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Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Our focus 
will be on verses 19 to 25, but I want to read beginning in verse 
19 to the end of the chapter. Hebrews 10 beginning in verse 
19. 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 and 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. 
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge 
of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 
but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation 
which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' 
law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, 
do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son 
of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which 
he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 
For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the 
Lord. And again, the Lord will judge 
his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God. But recall the former days in which, after you were 
illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly 
while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, 
and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. 
For you had compassion on me and my chains and joyfully accepted 
the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better 
and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore, 
do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you 
have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will 
of God, you may receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he 
who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall 
live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure 
in him. But we are not of those who draw 
back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of 
the soul. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
thank you for the written word of the living and true God. We 
need the power and presence of the Holy Spirit who gave it to 
us. We ask that he would guide us, that he would direct us, 
that he would help us to understand, illumine our minds and hearts 
to this passage of Holy Scripture. May we receive with thanksgiving 
the encouragements and the exhortations held out by the apostle. And 
may you indeed bless the churches of Christ throughout the earth. 
And may you indeed cause the word to go forth. from those 
churches for the salvation of sinners, for the sanctification 
and edification of the people of God, and all of this to redound 
to the praise and honor of your great name. Do forgive us now, 
again, for anything that would darken our understanding and 
our minds and hearts, and we ask through Christ our Lord. 
Amen. Well, as we look at chapter 10, verses 19 to 25, you have 
two encouragements for the people of God, and then you have three 
exhortations for the people of God. If you go back for just 
a moment, structurally, this is similar to chapter four. If 
you go back to chapter four and look at verse 20, I'm sorry, 
verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who 
has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God. We have 
that encouragement and then an exhortation. Let us hold fast 
our confession. Verse 15, 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. and encouragement 
and based on that an exhortation in verse 16. Let us therefore 
come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy 
and find grace to help in time of need. And so that section 
at the end of chapter 4 and the section we're looking at beginning 
in chapter 10 at verse 19 bookends the bulk of the body of the book. 5, 1 to 10, 18, the apostle takes 
up the priestly office of the Lord Jesus Christ. And based 
on that reality, what Christ has accomplished for us in his 
life, his death, and his resurrection He has secured every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. We have a sure foundation. We have a sure footing. We have 
security. We have stability. We have access 
to the throne of grace. We have it because of this high 
priest. Now, based on that, there are 
certain ways that we're supposed to conduct ourselves. So we have 
the encouragements and then we have the exhortations. So we'll 
look first at the encouragements for the people of God in verses 
19 to 21, and then secondly, the exhortations to the people 
of God in verses 22 to 25. And I think this is an organic 
way or an organic sermon flowing out of all that we have considered 
before. We looked at the head and builder 
of the church in Matthew chapter 16. We looked at the identity 
of the church in 1 Timothy chapter 3. We looked at the God with 
whom we have to do in worship in 1 Kings chapter 8. And then 
we looked at the way that we are supposed to approach this 
God, vis-a-vis the second commandment. We're to engage in the true worship 
of the true and living God. And so the emphasis, specifically 
in verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, 
again, I think flows out of those previous studies. And then, God 
willing, in the second meeting this morning, not meeting, the 
longer ending today, we're going to go ahead and And look at the 
Sabbath, the day upon which God has ordained that His people 
gather in His house for public worship. So again, this is the 
consistency, I think, that links all of these sort of sermons 
together. So let's look first at the encouragements for the 
people of God in verses 19 to 21. The first place, they have 
access to the Holy of Holies, verses 19 to 20. And secondly, 
they possess a great high priest. Now, notice in the first place, 
in verses 19 and 20, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to 
enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. This is the perennial 
question addressed in scripture. In Psalm 15, we have the question, 
Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? 
Same thing in Psalm 24 at verse 3. Who may ascend into the hill 
of the Lord? Or who may stand in his holy 
place? I think I've shared with you 
probably on several occasions how the book of Exodus ends. 
You can turn to Exodus chapter 40. It ends on a note of tension. And that tension revolves around 
this particular fact that man was made to dwell with God. And 
so the apostle says we have this boldness now to enter into the 
Holy of Holies. So what we have in Jesus Christ 
is the answer for the problem that we see from the beginning. 
Notice in Exodus 40 at verse 34, the tabernacle has been finished. It has been constructed. And 
we read. The cloud covered the tabernacle 
of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 
And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because 
the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled 
the tabernacle. So presently, in Exodus 40, it's 
the dwelling place of Almighty God, but it has not yet become 
the meeting place with man and God. And then comes the book 
of Leviticus to prescribe how the people of Israel could go 
into that place and meet with God. It was through sacrifice. It was through atonement. It 
was through offering. It was through the recognition 
that we serve a holy God and that unholy man can't just wander 
into his presence without being consumed. So Exodus ends on this 
tension and Leviticus solves the tension by prescribing the 
way to God, by prescribing the way to the holy of holies. Now 
when we go back to Hebrews chapter 10, the apostle tells us that 
that perennial question has been answered in Christ Jesus our 
Lord. It is a persistent problem from 
the Garden of Eden and that earthly sanctuary where the man sinned 
against God and was driven from the presence of God. You see 
it all throughout the Old Testament. persons wanting to enter into 
the presence of God. So God in His kindness provides 
this sacrificial system, typifying the Lord Christ and His redeeming 
work, so that God could dwell with man. And then with reference 
to Hebrews chapter 10, this is a present possession for the 
people of God. Listen to the language again. 
Therefore, brethren, the therefore is the application of everything 
he has said previous to this, specifically chapter 5 verse 
1 to chapter 10 verse 18, based on the finished and glorious 
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what you possess. This 
is what you presently have. This is your current. blessing 
and privilege. 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. that therefore indicates that 
this is the concrete application of the finished work of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. The boldness in view is the same 
boldness we saw there in Hebrews 4.16. It's not arrogance. It's 
not chutzpah. It's not some sort of pride-driven 
approach. But it simply means, with reference 
to God's work on our behalf, a boldness, a confidence, and 
an assurance. We have boldness and confidence 
based on the New and Living Way, in contrast to the Old Covenant. 
In the Old Covenant, they had access. It was prescribed by 
God. But they don't have that free, blessed privilege that 
we now possess in the New Covenant worship. And he's celebrating 
that. The new covenant isn't just a 
better version of the old covenant. It is a better covenant founded 
upon better promises that affords a better hope. Paul says that 
in Hebrews chapter 7 and 8. We can't just conglomerate it 
as one and flatten it. to speak to some sort of an idea 
of covenant theology that is faulty. The new covenant is superior 
as a result of what Christ has done. And then it says we enter 
into the holiest. It is the holy of holies and 
means the very presence of God himself. John Owen says, whatever 
was typically represented in the most holy place of old, we 
have access unto. That is, unto God himself, we 
have an access in one spirit by Christ. Now, I realize that 
that's tough for us, because as we read in 2 Corinthians 5, 
we walk by faith and not by sight. We need to believe what Paul 
is saying here is actually true. That when the new covenant church 
gathers together, In the presence of God Most High, everything 
the New Testament says in terms of describing that activity is 
true. It's not going to be marked by 
feelings necessarily. It's not going to be celebrated 
with fireworks. It's not going to be seen in 
terms of the eye seeing God in the midst of His people. We walk 
by faith and not by sight, and when John the Apostle tells us 
that Christ is in the midst of the lampstands, we receive that 
and we praise him for it. We don't say things like, well, 
I didn't see him, I didn't feel him, I didn't experience him. 
If God promises something, brethren, it comes to pass. And when the 
Bible describes new covenant worship, even though the bells 
and the whistles and the feelings and the emotions may be absent, 
that doesn't mean Christ is. It doesn't mean that at all. 
It means just the opposite. We walk by faith and not by sight. And then the particular means 
by which we enter into the Holy of Holies is given us in verse 
20. By a new and living way, which 
he consecrated for us through the veil, that is his flesh. 
Now the emphasis here is on the incarnation of our Lord. Not 
a new emphasis in the book of Hebrews. You see it in chapter 
2 at verse 17, and then chapter 10 at verse 5. And then a great 
book written by a guy named Michael Morales on who shall ascend or 
who shall dwell in the presence of the Lord. It's a biblical 
theology of the book of Leviticus. He makes this observation concerning 
new covenant worship. He says, having taken our humanity 
upon himself, the sun became the new tabernacle. The presence 
of God on earth veiled in flesh. He is in himself all that the 
temple signified, God's house and the way into that house. Again, this may not always be 
attended by warm feelings. This may not always be attended 
by a celebration of emotion. But this is what the Bible says, 
brethren. And when people believe what 
the Bible says, they live in light of it. That's the fundamental 
axiom with reference to our religion. And then with reference to this, 
it's not only an emphasis on the incarnation, but an emphasis 
on the atoning sacrifice through his blood. Notice, by a new and 
living way, which he consecrated for us through the veil that 
is his flesh. So not only is the Son incarnate 
for us men and for our salvation, but in the incarnation, he lives 
a life of perfect obedience to the Father, such that we can 
receive a righteousness that avails with God. But he also 
goes to the cross. He suffers on behalf of sinners. He is penalized in our place. 
The doctrine of substitutionary atonement is fundamental to appreciating 
the gospel itself. It wasn't just rendered up in 
some generic way for any and all who might want to activate 
it. No, He shall save His people from their sins. In fact, look 
at the definiteness of atonement in Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews 
chapter 2, verse 14. In as much then as the children 
have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in 
the same, that through death he might destroy him who had 
the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those 
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to 
bondage. For indeed, he does not give 
aid to angels or take on angels, but he does give aid to the seed 
of Abraham. Therefore, in all things, he 
had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and 
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation 
for the sins of the people. That's the language of definite 
atonement. He doesn't generically come into 
this world, generically offer himself up, so that man, aided 
by his wonderful free will, can decide for Jesus the way he decides 
at dinner. The Lord Christ brought to fruition 
redemptive benefit. It isn't generic. It is particular. And look at what the apostle 
says. It says that he made a faithful high priest and things pertaining 
to God to make propitiation. That means that Christ takes 
in himself the wrath of God Do for us. And why does Christ take 
in himself the wrath of God? For the sins of the people. Now earlier, I had alluded in 
prayer to Leviticus 16. That day of atonement, the high 
priest takes his hands, lays them on the scapegoat, and confesses 
the sins of Israel. And then the scapegoat's driven 
out into the wilderness. A blessed, wonderful type of 
what happens in redemption in terms of Christ's redeeming work 
of us. But with reference to that, brethren, it's not generic 
sins. This is the glory of the gospel. 
He comes to save his people from their sins. Not the sins of the 
nation. Not the sins of a body politic. Not the sins of somebody else. But every transgression of God's 
holy law. Every time we have lacked conformity 
unto it. Every misdeed. Every thought. 
Every word. Everything. Christ took the punishment 
due for us in himself. Now that isn't supposed to promote 
this idea, well then I'm going to go out and sin with abandonment 
because Christ has already paid the debt. That's not gospel logic. Gospel logic is, praise God most 
high for what my Redeemer has done on my behalf, therefore 
I want to try and live in a manner that is consistent with this 
calling. Now, when we do fail, when we 
do fall, which is right after we say that in some instances, 
as John reminds us, we have an advocate with the Father, even 
Jesus Christ the righteous. It is most glorious, brethren. He doesn't write this so that 
you'll go out and sin. He writes specifically so that 
you won't go out and sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an 
advocate with the Father. You don't have to walk around 
like a Protestant Pope, sort of lashing yourself because of 
your sin and your misery. Confess it to God. Say with the 
Apostle's Creed, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. Say 
with David himself, if thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, 
O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with 
thee that thou mayest be feared. Listen to the blessed Savior 
when Peter comes to him and says, Lord, if my brother sins against 
me seven times in a day, do I forgive him? Peter was being bountiful. Peter was being large hearted. 
Peter was being a man of great virtue, and Christ says, no, 
7 times 70. If Christ enjoins that upon us 
toward one another, how does that bespeak of the forgiveness 
of God toward us? Now, again, it's not so that 
we'll go out and sin 7 times 70 today, but it's when we do 
sin. We have that scapegoat. We have 
that expiation of sin. We have the removal of guilt. 
We have blood atonement in the person and work of our blessed 
Savior. And that's what the apostle is 
getting at in verses 19 and 20. Therefore, brethren, having boldness 
to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living 
way, which he has consecrated for us, Through the veil, that 
is His flesh. We use that benefit. We improve 
upon that benefit. We praise God for that benefit 
and that privilege. So that's the first encouragement. 
The second is the high priest himself. Verse 21, and having 
a high priest over the house of God. In other words, as 1 
Timothy 3 tells us, the church of God is the house of God, which 
is the pillar and the ground of the truth. There is a priest, 
in terms of access, with reference to that household. And that priest 
is our blessed Redeemer. It is our blessed Lord Jesus. 
who in the days of his flesh offered up himself for us and 
for our salvation. And when the supply, the word 
having is supplied there, it's not in the Greek text. I think 
it's a good legitimate supplying though, because it connects with 
verse 19. And verse 19, therefore brethren 
having boldness, and then again in verse 21, and having a high 
priest over the house of God. This is a present possession 
of all God's people. If you are God's people by grace 
through faith in the Lord Jesus, He's your high priest. If you 
are not God's people, if you have not believed the gospel, 
may I encourage you today to do so, to look on to the Lord 
Jesus Christ, that one in whom there is forgiveness and a righteousness 
that will ultimately avail with His Father. Come to the Savior. Don't tarry. Don't hesitate. Don't wait. What's the apostle 
say? Knowing, therefore, the terror 
of the Lord, we persuade man. Yes, we try to woo sinners with 
the love of God. We try to woo sinners with the 
grace and mercy of God. But sometimes the terror of the 
Lord is necessary for sinners who are complacent, for sinners 
who are settled in their path, those who are unconcerned about 
the life to come. Well, if that describes you today, 
understand that the terror of the Lord and what he later, Paul, 
in Hebrews 10 writes, is a reality. Notice in verse 31, it is a fearful 
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It doesn't 
seem like that now, because while you live in God's world now, 
you eat his food, you drink his water, you work jobs that he's 
prepared you for. You live in a beautiful place 
because God is good. In the creational realm, God 
blesses his creatures tremendously and abundantly. So it's tough, 
I think, at times for persons to reconcile the reality that 
it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. 
But he's made such a beautiful place. He's made such a glorious 
life. He's made so many good and beneficial 
things to me. Yes, but if you continue impenitent, 
if you continue unbelieving, if you stand before him on the 
day of judgment clothed in your own righteousness, which is not 
righteousness at all, you will be cast aside. You will be heard 
or told those words, depart from you into hell, which was prepared 
for the devil and his angels. So listen to the apostle. It 
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 
For those who are not clothed in the righteousness of another. 
For those who have not been washed in that precious blood. So what's 
the remedy? What's the answer? Perhaps God 
will convict your heart. You start thinking about this. 
Okay, well, how do I prepare? You prepare right now by looking 
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy set 
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, to bring 
glory to the Father and salvation to his people. It is a most blessed 
gospel. No one in this room is going 
to heaven because we're good. No one in this room is going 
to heaven because we're righteous. The only ones going to heaven 
are going because Jesus is good, because Jesus is righteous, and 
because in Jesus, all the promises of God are yea and amen. So look 
unto Jesus and then you'll have that present possession. You'll 
have a high priest over the house of God that provides you access 
with boldness to the throne of grace. We don't have to come 
with trepidation. We don't have to come with fear. 
We can imitate David who said, I was glad when they said unto 
me, let us go to the house of the Lord. There is a boldness 
and a confidence not in ourselves, but it is in Jesus. This is the 
present possession of all God's people. We have access granted 
in the house of God to the householder of himself. And we are to keep 
these thoughts in mind. We often thought there are passages 
in scripture that if every Christian read them on Sunday morning, 
it might make a difference in terms of public worship. When 
we remind ourselves of what takes place in public worship, we would 
be hard-pressed to give it up. If we understand the blessedness 
of Christ in the midst of the lampstand, we would not give 
that up. We would hold on to it with every 
fiber of our being. Shared with the church before. 
There's that Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California. The last time my brother and 
I went, we saw how old we were. You know, when you're young, 
you run to every one of the rides. And you get a little bit older, 
you find us on the bench at the end of the night while all the 
kids are still running around to the rides. They always describe 
those rides as white knucklers. And what they mean by that is 
that you hold on to the rail for life. Your knuckles turn 
white because you're terrified of what is in view. Well, that's 
the way the church needs to hold Christ. And that's the way the 
church needs to hold the church, because the church is the apple 
of Jesus eye. He bled for her. He died for 
her. He gave himself for her. The 
church is most blessed, and that's one of the things that is so 
grieving as we move through this particular crisis, to see the 
degradation applied to the church of our blessed Savior. It is 
a most glorious entity, that entity that survives into the 
eschaton. The civil state doesn't make 
it to heaven. The family, as family now, doesn't 
make it to heaven. Not that persons in families 
or in civil state don't make it to heaven. But what survives 
in the eschaton? It's the church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. It is that group from every tribe, 
every tongue, every people, every nation, that great multitude 
that no man can number. As Newton said, when we've been 
there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days 
to sing God's praise than when we first begun. If this pandemic 
has taught me anything, it has taught me that the church today 
needs to see the beauty of the church. The church is glorious. Not the person's in it, I'm in 
it, and I'm not glorious. But the church has church. The 
blood-bought people of God. The possession we have is access 
to the Father through the high priest of our blessed Savior. 
Now let's look secondly at the exhortations that he gives us. 
The first is found in verse 22, and then the second is found 
in verse 23, and the third is found in verses 24 and 25. In the first place, notice the 
exhortation to draw near. Verse 22. based on this access 
that you have, based on the high priest which you have, you don't 
just sit around then. You don't just say, wow, these 
are great and current possessions that I have, but I'm not going 
to do anything with them. It's kind of like somebody saying, 
here's a beautiful brand new car. It's all bought and paid 
for. There's a full tank of gas in it. Now, you're going to have 
to get the next one when it's 160 at summertime. But for now, here 
is the privilege. Here is the benefit of already 
taking care of the insurance. And then you don't drive it. 
Say, wow, that's a beautiful car. Wow, that's a wonderful 
thing. Wow, that's a good thing that you have blessed or benefited 
me with, but I'm not going to drive it. You would drive the 
car, brethren, wouldn't you? I think that's pretty much a 
no-brainer. You get in the car and you drive it, because that's 
what you do when somebody hands you a privilege. When somebody 
hands you a gift, when somebody hands you a benefit, you improve 
upon it, you utilize it, you put it into practice. And so 
notice what he says, 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. The two encouragements 
are the basis for these exhortations. You have access, you have a high 
priest. Therefore, use the access that 
you've been given. That's what he says in verse 
22. Don't just say, wow, I've got 
this access. and not use it. Wow, I've got 
this beautiful car. I'm going to ride my scooter. 
Wow, I've got all these good gifts, but I'm going to play 
with the wrapping paper instead of the gift. No, you use the 
benefit that has been given to you. You have been given blessings 
by God. The drawing near means to utilize 
the access that we have been granted by Christ. Now brethren, 
this applies not only to the church, this applies in your 
lives as individuals and as families. We are to be drawing near. We 
have access to the very presence of God himself. We have a high 
priest who has paved the way for that access, and therefore, 
tomorrow morning, we should seek the face of God. Therefore, Thursday 
night, we should seek the face of God. Therefore, Friday, we 
should seek the face of God. We have this privilege. Now, 
in the context, I'm going to argue that these three exhortations 
are put together in terms of the benefit of the church and 
public worship. If you look at verse 25, where 
it says, not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, grammatically, 
that modifies the third exhortation. If you look at the third exhortation 
in verse 24, it says, let us consider one another in order 
to stir up love and good works. And then there is this caution 
in verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. 
So I think, again, grammatically, there's a close connection between 
that prohibition, not forsaking the assembling of yourselves 
together, with that third exhortation, stirring one another up to love 
and good deeds. But theologically, verse 25 modifies 
the three of them. So let's look at it this way. 
Verse 22, let us draw near with true heart in full assurance 
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our 
bodies washed with pure water. Verse 25, not forsaking the assembling 
of ourselves together. And then notice in verse 23, 
let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. In other 
words, public worship is such a blessing for the people of 
God that in public worship they get to draw near. That in public 
worship, they get educated on how to hold fast. And in public 
worship, they get to be with one another to stir one another 
up to love and good works. So if structurally and grammatically, 
that prohibition in verse 25 simply modifies the exhortation 
in verse 24, theologically, it extends to each of these exhortations. Not that you can't draw nigh 
in your private worship. Not that you can't hold fast 
in your private life. Not that you can't stir up brethren 
on the phone or email or text during the week. But the Lord's 
house on the Lord's day is specifically calculated for the people of 
God to comply with these exhortations. To draw nigh unto God, to hold 
fast that confession, and as well to stir up each other unto 
love and good works. So the structure of the passage 
brings those blessed privileges to bear upon the people of God. 
The encouragement serve as the foundation for the people of 
God to do what the people of God are supposed to do. So verse, 
going back now. Leaving aside all the structure 
talk, let's look at what it means. So the drawing near means to 
utilize the access that we have been granted by Christ. Owen 
makes this observation. Wherefore, this drawing near 
contains all the holy worship of the church, both public and 
private, all the ways of access unto God by Christ. And so this 
access has been secured by Jesus through his life, through his 
death, through his resurrection, and therefore must be employed. 
Go back to the car illustration for just a moment. If somebody 
handed you that car, if somebody had paid the insurance, if somebody 
had paid for that first tank of gas, in some sense, you might 
feel a bit of an obligation to drive it because they've gone 
over and above kindness in the realm of preacherly gift. Well, 
when we consider what Christ did to secure for us this privilege 
to God, it would be abominable for us not to improve upon it, 
for Him to lay down His life for us, for Him to suffer shame 
and ignominy for us, for Him to bear the wrath and curse and 
fury of God Almighty for us, for us to then say, eh, I'm not 
going to utilize the blessed privileges that you have secured 
with your own precious blood. It would be an affront to the 
Savior were we not to comply with the exhortations as given. And when you think about exhortations 
in religion, I think I've shared before, there's a particular 
religious celebration that's done, I think, in Singapore. 
It's illegal everywhere else. I think it's connected to Buddhism. 
And they put these sort of spikes through your cheek. I'm not making 
this up. We watched a documentary on this 
many, many years ago, and it horrified me. So they put these 
skewers, you know, when you do shish kebab. They shish kebab 
right through your mouth, from one cheek, one here, all the 
way to the other side. And then they hang stuff on these. 
I mean, the pain associated with having, you know, skewers shoved 
through your face isn't enough. Now, let's hang things on these. 
Oh, and by the way, there's a five-mile walk through the city and, you 
know, 115, 120 degrees. But, you know, that's your religious 
duty in whatever, again, I think it was Hinduism or Buddhism, 
something Eastern in that regard. Do you see how God exhorts us? 
Come to me. That's what our God does. Come, 
come dwell in my presence. I'm going to make a way for you. 
I'm going to make provision for you. I'm going to send the son 
of my love into this world. He's going to take on your humanity. 
He's going to be like you in all things, yet without sin. 
He's going to live for you. He's going to die for you. He's 
going to be raised again for you. Why? Because I want you 
in my presence. Exhortations or commands associated 
with Christianity are not burdensome. They're not grievous. The apostle 
commands us to be joyful in Philippians 4. You know, sometimes you meet 
people, they say, well, Christianity, it's austere, it's harsh, it's 
rigorous. Are you kidding me? Our God commands 
us to be happy? What religion in the world affords 
that benefit and blessing to the adherents? So we are to draw 
near. You've been gifted. It has been 
secured for you through a precious gift, a precious provision in 
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he gives these 
qualifications with a true heart and full assurance of faith, 
this doesn't mean without sin, because we'd never be able to 
draw nigh unto God. It means sincerity, not hypocrisy. It means to realize or recognize 
who we are before a thrice holy God, to understand the provision 
made in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus, and to act 
upon that with the boldness and the assurance and the confidence 
that God has afforded to his people. He says, having our hearts 
sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure 
water, Gill makes the observation, not baptismal water, but the 
grace of the spirit, which is often compared to water in scripture. 
The body, as well as soul, needs washing and renewing. Internal 
grace influences outward actions which adorn religion, and without 
which bodies cannot be presented holy to God. So the first exhortation, 
based on those two encouragements, is to draw near to God. Go to 
God, be with God, have fellowship with God, enjoy truck with God. It's a blessed thing. Now notice 
the second one. Verse 23, let us hold fast the 
confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised 
is faithful. Now he says hope here because 
hope is the fruit of faith. He's already mentioned faith. 
He'll mention hope and then he indicates love. Some see this 
as a subtle inference of Pauline authorship, because these three 
abide, faith, hope, and love. The Apostle Paul engages in that 
triad often, faith, hope, and love. And perhaps he's balancing 
out here, having mentioned faith in verse 22, now he mentions 
hope in verse 23. But with reference to the mentioning 
of the hope, look at what he says. Let us hold fast the confession 
of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 
This is a recurring theme in the book of Hebrews. Holding 
fast. Holding strong. Being steadfast. We'll look at the passages in 
just a moment. I take the book of Hebrews as having been written 
prior to the destruction of the temple in AD 70. And the big 
sin, when we continue in chapter 10 there, and the apostle talks 
about apostasy, and he uses that terrifying language, the primary 
emphasis, not the only application, but the primary emphasis are 
Jews being tempted to turn back from Christ to Moses. Not that 
Moses is a bad fellow. Moses served the purposes of 
God Almighty. But when Christ has come, when 
the antitype has fulfilled the types, when the substance is 
present, we don't look at the shadows. When my children bring 
the grandkids over, I've got them right before my eyes. I 
don't need to see pictures on the phone. When Christ has come, 
the typical significance of the old covenant has fulfilled its 
purposes. And so Jews in the first century 
were being persecuted, those who had identified with Jesus. 
And there was a lot of pressure upon them. Perhaps they'd lose 
their jobs. Perhaps they'd lose their families. Perhaps they'd 
be disenfranchised. Perhaps they had all of these 
things that would come upon them. Well, some were apostatizing. 
Some were turning away. Some were turning back. And so 
the apostle is exhorting them to hold fast. And in fact, if 
you compare this section with the following section, I'd go 
out on a limb here and say the persons who don't fulfill the 
three exhortations put themselves in danger of the apostasy that 
the apostle goes on to discourse concerning. So there is a close 
connection between our faithfulness, not in order unto our salvation. Christ's faithfulness is the 
reason we are saved, but those saved by grace through faith 
will, by God's grace, persevere. And those who persevere do so 
by holding on to his word, by holding on to both promise and 
law, and doing, by God's grace and spirit, what he calls us 
unto. So this holds fast the confession 
of our hope without wavering. Turn back to Hebrews chapter 
2, just to see this emphasis. Hebrews 2. In several places 
in the epistle. 2.1. Therefore, we must give 
the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we 
drift away. I'd suggest that's more likely 
the way of persons apostatizing. It's not usually persons wake 
up on a Sunday and say, that's it, I'm done. Jesus, yeah, it's 
a fake, it's a sham. No, they drift away. It's little 
bits here and there. It's little steps toward apostasy 
here and there, such that they don't just wake up in some crisis 
situation and say, I'm throwing it all off. But they throw it 
all off in bits and pieces. Notice that language. Last, we 
drift away. Look at 3.6. 3.6. 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. Notice in 3.14, 
for we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning 
of our confidence steadfast to the end. Again, he's writing 
the Jews that are being tempted to give up their commitment to 
Jesus and go back to the Levitical system, to go back to the temple, 
to go back to the sacrificial system. That's why the repetitive 
emphasis on the once for all nature of Christ's sacrifice 
and offering. How could you continue to go 
engage in these things that simply pointed forward to Christ? Now 
that the Lamb of God has come, the one who takes away the sin 
of the world, don't go back in redemptive history to atonement 
of bulls and goats and calves and things that could never take 
away sin. So there's this emphasis by the apostle on the people 
of God to persevere. Notice in 4.1, Therefore, since 
a promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear, lest any 
of you seem to have come short of it. 4.14, we saw that earlier. Let us hold fast our confession. Chapter 10, verse 23, we're on, 
and then chapter 10 verses 35 and 36. Verse 35, therefore, 
do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, for you 
have need of endurance, so that after you've done the will of 
God, you may receive the promise. See, in the context, yes, we 
have these privileges secured for us by our Lord. But when 
we have these privileges, there is a degree of responsibility. 
You draw near to God, but you also hold fast the confession 
of your hope. You don't sacrifice biblical 
inspiration. You don't sacrifice biblical 
infallibility. You don't sacrifice biblical 
inerrancy. You don't kowtow to the prevailing 
pressure of a godless world who's trying to put its mitts into 
the church. You've heard me say before, wokeism is killing Western 
civilization. And it is taking the church along 
with it. And if we do not resist it, We 
are going to go the way of all flesh. Brethren, if there was 
ever a time for the Church of Jesus Christ to engage in a white-knuckled 
hold on the doctrines of God's Word, it's now. We cannot kowtow 
to the sexual ethics prevailing out there. We cannot kowtow to 
their vision of science, which means don't ever question it. 
Science in the hand of the left today is cultism. It is a religion. It is a philosophy. You always 
question science. That's what science is. On the 
basis of two or three witnesses, every fact is established. You 
test hypotheses. You see what works. You discard 
what doesn't. What we are seeing now in the 
name of science is blind allegiance to a particular view. And if 
you reject that or you resist that, you're going to be branded 
as a troublemaker. Well, brethren, I for one would 
rather be branded as a troublemaker than kowtow to that kind of madness 
under the guise of progress. They can have their stinking 
progress. I'll take the word of the living 
and true God. As Calvin says, as he exhorts 
the Jews to persevere, he mentions hope rather than faith. For as 
hope is born of faith, so it is fed and sustained by it to 
the last. And then before we move on to 
that third exhortation, look at what he says in this. Verse 
23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 
for he who promised is faithful. Even in that, you're holding 
fast the confession of your hope isn't owing to your superior 
intellect. It isn't owing to your savvy. 
It isn't owing to your courage. It's owing to the power of God 
Most High. From first to last, and every 
step in between, we stand by grace. And that grace is profusely 
available to us in and through the person and work of our Lord 
Jesus. Our God is not stingy. Our God 
is not a miser. Our God is not trying to get 
us just to eke it out in our own strength. He's there for 
us. He blesses us. Yea, though I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because 
thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. They drive off my enemies. They take care of the wolves. 
They put to death and the run to those who would affect me 
in an adverse way. We live in light of a faithful 
God. And based on that, we're to hold 
fast of our confession of hope. And then notice the third exhortation. 
Verse 24. Let us consider one another in 
order to stir up love and good works. Now, as I said earlier, 
this isn't only applicable to the church on Sunday. People 
feel free all week long to stir each other up. That's a wonderful 
thing. Texts and emails and calls and 
all that sort of thing. But in this context, and especially 
in light of the prohibition in verse 25, it is imperative that 
we make this connection, that the church of Jesus Christ is 
essential. The Church of Jesus Christ serves 
a purpose. The Church of Jesus Christ is 
crucial for the people of God Almighty. Doesn't Christ endear 
us to that when He says, man shall not live by bread alone? 
The argument today, well, you can buy food at Walmart, you 
can buy food at Savon, you can't buy food at the church. Man shall 
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from 
the mouth of God. Brethren, we are as dependent, 
more dependent on that than we are on that bread. We'll die 
after 40 days, and then we go to be with God Almighty in heaven. What a blessed Savior we serve. 
So the exhortation isn't simply for the context of local church 
on Sunday, but this context, it is. Now, the believer is called 
to consider Jesus in chapter 3, verse 1. And here he is called 
to consider other believers. The believer must seek to stir 
up brethren in love and good works. Now, this is going to 
be a tough one, so maybe hold on here. The believer is not 
only responsible for the believer, but for others as well. You see, 
there are times, I've gotten this before, I've gotten, you 
know, recommendations, pastoral recommendation, you know, for 
a kid that wants to go to Christian school. And you know us, we don't 
have 25 ministries. And typically on these pastoral 
recommendations for Christian school, you know, what ministries 
are the family involved in? What ministries do the parents 
engage in? As if you can only send your 
kid to my school if you put in your pound of flesh. Well, you 
know, we don't have the parking lot. I mean, we do have a parking 
lot ministry now because it's a different time. I guess we've 
increased our ministry sort of spread here. But I always say 
they're encouraging brethren. They're faithful brethren. They 
show up at church. And I wonder at the other end, that's a ministry? 
Yes, it's a ministry. Do you know how much of an encouragement 
it is for me to come here and see people here? Even if you 
don't even say anything or smile at me, it's just good to see 
that I'm not the only nut job on the face of the earth. It's 
nice. It's a very encouraging thing. When this all started 
off, lots of text, lots of encouragement. It's a blessing, brethren. You're 
here not only for you. You're here for us. There's something 
about this that is missing today. There's something about this 
me-centeredness where I'll go if I get something out of it. 
I'll go if I'm benefited. I'll go if I'm encouraged. How 
about you benefiting somebody else? How about you encouraging 
somebody else? How about you speaking a kind 
word to somebody else? Sometimes I think our perspective 
would change if we became more others-minded. I know for me, 
when I'm navel-gazing and caught up with the unholy trinity, me, 
myself, and I, I'm not a happy camper. It's when I'm caught 
up with the real Trinity and when I'm actually trying to do 
something that's good in terms of pleasing God and helping people. 
There is something very blessed about service. There's something 
very blessed about imitating the Savior, the Son of Man who 
did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life 
a ransom for many. See how the Lord Jesus takes 
that. in the context of authority or 
a privilege in the context of the kingdom of God. You see it 
in Ephesians 5 in terms of the family. Husbands, love your wives 
just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. You 
mean as a husband my job isn't just to sit on my lazy boy and 
pound the arm and tell my wife to bring me stuff? You mean tyranny 
and despotism and And that sort of thing we're seeing played 
out in our civil government. That's not my job as a husband. 
No, your job as a husband is to serve your spouse. Your job 
as a husband is to put someone else other than you before you. Again, revolutionary concept, 
mind-blowing exegesis, but this is the emphasis. Notice, let 
us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. And now there is this prohibition. There is this caution. He says 
in verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. 
It modifies grammatically the third exhortation. It modifies 
theologically all three exhortations. But in this one, let's see the 
connection. It says, 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. So the believer must associate 
with fellow believers in order to stir them up to love and good 
works. Pretty simple, isn't it? So what 
happens if we're not here? Let's just say there's no pandemic. 
Let's just say there's no strictures or closures of the church. Let's 
just say everything is normal, the old normal, which is seemingly 
gone, just as the Edsel is gone, just as, you know, the jalopy 
is gone. They're not building those cars 
anymore. Just imagine that. How many times as the people 
of God do we absent ourselves from the house of God for reasons 
that are not altogether pure? And when we do that, we are short-circuiting 
something that is intended to bring a blessing, not necessarily 
for you, but for someone else. Again, others-mindedness. There's other people that benefit 
from you being in the house of God. There's other people that 
prosper, whether you ever hear about it or not, whether you 
ever see it or not, whether it's quantifiable or not. Oh, brother 
so-and-so got 15 units of encouragement today because I was there. That's 
never going to happen, brethren. But brother, so-and-so may have 
been encouraged to see you coming in from out of the world to worship 
God Almighty the way that you're supposed to do. So there is this 
others-mindedness caught up in the passage, but as well, understand 
the believer needs the fellowship of the saints, and the saints 
need his fellowship too. That is crucial. And then I've 
quoted Owen a few times. Owen on Hebrews is the definitive 
work. I'd like to have said I could read the whole thing. I haven't. 
I've read parts of it twice. I'm just kidding. But listen 
to what he says about the church. I'm not seeing this. I'm not 
seeing it in me. I'm not seeing it in the church. 
And it's something I hope that we will see is important. He 
says that those assemblies, talking about the churches, that those 
assemblies were the life, the food, the nourishment of their 
souls, without which they could neither attend unto the discipline 
of Christ, nor yield obedience unto His commands, nor make profession 
of His name as they ought, nor enjoy the benefit of evangelical 
institutions, whereas in a due observance of them consisted 
the trial of their faith in the sight of God and man. In other 
words, it's absolutely crucial. And the fact that you're here 
is a good evidence that Christ has bought and paid for you. 
It is the blessed connection between the bride and the bridegroom. And then notice the prohibition 
indicates that this was happening, that there were some forsaking 
it. Verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together 
as is the manner of some. There are some who are doing 
this, the Apostle says. Don't follow that pattern. Don't 
follow that trajectory. Don't follow that path. Owen 
offers up reasons as to why this probably happened with reference 
to the forsaking of the assembling of ourselves together. He mentions 
fear of persecution. You read the book, you see especially 
in chapter 10 later on, there was persecution happening to 
the churches of Jesus in the first century. So Owen says fear 
of persecution probably kept some people at home. He goes 
on to say, and I'm just giving you the heads here, you can read 
about it in his commentary, spiritual sloth, just being lazy. Again, I wish these things weren't 
so, brethren, but it's easy to understand how these sorts of 
things happen. And then he says, unbelief working 
gradually toward the forsaking of all profession. It could be 
indicative of a drifting away. If you absent yourself and you're 
not affected by absenting yourself, that could be that 2-1 drifting 
away that you need to take heat on. When I read this particular 
section, I am struck with this thought. Everybody in the Church 
of Jesus Christ has responsibility. In my darker moments, in my times 
of self-pity, I often feel like I'm the only one with skin in 
the game in this church. I often feel like I'm the only 
one responsible. So if the church is messed up, 
that's on me. Our church, may I tell you, at 
least in some ways, is messed up. I take that personally. But the longer I live and the 
more that I move, I've come to understand my phone also rings. My texter also receives. My email 
also has an inbox. So while I may be derelict in 
my duty, don't say, well, that guy hates me and he's forgotten 
about me and he doesn't care. Call me. More than likely, I'll 
say, man, it's been busy. RCMP came twice to my house on 
Friday. Twice on Friday to deliver my 
next ticket. I don't know why they didn't 
think to come to my place of business. Thankfully, my wife 
doesn't answer the door. But then we've got lawyers. We've 
got things that I never had to think about or deal with before. 
If I have neglected you, I stand before God Almighty and can tell 
you, it's not because I hate you. That much I do know for 
sure. But see, all of us in the church 
bear responsibility. This isn't just pastors, I want 
you to draw near. Pastors, I want you to hold fast 
the confession of your hope. Pastors, I want you to stir up 
everybody to love and good works. One pastor can't do that. Pray 
for me, brethren, that God most high would give us a handful 
of elders. If I've been keenly affected by that reality in the 
past, I've been more so, doubly more so now. We need more men, 
but we need everybody to take seriously their responsibility. Instead of thinking that the 
world was made to serve you, you might just possibly have 
been made to serve the world. Can I get more of an amen? This 
was the black church in Southern California. Everybody would be, 
amen, brother. And then notice how he ends this section, not 
forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as is the manner of 
some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see 
the day approaching. What's the day? Well, some have 
said it's the day of death. Some have said it's the day of 
judgment. I say it's the day of Jerusalem's destruction in 
A.D. 70. I'm not alone there. John 
Owen takes that position. John Gill takes that position. 
But whatever it is, the apostle sees it as a motive for diligent 
attendance upon the public means of grace. So if it's the day 
of death, if it's the day of judgment, or it's the day of 
Jerusalem's destruction, the one common theme among those 
three days is that they're unpleasant, right? I mean, I don't mind dying, 
brethren. I just don't want to be there 
when it happens. I don't mind the fact of the judgment to come 
because I know my Savior paid it all. But I'm still a bit, 
yeah, I don't know what's going to happen there. It's kind of 
one of those areas where you're walking by faith. And if it was 
the day of Jerusalem's destruction, the Roman army surrounded the 
city. They took down the temple. They engaged in gross barbarisms 
against those people. So whether it's the day of death, 
whether it's the day of judgment, or whether it's the day of the 
destruction of Jerusalem, I think for each one of those particular 
days, any number of us could come up with reasons why we should 
miss church on that day. Well, it's my day of death, so 
I need to have my family around me so that I can speak wisdom 
to them. No, if it's Sunday, you should 
be in church. If you're mobile, go to church. If it's the day 
of judgment, well, I got to prepare my heart. What better way to 
prepare your heart for the day of judgment than in the church 
of Jesus Christ? And if it's the day of Jerusalem's 
destruction, where else are you going to be? You know where we'd 
be? We'd be buying beans. That's our go-to prep food. We got cans of beans. When this 
pandemic first started, we had toilet paper and beans. I don't 
know what the connection is there. That just actually occurred to 
me. Strange illustration. Sorry about that. But we would 
stockpile. Jerusalem's going to be destroyed. 
The Romans are coming. Why would we go to church? I've 
got to get everything set up for me. See, where's the other's 
mindedness? Maybe I can come to church and 
help others by encouraging them. I can help others by being just 
present among them. I can help others by being a 
positive encouragement to them by doing specific things. Owen 
makes the observation again. He says, whatever desolations 
and destructions may be approaching. Again, he takes it as AD 70, 
but he broadens the field in terms of application and says, 
whatever desolations and destructions may be approaching, our best 
and wisest frame will be to trust unto God in the discharge of 
our duty. Approaching judgments ought to 
influence unto special diligence in all evangelical duties. We've 
been taught that crisis means shut your church. Owen says that 
crisis means open your church. Crisis means go to church. Crisis means praise at church. Crisis means preach at church. Crisis means never forsake the 
assembling of yourselves together, as is the matter of some, and 
especially when you see the day of destruction coming. You don't 
say, well, I don't want to be there at that time. I've got 
other things to do. Do you realize as a saved sinner, 
as a blood-bought child of God, The primary onus in your life 
is to go to the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy 
Spirit. To do that in private, to be sure. To do that as families, 
to be sure. But to do that in the public 
worship of God Most High. And especially when we survey 
Scripture and we see the privileges afforded to the people of God. 
Psalm 87-2, Yahweh loves the gates of Zion. more than all 
the dwelling places of Jacob. What's 1 Timothy 3 tell us? It 
is the household or the house of God, the church of the living 
God, the pillar and ground of the truth. In Hebrews 12, the 
apostle sets forth the contrast between coming to Sinai and coming 
to Zion. We're in Zion today, brethren. Zion is biblical nomenclature 
for the dwelling of God with his people. In the new covenant 
expression of that, it is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is why Christ is to 
be found among the lampstands in Revelation chapter one. Well, 
in conclusion, we have a present possession. We have access to 
the very throne of God Almighty. We have a great high priest over 
the household of God who affords us entrance behind the veil. Remember that on that Day of 
Atonement. It was only the high priest that went behind the veil. 
It was only the high priest on one day for just a couple of 
occasions who would go beyond that veil into the Holy of Holies 
one time a year. we have full, free access. We 
can come to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit, when 
we gather for church. We can do that privately, when 
we gather at home, when we gather as families. It's not the case 
that God is some absent spectator to our religious observances. 
What does Jesus say with reference to secret prayer? When you go 
into your closet, your Father, who sees in secret, will reward 
you openly. In other words, we walk by faith, 
not by sight. Sight would be emotions. Sight 
would be feelings. Sight would be the razzmatazz. 
Brethren, those things come in religion. I'm not saying that 
they never do. But that isn't what our religion consists in. 
We walk by faith. We walk by faith into the presence 
of God, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. We're 
told to hold on to that confession of hope, and we are told to stir 
one another up, to consider one another, and to stir one another 
up to love and good works. We are blessed above measure. And then in terms of that responsibility, 
let us, by God's grace, comply with these three exhortations, 
the drawing near, the holding fast, and the considering of 
one another. And then I want to just end. 
I mentioned Michael Morales. Again, if you want to read a 
good book on Leviticus, his book is very excellent. But the drawing 
near points, obviously, to heavenly realities, right? I mean, we're 
going behind the veil. We're going into the very presence 
of God Almighty. So there's these heavenly realities. 
But there is this present possession. There's this present on earth 
in the church-ness right now. And Morales says, so this heavenly 
reality is tasted and renewed liturgically in the corporate 
spirit-enabled approach of God's people as they ascend with Jesus 
to the heavenly Mount Zion, Lord's day by Lord's day, through the 
new and living way, the veil of Jesus' flesh. Christ has secured 
this privilege for us. As Christ's people, we need to 
engage in the use of these privileges for the glory of God, for the 
good of our own souls, and for the good of others as well. And 
if you are not a Christian, I would hope that you would want this, 
access to God, a confession of hope to hold on to, and the ability 
to do good to your fellow creatures. So the way to see that fulfilled 
is by grace through faith in Jesus. Look unto Christ and you 
will be saved. Look unto Christ and you will 
have these privileges. Look unto Christ and you will 
want to comply with these exhortations. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for the Word of God, we thank you for the clarity 
of Scripture at these points, and I pray that you would just 
put them into our hearts, God. Cause us not only to ponder the 
privilege, but to engage in the duty, the responsibility, the 
exhortations that are given here. Let us draw near, let us hold 
fast this confession of hope, and let us consider one another 
to stir up love and good works and help us to not forsake the 
assembling of ourselves together in God as we see the day of judgment, 
the day of death, these things coming in our horizon. I pray 
that it would not mitigate against faithful churchmanship or attendance 
upon the public means of grace. God bless your word to the encouragement 
of our own hearts, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.