exchange?
My sin heaped upon the Savior, and Him punished in my behalf, and His righteousness heaped upon the believing sinner. Why do we accept that? Because you see, we don't think doctrine is that important. Jesus thought it was important.
He said to the Pharisees in His own day, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. Paul and Silas said to the Philippian jailer, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And in order to actually comply with biblical commands, we need to wrap our minds around the gospel. Gospel influence, gospel enable.
Peter T. O'Brien commenting on the Hebrews 7 text said, by contrast with the old covenant priesthood, Christ offered the definitive and ultimate sacrifice of himself once for all. He did not make an offering for himself, but of himself for the sake of others. A lot of good theology in that message.
He didn't offer up sacrifice for himself, but of himself for the sake of others. Jesus, according to this section, is the surety of a better covenant. Hebrews 7 and verse 22. Jesus is the surety of the better covenant which provides a better hope, and the mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises.
First Exhortation: Draw Near
So go back to Hebrews 10. The apostle is calling you here to consider these two blessed facts, that you have boldness to enter the holiest, and that you have such a high priest over the house of God. Now, what's he say for us to do? The first is this, verse 22, let us draw near.
With a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. I mentioned Paul as the author of Hebrews. There's a lot of debate concerning this. I think he is.
For various reasons that we have rehearsed throughout Bible study on Wednesday night. If you disagree, well, that's just the way it goes. But something that you do notice here is something very Pauline. The Pauline triad.
Faith, hope, love. Isn't that what Paul's about? Faith, hope, love. Isn't that what he says in 1 Corinthians 13?
Faith, hope, love. Let us draw near, he says, with a true heart in full assurance of faith. We need to believe the message. We need to believe the gospel.
We need to understand certain truths concerning Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Christianity is a message. Christianity must be believed. Christianity is a truth that we must, by the grace of God, wrap our minds around.
But by virtue of that reality, draw near. Why do we live so far from God if we have access? Imagine sitting in the most holy place saying, boy, I'd sure like to go into the most holy place. How come only the high priest gets to once a year?
Almost like, dude, you're in the holy place. You're there. Look around you. You ever been in that debate with an evolutionist?
Where is the proof that God made the world? What else do you need? Look at that. Make one of those.
Make this. Let's see evolution do that. Well, the very proof that we have access to God is what the Scripture testifies concerning Jesus. What happened at Calvary?
Remember that veil was rent asunder? What's the lesson that we are to take from that? There is access to the Father through the blood of Jesus. We have access through His flesh, through His great redemptive act, which culminated in His blood shedding at Calvary.
Let us draw near, he says. Christian, there's no reason for you to live in the ghetto. There's no reason for you to live out there. Remember, we learned something about the lizard last week.
The lizard is found in king's palaces. There's a certain holy ambition there. The spider. We all hate spiders.
We want to get rid of them. But the spider ends up in the king's palaces. We need to be more like that spider. We have this access.
It is a perpetual and a continual disposition. Let's use it.
The Means of Drawing Near
How do we draw near? Do we go sit on top of Mount Sham and just close our eyes and hum? Is it all mystical? Is it all based on my feeling?
How do we draw near? That Bible in your lap ought to be in your head and heart. Prayer ought not to be neglected. As you'll go on in a few moments to say, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.
These are the means by which we draw near to God. I'm not saying you can't sit on top of Mount Shem and have a beautiful, relational, worshipful time with God. You can do that. God can visit you in a powerful way while you're mowing the lawn.
Generally speaking, though, we find Him in the Word. We find Him in the preached Word. We find Him in the prayer closet. When you pray, go into your closet.
The Father who sees in secret Why all the admonitions in the Scripture to use these things? Because that's where God is. Draw near, He says. Don't make peace with being far from God.
This is a reality that can happen to Christians because we're lazy, or because we love our sin, or because we just get in a rut, or we just get complacent. We begin to accept this great distance. We might say things like, well, when I was first converted, boy, I was really on fire for the Lord. As if it's okay not to be on fire for the Lord now.
You know that Paul was probably a Christian for about 30 years when he wrote Philippians 1.21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Fire burning out there. Why? Because he made it his aim to seek the Lord. to use the means, to read his Bible, to pray, to be along with other believers.
Draw near, he says, with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. These are truths already enacted. Look back at chapter 9, verse 12. Chapter 9, verse 12, Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? You draw near by virtue of Christ's work at Calvary. You don't draw near because you deserve it. You don't draw near because you've earned it.
Let me just tell you flat out, brethren, we're not on a barter system with God. We'll always lose. Every single time. We don't have enough assets to outdo the liabilities.
We'll always come up short. God demands perfect obedience. He got that in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you draw near, it's through blood.
Just like in the old covenant, those things were cleansed through the sprinkling of blood. You don't enter into the presence of God without blood. Just reading a book this week, and the man mentioned how... I'm going to actually mention the book a few more times as we move on this morning.
But the man mentioned how he had some experience with a pastor who was dealing with a person in his church that was a cutter. A cutter, somebody who cuts themselves. They're depressed, or they have issues, they have problems, and they think that somehow in the shedding of this blood, their problems are going to go away. The pastor was able to say, oh, there's blood necessary, but it isn't yours.
It's the sprinkling of the blood of the new covenant. That's where there's power. That's how you draw near to God. Your conscience, your body, everything, the totality is cleansed.
Some see here a reference to water baptism. I don't think so. Calvin and Gill both identify this cleansing of the body as the influence of the Holy Spirit of God Most High. In fact, Calvin says, what follows, our bodies washed with pure water is generally understood of baptism, but it seems to me more probable that the apostle alludes to the ancient ceremonies of the law.
And so by water he designates the Spirit of God according to what is said by Ezekiel, I will sprinkle clean water upon you, the entirety, your body, your soul, Everything has been taken care of through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, draw near. Don't stay away. Remember that veil that blocked access to the most holy place was only penetrated once a year.
Not so in the New Covenant. You can live off with the Lord. This isn't mysticism. It's not humming.
It's using the means that God has ordained and drawing near to Him.
Second Exhortation: Hold Fast
Secondly, we need to hold fast our confession. Notice verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. This isn't new. I believe one of the reasons that the book of Hebrews was written, because there was a lot of pressure put on Jewish Christians, those who believed the gospel.
They were being tempted, they were being lambasted, they were being pressed to go back to the old covenant ceremonies. They're being told, hey, the temple's still there, the sacrifices are still being rendered. You're being disobedient. You need to go back to that way.
So what's the apostle do? No. Hold fast. Don't go backwards.
Go forwards. Continue on with Jesus. In Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3 at verse 6.
It says, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Verse 14, for we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. And then in chapter 4, verse 14, we already saw it. Let us hold fast our confession.
We need to do so without wavering. It means you need to believe the Bible. You don't question it. You presuppose it.
It is true. It is axiomatically true. It is God speaking to you in this book. Don't question.
Some of you young people, some of you children, you hear all these new religions, all these philosophies, you start to question the Bible. What about this? What about that? Take it from those who, by God's grace, are in the faith.
Just believe what God says. Life will be much better. Much, much better. We need to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.
That could be both subjective and objective. Hold fast the confession of our hope. That means persevere by God's grace in the faith. Don't give up.
Don't give in. Don't stop. It's called a perseverance. Yes, there's going to be trials in your Christian lives.
Yes, there's going to be difficulties in your Christian lives. Yes, there's going to be issues in your Christian life. Didn't the Master speak to this? He said, in this world, you're going to just have joy and happiness and nobody's going to mess with you.
You're just going to sing zippity-doo-dah right on into heaven. There'll be bluebirds flying around your head. There'll be rose petals on the ground. Your foot will never have to touch this filthy earth because God's just going to waft you away.
In this world, you will have tribulation. The language, the tribulation in view there, the flipsis is the idea of something in a vice. You guys that, you know, the garage is your shrine. You all got a vice there.
You put it in there and you crank it. And what happens? The pressure holds it in place. In this world, you will have that.
You will have pressure. You will have tribulation. You will have trial. I learned early on, even in a non-Christian family, life isn't fair.
Asaph learned this according to Psalm 73. I looked at the wicked and they prospered. I looked at the righteous and they had nothing but problems. You will have tribulation.
What's the Master going to say? But be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Dare I say that's what the book of Revelation is all about?
It is the tribulation of this world while the Master is enthroned on high, granting grace, spirit, power to His church to persevere in the midst of it. Hold fast. What are you going to do? Let go?
Stop being a Christian? Go back on to hell? There could be an objective sense here as well. Hold fast your confession without wavering.
Don't compromise doctrine. I think this is very important for a day and age like our own, where people want to compromise doctrine for the sake of unity. Love rejoices in truth, not in unity without truth. Don't compromise.
Hold fast without wavering. If everybody else is doing this in the name of Jesus, that doesn't make it right. When did truth ever become democratic?
Truth Is Not Democratic
There's a perfect illustration of this in the Old Testament. There's a prophet by the name of Elijah. And he is the one man who is maintaining faithfulness in the midst of gross idolatry. It's interesting, Ahab calls him the troubler of Israel.
Ahab's put more trouble into Israel than perhaps any other king. And he calls Elijah the troubler of Israel. Well, he had about 850 prophets, false prophets, against Elijah. Do we side with the crowd?
Do we side with the mob? Do we side with those who cut themselves and who bleed on themselves and engage in a frenzy to call upon their God? Or do we look to the one man who says, I believe in Jehovah. I believe in Yahweh of Israel.
That He will consume this sacrifice and He will do it for His own glory. Brethren, truth is not democratic. It is not popular to hold certain truths today. In fact, in the world of ideas, you can hold just about anything except that intolerant, bigoted religion of Christ.
I mean, how dare anybody ever exclude anybody else from the Kingdom of Heaven? Well, Jesus excludes people from the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus says, depart from me for I never knew you. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me. Brethren, we need to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Now notice the reason. Not because we're good holders fast, but because God is faithful.
For he who promised is faithful. Don't doubt that. Don't discount that. Don't think there's a better way to approach God.
Don't think that your innovations, don't think that your additions or your substitutions or your subtractions somehow enhance the biblical message. God is a sovereign God. God is engaged in saving those whom He has purposed. We need to be faithful to the Word that He has entrusted to us.
Third Exhortation: Consider One Another
And then the third exhortation. Those two are more vertical in nature. Let us draw near. Let us hold fast.
Now he tells us to look to the horizontal. Let us consider one another. It's interesting, back in Hebrews 3.1, he uses the same verb, consider Jesus. Now he says, consider others.
This is a powerful tonic and a powerful remedy to what is an otherwise selfish life. I don't mean to offend your delicate sensitivities today, but I suspect you're selfish. I suspect you're proud. I suspect you're arrogant.
I think that very often we think no further than our own noses. Not just you, I'm there too. You know the old saying, you got one finger pointed out, you got three back? This is the perennial, annual, constant issue for the Christian, to be others-minded.
Let us consider one another. You have access to God. You have a great high priest over the house of God, not so that you could be a selfish, proud, arrogant wretch, but that you may draw near to God. That you may hold fast the confession of your hope without wavering.
And that you may consider others Look around you. There's more in this world than you. A man has well observed that when they finally do find the center of the universe, a lot of people are going to be shocked to realize that they're not it. Consider others.
Think about someone else. Stir others up to love and good works. When you wake up in the morning, do you come to church because you know you're going to get blessed? Or because you can be a means of blessing to others?
Are you going to talk to somebody perhaps you haven't spoken to for a while? Are you going to try and encourage someone? Are you going to love someone? It's not the Lord's Day.
You missed that particular person. Go to prayer on their behalf the next day. Let us consider one another. Do all your prayers terminate on you?
Do all your prayers end with you? Do you come to God with both hands outstretched so that you have more? Is there a place in your prayer closet for others? Men, do you pray for your wives?
Do you pray for your children? Children, do you pray for your parents? Wives, do you pray for your husbands? Do we as the church pray for the governing authorities according to 1 Timothy 2?
Something I've observed, it's a lot easier to complain about the civil government than it is to pray for them. You know what we're told in the Bible to do, though? Not to complain about them, but to pray for them. It's interesting, even the letter to the exiles in Babylon, pray for the peace of the city that you're in.
They're living in Babylon, under pagan rule, in the exile of God, and God's word to them is, pray for the peace of that city. God forbade them to flee to Egypt. You carry through with the punishment that I'm inflicting. In fact, those who did go to Egypt, God said, I'm sending Nebuchadnezzar, my servant.
He's going to grab you exiles from Judah and he's going to take you to Babylon. Brethren, we need to pray. Encourage. Love one another.
Stir one another up to love and good works. We ought not to promote sin in each other. We ought not to promote the worst in each other. Hey, I'm going to do this because I know it really makes my dad mad.
Yay! I'm going to do this because I know it just irritates my kid. I know my wife hates this, so I'm going to do this. What is that?
That's not Bible. That's sin. We need to stir one another up to love and good works. He gives a negative and then a positive.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but rather exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching. We talked about this on Wednesday night. You and I all love something.
What do we do for that object that we love? We get near it. We like to be around it. We hopefully love our wives, so we want to spend time with them.
We hopefully love our husbands, so we want to spend time with them. We love our children, so we want to spend time with them. We love our parents, so we want to spend time with them. I think that's the thrust of this exhortation, not forsaking the assembly of yourselves together.
If you don't come to church, what's that say? It might indicate that you don't love the brethren. And if you don't love your brother whom you have seen, how can you love God whom you haven't seen? Philip Hughes comments, selfishness and divisiveness go hand in hand.
For self-love breeds the spirit of isolationism. He who does not love his fellow Christians fervently from the heart feels no compelling need to associate himself with them. You don't really love the people. Sure, you're not going to miss anything, not being there.
This is a tough passage, I must admit. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. There's two extremes. On the one hand, this text has been marshaled to teach, you need to show up every time I tell you to show up.
I'm the pastor, we're the elders, here's what we say, you need to jump through the hoops. It's been used as a method of control. That's one extreme. Hey, the church is going to play bocce balls on Friday night, and if you're not there, you're forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, and you are just wicked.
That's a misuse of the text. That's to put it in the vice and say, say it! Say it! I want you to say it!
But on the other hand, the very allusion to this text means you work for Religion, Inc. And you love to control people. And how dare you ever tell anybody that they ought to come to church? How dare you?
Religion, Inc. You're a bad man. You like control. You want all those people to just show up and to give and to do what you say.
Well, brethren, somewhere between those two extremes, we can apply this command. We're going to be in each other's presence, even though we're not perfect. John Owen made a very perceptive observation on this text. He says, you need to remember that perfection, freedom from offense, scandal and ruinous evils is not to be expected in any church in this world.
What's he saying? There's no perfect church. God wants you to be in imperfect churches. God knows that everybody around you is messed up.
God knows that everyone around you has issues. God knows that your elders are jacked up. Your deacon, messed up. God knows this, and yet He says, you need to be with one another.
You get funky and weird when you isolate yourself. You get strange. You've all met them. People say, oh, I believe in Jesus, but I don't need the church.
Yes, you do. We need to bump into each other. We need to pair off those rough edges. We need the camaraderie.
We need the exhortation. We need the reproof, even though it's sometimes difficult to take. We need to be in the presence of other believers. Proverbs 18.1 says, A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire.
He rages against all wise judgment. God didn't save you so that you could go lay on your couch and enjoy Christ's redemptive work and just slide on into heaven. He saved you so that you can come into local churches. You can try and identify needs.
You can try to encourage people. You can try and stir one another up to love and good deeds. You can pray for the people. You can love the people.
You can just be there. I said on Wednesday night, pastors don't need emails and flowers and cards. Just show up. Beautiful.
Beautiful. Just show up. Oh, you're lowering the bar. You know what?
Just showing up is a great means of encouragement. I've got to confess, my bar has been somewhat lowered over the years, and I hope it's more aligned to the Bible. I'm not suggesting that the Bible has a low bar. It's just we peg super-spiritualism as something that the Bible doesn't.
The Bible is a lot more realistic document than we sometimes are. So this is what Paul says to us. You've got all these encouragements. Here's what I want you to do.
Oh man, here he comes. Duty. Yeah, this is horrible, isn't it? Draw near to God.
I'm being facetious, kids. Draw near to God. That is a blessed privilege. Hold fast the confession of our hope.
Getting to align ourselves with the reformers and the Puritans and the martyrs of the past. What greater and more nobler thing could there be? Spurgeon said the Bible is a blood-soaked book. Not just the blood of Jesus, but the blood of martyrs and confessors and reformers.
What better thing than to stand in the heritage of those godly men and hold fast our confession of hope without wavering? And then to consider one another? To love in good words? To look out at somebody else for a change?
There's, as I said, a great tonic in that. You know what's one of the best things when you're depressed? Go serve someone else. Get your mind off of you.
The mind will occupy you constantly. Go serve someone else.
The Cross-Centered Life Applied
This text highlights what C.J. Mahaney calls in a current book, living the cross-centered life. Yes, you need to do these things, but it's under the very shadow of Calvary itself. Live a cross-centered life.
I just want to recommend that book. It's a little brief book. Very good. Living the Cross-Centered Life.
He says when we focus on the gospel, it guards us from three problems that often happen to Christians. We're coming to a close. I know it's hot. I realize that.
Do you know how hot it is in here? Yes, I do. I really do. Three things focusing on the cross will avoid, or hopefully.
Three Errors the Cross Guards Against
One is emotionalism. We gauge our spiritual vitality by how we feel. That's wrong. You know what, brethren?
You're not always going to feel great. Look at Psalm 42 and 43. Why art thou downcast, O my soul? Hope thou in God.
Look at Paul. He had a thorn in the flesh. He says, I prayed three times for the Lord to remove it. He didn't say, I went out and said, yippee-ki-yay, I've got the thorn in the flesh.
There is pain in this world. You will have tribulation. There's loss. There's suffering.
There's trial. Because I feel bad, my relationship with God is severed? No. Hopefully, secondly, it keeps us from the real live issue of what's called legalism.
Rest assured, brethren, when you stand before God on Judgment Day, it is not what your hands have done that can save your guilty soul. You need to take the hymn that says, Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. You need to look to that cross. Foul I to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die.
There is not a one of us who will ever stand before God and God will say, well, that is really excellent. That you performed well, you've done thus, you added circumcision to your profession, you've engaged well, well done. No. It is by virtue of Christ's finished work.
We saw that in Galatians 2.21 a few weeks ago. If righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. And the third thing that living a cross-centered life will hopefully keep us from is this perpetual condemnation. We think it sounds pious to say, I'm so sinful, I'm so bad.
It's unbelief if we aren't fleeing to the cross. I'm not saying you're flippant. I'm not saying you dance around because you're such a great sinner. I'm not saying that.
You're not supposed to continue in sin that grace may abound. to some people that haven't gotten a hold of the reality of the virtue of Christ's blood. That's not piety. That's unbelief. You're walking around constantly in a state of condemnation.
You need to go to the cross. You need to go to Calvary. You need to say, fowl, I to the fountain, for I washed me Saviour, I die. You need to hear Paul's words in Romans chapter 8, verse 1.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I always think of the example of the prophet Isaiah. Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of unclean lips.
God deals with his sin, and then the triune God says, Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Here am I. Send me.
Not us. Well, I've got to wait three hours, Lord, to make sure I really feel this forgiveness. I've got to wait 15 hours, Lord, to make sure I really read my Bible and I respond properly. Here am I.
Send me, says Isaiah. He receives the forgiveness of sins and he acts upon it. It's not pious and godly to walk around saying, oh, I'm such a wretch. There are seasons, there are occasions, there are times when it's perfectly acceptable to say, oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?
But you need to keep on. Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus our Lord. You need to believe the gospel. You need to believe in the blood of Christ.
You need to believe that it cleanses us from all sin.
Application: The Gospel Call
And if you are here this morning, you haven't followed a word I've said, this might be the first thing I hope and pray you'll understand this day. You are a sinner, like us all. You have offended God in every point, like us all. You have been like a sheep that has gone astray, like us all.
But God sent His Son to live in obedience to His law, to die as a sacrifice, and to rise again. The good news, the Gospel says, believe on Him and you will receive forgiveness of sins. That is great news. That is magnificent news.
That is the most excellent thing you or I will ever hear. Not go out and do better, but flee to the One alone, save sinners from their sins. Please, listen. Please understand, please know, there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ the Lord.
You believe on Him, you believe what the Bible says, and you will be saved. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank You for Your Word and we thank You for the encouragements that we have to live the Christian life. And I pray that we would take these things to heart, that we would consider this access that we have into the holiest, that we would consider this high priest over the house of God, and that, Father, You would grant us the grace and the power of Your Holy Spirit to draw near to You, to hold fast our confession, and to stir one another up to love and good works. We ask that You would go with us now. We pray that You would watch over us the remainder of this day.
We ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.